Author's Note: Hello again, everyone! Thanks a whole lot for the reviews, suggestion, follows and favorites! I'm glad this fanfic has exceeded 100 reviews and has reached over 21,500 views. I won't make it this far without everyone's support!

And to answer ApplesStrawberries's question: I have several ongoing fanfic right now and I take turns updating each of them. Because I'm currently having summer holidays, I usually write every day so I update rather often. However, my holidays are ending soon so I doubt I can write as much anymore. But I promise to try my best to update fanfics once a week or at least once in two weeks. Thank you for the positive review, by the way!

Chapter 20: Protecting Our Love


Sakura's POV

"I'm done!"

I knew I had to rest but I couldn't bring myself to do so until I was done with the blog post I was working on. I started writing once Ino, Hinata and Tenten arrived with a laptop. To be honest, it was more difficult than those assignments back at school.

I was trying to convey my thoughts while trying not to offend Sasuke's fans. And trust me, that wasn't easy at all.

Once I was done with the post, which took me almost two hours, I handed the laptop to the others, asking them to read through it.


I am Sakura Haruno and I am writing this blog post to clarify some matters. I am aware that some of you are discontent with me for what have been going on recently. But even though I got injured in the midst of all these happenings, I am not angry. I understand why everyone's upset, I really do.

But trust me when I say that I will do nothing that will harm Sasuke. I am completely supportive of his career and I want nothing but the best for him. I will never do anything that will hurt Sasuke and his career because I want him to succeed as much as all of you wish.

I can guarantee that Sasuke's love towards everyone will stay the same no matter what happens. I know that everyone cares a lot about Sasuke and is worried that I will bring him troubles. But I definitely won't let that happen.

I am sure Sasuke knows that whatever everyone did, it was due to your love for him. But please bear in mind that there are other ways to express your love and some of your methods have hurt Sasuke instead.

I hope that everyone will allow me to stand with them to shower Sasuke with our unconditional care.

Believe me; I want nothing but the best for Sasuke because I love him.


"It's beautifully written, Sakura!" Ino squealed and pulled me into an embrace. Tenten and Hinata seemed to agree with Ino as well.

"Do you guys think Sasuke's fans will understand?" Sasuke's fans had been agitated for a while already and I wasn't sure if my blog post would do any good.

"Don't worry. I'm sure they're not that petty to stay mad after reading what you wrote." Tenten grinned and squeezed my shoulder to reassure me.

"Have it posted now and take a rest, Sakura." Hinata handed me back the laptop and I nodded in agreement.

"I hope this will help Sasuke lessen his burden."


Sasuke's POV

"The press conference will start in fifteen minutes."

Orochimaru entered the waiting room I was in and sat beside me on the sofa. He told me that there were already a lot of reporters gathering outside before passing his phone to me.

"I think you'll be interested in this post I found earlier. It's spreading throughout the internet at this very moment."

At first, I thought it was another one of those pesky and over exaggerated articles about Sakura and me. I definitely didn't expect it was a blog post written by Sakura herself.

"She posted that last night and it didn't take long before people began sharing it here and there. I must say, she wrote really well." Orochimaru spoke as I read through Sakura's blog post. I couldn't help but smile when I could feel Sakura's love behind her words.

"How are the fans reacting to this?" I asked Orochimaru as I returned the phone to him.

"In general, they are reacting positively. A lot are touched by Sakura's sincerity and seem to want to stop the cyber bulling. There are still several negative comments but there's nothing much to be worried about."

"That's good to hear."

"If this is the surprise Sakura referred to, then I really am surprised."

"It's almost time, Sasuke. Let's go."

I stood up from my seat and took in a deep breath before leaving the room.

"It's my turn to make a move, Sakura."


Sakura's POV

"Your blog post is going viral, Sakura. And there are a lot of positive comments going on too."

Tenten was browsing through the internet with her laptop inside my ward, all the while telling me about the things Sasuke's fans had been saying about the post I wrote. Hinata was sitting by the bed, looking very pleased with the situation.

"I'm glad things are going great, Sakura." Hinata squeezed my hand and smiled happily at me. I nodded and returned the smile as well. I was already feeling much better and the doctor told me I could be discharged by tomorrow.

All of a sudden, the door slammed open, startling the three of us effortlessly. We turned towards the door and saw a panting Ino, who left the ward a while ago to buy lunch for us. But not only did she return with empty hands, she looked like she had just run a marathon.

Ino placed a hand on the doorframe for support as she tried to catch her breath. Before any of us got to say anything, she closed the door behind her and reached for the TV's remote control.

"What's wrong, Ino?" I asked with my eyes following each and every move of that blonde friend of mine.

Ino explained as she went through the channels in the TV, "I was at the cafeteria earlier when I heard a conversation among a group of girls. One of them said that Sasuke is holding a press conference at this very moment. And it's aired on one of the TV channels."

"Sasuke is holding a press conference?!" I exclaimed with shock and stared at the TV with wide opened eyes.

When I saw Sasuke on the screen, I was completely speechless. The plan Sasuke had up on his sleeve was definitely a bigger surprise than mine.

"Sasuke."


Sasuke's POV

One thing was for sure, there was really no point in lying during that press conference.

"Sasuke-san, is it true that you're dating Sakura Haruno?"

"Yes." Even before the start of the press conference, my eyes felt like they were blinded from the countless flashes from the cameras. But I tried to pretend I wasn't bothered with it.

"How do you feel when you found out that one of your fans had harmed Haruno-san?"

Bearing in mind Orochimaru's constant reminder of making sure not to hurt the fans' feelings, I answered without sounding too pissed off even though I was.

"To be honest, I was disappointed when I found out about it. However, I should bear part of the blame for what had happened. I should have told my fans about Sakura earlier. I apologize for keeping it from them and hurting them in the process."

"Do you have anything to say about the post Haruno-san posted last night?"

A small smile caressed my face at the thought of Sakura's words. The reporter who asked me the question must have noticed the slight change in my expression because his own softened as well.

"No words can explain how happy I was when I read what she wrote. And I'll appreciate it if everyone will believe what she said. I can vouch for her, that everything she wrote was nothing but her true feelings."

I felt relieved when I saw that most reporters seemed pleased with my answers so far. But just when I thought things were going to end soon, a reporter suddenly stood up and asked a question I didn't really consider before the press conference began.

"I am still wondering about an article from a while back, Sasuke-san. Is it true that there is a love triangle among you, Haruno-san and Sai-san?"

That was something I totally forgot about. After the misunderstanding with Sai was made clear, I no longer think about it and even became friends with him. But the public didn't know that and still believed there was a love triangle going on.

Orochimaru, who sat beside me, appeared to be troubled by the question as well. Even my capable manager didn't expect that someone would bring up about Sai during the press conference.

When I was taking too long to answer, the room was filled with whispers and murmurs. The earlier positivity was slowly fading away and even Orochimaru seemed to be slightly panicking.

But the entire room fell into silence when the door suddenly opened. Everyone inside the conference hall turned to see who the intruder was.

It was none other than the man in question; Sai.

"What is he doing here?"

Sai walked through the crowd of reporters, unfazed by the stares and the cameras' flashes. He had a smile plastered on his face, which, surprisingly, wasn't too fake to hurt my eyes.

Sai took a seat beside me, as if his presence was part of a plan. He seemed comfortable and there wasn't any sign of nervousness.

"What are you doing here?" I whispered as discreetly as I could, not wanting to show the reporters that I was taken aback as well. I wanted to stay composed throughout the whole press conference, after all.

"I'm here to help. I had a feeling my name will be brought up."

I glanced away from Sai, annoyed with the fact that he actually considered the probability of the reporters questioning about him while it didn't even cross my mind at all.

Once the reporters finally calmed down, one of them stood up to start questioning Sai.

"Sai-san, is it true that you're involved in a love triangle with Sasuke-san and Haruno-san?"

"There's nothing of that sort." Sai remained relax as he spoke in a casual tone but serious at the same time. "It was just a misunderstanding. Haruno-san and I are just friends."

"But is it true that Sasuke-san and you are on bad terms? A reliable source once told me that the two of you don't seem to like each other."

I often wondered why reporters bothered with trivial stuffs. But I guessed they would do anything to come up with a sellable article.

"That's not true. Sasuke and I are friends. We're also rivals but it's a healthy kind of rivalry. There is absolutely nothing bad going on between us." Sai glanced over to me, which was a way to urge me to support his statement.

"Sai is right. We even had dinner together after we were done with filming sometimes. We're far from being enemies." My last sentence was definitely something I would never have expected myself to say if it was to be in the past. I took a quick glance at Sai and saw a somewhat amused look on his face. I guessed he felt the same way as well.

"Do the two of you have anything else to say to your fans?" A reporter smiled as she asked what seemed to be the final question. I mentally sighed in relief and turned to Sai, asking him to speak first.

"I would like to use this chance to thank my fans for their continuous support and care. I apologize if my actions had caused misunderstandings in the past. Also, I will appreciate it if Sasuke's fans will respect the decisions he make with his life. As his fans, that will definitely be the best way to support him."

"It seems that is Sai's nice way of saying 'don't poke your nose into my business.'" I smiled at my own thoughts before facing the reporters to answer the same question Sai did.

"What I wish to say is the same as Sai. I am thankful for my fans' continuous support from the start of my career up until now. But I will appreciate it even more if you won't bring harm to Sakura. Please believe me, Sakura will never do anything that will harm me or my career."

And after taking in a deep breath, I said one last thing that ended the press conference.

"And I love her."


Sakura's POV

"That's so freaking romantic!"

"Stop shouting, Ino."

"He just declared his love for you on live television! How can you still remain so freaking calm?!"

I shook my head, realizing that there was nothing I could do to stop Ino from running around the ward while squealing over excitedly. Tenten was getting irritated by Ino's piercing voice and stood from her seat to calm her down.

I laughed looking at the two of them before looking back to the television. The press conference had ended and the crowds were dispersing. When I caught another glimpse of Sasuke, I couldn't help but smile.

"I'm so happy for you, Sakura." I removed my eyes from the screen and turned towards Hinata instead. The light shade of pink on her face showed that she was indeed feeling joyful. "I'm sure things will be alright from now on."

"Thank you, Hinata. I don't expect things to be perfectly fine, but I'm ready to face whatever lies ahead of me."

"That's the right spirit, forehead!" Ino exclaimed while wrapping an arm around my shoulder. She was so rough that I was sure she had forgotten about my injury.

The four of us spent the next few minutes just chatting around, mostly about Ino over-reacting and her saying that we were 'emotionless'. Our conversation came to a halt when the door to my ward opened.

My looked over to the door and saw that it was my parents.

Hinata stood up from the chair beside my bed and politely asked my mother to take a seat instead. My father stood beside my mother, looking at me with deep concern in his eyes.

"Your father and I saw the post you wrote and also Sasuke's press conference from a short while ago."

My mother glanced over at my father, as if looking for support, before she continued to speak.

"I can see that the two of you are sincere in supporting each other. However, I will be lying if I said I'm not worried anymore."

"Mother, please trust us." I placed my hands over my mother's, looking at her with determination in my eyes. "No matter what happens, the two of us will always protect each other."

"But-"

Before my mother could say another word, the door opened again. Without looking, I had a strong feeling as to who it was.

"Kizashi-san, Mebuki-san." Sasuke greeted my parents with a bow right after closing the door behind him. He gave me a quick smile before turning back to face my parents.

"I will protect Sakura and I mean what I said. I won't let something like this happen again."

Ino had to grab onto Tenten's arm to stop herself from squealing. Hinata's blush became deeper and she was looking at me delightfully.

I bit my bottom lip lightly, trying not to smile too widely during that somewhat tensed situation. I looked over to my parents and was glad to see that their expressions had softened.

They exchanged one last glance with each other before breaking into smiles. My father sighed a little before turning back to Sasuke.

"It's unreasonable of Mebuki and me if we will continue stopping the two of you to be together after all these."

I jumped out of my bed in an instant, startling my mother who was closest to me. Without any warning, I brought my parents into an embrace.

"Thank you so much!"

My parents laughed at how happy I was and pulled me into a tighter embrace. The three of us stayed that way for a while, just taking in the happiness in the air surrounding us.

Once I pulled away from my parents, I dashed towards Sasuke and gave him a bear hug I had wanted to give him ever since I saw him on TV. The very thought of Sasuke going all the way to hold a press conference to clear up the mess was enough to touch my heart.

"Thank you for everything you did for me, Sasuke."

"I want to say the same to you as well."

I pulled away to see Sasuke's face, wondering what his words meant.

"I read your blog already."

"You did?!" My face heated up immediately, feeling embarrassed knowing the fact that Sasuke read what I wrote about him. By then, a whole lot of people had already read my post but it felt different knowing that Sasuke did so too.

"It's nicely written." Sasuke commented with a small smile. I could see that he meant it and it made me blush even more.

Sasuke and I let go of each other when Ino cleared her throat. She was giving us a sly smirk as she spoke.

"The cheesiness in this room is getting unbearable."

I playfully glared at Ino before turning back to Sasuke, who seemed quite embarrassed as well. I intertwined my hand with his, feeling immensely blessed to have him with me once again.

And hopefully it would always stay that way.


Author's Note: The next chapter will most probably be the last one, unless I suddenly thought of something new. I feel sad knowing that this fanfic is going to end real soon. Anyway, please leave a review on your way out. Reviews mean a whole lot to me. Follows and favorites are very much appreciated as well! Suggestions are welcomed too. Thank you for reading and have a nice day ahead!