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Tempest
Chapter 1: Green Eyes
Warning: Spoilers up to Manga volume 200
Disclaimer: All characters of Naruto are property of Masashi Kishimoto and are not mine. I'm just borrowing them for a while.
This story is based on a made-up scenario that when Neji was injured in the pursuit of Sasuke, Sakura was the one that found him.
I can hear you, his mind said, but his mouth could not.
"Neji..." Her soft tones played sweetly in his ears. "Open your eyes."
I can't.
"Neji..." she whispered, as he very slowly, painfully managed to raise his eyelids revealing the pearly white eyes that encased terrible power. Drifting to the side, they focused on the young woman shaking and kneeling down on his right.
In a moment of pure relief he saw them, the sea green eyes that changed as she smiled timidly.
"Don't worry, you're safe..." she whispered as his eyes closed again.
"I'm fine." he lied in his smooth deep voice as he wiped at the perspiration on his upper lip with the back of his hand. Tugging lightly on the cloth normally swathed around his forehead, it came undone and fell away from his face, draping loosely in his hand. It lay half on the ground, disregarded by the ANBU. Taking in some air, Neji turned his face to the approaching sunrise to register the coming morning.
It was that damn dream again. It always reoccurred in the events of that day in one way or another, and always made him wake trembling and disoriented. In the worst moments, he felt like something was wrong inside and he couldn't fix it. It was so hard to show that kind of weakness. It was something that shouldn't be done by Hyuuga Neji, but from time to time he couldn't control it; it would slip out. This was his unavoidable weakness, he told himself.
The ubiquitous images taunted him as they assaulted his mind in the night, often making him dwell the entire next day on the events. He would be back there, fighting that strange spider like Sound-nin Kidoumaru. Then he would find himself lying in the grips of death after his severe injuries, only to be saved by the young woman with the vivid green eyes.
It was Haruno Sakura and it was safe to say she haunted his dreams. He'd almost died that day as he lay there letting the numb coolness wrap around him. By that moment, he wanting to just let death take him and banish the pain. But as the darkness drew around his light eyes, he heard that voice; the sweet small voice of that twelve-year old girl calling his name out, returning him from the black expanse he had descended into.
She'd stumbled upon him while chasing her Sensei and trying to find the Uchiha who had run off to Orochimaru. Nearing a presence, she ascertained the form of Hyuuga Neji's broken and battered body, lying amid a grassy clearing. It astonished him that she stayed to help, even though her purpose was to find that cold boy she was teamed up. At twelve, Sasuke was clearly the object of her young obsession. Placing her tiny delicate hand on Neji's cool cheek to see if he was alive, she gently spoke his name.
Now the visions from that day continually disturbed his much needed sleep. The way she had looked upset, the way she had looked scared when he focused his white eyes on her, plagued him. Sadly it was not fear that he would die, but fear of him, of those Hyuuga white eyes. He could see it in her face.
"Neji, the sun is coming up. I think we should move on early today. What do you think?" Shikamaru asked his teammate who was still trying to compose himself. Neji hid his inner struggle behind his protracted tresses.
"Hm" was all he responded.
The tall ANBU stood up and walked to the rim of the forest, watching the rising orange yellow of the cloud streaked sky trace downward into a red ball of heat. The morning sun emerged, pushing its rays across the green earth and with a deep breath he began to disregard the fear. It would be just as he did most mornings, although sometimes the thoughts would remain.
He wore only the navy sleeveless shirt and dark pants of his ANBU uniform as they had stayed at the forest edge, finding sleep under the blanket of stars. The two young men were heading back to Konoha. Upon an urgent request from the Hokage after their year-long mission in the Sand Country, they would finally arrive today. Neji was unsure of what the fifth had wanted, but to tear him away from his ANBU business to return to Konoha must be important.
Neji was nineteen now, and that strange day back when he was fourteen still plagued him. The bizarre nin he fought, the injuries that almost took his young life, and the girl with the green eyes seemed to be forever seared into his memory.
He wondered everyday why he still dreamed about her. They didn't know each other; hell, they didn't like each other, even remotely. Of the few occasions they had to speak, they had always ended up in a disagreement of some kind or another and yet, here she was, drifting to him night after night for five years.
Between missions and ANBU he hadn't seen her in about two years. She would be about eighteen now but her twelve year old face was still so lucid to him.
He shook his head trying to impel the dream as he had learned to do over time. He calmly pulled his coffee colored hair back into the soft black tie to keep it back from his face while travelling.
Moving back to Shikamaru, he sat down across from the indolent ANBU as the fire burned happily between them. The temperate warmth covered their bodies as they rummaged through their bags for some sustenance before the return home.
"I'm looking forward to being back in Konoha. Aren't you?" Shikamaru thought out loud as he watched Neji slipping on the long ANBU gloves over his sleek toned arms. "We've been away a long time. I wonder what's changed?"
Neji looked up at him, moving his translucent eyes to fix at the notoriously lazy ninja's.
"Hm"
"Sakura...Sakura, where are you going?" A panting, lively, golden blonde eighteen-year old man ran up beside the fast-paced roseate kunoichi.
"Oh, Naruto!" She panted a little with her swiftly jogged steps. "You're back from your mission already?" She continued to move at pace that made discussion rather difficult as her focus remained on her intended destination.
"Yes! Will you stop for a second?" He gripped both her shoulders, grabbing on to the long-sleeved black Jounin shirt she wore. In her quick stop her long loose bubblegum tresses flipped over her shoulder. "What the hell is the hurry?" he asked.
His bright and delirious smile lit up as she finally took note of her friend's face. Her drifting eyes registered him, and she returned his contagious grin.
"I've been called to Tsunade's office for a mission briefing. It sounds really important, and I don't want to be late." She tried with some effort to continue moving against the wrapped fingers of the fox imbued man.
"Alright," he laughed.
Sakura almost seemed not to notice his hands around her arms, holding her in place; her mind still seemed to be moving towards the offices of the Hokage.
"Catch up with me after, Ok?" Naruto chuckled as he let her arms go.
"Oh, I'm meeting Kakashi-Senpai at the Jounin exams after. Meet us there, Okay? He said he had something to talk to me about," she called as she waved to Naruto, finding her feet propelling her to the excitement she expected to gain at Tsunade's office.
Sakura continued darting away, her sandaled feet kicking up wisps of dusty road as she neared her destination. The large gray-brown building loomed in front of her, and she swore her heart was skipping every third beat. It was not normal to be called to the office of the Hokage so this meant whatever it was, was a big deal.
The excitement induced tremors in her fingers made it difficult to open the heavy wooden door. She grasped the doorknob, thinking of how difficult it would be to maintain her composure at what could possibly be the paramount mission of her fresh occupation as a Jounin.
She was six months young in the service of the elite Konoha Jounins but was proud of her capabilities, none the less. Being a master of Gen-jutsu helped, although her perfect chakra control was none too shabby either.
Why am I so nervous? They asked for me.
Years of training under the tutelage of one genius ninja Hatake Kakashi had ensured an early spot in the Jounin ranks, but not as early as her two former teammates. Sasuke 'the great' had become a Jounin at sixteen, and now he raced around the village in his stunning ANBU uniform. He really had no time for the likes of a pink haired Chuunin, so they drifted apart a couple of years before. Naruto, on the other hand, who had also become a Jounin at sixteen, was relentless at friendships and was always there when she needed him. To think they would become best friends was unfathomable, but here they were, and she couldn't name a closer companion.
Kakashi-Sensei was now Kakashi-Senpai, but he continued to treat her as a student. He still showed her new things constantly, and for that she would be eternally grateful. They had also become close over the years, even though she berated him for his trashy reading interests and casually nondescript dalliances with the top kunoichi of the village. He and Naruto were a great source of support, and even if the fourth of their team didn't have much time for them, he was still welcomed into the tight knit group when he was able.
Pushing open the door with a remarkably weak hand, the wide smiling kunoichi began to enter the large foyer bedecked with all manner of scroll and weapon imaginable. Shizune sat behind a large mahogany desk right outside the door of the Hokage's office and looked up when Sakura timidly approached.
Clearing her throat softly, Sakura looked at the dark haired lieutenant. "Shizune?"
A little pink pig lifted it's sleepy head up from the brunette's lap to look at the kunoichi, and Sakura couldn't help but smile.
"Sakura, go right in, they're waiting for you." Shizune smiled a little.
They?
"Am I late?" she asked, feeling a little worried.
"No, they were just earlier than you. Don't worry, go in." She smiled a little more consolingly seeing the excited nervousness displayed on the kunoichi's pale face.
Diffidently, Sakura pushed the door open to see a number of people assembled around the meeting table at the far edge of the bland and undecorated office. It was certainly not the group she was expecting to see and her gripping anticipation waned a bit.
Tsunade sat high at the opposite end of the long table, the crease of her ample bust exposed as usual. It always made Sakura curse the lack of her own mysteries. Lee was sitting with his older, but boyish face cupped in his hands in a lazy slouch on the table, while letting his eyes periodically drift to said large bosom. Tenten was sitting next to him with her hands folded neatly in front of her in the same position children would sit in at their school desks while trying to impress the teacher.
"Sakura, please come and sit down." The chesty blonde Hokage motioned to an empty seat at the table next to her, and Sakura could feel the other two sets of eyes watching her slow approach.
"Now that everyone is here, I should go over what this is about. It will be quite a shock."
The three Jounins looked at each other before their focus rested on Tsunade. The endowed woman got up and began pacing liberally back and forth in front of the table. Her high onyx pumps clicked on the dark wooden floor with each confident step.
"You may know that the Chuunin exams just began a week ago in the Hidden Village of Mist. This was their turn to hold it. There was a strange turn of events there during the endurance and survival examination. I'm sure you all remember that part of the exam. Five days in our death forest? They have a different challenge in Mist, but the same principal. Anyway, I digress. The endurance test ended with absolutely no successful candidates."
"What?" the collective call came from the three stunned Jounins.
"None. Not one group was successful in getting two scrolls. It is a unique and almost impossible turn of events, but yet it has happened." She shook her head with some inward consideration.
"What does that have to do with us? We're Jounins," Lee asked, his large eyebrows high up under his charcoal bowl cut fringe. He picked absently at some fluff on his pristine forest green spandex outfit.
"A lot actually. Although next to impossible, this strange Chuunin occurrence has happened once before and we found a remedy for it. It was about thirty-five years ago. As you know, the Chuunin final exam is used to showcase the abilities of the Ninja groups for the Feudal Lords and Village Leaders. The Lords and Leaders have come to expect it and so we cannot disappoint them. We must still do this but it will be in a slightly different manner."
"You three will be part of this solution. There will be a tournament and each village is invited to send four participants. One will be a weapons specialist, one will be a Tai-jutsu specialist, one will be a Gen-jutsu specialist and then one nin-jutsu specialist with all around abilities. A bloodline heir is acceptable for the fourth, but not the first three."
"But, why us? There are older Jounins who have better experience in these things. I still can't beat Gai-Senpai at fighting. Why not send him?" Lee retorted feeling immense pride for his first rate teacher and a little dismayed at the possibility of giving up missions for a tournament.
"There are many rules governing these games. The Jounins must be newly appointed within the last six months, which includes the current exam taking place right now. This eliminates any of the seasoned experienced Jounins, and levels the playing field for participants."
"Who's the fourth?" Tenten asked coolly.
"Pardon?" Tsunade was caught by the soft question.
"The fourth, you said there would be a Nin-jutsu person. I assume I am weapons, Lee is Tai-jutsu and Sakura is Gen-jutsu. So who is our fourth?"
Sakura silently wished for it to be Sasuke or Naruto, but they had become Jounins two years before. She hoped she knew the fourth person because she was feeling alone already.
Tsunade looked at the trio who awaited the answer.
"We are going to select that individual after the current exams are finished. As no one has been designated yet; we will have to wait for the exam to end. Final testing is today so you can go and watch it. I'm sure you'll pick up on who we have in mind. The tournament is going to be held in the Mist country. You leave in three days. This is an important tournament for getting Konoha jobs and assignments from the villages and lords. You must do well. Help each other out, and stay together as a team. The full mission is set out in a scroll that Shizune will give you on the way out. Good luck." It immediately became obvious they were done talking, and Sakura felt her heart sink as the Hokage made a 'shoo' gesture.
A tournament in Mist Country with people she didn't know very well? Lee and Tenten had been teammates and were comfortable with each other. She liked them, but was never very close to them. She wanted Naruto to go or Sasuke; who knew who the last person was going to be? Maybe she could get out of it somehow.
"Um, Shishou? Ah...I think I should check with Kakashi-Senpai before I do this. He may have set up a mission for me," she said in her soft toneless voice, trying to sound like it was something that couldn't be overridden.
"Sakura, Kakashi is the one who recommended you for this." The blonde sannin turned away as her hand inadvertently pointed to the door to indicate the discussion was over.
Sakura's wide green eyes perused the walls as she walked towards the threshold. Why would he do a thing like that? I'm a Jounin, I should be on missions, not participating in a kiddie tournament to impress a bunch of fat, gold-wearing, geisha-keeping...
Her inner rant continued as she moved out the door and past the other two members of her new team. She directed her lazy unconscious steps toward the arena for the final fights of the Jounin exam...and a good bawl at her former sensei. It wouldn't be until later that she realized she had forgotten her scroll.
"Who is the next one?" A voice came from nearby. The sunshine blonde approached the two elites lazily leaning on the steeled railings in the stands of the arena, watching the Jounin tests. "Kakashi-Senpai, how are you?" Naruto extended his hand to his former teacher.
"Good, Naruto. Back already?" He shook hands with the bright young man and then resumed his lazy half lean against the rail again. The orange book that he had with him endlessly, lay splayed over the metal guard to keep his place saved.
"The next one is Neji." Gai stood proudly as he puffed out his chest, covered with a blanket of green spandex.
"Hyuuga Neji? He's not a Jounin?" The cerulean eyes of the perky blonde opened to epic proportions with the true shock of that statement. "He's ANBU isn't he? From about three years ago...right?"
"Yep!" Gai retorted. "They made a special exception for him. He didn't have to become Jounin first so he's just been working as ANBU. Guess he never got around to it. Our Neji is special."
Naruto did a little double-take at the overly happy Jounin, registering some extremley clean teeth.
Inwardly, Naruto thought of how strange it was that Neji made ANBU before Jounin, but he himself had been on the recieving end of the amazing Hyuuga power. In some manner, it really shouldn't surprise him at all, even though in Ninja hierarchy it was an anomaly.
"Which Jounin will they put him up against?" Naruto asked, getting somewhat excited about what the fight will be like. "There's almost no one who could stand up to Neji. Which poor sap got that racket?" Naruto chuckled, thankful that it wasn't him, although he knew he'd thoroughly enjoy another friendly bout with the Hyuuga after their Chuunin fight years before.
Kakashi cleared his throat and looked sideways at the golden haired Rasengan user. "It's Sasuke."
"Whaaat?" Naruto became increasingly more excited at the news that Neji's tester would be none other than the fourth of team 7. If there was one Jounin that could stand a chance against the Genius of the Hyuuga clan it would be the Uchiha heir.
"KA...KA...SHI...SEN...PAIIII!" A young woman's voice growled out from behind the tall green form of Gai.
"Eh?" The Copy Ninja stood up at the sound of his favorite kunoichi's voice as she approached and stood toe to toe with him. She had to look up at the tall man, but didn't hesitate to begin her round of questions.
"What the hell were you thinking? A tournament? In Mist? Thanks a lot! I should be doing missions and serving my village, not trouncing around with other Jounins playing pretend!" Her finger wagged at him as her other hand gripped firm to her hip. She leaned towards him and he swore her eyes turned fire red as she stared him down.
"Oh...ha, Sakura." Kakashi's eye creased happily and his hand went to the back of his head in an embarrassed sort of way. "Yes, I guess I did volunteer you for that, but you have to understand, this is just as important as doing missions. It's actually more important because you are going to represent all of Konoha to the people that provide our livelihood. It's a great honor to be selected." Unconsciously, the ninja widened his stance and braced for her full force.
"You have to fight in a tournament?" Naruto chirped as he put his arm around her and pulled her away from Kakashi to calm the fire she was breathing.
"Yeah. Senpai recommended me for it. Seems the Chuunin exam had been a wash with no one passing the survival exam."
"No one? That's unheard of, right?" They both turned back to Kakashi who relaxed a little back into his lazy slouch. He put his foot on the middle rail and leaned on his raised knee.
"Well..It's happened once before, years ago. They had a Jounin tournament to showcase the talents of the villages the same as they are now. Who else is going?" The Sharingan user felt it was safe to ask the woman who seemed a little more placated while attached to her blonde friend.
"Lee and Tenten," she said softly, silently still wishing it was one of her own teammates.
"Who else? There's four isn't there?" Kakashi continued.
"The Hokage says they're going to select someone from this current exam to go. She said we would probably have an idea of whom they are interested in," she continued offhandedly. The idea had begun to sink into her that maybe it was important and she should do her best. The calmness finally reached her inner self who had taken a seat to watch the matches.
"Oh...I know who it is!" Naruto chirped happily and teased, "and you aren't going to like it."
"Why not?" Her jade eyes grew a little as she watched Naruto's little happy dance.
"Oh, just wait. You'll know when you see him!" He was beside himself with giddiness at how his friend would react to seeing Hyuuga Neji step out into the arena. He knew she didn't like him and would never forget the incident that proved the end of any kind of civil relationship between the two.
It made him a little sad that she hated Neji, especially since he and Neji had become good friends after the Chuunin exam. They gained a great deal of respect for each other, and Naruto would never forget how Neji almost gave up his life to help Sasuke when they were children. Sakura had found him and saved his life then, hadn't she?
"Are you going to tell me?" she begged. "Come on, I'm dying to know"
Kakashi smirked, thinking of the last time Haruno Sakura spoke with Hyuuga Neji, and the fight that occurred after. There was no way she would take this news lightly, and it was very unlikely that Neji would fail here...even against Sasuke.
"Isn't anyone going to tell me?" she asked again, beginning to feel a small knot of nerves while looking at the faces avoiding her gaze.
The crowd around them erupted with cheers as the current fight ended. It was Kiba, and he fought well against Genma. Yet, Genma bested him. The fight had gone exceptionally well, and it was always possible that Kiba might become a Jounin after all.
Sakura felt bad for Kiba; she fought Genma for her Jounin exam and he was tough. Perhaps he would still pass as she did.
The general call for the next examiner was made, and a tall devastatingly handsome onyx-haired man stepped out from the waiting area. The loudspeaker erupted over the cheers for the young Uchiha, and echoed a call for the next applicant.
The other figure stood in the back of the high observation room, lost among the shadows while mentally preparing for his bout.
"Sasuke? He's an examiner? Oh, who's he going to fight?" Sakura was so excited to watch her old teammate and the former love of her life have a battle. She believed that no one could keep up with Sasuke, and relished his abilities. No one can beat our Sasuke, not one single...
The inner thoughts of Haruno Sakura ended with the sight of the other man emerging from the back hallway leading out to the arena. His coffee hair, headband and trademark eyes shocked her.
"Oh my GOD! Is that...?"
Thanks for reading
Leafy