Authoress Notes: This is the first chapter of my newest fic. It's short and there aren't many dialogues, but that will change in the next chapters. The main theme of this fic is war, so the characters will inevitably be angsty. I hope this first chapter doesn't scare you, 'cause it's a little weird. Also, I'm a native Spanish speaker, so I may not write perfectly, but I swear I tried to make this readable. Anyway, I'd be grateful if you could point out my mistakes, so I don't repeat them again.

Thanks for reading.

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You said Forever

CHAPTER 1 –intro-

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The farthest memory… the farthest memory he had was one of a very peaceful day. A day with a cloudy sky and a fresh breeze. He remembered his mother holding his hand while they watched his father coming home mounted on a brown horse. A peaceful day like any other.

How he missed those days. Back then, he could run with no reason across an endless field, under the rain, feeling the raindrops and the freedom hitting on his face.

Freedom. What a distant concept. It almost sounded abstract, since he couldn't quite understand what it meant any more. It had been such a long time, after all…

What did it feel like to be free? To look around and see your home, your family and your life smiling at you? To know and understand that your existence was a gift, and that you had it resting on your hands, waiting to be molded to your own will?

He didn't like to think that he had forgotten. He preferred to believe that he couldn't think about it, 'cause that would make him miss it… and that would make his actual situation utterly unbearable.

So he couldn't think about it.

"After the Third War, Peace has never been restored", he remembered listening in the news as he ate his breakfast. He never understood it, really. He didn't even put attention to the sad and disheartened voice in the radio. But he knew that his mother liked to hear the man talk, because she turned on the radio everyday in that same station at the same hour. He just hoped his mother wasn't in love with the man. 'Cause he liked his dad.

"The Eurasian Lands stated today that African people have been entering to their territory illegally. The leader of the state, King Orochimaru, said that if this situation didn't stop, the Eurasian military force would have to track down the immigrants, in order to send them back to Africa. He declared that the Eurasian Lands don't have the recourses to maintain the African and that he hopes Kaiser Gaara is able to find a way to resolve the actual crisis of his nation. However, it's well known that the young African Kaiser has been trying to give a solution to the hunger and low living conditions of his country since he became the successor of his father, but the constant intern conflicts and his unpopularity due to his father's past actions have made his goal difficult to reach. Despite The American Union tried to help Africa at the end of the war, this proved impossible, seeing as the American is one of the newly formed nations that has had more trouble getting to a stabilized shape, due to its large extension. This brought misery to Africa, since the Kaiser…"

The man's discourse stopped abruptly, changing to a bad pop song. Neji stared at the radio and then at his possessor, the tavern owner.

"No need hearing that shit", the foreigner man said, pouring hot coffee in a mug. "I already know history. Everybody does. Not necessary to remind me I'm not welcome here."

Neji nodded silently.

"Do you think the African should leave?", the man asked, evidently worried.

"I don't", he lied. The man smiled and rapidly offered Neji the coffee he had served.

"I'll give you this for free."

Neji accepted the mug and thanked, trying not to feel guilty. He could pretend that he liked the man, but in reality he didn't. He had already seen a lot of these "poor Africans" that had prosperous little businesses in the city. While, on the other hand, many Eurasians were starving or freezing in the streets, raising their hands as they asked for a charity that no one could give. So, Neji could only pretend that he liked the man, because the truth was that he didn't. The truth was that that man could give coffee for free, whereas Neji couldn't pay for more than one cup.

"You're a good boy, boy. I'll give you free coffee from now on. Just come around when you feel like drinking something hot."

Neji nodded and forced a smile. Decisively, he wouldn't come back to this tavern. Ever.

Well, maybe if he ran out of money…

Minutes later, Neji was leaving the small local. He stepped outside, instantly feeling the cold wind caress his face. He compared this to the warm weather he remembered from his days in the Spanish peninsula. There, the sky was blue, tainted with spongy white clouds, and made contrast with the brown, soft and fertile land. Here, in the colossal state of Russia, everything was gray. Including luck. Neji let out a sigh and began to walk.

Soon, Neji found himself in front of a big but old factory. There was already a long line that started in the gates of the factory. Neji noticed that the people there filled all the categories. Kids, teenagers, men, women and even some aged people. He tried to keep the idea of having to compete with all those people away. It was unhealthy. He walked to the end of the line and joined it..

"You've got some unusual eyes there", Neji heard someone say and turned to see who, but only found a man turned on his back. "Down here."

Neji lowered his gaze and saw a tanned boy sitting on the floor, staring at him.

"You're not blind, are you?" the boy asked. Neji ignored his lack of delicacy and shook his head.

"It's a genetic defect. All my family has it", he responded. The boy stood up.

"Is it bad? By the way, I'm Kiba Inuzuka."

"Hyuuga Neji", he took the hand Kiba had offered, "It's not bad. It hurts a little when there's too much sunlight, but in weather like this I don't even notice it", he explained and let Kiba's hand go.

"I see. So… looking for a job?", the brunette said dumbly and stared at the part of the line that was in front of them (since more people had joined the line after Neji), making some kind of a sad face. "I hadn't had to work 'til now. My mom and my sister work in another factory and we survived for a while with their salary, but now that the food prices shot up again I have to work, too", he turned to Neji, "Actually I prefer this. I felt useless before."

Neji nodded.

"I understand."

They fell silent for a moment.

"So, what's your story?", asked Kiba after the short silence. Neji decided that he sort of liked the boy, so he would talk.

"I come from the Spanish peninsula. I came here after some family issues and now I live on my own. I used to work at a small store in the center of the city but it broke. I've been trying to get a job since then."

"How long ago was that?"

"A month I think. I had some savings", he explained. Kiba looked at him.

"You did have savings, didn't you? You're not even skinny", he declared, and turned when he heard a metallic noise. "It looks like they're opening."

Effectively, the tall gates of the factory had been opened and the aspirants to work began to enter. Neji sighed and wished he would get a job there. And wished the same for Kiba.

That had been two years ago. Neji and Kiba had been accepted in the factory as well as most of the teenagers and young men. They worked there for a few months. During that time, they met Shino and Shikamaru, who also worked there, and the four of them became quite close. They used to talk when they were working and helped each other when things were difficult. Like when Shikamaru lost his apartment and Neji offered him to move with him. Shikamaru had accepted with tears in his eyes, and later he had asked Neji not to tell the others. He knew that if Kiba ever found out, Shikamaru wouldn't hear the end of it.

However, while they struggled to survive, their country's situation aggravated. King Orochimaru, seeing that Gaara could do nothing to control the illegal immigrations, called him an "inexperienced brat" and began the Hunt and Deport –HAD for short- program. Thousands of Africans were snatched away from their homes in Eurasia (even those who lived in the streets) and transported back to Africa. All their possessions were put on sale, and their personal stuff, since it didn't have any economical value, was burnt or put on the trash. Nevertheless, this wasn't enough for some citizens. The Eurasian, infuriated by the believing that those African people were getting money that belonged to them, began to take action, too. They burnt houses, locals and cars, and, as the situation got worst, they began to assassinate. And the government did nothing, even after the African Kaiser had demanded that the murderers were punished. King Orochimaru transmitted a discourse to every corner in the Eurasian Lands, where he stated that "many Eurasians have died lacking of food, while these Africans take our money in their expensive stores and enjoy a life that belongs to us, not to mention that it is still unclear how did these people manage to get so many properties in the first place…". The content of his discourse was soon known by the four colossal nations that were born after the Third Great War –the Eurasian Lands, the American Union, Africa and the Oceania Islands- and the distinct reactions soon provoked what no one could have expected. While the Oceania Islands made clear that their country wouldn't interfere in any kind of conflict, or be on anyone's side, Kaiser Gaara expressed his anger and displeasure with the Eurasian government. In secrecy, the president Jiraiya sent a message to the Kaiser, assuring him that if Africa decided to start a war against Eurasia, America would be on its side. With the great nation's support guaranteed, Kaiser Gaara declared war on Eurasia.

That same morning, for some reason, Neji felt that he had to do something. He left his home and traveled to the center of the city. Once there, he visited a familiar tavern, but he found out that it had new owners.

And History began to write itself once again. Hidden from the other three nations, America had been creating a wide military force. This, plus Africa's numerical support, meant a cataclysmic hit to Eurasia, that hadn't expected America to attack and was only prepared for the weak African assault. Africa and America's armies together minimized rapidly the Eurasian forces and penetrated the country. Orochimaru, desperate to reject the massive attack, ordered that "all men capable of fighting for Eurasia must proceed immediately to the south and help the resistance." With this, millions of teenagers and adults were sent to the south, where they received weapons, uniforms, some instructions about how to use the weapons and a touching speech. After this, they were sent to fight. The immense new army managed to match the enemy's, and the added support of tanks and war planes helped to diminish America's advantages. However, this didn't give Eurasia a lot of victories. While in many places the extremely savage and bloody combats made both fronts retrocede, in some others, America and Africa's joint forces completely defeated Eurasia's unprepared army. One of the worst cases was the defeat of the Italian peninsula. When the newly armed forces arrived to what once was the frontier between Italy and Swiss, the whole peninsula had already been taken by African forces, and the Eurasian army could not advance. Instead of that, they had to fight in an unfairly unbalanced struggle, which ended in their defeat and imprisoning.

There, at the top of the Italian boot, Shikamaru died under the shot of an African soldier. The leader of the African militia had approached to the already defeated group of Eurasians and Kiba, furious, had spitted at him. The general did nothing, but one soldier instantaneously took his gun and discharged it against the Inuzuka. Shikamaru, who had seen the soldier's intentions, positioned himself in front of Kiba, just a couple of seconds before the bullet was fired, and received the impact on his chest. Both Kiba and Neji screamed. And both of them cried when they realized that Shikamaru had died.

Neji still could remember the general's cold words before he ordered his soldiers to take all the survivors as prisoners and Shikamaru's cold hand under his grip.

"Stop crying and let go."

Eventually, both Neji and Kiba had to obey. They, Shino, who had his arm gravely wounded, and the rest of survivors, were taken to a group of cars and forced to get on them. The cars traveled to the south. Two days later, Shino and other injured soldiers were left in one of the African campsites to be cured and the rest was taken more to the south. Neji and Kiba were left in another campsite, the one where the general stayed, and locked between the remaining walls of what used to be a jail. Some weeks later, Kiba was taken to another campsite. He screamed and even begged to stay with Neji. But the general didn't listen. And Neji ended up alone in that campsite.

It had been a long time since then.

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TBC

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Authoress notes: That's it. I hope you think this story is worth a review. If so, please send me one telling me what you think.

By the way, I know this chapter feels like a history book at some parts, but I thought it was necessary to explain how the characters ended up in the point where the real plot begins. I hope it didn't bother you too much.

Thanks for reading, and if you want this to continue feel free to say it in a review.

Nephra