I passed my finals and it's now summer vacation, which means, I have a lot of time to write my stories. Well here we go with chapter 4.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. That belongs to Kishimoto Masashi and the story/summary/plot belongs to Nicholas Sparks who is my favorite author. You guys should check out all his books. Trust me; he will not let you down. Now let's get back to the story.

Last time one The Wedding…

"Neji!" said Sakura as she ran up to me with Ino and her husband. "Are you okay? What happened?" I slowly looked up to see that Ino had an "I know what you were trying to do" look and Shikamaru raised an eye brow. Sakura helped me up as I picked up the bags. I tint of pink raised to my cheeks. Everyone could tell I was embarrassed.


"I'm fine…" I muttered. Sakura looked at my face as she licked her thumb and wiped away the dirt from my face. She lightly smiled at me but I could tell from her eyes she was still sad. Ino and she walked in front of Shikamaru and me as they began their chatting.

"So…now do you know why everyone's been asking you how you and Sakura were?" said Shikamaru making sure that the girls couldn't hear us. I didn't say anything I felt my throat tighten again.


"I must warn you. If you don't do anything quick…I'm afraid to say that…that Sakura will leave you…" whispered Shikamaru.

------------------------------------------------------

I had hoped things would have improved…but it didn't. Everything was still as it had been. Sakura wasn't exactly mad at me but she wasn't happy either…

I laid awake in my bed thinking about what happened earlier that day. Sakura was planning on leaving me? I moved my head to the right to take a peek at her. I could see Sakura's peaceful face as she slept. The moonlight shined on her as I watched her silently. A few strands of hair were on her face as I slowly moved it, making sure not to disturb her. I looked at her carefully as my eyes flickered to something shining near her eye.

A tear drop….

She was still crying…because of me. I could tell as she slowly whispered my name in the night. For some reason, I couldn't shake the scared feeling I had. I scared because Sakura was planning on leaving me. I scared because Sakura didn't love me anymore. I couldn't even imagine what my life would be like if Sakura left me…

We've been married for thirty years, and we've stayed together for more than that. We had been through too much for us to fall apart now. But it was as if, a wall or fence was built in between us and it was too high for me to get over it. And by March, two months after the anniversary, I had become very worried about our relationship and the chances of Sakura actually leaving me; I knew I had to talk to someone…

XXXXXXXX

"Mom?" I called out as I went to visit my mother the next day. I was surprised when I found her bedroom empty or the kitchen empty. Most days when I come to visit she'd be sitting on a metal bench near the Hyuga pond. I moved to the window in the kitchen and saw her.

My mother was now seventy-nine year old. She was a widower and her health wasn't that well. My mother is suffering from Alzheimer's disease. I remember the doctors had Sakura and I sit in the office a year earlier, and eyed us gravely. They told us the news as Sakura had held my hand and squeezed it with support. My mother and Sakura had become close. My mother only remembers Sakura and me and the memories of her and my father. She didn't remember anyone else, not even the children. But the doctors say that in time, she would forget about us as well…

Her marriage to my father was what all women envied and wanted. To have a husband who always pick a bouquet of flowers on his way back to home every time he had a mission or left the house for his wife. To always put his wife first be himself. That was what Sakura wanted as well. My mother would always tell Sakura the things my father did and I heard Sakura tell my mother one time that she wished we could have the marriage they had. I exited the kitchen as I made my way into the backyard. I saw my mother feeding a bird as I approached.

"Good morning mom!" I said as I went up and kissed her on the cheek. My mother turned to face me.

"Oh Neji, it's good to see you. Thank you for passing by." She said as she smiled at me.

"I just came to see how you were…"

"Oh, I'm doing fine" My mother took out another bird seed as she feed the bird that was in her lap. The bird chirped with joy as it ate the bird seed. I sighed as I sat down next to her.

"Sakura" she said softly. "How is she?" I shifted awkwardly to my right.

"She's doing well. She'll be coming by later today I guess…" That was a fact. For the past few years, we've visited my mother frequently. Sometimes we'd go together and sometimes alone.

"I see…"My mother said as she petted the bird again. The bird looked at me with its warm eyes. We soon fell into quietness.

"Well, I'll come later by again." I said as I kissed my mother good bye.

"See you later son, but let me tell you something before you leave." My mother stopped me. "Neji, she's a sweet girl. She's a rare kind of person that blooms once in a life time! You're going to make a bad mistake if you are going to let her go that easily. You'll never know what you have till it wilts away…" My eyes widened as I had a flashback.

Flashback

"Good morning mother, good morning Aunty" I said.

"Neji is it really true?" asked Hinata's mother as she looked at my with her

"What's true?"

"That you and Sakura are over?" I didn't say anything and sat down and ate breakfast. My aunt and mother shook their heads. My mother went up to her son and hugged him.

"Neji, she's a sweet girl. She's a rare kind of person that blooms once in a life time! You're going to make a bad mistake if you are going to let her go that easily. You'll never know what you have till it wilts away…" My eyes widened a bit. My mother kissed me on the head. I looked back to see his mother walking away.

"Have a good breakfast dear!" said my mother happily.

End of Flashback

I remember my mom say those words to me. It was the time Sakura and I broke up because of a misunderstanding. It was the day where I saw Sakura kissing Uchiha. (A/N: if you haven't read Eternal Snow yet, then you won't understand some parts. So please read my other story Eternal Snow before reading this one)

I sighed as I left my mother at the Hyuga compound. Sakura and I decided not to live in the Hyuga compound. She always wished to have a house of our own; just us and our children. I told my uncle about it and he had agreed to let us live outside the compound.

I looked up to see Konoha's hospital. It was around 3 in the afternoon right now, so Sakura should be at her break right now. So she should be on her way to visit my mother. I quickly walked into the hospital as I asked the lady in the front desk what room Tsunade-sama was in. She didn't answer me; instead she just blushed and dreamily sighed. I rolled my eyes.

Doesn't she know I'm married?! I ignored her as I saw someone down the hall.

"Ino" I called out down the hall. A woman with yellow locks turned around.

"Neji?" she slowly walked up to me. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to look for Tsunade. Can you show me what room she's in? I remember Sakura telling me that you guys moved her to a new room recently" I said. I waited for her answer as she looked down on her clipboard.

"Did Shikamaru tell you about the situation you got yourself into?" she asked.

"Hn…" I said as I nodded.

"Well, I'm glad he told you. You've hurt Sakura more than you know it and to tell you the truth, she was getting tired of it. She put up with you all those years for the kids and because she loved you so much. But now, even I'm not sure how much she still loves you…that is," she paused as she looked at me in the eye. "If she still does…" My eyes widened. As I felt my blood turn cold, her words played in my head like a broken record.

I was speechless…

"I'm not even supposed to be telling you that, but I know you truly love Sakura and I know how much she means to you. I think you still have a chance to win her back before it's too late. Just think about it…" I watched as Ino walked away. "Oh and go to room 208"

XXXXXXXX

Just thinking about Sakura not loving me anymore hurt me more then her leaving me.

I entered the room Ino had told me to go, and there, I saw our fifth Hokage on her death bed, she was ninety-two and was dying. She had caught a disease that was incurable. Orochimaru had inflicted the disease to her during their last battle twenty years ago. That's right, that evil snake was gone for good. Our fifth Hokage was to die and she had named Naruto the next Hokage. Sakura was trying to heal the Hokage the best she could. She managed to stop the disease from spreading for ten years. But after those ten years passed, the disease managed to spread, but in a very slow pace. There was nothing any medic could to but watch as their Hokage's death day got closer.

"Hello Tsunade-sama…" I said as I walked up to her bed. She opened her hazel eyes and looked at me with a smile.

"Hello Neji…" she said. "Thank you for dropping by" I walked over to a seat in the corner and moved it near her bed.

I put a hand on her wrist. "Are you doing okay?" I asked. She looked at me then at the ceiling.

"Could be better…" I heard her whisper.

"I came to talk to you…' I finally said.

"What is it?" she asked softly.

"It's about Sakura…" I soon added.

"Sakura?" she softly murmured. "How is she?"

"She's doing well" I said. "She came earlier didn't she?"

"Ah" said Tsunade. "How are the kids?" she asked.

"They're doing very well. Miki finally became a jounin and is Naruto's apprentice. Sakura recently visited Yuki in Suna, and Tohru is training as an ANBU as well."

"That's wonderful news…" said Tsunade as she weakly patted my hand. It soon became quiet. Up close, her skin was very pale, yet her "youthful" face was still there.

"I forgot our anniversary as well" I aid.

"Oh?"

"Thirty years…"

"I see…"

"I'm worried about us" I finally said. Tsunade turned her head to look at me. When she spoke, her voice was soft and low.

"Neji, remember when you mom had a small memory problem when you were little? Remember would she could remember you for a while, and then all of a sudden, she'd forget you." I slowly nodded my head.

"Well, do you remember how she'd remember your father more?" she asked. I closed me eyes.

My mother was always in the hospital. My father would take me with him to visit her, but she wouldn't remember us. That was until my father took out a rusty old notebook and began to read it to my mother. It was a notebook about how he and my mother had fallen in love. Medics didn't know how it worked; how reading that notebook helped my mother gain her memory back. That was something they were never able to figure out.

"I remember…" I muttered. Tsunade looked at me straight in the eye.

"Do you know why he did that?" she asked.

I looked up at her. "My father did that because it helped my mother…" I said calmly. Tsunade smiled.

"Yes it did" she said. "But, he had also done it for himself…." She said. "Do you know why people envy their marriage?"

I thought she was referring to the days when my father would bring flowers to my mother and just showered her with affection. "No…" I said.

"The chance to fall in love with the same person all over again…" said Tsunade with a dreamy sigh. "It was like they were starting all over again. That's why I said he did it for himself as well. Every time he would read to her, it was like courting her, because sometimes, she would fall in love with your father, just like she did those years ago. It's the most wonderful feeling in the universe. I mean just think about it. How many people are given that chance? The chance to fall in love, over and over again?"

Tsunade didn't seem to be expecting an answer, so I didn't say anything.

I soon left the hospital as I though about our visit. She had given me the answers to my problem with me having to ask her directly.

I remember that it was right then that I knew what I had to do….