Chapter 14
Neji Stays The Night
Takara is still in Neji's chest. She's listening to Neji's heartbeat which is beating fast. He just killed 2 evil men protecting Takara, and he's being hugged by a girl who he clearly thinks highly of. Neji puts his hand on the back of Takara's head, causing Takara to smile.
"I feel so safe with you, Neji," Takara says.
"I'm glad," Neji says.
Takara listens to the silent night while being held by Neji. Hiroshi and Eito are out of Takara's life for good. She thinks that this night is just so perfect.
Neji looks down at Takara. He lifts her head up with one finger. "Takara?"
Takara's heart skips a beat. She thinks that she's been hugging Neji for too long making things awkward and uncomfortable for Neji. "Y- Yes Neji?"
Neji notices the moonlight shining in Takara's eyes causing him to get nervous. "D- do you want to go to your place and finish the ramen? And perhaps clean the blood off us?"
"Oh, yeah sure!" Takara says with a smile and then she takes a deep breath. "I thought I was making you uncomfortable."
"No, why would I be uncomfortable?" Neji asks.
Takara looks down with red cheeks. "I thought me hugging you for too long was making you uncomfortable." Takara notices that she is still hugging Neji. "And I'm still hugging you." Takara let's go of Neji.
Neji laughs. "It's fine."
Neji smiles at Takara. She smiles back at him. Takara walks over to where the ramen, her songbook, and her bag is. She puts her songbook back in her bag and puts the bag on her. Neji comes over and puts the food in the carry out bag. He then picks up the bag and looks over at Takara.
"Let's go to my place!" Takara says with a big smile.
Neji goes up to Takara and they start to walk together. Neji puts his arm behind Takara but isn't touching her back.
"I can't believe this day!" Takara says to Neji. "It started with me waking up from a nightmare and freaking out, then Sakura came back surprising me with yummy breakfast! Then we went shopping around and she bought me some things for my apartment so that it wouldn't be so nakey. Then, she bought me clothes which I wasn't really too comfortable with but in the end I was happy for having cute clothes! After that, Sakura left me some extra cash so I can go out and buy whatever later. Then, she took me to the pool and, well you were there, you know what happened from there."
Neji listens to every word Takara says. "Sounds like you had a pretty good day to me."
"Absolutely. I mean I was scared when Hiroshi and Eito came around. I thought they were going to take me back, or kill either you or me. But, you saved me Neji! I wanted to thank you, so... thank you," Takara says.
"It was no problem," Neji says with a smile. "I had to protect you. There's no way I could let you go back and relive that hell."
"And there's no way that I'd ever want to go back there. I would much rather die," Takara says.
"So, there's Leiji and Leitangi left?" Neji asks.
"Yeah," Takara says. "Last night I thought I saw one of them outside my apartment. I just chalked it up to be my brain messing with me. But maybe one of them was really outside my apartment."
"Hey, I should probably tell you this," Neji says.
"What?" Takara asks nervously.
"Remember when a guy came up to you and Naruto yesterday and was asking for you?" Neji asks.
"Yeeeeah?" Takara says. "I thought they sounded like Eito, but they didn't look like him."
"Yesterday when he was walking with Naruto's clone, I scanned his chakra. Today, I scanned Hiroshi and Eito's chakra. That man from last night had the same chakra as Eito," Neji says.
Takara gasps. "No way! Oh my God... I was right. I thought they sounded like Eito and it turned out to be him!"
"You don't have to worry about him ever again," Neji says.
"Thanks to you Neji," Takara says.
"You are welcome, Uta," Neji says and winks.
Takara chuckles at Neji. Her and Neji then arrive at Takara's apartment. She gets her key out and unlocks her door. Takara and Neji walk inside. Takara shuts the door and locks it. She then turns on the light and gasps. Her apartment was ransacked.
"What the?!" Takara yells out.
Neji immediately uses his byakugan to see if anyone was still in her apartment. Takara watches Neji scan her place. "No one is here."
"Good," Takara says, then sighs. "Now I have to quickly clean up so things aren't messy. Ugh, I wonder who got in my apartment and how?"
Neji places the carry out bag on the ground next to the small cheap couch that Takara got earlier.
"It's okay Takara, you don't need to clean up the place right now," Neji says.
"But I should!" Takara says. "This is the first time we are properly hanging out and my place is a total mess! It's so embarrassing. I have to make my place look good for you-"
"Takara," Neji starts to say.
"WHAT?" Takara asks while stressing out.
"You don't have to clean up for me, I promise it's fine. But if you really want to fix the place up, I will help you," Neji says.
Takara takes a deep breath. "No, you don't have to help."
"But I want to," Neji says and smiles.
Takara can't help but smile back. "You're too sweet Neji."
"Then consider yourself lucky because no one ever gets to see my nice side," Neji says.
"And why is that?" Takara asks with a wink.
Neji's cheeks turn red. "Um, well... Because... I- I can be nice to you if I want. Ah, fine. We just click well, I can't help it but be nice to you."
Takara smiles. "I'm glad to have you as a friend."
"Me too, Takara," Neji says.
Takara then puts her bag down on the side table next to the couch. Neji then starts to clean up trash that is around her apartment.
"God, this is so embarrassing...," Takara says in her head. Takara looks at the kitchen wall and gasps.
"What's wrong?" Neji asks.
"Someone w-wrote T- T- Tak. It looks like it was written in blood...," Takara says.
Neji walks over to Takara to see the blood. "I have a feeling Hiroshi or Eito broke into your house looking for you, and when you weren't home, they trashed the place while looking for anything about your new life."
"You think so?" Takara asks.
"I could be wrong, but it makes sense to me," Neji says.
Takara takes a deep breath. "No. I'm not gonna let this ruin my day. They are dead. But I am still kinda scared because Leiji and Leitangi are still alive but who knows where those two brothers are."
"Do you want me to stay the night and keep watch over you?" Neji asks.
Takara gasps. "What.. What did you just say?"
"Do you want me to stay here for the night?" Neji asks. "You don't have to worry about me trying to make a move on you or anything. It's just a platonic friend wanting to make sure his friend is safe."
Takara smiles and starts to blush. "I mean, only if you'd like to."
Neji nods. "Let's tidy up your little apartment and finish our cold ramen." Neji laughs.
Takara laughs too. "Yeah, let's."
Takara and Neji go around the house picking up trash and puts things back where they originally were. Takara goes into her room and sees photos laying around her room. "What the...?"
Takara goes to the pictures and picks them up. She sits down on her cheap air mattress and looks through them. The first picture is of a younger Takara and Bee and it is ripped in half. Takara kept that photo out so that she could buy a picture frame for it. Takara sighs while looking at the ripped photo.
Neji comes in. "You okay?"
Takara looks up at Neji and she shows him the ripped picture. "This was my favorite picture of me and Bee." Takara sighs again.
Neji picks up the two pieces of the picture from Takara. "I can try to fix this sometime."
"Thank you. It's one of our first pictures together and it just means a lot to me," Takara says.
"I understand," Neji says.
Takara then goes through the rest of the pictures that were with the ripped photo. After seeing the picture, she screams and throws it down on the ground. Neji looks at her and cocks an eyebrow.
"I- I don't ever want to see that again!" Takara starts to cry.
"Can I?" Neji asks.
Takara doesn't say yes or no. Neji then picks it up and he cringes. The photo is of Takara at 8 years old trapped inside a cage crying. "Oh God, Takara..."
Takara looks at the next picture and her eyes tear up. It is of Yaketsuku, burnt and covered in blood. "Oh God... No..." Takara starts to cry more.
Neji sits down next to Takara and looks down at the picture. "Who is that?"
"His name is Yaketsuku. He saved my life," Takara says. "The night of my escape, Leitangi set Yaketsuku on fire. I still remember the scent, his screams, the way he ran around trying to put out the fire. Eventually, it started to rain really hard, and the rain actually put out the fire. He then told me to start running and that he'd keep Leitangi away. It actually worked. When I was running, I remember hearing him scream for me to keep going, and then of course I heard him scream in agony. I actually wrote a song in honor of him because I'm pretty sure Leitangi killed him, and that picture really makes me think he's dead."
"Wow," Neji says. "What a hero. He died for you."
"He did," Takara says. "I think about him everyday. Thanks to him, he gave me a new life."
Takara then throws down the unpleasant picture of Yaketsuku. She looks at the next picture. Tears went down her face. "I remember this..."
Neji looks over at the disturbing photo. It is Takara at age 11 against a wall. Her clothes were torn and you could see her bare chest. Eito had a knife up to her throat. Takara and Eito were looking up at the camera. Eito had an evil smirk on his face while Takara was crying and hiding her nipples in the picture. Neji then takes the photo out of Takara's hand.
"You don't need to see that," Neji says. "Remember Takara, all of those pictures are in the past and they will never happen to you again. So many people here in the Leaf would risk their life for you, including me. Plus I think the Cloud village would come over here and kick some ass for you."
Takara smiles at Neji and she wipes away her tears. "You're right Neji."
Neji smiles. "Want to finish our cold ramen?"
Takara laughs. "Yeah sure."
Takara and Neji get off her bed and go out to the almost clean living room. Neji gives Takara her ramen and Neji takes his. The ramen is surprisingly still warm. While Neji eats, Takara grabs her bag and grabs her songbook. Neji smiles at the book.
"All my songs aren't always so deep and serious," Takara says. "Some of them are fun. Like this one song is about me being a princess ho always gets into trouble. Bee enjoyed helping me write that one. Then later that night I wrote a serious song about a girl that no one ever notices, and whenever she does get noticed, she gets bullied."
"Oh interesting," Neji says. "I would like to see some of your fun songs sometime."
"I'm never proud of them because they weren't from my heart, but maybe later I can show you them," Takara says. Takara takes a big bite of her ramen. "DAMN THAT'S HOT!"
Neji laughs. Takara looks over and can't help but laugh with him. Takara then puts down her ramen.
"I'll finish you in a minute!" Takara says with a funny face.
Takara then opens her songbook and flips to the 3rd page. She reads it to herself out loud. "You must think that I'm wild, and you must think that I'm crazy, but I can tell you right away that I'm filled with a ton of problems. You best not go and mess with me! I won't let you take control of my life any more. I'm not the lab rat you can experiment on no more. Acting like the big scary cat while I'm the rat? yeah no more. Does the big scary cat need to learn a lesson?" Takara laughs at her lyrics. "God those are awful, I love it."
Neji laughs. "How old were you when you wrote that?"
"Oh, 10 I think?" Takara says.
"I think it's adorable," Neji says.
"Yeah?" Takara asks. "Does the big scary cat need to learn a lesson?" Takara laughs again at her silly lyrics. "God if I showed this to anyone else I would be so embarrassed!"
"You're not embarrassed to show me?" Neji asks.
"I mean, maybe a little if I'm being honest," Takara says. "I just feel, like... I feel like I can tell you anything. I'm so comfortable with you!"
"And I hope you always feel that way towards me," Neji says.
Takara smiles. Takara then looks at her little cheap clock. "When did it get so late? So rude!"
"I should be getting to bed soon since Tenten said I have to meet her, Lee, and Guy tomorrow," Neji says.
"Hey, do you know why Tenten hates me?" Takara asks.
"Personally, I don't think she hates you. I just think she's jealous that everyone is so nice to you and treating you so well," Neji says.
"Oh," Takara says. "Maybe tomorrow I can try and get her to like me. I don't want to be enemies with anyone. I want a stress free life from now on."
Neji smiles. "I agree on that." Neji then finishes his ramen. "I think I'm gonna sleep here on the couch just in case someone is outside your door or window. Plus, you'd probably punch me if I asked to sleep in your bed with you."
Takara's face turns red. She then imagines Neji sleeping in her bed while he holds her. Takara then thinks to herself: "That wouldn't be so bad."
"Okay Neji, that's fine," Takara says.
Neji smiles and puts his take out box in the bag to keep Takara's place clean.
"I'm sorry that I don't have much to offer. I wish I had some comfy clothes for you to sleep in, and I only have 2 throw blankets- which you can have both of them, and if you want the better pillow you can have it and I can take the small one on the couch. In fact, you can sleep in my blow up bed and I can take the uncomfortable couch-," Takara rambles on until Neji puts his hand on her shoulder.
"Takara, it's fine. Don't worry about me," Neji says with a smile. "You take the bed and you take the better pillow. I will take one throw blanket though." Neji laughs.
"Then I'll give you the better one." Takara says.
"Oh, you better not," Neji says in a teasing tone.
"Oh I will!" Takara says back in a silly tone.
Takara then runs into her room and looks at her 2 throw blankets. She quickly examines both of them and finds the better one. Before Takara could turn around and give it to Neji, Neji is behind her and then starts tickling her causing her to yell and laugh.
"Stop it! Stop it! I can't take it!" Takara says while laughing.
Neji laughs and stops tickling her. "Now, you keep the better blanket, or I won't hold back." Neji then winks at Takara.
"Okay tickle monster," Takara says playfully.
Neji chuckles at her comment. Takara gives Neji a blanket and he thanks her. Neji then walks back out to the living room to get ready for bed. Takara shuts her door and starts to change into her new pajamas. Takara bought this pajama set, not intending for anyone to see it, so she's nervous for Neji to see it. The pajama set comes with a tank top, panties, and a fuzzy robe. The tank top is a pale pink with lace all over and it's see through. Her panties are the same shade of pink with lace. Her robe doesn't have lace but it's the same shade of pink as the top and panties. Takara then puts on the robe and ties it around her curvy body. She opens her door back up and she walks out. Takara sees Neji putting his hair up, which she thinks is attractive.
"Oh, hey," Neji says, finishing putting his hair up.
"Hi," Takara says and sits down on the couch. She grabs her ramen and starts to eat it. "Man, it's cold now." Takara chuckles.
Neji sits down next to her. "Would you rather it burn your mouth?"
"Eh," Takara says. She then continues to eat.
"So Takara...," Neji says.
"Hm?" Takara asks with a mouth full of ramen.
"How old were you when you started writing songs?" Neji asks.
Takara swallows her food. "To be honest, I'm not sure. I remember always singing around the house before I was kidnapped. My parents loved it when I sang, especially my dad. Me and my dad were pretty close before I was snatched up."
"My father is dead," Neji says.
"What?" Takara says. "I'm so sorry to hear about that."
"But it's okay, he died being able to choose his own fate for the first time, he was about to sacrifice himself to the Cloud village," Neji says.
"Wait, the Cloud village? As in the village who saved my life?" Takara asks.
"Yeah," Neji says. "It's referred to as the Hyuga Affair. Everything is okay now though."
"Yeah," Takara says. "Bee never mentioned anything about the "Hyuga affair" before."
Neji nods. "No one really likes to talk about it."
"Understandable," Takara says. Takara then takes a deep breath. "I wonder if my mom or dad are alive. I came back to the Leaf for a few reasons: one, to get my life back, two, to find my parents, and three, to make friends that I never was able to have."
"Do you remember their names?" Neji asks.
"My mom's name is Takako, and my dad's name is Jomei," Takara says.
"Takako and Takara?" Neji asks, smiling slightly.
"Yep," Takara says. "My name is similar to my moms but I look a lot like my dad."
"Maybe tomorrow we can ask Lady 5th to help us out?" Neji asks.
"Us?" Takara asks.
"Yeah. I want to help you find your parents," Neji says.
"Oh, Neji," Takara says. "You're too kind, thank you."
"No problem, mini Jomei," Neji says with a smirk.
"Mini Jomei? Now that's funny," Takara says and finishes her ramen. "Mmm! Mmm, delicious. I'm going to brush my teeth here in a second, I'm a little bit crazy about my hygiene."
"A girl who takes care of herself, nothing wrong with that," Neji says. "I'm strict on my hygiene too."
"Cool," Takara says. "Let me get things you'll need for the night."
Takara then sits up and walks to her bathroom. She sets out a toothbrush, some floss, and mouthwash for Neji. Then Takara starts brushing her teeth, then flosses, then uses mouthwash.
"Okay Neji, I have things ready for you," Takara says with a smile.
"Thanks Takara," Neji says with his voice getting sleepy.
"Aw, is Neji getting sleepy?" Takara asks in a teasing tone.
Neji yawns. "Yeah, I'm going to get some sleep now."
"Okay, good night Neji Veggie!" Takara says.
Neji laughs at the nickname that Takara gave him. "Good night Taki Rocky."
"Taki Rocky, that's cute," Takara says and goes to her bedroom.
Takara then turns on the loud air conditioner on the wall and lays down in her bed. "Man, Neji is so sweet. He wants to help me find my parents, if they're even alive. Hiroshi or the other 3 men could have easily killed them right before or after my kidnapping. I wonder if I'd even recognize them, or if they'd recognize me? I hope I can fall asleep, my brain is racing!" Takara rests her round head on her pillow with a smile. "I should probably tell Neji how I feel about him sometime soon. I really hope he likes me back. Well the sooner I fall asleep, the faster I'll wake up and see my Neji."