I DO NOT OWN NARUTO.

THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS SOME ADULT CONTENT BUT NOTHING HEAVY.

A CHANGE OF PACE

CHAPTER 3: SEDUCTION

The trek to the main gate of Konoha was a very interesting one for Neji and Sakura. First off, neither Neji nor Sakura were allowed to wear anything ninja related. That included wrappings, kunai pouches, and obviously forehead protectors. Second; Tsunade hadn't told them that Minohana was a villiage influenced by western culture. They learned of that little tid-bit of information from Shizune after they had been shown the western wardrobe they were to wear. Sakura's suit case was packed with short dresses and long ball gowns and shoes called Stilettos. It was amazing how Shizune had fit it all into one suitcase. When Sakura asked how to keep the dresses from being wrinkled from being stuffed so tight, Shizune shot her a wicked look and explained the place they are headed for will have services available to take care of such trifling matters. In Neji's bag were Denim jeans, and dress slacks and boots and silk shirts, a suit coat and tie. He wrinkled his nose at the thought of having to wear such odd robes. Shizune even went through the trouble of getting professional prosthetics for his forehead to cover up the Branch Family Mark. He felt like there was mud plastered to his forehead, but one look in the mirror made him a believer in Shizune's skills. Sakura was handed a pouch of important papers that included Identification, a fake marriage license, and some currency that was befitting the new world they were about to step into. She also gave Neji a gold band to wear around his ring finger, and Sakura a beautiful gold band set with a single diamond. It looked so beautiful on her porcelain finger. A horse drawn carriage with an ANBU member dressed in similar garb driving it would be waiting at the gate, and reservations were already made for a hotel called the Swan's Nest. With all the preparations in effect, and the new couple properly de-briefed and dressed for the occasion, Shizune ushered them out of the Hokage Building and watched as they clumsily found their footing in their awkward footwear. She noted to herself how cute of a couple they really made. A little squeal escaped her lips as she watched them head toward the gate of Konoha, and smiled as they started to disappear.

Neji was very, very uncomfortable. On the way out of the Leaf Villiage's square, every woman that he passed nearly toppled over, gawking at him in his odd clothing. Some just dropped what they were carrying and nearly went orgasmic just watching him walk. It felt very awkward and foreign to him. He had never had anyone give him this much attention. It was starting to unnerve him, and he mournfully looked back toward the Hokage Building; however, the one person he wanted to give him attention was walking directly behind him, again. This seemed to be an ongoing trend. Why did she always get the good view?
Still, he smiled knowingly. He could feel her eyes again. This time the discomfort he had felt the last time was replaced by amusement, and he placed a little more effort into the way he walked. He couldn't lie; he felt a little odd trying to put a little sex appeal in his steps, but the way the women around him responded told him he was doing something right.

Sakura fell behind a little ways, admiring her Konoha issued man from behind. He had never seen him in denim before. She was so used to seeing him in the shinobi version of the Hyuuga clan men's kimono.
His legs were so slender and fit. She watched his back end intently as he took each step. Left, right, left, right. The rhythm of his hips and thighs mesmerized her. They rocked her into a daze and she couldn't rip her eyes away. The dark blue fabric clung tight to his legs and ended with what Shizune called a trendy crumble around his leather leisure boots. Since when were his legs this sexy? She finally forced her eyes to drift upwards toward his lean back. The red silk shirt he was wearing moved—no, glided—over his toned body she imagined was underneath. The sun shimmered off the slick fabric and the protrusions made from his shoulder blades cast small shadows showing the form of his sinewy torso. He still held that prestigious air about him; that confident, cocky attitude that no change in wardrobe could do away with. Still that posture, whatever posture he would call it, caused him to walk with a sexy hitch in his step, and she was thoroughly enjoying the view. She couldn't lie. Her body didn't lie, and it was telling her that she was really, really enjoying it.

Neji could almost feel the smoldering heat from her eyes roaming over every angle of his body. It was time for a change in scenery. He smirked to himself, he knew exactly what to do. Abruptly he ceased his long strides and bent down to pretend to adjust his shoes. He bent his head to his right and looked around his own hip directly at the young woman staring at his back end now jutting out due to the posture he had just adopted. He caught her emerald eyes with his silver gaze. She blushed a bright pink and looked down at her black and white dress. The color that washed across her cheeks was very attractive. He caught himself staring at her rosy complexion, awed at how, in just one moment, she could go from assertive kunoichi to being caught in a moment of blushing vulnerability. He couldn't help but smile. She saw it. She saw the smile splay across his face. He knew she did. Her expression gave her away. She peered into his smiling eyes still peeking around his backside, and she parted her lips and sucked in a little gasp and blushed to a new hue of pink. Bright and deep pools of green shimmered in his direction, and she lifted her head with regained confidence and smiled a tiny, almost undetectable smile, casting an electric current in his direction. This of course took him by surprise and his grin disappeared to transform into a look of bewilderment as he gazed upon this little chameleon standing behind him. She truly had become quite a woman, being able to grip a man's heart in her hands and guide it in any direction just by slight nuances in her posture and expressions. He had been caught in her web.

What is she doing to me? All my defenses are down. She could take me at any moment and kill me if she wanted. How did I end up in her hand so easily?

He stood up and turned around to face the blushing cherry blossom looking up into his silvery pools. He could've stayed there for hours just losing himself into the depths of her eyes. When did I become so weak? His untied hair fell in his face and he tucked the chocolate strands behind his ear.

Sakura's gaze danced across his face, drinking in every little variation of his countenance. She stared into his glistening white eyes and watched as he moved rebellious strands of deep hued hair away from his face. The way his hands gently caressed his own ear and jawline as he withdrew his hand sent her into a whirl. She didn't understand how she could begin the day so confident and be reduced to a crumbling ivory pillar, struggling to bear her own weight, by a simple smile from an otherwise expressionless man. Where did he find that secret weapon? She could die in his smile alone. Why am I so weak?

"We should get going. We'll miss the carriage and I'm sure you don't want to walk the whole way." Neji spoke up reluctantly. "You look a little shaken up, are you alright?" he asked with a slight cock of his head. His feathered fine hair flicked at his shoulders and jawline at the minute movement.

Sakura nodded, sheepishly, and began to move forward. "I didn't get a lot of sleep last night. I am just tired. That's all" she explained, nervously tucking a tight curl, that fell from the gathering on top of her head, behind her ear. She brushed past Neji, letting her creamy arm just glance over his silk sleeved arm, sending shivers down her spine and her breath caught in her throat. Really, when did this happen?

Neji followed her hand as she moved her pink curl behind her hair, still maintaining the appearance of genuine vulnerability. She began to move, her flowing knee length dress moving, with every step, across her thighs and hips like a lazy river caresses the banks and rocks, flowing over each curve with sensual fluidity. His heart fluttered in his chest, stealing his breath from him for a split second, and a shot of electric fire shot down his spine the moment her arm made contact with his. He could feel her retreating warmth as she continued past him. He continued craning his neck as she continued on, fabric flowing around every curve as she moved. The white laces up either side of her dress accentuated her hourglass figure, and the pendulum sway of her hips hypnotized him. It took all of his strength to put one foot in front of the other as he painstakingly followed the cherry blossom goddess floating ahead of him. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all. He was second guessing his desire to be behind, in the trance he was in, it was a miracle he could move; much less walk. He watched as the pink curls bunched at her summit, like a crown of blossoms atop Aphrodite's head , bounced with every step. A few strands were left out and they rebelliously caressed the base of her neck and tops of her bare shoulders. Her long lithe back, bare down to the base of her spine, arched slightly with every shift of her weight, causing the fabric that settled softly above her tight and ample rear to slide back and forth.

Oh God. Why am I being punished like this? What have I been reduced to?

He continued watching as her milky smooth legs, each like curved pillars of ivory, moved one in front of the other, the backs of her knees screaming to be caressed, and the hem of her dress answering the call.

Suddenly she stopped and looked over her porcelain shoulder at her captive behind her. She blushed as she caught his gaze drifting lower down her body and back up again to meet her waiting gaze.

What she was about to witness, nearly sent her into the firmament with throes of bewilderment, and completely caught her by surprise.

Neji blushed.

His silver white eyes darted to the right and the rose color danced across his cheeks.

He could feel the heat in his face. He couldn't believe that such a sensation existed. He had never in his life felt like this before, and Haruno Sakura had reduced him to a mere man in a matter of hours. From this morning to now, his life had no meaning anymore. All that existed was the pink haired kunoichi turned cherry blossom goddess just out of reach. His heart nearly burst within his chest. Will I ever be the same again? Has she stolen everything I am, everything I hoped to be?

He held his face in his hands as he couldn't fathom the reasons or the possibilities for reasons behind the madness that had tumbled him like a rockslide out of his fabricated destiny and into her.

He was helpless from here on out. All that existed now is the mission. And that mission involved her safety, and with his new found confusion, he would devote his life to fulfilling her wishes. He couldn't explain his sudden change. He was frankly irritated at the fact he could switch so carelessly like a leaf in the wind. But if he is the leaf, and her caresses would be the wind, he was willing to dive into death's grip itself just to be moved again. This is madness. This is insane!

Sakura watched as many thoughts and emotions washed across Neji's face in a matter of moments. So many questions darted behind his searching eyes, and his lips trembled behind inquisitive gasps and sighs. She observed from her shoulder, like an angel perched on the highest mountain gazing down at the maddened world in awe. She couldn't begin to understand what he was thinking or feeling, but she could maybe guess by the way she felt. She saw him as a pillar of strength, and her demise. If she was Isolde, he was her Tristan. He was her day and her night. He had, by destiny or fate—no other explanation would suffice—walked to her apartment in the morning and completely turned her world upside down and inside out just by breathing; by existing. She was falling. She was falling off an infinitely steep precipice. The bottom cannot be seen, and falling is the most frightening thing in the world; the stupidest thing in the world she could do, but she was already past the point of regaining balance. All it would take to push her over the edge; cast her past the point of no return—would be a single sigh, a single caress from his calloused and prestigious hands, a single word whispered over the curve of her ear, a single gaze from his Hyuuga pools of unadulterated heat. Just one single motion could break all that she is and hopes to be; and there was nothing she could do about it—no there was nothing she wanted to do about it. Part of her craved this recklessness, a part of her that had laid dormant all her life. She had always needed order, and perfection. She only demanded that of herself, and she excelled in all her studies, but fell behind in the battlefield. She lacked the recklessness of instinct, of friendship, and even of love. She learned strength from Tsunade, and compassion from working around the sick all the time. She was now about to dive into the lesson of a lifetime. She was going to learn the recklessness of two lives colliding and crumbling around each other until the dust of one is indistinguishable from the other, and the wind carries both together on wisps of uncertainty.

Recklessness.

She was about to be reckless. And she had no clue how she would recover from this mission. All she was certain of at this point was that it was going to be one hell of a fall.

She turned again to walk toward the gates of Konoha. She could hear the shuffle of Neji's feet behind her as he followed, stride for stride, behind her like a shadow; silent and hovering.

They walked like this the rest of the way, out of the gates, and up to the horse and carriage waiting for them there. Sakura's heated shadow nestled up closer to her, so she could feel her curls move under his breath. He placed a hand on either side of her waist, and let them ever-so-softly slide down to her hips. She felt the blood in her head shoot to her heart, only to be kicked back to her head dizzily and a low sigh escaped her lips. He squeezed her with his strong hands and lifted her small frame clear off the ground and set her on the step of the carriage. Dazed, she entered the domed housing of red silk and white sashes. She watched through half closed eyes as Neji lifted himself into the carriage after her. She watched as the silk of his shirt swept over his chest and his hair danced around his neck bent low to accommodate the low clearance. He sat across from her and immediately caught her slitted gaze.

Mission within a mission: Opereation break Neji's stone façade, huh? That's gone to shit now.

She looked back into his bottomless eyes, which were half closed in studying her face. There isn't a façade to break anymore. Now It's just Neji. Hyuuga Neji, where the hell did you come from? Who have I known for these few years? You are truly a mystery.

Sakura let her eyes drift down to Neji's parted lips, watching as they nearly undetectably twitched involuntarily as he continued to lose himself in her face.

Neji greedily soaked in the beauty before him. He let his eyes roam over every curve and dip of her visage. He gently caressed her face with his gaze, almost feeling her essence within himself as he slowly glided over her milky brow, then down her petite nose. He traced over her temples and slighted across her thick lashes. He felt like a painter with his paintbrush, feeling the beauty pour out of him onto the canvas, but instead of creating beauty; he was experiencing it.

Operation Dominate the vixen Haruno Sakura. What was I thinking? This is no vixen to trifle with. She is a perfect goddess that only an idiot would attempt to "dominate". I am an idiot.

At the same moment; one of those moments where all in heaven—those dead and those not yet born— cease in all their business and look upon one insignificant horse drawn carriage in the middle of nowhere special containing two non-ransom worthy people, and hold their collective breath as resolve is broken and recklessness is born; something took root deep inside both Neji and Sakura, and silently began to tether the two together with a single, fragile red thread. At that same moment, lost in one-another's gaze, personal vendettas died and desire was born. A tiny flame in the pit of their stomachs, kindled by the other's voice, their gaze, their movements, their breath, their touch, their existence; began to burn brighter. Each of them knew this flame would keep growing and eventually consume them completely.

Caution thrown into the wind, locked in one-another's gaze, Neji and Sakura made their way through the forest in the setting rays of the sun; destined for Minohana and for much, much more.