Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Duh.

Dharma
By: TF

(One-Shot)

Initially he had thought that he was doing the right thing, preaching about fate to all who would listen, and resenting that he, one of the strongest of the Hyuuga clan, was of the Branch family. In his hatred he had forgotten his father's earliest teachings. He had forgotten that dharma, or the "moral way", could help him, over time, transcend the grip of fate, destiny, and karma, because it simply ruled them all.

Then he'd fought Naruto, and against all odds, Neji had lost. Even with the technique that was supposed to be exclusive to only the Main house members he had lost, and with it his views of the world had been shattered. All because that blonde had a strange chakra that spiraled out from his stomach in a way Neji had never seen before.

All in all, maybe it wasn't such a bad thing that he'd been beaten. He was stronger for it, and had the girl who was supposed to be the heir of the Main house under his protection in a skewed sense of family honor. Remembering dharma hadn't been a bad thing at all, only a beginning based off of a defeat.

He, Neji, was beating fate.

END

Notes: dharma is from the Hindu religion. Basically it is the moral or right way, saying that if you do good things you get good karma, and if you do bad things you get bad karma. Because fate leads you inadvertently to bad karma, say, through the killing of insects (this is mostly the Jaina religion, but it ties in), doing the good acts makes up for it.

Eh, it was a try.