Chapter Summary: The proposal of convenience.

(SAKURA)

When the door swung open and in walked Hyuuga Neji. Sitting at my desk, I can't help but feel a wave of nostalgia crash over me. The Hyuuga prodigy was always the kind of guy who could show up on time to his own funeral—punctual and proper, just like I remembered. The last time I'd seen him—seven years, to be exact, during the war where he died. His death left us Konoha 11 feeling incomplete. Yeah, the same Neji who's supposed to be six feet under in my time. But here he was, standing before me, alive and kicking. It was kind of weird but nice.

We'd been through a lot together. We had this weird relationship where we went from almost enemies to something resembling friends. He'd left an impression on me. My feelings about him were complicated—I couldn't decide if I liked or hated him. He was that guy I'd once watched try to take out his own cousin during the Chunin Exams, but grew into someone you could rely on with your life later on. We didn't team up much before he died—just a few missions here and there.

His personality was like a double-edged sword; he could be such a stern jerk sometimes which got this no-nonsense attitude that drove me nuts, but also irritate me with his insightful about everything during battles. You couldn't deny how reliable or loyalty he is to Konoha. It's hard not to miss someone like that.

"Hi, Neji," I say casually as if it hasn't been years since we've seen each other. We catch up briefly before proceeded with his medical checkup.

As he undressed himself for the examination, I try not to gape like an idiot at how ridiculously fit he is under that Hyuuga robe. Seriously? He is healthy, lean, and finely built in his prime years. Those years of intense training had shaped every muscle perfectly. No wonder the nurses had been fighting over who got to do his checkup last time around.

Keeping it professional—because I'm nothing if not professional. My hands moved over his skin, examining him as I go through my checklist: vitals good, muscle tone perfect... reflexes top-notch as ever. Neji sat there calmly answering my routine questions about his health in that direct way of his, with brief nods or monosyllabic answers.

Once we're done and I've given him an excellent bill of health for him, I paused for a moment longer than usual. There was something nagging at me—my mission objectives. I'm notorious for lacking patience or waiting around for another opportunity months later. Without fully thinking it through, I blurted out a proposition so outrageous it made even Neji's composed face falter slightly.

"So… how about we get married?" I asked, as if those words weren't utterly insane.

You have to understand, my mission had me stuck needing to keep an eye on him regularly during these time-travel visits. Random run-ins just weren't effective enough. A marriage of convenience seemed like the perfect plan for potential team-ups and staying close without raising suspicion. Mr. Stoic just stared at me like I'd grown another head, questioning my sanity. With a prominent scowl, his eyes narrowed into that famous glare of his that could make anyone second-guess their life choices—or at least force an explanation out of anyone less stubborn than me.

Good grief—I'm terrible at lying! Who knew it'd be this hard convincing someone who once tried to dismantle family ties that maybe pretending to tie one with me wouldn't be so bad? I scrambled for an explanation before he dismissed me as completely nuts.

"Look," I tried to explain, mostly to calm his obvious doubts. "My parents are all about marrying me off these days. But honestly? Career first." This was all a mess of made-up reasons to keep him close without blowing my cover. "You know it's not like that," I added quickly when he looked even more confused. "And don't worry, I'm not into you. I'm still holding out for Sasuke-kun."

The man from yesterday didn't say much—but he was obviously deep in thought. As stoic as they come, I never heard of him having any stable relationships. Everyone in my time knows he ended up marrying within his clan before the whole war mess back in the day. Not too far down the line in history books—he'd end up marrying his cousin Hanabi, only for things to crash and burn spectacularly. Teaming up with me meant dodging that bullet altogether and avoiding any repeat hospital visits from cursed headaches from his wife or messy divorces aired out for everyone to see. I had a proven history as support that he wouldn't want history to repeat.

"Think about it," I urged. "We can make a good team, and you get to dodge any family setups within your clan." The poor guy had been through a lot. No need for more headaches, literally. "This whole thing has an expiration date anyway. It's not like it has to be forever—maybe three years tops? We can just call it quits once it's done."

The man sighed deeply and muttered something. Honestly? This might have been the closest thing to an agreement I'd ever gotten from him. The Fourth Shinobi War proved his maturity; surely he could handle a temporary fake marriage with an expiration date. Better than marrying his cousin again anyway.

(NEJI)

Haruno Sakura came up with this wild idea: a contract marriage.

In the shinobi world, marrying young isn't just encouraged; it's almost expected because of how dangerous our lives can be. Something about needing emotional support and stability during missions or whatever. My clan is all for it too, wanting to keep the bloodline strong. Without these special bloodline abilities, life as a shinobi can be pretty rough. I'm seventeen now—the age when everyone starts pressuring you about marriage—and it's hard not to feel the weight of these expectations. My clan is pushing me to marry soon, probably to someone from the clan. We have a tradition of marrying within the family, but honestly, marriage isn't for me.

Then there's Hanabi-sama. Lately, the girl's shown interest in me, possibly because I'm one of her training instructors or maybe something more—you never really know with Hanabi. We're supposed to be working on her Byakugan skills, guiding her mastery process, but things recently went off track. One day during training, she misjudged a move and ended up crashing right into me... and then kissed me! Talk about awkward—I pushed her away as fast as I could! She's like a sibling to me, and marrying her feels wrong.

When the council proposed our engagement, Hanabi didn't even flinch at the idea. She always treats me like a trophy to win. She has this competitive streak with her sister Hinata that I can't figure out—is she interested in me for real or just trying to win some rivalry? Back when we were kids, she used to push me around. Either way, marrying her feels like stepping into a trap where she'd probably use the caged bird seal against me eventually. This needs to stop.

Meanwhile, Tenten seems to have developed feelings for me too, acting differently around me and giving me those eyes. I don't want to disrupt what our team has or ruin our friendship over this. My focus is on my work; I'm not interested in marriage or relationships at all.

So when Sakura proposed this unconventional solution, where either of us could withdraw from pressures imposed on us, it seemed like the best option for both of us. We've got an understanding: if either of us finds someone we're genuinely interested in, we'll end this contract without any drama. Neither of us really knows each other well enough anyway; the cherry blossom's still hoping for Uchiha Sasuke to return someday.

I nodded and agreed—a contract marriage deal, but definitely better than my other options. "Fine," I conceded, crossing my arms with dramatic flair. "But only because I'm curious how you'll explain this when Uchiha finally shows up."

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