Chapter 20

Neji

Hinata hugged him close to her, taking in his bodily warmth. She dug her face in the crook of his neck. Her silent tears soaked his shirt and it was a while before she spoke.

"Why?" She sniffed. "Why does it have to be you?"

Neji looked at her helplessly as she refused to let go of him, her grip tight, the distant sound of rushing water the only noise amidst the gust of wind blowing away the leaves around them. They had barely entered through the entrance of the Hyuga District, and she had stopped suddenly, digging her feet in the cobbled street and hugging herself, as if to keep warm. The trees around them littered their leaves on the ground and the twilight complemented the beautiful reds, yellows and oranges shining on the branches. It was a beautiful sight, yet Hinata was far from happy.

He cupped her face and wiped her lashes and wet cheeks with his thumbs.

"I won't be gone that long," he promised. "The mission is almost at an end. I'll be back in time for the Hokage's birthday, if not before."

"ANBU missions are seldom short," she sadly iterated. "And they're never safe. I'm not even worried about mine. I have to make do with one perfect eye and the other imperfect which always leaves large blind spots, yet that doesn't concern me at all. I'm not too worried about Sakura cutting up and sewing back my body."

He winced, and hugged her closer. Hinata was being more emotional than usual.

"Hinata, please share, what's been going on with you?" he persisted. "You know missions are a regular part of our life. I've overseen your trainings, you're as good a sensor as ever. And as for me, you know I'm also good, I won't allow myself to be killed so easily."

Her lavender orbs shone as she looked up at his pale irises, words on the border of her lips yet refusing to escape.

"I need you," was all she could manage to say.

"And I'm here for you," he assured her. "I'll always be here for you."

"No, you're not understanding," she insisted. "I don't have you. Not entirely. I want you whole."

He shook his head, helpless, really not understanding what she meant. How could he convince her that he was giving her his all? He loved her with everything, and he had poured out his entire heart. He was not sure what he was leaving out.

"I promise Hinata-sama," he continued. "There isn't an inch of my heart you don't already possess." He kissed her tentatively, and she returned it in earnest. Only when darkness started settling around them did they realize how much time had passed. He walked her to the majestic walls of the Main House adorned with beautiful patterned pillars with climbing ivy, and watched as she made her way in. Just before stepping in, she looked back at him forlornly.

It was Sai, one of his teammates, of all people, a person completely untuned to the value of human emotions and just learning how humans processed feelings, who later that night as he prepared to set out for his mission hypothesized with him what Hinata had meant.

"You're late, Falcon," Sai remarked when Neji finally reached the base and started changing into his gear.

"I apologize, Tiger," Neji replied. "I was trying to deal with a personal matter. My bird has never been so concerned for my safety before and she expressed unusual frustration for my part in the mission, so much so that I have a feeling that she was trying to communicate something deeper which kept eluding me."

"We still have some time before we absolutely must leave," Sai pondered. "Care to share Falcon? Maybe I can shed some light. I have been after all researching on the bonds and motivations which drive human beings."

Neji shrugged. Sai appeared a good person to share the situation with, and his insight may be valuable. After all, he himself kept drawing a blank, maybe a detached outsider could offer a better analysis?

"She just wants to lie down," Sai spoke when Neji finished reiterating their conversation.

"I don't understand?" Neji asked, confused.

"Well, I guess the exact term people are using is different, but mine is grammatically coherent. So for the presumable 'correctness' of the slang, what I mean is, she just wants to get laid," Sai concluded.

Neji's neck colored up and he wished he could smack his head so hard that it popped his brain out.

"Don't talk about my bird like that!" he said hotly. "Besides, it couldn't be what she meant. We promised to stay chaste until our marriage."

Sai shook his head, his weird smile intact. "According to Yamanaka-chi, and I have also read volumes on the subject and went on to observe so myself, everything begins and ends with sexual intercourse and it supposedly solves everything yet also complicates a lot of things and yes, drives everything. Needless to say, I am still researching on that but my interviews had been cut short since I've been on this mission. Strangely so, a lot of the people I ask get offended and Sakura-chan called me a pervert and hit me quite hard when I asked her also about the impact of sexual intercourse in human lives. I am thus contemplating signing up at the Academy where it is to my understanding they teach Human Psyche. Aren't you supposed to be a teacher in that?"

He looked away, embarrassed and flustered. Hinata had always been bad at communicating her exact wants and desires. She was a passive person, too polite, and still too formal with him, which was typical of their nobility and heritage. He was also at fault for not putting things out in the open and being, if possible, even more formal and courteous than she had been.

But there was nothing he could do to soothe her now till he returned. And it worried him that predators like Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto were at large. They weren't allowed to carry phones on their missions for the obvious risks and threat to location they entailed, so he agreed on Sai's suggestion to write her a letter and they could drop it at the village entrance on their way out to hand over to Hinata when she left for her mission. Sai looked over his shoulder as he wrote the letter. He reached out to pick up the paper and tore it up, much to Neji's outrage.

"Tiger, what the hell do you think you're doing?!"

"Saving your relationship, Falcon," he replied, pulling out a fresh page from his pack. "You should use this one instead."

He copied Neji's writing perfectly. Neji read it over his shoulder and this time, his eyes popped out along with his brain.

"THERE'S NO WAY I'M USING THIS ONE!" Neji yelled in disbelief, his face turning beet red and bursting with sweat.

"Relax," Sai said easily. "I'm known for my creativity. While I may not be the expert in human relationships, I've studied enough of the Icha Icha Series to know what I'm doing."

Sai sealed the letter and addressed them to its respective owner, completely ignoring his partner's protests.

"You'll thank me later, Falcon," he assured him.

Ino

"They slept together?" Ino all but shrieked. The family sitting next to them looked over judgingly.

Shikamaru was proud of himself. Ino was successfully distracted.

"Oh and by the way, I've to sign off Temari at the border at dawn," he mentioned casually, and Ino waved her hand, uncaring.

"Fine, but then didn't Karin arrive later? You signed her in didn't you? I remember you saying you had to go collect her. They were still together then?" she was anxious to know.

Shikamaru rubbed his chin. "I actually saw the three arrive together when I signed them in today."

"Yes, they were late!" Ino exclaimed. "But did that mean… OH MY GOD," she yelled even louder as she came to the correct realization, even if it was all assumed. Her cheeks were rosy pink with the fumes of the kitchen and the effects of her drink. The family sitting next to them shot another nasty look.

"Well, it's no secret that Sasuke's relationship is open," Shikamaru pondered. "Him and Karin both get around. But as for Naruto… Well a lot of things make sense now. Why he suddenly stopped showing interest in Sakura and rejected Hinata, and why he's been moping around so much lately. You know, I always figured Sakura went after Kiba because he's too much like Naruto and she was used to that attention and also to prove some point to Uchiha but now that eludes me as well. And it stands to reason that Naruto may be the only one who'll get very hurt along the way doing… whatever it is they're doing… after they snap out of it and decide to get serious in life."

Ino sighed, swishing her drink. Her mind was blown alright, and too many secrets revolved in her head that it started to give her a headache. It was getting very crowded in there.

"Forehead and Kiba got together the same night we did, more or less the same way," Ino said absently, worried about her friend.

Shikamaru looked at her. "Why would you bring that up?"

Ino looked at him forlornly. "I can't say," she said, and Shikamaru raised his eyebrows. This was a first. She didn't usually hide any gossip from him. His curiosity fought with his desire for not getting involved in any more troublesome and unsettling news.

"What's going on with them?" he asked her, and she smiled at how he smacked his face in grievance, losing the battle between his curiosity and detachedness. She was rubbing off on him.

She was quiet as she thought deeply about it. She took a sip of her drink, trying to piece together information.

She knew that at some point, Sakura had accidentally taken Kiba's melatonin and had consumed them thinking they were her contraceptives. And Ino had reason to believe that Sakura had not been prepared or even fathomed such a possibility, as she had demanded a break from Kiba just after. She remembered the conversation they had after the shock of the results had subsided.

"Even if I had taken the wrong pill, he... always pulled out," Sakura was telling Ino. "Except that one time..." she remembered, and blushed. "It wasn't his fault," she tried defending Kiba. "I was the one who was lost in my own fantasy world."

Apparently all of Team 7 were lost in their own fantasy world.

"You have to tell him," Ino insisted. "Even if you decide to abort, you have to let Kiba know and he should be there for you. If he isn't, Kami knows what I'll do to him..."

Sakura just shook her head. "No, don't do anything, please. Don't tell anyone. I don't want to ruin his life further. He has a new girl now. He's happy with her. Let him move on. I've seen the way he looks at her..."

"Ruin his... Sakura," Ino just said exasperated. Why was she resisting so much? "Who cares about that girl? Your life is at stake. Do you still think that you have a shot with Kakashi? Is that the reason why you don't want to tell him yet?"

"No," she had shaken her head. "I don't, I'm not a fool. I just don't want to trouble Kiba. Maybe he isn't even responsible."

"How could that be? Unless... You don't know if he's the father," Ino said lowly.

Sakura had just looked at her helplessly.

"It wasn't just a kiss, was it?" she probed further, trying to get information so they could make reasonable progress and decisions, and Sakura had just broken down in tears. Ino sighed, leaning in and hugging her tightly, not pressing the matter further.

She failed to understand Sakura's agenda. Why did she always think she could do everything on her own?

"Sakura's pregnant," she revealed softly. Shikamaru's eyes widened in surprise and he stopped chewing, a remarkable feat. He gulped his food down whole and slapped his chest as it passed with difficulty, taking a large swig of his drink.

Her best friend was pregnant, Naruto was willing to throw away his childhood dream and was about to land in a world of hurt if he didn't get out soon, and Sasuke had secret intentions which hopefully were not evil and didn't involve hurting anyone. Their former teacher was self-involved, and appeared to be distancing himself from the three of them, especially Sakura. And Ino knew, just knew, he had slept with her, no matter how hard Sakura tried to hide it.

What was going on with Team 7?