Welcome to chapter J!
Enjoy.
Neji hung up with the promise of visiting Tenten after he was done with her father. He sighed. This would be difficult.
Neji went to the front door and clicked the intercom. "I do not want to see you so I would appreciate it if you left." He said abruptly. Chills ran down Neji's spine when Tenten's father started laughing maniacally at the gate. What was this man's deal?
"Okay stupid bitch, it is all on you now." The man growled into the intercom. Neji fumed at what this man just called Tenten and had begun to form hateful words in his head for a comeback when the words the man said registered.
"It is all on me?" Neji asked but the man was already gone. "What a weirdo." Neji muttered. He went back upstairs to change his outfit for Tenten's visitation. All the while, he thought deeply about what Tenten's father's statement could have meant.
It is all on you now.
What was now on Tenten?
Whatever it was, Neji certainly did not feel good about it. He finally arrived at his house where Tenten was staying until the switch wears out and pulled up in the garage.
"Tenten?" Neji called. He removed his shoes at the lobby and wore the extra slippers that he provided for visitors (not that he had any). Tenten was hurdled up on a couch in the living room. Her head was on her knees and her arms were tightly wrapped around her legs. "Tenten?"
"Neji?" Her head raised upon hearing his voice. "Thank goodness you're okay." Tenten sighed with relief.
"Want something to drink or eat?" Neji asked on his way to the kitchen.
"Ice cream smoothie." Tenten replied feebly. Neji shook his head fondly at her request, she has such a sweet tooth.
"Hai." Neji mock saluted and proceeded to prepare her smoothie. Tenten used to like the ice cream mix he made but he was not sure if she still liked it. He decided to make it anyway.
He retrieved the tub of cookie dough ice cream (which Tenten must have bought) from the fridge and dumped half its content inside the blender cup, then he sliced some strawberries into it and poured in some cream. While the blender worked the mixture Neji crushed some oreos into crumbs and when the mixture was done, he scooped it into a cup and sprinkled the crushed oreos on it.
He should have a straw somewhere, aha. Neji fixed the straw and carried the ice cream smoothie to the living room for Tenten.
"Whoa, this brings back memories!" The woman's eyes lit up at the sight of the creamy delicacy.
"Strawberrry cookie crream smooothie, as yourr majesty orrderred." Neji said in a French accent that got Tenten laughing.
"Ha ha, that coming from my voice sounds ridiculous!" She giggled.
"Mé qui. Tu es terrible en Français." Neji agreed.
"Hey, I'm not that bad!" Tenten argued defiantly and took a sip out of her comfort snack. A sigh of satisfaction left her lips at the rich flavors bursting on her tongue. So delicious!
"Pardonez moi." Neji chuckled. Are you feeling a bit better now?" He asked softly.
"Yeah." Tenten gave a wry smile at Neji's attempt to take her mind off things. It worked.
"Do you want to talk?" Neji asked. There was silence for a while until Tenten gave a small nod. "Take it at your pace." Neji sat back on the couch across the one Tenten was sitting on.
"Okay." Tenten exhaled. "I don't know where to start from. Do- do you remember how clumsy I was back at highschool?" She asked.
"Yeah." Neji answered, trying to make the connection between how clumsy she was and the situation at hand. When Tenten was a teenager, she was one of the klutziest people he knew. A new bruise would appeared on her skin almost every week and fresh scars marred her skin. She was always falling down a staircase or running into a pole or wrong handling some weapons.
Neji's eyes widened when realization struck his brain like a thunderstorm.
"He did those to you." It wasn't a question, it was more of a baffled statement.
Tenten looked down at the ice cream smoothie she was holding and clutched the cup tightly. Neji was quick as usual. "Yeah." She admitted in a whisper.
Neji was not the type to get angry. He might get annoyed or frustrated but anger was not his forte. However, he could feel the ugly emotion reeling in a flurry. He was angry at both himself and the pathetic excuse of Tenten's father. Angry at himself for not noticing it sooner and angry at Tenten's father for being a worthless piece of trash.
Why did he not see it sooner? Back at highschool, Tenten was always aloof in subtle ways. She played and sought trouble many times but there was always some airiness to her. why did he not see sooner that her smiles were not the brightest? That her eyes did not hold the shine he knew it for? Why did he not see that her sporadic behavior was just a front?
"It began after my mother died in freshman year." Tenten continued. Neji remembered her mother's death, he and Lee were there for her funeral. So that was when everything changed.
Tenten clutched her cup tightly at the unbidden memories that came back to her. she hated to remember what that man put her through but she was unable to forget.
It first happened the night after her mother's death. Her father had drowned himself in strong alcohol and he barged into her room. "Come out you little shhitt." He slurred as he walked over to Tenten's bed.
The fifteen year old was frightened out of her sleep by the breaking sound of a bottle over her headboard. Tenten jumped out of her bed and crawled to the corner beside it, shaking and trembling. What was her father doing? She was afraid, very afraid.
"YOU KILLED HER! YOU KILLED YOUR MOTHER YOU PATHETIC WASTE OF SPERM! YOU FUCKING KILLED HER!" The man Tenten knew as her nice father raged like a mad dog.
Tenten could not hold back her tears. Her mother's death was her fault. If she had not bothered her into coming for her first drama presentation, her mother would not have gotten involved in an accident. It was her fault.
Tenten cried out sharply at the sting in her hair. Her father tugged her harshly by her hair to the middle of the room and threw her unto the carpet. Tenten lost her footing and rammed into her closet instead. The door handles of the oak wardrobe bruised her back but her father could care less.
The broken bottle waved dangerously close to her neck as he spoke profanities in her ears and delivered punches and slaps to any part of her skin he could lay his hands on. The rest of the night was a blur of pain and harsh, hateful words.
It continued like that every day. At first her father would hit her where nobody could see and question it but as time passed, he began to care less. He would come home drunk or high and then transfer his aggression to her.
The man was subsequently fired from his workplace so Tenten had to work part time jobs to feed him and herself. Fortunately, this happened on her last year in highschool, when her school fees were paid so she didn't have to worry about it.
It was rough but she finally escaped the man when she went to university. She never heard of him again until now. She hated him. She hated the fact that she looked like him, she really loathed him.
Tenten's tears dripped into the ice cream in her hand. The man used to be her model but he turned into a monster and made her believe that she was worthless until she met Anko. The woman was the one to notice her acting talent and introduce her into the industry.
Tenten allowed Neji to remove the cup from her hands and place it on a coffee table. He placed her head on his shoulder and she wrapped her arms around him as she sobbed. This felt familiar. Neji raised her head from his shoulder and held her cheeks in his hands.
"Tenten look at me. Look at yourself in me." Neji's voice was strong yet soft. "You see these eyes, they are yours and not that man's. They might be the same colour and shape but he can't see things the way you do." His eyes met hers and he held the gaze strongly. "See this face? How can you compare it to his?! They look nothing alike. This is your face, your eyes, your body. Your mother birthed you and called you beautiful not because of the features you have but because of your essence. That man is no longer a part of your life. You are free."
"Neji..." Tenten whispered.
"You are free." Neji repeated. His thumb traced her cheek and wiped the stray tears away from it. "So do not be bound by the past anymore. You do not need to be afraid of him anymore. I am here for you." With that declaration, Neji reached up and planted a soft kiss on her forehead.
Tenten exploded in a vibrant red shade at the contact before furiously trying to cover up how flustered she was. "Who said I was afraid?! Tch." She muttered and aggressively snatched her smoothie. Tenten sighed again as the sweetness exploded on her tongue and she chewed the oreos. "So sweet! Oh I missed this."
Neji chuckled with a fond shake of his head and switched on the TV. A song video was playing on it. "Hm? It's Sasuke's new song." He observed.
"Aww, he used Sakura in the video!" Tenten cooed. Sakura was a fellow actress and one of the top actresses in the industry like her while Sasuke was a singer and dancer. The two recently got together and the news had been trending ever since.
Tenten remembered how Sakura used to be a hopeless fan girl for Sasuke, now look how independent and strong she's grown. *sniff*
"Tenten, are you seriously crying?!" Neji asked incredulously.
"What?! These are happy tears! Baby Sakura finally won the heart of the Ice prince." Tenten defended. "Oh look, they kissed!" She squealed at the TV.
Neji shook his head at Tenten's antics. When the song was over and another song started playing, Tenten suddenly called his name. "Yeah?" He answered.
"I don't know what my father wants with me but please Neji, just be safe." Tenten muttered.
"You know me, nothing can catch me unawares." Neji bragged which earned him a glare from Tenten.
"I wonder why I bother, hmph!" Tenten scoffed while Neji smiled.
"I'll be careful."
Beating booth! Five dollars to beat up Tenten's father! Line up, line up! Five dollars to beat up Tenten's father!
I think the French was understandable but in case...
*Tu es terrible en Français - you are terrible at French.
*Mé qui - of course.
*Pardonez moi - pardon me.
Fun fact: I hate Oreos. Stop looking at me like that, I just don't like it!
How was your day/night? Hope it went well.
Please favorite and review.
See you next chapter, bye.
-Star.