Start of the Journey

Many Years Later

Early into the night, Inside a large training room, sat a long haired teenager in a meditative pose. He sat there completely immobile, coming off more like a statue rather than a living person. This could also be attributed to their appearance, being of fair skin, handsome features and wearing light loose fitting clothing. At this time of day, everyone was in their living quarters and wouldn't come around. Today however that wouldn't be the case, as the sliding door was opened and he received the following message.

" All available chūnin are to gather at the Hokage's Residence at once!"

The teen didn't audibly respond, merely nodding at the messenger before slowly standing up. Receiving confirmation the person immediately left, leaving him alone once again. Standing there by himself a faint grin across his face before walking outside. Stepping out of the training room his lavender colored eyes flashed with excitement.

' The day's finally arrived…'

To those familiar with the anime, what was currently going on is quite obvious, it's literally in the pilot episode. However, unlike in that world, the Neji of this timeline had been patiently waiting for this exact moment. As today marked the beginning of his story, no longer would he be pushed aside for some miraculous hero to save the day.

Arriving at the Hokage's Residence, his ears were ambushed by the hysterical shouts of the already present chūnin. Who demanded the immediate arrest of Naruto Uzumaki, the supposed perpetuator of the Scrolls theft. Interestingly enough the real culprit stood amongst them, that being Mizuki. A scorned and jealous academy instructor, secretly working for the disgraced Sannin Orochimaru.

Fully aware of what had occurred and how things would eventually end, Neji immediately set out in search of Naruto. A fairly easy task seeing as he more or less knew where he'd be at this time. Of course having the Byakugan made it that much easier as he found him rather quickly. Just like in the anime, Neji found Naruto outside an abandoned warehouse out in the nearby woods. At which point he was still fully focused on learning his trademark, Kage Bunshin no Jutsu.

While definitely not against Naruto, Neji was solely focused on the betterment of himself. For that reason he immediately went over to him and incapacitated Naruto while simultaneously taking the Scroll.

' Sorry, but I need the scroll.'

Coming with a rough estimate of ten minutes before Iruka showed up to confront Naruto. Neji opened the scroll in search of a secret technique or Jutsu that would get rid of his curse mark. Revealing his true intentions for the Scroll of Seals and his patience towards the clan. It was because he'd planned on removing the curse mark and leaving the Hyūga Clan, from the very start.

This was again for the sake of his own strength, as staying in the village would stunt his growth. Of course knowing how rotten the government was, also played a big factor in his decision. Seeing as certain individuals in said government would purposefully hinder his progress. Even though this would mean he'd have to say goodbye to his father and abandon the village hee called home all these years.

All he needed was a method to remove the "Caged Bird Curse Seal'' on his forehead, which he'd hopefully find in this scroll. Otherwise he'd have to result to more extreme measures, which he didn't want to depend on, especially this early on. Thankfully that wouldn't be the case as he did come across a certain Fūinjutsu (Sealing Jutsu) within the scroll.

It also worked out that once he was done copying the text onto another scroll, Iruka arrived nearby. Not needing the scroll anymore, he awoke the unconscious Naruto and made a quick exit. Certain events would go as planned and Mizuki would be dealt with.

Returning to the Hyūga Estate, he came across his father who was waiting for him outside the main gates.

" Father, you're home. That's great."

" I finished my mission earlier than expected, how was the Hokage's request? Did you retrieve the Scroll of Seals?"

" You heard about that? I didn't retrieve it personally but I'm confident it'll be returned shortly."

" If you say that, then I'm sure that'll be the case. Come let's head inside so you can tell me everything 8ve missed since I've been gone."

Following his father inside, the two talked for several hours before returning to their respective rooms. Of course Neji immediately opened the scroll with the Fūinjutsu he retrieved from the Scroll of Seals.

At the same time, inside a heavily armored compound deep underground Konohagakure. A mysterious voice spoke to a team of masked individuals dressed in all black.

" Your mission is to eliminate Neji Hyūga, it must be done outside Konohagakure, preferably in another village, and should point towards Kumogakure."

" … "

Without giving another word, the three man team vanished into thin air, leaving only the shadowy figure behind.

" With this I'll remove a troublesome piece from the Hyūga and place more pressure onto the council and the Third…"

Back at Neji's quarters, hysterical laughter broke out as he held onto the scroll.

" Hahahaha, I see it really is just that simple, why hadn't I thought about it earlier? If you want to create or break a seal, all you need is an Uzumaki. Thankfully I know where two of them are and I'm certain enlisting their help won't be all that challenging. That said, I do hope I'm not too late and one of them has already died…"