Great, big thanks to miakasango, FruitySmell, Ichigo-chan, and marionne345 for taking their time to review! :D
"I'm just a nameless orphan."
Neji learnt, from a young age, that the only thing that came between him and success was his mental limitations. The sky has no limits, they had told him when he first began his training - as a shinobi, though, not as a Gensho warrior, and your determination and skills will be the only things important to you as you grow older. Trust and love the clan, and the clan only.
So he spent day in and day out trying in vain to learnt the Gentle Fist, and art passed down from generation to generation in his family, but he couldn't do it. No matter how many well-placed palms he aimed at the punching bag or meditation sessions he painstakingly sat through each day, not even an ounce of chakra made its way through his body, except for the small concentration of it that enabled him to activate his byakugan. Even that feat was rare and required days of built up chakra to stimulate. He was, in the Elders' eyes, a failure to the clan.
His mother, Hyuga Maemi (previously of the once-powerful Housen clan), known for her exceptional beauty, accused of seducing the clan head's brother, Hyuga Hizashi, and bearing an inept child to him, was relegated from her high-ranking position to become his mistress and thus, Hyuga Neji became a mere concubine's son and a disappointment to his entire clan - after all, who in the name of Hyuga was unable to wield the Gentle Fist?
The sudden death of his mother only a few years later was quickly hushed up by the Elders - a new and noble young lady was being groomed to be the new wife of his father, and no ''scandalous'' woman's death could thwart their plans. But Neji had no parents to care for him, no mother to comfort him every night after a long day's training, no father to bond with, and no grandparents - they had all abandoned him in spite of his beautiful mother. It was Hyuga Hiashi's - his uncle's - pity that compelled him to take Neji in to raise him as one of his own.
The Elders, after much protest, reluctantly agreed with Hiashi's decisions. Neji would stay well out of the way of his engaged father and invest his time in his studies, instead of preparing himself for entrance into the shinobi Academy. This period of time, from when Neji was merely 7 years old and orphaned to his thirteenth year under the strict governance of his clan, was arguably blissful for Neji.
Hyuga Hizashi remarried, and bore another son with his new wife, an upright and dutiful woman: the type who always wore their hair tightly back in a bun at the nape of her neck and presented herself in plain white kimonos - the type the Hyuga clan's Elders approved of greatly.
When Neji's powers first manifested at thirteen years of age, he was training in an abandoned courtyard by the moonlight. Consecutive blows were being aimed at a strong wooden post, clearly unaffected by his repetitive attempts, and Neji's hits grew stronger and stronger with each try until it no longer required what little chakra he already had. It was then, with one frustrated hit, that Neji discovered that he was the first Gensho warrior to be born into his prestigious clan.
He could create force-fields: invisible barriers of energy, and powerful ones at that - the wooden post he was punching earlier had shattered into thousands of wooden splinters, waking up every sleeping Hyuga man, woman and child in the entire estate. They gathered around him in amazement, hostility forgotten, asking him question after question after question; for how long did he know about this? Why didn't he tell anyone? When did it happen?
Neji was soon ushered out of his plain and cramped room into a luxuriantly decorated one near his father's. It was as if their previous animosity and indifference had been magically swept away and replaced with the kind, loving family he yearned for so long ago. His father and stepmother welcomed him with open arms and a large smile, son standing obediently behind them. Neji merely stepped robotically into and out of their embrace. These were the people who he longed for the most in all of his thirteen years; the father who never spared a glance at him, the stepmother who unknowingly destroyed the heart of his own mother, and the boy who replaced Neji's space in his father's heart. He wanted nothing and everything to do with them.
His admittance into the Gensho Academy of the Leaf was nerve-wracking for him. Not once had he ever dared to venture outside his home, and yet here he was, standing in front of one of Gensho-kind's most privileged schools in an expensive black blazer bearing the Academy's logo, pants, white blouse and patterned tie and a proud-looking Hyuga Hizashi standing beside him with a hand resting on Neji's shoulder.
The reputation of the Hyuga family rests in your hands, Neji. Not once have we ever had a Gensho warrior before, he said to him on that very day, make me proud, son. It was the very first time someone had referred to him as son; not even his loving Uncle had done that. Neji suddenly didn't care about all the past grievances his father placed upon him before - he wanted to fling his skinny arms around him and cry his heart out. But he couldn't do that, he was a Hyuga man.
His whole life, despite being treated cruelly by servants and higher-ups alike, was governed by the rules of his clan. His education and his training was under the tutelage of a stern clan head, who drilled into his head the duty of a man born into the Hyuga family. Love, trust and fight for the clan, and the clan only. He never questioned the words of his superiors or their motives - it was unheard of. No matter how merciless his own family was to him, he still loved them all unconditionally.
But only now, at this very moment, the thick sheet of ice covering his mind, body and soul began to crack, leaving behind deep fissures of queries and suppressed thoughts. The taught string defining his utter devotion to his clan began to unravel. Why was his clan and village associated with the Akatsuki, the most fearsome cult to be formed in all of mankind's history? Why was it that this one girl, shimmering in an armour of silver, was able to break through the tough exterior of his mind and make him question his loyalties to the people who raised him?
"Who are you?" he had asked with a shaky hand. She replied with five words, I'm just a nameless orphan. Being orphaned was no joking matter, and Neji learned that many people around the world were orphans, so what made him or anyone else special? But with these five words, said with a steady voice and an unwavering stare, Neji knew that she was despairing inside.
"I'm an orphan, too," he said quietly. She narrowed her eyes at him.
"Oh, are you?" she sneered at him maliciously, not believing his words.
"My father," he looked at her closely. When he had let down her hair earlier, he saw stunningly delicate features framed by flowing, dark brown locks stretching down to the small of her back and a tanned, slender body - lithe and fragile. She was covered in scars and bruises when she held him in an arm-lock, Gensho tattoos intricately snaking around her arms in the manner a vine would wind itself around a tree. Now, covered in a sheet of shining metal, he could see no scratches, scars or bruises, but solid, metallic muscles gleaming underneath the sunlight, lighting up the tattoos all over her body in a harsh white glow.
"I only have my father now. My mother passed away several years ago," he stated firmly. He didn't want to pass off as weak or demure in front of a future ally, even if he despised her.
Her expression softened slightly. "I'm sorry to hear that."
"Don't be, it wasn't your fault, and this," he took a cautious step towards her, and leveled the Akatsuki cape with their gazes, "wasn't your fault either, I sincerely apologise for wrongly accusing you of affiliating yourself with the Akatsuki."
Her shoulders visibly relaxed, and she dismounted the metal armour from her body. it vanishes, as if into thin air, he noticed, but didn't think too much of it.
"Thank you, for doing that," she replied gratefully, "and, I'm sorry as well, for making you dig up your past. Don't look at me like that. You've been silent for a good ten minutes."
"You're welcome." Only now was he aware of the crowd that accumulated around them during their argument. He looked around at their bewildered faces and winced. What would the public think of him now that he was seen arguing and physically attacking an ally? He was the composed and highly regarded leader of Team Konoha, a prodigal member of the Hyuga clan, a role model for all to look up to and yet here he was, covered in grime, sweat and chocolate - all because of one girl, now that he thought about it.
A slow clapping sound resounded through the alleyway, catching the attention of the current crowd. It came from a tall, pale-faced boy with spiky black hair.
"Ladies and gentlemen," he spoke up, "wasn't that a spectacular performance from our two teams!" The bewildered faces of the crowd slowly changed to those of amazement. "I hope you're all hyped for the final stage of this Tournament, because there's plenty more action where this came from! Vote for Team Suna, we won't disappoint you." He finished with a merry laugh and the crowd dispersed, some shaking their heads in amusement and others excitedly running off to their companions, telling them about the performance they just witnessed.
"Sasuke-"
"Tenten," the boy suddenly turned around to face her, expression grave, "what the hell were you doing?"
Sasuke had the capacity to intimidate anyone and at anytime he wanted just as easily as he could charm them, Tenten realised. After he had dealt with the confused crowd, Sasuke turned on her with an accusatory glare and demanded an explanation of what really happened. She recovered from her shock at seeing the crowd and calmly showed him the Akatsuki cape. His expression darkened at the sight of the symbol as he took it into his hands, Akatsuki, he had whispered under his breath.
She and Neji treaded carefully behind Sasuke on the way back to the Academy. The cloak's appearance seemed to have had a drastic effect on the Uchiha's temperament, something that rarely went beyond sarcastic and nonchalant. Neji was the first to storm into his room when they reached the Left Wing, mumbling something incomprehensible under his breath. The second was Sasuke, but not before telling them to meet up with him, clean and tidy, in twenty minutes with Neji in tow. Then, she hurried into her room, quickly greeting her perplexed roommate, and raced into the shower.
"Were you listening to a word I was saying, 'Ten?"
Tenten blinked. "No?"
Sasuke sighed. "We have to do something about this fiasco before anyone else finds out. I'm actually curious to know how that cloak got here."
Neji looked up from his menu and signalled for the waitress. "From what information we've already gathered, we know that Konoha and the Hyuga clan are a major part in this - tea, thank you - in this event."
Tenten shot Neji a disgusted look. "This restaurant is known for it's delicious Korean beef, and all you order for us is tea? Sasuke, tell me he's crazy."
"On the contrary, I like his drinking preferences - traditional, yet refreshing. Uchiha Sasuke."
Sasuke stuck out a pale hand, eyes urging Neji to shake it. He did so. "Hyuga Neji, you're much more pleasant than your weapon's mistress."
Tenten rolled her eyes. "Anyway, the cloak."
"What cloak?" A bright and cheery-looking girl with pink hair appeared from behind the doorway wearing a Gensho Leaf uniform.
"My father's cloak," Neji answered hastily, "we were just talking about how fantastic it looked last night at the Opening Ceremony. Everyone, I'd like you to meet Haruno Sakura. She's a very skilled medic and team member of my team." He shot Tenten and Sasuke a glance - we'll talk later - which they returned.
Sakura greeted them politely. "A pleasure to meet you."
"Tenten," she replied stiffly. Chirpy, gorgeous and glamorous girls never mixed well with Tenten. They always reminded her of Ino.
"Ah, Sakura, darling. I was wondering when you'd show up. We haven't had our tour yet," he sent a wink her way and she blushed before stumbling into the seat beside Neji. The Hyuga lifted an eyebrow.
"Alright!" Tenten exclaimed abruptly, "let's have lunch, I'm famished from all this shopping."
It was Neji's turn to roll his eyes in exasperation while Tenten ordered extra beef from the pretty waitress.
"Tenten, what have you been doing for the entire day to warrant extra beef?" He asked as the restaurant staff carried plates of beef onto their table. "Isn't this a bit too much?"
"Shopping," Neji interjected, "And being a pain in my backside."
"Please," Tenten faked a smile at Neji, loading several portions of beef into her bowl, "You don't even have a backside worthy of being a pain to. I was just buying team supplies!"
Out of the corner of her peripheral vision, Tenten could see Sasuke extracting a plastic fan out of the new goodie bag she purchased on the way to the restaurant. Neji cleared his throat and downed his tea, glaring at Tenten pointedly.
They left the restaurant after silently eating away the platters of meat (most of which were devoured by Sasuke, the hypocrite), and Sasuke led Sakura to finish their tour of Konoha. Tenten had sent Sasuke a knowing glance, which he returned. Neji and Tenten continued forwards towards the Academy, both too tired to continue antagonising each other with insults and extended shopping sprees. They lapsed into an awkward silence, until Tenten decided to strike up a conversation.
"Was everyone on your team trained by the same person?" she asked him curiously.
"No, we were all trained separately, but my cousin, Hinata - I'm sure you've met her, and I were the first of our clan to develop a Gensho ability, so we were trained by the same person."
"What about the others?"
"They all had their own mentors, either from family members or the teachers. For instance, Lee and his own mentor."
"Who was it?"
"Gai," Neji replied flatly. Tenten was suddenly assaulted with images of green spandex and sparkling white teeth. She shuddered visibly, wondering how she could have missed that.
"The big green dude."
A ghost of a smile flickered across Neji's face. "Yes, Tenten-san, if you put it that way. He is 'the big green dude', although he frequently refers to himself as Konoha's Green Beast."
Tenten winced and inwardly praised Neji for his enduring patience. Two overly-energetic men dressed in tight green jumpsuits with sparkling teeth and boisterous voices would be far too much for her to handle. They neared the foot of the Hokage Monument just as the sun began to lower itself from the sky, leaving a hazy red-orange glow on the four stone faces overlooking the village.
"What about your team? Were they trained like mine?" Neji inquired.
"No," she started softly, "we were all trained and chosen by one person."
"And who was that?"
"Gaara's father - the Yondaime Kazekage." Neji stumbled a bit on the first step.
"All trained? By the illustrious Yondaime Kazekage himself?" Tenten bit back a laugh at his astonishment. Few knew how dedicated Gaara's famous father was to Team Suna; that he spent every second of every day adjusting their stances and techniques, making sure they were comfortable in their own homes, or how he emotionally and financially supported the families of the team of teenagers he was grooming to enter the Tournament exclusively. After all, how ridiculous was the thought that the most powerful man in Sunagakure was doting on seven volatile teenagers?
"Yup," she made a popping sound at the 'p', deciding to change the topic quickly, "How long do these stairs go on for? I'm pretty sure we've been climbing up for five hours already."
"Two minutes. We only have about ten more minutes to go, if we walk quickly."
"What if I run?"
Neji looked at her quizzically, then smirked. "One."
"Well then," she stretched out her legs and arms, grinning manically at Neji, "See you at the other side, Hyuga."
And dashed off laughing, not caring to see whether he really did follow, or whether she would be insanely out of breath by the time she arrived at the Academy, or that a boy standing a just few steps behind them, bearing a tattoo above his brow, silently vanished from behind Neji with a sullen look on his face.
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
-misspandalily