Thoughts After the War

[Future]

Everyone has their own way of coping. Some of them cope with working themselves tired; some would travel; some would drink themselves silly. There are many ways to cope, but Nara Yoshino doesn't approve of the way her son is coping (or lack thereof). She knows, like anyone else, what it feels to lose friends on the battlefield. She'd been there.

She completely understands what her son is going through. Many of their clan's people and her own friends died in the recent war. No one was spared from grief. Even the Hokage (both former and current) and the infamous Team 7 wasn't spared from loss.

She had heard how the sole female member of Team 7 had fallen. She had also heard of the feats and contribution of the young kunoichi in the war. And Yoshino had heard of how important she is to their group of friends, especially to her own son.

She felt familiar arms wrap around her and couldn't help but relax and smile. She turned around to give her husband a kiss. Shikaku wouldn't have been alive if it wasn't for her.

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Nara Shikaku could still remember the day he entrusted his life in her hands.

He had just finished reporting to the Godaime Hokage and was rounding a corner when he saw her in one of the Tower rooms. Scrolls, books, detached parchments of papers, bottles of inks and brushes were piled on multiple tables with two clones poring themselves on them. She wasn't any different as she's hunched over one scroll herself.

It wasn't an unusual sight as it was common for the last three years. It was like she took ownership of that room. The only time that it was vacant and clean was when she's out on a mission. Not even a hospital duty or a lunch break out could vacate that room of her presence as she always leaves a clone or two behind.

Aside from his own observations, Shikaku had heard a few things about her from Inoichi (that came from Ino), from the Hokage, from Kakashi, and from his own son. It's not hard to believe that she's a diligent hard worker.

"Ugh!" His musings were cut short by the kunoichi as she groaned and stretched her no doubt stiff muscles. As if finally sensing that she's being watched, she turned from her seat and glanced in his direction.

"Shikaku-san!" She greeted with a startle. He returned her greeting with a nod and was about to walk off when she called his attention back.

"Shikaku-san!" She called, "I have a few inquiries if you don't mind"

With a raised brow, he entered her room and watched as she rummages through her pile of scrolls. It wasn't as if he hadn't had a few chats with her before, it's just that ever since the Kage Summit, she had cooped herself up in this room without telling anyone what she was working on.

"I was wondering about our HQ" She rambled absently as she unraveled a scroll and skimmed through the pages of a notebook. Looking at the scroll, Shikaku recognized the barrier pattern. "Here!"

She handed him the notebook and continued on. "I was wondering if our HQ has protective seals. Because if we don't, I have a few suggestions in mind." She gestured at the notebook he was studying as she continued, "I've drafted a few barrier seals in the last two years and this one here..." She pointed at the scroll on the table, "... is my masterpiece."

"It can already withstand the strongest of jutsu" She said. Shikaku noted that it doesn't contain a bit of boasting but rather it had frustration underlining it. "I'm still trying to tweak it up to withstand a Tailed-Beast Bomb"

"A Tailed-Beast Bomb?" He asked, making sure that he heard that right. Of course, the Alliance Council has already discussed the possibility but no one knows how to deal with it aside from how the Yondaime Hokage used Hiraishin to transport the Tailed Beast Bomb to the sea.

"Yes, sir" She didn't look at him but he could feel that she had already thought about this thought a couple of times. "We don't know how exactly Madara would attack us, but with 7 Tailed-Beasts, I'm not gonna doubt that he'd use them at his disposal"

"I've been reading the scrolls left behind by the Shodaime, Nidaime and Yondaime Hokage" She gestured at the two clones hunched over on separate tables. "I think I'm close to finishing this up"

"This is a brilliant " Was all he could say because it honestly is. "We don't have many ideas on how to defend the HQ from them"

She nodded and then retrieved a blank parchment of paper and a brush. She then proceeded to draw a crude geographic image of the supposed battlefield and the HQ location. She then encircled the area around HQ. "I was thinking of having a 300-mile radius from HQ" Then she stops. "Will that be enough?"

Shikaku thought about it, analyzing the data he already has. "Let's make it five hundred miles"

It took her a while before she nodded and wrote the details down. "I'll send the modified seal before everyone moves out"

"I'll leave it to you then" He could only say. Whether it works or not, he's prepared to die either way. But seeing her resolve to protect the lives that would be in HQ is inspiring. It makes him want to see her finish the seal.

"Yes sir" She grinned.

He could still remember that night when two Tailed-Beast Bombs came their way. The first one destroyed the barrier and he never thought that the shattering sound it made could be any more ominous. He was quick to relay his last strategy and supposedly last words when the second Tailed-Beast Bomb came too close. It exploded and sent a massive shockwave their way. To their utter surprise, they were alive.

The shockwave of the explosion threatened to collapse their building and damaged their equipment; thus rendered them unable to relay to the rest of their forces the news that they were alive and safe. When they investigated what happened, they discovered that Zen had placed five similar barriers around every hundred-mile in a 500-mile radius; and every attack they had received destroyed two barriers each.

The last remaining barrier was not in any good condition though. Normally, it was invisible to the naked eye unless you have a dojutsu like the Byakugan or Sharingan; but even without it, they could clearly see the cracks on it.

With the HQ rendered useless, they all rallied to join the frontline. Halfway through, the moon turned blood red, and soon, the whole world was plunged in genjutsu.

It was just sad that the one who saved them from death had been the one who had met it.

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Neji was so sure he died but it seemed that he was wrong. The last thing he remembered before losing consciousness was telling Naruto his reason for shielding him and his cousin Hinata. He could still vividly remember Naruto desperately calling for a medic, and him telling him that it didn't matter. He was so sure he died but then he woke up back in Konoha wrapped in bandages and the war over.

Hinata relayed to him what happened after he lost consciousness. Zen had apparently put him in temporary stasis and quickly brought him to the med camp where a clone had operated on him with the assistance of Katsuyu (the slug summon). And then, shortly after he was removed from the battlefield, things went downhill. The previous Hokages arrived and attempted to subdue the Ten-Tailed Beast but Madara's imposter absorbed it and became a Jinchuuriki. Many more things had happened and Neji couldn't believe that it happened in only the span of a few hours. New Three-Way-Deadlock? Madara coming back to life? The world plunged in genjutsu? And winning before dawn? It was outrageously impossible to wrap your head around, but this is Team 7 they were talking about. Everything impossible is possible with them.

When he asked where Zen was so he could thank her, Hinata was close to tears and said that she was gone. After they were freed from the Infinite Tsukuyomi, the remaining members of Team 7 were frantically searching the battlefield. They said that she disappeared after sealing Madara. For weeks, teams would be sent out to look for her; even the other villages are helping in the search but in the end, her body wasn't found. They couldn't do anything but accept that she's gone.

Their friends had visited him shortly after, all of them expressing relief that he was recovering. It was obvious that they were genuinely worried about him, especially his teammates. He was quite surprised to see Gai-sensei in a wheelchair though.

After he was cleared off the hospital, he headed straight to the cemetery. Even though he knew that it was an empty grave, Neji still bowed in gratitude to the woman whose name was engraved in it. He owed her his life and promised not to waste it.