Chapter 1 – The Funeral
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Neji wiped his eyes with the corner of his sleeve as he struggled to stay calm. He was now the head of the branch family and had standards to uphold.

He walked through a sea of black Hyuga robes, towards the gravestone that was dedicated to his father and placed a bouquet of flowers in front.

The procession seemed to pass in a blur as different clan members, some of which he knew and some he didn't, came up to his and gave their condolences.

The day passed slowly and when the sun was starting to fall the clan head and his family came towards him.

He quickly started to bow, a habit that was already ingrained into him but was startled when the Hyuga matriarch took him into her arms and embraced him. Neji had only met the Hyuga clan head's wife a few times before this, mostly at other Hyuga gatherings, but for some reason, it felt natural to throw his arms around her and return her embrace.

Neji felt her hand stroke his back up and down while she murmured, "Oh you poor boy." All the emotions that he had been holding back throughout the day burst out as he started bawling into her shoulder.

Neji wasn't sure how long they stayed like that but when he had regained his composure the sun had started to dip into the horizon and the sky was turning dark.

Neji jumped out of his aunt's embrace as if he had been shocked. "My apologies for acting so unseemly lady Hyuga, I seem to have forgotten myself," he said with a quick bow.

The most important thing his father had taught him wasn't his skill with the Jyuken, no it was that his duty was to serve the main family. Of course with service came rules and certain standards that he had to uphold, and breaking down and crying in the arms of the Hyuga matriarch was not one of them.

"I hope you can excuse me but I need some time for myself today," he continued not giving his aunt time to respond. He quickly walked away towards the exit to the family compound, on his way he glanced back, making sure he hadn't offended his aunt. Rather than anger, Neji thought he saw sadness in her eyes as she watched him walk away.

Neji walked aimlessly around the village taking in the slightly chilly evening air. The villagers that he did encounter noticed his black funeral garb gave him a small understanding nod as he walked by.

Neji remembered that the Kyubi attack had not been that long ago, maybe 5 years, so many of them probably still remembered the pain of losing a loved one.

Neji felt bitterness and anger course through him as he made his way to the edge of the village near the bathhouses. At least the villager's loved ones had died for a noble cause, fighting the demon fox that attacked the village. His father wouldn't be able to say the same.

He had been forced to death by the tyrants of the main family having to take the clan head's place when Kumo had demanded the body of Hyuga Haishi for the killing of their head ninja.

Of course, the clan decided to follow through with the request even though the head ninja was killed because he was trying to kidnap Hinata-sama, the Hyuga heiress. They said it was to prevent a war and for the good of the village. In the end, his father ended up having to take his uncle's place since they were identical twins.

His body was delivered to Kumo, not evening being given the chance of a proper burial, and the ninja from the village hidden in the clouds did not know any better and thought they had received Hyuga Hiashi's body.

Neji was still lost in his thoughts when heard a disgusting giggle that alerted him. As he once again became aware of his surroundings he noticed he had walked all the way to the hot springs on the other side of the village.

As he looked around for where the sound came from he noticed a large man, the tallest he had seen in the village. Maybe only Ibiki Morino, the head of the Konoha interrogation force that he had once seen meeting his uncle, could compare. He was crouched down next to the wall of the bathhouse and was looking through a hole in the wall. In his hand, he had a small notebook that he was occasionally scribbling in.

Neji quickly sprung to action, how could he allow such unscrupulous behavior inside the village walls?

He dashed to towards the man aiming to hit one of his chakra points on his back to quickly disable him. He directed his chakra to his fingertips and stuck out!

In a poof of smoke and a blur of motion, Neji felt his face hit the dirt and a large weight press down on his back.

"Who dares attack me the toad sage of mount Myoboko!" The man exclaimed in a grandiose manner. Neji wiggled to try to escape but there was a large frog... no, not a frog. It had dry skin, Neji could feel it on his back, a toad.

"Bah just a stinky kid, did you really think you could attack the great sage Jiraiya and get away with it?"

Neji felt the weight on his back lessen as the man... wait had he said Jiraiya. As in one of the three sanin. With the weight on his back gone Neji quickly jumped back up to his feet and brought his hands together to form a hand sign.

"Byakugan," he murmured and the familiar feeling of his veins bulging appeared.

Neji looked at the man in front of him and almost fell down in shock seeing the amount of chakra he had. It was greater than his father's and his uncle's, maybe on par or more than the third Hokage himself.

"Are you really Jiraiya of the sanin?" Neji asked hesitantly. The sanin were called legends for a reason of course. One being their strength in battle, but also their mystique. As far as Neji knew none of the 3 sanin had been seen in the village for a long time.

"Of course I am you brat. Which idiot would dare impersonate a sanin?" Jiraiya noticing the black robes Neji was wearing and slightly puffy red eyes said in a kinder tone, "What are you doing out here kid?"

Neji still surprised at meeting the legendary sanin completely forgot what he had caught the man doing. "I was just taking a walk... I needed to gather my thoughts," Neji replied.

Jiraiya hesitated at Neji's subdued tone. He had noticed the signature blank pupils of the Hyuga clan on Neji and couldn't feel but feel that their reputation proceeded them. They really were hard-headed as rumored.

Jiraiya started walking towards the Hokage faces while motioning at Neji. "Cmon kid walk with me."

Neji hesitated but followed anyway, this was the leaf village after, nothing could happen to him here.

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