EDIT 8/1/15 (M/D/Y): Fixed some typos and mistakes
EDIT 9/10/16:
Fixed even more typos and mistakes, made the story flow better and changed some minor things to make the story be more up-to-date with the manga.
Unlike in the manga, Orochimaru is a full member of Konohagakure once more.
I decided to remove the sum up from the beginning of this story, as the manga has ended and everything I wrote to that part of the story was either not up-to-date, my own predictions of how the manga would go and/or pretty much the way it actually went in the manga.
I don't own Naruto
Nothing Changed, Except Neji
Chapter 1: Still a Branch Member
Neji Hūyga sighed tiredly as he got up from his bed to prepare for the day. He had been training to the midnight as per usual with him these days. Even if the war had ended years ago, he couldn't stay away from training. The fact that his sensei and Lee where extremely happy for it and didn't leave him alone didn't help at all; it only made it worse.
And then there was the matter with Hinata. At first, he had been happy for her being the clan head, and he had gotten a new hope for getting rid of the cursed seal once and for all. He had been extremely happy for her to finally confess her crush to Naruto when it finally happened.
But not anymore.
After a few years without her doing anything about the family branches, he had gone to search for her. When he hadn't found her, he had figured to ask Naruto, the Nanadaime Hokage who had been chosen as Kakashi Hatake's successor, about it.
Neji knocked on the door that led to Hokage's office. After hearing tired "come in", he stepped into the office and saw a very tired looking Naruto behind a pile of paperwork. "Oh, hey Neji. What do you need?" Naruto asked, standing up from his seat to greet his friend.
Neji, however, wasn't on a happy mood, so he just stared at Naruto seriously.
"Naruto, do you happen to know where Hinata is? I have some things to ask her", Neji told him, making Naruto think hard.
"Nah, haven't seen her since yesterday. I can take your message to her, if you want", Naruto offered with his trademark smirk, making Neji smile a little, but it disappeared quickly.
"Thank you, Naruto. I wanted to ask her about finally taking the cursed seal off the Branch members, including me", Neji said, trying not to sound angry. Naruto looked a little surprised at the words of Neji, especially the tone he said 'cursed seal'.
Naruto just nodded, earning a nod from Neji as well, before the Hyūga exited the room.
After that, Hinata had said that she would "look into it", but Neji had doubted that even back then.
Neji sighed again and got dressed to his attire that consisted of a white kimono shirt with long, loose sleeves, matching pants, a navy-grey apron tied around his waist, and black shinobi sandals. He then made his way out of the room and out of the clan compound.
Once they saw him, some of the main members looked at him in disgust as he passed them. Apparently the Main House hadn't liked his suggestion of getting the cursed seals off of the Branch members.
Just when he was about to exit the compound, someone bumped onto him. "Hey, watch it, Branch member!" Neji just glared at the random main family member in anger, before continuing his trip to his favourite training ground.
Once he arrived at the training ground, he saw Hanabi Hyūga with her team. The fact that Hinata had obviously made an exception with her sister, who should have been given the cursed seal and placed in the branch family as was tradition, wasn't lost on Neji. This only made him even angrier. He tried not to look angry at the spoiled brat and managed to keep somewhat of a calm expression. When he got closer, one of Hanabi's team members saw him and pointed his finger at him.
"Hey, Hanabi. Isn't that your cousin?" the genin asked, making everyone look at Neji.
"What do you want, Neji?" Hanabi asked rudely, making Neji's mask slip for a second.
"I don't want anything from you. I just came here to use the training ground. I rented it for the whole week last Sunday", Neji said casually, glancing at the jōnin instructor, who happened to be Genma Shiranui.
Genma sighed and took his senbon out off his mouth. "Sorry, Neji. Hokage-sama gave us a permission to use this training ground. All of the others were full and you already had used this one for three days straight", Genma said tiredly, making Neji's mask slip for at least two seconds.
"Why would Naruto do that? He could have asked me firs-", Neji thought, but was cut off by his annoying cousin, who had annoying smirk on her face.
"You heard sensei, Neji. Be gone. Your kind isn't allowed to be in my presence", Hanabi said arrogantly, making Neji clench his hands to fists. He was just about to leave, when she opened her mouth again.
"What's taking so long branch family membe-", she started, but was cut off by Neji punching her in the face, making her fly to a wall. Just as she hit the wall, Neji ran to her side and took a grip of her throat, choking her. She gasped for air and looked Neji in the eyes. His Byakugan was activated.
Then Genma took Neji in a neck lock in order to stop him. "That's enough, Neji. If you don't want me to have the ANBU take you to the Hokage-sama, you should calm down", the jōnin said and allowed Neji to move, but stood in front of Hanabi, just in case.
Neji just glared past Genma to Hanabi, who was being helped up by her team-mates, before body flickering away.
Sakura Haruno was at the Konoha hospital, where she had been working at ever since returning to the village with Sasuke and their daughter Sarada after a long traveling trip. She had been working nonstop since around 5 am, and it was already 9 am. She still had the whole day to work. She sighed and put a file of some Konoha shinobi away. That's when the door to the hospital opened, revealing Hanabi in Genma's arms.
Sakura gasped as she saw the little sister of her friend, Hinata. She had her nose broken, her back was bleeding and she seemed to have trouble breathing. The apprentice of Tsunade rushed to Genma's side with two nurse's behind her bringing a bed for the young Hyūga.
When they had the girl brought to an empty room, Sakura ran her diagnose on the girl and gasped at what she found. The girl had scratches on her spine, her windpipe had been crushed and she had a broken collarbone.
"Were you on a mission?" Sakura asked calmly and ordered emergency surgery for the girl.
"No. We were at the Training Ground Three", Genma answered, making Sakura look at him in surprise. For something like this to happen in the village was something that rarely occurred.
"What happened then? I can't think of anything", Sakura asked as Hanabi was taken to the surgery.
"I'll tell you after the surgery. Just make sure she'll be okay", Genma said and Sakura could see sadness and anger in the jōnin's face, but the anger was directed elsewhere.
Sakura nodded and went to the surgery room.
Meanwhile, Neji was venting out his frustration by killing all the animals he could find in the Training Ground 44, or the Forest of Death. None of the other Training Grounds where available at the time, so he figured to go there. He was, after all, a jōnin.
Neji let out an angry shout as he killed another giant spider that was trying to attack him. It was the last animal on the clearing he stood at, so he allowed himself to drop to the ground and wait for his chakra to restore again. It would take some time. After all, he wasn't a stamina freak like Naruto. The thought of the Uzumaki made him even angrier. Why would the Hokage give a permission to some team to train on a training ground when it was rented to him?
Neji punched the ground in anger and muttered: "That damn Naruto." That was when he heard someone chuckling behind him. Neji turned around and saw someone he didn't want to see at the moment.
Orochimaru.
Genma paced in front of the surgery room. He had had no idea it would be that bad. If he had, he would have had that Neji brought to the Hokage. The jōnin clenched his fists in anger. Hanabi had been rude towards her cousin, but it didn't give Neji any right to attack her.
He was brought out of his thoughts when the door of the surgery room opened, revealing a smiling Sakura Haruno. The sight of her made Genma sigh in relief.
"She'll need some rest, but she'll live", Sakura reassured him, smiling ever so gently. Then suddenly, her expression turned serious. "Now tell me, what happened?" she demanded.
"I was at the Training Ground Three, like I told you before. Everything was going like I had planned, until Hanabi's cousin arrived", Genma explained, making Sakura's eyes widen. Neji?
"He started by asking what we were doing there, because he had apparently rented the ground for this week. I informed him we had the permission from the Hokage to use it for today. He seemed to get angry from that, but stayed calm, until Hanabi mocked him. Then Neji punched Hanabi and started choking her. Luckily, I was fast enough to stop him from killing her."
Sakura stared at Genma, who had a look of anger in his eyes, with her mouth hanging open. Neji had punched his cousin? And then proceed to choke her? Why would Neji do that? "Come on, Genma. We have to inform Naruto of this", Sakura said and rushed out of the hospital with Genma close behind.
"What do you want, Orochimaru?" Neji asked the snake sannin, who just chuckled even more at his question.
"Kukukuku. Why be so angry, Neji-kun? What has happened to make the genius of Hyūga clan so angry?" Orochimaru asked with an obviously faked wonder in his voice. He had been following Neji after he had snapped at his cousin.
"Why should I tell you?" Neji asked and got up from the ground. He looked around warily, as if the trees had ears. That made Orochimaru chuckle even more.
"Kukuku. Why shouldn't you? I'm a fellow Konoha shinobi", Orochimaru said with interest. Now he truly wanted to hear the answer.
Orochimaru was right. He was a fellow Konoha shinobi now. Neji sighed in defeat and looked at the snake sannin in the eyes. "When Hinata became the clan head and Naruto the Hokage, I thought my dream had some hope. I hoped they would get rid of the cursed seal of the branch family. I was wrong. They don't even care", Neji said in anger, making Orochimaru widen his eyes ever so slightly. The sannin had no idea it was because of that, that Neji was so angry.
Then he got an idea. He had been looking for finally getting his revenge on Konoha for the past year and now he had good opportunity that he wasn't going to waste.
"Tell me, Neji. What would you give if someone was able to get your cursed seal off?" Orochimaru asked curiously. If he was right, he would have a person more loyal to him than Kabuto ever was.
Neji widened his eyes at the question. Did he mean? No, he shouldn't get his hopes up so easily. "That someone would have my loyalty. I would be in a lifelong dept", Neji answered truthfully. He had always dreamed of being free from the seal, and would give everything to get it off.
Orochimaru chuckled once again and motioned for Neji to follow him. "Come, Neji. Let's discuss this on our way to one of my bases", Orochimaru suggested and jumped out of the clearing.
Neji hesitated a little, but followed after the sannin.
So, what do you think?
Sorry if Hanabi's injuries were not believable enough. I'm no medic.
Review, if you will!