DISCLAIMER: All Naruto-affiliated things do not belong to me. But Neji does. …oh come ON, I can DREAM can't I?! (Neji does not belong to treeshie, goddamnit all…)
ABOUT CHANGING THE FIC – IT IS STILL UNDECIDED. I'm going to just continue writing for now, and see which path turns out to be the most fluffiest, cutest ever. Aw…and though Shika is incredibly adorable and my second favorite, he's not going to be a love interest. Sorry! Oh, and I'll try to bring out Sakura's mask thing more – I realize sometimes when I read my own story I forget she's wearing it. Yeah, need to fix that…
RECAP:
…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…
BLOSSOM INTO SNOW :CHAPTER FOUR:
"Sakura?!" shouted Naruto, Sasuke, and Neji at once. Shikamaru didn't say a word – he opted instead to give his face a pale make-over and sprinted immediately to her room, Neji following close behind.
"Sakura, are you okay?" he breathed out, slamming the door open. Neji arrived as well, and he breathed a sigh of relief after seeing there was nothing dangerous inside the room.
Sakura was kneeling on the bed, clutching her face in her hands and moaning something intelligible that Shikamaru didn't catch. There were papers scattered all over in front of her, a blue folder sitting on the side to let them know the papers were from there.
Sasuke popped up at the door, sending a questioning look to Neji. He shrugged in response – he didn't know what the scream was about either.
Naruto – who'd been following Sasuke – scrambled past all of them and started fussing over Sakura.
"Are you okay?! Sakura-chan?! Answer me! Why aren't you answering me? OH MY GOD, Neji go call the ambulance or something! Was it a rapist? Sakura-chan?! Are you crying?! Tell me you're not crying…Was it a thief? I'll beat the shit outta any thief or rapist, so just tell me! Sakura-chan?! SAKURA-CHAN?!"
Shikamaru moved forward to release Sakura from Naruto's grasp, seeing as he was starting to shake her rather violently by the shoulders. The usually lazy genius fixed him with a pointed look, signaling for him to calm down.
Sakura was now muttering louder. He barely caught some words, mouth formed in a tight slash across his face as he leaned forward to try to catch more.
"Stupid…can't…Ero…perv…believe…god…no," she muttered, adding in some profanities Shikamaru thought didn't even exist.
"Sakura, what's wrong?" he asked concernedly, not able to make sense of her jumbled mess of words.
She sat there, silent for a while, before responding, "It's…nothing much, I was just overreacting…"
Neji gave her a look of concern as well, before walking over and picking up the paper she'd been clutching in her hands.
Sakura lifted her hands, a frown marring her usual pretty face. Her cheeks were also tinged a bit pink, and she sighed before motioning for Neji to read it out loud.
He raised a skeptical eyebrow, before proceeding to do what she asked.
Dear Sakura, he started, clearing his throat a bit before continuing. Everyone in the room – except for Sakura – quieted down and listened intently, even Naruto.
Heeheehee…one day, you'll trust your beloved Ero-sennin for doing this, HAHAHA!
All the guys looked at each other, giving "what the fuck" faces before Shikamaru nodded for Neji to continue. Sakura, who had calmed down, smirked a bit at Neji's attempt to politely narrate Jiraiya's weird speech habits.
First, congratulations on making it here to the top school in all of Asia – situated in, of course, your hometown of Konoha. I'm taking a guess that the old lady already told you that, but if you didn't know…then now you do.
Well, let's get down to business. Though I'm sounding a bit too old for my age, eh? I SO can still get girls with my wily charms! One day, you'll fall for me too, and I won't take you! HA!
Eh…yeah. Anyway, the top division here is Division A – I'm sure by now you've learned it's only for guys. Woops. It's not MY bidding, it's just the school Council is made up of stuck-up fat-ass spoiled bitchy old men, and they still have this women inferiority complex going on.
Man, every time I have to attend one of those I'm tempted to bring Tsunade-hime or you with me just to shoot them down…
But because you've scored seriously high (honestly, I think it's the damned old lady trying to spite me) even without a proper education, I've seen fit to specially place you into Division A.
You better thank me later – I fought with the Council over that for a month. And you know ME. I COULD HAVE BEEN GETTING MORE GIRLS. Che.
The sad thing is, we didn't get to a complete agreement. I had to compromise.
Now, you're going to kill me after you read this, like I said…but remember, you'll thank me later! Hahaha!
Sorry, Sakura. You're not allowed to back out of this school until you finish your three-year high school scholarship contract with us.
And you're still in Division A.
And you're going to have to pretend to be a boy.
…I think I'll end the letter here. Any more questions, you can ask me personally – tell the office ladies (I picked them, aren't they HOT?) that Sakura or Naruto is looking for the principal. I accept you guys at any time. (It is SO NOT because being principal is boring and you guys are entertaining.)
And if you come looking for me, PLEASE refrain from mass murder… AND DON'T TELL TSUNADE-HIME WHATEVER YOU DO, PLEAAAAAAAASE?! I'M BEGGING YOU, DOWN ON MY KNEES…
I'M TOO YOUNG TO DIE…………………!!
Just try to remember I did this so you can still go to school here, okay? And hey…who knows? After all, girl… you'll be surrounded by hot guys, eh?
See you around, don't kill me, I still have things to do on this world, bye!
Sincerely, the one who doesn't want to die –
Principal of the Konoha branch International Institute of Learning, High School Divisions A-C
Jiraiya
P.S.: You may tell whoever you wish about this, but they mustn't tell anyone else. If everyone knows, some are bound to be against it and a scandal will break out. The Council will kick you out and rip the contract the minute they get word of that happening…and be careful. They're looking forward to it.
Naruto stared at Sakura. Sasuke stared at the letter. Neji looked to Shikamaru. And Shikamaru moaned, "What a drag…"
Sakura had this irritated look in her jade green eyes, but she needed to continue receiving schooling here no matter what – so it surely couldn't be that bad.
"Uniform?" Shikamaru drawled, the first to react from the other three to the situation. Sakura nodded, pointing to the plastic package behind her on the bed.
He picked it up and ripped it open, groaning as he realized it really was a full set of the men's uniform. But Neji, with his sharp ability to notice what was missing quickly, pointed out an important factor.
"There is no set of clothes for Phys. Ed.," he said, narrowing his eyes. Sakura hadn't bothered to look through the clothes before, but now that Neji had pointed it out, she realized it was true.
"You probably don't have to do gym," Shikamaru filled in. Sakura nodded in relief. One less thing to worry about…thank god.
"I can trust you guys to not say anything…right?" she asked weakly, looking at each of their faces in turn. She lingered slightly on Naruto's.
"Of course you can, Sakura-chan! Believe it!" he grinned, cheering her a bit. Of course, she still shared a wary glance with Shikamaru over the idea of Naruto knowing.
Neji and Sasuke both nodded and grunted their assent. Shikamaru muttered something that sounded strangely like "troublesome", but nodded as well.
Sakura let out a breath she'd unconsciously been holding in. "Good. I wouldn't be able to keep it if I was going to live here."
"Naruto, make sure you don't mention Sakura's name to anyone," Shikamaru commanded, closing his eyes and furrowing his eyebrows to think carefully. Naruto nodded, giving them a thumb's up.
"Sakura, you need a new name," he continued, not moving from his thinking posture. She noted his hands were places together in a strange positioning, palms facing inwards and fingers stretching out to meet each other.
"Yeah, I thought about that too, but I can't think of anything," she confessed. "And I really don't want an only male name…a unisex name would be nice, because I don't want to convert into being really manly or whatever."
Neji smiled at that, while Sasuke smirked. They all grew silent, thinking of names while Shikamaru went over whatever other important things that needed attention in his mind.
"How about Aki?" Sasuke gave, looking at her expectantly. She considered it, unconsciously biting her lower lip through the thin black fabric of her mask. Sasuke oddly found his gaze drifting down towards that area, before wincing and pinching his thigh through his pockets, where his hands had been thrust into prior.
"Nah," she shook her head, "It's alright, but I don't feel much like autumn, right?" Naruto nodded profusely, more that he liked disagreeing with Sasuke then the name problem. Neji smirked.
"Then you should be named Yuki," he said softly, somehow a bit pleased that she didn't take Sasuke's suggestion.
Sakura brightened at that, liking the sound and meaning of the name.
"Yuki, meaning snow? I like that!" she smiled, thinking over how winter was her favorite season. It didn't occur to her that Neji had suggested Yuki for an altogether different reason, something revolving around his favorite memory with her from childhood.
"Right, ok…So you're Yuki for now," Shikamaru grunted, releasing his hand position and blinking his eyes slowly.
"To slide away other troublesome suspicions, you should also adopt a last name," he yawned, laying his head sleepily against Sakura's shoulder from where he sat next to her on the bed. She didn't mind, though Neji and Sasuke stiffened a bit at the movement.
Shikamaru inwardly smirked as his single lazy open eye caught it all.
They're fun to mess with, he decided, as Neji forcibly relaxed his position and Sasuke pretended to be indifferent.
"I suggest adopting the Akimichi name," he continued, "because if you're going to take any last name, you're seriously going to have to get some relatives of that very family to agree and back you up in case of…troublesome times."
Neji looked slightly miffed, as did Sasuke. Shikamaru cut them both off by lifting his hand slowly and sighing.
"Look, Sasuke – you're an Uchiha. You should understand that your family is not going to randomly accept an orphan girl into their family, even if it's only temporary."
Sasuke looked away, knowing he was right.
"And Neji, you're a Hyuuga. You guys are like the same – troublesome tendencies to be proud, and all that. Your family stands out too much like the Uchihas, and they wouldn't accept Sakura that easily either."
Neji softened his features, nodding in agreement.
"What about me?" Naruto whined in the corner. "She could be an Uzumaki, right? Right?"
Shikamaru shook his head again, having thought over all of this earlier.
"Naruto, you should know that wouldn't work. You're an orphan, and Uzumaki came from your original parents who we haven't found after searching this long," he said, tone a bit softer. Sakura already knew that about Naruto's past, having talked it over with him during his visits to their orphanage.
"If another person suddenly came up and claimed to be another troublesome Uzumaki, it would arouse suspicions immediately."
Naruto looked glum, pouting a bit. "But why Chouji's family?" he whined, not understanding a bit.
"The Akimichi's are wealthy enough to send their son here, but not that known around the world," Neji supplied, in the soft and commanding he had carried ever since childhood. "They are also known for their incredible amount of kindness and caring in ever single family member."
Shikamaru nodded. "Chouji wouldn't mind, plus he's been my best friend for a long time. I know his parents – they'd be happy to let Sakura use their name."
Sakura thanked Shikamaru profoundly in her mind. Thank god there are now smart people to think for me when I can't in a tense situation…
"So that means we have to tell Chouji the situation as well?" she asked, turning her head slightly to look down at Shikamaru on her shoulder. He shrugged.
"It's up to you. We can get by with you acting as Yuki for that, or you can just let it out. Chouji's trustworthy. He wouldn't cause any troublesome issues if you shared it with him, or his family."
Sakura nodded, not really paying attention to how Shikamaru's eyes widened a bit when her chin brushed by his cheek lightly.
"Come, Sakura-chan," Neji commanded, making her smirk from his usage of –chan at the end of her name. It clashed quite horribly with his polite speech habits. She remembered how it'd taken forever to get him to call her that…
"Sakura, stop daydreaming," Sasuke said gruffly. He and Neji were both waiting for her at the entrance to her room.
"Where are we going?" she asked, gently nudging Shikamaru off her shoulder and setting him down to sleep on her mess of a bed. Naruto ambled behind her as she walked out and closed the door gently, leaving the genius to his beauty sleep.
Neji took her hand in his, making her give a surprised jump before relaxing. Sasuke struggled to maintain his face of indifference, once again.
What is UP with me… he groaned. And I want to see what's under that damn mask, already!
"We'll bring you to Akimichi," he explained, looking at everything but her. "And help so that no one will spot you."
"Yeah, I'll hide you, Sakura-chan! Believe it!" Naruto cheered.
Sakura shook her head good-naturedly, giving a small eye crinckle, and chuckled. "Naruto, you really never change."
"How do you know the dobe, anyway?" Sasuke inquired, curious. Why does he get to call you Sakura-chan?
"Eh…let's just say Naruto visits our place a lot," she answered, shrugging. No point in giving more info than needed.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah!" Naruto cheered. Sakura inwardly groaned. Oh shit, he's going to just say everything…
"I bet you're just jealous, huh, teme? Sakura-chan and I have been friends since we were BABIES!" To be honest, Sakura didn't think Sasuke was jealous at all – his face was one of complete indifference, only showing the occasional twitch of annoyance at Naruto.
Neji didn't respond to any of their banter; he was busy concentrating on the nostalgic feeling he was getting from just holding her hand. Wait, no…he meant listening in on their conversation. Hyuuga Neji did NOT have deep attachments to a girl from more than 10 years ago.
He tugged her towards the door, leaving Sasuke and Naruto behind to another round of pointless arguing. Sakura didn't really mind leaving Naruto behind – he'd probably scream her name out once they were outside by accident anyway.
This time, and she smirked at the memory, she had a few moments to spare so she could put on her own boots. As she reached for them, however, Neji used his free hand to gently tug it away, and directed it towards his flip-flops instead.
"Wear these?" she pointed. Oh, just take it, Sakura…they're so comfy – you know, after wearing Sasuke's…
"The flip-flops are more comfortable, and yours are still stuck under a sleeping Shikamaru," he answered. She'd never get used to how his tone had deepened and grown huskier after all these years…
Sakura shrugged. "Alright, sure. You're right though – I wore Sasuke's, and they were really nice and comfy even though it was like 6 sizes way too big." So she stood up and slid her tiny feet into the huge flip-flops.
Neji gave a smile of satisfaction. And then he reflected on what he was doing. A look of horror passed his face, even if only for a second.
Did I just…give her my flip-flops, as if to best the Uchiha?!
"Neji…what's up?" Sakura asked, catching the look even though he pushed it down. Her eyes slanted downward a bit, in what he supposed was a frown – the mask hid most of it – and she leaned in close to his face, studying him intently.
Neji almost forgot how to breathe as her face loomed closer and closer.
Note the word almost.
Because he was a Hyuuga, he obviously knew how to handle himself; not mentioning the fact he'd already lost most of his control at the slightest appearance of Sakura. So Neji breathed out slowly, too concentrated on calming himself to notice Sakura stilling as his gentle breath washed over her face and mask.
"Hn," he grunted. "It is nothing. Let us leave for Chouji now." As Sakura pulled away slowly, the refreshing scent of his minty breath lingering in her subconsciousness, she realized he wasn't pulling on any of his shoes.
No, Hyuuga Neji was smirking and slipping on Uchiha Sasuke's slippers that Sakura had been wearing earlier.
His smirk was contagious – soon she found herself smirking and chuckling, right as they both stumbled out into the dark night.
After a few minutes, Sasuke and Naruto finally noticed they were arguing towards a blank audience. Both glaring at each other as if the other was at fault, they pushed and scrambled to the front door, Naruto leaving first as he got his shoes on faster. He turned around and stuck a tongue out before laughing and running off.
Sasuke was giving a murderous glare at anything he could lay his eyes on, realizing something very important.
"WHERE THE FUCK ARE MY GODDAMNED FLIP-FLOPS NOW?!"
TO BE CONTINUED…
A/N – 07.28.08 (treeshie)
I finished writing this yesterday, and it was already 4:00 in the morning so I decided to just upload it tomorrow. Except I'm only updating it NOW, which is like the end of tomorrow, because my AUNT just HAD to drag me to EVERY SINGLE FUCKING SHOP in the ENTIRE CITY. Honestly, sometimes I just wish I was born a guy. (I didn't even buy a thing.)
Hey – accept that Chouji is cool. He's very cool, because he's Shika's best friend since forever. And he's also really cool because I've recently been rewatching the old Naruto episodes where they chase after the Sound Four/Five and Sasuke…in a barrel. Lulz. So yeah, excuse my need to include Chouji in all this. Maybe I should make him skinny?
Sorry about the pairing indecisiveness. I realize that's probably irritating some people… woops. Eh…I've "accidently" been reading some sakuXneji fics. So uh…currently, the pairing is leaning towards Neji. heh-heh?
Thanks to everyone who reviewed – your reviews are seriously appreciated. An author's soul doesn't get more warm and fuzzy than when a reader tells them they like it. Have a nice day!