10 Years later *Neji*
“I hope you guys enjoyed the class today and I’ll see you guys tomorrow,” Neji said, dismissing his class for today.
It has been ten years since Neji left his family and gained his new identity. For the last ten years, he has worked various jobs along with his current job of being a pole dancing instructor. This began as a job as an instructor under someone else, but then it led to him wanting to open a small pole dancing class himself. Doing this so far has helped him relieve his stress and forget about the family and friends he left behind.
In the beginning, it was hard going into the change of being an ex-mafia “wife” who didn't have to work and just stayed home and took care of his kids. Even though this wasn't the first time he has had to adjust to something different he had to adjust to becoming a stay-at-home parent also. But during both of these adjustments and changes, he had his friends and everyone he loved near him and they went through the changes also.
Another thing that made this change interesting and a little more difficult was that he found out that he was pregnant. This was going to be the first pregnancy he has experienced without his major support system. After finding out he realised he wasn't going to be alone during this at all. He also comprehended that he would be hiding a child from his husband.
Neji still wore his wedding ring from time to time. It just reminded him of memories he would forever cherish.
Locking up his studio, Neji turns and heads toward his car getting into it. He drove towards his daughter’s school to pick her up and it turns out she had gotten into trouble again. Which is what the teachers wanted to talk with him about today.
Time skip:
Walking into the teacher’s class He saw his daughter sitting with her head on the desk.
“Hi you must be Shima Hanami’s mom right?” she questioned as she shocked Shima’s' ' hand.
“Yes, I am and you must be Mrs.Johnson right the one I talked to earlier.”
“I surely am her,” she replied, as she took a seat at a desk.
“So I wanted to talk to you about Hanmi’s behaviour in class over the last few weeks.”
“Ok, so what did she do today and why is she in trouble again?” “Shima,” asked, staring at the woman.
“Well today she hit another student in the face and broke his nose,” Mrs.Johnson said, as she crossed her arms together.
“If you don't mind me asking, what do you think led to her wanting to do this?” Mrs.Johnson asked.
Hearing this Neji turned to look at his daughter he knew why she would react the way she did.
“Did she say the little boy said anything mean to her, if so they may be the reason why she reacted that way,” he commented, putting his attention back on the woman.
“The little boy did mention something about her Dad.”
The pair continued discussing the matter for thirty more minutes until it was time for Shima to go home.
“Well it was good to have this talk with you and hopefully we’ll get through to Hanami soon,” she said, standing up from the desk.
“Yeah hopefully, and how long will she be suspended?” he asked, going to pick up his daughter.
“She will be suspended for three days and will also have ISS for two days when she comes back,” she said, handing him some papers.
“Ok, and please call me if you have any further concerns or problems with her,” “Shima” commented while picking up his daughter.
“Of course and have a nice day.”
“You too," he said walking out the door.
Time skip: Home
After laying Hanami down on the couch Neji starts to prepare dinner. Which was some chicken Alfredo and steak.
20 minutes later:
Smelling the food in the air, Hanami got off the couch stretched and walked into the kitchen seeing her mom cooking dinner.
“Mommy, this smells so good,” Hanami smiled. As she walked towards her mom hugging him.
“Thank you baby but you and I both know you're not getting off easy. So when I finish cooking we’re going to sit down at the dinner table and have a very nice long talk. Do you understand?,” Neji turned to her, giving her ‘THE LOOK’.
“Yes, I understand,” she replied, lowering her head as she sat at the table.
Time skip: The talk
Hanami was staring down at her plate. She didn't want to look her mom in the eye after what she did today. She felt like she had disappointed her mom in some way over and over again.
This was her third time this year getting in trouble for fighting. Making her mom sad or even disappointing him hurt to even think about,
“So you know what we are going to talk about right?”, Neji voiced, pulling her out of her thoughts.
“Yes, Mom,” she said, moving to look her mom in the eye.
“Good cause I want to know what led to you breaking another kid's nose,” putting down his fork and resting his head on his hand.
“Mom I don't know, he said something that made me very angry ok and I couldn’t control my reaction.
“I know you get upset at Nami when things are said that you don't agree with or dislike but that doesn’t give you the right to harm them in any way. Unless they touched you wrongly or caused you bodily harm,” he concluded.
“He did cause me bodily harm though Mom,” she whined, making Neji make a face at her antics.
“What bodily harm?” he questioned, not buying his daughter’s excuse for one minute.
“My heart,” smirking as she placed her hand on her chest.
Laughing at her antics, Neji said, "Little girl, be serious.".
"But Mom, you know it's true," she replied, laughing with her mom.
"Whatever you say Hanami," he rolled his eyes and stood up to take their dishes to the sink.
"Mhmm Mom you have nothing to say after that do you?" She followed him to the kitchen.
"No, but I know you can go change your clothes and help me with the dishes," he said, turning away from her and back towards the sink.
"Ok," Hanami said, turning and heading down the hall to her room.
Walking into her room Hanami lay on her bed heading into her thoughts. Crossing her legs and resting her hands on her stomach.
Hanami's thoughts:
"I wonder what my life would be like if I had my dad?"
"Would he love me?"
"Would he and Mom be together or only get along because of me?"
"Is he an untrustworthy man? Is that why Mom won't let me see him or know anything about him?"
"Did he leave Mom while he was pregnant with me and doesn't know about me?"
"Was my mom a secret to you?"
"What happened between you and mom?"
"Was I a mistake?"
"Why don't you want to know or love me, Dad?"
Shaking her head at that thought, Hanami wiped the tears she didn't notice fell down her face. She headed to the bathroom to change. She wanted to know about her mother's relationship with her father and what had happened to their relationship. But every time she brought it up her mom said she was too young to understand the details. So she would let it rest till she got restless and wanted to know.
"Why can't Mom just tell me I'm old enough to know the truth, isn't she?" She thought and looked at herself in the mirror.
"I'll ask him while we're doing the dishes," she said, pulling on the last of her pyjamas.
Walking out of her room Hanami walked back into the kitchen and stood by the sink with her mom. Picking up one of the dishes and drying it she placed it down and turned towards her mom.
"Mom I was wondering if you could tell me what happened between you and Dad?"