'Didn't expect I'd be famous?' Naruto thought, puzzled. He hadn't exactly been causing trouble. How had his name gotten around more than the prank-pulling original? Even upperclassmen knew who he was.
Neji Hyuga. From the branch house of the Hyuga clan. His father, Hizashi, was Hiashi Hyuga's twin brother-Hinata's uncle. Because Hizashi was born mere moments after Hiashi, he was relegated to the branch house, destined to serve the main house under the Caged Bird Seal.
He had ultimately taken his own life to protect his brother and fulfill his duty. Neji unaware of whole story blamed Hinata and Main House for his father's death and him getting branded with Caged Bird Seal.
Neji crossed his arms, intending to look down on Naruto, but found himself nearly half a head shorter. He subtly shifted back half a step, positioning himself on the stair behind him to gain the height advantage, taking high ground advantage, tilting his head back slightly. "Stay away from Hinata-sama," he said coolly, his voice laced with the arrogance of the Hyuga. "The heiress of the Hyuga clan is not someone you should associate with."
Naruto sized him up, unfazed by the posturing. Due to actually eating properly, he'd shot up and was noticeably taller than Neji. "Oh. Okay," Naruto replied evenly. "Anything else?"
Neji blinked. 'That's... not how this was supposed to go.' Normally, the other person would argue, get angry, maybe spout some nonsense about destiny and proving people wrong. He'd been ready for a confrontation. His fists were clenched. And this was the response? Just... agreement?
'So pathetic and spineless.' Neji scoffed inwardly. "A dead-last is a dead-last after all. Someone abandoned by fate. Don't let me see you near her again."
"Alright," Naruto said easily.
The next day, Naruto walked Hinata to the Hyuga gates, just like always.
Neji stood there, watching. "..." 'Did he just ignore everything I had said yesterday?'
The two boys watched in silence as Hinata slipped through the gate.
Just as Neji opened his mouth to speak, the world blurred. A strong gust of wind, and then a sharp pain in the back of his neck as darkness swallowed him.
Naruto looked down at Neji's unconscious form sprawled on the ground and shrugged. 'Well, if he's unconscious, he can't see me, right? Problem solved.'
The third day, Naruto walked Hinata home again.
Neji stood waiting, face flushed with embarrassment. 'How could I fall asleep outside the gate yesterday? Must have been too tired from training... What a disgrace.' He resolved himself. 'This time, I'll teach him.'
The moment Hinata stepped through the gate... *thump*. Neji was out cold again.
The fourth day...
'Unbelievable. Fell asleep two days in a row. This time, no matter what-' *Thump*. Neji crumpled.
The fifth day...
A flicker of suspicion crossed Neji's mind. 'Something isn't right.' This time, he decided to strike first. Chakra gathered at his fingertips. 'Gentle Fist-' Before he could launch the technique, he was on the ground again, facing another night unconscious by the gate.
The sixth day...
Neji grit his teeth. "You-" *Thump*.
Before he could finish the word "you," he was out like a light, and spent the night sleeping on the paving stones.
The seventh day...
Neji hit the ground before he could even form a thought. He lay stiffly through the night.
A month later...
Neji, looking haggard and near the end of his rope, saw Naruto approaching with Hinata and immediately held up a hand. "Stop!"
Seeing Naruto pause instead of instantly knocking him out, Neji let out a shaky breath he hadn't realized he was holding. He tried to regain his usual cool composure. "Why?" he demanded, his voice strained. "Why are you doing this?"
Naruto answered matter-of-factly, "You told me not to let you see me again. If you're unconscious, you can't see me. A guy's gotta keep his word, right?"
'Is that what this is about?' Neji felt a surge of frustration. He stared hard at Naruto. "How are you so strong? You're supposed to be the dead-last."
"Do you even know what 'dead-last' means?" Naruto asked, tilting his head. His written test scores were garbage, sure, but his practical skills were top-tier. Every classmate he'd sparred against, except Hinata, had ended up soundly beaten.
Especially the girls-one solid hit usually sent them crying, 'Atleast that taught those girls to not screech loudly at me for beating their precious innocent 'Sasuke-kun', being a ninja means facing gender equality.' That kind of record didn't exactly scream 'dead-last'.
But Neji wasn't listening. His frustration boiled over. "Are you trying to defy fate too?" he spat, his voice rising. "It's impossible! Fate is decided the moment you're born! A dead-last should act like one!"
Recently, Neji had accidentally injured a main house member during sparring, and they'd used it as an excuse to activate his Caged Bird Seal as punishment. The physical agony combined with his circumstances had pushed him near his breaking point.
"Want to know the answer?" Naruto asked calmly. "If you do, meet me at Training Ground 99 tomorrow before sunset."
Neji opened his mouth to retort, but felt that sickeningly familiar sharp pain at the back of his neck. His eyes rolled back. *Thump*.
'Keeps talking about dead-lasts,' Naruto thought, annoyed. 'The first time, okay, maybe he gets a pass since I know he can change. But the second time? Nope.' And so, Neji spent another night keeping watch over the Hyuga gate from the ground.
---
The next day, Neji arrived at Training Ground 99 long before sunset.
He scanned the area but saw no sign of Naruto. The only person there was a figure in the distance, drenched in sweat, relentlessly practicing basic exercises.
Squats, jump rope, push-ups, punches. Over and over, a monotonous, grinding routine.
"Tch." Neji sneered at the distant figure. "Training like that won't change anything. You can't fight destiny." He wasn't sure if he was mocking the other boy or himself. He recognized him-Rock Lee, one of his classmates.
The one with no talent for ninjutsu or genjutsu, doomed to mediocrity, never truly becoming a shinobi. 'Another pathetic bug abandoned by fate,' Neji thought bitterly. 'Just like me.'
"Think he's wasting his time?"
Neji jumped, startled by Naruto's voice suddenly appearing right behind him. 'When did he get here?' Shock jolted through him. How could someone approach him undetected, especially with his Byakugan lineage?
Naruto walked casually to stand beside him. "I've been here since you arrived," he said simply.
'Mind reading...?'
"Nope," Naruto replied, glancing at him. "Your thoughts are just easy to read. It's written all over your face."
'Right. Like I believe that.'
"Believe it or not, doesn't matter," Naruto said, his gaze shifting back to Rock Lee training relentlessly in the distance. "What's important is... what do you think of him?"
"Dead-last," Neji said instantly, disdain coloring his voice. "Only an commoner trains like that."
"What makes someone a dead-last? Or ordinary? Or a genius?" Naruto asked quietly, not waiting for an answer. "Seems you don't think much of him."
Neji shook his head firmly. "He lacks the talent to be a ninja. He's different from us."
"Heh. 'Us' now?" Naruto chuckled softly. "How about a bet?" He held up one finger, waving it slightly in front of Neji's face. "One month. Give me one month, and I'll train that guy myself."
He locked eyes with Neji. "One month from now, I'll make him strong enough to surpass you."
"What? Are you joking?" Neji scoffed, rejecting the idea outright. "That's impossible!" Train a talentless commoner, someone abandoned by fate, to surpass him, a Hyuga prodigy, in just one month? Ridiculous. Not even the Hokage could manage that.
"What's wrong?" Naruto pressed, a challenging glint in his eyes. "Is the great genius Neji Hyuga scared? Afraid Lee will actually surpass you in a month?"
Neji's pride flared. "Fine! You're on!"
-------------------
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