The Leaf Maiden
Written by: Miszy-Anne (anne_he1@hotmail.com)
Note to Reviewers: Sorry for the long wait you guys! And thanks for reviewing! Naruke, I added the pagebreakers. Sorry, I know it got confusing..pretty dumb of me not to think of them..heheh. Can I make it up to you with a extra long chapter? ^.^ And oh..yes, this will be a Gaara/Ino and Saku/Neji fic..I just don't want to rush into the relationships! Muwahahaha..just read and shiver at their 'hate'! ^.^ They say hate and love lay close to each other..xD Also..can someone tell me if it's 'Hyuga' or 'Hyuuga' .. I don't know! Please tell, then I can use the right one in the next chapter. Also..vote on if I will have Temari paired up with a guy.. and if you want me too, state with whom.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto..*sob*..if I did, I'd have couples in it, for sure!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gathering all her confidence, Sakura finally knocked on the door. The door was the entrance to the Hyuga Mansion. Fiddling a bit with her outfit, Sakura waited. Footsteps weren't heard. But suddenly, the door opened. Hyuga Hinata was behind in, dressed in cute pyjamas. "Aa..sorry, did I wake you up?" Sakura asked both curious and ashamed. Hinata blushed, "N-no Sakura.. mom told me t-to read in the living room. I have to w-wait for the new m-maid.." At that, Sakura grinned a bit, "Then you'll have to wait no longer. You're looking at the new maid." Sakura wasn't so nervous or scared anymore. At least Hinata was a shy, but friendly person. Sakura knew that very well.
Hinata nodded, "come in then, please.." Sakura stepped in, slightly startled at how warm the insides of the mansion looked. It had looked so cold from the outside.. Following Hinata into the living room, Sakura took a short glance around. Hinata motioned to a chair, "Please, sit down.." Sakura sat down on the chair in front of Hinata and spoke, "Thank you, Hinata-sama." Hinata looked at the ground shyly, "Please, Sakura-san, just call me Hinata.. I'm not so great.." Sakura shook her head, "No, Hinata. You have to have some confidence. You're doing great, really. As a ninja and as a person." Sakura tried to cheer Hinara up a bit. Suddenly, a male voice called out from a different room, "Hinata? Are you alright? Who is there with you?"
Sakura looked at Hinata curiously. The voice had sounded vaguely familiar, yet so cold. Hinata called back, not so loud, but loud enough for the male to hear. "I'm alright.. It's our new m-maid." Hinata finally noticed the curious look Sakura gave her and blushed. "s-sorry, Sakura-san.. Neji-nii-san is just w-worried about m-me.." She said in a soft voice. "It's alright Hinata-san. Can you tell me what I need to do around here?" Sakura replied and asked, a soft look could be seen in her eyes. Hinata nodded and soon, she was explaining the chores to Sakura. Sakura was listening closely, for she did not want to mess up.
*~*~*
Ino sat down on a chair, trying to regain her breath. She had just done half of the large Hidden Mansion. The finished part were the three large master bedrooms, the two large bathrooms upstairs, the kitchen and the dining room downstairs. She still had to do the smaller bathroom, the smaller guest bedroom, the training room, the small study room and the recreation room. All of those rooms were downstairs. 'Man, this house is big!' thought Ino, 'Tsunade-sama could have at least told me! Then I'd be here earlier!' Ino grunted and stood up to continue her cleaning. At least she didn't have to do the garden..
*~*~*
Hinata had shown her where she could get the cleaning materials. So Sakura happily went to get them and start with her chores. After a while, she had finally finished the larger rooms. Now she still had to do the smaller bedrooms and the corridors (which are many!). Sakura wanted to begin with the smaller bedrooms, because then she would have that done with. A cough could be heard, coming from one of the rooms. 'Ooh, so that room is occupied then. I'll clean that first. Then I won't have to interrupt the person again. She softly knocked on the door before her, "Hello..? I'm the new maid.. I need to clean your room." She called out softly. A grunt was heared from the room, then the cold male voice spoke, "Come in. The door is open." Sakura pushed the door open, carrying the cleaning materials. She rolled her eyes and gave a unaudible sigh. Hinata had already told her that it was Hyuga Neji, but he still gave her the creeps.
Even though, Sakura proceeded to clean the room. He was ignoring her, so she tried to do the same. When she was almost finished, she only had to do the windows, she was interrupted by loud coughing. She turned around, 'Eww..gross..', he had coughed up some blood on the floor. "Neji!" She began, but was interrupted once again. "It's Neji-sama for you, woman." Sakura growled , "Alright, Neji-sama. Can you, please, watch where you spit blood next time?! I just cleaned this place!" Sakura continued in anger while cleaning the mess up. Neji didn't say anything, as usual, but just glared at her. Sakura quickly finished doing the windows and continued cleaning the other rooms. The last room she had to do was that of Hinata. But the Hyuga girl was sleeping. Sakura cleaned the room as quiet as possible, then proceeded to the corridors.
*~*~*
Ino waited patiently for Sakura to come. She wasn't in any hurry, just really tired. Because of that, she didn't mind to wait. Sakura walked down the pad slowly, only to be greeted by a half-slumbering Ino. Ino yawned and opened her eyes, feeling Sakura's presence. "Sakura-chan, are you so tired too..?" Ino questioned while they started to walk to the village together. They had a nice slow pace. "Hai, Ino-chan.. It was a lot of work.." Sakura replied, then mumbled, "And Neji didn't really help either.." Sakura suddenly grinned widely as Inner Sakura exclaimed, 'Hah! I don't have to call him Neji-sama out here!' Ino looked at her best friend curiously, then decided to tell Sakura a bit of her own cleaning work. "Hai! You can't be.." Ino stopped suddenly to let out a big yawn. Sakura snickered, then motioned for her best friend to continue.
"As I was saying.. You can't believe how big the Hidden Mansion is..!" Sakura shrugged, "Really..I don't know. I have never seen it before.. But I think it has a bit of the size of the Hyuga Mansion.." Ino nodded softly, then looked around. They were standing on the place they would have to go their own way. She would have to go a different way then Sakura to get to her own house. "Hey, Sakura-chan..I'll see you tomorrow, ok? I'll be working in the flower shop.." Sakura nodded, "Alright Ino-chan, I'll come and visit. I still need to go to the hospital and bring the wounded flowers. Until then! Sleep well!" The two hugged and made their way home.
*~*~*
The three Sand Shinobi swiftly made their way trough the trees. They were quick and quiet. Gaara was ahead of his siblings again. Temari looked at Kankura and spoke softly, "Kankuro.. do you think we'll rest tonight?" She shivered, they hadn't slept for the last few days. "I doubt it.. Gaara won't stop, so we can only follow.." Kankuro replied softly. Temari nodded with a yawn, but quickened her pace anyway. Although the two didn't know it, they both hoped that they would soon be in Konoha Village.
*~*~*
Tsunade yawned and closed her eyes again. She was still tired. It was too early for people to come to her too. 'Oh well..' she thought, 'at least I get to rest a bit more..' The Fifth yawned again and finally started to slumber a bit. Then, she heared a yell, "Hey! You can't just walk in there!" Then the door opened at the same moment that Tsunade opened her eyes. Before her were three shinobi. They were carrying Hitai-ate from the Sand. "Aa..so you three have arrived. A bit early, but it's alright.. Welcome to Konohagakure No Sato." Temari looked at her two brothers, then decided they weren't going to speak. So she took that task on her, "Thank you, Hokage-sama. We are honored to be here.." she yawned, she would prefer a bed to this talk. She knew she had to be polite, or the Sand would punish them for not behaving in the allied village.
"If you don't mind, Hokage-sama..my oldest brother and I haven't slept for days.." Tsunade frowned slightly, it was clear that the youngest didn't sleep, she knew that and also why. But that the other two hadn't slept too. 'Maybe they are still afraid of Gaara..' she thought, looking at the youngest for a while. Looking back up to the only female, and the one who spoke to her, she nodded. "Yes, I have arranged an house for you three to stay in. You already knew that, didn't you?" Temari nodded, they were told that by the Kazekage himself. They had also heard the fact that they weren't to harm the girl that cleaned the house everyday. Also did she knew that she would probably be the one that would have to keep Gaara from attacking the girl though. 'He never cares about rules..' Temari thought, then looked up as the Fifth Hokage started to talk again.
"It is called the Hidden Mansion. It lies near the Hyuga Mansion in the forest. You won't be disturbed there. I'll have an ANBU escort you there. You three will have the next two weeks off, then you can settle into the village. If there are any problems, don't hesitate to tell me. Now, you three are dismissed. An ANBU is waiting outside the door to escort you to the mansion." Tsunade finished and watched as the three left the door. She was left alone to ponder again. 'Now..that was interesting. I do hope that Gaara finds some friends in the village. He did have a strange liking for Naruto anyway. I think they can become friends real quick. That would be nice, Naruto can always introduce a new one into the village. If he does so, then it doesn't matter who the new one is..'
*~*~*
Ino waved the last customer goodbye and went to leaning on the counter again. Today was a boring day in the flowershop. She could only hope that Sakura would come soon. Her wish came true, since Sakura entered the shop after half an hour. "Hello Ino-chan!" Sakura called out cheerfully, getting the expected reply back. "Sakura-chan! Finally! You can't imagine how boring it is in here!" Sakura looked around, "I can, there are absolutely no customers! Outside, there is only half of the usual crowd. It's pretty weird. This isn't some unknown holiday, hmm?" Ino shook her head, "No..I don't think so. There is nothing on our calendar. Now, Sakura-chan..with what can I help you? You want flowers for the wounded, hmm? Just name the flowers you want and I'll wrap them up for you." Ino clapped her hands together and looked at Sakura eagerly.
Sakura nodded, "I want a daffodil for Lee-san.. Sasuke-kun will get one too. I need a loud looking flower for Naruto. A colorful flower for Shino.. and a simple one for Choji. Then a soft colored one for Neji." Ino looked at Sakura with a frown, Sakura noticed and continued. "I know, I know! You probably think that he doesn't deserve one. But I want to make friends with him. I want to figure the guy out. He's a bit like Sasuke-kun.. Aa.. no need to drift off into fantasies now. I want a small, white flower for Hinata." Ino nodded and twirled around the shop, picking up flowers on her way. Ino skillfully wrapped each one up in a different paper, then handed them too Sakura. "Here you go, Sakura-chan!" Sakura smiled and handed her some money. Ino gave her back the change and smiled, "Here, now you're all set. I wish I could go with you, but I can't.. mom is making me watch the shop again.." Sakura laughed, then smiled encouragingly, "Aa, Ino-chan. I hope you have a lot more customers today!" Then she made her way out of the store.
*~*~*
Temari shivered. It was colder here then in the Hidden Sand Village. She was walking trough Konoha Village in silence, hoping to get to know all the little streets and things. She didn't watch out enough, because she was lost, again. Temari looked at the flower shop besides her, 'Maybe I can get some flowers for my new room. And then I can ask the owner for directions to the Hidden Mansion too.' She entered the shop and was greeted by a blonde girl. "Hello there! Welcome to the Yamanaka flower shop! Can I help you?" Temari nodded, "Yes, I am new around here. I need some flowers for my new room."
Ino smiled softly, she knew this girl already. That girl had fought Shikamaru during the finals of the first Chuunin Exam that she participated in. The girl was also the sister of that Gaara who had hurt Sasuke-kun. She was also the sister of that puppeteer, Kankuro. Ino knew that the girl was called Temari, she had heard that. Sakura and Shikamaru had also told her a lot of the three Sand nin. Sakura, which had heard it from Naruto, told her the whole past of Gaara. Ino also knew that the three of them had changed, for the better. She was glad of that.
"Welcome to Konoha, Temari of the Desert." Temari's eyes widened as she was startled, but before she could speak again, the other spoke once more. "You must be wondering how I know your name. I know of you and your two brothers, Gaara and Kankuro. Yes..your name.. well, my friend told me. His name is Shikamaru, you have to know him!" The blonde now spoke cheerfully. Temari frowned, 'that name..it's the guy I fought back then.. the guy with the moving shadows..' Then, she nodded. "I hope you find Konoha a nice village. My name's Yamanaka Ino. Nice to meet you." Ino said while making a gesture at the flowers besides her, "Just pick the ones you like. I'll wrap them up for you." Temari nodded, "Thank you, Ino", then pointed at some flowers. It were black roses, desert flowers and sand colored roses. Ino picked the flowers that Temari pointed to up. Then she made her way to the counter and wrapped them up for Temari.
Temari payed for the flowers and smiled.
"Was that all?" Ino questioned. Temari began to nod, but then remembered something and shook her head. "Actually.. I need some directions.. I need to get back to the Hidden Mansion. I got lost on my stroll trough the village and I'd like to get home again." Ino's eyes widened in a short shock, "t-the H-Hid-den M-Man-sion..?" Temari nodded, "Yes, I want to be home before the maid arrives..." Temari looked like she was finished talking, but finished the sentence in her mind, '...because I ain't sure if she'll be safe if only Gaara and Kankuro are there..' Ino shivered, "Wait here, I'll be right back." Temari nodded and waited a while. Ino then returned in the outfit she used for cleaning. "I'll go with you. I still need to clean that place today anyway." Temari nodded and followed Ino out of the shop, 'so this is the girl that cleans the mansion..I'm glad, she seems quite nice.' Soon, they were on their way to the Hidden Mansion. They were talking about Temari's past and Ino was planning to introduce Temari to her friends.
*~*~*
Sakura walked into the hospital with seven flowers in her hand. She would leave with only two. As she entered, she paid no attention to the nurses. Sakura already knew where her friends were resting. They had their own part of the building. Waking up out of her thoughts, Sakura found herself in Rock Lee's room. "Lee-san.." she whispered, walking over to the boy. She replaced the daffodil she had brought with the old one. She pciked up the card that hung on the end of the boy's bed. It was a card that showed the physical condition of the patient in the bed. 'Still no change in your state..' Sakura thought while putting the card back. "Well, Lee-san.. I'm going to give the others their flowers too. See you again soon." Sakura acted the same in the rooms of Choji, Shino and Sasuke. None of their situations had changed. Oh yes, they had of course all improved, but none had given any sign of waking up soon.
Sakura stood inside of Naruto's room. Her eyes were fixed on the medical card that she was holding. A hand was clasped over her mouth to keep her from screaming. 'He has already woken up?!?!' Sakura thought in amazement, 'It must be the fox..' She sat down besides the sleeping boy, taking his hand in hers. She thanked the Kyuubi for fastening Naruto's healing proces. Yes, everyone now knew about the demon fox residing in the boy. Not wanting to wake her friend, Sakura left his room. She walked out of the hospital a lot happier then how she had entered.
Before Sakura made her way towards the Hyuga mansion, she stopped at her house to change. In her hand were still the two flowers, ment for the injured Hyuga's. Sakura was let into the mansion by a unknown Branch member. She first walked into Hinata's room, smiling happily, "Ohayo, Hinata-san!" "H-hello, Sakura-san.." Hinata greeted the girl back. Sakura gave the flower to Hinata, who put it in a vase besides her bed. "T-thank you, Sakura-san.. m-may I a-ask why y-you are s-so happy..?" Hinata questioned. Sakura nodded, "Yes.. I was just visiting the boys at the hospital.. and... besides the fact that he was sleeping when I visited.. Naruto has woken yesterday!" Hinata gasped, milk colored eyes widened in shock. Then the Hyuga girl let out a very happy and very un-Hinata-like shriek of joy.
Sakura laughed at the blushing girl. Hinata was sure that the whole village had heard her. Sakura told Hinata that she was going to clean and left the room. Then she slipped into Neji's room, thanking the Gods that he was sleeping. She quickly placed the flower in a vase that was on his desk. Then she put the vase besides his bed and slipped out of his room again. What she didn't know was that Neji had just been faking his sleep..
*~*~*
Ino was cleaning one of the master bedrooms. Temari had told her that her brothers were training outside. So Ino went to quickly clean the house. When she was finishing the last Master bedroom, she heard the front door slam shut. Ino, however, paid no attention to it. She didn't notice him until he spoke, "What are you doing in my room?" a cold voice questioned. Ino turned around, then froze. Before her was Gaara of the Desert. 'Damn..why him..' Ino thought before answering, "I, boy, I am the maid."
Gaara's eyes narrowed. He didn't like the disrespect that the girl showed him. Sand flowed out of his gourd as the corc was already removed due to his training. The sand quickly surrounded the girl. Ino let out a scream, fear could be seen in her eyes. Thankfully for Ino, Temari came running to the room when she heared the scream. "Gaara! Don't!" Gaara turned around to face his older sister, "This girl annoys me." He stated with his usual cold voice. Temari nodded, "She may do so, but you can't just kill her! You can't kill everyone who annoys you! It isn't right, Gaara!" Gaara grunted and turned around again. His sand flowing back into the gourd, leaving Ino to fall down to the floor. "You there. Girl. Next time you show me disrespect, I'll kill you." With that, the blood haired boy left the room.
Temari watched her little brother leave and then sighed in relief. If Gaara wanted it, he could've killed both girls in a second. Temari turned to Ino and walked over to help her up. As she offered her hand to the fallen girl, she spoke, "You really should be more respectfull. Even I get treated with death every second I am with him. You only worsen that threath if you are disrespectfull. I can't come saving your butt every time you do so, Ino." Ino nodded, taking the hand, then stood up. "I know.. thank you...Temari-san.." Ino was to shocked to continue talking, so she continued cleaning the house. She carefully avoided any contact with Gaara for the rest of the day.
