Sakura tilted her glass, admiring the way the amber liquid inside seemed to flicker with an inner fire at the movement. She smiled faintly, the dim reflection of her own face shining back at her from the surface of her drink, then casually turned around on her barstool, leaning back against the counter as she surveyed the room, taking care not to let her eyes linger anywhere for too long.
Tsukigamori was a high-class establishment, more like a swanky nightclub than a bar, but it still stank of cigarette smoke, spilled alcohol, and cheap perfume, and while the majority of the clientele was dressed in formal evening attire, there were still a few rougher-looking characters scattered here and there. Sakura leaned a bit closer to Neji as one of them lumbered by--normally she wouldn't have been the least bit intimidated by any of the patrons, regardless of their size, but at the moment she was posing as a normal girl from an escort service, and Neji's companion for the evening. She couldn't very well start throwing people around without raising the suspicions of everyone in the place, and at the moment, drawing attention to themselves was the last thing they wanted.
Their current mission was to recover some jewelry for Lady Shijimi, the wife of the ruler of the Land of Fire, and while that sounded easy enough, the truth of the matter left Sakura wishing the woman had just stuck to losing her cat for genin teams to retrieve. Apparently the items in question were important family heirlooms, and the theft had been carried out by one of the largest (and roughest) criminal organizations currently active in the Land of Fire. It hadn't taken more than a few days for Konoha's wide-spread intelligence agencies to turn up some interesting new information: the thieves were planning on passing off the jewelry to another criminal organization and receiving cash, mutual trust, and loyalty in return.
Taken separately, neither gang was really much of a threat to Konoha, and even together a few squads of ANBU could have dealt with them easily, but Tsunade had felt that it was better to simply avoid conflict with them altogether; instead, a small three-man team would slip in and steal the jewelry back, leaving the both gangs thinking that the other side wasn't keeping their part of the deal. The resulting schism would likely prevent them from forming a potentially dangerous alliance, so long as Konoha remained above suspicion (i.e. Sakura's team didn't get caught in the act of lifting the goods).
The transaction was set to take place at Tsukigamori, a certain high-class bar practically straddling the border to Waterfall Country, and the three-man team had dressed themselves accordingly:
Sakura was wearing a slinky sequined dress of deep red, her long pink hair dyed a plain but elegant black and pinned up in a series of intricate twists with several orate hair combs. Naruto had dyed his hair also, and it should have been black as well, but it had ended up being more of a burnt-looking brown; whether that was because of his original hair color, or just incorrect application of the dye Sakura wasn't certain, though considering that it was Naruto… Neji's natural hair colour was unremarkable, at least, and though his ghostly pale eyes were a bit of a problem, they were nothing that a quick henge or some dark-tinted glasses didn't easily hide. The curse seal on his forehead was a similar issue, but it was still kept wrapped in the customary bandages, and the fedora he wore pulled low over his eyes concealed those.
"You look like a gangster, Neji!" Naruto had laughed when he'd first seen the composed Hyuuga's disguise, and Sakura had had to agree. "Or an undercover agent, like a detective or something!" Neji had promptly removed the long trenchcoat he'd been wearing and changed into a sports jacket instead, which worked in that it would certainly draw less attention; regardless, Sakura still thought he looked a lot like a mob boss (it had to be the hat, she'd decided, but Neji had been adamant in his refusal to part with it).
They'd split up almost immediately on leaving Konoha, Naruto going well out of his way to come at their target city from the opposite side. Sakura and Neji had traveled by train most of the way, in keeping with their cover story of a young, successful business man taking a vacation with the lovely escort arranged for him by his company; they had hotel reservations and everything--staying in a penthouse suite for a few days while you staked out a location wasn't a bad job at all.
Sakura turned a casual glance down the bar, allowing her gaze to wander over the assorted figures lined up at the counter, some sitting hunched forward on their stools, others chatting to the people beside them, a few leaning back against the counter as she was. After reassuring herself that Naruto had taken up his appointed lookout position across the room (she'd watched him enter from the corner of her eye, glanced over at him, then had looked away with a haughty sniff when he'd grinned and given her a bawdy wink), she leaned towards Neji, a seductive smile curling along her lips as she breathed into his ear, "He's here. Found them yet?"
Neji responded to her supposed proposition by slipping a hand over to rest on her thigh, turning his head just slightly to murmur, "Yes. To your left. Far back corner."
Her face largely hidden by the collar of Neji's jacket and the shadow cast by his hat, Sakura allowed herself a long, careful look at the opposition, and had to bite back a chuckle: they were, to a man, almost laughably stereotypical in their "street thugs on the rise" appearance. But then again, this plan wouldn't've worked if they'd been expecting their targets to be that much of a challenge. There wasn't the barest hint of chakra in the lot, so she ducked her head a bit more, muttering into Neji's shoulder. "Check for the package?"
Neji gave a minute nod, the brim of his hat and his dark glasses hiding the activated Byakugan; even Sakura, who was so close that she was nearly sitting in his lap, had trouble seeing them. A moment later he gave another brief nod--the disreputable group in the corner had the jewelry alright--the chakra-puffed veins fading away, and a gentle crease formed between his eyebrows instead as his forehead, largely hidden beneath his hat, wrinkled in thought. "Now all we need is a distraction."
He turned his head towards Naruto, who had casually crossed the room to lounge at the bar beside him, though he hadn't acknowledged him any more than would a complete stranger. "Go stand over there for a minute," he said quietly, covering his words with a slow, lingering drink and quickly darting his eyes sideways to indicate a spot across the room, very close to the table where their targets were entrenched.
Naruto's eyebrows rose slightly in curiosity, but he did as the Hyuuga said, scooping up his drink and wandering through the crush of people to stand beside a leggy brunette whose outfit showed a lot more skin than it covered.
Sakura let out a quiet gasp as Neji slid down the bar a bit and lightly tapped a very large, very drunk-looking man on the shoulder.
"Whaddya want?" he slurred, shooting Neji an unfocused glare.
"Just doing you a favor, pal," the Hyuuga said, wincing inwardly at both the man's breath and his own use of the word "pal". He turned his head to look over at Naruto, who was now openly flirting with the dark-haired woman, and his eyes narrowed a bit. "That guy over there is hitting on your girlfriend."
The intoxicated man stiffened visibly, then lurched to his feet with a low growl, half-stumbling across the room towards the oblivious Naruto, clumsily rolling up his shirtsleeves as he went.
"Well, that takes care of that," Neji said, sounding very satisfied as he turned back to Sakura. Noting her shocked expression, he gave her a small, serene smile. "Come on. We've got about thirty seconds to get closer to our target."
"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT ALL ABOUT?"
Sakura, who'd just changed into her standard jounin attire once again now that they were several dozen kilometers away from the little border town, thumped the blonde on the head. "Stop yelling, idiot! Someone might be following us, and you're giving away our position!"
Naruto growled and rubbed his head, then hissed more quietly, "Neji! Why did you send that huge guy over there to hit me?"
The Hyuuga sighed. "We needed a diversion, and a bar fight was the best I could come up with on short notice." He smirked. "Besides, it's not like he hurt you—"
"DIDN'T HURT ME?"
"I told you to shut up!" Sakura hissed urgently, smacking him again and valiantly resisting the impulse to throttle him.
"HE PUNCHED ME THROUGH THE FRICKIN' WINDOW!"
"Yes, we noticed that," Neji said dryly. "As did nearly the entire bar. But you're fine, and Sakura and I accomplished the mission objective. Way to take one for the team, Naruto."
Naruto scowled over at him. "That was totally just revenge for what happened during our first chuunin exam, wasn't it?"
"I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about," the Hyuuga prodigy replied airily, though the slight quirk of his lips belied his words.
Naruto's jaw dropped. "You're serious? Th-that was ten years ago! Let it go already!"
"Naruto, hold still a second while I heal that cut…"
"Ah, don't worry about it Sakura-chan, I heal fast enough as it is." The Kyuubi container grinned down at her widely. "Don't waste your chakra on me, you might need it for something important!"
"But you are important," she countered half-playfully, knowing that he was right about his self-healing abilities but still wanting to help regardless. "At least let me check to make sure there's no glass in the wound…"
He giggled boyishly and held his arm out for her, clearly humoring her. "Alright Sakura-chaaaan…" He tossed a wink over at the silently observing Neji. "She just can't keep her hands off me, ne?"
Neji let out a quiet chuckle as he watched a laughing Naruto fend off yet another punch from a grinning Sakura. Humbling as it had been, sometimes he was very glad that he'd lost that fight against Naruto during their first chuunin exam all those years ago: it had felt good to let go of the old bitterness and just smile.
"Come on," he said after a few more minutes had passed. "Break's over. We have to make it at least a third of the way back to Konoha tonight. We've still got a long way to go."
As she leapt off into the trees after her teammates, Sakura's thoughts brushed across the subject of her other teammate. Sasuke had still been on probation when she, Naruto, and Neji had left to go on their mission, though due to his excellent behavior, his movement was less restricted; no longer under house arrest, he was allowed to wander at will through the Village, though he was still under ANBU surveillance and was not permitted to leave Konoha for any reason whatsoever, save to go on missions with other Leaf nin.
It was just for a few days, she knew, but Sakura couldn't help but wonder how he was doing without either Naruto or herself there to force him to be at least somewhat social. He's probably relieved to finally have some peace and quiet, she thought to herself somewhat glumly, then shook her head, focusing her full attention on the task at hand.
A few hours later Neji signaled for another stop. "We made good time, so we can rest here for a few hours. There's a fairly decent-sized stream roughly one hundred meters ahead if either of you care to wash the dye out of your hair."
"Finally!" Naruto exclaimed, scratching furiously at his scalp as he disappeared into the trees. "This stuff is really makin' my head itch!"
"That's funny," Sakura quipped, following close behind, a bottle of shampoo and a hairbrush in hand. "I would have thought that dye would kill all the fleas. Maybe you did put it in wrong."
"Oh, har har…"
Neji shook his head at their banter, smiling ever so slightly to himself as he set up the kettle to make some tea. He'd just poured himself a cup when Naruto came wandering back, half-naked and rubbing his once again golden-blonde shock of hair dry with what looked suspiciously like Sakura's special-issue jounin medic's vest. This was soon confirmed by an angry growl from the direction of the stream.
"Uzumaki Naruto, you had better hang that up to dry, and you'd better hope it's not still wet in the morning, or I'm gonna be punting your ass the rest of the way home, future Hokage or not."
The fox-faced blonde just snickered at the threat, carelessly draping the white garment over a nearby tree branch before eagerly accepting the proffered cup of tea from Neji. In a heartbeat he'd downed the whole thing, as well as a couple onigiri he'd had in his pack, and was curling up with his back to the little fire; in a few minutes his breathing had evened out, and after a few more, he was solidly snoring.
The Hyuuga gave him an amused glance, then activated his Byakugan for another quick scan of the surrounding area. He checked the area around the stream last (just to make certain that Sakura was alright, of course), and found himself unexpectedly entranced by the sleek lines of her body, the way the water beaded in glistening droplets on her white shoulders and traced gleaming rivulets down the pale skin of her back, the—
"If you're spying on me, Naruto, I'll tear your spine out through your throat and beat you to death with it. And I'll tell Hinata-chan. And maybe Sasuke-kun, too."
Jarred from his appreciative musings, Neji blinked hard, swiftly deactivating his Byakugan and locking his gaze firmly on the flickering flames of their small fire, ashamed at being caught (more or less) doing something so inappropriate, not mention out of character, and rather angry at himself for allowing his gaze to linger as long as it had. He supposed he shouldn't really blame himself--she was quite lovely, after all--but there was so much more to her than that, and the way he'd been ogling her was hardly respectful of that fact.
She was beautiful, yes, but that wasn't all. Tenten was beautiful. That screechy Yamanaka girl was also beautiful, he supposed, if you liked blondes. There were all sorts of girls in Konoha who were beautiful, but most of them were little else. Beauty wasn't all one looked for in a woman--at least, it shouldn't be all one looked for. Kindness, intelligence, strength, spirit, and courage, those were all important too, perhaps even more important than beauty, and Sakura had them all. Trite as it sounded, Neji had never encountered any other girl quite like her; he had always thought that his extremely high standards would cripple his love life, but, perfectionist and purist that he was, he would not permit himself to lower them one bit. He would have someone whom he admired in all the ways that he knew he should, or he would have no one at all, loneliness and all that be damned.
Tenten had approached him twice now--once when they'd been younger, and again more recently--and he still felt a slight pang every time he thought about how he'd turned her away, but it was not at all a pang of regret. He had felt badly for the girl, for hurting her feelings, but though she was very pretty, and was caring enough in her own oftentimes-rough way, and though she was a good teammate, somehow he'd simply not thought of her that way, hadn't even considered it, really, and once he finally had, it had made little difference; he simply wasn't attracted to her in that manner, and he'd had to tell her so, which he'd done as gently as he knew how (though to his immense bewilderment, she'd still cried a bit, which made him feel even worse about the whole matter). But even tears could not shake his resolve in that situation.
He wanted someone who could match his strength, or who could at least compliment it, someone who was truly an extraordinary kunoichi.
He wanted someone whom he could have complex and detailed conversations with, someone who could easily keep up with his wit and intellect, someone who wasn't awestruck or intimidated by his "genius" label or status simply because they were just as smart as he was, or at least nearly so.
He wanted someone who cared for others, someone gentle, someone responsive to the feelings shared by other people. Someone willing to die for the ones they loved.
And if that person, that woman, had all that, and was beautiful too, well then, he'd found the person he wanted to be with.
And he'd been starting to think that he had indeed found that person at long last, but then of course everything had changed.
If only I'd moved more quickly, he mentally berated himself at least a dozen times a day. If only I'd asked her when there was still a chance.
But he hadn't. He hadn't for a lot of reasons--very valid reasons, he told himself, tried to convince himself.
He hadn't been sure before. That was a good reason. Or would have been, had it been true. He'd always been the type to know precisely what he wanted, and this case was no different.
He didn't know what she really thought of him…though he'd caught the looks she'd given him every now and again when she thought he wouldn't notice. So perhaps that reason didn't count.
But he hadn't known what his uncle would think about the matter. That was important. He didn't know how Sakura would take to the stiff formalities of the Hyuuga clan. Important as well. He didn't know if she'd be able to bear watching their children sealed with that wretched juin when they came of age, though he planned to fight against that occurrence with every fiber of his being. He didn't know if she was really over the Uchiha survivor, or if she was even looking for a relationship. He didn't even know if she wanted to get married and have children.
He didn't know…
…He didn't know how to ask her.
And he didn't like how vulnerable asking would make him.
And really, those were the only two reasons that kept him from approaching her as more than a friend.
And those were both terrible reasons, he knew that beyond a shadow of a doubt.
He knew that the fact of the matter was, arrogant and conceited as his behavior was most of the time, really he was simply too nervous to ask, so he'd begun spending more time around her when he could think up a good enough excuse, but ever since Uchiha had come back, she'd been caring for him almost constantly. Neji knew that the disturbed ex-missing nin had needed that painstaking care, but it still unsettled him. After all, she had been spending nearly all her time with her first love; it had been all that he could do to see her once or twice a week, and invite her for tea one of those times on the pretense of asking after Sasuke.
…Actually, everything would probably be a great deal simpler if the Uchiha had never come back. Or if he had died. But he had come back, and death seemed unlikely considering the fact that he'd been discharged from the Konoha hospital months ago and was now free to wander the streets of Konoha at will.
Neji sighed inwardly. Well, one could still hope.
He was still moodily contemplating the fire, the half-finished cup of tea in his hand long gone cold, when Sakura returned, her long hair wet and mostly pink once again. With a wicked grin, she darted across the little clearing and snatched Naruto's blanket, quickly using it to rub her hair dry before tossing it back over his face; there wasn't even a hitch in the blonde's heavy snoring in response.
Pouting a bit at the lack of reaction from her former teammate, Sakura dug her own blanket out of her pack, wrapping herself in it as she settled down in front of the fire. She accepted the silently offered cup of tea with a smile of appreciation for Neji, who seemed reluctant to meet her gaze for some reason, but she was too focused on satiating her hunger to give it much thought just then. "Mm, this tea is great," she said after it had cooled a bit.
"I'm glad you find it enjoyable."
Both were quiet for a while, Sakura munching on a rice ball, Neji sipping at a fresh cup of tea.
"Ah, I've been meaning to ask you, Neji-san," she said at last, a welcome breach of the silence stretching between them, "how did you know that woman Naruto was talking to back at the bar was that drunk guy's girlfriend?"
The Hyuuga genius smirked, a decidedly malicious cast to the expression. "I didn't. But I could tell from his breath alone that that besotted troglodyte couldn't see or think straight enough to know the difference."
"But you weren't really getting Naruto back for the chuunin exams all those years ago, were you."
"Indeed not. It was much more relevant to current matters than that."
Sakura arched an eyebrow questioningly, and Neji's smirk shifted to a look of displeasure.
"He'd made advances on the majority of the female portion of the clientele present that establishment all night, which I'm certain he would claim was solely for the sake of the mission, but he seemed to be enjoying himself far too much for my liking."
"I guess Jiraiya-sama's disease was contagious after all," the medic-nin said with a short laugh. "Though Naruto was always something of a peeping tom, even back in our genin days." She took a long pull of tea to wash down the last of the onigiri before smiling over at Neji. "It's really cute how you're always looking out for Hinata-chan, even with this kind of thing. I'm sure she appreciates it."
"I suppose so," Neji said neutrally, leaning forward to refill Sakura's cup.
"What does your uncle think of Naruto? I've heard Naruto's version of their first meeting, of course, but I don't know how much of that is true, and Hinata just goes red and won't say a word about it."
The corners of the Hyuuga's lips quirked upwards in a near-approximation of a smile. "Naruto is somewhat susceptible to hyperbole, I agree, but in this case 'disaster' would be a mild designation for the chain of events that took place at the Main House on that particular evening."
"What?" Sakura looked startled. "But Naruto told me it went really well!"
Neji shook his head gravely. "I believe my uncle was thoroughly relieved, if not a little surprised, that the Hyuuga complex was still standing and that no one had been killed or seriously injured by the end of it."
The pink-haired medic listened in disbelief as Neji went on to describe in detail everything that had gone wrong--which took a while, considering that apparently everything had gone wrong, from the time the blonde had been caught slipping into Hinata's rooms half an hour before he was due to arrive for the dinner, through the meal itself, where he'd gestured a bit too wildly and hit the tray of a passing serving girl, dumping several bowls of hot miso soup all over the Hyuuga elders, and right up to how he'd accidentally stood too close or else just bowed too deeply as he was leaving and knocked heads with Hyuuga Hiashi-sama.
Sakura was nearly in tears by the end of his story, both from the narrative itself and due to her attempts to muffle her laughter, and the absolutely straight face Neji kept throughout his entire recounting of the event only made it funnier.
"You made that up--you made that whole thing up, didn't you," she managed to accuse through her giggles. "How much of that is really true?"
"Not a word of it," Neji admitted, eyes crinkling in amusement despite his deadpan answer, and Sakura doubled over in laughter again. "In fact, as far as I know, Hiashi-sama all but gave them his blessing."
"Wow."
"Indeed. Should that be the case, the Hyuuga compound will certainly be a great deal more lively."
"I think you mean loud."
"I think I do as well," Neji agreed. "I'll take first watch," he added after a moment of thoughtful silence from the pink-haired kunoichi.
"Thanks, Neji-san," she said, giving him a wide smile and shifting to stretch out on her side. "I'll take over in a few hours, but if you need me to do it sooner..."
"I will be quite fine, I assure you. Get some rest, Sakura."
Sakura's only reply was an inarticulate mumble, but the content expression on her face was response enough.
Neji scanned the surrounding area once again; then, satisfied that they were indeed safe for the moment, he contented himself with watching the firelight play across the contours of her face and glorying in the simple music of her breathing.