A/N: Oh God. *gives out freezies* (It's summer and it's HOT) Don't hate me. Here is the (very, extremely, super duper) long awaited chapter that I've been promising. I'm going to be honest. I'm super neverous about posting this. I'm terrified that after the huge wait, you're expectations have grown to heights that this chapter just can't reach ; _ ; I'm not particularly pleased with it, but I had to make some tough choices that made it less appealing (It'll be explained at the bottom ^^ )
I've missed you guys! I'm SO SORRY AND I WANT TO SAY THANK YOU!
SO I'm not going to waste too much time with this A/N... I just want to say sorry for the terrible person that I am and the extreme wait you had to...wait through XD I sincerely hope you liked this chapter, cause if you don't then the whole wait was useless cause I'm a horrible writer.
And please review! You're running out of chances! (By the way...in this chapter one of my favourite characters ever makes a small, breif appearance. He's not important. Just needed a guy and well... yeah ^______^ ) READ! ENJOY! REVIEW! ACCEPT APOLOGY! ( heh just had to throw that one in)
AND MOST OF ALL!!!!!!! DON'T EXPECT A LOT!!!!! IF YOU MUST, RAISE ALL YOUR EXPECTATIONS FOR THE NEXT AND FINAL CHAPTER! But just be chill on this one please ^____^ I've had a rough time of it on this one.
Disclaimer: *sigh * After such a long time, I'd forgotten I had to do these XD Well anyways. I don't own anything in the Naruto universe. My only comfort is the fact that I DO own the plotline!
The Road To Recovery
Take it upon yourself to help set up the Uchiha with another deserving woman. God knows he has a boundless amount of fan girls around the village. Make it your goal to set him up with one. By doing this, you are teaching yourself to grow accustomed to the fact that he will be free to date another girl. You have moved on. You don't care WHO he goes out with. It also shows him that he needs to get a move on the whole "rebuilding his clan" endeavour, because, you being a prime example, his fan girls won't be there forever.
***
One week.
That was how long it had taken Sakura to get used to her new, or in her case, old relationship with Sasuke. It had been a long time since she hadn't been angry with him, upset because of him, sad because of him. Each day of the week, she'd made an effort to spend a bit of time getting them back on track.
She knew it was working, slowly but surely, in the beginning of the week, because Sasuke was back to paying her very little attention. She didn't want to be ignored but she knew that despite the fact that he was back to acting like she hardly existed, things were working themselves back into routine. The one they had established since the day he'd returned to Konoha. Back to normal.
That week, Sakura had convinced herself that she was glad it was going back to the way it was. She was glad that the only role she played in his life was his healer and his background noise. The kind of noise that wasn't really listened to, but one knew it was there in the back of their mind. That was who she was to him. She could talk and talk but he wasn't going to give her his full attention. Back to normal.
But there was always that ever faithful, tiny voice at the back of her mind that would remind her that maybe...just possibly she didn't necessarily want everything to return to the way it was.
'At least when we were fighting, he'd acknowledged me a little bit.' She'd think as she watched his back. Of course, she'd then remind herself that being acknowledged wasn't their normal.
So it went. An endless cycle of confusion and denial. Gradually Sakura began training with Team Seven again and went back to seeing the Uchiha only a couple times a day. Training in the afternoon and then sometimes on a rare occasion they'd go to dinner at Ichiraku's or she'd heal him up at the hospital after he had had a minor mission. The girl brushed it off by telling herself that things were finally going back to normal.
However, late at night, when she'd lay in bed staring at the ceiling trying to fall asleep, she'd allow her mind to drift off to those few, special months... Being pushed against walls and trees, being followed, being rescued, being confronted, being forgiven, being helped and just as helpful. Fighting, talking, yelling, whispering, silence. Days when she'd been carried to the hospital in his arms, days when her life had been in his hands, days when something as simple as wearing his jacket could make her feel happier than she could remember feeling in a long time.
Those few months when she been fighting with him, had been the one's when she'd been closer to him than ever before.
'Do I really want it to stop?' She'd asked herself countless times. "Do I really want things back to how they used to be?"
'Yes. Because normal means getting over him.' But deep down a tiny 'no' still echoed inside her.
'No. Because normal isn't wonderful.'
***
Sasuke paused in his daily routine of training and wiped the sweat off his forehead. He was following his usual motions in preparing for the day. He'd done everything that he used to do before the turmoil with his pink-haired teammate had begun. Nothing, not one thing since then had been altered in his day-to-day schedual...
Except him. The Uchiha had pushed himself exactly how he once had every morning, yet the satisfaction in knowing he'd improved just a little bit never came.
And Sasuke was perplexed. How could something that was identical to the past, such as training, or fighting or even missions that had once completed and constituted his entire life, leave him feeling so different.
'It's her fault.' Her snarled inside his head and resumed striking the dummies with more force. He settled into a rhythm, leaving only scattered pieces and straw littering the ground in his wake.
She had gotten into his head and was messing with him. Before, when the only interactions they had were minimal, he didn't think of her hardly at all. She wasn't important. But then everything had suddenly been twisted. Like God was playing some sick prank and had decided to take all the cards in their lives and play fifty-two pickup.
Turmoil ensued. They had fought and shouted. Well...She had shouted. They were at each other's throats nearly every minute. And if they weren't, they'd been in some sort of peaceful or friendly phase. In the past few months, Sasuke had never thought about something so much.
But obsession wasn't new to him, of course. He'd been obsessed with training at first, power, proving his worth, success, revenge. What was new to him was what his thoughts were lingering on.
'Sakura?' She was just an annoying fangirl. Nothing more. But he'd been jealous, he'd been worried, he'd been mildly content, he'd been hurt, he'd been human all because of her. And now after everything that had transpired between them they'd just gone back...? Just as though nothing had changed...
But something had changed. He had changed. And though it gave him doubts and gave him extra troubles, Sasuke decided that change wasn't so bad after all. Especially when it came to her. He wanted to change for her, there was no other way of putting it. For the first time in his life, he wished that his routine ceased to exist.
Suddenly his eyes widened. Had he really just thought that...?
'What's wrong with me?'
"Hey Teme!"
Sasuke looked up at the voice and regarded his friend with an unwavering look.
"What are you doing here Dobe?" He asked calmly, though he wondered what his lazy-assed friend was doing awake so early, considering he was impossible to wake up when you actually needed him for something.
"Just walking, making the most of this nice weather and thought I'd come see how my friend was doing on this fine morning. You know, the normal best-friend behaviour. Not that you'd understand what the hell that is." Naruto said with an eye roll as he made his way over to Sasuke.
Sasuke raised an eyebrow and tilted his head backwards to stare at the sky. Clouds covered the entire sky and it looked like by later in the day the town would be drenched in rain. A cold wind blew and it was no where near the picture of "nice weather."
"Stop lying." Sasuke droned and turned away from the boy.
Naruto's eyes shifted a fraction as he realized that he'd been outed. Soon he recovered and ran to catch up with his friend. When he reached his side, Naruto heaved a large sigh found it suitable to place his arm around Sasuke.
"Okay, alright. You got me." Naruto said as Sasuke glared at him and shook off his arm from around his shoulders.
"What do you want?" Sasuke demanded.
"I just wanted to talk to you. I've noticed that lately you've been a bit, I can't believe I'm actually saying this, moodier than usual."
"Che. Is that all?"
"Calm down Captain Jackass, no need to prove my point right away. I'm not finished yet." Naruto joked. "I just noticed that you've been acting the way... you used to." He finished uncertainly.
Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Wow Deadlast. That makes so much sense." With that he again began to walk away but was stopped when Naruto gripped his shoulder and wheeled him around to face him again.
"I know you know what I'm talking about. These past few months you've been different Teme, more normal and slightly, and only slightly, less uptight. I might even go as far to say you were happier. You may deny it but you know I'm right. Don't worry. I won't make you admit it. And you and I both know why."
Sasuke remained expressionless and simply glared at Naruto.
"You think I'm too stupid to see what's been going on between you and Sakura? You're both my teammates and my best friends and I can see it. But suddenly, you've started going back to the way you were. Mister I-would-marry-my-own-God-damn-Sharingan-if-it-made-me-stronger. Training's not the only thing in this world that can make life worth living. And for one small bit of time, I think you joined the rest of the world and realized that."
"Hn. What do you mean?"
"The fact that the last time you trained this hard was when Sakura was angry at you. The fact that, lately, the fastest you've run was when Sakura was in trouble. The fact that the last time you were angry beyond belief, was when Sakura agreed to go out with Dog breath. The last time you fought stronger than you've fought in a long time, was when some pervert was trying to have his way with, say it with me, Sa-Ku-Ra."
Sasuke looked away and then suddenly snapped his head back quickly. "How did you know about-"
"That mission?" Naruto offered "I am fairly good friends with Sakura, thank you very much. And the Hokage doesn't always keep her secrets when she's gone over the deep end of the sake bottle, if you catch my drift. The point is, you did all of that stuff, not because you locked yourself away in your own cold little world and trained non-stop. You know the reason behind that stuff, and it worries me that all of a sudden you're back to the whole 'Complete and utter bastard' routine. Did something happen?"
"It's none of your concern, you don't know what you're talking about. " Sasuke snapped.
"I'll take that as a yes. Well if you insist on the fact that I'm wrong than maybe we can fix the problem. How about you and me go out, find you a girl and fix all your little 'inner issues', huh?"
Sasuke didn't even answer. He simply turned around and marched away from the infuriating man who'd gotten on his last nerve.
"No? Could it be that Uchiha Sasuke doesn't want just some random girl, that maybe the jerk actually has a specific girl in mind...?" Naruto called after him teasingly with a smirk on his lips, which only grew wider when he noticed the Uchiha stopped dead in his tracks.
'Bingo.' Naruto thought to himself.
Sasuke's eyes widened a small fraction. If it weren't true, then why did it wrench at him that way? Why did his stomach feel three times heavier? Could he even deny it to himself anymore?
Was there a specific girl that he wanted?
"Shit." He cursed.
***
Sakura tapped her pencil against the desk she was sitting in. She had finally made up her mind...Even though her life had pretty much gone back to the way it was, she would have to finish her list. It had brought her so far that she needed to complete every step to feel as though she accomplished something.
The only problem was that she'd been staring the the blank piece of paper for over an hour.
Who would imagine that setting up the man you loved with another woman could be so hard? Everytime she thought of a girl to write down onto the list, she'd find something that just wouldn't work out. One girl would talk too much, another wouldn't be smart enough. Hair too long, blinks too much, too tall. The reasons were becoming endless and increasingly stupid, but she couldn't help it.
There just wasn't any other woman that...fit.
Sakura sighed and decided to bite the bullet. She picked up the pencil and began jotting down all the names that she'd previously rejected. Senorita Blinksalot and Tammy Too-Tall had made the cut.
Now it was only matter of getting them in the same room or at the very least, a relatively close distance that the girl would catch his attention. Some would be easier than others. She worked at the hospital with a lot of them. When he came in to be healed, she'd spring her on him and hopefully sparks would fly.
'Or hopefully not' Her inner mumbled.
But there were some woman who'd be tougher. One's that weren't even ninja's that he would probably reject faster than the others.
Sakura groaned and put her face in her hands, raking her fingers backwards into her hair.
How was she going to do this? She needed to find somebody that Sasuke would reject right away. Who was a ninja at the very least. Someone who wasn't already involved with anybody, who would actually make him a priorty.
Sakura snapped her head up as only images of one woman spring to her mind. She winced and hated herself immediatly but she needed to give her a fair chance, no matter how much she loathed the woman. It was about Sasuke and not Sakura. It was for him, so it shouldn't matter to her who the candidate was.
Sakura swallowed and slowly and painfully wrote down the name at the very bottom of the list.
Karin.
She had to go over the last name in pen several times, just to make sure she wouldn't be tempted to grab an eraser and furiously scrub off, what she had decided, were the worst letters ever put into writing.
***
Sakura awoke the next day after creating her list of elidgible females for Sasuke. She knew what she had to do, but that didn't make it any easier.
'How many girls do you know who have willingly set up the man they cared for with another girl?! You're absolutely nuts.' Inner Sakura complained. The pink haired girl growled and shut up her inner personality.
She got out of bed and decided that she'd wear one of her least attractive outfits. If she was trying to get him to notice someone else, dressing to impress wasn't going to help her. It would only tempt her to get his attention and win him over. So, clad in a pair of plain, unnoticable jeans that didn't necessarily compliment her figure and an extremley ugly button down shirt complete with frills and a hideous design, Sakura went over her plan mentally.
'So, now that I look like I have vomit all over my chest, let's get a move on.' She tried to motivate herself, but at that moment, encouraging herself to go out in public wearing the outfit that literally took the cake for being the ugliest excuse for an outfit ever, go to work and find a woman to set up with the man she'd loved since she was twelve, so that he could have babies and revive his clan with her and she herself could get over him, was extremely difficult.
Sakura marched out of her apartment and heading down towards the training field where Sasuke was sure to be. Her plan was to confront Sasuke and inform him that his fangirls were beginning to disperse and become less and less serious.
At first he wouldn't care and might actually be relieved at the prospect of a fangirl-free life, but she planned on selling him some bull philosophy of how reviving his clan would be tough to do if no woman in the village cared about him enough to marry him and make it happen.
Then, once the seed had been planted, she'd casually slip in that she might possibly be willing to set him up with someone, just to keep his options open. Thus her step would be complete. No sweat.
Sakura tried not to think of every possible thing that could go wrong.
Up ahead she saw him and, thankfully, he was by himself. Taking a deep breath, she went for it.
"Sasuke!"
Sasuke turned around sharply at the light voice. He didn't want to seem eager or surprised, but it had been a long time since she'd sought him out and he, though he hated to admit to himself, was kind of glad to hear her calling his name again.
It had only been a couple of hours since the Uchiha himself had admitted that it may have been possible that he felt something for Sakura.
The pinkette ran to catch up with him and forced herself to plaster a cheery smile on her face.
"Sakura." He replied. He raised an eyebrow and looked her over. She was wearing the ugliest excuse for an outift ever. "What are you wearing?" Sakura growled and tried to look offended despite the fact that she knew she looked terrible.
"What do you mean!? This is one of my favourite outfits, jerk! It belonged to my grandmother."
"I can tell." He replied and smirked when he saw her bristle with anger.
"Why you-!" She began but the Uchiha cut her off.
"What do you want?" Sakura stopped herself and looked up, momentarily forgetting her mission. Trust her to lose track of her train of thought just because of her temper.
"Right. I just wanted to have a little chat with you." It seemed as though lots of people wanted to have chats with him today. Sasuke's face remained blank and he didn't even look at her as he started walking off towards the bridge. Sakura jogged to remain by his side.
"Well it's just that I'm a bit worried about...about your fangirls." At this the man stopped and stared at her in disbelief.
" I'm sorry Uchiha. But if you don't get your act together they're going to lose interest in you."
"So?" He really couldn't care less about the annoying girls who hounded him everyday. What he did want to know was why Sakura was bringing it up in the first place...
"Well, isn't one of your main goals to rebuild the Uchiha clan?" She asked.
"Aa."
"And how do you suppose your going to do that if you constantly brush off all the girls who show an interest in you? As an ex-fangirl myself I can tell you that after a while, it doesn't take long for a girl to lose interest and move on."
'She's moved on?' Sasuke thought to himself. He studied her face as she walked, babbling about how asexual reproduction was impossible and how no girl would marry him if they didn't care about him or thought he was interested in men. She looked determined and had a fire in her eyes that made her look... The black haired man forced himself to look away.
"And I don't care what you say, rape is completely out of the question Uchiha." She finished with a nod.
Sasuke rolled his eyes and kept going. "Your point?" he enquired as they stopped at a fruit stand, he handed the woman at the counter some money and bought himself a tomato.
Sakura glared as he bought himself a stupid snack. 'He doesn't even care!' Her inner snarled.
"My point is that if you don't get your act together and make an effort to get a girl, your dreams of having kids and a normal life will be gone."
"Hn." He grunted and continued on the way to the training grounds with a fuming Sakura behind him. They neared the bridge and walked up the wood slope of it, and Sakura finally got to the point.
"Listen Sasuke. I know lots of girls. Really nice ones. If you wanted, I could maybe set you up someone...? Get you moving on the right track till you find a girl you really like...? I know I'm springing this on you but I really want you to find someone to be with." Sakura was pleading now. Not exactly because she wanted to find him a girl, but because she didn't want to pretend that she did any longer. Who said acting was her forte?
The faster he agreed, the quicker she'd be free to go to work and wallow and wilt. Anything to distract herself accordingly.
Sasuske turned quickly and observed her face, his own features free of emotion. He trapped her against the railing so she would have troubles averting her eyes and running away. He bent closer and looked directly into her green eyes.
"Is it really what you want Sakura?" He asked her. Sakura was startled with his question.
She took a moment before answering. She swallowed hard. Why did his close proximity and his question have such an effect on her?
"It is." She said.
It had to be.
Sasuke stood there only a moment longer, staring through her before pulling back and turning around to head to the fields. He was torn, a part of him wanted to give her exactly what she wanted, anything that she wanted....But another part of him wished that he could deny her request and show her what he unmistakingly felt about her. Naruto's words suddenly echoed loudly in his mind.
'Could it be that Uchiha Sasuke doesn't want just some random girl, that maybe the jerk actually has a specific girl in mind...?'
"Aa." If it was what the girl wanted, he'd do it for her. Because maybe, just possibly, he did have a specific girl in mind and a very small part of him wanted to see her happy.
The only problem was that this wasn't making her happy. She was only doing it to try and make him happy.
Sakura shook her head. Had that really just happened? She finally woke up and called after him.
"Come to Ichiraku's at five then!"
***
"The Sasuke Uchiha?!"
"Mmhm. The one and only." Sakura nodded. She'd cornered a girl who worked on her floor of the hospital as a nurse and asked whether she wanted a chance to go out with her stoic teammate. There was only one problem with the girl...
" Oh I don't know. I mean, I wouldn't know how to act and what to wear. I've never even spoken to him! Gosh. I mean does he like girls with blonde hair? "
Sakura rolled her eyes. "Miori, you don't have blonde hair."
"Yeah, but this is dyed. It was blonde. Well, technically blondish brownish before. I guess you could call it brown. Does he like girls with brown hair?! Once this colour fades, how do I know if he'll like me anymore?! Is he the type of man to base his opinions of a girl on looks?"
"I-"
"Or is he the type to base them completely on brains and skill? You were on a team with him, so could you let me know? Oh my gosh! I'm actually considering going out with Sasuke-kun! This is huge. Do you think he'll like me?
"Well I'm-"
"Okay! You've convinced me. I'll do it!"
The girl just spoke too much. But the way Sakura found it, she would talk enough for the both of them, taking Sasuke's lack of speech into account.
Sakura tried in vain to get the girls attention again.
"Mi-Miori..." But the girl would not keep her mouth shut. Eventually her patience wore thin.
"OKAY MIORI!" The woman closed her mouth abruptly and stared at Sakura.
"He'll be at Ichiraku's at five so be there on time okay?"
***
Sakura waited outside the ramen stand for either Sasuke or Miori. She was feeling pretty moody, but it wasn't jealousy. That wasn't it. She was just tired. That was it.
'Tired of what? Watching other girls snatch Sasuke away? God, no wonder you're fatigued.' Her inner supplied sarcastically.
"Shut up" She growled at her forehead.
"What?" An innocent voice asked. Sakura's head snapped up at the sound. Miori was standing there looking confused and a bit worried about Sakura.
"Uhh...I said what's up?"
"Oh. For a second I thought you told me to shut up. It was funny because I wasn't even saying anything..."
'For once.' Her inner rolled her eyes.
"Well you could probably just go sit inside Miori-chan. He'll be here in a couple seconds." The girl nodded and smiled brilliantly. It was clear that she was excited to go out with him and have bragging rights over all of her friends. She made her way to the counter and sat down, swinging her leg back and forth. Sakura closed her eyes and waited for the next party to arrive and sure enough, exactly at five o'clock Sasuke appeared.
"Sakura." He nodded.
"Sasuke! Geez, you scared me! I didn't notice you!" She panted as she held a hand over her racing heart. Her thoughts had taken over and she was oblivious to his entrance.
"Aren't you a Kunoichi?" He droned tonelessly with his hands deep in his pockets.
"Sakura clenched her fist until her knuckles cracked. Her inner was throwing a fit within her. 'Cheeky little-'
"Is she here?" He asked her, which thrust her thoughts back into reality.
"Oh! Right! Mm-Hmm. She's sitting at the counter; the one with the black hair there," She said pointing her out to Sasuke. Her eyes nervously scanned his face to see if she could spot some sort of attraction there.
"Hn." He began to turn away.
"Oh and Sasuke? Be nice, okay. Okay well not nice, cause I mean that's not really what you do." She was rambling. "But, you know. As long as she doesn't end up suicidal or heart broken..." Sakura trailed off at this.
'Why did you say that?!' Her inner screamed. That last thing the two of them needed was awkwardness and the hard past they shared dug up again. But there she was, reminding him that he had broken girls hearts before, her's being a prime example. Tactful as always, Sakura.
Sasuke studied her for a moment before stepping inside the restaurant. Sakura watched long enough to see him go in and then turned around and slowly walked away. From the ramen stand, she could hear Miori's excited chattering.
"Sasuke-kun! I cannot believe this is happening!! I'm not sure what to order, do you know what's good? Oh nevermind, I guess I'll just share with you. I've never been good at ordering things! I am so glad I get to get to know you! You might be surprised but I don't often get very close to people! I don't know why, but I find that sometimes, I find out I know nothing about them! Don't you think that's crazy?....."
Getting lost in her thoughts, the woman sidled up the street, the sounds of the girl trailing away. Sakura was hoping that she'd be able to forget about the fact that Sasuke could very possibly, at that moment, be falling in love with Miori and forgetting all about her. Soon, she felt a presence walking along behind her at a steady pace.
"Sasuke?! What on earth-?" Shocked she stopped walking and planted her feet firmly on the ground, waiting for him to catch up.
"Sasuke! I don't understand! What are you doing?!" Once again she got no answer.
'That's it.'
"No." He suddenly said.
"I-What? No? I'm not going to let you be a jerk! Go back and suck it up!"
"Hn. No."
"Sasuke! Why not?!" Sakura demanded to know.
"Talks too much." And with that he proceeded to march up the street with a confused and secretly half pleased Ninja in his wake.
***
Sakura sighed, completely and utterly exasperated. She'd finally managed to convince Sasuke to try, at least spending time with a couple more women. It wasn't as though she was pushing him up to the alter in a tux, for Kami's sake. All she was attempting to do was get him to eat Ramen or walk around the village with a girl!
But excuse after excuse ensued. One girl would be utterly too naive and ditsy to even be considered appropriate in his mind. Another had wounded his pride by being taller than he was. Apprently, Uchiha's literally didn't look up to anyone. Another girl had wandered up to Sakura the next day asking if she really did blink her eyes too much and if she stopped, whether or not he'd give her another chance.
It was getting to the point where Sakura was honestly considering going on a double date just to keep an eye on him. And as the week progressed and he still wasn't giving off any signs of cooperating, she figured she might as well give it a try.
While Sasuke and the rest of her team were still at training, Sakura snuck off to the next training field where she was aware of another team practicing. The steady thwacks of various weapons being embedded into the trees and dummies surrounding the area could be heard from where Sakura now was hunched in a tree. She tried talking herself into going down there and asking him to join her, Sasuke and a rather nice Jounin whom she'd treated once or twice at the hospital for a picnic. That was all she had to do, but as she looked down she couldn't help cringing. This was going to be unbearably difficult. She knew what the answer would be...But the hard part was the actual surrender.
Taking a deep breath and muttering affirmations to herself, the pink haired girl hopped down from her place in the tree.
'Here we go...' Her inner rolled her eyes.
"...Hey guys-" She began hesitantly to the group. She noticed Neji crack one eye open and incline his head slightly in her direction before returning to his meditation. Tenten turned away from her barrage of weaponary and smiled brightly at her.
"Hey Sakura-chan-"
"SAKURA-SAN!"
"Lee-k"
"What brings your beautiful and youthful spirit to our training, Sakura-san?" Lee asked with such passion and curiosity in his voice that Sakura was momentarily thrown off. When she failed to answer promptly, Lee rushed to her and grasped her hands.
"Sakura-San?"
Finally, she snapped out of her lapse and smiled slightly. She took his arm and pulled him away from the others so that she wouldn't disturb team Gai's training session. She understood Neji's obsession, and the last thing thing she'd want for Tenten was an afternoon of dealing with a pissy Hyuuga.
"Uhh....Well I actually came here to ask you a small favour-"
"Anything! I swore I would do anything for you Sakura-san and I will! If I can't, I will do 200 hundred laps around our beautiful village on my very hands!" He shouted. Sakura knew it was coming. Lee turned back towards her after his small speech and as was his custom flashed her his classic nice guy pose.
Sakura sweatdropped. "That's really not necessary...."
"Sakura-san, please! What good is the energy of youth when I cannot use it to help the one I love?!" Lee looked at her with a fire in his eyes telling her that her dissuasions weren't going to convince him.
"O-okay what I really wanted to ask you was if you were free on Tuesday night...?"
"Why do you ask? Could it be that after so many years of unrequited love, that you have finally returned my feelings?!" Lee interoggated her. The hope seemed to radiate from him.
Sakura felt her heart wrench. He was still adament that her feelings would change. She didn't want to let him down, because after such a long time she had grown to adore Lee's quirky personality and his kindness. However, she just didn't feel that way about him. As hard as it would be to let him down once more, she knew she couldn't give him false hope.
Sakura smiled at him with sympathetic eyes. Maybe after her own list was finished, she'd try setting Lee up with a nice...exuberant girl of his own. He deserved to be happy with someone, it just wouldn't be her.
"Lee-kun. I'm sorry but that's not it. I'm asking purely as a friend. You see, I'm trying to get Sasuke to meet with other girls, but he's...well you know."
"Hai." He said with a quick, affirmative nod. The Uchiha social problems weren't a secret.
"So I thought that maybe if we, the four of us, went together. I'd be able to watch and make sure that he doesn't break any hearts." She looked down at her hands, trying to find the right words to not give the wrong impression. "I tried to think of someone to ask and- and I couldn't really think of a friend who I'd like to go with more than you Lee-kun. Besides, it's been a while since we've caught up." At this she smiled and looked up to see his reaction.
She gained a twitch in her eye and took a step backwards.
"L-Lee..?"
"Oh Sakura-san!" He exclaimed with tears streaming down his face. "That's the kindest thing you have ever said to me! My gratitude and love cannot be contained!"
'He'd better contain it.' Her inner grumbled.
"My limbs burn with such a youthful fire! What day did you say this gathering was?" He said, once again grasping her hands.
"Uhh. Tu-Tuesday." She said, once again startled by his show of affection. As soon as the words parted from her lips she saw a change in his face.
"I-I cannot go on Tuesday Sakura-san. If you remember, it will be the first Tuesday of the month, w-which is-"
Of course. She couldn't believe she'd been so insensitive. During the final face off between Madara and the village, Lee had been severely injured while fighting for Konoha. He'd fought and sucessfully killed one of the final Akatsuki members left, who had proved a decent threat and a necessary target. He'd been transmitting information to Madara about the village as they were rallying their forces against the two final Uchihas, Sasuke and Madara. However, Zetsu had not been an easy opponent. Normally Lee could have been healed up without any concerns, but because of his previous injury from the Chuunin exams he was nearly crippled.
But Lee being Lee wouldn't be held back and he was back to his normal self quickly. Still, ever since then he'd had to return to the hospital on the first Tuesday of every month to be checked up on by Tsunade herself. Even while he was fighting, he still occaisionly suffered a spasm in his limbs, which would cause him to collapse for several minutes.
Such a condition could prove fatal to a shinobi, who's life was in danger almost every moment.
Sakura shook her head, frustrated at her lack of forward thinking. She should have remembered.
"I'm sorry Lee-kun. I forgot-" She looked into his face to show that she understood and smiled kindly.
"Sakura-san. It is no fault of yours! Please excuse me." Suddenly he jumped onto his hands and began to moved away from her.
"Eeeeeh?!" Sakura shouted. "Lee! What are you-?"
"I could not fufill your request my fair maiden! I must complete my laps of the village!" He shouted back at her as he moved steadily away.
"Wait Lee-kun!" She screamed as she bolted after him. She had the advantage, for though he was fast, he was also walking on his hands. "Lee! We can just do it on Wednesday! Come back!"
With that she lunged and grabbed his foot and pulled it downwards so that he could stand again.
"We can?"
"Yes! Goodness!" She said, shaking her head at his antics. Gai was a good teacher, but sometime she questioned his methods of training.
"Thank you Sakura-san! I shall meet you then!" With that he bowed deeply and ran away. "Gai-sensei! Gai-sensei! "
Sakura sweatdropped. That man needed to slow down.
***
Sakura skipped back to training with a happy smile on her face. There was no way Sasuke was going to duck out now. Nope. She'd be there supervising.
The girl's name was Hagakure Katsumi. She was a quiet, petite, talented Jounin. She often went on missions alone, though of what kind Sakura didn't know. She found it strange for a Kunoichi who was a Jounin to only go on solo missions without a team. She'd treated her in the hospital but she'd never really asked about her or gotten to know her too well.
Still, she felt confidant that she'd be the girl. First of all, her personality almost matched his and they were very compatible.
Two, she'd specifically taken every excuse the man had given and found the opposite qualities in this girl. He hated tall? She'd give him a short statured girl. He didn't like girls who spoke too much? Fine. She'd give him one who didn't say anything at all. Not compitant enough? I think not. She graduated very high in her class at the academy, and the fact that she'd been advanced to Jounin already counted in her favour.
And lastly, she had it all worked out. She'd be there to supervise and make absolutely sure that the man didn't try to leave or wasn't too rude. No stupid stunts would be pulled today.
She could hardly wait.
As she made her way back to training she smiled and waved at her team, who were all assembled at the foot of a tree. Naruto and Sasuke looked a little worse fo wear and she knew she'd be healing many wounds. But even that couldn't dampen her smug spirits.
"Hey guys." She greeted brightly. Kakashi without looking up from his book, snorted.
"Nice of you to rejoin us. Where was it, that you snuck off to? Hmm Sakura?"
The girl laughed and winked. "Not telling. Anyways, it was important so I figured it would be okay."
"Hn." Sasuke, leaning against the tree, was mildly disconcerted at her childish behaviour. Where had she gone and why was she suddenly in such a good mood? Why had she winked?! If this had anything to do with Kiba or any other guy...
"So, it looks to me like you two will be needing healing." She stated while looking them over. Naruto shook his head.
"No it's alright Sakura-chan! I heal fast so I'll be okay. Besides I have to go meet Hinata-chan! I'll see you later." She smiled and waved as he left. She turned to see Kakashi and growled when she noticed he was already gone.
Hypocrite. He was wondering where she went to when she snuck away from training and yet where was he?
'Probably reading his smut.' Her inner said, rolling her eyes. Sai was standing beside Sasuke smiling fakely.
"Well. I'm not going to stick around. Bye Ass-Hair. See you later Ugly." With that he disappeared in a puff of smoke.
"Hn." The man muttered as he began to walk away. Sakura grabbed his arm and using her strength, pulled him to the ground.
"No chance Uchiha. Naruto might have a fox demon inside him that helps him heal, but you don't. I don't want you to get an infection or to walk away with a broken rib like last time. Sit still."
He glared at her as she forced him to be still while his cuts were patched up and his bruises erased was easily as though they were simply a smudge of dirt.
"So just so you know, you've got another date." She said conversationally, yet still inviting no room forhim to refuse. She wasn't asking him. She was telling. "Wednesday. I don't care what you say. You're going Sasuke and you're staying this time. Just meet outside of the park at 4:00 and try to come prepared to be social." She said as she finished up.
"Che. Annoying." He muttered.
"Yup. And no matter how many time you say it, I'm not going to change." She smirked as she stood up from her knees and begin making her way away from him.
Sasuke also smirked from his position on the ground when she was out of sight. He didn't want her to change.
***
Sasuke stood at the entrance to the park with his arms crossed on Wednesday. He'd been standing there for only a couple of minutes when he noticed a woman who was a little taller than Sakura (but still quite petite) walking towards him with her hands in her pockets.
She had dark hair with a faint indigo hue to it. Her eyes were a pale silvery colour and if Sasuke didn't know any better, he might have mistaken her for a Hyuuga. Her navy hair was pulled back into a strict no-messing-around ponytail which gave her a no-nonsense look. As she got closer, he noticed small flecks of black in her eyes. She was wearing black pants pulled up slightly and tied at the bottom. On her top half, it was hard to tell underneath her Jounin vest, but it looked liked a dark navy shirt with the sleeves rolled up that matched her hair. Mesh covered one of her arms down to the wrist
Sasuke raised his eyebrows half a centimeter. Was this the girl Sakura had picked out? He seemed amazed at how clueless she really was. He had just admitted to himself that she was the one he wanted...But when she tried to set him up with a girl, she'd managed to choose someone who seemed the polar opposite of her.
She really had no idea what kind of girls he was attracted to. Maybe if this girl was a bit shorter. And perhaps if her eyes were a bright green shade. And maybe if her hair was not the dark navy it was, but a light colour of pink. Perhaps then he'd be interested in this girl. But probably not. He already had a girl with pink hair.
He inclined his head towards her in acknowledgement. She came to a stop beside him and leaned against the gate to the park.
"Good evening." She said politely.
"Hn." He wasn't even going to try. He didn't care about this girl.
"Hmmm." She hummed at the back of her throat and proceeded to remain in silence.
Oh, the chemistry.
Abruptly Sasuke looked upwards when he heard a familiar laugh resounding in the street leading to the park. He quirked an eyebrow. About time. She should have been here to tell them what they were going to be doing. The sooner they got started, the sooner Sasuke could ditch.
Sakura walked down the street laughing at Lee's strange antics and turned the corner facing the park. Lee was carrying the picnic basket for her, since he could not allow a woman such as her to do so. She walked purposely towards the pair waiting at the gate. Sasuke's eye narrowed dangerously and he glared at the man who's arm was linked through Sakura's.
"Surprise!" She called out when she got there. "I didn't tell you Sasuke," She said with a menacing smile. "This is a double date. Lee-kun and I will be joining you two." She leaned in close to his ear as she went to stand beside him. "So no running away."
"Hn."
She continued to the rest of the group. "By the way! Have you two introduced yourselves yet?" She asked looking from Katsumi to Sasuke and back.
The pair just stared at her blankly, as though it were obvious they hadn't.
Sighing, she rolled her eyes. They might have been a little too similar. "Sasuke, this is Hagakure Katsumi. Katsumi, this is Uchiha Sasuke. There. Now you know each other's name at the very least. Oh and this is Rock Lee. He's my date today." She added. Thank God she'd be here to help them along, or else this date would have been in complete silence.
Sasuke's fists clenched at the word "date." Sakura couldn't possibly care about Thick brows...Could she? Was this where she'd gone during training?
"Good evening." Katsumi said with the nod of her head.
"Yosh! It is an evening brimming with youth, isn't it?" Lee stated with fist pump. There was no way she could care about him that way; Sasuke was positive. And yet he couldn't help the clenching in his stomach everytime Sakura flashed him one of her smiles.
Together the group made their way into the park for the picnic. Sakura walked on up ahead with Lee while Sasuke was forced to jealously follow them beside his own date. Suddenly his eyes shot open and he turned towars the woman. He could have sworn he'd felt her grab his...Uchiha's didn't imagine things so she must have groped his ass! He turned and glared at her but found her to look exactly as emotionless as before.
'What the hell?'
Soon Sakura found a good place and called them over. Katsumi turned and heading towards them and sat down. Sakura narrow his eyes and followed reluctantly behind her. Sitting down beside her, Sasuke tried to scoot away from her when Sakura had her eyes turned down towards the picnic basket. However Katsumi placed her hand onto his thigh and held him where he was. He swallowed nervously and went to grab her hand, but she loosened her grip and began to slide her hand...upwards. Sasuke was horrified.
Thankfully, Sakura chose the perfect moment to look up and smile brightly at the pair. As Sakura was looking up, Katsumi quickly retreated her hand back to her own lap.
"Look what I brought!" Sakura chirped happily, as she pulled out four Bento boxes. She looked so pleased with herself. As Katsumi was looking quietly at the food, Sakura gave Sasuke and meaning ful look and nodded pointedly at the girl.
What was a guy to do!? He had one girl trying to seduce him and grope him and another girl encouraging him to try and get to know the former! He attempted to send her a muted message about how perverted the girl was but soon he felt her eyes on him. He swallowed and turned slowly to meet her eyes.
The look she gave him was extremely lusty, he averted his eyes quickly. Suddenly, the woman leaned back and put her hand behind his back and begin to inch it forwards towards his back. If Sakura were to look up it would look just like she was leaning back on her hand, when she was really sliding it up his back. Sasuke glared at her sharply. His Sharingan activated; he wasn't about to take this woman's crap.
She didn't seem too upset however she simply withdrew her hand and went to try Sakura's cooking.
"This is delicious." She said politely to Sakura who looked extremely pleased at the compliment before returning to her conversation with Lee. Sasuke, eager to finish this date quickly reached forwards and grabbed his own box. The girl was right. The Sakura's cooking was perfect. She'd even placed a couple tomato slices in his bento box, however he wasn't preoccupied with the meal. He was watching Katsumi from the corner of his eyes.
"So Katsumi," Sakura said pleasantly through gritted teeth, urging the Uchiha to start a conversation. "Have you been on any missions lately?"
Katsumi looked up at her with an emotionless expression.
"Actually yes. I just returned from one today." She said.
Sakura casually, out of Katsumi's line of vision, kicked Sasuke's leg and nodded harshly at the girl. He sighed and forced the words from his throat.
"What kind of mission." He said. It wasn't really a question, considering he didn't really care about the answer. He just didn't want to be kicked again. He looked up for some sign of approval but found that Sakura had turned back to say something to Lee, who's face lit up dramatically. He was said something to make her laugh and then he'd pulled her into a small hug.
"Hai! I would like to know as well!" Lee contributed from beside Sakura. His arm was still around her. Sasuke wanted to rip his arm off and take Sakura away from these two freaks. He felt a pang of jealousy when she didn't remove his arm. The Green-freak shouldn't have been touching her at all in the first place . He growled low in his throat and surpressed his anger.
"It was an A rank. I went alone." She droned.
"Oh I see." Sakura smiled. "Well we'll let you guys continue this conversation on your own. We'll give you some privacy while Lee and I take a look around the park." She stood up with her companion and Lee began punching and kicking with happiness. Sasuke's head snapped up at her words. Not only was she going to go alone with...Him, she was leaving him alone with...Her. Lee could try anything on Sakura while she was out of his sight. He once again felt the jealousy raid his thoughts. However he soon had more to worry about. As Sakura and Lee walked, Sasuke thought he might burst from anger. He could have sworn he'd heard Sakura giggle and say something about not needing a piggyback.
As if he'd let Lightning Teeth come anywhere close to giving her a piggyback. He'd be unconcious before she had even touched him.
However, at the moment, the Sharingan user had other problems to focus on. Sasuke soon found himself ambushed and pinned to the ground.
"What do you think you're doing? Get off." He growled to the...thing on top of him,
"Not likely Sasuke." Katsumi murmured before sitting up on his stomach and pulling her hair out of it's constraints. Indigo hair cascaded down her shoulders and brushed his face. He was at a complete loss of what to do. All he wanted to do was Chidori this woman into oblivion and then proceed to do the same with the man who was with Sakura at the moment.
But the surprise had momentarily frozen his thought process. He could only sit there wide eyed as she held him down. Breifly he'd considered punching or hitting her away, but he'd din't think it wise to do so for many reasons. One, she was a woman and though what she was doing was highly inappropriate, she wasn't actually harming him. Two, what would Sakura think if she came back and Katsumi laying on the ground? She'd think he had hit for no reason or that he'd made a pass at her or possibly worse.
He didn't want her to think the worst of him.
The woman currently atop him had dug her knees into his sides and had a very firm grip on his arm so there was no way he'd be able to just gently shove her off. He'd have to use actual strength and could possibly hurt her. The best solution would be to hold out till Sakura came back and then get her to pry the sexual woman off him. God knows she had the strength. And there weren't any social customs about girls hitting other girls were there? At least none as severe as a man hitting a woman.
He didn't expect the series of events that happened next, though. Katsumi smiled seductively and lowered her head slowly. Sasuke suddenly had a very good idea of what kind of missions this wench went on.
Oh no.
Her lips brushed his softly before she pressed herself tightly to him. He kept his lip tight shut and hoped Sakura would come soon. He was sick of this bitch and his patience was wearing thin.
Sakura however chose that moment to return to the scene alone. Lee had been called in by Team Gai for an emergency mision given to them by Tsunade and had to leave early and unexpectedly. After promising to make it up to her, he left with Neji, Tenten and Gai. She had returned to the picnic to let them know they would have all day to themselves.
She stopped dead in her tracks at the sight on Katsumi and Sasuke making out on the ground. She gasped and tried to cover the pain she felt in her heart. This was her idea. She was supposed to be happy that her plan worked. This was what she was supposed to want; for Sasuke to hit it off with a girl.
Then why was her heart breaking?
"Oh. Umm." She said blushing and looking around for an escape. "S-Sorry to bother you two. I'll just go now. Lee had to l-leave so um. " She said. Katsumi looked up and turned around.
"Goodbye."
Sasuke's throat felt a huge lump in it. Now what was she supposed to think?! She was going to assume that he cared about this pervert, when that was the exact opposite of what he was feeling. E didn't care for her at all! She had literally attacked him, pounced and went in for the kill. He tried to move his arms but the girl on top of him pushed him down and attempted to latch onto his mouth again.
That was it. He peeked over the woman's shoulder and could see Sakura walking in the opposite direction. 'Screw being nice.' He growled and roughly pushed the silver eyed girl off of him.
"You're a complete lowlife." He snapped at her, before he leapt into the trees.
Stupid Sakura. This whole disaster was her idea. He leapt through the trees and headed straight towards the Uchiha compound. The last thing he needed to hear was Sakura gloating about how she'd found the perfect girl and when he told her the truth, about how she'd find him another woman.
He couldn't believe he'd lowered himself so far just to please one girl. She couldn't really be that important to him.
To think that she would actually think he'd do such a thing with girl after he'd just met her. She hadn't even done anything to intervene. She really had moved on. It was alright with her for him to be be with other girls.
Sasuke growled, furious at his own stupidity. He had assumed carelessly that she'd suddenly grow wildly jealous and give up the whole charade of being over him, but it didn't happen. And probably never would. He was getting tired of being the only jealous one.
He scowled as he headed home. Angry and disappointed, he didn't want to see her again. He would learn to forget this silly infatuation with her. Just as she had apparently forgotten hers.
***
Sakura sighed and tried to hold back the tears forming in her eyes. God! What the hell was the matter with her!? She pulled out the list from her pocket and scanned the step once more. Her hands were shaking. She found an empty bench in the middle of the park and collasped onto it.
She couldn't take this. Her hands started shaking with more force, because it was just too hard. The stupid list wasn't working! It told her the things she needed to do, but she just didn't have to strength to do them. She couldn't take seeing him with another girl.
The feelings that were all pent up inside her couldn't stay there. She'd never been one to keep things inside her. It was all wrong and her heart just couldn't handle it. She was supposed to be over him! But the thought, the very concept that he would be with somebody else made everything seem final. The weight of the realization that she would probably never be with him had suddenly crushed down upon her.
Her hands clenched, crushing her list and she finally let go of the tears. It stung. It stung knowing that she'd known him most of his life and had been in love with him most of hers and he'd never thought much of her at all. But this girl she'd chosen for him, that he'd known for twenty minutes could capture his attention in no time flat.
She laughed a bitter and humorless laugh. She could officially call herself the best matchmaker in Konoha.
The tears just kept coming and soon her body was racked with sobs. Her lungs were struggling for breath as she sat there defeated. She wanted to laugh at how pathetic she was. She really did. She was sitting in the middle of the park on her own, crying because the man she was intended to get over had actually hit it off with a girl that she'd suggested he go out with in the first place. Her plan was actually working for once, but she, being the sad human being she was still felt her heart breaking.
Part of her being still believed with so much hope that he would love her in return. Her brain was trying desperately to drag it forwards and forget him, but that stubborn little heart was hanging onto him with all it's might.
It was truly unfair.
Suddenly an image of Katsumi wrapped around him, her tongue no doubt in his mouth flashed behind her eyelids and a fresh wave of tears washed over her.
God dammit!
Sakura curled into a little ball, hugged her knees tightly to her chest ad buried her face into them. She didn't want complete strangers wondering who the distraught crazy lady on the bench was.
"Pinky?" An apathetic voice spat out.
Sakura's cries stopped as she lifted her head a fraction to see who it was. A pitiful wimper escaped her throat before she buried her face deeper into her knees. She didn't need this right now. She wanted to be alone.
Karin barked out a harsh, mocking laugh and put her hands on her hips.
"What's wrong with you? D'you finally realize what a sad loser you were? Or did you finally come to terms with the fact that Sasuke-kun couldn't care less about you?" The spectacled woman asked her roughly. Sakura released a choked sob from the back of her throat.
Sadly and frustratingly, Karin was dead on. That was exactly it and it only made it worse to hear an affirmation from somebody else. Least of all Karin.
"Go away." Sakura mumbled from her protective ball. Karin, once again, barked out a malicious laugh.
"Why? Do you feel like wallowing all alone? Don't want the world to know how pitiful you actually are? I can see your little charade of being tough and immune to everything has finally cracked. Sad really. I almost feel sorry for you." Karin said as she turned to walk away.
Sakura's temper was flaring. How cruel was this woman? She would stop at nothing to make Sakura feel worse about herself. How could she even think to insult her, when she was already beaten down the lowest she possibly could be? She wanted to gag in disgust and hurt. Sakura's weeping had now escaladed to the point where she actually was gagging from the lack of breath and the fact that she was just so upset.
She didn't have to sit here and take this...but she didn't have the heart to do anything about it right now.
Karin, smugly trotting away, abruptly came to a halt and decided to take it one small step further. Rub it in a little further. She wasn't sure exactly what had happened between Sasuke and Sakura, but it couldn't hurt to shove it in her face for good measure. She couldn't be around him anymore, but Karin could.
"Oh, Pinky? By the way...I was wondering if you could tell me where Sasuke-kun was? I really want to see him and maybe spend a little quality time with him." She said, once more putting her hand on her hip.
'That vindictive, selfish pig!'
"I- I'm not sure, Karin. G-go- find hi-im yourself. He's p-probably with-" Sakura stopped here. It hurt to think of them again. "He's prob-bably gone back to the c-compound-d. If you c-care so much j-just go fi-find him. I-I t-think he'll be th-there though." She finished and then she turn her back on the vile woman.
'Yeah. There with Katsumi. Che!' Her inner added.
Karin smiled smugly and turned quickly on her heel, striding quickly to the Uchiha compound. Her work here was done.
Sakura, though thoroughly crushed, stopped crying for a second when she realized, with a jolt that she'd completed her step fully.
She'd said she'd give Karin a chance. She said that she would at least attempt to get them together and now she had. She'd told her where he would most likely be and given her hope that he was single. She'd given her the chance and it was up to Sasuke to do whatever he would with it. Technically she hadn't put the effort into it and that really wasn't her intention. But nevertheless she'd gotten them into the same place together.
She brushed away some of the tears still cascading from her eyes and sniffed. She felt a tad guilty even. She didn't have the strength to verbally lash out at Karin for everything she'd done and said to make Sakura feel worthless but, now she was sending her off to find Sasuke where he would probably be with Katsumi.
She was sending her to most likely have her heart broken.
And the pink haired woman wasn't even heartless enough to wish that upon anyone. Not even Karin, because she personally knew how much it hurt.
Sakura could feel the tears still leaking from her eyes, but she knew she couldn't stay here. She needed to go home to the dark, warm comforts of her bed where she could rest and cry her heart out in peace.
She stood and brushed off her face once more before leaping into the branches of a tree, rushing in the direction of her home. Already, the safety of closed doors was calling out to her and she pushed herself to run faster and faster.
But in her haste, she never noticed....
She never noticed the lonely slip of wrinkled, worn out, faded, smudged paper slipping from her lap as she stood, floating to the ground and landing unassumingly beneath the bench on which she was sitting.
Waiting.
'Step Eleven: Complete.'
To Be Continued...
***
A/N: I'm treating myself to an extra long author's note because I haven't done so in so long and there are things to discuss! Suck it up or just skip it XD XD Either one.
Well....There we go. The Road To Recovery will actually only be "Continued" one final time. The very last chapter is next folks. So! Explainations! I know I mentioned to some people that this chapter would be super dramatic. And it was going to be...but I changed my mind. I've decided the best way to end the story would be to have the drama at the end. So I saved the drama I'd anticipated for this chappy for the next one. I'm super excited about the ending ^_^ I've got it all worked out :D It'll hopefully turn out as I'm imagining it. Go out with a bang.
And hopefully it'll be a bang. This was just a transition chapter, so it wasn't meant to be where the action was. But next time will be better ^_____^
An Epilogue is still up in the air. I'm not quite decided on whether I'm going to write one...
So review please! Your chances of doing so are becoming limited ^_^;; Please, this time along with my normal review request, I'm asking that you tell me whether or not I should write an epilogue and why/why not.
I want you to really think about it before you answer though. Don't just put that you want an epilogue because you want to read more from this story and don't want it to end. Actually think if adding that last bit would be the best choice for the story. In the end it'll be my decision. Some of you are probably wondering why I'm even asking. An epilogue isn't even that big of a deal...well.... XD I wrote a venting journal on Deviantart explaining my worries so take a peek here:zero-888 (DOT) deviantart ( DOT) com (Also check out my very first SasuSaku Fanart! I drew it recently :3 Can you tell I'm a SasuSaku at heart or what? XD XD)
Thank you so much for sticking with me during a *counts on fingers * ....0 _ o Very long break XD Hope you liked the chapter and weren't too disappointed...*crosses fingers* And stay tuned! The last chapter will be the last official chapter of the RtR!!!!!
*dies* Woooooooooooow
OH and by the way. I just had to mention how proud I was of Hagakure Katsumi's name ^^ I actually researched Japanese meaning and such XD Katsumi means Victorious Beauty (i.e how she won over Sakura in her point of view) and Hagakure means in the shadow of leaves or hidden in leaves (i.e how she was like a creep in disguise. She hid her personality. Plus she's from Konoha so * shrugs * there is a connection)