::A/N:: I was hoping to have the story finished by the end of my spring break, but it's not looking to well. I start my new job Friday so it might take longer than I thought. But I hope to have new chapters up as soon as possible. I have everything planned out, so now it's just a matter of typing it.
A big thanks to rallybabe89 who caught my grammer error a few chapters ago. I can't believe I didn't catch that sooner. Thanks for pointing that out!
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. If I did, Gaara would always carry around a teddy. Who would think he would be evil then?!
The Excuse
Neji refused to eat with the Hyuuga's that night. Instead, he went straight back into his room. Hiashi had asked him to join and eat anyways, but Neji was far too upset to sit in a room with people he didn't care to be around. He needed to be alone now.
For hours, Neji just stared at the ceiling above his bed, trying to figure out what went wrong. He knew that was a long list, but he was so certain that he could pull this off without Tenten getting upset. And here he was, on task four, and he already lost it. However, she didn't yell at him for lying to her; she yelled because she was scared. Did that mean that she still didn't know? Maybe he still had a chance. Maybe he had it all wrong.
So, he got up off his bed and took off down the halls of the mansion. He didn't stop to answer Hiashi as to where he was headed. Neji knew he would figure it out sooner or later. All he cared about now was finding Tenten so he could talk about what happened. And he didn't stop until he was back at her place, staring at the front door.
He raised his hand to knock, but froze for an unknown reason. A strong urge told him to stop and go back home. This was the end of the bet for him. But Neji knew she was his best chance. He couldn't turn down the opportunity he had, not now. Not when he had come this far.
"I had a feeling you were going to be here."
Neji had been so caught up in his feelings that he didn't even notice Tenten walk up from behind him. Where did she go? It had been quite a while since he saw her leave. How did he manage to beat her back to her place?
"Where have you been? It's been a—"
"Don't start with me, Neji. Why are you here?" she asked as she leaned up against the wall.
Neji looked away. "I did not mean to drag you to the mansion. If you didn't want to go, why didn't you tell me?"
Tenten sighed and pushed herself off the wall. She didn't answer him as she reached into her pocket to pull out the key.
"Wait," Neji said, pulling her arm away from the door. "If you are mad at me, tell me."
She was quiet for a while, as if trying to decide if she was going to tell him. Finally, she turned her body to face him. "Fine, I am mad at you. You've been making yourself out to be a whole different person, and I hate to say it, but I have been falling for it. I thought you were doing all of this because you cared about me. Well, you proved me wrong yesterday. You should have kept your mouth shut."
She turned back around, but Neji stepped in between her and the door. "What if I told you I meant it?" He immediately wanted to take it back, because he didn't, and she would just grow angrier with him.
He wasn't expecting an answer, so her voice caught him by surprise. "You know, I did believe you loved me for a while. It wasn't until you said it that I knew you fooled me."
She pushed past him to get to the door while Neji stood still, thinking about what she had said. He had really got to her. He was thinking about this all wrong. He should have known that spending more time with her was going to make her think that he really did love her.
But did he really love her?
"…Wait, I didn't mean—"
"To what, Neji?" she snapped. "To get to me like this? I guess you're not too much to blame. After all, I was the one who let you get to me. I can't believe I thought you actually cared about me!"
"I wouldn't be here now if I didn't care about you. If you were anybody else, I wouldn't care. I can't stand for you to be mad at me again." I can't live without you. He silently cursed Hiashi for getting into his mind as he glared at the floor. He didn't love her. Caring and loving were two different feelings.
But the fear of living the rest of his life without her scared him. Once again, his mind echoed his uncle's words, "It's finding someone you can't live without."
"Please, hear me out," Neji said with his head down, trying to get his thoughts together. He knew what he wanted to say, what he needed to say. He needed her to help him finish what he set out to do. Maybe a few more days with her would help him figure out if this fear of living without her was because he loved her or not. He took a deep breath and said what was on his mind. "I can't imagine where I would be without you."
It was quiet again, but Neji was too afraid to look up. He waited for her to say something, anything to let him know she understood. Maybe she would give him another chance. After a few minutes in silence, Neji couldn't wait anymore and looked up.
And all he saw was the door.
-----
Tenten sat with her back against the door, trying to tell herself that Neji did not say what he just did. While he was looking away, she angrily walked inside and was careful not to make a noise to let him know she didn't care. Yes, she was furious with him and wanted him to leave, but it was another thing to slam the door in his face and regret it the next day.
However, instead of walking away, she found herself sitting behind the door when she heard his voice again. She thought he was going to walk away, but he didn't. She should have walked away from the door, but she couldn't. In a way, she wanted to hear what he had to say. She wanted him to tell her how sorry he was for fooling her like he had. She wanted to see him in pain for once.
But she didn't hear what she expected to hear at all. "I can't imagine where I would be without you."
She could have sworn that her heart stopped beating. She told herself it was just his way of trying to apologize so he could hurt her again. But there was a feeling that told he was being honest. He was speaking from his heart. His tone gave away that much. She rarely heard him speak in such a way.
She wanted to open the door and tell him she was sorry for snapping at him, but she didn't. She couldn't get her body to move. He had struck something in her and her body was still adjusting to his words. How could she hate him when he sounded hurt, afraid…characteristics that she would never want to hear from him? She wanted so badly to hurt him the way he had hurt her, but now she regretted it. Whether or not he cared about her, she cared about him.
Finally, she stood up and found the courage to open the door to try to talk to him. But Neji wasn't there. She looked around the area to see if he was walking away, but he was gone. Upset with herself, she shut the door and fell back against it.
And then she let her tears fall for the person she loved.
-----
Neji was soaked to the bone when he arrived at the Hyuuga Mansion. Of course, it had to start raining, but he didn't care. The pounding rain on his skin had no effect on him whatsoever. In fact, he didn't even notice he was soaked until Hiashi told him to change clothes before he caught a cold.
But what Hiashi didn't know was that he would rather have caught the cold then feel the way he did.
When he changed, he fell back on his bed. He was furious with himself for being so stupid to ask her to be a part of this challenge. He should have known it was too risky, but he overlooked that for his personal goals. And now, not only did he lose his chance to change his Fate; he had lost one of his closest friends.
"I assume it did not go well."
Neji had been too consumed in his thoughts and his own disappointment to even hear Hiashi step into his room. However, the younger Hyuuga didn't acknowledge the elder.
Hiashi sat down next in a chair next to his bed. He had seen Neji like this once: when his father died. It was very disturbing to see him so upset now. "I am sorry for getting you into this, Neji. I was hoping that this challenge would be meaningful to you. I did not want it to hurt you."
"You don't need to apologize," Neji said quietly. He continued to stare up at the ceiling, but at least he was talking.
Hiashi, for once, didn't know what to say to his nephew. He knew that he cared about his friend, but now he had the feeling he didn't know at all. The two of them had to have been extremely close for Neji to look so upset.
"You remember what you told me, about finding someone I can't live without? I thought about that today. I realized that I don't know if I can live my life without her. She's been such a huge part of my life for almost eight years. Why am I now realizing how important she is to me now that she's gone?"
Hiashi wanted to smile at Neji's response, but he knew it wasn't a good time. "Some people do not realize what they have until it's gone."
Neji sat up. "Does this mean I have lost her forever?"
"Let me ask you this," Hiashi said. "If you were her, would you take you back?"
Neji didn't respond right away. He thought about all the stupid things he had done. He thought about all the lying he did, all the yelling he did. He began to wonder why in the world she took him back the first time. "No," he finally spat out. "I would not take me back."
He expected Hiashi to take his answer and leave, but he leaned forward and asked, "Then what would it take for you to take you back?"
Once again, he made Neji think long and hard about his question. What would he have to do for Tenten to accept him again, to be his friend? "I would do anything for her. The fear of losing her forever scares me."
"Then use that fear to help you. If you do not fake that fear, then I can assure you, with how close you two seem to be, she won't let you fight that fear alone. She might be more cautious with what you do, but she will be there for you."
Then Neji went back to staring at the ceiling. "But that doesn't matter anymore. I've lost this bet. What's the point of telling her—?"
"If you only want to be her friend so you can succeed, then you do not care about her. You need to make a choice, Neji. What is more important to you? This challenge, or her friendship? I guarantee that if you put her friendship on the line for this challenge again, you will never be able to get it back."
"You really think that?" Neji asked as he watched Hiashi stand up.
"That choice is up to you, Neji. But answer this before you choose: can you really live with yourself if you use her again for your personal achievement?"
"She's my only hope. I cannot do this without her help."
"Then do what you must, Neji. The only way to learn is to make mistakes and learn from them. All I am saying is to think about it. You have two options, both with outcomes that can affect your life. Choose wisely, Neji."
And without saying another word, Hiashi left Neji alone.
Not the ending I was hoping for, but I couldn't figure out how to continue it, so I stopped and saved it for the next chapter. I have to say thanks to my favi reviewers who liked the ending in the last chapter. I was afraid it was bad, so thanks. So I hope there was enough drama here, because I didn't want to write anymore. It made me sad. Anyways, thanks again for reading. Peace until next time!
Kratos Wilder
Next Chapter: The Test: "You did nothing wrong; I did."
