So, I know I should be focusing on my other stories right now. Don't worry, I am! I have about 6 Word document open at once right now, each a different chapter/story. Lol. I should be posting a new chapter for The Proud and Whispers from the Grave tonight or tomorrow at the latest.
While I was at work today, this hit me, and I couldn't get this out of my head. It will be a long series of one-shots, each one a different memory. Some long, others a bit shorter. So, enjoy. Because I really, really enjoyed writing this first one.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto in any way shape or form. Nor do I own the song Memories by Within Temptation
In this world you tried,
Not leaving me alone behind.
There's no other way..
I prayed to the Gods, let him stay!
The memories ease the pain inside,
Now I know why.
All of my memories keep you near.
In silent moments, imagine you'd be here,
All of my memories keep you near,
Your silent whispers, silent tears…
Memories
Mourners filled the Hyuuga ceremony. Pale eyes looked down with grim expressions on their faces as the casket was lowered into the ground. On the the closed casket, carved into the wood, was the image of a bird, mid-flight. Underneath the casket was the symbol of the Hyuuga clan. Laid on top of the casket was two hitai-ate. One bared the symbol of the Leaf, the other, the symbol of the Shinobi Allied Forces. The first was in pristine condition. It looked worn, but was very obviously cared for. The second Hitai-ate, the one which caught the eyes of most of the attendee's was newer looking, but not in the same condition whatsoever. Blood stains covered the cloth surrounding the steel symbol, and although it had obviously been washed, and polished. The stains had refused to come out.
The blood of the fallen.
Members from the great Hyuuga clan filled the left side of the grave yard, some with clear foreheads, some with covered curse marks, all wearing their hitai-ate's, whether they bore the symbol of the leaf, or the symbol of the army, the significance stood strong. This was the funeral of a warrior, the funeral of one who was killed in action. No matter what branch they were from, the feeling of loss flowed through them all the same.
Towards the front of the group of Hyuugas, was the clan leader and his family. The ever stoic clan leader looked on in apparent disinterest; Only the small frown on his face and slight tremble of his hands showed how truly affected he was. Two young women, the heiress and her teen sister held each other with tears flowing freely from their faces. Sobs wracked the young heiress' shoulders as she fought to keep composure.
Flame justsus were shot in the air by masked ANBU in honor of the fallen soldier. The scripture on the everlasting will of fire read by the priestess as the casket was lowered; only a week and a half after the shinobi's passing, a week after the war had ended.
Towards the middle of the field stood the shinobi who fought alongside the man throughout his short life. Hitai-ate's displaying the kanji for "shinobi" adorned the foreheads of the crowd, in honor of the great war the soldier had fallen in. Shinobi from all the lands stood in their black clothes, a large majority of them covered in bandages, casts, leaning on crutches and each other as they stood to pay respect for the soldier.
He was their martyr, he was the one who gave many of them the extra fight they had needed to with the war.
In the front row of all these shibobi stood the Hokage, weary, injured and physically weak, although strength radiated off of her. To her right, stood her blonde haired successor. Her face held all the sad seriousness of a leader who had lost one of their soldiers. Her young successor though, held a look of anguish, pain, and mostly guilt.
He could hear the cries of the shinobi's team mates next to him. It should have been him. He would never forgive the bastards who caused his friends death. They had stolen too much from him, from everyone. Even in their defeat he cursed their very existence. The bastards, the people who snuffed out the endless possibilities this man's future once held.
The now lone male teammate, and his sensei had forgone their usual green jumpsuits into the more appropriate mourners uniform. They held each other and sobbed openly, crying about the theft of such bright youth.
"We can find comfort in the fact that our dear friends youth burns eternally in the afterlife!" Said the sensei as his voice grew with passion and volume. "His spirit burns and flourishes for all eternity now! We must not let ours burn out. We will live for him!"
"Yosh!" Said the other in a hoarse voice. "We must strive on harder than ever! Neji would want us to live for him now, right Tenten-san?" He finished while turning to the young woman next to him. The very same girl who had held him as they looked down at their fallen comrade on the battlefield.
She never answered.
Her grim face never left the grave, which was now slowly being filled with dirt.
Tears did not run down her pale face, but they filled her sore, swollen, red eyes. Both eyes held dark shadows underneath them, and an empty look inside of them. Her normally meticulously styled buns on either side of her head were messily done, her bangs hung limply on her forehead. Her whole body was tense, with clenched hands. She looked ready to attack.
She parted her dry cracked lips, but nothing came out.
Without looking at her teammates, she slowly shook her head.
"What?" asked Lee uncharacteristically gently. "You above anyone should strive for happiness now. Out of everyone in this world, Neji would want you to make the most out of life. Your happiness was always important to him… even more so now."
The field began to empty, as civillians, clan members, and shinobi alike began to leave the graveyard. The few remaining shinobi only consisted of the Hyuuga head, his daughters, Tenten, and her teammates.
Tenten felt a hand reach out for her shoulder, but she shrugged it off with a dry sob.
"Life?" she whispered in anguish. "What is life without Neji now?"
"What is the point of it all, if all you've ever loved is gone."
"Tenten.." said the voice of her former sensei, but he stopped when he saw the sharp shake of her head.
Gai put his hand on Lee's elbow before giving him a sad look and pulling him away from Tenten. For all his ridiculous behavior, he too knew the pain of loss, especially the loss of your most precious person. He knew how much it hurt to have a future stolen from you by death. Seriousness filled his expression as he stared on as Tenten walked forward, towards the now filled grave.
"She needs time Lee, time to mourn."
"But Gai-sensei.."
"No Lee, she needs this… if she is ever expected to move forward in life, she needs to grieve over the loss of her love."
Quietly, the two normally exuberant shinobi left the grave yard, each giving a bow to the three remaining Hyuuga family members as they passed.
"Oh Tenten…" Hinata whispered sadly as she watched the young woman begin to crack and tremble.
"That's the girl. The one Neji came to me about." Hiashi said, more to himself then his daughters.
"Hai Otousan. That's Tenten, they'd been together over two years." She said quietly.
"Were you aware of Neji's intent to marry her?" He questioned. Hanabi gasped quietly next to her sister.
"Hai, he told me of his desires early on."
"He fought the Elders on it. They opposed it due to her lack of parentage, her lack of surname. He told them that it didn't matter if she had no family, no family name, he intended to give her both. He provided an argument on her worth so great, the Elders finally relented." Haishi said solemnly. It hurt him deeper than he could express that he'd failed his nephew, that he'd failed his brother, and that he'd failed this girl. Hiashi had seen the way the two looked at one another, he wasn't blind to it. It brought memories of happier days with his own dearly departed wife. His heart twisted for his nephew, and this girl, knowing that the proposal would never happen now. That their life together was snuffed out before it ever came to be.
"He told me that after the war was over he was going to propose. He said he knew their lives could be cut short, and didn't want to waste his time." Hinata answered her father as he breath hitched in another quiet sob.
Next to her, Hanabi gasped through her tears.
"That's so unfair" she wept. "Neji never got his happy ending, and she! She's all alone."
"She still has her friends, and her teammates Hanabi-chan."
"That's not the same Hinata! You know it!" Hanabi said with anguish. She was a romantic down at heart and couldn't help but feel her already heavy heart break for her cousin and his lover.
"Why is life so unfair?" She questioned to no one.
Neither Hyuuga answered her, as they watched the woman in front of them, now openly sobbing, for a while longer, before leaving her to her privacy.
All three with heavy hearts, not just for their loss, not just for Neji's untimely death, but for the young woman, who would never be Neji's young bride.
"Why Neji?" Tenten sobbed.
"Why did you have to leave? Why couldn't the gods have spared you? Why? Why?! Why?!"
Her sobbing turned to hysterics as her voice raised in anguished broken tears. The image of his dead, bloody body filled her mind. There had been so much blood surrounding him as he laid there on the battlefield. She remembered the words he'd spoken. The image of his body, eyes open, curse seal gone, it plagued her mind. She saw herself holding Lee while he sobbed, she saw herself leaning forward and closing her lovers eyes.
"All I've wanted, for as long as I've been a kunoichi, was to become a strong and proud kunoichi. And also, to be with you. That's all. And just, just when I started to believe…"
Her voice cracked as the tears she'd cried ever since she saw his cold bloody body on the ground flowed through her raw eyes.
"Just when I started to believe I would achieve my goals, just when I finally had you, when i… when I thought we could have a future… I wanted nothing more than to spend the rest of my life with you… You've been there through everything Neji! All of it! You knew my hopes, my dreams, you knew my fears, you knew me inside and out, you knew everything. I-I feel so empty."
"I keep turning to the side, to say something to you. I'll think of something, and open my mouth to tell you-and then i remember... I woke up last night and reached across the bed for… for you.."
Her ever increasing sobs grew as she began to hyperventilate.
"I wanted to cry on your shoulder, feel your hands on me, hear your voice soothe me. About your own funeral! But I was alone! I am alone. You're gone and I don't- I don't know where to go from here."
She stopped speaking, and rocked herself in misery.
"What do I do now Neji? Everything, Nothing, none of it matters now."
"You were my heart Neji." She whispered. Her voice pitiful, small, and broken.
"And now you're dead."
"Please…" she pleaded to the cold ground.
"Come back to me Neji…"
Memories began to fill her throbbing head. Memories of her love, when he was still a warm, living body. Not a cold dead corpse in the ground.
Everyone always saw him as an ice cube, but Tenten knew, she knew personally, the fire that coursed through his veins. The loyalty, the passion, she knew it all. Better than she knew herself.
She knew it intimately. To her very core.
As the memories began to fill her head, she felt the wind blow around her. A familiar scent filled her nose, Sandalwood incense, and pine. Warmth covered her cold body, his very presence seemed to surround her.
As the sweet memories overtook her mind, comfort filled her.
"Neji…" she whispered.
She could feel him, surrounding her, filling her mind.
Memories; that was all she had left, and it would have to be enough.
Together in all these memories
I see your smile.
All the memories I hold dear…
Darling, you know I'll love you till the end of time.
:'( So here it is, the first one-shot. The first of many. I'm sure i'll come back and expand on this one more, give it more depth, but for now let me know what you think.
Until next time.
-Laurie