A/N: First of all, I'd like to apologize for the delay in putting this last chapter up. All I can say is that July was an extremely hectic month for me (career wise) and I had so many things going on that it was difficult to concentrate on one at a time.

I want to thank all of my readers for being so supportive! It always makes me extremely happy to know that you guys are enjoying my stories so I hope not to disappoint.

But enough rant… hope you like it!


TOGETHER

As the subtle light of the sunrise made its way through the leaves of the trees, Hyuuga Neji huddled Sakura a little closer, aware that he would have to wake her soon. He didn't want this new closeness they were sharing to end but there were duties and responsibilities he needed to attend to and he simply could not ignore them.

Always thinking of her first, Neji had volunteered to stay up all night standing watch so she could get some rest after having taken care of him all day; but the renowned medic would have none of it and was adamant in splitting the watch. She even insisted, much to Neji's aggravation, for her to go first, since the Captain might still need further recuperation from the poison which had temporarily invaded his system. Clearly, he thought this was preposterous but was caught completely off guard when the pink haired kunoichi unexpectedly used her mouth to prove her point.

Evidently, after a long and passionate kiss, the prodigy was simply unable to further defend his argument and Sakura ended up watching over him as he slept for the first half of the night.

It was bad enough that his heart had betrayed him with its devious feelings, but it was altogether disturbing to realize that his body was starting to do exactly the same. He simply couldn't prevent the reactions he had whenever she was close to him, whenever her skin brushed lightly against his or when her lips lingered softly over his after they kissed. And the fact that her cherry hair was as soft as it seemed only helped to feed his rapidly growing obsession with her brightly colored locks. It was like he was discovering a whole new universe and there was no denying his curiosity.

Breathing in deeply, he shifted slightly under Sakura's weight. He had been sitting up against a tree for the entire time of his watch, with the pink haired kunoichi sleeping safely in his lap and leaning against his chest. Since they had only one blanket, they had decided this was the best position so both of them would be partially covered during the early morning cold. Wanting to have her near him now that they had finally come together, Neji didn't complain in the least and was more than happy to watch over her while she slept in his arms.

Unavoidably, his mind had wandered, as it was doing now, and it turned to things he really did not want to think of. How to tell his family that he was now 'dating' Haruno Sakura was the main issue which had been plaguing his mind for a while now. He was sure that they wouldn't have a problem accepting her into the family, with her being the Godaime's prized apprentice and an incredibly skilled shinobi. The Hyuuga clan didn't tolerate mediocrity, not even in the spouses the members of the family chose. But Neji had always known this would never be a problem for him, since he would never choose a woman unless she matched him as a ninja in her own way. The issue, then, rested on a completely different matter.

In the language of the Hyuuga clan, 'dating' was a direct synonym for 'courtship', which meant that if you were in a relationship with someone, your intent was focused clearly on a single goal: marriage. How he was going to explain to his family that he no intentions of marrying Sakura, at least not for the time being, would be problematic, since the clan tended to take this type of matters extremely seriously.

Anxiety was unavoidable, especially when he thought that he would have to tell Sakura at some point that his family would like to meet her and welcome her to the clan; an even which would be inevitable once he told them about her. The pink haired kunoichi would probably make a run for the nearest exit, he was sure of it. What a way to put pressure on the girl you were interested in…

The ANBU Captain sighed quietly as he tried to disperse the jumbled thoughts going through his mind. Why he hadn't thought about all this in the first place was beyond him at the moment, but he was sure that none of the problems he would soon face would have had any real influence on the feelings his heart harbored for the medic asleep in his arms. He would simply have to face the circumstances as they presented themselves, since hiding his relationship with Sakura was simply not an option. He did not want to hide and scurry like a criminal whenever anyone saw them together… it was simply not the way you treated a girl. Wanting to be free to love her and cherish her whenever he wished, Neji decided that the sooner Konoha realized that they were together, the better.

This decision would bring all kinds of changes to his life, but the prodigy was more than willing to face them. And as long as she was there with him, he knew there wouldn't be any challenge they wouldn't be able to overcome.

As the direct rays of the sun began to filter through the canopy, Neji nudged Sakura awake. As he had predicted, the prevailing mist of the day before was dissipating with the warmth of the sunlight and they would be able to travel without any problems.

Sleepy emerald eyes opened slowly as the pink haired kunoichi came back into the waking world. Despite their rustic location, she had been sleeping incredibly comfortably and wasn't inclined to leaving the protection of the ANBU Captain's arms… but it just couldn't be helped.

Sitting up slowly while taking the blanket with her, she turned round towards Neji, only to find him staring intently at her.

"Good morning", she said with a smile.

He nodded her way and leaned forward to press a soft kiss on her cheek. "We need to get going," he said, his responsibilities as Captain coming to the fore.

"I know," Sakura replied, her tone regretful. With that, she stood up and stretched, Neji doing the same behind her.

"We should have a quick breakfast," the kunoichi said after Neji had gathered their equipment. "I have some dehydrated fruit in my pack; it should be enough for both of us."

They ate the food in silence, each of them stealing glances at the other. As Sakura watched the prodigy wash down his portion of fruit with a few drinks of water from his canteen, the immensity of the situation she had plunged herself into started to settle in.

This was Hyuuga Neji: Konoha's top ANBU Captain and consequently one of the village's most skilled ninjas. He came from one of the most esteemed families in the history of Konoha, a clan who possessed one of the most advanced blood line techniques ever. He was all this and more… and the fact that she had kissed him and slept in his arms was somehow a little too much for her to deal with so early in the morning.

All she wanted to do was bring her hands to her face and giggle like a school girl.

But Haruno Sakura would not lower herself to such levels… at least not in public. Despite how improbable their circumstances were, they really had happened and she somehow knew that all they had shared up until now was only the tip of the iceberg.

If Neji had been so attentive and caring when he was restraining himself from loving her, how would he be now when he had allowed the walls around his heart to crumble?

Even with the warm rays of the sun falling partially over her body, the pink haired medic couldn't help but feel a chill of anticipation making its way up her spine.

"Let's go," the Hyuuga said, interrupting her thoughts. Turning distracted emerald eyes towards him, she found him standing nearby, his pack already on his back and his hand extended towards her.

"Yes," she said, leaning down to pick her own stuff. Once she was ready, she turned to him and took his proffered hand, earning her a smile and a sparkle from his silver eyes.

Together, they jumped as one into the trees, making their way hastily towards their comrades.

XXXXXXXXXX

"There's eight of them" Neji whispered directly in her ear.

They were hiding in behind a heavily leafed tree branch, inspecting the appointed rendezvous point below. Having arrived at the prearranged meeting place, the Captain and the medic had found the place empty of their team mates, while a small enemy group nestled within the undergrowth, waiting in ambush.

It was clear that they were no experts since they could easily be discerned by a trained shinobi eye. What was curious was the fact that there were no signs of their group; it was as if they had left long ago.

Neji overlooked the scene for the hundredth time and agreed with the hunch he had experienced when he first arrived: his team had left for Konoha some time ago, meaning that they had fulfilled their objective. The hostage had been retrieved and their mission accomplished, therefore, there was no point for them to remain in enemy territory since this would only expose the rescued politician to further danger.

If he were able to climb down from their hiding place and look around the abandoned camp site, the ANBU Captain was sure he would find a coded message hidden for him somewhere, informing him of the team's movements. This theory further explained the presence of the ambushers; thinking that the shinobi group would head back to their base camp once they had rescued the hostage, the enemy had set a trap for them and waited for their return.

In truth, they would be waiting forever since no Leaf shinobi would be stupid enough to return here after the successful completion of their objective.

It would have been easy to just leave the group of idiots in their obvious hiding places and leave without making a sound, but Neji reminded himself that his mission hadn't been fulfilled. He still needed to eliminate the leader of this useless group, but for that, he needed to know the whereabouts of their rat lair… which meant he needed to question one of the fools below.

Lowering his ANBU mask over his face he turned to Sakura, only find her looking at him, as if waiting for his signal.

"You need one of them alive, right?" she whispered as she started putting her gloves on.

Chuckling soundlessly at her on-the-dot statement, he was once more amazed at how quickly her mind worked; she had come to the same conclusions he had without him giving her a single clue to his thoughts. She was more than a match for him when it came to intellect and he was sure that she would be equally matched when it came to fighting by his side.

In all honesty, Neji knew that he was more than capable of handling the inexperienced fighters below all by himself, but the truth was he didn't want to. He wanted to go into combat with the woman he had chosen beside him and he wanted to see how compatible they were in the battle field.

He had been looking forward to this for a long time.

Clasping her hand tightly for a moment, he nodded at her, signaling that he would be descending directly in the middle of the group, catching them by surprise.

Nodding in return, Sakura automatically knew that he wished for her to approach from behind, knocking out one of them as soon as possible, their unsuspecting informant secured.

Squeezing his hand back, the pink haired kunoichi saw his silver eyes glint dangerously a moment before Hyuuga Neji jumped from the branch and landed with a cat's grace on the ground below.

There was no time to waste.

Somersaulting backwards, Sakura landed soundlessly a small distance away, directly behind some bushes a couple of their enemies had chosen as a hiding spot.

Needless to say, the Captain was spotted immediately and four men jumped straight at him, weapons in hand. With very little effort, Neji dodged their simultaneous attacks, moving between them with amazing speed. His juken was already at work while he moved, delivering hits in all the key places, ceasing the chakra flow of his opponents effectively.

It was only a few seconds before all of them dropped to the ground, completely limp.

Wondering at the efficiency of her lover's quick movements for a moment, Sakura lounged forwards and with a quick jab, knocked out one of the men who were still in hiding. Seemingly, they had some sort of strategy planned, since not all of them emerged at the sight of Neji. It wasn't worth giving them credit though, for they could not even hope to stand up to two fully trained and expert shinobi.

Her movements caught the attention of the unconscious man's companion, a large thug who had been hiding behind an adjacent boulder next to the bush.

He moved forward, but his size did nothing to enhance his speed, therefore the pink haired kunoichi had no problem moving out of the way. Thanks to her vigorous taijutsu training with Lee, Sakura was too quick for the brute to land any blows. However, his size did improve his range and the katana he wielded only made things more difficult. The medic would have to move in really close to score a hit but it was nothing she couldn't handle.

Moving quickly, she danced round him as he swung his sword around like the amateur he was, slicing through the air. His movements were also extremely easy to predict, therefore when he made a large swing towards his right, Sakura, chakra already activated, twisted and landed in front of him, hitting him squarely in the jaw. Bones cracking with the impact of the blow, the thug flew across the air only to forcefully hit a large tree some distance away, cracks splintering across the thick bark.

Smiling behind his mask as he saw his pink haired beauty take out her opponent from the corner of his eye, Neji turned once more to his attackers, the only two men left standing, who had emerged from their hiding place once the jounin had bested their comrades. These were slightly smarter than the first, and they kept a safe distance from the Captain, using ranged weapons to try and injure him.

This would have been a smart technique if Neji had been any other man. Avoiding the incoming missiles as if they were no more than practice kunai, he stepped towards them and activated his kaiten when they were well within range of his attack. His chakra spiraled around him, easily catching his opponents inside his deadly whirlwind, sending them flying back against some nearby boulders.

Coming to abrupt stop, the Captain surveyed his handwork and walked towards Sakura, who was bringing their knocked out foe to a sitting position against tree trunk.

"Not much a challenge, was it?" she asked him as he approached.

Chuckling in humor, the silver eyed jounin nodded in complete agreement to her statement, coming to kneel beside her.

"Hopefully their leader will show a bit more skill," he said. "Do you have anything to accelerate his waking process?"

"I have just the thing," Sakura said with a smile. Reaching for her backpack, she rummaged around in it for a few seconds before her hand emerged holding a small vial. She took off the cork on top of it and a pungent smell emerged from its contents.

Turning her face to the side in an attempt to avoid inhaling the strong odor, the pink haired kunoichi placed the vial underneath the unconscious captive's nose.

The man's eyes flew open within a few seconds and he looked startled and confused at the two people kneeling in front of him.

Taking a kunai out from one of his secret pouches, Neji brought it swiftly up to the man's throat, silver eyes shining seriously behind his feline mask, his byakugan activated.

"We need some information," he stated simply, his voice cold and dangerous.

The way he spoke made the hairs on Sakura's arms stand on edge and she silently hoped she would never be on the receiving end of his anger.

Their captive turned scared brown eyes towards him, coming into clear focus with the palpable threat in the Captain's tone. Small drops of sweat appeared on his face, blatant evidence of his nervousness.

It was pitiful to see how very badly trained these men were.

Neji opened his mouth to speak once more, but stopped himself immediately. From the edges of his byakugan, he felt the incoming force of a strong chakra… and it was coming directly towards them. With lighting speed, he threw himself over Sakura, pinning her to the ground as a large blade flew above them, cutting deep into the tree and into the man they had been questioning.

Without wasting a breath, the Captain rolled with Sakura across the uneven ground as another attack from the sword hit the place where they had been lying. Once they were at a safe distance, Neji jumped into action, coming to a stand in front of their attacker.

The man stood eye to eye with the raven haired jounin, but had a considerably larger built. He was almost as twice as thick as Neji at the shoulders and he swung his large sword easily with a one handed grip. His thick brown hair was short and the cruel glint in his eyes only helped to identify him as the leader of this useless renegade group.

"Were you looking for me?" the man asked with a cruel smile, seemingly unafraid of the hunter nin standing in front of him.

"You just killed one of your comrades," Neji stated coldly, ignoring the question.

"Haha, so I have," he replied, amused. "He was an affordable loss if it meant that there was a possibility that I could take."

The Captain's eyes darkened further as he stared directly at the offending criminal.

Sakura watched the exchange with wide emerald eyes, not daring to move a muscle. When their enemy had expressed his contempt concerning the life of one of his men, the pink haired kunoichi saw Neji's muscles tense; his chakra started swirling in anger, but much to her amazement, it didn't do so in an erratic manner.

Whenever a person tuned in to their emotions and let their feelings control them, their chakra would usually fall into disarray, making combat all that more difficult. This was the reason why shinobi were always told to control their emotions no matter the circumstances, so they would not interfere with the task that needed to be accomplished.

But the Captain's chakra was not behaving like it should. Channeling his emotions directly, Neji managed to feed his energy flow in a completely controlled manner, never once losing his mind to the anger but using it increase his power.

It was something the pink haired medic had never seen before and it left her mouth agape.

'How is he doing that?' she thought. But there wasn't time to ponder about the jounin's amazing abilities, since she saw him jump into action a second later.

Neji lunged towards the brute, who retaliated with a swing of his sword. Dodging it easily, he whirled around the renegade leader, trying to score a few hits but his range always fell short. He repeated the maneuver a few more times, always keeping his body just barely out of reach of his enemy's swings, intent on tiring him out when it became evident that he wouldn't be able to get past his defense.

The missing nin wasn't an amateur though and saw straight through the Captain's tactics after a couple of minutes of futile combat.

Deciding he needed to go on the offensive and eliminate his opponent as soon as possible, the thick man proceeded to attack, sending a series of precise sword swings in fast succession. The sleek Hyuuga managed to get out of the way just in time, but realized this man wasn't as inept as his trainees had been. This man's attacks had a purpose and he knew that a hit from his large weapon would inflict serious damage.

The problem was, his enemy wasn't giving him any clear openings and he needed to come in close contact so that his juken could do its fatal work.

But before he would come up with different tactic around his enemy's tight defense, Neji felt the rush of a quickly incoming chakra on the renegade shinobi's left. Surprise took over him for a second as he watched Sakura charge the large man with all her might, sending a vicious punch directly towards his face.

Dodging in the very last second, their enemy was able to divert the blow. Turning his attention to the newly arrived kunoichi, he swung towards her, but she was already out of the way by the time his sword reached the place where she was standing. Moving behind him, she was suddenly out of sight and as he turned round, the large man was met by the image of Neji's foot as it came towards him.

The Captain landed a direct hit on his shoulder, but this did little to deter the renegade leader. Swinging his sword again, he slashed out with impressive quickness but once more, his attack missed its target, who was already moving in for another hit from a completely different direction. Thinking that the kunoichi was definitely not a threat, especially with her slight and delicate frame, the man concentrated on Neji and went on the offensive again.

Sakura stayed ready and came in for another assault when she saw the brute get too close to Neji. But as she disengaged once again, she caught the Hyuuga's eyes for a moment and he signaled for her to wait.

As she watched him come in front of the renegade leader once more and allowed him to swing directly at him a few times, the pink haired kunoichi suddenly realized what he wanted her to do. Smiling at his tactics, she came forward, keeping to the side of the two combatants, waiting for her cue.

Neji walked backwards as the swings from the large man kept coming. He was going to use one of the oldest tricks in the book, but he had the impression that it was going to work. This man was no amateur, but he was definitely not one of the smartest ninjas to betray Konoha.

The brute seemed clueless as he kept swinging his way towards Neji, using a few slashing combos which would have dealt some significant damage. But the Captain kept going backwards and was always just barely out of reach… that is, until his back hit the surface of a large boulder and he didn't have anywhere to go.

Laughing at his imminent victory, the renegade leader played his part with a flourish and brought his sword up for a mighty downward swing. But in that instant, a flash of pink came rushing towards him, and as he held his weapon over his head, Haruno Sakura jumped up to land a vicious hit exactly where the blade of his sword met the hilt, shattering it into pieces.

Neji smiled at his girl's handiwork.

Not waiting for the large man to recover from his shock as the shards of metal started to fall around him, the Hyuuga prodigy went in for the kill. Landing the 64 Hands of Hakke in precise succession one after the other, the renegade leader's chakra flow was abruptly interrupted and he landed, as limp as a rag doll, on the ground, dead to the world.

Breathing deeply, Neji stepped over the body and turned it round with his foot, making sure that the man had been effectively terminated. Once he had made sure that his mission was successfully completed, he turned his attention to the pink haired kunoichi standing nearby.

In amazement, he looked at her and was, for an instant, short of words.

Blushing at the intensity of his silver eyes, Sakura finally found her voice after a moment. "Well, I couldn't let you take all the credit like you always do, could I?" she said teasingly, trying to dissipate the sudden tension.

Not answering her, Neji walked towards her as he lowered his mask. Taking her into his arms, he kissed her fully on the lips, holding her tightly to him as he stole her breath away with his tongue.

Under his assault, Sakura could do nothing but melt in his embrace, returning his kiss with as much passion as she could muster while her knees went weak.

After a few intense minutes, he released her mouth and looked deeply into her emerald eyes. Never in his life would he have thought that he would come to be with such an amazing woman... with such a skilled kunoichi. She had come to his aid in battle without him having to ask her; she had fought side by side with him and had made her best effort to watch his back while he went head on against his opponent. Not only that, but she had understood his signals and tactics perfectly, showing off her amazing shinobi skills in the process.

Even though he didn't show it, Hyuuga Neji was, in that precise moment, completely ecstatic.

She was all and more than he could have ever asked for and he wondered what other surprises she held in store for him.

Smiling as she saw him clearly lose himself in his thoughts, Sakura brought her hand up to his face, caressing his cheek lovingly and bringing him back to the present.

"Does that mean I have your approval?" she asked playfully, referring to the kiss they had just shared.

He nodded his head, a grin appearing on his lips. "Have you ever thought about trying out for ANBU? You would make an amazing assassin."

Laughing, Sakura answered his question. "Maybe, but I would require personalized training."

"That, dear lady, can be easily arranged," he replied, before devouring her mouth in a kiss once more.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Neji, how do you manage to do it?" Sakura asked. They were sitting around a small campfire in a forest clearing, the pink haired kunoichi's head leaning against the Hyuuga's shoulder as they watched the flames. They would be reaching Konoha before midday the next day and were enjoying their last night out in the open together.

"Do what?" he asked, perplexed.

"Control your emotions so efficiently," Sakura answered.

Eyes narrowing a little as he pondered her question, Neji slightly wondered where all this was coming from. "Well, ever since I was little, I've always had intense emotional training. In the Hyuuga clan, you learn to control your emotions ever since your start your shinobi preparation. Its part of the clan's tradition and children are taught to do so since the earliest years of their lives."

Sakura lifted her face to look at him, but found him staring intently at the fire. He may not have noticed it, but this was the first time he had spoken of his family to her.

"So, it's part of how they train you to use the juken and byakugan?" she asked curiously.

Surprisingly, he answered without hesitation. "Yes, you could say it is. My clan has always excelled when it comes to discipline and I guess its part of why we are such successful shinobi." He turned to look at her. "Why do you ask?"

"Well, I saw you do something curious while you were fighting that missing nin," she told him, blushing slightly. "With all my medic training, I'm kind of an expert when it comes to reading a person's chakra. Whenever someone gets angry, their chakra starts to flow in complete disorder and it gets in the way of their fighting. You, however, were completely different. When you got angry at that renegade leader, you channeled into your anger and actually used it to fuel your techniques. I'm being honest when I tell you that it was completely amazing."

Lifting his arm, he put it over her shoulders and pulled her closer, his mind deep in thought. "Now that you mention it, I guess it is startling. I've been able to firmly control my emotions ever since I was very young, so I guess that it's no surprise that I can actually use them to my benefit during combat. No one had ever told me about it though and I never really paid much attention to it."

Sakura leaned her forehead against his neck, thinking about the words he had just spoken. "Neji, did you really control your feelings for me like that for so long?"

She felt him tense momentarily before he nodded in answer.

Sighing, the pink haired kunoichi put her arms around his middle. "Well, don't hide your emotions from me ever again, ok?"

Silver eyes stared at the flames for another moment before he tightened his hold on her and nodded his assent.

After all they had been through, it was the least he could do for her.

XXXXXXXXXX

Tsunade stared at the couple before her while the ANBU Captain reported on the success of his mission, standing at attention in front of her desk, his face as stoic as ever.

In all honesty, she wasn't paying much attention to what he was saying and was actually trying to discern if her pupil had been able to accomplish the 'personal mission' she had set out to fulfill. From the way Neji was behaving, he was giving nothing away, but that was to be expected. A few intimate encounters with Sakura wouldn't be enough to crack his impassive shell but the Godaime was sure that if there was anyone who could penetrate the walls of his heart, it would be her apprentice… even if it meant that the pink haired kunoichi had to tear them down with her fists.

Sakura wasn't giving anything away either. She just stood by the Captain's side, looking normal, while he described the happenings of their trip. Well, you couldn't expect for the young medic to tell her sensei everything while their object of discussion stood right in front of them, hence, the Hokage realized that she would have to wait for all the juicy details.

Dismissing them a few minutes later, she allowed them a couple of days of rest before they were called to a mission again. Turning towards the stack of papers on her desk once more, Tsunade saw the ANBU Captain walk out the door, followed quickly by Sakura.

She was surprised however, when the door to her office failed to close completely as they left and she saw her apprentice squeeze partially back through the door, giving her a thumbs up and a wink before following her companion down the hall.

The Hokage's gleeful laughter resounded all through the building.

XXXXXXXXXX

Neji knew he had lost his mind, but he simply couldn't help it. He had parted ways with Sakura early in the afternoon but he was already finding that he missed her closeness and not having her near was having strange effects on his brain.

He had been welcomed back by Hiashi-sama himself and had shared some tea with his uncle and Hinata. He had been extremely tempted to tell them about Sakura but had wisely kept his tongue in check. It wouldn't be wise for word of their relationship to spread out through the clan, as he knew it would do, so soon after their return. Deciding that he'd better wait a bit longer and talk to Sakura about it, Neji had genuinely enjoyed his time with his family and was more than happy to retire early in the night, since the exhaustion from his mission was finally catching up with him.

Getting ready for bed, he crawled into his futon, barely able to keep his silver eyes open. He settled against his pillow and lost himself in dreams of brilliant cherry hair. But he was not to get the much needed sleep he craved.

After only a couple of hours, he was completely awake in his bed, and no matter how much he tossed and turned, he could not resume his slumber again. Sighing deeply, he looked at ceiling of his room, knowing very well what he was missing but not wanting to accept it.

Nevertheless, he had fought through his denial before and he knew that it wouldn't lead him anywhere. Standing up abruptly, Neji put on the first set of clothes he could find and left his room. He walked swiftly through the Hyuuga household, silent like a thief in the dark and was out the gate a few moments afterwards.

Arriving at his destination after only a few minutes, he knew she would probably be sleeping by then and decided to use a less standard entrance to her apartment. Looking up at the two story building, he jumped up towards what he thought was her bedroom window and landed in a kneeling position with ease upon the sill, silent as the ninja he was.

Silver eyes accustomed to the darkness quickly, since the light of a street lamp helped to brighten the room somewhat. He found her on the bed, a fine sheet covering her body but doing nothing to hide her well-formed curves. A physical ache throbbed all through his body at the sight of her and he didn't dare to move a muscle lest this vision before him disappeared with his movement.

He kept admiring her body openly and his eyes traveled all over her form, memorizing every bend and line of her grace. Belatedly, he concentrated his sight on her face, only to find her open eyes staring at him with a glint of humor.

"I had a feeling you would come," she told him calmly, finally sitting up on the mattress. "Who would've thought? A Hyuuga sneaking into a girl's bedroom in the middle of the night!" she finished, laughter in her voice.

Neji suffered her good-natured teasing stoically as he jumped from the window ledge onto the floor, removing his sandals as he did so. "I've always been known to rebel against family etiquette," he countered, approaching the bed.

Sakura giggled as he climbed in with her, sliding his muscled body beneath the sheets. "Really? And what other family establishments have you been known to break?"

"I think I'll show you just now," he replied, pulling her body towards his and kissing the pink haired medic full on the lips, his tongue demanding entrance to her mouth without any hesitation. Moaning as she felt his agile hands make their way down her body, Sakura was thrilled that he was finally here, with her in her bed and nothing to prevent them from enjoying each other's bodies.

Seemingly, they had both dreamed of this moment for a very long time and it was the moment to bring all those repressed desires to the surface.

Groaning as the beauty in his arms kissed him back with all the passion in the world, Neji decided that he really didn't care if someone found his room empty in the morning.

He guessed there was more than one way of letting his family know about his relationship with Haruno Sakura, but that would be dealt with at the appropriate time.

Right now, there were other matters which needed his immediate attention, and he proceeded to show the woman he loved what it was like to be the object of a Hyuuga's affection.


There you have it! I want to thank all of you for the support you've shown this story. I'm actually considering on writing a sequel to this, but not before I finish some of my other fics. Hehe.

Don't forget to leave your reviews!