Neji opened his eyes the next morning, remembering the glorious dream. Then he realized it was not a dream at all. He saw a sleeping Sakura lying across his bare chest and smiled. It had actually happened. Sakura, the amazing Sakura Haruno, had just taken Neji's virginity. He sighed, "Unbelievable." But then the pain-aching discovery crept in and disturbed all of his happy thoughts. So many issues came tagged on to this night of pleasure. What about Sasuke? We had no protection! What about pregnancy or something bad. I don't know about any of this; what if something bad happened? Neji ran through all of the scary possibilities in his head. Then he shook his head, careful not to wake Sakura, and exhaled.
"Be a man, Neji. You're seventeen, that's plenty old enough to have sex; suck it up," he whispered to himself. That's when Sakura woke up. She was just as beautiful in the morning when her hair was all messed up as she was the night before, Neji thought. She tucked her hair behind her ear and sat up. Shaking her head she whispered, "Unbelievable."
Neji laughed, "That's what I said."
Sakura was smiling that 'I-think-I-just-fell-in-love' smile but it slowly faded as she went into the same "what if" stage as Neji just got over. When she began to hyperventilate, Neji got concerned. He grabbed her shoulders and whispered her name.
"Are you all right?" He asked. She nodded. Then they heard a sound so terrifying, so thrilling – a knock on the door.
"It's Hinata. Throw some clothes on and let me in," said the person behind the door, slightly louder than a whisper. "I need to tell Sakura something."
Hinata listened to the sounds of urgent mumbling and cloth being pulled over skin. Then the door opened.
"Come on," Sakura said pulling Hinata into the room. Hinata smiled when she saw the guilty look on Neji's face.
"Calm down, Cuz. You're not confessing to a murder," Hinata said grinning. Then she composed herself.
"How'd you know?" Neji asked once he stopped blushing.
"I saw you making out in the hallway. When Sakura never left I was pretty sure of what was going on here." She made a disgusted look at the end. "I'm just glad you two made it to the bed. I can't even imagine what Dad would say if he saw that on the hallway floor. Anyway, Sakura, you might want to go now."
"Why?" asked the groggy pinkette.
Hinata sighed, "Your parents thought you were sleeping over at Ino's. So when they called and Yamanka-san said you were there, Ino panicked and said you were here, stupidly. So when they called here I told my dad that you spent the night here . . . except I left out how you spent it. Anyway, they want you home." Hinata waved and then left the room.
Sakura kissed Neji, then quickly climbed out his window and ran to her house. When she got home, her parents surprisingly understood. Of course, they wouldn't have if they knew what really happened. She went into her room, and her fingers felt something in her pocket. She pulled out her Uchiha crest with the rhinestone S on it and began to feel very guilty. One single tear rolled down her cheek and she whispered, "I'm sorry, Sasuke."
After Hinata had told Sakura to leave, she left herself. She walked down the street until she found what she was looking for. Ino was sitting on a bench looking at the picture Sai drew. When Ino saw Hinata approaching, she lifted her head barely acknowledging her.
"What," she said.
"Ino, I didn't tell him. I didn't tell Kiba what I heard," she confessed. Ino looked her in the eyes as if to say why.
"Because I didn't want to hurt him or you or anybody. I shouldn't be a part of this; it's between you and Kiba," Hinata explained the never asked question. Ino nodded.
"You know, you're a lot nicer than I thought you were. Maybe we could hang out sometime," Ino suggested. Hinata nodded.
"But first, I'm all ready in the situation, so I might as well help you out. What can I do?"
"Well, according to Sakura we can't do anything. She told me yesterday that what I did was awful and I should be ashamed and blah, blah, blah."
Hinata lowered her head and whispered, "Hypocrite."
"What?"
"Well, at least you were nice enough to break up with Kiba first. That way it's not cheating." Ino was still confused. So Hinata looked her in the eyes and told her straight out. "Sakura did it last night with Neji. And she's still dating Sasuke . . . but don't tell anyone, Okay?"
Ino nodded. They sat on the bench for an hour trying to come up with something to say to Kiba, but when they came up with nothing, Ino knew there was only one thing to do.
"Are you sure you want me to tell him?" Hinata asked after Ino made her request. She just nodded. Hinata nodded to and then left. Ino waited in agonizing silence. Every minute seemed like forty years. But she eventually came back.
"So?" Ino asked.
"I told him," Hinata said slowly.
"And?" Ino asked.
"You're riding solo for now," Hinata said with a little smile.