Naruto's fist drove forward.
Neji twisted just enough to keep it from smashing directly into his face, but the punch still clipped his cheek with enough force to send him stumbling sideways. A sharp gasp rolled through the stadium as the Hyūga prodigy caught himself, sandals scraping across packed earth.
Naruto landed lightly.
"One."
Neji's eyes narrowed.
Then he attacked.
Gentle Fist came fast.
Neji's palm snapped toward Naruto's chest, chakra already gathering at his fingertips. Naruto shifted half a step to the outside, caught Neji's forearm with an open hand, and let the strike slide harmlessly past him.
Neji immediately changed angles.
A second palm came toward Naruto's ribs.
Naruto wasn't there.
His Phantom Step Sandals made no sound as he pivoted behind Neji, planted one hand against the Hyūga's shoulder, and shoved.
Neji stumbled forward.
Naruto kicked him in the back.
THUMP!
Neji flew several feet before twisting in midair and landing in a crouch.
Naruto grinned.
"Two."
Silence hung over the spectator section.
Kiba slowly leaned over the railing.
"...Is Naruto bullying Neji?"
Shino adjusted his glasses.
"At present?"
Kiba looked at him.
"Yes."
Sakura didn't respond.
She was too busy staring at the field.
A month ago, Naruto would've charged directly into Gentle Fist and tried to overwhelm Neji with clones.
This Naruto wasn't doing that.
He was making Neji chase him.
Neji moved again.
Faster.
His palms became a blur as he drove Naruto backward with a stream of precise strikes, every attack targeting one of the chakra points visible through his Byakugan. Naruto slipped between them, shoulders turning, feet constantly changing position as Basic Toad Fist carried him around the edges of Neji's attacks.
Right.
Left.
Inside.
Outside.
Neji could see everything.
That was the problem.
There was simply too much to see.
Naruto's shoulder dipped.
Neji reacted.
Naruto went the other direction.
A faint image continued along his original path.
Neji's palm continued on it's original path, not fooled by the afterimage left by Naruto's Phantom step sandals.
WHAM!
A palm slammed into Neji's ribs anyway.
Neji skidded across the ground.
"Three."
The stadium erupted.
Naruto could barely hear it.
Neji certainly didn't appear to.
The Hyūga slowly stood, one hand pressed against his side. A thin line of blood appeared at the corner of his mouth.
His expression had changed.
Not much.
But Naruto noticed.
Confusion.
Neji had expected resistance.
He had expected determination.
He had probably even expected Naruto to surprise him.
He hadn't expected this.
Naruto was winning.
Badly.
"Your speed increased."
Neji wiped the blood away.
Naruto shrugged.
"A little."
"Your taijutsu changed."
"Yep."
"Your equipment conceals your movement."
Naruto looked down at his black sandals.
"These are pretty awesome."
Neji's jaw tightened.
Naruto grinned.
"Want me to slow down?"
"No."
"Okay."
Naruto disappeared again.
Neji regretted answering.
Three Shadow Clones appeared around him.
Neji immediately rotated.
"Eight Trigrams—"
Naruto didn't let him finish.
One clone threw itself flat.
The second jumped.
The third retreated.
A thin wire flashed between them.
Neji's eyes widened.
His Byakugan caught the chakra running through it.
Too late.
A sealing tag activated.
WHUM!
Gravity pulled sideways.
Neji's rotation broke before it fully formed.
His foot ripped off the ground.
Naruto came from the opposite direction.
His fist buried itself in Neji's stomach.
BOOM!
Air exploded from Neji's lungs.
Naruto caught the back of his shirt before he hit the ground.
For half a second, they were face to face.
"Four."
Then Naruto threw him.
Neji rolled across the battlefield.
Dust coated his clothes.
Gasps moved through the Hyūga section of the stands.
Even Hiashi Hyūga had leaned forward.
His expression remained carefully controlled, but his Byakugan was active.
This was no accident.
Naruto Uzumaki was dismantling Neji.
Not through overwhelming force.
Through choices.
Every time Neji committed to an attack, Naruto was already moving somewhere else.
Every time Neji adapted, the battlefield changed.
Neji rose again.
His breathing was heavier.
"You believe this proves something?"
Naruto stopped.
Neji settled into another Gentle Fist stance.
"Strength does not change destiny."
Naruto stared at him.
"Oh, we're doing this again."
Neji's expression sharpened.
"You mock what you don't understand."
"No."
Naruto's smile disappeared.
"I think you're full of crap."
The crowd murmured.
Neji's hands tightened.
"A person's nature is determined at birth."
Neji's pale eyes bored into Naruto.
"Talent. Position. Responsibility. Failure. You cannot become something you were never meant to be."
Naruto slowly tilted his head.
"That's stupid."
Neji's eye twitched.
"You—"
"No, seriously."
Naruto pointed at himself.
"I failed the Academy three times."
Several people in the audience shifted.
Iruka smiled faintly.
Naruto continued.
"I sucked at throwing weapons. I sucked at clones. My chakra control was terrible."
He paused.
"Okay, some of that still sucks."
A few people laughed.
Neji didn't.
Naruto lowered his hand.
"But I'm standing here kicking your ass."
Silence.
Kiba started choking.
Ino slapped a hand over her mouth.
Genma looked away suspiciously.
Neji moved.
Anger finally broke through his control.
His palm shot forward.
Naruto caught his wrist.
Neji's other hand attacked.
Naruto caught that too.
For one frozen moment, they stood locked together.
Neji pushed.
Naruto didn't move.
His Strength had increased.
His Endurance had increased.
His entire body had changed over the month.
Neji felt it.
Naruto leaned closer.
"So either fate screwed up..."
His grin appeared.
"...or you're wrong."
Naruto headbutted him.
CRACK!
Neji staggered backward.
Naruto rubbed his forehead.
"Ow."
Some things never changed.
Neji's forehead protector jostled loose from the headbutt. Naruto's opponent scrambled to retie his headband, covering ever present bandages around his forehead.
Naruto noticed.
The motion was unconscious.
Barely there.
But his fingers brushed against the cloth covering his forehead.
Then stopped.
Naruto's eyes narrowed.
Something clicked.
Hinata.
The Hyūga.
Main family.
Branch family.
The way Neji talked about fate as though it wasn't an idea.
Like it was something someone had carved into him.
Naruto became still.
"What's under the bandages?"
Neji froze.
The question hit harder than the punch.
"Nothing."
"That's a lie."
Neji's expression darkened.
"You know nothing about the Hyūga."
"Then tell me."
"No."
Naruto frowned.
Neji's hand lowered.
"This has nothing to do with you."
Naruto looked toward the Hyūga seats.
Hinata was staring at them.
So was Hiashi.
Naruto looked back.
"Seems like it has a lot to do with you."
Neji slowly reached behind his head. Going against his earlier movement, he removed his headband and the bandages underneath.
The general populace raised their eyebrows in confusion, they didn't understand what they were seeing. They'd come here to see a ninja brawl after all. Not a soap opera.
Naruto understood and decided to take a moment away from kicking Neji's ass.
At least partly.
A green symbol stretched across Neji's forehead.
And the moment Naruto focused upon it—
Something inside his mind shifted.
Patterns.
Lines.
Connections.
Fūinjutsu.
His months of study supplied meaning where before there would've been nothing but strange markings.
Then the System reacted.
PING!
Advanced Fūinjutsu Analysis Triggered!
Unknown Seal Detected
Classification: Curse Seal / Control Formula
Naruto's eyes widened.
Information assembled itself piece by piece.
Not enough.
But far more than he wanted.
Primary functions identified:
— Neural Pain Induction
— Behavioral Control
— Byakugan Suppression Upon Death
— Permanent Chakra-System Integration
Naruto stopped breathing for a moment.
Then another message appeared.
WARNING
Removal cannot currently be performed safely.
Seal structure is deeply integrated with the host's cranial chakra pathways. Improper removal may cause severe neurological injury, destruction of the Byakugan, or death.
Naruto's stomach dropped.
He knew what the seal did.
He could see pieces of how it worked.
And he still couldn't remove it.
Not without possibly killing Neji.
Exactly the kind of answer he hated.
Neji watched Naruto's expression.
"You understand now."
Naruto looked at him.
"A little."
That surprised him.
Neji's eyes narrowed.
Naruto pointed toward his forehead.
"That thing can hurt you."
Neji became very still.
"It can control you."
Silence.
"And when you die..."
Naruto hesitated.
"It destroys your eyes."
Neji's face changed.
So did several Hyūga in the stands.
Hiashi's attention sharpened instantly.
Neji stared.
"How do you know that?"
Naruto didn't answer.
He kept studying the formula.
Deceptively simple, yet utterly complex with it's lack of options.
Something beneath something else.
Advanced Fūinjutsu kept giving him fragments.
Enough to understand.
Not enough to fix.
Naruto clenched his fists.
"I can't remove it."
Neji laughed once.
There was no humor in it.
"Of course you can't."
Naruto looked up sharply.
"But I will."
Neji stared at him.
Naruto stepped closer.
"I don't know how yet."
Neji's mouth twisted.
"Then your promise is meaningless."
"No."
Naruto shook his head.
"It means I haven't figured it out yet."
"There is no difference."
"There's a huge difference!"
Naruto pointed at the seal.
"You think because nobody fixed it before, nobody ever can!"
Neji's expression hardened.
"You think because somebody put that on you, your whole life was decided right there!"
Naruto stepped closer.
"That's what this fate garbage is really about, isn't it?"
Neji said nothing.
Naruto finally understood.
This wasn't philosophy.
It was armor.
"My father died because of the main family."
Neji's voice was quiet.
Naruto stopped.
The stadium seemed impossibly distant.
Neji stared at the ground between them.
"My father, Hizashi, was born seconds after his brother."
Naruto listened.
"That was enough."
Neji's fingers curled.
"His brother became head of the main family."
"My father became branch."
Neji looked toward Hiashi.
"His life was decided by the order of their birth."
"When I was young, Kumogakure attempted to steal Hinata-sama."
Hinata flinched in the stands.
Neji continued.
"Hiashi-sama killed the shinobi responsible."
Naruto's expression changed.
"Kumogakure demanded his body in return."
Neji laughed bitterly.
"The Hyūga gave them my father's."
Naruto said nothing.
"He looked identical to his brother."
Neji's eyes hardened.
"And because his Byakugan was protected by this seal, there was nothing for Kumogakure to steal."
Naruto slowly understood.
A replacement.
A brother exchanged for a brother.
Main for branch.
"My father died so the head of the clan could live."
Neji looked directly at Naruto.
"That is the reality of the Hyūga."
His voice rose.
"Do you understand now?"
Naruto didn't immediately answer.
"Main family above branch."
"The branch protects the main."
"The branch obeys."
"And if we refuse—"
Neji touched his forehead.
"We are reminded of our place."
Naruto stared at the curse mark.
Something hot twisted inside his chest.
Not the Nine-Tails.
Him.
"So you decided everyone else's life works like yours."
Neji blinked.
Naruto's voice had gone quiet.
"Because your dad died."
Neji's face hardened.
"Be careful."
"Because they put that thing on you."
"Uzumaki."
"Because your clan treated your whole family like tools."
"Enough."
Naruto didn't stop.
"You decided that means nobody can change anything."
Neji's killing intent surged.
"ENOUGH!"
He attacked.
Naruto moved once.
One step.
Neji's palm missed.
Naruto drove his shoulder into Neji's chest.
THUMP!
Neji staggered.
Naruto swept his leg.
Neji hit the ground.
Before he could rise, Naruto's sandal planted beside his head.
The whole exchange lasted less than two seconds.
Neji stared upward.
Naruto stared down.
"You can be angry."
Neji's eyes widened slightly.
"You should be."
Naruto stepped away.
"But don't tell Hinata she can't change because your family hurt you."
Hinata froze in the stands.
Neji slowly stood.
Naruto's expression was harder than she'd ever seen it.
"Don't tell Lee he was born a loser."
Lee stared.
"Don't tell me I can't become Hokage."
Naruto pointed at Neji.
"And stop telling yourself you're stuck."
Neji sighed.
Quietly.
Almost exhausted.
"And what would you have me do?"
Naruto blinked.
Neji spread his arms.
"Defeat the Hyūga clan?"
"Remove the Caged Bird Seal myself?"
"Undo generations of tradition because Naruto Uzumaki told me fate is stupid?"
Naruto considered that.
Then shrugged.
"Yeah."
Neji stared.
Naruto grinned.
"Basically."
A stunned silence followed.
Then Shikamaru put a hand over his face.
"Of course."
Naruto's grin faded.
"I'm serious."
Neji's expression shifted.
"I'll figure out that seal."
A blue window appeared.
Naruto ignored it.
"And when I do, we're fixing this."
Neji frowned.
"We?"
"Yep."
"What makes you believe I would help you?"
Naruto pointed at him.
"Because it's your stupid clan."
Neji's eyebrow twitched.
"And I'm gonna be Hokage."
That got a reaction.
Not just from Neji.
Across the stadium, people stirred.
Naruto continued anyway.
"When that happens, I'm not letting one half of a Konoha clan enslave the other half."
Several Hyūga went rigid.
Hiashi's eyes widened.
Naruto didn't care.
"If main and branch can't exist without this thing—"
He pointed at Neji's forehead.
"Then we'll reforge the whole damn clan until they can."
PING!
Naruto finally glanced toward the System.
The window had changed.
Gold bordered its edges.
ADVANCED SIDE QUEST GENERATED!
A Caged Bird Dreams of the Sky
The Hyūga Clan has divided itself into Main and Branch families for generations. Through the Caged Bird Seal, one side possesses absolute control over the other.
You have recognized the structure of the seal.
You have recognized the injustice it represents.
Now prove your words have meaning.
Objectives
— Develop a method of safely removing or neutralizing the Caged Bird Seal.
— Prevent the destruction or theft of the Byakugan following removal.
— Gain sufficient knowledge of Hyūga clan structure and sealing practices to create a viable replacement system.
— Reconcile or reform the relationship between the Main and Branch Families.
— Gain the support of Neji Hyūga.
Quest Difficulty: ADVANCED
Quest Rewards:
- Byakugan Bloodline unlocked for purchase within the Shinobi Codex.
- Additional rewards determined by method of completion.
Naruto stared.
Then reread the reward.
Byakugan.
Bloodline.
For purchase.
Naruto slowly looked at Neji.
Then his eyes drifted toward Hinata.
Then Hiashi.
Then back to Neji.
"...Huh."
Neji frowned.
"What?"
"Nothing."
Naruto dismissed the window.
This was going to become a problem for Future Naruto.
Future Naruto could complain later.
Neji returned to his stance.
But something was wrong.
Naruto saw it.
His posture was correct.
His hands were correct.
His Byakugan remained active.
Yet the absolute certainty from before was gone.
Only slightly.
A crack.
Naruto smiled.
That was enough.
"You still haven't proven anything."
Neji spoke more quietly now.
Naruto shrugged.
"I'm beating you pretty bad."
Neji's eyebrow twitched.
"That isn't what I meant."
"I know."
Naruto settled into Basic Toad Fist.
Then stopped.
He had another idea.
Probably a bad one.
Which traditionally meant it was worth trying.
Naruto reached inward.
Dark water.
Iron bars.
Red eyes.
Naruto didn't fully enter the mindscape this time.
He only touched the connection.
Heat answered.
Anger.
Power.
A vast ocean sitting beneath a thin floor.
Naruto reached toward it.
A little.
Something growled.
Naruto pulled.
Then stopped.
Red chakra flickered around him.
Only a thread.
Barely enough to be called a cloak.
But everyone in the stadium felt it.
The air changed.
A violent pressure rolled across the battlefield.
Naruto's pupils sharpened.
His whisker marks darkened.
For one heartbeat, something enormous seemed to stare through him.
Neji froze.
His Byakugan saw more than everyone else.
Naruto's chakra network was already monstrous.
Now something else moved beneath it.
Red chakra crawled through Naruto's coils like fire through veins, violent and ancient and so impossibly dense that Neji's breath caught.
Behind Naruto—
For the smallest moment—
Neji imagined nine tails.
His body moved backward before his mind decided to.
One step.
Naruto noticed.
"So."
Neji stared.
Naruto's voice had acquired the faintest rough edge.
"You still think you know exactly what I'm supposed to become?"
Neji said nothing.
Naruto let the chakra go.
Immediately.
Touch.
Pull.
Stop.
The red vanished.
Naruto exhaled slowly.
His heartbeat thundered in his ears, but he was still himself.
Jiraiya would've called that progress.
Then probably hit him for testing it during an official match.
Naruto would deal with that later.
Neji remained motionless.
"What..."
His voice was almost too quiet to hear.
"What was that?"
Naruto scratched his cheek.
"It's complicated."
Neji stared.
Naruto thought about the fox inside him.
About the hatred.
About being born with something inside him that he never asked for.
Then he looked at the mark on Neji's forehead.
"Something that was decided for me before I could talk."
Neji's eyes widened.
Naruto smiled faintly.
"Sound familiar?"
For once, Neji had nothing to say.
"I could've spent my whole life blaming that."
Naruto looked down at his hand.
"Maybe I still blame people sometimes."
He looked back at Neji.
"But whatever somebody decided when I was born..."
Naruto clenched his fist.
"...doesn't get to decide what I do tomorrow."
Neji stared at him.
The words landed somewhere uncomfortable.
Somewhere he'd kept locked for years.
His father's face appeared in his memory.
Hizashi smiling.
Hizashi kneeling.
Hizashi walking willingly toward death.
Neji had always remembered the ending.
The sacrifice.
The proof.
The branch existed to die for the main.
But there had been something else.
Something Neji hated remembering.
His father had chosen.
Not the clan.
Not the seal.
Hizashi.
"My father..."
Neji hesitated.
Naruto waited.
"He claimed it was his choice."
Neji's voice became bitter.
"I never believed him."
Naruto didn't interrupt.
"He said he wanted to protect his brother."
Neji's jaw tightened.
"Not as branch protecting main."
"As a brother."
Naruto watched him.
Neji looked away.
"I thought that was simply something adults said to make ugly things sound honorable."
Naruto scratched his cheek.
"Maybe."
Neji looked back sharply.
Naruto shrugged.
"I didn't know your dad."
No grand answer.
No pretend wisdom.
Just truth.
"But if he chose it..."
Naruto paused.
"...then doesn't saying he had no choice kinda take his choice away too?"
Neji froze.
Hiashi closed his eyes in the stands.
Hinata stared down at her cousin.
Neji remained utterly still.
For years he'd built everything around one certainty.
His father had been sacrificed.
His life had been predetermined.
The branch could never escape the main.
If even one part of that certainty changed—
Then the rest could too.
That terrified him more than losing.
Naruto pointed at him.
"Look, I don't know if fate's real."
Neji blinked.
That wasn't what he expected.
"Maybe some stuff is."
Naruto shrugged.
"Maybe we're born with things we can't change."
He pointed toward his stomach.
"Definitely seems that way sometimes."
Then toward Neji's forehead.
"Same for you."
Naruto grinned.
"But that's not the same as giving up."
Neji stared.
Naruto lowered his hand.
"You don't have to believe everything can change."
A pause.
"Just stop acting like nothing can."
PING
Words that Reach: +15% to convince enemies to change their current views! Activated!
Something inside Neji finally loosened.
Barely.
Not forgiveness.
Not acceptance.
Certainly not peace.
But uncertainty.
For once, uncertainty didn't feel like weakness.
It felt...
Open.
Neji exhaled.
"If you truly find a way to remove this seal..."
Naruto's expression sharpened.
Neji touched his forehead.
"...without harming the Byakugan."
He hesitated.
"And without placing the clan at risk."
Naruto waited.
Neji's eyes met his.
"I will listen."
Naruto smiled.
"Nope."
Neji frowned.
"What?"
"Not good enough."
Naruto pointed at him.
"You're helping."
Neji stared.
"That was not what I said."
"Too late."
"Uzumaki—"
"You're already on the quest."
"What quest?"
"Exactly."
Neji's eye twitched.
Somehow, that was more irritating than being punched.
Naruto raised his fists.
"So."
Neji slowly returned to his stance.
The movement was different this time.
Less rigid.
Naruto noticed.
"Still wanna finish?"
Neji looked at him tersely.
"I would prefer not to end my first Finals match through conversation."
Naruto grinned.
"Good."
Neji activated Gentle Fist.
Naruto rolled his shoulders.
"Because I wasn't done beating you up."
Neji attacked.
This time, he fought without preaching.
His first palm came toward Naruto's shoulder.
Naruto slipped outside it.
The second targeted his ribs.
Naruto redirected it.
The third nearly touched his chest.
Nearly.
Naruto twisted away by inches.
Then answered.
Palm.
Elbow.
Low kick.
Neji blocked the palm.
Avoided the elbow.
The kick took his leg out.
Naruto stepped over him.
Neji rolled away.
A clone was waiting.
THUMP!
Neji flew backward.
He recovered.
Another clone attacked.
Neji destroyed it with one palm.
Smoke exploded.
Naruto emerged through the smoke.
Neji saw him.
Then saw another.
Then another.
Then twelve.
The stadium filled with Naruto.
Neji's expression went flat.
"Oh."
Naruto grinned from twelve directions.
"Yeah."
They attacked.
Neji fought beautifully.
That almost made it worse.
Gentle Fist destroyed clone after clone in single strikes.
Palm.
Turn.
Strike.
Duck.
Rotate.
Four disappeared.
Then six.
Then eight.
Neji spun.
"Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heaven!"
Chakra exploded outward. The crowd gasped at the visual display of chakra, none more so than the main branch clan members.
The remaining clones vanished.
Smoke swallowed the battlefield.
The crowd erupted.
Neji stopped rotating.
Breathing hard.
He searched.
Byakugan expanded.
Something accelerated behind him. He was too slow to stop it.
A kunai slid into place next to Neji's jugular.
Silence spread across the arena.
Genma watched for several seconds.
Neji tried to move.
Naruto edged the knife closer.
Neji stopped.
Genma raised one hand.
"Enough."
The stadium held its breath.
"Winner."
Naruto looked toward him.
Genma's hand indicated the blond Genin.
"Naruto Uzumaki."
The stadium detonated.
Thousands of people surged to their feet.
Cheers crashed down from every direction as Naruto slowly stood.
He looked around.
For a second, he forgot the cool outfit.
Forgot the dramatic entrance.
Forgot the aura farming.
He just smiled.
Huge.
Bright.
Completely Naruto.
PING
For winning your match against a veteran genin significant rewards have been distributed!
+3 to all stats besides luck
+75 System points
+2 Medium Skill experience packs
Neji remained on the ground.
Naruto looked down.
Then remembered something.
"Oh."
He reached into his jacket.
Neji tensed.
Naruto threw something.
Neji caught it automatically.
A sealing tag.
He stared.
"What's this?"
"Emergency barrier."
Neji looked up.
Naruto shoved his hands into his pockets.
"I made one for everybody."
Neji stared at the tag.
Naruto grinned.
"You get yours now."
"Why now?"
Naruto started walking away.
"Because giving it to you before I beat you would've been stupid."
Neji watched him go.
Then looked down at the barrier seal.
Something strange happened.
He laughed.
Only once.
Quietly.
But Hinata heard it.
PING!
Advanced Side Quest Updated!
A Caged Bird Dreams of the Sky
Gain the support of Neji Hyūga: PARTIALLY COMPLETE
Neji Hyūga has placed hesitant faith in your promise.
His belief in predetermined fate has been weakened.
His future is no longer quite as certain as he believed.
Naruto smiled.
Good.
One problem down.
Several hundred Hyūga problems to go.
Future Naruto was going to hate Present Naruto.
Present Naruto considered that acceptable.
He raised one fist toward the screaming crowd.
After all—
He had just stomped Neji Hyūga.
(Naruto gained +5 to all physical stats throughout his last week of training as well as 75 system points)
Name: Naruto Uzumaki
Village: Konohagakure
Rank: Experienced Genin
Stats
Strength: 84
Agility: 106
Endurance: 99 (+20%)
Intelligence: 100
Charisma: 68
Luck: 12
System Points: 595
Skills advanced throughout the previous week:
Advanced Fuinjutsu LVL 4 (17/40) -> LVL 5 (1/50)
Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu – LVL 4 (4/40)
Basic Toad Fist – LVL 3 (19/30)
Trap Making – LVL 6 (9/60)
Summoning Jutsu LVL MAX - summon varies based on chakra consumption and relationship with corresponding toad clan members