Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any related characters. They are the property of Masashi Kishimoto.
The Voice of Fate
Prologue
"The knowledge of fate is a great and terrible thing," the dark-haired woman said, her voice echoing in the catacombs beneath her clan's dwellings. "I am trapped, held to my course… my actions are no longer my own…" she murmured, her voice breaking.
Painting complex seals into a scroll, an ancient sage nodded gravely. "You wish to be rid of this burden. I do not blame you." Solemnly, he looked into her pale eyes. "When this is done, I will hide the scroll where it cannot be found. We cannot understand the paths of fate. They are not for us to know."
The woman knelt as the sage finished the scroll. Spreading it on the tiled floor, the sage began the ceremony. Smoke and noise filled the room as the woman cried out, her cry shattering into a thousand whispering voices.
When the ceremony was over, the voice of fate had been sealed. The woman silently thanked the sage, who took the scroll and its secret deep into the darkness, where he hoped no Hyuuga would ever come again.
-X-
Chapter 1
"Fourteen… fifteen…" Neji counted quietly as he trained his Byakugan on the ground beneath his feet. The young jounin stood in the shadows of the trees in the forest outside Konoha.
"Large animal burrow, fifteen meters down," he muttered, "probably a family of badgers. Not occupied at the moment, but not abandoned." Neji extended his vision another ten meters underground before stopping to rest. He had been practicing for nearly two weeks to extend his vision underground. The first thing Neji had noticed was that the density of the earth posed a challenge.
Although the Byakugan saw clearly through water and earth as well as through the air, Neji had learned that different techniques were needed when looking through different substances. When using the Byakugan to look through water, he had to focus on a smaller area to minimize distortion, and he had to take in less light to account for reflection. On his first try, he had miscalculated badly, resulting in a blinding green spot in the center of his vision for an hour. Swearing not to make another such mistake, he gradually learned to judge the amount of reflection using only his eyes before activating his Byakugan.
Looking down into the earth required a different set of techniques. Neji found that these worked best in the shade, where his eyes could take in as much light as possible without glare from sunlight. Resuming his practice, he restricted his Byakugan to a five-meter radius and stared at the ground.
"Ten… twenty… twenty-five…" He focused harder. "Thirty… thirty-five… thirty-seven!" This was the deepest he had reached so far. Neji held his focus there for a moment. Something wasn't quite right. Thirty-seven meters down, the earth seemed… shimmery. It seemed like something down there was shifting from his gaze. The more he tried to look at it, the harder it was to see, as though it was avoiding the Byakugan. He switched tactics and focused on a point slightly to the right of the object. The blurriness was still there, but the shimmering effect had gone. Neji could tell that the object was quite large and extended roughly in a straight line, like a wall. Focusing again on the object, Neji was sure that the blurry shimmer had returned. That was it. He had to find out what this thing was and how—and more importantly, why—it was shielded from his Byakugan.
He began to follow the line of the object, heading toward Konoha. As he approached the wall of Konoha, the shimmering shield around the object widened and seemed to camouflage itself. Neji grunted in frustration. He had lost it. Quickly, he traced his path back to where he had started and began to follow the object in the other direction. This could be some enemy technique to undermine our security, Neji thought. I will report it as soon as I return.
"Closer to the surface here," Neji muttered. He looked around, memorizing his location. He was in the heart of the forest west of Konoha. The object was slanting up toward the surface, only a few meters underground now. Within a few steps Neji had located the beginning of the object, just below the surface. Neji considered reporting the object to Konoha headquarters immediately, but shook his head. Better to find out what it is now so I'll have something solid to report. His mouth twitched at the thought of inadvertently reporting a common sewage pipe. He focused his Byakugan on the end of the object closest to the surface, and then nearly deactivated his Byakugan in surprise.
A human form was carved onto a stone surface in relief. Its arms and legs were outstretched and it wore traditional Hyuuga robes. What surprised Neji the most was the Caged Bird seal on its forehead. Was this some sort of grave? Neji knew the funeral customs of his clan and was sure this was not the case. Frowning, he made sure no one was nearby and began forming hand seals.
"Earth Technique: Hidden Veil Open!" Neji grimaced at having to use a technique that hadn't been approved by the Hyuuga clan. However, it worked well in this case. The earth peeled back around the stone slab and Neji was able to see it clearly. The carved Branch member was female, and she wore a look of resignation on her face. Neji hated that look. He had seen it before on older Branch members' faces. The look that said, I have given up. This is my fate. He turned his eyes away from the stone face and looked at its body. Veins throughout the stone mimicked the chakra coils and Tenketsu points visible to the Byakugan. The array was familiar enough that Neji instantly deduced that this must be the mechanism for a hidden door. "Eight Trigrams: Sixty-Four Palms," Neji said to himself. He proceeded to strike the stone figure, releasing his chakra into the stone veins.
As he struck the final blow, the stone slab gave way and slowly sank into the ground, opening a dark passageway. Using his Byakugan, Neji could tell that the vaulted stone passage led toward Konoha and the Hyuuga compound. He briefly considered returning to headquarters before exploring. This might be an important discovery. Scanning the long passage with his Byakugan, Neji made his decision. If this was a Hyuuga Branch secret, it was something he needed to investigate. Neji made his way into the darkness.