Disclaimer: I don't own, kthxbai. I do own a nice stress attack.

-X-

Chapter 10: Realizing

-X-

The next morning was a bit awkward.

A freshly showered Neji had awoken a Sakura that seemed to realize where she was and allowed herself a nervous breakdown for what they had done. By kissing her good morning, he promptly put an end to her babbling about mistakes and her mild hyperventilation.

"Be quiet, woman, I want to have a life full of wrongness."

This disarmed her. True, he had been an incredible and gentle lover, taking her to places that she never knew existed, murmuring sweet words into her ear while she regained consciousness from the delicious oblivion he had pushed her into.

Inner Sakura was knocked out cold after the third climax, which left her at the mercy of one Hyuuga Neji who had no qualms about making her cry out in pleasure several more times.

Now, encased in his arms, taking in the scent of spearmint upon his damp hair and the aroma of rainforest on his cool skin, feeling his fingers caressing her seal slowly but tenderly, she vaguely wondered what she had done to deserve this incredible twist in her life.

Raising her eyes to gaze at his amused silvery orbs, she found that it was just okay, just fine, just like she had wanted her innocence to be taken: by a man who cared for her, who had the capability to be gentle yet passionate; a man who liked her, who accepted her for what she was, not the influence she had nor how interesting she looked under her medic skirt. A man that challenged her wits.

"Did you sleep well?" he asked with a little smile. She nodded, finding herself unable to look away from his beautiful eyes. "We need to check with Hokage-sama about our mission."

She blinked, realizing that even when she felt like a different woman living in a special world, the main situation of her old life was there to be dealt with.

Neji got up from the bed, opening the blinds of his room and allowing the morning sun to illuminate the bed. Sakura groaned and tried to cover her face with the sheet, only to squeak when she felt a hand grabbing her ankle, dragging her along the bed towards an amused Hyuuga prodigy.

"Come on, Kyousha, we have to get dressed," he said, eyes glinting with affection and joyful glee. "I'll buy you a cup of coffee if you're ready in ten minutes."

She found out that she couldn't be angry at those pearly orbs attached to a very naked Hyuuga male, who was currently gearing up without taking his eyes from hers.

"Fine," she finally said, getting a grip of her usually sardonic self. "But if we get caught leaving your room you are the one who is going to spill the beans to Hyuuga-sama."

His shrug told her that he did not care in the least about being caught.

Shaking her head in defeat, she crawled out of the bed and went to the bathroom, showering quickly while she randomly pondered about how startling his eyes were when reflecting the sunlight.

They went out of the Hyuuga Mansion as the sun started to make its way across the blue sky. A pleased smirk and a hand hiding a shy smile were their only companions to the nearest tea shop, where they had a pleasant breakfast and more than one cup of that exhilarating liquid full of energetic caffeine that she seemed to love so much.

-X-

"Then I found out that it hadn't been Naruto but Yamato who had hidden my pouch, in order to keep me in check until we had the scroll. He knew I was mad because of those starved kids, but he talked me out of shattering the place and compromising the entire mission. We fled the place like a bat out of hell, but I made him put up a fence for the Ninja Academy freshmen in retaliation," a playful Sakura was relaying to her amused silver-eyed companion. He found her stories interesting in a simple way; she carefully avoided those mission details that were classified, but she still had a gift of pulling out those anecdotes and keeping her listener entertained.

"What happened to the enemy nins?" he asked, clearly enjoying the moment, but his smirk fell from his lips when she showed that fiendish expression that she sported that time when she all but challenged his uncle in order to demonstrate that it was not wise to underestimate someone just for their looks.

"Let's say they didn't know about a nasty earthquake that brought the whole hideout down," she whispered huskily, her eyes glinting with that spark of violence he had seen when she donned her gloves every single time. His eyes narrowed in kind, remembering how exhilarating it was to spar with her.

A chuckle from her companion made her blush, recalling how he had laughed softly the night before at her shyness, showing her a side of him that no one knew about.

Walking to the Hokage Tower they encountered Kakashi engrossed in his new green covered book. With a wicked smile, she winked at Neji and ran to the silver-haired ninja, trying to deliver a non-chakra laden kick to his butt. Kakashi merely stepped aside, making her stumble.

"Maa, that's not nice, Sakura-chan," he reprimanded with a laugh. "And good morning to you both, Sakura, Hyuuga-kun."

"When are you going to learn that Icha Icha is frying your brain, ojiji?" she retaliated, noticing that Kakashi wasn't going to the Hokage Tower when he started walking down another street. "Where are you going? We need to check on Tsunade-shishou!"

"An old lady needs me to help her with her groceries," Kakashi drawled in a bored tone, waving to the baffled kunoichi. "See you there in a bit!"

"Isn't that complete and outrageous bullshit?" she asked out loud. "I'm positive he's going to mope in front of the KIA Monument."

Neji chose not to comment on her sarcasm, but her forlorn smile told him that she felt nothing but sympathy for Kakashi's penchant to spend time in front of the Monument.

"Seriously, Kakashi needs a girlfriend," the pink-haired medic sighed. "I've been trying to set him up with one of my nurses, but he keeps sneaking away. I wonder if he's into guys..."

Neji froze in his stroll to look at her. Sakura let out an amused laugh.

"Just checking if you were listening," she said cheekily. "You seem distracted."

"I was pondering about your relationship with your former sensei," he decided to be open. "You seem close."

"We are, indeed," she responded, entering the Hokage Tower at his side. "We all are close to each other. Did you notice Sai's new last name, Shisei? He picked it himself, although I felt that was the greatest irony ever, naming himself as 'truthful'. Tenzou has a last name but he chooses to hide it for certain reasons."

What that had to do with the Copy Ninja? And pry tell, who was Tenzou? Neji asked to himself. Sakura seemed wistful, but she shook her head, coming out of her short reverie.

"Tenzou is Yamato's real name," she offered gratuitously in a whisper as she started to climb the stairs that led to the Hokage's private office. "We'd been through a lot. Encountering Orochimaru in the Heaven and Earth's Bridge was pretty awful for me, but he did everything to help me come to terms with Naruto's berserk state. I was terrified of Naruto, he looked so... savage and feral," Sakura explained, glancing at an alert Hyuuga prodigy who seemed to be quite interested in her words. "I didn't want to come close to Naruto, but he talked to me and made me understand that Naruto just didn't deserve my rejection because of fear. Then he told us his real name, after we met Sasuke in one of Orochimaru's bases. I felt so cheated when Sasuke tried to take Naruto's life on that occasion and I just couldn't do shit... and Sai was his usual moronic self, Kakashi was still in the hospital... do you see where I'm going?"

"It's obvious that you guys had worked greatly on your trust and confidence in each other as teammates," he concluded in a murmur, earning a grateful smile from her.

"To tell you the truth, it was rather hard for me to walk next to three ANBU ops and the next Hokage and not feel small and insignificant."

A hand closed on her shoulder, turning her towards an ANBU Captain that gazed at her intently. "You are all but insignificant, Sakura," he murmured. "You are a Kyousha, a strong person. You changed for the better, and do not think that you are less than anyone."

She blushed furiously under his unexpected praise. His eyes softened as he offered her a little mischievous curving of his lips.

"Besides, I like to think that my lover is quite becoming in her unique ways."

She laughed, embarrassed, as he wrapped his arms around her. "And I like to think that my lover is a dork," she retaliated with her eyes glinting impishly. Neji snorted and was going to answer when he felt a strong presence behind him. Turning his head and pulling back from the pink-haired woman, he took in the two figures that were walking up to them.

"Naruto!" Sakura called to him with a smile, and soon her eyes grew wide. "Oh! Gaa--... Gaara-sama! What a surprise!"

Said redhead nodded in greeting, fixing his jade eyes on silver and emerald slowly. "Hyuuga Neji. Haruno Sakura. It has been a while."

"Indeed! You need to work on your social skills, Gaara!" the boisterous blonde exclaimed, earning a giggle from the pink-haired medic and a glare from the Kazekage.

"Naruto! Can't you be more respectful towards the Kazekage, you idiot?!" Sakura reprimanded with a smile. Neji sighed, shaking his head.

"You should take this as special training, Naruto," he reproached. "You are going to encounter certain situations as Hokage in which you will need to be diplomatic."

"Oh?" the blonde said, blinking ingenuously. "Diplomatic? How so?"

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Neji's talking about the Clan Council, you dimwit. They're going to eat you alive if you address someone similar to Gaara-sama's personality like that in front of them. Remember that they're the political roots of the village, you silly blond."

"Ah, but you're part of that Council, Sakura-chan! With you and Kakashi-sensei there, everything will be just fine!"

Sakura's palm met her face as Neji snickered softly. "Forget it, you're hopeless."

"Sunagakure does not have a Clan Council but an Elder Council," Gaara mused aloud, blinking behind his crossed arms. "Maybe that is why I had no competition when they appointed me as the Godaime Kazekage."

"We have an Elder Council as well, but only the Hokage deals with them," Sakura relayed, bowing respectfully towards the redhead. "We as the Clan Council arrange the economics and internal issues of the village."

"Naruhodo," Gaara said, understanding what she was saying.

"We should go to the meeting," Neji cut in smoothly. "Tsunade-sama must be waiting for us."

"You two sport the same smell," Gaara stopped them with his blunt observation, noticing how Sakura's cheeks flamed and the Hyuuga seemed stunned on the spot. "That might be useful when tracking you on the field."

"Yeah, of course, Gaara-sama," she tried to save face as they finally reached Tsunade's door. When she glanced at Neji, his gaze laced with amusement almost made her laugh.

Sometimes, it was good to be a child at heart, she concluded with a hidden smile.

-X-

The pink-haired medic breathed deeply, reveling in the forest scent.

After a rather tense mission briefing and the new design of the squads, the appointed group met later on the red bridge –Kakashi was last, as usual, but he wasn't so late than on other occasions– and departed swiftly.

Team Kakashi now consisted of the original members, plus Hyuuga Hinata, whereas the other team, led by Gaara himself, was composed by Neji, Sai and Yamato. They were quite surprised when Tsunade offered the command to the Kazekage, who nodded in acceptance. The Hokage had explained that they needed Gaara's skills to deal with Sasuke's new team, which apparently had a very vicious member among its peers.

Neji and Sakura shared an unnerved glance. If she was adding Gaara to the mix, it probably meant that she expected more than a mere retrieval mission. She expected Orochimaru's appearance; as much as they had received the info on the Snake Sannin's passing at the hands of the last Uchiha.

"I don't trust Orochimaru's sick ways," Tsunade had said, crossing her fingers in front of her face, eyes narrowed. "Keep in mind that Kabuto is still at large and he is probably siding with Sasuke. I ask you to obey the Kazekage's command, for he has interest in the positive outcome of this mission."

Yamato had nodded his agreement, as Sai and Neji did so as well. Kakashi was as aloof as usual, but Naruto and Sakura shared a look that was more than evident for the others.

"Sakura-chan," Naruto called softly to the pensive medic. She blinked and looked at azure eyes. "You okay?"

"Hai, Naruto," she answered, patting the camping ground next to her. "What's eating you?"

"Kakashi said I was the leader of the team this time..." he trailed off, scratching the back of his head. "And I don't know what to do..."

"Come here," she smiled at him, pulling the orange-clad ninja to sit next to her. "This is going to be part of your training for the Hokage position: you tell us what to do and we do it, just like that," she snapped her fingers. "Think that this mission is going to prove everyone how great a leader you are, Naruto. We will follow you to the end of the world if that's what it takes for you to achieve your dream."

"Sakura-chan..." Naruto murmured, his cerulean eyes glittering with emotion. "I didn't know you trusted me so much... I don't know what to say..."

"I know, you can instruct Kakashi to scout the perimeter," she nudged him with her elbow playfully, as both looked up to the silver-haired nin that was crouched in front of them. "And you can tell Hinata to look around to be sure we aren't followed."

"Good idea, Sakura," Kakashi approved as he crinkled his visible eye, evidence of his masked grin. "Are those your orders, Naruto-taichou?"

The blond's eyes watered. "...Yeah, I think so..."

"Excellent!" the Copy Ninja exclaimed cheerfully, motioning Hinata to approach them. "Our leader wants us to check the perimeter, Hinata-san! Are you up to the task?"

"Of course, Kakashi-san!" she said softly, pearly eyes shining with pride and joy. "We'll do our best, taichou!"

When they left, accompanied by Yamato, Neji watched how the blue-eyed shinobi hugged the medic tightly, wetting her shoulder with his happy tears.

-X-

"You okay?"

The deep murmur in her ear broke her from her reverie. Sakura offered a shy smile to the Hyuuga prodigy, as he sat next to her in the dead of the night and Yamato prepared to turn in after his watch.

"Yeah," she sighed in content. "Kakashi and I thought that it was for the best that Naruto took command..."

"You did well," he dipped his head in approval. "He needs to work on his leadership skills. Konoha needs a good leader."

"That's what we thought... but..."

"You are nervous," the onyx-haired Hyuuga stated. At her surprised eyes, he merely pointed at her back. "This mission will be most difficult for you and Naruto."

She nodded, sighing one more time. "Part of me still wants Sasuke to come back to the village and to our team," she whispered, lowering her eyes. "But I know that's not going to happen, ever. Part of me just wants this to be over... even if Sasuke ends up dead. This is more painful for Naruto, but we came to terms with reality... and I won't allow Sasuke to harm him, even if he kills me instead."

"I won't allow that to happen," he murmured, taking her chin between two bandaged fingers to turn her head towards him. "Uchiha will not win."

She leaned her head on his shoulders, grateful for his support.

"Neji-kun?" she called softly. He hummed to let her know he was listening. "I... I think... I..."

"Shh," he hushed her, combing her pink tresses with his crooked fingers. "We will work this out. I promise. And then we will talk."

She nodded, smiling at a sleepy Hinata who got up to replace her in the watch.

-X-

It was a humid morning when they finally reached the border. Two days of pushing themselves hard, until the plains of Rice Country started to show below their feet.

Raising a hand to stop his team and signaling Naruto to do the same, Gaara landed on the ground noiselessly. The shinobi gathered.

"From now on there will be a lot of sentinels," he said curtly. "We need to dispose of them or our presence will be noted. We certainly do not need that. It is important for us to move stealthily; otherwise the retaliation will be severe."

"Gaara?" Naruto asked, worried. "Why are you so into this?"

Jade eyes stared hard at the orange-clad ninja, to close as he answered. "Temari has been abducted by Uchiha's Team Hebi. I need to retrieve my sister."

Sakura sputtered, as mild exclamations of surprise rose among them.

"This mission had been upgraded to S-Class then," Sai remarked blandly, but Sakura smacked a hand over his mouth.

"Shut the hell up, Shisei! We don't need a smartass now!"

"Why didn't you say something?!" Naruto exclaimed angrily. "We need to get her back! You should have told me, Gaara... aren't we friends?"

"Yes, Naruto, we are friends," the Kazekage answered, looking a bit uncomfortable at the blond's frustrated outburst. "However, the Hokage told me it was better to inform you of Temari's abduction when we were out of the village's premises. No one in Sunagakure knows about this but Kankurou."

"So you sneaked out of your own village?" Yamato asked incredulously, looking quite put out with the recent developments. Gaara merely nodded.

"I need my sister back."

The redhead's brusque answer was enough. A tense silence settled in the air, as a flock of started birds flew away from them.

"Don't worry, Gaara," Naruto finally said. "We are going to get Temari back. I promise. Let's put on our cloaks now, we need to be disguised; it's not every day that a Kazekage and a future Hokage go on a joined mission!"

Sakura smiled dangerously at his words, covering her pink locks with her hood.

Oddly for Neji, his heart swelled ridiculously with pride when he detected her chakra swirling with anticipation.

-X-

Rice Country was filled with plains of high grass, having split from Grass Country itself.

The ground was hard under her feet, as Sakura walked behind Naruto, Hinata and Kakashi in tow. It was a good thing they were covered by the high pasture, she thought idly, senses alert and gloved hands clenched under her cloak.

A trickle of reassurance invaded her back. Blinking, she turned her head towards where Team Gaara was deploying, looking for a certain silver-eyed shinobi. Another tickle made her back jolt, a silent response to her muted search.

Sakura smiled behind her cloak, trying to focus another wave of chakra into her seal, storing it and letting the man that was linked to her know that she was doing just fine.

"Sakura," Kakashi whispered. "Are you okay?"

"What a fine day, eh, ojiji?" she shot in response, snickering under her breath.

If she had turned to see the Copy Ninja, she would have laughed at his stunned face.

After a day of hiding and chakra masking, the assembled teams gathered in a cave they found near a river.

"The perimeter is secure," Neji reported smoothly, deactivating his Byakugan. Gaara nodded, closing his eyes in order to meditate for a little while. Naruto plopped his body next to a wall, sighing tiredly.

"Man, this is exhausting," he complained. "I'm so not made for stealthy operations!"

"We don't need your loudness right now, you dickless moron," Sai chimed in with a grin. Sakura rolled her eyes, clamping a hand over the blond's mouth.

"Don't fall for his stupid remarks, Naruto," she scolded, "you know he just wants to get a rise out of you. And you, Sai, allow me to tell you that you are a bigger dickless moron because you didn't have the guts to accept Ino's invitation."

Naruto's mouth opened comically, while all eyes turned to the black-haired ninja.

"I don't understand what you're saying, Hag. She merely invited me for tea at her home."

Naruto's palm hit his own forehead. "You moron! She was trying to seduce you! How can you be so slow, Sai?!"

Sai stared, blatantly confused. "...She was? It certainly didn't feel like it. She kept blinking at me so much that I asked her if she had something in her eyes."

A deep chuckle startled them. Neji cleared his throat and waved his hand, trying to appear nonchalant. "I apologize. Please continue."

Sakura let out a giggle. "Sai, I'm really amazed at your innocence. Ino had to pay up a bet to me and Tenten because you didn't fall for her charms. She was so mad she started to wonder if you were into guys."

A row of muted laughs from the others rose. Sai furrowed his thin brows, trying to understand what the pink-haired medic was implying.

"...Into guys? What that's supposed to mean, Ugly?"

Sakura glared at the ink-user. "I mean you're gay, idiot!"

"What? No, I'm not gay," he replied. "I don't have sex with other members of my gender, if that's what you're saying."

"Oh please," Naruto piped in with a snort. "You don't have sex at all, period. Tell him, Sakura-chan!"

"Oh no, I don't want anything to do with your weird tastes," she remarked, sitting next to the white-eyed ANBU. "Your loss, Shisei. It would be better for everyone if you drop the ninja act and got into a monastery already."

"Says the virgin Ugly," the other shot back, offering her a bland smile, but to his inner surprise she didn't get mad as he expected.

"Think whatever you want, Sai," she concluded, glancing at Neji's glinting eyes. "I don't have to rebuke that. You are the virgin one, for starters."

"I believe we're getting too far into the 'too much information' stage," Yamato said with a smirk. "Let's rest for the night."

"No fire," Gaara ordered softly. "We're inside a red zone."

"Yeah," Naruto agreed, eager to show his leadership skills. "Energy bars, anyone?"

"Here, Taichou," Sakura teased, throwing him a paper-wrapped little parcel, sharing her supplies with the rest of the shinobi. "Good thing that I brought these," she added conversationally. "Otherwise we would starve to death. Naruto's ramen supplies are useless without a bonfire."

"I'll take first watch," Kakashi said, grabbing a bar from Sakura and strolling to the cave opening. Shrugging, Sakura offered a bar to Hinata, who smiled gratefully, and held another one for the snowy-eyed prodigy.

"Thank you," he murmured, eyes soft with affection. Sakura smiled back and sunk her teeth into her own dry dinner.

"I'll take the third watch," she added to Yamato, who nodded.

Famous last words.

Neji shot up from his bedroll, his skin prickling with that feeling of danger that had awoken him. Sweeping his gaze quickly over the sleeping bodies lying next to his, he realized that someone was missing.

And it was almost dawn.

"Sakura!" he called out, jolting the others awake and effectively dispelling Gaara's meditation state as he ran to the cave exit. "Sakura!"

Only a red hitai-ate was found in front of the cave, pinned to the ground with the broken blade of a katana.

Naruto's howl of anger was heard several miles from their position.

-XXX-

I'm so sorry for making you guys wait! The story is already finished, so I promise this little cliffhanger will resolve as soon as possible!
And I'd like to send my love (and a redhaired Kazekage wrapped up in a tortilla) to Celtic Oak! Thank you so much, sis!