Chapter 6: A Little Sake Does The Body Good?!
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A few hours later and a few drinks everyone headed home before anyone started giving any soul confessions tonight. Although Neji never did take drinking well. He took worse than any other person did. The night ended when he made the first confession.

"You know what Kakashi?... The girl that I had kissed earlier was... Sakura." Kakashi raised a brow. He knew this night had ended.

"Lets get you home Neji." He quickly got up to take hold of his arm before he protested. "You need some sleep."

"Wait, I’m not done yet... I think... I’m fall... For her." On cue, he almost slipped out of Kakashi’s grip. Sasuke almost choked on his food as Neji continued to talk.

"I mean, really... S-she’...s beautiful... and... Powerful... and... Her lips...mmm..." He stared off in memory. "Taste just like... cherries." Sasuke was shocked at first but because of the situation, he couldn’t control his laughter. Kakashi decided to leave now or the boy would feel worse for continued revelations rather than his morning hangover.

But the way Neji was acting from only a few drinks made him believe that something wasn’t right. Neji shouldn’t be this far gone. Sniffing Neji’s cup there was a very faint trace of an unknown poison that worked quickly.

"D**m, no wonder he’s burning up." Kakashi was tired and pissed. "Who served this?" Sasuke stopped laughing long enough to notice Kakashi’s behavior.

"What? What’s wrong Kakashi-sensei?" Sasuke was a little worried. Kakashi was rarely mad about anything.

"Someone poisoned his drink." He whispered dangerously, the anger seeping in his voice. "Gai, take Hyuga to the medic unit NOW." Gai caught the urgency and fled with Neji in hand.

"Sasuke block the door and you two check the other exits." They swiftly left. "NOW EVERYONE IF YOU WILL. Could the people who served us," he swept his hand across the room. "Stand by the table you assisted please."

Few people were working that night. Slowly each person with an apron on stood next to a table in the room. Only three tables were not suited, theirs included. These tables had either ANBU or Jounin seated there. Not good.

Luckily, the chumps tried to make a dash for it through the back door. Of course, there would be people waiting. But they so happened to be mercenary Ninja’s and one happened to have bombs!

BOOM>

"What the?!" Kakashi and Sasuke ran to the back. To everyone’s surprise the back wall no longer existed from the explosion.

"They’re heading that way." Sasuke pointed in the directed as he ran. Kakashi scanned the area first. Two ANBU wounded and one Jounin gone in the blast. He leapt to catch up with Sasuke.

What in the world is going on? Sasuke thought as he caught up with one of the Ninja’s. Throwing a (weapon) at their side, he tumbled down the side of the house and into the street. ANBU were there waiting for him.

D**m, where are the other two?! Sasuke realized one must be after the Hokage.

BLAST>

Well that answered his question. Unfortunately for the merchant Ninja’s the Hokage had little tolerance for assassination attempts. As he watched from the corner of his eye a small figure falling out of the destroyed building side. And a few colorful words to boot.

Kakashi caught up with him as he stopped near the gate entrance of the leaf village.

"Where’s the last Ninja?" Kakashi had been following one until it disappeared. Imagine him tricked by a simple replacement jutsu. He was too tired for this.

"Ok let’s gather our thoughts real quick shall we." Shikamaru suggested from behind.

"They were after either you and or Neji, the Hokage and one other..." He closed his eyes to concentrate. Then with a snap, "Where does Sakura live?"

Sasuke and Kakashi didn’t like where this was going. Sasuke took the lead to her place. When they got there, the Ninja was just leaving. Kakashi ended in his face.

"Why are you here? … And I advice you give us the right answer before you end up dead like you other friends." His one sharingan eye blazed in the moonlight.

"This doesn’t concern you." The ninja tried to make a break for it. But all his efforts were futile. Face in the ground and arms nearly broken, there was nowhere to go.

"Now tell the nice Shinobi what he wants to know before I take the pleasure of torturing you myself." Sasuke voice expressed his growing lust for pain.

"All right... (Cough) I had a message for an Uchiha Sasuke anyway... (Cough, cough)" Sasuke punched the guy in the head.

"What is it?" His apparent anger raising.

"... He wants his precious Cherry Blossom back." He bent his head in the most inhumanly possible way to laughed.

Kakashi pushed harder to break the man’s arms. He screamed, and then continued to laugh.

"I also wanted to say that I miss her company as much as yours my s-Sasuke... Naru-chan is always welcome to come with." Then the Orochimaru replacement clone poofed into a snake.

"Hey?!”

Kakashi jumped up, truth be told he never had a liking for snakes. He looked up to see a very scared and angry Uchiha. Sasuke took his sword and stabbed it through the snake’s body before it had the chance to slither away.

"AAAHHH!!!!" Sasuke didn’t know what to do cry, scream again, or do both as he went on a killing spree. Because right now all he saw was red.

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Gai was beyond belief the effect that Sakura was having on Neji. The guy was past the point of no return. Luckily, Neji passed out halfway to his house. Although news would surely get around Konoha just as quickly as when Naruto was first seen holding hands with Sasuke in public. This announcement was the next best thing. Gai never knew the effect a few drinks could do to a Hyuga. Passing from roof to roof top from the hospital he noticed the remaining Shinobi returning from their night out as the sun started to rise.

What a night! Buildings were tattered and Neji was poisoned. If the stubborn Hyuga hadn’t refused to stay in the Hospital he would had to complain about a jumpy ride back home. Oh well. Gai smirked, still thinking about Neji saying how he loved Sakura in the hospital as the Hokage healed him. The power of youth flows through his veins!

As fate would have it Neji moved, making Gai misplace his footing to tumble. Luckily, Ino and Sakura returned in time to help. Seeing Neji out cold Sakura had them meet at her house considering it was the closes.

"There just set him down on the couch there." Sakura looked at Neji’s pale features. Worry streaked across her face. "What happened here Gai-sensei?”

"Well... Neji was poisoned tonight and we were infiltrated by three merchant Ninja. A few places where blown to smithereens and a few people got killed and some badly hurt."

"That doesn’t sound like the work of merchant Ninja." Ino yelled at Gai.

"Yeah well, that’s what they appeared to be... So, the only thing we can do is figure out which facility they’re under and stop them before anything else like this happens."

"I need to see Kiba! Bye Sakura see you tomorrow?" Sakura nodded before her friend ran out the door.

"As for Neji, I think it would be best if he stayed with someone over the night for surveillance since he refused to stay at the hospital." He looked at the way Sakura worried over Neji. "And if you wouldn’t mind I’d like to leave him here with you. I need to meet back up with the others to catch up on what I missed." Gai walked up to Sakura and gently placed his hand on her shoulder. "He’ll be ok. He’s strong and full of youth. Now if you’ll excuse me I must be off." Again, Sakura nodded as Gai walked out of her house and closed the door.

Poisoned huh? Who would poison my Neji? Sakura shivered at the term my considering how Orochimaru used to say that to her all the time my Sakura while Itachi would call her Cherry Blossom. Put together she somehow became theirs. It took her a while not to shiver whenever one of them addressed her. But considering the time she spent with them. She no longer hated the term. It became her, suiting her well. Now she wanted someone to call her their Cherry Blossom. Not in a cold eerie way but in real loving from someone she could love back...

"Sakura..." Neji mumbled in his sleep.

"How cute! He talks in his sleep." Wait did I just say how Cute?! Well, he his handsome. In that, I may look cold but I’m really a furnace of burning passionate love! She blushed at her own corny ideas.

"I... Love...." He mumbled.

"Wait, you what?" She yelled. Not at him exactly but she couldn’t help it.

"I...do love.... Sakura..." What was going on here!

"Hmph. You won’t mind if I snoop in your precious dream a little bit? Shall we!" She bent over Neji’s face to the point where her lips were a mere millimeter from his. Her breath caught in her chest as she stared at his features.

Too late to chicken out now. She closed her eyes as she steadied her breathing to match his. Here goes nothing!

Lifting a free hand to the side of his face. Dream Walker jutsu. The connection was quick.
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A/N: I know Sasuke's isn't really an emotional character, but that's just the way I'll portray him. Besides, the icy baka needs to show some emotions once in a while anyway!  ^_^