Author: aFigureOfSpeech

Title: Conflicting Chaos – Chapter 4

Word Count: 581

Pairing: NejixSakuraxKiba

Rating: T (for mild swearing, some suggestive situations, minor alcohol)

Summary: When Naruto manages to get Neji mad at him, Sakura helps Naruto, but in the process she hurts Neji's pride. Now he's out for revenge, but it may not turn out how he expected. Especially when Tsunade has plans of her own and Kiba's not going down without a fight. NejiSakuKiba

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. If I did, Sasuke would get over himself, Sakura would get over Sasuke (and she would have kicked Ino's ass, then proceeded to the next level of the Chuunin exams, where she would have kicked more ass), and Orochimaru would stop being a power-hungry bastard with a disturbing interest in young boys who have yet to hit puberty (hmm. I wonder if his nose has ever fallen off).

Chapter 4: Call Me Sakura

"Excuse me, Neji-san." Neji was snapped out of his self-therapy session (a.k.a., plotting his diabolical revenge) by the very last person he wanted to see. Or hear, for that matter.

"What do you want, Haruno-san?" he asked her coolly, determined not to let her get the best of him this round. He was Hyuuga Neji, after all. He could keep his cool.

Sakura sighed. "You're sitting on my bag, Hyuuga-san," she told him. "Could you please move?"

"Hn," was his only reply as he moved just enough for her to retrieve her pack. However, he noticed her new formality. 'Since when did she use my surname?' She must have somehow sensed his surprise (it might have had something to do with his eyebrows disappearing under his hatai-ate), because she answered his unspoken question.

"Well, you always seem to call me 'Haruno' or 'Haruno-san.' Since you appear to prefer that, I just thought you'd prefer it if I did the same." She said this all while rummaging through her pack, searching intently for some item or another.

"What, would you rather that I call you 'Sakura?'" Neji sneered. This sneer was stopped cold in its tracks when Sakura returned it with a grin.

"Yes," she replied, "yes, as a matter of fact, I would. You're not that much older than me, after all." Suddenly, her eyes lit up and she let out an "Aha!" as she pulled out the object of her intense search: a frying pan. "There you are!" she exclaimed. "Thought you could hide from me, did you?" Sakura demanded the inanimate object, much to Neji's confusion. "Well, bye!" she called to him, flashing another grin as she made her way to where Naruto and Kiba were almost finished building a fire.

Once again, Sakura left Neji with his mouth slightly agape and odd sense of shock. He quickly recovered himself, schooling his features into their default blank look. Still, he certainly had things to maul over in his mind. 'Here I was, scheming against her, and she not only tells me to call her "Sakura," but she smiles at me. Twice!' It would make his life so much easier if she would quit smiling at him and making his stomach do things he was quite sure it was not supposed to do. In fact, he would be very grateful if she just left him alone all together.

Quietly, Neji experimented to himself. "Sakura." No, that was too informal, too awkward for him. "Sakura-san." Yes, that was better. It felt odd, saying her name like that, but not in a bad way.

Absorbed as he was in his thoughts, Neji did not notice the two pairs of eyes watching him not far off, listening to every word that passed between him and Sakura.

……………………

Hinata and Tenten managed to get several yards from camp before they burst into helpless fits of laughter.

"Did you see his face?!" giggled Tenten. "That look was priceless!"

"Yes," Hinata wheezed. "I thought I would die from not laughing."

"If that didn't kill you, Neji might have, if he found us," Tenten said. "Well, not you, but me. My death wish would have been that I'd had a camera, though." She giggled again.

"We'll just have to imprint the image upon our memories forever," Hinata told her.

"Or, we could just wait until the next time Sakura and Neji have a conversation," replied Tenten with a grin. They were both, once again, overcome with laughter.