Thank you for your reviews on the previous chapter. Let's start on chapter L!
Neji climbed up the hill with two bouquets of white lilies in his hands. Various headstones littered the grassy hill that Neji was climbing. The place was one of the most beautiful cemeteries in Konoha because of its trees and lush green grass. Today was Neji's parents' death anniversary.
They had both died in a car crash when Neji was only eleven and left him in the care of his uncle who was his father's twin. There were times that Neji saw his father instead of his uncle standing before him but he got over his parents' deaths with time.
He finally reached the location of his parents' headstones. Neji knelt on the grass and placed a bouquet of flowers each on their graves. "Father, mother, I am here." Neji greeted and sat down. "You must be wondering who I am but it's me, Neji. You remember Tenten right? The girl I told you about? Well this is her body and how she looks like."
Neji chuckled to himself.
"We somehow got into trouble with a voodoo witch and she died cursing us. We switched consciousnesses and now I am in Tenten's body and she is in my body. I know we had a fight that led us to be enemies but these past days, I found out that... I like her." Neji scoffed. "Who am I kidding? I have always liked Tenten since highschool and even when we were on bad terms but my feelings for her grew."
Neji reminisced the events that happened in the past that made him all bitter against Tenten.
"She told me that I was the one who offended her first but I am confused. She was the one to attack me for no reason." Neji sighed. "We haven't talked it out though. Oh and Lee came back to Konoha, I was surprised when I saw him at the film set. There are many things I want to say but one way or the other, I come up short. Who knows? Maybe next time I visit I would be in my own body again and I would bring Tenten along."
He stood up and dusted down his clothes after saying bye to his parents. Neji waltzed down the hill enjoying the serene atmosphere the cemetery provided. He reached his hand into his pocket and fetched the keys to Tenten's red car. As a habitual process, Neji gave the car a quick scan and when he deemed it okay, he checked his environment.
Neji tensed up and immediately walked to the car in an attempt to drive off but the man was faster than him. Using the reflection from the windows as a guide, Neji sidestepped the man that was trying to drug him with an handkerchief and delivered a swift blow to his neck with his elbow.
The man slumped to the ground but Neji could not rejoice yet for he was not alone. Another man appeared from his hiding spot and jumped at Neji. He was not a black belt in karate for nothing. Neji skillfully avoided the lethal punch the man aimed for his face and caught him by his other arm. He bent the little finger, eliciting a scream from the thug, and spun both himself and the man around just in time to use him as a shield against another thug that had appeared.
More and more of them came flooding in like ants raiding a sugar cube which got Neji wondering why they were targeting him. They were the loansharks that ambushed him last week and left him with a time grace. Two weeks weren't up yet so why were they attacking him?
Neji had no chance to ask because he was outnumbered. He felt a pair of arms grab him under his armpits while another pressed the drugged handkerchief to his nose. Neji held his breath on instinct but they noticed and socked him in the gut, forcing him to take a sharp breath in.
Neji thrashed in their hold and managed to break free but the drug was strong and had started working in his body. He staggered as he tried to keep his feet on the ground but all he could see was multiple visions. Neji fainted at last but not without delivering a last punch to the one who socked him. A satisfying crunch reached his ears as the nose broke and Neji's vision turned black.
"Stupid bitch!" The thug whom Neji gave the last punch to cursed holding his bleeding nose in pain. "It took this many of us to kidnap a single bitch?!" He cursed again when he saw the injuries Neji inflicted on his men.
"It was like she was a man." One of the goons commented. Little did he know that he was right.
"Pack her up before we get some unwanted distractions. I don't want boss hounding me again." The thug spat some blood out of his mouth.
"Neji!" A voice suddenly shrieked and the thugs paused in their actions. What now? Two men were running towards their direction like stampeding antelopes and were preparing for a fight.
"Oh?" The leader ordered his goons to back up and secure Neji while he faced the two angry men.
"What do you think you're doing to Ne...Tenten?!" Tenten yelled.
"Easy there blind bat. You see, your friend here owes us money. Actually, her father owes us the money but that dump shit absconded without paying us." The man explained as civil as a thug could get. "So we are taking his daughter until he pays us back, easy."
Tenten muttered a string of curses at the man that was called her father and rubbed her face down in an attempt to calm down. "Look, we can solve this without resulting to kidnapping." She bargained.
"What? You both gonna pay us?" The thug snided.
"Yes we would." Tenten replied confidently even though she didn't have up to ten million yen yet and wasn't sure if Lee would help.
"Good!" The thug exclaimed. "She owes us fifteen million yen."
Tenten's and Lee's eyes widened. "F-fifteen?! I thought it was ten!" Tenten snapped.
"Do you see my broken nose?" The man pointed to his nose. "I would need plastic surgery to fix this. Take a look at my men too, look how she injured them although this is disgraceful." It was obviously an exaggerated lie to add more money to their profit, a broken nose couldn't need plastic surgery after all, but Tenten had no say in the matter.
"Whoa, Neji sure did a number." Lee spoke for the first time since this conversation started and earned himself multiple glares for his statement.
"Fifteen million is just candy money, don't you think? The fucker initially wanted to borrow a hundred million from us but you should be thankful." The thug continued.
"Okay, okay. Give us till next month." Tenten negotiated. Contrary to popular belief, Tenten was not that rich. Sure she could afford some luxuries but she had her share of loans to pay not to mention house bills and car services. Fifteen million was not something she could sneeze out immediately.
"No can do brother, next week."
"Next week?!" Tenten was beginning to get angry. "Now, now you can't do that-!"
"-do you prefer that she gets kidnapped? We can sell her for more than that price you know." The thug threatened.
"Alright fine! Next week. Now hand him-her over." Tenten demanded. As promised, the thugs left Neji's unconscious form alone while their leader gave Tenten a business card.
"Remember, next week." They left the cemetery with that last warning note.
Tenten fisted the offending paper in her hand. She wanted to hit something!
"I could help with the fees, Tenten." Lee spoke up as he made his way over to Neji's unconscious body. Tenten picked up the keys that lay askew on the ground and opened the door of the car for Lee to put Neji in.
"I don't want to impose." Tenten muttered as she drove them to a nearby hospital.
"You are not imposing, I am helping as a friend." Lee insisted. "And besides you have hospital bills to care about. Let me help with something at least."
"Okay Lee. Thank you." Tenten admitted defeat. Neji was rushed to the hospital for treatment. Fortunately he only suffered minor injuries and a mild concussion and nothing more.
While they waited for Neji to awaken, Tenten pondered about what she heard at the graveyard earlier that day. Tenten and Lee had followed Neji to the cemetery in order to keep their promise of not letting him out of sight but following Neji without him noticing was difficult.
At one point, they missed him and could not find him anywhere in the cemetery but Tenten found him on one of the hills talking to a couple of headstones.
Hyuga Hizashi
Hyuga Asako
Tenten gasped upon realizing that the graves were Neji's parents' graves. She knew he visited his parents on their anniversaries but this was the first time she was visiting their graves. Neji was sat on the grass conversing with his parents.
"We somehow got into trouble with a voodoo witch and she died cursing us. We switched consciousnesses and now I am in Tenten's body and she is in my body. I know we had a fight that led us to be enemies but these past days, I found out that... I like her."
Tenten's eyes widened at his unwitting confession. Neji... Neji liked her?!
"Who am I kidding? I have always liked Tenten since highschool and even when we were on bad terms but my feelings for her grew. She told me that I was the one who offended her first but I am confused. She was the one to attack me for no reason." Neji sighed. "We haven't talked it out though."
Tenten could not handle the news any further so she carefully snuck away from the place. "Tenten, what's wrong?" Lee asked as she tumbled down the hill. Tenten didn't answer him.
She leaned back on the hood of the car they brought and covered her face with her hands. Neji had liked her ever since they were teenagers?! And what the hell did he mean she attacked him first? He was the one that didn't keep his promise!
"That van looks fishy." Lee's statement snapped her out of her thoughts immediately. She sat up to look at what Lee was talking about. "Men in suits? They look like thugs to me." Her best friend muttered as he watched series of men come down from the bus.
Thugs? They were the only ones in the cemetery other than Neji, what were thugs looking for here? That was when it clicked in Tenten's head. "No shit, Neji! Lee come on!" She beckoned and they both ran into the cemetery.
That brought them to their present state near Neji's bed in the hospital. Tenten had questions that needed to be answers and she had an unwanted loan she had to pay. She cursed Misaki again for the trouble he caused. That asshole better remained where he ran away to for life.
As you can probably guess, Neji and Tenten's switchback is approaching closer but the story's just starting!
Always check your surroundings! If you enter a building, give it a brief check with your eyes. If you want to enter a car, just give it a brief scan. You never know what you can avoid by being observant.
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Till next chapter guys, bye.
-Star.