#neji's death

[okamirayne]

*a Wild Friend turns dramatically in your desk chair cradling a fluffy white cat (it's a plushy)*

Do you ever think about how Neji spent his whole life rebelling against fate and destiny to be able to carve his own path only for Kishimoto to kill him off doing exactly what his destiny was determined to be from birth and then retroactively make his whole life struggle meaningless by establishing that fate is actually a real thing in the world by having Naruto and Sasuke be literally the chosen ones destined to change the ninja world

*takes a sip of tea (it's apple juice)*

I think about this a lot cuz it feels like a real fart in my face, ya know

*takes another sip, the cup is somehow fuller than before (it's tears)*

Anyway, this is definitely not me trying to not immediately dive into OtC after bawling my eyes out over BtB nuh-uh, no way, no how...

Except it totally is and I'm losing that battle, goodbye

*the Wild Friend turns the chair again and disappears*

*a Wild Friend turns dramatically in your desk chair cradling a fluffy white cat (it's a plushy)*

Do you ever think about how Neji spent his whole life rebelling against fate and destiny to be able to carve his own path only for Kishimoto to kill him off doing exactly what his destiny was determined to be from birth and then retroactively make his whole life struggle meaningless by establishing that fate is actually a real thing in the world by having Naruto and Sasuke be literally the chosen ones destined to change the ninja world

......*reliving the event*....

.......*eyes begin to twitch*....

........ *defaults to the Dastardly Twins excellent method of deep-seated denial*

I think about this a lot cuz it feels like a real fart in my face, ya know

Oh yes. I know. I bloody know.

I bloody remember it...

*considers the ceiling with false calm* You know when you laugh for a minute because you're so deep in the ass-end of feeling emotionally gaslit and cheated that you're processing the crap that's unfolding at the speed of a virus-molested XP Windows laptop...you know the one, right? You've got about ten alerts going off but you're stuck like a frozen monitor...your screen is blank...I mean, you can smell smoke coming outta your vents...but you're not catching on....because the BASTARD BACKDOOR MALWARE plot device you're reading (or watching) is like some dirty little Trojan Horse worming its way through your mother-bloody-board and your CPU is like WTF, cannot COMPUTE...and you're still not too alarmed because system's aren't yet fully shutting down...I mean...

Oh ho! What's this?! Neji just got impaled? Neji's on the brink of shuffling off his mortal coil!? What tosh! What Bollocks! Oh so he's leaking vital fluids...so what? That's happened before! No need for alarm. Nothing to see here, kids. It is but a scratch! A flesh wound! Just a waft of smelly red herring Kishimoto has thrown in there to distract you from the fact that there's no WAY that Neji's freedom-seeking character arc is about to go up in flames...because...

....wait..............

...........

WHHHHYYY?

Argh...*self-soothes, violently*...Way to kick-up the feels, Wild Friend...I probably deserve it...fair play to you, fair play...

Well...it is at this point that we have no other choice...

And I am still honoured and touched that you revisit BtB and it's following instalments (bloody hell, you read fast btw) to help with the hurt...or maybe to masochistically pick at the scab...but I get it...Damn, I GET IT. I mean, I swore up and down I'd never go POST WAR....and then Heaven Hold Us made a dirty little liar outta me.

[why-are-you-still-awake]

Naruto boys react to your death

A/n: I’m feeling sad right now, because of Boruto Two Blue Vortex chapter 10. Iykyk.

Warning(s): Talk of death, grief, general angst. Did I miss anything? Characters: Naruto, Sasuke, Neji

Naruto Uzumaki

★ He found out after he got back from a mission in the land of waves, the atmosphere of the village was almost suffocating. When he heard what happened to you he felt like he couldn’t breathe, just like when Jiraiya died. ★

★ Naruto completely isolated himself from everyone, he could barely keep himself together. He didn’t feel like even his friends could help his grief. Everything felt so different without you around, his apartment was so quiet. ★

★ Everything remind him of you, he felt completely lost and alone, like nothing could quell the intense feelings he felt. He truly didn’t know what to do without you…★

Sasuke Uchiha

★ You had gone on a mission, you promised him you’d be back in a week tops but that didn’t happen, it and been a month by the time the news of your death got back to Konoha. At first, he wanted to deny it, you promised, you couldn’t be dead? Right…..? ★

★ Once the reality of the situation hit, he realized his worst fear as come true. The only person he truly loved and had left was gone and he was alone….again. Unlike Naruto his grief was hidden under the surface and he kept his stoic demeanor until one day he just cracked and broke down. He felt the same way he did when his family was murdered…★

★ There was a lot of guilt associated with your passing, he started to overthink everything about what went wrong, maybe you would’ve still been here if he had gone instead or even accompanied you. He went through every possible scenario and the guilt was eating him from the inside out. He wished he could’ve been there….. ★

Neji Hyuga

★ It was supposed to be him…not you. During the war when he stepped in front of the ten tails spears he braced himself to die and he accepted it, but when the feeling never came he turned and saw your back to him, you sacrificed yourself for him…. ★

★ Neji didn’t understand, why did this happen? It wasn’t supposed to happen this way! He watch as you collapsed to the ground, he was almost in disbelief with what happened. When he broke out of tunnel vision he ran over to you only to see you were already gone. ★

★ When ninja medics finally arrived, he didn’t want to let go of your body, his generally cool and stoic nature had been shattered and all he could do was whisper how much he loved you to your body. ★

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thank you for reading, I truly do appreciate it <3

Do not repost

[badly-drawn-pigeon]

My favorite moment in Naruto is when Obito is indulging in his dramatic monologue about finality and irreversibility of death while standing next to a literal zombie

[fairyluffy]

All this time I’ve been called a genius, so I cannot lose.

[lizajane2]

Oh, do I have time today. I have been in the Naruto fandom for a long time, and I've never seen Rin get hate until today. What the fuck do you mean it's her fault that Naruto was deprived of his parents?! She was just a kid!! Who had been kidnapped and Isobu was sealed inside of her, which was programmed to attack Konoha. That wasn't her choice, she didn't ask for that to happen to her.

Rin committed suicide to protect the village, and because Kakashi refused to kill her. What we're not gonna do is villainize her for future events that Obito caused. Sure that was his reasoning, but she is NOT responsible for what Obito did to Minato and Kushina. That's all on him, their blood is on his hands. But if we're gonna be pointing fingers, the one to blame for the cause of it all is Madara.

I don't wanna hear or read about Rin being responsible for depriving Naruto of a happy childhood when her own life ended at eleven. She was a child too.

[mugiwara-lucy]

Good morning everyone! ☀️

Just your daily reminder that Neji Hyuga DESERVED BETTER!! 😤

[animeomegas]

You saying that Neji is one of the most requested characters actually reminded me of an angst plot line I thought about a couple weeks ago.

I don’t usually think about Neji dying (because he shouldn’t have but that’s besides the point) but it does have really good angst potential.

I imagine an alpha who’s a bright person, kinda like Naruto but to a lesser degree and they have a huge crush on Neji. I’m talking ginormous crush on him. They meet Neji when they both enter the academy because they’re also a shinobi but they don’t interact with him very often because he’s Neji.

During the Chunin exams when Neji reveals what the Hyuga clan has done to him they make it their mission to help Neji get out of the clan. They go to see Neji after his match (they lost in the previous matches) to make sure he’s alright and then they promise to help him be free from his clan. Neji being Neji denies the alpha at first because he’s stubborn and doesn’t want the help but as they get older he can’t help but think about the promise the alpha made to him.

During the war the alpha almost dies and when Neji comes to check up in them they tell him that they refuse to die so easily because they made a promise to him and they intend to keep it for when the war is over. I like to think it would reflect when the alpha first made the promise to him with the alpha being hurt instead. Neji is the tiniest bit less stubborn and while he doesn’t directly accept the alpha’s words it’s clear by his body language that he is more accepting to the alpha now that he’s older. Then he dies :D

The alpha basically falls apart when he does. They feel like a failure, like an awful alpha, their chest hurts so much they feel like they’re dying. They don’t understand why it had to be Neji (I’d change his death to an accidental one honestly because his canon one is bad) he just wanted to be free and live how he wanted but instead his life got cut short at 18 with him still being a prisoner.

When the war ends the alpha can barely do anything. They can’t eat, can’t go anywhere, can’t get out of bed and can barely sleep because they see Neji is their dreams. In said dreams Neji often blames the poor alpha for not protecting him like they promised they would. Their friends come to see them to comfort them but it doesn’t work because they can’t bring Neji back to life. Their friends are super worried about them because it’s been almost 4 months and the alpha hasn’t had any improvement and just keeps drowning further and further into their grief.

I had 3 ideas for the ending 1 angst, 1 bittersweet, and 1 hopeful. One was that the alpha dies from the heartbreak of losing Neji. They weren’t mated but they loved Neji so much that they just couldn’t take it.

The second one is that the alpha decides to just give up and waste away. They’re friends stop them and get the alpha help but they will never be the same. Yes they have their friends with them but they don’t have Neji. They appreciate their friends but they just wanted to be with Neji again. The alpha keeps living as a husk of what they were before but at least they have their loved ones to help them.

The last one is that the alpha decides to live for Neji. To help make the change Neji wanted in the Hyuga clan. When Hinata becomes head they help her fight for the side branch members to be treated equally to main branch members and they adopt a child from the Hyuga clan. They don’t mate or court anyone else but they are content with their child and other loved ones.

Also Hinata treats them like family because I love found family and she knows how much the alpha loves Neji. She also is their biggest supporter both while they are grieving and after because I said so.

I swear this is the biggest idea I’ve had in a while. My brain has been legit empty ever since. Neji both fills my brain with many thoughts and empties it all the same. I wanted to make this into a story but seasonal depression hit hard so :\

This broke my heart in the best way, anon, thank you so much, but also how dare you 🤧 No thoughts, only Neji. Seasonal depression is rough, and I hope you're doing okay. If you do ever write this though, please tag me, I would love to read it, even if it would probably make me cry :(((

I adore the idea of the alpha dedicating their life to living in a way that honours Neji. They help fix the Hyuuga clan with Hinata, they adopt a Hyuuga orphan, they look after his old team and make sure all his friends are doing well. It's bittersweet, but 🥺

[p2ii]

'we need more stories with complex and nunaced themes and world building that doesn't exist in black and white/where no one is uniquely good or bad' y'all can't even handle the freedom fighter trope when they use 2% violence in their own liberation

[gainahan]

one of the most irritating aspects of neji’s death was that it was boring.

the emotional impact came from the fact that he died, and nothing else. not the characters’ reactions (which were lukewarm at best), not the emotions building up to it (it kinda came out of nowhere), not the aftermath or the depiction of grief (which were generic side notes). it’s like if you AI generated a death scene.

idk how to articulate this but ugh. it’s just such wasted potential

obviously id prefer if he didn’t die. but killing off a character is fine as long as its good and impactful storytelling. even independent of how ass of a conclusion to his arc it was, Neji’s death was just not that.

[everyneji]

[alumort]

Sad

[alybur635]

I remember seeing someone say that Neji isn't a caring person. I feel like people only say that because he's a stoic character. Or they are thinking of Genin Neji. That one episode where Hinata goes blind from training hard with him and straining her eyes in the process; he acts like he doesn't care when confronted by Naruto and Sakura. But later in the episode, we see him luring away a cat so she doesn't trip. Silently handing her a cup and pitcher so she can drink and just sitting in silence with her the whole time. And is later outside leaning against the wall as she's heading back towards her room.

Then we see Naruto and Sakura are heading over to visit, and instead they eavesdrop over Neji and the doctor's conversation. Whether it's dub or sub, I like how you can feel the tone and emotion in Neji's voice on how he wants Hinata's eyes to be better by the weekend so she can see the fireworks display. He sounds emotional even while remaining stoic. When the doctor leaves and the tone of his voice is still the same and he grits his teeth, I love details like that. So he ends up resorting to leave the village to find the eye bright for her eyes, and isn't it illegal to just randomly leave the village like that?

The fact that he was about to do something illegal just for her eyes says a lot about him. Neji seems like the type that would pretty much do anything for a loved one/someone he cares about. And even in the end he wasn't successful; he was staying by her side silently as she listened to the fireworks going off. Like, idk, that sounds pretty caring to me, lol. I know it's technically just a filler episode, but I like doing deep dives on his character analysis, etc. He still has that soft side of himself that he buried deep down and kept up walls up from people and not opening up. He's just a softie at the end of the day.

You get it so so much anon.... bless you get it

Neji is a caring character, he CARES!!!! He cares about his friends and loved ones sm,,,,

But, I will honestly say if I had to place a bet for gets people into thinking he isn't caring or just this really cold character is... probably how he was when he's first introduced. But really, Neji was like that not entirely without a reason (y'know... dead father and clan trauma) he was really just this traumatized, angry teen that was lashing out and keeping people a good emotional distance away from him. Keeping his walls up from people, y'know (I would also like to say it was even done to keep himself from getting attached to others in an underlying fear of either losing or having said people get taken away from him like what happened with his father). But also as we saw with the aftermath of his fight with Naruto, we saw him slowly start emotionally opening up to his peers. He visibly wasn't as bitter or offputting as he was when first introduced and he was changing!

I will say a big fat YES to all that you said anon, really does prove that Neji does indeed care about people and does try to amend mistakes he makes. The think about him, that I think this does also prove, is that Neji isn't the type to just outright verbally apologize or say "I do care", to him, I can see words are almost meaningless without some degree of action put into them. He cares, but he's going to demonstrate such with ACTION over just relying on words to prove it. He does a handful of times actually, and this scene was one of those times. (Also I love that scene bc it really shows the development Neji started undergoing as a character,,,)

[orcelito]

I've been working on Finally finishing Naruto Shippuden (after being a Naruto fan for nearly 15 years), & I just finished episode 420. And I have some THOUGHTS about the "Naruto is the reincarnation of Ashura" thing. This started as just me rambling for my normal liveblog posting, but I had a LOT of thoughts about this actually, so I am presenting them to u all Now.

So. Naruto meeting the Sage of Six Paths! Cool!!! I'm finally learning about Naruto being the reincarnation of Ashura, which... honestly is not a choice that I like very much. Narratively speaking, I mean. The Point of Naruto's journey was that he was the underdog, the bottom of his class, the orphan that everyone hated and made fun of. Through hard work and perseverance, he managed to drag himself from being a complete social outcast to someone generally really loved and respected. That's compelling!!! It means a lot!!!

But then the show is like. "Oh...actually, he's the son of the fourth hokage. And Also, he's the reincarnation of the son of the literal creator of ninshuu aka the precursor of modern ninjutsu." I mind him being Minato's son less as a narrative choice (for reasons I will get into shortly), but making him Ashura's reincarnation?? I've got Several things that bug me about that.

So First, for him being Minato's son. It's not like that's ever Actually given him any sort of status (since most people don't know), & Minato was also kind of just a random guy?? Just incredibly skilled, enough so to become the 4th hokage. And then there's also Kushina, descended from a very successful and very Feared clan that ended up almost entirely killed bc of that fear. Naruto being an Uzumaki means great power, huge chakra reserves (not even including the extra chakra he gets from Kurama), & some innate skills (that Naruto mostly didn't inherit, but one can play pretend sometimes). BUT ALSO, they were almost entirely killed off. He's a survivor of his clan's genocide that happened well before he was even born, and he doesn't even REALIZE it yet. So even though being Minato's son means he's the son of a very influential person, it doesn't give him the same leverage as being a Senju or Uchiha would. And the clan he Does belong to bc of Kushina does not give him status either, bc they're almost all fuckin Dead. And we know that Minato is a Namikaze, but as for what that actually *means*.... it's basically nonexistent. There is no mention of a Namikaze clan. Minato was just a prodigy in his own right.

SO.... All that is to say that while appending Naruto's orphan story with a "well, Actually, his parents were very powerful and well respected" does discount it a little bit, it's still not Especially unique in terms of what other people in their world may experience (there are other descendants of current and/or former kage + Many other powerful clans running around) OR in the benefits that it gives him (essentially nothing, outside of his physical strength and the inheritance of Kurama himself)(which inheriting Kurama did grant him access to IMMENSE power, but it also was the source of So Much of his suffering growing up, so I think it balances out).

The "reincarnation of Ashura, son of the Sage of Six Paths" thing tho... that one really kinda does. At that point, Naruto is no longer just the orphaned son of two respected shinobi & the current jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi (something special, but not entirely original, given that there are Other jinchuuriki who are descendants of powerful shinobi). He is now something that NO ONE ELSE ALIVE can be. It is saying that He, above Everyone Else, is special in this way. Outside of Sasuke lol, but I'll touch on that in a moment.

It just feels kinda cheap. It's cool I guess, but at this point it feels like we've completely lost the Plucky Orphan who works hard to overcome his circumstances plot. It's saying that he was Always one of a kind, he was Always destined to become Someone Special (or that he was, in fact, special the whole time). It removes the importance of his hard work in the equation. It makes it so that this is no longer something he earned for himself, but rather something that was a Given, since he is, of course, Ashura's reincarnation.

Cheap. It's cheap. And I don't like it.

Then we get into Sasuke being the reincarnation of Indra. Which I haven't gotten to that yet in the show, but I know from seeing it around. I do enjoy the sun and moon aesthetic between Naruto and Sasuke (so SO much, in fact), but. Making Sasuke the reincarnation of the Other son of the Sage of Six Paths is... frustrating? In several ways. There is of course the fact that Naruto and Sasuke have such extremely gay vibes (and Always Have), so making them the reincarnations of brothers so late in the story feels like an insult to anyone who reads their relationship in that way. Which to be fair, we do see Naruto mention at a few points that he thinks of Sasuke like a brother, but it's only a few points + feels like a kind of narrative cop-out. Sasuke himself said he doesn't think of Naruto in that way (though that could also be his self-denial speaking & it could change. Haven't gotten that far yet.), & I think there are much better choices for Naruto's "brother" figure (primarily Iruka, but people like Killer Bee and any of the other konoha 12 would be fitting too). Personally, it feels like Naruto was trying to put a name to his very strong feelings for Sasuke, & since he doesn't realize being gay is an option (since Kishimoto is clearly homophobic & made this ninja society to reflect that), he settled on Brother. But Sasuke is like "what the fuck? No, my only brother is Itachi." Instead, Sasuke has called Naruto his best friend. Which also doesn't fully encompass their relationship, but it's still closer than Brother.

So here we are, Kishimoto saying around 555 episodes into the plot (only 80 more to go) that they're actually the reincarnations of brothers. And not just any brothers. THE sons of the Sage of Six Paths. Incredibly influential, incredibly powerful, two sides of the same coin and very historically significant figures. Sasuke always had the "descended from an elite, yet disgraced clan" thing going for him, so in my opinion it doesn't hold the same kind of insult to his story that it does for Naruto. But it still feels like an insult to THEIR story.

Naruto and Sasuke were just two orphan boys. Their moms were best friends, but they didn't know that. They died when they were too young. But Naruto and Sasuke still gravitated towards one another. Understood each other like no one else. And got on each other's nerves like no one else. But that irritation stemmed from their genuine admiration of each other. They wanted to be able to beat each other. They became Rivals. And it was on their own terms. No one else pushed them together. Outside of them ending up on the same team, their entire relationship was fueled by their recognition of one another, Jealousy of one another, and the simple enjoyment of being around one another. They were the ones to decide the importance of their relationship. Sasuke recognizing Naruto as his closest friend & thus thinking he was the one he had to cut off to achieve power, and Naruto recognizing Sasuke as his first peer that acknowledged him, a precious bond he finally made, and thus someone he had to cling to FIERCELY. That was all them.

But here we are. They're a reincarnated set. The sun and the moon, but Officially. One could say soulmates in a way, in a non-romantic kind of context (considering the first iteration was a pair of brothers). While this is cool from a story standpoint, it really takes some significance away from their relationship to me. It makes it less of something they chose for themselves and more of a given. Pretty much just like Naruto being Ashura's reincarnation cheapens his own story, it cheapens their relationship too.

I dont want a story about two boys who were destined to be important to each other!!!! I want a story about two orphans who just happened to become important to one another thru a series of coincidences and personal choices. In that way, their relationship gains greater gravity bc it's born from their own hearts Alone. It's Naruto moving mountains for the sake of this boy he loves, and it's Sasuke finally coming back around bc of the force of Naruto's dedication. It means so much more than the implication that they were always meant to be a pair. So I really don't like this narrative choice.

[orviposition]

lee sookyung/persephone/hades has such untapped potential it's funny– mother would prob (unintentionally) sweep them off their feet XD but at the same time i think even singnshong would feel bad ripping away hades after lsk finally had a chance to a loving relationship (its ok persephone still here 😔) not that singnshong prob felt all that bad for kdj and hades but thatsnot the point lol

it really still feels so unreal that hades is dead like?? not the father who stepped up orz

personally i think persephone and hades just like w kdj would know of ways to heal lsk from her trauma although it wouldnt be an easy journey.

the hilarity of lsk and persephone being at odds over who kdj can date or not (cuz lsk is a yjh anti after all) and poor hades stuck on who to support so he just hopes he can retreat without being noticed (he does get noticed). kdj is not part of the decision making crew even if his future is on the line btw

[theshadowrealmitself]

It kinda annoys me how Naruto had that whole speech about defying fate during his fight with Neji in the chunin exams, but then later on it was “prophecy this” and “toad’s dream that”

I think it would’ve been cooler if they had leaned way more into Senju’s/Uzumaki’s being at odds with the Uchiha (Hashirama and Madara being friends plus Kushina and Mikoto being friends was phenomenal, but it weakened the whole “natural enemies” and “cycle of fighting” for me) and if all the prophecies including Naruto were supposed to end in a tragedy

Like if it was actually fated that Sasuke was going to kill Naruto

But then it didn’t happen, even with a situation in this au of Hashirama and Madara being right there and trying to force the two of them to fight, both of them said no and made their own path

[naruto-general-opinions]