-Naruto doesn't belong to me. And probably never will belong to me. /tears-

Sakura?

Chapter 5: Hyuga Neji

Hey guys! Here is the Neji Chapter I promised. It was supposed to be completed much earlier. But, I had a lot of stuff going on and I had to complete and file in some documents for school. It's a really troublesome and annoying process. I'm hoping that the enrolment goes well. *fingers crossed*

I hope you guys don't mind this late chapter. Please continue reviewing and showing your love cause I post all my love in these stories for you guys!

Enjoy!

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Hyuga Neji walked through the lonely corridors of the Hyuga household. He had always wondered why the walls seemed so cold. Absentmindedly, his fingers traced the wooden walls as he walked. He was still dressed in his ninja attire as he planned on getting some training done. He had so many techniques to master and so little time.

He breathed in the smell of fresh air and…

Ketchup?

What?

He stopped and stood sniffing the air madly with his neck stretched forward. Using his sense of smell, he followed the smell.

"Why are you covered in ketchup?" he heard one of the house caretaker ask. He peeked through the walls with his Byakugan and found himself staring at the chakra outlines of a very familiar little girl. Compared to the entire house, her chakra was warm and comforting, radiating from her in strong chakra waves. Strangely enough, her chakra was strong yet the body outline looked too small to have such powerful chakra.

He deactivated his Byakugan and walked over to the caretaker. She cooed at the little child and looked up when he neared them.

"Neji-san, your team mate informed me to tell you that it was your turn to take care of this little child," She smiled sweetly and turned towards him with a tiny girl in her arms. She had splotches of ketchup on her dress and hair. Her pink hair covered one side of her face as she slept soundly. Neji couldn't help but feel a little tug at the corner of his lips. He could not understand how a small being could have such control over his emotions.

The Byakugan user reached out to push aside the soft strands of pastel-coloured hair. He brushed her cheeks slightly and from that simple contact, the little girl opened her eyes to reveal innocent emerald eyes.

Sakura looked up and looked at one one-chan to the other (Neji). She rubbed one of her eyes and looked around trying to find Lee-niichan. Where did he go?

"Looks like you've woken from your nap little one," the caretaker smiled, "Neji-san, I will clean her up."

Neji nodded and watched her turn around to walk towards one of the bathrooms in the house. He gazed silently at the tiny body and wondered why she was covered in ketchup. Was Lee trying to put her in a sandwich?

He shook his head and started to head towards the training grounds behind the house. He wasn't planning on taking care of Sakura. He wasn't going to stoop to that level. He had better things to do.

Like training and training. Oh, also training. Yes, he was a very busy man.

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Sakura giggled as the soft towel tickled her nose. She was dressed in one of the softest clothes that once belonged to Hyuga Hinata. The kind one-chan had been very nice to her and even allowed her to play around with a ducky!

She was now brushing her hair with a comb, "Sakura-chan, could you wait here for a minute?" She stood up and walked out of the bathroom. Well, by now all of you should learn that Sakura doesn't really like to wait. She looked around the bathroom and squeezed the rubber duck in her hands. It squeaked in protest. The squeak echoed in the empty bathroom.

She frowned and noticed that the door was slightly open. With her tiny feet, she trotted to the open door. With the rubber duck still in her grasps she walked out.

Well, at least she had a duck with her to keep company.

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Neji took a deep breath and stared at the training puppet in front of him. He fell into his attacking stance and sent chakra to his hands. He braced himself and took a couple of breaths before striking at the puppet. He hit the training puppet a couple of times with his deadly strikes all aiming to maim or seriously injure.

He lifted his leg to hit the puppet but lost his concentration when he heard a loud crash. That little mistake caused him to slip and fall painfully on his butt. He groaned and removed himself from the ground.

He stared at the Hyuga Residence and tried to listen for any strange noises.

Nothing.

He nodded contentedly and fell back into his offensive stance and was about to land another deadly hit on the puppet when another loud crash disrupting his concentration causing him to slip forward and hit his forehead on the training puppet. He grumbled under his breath and tried to ease the pain on his forehead. Luckily, he was wearing his forehead protector, so it didn't hurt as much.

But his pride hurt. Badly.

He turned his head angrily at the doors of the Hyuga Residence and decided to stare at it with one of his death glares, waiting for another squeak to be heard. He sat there on the soft ground with his hands crossed and a determined expression on his face as he stared… at the door.

After a few minutes he decided that having a staring contest against the door wasn't such a good idea. He took a couple of deep breaths and closed his eyes enjoying the peace and…

CRASH!

Not so quiet.

His eyes flew open and he got up from his sitting position to follow the loud noises. It was starting to give him a headache. He stomped angrily and stopped in front of the kitchen. He slid the door open roughly and was about to stare at the culprit until said culprit burst into flames when he noticed that said culprit had pink hair.

He looked down and noticed that Sakura had taken full control of the kitchen. Pots and pans were littered around her as she sat in the middle of all of it. It looked like a tornado had hit the kitchen.

Sakura looked up and grinned. She waved the wooden spoon in her right hand and banged one of the pots next to her causing a loud sound to literally burst his eardrums. Now, Neji was the type of man that valued peace and quiet. He crouched in a squatting position and groaned painfully as he massaged his temples.

Sakura looked up from her metal haven of pots and pans at the squatting Hyuga. She frowned slightly and dropped the spoon she was holding onto. She walked unsteadily to Neji and tugged on his sleeve.

Neji peeked at Sakura through his fingers. She placed the rubber duck in his other free hand and hugged him. That caught him off-guard. "Sakura is sorry," She mumbled into his sleeve. Sakura had this look on her face that tugged on his heartstrings. He had this sudden need to cheer her up.

He squeezed the duck in his hands which caused it to squeak. Sakura let her right eye peek from under her pink bangs to look fondly at the duck in his hand. He squeaked the duck again and felt himself sigh in relief when Sakura started to smile shyly at him. He wasn't so sure why he felt relieved.

Neji picked her up and left the rubber duck on the kitchen counter. He wasn't planning on carrying that around with him. Hyuga Neji wouldn't look as deadly if he was holding a rubber ducky.

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Neji sat Sakura near his training area. He started to do some basic taijutsu training. He decided not to do such dangerous training since she didn't want Sakura to get hurt and he needed to keep an eye on her.

Well, he didn't actually have to babysit her. He could ask for one of the house caretakers to look after her for a couple of hours until his turn was over. But, for some strange reason, he couldn't let go of the pinkette. He always seemed to feel comfortable when the pink-haired medic was around. She was a strong opponent in a battle and he liked being challenged. Sakura also wasn't loud and obnoxious unlike his team mate and Sensei. No, Neji didn't harbour any feelings for the older Sakura and he wasn't in denial.

Neji just appreciated Sakura.

Sakura took a look around her from her soft spot on the green grass. She watched silently as Neji-neechan started to dance. She quietly wondered why he was punching the air. Sakura didn't like feeling bored. So, she stood up and started to run around the training ground to try and entertain herself. She stopped and squatted in front a patch of white flowers. The pinkette poked the flowers absentmindedly. The flowers were very pretty, just like Neji-neechan.

Something flew past her ear. With her viridian eyes wide open, she stared open-mouthed at the flying butterfly. She giggled as she started to playfully chase after the extremely beautiful butterfly.

Neji stopped his taijutsu training to stare at Sakura running wildly chasing after a butterfly. He couldn't help but think that she was absolutely adorable.

Great, now he needed to flip some tables to regain his manliness.

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Hyuga Hiashi walked calmly with a dignified air surrounding him. The Hyuga Household was extrmemly quiet (as usual). Both his daughters were away on separate missions and he had just returned from a meeting with the Hyuga Clan. He closed his eyes when a soft breeze hit his face causing his soft black hair to fly in the wind. Sometimes, the only thing that one could hear in the silent household was the wind and one's breathing.

Then, the strangest thing happened.

He heard giggling.

A little girl giggling happily.

The last time he heard that melodic sound was when his daughters were still young. He walked slightly faster following the sound; extremely curious. He loved his daughters and sometimes regretted the fact that they were born to hold the burden of the entire Hyuga Clan.

He stood with his back straight as his lavender eyes stared out the clear window. Sitting on the grass of the training ground was his nephew, Hyuga Neji. He had started training and teaching him the Clan's techniques and arts despite the fact that it was a taboo.

His nephew was sitting cross-legged in his meditation stance with his back facing Hiashi. He was sure the giggling came from him but Neji doesn't giggle. Right?

Neji turned around when he felt his Uncle's familiar presence. He removed himself from the ground and carried Sakura in his strong arms. Neji watched with an amused expression as Hiashi's eyes slightly widened at the little girl in his arms.

It didn't take a Nara to figure out that that puny child was the Haruno Sakura. Yes, the exact same woman with the monstrous strength and healing abilities second to only Tsunade. Hiashi raised his eyebrows and walked over to his nephew that bowed respectfully at him.

"What do we have here?" Hiashi asked as he tilted his head to look at the pinkette, "Haruno-san?"

Sakura smiled shyly and waved. She couldn't help but stare at how pretty his eyes were. It looked exactly like Neji-neechan's.

"Sakura got into an… accident," Neji clarified.

"Accident? And it is your responsibility to take care of her?"

Neji nodded.

"I see. I trust you will do a good job. Tsunade would not just hand over her precious apprentice to people she does not trust. She looks quite attached to you," Hiashi pointed out as Sakura started to play around with Neji's brown locks and braiding them.

Neji looked shocked and slightly confused. Did Hyuga Hiashi just praise him? What in the world..?

Neji was about to speak when Sakura interrupted him; "...Pretty eyes." She tore her eyes from her braid to look up, "Sakura wants pretty eyes… like Neji-neechan."

Hiashi used his hand to cover his mouth to hide his smile.

Nee-chan? He couldn't ignore the fact that his nephew did in fact look slightly feminine. He didn't blame Sakura for getting his gender wrong.

Neji could feel the blood rush up to his face he sighed, "Sakura, we already went through this. I am male." Neji's face visibly softened as he continued, "Besides, your eyes are already very beautiful. I like you the way you are."

Hiashi raised his eyebrows in surprise.

Neji turned an amusing shade of red and stuttered as he excused himself. He was grateful Sakura couldn't understand what he was saying very well.

Hiashi watched as Neji scurried away with Sakura in his arms. That was quite unexpected. His nephew wasn't the type of person to have his guard down. The pinkette peeked at him from over Neji's shoulder. She placed her palm to her lips and blew him a kiss goodbye. She waved as she disappeared around the corner.

Hiashi chuckled.

Hyuga Hiashi never thought he would say this; but maybe he should persuade his nephew to start courting Haruno Sakura once she was back to normal.

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Neji wasn't sure where he was going but he was pretty sure that kids like Sakura liked to be outside to play. Maybe watching him training was a little to boring. He decided that the park may be a good idea.

Once they had arrived, Neji placed Sakura carefully on her feet for her to explore the entire area. The Byakugan user felt slightly out of place as the park was filled with middle-aged women and families that have brought their children to a fun day in the park. He received some curious stares from some mothers and… invitations (which he politely declined) from others.

With his vast abilities, Neji could keep track of Sakura's movements easily as she ran around and played with the other children. He stood there a few feet away from her with his arms crossed.

"Could you help me, kind sir?" An old lady asked as she struggled with the packages in her arms.

Neji glanced briefly at Sakura swinging happily on the swings before turning around to help the poor old lady with her packages.

Sakura swung her legs high up in the air to go up higher on the swing. She liked the feel of the wind in the hair and how close she was from touching the sky filled with marshmallows.

The pinkette got herself off the swing and started to make her way towards Neji who was still helping the lady with some boxes. She ran unsteadily to him and clung to his pants with her small hands.

The old lady looked slightly surprised at her entrance and smiled sweetly, "Is she yours?"

Neji rearranged the last of the boxes and looked up, "No. I… Uhhh… am taking care of her for awhile."

She smiled, "She looks just like the pretty lady working in the hospital. What was her name? Sakura? For a minute there, I thought both of you had a child together."

Neji blushed, his neck and cheeks turning a wild shade of red.

The lady laughed, "Well, young man, you should make your move before she gets taken!"

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Neji sighed tiredly as he looked out into the distance with the sun setting casting an orange glow. Sakura was on his lap, her hands grabbing fistfuls of his shirt. Her eyes were already close to closing. He wasn't surprised if Sakura fell asleep any minute now.

She yawned, "Sakura don't want to…sleep."

Neji looked down, "Why not? Young children should sleep to get some rest. We need to wake up early tomorrow to send you to the next babysitter's house."

She looked up, half her face covered by her pink hair, "Sakura… don't want Neji-niichan to… go."

She rubbed her eyes and yawned once again.

Neji tucked her pink hair behind her ear and wondered why he felt so attached to her. Just a few hours ago hew as unwilling to take care of her. Now, he didn't want to hand her over.

Also, there was this tiny little voice in his head telling him that Sakura was special.

Maybe she was.

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Do tell me which guy you want to be the next babysitter! I was thinking maybe Chouji or Sai. I'm not sure… xD

By the way, I was just wondering if you guys wanted me to do a twitter account? So that it'll be easier if you guys want to give suggestions and I can update the status of the stories. Also you can ask me questions! What do you guys think? ^_^

Shino

Shikamaru

Chouji

Sasuke

Naruto

Sai