[Open] Where do the dead go when they die?

[screw_fate]

This isn't what he expected.

Neji stands at the outskirts of a village, one he's never seen before, and tries to trace the moments that brought him here. The battlefield, Hinata's suicidal move to protect Naruto, his own moments later to protect them both... The stunning, numbing pain as his body was pierced. Naruto supporting him, holding him up, as he gasped out a few soft words...

And then darkness, and an almost-unfelt flare of pain in his eyes as the seal did its ugly work.

But now, there is no evidence of it. He wears the uniform of the allied army, and it is clean, untorn, unstained. His body is whole, with no pain or weariness.

He can see.

The seal still sits on his forehead, a quiet but tangible presence, a gentle pulse that doesn't quite match up with his heartbeat. Foreign, but for short times, forgettable. It's there, as though he's never died to trigger it.

What happened?

He gains nothing by standing here. Slowly, still feeling a floating sense of unreality as though his feet don't truly touch the ground, he steps forward.

Where am I?

Perhaps there will be answers. Or perhaps this is what death is. His fingers rise to touch his forehead, covered by his hitai-ate, manji pulsing beneath. Is even death not an escape, then?

Who knows?

He enters the village, silent and wondering.

Comments

[endeavorbeyondgenius]

He paused, then cleared his throat as something came to mind, and he turned a little pink. Shaking his head quickly to clear it, because of all times, remembering walking in on that particular moment was not what he should be thinking about right this second. He had to reassure Neji that he was not lacking in this way!

"I assure you that I know that you are more than capable of living up to such a word Neji, you have but to find it within yourself to do so!"

[screw_fate]

The flush of color in Lee's face made Neji's eyebrow creep up dubiously; whatever Lee was thinking of, he was pretty certain he didn't want to know about it. (Although maybe it would be interesting~ a quiet little voice in the back of his mind whispered. He quashed it as he routinely did.)

"Find it within myself? And why should I wish to do any such thing?" he asked calmly. "You produce quite enough exuberance to fulfill our entire team, all on your own."

[endeavorbeyondgenius]

Well that declaration soundly derailed his thoughts, and he gave his teammate the most brilliant smile yet. "NEJI! You allow yourself to be filled by my youthful exuberance?! You flatter me!"

[screw_fate]

"Do I look like I'm 'filled' with any such thing?" The look Neji shot him was aggrieved and exasperated, but even still, this was a better turn of conversation.

[endeavorbeyondgenius]

"If not then I most assuredly can do so should we spend time together Neji, fear not!" He clasped his shoulder and looked him firmly in the eye. "I will not let you go unfilled with such wondrous things!"

[screw_fate]

"Wondrous." A host of Suna-nin would have found themselves at home with his tone, so dry was it; Lee was Lee was eternally Lee, and while there was a comfort in his unchanging attitude, it could also be the most exasperating thing Neji easily knew of. "That is one of the last descriptors I would choose. Just so you're aware."

[endeavorbeyondgenius]

"But I thought it perfectly apt given our conversation! Do you not long to be filled with youthful energy and passionate determination?" He gave him a wide eyed stare, clearly expecting him to agree.

[screw_fate]

"... No." Really, why would Lee expect any other answer? "I really don't long to be filled with much of anything," Neji added, parroting Lee's words with a dry, familiar mockery. Nothing unusual, nothing biting, just... the way they were together, the way he always did.

As though nothing had changed.

[endeavorbeyondgenius]

"You say it but I cannot think it to be so!" He paused, clearly finding inspiration as the tea arrived and set down. "Tea! Tea is like a wellspring of your youthful lifeblood yes?"

[screw_fate]

"It would be decidedly cannibalistic for me to drink it if it were." But now there's a hint of a smirk -- just a hint, wan and uncertain, moonlight through clouds -- teasing around the edges of his lips. Verbal sparring, pushing back against Lee's verbal extravagance.

[endeavorbeyondgenius]

He looked aghast at the very idea. "But the tea is not your brethren! Neji, must you be so cruel?! NO, The Tea shall instead be your elixir or passionate life, yes?!"

[screw_fate]

"If it were my lifeblood..." Neji pointed out with a sigh. Lee's metaphors were like the old growth of a forest, tangled and wound up in themselves.

"I'm a cruel person," he added; the words were half a joke anymore, with the mellowing of his attitude toward his team and his friends, but every now and then it was worth throwing out there that he felt like constraint to niceness. "I prefer my tea as a beverage."

[endeavorbeyondgenius]

"Is that not what I said Neji?! Have you become lost in the daze of my vigor that you could not follow that this is not exactly as I said?! It is your favorite is it not?"

[screw_fate]

Sigh. He could argue this, but getting drawn into debates of Lee's florid metaphors was never a good way to get clear of them. "You're being an idiot," he grumbled instead, scowling into his tea. "Tea is tea. That's all."

[endeavorbeyondgenius]

He smiled, pleased that Neji was looking happier, and it quickly turned into a grin as he leaned in, tilting his head to have a clear view of the scowl. "But that it is teas is not the most glorious part?"

[screw_fate]

"I don't see how any part of it is particularly glorious." Neji turned the scowl into a glare -- much the same expression, really, with only fine points of difference, but Lee probably had every variation catalogued at this point, with as often as such looks were turned on him. "It's tea. A beverage. Dried leaves steeped in hot water. Where is the glory?"

[endeavorbeyondgenius]

"You like it, do you not?" His grin got bigger and he leaned on the table. "Is that not enough to give it glory Neji?"

[screw_fate]

"No." Simple, blunt, normal. He raised the cup to his lips and took a slow sip. A pleasant beverage, the formal ceremony a relaxing ritual, but nothing more than that.

[endeavorbeyondgenius]

Pleased that Neji was feeling better about everything, and had forgotten, if just for the moment, that something was wrong, he settled back in his chair. "I will glorify it for you then!! Do you like the tea they sell here? It is some of the best served in this village."

[screw_fate]

He actually managed a low chuckle at Lee's sense of triumph, shaking his head sightly in bemusement. "I suppose it's good tea, if that counts as glorification." There was an art to truly excellent brewing, and this establishment did seem to closely approach it.

[endeavorbeyondgenius]

"As I believed your answer might be! I am quite glad that it is almost to your standards of excellence! Their snacks, as well, are quite tasty and should be over soon." More than a little pleased to get a laugh out of Neji, the best he had for him was a brilliant smile in turn. This was far better.

[screw_fate]

Those smiles... inside, Neji felt a sudden quiet pang of guilt. That was a smile he doubted his own world would see again anytime soon. Because of him -- his choices.

I'm sorry, Lee.

But he concealed the thought, promising himself they would talk about it later, and nodded. "I'm looking forward to enjoying them. It's been a while since I've eaten well.

Because armies on the march didn't get good restaurant food, they got mass-cooked swill. Ugh.

[endeavorbeyondgenius]

"Worry no Neji, it is an understandable thing that you would not have fine dining often if what I know is so. Instead you can savor the wonder that is a warm meal after many days of cold rations, yes? It is always much better when it is so, and one has a chance to appreciate it all the more for it having been gone." He nodded at once, finally easing away to give the other teen a little more room instead of practically sitting on him.

[screw_fate]

"That much, I can agree with," Neji answered with a sigh. "Field rations are all well and good for short missions, but they get tiresome..." And he was never going to sit down to a warm meal at home again.

His hands dropped to his lap so he could more subtly squeeze his fingers into tight fists, fighting down the sudden surge of emotion that threatened to overwhelm him. No, he was stronger than this -- and he had to present a normal front for Lee.

"I'll enjoy this, yes," he added, fighting back to normalcy, to a smooth facade.

[endeavorbeyondgenius]

Lee was not blind. Clearly that had been the wrong approach, and he shifted so he was brushing shoulders with Neji as he finally turned in place to pick up his own tea. "That is excellent! It is ever a good day when you can find enjoyment in small things, is it not?"