Sakura sat on the edge of the provided bed watching Neji. He was currently sitting on the floor meditating, seemingly entirely unconcerned.
"Neji?"
"Hm."
"Why are you doing that now?"
"I'm thinking of an escape plan."
"Oh...Have you thought of one?"
"No. That's why I'm still in the process of doing so."
"Oh." She always felt so enlightened after having an in-depth conversation like that with Neji. Not. She began to swing her feet, hoping to think of something entertaining she could do. Unfortunately, most of her ideas involved Neji and...
"Stop doing that." Sakura went red. Had he read her mind?
"W...what?"
"Swinging your legs about." She breathed again.
"Why?"
"I can't concentrate."
"Don't use your Byakugan then."
"It's easier to see an escape route outside with it."
"Oh. Sorry." She stopped. Neji looked at her out of one open eye.
"What's wrong with you?"
"What do you mean?"
"You just gave up and let me win!"
"Did I?" Was it anything to do with him if she wasn't always bouncing around and ready for action? No, he could just call her a cow and blame it on PMS like every other male out there. He wouldn't understand the complexities of the female mind, like how she felt about him.
"Have I upset you?" Hell yeah!
"No."
"Sakura, I am the one that can tell when you're lying."
"Bully for you then." She turned her head away when he sat on the bed next to her.
"Sakura...It's not like we will be stuck in here forever."
"No..." Well wasn't this nice.
"What have I done?"
"You have existed." He studied her for a moment.
"You're not lying?" She glared at him. Of course she wasn't lying! Like she needed more complications in her life. "What do you want me to do? Drown myself in the latrine?"
"Yes."
"Now you're lying."
"You're skills have been lost. I am quite serious." He looked at her for a moment more. She couldn't help but smile at him.
"No I am entirely sure they are fully functional. Hm...What color hair do you have?"
"Yellow."
"See! You're lying!"
"Fluke." She added sarcastically.
"Hm, do you believe Naruto could be defined as mature?"
"Yes, definitely."
"Oh...Let me work it out...You are...Lying?"
"Amazing." She giggled a little. He was so nice when he tried.
"Let's see one more...Right now I am the person you would most like to be stuck in a tiny cell with for who knows how long." Sakura's smile faltered.
"...Yes." Neji looked at her for a long time.
"You are..." He was very close to her now. "Telling the..." His face was inches from hers.
"MEAL TIME!" They both sprang apart as a guard entered with two trays of food. Neji coughed and took them.
"Thank you." He exited and Neji handed one to Sakura. She tried not to let him see she was shaking.
"Thanks." They spent the rest of the afternoon in complete silence.
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Well that had been just great. He had gone and stuck his foot in it again. Would he ever be able to have a conversation with this girl without trying to kiss her? Now Sakura was probably terrified of him yet they were stuck together. But, he reminded himself, she wanted to be with him. Perhaps they could have been friends but instead he had to take it one step too far and scare her off. Now he sat pretending to meditate again, while watching her pick at threads in her skirt. She was intelligent and reasonable; he would try an apology at least. He cleared his throat but was interrupted as everything went completely dark.
"LIGHTS OUT!" Damn. When he got out of here he was personally going to hurt that guard.
"Neji? Where are you?"
"I'm across the room in front of you." It was hard to remember not everyone had Byakugan.
"Oh." He saw her begging to move.
"Sakura! Chair!" It was too late; she tripped and went flying forwards. He caught her and after muttering several curses he wasn't aware women knew, she pushed her self up.
"Thanks. They could give us some warning!"
"But that would take the fun out of it for them." She grinned in the dark and he almost fell over too with relief.
"Err...Where is the bed?" Oh no. He hadn't considered this. One bed. They were at present an 'item' according to their ploy. He took her hand and led her over to one side.
"I shall take the right side." She coughed nervously.
"Okay." With the kind of luck he had been presented with lately, he was never kicking squirrels again.
At least, he considered, he had wanted to get to know her a bit more. He glanced over at her sleeping form. Now he did. Apparently, Sakura snored. It wasn't loud roaring snores like Lee's, but snuffling sounds and mumbling. It was the cutest thing he had ever heard.
After a few uncomfortable minutes (or hours) of lying flat on their back gazing upwards and trying to ignore the others presence, Sakura had curled up, dragged more than half of the blankets around herself and fallen asleep. Neji had not. Now he had to resist the urge to turn around properly and spend the rest of the night staring at her face. He had to rest if they were going to come up with a better escape plan. Otherwise he would have to spend more nights like this. That wasn't exactly the best thing to use try and persuade himself to sleep but eventually he began to drift off, the days events taking there toll.
Only ten minutes into the future Neji's eyes were open and widened in horror. Sakura had rolled over...towards him. If that wasn't bad enough she had taken a firm grasp of his wrist. He was shocked and scared beyond sense. After a few minutes of panic he decided it would be best to let her sleep and she may let go. As this sensible trail of thoughts ended Sakura began to wriggle forward and ended her journey across the mattress by hugging his arm. Not good. Still he remained reasonable. If he woke her now, it would only cause further tension between them if she was embarrassed. If he slept past her or pretended to, she would be able to release him with her thinking that he had never noticed. It was an excellent plan and he could handle the fact she was on his arm. Later however, he drew the line when she discarded his arm entirely and rested her head on his chest. This was taking it far beyond being a good friend and Neji decided he would have to take action. There was no way he was going to get any sleep with Sakura draped across him.
"EH HEM!" Sakura woke with a start and looked around blearily not being able to figure out where she was in the dark. "I believe during previous discussions about our sleeping arrangements, I requested the use of the right side of the bed." She raised herself off him, and then prodded his chest a little as if trying to work out what she was laying on. When she figured it out she jumped backwards and crashed off the opposite edge of the bed.
"Oh my pig! I'm so sorry Neji!" She crawled back up and he didn't need to see her to know she was bright red. "I must have thought you were Pakkun or something."
"Oh, well how can I refuse an apology like that?" She made an irritated little grunting sound.
"Go back to sleep."
"How am I supposed to feel safe now?" She whacked his arm hard. "You have excellent aim, even in the dark." She didn't answer and he assumed she was asleep.
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Well, she thought, she had wanted to get to know him better. Now she did and apparently, Neji snored. It wasn't a loud roaring snore like Naruto's more a snuggling and whispering noise. It was the most adorable thing she had ever listened to...
Nut2: These chapters are just getting more and more fluffy! Or at least closer to it each time. Hope you enjoyed and will do me a favor:
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Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto...or a unicorn.
