Hey! I'm going to be writing as much as possible, I'm actually hoping to have a new cord in about two weeks, but I honestly think I'll be done with the story by then. I can't be sure, I don't know where I'm going to add a whole lot, but I think I'm going to be having way too much fun with this.

Oh yeah!

Kittel Kat- Here it is! Tell me what you think!

AnbuShadowFang- no review this time? :(

Disclaimer- If you don't know what a disclaimer is, you're at the wrong site!

Chapter 5

Sakura walked into the room, her head still spinning a little. She didn't even bother looking around the room, or recognize the fact that Neji was behind her, she stripped off her clothing and laid down on the bed, falling almost instantly to sleep.

Neji was in the same state, having the meds from the hospital still running through him and did the same, stripping down and falling asleep instantly.

Sakura woke about three hours later, stretching and heard grumbling from next to her. She looked over at Neji who was still asleep and frowned. He had Byakugan on. His words were barely a whisper so she leaned in close to hear him. "Finally, I can die in peace." He was quiet for a few minutes after that and Sakura was wondering if he'd stopped when the Byakugan fell and his face contorted to pain. "God, this hurts more than I thought it would. Why can't it just let me..." He started fitfully for a moment before he went still again.

"I'm sorry. I couldn't do-" He began a light coughing spell, his hand slipped soundlessly to his neck and he just kept coughing for a little bit. Tears welled up at the corner of his eyes and started falling freely from him. This was his nightmare, whatever was going on in his head right then. "Sakura, don't cry..."

She jumped from the bed, eyes wide. She knew exactly what he was remembering. She remembered those words, the look on his face, it was nearly exact. She knew what the nightmare was. When she saved him in the woods. He jumped nearly completely off of the bed, his eyes wide, tears streaming down his cheeks. He looked over at Sakura, staring back at him and fell to his knees. She ran over as he buried his face in his hands and barely caught the sob that tried to escape him.

"Oh, god! Neji!" He shook his head, unable to say anything. "Don't tell me that you're alright. I already know that you're not." She wrapped her arms around him and just sat there for a minute before he was able to compose himself. "I'm sorry..."

"Don't be! God, Neji, you'd scared me half to death that day! Please don't tell me you're sorry!" He just sat there, wordless for a few more minutes till he finally put his hands down, staring at them, a blush across his cheeks. "I didn't want you to see me like this. I feel so... weak after those nightmares." Sakura smiled at him and leaned her head on his shoulder. "I'll never see you as weak. On the verge of death you didn't even think of yourself. You told me not to cry. I honestly didn't think that you'd ever remember that. You feel weak, I cried my eyes out for an hour." She smiled at him and he looked down at her. His eyes widened after a moment and he pulled his hands up, covering his eyes. "Neji?"

"Look down." She did as she was told, only she looked down him. She noticed his state of dress a little too late and covered her eyes as well. "We both passed out naked." Neji sighed. "I didn't even notice that I was." Sakura laughed and opened her eyes, peeking down at herself. "Wow, I put on a few pounds. Let me go get us robes, alright?" Neji nodded and Sakura went over, getting them from the hooks by the door. She walked over, sliding his over his shoulders before putting hers on. "Neji, you can look. Not like I didn't look at you, too." Neji frowned at that remark. "Sakura, we need to talk." She nodded, sighing and went to sit on the bed. He sat on the other side, not really looking at her.

"Don't tell me, don't get too attached to you cause after this is over I won't feel like this anymore, right?" Neji shook his head. "When you were on the cliff, when you thought you were about to die, you told me that you wanted me to be happy. You told me that you didn't give your heart lightly. You said that you'd wanted to give it to me. I want to know, how much of that did you just say because you thought you were going to die?" Sakura thought for a second about this. "I said all of it because I thought I was going to die. I just wanted to tell you how I felt, what was happening with me before I never had the chance to tell you again. I meant every word." She kept her eyes locked with his as she spoke.

He looked down, a blush crossing his cheek. "I'm sorry that I downplayed your emotions. I didn't want you to think, after we got back, I didn't want you to hate me for taking advantage of the situation." Sakura watched the way his eyes danced about the room, but never really settled on her. "Neji, do you think that I'm the type of girl to go that far for a mission? Kissing you? Wanting to practice intimacy for something that might not even be our mission?" Neji looked over at her, his eyes suddenly wide.

"I wanted those things. I wanted to be that close to you. I wanted you..." She stopped nervously at the last part. "I wanted you. I'm not going to pretend that it didn't hurt when you turned me down, that you got another room to stay away from me, but Neji, I can't imagine going back to Konoha and not seeing you. I don't want to know what it would be like to wake up alone after feeling like this." Neji looked at her, his eyes pained. "I'm so sorry. I was scared. No one's ever said those things, ever given me the glances that you do. I guess, in my mind, I just thought that it was what was going on around us. The thought never crossed my mind that maybe it was just us."

Sakura scooted over to him and laid him back onto the bed, laying her head on his shoulder. She put her hand up on his chest and sighed. "Just promise me that you won't push me away like that again." Neji looked down at her, his eyes still scared. "So, after all that I put you through, you still want to be with me?" Sakura nodded, finally allowing a smile to cross her mouth. "I do."

They laid there like that for a few hours before drifting back to sleep.

The next morning they were presented with the Star village's headband. "We've ordered breakfast for you, we're actually throwing a party in your favor. Come to the restaurant next door in a half an hour, alright?" The secretary from when they arrived ended out getting to be the one taking care of them, halting anyone else that came for the hunt. "Maybe this will give us a little catch up, as we were out of commission for a few days." Neji thought out loud and Sakura nodded.

They arrived at the restaurant just in time and everyone stood, clapping their hands and getting a look at the young woman who made the antitoxin. They were ushered to a seat at the center of the bar and the Hoshikage, someone that Sakura hadn't met yet stood at the side and grinned out at the audience.

"I want to welcome Haruno Sakura and Hyuga Neji to the Star village! Miss Haruno, as of yesterday, created an antitoxin for the poisoned mist around the chasms in the area! As many of you know, there are many deaths each year, usually small children who have wandered too far. This has been the plague of the village. With the antitoxin now in existence, there will undoubtedly be far less deaths every year. For those that have already died, and the children that will someday use this medicine to live, everyone in this village thanks you with all their hearts." Sakura noticed a quickly wiped tear on the Hoshikage and frowned, leaning to the secretary. "Why is he crying?"

"Three years ago his wife and son fell into the chasm you went into. They never made it out." Sakura winced, now understanding why the antitoxin was such a major thing to these people. She looked around, seeing tears in the eyes of many, smiled on nearly every face. "Almost everyone in this village has lost someone dear to the toxins, and in a few years, there's now a chance that we won't be able to say that anymore. Though the deaths won't be eliminated till we're able to find a cure for the mist itself, there will be many less.

Sakura raised her eyebrow at the Hoshikage. "Uh, sir," The Hoshikage looked down at her, curious. "Yes, what do you want to say?"

"With the type of toxin that is, all you really need to do is spray at the opening of the chasm, where the mist starts and the toxin will be eliminated. Just spray once a month and it'll stay gone." The Hoshikage looked at her, his eyes wide. "Are you kidding?"

"No. I'm sorry, I didn't think to tell you that the other day." She smiled sheepishly, her hand behind her head in a sign of embarrassment usually saved for Kakashi and Naruto. The secretary looked over at her and smiled. "Can you spend another night? There's another reward for the removal of the mist." Sakura looked down at her. "What?"

"They'll test it and if it works, you're going to be leaving very rich tomorrow." Sakura looked at her and frowned. "I don't want to suck your city dry." The secretary laughed, shaking her head. "Sakura, we're on a platinum and diamond vein. We're all stinking rich here." Sakura looked over at Neji who waved his acceptance, looking annoyed, but Sakura knew he was hiding his amusement over the situation. "Of course, your room will be covered again. When you go to leave, we'll get you the Kage's room on the train, alright?" Sakura looked over at Neji. "That alright with you, team leader?" Neji looked down at her, the light from the lanterns in the large room dancing in his eyes. "Since when am I the team leader?"

The day was spent looking around the village, as the last time they'd been there it was a lot quieter. The whole city was in celebration, and the people that came to pat her on the back or tell her that her deeds were a relief after the death of their loved ones. It got much more intense when the word started to spread about her also being the one to help them remove the mist.

By the time that night had fallen, everyone in the village had seen her at least once, many tearful at the memories of the ones that they'd lost. It weighed a lot more on Sakura than she'd thought it would and the instant they got into the hotel room she broke down in tears.

Neji understood, seeing the horror in her eyes at the people who showed her pictures of their children, their siblings, that had been lost. Most had stories, a child had fallen, no one was able to go down to reach them so they sat there and watched them die, the Ninjas getting there just a moment too late. He really wished now that he'd said no to staying. "Sakura, are you alright?" She nodded, slumped on the floor, barely able to hold herself up through the racking sobs. Neji sighed, leaning down next to her and lifted her head, resting it on his shoulder. They spent about an hour like that, her arms wrapped around him, his arms wrapped around her as she cried out all of the damage that the words and images of the people put into her head.

Sakura fell asleep quickly, her head on Neji's chest. He smiled sadly, looking down at her. Figures. They finally admit that they have feelings for each other, He finally admits the validation of her feelings and it's been nothing but the least romantic things since. He looked down at her, her eyes still red from the crying and sighed. "Tomorrow. I'll try and have things a little more suitable for us tomorrow." He said, knowing she didn't hear him and smiled at her before falling asleep.

Sakura woke the next morning to the clock in her head. She looked at the window to see the sun shining through again. It looked to be a beautiful day. She smiled as she rolled over to Neji, seeing him shift a little in his sleep. "Neji?" She shook him softly, afraid to wake him too suddenly with his nightmares. She was surprised when he opened his eyes softly and looked over, smiling at her. "Good morning." He sat up, stretching as if this were the most natural thing and looked over at the window. "We head out today. No more cures, alright?" He joked and Sakura just stared at him, wide eyed. "What's wrong?"

"You usually don't wake like this. It's a little surprising." Neji smiled at her. "I usually don't go to sleep feeling like I'm not alone." Sakura just watched as he leaned over to her, putting his arm around her. "So, you ready to head out?"

They went for breakfast at the restaurant, everyone clapping as they entered. Sakura frowned, hiding her face from embarrassment. Neji smiled at her and put his arm over her shoulder, whispering into her ear. "You should enjoy this more. You're a hero here." Sakura looked up at him and half smiled, trying to seem a little more comfortable, but not exactly succeeding. Neji walked her over to the table and they sat, the waitress running over, smiling. "Haruno-sama, thank you so much! Last year-"

"Please, don't. It's hard on her to hear these stories." The woman looked at her, the sudden circles under her eyes and the inability to look up past her hands which played with the place mat. "Oh, I'm so sorry! I didn't realize..." She realized that Sakura must have heard hundreds of horror stories through the last day and smiled, nodding. "Whatever you want, on the house. I'll even give you the new cook, but that would be more of a favor to me." She giggled and Sakura looked up at her, smiling at the change of topic. "What would you recommend?"

Sakura was surprised when her blueberry pancakes and green tea turned to blueberry pancakes, steak, half a cantaloupe filled with fruit salad and many other things. Every time the waitress came by she would drop off something new with the comment, "This is from the gentleman over there." or "The lady at that table gives her thanks." It was a lot easier without the stories, and she kept giving thank you glances to Neji whenever he would tell someone else that the stories were troubling her.

They headed out that night, on the train at around six they found massive amounts of gift baskets and other items that had been given by the villagers. Sakura laughed as she picked up a basket full of fruit. "These are nice." She smiled, some of them were hard to get hold of and she put them down, looking at the other things. She picked up the bag, knowing that the pack of money easily doubled the weight of her back pack. Neji looked at her, smiling. "Do you think there's actually that much in there?" Sakura nodded. "Easily. I'm wondering how much extra they put in there." Neji shook his head. "In that case, you should rest your head, Sakura-sama." Neji bowed down and Sakura slapped him playfully. "Stop!" He looked up at her and smiled, pulling her in for a hug. "Sakura, do you think we'll be able to go through whatever Konoha has to throw at us?" Sakura nodded. "We dealt with Suna, Mist and now Star. We can get through whatever they give us at home." Sakura grinned at him, the grin quickly returned.

They sat on the train, Sakura laying with her head on his lap, him running his fingers absently through his hair looking out of the window. "Neji?" He looked down at her, with a smile he hadn't seemed to shake all day. "Do you really think that Tsunade would, that she'd make us..." Neji shrugged. "I don't know. It doesn't sound like it's something that she would do, especially to you, no matter how much money is at stake. I think there's something about this scavenger hunt that they're not telling us." Sakura looked at him, thinking for a minute before nodding. "Except Suna, it seems that all of the missions were affection based." Neji looked at her before remembering what else was in the basket in the Star village. "It was weird. Most of the other trials seemed to be oral sex." Sakura blushed at the thought. "I, uh, well,"

"And the one village that we left before headed to the Star village, it seemed that there was a genjutsu on us that made it seem like everyone there was really 'busy'." Sakura frowned. "Why didn't you tell me it was a genjutsu?"

"I wasn't sure. I'm still not. It just had that feeling, my instincts told me there was a genjutsu on the whole village. That's why I wanted to leave. I wasn't sure if it was an enemy." Sakura frowned. "An enemy that wanted us to get some. Hm, that sounds a little far fetched." Neji nodded. "It does. I still can't figure this out. None of the items on the list seem to be related, the villages weren't strategically located, it's almost as if they wanted us to avoid someone." Sakura sat up, thinking. "Now that you mention it, weren't almost everyone preparing for missions at the same time as us?" Neji nodded. "What in the hell is going on?" Sakura tried to think over this. None of this makes any sense..."

"Let's worry about it tomorrow, alright?" Sakura looked over to Neji and smiled, nodding. "Alright. So, what do you want to do?" Her voice was a little more seductive than she'd expected and Neji smiled at her look of confusion at her voice. "Let's just stay like this a little longer." Sakura looked at him, a little surprised. She smiled, knowing that he actually wanted more than just sex. She laid her head back down on his lap and smiled.

She woke a few hours later, Neji's head back and she knew that he'd fallen asleep. She sat up quietly, not wanting to disturb him and crept out to the fruit basket she'd eyed earlier.

She pulled out a kiwi and bit into it, the flavor seemed very strong to her but she loved it all the same. She'd always loved kiwi fruits, and looked around at all of the gifts. Many of them were perishable. Her and Neji together wouldn't be able to eat them all before they went bad. Maybe she would share with Naruto. He could use any excuse, like free food, to eat something besides ramen. She giggled at the thought of him biting into the side of an avocado without peeling it. "Sakura chan, this is gross." She snorted as she took another bite and turned, headed back to the area where Neji sat.

Neji woke bright and early the next morning to find Sakura curled up at his side. He looked around, finding a blanket on the overhead and pulled one down, laying it over her. He was warm enough with her there, but she didn't look as comfortable. He smiled at her, running his fingers again through her hair and she opened her eyes slowly, looking up at him. "Morning already?" Neji nodded as she sat up, stretching.

"Sakura, why do you smell like fruit?"

Hey all! I'm on to the next chappy! Just to let you know, I might not be able to write much this weekend, as it is forth of July! Much of the time I spend writing, therefore will be spent with my kids, watching people make explosions!

And people wonder why Americans can be so violent!! Muahahahahahaha!

Anywho, see you all later!

Jasminflower69