Summary: Interconnected drabbles done for the livejournal community 16candles_fics. ItaNeji. Rating, categories subject to changes and additions.
Categories: Alternate Universe & Crossovers > Minor AU Characters: None
Genres: None
Warnings: None
Challenges: None
Series: None
Chapters: 16 Completed: Yes
Word count: 4203 Read: 23996
Published: 06/12/06 Updated: 14/12/06
Sealed With Wax by NayanRoo
Author's Notes:
This will end up being a series of stand-alone drabbles that tie in to one big story. The themes, and other pairings using them, can be found on the livejournal community 16candles_fics. It's interesting that the community is exclusively for rare/not main pairings.
Disclaimer: Naruto is property of Kishimoto Masashi, Shueisha, and Studio Pierrot in Japan, and translated by VIZ Media and ShoPro Entertainment into English. No copyright infringement intended, these characters are not used to generate money, nor are they used with permission.
It was all his worldly fate in one scroll, sealed with white wax. He could see the Main House’s insignia embossed in it and shuddered. Itachi held it out to him.
“It’s addressed to you, Neji-san,” he said. His voice, as always, was level.
“I can’t—“
“You must.”
“…Itachi-san?”
“…open the scroll, Neji.”
Fingers trembling, he broke the seal and unrolled it. It was in his uncle’s writing, and he could imagine the anger the head of the clan must have felt because the strokes were bold and dark.
:It is the most regretful decision of the Elders of the Hyuuga Clan that the Branch House member, Hyuuga Neji, must be cast out. His crimes are thus:
--Association with an enemy of Konoha
--Association with one the Hyuuga clan has deemed dangerous
--Fraternization with a missing-nin
--Harsh words and slander against the Main House
--conduct unbecoming of a member of the clan and a shinobi of the Village Hidden in the Leaves
You are therefore stripped of your clanhood. As per the request of the Fifth Hokage, Tsunade-sama, you are also stripped of your rank and your name has been taken off the roster of Konoha nin. From this day henceforth you will be marked as a missing-nin, and ANBU will have permission to kill you on sight should you be hostile to them.
By Order of Hyuuga Hiashi
Written on the Third Day of the Twelfth Month:
Stunned, Neji let the scroll fall from numbed fingers. “I’m an outcast,” he whispered. Itachi watched as he reached behind his head, nimble fingers working the knot of his hitae-ate. Once undone, he turned it so the metal plate was facing him, tracing the symbol. “I…have been a Konoha nin all my life. I was born to be one. I thought I would die one.”
“Circumstances change,” Itachi said. Silence hung between them, still as a candle’s flame on a windless night. Slowly, Neji drew out a kunai and cradled the headband in his palm. With a single motion, he slashed the gleaming metal, then tied the defaced symbol back around his head.
His fate, sealed thus, was like a flame transferred from one candle to the next.
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters and settings are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended.