Only Time Can Tell

SHOULD HAVE BEEN YOU

CHAPTER 29

SHOULD HAVE BEEN YOU

NEJI HYUGA

"Aimi! Aimi! Aimi! Aimi!" Daichi screamed, his cries carrying on endlessly around us. He sobbed until he could no longer. He just knelt over her, with no tears left to cry. "Aimi..." He whispered. "Aimi..."

Then, when his voice could no longer speak, the sky opened up, and rain began to fall. Wordlessly, I held my palm up, and felt the warm droplets. "That's strange." Daichi said hoarsely. His limp frame opened up the rain, feeling it as it fell down. He laughed in a way that almost sounded like coughing. "It never rained before." He said gently. He looked down at Aimi's lifeless body, and touched her hand, standing slowly.

"She deserved better. She was the kindest person I ever met. I loved her so much and though she chose me, she deserved better."

I said nothing. It this situation I couldn't think of a thing to say to him. He lost the woman that he loved, and realized his mistakes, and now, there was nothing he could do to take back what he had done. There was no way I could relate.

"If I were anyone else, she wouldn't have been dead. Her death is my sin." Daichi said quietly. "I'm sorry." He said lifting his eyes to meet mine. "I'm so, so, sorry." He took a step towards me, and for once I didn't feel like stepping back. Now, he just looked like a worn out doll, parts of it broken and nonfunctional. I knew that he could never smile again. "I can't do anything to change what has happened. I can never ask for your forgiveness. Aimi's was enough. I can send you back to your friends, and another thing."

He took another step towards me, now only a breath away from me. "I am tired." He said, his eyes dulled and lightless. They looked as alive as Aimi's. "Please, I don't want to live forever any more. So, please, kill me, will you?"

It felt like the air had been turned to lead. "I've made too many mistakes. Aimi, she forgave me for them, but I know, no one here will be able to understand like she did. I've made too many mistakes. I deserve hell for what I have done, though I won't get to be with Aimi, but it's what she deserves."

"I....I can't."

"Please? I can help you the best I can. One more thing, once I'm gone, can you bury Aimi and I? I don't want to leave her like this, but I can't do it myself."

"Isn't there anything? What about your son?!" I said panicking to find a reason. The minute I mentioned his son, a shimmer of light went back into his eyes. "You can make up for your mistakes by being his father, you can make up for those mistakes by teaching him all the right things when you weren't. You have the opportunity to atone for your sins. Don't you want to be with Aimi?!"

His eyes grew wide. "Don't you think the least you can do is bury your wife, find your son, and do your best to change what you have done? Won't you spend your life making the world a better place?!" I felt my eyes prick with tears. "Aimi would have! Sai, my friend who you killed would have! To honor them wouldn't you just-"

He reached out to me and put his hand on my head. "You are kind." For a second I could almost hear a smile in his voice. "I've heard you." He closed his eyes, "You will go back to your friends, Aimi....she would have loved you. I just hope...that one day, my son can be like you." He opened his eyes, a flicker of light remaining steady there. "I will repent." A flash of lightning overcame me, and I felt the ground slip out from under me and I felt myself falling. I heard a scream right before I felt my body connect with the ground, my vision turning to darkness.

I blinked, the light was so bright, I was eternally stuck in the light of a lightning strike. I sat up, shaking my head as my eyes adjusted to the immense light.

"Hey." Someone said. "About time you woke up."

I blinked my eyelids feeling like they weighed a million tons. Then he came into focus. His face was happy, and he was swathed in the light. "Sai..."

"Nice to see you again."

"Yeah..." I said not really sure what to do now. "You...you died."

"Yeah." Sai said. "But before I go, I wanted to tell you a few things. I'm not good at being concise with final words, so please forgive me." Sai smiled. "I chose to die.If I could go back, I would die again a million more times, if it meant I could save you."

"Why?!" My heart had started racing with a mix of feelings, anger, confusion, insecurity.

Sai sighed. "You're a genius Neji. You're extremely gifted with the Byakugan, and you're an extremely skilled ninja. When I look back on my life I have so many regrets, things I would have and wouldn't have done, things I would have said differently." Sai laughed. "Maybe things would be different if I had. But one of those regrets was not being able to save you."

"I hardly know you."

"And I hardly know you." Sai smiled. "But Naruto knew you, and I knew him. I was his comrade, and so were you. And if I were too cowardly to save a comrade of mine? I surely would have continued to regret that for the rest of my days. So many did die today, in this moment, but you were the genius, and if my life could mean something, it would mean the most if I saved you.

"You didn't have the opportunity to live for as long as you should have. Meanwhile, I got to live much longer than most ninja, I got to fall in love, get married, have a family. I got to do all of the things you should have had the chance to do.

"Besides," Sai laughed. "You would have helped out a lot more in the war than I would have, your visual prowess, your strength with the Gentle Fist, you're a close friend to Naruto, and you'll mean a lot to them in the future, you'll get to be with your niece and nephew, and your troublesome brother-in-law. You'll have the opportunity to grow old.

"I got to be with Ino for a wonderful 13 years of my life..." Sai's looks seemed to fade off into the distance for a moment. "I want you to look out for her. To please help her, remember me, and be there for her when she needs it. She'll act strong in front of people, but-"

"I'll be there for her every day, she means so much to you, I promise, I remember my debt to you, and-"

"Ensure that she's happy." Sai smiled. "It will take a while for her to truly be happy again but....ensure that eventually she'll be truly happy again. And Inojin, make sure he grows to be a strong dependable ninja, who can protect his friends, and stand on his own two feet. Make sure you talk to him, and don't leave him alone. Be there for my family when I can't, Neji."

I nodded, meeting his eyes, unable to fathom what this man had done for me, an unrepayable debt. He gave me my future back, and I won't waste it. "I swear I will."

There was rustling all around. There was a massive searing pain radiating from my skull. I didn't want to open my eyes, fearing that the pain would worsen.

"Neji!" I forced myself to peek with one eye. Sarada was leaning over me, but my eyes immediately shifted to the giant chakra force behind her. A tall man with raven black hair, a black cloak covering his strong features. "Are you okay? Where did you come from?! We were just going to look for you!" I blinked a few times but the man never disappeared, he must be real then. "Neji?!"

"I up, stop screaming, my head is splitting open!" I complained, moving my hand to my head, pulling away when I felt the moistness of blood.

"You're bleeding." Sarada said reaching into her pack pulling out some bandages. "Here, let me wrap you up." I did my best to hold still as she wrapped the bandage around my head several times before cutting the end and tying it off. "Can you see okay?"

"Who is he?" I whispered to her indicating the man behind her.

"My dad." She smiled.

"What?!"

"I'm Sasuke Uchiha. You could have just asked me." He said his voice cold.

"Oh my God." My eyes widened looking up at the man. I knew that look before. I had heard that voice before. I had sensed this chakra before, I never would have imagined, "Sasuke?!"

"Hey." He said. "It's been a while."