The Clan Lord's Chosen Wife

By: Zetnnik

Summary: Between a rock and a hard place -- that was where Neji found himself. When it came down to it, which one would you choose -- your lifelong ambition to lead your clan and change it for the better or the woman you love? NejiSaku

Disclaimer: Not mine… just borrowing.

A/N: I am in the process of re-writing/correcting the preceding chapters with the help of laurelangel, who was kind enough to consent to beta-read it for me. I will upload once they are all completed. This chapter is unbeta-d BTW…

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Previously on Chapter 7:

They all got up in surprise and turned towards the sound of the crash. Hinata quickly made the hand-signs and activated her byakugan. The other two, not having the kekkei genkai that allow penetrating sight and telescopic vision, asked her what was going on. Hinata relaxed at finding that it was just a Hyuuga clan member and a merchant having had an accident with his wares, her byakugan still activated, absently looked first at Sakura and then at Ino.

Her eyes widened at what she saw. A gasp. "Oh, my…"

"What?" Sakura asked.

"What is it?" Ino asked, concerned.

"I-Ino-chan, a baby…," Hinata whispered, pure delight in her voice.

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Chapter 8:

Later that night, Sakura was awakened by a quick but firm kiss on her lips. As she opened her eyes, she saw Neji's large frame looming over her with his arms braced a few inches from the top of her head on the headboard.

"Hmmh… Neji…" Sakura said softly and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. "What time is it?" She asked after a dainty yawn.

"Shh… I didn't mean to wake you up," Neji replied, and then swooped back down for another quick kiss on the lips. "Please go back to sleep… It's barely three in the morning," he said brushing stray pink hair from her face, and then as if unable to resist, he leaned over and kissed her on the forehead. Sakura could not help but smile at that. Neji had to force himself to leave his wife alone and got up from where he was sitting on the edge of the mattress, on Sakura's side of the bed.

Sakura sat up further and arranged the pillows so she may lean on them as she watched Neji put the finishing touches to his outfit. Her eyes widened a bit upon realizing that he's wearing the standard ANBU uniform – black sleeveless mock-turtle neck shirt and black pants. It's seldom nowadays for him to be called out for an actual mission. Most of the time, he was called in at the ANBU War Room, it was in an advisory capacity only. She watched as he put on the special chest armor, black gloves, and finally the arm guards. After a final inspection of his shinobi pack containing the usual accoutrements a ninja would need, Neji turned and walked back towards Sakura and sat once again on the edge of the mattress to give his wife a final lingering kiss - one that he'd have to be content with until he got back from his mission. He reluctantly raised his head and relinquished his wife's sweet lips, "I love you," he whispered. Sakura's arms, which had snaked around his neck at the start of the kiss, did not let go right away. She instead cupped his face with both hands and gave him another kiss before saying, "I love you, too."

Neji, with his arms once again braced against the headboard, sighed and leaned his forehead against Sakura's and said, "I shouldn't be gone more than a fortnight. I'm leaving Shigeki behind. Be sure to let him know if there's anything you need."

"OK," Sakura replied. Knowing it was an ANBU mission, Sakura did not ask Neji for details regarding the mission. Being a kunoichi herself and having been part of some missions herself in the past, she knew he was not at liberty to divulge any information about the mission, wife or not. It took all of her self-discipline not to ask him not to go for she knew he would never shirk his duty as a shinobi of Konoha. She settled instead for a plea for him to return to her whole and alive – not to be a hero, and to keep in mind that she'd be home waiting for his safe return.

"You know I will," he replied arrogantly. After a last kiss and a hug, he got up and picked up his ANBU mask, with a few quick hand seals, he disappeared leaving behind a small whirl of wind in his wake.

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A fortnight had passed and still no sign of the ANBU cell containing Neji. It's the second day past the two week period, and Sakura had been to the Hokage tower twice already under one pretext or another, but couldn't quite bring herself to ask Tsunade about the ANBU team and their expected return.

"Sakura, you're here again. Are you bored and are now regretting having asked to be placed on the non-active duty?" Tsunade asked her not a tad acerbically.

"Oh, no, shishuo," Sakura was quick to deny.

"Hmph! Don't tell me you're already missing that husband of yours?" Tsunade asked with a lift of one eyebrow. "I wondered when you'd get the nerve to ask me yourself, but I guess you knew better…"

"Heh!" Sakura didn't know what say and could only look at her shishuo sheepishly.

Seeing the look from Sakura, Tsunade harrumphed once again and motioned for Sakura to approach her desk, "Oh, get over here, you. And make yourself useful. Here! Help me with these reports," so saying she dumped a stack on the corner of the desk where Sakura was standing on the side.

Knowing she'd been suckered once again for paperwork duty, something Tsunade was known to loathe with every fiber of her being. Sakura resigned herself to doing Tsunade's most hated Hokage duty… but on the bright side, she'd be in the right place for receiving first hand information on the ANBU team.

"Oh! …and by the way, Sakura, Neji's team is expected to arrive tonight or tomorrow morning, the latest," Tsunade told her, almost absently.

Sakura lifted her head from the report she was reading and looked at Tsunade, "Thank you, shishuo," she said with a grateful smile. Tsunade harrumphed in reply, but if one squinted, they'd see a responding smile on her lips.

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Sakura got home late that after noon, having been kept at the Hokage tower much later than she expected – those reports were never-ending! Being mentally tired if not physically, she fell into a deep sleep almost as soon as her head touched her pillow. Sometime in the middle of the night, something woke Sakura up. She sat up on the bed, reached over the side table and turned on the lamp. She looked around the bedroom to get a clue on what disturbed her sleep. No, there's nothing. She was still alone in the room. Sakura got up, put on a wrap and padded over to the door. She exited the room, but left the door open. The light from within spilled over the corridor, which allowed her eyes to adjust to the darkness as she walked out further into the heart of the house. As if being pulled by some kind of force, Sakura bypassed several rooms and other parts of the house until she arrived at the end of the hall leading outside to the deck, that which circled the house. There was a little chill in the night air, causing her to briefly hug herself and rubbed her upper arms a few times to promote a bit of body heat.

Again, as if by unknown force, she turned right to where it led to the back garden. Sakura's steps faltered a bit as there appear to be a figure slumped a few yards ahead of her. As she drew closer, she confirmed there definitely was someone there. Her steps quickened immediately. She saw the figure slumped halfway on the deck floor and the few steps leading to it. No movements. As she reached the figure and turned it over, she sucked in her breath as she saw who it was.

"N-Neji..!" Sakura quickly did a scan of his body for any broken bones. Once she'd determined there were none and it was safe to do so, she moved him and placed him completely on the deck. As she knelt beside his unconscious form, she immediately started to mold chakra on her hands to do another scan for injuries. Green hued chakra immediately started to glow. 'Oh god… Oh god… Please let him be alright,' was the worried thought running in her mind as she slowly and carefully ran her glowing hands over Neji's body, searching for injuries. She noticed right away his very high body temperature. He was burning hot to the touch, giving his skin a red tinge. The next thing she noticed as her hovering hands passed over his torso was his rapid heart rate. Her hands would sometimes stop and make a quick assessment of the injury they detected. She'd immediately bypass them as they turned out to be minor injuries, just the normal cuts and scratches one would sustain in light skirmishes; her main priority was to find and discover the cause for his being unconscious.

Five minutes had passed and she still had not found the cause. By now, Sakura was frantic with worry. She knew the longer that time passes without a diagnosis and immediate treatment, the worse his condition would get. "Please… Please… Please…," was a whispered litany on her lips. With a sob, Sakura slumped against Neji's chest, giving way to distress. Sakura was the best known medic, this case would have been fairly simple for her in normal circumstances, but the victim being who it was had made it impossible for her to think clearly – disabling her from separating her emotions and keeping a cool head. The only thought running through her mind was this was her husband, about to die before her eyes!

"Come on… Come on…," Sakura straightened up and flared chakra on to her hands once again. "W-why can't I…," she murmured, now breathing heavily as she continued to focus her chakra enforced hands over Neji's torso. "I-I must… Oh, God!" She cried helplessly. "Don't you die on me… Don't you dare die on me… DON'T YOU DIE ON ME, NEJI!" Sakura screamed the last part as worry and anxiety finally took over. "YOU PROMISED! YOU PROMISED ME YOU'D COME BACK TO ME SAFE!" She shouted in anguish, face bathed in hot tears. "I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR YOU. I WANTED TO SHARE WITH YOU OUR GOOD NEWS! I'M PREGNANT, NEJI! WE'RE GOING TO HAVE A BABY! NEJI! NEJI! …DON'T! …YOU PROMISED, NEJI! …NEJI!" Her hands, no longer glowing, were on his chest, grasping on to the chest armor he was wearing as she cried her pleas to her husband.

"Sakura-sama!" Shigeki materialized suddenly in front of Sakura, having woken up at her first shout. "You need to get a hold of yourself." Sakura raised unseeing eyes to Shigeki, completely lost in her anguish. Shigeki waited until she was fully cognizant of her surroundings again. He took hold of her hands and gave them a reassuring squeeze. "You need to calm down, Sakura-sama. Take a deep breath. That's it."

Sakura did as she was instructed and took a few deep breaths, although her breathing was still a little shaky, she felt herself start to calm down. But she had to visibly shake herself to get her composure back. Once she felt she got her bearings back, she straightened up and placed her glowing hands over Neji once again. Now calmer and with her eyes closed in concentration, Sakura started from Neji's head, over his face, down to his neck, then to the right shoulder and across his chest where they hovered and stilled briefly before continuing on down to his abdomen. "I found it!" She announced with heartfelt relief. "The poison is concentrated mostly in his stomach and his liver. It should be extracted right away, but his body temperature and his heart rate must first be lowered immediately lest he falls into a coma." Sakura looked around widely, "My medic bag! I should have an eserine injection!"

Shigeki searched the crowd. He caught sight of Aki and immediately sought his attention, once he had it, he wordlessly nodded his instruction for him to fetch the bag. In no time at all Sakura was being handed the medic bag, which she grabbed right away and searched for the much needed drug. Urgency was palpable in her movements making them almost jerky as she strained for self-control. Once she found the injector, she wasted no time in administering the drug in to Neji. Taking another deep breath, Sakura laid her chakra enhanced hands once more over her husband to ensure he was still only just unconscious and had not fallen into a coma. As she felt his heartbeat slow down and his body temperature start to go down, she was unable to stop the sob of relief from escaping her as she drew a shaky breath. She leaned down and kissed Neji's lips before she unsteadily got up from where she'd been kneeling beside him. "We need to take him to Konoha hospital and have the poison extracted immediately. " So saying, Sakura started to sway and would have pitched forward where it not for Shigeki's quick reflex. "Sakura-sama!" He managed to catch her before she fell flat on her face next to her husband.

The crowd that had gathered around had been mostly silent all through the proceedings, but now a murmuring could be heard as they parted to give way to Lord Hiashi. The old man looked frail, but he still retained that regal bearing of a man used to command and authority. He approached them slowly but steadily. "Do as she said and have him transferred to the hospital immediately. Send someone ahead so they're prepared to receive them," the Hyuuga patriarch ordered. "Oh, and make sure to put them in the same room, for I am quite certain that once either one of them wakes up, they'd ask and look for the other one. Might as well save your-self the trouble," he added. "Go. And take good care of her. She deserves her rest after all her hard work and exertions tonight. We have to take better care of her, especially with her delicate condition," he continued.

"Hai, Lord Hiashi," Shigeki nodded, unable to hide the happy smile at the last comment.

Lord Hiashi raised one hand and brushed away pink tresses off Sakura's face, "I'm very happy for you, my heart's daughter," he murmured. The former clan leader then turned and faced the gathered crowd. "As you may have heard the happy tidings, your lord and lady are expecting their first child. It is a cause for celebration, which we will certainly do once the Lord Neji gets released from the hospital," Lord Hiashi was forced to stop due to the loud cheering from the crowd. "For now, please all go back to your beds and rest for what remained of this night. Tomorrow will get here soon enough," with those last words, he turned and observed as Shigeki barked orders for the preparations for the transport to the hospital. Neji was speedily placed on a stretcher, while another stretcher was prepared for Sakura, who was still out in her faint. Shigeki carefully laid Sakura on the stretcher, and barked out some more orders, before long they were on their way to the hospital where Shizune was waiting.

Upon their arrival at the hospital, Shizune immediately took over and had Neji taken directly to the operating room. As he was being prep'd, she took the time to speak with Shigeki for any information that could cut down on the identification and/or diagnostic process. Shigeki relayed the information Sakura had shared before she fainted dead away. "She said she found a concentration of the poison in his stomach and liver. She had also administered a dose of eserine through injection."

"Eserine?" Shizune repeated.

"Yes. She mentioned something about lowering his body temperature and his heart rate," he clarified.

"I see. Alright. That helped tremendously. Thank you, Shigeki-san," Shizune bowed and went inside the operating room. The information from Shigeki was truly helpful. Based on that information, she gathered it was a likely atropine poisoning, but she'll know more once she had a sample of the poison to work with. First thing's first, extract the poison out of Neji-kun and get him started on the road to complete recovery. It wouldn't do for Sakura-chan to be sad or be worrying right now, not in her current condition!

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A/N: Ha! Chapter 8! :o)

So sorry for not having updated in such a long time… Anyways, I thought this would be the last chapter, but I guess not. The next one would be it though. Well, I hope you like this chapter. Poisoning info, symptoms and treatments, all from Wiki… :o)

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