A/N: Another kind-of filler, but enjoy your SS moment.


"Please," Neji was saying once more in the dim morning light. "I understand things must progress at their own pace, but the clan head is growing more and more restless by the day. Something must be done!"

Tsunade glanced at Ino.

The young woman nodded.

"I sympathize with the clan's frustration, and I'm sorry I cannot offer more to you." She placated. "I assure you that as soon as we have a concrete date, you will be the first to know of it."

"I'm grateful even for that," he answered, bowing his head.

"How is your wife?" She offered instead.

Neji's head rose in surprise, but he quickly composed himself. "She's faring well. My cousin looks after her in my absence."

"She's far along, isn't she?"

"Only two, going on three months," he answered with a fond look in his eyes. "She's been ill for quite some time, and I can't always be with her unfortunately."

"Ill, huh," Tsunade murmured to herself for a moment. "If I may add my own two cents into this situation, might I suggest a certain tea to help ease her nausea?"

"You… what?" This time he visibly showed his surprise on his face.

"Here." Tsunade fetched a piece of paper from her coat pocket as well as a pen, scribbling down a list before leaning over and handing it to him. "This is my own recipe; I've used it for years to aid expecting mothers and it hasn't failed me yet."

Neji looked dumbfoundedly at the list for a moment before looking up. "Thank you, my lady."

"Don't thank me yet," she scoffed, playfully shooing him. "The results speak for themselves."

"You don't have to help us, yet you do," he murmured as he folded the list and put it in his pocket. "I am eternally grateful to you, Ayame-sama."

"We help because we can," she replied, a motherly tone to her words as she smiled at him. "I wish you both good fortune in your pregnancy. If there is anything you need, be it aid, medicine, or just advice, I encourage you to come to us."

"Again, thank you," he bowed reverently before straightening up. "The Hyuuga clan is indebted to you, Ayame-sama."


Later on in the day, at the castle, it was lunchtime for the three.

Sakura and Sasuke were having lunch together in the gardens, the warm sunlight bathing them in comfort. Even though it was such a nice day, there was an awkward note to the atmosphere between them as they sat on either side of the bench, eating quietly.

Naruto's earlier words to the heir echoed in his mind: "C'mon, Sasuke! It's not every day I see you so relaxed around a girl, let alone a pretty one! You've got game; charm her with some of your mad skills! I wanna see you two stop dancing around each other for once!"

Meanwhile Sakura was having the same dilemma. Her afternoon tea with the Queen the day before had gotten her thinking about her relationships with the two boys. "My my! Those boys have taken to you quite well in such a short time, Lady Hayashi. It's been a while since I've seen Naruto laughing so freely and Sasuke so happy. Even when he was engaged to the lady Hinata he had such an aura of sadness about him. I do believe that you can be the one to heal him, Hayashi-chan."

Swallowing her bite of rice, she mustered up the nerve and turned to look at him. To her surprise, he was already studying her.

Blushing, her eyes darted away for a moment, before she shyly looked back to meet his inquisitive gaze.

"So," she began, mentally cursing how her voice seemed to waver, "what have you been working on as of late?"

"Wow, Sakura," she snidely sighed to herself. "Way to break the ice. What kind of lame question is that?"

To her credit, however, Sasuke merely bobbed his head and hummed to himself. "I've been training my fire to burn hotter. So far I've been fairly successful, but…" he turned back to her and his eyes gleamed. "Would you like to see a new technique that I've been perfecting? Only Kakashi and Naruto know of it as of now."

She nodded eagerly. "Sure! I'd be happy to."

Setting his bento aside, he gestured. "Follow me."

She set her own aside and rose from the bench, following as he led her behind a tree at the edge of the garden, near the wall.

As soon as the both of them were hidden, he glanced around once more before getting into a stance.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed in concentration as he began going through handsigns. Ox. Rabbit. Monkey. Dragon. Rat.

The air began to feel different. A sinking feeling began to appear in the pit of her gut as she watched him. Bird. Ox. Snake. Dog. Tiger. Monkey.

Sasuke uttered a word under his breath, and as his eyes flashed, light flashed in his palm before it sparked, splitting into several crackling bolts of lightning, dancing about his fingers.

A chill went down her spine at the sight. She'd never seen anything quite like it before. The dancing bolts were mesmerizing, and yet the loud crackling of electric currents and what sounded like squawking birds was beginning to make her head ache with noise.

"What a powerful technique," she thought to herself with dread. "His hand is smoking already... it must be incredibly hot. If Sasuke ever decided to turn such a destructive weapon on someone…"

All too soon, he canceled the technique, and just like that the light dissipated, leaving the two of them standing there in silence.

Panting quietly, he looked to her with an expression she couldn't quite place. "Kakashi calls it 'Chidori'. To my knowledge, he's the first person ever to use such a technique. Since I can control lightning to an extent, he decided to teach it to me to use in battle."

The proud note to his voice when he continued was not lost on her. "Not even my father or mother can command lightning. I'm among the first of our clan to do so." He paused, then his eyes lowered and he remarked, "Finally, I'm capable of techniques that even he couldn't do."

Her eyes grew sad as she noted the bitterness to his words. By the way his hands clenched, she had a good idea as to whom he was talking about.

Instead, she took a quiet breath and rested a hand on his shoulder, causing him to look up at her.

She smiled. "You're doing great, Sasuke. If anything else, I think you're already a remarkable shinobi in your own right."

His cheeks pinkened some, and he turned away with a bashful expression.

She giggled to herself, hiding her mouth with her free hand. "Ah, he hasn't changed a bit," she thought fondly.


A/N: Fore- or should I say post-shadowing? Who knows.

Please tell me what you thought!