Disclaimer: I own nothing. Nothing YET. (hides plans to kidnap Naruto)


Then a pile of heads he laid—
Thirty thousands heaped on high—
All to please the Kafir maid,
Where the Oxus ripples by.
Grimly spake Atulla Khan;—
'Love hath made this thing a Man.'
-
Rudyard Kipling


"Fool, you lie."

"I do not. Come and see! I tell you it is as I have said."

"When such a thing occurs, first the sky shall have to turn green and fall on our heads."

"Then wear a helmet in preparation, because it will no doubt occur."

"Fine. I go, if only to silence you."

The two Hyuuga Branch members walked to the central courtyard, only to be confronted with several of their relatives – Main and Branch both – already watching in stupefied disbelief at the spectacle now taking place in front of their white eyes.

Hyuuga Neji, clan prodigy, heir to the Branch House, and favourite of the Clan Head, was currently getting his aristocratic arse well and truly kicked.

Now, considering that as good as Neji was, Hiashi was a good deal better, this was not surprising. In fact there were other people in the Clan who could have given the boy a thrashing – with great difficulty, it is true. But Neji being beaten should not have garnered this attention.

No – it was the reason why he was being beaten that was so astonishing. And the reason was this: Neji was not fighting well.

Ever since he was four years old and had begun instruction in the Jyuuken style, Neji had been a canny, skilled fighter. Even when he was outgunned or gone nearly mad with rage – it did happen – he had been formidable. But this…this…

Hiashi stared as his nephew tripped over a pebble.

Hinata, who'd had to push through a throng of her relatives to get to the courtyard, dropped the tray she had been holding. Luckily her little sister caught it before it hit the ground – but neither girl spared it much thought. Was this stumbling, careless, clumsy brawler their cousin? Or was it some sort of genjutsu? Briefly Hinata's mind flashed to Naruto, recalling some of the more elaborate pranks the blond boy had pulled off in the Academy – but no. There was the…pale, for lack of a better word, chakra surrounding the eyes that signified a Hyuuga's Byakugan. And where would Naruto have gotten those hand-crafted kunai that Neji liked to use?

That really was Neji-niisan.

'Guh?'

Hiashi, still staring, dodged Neji's headlong rush easily, his mind more concerned with what could possibly have triggered this change in his nephew than with fighting him. What could have upset Neji? Mention of his father? But they'd been working on that, and besides that only tended to make Neji more dangerous, not less. That strange boy with the outrageous green clothing hadn't challenged him in the middle of the night for weeks, and anyway that only engendered fierce irritation (and eye-bags the next morning). Was the Kyuubi-boy – the only other person, aside from the best of the Hyuuga jounin, able to defeat his nephew – responsible?

Or was it…

Though the fight was furious, the Hyuuga compound was still mostly silent. The spectators kept to their breeding and watched in polite – or perhaps stunned – quiet. This made it all the more noticeable when a howl from outside the walls pierced the morning air.

"HIIIII-NAAAA-TAAA! Let's gooooooOOOOoooo!"

Hinata dropped the tray again as her team-mate called for her. Again Hanabi caught it, with a tired little sigh. The other Hyuuga startled at the sound, although they really should have become used to it over the years of Kiba's characteristic morning greeting. Some of them had even begun using it to start their day.

"Yes, eight o'clock exactly," one Hyuuga said aloud, looking at his watch.

Distracted by the noise, only Hiashi saw the narrowing of Neji's eyes and the pure hatred as he glared through the wall to where Kiba was standing. With his years of experience and with his Byakugan activated, understanding dawned on the Hyuuga Clan Head like the light of the sun rising over the horizon.

"Neji," he said solemnly, resting a hand on his very startled nephew's shoulder. "I understand. It is time."

Neji was eerily reminded of his jounin-sensei, somehow.

"Only one thing can – should – upset the inner tranquility of a man so much. And I see your reaction to a rival, a threat, is properly violent," Hiashi intoned sonorously, looking at Neji with pride. "Are you already at that age? My," - to Neji's intense fright Hiashi actually wiped a tear from his eye – "it seems only yesterday that you were a little tyke wanting to kill us all…And now…and now…"

He looked at his amazed daughters. "Hinata, go to your team-mate."

"H…hai, otousan!" Hinata stammered, sketching a bow before bolting for the gate. Hanabi, left alone with the tray, simply decided to drink the tea. She was thirsty and anyway her father seemed otherwise preoccupied.

Hiashi turned back to his increasingly disturbed nephew. "Neji, my lad, I will need some time to prepare the requisite scrolls and diagrams. In the meantime, why don't you go take care of…hm, business, shall we say? Tonight I shall be ready to begin your education, so do not worry about anything. Today can be…reconnaissance. Tomorrow you shall begin your true assault."

Neji had no idea what his uncle was babbling about, but decided that agreeing and escaping would be a better option than trying to understand. Perhaps the old man had begun slipping into senility. He silently disappeared.

Hiashi stood heroically in the morning sunshine, smiling proudly. He turned as a quavering voice – one of the Hyuuga elders – addressed him.

"Hiashi, is it true? Is the boy…?"

"Yes, Hiwesho-san, it is true. You saw his sloppy, distracted fighting. And his glare! Ah, the glare of the man who faces another who would dare claim what is his! There is no mistaking those eyes," Hiashi proclaimed. "There is no doubt: Neji has chosen a girl!"

The Hyuuga compound erupted in cheers. Other Konohans, hearing the eruption of sound from the notoriously silent clan compound, were sure that the world was ending. Then again, they had been sure the world was ending when the Kyuubi attacked; when Itachi slaughtered his clan; when Orochimaru attacked and when the Sand invaded. So they were used to operating under the fear of impending apocalypse.

Calmly, Hanabi sipped from her cup of tea. This was interesting.


AN: Mwahahaha.