Tuesday, September 9th, 2014.

Should have updated (when I planned on doing it): Sunday, September 7th, 2014.

First attempt at updating: Monday, September 8th, 2014.

As you can see, I attempted to update yesterday.

I had all my editing and ANs done, but right when I clicked save to save everything, I was sent to the login page. When I went back to see if all my work was saved, only the chapter itself, void of any new edits and ANs was saved.

I had spent an hour and half doing that, and it was too late for me to stay up and try to do it again. Not to mention, I was very frustrated and upset. Actually, I was more disappointed than angry. It's like, "I hadn't updated in over 5 months, and the moment I do, this happens? That makes me feel horrible."

The main reasons I hadn't updated were Writer's Block and laziness. Those are terrible combinations.

How I'm going to update from now on: Whenever I finish a chapter, and have edited it at least once or twice, I'll update that coming Sunday (or Saturday, but mostly Sunday). If something happens and I do not update, I'll try the next day, as to not prolong your suffering any more than necessary.

That's why I was going to update this past Sunday. But I procrastinated and before I knew it, it had already passed. And you know what happened yesterday when I tried.

The rest of the AN will basically be a shortened version of what I had last time. I'm not in the mood to re-write everything I had before.

Fun Fact:

I went to Kenya this summer, as well as a Christian camp called Elevate (if you're in the US, you should go! It was amazing!). That was easily the least productive summer I've probably ever had. I barely watched anything, and I definitely didn't write anything. Didn't read much fanfiction, nor as many physical books as I would have liked. I usually take a lot of physical books with me to Kenya because I often don't have the internet to read fanfiction. I only had two, which were for my English class. But, Wattpad, as site and app you can read original stories on (and some published books and fanfiction) and only need wifi to update and add to your library, was my saving grace. The books I had to read for English class were The Great Gatsby, which was great!; "King Lear" (is that notation right?) by Shakespeare, which was okay; and Jane Eyre, which I'm still reading because it's actually really boring. It was most interesting when the romance was going on. But Jane just had to ruin that, didn't she? That girl/woman and her pride. Gah. That's all I'll say on the book.

But yeah. Wattpad. Pure brilliance. Can't believe I didn't use it before (but I had made an account over a year ago and forgot about it).

AotW: I think this is just America, but I could be wrong, but the US somehow has the traditions of the Easter Bunny and Easter Egg hunting. Not sure where that came from, but yeah. The religious point of Easter is still, there, though. In fact, churches are often the ones who hold the bigger Easter Egg hunts. Bright, spring colors are popular then. Yellow the most popular, followed by (in no real order), pink and purple (specifically a shade like lilac or lavender) and a light green. And a light blue. Colors like that.

Rec(s): Book & Website/App:

The Great Gatsby, to me, reminds me of a slice of life story, but much shorter than the usual ones. Because it kind of is. It doesn't follow the narrator through their entire life. Just a part of it. (Maybe a year or two). And contrary to popular belief (like I had thought), Gatsby isn't the narrator. We don't see the story through his eyes. He doesn't even show up until around chapter 5! And the book has about 9 chapters!

But the most... intriguing character is definitely Gatsby. He's a man who couldn't let go of his dreams, and they never turned out how he had hoped. My heart will always go out for Gatsby.

None of the characters are perfect, either. They all have their flaws, some more obvious than others. You have no idea how many times I felt like throwing my book at the wall or turning back time in the story to keep characters from making certain, big mistakes.

But it's a great book. And you should read it if you can.

Wattpad: Like I said, it's a site and app where you can read original stories, fanfiction, and some published stories, only requiring wifi to add to the library and update the stories. You don't actually need wifi to read the stories, which was great because I finished my books pretty quickly and I had no internet to read fanfiction. Go get an account. Now. Huge recommendation.

Disclaimer:
IDNON. If I did, Neji wouldn't still be dead and the defeat of Kaguya wouldn't have taken less than a chapter after all that build up. I truly love the series, which is why it's my #2 when other series have better stories and actually hit me harder emotionally than Naruto did, but I complain about it a lot because of its imperfects. No series is perfect, and Naruto has a lot of flaws. But I love it anyway. I really do.

Dedication:
All of you, because I have let you down and disappointed you. I apologize for that, and I hope this chapter makes things just a bit better. I think you guys will all like this chapter.

Chapter:
Content:
Sasuke & Sakura and Neji & Tenten interaction in hospital.
Romance:
Major SasuSaku, major NejiTen, and mention of NaruHina.
Warning:
A little language, and kissing scenes, if you have a problem with that.

Length:
No AN:
~3.4k+ words.
AN:
~5.3k words.


Chapter 32: I Love You


Around the same time as the last chapter (6 days after Invasion)


Sasuke POV

I groaned weakly, slowly getting pulled closer and closer to full consciousness.

I was exhausted – that groan took far more effort than it should have and I almost felt like I was asleep, though I was pretty sure I was awake. Maybe not completely, but at least somewhat.

I was awakening more and more by the second, regardless.

"Come on, Sasuke-kun," I heard a familiar but distant voice say. "You might as well wake up."

And with that, I opened my eyes reluctantly. I still felt tired, but as the voice said, I might as well wake up. I couldn't go back to sleep anyway.

When my eyes adjusted to the light of the room, I finally placed the voice.

I turned to where it came from.

"Sa-Sakura," I said, my voice rough.

She gave me a bright smile from the chair she sat in beside me, and handed me a glass of water.

When my hands shook violently and spilled some of the water, she put her hands over mine and helped me lift the glass to my lips, placing it on the table when she felt of the pull of my hands to take the glass away.

"Thanks," I murmured, looking into my lap and refusing to look up. No matter how much I wanted to. She shouldn't be here.

"No problem," she said cheerily.

We lapsed into a silence for a while.

I, silent as usual and refusing to look up. Her continuing to look at me (I felt her stare), waiting for me to say something.

"You shouldn't be here," I finally said, my voice soft.

"And why's that?" she replied, though she knew exactly why. She just didn't agree.

"Because a normal person in their right mind wouldn't be in the alone in a room as someone that had hurt them just before," I clenched my hands. I won't ever forgive myself for this…

"First of all, that wasn't you anyway. And two," she gave me a little laugh. "I think you already know I'm not in my 'right mind', now am I?"

I looked back on it. Well, she HAS done quite a bit of stupid shit, lately. Like staying with us while we were out of control…

"I suppose," I said. "But you should avoid me regardless. What if I lose control again? What then!" My voice rose slowly as I talked, and by the end I was yelling. Get out of here before I hurt you again! The Voice may be dormant now, but he can still control me any time he wants!

She simply snorted, as if what I said was ridiculous. I'm half-convinced she's a little crazy at this point…

"Like I want to leave you alone at a time like that."

I was struck dumb, my eye twitching. …Is she secretly dumb or something? That's when you should stay away from me the most! I swear, I am surrounded by imbeciles!

"Are you an idiot or something?!" I questioned in alarm, genuinely fearing for her safety and sanity. Does she want me to hurt her? What kind of masochist is she?! "That's foolish, Sakura!"

She wasn't fazed in the least.

"I guess I'm a fool then." She said calmly. "When you're being controlled is one of the times you need help the most. And I'm going to give it to you."

"You're the last person who should be around, then, dumbass! Your actions and reasoning are completely absurd!" I shouted, standing up from my hospital bed and leaning over her. I pulled a few of my IVs out, and I probably opened a wound or two, but that didn't matter. What was important was that I got through her stubborn, thick, little skull that she is to be as far as she possibly can from me when I lose control. "Have you forgotten It's freaky obsession with you!?"

It hurts and haunts me to hurt her. I never want to do it again. I'm not strong enough to fight off the Voice, but I can't let her pay the consequences of that every time It decides to take a joyride inside my body.

"No, I haven't," Sakura said, her voice getting stern and her eyes narrowing as she looked at me evenly from above her. "It's a bit hard to forget something that creepy."

"Then why-"

"Because you need me. You need help and we all know, especially the Voice, that my presence weakens It's control on you. I am the person who needs to be around you most when you're fighting him." She shrugged, by her stern gaze at mine betrays her nonchalant action. "A few scrapes and bruises aren't anything. 'Tis the life of a ninja."

"Sakura-"

"Sasuke-kun." She stood up, and I backed up a bit to allow her room to stand, but she stepped closer and the few inches I had on her allowed me to continue to look down at her with a glare.

Regardless, my body relaxed slightly. I'd be an idiot to deny that I liked her near me. Denial of that much at this point would be utterly meaningless. Who'd believe me? I wouldn't believe me.

"Sasuke-kun…" she said again, this time softly. She raised her hand to my cheek and caressed it gently.

I sighed softly and relaxed into her hand, my gaze switching over to the table at my left. Anything to avoid her eyes right now.

"Listen," her other hand went around to the back of my neck, and pulled my head down so my forehead touched hers. The same hand proceeded to play with my hair.

I sighed again, and closed my eyes. Man… we've got it bad. We're totally whooped. But it feels too good to care…

Shut up…

It would've sounded threatening, but it was little more than a mumble.

"Look at me," Sakura said.

I did. I stared right into her peridot eyes. Were they always that pretty-…? Yep. We're in pretty deep.

"I get that you're worried. Anyone would be." She offered me a small smile.

Before she could say anymore, though, I interrupted.

"Then why…" I murmured. "I could hurt you again, you know."

"Yes, I know." The hand at the nape of my neck playing with my hair moved up higher on my scalp. It took everything I had to not shudder. God, that feels so good.

"But I also know that you are doing those things against your will. And that's more than enough to make me want to stay with you, anyway." She stepped just a bit closer. "I'd call any others if I can, of course, but I don't want to leave you alone."

"Why must you act so foolishly?" I said. Most of my anger was gone, and with it, so was my sudden burst of energy. I was practically sleeping on my feet, and it was mostly Sakura's presence that reminded me I needed to stay standing. But my fatigue and lack of anger didn't stop me from voicing out my concerns, anway.

"Because I love you."

What?

My eyes widened considerably. Had it been any other occasion, my expression would have been comical.

She kissed me on my lips quickly. It was little more than a peck. But I couldn't respond if I tried. I had frozen.

"There's little I wouldn't do to make ensure your happiness and well-being. You and Naruto both."

Adding Naruto in there kinda burst my frozen bubble. A scowl replaced my surprised expression. As per usual.

Despite my cheeks reddening slightly from the earlier confession, I was still a little bummed that she had to add him in there. But that's just me being ridiculous. She's proven time and time again that Naruto's a very precious friend of hers. Just friends. I know that for sure. I know better than anyone but the two involved that their relationship is completely platonic. I just can't help myself.

"You, Naruto, Kakashi-sensei, Sai, Ino, the girls, everybody… You and Naruto especially –and of course Ino– I always want to make sure you're happy and safe."

She pushed on my chest gently, and I fell back onto the bed. My legs made their way under the blankets as if on instinct, and the need to sleep hit me like a freight train. But I don't want to sleep! I need to stay awake… with her!

"I have an idea of how you feel about me," she continued, kneeling in front of my bed and resting her arms and chin in front of me. "And you have no idea how happy that makes me."

A half smile made its way to my face, but it was nothing compared to the beaming smile she had on her own, put there by the happiness my feelings (whatever they may be) give her.

I opened my mouth to say something –what, I'm not sure, because I'm definitely not ready to tell her how I feel about her just yet, especially because I'm not even sure of just what I'm feeling– but she put her fingers on my lips, shushing me.

"No. Don't say anything. Just let me talk."

I rolled my eyes, but nodded (though it would look sideways to her).

"And yet, you expect me to leave you, to be afraid of you? I can't do that, dummy." She flicked my forehead with a teasing grin on her lips. I narrowed my eyes at her in annoyance.

"I'm sticking by your side whether you like it or not, okay? Might as well tell you upfront so you know ahead of time." She gave me a warm smile this time.

"I'm sure it'll get 'annoying', but I'm not going to let you brave this on your own. And I'm sure Naruto won't either, once he finds out."

I scowled at the emphasis on "annoying", and almost groaned when she mentioned Naruto again. I totally forgot about him finding out more about the Curse one day. He'd never let me out of his sight once he does. Unless I can distract him… Hmm… I wonder if Hinata's done anything about her crush yet… If she can keep him busy…

"I know what you're thinking," Sakura giggled. "That's not going to work for good, you know. You're just going to have to get used to having us attached at your hip, Sasuke-kun."

I opened my mouth to complain, but she interrupted me yet again, but with her own lips this time. I barely got to kiss her back before she pulled away again and put her hands on my head, pouring chakra into it.

As she stood and my sight got blurry, I realized what she just did. "Now get yourself some sleep, Sasuke-kun. I'll be back to see you soon."

Damn it, Sakura…

The last I saw of her were her hands drifting toward my torso to close the wounds I had re-opened. I'm sure she replaced my IVs, as well.

However, regardless of the end of the conversation, and my annoyance with it, I still fell asleep… happy for once.

She loves me. She really loves me. That's all that really mattered to me as I drifted off. I even forgot about the threat of the Voice and the argument we had before. That was all that was important to me then. And rightfully so.

She loves me!

I'm sure if anyone had peeked in while I slept, they would have found a stupid little smile on my face.

One that she had put there.


Next morning


Neji POV

It was early morning, before sunrise, and I had randomly woken up. Instead of sleeping, however, I decided to stay up and watch Tenten. Sure, she was asleep, which would normally be creepy, but watching her soothed me, and made me forget the pain I felt in my body after the battle in the Forest.

Gai and Lee convinced (read: pestered) the nurses and doctors into allowing my and Tenten's beds to be pushed together, with the bars between the beds pushed down so we could be closer. They gave us a bigger set of blankets, and put the monitors on either side of the bed.

I'd never felt as grateful as to those two idiots I did then before in my entire life. I'll have to show them my gratitude properly once I get out of this place.

I continued rubbing circles on the small of her back as her eyes fluttered and she decided whether to go back to sleep or stay awake.

"Hey," I murmured.

"Hey," she mumbled back, almost unintelligibly.

She chose to stay awake and squirmed around a bit to allow herself room to stretch. I let her go momentarily to do that, and she cringed as she realized her back was still hurting her, stopping her mid-stretch.

She pulled her arms back under the blankets, pulling said blankets over her shoulders (she has a thing with covering her shoulders when she sleeps – something about security and warmth) as my arms made their way around her and pulled her toward me once again, my left hand going back to drawing circles on her back.

"Should have warned you," I started. "Your back isn't going to be able to take something like your weird cat-stretching."

"You're a little late, don't you think?" She gave me a look and rolled her eyes, but soon shook her head and pressed herself closer against me. Her head found my shoulder and I tucked it under my chin. She sighed in contentment. I closed my eyes and sighed as well. This is the good life…

"I think we should talk," Tenten said. I rolled my eyes behind my eyelids, and groaned. Well, was the good life.

"Must we?"

"It's more of a 'I-tell-you-something-and-then-ask-you-a-question' sort of thing rather than a legitimate conversation."

"That's better." I opened my eyes and moved down a little bit (to the protest of my back) so my eyes were level with hers. I put my arm under her head and pulled her closer to me. "What do you want to tell me?"

"I love you," she said matter-of-factly. Her pink-tinged cheeks, the slight falter in her voice, and her brown-eyed gaze at my nose instead of my eyes were the only indication that she was even slightly embarrassed of what she said. Other than that, she was straight-faced and her voice was strong and even.

I nodded. "As I love you."

"I figured. So what-... wait a second."

I rose a brow. "What?"

"That had to have been the most dull confession in the history of confessions. My god, that was boring. Could you sound any less flat?"

I rolled my eyes. "What, would you like me to quote from Shakespeare? You're lucky I even said it." Women sometimes.

She shook her head. "Never mind, whatever. Your boringness isn't the point, here." I rolled my eyes again.

"So what is?"

"What you want to do. About us."

The teasing air was gone. She was looking at me seriously, and I couldn't think of an answer immediately.

"There's no way in Hell the Hyuuga would approve of me, a measly orphan without even a last name, with their little prodigy. It's bad enough your uncle hates me and thinks I'm some hungry little gold-digger. And, I know proving yourself to the Hyuuga means a lot to you, and I don't want to get in the way of that."

She took a deep breath, knowing what she was basically asking of me. Her, or the clan?

Before, back when my feelings were still developing and weren't quite where they are now (around the time of my birthday, I mean), I had chosen the clan. I couldn't let myself get involved with her. It would get in the way - of our friendship, any potential for a romantic relationship between us, the team, the clan.

But now? I was frozen. I could hardly think. I didn't think she'd... address this so soon.

She continued before I could try to think more of it.

"However, I don't want to make you choose. I'm not cruel, you know. So, I'm willing to just stay friends. For now. Sooner or later, you're going to have to make up your mind, yay or nay. I can't let myself wait forever. That's not fair to me."

I nodded with the latter statements, the gears in my head starting to work again.

But afterwards, I shook my head. "No." I'm done dancing around our relationship. I want to be with her, now, and I'm not letting some stuck-up pricks get in the way of that.

She scowled. "What do you mean, 'no'?"

"I'm saying no to your 'just friends' proposal. Because now, we can't continue blaming hormones and sexual tension on how we feel and claim those feelings will go away if we do this."

And I took her face into my hands, pulled myself above her, ignoring the ache in my back, and kissed her. I kissed her slowly, passionately, enough to make sure that what I was doing drove both of us crazy.

And I enjoyed it. A lot. I didn't want to be "just friends" any longer when in reality, all we wanted was to jump the line and head right over to the "lovers" category.

And just to emphasize just how much "sexual tension" there really was between us, even before now, I bit her lip almost harshly and snuck my tongue into her mouth when she gasped in surprise.

Yup. That's totally something that "friends" do. Stick each other's tongues down the other's throat. Uh-huh.

"Platonic" my ass. Ha.

I'm done being in denial. I wanted her, I wanted to be with her, and I'll be damned if I let the clan take priority and reject her. They've taken enough from me – they can't take Tenten, some of the only happiness I've got left, away from me, too.

When I finally had to pull away (unfortunately), we were both panting, her lips were swollen, and her face was a fierce red. I took my place beside her once again. That was the best kiss we've had yet. And I'm eager to top it.

"I have no doubt that the both of us want to do more of that in the future. And I'm sick and tired of tiptoeing around the line of 'friends' and 'lovers' and acting like where we are is all we want."

I held her face in my hands again and brought I close to mine. "I love you, Tenten, and I want to be with you. I'm not going to let what anyone else thinks get in the way of that."

Surprisingly, I saw tears welling up in her eyes. "But what about-"

"Forget the clan. They've taken enough from me – I'm not going to let them take you away from me, too. I'll take the risks. Last name or no, orphan or no, my desire for you doesn't change. It wouldn't have mattered if you were the Hokage's granddaughter - I will make you mine."

I gazed strongly into her eyes, knowing exactly what was running through her head right now. She may not act like it, but Tenten was actually horribly insecure, especially about her supposed "lack" of identity and "importance."

"You are not worthless Tenten, and your lack of a last name doesn't rule you. Any man would be lucky to have you, and I'm glad I have the chance. One day you'll find someone who'll share their last name with you if they have one and whether that's me or someone else, they better prove to you that you're worth more than anything he can give you, show you, or tell you; much more than some measly extra letters and characters on a piece paper. Much more."

I wiped a tear that fell from her eye.

"Neji…"

"Do you understand me?" I continued. "You're valued and you're loved. By me, and all of the other people who have the honor of calling you their friend. Lee, Gai-sensei, the girls, Ryo… We all love you as the family you never got to have. You're not disposable or and you're not worthless. The fact that I love you should at least tell you that much – not everyone has the honor to have me care about them. You're the first and last that'll have the honor of having me feel this way about them. Take a hint, Tenten, and realize your worth already. I'm done talking now." I think that may have been the most I've ever talked at once. It may even top my angry rants.

I softly kissed her lips as she giggled at my ego peeking through my speech.

I kept going in for more and more kisses as her laughter increased, before she had to push my head away so she could talk. Ugh. Just let me kiss you already. Here I thought we were done talking.

"Hey, just give me a minute okay?" I grunted and went for her jaw and neck instead. Fine.

I felt her shudder and grinned when she tried to play off her enjoyment. "You really weren't kidding about not talking anymore, were you?"

Another grunt. "Hn." There's other things I'd rather do with these lips and tongue.

I continued my ministrations.

"Alright, so I'll make this quick."

She grabbed my face with her hands and placed a quick, but harsh and full kiss on my lips.

"Thank you, Neji-kun."

"Mm," I got out, before kissing her lips again.

"Someone's… eager…" Tenten said between the kisses. I plan to make up for all the time we could have been doing this when we were pretending we were 'just friends'. That might not be very possible, but we can sure as hell try. You don't see me complaining.

I played with her hair with one hand, bring her face closer by her chin with the other.

"Mm…"

"I'll just… shut up… now…" I rewarded her by sucking on her lower lip.

Needless to say, we spent a lot of time "making up" (more like making out) for the long years of romantic (and sexual) tension that had plagued our formerly "platonic" friendship.

(Well, some of it at least.)

And it was great.


No notes. That hasn't happened much, now has it?

However: Notice how Neji never mentioned fate. *wink**wink* Might want to remember that.

Like I said, yesterday, I had all the editing finished and everything. Was about to update this. But right when I pressed save to save the author's notes and stuff, I was sent to the login page to re-login. None of the ANs were saved. Only the chapter, and not even with the new edits.

I didn't have time to re-do everything, so I did it today. This better work. If it did, you'll know - it'll be up.

QotW:
#1:
X-MAS ideas! The next chapter of DoOver IS the Xmas one. I haven't written it yet, but there's nothing I can add before it. So yeah, Christmas. I have Sasuke's present to Sakura, but I need Sakura's present to Sasuke and every other couples' presents.
#2:
If you're in the US, are you doing anything special for 9/11? Any personal 9/11 experiences? Or if anyone else in the world knows about 9/11 (anniversary of the bombing in NYC on September 11th, 2001), what does it mean to you?
#3: Story ideas. Writer's block has been plaguing me for a while now (main reason for no updates) so hearing your guys' suggestions and what you want to see would be great. Romantic development for couples? Which ones? Character debut? Plot event idea? Anything. Just tell me what you guys want.

I can't say this enough, but I'm horribly sorry for not updating for so long. I disappointed you, and I hoped this made things just a tad bit better.

With all my love,

-Cherry.

PS: Please forgive me, if you can find it in your heart to do so.