Bubble: Hello everybody! I decided I'd do a Naruto fanfiction because I LOVE Naruto as well! It's almost at the end! NOOO! *devastated gasp from the crowd*

Neji: I'm starring?!

Bubble: Yes you are! My favorite character Neji plus my favorite OC! Mononobe Karuta-chan!

Naruto: Glad to be part of it 'ya know!

Bubble: Ok, I wanted to bring back some of Neji's around-about way of being nice, when he was still 'young' how he was really emotionless and stuff, so don't expect him to get all sweet just yet!

Hinata: Fridgethatbubblegum does not own Naruto... (inner Hinata: I DO! MUAHAHAA!)

Bubble: Please R&R! Thanks xx

Chapter 1. Meeting you

A skinny girl around 15 years old jumped from tree to tree, her reddish-brown hair tied into a ponytail flowing behind her, her emerald eyes gleaming as she scurried up a tree.

Quickly positioning herself she hid in the top of a tree, only the quiet flittering of some falling leaves signaling she was ever there.

"Hey little kid give me your kunai" A gruff voice said from under her, a fat Genin, only about 12 or 13 was bullying a kid from the lower grades.

"No!" The little boy said bravely.

"I got this from my Daddy! I won't give it-" He was cut off as the fat kid grabbed it, pointing it at the little boy's neck.

"Stop right there!" A voice sounded from the trees and the girl from earlier jumped from the tree, landing right on top of the fat boy, four Kunai's in one hand.

"You're already a Genin, shouldn't you be training?" She asked him as the fat kid cowered in fear.

"Big-sis Karuta!" The little boy shouted happily as the bully scurried away, the low tree branches struggling to hold his weight as he jumped.

"You know you should be home by now, Kazu-kun" Karuta said, ruffling the boy's hair.

"Yeah" The Kazu-kun said, taking the Kunai back from her.

"But watch this first!" he aimed at a low target that was secured on one of the thick trunks of a tree, just above Karuta's waist.

"Yah!" The kid threw the Kunai and it pelted at the target, hitting it just off the middle and cracking the thick wood easily.

"Well done but we should be practicing with our own, these are for other kids, we'll just snap them before we know if it even landed well or not." Karuta said and ushered him out of the forest.

"Ok!" Kazu-kun said. She smiled, she was always being cheered up by his enthusiasm.

"Kazuhiko! dinner!" A plump lady called out. "Coming Mummy!" Kazu-kun called.

"Sorry we're late, Aunt Mari" Karuta called as Kazu-kun ran to her, showing off his Kunai and telling her what happened today.

Karuta was from the Mononobe Clan.

She walked through the massive gates that lead to the main house, treading the gravel path carefully and admiring the multi-coloured plants the place had.

As Karuta went to her room, someone called her from the gate.

"Hey Karuta! Do you have a minute?" it was Tenten.

"Oh hey! What brings you here!" She called back and pounced from her window to the closest tree, landing right in front of Tenten.

"I wanted to introduce you to my friends! This is Hyuuga Neji and Rock Lee!" She said happily, gesturing to the males who were standing tall behind her.

"And this is Mononobe Karuta-chan!"

"Hello" Karuta said politely, they seemed a nice group.

"Neji is a genius and already a Jounin and... Rock Lee is a ninja that can't use ninjutsu, you don't really need to worry about him." Tenten said, Karuta smiled.

"Cool" she then pondered for a moment.

"Hey, is Hyuuga the one..." She stopped. She didn't think it very polite to ask 'the clan that uses Byakugan' just because it wasn't really something to talk about, at least that's what Karuta thought.

She didn't want her Clan to become the centre of attention either.

Neji had already reacted when Karuta had mentioned his clan, he had thought 'Mononobe Clan' rung a bell in his memories, but didn't think about it much because he had never met one from it. Now he was facing one, he didn't know what to think.

"I need to go now, I have some important things to do" Neji said and disappeared.

"Ok, we better go too, see you tomorrow!" Tenten said and ran off.

Karuta descended back into her room quickly and quietly, the memory of the byakugan user burning into the back of her mind like a candle that wouldn't go out.

Karuta woke to the sound of shouting.

"Karuta-san! Would you like to train with us?" It was Lee.

"Coming" She shouted back groggily, getting changed in a flash and jumping from her window. She couldn't remember the last time she used a door to get out.

She looked at the time just before she jumped, it was 6:00am. Normal time for her, but considering she was wondering about Neji all night it was technically three hours too early.

"Today I am going to do 5000 pushups!" Rock Lee announced when she got there. Karuta sweatdropped.

"Is that what you do every day?" She asked carefully, wondering who their team instructor was.

"Is everybody youthful again today?!" A voice bellowed from the trees. It was Gai.

"Gai Sensei!" Lee rushed to him and they did their own little spotlight hug.

"Hello! I haven't seen that face before!" Gai sensei announced and gave Karuta a sparkling grin. She had to squint to see him.

"H-hi..." She replied and looked around to see Tenten and Neji appearing into the clearing. This was where everybody trained, where there was three flabs of tree trunk off to the side.

"Hey Karuta!" Tenten called and Neji nodded a greeting. "Hello!" She replied happily and fixed up her hair, tying it up in a ponytail, a thin golden ribbon holding it in place.

"Okay everybody! We are going to practice 'A thousand years of death' on these voodoo dolls!" Gai shouted and everybody groaned.

"What?" Karuta asked Tenten.

"It's where uh... watch Lee" She said, a depressed expression clouding her face. Karuta looked over to Rock Lee, and saw what she probably didn't want to see.

"SEN-NEN-GOROSHI!" Gai bellowed and he...well, started his training too. Neji, Tenten and Karuta just stood there.

"C'mon newbie! Join the training!" Gai exclaimed.

"Karuta-chan you don't have to." Tenten said and Karuta sighed it relief.

"Then just punch the trunk! You need to do some kind of training Karuta-san!" Lee said.

"Oh yeah, that doesn't sound too bad!" Tenten said and beckoned Karuta to the third piece of wood.

"No it's ok, Tenten, do you want to do some?" She said quickly. Neji was watching the commotion intently.

"Why not?" Tenten asked but Karuta said nothing.

"Yes, she's not even part of our team, she's going to be in the way of my training." Neji said finally, a very emotionless expression on his face.

"Tenten, you should train." He turned away and started to practice some of his latest jutsu's.

"Oh... ok" She replied and started to throw weapons at the trunk.

"Neji-san... uh... thanks" Karuta said cautiously, he didn't seem one that liked conversations.

"I meant it when I said you would be in the way. Do not take it personally." Neji replied, turning away slightly.

"But nobody would have listened if it was someone else saying-"

"I do not care for your gratitude, you're wasting my time." He cut her off.

"oh well, thanks anyways!" Karuta said smiling weakly.

She waved goodbye to the others around noon, going back home to do some of her own training, she needed to worry about herself as well. The rituals coming up would be long and tiring.

The full moon was close, and the whole clan could feel it.