Disclaimer: Checks location, checks number of Japanese words I know the definition of, about a hundred, well, it looks like I don't know own Naruto. Just writing stories in the universe.
The ANBU ninja walked up to the young man who was wearing his long, orange cloak and was crouched over, painting symbols on the ground. He bowed and stood at the ready, scanning the area for others. Though hidden by the mask, his eyes could see in almost 360 degrees around him. The only way someone would come here would be to see if the rumors were true, but a year should have been enough time. It was worse than a graveyard, except for the broken remnants of the mountain, which was missing the six faces that had once adorned it. Now it was the only reminder that this had once been the location of the most powerful hidden village. Who would have thought that one of Konoha's most failed students would become its greatest defender? And that one of its geniuses from one of the most respected clan would become its destroyer? Naruto carefully finished the last symbol, the black ink starting to dry.
"Well, the seals are ready, now, are you, Neji?" He grinned at his subordinate.
"Rokudaime, are you sure that you do not wish to go instead?" He offered while still observing the area.
"I can't channel the seals properly and send myself back. Besides most of my important techniques require me to sign the scroll or regain the chakra control for them. And if I start showing signs of Hokage competency, Kakashi will be very suspicious. Though you do know the handseals for Kage Bushin, right?" Naruto chuckled and scratched the back of his head as he guessed that his last ANBU captain glared through the mask. The Rokudaime looked away to what was left of his Konoha, what Pain did was horrific enough, but Sasuke's attack was worse.
He sighed before continuing, "The biggest problem is the fact I'm going to slip up, and I won't be able to hide my happiness at seeing places that have been there since they were first built, not actually destroyed a year ago."
"You mean Ichiraku Ramen, right?" The captain smirked, Naruto grinned as he patted him on the shoulder. Even after becoming Hokage, he would visit his favorite place in Konoha at least twice a week, along with dragging his favorite advisors. He looked around the area, frowning, before staring back at his companion.
"One last order from your Hokage, you can't kill him."
"Yes, Hokage." Neji shook his head as he walked into the middle of the seals. The order was not surprising, he had already been ordered not to maim, cripple, arrest, or otherwise act harmfully against him without Sasuke actually doing something deserving of the action. Naruto knelt as he brought his hands down to the outside of seals. While his father had been a seal master, Naruto had two advantages over him, a larger chakra capacity, and the ability to have over 1000 kage bushin working together over the last year. Neji deactivated his Byakugan, knowing if anyone came after them, he could not do anything. Naruto placed his hands over one of the seals. The seals started to glow green as he started to pour chakra into it, the color slowly filling out to all the symbols. He looked up, smiling, ignoring the pain that was coursing through his body. He had not told Neji, but what did it matter, if the theory was right, this time it would be different, and if it was wrong, then the last two ninja that anyone could easily identify as from Konoha would be gone. Besides, he would beat the fox, its last act would be to help make its container's life better, what perfect revenge.
"Have a bowl of ramen for me, okay?" Chakra jumped from the seals and blasted into the center, Naruto's eyes started to water as he continued, "And, lastly, thank you for everything, Neji." The seal erupted as the chakra that Naruto was pouring into the seal tapered off as he collapsed onto the ground. Neji started to feel as though he was being pulled from his body. All his senses stopped working, leaving him with only his thoughts before losing consciousness.
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO
A collision of memories awoke Neji from his sleep, as he kept his eyes closed while working to stop the torrent of memories from overloading his ability to stay conscious. Is this what Naruto goes through each time a kage bushin is dispelled? No wonder he hated having them do paper work. The swirling memories finally came to a rest, or at least, he reached the eye of the storm. He slowly opened his eyes as his other senses flooded into his mind, though unlike the slamming of memories, the quiet and bed were quite comfortable. He quietly activated his Byakugan, and if the fact that the sun had barely started to rise was not enough of an indicator, the two other branch members that he saw were asleep in the rooms next to his identified the time of day. Accepting the inevitable, he stood up and gingerly checked to make sure his coordination was not hampered. He could not afford a week to regain his abilities.
The breath he held escaped as his feet moved properly. At least his subconscious did not think of him as an adult. He walked silently over to the mirror that had been put into all the branch members' rooms. And he sighed upon seeing the mark that had once been removed. It had been three years since had to see the foul thing, he shuddered remembering how easy it was for Hiashi to kill him. The object that had trapped him into believing in such a depressing fate. Though as he once commented when Naruto had complained that perhaps he shouldn't have been Rokudaime, that it had been his fate, after all the son of the most legendary ninja in Leaf had to be Hokage. He changed his clothes and made sure nothing was out of place. Deactivating his Byakugan, he headed toward the branch house dining area, knowing he needed to be ready to escort Hinata afterwards. As he made it there, he joined the four other branch members already eating.
"Neji, who do you think your teammates will be?" Michi asked quietly. The Hyuugas knew how the teams were roughly picked, though Iruka had occasionally mixed the teams up. Though the Konohameru Corps had not started at the academy yet. It was the first time that the worst in the graduation exam was not paired with the best, or rather, will be.
"Depends if how cruelly fate wishes to be to me," Neji replies with his typical sneer in his voice. "The worst student, and probably someone with long range capabilities." As he continued eating, he mentally went back over what he would need for the graduation exam. While the other four talked knowingly about how Neji was going to be the best of his year, he was not so sure. He ran over what he remembered of the test, and if it was not for his control, would have started to grimace. It had been long enough that he did not remember the signs for the Bushin. And when he tried to remember it, the Kage Bushin would cycle through instead. He had to finish quickly and then find time to sneak a look at a book. At least he could remember the Henge's handseals. Forget about Danzo, Akatsuki, Orochimaru, and Sasuke, it will not matter if I mess up what team I am on. After finishing, he left the dishes for two branch members who normally had to clean up.
He arrived at the front gate with about five minutes to spare, ignoring the fact that he knew that Hiashi would want to see him. It would be easy for him to tell his uncle that he did not want to appear in front of him until he knew he passed. Except for the two guards that were about to be relieved, no one else was nearby. The entrance to the clan's property was pristine, the grass on both sides perfectly cut, the dirt path was clear of any holes. He smirked at how unlike the state of the Hyuuga clan was compared to the well kept grounds. Hearing the scuffling of feet coming from the main branch house, he turned and nearly lost his grip on his mask. He had remembered how bad Hinata's confidence was, but he had to remind himself that he was almost as bad as Hiashi was in damaging her mental state. Actually he was worse, since his anger had been completely misplaced.
He waited quietly for her to speak whatever Hiashi had told her. "B-brother N-neji, Father was disappointed that you d-did not show up this morning." She was staring at the ground, as if it was her fault, no it was because she was afraid that he would verbally lash out at her.
"Come on, Lady Hinata, I do not wish to be late for my graduation exam." I have my first priority, the sooner I can help Hinata, the much better my life gets. Besides I might be able to use her to help Naruto as well. I have about 1 year and 3 months until the Chuunin Exams, should be enough time to help her. He had not been paying attention to the path, which he had walked enough as a child, and since the academy was on the way to where the Hokage's Office, it was not much a change.
Realizing he might not have time to check a book at school on the Bushin, he turns to Hinata and commands, "Hinata, show me the handseals for the Henge Justu." She hunches up and starts to push her index fingers together before hesitantly completing them. "Now, show me the handsigns for the Bushin Justu." As she had before she hesitantly displayed the seals to him. Neji smiled, sure if she took the test early, she would have been close to the bottom of his class, but she would have passed. "Hinata, if you take the exam this year, you would pass." He muttered quietly so only she could hear. He frowned upon her reaction, as if he had just slapped her. He sighed as they continued on and realizing that he had little time left before reaching the academy. "Hinata, I am sorry for blaming you for something you had no control over. If I was you, I would not take the test, since Naruto will not pass this year." He quickly walked on, leaving Hinata standing there blushing. He also did not want to get into an argument over the ability of her crush. A couple of the kunoichi in training in his class attempted to engage him in conversation as they walked to their classroom. However, Neji was concentrating on making sure he will be able create enough clones. Upon reaching the seats in the back, Neji quickly cycled through the two techniques, his hands hidden by the desk, without putting chakra into them. Iruka's yell silencing the class was a welcome relief, as Neji noticed Lee sitting in front and Tenten had taken a seat in the middle of class. He smirked at the mention of the written exam. Under Iruka's watchful gaze, Neji's only problem was almost writing Gaara's name for the question, "Who is the current Kazekage?" After completing the written section, Iruka had them next complete the two justus, as Neji waited patiently in line, his nervousness started to eat at him. If he somehow ended up not on Lee's team, he would most likely end up with Kakashi as his jounin sensei. Sure he could easily pass the bell test, but it was not something he wanted to experience. Besides he needed to be on Gai's team to stop Lee from turning into a Gai clone. The work ethic was fine, but Konoha did not need another green beast. Also, he wanted to be with his future friends, not people who should not be genin. Most of his classmates were not ready.
"Neji Hyuuga, your turn." Iruka's instruction pulled Neji to walk forward as he concentrated before releasing the chakra needed as he preformed Henge. He stayed calm to make sure the technique did not waver. "That's enough." Neji tried not to show relief at finishing the first one. If he had told his ANBU unit that the future hinged on how well he performed the Bushin Justu, all three, Kitsune, Panda, and Wolf, would have been on the ground laughing. The one time Wolf wondered why the Bushin Justu was necessary at the academy came back to him. Neji remembered hearing Iruka explaining to the Rokudaime that it was more a test of chakra control and genin might actually be on missions where the enemy, such as bandits, probably would not notice the different between illusion and the real person. He idly wondered if he had problems with waiting for the test to get over the first time he took this test. Did he look over his classmates and determine their fate? Though he would have been right about more than half the class, he had to have been wrong about Lee. No one in his class would ever believe that he would become the best Jounin sensei of this generation. "Neji, it's your turn." Calmly walking into the other room, he stood before Iruka and his assistant that he did not remember.
"Bushin no Justu." He felt the chakra discharge as three clones appeared, while perfect copies, he knew that most academy students could create that many.
"Congratulations, Neji, you pass." Both of the teachers smiled at him, he tried to return a smirk, but it did not feel right. He took his headband, and after removing the cloth over his curse seal, he tied the protector over it as he walked out. The Hokage and I should have compromised more, I should have come back tomorrow. Then I would not have to worry about what team I am on. The only outward sign of his worry was his occasional glances at the door he left by. Looking around he was surprised to see one of the branch members there, Kazuki, who became the head of the branch families after Hizashi died. He nodded at Neji before calmly stating,
"You are the number one rookie, correct?" Neji just smirked, Lee's cheering giving him an opportunity to avoid giving away his nervousness.
"And now fate will give me him as a teammate, since I will be needed to show him the truth about fate." Neji replied smugly.
"Your Honored Uncle wishes to see you once you return to the estate."
"I will return upon escorting Lady Hinata from academy." Kazuki eyes lowered for a second, signaling to Neji that he built more time to prepare himself before having to face the man. He could not let the fact he wanted to strangle Hiashi for his dying wish affect him. Especially since he could not for certain claim being rookie of the year. He followed Kazuki just long enough for his fan girls to give up chase when he headed through town. He made sure not to run into anyone, as it would not do for the genius of the Hyuuga to run into someone. He occasionally would activate his Byakugan, to work on increasing his range of vision. Though if they fight the sound five again, he probably should fight someone else besides Kidomaru. However, the first person to deal with is Danzo. The faster that the leader of Root is stopped the better life will be. And less problems for the Rokudaime. But how to expose him, he will be on guard if I start to look around, besides how would I know about Root? Since the snakes have not knocked out the walls yet, perhaps he will still be using that place for his meetings. Which will have at least four Anbu Root members watching it.
Realizing he had stopped, he looked up, and nearly grimaced. He had been spending too much time with Naruto. He wanted to quickly walk away, since he did not want news of him eating here to reach Hiashi. The two people sitting at the stand, Naruto and the Sandaime, stopped him from leaving.
"Welcome, I'm honored to have a Hyuuga to stop by," Teuchi warmly greeted him. Not wanting to get on the bad side of the owner of the restaurant he might have to spend plenty of time at, Neji nodded as he sat down.
"Congratulations on passing Neji." The sandaime smiled at him. From what Neji remembered of him, the Hokage always disliked the seal that the Hyuuga used. This time, if I succeed, you will get to see start of the end of the cursed seal.
"Thank you, Lord Hokage." Neji looked back to the menu, pretending to look over it.
"Well, I'm sorry, Naruto, but I must head back to the tower. Teuchi, put his meal on my tab." The sandaime quickly removed himself from the stand. Neji quickly put in an order, at least it was a good meal. This place had explained why Naruto worshipped ramen, since very few places could match the taste of Ayame's cooking.
"Thanks old man!" Neji winced upon Naruto's shout, he expected him to be slightly less happy after failing the exam. "Hey, you just graduated, what's your name? Mine's Naruto Uzimaki, future hokage."
"Neji Hyuuga, pleased to meet you-"
"Even though I failed for the second time, I will pass next year. Stupid Bushin no Justu." Naruto muttered to himself, which was easily heard by both Neji and Teuchi as the owner placed down Neji's order. However, it was not just Bushin no Justu that caused him to fail, his last time was someone giving Naruto higher grades, after seeing what his scores should have been, Naruto apologized to Iruka for complaining about his toughness on the testing.
"Perhaps you put too much chakra into the Justus."
"What's chakra?" Neji brought his hands to his face, he had been warned, but how could this boy become Hokage? "I bet I have more than chakra than anyone, including Sasuke!" Naruto pumped his fist into the air as if he completed an important task. After finishing the delicious, but very unhealthy food, Neji paid for it as he prepared to head back to the academy. "Hey, Neji, how strong are you?" Naruto blurted out.
"Strong. Thank you for the food." The way back to the academy was without worry, Neji was expecting Naruto to follow and try to prank, but then again, he usually only got those that he felt deserved it.
Hinata walked out and upon seeing Neji, started to push her fingers together. "C-
congratulations on passing, Brother Neji."
"Thank you, Hinata. I believe that you will do well next year when you graduate." Hinata stared at her cousin, stopping in the middle of the road. "Hinata, we must go, we do not want to make your father wait longer."
"S-sorry, brother." She stared at the ground as she quickly joined Neji onto the way to the main house. Neji did not continue his practice with the Byakugan, calming himself, trying not to think about Hinata's death. After all, it was one of the worst days of his life, and at the same time, one of the best.
"H-how well did you do, brother?"
"I do not know, but I will know when we are split into teams." He smiled at her.
"Why, did N-Naruto pass?" Hinata questioned, she started to look to her upper left.
"No, a boy in my class named Rock Lee passed and he was the worst in the class." He replied calmly. Hinata smiled as she blushed, she was still easy to read as book.
"Lady Hinata, Neji, Lord Hiashi is waiting for you in his office." The guard announced upon their arrival. Neji nodded before following Hinata, trying not to rush her as her pace slowed.
Upon reaching Hiashi's office, Hinata lightly tapped on the door, and once hearing Hiashi's command of, "Enter." they both walked in. "Hinata, how did your end of year exams go?" Hinata quickly looked at the floor, not wanting to stutter in front of her father. "You did not embarrass the clan by failing did you, Hinata?" She shook her head in response. "You were the best kuniochi in your year correct?" He wondered as though he expected otherwise. Though he at least he let her lose to Sasuke without losing honor. Hinata just shook her head. "And Neji, please tell me you at least honored the name Hyuuga?"
"I believe so, Honored Uncle."
"But, you do not know?" Hiashi glared at his nephew, he had not expected him to cause him grief today.
"Iruka seemed worried about something, I wished not to disturb him about the obvious. Besides I will have proof tomorrow, the boy, Rock Lee graduated." Neji explained, making sure that none of his worry showed. Hiashi grimaced, to show his daughter and nephew what he thought about Lee graduating.
"Hinata, you will join your sister and I at dinner, otherwise, spend the rest of the today in your room." Hinata bowed and quickly walked off, grateful not to have to train with Neji. He stood there, waiting for his uncle to continue, now understanding that the silence was Hiashi trying to deal with the guilt of losing his brother. He deserved it for his dying request, neither one of them would have been happy. "Neji, you are dismissed." He bowed before leaving Hiashi's office, as he walked back to his room. Upon reaching it, he activated his Byakugan, knowing he would be allowed to practice inside without trouble. As he sat in the chair next to his desk, and making sure no one could see him writing, he slowly wrote down instructions for Kage Bushin. He then placed the paper with the rest of the notes he had taken at the exam. He felt relieved to notice that the bushin justu was not among the notes. Well, Rokudaime, I may have ruined everything because of one technique. If I do not end up on Lee's and Tenten's team, perhaps I should fail, that way I could be on Naruto's team.
A/N Thanks for everyone for reading my first fanfic, I should have a beta for my next chapter. Please review and any constructive criticism or pointing out mistakes I made will be appreciated. And yes, Neji will act slightly ooc, but Naruto has rubbed off some his personality. And people have suggestions for pairing, I'll listen, though I do have a couple of pairings already planned.