(AN: You get two chapters today because one of my faithful R'n'Rers gave me - inadvertently - both a suggestion for who to do next, and an idea as to what it should be about. causeiambetta was the reviewer, and I am shamelessly using his idea without a problem, however, at the same time, I am adding my own quirks and twists to this thing. Enjoy.)

Kage of the Graves:

The Writing's off the Wall

From the Diary of Ten-Ten

Perhaps… perhaps you could attribute my reluctance to write this down, diary dear, to my uncertainties. 'Uncertainties?', your pages seem to ask me, to which I must affirm. It's been two days since Naruto died… no, it's been two days since Naruto - one of the sweetest, and most selfless men I've ever had the pleasure of meeting in my entire life - committed suicide. I don't know why he did it, but then again, I do. Regardless of what I know though, I still can't understand it. I may not have known him as well as, say Sakura, but I loved him all the same.

Love? Again your pages beg a question of me - your pages so filled with my proclamations of Hyuga-Lust. Yes, Neji is the one whom I intend to be with, the one whom I have happily lain with on more than one occasion. The very same, pale eyed man who spreads fire from betwixt my thighs - like napalm do the burning liquids gush to the bed sheets whenever he visited me in the past. He warms my heart and holds my soul gleefully captive - and yet I claim to love another? It's odd to think I know, but true all the same. He is the man I've dreamt of, here and there. Although my feelings were always confused about him.

I love Neji, yes I know, I'm repeating myself, but it's as true now as it has been since I first wrote those words. It's as true now as it always will be, but I could never help the feelings that Naruto began to invoke upon me. He was so warm and passionate, so truly and completely alive - more so than any other person I've ever met. I tried to tell him that once, but I'm afraid I wasn't very good at saying such words at the time, for he only seemed to get a vague mix of discomfort and confusion. Where my chosen love and lover is cold in all places but private, I have never known my little brother Naruto to be anything but embarrassingly open and forward with his affections. You seem shocked, dearest of diaries, I say love and hint at lust to a man one moment, and give him the affectionate moniker of little brother the next. Have I become perverse? A woman of obscene taste and disturbing fetish? My answer is a simple no.

He is at once an idol of man, and a complete throwback to a mischievous age - or he was. But what can I say about him, my dearest little brother, who used to haunt my dreams - who's face replaced my darling lover's once or perhaps even twice. Immature, yet firmly and intensely adult, he was a rock in the storms when my own boat was capsized. When Neji was returned from a mission, near death and with sufficient wounds that - were it not for Tsunade - he would have been permanently crippled and labeled an amputee, it was Naruto who provided me the comfort that none of my other friends or family could even begin to provide. By then, I had long since gotten over the tingles of lust that he evoked, and I began to appreciate the other qualities of him even more.

It was then, cloaked in my tears of horror at Neji's uncertain fate, that he came. Like an angel - despite his inhabitant - he brought me the relief I needed. It was his chest that I sobbed into, his hands that gently stroked my back, his arms that held and rocked me, and his deep, soothing voice that soothed my heartsickness and assured me that all would be well. He became my littler brother from then on, that night. I kissed him, soft and sweet, and let go of my lust forever. I could not taint the innocent protection, nor could I get in the way of others who so desperately desired and deserved him. It amuses me to remember, though I paraphrase in these pages, when he whisperingly confessed to me later that I was the first woman to kiss him like that - like a woman to a man - even if it was not one of desire and love. I had to laugh, and then muss his hair - something which I did often, knowing how it annoyed him.

I was, and remain so, his older sister. Although… -) A tear gently splashed the page, smearing the fresh ink and becoming accompanied by the sounds of quiet sniffing and tissue rustling (- …ar I may have been remiss in my sisterly duties. I did not see the ache in his eyes as str… -)Another tear fell(- …gly or clearly as I should have, and now my little brother is gone and I feel strangely empty. Even these tears which blur and sully you, my beloved book of secrets, have no emotion behind them. I can not feel sad, nor can I feel joy, or anger, or even regret. I think it is some sort of emotional shock, but I am no medic. I still pretend, but I know certain things are noticeable. Just a few hours ago, Neji tried to take my mind off things in the way that men - all men it seems, except my little brother - and I was irrefutably dry. Even his tongue, which is so skillful, could not seem to do more for me than to slick up my lips. I felt no desire, I fear I may have hurt his feelings, but I trust him to understand.

Perhaps he could have picked a different time, a better one. You see, I was still capable of feeling distraught when we first started talking, Neji and I, and up until I should have felt lust, I remained so. But the reason for my distress was in the form of my other blonde friend - Yamanaka Ino. I had long suspected a depth to her care for Naruto, but what I witnessed when I told her was shocking. In the middle of my room, while I was brushing the dirt from her hair - something I knew would calm her and help to soften the blow I was about to deliver - she suddenly collapsed. Completely and totally. She did not ask if I was joking, she did not accuse me of lying, since she had confessed to me that she "kind'a sort'a, maybe, in a round about way like-liked the obnoxious brat" I had joked once about his health and received such a stricken look that I made an unvoiced - but understood none the less - promise to never do so again.

From the tone of my voice, dear little book, she knew I was as serious as the words I spoke… and it killed her. I do not mean she died on the spot, but I am afraid something very real, and very important died inside of her at that moment. She cried, oh Kami did she cry, in such a way that I worried for her health. 'Surely,' I remember thinking in an abstract frame of mind, 'her lungs will collapse under such strain.' It did not stop, she eventually fell unconscious, and I carried her home to her parents. The last thing I remember seeing of her was the darkness in her eyes. I realized with some discomfort, that I was looking at someone who had died on the inside - whose body simply hadn't gotten the message yet.

I don't know, nor do I care to know, how that must feel. For though I seem to be gripped in apathy, it does not compare to what I saw in her eyes, and I wonder now, even as I write, how anyone could handle that. Howe I could handle that if Neji were to die. It made being around him in that moment terribly awkward, as I kept trying to imagine what his death would do to me. Such feelings began to boil inside me that it seemed to precipitate this apathy, and I had to leave him. When he failed to stir my arousal, the awkwardness moved onto greater depths, and we both claimed other responsibilities. So now, here I am, dear diary, back in my room to pour out my heart to you, in the hopes that - once confessed - my fears will never be given power.

To the brother I can never again hold or kiss, confess or comfort, I can only say that I'm sorry I wasn't there for you as you were for me, and that I'm sorry. I love you little bro, and wherever you are, I sincerely hope you know that now.

Till next time, diary, this is Ten-Ten, signing out.

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Naruto had watched in stunned silence, the reaction of Ino, and though it hurt terribly, he was touched. Even in the graveyard, he hadn't realized the depths of her feelings. But, as Ino had been dropped off, he had stayed with his elder sister figure, Ten-Ten. Of course, when Neji had tried to "console" her, he had given them privacy, much to Sasuke's amusement.

-"Hey, dobe, it's one of the perks of death. All the voyeurism you can handle with no consequences. Enjoy it! Besides…."-

Sasuke had trailed off for a moment, and Naruto had seen the surprised and astonished look on his face. Despite the gaping, empty sockets that still glistened with blood - Sasuke seemed to have no troubles watching things when he wanted to.

-"Hot Damn! Ten-Ten's fuckin' flexible man. Seriously, take advantage of this. You might learn a few things."-

-"Sasuke! Dammit, that's Ten-Ten and Neji there, you bastard! She's like… my sister! And I seriously, have no desire to see Neji naked."-

Sasuke had played it up for some time before Naruto had noticed the sounds of zippers, and judging by the look on both of his living friend's faces, nothing had occurred.

-"Bastard, you're fucking sick, you know that?"-

-"Hey, the dead get their jollies how they can. It's been a year and a half since I last dipped my wick in some grade-A wax. Just because you were so squeamish, doesn't mean I have to be."-

-"What! Seriously? No offense man, I thought you were gay."-

-"WHAT!"-

-"Well, you had ever girl in class after you at all times. You never went after any of it. I just kind of figured you swung the other way".

-"Ugh… baka, baka, baka blonde. I wanted a real woman, not some stupid fan girl. The girls of the sound though, man. You've never had tail until you've had cold, hard, killer-tail."-

-"…Dude… Seriously, seek help."-

-"Alright. We're getting distracted again. Now, she's just writing in her diary, and I'm assuming you're a bit too much of a wimp to read it, so I won't bother. Instead, we shall discuss what I've been trying to get around to talking about for hours on hours now."-

-"And that is?"-

-"Well now, it's something very vital, and it concerns you, Konoha, and the survival of both."-

(AN: Damn, I'm becoming a real asshole about putting off this discussion of their's in favor of amusing dialogue, aren't I?)

Dirtwater.