High Expectations (sasunaru)

13.

"Pathetic?" He spat, rolling his hands into fists as his lips wrinkled from sheer agitation.

I wanted to yell at him for hours, fill that empty head of his with some common sense but I couldn't bring myself to do it. I've already repeated myself over one hundred times, I was fed up with him and his bullshit. I was tired of constantly feeling like a second option and it hurt knowing he didn't seem to care. I knew Naruto was just as all over the place as I was, I knew he was confused and couldn't seem to figure out what he wanted or what he liked but it wasn't fair that I had to get hurt in the process. Is it that hard to believe that I do care about him? All he did was find excuses, for example, not being able to break up with Sakura because of some family drama. No, the worst thing was him leading me on knowing he couldn't break up with her. I need to tell her the truth, this isn't fair to neither of us.

"Is that what I am to you? Pathetic?" He repeated once more, growing impatient with my longing silence. "You," he paused and laughed for a moment. I knitted my eyebrows and clenched my jaw, "you'll never understand, that's all." He scoffed.

"Excuse me?" I was taken aback as a broken chuckle escaped from my throat. "You Naruto, are the most selfish person I have ever met. You make everything about yourself, never considerate of how others might feel. Does that little brain of yours even understand the fucking pain you've caused?" I felt my eyes begin to sting as I distanced myself from him. "You've," my voice cracked before I pressed my palm to my abdomen. "You've done enough damage, alright?" I blinked as salty tears began to trickle down my face. I met his eyes for a moment and immediately noticed they began to swell while welled-up tears refused to fall.

The door opened with a slam, causing my body to turn towards the source while Naruto looked away, wiping the back of his hand across his face. The strings of long hair were enough for me to know who it was, even while my vision was blurred. He didn't say a word, neither of us did. The sibling analyzed the situation within a second and aggressively gripped my bicep.

"They're announcing the winners," he spoke angrily, dragging me out of the bathroom while the blond stayed. I brushed a hand through my hair and sniffled as I wiped my nose, restoring my vision almost instantly by blinking more than once while Neji met my eyes as we walked side by side. "Seriously?" He sighed.

"What?" My voice broke, meeting his gaze.

"Whatever is going on between the two of you is not my business but I'm fed up. Especially from how I'm finding you like this whenever you're with him. How many times has he alone made you cry? Like thirty?"

"I'm not even crying," I averted my eyes from his.

He met my gaze for a moment and turned away.

"You need to stay out of my shit Neji," I spoke as we made our way past the theatre, walking through another hall that seemed to lead us towards a larger room.

"Sure but not when I hear you screaming like a maniac in the bathroom," he answered instantly, crossing his arms as we made our way into the ballroom. "What made it worse is that I didn't expect to see Naruto, it irritated me. I wish you were just schizophrenic or something but no, he's the damn voice in and out of your head, right?" He looked my way as I frowned in response.

"Whatever, you can't tell anyone I was with Naruto earlier," I stated, cracking my knuckles in distress as the sibling scoffed in response. "Please?" I pried, looking towards him like an aging beggar.

He pinched his lips and sighed, averting his eyes towards the glazing lights of the ballroom while our teacher hollered for everyone's attention. He certainly didn't catch Neji's. Although his gaze had not been locked my way, I knew that I'd already tampered with his thoughts. The expression that dispersed against his face was hard to apprehend. It was confusing since it matched the expression of an angry man who got broken up with while following the grief of abandonment. Had something else taken up his mind or was it still me?