Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto!

It's been a rather hectic week, just to say the least, so here's the next installment!

Enjoy!

Neji sighed in exasperation as he kept teaching Hinata, watching as the girl tried again and again to keep her techniques active for more than a minute. He shook his head when she ran out of chakra, panting with exhaustion. This girl was part of the Hyuga clan with skills like hers? He'd been a small child when he'd been this bad at chakra control. Of course he was the genius of their clan, but still… A/N: I don't know about you, but we both know why she sucks at chakra control...

"Hinata-chan, stop for a moment."

She did as asked, looking up at him with expectant eyes. He gazed at her, seeing the features of another idiot in her. The blonde hair…it was very familiar, but the Hyuga blood and his never crossed… He couldn't be sure, he would have to ask Mitsuki when she came back. Because if training did nothing for her, he might have to train her, to try and get her to use what little chakra she had wisely.

"Your chakra control is extremely poor, and the Hyuga techniques are all about using your chakra well."

She sighed and nodded. "I know, Neji-sensei."

As he was about to give her a lecture, the twins, Hiro and Seiji, came running out.

"Neji-san! Neji-san!"

Seiji's eyes had turned lavender with age, making it clearly apparent that he had the Hyuga Kekkei Genkai. The boys, six years old, were being trained by Neji as well, though they were just beginners. Both were very excitable, like they were on ten cups of coffee all the time.

They ran to him, and he lifted one on each hip, smiling at his students that obviously had better skills than their sempai. "What are you two up to?"

"Itachi-nii-chan won't play with us!" Seiji whined, eyes large.

"He just want to train all the time!" Hiro agreed, pouting.

Neji shook his head. "Itachi-kun has graduated from the academy and is a real ninja now. He won't be around much, once he's assigned to a team under a jonin teacher."

Hinata raised her eyebrows. "Really? I thought he was brooding, with how un-busy he looked, just sitting on his futon like he's been doing for the past twelve hours."

Neji almost rolled his eyes at how immature the girl was, even though she was thirteen. Mocking her probable teammate like that would only get the younger boy mad at her if she did it enough.

"Hinata-chan, activate your Byakugan again, and try to muster half the chakra you've been using."

She closed her eyes and tried to halve her chakra consumption. Even after six years, she still couldn't manage to mix her chakra right. She opened her eyes. "Byakugan!"

The outline of pupils appeared in her eyes, making her seem ultra-focused. She strained to see as far as she could, pushing her limits as she'd been taught to do. She could see outside the walls of Konohagure, through the forest, to the point where she was supposed to be looking at. Her eyes quivered as she pushed herself over the one-minute mark, her chakra running low.

Her whole body shook as she tried to maintain the technique, but it disappeared the instant she tried. She fell to the ground, panting from the way she'd overworked her body.

Neji tsked and walked over to her, pulling her to her feet. "Hinata-chan, I want you to run through the village streets, not missing one or stopping. But this is the difficult part: you must keep your Byakugan active until you meet me back here, at this spot. Fail, and I'll stop training you. It won't matter if even Mitsuki orders me to continue. I won't keep training a failure."

She bit her lip, but knew she had to do this and not cheat, because he would know if she stopped during her run. He would probably be watching her via Byakugan the entire time. But to run through the whole village while concentrating on maintaining her Byakugan would be near impossible, considering how fast she ran while occupied with something.

Shaking hard, she mustered what little chakra she had and focused, her Byakugan appearing again. She started to run, keeping her eyes focused on the ground in front of her, her gold ponytail waving behind her from her speed. She knew that this pass or fail test would be the most grueling training she'd ever have. She wanted to have abilities to at least get the attention of her jonin teacher, but not outshine Itachi, although she knew she was letting him down for being such a failure at absolutely everything.

She had to do this and be better. Even if she ran out of chakra. She would finish this, even if she collapsed at the end. She'd never run throughout the village, so it would be taxing physically as well. But it didn't matter. It was vital that she passed, or else she would have to quit being a ninja. Hyuga-sama would never have the time to train her, what with all the missions she was going on and three kids to take care of. So having Neji-sensei train her was her only option.

But luck didn't seem to be on her side. She smacked into someone, but only stumbled back.

"Hey kid! Watch where you're going!" an unfamiliar voice scolded.

She shook her head and ran around the person, her hands still in the seal that had activated her Byakugan. Now wasn't the time to be distracted, it didn't matter who it was she'd just bumped into. She didn't have time to even murmur an apology.

"Hey kid! Come back here and apologize to me for nearly knocking me down! KID!" the voice, a man's, demanded, anger clearly apparent for being ignored and treated disrespectfully.

"Just keep running," she told herself. "You can find them later and say sorry. Just keep running, Hinata."

Her breath was much too quick for a run like this, but she had to keep going. Mind over matter, that was all she had to focus on. Mind over matter.

"Mind over matter," she repeated over and over, which seemed to strengthen her.

Grueling training, or torture? Neji must have a method to his madness...somewhere.

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