Saving Us (NejiTen Fanfic)

CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE: A FOOL'S WORLD (NEJI HYŪGA's PoV)

The noisy girl, who seemed to have been born just to annoy me was gone. Just as sudden and as swift as her arrival. The days, despite the happenings of that certain day, passed by in a blur. I had no idea how I went by.

But I did.

I did.

My friends walked on eggshells around me. They did their best to not talk about her with me around. I appreciated their concerns. But I would find myself staring at the certain spot in our cafeteria table where a certain panda-haired girl usually sat. I would find myself staring at her now empty desk at the class we shared. 

I would hear her voice only to turn around and see a different face. 

I knew I looked like hell. 

Hell, I felt like hell.

But I knew for a certain I was beyond gone when even the Uchiha and the Nara expressed their concerns. It was not like I could help it. I was... In the palm of her hands even before I had noticed. If anyone were to ask me how and when I fell in love with her, I would have no answer. She was annoying. She pressed every possible buttons and laughed at my face. Yet--the days felt uncomplete until I could hear her voice.

I fell so deeply down the rabbit hole I accepted a relationship despite that it was all just pretend and then made myself believe it was all real. 

I was Neji Hyūga. I was supposed to be. . . Cold. Emotionless. Hell, I knew Haruno and the others called me Ice queen behind my back.

And yet--that girl's touch was like fire. 

She melted every possible ice within me. 

And then left. . . 

~oOo~

"You know, your teachers will get mad at me for always allowing you to stay here at the infirmary despite that there's nothing wrong with you," Sasori stated as he looked up at the paperwork he was forced to do while he pretended to be the school doctor.

I sighed but I did not stood up from the bed I was occupying. I put my arms beneath my head and turned to the side, away from the doctor. All that I could hear was the sound of the pen made as he wrote in the papers. 

"Is she. . ." I started, my voice low. "Is she alright?" 

The sound of the pen scratching stopped as it was his turn to sigh. I heard him spun his chair to my direction but I never moved. I was afraid to see the look in his eyes and reject my question. Sasori was the only connection left I had to the girl who turned my world upside down. 

"I guess you deserve to know," he started. "She woke up yesterday,"

"She did?!" I exclaimed, jumping up from the bed and turning to face the fake school doctor.

He nodded. "Yes. She's going to be fine,"

Despite that the doctor had told us she was going to be fine, she continued to lay unconscious in the hospital for a week. So, hearing she finally woke up like a thorn being removed. 

"Then, she--" 

But I didn't get to finish my question as I saw the look in the older man's face. 

"She won't call you. She's been removed from this mission. As an Akatsuki, we are not allowed to stay in contact with a client after the job is done. She's no exception," 

My eyes widened at his words as I laid back down on the bed and turned my back on him. I knew he was right. She was merely pretending to be in love with me because it was easier to stay by my side that way. I knew it and accepted it.

So, why did it hurt so much?

"Hey, kid," Sasori called but I gave no notice of acknowledging him. "If it's any consolation, Tenten did enjoyed her time here," 

To know she was happy with us was lifting...

But it just was not enough. 

A part of me still believed that despite it was all pretend, a part of it; even just a little bit, was real for her just as it was for me. But hearing Sasori's words pierced through my heart.

I was the only one who believed in what we had. 

What a fool I am.

~oOo~

After my talk with Sasori at the infirmary, the very next day I buried myself with school works and club activities. I shoot down questions about my well-being even before they were asked. I emptied my mind of all things her. 

All that mattered at the moment was the tournament. 

"...Youth!!!!!" Gai-sensei screamed and I realized all I heard was the last word he had said. 

But everyone cheered along with him. Even Nara did a lazy, monotonic cheer. I stared at all of them and just nodded as Anko-sensei tried to ask me what was wrong. She gave me a smile before turning away. 

It was no news that the old me had made a return. But the care I've grown to show was nowhere near the surface.

It was like everything had lost its color.

And there was no rainbow at its end.