Rokudaime

Chapter Two

It's Complicated

'Neji.'

Sakura's body burned up in hot waves as she felt the towel that covered her body being tossed away and thrown to the corner floor, forgotten. The cold night air cooled her rising body temperature down slightly as her back collided against the cold wall.

The wall shook lightly from the impact as Neji hauled up one of Sakura's legs around his waist and proceeded the same with the other. He kissed her passionately, warming her cold flesh from the cold air as he kissed her along down her neck.

He had missed her, badly.

Sakura intertwined her fingers within his long chocolate colored hair and pulled at the base of his roots, moaning at the feelings he was creating within her.

With skillful hands, the kunoichi began to pull down his top and felt his tone chest. Her hot hands imprinted themselves within his warming body as he successfully took of his shirt and threw it on the floor along side her towel.

The pinked haired kunoichi assaulted his neck, the very same way he had done with hers. She felt his head tilt back before a low growl came from his throat. His hands, which rested on her curvy hips tightened, before he brought her down onto the bed, hovering above her like many times before. Their bodies were already familiar with one another.

She could feel the hard bulge through his pants and moaned deeply at the repeated contact.

Sakura, with eagerly wrapped legs around his waist, brought him down closer to her while thrusting her hips up, teasingly. Wrapping her arms around his neck as he moaned at her actions, she reveled in the hot kisses across her breast. Her fingers played with his dark locks before they touched thread and immediately her mind became cleared as she stiffened underneath him.

Neji stopped.

"What is wrong?"

He asked as he pulled up to stare down at her sullen, flushed face. Her emerald eyes, he could see, were staring at the betroth necklace hanging from his neck. He watched as she gingerly touch it, her eyes reflecting fear and sadness in them.

Then she dropped her hand away and turned her head from him.

"You need to leave." She demanded of him as she unwrapped her legs from around his waist swiftly. Neji stared at her before narrowing his eyes in set resolution.

"No."

Sakura quickly looked at him with sharp eyes and furrowed brows, upset. "You're engaged, Neji!" The kunoichi exclaimed through clenched teeth as she pushed him off her and stood up from the bed. Neji growled as he was force to stand up from the bed, feeling the warmth they had created together leaving them along with the mood.

"I don't love her, Sakura. This arrangement created by my Uncle, means nothing to me." He told her evenly as he watched her naked form, intensely, as she picked up her towel and his shirt from the floor.

"It may or may not, Neji, but I can't do that to...her." Sakura said in a strain voice as she wrapped the towel around her body while tossing him his shirt. The Hyuuga caught it effortlessly with his eyes closed in frustration as he put it on, slowly.

Sakura turned to him and bit her bottom lip as she felt her stomach churn uneasily.

"It wouldn't be...right." She told him with watery eyes. Neji looked at her and approached her with steady strides. "Marrying her isn't right." He told her with his milky colored eyes staring at her intensely. "I want you Sakura, not her." He told her clearly and kissed her on her lips to only be pushed away...

Again.

Sakura looked at him with sullen eyes and raised her hand to cup his cheek when she thought better of it. If she were to touch him again she didn't know how much more of her self control she would lose if she did. "I'm sorry, Neji..." She said softly before walking towards her opened window, standing besides it with her head hung low.

Neji gritted his teeth as he walked towards her. "I will not give up as easily as you have Sakura." He told her with promise as he gently grabbed her chin with his index finger and thumb, titling her chin up to look him in the eyes.

He could see her resolve, slipping away at his touch and he could see how hard she was fighting to not allow it to fall away completely. "I'll find a way to fix this." He told her softly before brushing his lips softly against hers. It was faint and Sakura could barely feel his lips against her own anymore when she realized that he was gone already.

She stared out the window and gritted her teeth angrily. 'Damn it!' She thought frustrated as she impulsively punched the wall, creating a deep dent with several cracks around its edges that were more than three inches long. Her emerald eyes glistened with unshed tears as she pulled her hand back. The skin over her knuckles were red and torn with light beads of blood forming.

Without effort she healed herself.

Sakura stared at the wall in front of her with hard eyes before walking away and going to bed.

She sure hope Neji would find a way to fix this dilemma.

Training Field

Something was wrong with her.

They were only warming up and already she was going hard.

It wasn't the usually more forceful punches she threw, nor the agonizing pain he felt throughout his body every time he blocked her attacks that led him to this conclusion, but the anger laying beneath her emerald eyes. It was borderline of anger and hopelessness with a tint of depression.

Hazel eyes stared deeply into emerald eyes, trying to figure out the reason to her sullen mood. Right now they were hard, unfocused and unseeing. The flow of her body countered all his attacks, but he knew that she had memorized all his sequential and combination attacks. In an effort to break her out of her trance like state, he decided to break the sequence.

Instead of throwing a quick jab followed by a reversed punch. The sandy blonde threw a round house kick to her side. It wasn't the best of ideas for she had quickly pulled out an immediate powerful punch to his abdomen.

Smack!

Kin crashed through several trees before he lost momentum and landed onto the ground in a heap. His broken ribs were poking his lungs, making it difficult for him to breath. It also created intense pain to roll along his body. He dare not move in fear of making his injury worse. The sandy blonde heard running footsteps making their way towards him.

"Oh, Kin, I'm so sorry!" His captain exclaimed as she knelt down in front of him with glowing green hands. Kiyoshi frowned as he watched Sakura heal Kin. His gaze lingered on Sakura. "What's up with you this morning, Captain?" Kiyoshi asked in a rugged voice with his arms folded across his chest. His dark pupil-less purple eyes narrowed slightly before he continued.

"Your not usually this careless."

He told her bluntly as he watched as she finished healing their teammate.

Sakura remained silent as she stared at the ground before her. "I know." She said quietly before standing up. Kiyoshi grunted in response as Kin stood up, now fully healed. "I'm sorry Kin." Sakura apologized again with sincere eyes.

Kin raised his hand and shook his head.

"It's fine, Captain. Now do you mind telling us what's wrong." Kin said with expecting eyes. Sakura glanced at Kiyoshi from the corner of her eyes when she felt his expecting gaze on her as well. 'Oh, man.' She groaned inwardly as she passed her glove covered hand through her rosette colored hair.

"It's complicated."

She told them before walking back to the field. The two males exchange glances before following her. "We're here to listen, Captain." Kin said with a small smile as he looked over to Kiyoshi. "Right?" He said looking over to the dark brown haired man on Sakura's right.

"Yeah, but it better not be men trouble."

Sakura stiffened and falter slightly in her step. Kin and Kiyoshi both stopped and turned to look at Sakura with narrowed eyes.

"It is, isn't it?" Kin said with enlighten eyes. He had his suspicions that Sakura was involved with a man and from the way her eyes had been earlier, she had deep feeling for him. The only thing he didn't know was who it was.

Kiyoshi on the other hand was just as eager to know who the guy was, but for a different reason than Kin.

"What did he do to you...tell me who he is and I'll rough him up." The overprotective shinobi said while cracking his knuckles eagerly. Despite the fact that Sakura was his Captain, she was part of his team and he protected his teammates.

Sakura's right eye twitched as she pulled up her hands defensively in front of her, waving them from side to side. "No, you got it all wrong. He didn't do anything to me. It's his clan and their stupid traditions that's the problem." Sakura revealed causing both to stare at her with curios gazes.

"So he's from a clan...which one?" Kiyoshi asked with narrowed eyes.

Mentally, he was quickly listing all the clans in Konoha within his mind.

Sakura smiled awkwardly as she walked pass them while shaking her head. "Don't worry about my personal life you two, I have everything under control." She told them with no confidence what so ever. Kiyoshi scoff at her proclamation.

"Yeah right."

Sakura looked at him with narrowed eyes.

Just as she was about to tell him off, a screech from up in the sky caught all three shinobi's attention.

They all looked up.

A messenger bird flew in the sky, circling above them three times before diving down and landing onto Sakura's outstretched arm. The kunoichi took the white rolled up scroll attached to the bird's leg and jerked her arm once she had it, making the bird fly back to HQ.

"Is it another mission?" Kiyoshi asked with some excitement to his usually bored filled tone. "I don't know?" Sakura said as she opened the scroll and read its content. Kin and Kiyoshi waited until she was done and when she burned the scroll with a simple fire jutsu she smirked.

"Another mission it is boys."

Hokage's Office

"Your mission is to go to the village hidden in the Sand and retrieve an important document from the Kazekage." Tsunade brief them with still weary, tired eyes. Sakura squinted her eyes at her Shishou's orders concerning the mission. Surely, retrieving a document couldn't be a S-class mission. A Jounin or even a Chunnin could have completed this mission easily.

Sakura could imagine the waves of disappointment that were coming from her two teammates. She could already see the scowl on Kiyoshi's face and Kin's disappointed eyes within their mask.

Guess they would have to wait another week until they were given another mission, but if they were lucky they would run into some rouge ninja on the way to Suna. That should appease her boys, especially Kiyoshi. Sakura couldn't wait to see Gaara and his siblings again, and she wondered how their hospital was doing since she was last there a few years ago.

"Sakura, where is your mask?"

Tsunade's voice brought her out of her thoughts and the pink haired kunoichi smiled sheepishly at her beloved Shishou. "I forgot to tell you yesterday...it shattered again." Tsunade sighed out with an amused smirk as she opened the draw and pulled out a new mask for her apprentice. Luckily, she had Shizune order new tiger masks every week for Sakura, knowing exactly how destructive and how clumsy her pupil could be in the battle field.

As Sakura went to grab the mask, she noticed Tsunade's arm was shaking. It wasn't as obvious to others, but she could see the light tremors that passed along her arm with her experienced eyes. She glanced at her Shishou and saw that her amber eyes were hard in frustration.

"Would you take it already, Sakura!"

Sakura quickly took the mask and put it on, tying the black ribbon neatly behind her head.

She stared at her Shishou and saw that her breathing was irregular. 'Shortness of breath.' The Anbu Captain store this analysis away within her mind for future musing. Something was wrong with her beloved sensei and she was going to find out just what it was.

It almost appeared as if the mask had been heavy for her, but that couldn't be it...her Shishou could very well carry boulders with one hand and crush mountains with her bare fists.

Once Tsunade regained her composure she dismissed the Anbu. "One more thing before you all go." She said with piercing eyes as the three returned to their attention stance. "I need this mission to be completed in less than three days." She told them, causing the three, especially Sakura to stiffen at the order.

"Shishou...in less than three days?" Sakura said in a questioning tone as if she had heard wrong. Getting to Suna would naturally take three days and returning back would take another three days, making it add up to a total week until they returned back to the village.

It was impossible.

The Godaime nodded her head and furrowed her brows. "Yes, in three days. I bet you were all wondering why I didn't send a Jounin to complete this mission. Well, I needed a fast team and Squad 6 happened to be that team." Tsunade said with a wry smirk.

Her smirk soon fell.

"I also need this document to be guarded." She informed them with an urgent tone to her voice. "Nothing is to happen to the document and Sakura you are forbidden to read its context." Tsunade said sternly with strict eyes, holding her pupil's gaze.

"Hai, Shishou." She responded immediately along with the other two in her squad. "Good, you are all dismissed." She told them finally and watched as they one by one disappeared from her office. Once they were gone Shizune entered with two steaming hot cups of tea with Ton-Ton hot on her trail.

Dark eyes glazed with worried as she watched Tsunade heal her joints. The busty blonde let out a loud growl when the stiffened joint refused to be healed. "It's not working anymore, Shizune." Tsunade informed her loyal friend with defeated amber eyes and a snarl.

Placing the tray down, Shizune handed Tsunade her cup and waited as the blonde slowly took it into her hands. She frowned when she saw Tsunade's hand shake from the weight of the tea. "I've read many texts from the Konoha library..." The dark haired woman began with a sadness to her tone as her shoulders fell lax.

"But?"

Tsunade asked with a small smirk. She knew what the answer was, Shizune didn't even have to tell her. She had been searching for weeks in the Konoha library and had found nothing resourceful. "I didn't find anything." She said finally. Tsunade shakily held the cup up to her lips and drank the green liquid. Its taste was bitter, unlike sake.

Placing the tea down she closed her eyes.

"Shizune, the sake." She order lightly. Sighing, Shizune walked over to the cabinet where Tsunade kept her stash at and pulled out a bottle. "You should really stop, especially in your condition." Shizune told her with a frown and disapproving eyes.

"What better reason is there to drink sake, especially in my condition." Tsunade said with a raised brow and a sly smirk. "Besides, it numbs the pain." She said quietly as she watched Shizune pour the rich liquor into a cup. Tsunade took it and with much effort drank it in one shot.

"I just hope that document in Suna has the necessary information to help me learn more about this rare condition." Tsunade began spiting out the ending in complete loathing as she held her cup out for Shizune to refill. "Gaara was kind enough to allow me to view it." She added.

"Hopefully, that document has the right information I need to conjure up a cure for myself."

Hyuuga Compound

"How long as he been out there?"

Haishi asked one of the servants within the household. The servant kept their eyes downcast as they bow before the clan head. "Since this morning, sir." The servant said. Haishi furrowed his brows over stern eyes and quietly left to the training yard.

It was already late in the afternoon and he wagered his nephew had yet to eat anything since he began. Besides, Neji should be courting his fiance' instead of training.

"Neji."

Haishi exclaimed with folded arms inside long white sleeves. He stood on the patio with silver eyes staring at the young Hyuuga.

The prodigy remained entirely focused on beating the training post in deep thought. Haishi's frown deepen as he approached Neji. "Neji." He called out again, placing his hand onto of the young man's shoulder. He felt his nephew stiffen and quickly blocked the attack, twisting his arm behind his back and kicking his leg in, making him fall on his knees.

"What's the matter with you?"

Haishi asked with hard eyes, glaring at Neji. The young Hyuuga growled lowly in his throat before he relaxed his body. "I apologize Uncle, you caught me off guard." Neji confessed softly as he waited until his Uncle released him from his tight hold. Haishi unleashed his hold and waited for his only nephew to compose himself.

Neji avoided Haishi's eyes, knowing exactly why the clan head had came to see him. He was going to scold him for not courting his bride-to-be.

"I've heard from the servant that you have been training since this morning." Haishi began, his eyes fixed on Neji.

The young Hyuuga raised a brow at the false information. He has been training ever since...Sakura had kicked him out of her apartment. He had started at the training grounds, but as soon as the sun rose he had returned to the compound's training yard.

It wasn't unusual for him to be up so early training.

The entire time he had been punching the wooden post, he had been thinking about his situation. During that time he had tried to come up with other alternatives to fix it, but none of them would have realistically worked out.

"But from the dark circles underneath your eyes, I see that this is untrue." Haishi started again with furrowed brows. Neji nodded his head as a breeze blew by, taking their long dark hairs for a soft ride. "I thought you had a mission this morning." The clan head stated with suspicious filled eyes. Neji kept his gaze connected to his Uncle's, if he were to break contact then the clan head would know he had lied.

"I had a run in with Sakura, who had informed me that Tsunade had canceled the mission."

Neji said smoothly as small beads of sweat fell down his temples from his continuous training.

Haishi narrowed his eyes.

"So, you decided to train the entire night?"

Haishi asked with a raised brow. Neji closed his eyes and nodded. "Precisely, Uncle." He replied. "I was really looking forward to the mission and for it to be canceled, had really...annoyed me." Neji said thinking about Sakura and the incident in her bedroom.

The kunoichi had been gone for a good week and a half and he had missed her. When he had pass by the gates, he had overheard Konohamaru mention her name and knew his kunoichi had returned. He had waited until night fall to visit her at her home, only for him to be thrown out just moments before they had sex.

All due to the necklace hanging around his neck.

Now that his Uncle was here, he would discuss his engagement.

"There is something I would like to speak to you about, Uncle." Neji said with narrowed eyes held in resolution.

Haishi held his nephew's gaze as he anticipated Neji's need for discussion.

"Get cleaned up and meet me in my study."

The clan head spoke, turning around and entering into the house.

A/N: Thanks for the reviews and I have decided that January is way too long. Thank you all for the adds in story alert and story favorites! ;)

R&R

Lady Manami