The Quiet Ones (Neji x Shy! Reader)

Chapter 4: The Forest of Death

    We went outside to the training area where we were given consent forms to sign and return to the proctor in exchange for our team’s scroll. “Gate 12.” They handed the scroll to Sasuke and we turned to leave. We walked over to our assigned gate and waited for the proctor to open the gate.
    My heart began pounding in my ears and I latched onto Sakura’s arm. “Huh? What’s wrong (y/n)-chan?” Naruto asked having noticed my shaking form. “I-I’m scared…” I whispered timidly. He smiled and patted me on the back. “Don’t worry (y/n)-chan, we’ll be fine.” Naruto said with a clumsy smile. I nodded shyly and slowly let go of Sakura’s arm.
    “I’m a ninja, I can’t be scared all of the time.” I inwardly scolded myself for my cowardice. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath to calm down and focus on the task ahead. “We need to protect our heaven scroll and get our hands on an earth scroll. Then, we have to reach the tower in the middle of the forest with all of our teammates. We have 5 days to do all of that.” I told myself.
    I opened my eyes and focused on the chain link fence. I got ready to run and saw our gate open. We sprinted into the forest at full speed. After a while, we can to a stop to catch our breath. I looked around to make sure that there were no enemies nearby before I sat down and leaned my back against a nearby tree.
    After a few minutes I stood up and walked over to Sasuke. “Hey, Uchiha.” I said, causing the raven haired boy to shoot me a glare.
    “What do you want (l/n)?” He asked with irritation evident in his voice. “Hand me the scroll.” I whispered to him. He gave me a confused look before reluctantly nodding and handing me the heaven scroll that had been in his pocket. I smiled and thanked him before walking away and tucking the scroll in the chest of my traditional style shirt.
    “I’m going to go get water.” I told Sakura as I took the water bottles to go find water. She nodded and I went off to find a river or stream.
    I walked for a while until I came to a clearing in the trees. I was about to step into the clearing when I heard voices. I stopped and hid in the bushes. “Talk about bad luck.” A girl’s voice said with a sigh. “We have to be patient Tenten.” A boy’s voice responded. “Yes. It is not youthful to be impatient!” A different boy’s voice said.
    I heard a sigh come from the clearing before a voice shushed the other two. “Shh. There’s someone over there.” The first male’s voice said. “Whoever’s over there, come out. We know you’re there.” He said. His voice was calm and familiar. I stood up and carefully stepped into the clearing. I looked at the three before me and recognized them as Neji and his team.
    My face heated and my heart pounded as my gaze locked with the Hyuuga’s Byakugan. He released his kekkei genkai and looked at me with confusion. “(Y/n)? What are you doing here?” He asked me. “I-I’m sorry Neji-kun. I-I was just looking for water a-and got scared when I heard a voice.” I said as I looked down at my feet.
    I tapped my index fingers together and waited for him to answer. “You know her Neji?” The girl asked confused. “I sat next to her during the first exam. Her name is (y/n).” He said as he stared at me emotionlessly. I looked up and smiled at the brown haired girl and the boy with the bowl cut. “H-Hi.” I said with a small wave.
    The pale eyed boy approached me and noticed the scroll I attempted to hide in my shirt. He folded his arms across his chest and raised an eyebrow at me.
    My face felt even warmer as I looked at the questioning look in his eyes. “I-I didn’t have anywhere else to hide it.” I said in an embarrassed tone as I looked down at my feet.
    “Give me your scroll.” He demanded as he held his hand out. I removed the scroll and held it out to him. He took the scroll and looked at it. “Dammit.” he muttered as he put the scroll in the pouch on my back. “D-do y-you have a heaven scroll t-too?” I stuttered quietly.
    He nodded without looking me in the eye and collected the water bottles from his team. “I’ll go with you to get the water. You shouldn’t go by yourself.” He said as he looked away. “O-Ok.” I said as I looked away from his face. We walked a bit away from his teammates and found a stream.
    We filled up the water bottles and decided to sit down and take a rest for a while before we went back to our teams. “Hey Neji-kun?” I asked, blushing as his lavender eyes locked with my (e/c) ones. “What is it?” He asked boredly. “W-Why do you wear bandages on your forehead?” I asked nervously after I noticed the bandages under his headband.
    He looked back at the stream as his blank face turned into one of anger. “I’ll tell you another time.” He said calmly. I nodded and noticed that the sun was going down.“I-I think we should get back to our teams.” I said. He looked up at the sky and nodded.        
    We picked up the water bottles and walked back towards his teammates. “What are your teammates’ names anyway?” I asked him. “The girl is Tenten and the other boy is Rock Lee.” He said and I nodded.