In Another Life

Untitled Part 5

I do not own Naruto.

Sasuke sat by the grave stone and couldn't comprehend everything he had learned. It just... made no sense. All the scrolls he had been given by the old Neji were extremely detailed. He furrowed his brow as he read further through them. The elderly Hinata had been the same one he knew, but it made no sense how any of this had happened. He read over all of Hinata and Neji's exploits with the Uchiha and the Senju, hoping the next time he read them something would make sense. To break it all down, the scrolls say the Kami had sent them back in time to attempt to fix the past.

He understood that much, but why them? That was what he couldn't understand. One line he read was confusing him more than anything. 'Time is an unending loop and she assumed that if she had been sent back in time to help Madara and the Senju boys, perhaps there had been times where she had been sent back in time, but not to them.' He furrowed his brow deeper and couldn't quite understand that. Perhaps she meant she believed the reason his older brother had cared for her the way he had was because she had once been sent back to try and help him? But that wouldn't make sense either since his older brother knew her as a child.

He swallowed slightly pursed his lips. He couldn't make sense of any of this, but he wasn't sure if he should show anyone else. He glanced up to see the elder Neji making his way over to him. "Can I ask you something?" Sasuke asked and the elderly man nodded as he sat down beside him. "Feel free to ask me anything about those scrolls. I would prefer you do it sooner as I feel I don't have long for this world." He sighed and Sasuke frowned but nodded.

"Will we see anything that you two succeed with in the past?" he asked and Neji's eyes slipped shut. This was something he seemed to have wanted to avoid. Sasuke took that response as an answer in itself. "We will never see it, as our younger versions seem to have been placed in another timeline." Neji replied softly after a moment. Sasuke nodded once more. "We can only hope they fare better than we did."

"That makes more sense than I thought it would. So... I have another question..." Sasuke began and Elder Neji looked over at him. "How are you alive if Madara said he buried Hinata?" A frown crossed the older mans lips at this. "Sasuke... I believe that may have been where we went wrong... Hinata did not die that day, as you very well know. She faked her death to see if that would be what would stop the brothers from fighting once and for all. As you can tell it did not work in the slightest." Neji sighed and Sasuke nodded as he looked back down to the scrolls. "Why did she never reveal herself once more then?" Sasuke asked and Neji sighed softly.

"It would be harder to explain to someone who loved you that you faked your death than to live in hiding for the rest of your life, now wouldn't it? imagine the hurt and anger he would have felt if she had resurfaced..." Neji said and Sasuke nodded. He could understand how that could only cause more problems than it solved. He looked over to the older man who seemed deep in thought. He opened his mouth to ask another question, but the older male beat him to it.

"I can only hope she doesn't think it will work this time around." Neji said softly.

:-:-:-:-:

Neji and Madara slunk through the woods near the river, they were hunting today. Out of nowhere Neji slung his arm out and halted Madara's progress, only for Izuna to slam right into his older brother's back. Neji's chakra pulsed and he began scanning the area, he had felt something but he wasn't sure what it was. He couldn't see anything, but that was also what unsettled him. Tajima landed behind them silently. "Boys, the birds are silent." Was all he said and Neji nodded.

"I can't even see any birds or deer." He said and the older man nodded. "I think it's time to head back." He said and just as they turned to leave, a massive presence made itself known. Neji locked right onto it and motioned for the Uchiha to back up. They hadn't seen hide nor hair of the Senju in two years now, so it was long overdue for them to fight once more. "Are they coming for us?" Tajima asked and Neji shook his head. He watched as the large chakra presence exchanged blows with a smaller one. "They're fighting someone, but I do think it is best if we go." Neji said, only for another presence to make itself known.