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Tempest
Chapter 11: Testing the Waters
Two hours had passed and his back was aching from leaning against the wall in Sakura’s bedroom. He peered down at her sleeping form, comfortably tucked in her bed. After the horrible visions she had, Neji was impressed at how quickly she had composed herself after she unraveled. Then again, he wondered if she forced it because he was there.
He looked at the clock; three AM. It was almost time to get Lee up for guard duty.
Stretching a little and tugging on one bent elbow above his head, a small crack made him sigh with relief. He turned to Sakura again, who breathed deeply in heavy sleep. After her match was over, he thought she was all right as she got up and moved quickly out of the arena. But upon arriving at the phone booth and her emotional call to her old team leader, he knew the mind tricks had gotten to her.
Neji couldn’t really understand it; gen-jutsu didn’t work well on someone with byakugan, just as it didn’t on sharingan. But this young medic, with no bloodline limit to save her, felt the full brunt of it.
Again, he sighed.
Pushing himself up from her bedside, he wandered to the door and slipped through with just a whisper of the rollers it slid on. The living area was dark and he walked through it, easily dodging the furniture in the half-light while moving towards the back fusuma.
Again, he noiselessly slid open the outside door and made his way into the small grassy courtyard surrounded by a fence. The fountain in the pond trickled peacefully, and the shishi-odoshi banged every few seconds as it deposited water down into the pond. Neji liked the sound; it reminded him of his home at the branch house.
So many times as a child he would sit with his father and meditate in their back garden. Their own shishi-odoshi would bang softly, spilling the cool clear liquid into the stone pond below it. It was such a relaxing sound.
“Feel the chakra rise around your eyes, Neji. Concentrate on seeing through your eyelids,” his father whispered. Neji sat on his knees, eyes closed and full of chakra, a stirring example of Hyuuga strength at four years old.
Neji loved the smooth tone of his father’s voice. It had no sharp edge, and as a small boy he found it the most comforting sound he had ever heard. When he grew older, many times his mother commented on how alike his voice was to his father’s. He’d woken her from the dreams she had fallen into once as she slept sitting in a wooden chair in the garden, and she couldn’t hold back the tears when she realized it was not Hizashi waking her.
There was a grand sense of pride, being Hizashi’s only son and nephew to his twin brother Hiashi. Such a small twist of fate, being the second born twin, and it affected all of their lives up until now. Everyone in that branch family would be marked, as his father was marked, as he was marked. If his father had been born first, how would he feel about seeing his brother and cousins marked with a juin, marked with a conduit for his anger towards them?
Brushing the thoughts aside, he knew it did no good to dwell on the past or unchangeable things. Really, he didn’t hate them for foolish decisions, but he couldn’t forget that they were made all the same. He realized then that he was shaking his head in resignation.
Hizashi was respected greatly, branch leader or not. A popular man, Neji could remember women stumbling hurriedly out of the shops and cafés to say hello to him as they passed on their walks to the market. They’d always take a second to acknowledge him, because that is what Hizashi would want.
“He’ll be as attractive as you, Hizashi,” they would say with large smiles, and the occasional wink at Neji.
“He’ll do better than me,” Hizashi would respond with a kind smile and a hand on the shoulder of his beloved only son.
Of course, Hizashi only had eyes for Neji’s mother.
Neji understood that he, himself, was attractive, and that women paid him more attention than most men. But he felt no need to take advantage of it. Seems only one woman ever really made her way into his subconscious, and that was only brought on by a twist of fate when he was thirteen years old.
The bamboo struck the rock again, echoing softly over the water.
Neji activated his byakugan, and peered into the house behind him. Nothing stirred, no noise or motion was evident, only peace. Being here, with his old team and Sakura was better than he had previously thought it would be. Lee was entertaining, Tenten was sisterly and comforting, and Sakura reminded him that he sometimes wanted normal things out of life.
ANBU had been fulfilling and a rare escape from Hyuuga responsibility. Missions in far reaching countries and the sort of espionage everyone dreams of doing as a young shinobi were part of each day. Neji could actually say he had an exciting life with the elite corps, but now, standing in the soft grass outside a quiet house, he began to dwell on the things missing.
At nineteen, he was by no means done with shinobi life, but perhaps ANBU was taking him away from other things he wanted as well. This tournament seemed to remind him what they were, or perhaps it was a pink-haired something else that stirred his interests.
The hollow click of the bamboo brought him out of his inner thoughts.
A small smile played on his face, and he took a long deep breath before turning and heading back in to wake up Lee.
Maybe tonight, he’d get a better sleep.
Luckily, she didn’t have a match today. Looking into the living area, Sakura watched Lee stretching out on the couch while Tenten polished her kunai and sorted her scrolls for her bout at two o’clock.
She liked the way the teammates would smile at each other and steal glances. Really, she thought they made a nice couple.
As she downed the last, almost cold gulp of the black beverage, her stomach rumbled in request for something with a little more substance. It was noon anyway, she reminded herself; certainly some lunch was in order.
From what she had learned of Tenten and her nervous stomach, it was unlikely that she would eat before her match. Lee would stay with Tenten, so it was reasonable to assume that she should go to the tournament building alone to eat. This was just fine, actually. If she waited for Neji to get up, it was possible that her stomach would cave in.
It had to be at least one o’clock in the morning when he came to her room last night. A little embarrassment nudged her inner butterflies as she remembered clinging to him like a scared academy student.
She actually smacked her forehead while thinking about it; the slap made Lee and Tenten turn to her.
“What’re you doing over there, Sakura?” Lee laughed.
Her hand slipped down to cover her eyes. “Oh, nothing, nothing,” she said a little higher than she meant to. “I think I’m going to get some lunch.”
“I’m going to skip it, I think. My match starts at two. I might puke if I eat.” Tenten said as she resumed her careful attention back on her weaponry.
“I won’t be long, and I’ll come back here before you leave for your match so we can all go together.” Sakura got up and put her mug in the sink, still shaking her head with inner thoughts.
“What’s up with her?” Tenten asked Lee quietly.
“Not sure,” the green clad Shinobi answered back.
Their heads moved in tandem as they followed the medic, muttering to herself as she walked through the living room and out the front door.
They snorted with laughter just after the front door slid closed.
She moved to where a buffet was set up for lunch, and after grabbing a small meal, she found a table in the corner. Of course, being alone, all she found she could do was rehash how she behaved in front of Neji.
He’s going to think I’m weak, she reasoned angrily.
“Sakura, mind if I sit with you?” a deep female voice asked.
“Please!” Sakura said exaggeratedly.
Temari laughed a little, “Why did you say it like that?”
“Uh, I just need to give my brain a rest,” she smirked. “Got a match today?”
“No, had one yesterday. Our team is doing well, actually. Unfortunately, our gen-jutsu member is fighting the sound-nin tomorrow. We’re all worried for him.” Temari’s gaze moved with some inner thoughts to half stare at the ceiling.
“I’ve been looking through my medical books, and haven’t found a thing on his jutsu. When the Stone-nin fought, I aided him afterwards. All I could figure to do was drench him with healing properties until his chakra ran out. Once it stops, the jutsu will stop,” Sakura said with a tone of seriousness.
“Thanks, Sakura. We’ll prepare for that.” Temari took a deep breath and smiled. “So, how is your team holding up?”
“Good so far,” she smiled back.
“Neji is the favorite, you know.”
“I figured that. He’s been ANBU for a couple of years. He’s beyond new Jounin level, really.” Sakura picked at a sticky bun on her plate.
“The girls including the spectators around here can’t seem to stop talking about him,” Temari embellished. “Is he single?”
Sakura nodded a little, hating that the conversation was going this way. Even the mention of his name brought back her discomfort with the previous night’s goings-on. Hearing about other women gushing over him was not exactly something she liked either, but dealing with those feelings would take more time than lunch allowed.
“So you have to fight that sound-nin last, don’t you?” Temari sensed the medic’s discomfort with her previous line of questioning. “What happens if everyone is scratched before your match? Do you two automatically become the final?”
Sakura creased her brow. She hadn’t thought of that. What if the other nins all got injured beyond continuing before her match? The final was an all out fight so would they just use them as the final match? “I…I’m not sure, Temari. What do you think?” Sakura asked with genuine curiosity.
“I think that if you are the last two, you’ll get to go down in a blaze of glory in front of a captive audience.” Temari shook her head.
“That doesn’t sound like a vote of confidence.” Sakura said with some incredulity.
“Sorry, but I think you understand what I mean. I don’t think anyone is going to get past that guy.”
“I know. You’re right. I wonder who will come from the Fire Country to watch the finals?” Sakura tried not to dwell on the upcoming bout with the Sound-nin.
“Probably some of your high-ups. Well, Sakura, I’m going to head back to my bungalow to train a little. Good luck, and say hello to Neji for me.” She winked. “I’ll look for him around the tournament building.”
“Uh, sure,” Sakura said half-heartedly.
A small wave was exchanged between the kunoichi, and Sakura continued to pick at her meal until another voice brought her back from her renewed slide into inner thoughts.
“Sakura, how are you this afternoon?” Yoshiro’s pleasant voice made her look up at him.
“Fine, sir,” she answered politely.
“Yoshiro, please,” he urged. “How are you feeling after your match yesterday? We were impressed with your use of jutsu.”
“Thanks. I’m fine.”
“Are you just starting?” He looked down at her half eaten plate.
“Actually, I’m done. I should probably head back to my quarters before Tenten’s match.” She began to stand.
“Allow me to escort you back,” Yoshiro said genuinely, and by his tone, Sakura knew he wasn’t really going to accept a ‘no thanks’.
“Uh, sure,” she said quietly as she got up from the table.
The walk to the bungalow was short, and she was wary of her companion. Since he asked her about Neji’s juin, she began to think everyone in Mist had a hidden agenda. Certainly, this shouldn’t have been a new idea to her. Even though it was a tournament, they were still rival countries. Winning was everything when the meal tickets were there to watch. It was becoming a finalist that was the important part. The rest was expendable.
“You really don’t need to escort me, Sir,” Sakura said politely as she kicked the stones up in front of her on the walkway.
“Yoshiro, please. I’m beginning to think you don’t like my company,” he laughed, and it was a nice sound. Right now, he seemed genuine and just friendly.
“No, no, it’s not that. I’m just sure you’re busy, and I suppose it wouldn’t look good to have a convenor escorting a participant from a rival country. I wouldn’t want to tarnish your reputation as an officiator.”
“No need to worry, Sakura. I just wanted to see if you were all right after yesterday’s match. Gen-jutsu is obviously the roughest of the divisions,” Yoshiro smiled at her.
“Hm,” she said softly. “Sir, I wondered if I could ask you a question.”
“Sakura, what will I have to do to get you to call me Yoshiro?” he laughed, and removed his glasses to rub is eyes. Sakura thought he looked like a kind person, nothing like someone attempting espionage. But friendly or not, she wouldn’t let her guard down. She’d seen his cold side; everyone seemed to have one.
“Yoshiro…I was wondering…if the other nins that fight the sound-nin in my division get scratched from the tournament, how is the final decided? I am just asking due to the recent situation in the gen-jutsu rounds.” Sakura stopped and they both looked at each other.
Yoshiro put his glasses back on, and clasped his hands behind his back comfortably. “Well, Sakura, if everyone else is scratched from the division, and you are the last one fighting him, you would have to become the final in that round. That means your regular fight would be postponed, and your bout would happen in front of our honored guests.”
“I thought that might happen,” Sakura sighed.
“You sound disappointed. At this moment, you probably have the best chance of getting into the final.” He tilted his head, considering her upset appearance. “This doesn’t please you?”
“Well, I want to be in the final, but I didn’t want to be just handed the opportunity. It’s not the way I wanted to achieve it. I’m a Jounin of the Fire Country; I wanted to earn my place.” Her gaze traveled to the bungalow nearby, and then crossed the sky with her thoughts.
“Again, you’ve impressed me. Your pride in your abilities is very respectable. I believe that, even though you might be handed the final, odds were that you would have been there anyway. Don’t dwell on it too much, and do your best.” He smiled again, and Sakura could see it was warm. If he was up to something, he was hiding it well.
“I will.”
“Alright, I’ll see you at the matches. You might want to get back, your teammate is watching for you.” With that, Yoshiro turned and strolled away, seeming to admire the bright sunny sky and the sway of the trees.
Sakura turned back to the bungalow, but couldn’t see anyone watching her. Who was watching for her?
Jogging a little back to the front door, she found Neji standing just inside, leaning casually on the wall. Sakura was a little amazed that Yoshiro could see Neji from so far away, and from that odd angle.
She slipped inside and stood in front of the fusuma, noticing that Lee and Tenten were nowhere to be found.
“Am I late?” Sakura asked Neji as she scanned the house for shoes, weapons or anything to indicate Tenten was still there.
“They just took a walk before Tenten’s match. She wanted to go find some trees to target.” Neji stood up, and wandered through the living area and into the kitchen. He pulled out a mug and poured himself a cup of coffee.
Sakura watched him, feeling nervous knowing that he was probably thinking about the night before as well. The discomfort crept upon her.
Sakura wandered along the wall towards the kitchen, but stopped between her door and the bathroom door. Finding that it was difficult to come up with something to talk about, she leaned on the wall and tipped her head back. Her mind began to spin on how she cried while he held her for an hour, and how she might end up in the final, earning it or not.
More thoughts stole her consciousness away from the bungalow living room until a deep voice spoke quietly right beside her.
“Coffee?” Neji asked quietly, while holding two mugs.
“Uh, no, thanks,” she responded, pulling up some bravery to broach the subject she was dreading. “Um, Neji…about last night…”
Neji’s head tilted a little, understanding she was having some trouble with what she wanted to say. Sakura watched some of his long dark hair slip over his shoulder. The urge to touch it ran through her momentarily and she flashed back to when he touched hers. Maybe he felt the same way she was feeling right now? An interesting thought, considering that she was more than happy to be alone with him right now.
Why was that? She’d try to examine it a little later, but right now coherent thought was a little harder as his scent and presence were having some effect on her body.
Listening to Temari talk about all the women that wanted to hit on Neji had made her contemplate the idea of looking at him that way. Right now, she didn’t have to force the thoughts; they were spilling into her head with the smooth curve of his gentle smile.
“I’m a little embarrassed about the way I behaved. You…you didn’t have to stay with me.” She bit her thumbnail a little as she watched him walk over to the end table two steps away to place the coffee down. His hair fell around his shoulders like a lush curtain, and when he looked back at her, she fell in love with the contrast of his pale Hyuuga skin and striking features.
Neji returned slowly to stop right in front of her. “Embarrassed? I don’t understand. Why would you be embarrassed about being upset that you saw your teammates die? I would be more worried if it didn’t upset you. And for staying, we’re teammates. Would Naruto or Sasuke have done anything different?”
Sakura thought on that for a moment, knowing that Naruto would have sat beside her threatening to beat up the other nin, and well, Sasuke would have told her to get over it. No, Neji’s response was very unique apart from theirs, and she was more than grateful for his tact.
“Well, I guess I wanted to thank you.” She tried to be nonchalant, but couldn’t as she was too entranced with how close he was getting to her. He took another step towards her and absently pressed a hand to the wall beside her head, leaning closely.
He smiled warmly, and she found it hard not to smile back. The corners of her mouth started to rise in reaction to just seeing his smile.
“Um, should we get going to watch the matches?” Sakura asked quietly as they calmly regarded each other.
Neji watched her for a moment more, and then bowed his head to take his eyes off of her eyes. What was he doing? There was some intention with moving nearer to her; he understood that. For some reason, he felt like he wanted to get close to her, and he was tired of pretending that she didn’t affect him. Perhaps there was a little voice in his head urging him to at least try, at least test the waters, at least show his own interest.
Admittedly, he was doing his best to see if she would respond to him. After the night before, he wanted to hold her again, but this time, he didn’t want her to cry. In truth, he wanted to confess to her that she haunted his dreams, and that he’d thought about her for the last five years of his life, almost every day.
Taking a deep breath, Neji slipped his hand from the wall. “I’ll walk you to the arena, but I’ve got to leave for a few hours.”
“Why?” Sakura stood up, and moved over next to where Neji had moved to pick up the coffee cups.
“I’m due to check in with my contact about what we’ve discovered so far.” He took a sip of his, and began to walk towards the kitchen. As quick steps moved behind him, he tried hard not to smile.
“How long will you be gone?” Sakura asked, finally stopping at the edge of the kitchen, and leaning on one of the large couches.
“A few hours. Hopefully not too late.”
Sakura nodded a little, suddenly becoming unhappy that he was not going to be at the match today. She liked his company; she could admit that to herself. Without him there, she’d be playing third wheel with the other two as well.
“You’ll be back tonight?” she asked quietly, hoping he didn’t pick up on her over-interest.
“Yeah, at some point,” he sighed as he walked back towards her.
“You’ll walk me to the match first though?” She bit her lip after saying this. Maybe she was overdoing it on the hints. Tone it down, she told herself.
Neji nodded and that smile seemed to creep back onto his face before he turned toward his bedroom door to retrieve his pack for traveling. When he came back out, Sakura stood at the front fusuma, her hands clasped behind her back as she looked out on the bustle of tournament participants in the area.
Noticing he was there, Sakura turned back to him and smiled, “Ready?”
Neji smiled back, “Yeah, I am.”
I’ve been sitting on this chapter for quite a while and I apologize that it’s taken so long. Thanks roark28 for the quick beta read. You are the best. Thanks to everyone who periodically would come and- kickmyass – encourage me to keep going. I’m sorry I let this story slip by the wayside. I think the urge to write kakasaku is also spurring me to finish this so hopefully I’ll keep on it. I promise that its not dead and it will get finished.
Thanks again.
Leafy