Chapter 4
Sakura POV
I woke up the next morning surprised to see that it was raining up a storm outside. I walked to the next room to check up on Tenten and was pleasantly surprised to find Neji asleep next to her with their hands intertwined—best friends my foot. I was surprised when a pair of strong arms wrapped themselves around my waist. I turned around to find Sasuke looking over at Neji and Tenten.
"What happened to Tenten?"
"Hell happened to her, c'mon let's go I'll tell you everything in the next room" I took his hand and led him out.
I told him everything…
"So that Kenzo guy did all of this, what a bastard. How long has Hyuuga been here?"
"Since last night, she asked me to call him and ever since he's been in there with her she hasn't made a sound."
"What's with those two?" he asked—a question that was on all our minds.
"I don't know, but there's obviously something going on with them. The fact that he was the first person she asked for really shows a level of trust that she holds only for him, maybe even something more."
"They'll come around sometime, well we better get going."
"Going? Where are we going?" I raised an eyebrow at him
"I'm taking my girlfriend out to breakfast"
"Really…" I folded my arms over my chest "What have you done with the real Sasuke?" I asked sarcastically which resulted in him giving me a sharp stare. But when it came to me his stares just weren't as icy as they tried to be—one of the many advantages of being his girlfriend.
"I'm just kidding Sasuke but I'm still worried about Tenten"
"You don't have to be she has Hyuuga with her"
I thought about it for a while and then I thought about the last time I'd been out with Sasuke.
"Alright let's go" but before we left I wrote a quick note to Tenten, then I followed Sasuke out the door.
Tenten POV
I was awake but my eyes were closed, a smile immediately crept onto my face when I felt his chest—that I was sleeping against—rise and fall. I was so comfortable in his arms, I never wanted to leave his embrace—maybe the others were right about Neji and me, not that I was ever going to admit it but I definitely did feel something quite strong for him.
I slowly opened my eyes and waited for them to adjust to the light of day before I sat up.
"You're finally awake" he said with a small smile on his face
"And you ended up staying here the whole night, why?" I decided to ask, when I asked him to stay, I only meant until I fell asleep again. I didn't expect him to stay with me the entire night.
"I was going to leave after you fell asleep but every few minutes you started panicking in your sleep and calling my name, so I decided to stay with you."
"Oh, well thanks" I turned away from him to hide the blush on my cheeks but I'm pretty sure he saw them anyway. As soon as I recovered from my Neji moment—yes I decided to call it a Neji moment—I returned to reality and my mood seemed to plummet. I got off the bed and walked to the balcony window and watched the rain pour down from above. Neji could tell that something was bothering me so he walked to the balcony window and stood next to me.
This question had been eating away at me ever since I was brought to the infirmary last night.
"So where's…" I couldn't finish the sentence; just the thought of him brought back everything from that night with him.
"I don't know, I found his room empty when I checked it out last night" that was the last thing I wanted to hear. So the man that sexually assaulted me was nowhere to be found, my heart started beating faster and my body went completely numb—I couldn't keep myself up anymore…
Neji POV
I caught her just before she hit the ground—her body was trembling. I placed my hand under her chin to tilt her head upwards.
"Tenten are you alright?"
"No I'm not alright, not by a long shot. We don't know where he is, what if he tries something else on me, you know when you're not around"
"That won't happen"
"How can you be so sure I mean what about when you're at school? You're not with me all the time and I'm terrified that he might come back."
I sighed heavily and managed to calm her down—at least for the time being.
Monday morning arrived and there was still no sign of Kenzo. Neji and I were sitting on the balcony together, he was in his uniform and I was in my pj's.
"I've already spoken to Lady Tsunade; she said you could take the week off to recover."
"Thanks…" I looked down at my phone to check the time "Quarter past seven, you should get going if you still want to get breakfast before class" just when I thought he was about to leave, he handed me something—his room card.
"Erm…why are you giving me your room card?"
"To stay in my room until I get back"
"Oh…but no I can't stay in your room when you're not there, that would be rude"
"Not if I'm giving you permission" he looked at me with a blank expression which meant he thought that I'd said something foolish
"Alright if you're sure" I gave him a hug and watched him leave
Xxx
Sakura POV
It was about half past twelve in the afternoon, I asked Neji to come by the infirmary during break—I was doing last minute inventory. Ten minutes later I finished up so Neji and I headed downstairs to the cafeteria. The corridors were almost completely empty; except for maybe two or three students getting their books from lockers. As soon as we made it inside I grabbed a juice for Neji and me then followed him to a table so we could sit together—there was some information regarding Tenten that needed to remain exclusive to the two of us.
As soon as we found an empty table; he pulled out the chair for me—what a gentleman—then sat down himself.
"Is Tenten still having nightmares about Kenzo?"
"They're not as frequent but yes she still is" he answered seriously
"So where is she now?"
"I gave her my room card so she should be my room" I couldn't help but look surprised—he let her stay in his room all day long; and just to think school is almost over. I couldn't help wondering what was going to happen as soon as he got back to his room. He totally noticed my reaction.
"What?" I asked trying—and totally failing—to hide my smile
"I know that look; there's no point in trying to hide it"
"Fine and you know what you're right; Ino and I have given her enough grief about this so I might as well ask you"
"Ask me what?"
"Do you have feelings for Tenten? Feelings that are more than just friendly and perhaps even romantic" I looked him straight in the eyes and waited for him to answer, he flinched ever so slightly before answering—if I'd even blinked I would have missed it. That was all the confirmation I needed
"No, I don't; our relationship is a friendship nothing more" I had to admit though he was really good at hiding his true feelings but I could see right through him and he probably figured out that I knew, which resulted in him averting eye contact. I decided to spare him and change the subject.
"Are her wounds healing up?"
"Yes the bruising on her neck is almost completely gone and her face is completely healed" he carefully avoided mentioning the last area but I wasn't letting him off that easily
"And her chest area" I smirked
"I wouldn't know, I never checked" he smirked back
"Are you sure, not even by accident?" he just raised an eyebrow at me
"Just kidding, I know you wouldn't do that" just as I finished my sentence, the bell rang. We both stood up and headed to class together.
Tenten POV
I was reading a book on Neji's bed when I started feeling a bit drowsy so I decided to take a nap—maybe just until Neji got back which would be in about an hour's time.
Xxx
Neji POV
I walked into my room and found Tenten asleep on my bed with a book over her face—she had clearly made herself at home. I didn't want to disturb her so I quietly did my homework and after I finished that I went to take a shower.
Tenten POV
"I've got to say Tenten I'm very impressed with what I see. What a phenomenal body you have"
"Get your hands off me!" I screamed which earned me a hard slap across the face. My cheek burned with the hot sting from his hand. My messy hair curtained my face after he hit me. That just caused more tears.
"You better keep your voice down or I'll do more than just slap you. Do you understand me!" he aggressively stated
I just remained quiet—I was too despondent to do anything. My heart sank to the bottom of my stomach when his hands reached my skirt—there was no way he was going to get it off since my legs were tied to either side of the bed. He retrieved a knife and cut it off and threw it to one side. I tried so hard to close my legs and hide my nakedness but my entire body was restricted from doing so. My black underwear was the only thing I had left on my body.
After struggling for so long, I reached my lowest point and finally gave up. I felt so defeated and powerless. My eyes were itchy and swollen from all the crying but that was when I started crying the most—
I shot up and looked around the room, heart racing and breathing heavily. I was still in Neji's room by myself—safe.
A few seconds later I noticed a sound coming from the bathroom—it was the shower. I guess I wasn't alone after all, the water stopped running; he must have finished showering.
I watched the handle for the bathroom door move down but I was totally unprepared for what I saw—he walked out of the bathroom with a towel around his waist. My chocolate brown eyes were greeted by his well-defined chest and muscular—but not too muscular—arms. All that accompanied by his long wet brown-black hair that contrasted his striking, pearly white eyes made me see him in a way I never thought possible—sexy. I mean don't get me wrong, I've always known that Neji was attractive but I specifically never thought so until that moment. Never had I seen such perfection—tearing my gaze away from him was the most difficult thing. But I managed to regain my composure before I spoke
"Neji, how long have you been here?"
"About two hours now I guess"
"Two hours! Why didn't you wake me up?"
"I didn't think it was necessary"
"Oh so it's okay for me to just make myself at home in your room and enjoy a nap on your bed?"
"Well seeing that I'm the one that told you to come here in the first place, then yes…" I just rolled my eyes at him then lay down on his bed while covering my eyes—I just couldn't keep looking at him without blushing.
"Why are you covering your eyes?"
"I'm just respecting you privacy, if the roles were switched I know—scratch that—I'd expect you to do the same thing for me" As convincing as I sounded I'm pretty sure Neji figured out why I was really closing my eyes—I could practically hear him smirking.
"Wait a minute, why did you scratch out the first part of your answer? Do you honestly believe that I would watch you get dressed?" he asked a little shocked
"I don't know Neji, would you?"
"Of course not" that answer came a little too slowly for my liking
"See that, it's that very hesitation that makes me think twice"
"Oh c'mon, if I really wanted to—don't you think I would have done so by now" he smirked and decided to make me even more uncomfortable by sitting next to me on the bed
"Would you stop doing that" I grabbed a pillow and covered my face
"Stop doing what?" he found this situation very amusing to my displeasure
"Stop smirking so loudly"
"You can hear me smirking" he chuckled
"Of course I can, you're being so cocky right now, I don't even have to look at you to know that you're smirking." I felt the weight of the bed change which meant that he stood up
"Now would you please put a shirt on, I'm practically begging you" my voice came out muffled since I spoke through the pillow
"Wow I never thought I'd hear a girl—let alone you—beg me to put a shirt, usually you're supposed to beg me to take it off—
I threw the pillow at him
"Hey don't get me confused with one of your fangirls"
"It's kind of difficult not to, I mean, they like me and you like me. What's the difference?"
"Excuse you Mr popular, those annoying girls follow you for shallow reasons—heck they only follow you because you have an attractive face and a great body whereas I like you because you have those things and I actually know you on a personal level"
"So you think I have an attractive face and a great body?" he looked at me while buttoning his shirt
"What?" I was genuinely confused
"That's what you just said" it took me a second to catch on, then something in my head clicked
"Whoa wait a minute that's not what I meant!"
"But that's what you said" he teased
"Well I wasn't paying attention to what I said"
Xxx
"So we're all agreed that tonight we go out and eat" said Ino
We all agreed going out to eat was kind of our thing these days. Any opportunity we found to go out we did.
I decided to go into to town to fetch my jacket from the dry cleaners even though Ino offered to drive me there. I felt like taking a walk to clear my head of this Kenzo nonsense.
The sun started setting when I left the shop and made my way back to school. I took out my phone to check the time when someone bumped into me and I dropped my phone. As I bent to pick it up a hand tightened around my neck and dragged me into an alley. I managed to break out of his grip and get a glimpse of his face.
"Kenzo—
But he pressed a wet cloth to my face, chloroform, I didn't stand a chance. I felt myself becoming weaker with each breath I took until I finally fell unconscious.