DISCLAIMER: All Naruto-affiliated things aren't owned by me BECAUSE I DON'T OWN THEM. GRAWR.

STARTLING REUNION :CHAPTER THREE:

Jiraiya was squatting on top (yes, on top) of his desk, scrutinizing the letter in front of him with an angry expression.

"YOU OLD LADY!" he growled, pointing an accusing finger at it, eyes feral.

That's how Shikamaru and Sakura found him when they stormed into the office. And then they immediately both looked at each other with "what the fuck" faces.

Sakura decided voicing it out would be best. "What the fuck, Ero-sennin?"

Neither realized they were still holding hands from Shikamaru dragging Sakura here the whole way – or rather, he was holding her hand through her sleeve, because the sleeves of her turtleneck skimmed way past her hands.

Jiraiya looked up at them with the same face he had shot the tiny white letter with, and shouted at them too.

"YOU YOUNG…YOUNGSTERS!" he yelled, struggling to find the right words. His finger not pointed accusingly at them.

Shikamaru groaned. He so didn't have time for the random ramblings of their crazy principal; in fact, he wished he was still lying peacefully on the roof and watching the clouds go by again…

Sakura groaned by his side as well, mainly because the Ero-sennin just had to choose right then to start acting like the old man that he was, and Shikamaru was daydreaming with some drool sleeping out the corner of his mouth. She seriously didn't want to know what he dreaming about, either.

"Look, Ero-sennin, get over your senile-ness before I PUNCH YOUR FACE TO THE GROUND," she growled. Jiraiya paled, a picture of his last encounter with Tsunade crossing his mind.

Immediately, he sat down properly in his chair and took on the air of a school principal, managing to squeak out, "Yes, ma'am, of course, ma'am!"

Shikamaru snapped out of his daze. Right. The day I make her I'm going to get fucked over…bad. He gulped. Suddenly, the idea of reversing back time to his roof-episode was just that much more appealing.

"Right, uh…" he stumbled, still slightly in shock. Sakura sighed.

"Just tell me why I'm in the boy's class," she murmured, tired with it all. Was she ever going to be able to lead a normal life? And what if she wasn't allowed to attend this academy anymore because Jiraiya forgot Division A was for guys or something?

"It's nothing, really," Jiraiya shrugged. They stared at him. "I mean, you're the exception because the scores we received were much higher than anyone else's, including you, Nara," he added, when Shikamaru opened his mouth to protest. This quieted him, and he now regarded Sakura with an amazed expression.

I know she was first seat this year, but she beat me by that much? Shikamaru wasn't one to brag over his intelligence, but he was a genius, really, so…where did that put Sakura, then?

"Shikamaru, don't look at me like that," she said crossly. "And does this mean I can still attend school here? No difficulties or anything?" This time, Jiraiya dropped his principal act and lifted his mouth into a leering grin.

"Oho…I thought I gave you the folder for a reason, Sakura," he supplied. "I told you before, everything – everything – is written in there. Including whatever you're about to ask me now." Sakura shut her mouth at that, looking irritated but slightly embarrassed.

"Fine," she remarked, turning on her heels. "I'll go look it over. If I find anything…inappropriate," she paused to glare at Jiraiya again, who gulped, "then you're dead."

"What a drag," Shikamaru muttered, before being dragged out the room by Sakura. At this point, he realized they'd been holding hands the whole time, and his cheeks tinged a light pink before he pushed it down.

Nara Shikamaru, you are not succumbing to hormones, he chastised himself, thoroughly annoyed he even had to do this.

They stormed out the office as fast as they stormed in, Sakura's temper driving their brisk walking pace across campus. She fumed inside at her own idiocy for having not researched the folder completely first, but was still relieved. Unconsciously, she squeezed Shikamaru's hand, causing him to look at her silently.

I can still go to school here, and Naruto screaming it out won't result in any trouble…I hope. Somehow, the subject being Naruto made her doubt that. She gave a soft sigh.

They'd reached right outside Dorm S. Shikamaru was about to ask her why she was sighing, until – to both their surprises – the door to the dorm opened. Out stepped Neji and Sasuke, looking equally surprised as Sakura and Shikamaru were.

"Going out?" he asked curiously. They didn't often go places together without him. Sasuke shook his head from behind Neji, his gaze for some reason lingering on Sakura's feet.

"No, we were going to go look for you," he explained, eyes never once wavering from Sakura's feet. She looked at him weirdly, before checking her feet to see if there was anything there…

"Oh. Are these your flip-flops?" she said, giving him an apologetic look. "Shikamaru dragged me out really fast, so I had to improvise and grab whatever was within reach…like your flip-flops."

Sasuke didn't say a word, of course, but he gave Shikamaru a slight glare before turning back to go into the house. Meanwhile, Neji hadn't said a word. For the whole time, Shikamaru noticed that Neji had been looking at Sakura with a curious expression on – one that he couldn't place.

"Well," Sakura said, looking back and forth from Shikamaru – who was looking at Neji – to Neji, who was looking at her. "As much as I love standing out here, we should probably follow the Chicken-ass haired guy and go in."

At the mention of Sasuke's weird hair shape, Shikamaru gave a light chuckle and ushered all three of them inside once they swiped his and Sakura's cards. Neji broke out of his daze, still looking at her with that emotion Shikamaru couldn't place, but gave a slight smirk.

"Everything was settled, Nara?" he asked softly, so that Sakura wouldn't hear. She was walking down the hall, having placed Sasuke's flip-flops daintily back where she got them from. The two boys stayed back a bit.

"Not quite," he answered, giving an indifferent shrug and starting to walk. "But she's still in Division A, and she's still living here."

Neji gave no answer to that, so Shikamaru took that as an okay. You really learned how to interpret silences well once having lived with Uchiha's and Hyuuga's for so long.

"WAIIIII! SAKURA-CHAN, SAKURA-CHAN!" yelled an over-exuberant Naruto from his previous position of sleeping on the couch. Sasuke sweatdropped. God knows how Naruto woke up the minute Sakura walked into the room.

She gave him a sad attempt of a smile, more peeved than anything. Do I really have to deal with him right now?

Sasuke seemed to understand – she was acting how he acted sometimes. Quietly, he pointed to the folder Neji had left on the small table and muttered that she should just take it and go. Unspoken thanks transferred from her eyes to his, and she held out a hand. Naruto continued blabbering about something in the background.

"Sakura," she said softly, so soft that Sasuke had to lean forward a bit to catch it. He took her hand, eyes widening as a shiver went through his body as soon as their skin touched. He didn't catch her going through the same exact shivering motion as he did.

"Uchiha Sasuke," he responded, voice deep and husky. Sakura shivered slightly again – this time, it didn't evade Sasuke's dark eyes. He smirked slightly, knowing his presence had some sort of effect on her.

"Ahem," came a cough from behind them. They turned to see Neji with a slightly raised eyebrow. He looked pointedly at where their hands were interlocked, and as if she was set on fire, Sakura jumped and dropped Sasuke's hand.

"Ah, s-sorry," she stuttered, not daring to look at him. She wouldn't know what to do if he gave another one of those smirks that made her heart flutter. Their handshake had held on for a second too long – it didn't even occur to her that she'd held Shikamaru's hand for more than an hour just prior.

Shit…PLAN BACKFIRING… Inside her mind, some other conscious of hers was roaring over the whole situation.

"Right, uh…Uchiha-san, sorry about using your shoes without first asking," she apologized once again, bowing slightly. Sakura was up-to-date in everything the world went through – including the fact that the Uchiha family was a most wealthy, noble clan residing in Japan. Thus her respectful bow.

"Sakura-chan," called the long brown-haired man from before. She turned, took one look at his eyes, and bowed as well. I don't care how high in politics he is, he did NOT just add a –chan behind my name…

"Nice to meet you, Hyuuga-san," she said stiffy. He looked at her with surprise, before chuckling slightly.

"Sakura-chan…it's Neji."

She furrowed her brows, trying to remember where she'd heard that name before. Hyuuga…Neji?

Sakura shot up quickly from her bowed position, fixing him with a shocked and yet happy expression.

"Neji-kun?"

--+--+--+--

"Sakura-chan, it's alright," soothed Tsunade from beside her. She sat staring blankly out the window, just sitting there on her bed. The normally laughing jade eyes held no emotion.

"There will be a family out there for you, and you have plenty of time," Tsunade continued. Sakura had been turned down from another family, for…she couldn't even count anymore.

Tsunade huffed silently within herself. Why wouldn't anyone want Sakura? She was brilliant for a six year old, her smile was dazzling, and she was just so caring and sweet…

"You're wrong, Tsunade-mama," Sakura croaked, a single tear escaping down her cheek. Tsunade would have smiled at the endearing suffix attached to her name, if not for the graveness of the situation.

"Sakura, you're a beautiful child – anyone in their right mind would adopt you in a heartbeat," she cooed, though it broke her heart to say it. Tsunade cursed herself for her selfish wish of wanting Sakura to never leave her side.

"Then why haven't they adopted me yet?!" she choked, more tears falling. Giving a sob, Sakura pushed Tsunade away and ran out of her room. Tsunade called after her weakly.

"Sakura!"

But she had already run out onto the dirty streets of New York.

Crying softly, she reached the place she came to often whenever she was feeling down. It was a little children's park, with only a single, forlorn rusted metal swing and one puny sandbox. It was deserted, like always – Sakura found comfort in the silence, with only the squeaking of the swing to answer her.

She stumbled to sit onto the swing, and continued crying. The rusting iron answered her cries, squeaking out louder than ever. But Sakura didn't even notice – she was too absorbed in her sorrow to look up and see the swings were slowly collapsing.

At that moment, a little boy with long, brown hair turned the corner. His glance was one of disinterest – and one that withheld a touch of sadness as well. Instead of normal clothes, he was wearing a traditional Japanese kimono for boys, and there were bandages wrapped around his forehead, pulling his hair back.

His piercing white eyes took in all that was around him carefully, until they spotted the little girl with the prettiest shade of rose he had ever seen for her hair. She was sitting all by herself on the still swings…

And she was crying.

There was something about the girl that drew him to her. She seemed about his age, if not younger from her seemingly small frame, and she was dressed lightly in a slightly dirtied blue sundress.

The boy frowned. It was already the end of August – today was particularly chilly. She would catch a cold if she continued crying in those scanty clothes.

He walked towards her gracefully, yet every step firm and heavy – like he understood the world. One look at his expression dissuaded anyone from thinking otherwise, even if he was too young to comprehend the worldly horrors and pains.

Sakura looked up at the sound of approaching footsteps. Her vision was blurred terribly by the infernal tears that kept sliding out. She hurriedly wiped her arm back and forth over her eyes, trying to contain her sniffles.

"Don't do that." Sakura paused at the soft, commanding voice. She obeyed, but as soon as her arm came down the tears came down harder as well.

She faintly made out a shuffling sound, and then suddenly a fabric – it felt like soft, smooth cotton – was wiping all her tears away, gently. Once her vision returned slightly, she blinked and stared at the young boy in front of her who was clearing it.

"Wh-who…ar-hic!...are y-you?" she managed to say, her heart still clenching and voice still unsteady. At the hiccup, she turned her head down out of embarrassment, seizing his soft brushing of her tears.

"Stop crying," he commanded again. And she tried, she really did. Because someone was being nice to her, and Sakura knew that when they were nice to her, she should always be nice back.

But the tears wouldn't stop.

--+--+--+--

"Hn," he smirked triumphantly, arms dropping to his sides from their previous crossed position. Sakura gave a light, airy laugh – and a smile. A smile she hadn't shown in a long, long time to anyone.

"It's such a small world, isn't it…" she murmured, implying it more as a fact than a question. Neji didn't say anything. They just took in each other's appearances, having last seen each other at the tender age of six. Both were remembering that fateful incident from their childhoods which brought them to become good friends.

--+--+--+--

Suddenly, she felt an immense amount of warmth steal into her cold body. Startled, she was confused for a few seconds until it dawned on her.

The boy was giving her a hug. He rubbed her back slowly, repeating the strokes in a calming rhythm.

"Shh," he whispered next to her ear, "Don't cry…"

Neji didn't know what was compelling him to do outrageous things like hugging a random girl. He inwardly scoffed at himself, having been taught by his uncle never to talk to strangers. They were Hyuuga's, after all – his eyes were all too distinguishable. Hell, the girl might have been put there to kidnap him.

But for some reason, Neji found himself ignoring all logic and going ahead to comfort her anyway.

And after a while, Sakura really did calm down. She pushed his chest softly, signaling for him to let go. He stood back and watched her with the same piercing gaze he held to everything.

Wiping the last of her tears away with the little handkerchief Neji had somehow snuck into her hand, she managed to give him a shaky smile and her eyes lit up somewhat.

Neji looked somewhat happier as his handiwork started to smile brightly.

"I'm Sakura," she giggled, sticking a hand out. Neji was taken aback for a second, having been put into alert mode the minute her hand moved. Once he realized there was no threat, he enveloped her small hand with his only slightly bigger one smoothly.

"My name is Neji," he pronounced, voice already giving away his serious nature. Sakura, if possible, just smiled even brighter at his introduction, not even caring about his grave tone.

"Hi, Neji! Nice to meet you!" she beamed. Shaking his hand quickly, she got up and startled him by pushing him down onto the swings instead. Giving her now a full glance-over, he found her testing his curiosity for some reason.

"Why were you crying?" he asked softly. She stiffened a bit, before nonchalantly trying to shrug her shoulders.

"Welll…" she started, in that childish tone he usually hated from other girls his age, "I'm an orphan, actually."

She said this so matter-of-factly that Neji was taken aback, once again. She does not mind?

"And, well…there's not much to say, but apparently none of the families want me," she finished, looking a bit put-out.

He was silent for a bit, before asking, "Do you not want to be adopted anymore?" She grinned at him in return.

"Will you be my friend?"

--+--+--+--

Naruto was muttering fast about something that sounded like "Neji…smiling…omen…BAD…" in a dark corner.

Sasuke was looking rather affronted about being swept aside so fast in their exchange, but he found himself narrowing his eyes at Neji for unknown reasons. Catching himself before he turned it into a full-blown glare, Sasuke was surprised.

Why does it feel like I'm jealous?

Shikamaru watched the whole thing silently, deducing them to be long-time acquaintances. He actually was thinking that skipping cloud-watching was worth it today – Neji had this dreamy smile on his face. Shikamaru let out another amused smirk. Sasuke is also being quite entertaining.

--+--+--+--

Neji stared.

"Oh, come on, it's not a hard question, Neji-kun," she giggled, patting his head softly. He blushed a bit when she called him Neji-kun, not being used to it.

"If you will accept me, I will be your friend," was his reply. She made a slight face at his politeness, before shrugging it all off and grabbing one of his hands to pull him up, standing beside her. Sakura released his hand, holding out her right one and clenching all fingers into a fist, save for her little pinky sticking out.

"Yakusoku?" she said, suddenly now a bit shy. He was surprised she knew how to speak Japanese, because they had been speaking English up 'til then. Her rose-tinted hair didn't suggest any lineage of Asian blood…but then again, he supposed, Caucasians didn't have those traits either.

"Aa," Neji felt himself smiling in return. He was shocked at himself – he didn't smile often, because Uncle decreed emotions as non useful things – and because there was nothing much to smile at.

"Yakusoku." He linked his pinky with hers, both tugging at the same time to seal deal. Neji found himself unwittingly chuckling as she laughed happily.

--+--+--+--

Sakura found herself sighing a content sigh as her mind was swept back to those times. During his whole one-year stay in New York, they'd played together all the time by meeting up at their little playground. Neji-kun had been a really serious boy – but Sakura found that if she pushed the right buttons, he could provide much fun.

"I cannot believe you are in Division A, as number one," he said. She noticed his voice had gotten much more deeper, and even more mysteriously enticing…

BAKA! What are you THINKING?! She almost slapped herself for that one.

"And I can't believe you're still talking the "I-have-a-polite-stick-stuck-down-my-throat" talk," she quipped back, earning some smirks and giggled from the men around them.

"Mah, it is hard to get rid of," he apologized, both of them knowing he didn't mean one word of it.

Shikamaru cut in. "Alright, Sakura – no matter how much I respect you for making Hyuuga smile," at which she smirked and Neji looked away quickly, "We have to get down to business here."

She nodded. "I seriously have to live here with three guys?"

Naruto cackled and whispered next to her ear, "It's actually one – Neji and Teme are really girls."

Having no idea what Naruto said but somehow feeling it was about them anyway, the said people both strode over and slammed his head together.

"Let's kick the dobe out now," Sasuke muttered, releasing a murderous intent.

"Aa." Neji grabbed the collar of Naruto's uniform and started dragging him out.

Shikamaru sighed and rubbed his head, yawning.

"This happen often?" Sakura asked. He nodded tiredly.

"Anyway, Sakura, come here," he motioned for her to come over to where he was laying lazily on the couch.

Grabbing her waist gently and causing her to squeak a bit, he pulled her down until she was sitting on the couch with her back trapped against his stomach.

Shikamaru gave her another lazy grin before grabbing the folder on the table in front of them and handing it over to her. She blushed, because his hand was still settled around her waist snugly.

"Here, take the troublesome folder and go read in your room," he murmured beside her ear as he sat up. Sakura shivered slightly as his breath washed over her ear gently, before nodding and taking the blue folder.

"If you do it out here, you'll never get any work done," he explained, before pausing to yawn and lie down again. "Once Naruto comes, it gets real troublesome…"

Without another word, he fell asleep. She laughed lightly at the sight, before grabbing a blanket she spotted on a chair in the kitchen and returning to place it over him.

Stepping back to smile at her handiwork, Sakura gripped the folder tight and strode over to the black door leading into her room.

Thus, an hour later, Sasuke and Naruto were still having a heated argument over "dobes" and "temes"; Neji was trying to see if they were going to get any dinner at all in the kitchen, it being already nine-something-o'clock; and Shikamaru was still sleeping on the couch peacefully.

That all stopped abruptly, because an hour later starting from when Neji first dragged Naruto away – Sakura let out a scream from her room, freezing all the men at once.

TO BE CONTINUED….

A/N : 07.27.08 (treeshie)

I must say, I'm finishing this up at 2:00 in the morning, and so the ending is rather rushed – sorry. I wanted to get this posted up before going to sleep, and any later than this my Aunt will storm out her room looking incredibly cranky and kill me. Oh - and I trust you all know that "yakusoku" means "promise"?

So yeah. I think I'm starting to make Sakura look like a whore. Woopsies. Didn't mean it, of course – I love Saki-chan, seriously. And there's another problem. I seriously love Neji as well. So that prompts my really important question…FOLLOWING THIS IS A REALLY, SERIOUSLY, IMMENSELY IMPORTANT QUESTION…

Would any of you be mad if I switched this from a sasuXsaku fic to a sasuXneji fic? pouts

Thanks for reviewing, for those who did and for those who will – your reviews are all much appreciated! Have a nice life!