Izumi Yamanaka and Neji Hyuga have been best friends for a long time, yet there has always been something keeping their relationship from blossoming into something bigger...
"There's a glass wall that separates you two. When will you shatter it?"
ガラ...
THE NEXT DAY, Izumi walked to school with Tenten, and they were having a conversation about the ShikaIno breakup. When they reached the school courtyard, they turned to look at each other as they talked.
"Ino was really upset over it," Izumi said quietly. "I somehow managed to get her out of bed this morning." Tenten nodded. "Temari and I talked about it yesterday, and she said Shikamaru told her that he broke up with Ino the a week before." Izumi looked down at her feet with a frown as she remembered the tears that strung down her sister's cheeks.
Tenten noticed the pained expression on her friend's face and quickly changed the subject. "Have you ever been in love?" she asked with a soft smile.
Izumi snapped out of her thoughts and her eyes widened. Silence lingered in the air for a little while, and you could just barely hear the tree branches swaying gently as a cool breeze came and gone. "How would you know if... you're in love?" Izumi finally asked. Her tone was tentative. She felt the anxiety come back to her to create a deep pool of emotions.
Tenten giggled, and a blush had spread across her cheeks. "Well, when you're in love, you feel jittery inside whenever you're around the person you love."
'But who do I love?'
"You feel like your heart is about to burst just thinking about that person."
'I've felt that, but I don't quite remember who I was thinking about during those quiet moments of thought.'
"But more than anything, the world begins to take on color in a way you never knew it could." Tenten closed her eyes and smiled.
Izumi's eyes narrowed. She had never felt what Tenten calls "love" with Kiba. However, she knew she saw that color in the world. Is she in love? If so, who is she in love with? Is it really Kiba? Izumi wanted to change the subject again, so she asked the same question Tenten had first asked her.
"Have you ever been in love?" she asked monotonously. Tenten almost gasped, and the blush on her cheeks darkened, but then she sighed and pulled something out of her backpack. It was a blue rose.
"Lee asked me out the other day, and he gave me this rose. I still have yet to give him my answer," she said. Tenten paused.
"Do you see that color?" she asked.
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Later that day, Izumi and Kiba were walking out of school together. Awkward silence. Awkward silence filled the air as they walked. Kiba felt incredibly uncomfortable.
Did he upset Izumi somehow? No, surely he didn't. They haven't spoken even once since yesterday. Oh how he wanted to say something. But in the end, he couldn't think of anything to say.
Izumi then came to an abrupt stop halfway down the street. Kiba stopped too. "Kiba," Izumi said as she turned around to look at him. "Y-Yeah?" he replied nervously. "I... don't know if this is working for me. I'm truly sorry," she mumbled. Kiba knew she wasn't sorry.
He honestly expected this. However, what he didn't expect was a fake apology. He didn't expect for the bright color in the world to go away so suddenly as soon as she apologized. The beautiful color in the world was gone, and the world looked almost monochromic now.
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Hinata strode into Ichiraku Ramen with a wide grin on her face. Today was her date with Naruto, and she was thrilled, anxious, and happy all at the same time.
As soon as she walked in, she spotted her boyfriend. "N-Naruto!" she called out. Naruto looked over his shoulder. "Oh, Hinata. Hello," he said with a light smile.
'He sounds so... unenthusiastic,' Hinata thought as she made her way towards him.
She sat down next to him, and immediately after she did so, Naruto said something.
"Listen, I... don't know how to put this, but... I think we should see other people," he said. Hinata furrowed her brow.
"It's been great getting to know you, and I think you're an amazing person, but I just don't think I'm ready for relationships." He stopped to see her reaction, but she said nothing, nor did she show any emotion in her lavender-tinted eyes, so he continued.
"I really truly hope you'll find someone that you'll love more than me. You're amazing-" he said before being interrupted by a broken-hearted Hinata.
"If you think I'm so wonderful, why would you break up with me in the first place?" she asked as tears trickled down her cheeks.
"I-I... am just not ready for a relationship right now," he said, his gaze softening.
'Don't lie. Don't put it so nicely. If you're going to break up with me... do it with honesty. There's no use in being so condescending,' she thought before she got up and walked away.
Hinata never once looked into his eyes to see if he was being honest.
Her vision was too blurry with tears for her to see that he was speaking with sincerity.
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