Up Until Now
Chapter 12
The Rat in the Rain
Having a girlfriend was …different.
Following three days after Sakura's birthday, she and Sasuke had called it official. They were now dating and a couple. At first, Sasuke wasn't too sure how this would affect his day to day life. Sure, he'd won Sakura over and she was now finally his, but the thought of a committed relationship was truly unfamiliar to the likes of him.
He temporarily feared that Sakura would revert back to her love struck clingy high pitched voice adoration of him. To his immense surprise, she was unbelievably accommodating. A few days after sealing the deal on their relationship status, he dared to inquire her about his suspicion and she merely replied that she had no idea what he was talking about. Confused, but nonetheless still pleased that he did not have an overly attached girlfriend, he dropped the subject.
Seeing as the class of no 7 were now joining tables at lunch, Sasuke took it upon himself to survey the other couples at the table – he'd concluded that he really did get the best among the girls (of course, he'd never say it out loud for the risk of Hyuuga and Aburame beating the shit out of him).
Ino was incredibly and, almost sickeningly clingy – to Sasuke's taste anyhow – but on the other hand, Shino honestly and truly did not seem to care. He welcomed her ear-splitting squeals and uncomfortably tight embraces without any complaint. Sasuke could tell Shino liked it. Why, however, would remain a mystery to him.
Tenten was a little too …buff to his taste. He'd seen her in her bikini at the party over the weekend, and although he'd admit that she was rather attractive in her own way, she'd put many of his team mates to shame with her sharply cut abs. Sasuke had found it rather amusing. In a way it sort balanced out with Hyuuga's girly hair.
Naruto had yet to make a legitimate move on Hinata. Sasuke had assumed he'd initiate at the party, or at least over the weekend. Taking into consideration how awfully shy the Hyuuga girl was, Sasuke was surprised to note how tactful and patient Naruto was being with her. Either that or he'd yet to discover her impressive rack. Of course, Naruto hadn't discussed it much with him, only saying that he'd had a fight with Neji. Sasuke hadn't pried, especially after seeing the dark look in Naruto's eyes.
Sakura had absolutely adored both gifts he'd gotten her. At first he'd been utterly terrified she would consider it beyond her tastes, but her face had lit up like a star when Sasuke had presented both gifts at the same time. She'd obviously not been expecting anything. She'd considered the party to be her gift.
He'd gotten her a silk scarf, courtesy of his mother's visit to Paris in France – she'd bought it and brought it home, only to declare she then hated it. Sasuke called dibs, only to be overthrown by more gay jokes.
The second gift he discovered by chance. By the time he saw it in the window of the shop, he'd already had the first gift wrapped, but it reminded him so strongly of Sakura, he just had to get it for her. So he decided it wouldn't hurt to give her two gifts. Fuck it. He was rich.
It was an ornamental comb – the type of thing his mom would gush over for a few days and then promptly forget about, only for it to rot somewhere in the closet. The base was a glossy wooden surface, while beautifully decorated by hand-painted sakura blossom ornaments. Yeah, she'd loved it. And of course Sasuke scored by getting showered in kisses.
What the hell had been wrong with him all these years to have rejected girls' physical advances? This was awesome. The simplest touch from his girlfriend would push him over the edge. She'd lightly touch his shoulder and the next second he'd tackle her to the floor. She'd peck him on the cheek and he'd push her up against the wall. She'd breathe into his ear and he'd rip off her jacket.
It was incredibly frustrating, the power she held over him. The worst was, she didn't even realize, and Sasuke was hoping she never would. He'd gotten so unexplainably attached to her in the last few weeks, he was sure he'd move mountains for her. It was scary.
It was all a matter of getting her alone though. Through their first week as a couple, she seemed to be surrounded by her three friends no matter where they were. He obviously couldn't do anything while she was with them. If he caught the group in the school's hallway or somewhere in class, she'd greet him with a soft kiss on the cheek and he'd have to restrain himself from jumping her right there in front of her friends. Not that he cared what they would think, but he still liked his privacy.
He sulkily expressed his annoyance to Hyuuga after one training session and the other sympathized with him. It had been just as hard to get Tenten's attention, but over time, Neji had discovered her weakness – all he had to do was take off his shirt and he was good to go. Sasuke took note of this for future reference.
Itachi had been avoiding him all week, no doubt moping because of his 'defeat'. Sasuke wish he could say he felt bad – he didn't. In fact, whenever he did walk into Itachi at home, he rubbed it in his face. He made sure to talk about Sakura at dinner just to rub it in more. Of course, his mother had been ecstatic. She wanted to meet the girl immediately, but having quickly thought it over, Sasuke decided to give it a bit more time before letting Sakura meet the rest of his family. His father had just seemed relieved that his youngest wasn't gay. Itachi's eyebrows did funny twitching dances of aggravation throughout the whole conversation.
The week passed painfully fast for Sasuke. That Friday they'd be facing Iwagakure High in the semi-finals and if they won, they'd move on straight to the finals. Adding to that and the physical strain of having a girlfriend he barely got the opportunity to touch, he was stressed and irritated by Wednesday.
When he arrived for practice, he found his girlfriend along with her friends, sitting in the stands with books in their hands, trying very hard to pretend that they were studying. Sakura shot him a sweet smile when she saw him enter the gym. He tried to conceal his lightly flushed face.
He saw his team huddled in the middle of the court waiting for him. Shikamaru was the first to speak up when he reached them.
"I tried to tell them that this is a closed practice, but Ino told me to, and I quote, 'suck her balls' so I figured I'd leave them to you," Shikamaru whined to Sasuke when the team grouped together.
"Such un-youthful language for such a blossoming young lady!" Lee commented, already jogging on the spot in anticipation for the training session. He always weirded Sasuke out when he did that, but whatever, he was good at basketball.
"Ino has way more balls than you, Shikamaru," Chouji jibed at his friend, for once not having any snack in his hands as Sasuke had forbidden him from ever eating during practice. As cool as it looked, no one had faith in a guy who shot hoops with one hand, while holding a fried chicken leg in the other.
"Shut up," Shikamaru voiced, face turning away in annoyance.
"Since you were too late to ask her out," Chouji concluded, and when Shikamaru made a move, Shino promptly put a hand to his shoulder to stop him. As if the touch had shocked him, Shikamaru settled down but still had a visibly agitated look on his face.
"You're just sour because you've always liked her but never really stood a chance," Kiba remarked, a little worked up by the aggression in the air. Chouji snorted.
"Oh, and you did? How many times did she reject you? Like a million?"
Sasuke groaned. Now that Kiba was involved, a few fists would be flying for sure. What he didn't understand though, was why Shino let them argue over his girl right in front of him. Maybe he didn't care, or maybe it just didn't matter since he was the clear victor among them. All Sasuke knew was that had it been Sakura, he'd not have settled for it one bit.
"We all know that it is Sakura-" Lee began.
"Don't," Sasuke ground out, "finish that sentence, unless you don't value your kneecaps."
It was with a rush of realization did Sasuke realize he was just a jealous boyfriend as Neji was. Heck, maybe even worse, because he wanted to throttle Lee for promptly disregarding him and taking it upon himself to wave at Sakura who was still sitting in the stands. Sasuke felt a vein pop in his forehead.
The Ino-argument was still going on in the background.
"What about you?" Kiba inquired hostilely, looking at Shino. "You haven't said a damn word about Ino."
Shino lifted his head a little at Kiba's remark, the only one among them whose temper was still in check.
"I do not have to say anything. Why? Because Ino thinks of Chouji as a friend, she disregards Shikamaru completely and she also believes that you-" he pointed at Kiba "smell like a mutt."
The rest of the team grew pale when Shino had casually said 'mutt'. There was nothing more that threw Kiba over the edge. For a split second, Kiba was still. Then he lunged, and for the moment he was in the air and almost on Shino, Sasuke was rather disappointed by the fact that he didn't have a better hold on his team.
A fight broke out. Shikamaru was trying hard to ward off Kiba while Shino was being held back by Naruto, who had been oddly silent since the beginning of the session, Sasuke noted.
Kiba was about to throw a punch when a book hit him squarely in the face, causing him to fall over and clamp his palm over the throbbing lump on his forehead.
"You jackass!" Ino yelled from the stands, her friends eyeing her worriedly. Sasuke saw Sakura make a move to calm her, when suddenly Ino stormed down the stands, onto the court and towards the team, Sakura trailing after her, anxiously trying to calm her down.
The boys stood frozen once she reached them. She roughly pulled Kiba by the collar and, in an amazing display of strength Sasuke was somewhat impressed by, jerked him up to his feet and slapped him across the face. Face still furious, she turned and then slapped Shikamaru. Sensing her intent, Chouji made a move to duck, but she caught him by the shirt and yanked, slapping him in mid-fall.
There was a moment of lingering silence, before Ino simply turned on her heels, astonishingly enough ignored Shino as she passed him, and left to take her place back on the stands. Shikamaru made a strange hissing noise, profusely rubbing his cheek as Kiba stood there and nursed both of his injuries. Chouji let out a defeated grumble, eyes glued to the floor.
Before Sakura left to follow her friend, she turned to the team.
"Uhm, can I get a lift after practice, please? Since it looks like it's going to rain?" She was obviously talking to Sasuke and he momentarily forgot where he was. "Also, could you let go of Lee already?"
Sasuke blinked. He looked down to see he was gripping Lee by the collar, who was fearfully anticipating his captain's next mood. Sasuke promptly released him, not remembering when he had done such a thing. Strange. It was probably pure primal instinct then.
"Sure." It was incredible how Sakura conversed as if no tension hung in the air.
"It's not like Ino doesn't really mind you fighting over her," Sakura dropped her voice and looked over her shoulder to make sure Ino was still brooding in her seat next to Tenten. The team looked at her. "She's just upset that you're involving Shino, because it makes her looks bad in front of him."
"Forehead, get over here!" Ino yelled from the stands. Her familiar quip somewhat annoyed Sasuke, but it looked like Sakura was used to it by now. She smiled at the team, and turned to leave. Sasuke sprang forward to grip her by the wrist and stop her in her place. His whole team watched in expectancy.
She turned to look at him curiously. For a moment his voice was caught in his throat and he was painstakingly aware of his team mates' eyes on him. Nervously, he tried to hide his gulp. He lowered his head a little to her.
"Maybe you shouldn't be here during practice," he muttered in a low voice. Sakura blinked, misinterpreting his worry.
"Ino took care of it. They won't admit it, but they're all scared to death of her. They won't try anything like that again, especially with her watching," she said, a strange sweet tone in her voice.
"You distract me," he muttered again, voice even lower, also hoping none of his friends caught what he had said. Sakura had to lean in a little to catch his words. At his statement, Sakura smiled delicately, a small cute blush coating her cheeks.
"I promise I won't bother you." Hastily, she leaned in to his ear, her breath sending shiver down his spine. "Besides, afterwards we'll have the rest of the afternoon all to ourselves," she whispered, her voice suggestively sugary. Sasuke's mouth went dry and he stood there stupidly blank as she skipped back to stands. The sniggers of his team mates brought him back to reality. Turning to face them, he put his hard and stern mask back on.
"All right. Enough fooling around. We need to get in the zone for Friday. Anyone who wants to start a fight gets Ino-slapped. Understood ?" The last words were an evident threat.
The team nodded, and Lee yelled to the ceiling in excitement. From the stands, they picked up a few faint giggles along with Sakura's 'shut up'.
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Sakura would give it to Ino. The blonde had guts. Despite her angry and confident attitude during the boys' training session, Sakura could make out she was a little upset about the events that had transpired. Perhaps she felt guilty, or just defeated that Shikamaru had, in fact, never worked up the guts to ask her out. Sakura knew Ino had crushed on him for months in the previous year, flirted fiercely and dropped many hints and opportunities for him. After months of no response and only brushing her off, she'd taken the long hard process of getting over him.
Back to more important things though, Sakura would admit that even though she knew little about sports and rarely watched it as well, she could tell Sasuke was superb at what he did. He was graceful, intimidating and flexible, all at the same time. Handling the ball was like second nature to him. She was really impressed, but had to refrain from staring at him too much for fear that she might make him self-conscious.
The past week with Sasuke had been, honestly, very refreshing. He was a good boyfriend, she would openly declare, in his own way. Of course, physically very needy, which she really didn't mind, but it just threw her off guard. Knowing he had an important match this Friday, nevertheless, she'd tried very hard not to distract or annoy him too much. Ino had laughed at her logic, but Sakura believed she was being a good girlfriend in return.
The practice soon ended and the boys left for the showers. Sakura stood up from her seat on the stands, imagining how packed it would be for the game this Friday. She was excited. It had been a while since she came to support the team.
The left the gym and waited at the entrance of the school. Everything seemed normal, but Sakura took note that Hinata seemed edgier than usual.
"You okay, Hinata?" she asked as Ino and Tenten got into another one of their arguments.
"SUPERMAN!"
"BATMAN!"
"SUPERMAN!"
Hinata dropped her gaze to the floor, looking embarrassed and fidgety.
"I… just…" she trailed off, unable to finish her thought. Ino and Tenten continued as if nothing was wrong.
"Is it Naruto?" Sakura asked knowingly. Hinata gave a tiny nod. "Well, what is it then?"
Unsure, Hinata's foot began to trace circles on the ground. She couldn't look her friend in the eye for some reason.
"W-we …kissed."
"WHAT?"
Tenten and Ino stopped arguing, still having heard everything despite their loud bickers.
"OH MY GAAAAAWD!" Ino drawled out and was beside Hinata in a second. Hinata jumped at the reaction when Tenten clapped her on the back.
"Finally!"
Hinata let out a small smile, relieved that she could tell her friends. Sakura understood. Hinata was strangely sensitive when it came to Naruto. Perhaps now that they've finally gotten over that specific bridge, they would become a couple. Following this thought, Sakura saw Tenten blink unsurely.
"Is …Neji alright with you seeing Naruto?" she asked Hinata. Hinata shook her head and almost instantly, Tenten was outraged.
"What! Why?"
Before anyone could answer however, the sound of the door from the locker room opening cut the conversation, and Tenten's mood instantly turned foul. Not even Ino dared reinitiate their argument, knowing this was a sensitive subject. Sakura felt herself turn a little nervous, hoping Sasuke would show up soon. She really didn't want to be here when Tenten dropped the bomb on Neji.
And quite honestly, Sakura agreed. There was nothing wrong with Naruto. Sure, he was loud, boisterous and a little unorthodox at times, but there was no denying his infallible spirit and incredible enthusiasm, not to mention his die hard loyalty to his friends. Other than that, Sakura completely trusted him with Hinata – she knew he wouldn't dare hurt her. He'd treat her as of nothing else in the world mattered.
Sasuke was the first out, Naruto and Neji trailing behind. Tenten turned her back on the group, crossing her arms.
"We've got to drop off Naruto first," Sasuke voiced, said blonde grinning behind him friendlily. Neji rolled his eyes. Tenten huffed, ignoring him. Sakura saw him raise an eyebrow to her behavior, yet he remained silent. Neji had good eyes, after all. He could tell something was bothering her.
Sakura decided to push things forward, really wanting to be alone with Sasuke for a bit.
"Why not just ride with Neji and Hinata, Naruto?" Sakura asked.
"That's if Neji doesn't mind," Tenten commented icily, making her boyfriend eye her suspiciously, but still he said nothing as he only stared at her back.
Naruto seemed to be very uncomfortable and Sakura saw him exchange a curious look with Hinata. The other just shrugged shyly, knowing full well what the issue was.
"We should leave," Sakura bit into Sasuke's ear from where she stood beside him. "Now."
He eyed her for minute, but then seeing the urgency in her face, turned to Naruto.
"You'll be fine here, right?"
His best friend grinned. "It's cool. Go ahead."
Nodding, Sasuke took Sakura's hand and pulled her along. She waved a quick goodbye to her friends, Tenten barely acknowledging her wave, obviously furious. Sighing, Sakura fell into step with Sasuke as they made their way to the school's parking lot. A cold gust swept over the school grounds as the sun faded behind dark clouds. Looked like a storm was coming.
"What was that all about?" he asked, taking her bag for her. She smiled gratefully.
"Tenten's upset because Neji doesn't like the idea of Hinata and Naruto together," Sakura explained, throwing a look over her shoulder to stare at the group one last time. She heard Sasuke sigh consciously.
"Yeah, Naruto got into a huge fight with him. He's pretty upset about it too. But why's Tenten so caught up in it?" he asked, loading her bag into the back seat. They both climbed in and Sasuke started to drive out of the school's area.
Sakura's brows furrowed. "Remember the social studies project? When we were paired together?"
Keeping his eyes on the road, Sasuke nodded. Sakura continued.
"Well, Tenten and Naruto were paired together, right? Because they have the same type of background, right? I think that's why Tenten's so upset. She relates closely to Naruto because they're both orphans and don't really come from a wealthy family. The thought that Neji considers Naruto beneath Hinata, is like Neji personally considering Tenten beneath himself. Besides that, Hinata's been in love with Naruto for …ever, now that I think about it. We've kind of always hoped she'd end up with Naruto."
At her words, Sasuke seemed thoughtful. "That's kind of sad since Naruto only started taking an interest in her since …two weeks ago, I think."
Sakura made a mental note. "Best not to tell Hinata that."
There was a moment of silence before Sasuke took a turn and halted the car in front of her house. She saw him hesitate for a second.
"My mom will be gone until tomorrow," Sakura informed him shyly, shooting him a tentative smile. He spared her a smirk and jumped out, letting her follow after getting her bag out. As they made their way inside, a few drops began to drip on the ground and faint thunder echoed in the distance.
"Hyuuga's gonna get it, isn't he?" Sasuke asked, setting her bag on the couch once they were inside the house. Giggling, Sakura locked the front door and nodded her head as he made himself comfortable on the sofa.
"Oh yeah, this is going to be their first big fight. I can tell. And I know Tenten. She's not going to back down. She'll fight for this until she gets her way," Sakura said, moving to switch on the TV and joining her boyfriend on the couch.
He pounced.
Sakura dropped the remote and fell to the carpet. All of a sudden Sasuke was looming over her like an anxious shadow. She noticed his hair was still a little clammy from the shower he took after practice. He smelled divine, and she felt her body quiver in anticipation she did not think possible.
Suddenly he was breathing hard, struggling to form words by the way his lips quirked. She looked up at him worriedly.
"What's the matter?"
"I …"
"Yes?" she urged him.
"Missed you today," he concluded, looking like he was berating himself for allowing the words to leave his mouth. Sakura smiled up at him, her face no doubt very red. He was trying so hard.
"I missed you too," she said tenderly. "Even if we had three classes together today."
His eyes softened over hers. His lips were then upon hers in less than a second.
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As they neared Naruto's house, the tension in the car doubled tenfold. From where she sat in the passenger seat, Tenten still refused to look at Neji, clearly intent on giving it to him once Naruto was out of the car.
When they finally approached his home, Naruto jumped out of his seat. "Thanks, man. Appreciate it."
He made a move and suddenly Hinata sat more upright. She looked at Neji with pleading eyes.
"C-can I go with him?" she asked, fingers fidgeting while she shakily pressed them together. Tenten felt her heart soften at the sight of her gorgeous and shy friend. She saw Neji open his mouth, but whether he was going to refuse or give consent, Tenten didn't care. He had no say.
"What do you mean, Hinata?" Tenten asked, a little too forcibly. "You don't need his permission. Go on." She ignored Neji narrowing his eyes at her.
As if ordered, Hinata nodded clumsily, let a startled Naruto help her out of the car and into the rain and let Naruto drape his jacket over her so the rain wouldn't wet her too much on the way to the front door. Once the two were safely inside the house, Tenten heard Neji turn in his seat.
"What's gotten into you?" he asked, hands leaving the steering wheel. Tenten tried to hide her evident displeasure as she shrugged.
"Nothing. I just don't think Hinata needs permission to go to Naruto's," she said, trying to keep her voice level and smooth. "After all, he's a great guy."
She saw Neji quickly retake grasp of the wheel, knuckles paling under the iron grip. He drove out of Naruto's driveway and made way for Tenten's house. Tenten knew this was far from over though.
"Is that so?" he asked, voice sounding a little too snooty for Tenten's liking. She nodded, not caring if he saw her or not. She refused to look him squarely in his face, knowing his cold eyes would knock the breath out of her. She couldn't remember him staring at her with any malice since they'd started dating. The thought frightened her a lot, but she pushed the feeling away, thinking about Hinata and Naruto.
The apprehension in the car was so thick, Tenten was sure she could cut it evenly with a butter knife. The feeling made her extremely nervous, and at the same time, even more irked.
A feeling of dread passed over her as soon as her house came into view. Neji parked in front of the small cottage. Neither of them moved. The rain pounded down on the car. Tenten's breath was threatening to pick up, but she succeeded in keeping it under control.
"So," Neji began. "Are you going to tell me the problem or am I going to have to waste time guessing?"
Ugh. His attitude. That voice that spent two years mocking her suddenly became clear. It was the voice that talked down to everyone, and Neji had sure enough addressed her as if he harbored some type of authority over her. She then dared to look at his face, momentarily stunned at how cold and emotionally devoid he could actually make it appear. A shiver of fear ran down her spine.
"What's your issue with Naruto?" she asked, deciding she'd get to the point. Neji raised his chin a little as he regarded her – he made her feel very insignificant, staring down at her like she was a bug he could step on.
She suppressed her tears. His eyes were incredibly, undeniably and heartbreakingly cold.
"Nothing personal," he answered, again, voice dripping with emotionally devoid smoothness. Tenten started to quiver, hoping he wouldn't notice. This was not the Neji she fell in love with. "I just think Hinata is better off without him."
Her heart started to pick up. Her anger was quickly dissipating into heavy and burdened sadness. Her ears refused to believe the words.
"Why?' she asked, voice shaking.
Without missing a beat, Neji responded. "Because he'll never be allowed near any Hyuuga because of his background and social status. To the Hyuuga, he's just a common street rat."
Tenten's heart shattered, the sound deafening the pounding of the rain against the car's surface. Her face let go a wince as she contemplated that there really was little difference between her and Naruto to the eyes of others, whether Neji was one of them or not.
She felt extraordinarily vulnerable as the car's atmosphere turned dreadfully cold. Neji scared her all of a sudden. She needed to get away from him. Scram and skitter away …like a common street rat.
Before she turned to open the door of the car, she spared Neji a last devastating look. She saw his eyes widen, but paid it no thought.
"Did you know," she took a breath, knowing she was about to break some rules and promises, "that Naruto's parents were the owners of Namikaze Industries and that Naruto is the heir?" It came out shakily, but she managed to get it out of her system.
In no way did she have any right to tell him, and he had no right to know. She knew she was being very selfish, but whatever. It was all over now. There was clearly no place for her in this picture.
And of course the name should startle Neji like it did. The Namikaze owned half the country it was rumored, easily the most renowned and successful company up to date. The Huuyga and Uchiha were dwarfed, even when combined. From next to her, Tenten felt Neji's mask slide off.
"Tenten …"
"And that leaves me," she continued, mostly for her own sake. A few tears were already falling down her face. "The common street rat."
Without waiting for a response, she bolted from the car and sprinted into the rain, knowing full well she was leaving behind one of the best things that had ever happened to her. She hoped Neji wouldn't run after her – she had no strength to face him right now.
Of course, she knew him better than that. Sure enough he jumped out of the car to once again, in the driveway of her house, run after her. She ran from him, but the mud of the driveway was so slippery, she very nearly fell flat on her face and she could never live with that humiliation. The rain continued to fall.
Knowing full well that Neji was on her heels, she made her way to the porch and reached into her pocket to get her key. The absence of the pounding rain on her skin was a slight relief when she was under the roof covering the porch.
When she reached the door, Neji was already slightly panting behind her. Hurriedly, she tried to fit the key into the hole, but the rain had already taken its toll on her and she was shivering from the cold and not wearing a jacket like Neji. Her hand was shaking so violently, she couldn't get the key into the hole.
His arms grabbed her from behind, spun her around and crushed her to him. Tenten sobbed into Neji's jacket, dropping the key. This was all unfair. She should've been mad. She should've been absolutely furious with him, but instead she was crying, too weak to not succumb to his power over her. She wanted to scream at him, but couldn't muster the courage. She loved him.
"Tenten," he breathed, holding her closer and tighter. He was a little wet himself, but defiantly warm against the harsh weather as he held her tight, almost hurting her. He buried his face in her hair.
"I'm so sorry," his voice cracked. "I never meant you. I've never thought that way about you."
Tenten tried to pull away, but she couldn't, which was bullshit since she was strong herself. Her arms felt like jelly though, especially against the stronger ones of Neji.
"Before we dated, you hated me for two years!" she cried and sobbed, unable to believe it herself. Neji pulled his face away from her hair to look at her. She dared to catch his eyes, absolutely stunned by the intense look in them. His face was urgent and full of panic.
"No!" he insisted, hands hysterically caressing her face. "No, that's not true! I never hated you! Never! I've always loved you!"
Tenten's body jerked in shock. In a moment of pure alarm and the need to prove himself, Neji crushed his lips against hers, taking advantage of her bewildered and shivering frame. Tenten didn't fight back, her mind dulled by Neji's rough passion. He shoved her up against the door of her house, forcing his body against hers while she released a few sobs into his mouth. Neji's hands clasped around her body in an unbreakable grip that sure enough, none of her fighting experience would help her get out of.
The roughness of his kiss faded. As the rain poured over the roof of the porch, his lips became gentle, soft and absolutely loving like he'd proclaimed. Tenten still cried a little, the shock very apparent in her body as the cold of the storm nipped at her skin. Neji hastily pulled his jacket off and covered her in it, kissing her again while whispering to her how much he loved her.
Tenten hiccupped. "I…"
He kissed her and then pulled back.
"I… I…"
He kissed her again.
"Neji, I …"
One more kiss.
"I love you too!" she wailed and kissed him back, finally, her mind finding a peaceful clarity among the confusion of her emotions and thoughts.
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A/N: Aw. Cute. Teenage love. Sigh. Good times.
Yeah, so Itachi is kind of sort of maybe possibly out of the picture. And I think I want a few more chapters. Think sixteen chapters altogether would do it.
I wrote this chapter while it rained. Derp. Not much humor in here, but heck, we still got time for more insanity. YOSH.
Did the last chapter upset you guys? Seriously? Because I only got like …two reviews. Maybe I just updated at a bad time …or nobody got any notifications. It was a real bummer.
Yeah, guess everyone was on Itachi's side. Ah well. Whatevs. Of course, I should point out that this was originally an ItaSakuSasu fic, but I sort of changed it, because Sasuke was getting all my attention and I like him with Sakura. So suck it, grandma! Your logic is bullshit! BULLSHIT, I TELL YOU!
Anyway.
Shino/Ino possibly in the next chapter. Yay. :D Review if you like it! PLEASE!
*_*_*_*_REVIEW RESPONSES_*_*_*_*
SorrowoftheHeart: You're welcome. Thank you for leaving a review. :D
Light blossom and dark warrior: Woot, thanks! Glad you like it!
Crazymel2008: Thank you for the PM. I do hope you enjoyed the last chapter. Hope to hear again from you. :D
