Hey all! I said I was going to get right to work, and now I show you that I am!

Disclaimer- no own.

Chapter 3

It was three weeks out, one more week till they finally reached the Mist village and they were sitting on a bench in a small village, thrilled to run across civilization. "I can't wait to get in a shower! The inn looks really nice!" Neji nodded looking around, sitting on the back of the bench, Sakura sitting on the bench normally beside him. "This village is very quiet." He noted and raised his fingers, gaining Sakura's attention. "Byakugan." She gave him a moment to look around and noticed his frown. "Is everything alright?" Neji nodded absently, continuing his look. "There's a lot of small children here. It seems as if the villagers are reproducing as quickly as possible." Sakura looked up at him and giggled, her hand over her mouth. "The Hidden Sex village." She said to herself but earned a small smile and head shake from Neji.

Neji looked up quickly, earning a silent moment from Sakura. He narrowed his eyes and looked back down to her. "Sakura, you need to stay by my side no matter what." She looked up at him and frowned. She'd wanted a room of her own, but had a feeling that after a comment like that she wasn't going to get it. "What do you see?"

"I just have a feeling, it's too quiet here." She nodded, noticing that though the town was full of people theirs were the only voices she heard. She turned and frowned again. "Neji, do you see any birds?" He looked around and nodded. "Yes, but they seem to be staying out of the village itself. Maybe we should move on, there's another village just about two hours that way..." He pointed and Sakura stared. "Can you see that far?"

"No, I looked at the map." He looked down at her and earned a shrug. "I don't know how far you see with the Byakugan. Sometimes it seems as though you can see the whole world..." He looked down at her, head cocked and she realized she spoke out loud, waving her hand. "Ah! Ignore me..." She stood and lifted her hand, reaching for her bag. "Let's get going then." She pulled her bag onto her back and he stood, grabbing his as well. "You're ready to go to the next village on my instinct?" Sakura turned to him and smiled. "I've noticed your instincts tend to be right on, and I'm not one to tempt fate." Sakura stated honestly and Neji nodded, placing his bag on his back.

As he said, there was another village about two hours away and they sat at the bench in the center of town again, this time noticing the people who were all about and seemed to be partying something fierce. "Excuse me, Sir," Sakura stopped one man who was dancing in the streets to the music that was being played a few yards away at a small stage in the center of the park. "What's going on here?"

"It's the fiftieth anniversary of our independence! It was this day, fifty years ago that we were freed from the tyrannical country of the water!" Sakura nodded and thanked the man before looking over at Neji. "I didn't realize that the country of the water was this far out." Neji nodded and looked around, almost relaxed. "The party you see before you, this is why we separated into the five nations in the first place. Many of the countries back then were trying to take over, and it seems that this village got what it wanted." Sakura nodded, which turned to a head bob as the music caught her ears. Neji looked at her and smiled as she absently danced, not wildly or anything, she shook her shoulders and bobbed her head, smiling as the people walked by, many of them doing the same thing she was doing.

Neji knew that he was opening up to her, He knew that she was feeling more comfortable with him as well. He'd hoped that this would happen, as they'd never really been close to each other, he wanted to get to know her, what kind of person she'd become and she was turning out to be everything he thought she would be. He smiled absently at her, gaining her eye with his soft smile. "What?"

"You're dancing." She smiled up, the last little bit of light from the day, the red hues across the sky reflecting off of her hair and turned her hair almost peach. "It's a catchy tune! I'm surprised you're not dancing." Sakura heard something she never thought she would. He laughed. She jumped up and grabbed him by the arm, pulling him over to the dance floor with their bags in her other hand. Neji shook his head as she pulled him out and she looked at him as they got to the foot of the stage grinning. "Dance with me!" Neji stepped back, grinning. "I don't dance!" He shouted, the music still nearly drowning him out. "Everyone's dancing! No one will notice you! Dance with me!" She grinned and started dancing. Neji watched her movements and after a minute tried to mimic them.

She returned to her grin when he started dancing, trying not to show him that she was paying attention to him. After a minute the music changed to a slow song and Sakura froze, looking up at the band, who returned her confused look with a grin directly at her. She shook her head and Neji smiled, shaking his head. "This is why I don't dance." She frowned at him and before he could protest, pulled him over to her, wrapping her arms around his waist and rested her head on his shoulder, swaying to the music.

If she'd leaned back to look she would have seen a blush that would have put Hinata to shame. He tried his best to keep his hands at a decent place on her hips, not to move too fast, or to move in the wrong way, but every second seemed to remind him how close he was to the pink kunoichi.

He didn't speak much after that, unable to banish the odd red tint from his cheeks and Sakura grinned as they reached the hotel. "It was just a dance! You don't have to blush like that!" She teased as they walked in and the man at the counter smiled knowingly. "She forced you to dance at a slow song, huh?" Sakura looked at the man as Neji nodded. "Believe it or not, it happens at least once a year. That's how many of the couples on the village came to be." He winked at Sakura who shook her head. "It's not like that! We're just friends!" She laughed and the man at the counter grinned. "So were me and my wife." Sakura froze and Neji looked down, his blush getting worse.

It was amazing that they were able to get a room not using nearly any words. With the party, there were a few visitors from other villages and there was only one room left at the inn, the man behind the counter grinned especially wide for that part. They walked in and looked around. It was a nice room, cherry wood seemed to be the whole composition for the room. Green chairs and walls and bedsheets...

She jumped into the shower, washing away her strains. She grabbed the robe and covered, looking at her dark pink hair in the mirror and smiled. Neji would be waiting to get in here next, and Sakura was suddenly worried about her virtues. She walked out, finding him watching her as she got her cloths out of the bag and walked over to the small washer in the corner of the room. "Shower's open." She stated, although they both knew it was just to break the silence. He stood and Sakura turned to him as he went into the other room. His shirt was gone, he wore only his pants and Sakura was suddenly really feeling the urge to feel what the skin on his back felt like.

By the time he came out, she was laying on the bed, reading her book. She felt a sudden increase in need to read it right then, and though she'd been through a whole chapter it didn't seem to be doing the trick anymore. She nearly slammed the book shut and shoved it into her bag, causing Neji to raise his eyebrow again. "Book not cutting it?" He suddenly realized what he said and clapped his hand over his mouth in a very unNeji like way. Sakura turned to him, not sure whether to feel violated or tell him the truth, that he was right. She settled for shaking her head like a madman and blushing like an idiot. He laid down on the bed next to her, the robe he wore showed off a bit of his chest and She couldn't barely keep her eyes on his. He kept his eyes focused on the ceiling as he spoke again.

"Sakura, we need to talk." She sighed, nodding and sat up, preparing for him to tell her that she was being childish, that she needed to keep her mind on the mission instead of him, and was surprised to hear his next words. "We need to keep closer together."

"Huh?" Neji looked up at her, smiling. "I've wondered about you for a while, as we don't get too many missions together, and this has shown me that we need to keep more in touch." Sakura wondered if he knew what she was thinking when he said touch, the word itself sent shivers down her spine. He sat up and put a blanket over her, causing a blush. "I talk to Naruto all the time, He's told me a bit about how you're doing, but to actually spend time with you, it's a little..." He took a moment to think out the next word. "Refreshing." She smiled at him, feeling her frustration ease down a little.

His first thought was to say and do exactly what she was thinking, but he couldn't stand to b the one to hurt her. He didn't want her to pull away, and the thought that he cared that much, to think of a way around it, to not be brutally honest, it worried him a little. Maybe he was just as bad as she was. He'd noticed the glances, the little smiles that she hid, and he had noticed that her books were coming out more and more often. Dragging him to the stage and dancing with him, though, he didn't know how to handle it. What if it came down to something in battle? Would he be able to keep his eyes on his own fight? Would he be able to let her fight at all? He sighed, looking away shyly and Sakura noticed the look. "Is everything alright?" He looked up at her and smiled, nodding.

"Perfect." He sat up. He wanted to tell her, all of a sudden. He wanted to tell her that the nightmares he'd had, that they were about disappointing her. That he actually remembered her crying over him after the fight against Orochimaru's spider freak. That she was the reason he'd chosen to keep fighting to live. He sighed and looked up at her, Her eyes watching him closely. "It's been a long day, I'm going to sleep." He smiled and Sakura nodded. "Alright." She smiled and he leaned back, closing his eyes.

He awoke the next morning to find that even though he'd had his normal nightmare, he woke without the nausea, without the jump. He opened his eyes to find her curled up on his shoulder, her head nearly on his chest. He watched the slight intake of breath her eyes seemed to be dancing behind their lids and she suddenly giggled, a blush crossing her cheek. Neji smiled back, wondering what the dream was about that cheered her up like this.

"Sakura." He whispered softly and she slowly opened her eyes, looking into his. Her blush got worse as she realized where she was and jumped back, gasping. "Oh! Neji, I'm so sorry!" She bowed her head, trying to hide the worsening blush. He looked over at her and had the urge to reach forwards and kiss her... "It's alright. It was a cold night, you were warm." He smiled, the words and the smile causing her blush to reach down her neck.

He looked around the room, noticing that his cloths were cleaned and folded, waiting for him. He walked over and turned to Sakura who smiled. "I thought you might like to have them cleaned." He smiled at her, running his hand over the material. It was softer than normal. She must have used something special to clean them. "Thank you." He wandered into the bathroom, getting dressed.

By the time he had gotten dressed, brushed his hair and put it back into the normal holder, brushed his teeth and made sure that his headband was in place, he hadn't realized that she'd be getting dressed as well. He opened the door to see her slip off the robe and stretch, her naked figure caught the sunlight from the window just right...

He closed the door. He couldn't see her like that again. His willpower was faltering already and that hadn't helped. He sighed, trying to think of major turn offs so as to be able to walk again.

Sakura heard the door open, but wasn't paying attention to where it was from. There was a couple down the hall that had been specifically loud last night, and she figured it was them. She stretched her hands to the sky, basking in the feeling of the warm sun. She was used to running around her house naked, and had forgotten about the need to wear cloths all the time when on missions. She needed it, just a minute...

She realized that Neji was in the bathroom, and that he'd been in there for a while. "Uh, Neji, did you just..."

"Yes." She turned red, getting dressed as quickly as possible. "I'm sorry! I thought you'd be in there a little longer! I hadn't meant to-"

"Are you dressed yet?" He asked, a little impatiently. "Almost!" She buckled the straps to the side of the skirt and made sure that the shorts were pulled down as much as possible. "I'm dressed!" He opened the door and saw her eyes lock onto him. His hair was pulled back, but he knew that it was softer than usual. He'd gone ahead and used the hotel's shampoo, as they didn't really have to worry about enemy nin on this mission. He didn't have to worry about being sniffed out. "You have beautiful hair..." She said, a little surprised at the way it swayed when he walked, the slightest wind caused it to flow, almost as if he were in water. He looked at her and couldn't help but chuckle at the look on her face, the surprise at the look of someone's hair as she did the last button on her shirt. He turned his head away before the urge to undo the shirt again came to him. "Let's head out. There was a restaurant downstairs, we'll get some food then head back out." She nodded as they grabbed their bags.

They ate nearly silently. When they went to the front desk to turn in the key the man from the previous night was there. "So, you two have fun?" He grinned, causing a blush from both of them. "Like we said, it's not like that!"

"But now the thought's entered your heads, now you've realized that there's something in the other person that you do see like that. I can tell." He looked between them and Sakura frowned at him. "Sir! What kind of ninja do you think we are?" Neji looked over at her, raising his eyebrow at the streak of over-dramatic ranting. The man looked at her and his grin eased down to a soft, sweet smile. "I think you're both human." Sakura froze, her hand with the key before her and the man reached out, taking it. "I hope you two enjoyed your stay."

They were quiet for a bit on the way that day. Sakura kept having the words from the man at the counter running through her head. "I think you're both human." Most people, save the other nins, didn't see her as a human. She assumed that the man did the same, but for him to so easily tell her that, to tell her exactly what she needed to hear.

They noticed the amount of conversation between them raise over the next week. They reached the Mist village on the verge of tears, laughing about the time that Sakura, Sasuke and Naruto tried to get a peek under Kakashi's mask. Neji shook his head, wiping a tear from under his eye. "How did you survive them as your team?!" Sakura shrugged and turned to him. "As if you have it any better! We made so many jokes about you and Ten-ten cowering in fear from Gai and Lee's springtime of youth stuff!" Neji laughed harder, remembering a situation that went remarkably just like that. "You get used to it after a while." Sakura shook her head. "I don't think I could ever get used to being around two men wearing green spandex." She looked over at Neji and silently thought, except, maybe...

"We're there!" He looked up at the tower and they smiled as they walked in. "Hello, we're here for the scavenger hunt." Sakura said at the counter and the woman smiled. "We have our trial here, but this one's at least faster than the Konoha one..." She rolled her eyes and they frowned. They would have to do that one still. She noticed the stare and gasped, standing. "You have to go there still, don't you? Oh, at least they probably used a test that you don't have to worry about." She waved nervously. "What's Konoha's test?"

"You can't trade in your scroll without, uh, Well, you have to 'be' with one of their ninjas." Sakura stared at the woman, shocked and confused. "WHAT?!" She turned to Neji who had a similar look on his face. "I don't think that my fake one night stand with Sai will count here, or your fake encounter with Ino through Sasuke's Sharingan. What do we do about this?!"

"Worry about this village first." Sakura froze. He was right, but what was the point if they failed in Konoha? "What's the trial here?"

"A kiss." Neji stared. "What?"

"You two have to kiss, ten seconds, and make it saucy. We're having way too much fun with this, as you can tell." She pointed to the other side of the lobby, which was full of onlookers, staring at them with naughty grins. "Lecherous perverts!" Sakura yelled at them, hands on hips. She turned to Neji. "Uh, don't you think this is a little far for a mission?" Neji looked at her, sighing. "It's just a kiss, we should be alright." Sakura shrugged, feeling her shoulders draw forwards in fear. "Neji, please, give me a second..." She gasped for air, feeling suddenly terrified. He looked at her, activating his Byakugan. "Sakura, are you alright?" She shook her head. "Panic- attack-" She was on the verge of hyperventilating and Neji knelt down beside her, putting his hand on her back. "You seem alright."

"I didn't want my first kiss to be for a mission!" She gasped again, the pain in her lungs causing tears to seep from the corners of her eyes. Neji smiled sadly at her, his hand keeping it's track from her shoulder to the small of her back. "I didn't think that kissing me was quite this bad." He smiled weakly, trying to lighten the mood. "It's not that! It's not that at all! I just, I really had hoped to have my first kiss on my own time..." Her hyperventilating subsided and the woman behind the counter frowned. "I didn't realize that there were any ninjas that hadn't had their first kiss yet, especially at your age." Neji looked up at the woman, frowning. "It would be mine too." Sakura froze. She'd forgotten Neji telling her that he was just as much an 'innocent' as her. "Neji, what do you think?" He looked at her and shrugged. "If you're going to hyperventilate then we can pass, I guess Tsunade can't get too mad at us." Sakura remembered what Tsunade had said, five million, she had to do it. "It's five million, Neji. I can't break the news to Tsunade that I couldn't kiss you to get a new academy." Neji nodded. She stood, wiping the last of the tears from her eyes and held her breath for a second. "Wait!" She reached into her back pack and pulled out a small bag, placing a small white ball on her tongue. She held her hand up for a moment before putting the bag back in her bag. "What was that?"

"A breath mint." She stated, blushing a little, surprised by Neji's smile and head shake again. "What, do you want one? I don't know what to do here..." Neji decided to take over from there and reached forwards, putting his hands on her shoulders and pulled her forwards, bringing their lips together. She was surprised at the warmth she felt from him, and that it made it harder for her to breathe. She closed her eyes, the feeling of her blood flowing, the sensation washing over her of being this close to him... She suddenly felt a pit in her stomach. She wanted more...

She brought her hands up to his cheeks, catching him off guard and ran her fingers back, through his hair, pushing her lips a little harder against his. She noticed a sound from him that she'd never heard before, like the precursor to a moan and though she thought she should stop, she couldn't. She lightly sucked at his bottom lip, causing him to tense his hands. He pulled them off of her shoulders and placed them on her waist, trying to keep from hurting her. He wanted so badly to kiss her back as much as she was kissing him, but with the faltering of his will as of late, he figured it wouldn't be the best idea to ravage her right there.

He felt his whole body tense when she leaned into him. He ran his hands up her back, wrapping his fingers in her pink hair and finally lost a little of his inhibitions, kissing her back. She opened her mouth slightly, just enough to allow him to slip his tongue in over hers. She tasted sweet, though the mint had already worn off, she tasted like peach. She ran her hands down his sides, every inch making it harder for him to think. He gasped at the touch, feeling all of the blood in his body shift to areas that he really didn't want it to. She reached back up, her hands hard against his back and pulled his chest to hers, eliciting a slight moan. "Sakura..."

"Kiss broke!" The woman at the counter chirped and Neji stood back, his hands on his knees, gasping for air. Sakura seemed to be in a similar state. "How- Long?" Sakura finally gasped out and the woman looked at the stopwatch. "Almost a full minute!" Sakura looked up at her, eyes wide and blush gaining in color at speeds she didn't even know were possible. "What?!"

"Fifty seven point eight two seconds." Sakura shook her head, exasperated. "Why didn't you stop us?!"

"You looked like you were having fun!" Sakura looked up at the woman, hearing the cheers start from the other side of the room. "Definitely the best kiss we've had this year! For that," The woman handed out a ribbon. "Show that to the woman at the inn." She winked as she opened the scroll, writing something down on it. "Remember, no peeking!" She handed it to Neji, who was still having trouble standing. Neji nodded and took the scroll, finally standing to full height. Sakura grinned at him, taking him by the arm and they nearly ran from the building. Sakura leaned back on the outside of the building, catching her breath. "That was terrifying!" She nearly yelled, exasperated. Neji looked up at her and smiled, noting the excitement in her voice. "So, I guess I wasn't THAT bad a kisser." Sakura looked up at him and grinned. "Yeah, you may want to practice. I'm free for the rest of the mission." Neji shook his head, holding back his jubilation at the whole situation. So, she wasn't against kissing him again. Hm.

They got to the inn, and Sakura had the ribbon in her hand as she looked for the pouch containing her money. "Ah, you got the best kissers of the year award! You get a special room, on the house!" Sakura looked up, then down at the ribbon. She'd forgotten about that... But a room on the house wasn't something to turn down so they smiled at the woman.

The young man who was the bellhop or something showed them to the room, grinning like an idiot. Sakura raised her eyebrow, wondering what was so amusing when he opened the door.

Hey! I'm still working, though I had to completely erase the chapter and rewrite it twice! Finally happy with the way it turned out! I'm already half a page into the next chappy, so see ya soon!

Jasminflower69