"... Uchiha, Sasuke?"
"Here,"
"...Uzumaki, Naruto?"
"HERE!"
"Okay, looks like everyone is here," Iruka-sensei looks around the room, eyes not even skimming over the silent girl in the large over coat sitting in the very back of the room in a row by herself with her hood up.
That girl is me.
... He forgot me again...
I make no move to remind Iruka-sensei, and merely peer out from under my long gray bangs and my hood with my sea-green eyes, half-closed as usual.
What do I care if they forget I'm here... no one knows my name anyways...
But I do have a name.
It's Niijima, Yuuki.
And to the world, I am invisible.
But I have a gut feeling that it won't stay that way. No idea why, it's just a gut feeling.
"Okay!! The graduation test is in a month, so start getting ready now. As a good start-off, we're having a test. Everybody line up at the front of the room," Iruka-sensei says, and I reluctantly follow my classmates to the front, standing at the very end of the line, a little behind the last person. I'm waiting for my turn.
Maybe this time I'll get it right, and my parents will finally have a reason to be proud of me.
But, I won't get my hopes up.
If you get your hopes up, then they'll just have farther to fall, and the landing will hurt that much more.
It's finally my turn. I step forward slightly, and perform the transformation jutsu to the best of my ability, and manage to turn into an almost-perfect copy of Iruka-sensei.
"Very good Niijima-kun. Sorry about forgetting you on the roll call," Iruka-sensei apologizes. I nod in understanding.
"It's alright," I say, my voice wispy and quiet, like the faint sound of butterfly wings fluttering against one another.
Since I was the last in line, my classmates and I all go sit back in our seats.
I turn my head to the sudden sound of the chair next to me being pulled away. I look up to see the person I would least expect, sitting down.
Uchiha-kun is sitting next to me...? Why?
My brows furrow in confusion.
Why would Uchiha-kun sit next to me?? I didn't think he even knew I existed...
"Class, I'll be back in ten minutes. Don't wreck the classroom," Iruka-sensei says, giving a meaningful look to Naruto during the last part.
The side of my mouth twitches. Uzumaki-kun is always in trouble. Poor kid...
For the next couple minutes, Sasuke and I sit in silence, until I finally muster up the courage to ask,
"Uhm, why are you sitting back here?"
I wince slightly at how rude my own words sound outside of my head.
"Because I want to. Is there something wrong with that?" Sasuke doesn't even move his head to look at me.
"Not really... it's just that... no one has ever sat next to me before..." I reply, turning back to look to the front of the room. More silence ensues.
"... What's your name?"
I turn to look at Sasuke, and I blink in confusion.
"N-nani?"
"I asked you your name," he looks at me from the corner of his eye, and I feel heat rise to my face in embarrassment.
"Y-Yuuki. Niijima, Yuuki," I say, looking down at the desk.
"I'm-"
"Uchiha, Sasuke, the last known survivor of the Uchiha clan," I smirk at his look of utter confusion. "Just because no one knows who I am, doesn't mean I don't know who you are,"
He smirks back at me, and turns toward the front of the room again.
"... How many times has Iruka-sensei forgotten your name on roll call?" he asks out of the blue.
"During this year? Fifteen. During the whole time I've been at the academy? Sixty-eight," I answer with a light chuckle.
"You counted?" he raises an eyebrow at me, and I shrug.
"There's not a whole lot else to do,"
At this moment, Iruka-sensei walks back in, and Sasuke and I fall back into the silence, both listening to our lessons.
Today feels like it's going by way too fast, but I suppose I should be used to that feeling...
"Kay, class is over. Come back tomorrow!!" Iruka-sensei yells as the bell went.
"Where else do I have to go?" I mutter, rolling my eyes. I see Sasuke's mouth twitch slightly.
Uchiha-kun's not as mean as he seems. Interesting...
I mentally scold myself for thinking like that. Never judge anyone without first getting to know them. That is my number one rule of my code of honour.
Number two is to never show my true emotions to anyone, which is pretty easy for me.
I don't feel much anymore...
"Niijima-chan,"
I turn around to look at Sasuke, jerked out of my thoughts.
"Yes?"
"I need a training partner,"
The side of my mouth twitches slightly.
This is probably a bad idea but...
"When and where?"
Sasuke smirks.
"Training ground 3, 5:00. Don't be late,"
I smirk back, feeling my confidence boost.
"I won't be,"
==3 Weeks Later==
"Uchiha-kun?" I ask as Sasuke and I sit in an open field, having just finished our training for the day.
"What, Niijima-chan?"
Neither of us turn to look at one another as we talk, used to just listening, the bond already formed between us strong.
"Do you... believe in... love?" I ask, rather meekly, as this is a touchy subject.
"Why do you ask?" he enquires, suspicious.
"Well, it's just that a majority of the female population in Konoha that is around our age are, well, to say the least, obsessed with you, and I was just wondering,"
Sasuke is silent for a couple minutes, and I can tell he is thinking hard about the question.
"I'm... not really sure..." he finally answers. I chuckle, almost bitterly.
"I don't believe in love. To me, it is but a cruel figment of my twisted imagination; a chemical reaction in the brain triggered by the will to keep our race from going extinct," my expression softens, "But, I suppose, my opinion might change... someday... but until then..." I trail off.
The blanket of silence returns, wrapping itself around the field until it almost seems eerie. We both just sit there, enjoying the peacefulness that has engulfed us, and neither of us notice the sun beginning to set, until the stars hang high above our heads.
Mother is going to be angry... I think as I stand up, brushing myself off.
"See you tomorrow?" It seems to be more of a statement than a question, and I don't wait for an answer before heading off toward my home.
"Mother, Father, I'm home," I announce, shutting the traditional style sliding door behind me as I enter the home of the Niijima clan's main branch.
"You are late, Yuuki," my father says, watching me out of the corner of his eye, "As you have been every night for the past three weeks,"
I wince slightly, just enough to be noticeable.
"I apologize. I have been training, and I tend not to notice the time," I say, bowing respectfully to my father and mother as they sit at the kitchen table.
"Training?" my mother says, disbelief clear in her tone.
"Yes. With... a friend,"
My mother's eyes narrow to slits, and I wince under her intense stare,
"Who?" she asks coldly.
"... Uchiha Sasuke," I say, knowing what my parents' reactions will be.
The Uchiha and Niijima clans have been feuding for generations. I thought it was finally over after the Uchiha massacre, but it just made it worse, as my parents, not to mention the rest of my clan, have centred all their hatred for the Uchiha clan on Sasuke.
"The Uchiha boy?!" my mother shrieked.
"I refuse to let you interact with that... that..." my father doesn't have any words, and as usual, I am too afraid to stand up to him
"Yes father..." I walk away, my heart in my throat.
This can't be happening... why did I have to open up my big mouth?! I'M SUCH A WEAKLING!!
I feel something wet slide down my cheek and fall onto my pant leg as I sit cross-legged against my bedroom door.
A tear...?
I stare at the spot of wetness, as if it were a dangerous explosive. My brows furrow in confusion.
Why am I crying? I ask myself, Why does this upset me so much?
I feel my heart wrench painfully inside my chest, and I clutch the spot, the fabric stopping my fingernails from digging into my skin.
What is this? This pain... it makes me want to die...
==3 Years Later==
It's been three years since then, and I think I finally figured out my tears.
It was my heart's way of telling me something that I didn't understand.
And now my heart is telling me that I was a fool.
That I wasn't weak for crying.
That I was weak for listening to my parents' prejudiced words and ruining the one true chance I ever had at friendship.
Weak for ruining my one true chance for something I didn't believe in.
Love
And now I'm writing this all down so that maybe one day, someone will read this and be able to quell their own misconceptions about the world.
And so that maybe, someday, my heart and soul may be at peace.
Uchiha-kun...
Sasuke
I'll never understand...
Why even though I was so invisible...
You saw me when no one else did...
I don't understand what it was you saw when you looked at me...
Why you didn't just look right through me as the others did...
Sasuke...
Why did you watch me...
When everyone was watching you?
So now, my life is coming to an end.
I just wanted this last chance to apologize for all the mistakes I made in life.
For my choice to remain invisible, when I could have made a difference.
For pushing everyone away.
For closing my heart to the world.
I wish I could take it all back.
But I know I can't.
I hope that maybe you all forgive me.
Sasuke.
I'm so sorry,
I love you,
Even if you don't love me.
The young Uchiha stared at the letter in his shaking hands.
No...
He couldn't believe this was happening.
He wouldn't.
His closest friend lay dead in front of him, a half empty bottle of pills lay in her hand. He read the note again, trying to convince himself it was all just a lie, that she wasn't dead, just sleeping.
But he knew it was true.
He clenched the note in his fist, and reached down to grab the bottle of pills. He read the label.
Seven pills to die... seven pills left...
The young man made a quick decision, one that he would never be able to take back.
Niijima-chan...Yuuki... I'll see you soon
And with that, another soul departed to the other side.
I hope you enjoyed my first ever one-shot ^__^ please rate and message me!!
