Refraction

by Zelha

AU! After Sasori’s defeat, a powerful jutsu was handed to Sakura by Chiyo, swearing her to secrecy. Now, a few years later, Sakura has to bear with a mark that might change her life forever. NejiSaku, Manga spoilers.

9. Tuning

Disclaimer: I don't own, kthxbai. I do own an unhealthy obsession for Yamato, though.
Warning: Mature scenes ahead.

-X-

Chapter 9: Tuning

-X-

"I can't let you sleep on the couch, Neji!" Sakura exclaimed, surprised. "That thing is stained with blood... not to mention it will cost me dearly to pay for its cleaning, damn it all!"

Neji was not only amazed at how detailed Sakura was regarding the broken things he, Naruto and Kakashi helped pick and clean up in her living room after a Sound ninja had tried to ambush her in her own home, but also at the swiftness of her recovery. She seemed relaxed, almost cheery, but he knew better than that.

Something told him she was expecting to be alone to release her bottled up frustrations.

This, of course, drove her teammates out of her apartment, giving them the task of taking the shinobi's body out of her home as she mopped off all the blood she could, talking randomly about carpets and broken adornments.

"Thank Kami I took off Mama's carpet a few days ago," she was saying. "Naruto spilled some ramen on it and now I'm grateful for it. It's easier to clean a bare floor that a matted one."

"Sakura," he said, breaking her out of her chatty reverie. "Let it go."

"I don't..." she started, but a lifted brow from the Hyuuga prodigy made her sigh in defeat. "Alright, alright... the guy said something that pissed me off."

"What did he say?" he asked. Sakura leaned the mop against the wall, crossing her arms.

"Sasuke sent him, as you have already concluded," she answered with a scowl. "The nin said something about Sasuke being the new Sound leader, because Kabuto is missing. He tried to taunt me with some girl who is apparently Sasuke's new lover."

"And this angers you because..." he drawled, making her arch a brow.

"I'm not jealous, Neji, don't be obtuse," she scoffed. "What pissed me off was what he said after that," she explained.

Neji waited, staring at her.

"He said that Sasuke defeated Uchiha Itachi, and now he wants... me."

It took a bit of effort, but finally Neji allowed his scowl to loosen. At his side, Sakura was looking out the window.

He could see that she had calmed down after what she confided to him. As Neji listened, he realized that maybe the Uchiha had something else up his sleeve. Why, then, would he send someone to attack or kidnap her if he had a lover already?

The most impressive thing was that she had vented all her frustrations by talking, and now she seemed more at ease with herself.

"What I don't understand is..." she murmured, staring at the night sky. "Why does he want me now, after all these years, when he didn't give a damn before?"

"Maybe he got a new Bingo Book," he alleged, making her snort with amusement. Her entry in the Most Wanted list by Rock and Mist was the topic of the day several months ago. Next to the page relating her information, was an updated profile of Uzumaki Naruto.

"The new edition updated Naruto's list with Kakuzu's defeat," she commented. "Mine is the same as the last edition."

"Maybe you should kill another Akatsuki member," Neji said, smirking at her back. Sakura laughed and shook her head.

"Nah, those guys are troublesome at their best... and now that Uchiha Itachi is dead, I figure their numbers are dwindling... but that doesn't mean that they're defeated."

"We can't be sure what the Sound nin said was true," he remarked, leaning on the wall next to the window to look at her face and crossing his arms. "But we definitely should tell Hokage-sama about this bit of information."

"It's two in the morning, if we go now she will punch us through a wall."

"Then go to sleep," Neji ordered. "I'll stand watch."

Her eyes drifted to his, although the shadows were darkening his face. "I can't sleep, I'm too nervous."

Neji sighed and reached out for her waist, pulling her to him in a loose embrace. Breathing in her hair, he touched her sealed back. "Take my calmness and reach your peace."

Sakura relaxed instantly, leaning her head on his chest. Picking her up nimbly, he carried her to the bed, placing her gently on its surface.

She was deeply asleep.

-X-

Sakura woke up the next day refreshed and full of energy. Jumping off her bed, she wandered into the kitchen and found a purple-haired Hyuuga reading a book while stirring a cup of coffee.

"Hinata-chan?" she asked, rubbing her eyes.

"Good morning, Sakura-chan," the Hyuuga heiress greeted softly, motioning her to sit in front of her. "I have brewed some coffee, I hope you don't mind."

"I could kiss you right now, Hinata-chan," she answered, yawning like a lazy cat. Hinata giggled and placed the cup in front of her, while Sakura took in the sharp scent of fresh brewed strong, black coffee.

"Naruto-kun told me about the Sound nin," she said in a murmur. Sakura frowned and took a sip of her mug. "He asked me to stay here while he and Neji-niisan went to the Hokage, but my cousin talked him out of it. He said something about you needing to meet with Tsunade-sama yourself?"

"Yeah," Sakura nodded. "As much as Naruto wants to protect me, it seems that Sasuke has an agenda of his own regarding me. Too bad I'm not the same stupid fangirl I was when we were younger. Besides, I don't know what he wants with me if he found himself a girl... that's what the nin said."

"That, and also the fact that you are involved with someone else, right?"

Emerald eyes turned to silver-colored orbs in utter shock. She didn't believe her ears as Hinata voiced her main train of thought, regarding the situation between her cousin and the pink-haired medic.

"I... Hinata-chan... I don't know what you are talking about," she started to evade, but a sharp bang at the door interrupted her attempt to lie.

"Open up, Sakura-chan, Hinata-chan! We have great news!"

Sakura sighed and rolled her eyes, while the purple-haired kunoichi laughed silently, as she went to open the door.

"Sakura-ch—oh, Hinata-chan, good morning!" she heard Naruto's greeting to his better half. "I have to tell you something awesome! Where's Sakura—ow! Neji! You could have asked me to move away, teme!"

"Move away, idiot," Neji's deep voice deadpanned, making Sakura smile. To her, only the Hyuuga prodigy could pull a bored, yet annoyed tone so sarcastically hilarious that vacated her mind from sleepiness and prompted her brain to snap into functioning.

"Maa, maa, Naruto, why do you have to be so loud in the mornings?" she chastised as soon as her visitors entered the kitchen. Hinata went to the counter to serve more coffee and the two male shinobi complied with the hand that waved them towards some chairs. "Good morning, yes, and spill the news already."

"You are not going to believe this, Sakura-chan," Naruto started to bounce in his chair. She lifted a brow, accustomed to her best friend's antics. "We are going to invade Sound!"

Hinata dropped the coffee pot and Sakura did the same with her cup, pouring the entire contents of the mug on her pajama shirt.

So much for a pleasant awakening, Inner Sakura sneered.

"Wha- How- Wait..." she rubbed her temples. Sakura could sense a huge migraine coming. "Naruto, listen to yourself. This is not a game, for Kami's sake!"

"I know it's not a game, Sakura," the blond answered with ease. At the sound of her name without the usual endearment made her stare at Naruto's serious eyes in surprise.

"Kakashi discovered something on the nin that attacked you last night," he explained. "He wasn't under a genjutsu, so apparently he came by his own volition."

"I don't see what that has to do with-"

"Domo!" a voice sounded from the kitchen window. Kakashi climbed through it until he stood near the sink, waving a hand and an eye crease. "Did you sleep well, Sakura?"

"Better than I had in years, actually," she shot back with a smile that made the only visible silver brow shoot up in amused astonishment. "What's with you and doors? Do you hate them for being wooden or something, Kakashi?"

"Says the girl who has all her pajama front stained with coffee," remarked the Copy Nin dryly, eliciting a laugh from Naruto and a squeak from Hinata, who scrambled over a napkin to help the other kunoichi.

"Shut up, ojiji," Sakura sneered before accepting the napkin and starting to dab at her shirt. "What's with the Sound nin anyway? Naruto is making plans of world domination and all that stuff..."

Kakashi crossed his arms, surveying the four young adults in front of him. Sighing, he ran a hand through his messy hair.

"The guy had a scroll inside his stomach," he relayed. "Shizune found it when she was doing the autopsy. I defused it with the Sharingan, and Tsunade-sama has it now."

Sakura sat up straight, forgetting the napkin and the coffee stain. "Did you read it?"

The silver-haired man nodded. "Sasuke did kill Itachi. The scroll contained his eyes."

-X-

Neji entered the Hokage's Tower after Hinata, feeling a weird trepidation settle within his bones. After the awful bomb that Kakashi had dropped on both Naruto and Sakura, they seemed more than surprised. In fact, the new developed sense that tied his emotions to those of the pink haired woman told him that she was certainly in turmoil.

Inwardly frowning, he tried to send a wave of calmness through their connection... and to his surprise, Sakura's chakra pathways gradually went back to a slow, steady flow.

Walking in front of him, she turned her head to see him. This unexpected glance brought a glint into his eyes, one she understood perfectly. With a little smile, she slowed her steps bit by bit.

"Thank you," she mouthed when she was beside him. He blinked twice to acquiesce her muted words just as they reached Tsunade's office.

"I'm willing to hear everything from the Uchiha himself," was the busty blonde's greeting. "But it seems that he has been a bit naughty on the other side of the rope."

"Baa-chan?"

"Naruto, sit down. Sakura, you too. This will be very hard for you, but I know perfectly well that the two of you aren't going to let other people take on this mission."

To the word 'mission', Naruto's ears perked up in anxiety. Sakura's nervousness came back with a vengeance, transmitting her uneasiness to Neji's senses.

"We gathered enough data from ANBU to conclude that Uchiha Sasuke has merged with the remnants of Orochimaru's aura. Sasuke is the new Leader of Sound, and as such, he has been officially labeled as Konoha's enemy. Your mission would be the following," she opened a scroll and Sakura flinched, expecting to see Itachi's eyes on it, but it was a blank scroll. "Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura, Hatake Kakashi, Hyuuga Hinata, Hyuuga Neji, Yamato and Shisei Sai will assemble a special platoon with an addition from Sand. The objective of the mission is simple enough. You are to destroy the Sound compound and bring Uchiha Sasuke back to Konoha for trial. If you fail to do so, the orders are to execute him on the spot."

Kakashi covered his face with his green jacketed book, while Naruto dropped his head and Sakura hid her face behind her hands.

"I can always send ANBU teams on this operation," Tsunade continued, looking fixedly at the unusually quiet sun-haired ninja in front of her. "But the elders think this would be the perfect test to prove yourself, future Rokudaime."

Neji gritted his teeth. Tsunade's face was drawn into a thunderous scowl, most probably because of what she had to do to Naruto. All in all, the elders wanted Naruto to choose the village over his best friend... Konoha over Sasuke. 'But what about Sakura?' he pondered.

"Ibiki was the one who assembled this platoon," Tsunade rose from her seat and walked to the window behind her, overlooking the village. "He believed in each of you and that you would be able to accomplish the task at hand. Hinata, your marks in the ANBU exams were more than satisfactory; only two points and you would have made it. Regardless, you made an impression and Ibiki thought that two Byakugan would see more than just one. And I agreed. I don't have to enumerate all your accomplishments; all of you know that you are simply the best we have. You are the best, and therefore, we need the elite to tackle an elite mission."

"Cut the crap, Tsunade-baachan," Naruto looked up, azure eyes hard with resolve and hurt. "If the elders – if Konoha wants me to go, then I'll go. But you have to tell me why I have to kill my brother to earn the title of Hokage."

Sakura flinched for real this time. "Naruto..."

"No, Sakura, let me hear it," the blond seethed, a pair of bitter tears running down tanned, whiskered cheeks. "This is really about me being your successor? Or this is me being the monster I've always been to their eyes?"

"This is about you being our strongest ninja," Tsunade countered softly, throwing a glance at them and closing her eyes. "They already know that I will do whatever I want with the title. And I want it to be you, Naruto, the one that succeeds me. This is not about the village, Naruto. This is about tying loose ends. To let go of the things that weigh you down. This is about closing a circle that opened when that brat deserted this village to join a power hungry maniac. This is about you, and Sakura, and Kakashi... and this is about Sasuke, too."

A tense silence, charged with melancholy, followed those words.

"We'll do it," a whispered voice rose from Naruto's lips. "But we'll do it my way."

Tsunade smiled fiercely. "Kakashi, you'll be the leader of four, while our Sand ally will take over the other four. Are you really sure you can do this?"

"Yes, Tsunade-sama," the Copy Nin said in a dry voice, after stealing a glance at his remaining nakama, his former team. "We can do it."

To Neji's inner awe, Sakura's chakra pathways started to run faster, but steady, with determination, with control.

"Yes, shishou, we can do it," she finished, her voice unwavering.

-X-

Sakura sighed, letting herself drop unceremoniously on the grass. Hinata and Naruto were already gone, leaving her with a tightlipped Kakashi and a quiet Neji on her hands.

"Kakashi," she called, tapping the green covered book. He only grunted in response. "When do we leave?"

"In a week, when our eighth companion arrives from Sand."

Sakura sighed. "We're fucked."

"Yep, pretty much," said the older jounin with a shrug, finally putting his book away. "Do me a favor, Sakura, please? Don't stop training."

"I won't," she assured him with a tiny smile, eyes bright.

"Good. Hyuuga-kun, please take care of her, will you?"

And without expecting a proper answer, he poofed away.

Sakura's head swiveled back in exasperation as she flopped back on the ground.

A silence stretched between them, finally alone since Neji had put her to sleep the past night. He wondered briefly if she was mad about it, but later decided that she was not. He knew that she was going through a difficult time, but this was to be expected since all the events that happened regarding the estranged and forsaken member of the first Rookie Nine.

"I still can't believe how the moon can cast its glow on everyone. It should be more selective with its choosing, don't you think?"

Neji blinked, finally allowing his eyes to lie upon her. She was tranquil, yet frowning. Slowly, her own emerald orbs trailed on his face. She stared at him, not doing anything to cover the deep hurt and anger that bubbled under her façade.

"Let's fight, Neji," she murmured at last. "Let's test the strength of this juin."

His eyes narrowed predatorily.

"Alright."

-X-

One against the other. Neji extended his hands in the formal fashion of the Gentle Fist, while waiting for Sakura to don her gloves.

"Don't even dare to hold back, Hyuuga," she exclaimed from her side of the clearing. "Because I won't."

"I wouldn't dream of doing so," he remarked, lifting two joined fingers. "Byakugan!"

But she had disappeared from his immediate vicinity. Pulling out two kunai, he waited for her to show herself. She always liked to attack frontally, and Neji didn't recall them laying out any rules for this combat. Therefore, everything was allowed.

The curious thing was that she wasn't running towards him, fist upfront in order to smash his face into pieces. His eyes moved slightly, searching every tree surrounding the clearing, as the morning gave access to noon... but there was neither Sakura nor her chakra signature in sight.

It was as if she had taken off from the very ground... maybe she was hiding under the ground?

An eerie feeling took him by surprise; it was as if he was touched by invisible hands everywhere, pulling his limbs and heightening his tenseness.

Neji furrowed his brows. This wasn't the feeling he got when a genjutsu was cast on him, this was different... almost like a dream.

A flash of pink appeared behind him, melting among the sudden mist enveloping the clearing.

"This is not a normal genjutsu," he realized, gripping a kunai in each hand. Flipping one of them, he took a deep breath and plunged the tip into his leg. The pain snapped his senses, allowing him to see the clearing under the sun and a surprised Sakura in the air, just about to strike a powerful kick at his head.

Ducking and avoiding her leg, Neji grabbed it and spun her, launching her body towards a tree and realizing that she really meant business. He internally admired how Sakura landed on the tree trunk as ceremoniously as a cat, while both of her hands started to glow green. He knew which technique was about to follow, for he had seen her using it against Hinata.

Everything then became a blur: Neji resorted to avoiding her chakra scalpels just like Sakura had to avoid his blue-glowing hands, as the Gentle Fist was aiming for her tenketsu points. Somersaulting back a few paces, they stared at each other.

"Let's make a wager," he said curtly, with a feral smirk on his lips. "If you manage to hit me, I will do your bidding for a week."

She arched a pink brow and smiled back. "Deal."

In a barrage of blows and kicks, the Taijutsu they fought each other with was lined with flashes of sharp weapons. Neji merely deflected her kunai, while she was displaying an impressive group of evasive moves, as expected from a medic-nin.

"Let's rock this party!" she yelled as her foot stomped the ground and it shattered with a thunderous crack by her brutal strength. Neji jumped to avoid the unstable soil, meeting her in the air as she charged with another roundhouse kick at him.

His fingers danced and he managed to close two tenketsu before crashing against the log that replaced his emerald-eyed opponent.

He landed gracefully on the remains of a boulder, only to have his ankles grabbed and pulled forcefully into the ground. Sakura flickered on sight a few meters away, breathing heavily as she tried to open her chakra pathways with her healing touch.

"It's useless," he murmured next to her ear, tricking her just like he had when they sparred under the moonlight on these very grounds sometime back. "Only a Hyuuga can open those points."

"And only a Haruno can shatter everything in sight!" she replied, grabbing his arm and twisting her body only to deliver a powerful kick to his ribcage, sending him back flying. "Be serious, Neji!" she yelled angrily. "I'm not playing!"

In a blink of her eyes, she found herself facing the clear sky, her shirt pinned to it by two kunai deeply imbedded into the ground and a very disgruntled ANBU Captain straddling her waist, as his hands danced on her skin, closing up more tenketsu points.

"I am not playing either!" he hissed, but her legs spun and flexed enough to hook her feet under his armpits, effectively pushing him away.

"Then don't take me for granted!" she shot back with narrowed eyes, as her legs started to move on their own accord, running straight towards him. Knowing that her arms were useless because of all the points he had closed, Neji waited, fists raised.

A powerful surge of chakra met his right fist when Sakura smashed hers against it, breaking his fingers and throwing him back several paces. She fell on her knees with a pained cry, clutching her wrist against her chest.

Neji blinked in utter surprise, despite the pain that was threatening to overcome his senses. How on earth she could force all that chakra on her fist when her arm was completely rendered useless?

He stood up with a little grimace on his scowl, making his way to a huddled medic-nin that was in that moment on the ground. For the life of him, the onyx-haired Hyuuga couldn't comprehend how she could do it, but it didn't help that she was currently in such a troubled state.

"Sakura," he began, only to have a pink-haired kunoichi tackling him roughly to the ground. Heavily breathing, she started to laugh.

"Kami-sama, I feel so exhilarated like I've never felt before," she mused aloud with a smile, getting off his body and plopping to his side. "I need to learn how to control it though... I feel my chakra lanes completely ripped."

He surveyed her uncovered arms, which were currently sporting red angry lines all over her chakra pathways. He knitted his brows in confusion and concern.

"What have you done?" he inquired, wincing when she raised an arm and hissed painfully.

"I used my seal to store chakra since I learned that's how Tsunade-shishou uses hers," she explained. "I kind of got the hang of it a week ago when we were on a night shift at the hospital... but I never thought I could release it at will, making such a strong surge that overwhelms the closed tenketsu points, making them open by force or tear... but this hurts like a bitch, damn it."

"Come here," Neji murmured, raising his good hand and summoning his chakra. Slowly but surely, his fingers started to open her energy pathways as she was restoring her points with her reserved energy. It took her a while, but when he finished her entire body was glowing green, a remarkable feat even for those he knew had great amounts of chakra.

Her hand moved on his, reconstructing the bones and mending all the torn tissues from her punch. His now smooth eyes detailed all the little minutiae on her concentrated appearance, as her fine eyebrows were drawn or how she started to bite the inner part of her lower lip as she worked inside her body.

When she finally opened her eyes, completely renovated, she took in the rather rapt expression he had on his intense, silvery eyes.

"Neji?" she asked, a bit worried. She gasped in surprise when he nodded his head, giving her a charming, soft smile.

"You won," he conceded softly. "I am at your service."

Inner Sakura promptly passed out from the shock and the blood loss, while her outer persona flushed under that brilliant, pearly gaze.

-X-

"I can't allow you to sleep in that apartment alone," Neji was saying to Sakura that very night, after they spent the rest of the day meditating and slowly building the chakra reserves with breathing exercises and yoga practice.

"But I didn't bring any spare clothes, I would have to sleep--" she blurted out without thinking. Only when his eyebrows shot up, she realized what she had said. "Er... of course I would have to ask Hinata for something... or something..."

"Haruno," he drawled, inwardly amused. "Don't worry."

"Just... just to clarify things, you know, I don't want you to think I'm--"

"Sakura," he murmured, stepping in front of her and raising her face to his with a finger on her chin. "You think too much."

His lips were within an inch of hers when he perceived an odd scent. Straightening, he lifted a finger to her lips, calling for her attention. Sakura blinked, dispelling the haziness from her eyes with a sharp shake of her head, and nodded.

Calling up his Byakugan with a soft hiss, he surveyed the surroundings in front of the Hyuuga Compound closely, as Sakura clenched her fists, on guard.

"No one is here," he whispered, watching a cat jumping up a window in a far building on Spring Street. "Let's get inside."

Padding softly on the wooden floors of the Hyuuga Head Mansion, he led her to his own quarters instead of the guest wing. Everyone was in their rooms, as his Kekkei Genkai promptly showed him.

His room was rather bare, she observed as he lit a candle and placed it next to the shoji door. A few scrolls hanging from the walls, a low and neatly made bed, a well-worn desk with two pictures on it: Team Gai and an adult Hyuuga male, wrapping an arm around another silver-eyed woman.

"You think we've been followed?" she asked, once they were secured inside the semi-darkness of his room. He nodded.

"There was a rather distinctive scent in the air just now," he whispered, furrowing his brows. "Fish."

Sakura lifted a brow as she obliged his muted request for her to sit down on his desk's chair. "You just smelled a fish? That's it?"

"It wasn't just a fish, Haruno," he deadpanned, throwing a glare at her as he made his way into his closet and pulled out one of his cream colored yukata, handing it to her. "...One of Uchiha's companions reeks like a fish."

"How did you-- oh," she trailed off, understanding that Neji had just disclosed a bit of ANBU-classified information to her. Tweaking her lips absently, she looked up to find him staring back at her. "Do you really think Sasuke sent him to check on me?"

"We can't be sure of that," he answered smoothly. "Get changed. You can sleep on the bed. I'll stand watch."

"Here in your house? Don't be silly," she said with a nervous smile, sensing how intense his eyes were and realizing that they were in his room, alone, just the two of them...

Sakura blushed furiously, and her train of thought made Neji stiffen, as he perceived the sudden rise in her temperature. It wasn't because of her blush though, he concluded, seeing how her flush invaded part of her neck and most surely the skin of her chest.

"I'll get a bedroll from the linen closet. I'll be right back."

As he retreated tactfully, Sakura hid her face in her hands, feeling more mortified than embarrassed.

True, these past weeks had been quite weird for her. Mulling over the events as she slipped her clothes off and folded them neatly, she realized that yes, Neji was behaving protective towards her; yes, he was attracted to her as much as she was to him; yes, she discovered a side of the Hyuuga prodigy that she never knew he had...

"I mean that I won't be involved with someone that keeps pining for someone else."

But all in all, what had his words meant?

Neji wasn't known for being a womanizer –most of the bathhouse gossips were centered on Genma, Kotetsu and Kakashi sometimes–, but she had to admit that the change in their dynamics was rather sudden and quite surprising.

Hyuuga Neji, she knew, was a ruthless icicle prick, as Naruto had pointed out once after a friendly spar with the ANBU Captain. Sakura couldn't help but compare this Neji to the Neji she knew when they were teenagers: cold, haughty, aggressive and with severe psychological issues that were wiped out by a Naruto Trademark Rant About His Ninja Way, which seemed to tame the Hyuuga's anger towards his estranged family.

He had changed for the best, she concluded as she finished tying the yukata tightly around her waist. Her nose caught the scent that she had come to associate with Neji –fresh spearmint and a hint of rainforest– making her take a deep breath, reveling in the contrast of both aromas.

"Good, you're ready to rest," a darkly amused voice startled her. Neji entered the room with a bedroll, which he spread out near the door.

"I can take the bedroll, Neji--" she began, trying to force down the blush that was rising to her cheeks. He had changed as well while he was outside the room: he had taken off his haori and the black undershirt he wore, as well as his hand bandages and sandals. Clad in only his pants, he wandered back to his closet and took another yukata, pulling it on as he watched Sakura fidgeting near his desk.

"Don't be silly, Haruno," he cut her off. "Clearly you need a comfortable rest. Sleeping in a bedroll would not allow you to restore your strength fully."

"Ugh, you just sounded like my father," she groused, crossing her arms. Neji saw her pouting and almost let out a laugh, as she sat on the firm mattress of his bed.

"Then he knew his business," he offered, walking to the bedroll. Sakura blinked, while her inner persona screeched inside her head: when the hell did he take off his pants and why I didn't notice it?!

"Really, I can sleep on the bedroll; I don't want to be a bother..."

"Too bad, it's already occupied," he shot back sarcastically, lying his lean and long form down on said pallet. "Take the bed or you can sleep on the desk, whatever suits yourself."

Blowing a raspberry at him, she climbed to his bed and wrapped her form under the covers while he chuckled under his breath. Reaching out a hand, Neji waved it swiftly over the candle, effectively putting out the little flame.

"Neji?" he heard her soft voice. Humming shortly in response to let her know he was listening, he sensed her hesitation. "Thank you... for putting up with me all this time. I really appreciate it."

"Don't thank me," he murmured, noticing her dark form snuggled in his bed, the covers illuminated by the moonlight. "It was a pleasure."

Sensing her shock and almost feeling her blush, he allowed himself to smile.

-X-

Opening his eyes to the night, Neji sat up feeling a bit disoriented. What had woken him up?

A muffled whimper came from his bed. Realizing who was sleeping on it and remembering what had ensued since their sparring session, he leaned towards the bed, listening intently.

Another whimper and a sob broke through the silence, then a sharp intake of breath and a feminine body shot up, awake from its slumber.

"Are you okay?" he whispered, uncovering his form and crawling to the bed, where Sakura was hugging herself. "Another bad dream?"

Reaching out to touch her shoulder, she flinched, snapping her head to look at him. Her frightened eyes struck him; the moonlight that filtered through the blinds of his window gave her emerald orbs an eerie silver hue.

"...Neji?" she asked, apparently coming back to awareness.

"I'm here, Sakura," he said softly, rising to sit on the bed. His arms went to her, as she leaned on his chest and struggled to regain her composure.

"I'm sick and tired of this stupid nightmare," she whispered. "I'm sick of being chased to death by Sasuke."

"That's what you've been dreaming about?" he probed gently, feeling her nod as his hands smoothed her mussed hair and trailed down her arms. "Everything is okay now. You're safe here."

"Am I now?" her muffled question cleared her tone as she pulled back to look at him. "Do you really think I'm safe here?"

"Of course, Sakura, I am guarding you," he answered with ease, seeing her flush intensely. At a loss, he waited for her to organize her thoughts.

"Why?" she asked finally. "Why do you care – why are you so sweet to me? Is it because we kissed?"

"Not only because we kissed, Sakura," his eyes softened with her obvious nervousness. "But because it suits my interests for you to remain safe and sound. Therefore, I've decided that I will protect you, not because of the mission that Tsunade-sama assigned the Hyuuga..."

He left that hanging, hoping that she'd caught the hidden meaning of his words.

"I'm... confused, Neji... why would you be interested in me anyway? It's not as if I'm good enough, you know... I'm moody, violent and... weak, what on earth do you see in me?"

He let out a deep breath, realizing how strange it was for her to exhibit such sudden change in their interaction, surely because her guard was down due to her slumber and the comfort of knowing herself safe within the Hyuuga premises. She had been sheltered under the belief that she was weak, back in the days when he didn't pay attention to anything else than his so-called rebellion on his clan. Seeing her so shy and confused, he became conscious of the great damage the Uchiha had inflicted on her.

"I see a beautiful woman," he murmured, enjoying the way she seemed to start, surprised, at his choice of words. "A rather becoming woman, a capable kunoichi and a magnificent person, sweet and caring, fierce and intelligent, strong and dedicated."

Leaning closer to her, he continued.

"I see a precious woman, who I do not wish to be apart from."

The atmosphere in the room changed almost instantly. Emerald staring into silver, Sakura lifted a hand to remove his hitai-ate. He allowed her to do so, and the metal plate clattered on the tatami mat. Her eyes slowly moved to his bandaged forehead, brows rising in part curiosity, part empathy.

Rising one of his own hands, he untied the knot that held the bandage in place. The white linen fell noiselessly around his neck, baring the accursed mark he despised so much. But this time he didn't felt hatred or shame when he saw her eyes detailing the juin. He felt something else altogether: sympathy, a connection with someone marked as well. A certain understanding called closeness.

"It's sad... a beautiful design with such a harsh purpose," she whispered, pressing her forehead to his. Her skin on his elicited a tingle on his senses. His juin was sensitive to the touch, and yet she was trying to imprint it on her own forehead.

Neji's breath quickened, his body responding to her proximity. Trailing a hand on her back, his fingertips splayed, covering her seal. It tingled in response, making her gasp and arch her back.

It was the last straw for his control.

"Sakura," he said, lowering his mouth until it was just an inch away from her. Their eyes were boring into each other's, asking questions and answering with the deep and fast beatings of their hearts.

It was time, her seal made her remember.

It was time to let go.

"Neji," she breathed, allowing her eyes to drop a little. He stared at her for like what seemed like eternity; this is what his blood wanted, this is what his body was pulled towards. This is what, deep down, his very heart longed for.

"Let's..." he whispered, tilting his head just a tiny bit, they were closer now; closer than anybody had been before. "...Let's forget together, Sakura."

She felt a hot shiver running on her spine. Together, he said.

Sakura closed her eyes in acceptance, as she felt his lips barely touching hers.

And in a flurry of hormones and wanting and despair and the all-so-fucked-up reminiscences and the discovery of that sixth sense that perceived the other wherever they were, picking up their moods and their sadness and their angers, Neji learned that losing control wasn't that bad.

As a matter of fact, it was kind of... exhilarating.

Sakura's hands went to palm his shoulders as he closed the distance and kissed her fully and wantonly, feeling her warmth, her heat, and her taste of cinnamon on her lips and the erratic heart beating against his own.

Neji lost all the sanity he had left and kept on kissing her hungrily, reveling on her sweet penchant for cinnamon chewing gum and the shivers that ran through her body -or his?-, suddenly wanting much more than that. Kissing her was heaven, but he wanted to be doomed forever.

Sakura held her breath as his hand took her by the neck, massaging her skin ever so slowly while his lips ravaged hers, coaxing her tongue with his and demanding her full attention in a battle for dominance that went on and on and on, not losing nor winning, just for the sake of the fighting.

This was a side of Neji that no one ever saw; the raging eagle that took the plunge at its prey. The magnificent bird that spread its wings and flew higher and higher, always hunting, always looking.

And now, the eagle was crying out with utmost need for its mate.

She moaned and she never knew she did, but Neji did hear her and felt his body respond to her plea. Slanting his mouth against hers, the ever nimble ANBU Captain started to fumble with the buttons of her shirt, not even paying attention to the little fact that she was wearing his yukata and there wasn't any buttons to work. Instead, he ran the tip of his fingers on the yukata flaps, enjoying how her breath hitched and how warm her skin was.

His blood started to run wild.

His hands moved on their own accord, sliding back the heavy fabric and uncovering the pale skin that he couldn't help but taste and breathe in. Vanilla, his swirling mind growled and he had to agree with himself. Vanilla was a good scent, a sweet taste, a godly feel.

Sakura vaguely felt his mouth on her neck and her shoulder; Inner Sakura was running in circles around her mind, making her hands clench on his own yukata, making her fingers slip under the fabric and run over the scarred skin of his shoulder. An old wound from a Sound enemy, the only adversary that noticed his only weakness.

But now, Sakura thought incoherently, he was perfect, he was everywhere, he was caressing her naked back, avoiding just for a bit the seal that started everything. She gasped and he took advantage of that, kissing her soundly, breathlessly.

Her senses went into overdrive when he exhaled over her ear. "Say yes," he rasped.

Yes, her mind and body cried.

"What are you doing?" her mouth whispered, panting and gasping when the yukata finally fell on the floor, leaving her in her underwear. White underwear, Neji noted with a fevered and smug smirk, catching her arms as she tried to cover herself up.

Loving you, his mind supplied. "Having you," he nothing but growled, untying his own garment and matching her paleness as they both embraced under the darkness of his room.

Skin on skin and breath on breath, kiss on skin and fingers wandering and pushing and pulling and reveling and, oh gods, please don't stop, don't stop.

Watching her trembling under the last lashings of her orgasm made him feel accomplished like no mission had made him feel before. Feeling her legs around his hips, pulling him to her, making him sink into hot, tight pleasure, he'd never thought could be so important earlier in his life but now he couldn't help but crave, his last reign of Hyuuga control snapped.

Sakura moaned under him as he savored her closing on him, pulling him deeper when she arched her back and spiraled again, almost taking him in the process but Neji desperately restrained himself, not yet, not yet; he just needed a moment to have everything set, he could 't afford to lose it now, not now.

Flipping her on her stomach deftly but gently, he slid again into her, responding to her muffled cries and pressing his juin to hers. It was just what he wanted, what he needed. Silly as it may seem, Neji craved to touch it, to feel its smooth lines with his own seal, to adhere himself to her back, to her heart, to her soul.

A choked scream of his name signaled the end for both of them. Neji felt her chakra swirling back to its normal flow from her seal, and he was amazed at how deep he could read her.

"What are you doing?" she repeated in a whisper and he smirked against the crook of her neck, pulling her to his chest and finally allowing himself some respite.

"Holding you."

-XXX-

I can hear the squealing from here, you know.
Much love to CelticOak for her betaing skillz and to Katwamp for her suggestions! 8D