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Other fanfics -- Naruto: Twin's Glory
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moshi moshi
"Would you like to name him?" she asked.
Hizashi looked at her. All the worry from earlier drained out of him like mist. His expression grew serious.
"No," he said gently. "You should name him. You carried him. You brought him into this world. This honor is yours."
Tears pricked at the corners of her eyes. She looked down at the child and whispered, "Neji. Neji Hyuga."
Neji… Hyuga.
Raigo's mind buzzed faintly as the name echoed in the chambers of his reborn consciousness. Something stirred.
That sounds familiar. Neji… from Naruto? The thought sparked a flicker of memory. Wasn't he… the one who talked about destiny? And fate?
The gears in his mind turned slowly, sluggishly, like a rusted machine forced into motion. He couldn't grasp the full picture. Names, faces, scenes—all just out of reach. His memories of the anime were hazy, half-forgotten from years of adult life and burnout. But this name—Neji—stuck out. Tragic. Bitter. Resigned to fate… and yet he died protecting someone.
He… died, didn't he? Protecting… someone important. I remember sadness.
Was it Naruto? Hinata? He couldn't tell. It was like trying to recall a dream after waking up.
But the emotion—yes, he remembered that. Neji's life had weight. His death had meaning. And now… Raigo was him.
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So I've been reborn as Neji Hyuga?
He didn't know how to react. There was no elation. No despair. Just… a quiet gravity. A sense of inherited purpose.
I remember the speeches. About fate and destiny. About being caged…
He turned his eyes once again to the woman—his mother now—and the man with sharp, proud features kneeling beside her. Hizashi Hyuga. His father.
They looked down at him with a mixture of awe, love, and something else. Expectation?
They don't know what's ahead. What's supposed to happen to me. What might happen to them. But I do. Sort of. Vaguely.
A warm hand gently ran over his head. A midwife's voice whispered something soft and congratulatory. Hizashi leaned in, kissed his wife's forehead, then placed a careful kiss on the baby's brow.
This time… I'll change my fate. Not just mine. Theirs too.
His gaze drifted to the paper lanterns. The tatami. The distant murmur of wind against the wooden frame of the house.
This wasn't just a second life. It was a mission.
But once again, the strain of cognition hit him like a crashing wave. The baby body demanded rest, and his eyelids dropped despite his will.
As he drifted to sleep, he felt a ripple through his optic nerves. Something sleeping deep within him stirred.
Not the Byakugan. Not yet.
Something else.
The True Eyes.
Dormant.
But waiting.
Watching.
And ready—when the time came—to awaken.
It was late afternoon when Hiashi Hyuga arrived.
The air grew still as he approached, the sound of his footsteps absorbed by the tatami. His presence carried the weight of authority—the kind that made even veteran shinobi straighten their backs. Hizashi stood quickly and bowed deeply. His wife, recovering from childbirth, offered a shallow nod from her futon.
Hiashi surveyed the room with that unreadable calm unique to clan leaders. Then his gaze settled on the bundle cradled in Hizashi's arms.
"So," Hiashi said quietly, "this is Neji."
"Yes, brother," Hizashi replied, carefully angling the baby for him to see. "A boy. Strong and healthy."
Hiashi's pale eyes lingered on the infant. Neji lay still, swaddled tightly, fast asleep. There was no crying, no stirring. Just peaceful breathing and an occasional twitch of his tiny fingers.
"He didn't cry upon birth?" Hiashi asked, raising a brow.
"No," Hizashi said. "The midwives found it odd. He opened his eyes and… just looked around."
Hiashi's expression didn't change, but he stepped forward. "I would like to examine him."
Hizashi stiffened. He knew what that meant.
"Brother…" he began hesitantly. "The Byakugan—using it on an infant, our own kin—"
"It's for the clan," Hiashi interrupted gently but firmly. "I must understand his chakra potential. As head of the Hyuga, it is my duty."
Hizashi's fists clenched at his sides. The Byakugan was not a tool to be used lightly, especially not on one's own family. It was a weapon—one traditionally reserved for evaluating enemies on the battlefield. To use it on a baby, his baby, felt invasive. But Hiashi was clan head. A refusal would be disrespectful—and futile.
Hizashi stepped aside.
Hiashi knelt beside the sleeping child. With a silent breath, the veins around his temples bulged. His Byakugan activated with a soft hum of chakra. The world became transparent before his eyes.
He focused on Neji's chakra network.
"Steady," he murmured to himself. "Efficient flow. Balanced coils. No visible blockages."
Then his eyes narrowed.
"This chakra pool… it's large."
Larger than expected for a newborn. In fact, if Hiashi hadn't known better, he might have guessed the chakra level of a high-genin. And not just quantity—there was resilience in the tissue, a sturdiness to the infant's physical structure, as if his body had been reinforced by years of conditioning.
He deactivated his Byakugan, leaning back slowly.
"Congratulations, Hizashi," he said, standing. "You've birthed a strong son. He may do the branch family proud."
But Hizashi knew. That was not the only reason Hiashi had come.
The clan head wasn't just checking on his brother's child out of sentimentality. He had come to assess power—potential. Neji was not just a baby. He was a future piece in the Hyuga hierarchy.
And perhaps… a threat.
Hiashi offered a curt nod and exited the room, robes brushing the frame of the sliding door as it closed behind him.
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Sayonara