"Wait, Naruto!" Neji called as he hustled up the stairs and out of the outhouse entrance to the confinement facility, trying to catch Naruto before he sped off for places unknown.

Naruto stopped, his back still facing Neji as he allowed the Hyuuga to catch up to him. When Neji did, he could tell that Naruto was close to breaking down. It was just so unfair. Naruto had given Sasuke his heart, and Sasuke continued to give him nothing but his ire. After witnessing the exchange between them, Neji felt so thankful that he had met Naruto when he did. He could have easily made the same wrong choices as the Uchiha had not he accepted the chance to change that Naruto had given him.

Day had turned into night, and, though Neji was exhausted, he felt that this was not a time for Naruto to be alone. He needed someone now, perhaps even more than he did when Sasuke was still missing.

"May I walk with you back to your home, Naruto?" Neji asked, hopeful that Naruto would accept his company.

"If you want," he replied plainly, though Neji could tell he did indeed want someone there. Anyone. Neji was glad to be the one; he owed the blonde Shinobi so much already, that he wanted to make sure Naruto could count him as a trusted friend.

The two Shinobi started to walk in the direction of Naruto's small apartment. They moved silently and at a slow pace, the only sound heard was the village quietly settling in for the night, largely and blissfully unaware of the recent mission. Neji could sense that Naruto was replaying the events of the confinement facility over and over in his mind, trying to keep his composure.

"It will take time, Naruto," Neji finally said, trying to offer him something to help him keep his calm.

Naruto was silent. After they had walked about another block, he spoke.

"You know, Neji, he could have killed me. More than once. He was always stronger than me. Always. I was always chasing that annoying little fan on his back when we were kids," he said with a light laugh. "It's really all that losers like me can do. We always chase geniuses like you and Sasuke. You just hope that one day you'll work hard enough so that you don't have to chase anymore. That you'll get to a point when even a genius can say you helped them."

Neji just listened to his friend. These were times when his quiet nature was truly an asset. Not only did he hear the words, he knew that they had a deep meaning to them. Sasuke had told Naruto that he had to grow up. In Neji's mind, it was Naruto who was much more of a man, a man he could admire and accept as his leader and as his friend, a man so much like his father had been

"I don't know why he just won't let me help him. If he would have given me the chance, I could have done so much more than I did for him. Now I think I've gone and made things worse somehow. Just like always."

"Sasuke made his own choices, Naruto. You can't blame yourself for that. What happened these last few days was what was necessary. Nothing more, and nothing less. Sasuke may be a genius. But I know from experience that even geniuses fail. When they do, it either changes their life for the better or for the worse, depending on what they take from that failure."

Naruto was listening thoughtfully, and Neji hoped that he would take his words to heart.

"You never chased me the way you chased Sasuke," Neji continued, "but you taught me that all the same. I see that same passion in Lee, who in some ways, had more obstacles to overcome than you did. And I can tell you that Lee is one of the Shinobi I most respect. He is definitely not a loser. And neither are you. I can think of no one in our generation who is better suited to becoming Hokage than you, Naruto."

"The Hokage has to protect everyone in the village, be ready to give his life for every person who lives inside these walls. I can't even save my friend from himself."

"I have learned that sometimes anger is the only way to express a pure hatred of oneself. When you live in darkness, it's hard to see the light, especially when it's decisions you yourself have made that put you there. Give yourself a chance, Naruto. Sasuke's been in the darkness a long time now. It won't be easy to show him the way out of it. But I believe that you will someday."

"It would be easier if he wasn't a prisoner."

"Perhaps," Neji said, sensing the fear in Naruto that Sasuke's punishment would be nothing short of death. He carefully chose his words. "I know you don't want to see him the way we saw him today. Unfortunately, that is not for us to decide. He will have to face some punishment."

"I know, Neji. I know. But seeing him chained to the bed...I just can't get it out of my mind. I never wanted him to come home to that, even though I know he's done things he shouldn't. I know he'll be punished. I'm just worried they'll kill him. I don't want him to die the way he has been living."

"Well, you just need to keep trying to get through to him somehow while he's here. You'll find a way. I know you won't give up on him."

"Yeah."

As they neared Naruto's apartment, a rough sounding male voice called out from the darkness.

"So this is where you've been hiding, Neji. This is hardly our part of town."

Neji and Naruto spun around to see who had called out. They saw no one, and Neji didn't sense a presence. Whoever the person was, he was masking his aura expertly. Then, Neji realized who it must be.

'Great, not now,' he thought to himself.

"Show yourself when you call out to me." Neji said calmly. "I'd also prefer that you not address me in the familiar."

"Oi. Neji, what's going on?" Naruto said with caution in his voice. Neji just shook his head once, and Naruto got the signal to be quiet and observe for the moment.

From around the corner of Naruto's building, a tallish man of about thirty, dressed in a chuunin vest stepped out of the shadows into the narrow lane. He his hair was jet black, and about chin length, and was held away from his pale face by his Leaf forehead protector. His eyes were completely white. Neji sensed recognition in Naruto that the man before them was a Hyuuga.

"Well, too bad for you, since I really don't care much about what you prefer. Neji," the man said, making particular emphasis on the fact that he added no honorific suffix to Neji's name.

"Neji, who is this jerk?" Naruto asked, getting annoyed.

"Oi,oi,oi. So you let this one call you by your name alone, and you'd 'prefer' that I didn't? I never knew you were such a funny guy."

"Uzumaki Naruto has been a close companion of mine for many years," Neji answered, ignoring the man's attempt at a joke. "You, however, I have only met in passing a few times, Hyuuga Yuudai-san. It would be only customary for us to address each other with polite distance, as our position as Hyuuga clansmen dictates."

"Is that so? I wonder what Hiashi-sama would say if he knew the company you kept and the back alleys you were traveling so late in the evening. I especially can't imagine he'd approve of your 'companion' here, given who he is."

Naruto was taking Yuudai's insult in stride. Even after all he had done for the village, there were still some people who would always see him as "that Naruto." It angered and embarrassed Neji that one of his own clansmen would say such a thing. He was painfully aware that Naruto simply was used to being insulted, and, though it bothered him greatly, he had just learned over the years not to gratify such people with a response.

Neji remembered what the second candidate, Kenta, had said about Yuudai. It would seem he was tending to agree with his assessment that Yuudai was, indeed, a "piece of work". He knew he had to remain calm, and now he had the added responsibility of keeping Naruto from flying off the handle too. Luckily, Naruto was worlds away from what he once was in that regard, so Neji was content to put that a bit further back in his mind.

"Though I am relieved to hear that you at least have the decency to honor the Main Family when you speak of them, I will not permit you to insult my friend. If you do, I will consider it an insult to me as well. Given your situation, it would be in your best interest to remain in my favor."

"Neji, who is this guy?" Naruto asked again, himself sensing the tension between the two Hyuuga men.

"That's not your concern, Blondie. I have something to discuss with your pal here."

"Is this some kind of 'clan business' or something?" Naruto asked, and Neji understood his question. He was trying to figure out whether or not this was one of the candidates without alerting the man that he had any knowledge of the succession itself. 'Quite clever, Naruto,' Neji thought.

"Heh. Yeah, it's something like that. I'm surprised someone like you, who has no family, would be aware of such things."

"You sure seem to know a hell of a lot about me, when I've never heard of you. But I guess there's only one me and a ton of Hyuugas, so I'll give you a pass on that. I'm not sure if I'm ready to give you that much room the way you're talking to Neji, though," warned Naruto quietly.

"Well, you're pretty tough there kid. I guess you'd have to be," Yuudai commented rather offhandedly. "But this doesn't concern you, so just go home and let us be."

"I'll go home when you leave," came the even toned reply.

"Yuudai-san," Neji began, sensing he may have more to worry about from his own clansman than from Naruto, "I think it would be best if we met sometime tomorrow. As you said, the hour is late. I will be happy to converse with you at a place of your choosing . We can discuss things more formally then."

"Don't get so high and mighty, Neji. I understand that you're a Jounin. As a Konoha Shinobi, I am bound to respect your rank, whether or not I like it. But when it comes to family matters, don't presume to think of yourself as above me in any way. You and I are both from a Branch Family. When I look at you as a clansman, you're nothing but a kid. If you want a title, how about Neji-no-gaki?"

Neji heard a soft "tch" escape Naruto's lips.

"I find your callous nature to be most unflattering, Yuudai-san. Do not continue to cause our clan embarrassment with it. Though you serve under the Hokage as an honorable Shinobi, you need to be more mindful that you represent the Hyuuga when you are out in this village as well. I would hope that you do not cause anyone to think poorly of our clan and its Main Family with your words."

Yuudai chuckled a bit. "Well, that was spoken like a true servant of Hiashi-sama."

"We are both his servants, Yuudai-san." Though Neji didn't like to quite put it that way, he had accepted his position, and lived his own life as both Konoha Jounin and protector of the Main Family.

Naruto remained quiet, his eyes never leaving Yuudai's face. Neji knew that Naruto likely didn't want to hear him refer to himself as a servant, but Naruto knew enough about the delicate nature of the situation to keep his opinions to himself, at least for now. Neji prepared himself for a possible earful, however, when Yuudai was gone.

"I have to say, Neji, that you've really done well for yourself, getting as cozy as you are with Hiashi-sama. I guess being the son of his twin has its advantages over the rest of us. He must be getting soft. To think that he has allowed you to live in the Main House. I plan to remedy that situation when the time comes."

"Yuudai-san, we will discuss this no more. I will meet with you privately and you can voice your concerns about my position then," Neji replied coolly. He was not enjoying this interaction one bit.

"You know, I think I'd rather continue our talk now. I'm more of a night person. If Blondie here insists on hanging around, so be it. It's not like it's going to be a big secret forever."

"I'm sorry, but I will not engage you in this conversation any further, Yuudai-san." Neji was straining to keep his tone civilized.

"Well, too bad, Neji-no-gaki. I have been waiting for you to get home for this reason, and this reason alone. Don't think I haven't heard through the grapevine that we have had some excitement as of late. Wouldn't want to wait again if you had to go off chasing that Uchiha when his gangster buddies come to break him out of his cell."

"You aren't supposed to know about that," Neji seethed, sensing Naruto's willpower beginning to weaken at the mention of Sasuke's name. He had to get rid of Yuudai. "Furthermore, while we are out on the streets of Konoha, I will insist that you show me the respect that my rank deserves. What you call me within the compound is up to your own bad judgment. But while you are outside, I am your senior. As such, I am ordering you to leave and return home. Now."

"You are a funny guy, Neji-sempai. Is that better? I will obey your orders for now. I don't have a choice. I just find it ironic that you pull rank on me and yet you hang around the slummiest part of town with some genin that you let call you whatever he wants."

"Go. Now. That's an order, Hyuuga!" Neji repeated forcefully.

"All right. I'm leaving. I will find you tomorrow."

Yuudai finally turned to leave, heading in the general direction of the Hyuuga Compound. Before he was about to disappear from sight, he called back to Neji over his shoulder.

"One more thing, Neji. It must kill Hiashi-sama that his favorite servant won't get the chance to father the next generation for him. Pity that you're her genetic half brother, I'm sure he would rather have it fall to you. But that makes it much the better for me, and for her too, I think. I wonder how good of a protector for Hinata-sama you are. Letting her go off on a mission against an Uchiha like that. Those days will be coming to an end as well for her."

Before Neji could stop him, Naruto had finally lost his cool and ran up behind Yuudai. In one move he grabbed him by his collar and shoved him back first into a wall.

"Naruto, no! Let him go!" Neji ran up behind Naruto as he held Yuudai to the wall. Though Yuudai was still projecting a neutral aura, he let a small sensation of surprise at Naruto's brute strength escape him that Neji was able to perceive.

"I don't know who the hell you think you are," Naruto hissed. "I'll let Neji deal with how you talk to him in his own way. But if you say one more thing about Hinata, or if I find you have laid your filthy hands on so much as one hair on her head, you WILL be answering to me. Got that, asshole?"

"Aren't you going to order him to stand down, SEMPAI?!" Yuudai spat to Neji.

"I'm considering it," Neji said calmly, not really considering it at all.

Unsatisfied with the response, Yuudai redirected his attention to Naruto. "You're really one to talk about having 'filthy hands' considering you're the fucking monster who nearly wiped this village off the map! Not to mention your little friend that Uchiha traitor!"

Neji stepped back, sure that Naruto was going to haul off and give Yuudai the punch he deserved. But Naruto held back, and Neji saw Yuudai whisper something into his ear. Neji felt Naruto's anger suddenly flare up. Did Yuudai say something else about Sasuke?

Before Neji could think, Naruto had lifted the larger man off his feet and threw him on the ground . In a flash, he was straddling Yuudai, and unleashed a right hook to his jaw, causing Yuudai's head to violently snap to his right, blood coming to his lips.

"Naruto! That's enough!" Neji yelled.

He rushed over to pull his friend off his clansman. Neji arrived just in time to hear Naruto say quietly, in a venomous tone that Neji had rarely heard from him, "If you try anything like that, I don't care who the hell you are. I will be your worst nightmare. Your worst."

"Naruto, what's going on here?" Neji hurriedly asked, the situation getting out of control.

Naruto shoved Yuudai once more for good measure, slamming his head into the road as Neji pulled him up. The older man sat up, wiping the blood from his mouth on his sleeve. To Neji, he gasped, "You really have no control over your subordinate, Sempai. Jounin my ass."

"For your information, Yuudai-san, I do not consider Naruto to be my subordinate at all," Neji said hotly, the guard of his temper being finally cast away into the night. "As a matter of fact, he is the newest in a long line of supreme Shinobi who are versed in the Sage Arts. Though that position has no specific designation, a Shinobi of that caliber outranks me! Now, go HOME, before I report this incident to the Hokage herself! That IS an order!"

"Neji..." Naruto breathed, shocked both by the fact that Neji had lost his cool, and also that he had referred to him as the heir to the Sage Arts.

"I hear you, Neji-sempai. I'll leave you two little lovebirds alone in your back alley," Yuudai said as he spat the blood out of his mouth and rose to leave.

Neji thrust his arm out just as Naruto was ready to charge for the insinuation that Yuudai had made. "Don't worry about something like that, Naruto," Neji whispered. "It's not worth the effort."

"We will have our chance to settle this soon enough where I won't need to worry about your rank or anyone else's. Prepare yourself, my brother!" he shot back angrily, not disguising his aura any more. He rose and took to the rooftops, leaving Neji and Naruto to stare after him.

After a few seconds of silence, Naruto spoke up. "I'm sorry, Neji. I'm so sorry. I hope this won't get you in trouble at home or anything."

Having regained his composure, Neji replied, "Nah, I don't think so. I have enough that I can tell Hiashi-sama on my own about his personality that would nullify anything he could say about me."

"You sure?" Naruto asked softly. "I mean, you just admitted that you're friends with...the Jinchuuriki. I'm sure your elders wouldn't think to highly of that."

"Naruto, he should not have spoken to you in that way. It is a poor reflection on our clan, and Hiashi-sama would not approve of one in the Branch Family who would act with such lack of dignity. You are Uzumaki Naruto. That is that."

After a short pause in which he seemed to accept Neji's answer, Naruto questioned, "Neji, can I ask you something about what he said?"

"What is it?"

"Well, he said something about that Hiashi guy wanting you to be the father of the next generation or something. And then he said something about you being a half brother. I always thought you and Hinata were cousins."

"Oh. That."

"Yeah, what the hell was he talking about?"

"Well, to put it simply, my father was Hiashi-sama's identical twin. Because identical twins have exactly the same genes, it's like Hinata-sama and I have the same father, only different mothers. Genetically speaking, Hinata-sama is my half sister."

"Okay, I get that. But what about the whole father of the new generation thing? How do the stupid Branch Families survive if they're not allowed to have their own children?"

"No, they have their own children. That's not really what he was referring to."

Neji was not entirely comfortable with where this conversation was going. But he felt he needed to make Naruto understand. "Yuudai-san was accurate in one thing he said. I am favored by Hiashi-sama to some degree. I would not have been entrusted with this task if I was not."

"So?" Naruto prodded, a bit confused.

Blushing slightly, Neji continued. "The way these things go is like this. To ensure that those in the Main Family are the true masters of the Byakugan, and remain superior to Branch Families, the children who are the firstborn are made to marry only the most highly skilled Byakugan users in the clan. This, in their view, would produce children of similar high skill."

"Okay," Naruto said, and it did seem to Neji that he was following the explanation well enough.

"When Yuudai-san said that Hiashi-sama would rather it fall to me, he meant that if Hiashi-sama could have it his way, I, because of my...genius as you would say, would be the one to marry Hinata-sama and father her children."

Both Naruto and Neji blushed in spite of themselves. Then, Naruto snapped to a realization and let out a rather loud "EEEEEH?! But, if you said you were not really cousins, and you were brother and sister that would be, uh I mean, that would be-"

"Yeah," Neji interrupted, not wanting Naruto to say his conclusion aloud. "That's why Yuudai-san said it was turning out better for him. Hiashi-sama himself told me that I was his preferred choice. However, because I am too closely blood related to Hinata-sama, that marriage would likely not produce a viable heir. There would be too much risk of genetic abnormality. Therefore, the elders had to look elsewhere within the clan to find excellent Byakugan users who are far more distant relations."

"So that jerk is Hinata's cousin, your cousin?"

"In a manner of speaking, yes. But there are many Branch Families, and each has many of its own generations of history. Relations that are that far apart can really only loosely be called cousins. The eyes are really the only common trait that Hinata-sama would share with the three...prospects."

"So, either way, Hinata has to marry a good Byakugan user, who's a distant cousin."

"As it stands now, yes."

"What would happen if she didn't marry within the clan?"

"She can't do that. Only members of the Branch Families can do that, if they so choose. But any children born to a marriage with...an outsider, no matter what level of skill they have with the Byakugan, they would not be considered even for marriage into a future Main Family."

"Why?"

"Because the Main Family must only contain pure Hyuuga blood. That's precisely why these marriages of the firstborn children of the Main Family are arranged."

Naruto took it all in, and a look of consternation came to his face.

"Oi. Neji. Is that Yuu-whoever guy really one of the three?"

"He is. The information I have also says he's the most talented Byakugan user of them as well. Obviously, that is not all I will take into consideration, but I can only make a recommendation. The final decision lies solely with Hiashi-sama and the elders."

Remembering what he had witnessed, Neji realized he hadn't asked Naruto what Yuudai had whispered to him. "Naruto, what was it he said to you before you threw him down? Was it something about Sasuke?"

"No. It wasn't about Sasuke."

"What, then?" Neji sensed that Naruto wasn't sure he wanted to say. He felt that Naruto was becoming awash with concern.

"We can't let her marry that one," he began quietly. "I don't care if we fail to change the way things work in that crazy clan, but Hinata will marry that guy over my dead body."

Growing concerned himself, Neji asked again. "Naruto. Please. What did he say to you? Tell me."

Naruto blushed profusely, but Neji also sensed anger along with discomfort.

"He, uh, said that Hinata would be a nice prize."

"That's not all. Is it."

"No. He said that when he claimed his prize, that..."

"What?" Neji said evenly, feeling his own anger starting to rise.

"He said that when he claimed his prize, he would be putting a lot more than his filthy hands on her. That's why I lost it. I'm sorry Neji. I'm so sorry." Naruto said quickly, demonstrating to Neji that he had understood the full meaning of what Yuudai had said. Neither Neji nor Naruto were particularly experienced in these matters, but they both knew enough.

Naruto was blushing again, his cheeks growing hot with anger and embarrassment at the images Yuudai forced him to envision. Neji was furious. 'How dare he speak of Hinata-sama that way?' Neji said to himself. Not only was she the first daughter of the Main Family, someone he should be humbled and honored that he'd even have a chance with, but it was Hinata of all people. There was no young woman more chaste than was she. What he was describing was lust and nothing more.

"Neji, what the hell are we gonna do?! What if they pick him? The way he said it. I'm not a complete idiot. I know how it will be for her. He won't...love her."

"We just have to make sure they don't. We have to." Neji said softly, still fuming.

"If he touches her, I won't hold back," Naruto warned seriously.

"I won't stop you."

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A/N I only own that jerk Yuudai and not any of these other characters!

Thanks for continuing to read. I hope you enjoyed the intro of my final OC. I've updated my profile a bit, by request. I really suck at them though, so don't expect much!

Once again, Ceile humbly appreciates all the support the readers have given this story!

C

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