A/N: Hi guys, I'm back with an update! Just so you know, I haven't exactly decided who ends up with who in the end so I'll just see where I'm going with this. Currently, where I am now, I don't even see that far ahead either. I thought I knew but I got confused :P I actually got a good response for this story and I'm excited to work on it as well.

To answer my reviewers:

Yes I am an avid NejiHina shipper but Sasuke will definitely be making things complicated. Other than that, the eye thing will be explained soon, it's basically a Neji-Sasuke rivalry thing I intend to have going ;)

Another review left by an anonymous was laughed at evilly for a few minutes and then deleted. But to answer that review anyway, I don't give a fuck what you think about the crack ships. Calling me a fatass virgin won't make me one (even if who knows, I might actually be one?) and asking me to kill myself just makes me sad about your own life that you actually gave me enough importance to leave me a review in the first place.

Enjoy, and do let me know what you think!

Chapter 2

Sakura could not talk to Hinata.

As she visited the Hyūga compound after school, she had not expected Kiba to already be in the company of Hinata. Apparently, he was concerned for his remaining teammate's health and came to check up on her as she had not come in to school today.

She wanted to catch a hold of Neji and head back to the Hyūga compound with him, not to mention giving him an earful for the embarrassment she had to face earlier.

But luckily or unluckily, she was lost in thought, thinking about how to approach the topic with Hinata when she ran smack into Kakashi-sensei.

It was actually her own fault, or maybe his as they both weren't watching exactly where they were going. She had stayed in a daze for more than half an hour. He had grabbed her arm before she fell, and he hadn't let go till he was completely sure she was alright, with both feet properly on the ground. After that, he had rubbed the top of her head before leaving.

"See you later, my cherry on top," he called to her as he left.

Sakura had went to the bathroom to splash cold water on her face, that is, after she broke out of her daze and stopped staring after him as if senpai had finally noticed her.

Cherry, and on top? She could understand why he called her a cherry because of her name, but why did he call her his cherry? And "on top" too! Had he really meant to imply a sex position, or did he just mess with her? He was reading his porn at the moment too.

She had only returned to her senses when Neji knocked on the bathroom door, asking her how much longer she needed to take.

"Were you peeking?" Sakura accused him as she closed the bathroom door behind her, looking pointedly at his eye.

Neji almost fell. "Why the hell would I do that?" he demanded to know.

"How else did you know I was in there?" Sakura asked.

"Well," Neji said, "I asked Kakashi-sama and he said he saw you go in there and he looked pretty amused. He never watches where he's going, the fool, but he apparently saw you. His head was buried in his book, as usual. He almost ran into me."

Shocked, Sakura stopped, inhaled a large breath. Neji noticed her faltering steps and stopped as well, looking back at her questioningly.

"What's the matter?" he asked.

"N-nothing," Sakura muttered, as she resumed walking. "It's just..."

When Neji continued to look at her curiously, she coughed and spoke again, "Sometimes I wonder how he... Why do you say he looked amused?"

"I don't even need to activate my Byakugan anymore to see through some things with my other eye," Neji told her. "I can always see how he looks like under his mask as well. For example, today, he has not shaved and if he doesn't soon, his stubble would start scratching his face because of his mask."

Sakura stared at him, wide-eyed. "You... you mean... you know... what he looks like?"

Neji scoffed. "Of course. I saw what he looked like back when we were just genin. Maybe Hinata-sama did as well, but she's not the curious kind so I'm not sure. It's not that hard or complicated for us. It's our bread and butter. We don't always have to tell people about all the things we notice now do we? Like, for example, how some people act around others?"

Neji looked at her pointedly and Sakura felt as if lightning had struck her where she stood as he looked at her. She had completely frozen as she looked at him almost fearfully.

He knows!

"Neji, it's not... It's nothing like that! It's..." Sakura stuttered.

"Sakura, you don't have to justify your actions to me," Neji told her, raising an eyebrow. "And... neither do you have to tell me why you wish to speak to Hinata-sama alone either."

Sakura exhaled. Bless Neji, he was a wonderful companion. Nothing escaped his eye when it came to anything but he respected other people's silence and privacy. It forced her to reconsider killing him for embarrassing her back in their class.

As soon as Neji and Sakura made their way inside and entered the gardens, she saw Hinata and Kiba sitting together and her heart sank. Hinata was facing her, and Kiba was lying down on the grass, arms folded behind his head and one leg over the other. As soon as Akamaru saw her, he began yapping and wagging his tail.

"Uh-oh," Neji comments, shooting a side-glance at Sakura.

"Oh, Sakura-san!" Hinata greeted as their eyes met.

Kiba got up on his elbows and turned. His eyes brightened as he saw her. He jumped up with both feet and almost skipped over to her. He held her by her waist as he nuzzled her neck as a form of greeting. Akamaru also ran over and began circling her, trying to lick her face.

Sakura smiled weakly at Hinata and Neji over his shoulder.

"Ah, hi Kiba-kun," she says as she touches the side of his neck. "Down boy," she orders Akamaru.

"Kiba-kun, things would be bad if my Father or anyone saw you like this," Hinata told him as she giggled lightly.

"You are, after all, in a house of Hyūga who have their eyes planted everywhere and can see through even the thickest of walls." Neji commented. "There is no privacy here."

"I want to kiss you so bad," Kiba growls in her ear as he still held her.

"Not now," Sakura whispers. "Perhaps later."

She felt guilty as soon as she said it. It was a force of habit, but the smile on Kiba's face illustrated all his happiness on hearing those words.

"So does that mean I'm coming over tonight?" he asks gleefully, looking at her for confirmation with an expression only the prospect of spending the night together with her could bring on his face.

Sakura swallowed a lump down her throat as she looked at his hopeful expression.

"If I say yes, will you let me go right now, so that I can talk to Hinata in private about a matter?"

Kiba nods excitedly. "Neji and I were just leaving anyway," he tells her. "I need to go visit Kurenai-sensei too and Neji just decided to accompany me."

He heads back and he pulls Neji.

"Neji, we're leaving. The quicker we leave the quicker Sakura-chan returns home and the more time I get to spend with her."

"What, why? Why am I leaving? This is my home," Neji tried to protest.

Neji could barely hold his ground as Kiba pulled him away, looking back at Sakura with an expression of utmost passion on his face. Sakura felt her insides clench and she smiled at him awkwardly.

"See you tonight, Sakura-chan," he growled pleasantly as his expression gave way to a knowing smirk. His canine teeth poked out, the one she loved to run her tongue across so much.

"But Hinata-sama has her training to do," Neji insisted. "She needs to learn how to hold her own in battle relying on just one Byakugan!"

"Stop looking for excuses to touch her, Neji," Kiba teased.

"What? No!" Neji objected, but Kiba had successfully dragged him away and out of the compound.

Tearing her eyes away as they left, she turned to Hinata. Hinata was also looking at them leaving, a wide smile on her face. She turns to Sakura finally, inviting her to speak.

"Hinata, how does it feel to use just one eye?" Sakura asked.

Hinata removed her eye-patch to reveal her eye as she sighed.

"It's fine actually, it just takes longer to grab on to things than it used to do previously and retain control."

"So what's with the eye-patch?" Sakura asked, eying it as Hinata pushed it up her head.

"I wear it for training mostly, just so that it makes things easier. Old habits die hard you know. And my father and Neji-niisan advised me to keep it on so that I remember I cannot rely on it too much."

"You don't have to wear it all the time you know, especially when you hang out with Naruto. Your eyes are beautiful. How else will he notice you?"

Hinata blushed as she nervously looked around. "He... he was the one who healed it anyway. It's not... not like he... he has anything new to notice."

Sakura sighed as she leaned back on her elbows, trying to make herself comfortable. Hinata was getting nervous again so Sakura thought about changing the topic to soothe her nerves.

"Hinata, I have to talk to you about Kiba."

"Oh, Kiba-kun," Hinata says, smiling. "Sakura-san, I have much to be thankful for because of you."

Sakura looks at her strangely. "Why's that?"

Hinata leans forward excitedly as she almost squealed.

"It's because of you Kiba-kun is so happy. Do you know he was so troubled because of things at his home? His mother was constantly after him because he has a lot of responsibilities on his shoulder and he couldn't - or wouldn't - keep up. But you came in his life just in time to help him cope. He's become so much more responsible, happy, and he's always in a good mood these days. In fact, just before you came over, he couldn't stop talking about you."

Hinata had no idea how much each word served her as a blow to her chakra points. It was like Hinata had hit her with her clan's specialized Eight Trigrams 64-Palms.

-x-x-x-x-