In Their Hearts (II)

At last, the storm had broken, the first rays of the sun shining down through the overcast sky onto the village below. The light glistened off the shining droplets of moisture attached to everything, creating a sparkle that seemed to encompass everything in Konoha.

The twittering of birds filled the air, contrasting the solemn air of the gathering that was taking place near the memorial stone. The black-clothed mourners stood, heedless of their soaked clothing, gazing at the dark coffin and framed picture that sat beneath a low awning.

Inuzuka Kiba coughed, clearing his throat. His companion, Akamaru, whined from beside him as the dog-nin began speaking.

"I think I've always been jealous of Neji. Everyone hailed him as a genius, a prodigy, the greatest Hyuuga to be born in generations. He was always better than us at everything, even if he was a stuck up prick. When I first saw him, I never thought that he could have changed. I never thought that he could become what he had become. I never thought that he could become somebody who would jump in front of Naruto, of all people, and take a hit for him."

He coughed and blinked slightly. "Heh," he chuckled. "It's not like me to get all emotional over a cold guy like Neji. I guess what I really wanted to say about him is that… he was a good guy. I may not have liked him, but I respected him. Especially after the Chuunin Exams, and he stayed behind to fight that freaky arm guy. And then he became jonin first out of all of us. He really lived up to his title of genius. And then, over time, I think that respect turned into a genuine fondness. Team Gai was the only team who wasn't in our year, and yet they were known as part of the Konoha Eleven. He really was a part of our comrades, and I came to view him as a friend. And I know for sure, now that he's gone, that I'm gonna miss him."

Kiba bowed his head and walked back to the others, a hand dropping to his side to pat Akamaru comfortingly as the large dog continued to whine. Coming to a halt next to Chouji, the dog-nin gestured the Akimichi heir forward, but Chouji shook his head. Subtly, he gestured towards the two people kneeling on the ground, and Kiba sighed, nodding in understanding. Some things had to be said now, and his own words weren't among those.

#

Standing solemnly from where he was comforting the crying kunoichi, Rock Lee, looking uncharacteristically serious dressed in black mourning clothes, made his way to where his fallen teammate lay inside the black coffin. The taijutsu specialist stood there, silent, for a long time.

"He was always my target," he began finally. "The person that I wanted to surpass. The Hyuuga genius. At first, I didn't really see him as a teammate. I saw him as a rival, someone that I had to strive to compete against. I realize now that that view of him was wrong. He was more than a rival. He was more than just somebody that I had to beat. He…" Lee paused, swiping a hand roughly across his eyes.

"He… he was a… most youthful…" he choked, and tears began trickling down his cheek. "A most youthful…" Unable to go on, Lee could only stand and let tears fall from his eyes to hit the ground. "Dammit, Neji…"

Sakura laid a comforting hand on Lee's shoulder. "It's alright," she whispered. "It's alright to cry." The others could only watch as Neji's teammate stood before the fallen Hyuuga, grieving. There were no words to be said that could comfort Lee. He had lost something irreplaceable.

#

Finally, it was her turn. She knew instinctively that it was her turn. Everyone else had said their piece. And of course, she was last. She was the closest to him, after all. Even closer than Lee had been. Not bothering to wipe the tears from her face, she stood from where she had been kneeling on the ground, ignoring the dark stains that had spread on the knees of her black clothes from the dampness of the ground. Mustering all her strength to her legs, she made her way slowly, haltingly, to where his body lay.

All of a sudden, everything seemed to fade away. The others seemed to disappear from her consciousness, so that all that the only things that existed were her and the dark wooden box that held the body of her precious person. She gazed into the open coffin.

He looked so peaceful. A small smile graced his lips, a sight rarely seen on the face of the stoic Hyuuga. His eyes were shut. Just as well. She didn't think she could bear seeing those piercing white eyes, eyes that seemed to stare into her heart every time she looked into them.

His forehead. Bare. Unmarked. Free of the seal that had caged him all his life. Just like he was free now. Free of the burden that had tied him to an inescapable fate. Free from the things that caged him, like a bird, to the will of others. Free, just like the birds that flew above, twittering and chirping.

He had always liked birds. After training together, he would always sit there, still, and listen to the sounds of birds. He would gaze into the sky and simply watch as the birds as they flew overhead. He would envy their freedom, their ability to soar, unchained and unrestrained. He would confide, when he was sure that nobody was around to see his moments of vulnerability, his moments of weakness. He would confide in her of the thoughts that ran through his head. His deepest thoughts, musings, desires.

She remembered the last time they had had such a conversation. It was before the start of the war. They had talked of the future. Their future. A future together. A future that could never be.

She felt her eyes grow moist again, a droplet of salty liquid trickling down her cheek, dripping onto his pale cheek. As if that first tear were a trigger, more began to leak from her eyes, dripping onto his face. She remembered the times where he had held her close, where he had whispered tenderly in her ear, where he had showed her a side of him that nobody had ever seen. She remembered when he had spoken those three words, those three beautiful words, to her. She remembered the promise that he had made, a promise that he had broken. The last one that he would break in his life.

"I loved you, Neji," she whispered, his voice broken. "All I wanted to do after the war was over was to live with you, peacefully. The world's at peace now… but…" a sob left her throat. "You aren't here to see it… You aren't here to live in it… with me… like you promised…"

"I'll be with you, always. This I promise."

The wind whistled as it blew through the crowd, ruffling clothes and hair, and she stiffened as she heard a faint voice on the breeze. "Always…"

Suddenly surrounded by a feeling of warmth despite the chilly breeze, Tenten smiled through her tears, placing a hand over her chest. "Yeah," she said softly, stroking Neji's pale cheek tenderly, wiping away the tears that had fallen on to his face with her thumb. "You'll be with me, always. In my heart." She looked up at the rest of the Konoha Eleven. "In our hearts."

Written by Fokker333