Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Sandman.

Chapter 2: A Fork in the Road

Neji watched the birds fly overhead, feeling oddly content. He was pretty sure that the wounds Kidomaru had given him were fatal, yet he couldn't bring himself to be too concerned about it. Although, he did wish that his vision wasn't fading out around the edges. The green trees and blue sky were so beautiful...

Neji wasn't quite sure how he had come to be walking in this garden, but once again, couldn't be bothered to wonder too deeply about it. It was certainly the largest and most varied garden he'd ever seen. Some of the paths were paved with cobblestones or bricks, some were gravel, and some were dirt. There were even canals that looked like paths of water. Marble arches or wooden grape arbors loomed over some of the paths, while others were guarded by fantastic topiary animals. Some of the paths were arrow-straight, others were curved, and still others meandered into elaborate spirals or looped back on themselves over and over.

Neji had stopped to admire a lovely stone fountain when he was startled by a deep, clear voice from behind him. "Do you like my garden, visitor?"

Neji's ninja reflexes spun him around in an instant, hands up in the characteristic Jyuuken position and Byakugan activated. The man who had spoken to him wore a long, brown robe with a hood that obscured most of his face. He carried a huge book in his hands, bound in leather with elaborate gold tracings. Neji noticed with surprise that an iron manacle chained the book to the man's wrist.

"I didn't realize that this garden belonged to you, sir," Neji said, politely but cautiously. "I apologize for trespassing on your property."

"It is not exactly my property," the man responded. He was perfectly calm, apparently unperturbed by the sudden appearance of a ninja in his garden. "I am the keeper of this place, but it belongs to every being who has ever lived, and every being that will live in the future."

Neji's brow furrowed. "I'm not sure I understand. Are you saying this is some kind of public garden?"

The man laughed softly. "I suppose you could say that. I am--and this garden is--Destiny."

Neji gritted his teeth. "I don't believe in destiny anymore."

Although most of the man's face was hidden by his hood, his tone of voice suggested that his eyebrows were raised and his eyes wide. "Oh?"

"I used to think that a person's fate was determined from the moment they were born, and that there was nothing anyone could do to change it. But I met someone who taught me differently. He was born a loser, a failure, an outcast, but he refused to accept that fate. He worked hard and never gave up, and he changed his destiny. So, no, I don't believe in unchangeable fate."

This seemed to amuse the man. "Why is it that so many of your people assume fate is a single straight path? Look around you: don't you see the paths that have so many twists and turns, the forks in the road, the paths that intersect with others? You may begin your life on one path, but who can say where that path will lead over the course of years and decades? This book I carry tells the lives of every sentient being in every possible world. But I only read the book--who do you think wields the pen? Look!" He opened the book to an apparently random page and held it out to Neji. To the ninja's amazement, the words on the page were constantly being edited--lines being added and erased and rewritten before his eyes.

"Everything you do changes what is written here. I read the book, but you are the ones who write it." He pointed to a line on the page that was shifting particularly rapidly. "What will you write, Hyuuga Neji-san?"

Neji scritinized the words. And then Neji died. They changed. And then Neji's teammates found him, and brought him to Tsunade in time to save his life. And changed again. And then Neji's teammates found him and brought him to Tsunade, but they were too late.

"What will you write?" Destiny asked again, more quietly this time.

Neji slowly opened his eyes. He was laying in a hospital bed with an IV drip in his left arm. All three of his teammates were in the room, and Tenten was the first to notice that he had woken up. "Gai-sensei, Lee-san, look! Neji-san's awake!"

Both green-clad men leapt to their feet, and Tenten had to prevent Lee from engulfing Neji in a hug that probably would have shattered his bones all over again. "Ah, Neji-san! I never doubted you for an instant!" he declared, although the tears in his eyes seemed to contradict that statement. "I knew that with the Power of Youth, you would pull through!"

"Yes!" Gai agreed, in a voice that could probably be heard throughout the hospital. "Indeed, Naruto-san has been a good influence on you. The Youthful Determination that you learned from him has allowed you to overcome this trial! We are all so proud of you!"

Tenten nodded. Although she was less melodramatic than her male teammates, she too was greatly relieved to see that Neji would be all right. "I guess you were destined to come back to us," she said.

"No..." Neji whispered. "Nothing is predetermined. We...write our own destinies."

A/N: Hopefully I managed to keep Neji and Destiny reasonably IC--Destiny didn't speak much in the last story I wrote about him, and I don't have a lot of experience writing Neji. (And for some reason, I kept misspelling Destiny as Density. LOL.)

I hope the New Year is off to a good start for everyone!