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((DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto or any of it's characters.))

- What Are Partners For? - Chapter Four -

Sakura hesitated before she knocked on Neji's door. She despised him with a hatred that rivaled how much she had come to hat herself. Finally, Sakura decided that these were the consequences she had to pay for sleeping with Sasuke, so she chose to grin and bear it. Although she was dying inside, Sakura even managed to put on a smile as she tapped on Neji's door.

She was answered only seconds after knocking, which didn't surprise her. The suave, long-haired ninja standing before her wore a smile that worried her, but she kept her sweet demeanor and said, "Good evening, Neji-san. Might I come in?"

"Of course," Neji replied. "Heaven forbid I rudely leave you at the doorstep." Sakura picked up the reference to their encounter earlier, but said nothing of it. "I must admit, I'm a bit surprised to see you here. I mean, I know that I invited you over and all, but I thought you may have been busy." As Sakura entered and he shut the door, he added, "I heard Sasuke was free tonight."

Sakura froze. No matter how much she wanted to remain calm and not give Neji what he wanted, he had hit a nerve by bringing up Sasuke. She spun around to face him, her smile gone and her eyes looking hurt and angry. "Just what do you want, Neji? I know you know about me sleeping with Sasuke! It was a mistake on my part, alright? I shouldn't have done it, even if my marriage was going under. Now what do you want from me?"

Neji approached Sakura, still completely calm, and placed his arm around her shoulders. "Relax, Sakura. May I offer you a drink? You really shouldn't be so uptight. It's not good for you."

Sakura wanted to push Neji, punch Neji, or do anything that would get Neji away from her, but Neji was untouchable to her. As long as he knew her secret, he was a threat to her. He could, and he would, tell Naruto. All Sakura could do was wonder if he was torturing Sasuke as cruelly as he was torturing her.

"Look, Sakura," Neji said as her led her down the halls. His home was even nicer than Sasuke's, and it was bigger as well. Sakura remembered the story of the Hyuuga main and branch families and wondered how Neji had escaped his branch family life to get everything that was around him. "Honestly, I'm not that bad of a person. I suppose it's a bit odd of Sasuke and I to work together. He's a year younger than me, you know, so I guess I could be expected to be the more mature of the two of us. Had I known he was going to use his skills as a womanizer to get a married woman in his bed, I would've advised him not to. No offense, Sakura, but married woman really are a bit of a hassle. They're used to having it a certain way and they're used to having a constant partner who knows exactly what they like... It's all just a mess, really. I'm sure the sex you had with Sasuke was nothing compared to what you have with Naruto..."

Sakura didn't answer. Honestly, it had been a very long time since she'd had sex with Naruto, so it was hard to compare the two experiences.

"But you've gotten me off subject," Neji said, giving Sakura a bit of relief because it showed that Neji really didn't care about the sex she'd had with Sasuke. "As I was saying, I'm the older and more mature of Sasuke and I. Now if you'll just turn in here. I'll get the lights."

The door Neji opened led into a dark room. It scared Sakura, but Neji nudged her in. She entered slowly with Neji behind her. He quickly turned on the lights, but he also closed and locked the door before Sakura had time to react to what room she was in.

"Neji, is this your bedroom?" she gasped, worried beyond reason. It was a very nice bedroom, but when Sakura turned and saw the sadistic grin that Neji wore, she nearly burst into tears.

"You see, Sakura," he sighed, getting closer to her. She tried to back away from him, but she ran into the bed. When she didn't fall on her own, he pushed her down. "I'm the older and more mature out of Sasuke and I, so why shouldn't I get everything he has?"

Before Sakura could protest, Neji's lips met hers and his hands began unzipping her dress. She tried to push him off of her, but he was a ninja at the top of his career and she didn't do as much shinobi work as she used to. He was, physically, much stronger than her, and he had already tormented her mentally. All she could do was let a few tears escape and pray it would be over soon. She couldn't even hope some one would save her because then people would know. Neji would tell everyone everything if he didn't get his way with her.

Neji did all he could to Sakura before he decided he was done. After what felt like an eternity, Sakura was sore and her spirit was completely broken. All of her an Neji's clothes layed intermingled around the room. When Neji allowed her to, she got off his bed and dressed as quickly as she could. Her body hurt each time she moved, and her eyes ached from crying, but she dressed with such speed that it seemed like nothing had happened to her. Neji remained on the bed, undressed and uncovered, and watched Sakura put her clothes back on as if it amused him. When she tried to slip back into her panties though, he spoke.

"Leave those," he said nonchalantly. Sakura just looked at him for a moment.

"Wha... what?" she stammered, unable to process what he had said.

"Your panties. Leave them here."

Sakura didn't want to, but she didn't ask anymore questions. Instead, she just left her panties and finished dressing. When she went for the door, Neji got off the bed and went to her. She kept her eyes low and away so that she wouldn't have to look at any part of him. Using one finger, Neji rose her face towards him and placed a gentle kiss on her lips.

"Be back here tomorrow at eight 'o' clock. Show yourself in and come directly to this room unless I meet you on the way and tell you otherwise. Do you understand that?" Sakura nodded. "I trust you can find your way out." Sakura nodded again. "And who are we not to tell about this?"

"Anyone," she muttered.

"But who in particular?"

Sakura thought for a moment, and then she answered, "Sasuke..."

"Good girl. I wouldn't want this causing a decline in his performance. Now, one last kiss before you leave."

Neji didn't start the kiss. Instead, he waited for Sakura to. She caught on, and she did. Finally, Neji let her go and she practically ran home. After everything that had happened, and despite everything that had happened, Sakura just wanted to be in Naruto's arms again.

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AUTHOR'S NOTE: Yeah, we're all starting to hate Neji now. I know I'm going to hear two things: the Sakura haters will say "She deserved it! Go Neji!" and the Neji lovers will say "How dare you make my Neji a rapist! I hate you, Kashiji!" I'm in a transitional phase right now actually. I'm in between liking and hating Sakura. I guess as I keep readingthe manga, I start liking her a little bit more. I guess my "transitional phase" started when she cut her hair. I kind of liked that. I know, I know: that makes me a terrible person. Live with it. I doubt I know any of you anyway...I've decided that I don't care about any of you or your stupid reviews. I'm going to post these chapters because I WANT TO. So... read and review. X3

P.S: I hope this chapters answers some questions about the Sasuke/Neji thing. Yeah: it's not gonna to happen. Sorreh.