Neji's Secret, a naruto fanfic

Many of you have heard of the great RedLotusNin and IceHunerNin, right? (If not, you must read their stuff!) Anyways, this fan fiction was inspired by them...more specifically a picture RLN posted up on DeviantArt one day. Icouldn't help but write a one-shot based on this pic once I saw it. So I'd like to present to you Neji's Secret! Hope you enjoy!

(Can't get the link to work on here, so go to my profile to get a link to the pic)

(Disclaimer: I do NOT own Naruto. Enough said.)

Neji's Secret

"Haha! I can't believe it!" Lee was rolling on the ground and laughing so hard he had to gasp for air. "Th-the rookie of the year…" He could say no more, as his face was turning blue from the lack of oxygen.

"Oh, come off it Lee," Ten-ten replied. She seemed to be the only sane one of the group. Even my teacher was laughing uncontrollably. "I think it's kind of cool that Neji actually has a bit of a soft side. What, with the Hyuuga clan always acting so tough and all."

'Soft, am I?' I thought to myself. And to think, I had actually started to kind of like this girl. It was hard enough having her stand up for me, but did she really have to call me "soft"?

"Oh, he's got a soft side all right." Lee said as he regained control of himself. "Soft and fluffy. A true pansy!" He broke into uncontrollable laughter once again, still rolling around on the ground.

"That does it!" I yelled. "Byakugan!" He would pay for his insolence. I was by no means going to stand for such a thing.

But before I could unleash my fury, Gai-sensei had a hold of me and would let me go no further. "That's enough, Neji. We didn't mean to get you so upset. It just caught us all by surprise. After all, like Ten-ten said, we never would have expected a genius from the Hyuuga clan to do such a thing. It just caught us off guard is all." He let go of me, sensing that I had regained my self-control. "Let's skip the mission for today, shall we? We'll wait and do one tomorrow, instead." With that, we each went our separate ways; my teacher and teammates to think on what they had just seen, and me to once again curse the main family for making my life a living nightmare.

How was it that every time I thought I'd found some peace from the main family, they always seemed able to add to the cage that was my life? First, they stick me in a cage by putting this wretched seal on my forehead. Then, they force me sing like a little canary by making me go through some new, fancy form of training.

I let my feet lead the way, not knowing or caring where they'd take me. My mind was occupied by other thoughts; things far more important than a mere, insignificant destination.

When did things start to go so horribly wrong? When did I begin to lose control over my own life?

Well, those questions were easy enough to answer. It all started when my cousin, Hinata, turned three and I became the equivalent of caged bird, having had this wretched curse seal placed upon my forehead. But that was just the beginning of my troubles.

The seal had only played a small role in shaping events as they had just recently occurred. It hadn't been the seal that had made my teammates laugh at me that afternoon. No, it was something far worse!

The seal was only a spark that ignited the wildfire that was the disaster of that day — a very miniscule component in the much larger scheme of things.

Taking a look at my surroundings, I realized I had wandered into a very secluded area of Konoha that was surrounded by trees. This would make for a perfect spot to sit in peace with only my thoughts for company.

Leaning back against the nearest tree, my mind drifted back to a day from seven years before. Because of the events from that day, I now had to deal with my teammates laughing at me and calling me "soft". And the rate my luck was going, I would soon have more than just my teammates laughing.

The true trouble had begun seven years ago. Shortly after I turned five years of age, my uncle, Hiashi-sama, came up to me. "Neji," he said, "if you would come with me, I'd like to teach you a new form of training that will help you succeed in becoming a great ninja."

He then led me into a large room. It was completely empty, with the exception of my cousin, Hinata. My uncle, having sensed my surprise at seeing her in the room, simply responded by saying, "Yes, Hinata will be going through this training as well." I gave a slight nod of my head to show that I understood, then made the rest of my way into the room and stood next to Hinata to await further instructions.

As always when I began a new training session, I eagerly awaited what my uncle had in store for me, not knowing it would turn out to be something to make me the laughing stock of my own teammates — and possibly the whole of Konoha.

"All right. Let's begin, shall we?" Hiashi-sama clapped his hands together then rubbed them against each other as he said this. "Neji," he nodded his head towards me. "Hinata," he then nodded his head towards his daughter. "Pease face each other."

We both did as we were told with no objections.

"Now Neji, place your right hand on Hinata's waist," my uncle stated as he once again slightly inclined his head in my direction. Though I thought the request slightly odd, I did as instructed and placed my hand on my cousin's waist.

"Good. Now, Hinata," he looked at his daughter, "put your left hand on Neji's right shoulder." She also did as she was told without saying a word.

Now, as I was only five (and obviously pretty stupid, now that I think back on it), I didn't really think my uncle's instructions were all that strange. To me, it was simply the beginning stance for a new style of very close combat. After all, if I was to become the great genius I knew I was expected to be, I had to learn how to fight in all situations, whether my opponent fought from afar, or only ten inches away. I had to be prepared.

"Neji, I want you to now take your left hand and hold Hinata's right," Hinata's father instructed.

Hinata and I both looked at Hiashi-sama, wanting to be sure we heard him right. 'Did he just tell us to hold hands?' I thought as I turned back to look at Hinata. I could see her face beginning to turn a slight shade of pink as she tried to avoid looking at me as we did as we had been told.

My uncle then came over to us and inspected our stances, making sure our hands were placed exactly where they needed to be. He adjusted a few small things in our stances and then stepped back a few paces to make sure the overall positioning looked correct.

"Looks good," he stated. He seemed to be content with the way training had been going so far — quite the opposite of how I was feeling. It was very awkward being in such a position with my cousin. But as I was only five and still naïve, I didn't think too much of it as I awaited further instructions from my uncle.

"Now, you will remain in this position as you move through the steps," Hiashi-sama instructed. "To start, Neji step forward with your left foot and Hinata step back with your right." We did the steps without objection.

"Next, Neji step forward and to the right with your right foot as Hinata moves her left foot back and to the left." Again, we did as we were told without any objection.

Hiashi-sama then continued to tell us one step after the next until we finally reached the end, only to start over again. As a matter of fact, we repeated the steps over and over again, until my uncle was positive we had them memorized (which, of course meant that I went through the whole process about ten time more than I needed as I had it memorized by the end of the second time through it).

"Alright, you two. That's enough for today,' Hiashi-sama finally said. "We'll continue the training tomorrow. Same time, same place." And with that, he left the room, leaving Hinata and me behind.

"Well, um…see you tomorrow, I guess," Hinata whispered before she also left.

I was alone; left to ponder the strange new training techniques my uncle had taught us. 'Is this really going to of any use to me?' I asked myself. 'Is this truly going to help me succeed in becoming a great ninja?' Hiashi-sama had said it would, but after going through all the steps, I was beginning to have my doubts. It had almost looked more like we were dancing than doing any sort of training.

So the very next day, I returned to the same room to find Hiashi-sama and Hinata already there, waiting for me. 'I'll just ask him after we've finished training,' I thought to myself; I had made up my mind to ask him more about the training.

As soon as I stepped into the room and closed the door behind myself, my uncle rubbed his hands together just as he had done the previous day. "Okay then. Let's get started. Neji, Hinata, in your beginning stances please."

We did as requested, prepared for yet another long day of repetitive training. What we were not prepared for, however, was that when Hiashi-sama told us to begin going through the steps, he also started playing some music! Hinata and I stopped in our tracks and stared at the older man.

"Um…f-father?" Hinata stammered as she looked at her father, still with a look of surprise on her face.

"Yes?" He returned a look of surprise, though his was because we had failed to start the training once the music began.

"W-what…uh…kind of music is that?" Hinata asked in a rather meek voice.

"Oh this?" her father replied. "Just some music I found to be suitable to go along with the training you guys are going through."

"Oh," was all Hinata said as we turned to face each other and continue with the so-called training.

Finally, after the training that seemed to last an eternity (though in reality it only lasted a few hours), Hiashi-sama told us we had done enough for the day.

He was just about to walk out of the room when I spoke up. "Um, Hiashi-sama?"

"Hmm?" He turned around to look at me.

"I was just wondering…what exactly is this form of training called?" I asked.

"What's this? I've been having you two train these past two days, and I never once told you the name?" He looked rather startled about this.

Hinata and I just stared back at him, waiting for the answer.

"Alright then. I suppose it's best you know the name for what you've been doing these past two days," Hiashi-sama finally said. "What you have been doing is called the Waltz."

"The what?" I asked in return.

"The Waltz," my uncle replied. "Here, let me explain. The Waltz is one of many forms of ballroom dancing."

I simply stared back at him, surprised at what I was hearing. 'So we have been dancing this entire time, after all.' I thought.

Hiashi-sama noticed the look of surprise on my face and said, "Yes, you have been dancing this entire time. However, before you get too angry with me," he added as he saw me glare at him, "let me explain things a bit further. There is a purpose to this training, believe it or not. As a matter of fact, your learning the Waltz will play a vital role in helping you to better master the gentle fist fighting style. I know it may not seem like much at the moment, but trust me when I say that it will indeed help you to become great ninjas."

With that, Hiashi-sama left, Hinata and I following closely behind. And from that day on, Hinata and I would constantly find ourselves doing the Waltz or another form of ballroom dancing before we would begin our daily gentle fist training sessions. I can't say whether the dancing truly did help us master the gentle fist that much easier, but I had taken my uncle's word for it anyway.

However, as the years past, I came to the realization that, whether the dancing helped or not, I would be sure to do the dancing only when I was certain that no one I knew outside of the Hyuuga Clan was anywhere around. After all, I had a reputation to maintain, especially when it came to the year when I became a Genin.

That year in particular turned out to play a crucial part in my reputation. As soon as the people of Konoha got word that I had become a Genin, they had started calling me "Rookie of the Year" and "the Genius of the Hyuuga Clan". It was definitely not the time for anyone to be discovering the fact that I did ballroom dancing on a regular basis during training.

And, of course, with Fate being the cruel thing that it is, it was also the very year that my secret was blown — which brings me back to a few days shortly after I had achieved the rank of Genin.

It was the morning after my very first mission with my teammates Ten-ten and Rock Lee and my new teacher Gai-sensei.

I had decided to go through my usual morning training routine before meeting up with my team to do another mission. Hinata was, of course, training with me, as was the usual.

We were about halfway through doing the Waltz like we usually did when we first started training, when someone suddenly burst into the room!

"Ready to go, Neji?" Lee shouted as he leapt into the room. "We have some very important things to get done, like —" But I never found out what those important things were as Lee suddenly stopped in his tracks and simply stared at me, eyes open wide with surprise.

"Oh, come on Lee," Ten-ten's voice came from behind Lee. "Move out of the doorway, will you?" When she finally managed to squeeze past, she also found herself frozen in place, staring in surprise at the site before her eyes.

"Come on guys. What are you waiting for? We have a mission to go do," Gai-sensei said just before he appeared in the doorway right behind Lee and Ten-ten. As he was taller than the other two, he didn't need to get past them to see what they saw. His jaw practically hit the floor when he saw my right hand on Hinata's waist, her left hand on my shoulder, and my left hand holding her right.

Finally, Hinata and I seemed to come back to our senses and we quickly let go of each other and put a few more feet between the two of us. We both then avoided eye contact with everyone else in the room.

There was a very awkward silence in the room while we all just stood there, frozen in place from the surprise. Finally, Hinata broke the silence, saying, "Uh…I – I h-have to go n-now. See y-you l-l-later Neji." With that, she dashed out of the room as quickly as she could.

Just then, Lee and Gai-sensei began to laugh uncontrollably. Ten-ten was the only one who didn't appear to find the situation funny. Well, at least I had her on my side.

'Soft, am I?' I thought to myself. And to think, I had actually started to kind of like this girl. It was hard enough having her stand up for me, but did she really have to call me "soft"?

"That does it!" I yelled. "Byakugan!" He would pay for his insolence. I was by no means going to stand for such a thing.

So, now I'm sitting here, under this tree, letting my pride get the best of me. Why? I honestly don't know. After all, Hiashi-sama had to have gone through something very similar to this when he was younger, as he had said he went through the dancing training himself. And was he still moping about because of hurt pride? No. He went on with life and even decided to continue on the tradition of teaching us ballroom dancing so that we could also become great ninjas.

With that thought in mind, I shall hold my head up high and continue on with my training, even with the rest of my team laughing at me. They'll see. One day, I'll be the greatest ninja around!

So? What'd you guys think? I know, kind of a lame ending, but it was the best I could come up with as I was getting desperate to finally finish this, lol. It wasn't too terrible, though, was it? Please review!