Chapter Text
I had died. I couldn't exactly remember how but I was pretty certain I had been returning home from a night walk when it happened.
Ultimately, it didn't matter now.
I looked around at the all-encompassing black void that I was floating in. I'd never been a religious person so I hadn't expected a life after death, but if there was one this was certainly a weird way to spend the rest of eternity, with nothing to entertain myself or do.
Didn't even have any clothes on for crying out loud.
I squinted my eyes as the darkness started to become brighter and brighter until I was forced to close my eyes.
I felt a sharp pain in my forehead as I stopped floating and felt I was standing on something. The pain was too much, my legs gave out and I fell to my knees. I grasped my head with my hands as I let out a surprisingly high-pitched scream and felt my consciousness slip.
The needle-like pain in my forehead was now gone, only to be replaced with a head-splitting headache. The reason for it was clear, my memories and maybe even personality were being melted and mixed with another.
Neji Hyuga. Our memories and our personalities were being fused into one somehow, and it was the most excruciating pain either of us had experienced in our lives, even greater than whatever had happened some hours ago.
The pain suddenly stopped, like a flip had been switched. I could still feel my brain pulsating but it didn't feel as awful.
I opened my eyes and got up from the bed I had been lying down on. Sitting down, I looked around the room, a medium-sized mirror hanging from the wall.
My reflection stared at me, guess this wasn't a dream or I hadn't been hallucinating, I really was Neji Hyuga now, albeit a very young version of him. 5 years old to be exact.
"So weird…" I mumbled to myself as I stared at my new light lavender, almost white eyes with no distinguishable pupils. Calling them 'new' also felt weird. I now had both memories of having these exact same eyes all my short life but also had memories of my old green ones.
My fingers brushed against the white bandages wrapped around my forehead."Out of all the people to reincarnate into, it had to be the guy with the slave mark on his forehead."I thought to myself as the green curse seal came into view.
Rage, hatred, and sadness filled me. Yesterday it had been Neji's fifth birthday and at the end of the day, what had he been gifted by his relatives? The Caged Bird Curse Seal, a jutsu that would bind him to a life of servitude.
Not to mention Neji's more specific destiny. One where his old ideology had been proven right, people were indeed destined from birth to achieve or become certain things, and in the end, he had died protecting someone from an attack that could have easily been dodged for the sake of a plot point, an awfully developed one at that.
"I refuse!"I screamed in my mind as I punched the glass, shattering it into a million pieces."I promise, I will remove this seal! I will not die like a dog! I refuse! I refuse!"
The door of the room flew open and a female figure entered. "Neji dear, you're awake what wa-" A look of shock and horror spread across her face as she looked at me.
"Oh son…" tears started rolling down her face as she hugged me, "I'm so sorry…" My eyes stared at the wall for a bit before I closed them and wrapped my arms around her.
Hugs are always nice.
The woman I now knew was named Himeko whipped the tears from her eyes, "Let me help you with that, ok dear?" She said to me with a warm smile.
"I'm sorry Mother, thank you."
Our family lived in a surprisingly big house, which compensated for the lack of a second floor. 'My mother' had pulled out a few bits of glass from my knuckles, applied some healing ointment, and wrapped my hands with bandages, she had then told me she needed to go buy food to make dinner, as I apparently had slept through breakfast and lunch.
I stared at my hands as the white bandages slowly turned red. Our house was a very Japanese-looking one, fitted with a nice back lawn with a tree and a small pond.
A deep breath escaped my mouth as the wind hit me in the face. This sure was a peaceful place.
I looked down and grabbed a leaf that had fallen from the three. There was no time to waste.
I formed a ram seal and tried to identify how chakra felt. It surprisingly didn't feel as alien as I had expected, the body I was now in had never lived a day without chakra, so that made sense, yet to my old rational mind it still felt like I had suddenly grown a new limb that had always been there.
I placed the leaf on my forehead as I willed my chakra to move -for lack of a better word, to a single point. After a few seconds, I felt the leaf was secured enough and I let go.
Surprisingly, the leaf didn't move.
A soft chuckle escaped from my lips, how bittersweet. I had been reborn as a Hyuga with a seal on his forehead that ultimately made him a slave, but Neji was also supposed to be a genius, no? The top of his class. The very best of his generation, whatever that entailed.
"Everything has it's advantages and disadvantages I guess.""Not entirely sure if the pros triumph over the cons in my situation, however."
I watched as the master I was supposedly destined to serve and protect spared with her father. A few days had gone by without incident since I had come to live in this world.
What was now my father was sitting beside me as we looked at Hinata and Hiashi spar.
"Her form is sloppy and she lacks the necessary intensity. Can she even activate her Byakugan?"I thought with disdain.
As the days passed, more and more of Neji's opinions and thoughts seemed to become my own. It was a strange feeling, like how a person would change how they thought and acted from when they were 14 years old compared to when they were 18 but in the span of a few days instead of years.
One of the changes this brought about was that I now thought of Hizashi as my real father and of Himeko as my real mother.
It was strange to feel so much love and appreciation for someone you kinda didn't know last week but also felt like you had known since you had been born.
"Listen closely Neji, your purpose in life is to protect Lady Hinata… The blood of the Hyuga clan." I glared at Hizashi. "Do you really believe that Father?" If looks could kill, the one Hizashi was shooting at me right now would have certainly done so.
"I'm sorry father… I won't speak up again," I said looking down.
A few minutes passed in uncomfortable silence when suddenly Hiashi turned towards us and form a seal.
The reaction was instant, my father fell from his sitting position to the ground as he grasped his head in pain, "AAAAARGGGGGGHH!" screaming.
"Father!" I said as I moved closer to him, "Stop it!" I screamed as I glared at Hinata's father.
His unwavering eyes moved towards me and I quickly realized what a stupid mistake I had just made.
The pain was intense and sharp, it could best be described as being branded by red hot iron in both your brain and forehead.
"I shall not tolerate this foolishness if this is to happen again, now go home." I heard Hiashi speak as the pain stopped, feeling like I could breathe again."What f*cking foolishness was he even talking about?""Do not forget your place ever again."
I looked at myself in the mirror across the room as I lay in my bed in the lotus position, one leaf sticking to each of my cheeks and Byakugan activated.
The Byakugan was truly an incredible power, the first time I had activated the Dōjutsu I had felt dizzy for a while but now I was fully accustomed to it. Accustomed was a relative word, I could use it and not get sick, but I could still feel my chakra being drained every minute the All Seeing White Eye was active.
On an unrelated note, only now did I notice that the specific curse seal I had been marked with was the one from the manga and not the anime. Which meant I was now walking around with a swastika 'tattooed' on my forehead.
I closed my eyes and chuckled, what a grim but somewhat amusing coincidence really.
"Can I come in dear?" I heard my mother speak. "How is father?" Himeko exhaled from her nose, "he is alright, tomorrow he won't feel a thing. How are you?"
"The seal was only active for a few seconds for me, it might have been 30 for Father."
"I see…"
"Neji, what are you doing?" My father asked.
I opened my eyes to see an upside-down Hizashi looking at me with curious yet amused eyes and a small smile on his face. Guess it made sense he'd found the scene before him amusing. Not every day did you see your son in the lotus position hanging upside down from a tree using only chakra, his long brown hair almost reaching the ground.
"Is it not obvious? I am training my chakra control as well as trying to increase the size of my reserves by doing the exercise for a long period of time to get tired."
Hizashi put his hand on his chin as he nodded, "I see… Now the question would be why you're doing that and how you even know that helps with chakra control and reserves."
"I saw a few kids from the main branch doing it with my Byakugan." "That would answer how you know what it does and how to do it, but not why. Those kids you say you saw could only be seven or older, you're only five."
My lips curled to the side on their own. "To become stronger, of course, I wish to be a shinobi one day, I was under the impression you wanted that for me too since we spar often and you started teaching me the Gentle Fist last year." Hizashi nodded with a cheeky smile. "That is true, I want you to become a strong shinobi one day, but ever since your fifth birthday a few weeks ago you certainly have become more dedicated when it comes to training, I would be willing to say obsessed even."
I stared at my father for a few long hard seconds before replying.
"After I enroll in the academy I wish to start learning Fūinjutsu so I can one day break the Caged Bird Seal," I said in a serious tone.
A few more seconds passed before Hizashi answered, "I feared that would be your answer... Is that truly your goal?" My eyebrows scrunch together. "Yes."
Hizashi nodded slowly, "I think you can imagine but you are not the first one to try, but you would be the first in a long time… Back in the Warring States Period, there were often a few members from the branch family who attempted to remove their seals. If you're truly sure then you shall have my full support."
I beamed at this. This answer had been unexpected. "Thank you, Father," I said with a smile.
"Now then, what shall be first?" It didn't take me more than 5 seconds to respond, "I wish to master the Gentle Fist to the best of what is currently feasible."
A laugh broke free from Hizashi's lips, "Careful little man, don't bite more than you can chew!"
"Look Mother," I said as I handed Himeko a piece of paper with a smile on my face. "What is this Neji dear?"
"I went to visit the library the other day and I found this book that is recommended by many shinobi, that right there is a diet that's supposed to help maximize muscle, chakra, and height growth for boys between the age of 5 and 11."
Himeko glanced over what was written in the paper, "so you want me to cook this from now on?" she said with a raised eyebrow, suddenly making me feel a bit uncomfortable. "I know I'm asking for a lot. If you would prefer I can buy and cook the meals myself if you give me a small allowance."
My mother laughed at me, "Don't worry dear, I can cook this for you."
I bowed slightly, "thank you Mother."
