Waiting for a Yes [Modern!Neji x Reader]

PART 23

Neji's dreading his next class —so much so, that he doesn't eat when lunch comes around. He trudges his way into the boy's locker room and dresses himself in the standard P.E. attire which happens to be a white tank top and red shorts.

He stays in the locker room longer than usual. He pretends to check his phone, make pointless conversations with those around him and waits until there's a minute left until the bell rings before entering the gymnasium.

In the gym, he tries to go unnoticed by Tenten but that doesn't work out too well when Gai starts to call attendance. He goes down the list, checking off everyone's name and marking those that are absent or tardy.

When Neji's name is called, the weary boy hesitates before saying, "Here."

It seems from this act, Tenten perks up and glances around to see her supposed "secret admirer". When she does see him, she grins and starts to casually wander over to where he's standing. Neji notices her sudden movement and his fingers twitch with apprehension. He knows she's going to start talking to him, even bring up his "crush" on her and he doesn't know what to say. Should he tell her the truth? Or play dumb until it blows over?

An involuntary sigh passes his lips as he watches Tenten from the corner of his eye. A strong instinctive urge to run as far and as fast as he can eats at his core. He can feel himself getting sick to his stomach and a wave of regret comes crashing down on him.

What if he told Hinata that he loves [Name] instead? Would she still try to help him? Would this turn out differently?

He glances over and sees that Tenten is now five feet away from him.

Maybe this isn't so bad? He thinks as she takes the last couple of steps to close the gap between them.

"Hey," she greets.

"Uh, hey," he says, waving slightly. There's a moment of silence before Tenten let out a huge sigh.

"All right, I'm not gonna sugar coat it," she states. "Do you like me or not? Cause if you do, I'd be glad to date you."

"Well—"

She cuts him off. "Just tell me. There's no need to beat around the bush."

Ugh! If I lie, I'll be in an even deeper hole than before. Neji mulls over as he rubs the back of his neck.

"I—"

Gai blows his whistle –which cuts off Neji's sentence unfortunately –, and instructs the class to run a mile outside. The class groans and Gai just waves them off as lazy.

"It's just four and a half laps you lazy kids! You're teenagers! You should have lots of youth left in you!"

The swarm of teens head towards the track field and everyone goes at their own pace. Neji tries to stay as far back as he can while Tenten keeps to the front with the other athletic kids.

Neji jogs at his own pace, passing those who decide to walk the mile instead of run. In the center of a pack of students, Neji spots [Name] and speeds up his pace to jog next to her. When she notices him, she smiles.

"Did you tell her yet?" [Name] asks. Neji represses the urge to roll his eyes and shakes his head.

"I don't think I'm ready yet," is his quiet reply.

"Do you want me to talk to her for you?"

"No — I just." He stops himself. This whole situation is fruitless to him. He knows he'll never be with [Name] no matter how hard he tries because she only sees him as an acquaintance. Not even a friend, just someone she talks to every blue moon. But now that he has a "crush" on her best female friend, she feels the need to initiate conversations with him more because they might go out on a double date one day or whatever the case may be.

"Yeah." His voice comes out quiet, strained and low. "I'd rather have you talk to her than me."

He'd given up.

...

By the end of the day, Tenten and Neji are an item. Tenten is ecstatic about the relationship, for Neji is her first official boyfriend. Neji on the other hand, isn't as excited as his new girlfriend, and for obvious reasons.

[Name] and Gaara are the firsts to congratulate them on their new relationship. Then it's Hinata. Then Rock Lee and so on.

After school, Tenten takes Neji on a date for a celebration of their "newfound love". He doesn't want to go, and he tries to explain this to her, but she begs him and pushes him to go with her. He tries many excuses, none of them work.

"I have lots of homework to do," he says, as she tugs him to his car.

"You'd pick homework, over me? Your crush?" She responds with an eyebrow raised.

Neji keeps his eyes from rolling all the way to the back of his head. He hates the word "crush". It's such an immature word for the way he actually feels.

"Well, I don't want my grades to suffer."

She turns to him, her arms crosses over her chest.

"So you care more about your grades than me?"

Neji swallows the urge to scream at her and tell her he actually doesn't give any shits about her. He caves in, letting out a huge sigh.

"Fine. I guess if it's for you, babe, then I'll go," he says, forcing the words off his tongue.

She smiles at him and kisses his cheek. This being his first ever kiss from someone outside of his family, makes his cheeks to turn a rosy pink color.

Tenten giggles and taps his nose with her finger. "You're cute when you blush."

"Thanks?" He says, as they continue to his car.

A sadness blankets his entire being as his cheek tingles from the gentle peck. Somewhere, in his heart, he begins to believe maybe [Name] and him would never work out and this is fate's way of telling him to move on. He'd have to make due with what has been given to him — which is Tenten in this case.

Though Neji can't help but pretend that was [Name] kissing him instead of Tenten. He knows he wants [Name], but he can't find the will to pursue her with everything and everyone getting in his way.

Neji glances at Tenten as they settle into his car. Her eyes shine with kindness and what seems to be a budding love for him, and her smile almost brightens his blackening heart.

He could learn to love her.

...

A/N: life isn't going too well. My week's been terrible so far. I don't want to get too into it but, I think I've developed feelings for one of my guy friends that might already have a girlfriend. I feel like Neji 100% right now. I've already promised myself to stop pursuing love years ago but I just... Idk.

I'm fine, it's just been a really fucked up week for me. But I'll be fine.

Thanks for reading! ♥ love you! Bai bai!