14: You Came For Me
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto© or characters thereof. Naruto© was created by Masashi Kishimoto.
--
Ten-Ten listened to the steady beeping of the heart monitor above her head, it stabilized her breathing too because she was unconsciously matching her breath with the beeps. There were voices in the background as well, a few that were familiar – Sasori, Sakura, Deidara, Hinata, Ino – and some that were unrecognizable. People were bustling about and there was lots of crying. And as she listened, she thought, I should open my eyes and tell them that I'm okay. But she couldn't. Her voice felt like it was stuck in the back of her throat and her eyes felt like they were glued shut. She could only listen and become even more overwhelmed with the want to assure them that she felt fine.
She listened to the voices for what felt like forever before the one she really wanted to hear spoke up. "Ten-Ten?" Neji whispered, his breath on her ear. She smiled and made some sort of noise to let him know she heard him. "You're an idiot." She frowned. "I don't understand why you did something so stupid. Were you just trying to get them arrested or something? Because that worked, just so you know. Still, you could've been killed. You're lucky he had bad aim. What would we have done if you had died? Hmm?"
Ten-Ten didn't have an answer to that. She hadn't actually thought about that. In fact, she doubted that she'd been thinking at all when she'd run away like that. What would they have done if she had died? She focused hard on that, letting her imagination free. It wasn't pretty and she felt like crying. She could've died and it would have been because of her stupidity. She tried to whisper that she was sorry but she couldn't hear herself. Neji put one hand on her forehead and told her, "I'm glad that you're all right, though." His voice…his touch…it was soothing. If only she could open her eyes so she could see him…
--
Hinata swayed gently on one of the swing sets on the elementary school playgrounds. She leaned her head on her right hand and sighed, trying not to cry. Kiba had stopped talking to her – the reason unknown to her – and her sister was in the hospital. Everything was going downhill. She closed her eyes and concentrated on the movement of the swing. Suddenly, she felt someone's hands wrap gently around her waist. They pushed her carefully and caught her again. Her eyes snapped open. "Hey…Hinata," Naruto murmured, shoving her slightly again. "Why'd you break-up with Kiba? I thought you said you loved him."
She was silent, thinking. She could tell him the truth; say that she didn't know what he was talking about because she hadn't broken up with him. Or she could lie; tell him that she had done it because she wanted to be with him. It was difficult to decide but eventually, she whispered, "I lied when I said that I loved him. I was a little confused then…" That was the truth – even if she hadn't known it until that moment.
Naruto was quiet for a beat and then he asked, "So do you love someone else then?" He pushed her a little harder, swinging her higher.
"Yeah…" Hinata muttered and smiled softly. "At least…I think I do."
He caught her and, in her ear, whispered, "Will you tell me who?" He shoved her away gently.
"I think I love you." She jumped off the swing, letting the wind rush into her face and blow her hair back. She landed hard and looked back at him. He grinned.
--
Sakura sat down on her front porch, watching the street lamps flicker on as the sun slowly sank behind the mountains. This was the second time one of her sisters had ended up in the hospital. Everything had been easier before they'd moved. And why had they moved to the same city and Sasori was living in?! She stood up and kicked a pebble, sending it cascading through the sky until it landed in the gutter and bounced a little. And then there was Sasuke…The guy who had tormented her throughout the first part of the year and then suddenly showed up on her doorstep with flowers.
She stared at the pavement until she heard someone walking up. She snapped her head up to see Sasuke at the foot of the pathway to her door. He didn't have anything with him this time and he was just staring at her with a blank expression. Her heart sank as she realized that he wasn't here for more than anything but to maybe sympathize with her over her sister – and even that seemed like she was pushing her luck.
"It all must seem overwhelming," Sasuke finally said, distracting Sakura with his voice. "One minute I hate you, the next I don't know what to think of you and suddenly all I want is to be with you…And on your end, it's worse because somewhere between me finding my feelings for you and now, your sister ended up in the hospital."
"How did this moment end up on your timeline?" Sakura asked suspiciously. He walked over to her hesitantly, watching her carefully until he was standing right in front of her. She gasped startled and earned a small smile from the usually staid boy. "Are you going to answer me or not?" she snapped, trying to cover how nervous she was.
"This moment ended up on my timeline because this is the instant when I ask you out," he answered seriously. She stared at him, baffled, and he chuckled softly. "Sakura, do you think you could find time to go out with me soon?" She stood there for a second and then nodded, smiling widely.
"Sasori…" Deidara started, startling Sakura and Sasuke. "Does this mean that everything's going to get better from here on out, yeah?" He looked at his boyfriend curiously, his cerulean eye hopeful.
The redhead stayed quiet for a moment before smiling suddenly and murmuring, "I do, actually, believe that everything will get better now." He glanced over at his sister and the boy and said, "I bid thee farewell, younglings. Sleep well, Sakura."
Sakura beamed and waved. "Goodnight, you guys."
--
A/N: -ashamed- I wanted to end it. It's a burden. However, I didn't realize how short this ending chapter would be. To make up for it, I have two surprises. The first is that I will do an epilogue so I don't disappoint you people too much. The second is I'm actually going to let anyone who wants to write a sequel to this write a sequel. I'll be taking the first person who wants to – if anyone wants to. If no one wants to then this will be the end of the story. In order to tell you the winner, I'll reply to them and then I'll tell everyone who won in the epilogue's author note at the beginning.
Again, I apologize for the shortness of this chapter – and story, while I'm at it – but I hoped you enjoyed it all anyway. To my reviewers:
From: Tentenperson-Kshikamarugal – no its just uh... I'm not sure... -bliknks- anyway... sweet! X3
To: Tentenperson-Kshikamarugal – Aw…Your enthusiasm makes me guilty…
From: Musical Demon Obsessed Girl88 – please update soon and who are you calling a spazz well guess what it takes a spazz to know a spazz but since your story is good i am still going to reveiw spazz
To: Musical Demon Obsessed Girl88 – Yes, I am a spazz. Thank you for noticing. My story is actually good?? I'll take it…
From: Apple Bubblegum – HAHAHA. ACtually, I'm not sure if it's 'n'est-ce pas' or 'ne c'est pas' BECAUSE MY FRENCH (yes,it'sfrench) SUCKS.
Aww, really? I love Itachi. His eyes are sexy.
And his past is so awesome.
To: Apple Bubblegum – Alright…I don't speak any other language but English so even if you know just that much in French, you're doing better than me. Lol.
I don't really hate Itachi but he's not one of my favorites. And as for his past? Well, I can't find anything awesome about it but I feel bad for him…
From: NeonAlchemist – Can't wait for your next update! It keeps gettin better!
To: NeonAlchemist – Oh…now I feel guilty because I feel like I just trashed the story…
From: Maki-Zushi – This is great as usual! I feel bad for Kiba too, but I have the strangest feeling that Hinata didn't write that...hm...now I forgot it! Please hurry with the next! Love this!
To: Maki-Zushi – I feel bad for Kiba – especially since I didn't mention him much in this chapter…Ha-ha. I didn't think about someone else writing the note until you mentioned it. We had two totally different ideas and then I used yours…heh…Thanks for that.
From: TwilightRaver – Intense chapter.
I feel bad for Kiba-kun. =(
But a great chapter never the less!
-TwilightRaver
To: TwilightRaver – It was but this one kind of ruined it, if you ask me.
Poor Kiba-kun. I'm so mean to him.
And a sucky chapter right after a good one. How sad is that?
I hope you'll forgive me long enough to read the epilogue that I will start on so I can finish it so you won't get even angrier at me! Please review… But no hate reviews, please.