imbrii (imbrii) wrote in imbrication, @ 2007-09-06 16:58:00 |
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Entry tags: | drabble, hokage series, hyuuga neji, naruto, tenten |
Naruto - Girls Don't Cry
Series: Naruto
Characters: Team Guy
Pairing: Neji+Tenten, though it's overlookable.
Type: futurefic, angst
Warnings: character deaths
Spoilers: none
Word Count: 465
Etc: Sheesh, it's like a requirement somebody dies for almost every one of these Hokage drabbles! I can't write Neji to save my life, and Tenten is such a little-covered character I have no idea if I got her right. Pulled the title out of my ass, I may change it. Also tempted to tweak the ending a bit, because I kinda like it ending on Neji's last line.
Neji finds her in the little U-shaped balcony, Team Guy’s meeting spot from their genin days. He wishes he’d thought to come here before the memorial stone.
She’s leaning forward, hands clasped and elbows on her knees in an uncharacteristically unfeminine position. For once, her three weapon scrolls are absent, leaving only a beautiful, forlorn woman in an embroidered shirt with a mandarin collar.
He says nothing about her tears. “The ceremony is starting soon; it would be bad for the Rokudaime Hokage to be late to her own inauguration.”
“I’ve been acting Hokage since the funeral, this is just a formality. It can wait.” Tenten doesn’t let anybody but Neji see her cry, because she’s supposed to be strong, and strong women don’t cry. Ninja don’t cry. Hokage don’t cry.
A sob tries to escape so she bites her lip viciously. Still staring at the ground between her feet, she murmurs, “I never thought I’d say that I miss them. All those years they were so embarrassing, so infuriating. I wished I’d been put on another team every night I was a genin. You were the only thing that kept me from pulling my hair out.”
Her voice starts to wobble, and her chin periodically drips tears. “But all I can think of is how they’d be cheering right now, in that horribly loud and humiliating way of theirs.”
Her short fingers curl into fists as her hands fall to her knees. “I miss their stupid self-imposed rules, their ugly hair, their enormous eyebrows, their shiny teeth, their hideous green suits, their bizarre father-son relationship, their melodrama, their speeches…”
Neji remains silent, but puts a hand on her shoulder.
“I miss them, and all I’d ever wanted was for them to go away,” she bursts out, finally meeting Neji’s gaze, face shiny with fresh tears. “It’s not fair. He never even got to be a jounin! It’s not fair.”
“It isn’t,” he agrees, kneeling down in front of her. “But life had never been fair to Lee in the first place. That didn’t stop him from trying, from moving on and making the best of it.” From fighting against his destiny.
“In the end, he fulfilled his dream, even if he was never officially ranked as jounin. Nobody will deny that he died a hero.”
“A great ninja,” Tenten quotes with a sad, bitter smile.
A pale thumb gently wipes the tears away from her eyes. “Come, Hokage-sama. It’s time to realize your own dream.”
She pushes his hand away as she stands, letting their fingers intertwine briefly. It’s then she notices Neji’s hitai-ate is maroon instead of navy.
Back straight, she takes the matching one from his outstretched hand and slips it on. Head high, she goes to face the village, her village.
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