Disclaimer: I still don't own Naruto, so don't ask. You'll get me all emo, like Sasuke, which sucks.

A/N: I decided not to do the make-out scene. Too lazy to try and write it. Oh yeah, and if you didn't know what Kami was, it's like God. That's why they for saying, 'For Kami's sake.' Also, it may be confusing to people like myself to know what day on their vacation it is, so I'll try to keep everyone on the same day.

This chapter is very confusing because Tenten and Neji are written a day before everyone else, so they're doubled in this chapter!

Published October 8, 2006

Chapter 7 - Collapsed

(From now on, italicized words in '' marks are Inner-self characters. Example: 'I'm Inner Sakura! Cha!')

Yesterday morning, 8:29 A.M, in room 1000, Neji and Tenten's room.

'Was I dreaming?' Neji asked himself. 'Nope. Yesterday really happened; that's why you're sleeping on the sofa.' 'Yes, now I remember. I wanted to go to sleep, but didn't want to bother Tenten, so I fell asleep on the sofa.'

The bedroom door opened. "Oh, Neji, you're awake! Good morning! Sorry you had to sleep on the couch yesterday. I fell asleep." Tenten said.

"Good morning. It's okay. What are you doing?" Neji asked, looking at Tenten. She looked like she was going out.

"I was going to eat some breakfast; then find Hinata, Ino, Sakura, and Temari. You want to eat breakfast with me?" 'You flirt!' 'I'm just being nice!'

"Hn." Neji nodded. He got up from the sofa, quickly washed up, and went to the cafeteria with Tenten.

They took the elevator down to the third floor and went into the cafeteria. (A/N: They shall eat cereal like everyone else! Mwahaha!) Neji and Tenten ate their delicious cereal. It was silent, except for crunches of cereal and other guests chatting.

Tenten decided to start a conversation. "So, Neji…ummm…"

"Do you remember last night?" Neji asked flatly. He thought Tenten was trying to talk about last night as well. This would be easier for the both of them.

"Um…yeah, I do." Tenten felt awkward. "It's kind of strange though, you know, yesterday. I'm not really sure if what happened actually happened."

"Yeah. I don't remember too well either." 'Liar. You remember it all. It was all real!' "I take that back. I remember it all. You asked a question yesterday night. I answered yes."

'He does remember!' "Yeah, that's what happened. So, do you know what that means?"

"Things like this aren't familiar to me." Neji was a little embarrassed to not know this kind of stuff.

"Well, you said you wanted to be my boyfriend and that I was your girlfriend. This is a very special relationship. I've never had a boyfriend before, and I'm sure you've never had a girlfriend." Tenten defined.

"You sound like you're stalling. I already know all that." Neji stated.

"Here." Tenten took out a small book from her pocket, about the size of a cell phone. She was prepared for this moment if Neji ever asked. "This book will tell you all about what girlfriends and boyfriends do. There's a lot of info in there."

"Have you read it already?" Neji started to read the book, quickly, the genius he was.

"I've skimmed it." 'Liar! You read it like 100 times and couldn't stop rereading it! You memorized the whole book to the punctuation!' 'Shut up!' Tenten finished all her leftover milk in her bowl and took Neji's already finished bowl.

Neji stopped Tenten before she could stand up. "I'll take the bowls. You can go." He already skimmed through the beginning chapters, etiquette.

"I guess you didn't read the girl's party. I'll wait for you." Tenten giggled a little. 'He's actually reading it!'

Neji put away the dishes and the couple walked toward the elevator. "The beginning chapters are on etiquette. Etiquette in dating is to be a gentleman. I already know what to do. I learned it when I was younger." Neji opened up the book and started to read more chapters. It was amazing he could read such small print.


Yesterday at 1:22 P.M.

Temari left her room and was about to tell her friends about Shikamaru. Then she stopped and put her back against her room door. 'I can't tell them about Shikamaru. They are my friends, but…I just can't. Things might change, maybe for the worse.'

Temari slid down and was sitting, back still on the wall. 'I don't want things to change. They're my friends, but they wouldn't understand. They'd just get in the way.'

Temari wasn't the type to share her feelings, even to her closest friends. She wasn't even sure Sakura, Ino, Tenten, and Hinata were really her best friends. They seemed like they were sisters separated at birth, but it was only because Temari was smart enough to know how they acted and copied them. It was a technique she used many times to many people. Temari would question herself on her true friends. 'My life is sad. I don't even have a true friend. There's always Shikamaru though.'

Temari got up from thinking and decided to search around the hotel to do something. She took the elevator up and down many random floors. She saw Sakura, Naruto, Chouji, and Ino around the hotel, not together though. She didn't bother to say hi. Temari browsed around the hotel for what seemed like centuries, which was actually two hours. It was a pretty big hotel. She could memorize this hotel inside and out perfectly by that time, but she was distracted by thoughts in her head. 'They are my friends, yet they aren't. They know me, yet they don't know anything about me. Have I been living a lie; or just doing what's for the best?' Temari sighed out loud. 'This is a time where I must say…this is troublesome.'


Today, on the first floor/lobby, there's a room with brochures and pamphlets for tourists to see and read. There were also sofas, big chairs, and coffee tables. Sakura was sitting on one of the chairs, staring off into space. Time: 1:23 P.M.

"Hey Tenten!" Sakura smiled. "What are you so happy about?"

"I'm glad I found you! I got great news!" Tenten cheered. She breathed for a couple of seconds to calm down from her excitement. "Two nights ago…Neji…well…he…I…"

"Spit it out already!" Sakura was in anticipation.

"Neji kissed me!" Tenten blurted out. Then she smiled, reminiscing the night.

"That's it? That's nothing. It was obvious you two were going to end up together. You always flirt around him and wear your low-cut shirts and short skirts. It was bound to happen sometime." Sakura pointed out as if it were totally obvious.

"Really?" Tenten put a finger on her chin and thought. "I guess you're right. But still, it's pretty exciting now that it's 'official'." Tenten made quotation marks with her fingers when she said official. "Oh yeah! Yesterday he ate breakfast and lunch with me. He was reading a book I gave him about couples. You know…dos and don'ts. He is so much sweeter once he knows what he's doing and what he's supposed to do."

"Did you tell anyone else yet?" Sakura asked, trying to get in a conversation.

"Nope. You were the first one I saw. I'll tell Hinata and Ino when I see them."

"M'kay." Sakura looked at the clock. '1:26. Hmm…' "I have to go now, Tenten! I'm going on a walk around the hotel with Naruto."

"Since when did you start planning walks with Naruto? Are you guys going out already? You didn't tell me? Sakura!" Tenten joked and laughed. She loved asking so many questions quickly before Sakura could answer. "Seriously though, did you ask him on a date yet?"

"Why?" Sakura was confused. 'You know why! You like him. Nice job, Sakura. You made it so obvious to everyone!' 'No I didn't! You're me too you know! I don't like him.' 'I'm not the one who does the actions. Don't lie. I'm your inner-self, you know, the one that knows your feelings. I know what I'm talking about here! Just tell Tenten already!' "Not yet. I wasn't even sure if I really liked him. I guess I do. Is it really that obvious?"

"No. I just know love when I see it." Tenten smiled. Then she got an idea. "You should go ask him on a date. Then we could double!"

Sakura grinned. "That would be nice to double. I guess I'll ask him today. I'm still not sure if I really should though."

"Think about it. Other than Rock Lee, Naruto is the one guy who would do anything for you. He's always liked you and has always been very close to you."

"Then why shouldn't I go out with Lee? He'd die for me."

Tenten started to whisper and cupped her hand to the side of her mouth so no one could read her lips. "Well, don't tell anyone I said this but…I saw Lee with this girl a couple months ago. She had brown eyes, long purple hair, she was about two inches shorter than Lee, a year younger than Lee, and seemed to laugh and smile a lot. She's a Chuunin. I went on a mission with her once. She's really nice. They look great together."

Sakura looked slightly disappointed. "Oh..." She thought Lee was still flirting with her. "What's her name?"

"Umeko Matsu." Tenten giggled. "What a coincidence that your name means Cherry Blossom and her name means Plum Blossom." (A/N: Umeko's bio at immortalfrend704. deviantart. com) Sakura giggled, but sounded fake. "Well, I guess I have to go now. Bye, Tenten! See you later!"

"Bye Sakura!" Tenten waved as Sakura turned a corner and was out of sight. 'Interesting. It almost seemed like Sakura was sad that Lee had a girlfriend.' 'Well of course she's sad! Why wouldn't she be! One out of the two guys that love her and would do anything for her has a girlfriend! I'd be sad too!' 'Well sorry!' Tenten said to her inner-self sarcastically. 'Did you notice that Lee likes girls with 'unique' hair colors?' 'Yeah. That's what makes Lee, Lee.'


'What the…?' Shikamaru sighed. 'How troublesome.' 'Don't say that. You know you wanted something like this.' His inner-self snickered. 'Whatever.' It was too troublesome for Shikamaru to argue with himself.

Temari had slept-walk yet again. Again, she ended up in Shikamaru's bed. One hand was behind part of her head, as a pillow. Her head and other hand were on Shikamaru's chest. She looked calm and peaceful, totally different from her usual fierce and fiery self.

'Troublesome woman.' 'Smart troublesome woman. She knew she would sleepwalk and that she would end up in your bed. Devious; she's a keeper; I approve!' 'Sometimes I wonder if you're really my brain…' 'Me too. You can be so naïve sometimes.' 'Very funny.' Shikamaru thought sarcastically. 'I can't sleep like this.' Shikamaru decided to push Temari off himself. Unfortunately, Shikamaru pushed too hard and Temari ended up falling on the floor.

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR!" Temari shouted.

"Uh…oops?"

"You're gonna pay, Shikamaru!" Temari shouted again. She took out a medium-sized metal fan, different from her usual fan, which she brought along on the trip, and bonked Shikamaru on the head. Shikamaru was knocked out, unconscious. "Never wake me up when I'm having a good dream, baka." Temari muttered. She put her fan away and decided to wash up and eat something.


"Chouji! Over here!" Ino waved to get Chouji's attention.

Chouji ran over to Ino. "Hey, Ino! So where are we going?"

"I thought we could walk around the activity floors, and then go to the garden. I read that they have very beautiful flowers. Does that sound good?" Ino suggested.

"Yeah, sure."

"Great! Let's get to the elevator."

They went to several different floors. One floor was like a mini-mall, one was like a farmer's market, another was a sports arena, etc. Then they ended up at the garden in the back of the hotel. There were many rows of different flowers, divided by age, all in a garden. The flowers somehow fit together, blending one flower hue to another.

Ino walked into a row with a sign reading, 'You may pick the flowers in this row.' "Wow…these are very well-grown flowers. They seem to be at the perfect age to pick." Ino decided to pick a red rose, grown to its fullest. Ino estimated its petals would start falling two days from now. "You remember what a red rose means, right, Chouji?" Ino sniffed the rose deeply.

"It means love, right?" Chouji scratched the back of his head. It was a little awkward to talk about love with a girl, especially a flirter like Ino.

"Yeah. You remembered." Ino smiled sincerely. "I remember when we were 16, us Rookie Nine, Team Gai, and Team Sand had a party. It was at the Subaku no's huge mansion." Ino let out a happy sigh, and then she giggled. "I remember you, Kiba, and Kankuro each gave me a red rose. You didn't even plan it either, being the great friends you are."

"Yeah, what a coincidence, huh?" Chouji scratched the back of his head again. 'Does she know that we all liked Ino, and coincidently chose to make a move at the same time?'

"Anyways, it was just a fun memory." Ino giggled again. "I wonder if Shikamaru asked Temari out yet. That's when Temari started to seriously flirt with Shikamaru."

"I don't think so. I know Shikamaru and he wouldn't want to go on a date. Temari will probably somehow get Shikamaru to do it though. She can be scary sometimes." Chouji tried to make a joke. Then Ino and Chouji walked over to a nearby bench and looked at various flowers.

Ino got the joke. She giggled again. "Yeah, Temari is very, uh, persuasive, I guess." Ino thought of another memory and giggled yet again. "I remember Temari went out with Shikamaru and me on a double-blind-date. She's very persuasive indeed." Soon after talking more about memories, there was silence.

"So…" Ino tried to get a conversation going. "…how's your girlfriend?" she asked, regretting it right after.

"Huh? Girlfriend?" Chouji asked. "I haven't had a girlfriend in a while. My last girlfriend was a year ago."

"Really? Oh…I would think being the great guy you are you'd have hundreds of fangirls all over you." 'He really doesn't have a girlfriend?' 'Now's your chance to ask him out! You better take it now, before it's too late!' 'I think you're right.'

"There are fangirls, but none that would be my girlfriend. They're not my type. How about you and your boyfriend? You've probably gone through a million by now." Chouji started to laugh.

"I don't change boyfriends that much…Well, okay, I'm pretty bad when it comes to long relationships, but recently, I haven't had a boyfriend. Haven't had one in…3 months. I don't plan on having another one soon. Most guys don't care about my personality. It's hard to find the perfect man." Ino sighed. "I've dated enough guys to know if he's the right one for me." 'Chouji's the right one, so ask him now before it's too late! Ask now! If you don't, I'll have to take drastic measures!' 'Like what?' Ino challenged herself. 'I'm your brain; use your imagination.' 'Be that way.' "Hey, Chouji?"

"Yeah, Ino?"

"Would you…umm…well…would you…" 'Spit it out already!' "Would you like to go out to dinner with me tonight? You know, like, on a date?"

"Really? You want to go out on a date with me?" Chouji was ecstatic.

"Yeah, you know, we've been best friends for a really long time. We know each other inside and out. We might as well try, right?" Ino didn't want to sound too forward.

"Yeah, okay. So whe-" Chouji stopped from finishing his sentence when he saw Sakura and Naruto walking through the garden. "Is that Naruto and Sakura?"

"What?" Ino got a better look at the two. "Oh my gosh, it is! Are they, are they holding hands?" Ino paused for a moment to see more. "They're blushing like crazy."

"Wow. Who would have thought?" Chouji was in shock.

"You're telling me." Ino agreed.


"Glad to see your not dead, genius." Temari said sarcastically. She was drinking soda and watching TV.

"Yeah, yeah." Shikamaru lazily said, rubbing the top of his, now bruised, head. "Why'd you have to hit me with your fan?"

"You're the one who pushed me off my bed!"

"Your bed? You were on my bed, troublesome woman. I just pushed you off so I could breathe!"

"I was in your bed?" Temari put her index finger on her lip, pretending to think. Then she grinned. "Oops." She was being sarcastic.

"Troublesome woman." Shikamaru went to the couch and plopped down next to Temari.

"Humph…" Temari crossed her arms. Then after 30 seconds, she stood up. "I'm going to the gym." She stated.

"Why?" Right after asking, Shikamaru regret asking that question.

"I still need to train, you know. I can't just slack off. We're still shinobi." Temari stated as-a-matter-of-factly like Shikamaru was stupid.

"I was just asking. I didn't need an answer. It was rhetorical." Shikamaru stated back.

"Whatever."

"Hn."

"Humph. Crybaby."

"Troublesome woman."

"Genius."

"Fangirl."

Temari started laughed slightly. Then she rethought it in her head and laughed harder. "Which definition of fangirl do you mean? I'm a girl who's obsessed and chases you, or a girl who has a big-ass fan that can kick your ass?" Temari said while laughing at the same time.

Shikamaru could just barely make out what she just said. "Both."

Temari slowly started to get herself centered again. "You really are a genius." She put her hands on her hips. "Well, see ya!"

"Hn."


"Sakura-chan!" Naruto waved his hands in the air like he was directing an aircraft.

'Same old Naruto.' "Hey Naruto!" Sakura waved, not as energetically, back to Naruto.

"What took you so long, Sakura-chan?"

"Sorry, I lost track of time. I was talking to Tenten."

"No problem, Sakura. So, where are we going to go?"

"Let's just browse around the whole hotel. I was looking out the window in Temari's room when we had our dinner meeting two nights ago. I saw a beautiful garden. It had arches and many rows and columns. I looked at the map this morning and I saw that it was open today. We have to see that! It looked so romantic."

"Whatever you want, Sakura-chan!" Naruto grinned.

"Thanks, Naruto!" Sakura smiled.

The two ninjas went to all the levels that weren't rooms. They were amazed at how many different activities there were in one hotel.

'No wonder this hotel is best in Japan.' Sakura thought as they were walking.

More walking, yada, yada. Not very important. Now they take the elevator to the garden.

"Wow! It's even prettier in-person." Sakura spoke.

"Yeah! It's wonderful!" Naruto added.

Sakura went into an aisle and giggled at the sight of a cherry blossom perfectly bloomed. Then she saw in her sight, a plum blossom. 'Umeko Matsu.' Sakura thought. 'I hope you're happy Lee.' Sakura said genuinely, not angrily or sadly, just genuinely.

"Hey, Naruto! Come over here!" Sakura shouted out to Naruto who was picking a flower.

"Here, Sakura-chan!" Naruto gave Sakura a pink rose. "I remember I wanted to give you a pink rose for your hair. Ino told me that pink roses mean 'perfect happiness'. I wish you perfect happiness Sakura-chan!" Naruto grinned widely.

"Here." Sakura picked out an orange blossom next to the cherry and plum blossom. "I know you like orange a lot. An orange blossom means eternal love." Sakura smiled and saw Naruto smile back. Sakura took Naruto's free hand and held it in her free hand. 'What are you doing?' 'I'm making a move. You have to be aggressive. Naruto is blind when it comes to flirting. I'm just helping you. You should be thanking me!' 'Oka- Oh my gosh! Is that who I think it is sitting on the bench!' 'It's Ino! Oh my gosh! I'm not even sure if this is good or bad.' 'If you're not sure, I'm definitely not sure! Wait, I've got an idea.' Sakura had a plan. "Hey, Naruto, wanna have some fun?"

"Sure."

"Come on!" Sakura took Naruto by the hand and ran through some of the columns of flowers. She didn't know that she was holding Naruto's hand. It was her subconscious mind that had her grab his hand. Her subconscious was controlled by her inner-self.

'Sakura-chan's holding my hand, dattebeyo!' Naruto grinned. 'I guess Jiraiya's books are of good use after all!' Before he knew it, Sakura suddenly stopped, which made Naruto bump into Sakura.

"Why'd you st-" Naruto couldn't finish his sentence. Sakura put her hand over Naruto's mouth and jumped under a bush. When Sakura took her hand off Naruto's mouth, he started to speak. "What are yo-"

"Shhh!" Sakura pointed to the person a couple of feet from their bush. "Ino and Chouji are right there."

"So what?" Naruto asked. He didn't think there was anything wrong going on.

"Well…uh…" 'Naruto's right. So what? Ino and I are friends, somewhat. Sometimes I forget we're best friends. Yeah, so what? It doesn't matter that I'm with Naruto!' "Let's go, Naruto." Naruto didn't really have a choice. Sakura took Naruto's wrist and they jumped out of the bush.

"Sup, Chouji! Sup, Ino!" Naruto waved and grinned.

"Hey, Ino! Hey, Chouji!" Sakura also waved.

"Hey you two." Ino and Chouji replied at the same time.

"I thought I saw you two walking together. Are you two on a date?" Ino asked.

"N-" Naruto was about to say no, but Sakura interrupted. "Yeah, we are. Well it's kind of a short date. What about you two?"

"Sakura-chan?" Naruto quietly said, confused.

"Oh we're not on a date. We're just looking around. But we are going out to dinner, as a date. You guys want to double?" Ino asked, wanting the answer to be 'yes'.

"Umm…Naruto? You okay with a double?" Sakura asked.

"Sure!"


Temari spent about an hour in the gym, playing tennis with herself, pilates, lifting weights, some treadmill jogging, yoga, and lots of other stuff. She was working out hard.

"Huh?" Temari stared at the figure in front of her while drinking some water. "What are you doing here?"

"I was bored. Looks like you didn't do anything."

"What! I spent an hour doing random sports and exercises. It's definitely not taijutsu, but it's better than you. You haven't done anything at all."

Unless you call, coming down her to see me, training."

"I do."

"That's what I thought. So, do you have any energy left to play a little one-on-one?"

"Basketball?"

"Yup. Of course, you may have gotten taller, but, I'll still beat you." Temari smirked.

"We'll see about that."

"You're going down, Shikamaru."


A/N: In the beginning, Temari was a bit OOC, but it was the only way to fit what I wanted into the story. Continuation is in the next chapter. Next chapter will be out next week, no sooner!

Song: Sadly, it's another Aly & A.J. song. It just happens to coincidently fit. The song's Collapsed by Aly & A.J. Collapsed is a song about having someone who'd always be by your side, but you never knew until it was too late and you separated. Then not letting anyone else have your love, and being confused about who'll be the right one. At least, that's what I think.