Among The Stars .:Itachi x Fem!Reader:. Soulmate AU

A Falling Star

"His soulmate?" [Name] forces the words out. It doesn't sit well on her tongue. "You're bonded...to Neji?"

Tenten nods, her smile growing ever more prominent, and [Name's] expression falling with every second.

"I never thought I'd meet my soulmate like I did," Tenten says, reminiscing on recent memory. She's all smiles and hearts, while [Name] is doom and gloom.

The receptionist clears her throat. "Well, Neji won't have his break for another hour or so---"

"I can wait," Tenten interrupts. "I waited this long for him. I can wait another hour."

[Name] nods, thinking this conversation is over, but Tenten continues to talk.

"So, have you met your soulmate yet?" She leans on the counter that separates them. "You've got a bunch of stars, I can see them behind your contacts. Your soulmate must be so lucky."

[Name] blinks, feeling a bit uncomfortable. "No. I haven't met them yet."

"Oh, that's too bad." Tenten pouts. She gets too comfy for [Name's] liking. Tenten puts her head in both of her hands, looking so cute as her round cheeks press in. "When I met Neji, I saw like this purple blip of stars. It looked like a tiny universe just exploded from his body. But it was gone within five seconds. I just had to know his name. I got more into him as we talked, and he clearly liked me too. I knew he was my soulmate when he believed in my dreams. No one had ever believed in me, but Neji did."

Every word is like a bullet to [Name's] chest. Slowly, she falls into a deep abyss of her own inner despair. She wonders how this woman could, this chatty, overconfident, outgoing woman---who is the total opposite of Neji by the way---be his soulmate. Why her of all people? She wonders why she couldn't be in Tenten's shoes. To pass as an average person, to only have a single star in both eyes, to have the personality she has, to have Neji as her soulmate.

[Name] dissociates from the moment and stares at the stack of papers her hand rests on. She feels sick. So sick.

She feels her throat twitch, her stomach ties itself into knots, pushing bile further up her esophagus. Her eyes well with tears, and she snaps back into the moment all too quickly. Her hands shake as she turns to Tenten.

"I'm...I'm so happy for both of you," she says, but her voice wavers.

She's not happy. Not happy at all. And if Tenten wasn't so dense, then she'd know this. She'd know that this woman is deeply unsettled about how Neji has found his soulmate. She didn't even know he had one.

"I'm so so so happy for you both!"

Tenten cheeses harder, the joy spilling from her pores, making her glow. [Name] hates that smile; a smile she knows Neji loves with all his heart.

"Thank you!"

...

Spiraling. [Name] spirals downwards into an abyss of ugly sadness. She falls deeper, thinking of Neji as she soars through this surrounding blackness, this crushing emptiness, like a star in the night sky.

Her heart is broken. Shattered to pieces, and it's no one's fault but the universe. However, she blames Tenten. She blames this harmless girl---someone who is obeying the universe---for ruining her only happiness. She believes that if she had just a bit more time, she'd convince Neji to love her, to defy destiny and be with her, escape Konoha, and its oppressive views on soulmates.

Just a bit more time, [Name] dwells on the what-ifs. She curls up in her blankets, the blue lamp light illuminating her room.

Tenten's words from earlier mock her. She grits her teeth every time they pop in her head:

"Have you met your soulmate yet?"
"Have you met your soulmate yet?"
"Have you met your soulmate yet?"

The words mock her, simply because she feels as if she did meet her soulmate. Neji. And Tenten swooped in, stealing him from right under her.

A rational part of her reasons that Tenten isn't at fault, but at 3am, [Name] can't think straight. Between the tears, the frustrated screaming, and bingeing on food, [Name] is a mess and doesn't think she'll go into work tomorrow.

She wants to avoid Neji as much as possible. Knowing her, she'll make this the worst time to confess, conscious of Neji's rejection. He'll let her down easy, and that makes it even worse for [Name]. She'd rather him push her away completely.

But in the same breath, [Name] wants him all to herself. The pull and push of this all or nothing mentality tears her mind apart. It wreaks havoc on what's left of her emotional stability. If she loses Neji, all kindness in her world will cease to exist. There will be nothing.

And she will be stuck.

Stuck with the cruelty of others and the indifference of the universe.

...

A/N: Iftachim.