I do not own Naruto.


Guardian
vi. Steadfast


There are those that always wondered if had doubted or regretted how he met his death.

If he had any lingering remnants of his old bitterness and doubt, then they flew from his breast in the moments between his decision to protect Naruto at the cost of his own life and when his pierced heart shuddered its last feeble beat.

He relinquished all regret.

All regrets but one

He never meant to leave her.

His last cognition, after turning everything over to the one person he knew could secure the future of their world and take care of his cousin, was of her.

His last decision in life had been his first decision in death.

He promised to never leave her.

There was stillness.

Then darkness.

Then peace.

Then there was the light. His deathself shielded his eyes as he squinted against the blinding ethereal light before reaching for the hand he knew rather than saw to be there.

Hizashi reached for his son, and pulled him to standing, before wrapping him in a father's embrace. He could have gone on then, but his soul stayed near the battlefield.

He watched with a full heart as Hinata encouraged Naruto and stood by his side, and held his hand. He watched Lee mourn his death and Gai sacrifice his lifelight only to have Naruto rekindle it.

But not Tenten.

He watched her compartmentalize and file away the shock. He felt her make the decision to allow her teammates to mourn openly, because they needed to more than she did. He knew she resolved to be strong for them and hold their small family together and fight until there was nothing left for her to give.

He heard her heart's whispered prayers as surely as he heard it crack somewhere deep inside, ignored. "Help me protect them," she breathed so quietly no one heard. "Watch my back."

He never left her side.

He fought right next to her, a comrade in arms with the other fallen from that day and days long past. The war continued on more than one plane as the darkness came to twist and claim whatever souls it could.

He saw their life together in her genjutsu, and knew that was the last time she allowed herself to imagine what might have been.

He knows how the time wears on her.

He knows the memories sewn into the edges of her heart have made it hard and heavy.

She is away from the village on the anniversary of his death.

She has been away from the memorial - the only place she allows herself to connect with him and her last tattered remnants of hope - for far too long.

When the darkness comes that night, it is more corporeal than it has ever been.

He holds her tightly and whispers assurances, and it is his father that comes to protect them both, keeping the growing shadows at bay.

She rises with the sun, and has few thoughts outside of completing her mission and returning to the village to pay her respects.

Neji bids his father farewell and resumes his journey.

Just as he promised, he stays by her side.

The world is a drastically different place than the one they knew as genin. But even amidst the aftermath of intrigue and war, there is one thing that has remained absolutely unaltered.

All of these years later, he is still watching her back.


Next: Battle

I cannot thank you enough for reading and leaving me messages, friends.
With a full heart,
- Giada