7 Years When I Was Alive (Neji x Reader) Naruto Fan fic

22. The Girl That Never Was

You weren't breathing. You were sure of it. Your chest tightened with pain as you laid still on the couch. Frozen in fear, too scared to move, to scared to scream. You didn't know how long you were laying there but the dark figure never moved. Not even an inch.

You gulped.

Did he or she knew you were awake?

They did, didnt they? How could they not?

Would they be standing here if they knew you were awake? You weren't sure and you would never be sure unless you said something, anything. You squeezed your eyes shut, you were a ninja, this was your first mission, you couldn't blow it now. Not after all the efforts Sakura had went through, not after all this time. Time, you didn't have much time. Time was a precious thing, and so was Sakura, and so was Naruto and Neji, and so were you.

You've been waiting so long to be a real ninja you couldn't mess it up now. No, you were [name] and you weren't going to let no spirit take that away from you.

And suddenly, you found your breath.

Your strength.

"Who are you?"

But the figure did not respond.

It simply stood.

"Who the hell are you?" you tried again, stronger now, confident now.

In the darkness, you could see a sliver of a smile spreading across the shadows face.

"Sister."

You blinked. Although you could not make out her face, you could sense that there was some truth to what she had said. After all, why would a spirit travel all this way to lie to you?  You thought back on everything that happened over the past few days, recalling the message :Help. She needed help and suddenly, you weren't afraid anymore," What can I possibly do to help you?"

"Spirits. Trapped. Must be free."

"How?"

"Fire."

And the figure was gone. You stood up, immediately switching the lights on and walking over to the exact location the spirit was standing at. You crouched down to run your fingers through the ashes. Knowing you couldn't sleep another wink, you decided to head to the apartment complex alone.

If it was help that they wanted then they were going to get it.

The apartment complex was as usually. Dark, creepy, and depressing. You entered the corridor, the hallways seemed to stretch for miles in the night. You couldn't even see the other end of it but on the other hand, you had the advantage. The landlord was dreaming peacefully somewhere giving you time to dig around and the lady at the front desk didn't give two shits about what you did in the middle of the night.

"[name] what are you doing here?" She asked, rather sleepily," you don't come by anymore. I almost forgot you rent a room here."

"Just needed to pick something up," you lied rather smoothly. Just as you were about to walk off a question popped into your head," Nori, how long have you been working here?"

"Seven boring years," she grumbled, licking her thumb so she could flip the page of 'Icha Icha Paradise'," why? "

"Do you know what happened to room 1 to 53? Why does the first room start with 54?"

"Girl," she drawled, looking a bit annoyed that you were disturbing 'Make Out Paradise'," you've been living here longer than I've been working here. Hasn't anyone ever told you?"

"If I knew would I be asking you?" You shot back, rolling your eyes at her.

She snorted, flipping another page," there was a fire. Maybe 10 or 9 years ago? I can't remember what the morning shift told me honestly. I'm usually dead by the time they come around."

You furrowed your eyes together in confusion. If the fire was at least ten years ago then why didn't you remember it? You thought, proceeding to the next question," does anyone live in room 54?"

"No. We're not allowed to rent that room out," Nori said," it was connected to the other half of the building before it got burnt down. Pretty sure the landlord just uses it as a storage room though."

You thanked her and ran off in the direction of the room, trying to make sense of it all. 10 years ago, the same year your mother passed away. 10 years ago, you were here, you were sure of it, nothing makes sense why doesn't it make any sense? You stopped abruptly, the door to the room was already wide open, as if someone knew you were coming their way. You braced yourself, walking into 54.

The odor of smoke still clung to the dusty old air in the room. The room had no windows but there were stacks of paper that littered the floor. You walked by dusting off the old files that the landlord had saved for future references, you supposed. Though, you didn't know why he would keep old papers about old tenants that lived previously lived here and events that once took place here.

A party in the court yard 15 years ago.

A picture of laughing and dancing residents.

Celebrating the grand opening of my apartment.

The landlord stood in front of his new apartment.

5th anniversary of my apartment complex.

You were certain the landlord documented these himself. As you proceeded to dig through a new pile, a loud thud at the corner of the room drew your attention. A stack of paper had fallen to the ground. You picked it up, flipping through the pages.

Remodeling and reconstructing after fire .

You heart began to race. This was what you were looking for. You frantically flipped the page.

53 rooms closed after large fire.

You flipped it again.

Close for business until reconstruction is over. Money out, no money in.

And again.

Child dies from fire. Body never found.

You stopped, your breath caught in your throat.

No, you thought, this doesn't make sense, this isn't possible, this couldn't be, why? Why didn't you remember? You were trying so hard to remember and yet....and yet....

And at the bottom of the page.

A picture of you smiled back.