How Hard Can it Be?

Part 2

Sakura sat on top of Ichiraku and listened as Ayame explained to the boys her problem. She knew she needed to give them some time, so she went to ask for a month or two mission either on her own, or with her ANBU team that, thankfully, didn't have either of them on it, as they were both ANBU captains too. Sakura started to jump towards the Hokage tower.

The boys started to walk. Neji looked up, activating his Byakugan. He saw someone jumping away from Ichiraku's towards the general direction of the Hokage tower. Even if it was Sakura, he and Naruto needed to think about what this meant. So, he didn't say anything.

Naruto was deep in thought, but could still feel Sakura's chakra moving away. He decided to think about it all instead of just asking Sakura-chan straight out. He knew that he felt for her and Neji in a different way than he did every one else. He just didn't know what that meant, exactly. He just knew they were different.

'You idiot! You love them!'

'Huh? Hey Kyuu…..

Wait, what??

'You love them both'

'I don't believe you….'

'…….fine. You'll figure it out……Someday….'

With that, the kyuubi receded back into Naruto's consciousness. Naruto just shrugged, bit started to think about it. Neji tried to rationalize it out.

'Oh my god, I really do love them both!' Naruto realized while Neji knew he felt attraction to them. They stopped, looked at each other and blushed. Neji's was miniscule; while you could definitely Naruto's was there. They looked away and started walking again. Naruto scratched his head, embarrassed.

"Well, Hyuuga. It could be way worse. You could be attracted to Lee and Lee alone." They both shuddered. Neji just shook his head to get rid of his thoughts.

"Well, at least we know she likes us too, instead of having to figure it out ourselves. Besides, it was just a coincidence; technically that we even knew it was Sakura. Ai didn't give that many clues, as I've never seen her before."

"I think Gaara gave it to her, because he found a mother tiger once, with a baby beside it. She probably named it Ai, because of Gaara's tattoo. Ai probably means a lot to Sakura, as well as the fact that it's probably taken her years to admit it to herself," Naruto commented.

"Let's go home and think about it." Naruto nodded in agreement and turned towards home, leaving Neji to walk alone. Neji decided to find the true depth of his attraction. He smirked, knowing this would be fun.

Sakura jumped into Tsunade's office. Tsunade was snoring on her desk as usual, so much for actually getting it done. The ANBU medic just sighed, before she whacked the wall, controlling her chakra so the vibrations travelled to the Gondaime to wake her up. The blonde snorted before sitting up and stretching.

"Oh, Sakura. What brings you here?" Sakura swallowed the lump in her throat.

"I would like to request a mission to Sunagakure, please," her normally strong voice becoming softer than usual.

"May I ask what brought this about?" Sakura's mentor inquired with some curiosity. Sakura just started pacing as the busty woman just raised an eyebrow at her apprentice's agitation.

"You remember Ai?" At the Hokage's nod she continued. "Well, I knew that since she's grown, they wouldn't recognize her. I gave them a note, confessing my feelings, since I can't do it myself as I am." At this, her eyes took on a haunted look. 'Damn Uchiha.'

"Anyways, they didn't realize it. I went to train with them both, but then I treated them to ramen. As a fluke, I had to sign, and Neji caught notice. I disappeared, while Ayame told them what I had told her before!" Sakura moved to just in front of her shishou and collapsed to her knees.

"So please, Tsunade-shishou! They need to get used to the idea, to adjust to it all. That and I don't want it to be awkward," Sakura just begged, hoping Tsunade would let her somehow. Tsunade just sighed, shuffling through missions to find an appropriate one.

"Here it is! The mission is to improve Sand's medical training and facilities, as well as learn new methods. You have to visit Mayonakagakure and the border of Higure. Pick up Steph from Mayonaka and she will call Seimei from there, as they are cousins. Seimei is a really good medic with different methods you should be able to learn with your perfect chakra control. Steph has to deliver a scroll, as well as doing some training with Suna's ANBU." Tsunade's eyes watered slightly at the thought of her beloved apprentice being gone for so long. The Gondaime enveloped Sakura in a hug as she handed over the mission scroll.

"I don't know how long you'll be gone. Years, months, I don't know. Good luck, Saku-chan." Sakura nodded as she took the mission scroll and went out the window to pack.

xD