Chapter 1: Arrangments

"No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader. No surprise in the writer, no surprise in the reader."

-Robert Frost

The young kunoichi sat up in her futon. With eyes adjusted to the dim light of her room, she stared blankly into nothing. Her mind was traveling back to her last mission: Bringing back the sole survivor of his clan – or so they thought at the time - Uchiha Sasuke. Dead or alive, the council would have cared less.

Of course, that was years ago. The pinkette had recently turned 18, and it just so turned out that their mission was a success. The Uchiha had been brought back – alive.

Flashing back to the unease of the memory, the girl recalled the night in which it happened. The things that occurred seemed to have no reason behind it. She was ordered to do something and she planned to complete her task.

Sakura knew little of the details involving the whole thing. Meeting the man she vowed to save, she planned to kill him. No emotions were conflicting at that moment. He had brought so much pain to the place he had called home – and for that, he must be brought to justice.

The Uchiha was continuing with his plans to seek vengeance for his clan and brother after learning the truth about the Uchiha Massacre. Danzou and the elders must be eliminated.

Team Seven had met up with Taka about ten miles outside the gates of Konoha. They had quickly learned that Danzou had been murdered and that Akatsuki as a whole was going after the elders. Naruto and Sasuke fought a bloody, heartbreaking battle. It was something Sakura did not like to remember, though it was too vivid to be evaded.

The blonde had won, carrying the shunned body of his best friend back through the walls of the Hidden Leaf Village. The rest of Taka was dealt with accordingly. Sakura had fought its only female member, Karin. The fight itself was near to that of Naruto and Sasuke's. In the end, the redheaded girl was left with an ANBU to deal with. They went through the simple process of interrogating her about Orochimaru and what not.

The rest of Taka went through the process similarly as that of Karin's. After admitting defeat, they were interrogated and were kept just in case they held useful talents that could have benefitted the village.

It was just that, after bringing him back, the confound girl did not know what to expect. She didn't know what do, what to say, or how to act. But one thing was for certain. She knew not to assume all her encounters with him to be pleasant. She knew that the love and sacrifice she gave to him would never be given back. She knew that well enough to not let her heart get broken yet again.

Sakura was now a strong, independent woman. She was no longer the love sick girl that Sasuke remembered on the night he left. She no longer needed him. For all she knew, he barely acknowledged her and so, she would treat him the same. She had given up so much for him, yet he never really appreciated what she had to offer. Why should she bother? And if that were to be a fact, then she wouldn't mind. Now, she could care less. She had her friends. Naruto, Ino, Hinata, Tenten, and everyone else. Everything and everyone she needed. If he ever wanted to be her friend, all he had to do was be open to her as she was to him. But she wasn't going to force him into her life.

"Hey Sakura!" Hinata called as she waved to the pinkette. The heiress is much more energetic these days. She rarely stuttered, and spoke with ease. But her timid personality did not completely vanish. It could be said that she had her moments.

She had been standing with Tenten and Ino outside the hospital, waiting for Sakura to get out of work. The medic-nin walked over to her friends, casually. It was nearly eleven in the morning, even with her work keeping her busy, she didn't feel completely awake.

Her life was rather normal. Not too exciting, even with her title of jounin or Hokage's apprentice. Nowadays, she had almost nothing to lose.

As she reached them, she said a simple, "Hey", and sluggishly rubbed the side of her forearm. The girls took their turns greeting her and then started their daily routine of gossip. After their little conversation, Ino's stomach growled repulsively.

"Let's go grab some lunch, I'm hungry!" Ino exclaimed boisterously. The blonde could honestly say her love life was going much better than that of her friends. She had a lazy ass boyfriend who loved her dearly.

"Of course you're hungry Ino-pig." Sakura commented playfully.

"At least I can diet. There's not much you can do about that forehead of yours, huh Sakura?" Ino countered.

"That's if you're willing to. Ino-pig here is just too obsessed with eating. It's just not possible for her to diet." Sakura replied.

Light laughter came from the group when suddenly they cut themselves short. The sight of Shikimaru running stopped them on their tracks. The Nara clansman never ran. It'd simply be too troublesome.

At first, it was funny because the he turned to give Ino a quick kiss before delivering his high prioritymessage. But the humor didn't last long. Shikimaru turned his attention to the Hyuga, his face full on serious. "Hinata-chan, Tsunade-kage has given me strict orders to deliver this to you myself. It's urgent, she said."

He handed her a small scroll in which she opened, hastily. Her pale eyes scanned the paper, and before anyone could utter a word, she burst into tears. Her hand that was holding the paper began to quiver. Tenten quickly came by her side, giving her a hug, not asking for an explanation, but getting one nonetheless. The timid girl tried best to calm herself, but her body had been shaking violently. She opened her mouth, by no words were to avail.

Hinata handed Tenten the scroll, knowing that it would be no good if she had tried to hide it. Shikimaru just stood there; nearly expressionless if not for his sincere concern for someone he considered a lasting teammate. He eyed the girls uneasily, but thanked God he didn't know what had been written in the scroll. He had been given orders to hand the message to Hyuga Hinata, and he had done it.

Tenten's eyes broadened has she neared the end of the message. She tightened her grasp against it, before loosening it, and handing it to Sakura who's expression was questioning. The weapon mistress signaled her to not ask aloud and just read it.

As her friend read the scroll, Ino peered her baby blue eyes over her shoulder, scanning the parchment. She had Shikimaru's arms around her waist, steadying her for she had almost been as bad as Hinata with balance. A few seconds passed, when she signaled him to leave with a light kiss.

"Hinata, wasn't you who told me you weren't going to cry?" The blonde was the first to try calming the hysterical heiress by speaking. Stupid, goddamn scroll. "I know you're strong. You're strong enough for anything that comes your way. You always have been."

"She's right." Sakura agreed, closing the scroll slowly. And then deciding to take her chances on semi-changing the subject, she proposed an idea, "…How about we go out to sushi? We'll work something up."

"We're going to your favorite restaurant." Tenten added, taking the scroll from Sakura and handing it back to Hinata.

Everyone forced a smile, knowing it was going to do little in making a difference.

"Would you like some sake with that, ladies?" the waitress asked.

Tenten looked at the girls' gloominess before telling the waitress, "Four, please." She was the oldest out of the group of friends. For her, life was going pretty well. Her friends was all she needed. Only once or twice did she think of having a spouse. But soon after the thought, she would dismiss it.

Hinata looked down at the scroll that was in her hands. Her feelings consisted of sadness and anger. Maybe despair and infuriation would better fit it, although that would still be an understatement. The letter wrote:

Hyuga Hinata,

According to a will and agreement document recently found, you are to be fulfilling an arranged marriage. There are no exceptions whatsoever. You will fulfill your duty as heiress of the Hyuga clan's main house. Failures to fulfill such duties are going to conclude in severe punishments, although we would not want to go that far. Please meet with the council today at dusk. There, you will be more thoroughly informed of the marriage.

Sincerely,

The council & Hyuga main house

The group ate their first few pieces of sushi in silence. Not wanting the awkward silence to continue, Tenten asked Hinata if she had any idea what the letter was about. Okay, maybe that wasn't the best subject to talk about at the moment, but she couldn't just abruptly change the subject. The girls ate the pieces of sushi with feelings of discomfort. When Hinata shook her head, Ino spoke up.

"Well...just calm down first. We'll figure this out one way or another."

She took another bite of sushi.

"Yeah. I'll go talk to Tsunade if you want me to. I'll do whatever it takes to help you," said Sakura.

She sipped a little of the sake, waiting for Hinata to reply.

"Would you really?" Hinata directed to Sakura, slowly.

"Of course! Now let's just relax a bit. I'll go see Lady Tsunade right before you see the council. Ino and Tenten, if you don't mind, would you just go over the laws of Konoha briefly? Then, once I come back from seeing the Hokage, we'll try to find a loophole."

She looked up at the girls who were taking mental notes on what she had said, already beginning to scheme as well.

"Okay," said Ino. "We'll meet at my flower shop. Hinata, come see us as soon as you're ready."

Hinata nodded and took a sip of sake. She smiled at her friends and thought, It's okay. They'll help me through this. They're my friends and I can depend on them.

"Check please!" called Tenten.

Ino slid the shoji slide-door and the four kunoichis walked out of the sushi restaurant only to be greeted by the both worried and irritated Uzumaki Naruto, and Hyuga Neji.

"Hinata-chan!" he exclaimed, "What happened? Shikamaru told us we should come see you..."

His expression was filled with worry. Hinata couldn't hold back her tears. Naruto, instinctively, wrapped his arms around her. Hinata rested her head on his chest and sobbed. Neji, on the other hand, stared at her motionlessly before turning his head towards his cousin's friends, silently demanding an explanation. Tenten, who figured this out quickly, began to explain. Her eyes would not meet his, as she went through the details of the story. When she finally looked up at him, she found his body tense with anger. Apparently, it seemed as though the Hyuga knew something about this. He silently left without a word.

"Hey Sasuke!"

Shikamaru walked towards the unconcerned Uchiha.

"Here. This letter's for you. I don't see why she made me deliver it instead of some genin." He muttered incoherently.

He handed the scroll to Sasuke.

"How troublesome..."

"Hn," was the curt Uchiha's reply.

"Alright then. I'll see you around."

As soon as Shikamaru left, Sasuke opened the scroll and began to read:

Uchiha Sasuke,

According to a will and agreement document recently found, you are to be fulfilling an arranged marriage. There are no exceptions whatsoever. You will fulfill your duty as the last remainder of the Uchiha clan. Failures to fulfill such duties are going to conclude in severe punishments, although we would not want to go that far. Please meet with the council today at dusk. There, you will be more thoroughly informed of the marriage.

Sincerely,

The council & Hyuga main house

Hyuga? Why was the Hyuga clan involved in this? Questions filled his mind as he walked towards the Uchiha Manor.

Chapter 2: For once

Hinata's about to meet her future husband-whoever that might be... And Sakura, Ino, and Tenten are trying to help her get out of this situation. Neji is also trying to help. As is Naruto.

"There are many things that we would throw away if we were not afraid that others might pick them up."

-Oscar Wilde

"Mom, I'm home!" Ino called out to her mom as they approached the register of the flower shop. "Tenten's here too and Sakura is coming over later. They're helping me with some stuff."

"Alright," she said as she walked towards them. "I'm going to deliver some orders. The shop closes in about an hour."

And with that she left, carrying a basket full of bouquets. The strong scent of the fresh flowers filled the room. As soon as her mother left, Ino bent down under the counter to grab a huge, dusty book. It looked as if it hadn't been touched for over a hundred years.

"Alright, this is the Konoha law book. It includes every law that has been updated until today...Literally."

She stared at it for a moment.

"Lady Tsunade gave it to me. It updates itself with some jutsu. As soon as a law is approved, the book adds it itself."

She handed it to Tenten. Tenten reached into her pocket and pulled out a small, light blue cloth and began to dust the old brown book off.

"Stay here. I'll go grab a notebook and pen."

Ino left the room and went to her mom's office. The room was about the size of a closet. It had few sticky notes hanging around with orders and dates. She went over to the small wooden desk and opened the drawer, grabbed an unused notebook and two black ballpoint pens and headed back to Tenten. When she came back, Tenten was still trying to clean the book. She was flipping open the pages and shaking the book to get the dust out. Her expression was almost blank, with the slightest hint of triumph. You probably wouldn't have noticed, but Ino somehow pinpointed it. Knowing her almost as long as she knew Sakura, Ino could read their expressions almost perfectly.

"Hmm…" said Tenten, thoughtfully. "In Hinata's letter, it says that the document was recently found. It doesn't necessarily mean it was written recently, right?"

She smirked.

"What are you getting at?" the blonde asked.

She took the notebook, flipped it to the first page, and opened the cap of her pen.

"Here," she said, handing Ino back the book. "Look up the section of Marriage and Family."

Ino flipped through the pages of the book, and handed Tenten the notebook and pen.

"All it says is that Konoha forbids arranged marriage," Ino said confused.

But before Tenten could explain, the blonde read another sentence.

"Unless it's for the better."

"Exactly. Right now, I can't see how Hinata's arranged marriage is for the better, but maybe there might be a flaw. Maybe the document isn't updated."

She paused.

"I mean, a lot of things have changed in the past couple years, wouldn't you agree Ino?"

She grinned. The blonde nodded, but was still somewhat puzzled at what Tenten was getting at.

"But Tsunade-sama! You can't just let this happen!" Sakura insisted as she began to stand up from her seat.

"I'm sorry, Sakura. But this i something I have no control over. I am equal to the council, not above it. So when two branches do not agree, they cancel each other out. And when that happens, the law remains as is."

She shifted in her seat. Tsunade looked down at her desk filled with papers and work she had yet to finish because she had no free time. Yet, she seemed to have enough free time when it came to talking with Sakura. The girl reminded Tsunade of her younger self. When she saw Sakura, it brought her back to her peaceful past.

There must have been a moment of silence because when the Hokage snapped back into reality, Sakura was countering Tsunade's last statement.

"Konoha's law forbids arranged marriages!" Sakura cried, confused.

"With one exception…"

Tsunade bit her lip and adjusted herself in her chair.

"Unless, the arranged marriage is to prevent wars and… is for the better-"

The blonde woman was not at ease to see Sakura outraged like this, but hid her feelings of concern for the young medic. Instead, she replaced her feelings with a stoic expression.

"But, Hinata is absolutely devastated! I don't see that as 'for the better.' Being depressed is not better than anything. And besides, you could always convince the council."

Her voice lowered slightly.

"And I promised her I'd do whatever it takes…"

Sakura wasn't sure why, but she was on the verge of crying. This wasn't even her problem, yet she felt as if she were in Hinata's place. The poor heiress was constantly under the surveillance of her father, performing every one of her duties without the slightest bit of leeway. Sakura could only imagine being caged that way.

"Sakura, I know how you must feel. The person she is arranged to marry is not easy for you accept. Is there another reason, other than Hinata's sake?"

Tsunade regretted it as soon as the words came out. And maybe this was not the way she wanted them to come out, but she could not think of any other way at the moment. But, either way, it was hard to believe that her perfectly well mannered student would be talking to her this way in the first place…Or maybe not. Sakura wasn't always the best when it came to keeping her temper under control. That was another thing that reminded the sanin of herself.

"What are you talking about? Why would there be any other reason than helping my friend? What do you mean accept? I don't even know who the guy is!"

Sakura was puzzled and irritated. Her hands slightly formed into fists as she stood in front of the Hokage. Her expression was along the lines of annoyed.

So she does not know yet. I just assumed she had known, and that was why she was so against it. Her true motives were to protect the Hyuga after all. And nothing more…yet.

The Hokage thought about it for the slightest moment.

"I'm sorry Sakura. I just assumed you knew. But it's not my story to tell."

Tsunade was sure that once Sakura knew who the person the Hyuga was to be married to, she would be even more against it. It would be for Hinata's sake and her own as well. The blonde woman walked over to her apprentice and put her hand on her shoulder, a sympathetic look in her amber eyes.

"But I'll see what I can do."

"But Uncle, you know that this is unthinkable! Hinata will kill herself before she marries him! Instead of thinking about the face of the clan, for once, think about your own daughter!"

The younger Hyuga was fuming. His hands were curled into fists, as he kneeled against the tatami floor. He was opposite his uncle, Hiashi, who was completely expressionless. After a short moment of silence, all he could say was, "Neji, you must learn your place. You are not from the main house, which means this does not involve you."

His words came out harsh and cold.

"…Now leave."

He glared, jaws clenched, at the younger Hyuga who sat there without moving an inch.

"Uncle, you know as well as I do how Hinata is feeling about this. She is your daughter, a human being. Shinobi or not she has emotions and feelings."

He gritted his teeth together. Neji stood up, slowly, tones even.

"Keep that in mind the next time you make her go through this much pain."

Hiashi watched as his nephew walked out. Resentment and guilt filled him, but there was nothing he could do. This had to be done in order to keep the face of the Hyuga clan as it was. Surely Hinata would understand. Although he was certain she would never go against his wishes, he knew she would never go through with this if she had a choice.

Instead of thinking about the face of the clan, for once, think about your own daughter!

The words echoed in Hiashi's mind as he stood up to prepare for the meeting with the council.

Neji was on his way to meet Naruto, to ask how it went with Hinata, when he bumped into Uchiha. He didn't know whether the Uchiha already knew about the arranged marriage, so he decided to leave the subject out when he greeted Sasuke.

"Uchiha," he said plainly.

He nodded as a greeting.

"Hyuga," replied Sasuke.

His greeting was almost like a glare, but not necessarily. Like a direct stare with a hint of irritation. Neji couldn't find a reason for the Uchiha to be mad at him. What had he done? The only explanation was the marriage. So he could safely assume that the Uchiha knew.

"Don't hurt her."

Neji was now in front of Sasuke.

"She wouldn't be doing this if she had a choice. For all we know, she doesn't even know what this is about."

Neither do I, thought Sasuke.

"Hn," was all he said though.

Neji walked passed him with mixed feelings.

Damn the Hyuga pride, he thought bitterly. It brings no good.

Neji spotted Naruto walking out from the Ichiraku Ramen. It seemed he had just finished.

"Naruto," Neji said. "How's Hinata?"

His expression was soft – or at least as soft as Hyuga Neji could be.

"Err…" Naruto hesitated. "Well you could say she's been better… We just had ramen though, so she'll be better soon enough."

Naruto grinned. Typical. Ramen was always the cure...

"Hn."

"Well, what's this whole thing about anyway? I didn't want to ask her…"

Naruto waited for Neji's reply. Normally, Neji would have told Naruto to mind his own business, or something like that. But today, it was different. Neji could see that Naruto brought Hinata happiness. And maybe he could help her better cope with her… circumstances if he knew what was going on.

"The Hyuga had a… deal with the Uchiha."

He hesitated slightly.

"At first, the deal was to have a branch member marry an Uchiha, but the branch could not find an 'appropriate' enough bride for the Uchiha. That's why they decided on having the heiress, Hinata, to fulfill the marriage to keep the peace between the two clans…"

Konoha's law forbids arranged marriages, unless it is to prevent war, and is for the better.

Naruto took a moment to register what Neji was saying. Once he finally figured it out he went… nuts.

"WAIT! WHAT? So, the bastards going to marry Hinata?"

Naruto was acting like a child throwing a tantrum. Yes, maybe he could have acted more mature, but then that just wouldn't be Naruto. And if you knew him well enough, you could tell he was being serious.

Hinata was on her way to meet with the council. A tear fell upon her cheek. She quickly wiped it away when she felt the presence of someone behind her. She turned.

"Oh. S-Sasuke."

She looked up at the almost nervous Uchiha.

"Hinata-chan," he answered.

The Uchiha was not in a comfortable position. Was this who he was marrying? No. There were many different possibilities. It didn't have to be her. She could be here for any other reason. It was just a coincidence-her walking in the same direction.

Please don't let it be Hinata.

It wasn't that he didn't like the heiress. It's just that he knew Naruto and Hinata were in love, as obvious as that sounds. And Naruto was his friend. And, she wasn't...his type or something like that.

"A-Are you going to see the Hokage? I-I was just heading to a meeting scheduled to see the council…"

She was just trying to make conversation.

So it was her after all.

He was sure she didn't know who her forced match was going to be yet, so went along with it.

"She wouldn't be doing this if she had a choice. For all we know, she doesn't even know what this is about."

"What for?" he asked as if he didn't already know.

She held back her tears.

"Umm…"

She didn't really want to tell him.

He knew she felt uncomfortable, as he was himself. Then, suddenly, they were saved.

"Hey Hinata!"

It was Sakura. The pink-haired kunoichi whispered something to the heiress, not noticing Sasuke, who was watching them curiously. Hinata nodded and smiled softly.

"Oh. Hi Sasuke," Sakura said once she finally noticed his presence.

She was as casual as can be. No "Oh My Goodness! It's Sasuke!" She didn't care anymore, remember?

"Well, I'll see you later Hinata."

She turned back to Sasuke.

"Bye, Sasuke."

Her tone was friendly, but nearly emotionless at the same time. He nodded, but didn't say anything. He watched as she left, waving at Hinata who was waving back.

Once Sakura completely turned, the heiress quickly walked toward the door of the council meeting room. She took a deep breath before sliding the door open. To her surprise, Sasuke followed her in. She spotted her father, walked over to him, bowed, then knelt beside him. She gave him a pleading look, but changed her expression once her father glared at her. She could read her father's eyes. And right then, it said something like, "This is your duty, you must not go against it."

She turned to face the council members and Sasuke who sat beside one of them. She gave them a confused and sad look. Every single person in the room's expression were stoic and indefinable except hers.

"Now that you are all here," the head council member directed to everyone. "Let's begin."

Chapter 3: Don't care

Demosthenes:

Nothing is easier than self-deceit. For what each man wishes, that he also believes to be true.

"Father, please!" Hinata cried, tears falling upon her soft cheeks.

She looked down to the green grass and the pink cherry blossom petals that had fallen from the trees.

"Silence, Hinata! Enough of your selfishness. You will do this for the sake of the clan. Do you understand?"

Hiashi's words were strong, cold, but yet full of regret.

It felt painful to have your daughter hurt like Hinata was, but this wasn't his fault! Right? If she were to back down now, the clan would be at stake. She had to do this. He had to do it. He had to make sure she did marry the Uchiha. It was the only way. A tense silence fell between them.

"Well? Do you, or don't you understand?"

If it weren't for his pride, he would have said something like, "I'm sorry, I really am, but you have to do this." Something softer for her to endure. At least that would have made Hinata feel she had a sympathetic father. But he didn't, because he was Hyuga Hiashi. And Hyuga Hiashi showed no such emotion. He would not be seen as weak in any way.

"H-hai," Hinata stuttered, wiping away her tears.

"Now, let's go. We don't want to be late for the meeting with the council."

Sakura and Tenten were sent out on a C-ranked mission. The woods just outside of Konoha held a small group of residents who were natives since Konoha itself was built. From time to time, there would be requests for a medic to help the injured or something along those lines. In this case, Sakura was asked to help an old man who broke his leg and arm while laboring. Tenten was just sent to be with her, just in case. Although it was rare, Konoha's ninjas who left the village were sometimes attacked. Most likely by ninjas of the Lightning Village.

Even if there was a truce between the Leaf and Lightning, there was still somewhat of a cold war for letting Sasuke go. Some Lightning ninjas refused to accept the truce and attacked without the Raikage's permission. Furthermore, Sakura and Naruto were even more a likely target since, of course, they were the ones (other than the Hokage herself) who stopped at nothing to make sure Sasuke was let go. Therefore, Konoha always took extra precaution.

As Sakura and Tenten headed back to the village, they were attacked by five Lightning ninjas. They won the brief battle, but were badly injured. Sakura, wearily, carried her severely injured self, and soon to be corpse of Tenten, back to the village hospital, just in time to be healed by Tsunade.

"So you were attacked?"

Tsunade's tone was calm, but Sakura could tell she was worried.

"Yeah, by some Lightning ninjas."

Her voice was even. She looked over to Tenten, who was unconscious.

"I see," Tsunade said. "You two will be able to leave pretty soon. The injuries will heal soon enough."

Sakura looked over at her friend in the neighboring hospital bed. She looked pretty hurt.

"How's Tenten? She doesn't look too good…"

"She'll be here a few days longer than you, but she'll be okay."

Tsunade stood up from her seat beside Tenten.

"She's just tired. You should rest too."

And with that Tsunade left. Just a few seconds after Tsunade left, Naruto and Neji came in.

"SAKURA!"

Naruto rushed over to his friend and gave her a bear hug.

"Shh!"

Sakura pointed to the sleeping Tenten.

"Oh," Naruto whispered. "Sorry."

"Hey Naruto. Neji," she whispered her greetings.

Naruto didn't say anything and Neji just nodded.

"What happened?" Naruto asked as Neji stared at Tenten, but also listened to their conversation, unaware of what he was doing.

"Eh, just got attacked. Nothing we haven't been through though," Sakura said casually.

Neji silently sighed in relief. According to Sakura's explanation, she assured that Tenten was okay.

"Oh, well that's good!"

Naruto smiled, widely, at Sakura who was looking over at Neji. She saw him staring, softly, at Tenten.

Aw, how cute! she thought.

"Hey lets go for a walk, Naruto."

Sakura tried, purposely, to leave the room so Neji could have his, sort of, alone time with Tenten.

"I need some fresh air. The nurses won't mind."

Naruto caught her drift and walked towards the door.

"Sure, let's go."

He winked at Neji, who glared walked out of the hospital room's door but, despite Neji's display of annoyance towards Naruto, he was thankful they left. Because as soon as they were gone, Neji instinctively slipped his hand into Tenten's and smiled, softly, at her.

"Umm…so…"

Sakura was hesitant to ask Naruto about Hinata, but decided she wanted to know how her friend was doing badly enough to ask.

"…Where's Hinata?"

Her expression was soft, but also anxious to how he would respond.

"Another meeting," Naruto said bitterly.

"Oh…"

Sakura couldn't find the right words to say.

"Stupid clan…" he muttered.

His expression was heated. She could tell he was angry. And if he hadn't been able to control the nine-tailed beast, well, then that wouldn't have been a pretty sight.

"…"

Sakura was once again hesitant to talk to Naruto about Hinata, but she felt as if he needed to hear the next thing she had to say.

"Wait, Naruto."

Her hands fidgeted as she went on.

"I know you care, a lot, for Hinata. And I'm positive she cares much for you too…"

She paused, uncertainly.

"That's why I'm sure this isn't her fault. Don't be mad at her."

Sakura could feel the tension between her words and his thoughts. There was a moment of silence before he responded.

"Sakura, I'm not mad at Hinata. I'm just…just mad because of this whole thing!"

His voice was angry, but sad as well.

"I'm mad because…because I can't do anything about it!"

"Naruto…"

Sakura put her hand on his shoulder and, to her surprise, he shook it off.

"Sakura-chan, I don't understand this at all…"

His voice lowered.

"How could you not care?"

She paused to let what he was saying sink in.

"NOT care?"

Sakura was fuming now. How could he say that?Hinata was her friend! She was doing her best to get her out of what was happening.

"Sakura…that's not what I meant…"

"Oh really? Then what did you mean then Naruto?"

Her hands were forming into fists.

"What did you mean by 'how could you not care?'"

"I know you care for Hinata…"

He was cautious about what he said.

"…but what about yourself?"

"What do mean?" Sakura asked, honestly baffled.

"I mean, how come you're not as mad as I am?"

He paused.

"You know that I love Hinata…more than a friend. And, well… that's why I'm mad she's off marrying someone else!"

"I don't understand…"

"She's marrying my best friend!"

He looked up at the confused Sakura, irritated at the fact that he had to spell it out for her.

"Oh my god Sakura! She's marrying Sasuke!"

Sakura felt her heart drop.

"Wh-What?"

She doesn't know yet?

"Yeah, she is marrying him! Don't you care?"

He paused to look at the trembling Sakura.

"…Don't you love him the way I love Hinata?"

He regretted his words, but stood firm.

No! Naruto, why are you doing this to me? I don't love him like that anymore! You know that! I just… don't...

Sakura just couldn't seem to get her thoughts together. The more she said it to herself, the less convincing it became. It was dark out, around eight o'clock, and Naruto could hear the tree leaves rustling above them. He looked passed Sakura to see the various lights that were on in the hospital. It was a long while before the medic took a deep breath and collected herself together again. And once she had, she told him straight forward, "No…Naruto. I don't."

She seemed to have convinced Naruto pretty well. But no, she could not convince herself.

(A few days later)

"Hey Hinata. I know our last plan to try to help didn't work out, but it's not over just yet."

Ino smiled at her friend who was just staring at the ground.

"But… I thought that there must have been something. I mean, this whole thing started out so there would be peace between the two clans right?"

Tenten, who had been released from the hospital a few days prior, was frustrated at the fact that what she thought would be the key to whole thing failed her.

"How is that possible anymore? There's only one clan left. No more peace can be made there," she muttered.

And she was right. Other than Sasuke, the entire Uchiha clan was wiped out. Why did the marriage have to take place?

"Umm…Hinata?" Ino asked quietly. "Does…Sakura know yet?"

The heiress shook her head, but continued to look at the ground.

"Maybe you should tell her," Tenten cautiously suggested.

"I-I don't think so," Hinata stammered. "I don't see how that could help. It will only make matters worse."

"You know she has to find out sooner or later," Ino said.

There was a moment of silence in which they were all so involved in their own thoughts that they forgot they were among each other.

"So, where is Sakura anyways?" Tenten asked. "I told her to meet us here."

They were meeting to go have some tea. Another girl's day out that was needed.

"She's probably just running late. The hospital's pretty busy around this time of year," Ino said.

"Oh, really? Then why aren't you working today Ino?" Tenten inquired, suspiciously.

"Eh, just took the day off to be with my girls."

She smiled innocently. Tenten raised her eyebrow, and smirked playfully.

"I-Ino-chan. How do you believe Sakura-chan will react after I tell her?" Hinata asked, voice uneasy.

"Well, to be honest, I don't know," Ino sighed. "She told me she doesn't have feelings for him anymore, but I highly doubt it. I know her well enough to know that at least she isn't completely over him."

And they all knew who him was, regardless of the fact they hadn't even mentioned his name throughout the whole conversation.

"Yeah, but what if she really doesn't care? You should just tell her," Tenten said. "Don't worry Hinata, you should just tell her. She'll understand. After all, this isn't your fault."

"I-I'm not afraid she'll be angry with me," Hinata said quietly. "I'm just afraid she'll be hurt."

"Just make sure you change your Band-Aid twice daily."

Sakura took off her gloves and tossed them into the trash barrel.

"Okay, you're free to go, Konohamaru, after you sign yourself out at the front desk"

"Thanks Sakura-chan," the young ninja said and walked out.

Sakura took off her medic jacket and took a look at her watch.

"Oh crap, I'm late," she muttered.

She was supposed to meet the girls half an hour ago. She ran by the front desk to tell the nurse she was leaving.

"Bye, I'll be back tomorrow."

"Bye Sakura, I'll see you tomorrow then."

She ran through the automatic sliding doors. She slightly bumped her side into a man who was heading towards the door.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" she said.

She shared a friendly smile, and looked up to see the one and only Uchiha Sasuke. Sakura felt the shock run through her. It was like time froze. The wind blew very slightly, making each of the ninjas' hair blow slightly to influence the awkward moment even further like in those old, sappy, romance movies.

"Sakura."

Every syllable was pronounced clearly.

~Flashback~

"You need to talk to her," Naruto said, voice stern.

"Why?"

Sasuke's tone was unemotional.

"You said, she said it herself. She doesn't care right?"

"Yes. She did, but even I know she doesn't mean it."

He stared directly into Sasuke's eyes.

"Even you know she doesn't mean it. Things have definitely changed within the time you left and came back."

"…"

"You hurt her once. Do you really want to have to do it again?"

~End of Flashback~

Sakura fought back an unexpected tear.

"Hi, Sasuke."

Her tone was casual, but somehow uneven. The Uchiha didn't say anything and just stood there for a moment.

"Um, I have to go, so I guess I'll just see you around."

She walked past him and headed off at a good pace.

"Sakura, wait."

Sasuke's voice was softer somehow. Sakura stopped hesitantly.

What does he want? she wondered to herself.

"I'm sorry," he said.

His words were rushed and his voice uncertain. She turned to him in surprise.

"For what?" she asked, honestly puzzled.

"For…"

He hesitated.

"Hurting you…"

"…"

Hurting me?

"…when I left."

The painful memories of the night he left, and when she tried to stop him, came running back to them both.

He's apologizing to me now?

Sakura fought back a tear when she realized something.

Wait, Uchiha Sasuke apologizing?

It was hard to believe he would apologize to her at all. Sakura stood there, trying to come up with something to say, but it took her the longest second before she said it.

"Sasuke. That was…the past."

She looked up at him, but couldn't seem to make herself make eye contact.

"We were just kids and I admit, I was pretty stupid and like you said, annoying. So, whatever."

He looked at her in half hidden astonishment.

"…"

"But if you're really sorry about something like that, then I guess you could say I forgive you."

She silently took a deep breath.

"So, I guess I'll see you around."

Sasuke stood there, silently, as he watched the pink-haired kunoichi walk away. How much had she changed since he left?

She really doesn't care anymore.

To the Uchiha's surprise, he felt his heart ache slightly at the thought. But as soon as it was there, it was gone.

"We were just kids and, I admit, I was pretty stupid and like you said, annoying. So, whatever...But if you're really sorry about something like that, then I guess you could say I forgive you."

Her words kept replaying in his head over and over.

Chapter 4: Brave?

"Whether you think you can or think you can't - you are right."

~Henry Ford

"Sakura! You're late!" Ino called as she ran towards her. "What took you so long Forehead?"

"Sorry guys," Sakura apologized as she walked towards the girls sitting on the bench. "I lost track of time and the hospital was wicked busy today."

She took a minute to study her friends. Ino was putting her hands on her hips, muttering something incoherent to Tenten, about how Sakura worked too much, and Hinata was staring at the ground, looking a bit nervous.

"What's wrong with you, Hinata?" Sakura inquired, Aside from the fact that you're proceeding with an arranged marriage, she failed to add.

Tenten interrupted Hinata's answer with, "Hey guys, let's go inside."

She walked towards the door of the tea house and slid it halfway open, saying, "I actually want some tea now."

The girls toddled behind Tenten and asked the hostess for a table for four. She led them to their table, and assured them their tea would be there in less than a minute. They thanked her and knelt down on the cushions neatly.

"It's nice to just relax once in a while," Tenten commented.

"Yeah, it's nice to get your mind off all the work," Ino hinted towards Sakura.

"Whatever, I'm here now aren't I?"

Sakura wasn't really mad. She almost enjoyed arguing with Ino. They were like sisters so, sibling rivalry was only normal.

"Here's your tea."

The waitress settled the tray with a unique green and silver tea set in the middle of the table. It had a matchless, floral pattern. The waitress put the cups in front of the girls, and poured the tea in.

"Enjoy" she said, and briskly walked away.

They each took a quick sip of tea.

"Um…" Hinata hesitated as she settled her teacup back onto the table. "S-Sakura," she began, turning her head towards the pink haired kuinoichi. "C-can I ask you something?"

Sakura automatically agreed, "Sure Hinata, what is it?"

It was like Tenten and Ino had disappeared and they were the only two present to hear the conversation that was about to begin. (But, of course, in reality, they were watching intently.)

"A-are you in l-love with S-Sasuke-kun?" Hinata asked, quietly.

Sakura was notexpecting this. It was a straight forward question. The question itself was so simple, yet how could the answer be so hard? She thought for a quick moment.

"No."

Her answer was almost inaudible, but even. It was only a half lie, a lie because she didn't know the answer herself. But not a lie because that's what she wanted to believe. And if you want something enough, it would become true. Sometimes, she thought if she did not love Sasuke, everything would be so much…easier. The silence between all four friends continued with only the sounds of the clanging of the tea sets in the back of the kitchen audible.

"S-Sakura," Hinata stammered, breaking the silence. "… I-I'm betrothed to Sasuke!"

Yes, Sakura had heard the news from Naruto, but hearing it from Hinata again felt like hearing it for the first time all over. But, Sakura knew better than to show her confused emotions. So instead, she let inner Sakura express her perplexed aggravation.

"I know," she said, calmly, to the beyond nervous heiress. "I don't really care. Don't get me wrong Hinata, I really want to do my best to help you out of getting married to someone you don't want, because you are my friend. But the person being Sasuke makes no difference, worse nor better."

What she was saying, she meant. The fact that Sasuke was involved did not alter her feelings towards the arranged marriage whatsoever. Hinata seemed to calm down as she averted from Ino's intent gaze.

"Thank you, Sakura...for understanding…"

"See?" Ino spoke, loudly. "I told you she wouldn't care! And here you were, worried she'd 'get hurt.' Sakura's strong enough not to have one guy to ruin her life, ne?"

A broad smile appeared across her face.

"Wait, when you said 'I know', how'd you find out before Hinata told you?" Tenten posed.

"Naruto told me," Sakura said, quietly, sure that mentioning Naruto would affect Hinata one way or another.

As she expected, Hinata eyes filled with tears and she wiped them away with the sleeve of her shirt before they could fall. They weren't technically 'dating' because Hinata's father forbade it. "Uzumaki Naruto is not fit for an heiress," he had said. But they were couples no doubt, even if it was 'unofficial.' It was just now, with the marriage and everything, that she had no chance of being with Naruto.

"H-How did Naruto-kun find out?"

The words came out so uneven at her effort to not sob. Hinata took a deep breath so she would not cry.

"I don't know," Sakura said, pausing uncertainly. "Most likely from Sasuke though."

There was a quick rerun of their awkward encounter just moments before then. It confused her. She quickly thought of an explanation as to why the prideful Uchiha was apologizing. In the end, she settled with the idea that he was just feeling guilty and he coincidently bumped into her, so he would just apologize to get it over with. It made enough sense. As impassive as Sasuke was, he was still human. All humans had some emotion and guilt seemed to be one of Sasuke's few. To get rid of it, all he had to do was apologize and then move on.

He did it for himself, not for her. It was to ease his own guilt, not to make her suffer less. Because in all honesty, he had no idea she suffered at all until Naruto mentioned it. So before it could really get to him, he would clear of it.

"Enough about Sakura and Hinata," Ino suggested, brightly. "How are things with you and Neji, eh Tenten?"

"What are you talking about? We don't go out," Tenten replied with a grimace.

Hinata smiled, softly. She knew that if you knew Neji well enough, you knew that, despite his outside impassiveness, he was truly a caring person.

"Are you kidding me? When we were at the hospital, you should have seen his face. To be honest, I didn't even think it was possible for Hyuga Neji to be that caring."

Sakura could see Tenten's face redden, but she was glad she was out of the hot spot now. The subject of her and Sasuke had dropped.

"So what is going on between you two?" Ino prompted.

"Nothing is going on between us. Honest."

Tenten was in such denial. She remembered growing conscious on the hospital bed to find Neji's hands slipped into hers. But, before she could say anything, they both had heard the door to the room open and he took his hand back. But, then again, she had tried her best to not think anything of it. It was most likely false hope anyway.

"Fine, you're no fun," Ino said, disappointed, and Hinata and Sakura giggled.

"Oi, Kiba!" Naruto called as he spotted him and Akamaru walking towards them. "Me and Chouji are going to Ichiraku's for some ramen, want to come?"

"Sure."

Kiba didn't always get along with Naruto at first, but then, after all those years, they became pretty good friends.

"Shikamaru, Sasuke, and Neji said they'll try to meet us there if they're not too busy," Chouji told him.

It was like a 'Guys night out' in a way. But, guys didn't have those kinds of terms. They walked towards Ichiraku's to find Shikamaru coming there from the opposite direction.

"Hey guys," he greeted, lazily (It would just be too troublesometo have to say more than that anyway). "Neji and Sasuke say they can't come. Doing something for the Hokage apparently."

They ordered their food and chatted about their missions and whatnot. Then, after a while, they somehow came up with the topic of…girls.

"Kiba, you should ask out Sakura," Chouji commented, randomly.

Akamaru agreed with a bark from behind. Shikamaru chuckled. It was fun to see Inuzuka's face like that: bright red, and embarrassed. He was just regretting he hadn't thought of the idea himself.

"I'll hand it to you Chouji, that's a good idea."

"Oi, Naruto. You don't agree with them too do you?" Kiba pleaded.

"Actually, it's not a bad idea," Naruto pondered, out loud, as he slurped up more ramen.

Sakura needed to be… happier. And mulling over Sasuke wasn't going to help. She was like a sister to him, and he was going to make sure she was happy. Even Naruto knew her I-don't-care act was, well… an act. She needed to just forget that bastard. Akamaru barked twice from behind.

"Not you too, Akamaru, you traitor."

Kiba was embarrassed that they all ganged up on him like that. But, now that he thought of it, asking her out wouldn't be such a bad idea. She was hot, smart, and a pretty good kuinoichi. But, of course, he wasn't going to admit that to anyone.

"I dare you," Naruto said. "You wouldn't back down from a dare, would you Kiba?"

"Fine," he muttered, trying to not seem to excited.

Because to tell the truth, he was glad they dared him. It was like a win win situation. If she said "yes" then great! He got himself a girlfriend. But, if she said "no" he could always blame Naruto, saying it was just a dare.

There was a knock on the door and Tsunade looked up from the mission report she was reading over.

"Come in," she called.

"Hokage-sama," Neji greeted.

Beside him, Sasuke nodded his greeting as they both walked into the room.

"Oh right, I wanted to see you two."

She repositioned herself in her chair, comfortably. She quickly started the subject.

"As you both know, the arranged marriage between you, Uchiha Sasuke, and Hyuga Hinata will be proceeding within about a year."

Sasuke stood there, his expression blank but his body tense. Beside him, Neji stood there, also emotionally impassive. Neither of them said anything as they waited for the Hokage to get to the point.

"Of course, this decision was made before you were born Sasuke. It was originally meant for the peace of the Hyuga and Uchiha clans."

"What do you mean 'originally?' What is it for now?" Neji interrupted.

"Well, I was getting to that," Tsunade went on. "I spoke with Hyuga Hiashi, and the council has decided that if Sasuke is married to Hinata, then war most likely will not break out."

She hesitated before saying the rest.

"War?" Sasuke asked.

He himself did not understand this at all. He went to the meetings, where they discussed the wedding, which he had no idea why he had proceedrf with in the first place. The only reason he hadn't argued against it was because he was still trying to earn back the council's trust. He would wait until it was the right time to protest.

"Yes, war."

Tsunade folded her hands together on top of her desk.

"Lightning, has a pretty strong grudge against Konoha. First, with the Hyuga clan then, with protecting you, Sasuke."

"But I don't see how-" Neji began, but couldn't finish his question.

"Let me finish," she continued. "The council, for one, says that making you two get married will... make the Lightning have a lesser reason to come after Konoha. They have an alliance with Sound, who hate us too, and that won't be good. We can't afford a war right now.

"You see, Hyuga Hinata is an heir, but if you, Uchiha Sasuke married her, then she would become an Uchiha, making Hyuga Hanabi next in line. The Hyuga council itself suggests that Sasuke is a suitable husband for Hinata. And once they find a non-Hyuga husband for Hanabi, the next heir was decided to be…you, Hyuga Neji."

Neji could feel his body react to the shocking news. But he wasn't happy. He was confused if not utterly perplexed.

"How does that stop the war?" he asked, his voice low and even, showing no trace of emotion.

"The Raikage has a daughter…" Tsunade found herself saying, really uncomfortable thinking, Why was she the one to tell them this again? "The council is making a 'pre-truce' with Lightning. If you, Hyuga Neji, heir to the Hyuga clan, marry her, then there will be, supposedly, peace…almost like a binding to secure the trust."

Both Neji and Sasuke felt the tension rise as they let the Hokage's words sink in, trying to make themselves understand. This whole thing was a mess, but neither one of them said anything. This was all coming so fast. Like a rushed plotline in a novel.

"There is a cold war, and many ninjas die one way or another because of it," the Hokage continued, voice stern, but quiet. "It's risky to even leave the village gates. Like, when Sakura and Tenten were sent out on that mission. Neji, you know as well as I do about how badly hurt Tenten was. That's what we're trying to prevent."

Sasuke hadn't known that Sakura was out on a mission, but then again why would he? It was her business. Team seven didn't come back together for another few months, because he was still on "partial probation" as the council called it. Right now, he just felt confused and stressed. He needed to focus on what was going on with this…wedding. Sometimes, he thought that if he hadn't ever left Konoha in the first place, it wouldn't be so…complicated.

Neji was standing in front of the Hokage, trying to piece together everything she said. At first it didn't make sense at all. But then, when she mentioned Tenten and told him that that's what his arranged marriage was going to prevent then he would do it, to protect Tenten at the very least.

"Well, I see you two are obviously going to need to think things over-" It's not like you can do anything about it though-"So for now, you're dismissed."

Neji and Sasuke walked out of the Hokage's office in silence and headed back to their homes to "think things over."

After their tea, Ino went to her mother's flower shop to take over a shift. Tenten went to spar with Lee (since he insisted) and Sakura and Hinata were left wandering the streets of Konoha.

"S-Sakura-san, do you think we could stop by Hokage-sama's office for a moment?" Hinata requested.

"Sure, I'll wait outside," Sakura said. "Then we can go shopping afterwords. Kay?"

"I want you to come with me. T-there's something I want to talk about."

Frankly, Sakura was a little worried. She couldn't think of one reason to why Hinata would want them to meet the Hokage-together that is.

"Sure. But Hinata, what exactly is this about?" she inquired as they headed down the hallway towards the office.

"I-I need your h-help…" Hinata stammered.

But before Sakura could ask with what, they saw two people walking towards them. Those two people turned out to be Hyuga Neji and Uchiha Sasuke.

"Konnichiwa, Hinata-sama. Sakura-san," Neji greeted, politely.

"Hello, Neji-nii-san. Sasuke-kun," Hinata replied.

"Hey Neji. Sasuke."

Sakura did her turn with greetings, as the two men nodded at her. Neji seemed to be looking at Sasuke, waiting for him to utter a greeting. Sasuke, feeling seemingly uncomfortable, gave an awkward, "Hi." He never was a man of words.

"A-Actually, we need to see Hokage-sama, so if you will excuse us."

Hinata brushed passed them, tugging Sakura with her. As they trudged passed him, Sasuke felt a hint of shock run quickly through him. That girl, Hyuga Hinata was going to be his wife.

"Shizune!"

"H-hai!"

"Get me some s-"

There was a knock on the door. Tsunade inwardly scowled. She needed some sake, damn it.

"Come in," she called out. "Shizune, get me some sake."

"Hai," she replied and went towards the door.

As she opened it to step out, Hyuga Hinata and Haruno Sakura stepped in.

"Hello, Shizune-san," they both greeted at the same time.

The woman replied with a casual, "Hello," and excused herself to go after the much needed sake.

"Hyuga Hinata. Sakura. What a pleasant surprise," Tsunade said, casually. "What brings you here today?"

Sakura looked over at Hinata who seemed to be trying to get her thoughts in order before speaking. Sakura decided she would buy her some time to do so.

"Well, Hinata wanted us to speak with you. I am still wondering what this is about."

She smiled lightly at the Hokage.

"H-Hai, Hokage-sama," the young heiress hesitated the longest while before going on. "I wanted Sakura to help me with…the wedding…"

"Oi, Kiba! There she is!" Naruto exclaimed. "Hey she's with…Hinata-chan!"

"N-Naruto-kun," the girl managed as he devoured her in a bear hug.

When he finally let go, he looked down at her.

"Hinata-chan, are you busy tomorrow night?"-When she said no, he beamed-"Okay then! I'll pick you up at 7! It's a double date!"

Hinata had asked him who the other two people would be and Naruto whispered to her the answer. She giggled and looked at Sakura.

"What?" Sakura asked, suspicious.

Kiba cleared his throat and laughed nervously.

"Umm…Sakura, would you like to go with me…on a…date?" he asked, anxiously. "Double date."

She smiled at him.

"Sure, Kiba. I'd loved too."

She felt a little excited too. She never thought much of Kiba. He was cute, but never before had she thought of him and her going out. But now she did, and she felt a little eager. In Naruto's mind there were definitely fireworks going off right then and there. He felt proud of himself for working this up.

The bell at the top of the door rang as someone walked into the Yamanaka Flower shop. Ino looked up from arranging the flowers.

"Oi, Kiba! What brings you into the flower shop this fine day?"

"Er…Hey Ino," he hesitated. "I need some flowers…I'm going on a date tonight."

He rubbed the back of his neck, nervously. He was sure he looked ridiculous right now.

"Oh my god! Really?" she beamed. "Okay, let me see…"

She went through different, already set, bouquets of flowers and, occasionally, asked Kiba for his opinion. Finally, she decided none of them were to her liking, so she ended making a custom made bouquet for Kiba.

"Here, how do you like this?"

It was a bouquet of yellow roses with purple heather surrounding them.

"Thanks," he said as she handed him the bouquet.

"May I ask, Kiba? Who's your date?"

She smiled, suspiciously, at him.

"Sakura," he said, uneasily.

He could see Ino's smile go from ear to ear, which only made him scared she was going to jump him for details.

"Well, in that case…" she said with a smirk. "Your bouquet of flowers comes with a special bonus of tips."

"Tips?"

"Yes, tips."

The blonde girl went on about Sakura's likes, dislikes, and other tips that might help Kiba on his first date. Things he should avoid, that would only piss her off. He was thankful she decided to help him, because he wasn't going to ask. He listened intently and made mental notes, so he wouldn't make a fool of himself.

"Hey Eritaka, you back already?"

Sakura slid off her shoes as she walked towards her brother.

"It sounds like you're trying to get rid of me, sis."

Eritaka was Sakura's brother. He recently got promoted to ANBU, and was five years older than her. A few years back, Sakura's father died on an S ranked mission, and Sakura's mother overdosed on anti depressants, so Eritaka took care of her. Go figure.

"So how was your top secretmission?"

"Good. What've you been up to?"

They had a good sibling relationship. And Eritaka was the protective kind of older brother. He'd kick any kids' ass for messing with his sister.

"Not much," she replied as she walked towards the kitchen and washed her hands under the sink before preparing dinner for him, since she was going to go out.

"That's not what I heard," he said seriously.

"What?"

"Inuzuka Kiba huh?"

"How'd you know about that?"

He had only asked her out yesterday.

"Words get around fast."

Sakura gave him a that's-not-good-enough look.

"Fine, I went over to see Inuzuka Hana, and-"

"Wait, wait, you went to see Inuzuka Hana?"

She smirked.

"Yes, I did," he replied, sternly. "Oh, and actually, don't make me dinner tonight. I'm going out."

He told her and went on through the rest of the story of how he knew Kiba had asked her out:

There was knocking on the door and the two Inuzuka siblings turned.

"I hope I'm not interrupting-" Eritaka said, politely.

"No, no, actually I think you could help Kiba with something," Hana replied, as her little brother scowled at her.

"Sure…"

"Forget what she said okay? You need to talk to her right?" the younger Inuzuka said, almost nervously and stood up from his seat, "I'll see you guys later."

He walked out of the room.

"He's having girl troubles," Hana explained with a smirk on her face.

"Girl troubles?"

"Yeah. Actually, he asked out your sister. He needs some advice. I don't think he knows you're her brother though," she said and laughed.

Eritaka held back a surprised expression.

When Naruto said he'd pick Hinata up, he meant he had to sneak through her window and then they would leave. Or they had to meet up somewhere away from the Hyuga manor. They couldn't afford to be caught together or else they'd both have to suffer the wrath of Hyuga Hiashi. (Especially because Hinata was now betrothed.) After he picked her up, they headed down the streets of Konoha, holding hands.

"It's still early," he said. "I want to show you something."

Naruto led Hinata through the streets until they came to the bridge. It was where team seven usually met up.

"Naruto-kun," Hinata said his name quietly.

"Let's watch the sunset," he whispered to her, and motioned for her to sit next to him, still holding her hand.

"It's beautiful," Hinata commented, and Naruto pulled her closer to his chest.

"Yeah, but not as beautiful as you."

Hinata blushed, and it was almost like a miracle she didn't faint. She rested her head against his chest, as he let go of her hands and wrapped his arms around her.

"I love you, Naruto-kun," she said.

"I love you too," he said and kissed her softly on her lips.

Chapter 5: Family Matters

Call it a clan, call it a network, call it a tribe, call it a family. Whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one.

~Jane Howard

"Eritaka! Can you get that for me?" Sakura called from upstairs at the sound of knocking on the front door. "Tell him, I'll be there in a minute."

The elder Haruno walked over to the door and opened it. Standing there was Inuzuka Kiba.

"Hey," Eritaka greeted, smirking.

Kiba's expression was surprised. He should have figured they were related. Their earlier encounter was a short one, but he should have sensed that he was somewhat like Sakura. Not to mention, they both had the same, startling emerald eyes.

"Hey," he greeted back, his expression awkward. "Um…Is Sakura home?"

"No, she out on a date."-Kiba's face turned red.-"Ha ha, I'm just joking around. She's getting ready. She'll be down in a minute," Eritaka said, and offered Kiba a drink.

"No, thank you," he declined, politely.

He was definitely under the impression that Eritaka was going to beat the living daylights out of him for asking out his sister. But, then again, he was hitting on hissister. So they were even right? Wait. Forget that. Better safe than sorry.

"Hey Kiba!" Sakura greeted, approaching them.

"Hi, Sakura," he returned, uncomfortably, under the gaze of the elder Haruno. "You ready to go?"

"Yup," she replied, brightly. "I'll see you back home tonight around 11, Eritaka."

"Don't be too late," the said brother warned.

"Yeah, yeah. You probably won't even be home by the time I'm back," Sakura muttered as she walked to the door that was being held open by Kiba. "You'll be busy with your own date with Inuzuka Hana right?"

She continued to teased, so only he could hear. Eritaka scowled, but he knew she was right. Sakura walked out the door and waited for Kiba.

"It was nice meeting you," Eritaka told Kiba as the Inuzuka walked out the door.

It was around 11, and Sasuke finally decided to go to sleep. After training with Kakashi and 'over thinking' the marriage and what not, Sasuke decided he should get some rest. It wasn't long befre he drifted into slumber.

Then, he heard a voice. In fact, a very familiar voice that he heard so long ago. Suddenly he was in his kitchen, but as his child self.

"Sasuke! Can you set the table?"-It was his mother. Her voice was that of an angel.-"Your brother and father will be coming home soon!"

He saw his mother taking out the dishes. He ran towards her, meaning to hug her. Oh, how much he had missed his mother. But then, before he touched her, his surroundings changed and there, he saw Danzou and the elders. They were in a rather small room, seated around a wooden table. There came a knocking and, before Danzou and the elders, stood Uchiha Itatchi. He bore a stoic expression on a face of a thirteen year old.

"Uchiha Itatchi," Danzou began. "Do you understand your mission?"

"Yes," he said, monotonously.

"You are to eliminate the Uchiha clan."

Once again, his surroundings changed and he was as his child self again. He was running through the Uchiha neighborhood. He witnessed the lifeless bodies of those he held dear. He began to cry as he appeared before his mother and father. They were dead. They weren't coming back. He saw his brother drawing near. But, something about this memory had changed.

"Why?" Sasuke cried.

Itatchi's expression was filled with regret. Guilt. No such emotion was shown on the real night Sasuke had witnessed the murder of his clan.

Before Sasuke could see what his brother was about to say, he woke up. His body was shaking. Slowly, he slipped off his blanket and rolled off his bed. He needed to visit his parents. Now.

"Thanks Kiba. I had a really good time tonight," Sakura told him, sincerely.

"Yeah, no problem."

The Inuzuka seemed to hesitate and Sakura knew where the uncertainty came from. He wanted to kiss her, but she was not mentally prepared. So instead, she gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.

"Goodnight, Kiba," she said, and closed the door behind her.

"Goodnight," he replied, but only to a closed door.

Maybe it was just his conscious or maybe he just needed to take a walk. Either way, Sasuke had decided to visit his parent's grave. To many people, it would seem just down right creepy to visit a graveyard at around midnight. But, to Sasuke, it was a good time for peace. There was no one to see him at his worse. His emotionless mask could be taken off and he could just sit there and tell his parents what was on his mind. No criticism; no one to tell him what he was doing wrong or right.

"Okaasan, Otousan," Sasuke breathed as he faced the gravestone of his parents. "I wanted to tell you…I'm getting married…It's an arranged marriage. But, you should know as well as I do, if not more, about it. Was it not arranged before I was born?"

He inquired this, though he knew he was to receive no answer.

Sakura didn't know what made her do it, but she did. Right now, she was opening up her mother's closet. All of her parent's things were left untouched ever since the day they died. She began to go through a pile of her mother's music. She had played the piano, and when Sakura was younger, she used to listen to her mother play. Her Okaasan would teach her, but as she grew older, and became a ninja, spare time was not so easy to come by.

She flipped through some of the pages of the music and found a title of one that got her attention.My Cherry Blossom,it read. Under the title was the date it was written: June 13 (The day of our wedding). Sakura stared at the stained paper for a moment when she realized today was June 13! It was her parent's anniversary and she had forgotten! Each year, after her parent's had died, she would go and visit their grave and wish them a happy anniversary. But this year, she had forgotten.

She quickly took a look at her watch. It was around 11:40. She still had time. She would not miss it if she hurried. She ran towards her door and collided with her brother who was on his way home.

"Why are you in such a hurry?" he inquired as she tried to straighten herself up.

"It's mom and dad's anniversary," she said, quietly. "I'm going to visit them."

"Oh."-He had forgotten as well.-"I'll go with you then."

"I don't love her," he muttered to the two gravestones. "But, what can I do?"

Uchiha Sasuke didn't know the meaning 'love'. Since the death of his parents and clan, 'love' had lost all its meaning to him.

"Mom, Dad," she began. "I'm so sorry I forgot today."She apologized.

Eritaka stared at her and then shifted his gaze to his parents' gravestones.

"Eritaka's here with me too," she began to cry. "I miss you both so much."

Her brother pulled her into a warm hug as she sobbed. They stayed like that for 15 minutes, if not longer.

"We should go home," he told her after a while.

Eritaka was not one to show his emotions. But, for those he cared about, he was decent enough to know how to comfort.

"No, you go home," she replied. "I want to stay just a little longer."

Sakura knew her brother loved their parents too, just not the way she did. He cared for them, but was never dependent on them. He never needed a shoulder to cry on, even if they were always ready for him to.

"But-"

He was about to disapprove of her request. Being out alone at night was dangerous.

"Don't worry about me. I'm a ninja remember?"

Her crying had stopped and a sad smile appeared on her face.

"I-I want to talk to them."

"Sakura, you can't. They're dead. You can't hear them anymore," he told her, soothingly.

"I know," she replied, her eyes not leaving the gravestone. "I can't hear themanymore, but they can hear me."

Eritaka, not wanting to argue any longer, agreed, "Okay, but if you're not back in half an hour, I'm coming back to get you."

"Thanks."

"Her name's Hyuga Hinata," he informed them. "You know my friend Naruto right?"

He waited, as if for an answer, but then continued once silence responded.

"Well, they're in love…I think."

He stared into the bright, star-filled sky.

"But, I'm not sure because I don't know what it feels like."

Oh, how vulnerable he was now.

"I'm doing pretty well, if you're wondering. I'm a jounin now and Eritaka just got promoted to ANBU."

She lifted her head and gazed up at the full moon.

"I bet you're proud. And you remember Naruto? Well, he and I went to bring Sasuke back…We did… Oh and my friend Hinata is getting married! It's an arranged marriage though. I don't think I could even imagine being in her place right now. She and Naruto are in love. It's sad, really."

She had spared her parents the detail that the arranged marriage was to be with Sasuke. It was either that, or she could not even say the words. Sakura continued to talk to the empty air going on one by one about her friends, particularly, ones her parents had met. She told them about Tsunade and her promotion and things like that.

Sasuke stood up from where he was sitting and dusted himself off.

"Goodnight, Okaasan. Otousan," he told them and began to walk home.

Sakura suddenly recalled a memory back when she was in an almost-depression years after Sasuke had left and her mother had tried to talk to her.

"Honey, what's wrong?" the elder Haruno, asked her daughter. "Is it- Is it Sasuke?"

"No, Mom," Sakura lied through her teeth, her expression impassive.

"Okay, then. If you need anything, I'll be here."

By then her Okaasan had left. She could hear her retreating footsteps down the stairs. Sakura could hear the voices of her parents downstairs.

"She told me 'no', but it's no doubt about him," she heard her mother say. "She loves him and she thinks he's gone."

Well heis gone, Sakura thought bitterly.

"How could you love someone who left you?"

It was her father this time.

"I don't know," her mother's voice faltered. "But, I know if you left me, I wouldn't be able to live".

Only now did Sakura know what her mother said was literal. She had died, because he had left her. The pink haired girl continued to make conversation (not that she was receiving any reply) about her life and friends. She purposely left out a certain someone, as she talked. She could hear her mother's voice.

"What about Sasuke?" she asked.

Sakura sighed at her worthless imagination, but decided she would answer her mother anyway.

"I don't love him anymore. And he's getting married to Hinata," she sighed. "I care for him…as a friend. A teammate. I used to really love him…But, I knew Sasuke would never return the same feelings so I've learned to let it go."

Sasuke walked through the cemetery after visiting his parents. All there was was the rustling of the leaves and the clear night sky to light up the path home…Or so he thought. Sasuke suddenly felt the presence of someone. Then he heard her.

"I don't love him anymore. And he's getting married to Hinata," she sighed. "I care for him…as a friend. A teammate. I used to really love him…But I knew Sasuke would never return the same feelings so I've learned to let it go."

Hearing the mention of his name...he was startled. Sakura?He felt himself walk towards her. Curiosity was all it took.

"I miss you," she told them, quietly.

Suddenly, Sakura felt the presence of someone drawing near. She stood up, alert, as she pulled out a kunai.

"Who's there?" she called out.

If she was scared or nervous, she did not show it. Sasuke knew it was Sakura. What the hell was she doing here in the middle of the night? He didn't want to scare her so he answered her question.

"Sasuke."

His voice rang in her ears. Sasuke? What was he doing here?

"Sasuke?"

"Aa."

"Wh-what are you doing here?" she questioned as he walked up to her.

"I could ask you the same."

She scoffed, "Isn't obvious? I'm visiting my parents."

Who the hell would visit there dead parents in the middle of the night? Oh right…him. Sasuke didn't know what to say to her answer.

"Hn," he managed.

Oh, how she hated his one syllable replies.

"So are you going to tell me why you're here?"

"The same reason you are," he told her, coldly.

"Oh…"

Hisdead parents who had been murdered by their own child, Uchiha Itachi: Sasuke's older brother, who was sent by an order to eliminate his own clan – his own family. There was silence between them for a moment. Then he heard her sigh, "So, I guess I should go home now."

She put the kunai back into her weapons pocket.

"Night, Sasuke," she added as she turned to leave.

"I'll walk you home," he told her.

It was barely an offer, more like a fact.

"Oh…okay."

Sakura was once again in an awkward position. She was definitely not used to Sasuke being like this. Let alone to her. Even if the average person did not notice, she did. He was softer somehow…

"Thanks for walking me home," she told him, and turned the doorknob to her house. "Goodnight."

"Hn."

She shut the door behind her. She assumed that Eritaka was asleep and so she would wake him up to assure him she was home. She started up the stairs when she heard him call her name.

"Sakura, what the hell were you doing?"

"Uh, I was going to go upstairs to wake you up and tell you I was home?"

Her brother was kneeling on the cushion beside the coffee table, with a small cup of tea.

"Tea before bed?" she asked.

"Decaffeinated," he explained, and then he realized she had changed the subject. "Stop trying to change the subject… I thought you were coming back from visiting Mom and Dad."

"I was."

"Then what the hell was hedoing walking you home?"

"Oh that…"

"Sakura! I'm serious!" Her brother was frowning deeply.

"If he laid a finger on you-"

"Kami! Calm down Eritaka!" Her expression matched his.

"I was joking! I was visiting Mom and Dad! He just offered to walk me home!"

"Oh really?" her brother posed. "He just happened to be wandering the cemetery in the middle of the night-"

"No, he wasn't wandering the cemetery in the middle of the night. He was visiting his dead parents too."

"Coincidence then?" he asked, sarcastically.

"Once hundred percent," she assured.

It was around five in the morning and Eritaka was ordered to go on an urgent mission. He got dressed and decided to leave a note on Sakura's nightstand telling her he was leaving. He cracked the door of her room open, and it creaked. Apparently, Sakura heard this and propped up on her elbows.

"Eritaka?" she mumbled, half asleep.

"Yeah," he assured her.

"Mission?" she guessed when she saw him in his full uniform and holding his ANBU mask.

"Yeah," he confirmed. "You can go back to sleep, I'll be back."

"You better be," she told him, seriously.

She let her head fall back against her pillow. Eritaka walked towards his younger sister, and kissed her on the forehead.

"I promise."

After their little double date last night, Naruto had been brave enough to walk Hinata all the way to her doorstep and kiss her goodnight. Sometimes, Naruto's enthusiasm and bravery got in the way of his better judgment. They both could have easily been caught and both would have had to face serious consequences.

"Hiashi-sama," Neji greeted, bowing before the clan head. "You summoned me?"

"Ah, Neji."

The older Hyuga took a sip of his early morning jasmine tea.

"I have a task for you," he said, seriously.

Neji nodded as he waited for his uncle to explain what his task was.

"I need you to look after Hinata," he said, quietly, and then continued. "Now, I know that was already your job, but there is a little more to it."

There was no need to explain as to why that was already Neji's job. As a member of the Hyuga branch, he was destined to serve the main house and only the main house. Neji remained silent, wondering what 'a little more to it' could possibly mean.

"Late last night, I caught Uzumaki Naruto and her together," Hiashi went on.

He saw Neji slightly shift uncomfortably, in his seat.

"I and the rest of the clan elders strongly disapprove of this. But our words do not to seem to be getting through to her. I need you to enforce the rules."

"The rules are yet to be explained to me, Hiashi-sama," Neji said, respectfully.

"Of course."

He took another sip of tea.

"She will only leave the Hyuga property for training and tasks sent to her by Tsunade-sama herself. If she is to leave otherwise, you are to accompany her. "

Neji was mentally unwilling to do so, but there was nothing he could do.

"Hai," he answered.

"Good," his uncle said. "You are dismissed."

Neji stood up and turned to leave.

"Neji, wait," Hiashi called him again, and the prodigy halted. "If she is to see Naruto, it is strictly for training purposes only…make sure you are with her at all times. And, if suitable for the situation, her having a female companion along would be highly recommended."

Neji knew what this meant. Hiashi did not want the council to raise suspicion of her having another affair. That would jeopardize everything. Hiashi could have easily told Neji to not let Hinata see Naruto at all, but he didn't.

"Hai, Hiashi-sama."

And with that, Neji turned to leave. Hiashi knew he could trust Neji with the task and information. He knew perfectly well that if he had caught Hinata and Naruto once, chances were that they would be caught again…And Kami forbid the person to see it is anyone other than Hiashi himself. He didn't want to see his daughter hurt more than she already was. That was why he did not tell anyone he had caught them. (Of course, other than Neji.) If the council ever found out, then she might as well become a branch member – a caged bird. They would go as far as hiring an ANBU to keep an eye on her for 24/7.

They would stop at nothing to make sure everything went right, and nothing went wrong. The Hyuga council always had their clan pride as their first priority. And if anything were to even suggest the slightest hint of ruining it, they would take action immediately. Part of their pride was their well known shinobi name in Konoha and all throughout the shinobi world itself. It's loyalty to the Leaf Village was stronger than any other clan had ever been. As many traditions as they had, strings could always be pulled once Konoha was involved, because Konoha itself was the reason for their traditions.

A good example would be Hinata's case. The elders, advisers to the Hokage had insisted on using the Hyuga clan as the "peace offering" between the Leaf and Lightning. Traditionally, a Hyuga heiress would remain the heiress whether or not she got married. But, times had changed abruptly, and circumstances would alter the traditions. So now, particularly for this situation, an heiress was to give up her position once she got married. The council had suggested the heiresses to give up their positions. They would go down the line of heirs until the heir was a male. In which case was Neji.

"Hinata! Hinata-nee-chan!" the second heiress panted as she ran towards her older sister's bedroom door.

"Hanabi! What's going on?" Hinata asked, alarmed as her younger sister barged into her room.

"Where's Neji-nii-san?" she asked, breathless.

"He should be training…" the older Hyuga answered, standing up. "Why? W-what's the matter?"

"I need to talk to him!" the girl cried. "Where is he?"

"M-most likely the usual training grounds with his team…W-what's the matter?" Hinata asked again.

"I have to talk to him! She's here!"

And with that Hanabi bolted out of the room. Hinata was speechless and thoughtful to why her younger sibling was in such a hurry. And who exactly was "she"?

"Neji-nii –san!" Hanabi called out to him, puffing. "I need to talk to you!"

All three members of Gai-sensei's team turned to face Hyuga Hanabi.

"Hanabi-sama," Neji greeted, politely. "Is something the matter?"

Instead of answering him right away, she turned to the puzzled looks of Lee and Tenten.

"Hello, Tenten-san, and Lee-san," she greeted with a nod. "May I borrow Neji-nii-san?"

"Um, sure," Tenten said, a bit confused, as she put the kunai back into her weapon pouch. (They were practicing their aim.)

"Please be quick though Hanabi-san. We must do more training to become more youthful students!" Lee chimed.

The three other ninjas sweat-dropped.

"It'll be quick. I promise," Hanabi assured, as she grabbed Neji's wrist with her small hand.

She pulled him away far enough away until she was sure Lee and Tenten could no longer hear them.

"Is something wrong?" Neji asked his younger cousin.

"Yes! Something is definitelywrong!" she spat, angrily. "She's here!"

"Who's here?" Neji asked calmly, despite Hanabi's outrage.

"Your bitch of a future wife is here!"

Neji eyed her, curiously, as she continued to swear off about the person she said was here. Hyugas would never use such foul language. But, his expression changed once he realized she had just said something about his future wife.

"What?"

"Oh, I'm so sorry Neji-nii-san! Please forgive my foul language."

Her expression of guilt was washed off soon enough, though. She stared straight into his eyes, with a pleading, but angry expression on her face.

"I assure you, I meant exactly what I said."

Neji had talked to Hiashi once or twice about his marriage, and the elder Hyuga had told him she was going to stay at the Hyuga manor for about a month, and she would be coming soon. Neji just didn't expect her to be here this soon. Other than speaking that one time with the Hokage, and in the presence of Uchiha Sasuke, the marriage was rarely talked about. How was he to be acquainted with her if he had to also look after Hinata? This was definitely a mess. It was only that morning that Hiashi had assigned him his task. What Neji didn't get, though, was why the clan members did not focus on finding Hanabi a husband first before they went to his marriage.

"Hanabi-sama, have you met personally with her?" he inquired.

"Yeah," she scoffed.

Judging by the way Hanabi was acting, he could tell that his 'future wife' was not going to be such a good case. Even with the previous number of girls who were trying to marry him, she had never acted so disgusted. Sure, she was clearly annoyed at times, but she always gave them each a chance. But with this girl, she had already made up her mind that she didn't like her. Nine out of ten times, when Hanabi didn't like someone for a certain reason, Neji would be exactly the same. They had a lot in common, instinct wise. He trusted Hanabi enough that if she didn't like this girl, neither would he.

Yotsuki Asuka was the Raikage's daughter. She was born into a rich and powerful family. When she was told she was to marrying a Hyuga she was quite impressed. But then again, once she thought about it, she told herself she deserved no less. She was told she would be acquainted with her soon to be husband, and that she was to stay at the Hyuga manor for a month and in that time, she would try to gain the respect and trust of the Hyugas. She was pretty, smart, and had a descent amount of training as a ninja. But, her first impression with the clan head's daughter didn't go quite so well. It was rather easy to impress the elders and adults, but she never particularly liked children…

"Asuka-sama, welcome to the Hyuga manor," the servant said, politely. "Would you like me to lead me to your room?"

"Yes, because I don't understand how you think I would know how to get around here," she said. "It's not like I've ever been here."

Okay, so she could have been a little more polite, but would it matter? This woman was only a servant. The only people she was trying to impress were the important Hyugas themselves.

"Of course, miss," the servant replied with a hint of bitterness in her voice as she led Asuka down the hall. She stopped at a door and slid it open.

"This is your room Asuka-sama."

Rather than thanking her, Asuka gave a light nod and waved her off. The servant bowed, but once she turned she let out the disgusted expression she was holding in.

"You could have thanked her you know," a voice said.

Asuka turned around to see another girl, around the age of 12, standing with her arms crossed and leaning against the wall. She was a rather pretty girl (although Asuka would never admit that) that looked a lot like the other Hyugas she had seen around. She had the same moonlit eyes and long dark hair.

"Who, the servant?" Asuka asked as she suppressed a scoff.

"Her name is Tamiko," the girl replied.

Her expression was clearly of disgust.

"Who are you anyway?" Asuka asked, expecting her to be just some other Hyuga kid.

This girl would clearly not be a problem for her right? She was but a mere child.

"My name is Hyuga Hanabi," the girl replied evenly. "You must be Yotsuki Asuka."

"Yes."

Asuka stared at the girl. She wasn't used to not being praised or not being bowed at. She expected some manners from a Hyuga. Changing the subject, Asuka asked, "Would you happen to know where I could find the clan head's daughter? I was told she would, err… show me around."

Her voice was that of demand.

"Oh were you now?" Hanabi asked, a little surprised.

She wasn't told she would be the one to 'show her around'. But, in any case, it could have been Hinata.

"Well then, that would be me. Let's go."

Despite the fact that she wasn't sure she was the one to be showing Asuka around, she took the chance to find out more about the woman.

Hanabi didn't expect much to come from Asuka. She was just like all the other girls her cousin had turned down. The council had been insistant on Neji getting married soon and from time to time there would be a girl from a 'rich and powerful' family that wanted to marry the prodigy. But never did Neji take this seriously. There would always be a flaw for each and every one delivered to him. Most girls sent to him were just a bunch of fan girls. Neji treated them with no more than respect for their existence. He respected them as a person, but never got into account of any of them being a wife. Or even an acquaintance for that matter.

But, unlike all the others, Asuka was a forced decision. For now, Neji didn't have any way out. The description of a caged bird described him well. Hanabi had always felt some pity towards her cousin, though she never showed it. She knew he did not like to be pitied, but she could not help it. He was a strong and powerful shinobi, yet, he was born into the branch. Hanabi always protected him in a way. (Not that he needed it.) She stuck up for him at the countless council meetings with the Hyuga council. They would always see him as just another branch member, nearly worthless if not to serve the main part of the family.

She admired Neji for his perseverance and skill. He had taught her much of what she knew. As a probable candidate for an heiress, Hanabi needed to become strong. It was his duty to look after her, but sometimes, she thought he actually liked doing it. Once, when they were much younger, and Hanabi had yet to understand, she carelessly asked Neji what the print on his forehead was. He explained to her about the curse mark. She could tell he was sad and angry, but she assured him she would treat him always as Neji, her cousin and not Neji of the branch part of the family.

"You did well today, Hanabi-sama," Neji told her as they finished up their training.

"Thank you, Neji-nii-san," she said.

"There is no need to thank me. It was rather a statement of fact than a compliment," he told her.

"Oh, but I do." the young girl replied. "You are the one who helps me train."

"Hn."

"Neji-nii-san, may I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"I saw it when you took of your headband and the black cloth you always wear around you forehead."

Neji immediately tensed.

"What is that marking?"

She pointed to his forehead. Neji was reluctant to explain at first, but he ended up telling her the reason behind it any way. He explained to her about the main house and branch house and how he had received it when he was three. He also mentioned a part where Hanabi herself was suppose to receive the mark, but Hiashi thought otherwise since he saw her great potential to surpass Hinata as heiress. He spoke of his long time resentment towards most of the main house.

"I assure you, Neji-nii-san, I will always treat you the same," she said, strongly, after he had finished his story.

"Hn?"

"It doesn't matter whether your born into the branch or not. I promise I'll still treat you the same as I always have," she said, proudly. "You'll always be my favorite cousin."

Chapter 6: Beautiful nightmare

"Sweet dream or a beautiful nightmare; Somebody pinch me, your love's too good to be true"

-Beyonce

Today, she was training with the original Team Seven. From time to time, they would meet up, have training sessions, and "catch up" with each other. Sakura didn't particularly mind that they didn't train more often with each other but, she did enjoy spending quality time with her teammates. She liked thinking back to the old times before Sasuke had left and all the fun they had together.

Since the time he came back (more like forced back, because he was an S-ranked criminal) Sakura erased all the bad memories they had from her mind. She liked thinking that nothing had ever happened and they were all happily continuing their lives where they had left off. But, of course, that would never become a reality. You could not simply erase time, no matter how much you denied things.

"Oi, Sakura-chan!" the knuckle-head ninja called. "Let's go!"

Sakura snapped out of her traveling thoughts to reply, "Why? Kakashi-sensei isn't here yet."

She replied with a slight scowl etched across her face. She didn't like to be disturbed when she was deep in thought.

"Does it matter? We'll be here forever if we don't start training now!" he told her, impatiently. "By the time he gets here, we'll probably be done!"

"True…" Sakura mused.

Kakashi never failed to be tardy, even on the most important occasions. Sakura was sure, if the day came, he would be late for his own wedding.

"C'mon Sasuke-teme!" the boy insisted to his other teammate. "I want to spar with you!"

"Fine," the raven-haired boy answered.

Sasuke didn't mind sparring with Naruto, he just never seemed eager to. In a way, Sasuke even liked going against his friend. Naruto was a challenge and the outcome of each match was always a surprise.

"Let's go then!" Naruto pushed, eagerly.

The three teammates headed off to their usual training grounds. It felt humid out but, not necessarily hot. The smell of heavy moisture filled the area where it had been distributed by the rain. The sun was bright with a few wispy clouds sharing its sky. Trees surrounded the field, some fallen over from previous training and some standing tall and proud only to be knocked over sooner or later.

While Naruto and Sasuke sparred, Sakura practiced her aim and medical ninjustu. She concentrated on her chakra flow as green energy dispersed onto her hands. A while after, Sasuke's and Naruto's match had finally ended.

"I can't believe you fell for that!" Naruto chuckled as he referred to his shadow clone tricks.

"You're to full of yourself," Sasuke told him and, to his own annoyance, Naruto laughed even harder.

"Oh, that's rich Sasuke-teme! I'mthe one to full of myself?" - He could have rolled on the ground laughing. - "That coming from Uchiha Sasuke!"

"Shut it you two," Sakura warned them in irritation and sighing as she stopped the chakra flow. "So, who wants to spar with me next?"

She asked it casually and she knew it would most likely be Naruto After a short pause, Naruto volunteered, happily.

"Sure! I will Sakura-chan!"

Naruto was usually the one who sparred with her. Sasuke sparred with her too…sometimes.

"Oka-" she was about to agree with Naruto when she was cut short.

"You sparred with her last time." - The two other ninja's turned to face the person in which the words were formed from, rather curiously. - "I'll spar with her today."

Sasuke was never the one to ask first. Naruto would usually just challenge him, and then he would accept it. As for Sakura, either Naruto would ask her, or Kakashi would assign them their partners.

"Sure," she said and Sasuke caught just a small glimpse of her hesitation.

"What?" he asked with a smirk. "Don't tell me you're scared."

"Oh please, I've fought you before," she said, rather casually again.

But, in her thoughts, she was wondering as to why he had offered to spar with her. It was a normal gesture for just about anybody but Sasuke. Once the two started their fighting, Naruto decided he would work on his chakra control by meditating.

Their training was over and when Kakashi had finally showed up, they were all about to leave. The sun still seemed to shine bright but, the clouds enlarged in size. His excuse was, "I was walking over here and saw an old lady who nee-" But before he could finish his alibi, Naruto cut him off.

"Save it Kakashi-sensei!"

"Alright then," the masked ninja said, casually, showing no remorse for missing training. "I'll see you guys next time."

And with that, he poofedaway, leaving his pupils to wonder if he would even show up next time.

"Okay, so I guess I'll see you guys later!" Naruto said, excitedly. "I'm going to have ramen with Hinata-chan!"

"Do you ever go on any other dates than to have ramen?" Sakura muttered as she mentally sweat-dropped.

"As a matter of fact I do!" Naruto defended. "What about our double date with you and Kiba?"

"Well that was-"

"See? That was notout to ramen!" Naruto stated, triumphantly.

In fact, it was out to a reasonably fancy seafood restaurant. Sasuke heard the voices of his teammates quarreling about Naruto's ramen dates, distantly, even though they were standing three feet from him. He was too involved in his own thoughts.

Since when did Sakura and Kiba date?He thought she would just have smacked him on the back of his head for asking her. But, then again, what if she asked him?What did she see in the Inuzuka anyway? Wait, wait. Hold on. Why did Sasuke even care?For one thing, he should just be happy. Although Sakura didn't pester him anymore, her going out with Kiba just assured him she wasn't going to jump him anytime soon.

"Alright, you win Naruto," Sakura sighed in defeat. "Go, before you're late."

"See you later!"

The blond waved at the two - once he had proven his point - and he left to find Hinata. Sakura let herself fall back against the grass as she looked up at the clouds. She always thought the clouds were beautiful. They were just sopeaceful. Sometimes, when she looked at them, it reminded her of Shikamaru - the lazy ass, genius boyfriend of her best friend Ino. She had almost forgotten Sasuke was there until she heard him fall back into a sitting position next to her. She could feel the awkwardness coming on but, was too tired from training to notice it.

"What are you looking at?" he asked her, almost motionlessly, as he followed her gaze to the sky.

"The clouds," she answered, simply, keeping her eyes on the moving white puffs.

And that was the end of their conversation. Other than Shikamaru, the clouds reminded Sakura of Konoha and the whole ninja world itself: like a village of peace, just as the clouds were then. But, over time, tension would build up as do storm clouds. Soon after, the clouds would burst into rain as the village would if war were to strike. And, although Sakura didn't know it yet, the arranged marriage between Neji and Asuka was like the sun coming to clear the rain. After a few minutes, Sakura decided to get up.

"Well, I guess training's done for today," she sighed as she dusted herself off and gazed down at Sasuke who remained sitting, staring into oblivion. "See you tomorrow."

She started walking off. Once she was out of sight, he decided to lie down and look up at the clouds. They were so serene…

"Sakura!"

Sakura turned around, swiftly, to see Genma calling to her. He was a respected jounin of Konoha.

"Lady Tsunade requests your presence at her office," he informed her.

"Thank you, Genma," she said as she walked towards the Hokage tower.

She honestly just wanted to go home and take a nice cold shower but, when you became a ninja, it was given that you would put aside your relaxation time to protect the village.

"Like I said Shizune, sake calms me down. I don't care if - " Tsunade was interrupted as someone knocked on the door. "Come in."

"Tsunade-sama, you wanted to see me?" the pink-haired kunoichi asked as she walked into the room.

The atmosphere of the office was quite likeable. It was not over cluttered with furnishing and had a nice view of the village.

"Sakura, I have a mission for you," the blonde woman said, bluntly, as she folded her hands together and supported them with her elbows on the desk.

"Mission?" the young kunoichi asked as she took a quick glance behind her teacher where a great view of the village could be seen though a large glass window.

"Yes. A-ranked. Your first A-ranked mission with team seven since Sasuke came back," she said, happily.

Sakura wasn't sure what to say. She was thrilled. She probably hadn't been happier in years. Ever since Sasuke came back, she would go on missions but, as an extra or a sub for another member of a team that couldn't make it. Then, she finally realized her teammates were not in the room.

"Tsunade-sama? Where are the others?" she inquired.

Naruto could still possibly be on his ramen date, Kakashi was always late anyways, and Sasuke…Sasuke wasneverlate.

"Well, I wanted to talk to you about this other part of the mission. It's for you to know and you only. Got it?" Tsunade said, looking up at her apprentice.

"Hai," the pink-haired girl confirmed.

"Well, I won't lie to you. Sasuke and Kakashi already kind of know…well mostly Sasuke knows," she said, casually. "Knowing Naruto and his habit of jumping to conclusions, I don't think letting him know will help the situation."

"What exactly is the mission?" Sakura asked, excited.

"You are to go to the Lightning Village." - She hesitated just slightly. - "You are to go as my representative to discuss a few political…things."

"Political things?"

Sakura didn't really know what her teacher meant. She waited, patiently, for the Hokage to explain.

"Yes, political things," she said, taking a sip of her sake. "We can't afford war right now, so we are working up a peace negotiation."

She didn't mind to word it right. She just went directly to the point.

"Are there any things I should be informed of beforehand?" the pupil asked, subconsciously.

"Yes," Tsunade sighed. "That's why I called you here."

"Oh…right," she said, awkwardly.

"Recently, councils from both villages came up with a preview of the peace…offering, in a way. I might as well tell you all the things we thought of. Right now, the daughter of the Raikage is here," Tsunade started.

"Is she also here as a representative?"

Sakura was wondering why the Raikage would risk having his own daughter in an enemy village. That would make them so vulnerable.

"No, Sakura. She isthe peace offering," Tsunade informed her.

"Oh…Why would he give up on his own daughter?" she asked, confused.

What? Just give up your daughter to an enemy village? 'Here's my daughter! So are we good?' Is that how it goes?

"Well, he's not exactly doing that. She's kind of like the binding. The councils have come up with an agreement: to have an arranged marriage," Tsunade emitted as she braced herself for the upcoming outbursts.

"Kami!" Sakura cried. "Anotherarranged marriage?"

Sakura wasn't sure if she could take anymore arranged marriages.

"Sakura-san, please calm down," Shizune interrupted her co apprentice's outbreak, speaking for the first time since Sakura had entered the office. "Let's let Tsunade-sama continue, shall we?"

"Oh, right," Sakura said, sheepishly. "Sorry."

"Okay, just let me finish without interruption and then, I'll take questions and screaming afterwards," Tsunade said, Sakura nodding in response. "So anyway, you will be there to discuss the arranged marriage of Yotsuki Asuka and Hyuga Neji."

"Neji?" she exclaimed, not able to help herself.

"Yes, Hyuga Neji," Tsunade continued, calmly, though under her masked expression she was feeling the exact same way as her apprentice. "That's why Hinata was forced into an arranged marriage. It was to give up her place as the heiress. Then, after her, is Hyuga Hanabi. So naturally, the next in line for heir is Hyuga Neji. He is the Hyuga prodigy but, when he becomes head of the Hyuga clan, it makes him rather...well…valuable in a sense. That's what Lightning suggested. Both sides are to 'give up' there most 'valuable' shinobi, other than, of course, the kage."

Sakura couldn't help but pity the entire Hyuga clan. What a mess. She hated how all these people were being compared to objects.

"So, what are Naruto and Sasuke going to do while I 'represent?'"

"They'll be your guards. The plan's in the folder I gave Kakashi," Tsunade said. "Other than to represent, I need you to do some 'research'. I need you to talk to Neji and Hinata or whoever is involved in this arranged marriage, to see how things are going with the Raikage's daughter."

"Hai," she agreed, awkwardly.

She couldn't imagine going to see Neji and be like, "Hey Neji! How's your arranged marriage going?"She was sure he wouldn't be too pleased to discuss it.

"You are going to find out things that will assure the Raikage his daughter is safe. The last thing we want is a rumor to get out we're holding her in a dungeon," the Hokage explained.

"Okay, should I go now?"

"Yes. I trust you," Tsunade said with a meaningful smile. "You will leave in two days. Tomorrow, the entire team seven will meet me here at eight o'clock sharp."

"Hai, Tsunade-sama."

"Dismissed."

"Tenten! Neji!" Hinata called as she spotted her friend practicing her Taijutsu with Neji. (Lee was doing pushups.)

"Err, a little busy here, Hinata!" Tenten called out, not moving her gaze from her opponent as Neji lunged forward with a kunai.

Hinata watched in slight amusement as Tenten took out her own kunai and they battled off. There were a few clanging noises as the two metal objects clashed with each other. Tenten noticed Neji aim the kunai at her throat and she did the same. She caught Neji's wrist as he did hers. After a long pause when neither of them let go, Tenten couldn't help but laugh a little. Neji smirked into an almost-smile. They both let go and turned their gaze towards Hinata. (Yes, Lee was still doing his hundred fifty seventh pushup.)

"Good afternoon, Tenten-san, Neji-nii-san," Hinata said, rather gloomily as they walked towards each other.

"Hey Hinata, what's up?" Tenten asked, casually as she stuffed the kunai back into her weapons pocket.

"I came here to talk to Neji-nii san," she whispered.

Tenten nodded and stepped aside to make space for Hinata and Neji. Hinata turned her gaze to her elder cousin, avoiding eye contact.

"Father wants to see you, Neji-nii-san," she said, quietly.

Neji nodded and gave her a strong look that meant, "Don't tell anyone what this is about."

"Thank you Hinata-sama. See you tomorrow Tenten," he said and muttered a goodbye to Lee as well.

Neji was walking towards the Hyuga Manor when he spotted his younger cousin, Hanabi. As soon as she saw him she ran towards him.

"Neji-nii-san," she greeted, politely. "Father wishes you to prepare yourself for Asuka-san's welcoming dinner, tonight at six."

Her tone would seem calm and polite for most but, Neji noticed the hidden, rushed manner. He nodded and thanked her as he proceeded to clean himself up to meet his "future wife." Normally, Hanabi wouldn't talk to Neji thatformally. But, with the high possibilities of adults being around, that was expected from Hyuga children, especially around guests. She had only been with the Raikage's daughter for a few hours and she was already beginning to feel sick. Hanabi was not one to judge with such criticism so quickly but, Asuka just seemed like a spoiled brat!

"Ah, Tahiko!" Asuka called out, loudly.

The servant turned around, though her name was said incorrectly to reply, "Yes, Asuka-sama?"

"Would you mind changing the curtains in my room?" she requested, though she knew even if the servant did mind, she would have to do it anyway. "It's a little too…well it doesn't matter. I don't like it."

"Tamiko-san," a voice called and said servant turned around to see the Hyuga heiress. "C-could you please reload the towels in my bathroom?"

Tamiko didn't know how many things she could handle at the moment. Having another person at the Hyuga Manor didn't really help.

"Yes, miss," she said and then turned her gaze back to Asuka. "Asuka-sama, could you please wait? I will quickly reload Hinata-sama's towels and I shall see to your curtains."

"Things around the Hyuga manor do run rather slowly," Asuka commented, quite rudely. "Oh well. I guess I will have to wait."

She finished with a long sigh.

"Ano, Tamiko-san. I don't need the towels right away. I can wait," Hinata said.

The servant gave Hinata a thankful smile and headed off to change the curtains in Asuka's room.

"You spoil your servants too much," Asuka implied to Hinata, matter-of-factly.

The heiress didn't really know how to respond, so she introduced herself instead, assuming this was the 'she' Hanabi had been talking about.

"Hello, I'm Hyuga Hinata," she said.

"Yotsuki Asuka. I'm the Raikage's daughter," she pronounced, proudly.

"P-pleased to meet you. I'm the Hyuga heiress," Hinata said, timidly and so ended their conversation.

Hiashi had told them all to be prepared because the Raikage's daughter was going to be staying at the Hyuga manor for a month. He rushed through the details of the marriage between Asuka and Neji so they knew that much: Neji was arranged to a marriage with the Raikage's daughter for peace or something like that.

"Oh, then you must be Hyuga Hanabi's older sister," Asuka presumed after the long pause.

"H-hai. Have you met my imouto?" Hinata questioned, nervously, wondering if her sister had done something to upset their new guest.

"Yes. I did actually," Asuka recalled the afternoon in which she had met Hanabi. "She is rather protective of your servants, is she not?"

"P-protective?" Hinata asked, a little confused.

Unlike herself, Hanabi was quite bold. She spoke her mind freely.

"Yes, protective," Asuka repeated. "Like I said, you spoil your servants too much."

"Ah! Hanabi-san! Can I talk to you?"

The young Hyuga turned to see the pink-haired kunoichi, Haruno Sakura, approaching her. Hanabi had met Sakura a few times prior with Hinata.

"Hello, Sakura-san," the girl said, politely, as they walked towards the side of the pawn shop located near the market place.

"Right, so I have a mission," Sakura stated, rather carelessly yet, uneasily at the same time. "I am not to speak much of it, though it involves the Hyugas."

"What is your mission?" Hanabi queried.

"Well, you see, I am to leave in two days to the Lightning country." - She noted that Hanabi tensed ever so slightly at the mention of 'Lightning'. - "I am to meet Neji. Do you know where I could find him?"

"Neji-nii-san is busy at the moment. Family reasons," Hanabi stated. "Do you wish for me to tell him you asked for him?"

"Hai," Sakura said. "Arigato Hanabi-san."

"No problem," the young Hyuga replied.

"Neji-nii-san," Hanabi asked in front of the door to her cousin's room. "May I come in?"

There was a long pause and then Neji finally responded with, "Hai."

Hanabi slid the door open and stood, hesitantly, against its frame. The boy sat on the frame of his low-raised futon bed.

"Are you ready, Neji-nii-san?" the girl asked, quizzically.

Neji stared at her as if she had asked something so intelligible that even he could not understand. Though, in actuality, the question was so simple.

"No," he admitted, absentmindedly.

He would never have admitted that to anyone and, even now, he wasn't sure why he had to Hanabi.

"Well, you shall soon have to meet her," the girl acknowledged, truthfully.

"I know," he told her, monotonously.

He was sure to leave out any trace of emotion that would suggest him feeling the way he truly did.

"Oh, and Sakura-san asked for me to inform you that she needed to speak with you," she told him, lightly. "She says it's to be part of her mission."

"Hai, I will talk to her after I meet with…with…"

He couldn't remember the name of the girl who was suppose to be his wife!

"Yotsuki Asuka," Hanabi finished. "She is the daughter of the Raikage. Her age is 18 and she is also a kunoichi."

"Hn."

That was Neji's way of saying thank you and Hanabi knew that well enough.

"Good luck, Neji-nii-san," she said, in clear, false cheerfulness, and walked back to her room to organize herself before the welcoming dinner.

Hinata had a kind heart. She could never feel utter hatred, even to the cruelest person. That was precisely the reason why she could easily get hurt, physically or mentally. She could not see herself harming others nor could she see herself ever being truly happy. She knew she and Naruto could never be together. The young girl stared at herself in the mirror. She sat on the chair that went with the vanity set in her room. She looked past the shoulders of her reflection to see her futon that lay neatly behind her. Her thoughts were traveling, mindlessly, into oblivion.

Again, she looked at herself in the mirror. She looked at her pale, plain features. Her eyes were moonlit and her hair long and dark. But, she failed to figure out what Naruto could possibly see in her. She wondered if time was all he needed to figure out that he could not gain anything from her. Indeed, the heiress lacked self confidence. Her gaze fell from her face and onto the top of the vanity stand. She recognized her hairbrush that she had not used since she was a child. She rarely used that brush. She had one in the shower she usually used to brush her hair after she had bathed.

This one was special to her. She used it on special occasions as a good luck charm. It was from her mother when she was three. Her mother had died giving birth to Hanabi but, she was far from gone. Hinata knew she was watching over her daughters and guiding them. The pale-eyed girl picked up the brush and ran it through her long, dark hair. She pondered how the evening would be like for Neji and Asuka. She wondered if Neji was feeling the same way as her about his arranged marriage.

Hinata stopped midway with the brush when she heard a light knock from outside her bedroom door.

"Come in," she answered.

The heiress spotted her younger sister, with her makeup and hair done up, dressed in an elegant kimono. The fabric was made, fully, of silk. It was a deep, sapphire color, embroidered with flowing white irises. The obi was made of a soft, light blue silk that complimented the dress and its model.

"Hinata-nee-chan, you must prepare yourself, quickly, for the dinner. We are to be down a few minutes," the girl said, evenly.

"Arigato, Hanabi," said sister thanked as she stood up from her chair.

"I have picked a kimono for you. Tamiko-san will bring it in shortly," the younger Hyuga said. "Let's do your hair and makeup."

"Arigato," Hinata said again.

Without notice, Hanabi pushed her sister back onto the chair and took out the makeup kit within her vanity set. She began to apply a light eye shadow and lip gloss to her sister's face. She finished off with a light bronzer to bring about her features. Hinata was beautiful and she didn't need the makeup really. But, with the past few days going on, her stress was easily shown on her pale features.

There was another knock on the door and the two Hyugas turned.

"Come in," the two said in unison.

The maid stood there, holding a neatly folded kimono with a traditional obi lain on top of it.

"Thank you, Tamiko," Hanabi said as Hinata gave a warm nod to the woman.

Tamiko put the dress onto the side of the bed and proceeded out of the door, sliding it shut. Hanabi shuffled Hinata to the back of the shoji screen as she went for the dress. She handed it to Hinata and held onto the obi.

"Put that on and I'll help you tie the obi."

Hinata proceeded to slip off her normal attire and went to put on her kimono. It was dark, mauve silk with white printed cherry blossoms. The obi was a plain light purple that was a good contrast to the dress itself. Hanabi tied it, professionally, to Hinata's dress.

"Is that too tight?" she asked.

"Iie," Hinata answered as she turned to face her sister.

Hanabi gave an approving nod and walked towards the door.

"Let's go. We must not be late."

"Hai."

To be honest, Neji was anything but prepared. Physically dressed? Yes. But, ready to meet someone he would call his wife? Hell no. He was wearing a robe similar to the traditional Hyuga attire but, it was made of silk and was black, tied together with a light green sash. Neji could lie and convince just about anybody except himself. He was a little nervous. Just a little.

He tried to tell himself that this was the same as any other welcoming dinner. The head of a 'rich and powerful' family would bring their daughter to meet him. They would eat, chat a little (okay, Neji didn't really'chat'), and when dinner was over, Neji would turn down the offer of getting married. It was like a common routine. But, this time, Hiashi had actually told Neji he was to try and impressthis girl. Asuka was it? Yeah. Asuka.

The young prodigy took one last, deep breath and slid the door to his room open, slipping out. He recognized his two younger cousins who were prepared to go.

"Good evening, Neji-nii-san," Hinata greeted, quietly.

Neji returned a light nod and walked ahead of them. Hanabi and Hinata exchanged worried glances and trailed on behind him, sure to keep their pace slow and even.

At last, she was to meet Hyuga Neji. The daughter of the Raikage stepped out of her room and went to search for the maid she had met earlier. She needed to be showed to the dining room where the dinner was being held. She had been informed prior to it but, had forgotten and had a late start on preparing herself.

She was wearing a well-designed kimono she had brought from home. It was burgundy in color and imprinted on it was a scene of a field by a mountain range. The obi was of an amaranth dye.

To a regular man, she would look stunning. But, Asuka knew, well enough, that Hyugas could not be as easily fooled by just looks. She needed to act as they would expect.

"My apologies Neji-nii-san," he heard Hanabi say. "I had forgotten to tell you, you are to escort Asuka-san to dinner tonight."

Escort?She was supposed to be a powerful kunoichi and she couldn't find her way to a dining room in a house? Hanabi heard Neji sigh and she could of have sworn she heard a growl. The two girls continued to their destination as Neji took a right to find Asuka. He was obviously annoyed to even have to see her but, made no comment.

He saw Tamiko and decided to ask her where he could find Asuka when he realized there was a girl trailing behind the maid. He walked towards them assuming that the girl was Asuka.

"Tamiko-san, I'll escort her to dinner," he told the maid. "You may go back to your room. I don't think any of us will be back for another hour or so."

The maid nodded and walked back in the direction in which she came. Asuka bowed and Neji nodded in turn.

"You must be Neji-san," the girl spoke, quietly, with a plastered smile upon her face. "I'm Yotsuki Asuka. Pleased to meet you."

Neji blinked a few times before choking out, "Pleased to meet you too."

She took his arm, as was expected but, Neji didn't seem too comfortable. Why couldn't they just walk into the room arm in arm and not have to walk all the way there with her attached to him? They began walking and took a few turns before appearring before a spacious room with a fairly large table in the middle. The aroma of the room was of heavenly made miso soup, unadon, and Tonkatsu.

Even though Neji hadn't eaten since lunch, he didn't have much of an appetite. The two walked into the room. Once they let go they both bowed to Hiashi, Hinata, and Hanabi and took a seat. Many other members of the main house proceeded into the room, bowed at one another, and took a seat. Once everyone was seated, Hiashi cleared his throat and began.

"If I could have your attention please," he announced, everyone turning to face the man at the head of the table, silence following shortly after. "We have gathered here this evening to welcome our new guest, Yotsuki Asuka."

Eyes went from Hiashi to the girl beside Neji.

"We hope we will be able to earn your trust and friendship," Hiashi directed this to their guest of honor. "Together, you and Neji will be a binding of trust and friendship between Konohagakure and the Lightning Village."

Neji saw Hanabi shoot him a glance from across the table and he nodded, assuring her he was okay.

The table erupted into cheers.

"To Neji and Asuka!" everyone at the table called out, smiling, brightly.

Neji was, clearly, uncomfortable. He felt a hand slip into his and there was a light squeeze. He suppressed a grimace once he realized it was Asuka's hand. Once she had finally let go, Neji sighed in relief. The dinner went on with the light chattering of the people surrounding and a few quiet laughs. The young boy took a few bites of his food and answered questions when he was asked.

"Neji-kun," he heard her voice say and an uncontrolled quiver ran down his spine.

Just the fact that she used kun,annoyed him. It was as if she had known him for years. Maybe he was being too critical but, he wasbeing forced into an arranged marriage. What was he supposed to do?

"I heard that you like to train a lot," she said with a giggle.

"Um, yeah," he replied, awkwardly, since it wasn't really a question he could answer.

"Would you mind if I accompanied you to training tomorrow?" she asked, sweetly.

Yes! Yes I would!

"Yeah, sure," he said instead, as nicely as possible.

He hardly thought of the consequences. What would he tell Lee and Tenten?

"Arigato!" she thanked him, excitedly. "When do you usually start training?"

"At dawn," he informed her, monotonously.

He tried to listen to the voices of the people around the table, all having their own conversations. He wondered if anyone was having as much trouble as him.

"Who do you usually train with?" she continued. "I know they are your teammates but, I wonder if I know them."

"I don't think so," he replied. "But, you'll get to meet them tomorrow."

Dinner had finally ended and everyone had returned to their room. It was around eight and outside was only brightened by the moon. Neji noted that he had to go see Sakura to discuss her mission. He quickly changed into his normal attire and left in search for Hanabi. He needed to have a quick talk with her and then he would leave. He went towards the door of his cousin's room and knocked.

"One minute!" she called out.

The elder Hyuga stood, patiently, outside the door and waited. Hanabi opened the door to see Neji standing in his normal training attire. She was a bit surprised to be honest.

"Oh, Neji-nii-san," she greeted. "May I help you?"

"I need to talk to you," he said, impassively.

She nodded and walked out of her room. She was going to go for a walk anyway. They started to walk out to the veranda but, somehow, ended up outside of the Hyuga grounds completely. No words were exchanged but, Hanabi was pretty sure what her cousin was going to say.

"What is it?"

The silence was finally broken as they trailed along the stone roads of Konoha. The pause from Neji made Hanabi slightly uncomfortable and concerned. A sigh came from the prodigy and he finally spoke.

"What am I supposed to do?"

They continued walking past the town where stores and restaurants were beginning to close. Hanabi's hesitation went unnoticed.

"Neji-nii-san, I don't know. No one does. But, at least you're not alone."

He gave her an odd, questioning look but, didn't say anything. She laughed, bitterly, then continued.

"Hinata and I are going through the same thing as you are you know. I don't know myhusband yet but, I know it's going to happen."

"Hanabi…"

Neji didn't know how the hell to comfort her.

"It's okay. I'm not going to cry. You're not married yet. Just try to forget about it."

"I can't," he said, bluntly. "She wants to come see me train tomorrow. What am I supposed to tell Lee and Tenten?"

Neji was definitely out of character. It was nearly impossible to believe he had even said that much his whole life.

"The truth."

A voice came from behind them. The two Hyugas turned to face Tenten.

"Tenten, what are you doing here?" Neji inquired, wondering how much she had heard.

"Well, let's see. I was going to see Hinata since she was slightly unwell. And I was also going to see you since you weren't acting so fine yourself," she answered, sternly.

Hanabi took this as her queue to leave.

"Excuse me. Goodnight Neji-nii-san, Tenten-san."

The seconded heiress walked back towards the Hyuga manor. Neji was left, standing alone with Tenten, trying to figure out how to explain things to her. He questioned himself as to why he even thought of having to elucidate to her. She was a friend and a teammate but, that gave her no reason to pry into family matters.

"What do you want me to say, Tenten?" he started. "That I'm sorry? 'Cause I'm not. I'm doing this against my will!"

He spat angrily, sounding harsher than he meant to.

"But, you're not doing anything to stop it! You don't have to marry her!" she retorted, just as livid. "I hate seeing you like this Neji! You're so unlike yourself. Ever since Hinata got that damned scroll you've been as bad as her! Why are you always so unhappy?"

Neji wondered how she found out about the marriage but, decided not to ask.

"Tenten, this has nothing to do with you. Why are you so concerned?" he asked, stoically.

The young girl felt her heart clench at the way he directed this to her.

"Because, Neji, you're my friend. I'm supposed to be concerned for you!" she exclaimed, exasperated.

"So, you're concerned because you're supposed to be? You don't need to worry yourself over anything like this."

"Not because I'm supposed to, because I – I just am!" she cried, frustrated.

Tears came streaming down from her eyes. She didn't even realize they were coming to try to stop it. Her throat was dry and she couldn't speak anymore. Tears became cries, and cries became sobs. Neji didn't know what to say. He cared for his friends but, didn't want to say something wrong to make matters worse. So, he went with instinct. He wrapped his arms around her and let her head bury against his chest. She sobbed and soaked his shirt with her tears but, he couldn't care less.

Tenten's mind was cluttered and she couldn't register whose arms she was in. She just felt comfortable. She felt safe. The night was silent and all she could hear was the sound of his heartbeat. All she could feel was the warmth of his body. The scent of him was invigorating. She wanted it to be like this forever. She didn't want this beautiful nightmare to end.

Chapter 7: Deceive

"Hatred is blind, as well as love."

~Oscar Wilde

She roamed the empty streets of Konoha. It was about six in the morning, and the air was light but cold. The moon hung jaggedly awaiting for the sun to come so it could rest. For now, the country of Konoha was at peace, resting in its nest. It was a delusionary dream far from danger. A dream it was. For if you took a look at its reality, you would find nothing more than despair within its civilians.

Shops were beginning to open and ninjas were heading out on missions. But if not for them, the rest of the populaces were still asleep in their safe beds. Dreaming. Wishing. Living.

Catching up on some packing, Sakura had decided to stop by at the hospital for soldier pills. Her meeting with the team would not start for another two hours and she had already had everything set.

Coming up to the side door of the hospital, she pulled it open only to see a disturbed looking Neji. He looked descent. He was dressed in his normal attire. The only difference was the evidence of lack of sleep. The young man never seemed more stressful than he did now, and his acquaintance wondered as to why.

"Oh hello, Neji." She said as casually as possible. The atmosphere suddenly went from casual to uncomfortable as he stepped back inside to make way for her.

His feelings were mutual to hers as he felt the unease creep into his already unfortunate actuality.

Neji shifted his gaze from the door to Sakura. "How convenient." He mused, not sarcastically but honestly. He needed to speak to her. Though the conversation may be not much to either of their likings, it was to be pulled through nonetheless. "We need to talk."

"Look, if this is about the mission –" She had planned to talk to him also. She did ask Hanabi to tell Neji for her. She had just been trying to think of how to start it off. Having a conversation with Hyuga Neji was anything but simple. You would have to try your best to offend and/or annoy him.

Plan: "Neji! How's it going? Getting married huh?" –Pats on the back – Okay, fail.

"It is." He stated plainly. "I know what it's about, so you don't have to go through the trouble of telling me."

An amount of relief washed over the girl, though she still had to talk to him about it nevertheless. "Knowing you, you already know I feel uncomfortable talking about this." He didn't say anything, so she continued. "I suppose, to be blunt, I'm just here to ask you…how it's going." That was a poor choice of words, but she couldn't take it back. How was it going? 'How do you think it is going?' Inner Sakura scolded the girl's stupidity.

"Fine." He said emotionlessly. It made her feel awkward, and she hadn't really planned on speaking with him just yet.

Just then, she was saved. A nurse came running out, calling for her name. "Sakura-san!" It was a lot easier to go save a life of a severely injured patient than trying to converse with Hyuga Neji. You wouldn't even want to think about it.

The young kunoichi turned to see Momoko – the new intern. "Good thing you're here! We have a new patient! She's been poisoned." She grabbed Sakura by the arm and rushed her towards the elevator.

Sakura gave Neji and apologetic expression and then headed quickly down the hall with the nurse. The girl felt so relieved, she let out a lengthy sigh she did not know she was holding in.

Neji watched the girl go. He heard Sakura ask the nurse the name of the patient and then took a step to leave the door.

"It's Tenten." The intern replied hastily, as she went to fill in what happened.

"Tenten!" And with that the girl powered herself to run even faster. Reaching the emergency room, Sakura pulled on her gloves and began to work. The girl looked as if in perfect condition. Her unconsciousness only looked as if she were asleep. She was a rest, not disturbed, not bothered. Not thinking of happened the night before.

Sakura had been through this process quite a few times. She dispersed the green chakra through her fingers and sent them through the temples. As she pulled out the poison, she noticed an odd chakra within them. They did not belong to Tenten.

When she had finally finished, she disposed of her gloves and grabbed the clipboard to jot down a few notes on the patient.

"Momoko," She directed to the nurse. "See to it that I know when Tenten awakes." When the girl awoke, they could send her out of the emergency room.

"Hai." The brunette intern replied.

With that, she returned the clipboard and went to the pharmacy to grab soldier pills from Ino.

Sliding the door to the hospital room open, she slammed against someone who had appeared to be standing there the whole time. A bit annoyed, she went to straighten herself up. Looking up, she saw Neji.

Thinking he wanted to talk again, she led him outside again. But then she took into account that he had overheard her talking to Momoko.

"I suppose you could visit Tenten, if that's why you were here." She said with a plain but not emotionless expression.

"Arigato." He told her and then quickly went back into the room.

-/-

She thanked Ino and stuffed the pills back into her pocket.

Maybe it was a bit after seven that she had reached back home. She slipped the pills into her bag and went to write a note for Eritaka. She wasn't going to leave until tomorrow, but it was good to not forget because she was going to head out early.

She heard a knock on her door and went to open it. Turning the latch, the pinkette opened to see Naruto and Sasuke with concern and hesitation written across their forehead.

"Sakura," Naruto was the first to begin. "Come quick. Old Lady Tsunade wants you to go see her immediately." His voice was equal and not at all faint. Yet, Sakura could find something that would tell her he was unsettled.

What could Tsunade possibly want her for? Apparently, she couldn't wait another half hour. The meeting with the whole team would then start, and anything else she needed to know for tomorrow would have been dealt with.

Sakura went to close the door to her porch behind her to leave and motioned for Naruto to move out of her way.

"Is it just me? Or are you guys coming to?" She questioned casually, though she knew it was anything but normal at that point. To see even stoic Sasuke, hesitant was a rare occasion.

"We're supposed to go see Kakashi, you're going by yourself." Sasuke informed her candidly. "By the way," He decided to add, "She's not in her office. She's in the Kage meeting room."

Sakura nodded without question though she wondered as to why Tsunade would be in the Kage's meeting room. It was out of the usual run of things for her to be there. The room was only to be used for meeting with other Kages or meetings with outside representatives.

Naruto and Sasuke took the path opposite hers, as she headed towards the Hokage tower. The sun had finally come out and people had piled into the streets.

A woman was carrying a light basket beckoning for her child to follow her. A man was screaming at a young boy for littering on his shop stand. A girl was helping her mother pick out food. An old lady was commenting how beautiful the day was. And a ninja was roof hopping because he didn't feel like having to go through the traffic of the early morning. So all in all, the day seemed typical.

Not one of those people would have suspected another upcoming war. Not one of them were expecting to go home and receive a message of their son to be dead. Not one of them thought of their beloved dying soon. Not one.

-/-

Sakura came upon the doors that lead to multiple corridors of the meeting room. Before she could open it to go in, it was slid open with by Shizune. The older Nin was dressed in her mission uniform. Jounin vest, visible kunai pockets – the whole bit.

"Sakura-san," She whispered, motioning for the girl step from the door after closing it behind her. "We are expecting to receive representatives from the Lightning Country to come soon. There is only Tsunade-sama in there right now. But be cautious of what you say."

"Hai." The younger kunoichi replied with order as she side stepped to enter the room.

"Sakura." Tsunade said with eyes pasted on the empty table – not once looking up from her laced hands. "We – have a problem."

Moments went unspoken as the girl went to sit down beside her master. The room was overlooking the village, same as the Hokage's office. It was large with rectangular table. There could be ten people seated– one more than the number of countries.

The Hokage sighed and then finally looked up. "How could he be so reckless?" She questioned more to herself than anybody. "Out of all things… Hyuga Neji?"

"What?" The pinkette inquired. "What about Neji? What'd he do?" It was only minutes before that she had seen him. It couldn't possibly be anything that bad, could it?

She grew rather impatient as her teacher sat and inwardly considered the situation. It took her a full minute to begin telling Sakura the story.

"I can't believe this could happen over a matter of minutes." She started, "I don't even know what the hell she was doing in the hospital."

The girl began to stir. The scent of chlorine surrounded her, and she knew she was in the hospital.

She felt a soft hand enveloping her own. She knew that touch. She knew that feeling.

"Neji?" Her eyes opened warily to see the Hyuga whom she loved most. The one person, who had without ever noticing, caused her so much pain. The one person she would soon lose as a result of the pain.

Without words, he assured her he was there. Caressing her face and kissing her forehead once.

What interrupted them was a loud sobbing cry from the door of the room. The couple turned to see Asuka on her knees sobbing. They both wondered as to how she could have entered the room without them noticing. Tenten could see it was not a sob of true despair, but a well rehearsed one to deceive those whom could not clearly decipher it.

Neji stood up from his kneeling posture, and composing his soft expression back into the emotionless one, that most would only see.

"Asuka-san? What are you doing here?" He posed indefinitely.

His fiancé looked up and wiped away her fake tears. "I'm sorry." She cried again. "I know…I know it was out of place." Her attire was that of a grown female Hyuga's. On its side was placed a Hyuga clan symbol.

Neji's eyes furrowed the slightest bit as he watched the girl stand up, straightening herself. "I suppose I should explain why I'm here." She choked out. "I had asked Hinata-san where you were. At the time, she had taken me around for a stroll to view the village. We had encountered Tenten-san at the time, and we went for tea."

Both pair of eyes went to Tenten as the brunette pushed herself into a sitting arrangement. She suddenly recalled the early morning in which she awoke in her own bed.

"Hai," She acknowledged. "I remember Hinata having to leave before we could finish." She added offhandedly. Her memories went back and forth on Hinata introducing Neji's fiancé. It hurt, but she covered it, though it did not go without effort.

Neji took much of this into account, and wondered how Tenten had conversed with their pervious encounter without him.

"I'm sorry, Neji." Asuka lied once more. "I don't think I could go through an arranged marriage. Especially with someone who could never love me." She turned to leave, when Tenten called her back.

"Asuka-san." She beckoned over. "This was my mistake. Not Neji's. Give him another chance, and I promise you I will not interfere."

Asuka displayed an untrue soft smile. "Do not blame yourselves." She nearly ordered, judging by her tone. "You cannot choose who you love. So even if you do not interfere, he would never truly love me."

The brunette felt an unbelievable amount of guilt swarm over her. Drowning her into never ending remorse.

"So she has ended the plans for the wedding." Sakura concluded nonchalantly. "So would there be a change of plans for our mission?" She inquired. Without the wedding, there would be nothing for Konoha to discuss with the land of Lightning.

"Yotsuki has notified her father. She will depart tomorrow at dusk." Tsunade informed. "Team Seven will escort her. A meeting will be held there, just as planned previously, discussing new ways to resolve the treaty."

And though the pink haired kunoichi did not mention it, she felt a bit of fault. She was the one who had let Neji in, in the first place. If she hadn't, then Asuka would have never done something small, yet large enough to start a war.

-/-

Asuka stuffed the small tube of red liquid into her bag, covering it with a few garments. She smiled deviously at it and then finally closed the flap of her backpack.

There was a sudden knocking coming from the other side of the door to her guest room.

"Come in."

Entering was the youngest of the main house Hyuga's.

Hanabi stepped in with an angry expression. "Why did you do it?" She questioned irritably.

Taking no precaution or effort to retaliate with Hanabi, Asuka gave a smirk that tempted the girl to severely injure her. "Whatever do you mean my dear Hanabi?" Her overly acting of innocence could have made even Hinata kill her.

"You know exactly what I mean. Why are you bringing Tenten into this?" Her small hands balled into fists as a result of her anger. "It does not involve her."

"Oh but it does." Asuka chided. "Tenten is an interference." She brushed back her and stood up to walk over to the vanity.

Hanabi stood there impatiently, as she eyed the girl. The night had yet to wane, as the two occupied the heavy atmosphere of the room.

Finally taking a seat, she picked up a hair brush and pulled it through her hair. "I don't expect a thirteen year old to understand the concept of a marriage," she sighed. "I mean, you have a while until you have to decide on the man who will never leave you." The last thing Asuka would ever be is an actress.

Hanabi blinked in annoyance. She was thirteen and was getting married.

"And even if you did understand," Asuka continued with a smirk, "no one will believe you. You just wouldn't comprehend."

Without saying a word, Hanabi left the same way she came in. She needed time to think. Because somewhere under Asuka's mask, she would slip. She would leave on small piece of evidence that would unravel it all. It was like a broken key that still opened the lock.

-/-

Sakura went home to her soft comforting bed. She would leave as planned prior to Neji's 'incident'. The next morning, she would take place as the Hokage's representative. She would finally make her name well known.

The pink-haired girl had just slipped on her nighttime t-shirt when an obnoxious pounding on the door made her jump about ten feet back.

She walked out in her pajamas to open the door and saw Hyuga Hanabi with a triumphant expression on her face. In her hands, she held a tube with unfamiliar looking red liquid – not of blood.

"Ah, Hanabi-san." Sakura greeted awkwardly. "What brings you here at," She shot a glance at her clock hanging on the wall, "Eleven O'clock at night?"

"May I come in?" Hanabi inquired, the victorious grin not once fading from her face.

"Hai."

The girl stepped inside, taking off her shoes, and then closing the door behind her.

"Here," She handed Sakura the tube. "Do a chakra test on it, and tell me if this poison has something familiar to it."

The Haruno took it from the young girl and hovered her delicate hands over the object. It took her less than ten seconds before she jumped in realization. It was the odd chakra that she felt while operating on Tenten that morning. Questions filled her mind as she stared blankly at it.

"Hanabi-san," She began hastily, "Where did you get this."

"From Asuka's possession. She's framing Tenten, I knew it." The girl let out a slight squeal. "That bitch wants something, and she's using Tenten to blind everyone else from seeing the truth."

Sakura nodded in agreement, and then recognized that Hanabi was only thirteen. And yet, the girl had gone through so much, and matured so quickly.

"What could she possibly want from the Hyugas?" Sakura posed, but then wanted to take back her words – for the question was so unintelligent.

And though, neither one of them needed to hear it, Hanabi answered the question anyway. "The Byakugan."

-/-

Asuka used the bright candle and the full moon as her sight upholder. Squinting here and there, she set her pen upon the sheet of paper and continued to write.

Dear Father,

I am doing well here at the Hyuga Estate and am wishing to do so for the rest of this journey. I hope all is well at home. Tell my dear brother, I shall be writing to him soon.

~Yotsuki Asuka

Folding the letter and stuffing it into an envelope, she sealed it shut. The confusion of all the people was all she needed to quickly devise an accurate plan. She knew perfectly well that letters would be seen by ANBU roots before it left the country. Once they were confound, or at least blurred from truth, she would follow through with her plan.

-/-

The raven-haired boy slammed his eliminating fist into the ground, causing the earth to shake in fury. The frustration he bore is comparable to those of Hinata, Hanabi, Neji and everyone else involved. But he felt like there was something they all knew that he didn't. Like a secret to keep all the events in control. A secret he wishes he knew. He secret he had to know, just to live another day closer to the marriage.

-/-

The dark luminous sky enveloped the earth as it once again, swept the world into its delusions. Those that slept that night will never again see reality. They shall see the fantasy, or their living nightmare. But they will on no account see actuality.

Chapter 8: Really try

"Try and fail. But don't fail to try."

~Stephen Kaggwa

The figure stood against the rough surface, balancing himself without effort as he looked out to the black sea. Shadows hovered over him, awaiting his command.

Unforgiving wind beat against his tall overly built body. With one quick motion, he caused the sky to rumble in disgust, striking the land with its knives of lightning. Over and over again, it did this. Illuminating the Land of Lightning, it has proved its point. It shall not be conquered nor defeated.

The Village Hidden in the Clouds was restless, unlike its soon-to-be ally, Konoha. In discreet, they plotted. Once message from Yotsuki Asuka had come, they would finally begin their preparation to obtain rightful power.

Team Seven had eventually got together to head out. The only thing missing was their priority for the mission in the first place. Asuka.

The sun had yet to rise at all and the moon still bellowed its light for the night watchers. Naruto quickly sensed an approaching chakra coming from inside the village.

Before he could react, all of Team Seven turned to see Sai. Though his attire more modest than usual, his hair was the same as before. The former ROOT member had recently been added to another branch of ANBU and was usually not around often enough to be with his past teammates. His smile was fake, but it did not try to mask any other expressions either.

"Tsunade has called off the mission." He told his 'age mates'. "Please meet her immediately." And with that he disappeared in a cloud of smoke, leaving his audience wondering as to why he would waste chakra with a teleportation jutsu.

Sakura seemed just a bit annoyed after the information given to them. How many times has her plans been altered again? First, she was thought to have gone to talk about the marriage of Asuka and Neji. Then it was cancelled. Then she was supposed to escort the heiress home. And now, the plans have been called off yet again.

Naruto seemed nothing more than a tad off guard as did Kakashi. They both let out simultaneous sighs.

And Sasuke acted as if he didn't care – because he probably didn't.

Walking casually back to the Hokage Tower, they noted the sky had been elucidated with lightning. Out of all four of them, Sasuke was the only one who realized that it was not a natural energy coming from the sky itself– but something fueled it with chakra to do so. Something rather far away.

"What was that?" Naruto inquired absentmindedly. The words that came from his lips had nothing at all to do with what he was thinking – which by the way, wasn't anything more than ramen.

"Sasuke," Kakashi questioned, "Does that seem something close to your chidori?" He queried, for he too new the element of lightning quite well himself.

The Uchiha merely nodded, as the entire team approached the Hokage Tower. Walking silently through the hallway, Sakura noted that the tower felt off. The atmosphere seemed unsteady and the chakras were empty. Even those that were employed to the tower, mere civilians, did not make their presence known.

As Kakashi reached the door, he formed a light fist to knock. "Wait!" Sakura whispered urgently. "Don't go in. It's a trap!" With that said, she signaled for her teammates to follow her, as she ran. The short distance out of the tower seemed longer than it should have. Her legs felt as if it had ran ten miles. When they have reached the street outside, Sakura stood before the building. Forming a tight tiger seal, she muttered, "Kai!"

The whole building began to fade and the people began appear. Some lying splayed across the floor. Others were squirming around, mindlessly as if they were possessed. All were either bleeding or pleading.

Another building came into view, and the pinkette realized it was Konoha's central hospital. The one she would go to daily. Only now, it was nearly torn down. Windows were broken, doors hanging off their frames, and patients dying in sheer pain.

"What –" Naruto began, but then was cut off by Kakashi.

"They're under genjutsu." He informed as the revealed his Sharigan. "Sasuke, dispel them." He ordered the dark haired man, and then turned to his female student. "Sakura heal the ones that are injured. Naruto and I will go find Tsunade." The masked nin turned to head to the realHokage Tower with his most worried pupil following behind.

The Uchiha stood forming a tiger seal, his expression as if he were concentrating on his surroundings. "Kai." He muttered, as his pink-haired teammate had said before. People began to grow conscious and grown men curled into content balls that supposedly shielded them from danger.

Sakura approached the most pain bearing patient to heal him, but he resisted. She moved toward the others, all reacting the same. They feared her. The girl found it unbelievably difficult to have them stay still.

"Sasuke," She called the sharigan wielder. "Put them under a peaceful genjutsu and make them stay still."

He nodded once, as onyx eyes flashed red. Tomos forming into place, he put the people under delusional thoughts of peace. Getting help from people nearby, they had evacuated the entire hospital sent the people to the clinics set up right outside of the destroyed building. Extra medical tents were set up and unharmed civilians came to help.

The young medic began work tirelessly; healing a man's broken ribs. As she mended his ribs slowly, Ino and Shizune came to her rescue, each, healing their own patient without a word. The Yamanaka tended to those who were not severely injured or did her best and let Shizune care for injuries she could not handle.

Knowing the medics could not waste their chakra, Sasuke made shadow clones, and dispersed them throughout the village, finding people who could help. The remaining clones lined the bodies of those who had not survived and investigated the scene.

Shizune found it odd that the doctors and nurses on night duty had not shown up in the hospital. The night previous, she had the night shift as well, but had left early once a nurse had told her Tsunade gave her the night off. She wondered if the other employees had gotten the same false message.

Within an hour or so, more medics and ninja's alike, arrived at the scene to help out. It was an awful thought, but Sakura knew not all of these people could survive. Not unless they suddenly had a 20 in increase for medics. The medics that were already there were either already helping out or were injured themselves.

As Sakura finished a man's nearly crushed lungs, Sasuke appeared before her, carrying a limp young girl in his arms. It took Sakura a full second to realize it was Hyuga Hanabi. She had met with the girl only hours before. And now, the girl was on the verge of dying. A quick wash of panic swept over her before she silently calmed herself to begin the proper procedures.

Signaling for him to set her down gently on the gurney, Sakura began to examine the body. The structure of the body itself was normal. No broken bones. But the veins that carried her blood were gushing with poison. They had spread through her quickly, and if they were to reach her heart, she would surely die.

Asuka was sitting quietly on the veranda, observing the Hyuga prodigy as he trained restively with his uncle. Noting every single one of his swift movements, Asuka began to search for his weakness.

The younger Hyuga staggered back as a splitting strike dulled his arm. Knowing his left arm was of no more use; he jumped back, and then lifted his weight into the air, causing his training opponent to look up. Seeing this as vulnerability, Neji used the palm of his right hand and slammed it against the pressure points of his challenger.

The man slumped heavily onto the ground, and smiled, even at his loss. His nephew would make an excellent heir. But before he could congratulate the boy, they were interrupted.

"Neji-nii-san! Father!" The young heiress exclaimed, even as her words were trembling beneath her minute voice. "Come quick! Hanabi has been poisoned!"

Upon hearing this, Neji quickly undid his penalization of his uncle, and helped him up. The Hyugas promptly yet, hastily made their way through the gates and headed towards the hospital. None of them saw the devilish smirk Asuka bore on her face. This time, she had hit two birds with one stone.

Moonlit eyes began to reappear and searched its surroundings. She smelled the strong stench of chlorine that belonged to the numerous disinfectants and envisioned the yellowish bright light of the room. Hyuga Hanabi was quick to realize she was in the hospital. Looking around, she spotted a flash of bright pink hair. Sakura she thought plainly.

It took the young girl long seconds before she noticed the pain in her lungs and temples. Trying to speak, she only exerted force that caused her to hurt more than she already had.

It was then that she heard murmurs, soft cries. She recognized the murmurs to be that of her dear father and cousin – the muffled cries belonging to her sister. Slowly, her heavy lids forced her to shut her eyes. Soft pale eyes disappeared again.

She could imagine them. Standing around the pinkette, ready to demolish the poor girl for answers because Hanabi could not tell them she was alright herself.

"Is she alright?" Hanabi heard her father inquire emotionlessly under his anxious heart. She pictured him to be looking at her - studying the rhythm of her breathing to tell if she was safe.

"Hai." She heard the medic's voice pipe up. "She just needs rest. When she awakes, I believe ANBU will come to question her." Hanabi again pictured her father's tall figure nodding once and then glancing over to Neji, because that's when the heir spoke.

"The hospital needs help. Hinata and I will stay to do so." He said plainly. "We can check on Hanabi often as needed."

"Very well." Hiashi replied. "I will have someone to accompany Asuka and then I myself will aid the others."

And with that, Hanabi heard the retreating footsteps of her family members and the sound of a pen etching its marks on a clipboard held paper.

But as her thoughts traveled, she ended on her very last image. The thought of bringing the Yotsuki Askua to justice was forming. Now it was her turn to turn the tables.

The Uchiha scouted the area with several other jounins to find the necessary evidence to prove as to who had caused such destruction to the hospital. The large group had now dispersed evenly throughout the village.

"Uchiha." A male voice called him. Sasuke stopped slightly to turn around and face Hyuga Neji, bearing an emotionless mask that Sasuke wore himself. "Thank You." He said simply, yet with all sense of sincerity as well.

It took the Uchiha a second before he registered that Neji was talking about Hanabi.

"Hn." The raven-haired boy replied straightforwardly. The one-syllable words only showed that he was listening. It suggested nothing more, nothing less.

"Days before, I could have cared less." The Hyuga air spoke his words with amusing difficulty. "But I see it now…I see it in you. In all of us."

The sharigan wielder stood, perplexed. "What would that be?" He questioned his peer.

"All of us, we have something to hide. We have something to keep from the rest of the world. We all have something we push back. We leave our past, but we can't pretend it never existed." He repositioned himself, absentmindedly. "But we can't have that stop us from moving forward. Because if we do, we're holding back all the ones we love. And they're the ones that don't want to stay in the same place forever. Training doesn't move you forward unless you make something happy of it. But if you're too busy doing the same things over and over, it's all wasted."

There was a pause. It wasn't awkward, just thoughtful. And then the Uchiha spoke, "What is the point of you telling me this? If you're trying to tell me something, say it. There's no need for lengthy conversations to get a simple point across." His words were cold, but Neji did not hold back.

"She sympathizes – Tenten that is." He sighed silently, low enough so his acquaintance could not hear. "Sakura, Naruto, Tenten. They're in as much pain as we are. Hinata. Hanabi – even if she's young of age. With the time remaining, we can still show them that nothing is impossible. We're all slipping, we're about to give up hope because of this upcoming war. But I'm determined to give Tenten all that I can give her before it ends. Because remember, when it does, you have nothing left to do."

It was then that Sasuke felt a glimpse of the answers to what he had been asking. Frustration slowly began to fade. For now, he would try. He would really try.

The council sat facing each other. The other jounins stood.

"We will not mourn until this problem is resolved. Such actions shall only slow us down." Koharu said strongly as she sat at the head of the table. "Tsunade-kage is in a coma and the time in which she awakes is cannot be estimated. That is, if she awakes at all."

Homura, Koharu's equal elder was no longer alive. But he was watching; eyeing them all as they sat, thinking. Knowing his ex-partner's judgment was not to be trifled with, he let the living go on.

"From the available jounins," She continued professionally, "the council has chosen a person to take place of the Hokage." Her old eyes scanned the line of jounins, then standing up, she spoke loudly. "Most nominated and voted for was Hatake Kakashi." Her words showed traces of regret, of disapproval, but she did not say so.

"Kakashi, you may proceed to the Hokage office and carry out the plans necessary."

With that said, the council members, orderly, in a single file exited the room. Following them, the jounins left as well. That happening, Kakashi was left a bit awestruck. But, Kakashi-sama seemed to fit rather well. Or, Kakashi-kage. Neither of those sounded too bad.

"Raikage-sama!" The underling said excitedly as he approached the larger man. He felt intimidated, yet filled with pride. "Message from Asuka-sama as come!" He held out a neatly folded scroll.

The leading man took it with haste and unrolled it. He then began to read.

Dear Father,

I am doing well here at the Hyuga Estate and am wishing to do so for the rest of this journey. I hope all is well at home. Tell my dear brother, I shall be writing to him soon.

~Yotsuki Asuka

It was time. The Yotsuki knew exactly what this meant. I am doing well here at the Hyuga Estate; She had initiated her part of the plan. And am wishing to do so for the rest of this journey; The process is yet to be complete, but is nearly done. I hope all is well at home; It is time you head out. Tell me dear brother, I shall be writing to him soon. Shī must stay in Kumongakure as was planned for the defensive side.

Rolling up the scroll, he finished up his orderly thoughts. With those contemplation, he smirked. He had raised his daughter well.

Shī was a jounin from the village hidden in the clouds. By the rightful power of the Raikage, he had been chosen to be heir of the Yotsuki clan. Not of blood, of course. He was in no way related to Asuka. But the Raikage had seen much potential in him – more than he has any other to be a powerful leader. And that is why, after the Five Kage Summit was he chosen by the raikage to be his adopted son.

He had trained to get this far. To be realized as a true shinobi. To be acknowledged by the most powerful ninjas in his village. The admiration he received from the children lining the streets to greet him as he passed. Yes, he had gotten this far. But now, is when the true test of power had come.

The young shinobi stood before the table of councils and the Raikage.

The large tattooed man cleared his throat and then said, "Even as Raikage, I shall go into battle this one last time. And with the village, I will entrust my heir, Shī." The council applauded, and the young man began to speak.

"Arigato, father." He said, with grace as if rehearsed. "Perhaps many of you have known the plan. But to clarify the procedure, I will again explain with all of the council present." Silence crept in, and all eyes were on their new leader. "My father, the Raikage, and my sister, the honorable Yotsuki Asuku had gotten this far. I will make them proud by bringing back what we had lost to Konoha years before. The Byakugan, as all you of you must know, was falsely given to us. Konoha had kept quiet, for they fear us. But let me remind you that we do NOT fear them. We will get what we want. They had killed our shinobi and had lied to us – tricking us into peace when it was unfair of us to have lost someone as Shinobigashira.

"We will obtain what we deserve. So the plan is as follows." He paused to make sure the people were listening intently. Once he has sure they were he continued. "Lady Asuka had went to Konohagakure to be wedded with Hyuga Neji as another form of alliance – or so Konoha believes. She had been there to study the habitual techniques of the clan. Once we discreetly invade Konoha, we will need only one Hyuga. We must be sure it is a member of the Main house. Do not make the mistake of bringing back a branch member, for their secrets will be sealed once they die. Asuka-sama will be able to stop any Hyuga who tries to stop us. Konoha is under panic. Their Hokage is dying, and the people in no health to try and stop the group that enters the gates. The person we are to bring back is Hyuga Hinata."

Shī was to continue, when a council member interrupted. "If Raikage-sama is to leave, then you are to stay and command the defense of the land, am I correct?"

"Hai," Shī answered. "Raikage-sama is commanding the minute group of ninja's who are to obtain Hyuga Hinata. I will stay back to keep the village in order."

The entirety of the meeting, Shī explained to the council precisely what they were doing, rarely being interrupted for questions. Once they were done, each and every person exited the room. They all had a job to get to. Konoha would not be expecting it this time.

The pale-eyed girl stared down her large interrogator. He looked back hard into her eyes as if he knew she were to hide something more. But then eventually, he dropped his heavy gaze and nodded firmly, "I see." He said. "Arigato Hyuga-san. I believe that is all I wanted to ask." As he stood up from the chair beside the hospital bed, he took one last observation of the girl and then swiftly left in a poof.

The youngest heiress let out the most silent sighs of relief. She had just brought herself more trouble than she would have thought. But it was for the sake of the clan – or the entire village for that matter, that she had lied. Listening through the still air, she found only herself in the room. But throughout her interrogation, she knew there had been more than two people listening.

Night was coming near and the ninja's had found no suspect from outside the walls of the Village. They had all gone back to either, rebuilding the hospital, guarding the walls with extra security, or aiding the other patients.

Sasuke had been assigned to help the patients – something he was actually good at, seeing that for nearly all the time spent with Orochimaru, he had tended to his own wounds. Kabuto was either busy working on Orochimaru, or working for him – out of reach.

Sasuke approached the crowded clinics that were surrounded by the many medical tents.

"Ah, Sasuke – kun." Hinata said casually, as she looked up from her clipboard. More casually then she should have been, considering the whole arranged marriage thing. Sasuke was supposed to be her…husband. The word didn't seem to suit the man so well. But then again, perhaps it did. He was no longer free. He was held back by boundaries that were set the moment he took the path of vengeance. Husband would set you boundaries as well. You were no longer to love the ones you always will.

"You're assigned to facility B26." She pointed right to the direction of the tent like clinic.

"Thanks," He said awkwardly and swiftly walked away.

Arriving at a large sized tent, he opened the entrance way and walked in quietly. Spotting a flash of pink, he knew right away who it was. Right then, he felt a slight prickling feeling in him that he chose to push down and ignore.

Her back was turned to him, one hand on her hips, the other tapping her pen against a tiny desk overflowing with paperwork. He cleared his throat to indicate that he was there, and she turned.

"Oh, it's you." It took her a second to realize that she was supposed to have him help. "Well, these patients are just resting. I'm getting more in about half an hour when they transfer these guys to facilities F."

He nodded to say he was listening and said no more.

"I'm just doing paperwork so you can go to the staff center and be back. Everything's pretty much under control." Sakura looked back down at her work and looked back up when she realized he didn't leave.

Just then, a few men came in wearing hospital attire, quickly stating they were there to transfer the patients. Within minutes, they patients were no longer in the room. After they had left, an intern Sakura recognized, but didn't remember the name, came in.

"Sakura-san," She greeted pleasantly, "Shizune-san said I should do the paperwork since you haven't had dinner yet. You have an hour break." The girl glanced over to Sasuke and looked back at Sakura. "Anyone who hasn't had break since this morning can leave has one hour leave."

The pinkette nodded and then stood up, taking off her medical apron. "Sasuke, I'm sure you haven't had dinner yet. You should go get some too, just be back here in an hour."

"…I haven't been to Ichirku's in a long time." He mused for a moment, and then continued, "I'll go ask Naruto and Kakashi." That said, he left, quietly muttering to himself, smiling. "Just like old times."

Little did he know she had said the same thing.

Chapter 9: Thought of honor

"What is thought to be honor is instead, hurtful pride."

~Misaki Kasumi

This was utterly ridiculous now that he thought about it. Both the sharigan wielders had not seen the illusion. And how had Sakura seen it, but not him? Yes, her skills in genjutsu were above descent, but still under his own levels.

"Kakashi," It was Anko, "It's not as if you can do anything about it. Dwelling on it won't get us anywhere."

"I know." He told her, but didn't bother to try pushing the thought back. "But suppose, there is something that we had missed. Something that will help us attain a better knowledge of our opponent." He was right of course. Had their enemy known something about the sharigan? Something knowledgeable enough so that they could blind it, even if temporarily?

Orochimaru's former student stood before her peer in the Hokage office. It felt odd to not be standing in front of the blonde sannin, but instead a spiky - haired, dope who she more than acknowledged.

"If this were Tsunade, I'd already be on a mission. I wouldn't be standing in this office for an hour without anything but a person who doesn't do anything but counter back everything I say." She was hardly complaining, only noting the difference.

But Kakashi did think she was being tetchy. Something boiled in him and he felt he needed to stand up for himself. "I'm not Tsunade." The words came out harsher than he meant for them to be. But when he thought about it, she was right. He was getting nowhere. "But I suppose you would want a worthy mission."

Anko said nothing, putting on hand on her hip, in a way, implying he should continue.

The masked-nin sighed, as he looked grimly at his stack of paperwork. "I want you to take Haruno Sakura to Kumogakure. She had already been given previous orders that were postponed due to this…incident."

"With all due respect Kakashi-kage ," Her emphasis on this title made it somewhat humorous. "Two man teams are ideal for quick messages, but its dangerous for her to Kumogakure."

"I'm well aware of that." Kakashi said tersely. "It is actually a three person mission – and do not forget we have an advantage." He nearly smiled under his mask, at her raised eyebrow.

"And what would that be?"

She counted down the hours before her father and his team would arrive to Konoha. Her side of the mission had been completed. Now all that was needed was her father's tasks accomplished and she would be able to go home.

There had been a few rough edges in making her way to the heart of Hyuga clan, but she believed she had done it. To all of them, she had gained trust, with the exception of Hyuga Hanabi, of course.

She had been almost sure that the youngest of the Hyuga heirs would be nothing of a distraction to her task. But to make extra precaution, she had set the girl to rest. Perhaps she had been right in doing so. The night previous to Konoha's 'incident' at the hospital, she had heard Hanabi say something to her elder cousin, hesitating at the most she had ever felt.

"Neji-nii-san, I must tell you something." Her voice was even, but tense. The rest of what was said were whispers that could not be heard.

Yes, Yotsuki Asuka had been the one to poison her. Not a simplistic poison at that. It had been a mixture of cancerous poison that could be controlled chakra set in it before being injected.

It had been the same poison set in Tenten, but she was sure that would make no difference. Her two obstacles had been set aside.

A knock on the shoji door made the semi - lilaceous – haired kunoichi fade from her deceitful thoughts.

"Come in." She said unthinkingly.

Pacing in with poise was Hyuga Hinata. "Ano, Asuka – san. Your presence is being asked of at the Hokage's office." She informed quietly, then added quickly, "After you pack that is."

"After I pack?"

"Oh, my apologies. You would need a maid to do that, of course." Hinata voice had hitched when she had said it. It would be unknown as to why she is always afraid of being wrong.

"No, that's not what I meant," Asuka replied, standing up from her sitting position. "Why do I have to pack?"

Hinata took a thoughtful second before she answered, "To that question I do not have an answer. Though, it is undoubtedly urgent. I think propositions should be kept to yourself before arriving at the tower."

"And how long would that be?" Asuka wondered as to why Konoha officials wanted to see her so urgently, it was already past ten.

"About one or two ours, I would presume. However long it would take you to pack."

He stared at her as she worked tirelessly on a patient. Cynical jade chakra circled from her hands to the patient's diaphragm. Her pink locks were bundled up into a messy bun with a headband holding back her bangs. She was terribly plain if not for her startling green eyes. Her figure was ideally thin, but that did little to make her stand out. Sasuke questioned himself as to why the thought crossed his mind, when at first, all he had been doing was observing her low chakra.

Eventually, her still figure stood up, chakra sucking itself back into its lines, and she let out a breath she did not know she had been holding. Her forearm wiped across her forehead, and she took off her medical apron before going over to the clipboard to write some info on the patient.

"Well, he's the last patient on my shift." She said more to herself than Sasuke. "There's not much left to do here, so you can go home." She set the clipboard down, and turned to Sasuke to see his response. He had nodded, but did not leave.

"Actually, someone came in while you went to get extra supplies." He said, casually. "After everything here's set and you clean up, Kakashi wants to see you."

"How much time do I have 'til I have to see him?"

"About an hour after your last patient." He informed her.

"Okay, can you go tell Hinata – oh, wait she left. Can you tell Ino to send someone in to transfer these patients?" Sakura asked. The Uchiha nodded, and then left while Sakura cleaned up what needed to be cleaned within the room. All the severely injured patients were taken care of either by her or Shizune, while the rest were healed by lower rank medics. It was nearly eleven at night, three hours past her regular shift. She had decided to volunteer extra time.

Her chakra was depleted, and her legs were about to fall out from under her. A few interns came in to transfer the recovering patients, and then left.

The medic grabbed a sticky note, leaving a few details the next person to work would need. With all that set and done, she grabbed her bag and left to go back to her apartment to take a quick shower before meeting Kakashi.

Hinata had been sent home early. She had blacked out a few times, and so Ino offered to take over her position in ordering the clinics. The last person she saw while on duty was Sasuke. He had told her that facility B26 patients needed to be transferred. After that, someone else took over Ino's shift, and the blonde stopped by the Hyuga manor to return Hinata's bag she had forgotten.

Now she was in Hinata's room, listening to the heiress vent like she never had before.

"I don't love him. I just don't and I never will. Everyone's hurt all because I couldn't defend myself back then…" She hadn't cried yet, but her voice was beginning to quiver.

Even the blonde that she was, Ino couldn't believe what she was hearing. She was friggen three years old when that guy from Kumogakure tried to kidnap her! She couldn't defend herself against a full grown jounin! But despite her strong thoughts, Ino had miraculously decided not to say anything. And when she hadn't, Hinata continued.

"My family is beyond anything you would consider normal. I love all of them, I do. But I have doubts if they feel the same…"

Now was the time to tell her she was absurdly wrong. "Hinata, you're wrong. Your family will always love you. They love you for all of you – not just the good things that's easy to love."

It was almost as if she did not hear her. Well either that, or she chose to ignore her statement. "Ino, did I ever tell you my parents' marriage was arranged?"

The Yamanaka shook her head, "…No, you didn't." Her words were quiet, thoughtful, and cautious.

"My mother would always say how much she loved him… But I wonder if that is true. I wonder if it ever was – even if for only a day." Her voice was even, but she curled into herself and hugged her knees. She always felt protected like that. "I hadn't found out until three years ago…My father would always be in constant meetings with the council. One time, I had overheard him and another elder talking about arranged marriages. I guess it was about all the ones we're having now."

Her tone was strange, free, but confined. Her pale eyes were distant, as she told the story that she had kept to herself for so long. The time had made her uneasy.

She had been looking for Hanabi all over the place. Her sister needed to go with her to the hospital to visit Neji. He got himself hurt – again! He had said he didn't need to stay at the clinic, and that it would bore him rather than heal, so Hinata had offered to come see him every day with Hanabi. Now, if only she could find that troublesome girl.

She approached the hall that lead to her father's meditation room. Perhaps Hanabi would be training with Hiashi. She halted when the murmurs belonging to her father and another elder was audible.

"Hiashi," The older man said sternly, "you know that this is inevitable. You cannot stop what has already been planned since her birth!"

"Something must be possible." The clan leader replied with desperation.

"She is strong, Hiashi. You too have been in an arranged marriage. You dealt with it well, and so will she."

She had almost been in tears by the time she had finished. Silence was all that could be heard within the room.

Eventually, Hinata let out a slight chuckle. "I'm sorry I let all this out on you."

Ino joined in the lightness coming from the conversation, "its okay. I vent to Sakura all the time. It's just good to let it all out, instead of bottled up inside."And she was right. Strong emotions kept hidden away will one day find their way out. And when it does, the results are never good.

In the office were only Anko, Sasuke, and Kakashi. They were waiting for Sakura to arrive. It was awkwardly quiet. Before Kakashi could attempt at breaking the silence, a knock came from the door.

"Come in." He answers automatically.

The pink-headed jounin walked in, her expression blank, but seemingly tired.

"Okay, now that we're all here, I'll begin by telling you what the highlights between us and Kumogakure." When he was sure he had gotten the three of them's attention, he continued on.

"I'm not too sure as to why our plan to escort Yotsuki Asuka was cancelled, but I have heard from a reliable source that the Village Hidden in the Clouds has something to do with the attack on the hospital." Not much shock came from any of them, so he went on without having to wait for them to recover.

"Of course, the situation is still unclear. But in order for us to renew our peace treaty, we must still meet with their council. Also, there is suspicion towards the Yotsuki heiress. That is why we must return her home." He paused, and the resumed quickly, "To put it simply, we are telling her that there is a threat to the village, and that would mean a threat towards her. While she is here, her safety is guarded by us. Her safety cannot be guaranteed."

"That is what we tell her," Anko took over from there, "but in reality, we believe she is the one behind the attack, so we will eliminate her without force. Therefore, we do not cause a ruckus that would make us seem like the bad guys to the other nations. That would obviously make it a lot worse if they cut our allies with them, and then side with Kumo."

"So when is this mission going to start?" Sakura inquired.

"As soon as possible," Kakashi informed, "You seem like you need a lot of rest with your chakra low and all. So, about ten in the morning would be fine."

To Sasuke and possibly even to Sakura, Kakashi was nothing like a Hokage was supposed to be. He was laid back, not too uptight with what needed to be done. And that was bad. He put too much leeway into the choices of missions. Maybe the Uchiha was being a bit too critical, but perhaps his preciseness was by habit. "About ten," should have been "ten sharp."

"Anko, is there anything else you would like to say?"

"Sakura," She directed to the medic, "you have the mission folder from the previous mission you were given right – the one before the escorting of Yotsuki?"

The girl shook her head, "Kakashi had it. But why? The mission was cancelled."

Kakashi thought for a moment, and then changed his thoughtful eyes into that of realization. "Oh, yes. I have it right here." He pulled a folder out from under the desk. "We're following the plan here. Only now, Naruto is staying back, and Anko is taking his place, and Asuka is coming along."

Opening the folder, Kakashi spread out a map. "This," He pointed to a red X "is, Kumogakure. And this," he pointed to a blue O"is, us. The plan is clean cut. You will travel from the blue 'O' to the red 'X'. You will make sure is Yotsuki Asuka is safely returned. But, Sasuke, make sure you have a shadow clone before you enter the gates. The clone will stay with Sakura and Anko. I'm sure that won't be a problem."

"Not at all." He replied coolly.

"Good. Now, Sakura, you are to request a meeting with whoever is in charge. Ideally, that would be the Hokage, of course." The pinkette nodded, "Anko and Sasuke's clone will act as your body guards. If in the case anything goes wrong, the clone should leave, transferring the information to Sasuke – who will report back to us. His speed is needed for this mission."

"If you don't mind me asking, Kakashi-sensei, why not just send a messenger bird?"

"Sakura," He light out a small distorted laugh, "This is the Village Hidden in the Clouds. Like, the sky? And the sky has birds."

"…Right…" She saw his point, but found no humor in it.

"Well that's pretty much it. I'll see you guys later then?"

(…only a few minutes after Sasuke and Sakura leave.)

"Yes, and you must be Yotsuki Asuka?"

"Yes."

"We are very sorry you were called on such late notice," He paused, and then resumed quickly, "I do believe you have been informed of the attack?"

The girl could feel a shiver run down her spine, but she had managed to keep her cool, collected expression. She was actually pretty good at playing dumb – according to herself anyway. "Well, yes. I have heard a few things about it." What was he going to do? Interrogate her?

"While you are here," Kakashi started again, "your safety is insured in us. That safety cannot be assured while a possible attack could come any hour in the day. I hope you do understand our circumstances."

"What are you implying? That I should leave?" What would her father think? If she were not here when he came, he might become reckless and that would sabotage their mission. Or worse! He would think she was too weak to go through with it!

"Yes. You will be escorted home by our most reliable shinobi."

She needed to think of a way to get out of this. Quickly. "The council was suppose to meet here only a few days ago. There must be an accidental delay. When they come, I too will leave. It would be a convenience to us both."

"I am afraid that is not possible." The masked nin folded his hands neatly onto the desk. "They have not been delayed, they have cancelled."

"There was to be a discussion about the peace treaty. If there is no meeting, how can there be one?" Calm and collected. Calm and collected.

The new Hokage could see she was trying to get her way out of this. But he had already sealed every crack she might use to escape his plan. "That is precisely why we will be having our representative go and speak with the council."

Asuka could no longer find her way out. But there had to be a way. She just needed time to think without being pressured. Surely, she could go without suspicion. "Very well. When do we depart?"

"Approximately 10 in the morning. I will send someone to get you."

They couldn't possibly make her stay in there any longer. She was beginning to suffocate. She hated the hospital more than any place else. And it wasn't like she broke her leg or anything, that bitch just decided to poison her while she was asleep. If she waited another hour, the nighttime nurses would probably be too busy to notice. She could just go home.

She slowly opened her eyes to observe her surroundings. The florescent lights were attached to the white tiled ceilings. The air smelled like anti bacterial and bleach. Hanabi already knew she was in a medical facility but seeing it that there was a ceiling, she wasn't in one of those backup tents. She was in those clinics behind the hospital. She turned her head to the left and saw a girl around her own age. Possibly younger – a regular villager. She wasn't a ninja. Her chakra flow was distorted. But she too seemed to have been hurt by being in the hospital. Perhaps she had already been in there before the incident.

She dismissed the unusable thought and turned to the opposite direction. It was Tenten. She seemed to be unconscious or maybe in really deep sleep. So there were three people in the room. This was probably where they put people who were done being healed and just needed to be looked after for a few days. But Hanabi didn't need to stay. It would just be a waste of time.

The young Hyuga pushed herself into a sitting position. It wasn't as painful as it had been the first few times she had tried it. At the end of her bed – gurney, was a bag with her name on it. She reached over quietly, making sure she wouldn't wake the other two. Inside had been a note along with a set of fresh clothes.

Hanabi,

I got you a new set of clothes. I'll be back tomorrow morning to pick up your unclean ones, and to drop off another set of fresh ones.

-Hinata.

Hanabi put the note back into the bag and swung her leg over the bed. She quietly walked over the bathroom and went inside to change.

Once she was done, she decided to write a note to the nurse to tell her she had went home.

After that was done, she took off at two in the morning. She knew Sakura had ordered them not to release her for another two days, but this place bored her more than it healed. Neji was rubbing off on her.

She stared at her stupid set of packed clothes and supplies. Think! Think! Think! She couldn't fail her father now. Konoha was so troublesome!

If she left now, maybe she could find her father…

With that unfinished thought, she grabbed her bag and things and quietly snuck out of the Hyuga Manor.

She had slept all day, so she wasn't tired at all. Hyuga Hanabi was walking casually home, not at all thinking about how odd it was that she was a thirteen year old girl who was roaming the streets at two in the morning by herself.

It was a quarter moon that night, the dark clouds covered most of the stars and the air was still but cold. Everyone seemed to be asleep in the village – minus the medics and ninjas of course. But no matter how trained they were, the girl had snuck out without them noticing. Fatigue must have already begun taking them over.

The manor had come to view, but the heiress did not head straight inside. She saw a dark figure flash its way across the field where Neji usually trained, though she doubted it was her cousin himself. He woke early, but surely he not this early. He knew that sleep was needed; training itself would not do any good if the techniques could not be used due to exhaustion. He had taught her that himself. And Neji was anything but a hypocrite.

Moonlit eyes strained themselves as much as possible before activating her Byakugan. The shadow had stopped. It was observing. Did it know Hanabi was there? The young girl stopped on her tracks, masking her chakra as much as possible.

The figure of the unknown person seemed to be familiar. Hanabi took another moment to observe it. When she couldn't define it, she activated her Byakugan.

She clasped her hands over her mouth before she spoke the words out loud. Asuka!

What was she doing? That sneaky little…

But why would she leave now? Maybe she should go wake up someone. No. She didn't have time. Where was she headed? She needed to be stopped! What if she hurt more people? Like she did only a few days ago?

It was time she took matters into her own hands. Thirteen year-old or not, she wasn't weak. The mere word made her want to vomit.

So it was decided, she would follow her and see what Asuka had planned – what other sabotage she would go through with only to get the temporary praise of her father.

Someone was following her! She needed to be quick – really quick. But who was it? Neji? No, that couldn't be it. She was sure he was asleep when she left. Hinata? No, that couldn't be it either. The girl would be too afraid to go by herself. Title of a shinobi or not, the girl was weak. Even on the outside looking in, Asuka could see that the girl could not live up to the Hyuga name. She was a disgrace to her own family. She wondered why the girl hadn't already been disowned.

Hanabi? Yes! So the brat was following her? Wasn't she suppose to be in the hospital? Surely the poison would kill her soon. What was she doing here? Faster, faster, faster!

If she could find a clearing to sit and concentrate, she could kill her now. The poison set inside her just needed to travel faster into her lungs and dissolve the blood there. She did set her chakra in it after all.

But then what would be the point of that? The girl was going to delay her. A fight would be unavoidable and by the time it was done, she would not be able to meet with her father. So what good would that be?

Her only option would be to run.

And that was what she did. She ran into the dark night, leaving every trace she had behind. What would be thought of her honor?

Chapter 10: Lost?

"We never understand how little we need in this world until we know the loss of it"

~ Marcus Aurelius

"Where is Yotsuki Asuka?" He demanded, angry and apprehensive at the same time. "How could you let her escape?" The Hokage slammed his fist onto the desk as he faced down the ANBU captain.

"She did not escape. I have already been looking out for her. And I think our problems are nowhere near as serious as you think it is. A Hyuuga has already found her out before she could leave." He retorted more calmly than expected.

"Yes, but the Hyuuga household is only obligated to take care of her basic necessities while she is staying in Konoha. Her safety is guarded by Konoha itself. Whoever is following her should be –" He cut himself off, "Wait, who exactly is following the Yotsuki?"

"Her identity is has not yet been clarified, though we know for a fact she is on the Main House."

"Shit!" Kakashi cursed. "Of the main house? Make sure she retreats at once!"

"Understood." The ninja disappeared in less than a second with a quiet poof, not questioning his higher.

How could they be so stupid! The heiress to the Yotsuki household could easily figure out a trap to set soon. If it hadn't already been one, then it will be soon. Whoever was walking towards that trap was risking her life, not to mention war.

Haruno Eritaka was struggling immensely, gasping for air every single little chance he got. His eyes had blurred and his heart beat was beginning to slow down. He was in no doubt that he was going to die. He let his lids fall and tuned out demanding orders of the enemy. The first thing he envisioned was his younger sister. He saw her sitting at her desk at home when suddenly there was a knock her door. He couldn't even imagine what his fellow ANBU teammate would say to her. It would only end up meaning he was dead.

He could see her paralyzed with awe. He could see how much pain he would cause her. There was only one thought that made him set him at ease. She had already been through worse, and she had dealt with it better than anyone else could. So he eventually assured himself that she would be okay.

The next thing he see flash through his mind was the face of Uchiha Itatchi. He was his teammate, his friend, his rival. And when he had left, he made Eritaka promise him something. And now, the Haruno was about to break that promise through his death.

Distantly, he could hear the screams coming from the Lightning Country Shinobi.

"YOU WILL TELL US THE LOCATION OF THE HYUGA. WHY IS SHE NOT IN KONOHA?"

His sanity, his consciousness, his simple care for the situation all began to slip.

Hinata began to frantically search for her sister. The nurses had finally admitted that they did not know at all where the girl had gone. But you could not blame them; Hyuuga Hanabi was a skilled kunoichi, even at such a young age. Most of the nurses were nothing more than nurses.

"Neji-nii-san will not be pleased. I had already told him Hanabi was coming home today!" Hinata muttered loudly to herself. She had told her older cousin that the youngest heiress was to be home that day. Neji had already put aside his plans to train with her.

"Not be please about what?" Oh great, it was Neji himself.

"Ano…Hanabi was not at the hospital when I came to pick her up." Instead of a cold, annoyed response, she found Neji to chuckle lightly. She gave him an inevitable questioning look.

He explained, "She hates it there. She probably snuck out last night to go home. You did not check her room I would presume."

She was really hoping Neji had a better explanation, because she had checked Hanabi's room. In fact, she searched all around the Hyuuga grounds, and nearly all of Konoha itself!

"I had. She does not seem to be anywhere in Konoha."

"Perhaps she and Asuka had been out to…" He couldn't even say it, though the thought had crossed his mind. He was about to say something about Hanabi seeing how okay Asuka was and they had decided to look at bridal dresses or something. Oh God, that could never happen. "Never mind. They might be training. I had not seen them all morning."

"Neji-nii-san, how could you be so unrealistic!" Hinata was about to lose it. She was freaking out. "Hanabi would never converse with Asuka if not to point out her flaws. And Asuka would save face before she fought with a child as young as Hanabi – and losing." It was at times like this that people would see Hinata more than just a useless kunoichi. She was a loving sister.

The elder Hyuuga took this into thought. His cousin was right. And the Yotsuki should be getting herself together to depart. It was nearly ten.

As the two relatives stood awkwardly in the courtyard, a sounding poof caused them to turn. It was an ANBU. "Hyuuga Neji?"

"That would be me." The pale-eyed boy sounded. "Is there a problem?"

"Yes. Yotsuki has gone missing. Well, we have a pair of ANBU's following her trail but her pace seems to be very fast, do you know where she is headed?"

Okay, time to freak out. Oh wait, Neji doesn't freak out. "Why had she left? Was she not supposed to already be departing this morning?"

"I'm sorry; you did not answer my question."

"No, I do not know where she is headed."

"You should also be informed that a Hyuuga is following her very close behind."

"What are you talking about?" He turned towards Hinata, silently asking her if she knew anything. The heiress shook her head, and Neji turned his attention back to the ANBU. "Yes, there is a young Hyuuga girl following her."

"Hanabi…" Hinata whispered in disbelief.

"Hinata, go get Naruto and tell him to meet me at the Hokage tower." And before anyone else could react, Neji disappeared into the early morning light.

She had finally finished getting ready and stood up to put her things away. It was about eight, when she had left. Tenten had stopped by earlier that morning so the two of them could go out for breakfast. Hinata had said she was busy, and Ino was already set with plans all day at the flower shop.

The eatery was called Onya – a tiny restaurant in the middle of Konoha. The weather was actually rainy, but warm. It was different today – somehow. The atmosphere. The people. It was just hard to pinpoint what was wrong.

As she made her way through the shoji door of the restaurant, Sakura heard a poof. An ANBU said quickly, to Tenten, "Please continue. I just need a word with Haruno Sakura."

Tenten looked at Sakura once, and when the pinkette nodded, she moved quickly through the door of Onya.

The ANBU turned his attention to the jounin. "Haruno Sakura…I am here to inform you at Haruno Eritaka has been reported MIA."

Sakura felt something like adrenaline run through her, and she had gone numb, confused. "MIA? What do you mean? No…No, he can't be missing in action. I just saw him less than a month ago."

The ANBU seemed to giving her a heartfelt look from behind his mask, "I'm sorry."

With that, he made his way out of her presence.

Sakura was shaking. She took a deep breath and tried her best to gather her thoughts. No, he can't be missing. It must be someone from his squad or something…Oh; they're playing a trick on me. That's it. In a few minutes, they'll jump from behind a bush and say how silly I looked.

That was a comforting thought. Stupid, but comforting. So she had made it through, back into Onya, in front of Tenten, picked up her food, ate it, and stayed remotely calm – with a smile.

Anko lifted her packed bag and started heading towards the Hokage Tower. It wasn't a very busy morning. It was raining and people were hiding in their houses escaping unlikable dampness. As she trudged through the low mud, she could feel the atmosphere "tilt". It was odd. And then the feeling led to a memory. It felt like death. It felt like the great death of the third Hokage.

She shifted once, uncomfortably at the thought.

When she had went through the door, past the corridors, down the hallway, turned right, and faced the door, she knocked.

"Come in." She heard Kakashi's voice muffled from behind the door say.

She entered casually to see both the Haruno and Uchiha to already be standing there waiting.

"…Change of plans. Again." Kakashi said with a sigh. "This girl is tricky."

"What do you mean?" The jounin was a bit annoyed, although she couldn't really pinpoint as to why.

"It seems that Yotsuki Asuka has escaped last night. We have ANBU following her trail."

Sakura had already heard the story that morning when she was talking to Hinata. Hanabi was following her. Thinking of the younger girl, Sakura suddenly felt week again. Hanabi was so brave, so fearless – nothing like she was when she was thirteen. She depended on Naruto and Sasuke. If this is where she was, Hanabi would have so much more potential.

"So what's the plan?" Anko questioned impatiently, "We're supposed to head out like, now."

"The plan is to head to the Lightning Country. It's basically our previous plan minus Asuka."

Sasuke stood there for a moment, wondering if anyone had seemed to notice the change in the atmosphere of the morning. He had been so within thought that when he had snapped back into reality, it was nothing like her remembered. It felt cold. Not in the sense that one would shiver, but more in a way that a person would be afraid.

Kakashi studied the face of his former student for a moment before voicing himself again, "Sasuke, are you alright?"

Sasuke only nodded. Sakura's expression showed her slight concern, but before anyone could notice them, she replaced it with a blank, thoughtless, mask. She was getting there. She was getting to the point where emotions were useless. If Sasuke could do it, so could she.

"So we head out now right?" Anko was edgy, almost angry.

"Yes. Dismissed." Kakashi said, and then motioned for them to exit. They did so and the three of them followed Anko to the gates of Konoha.

Now that sun had risen, it was bright. Everyone had their opinion on the weather that morning, and none were negative – except for Sasuke's. For him, days like this were nothing more than deception. It would make people so joyous only have them crushed sooner or later. And then the 'beautiful weather' would no longer be a useful memory.

As the three of them exited the gate, Sakura found herself look back. She faced the stone bench. She stared at it for a moment and then looked away quickly.

Sasuke caught that.

He did not say anything of course, but he looked at her sympathetically – silently apologizing. She shook her head, telling him it was fine – in a sense, and then continued walking ahead. For some reason, the thought about what the ANBU had said about Eritaka going MIA, did not at all cross her mind. It was just another prank from Naruto pushed aside.

Asuka was beginning to breathe shorter breaths. She was noticeably tired and her legs would fall from under her soon.

Damnit! Hanabi was still following her! This girl needs to be taught a lesson about manners. When a person needs time alone, you do not bother them.

There was a kunai cutting through the air. Suddenly, it stopped dead on its track, floating on air right in front of Asuka's throat. Then there was a voice, chuckling. "Oh Asuka. Sorry about that. Wrong person."

With that said, the kunai made its way towards Hanabi. This time, it made no effort to stop. Hanabi had to dodge the sharp object before she could get killed.

"Come out and fight like a man. Who targets a child from behind trees?" Hanabi was pushing her luck, provoking someone who could hurt even Neji. Okay, that was kind of unlikely, but she knew better than to do something reckless.

A man appeared from behind the tree and walked over to Asuka's side. He was wearing suitable shinobi clothing with a headband that stated he was from the Village Hidden in the Clouds. His face wore a bored, cocky expression. "My my, Asuka. You have done more than what was expected. Now wouldn't your father be proud?"

His oddly blue hair covered his eyes and his angular face showed a scar that had seemed to be there for so long.

Asuka smirked. "Falling right into my trap Hanabi."

She chuckled lightly, but her confident expression did not last long.

"And you fell into mine." The man said. "For all your father may know, you died fighting this girl right here. I'll be the one to bring her to him."

"What are you doing?" Asuka demanded. "This is my glory. I had brought her back! I deserve –" She silenced. Surprised horror marked her face. Her eyes were wide open. She gasped for air one last time and the closed her eyes before falling to the ground with a thump. Blood was pouring from the front and back of her neck.

There was a visible whole in her neck! A kunai had sliced it apart, cutting off her air – stopping the blood in her veins – stopping the beating of her heart – killing her.

The unnamed man again turned his face to Hanabi. "Well wasn't she a pest?" He laughed maniacally for a good minute. "Wow was that was easier than I had thought! HA HA HA! The Raikage's daughter is dead. HA HA HA."

Hanabi could only stare at the horrific scene – wondering how even a ninja could do such a thing. There was no pride – no honor with it. There was nothing that could be satisfying from taking the life of a person only to get some form of wealth.

Finally, his laughter had died down. "Oh you're not going to say a word, are you?"

In her head, Hanabi had seen herself snort at the man, saying, 'Of course I am! Are you stupid? You deserve to be as dead as the rest of them are - right there on that ground.' But she had said none of it. Only nodding dumbly, agreeing to something she did not at all feel mutual with.

Hopping form branch to branch, Sakura could feel the breeze of the early spring. As she did so, she had no thought. She had no feeling. She had nothing at all. She felt the coolness against her skin. And that was all. The rest was numb.

"Haruno, are you sure you can handle this?" It was Anko, her vibrant purple locks longer then you would remember, tied neatly into a shoulder-length ponytail.

Sakura turned to her, confused. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Well…because with your brother and all…"

This was news to Sasuke. But again, he shouldn't think himself anywhere in her life other than a teammate. A teammate is nothing more than an ally you use to bring another person down.

"What about him?" Her mind does not even recall what the ANBU had said to her that morning.

"…Didn't they tell you?" Their conversation was paused every now and then when the other pretended a tree branch was in the way, resulting in having to focus on ducking under and not being able to talk. When in reality, they used that only have time to come up with something to say.

By now, she gave a second thought to what could have happened to Eritaka. "Tell me what?"

Suddenly, Sasuke interrupted, "Oh they probably didn't." He shot Anko a 'look'. "I heard about it this morning. He was home and then got sent back since they were short on ANBU captains."

They set up camp on a nice clearing, where the trees gave them enough cover, but did not occupy the entire surrounding of the area.

Sakura had gone to clean up and said she would be back in less than an hour.

"You shouldn't have done that." Sasuke said to Anko, quietly. "I know her."

"How well?" She questioned, "And why not?"

There was silence for a moment, and he resumed by saying, "Well enough to know that you should not bring things like that up while she is focused. It could jeopardize the mission."

Anko nodded, understanding. It was stupid what she did. But hopefully, the girl did not think about it too much of it.

Neji did not wait for an answer, he ran out of the Hokage office before Kakashi could say, "Permission granted."

Naruto was right behind him, running as fast as he could to catch up with his girlfriend's brother. Or cousin. Same difference. Between the two, they might as well be.

She finished bathing and then quickly put on her clothes and then strapping on her weapon pockets. If she left now, then they would not go looking until another 40 minutes. She said she would be back in an hour.

And she could feel his presence – so near. His chakra was flickering – dying out. She didn't have time. Where he was so close to their destination, surely Sasuke and Anko could meet up with her later.

With that last thought, she thought no more. She made a shadow clone who would go back and tell them that she had left. She didn't want them to worry that she got kidnapped or something.

Now she ran as fast as she could towards his chakra. "Eritaka…" She whispered, "I finally get the chance to show Mom and Dad that for once, I'll be the one to protect you."

Chapter 11: War

"If he makes me fight for you, I die for you, would he do the same?"

-War; Jay Sean

Sasuke finished setting up his things when he heard rustling in the leave. He detected her chakra, but did not look up. "Anko went to clean -"

"I'm a shadow clone." She said plainly, "The real me left, to find Eritaka. He's near. Don't follow me, I'll catch up in a few." An audible poofwas heard before the clone disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Sasuke cursed under his breath. Why was she being so reckless?

Anko came back just as Sasuke was packing again, "Uchiha, what're you doing?" Her tone was somewhat of skepticism, as if he was packing to leave and escape. She should give him more credit than that. If he was going to escape he wouldn't be so stupid as to do it now, where she could find him. And she should also know that if he was going to escape, she wouldn't have the slightest chance of catching him.

"She left." He said plainly, "She went to look for her brother."

Anko did not say anything, knowing that this was partially her fault for bringing it up. She quickly gathered her stuff and destroyed any evidence that they had been there, just in case. "Let's go then." She said as she put out the fire and throwing dirt over it.

"Her chakra can still be felt. She is only a few miles ahead of us; she sent a shadow clone to tell us not to follow her and that she'll be back." He informed, now holding all of his things.

"Well then why didn't you say so?" She questioned, seeming a bit annoyed. "Haruno means what she says. Then why are we bothering to go find her?" Anko seemed surprised.

Sasuke didn't believe what he was hearing. "Surely you don't think she can handle this on her own -"

"You haven't been around long enough, Uchiha, to know what she's capable of. I sensed her brother's chakra as well. And quite a few others." She set her things down again, unpacking. "She'll be back before tomorrow morning."

He began to protest. "But you were just about to-"

"I know. But I learned to trust her words. If she told us not to go with her, then she has good reason for it. Relax, Uchiha. She can handle herself."

Exasperated, Sasuke let out a sigh. "I know she can handle herself, but what about the other people? If they got her brother down, to the point where everyone thinks he's in MIA status, think of what they could do to her!"

"You really insist don't you?" She said smiling.

"Yes!" He cried, not noticing the expression on her face.

"Aha! So you do care for her!" Anko formed a feel signs to pack up her things again, and slung her backpack back on. She smiled triumphantly.

Sasuke made a disgruntled noise, "I cannot believe you just baited me."

"What? I don't know what you're talking about." She smiled innocently, "Let's go, not time to waste!"

Sakura masked her chakra best she could. A piece of information she discovered made her relax a bit. Sasuke had got the message. She wasn't sure what he was going to do, but knew that at least now, they wouldn't think she died. By now, she was frantically looking for Eritaka, but there was no sign of him at all, just his very faint chakra.

She could see figures sitting around a fire. It was nearly silent if not for a two chattering men. They spoke quietly, but she could catch a few distinct words. "Prisoner…Later…Keep alive…"

A few more words… "She's cute." A man – boy, mused, finishing his dinner quickly.

"Don't be such a pedophile." The older man scolded with slight amusement.

"What? She's only like a year younger than me!" The boy said defensively.

"No, I think three." He put his bowl down and did a few hand signs and got rid of the traces that might be left by the food. A sudden flood of images of Hanabi swarmed in on Sakura. Was she here too? She looked for any sign of Hanabi, none.

"What? She's only thirteen?" His mouth hung open for a moment, but then he shut it again.

"Well, yeah. According to her files…And quiet, she's here as a prisoner, not a geisha!" She was here as a prisoner? How? But then again, it could be any other thirteen year old shinobi. But what did any of those other thirteen year old kunoichi's has anything to do with the Lightning Country? Or the Village Hidden in the Clouds? And as a prisoner too! There was a pretty good chance that it was the youngest Main House Hyuga.

"Shame isn't it? If she wasn't so valuable, I'd ask her out." He laughed.

"Shut up, focus here. We need to reunite with the group by tomorrow morning." He looked as if he was concentrating really hard, even though both of the ninja's back were to her. His elbow was propped up against his knee; his chin supported by his fist. There was a moment of silence with occasional small breezes that would annoy you because of the already cold air. The silence went on before the younger man decided to start another conversation.

"Hey, what happened to Asuka? I thought she was supposed to be the one to bring the girl back." The name jumped out at the young pink-headed jounin and she listened intently.

The man's tone seemed neutral, "The girl killed her. Surprise, really, that she could be so strong, and yet, so weak." Sakura sat stunned where she was on the ground, behind a huge tree and large bushes. Hanabi killed Asuka? How? When?

"If she brought down Asuka…"

"I know, I know. We need to keep an eye on her. But I got her pretty good. She shouldn't wake up until another hour."

The younger man nodded, and then said quietly, "What're we going to tell Raikage-sama?" His voice was anxious, afraid.

"It's not our fault. We are going to tell him exactly what happened. The girl can be punished later after they're done with the process." He replied coolly, and then added, "And there's no guarantee that she'll survive that anyway."

There was a chill running down Sakura's spine, and fear started to envelope her, but she refused to acknowledge the feeling. She needed to get things done! She needed to save him, and Hanabi too!

Suddenly, she felt a firm hand grasp her shoulder. Bewildered, she jumped back, about to scream, but his firm hand grasped over her mouth. Adrenaline was rushing through her. Prepared to fight back at any moment, she pushed him back. But when she realized who it was she was so relieved, she felt she could just hug him. She looked up at his face, and he had let go over her, silently telling her to not make a sound. She nodded, and he was out of sight.

Before she could react to anything, she heard a shriek come from one of the two men. She looked, to see what had happened, but she couldn't see anything, only a body on the ground, not moving, and a pretty large figure standing in a ready stance, holding a shuriken in one hand and a kunai in the other. "Who are you?" The man demanded to no one particularly, whipping his head around the area, trying to find where the attack had come from. "What do you want?" He demanded again.

"Hand over your prisoners." Anko was visible now, her purple hair very distinctive.

"Not a chance!" The man retorted, "Who do you think you are?"

Before Anko could do anything else to make the man hand them over, the man whipped the shuriken and kunai at her. Which she dodged gracefully, but still used up time to do. The man had performed a few signs and two bodied dropped to the ground from thin air. He picked up the smaller of the two and disappeared with a poof.

"Sasuke, go!" Anko ordered.

"Already on it," His voice was clear, but before she knew it, Sakura could feel his chakra disappearing.

She jumped out from the bush now, and ran over to her brother. He seemed so tortured. She wanted to just lean down and cry on him, but that would do absolutely no good. She took a deep breath, closing her senses on everything besides his wounds. Green chakra spilled from her hands as she healed him, tears trickling down her cheeks, and onto his chest.

The man who was down started to disappear in a large blue flame. He was a black op then? When they died, black ops, would rid their body of any evidence that may be of use to the enemy. But Sakura did not even notice the man disappearing. She was to absorbed in her work.

Anko cleared her throat awkwardly, "I'm no expert but I can, uh, help heal the smaller cuts." Sakura nodded in thanks, and continued with her tedious work.

Anko leaned down and started healing the cuts behind the ANBU's ears. By the time she was done, Sakura had already finished his neck and chest. She went on with all the vital parts and stopped, panted from using excess chakra. "He should be okay." She breathed and then collapsed beside her elder brother.

Sasuke was completely lost, the man had simply disappeared, and he could not pin point his chakra. In fact, he could sense it at all. He decided that this was no use and returned to his team. When he got there, he found everything set up besides his own tent. Anko was awake, going through some papers, which he assumed to be the plan. He took note of how oddly cold it was for this time of year. And the trees seemed to be dying. The sky was not quite as clear as he remembered it from only a few hours before, but the clouds were stretched out, not looking at all like it would rain.

"Guess whose back? I'm taking first watch." She said, not looking up from her work. "Good thing I brought an extra tent. It's a single one, he's in it and she's in hers, asleep."She pointed to the other tent that was set up.

Sasuke nodded and proceeded to set up his own things. "When do we leave?" He asked, a little surprised the elder jounin had not asked him anything about the man. Not that he wanted to talk about it. There was no need, really. The man was nowhere to be found, and they had their own mission to complete. Other teams would be sent out to look for Hanabi. They were probably sent out. On the way to nowhere, Sasuke thought he had felt the slightest of Naruto's chakra, all over the place. He was sure they were clones, but did not let himself bother with the thought. Naruto goes on missions all the time; he needn't concern himself with other people's business. So then he had come back here, finally letting the thought escape where he could not dwell on it.

"At dawn, like we discussed earlier. We're not altering anything about the original plan."

"What about him?" Sasuke gestured towards the blue tent.

"He'll be tagging along. I don't see how much difference that'll make since his wounds aren't that bad anymore. She healed him to the extent that she could've died. I bet he was better than he was before he was attacked."

"Oh." He said indifferently, and then stepped inside his tent to get some sleep.

Neji and Naruto finally arrived at the border between the Fire and Lightning Country. It was nighttime now, and the temperature seemed to suddenly drop twenty degrees. Suddenly, Neji spotted a lifeless body, hunched over a tree branch. His stomach churned, but he forced himself to ignore the tempting urge to throw up. "Naruto," He said, "There's a dead body, two o'clock, less than a mile." Naruto nodded and followed Neji's lead.

As they neared the scene, Naruto had this really cold feeling wash over him. Neji deactivated his byakugan and they approached the body. Stunned would be an understatement to what he felt. Neither of them said anything for a long time until he spoke, his voice slightly quavering. "Asuka."

Naruto made an odd noise, "What the hell happened?"

Neji didn't respond. Obviously, he didn't have an answer. He saw a kunai pierced through the girl's neck, blood died up all along it, and a pool of blood right below the branch. A sudden image of Hanabi doing this crossed his mind, but he wanted to hurt himself for even thinking that. She would never do that; kill Asuka, yes, but not like that.

"Check for evidence of who did this," He ordered. "That person most likely has Hanabi. Or vice versa."

Naruto made a few shadow clones. "We'll have the clones examine the body. We can scatter the rest to look for her, just in case they're not far. Once they're done examining then we'll have an idea of where to head."

As they headed out, Naruto got a new piece of information from a clone. "There was a note on the body." He said as they hopped from tree to tree. "It said, 'His plan-kill Asuka-take glory-bring back Hyuga Hanabi.'"

Neji froze for a second. "Naruto, get the note to me."

Soon enough, a clone came into view, and handed Neji the note. "Here." And it disappeared with a poof." It was hard to see anything in this kind of light. Of course, Neji didn't need to worry about that with his Byakugan and all, but Naruto was sure he would need contacts soon.

"This is Hanabi's handwriting." He mused. "Smart girl."

Naruto gave a weird, untrusting look. "Neji, don't you think this is a little…too easy?"

The Hyuga frowned, "What do you mean?"

"Well, the enemy who took Hanabi killed Asuka. She got away without any of the guards of the gate noticing, which means she's smart. And we ran into a few dying ANBUs. They said she did that to them. ANBU'sNeji! And if this guy, whoever he is, killed Asuka, then what makes you think Hanabi could've done something like that so easily? Just leave a note? Surely he would've noticed something like that."

"I know." Neji replied, calmly, "He knew who was following him, and he knew that we would feel that it should be difficult, that's why he had made it easy and put no extra precaution on things, knowing that we would make it difficult for ourselves."

"I don't understand."

"I didn't expect you to. He knows that we won't listen to the note, because we thought it was too easy." When Naruto still seemed perplexed, Neji sighed warily, "Just trust me on this one."

"Fine."

"Good, now have the clones bring Asuka back. We're still in our own territory, it should be safe enough."

"Have the medical research papers on this sent down to 'Research and Development'. We need to get this done quickly! This message better get to them before I count to ten!" Kakashi ordered. He was in an exceptionally bad mood. "One, two, three…"

"H-hai," stammered the genin as he made his way out, of this office, bolting down the hallway, handling a bunch of papers that seemed too heavy for him to carry.

"Kakashi-san," Started Shizune, "What would 'Research and Development' do? What exactly are they developing?"

"The kunai had chakra coursing through it. It wasn't simply thrown and pierced." He explained, "It had already been set out a few miles ahead, controlled by the chakra. It was like a wireless device, to put it simply. It was moved by the sense of the chakra, so that it could move in different directions and follow its target, even if the target is moving."

"Oh…So like one of those toys…those, um…Oh! Remote control cars?"

"Exactly." He replied, letting his bad mood relax a bit. "We have to determine if it was the kunai that allowed the attacker to do that, or if it was the attacker's skill himself."

There was an awkward silence, before Shizune flipped frantically through the papers on her clipboard, "I nearly forgot!" She handed Kakashi the paper, "There was a new report coming from the Investigating team."

Kakashi peered down at the detailed paper and skimmed through it:

The person following Yotsuki Asuka was identified as Hyuga Hanabi (File included). The body of Yotsuki Asuka was brought back by a shadow clone from Jounin: Uzumaki Naruto. The body seemed to be dead less than twenty-four hours ago, according to the medical investigation team.

The attack from Yotsuki Asuka: Possibilites:

(Highly Unlikely) Attack was from Hyuga Hanabi: Gone missing; possibly or most likely right after attack.

(**Likely**) Attack was from unidentified shinobi: Taken Hyuga Hanabi?

No conclusion has been made, but some theories had involved The Village Hidden in the Clouds was behind the attack, according to a note brought back with the body. The handwriting was identified as Hyuga Hanabi's.

"His plan-kill Asuka-take glory-bring back Hyuga Hanabi."

Uzumaki Naruto and Hyuga Neji are currently looking for Hyuga Hanabi who will most likely be with the attacker. Updated information will come as soon as possible.

Kakashi let out a sigh. "Now that she's dead…there is not truce. It would be safe to assume that the arranged marriage has been called off." He took a glance at the clock, "Looks like I'll be here all night. You can go home, just update me when there's more information."

Shizune smiled, despite the circumstances. "Thank you, Kakashi-san. Goodnight." She said, and left.

Before he made himself comfortable in the chair again, a rapid knocking came from the door. "Come in."

An ANBU stepped in calmly. "Updated news from Uchiha Sasuke."

"Yes?"

"Haruno Eritaka has been found, and is currently with the team sent out to Lightning. He was, apparently, tortured for information on Hyuga Hanabi, but gave none. They found him not far past the border from Fire and Lightning with two Lightning shinobi, nearly dead. Haruno Sakura has healed him, and they are idle until dawn there. One of the two Lightning Shinobi had been killed by Uchiha Sasuke. The other, apparently, also had Hyuga Hanabi and escaped with her still unconscious in his possession."

Chapter 12: Of a single death

"How can you fill a cup if its already full?"

-The Forbidden Kingdom

After a rather long journey, they had finally reached their destination: The Village Hidden in the Clouds. She could see it in the distance, and decided it wasn't more than a mile away. Sakura could feel mixture of relief and anxiousness as she let out a sigh. A relief that they had finally reached there. Anxiousness because this meeting would play a huge role in politics and whether or not a war would break out. She had always been good with seeing through political figures – especially elderly council members. They insist on having everything be how it "ought to be" and never otherwise. There old, inefficient ways have slowed them down. She attended meetings, occasionally, with Tsunade when the woman was still Hokage.

After about four or five meetings, Sakura had insisted on having a group of younger, more open minded shinobi, to come together with ideas. They would speak of their ideas to the official council in hopes of intermingling thoughts. Shikimaru had helped her set up this group and the two of them were Co-presidents.

When Tsunade was no longer Hokage, the group had had fewer meetings, and slowly ceased to exist. It wasn't anything big, but it made a difference in the way some council members thought, and that, to Sakura, was there main goal.

The Village Hidden in the Clouds was much more different than Konoha, in terms of appearance. There gates where not manmade, but instead large hills, that were lined up around the entire village. The entrance was what seemed to be a "missing mountain". It was a large gap between two hills that let people pass through into the village.

"We'll stay here," said Sasuke, motioning slightly towards Eritaka who seemed to be rather dazed. "I'll cast a shadow clone as soon as we're out of view."

Since the night before, Sakura had avoided her brother, at all times possible – which was basically the whole time. Her brother had, of course, tried to speak with her, but she only shrugged it off, pretending nothing had happened. He thought she might be going through it again… It was always easier for her to forcefully forget.

Anko and Sakura stalked off towards the gate, where two guards finally came into view. "State your purpose." One said, seemingly bored.

"We are Konoha representatives. We have a confidential meeting with the council of this village. The password we were given was, 'Through the gate of no gate'."

The guard nodded, suddenly attentive now. "Please, proceed." He led the way through the gate as another guard took over his position. He took them through the village that seemed oddly quiet. No one was out, even though it was mid-day.

Sakura whispered to Anko, "Something's wrong."

The older jounin nodded, agreeing.

"We are here." The guard said, stopping at a large building that resembled the Hokage tower back in Konoha. "Masashi will lead you towards the meeting room." A young man came out, as the guard made his way back to his post.

"Welcome," He said cheerfully, "Please follow me."

The complied as they walked through the narrow halls. Sasuke's clone was beginning to feel uneasy and had been ready to stab itself to report back to its original body. "Here you are." He said finally as they reached the door, and he knocked.

"Come in." Came a raspy voice.

They all entered the room, including their escort. The room was empty if not for them and a young man sitting at the head of the meeting table. "Masashi, you may leave."

The escort nodded and then left.

"Please," He motioned to the seats. "Sit."

They did, and Sakura began. "It's an honor to be here. I am glad we have come to good terms as two nations." She did not bother to ask why the rest of the council, or the Raikage was not there. But it seems as if she did not need to.

"And it is an honor to have you here." He said, "It is unfortunate we could not accommodate you as we usually would, with the cheery village and the rest of the council members."

"Yes, quite unfortunate, but we were here nevertheless." She said, and noticed Anko was shifting uncomfortably. Sakura wondered why, but did not dwell on the thought. Sasuke sat next to her, his expression impassive as always.

"Surely, you have the time for me to explain as to why not." He sat up straighter, "You, see, a plague has pass through our village. The large population has been told to keep inside their homes, and those who are sick are being treated. The Raikage himself has been a near victim of this plague, and regrets that he cannot meet you here today. I will be his representative, and any objections to that is no problem at all. We would be glad to make further arrangements."

"No, no." Sakura assured. "I would be glad to come to terms with you. As you can see, I myself am a representative and am not the Hokage."

"Shi," He extended his hand, and she accepted it. "Miss Haruno is it?"

"Yes," she said, sitting back down.

"Well then, shall we proceed with this meeting?"

"Please."

"As you know, recently, we have discussed the terms of truce as an arranged marriage." Sakura tensed slightly, but kept a very convincing straight face. "I have heard from Konoha, there had been many objections to this. But the two people who are mainly involved in this have not face forwardly objected."

"Hyuga Neji is a very dedicated shinobi who will do anything for his village." She wasn't lying, of course. But she felt as if she just had. Neji wasn't going on with this like it was a few fights with an undesirable enemy. In this fight, he was fighting himself. His mind was fighting his heart. It was a fight that never ended well. The mind cannot command the heart.

"But recently," He said, "news had come that Yotsuki Asuka had been killed."

Sakura could only gape at him, "I don't understand."

"Yes, it is quite unfortunate that term of truce can no longer be used."

"I don't understand." She repeated.

"I will get to the point then." His face was completely professional. "According to investigations done by the best, a member of the Hyuga Main House had forced Yotsuki Asuka out of the village. The alleged person had chased after Yotsuki who was fleeing for her life. She had managed to contact a trusted fellow shinobi who came moments too late. The Hyuga had ended the life of the person who had held our side of the truce. You had come here in meanings of securing the support behind the truce, but you had been the ones to sever it completely. The only way to resolve this is for Konoha to hand over the murdered of the Yotsuki heir."

Sakura stared at him, completely stunned. "Who – who, did it?" She knew exactly what they were doing. It was the exact same thing they had done with Hyuga Hiashi and his brother, Hizashi.

"Hyuga Hanabi."

Again, Sakura stared at him completely dumbfounded, angry as well. "How in the world -?" There was no way –

" – a little girl do it?" He finished, "I haven't the slightest idea. But we expect her body in 72 hours from once you leave."

"I see what you're doing, and I won't allow it. Have you learned nothing from your last attempt?"

The man chuckled, "Ah, so you would know the history." He stood up, as did she. "But outside of this meeting room, no one will know. Now will they?"

"You can't – "

"I already have." He said simply, "But just in case you can't keep that pretty little mouth of yours shut…"

A kunai made its way towards her, but she dodged it. Anko was about to attack, when Sakura shouted. "Anko don't! We don't need more evidence of our 'menace' towards them."

An audible growl came from the violet head, but she subsided and backed off.

But Shi wasn't about to back down. "Attack or you'll be attacked. Simple as that."

"Sasuke," Sakura screamed, as a large number of cloud black ops came out of nowhere, rounded them, ready to attack at Shi's command. "Get us out of here!"

"Neji!" Naruto called excitedly, but not without a trace of concern. "They found her!"

The Hyuga looked at his companion skeptically, "What do you mean?"

"Sasuke," he said, "Sasuke and Sakura ran into the guy who had Hanabi! Apparently, they had Sakura's brother too, who they tortured for information on where Hanabi was. But when he didn't say anything, Asuka had come with Hanabi and just practically handed Hanabi over." The last three words were like a bad taste that needed to be spat out. Naruto hated the idea of using people like that. He just hated it. "When Sakura's team reached them, thinking there was only her brother, the man fled without caring to look back at Eritaka. He just took Hanabi and left."

"How do you - ?" He started but then realized it quickly, "Oh, clones."

"Yeah," Naruto continued to put his things together, "we're close. Let's go."

"No, Uchiha!" Eritaka ordered, "Wasn't that your plan? To run back and tell them? I'll be the one to go after my sister."

"But you could just send them an urgent message! You're an ANBU black op!"

"Fine, but – "

"Just, do it! We don't have much time!" And with that said, he left Eritaka to stand there for a moment, only surprised. He ran fast towards the gate and stunted the guards and made his way to the Raikage tower that he saw his clone go into. He was never good at clones, and sometimes there would be flaws and the information they obtained were foggy, but he had made his way through well enough.

Guards had come out and attacked them, and he only stunted them. He knew they would be out for at least an hour. He heard agonizing shriek and recognized it to be Sakura's. He ran towards the room, and practically slammed the door down. The guards noticed him and attacked, but he easily took them out, not even needing to use the sharigan. He heard clapping come from the shadow of the room, as a man walked out. Sasuke instantly realized who it was, "Suigetsu."

"Ah, Sasuke!" He chimed, "What brings you here into the room where we torture pretty little girls such as this one?" He revealed his single hand holding back Sakura's wrist, a large blade at her neck. Her face was daring, but he knew she wanted so much to just cry.

"What the hell –"

"Shi promised her to me." He said, casually. "She knows too much about his plan, you see. He needs to get rid of her, oh and this one too." He motioned towards another man holding Anko who seemed to have passed out. "Of course, once she's mine, I'll have a little fun…"

Sasuke was beyond angry; he wanted nothing more than just to over there and slit the other man's throat. But he just stood there, motionless as ever. He needed to think something through, quickly!

When Sasuke said nothing, Suigetsu went on, happily, "You won't tell Karin, will you?" His grasp on the pinkett's wrist tightened and she made a pained noise. "Mmm," He leaned down the crook of her neck and ruffled his face into her hair, "sweet cherry blossoms…"

Sasuke couldn't handle it anymore; his eyes flashed red and the man before screamed in agonizing pain. Tears were streaming down her face as she looked over to Anko, her voice was quivering, "She's dead."

As Suigetsu went down in pain, Sasuke's eyes faded back to black, and he placed too firm hands on her shoulder and quickly did a transferring jutsu back to where Eritaka was, but the elder Haruno was not there and neither of them could sense his chakra. She was shaking now. And for the first time since Sasuke had returned to Konoha, he had seen her sob. It was only now that he realized her close was battered, her shoulder bare and swollen…

Oh god…

"Sakura… He said, but she did not look up, she sat on the ground, hugging her knees, as if it would keep her safe. "…Did he…hurt you?"

She only nodded shamefully, and quietly added, "Not in the way that you think…but he was close."

Sasuke could only stare at her, not knowing whether if he went over to her now, if she would see it as comfort, or as if she would be afraid… "Sakura, I'm sorry I wasn't…there to protect you."

Anko was dead…No, she can't be dead! She can't be dead…

"She can't be dead. She can't be dead…" He repeated aloud, as if any moment now, she'll walk through the doors saying how funny his face looked when the ANBU came into the office to tell him. "She can't be dead… She can't be dead…" He repeated aloud, as if his power in command could tell the world otherwise. As if he saying it would not allow for her to dead. The person who thought of like a sister was dead…

Anko couldn't be dead. Who would be his best woman at his wedding, if he ever had one? Who would be the one to tell him he looked ridiculous before an important date? Who would be the one…?

"His sister had just died." He heard a voice from outside say. "You know how Kakashi thought of Anko, even though many of us thought differently." Differently, how? Who was this person, what was he talking about?

"I know that." The second voice snapped, it seemed to be a woman. Shizune? "I know Anko meant a great deal to him, as a sister."

"Then what did you mean –"

"I meant that you shouldn't bother him right now, that's all! We all know he loved Rin, and none of us are going to change that. I bet he still does!" She seemed angry now, "Don't suggest anything else stupid, Yamato. If you don't trust me to confront him myself, then you do it! I only offered because he's my friend, not because I wanted to seduce him! Are you crazy?"

"But –"

"If you confronted him now, I won't make the assumption that you only used your girlfriend as a cover-up, will I?" She was still angry, "Anko was my friend too!" He heard stalking footsteps fade as a knock came from the other side of the door.

"Come in." He said, rather quietly. He looked up to see Yamato. "What a pleasant surprise."

"We need to talk."

Hinata felt so isolated and useless. Her sister was somewhere, anywhere where she could be hurt right now. She trusted Neji and Naruto to bring her back…but…what if they got hurt too?

She forbid herself to think such thoughts. Tenten had come over, and decided to spend the night helping comfort Hinata.

"Hinata," She said, handing the heiress tea Tamiko had just made. "At times like this, you have to find the bright side of things, even if the dark side is evidently more foreseeable."

"W-well, there aren't any more arranged marriages…" She hesitated, "But that also means war."

There was going to be a war, because of a single death.

Neji had never wanted this. He had never wanted for the girl to die. He had only wanted for the marriage not to occur, even though he was more than sure it would have. He was no closer to being happy with Tenten than he was before. Once the outbreak would start, he would have to fight. He could not have her safety at risk because of any association she had with him. He could not bear to see her get hurt again because of him.

There is going to be a war, because of a single death.

When Sasuke had come back, he never intended to stay. Konoha congratulated itself with high security with its shinobi on probation, but Sasuke knew how easy he could have broken from their grasp if he chose to.

But where she was, he saw life. There was a shimmer of hope for him, dancing within her beautiful green eyes. And he had procrastinated with his escape, because he would wake up, and say he could see it once more. But if he left this time, he might not ever see them again…

He didn't dare share this feeling with anyone, and for a very long time, he denied to himself that it was ever there.

Now, with her against his chest, safe as she would ever be, he knew that he loved her. He had all along. And when he left, he left because he wanted what was best for her. She would be happy with her friends, with her family. She would soon forget that he was ever been there. But she had never stopped. She kept going back to him, and he turned her down, hoping that if he hurt her little by little, she would never have to feel the pain of a full attack. The small damages he had caused, he would never forgive himself for. But if he had stayed, they would have come after him, and she would have been hurt so badly, there was no way she could heal.

He had thought that if he had left, Naruto would be the one to fix all his mistakes.

Even with this whole mess in front of him, he felt as if he was finally free. He loved her, and she would finally know.

There is going to be a war, because of a single death.

He pictured her beautiful face and pale moonlit eyes. He could feel the taste of her lips against his. He loved her, so much. And when all of this was over, they would be happy. They would have nothing, and no one holding them back.

Even with the monster he had inside him, she never gave it a second thought when she looked into his eyes, and he couldn't ask for anything more. She loved him, and he had been a fool to see that until recently. But he was sure he could make up for all the wasted moments once all this was over…

Chapter 13: She should be honored

There was rabid knocking on the door, but Kakashi did not have the strength to even look up. Slowly the door opened without his consent. Shizune poked here head through, looking uneasy but determined. "Kakashi?"

He lifted his head. "Shizune."

"Have you been here all night?" And when he nodded she gave a disapproving look. "I brought you extra clothes and breakfast."

He looked genuinely surprised. "Thanks."

She smiled sadly. "You're welcome. I'll be down the hall if you need anything."

Other than a few encounters with unimportant rogue ninjas, Sasuke and Sakura made it back nicely. They returned with one team member missing and that did not go unnoticed. They could hear whispers as they walked back through the gates of Konoha.

Finally, making it to the Hokage office, Sasuke knocked.

"Come in." Voiced Kakashi from the other side of the door.

The struggling pair stepped in; their untidiness showed they had a rough morning. "I'm sorry." Sakura whispered nearly inaudibly. Her voice could barely be heard, but Kakashi had heard her. He nodded. Then she said, this time more clearly, "I understand you don't really want to talk to anyone right now…We wrote up a fully detailed report." She handed him a red folder which he took a moment to accept.

"That's considerate of you." He commented plainly. There was a long moment of silence. Then Sakura turned towards the door and began to walk out. Sasuke followed her after he studied Kakashi's weak state. Pitiful, really. But, not unlike himself two years ago when Itatchi had died, leaving him the rueful truth.

For the fifth time, Kakashi had picked up the red folder and put it down. He stared blankly at it for long moments at a time. Finally, he picked up and reached for the edge to open it. Taking a deep breath, he looked over the report slowly…

***Mission Report***

Team Members: Haruno Sakura, Uchiha Sasuke, Mitarashi Anko

Task: Meeting with Kumogakure – secure treaty

Outcome: Meeting took place; securing of treaty failed.

Details: While making way to Kumo, Haruno Sakura strayed from her group, in search of her brother, Haruno Eritaka, who was believed to have gone MIA. She had informed her team indirectly. She was found soon after near to the location of two Lightning Shinobi. They revealed Haruno Eritaka who had seemed to be tortured. (See report from the medical department). One of the two Shinobi, (younger 16?), had been taken down by Uchiha Sasuke. The other made his quick escape with another unconscious figure who is strongly believed to be Hyuga Hanabi. Haruno Sakura and Mitarashi Anko healed Haruno Eritaka who regained near perfect strength and chakra the following morning. The attempt to track down the other Lightning Shinobi had failed. They made their way to the Village Hidden in the Clouds safely. Once there, Haruno Sakura, Mitarashi Anko, and a shadow clone of Uchiha Sasuke entered. Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Eritaka stayed behind.

Towards what seemed to be the middle of the meeting, Haruno Sakura had been informed that the Raikage, along with a large amount of civilians in the village had undertaken a deadly plague. In his place, was a representative, Shi. From there, Shi had told his guests that the treaty cannot be secured, due to a very tragic "accident". Yatsuki Asuka had been killed, supposedly, by the hands of Hyuga Hanabi. The only way for peace, he had said, is that they hand over the body of Hyuga Hanabi. (Sakura: And they say history repeats itself.)

When Haruno Sakura had showed her knowledge of the past, Shi ordered a number of his men to take her down. The clone quickly disappeared to inform Uchiha Sasuke, who then turned to Haruno Eritaka to inform Konoha. He himself had went back to rescue both his teammates. It was nearly too late, for Mitarashi Anko had already been killed, and Haruno Sakura nearly unconscious. The body of Mitarashi Anko had cleared itself of evidences and information at the very last minute.

Finally, they made their way back to Konoha. Most of their wounds had already been treated.

More medical information is attached. A copy of the original plan is also included.

He mentally thanked his former students for sparing him the details of the death of the woman who he thought of as his sister.

She was home now. Finally home. Her brother had been ordered to stay a night at the hospital so they could take a good look at his wounds, even though they all had faith in Sakura's healing abilities. Sighing heavily, Sakura went upstairs to take a shower. The warm water touching her skin loosened her muscles. Now was the time to think things over. Now was the time to let her 'I'm okay' mask fall, if needed.

Alright, so she thought her brother dead, which he wasn't. Turns out, he was perfectly fine. Actually, that's not true, he was nearly dead, but she saved him. So hey, the few days of torment only made her realize how much she loved him. So that's a plus right? Something good came out of it. Now she wouldn't take his presence for granted. She was mad at him, sure, for making her worried. But in the end, she was just glad he was alive.

Then there was Anko. She was one of the few people who believed in Sakura in the beginning. Of course, the girl was a total sappy mess, but she grew out of that faze, and Anko knew she would. She lost someone special. The night Sakura found out her parents had died, it was Anko who told her. She stayed with her after the news had been told; unlike many ANBU who would just deliver the message and continue on with whatever else they felt like they needed to do. They weren't necessarily close, like Sakura was with Ino and Naruto. But she was someone Sakura could count on for wise advice. She knew of Anko's past, and she couldn't quite understand it. But they had a bond. They both went through so much pain so young. Her loss would be grave.

The last thing she wanted to think about was of course, the most confusing of them all. She leaned back so the shower could rinse out the shampoo in her hair. "Sasuke…" She found herself whispering out loud. He was very, well, odd. He always had been, but this time it was different. He wasn't so cold. For the first, (and only, she concluded), time, in her life, he made her feel safe. The way he held her almost felt natural. As a kid, she imagined that moment. Once it finally happened, she realized how imperfect her daydreams had been. They were nothing like the real thing. The real thing would need to be a savored memory, because nothing like that would ever happen again.

Sakura had wanted to stay home but finally convinced herself that would not get her anywhere if she wanted to help figure things out. She had called for a meeting with Sasuke and Kakashi as soon as they were both available. She expected for it to be at least tomorrow, but turns out, as soon as she left her house, they were free for a meeting right then. By the time she had reached Kakashi's office Sasuke was already there. "Kakashi-sensei, have you gotten the chance to look over the report?"

He nodded indifferently, "Yes, I have."

"I think our next task would be to look for Hyuga Hanabi." She said firmly.

"Naturally." Kakashi replied, his hands folded on top of his desk. "But honestly, I think there is a very small chance of that. They already have her, do they not?"

A bit annoyed, Sakura countered, "Well, yes. But that does not mean we give up so easily."

There was a short silence. Then: Sasuke said, "It will be difficult, we must do it in discreet. We should not draw attention to ourselves; most the surrounding countries think Lightning is the victim. Supposedly, we killed the heir to the Yotsuki household."

"I know, I know." Kakashi looked thoughtful.

"But," Sakura interjected. "I think we've got some time. If we leave now, we can reach Lightning before they proceed with examining Hanabi's Byakugan."

"How do you know when they'll start?" Questioned Kakashi.

"I might be wrong, but when I was in Kumo, I tried to sense out the Raikage's chakra, but it wasn't there. Not even a little trace, like he left a few days before we got there."

Sasuke nodded in agreement, "I think she's right. I couldn't feel his chakra, and he has a large sum of that stuff. Trust me."

Appreciating that she had Sasuke backing her up on this, "I found the slightest trace of him on the way back. If I'm correct, he should be here in the morning."

Knowing the statement would not convince Sakura to not go, he said it anyway. "I already have Naruto and Neji almost there."

"Well, I'm sure they'd appreciate the help."

It was one in the afternoon. Just a few hours after Sakura had arrived back to Konoha. As soon as she got home, she would have to leave, not that she minded. It was her idea to go on their next mission after all. They would leave at ten that night. She finished packing and went to see Ino for a few. Her friend was at the flower shop with Tenten.

"Hi guys."

"Hey forehead."

"Hello Sakura." Tenten went out from the back of the counter, "Did you hear the news?"

The pinkette nodded, "Yeah. I even saw Hanabi, poor thing."

"Wait, what?" Ino bellowed. "What do you mean you saw her?"

She sighed at the intent gaze coming from her best friends. "I – I went to save Eritaka. And the people had him had her too."

"But you could save your brother but not Hanabi?"

"No –no! It's not like that. We tried to catch up with the guy who had Hanabi, but he just left Eritaka there. They didn't care much for him; their main goal was to have Hanabi!"

A bit angry with her friend Ino said, "You could have tried harder."

"Well I'm going back tonight, if that in any way makes amends. We're going to help Neji and Naruto."

Ino immediately felt guilty. She didn't mean to put her friend down. She should have never doubted that she had tried her best. "I'm sorry." She sighed. "It's just that, we've all been so hopeful. Hinata is a complete mess, we just hate seeing it."

"I understand." Was all Sakura could say. There was a short amount of silence before she spoke again. "Does- does Hinata know that now the arranged marriage is called off?" At the very least, that should make her feel a bit better.

"It is?" Ino asked curiously.

"It is?" Asked Tenten, again, bewildered, excited, a bit scared all at once.

The younger kunoichi nodded, "Mhm, it's all been called off. There's basically no way around war. Unless…unless we surrender Hanabi and the secrets of the Byakugan. Which, by the way, we're not going to do."

Tenten couldn't contain herself, "Well that's great! Well, not the war part, of course, but the whole arranged marriage thing?"

Her last stop for the day was the Hyuga Manor. She had bought flowers from the Yamanaka flower shop for Hinata along with a homemade tray of sushi and sweets for the both of them to have lunch together. When she got there, the atmosphere was different. The unfriendly air made Sakura shift uncomfortably under her own skin. There was a new maid whom Sakura did not know the name of. She wondered if Tamiko was still there, working in a different part of the house.

The maid led Sakura down a familiar hallway, through a couple open spaced rooms, down another hallway and towards Hinata's room. They stopped just right outside the door before the maid bowed and left Sakura by herself. Taking a deep breath, she knocked.

Silence.

She knocked again.

Silence.

One last time.

Si – "Come in." Came a shaky voice from the other side of the door. Sakura entered slowly and found Hinata sitting on her vanity set, staring at herself in the mirror. It was evident that she had been crying…and crying. And crying. "Sakura, you're back."

"Yeah, I brought you food and flowers." She smiled sadly and set them down on the nightstand beside Hinata's futon. Suddenly Sakura felt firm, but shaking hands grasp her arms. Hinata was looking straight into her eyes, with her own terrified ones.

"Sakura, please." She bit her lip. "Please, tell me something to have me believe she's still alive. Tell me good news, any. Any at all." And then she was sobbing, getting her friend's shirt wet. Sakura let her sob as she patted her back.

"There is good news."

Hinata had stopped crying by now. She looked up and hiccupped. "Tell me."

"Well, first things first." Sakura opened up the container with the large tray of sushi and sweets. "Ino says you haven't been eating at all. Eat lunch with me and I'll tell you."

"Okay."

They started eating, and then Sakura began her story with how the arranged marriage was called off. To that Hinata said. "That doesn't matter! I would marry even the most distasteful man if that meant my sister was safe." Then Sakura continued with how she saw Hanabi was alive and how she was leaving to help Neji and Naruto. When they had finished, Sakura cleaned up and found a vase and filled it water to put the flowers in.

"I'm leaving tonight, Hinata. Don't worry."

Right before they left, Kakashi had assigned Kiba to the mission as well. It was a three-man team, which wasn't a bad thing, but Sasuke always had something against Kiba, and vice versa. There had always been an uncomfortable barrier between them. After all, they've both tried to kill each other. Sakura, of course, was oblivious to all of this and was happy to bring Kiba along. They were pretty good friends. After a few dates, they've decided they both enjoyed each other's company, just not in the way Kiba had planned. He wasn't really let down at all, he didn't really expect anything more. But he was sure they were good enough of friends so he had the right to beat the crap out of any guy who hurt her. She agreed to this and they were on great terms.

Sasuke watched as Kiba said something and Sakura laughed. He felt this little twinge and had concluded that he was just disgusted the mutt was there with them. Little did he know it was something called jealousy. Of course, even if he had known that that was what it was, he would never have admitted it. As far as she knew, he still found her annoying.

"Let's get moving." He said dully.

"Right," Sakura said, still smiling at whatever Kiba had said. The Inuzuka said nothing as the three of them headed out quickly, hopping from tree to tree.

It was nearly six in the morning. They had all pulled an all nighter then. If they were leaving Konoha now, they would have a little less than a day ahead of the Raikage. But since they left at ten, they had about thirty hours ahead of the Raikage. They had also taken time-set sleeping pills, so they slept at least five hours before leaving. This meant they could wake up in about an hour or two, and not have lost sleep.

"Honestly," said Sakura with a small yawn as she unpacked her tent, "I'm ready to crash after first watch."

"No, you're tired," Kiba said gallantly, "you just came back from a mission. I'll take first watch."

She smiled sweetly, "Thanks Kiba, that's really nice of you."

Of course, the Inuzuka had volunteered for Sakura, and not at all Sasuke. But that didn't really matter. He had first watch nevertheless.

"I'll take second." Sasuke said plainly. "Sakura has third then."

"Alright, third."

"You will hand over the body of Hyuga Hanabi," The Raikage demanded. "Or Konoha will fall."

Calmly, Kakashi replied, "How can I possibly? You already have her. You cannot take something you already have."

Feigning anger the larger man stood up. "Do not suggest such ridiculous things! She had killed my daughter, now where are you hiding her?"

Kakashi knew exactly what the Raikage was doing. He was starting war. Hatake was pretty sure news had reached all over the shinobi world. And there most dangerous enemy, Sound was going to use this outbreak to fulfill what they've wanted for years, whether they believed the story about Asuka or not. Unless Hanabi could be handed over, there was no way of stopping this. There would be war. There was simply no way around this.

If they did not have Hanabi, there would be war. They would tell the incredulous story about how a thirteen year old girl killed a highly skilled shinobi. And the stupidest part of all, is that everyone would believe it. But if they did, have Hanabi; well then there would be war anyway. Using the secrets of the Byakugan, they would cause the destruction of Konoha. They would wipe out the main point of Konoha's attack force.

"We do not have her." Kakashi said slowly, "I'm sure you've already made up your mind on what you want to do to Konoha, whether we hand Hyuga Hanabi over to you or not. Because you already have her, you think you have the advantage in this war."

"How dare –"

"The sooner you declare it, the sooner we can get it over with. We knew you were going to do it anyway. Might as well do it now instead of five minutes later."

The Raikage glared at Kakashi, growling under his breath. "From this moment forth, I declare war on Konoha. Expect nothing less than destruction on this land." With that said, he stormed out of the room with his guards following him.

Once they had left through the gates of Konoha, the Raikage let himself finally let his true face replace his angry expression. Smirking triumphantly, he said, "Well that went well. Good work Kabuto. That girl was useful for something."

The large man shifted shapes and smiled as he settled into his original form. He put on his glasses. "Raikage-sama, she was a very pretty girl."

"I never wanted a daughter."

"She was a good one; I used my best form to kill her."

"She should be honored."

Orochimaru's former student chuckled. "So long as the Konoha labs are saved for me, I won't need any other form of payment."

"Oh that won't be a problem." He waved casually, "It's time to go home and prepare."

Chapter 14: Revealed

"Between the noise you hear, and the sounds you like..."

-One Republic, All the Right Moves

"Wake up Temari! Aren't you supposed to fill in for Gaara today?" Kankuro's voice was deep, but rather loud. Temari wanted to punch him in the face to shut up like she would with an alarm clock. She dreaded this day. There was nothing interesting. She was the Kazekage's sister, not the Kazekage. She didn't need the whole load of paperwork to fill out. But nevertheless, she had agreed to help him this one time. He owed her one.

"Well come on Temari! He has to leave in an hour!"

"I'm up, I'm up!" She bellowed, "Just need to take a shower. Tell him I'll be there in half an hour." She swung her feet over the side of her bed and headed for the bathroom.

Soon enough, she got out of the shower and put on her clothes. Make up was really unnecessary but was put on subtly anyway. Strapping her weapons on, she headed out of the house.

"Gaara," Temari said as she stepped into her brother's office without knocking.

He looked up from his pile of work, "Ah, Temari. Thanks for doing this."

"Yeah, yeah." She said, waving him off. "You should get going. Kankuro's already at the gates waiting."

He nodded, shuffling his paperwork together. "This is the last of it. There's only a few to go through. I finished most of them so you wouldn't have to." Standing up, he swung his gourd of sand over his back. "Bye Temari. This shouldn't take too long. I'll be back soon. I already said bye to Matsuri."

"Uh-huh. I'm sure she's thrilled. But hey, she got herself involved in this. She knew you were the Kazekage." Thankfully, Matsuri wasn't one of those women who nagged their boyfriends about working too much. She was never selfish when Gaara had to divide time between being Kazekage and spending it her, giving more time into his job.

He nodded, "And she also knew I was a Jinchurrki."

Temari sighed, "Off you go now, little brother. You don't want to be a second late."

He nodded again, and headed out.

Temari had skipped breakfast that morning. By noon she was starving and was convinced by the secretary that sushi by the finest should be brought to her. Since Gaara had done most of the paper work already, she decided she would go around the outskirts of Sand, just to see the living conditions. She had heard that in many places, the outer parts of the land are overlooked, and are not noticed if they are too far from the cities.

When she had got there, she found it to be much like central parts of the village. Of course, it was less populated and the houses and shops were smaller, but there was no true crisis. Gaara had done a good job looking over his home, and she was proud.

"Ah, Temari-san!" A feminine voice called, and she turned around to see Matsuri, "I'm surprised to see you here."

Temari smiled, "Matsuri, what are you doing here?" They both stood in front of an empty shop filled with medical supplies.

"I live here."

"Oh? I didn't know that," She walked behind the younger girl as she led her into the shop.

"Hai, I work here too. Small family business."

Temari nodded, despite the fact she was rather confused. "I thought you still worked at the Kazekage tower."

Matsuri frowned, "No, I left more than a month ago. Gaara-kun has not told you?"

"No, he hadn't."

She leaned against the counter, "Well, I did. My mother was ill and I had a lot on my mind."

"He didn't tell me," Temari said a little shocked. But then again, Gaara never discussed things like this. "But he told me he said bye to you before he left today."

Matsuri propped her counter on the counter, "He did. He said he 'just wanted me to know'"

"Oh," she managed, "I don't mean to pry, but, uh, are you and my brother still, you know, going out?"

Without a second hesitant, Matsuri let out an easy sentence, "I didn't have time for a relationship. But we still keep in touch." There was a moment of an awkward silence, but Matsuri did well to cover it up, "Well, how about you Temari? Talked to Shikimaru lately?"

Gaara needed a quick and efficient team, so he settled with himself and Kankuro. His advisors thought this to be dangerous, and his argument with them was long and useless. Eventually, he had won the debate, like he always does. The journey to Sound should not take too long. And from Sound to Konoha was an even shorter trip. It was beginning to get dark now, and they had already stopped to rest for ten minutes. "We're on the border of Sound." Kankuro announced, "they know you're coming, right?"

Gaara nodded, "I sent them a message." As they slowly paced through the unpaved grounds of the forest, rattling of leaves could be heard and two Sound shinobi appeared. They stood motionlessly, and waited.

Kankuro looked over at his younger brother expectantly. The Kazekage kept his smooth expression, "Between the noise you hear, and the sounds you like," he recited. The two shinobi nodded simultaneously and walked on ahead with their guests trailing behind neatly, until they reached a large gate. The first Sound shiobi rattled on its racks, an unfamiliar rhythm, one so complex only those taught could understand. The second shinobi hummed happily past the bars as its metal material let it echo. Finally, the gate opened slowly and the four people quickly pushed their way in. The gate only opened widely enough for four people and when the last one entered, it snapped shut.

Another man came into view just as the two shinobi that lead them in disappeared, "Kazekage-sama, we finally meet." His dark piercing eyes would make you almost uncomfortable but Gaara did not flinch. "It is unfortunate it is not under better circumstances."

Gaara nodded, "Yes, but I am glad we are on good terms."

"As am I. Shall we get started?"

"Our plan is rather rash, don't you think, Sakura?" Sasuke looked impassive as he always did, but there was something in his eyes that would soon give him away.

Sakura did not say anything as she read over her plan again. Instead, Kiba decided to respond in her place, "You're not scared, are you, Uchiha?"

Sasuke scowled, "Never." He really did think the plan was rash. Surely, Kumo would have good enough security around its village. The plan was to just break in, get Hanabi and run? And they would also have to coordinate with Naruto and Neji. What if they already found Hanabi? Then they would just be stupidly risking their lives.

"Sakura, are you sure about this?"

She sighed, "It's all we have time for!" She was right, of course. They couldn't really come up with an elaborate plan with the all the enemies they ever made on their tail. So this was the plan: Break into Kumo, find Hanabi, get her out, and bring her back. Of course, it was the five of them, including Neji and Naruto against the whole village, but that's okay.

"How about this, Kiba and I go in and get her out. You stay here just in case anything happens." Sasuke's proposition was not exactly worded right.

"I refuse to stay behind and watch! Sasuke, you know I've been doing that for years. I swore to myself I would be there through it all, not on the sidelines."

Kiba made this his chance, "Sakura, you need your chakra. You know Hanabi was very badly hurt. You have to heal her when we get her out." See, those words were much more to her taste. "We need you to heal her. You're the only one that has the skill to do that. Please?"

She wanted to find a reason for her to not stay behind, and just wait, but she found no good ones. She would try, "But what if you guys get hurt? Who will heal you there?"

Kiba rolled his eyes, "Sakura, what good would it be if all three of us got hurt?"

"Okay, fine. But remember, I'm staying here because you need me here. Not because you don't think I can handle it in there."

Kiba smiled triumphantly, "Thank you." Sasuke could only roll his eyes at Kiba's kissing up skills.

Neji and Naruto had finally reached Kumogakure and successfully snuck in unnoticed. The Hyuga family had planted a mole in Kumo, and years later, the spy had still remained loyal and discreet.

"Neji-san, you must go on yourselves from here. The lab is just beyond that wall. Good luck." The woman was once a maid for the Hyuga family. She fell in love with a shinobi from Kumo. They had an affair during the war after she saved him, driven by pity. It went on for quite some time, and he had proposed to her. When Lightning's officials found out, they killed him for treason and told her it was Konoha that had done it. But she had known the truth. She joined Kumo, "betraying" Konoha, feeding them false information. She had been waiting years for this day, to help them avenge her fiancé.

"Thank you, Misaki-san."

The pair moved quickly through the damp underground corridors. It reminded Naruto of the time they had found Orochimaru's hideout It was a damp underground place. They had looked door after door for Sasuke. Door after door, there were only labs. But this place was a little different. There were many walls, and few doors. Finally, they had made a turn that led them to a large swingy double door room.

The meeting went on, and Gaara was on the edge of his seat, Sound was precise. A little too precise. If they did not hurry, it may be too late. "I assure you, Hiro-san, the dates are quite close together. And all the information from the village hidden in the Sand about the Hyuga household had been stolen. Even if our accusations are incorrect, we would have stopped a war."

The elder man shook his head, "You are too young Kazekage. That is why you are ignorant. If our accusations are incorrect, we will cause war for ourselves."

"No, Hiro-san. You are too old. That is why you are so stubborn," Kankuro replied, but Gaara motioned for him to keep quiet.

"Brat!" Hiro stood up, "You cannot talk to me like that."

"Hiro-san," Gaara pleaded, "even if there is war upon ourselves, it will be with the combined forces of all three nations against Lightning. Konoha itself had proven to be stronger than Kumo. And with our forces, we can put an end to the war quickly, and efficiently. Not much will be lost if we all cooperate with each other."

His intimidating eyes set with Gaara's but eventually backed down. "You have our word." The man took out a kunai and nicked himself so that drops of blood pricked down to his wrist. He put out his hand. Gaara shook it, his own hand still perfectly dry of his own blood.

"I would have done the same if it were possible," He said, almost smiling.

Hiro nodded, "I have heard of the possibilities, though."

"We should not go through all that trouble."

Kakashi was nervous to say the least. He rests all his hope with his pupils. What they did would be determine the lives kept or loss.

Temari went back to the office. She felt restless about what Matsuri had asked her. Well, how about you Temari? Talked to Shikamaru lately? The truth was, she hadn't talked to him in a while. Last she heard, he was with the Yamanaka girl. She was on good terms with the girl, but always found her rather annoying. Taking a seat at the desk after the thirteenth time standing up, she pulled out a parchment of paper and began to write.

Dear Shikamaru…

"This way," Kiba whispered, motioning towards a small opening under a tree. "They went through here, it's an underground lab." Akamaru made his way through first, wiggling against the dirt ground, and finally slipping through. Kiba waited for Sasuke, "After you." Sasuke made a noise but went through first. Kiba followed quickly behind.

"I can feel their chakras." Sasuke followed behind Kiba as they stalked through the enemy territory. Taking a few turns and breaking a few walls, they finally managed to find Naruto and Neji.

Naruto beamed, "What're you guys doing here?"

"Saving your butt, dobe. Do you have Hanabi?"

Naruto motioned over to Neji who was holding her. "Did you bring a medic with you?" Neji inquired, really hoping they had, because Hanabi looked terrible.

Kiba nodded, "Sakura's waiting outside, just a little beyond the gates." He took Hanabi from Neji, "Expect a fight once as soon as we leave this place."

Naruto frowned, "Kiba, bring Hanabi to Sakura. If we do get a fight, we'll hold them off."

"Of course there's going to be a fight. It would have been too suspiciously easy if we don't." Neji sighed, "We should get going." The four of them left with Hanabi. As soon as they got out of the hideout, they were attacked. A dozen kunais directly made their way towards them, and another dozen shurikens came from the back.

Numbers upon numbers of Lightning shinobi came into view. "Run, Kiba!" Kiba and Akamaru fled with Hanabi as the rest of them battled off.

Sakura could see Akamaru come into view with Kiba not too far behind, carrying a limping body. She looked farther behind for Sasuke but he never showed up. She frowned, worried. Once Kiba finally got to her, he handed her Hanabi. "Sasuke's with the others. We were attacked." Sakura nodded, understanding and quickly went to work. Green chakra surfaced from under her hands, and they began to heal all the vital wounds done to the girl. Sakura knew they did not do anything that would have risked her life, since she had to live for the process, but she would take the pain away.

Hanabi squirmed restlessly, but never opened her eyes. Finally, she muttered, "Make it stop. Make it go away." Sakura looked down sadly, at the girl she knew to be so strong. Eventually, she did all that she could. The rest of her chakra needed to be conserved for their journey back.

"Hanabi, sweetie, you're going to be okay. I healed your arm. It was broken. And all the large cuts, they're healed. You're going to be okay, we're going to bring you home."

The guard seemed suddenly alert when he realized a shinobi with a headband belonging to the Sound Village. But he was taken back once he realized he walked casually alongside the Kazekage and his brother, Kankuro. Another man walked behind all of them, but seemed to be part of the group. He too was a Sound shinobi, an underling, surely.

"We request to speak with the Hokage." Gaara said easily. "It is a matter of urgency."

The guard nodded, hastily, "H-hai." He muttered something to another guard. The other man disappeared back into the village and then quickly came back.

"Please, come this way." He said, leading them into Konoha. Gaara could remember the place quite clearly. The buildings were the same. Everything seemed in place. But the cheery mood of the village was not there, and people walked slowly, unwillingly.

He had lost track of where he was going, but the group came to a stop in front of Kakashi's office. The guard knocked, "Come in," came the familiar voice.

They all proceeded into the office, all feeling rather agitated.

"I see," Kakashi said calmly, but his expression of relief gave him away. "We don't know how to thank you."

Hiro nodded, "We need time to rebuild our village. To renew our peace treaty is all we ask."

Kakashi smiled, "That won't be a problem." He looked over to Gaara, "And you Kazekage?"

Gaara shook his head, "I owe Naruto one. I owe Konoha."

They got together again, and decided they should break up into groups of three to get back faster. Sasuke, Sakura, Hanabi. Naruto, Neji, and Kiba.

It was dark now, and Sakura decided they all needed their rest. They both set up camp. "Sasuke?"

"Hn?"

"Konoha cannot afford another war."

"I know. But it's out of our hands."

Sasuke wasn't the best person to go to for reassurance. He was too realistic to tell her it was going to be okay. He was too practical to say anything he didn't really know was right. She sighed and went into the tent she would share with Hanabi. Just as she got in, the girl stirred, he eyelids cracking open. She made wry face and grunted when she realized how much her body ached. He eyes wandered around her surroundings. It landed on Sakura and she let out a relieved breath. "Sakura-san," She said trying best to smile. "I'm relieved."

Sakura nodded, "We're on our way back. We leave in the morning. Now rest, you'll need energy to make it back."

Dear Shikamaru,

How have you been? It's been a long time since I've written you. Someone brought you up and it reminded me that you promised you would come visit. My brother should have already gotten to Konoha by the time you got this. How is Ino? I haven't talked to any of you in a while! Well, I just thought I'd drop in and say hi. Write back!

Sincerely,

Temari

She thought it was a little short, but he would be too lazy to read the whole thing if it was any longer. She folded the paper up and put it in an envelope.

They finally reached Konoha and Hanabi was quickly brought to the hospital, where she was treated and checked for everything. Everyone was in good shape. Neji broke a few fingers, but that wasn't too hard to patch up.

Tenten was with Hinata when he got home. They were sitting on the veranda when he walked up. Tenten wanted nothing more than to run up to him and fall into his arms, but society certainly would not find that appropriate, so she sat where she was and stared at him, waiting for him to say something.

"Hanabi's at the hospital." He said, and Hinata had left faster than any of them could have imagined possible. The Hyuga stared at his teammate for a minute. "Tenten…"

"Don't even say it Neji. I already know, I don't need to hear it." With that said as she stood up to leave. He took hold of her hand and pulled her back. She didn't dare look up into his eyes.

"Look at me," He said. She refused to. She wouldn't. If she did, she would cry, she knew she would. Her head remained turned away, her eyes fixated on the ground. "Look at me, Tenten." He said. "Please?" He let go of her hand and placed both of his firmly, but gently against her face, turning her head towards him.

She was furious now. Why was he doing this? Did he like seeing her cry? She pushed him away, and turned her back on him again. This time, he grasped her shoulders and turned her around. "Tenten, I want to be with you."

They were too difficult to hold in now, and her tears fell. There was a sharp pain in her chest and she gritted her teeth. "We don't always get what we want."

Neji was confused, "No, not always," He replied, "but this time, I might actually get it. And unless you say you don't want the same thing, then I'm getting what I want."

Now it was Tenten's turn to be confused. "What are you talking about?"

"There is no arranged marriage. There isn't a war. I'm not leaving you ever."

Realization dawned her and she broke into a smile. I teary, smile but a smile nevertheless. "I should have realized it sooner. I think I forgot you were a spoiled Hyuga who always got what he wanted."

Naruto knew she wouldn't be home. He knew exactly where she would be and that was why he went to room number 245 of the hospital with flowers. He opened the door slowly, and noticed her sitting on a chair beside the gurney. "I brought flowers." He walked quietly in and knelt beside the chair, in front of the bed. He held her hand, "It's going to be okay. I promise."

Hinata smiled, a sad, happy, smile. "You've never broken a promise."

Sakura leaned against the kitchen counter and sighed. "What's wrong sis?" Eritaka made his way into the kitchen.

"Nothing," It was her natural response.

"If it's about Sasuke, you know you can –"

"Tell you," She finished. "I know I can. I just don't want to."

He laughed a light, forced laugh. "You know, his brother and I used to be really good friends."

Sakura quirked and eyebrow, "You never told me."

"I knew Sasuke since he was little. I actually visited him with Hana at the hospital when he was born."

"You never told me," She repeated.

"Itatchi made me promise him that I would take care of Hana once he left. I had every intention of keeping that promise. I would finally be able to love her freely. But I realized that she never really got over Itatchi, and that was hard for me and we talked less and less, until I realized I was so far from telling her how I felt. It took a really long time for us to be close friends again, and I've wasted so much time." He looked at his younger sister, "If you still love him, then he should at least get to know."

Sasuke was asked to stay back at the hospital because he had been poisoned. They didn't realize it until he passed out. It was a very strange, slow poison, they would not kill you, but only keep you passed out long enough to be either killed, or dissected for information. It had no symptoms. You would feel fine for hours, and then just randomly pass out. Sakura brought him flowers. The poison had been extracted, but they kept him back just in case.

He was awake when she got in. "Hey," She said. "Feeling better?"

"Yeah." There was a moment of silence, and then he said, "I just realized the festival is in a few days, and uh, would you go with me?" Sakura knew he was trying really hard, and she tried her best not to seem completely surprised.

She smiled, "I'd love to."

Ever since the turn in events, Ino had found it hard to talk with Shikamaru. And though she never wanted to admit, she had realized they haven't been talking to each other as much as they used to. Sighing, she wrapped her blanket around her, hoping she would fall asleep and find an answer to what she should do in her dreams.

Shikamaru was sat down at his kitchen table going through a pile of mail he had been putting off and came across one with a familiar handwriting. Curious, he opened it and began to read.

As everyone slept through either their restless, or content lives, the world continued around them moved. Tomorrow would come, and the stars would no longer be seen. And when the years pass, things will change. People will change. And life will change. But when one journey has ended, another begins. So sleep. Sleep and savor the moment. For tomorrow will come and take away the past.

Chapter 15: Happily ever after

"Definition for happiness: State of well-being characterized by emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy."

~Wordwebnet Definition

KAKASHI'S POV

So this is how it happened. That day that the Kazekage came in to talk to me, he told me what he and Sound leaders had been doing for the past two years. They noticed that a lot of their information about the Hyuga Clan had been missing and decided to investigate. When Sound had found out that Kumo had been having the same problems, they worked together to find out what was going on. So long story short, they worked together and informed me just in time to save the entire village to Konoha about the Raikage's pitiful scheme.

Anyway, all my students and their peers are pretty much settled. That must make me sound really old, but really, I'm not. It's only been seven years since that last incident. Hyuga Neji and Tenten got married first. I was more than surprised when they told me. They have two kids now, both girls.

Naruto and Hinata were second to get married. They have one boy. That little rascal is just like his father – pulling pranks and all.

Sasuke and Sakura. Oh they're a good one. They have two sons and a daughter. They were married two years ago, later than the rest. Sasuke is a changed man, and I'm very proud of him. Despite all his wrong doings, Sakura still loved him. And he loves her back. I guess that's all anyone could ask for.

Now I suppose everyone would have thought Shikamaru and Ino to be the inseparable pair right? It's quite the opposite. They've been on and off for more than eight years. He comes and talks to me now and then. Asuma kind of made me promise to take care of him. I remember him telling me something about Shikamaru and Temari having a thing. But that must've been a while back. His relationship status changes every time we meet up, so I don't even bother keeping track.

Today, I'm going to see everyone. They're all having a picnic by the bridge.

I got there last. But no one should be surprised right? Naruto and Sasuke are having a fight about whose kid could do what. Sakura and Tenten are giggling about Kami knows what about. And Hinata and Ino are trying to clean up the juice someone spilled over.

Shikamaru was just sitting by, talking to Neji.

"Oh Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura called, "You made it."

I smiled, "I always make it, just never on time."

Sasuke walked over and took a seat beside her, "Ha ha, we know that by now."

In a high pitched voice, Ino beckoned for the kids to come over. "Time to eat!" She passed around those hand sanitizer things. "Wash your hands before you touch the food. Kami knows where they've been."

The children did as she asked and all dug into the food. If you ask me now what we all talked about during that picnic, I wouldn't remember. But I can still see the happy smiles, and the serene atmosphere, and the blue sky somewhat covered with white clouds. I can hear them all laugh about some joke Naruto made. I can see Sasuke glare at him, but then turn around and give Sakura a peck on the lips.

Later during the day, Kiba and Choji came for a visit. They were coming back from a mission or something like that.

Everyone was happy and content. It took years for the kind of peace we had. They've all been through so much, it's hard to believe they can seem to forget the past.

NARRATOR'S POINT OF VIEW.

After the Raikage had been caught, The Lightning Country appointed him a new successor. Kabuto had run away, still on the loose, but he was weak from battle wounds, people assume he died. Well, at least that's what the villagers of Konoha thought. Of course, shinobi were to expect the worst, that he might still be alive, just regaining his strength for one final blow at the Fire Country. But until that time came, everyone was safe.

When the night was over, they all slept in peace.

Tenten stood up and walked out of the bedroom to the kitchen. She got thirsty. Suddenly feeling his absence, Neji woke up. For a second he felt frantic. But then he pin pointed her chakra and relaxed. He followed her into the kitchen quietly, sneaking up from behind her. Feeling someone's presence behind her, Tenten turned around and Neji wrapped his arms around her, surprising her. She nearly screamed if not for him muffling her voice with a deep kiss.

Naruto had his arms wrapped around her waist and her head against his chest. Their rhythm of breathing was all that could be felt within the still room. But he was still awake looking at her beautiful face. "I love you." He whispered, knowing she could not hear him. But despite his thought, her lips curved into a smile.

Sakura had fallen asleep yet again on the front porch. She always told him she loved looking at the stars before going to sleep. But was it really necessary to watch still, flaming balls of fire billions of miles away even when it was cold outside? Well apparently.

He picked her up bridal style with her head against his chest. He leaned down to kiss her as gently as possible, making sure he wouldn't wake her up. Too late, her eyes opened lazily as she stared up at him. She smiled at him for a long second and then the readjusted herself so she could reach her arms around his neck. She pulled herself up and gave him a long and passionate kiss before pulling away, nestling herself back inside his chest, falling asleep again. "I love you." He said quietly, and she smiled.

Ino was still awake. Tomorrow, she thought to herself, tomorrow I'm going to get back together with Shikamaru.Well that also depended on whether or not he wanted to…but it was a definite on her part. She still squirmed, imagining the different ways he would reject her. But little did she know that when he fell asleep that night, that last thing he saw was her. He and Temari went out for a couple of months, but it wasn't like either of them thought it would be. And now he was confused, and the only person that could make him feel right again was Ino.

KAKASHI'S POV

I would tell you it was happily ever after, but even I won't know how it ends until it does. But so far, so happy. And content. And all that gooey, lovey dovey stuff. Until there's a new conflict, the story ends here. Or the chapter. Or whatever that guy with the deep voice that narrates the openings, transitions, and endings of sappy romance movies says.

So they lived happily ever after. Until something bad happens. And then it's happy again. Hopefully.