Chapter 4:Recovering and Suffering
A white eyed boy awoke in the early dawn he rubbed his eyes and sat up from his comfortable bed.
Neji thought all night about seeing Sakura first thing in the morning,he wanted to be with her in
private...He was worried that Sasuke would try and hurt her...yet again...thinking about it pissed him
off! "I should have been protecting her!"Thought Neji clenching the bed sheets. Neji was the only
one awake,the sun was just beginning to rise over Konoha. He slowly slid out of bed and went into
his bethroom,Neji brushed his teeth and then got into the shower. He always felt better after a warm
shower,it made him feel replenished...The warm water splattered on Neji creamy white skin,he took
some shampoo and lathered the liquidy substance into his long hair. Neji rinsed all the soap and
shampoo off his body and hair...amd stepped out grabbing a nearby towel and wrapping it around
his waist,water still dripping off his hair and onto the floor. Neji dryed his hair and then his body he
then chose a blue short sleeved top and some grey knee length shorts...He attached his kunai pouch
to the shorts and remembered to put on his leaf village headband. When he was ready Neji walked
out of his house and headed to the Konoha hospital.
Neji watched the orange sun slowly rise and the sky turning from a yellow orange to a light blue and then the clouds started to form and spread across the light blue sky...It was beautiful to watch Konoha's sun rise. Soon after Neji had arrived at the hospital and was now entering the front doors,heading towards the front desk.
"I'm here to see Sakura Haruno..."Said Neji.
"Yes she is on the second door to the right..."The receptionist explained.
He nodded and walked to where the receptionist had told him to go,the door was closed so Neji knocked.
No one answered and he entered the room...there resting on the bed was Sakura the oxygen mask had
been removed and she was breathing steadily...Relief overflowed Neji,she was alright.
There was a chair beside the bed Neji slowly sat in it and watched his cherry blossom recover.
Sakura's lips had formed into a faint smile and her hand was placed on her stomach. Neji noticed the bandage
covering Sakura's wound,Neji was dissapointed that he let this happen to her.
He viewed the monotor and her stats appeared to be normal. Neji had to be more protective of Sakura...look
what happened when he left her side for a while not even a half-hour and look what it led to...her ending up
in Konoha hospital. He could never forgive himself...Neji was so deep in thought that he didn't notice a pair
of emerald eyes were watching him.
"Nej...Neji..."Studdered the pink haired kunoichi.
"Sakura..."Neji rejoiced.
She breathed in and then exhailed and placed both hands on her stomach,looking away from Neji.
He stared at Sakura and then broke the silence.
"Is something wrong?"Asked Neji.
"I'm...sorry...I'm so sorry..."Sakura said while tears were rolling down her cheeks.
"What?you didn't do anything..."Replied Neji.
"I made you worry about nothing...I'm so pathetic...I can't even protect myself."Whispered Sakura.
"No...Sakura I worry about because..."
Neji was interupted by the door opening to reveal Tsunade,her eyes were on Sakura.
She walked towards the recovered Kunoichi and she spoke...
"Sakura are you sure your strong enough to be up...?"Asked Tsunade.
"I'm positive...all I want to do is go home..."Answered Sakura.
"Very well but Neji will be the one to watch over you until you have fully recovered."Explained Tsunade.
Sakura nodded her head in agreement and Tsunade helped her out of bed and behing a screen to help her shange into
her own clothes and out of the hospital gown. Neji sat in his chair and waited for Sakura,it didn't take very long for her to
change and before Neji knew it they were both outside of the hospital an on their way to Sakura's.
Neji held onto Sakura's smooth hand and they both stopped in front of her front door. Sakura turned to face Neji and he
nodded to tell her that he was going to stay with her... Sakura gave him a big smile and she opened the door,the house was
dark because of the blinds. She headed towards the living room blinds and opened them,the bright sun light filtered into the dark
room and it was lit up. Sakura turned around to Neji,but instead of looking at them her eyes made contact with the floor... Her
eyes widened and she started to breath heavily...Sakura was staring at her blood staining her wooden floor...She backed up a bit
and stopped when she felt the cold wall behind her.
"Sakura is your arm causing you pain again?"Asked Neji worridly.
The pink haired kunoichi shook her head and then his eyes caught sight of something red on the floor,he knew that she was replying
what happened yesterday,Neji walked into the kitchen and found a cloth. He started to clean up the blood stained floor it took him
a while to do this because some of the blood was already dried... When Neji was done he began to wash the cloth until red liquid went
into her sink. It had already wrecked the cloth so he put it in the garbage.
Sakura had seated herself on the sofa and was staring at the spot where the blood once was.
Neji was now sitting beside Sakura and asked if he wanted some tea? She nodded and he left into the kitchen once again.
Neji turned the stove on and filled a pot with water in it,when the water finished boiling he took out a cup and poured in some water.
Neji found some green tea and put the bag into the cup filled with steamy water,when enough of it had mixed with the water Neji brought
it to Sakura. She took it and began to drink the green liquid,it made her feel better and she soon forgot about what happened...Instead she
looked at Neji until she drank the last drop of tea. He took the cup from Sakura's hands and placed them in the kitchen sink,he walked back
to Sakura and let her ley her head on his shoulder until she closed her eyes and fell asleep. Neji left her to sleep on him until he felt it might
be a good idea to put her into bed. He picked Sakura up and walked slowly and quietly up the stairs until he reached Sakura's room. Neji carefully
placed the kunoichi in her bed and placed the covers over Sakura's body,Neji noticed that her kunai was still embeded into the wall. He stood and
took hold of the kunai he used all of his stength to pull it out but it was really stuck...
Neji smiled and thought of how strong Sakura had gotten...This time he griped the kunai with both hands and pulled as hard as he could...It came out
making a bit of noise. Sakura opened her eyes a little trying not to fall back asleep and trying to see what made that noise...She could barley see it but
there was someone standing in her room holding a kunai! In Sakura's eyes she saw Sasuke in her room holding a kunai...smirking at her.
It was really Neji examining the kunai that was stuck in the wall. Her vision had fooled her and she saw Sasuke...Sakura started to panic and began to
breath more rapidly every second. Neji noticed this and began to walk over to Sakura's side...She was scared that Sasuke would try to kill her again!
Neji held out an out strectched hand to Sakura so he could help her up. But to her it looked like Sasuke was aiming the kunai at her...Sakura closed her
eyes and slapped his hand trying to protect herself from her attcker... When Neji felt Sakura's hand slap his own instead of taking it in hers...He knew
something was wrong this time Neji used the other hand to caress her cheek...Sakura saw her worst fear! has Neji's hand was inching closer to her face
in her mind Sasuke's kunai was quickly inching closer to her neck...When Neji had touched her cheek Sakura flinched and to her the weapon made contact
with her neck and all went black...Neji saw Sakura faint and tried to wake her up by gently shaking her,nothing happened so Neji went downstairs to get
a cloth and soak it with cool water. He squeezed the cloth until there was no water dripping from it and made his way back to Sakura's room.
Neji placed the cloth on her forehead and kissed her on the cheek,he sat on the edge of her bed and he would wait there until Sakura had awaken...He was
willing to stay there over night if he had to... He watched the cherry blossom moan in her sleep and mention his name a couple times...
"Sleep well...my Sakura-chan..."