Nascence

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IV: Rueful Dazzle

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Shikamaru had never really liked Sunakagure.

It was hot. It was dusty. Whenever the wind blew (which was twenty-four/seven), sand flew into his hair, his eyes, his mouth, and made him feel dirty and gritty to the very bone. The buildings were boring and looked exactly the same: identical, round, sand-colored little huts with the tiniest of variations: a window box of some freakishly deadly desert plant here, a sign above the door with a bloody smear on it there. It was a town of paranoid conformists, and he hated them for it. What kind of Kazekage-- or father, for that matter-- inserted a demon into his son to make him a weapon for his village? The whole place was filled with freaks.

Plus the fact that Temari was there, and she was the bossiest woman he knew, aside from his mother.

It was funny, the way he always got mixed up with that type of woman.

Or damnable. Either one.

In any case, trudging through a hot, sandy desert was never his idea of fun. And even though they had been met at the gates by the older sand siblings (Kankurou had given him a warning glare, Temari a wink) and escorted formally through the city as Konoha ANBU, people to be respected and feared, and even though Gaara had welcomed them as warmly as he possibly could, and even though he was given leave by Neji to hang around with Temari for an hour after their meeting with said Kazekage, Shikamaru was feeling troubled.

And, of course, Temari's Shikamaru-is-sulking-again-radar picked that fact up rather quickly.

"Shikamaru, if you sigh one more time I'm going to show you stars. Three, to be exact."

The Konoha strategist eyed his semi-girlfriend's giant fan with wary eyes and shifted his gaze to her face. She was looking at him disapprovingly with those gleaming dark eyes, her spiked blonde hair reflecting her irritation. "I'm not that boring, am I?" she continued, putting her hands on her hips.

Uh-oh. Bad sign.

Shikamaru raced to cover up: "No, no, Temari, no. You're not boring at all. Yare, yare… I just need to think about this mission. It's getting more troublesome by the minute."

Temari sighed and placed her hand lightly on his arm with a gentleness she rarely exposed to anyone else. "Look, we only have an hour together-- less now, actually-- before you have to get back to your Hyuuga captain," she replied slowly, moving her thumb up and down his forearm. "Why don't you stop being a shinobi for a couple moments and start being… my date?"

Shikamaru looked at her, surprised; it was shocking for a woman as perpetually businesslike as Temari to be talking to him like this. Asking him to forget his duties.

As Neji passed by, though, with TenTen and Lee laughing behind him, Shikamaru relaxed slightly. If his captain was using this hour of free time to converse (or ignore) his teammates, why not him? Leave it alone for a while, he told himself. Asuma always did say you worked too hard to figure problems out the moment they were presented to you. With that thought in mind, the shadow-user pushed all strategic and deep thought away and took Temari's hand, pulling her up from their seat at the café. He looked away, voice gruff, and said, "Wherever you want to go, then."

Temari squealed happily, reminding him slightly of Ino, and kissed him on the cheek.

…this whole 'relaxed' thing might just be worth it.

---

Despite the way he'd looked walking down the street with Lee and TenTen, Neji was most certainly not relaxed. Behind his unmasked face and creased brow, his mind ticked furiously, whirring over possibilities and suspicions. Sakura's uncanny, unplumbed knowledge of the situation at hand had left him positively exhausted, and in the worst way. His mind was slowing, he felt it, and his scowl deepened. A couple Suna civilians, selling exotic fruits from hand-build wooden carts, backed away from him, sufficiently cowed, and he felt a sort of vindictive pleasure at the sight. I need to bounce ideas off of someone. I need to talk to the Kazekage… alone.

No, not alone-- Sakura's intuition, however doubtful, needed to be fed as much information as possible. If she could figure out this mission before it even really started, there was a much lower fatality rate, and a much higher chance of getting back to Konoha within the next week, where he would devote his leftover time to training and ridding his thoughts of all things pink-haired and green-eyed.

…which was not what he had been planning to think at all.

Stopping so suddenly Lee ran into his back, Neji turned to his teammates. "I've got to go see someone to discuss the fine points of our mission," he rapidly answered. "Please enjoy yourselves until the hour is up. I'll meet you at the Kazekage's building later, ne?"

TenTen nodded. "Ja, Neji. Keep out of trouble!"

Lee smiled a blinding goodbye, and Neji nodded to them in farewell, taking off as fast as he could without arousing suspicion. If he was Sakura, where would he go in Suna? She would be with Naruto and Sai, of course, probably ordering them around--

Of course.

Clothes shopping.

Shaking his head with distaste and amazement at the consistency of the female brain, Neji headed to the main streets, where the city's largest shopping district was conveniently located. Shivering slightly at the hordes of female Sand ninja, Neji deftly navigated his way through the crowds, searching for a telltale flash of pink or blonde hair.

"Neji!"

There was no mistaking that booming, hyperactive voice. Neji turned on the spot to see Naruto and Sai racing towards him almost desperately, with Sakura behind them, rummaging through a bag.

"You've got to save us," Naruto pleaded once he reached the stoic prodigy, his hands clasped as though in prayer. "She's been taking us to these stores-"

"Buying stuff that makes us sick to look at," Sai agreed, shaking his head.

"It's horrible," Naruto finished. "Please, take her away… I love Sakura-chan dearly, but if I see another-"

The Kyuubi container shut up quickly as Sakura approached, a smile on her face. "Oh, you guys should see what I got!" she crowed. "Neji-san, I thought you were with Lee and TenTen. Three's a crowd once more?" she asked, smiling slightly at him.

He smirked a bit at the opposite gender's predictability. "Sort of. I was hoping to meet you so we could visit the Kazekage early and talk for a while about what he expects from us. You asked to hear whatever he had to say… why not hear it from his ears?"

"Wonderful idea!" Naruto boomed before Sakura even opened her mouth, pushing the pink-haired girl towards Neji. "Brilliant. Seriously, Neji, you are a genius. We'll see you later, Sakura-chan."

A quick goodbye from Sai, and the two were off, shooting Neji victorious and grateful glances.

"Um… ja ne?" Sakura said weakly from next to him, gazing at the two running men in front of her.

Neji started off again, this time at a slower pace, smirk still firm on his features. "After putting them through the kind of torture they conveyed to me, I'm surprised you look so shocked."

Sakura looked at him confusedly, nonplussed. "Torture? They were complaining about our trip?"

"Not many men enjoy looking for skirts, Sakura-san," Neji replied with a small smile.

She blinked, then crowed with laughter, holding up her bag of goodies. "Oh, Neji… you rely too much on stereotypes." Sakura opened the bag and withdrew a series of complicated gadgets. "This is all shinobi equipment: unbreakable vials, a small bowl for mixing antidotes and poison… I even found a set of new, double-bladed kunai for fifty percent off!" Her eyes were alight. "You didn't think I was clothes shopping, did you?"

Neji choked out a cough-laugh that vaguely resembled the sound of someone being strangled. "Hah… never?"

She laughed some more, a full-body laugh that shook her shoulders. "Ahh, I can't blame you or beat you up for that, I suppose. I guess it's a woman thing to look at clothes… I mean, even then… I was looking at some chakra gloves, too."

She considered looking at chakra gloves clothing shopping?

This woman was becoming both more clear and more of a mystery to him every day.

---

"Enter."

Neji pushed open the double doors at the sound of the Kazekage's voice: stiff, worried, pained. Sakura detected telltale signs of stress and frowned as they entered his office. The red-haired Kage was sitting at his desk, writing furiously on a scroll. He cursed under his breath and looked up. "Hyuuga. Sakura-san?"

At his questioning, vaguely threatening look, Neji nodded. "She is to be filled in on all matters discussed here."

Gaara's frostiness multiplied tenfold. "By what decree?"

Neji frowned. "Mine. As ANBU captain."

The Kazekage looked at Neji for a moment as if sizing him up, then nodded as the captain had done before. "Yes. Sakura-san, Hyuuga, please sit."

They both drew up chairs and did as asked. Sakura stayed silent as Neji went over their trip: uneventful, except for the rogues, and they were easily defeated. But they had had some photographs on their person that created a large amount of evidence that they were hired to murder the two late chuunin.

Neji pulled out the glossy eight-by-ten picture and passed it over the desk to Gaara. "Sakura-san recognized them. They are the murdered chuunin, are they not?"

Gaara's lips pressed together in an unclassifiable emotion. "Yes, they are. Arigatou. Is there anything else you'd like to report?"

"They had money on their person," Sakura reported quietly, holding up the stack of bills and leather pouches full to the brim and clinking with coins. "We figured it was escape money-- quite a bit just to take out two regular-level chuunin. Somebody obviously had money to spend and no desire to use it."

The Suna leader's frown deepened imperceptibly as he examined the money. "Counterfeit?"

Neji shook his head, looking thoroughly exhausted. "I checked. It's all genuine, every bit of it."

Gaara scowled and let out a noise similar to an angered animal, pounding his fist in a Tsunade-esque manner.

It must be a Kage thing, Sakura thought with a wry smile.

"This is getting worse, Hyuuga, and not better," Gaara snapped, but not unkindly. His face showed signs of weariness rather than cruelty. "Is there anyone on your team that has an idea about this? That Nara guy is a strategic specialist, ne? Why hasn't he figured anything out by now?"

"With all due respect, Kazekage-sama, we've only officially been on this mission for a little more than a day," Neji answered, his voice reflecting equal tiredness. "One of the reasons Sakura-san is here is to feed her memory."

"Her memory?" the Kazekage inquired rather disbelievingly, turning to face Sakura. "What does that have to do with this?"

"Kazekage-sama…" Sakura swallowed. It was one thing to tell her ANBU captain-- it was another entirely to voice juvenile emotions to a Kage. "I have a rather strange feeling about this mission. I feel like I know it, like I've done it before. Like… back in my memory, in the way far-out depths of my mind, I can solve this by remembering it. Everything seems so clear, and then at the same time so muddled. Like a door shuts in my face every time I get close." She paused and flushed as she realized she'd been rambling. "Gomen. I just… I don't know. I realize it sounds ridiculous."

Gaara regarded her silently for a moment, hands folded in front of his blue Kazekage's robes. "I believe you," he said suddenly, looking down at his desk and stacking papers. "I believe you. Especially since whoever is behind this seems to have a particular interest in you and Uzumaki Naruto. Because you're… friends… of mine, or for some other totally different reason, I have no idea." He paused at a knock on the door, and some familiar voices that signified that Kankurou, Temari, Shikamaru, Naruto, Sai, TenTen, and Lee were all behind the door. "One moment," the Kazekage called, and then turned back to Sakura. "I want you to work on this memory lead, mostly because it's the only one we have… do you understand?"

"Hai." Sakura nodded confidently, jade eyes on the Kazekage.

Equally green eyes stared back for a moment, shifted to Neji, and then Gaara sighed again, rubbing his forehead with the heel of his hand. "Come in."

The rest of the team stumbled forward in a tripping wrangle of bodies, laughing and chatting. The Konoha group pulled up chairs as Sakura and Neji had done and sat in front of the Kazekage's desk, while Temari and Kankurou went behind it and watched the conversation from the opposite side of the room. Neji straightened in his seat, all business once more, and opened his mouth to speak-

"Gaara!" Naruto cheerfully smacked Gaara on the back, his trademark grin sparkling nearly as much as Lee's. "Good to see you, buddy. How's li-"

An icy glare from Gaara caused Naruto to falter.

"Well, um… chat later, then."

Sakura stifled a giggle and Neji rolled his eyes to the heavens for patience. "Anyway. Kazekage-sama. What exactly are our duties?"

Gaara, stupendously recovered from Naruto's outburst, folded his hands on the desk once more and regarded all of them as one. "You've come in haste-- I have no jobs for you until tomorrow afternoon. Until then, you'll be on call, but otherwise free to wander about the city. Later tomorrow, however, I will need Sakura-san and Hyuuga to examine the bodies with Temari for any clues our people have missed. A highly-trained medic and a Byakugan will reveal everything, I believe. I will need four of you on guard duty until stated otherwise at the training facility where the murdered chuunin had just finished training… in case the killer or killers decide to strike again. Captain, I'll let you decide who should do that. Your strategist will work on defense and counterattack plans with Kankurou, and you will meet with me here at five o'clock sharp to discuss your findings for the day. After that, I'll call on you as I see fit… most likely for guard duty or street patrol. The civilians have no knowledge of the murders, and I'd like to keep it that way."

Shikamaru cleared his throat. "Where'll we be staying?"

Temari raised a hand to answer. "You'll have lodgings inside this building for extra protection and access to any records you might need. The last four rooms on the third floor."

"Won't Konoha ANBU on your streets make civilians suspicious?" Sai asked calmly.

"Maybe, but certainly less so if there's a cadaver found on the main road," Kankurou said pointedly from the window.

Gaara nodded his agreement. "Fatalities are not an option. I expect you all to understand that and prevent them-- to the very best of your human ability-- to stop them from occurring. Understood?"

"Hai." They spoke in unison. One voice. One team.

"Dismissed."

As the squad walked away, Gaara frowned. "Naruto."

"Eh?" The blue-eyed blonde wheeled around.

Gaara grimaced, as if he had just tasted something horribly nasty.

"You wanted to, er… 'chat'?"

---

Sakura sighed, drawing her arms behind her head in a languid stretch at rubbed at her eyes, yawning extraordinarily widely for someone with such a small mouth.

Neji smirked. "Tired?"

She shot him a mock-resentful look, silently thanking him for the light topic of conversation. "Of course. You made me trudge through this blisteringly hot desert in less than two days. It takes a lot out of a girl."

"A girl, not a kunoichi, ne?"

She smiled at him, her face surprisingly agile after her previously groggy look. "Exactly. You're getting it."

From next to Sakura, TenTen giggled. "It's about time. It took me four years to teach him how to properly talk to a girl without mentioning kunai or shuriken tactics."

Sakura let out a laugh. "I can imagine that." The two girls stepped ahead, walking together. "You really did have a handful of a team, didn't you?"

TenTen groaned. "You have no idea. Them and Gai-sensei… it was almost too much for a girl to handle. No wonder I grew up such a tomboy."

Sakura smiled slightly. "The Rookie Nine and you guys-- we sure have changed a lot, ne?"

TenTen nodded almost wistfully. "Don't you sometimes wish we were twelve and thirteen again?" she asked. "I mean, I know it was a hard time for you… but don't you miss that innocence? That sureness that everything will be okay?"

The pink-haired kunoichi next to her nodded slowly. "Yeah, I guess I do. But at the same time, that innocence was the byproduct of always being protected, don't you think?"

"It's hard to grow up," TenTen summarized with a smile.

Lee bounded ahead of them and faced the two women, walking backwards. "We are still in the full bloom of our youth!" he reassured them with a glass-shattering smile. "Do not fret!"

Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "How did you stand him?" he asked Neji dully.

"I didn't," the coffee-haired ANBU replied smoothly, grinning a bit. "Half our training ground is decimated from my lack of patience."

Sakura giggled. "I can see that."

Sai poked her on the shoulder as the group exited the building. "Ugly."

"What?"

"Why is everyone acting like we're not on an S-class mission? Like… like it's dickless and you and me in Konoha, going to dinner or something?"

"After a tense situation, people want to lighten the mood and relax each other's emotions," Sakura explained softly, "by making carefree conversation. You understand?"

Sai gave her his signature smile. "Aa. Arigatou."

Shikamaru regarded her curiously. "You act like his mother."

Sakura smiled slightly. "We're a family. I have double-duty on the female roles."

The group all shared a rippling chuckle as they wandered throughout the streets, but Neji was silent, only giving a rare smile. There's a lot behind her witty remarks than most people get, he realized suddenly. She's amazing with words.

Lee and TenTen shared a look of mutual attraction that made Neji almost want to gag, and then they giggled simultaneously. "Lee," TenTen announced, "is going to take me to dinner. We'll meet up with you guys later."

Shikamaru eyed the building behind him rather nervously. "I've got, ah… business to attend to back in the Kazekage's building."

Sai rolled his eyes while Sakura let out a "sure".

As the three departed, Sakura smiled brightly. "Looks like it's just us. Or are you guys planning on leaving me, too?"

Sai opened his mouth "N-" and then closed it tightly, eyeing Neji with a shock of understanding that Neji wasn't even sure he understood. "Gomen, Ugly. I'm going to look around for a library. Research." With his first-ever genuine smirk, Sai saluted them and ran off, quickly rounding a corner and disappearing from sight.

Neji frowned. "Does he always do that?"

Sakura laughed. "Sometimes. His research is important to him."

As they ambled along the streets together, Neji noticed with curiosity and a bit of shock-induced horror that people were looking at them. And not just "Konoha ANBU" looks-- wary, full of intense worry-- but regular, fleeting smiles and glances that screamed "young couple".

This was not optimal.

But at the same time, what was he supposed to do?

"What's his research?" he asked gruffly as they passed street vendors hawking their wares, shouting gleefully at them to buy something.

Sakura stopped by one of them and inspected a necklace, a silver rope with a diamond-studded silver bar dangling from the bottom. "He's interested in human emotions," Sakura answered, "because he's been denied them so long. He tries to study regular human behavior so he can become more… well, more human."

Neji stopped with her, nodding. "Aa. Nobody knows much of his history, do they?"

Sakura shook her head. "He hasn't found the need to tell us yet. This is pretty. How much?" she inquired of the man behind the stall.

He smiled at her, a toothless grin that stretched his whole face. "Ah, for you? Next to nothing."

As he named the price, though, Sakura smiled weakly. "Sorry, that's a bit higher than my budget allows," she said apologetically. "Maybe another time."

"Surely your boyfriend would like to give you a gift on your trip here?" the man smiled at her ANBU tattoo. "Even kunoichi deserve something pretty, ne?"

Sakura flushed, but Neji had already experienced the 'young couple' vibe from other civilians-- he pulled out money from his pocket and set it down with a practiced, Hyuuga-patented, polite smile. "Indeed she does," he answered in a low voice, giving the man the money.

"Neji-san!" Sakura stuttered. "No, no that's perfectly fine, I don't need it…"

"Haruno, do me a favor," Neji said dully as he picked up the necklace with a grateful smile to the owner and started walking away.

She hop/skipped after him. "Aa?"

He faced her and tied the necklace around her slim neck. "Shut up."

Sakura blinked, then smiled at him. "Arigatou, Neji-san."

He flapped a hand. "It was my pleasure. You feeling hungry?"

Still smiling, Sakura nodded. "Yeah, a bit. D'you want to have dinner together?"

Neji swore he felt his heart go on cardiac arrest mode.

"Erm… sure?"

Sakura laughed. "Don't sound so excited." But she boldly looped her arm through his and led him rather forcefully through the teeming crowd. "How about this place?" she asked, pointing to a sushi restaurant. "Last time I was in Suna I came here. It's good stuff. D'you like sushi?"

Neji nodded, still a bit disconcerted. "Ah… hai."

"Good." Giving him a smile that nearly made his knees buckle (SO un-Hyuuga he could have killed himself), Sakura dragged him inside and sat down neatly at a bar-like area. Neji slowly seated himself next to her, as if he was afraid it was all a dream and about to poof away at any moment.

Sakura gave him a reassuring grin. "Don't worry, Neji-san, the seat's not going to hurt you. I promise. I'll beat it up if it does."

The dark-haired man rolled his eyes, trying unsuccessfully to swallow a smile. "I'm not sure the owner of the restaurant would appreciate that."

Green eyes sparkled. "Well, he'd just have to live with it. I'm a kunoichi-- beating up is rather a specialty of mine. Ask Sai or Naruto."

Neji chuckled and took a sip of the tea their waitress had brought them not five seconds ago. "I don't have to… when they walk into Ichiraku with black and blue as their skin tones, there are no questions asked."

Sakura giggled. "I should probably stop doing that. Hinata might hurt me." They both shared a laugh at the image of gentle Hinata hurting anyone but an enemy, then spent a comfortable moment simply looking at each other.

This is strange, Neji thought vaguely as he tilted his head, taking in more of her face. She's not pretty. But she's beautiful. How does that work?

"Beauty's in the eye of the beholder," she murmured.

Neji snapped to attention. "Wh- what?"

Sakura blinked. "Hm? Oh…" She giggled self-consciously, flushing a brilliant red. "Did I say that out loud? Gomen, my mind was wandering."

He raised an eyebrow. She had looked at him and said something about beauty? How strange.

…

Wait…

But Neji didn't have ample time to chase after that thought-- their food was placed in front of them, and Sakura was starting to eat. "Mm," she mumbled appreciatively, swallowing with a smile. "Never fails."

They ate in an easy silence for a very long time, but Neji found something strange about their meal. He found himself stealing glances at her, taking her in, absorbing all of the little things: the way she pressed the sushi against her plate to stop the soy sauce from dripping on her; the way she clicked her chopsticks before deciding which piece to select; the way she made little stick figures in the surplus soy sauce on her plate when she'd finished. And ever so often, he saw her stealing glances at him, presumably doing the same things he was.

How strange.

At the end of the meal, Sakura smiled at him. "Good, huh?"

He nodded, taking another sip of tea. "Very. What's on your mind?"

Sakura glanced up from her soy sauce stick figures. "Nani? How'd you know I was thinking of something?"

He shrugged a shoulder carelessly. "Same way I heard the Hokage coming at us. Perception-- using my senses."

She shook her head bemusedly at him. "You really are something," she conceded, grinning slightly. "I was just thinking of Naruto."

Neji was surprised at how much this angered him. Why wouldn't she have feelings for Naruto? Of course, she was obviously disappointed she hadn't said anything to the blonde-- he and Hinata were now very much a couple. But besides that, it was perfectly logical for Sakura to fall in love with the Kyuubi container. She'd known him since they were very little, after all. And wasn't that all it took for TenTen and Lee to get together? Ino and Chouji?

But Neji was internally fuming for some reason, no matter where logical thought took him. "What about Naruto?" he forced out through gritted teeth.

Sakura, rather taken aback at his new, clipped tone, raised an eyebrow. "Just about how he somehow manages to change everyone he meets for the better."

…

He might as well have the word 'fool' stamped on his forehead in place of the hitai-ate. Neji groaned silently and willed his heart to stop thumping like crazy. "Oh."

"Yeah. Isn't it amazing, how he does that? Everyone's changed by him. You, me, Gaara, Kiba, Hinata, Tsunade-shishou… absolutely everyone." She shrugged. "It just makes me wonder sometimes, you know?"

"It's not just him," Neji blurted, trying to cover up his obvious resentment from before. "You two together… you're a combination. Everyone he changes is comforted to this change by you, or vice versa. You're a team in that respect, as well as a genin-chosen one."

Sakura regarded him curiously. "Those are nice words, Neji. But what have I done to change someone?"

Neji rolled his lavender eyes to the ceiling. "You changed that Chiyo person from a prejudiced old woman to someone loving and accepting enough to give her life for the Kazekage. The last time Lee proclaimed his undying love for you, you whacked him and sent him to TenTen, starting something that I knew should have happened in the beginning. Who else should I mention, Haruno? Sai in opening up to people, Ino in being less conceited, Hinata in becoming more bold? Yeah, Naruto had a hand in those, too, but you were a large factor." He shook his head. "I don't know why you always put yourself down."

She looked at him, startled, and Neji feared he'd been too harsh until her face split into a wide smile and she nearly tackled him in a hug. He awkwardly patted her back. "Old habits die hard," she answered, her voice muffled by his shirt. "Arigatou."

Sakura pulled away, and Neji looked at her impassively through burning red cheeks. "No… no problem." He coughed. "Shall we go, then?" His companion laughed and pulled out money, but Neji stopped her. "My treat."

Sakura poked him. "Chauvinist."

"It's the Hyuuga upbringing to be a gentleman."

"So much a gentleman that you let your teammate land a punch on you?"

"It was a kick, and shut up," he snapped as they walked out the door and into the streets. The sun was low in the sky, almost set, and the streets were thinning; many people were yawning and walking home.

"Don't you glare at me like that, Hyuuga, or I'll-"

"You'll…?"

"I'll tell Shikamaru you have pictures of him hidden under your mattress."

He snorted. "You do that, and I'll tell Kankurou you wished you were one of his puppets."

Sakura pouted. "That's not fair."

"All's fair in love and war," Neji quoted.

She stopped and looked at him. "And which is this?"

Fuck, she thought immediately, fuckfuckfuck. I cannot believe I just said that. He's going to think I'm… I'm madly in love with him, or something!

And that's bad because…?

Because I'm NOT madly in love with him?

The fact that her Inner Self didn't say anything was less than comforting.

Neji stared at her, and then, on a sudden flight of fancy, leaned down to whisper in her ear. "Which do you want it to become, Sakura?"

His breath tickled her earlobe, hot and gentle. Her name fairly rolled off his tongue, like water off rocks. He had a gentle but firm grip on her upper arm, and when she breathed in, she could smell the mint scent of his hair, surprisingly sweet, and his own scent… something she mentally classified as 'real'. Sweet and real.

She was surprised at the effect his words had on her-- she felt her knees get wobbly and her hands involuntarily went up, as if needing something to ground herself on.

Neji himself was beyond shocked at both what he had done and how she was responding. Of their own accord, his hands found themselves curling around her own. "This," he said softly, "is a war."

"Yes," Sakura answered, looking straight at him. "A war."

Neji nodded, as if reassuring both of them, and then, suddenly, planted a soft, chaste kiss on her forehead. "Let's go inside."

Sakura looked past his shoulder… they were directly outside of the Kazekage's building. Nodding dumbly, she locked eyes with him one more time.

Something akin to an electric shock jolted throughout her body, and she quickly eased past him. "G'night."

"Goodnight."

He watched her jog into the building and sighed to himself, putting his hands on his eyes as if to block out what he'd just done.

…what had he just done?

Neji groaned. He wasn't the flirting kind of guy. Hell, he wasn't even the associate-with-any-female-but-TenTen-and-Hinata kind of guy. And here he was, kissing the Hokage's former apprentice-- on the forehead, yeah, which was probably less than Naruto had even done-- but kissing nonetheless.

This mission was getting more complicated by the minute.

And it didn't get any better when he was opening the door to the room he was supposed to share with Lee and found instead two very angry brothers of a certain Haruno Sakura.

---

Author's Note: Haha, I'm loving this chapter, especially the end. I guess we'll see what Neji's interrogation was like next chapter-- which, by the way, will probably be up by Friday, at the latest. I'm going to work on a oneshot or two, but I'm pumped about this story!

The blue review button loves you--

--Dejeuner