The Chunin Exam - 2

Naruto walked down the sidewalk with his arms folded behind his head, deep in thought. The day before had left Gaara, Haku and himself in a right state after getting the news about Sakura's slip up.

However at the present time his mind was set on something else; something Gaara had said.

'You have no idea what you're talking about. You don't know anything about that. You can't even see it for yourself, not even when Hinata looks at you, you see nothing. You are a blind fool!'

Naruto frowned, not sure if Gaara had seriously meant anything he had said, 'He was upset. He was rambling. But what if...what if some of the stuff he had said was true? Could Hinata-chan maybe...?'

Naruto shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts, 'No, I can't just jump to conclusions! Maybe I'm just over thinking this...' He then smiled to himself, 'But what if she...?'

Again he shook his head fiercely and other pedestrians gave him odd looks.

"I'll just go ask her myself," Naruto said and nodded as he walked, "Then: problem solved! I'm sure Hinata-chan can set things straight if I go see her!"

The blonde haired boy marched on, more confident, and certainly more oblivious of what he was about to do.

Upon his arrival to the Hyuga compound, Naruto was unable to keep his mind off of the thought.

'Why would she like someone like me? Gaara-kun's crazy.'

Well, that had always been apparent.

Rather than jumping the wall as he normally did, Naruto strolled leisurely right in through the front gate. The standing guards merely ignored him, knowing that if they refused him entry he'd still find a way in anyway, as he always had.

He was a familiar face at the estate.

The lawn was ridiculously well-kept, with trees and hedges trimmed to perfection. Gardens lined the outside of the mansion with blooms of every color imaginable. It was hard to believe, Naruto felt, that such a cheerful landscape could be a home for one of the crankiest clans in Konoha.

Darting about were a few servants carrying baskets and other items with heads bowed submissively as they passed a Main Branch member. 'These people are just so friggin stuck up all the time! I can't believe Hinata-chan's related to them...

There it was again. That pesky little notion about Hinata. Naruto himself could scarcely imagine why he couldn't stop thinking about her after hearing Gaara's tirade. 'He was just mad...maybe he was making stuff up.'

It felt weird that he was compelled to deny it, as if it would be a bad thing if she possibly did like him. 'Well, maybe it wouldn't be bad,' He smiled to himself again, 'Hinata-chan, she's...'

He then recalled how her father, Hiashi, seemed stilted, if not deeply bothered by his presence whenever they met. 'Er...her dad would probably kill me if he found out.'

His jumbled thoughts were interrupted by a familiar face. Naruto stopped and looked far across to the opposite side of the yard to see a young shinobi exiting one of the buildings.

It had been a while since he had seen Neji, he noted. 'Wow, he doesn't look as pissed as he normally does right about now.'

Indeed, the young Hyuga seemed less moody than usual, though his face betrayed no visible trace of emotion. He walked ghost-like in the morning light across the lawn. 'Sometimes I even forget he lives here...'

It then occurred to Naruto that he might be leaving to join his team for a day of training, 'Maybe I should take a leaf out of his book!'

Before Naruto took his gaze off of Hinata's older cousin he noticed Neji stop abruptly, and that once relaxed air that he emanated seemed to die instantly. A few feet away from him stood an older man, perhaps a shinobi, Naruto assumed.

At first glance he appeared to be extremely hostile towards the younger Hyuga.

Neji was aware of it as well.

It was silent for a long while and when the elder Hyuga spoke Naruto was too far away to hear it.

A fierce, white glare settled on Neji, "Why...why should you be free? How can you matter so much?"

There was a flicker of sympathy in Neji's eyes for a moment: real humanity. It vanished instantly as the elder Hyuga seemed to radiate some terrible killing intent which Naruto was able to sense, 'What was that?'

Before Naruto could make out any more words or an exchange of sorts they were at each other, snarling like dogs. The blonde watched in bafflement as the elder Hyuga leapt at Neji, palms flat, a wild thing of rage.

Neji didn't seem genuinely angry as he prepared to defend himself, but he certainly wasn't pleased with the development. Naruto watched, floored for the first few seconds as they slapped at each other with bursts of chakra, fast and savage. Apparently he was the only current witness.

A moment later it became more aggressive, slaps turned into full stabs of Jyukken, blue and painful. The killing intent was then overwhelming and Naruto couldn't understand how Neji was able to stand his ground after feeling it, 'What should I-?'

The blonde stood still and watched as Neji took a solid blow in the side, which he returned to his opponent, cringing. The elder Hyuga was then hissing, a thing possessed, wanting to flay Neji, crush him, make him feel bloody and broken and stepped on and screaming and…

It was over.

Neji leapt back, shaking.

His foe was on the ground, sobbing, clawing at his forehead. That was when Naruto had noticed Hiashi had appeared out of nowhere. He looked grim and ended his torture of the insubordinate Branch member nearly as quickly as it had begun.

Neji's opponent lay there pathetically at the clan leader's feet, shoulders shaking and tearful.

Neji knew.

He had always known. This humility, this cage; it could've been his fate. Hiashi was silent, still furious that his nephew had been attacked.

Neji stared down at the crumpled mess of a human being that wanted to end him...or himself.

There was no seal on his forehead, but still, Neji suffered the pains of the Branch family. They made sure they shared their suffering with him. Their cage was his own and he had always known what if felt like.

Neji's stare turned to Hiashi, icy and resentful.

Naruto watched from afar, not comprehending what he had seen at all.

The anger he had felt when he had been defending himself was redirected at Hiashi, the person he thought was responsible for this pain. The one who inflicted it. The one who embraced it. His pain and the others' as well.

Hiashi's gaze rested briefly on his nephew, he spoke in a low voice, "Run along now, Neji."

Neji, who had the present sense to not act on anger unlike his unfortunate relative, held his tongue and continued walking, stiff-backed and visibly reproachful. What he had seen he had never wanted to see again.

Naruto watched as Neji left swiftly through the front gate, ignoring the staring sentries, and proceeded to find his team with, yet again, a ruined mood.

Shocked and slightly disturbed by what he had witnessed, Naruto continued on quietly, wanting to find solace in the one person he knew who could always give it to him.