In Their Hearts (I)

The soft pitter-patter of rain against the worn cobble was the only sound that filled the air. Somewhere in the small crowd of black-clad figures, tears mingled with the water from the sky, dripping down to splash against the ground. Splattering off the ground, a single drop of rain – or was it a tear? – stained the lone photograph leaning against dark wood.

The blond coughed, clearing his throat. "We won," he said quietly, his voice carrying over the sound of the rain. "We won. It's all over. But…" The Rokudaime Hokage gazed mournfully at the dark coffin lying under the awning of the tent that sheltered it from the rain. "At what cost?"

There was a strangled sob from the crowd, and Uzumaki Naruto sighed heavily. "We lost a great comrade," he continued, addressing what was left of the Konoha Eleven. "He truly lived up to his title as 'genius'. But his abilities, his skill in combat, none of that matters today. Because when it all comes down to it, the person we lost wasn't just a fighter, or a shinobi, or even the Hyuuga prodigy. Neji was, above all else, a friend."

Several people were weeping at this point. Some tried to hide it. Some let the rain wash away the salty tears they cried. But still, it was silent.

Naruto tried to say more, but something caught in his throat, and he couldn't continue. The sounds of rain filled the air again as the Hokage fell silent.

Neji's serious white eyes stared at the Konoha Eleven from the photograph, his brown hair framing his face, his forehead protector hiding the Caged Bird Seal that he was finally free from. Naruto turned, gazing at the photograph.

"I've never been good at speeches," he said softly. "But I guess I'll start. It's my duty as Hokage now, isn't it?" He smiled wryly, but his bright blue eyes glistened with moisture. "When I first saw him, I thought he was the most arrogant, stuck up bastard I'd ever met. There he was at the Chuunin Exams, acting all high and mighty, with that holier-than-thou attitude of his. I hated him the moment I saw him. And that hatred only got worse when he fought Hinata in the preliminaries of the third round. I swore to myself then that I would wipe that arrogant smirk from his face."

A round of soft, muted laughter ran through the gathered mourners as they recalled the Chuunin Exams, so long ago, where they had taken their first steps into the serious world of ninja.

"And, after one fight, he changed from the one who I wanted to beat the most to the one that I would most want at my side in a fight," Naruto said. "It's ironic, isn't it? That he ended up sacrificing himself for me…" A solitary tear slipped down his cheek, dripping onto the damp ground. He clenched his hand tightly, trying to compose himself before he broke down altogether.

"Neji…" he choked out, more tears dripping down his face now. "He… was one of the greatest friends I could have asked for…" He took a deep, shuddering breath. "And now he's gone."

Somebody collapsed in the crowd, dropping to their knees as she began sobbing uncontrollably. Somebody else knelt beside her, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder.

Naruto held back a sob himself. "I'm done here," he muttered, wiping tears away gruffly with the back of his hand. Stepping back away from the coffin, he joined the rest of the Konoha Eleven. Nodding to the next in line, the Rokudaime Hokage sighed again as he gazed at the lonely coffin, sitting in the rain.

#

"Troublesome," Nara Shikamaru muttered as he slouched his way towards the front, but for once his heart wasn't in it. He stopped in front of the coffin, looking down at the photograph of his comrade as Naruto had. "Like Naruto, I'm not big on words," he said uncertainly. "But I guess…"

Digging a hand into his pocket, the lazy genius pulled out a cigarette. Sticking it into his mouth, he flicked open a worn and battered lighter. Taking a deep drag of the soothing tobacco, he sighed heavily.

"Today's a day of sighing," he muttered, and although his voice was soft everyone heard him. "I have to admit, I didn't know Neji too well at first. He seemed like a troublesome guy." Running a hand through his hair, which was damp from the rain, Shikamaru sighed again, lifting his head to look at the weeping sky, ignoring the drops that pelted his face.

"We're shinobi," he continued simply. "Death is something that we have to get used to. But sometimes, it's hard. It's hard when the person who died was close to us. And it's only harder when we begin to realize the changes that person made in our lives. Right now, I can't really think of how Neji changed my life. But I expect that as time passes. It'll become clearer to me exactly what he did."

"For some, it's easy to see. For others, not so much. But no matter how little, how insignificant it may seem, Neji changed us. He changed us all. And we're all going to see how he changed us. They say, you never really know what you had until it's gone. Well, we had a great friend and comrade, and now he's gone. I can't say much else, except to never forget him. He may not be here anymore, but he'll always be here," he tapped his chest, "in our hearts. And here," he tapped his forehead, "in our minds."

Finished, the genius made his way back to the others. "Troublesome," he muttered, wiping away moisture from his cheek. He swore that it was just rain, but who could really tell?

#

Aburame Shino stood stoically, as always, facing the wooden coffin that held the body of a comrade. He, like the rest of his clan, was a man of few words, but even he had something to say about the man who had been known as the one of the strongest Hyuuga ever to live.

"He was a good man. Why? Because he cared for his comrades. He did not let his pride as a Hyuuga interfere with his interactions with his teammates. Although it did not seem so at times, he was a man who knew the true meaning of teamwork."

As Shino spoke, he noticed the kneeling one begin to cry even louder, and the one comforting her begin to shake in grief.

Shino did not speak further, but the agitated buzzing that filled the air spoke for him of the sorrow he felt for his fallen comrade. The stoic Aburame inclined his head respectfully to the coffin and walked back to the others.

#

Ino was next, the blonde making her way shakily to the awning under which lay one of Konoha's most respected ninja. Scrubbing a hand across her eyes, the Yamanaka Clan Head took a deep breath to regain her composure.

"In that final fight against Obito, Madara, and the-" her voice cracked slightly, "-Juubi, I don't think I really ever realized what it was like to lose a father. Asuma-sensei was like a father to us," she looked over at Shikamaru and Chouji, "but when Daddy and Shikaku-san were…" she took a shuddering breath, "killed by the Juubi, I didn't really understand it."

"We're ninja. We live alongside death. That's what we are. But you can never really get used to it. We kill, we see comrades die, and eventually, sooner or later, we die. That's how we live, as ninja. But…"

Moisture trickled down her cheek and dripped down onto the ground. Was it rain, or was it something else?

"We don't ever forget our fallen comrades. Neji was our comrade, our friend. I don't think I fully understood Daddy's death until Neji…" The blonde hesitated slightly as another strangled sob was heard. "Until Neji died."

"It's hard to imagine, isn't it? That we, whom many call the Konoha Eleven, have survived so much. The Chuunin Exams, the invasion of Konoha, Akatsuki, the fight with Pain… and he's always been there, throughout everything. I think that, despite the fact that at first we didn't like him because of his attitude… we came to look up to him. We all respected him for what he had achieved. But more than that, he was our friend. Our comrade. He sacrificed himself for one of his own comrades. He was a hero, just like every one of those who perished in the war. And we must never forget that though he lived as a prodigy and died as a hero, he was always our comrade."

Written by Fokker333