Chapter Sixteen: The Face of the Future
Except, it could not be done here.
Not in this tournament. Yes, there were other matchups to see, but Neji had learned all he could in this purgatory. He could feel it, and as he did, the computer dissipated. The tournament room began to fall slowly apart around them, to be replaced by a white void.
Neji turned to Tenten. "...So, a question.
"I murdered the children of the Kazekage. Were Lee and I caught?"
"Nope," said Tenten. "You got off completely scot-free. Konoha was otherwise occupied by Orochimaru's invasion. Suna was a comparatively weak power. You covered your tracks so well that nobody found out about it until the Sound invaded.
"No one even knew they were dead for a week, and they never found the bodies. You dissolved them in acid. Eventually, you admitted to what you did after the invasion and were called a hero for it."
"I see," said Neji. "Is Lee then, in hell?"
"Actually no," said Tenten. "He chose to assist you because you convinced bim that Gaara was a danger to everyone in the Leaf and needed to die. He was guilt-stricken afterward but maintained his silence. He ended up dropping out of the Chunin Exams and was killed fighting when the Sound invaded.
"You sort of ruined his life, Neji."
Neji paused, feeling a chill and a pang of guilt. "That was not my intention."
"Maybe it wasn't. But you decided that revenge was more important to you than your conscience," said Tenten. "You were able to make yourself heartless enough to not care about what you were doing. Lee wasn't.
"He couldn't look Guy-sensei in the face after that. But he lied, lied as his life depended on it. And no one ever suspected.
"But, on the bright side, he spent his last few months obsessively working to make up for what he did. And, well, he ended up in a better place than you did.
"You see why you aren't being given way out yet?"
"Perhaps," said Neji. "Tenten...
"What happened afterward? I remember... I remember something of the attack on the village. But what I remember happening is that you and I missed the spell that put everyone to sleep. Together we rescued Hinata from the Cloud."
Tenten sighed. "That never happened here. Hinata was kidnapped. But before that happened, Dosu, Kin, and Zaku spilled the Leaf, Neji plan. You convinced them that Orochimaru would kill them for what they did. Then you arranged their defection.
"They revealed Orochimaru's entire battle strategy and his alliance with the Sand Village. As a result, they were able to catch the Sand and Sound Villages in their own trap. The battle happened, and the Leaf won with far fewer casualties.
"The Sand, meanwhile, was completely crushed underfoot.
"But the problem was that this time Orochimaru didn't play around. He'd been taken off guard, and many of his best pieces were taken off the battlefield. So he fought Sarutobi with all his might from the very beginning. And he also dispatched the Sound Four into the battle.
"The Sound Four made a huge difference, their powers turning the tide. And with Orochimaru not taking time to gloat, he managed to kill Sarutobi. The Hokage never got a chance to prepare himself mentally."
"Then the Leaf fell?" asked Neji, wondering if he could have caused all that.
"It seemed like that would happen, but..." Tenten paused. "Well, Guy-sensei knows the Eight Gates."
Neji strove to speak. "You don't mean-"
"Yes, Guy-sensei unleashed them and managed to beat Orochimaru to a pulp. He forced him to flee the field," said Tenten. "He then routed both enemy armies and saved the Leaf.
"It cost him his life, though."
Neji paused. "I see." What could he say to this? "The pursuit of revenge cost me a great deal."
Tenten shrugged. "It cost a lot of people a great deal, Neji.
"Sakura was killed too. She managed to stay awake and woke up a lot of the Konoha 12. But she and Naruto were never sent after Gaara. Instead, they fought with Kakashi-sensei and Guy-sensei.
"In the end, Sakura wasn't equipped to survive in battle. She was killed by a Sound Ninja.
"That caused Naruto to fly into a rage and... well... it wasn't pretty what he did to the enemy in the arena. But it all got cut short when Orochimaru beat him into the ground."
Sakura was dead too.
Perhaps she could have been called the first of Neji's victims. He hardly wanted to hear anymore. But at the same time, Neji knew he had to ask; it was the only way forward. "Tenten..."
"Yes?" asked Tenten.
"How did I die?" asked Neji.
Tenten sighed. "...Things got a bit better after the Sound and Sand were crushed. Orochimaru escaped with his surviving ninja, and things proceeded. Naruto still found Tsunade and brought her back to be Hokage.
"I guess some things are destiny, but...
"Everything changed for good with the Sasuke Retrieval Mission."
"Sasuke still went over to Orochimaru?" asked Neji, surprised he was remembering Temari's timeline now.
"Yes," said Tenten. "Of course, none of you knew he went willingly with them. You all thought you were trying to rescue them. Only this time, the Leaf had extensive information. They knew about the Sound Four's special abilities. They'd recorded their abilities, and Kin, Zaku, and Dosu had told you more.
"As a result, you were able to kill your enemy without much trouble and catch up with the others. You and Naruto ended up going on ahead together, but you ran into Kimmimaro. Then you saw Sasuke arrive, and you saw him run off of his own volition. You stayed behind to fight Kimmimaro while Naruto went on. You stalled him for a while until Dosu arrived to assist. They ended up taking the place of the Sand Shinobi.
"Then you headed after Naruto again."
"And what happened?" asked Neji, curious how he would meet his end.
"You arrived just in time to find Sasuke run Naruto through with a Chidori," said Tenten. "Naruto survived, of course, but...
"Neji...
"You snapped.
"You didn't know or care why Sasuke was doing what he was doing. All that mattered to you was that he was betraying the Leaf willingly to help the man who ruined your life. The man who killed everyone and everything you cared about.
"You attacked him violently.
"Sasuke was already tired and ended up running for his life. You hunted him over the border and caught him before he could get to Orochimaru. Then you killed him, and you weren't quick about it.
"Orochimaru, as it turned out, had been coming out to greet Sasuke, though. He arrived just in time to see you snap his neck. And then you revealed that it was you who engineered Team Dosu's defection.
"Then you fell on your kunai and ended your own life."
So he'd committed suicide to avoid capture. Neji wondered what had happened after that. "So what happened next?"
"Well, as it turns out, nobody ever found out who killed Sasuke either," said Tenten. "Just like with Gaara, actually. Everyone assumed that Orochimaru did it. And once Sasuke was dead, Itachi had nothing to lose since his plans had completely failed, and he was dying.
"So, Itachi simply dispensed with subtlety and started killing people. He had a very spectacular fight with Obito that nobody ever saw, which he won. From there, Itachi killed Zetsu and went to kill Orochimaru next.
"Once he was done with that, Itachi started killing Jinchuuriki. He got three of them before eventually succumbing to his illness.
"At that point, Pain could not go through with his plan for the Jinchuuriki. So he decided to just cut the knot and start killing people. He and his Akatsuki attacked the Cloud Village and crushed it singlehandedly. Then they did the same thing to the Stone Village before finishing off what was left of the Sand. Last, of all, they crushed the Mist.
"Finally, they hit the Leaf Village.
"This all took place over the space of about three years, during which Naruto and the others were training. And, finally, Pain hit the Leaf.
"The good news was that Pain had lost one or two Akatsuki with each village. So he and Konan were by themselves. Jiraiya and Tsunade were also there, as well as some of the best ninjas the village had to offer. Pain looked at the defenses and realized he'd lose and also that he was one village away from victory.
"So he used an Edo Tensei to destroy the Leaf flat out. But without Sakura to provide medical attention, many more people died.
"Eventually, Naruto arrived in similar circumstances and fought Pain in single combat.
"Naruto won, killed Pain's bodies, tracked down Nagato, and immediately snapped his neck. So nobody got brought back. Then Naruto became Hokage and spent the rest of his life rebuilding.
"Although he did marry Hinata and shame the Main Clan, so there is that."
Neji blinked at that and realized what he'd heard didn't match up with what he'd seen of Naruto. Not in any of the universes flickering through his eyes. But these visions were all far brighter.
There was something horrible about such a matter of fact execution. Especially when committed by Naruto. "...I don't understand, Naruto just killed him?"
"Why wouldn't he?" asked Tenten. "Naruto Uzumaki in the timeline learned a different life lesson from you than he was supposed to. I don't think you realize how important you are, Neji. You are the model on which Naruto based all his future interactions with enemies.
"In the timeline, you remember, you were a bad person with some serious issues. That Neji overcame his problems because someone tried to understand him. From there, you were advocating he save Sasuke in the same way.
"But in this timeline, you never became friends. You and Naruto had only started to give one another the time of day. Then Sasuke Retrieval Mission happened. The only reason you were friends of any kind is that both of you had lost everything. Even then, it was a hateful understanding.
"Then Naruto was nearly killed by Sasuke. And you followed him into the woods and were both killed by Orochimaru. He never even found out what happened to you because he never confronted Orochimaru. You and Sasuke were presumed dead; no one ever found the bodies.
"That Naruto Uzumaki gained a set of friends that gave his life meaning, then lost most of them to Orochimaru. He never saw Gaara as anything other than a monster who should have been killed before he could kill Tenten. Never had a chance to try and understand Sasuke's perspective.
"That Naruto didn't see Nagato as anything other than an enemy. He did not know that Jiraiya trained him, and if he had learned it, he wouldn't have cared. What mattered was killing Nagato before he could take someone else from Naruto.
"And so he did kill him.
"No one ever learned the tale of three orphans Hanzo betrayed because no one wanted to listen. The world fell into an uneasy peace by virtue of so many people being dead that there was plenty of room.
"The world knew Pain.
"And it was never the same afterward.
"It's kind of funny if you think about it. When you started out, you were just a little surly, a bit too ruthless. But all those little things added up. They changed you, changed the whole world. And when you changed the world, you changed all of us. And at the end, no one could even recognize any of us."
Neji felt himself choking as he saw the visions of blood and death. He saw his own face, roaring in primal rage as he choked out Sasuke beneath him. He could not leave it like this. "Tenten I...
"Can you send me back?"
Tenten paused. "Back to where?"
"Tenten, you said this place is outside of time and space," said Neji. "That it touches all possible universes.
"If that is the case, then isn't it possible that I can return to the one you speak of. To a time before... before that duel with Sakura."
Tenten eyed him carefully. "Are you sure, Neji? Even if you go back, there is no guarantee you'll be able to change anything. You could go back and have to experience all the same misery as before."
"I will never know unless I try," said Neji. "And if I end up just reliving the same timeline over and over... it's no more than I deserve.
"Maybe this one timeline is insignificant, a mere strand of fate in a far greater tapestry. But that strand is the entire world to those within it. It may only be a moment in the grand scheme of things, but a single moment can change everything.
"I don't care what happens to me.
"I have to at least make an attempt."
Tenten nodded. "Alright, Neji, but I hope you know what you're getting us into."
"Us, what do you mean us?" asked Neji.
"Well, I am your guardian angel," said Tenten. "It's only natural I'd go with you. Just remember this, you won't be able to take any of your memories with you."
"What?" said Neji. "But if I can't remember anything, how can I-"
Tenten put a hand to his cheek, and Neji realized he was older. Not in the sense of his body decaying, but in a spiritual sense. He had grown in spirit, and he thought he was seeing just a hint of the real Tenten.
"You will be different," said Tenten. "You have changed in this place, and that may filter through to different actions. Just because you don't have all the memories of your lives doesn't mean that you won't be a different person."
Then she kissed him, and everything changed.