Ch. 10

It's the End

(Not Really)

Sakura was having an awkward staring contest between Sasuke, Naruto, and each Anbu member surrounding her bed. Sakura coughed awkwardly not sure there was any place she could look in the room without having an awkward staring contest with someone.

Then it got worse. Her friends burst in through the door (Shikamaru, Ino, Choji, Neji, Hinata, Lee, Gai, and Tenten) demanding they hear everything she has to say too. They took their places behind the Anbu sitting around Sakura.

Sakura bit her fingernail not sure what to expect from her friends.

Sakura looked to her left; Naruto raised his eyebrow. This is horrible. No wait.

Sakura looked to her right; Sasuke glared mentally at her telling her to 'spill the beans.' This is fucking fantastic.

That's the spirit girly! Her inner chided happily.

I was being fucking SARCASTIC! Sakura screamed angrily. I don't want to tell them! What if…what if they-

"Sakura, how would you like to start this?" Kakashi asked, rolling his eye while crossing his arms. Each person sat in a chair, in a horse-shoe formation around her hospital bed (except for Naruto and Sasuke sitting next to her); kind of like trapping her on the bed.

"Not at all," Sakura whispered quietly to Kakashi's question. Naruto cleared his throat crossing his arms. Tsunade harrumphed at her response as well, while some of the Anbu fidgeted in their seats.

"Is it really so bad to tell us, Sakura?" Ino asked nervously cocking her head in question. She then looked at Shikamaru who seemed to be contemplating something.

Sakura sighed closing her eyes tightly. "How secure is this room exactly?" Sakura asked crossing her arms.

Each Anbu looked at each other, Sakura cracked open her eye to see their reaction, before the Anbu with the tiger mask nodded his head.

"Very secure" he said gruffly.

"Well Sakura?" Naruto asked impatiently.

"Hold on a sec!" Sakura said putting two of her fingers against her temple at the still oncoming head ache.

Should I tell them my story or lie saying the room isn't secure? Sakura thought confused. She knew everyone was looking at her and were awaiting some kind of answer.

Well they would check the entire perimeter and then know you were lying and then you'd be back here at square one. Just tell them. Get it over with. You might as well know what they have to say before assuming anything.

Sakura sighed in agreement knowing she'd probably end up in this predicament one way or another.

"What do you want to know?" Sakura asked quietly.

"Why don't you start from the beginning, Sakura?" Tenten suggested shrugging her shoulders. "It'd be easiest right?" She looked at Neji for conformation who suddenly rested his hand on top of hers.

Sakura groaned in frustration, "It's also the longest."

"We have time, and aren't going anywhere until you tell us" Sasuke said boldly grabbing Sakura gently by the wrist.

"It's still really complicated…" Sakura really didn't feel like telling them her life story at the moment but knew she didn't exactly have options to choose from for this situation.

"We'll ask questions once you're done talking, okay?" Naruto said quietly, touching her shoulder. Sakura didn't think there were very many moments where Naruto was so serious.

Tsunade gave her a reassuring smile while Kakashi nodded his head smiling as well (even though it was covered by his mask) which she could tell by the twinkle in his eye.

"Okay…" Sakura said bashfully before beginning her story –rather vaguely I might add.

She started explaining from her earliest memory of being in the courtyard (not explaining how her parents died even though everyone knew she had already skipped telling them an important detail). She then explained how no one could get into her mind and whispered so quietly about what the Sharingan couldn't do to her; this caused everyone to lean in and both Kakashi and Sasuke to immediately hold their tongues wanting to ask so many questions about how that could work. Sakura then continued on saying how her memories then returned (from the Harunos) and that she had been banished permanently from the Haruno clan.

The most difficult part to explain to them was the power she had and the thing inside her head; that the power could only be released from the curse mark on her back. She then explained that for the past few months she had been training in order to go up against the Phoenix Kings; but was extremely vague on what exactly she had been learning and why she specifically needed to go up against those men.

Sakura took a deep breath while everyone tried to let the new information sink in –even though it was extremely vague and left more questions than answers. Then everyone exploded with questions not sure what to ask first.

"How does this power work?"

"How good is your control?"

"Can we see this 'thing' inside your head?"

"How do you know information about the Phoenix Kings?"

"Why didn't you tell us before?"

"Can you explain what your curse mark means and how it came to be there?"

"Is there a reason as to why the vine thing with thorns was wrapped around your curse mark?"

"I don't understand how the Sharingan doesn't affect you?"

"Does it always cause you so much pain?"

"Didn't you trust us with your secret?"

"Umm" Sakura was overwhelmed with questions but tried her best to explain. While everyone was still firing questions at her Sasuke slid his hand from her wrist and into her hand intertwining his fingers with hers. Sakura looked at him questionably (nobody seemed to notice the motion –or didn't care). Sasuke gave her a look that she didn't understand. There was some kind of gleam….maybe it was a glint? But she had never really noticed it till now and couldn't understand what it meant; right now though there were more important things to attend to then trying to decode Sasuke's emotions.

"Listen guys…"Sakura said quietly raising her hand to stop them from speaking. "I've told you my story and now I'm extremely tired and getting a headache."

"But Sakura-chan!" Naruto burst out surprised. Sakura smacked the back of his head causing him to make a loud 'ow' sound before she continued.

"I will answer one of your questions and then I am going to sleep." Everyone was about to argue with her that they would need all of their questions answered but Sakura stopped them again.

"I will answer more tomorrow so don't get your panties in a knot." Sakura said rubbing her temple again for the ump-teenth time that night. Everyone sighed and then discussed with each other on what question they would like to ask first.

Sasuke and Sakura were awkwardly looking at each other –Sasuke refusing to let her hand go- while Sakura just rolled her eyes trying to figure out what kind of emotion he was portraying at the moment.

I told you so! They were going to except you no matter what because you are their friend! Her inner smile happily.

Shut up! You were pessimistic the entire time about them excepting me or not.

Was not! Her inner stuck her tongue out at the girl but smiled mischievously. Sakura didn't even want to know what that look was for but everyone was still arguing about what question to ask.

"Sakura…how did your parents die?" This question came from Sasuke who asked it so quietly that only Naruto and Kakashi had heard him. Tsunade was still finagling with each Anbu member telling them to hurry up and pick a question already. Right now they were deciding between how she knew about the Phoenix Kings, how her curse mark can be controlled, and how it came to be there.

Sakura looked up nervously at Sasuke, a slight tint to her cheeks. He squeezed her hand gently in comfort. Sakura gave him a sad smile while Naruto gave her a reassuring smile in return. Kakashi ruffled her hair causing Sakura to pout and slap his hand away, causing him to chuckle softly.

I didn't really expect Sasuke to ask me that. I was kind of thinking that Sasuke and Kakashi were going to ask me a question about the Sharingan.

Well he is learning so much about you in one night –not to mention that this makes you two have more in common than anyone else. Besides he was already in love with you and now can't bear to let you go again.

He is not in love with me! Sakura said before noticing his hand still encased hers and tried not to let a blush escape through her cheeks.

Sasuke cocked his head in question, waiting for her to answer.

"Oh…well…it's not that interesting really" Sakura said moving a piece of hair behind her ear. Kakashi cleared his throat looking down at the girl tapping his foot impatiently.

Sakura laughed nervously "Umm…well" Sakura cleared her throat before speaking unbearably fast, embarrassed; she couldn't lie to them, not now. "They beheaded themselves because they couldn't stand the shame of having bared me and told me so before they killed themselves. The elder then assigned me a fake mother so we wouldn't be suspicious in the leaf village –who was assigned to me because she committed some kind of crime I think- and then left once Tsunade became my sensei and…yeah" Sakura said scratching the back of her neck.

If her friends looked shocked before it didn't compare now. "Oh come on guys don't look like that. Your faces might freeze that way." Sakura gently pushed Sasuke's gaped mouth up, to close it, causing him to blush slightly.

"Now if you don't mind I'm going to sleep for a while." She then quickly pushed Naruto and Sasuke off the bed (still apparently surprised) and both fell on their faces with silent 'ows.' She then rolled on her side letting out a sigh. Everyone mumbled a goodbye and slowly made their way out of the room.

The Anbu and their group of friends left quite grumpily considering they weren't able to ask their question first.

"We are talking some more tomorrow whether you like it or not." Tsunade said quietly before walking out of the room, Kakashi right behind her.

Naruto looked at Sasuke before patting him on the shoulder giving his own silent goodbye.

Sasuke looked down at the girl before him whom he cared about more than anyone. He loved everything about her. Her hair, eyes, body, intellect, attitude, forgiving nature, care for others, ideas, and so much more. He loved absolutely everything about her. Even if she hated him, even if she never wanted to see, speak, or hear of him again, he would always love her. I guess he was just stubborn that way.

Even though I'm stubborn, that just means I'll never let you go. Sasuke smirked at the idea wondering what the pink-headed girl would say to that.

"This means we'll be hanging out a lot more" Sasuke whispered into her ear. He then kissed her gently behind the ear, smoothing out her hair.

Sasuke then left the room as well, while Sakura lay on the bed blushing like a crazy lady.

And you said he didn't love you! He freakin' kissed you! Her inner was currently jumping in the air knowing Sasuke was definitely the cure for Sakura's unhappiness.

I-It doesn't mean anything! It's just a phase…nothing more! He's probably just doing it because he feels obligated for all the times he tried to kill me when we were younger. With that thought rattling around in her head, Sakura became saddened at the most logical reasoning behind his actions and let a single tear escape her.

God damn it! I thought I was done crying over him! Sakura thought angrily He is just adding to my already growing list of problems.

Don't be such a sour puss! Why can't you just accept his love for you?

What happens if I die? If he dies!? Neither of us –well mostly me I'm sure- will be able to take the pain if either of us die! And why? Because if either of us get too close to each other, then it will just increase the heartache if either of us die. And I don't think my heart can take it if he fell in love with someone else, truthfully speaking…but I just can't believe that he actually (after all these years) could love me.

Then fight to protect him. Fight to protect all of them. If you do …you can even save yourself. And if you don't have the ability for some reason…they will definitely save you. More specifically, he will. Because he loves you. Besides! If you win then you can figure out the 'thing' you and Sasuke have without any bad guys getting in the way. Her inner said with finality and meaning.

But Sakura wasn't stupid…she just didn't want to be hurt. She knew that from the bottom of her heart, and the deepest part of her mind, that there was something between her and Sasuke. She knew this but was very afraid to go after it.

Shut up. I'm going to sleep because there will be a lot of explaining I have to do tomorrow. Sakura snuggled into her pillow before smiling that her friends had actually accepted her (but was still nervous at what the elders of the village would do to her considering Tsunade had to tell them).

She then felt sleep sting her eyes, and she slowly closed them letting sleep over take her tired form.

Outside

"I'm such an idiot, Hatake!" Tsunade growled at herself. "I should have trusted her more but I was just cruel and gave her the cold shoulder."

"We all should have trusted her and realized that she wouldn't be hiding something from us if it wasn't important or probable." Kakashi said quietly. Both of them knew that it was mere luck that Sakura had told them anything at all.

In fact, they weren't even sure what they would have done if she told them that she wouldn't be telling them anything.

"I just hope the elders won't take what I have to tell them, the wrong way." Tsunade said, contemplating.

"You're telling me. If this is another fiasco like it was with Naruto, every single person in that group are seriously going to kill someone." Kakashi said chuckling, knowing full well that Tsunade agreed with him who was now smirking at the idea.

"We'll just have to wait a day or two to find that out…but I'd really like to apologize to her first." Tsunade said sadly knowing she hurt her pupil.

"She'll probably just wave it off knowing that you had good reasoning for the way you were reacting. That's just her nature. She just forgives those she cares about like it's nothing at all." Kakashi said smiling.

Tsunade smiled back at him as they both walked back in silence towards the Hokage tower.

"Oh crap! I'm late! Iruka's going to kill me!" Kakashi said running off from Tsunade leaving her to her own thoughts.

"Good luck with your relationship Kakashi. It's very hard to get people to except that kind of thing." Tsunade said under her breath. She then looked up to the sky, her mind wandering off to the dead love-of-her-life (even though she beat the shit out of him a lot for being a pervert) Jiraiya. She sighed, ready to take the longest sleep ever.

Kakashi skidded to their apartment door, quite in a hurry. Strangely enough, it opened right before he was about to break it in (I'm pretty sure the door knew that if it didn't open itself up that it would have been broken by the rushed owner it had).

"I'm home. Sorry I'm late!" Kakashi hated it when Iruka was mad at him for his tardiness so he tried to never be late for him; only for him of course.

Kakashi went to the kitchen smelling something tasty only to find his Iruka cooking a small meal for them.

"How did it go?" Iruka asked quietly. Kakashi snaked his arms around his lovers waist sighing.

"As best as we could hope." Kakashi said.

"Let's talk about it over dinner okay?" Iruka said with a smile plastered on his face. He then handed a stuttering Kakashi a plate of food before heading for his seat at the table. Kakashi then smiled and kissed his love on the cheek before digging into his own plate; explaining everything that had happened and what Sakura had said.

"Do you think everything will be alright for Sakura, Neji?" Tenten looked upset at Neji who looked down at her carefully.

"Everything will happen, because that's how it's supposed to happen" Neji said as cryptic as ever. Tenten rolled her eyes at the familiar monotone responses Neji always gave her.

She looked over at him under her lashes to see him just as straight as a board walking down the empty street with her. For some reason he had always walked her to her apartment. She had thought it was a gentlemen thing that Hyuugas did, but soon after realized that he did it with no other girls that had walked with them before.

She giggled at the thought causing Neji to look at her raising an eyebrow. Tenten knew this was 'Neji talk' for –what are you thinking about. She waved her hand in a 'don't worry about it motion' before they continued to walk on. They were almost to her house and Tenten reviewed what he normally did with her.

He would take her up to the door of her apartment. Nod without a word. And then walk away. This was their normal routine, but decided to make it more interesting.

She 'accidently' tripped causing Neji to become startled at her sudden motion and pulled her up against him confused. She giggled silently again liking this knew routine a lot more before she saw a tiny…very tiny glint of worry in his eyes.

"I was just thinking and I guess I wasn't looking where I was going" she said casually with a small smile on her face. Neji rolled his eyes releasing the grip he had on her.

I really liked him holding me like that Tenten thought sadly. Suddenly she felt Neji grip her hand and she looked down surprised and then up at him in question.

"So you don't fall again since you're thinking" Neji said casually, continuing there walk. Tenten wanted to jump up and down at the further success she was creating in their relationship.

They finally ended up at her apartment and Neji reluctantly let go of her hand.

"Thanks for walking me home Neji" Tenten smiled happily at him. He cocked his head in question as to why she was thanking him considering he always did this for her.

This might be pushing it by I'm going to go for it! Tenten thought nervously. She then quickly kissed him chastely on the cheek before saying goodbye. Before closing the door she happened to notice a small blush adorning his cheeks.

Neji was now walking home, hand on his cheek with the smallest of smiles on his face.

"You really don't have to Naruto" Hinata quietly whispered. Naruto and Hinata were currently holding hands while Naruto was taking her home.

"I don't mind at all Hinata! Besides at least I have more guts to tell the person I like that I actually like them." Hinata knew Naruto was referring to Neji but smiled anyway. Hinata has never seen any girl affect Neji like Tenten did.

Hinata giggled. "I don't mind helping you get your mind off of Sakura-san for a while." Hinata knew that Naruto was clearly avoiding the subject but wanted him to know that she was there to help him.

Naruto looked kindly at the girl next to him tightening his grip on her hand "Thank you Hinata-chan." Naruto then kissed Hinata gently on the lips who had returned the kiss as well. She, however, was bright red while Naruto was blabbing about something else entirely.

Neji just happened to notice their actions before turning into the house, unnoticed by them.

Perhaps one day Tenten and I will be able to become that close to each other in public Neji thought before turning in to bed that evening as well.

"Come on Shika! What were you thinking about! I wanna' KNOW!" Ino was currently pouting at the boy next to her, hands in his pockets.

He just smiled saying once again he wasn't thinking about anything in particular. He could hear slight mumbling from the girl next to him which he was pretty sure were crude words towards him.

They had finally arrived at her apartment. "Ino," Shikamaru said directly towards the girl.

"Yes, Shikamaru!?" Ino said excitedly thinking Shikamaru was going to tell her what he was thinking.

"Good night" Shikamaru said before smiling at the shocked and angered look on Ino's face. He tried very hard to not laugh but was failing miserably.

Ino noticed this and thought of a brilliantly evil plan.

"Hey Shika" Ino whispered into the chuckling boy's ear as breathy as she could. This stopped his chuckling immediately, she noticed. She then placed her cheek against his breathing into his ear hotly once more. "Are you sure there is no way you're going to tell me what you're thinking?" She said so quietly.

The said boy was blushing lightly not sure what to do. There was no time at all for him to analyze the situation.

"Please tell me" she whispered against his lips peering into his eyes knowing full well that her eyelids were half way down as is. She was trying her absolute best to look cute and sexy at the same time. However she noticed that Shikamaru gave no reply, nor budged for an instant.

Ino got the wrong idea immediately thinking that she had actually ruined something between them. She gave him a sad smile before kissing him gently on the corner of his mouth.

"I'm sorry…thank you for walking me home" Ino said gently before closing her door quietly.

Shikamaru was probably standing there for a good five minutes before the realization hit him that he did absolutely nothing the entire time.

"Idiot" Shikamaru whispered to himself angrily walking home.

God I'm such an idiot! Ino replied to herself angrily letting the hot tears stream down her face. I knew I'd ruin the friendship we had if I tried anything! She was currently holding her stuffed teddy bear Shikamaru had won for her many years ago, as tightly as she could.

Sasuke looked up at the starry night sky above him smiling slightly as he saw a shooting star pass by. He knew exactly what he wished for and only let one word escape from his mouth "Love." He whispered so gently into the night air.

Things are always in constant motion. An ending can always become a beginning and a beginning can always become an ending. That is one thing I've learned from you Sakura. But tomorrow is a new day and definitely a new beginning for us.

Well guys I wanted to add some other character plots into the story (even though they are rather short) but I wanted to give you guys some other ideas of what other characters are going through. The next chapter will be full of something interesting I promise! Maybe even another chapter of utter chaos. Probably…any who stay tuned, review, and have a nice day!