Title: Broken Cadence
Author/Artist: HarmonyRose
Claim: Sakura Haruno and Neji Hyuga
Theme: # 27-Violin
Rating: T
Disclaimer: It's probably a good thing I don't own Naruto, with how long it is I doubt I would ever be able to finish it
Summary: The end of all things should have come to a close under the prevailence of peace. However, history will forever repeat itself, and the ceaseless threat of war is continuously just over the horizon.

Chapter nine: Old Friends

Neji knew before he opened his eyes that it was still night; the utter weariness in his body told him he had only been asleep a few hours. He wasn't sure exactly what woke him until he saw the small figure leaned halfway onto his bed frantically murmuring to herself in her sleep. For a moment he couldn't remember what she was doing in his room. He turned inquisitive silvery eyes on her before he remembered that she had played for him so that he could fall asleep. Grudgingly, Neji rolled out of the other side of the bed and moved to pick Sakura up. She stopped her sleep talking the moment she was ensconced in his arms. She was feather-light and soft in his hold and somewhere in his half-awake mind he registered that beneath her clothes she had those enticing things called curves. As he carried her down the corridor Neji examined her face. He supposed she had a rather pretty face; she wasn't the classic beauty he normally sought out, not with her ridiculous coloring and blend of human and nymph features, but nonetheless she was still a pretty woman in her own right.

It was the first time Neji truly looked at her, before she was a violinist or occasionally another of his spies in his brief thoughts of her. Now though he took all the information he knew about her from the last few weeks and tried to reconcile the vulnerable woman in his arms to the determined warrior and cautious creature he saw during the day. Despite all the hurt she had gone through in her life, it was hard to tell since she kept everyone at an emotional distance. He figured that it was a scar of hers from her past experiences; probably the only visible scar she let anyone see. It was doubtful that anyone who didn't know her though would pick up that it was all a ruse and that she was just shutting people out not to be hurt, not because she didn't like people. Neji was surprised to realize that he didn't know anything about Sakura from herself only from what could be observed and Kakashi. He didn't even know her age or any personal information of hers. Sakura was just as proficient at hiding herself behind masks as he was. Granted her masks were meant to throw people off the trail of her pain whereas his were designed to seem as if nothing could touch him.

When Neji reached her bedroom door he broke out of his reverie. He padded silently into the room and gently set the sleeping woman down. Perhaps tomorrow he would attempt to figure out his houseguest a little more. For now though he desperately needed sleep if he intended to stay awake for more than five minutes tomorrow.

Sakura woke up at the first stirring from the servant's quarters above her room. She quickly dressed in her training clothes for the day and made her way to the kitchen to talk to the cook. At the entrance to the kitchen Sakura caught up with the cook. The cook was an elderly woman with blue-grey hair and a trim figure. She bowed slightly in reverence to the elder cook and as she rose began to speak in a warm tone, "Excuse me, cook-san, but Hyuuga-sama has an important God dining with him this evening and was wondering if it would be possible for you to whip up a dinner fit for that. If the notice is too short than I think I can be of assistance. If it makes your job easier at all please send for me."

The cook ran disapproving eyes over Sakura's form, appraising her worth as she scanned from head to toe. Sakura didn't flinch, she stood still and met her stare with a cool look. The noblewoman could handle sneering and leering dignitaries, so she had no problem dealing with nasty looks from a mere cook.

The cook responded, "You're that new violinist that has been hanging all over Neji-sama. Just so you know, you can get rid of any aspirations you have. He won't marry you, even if you are sleeping together. Furthermore, I doubt he would go for someone untitled, so don't cause us any trouble. The staff and I are quite fed up with featherbrained peasant girls and their uppity attitudes."

Sakura's jaw had tightened during the cook's response and her sea-foam eyes had darkened to emerald in her anger. She held herself erect, her noble persona coming to the front as her voice turned frigid when she spoke, "Is this any way to treat a guest? Neji-san has asked for my assistance and as heiress to the Eastern Kingdom, an allied nation to the Underworld, I decided to help. I'll only say this once, I'm not interested in Neji-san nor do I need any of his assets and assumptions otherwise are rude." Okay so that was a little white lie. Really Sakura had literally come kicking and screaming here and only agreed once she had seen how bad things were here.

The cook's wrinkled face relaxed and turned grandmotherly as she spoke, "It's too bad then that you aren't interested. All those women that had come previously were just trying to secure a wealthy husband and I'm afraid they have rather damaged his already skewed perception of women. He would do well with someone like you though. However, I apologize Haruno-sama for the accusations I made." The old woman punctuated her words with a bow.

Sakura dropped her angry visage, instinctively sensing that if she wanted to survive peacefully in this household then she would need to be on good terms with this woman. Besides, Sakura rather liked this woman, she stood up for what she believed was right and was very loyal to her master; truly an asset Hyuga-san probably didn't realize he had.

"No harm done." Sakura relaxed once again around the woman.

"I should be able to have dinner ready with this much notice. Thank you for your offer of help, but we should be fine," the cook said.

Relieved by this news, since Sakura still had other tasks to do, she nodded absentmindedly and hurried back down the hall toward the formal dining hall.

Lists ran through her head: Dinner was taken care of, the dining room was set, and she would be playing. The only thing left to do would be to get dressed and inform Hyuga-san that everything was taken care of.

Returning to her room Sakura went to find something suitable to wear. However, before she got into her room the nymph maid from weeks ago met her at the door with a garment. The strawberry blonde maid nodded toward Sakura and handed her the clothes and began to walk off. Sakura wrinkled her pink brows. The maid was so mysterious and brooding. Sakura mightn't consider herself friendly, but she didn't consider herself rude either and not offering one's name was certainly rude. Sakura had had enough of rude people for the day.

Before the maid could get very far Sakura's eyes took on a hard glint and she called out harshly, just loud enough for the other woman to hear, "My name is Sakura and yours is…?"

The maid turned chilly dead eyes onto her and tonelessly said, "Fuyuko. Do not bother me. It's annoying." There was a slight sneer on her lips and she held herself tensely as if just being in Sakura's presence was trying. Then the maid continued on as if nothing had been said. Sakura let it go; She didn't like being called annoying for the same reason she didn't like to be called weak. It brought back too many bitter memories. Sakura mused on the odd maid. She had been extremely rude and abrupt, but she hadn't been cruel in fact, if Sakura had to guess, she would have said that the maid was more bitter than anything else. Either way she didn't have time to deal with grumpy maids and so she hurried into her room.

Once there she saw that there was the maid that normally helped her dress in the morning already waiting for her. The nymph sighed in gratitude the corners of her full lips turned up slightly. Finally something was going right.

Sakura spread the gown out and her breathe caught. The material was a soft cream silk. The cream was so light though it almost looked white and the color wouldn't clash with her skin tone. The neckline was square and the sleeves were long and flowed out from the shoulder. The garment cinched right underneath the bust with silk ties that blended into the soft folds in the back of the dress. The skirt was embroidered with delicate plum-colored Viola blossoms sprinkled over the fabric. The flowers had five tiny heart-shaped petals per flower and were unevenly spread onto the fabric.

The gown was beautiful and nicer than anything she had ever seen, even as heiress to a kingdom. The silk felt like water on her finger tips Sakura was uncharacteristically worried that it would become damaged in some way. It was an elegant dress and must have belonged to a former lady of the house. It probably had some sentimentality attached to it as well. Turning to the maid left in the room Sakura motioned the girl to help her dress. As she neared Sakura whispered, "Be gentle please."

Sakura wasn't one for fancy dresses and girly things, but she felt that extra care needed to be involved for this one.

Neji was in his office once again. He had just a few minutes until he needed to get ready to greet the other lord. Though Neji seriously doubted that this one lord would particularly care whether he was dressed in silk or in ninja gear. Neji let an amused noise slip from his mouth, he probably wouldn't notice either way.

A gentle knock from a servant came from his office door and the coffee-haired lord granted access to her. It was one servant he hadn't seen yet. She was possibly sixteen or so and Neji just figured she must be new. The servant trailed in and trained her eyes downward. Neji hated that. He wondered if he was just that inapproachable, Naruto's servants never seemed to practically cower in front of him.

"You can stop the posturing; just what is it that you needed to relay?"

Though the young girl looked up she was obviously still nervous. Her voice came out shaky as she said, "Sakura-sama will be ready in about fifteen minutes. She asks that you escort her to the room."

Neji now understood what Sakura was planning for entertainment. She would be providing it herself. He was surprised that she knew of the tradition for lords to escort the entertainer down, particularly if they were of the opposite gender. The tradition had been mostly for the lord or lady to assess the trustworthiness of the musician and make sure that they weren't spying for another. Neji assumed that he was the only one whose guardians had made sure that he had memorized all the boring and useless rules, but apparently the Harunos had made sure their daughter was savvy on all things social and political as well.

He dismissed the maid both from his presence and his mind as he rose to fix his attire for the occasion. Once ensconced in his private quarters, Neji donned his formal wear. It was cream, his family's color. All families had a color or set of them. The Hyuga needed only one color to identify them, but Neji thought if they ever had a second color it would be the plum that his mother had liked to wear before she had disappeared. His mother had always worn just plum and cream, sometimes she had worn more plum than cream and now that he looked back he wondered if his mother hadn't been a Hyuga before she had wed. It would make sense why they had chosen his uncle to rule instead of his father, since his uncle had married a demure Hyuga woman. He barely remembered his mother though and there were no pictures. The only thing he remembered was the colors she had worn and her faint smell of hyacinth.

Neji tried to remember what the Haruno's colors would be, since surely the maid would have put her in those as she wasn't really his escort. Finally Neji remembered the scroll on the Harunos. On it was depicted a ferocious brunette man standing on a hill looking over the carnage he had wrought. The Harunos had been a warrior clan when they were first started, using a deadly combination of brute strength, excellent chakra control, and keen intelligence. Fortunately for the most part they weren't blood thirsty and they lacked the chakra capacity to make truly unbeatable opponents. The man was wearing a bright true red shirt with a large white circular loop on the back. Those were the Haruno's colors and would likely be the colors Sakura was dressed in.

He reached Sakura's door and knocked, expecting the maid he had sent to help her get ready earlier to answer. Really he didn't see why he should have to escort her down it wasn't like he couldn't trust her. The Haruno's had been loyal to his family even longer than they had been the guardians of the Underworld. Although Neji had never seen Sakura before this he had used to see her father quite often when his uncle was still the lord mostly before and during the war. He had wondered what had changed during that time, since his uncle had still been the lord for a few more years afterward. Now after Kakashi's story he could see why he hadn't been around; the strain of having found their daughter but, his family losing theirs most likely made them feel guilty. It was likely that he had never heard of Sakura because for his aunt and uncle it had likely been a taboo topic.

Neji wanted to change the situation. The Harunos would be good allies to have and for him, there wasn't a good enough reason for such a long-standing union to have dissolved over something neither family could have controlled. Despite the fact that Sakura had practically trampled all over his authority while she was in his house, Neji wanted to gain her companionship. She was an uncommon woman and because of that a complete mystery to him. She utterly confused him sometimes with her lack of ambition to marry well, her strive to be physically stronger, and her motives to carry out this mission for him. He didn't understand her, but above all he wanted to make things right between their families. If he were being truthful to himself he would admit that he also wanted to know her better before he sent her off on practically a suicide mission. He was worried that would be what happened despite her confidence to the contrary. She was a good ninja already and a fast learner, but the Uchiha had years on her and he was getting particularly ruthless as of late.

Nonetheless Neji wanted to solve the rift between their allied families and he would start with Sakura since she would have some influence over her family, though he didn't think she would inherit the land without a spouse since the Haruno's land consisted mostly of humans and they normally were a stricter patriarchal society than that of the other races in the land and therefore wouldn't have as much influence as say a son might have, but it would be a start and for such a social and political cause it shouldn't encroach on human tradition too much. It wasn't as if it were an economic issue. If it were then it might have been more prudent to speak directly to the head of the house.

Neji realized his thoughts had wandered though he had only knocked seconds ago. Neji rapped his knuckles against the door again slightly harder than before. He didn't even have a chance for his thoughts to redirect themselves again when Sakura opened the door.

Instead of the cherry clothes he had expected to see all he saw was one of his mother's favorite dresses. He remembered it well and it looked just as gorgeous on Sakura as it did on his mother. From her hips upward the dress molded to her body the pretty silk sash underneath her bust highlighting her slim feature. The skirt of the dress flared out just a hint through the skirt though it was unnoticeable until the bottom. Her long hair was curled and piled on top of her head with a few curls left to escape to frame her face. Her sea-foam green eyes were accented with a hint of khol and her high cheekbones with pink blush. She was gorgeous, perhaps much prettier than any other of those simpering creatures he had seen. Her exotic features were entrancing and her stubborn personality alluring.

Neji shook himself out of the short trance he'd been in. That just wouldn't do to be panting over his spy and a daughter of a noble. He brushed his reaction off as a side effect of not seeing any women except his servants in weeks.

"Sakura-san," he acknowledged her.

She gave a curt nod her features a little strained from tension. "When you introduce me to this other god, please only use my first name. It would be awful if the news got out that I was staying here. It's one thing if the servant's know who I am, but if Sasuke caught wind of it. Well…," She trailed off letting the obvious go unstated.

"I see. That is a wise move. We should get moving, unless there is something else?" Neji prompted.

Without further provocation Sakura placed her arm in the crook of his waiting arm and started out toward the dining room where Neji's guest was waiting. The walk down was silent. Sakura gave her escort a sideways glance and noticed that he was dressed in matching colors. It was fairly obvious that the other maid had believed they were together, since the only time people wore matching colors with the lord was when they held some familiarity; either they were related by blood, married, or courting. Now that Sakura thought about it she could see why the maid could have mistaken such a thing, since Hyuga Neji was infamous for not keeping a woman around longer than a day. She had been around for a few weeks, the servants must think they were interested in each other and suddenly the cook's behavior made more sense. The verbal attack hadn't been random it had actually been well called for since no one really knew who she was. A deep blush covered her cheekbones. It was no wonder the cook had asked and the maid had made assumptions about her and Neji, she had stayed in his room last night after all. It was a wonder the cook had even believed her words.

Sakura looked at the other God's back as he was turned away from her. His blond hair and stance seemed very familiar…

Neji cleared his throat, unwilling to talk to another's back. The male turned around quickly.

"Naruto!" Sakura said, before she launched herself into his arms and hugged him. It had been months since Sakura had last seen him. Now she knew why, Naruto had obviously taken full control of his title and his time was most likely stretched too thin with the recent turmoil to come and visit her all the time like he used to.

"Sakura-chan" Naruto said amazed as he gathered her in his strong arms and squeezed her tight till she let out a small laugh. She was excited to see Naruto, it had been far too long and though exuberant, Sakura had missed his presence in her life.

Neji for his part inwardly sighed, it figured she would know yet another of his close acquaintances. There could be no surprising her though he was a little shocked that he'd knew heard of her because if their embrace could be trusted it seemed like Naruto was close to this woman and Naruto loved to talk about all the people he'd met over the years. Just from watching Sakura-san for the previous few weeks he was willing to bet they had become friends in some sort of interesting way. It was very surprising that he hadn't heard Sakura's name dropped beforehand.

"What are you doing here Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked quietly. He had heard of the recent attack on her province by Sasake and hoped she wasn't suffering from any emotional injuries.

"Neji-san will tell you later if he thinks it appropriate," Sakura nodded toward Neji letting him know that she was fine with telling Naruto if that was what Neji wanted to do.

Naruto's blue gaze became worried. "Sakura-chan, you aren't going to do anything dangerous are you?"

She didn't look him in the eye as she quietly said, "No." She convinced herself it wasn't going to be dangerous, Kakashi-sensei was already teaching her how to defend herself and get out of sticky situations. She knew what information she had to get and it wouldn't be too difficult. It wasn't that risky.

"Sasuke is a bastard. Don't give him your time or allegiance," he whispered.

"Never! He betrayed me. I can't believe you would even suggest that," Sakura half shouted in anger. "I'm not stupid and I'm not weak." She stressed the last word heatedly.

Neji took in the scene between two friends. That was the most serious he had ever heard Naruto and the most vehement he had seen Sakura be outside of when she had learned of Sasuke's raid of her province. It wasn't that she wasn't a passionate or emotional person, but she often hid behind cool reason and emotionless masks. He watched her carefully, she had obviously suffered greatly by Sasuke's hand and this mission was an act of defiance on her part. She didn't want him controlling her life anymore.

Neji found himself inexplicably curious about his female guest. It seemed that he could only gain bits and pieces of her character. It was frustrating not to know a lot about his guest while she seemed to know many of his acquaintances and could even assist in running his estate, though she hadn't had any experience on his land.

Sensing the heavy mood between the two friends, Neji welcomed his guest to diffuse the atmosphere. Once the proper pleasantries were noted, Sakura made her way toward her violin which was tucked into a corner. Just as she was about to play, Naruto interrupted, "Sakura-chan, are you playing tonight?"

At Sakura's nod Naruto pouted and whined, "B-but Sakura-chan I wanted you to dine with us."

Neji knew this was the beginning of a headache if he didn't give in. "That is fine if Sakura-san agrees to it."

"Someone has to provide entertainment Naruto and tonight it's my job so let me do it," Sakura stubbornly held. It wasn't that she didn't want to eat with Nartuto, but she had spent all day making sure this small dinner was going to be perfect and she wouldn't have it messed up just because Naruto preferred her company over her music.

"Please," Naruto whined. His sincere cerulean eyes bored into hers.

Sakura huffed, "Do you have a back-up musician? That's the only way I'll allow it."

She knew she was in trouble when Naruto's whole countenance brightened and his favorite catch-phrase came out, "I do! Believe it! I brought my harpist just in case Neji didn't have one in place."

Sakura groaned, "Naruto, when did you pick up a harpist?"

"A few months ago," he shrugged like it was a common occurrence. Neji raised a brow, what did it matter that Naruto had found a musician?

"Naruto! Do you know how rare it is to find a harpist?" Sakura said as she rubbed her fingers in soothing circles on her temples. She could definitely feel a headache coming on.

"No…?"

"Harpists are a very rare find, because the instrument is so expensive, not many people have the money to afford them. If you found a random person on the street who could play harp, they are most likely hiding something, like being an exile or something. How many times have I told you to be careful of whom you trust?" She lectured irately.

Naruto looked a little crestfallen. "But Sakura-chan, she's a really nice girl and she's quiet too. I think you would like her."

Sakura sighed, "You might as well bring her out to play. I guess if she hasn't betrayed you yet, she probably won't at all. Please tell me that you haven't let her into any truly important meetings?"

Naruto scratched the back of his head and smiled sheepishly, "Of course not."

"Naruto, you really are an idiot," she said.

This time Neji groaned, "I hope nothing has leaked. This situation is already a disaster."

"Neji-san, I don't anything has leaked. Naruto is normally a good judge of character even if he generally trusts too easily." Sakura gently comforted the male, "I'm sure everything is fine."

Meanwhile, Naruto called for his instrumentalist and help with setting up her instrument in the room. The instrument came first. The harp sat gleaming in the corner after two men brought it in from Naruto's stuff.

The trio silently awaited the girl's arrival. When the sound of footsteps carried into the room from the wooden hallways, three sets of eyes riveted to the door to watch the girl's entrance.

The girl walked in the room with her eyes trained downward. She had long dark hair and angled bangs that highlighted her delicate features. She sent one quick sweeping gaze at the other occupants of the room before swiftly returning her eyes to the ground.

That was all it took though, Sakura had seen her striking lavender eyes. "Hinata-chan?" Sakura breathed out in disbelief. It wasn't possible, was it? She looked like her Hinata had and those eyes were practically a trademark of the Hyuga.

The young woman's entire face snapped upward and her body tensed, "W-what?" she stuttered out.

A/N : Wow I feel really guilty for not updating in so long. So guilty in fact that I didn't even have this chapter beta'd. (My lovely betas if you read this just let me know where my mistakes are please :) This is a very raw chapter so hopefully it's not too bad. I can't make any promises for the next chapter, but I will try to start writing it right away. Thanks for reading!

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HarmonyRose