It was a special day in the Hyuga compound. It was the day of celebration of the third birthday of Hinata Hyûga, the young heiress of the Hyûga clan.

Many people were assembled in a room somewhere inside the Hyuga compound to take part in it. They were mostly children under ten years old accompanied by their parents or tutors.

They certainly tough that they will eat some cookies, candy and drink some juice but they were completely wrong.

Around them, the atmosphere in the room was solemn and heavy. While the adult was showing their perpetual hyûga's like emotionless face, some children were still smiling unaware of the strangeness of this birthday party.

They were looking at Hinata Hyûga, the young heiress of the Hyuga clan with shining eyes. She was a kind girl, after all, the kind that many other children will want to know better.

Among the children participating in the ceremony, the five-year-old Neiji Hyûga dressed in his traditional attire was looking around. He had the strange feeling that there was something amiss with this situation and the way the adult asked.

There was another boy around the same age as him who looked around him at all the things. He looked somewhat lost.

It was at that moment that he felt something clicking in his mind and that he came back to himself.

He looked around him before reaching a terrifying realization.

" How is it possible? I died and reacted as a Hyûga. Even worse, it is that day!

I need to flee" the boy secretly tough.

The boy stood up and started to run abruptly toward the door using every bit of power he possessed.

Sadly for him, the adults around him had not gone through strict ninja training for anything. He was quickly caught and neutralized.

There was a woman behind him with a hideous marking on her eyebrow. She was pressing his head on the hard cold through the ground while restraining his hands behind his back.

" stop struggling Hikaru! Please" he could hear the woman whisper in a cold emotionless voice with a hint of sadness to it.

Looking at the other child of the branch family around him, Hikaru knew that he was not mistaken. They were going to put that cursed seal on him, the curse of the caged bird. A means that the main family used to control the branch families but also to protect the secret of the Hyûga bloodline.

During the rest of the night, cries of misery and pain resounded throughout the Hyuga clan compound.

It was only while feeling hurt all over his body that Hikaru came to a strange understanding.

It almost seemed like their forced allegiance was a birthday present to the young heiress of the Hyûga clan.

How could he be alright with the things that were happening around him?

He did not feel indebted either to Konohagakure or to the Hyuga clan and now he had to serve them all his life?