The Quiet Ones (Neji x Shy! Reader)

Chapter 11: Neji vs. Hinata

    The smoke cleared and showed that Tsubaki was unconscious and badly injured on the ground. “The winner is (Y/n) (L/n)!” Hayate announced, causing me to smile as I walked away. I walked back up to where the others were and smiled as a painful feeling pierced my head. “(Y-Y/n), a-are y-you ok?” Hinata asked. I nodded gently at the shy Hyuuga heiress. “I’m fine thanks.” I said with a small smile. She gave me a worried look and reached into her pocket.
    Just as she opened her mouth to speak, I felt a bandaged hand grab my left arm and lift it quickly. I looked next to me to see Neji holding my arm up. My face heated and looked away. “What happened?” He asked firmly. I shrugged. “I-I d-don’t know.” I replied quietly. He gave me a worried look as I felt a stabbing pain in my arm. “Ow.” I muttered to myself.
     I looked up to see that he had pulled a shuriken from my arm. “You need to go to the medics.” He said as he carefully put my blood covered arm down. I held it with my other hand and nodded shyly. My face felt like it was on fire as I whispered a thank you and went down to the medics.
     When I got back I saw that Neji and Hinata were not up with the rest of us. My heart pounded as I realized that I had just missed most of another matoch. I looked at the board and saw that the names belonged to Neji and Hinata. I looked down and saw Hinata fall to the floor. “Hinata!” I yelled. Everyone stared at me, even Hinata and Neji. They were probably just surprised that one of the shyest girls just yelled.
     I saw the medic nins make their way over to Hinata as I jumped over the railing. “What the hell Neji?!?!” I screamed as I looked at the blank faced prodigy. “She’s weak.” Was all that he said before my hand made its way across his face, leaving a red mark on his pale skin. I felt hot tears streaming down my face.
     “Why are you defending her? You’re strong. Besides, it’s her destiny.” He said in a monotone voice. “That’s bullshit.” I said. “I’m defending her not only because she’s my friend, but also because I was once like her.” I said. I looked up to see the genius’ eyes widen a fraction. “But I got stronger, and changed my destiny.” I looked down at my feet as my face heated up and the tears gradually stopped.
     “I was once called a failure and weak. Now I’m called strong. Don’t you get it Neji? You can change your destiny.” I said as I met his eyes. He glared at me with a simple tch as his response. I began walking down the hall towards the doors, trying to find Hinata. After 15 minutes with no luck, I walked back to the arena in time to see that the winners were lined up on the floor.
     I walked over to Naruto and stood next to him. “Wh-What’s going on?” I asked him quietly. “We’re choosing numbers to see who we’ll fight in the 3rd round.” He explained. I drew my number read it to the proctors.
     After a minute, they showed us a chart with the pairings. Naruto was to fight Neji. I smirked to myself with hope. “Maybe he'll knock some sense into his head.” I thought. “Naruto-chan." I said quietly. “What is it?” He said looking over at me. “Knock some sense into Neji’s head for me.” I said. He smiled and gave me a curt nod.
     I continued reading the chart. Gaara was to fight Sasuke, Kankuro was to fight Shino, Temari was to fight Shikamaru and I was to fight Dosu. “What a pain.” I thought as I glared at the mummy looking guy.
     I smiled to myself, hoping to get revenge for the second round. We were told we had a month to train for the exams and were dismissed. I walked immediately to the hospital to check on Lee and Hinata. I went into Lee’s room to see him still unconscious in the hospital bed. I smiled sadly. “Wake up soon Lee-san.” I thought before I turned on my heel to leave the room.
     As I walked down the hall, I recognized Gaara as he walked past me towards Lee’s room. I walked into Hinata’s room to found her also unconscious and thought it best to leave her be.