Disclaimer: I don't own, kthxbai. I do own a bottle of Dobel (tequila cream), which has nothing to envy to the Bailey's. :P

-X-

Chapter 3: Fighting

-X-

Accompanied by the Hyuugas, Sakura was led to a secluded back yard. The space had enough room for a ninja spar and some markings here and there signaled it as Hinata's playground as well.

Sakura smiled fondly at this. If they only knew that the purple-haired and shy girl was about to undertake the ANBU tests... that would teach them something, she thought. But that was Hinata's secret, not even Naruto knew about his girlfriend's aspirations. Sakura was privy to this because she was one who had sponsored her along with Kakashi, since both of them clearly saw how much the Hyuuga Heiress had changed over the years.

Still, it hurt to see a member of your own family underestimate you.

Sakura remembered the little talk she had with Hinata while keeping watch on a joint mission and the silent vow she made then. The Harunos loved their daughter dearly but since Sasuke's defection, they thought she was going to withdraw from active duty. Nothing more far than that, she endured the hard training Tsunade placed on her and passed every single test with flying colors, even the jounin exam.

Only then had the Harunos understood their daughter's fiery will, the way of a true Konoha kunoichi.

And they asked her for forgiveness for being so blind after her promotion to specialized med-jounin.

Hiashi took in Sakura's absent smile but he didn't comment on it. Instead, he waved a hand at the yard.

"Feel free to use it," he said. "I'm sure this would suffice your need for training. Hanabi, let's go."

Gee, thanks for the chauvinistic comment, jackass! -Inner Sakura sneered at Hiashi's back. Agreeing with her other half, she pulled one glove on and gathered a little bit of chakra in her fist, slamming it against the ground and making an obvious separation that ran along half of the training yard.

"Oops," she said without a tinge of apology. "It seems that I used too much chakra, no matter how little I molded."

Hanabi's eyes said it all. "Training grounds number three has huge fissures and holes in it," she said, amazed. "It was your doing?"

Sakura put a slender gloved finger to her chin. "Training grounds three? Ah, yeah, that's one of my favorites when training with my team. Although the burnings and the puddles of black goop aren't mine, those are Kakashi and Sai's cheatings when we play taijutsu."

Hanabi smiled slyly. "And the crack on the west side of the Death Forest's Central Tower?"

"It's still there?" Sakura asked, thoroughly amused. "Yeah, that would be mine too. Chouji's whining for food got on my nerves after a week inside that forsaken place."

"So you are a chuunin, Haruno-san," said Hiashi, finally rising to the bait she had placed.

"Jounin, Hiashi-sama," she answered with ease and a practiced shy smile. "I got promoted two years later than your nephew here."

"Good," he said coolly. "Neji, could you please spar with our guest?"

"With pleasure, Uncle," the ANBU operative said smoothly. "But this space is too small for a spar, I'm afraid. Haruno-san's punches can take down the Hokage Monument if she wanted."

"Is this true?" asked Hiashi with a flicker of astonishment in his eyes.

"I have seen it, Uncle," he responded gravelly, noticing that the wicked smirk had found its way to Sakura's lips again. "But maybe if we limit our spar to non-chakra simple taijutsu we can manage. What do you say, Haruno-san?"

Sakura had fallen serious once more. Apparently, Neji wasn't exactly praising her skills to spite the old Hyuuga, but to place a challenging gauntlet in front of her. His face was calm and detached, but she saw a glint of defiance behind those pearly eyes.

"I'd be most pleased, Hyuuga-san," she accepted.

Both contenders walked into the yard, a good distance from one another to gauge their opponents. Sakura knew how Neji worked, as she had seen him in battle more than once.

Slipping a blank mask over her face, she pulled on her other glove and assumed her regular battle stance, fists raised in front of her. She didn't want to be the first because she would have to reveal her fighting style. And, with two more Hyuugas on the field as spectators, she wasn't too keen on letting on what she really was capable of.

Neji went at her, trying to punch her in the stomach, only to meet thin air as she back-flipped and countered with a high kick. Neji grabbed her calf and swung her body to the wall, against which she landed suavely, like a cat, and pushed back hastily as she aimed her first fist.

No chakra, huh? Then I'll teach you some things! -Inner Sakura growled as she hit Neji's crossed forearms and flipped over his head as she gained distance between them. The ANBU operative turned around as he pulled out two kunai from his belt pouch. Sakura pulled two kunai as well and waited for him to attack her again.

In a flurry of movement, he went at her and she responded in kind, the clinks of their weapons were the only thing heard in the otherwise silent yard. Hanabi activated her Byakugan in order to follow their movements, too fast for simple sight. Kicks, punches and slashes were avoided, stopped and countered with the grace of a deathly dance. Sakura's calf hit Neji's chest as she performed a roundhouse kick while she avoided his kunai and hands, sending him a few steps back.

"Are you sure you aren't cheating, Haruno-san?" Neji asked with a feral smirk. Sakura narrowed her eyes and a vicious smile spread on her lips.

"Why don't you turn on you Byakugan and find out, Hyuuga-san?" she droned sardonically.

As much as Neji wanted to activate his bloodline limit, he didn't and kept on defending and attacking the pink-haired ninja with all he had that wasn't chakra-powered. He, too, had a few tricks under his white sleeve, that was for sure.

As she jumped over him one more time, he crouched and jumped as well to meet her in the midair. As she tried to stab him with her kunai, he pulled back and grabbed her wrists.

Sakura's eyes widened. She felt another chakra tickle from her seal on her back, responding to the surge of adrenaline raging on her body because of the fight. Seeing that she had lost concentration, Neji flipped her over him, sending Sakura to the ground with a deaf sound.

"Ouch," she said evenly, having taken all the impact on her back. "You win, Neji-san."

Having said this, she picked herself up with a sharp intake of breath and pulled off her gloves, cracking her joints. Neji observed her as she closed her eyes and opened them again, realizing that she had soothed the blow literally in the blink of an eye.

Hanabi smirked as she saw Sakura's glowing back and Hiashi's surprised glare over her form. Without saying a word, he turned her back on them and motioned silently to his daughter to follow him inside the house.

To Hiashi's inward astonishment, the pink-haired young woman had impressed him. Tsunade had been right when she said that he was underestimating her protégé. Why was he so adamant in seeing her losing control? Maybe because she could show some emotions that the Hyuuga, by unspoken code, could not?

"Are you alright, Haruno-san?" Neji asked, seeing her lifting her head and looking at the perfect blue sky over them.

"Perfectly fine," she answered absently. "Would you mind a reschedule on this spar? I think I want to lie down for a moment."

"Of course, I'll escort you."

"Seriously though... I know the house is pretty big and all that, but do you have to usher me twenty-four-seven?"

"Those are Hokage-sama's orders."

"Please," she snorted, surprising the stoic Hyuuga as they reached her room. "Like I'm that important. She only wants me here because I'm recovering from that procedure--"

She fell silent. Neji looked at her and she lowered her head, avoiding his gaze.

"I think I'll take a shower now... if only there was some hot water I would be happy."

"Open the other lever and you'll have hot water," Neji explained, understanding that she didn't want to reveal which kind of procedure she had undergone with Tsunade to be checked in the hospital. "This wing has the plumbing inverted."

"Oh... and why is that?"

Neji smirked at her.

"Merely to annoy the guests."

Watching his retreating back, she threw her head back and let out a chuckle. Those Hyuuga their dry sense of humor!

While the much loved hot water seeped on her skin, she pondered on why Neji, an ANBU operative –not as she didn't notice him in Tsunade's office that day– hadn't protested when he was assigned to be her guard dog inside his house.

Uhm...

-X-

A moody Sakura was received by an amused Hanabi and two brooding Hyuuga males at breakfast the next morning. She really wasn't a morning person, and this was demonstrated with the scoff she made when Hikari handed her a few scrolls and letters.

"Your mail, Haruno-san."

A quick note from Ino, asking where the hell she was; a mission report from Kiba that Tsunade wanted to be translated –only Shikamaru, Hinata and Sakura knew how to read his terrible scribbles– and three medical scrolls from Shizune, asking for her input in some cases.

She didn't comment on her received mail, but she felt three pair of eyes surveying the scrolls.

Neji accompanied her back to her room, where she sat on the bed and started to make some seals.

"Wait," he said from the door. "Byakugan."

Sakura rolled her eyes but she allowed him to peruse the seals on the scrolls. It was better for her not to protest... for now.

"There's nothing on them," he finally said.

"These are medical records from some of my patients at the hospital," she explained as she re-started the scroll unsealing technique and unrolling the first one. "Hmm. Inoichi-sama is getting restless, ne? That's too bad. I'm grounded and I can't go to the hospital to discharge him."

"You aren't confined," Neji retorted, crossing his arms. "You are being sheltered here."

"Same shi-... I mean, different terms, same meaning."

"Aren't you incredibly pleasant in the mornings," he drawled as she yawned.

"I'm sorry, Hyuuga-san, but I can't function without coffee and there's none in this house. And breakfast at six in the morning is not breakfast. It's unearthly."

"I fail to see the otherworldly factor to having an early breakfast," he replied, watching her discard the Yamanaka report and grabbing the second cylinder. "It's a good thing to energize the body before training."

"Hmm... it seems that..." she murmured before reaching for a book that was on her nightstand. "Chakra crawling? That's uncalled for, Shizune..."

Neji scowled briefly when he realized that she wasn't paying any attention to him and therefore, the bickering couldn't be continued.

"Hyuuga-san, have you heard about something called 'chakra crawling'?" she asked him, finally lifting her nose from the scroll and looking at him. She was frowning.

"I think I recall something of the like," he answered after a few seconds. "After a sealing process, the subject gets tested for chakra openings in order to verify the effectiveness of the seal. If there's presence of chakra on its edges, then the seal must be redrawn in a wider style."

Sakura nodded. She certainly knew about some examples of that phenomenon. Naruto's red chakra –Kyuubi's– when he got angry, for example. Kakashi's seal, like Naruto said, didn't stop Sasuke from transforming into a winged monster.

And the tickling she had been feeling from her own seal.

She frowned deeper as she discarded the second scroll and tossed the book with it. It wasn't that big of a problem, she thought, because Tsunade reviewed her work and opened a few paths in the warding.

But the feeling started before that, Inner Sakura pointed out. For the life of her, she didn't have a clue as to why her mark had started to react. Small manifestations as they were, of course, but that didn't mean that they couldn't grow stronger with time.

And Sakura knew, as Tenzou liked to joke about it, that every seal was meant to break with the contained power, if the person was really willing to break it.

Maybe that's why Sasuke countered Kakashi's ward on his curse mark, just because he wanted to fight Gaara, first, and then Naruto... because he wanted to kill him.

Yamato said that as well regarding Naruto's power and Sakura knew, deep in her heart, that Kyuubi was more tight-reigned than everybody thought, as much as Naruto seemed to lose control and pull out such frightening chakra tails when he was enraged. Naruto had a big, hard head, but he loved Konoha and he wasn't over the thought of killing himself for protecting their village.

He said it himself; a night when she, Sai, Kakashi and Naruto were on a mission and some truths surfaced with the moonlight. Kakashi apologized to Sakura for neglecting her, Sakura apologized to Naruto for rejecting him so many times, and Sai apologized to both of them because he didn't mean those insults he threw at them out of force of habit instead of voicing his true opinions concerning his teammates. And Naruto apologized to all of them, because he felt that Sasuke was unsalvageable.

Sakura felt grateful for that boring A-rank mission that had strengthened Team Seven's relationships so much, but that didn't stop her for crying her eyes out when she found herself alone back at home.

Neji saw part of her thoughts reflected on her face, making him remember about Team Seven's history. He knew thanks to Tenten that Sakura had been found on a bench after the Uchiha's defection. And an awed Lee had told him about how she had steeled herself and had gone to the Hogake and asked her to make her her apprentice.

Truth was, he was impressed at how had she conducted herself after Naruto left, but he wasn't above to keep his opinions to himself.

He watched her blink, gathering her bearings after a good while of spacing out.

"Let's see..." she murmured. It was obvious to Neji that she forgot that he was there, leaning on the wall in front of her. "Ah... I should have known. Kakashi missed his physical again. I'm going to kick his ass when he gets back."

Please, gods above, see them home safe and sound.

"They're due to get back in four days," he said, making her jump in surprise.

"Ah! Hyuuga-san, I didn't remember you were here."

"That was pretty much obvious," he said without sarcasm. He had learned more about his charge by looking at her pretty face than listening to Lee's lovesick babbles. "I'll leave you to your devices then. Please let me know if you want to spar, I'll lead you to the training yard."

"I think I'll remain here for the time being, Hyuuga-san, thank you," she answered in a sad tone that wasn't missed by the ANBU operative. "I need to answer these."

"Sure."

While closing her door soundlessly, Neji heard a sniffle behind it, making him scowl unambiguously.

-X-

Sakura spent two whole days in her room, writing some letters to Shizune and Tsunade, translating Kiba's messy scrawls and reading her medical books about seals and their effects. She only interrupted her tasks when Hikari informed her that she was expected for dinner.

And she didn't sleep either.

Sakura was silent but nice when Hanabi greeted her in the mornings; nonetheless the table was quiet during the meals because Hiashi didn't press her again and Hanabi noticed her distraction and wisely kept her mouth shut, remembering what had happened earlier.

And Neji didn't want to comment about her sudden stillness.

The third day, however, she found herself alone with Neji for breakfast.

"Where's Hanabi and Hyuuga-sama?" she asked, suppressing a yawn.

"They're in the dojo," he answered curtly. "Uncle is training Hanabi in the secret art of the Gentle Fist."

"Oh, how nice," she said, while Hikari presented her a plate full of pancakes. Sakura stole a glance at Neji, who had his eyes fixed on his plate.

"I hope you like this flavor too, Sakura-san," said Hikari, throwing a tiny smile at her. "I made this jam yesterday."

"I'm sure it would be deliciou--" the pink-haired had to cut herself off as the tasted the first bite. "Oh my god, Hikari-san, this is... really good!"

"I'm very glad you like it," the silvery-eyed woman smiled, satisfied. "It's a bit hard to find plums at this time of the year."

"I haven't taste anything like this," Sakura confessed, while stuffing her mouth with another pancake slice. "I almost regret that my mother never taught me how to make such delicacies when she was alive."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that," said Hikari, pursing her lips. Sakura waved her hand and shook her head, swallowing.

"Nothing to be sorry about, Hikari-san," she said with a thin smile after she wiped her lips with the napkin. "It's perfectly okay."

Hikari nodded as she placed her mail and Neji's on the table and left both shinobi to their own devices.

"I'm sorry," said Neji all of the sudden, making her look up from another letter from an increasingly annoying flower-attendant blonde friend of hers. "About your mother."

"It's okay, really," she answered, lowering her eyes to the plate and dragging a finger absently on its surface, gathering an amount of jam on it. "It's been a while since they passed away. Killed in action in Grass Country, or so that's what Tsunade-shishou said."

"My deepest condolences, Haruno-san," Neji said sincerely. He didn't know that she was alone, for the Harunos' passing never reached his ears. This made him conclude that both parents were, at least, of ANBU level or maybe ROOT members, because he had never heard about Sakura's parents before.

"Thank you, Hyuuga-san," she said, looking at her jam-coated finger thoughtfully. "It's... very kind of you."

Neji, as a proud element of the Hyuuga Clan as he was, ANBU operative –actually, he was a Squad Captain, but he wasn't allowed to gloat about that tiny fact– didn't act on impulses. Never. In fact, he always thought that impulses were for the weak and emotional people who didn't know how to act like a proper shinobi.

But when Sakura slipped her finger into her mouth, he suddenly got the urge to experiment the taste of her finger too.

As fleeting as it was, that sentiment was squashed by twenty years of Hyuuga traditional thoughts about discipline and manners and how to address a lady in an appropriate way. He lashed out at himself mentally, repeatedly, shaking off the volley of certainly non-appropriate thoughts when he identified her mouth motions to sucking.

Sakura, oblivious to his intense stare and ignorant of the fact that the Hyuuga prodigy had his mind running in circles in some place called 'the gutter', she pulled her finger out with a soft pop and proceeded to coat her fingertip with more jam.

He watched her fumble with the scroll as she gathered more of the sugary plum-flavored substance, staining her cheek in order to avoid dropping some of the sticky jam on the medical scroll.

"Ah, damn it!" she cursed in a muttered voice, trying to reach for the napkin without getting the other scrolls stained too.

Neji decided then to do something about that gutter place his mind was currently in.

"Here," he said, catching her wrist. "Allow me."

Sakura stopped in her tracks as a warm hand closed over her wrist firmly but not harshly. She noticed the onyx-haired Hyuuga pull her scroll out of her grasp, setting it away from her plate.

Now there was something about those silver eyes, a glint of something she couldn't identify that rendered her speechless, watching him grab her napkin and placing it near her.

"Now," he murmured softly. "The dry napkin will stain your fingers more, so..."

"So..." she squeaked, gasping in utter surprise when he pulled her finger inside his mouth, sucking the jam on the tip and slowly removing the sugar from her skin with his tongue, all this without looking away from her wide eyes.

Inner Sakura squealed and threw herself in the gutter as well while screaming something about hot Hyuuga males, but she couldn't quite make out what she was saying. Her senses were completely shut down as Neji pulled her finger out and placed the napkin on it, rubbing it dry.

"One more spot," said the Hyuuga, leaning in and licking away –oh yes, licking, something which made Inner Sakura melt into a puddle of steaming goo– that little spot of jam on her cheek.

A heavy silence fell upon them, but Neji didn't look away from her eyes. She was blushing and she was stunned, to say the least. The ANBU Captain blinked slowly and stood up.

"It would be better for you not to read those during breakfast, you know," he said, opening the door and passing in front of a startled Hanabi.

Sakura kept blinking, while her mind was spinning over that-that-... damn Hyuuga.

What the...

-X-

The rest of her day was spent inside her room. Sakura excused herself with Hanabi, saying that she didn't feel good.

And true to that, she had to bury her face into the pillow in order to scream her frustrations.

Why the hell did that goddamn Hyuuga have to provoke her like that? she raged inwardly while her inner self was cart-wheeling with über glee. Inner Sakura sustained that he was head over heels for her, but she wasn't on the same frequency as her mental doppelganger.

First of all, why didn't he say so if he really liked her? What if he was just teasing her, because those Hyuuga surely had a wicked sense of humor, and it was common knowledge how they liked to mindfuck all people about Hinata and Naruto's relationship? Truly, what wasn't much of a motive anyway, because all those polite banters exchanged at the hospital didn't mean anything when she was mending a punctured lung and knitting his skin with a swirl of her chakra, calmly saying to him to stay awake while she was battling with Death because, to put it simply, it wasn't his time to go just yet.

Sakura sighed, exhausted. All that mental rant hadn't gotten her anywhere. All she knew was that...

She had felt a certain warmth inside her chest when she felt his lips on her cheek.

"Gah!" she exclaimed, pressing her face to the pillow.

-X-

During dinner of the fourth day -being her fifth day with the Hyuuga Clan- Izumo entered the dining room in a rush, startling her and making her drop her chopsticks.

"They came back," he said. "Tsunade-sama requests you and Neji at the hospital."

"Oh, God... please tell me my boys and Hinata are okay," she asked, clasping her hands in front of her chest, but Izumo shook his head.

"I don't know, Sakura-chan."

"Let's go," said Neji, rising from the table, but Sakura was already at the door.

Jumping from roof to roof, Sakura's mouth set in a hard line. If she was too late because of this stupid confinement in the Hyuuga Compound, if she wasn't able to help--

"Sakura," Neji murmured while taking another leap. "We're going to make it."

She felt her anxiety receding a little at the Hyuuga's words, although she missed the fact that he addressed at her by name. She didn't answer, but she felt reassured by Neji when she needed it the most.

Busting the hospital doors open, they saw Hinata sitting on the floor, taking care of an unconscious Naruto on her lap. Sai was slumped on the wall, and Tsunade was treating a battered Kakashi. Yamato was drenched in blood and dirt like the others, but he seemed okay enough.

"Gods..." she murmured, going to Hinata. "What happened? Is he okay?"

"He's just exhausted," said the Hyuuga Heiress. "He pulled out four tails--"

"Mission reports later, Hinata," snapped Tsunade. "Sakura, get Sai. Shizune, help me with Kakashi."

Sakura kneeled at the ink user's side and placed her hands over his head. "Come here, you."

"Hag," he greeted characteristically. "Uchiha..."

"He can go fuck a tree, honey, just stay with me and don't fall asleep," Sakura said as she placed his head on her lap and made some seals. "Tell me, what date is today? Where do you live? Which is your favorite color?"

"October the thirty-first, I live next to the library and my favorite color is... black."

"No concussions," she reported out loud to Tsunade, as she dragged her hands to Sai's torso and poured some chakra inside his body, making him flinch. "I'm sorry, sweetie, I know it hurts but please bear with me a little."

Sai nodded and gritted his teeth in a fake smile as she pulled up his shirt and started to heal him. Neji, beside Hinata, only could watch as Sakura gathered her green chakra and made it swirl into a tiny current that surrounded the gashes and slowly closed the skin. Neji, being the receiver of this treatment several times but hadn't observed the process itself, marveled at how easy she worked, clotting and knitting the wounds as she went down Sai's body.

Her patient shivered. "It's done, honey" she whispered to Sai with a smile. "Now, rest up."

"Sakura," he responded opening his black eyes. "That was Sasuke. There wasn't a trace of Orochimaru in that body..."

"It's okay, sweetie," she said in a hollow voice. "You can sleep now."

As Sai wandered into unconsciousness, she went back to Hinata after looking fixedly at Yamato. No words were exchanged in that moment, but she let out a sigh as she kneeled next to Naruto. She poured her chakra over the blond's prone body, checking up his wounds. There were none.

"Thank the Gods, you damned fox, that there's only one of you, because if half of Konoha had the healing powers of Naruto, I would find myself bored to death."

Tsunade snorted at Sakura's attempt to crack the tension. "Kakashi is coming around, finally. Physical exertion and Sharingan overuse, as usual."

"And he neglected his physical this year, as usual," commented Shizune.

"He's all yours, Sakura," Tsunade said amusedly as Neji lifted a brow. "Maybe you can punch him back together."

All the women chuckled, including Hinata. Medical humor was incomprehensible, the Hyuuga ANBU Captain thought as he watched Sakura's gleaming hand resting on his cousin's head.

"You are the one that has a mild concussion, Hinata-chan," she said. "Maybe we can get you a bed here in the hospital?"

"Or we can carry her home," added Neji, with a faint worried undertone that only Hinata perceived.

"I want to stay here, Neji-niisan," she whispered with a little smile. "Naruto-kun..."

Realizing that her stutter was gone for the time being and her glances at the blond's sleeping face were full of emotion, he sighed.

"I'll perform a sleeping jutsu on you, Hinata-chan," Sakura whispered warmly as she held his cousin's shoulders. "Sweet dreams, ne? Don't worry, Naruto will be okay."

"Thank you, Sakura-chan..."

A glowing hand passed over the Hyuuga Heir's eyes and she slumped into Sakura's embrace. A group of faceless nurses came with a few stretches and carried Sai and Naruto away, while Neji got hold of his cousin and stood up, waiting for his charge.

"Give some orders that they are to be put on a private ward for them only," said Tsunade as she placed Kakashi's lean body on another stretcher and looked up to Yamato. "Tenzou, you will remain here too, you need to rest. Sakura, you--"

"I'll remain here with my team and Neji will remain here with me as my guard and Hinata's cousin, shishou."

Tsunade gave her an appointed look. "Don't get smart with me, Pinky. Check on them but you need to rest up too. I'll give you new orders regarding your status later on."

"Thank you, shishou," Sakura answered with a wide smile that dropped as Tsunade and Shizune went away. Tenzou looked at Sakura's hand and allowed her to serve him as a human crutch to the ward. Neji entered to put Hinata in a bed, but the black-eyed ANBU stopped and closed the door with them outside.

"Sakura-chan, I know you're about to explode," he said gently, walking towards a bench and motioning her to sit down with him. "Come here."

Neji watched Hinata's sleeping profile as he heard a strangled sob outside. Getting close to the door, he heard Yamato's voice.

"I know this is hard, Sakura-chan... but he wasn't above to killing his former comrades..."

They were talking about Sasuke, which was pretty obvious to the Hyuuga.

"I don't care if he's trying to get back at the entire world about his vengeance!" he heard Sakura's hiss. "He hurt Naruto again, didn't he? And tried to kill Hinata, of all people? I'm going to kill him for all the pain he put us through! He's not human, Tenzou... he's a monster!"

"We still don't know his reasons, Sakura-chan," Tenzou said soothingly, but Neji felt her chakra spiking with intense anger.

"Fuck his reasons!" she almost shouted. "And I'm going to kick Kakashi's ass when he wakes up too. That was incredibly stupid of him, getting in front of Sasuke's Chidori... but I feel that Naruto and Neji will be grateful for that. And I am, too."

The Hyuuga eavesdropper understood all too well. The Copy Nin had thrown himself in front of Hinata, blocking Sasuke's mad attack. Sakura's rant was certainly filling some blanks.

And Neji's blood started to boil.

"Sakura-chan... I'm fine, this is not my blood," Yamato said, and Neji knew that she was trying to heal him too. As he started to make his way back to Hinata's bedside, he heard a faint whisper.

"I'm sick and tired to see my family getting hurt by someone that didn't love us... he never did, did he? He never loved us..."

But a little while later, when Yamato came inside the ward carrying an exhausted pink-haired medic-nin and placed her on one of the beds, he didn't comment anything as the Mokuton user lied down in another bed.

That Uchiha bastard, he thought when he regarded all the data he had gathered. He hurt his friends, the only people that loved him only to turn his back on them... and leave all on a cold stone bench.

Neji certainly was mad because of the fact that Hinata faced a certain danger, but what annoyed him to no end was Sakura's last whisper.

Oh, boy.

-XXX-

Sorry for the wait! I'm back in Venezuela -although I wanted to camp forever in CO's garden- and we'll have more updates as long as Manolito keeps playing nice to me. Thank you all for the alerts and comments, they really made my days.
Also, many thanks to Celtic Oak for her awesome beta and insights! I love thee, sistar!