A/N: Happy Neji Week everyone! Over in the NejiTen discord (link on my profile!) we're celebrating Neji's birthday with 7 prompts! I know these are short, but I hope you enjoy them!
Day Six
Rebirth
The first time he woke up felt surreal.
And then the pain came.
It washed over Neji in waves, lapping at the shores of his nervous system.
He could hear sounds and voices, but the language was foreign and unfamiliar. He could see, but his eyes wouldn't focus.
That was all okay. Neji could ignore the strange sounds and blurred shadows. It was the pain that was the problem. Each ripple pulled away at his resolve until he was certain that the only way it would end would be for him to die.
He was pretty sure he'd already died anyway. Something had brought him back. Neji would have been relieved to still be alive if it hadn't been for the pain.
He closed his eyes and felt something in his left hand. It was soft and warm and danced across his own hand, pressing into his palm and pulling his focus away from the pain. Slowly, Neji realized that it was another hand. And then he felt it in his right hand. This one wasn't quite as soft. He could feel some callouses on the tips of fingers. This hand wasn't as warm either. But it was familiar. He curled his fingers around the wrist and heard his name.
The pain ebbed, and Neji opened his eyes again. Slowly, things began to fall into place. He could hear Sakura yelling instructions as the warmth of her chakra sank into his torso. He could see the owner of the soft, gentle hand. It belonged to his cousin. She was crying. He gave her hand a light squeeze and turned his gaze to the right — to the familiar grip of his teammate. Tenten was crying too.
No one spoke; they just stayed together while Sakura worked, knowing that Neji had died and come back.
—
Every time Neji opened his eyes it felt like he was waking up for the first time, like he was being reborn. Even in his dream, under the heavy eyes of the infinite tsukuyomi Neji felt the strange awareness of his own life each morning.
And when he woke from that dream he felt reborn yet again.
His clean white hospital bed was a nauseating shift from the dirt and grime of the battle field. The bandages around his torso made him feel like a newborn freshly swaddled and tucked into bed.
Neji got used to the hospital eventually. But then it was time to go home. The sensation regained its strength the first morning he woke up in his own bed. And the pangs of newly realized existence hummed at the edges of his healing wounds the first time he looked in a mirror and saw his face. There was no longer a curse mark.
Of course not, he told himself, you died.
On his 19th birthday Neji felt the hum of rebirth again as Gai gathered his team around a dinner table to celebrate.
The first birthday after a brush with death was something worth celebrating.
Gai shouted his praise and raised a toast.
To Neji's rebirth! Not even death could claim victory over you!
Then Gai cried. Lee's tears flowed almost instantly. Neji looked over to Tenten, hoping to share her exasperation, but she was crying too. And then he felt his own tears.
Together, through tears, they joined their sensei and toasted to his rebirth.
A/N: This was hard to write, but was one of my favorite prompts. Instead of birthday I thought the concept of rebirth was so cool because Neji totally lived and didn't die at all.