Awaiting Sunrise

Chapter 3 - Hallucinations

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

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Tenten stared at the image on her bed at disbelief. She fell to the floor, huddled against the wall, her eyes unwilling to accept what they see.

"Y-you! How c-could you g-get through m-my house w-without s-setting o-ff..." Tenten trailed off, as the image before her put a transparent finger over her lips.

"I'm not real, Ten. But...haunt is a very strong word," it said.

"Th-then what are you? Why are you here? Why do you look like...Neji?"

The figure smiled a smile full of sorrow, unable to hide the unwanted emotions from the person before it. The Neji-figure thought for a moment, and took a deep breath.

"Don't worry...I-er...Neji is still alive. I'm just...merely some sort of 'soul vessel'...he longed to see you, and was unable to hold me back into his body. So here I am, seeing you! And he's just sleeping at the moment, nothing can harm him."

Tenten stared at disbelief, her cheeks turning a light, very light, pink. She looked at the figure...it honestly was the Neji she knew. Then, a very small frown appeared on her face.

"Neji would never want to see me."

The vessel frowned, slowly fading away. Tenten stared, unable to bring herself to say anything else.

"Believe what you wish, Ten..." were the figure's last words before it completely disappeared from sight.

"Damn..." Tenten whispered to herself, getting up and lying down on her bed. She stared off at her ceiling, processing what had just happened.

Neji would never want to see me...

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It was a new day, and Tenten woke up. Her eyes were red and her cheeks sticky from crying herself to sleep that night. She was unable to accept the fact that a transparent figure resembling Neji had come to see her. Deep inside of her, she was happy...but only her sad emotions had showed that night. She got up and looked at the mirror, gasping at her messy features. She shrugged and went into the bathroom to take a shower. The shower had not felt as soothing as before, as the image kept flashing before her eyes. She got out of the shower and very carelessly dressed herself. Her panda ear buns were the messiest thing about her this morning - strands of hair were jolting out, defying gravity by staying completely upright at times. She did not mind however. Seeing the hallucination, or so she thought, of Neji had overwhelmingly depressed her.
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Tenten's depression was soon recognized throughout the village as she walked towards the outskirts. Many women gasped at her horrible, gravity-defying hair, unable to understand what had happened. Tenten's friends tried to talk to her, and she just gave them an empty smile as she continued walking. She stopped as she sat down on a lake's edge, tears unconsciously streaming down her face. She slowly looked off into the forest, and she saw him again. She looked at the figure once more, and sighed. It slowly began to disappear, and she was unable to take it out of her mind.
Agh! Haunt is a very strong word! You're the one that's haunting me to depression, Neji! She slowly took out a senbon from the pouch tied around her leg, and threw it at the still-disappearing figure. It had narrowly missed the spot she had wished it would hit, but that did it. The figure instantly faded, leaving a disturbed Tenten behind.
"AGH! I MISSED MY MARK! DAMN YOU, NEJI!" She screamed.

She unconsciously pulled a kunai from her pouch, and was about to cut her wrist, before a jolt of pain was felt in her head. She screamed, and landed near the lake's edge, completely unconscious.

Tenten's friend, a pink-haired kunoichi, who was luckily around to see Tenten's act of depression, ran to Tenten's side.

"Sorry about that hit, Tenten...Thinking of him again?"She asked the unconscious Tenten.

Then in a poof of smoke, the two disappeared as the kunoichi took her to the hospital.
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Tenten awoke with the biggest headache in her life, jolting up into a sitting position. Her head was throbbing, and she was barely able to register where she was. She saw blurry white sheets everywhere, with a constant blend of different colors here and there. She fell back on her pillow, unable to keep the pain from killing her. As she began to think of the pain, another pain in her right hand caused her to scream. She closed her eyes, and then felt hands over her head. She opened her eyes, and saw the pink-haired kunoichi's hands over her head, and soon, the pain had seemed to decrease. She squinted her eyes, and sighed. The pain had gone so she could see who had healed her. She smiled.

"Sa-Sakura? What am I doing here? Why are my head and hand throbbing?" Tenten asked, rubbing her head and sitting up on her bed.

"Sorry about the pain, you were about to cut yourself...so I had to knock you out before you did anything...and you were gripping your kunai with much strength that you accidentally pierced yourself. You screamed about Neji before you almost killed yourself," Sakura said.

She frowned at Tenten's instant facial expression, as it changed from a happy-go-lucky expression, to a very pained and sorrowful one. Tenten looked at her with eyes full of tears, and forced herself to smile.

"Tenten, what made you this way? Why are you...depressed?"

"I saw him...I saw him..."

Tenten fell back onto her pillow as she fainted from the trauma the figure had caused her.

"Tenten? Tenten!" was all she heard before she completely blacked out.
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Tenten awoke once more, but this time her pain was only minimal. She remembered what had happened before she blacked out, and looked at her hand. Sure enough, there were bandages wrapped around it, with a few blood splotches here and there. She groaned in pain. Neji was causing her more pain everytime she thought about him. She couldn't take it anymore. Restraining herself from cutting, she sat upright and looked around the room. It was a very cosy room, with a few roses and daffodils in vases here and there. Its features soothed her as she was ready to take on the memories of Neji once more. She looked beside her, and froze in fear. There he was again, this time sitting on a chair next to the bed.

"Ten, are you okay? Don't let my appearance depress you," It said.

Tenten hands turned into fists, ignoring the pain coming from her right hand.

"AM I OKAY! Neji, this is traumatizing me! I can't stand looking at you!" Tenten yelled.

The figure frowned, holding back its tears. It then smiled.

"I'm sorry Ten. I have to see you...or else I lose my focus. I'm sorry. Please don't be depressed. That's not my point here...that's not my point at all. If I depress you, then I'll promise you I will keep away from you."

Tenten began to cry, hearing another promise that could be made on her behalf. She reached out and held its hand, forcing a smile through all her tears.

"No...I...like seeing you...but...I want to see the real you...not your soul...I want to see your...complete..self..." She said, barely able to speak through her sobbing.

The Neji smiled, and held her hand, hoping to calm her down.

"Alright...you'll see me soon, I promise. But before I go Ten," he said, looking at her with eyes full of love and sorrow, "Promise me you'll be your old self."

Tenten wiped her tears, smiling. She nodded as the Neji began to disappear.

"I promise when you see me, my happiness will blind you!"

The two began to laugh with each other until it was almost time for the figure to completely disappear. She waved with her free hand, her other still clasped in Neji's. The Neji smiled, and faded.

I promise my happiness will blind you...

Tenten looked to her left, and felt the sun penetrating through the hospital's windowsill.

And it's just another day of waiting...

She smiled, loving the warmth the sun had brought her.

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Whoot! Yet another chapter! An attempt to make this story last longer! Haha! I hope you like it so far.