Heaven

Author's notes: Came to me before I went to work Christmas Eve and I had to get it out before I went back to my original fiction.

Timeline: Fourth Shinobi War, right after Neji's unwarranted death.

I don't own Naruto characters. I just play with them a bit and toss them back to where they belong.

He opened his eyes.

White surrounded him but he knew this was impossible. The Konoha Hospital had been destroyed and had not made it to being completely rebuilt yet. Besides, he had been on the battlefield where the hospital consisted of the gray colored tents.

Impossible as the color was, he sat up. He did not occupy a room, space yes but he could not see walls or a ceiling. He heard not a sound and there was no scent coming to his nostrils. He did not feel particularly cold or warm and the texture of the floor or ground under him was smooth.

Neji blinked and glanced around again.

His last memory was of leaning on Naruto as pain enveloped his body. His vision had begun to go gray and the smell of blood and death had been strong. Neji knew he had died. There had been no hope for him after being pierced by the Ten Tails to save Hinata-sama.

Pity Fate would laugh at him again and throw him into an afterlife which consisted of nothing. Neji got to his feet with a frown then realized he felt no pain. He looked down to his chest but spotted the Hyuuga robes, not the battle gear he had been wearing upon his death. No, he wore the white pants, white long sleeved shirt and gray outer robe with his shinobi issue sandals.

Neji touched his forehead and hit metal. He frowned before taking off the hitai-ate and found it to be carrying the Leaf he had worn most of his life until the war broke out. He tied his hitai-ate back into place and tried to find some defining feature of the space he occupied.

There was nothing.

Neji huffed and began to stride forward. He did not know how much ground he covered, if any at all, and did not know how long he walked. Neji assumed he had forever and wondered what he had done to earn an eternity of nothing.

Gradually the white began to give way to gray. Neji slowed when this happened and frowned at the implications. If he continued would he go to Hell? He supposed it did not matter. He would see Hell before he came to the gates.

Besides, he was a shinobi. A bit of darkness should not make him afraid to go further. Neji took another step forward followed by another. The gray became progressively darker but he began to recognize it for what it was: a night sky.

Cool wind brushed over him and Neji noticed the ground beneath his feet had become grass. He could see something in the distance, a light, and Neji made his way towards it. He had heard of the phrase "going into the light" but had not assumed it would be so literal.

As he got closer to the light he could hear crackling. Neji knew the sound as he had heard it many times through the years. The sound of fire consuming wood had become a comfort to him as it meant rest from a day's travel on a mission. It meant warmth, safety, and relief. Neji spotted the details of the fire a moment later.

The fire had been created as a shinobi would make it: a pit dug into the earth then surrounded by stones. Unlike a shinobi's fire, it was large; almost double the width of his body and for several moments Neji stared.

There was a single log in front of the fire to act as a seat so Neji walked towards it. The area around the fire was nothing but grass with the night sky going on forever. Stars twinkled overhead and the moon in the sky was full and bright. The night was calm, peaceful, the kind of night Neji enjoyed.

He preferred the night for its quiet, especially after a day of training with Lee and Guy-sensei. The world went into rest mode and Neji no longer had to live up to clan expectations when the sun went down. At night, he became free. Neji let out a breath.

It did not matter anymore.

He was dead. The difference between night and day held no meaning. There was no one around who expected him to speak or be the perfect Hyuuga. There would be no Lee to challenge him to a battle, no Guy-sensei to rant on about youth, and more importantly, no Tenten to listen to as she cooed at her weapons.

Neji blinked away his tears and sat on the log quickly. There would be no Tenten. He would never hear her voice again, feel the warmth of her hand on his, taste her lips, or inhale her unique scent. He would never see the honey colored hints in her brown eyes or the glowing smile she gave him when he approached with the weapon she had tossed above his head in the mornings.

He would never get the chance to fight to make her his wife or to be a father to weapon wielding Hyuuga children. He would never hold a child in his arms or even see how Konoha was rebuilt. He did not get the chance to grow old.

Neji sighed and decided sitting ramrod straight like Hyuuga decorum told him didn't matter. He leaned his elbows on his knees and stared at the base of the fire, allowing his shoulder to sag and his back to hunch.

Yes, he had save Hinata-sama, Main House, like a good little Branch member but he had done it of his free will like father had for Hiashi-sama. At the time it had been a sound decision in his mind. As he was able to ponder it Neji felt the greed rising up in him as well as the selfishness. He scowled.

Why should he have had to sacrifice his life for Hinata-sama? He had never gotten a choice in who he was or what he got to do, ever. It had always been for the clan, never for him, and Kami-forbid he step out of line. Had he ever been rewarded or thanked? Never. He deserved some kind of compensation for everything he had done but no, he was stuck staring at a fire which did not really exist all alone in whatever afterlife this was.

The smell of smoke came to his nostrils and Neji lifted his head. Sarutobi Asuma walked out of the fire but unscathed. Their eyes met and Asuma frowned before coming to sit beside him on the log.

"You don't look much older than the last time I saw you but you Hyuuga have a way of not showing age. Please tell me you're older than the last time we talked," Asuma said.

It had been almost a year ago they had spoken. The day before Asuma with his team and Neji with his had been sent out to gather more information about the Akatsuki. A few days before Asuma died thanks to Hiden who Shikamaru later killed.

"I cannot tell you that. My apologies," Neji said.

Asuma let out a heavy breath and shook his head. Neji sat a bit straighter and kept his eyes on Asuma. The man looked like he had in life: tall, broad, and intimidating. A cigarette hung from between his lips and his wild hair was still held back by his hitai-ate. He still wore standard issue shinobi attire but for the cloth on his waist giving the symbol of his clan.

"How?" Asuma asked.

"Protecting Hinata-sama," Neji said.

"From?"

"The Ten-tails. The Akatsuki were being lead by Nagato who was being controlled by Uchiha Madara and Uchiha Obito. It was their goal to put the world into a genjutsu so there would be no more fighting. This created a war of course but all five nations converged. We were in the middle of fighting in it,"

Neji waited while Asuma considered, still looking into the fire. He nodded after a moment then met Neji's eyes.

"So you're seventeen?" Asuma questioned.

Neji inclined his head. Asuma sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He shook his head then met Neji's eyes again.

"Please tell me you at least got to have sex," Asuma said.

Neji felt his cheeks heat and gave a short nod. He would never get to feel what it was like to be inside of Tenten again either. He scowled. He would never again see the curves of her toned body or touch the fullness of her breasts. He would not see the flush rising across her cheeks as she made those wonderful sounds of pleasure as he entered her.

"Who?"

"Tenten,"

"Your teammate, yeah I figured,"

"You, what?"

"Well, Kurenai figured. The way you two looked at each other with those little smiles and stood near each other all the time,"

Asuma smiled as Neji looked towards the fire so Asuma would not see how embarrassed Neji felt. If Kurenai had deduced it then surely Hiashi-sama had come to the same conclusion. Neji would not get the chance to ask.

"You'll miss her," Asuma said.

Neji looked to the man and saw a sad smile on his face. Asuma would never again touch Kurenai or see the way she smiled, taste her or inhale her scent. He would not see his child grow, if he even knew of the child, nor would he see how much his team had grown.

"It'll hurt, missing her, but she's alive. She'll be able to tell the next generation all about you and the sacrifice you made to make sure Konoha gets to stand," Asuma said.

"Hn,"

It did not sound better or even equal to what he could have had. Children, a life, growing old with the woman he loved, no, being remembered as a war hero wasn't a good consolation prize. Not one bit.

"What about seeing her happy? What about holding our child in my arms? What about getting to grow old with her? Seeing our children grow up and having children of their own? Changing the Hyuuga so no one would have to carry the Caged Bird Seal? What about my life?"

Asuma watched him with a neutral expression on his face. Neji didn't care he had shouted. He didn't care there were tears streaming down his face. He hadn't lived. He had given it all up. And for what? So Hinata-sama could have a chance at love?

"What would've happened if Hinata died instead of you?" Asuma asked.

"Nothing would," Neji started but stopped.

Nothing would have happened. Naruto might have been upset, yes, but Hinata-sama's sacrifice would not have meant as much to Naruto. Neji would not have been able to tell Naruto all he had with the same meaning. Naruto would not have been as revitalized to fight as Neji knew he had left him. They may win the war now but if it had been Hinata-sama...

He understood. His life so the hundreds of thousands could live. His life, his potential children, his happiness, so others could have lives, children, and happiness. Neji sighed and shook his head.

"Your life for the King," Asuma said.

"My life for the King," Neji said.

Asuma patted his shoulder before getting to his feet. Neji watched as Asuma walked towards the fire. The fire began to glow bright white, so blinding Neji had to shield his eyes. When the light faded, Asuma was gone and the fire had gone back to normal. Neji blinked at it.

Moments passed and Neji considered. This was some kind of final test. No, not a test. Neji did not have the proper word for it. A preparation perhaps but Neji had no idea why he would need to be prepared for entering the afterlife.

The fire crackled and someone else strode out of it. Neji watched as Jiraiya strode out of the fire then sat beside Neji with a smile. Neji had hardly spoken to the man in life. Asuma made sense. They had talked many times as jonin and whenever Shikamaru played shoji with Neji, Asuma had tended to show up.

"Hm, Hyuuga Neji, right?" Jiraiya questioned.

"Yes," Neji answered.

"Right, you're the guy Naruto wants to change the Hyuuga clan for," Jiraiya said.

Neji had no idea what to say to this. He knew what Jiraiya talked about of course. Naruto had promised to change the Hyuuga during their fight in the chunin exams. He did not have to worry about changing the clan himself as Naruto would do it for him.

"You know he never goes back on his promises, right?" Jiraiya asked.

Neji nodded in agreement. Jiraiya chuckled before patting his shoulder and standing. Again the fire became bright white and Jiraiya disappeared into the blinding bright light. Neji understood now.

Asuma had come to make him forget the regrets he would have with leaving Tenten so soon. Jiraiya had come to remind him Naruto would change the Hyuuga. They were making sure he had no regrets about dying for Hinata-sama. Neji hummed and waited.

He did feel much lighter than he had before Asuma came. Neji sat straighter, not because of Hyuuga decorum but because he felt like it. He wanted to know what else he had to let go of before he too could step through the fire and see what was on the other side.

The fire crackled again and Neji inhaled hard. Father stepped from the flames. Their eyes met and Neji watched as a frown came over father's face. Father came forward and sat beside him on the log.

"How old are you?" father asked.

"Seventeen," Neji replied.

Father tsked and shook his head. Neji felt heat come to his cheeks and looked towards the fire. Kami, he had barely lived and here he was speaking to his deceased father. Yes people would get to live and Naruto would change the clan but it would not give him back the life he would never get to live.

"Tell me," father said.

He did not have to explain. Neji started talking. He spoke about how he felt growing up without father: the rage, the pain, the sorrow and the bitterness towards Hinata-sama and the rest of the clan. He revealed how he wanted to become the best so he could show the Main House what they had been missing. How he had scorned everyone in the Academy as weak, especially Lee who had been the worst in the class.

He talked about how much he had disliked his team then about how Naruto beat sense into him come the chunin exams. He spoke at length about how his relationship with Tenten had bloomed from a mutual need for sanity on Team Guy into something much more.

He described the war and how it had come about. Neji finished with his death and blinked. He did not remember talking for so long ever in life. In fact, Neji was certain he had spoken more in death than he ever had in life.

All through it, father sat beside him with a small smile on his face. Sorrow had come at the appropriate parts and Neji had received a pat on the shoulder when he talked about his first time with Tenten. Father had been serious when needed and laughed when required.

"It may have been short but it was a good life," father said.

He was right. Neji had lived a good life, short as it was. He had made friends, he had changed, he had forgiven his clan, and he had found love. He might not get to experience the love as much as he wanted but he had protected everyone he cared about. He might not see the Hyuuga Clan change with his eyes but he had left the responsibility in good hands.

"So, do you have any regrets?" father questioned.

Neji considered. He would miss being able to grow old but he had good reason to leave this behind. He would wish for Tenten to be by his side but she and the others would live. He would yearn to see the Hyuuga clan change but Naruto would not let him down.

"No," Neji said.

Father nodded to him and stood. Neji looked up at him then smiled when father offered him a hand up. Neji took his father's hand and stood by his side. They walked towards the fire and it began to glow bright white. This time Neji could look into the light without having to cover his eyes.

This time Neji could see the woman who stood a little beyond the light. Her pale eyes glowed in joy and her dark hair framed a delicately beautiful face. He recognized her high cheek bones, thick lashes, and full lips as he saw them in the mirror every day.

"Neji," she said.

Her arms, mother's arms opened to him and Neji let the smile split his face as he walked into the light with his father by his side. No regrets.

Short little Christmas present for y'all. As always: reviews welcome.