To SKYBLUE1010: Thanks SO MUCH!
To Honorable Ninja: Hm. Maybe it's going to be NaruXSaku? Hehe, haven't decided yet.
To other readers: THANKS!
Neji had carried Hinata to one of the rooms to rest.
"N…"
"Hinata?" Neji asked softly.
Hinata gave out a groan, and put her head close to his chest.
"Ah…!" Neji blushed furiously. "Hin-Hinata- Sama!"
"N…Nar…Naruto…" Hinata mumbled.
"N…Naruto?" Neji muttered, disappointed. Then he felt anger.
What does Hinata see in that blonde brat?
He placed her on the bed and tucked her in.
He patted her head.
Hinata was breathing softly.
"Hinata."
He started bending down… His face was nearing Hinata's… Just a little bit more…
"NOOOOO!"
Neji was startled.
It was Lee's voice.
"NO! PLEASE! NOT EYEBROWS!"
Then Tenten's.
"LEE, CALM DOWN!"
"NOT-MY-EYEBROWS-'
"LEE! WAKE UP! Sighs… Didn't I release him from the spell?"
"NO- UUURRRGGGHHH-'
The sound of choking and gurgling came out from the corridor.
"AHH! HE'S FOAMING AT THE MOUTH AGAIN!"
Neji was getting irritated as Hinata stirred.
Dammit. She's waking up!
He stomped out, closed the door, and forced himself to go to a still wailing Lee.
"Tenten, do you have any idea how we should handle him?"
"No."
"Right. I have an idea."
He gave Lee a bit of his gentle fist, and Lee slumped to the ground, sleeping.
"Take him to a room or something."
"Urgh." Tenten dragged a now snoring Lee to a room…
Neji looked at team 7.
"Well, you can all choose a room or something. I suppose we'll just rest for today… As for dinner, we can settle it later…"
Sakura nodded.
Neji went back to the room.
"Sasuke, are you okay?" Sakura asked quietly.
Sasuke looked away. "Fine. A stupid illusion spell is not going to affect me."
"But… You look pale."
"I… I said I'm okay! You're annoying!" Sasuke snapped.
Sakura looked hurt. "S…Sorry. I'll…I'll take Naruto to a room."
She hurried away.
Now being alone in the hall, Sasuke gritted his teeth.
"Idiot."
Without even knowing it, tears are now streaming down his face.
Everyone got their own room (But all the girls stayed in one room) and the by next day, Lee was the first one to get up and was making pancakes at 7:00am.
The smell of pancakes woke Tenten up and she went to the kitchen groggily. "Hello, Lee. Are you feeling better or something?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. Want some pancakes?"
"Sure. Give me two."
Tenten dunked lots of honey and started eating them.
"You're a pretty good cook, Lee."
"Really? Thanks." Lee smiled brightly.
Tenten couldn't help but blush a little at his smiling face.
Okay, he acted like an idiot yesterday, but…
"He-Hello."
Hinata came into the kitchen.
"Good Morning! Want some pancakes?" Lee asked.
"Y-Yes."
Hinata then sat down, looking around awkwardly.
Hmm. Hinata. Tenten thought absentmindedly. Neji likes her… Then there's Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke… Ahh… When will it be MY turn to have a go at romance? Everyone's sort of taken…
Sakura tiptoed into Sasuke's room.
I'm stupid. I shouldn't be doing this…
She took a chair and sat down next to the bed where Sasuke was sleeping.
…I'll…I'll be scolded for this if he ever finds out…But I really want to know how he looks like when he sleeps…
She peered down at Sasuke.
"Dammit! He's facing the other side…"
Sakura bent over the bed to try and get a better look.
"Sakura…"
"EEP!" Sakura was stunned for a moment. Oh NO… He's woken up?
Sasuke hadn't. But he reached up and pulled Sakura down to him.
"S-Sasuke?"
"Hmm…Zzzzz."
Sasuke was still sleeping.
"Sasuke…" Sakura muttered, blushing.
"Huh…"
Sasuke felt something warm beside him and woke up.
Sakura?
"WHAT?"
He threw open the covers.
"What…What…" He was red-faced.
"Sa-Sasuke! I'm sorry! Bu…But… I… You…" Sakura gasped.
Sasuke's eyes hardened. "What are you doing in my room?"
"I…I was just… I was… going…" Sakura looked frantically at the table.
"I…I need a pen! Yeah!" Sakura grabbed the blue pen off the table.
"Really? Then why were you right NEXT to me just now?"
"You… I… You just suddenly reached out and…"
Sasuke's eyes softened.
"Well… Whatever." Sasuke got out of bed and went out of the room, fast.
Sakura stood in the room, her heart thumping fast.
Sasuke… Was blushing… And he'd hugged me! Though it wasn't on purpose…
Neji was furious with himself. He'd almost kissed Hinata yesterday.
When he got back into the room after Lee's interruption, he'd tried again, but just felt that he couldn't do it. The atmosphere just wasn't there.
I'm nuts. I should have done it when I had the chance…
Then just tell her you like her!
Are you crazy? She likes Naruto.
You're the one being crazy. How would you know if you don't try?
Oh just shut up.
Neji walked to the kitchen. Lee, Tenten, Sasuke, Sakura, Naruto and Hinata are already there and eating pancakes.
"Good Morning! Here's some pancakes."
"Huh… Right…"
He looked at Hinata, who seemed to be enjoying the pancakes.
Then he noticed that she was sneaking glances at Naruto.
He felt a stab of jealousy.
"Huh? There's a piece of paper here." Naruto said. He seemed to have recovered and was in his normal self again.
Thank goodness, Sakura thought. The incident yesterday really affected him… Huh? Was I worried for him?
"It says, you all have to go into the hot springs at 10am… Wow! A hot spring!"
"…Hot spring? But… I didn't see any." Tenten asked, puzzled.
"But we haven't explored the whole house yet." Lee reasoned.
"And this… resort is so big."
After eating, Naruto decided to look around.
"I'll go around and you guys stay here."
"Why should you be the one going and not us? It could be dangerous… This is a training after all." Sakura said.
"…Sa…Sakura…?"
"W..What?"
"Were… Were you worried for me?" Naruto whispered, looking at her in disbelief.
"I… I… Don't talk rubbish, you IDIOT!" Sakura snapped, feeling her face heat up.
"You're… You're always such a moron! I don't want one of my team members to die, stupid."
"Oh…" But Naruto was feeling awfully good inside.
"…" Sasuke was feeling somewhat anger. Sakura's worried for HIM? Phft…
"Okay, people! Then let's pair up and search, and report back here!" Tenten announced.
"I'll take-' But before Naruto could react, Sasuke grabbed Sakura by the hand and said, "I'll take HER." He glared at Naruto.
Naruto fumed. That bastard!
Without thinking, he shouted, "I'll take Hinata!"
Hinata was shocked but happy to pieces. "N-Naru..Naruto…Kun…"
"Huh?" Naruto sweatdropped. Wait. Where did THAT come from?
Neji felt another pang of anger.
"Come on. I'll pair with you." Tenten tugged his sleeve.
"…Whatever!" Neji snarled.
"Whoa." Tenten looked taken aback. "Unless you want to pair up with Lee?"
Neji looked at Lee, who was whistling "Somewhere over the rainbow."
"…. Let's go then!" Neji hurried off with Tenten.
To be continued… (There will be serious SasukeXSakura moments!)