Chapter 1: The Promise

Sakura went home silently, she just got another rejection from Sasuke by asking him out on a date. It was the last day of missions with team seven, and it's the start of the summer holiday. However, it wasn't that good of a beginning. As she entered her front door, she saw her mother already waiting for her in the hallway. Her mother's face looked serious.

"Sakura…This might be impossible for you to accept, but you are going to be one of the nominees for Hyuuga Neji's wife." Ms Haruno told her daughter who now widened her eyes.

"What are you talking about?" Sakura asked in disbelief.

"Your father was a really good friend of Hyuuga Hizashi, Hyuuga Neji's father, when they were in the Ninja Academy. And they made a promise to each other that when they grew up, if they have a son and a daughter they will get them to marry each other."

"Don't worry Sakura, Hyuuga is a very big and noble family, so there are many nominees out there who are dying to be his wife. But please Sakura, just go for the sake of your father. Since his friend died a long time ago, he said that this is the only thing that he could do for him."

Sakura stood there silently, and thought deeply. She heard about Neji's story during the Chuunin exam. It was sad how such a kind-hearted person had to die in the hands of evil. There must be so many suffering going on inside those walls of the Hyuuga's mansion. But the only thing that Neji's father left in Neji's heart was love…

"Yes, I will do it for father." After all, there should be many nominees out there that are far better than Sakura. So the only thing that she has to do is show up tomorrow.

The next day, Sakura arrived inside the Hyuuga's mansion. She walked to the line of nominees. As she walked to the registering table she heard her name.

"Sakura-san." It was Hinata.

"Hinata-chan, how are you?" Sakura asked.

"Why are you here?" Hinata asked.

"I'm one of the potential future wives." Sakura said.

"I thought you liked Sasuke-san." Hinata asked in surprised.

"Yes, well this, is just what my father wanted me to do. Mom told me that he was a good friend of your Uncle, and they made this promise a long time ago…so my father thought that this is the only thing that he could do for him since he passed away."

"Hehe, I think you are a very good speaker Sakura. At least you didn't mentioned it ―"

Hinata stopped as her father approached with Neji and his mother.

Sakura and Neji's eyes met as the Hyuugas were walking out to the garden.

Haruno Sakura, why is she here? I thought she is chasing after that Uchiha kid. Neji's eyes settled back to the groups of girls that were there. Then his Uncle spoke up.

"Welcome to all the nominees here, I'm Hyuuga Hiashi the head of the main family. As you may know, Hyuuga is a very big wealthy family. Since my brother has passed away, his wife and I are in charge of the branch family. Since their son, Neji, is fourteen years old and almost turning fifteen, I was expecting him to start a family in the few years ahead. Therefore, you were all summoned here today to be chosen as the new wife of the head of the branch family."

So Neji was forced to start a family? Sakura looked up and observed Neji who now has his eyes closed listening to his Uncle. I bet he can still see us with his byakugan.

"As I said before, Hyuuga is a very big family. There are many things different and more serious then you think, so when you come in here, do no expect us to treat you well. To be the wife of the head of branch family, your most important job is to assist your husband and protect him whenever he is in danger. Since we are one of the advanced bloodlines, it's important that the secret of Byakugan be kept down."

"As a matter of fact, your first duty as a wife is to protect him and always focus on his safety first. Therefore, you need to be good in fighting. Secondly, you are to assist him and help him through his works. You also need to be well taught on how to socialize with higher class people, know how to do Japanese traditional dance, and chado."

The girls gulped as they heard all the requirements that they needed to have. They started making noises and soon the whole garden was filled with the sound of their mumbles.

"Silent! Now I know that it's a very hard process; that was why I called you here. As most of you here are around thirteen and fourteen, there is still time for all of you to improve. Starting from today, you will attend our family learning as well as training with Neji and at the end of this month, you would get an interview with us and you would be eliminated by the rating you get."

That night, all the girls stayed inside the Hyuuga branch house. Starting from today they were to train there for the next three months. Sakura was tired from all the rules and schedules that were planned ahead. That night she couldn't sleep; she couldn't help but think about all those classes and training that she was going to get. She went outside to the garden and started looking around for a place to think. Then it came to her that she shouldn't be wondering around in the house at night, which was part of the rules. So she climbed up to the rooftop and sat there.

It was a very beautiful night scene there at the roof. She witnessed the beauty of light coming from different houses in the Leaf village. She searched for the direction of her house, but she soon realized that her house couldn't be seen from the buildings that were covered by it. However, she did spot Sasuke's house, the light was still on and Sakura wondered what he was still doing up so late.

"What do you think you are doing here?" Sakura heard a familiar voice and she turned around. It was Neji who was standing right behind her. She was surprised since she didn't hear or sense his chakra approaching.

"I'm watching the stars. It's a nice place to watch the stars at night, since your house is farther and higher away from the city."

"I don't mean that, you are not supposed to be up here at this time." Neji told her coldly.

"I couldn't sleep, so I came up here." Sakura didn't look at him. Then she noticed the light in Sasuke's house was turned off.

"How pathetic, you were watching his house here? A pathetic girl like you should just go back and chase around that Uchiha kid. Leave this place tomorrow, the Hyuuga family is not what you think it is." Neji said, which caused Sakura to glare at him.

"You were afraid to see me here because you didn't want anyone to know about your family forcing you to this arranged marriage." Sakura looked up at him; she was the most intelligent girl Shinobi in the village. Although, she didn't know how to fight like the others, and use strategies like Shikamaru, she was good in figuring out a person. Her special technique was genjutsu, and she knew how to manipulate a person's mind easily.

Neji death-glared at her, and grabbed her arm.

"Don't say things when you can't pay for the consequences after." Neji told her coldly.

"What if I can?" Sakura asked.

"You are more annoying than I thought. Why did you come here?" Neji finally asked her.

Sakura caught him again. Why did he say 'here' instead of 'his house'? You are more interesting than I thought Hyuuga Neji.

"I didn't want to either, I was just doing a favor for my father," Sakura said.

"Your father? What does he have to do with this?" Neji questioned.

"He told me that this is the only thing left to do for your father, Hizashi." Sakura said, waiting for him to react.

But unlike what she had expected, Neji didn't show any emotion when she mentioned his father's name. Instead, he just ignored her statement and went on with the conversation.

"So you have no intention of being the new branch house's mistress... You are still chasing after that Uchiha kid after all."

"Yes, girls like me would never learn. Is that what you are trying to say. But I can assure you that I can do anything when I'm determined. If I win the fight with you at the end of this whole training thing, you have to approve of what I am doing for Sasuke-kun. And if I lose, I would leave Sasuke-kun alone."

"Those are some unwise words Sakura. Do whatever you want yourself. It's none of my business." With that he jumped down on the ground and walked away.

The training began the next day, first it was the flower arrangement, Japanese dance, Chado and manner classes in the morning. Then it was fighting lesson in the afternoon. The girls' every single moves was recorded on paper for ranking. At the end of the first week, five girls were eliminated from the group and were sent home. Luckily, Sakura was a shinobi, therefore she had the knowledge of fighting strategies and experience more than the others. But that wasn't enough to fight against Neji.

It was the end of the third week, and Sakura was already tired from all the fighting. It was after class already, but Sakura was still training in the dojo. However, no matter how much effort she put into her training, her body still had a limit. She hadn't really been sleeping nicely throughout this week due to her sore body and headache from a slight fever. She was frustrated, three weeks have passed by and she still hadn't improved that much. The only thing that she improved was her chakra control, which was some basic stuff. She needed to get stronger, she didn't want to be weak anymore. As she was resting on the wooden floor and leaning her back against the wall of the dojo, she slowly fell asleep.

Neji returned home from his meeting with Gai and Lee about summer training. After he took a shower, he decided he should go and train some more. But as soon as he approached the dojo, he sensed a familiar chakra. He entered and saw Sakura sleeping on the floor.

Then he started shaking her, trying to wake her up. Sakura slowly open her eyes.

"Sasuke-kun…?" Sakura mumbled.

"No." He gave his short reply.

Sakura vision became clear and she realized that it was Neji who was holding her. They stood up, and she realized that he was still holding her, as if she was going to fall. Maybe he was right, because she did feel dizzy. It must be from the light fever that she had this morning.

"Thank you. I will go back to my room now." Sakura said, as she pushed herself to step forward into the hall. However, her body was going against her will; she fell down. Luckily, Neji was there to pull her back from the fall, and carried her to her room.

Neji placed her down on her bed and covered her with her sheet. He let out a sigh and looked at her pale face.

What is she trying to prove that she has to go this far? Is Uchiha Sasuke that important to her that she is risking her life towards him, just like last time in the chuunin exam? Neji remembered the time during the chuunin exam, when he arrived at the battleground between Sakura and the Sounds. Sakura was by herself against three of them when her two teammates were unconscious. When she turned around and stared at the Sounds with her determination, it was as if, she wasn't afraid of anything. She wasn't even afraid of death.

Then he saw tears rolling down Sakura's cheek. She was having a nightmare with her fever.

How pathetic…he thought, but he went and wiped away her tears with his hand.

"If you are going to prove to me that you can do anything for Uchiha, then you should get better first." He said in a very faint voice. Then he left the room and went on with his training in the dojo.

She went to the dojo to find him on the next day. When she arrived there, she found herself staring at the topless Neji who was training. His whole body was sweating as he dodged all the traps that he set up in the room, practicing his Byakugan. Then the next day, Sakura found herself at the same place same time again, watching him train. She couldn't figure out why, but she found herself attracted to him. Then for the rest of the month, she went there again and again, it was almost like a tradition to her.

One night, as she walked towards the dojo, she found that Neji wasn't in there, so she went to the roof to find him. Sakura found him staring up at the stars. She knew that he sensed her presence already. She didn't say a thing, and just sat on the roof back to back with him.

No matter how Neji tried to ignore it, he found himself feeling comfortable with Sakura leaning on his back. Then it hit him, he figured that she wasn't annoying at all. He actually felt good around her and she made him feel calm and happy.

The glimpse of moonlight reflected in her eyes and the way she tilted her head made his heart skip. He looked at the pink haired girl who was staring up at the sky watching the stars and he watched her every movement. Everything was going so slowly in his world right now. She looked so beautiful there, it was as if she wasn't worrying about tomorrow. She was in her little world, not caring what was happening to the world outside.

"The stars are beautiful tonight," she said. Neji didn't say anything but just followed her gaze. So for the whole night, they just sat there silently enjoying each other's company.

When morning came, Sakura found herself in her room. She went into her bathroom and cleaned herself up. Then she walked to the dojo's area where she sensed Neji's chakra there again. She smiled to herself and walked away.

When Neji finally came out from his dojo, he found this necklace placed onto of his jacket, he held it up to the sunlight and stared at the metal necklace in a shape of a Ninja star. He opened up the necklace and found a very tiny scroll inside the ninja star.

Author Notes: Well if any of your are wondering why Hiashi made such a big deal about Neji's marriage here's the answer for you. Since Neji is the only guy in the Hyuuga family (in Hinata's generation) and Hiashi finally opened his mind about the branch house, Neji is the center of attention. Please give me some reviews and I will ganbatte!

Chado= 'Cha' means tea and 'do' is learning (at this point I guess) and Chado are those Japanese traditional skill, where people learned about how to make tea and serve tea.