Artheph's Note: Yeah, so this WAS supposed to be the first chapter...since it was the Neji thing that gave me this whole idea. But ...it wasn't coming out right, and Crysthur wrote the Nara one in like two periods during school. And I just kinda chucked this one off to the side because it sounded so ugly. So since it was winter break, I decided to just WHOLLY rewrite the chapter. And this is what came out. Enjoy!
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Hyuuga Clan
Have you ever wondered just why the Hyuugas are so strong? What gave them so much strength to handle the Byakugan? And just how did they become one of the leading clans in Konoha? Yeah, you guessed it. It's all in the hair. Just think about it, and it'll make perfect sense. ALL of them have long hair with the lone exception of Hinata. And oh, would you look at that, she's so very… weak. Come on now, you can't deny it. Yeah, she's had her little speech about how she wants to get stronger, and it's all very inspiring, but the fact still remains that yeah… she's just weak. So this has led to the following conclusion: Long hair equals more room for storing chakra, so short hair means less room for storing chakra. Nice and simple, no?
Now someone must have just made a majorly grievous mistake and forgot to tell the clan leader's daughter about this imperative little secret… either that, or Hinata cares more about being fashionable with a cute haircut than about being a good ninja. Though a bowl cut with two bangs in the front isn't exactly what people would call fashionable… or cute, for that matter, but maybe ninjas have different thought processes. That was pretty obvious with the whole "I should kill my clan to prove myself and gain more strength" plan that Itachi had going on. But that's a whole other tangent. So anyway, that's why every Hyuuga has long hair. At least, the strong ones. If you remember Neji's flashback that thoroughly explained why he hates the Main House oh so much, everyone had long hair. Hiashi, Hizashi, and the other clan elders. Just in case there actually was a guy with short hair, I'll just place him in the weak-like-Hinata category. Or maybe they just went bald.
Oh, and that Cloud guy, who attempted to kidnap Hinata and was basically the cause of Neji's hatred, didn't really WANT the Byakugan. Oh no. That was just a cover made up by the Hyuugas. They're lies, all lies. No no, that fellow wanted to bag himself some Hyuuga hair. Through his super-cool-ninja-spying-abilites, he had learned about the secret chakra supply, and he wanted in. Plus, Hyuuga hair is so nice and silky. Makes a perfect wig, don't you think? But he wasn't really that well informed because Hinata has short hair. Or maybe he was just stupid. Or maybe the whole I'll-be-cool-like-Kakashi-and-have-my-forehead-protector-cover-one-eye-but-have-it-cover-my-RIGHT-eye-so-people-don't-think-I'm-trying-to-copy-him look he had disrupted his depth perception. Or length perception. Which I don't think exists. But oh well. Anyways, you wouldn't really get that much chakra out of Hinata's hair. He should have gone for Neji. Though, it's not like that really matters since the Cloud guy was killed by Hiashi, which led to Hizashi being sacrificed, which led to Neji's holding his lifelong grudge.
Furthermore, this just totally explains why they used Neji's hair in his extensive surgery after the rescue Sasuke mission. I'm sure ALL of you were very, very perturbed by that floating little bundle of hair that then proceeded to melt its way into filling that huge gaping hole up and making Neji some new skin. Apparently, clans MUST document their secret chakra supplies in case those sacred objects could be utilized in a situation such as this. So, Shizune needed chakra fast for the surgery. She frantically looked around for anything. And her eyes fell upon Neji's long hair, not just because it was ever so long, but because she somehow remembered that one little sentence from her medical textbook that said Hyuuga hair holds an immense amount of chakra. Thus, she cut off a chunk of that precious hair and used it to fill the huge gaping hole.
Now after being reminded about the whole surgery deal, I'm sure you wondered how in the world did Neji's hair grow back to its regular length after only ONE chapter? (I don't know about you, but I was definitely looking forward to seeing Neji with short hair… heck, it didn't even have to be short. It just had to be… shortER than before. humph.) See, that's another advantage to having chakra-full hair. It grows back to its original shape and length in one night. No need to worry about having a kunai accidentally cut off a bit or two during a battle or getting gum stuck in it because it'll look perfectly fine the next day. Wow, it WOULD make a good wig. That Cloud guy was really thinking when he thought of his kidnap Hinata plan. Plus, he was bald, right?
So how did the Hyuugas ever think of putting chakra into their hair? No one knows. But one day, some Hyuuga, by the name of Higashi, decided to research just why in the world WERE the Hyuugas so strong. "Byakugan" wasn't a good enough reason. Higashi knew there had to be something more to it. After looking through some ancient scrolls and studying the Hyuugas, Higashi came up with this: somehow chakra is being stored in our hair, and we can somehow draw from it. Yeah, Higashi's research wasn't really that thorough, but it was accepted because it made PERFECT sense. Hey, maybe one of the clan starters had this really awesome forbidden jutsu that put chakra into his long hair, let him draw from it, and made it inheritable, along with the Byakugan. What a thoughtful guy. Now if only someone would tell Hinata, so she can actually get cracking on that whole getting stronger deal…
