Glass Wall | Neji x OC (ON HOLD)

Chapter 1: Love Songs

IZUMI AND NEJI have been best friends since they were about five. They've been practically inseparable ever since. Not even time could pull them apart.

Our story begins on the last day of summer before the first day of their junior year at Konoha High. Neji and Izumi are making sure no one disturbs them on their final day of summer because they planned on doing what might as well be nothing. "Neji?" Izumi asks, her head lying on Neji's lap as they sat on the sofa in Izumi's living room watching yet another movie. Neji looked down at her with a smile. "Yes, Izumi?" he replied. Seeing his smile, Izumi couldn't help but smile back.

Ever since Naruto and Neji's fight at school in seventh grade, Neji has been a lot more happy and open. It made her happy more than anything ever had. She even thanked Naruto.

*Flashback*

On the day of Naruto and Neji's fight, after all of their friends left to go home after school, Izumi and Naruto were alone together. The air was still with an uncomfortable silence as Izumi packed up her violin in the music room of the school.

Naruto had gotten detention and was cleaning up the music room, so they were going to be together for about thirty minutes to clean. Well, Neji also had detention that day, but according to the teachers, Naruto and he weren't allowed to be seen near each other for the next two weeks.

Izumi finally decided to break the silence. "Thank you, Naruto," she said quietly as her expression remained serious. Naruto raised an eyebrow, confused. "For what?"

Izumi looked at him and smiled sincerely. "For helping Neji," she started. "Thanks to you, he will be so much happier now." Izumi thought for a moment. "And thank you for helping me clean the music room."

Naruto's eyes widened for a moment, but then he grinned.

*Flashback end*

"I know you and I both might not like this, but could we maybe find something else to do. It's the last day of summer until our junior year, so we should get out and enjoy this last day," Izumi said, still smiling. Neji thought for a moment. He didn't seem thrilled about the idea, but he nodded anyway. "What would you suggest we do?" he asked before letting out an exasperated sigh. Izumi placed a finger on her chin thoughtfully. "Maybe we could go to the park for a bit," she said. "I wrote a new song, and I'd like to play it in public to get people's opinions on it."

Neji nodded before they both got up. Izumi packed up her violin and then, it was off to the park.

Izumi had called Temari during the walk to the park. She told Neji that the song she wrote had lyrics and she needed vocals.

'Her songs don't usually have lyrics. I wonder...,' he thought, his mind trailing off.

When they arrived at the park, Neji saw that it was crowded, and out of the corner of his eye, he spotted Kakashi Hatake, everyone's favorite teacher at his and Izumi's school, Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, Tenten, and Lee. "Uh, Izumi," he mumbled. Izumi glanced up at Neji as she began to tighten her bow. "What is it, Neji?" she asked with a sigh. "Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, Tenten, Lee, and Mr. Hatake are right over there," he said, nodding towards said people. Izumi shrugged and stood up. "The more the merrier," she said with a light smile.

'Most of the time, she tries to avoid attention and crowds, but when she sees a chance to play her violin in front of everyone, she takes it,' Neji thought as a gentle smile naturally graced his lips.

As she tuned her instrument, Neji noticed Naruto and the others walking towards them. "Hey!" Naruto called out. Neji waved at them.

"Hey, Temari," he heard Izumi say behind him. He turned around to see Temari running their way with a couple music sheets in her hand. "Sorry I'm late!" she said, panting in between each word. "Gaara asked me to help him with something last minute." Izumi nodded in understanding. "It's fine."

Then, they set up and started, Izumi on the violin and Temari singing.

*Time skip to end of song*

'Those lyrics...,' Neji's mind wandered.

The large audience surrounding Izumi and Temari clapped excitedly, and some shouted things such as "You two are so talented!", "Encore!", and more.

When Neji finally snapped back to reality, he noticed how sparkly Izumi's bluebell eyes looked. He walked towards her, patted her on the back, smiled, and didn't say a word, for he didn't need any words to show how proud of her he was.

As soon as the crowd slowly left, Naruto and the others ran straight towards their friends. "That was awesome!" shouted Naruto. "You two did wonderful," Mr. Hatake said with a closed-eyes smile. The rest nodded in agreement with the two. "Thanks, but it wouldn't have been good if it weren't for Temari," Izumi said kindly. Temari scoffed in response. "No way! You're the one who wrote the damn thing in the first place!" she said, followed by a hearty laugh. "SUCH YOUTH!" Lee shouted as tears brimmed his eyes. Everyone sweat dropped.

"So," Lee said after he wiped his tears away, "who do you play for?" Izumi almost gasped at his question. Everyone looked at her with anticipation, especially Neji. After a few moments, Izumi shrugged. "That's a secret," she muttered.

"Well, I now know what people think of my new song. Maybe I'll write more like that one," Izumi said with another beautiful smile. "Anyways, Neji and I shall take our leave. Take care, everyone!" she said before walking away, Neji quickly following.

After they exited the park, Neji asked the question that had been on his mind since the song ended. "Who's the lucky guy?" he asked as they walked the busy streets of Konoha. Izumi nearly stumbled at his words. "W-What?!" she said, her cheeks tinged pink. Neji raised an eyebrow. "Who is the guy from your song?" he asked again. Izumi stopped, causing Neji to almost run into her. "I-It's... Kiba," she mumbled.

Then, Neji's heart shattered unknowingly.

"So, who do you play for?"