AN- Hey, I love you people:-P, you actually reviewed. Thank youuuuuuuuu.
Sohpia- Sakura heals by chakra. If you've only read the first 8 books, well, keep reading, it gets better. Plus it explains a helluva a lot. Oh, and I did a Neji/sakura fic because it's my favourite pairing, and I've read some great fics in this pairing, so, I thought I'd give it a try, and see how it worked out.
Aznanime-eyes- it all floats my boat. Cheers for the review.
Thanks to everyone else who actually commented on this too.
Disclaimer- it's been a long time coming, but I do not own Naruto. However, if some randomly named character shows up, which I doubt any will, well then, chances are I made up the random one. You'll know if I do though, cos it'll be the oddest thing you've ever read. No plans to go there though.
XOX
Neji hated head wounds. They bled lots, stung lots, and were a general pain in the arse. The first Sound ninja had managed to land an incredibly lucky hit on his forehead, slicing a messy path through his skin from just above his eyebrow all the way to his temple. That was his only triumph. After that, he'd managed to quite accidentally impale himself on Neji's sword. Neji himself had been bringing up his left hand to hit a tenketsu over the ninja's heart, content to let him die that way (because after all, death by exploding heart was so much cleaner than impaling a person. The heart didn't explode out of the chest, just inside it. A lot less blood that way). But of course the stupid Sound-nin had to try and dodge, forcing Neji to bring up his sword.
Come to think of it, Neji hated blood too. When you wore lots of cream and white, the cleaning bills tended to pile up a bit. And after 2 weeks of traveling back to Konoha with a seemingly endless entourage of enemy ninjas behind them, Neji's clothes were definitely worse for wear. He might have to rethink his colour scheme. One look at Naruto, however, and he promptly dismissed that idea.
At the moment, he was trying to enjoy a much needed break. Problem was, it was rather hard to enjoy a break when you were trying to be constantly on the alert for an ambush, while attempting to patch up the various cuts and scrapes you'd earned in the service of your village.
Naruto, on the other hand, had been disgustingly chipper throughout the entire ordeal. He was the one truly keeping lookout at the moment, because he didn't have any wounds to bind up. It was one of the irritating things about traveling with him, whatever hurts he got in combat, if the weren't serious, healed themselves within a couple of hours. Damn Kyuubi chakra. On the plus side though, it meant Neji was freer than he would have been otherwise to fix himself up.
"Neji, we need to get moving. If we move fast, we can reach Konoha in about 2 hours, and I can sleep in my own bed. I don't think my backs ever gonna be the same after this mission. I've never slept on so many tree roots in my life".
Neji grunted, and slipped his shirt back on, wincing as a cut on his back pulled a bit. That one had been a decidedly more skilled than the average ninja. He'd found Neji's blind spot, and it was only thanks to some superior reflexes, and a fast-thrown kunai from Naruto, that the cut hadn't been worse. "You can sleep on anything, anywhere Naruto, so stop your whining."
Pouting, Naruto stood and slung on his pack. "Aaah, you're just grumpy 'cos I saved your butt."
Neji glared at him and threatened "Keep that up, and you can make the report to Tsunade yourself".
A trickle of sweat wormed its way down Naruto's cheek as he swallowed nervously. "Eh heh….sorry. I won't mention it again."
"You mean you won't mention it again until you want something". Neji snorted, and raised his eyebrow as Naruto started to complain. "Come off it Naruto, you know you'll try it. And I'll pretend to listen, before refusing. Because if you try to hold it over my head, then everyone will find out about that time when you got drunk while we were in Sand, and tried to kiss Temari. And I won't leave out how she kicked your arse until you sobered up enough to surrender and beg for mercy."
"Neji, it's a wonder you have any friends with a disposition like yours".
"It's a wonder you have any friends, Naruto, with a mouth like yours".
An evil look crossed over Naruto's face as the two skimmed through the tree tops to Konoha. "Speaking of lips, you seemed to find Sakura's pretty attractive before we left. Care to explain that one?"
"No, not really".
"Oh come on Neji, you've got to give me something".
"I don't have to give you anything Naruto", Neji growled.
Naruto pulled level with Neji and threw a red-eyed glare at him. "She's been my team mate and friend for 8 years. You hurt her and I hurt you, no matter the circumstances between us. If you're just messing around with her, you're either gonna stop, or I'm gonna make you." The claws that had spouted from Naruto's fingertips left gouges in the trees as he leapt from branch to branch.
"Damnit Naruto, control your chakra or you'll pull every bloody ninja within a mile down on us!"
"Then fucking tell me what you were doing!" Naruto spun, and grabbing Neji by the throat, slammed him up against the tree they'd landed in. "What's so hard about that?"
Neji ripped Naruto's hand off his throat and snarled into his face, "Because I don't fucking well know why I did it. I was there, she was there, I felt like kissing her, so I did. I'm a guy, and I've got hormones! Goddamnit Naruto, she's a grown woman, she can bloody well take care of herself, she doesn't need you to do it for her!"
Rage, fear, concern, and confusion chased each other across Naruto's face, followed by a myriad of others that flitted across his features to fast for Neji to identify. Slowly, the red-tinted chakra bleed back into Naruto, leaving his eyes their normal sparkling blue.
The blonde's shoulders slumped, and he sighed. "I'm sorry Neji, it's just that habits die hard, you know? Sasuke already broke her heart, I just didn't want you to do it again".
White eyes narrowed further. "I'm nothing like Sasuke"
"I would argue that point, but now's not the time for it. Let's just get back to the village." Naruto stuck out his hand. "Forgive me?"
Glancing from Naruto's proffered hand to his face, Neji shook his head, and grasped Naruto's face. "Heaven only knows why I do sometimes".
A cheeky grin spread its way over Naruto's face. "Aaaaww, admit it Neji, you love me!" And before Neji could hit him, Naruto was off, springing from branch to branch like a monkey.
The rest of the journey was uneventful everywhere except in Neji's head. Naruto had brought up a storm of questions in Neji's head, and he couldn't answer any of them. He didn't know why he'd kissed her, or why he'd only just realized how attractive she was. He couldn't say what she saw in him. And the thing that scared him the most was that he didn't know why he was so attracted to her, or when it had even started.
All he did know was that when he got back to Konoha, facing her was going to be the hardest thing he had to do.
XOX
Neji's feet dragged as he forced them towards the hospital. Tsunade had taken one look at him, and told him that Naruto could explain everything, but he, Neji, had better get his ass to the hospital and to Sakura before his feet fell out from under him. Naruto had started to complain but Tsunade had just smacked him across the head, and told him to get on with it.
The soles of Neji's shoes scuffed up the steps of the hospital, dragging as though they were no more eager to reach their destination than he was. But an order was an order, and Neji followed all orders to the letter. Still, this was one order he could've done without. And if he didn't know better, he would've said Tsunade had been smiling when she'd issued him with this particular order.
He gave up. It was all a conspiracy.
As he swung back the doors, he heard his name called, and his shoulders automatically stiffened. Did she have to be so prompt?
"Tsunade told me to expect you. She called about 10 minutes ago." Sakura's eyes raked up and down his body. "You look terrible".
Neji smiled wryly. "Blame it all on Naruto, this is what happens when you travel with him."
Her eyes glinting, Sakura grinned. "Yeah, he is a pretty mucky pup. Well, let's get you go fixed up."
As he followed her down the hall to a treatment room, Neji took the opportunity to admire the way her hips swung, and the graceful way she moved. Yeah, there was definitely a cosmic conspiracy going on, and Tsunade was in on it. Otherwise he'd never be feeling the way he was.
Soon enough, Sakura had him seated in a treatment room, stripped of everything but his boxers. Her hands flitted over him, warm with her chakra, which rushed through his boy, sealing off cuts into shiny pink scars, and reducing purpley-blue bruises to a mottled yellow.
Rubbing her hands against her thighs, Sakura settled herself on a stool in front of Neji. Not looking at him, she murmured, "Neji, there's some things I need to talk to you about."
Her hands trembled. Curious, he reached out and touched her shoulder. Troubled jade eyes met questioning silver eyes, and Sakura let out a shuddering breath. "You'd better put your shirt and pants back on first."
Neji complied with her request, then settled himself and waited for her to continue. Sakura took a deep shuddering breath. "Remember when I said that I was studying you while I was treating you?" At his nod, she continued. "Well, I wasn't just trying to understand your mental quirks. I was also analyzing your Byakugan. And I found that…" Here her voice trailed off, and she looked down at her tightly clasped hands.
"Found what?" Neji pressed.
Still not meeting his eyes, Sakura replied. "I found….. I found that if you continue to use your Byakugan at the rate and consistency that have been for the past few years, then…." And here her voice dropped to a whisper, "then you'll be blind within 6 months".