Double Trouble!
By: SuperHyuga Yoshi-chan
Chapter 7: The Big Confrontation
Yoshiro and I were eating outside on a small balcony at Akautski's. We sat at a small table with a fancy-laced tablecloth. It was even candlelit (with vanilla candles, which were my favorite). The waiter was an absolute charmer, but he looked a lot like Sauske. The atmosphere was absolutely perfect, with there being a full moon and all.
"You know Yoshiro; it was really nice of you to take me out to dinner tonight." I smiled. "You're a great..."
'...Friend? Boyfriend? Guy? I don't know what to call him. Now that you think about it, ever since he gave me that kiss yesterday...'
"Tenten? Tenten, are you okay?" I heard Yoshiro's voice snap me back into reality.
"Huh? Oh, yeah; i'm fine."
"Tenten, you don't have thank me. Seeing you happy is all the gratitude I need." He reached his hand out to brush away my bangs. "Your eyes are so pretty, Ten-chan."
'Ten-chan...' Something in my heart seemed to shrivel up in pain at those words.
I could tell Yoshiro noticed, because I flinched big time.
"What's wrong?" He asked me.
"Oh, nothing."
"Tenten, don't do that to me. Was it my little nickname for you?"
"Y-yeah." I gulped. "It's what Neji called me sometimes."
"Really?"
"Yeah." I breathed in and out. "As a matter of factly, he called me that often." I looked away from Yoshiro. I felt kind of ashamed of breaking down in front of him.
"Shh...Its okay, Tenten. Just let it all out." He walked over to my side of the table. "Let it all out." He wrapped his arms around me and squeezed me tightly.
So I did. I cried with all my might. I started out with my lips quivering, but then it turned into full-blown sobs. All the sadness and confusion that was pent up inside of me since Thursday I could feel racking my body right now.
"My God, Tenten...what did he do to you?" Yoshiro murmured in my ear.
"I...I can't-"
"Just tell me, Tenten. I won't judge you."
"Okay," I sighed. "It was Thursday..."
{Flashback: Thursday night}
I was completing my stretches on the way home after track practice, mostly because we lost track of time. My mom called me to pick up some eggs and vanilla extract for her. So I did. However, it was what I saw on my way home that did it.
A lot of rumors had been flying around saying that Neji was cheating on me. I heard stories about him being with up to 10 girls at a time, which was ridiculous, of course. Neji always told me to disregard those lies. He said that: "people will always be desperate to talk about some smack, even if they have to make it up themselves. Just don't listen to it." So I believed him.
At least until I saw him. On my way home from the grocery store, I heard what sounded like making out. I rolled my eyes at the couple for making out in the public. However, I heard someone calling-no, moaning Neji's name.
"Neji-kun...." I heard it again.
It was coming from an empty alleyway not to far from my house. I peered around, only to see Neji heavily making out with one of his fangirls!
Now I would've stormed down there and slowly drawn the life out of his big, conceited, ass if it wasn't for what he said next.
"Neji-kun, what about that girl, Nine-Nine?" She spat out my name in disgust.
"Oh, her? She's just a worthless bitch. My toy I like to play with whenever I please."
"Well if she's just your 'bitch', then why don't you leave her?"
"I'm going to." I saw him kiss her in the crook of her neck.
"Oh, really? W-when?" She squeaked as Neji proceeded to give her a hickey.
"Tomorrow. Tomorrow is when I'll break up with her. Then it'll be you and me from now on."
"Really?"
"Yes."
"Does she really mean nothing to you?"
"She's even worse than a rag doll compared to you."
"Well, prove it then." She smiled. "Hyuga Neji, tell me you love me."
"I love you." Neji smiled at her. He smiled at her.
That's when I dropped everything I was holding and ran. I didn't know why I was running. Maybe it was because I was trying to outrun the pain that would catch up with me anyway. It could've been the fact that I was confused to the point I felt numb. The only thing I could do was run home.
My mom tried to ask me what was wrong with me, but I shot right past her. Even my brothers tried to ask me what was wrong. I just locked myself up in my room and cried myself to a dreamless sleep.
{End of Flashback}
"A-a-and...*sniff!* that's it." I sniffled. "That's what happened." I looked up at him. The tears were overflowing from my eyes now. The pain was a different story. The pain...it was cutting up my insides into millions of pieces, ripping it to shreds, and raping my mind. It felt terrifying.
"Ssssshh...it's okay. It's okay." Yoshiro wiped the tears from my eyes with his thumb. "It's his loss. He chose to do that, and you had nothing to do with it."
"IT'S NOT OKAY!" I heard a familiar voice shout. I looked for the source and it was coming from inside the restaurant. I was genuinely surprised though when Neji jumped from the airborne aquarium in the sky. I was even more surprised when he hit a front flip, barely avoided crashing into a carrot cake (which I think has a moving shrimp on the left curve of the second layer) and summersoulted onto the small balcony on which Yoshiro and I were having dinner.
"N-NEJI?!" I squeaked.
"Hn. Show-off." Yoshiro grunted.
I would've laughed at Yoshiro's antics if they didn't remind me of Neji so much. Well, that and the fact I was glaring at him.
"Tenten, he's not telling you the truth." Neji walked towards me.
"What do you mean by that?" I snarled at him. I wasn't going to let him play me for a fool. "Neji, you did something wrong. Just own up to it."
"No." He nodded his head at Yoshiro."I didn't do anything wrong, Tenten. He did."
"Neji..." I whispered.
"This guy has you thinking that i've been making out with my fangirls, but that's not true. He's the one who's been doing that, not me!" Neji told me. He then glared at Yoshiro. "Tell her, Yoshiro! TELL HER!"
"Tenten, you're not really going to go back to this guy, are you? Not after everything he said about you?" Yoshiro scoffed at Neji. "I know you know better."
"Tenten, I heard what he said about you! I wouldn't DARE say such things about you!" Neji pleaded.
For a second, I thought I could see remorse in his eyes. But Neji's eyes never held feelings of guilt for anybody. Not even me.
"Oh, please! You should've though about that long before you cheated on her."
"DAMNIT, IT WASN'T ME! IT WAS YOU!" My ex-boyfriend pointed an accusing finger at Yoshiro.
A part of me wanted to believe that this was all a misunderstanding. That maybe this was some kind of cruel mix-up that could be easily fixed. Then Neji's words rushed back to me.
"No." I said.
"ROT IN HELL, YOU TE-huh?" Both of the boys looked back at me.
"Neji, you lost your chance." I glared at him.
"Chance? What chance? I never got a freakin' chance!" Neji yelled.
"I'm not a fool, Neji. I know what you said about me! If you think i'm gonna go back to you after you said all that stuff about me, then you better think again. I'm not stupid, Hyuga!" The tears of bitterness that I was holding back started spilling out of my eyes. "You called me a worthless bitch! You....you bastard! Now you must think that i'm just some rag doll for you to wipe your lusts on, huh? That i'm a nobody, huh? That i'm not worth your gosh-damn time, HUH? Well, you know what, pal?
"Tenten, please calm down!" Neji reached out to touch me, but Yoshiro shoved him away.
"EVRY SINGLE GOD-DAMN DAY I SPENT WITH YOU, I REGRET!" I yelled. "AND THERE'S NOTHING YOU CAN DO TO CHANGE MY MIND!"
"Ten...Ten-chan..." I heard Neji whimper.
"Stay away from her, you freak." I felt Yoshiro place his hand on my shoulder. Come on, Tenten. We're leaving."
I walked away from the table and right past Neji. However, there was one last thing I saw in Neji's eyes...
Sadness.
{Akautski's-Neji's Point of View}
"So that's it." I said out loud. "She's leaving me and I'm losing her. And it's all because of that teme!" I swung around only to punch a tray out of someone's hands. Someone familiar, actually.
"T-Tobi?" I looked up into two eye holes and a swirly orange mask. Then realizing what I had done, I started to pick up the pieces of scattered sausages and cheese that I had flung on the floor.
"Oh Tobi, i'm so sorry! I didn't mean to cause you all this trouble."
"No," Tobi bent down to help me pick up the sausage snack that I had knocked down. "Tobi's sorry."
"For what?" I asked.
"Tobi's sorry that you lost the person you loved the most." He looked down at the ground.
"Don't be sorry, Tobi. You don't have to pity me. After all, I'll get over it eventually." I mumbled, not really believing myself.
Tobi just smiled sadly. "You know, Tobi didn't always have Akautski to back him up. Before them, Tobi was very alone and sad." He looked at Itachi, the guy who was Tenten and Yoshiro's waiter. "But then I found 'Tachi and his friend Kisame found me. Now I have all of these guys as my friends. Friends that are willing to put me through med school."I couldn't tell for sure, but I was sure that Tobi smiled. "I don't know what would happen if I ever lost any of them."
I wiped a tear from my eyes.
"I-I never knew....I never knew you understood so much, Tobi." I sniffled.
"I'm smarter than everyone makes me out to be. I know a lot more, too. Just because i'm young doesn't mean i'm naive." The masked boy handed me a slip of paper.
"What's this?" I asked.
"My e-mail. Just send me a message when you need to talk."
"S-sure." I shrugged my shoulders. "Thanks, Tobi."
"No problem. Tobi's glad to help whenever he can." Tobi's voice became happy and light again.
I walked out of the restaurant with sagging shoulders and a heavy heart.
"*Sigh!* That's life for me."
{Later-Neji's home; Neji's room.}
"Hey, Hyuga. What's up?"
"Hey Uchiha-WAIT A MINUITE!" I spun around to take another good look. "UCHIHA!?"
"Hey. It's the one and only." He took a sip from a CapriSun that had been sitting on my dresser drwaer for the past two weeks.
"You know that thing is warm, right?"
"Yeah. Just the way I like it."
"That's two-week old CapriSun!"
"Really?"
"Yes, dodo!"
"Huh." Sauske looked at the pouch and took another sip. "That just makes it all the more better."
I just gawked at the guy. Since when was one of the few remaining Uchiha's so…weird?
"How did you even get in here?" I asked.
"I slipped in through the open window." Sauske pointed, and sure enough; the window was open. "So, how did you 'spy intervention' go?" The chicken-haired boy asked.
"Terrible." I murmured as I sat down in front of my bed. "She's…she's with Yoshiro for good."
"WHAT!?" Sauske exclaimed. "What do you mean, 'she's with Yoshiro for good?!' T-that's impossible!" He yelled out loud.
"I know. I can't believe it either." I said. Every time I thought about it, I felt like crying.
"Man," Sauske sat down right next to me. "I don't know what to tell you."
"Haven't you ever been dumped before?" I asked him.
"Yeah. Plenty of times. But that was before…Sakura. *Sigh!*" Sauske sighed.
I looked at him. I wished I could relate to his happiness. Then again, I had no one to call mine anymore.
"I can't believe I screwed up!" I shouted.
Sauske gave me a look of sympathy. "Man, just try not to think about it."
"What the HELL is that supposed to mean!? How can I do that when eating, sleeping, and watching Bleach is going to remind me of her?! I can't do anything right without thinking of her." I yelled.
I felt warm tears coming to my eyes.
'NO!' My mind screamed. 'I'm not going to break down in front of my friend. Not to mention my rival!'
"Man, you alright?" Sauske asked.
"Yeah…do me a favor, Sauske."
"Sure."
"Leave."
"Okay." I heard footsteps and the clicking of a door being shut.
I stood up, walked to my bed, and fell into my pillow. Then I did something I haven't done since my dad died when I was four.
I cried.