𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓 𝐎𝐅 𝐘𝐎𝐔, 𝐧𝐞𝐣𝐢 𝐡.

𝟭𝟲 ❤︎

chapter sixteen ;; problematic

❝ Are you trying to say I'm dumb or something? ❞

"...Sorry, what'd you say?" It'd taken you a couple of seconds to process what she said.

"I-I said I think I'm starting to like Neji." Her cheeks began to turn pink in embarrassment as she looked down at her legs.

"Oh. That's... definitely not something I was expecting..."

"You can keep it a secret, right?"

"Tenten, I'm best friends with Ino. Of course, I can."

"That's great to hear..."

"Well, what do you like about him?"

As she spoke, you gradually began to feel more annoyed. Neji doesn't like her. You were sure he'd know if he liked her. As a matter of fact, he doesn't like anyone. He didn't even know what love was, let alone know how to execute it. If anything, you were the girl he trusted to ask about love, and you were the girl he willingly kissed on. Not her.

"Those are the main things I like about him, but there's still other things. Do you know anything Neji likes?"

You thought about it for a second. For some odd reason, you could just imagine Toshiro telling you that if someone else liked the guy you liked, tell them lies and watch as their relationship slowly fails in front of you. Maybe you could imagine it because he told you to do that. However, one thing to keep in mind was to never take advice from Toshiro. And besides, you didn't even like Neji.

"No... I wouldn't do that. That's wrong."

Or... maybe just once.

"Oh, uh... I think he likes pumpkin flavored things if I'm not mistaken. Also, he said he was getting used to spice and it wasn't so bad."

She put a hand to her chin. "I wonder why he didn't tell me."

"Because he didn't want to."

"Well, it just so happened that our likes and dislikes were apart of our conversation."

"Right..."

A low, wavering hum came from you that could be deciphered as a stifled laugh if someone were to look at you. However, she hadn't looked at you until a couple of seconds passed, and she'd seen you attempting to keep a straight face. She narrowed her eyebrows.

"Y/n, is there a problem?"

"No. Why do you ask?"

"You're trying not to laugh. What's funny?"

"Oh, nothing. I was just thinking, if that's not a problem with you."

"Please don't lie to me. It's obvious you're trying to keep it in."

"I said it was nothing."

"And I said please don't lie to me."

"You trust me, right? You trust me to keep your little secret about you liking Neji? If that's the case, trust me now. I told you it was nothing, and I mean it."

You sent her an intimidating look, to which she simply glared right back at you. You weren't exactly expecting her to do that, maybe just for her to back off, but she stood her ground. The tension in the room had steadily grown, until a knock had been heard at the door.