Letter Six

Hyuuga Neji to Hyuuga Neji

Dear Neji,

I write to myself, so that I may read this again in the future in case I may wish to be refreshed on certain occurrences. This letter is written approximately ten or eleven days after the Preliminaries for the Third Part of the Chuunin Exams.

After Tenten wrote me a rather pathetic letter with a disgusting display of sensitivity and emotion I would normally expect from Lee and Gai, I took it upon myself to take a bit of time away from my valuable training to see Lee. I will write of my thoughts on the parts concerning my dear, beloved cousin, Hinata, later.

They were surprised to see me at first. Both my teammates gaped at me for a moment, feeling shocked that I, Hyuuga Neji, had felt it appropriate to spend a few moments with them instead of training. The female with two buns on her head closed her mouth abruptly and stood up from the position she had been in previously, leaning over Lee. The green-clad boy was lying on a bed, looking sad. One of his arms was wrapped with bandages as far as I could see with usual sight. I have little doubt that if I had searched further down with my Byakugan, I would have seen his entire crushed limb wrapped in that white.

I did not feel sorry for him.

My female teammate, on the other hand, was very worried.

I do not see why she had such behavior.

Rock Lee chose to defy Fate. For that ill-made decision, he was receiving the wages.

I stayed long enough for the visit to seem appropriately long before leaving for the Hyuuga compound. I said nothing to either of them the entire time, and they said nothing to me. Sometimes, they surprise me properly. I did not bother to ask for the "extra information incentive" on Naruto that Tenten offered, because it was likely it would be something useless, such as what he eats or what he wears. I cannot expect any better of them, though.

I returned to my residence and heard coughing when going through the halls. It was the Hyuuga heiress. The dear and coddled Hinata whom everyone seems to think I victimize for no reason. I merely fought her as expected to. Another Genin, called Subaku no Gaara, fought as he was expected to, and only Gai stopped him. For the battle between my cousin and I, no less than four Jounins came down to stop the fight. They were Maito Gai, my Jounin instructor, Yuuhi Kurenai, Hinata's Jounin instructor, Hatake Kakashi, the Copy Nin, and Sarutobi Asuma, the Jounin instructor of the latest Shika-Ino-Cho team.

Tenten knows nothing of the secrets the Hyuuga clan possesses. We are an ancient clan, also the "noblest and oldest family in Konoha". Every clan has their own secrets and, more often than not, every person in a clan has a few of his own secrets.

Mine is not so much of a secret as a grudge I keep alive to fuel my strength. My father was killed by Hinata and the Main House. She killed him indirectly. If she had not been so weak as to let herself be captured and almost kidnapped by the Cloud ninja who had come, Hyuuga Hizashi would not have died. It was after the Cloud's champion was killed that they demanded the body of the Hyuuga leader. Cowardly and weak to the last, Hiashi let his younger twin brother die in his place. This is a story I cannot tired of telling and retelling, if only to myself. It provides the need for revenge I have.

My original intention was not to injure her so badly. It was after she stubbornly refused to yield the fight that I started fighting.

As soon as she entered the area, my attention was on her and only her. If I have ever paid attention to anyone, it has been her. I spoke for a while, trying to convince her to leave and yield the fight to me. She refused. I knew that I would win.

"You are too kind," I remarked, reminding her of her weakness--- the reason she would never be able to be a good ninja or defeat me.

"Your painful past," I continued, telling her why she will not rise beyond her fate.

She tried to distance herself from me, or wanted to. I know, because she touched her lips with her hand. It angered me for reasons I cannot tell. The fight had not begun, and she had already assumed the defensive stance of trying to keep me away from her emotions. I know her best of all people, in history, in personality.

We fought.

I did not bother to use any particularly difficult moves. We were constantly in contact with each other. It was basic and intimate. It was our personal conflict brought to physical reality. And almost the entire time, we kept our eyes on each other. At one point, I drew up her sleeve to show her how I had hit the tenketsus and stopped the flow of chakra. I think some people were surprised at how I was undressing her, but we were comfortable enough with each other to allow me to do that.

We continued fighting.

Just before the end of the battle, she said that it is me who is lost and suffering. It angered me to no describable extent.

I will confess that for one stark moment, I thought I could alter Fate by killing Hinata or disabling her so that she would be unable to fight thereafter. This is because she is the symbol of the Main House. They put seals on our foreheads in an attempt to suppress our power because they fear us in the face of their own weakness. Eliminating the heiress would have been the first step… but I altered the position of my hand to lessen the blow as I hit her heart.

I could not kill her.

I will make myself strong enough to triumph over the Uzumaki Naruto my cousin dotes on so much, and then I will resign myself to my sworn duty of protecting the heiress, Hinata, content in the knowledge that I am still better.

I can write no further. This very topic repulses me.

Neji