Chapter 15: Do You Believe in the Light?
"Naruto-kun, is this… is this a date?"
If it's a date… then… then…
"Date… date… date…"
The word echoed and multiplied inside Hinata's skull until it completely saturated her consciousness, leaving no room for rational thought. Her crush, the boy she admired, had just invited her to share a meal. A warm, dizzying sensation flooded her.
"Hnnnnngh~"
She swayed dangerously on her feet, her eyes glazing over, her whole being signaling an imminent, blissful shutdown.
Naruto watched the familiar, steam-engine-like symptoms manifest and quickly reached out to steady her, his brow furrowed in genuine concern. "Hey, Hinata? You okay? You don't look so good." His intention had simply been a friendly meal, not to induce a medical episode. Maybe she's anemic? Do they have iron supplements in this world?
But before he could probe further, a sharp, aggressive voice sliced through the sweet, flustered atmosphere.
"You! The blond brat! Step away from Lady Hinata at once!"
Hyuga Neji stood in the classroom doorway, his white eyes narrowed in cold displeasure. He'd come to collect his cousin for the walk home and found her in close proximity to the village pariah—the very creature the clan elders had explicitly warned was volatile and dangerous. If she came to harm under his watch, the consequences would fall squarely on him, a member of the Branch House. His duty, his curse, demanded intervention.
Both Naruto and Hinata turned. Naruto's eyes flickered with recognition. Hyuga Neji. The "genius" burdened by his own bitterness.
Hinata's initial flicker of happiness at seeing her cousin was immediately doused by his harsh tone. "N-Neji-nii-san! Please don't talk to Naruto-kun like that…!" she protested, but her voice was a trembling whisper, her inherent timidity warring with her desire to defend her friend.
Neji ignored her, striding forward until he loomed over Naruto's desk. His gaze was pure, undiluted contempt. "Listen, you monster," he spat, the word dripping with the scorn he'd absorbed from the village and his own clan's whispers. "Get lost. And stay away from Lady Hinata from now on. Do I make myself clear?"
"What?"
A cold, slow-burning anger ignited in Naruto's chest. This arrogant, traumatized kid thought he could just walk up and issue decrees? Where did he get the nerve?
"Brother Neji, please!" Hinata found a sliver of courage, standing up and placing herself slightly between them, though her hands shook. "We… we should just go home…"
She was terrified—not for herself, but for Naruto. She'd seen Neji train. His Gentle Fist was precise and punishing. She couldn't bear the thought of Naruto-kun getting hurt because of her. In her protective anxiety, she'd completely forgotten the earth-shattering display of raw power from the shuriken test just hours before.
Seeing her stand up for him, a warm flicker of affection cut through Naruto's irritation. She's trying to protect me. How backwards is that? But it was undeniably cute.
Neji, incensed by Naruto's apparent disregard and Hinata's defiance, decided action was needed. Words had failed. He dismissed Hinata's plea, his body shifting into the opening stance of the Gentle Fist. With a swift, precise motion, he aimed a palm strike at the nerve cluster near Naruto's elbow—a non-lethal but intensely painful technique, meant to teach a lesson. He put a solid 30% of his strength behind it, enough to make any ordinary first-year weep.
Pat.
The sound was soft, almost anticlimactic.
Neji's strike didn't connect with flesh and bone. Instead, his wrist was caught in a grip of iron. Naruto's hand had moved in a blur Neji's untrained eyes couldn't follow, intercepting the attack with effortless ease.
Around them, the few remaining students who had been lingering now formed a loose, fascinated circle.
"Hey, he made a move!"
"That's the Hyuga prodigy, right? He's a year above us!"
"Do you think he can beat… him?"
"Are you stupid? Did you see the target this afternoon?"
Shikamaru, still draped over his desk like a discarded coat, cracked one eye open. "Troublesome…" he sighed, before the scene actually registered. His other eye opened. Huh. That was… fast.
Neji's mind stuttered. Blocked? How? Even at 30%, his speed and precision were far beyond the Academy standard. And the guy hadn't even stood up! He just… caught it. Like swatting a slow-flying bug. A hot wave of humiliation and disbelief washed over him. All those hours of relentless, pain-filled training… for this?
"Forget it," Naruto said, his voice calm, almost bored. "I don't know what your deal is, but you're really weak. Too weak to be interesting." As he spoke, his grip on Neji's wrist tightened infinitesimally.
Neji gasped, a jolt of pain shooting up his arm. He gritted his teeth, refusing to give the "monster" the satisfaction of a cry.
"Also," Naruto continued, his tone dropping to a soft, conversational level that only Neji and Hinata could hear, "Hinata-chan is having dinner with me. I'll make sure she gets home to the Hyuga compound safely later. You can run along. I don't enjoy bullying the weak."
The words were a deliberate, calculated barb.
Neji's face flushed with rage and shame. "How dare you?! You, a creature bound by a monstrous fate, dare to speak to me of—!"
"Brother Neji, please!" Hinata begged, her eyes wide with distress.
Naruto just sighed internally. And he's off again. The 'fate' monologue. He increased the pressure on Neji's wrist just a touch, and the older boy shuddered, his tirade cut off by a spike of agony. Neji's hatred in that moment wasn't just for Naruto; it was a torrent directed at the entire system—the Main House, the Caged Bird Seal, the "fate" that forced him into this humiliating position.
"N-Naruto-kun, please… let him go…" Hinata whispered, clutching Naruto's other arm, her eyes pleading.
Naruto looked at her, and his expression softened. He released his grip immediately. "Since you asked, Hinata-chan."
Neji stumbled back, clutching his throbbing wrist, breathing heavily through his nose. The physical pain was secondary to the psychic wound to his pride.
"Fate cannot be—" he began again, desperate to reclaim some ideological ground.
Naruto cut him off, his voice losing its bored edge and gaining a sharp, clear quality that filled the quiet classroom.
"Hyuga Neji. I don't know why you picked a fight, and I don't really care about your 'unchangeable fate' nonsense." He leaned forward slightly, his bright blue eyes locking onto Neji's milky white ones. "But I can tell you this: your idea is naive."
He paused, letting the word hang in the air.
"If fate is truly set in stone, then why are you here? In a ninja school? Why do you train until you collapse? Why not just sit in your room and wait for whatever 'fate' has in store to happen?" Naruto's voice was relentless, a hammer of simple logic against the brittle shield of Neji's bitterness. "The only people whose fate can't be changed are the ones who stop trying, who close their eyes to the world. And another thing," he added, his gaze flicking to Hinata's worried face and back to Neji, "if I had a sister as kind as Hinata-chan, I wouldn't waste my breath spitting poison at her friends. I'd be thankful she had any."
Neji stood frozen, Naruto's words hitting him with the force of a physical blow. They bypassed his anger and struck directly at the core of his despair. Why do I train? If it's all pointless… if the Bird Cage is eternal… The foundations of his carefully constructed worldview of resentment shuddered.
Hinata stared at Naruto, her heart swelling with a confusing mix of emotions—gratitude, admiration, and a fierce, protective warmth.
Talk no Jutsu: Success! Critical hit! Naruto thought with a flicker of grim satisfaction.
Inside, Neji was crumbling. If fate is changeable… then my father… his sacrifice… was it really…? The grief and rage were a tangled knot he couldn't unravel. No! It's because I'm weak! If I were strong enough, strong like… like this monster, I could smash the cage! I could make them pay!
Just as the internal storm threatened to consume him, Naruto spoke again. His tone had shifted once more, no longer challenging, but strangely… inviting.
"Neji," Naruto said, his voice quieter now, carrying an unexpected weight. "Let me ask you something."
Neji looked up, his white eyes wide and conflicted.
"Do you believe there is light in this world?"
(End of Chapter)
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