He wanted to do this. No. 'Wanted to' wasn't the correct phrase. He needed to do this. He needed to close this chapter for himself, his family, and friends. He knew they missed them, likely as deeply and desperately as he missed them. He figured that Tenten would be highly affected by his demise, and he needed to talk with her about it. He'd had a good life. He had an apartment that was all his own. He'd had friends he cared about and could count on whether it was to break up the monotony of the day by grabbing lunch with them or a fight against a threat to Konoha. But that was his old life, he was building a new life in the Seireitei of Soul Society. He wanted to make sure they were going on with their lives as well. No, he needed to know they were or at the very least trying to.

Before he could though, he had to learn shikai. That was the one stipulation that Head Captain Kyoraku had placed on their travel, the reason was quite simple: If Neji and Chiaki were going to take his three grandchildren into a living world, they'd both best be able to defend them if their spiritual pressure drew out a swarm of hollows.

Chiaki may not always be with Neji and little Hikari. The condition was there as he wanted to make sure his youngest granddaughter was safe, regardless if she was with her mother or not. Neji and Chiaki had discussed it at length and decided that Chiaki would remain with the two older children while Neji took Hikari to meet Tenten. The first people that they wanted to see were Lord Hiashi, Hinata and Hanabi. Currently Neji stood in a desert scene, an area that had apparently been built long ago by Kisuke Urahara and Yoruichi Shihouin.

He was sitting with his legs crossed, the blade over his lap. His eyes were closed and to the unknowing, he'd appear to be meditating. The truth was more complicated. Within he was consciously aware of what seemed to be the forest that surrounded Konoha. He glanced around at the location and realized exactly where they were.

This was the spot where he'd first seen Chiaki, she had been protecting a woman and two children from a hollow. Although at the time, he had no idea what she was doing. All he had known was that something had felt off and he'd activated his Byakugan to look around. He'd followed her reiatsu to a clearing where the woman and her children lay unconscious. What had been unknown to him at the time was that if anyone aside from Team Guy had tried to locate those civilians they wouldn't have been able to. Chiaki had taken an extra measure to protect those humans while she chased down the hollow.

If he thought back far enough, he and his father used to train and play in the same clearing of the forest. In truth he had deep emotional ties to that place. He could smell the sunflowers in bloom, and feel the breeze of the summer wind blowing through his hair. As he walked across the grassy areas, he came across another entity. Someone who appeared to be a man who stood just a few inches taller than him, stood silently observing him. The man was dressed entirely in white from head to toe with a mask covering their face. The mask was primarily blue, and white. It had triangular shaped ears, thick white painted eyebrows, white eyes, a thin nose with large nostrils, and an open mouth showing jagged teeth. He observed the person momentarily while contemplating what the etiquette in this situation would be. Did he wait for him to introduce himself? Should he introduce himself first? He had never thought to ask anyone about this.

"Hello Neji," the man spoke. Neji blinked momentarily, the voice sounded familiar but he couldn't place it. He then looked to the man before him and proposed, "I suppose this is my inner world then?"

"It is," the man answered.

"And that would mean that you are the source of my power," Neji concluded.

A nod from the man again, which caused Neji to smile a little and reveal, "you remind me of someone I once knew."

The masked man didn't change his stance or give any indication of response to that statement. Neji sat down on a rock formation and admitted, "this place is special to me in a way. I used to come here to train with my father. After he died, I'd return here to train on my own. It's also where I first saw the mother of my child."

He gave a small laugh as he prepared to reveal more but the man spoke up, "you observed her using your Byakugan, and observed her fighting something in the sky. You were having lunch with your then girlfriend while your team mate Rock Lee and your Sensei Might Guy were increasing their endurance."

Neji blinked and looked to the masked man, "you know about that?"

"I know many things about you Neji Hyuga. I know that you still harbor feelings for Tenten, even though you're with Chiaki. I know you once held great hatred for the main branch of your clan. I know you tried to kill your cousin Hinata twice. I'm also aware that you're not being honest with yourself. You did intercept that attack on Hinata and Naruto to protect them, but also so that you could see Chiaki again," the man listed off.

At the mentioning of the last thing, Neji felt his face heat up with a blush. He closed his eyes, exhaling deeply as he conceded, "you're correct. I did miss her, painfully. I do still care about Tenten. I believe part of me always will. If there is a way that I can protect her, given the chance, in a situation where she'd otherwise lose, I know I'd take whatever action needed to be taken. But my concern for her is in not wanting to see her suffer. With Chiaki it's different. Being without her is like—suffocating slowly. She's everything I never knew I wanted, and everything that I need. She pushes me to be everything I can be and helped me to realize that although I may fear parenting children from my own lack of parents, nobody's perfect at parenting."

He smiled a bit as he revealed, "in fact that's a fear she shared while raising just Tetsuya. She was his sole living blood relative who could care for him, and she was terrified of getting it wrong. Another fear was somehow becoming resentful towards him, or causing him to be resentful towards her. I don't know much, but I did babysit a few times as a Genin. I offered what experience I had from that alone, and it seemed to help her. That was the moment I realized that, perhaps with the right person, having a child wouldn't be so bad."

"And then you died, and found out you were going to become a father in the afterlife," the spirit concluded.

Neji nodded and replied, "yes. Hikari has become the light of my world, Suzume is the song in my heart, and Tetsuya is that little bit of fire that burns within and drives you to be the best you can be. Not because you need to achieve something, but so he can have something to look up to. But Chiaki—she's the warm glow of an evening fire that keeps you warm, calm, and filled. Sort of like a camp fire."

"It would seem the correct move would be to marry her," the spirit suggested.

"I intend to, if she'll have me," Neji agreed. In some ways he felt exposed, he'd revealed this much to the spirit, who had yet to tell him what to address him as. Was this common place among shinigami and their zanpakutos? He recalled not even knowing that Chiaki's Zanpakuto was called Hotori until they were on a mission together with a few others from the hidden leaf as well as Yoruichi Shihouin and Kisuke Urahara.

"Neji, my name is-"