Honoring Those We've Lost (Funeral Topic/Open)

It had been a mere day since Queen had arrived back to the village of Konoha from not only Sunagakure, but her rather odd mission with Ita where they encountered a large turtle within a lake south of the village.  It was something that she almost couldn’t wait to tell Jace. She had rarely seen the boy ever since they both headed to Suna for the Jonin exams, only being with him momentarily on their wait towards the desert before they got attacked by a group of ninja bears. She saw him once when they trained with each other before the group stage, and watched his fight. Since then, she hadn’t seen the boy at all. She only knew that he had been promoted just like she had, and that meant celebrations were in order.

The girl left her place wearing a nice white blouse and some black jeans and headed straight for Jace’s home. She tried to control her emotions, y’kno since she wasn’t really one to express them, but on the inside, she couldn’t wait to see the boy. He always had a way of making her feel happy, and that was something that no one else could do. On her way to the Uchiha district, she picked up a single pink rose from the Yamanaka flower shop, and tidied her appearance up in a puddle that she found along a alleyway. She had to make sure she looked good after all. Taking a last minute breath, the girl knocked on the Uchiha door. Her stomach was filled with butterflies. It had been so long that she got to spend quality time with the boy that didn’t involve ninja training, and maybe she could finally make herself vulnerable and confess her feelings to Jace? It was something that she never thought she would do, but with him, anything seemed possible.

The door opened up, and she was greeted by Jace’s mother. Her face seemed stuffy, her eyes swollen as if she had spent the day crying. The blonde Jonin was confused at first. Her first instinct was to comfort the person who could one day be her mother in law but it seemed the sight of the Hyuuga only sent the woman into another crying spree. The older lady bursted into tears once more, unable to control herself before embracing the young’un in an embrace. Rei didn’t know what exactly was wrong, and she wasn’t the nicest person per say, but her first instinct was to return the hug.  It took a few minute for Jace’s mom to let it all out before she invited Queen in. At this point, the Hyuuga was beyond confused. The worst part of her subconscious took her to the worst conclusion, but it couldn’t be. She wouldn’t let herself think that it was a possible outcome.

Queen finally found her way inside, sitting down on the living room sofa where Jace’s mother sat on the opposite side alongside his father. There was a moment of silence where Queen tried to find the eyes of the too elders, but they refused to make eye contact with her. Finally, the blonde spoke up. “What’s wrong?” She asked, her two hand grasping the flower she bought in-between her legs, spinning it nervously. The father reached to grab Jace’s mother’s hands and squeezed tightly as he began to speak. “Jace was sent out on a mission straight from the Jonin Exams to apprehend a tailed beast that was roaming around alongside Konoha’s Kasuga Ametsuchi...” He stopped for a second, his voice already shaky as if he tried to hold back tears. A few had already left his wife’s eyes. “We were informed yesterday that... the two didn’t make it.”

 Queen heard the words that left his mouth, but they didn’t seem to process. She just stared at him wide eyed before staring away. “What do you mean?” Was the only thing she could bring herself to say, not wanting to jump to any conclusions. She regretted saying those words as she was practically forcing his parents to say that he was gone. She saw Jace’s father’s lips moving, but she heard no words. Everything around her went dead silent, as if she had suddenly lost her hearing. There was a ringing in her ears as her eyes went cold and empty. Jace’s father tried his best to hold back tears while his mother was beyond that point. It took a while, but she was brought back to the sound of the male voice calling her name. “Rei... Rei... Rei, I know this is hard” It was faded at first, but the last bit came out crystal clear.

The blonde didn’t believe it, but she knew it was true. Her delicate hands placed the single rose she had brought on the coffee table in front of her before making her way towards the door. She didn’t look back to the mourning family, she just left. Hopefully, they would understand that she was just processing.

Queen sped walked through the village, passing by happy villagers on this bright and sunny day; exce[t it wasn’t so sunny in her eyes. Her pace quickened as she tried to find anywhere she could to just scream, to vent. Before she knew it, she found herself away from the happiness, and in the middle of the forest outside the village gates. She couldn’t control herself and quickly fell to her knees once she realized she was completely alone. One hand covered her mouth, trying to hold back to sounds of agony that wanted to escape. A build up of tears forms on the edge of her eyes, nothing to stop them from flooring as one, then two, then many droplets fell to the rough dirt under her. She couldn’t help it, she was now crying, holding herself tight as the pain that she felt in her chest was nothing but unbearable. It was like no other pain that she felt. It’s as if the world had ripped out her very being and left her empty and exposed to the world’s abuse....

“Erm...H-hi. I’m uh.. My name is Jace. You did pretty good out there.” Queen had heard that shy voice, coming what was from possibly just another admirer. She sort of got sick of all these people wanting her autograph. She was just here to compete, and to show everyone that she was on top. Not to become famous. “Jace was it?” She asked the boy, signing a sheet of paper and giving it to the boy to hopefully make the boy leave. He hadn’t seem pleased wit the gesture, but it did get rid of him... or so the blonde though. The girl had taken her eyes off the stadium for one moment only to be surprised to see the boy up there once more, and according to the announcer, he was her next opponent. Her sacred ground had been corrupted by a ninja. Her one place where she felt like she wasn’t being judge for her lack of using jutsu. Queen stepped up into the ring, stretching out her arms quickly as she asked the boy if he was familiar with the rules; to which he replied that he did with a wink. A flush of red appeared on the girl’s cheeks. Never did she think the little twerp would become her best friend.

The memory of when they first met filled her thoughts. Each moment that passed in her brain was a stab to the heart as she was constantly reminded that the boy was gone, and he would never be back. Queen finally let the sorrow she kept within go, as she screamed at the world until her voice was gone, her hands balled in fists as she through punched into the dirt below until her knuckles bled; and at the point, she’d sit in silence.

                                    4 Days Later

Queen sat at the little table in the corner of her room, staring at her own reflection. Her face had no makeup, it didn’t need it since she had a natural beauty to her... and well, she didn’t feel the need to put any one for a funeral. She wore a simple black sleeved dress that went down to her shin and black flats. She wasn’t a fan of heels unless it was something business related. Her hair fell down perfectly straight behind her back, tucked behind her ears. Looking at herself in the mirror, she saw nothing. It was just pure emptiness. Ever since she heard of Jace’s death, not even training appealed to her. The one person she trusted, that she cared for, that she loved, was gone. While she still had her purpose in life, that little bit of happiness that she carried had died alongside her best friend.

Queen made a last minute decision to put on one piece of makeup. It was an ebony lipstick, painting her lips as black as death itself. With that, she left her room, and towards the funeral ceremony. She was one of the first to arrive, but she was paying for the service after all and wanted to make sure everything went according to plan. Jace didn’t get live the life he had hoped for, but he would at least get the best funeral the blonde could possibly provide. She made the arrangements with his parents a day after she had heard the news. Kasuga’s also taking place at this time. Most of the arrangements were ready, and people would now soon be coming.

bumping for anyone who may want to post in here before I make it a solo

Salzem began making his way to the graveyard, the place where everyone ended up in the end. Two very important people had died today... Kasuga, and Jace... After so many people of his had died, friends, family, or just people he had spent a day with, one would think the pain would lessen but no, such a thing was merely a fantasy. He wore a black Kimono, traditional, of course, with the classic ninja sandals and his mask removed from his face for once in respect. He hated when this happened and he hated the ceremonies that came with it. They all seemed to drag on the death of these people, reminding them for the minutes-on-end it takes place that someone you know and love is dead. He didn't hate that he was going, however, because he figured that's what they would have wanted and he had to respect that.

Salzem was getting ready for work this morning when the news came, a day or two before the funeral. He was ready for another day on-the-grind when a letter slipped under his door, an envelope immediately different than the ones he normally received. For the next day, he spent his time grieving in his own way, specifically letting out all the rage and despair in form of smashing training-dummies to splinters, often the same happening to his fingers. He trained hard, the pain of exertion and self-damage helped numb the additional hole that was short through his riddled-piece-of-flesh that was his heart.  It was easy to ignore one pain when being inflicted with a new one. The lycan was done punishing himself internally and now took it out on the external, managing to break the majority of his fingers and both his wrists as well as regenerate them several times in the span of 24 hours.

He was among the first to arrive, the other being Queen and she looked... Hollow. He never knew the relationship she shared with Jace, especially it's romantic side and he began to wonder what kind of friendship the two shared... Sal and Jace weren't the closest of friends by any stretch, but he respected the man... Thought of him as a comrade... It seemed that everyone Sal cared about seemed to drop dead one after another and this was just his curse coming back to haunt him... Today, the lycan didn't feel like crying or that his temper was shortened by the heat of his rage. No, it was stretched to a dangerous point by an ominous apathy that lingered ever since he learned about Kasai. It hadn't gained enough strength to come to the forefront yet and corrupt him... but it was well on it's way thanks to this thing. His heart had gone numb since he arrived, passing ghosts of loss slipping around it as they would a ruined town.

He had nothing to say that he hadn't already said for someone else, except for maybe Kasuga, the man that let a traitor come home. He simply stood there, waiting to see if someone else would join the crowd of grieving people.

Queen stood silent at the foot of the closed casket. While they had hoped to have an open casket, the body had been burnt beyond repair. There was no recovering the body. The blonde simply stood ad the red wooden box as more people began to show up. From what she saw off her peripheral vision, many were those she did not recognize, probably just family from the Uchiha clan or other friends of Jace’s. The girl eye’s eyes finally flickered up as most of the people had arrived. She caught the glimpse of Salzem on the opposite end wearing a black kimono, his face grim like all those around him.  The girl was unsure if he had known Jace, maybe he was here for Kasuga? Either way, she appreciated the boy showing up nonetheless.

A man stood forth who was none other than Jace’s father. Her began by thanking everyone for showing up before giving some words about his son. As he spoke, Jace’s mother couldn’t hold back her tears, her eyes already red for days of weeping. The site brought a sting to the girl’s lilac eyes ad she tried to fight back tears of her own. She flicked her glance towards the ground in an attempt to recompose herself. Before she had a good hold of her emotions, she heard her name get called out by the man who had been speaking.

“Queen. Please come say a few words.”  She instantly loathed the man for putting her on the spot, but quickly forgave him considering the circumstances. She’d rather mourn in silence, but now she had no choice to say a few words in Jace’s honour. Then again, what kind of lover would she be if she didn’t. She loved Jace, she did. Though, being here and speaking about how he was gone just made it all the more real; all the more permanent.

The blonde jonin looked around ,observing the faces of those in attendance before she realized she didn’t see as many familiar faces as she had hoped. It brought a deep anger to know those Jace had considered friends hadn’t bothered to show up to this event. It was something that she would address later though as this was Jace’s final moment.

“I still remember the day I met Jace vividly.” Queen started off. “He approached me asking me to join his team... I was hesitant at first, but who could resist that smile.” The girl could feel her eyes burning, still trying to fight off the tears. Though her lips perked up in a smile as she recalled the memory. “After that, we were inseparable. We did missions together, trained together, even challenged the Hokage together. He was my true partner in crime.” She took a moment an paused as she realized her voice began to get shaky. The girl continued with a little bit more composure. “ He was kind, smart -- you could always find him with a book in his hand. He brought out the best in me as I am sure he did with other people... He had a dream of becoming Anbu... He will never be able to achieve that dream now....”  The girl stopped once more, placing a single hand on the casket. “ I will miss you Jace... and I will love you, always.”

 As she said those words is when she started chocking up. The memories surfacing in her mind as she realized she will never be able to create new ones with the boy again. The girl excused herself for a moment, leaving the crowd of people to find a place of solitude behind a tree. She placed a hand over her mother as she tried to weep is silence, but the pain that she felt was far too strong to conceal. She always had this fear of letting herself grow too attach to someone. That loving someone would bring her pain, and she was right. Now, she dealt with the consequences.

The funeral was one of closed casket and somehow, that made it all worse. The body, Salzem had heard, had been burnt beyond even a shadow of recognition, a shattered husk of papery black flesh and brittle bones that had once been a cheerful, mature leader of men. It was worse because he couldn't even gaze upon his face to solidify it in his mind. All he had now was his memories and they would perhaps be forever stained there... another one in the scrap-book of loss.

A man, Jace's father, thanked them all for coming, speaking of his son while his wife wept behind him. Salzem shook his head, his eyes downcast, feeling the tingling burn of tears rush to his eyes, blocked only by his determination to be strong for his friend.... something he had failed to do on all previous occasions. He had figured (if selfishly) that since he didn't know the uchiha well, it would be easier to cope with, a similar feeling as finding out a lunch acquaintance of yours ended up dying somehow... It would hurt, maybe even sting violently for a few hours but a day and a half later, you might get over it. He HOPED it would be that easy but this pain... it was all too familiar... And he could see in Queen's eyes as his own flicked up to check on her... that she was feeling all that and a bag of chips.

The lycan raised his head and watched as the hyuuga was called up to the stand, feeling his heart resonate with hers as she began to speak about the guy she apparently loved so very dearly... She recounted her earliest memories with him and how they grew to be partners "in crime". Salzem had to cover his face with his hand to keep himself from breaking down as the girl gave her parting words, ones he would've liked to say to 3... no... 4 of his dead friends... Ones he could never find until now. After he was certain he had gained control of himself (to the point he wouldn't start sobbing), he put his hand down, watching as Queen slipped off the stage, disappearing behind a tree, excusing herself... Despite knowing how much she wanted to be alone right now... and even though he knew he and her had a history, he wasn't just going to leave her alone... not after losing someone like that.

He could only imagine how hard he'd fall if news got back to him that Kira was gone... dead... He'd die inside, perhaps not even have the resources to cry... A selfish fantasy...

He soon broke away from the crowd too, someone else taking their turn at the stand while Sal walked up behind the poor sobbing Queen. He reached out a hand, at first intent on placing it on her shoulder, hesitating, before pulling it back, only watching her sadly, quietly.

"....I'm sorry..." He said after a few long moments of quiet, working up the will to do something.... anything... "I... I know what it's like to lose someone... I'm so sorry..."

Deep low sobs left Queen’s mouth, unable to hold back the pain that she felt within. No amount of ninja training could prepare her for this pain. She could endure the worst physical pain one can dish out at her, but nothing would beat the emotional pain that came with losing your soul mate. It was a good thing she didn’t put on makeup, or it would all be washing off on her face right now, and she’d look even worse than she already did. The memories she had with the boy kept flashing behind her eyelids as she didn’t know what her place was in the world anymore. Sure, her goal was still to be the top Taijutsu fighter there was, but none of that seemed to matter. She had stayed off her path, and she didn’t know how she’d get back on it.

The voice behind her startled her. The voice sounded familiar, belonging to none other than the Lycan she had considered a commendable ally, and somewhat of a rival. The two had gotten of on a rather bad foot, but there was a certain level of respect between the two of them. Queen began to wonder how long the boy had been standing there, watching her as she bawled her eyes out in her moment of weakness. If there was anything worse than this moment, it was how weak she felt being swept away by her own emotions. She could only picture the boy would use this as further ammunition against her, but obviously she didn’t know the boy very well to know he would never do such a thing.

Rei took a minute to wipe her wet teared face. When she was certain she had gotten most of it, she turned around. She didn’t have the mental strength to put up a ‘strong’ facade after the continuous days she had spent mourning. Upon seeing the boy’s pale face, the look of melancholy that was within his eyes convinced the Hyuuga that his words were sincere.  He knew her pain, and in that she found comfort. “Thank you.” She replied, accepting his condolences; her lilac gaze flickering into the distance since she was unable to stand looking at the boy any longer. “It’s weird.” She began speaking once more, Her voice sounded empty, the sound drifting into the wind. “ I know that he’s gone, but I almost expect him to jump out and say it was all just a foul joke...” Saying that he was gone out loud made her choke on her own words.

“Can I ask you something...” Queen began, feeling as though she could confide in the tall male. Within the silence, the funeral could still be heard in the background. Speeches and weeps still going on. If Sal agreed to answer her question, she would continue. “When you first lost someone... How did you cope? Were you ever able to just continue living life knowing they no longer existed?” The words brought tears to build up in her eyes, but she remained strong enough so that none of them fell. She looked forward to his response, hoping to find some strength in his words.

He nodded, his gloomy expression unchanging as she thanked him. He looked out into the distance with his rival stepping up beside her as if to get a better look at the passing soul of a brave guy.... Someone who could've been his friend and had been Queen's partner. She commented that despite knowing he was gone, she expected Jace to jump around a corner and laugh, stating how it was all some bad joke. What he would've gave for that to be true... Even a soul-crushing, teeth-gnashing anger was better than the knowledge of knowing that the person you held most dear was gone forever. It was why Sal remained so angry into his missing-ninja career... It felt so much better than the rugged path of acceptance.


"I wish..." He whispered, feeling his eyes burn up again. After a few moments of silence, just watching the trees wave their farewells, Queen asked a question Sal had chose to bury, a corpse he had neglected to dig up since the start of his curse. She asked him how he coped the first time he lost someone... Merely bringing up the question made him flinch, the shame and ghastly memories slapping him across the face harder than he'd ever felt. By far, this was the hardest of Salzem's secrets to dig up, half because he nearly forgot where he buried it, the other half because he had suppressed the memory of what was inside... Losing the one you love... the first time, as disgusting as it was to say so... it was so much more meaningful than all the others.

"When my best friend was murdered... r-right in front of me..." He spoke slowly, his voice quaking the tiniest bit. "I wanted to die." He stared into Queen's eyes, proving that what he had said was no exaggeration. His Expression was grave, as serious as this funeral and all seemed to fall silent as the lycan told his story. "When Isshin died... I didn't want to live anymore... He was my first friend... the first one I really cared about... I saw him as my brother. When he died... I just... my restraint... my cares... they all... disappeared... I convinced myself that nothing mattered... I convinced myself that revenge was what I needed and I threw everything else away..." Salzem raised a hand to his face, struggling to contain his tears as if his palm were a plug... A few managed to squeeze through.

"I ran from everyone... I ran from my need to mourn my friend... I... I needed justification because... for all that time... I still couldn't believe it... He was dead.... I... I knew it was possible... that this world was dangerous... but I didn't know how close and vile it was until that moment..."

"More people died while I was gone... I had students, kids and friends who came to me for advice... In time, I started to care about them the same way I did Isshin... and now all but one are dead.... because I wasn't there to save them... I was still running away..." He could've gone down the whole list of dead friends and family but his sorrow plugged him silent, choking him up. He looked up into the sky, grinding his teeth as more tears bubbled up and rolled down his face, attempting to regain some of his composure... And failed miserably.

"I ran from everyone and everyone paid, Queen...." He sighed, wiping his eyes on his sleeve despite the tears still coming. "That's how I coped..."

Rei let out a small nod in agreement. How they both wished this was all just some cruel jokes being played on them by the Gods. It was sad really how such good people had to die, but scum like the girl’s father continued to live. She never understood it, and she never would. Where there was good, there was evil, and the evil seemed to always outlast the smart. It was times like these she didn’t regret killing those that only looked to do bad in this world. The blonde truly didn’t believe in rehabilitation of the corrupted. Once you fell down that rabbit hole, there was no coming back. Imprisoning people like that, it was just a waiting game until they either died, or they lived long enough to do some bad again. Queen wanted nothing more than to rid the world of such evil.

Lilac eyes captured the boy’s flinch. She wasn’t surprised that the question caught him off guard, and only imagined how she would feel in the future when someone brought up Jace’s death. She’d probably punch them in the face. It took a second for the boy to reply, but the girl would silently listen to his story. Stories like this typically had no effect on the girl, but in her moment of weakness, she found her mouth slightly opened in horror as he accounted on how he witnessed the death of his best friend. If Queen had been there when Jace had... If only she had been there... Maybe she could have saved him. And if she couldn’t? She would have never forgiven herself for being unable to prevent it.

The girl continued to listen, as everything Sal had felt once ago, she felt now; except wanting to die. It was at this moment that she wanted to live, to get her revenge. To find the thing that did this to her beloved and rid it’s existence from this earth. While she was in morning, deep down she was also filed with anger. She clenched her fists as she remembered that.

Listening to his story, Queen was able to further understand Sal, and understanding why he had left the village long ago. At first, the blonde has simply seen him as scum, but now it made so much sense. The blonde beauty already had a bag packed and ready to go. She wanted to run away and leave this place she had called home for so long. Without Jace, this place just felt like a reminder of what it was like to be happy. She needed to escape. But listening to Sal’s story, maybe that wasn’t the answer, as that only brought him more pain and loss. “You can’t possibly blame yourself Salzem. It wasn’t your fault.” The girl said with sympathetic eyes. The roles quickly shift and the blonde found herself comforting the cinder eyed boy. “It’s the evil in this world that likes to take and take...” With each world that slipped from her lips, the angrier she got before taking a breath and calming her nerves. “You can’t blame yourself for the death of your friends anymore than I can blame myself for Jace’s.” Just saying his name brought a sting in her eye. “Without them, we’d still have them..."

Salzem snorted slightly dismissively as Queen attempted to help him reconcile with the simple phrase of "It isn't your fault." He was certainly glad she believed it but someone like him who was there and failed and watched his friend die, being too stupid to get in front of the attack meant for the attacker, it wouldn't be so damned easy. Saying it's not your fault when you were too much of a coward to stick around and help what little friends you had left live was insane. Saying it wasn't your fault because you were out being a rebel while your friends got sick, fought and then proceeded to die is insane. He glared somewhat at Queen for insulting him in this way, but then his eyes softened and he looked away, knowing that she didn't mean it that way. She only wanted to help him so that at least one of them would walk out the same person they came in. This time, when he glanced back, he offered her a smile, one half strained, half thankful, all struggling.

"You know... When I first met you, I hated you." Sal stated rather flatly, deciding to change the subject. It was no secret. He and her had a... very rocky relationship from day one. They hardly held respect for one another, dismissed eachother's values and it seemed the only thing they seemed to have fun with together was beating the daylights out of one another. "I honestly didn't think of you as a rival... I thought of you as my ideological enemy. Now...?  Now you're just you. And I'm just me." He rolled his eyes as he struggled to come up with the words he wanted. BAH he was never a good speaker.

"What I'm trying to say is.... I want to be your friend. I'm tired of fighting with you.... Really fighting. Like... I-have-something-to-prove kind of fights. I don't know if that's how it was for you, but it was like that for me. I think you're a good person and I want you to know that I'm around if you need me for anything."

It didn’t seem like Salzem believed in her words, but then again that was the reason they had initially been at odds. They had different beliefs and ways of seeing the world and maybe that was just something that would never change. There were some things in this world that were meant to happen. It didn’t make it any better, but it was just the way it was. Sal quickly switched his despicable glare which Queen caught, but she figured it’d be best not to acknowledge it.

She listened to Sal, speaking of the time they first met long ago and how he hated her. A tired smile appeared on her lips as she recalled the memory. Looking back at it, she still would have done the same. Those boys could have cause the same pain she was feeling now to someone else if they had permitted them all to live. Even leaving one was a mistake. Though, that wasn’t the focus of her flashback. She thought of their relationship, and how they were completely at odds. Unlike Sal, Queen didn’t feel hatred toward the boy. She knew her ideals were vastly different from most and it hadn’t been her first rodeo being at odds with a teammate. Though, she didn’t particularly like the boy either; but she did respect him.

“Thank you Sal... I’d like that.” She replied, digesting his words. She wasn’t good at heart to heart talks, but considering she was in a vulnerable place, she accepted the kind words. Her eyes peered behind Sal’s as it looked like the speeches were coming to a close, and the burial was about to commence. “We should get back.” The blonde suggested, making her way past Sal before she came to a stop about a meter away; her back facing Sal. “That Red-haired girl...” She started off, looking for the right words to say. The lycan was a sensitive beast, so she tried to pick her words carefully. “Make sure to cherish her. It’s hard to find someone like that in this despicable world that we live in.” The blonde Jonin could recall seeing the boy with the red head back in Suna on numerous occasions, and Rei could only imagine that was his lover. Queen has already lost hers without getting the chance to truly appreciate Jace’s company. Hopefully, she could bring Sal to do the opposite before it was too late since in this world, everybody’s life seems to end before their time is naturally do. With those parting words, Queen headed back towards the ceremony. Her face empty of expression as she remembered why she was here. She had a lot to think about in these coming days.

[exit]