Double Trouble!
By: SuperHyuga Yoshi-chan
Chapter 9: When in doubt, count on your friends. (Except when they sneak into your room through the window.)
"Nng...Tenten..." I moaned. "why'd you have to go?"
It's been two days since she left with my heart. I can't eat anything but Chinese food and strawberries with chocolate ice cream (those were Tenten's favorites). I can't watch Bleach. I can't read any manga. I can't function right. I can't even sleep. And when I do, the only thing I see in my dreams are memories. Some like bliss, some painful, but most about Tenten's past...
{Flashback/Dream}
*Tap! Tap! Tap!* Three taps were heard on 9-year-old Neji's window on that Saturday night. He checked his alarm clock. It read 12:16 midnight.
'Please don't let there be a fourth tap.' Neji thought.
*WOOSH!* A small pebble flew in through the window, hit the target on the wall, and hit a stack of marbles that led to a block, and then knocked down a line of bed sheets. Neji slid out of bed so he could go to the window. He wasn't surprised to see Tenten, but he was surprised to see her here this late.
"Tenten, what's wrong?" He pulled her through the window.
"It's my Dad. He's...he's drunk again." Tenten gulped.
"Did he try to hurt you again?" He asked.
"Yes. But I got away in time."
"What happened?"
"I don't want to talk about-"
"Tenten-chan, if you want me to help you, then you have to tell me what happened." Neji sat down on his bed and urged Tenten to do the same.
She breathed in and out slowly and brushed her hair back. Then, she started to speak.
"My dad...he was drinking again. My mom was downstairs cleaning the dishes. He wanted sex, like he always does when he's drunk." Her eyes started watering up. "She said no. She said no because she was scared. She was scared and tired. And then..." Tenten paused to wipe a tear from her eye. "h-h-he grabbed her by the neck and started to choke her. Then he said 'listen, you're my bitch! You got that? So you do whatever I want!' Then he starting saying stuff about how he owned her, an how he always would own her. I was looking from the stairwell, but all I did was freeze. Then I snapped out of it as soon as he started choking her again. I ran down the stairs and starting hitting him." She shuddered.
Neji wrapped his left arm around Tenten's shoulders and started wiping away her tears.
"He picked me up my nightdress and kicked me in my left shoulder. That's when my mom screamed: 'Run, Tenten! Run!'" She tuned to look Neji in the eyes. "I asked her, 'what about you, mom?' You wanna know what she said?"
Neji didn't have a chance to respond, because Tenten answered for him. "She smiled and said. 'baby, I'll rescue myself someday. Just save yourself first!' So I ran. I ran and never turned back. But my father yelled and said that I was a nobody. That I was his bitch too, and that I would never-never leave that house alive." She started crying uncontrollably. "I-I s-shouldn't have left, Neji. I shouldn't have left her there alone. I should've at least turned back, a-a-nd-"
"And do what, Ten-chan? You couldn't have done anything else. Besides, it was right for you to come here. You're safe now." Neji pulled out an extra blanket from the closet and wrapped her in it.
He then pulled her onto her lap and started to rock her back and forth. Her cries slowly subsided into small whimpers. Neji started to hum a comforting lullaby to her as her eyes finally started to close.
"Neji..." Tenten whispered. "I'm weak, aren't I?"
"No. No, you're not weak. Where would you-"
"Dad said that criers are weaklings. Tough people don't cry, so that what makes them tough. Isn't that right, Neji-kun?"
"No." Neji ran his fingers through her hair. "Everybody cries. Even tough people cry sometimes, because they can't be strong all the time. They just need to set down their burdens sometimes. You think I'm tough all the time, don't you?"
Tenten nodded her head.
"Well I'm not always tough. I cry for my mommy and daddy too, you know?" Neji's eyes started to water. He looked away quickly; trying in vain to hide his shame.
"Don't worry, Neji-kun. I won't tell anybody. I promise." Tenten wiped his tears away carefully with her right hand. "I promise."
"Thanks, Ten-chan." He tucked her into his bed.
Tenten fell asleep almost as soon as her head hit the pillow. Neji looked at her sleep, and he thought she looked like an angel. He didn't know why someone would want to hurt someone who looked like an angel. Neji suddenly got very angry.
"Anyone who tries to hurt my Tenten is a coward." He whispered.
He grabbed a baseball bat and slid into bed right next to Tenten. He placed the covers over her chin and placed his arm and the baseball bat over her body.
"Neji-kun...protect me." She murmured.
" Oh, I'll protect you all right. I don't give a damn who comes in here; if they're coming after you then I'm fighting them to the death. They won't put a single hair on you. Over my damn dead body."
Neji's protective aura seemed to soothe the girl sleeping next to him, because she snuggled closer to him and smiled.
{End of Flashback/Dream}
Believe it or not, those night were the times that I missed the most. The nights when I held her and was able to brush her hair back were the times that made me start to fall for her. She was so strong and so fragile at the same time. I was so busy thinking about her that I didn't notice that the door broke down until a voice sounded from the doorway.
"Neji! my man, what's-" Kiba announced as he walked in with Sauske, Naruto, and Sai. "Wak-tha-flock are you doing?" He exclaimed.
'Well, ever since I broke up with Tenten, I decided I deserved a well-earned mope.' *Sigh!*
"Hyuga, what are you doing?" Naruto stepped around the place. "Chinese food, strawberries and chocolate ice-cream, spiderman comics-" Naruto whipped his head around to gape at something green. "OH! Is that Kermit the Frog?"
"NO!" I snatched it away before he could touch it. "Tenten loves Kermit the Frog."
"Dude...are you watching a documentary about Pandas?" Sauske almost exclaimed.
"Wait halfa' sec'..." Sai spoke up. "I believe I know what's happening here-"
"Neji, you're moping aren't you?" An unknown voice entered the room and the conversation. We all turned to glance at the window, only to see Shino crawling through it.
"Oh, it's just Shino." We said in unison. Everyone except me did a double-take. "SHINO!"
"See? He's so deep into mope-counciousness *thud!* *Ouch!*" Shino fell on the floor. "that he didn't even notice me sneak in."
"Naw, it's not that. Sauske does it all the time, so I'm used to it." I mumbled.
"True that." Sauske smiled.
"Well the point is, he's moping. The 'oh-so-great' HYUGA NEJI never ever, ever mopes!" Kiba smirked.
"I'm not the Hyuga Neji you guys know." I looked away from them. "Tenten took the real Hyuga Neji away with her."
It was true. Ever since that dreadful day, a part of me felt missing.
"Dude, c'mon! You're acting all mopey-dopey, depressed 'Mr. I'm so lonely' over a girl? Get it together, man." Kiba scoffed.
"You..." Before I even knew what I was doing, I had grabbed Kiba by the collar. "You don't understand!"
Kiba looked scared for a minute. Then his look changed from a scared one to a sympathetic one.
"You're right, Neji. I don't understand. I'm sorry." He hung his head in humiliation.
I let go of him. I would forgive Kiba this all, he does owe me a well-deserved punch.
" I saw in an anime that the best way to heal a broken heart is with another heart." Sai spoke up. "If so, maybe Neji needs a heart transplant of some sort."
"Everyone broke out laughing except Sai. Even I had to laugh at his ignorance.
"What?" He asked. "Why are you laughing? You guys are acting as if I said something funny." He whined.
"You mean you were serious?" Naruto asked.
"Does it look like i'm kidding?" Sai crossed his arms.
That only set us off to laugh even more.
"We're sorry, Sai. It's just that you're so...well, innocent!" Sauske chucked as he wiped a tear from his eye.
"Sai kind of does have a point, though." Shino stated. "Minus the heart transplant, of course."
"What do you mean, Shino?" Kiba asked.
"The only way to heal a broken heart is with another heart. It's a figure of speech, but very true."
"Oh, I get it!" Naruto spoke up. "So all Neji needs is someone to open him back up again, and he'll be all better."
"Precisely." Shino stated.
I was in utter shock. How could my friends be planning to fix me up when I was still in pain? In front of my own face?
"Um, Hell-o? I'm right here, you guys!" I spoke up.
"Aw, c'mon Neji. We just don't want to see you down. At least, not like this anyway." Naruto said.
"Contrary to popular belief, we actually like your stoic and 'strong, silent type' attitude." Sauske piped in.
"*Sniff!* Really?" I looked up.
"Sure." Kiba said.
I sighed. The guys kinda had a point, even if Sai was off by a long shot.
"Well..." I sighed. "I'll think about it."
"Great!" Naruto grinned. "When you're ready, just call us!"
{Later that day-downstairs}
"Well, well, well..." Hiashi smirked. "look at who's finally decided to come back to planet Earth."
"Hn." I grunted. I wasn't in the mood for my Uncle's dry humor. At least not today, anyway.
"Neji, you've been moping for two days too long. I was worried about you."
"Really?" I asked.
"Yes, and now that you seem to be feeling better, I need to tell you something."
"What?" I sat down on a stool.
"I got you a job."
"WHAT?" I fell of the stool.
"Well, I didn't want you being this moody and depressed all summer. So, I decided to do you a favor and get you a summer job."
"But I already got a summer job! At Foot LockerÔ! Remember?"
"Yeah, but your ex was going to work there, Remember?" He asked, mocking my tone.
"It doesn't matter, Uncle! I would've been bringing home bread! Real bread! Not white bread; WHEAT bread!" I groaned.
"I don't know what to tell you, Neji."
"Please tell me it's a well-paying, decent place."
"It's a well-paying, decent place."
"A-HA-HA! A-HA-HA- *gasp!* Not funny."
"No seriously, Neji. The place is really fancy, has an odd but nice staff, and work together like family. I think it's called...augh! For the life of me, I just can't remember the name of that place-"
"Akautski's?" I whispered softly.
"YEAH! That's the place! Akautski's!" Uncle Hiashi exclaimed.
"Hnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn..." I groaned.
"Huh? Neji, what's wrong?"
"HNNNNNNNNNNN!"
"What is it, Neji?"
"HNNNNNNNNN!"
"Hyuga Neji, what the hell is wrong with you?"
"That's where Tenten broke up with me!"
"Oh." Hiashi said. "So, what were saying about bringing in that wheat bread?"
"You know what?" Forget about it."
"What? Wait, Neji i'm sorry-"
"I said 'Forget About It!" I shouted as I stormed up the stairs.
"In case you want to know, you start work tommorow!"
"Well if that's the case, then I ain't goin'!" I yelled before slamming my room door.
)
U
Author's Block!
Hey, guys! I hope the first intro scene was touching and/or emotionally ,moving. I saw a bit of myself flash between the screen as I wrote that...
:(
But on a lighter note, we're probably going to be seeing more of Tobi! pro-ba-blyyyyyy...
Neji: But I wanna work at Foot Locker! And bring back bread! Real bread! Not that bleached and chalked *%&! they call 'white' bread! Wheat bread! The real *%&!
Yoshi-chan: Now I see why you too have a grudge against white bread. *Blech!*
-'till next time though,
imma stay posted!
Yoshi.C!
