5

by i3Mangas

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5. 5

Sakura glared at the back of her best friend's blond head. Naruto and Hinata were leading their group on the short walk from the Hyuga compound toward Ichiraku Ramen. It wasn't that she minded that Naruto and Hinata were walking side by side, except for the fact that it left her walking alongside a disgruntled Neji Hyuga.

"I could fix that for you," Sakura said casting her "date" a sidelong glance. A dark purple bruise marred the left side of his jaw. Naruto hadn't faired much better from their afternoon sparring session, but he'd let Sakura heal him. Neji had declined.

"I'm fine," Neji said, rubbing his jaw and grimacing.

"No, you're not. You can't eat with a broken jaw," Sakura said. She noticed Naruto's shoulders stiffen at her words. He felt guilty about the pounding he gave Neji when it became apparent that the heir would refuse medical help.

"It's not broken," Neji protested, turning to her, his pale eyes narrowed. "It's just bruised."

Sakura held up her fist menacingly. "It will be broken," she promised.

Neji stared at her fist then her face assessing the validity of her threat. "It might be a good excuse not to eat ramen," he deadpanned. "Fine," he agreed with a sigh. "Do what you want." He stopped walking, but kept his gaze focused ahead. Naruto and Hinata continued on without them.

Sakura grit her teeth in annoyance. "So stubborn," she murmured. Her fingers began to glow with her green healing chakra as she laid her fingertips gently on his jaw. It was a deep bone bruise and several of his teeth had been loosened. Eating would have been extremely painful for the man. She noticed the tension in his neck and shoulders ease as the soothing work of her healing jutsu took hold. "There," she said, stepping back after his face was perfectly flawless once more.

Neji rubbed his jaw absently. "Thank you," he said quietly before he started walking and closing the distance between him and their other two companions.

Sakura kept pace with him, but remained silent for the rest of the walk. She could see several citizens and ninja of Konoha mingling about on the streets. Life was starting to return to normal for the people of Konoha. The damage from Pein's attacks on the village had mostly been repaired. The majority of the shinobi were home with their families instead of far away on a deadly mission. In times of peace local gossip became the main source of entertainment. Several people took notice upon their famous quartet and whispered amongst themselves.

When they arrived to Ichiraku Ramen it wasn't busy and was sparsely populated with only a few other ninja. It was one of the few places that expanded in size after the village's recent reconstruction. They had their pick of any seats in the restaurant and they took a corner booth — Hinata and Neji took the inside seats by the window while Sakura and Naruto took the aisle positions. Ayame, Teuchi's daughter, came over towards them to take their orders. "Welcome," she greeted. "It's a bit unusual for you to not eat at the bar. Where's the rest of your team?"

"We're here to celebrate Sakura's promotion!" Naruto said with a proud grin. "She's a jounin now! And we'll be back later with Team Seven to do another celebration."

"Wow, congratulations, Sakura!" Ayame said. "Order whatever you'd like and it's on the house as a token of our good will towards you, Jounin Haruno." Ayame turned her head and called over her shoulder towards her father. "Dad! Sakura's a jounin now!"

"Naruto's friend? Well how about that! Huzzah, Haruno!" Teuchi praised raising a bowl of noodles he was working on in the air.

"Thank you, Ayame," Sakura said. "I'll just take the miso ramen dish, the same as usual."

"Of course." She wrote down Sakura's order on a small notebook. She turned her attention to Hinata. "And you?"

Hinata stared down at the menu in her hands with a look of deep concentration. "How about shoyu with beef?"

"Excellent choice," Ayame said with an encouraging smile. She turned to Naruto. "I'll get you the usual. One bowl of each will do?" Naruto nodded. Ayame turned towards Neji. "And you, sir? Anything look appetizing?"

"Not especially," Neji grouched. He had his arms folded over his chest and was staring out the window to his side. His menu lay unopened in front of him. "I'll take whatever she's having," he said gesturing with his head in Sakura's direction.

Ayame flipped shut her small notebook and smiled warmly at them while collecting the menus. "I'll be back with your bowls in a few minutes," she said before heading towards the back of the restaurant to submit their orders.

"You two really do come here too often," Neji commented.

"It's a good habit to know the person making your food," Naruto advised waving his finger at Neji. "For instance, Sakura is a terrible cook. If I knew she was making my food I'd rather go hungry—," Naruto abruptly cut off his sentence with a grunt of pain. "Son of a— that hurt!"

Sakura had kicked Naruto hard in the shin under the table.

Naruto reached down and rubbed his hand over his bruised leg. "What was that for?"

"I'm not a terrible cook. You just don't like anything that's not ramen," Sakura explained. "Kakashi-sensei thinks my meals are great. So does Sai."

"Kakashi is former ANBU. I'm sure he's eaten worse," Naruto said. He stretched his arms above his head and then laced his fingers together cradling the base of his head to rest casually against the backrest of the booth. "And Sai's trying to stay on your good side since he thinks we're not going to need him anymore now that Sasuke has returned," Naruto said. "He hasn't even called you Ugly in weeks!"

"Technically, you don't need him anymore. You don't need a five-man squad," Neji pointed out. He glanced over at Sakura with a raised dark eyebrow. "Sai calls you Ugly and you don't break his jaw?"

"Sai had several social problems. And he calls me Hag, not Ugly. I am the oldest on our team — aside from Kakashi-sensei of course. He means well. Having a five-man squad will allow us to rotate so that we can recover," Sakura said. She didn't like the idea of Sai feeling like he was disposable. He'd been a loyal teammate and friend to her and Naruto for a long while now.

"You can't rotate, Sakura," Neji argued. It bothered him that Sai called Sakura ugly or hag— either was a terrible insult for a young lady. She wasn't beautiful like Ino, or cute like Tenten, but she was certainly pleasant — if one didn't mind pink hair. "The medic is essential."

"Your team doesn't have a medic," Hinata said quietly.

Neji shrugged. "That's why for our more difficult missions we're generally teamed up with Team Seven. The Hokage must hold you in high esteem, Sakura."

Sakura shifted uncomfortably. While it seemed that Neji was praising her from his words, it felt like he was snarling at her. Thankfully, Ayame returned with their food at that time and placed their steaming bowls of ramen in front of them.

"Itadakimasu!" Naruto called out clicking his chopsticks together. He dug right in to his first of three ramen bowls while Hinata began to eat at a slower pace.

Sakura set aside her chopsticks in favor of a porcelain soup spoon to scoop up her watery noodles. She'd blew on the hot food before sampling the flavor. "This is really good!" She glanced to her side at Neji since he had ordered the same food as her curious as to his opinion. His bowl sat untouched and he continued to stare out the window. "Aren't you hungry, Neji?"

Neji glanced at his food in disinterest.

"Is it spicy?" Hinata asked.

"He ordered the same as me. I don't do spicy," Sakura said with a smile. She worried about Neji not eating. He had to have been depressed and as a medical professional and as his friend she felt it was her duty to make sure he took care of himself. That was part of the reason Hiashi Hyuga had more or less shanghaied her into living with the Hyugas for the foreseeable future.

"You don't like spicy food?" Neji asked glancing at her with a mildly surprised expression. Every emotion seemed mild on him.

"Sakura can't stand it," Naruto said with a laugh. He set aside one empty bowl and started on his second one.

Sakura shrugged. "Maybe we can order you something else. Maybe they can get you some herring soba," she suggested. She started to wave Ayame over, but paused when Neji grabbed her wrist. He was staring at her hard, his opaque lavender eyes searched her face suspiciously. "What?"

"How did you know I like herring soba?" Neji asked.

Sakura pulled her hand out of his grip and he let her go without protest. "I may be a poor cook according to Naruto, but I always like to research what my teammates preferred and disliked foods are. We've been teammates a few times — you, me, Naruto, and Lee," she explained. It wasn't like it was a big deal. "I do have an excellent memory."

"Sakura always received the top marks in our class," Hinata added quietly.

Neji's lips thinned, but he said nothing. He picked up his chopsticks and began to pick at his noodles.

"The spoon makes it easier," Sakura suggested. Ayame had looked in their direction in askance, but Sakura waved her off with a smile.

Neji set aside his chopsticks and started to use his spoon.

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OoO

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Dinner had been tolerable. The conversation flowed mostly between Naruto and Sakura — the two could talk about nothing for hours. Occasionally, Hinata would chime in, but Neji held his peace. He'd been pleasantly surprised by the miso ramen soup. He'd also been caught off guard by Sakura's attention to detail — she remembered that herring soba was his favorite food. It was becoming harder to hold a grudge against her for saving his life.

He rubbed his jaw absently and was grateful that the sharp pain that he'd nursed all afternoon, since his sparring session with Naruto, had finally been healed. Sakura was a smart, thoughtful, and talented kunoichi, but that didn't mean he had any intention of appeasing his uncle and starting a relationship with her.

Perhaps he could be cordial, but he didn't intend to be too friendly with her lest she have the wrong idea about his interests.

"Neji, big brother, are you okay?" Hinata asked, she'd somehow traded places with Sakura and was walking alongside him in their four-man group.

He looked up to see Naruto and Sakura deep in quiet conversation. The word 'Sasuke' was heard and he didn't care for the sharp, stabbing ache in his gut when he heard the name of the traitor. He'd almost died on the first retrieval mission they'd attempted after the Uchiha first defected. He had died during his last big battle, only to learn upon his revival that the Uchiha had shown up in the last hour with unexpected reinforcements that led the the battle's victory.

"I'm fine," Neji said. "I'm just tired." He realized that they weren't heading back to the Hyuga district. It was nearing the ten o'clock curfew his uncle had issued them. Not that he minded disobeying Hiashi whenever the opportunity arose. "Where are we going?"

Naruto turned to face him, walking backwards. He grinned broadly, his fox whiskers prominently displayed by the flushed appearance of his face. "We're going to show you two some place special. Sakura and I like to go there sometimes to meditate."

Neji scoffed. He doubted that either of those two emotional shinobi knew the meaning of meditation.

Someone started running towards their direction. "Sakura!"

They turned around to see Ino Yamanaka. "Good evening, Ino," Sakura greeted with a warm smile. "It's a little late for you to be out by yourself," she added with a slight touch of worry in her tone.

Ino caught up and glanced over the group. She noted Hinata and Neji's appearance with raised eyebrows. "I just heard the news of your promotion. I thought you would be with Team Seven celebrating at the ramen stand, but the owner said you and Naruto had already left."

"We were celebrating, but not with Team Seven," Sakura explained.

"We'll celebrate with our team after we're done with our current assignment," Naruto said. He grinned. "One can never have too much ramen!"

"That's not true and you know it," Sakura scolded. "Ramen is saturated in carbohydrates and the only reason it hasn't affected you adversely is because you have an insane metabolism."

Neji sighed in relief and drew Sakura's eye. He shrugged. "I am just glad that our medical expert has dietary knowledge."

"Do you think Sasuke is at home?" Ino asked.

"He's under house arrest," Sakura said. "Where else would he be?"

"With you two," Ino said gesturing towards Sakura and Naruto. "I need to talk to him."

"Ino," Sakura said gently. "I would advise against seeking him to confess your feelings."

Hinata moved closer to Neji's side and whispered in his ear. "They both had crushes on Sasuke since we started at the Academy."

Neji already knew that. Every girl that didn't have a crush on him at the Academy had a crush on Sasuke. It's like young girls had a thing for emotionally damaged boys.

Ino's hands flew to her hips and she glared at Sakura in animosity. "Worried about the competition, Forehead?"

"Ino, I don't want you to be hurt. You don't really know who Sasuke is. You have feelings for the boy he once was. The man he is now is a stranger," Sakura explained. "You can confess your feelings all you want, but he's been through a lot. He needs time and space."

"You're just worried he might choose me. You're not so special, Sakura Haruno," Ino said poking a finger at Sakura's shoulder. "You may be the Hokage's Apprentice and a jounin now, but you have no family. You come from nothing. The Uchiha Matriarch needs to be someone with skill, beauty, and an impressive pedigree." She made to poke Sakura in the shoulder again, but Sakura batted away her hand effortlessly and stepped back to Naruto's side.

"Do what you will, Ino. I warned you," Sakura said.

"Let's go, Sakura," Naruto said quietly. "Sasuke will be fine."

"Of course he'll be fine now! I'm going to visit him! Unlike you two terrible examples of friendship out celebrating while he's imprisoned," Ino said sniffing. She whirled on her heel and started stalking back the direction she came.

"Why did she call you Forehead?" Neji asked.

Sakura laughed softly and touched her forehead lightly. "Ino and I became friends when we were little because I was constantly being teased about my pink hair and my giant forehead by the other kids. Sometimes I call her Pig."

Neji nodded. "I've seen her eat, your nickname for her is appropriate." He eyed Sakura's forehead critically. "Your forehead is appropriately proportioned."

Sakura shrugged. "Sometimes your own insecurities create problems that aren't there."

Naruto touched Sakura's shoulder. "You know she doesn't know what she's talking about, right?"

"She's just a confused teenager with raging hormones," Sakura said. She and Naruto started to lead them again and Hinata and Neji fell into step behind them.

"Sakura has learned a great deal of restraint," Hinata said quietly. "What Ino said isn't true. No one cares about Sasuke more than Naruto and Sakura."

Neji was reassessing his earlier thought about Ino being beautiful. Her cruel actions made her decidedly less attractive and Sakura's gentle deflection seemed to add a few more points in her favor. "Ino doesn't have impressive pedigree. She's not from one of the Noble Clans," Neji pointed out. "And compared to Sakura, her skill level is decidedly less appealing to the Uchiha."

"Sometimes we dream about someone beyond our means," Hinata whispered, her pale eyes trained on Naruto's back.

Neji didn't know much about Sakura's family — only that she was an only child and her parents were both still alive. As he grew up in the Branch Family to serve as subservient to the Head Family he didn't care for Ino's words. Telling Sakura that she came from nothing reminded him of the feelings he had as a child. Unlike Sakura, he knew he was part of the greatest clan. She had to claw her way to the top with even her friend's constant discouraging barrage. Except perhaps Naruto and Tsunade, not many people thought much of Sakura until she re-united with Naruto after his training with Jiraiya. Neji had fought alongside her in the Chunin Promotion Exam, perhaps he should have given her a little more credit. Rock Lee had certainly sang Sakura's praises, but Neji thought that was because of the taijutsu expert's crush on her.

The sky was clear and the stars shown brightly by the time they reached the Hokage Monument. No one else was at the mountainside. The four of them sat on the ground, Naruto and Sakura laid back and stared at the sky. Hinata followed suit taking the spot on Naruto's other side, but Neji remained sitting lotus-style. How could one meditate in such a relaxed prone position?

"Sakura, I'm really glad you're a jounin, but I hate that Sasuke-bastard and I are still genin," Naruto lamented.

"The Chunin Promotion Exam is a right of passage, Naruto. Tsunade would have promoted you to jounin too, but she doesn't want you to miss the experience of the chunin exam. And Sasuke needs it. He needs to be humbled and having you at his side going through the same experience will help him," Sakura explained.

"But, even Hinata is a chunin! I don't want to be dead last," Naruto cried out.

"He didn't mean that," Sakura said turning to Hinata. His cousin nodded and gave a wavering smile. "Naruto, you are a sage. You're the most logical choice for future hokage. You defeated Madara."

"I only defeated Madara because Sasuke and I worked together," Naruto interrupted. "I got Neji killed — for a while at least — because I wasn't strong enough."

Neji frowned. He wasn't aware that Sasuke and Naruto had defeated Madara together. He had been rather dead at that point in the battle. Neji was tired of Naruto's laments. Apparently he and Sakura still had pretty bad insecurities from their childhood. "Naruto, you do not need to fish for compliments."

"What does that mean? I'm not fishing. I'm not hungry. Why would I fish?" Naruto asked in confusion.

"It means stop complaining about having to take the Chunin Promotion Exam. It is an event that showcases the talents of our shinobi to the daimyos of the other lands. The other ninjas are aware of your prowess. They saw you in the war. You destroyed me in this afternoon's sparring match and I'm a highly respected jounin. You aren't dead last and you won't ever be again. And regarding your offhanded remark about Hinata — she's quite skilled. I'd say she's the most talented kunoichi in our clan."

"Naruto, why don't you share with Hinata and Neji what you and Sasuke experienced when you were near death and met the Sage of the Six Paths?" Sakura suggested. "Neji missed that part of the battle and Hinata was too far away to have seen clearly."

"It turns out that the Sage of the Six Paths had two sons. One was the ancestor of the Uchihas — he was the first son. That son was arrogant and did everything himself. The second son was the ancestor of the Senju. As a youth he wasn't very skilled, but he learned and became strong, because he accepted help from his friends. The spirits of the sons were reincarnated into Madara Uchiha and Hashirama Senju, and later into Sasuke and me. So in order to defeat Madara we had to work together — the skills of the sage and the power of the Rinnegan."

Neji stared at Naruto for several moments. Naruto was the one that convinced him that fate didn't dictate their lives, but now he was speaking that he and Sasuke were fated to live in conflict. That their working together was the only way to defeat the great evil of Madara Uchiha.

"So the two of you really are brothers," Hinata said quietly.

Naruto held up his hand and showed them a tattoo of a sun on his palm. "Sasuke has the moon on his palm."

"You and Sasuke will put up a great show in the Chunin Promotion Exam," Sakura said reassuringly. She sat up. "We should probably head back. I believe we have a curfew."

"Let's stay just a little longer," Hinata said. She reached for Naruto's hand, the one marked by the sun tattoo, and held it.

"If we're late, I'll take the blame," Sakura said closing her eyes and laying back down. "There's no need for any of you to be in trouble. I'm the only one of us that doesn't have to live with Hiashi for long."

Neji stared down at Sakura in disbelief. Did she really believe that Hiashi would let her leave after her medical services had been performed? "I'll share in that blame," Neji said. He laid back next to Sakura and stared up at the sky. It really was a nice night. A small smile touched his lips. He was looking forward to arriving home after curfew.

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OoO

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Sasuke was at home with his ANBU guards reading a book. Kakashi had brought him a novel about the power of friendship — apparently he had more than just Icha Icha porn books. It wasn't the best book, but it was better than complete solitude. His kitchen was fully stocked courtesy of Naruto and Sakura. He was saddened to hear of their extended job request with the Hyugas. He was especially unhappy about Sakura being there. He'd just revealed his intended role for her in the next phase of his life and she had to leave.

He knew things between them would be awkward. They'd both tried to kill each other. However, he trusted no one more than her and Naruto. Kakashi was close, but he knew that Kakashi would put the well-being of Naruto and Sakura above him. Though, technically Kakashi was his legal guardian at least until his eighteenth birthday — which was only about six weeks away.

There was a knock on his front door. Sasuke set aside his book and went to answer it.

The ANBU guard greeted him. "You have a visitor, Ino Yamanaka."

"I don't really want any visitors," Sasuke said frowning. What could Ino possibly want.

The ANBU guard shifted uncomfortably. "She's rather persistent."

Sasuke sighed. She was one of Sakura's good friends and he didn't want Sakura to be upset with him. "Very well," he agreed. He returned to the den and opened his book again. He didn't see why he should go out of his way to pretend that Ino's visit was welcome. He glanced up when she entered the room and cleared her throat.

"May I sit down?" Ino asked.

"Do what you want," Sasuke said. "I have no jurisdiction. As you can see I'm under house arrest."

Ino tucked her long hair behind her ear nervously. She wore it down instead of in her usual ponytail. The alternation in her appearance did not go unnoticed. She sat across from him. "What are you reading?"

Sasuke closed the book once more, hiding the cover and tucked it into his back pocket. "I don't believe you've come to visit me at night to discuss my reading material."

Ino shifted anxiously. "I ran into Sakura and Naruto. Those two jerks were out celebrating her promotion to jounin without you. They were out with Neji and Hinata Hyuga!"

Sasuke shrugged. Did Ino come to see him to gossip? "We had breakfast this morning." There was no need to point out that they stocked his kitchen and made sure he'd be fine during their absence. Hiashi Hyuga had demanded their presence. They had no control over that.

His reaction seemed to confuse Ino. "I wanted to let you know, Sasuke, that my feelings for you haven't changed," Ino said.

Sasuke frowned. "Your feelings for me?" He knew that Ino, like all the other girls at the Academy, had a crush on him. They weren't ever friends so it was impossible for her to have real feelings for him.

"I love you, Sasuke. I've loved you since we were children," Ino confessed.

"Ino, I appreciate your sentiment, but you don't love me. You don't even know me." He'd seen the love in Sakura's eyes for him when she held a kunai dipped in poison at his neck and he'd seen the acceptance when he'd taken that kunai with the intention of killing her. That was love. Sakura, his friend, had loved him enough to kill him. She'd wanted to stop his descent into madness. She and Naruto had done so much for him and then when he returned to that last battle with reinforcements she'd truly captured his attention. She was strong.

"That's not true. I do know you! When the other rookies and Team Gai plotted your death I was against it. Sakura, she is the one that tried to kill you," Ino explained. "I still had faith in you."

"That's because you didn't know me. Sakura knows me. She knows the madness that raged within me," Sasuke said. Ino sounded just like Karin. They were willing to accept his madness because he was so good looking and so cool. Neither wanted to try to help him be the good person that Itachi wanted and needed him to be. He didn't like the way Ino seemed to try to badmouth Sakura. What kind of friend would do that? "Sakura is my precious friend."

"Okay, maybe I'm not saying things right. Sakura's great, yes, of course. However, I think that if you're ready to settle down and start a family that you should consider me," Ino said. "I have impressive genes. My family's blood-line limit is very useful. I am in excellent medical condition and I don't mind having several children. My feelings for you are genuine."

"Ino, I'm not interested. I have already expressed my intentions to Sakura that she become the Uchiha Matriarch," Sasuke said patiently.

Ino's hands clenched into fists. "Why? She's completely inappropriate! You want your kids to have pink hair?"

"Pink hair is a recessive gene, so that doesn't matter. She's the smartest girl in our generation, she's the strongest kunoichi of our generation, and she doesn't have any conflicting blood-lines in her genetics. I won't have my Sharingan compete with your mind-body swap blood-line," Sasuke explained. "Her intelligence and perfect chakra control might be traits passed down to her children — both are attributes that I would want in my future children."

"I may not be as smart as Sakura, but at least I'm an option. You didn't see how chummy she was with Neji Hyuga!" Ino cried out.

Sasuke could feel his temper rising. He knew that Hiashi Hyuga would try to not only incorporate Naruto into his family, but that he also had his sights set on Sakura. Why wouldn't he? Part of him wished that Neji had been left for dead on the battlefield.

"Ino, do you know why Naruto, Sakura, and I were put on Kakashi's team when we graduated the Academy?" Sasuke asked.

Ino shrugged.

"Our teams were chosen because we would compliment one another. Naruto is very strong and passionate, but he's not very smart. Sakura and I were the two smartest in our class. Naruto and I come from very powerful parents. Sakura comes from simple parents as you said, but she was placed right alongside us. We each trained independently under the Sannin. She belongs with me," Sasuke said. He'd spoken more words to Ino in their current conversation than in all previous conversations combined.

"I won't wait around forever," Ino hissed. She rose to her feet and stormed towards the door.

After she slammed the door behind her, it opened again quietly. One of his ANBU guards entered and removed his mask revealing his identity as Sai. In his hands he held a shogi board and pieces. "Women," he said shaking his head with an absent smile.

"What do you want?" Sasuke asked. He was developing a migraine.

"Naruto and Sakura would not want you to be alone," Sai said. He sat across from Sasuke on the floor and set out the shogi board. He began to set out the pieces for the Japanese chess game. "I borrowed this from Shikamaru. Sente or Gote?"

"I suppose you overheard Ino?" Sasuke asked. "I'll take black," he said. He moved a pawn piece on the shogi board.

"She was rather persistent," Sai said. He moved a white pawn on the shogi board.

"I'm sure you have an opinion," Sasuke said. He moved a lance.

"Yes, I think you need to back off Sakura. You hurt her and Naruto countless times," Sai said. He moved a rook and knocked out Sasuke's pawn. "That doesn't mean you have to pursue Ino. You should focus on rebuilding your friendships and bonds."

"And maybe making some new bonds," Sasuke said. Maybe Sai wasn't so bad.