Friends Don't Lie Pt. 2

Neo had managed to get halfway down the street, thinking she'd managed to get out mostly undetected and had therefore not needed to leave in much more of a hurry than to simply run, her cheeks still wet from her crying. Then Hanabi had called her name in such a loud voice that several lights started turning on as other Uchiha families heard the commotion. Neo has to turn herself around in a u-turn to be able to change the direction of her full sprint so she can go back to Hanabi and quiet her down. After all, she can't speak anymore; the trauma she experienced during the war had left her with no ability to talk.

Instead, when she reaches Hanabi, she grabs hold of her in a great, big hug, apparently not caring if others saw them hugging, even if Hanabi was almost in underwear. She wasn't strong enough to lift her now, though; her best friend was far taller now, and height adds more weight than one would think. Neo also feels horrible about doing it, but she wants to talk to Hanabi, let her hear her voice again in some way, so she pulls back from the hug enough to look in her best friend's eyes again, activating her Sharingan one more time, but this time only putting her in a minor genjutsu, although Hanabi might be surprised seeing a third tomoe now when last time she'd only had two.

"I hate having to break my promise again... But I can't speak anymore, because of..."

Images flash in Hanabi's mind for only a moment, true horrors and flashes of red, but they're gone before they can do more than leave an impression.

"Sorry. Because of the war. And I want you to at least feel my voice again... Even if you can't actually hear it."

OOC:

Jutsu used: Genjutsu: Sharingan

Hanabi kept calling out to Neo, causing her to make a full u turn in mid sprint, coming back towards Hanabi and hugging her. She cried out, her arms wrapping around her best friend, so tightly, lifting her up off the ground for just a mere second before letting go and seeing at how Neo had grown. It had been a few years since seeing her, never wondering where she had went until now. She cried and cried to Neo before seeing her activate the sharingan once more but instead of two, it was three tomoe. Hanabi went to say something before being put through a genjutsu and being told everything while being shown the horrors of the war. She sniffles and continued to hug Neo within the genjutsu, holding her tight, one arm around her waist and the other on her head. ”I-I-it’s ok-k-ay. I-I’m j-jus-st h-happ-y y-your-re al-li-ive.” She stuttered her words severely while crying to Neo. The two ended up on the floor of the streets, Hanabi holding her dear friend close to her. She continued to cry for many minutes due to not seeing her friend in so long but also pent up emotion that came out. Not even Airi knew what had been going on with Hanabi.




Ooc:

This sum sad girl hours

Neo is immediately surprised when she's lifted off the ground, even if it isn't for long; being 5'3", she realizes she's as tall as Hanabi was when she first left for the Second Iwagakure War. Neo can't help but to cry more as Hanabi states that she's just happy that Neo is alive, and she smiles, although her smile is just as sad. Being hugged like this on the ground would likely make most people much more embarrassed, but Neo hasn't entirely given up being the girl that dances in the street with her best friend and kissing her cheek.

But she still doesn't want Hanabi to feel awkward because of her, so she quickly gets up and pulls Hanabi to her feet before helping her into her own apartment, quickly before anyone opens their doors or windows to see what all the earlier screaming was about. She hugs Hanabi tightly again once they're both inside, pressing her face firmly into her best friend's shoulder and practically soundlessly sobbing while she lets her emotions wash over her, mostly relief that her best friend has forgiven her for it all. Neo's hands tightly grip Hanabi all over her back and her shoulders, touching her like she's trying to make sure that Hanabi is really there, but unable to talk since her focus is gone from the Genjutsu.

After a few moments of ugly crying with Hanabi, Neo pulls away from the hug enough that she can look up at Hanabi, her Sharingan deactivated again so her eyes are back to their heterochromatic appearance with the left eye pink and the right eye brown. Although her face is red and still a bit wet from crying, she gives Hanabi a little smirk, and then she raises one hand up to the top of Hanabi's head, and then puts her other hand on top of her own, then raising an eyebrow at her best friend, almost like she's saying "oh wow, you've really grown, huh?". And then, as if to go further, she looks down at her own chest, then at Hanabi's, though this time her hands don't get involved before she looks back up with the same raised-eyebrow smirk.

Hanabi follows Neo into her apartment, shutting the door behind her and being hugged by Neo. Hanabi wipes her and Neo’s tears away, holding her close, resting her head on hers and closing her eyes as Neo’s hands travel along her body. She lets this happen for Neo’s comfort, with each touch, ridges and raised pieces of her skin being significant. These pieces were the scars that stayed on her body. If Neo were to feel the middle of her back, she would feel a snake like scar along her spine, located in the middle of her shoulder blades. “I am here. I see you.” She smiled while saying this and moving back, placing her hands on Neo’s shoulders and opening her eyes. Amber eyes meeting with her multi colored ones, shining with glee.



Hanabi glanced at her hand movement, separating their height from each other. Hanabi bursted out laughing, wiping a tear from the corner of her eye, still laughing. “Yes, I have grown taller. Maybe you just got shorter?” She started to calm her laughter, somewhat chuckling now. Her eyes followed her hand to then make a difference between their chest size. “Eheh… Yeah.. I kinda got bigger.” Even without a bra, Hanabi’s chest seemed to look like they had support but it was all due t posture and proper wrapping. “A lot has changed…” she started with a sullen tone but her face showed happiness. “I could tell you all about it if you wanted me to…” Hanabi smiled to Neo, moving a strand of hair behind her own ear. Her amber eyes having a shine against them before a shine came over once more, changing her eyes from the regular Amber to the now deep crimson red tomoe sharingan.

Neo smiles at her friend when they compare how they've changed, although Neo has only grown maybe an inch, and her breasts are only as big as they used to be, while Hanabi's grown taller and more womanly. That had brought Neo some relief, although the feeling of that scar had roused her anger for a moment at whoever had done such damage to her.

Neo blinks as Hanabi activates her own Sharingan, showing her old best friend the new crimson eye with a single floating circle, like a comma stuck in her eyes, and Neo starts to shake a little even before Hanabi tells her anything. She'd never wanted her best friend to have to follow in her footsteps on the path to becoming a ninja, but now here she was with scars on her previously lovely body and her eyes crimson with the Uchiha curse of power tied to hatred. Her grip on the handle of her parasol tightens and she has to set it aside for fear of what she might break upon learning about this.

She sighs and then sets her parasol down on the nearest table before holding onto her friend's hands, closing her eyes for a moment to activate her Sharingan, then opening them again and looking directly into Hanabi's eyes, once again casting the Sharingan's specialized genjutsu that gives her so many options, including one to allow the two of them to share memories and thoughts with one another. Neo gently runs her thumbs over Hanabi's fingers and her hands, worried about what she might do if she sees who actually caused her friend this harm and pushed her forever on this path that inevitably leads to power, and a thirst for more of it.

Hanabi gave a nod to Neo, placing her forehead against the smaller ones, her eyes fluttering shut while gripping onto her hand. Images flash in Hanabi’s mind, relaying the information to Neo, showing who had caused this burn, how it happened and why.




Imagines flipped through, showing ren’s face with his three tomoe activated, his mouth moving as if he were speaking. His serpent attack had a snake go up Hanabi’s back and burn into her spine, making Hanabi scream out. Her life flashed through her eyes, the words simply being repeated. “Little Mutt.” Those words scarred into her brain, making her teeth clench before pulling away, possibly breaking the contact with the Genjutsu. “Ren Uchiha caused it. I swore and plan to make him pay…” Hanabi glanced down to her hand and made a fist. “I will be claiming the Uchiha name..” Her tone now more serious to Neo. “I’ve worked so hard to create new things to fight Ren and I am ready to go against him.” Her eyes showed more determination. Hanabi was filled with wanting revenge, it almost festered within her like a disease. She wanted him to pay. “I want him to know I’m not a mutt.. Not like the coward my mother was..”

With Hanabi's forehead resting on hers, Neo might have flushed if these were different circumstances, and if she weren't so mad she could kill someone. Instead, she's focused on seeing what Hanabi is showing her, starting with memorizing the face of the man that had caused her friend so much harm. While Hanabi only heard the words Little Mutt over and over again, Neo was able to dig a bit deeper, hear all of his words, and they only made her even more enraged. She didn't actually recognize this person, but she would remember his face; the next time she saw him alone, she had torturous plans in mind.

The genjutsu is broken again when Hanabi pulls her mind back from sharing anything further, and so Neo opens her eyes again and looks at Hanabi as she makes her declaration that she'll be claiming the Uchiha name for herself and looking for revenge against Ren. Neo realizes that the cute, laughing Hanabi she'd left before the war wasn't the Hanabi she had now; this Hanabi had become an actual Uchiha, stemming from the time that her Sharingan first activated in response to the trauma. Now her best friend was on the dangerous path of power, and there was little that Neo could do to help her to escape it. Her own Sharingan had activated in response to love, but Hanabi's activation had been so much more common among their bloodline.

Instead of immediately agreeing with her friend, she takes hold of Hanabi's fist, slipping her fingers in to break open the fist and just hold her hand instead with her fingers laced together with Hanabi's. She hoped this made it clear, along with a little squeeze of her hand, that she would help Hanabi with this plan of revenge against the one that had tortured her.

Hanabi’s eyes watered up a little bit as she pulled back, looking to Neo and taking in her condolences. With the subtle squeeze, she gave a nod to her best friend. “Don’t worry about me. I have people to keep me on a path of good.” She gave a weak smile before placing her head against Neo’s again for comfort. “I plan to do another spar with him and show him who I am. I’ve been working on some moves! I know I can defeat him…” She gave more of a determined smile to Neo, now only talking aloud about her plans. Her mouth moved on an on but her mind kept racing like it couldn’t stop. She didn’t know what else to do other than just try and explain what she could do.

Neo feels tears welling up in her eyes as her best friend insists that she's going to be able to spar him again and prove herself to him, but she feels as though such a spar would be far more dangerous, regardless of whether or not people would try to keep her on the path of good. Her face somewhat reflects her doubt and worry, but she smiles anyways, gripping her hand tightly and with love for her best friend, and she nods once when asked if she'll be able to do it. She would be able to do it, Neo was certain... but she wasn't so certain that it would set her on a good path. Even so, she was going to stand by her with every step, if only to keep Hanabi safe, from others and from herself.

She reaches her free hand up and wipes her own face dry of her tears, having reached a calmness that she didn't expect to feel when she had returned to Hanabi to return the necklace; it was clear that the sobbing earlier had helped her quite a lot. It wasn't like she could cry during the dangers of the war.

Hanabi looked to Neo with a hopeful look in her eyes. “I’ll be okay..” She gave a soft smile before handing the necklace to Neo. “Would you do the honors? I mean you did buy it a few years ago.. I think it’s about time it should be worn..” She chuckled to her own comment. Hanabi handed her the necklace and turned around, sitting on her legs. Hanabi looked down, keeping her smile on her face, awaiting the necklace to be put on. “Did you… think about me? During war?” She asked Neo, seeing what she would say. “I wondered about you from time to time, of course under the genjutsu… but. I still worried..” She exclaimed, tightening her fists. “I wondered how things would be if I were to have gone to war..” Hanabi continued to look downward, thinking of the possibilities of what would have happened. After Neo put it on, she turned around and stood up, waving off the questions she asked like it was nothing. “Nevermind that. Happier questions… how long have you been back?” She asked, quite curious to see when her friend had returned. She awaited Neo’s answers to her question, even seeing if she would strike up something to talk about, curious as to how she would communicate with her.

Neo smiles back to Hanabi when she insists that she's going to be okay. Even Neo is starting to believe it now when Hanabi hands her the necklace and asks if she'll do the honors, after all it had originally been bought for Hanabi herself, and she gladly accepts, bringing the blue gem necklace around her best friend's lovely neck, and then clasping it above the nape of her neck to ensure that it rests nicely on her collarbone. She's a bit sad when she hears the question about whether or not she thought of Hanabi during the war, and though she can't speak, she writes the word "yes" on the back of her neck, giving her the answer one letter at a time since she isn't going to be able to speak.

Then Neo feels a chill down her spine when Hanabi wonders aloud about what would have happened had she gone to war, and she nearly wants to grab Hanabi by the shoulders and shake her to get the thought out of her head, but she restrains herself from doing so. She doesn't want to horrify her best friend after coming back from war.

When Hanabi asks how long she's been back, Neo has to think about it for a moment, looking up and to the left to try and do some quick calculations. The hours and hours in therapy had been long and days had melted to weeks. After a moment, she shrugs, then takes Hanabi's hand so she can write down "1 day". It was essentially true; every day that she'd been in therapy had also been part of the war, in some weird way.

Hanabi’s eyes lit up to feel that Neo was back for a day and that she had thought about her during her time away. She smiled and stood up, turning around to face Neo, grabbing her hand a writing on her palm. ‘Hero’ She closed her eyes and gave Neo a big hug again, this time more full and filed with love and warmth. “I’m glad you’re home.” She caressed her head, her fingers moving side to side, rubbing her head lightly. “How about I make you something to eat, yeah? I’ve certainly gotten better at cooking!” She exclaimed before pulling back and putting her hands on her shoulders. Hanabi gave a nod before leaving the room and heading to the kitchen, turning on a light and opening the fridge to look to see what she had. “Pork… Beef… Oooh I should use that before it goes bad… hmm…” Her eyes moved side to side before grabbing a bunch of ingredients and setting them on the counter adjacent to the fridge. Cabbage, soy sauce, pork, and carrots. Going into her cabinet, she got out some rice and set it aside next to the other ingredients. “Oh! Eggs, right!” She opened the fridge again and grabbed 4 eggs and placed them in a bowl before looking around, waiting for Neo to come out of the room.

Neo blinks as Hanabi writes the word 'Hero' on her palm, and she raises an eyebrow at her best friend. After all, she wasn't deaf, just mute. Still, she gets surprised by another big hug, and she can feel once more that Hanabi has gotten bigger in some ways that she hadn't, particularly. The rubbing of her head brings her back to when she was younger and her own mother held her like that, though those moments were rare, and perhaps even more precious because they were so rare. She hugs Hanabi back, her fingers lightly gripping the back of her shirt, then is surprised when Hanabi suddenly suggests making a meal for her. She follows Hanabi back into the kitchen as she scrambles for ingredients, raising an eyebrow at her, then pointing out the window so Hanabi can see that it's quite late at night. Clearly, Neo thought it was far too late at night to be cooking for someone.

Regardless, she slips into the kitchen and writes characters on Hanabi's bare shoulder, telling her that she can always come back later that day, and she'll let Hanabi cook for her, then. She even calls it a date instead of simply a dinner, with her smirking sarcastic expression letting Hanabi know that she's only teasing her best friend. As though a bit insistent, she starts putting away at least some of the ingredients before she looks towards the living room again, perhaps curious about whether or not her friend had games to play or old movies to watch... Something to remember from their shared childhood.

Hanabi chuckled to Neo and scratched the back of her head. “Y-Yeah you’re probably right… it is too late for anything but I’m always up for eating!” She continued to laugh about the situation, now kinda embarrassed. “I just wanted to make sure you weren’t hungry or anything.” She smiled at Neo while opening up her freezer to pull out a popsicle that was two but stuck together. “At least take one.” She asked, breaking the two popsicles apart and handing one to Neo. The color of the popsicle being red, staining Hanabi’s lips as she placed her mouth around it and bit a chunk off, rubbing the icey desert against the roof of her mouth to melt. “I’ll accept the date if you accept this popsicle.” Hanabi gave a quick wink to her before forcing it in her hand, giving her no time to really answer.



Hanabi made her way to her living room which just right in front of the kitchen, having a couch and chair in the room with a tv stand and a tv. It was the bare minimum but it was all she needed. Hanabi turned on a near by lamp that was in the corner of the room, illuminating the room just enough. “Hmm…” hanabi began thinking, sucking on the popsicle and biting down on it, wondering what they could do. Her eyes wandered and rolled before they met with Neo’s multi colored eyes. “Truth or dare. I know you can’t talk or at least uncomfortable with talking.. however, we could play it in that genjutsu place of yours. It’ll be fake but at least I could hear you, yeah?” Hanabi asked, taking another bite of her popsicle. Awaiting Neo’s answer, she continued to lick and nibble on it until she could easily pull it off the stick and finish it in one bite.

Neo smiles as she accepts the other half of the popsicle, slurping slightly and slowly on the iced treat instead of breaking it off in chunks like Hanabi did. Hanabi seemed the type to the impatient enough to break the ice off with her teeth and chow down, but Neo was the type to simply let the popsicle melt in her mouth. Of course, it made both of their lips a brightly colored red, like they were wearing lipstick, which made the joke about the date come back to haunt her when Hanabi brings it up this time and her cheeks turn a slight pink. Neo always did like popsicles, though... She always thought about how one could draw one out into the shape of a spike. And if you stabbed someone with it and kill them, the popsicle would just melt away, getting rid of the murder weapon.

Neo raises an eyebrow when Hanabi suggests truth or dare, and then the eyebrow goes down again when she suggests she takes them back to her own genjutsu zone, since she was entirely mute. She closes her eyes for a minute, before opening them up again, looking at Hanabi closely and focusing quite a lot of chakra through them to bring both girls into a room of complete darkness. Despite how dark it was, it wasn't a cold darkness; instead it was full of warmth, almost heady in its comfort. If infants had memories, it might remind them of a mother's womb.

Instead of Neo's voice coming from her mouth, it comes from around them, being more a directed thought than a vocalization.

"If it was only a matter of not being comfortable with talking, I'd get over it just so I could talk to you. No, this is one of the many scars that war gave me..."

After explaining this, she thankfully suppresses the thought of the war this time completely, so Hanabi isn't given those terrible flashes of horror.

"Well, fine then. I pick truth..."

Hanabi’s eyes locked to Neo, watching her slowly eat her popsicle, giggling at the red stain around her lips. She closed her eyes and opened them again to see herself surrounded in black, feeling the warmth of almost a mothers hug to her. Hanabi looked down for a moment from her lack of understanding to her friend. Her eyes darted back up when she said truth and she pondered a moment, placing the stick in her mouth and leaning back just to fall onto her back. “Hmm…” Her eyes travelled along the black area, not sure of what to be looking for until she sat up. “What is the funniest thing that you’ve encountered or have done.” She asked, giving a big smile to her friend. It was a time in need of laughter and she wanted to make sure her friend laughed.

---

Ooc:

Neo smiles around the popsicle she's still eating when she watches Hanabi flop backwards onto her back, and she kicks her legs back and forth a little as she leans back and waits to see what question her best friend comes up with. She remembers they'd occasionally gotten quite wild with either the truths or the dares in their childhood games, although with only two players, truth or dare often became escalated quickly. The "question" she's given sounds more like a creative writing prompt than an actual question, and she rolls her eyes a bit then raises an eyebrow at Hanabi.

"Really? Fine, fine."

She remembers a little prank she'd played on Hanabi back when they were teens, smirking a bit at Hanabi as the memory plays around them, the memory overlaying the darkness until they were seemingly physically there, sitting now on the couch in her mother's old home, watching Hanabi and Neo at 13, simply playing on the floor with their spinning metal dice before Neo exclaims that she'd forgotten to get themselves some snacks. They both get to watch Neo run to the kitchen, but she doesn't leave Hanabi for very long at all before returning with two sandwiches. Neo takes a bite of her own peanut butter and jelly sandwich, but when Hanabi takes a bite, her face turns dangerously red before she spits out the bite of her sandwich onto the plate, revealing that the jelly she'd used for Hanabi's sandwich had actually been jalapeño jelly. The 13 year old Neo can be seen and heard laughing, and Neo herself is letting out an extremely similar laugh, albeit silently, with the 13 year old Neo's laughter fading as the memory itself does.

It takes a moment for her oddly silent laughter to subside before she then turns to look at Hanabi directly again, her voice echoing around them once more.

"Okay, your turn. Truth or dare?"

Hanabi bursted out laughing, tears forming out of the corner of her eyes. “I forgot about that!” She held her stomach, continuing to laugh before leaning over and coughing from the amount of laughter she made. “I still can’t handle spicy!” She chuckled as she wiped her eyes again. Hanabi fixed her hair and wiped her face, sniffing from a runny nose she gained from laughing. “Let’s see… Truth.” She smiled to Neo, not knowing what she could possibly think of for Hanabi. She leaned back, her hands keeping up her up and leveled. Hanabi thought for a moment in hopes to lighten the area, showing the calm lake of Konoha with a deep sunset that colored their view orange and yellow. “Don’t be shy either.”

Neo thinks for a moment, which causes the picturesque sky to shift and alter somewhat, but she barely noticed the change in scenery much. She was focused on maintaining the room they were in where Neo could actually speak with her friend like she used to, although her actual mouth made little noise. Still, it was almost like talking to her friend again. Then Neo lets out a sigh as she holds back from what she really wants to ask, and instead asks something more safe. This was only her first go, after all, and it was never fun if you escalated too quickly. Still, the thought of what she wanted to ask loomed even in this genjutsu landscape, like a storm cloud on the farthest part of the horizon; it wasn't close enough to hit them yet, but it was dark there.

"Who got your first kiss?~"

Neo smiles and waggles her eyebrows in a naughty and suggestive motion, the distraction causing the storm clouds to clear behind her as the fun she's having makes them dissipate, even in the distance.

Patiently waiting for Neo’s question, Hanabi looked around the scenery, the orange kissed sky’s complimenting her amber gold eyes. When suddenly the scene shattered into glass, leaving the room black and a bright red glow coming from Hanabi’s cheeks. “M-m-my first kiss?!” She gulped and looked around nervously, not really able to think of anything. That was it though, there was nothing to think about. Hanabi had actually never had her first kiss, only platonic smooches here and there on the cheek or head. She touched her lips with her fingers, thinking for a moment, afraid of how Neo would react. A beautiful girl like her probably got her first kiss a while ago. Her eyes darted around before she cleared her throat and exhaled loudly. “I’ve… never… had.. my first kiss…” She muttered, her amber eyes looking to Neo for a moment and then away again. Realizing she had said it too softly, knowing Neo would probably ask her to repeat herself, she spoke up more. “I’ve never had my first kiss, okay?” Hanabi stated loudly, quite irritated. She didn’t think about it until Neo had brought it up. “A-anyway… Truth or Dare…” She asked nervously. For once, Hanabi hoped Neo didn’t pick dare.

Neo blinks once when the scenery around them shatters like so many glass shards, and she looks about her, seeing only the darkness of the genjutsu world, though it was still comfortably and gently warm around them. She doesn't really hear Hanabi's first answer, then winces at the repeated answer, with how harsh it sounded when she stated that she hadn't yet gotten her first kiss. Now Hanabi touching her own lips made sense, and she felt somewhat bad for Hanabi. She didn't want to admit it, but she'd never had her first kiss, either, so she knew what it felt like.

She gets a bit of an idea, but she isn't sure how Hanabi will take it. Just to try and get her more comfortable with what she has in mind, she structures the genjutsu world she's made between the two of them to look just like her apartment, and she moves to sit on the couch with Hanabi instead of sitting in the chair, her hand touching Hanabi's own as she looks back in her best friend's eyes. Even her voice in the genjutsu world is a bit shaky, maybe with excitement and maybe with anticipation.

"Dare."

Neo's eyes widen a bit in surprise when she feels Hanabi's fingers interlocking with hers to hold her hand, but they widen even more when her best friend actually tells her to kiss her. She's about to protest when their lips actually meet, initiated by Hanabi herself. Neo's eyes slowly close as her head is held in by her best friend to keep their lips pressed together, and instead of fighting it, she wraps one arm around Hanabi's waist, her free hand holding the small of her back. Her cheeks are flushed, and if she wasn't mute she might have stammered a bit, but instead she's kissed again as she gets pushed down onto her back on the couch, holding her tightly again as their bodies press against one another in the kiss, letting them both feel each other all at once while the genjutsu world swirls around them with rushing thoughts and experiences and memories all molding together around them.

Neo slowly breaks that second kiss, lightly holding Hanabi's bottom lip between her teeth, and slowly letting it drag out from between her teeth as she pulls away, until their lips are no longer locked together, and Neo's breathing has become panting as she starts to recover from the kiss. The entirety of the genjutsu world seems to be pulsing, but with Hanabi's body pressing against hers, her best friend would know that it's pulsing in time with Neo's own heartbeat, which must be filling her head right now. But as the genjutsu world starts to slow its excited, dizzy spinning, she realizes she can't be with Hanabi. Not yet, at least. Not until she's gotten better.

"I'm sorry, Hanabi..."

The sound echoes around them again, Neo still being incapable of actual speech, and her eyes open to look directly into Hanabi's again, the tomoe of her eyes spinning rapidly to almost become a thick dark circle as she helps Hanabi back into a sitting position, stealing the memories from her mind of everything that took place up until then, drawing them out of her and keeping them locked away until she's returned to point before she'd moved to sit next to Hanabi and they'd held hands.

"We can't be there yet. But we'll get there again... soon... I promise."

Neo actually cries a little, but she wipes her own cheeks quickly as she moves slowly back to sit in the chair again, and then blinking once with finality to end the memory theft.

It had been Hanabi's turn for truth or dare, and after admitting the truth that she hadn't had her first kiss, Neo smiles almost sadly at her, with her eyes closed to hide her tears from her best friend as she asks the two-toned woman the question that starts their next round of Truth or Dare.

"Let's go with truth again."

Hanabi kept pulling Neo closer, until she pulled away, hanabi panting as well from their kiss. Hearing the words I’m Sorry, followed by her name, her eyebrows raised from the sight of her Sharingan. As she sat back up, already too late from Neo’s Sharingan, her mind became a daze as the memories drifted away. Hanabi tried speaking but it was hopeless. She couldn’t fight it. Her eyes went blank and when Neo was done, her head went forward and she sprung back up. “Hmm?” She looked around, seeing Neo wipe her own tears which made Hanabi panic. “N-Neo! It’s not that serious! Im sure my first kiss will end up some way or another.” She pleaded, thinking maybe Neo felt bad for her. When Neo looked back up, Hanabi’s eyes twinkled a little and she chose truth. Hanabi pondered a moment before asking a personal question. “Do you.. think.. I could be strong one day?” She asked, taking this time to really dig deep on how Neo felt about her. She gave a soft smile but deep down she really was insecure about everything towards her.

Neo manages to clear her eyes of her tears, but she knows she'll cry about it again once she gets home. But there's enough of that for now, because Hanabi has noticed, and she almost feels just as bad that her best friend thinks she's crying because she'll have her first kiss "someday", and probably never know that today was the someday. The irony isn't lost on her, but it's a very cruel irony. She recovers quickly from the flux of emotions and the genjutsu world calms fully from her inner turmoil; all to herself for a moment, she wonders if the Sharingan use doesn't hurt the soul more than it hurts their eyes, but she returns to a full connection with Hanabi again, keeping a door locked shut tight on her true feelings for her own best friend.

The question of whether or not Hanabi is strong surprises her, and she looks at the golden-eyed beauty with a confused face.

"You're already strong, Hanabi. You're the strongest Uchiha I've ever known."

Of course, Neo knows what she really means, and she huffs a bit because she knows she'll have to make sure to answer the real question about her combat prowess, and it's not an easy thing even for someone with the Sharingan to know. Especially because she's just returned from her therapy, and has finally mostly put the Second Iwagakure War behind her. There was still underlying trauma, but she could return to a semblance of normal life again. In any case, Hanabi was really asking about combat power, and Neo knew it.

"Who knows? Only you can decide if you'll be a strong warrior... I think you can defeat anyone, Hanabi. Me. Definitely my parents. Maybe, someday, you could even beat Satomi."

Neo smiles a bit at the reference to the clan leader of the Uchiha, who might as well be the Hokage's closest protector. To be able to fight against him and win was a nearly impossible feat for nearly anyone, but the serene calmness of the genjutsu world seems to imply that she's being truthful.

"I think we've had enough truth or dare. It's probably almost morning now, and I spent all night with you and didn't even get anything out of it.~"

Neo's eyes change back to their two-toned appearance, and just like that, the genjutsu world vanishes from around them like glass shattering around them. The final sentence almost physically pained Neo, and she just couldn't subject Hanabi to the feeling of her heartbreak, because she, and only she, knew that she'd come close.