Chapter Seven: Void
Neji took out a kunai from his back pocket, but Ten Ten, weapon mistress, the best of the best, was too skilled and quick for him, and hit his kunai out of his hand with her own that she'd brought out in a flash. She seemed surprised, then hurt, then almost relieved. Neji stepped backwards, realising what was coming. Ten Ten twirled the kunai once, then brought it forward, point aiming straight at her best friend and comrade's body.
Ten Ten stabbed Neji with the kunai in her hand, straight into his stomach, so he would just suffer, just for a little while, just like everyone they'd killed, and like she suffered, everyday, with her life. He pulled the kunai out and dropped it to the ground, and pushed Ten Ten away. He looked down at his injury, then back up at Ten Ten, and to her surprise, he smiled. He seemed almost relieved. Neji just wanted to stop, to save him from himself, before he got out of control even more than he already had. And he couldn't think of another way to do so. He would be judged before being let into Heaven, and Ten Ten now had his last few minutes of life to watch. He wanted to repent all of his sins, now, before it was too late, and he told Ten Ten this. Her own smile stretched wider.
"Thank you, Ten Ten, for setting me free of any burden I have been on you, or anyone, if only you felt the same." Neji murmured. "I can see them all again now, and we can talk things through. If they would just listen." There was a sudden edge to his tone, and Ten Ten knew it would take time for him to truly be settled with what they had done. "But you, Ten Ten, you were with me until the end. I can thank you for that, even if you were the one to kill me. Can you do one last request for me?"
"What is it, Neji?" Ten Ten asked, helping him to sit on the path, his wound seeping blood and his energy draining. "One last request, seeing as you were one of the only three people to care about me."
"I am truly sorry, really sorry for what I did." Neji frowned, cautiously feeling the dusty path with his hand, while the other touched his stomach. "I do realise that thou shalt not kill, and thou shalt not tell lies. And...and you can't act on unnatural feelings. And I want forgiveness for these sins." He sounded anxious as he whispered these words. "I don't want to die. I'm..."
She hugged him again then, wondering if she should have just let him go, even if it meant her probably getting caught and him convincing her to go back to Tsunade and admit what she'd done. She wasn't sorry for what she did, but she wanted forgiveness, and maybe this would be enough for Neji now. "Don't be scared, Neji." She whispered, knowing what he was trying to say. "Imagine Heaven, with all of your friends waiting for you, appreciating you for who you really are. Even..." Ten Ten took a deep breath. "Maybe even Shikamaru will be there for you. I believe that God will save you from further pain." She kissed his forehead and he winced. "I do want forgiveness for my sins Neji." Ten Ten added, mumbling slightly, embarrassed. "For everything. Now what was your request?"
"Go to Lee, and tell him I said thank you." Neji ordered, his voice coarse and dry. "Tell him that giving me the chance to escape, and to maybe make a better life for myself, was much appreciated. Tell him not to put this on himself, as he could not have known, and he wouldn't have changed our minds if he did. And tell Gai thank you for being a wonderful Sensei, if a little crazy. Tell Tsunade and Kakashi I am sorry." He smiled for the last time.
Ten Ten stood up, letting Neji slide down until he was led on the ground. Behind her, she heard other ninja coming. She turned and saw Lee, Kakashi and Tsunade approaching. Lee arrived first, and when he saw Ten Ten and then Neji's body the look on his face was awful; he looked so sad and upset. Kakashi and Tsunade were different. They were furious that Neji was dead before they could talk to him, and they rounded on Ten Ten, their fury being let out on her instead.
"Ten Ten, how could you have killed your comrades and your friends so mercilessly?" Tsunade demanded, standing there with her hands on her hips and an angry expression on her otherwise attractive face. "Lee has told us everything, from start to finish. And now you have killed Neji, so he wouldn't have to face us. That's four people, Ten Ten. Eight comrades have been brutally murdered to make up for your own mistakes. And what are your mistakes, Ten Ten? What were Neji's mistakes?"
There was a silence. Ten Ten curled her hands into fists and stared at Tsunade straight in the eyes. She was not going to say anything to her. She would never understand. Her usually neat and glossy brown hair was greasy and matted, the buns loose and the hair tumbling about her shoulders, hardly any care shown to it in the past few days, but now, in the moonlight, much more clear to the eye just how bad its condition was. Her clothes were scuffed, and there was blood on her hands. Literally, and metaphorically. Kakashi seemed in shock at the fact it was these two. In his mind he was feeling immensely guilty about being almost certain it was Kiba, and reminded himself to go and apologise to him after this was all over. Kiba, Shino and Lee, the only ones left of this generation. It made him feel sick to his stomach.
"Having a little fling with Shikamaru was Neji's mistake, apparently," the Hokage answered herself crisply. "Which isn't even a mistake in itself. No one would care if Neji were homosexual. It doesn't say in the Bible that homosexuality is completely and utterly wrong and hideous."
Ten Ten shook her head. "He must not act on those feelings. And yet he did act on them. And that was his mistake. You don't understand. Neji and I...we saved our friends from the wrath and fury of Hell. That was our plan. We succeeded that plan. It was wrong to kill, and wrong to lie, and it was a terrible thing to do. But we did save them, at least."
"I'm an atheist, so to me, that was just plain murder." Tsunade snapped. "You can think about what you did sitting in our prison just outside of the main town. No, you know what? That's too good for someone like you. I want to tell all of your comrade's parents it was you and Neji that did it, and then you're being locked in the underground of our prisons for a long, long time. Neji got the easy way out. You'll have to have the punishment for the both of you." She swore to herself. "Neji and Ten Ten! I didn't even think of the fact there could have been two of you. Shino or Lee could have been involved if that were the case and we realised earlier on..." She shook her head impatiently. "I have had it up to here with these case. Almost all of you are dead and one of you isn't going to see the light of day for a definite while."
"Tsunade-sama, Ten Ten does feel truly regretful for what she has done," Lee started to say, but Kakashi cut him off coldly.
"People that kill their friends in this most brutal, disgusting manner are worse than any scum that has already walked the Earth." He hissed, anger boiling underneath his cool exterior.
Ten Ten reached over and patted Lee's arm. It was muscular; toned and strong. But Lee flinched as if Ten Ten had hurt him. "I am not sticking up for you, Ten Ten." Lee murmured under his breath. "I am just stating the truth. Gai-sensei is going to be so disappointed and in shock at this when I tell him. Or when you tell him."
"Neji told me to tell you thanks for everything. I need to tell Gai the same." Ten Ten told him, keeping her eyes on him and not on the furious Hokage and Kakashi. "Neji also said to me to tell you, Tsunade and Kakashi, that he is sorry for what he has done. He really is. I, however, stick by what I did."
Tsunade snarled, "You are a horrifyingly, stupid kid. Do you even realise what you have done?"
That was when Ten Ten snapped. She burst out into maniacal laughter, eyes wide, clutching her sides. No one had ever seen Ten Ten react like this before, it was shocking, and she didn't stop laughing. She looked a state, but she didn't care. "Of course I know!" She shrieked. "I put careful planning into all of this! What would you know about true friendship, Tsunade? You let Orochimaru become one of the biggest villains of all time, you let Jiraiya go on a suicide mission, you let your lover die, you let your brother die, oh, and you let Naruto and the others get killed too. Wonderful friend, you are!" Ten Ten laughed again.
The Hokage clenched her fists. Fury blazed in her eyes. She ran forward to punch Ten Ten in the face full pelt, jumping upwards and throwing herself downwards, screaming at her. Lee intervened quickly; he held out his hand to block her punch after running in front of Ten Ten at quick speed. He got knocked backwards quite a bit but managed to keep his balance. Dust scattered in the air. Tsunade stood, panting, a few metres away. Kakashi had held his place, not caring if Tsunade hit Ten Ten.
Lee tried to keep up a line of peace between everyone. He didn't want this to turn into a full scale fight, that was for sure. He wanted to mourn desperately for his friends, but hadn't yet had the time to do so. This would all be over soon. And then everyone looked around in surprise, as Shikaku, Inoichi, Hiashi and Chōza all came running up to them, seemingly very angry.
"I'd rather go down with honour in the eyes of God, than go to Prison and rot there!" Ten Ten shouted at them all.
Shikaku and the others stopped and stared at the situation. Shikaku nodded, almost knowingly. "The weapons girl." He stated. "Makes sense. No one really knows much about her. She must probably feel useless, or worthless, like everyone is used to her being there and doesn't make an effort with her."
Inoichi glared. "This bitch killed my daughter? My Ino? I'll kill her!" He cried, then ran forward and cast his technique. "Mind Body Disturbance Technique!" He called, and pushed his jutsu at Ten Ten. "I'll send you to the fiery depths of Hell in your honour!"
As the jutsu hit her, though, she stabbed her arm to shock herself out of it and fell to her knees, gasping. She wearily stood up and took out a scroll, ready to perform a technique of her own. Before she could though, Lee kicked her in the face with a Konoha Senpuu, sending her flying backwards and hitting the ground on her back. Again, she got up, wiping the blood from her nose and shakily taking out another scroll. Lee didn't want to fight, but he would if he had to. And now, he had to. Because his friend was fighting a losing battle and he'd rather be the one to weaken her than anyone else.
The good times with his comrades were gone now. He thought of all of them fondly. Ino Yamanaka he was not close to, it was true. But he'd bought flowers from her shop often enough and they'd been on a few missions together. Hinata was he slightly closer to; he'd talked to her about her feelings for Naruto, and whether she was ever going to talk about her confession to him, rather than avoid him like the plague whenever he got near. A sharp pain of mourning hit his heart then. He only hoped Heaven was real, so Hinata could finally talk to Naruto. Naruto, his sparring buddy, the most powerful ninja in the village. How could Ten Ten and Neji defeat him so quickly, so harshly? He was a credit to everyone, so generous and kind, and loyal and brave. Choji, Shikamaru, Sakura, Sai...all of them, wonderful friends. Their lives were too short. Like a shooting star disappearing into the sky, rather than a steadily constant one, beaming happily away for a long time. Tears pricked Lee's eyes, but this was no time to sit and ponder about things while crying. Ten Ten had just fired a load of weapons at everyone and Lee had to dodge fast. One of them hit Tsunade in the forearm, who was just standing there angrily. The personal comments had really gotten to her.
Shikaku caught her in a Shadow Bind Technique by using the shadows of her weapons as they flew over and hit against the moon. Ten Ten glared at them all for a moment, knowing she was far too outmatched to even be able to escape, then proceeded to smile again. Lee stepped forward, but Tsunade pushed him back, shaking her head at him.
"I'm Hokage," she murmured, walking close up to Ten Ten, who was still grinning. "I'm the one who should finish this. If you want to go down in what you call honour, I'll grant that for you. Because this isn't honour. It's degrading, with no sense of dignity whatsoever. I'll send this little bitch to what she calls Hell. Enjoy your eternity of torture, Ten Ten. It's no less than what you deserve."
"You don't understand, Tsunade-sama," Ten Ten replied sweetly. "I have saved my friend's souls from all of that. I'll be happy now." A flicker of worry crossed her face, but Tsunade didn't even notice as she brought down the first rage filled punch.
Lee turned away from the scene and closed his eyes, putting his hands over his ears. Hiashi was bent down next to Neji, and his eyes were clouded with grief and disappointment. He punched the path crossly, then stood up and watched as Ten Ten was beaten.
xxx
The day later, Neji and Ten Ten had funerals. Lee and Gai attended; they were the only ones at first. Near the end though, as their coffins were lowered, Shino and Kiba appeared by Lee's side. It was raining; suitable weather for a funeral, and the sky was dark and black, matching the current mood in Konoha. The murders in the night were solved, but it was hardly a celebration. No one was saved, and only three lived. Kiba put his hand on Lee's shoulder. He'd lost a team mate too, he knew how it felt. It was harder for Lee, though. To accept his team mates were dead, and murderers, was hard.
Lee was an nineteen year old Jounin now, an adult, and he was about to get his three Genin for the first time. He and Neji and Ten Ten had been talking excitedly about this before everything had happened. Now, it didn't seem like such a fun thing to happen. But life had to go on.
"Kakashi thought it was me, you know," Kiba muttered, in the cold rain. Gai, sensing this was a conversation between that generation, for once politely left without a word, and only looked back once, concerned for Lee. Then he rounded a corner, and was gone. "He talked to me this morning. I don't know what to believe anymore. The Bible, or...or nothing at all. Neji and Ten Ten took everything too far. Lee...I know how it feels to lose a team mate. Me and Shino lost Hinata, after all."
Shino adjusted his glasses and nodded. He spoke in a solemn tone. "We are all getting our Genin tomorrow. We can at least look forward to something. We have to work hard to make sure they are the best generation yet. And we also have to work hard to make sure our generation isn't forgotten."
"Shall we visit our comrades' graves now?" Lee asked quietly. Kiba agreed, and the three of them walked around, looking at the names on the graves that shouldn't have been there for many years to come, but now were, forever. There was a void in everyone's heart, a void only their old friends could fill. Now they had to pretend it wasn't there, and just ignore the pain they felt.
Tsunade drank heavily from her Sake bottle, while Kakashi looked at old photos of Team Seven and Team Kakashi.
xxx
"I'm sorry."
"We know you are. Over time, we may forgive you. But for now..."
"So is this Heaven?"
"If you want to call it that. I don't call it anything."
"And we'll be here forever?"
"As far as we can tell."
"Where's Ten Ten?"
"She's over there, in the mist. She just arrived. I think she's crying."
Author's Note: And...it's over! This chapter was a bitch to write. I really don't like how it was written, bah. I hope you all did though. I enjoyed writing this whole thing and it was fun. :D Review please! Thank you to all that have and all that will. Also thanks to those that didn't review (though shame on you!) but did favourite it and alert it and stuff. Review!