Last Chapter! Ready for it!? I bet you all didn't expect this to be the last! Maybe some of you did, but yes, after 17 chapters of Nejiten, it's finally over. Oh! Thanks for the reviews. More acknowledgments will be started at the end. Aha, hope you enjoy this chapter! This may be pretty long.

Royal Punishment

by iJutsu

Chapter 17

Tenten slowly opened her eyes, seeing a bright painted ceiling of angels before her, and a golden spinning fan with diamonds attached to the ceiling. She turned her head, seeing a guy leaning against the wall beside where she laid, with one foot up against the wall and with his arms crossed. His head hung down, making his long hair completely cover the side of his face. Though, the stance, the posture, the hair. Tenten didn't need to think twice about who it was. She slowly blinked.

"Neji?" she whispered, not seeming to have yet gained her voice.

No response.

"Neji?" she said a bit louder.

Again no response. An annoyed glare started to slowly appear on her face.

"Neji!"

Suddenly, Neji jerked his head up and turned around towards the voice that awakened him. His eyes were a bit lazy, which were a bit obvious since he had just supposedly woken up, but then they grew wide once he clearly saw her. Tenten, feeling a bit odd from his stares, shakily sat up. With a short and quiet 'gasp', Neji quickly walked up to her and helped her sit up properly. When she was finally sitting up properly, she looked over at Neji with surprised and confused eyes. He gave her a soft smile when he brought his hands back to himself .

"You alright?" he asked.

She slowly nodded. "W-what happened?" she groaned, rubbing her head.

"You fainted," he simply said, "So I brought you to my room to rest. You sure you are alright? Need anything?"

Tenten raised a brow and looked around. It was a huge room. A very huge room with vintage walls and beautiful furniture and a huge window-door that seemed to lead to a balcony. The room was also a bit dim, however. The lights seemed a bit faint. She then looked down at the bed she was laying upon. It was red, puffy, had silky covers was and strangely warm. There also seemed to be more than a dozen pillows behind her. She unexpectedly blushed. Red bed, silky covers, dim lights- it all reminded her of...

Tenten's blush deepened and she embarrassingly covered her face with both her hands as she turned away from Neji. "Ah! Get. Your. Mind. OUT. Of. The. Gutter!" she thought angrily, trying to calm herself down. Neji gave her a strange look and before he was able to touch her to see what's wrong, she shivered and turned her face back to Neji.

"I'm...I'm a-alright, really!" she said, freakishly loud and with a laugh, "Nothing's wrong! I'm completely fine! L-lovely room!"

He stared at her for a while, and then chuckled, making her more flustered.

"Hold on, let me make the lights brighter," he said while he walked over to the switch, "It's kind of dark in here."

If Tenten didn't calm herself down, she would've fainted again. She took a deep breath seeing the room get a bit more brighter. She turned and smiled at Neji, for she was able to see him more clearly. He made his way back to her and sat down on the bed in front of her, but with his legs hanging from the side of the bed. It took a couple of seconds before he turned his head to look at her, and the instant he did, a rock of nervousness fell hard on her head. She looked at him with a straight face, which strangely was harder said than done. Neji sighed deeply and looked back forward.

"Listen, about today," he said, "Sorry. I didn't mean to...'scare' you."

"E-eh?" Tenten stammered, a bit shocked from the automatic apology, "N-no, it's okay! I..."

"I...didn't mean to rush things, if that was the problem," he continued, as if he didn't hear her, "So, again, sorry."

"Neji..."

"But, I do not regret what I asked," he said, a bit more seriously and lovingly, turning his head towards her, " I love you. I really do. A-and asking for your hand in marriage, indeed I believe, was a bit to sudden, but what I was really asking..."

He then grabbed onto her hand and stroked her knuckles gently with his thumb. She shivered; his hands were cold. She looked at their hands and then into his eyes, seeing what she had saw the minute he proposed; he was still nervous. Tenten paced herself. She did not want to again trouble him with doing something unpredictable, such as fainting. He kissed her hand lightly and finally took in a silent deep breath.

"...is for our engagement to become permanent," he finished.

"NOOOOO!" yelled a voice.

Tenten and Neji nearly jolted back in shock from the scream. Neji and Tenten swiftly turned their head towards the voice, which seemed to be coming from the balcony. There was two people: one with pink hair and one with a bowl cut. Tenten twitched. Neji nearly died. Lee continued yelling and then started pounding hard on the glass door that led into the room.

"Open up!" Lee yelled, "Let us in! Tenten! Do not worry! We're here! Are you deaf, Prince?!"

Neji stared at them weirdly. "How did they get on the balcony? ...How the hell did they enter the palace?" he thought confusingly. Tenten, by the way she was staring at them, seemed to have been thinking the same thing. Fearing that Lee's pounds and yells might wake up everyone in the palace, he quickly stood up and quietly opened the door. A rush of very cold wind entered the room the instant the door was opened. The first to enter was Sakura, who literally pushed Lee out of the way desperately. Once she was in the room, she hugged herself and started jumping up and down.

"KYA! It's freezing outside!" Sakura whined, as she turned to the prince and pointed at him, "It's about time you opened up! I was going to die out there!"

She turned back around and saw Tenten, who was staring back at her in total puzzlement. Sakura's angry expression then turned into a worried one. She dropped her arms and ran over to her, and as expected, embraced her tightly. She hugged her tighter, asking repeatedly if she was okay. Tenten almost fell back. Neji stared at them oddly, but turned around, hearing the door of the balcony close. Lee, after closing the door, slowly looked at Neji with anger in his eyes. Neji stood perfectly still. Seeing Lee's look, there was no way he was to kick them out-yet. With a glare still planted on his face, Lee slowly bowed to the Prince. Once he finished the respectful greeting, he crossed his arms and took a step closer. Sakura stood up as well.

"We heard everything you said," Lee started, "Don't you think you're overdoing it? How far are you willing to go with this deal, man? This is going way too far.."

"Yeah, I mean...C'MON!" Sakura added, walking towards the prince, and stopping where she wasn't too close to him, "She's been through enough, already! S-she can't do this her whole life. If you don't find another way to solve your selfish problem, then this whole deal ends here!"

"What are you talking about?" Neji asked calmly. Tenten remained silent, not having the will-power to speak.

Lee scratched the back of his head frustratingly, annoyed by the fact that Neji wasn't, or supposedly wasn't, taking this whole thing seriously. Sakura let out a mad sigh. Lee fully looked at Neji, who was giving him a straight face. Lee's anger began to rise little by little as every staring second passed. His teeth clenched together angrily and his breathing became a bit unsteady. Neji didn't move an inch. Not being able to control himself any longer, Lee ran up to the Prince and gripped onto his collar tightly with both hands, pushing him back a bit. Tenten gasped.

"About you marrying her, you bastard!" Lee yelled, shaking him sharply, "She's been through so much and now you're going to marry her for you're own good?! Marry her and then ruin her future?! Do you know how much you hurt her because of this fake relationship?! Huh?! Do you?!"

"L-lee, calm down!" came Sakura, trying to pull him off the Prince, "Let go of him! Remember who he is!"

Neji's hands shakily gripped onto Lee, trying to pull him off. Tenten just sat there, staring horrifyingly at the fight. Lee's words then got to her. Her eyes widened. "T-that's right! I didn't tell them that our relationship was no longer fake...!" she thought. And what was worse, Neji was completely oblivious to that. Lee heard Sakura's words and harshly let go of him, causing Neji to stumble back a bit. Lee took a couple steps back and covered his eyes with his arm. He started shaking slightly.

"Stop it," he said sharply, taking in deep breaths as he spoke, "Stop it. Tenten did all that she can for you, so now it's done. Marrying her is just...no. For just a simple deal? N-no. Stop it."

"This is no longer a deal," Neji said, staring straight at Lee.

Lee slowly brought his arm down and stared at him questionably. Sakura looked at him the same way.

"W-what do you mean?" Sakura asked, beating Lee to it.

"I see that Tenten has not told you both yet," he said, "Yes, I am aware about how much I pained Tenten. I hurt her so much, I lost count. Then, I told her I loved her, which hurt her once again. So, I apologize."

"But," he continued, not getting any remarks from them, "I wasn't lying when I said that. I truly am in love with her. And not long after that, she admitted her love as well. I hope I have answered your question, Sakura. This is no longer a deal. This fake relationship is done. It's finally...

...real."

Neji paused for a moment before stating his final statement: "So, me asking her to marry me was on my own free will."

Both Lee and Sakura looked at Neij in shock. They couldn't believe it- they shouldn't believe it. Disbelief filled their minds, and before they knew it, their glares slowly started returning to their faces. Neji still remained calm as ever. Tenten and Sakura looked over at Lee, who clenched his hands into fists.

"Liar!" exclaimed Lee, "Liar! That can't be true. How could Tenten of all girls fall in love with you? You even know she hates you. It's...it's..."

"It's true!" yelled Tenten sadly, causing all three to look at her, "L-lee, Sakura it's true! Neji isn't lying. T-the deal is done. I'm no...no longer his fake lover. S-stop fighting, please. I..."

Tenten looked down and covered one eye with her palm, as she finished, "...I've fallen in love with him."

Lee's hands slowly unfolded while his eyes grew more wide. Sakura covered her mouth in surprise, and her now watery eyes were filled with worry. Tenten stared back at Sakura deeply, showing her how serious she was about it. Sakura winced. "Does this mean that she's serious about the marriage?" Sakura thought fearfully. Lee noticed Tenten's expression. He frowned. He couldn't believe this was all happening. And seeing the sadness in Tenten's eyes, he knew he had to stop. Lee let out a shaky sigh.

"Sakura, bring her home and stay with her. I'll catch up."

Without any further directions, Sakura nodded and managed to both her and Tenten out of the room. Tenten gave Neji a concerned look as she got pushed out of the room. Neji noticed, and then gave her a small meaningful smile before the door was shut between them. Hearing both the girl's footsteps leave down the hall, Lee looked directly back at Neji. A moment of silence came over them as they shared eye-contact. Lee eyed to the side.

"She loves you?" Lee pitifully asked.

"Yes."

"She agreed to marry you?"

"Not...yet."

Lee blinked and looked straight back up at him again. "What?"

"I believe I'll have to tell you the whole story for you to believe me," Neji said, "I asked her earlier this late morning, for her to marry me. She then fainted. Then, once she woken up, I asked her again. That was when you two came in. I want you to understand this. Just because I asked her to marry me, doesn't mean we're going to have a wedding and become an official married couple the next day, or the next week, or the next month, or even the next year. What I'm really asking her, Rock Lee, is for us to agree on making this whole engagement to be permanent. We were engaged before, but as fake lovers. That's why I...asked her for us to become engaged finally, as real lovers."

Neji took a deep sigh and looked down, seeing how surprised and doubtful Lee looked.

"I know how powerful your friendship is with her. Almost like a father. I don't want to do anything to her that would make you...disappointed. Although, Lee, I know this makes you angry, but you have to cope with this proposal. I...

I really am in love with her."

Silence came once again, but this time, calm silence. When he raised his head, Lee was smiling.

--

"Why didn't you tell me? When did this happen? HOW did this happen?"

"Love," Tenten answered simply.

"Tenten, I'm being serious!"

"So am I, Sakura!" Tenten nearly yelled, startling her a bit, "Do you think I'm playing?! I know I've said things like hating him forever, and that this deal is absolutely nothing to me, but it's changed! It's all changed! A-and I didn't expect it to change! Sakura, I...I love him but..."

Sakura immediately wrapped her arms around Tenten, and Tenten eagerly held onto her. Sakura stroked the back of her head comfortingly as she whispered 'calm down' multiple times. Tenten closed her eyes.

"He asked me to marry him. W-well, not exactly marry, but to become officially lovers..."

"So you mean, he asking you to become engaged with him, but like, for reals this time?"

Tenten nodded.

"He loves you and you love him, right?" Sakura asked.

Tenten again nodded.

"Then why you hesitant?"

"I'm...scared of getting hurt again," Tenten whispered, "I...I don't want to go through all that pain again."

It was then Sakura let go of her. She sat in front of Tenten and gave her a deep, deep stare. Tenten blinked and stared back awkwardly. Sakura continued staring and staring at her without a single blink. Her eyes then narrowed, as if she was searching for something within Tenten's eyes, or expecting Tenten to start talking. She even tilted her head a bit. But Tenten just stared back, now, a bit more nervously. Sakura pouted and crossed her arms, eyes still not leaving. Both girls couldn't take it anymore. Sakura was to first to burst out.

"What the hell, Tenten! If you both love each other truly, madly, deeply, then getting hurt should be the least of your worries! I mean, I know you guys are still going to fight here and there, but this time there's chances for real forgiveness and real second chances! I know that may sound confusing now, but think about it! If you get hurt, Neji will heal you because he wants to, not like before, where he needed to. You're not going to go through the same pain! He loves you right? If so, I assure you that you won't get hurt as bad as you did when you both were in a fake relationship!"

Sakura yelled at Tenten so much, Tenten didn't realize that she stood up. Tenten looked at Sakura in awe, who was looking back down at her while panting heavily with a flustered face. It looked as if she been yelling for years. Tenten looked down, gathering Sakura's words. She closed her eyes. She was right. Before, Neji would heal her because she had to be ready for the next day as his fake lover, as the chosen princess, as royalty. But after confessing both their affection towards one another, whenever she would cry, he would embrace her tenderly, apologize and mean it. Sakura opened her mouth to speak, but then she realized a smile slowly creep onto the lips of her best friend.

"Y-you're right," she said, with a small giggle, "You're right, what was I thinking? So, what should I do?"

Sakura scoffed. "I nearly lose my breath lecturing you, and you STILL ask me what you should do? I could read your mind, Tenten. You know what you want to do."

"So I should..."

"Yes you should, my god!" Sakura said in a jokingly frustrated laugh, "You should go to him, you should agree to the engagement, you should stay with Neji because you should live your life happy and with the one you freakin' love!"

Tenten after a long pause couldn't help but laugh. "Ah, man, I love you, Sakura."

Sakura again scoffed. "You should."

Suddenly, a silly little tone came from Sakura's silly little bag. Rummaging through it, she read the caller ID, and blinked. Before the tune was to come to an end, she quickly opened her flip-phone and answered.

"Hello? Huh? Oh, yeah, she is. ...W-wait! Wait! Right now? But I'm...You sure? What are you doing? Oh...OH! Oh, alright. Yeah, I get it. Yeah, okay bye."

Tenten stared at Sakura oddly as she placed her phone back into her bag. She looked over at Tenten and gave Tenten an apologetic smile. She looked a bit out of place.

"Ah, sorry Tenten. I got to go. That was my mom. I totally forgot about the fish I was suppose to get. It's getting late, I should get there before it closes. Heh, uh, you stay here, okay! You should rest. Talk to Neji tomorrow, alright!? Promise me that. Don't leave! ...Okay, buh-bye Tenten!"

With that, she quickly ran out of Tenten's house, leaving Tenten flabbergasted. After hearing the door shut tight, Tenten sighed and laid back down on her bed. "Ah, man, what a day. Might as well just stay here for the day. I wouldn't want to see what Sakura do if I left," Tenten thought. She then glanced over at the clock. It was surely late and there was no doubt Neji wasn't going to show up. Especially after getting suddenly kidnapped by her best friends. She sighed once more. "I wonder what he's doing right now," she thought a bit desperately, "He's probably laughing silently in his mind about this whole tantrum." Tenten giggled quietly, realizing that was so like him. All of a sudden, her phone began to ring. Getting up from the bed, she grabbed her cell that has been laying under a pile of clothes since this morning. She looked at the caller ID and nearly threw the phone in shock. She had to pick up. This was her chance. She nervously answered.

"H-hello?"

"Hey."

Tenten didn't need to ask who that was. His voiced sounded a bit relieved, which calmed her down a bit. She let out a short breath and clutched onto the phone a bit tighter.

"Sorry about my friends, Neji," she started, "They're just...a little over protective."

"It's okay," Neji chuckled, "Actually, I'm pretty glad they came over."

"Really?"

"Really. They actually knocked some sense into me. Well, Lee literally knocked some sense, but mainly they made me realize how more of a delicate person you are. He told me that whatever I do to you, bounces back to them, so I have to be really careful with you. He also told me that your life is precious to them, so again, I have to watch myself. As for hurting you, I won't do anything to harm you anymore, I promise you that. I love you, so how could I? It is quite funny, once you think about it. I fell deeply in love with a stubborn, annoying, easily-angered girl that insults me almost everyday. But, then I also realized that if I go a day without that, I'll go crazy..."

"I don't know whether or not you're trying to flatter me, Hyuuga," Tenten softly laughed, going along with it, "Get the to point before I'll gladly and happily hang up on you."

"Already angry, I see," Neji chuckled with a sigh, "Alright, as you wish, Princess. Again, I ask, Do you love me?"

Tenten answered coolly, "I do."

"Do you forgive me for all the pain I put you through?"

"I do."

"Do you want to be with me?"

She answered with a smile,"I do."

"Do you want to..."

Tenten laughed, "Are you trying to propose to me by phone, Hyuuga?"

"Is it working?" he smirked.

Before Tenten could answer, she heard knocks on the door. She blinked. "Sakura must've forgotten something," she thought to herself. With her phone still to her ear, she walked over to the door.

"Hold on, Neji," she said, opening the door, "Somebody is at...the...door..."

There he was. Standing right before her very eyes with a smile. Her eyes grew wide and she dropped her phone in great shock. Neji closed his phone and placed it in his pocket. After he raised his head, he looked directly into Tenten's eyes and gave her the smile she wanted badly after he gave it first to the little girl. His eyes were filled with admiration, with passion. Unexpectedly,
Tenten's eyes started watering. She then noticed two people who were standing a few feet behind Neji: Lee and Sakura. Both friends gave her a nod. Eyes still wide, she looked back at Neji who had his arms open out towards her. A sudden smile came onto Tenten's face as she happily ran into his arms. They embraced each other dearly, and then Neji lifted her up a bit- his arms still around her waist and her feet just a bit off the ground. She looked down at him in surprise. He smiled softly.

"So, what's your answer? Do you?"

Tenten smiled and without hesitation locked his lips with hers. In a matter of seconds, he began to kiss back in the same amount of passion she kissed him with- maybe even more. Unexpected tears flew down her cheeks slowly, and Neji released, wiping her tears and giving her one final kiss upon the forehead before placing her down. He stroked her cheek gently and once again embraced her. Tenten smiled and gave him one last kiss.

"I do."

--

"Hello? Did you hear me?"

Tenten jumped back in shock, suddenly seeing the Prince before her in school uniform. She looked down at herself and blinked in confusion. She was also in her school uniform. Eyes growing wide, she looked around. She was in school. She looked over at the bulletin board calender, which read Friday that was months ago from when Neji proposed to her. It was also the day that she first fought with him."W-what the hell...?" thought Tenten a bit fearfully. She looked over at Neji, who was looking back at her stupidly. He looked impatient.

"W-what happened? What's going on?" Tenten stammered, still looking around.

"You dazed off on me when I asked you my question," Neji replied, "Your eyes just suddenly became blank. I've been trying to 'wake' you up for the past 5 to 8 minutes..."

It then came to Tenten. Her eyes grew wide in fear and huge doubt. "No. No no no no no! This...this can't be...!" she thought horrifyingly. She looked sadly towards Neji, hope disappearing in her eyes.

"W-what were you telling me?" she nearly whispered, despair in her voice. Neji sighed.

"I need you to be my lover," he said.

Everything collapsed. Tenten's heart stopped as she stared at the Prince in appall. She covered her mouth, trying to prevent the soft screams that were coming from her mouth. Tears started whelming up in her eyes- harsh tears. "T-that was all a...

dream?"

Neji raised a brow, seeing that she was crying. He wondered why, but remained silent. She then covered her eyes, not wanting him to see the tears that had been totally wasted. She bit her lip and harshly wiped her tears with her arm. Tenten looked at him. She winced. She suddenly remembered all the memories she had with Neji. Her heart leaped. Memories.

"I'm here with you now, aren't I?"

"I'm sorry."

"You sure are something else."

"I love you."

"Are you willing to spend your life with me?"

"Tenten, will you marry me?"

Right then, the instant she looked at Neji, she saw her lover. She saw the Neji she fell in love with, the Neji that fell in love with her. Her arms slowly dropped down from her face and her face was finally showing life. "Am I willing to go through all this again?" she thought. Was she willing to go through all that pain once again just to be with him like the way it was in the dream? And if she agreed, will it go the same way? It was all a dream, and in reality it might be different. Neji might not end up falling in love with her and he might never apologize to her for the troubles he caused and she would end up scarred the rest of her life. The Neji here and the Neji in the dream could be different, and she would have to cope with that.

No.

No. That was the word that automatically entered Tenten's mind. She's not willing to take the chance. "This must be a sign," Tenten thought with a sigh as she looked down, "I have to give him up. This...

is my royal punishment."

Tenten slowly raised her head and smiled dearly towards Neji. Her smile was dear and full of happiness, but her heart was torn.

"I'm sorry, but no," Tenten said, "And please, don't run after me. And please don't think that I hate you, because I don't. I'm not even sure if I should. I'm going to be truthful with you, Neji. I had this dream. Just before you woke me up, I had this dream where you and I became fake lovers but soon fell in love. I was happy. But, sure enough, if I agree to you now, right now in reality, it's most likely that...it won't turn out that way. I...I know it doesn't make sense now, but please, don't waste your time on me. So, no. Sorry."

Tenten bowed respectfully and turned around, leaving the building, and keeping Neji oblivious to her tears that were once again falling. He stared at her in awe while she walked away and then looked down when she was completely out of sight. After a couple of seconds, Neji turned around and walked away as well. He raised his head, revealing a smirk upon his lips and confidence within his eyes.

"Looks like we had the same dream."

He turned around and ran after her.

FIN

-dies- Man. That was long. And right now I'm fidgeting because of the disappointment I might get from some readers. Though, I'm not sorry if you didn't like the ending. Aha, but to me, I really enjoyed writing this story. And I really want to thank reviewers that kept me hyped to type this. Also, for those who told me about my grammar. I'm trying to improve my english. x)

If there is any questions about the story that you don't understand, please tell me and I'll message you the answer as soon as possible.

I may stop fanfiction-ing here, but we'll see what happens.

Alright, R & R! Thanks for reading!