We live in cities you'll never see on screen/Not very pretty, but we sure know how to run free
/Living in ruins of the palace within my dreams/
And you know, we're on each other's team
i. Introduction
To a four-year-old Neji, the Hyuga aviary was a portion of the sky encased in ornate steel.
At the back of the southernmost garden stood four cages, each holding a different type of bird. The biggest two held hawks, magnificent beasts of flight that stood tall on their low perches. One breed was smaller, messenger hawks, who were a shock of white on their underbellies and a deep onyx on their backs. Their talons were long to hold all sorts of scrolls. The other were bigger, more robust, with the largest wingspan of all the birds in the entire country. Neji had personally seen one of those monsters choke down a live rat, a gruesome contrast to the pedigree the hawks possessed.
In the others were turtledoves and pigeons, mere pets to the main household. They were small and flightless, pale white or a soft hazel, with dark wide eyes. They cooed and sang, but they remained on the ground whilst the hawks roamed the skies.
To Neji, they were caged souls, just like him- but at least he could help them in some way.
He fed the doves with bread he kept from breakfast. The pale grains were easy to see against the metal bottom of the cages and the doves were quick to snatch up each morsel they could get. As they ate Neji counted them all out, finding ten in total. His eyes were on one in particular, the one with the anklet of the clan leader wrapped around its foot.
Once every crumb was gone the doves stared at Neji, wondering if he had more. Instead, he opened the gate of aviary to them and stepped inside. The feeling of bars enclosing around him caused the young Hyuga unease. An itch flaring up beneath his palms that refused to leave. Most of the doves scattered from the invading force, but the one with the anklet continued to coo at him. He stared down at it without a flicker of caring, his fingertips twitching as he knelt beside the bird.
Its feathers were softer than a cloud, Neji realized as he ran his hand over its back. He closed his eyes, turning his entire world dark, so he could fully appreciate this moment.
Then, without warning to the dove, he reached out with his other hand and encircled its throat in a crushing hold.
The melodic tune of the dove turned into a screeching mess,. Its feathers flapped in a craze as the animal's tiny talons scraped at his wrists, drawing torrents of blood. Wretched noises spewed from the bird's mouth, causing the avians in the other cages to join in with their own keening cries. With all the commotion going on Neji knew he had to finish this as soon as possible.
He wrapped both hands around the bird's throat and sent a jolt of chakra from his palms. Though inexperienced at the gentle fist- his Father passed before he could begin teaching him, leaving Neji to watch his older cousins- the pressure was enough to snap the dove's neck.
Silence.
Neji allowed himself to worship this instance in time. Before an older relative came over, alerted by the birds, and yanked him by the back of his gi. He screamed in Neji's face, he snatched the dead bird from his fingers and then yelled some more. He pulled Neji by his bloodied wrists straight to Lord Hiashi's quarters, the dead dove's corpse brandished like a bloodied flag.
By then Neji had drowned out all the noise, pale eyes staring at the animal he had murdered without a trace of emotion. Only when the cracking pain shooting through his head did he realize what he had done. Small hands coming up to grab at his hair as he crumpled to the hard floor. Miniature spears tore through his mind, flashing behind the backs of his eyes. Neji refused to cry or scream, biting his lip enough to coat his entire chin in blood that dripped and stained the wood beneath him.
This is not the only blood you have spilled, Neji thinks as he feels someone picking him up. The sensation is a blurred notion in the back of his skull by now. More voices attempted to reach him as the young Hyuga succumbed to the black void awaiting him.
At age thirteen Tenten was a rather observant person. Since she blended so well into the background it allowed her time to observe others without bringing attention to herself.
She enjoyed it, storing away useful tidbits about people to remember them by. For instance, her new teammate Neji had a weird habit of doing things with his hands.
Must be a Hyuga thing, she decided as she looked over at the silent prodigy. They were both early for their team meeting. Tenten, because she was too excited, and Neji, because he had no intention of going back home anytime soon. They waited together, neither deeming it appropriate to initiate conversation. After a moment of looking at the sky, Tenten turned to see Neji pull out a bottle of water. He held the drink with both hands clasped around the middle. A rather peculiar decision since he was effectively squirting the water into his mouth. A tad more undignified than Tenten would have taken a Hyuga for.
He put the water away before reclining into the seat, a calm, meditative way of sitting. Though his body had become lax, his fingertips touched each other to form a circle. A buddhist symbol, maybe?
Tenten didn't bother asking him about it, considering Neji wasn't aware of it himself. And also because their third teammate had just arrived.
I'm kind of over getting told to throw my hands up in the air/
So there