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ᴡʜᴀᴛ ʜᴀᴩᴩᴇɴꜱ ᴡɪʟʟ ʜᴀᴩᴩᴇɴ. ʜᴏᴡᴇᴠᴇʀ, ᴛʜɪꜱ ᴛɪᴍᴇ, ɴᴇᴊɪ ɪꜱ ɢᴏɪɴɢ ᴛᴏ ꜰɪɢʜᴛ ꜰᴀᴛᴇ.

{ᴡᴏʀᴅ ᴄᴏᴜɴᴛ} : 1,154

༺°•✮・※꧁༺༒༻꧂※・✮•°༻

Neji had always believed in fate, in destiny. It was going to happen, so what was the point in trying to stop it? He knows this, he lives by it, but it doesn't stop him from watching her. Discreetly, of course. She might get ideas if she saw him watching her. Che, annoying girl.

She sat with Naruto, that loud, blond idiot who was still rambunctious, though he had grown up since his genin days. One had to if they were going to be a Jounin. He was ripped from his musings of Naruto at the sound of her laughter, her green eyes bright as she did so. Neji stopped and star- observed her. Haruno Sakura, to him, was a foreign object. He knew things about her, of course. She was the Hokage's apprentice, she could split open the ground with a punch of her fist and save a dying man with that same hand, she was best friends with Ino and Naruto was like her brother.

Neji also knew that Sakura had once been in love with Uchiha Sasuke.

The name caused the Hyuuga to scowl, and he walked away from Ichiraku.

༺°•✮•°༻

"Hokage-sama, you called for me?" Neji asked, bowing stiffly while his opaque eyes glanced over at the pink-haired female next to the Godaime.

"Yes, Hyuuga, I did. I'm giving you an A-rank mission with Sakura," she gestured to the girl, "to escort the Kazekage to Konoha." Neji nodded, and Sakura repeated the action. "You two will leave tomorrow; meet at the gates at 8:30 am. Dismissed." Neji bowed again, turned, and walked out the door. He was only mildly surprised to find Sakura walking beside him.

"Hi, Neji-san." She said, smiling

"Sakura-san." He replied curtly.

"So, uh, would you like to go with me to Ichiraku or something? To discuss the mission?" Neji ignored the cheerful smile on her face that ALWAYS seemed to be there, the happy tone of her voice, the way her emerald eyes sparkled in the bright sunlight. Summer was fast approaching Konoha.

"No, thank you. I must go, Sakura-san."

"Bye," she murmured, watching as he turned and walked away, hands stuffed in his pockets. Fighting back the waves of sadness that erupted in the pit of her stomach from the nostalgia of that pose-

"I love you with all my heart!" Sakura screamed, clutching her chest while the tears fell rapidly from her eyes. Sasuke turned around and smirked at her.

"You really are annoying." He told her coldly, turning around and walking away, just as he had always done. Sakura was more acquainted with the sight of his back to her than she cared to admit-

-she turned and walked back to her house.

༺°•✮•°༻

Sakura chatted happily with Gaara, discussing what was going on with Konoha and Naruto. The Kazekage, for the most part, was silent, but he would make a noise in the back of his throat occasionally to show he was listening to the medic-nin, or he would ask a question. Neji watched the two of them from the corner of his eye while the trees sped by them.

His stomach churned uneasily. He knew that the red-haired man was looking for a wife, and Neji hoped to whatever God there was that he wouldn't pick Haruno Sakura.

He didn't even want to think about the reasoning behind that thought.

༺°•✮•°༻

He didn't see her for another year. The rain was pouring furiously, and he was returning from a mission. Neji was tired, hungry, but most of all, he just wanted to go home and relax. However, that was all before he saw her.

Sakura was standing there, just standing there, with her chin tilted skyward and her eyes closed while her hair became plastered to her face. She must have sensed his presence, though, because she turned and faced him, a small smile playing about her lips. "Neji-kun," she said softly, and extended her hand to him, a clear invitation.

Neji stared at it warily. On one hand, he could refuse her bluntly, in the same exact way he had shunned his fangirls. It would be so easy, too. At least, that's what he was trying to convince himself of.

A memory surfaced to his mind. It had been about a week before the Uchiha had turned traitor and run off to Sound. Neji had been passing the bridge where Team Seven trained, and the obsidian-eyed prodigy of the team had gotten hurt somehow. Sakura had offered him bandages for his wound, and her crush had knocked it out of her hand, snarling words such as annoying, weak, air-head, and he had rounded it all off by telling her how much he hated her and to never darken his doorstep again. Sakura had fled, crying, and Neji, who had never felt sorry for anyone in his entire life, did so for this girl. After all, all Sakura had done was offer him bandages, as ANY teammate would have done. It wasn't as if she tried to actually put them on him.

In his mind, the Uchiha had his chance.

And maybe, in another life, in another time, the Uchiha would've accepted Sakura's bandages, her unwavering kindness and belief in him, and he would've actually DONE something about it, in a way that wouldn't have broken her heart, as he had most definitely done when he became a derelict. (A/N- Derelict basically means a traitor). In another universe, Tenten and Neji would be more than sparring partners. THAT was how fate was supposed to go.

But sometimes, things don't always go as planned. Sasuke wasn't supposed to leave the village to join Orochimaru. Naruto wasn't supposed to be wearing black and orange instead of white and orange. Sakura… Sakura wasn't supposed to mean this much to him.

The problem was, though, that she did.

Sakura was still smiling, waiting patiently. Neji's eyes traveled from her outstretched hand to her face. She was watching him carefully, her eyes begging him to trust her.

Sometimes, whatever happens will happen. There is no way to stop it, so all you can do is let the pieces fall and accept things as they are. Not everything in life can be concrete. Most times, you just gotta roll with the punches, because in this world, nothing is solid. Fate, destiny… sometimes, they're merely words that people trust in, because they're afraid. They want to know what'll happen. They want to believe in forever. But forever is nothing more than a word to soothe irritated minds. Just like fate and destiny.

So, taking a great leap of faith and trusting her not to let him fall, Neji grasped Sakura's hand.

༺°•✮・※꧁༺༒༻꧂※・✮•°༻

♛ ᴄʀᴇᴅɪᴛ :『@ɪᴍɪꜱꜱᴀ』ᴏɴ ꜰꜰ.ɴ!