Poems: Part 1 of the Realitum Trilogy
By Mirokufan95
CHAPTER 1
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Or Tenten, or Neji, or Kiba. Ok. I think you get the point.
Day One
Her mother gave her the journal before she died. It was the only thing Tenten had left from her past… And from her parents.
The journal was covered in red velvet, except for a small black symbol at the bottom right of the cover. Inside, she wrote a poem each day about her life.
She flipped through the pages and found the poem she wrote yesterday. She stared long and hard at it. She thought about her life would be like if she still had her parents with her. To not feel alone anymore.
Because that's what she wrote about the day before.
.::-----------::.
Infinite Realities
You were here.
But now, you're gone.
The empty pages left unfulfilled.
But what would it be like,
If you were still beside me?
Are you still there?
In a different world?
Nothing is as it seems.
I know you're there with me,
Just not here with me,
In an alternate reality.
'::----------::'
Tenten sighed.
She wanted forget about all of this, but she couldn't. Her sadness and thoughts remained stuck in her head. And not knowing what to do, she shut the book without writing a single word.
Kel sat in his room. He just ate dinner his mom made.
His room was small, but huge compared to the apartment's bathroom.
He stood up, got a book from his bookcase and plopped back onto his bed. His mom and dad gave him the book a while ago.
He eyes the symbol at the bottom right corner of the front. He didn't know what it meant, but he knew that it was related to the writings at the back of the book.
He tried to read it, but couldn't. All he figured out was "The Realitum Theory."
FLASHBACK
"The Realitum Theory?" He said to himself. He had managed to read a paragraph in the scratchy handwriting.
"The Realitum Theory.
"When an object plays an important role in a person's life and dimension, and plays another important role in another person's dimension the object can form a bridge…
..And can act as a…
…only if a person discovers its hidden meaning."
Kel squinted at the paper in front of him. Many parts were missing, and he couldn't read any other word. It was weird… He actually wanted to read more.
END FLASHBACK
Evening
Tenten felt the cold metal of the kunai in her hands. It always took her a little effort not to slice her arm. She always seemed happy in Konoha…
…But within the confines of her apartment, it was different.
She flung the kunai towards the tree outside her open apartment window.
With her 100 percent accuracy, it had only deepened the hole made from times before.
She opened the notebook and took out a pencil.
She thought for a moment and decided that the poem she was going to write was going to be a haiku.
.::-----------::.
A single red rose,
Its petals slowly dying.
Petals fall. Wilted.
'::-----------::'
She thought of the times she really needed someone.
Too bad there was no one there…
She got the kunai and pierced her index finger, letting a drop of blood escape from her skin.
A tear fell from her cheek onto the journal's paper. Tenten pressed her finger onto the tear.
She had to be strong.
As Tenten lay down on her bed, she looked at the moon and the stars through her window.
She knew she had to be the steel hearted one. She knew that she was that rose. But she couldn't wilt, she just wouldn't.
"I'm not going to choose the door that leads to Hell." Tenten whispered to herself, "I'm already in for a living Hell tomorrow…"
She knew what she was talking about… Because when you're against Hyuuga Neji, you would wish you were in Hell.
Kel removed his jacket and threw it into the laundry basket near the washing machine.
Perfect shot.
He walked into his room and put his Hitai-ate on the book shelf.
In gray sweats, he grabbed a pillow, and jumped onto his bed. He was tired, yet he didn't want to go to sleep.
He took the journal from his desk and eyed the symbol at the bottom right corner. The symbol had two overlapping four-pointed stars, a crescent in the center, and four stars around the symbol.
Kel finally realized.
He removed the chain around his neck, a glittering charm dangling from its end.
The charm looked just like a shuriken, but smaller and duller.
Not to mention the fact that it was silver and not the usual charcoal color.
His eyes widened as he saw the small moonstone shaped as a crescent sparkling in the middle of the pendant…
…It was one of the stars on the notebook...
Day Two
Tenten sighed. She was late again.
She grabbed a banana from the counter, peeled it, and shoved it into her mouth.
'Neji is gonna kill me… AGAIN!' She thought to herself, and ran out the door.
Neji was already meditating at the training grounds.
'Of course…' Tenten thought as she crept up to him as quietly as she could.
"Late again." Neji stated without even opening his eyes.
"Gomen… Sensei…" Tenten replied, her voice dripping with sarcasm.
"Hn." Was Neji's answer. As usual, he was showing off his 'Hyuuga Scowl.'
Neji opened his eyes and stood up; ready to fight.
"Careful Neji-Senpai," Tenten shouted, "I've been training."
"Byakugan!" Neji shouted. He rushed at her with his palm facing her chest.
Tenten dodged it easily enough, and back flipped.
In the process of the back flip, she managed to yank out a scroll from her bag. She pulled out a three foot margin while ducking under one of Neji's gentle fists. 'Nice play on words… Gentle. Yeah RIGHT!' She thought and smiled.' Tenten bit her thumb and drew blood on the scrolls characters.
She grabbed the weapons that materialized out of thin air, which happened to be two pairs of nunchuks.
Perfect.
To buy some time, she threw three kunais, followed by three shurikens.
Although Neji seemed perfect, Tenten was one of the people that knew he wasn't.
He dodged all of the kunais, and two of the shurikens. The third seemed to graze his left arm, but Neji never seemed to draw blood, so Tenten didn't get her hopes up.
She ran up to him and felt a stab in her right arm. Neji's middle and index fingers twisted in her forearm.
Tenten wrapped one of the pairs of nunchuks around the wrist that had stabbed her.
Neji spun to his left to aim a kunai at her neck.
Tenten caught his second hand with her nunchuks and watched the kunai fall to the ground.
""Tsk tsk… Neji-kun," Tenten whispered in his ear, "You let silly old me beat you…"
Tenten had his arms bound on his back with the nunchuks.
Both pairs of nunchuks were in one of her hands, and a frustrated Neji had a kunai to his throat.
"I win." That was all that Tenten could say. Actually, she couldn't quite believe it herself. 'Wow. My plan actually worked!" She thought.
For once, she felt happy.
Neji pulled out of Tenten's grip and plucked the kunais and shurikens off the ground and trees.
"Hn. Remember that I still have won more victories than you Tenten. Maybe next time you'll try something a little less cliché. Plus, I broke from that grip easily."
Tenten's anger was back. This was not the congratulations she expected. "What the hell do you think you're saying?! That's all you think I'm capable of! You just can't seem to cope with the fact that I actually defeated you. I don't think you know that I might actually be stronger than this!"
She balled her hands into fists and aimed at Neji.
Neji caught it, and twisted it to her back.
She scowled and kicked backwards. She felt Neji's shin against her heel. He twisted her arm harder, and Tenten let out her breath.
Tenten ripped away, fighting back tears.
"Hyuuga Neji, you're so lucky…"
He arched an eyebrow.
Tenten continued, "You have people who care about you; people who notice you at home. I don't have any of that. You think that living alone is easy? I have no one to love me for who I am. I am alone. Without anyone at home… It's cold and empty; just like your heart."
She wanted him to die. She herself wanted to die.
"I hate you Neji Hyuuga."
And turning around, she walked off without another word.
4:30 pm
Kel plopped down in bed. He was covered in cuts and bruises. His teammate had beaten him in a battle. It was rare; he was usually the one who one, but Kel didn't care… He was too preoccupied in finding out the secret of the journal.
8 Hours Later
"WHAT THE HELL AM I SUPPOSED TO DO?!" He shouted.
"QUIET UP THERE!" Shouted his mom.
Kel cowered on his bed. He didn't want to see his mom angry… Especially if he was the one to make her angry in the first place.
Kel glanced at the clock.
"Hmm…" He said sarcastically, "Go to bed, or try to figure out the secret of this stupid notebook…"
"…"
"Yeah, I'm going to bed."
He tossed the book onto the floor where it landed with a light thump.
And followed by the thump was a click that Kel didn't hear.
In her room, Tenten sat in front of the journal, anger mixed with denial. She sat on the bed thinking deeply to herself.
"I won. I won. I won… and yet, I lost… I didn't even benefit from it. I lost instead of winning." She took out a red pen from her drawer and spelled out two words on the last page.
"I lost."
She went to where the last poem was, and wrote on the next page… And she knew exactly what she wanted to write.
.::-----------::.
Loss and Victory
How can you win, yet lose?
How can you see, and yet be blinded?
Knowing the pain can help you eliminate it.
I didn't know mine.
Tears of the blind turn to salvation.
Blood of the lost is spilled.
I'm still falling.
And someday I'll die.
I'm too lost to be found.
Ashes to ashes,
Blood and tears.
Individuality matters…
…But not mine.
'::-----------::'
Tenten threw the book onto the floor and closed her eyes.
She opened them immediately after she heard the click.
"'Where did that come from?' Her eyes were sore from crying, but no more tears fell.
She looked around. Finally, her eyes came to rest on the journal.
She bent down and picked it up.
The symbol was open. It opened by a hinge Tenten didn't never knew existed.
Inside, you could probably only fit a quarter. But there was no quarter inside.
Inside, there was a turning crank; like a music box.
She twisted it, and a beautiful melody poured out. Tenten was confused. The song sound so familiar, yet she never heard it before. She went to turn the crank again, when a surge of electricity surged through her.
Tenten screamed at the pain, which was increasing more and more until it finally stopped.
Tenten opened her eyes to find her room changed.
Instead of one bookshelf, there were two on each side of the bed. Plus, the color scheme had changed.
"Where the heck am I?" She asked to herself. The notebook was clutched tightly to her chest. Where was she? She felt around. There was a hard object under her.
It was a second journal.
Just when Tenten almost figured it out, a guy about her age walked in wearing gray sweats.
"Who the HELL are you?!" They said at the same time.
"Okay," said Kel, "I don't know who you are, but you better tell me, otherwise you'll be slaughtered here, right on the spot with a dozen kunais."
'Oh crap…' Tenten thought. 'This isn't my damn room!'
End Chapter
