Forgetting Sasuke

Disclaimer: Sadly, I do not own Naruto. The geniusness that is belongs to Kishimoto-sensei. I only borrow his characters because they inspire me.

First chapter's a bit messed up, but is only setting the stage for what's to come. ^__^

~~~~~~

Neji stood on the balcony of the school, looking out over Konoha. It had been a bad few days and try as he might to convince himself otherwise, he knew it would get worse.

In the streets below, people walked about, doing their shopping, chatting with one another in friendly banter. It only angered Neji more that he could be so in the world and not be a part of it. Why wouldn’t this feeling go away?

Looking down, he could hear Yamanaka Ino talking loudly with Haruno Sakura. Ino always talked too loud, loving to be the center of attention and doing anything she could to get it. Apparently the topic today was gossiping about Shikamaru’s love life.

“So then, Temari was like, ‘Shika, if you don’t-‘ Sakura, pay attention!”

Sakura was staring blankly into the space in front of her, clearly not seeing or hearing anything around her. At hearing her name, her head snapped back, looking for the source. “Ino, sorry. I guess I spaced there for a minute.”

“Apparently. Geez, Sakura, people are going to start thinking you’re an airhead or something.”

Neji stared down at Sakura with his expressionless pale eyes, unsure of what to make of her. She was a first rate shinobi, and the strongest kunoichi in Konoha, excepting only the hokage. Yet to see her so… distracted… it was unsettling.

“Anyway, as I was saying…” Ino continued, convinced she had Sakura’s undivided attention. The girls continued on their walk, unaware anyone had been watching them.

Neji stared at Sakura as she walked away. He never knew what to make of her. As a young genin, she constantly ran after Sasuke, never had to fight for anything because Naruto and Sasuke were always there to take care of her. Yet since then… She’d changed. She was calmer, more mature.

There was no denying she was a beautiful woman. She was taller, but thin and lithe with the agile body of a ninja. There was also no denying she had become an excellent shinobi. Her training under Godaime Hokage increased her stamina and abilities at an unbelievable rate. She was no longer the tiny figure waiting in the shadows for Naruto or Sasuke to come to her rescue; no, she was the first to jump into the fray, fight her all, and heal her teammates as needed. She had grown into an incredible ninja.

Neji continued to watch with interest as Sakura disappeared into the crowd.

“Neji-san,” Hinata said quietly, stepping up from behind. “Are you alright?”

“Yes, Hinata-sama,” he said, turning to face her, smiling. “Fine.”

“Naruto-kun and I have finished our training for the day and I wanted to know if you’d like to get some ramen with us?”

He smiled again, this time to himself. It was nice to Hinata so happy. Sakura had finally convinced Naruto to go on a date with Hinata, and they’d been spending a lot of time together since then. Hinata had really started to come out of her shell which made the entire Hyuuga household happy. She was starting to fulfill her role as heir to the Head Family. Hiashi welcomed her back with open arms, and took Neji in as a son, training him as a Head family member rather than a branch member. The dissention in the Hyuuga clan was no longer an issue. All because of Uzumaki Naruto.

“You two go ahead. I don’t want to be a third wheel.”

“Oh, no, Neji-san, you wouldn’t be!” Hinata insisted. “Naruto-kun was the one who suggested it.”

“I thought the two of you would rather spend some time together. Go ahead, really.”

Hinata started to look a little distressed. “Well, see, Neji-san, Naruto-kun really wants you to come with and...”

Neji looked through Hinata's brave facade and decided to cut her some slack. If Naruto was putting her up to this, he had to have a reason for it and he was curious to find out what. "Fine. I will come, but only for a short while. I still have to train."

"Thank you, Neji-san!" Hinata replied happily.

* * * * *

Neji grudgingly tagged along with them on the way to Ichiraku’s ramen stand. The minute he’d agreed to the outing, he’d regretted it. This was not how he wanted to spend the afternoon. There were too many things on his mind.

“And then-“ Naruto launched into another story of his. Neji deeply cared for and respected Naruto for all he’d done for him, but the incessant prattling was really starting to get to him. First one anecdotal story followed by another. Why he was even asked to come along, he’d never know.

“Three miso ramen, old man!” Naruto said, ordering for everyone. Neji shot him a dirty look, telling him he clearly didn’t like being ordered for, but Naruto just nodded and said, “Trust me, Neji, the old man’s miso ramen is the best!”

A girl walked in and sat down on the far side of Naruto. “Pork ramen, please,” she said quietly before turning to look at Naruto.

“Sasame-chan!” Naruto said loudly, clearly excited. Neji looked over to see a red-haired girl looking over at them. Hinata looked back and forth between Neji and Naruto, as if trying to study their expressions.

“Neji, this is Sasame-chan. We met in Sound Country a few years ago. She’s from the Fuuma clan, a really talented ninja. So, what brings you here?” he said, rather exaggerated.

‘Setup,’ Neji thought quietly. ‘They’re trying to set me up on a blind date. Idiot Naruto.’

Neji stared into his bowl of ramen, losing his appetite. It had not been a good day, and getting set up on a blind date by Naruto was not helping. “Hinata-sama, Naruto-san, I just remembered I have an appointment that I need to take care of. I will see you all later. Sasame,” he said, nodding curtly, leaving money on the counter and walking out.

‘That idiot!’ Neji thought, losing himself in the crowded street, on his way to the forest to train. Naruto was the one who taught him that destiny can be changed, that one could control his own future, his own destiny, so for Naruto, of all people, to try to set him up with a girl, removing all Neji’s control of the given situation, was unthinkable. ‘Idiot!’

He was on his way to a clearing in the forest when he heard noise.

“Damn you, Sasuke!” he heard a female say before hearing a rain of shuriken hitting targets. He could hear the pain in the way her voice quivered. “Byakugan,” he whispered, activating his bloodline limit and silently watching.

Haruno Sakura gathered the shuriken she’d just thrown, wiping tears from her face as she placed the shuriken in her pouch and began a kunai attack. Slowly she sank to the ground, consumed by grief. “How could you… Sasuke…”

Neji stood unmoving, unsure of what to do or say. He watched Sakura pick herself up, standing with a new resolve. She wiped the tears from her eyes and gathered a dozen kunai in her fingers, preparing an attack at the targets again. Her legs swiftly hit branches as she launched herself up into the air. She screamed her anger and frustration as she released the kunai, spinning downward. She pulled shuriken out of her pouch to launch a second attack but lost her footing and fell, cutting herself and landing hard on her back.

Neji waited only a moment so as not to let Sakura know he’d been watching her. He stepped into the clearing and tried to look surprised.

Sakura looked over, trying to say something, but no words would come out.

“Sakura!” he shouted, running over to her, helping her sit up. Once she was upright, she gasped, inhaling deeply, as if drinking in air. “Sakura, are you alright?”

She nodded, suddenly beginning to cough. It took her another moment to catch her breath. “Yes, fine. That damn stupid cat up there-“ she pointed, “got itself stuck, and when I tried to free its paw, it bit my ankle, catching me off guard and I lost my balance and fell, landing right on my back. It just knocked the wind out of me,” she explained. Color started to creep into her cheeks. “Stupid, isn’t it? I’m really embarrassed…”

Neji said nothing. He turned to look at her ankle and saw it was cut to the bone. Neji looked into Sakura’s eyes, which were full of embarrassment, a good concealment for what she was really thinking. “Byakugan!” For her benefit, he continued the charade, his white eyes scanning the branches and leaves, knowing there would be no creature.

“Neji, I’m fine,” she assured him, already starting to heal herself.

“Sakura, this cut is to the bone.”

“Really? Maybe it was some sort of small tiger than or something. I thought it was a cat anyway. To be honest I didn’t get a good look. I was just working on a few shuriken exercises and saw the poor creature looked stuck. My fault for getting involved when I guess I shouldn’t have.” She smiled, shrugging.

The lines etching his face disappeared as he deactivated the Byakugan. He looked back at Sakura’s ankle which was now almost completely healed.

“Your healing techniques are quite good. I see your reputation is well deserved.”

“Yes, well, you know what they say, if you can’t heal yourself, how will you heal anyone else?” she laughed. “Or maybe it was love. Well it was something like that anyway.” He could tell she was still trying to save face, still trying to hide.

She adjusted herself to stand up. Neji helped her to her feet, only to have her topple over into his arms. “Ouch!” Neji gently pushed her back to the ground without bothering to order her to sit. “I don’t understand. It feels okay. It’s healed, why wouldn’t I be able to put pressure on it? It’s a minor injury…”

“Byakugan,” Neji said, reactivating his bloodline limit. He stared at Sakura, looking into her chakra circulatory system. “There’s a block in your lower back, probably from when you fell. Chakra is getting blocked there and not circulating properly throughout the rest of your body. Your ankle is only healed on the surface, and you don’t feel the pain as much because of the block in your back, stopping some of the feeling in your legs.”

“You’re kidding!?” Sakura exclaimed. “So I can’t even heal it myself?” Neji shook his head. “All this over some stupid cat… what am I going to tell Tsunade-shishou? She’ll never let me hear the end of it…”

Neji wordlessly scooped Sakura into his arms as though she weighed nothing, preparing to carry her to the Hokage. “I will take you to Hokage-sama.”

“Neji…” Sakura whispered, her voice trailing off.

To be honest, she’d never spent any amount of time together with Neji. He was always off with Lee and Tenten doing their own missions with Gai, and even when their own missions intersected, they only interacted on a professional level. It was realizing this fact as well as being in such close proximity to him that Sakura realized how little she knew Neji, a thought that made her uncomfortable and squeamish in his arms.

“Are you in pain?” he asked at feeling her adjusting herself in his arms. Sakura looked up into his face to find him still staring forward. ‘He’s so unreadable…’

“No, I’m alright,” Sakura replied, trying to calm herself. In all the times she’d been injured or in danger, she’d never felt so uncomfortable or uncertain of herself in the arms of Naruto, Kakashi or even Sasuke. Why was being carried by Neji affecting her so? “I guess I’m just not used to being carried.”

“You mean on having to rely on others,” Neji said matter-of-factly.

“It’s been a long time,” Sakura admitted. ‘Since Sasuke left.’

Neji continued to rush through the trees, fully aware of the beautiful kunoichi in his arms. She was more vulnerable than anyone knew, and he would not let her know she had been discovered.

Sakura closed her eyes, trying to meditate and forget the embarrassing situation she was in, making up some stupid lie to tell Neji, a genius ninja of Konoha, who now had her in his arms.

Neji discretely looked down at the kunoichi in his arms. She looked frustrated, although was trying to hide it. Neji realized Sakura was trapped in her own cage, that of guilt and self-disgust, one that she was working to break free of. She was beautiful. Why hadn’t he ever noticed that before?

“Tsunade-sama,” Shizune said, opening the door for Neji and Sakura.

Tsunade looked up from behind the mountain of paperwork on her desk. Her eyes widened in curiosity. “Sakura? What happened?”

“I uh… had a little accident. Stupid really, Shishou. I-“

“She was bitten by something which caused her to fall out of a tree; she landed on her back which caused a block in her chakra patterns and she’s unable to heal herself,” Neji explained quickly.

Tsunade nodded and got up, motioning Neji to set Sakura down on the sofa so she could examine her, taking note of the furious expression on her protégé’s face.

“I can speak for myself,” Sakura said quietly, anger simmering.

Tsunade looked closely at Sakura and contained a smile. ‘This may be exactly what she needs.’

“Neji, I’ll want to borrow your eyes to make sure that I can accurately identify the problem area,” Tsunade ordered.

“Of course, Hokage-sama. I am at your disposal.”

* * * * *

It was an easy operation, one that didn’t even require Sakura to go to the hospital. She needed a simple fix of her chakra regulation to set everything back into motion. “A bit of rest and you should be fine,” Tsunade said to Sakura. “But no training until you’re fully healed, understood?”

“Yes, yes, Shishou, I understand completely,” Sakura said, dismissing her. Neji looked put-off by Sakura’s casual dismissal of the hokage.

“Neji, if you would please walk her home.”

“I can make it on my own just fine, but thank you,” Sakura said, turning to walk out.

Tsunade handed Neji a bottle before motioning for him to follow Sakura. He easily caught up to her.

“Neji, I really appreciate your help, but you’ve already done enough and I’m fine now, so I really don’t need any more assistance,” Sakura said, getting annoyed by the babying.

“I was given a direct order by Hokage-sama, and I will follow through on it,” Neji replied simply.

They walked in silence through the streets of Konoha before Sakura stopped at a door. “How did you happen to find me in the forest?” Sakura asked suddenly, turning to look Neji in the eyes.

“I happen to like that particular clearing. It’s secluded, allowing for peace. I was actually surprised to find someone else there,” he replied easily. It was not a lie, and even if it were, no one but Neji himself would know the difference.

Sakura stared hard into his indiscernible eyes. “Neji, we don’t know one another very well. I know we’ve always gotten on well together, but we don’t know anything about one another. Right now, I have this feeling you saw more in the forest than you’re letting on, and I know I have no right to ask you this, but please don’t say anything to Naruto, or anyone else.” Her green eyes were forceful. She was politely requesting, but Neji knew this was a command.

Neji continued to stare into her bright green eyes. “You need to get some rest. Hokage-sama gave me a bottle of medicine for you. I will wait until you are settled and comfortable.”

Sakura knew she wasn’t going to get any clear answers from the Hyuuga and was better off giving up. She opened the door to her small apartment and walked in.

Neji was surprised at how simple it was. There was a black sofa and coffee table, a wooden table and chairs off to the side by the kitchen, and a dark hallway no doubt leading to the bathroom and bedroom. The walls were a light shade of blue, reflecting the light, but aside from the color, were bare.

“Why don’t you go lie down. I will prepare your medicine for you,” Neji suggested.

“Neji, you’ve done more than enough for me in one day. I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself from here on, thank you,” Sakura replied curtly, turning her back to him.

She tossed her shuriken pouch and kunai leg holster on the table and pulled the hitai-ate from her hair. Wordlessly, she walked down the hall, flipping a light on in a room at the end of the hall.

Neji walked into the kitchen and started a small flame on her stove to heat up the medication, which Tsunade told him should be served warm. Long minutes passed before the clear liquid began to bubble.

Sakura’s footsteps alerted him to her presence. “What are you still doing here?” she asked, clearly surprised.

“You should be lying down,” Neji replied simply.

“Neji, I told you-“

“I am under direct orders by Hokage-sama and I will not be leaving until you are in bed, medicated and sound asleep. I am authorized to use force if I need to, Sakura, so I suggest you do not argue further.”

Sakura’s eyes flared. She was clearly no happy about this arrangement. “Tsunade-shishou is going to get it,” she said angrily, storming from the room.

Neji poured the liquid into a glass he’d found and walked down the hall. The door was widely ajar and he stepped in.

Sakura was in the corner, her back to the door, not a stitch of clothing on her porcelain body, a large orange shirt held above her head. Neji, caught off guard, could only stare.

She pulled the shirt, which clashed horribly with her hair, over her head and turned around. ‘I could have sworn someone was there…’ she thought.

Neji knocked lightly before entering the room. “Your medicine is ready,” he said simply.

Sakura sighed deeply, realizing that Neji was not going anywhere. She climbed under the sheets of her bed and drank down the contents.

Neji looked around the room. He’d always known that a girl’s room was her sanctuary, an expression of herself. He was shocked at how little he saw. The room was a light green with bare walls, the bedspread the color of cherry blossoms. Above her bed was a shelf with three pictures, her and Ino as children on the left, who he assumed were her parents on the right, and in the center, Team Seven. Kakashi behind, Naruto and Sasuke with Sakura in between them. The glass on the picture was dirty. It had been picked up often.

“Are you really planning on staying here, just watching me, until I fall asleep?” she asked quietly.

“Hn.” Sakura’s breath caught in her throat; she looked over at him abruptly. It was just Neji, looking at her curiously. ‘Stop being stupid,’ she chided herself.

“Well you know I won’t be able to fall asleep with you just staring at me. If you insist on staying until I’m asleep, at least go find something to do so you’re not just leering.”

‘Leering?’ Neji thought to himself. Interesting word choice. Sakura slipped further between the sheets until she was flat on her back, staring up at the ceiling.

The shades of pink from her hair, the orange of the shirt and the pink of her coverlet clashed in an almost painful way, and yet she still looked beautiful.

“Naruto?” he said casually.

“What?”

“Is that shirt Naruto’s? It looks too big and I’ve never seen you wear such a color before.”

“Yes, it is. We were on a mission a few months ago and I got really cold. He lent it to me.” Her eyelids started to grow heavy and she hated herself for it. She wanted to fight until she knew Neji was gone and could sleep peacefully.

Neji could see the medication kicking in, making her tired. She was fighting it, and he knew full well why, but he wasn’t going anywhere.

Long moments passed. “Neji…” she asked, her eyelids struggling to stay open, “why are you here?”

“I want to help you,” he said, his pale eyes watching her closely, before whispering “forget.”

* * * * *

Sakura was asleep. That much was certain. He could tell from her even breathing, and Byakugan didn’t lie. Neji dared to reach out and stroke her cheek. She was soft, warm. She turned her face into his palm.

Something in Neji stirred. He wanted her. He wanted to heal her, to mend her broken heart.

He turned his rational side off, knowing what he was doing was wrong, but knowing he needed to release her. He ran his hand from her cheek down her neck, over her chest, running his fingertips lightly over the fabric of the shirt. He could feel her perfect breasts, small but firm, tracing circles around them, outwards going in. Her nipples hardened at the contact.

He trailed his hands down further, past the large shirt, running his fingertips over her legs, making her twitch slightly. He stopped, his breath caught, checking to see if she’d awakened. No. Her body just adjusted to a new position.

His hand traced up her leg to her center. He knew she was wearing nothing but the shirt which granted him access without having to remove any complicated garments.

He found her clit and began rubbing lightly, very slow motions at first. Sakura’s breath hitched slightly, but she still did not awaken. Neji ran his hands up and down her slit, feeling her wetness on his fingers. He could feel his own arousal heightening, but this was not about him, it was about her. Studying Sakura’s face quite carefully, he gently inserted a finger into her opening, slowly pushing in and out, before inserting another, continuing to pump her very gently. Sakura’s hips bucked slightly, trying to seek out his fingers, still asleep.

He continued to assail her with his fingers, seeing her body react of its own accord. Her breathing was no longer steady and rhythmic but staggered, although she still had not awakened. Neji could feel her climax building around his fingers, could see her body begin to react differently to his ministrations. He leaned down and kissed her as he could feel her contract around his fingers. Her breath was short; he could feel her heart racing.

He pulled his hand away from her, pulled back from the kiss and looked at her.

Sakura’s eyes slowly began to open, making out only white-lavender eyes surrounded by darkness. “Neji?” she whispered in surprised delirium.

But no one was there.

* * * * *