There was a rainstorm. The pitter patter of the rain falling onto the roof brought a feeling of peace to you. The rustling of the leaves did as well. Even the sound of thunder and the flashes of lighting gave you a feeling of serenity.
In the darkness, the sounds of nature could fight away your fears.
The door creaked open but in your serene state, you did not notice. Only when your door shut, did your eyes flash open and flicker in the direction of your door.
You sighed in relief when you noticed it was only Lee.
He stood there and smiled. "Can I come in?"
You forced a smile. "Well, seeing as you're already inside I don't see how I can say no"
He laughed. "I see you're back to normal"
Your smile faltered for a moment before returning. 'Sure. I've always been an emotional wreck. Yeah, even when I was a little kid I've been fighting off Akatsuki members. Yeah, I'm normal. Completely normal.'
Saracasm. It was something that would never leave you. Perhaps it was one of your greatest faults and at the same time one of your greatest treasures.
"So how have you been since your brush with death?"
His words startled you and forced you back into the world of the living.
"I've been... doing as I... can" you stated. "Sometimes I can't help but... relive... the memories but... I'll live" 'I hope'
He smiled. "See? You'll be okay. Besides I know someone who'll cheer you up!"
You smiled although your heart wasn't in it. "Really? Who is it?"
"Inject some joy into your words, Rin-chan! Not everyone gets to face off against an Akatsuki member and live to tell the tale. Consider yourself lucky"
Something in the way he said it made you snap.
Your hand shot up suddenly. Then in a split second, you had slapped him.
The room was silent except for the sounds of your breathing and the downpour of rain outside. The tension in the air could have been sliced with a knife.
Lee watched you in surprise. A red mark was on his right cheek. A reminder of your anger.
"Rin?"
With his words, you found the will to speak.
"How dare you. How can you say such a thing? Consider myself lucky? What a ridiculous thing to say!" you paused in your words. "I know you mean well, Lee, but... I thought you knew better than this. I've always considered you a very dear friend of mine. I thought you knew me well enough not to speak to me in such a... such a... such a joking manner!"
Your voice broke off for a moment but it was back a moment later.
"I thought that talking to you might do me some good but I guess I was wrong. Then again, I've been wrong a lot lately. I've failed myself in so many aspects already and now..."
You couldn't continue. You didn't want to say you thought he failed you as a friend. You remained silent. You stood up and the tears began to fall. plop. plop. plop.
You rushed towards the door wordlessly and began to run. You ran past the other rooms, down the stairs into the living room and out the front door. Still you continued to run. You ran into the forest beside the house. You ran and ran. You ran until your feet grew sore from the cold and from the rocks that pierced your bare feet. Still you continued running. You ran until you felt that you could no longer. You ran until you could no longer hear the voices of your friends.
You fell onto your knees and crawled under the shade of a willow tree. Its long branches and leaves shaded you from the rain as you cried and cried into the night. Your voice barely heard over the roar of thunder and rainfall.
Then there was dark.
"Where is she, Lee?" Neji growled, an unfamiliar glint in his eyes. His eyes burned with anger that no one was ever allowed to see. The anger he used to regard the main family with.
"She ran off"
"What did you say to her?"
"I didn't say-"
"Tell me the truth, Lee!"
"Well, I might have been too happy-go-lucky around her but we agreed that we had to get her in higher spirits, didn't we?" Lee demanded.
"Making her run off is not getting her in higher spirits" Neji took a deep breath to calm himself. "Did you see in what direction she went?" he asked no one in particular.
It was Tenten who spoke up next. "She went into the forest"
Neji stood and headed in the direction of the door.
"She could be just about anywhere, you know! She's so fast and there's no telling where she could have went off to-"
Neji cut her off. "It doesn't matter. I'll get her back. My Byakugan will help me" He disappeared in a flash. His speed was now too high for anyone to realize where he was moving.
Tenten burst into tears. "Now both of them are gone! I can't take this" She ran upstairs; her tears flying behind her.
Lee crumbled into a heap on the sofa. "This is my fault..."
A warm hand gripped his shoulder firmly. Lee looked up to see Gai's smiling face. "No, it's not, Lee. You tried to look out for her. It didn't work. It no one's fault. Don't worry. Neji will get her back. Trust me"
-----
'Byakugan!' Neji's eyes gave off a luminous flash as the veins in both his eyes popped out.
He kept on running, hating to think he would waste even a moment until he found you. His eyes gave him a surveillance of his surroundings. There was no sight of you.
He ran some more. He knew you were not in a stable state. What if you injured yourself accidentally? He kept running. He wouldn't allow that to happen.
He noticed a huddled figure under the shade of a tree. His insides leapt. 'Maybe that's her...' He jumped his way to the figure and there you were, shivering in the cold. He wrapped his arms around you and held you close. "It's time to go back, Rin. Time to go back..."
Your eyes opened, revealing a darkened room.
"It's about time you woke up"
You raised your arms in defensive position, ready to attack, before slumping back against the pillows. You felt so weak, so tired.
"Rin..." Your eyes found themselves lost in beautiful eyes. Neji's eyes, you soon realized.
"Stop disappearing and getting hurt, Rin. I know you think you can take care of yourself but..." He trailed off. "Well, what I mean to say is I don't want you to get hurt because-" Again he broke off and this time, he couldn't look you in the eye. "I mean," he continued. "You're so much more to me now than you were when we first came to this place. I don't want you to get hurt. I want to protect you. I want to-" He broke off and captured your lips in a kiss. A kiss you didn't expect.
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I hope you guys enjoyed this. Thanks for reading!
