Here's the last chapter...
I'm super proud of how this story turned out but kind of sad it's over :(
Thanks to all my reviewers: Herrblade, Deyanira-chan, Nerd4eva, Lonely Asura, Dragon Mistress of the Heavens, Kawaii cookie-chan, the swede, RipplingWater, Ajaj704, xmarachanx, siny, ninjafrogofHNM, Princess of Storms, half-note, SomeRandomThing.

Someone Other Than Yourself

Chapter 17

By: turtlechick

Tenten-

"Tenten it's time to go, get up." My eyes fluttered open to see Sakura hovering over me. Today was the day, the day we had all been waiting for, and in my opinion it came at the wrong time. Our team wasn't exactly getting along at the moment. It wasn't like I was mad at Neji. I was just… upset. I would have thought that by now he would have figured out how I felt about him, but I guess not. I hadn't talked to him since yesterday. Sakura and Sasuke I just didn't quite get. They were fine yesterday, but now Sakura wasn't saying a word to him. It seemed like my brother and Temari were the only people who weren't upset about something. I threw my comforter off of me and stumbled sleepily to my bathroom. I really didn't want to do this. I didn't want to see Neji's face and I certainly didn't want to race with him. Things had just gotten too complicated.

When I got came out of my room, everyone was ready, even Temari, who usually took forever to get ready. I immediately met Neji's eyes but desperately tried to look for something else to look at.

"So are we all ready?" My brother said quietly, it was pretty easy to tell that we were all on edge. This was going to be a rough day.

XxX

The ride to the track was quiet, no one dared interrupt the silence. Temari had opened her mouth to speak a few times but decided against it. Winning was the farthest thing in my mind at the moment. We knew we were going to lose, it was just a matter of time. Not only were we racing against the undefeated champions but the only thing we had going for us, teamwork, was gone all together.

Sitting in my mecha, waiting for our names to be called I got a chance to take breather. I honestly didn't think that we were ready for this. We had lost our first race, and we had barely made it to the finals. There was no way we could win, not unless we all made up in the next three minutes.

"Will team Akatski and team Katsuyu report to the starting line?"

Too late.

Temari's mecha went out first, then Sasuke's, Neji's and finally mine. The crowd erupted in applause when we took our positions on the start line, but it got even louder when team Akatski came next to us. It was intimidating to see them. All they're mechas uniform red and black, they had a regal air about them. Almost to say, "you'll never beat us, no matter what you do." In a way they were probably right.

"Hey there racing fans! I'd like to welcome you to the tenth annual mecha racing finals. It's been a long but rewarding season with plenty of excitement and action. Our first team racing for you today is TEAM AKATSKI! Team Akatski was undefeated this year like every year before that. Those four men are a force to be reckoned with. The team that will be racing against the champs is TEAM KATSUYU! This rookie team started out bumpy this year and actually lost their first race, but haven't lost another one since. One thing this team has is teamwork, but will that be enough for them to pull out the win? I guess we'll just have to wait and see."

I had always had butterflies before a race but this time I thought they were going to come out my ears. I don't know why I was so worried, it's not like we even had a chance in our current state. Winning the way we were acting towards each other now, seemed near impossible.

"You guys ready?" It was my brother. No one answered him. "I know we didn't have time to go over the other team so I'll say it now. This not going to be a walk in the park, but I don't think any of you thought it was going to be in the first place. Sasori and Itachi are their forwards. Deidra is their defender while Kisame is the attacker. I'll say one thing, they aren't the best in the league for nothing." Still no one said anything, not even Temari. "COME ON GUYS SNAP OUT OF IT!" I had never heard my brother yell so loud before. "I don't know what's going on with all of you, but get over it. I know I haven't worked my ass of this season and get a broken arm just to piss it all away just because you can't get along. What happened to all of you? We used to be known for our teamwork but now look at you. This is ridiculous! I know you all want this too. I know we can win, I wouldn't have signed up for this if I didn't think we could. All of you, suck up your pride and make up."

My brother's word struck a cord with me. I shouldn't let the entire team down just because Neji didn't feel the same way I did for him. I couldn't let my personal affairs effect my racing. I joined this team to win, we were going to win. Just then the system booted up and the three little screens with my teammates in them, popped up. It looked like everyone had taken my brother's words to heart.

"Sasuke?" Sakura's face came up on another screen. Sasuke didn't reply but he looked like he was ready to listen. Sakura took a deep breath. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have let Tenten and Neji's fight get in between us." So she was fighting with Sasuke because I was upset with Neji? But why? "Now go out there and kick your brother's ass." Suddenly Temari burst out laughing.

"Finally! Well that's two down. We just have two more to go." I knew Temari was talking about Neji and I, but I couldn't, it was just too soon.

"Ok racing fans! Let's start this thing."

Saved by the bell.

I watched as the lights went from

Yellow,

Yellow again,

Then GREEN!

Sasori and Itachi were already ahead of Neji and I. I stomped the accelerator and desperately tried to close the gap between us. It seemed to be working a little bit but I don't know if it was going to be enough. Now was the time for Neji to tell me the plan to beat these guys. That wasn't going to happen this time. I saw Sasuke's mecha flash past mine, he was headed straight for his brother. Well atleast he would be able to get rid of some of our competition, hopefully.

I was able to catch up with Sasori but Neji, Sasuke and Itachi were still ahead of me. I took a quick second to check my small screens. Sasuke had a determined look on his face, but Temari was having a tough time with Kisame. I had heard that he was pretty ruthless. I had better get a good distance between us before Temari loses him. But Neji… he looked different. I had known Neji long enough to know what he was thinking. Now his face just looked lifeless. He didn't look like himself at all.

"Tenten just hold on I'm on my way." Temari said calmly.

"What is that supposed to mean Temari?" I asked franticly.

"I lost Kisame, he should be catching up to you soon. Just hang tight Tenten, I'm on my way." I tried to control my breathing. I was going to be fine, Temari would catch up and hold off Kisame. I was going to be fine. Almost everyone who had raced Kisame knew he was a tough opponent, especially on forwards. He was even worse than Kidoumaru and he had been plenty brutal.

I saw his red and black coming at an incredible speed. I pushed my throttle as far as it would go, trying to get enough speed to escape. I was going faster but he was still gaining, slowly. I was fine for now, but I wasn't going to be able to hold him off for long. I took a second to look ahead of me. Sasori was still a few yards behind me, but the others had stayed ahead. Sasuke and Itachi were duking it out. It seemed like they didn't even realize they were in a race anymore. I could barely see Neji in the lead, but he was there. Two more blips on my radar were coming up, Temari and Deidra. I guess I was in the clear now. May be we did have a chance after all.

I seemed to be going even faster now, I was almost all the way caught up to Sasuke and Itachi when everything turned to the worst. It seemed like if on cue, that every member of the Akatski came barreling straight for me. Itachi had left his fight with Sasuke, Sasori, Deidra and Kisame were right behind me. Was that all a show? Were they going slow just to make me not feel like they were anything to worry about? Well it had worked, and now I was in deep trouble.

I anxiously tried to get a hold of my mecha as they thrashed me around like a pinball. I went one direction and then another. As soon as I stopped in one spot, I was thrown to another. My mecha was getting pretty beat up, but so was I. I had banged my head on all of the various equipment around me. All I could hear was my mecha crashing with team Akatski's and then Temari's voice.

"Sasuke pull them off of her!" She screamed at the top of her lungs.

"I'm trying!" He yelled back, just as loud.

"Neji do something!" Sakura screeched. Soon the beating had ended. I shook my head, still dizzy from being thrown around, to see a white mecha. My white knight. Neji had somehow stopped the battering.

"Tenten are you alright?" He said calmly. His mecha was holding mine up. I nodded into the screen. "Are you able to finish the race?" I nodded again. I was able to keep my mecha up and started up again. We had a lot of ground to cover. Apparently, Sasuke and Temari had gone ahead to keep the Akatski at bay before we got there.

"Neji?" I needed to say I was sorry, especially after he just saved me like that.

"Hn?"

"I wanted to say I'm sorry. I shouldn't have reacted the way I did when you told me how you felt about me. I still feel like that way about you but if you don't that's ok. I'll just have to live with it…"

"Tenten stop. You shouldn't be apologizing. You did nothing wrong. It was me who didn't realize how I felt about you in the first place. Tenten it took me too long to realize this, but I do like you, more than a friend."

"You do?" I couldn't believe my ears.

"Yes, now come on we've got a race to win." I nodded and pumped the accelerator as soon as he did, we were off.

XxX

It had taken us a little while to catch up with the group but we did eventually, and just in time, it was now the middle of the third lap. If we were going to win, it was going to have to be soon.

"Finally what took you so long?" Temari said grunting, she was trying to hold Kisame in. Sasuke was staying on Sasori and Itachi.

"We had to work out a few things first." I said. Neji and I gained speed until the finish line was in sight. Everyone was going as fast as they could, to try to get their team a few more points, but Neji and I were the clear leaders. In the end I took first and Neji took second. After we had all stopped at finish line, we all got out of our mechas, waiting for the scores to be tallied. Everyone was on edge, especially the Akatski. I don't think they were taking their loss very well.

"And the winner of this years mecha tournament, is… drum roll please… team… KATSUYU!"

I was speechless, but Temari sure wasn't, she was screaming as loud as she could while jumping up and down. I couldn't believe it, we had actually won. We had somehow managed to beat the undefeated champions against all odds. We had done it.

"Will team Katsuyu please take their spot on the stage?"

We were immediately ushered on the tournament stage and a few medals were thrown around our necks. Sakura and Shikamaru came on the stage as well, running full speed. Well Sakura was running, Shikamaru was going his own pace. That was my brother all right. Sakura grabbed me and pulled me into a hug. Another person joined us on the stage, Tsunade.

"Holy shit!" Temari yelled. I turned around to see what the fuss was all about, it was a giant trophy. "I could just kiss someone!" She said. Unfortunately the closest person to Temari was my brother, so she planted one on him. But you know what? He didn't seem to mind at all. I looked at Sakura and Sasuke. They were being interviewed by a few reporters, but the crazy thing was that Sasuke had his arm around Sakura's waist. I definitely didn't see that one coming.

All of a sudden Neji appeared in front of me and put his hands on my waist and swiftly twirled me in the air, then gently put me down as I draped my arms around his neck.

"So what do we do now?" He said, a smirk appeared on his face.

"I guess we can start with this." I stood on my tip toes and put my lips to Neji's.

We had won this year, but we still had the next to worry about. We were the champs after all, and we had to defend our title.

I hope that was what you all hoped it would be :)
Happy Valentines Day!!!
Thanks for reading!

Please review and even if you don't, check out my other stories. XD
p.s. I'm considering doing another chapter, so tell me if you want another.
I'll only do it if I get enough people telling me I should. :)

turtelchick...out