Since the day my father died, I ate dinner with the Main Family.

I wasn't sure why - my mother Himiko didn't; I'd asked her several times and she never cared to hazard a comment. My mother was too savvy to set off that explosive note.

But every evening since dad's death, there was a kimono on my bedside and I was expected - I'm sure my absence due to Gai-sensei's training the entire week since I'd been made a genin was quite the talk of the Clan's rumor mill.

On the other hand, Hiashi might well know about his knowledge of the Juuken and the insanity of his training, and have arranged for him to be my jounin-sensei. He has his hand in many things.

I never mentioned the dinners to anyone, but of course everyone knew.

I lived in a compound where everyone loved to gossip, and could see through walls - of course they knew.

Though I had the courtesy to take a bath after Gai's training before a rather formal dinner, I always dressed rather plainly. My only real luxury was a silver plait that I put around my hair band at the small of my back - it was a point of either pride or arrogance, being a taijutsu specialist with the luxury of long hair. It was almost a dare to everyone, telling them that you know they couldn't possibly touch you.

So far I'd been good enough to keep my hair long.

Hanabi's eyes lit up when I sat down on the floor for dinner.

"We all noticed your long absence, cousin Neji." Hanabi said with a pout.

Hanabi was the youngest of the Main Family. She was the favorite daughter - outgoing, quite exceptional at the Juuken, and fearless. She was also a horrid brat who was socially awkward.

"I decided I just couldn't bear to stand to be in your company a single moment longer, Lady Hanabi." I said dryly. The seven year old gasped with betrayal.

"You liar!" She squeaked.

"Hanabi. Compose yourself at the table. Neji, please do not tease your cousin like that - apparently she cannot control herself." Hiashi chastised, but was obviously amused. He liked when I treated his daughters so casually. I nodded my head in acknowledgement. Hanabi quirked her eyebrow at me in a misplaced glare - as though seven year olds can glare, really.

I believe I was all of four years old when I decided I would hate Lord Hiashi forever. It was hard to do, with how well he treated me. The pain of the loss of my father was still there - Hiashi was my dad's twin, so I literally saw my dad every time I saw Hiashi, even though I pointed out the subtle differences at length - but I knew the reasoning, and with an adult mind in my body found it easier to cope with the loss. I also knew it was almost certainly my father's idea.

It was a noble death, for a shinobi to sacrifice himself for something he believed in. My father believed in protecting his brother. I regretted my initial decision to blame Hiashi, even though he never thought to dissuade me from it - he probably blamed himself just as much.

"How have you found Gai, Neji?" Hiashi asked lightly.

I knew it.

"I was surprised at his knowledge of the Juuken, Lord Hiashi." Hanabi looked shocked - her adorable little face lit up with it and she looked at Hiashi, mouth open like I'd just cursed at the dinner table.

Hinata was of course much more reserved, as usual, but even she was quite surprised and her eyes glanced around.

"Of course. Gai is Konoha's finest taijutsu master. He is, debatably, unsurpassed in his mastery of taijutsu - in all of the Elemental Nations. Certainly you'd be hard pressed to find a finer taijutsu master, in any case." Hiashi said without addressing the obvious question.

"I have no doubt - the man is an absolute monster, and seems to be well-versed in training, as well. But more specifically, he could stop my Juuken attacks bare-handed. He thought nothing of it. He clearly had extensive sparring experience that allowed him to figure out how to precisely expel chakra from the tenketsu in his hands in a way that allows him to parry Juuken strikes." I said. I kept the tone conversational, but I knew this was a dangerous topic.

As I've mentioned, shinobi have been killed before, just for knowing these kinds of details about the Juuken. No Hyuuga was allowed to spar with actual Juuken strikes as an Academy student - and we were strictly monitored even as genin.

Hiashi looked at me a bit disapprovingly when I pressed for details.

"He has several sources. When he failed his first chuunin exam, for the next exam he was put on a team with a Branch family member. I believe you know Hoheto, he's been quite involved with Hinata and Hanabi's Juuken training. He even taught you a bit, years ago, Neji. He is quite skilled." Hiashi said. "Gai gleaned more than a few details just from being around and sparring with Hoheto, as would any taijutsu specialist. I suppose his precise knowledge comes from his summons, though."

His what?

A lot of shinobi without clans thought that summons were impossibly rare, and only the likes of the Sannin had them. While they were rare, many clans had a contract that was signed every few generations - though the Hyuuga was not amongst them.

Even though they may have been more common than some people thought, however, signing a summon contract still put you in damn elite company - Itachi was rumored to have signed the Uchiha contract before he murdered them all, and the Hokage had one. Sharingan Kakashi had a family contract, since his family was a clan that dated back to when Konoha was founded - his family was shamed in some way that people didn't talk about, so I didn't know the details.

I think a few of the fossils the Hokage associated with had a contract. Second and Third War stories always involved summons animals. Even discounting the infamous battle between The Sannin and Hanzo the Salamander.

Still, the known contracts could be counted on one hand, with the suspected contracts filling out perhaps a second - if you counted clans who were probably sitting around waiting for someone with enough chakra to use the damn thing.

Ahem, Nara.

I composed myself from the relative shock of finding out that Gai-sensei had a summons contract - apparently one with taijutsu knowledge - and clarified. "I wasn't aware Gai-sensei had a summons contract. I imagine we'll meet his animal later."

Hiashi looked amused, but knew I was burning to know, so he answered the question I didn't ask.

"Yes, he has the tortoise contract. No idea where he got it, but the tortoises have been a reservoir of knowledge for taijutsu masters since before shinobi founded hidden villages. I imagine his summons will be able to teach you a great deal about the Juuken, even. Be sure to take notes on anything he passes along that may have been forgotten by the clan in the past few hundred years." If my own mouth was agape, Hanabi's was literally on the floor. She snapped her head back and forth between everyone at the table, trying to see who had the best reaction.

It was her, but she couldn't see herself.

"I...will do that. Thank you Lord Hiashi." I said.

The concept of the Hyuuga clan losing information about the Juuken was almost unthinkable - but when I thought about it, it also wasn't. Hundreds of years ago, the Branch family probably wasn't so tightly controlled - we probably invented our own techniques just like the Main family did. They might be lost now, but if I'm a prodigy born into the Branch family, perhaps there were a few others.

Gai's summons might be quite the resource.

"Why does Neji get such a great sensei and I get stuck with Hoheto?" Hanabi demanded.

Her brattiness was tolerated to an extent, but direct insults crossed the line even for a seven year old.

"Hanabi. Do not speak like that about Hoheto's generosity in teaching you the Juuken. He is an excellent instructor. And whoever your jounin-sensei is, when you become a genin, either they will also provide the instruction you need or I will take a personal hand in teaching you the Juuken. Just as I will your sister Hinata." Hiashi said with reassurance.

The girl was placated.

Dinner ended and I thanked Hiashi and my cousins for the dinner, as always.

Then I trained, because clearly I was a sadist with nothing better to do. The real problem was that I didn't have anything better to do because I was singularly focused - and from my history classes I knew that even the Hokage considered the most singularly focused were masters of several areas.

Something to keep me up at night, I suppose.

In the courtyard, I ran through the kata of the Juuken, all one hundred sixty-one kata. I sped through at a searing speed - my father's lessons from a decade earlier echoing in my mind as I mirrored his movements at a hundred times the speed he'd demonstrated to my eager eyes.

The second time, I doubled it. Then I took my Resistance Seals off and quadrupled that speed, though it was admittedly sloppy.

I was panting with the effort of it, by the end, before breaking.

I mentally ran through Gai's Goken kata while catching my breath and channeling chakra back into my Resistance Seals to replace them.

The Goken was...almost foreign. In many ways it was blatantly straight-forward. Powerful hits, overwhelming force, blocks that relied on superior power, strikes meant to shatter bones. It was almost incomplete in that it didn't have throws, but Gai mentioned during several of the katas that if you were strong enough, certain strikes and kicks in Goken would act like a throw because they would knock back your enemy.

That was completely foreign to Juuken. Juuken incorporated many throws because it was the one thing you couldn't do with chakra.

I actually blinked, and eyed the training post sideways.

Allegedly couldn't do with chakra.

In any case, not only had I memorized the sixty kata of the Goken in a week - though admittedly only thirty of them were up to any speed I consider acceptable - but I'd done so while watching Gai with my Byakugan.

The flow of his chakra during the kata was illuminating - it was so well-trained that it was exactly what it would be if there was an enemy attacking him. I saw the reinforcement when he blocked, exactly emanating from a single tenketsu with impressive chakra control. I saw his hips, legs, back, and arm light up to give him striking power, and his fist to reinforce his hand harder than steel - all a reflex.

Masterfully trained.

I ran through the sixty kata, first without the Byakugan, then at a fraction of the speed possible, attempting to recreate the flow of Gai's chakra.

Over and over. Drilling the Goken into my body.

I resolved to similarly watch Lord Hiashi, with the flow of his Juuken. My own would improve, if simple flaws I hadn't seen before were removed.

I went to bed late. Gai had gotten me used to a harsh schedule.