Itonami: Thank you for all of your wonderful comments and reviews!
A reviewer told me I should probably look at my timing again. And I will, of course. Just give me some moments to fix up the time space between each chapter. I will repost them as soon as they're done.
A Dedication: Inochi no Fushigi, you are truly the one to listen to. I will have to admit that it does get quite hard to continue this story and I will make an effort to recreate those emotions. I hope you will be able to regain some of your confidence in me after reading this chapter! Thank you
Baby Kakashi: You just brightened up my crappy mood with your review. Thanks for the light-hearted encouragement and I hope you will like this chapter. If you don't, I'll write the next one and dedicate that to you again. Summing it all up, you are awesome!
Disclaimer: I do not own any part of Naruto.
Chapter 5
Sakura felt tears spill over and crash down to the ground. She let her head fall into his chest and stifled a sob. Pink locks fell to veil her head from view. The emptiness inside of her multiplied and yet she did not know why. Sakura had always dreamed of feeling happiness and joy when Sasuke would come back. But all she could feel was a vacant hole in the middle of her chest and her stomach felt like it didn't exist.
Simply so empty.
Just when she had put her heart and life were back together after Sasuke's departure, Sakura found them lying at her feet shattered to a million pieces with his return. She couldn't pick up the pieces and reconstruct them again. She had spent twelve long years doing that once before and it was too exhausting to repeat it.
"Well, someone isn't feeling too well."
His voice and tone ripped her apart even further. Sakura felt her face constrict into a harsh frown as she tried to force down her sobs. Her hands clamped into fists so hard that her nails dug into her skin, making her palms bleed. Weakly, she beat the Uchiha's chest with a fist, feeling robbed of the simple happiness that everyone but her seemed to possess.
"It's not fair." She whispered, tears dripping from the end of her nose.
She heard Sasuke sigh a little bit. "Life is never fair."
Angrily, Sakura pushed him away, making him stumble a little bit. "It's all your fault! Why did you come back! Dammit, you're all you think about! I hate you, Uchiha Sasuke!" She screamed at him, knowing that the man in front of her hadn't done anything wrong. Her anger had to go somewhere.
The smirk did not fade from his malicious expression. "I'm not the only one I think about."
Her eyes narrowed harshly. "That's new." Looking at the nin in front of her, years of experience told her that Sasuke was stained forever in blood. The pink-haired woman realized that this was the shinobi who killed Tenten. He had killed the woman who had meant something to Neji. Green eyes burned with fury.
"Go before I tell Naruto you're here, missing-nin Uchiha." She said coldly.
The smirk widened. "You've changed since I was gone."
"Well, twelve years will do that to a person." She snapped.
"As I've said, I'm not the only I think about. I've thought about you for a long time….Sakura." He stepped closer.
The kunoichi backed away feebly, her remaining strength draining as he spoke those words. "Don't do this to me, Sasuke." She whispered desperately, her coldness melting away.
"I'm not doing anything. I merely came by to see you." He feigned a look of hurt and innocence.
This was not the Sasuke she knew. Sakura returned to her anger. "You killed Tenten."
He looked surprised. "Tenten?"
She could not believe he didn't even know who Tenten was. "You attacked Neji-san's ANBU group. You massacred all of them out of cold blood. Neji-san lost good friends, and a woman who loved him to death."
Sasuke smiled coldly. "I guess she took that literally." His smile grew. "Has Sakura gotten attached to the Hyuuga?" He leered at her. She felt her already broken heart being crushed beneath his foot.
Sakura looked away while she held in another wave of tears. "No, he doesn't feel that way."
"Then come away with me." He cut in fluidly.
A bitter chuckle escaped her throat. "I don't fall for those anymore, Sasuke. Maybe twelve years ago, but not anymore."
The play of emotions on his face made him surreal. This couldn't be the Sasuke who had left her once before, the stoic, silent Sasuke. The pain and the stress upon her mind were so great that Sakura convinced herself she was being delusional. Yes, that was it. She was just talking to a Sasuke made from her imagination. "You're not real. You're not real. God, I need some sleep." The tired kunoichi brushed past Sasuke to enter her apartment.
As she unlocked the door, a pleasant memory of when she had invited Neji in after he had gotten wet in the rain. Sakura unconsciously smiled to herself softly and entered her home. She didn't bother turning on the lights and just went to the bathroom to wash up. After brushing her teeth, she changed quickly and crawled into bed, finally being able to rest and sooth her chaotic mind.
'Perhaps it's best to keep it like the way things have been.'
'A free bird. Without restraints, without boundaries.'
Hyuuga Neji's handsome face was burned into her mind and his quirky dry humor along with his serious, pearl-white eyes made their mark on her soul.
As if the floodgates had been opened, Sakura cried. She cried like never before, each tear a small memory of Neji. Her blankets were bunched under her chin as she curled up in a tight ball on her side. Sobs racked her body harshly and hiccups interrupted every sob.
And she fell into a fitful sleep that way.
Hyuuga Neji lay awake on his futon, his thin sheet covering his long legs peacefully. He started to wish it would rain.
Frustrated, he closed his eyes in order to focus on resting. Sleep eluded him in every possible way and it tickled him, teased him, just like that kunoichi who wanted to be born as a tree. Without thinking, he smiled at the thought and pictured Sakura as the most beautiful sakura tree.
An owl hooted in the distance and the noise startled him out of his train of thought. Neji scowled openly at the window and got up. Not knowing what to do, he exited through the back and paced in the garden. The wind breezed past and suddenly the air was still, nothing stirred. He sighed while rubbing a rough hand over his neck, weary and annoyed.
The Hyuuga wished he could go back and change everything. He despised feeling helpless. He could not and did not give into his personal desires. Even Tenten had not known his true feelings and certainly never got to see a gentler side than his usual courteousness.
Meditation did not help. Pacing worked even less. Training got him to think about his spar with the medic nin. No, he wouldn't say her name. It was dangerous to get attached. Just what is so dangerous, Hyuuga? An uncontrolled part of his sub-consciousness asked him innocently.
Neji had always believed in fate and its hand whatever result of an action. Tenten's death, no matter how it was, he believed, was what fate decided. Naruto would probably scold him for thinking such things, but many years of habit wouldn't fade.
The guilt of what he had said to Sakura nagged at him and he could do nothing to get rid of it. Wearily, he entered his house and room as he made up the mind to go apologize. It was the least he could do. It would probably help him sleep at night.
He fell asleep unknowingly thinking about the person he didn't want to think about.
Sakura frowned in her half slumber. There was another presence of chakra in her bedroom. Carefully, she slipped her hand under her pillow and grasped the hilt of a hidden kunai.
"There's no need, Sakura. If I wanted to kill you, I would've done so a long time ago." A voice drawled from a corner.
Her green eyes snapped open. They burned with the bright light which came from the top of her ceiling and she squinted in the direction of the sound. Sasuke was leaning against the wall, amusedly watching her scramble on the bed.
"I have to admit, it was tempting…" He trailed off, letting her finish his sentence mentally.
"What are you doing here, Sasuke?" She asked, forcing her voice not to tremble.
The Uchiha shrugged. "I followed you in after our encounter in front of the building. You seemed to believe you were hallucinating."
Sakura pricked her hand in the kunai to make sure she wasn't dreaming. A small sting of pain let her know that she was far beyond the images of sub-consciousness. There was a silence between them; they spoke through their eyes.
A quiet, hesitant knock came at her door.
Sakura froze. Someone was here? What was she going to do with Sasuke? If anyone found out he was here, she could be named a traitor.
"Should I get the door, Sakura?"
Before she could stop him, Sasuke was at the front door. He opened casually just as Sakura came running out of the bedroom in only her pajamas.
The door revealed a tall handsome Hyuuga, eyes white and hair brown. Dressed in his usual grey training kimono, Hyuuga Neji stood tensed and stiff as he stared at Uchiha Sasuke.
"What a surprise…" Sasuke breathed, breaking the pregnant silence in the room.
Neji's face became alive with the activation of his Byakugan and a look of ultimate fury. Sasuke dodged the close range attack from the Hyuuga as he sprang back to the other side of the living room.
"Die, traitor of the Leaf." Neji snarled as he came at him with a heart-stopping blow.
"Neji-san, wait!" Sakura screamed and ran as fast as she could in between his attack and Sasuke.
It was too late to stop. Neji's attack came in full contact with her chest. Her small body flew back into Sasuke, who caught her from behind.
It was difficult to breathe. The staggering amount of pressure on her chest was crushing her lungs. She began to shake uncontrollably. Blood dribbled down from the corner of her lips.
Without realizing it, Neji wrenched her away from Sasuke and left immediately. The Uchiha followed. He was going to be found soon or later. They leapt from building to building toward the hospital.
"Oi, Sasuke-teme!"
The two nins stopped at the sound of the Hokage's voice. Sasuke smirked and raised a hand to greet him. "Long time no see…dobe."
In less than a second, Sasuke saw the cloaked form of Naruto in front of him, a kunai in hand. With strength which earned him the title of Hokage, the Rokudaime punched Sasuke. The other nin fell back from the incredible momentum.
"Not bad, dobe."
"Why did you come back, teme?" The golden haired ninja growled.
Sasuke lifted his shoulders in a nonchalant shrug. "Missed old friends."
"Go, Neji. Hurry." Naruto said, while still keeping his eyes on his former Konoha comrade.
This was familiar. Neji had once carried a woman in his arms in the similar fashion. The first woman had been killed by an outsider. This time, she was dying from what he had done.
The Hyuuga ceased to be surprised by the rain. Fate. It now came down slowly, enveloping the two of them in a soft embrace. Feather light caresses of the wind lingered briefly as he sped toward the hospital. Sakura shifted in his arms.
"Neji-san?" Her voice almost stopped his heart. It sounded so weak and raspy.
"I'm sorry."
A shaky breath was let out into his firm chest. "Sorry for what?"
Silver eyes flashed with internal conflicts. "For hurting you."
"You didn't mean it, did you, Neji-san?"
Neji looked down at her pale face and shook his head. Her distraught expression relaxed visibly into a weak smile of relief. "I'm sorry." He repeated, not really knowing what else to say, as if saying it a thousand times over could not wash away the guilt already embedded into his soul.
"I'll be fine, Neji-san. I was stupid."
"You…..wanted to save him." The Hyuuga bit out, the strange, foreign emotion of jealousy leaking into his tone of voice.
This time, it was Sakura who seemed hesitant. "I'm sorry." It was her turn to say it. "I know…..he killed Tenten-san, but I…..couldn't let him die."
"If you could, would you…..go back to him?" The hospital drew nearer with each passing second.
A cold, tender hand enclosed his cheek, causing him to stop abruptly and look down at the pink haired woman in his arms. Jade orbs filled with tears as a thumb brushed away a bead of rainwater. "Should I, Neji-san?" Her voice whispered, a confused pain clearly evident.
Should I, Neji-san?
He could not answer. The Hyuuga Neji was speechless for the first time in his life. There were so many things to say to her, but he had not the voice to tell her. You lack courage, Hyuuga. You are a mere coward when it comes to human emotions. How right that was.
Sakura noticed the faraway look in his pearly eyes and grew disappointed at his lack of response. The physical pain in her chest lessened but she hardly noticed. The hospital waiting room smelled of that distinct scent of clean bedpans and sterile equipment as Neji entered swiftly with her. She could hear distant rumblings of his tenor voice and the soprano of the nurse he was conversing with.
She was laid down on a bed and familiar calloused hands pulled the sheets over her comfortingly. The chakra of Neji did not exit the room. It remained still on the chair beside the bed, patient and concerned.
"They said you should be fine. Some ribs are fractured, but your chakra channels are circulating."
The medical jounin nodded feebly. "Thank you."
"Get better."
If Sakura wanted to stop him from leaving, she didn't show it in anyway. Neji reluctantly got up from the chair and walked to the door. He looked back but she did not look back. She stared straight ahead of her, tired and hurt. Her green eyes were hooded and unfocused.
"If you'd like to stay, you can stay." She said softly, sensing his hesitance to leave.
"No, I'll take my leave."
He had his hand on the doorknob, but her small sob stopped him. He turned around to see Sakura weakly trying to breathe through her compressed sobbing. Tears dripped down her face as she pitifully tried to wipe them away. The Hyuuga could literally feel his heart wrench from its place.
"Why is it," she gasped out, "that I'm the only one not happy? What did I do so wrong to deserve any of this?"
Neji didn't say anything again. Silence was his armor, but he was painfully aware that words were in need in the room.
"I am not happy either."
"Nothing. I am nothing." The pink-haired woman said.
This made the man standing very angry. No, furious was more like it. When he spoke, his tone was icy and harsh, unforgiving and not pitying. "Only a self-defeated person is nothing."
She sniffed as she stopped wallowing in self-pity. "You're right, Neji-san…..as always."
Neji turned away. "Naruto knows Sasuke is here."
He saw her tense a little but she nodded all the same. "He would have found out. I didn't try to hide him. He was already in my apartment."
"Did he…..hurt you?" The Hyuuga asked.
"No," she replied, still looking at the opposite wall.
"You shouldn't." Neji said, stepping closer.
Sakura tore her gaze from the wall and looked into his silver eyes. "I shouldn't what?"
"Go back."
And her shattered heart began to piece together again.
Author's notes: This story is coming to an end. No doubt about it. Not much more to write. Was this boring? I don't know.
Sakura and Neji. Finally, yet there are some more things to do, you see. It isn't the end of the end. Don't think Sasuke's going to give up on Sakura that easily. I'd like to read your reviews!