Nascence

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II: Diamond-Spangled City

---

When Naruto greeted Sakura as she walked inside, hailing her cheerfully with a glass of milk, she had looked slightly surprised, and a weak smile crossed her face.

Something was obviously very wrong.

And when she told him what was wrong, he wished he hadn't asked.

Sakura bit her lips as she watched Naruto's features transform from happiness to anxiety to absolute horror. "Wait… you're saying this group of people made two captured chuunin look like us? And… murdered them?"

The kunoichi of their strange little family nodded, sighing with a hand on her head. "Hai. And rather disgustingly, I have to say. The pictures weren't pretty-- even Neji-san was shaken."

"Hyuuga? Why was he there?" Sai asked, frowning slightly as he stepped from the kitchen doorway.

"He's the leader of the ANBU squad that's going to be sent out, including all three of us," Sakura answered, turning back to the stovetop and stirring the meat sauce. "That's why dinner's so early. We're supposed to be at the gates in an hour or so. I just thought I'd brief you."

Naruto nodded vaguely as Sai moved to set the table, putting down glasses and chopsticks. "Wasn't Tsunade-baa-chan worried about us?" Naruto asked. "I mean, I'm not scared or anything, but she guards you like a mother hen, and seeing our likenesses horrifyingly murdered mustn't have comforted her any."

Sakura scowled. "Tsunade-shishou realizes that I'm not a little girl anymore, and that I can handle S-rank missions. She trusts me to exhibit personal strength. And you… well, she trusts me to keep you out of trouble, too." She stuck her tongue out at him with a grin, and Naruto mock-growled, standing up and punching her lightly on the arm, readying his other fist for another. Sakura blocked his second punch effortlessly with her elbow and held up the wooden spoon in her other hand. "Taste this. How is it? It's made from scratch, and I'm not sure if it's right. We should get in some carbohydrates before this mission."

The cheerful blonde obediently did as asked and beamed at her. "Perfect, as usual, Sakura-chan. How'd you get to be such a good cook?"

"Practice and my mother," Sakura answered with a small smile, putting the spoon back in and watching as the sauce simmered, bubbles popping cheerfully at the surface. "She always used to teach me how to make things. Those sugar cookies you like? Her recipe, imprinted in my memory forever. I don't know why I remember those recipes, but I do."

Sai hesitated at his place next to the table, chopsticks poised in hand, listening attentively as Naruto voiced his next question. "You miss them, don't you?"

Sakura sighed, stirring silently for a while, gazing directly at the pasta sauce. "A little, I guess. Who doesn't miss their parents, after all? But all that-- I mean, all the recipes and stuff-- that was back before I wanted to go to the Academy. After that, they were unbearable, you know? They wanted a fragile little girl, not a kunoichi."

"Sucks for them," Naruto replied absently, stealing another spoonful of sauce. "You're best as you are, Sakura-chan."

"Aww, thanks. Now go sit, and stop eating the sauce, or I'll break your nose."

Naruto wisely backed from the kitchen.

---

The whole mission was disconcerting, actually.

Neji waited silently, leaning against the stone wall before the city gates, his ANBU mask hung loosely from his fingers. He breathed in deeply, using his diaphragm, trying to calm himself for whatever would come. He gazed at the benches in front of him and tilted his head, trying to remember what had happened there. Something important. Something sad.

It had been Sakura, of course-- he remembered now. He remembered how he had been walking briskly in the other direction, trying to get to the Hyuuga compound after a bit of early-morning training, when she had barreled into him. He had turned to complain, or at least to remark coldly about carrying oneself honorably, but her face had stopped him dead. It was fear, plain and stark in her tearful green eyes, and the sort of emotional pain he hadn't experienced for a long time. She had brushed her fingers against his arm, as if she desired his help, and then thinking better of it and retracting them. She had said in a rush: "Gomen, Hyuuga-san. I…" And then had shaken her head and spun away from him, running to the Hokage's offices faster than he probably could have ever sprinted.

He had dismissed it as girlish folly… she had probably been turned down for a date or something, or was going to the newest Hokage for training and had thought of something depressing along the way.

But when Shikamaru had come to him, requesting his aid to bring back Uchiha Sasuke, he had reconsidered. And when the team had all stood at the gates, when Sakura had ran up to them and sobbed to Naruto to bring her teammate back, Neji felt the tiniest bit sorry he hadn't helped her in the first place. And he felt somewhat confused when Naruto, who so obviously had had the largest crush on her, promised heartily to bring her love back-- the promise sealed with Rock Lee's trademarked 'Nice Guy' pose.

He remembered coming back and hearing whispers of how Sasuke had said something to her to make her break down completely… and he remembered the more-than-whispers saying of how she had been left on the cold stone bench, all alone and unconscious, while her former teammate left Konoha for power.

But that was long ago.

Now, she was an S-rank, ANBU kunoichi, specializing in genjutsu and medical jutsus and with an A-rank on her taijutsu. After the Sand incident, she was also Konoha's master of potions and poisons… useful to have in undercover missions. She was no pushover. She wouldn't be left on cold benches any longer, and she had made sure of that herself.

Neji felt oddly proud of her-- a girl that wasn't even on his team, a girl he used to absolutely despise. A girl he never paid any attention to… until now. Until last night, when she had talked with him at the bar, revealing herself as a witty, self-confident, and charming woman. It was a large step from what she had been, that was certain, and he had been rather taken aback. He had been taken aback when she had been accepted as the Hokage's apprentice… he had been completely shocked when she became ANBU a mere year after him.

A pitter-patter of familiar footsteps greeted his ears. His previous thoughts dissipating at the welcome interruption, Neji turned his head to see Sakura, Sai, and Naruto walking to him all family-like, with Shikamaru behind them, masks around their necks. His lips quirked slightly, unnervingly, at the scene: Sai had said something funny about Sakura, evidently-- Naruto was doubled over in full-blown laughter, Sakura was threatening Sai with a fist, and the ink-user himself was giving her his usual frozen smile, ignoring the fact that her eyes were turning dangerously darker. Shikamaru, of course, was rolling his eyes and muttering something under his breath about the situation.

"Neji!"

He turned his head quickly, too quickly, for the newly-arrived TenTen and Lee smiled at him, and TenTen nudged her green-clad companion with a wicked grin. "See that? Neji was staring at someone, Lee."

"Indeed he was, my beautiful Lotus blossom," Lee replied, his eyes shining. "Has our almighty Hyuuga Neji finally found the fire of love in his blood?"

"What?" Neji asked lamely.

"Oh, come on, Neji," TenTen said with a dismissive flap of her hand. "We both saw you staring at Shikamaru. We just didn't know you went that way."

Neji spluttered, positive that if his uncle was there, he would be Kaiten-ed into the ground right about now. "Wh- I don't…"

TenTen tried valiantly to keep a straight face and failed; she burst into cheerful laughter. "Oh, Neji, you should have seen your face. You're so gullible sometimes-- Sakura! I didn't know you were coming!"

As the chestnut-haired girl ran to meet her friend, Lee cast a surprisingly cunning eye on Neji. "Neji… you were staring at Sakura-san, weren't you?"

Neji felt a constriction in his chest. "Hn."

Lee shrugged, a light grin on his face, and followed Neji as the ANBU leader walked to the others. "Alright," Neji intoned, "fun's over. We'll travel together, as a group. I want Sai and TenTen at the front; Uzumaki, Nara, Lee in the middle… Haruno and I will be in back. We want to make it to Suna in around forty-eight hours. Go."

Sai and TenTen leapt into the air to start, then the middle group, and then finally Sakura and Neji. The pink-haired ANBU pushed up her mask to cover her face and turned her head to meet his as they followed Naruto, Shikamaru, and Lee's taps on the branches. "Why are we at the back?" she asked curiously, adjusting her gloves.

Neji pushed up his own mask, his hair tied back high and whipping out behind him. "I want the best at sensing enemy presences at the back. I have Byakugan, you have instinct and good chakra sense-- that's all we need."

"And why Sai and TenTen at the front?" Sakura inquired. "They're not best at trail-breaking."

"No, they're not. I'm going to have Sai make an ink bird to scout the area ahead and send a message to the Kazekage… and if anything comes up from that scouting, TenTen can take a group of enemies out in less than five seconds in a surprise attack."

Sakura nodded admiringly. "That's smart. And… let me guess: Naruto, Shikamaru, and Lee are in the middle as bulk fighters? Like, if an enemy comes from behind, Shikamaru can discreetly hold them, and Naruto and Lee take them out fast."

"Exactly. You pick up quickly."

He couldn't see it, but he felt her quirky grin in her words. "I always was a teacher's pet, I guess."

She couldn't see it, but she could feel his satisfied smirk even when he didn't say anything.

---

The storm clouds gathered above their camp like warning signs.

Sakura tilted her head upwards to receive the first of the raindrops, a clear taste spreading throughout her mouth. The fire they had built courtesy of a Katon jutsu was smoking and sizzling as it rained a little harder, the stars blocked by angry clouds. Slowly, so slowly, she put her head down on the blanket of grass, closing her eyes and letting the rain hit her face.

"Haruno?"

She didn't open her eyes at Neji's voice. "Mm."

"Why are you out in the rain?" he asked, his tone a deep baritone she suddenly realized she really liked.

She smiled slightly, enjoying the feel of the rain tapping her eyelids. "Sleeping."

She felt him sit next to her and heard him chuckle dryly. "Smart."

A laugh bubbled from deep in her lungs, spilling out and mixing with the rain. "I know, I know. But it's fun to sleep in the rain."

"Really."

She opened her eyes at him, raindrops clinging to her eyelashes. "Yes. Really. You should try it sometime."

Neji rolled his eyes. He had obviously been going to sleep-- Lee was vigorously on watch on the other side of camp, so he didn't have to stay up. He was shirtless, wearing only ANBU baggy black pants, and his hair was down, now plastered to his back from the rain. His forehead protector was tied lazily around his neck, ready at a moment's notice.

Sakura herself, Neji noted silently, had taken off her outerwear and was now only in the black ANBU-regulation shirt and pants. It was simple, but he found himself appreciating the way it outlined her pink-tinted skin. Shaking those thoughts away, he returned to their conversation. "I'm going to go-- I was just doing a head count. Are you really going to sleep in the rain?"

"I wouldn't be here if I wasn't," she answered sleepily, pushing her bangs from her forehead.

Neji snorted.

"What?"

"I thought it was just a mean rumor, but… Your forehead… it really is kind of big."

Sakura sat up at once and pushed him, noting with frustration that he was smirking at her. He'd gotten her riled on purpose. "Hyuuga, you're mean," she said, mock-sulking. "It's not that big."

"Humongous," he answered, lifting a finger and poking her right in the middle of said forehead. "Go sleep in a tent like a civilized person." My God. Was he joking with her? He only did that with Lee and TenTen-- and then, only rarely.

"No," she countered, "you sleep outside-- like a philosophical person."

"Philosophically or psychopathically?" inquired Neji with a smirk. "I'll be sane, thanks."

"No, you won't." She tugged on his arm. "Just do it for a while, just to see what it's like. I promise you you'll enjoy it."

He sighed. "Will you go bug someone else if I do?"

"Indubitably."

"You're crazy." He put his head down a little above hers and laid there for a moment, staring at the pouring sky.

"Close your eyes, you impassive stoic."

Neji growled at her and did as asked, his lids shutting against his will. "I don't know why I'm listening to you."

"Neither do I. Be quiet."

He was.

Neji slowly felt himself drifting into a comfortable slumber. The rain was cold, considering it was late fall, but it felt refreshing as it dribbled down his bare skin. The sensation of soft grass beneath him acted like a cushion, the ground softening because of the water and molding to his shape. It was nice… it was relaxing. Not that he would tell her that. "Do you often sleep in the rain?" he asked groggily, determined not to fall prey to his exhaustion.

Sakura said nothing for a moment, and Neji feared she really was asleep, and he would have to carry her to the tent she was supposed to share with TenTen (which would further rumors of romantic entanglements, which he really did not need). "Yes," she answered, mouth barely moving. "Yes, I do. When I need to think."

"Think?"

"Rainwater helps with clarity sometimes."

"You're stranger than I thought, Haruno."

"I just enjoy nature, that's all," she replied slowly, her voice tired.

Neji paused from teasing her more.

"I'll let you sleep," he said.

She smiled.

"…be ready early tomorrow."

"I'll be up before you, Neji-san. Goodnight."

"Goodnight."

He stood in one swift movement and stayed there for a moment, tilting his head to look at her, in all her raindrop-sparkling glory. There was a small curve to her lips that suggested she was happy; but beneath her eyelids and water-glistening lashes, her eyes moved back and forth, a gesture of anxiousness and confusion. Her fists, slick with rain, were clenched.

Obviously… she was upset.

And what made him angry was that when he realized it, he felt slightly upset, too.

---

The ink bird from Sai's jutsu unfolded from the paper like dripping pop-art, black ink stretching elastically as it spread its wings.

The group watched in groggy awe as the bird soared above them, shrinking into the distance till it was but a spot on the clear blue sky. "Good weather conditions," Neji heard Lee say to Shikamaru while the two shinobi packed. "We could get there in an hour like this! Yosh-- let's try!"

Shikamaru rolled his eyes, shouldering his knapsack. "Yare, yare. It takes at least twelve hours from here to get to Suna, baka. Chill."

Next to them, Sakura giggled as she tied her mask around her head, wide-awake and cheerful after her rain-lit vigil the night before. Neji noticed that she seemed to fairly sparkle. Maybe sleeping in the rain was some sort of rejuvenating treatment all the girls knew or something.

No. It had a deeper meaning for her.

How he knew this, he had absolutely no idea. And the fact that he was thinking it was bad enough.

Growling at himself, Neji pushed up his mask. "Okay. Sai, that bird must loop back to us every hour and report its surveillance. Same order as yesterday. Let's try to make it by sunset, at least… at eighteen hundred hours. Go."

The trip went by, at first, relatively silently-- Lee and Naruto debated the fine points of taijutsu for a while, but even they wore off after an hour or so. Sakura was uncharacteristically silent, but Neji sensed that she seemed slightly on edge-- kind of anxious about something he couldn't quite place. The pictures, of course… or maybe she, too, simply had a bad feeling about this mission.

His train of thought was interrupted by the familiar sight of the ink bird circling back to them. They paused to catch their breath and take a drink while Sai examined his bird, absorbing its information. He turned to Neji. "There are a group of thirteen jounin-level shinobi ahead of us. They have hitai-ate, but the marks are completely scratched out. Not missing-nin… just rogues."

Behind his mask, Neji's mind ticked furiously, weighing pros and cons. "Nara."

Shikamaru turned his head lazily. "Stakeout. Surveillance and decapitation if necessary."

Neji nodded. "If they pose a threat, take them down. Rogues are dangerous." He hesitated, then turned to his old female genin teammate. "TenTen, you'll be second in front… try to take down as many as you can with your weapons. Get your scrolls ready."

"Who's first in front, then?" Naruto asked curiously.

Shikamaru exchanged glances with Neji, then nodded. "Sakura," the shadow-user answered.

"Why Sakura-san?" Lee asked, his face morphing into slight disappointment.

Neji sighed irritably and crossed his arms. "Sakura can use a chakra-infused appendage and cause a seismic disturbance…" Catching Naruto's confused look, Neji sighed once more. "She can create an earthquake. It'll catch them off their guard, maybe even cause pre-battle injuries…"

"The Lotus-"

"Takes too much of your energy," Neji snapped, finishing for him. "I'm the captain here-- I'll call the shots for what's best for the team. Sakura, TenTen, go."

As Sakura took off, TenTen following close behind, her heart rose to somewhere in the region of her throat, pounding nervously. Neji was right-- rogues could be dangerous. Shinobi not formally on a mission and not tied to a country were the equivalent of street gangs; they took down whoever they wanted to, whoever invaded their turf.

Blood thumped in her ears. This 'decapitation', as Shikamaru had so aptly put it, depended almost wholly on her. Her initial attack either would or wouldn't put them off balance-- at best, it could kill a few and injure the rest. At worst, it could only put them on their guard and ready themselves for attack. We don't want them to fire one shot. And there were so many variables-- the ground type, the amount of chakra she channeled, where she struck.

Sakura nearly jumped out of her skin as a soft hand was placed on her shoulder. TenTen pushed up her mask just enough for Sakura to see that she was smiling graciously at her, giving her a light squeeze. "Relax," the weapons expert told her. "You've done this before, and you're the best at it. Just don't think about it. React on instinct."

Sakura thanked the kunoichi with a grateful nod, turning back to the front as they homed in on the rogue group. TenTen had always been kind to her, even as genin and chuunin… before they really got to know each other. The brown-haired girl shared many of the same traits as Sakura herself-- as genin, she had even helped her with her kunai and shuriken throwing, which even Kakashi had said was superb, even on par with Sasuke's.

Back then, that compliment had made her day-- now, at the thought, such a wave of self-contempt surged through her veins it nearly made her dizzy.

Naruto tapped her on the shoulder. "Neji says another couple feet, then stop and go as fast as you can."

Sakura nodded and gestured to TenTen; the two expert shinobi leapt ahead of the others, surrounding the rogue group. Sakura could hear their voices… making crude jokes, laughing rudely, bragging. Typical chauvinist male behavior, she reflected with a wry smile. They had it coming.

Landing on a tree branch quite close to the circle of men, Sakura judged her attack. Judging by the way the ground cracked from heat, she'd have to force her chakra at a right angle, a tricky move. The soil was okay-- not the best in conditions, but dry enough to crack dramatically. If she positioned her fist right next to that rock, she would certainly cause some casualties, but she would also risk being seen and putting the unwounded shinobi on their guard; the rock was in the middle of their circle.

TenTen's presence reassured her-- they'd be dead before they even touched their weapons.

Making a split decision, Sakura pounced earthwards.

She reared her fist back, feeling the familiar tingle of chakra flow from her heart to her shoulder to her clenched fist, her gloves tightening by design to allow greater control. TenTen had been right to tell her to attack by instinct-- she had done this so many times it hardly required a second thought.

Shouts rang out from around her as her form streaked towards the ground in a whisper of black and pink.

"ANBU!"

"What's she-"

"Get her!"

Sakura smirked inwardly, her innermost self flaring up in savage delight as she heard the men reaching for their weapons. Too late.

There was a satisfying crunch of impact; cracks spread like wildfire from the place she'd hit. The ground rumbled from seismic shifting, and Sakura wisely leapt back into the trees as the rogue shinobi stumbled and fell, cursing and crying out.

Suddenly, a barrage of weapons almost literally appeared out of nowhere in every ninja's body, thrown so fast they were almost invisible to the naked eye. Kunai, shuriken, and even some Western throwing daggers protruded from the rogues, a couple already dead from Sakura's fatal earthquake. Nobody was left standing.

Shikamaru, Lee, Neji, Sai, and Naruto strolled casually onto the scene, as if they were going for a stroll in Konoha's streets. They checked for identification, useful papers, anything important.

Naruto let out a triumphant yell, and the two girls leapt from their respective perches, nodding wordlessly at each other in congratulations for a job well done. "What is it?" Sai asked the blonde, peering over his shoulder.

"Money," the demon vessel answered simply, holding up a wad of the stuff, "from every country, of every origin. Some of these places I've never even heard of."

"Emergency money for every location on the globe," Shikamaru said, pushing up his mask to reveal widened eyes. "This is crazy. Who has this much cash, especially as a rogue?"

"Anything else on the bodies?" Neji asked, examining an Earth Country coin. "These are genuine… no counterfeit operation, that's for certain. These rogues were paid, and paid well."

Lee waved his hand. "Here's something!" he said excitedly, pulling a glossy paper from the pocket of a cadaver. "It's a photo of some sort." He held it up, and Sakura and Neji gasped.

It was a picture of, unmistakably, the two murdered chuunin.

They were very and wholly alive in this one, though-- they had their original hair and eye colors, and were smiling at each other. Sakura stuttered. "Those are… those are the murdered look-alikes!" she said in a hushed tone to Naruto.

TenTen frowned. "Look-alikes?"

A quick explanation followed her inquiry, a rushed recital from Naruto, Neji, Sakura, and Sai. After their account, Shikamaru frowned, obviously quite disturbed. "The money and the photo… it doesn't exactly take a genius to figure this out. The rogues were paid this absurd amount of security money to kill and mutilate these two Suna chuunin. But by whom? And, also…" Shikamaru paused, his frown deepening. "Why keep the picture? You'd be convicted instantly if anyone saw it."

"Maybe they were just stupid," Naruto voiced with a shrug, tousling his shock of blonde hair.

"Maybe," TenTen piped up, "or maybe whoever sent them on this job wanted us to see the photo. Sort of like a treasure hunt."

"This doesn't make things any clearer," Sai said, an uncharacteristic note of irritation in his usually flat voice. "Whoever ordered these rogues to murder those two is obviously either a psychopath or a cunning, emotionless bastard."

"Either way, I'm afraid it does not bode well for us, despite our efficiency in the glorious ninja arts," Lee added solemnly, standing up from the corpse.

"Whether or not it bodes well is the least of our worries at the moment," Neji interrupted with a wave of his hand, taking the photos from Lee and pocketing them. "What we need to concentrate on now is getting to Suna, and quickly. The sooner the Kazekage receives these photos-- as vital information-- the sooner we could be to solving this and getting back to Konoha. Naruto, I want a Katon jutsu to incinerate these bodies, and then we'll be on our way. Same groups as before. Double-pace."

"What a slave driver," TenTen murmured jokingly to Sakura, nudging her in the ribs.

But Sakura was silent, her masked face revealing nothing. What Sai had said-- that the main criminal here was 'either a psychopath or a cunning, emotionless bastard'. Lee had been right… it didn't bode well, not at all. Something gristly and dark fought to take shape in the back of her mind, terror spreading from a knot in her neck like disease. As they started off again, Naruto's Katon justu properly completed, Sakura shook her head. It wouldn't do to get superstitious here-- not on a mission as important as this. All her intuition would have to go out the window for now, until it was safe to say otherwise.

But at the same time, she reflected as she took her place at the back with Neji, what if she was right? What if her intuitions and combination of woman and shinobi instinct were serving her the truth on a silver platter right under her nose? Surely that would be worse than being made a fool of.

I don't want any more deaths. The Kazekage had made that perfectly clear. How was she to live with herself if she had been right all along?

She glanced at the stoic ANBU captain next to her and made a decision.

The petal-haired woman moved to the left, going along in-step with him. "Neji-san, may I speak with you?"

He grunted an affirmative, his mind obviously otherwise occupied.

"I have a… a rather bad feeling about this mission, Captain," she said uneasily, slightly disconcerted at his lack of interest.

"I've told you already that personal and emotional 'bad feelings' have no place on a battlefield, Haruno," he reprimanded her sternly, not looking at her.

Sakura's face flushed. "I know, I know," she said hastily, "and yet… well, I feel like I have to tell you. What if my intuition's not lying to me, and people end up dying because of it? I don't want that on my-- or your-- conscience."

Neji let out a stifled but long-suffering sigh. "Go on."

Sakura paused, looking away for a moment, paranoia creeping into her senses. What was wrong with her? "I feel… something… darkly and horribly and inexplicably recognizable about this. Maybe even something from a deep and distant memory, I don't know. But it all seems vaguely familiar, like a really scary nightmare you've already had once before. Like déjà vu, or something of that sort."

"Haruno, I don't have time for similes. If you would get on with it?"

But she sensed his interest and moved with it, trying to pique his thoughts to her point of view. "Well… I don't really know how to say this, Neji-san. Captain. But it feels to me like I could figure this whole thing out really, really quickly if I just have time to think."

Neji looked at her, his attention now fully captured. "Time is the one thing we thoroughly lack, Haruno," the squad leader answered quietly. "Is there any possible way you could… recount… the answer to this potential disaster with the time we're given?"

"I don't know, Neji-san, and that's why I'm concerned. I'm sure that once we finally get it, it'll come back to me in a rush… but I know that then it might be too late. What I'm asking for is complete and utter understanding. I want the privilege to know everything the Kazekage and the Hokage tell you as ANBU captain-- I know it's a lot to ask for, and that it's terribly bigheaded of me to ask it, but I need you to understand. I know this. I just need to remember how I know."

Neji let out a stream of air in a whoosh of current. "Understood. I'll grant you all your information. Just…"

He stopped suddenly, and grasped her arm in a totally unfamiliar gesture of familiarity. Of companionship.

"Like the Kazekage said, Haruno: no more deaths, all right? Let's try to figure this out as quickly as humanly possible." He paused, as if weighing what he was about to say for its repercussions.

In fact, he was probably doing just that.

"What I'm trying to say is, Haruno, is that you are not only in danger for being on an S-rank mission for the Kazekage as an ANBU member. This is personal for both you and Naruto, and even the Godaime. You, personally, have been threatened, and so I want you to be on your guard every step you take. These people are looking for you-- and you are invaluable to me."

Five seconds after the words were out, Neji thanked whatever gods were up there he was wearing a mask. "I, um… I meant… the team. Of course. You're invaluable to the team-- as the only medic, you're extraordinarily important."

Sakura said nothing, but from the corners of her face the mask revealed, Neji could guess pretty accurately at the amused smile that was surely curving her mouth. "Oh, yes, I knew you meant that," she said rapidly, obviously nearly as flustered as him. "Yes, yes. Medics are invaluable, especially at an ANBU level. Yeah."

"Exactly." Neji cleared his throat. "Ano… go ahead. I'll use Byakugan on this area and make sure we're not being followed. I'll catch up soon."

"Right. Don't get killed or anything." She smiled slightly behind the mask, and Neji relaxed, confident that that particular awkward moment had dissipated. As she turned to start moving again, though, she whipped her head back to face him. "Arigatou. That… ah, that meant a lot to me. Not just the 'invaluable' thing, but… you listened to me. A woman's intuitional ravings. Not many ANBU captains would do that."

Neji stayed quiet for a moment, but then tilted his head so he was looking at the sky. It was midmorning now, he guessed-- the sun's position indicated so, and the birds had resumed their melodic and perpetual chirping now that the sounds of battle had died down. The air was warm and carried a sweet scent of pine and forest. Inhaling deeply, Neji lifted his hand, a gesture for her to go.

"You're not the only one with a bad feeling about this mission, Haruno."

---

Author's Note: Whoo! Sorry for the long wait-- this ankle really isn't working for me, and it takes me double the usual time to get things done. But I hope you enjoyed this chapter... I loved writing it. We finally see some Neji-Sakura action in this one-- and Neji's flustered! Haha.

--Dejeuner