Authoress Notes: Wow, it's been, how long? Six years? Yup. Approximately six years since I published this story and immediately abandoned it for no apparent reason. Oh well.

Better late than never? Probably not, but anyway, I'm back! And something made me decide that I wanted to continue this story. I, of course, have no idea of the plans I had for it six years ago, but I guess that can only mean that it gets a fresh new start.

Anyway, I don't expect this to be that good, since it's been a while since I was in the fanfiction world, but hopefully something worth reading will come out.

Just like I did six years ago, I apologize for bad grammar or spelling, though I'd like to think that my English is better now!

Thank you very much for your kind reviews: Aman, JeanBoulet, Effexxor, Hanai-kun and LoneCard. I know it's way too late, but I really appreciate your comments, and if I'm writing this right now, it is in part because of what you said. Thanks!

Disclaimer: I do not under any circumstance own Naruto!

You said Forever

CHAPTER 2

"You don't know what it's like. I'm glad you don't.

It's disgusting, it's gross.

I wake up every day to the worst smell you can imagine. It's not only my own smell –'cause I haven't taken a shower in a long time- it's also the smell of my toilet, and of everyone else's toilets.

It's freaking disgusting.

I live in a cell. A dark, uncomfortable and sad cell.

My teeth hurt. I try to keep my mouth clean, but it's not enough, my teeth are rotting!

And it's been a while since my bones started showing. I look terrible, and I'm glad you're not here to see me.

You wouldn't like it. You'd probably cry, Shikamaru. You were such a crybaby sometimes.

Like that one time we watched that movie, remember?

It wasn't that good, but you cried like a little girl.

I don't actually like to remember.

You're not here anymore. And I'm glad, I'm really glad you don't have to be here."

It was dark. The last rays of sunlight were vanishing behind the horizon. Darkness began making its way into the cell block. Neji's eyes closed, and the scraps of some nightmares managed to crawl into his closed eyelids.

Death. Death, and more death.

No matter how high the sun would rise, in his life there was only darkness.

Darkness and death, slow and painful death.

Rotting, sickening, dirty death.

Dead bodies from tired Eurasian soldiers, that begged and begged until their bodies collapsed. Begged for some cure to their sickness, for some treatment to their wounds or, at least, one last breath of fresh air, of freedom, before they died. All those things were denied.

And there was only death.

He didn't know how he had managed to survive so long. He supposed it was just his body being used to a crappy lifestyle. Back in Russia, after all, not always had he had a bite of food to take to his mouth. And now that he had to eat food scraps served on dirty and broken plates, surrounded by cockroaches and other bugs, his body at least had been capable of putting up a fight. Though, lately, he felt like he was starting to lose that fight.

He supposed he would lose, eventually. Everyone else did, and there was nothing particularly special about him to make him think that he'd survive. Bigger, stronger and healthier men had already succumbed. How could he even dare to dream of coming out of this situation alive?

But he dared.

He dared to dream. Even though his night sleep was infested with hunting nightmares, his daydreaming was a completely different story. He would close his eyes under the heat of the sun that came through his window, and he'd dream of wide and green fields, of wind caressing his cheeks, of laughter and happiness.

Of freedom.

Even though the notion of freedom had long ago slipped from his fingers, disappearing into the dirt of his cell floor, he could still remember the beautiful things that his eyes had one seen, the amazing sensations that his skin had once felt. The hope that he had once had.

Sometimes he'd see his friends with his eyes closed. Specially Shikamaru, who felt closer to him than the others. Perhaps because he still had the hope that his other friends were alive, and that made him think that no matter how hard he called out for Kiba and Shino in his dreams, they couldn't really answer him, because they were still alive and breathing somewhere else.

But talking to imaginary versions of them helped him keep his sanity, at least. And that was good enough.

"Kaiser Gaara!" called out a man entering the enormous African operations hall.

Inside, a long golden table with several chairs rested over a red carpet. At the head of the table sat Gaara of the Sahara, with his two siblings at his sides, Temari and Kankurou of the Sahara, and his main generals occupying the rest of the table.

"What is the problem?" the Kaiser asked with a deep voice.

"We just received information that an epidemic has broken out in the prisoner campsites at the south of the Italian Peninsula. The soldiers and the prisoners are all dying!"

"What?!" cried one of the generals, standing up from his seat and hitting the surface of the golden table with his open hands. "I thought they were being kept in decent conditions! That was my order!"

The informant didn't seem to know what to answer. He looked nervously at the leader of his nation.

"Is there any other news that you have to inform us?" Asked the young man again, completely calm. The informant shook his head. "Fine. Get out."

The man obeyed.

"Lee," called the Kaiser "What do you want to do of this? The prisoner campsites were your idea. This situation is yours to handle."

"I understand, Kaiser." Answered the general that had stood up, looking gravely at his leader. "I will prepare medical squads and travel immediately to the Italian territory."

"Are you sure of this?"

"Yes."

"This is a waste of time, energy and more importantly, resources." Intervened the Kaiser's brother, Kankurou. His face, tattooed with African symbolical figures, was set on his younger brother. "I told you keeping war prisoners was already a bad idea, and now we're going to use our precious resources and personnel to go and save them? I say we bring our soldiers here and let the prisoners die. It's what they deserve, after the treatment that their country has given to our people."

"They're people, too!" retorted the standing general. "They deserve as much respect and dignity as our own people. We cannot go and exterminate all of the Eurasian, that is not humane!"

"But why? Why after all of the pain they've caused us?" Said this time Temari, looking angrily at the general. It was well known that both siblings hadn't liked the idea of the prisoners from the start, and it had been the Kaiser's ultimate decision what had given Rock Lee's request approval.

"Because at some point this war is going to end. Do we want it to end with even worse results than what the Third War left us? Sparse and hungry people filled with hate towards each other? The only way to diminish this terrible result is by giving the war prisoners a humane treatment."

Kankuro sighed.

"It's your decision, Gaara."

Everyone's attention was then set on the Kaiser, who pondered for a few moments before answering.

"I trust your judgment, Lee, that's the reason I made you a general. Do what you think is best."

"Thank you, Kaiser."

The siblings looked unhappy but said nothing. Rock Lee left the hall.

"So, we've kind of known each other for some time now, right?"

"Yes."

"And we've kind of become friends, am I correct?"

"Yes, what do you want? Just say it."

"Well, now that you mention it… uhm, are you gay or something?"

Neji sighed.

"Uhm… yeah… I am… is that a problem?"

"No, no, not at all, you moron. We're friends, and I trust that even though it's hard, you can resist my intense sex appeal, can't you?"

Neji rolled his eyes. Kiba laughed.

"Come on, it was about time you told me, don't you think? Do the others know?"

"Well, I suppose they can guess, like you did. I mean, I have never really been the most masculine guy, have I?"

"You damn sure haven't."

"Thanks."

Kiba laughed again.

"So, are you gonna tell me the story now?"

"What story?"

"The story about why you ended up in Russia?"

"Get him, Limbo!"

"Yeah! Another one like that, come on Red! Bite off his nose!"

"What?! Fuck! No!"

The fight had ended. Limbo lay on the floor with a gross hole in the place where his nose should have been, choking and coughing blood. Limbo's "owner" took a big stone and began hitting him on the head, splashing blood all over the place. The poor boy let out some pitiful noises before he finally died. The slayer then turned to his adversary as if nothing had happened, blood stains all over his face and his clothes.

"Fucking teeth." He said.

The other man laughed.

"That's why he's called Red Fangs."

Limbo's owner gave Red's a pair of bills and turned to leave. The other man counted the money and put it in his pocket, then proceeding to grab a big metal chain from the floor and putting it around Red's neck. He secured the chain with a big lock and then pulled the chain as he walked away. Red followed him, limping.

"Living up to the name, I see" some man said as Red and his owner walked by him. The owner seemed pleased.

"Of course, Red Fangs will remain as the champion of the zone."

"Who would have guessed that such a short lad would end up doing the trick!"

"Who would, indeed!"

They walked away.

Back at their "home", a worn-out tent that Red had never entered, Red's owner nailed his chain to the floor with a big spike and then entered the tent. He later came out with his medical equipment, which he proceeded to use to clean and treat Red's wounds. He had several bruises all over his body, deep scratches and cuts, but nothing too severe. He had seen worse.

Kiba could still feel the metallic taste of the blood in his tongue. He had become used to it, as he had become used to the pain after every fight. As long as he could keep fighting, he could keep living, and that was all that mattered to him. He had learned to ignore the screams of pain of his enemies and accept their deaths as something necessary. If it wasn't them, then it would be him.

Luckily his master had been a smart man. He had fed him fell, made him train until he couldn't stand, and had conveniently modified his body. He had cut his incisors so that his fangs would be his longer teeth, and then he had polished every tooth to be as sharp as a knife. Once something got caught in Kiba's jaw, it would hardly get away.

His fingernails had also received special treatment to be deadly. They were cut to the shape of claws and his master periodically covered them with a substance that made them harder. All in all, Kiba had become a killing machine. Or something more of a shredding machine. It was usually the owners of his enemies who gave the final blow. He just made sure they wouldn't get up again.

Still, even when he was –so far- unbeatable, he had had his share of destruction. He had at one point lost half of his right ear. His owner had then cut the other to make it match, and now he had two weird and pointy ears. His body was full of scars, some uglier than others. More than once, his master had had to use his medical knowledge to sew big open wounds. He had almost lost a finger, too, and he had broken a few bones.

But other than that, he was still complete, and he was glad. Others had had to pay a high price for his safety, but he was alive and that was all that mattered.

He would survive this war no matter what. He wouldn't leave the cowardly African defeat him.

And even though his master, Kabuto, thought that he was using him, it was actually the other way around. Kiba was using Kabuto, and as the man cleaned his wounds with extreme care and then prepared his specially designed meal, Kiba couldn't be more certain that he was the one in power.

He was the one that was going to survive.

"I need to tell you guys something."

Neji was nervous.

"What?"

Shikamaru was lying on the couch with a book over his face, and Shino was sitting on a chair and eating cereal.

"I'm gay."

He went straight to the point. He couldn't do it any other way. He would have chickened out.

"We know."

"You do."

"You know we know. We're not idiots, you're the most feminine guy I've ever met."

"I'm not that feminine…"

"Well, you're more feminine than us, at least."

"'Cause you're beasts."

"You're still in love with us, anyway."

"I'm so not."

"You're so gay."

Neji smiled.

These had to be the best damn friends one could ever have. Ever.

It was the coldest night that Neji could remember since he arrived in the campsite.

Not only the coldest, but also the darkest.

The loneliest.

The scariest.

Neji.

Was.

Dying.

He was dying.

The one thing he dreaded the most, the one thing he feared. The one thing he knew would eventually happen.

A lot of the prisoners in his cell block had already succumbed to the strange illness that had broken out in the campsite. He assumed that even the soldiers had either died or just run away, because since the outbreak, no one had entered the cell block. They had just been left there to rot and die.

Which they were dutifully doing.

Neji was lying over his mattress, with a dry mouth and burning with fever. His eyes watered and he damned them. Such precious water, and they were wasting it, the idiots!

He was going delusional, as well.

He could see shadows surrounding him. Shadows that, he knew, were not there.

Or did he?

He could even hear footsteps, but he knew it was impossible. Everyone was dead, or dying, and no-one was left that could still walk.

It was all a lie made up by his sickly brain.

He closed his eyes one last time, and he mentally spoke to his friends. He said good-bye, except to Shikamaru, to whom he said "see you in a while."

He could hear and feel his own body giving up. His heart was counting the seconds until it stopped beating. His brain was busy giving every organ orders to shut down. His senses were ready to stop sensing. The only remaining thing was the last fantasy that his brain would create to bid him farewell.

A fantasy made of the sweetest memories.

"You are the best friends that one could ever expect to have."

"I'm glad I came here."

"Stay with me."

"I love you…"

It was dark and silent.

But there was a sudden rush of light and noise.

Neji realized he was awake.

Was this death? There was really something after death?

He slowly opened his eyes, trying to adjust to the light. The moment he could see, he realized he was in some sort of… hospital tent?

He looked around nervously and confused. He had no idea of what was happening. He was surrounded by white curtains, so he couldn't see beyond his own bed. There was a lot of noise and voices. Some were afflicted voices, moaning with apparent pain.

He wasn't dead, after all. This couldn't be death.

For a split second, he thought that maybe, maybe he had been rescued by his country! Maybe he was in some Eurasian medical tent! He couldn't help but smile.

"So you say this one recovered well? That's impressive. He was in such terrible state when we found him. I honestly doubted he would survive. The soldiers were keeping him in such terrible and inhumane conditions!"

Neji heard a male voice talking. He sounded young and cheerful. Who could that be?

Someone suddenly pulled one of the curtains and peeked inside. Neji's eyes shot in that direction and he saw a young man with big dark eyes and even bigger eyebrows covering them staring at him.

"Oh, hello! I'm glad you're up. Nurse!" He called. Neji could tell that this was the same person that had been speaking before. Unfortunately, his accent made him soon realize that he didn't belong to Eurasia. He was African. His smile faded. "Well, hello. I'm third general of the Armed African Forces, Rock Lee. What's your name?"

Neji didn't answer. He just stared back at the young man –a general, he said?- with clear disgust in his eyes.

"I take it you're not a big fan of the African, are you? I understand. The treatment you have received has been less than… appropriate. I'm willing to make it up to you."

Neji didn't understand what this individual wanted. Was this some kind of joke? Was he just pretending to be nice to try and make him feel secure and later destroy him?

He wouldn't let him do that.

"So, again, what is your name?"

Neji didn't answer. Rock Lee sighed.

"Look, I just want to try and make things right. The prisoners of my country have suffered too much, I understand that. You were the only survivor of your campsite, I think that makes you special. There must be a special reason you're alive and the others aren't. So I'll take care of you. That's what the destiny wants."

Neji frowned.

"There's no such thing as destiny." He whispered with a hoarse voice, spoiled from disuse. The general smiled.

"So you do have a voice. Are you going to tell me your name now?"

Neji frowned even more. This guy was a joke. How could he put up such a ridiculous act? Did he really think Neji was going to buy it?

The Eurasian looked away and he could hear the general sigh.

"Tell you what," Rock Lee said, "I will give you something in exchange for your name, how does that sound?"

Neji looked at him again. He could only frown before the evident stupidity of the man. But he decided to follow his game, if just to see what would happen.

"Find my friends."

That was the only thing in the world that he could desire to ask.

Lee's smile faltered.

"Alright, that sounds like something I can do. But be warned, there has been a lot of death in the campsites."

"I don't care. I need to know."

Lee nodded.

"You'll have to provide me with their names. But that will be later. The doctors have to check you now. See you."

He left as a nurse and a doctor approached Neji and began testing his health.

"This is fucking twisted. It's not okay, it's not fair!"

"Stop complaining like a little girl. What has to be done, has to be done. That's that."

"We're not prepared for war, we don't know how it is, what is the king thinking?!"

"He's thinking that he needs us to win this war. Those mutherfucker Americans messed everything up for us. If we don't fight, our country loses!"

"I think it'll lose even if we fight…"

"I guess this will do, for now." Rock Lee said.

It was a few days after Neji woke up at the medical tent. He had almost recovered from the illness and was in better shape after receiving proper nutrition and hygiene. He had received new clothes –which he hated, for they were African clothes- and his general appearance was starting to improve, if only ever so slightly.

Rock Lee made a few adjustments in the house where they had broken in, and by nighttime they already had water and electricity.

It was a big and nice house that had probably belonged to some rich family. It had a beautiful sight to a cliff, right over a beach, and a fresh breeze entered through the big windows. It was decorated with warm colors, which made it cozy, and was overall a much better place than any place where Neji had ever lived.

But he was certainly confused as to what he was supposed to do there.

Rock Lee told him –ordered him- to sit in the living room and wait. He could have tried to run away, of course. But the gun attached to the general's belt prevented him from doing so. He was miraculously alive and besides, for the first time in a long time, he had a little hope of seeing his friends again. Those two things were enough to keep him sitting in the living room, watching as the general moved things around.

"You will stay in the small room; I'll take the big one. It's not because I'm selfish. I have a lot of work to do and I will need a lot of space. I will also be holding meetings in the house. When that happens, you are to stay in your bedroom. You won't come out and you won't make any noises, am I clear? If you do this, I will help you find your friends." Rock Lee explained. Neji just nodded. He was still confused, but the reassuring that the general would look for his friends at least made him feel that staying there was the right thing to do.

Lee later took him to his room, where he locked him. The general said that it was only a safety measure, necessary until he could truly trust him. Neji didn't mind. He had been locked up in a disgusting cell for almost a year. This, at least, was a nice change. His bedroom was spacious and comfortable. Though it was a little bit girly.

That night Neji had a dreamless sleep.

No green fields, no dead friends, no nothing.

There was only one thing that he could feel, growing in his chest as he lay on the comfortable bed and closed his eyes to sleep.

One thing that he thought he had given up on long ago.

Hope.

Authoress Notes: That's it for chapter two. Your opinions will be much appreciated!