Naruto: Ren the Sealmaster

Sasuke Uchiha stood opposite Midare from Ame, both sizing each other up as the proctor, Hayate Gekko, approached them and stood between them.

"Cough, are both participants ready?" He asked, giving each of them a measuring look, his eyes stopping for a moment on Sasuke when he noticed the tightness around his eyes, indicating that the boy was in pain.

Hayate's eyes slid toward the boy's neck, but then he quickly averted his gaze before Sasuke could notice and looked at the Ame ninja instead.

"I am going to show you how a real ninja fights, Uchiha!" The Ame ninja, Midare, taunted, pulling out two umbrellas from his back.

"Just start the damn match already." Sasuke replied in an unhappy mutter, causing the Ame genin to bristle as Hayate coughed, hiding the amused chuckle that wanted to be let out.

Seeing that both boys were eager to start, Hayate quickly raised his arm and swung it down while shouting, "Begin!" as he jumped back.

Sasuke dashed forward.

Midare... chose the most unfortunate time to blink.

When Midare's eyes opened again, a second later, Sasuke's fist was already nearing his face, causing his eyes to start widening. Sadly, Midare could not hope to keep up with Sasuke's speed, nor were his reflexes good enough to evade the blow when it was almost upon him.

He only managed to instinctively jerk his head back, softening the blow a little bit, just as Sasuke's fist implanted itself into his face, breaking his nose and cracking a cheekbone before Midare's head whipped back and his hands involuntarily released his umbrellas. His body followed shortly after when his feet left the ground, and the boy had a brief flight through the air before he crashed onto the hard stone floor, rolling a few times before he came to a stop, unconscious.

Sasuke, his arm still outstretched in the punching motion, pulled his arm back and gave a half-confused, half-frustrated look at his defeated opponent. His eyes scanned the sides, and he glanced at the ground... wondering where the trap was in this.

Only when nothing happened five seconds later, Sasuke's lips settled into a frown, and he irritably scratched the back of his head.

That... was it?

What about all his bragging about real ninjas and whatnot?

He glanced at Hayate, who knelt next to his opponent, checking his vitals.

"Winner, Sasuke Uchiha!" Hayate declared, and Sasuke couldn't help but feel disappointed. Then the adrenaline left him, and the seal on his neck flared in a burst of pain again, and Sasuke reluctantly decided that it was probably a good thing the fight was so short.

Grumbling, he jumped back onto the balcony.

...

"Well, that was fast." Ren wryly remarked, getting a snort in response from Ino.

"That kid diligently trained under Gai for almost a year." Asuma said, pulling out a cigarette and putting it in his mouth before he started rummaging in his pockets for a lighter. "This much was expected."

"Indeed." Kurenai nodded in agreement, swiping the cigarette from his mouth and giving him a reproachful look that made the man sigh.

"Next match, Hinata Hyuga versus Neji Hyuga!"

'Oh, shit.' Ren's head snapped back toward the arena, especially the supposedly 'randomized' calling board. He expected this to happen, but he didn't think it would be the very second match.

Having two Hyugas in the last phase of the Chunin Exams would be redundant for the village's image. One was enough. And the prominent one was preferable. So, the solution was easy. Pitting them against each other was always going to happen.

What pissed Ren off a bit, was that the dipshits making the match-making wanted Hinata to use the Caged Bird Seal. The match-making practically screamed it.

'Here you go, Miss Main House Hyuga, why don't you fight the Mister Branch House Hyuga, whom you can incapacitate with one hand seal? It's for the village. Having a Main Branch member in the finals would be much better!' Ren inwardly grumbled as he stood by what he had said previously. 

This shit was rigged as hell.

And it would have worked if Hinata hadn't been reluctant to use the Caged Bird Seal. There was no place for equality in the ninja world.

With the corner of his eye, Ren noticed Kakashi leading Sasuke out of the room, most likely intending to seal away the Cursed Seal. But Ren didn't pay much attention to them. Orochimaru was going to interrupt it, and Ren didn't have a plan to mess with that.

Orochimaru was going to make sure that Sasuke's Cursed Seal was fine during that encounter, so Ren opted not to play with it before that could happen, even if it was very tempting for his seal master sensibilities. He will have a lot of time for it later. He doubted Orochimaru would be checking the seal again anytime soon after the first time.

For now, Hinata's match was more important than Sasuke's hickey and the pedo-snake who gave it to him.

Ren put his hand on Hinata's shoulder and supportively squeezed, "Go kick his ass as hard as you want."

"Yeah! Good luck." Ino joined in encouraging the girl.

Hinata sighed, "I'd prefer not to kick my cousin's ass, though." She mumbled. "But thanks, I'll do my best." She flashed Ren and Ino a quick, small smile before she was off to the arena.

Ren watched her go, noticing the barely veiled reluctance in her body language. And he was not the only one.

"She hates this." Ino quietly remarked, looking at Hinata with an understanding look. Not many would enjoy fighting their family. Even if Hinata had more reason to resent hers, Ren knew she disliked the fact that she would have to do it in the future if she wanted to enact any change at all.

Feeling Ino slip her hand into his, Ren squeezed it.

The worst part was that Neji was a little spoiled shit about the whole thing. He hated Hinata for his 'fate'. But honestly, the kid had free lodging, free meals, loads of training resources others could only dream about, freely available to him, and the seal was not used on him ever since that first time when he was a small child.

He had no chores. No responsibilities. His time was pretty much all free time for training, too. The only caveat was that he was expected to be Hinata's protector when they grew up.

If there were not so much animosity between him and Hinata, Ren would say that Hiashi was grooming Neji to be Hinata's future husband. Which… yuck. But then again, Hyugas.

The boy was under the protection and care of Hiashi, and Hiashi felt very bad about his brother's sacrifice, so he made sure Neji had a very good life.

Frankly? Ren would say that Hinata had it harder than Neji because her father was a total hard-ass to her, putting all the expectations on her shoulders while making her feel as if she was never good enough.

The idiot called that parenting.

It was easy to look at Hanabi or Neji and say how talented they were when they were allowed to progress at their own pace with no pressure. Without being constantly terrorized by Hiashi who absolutely sucked at this training people thingy.

Even when Neji showed off that he learned the main house techniques in canon, and there definitely were Elders who loathed that fact, he suffered no repercussions from it because Hiashi protected him.

Ren had witnessed it enough during his visits to the Hyuga compound. Hinata gets slapped with random punishments for every misstep because, as the Hyuga Heiress, she can't be allowed to make mistakes. 

Neji? He could mouth off to Hinata. He could even steal the main house techniques. And he would get a pat on the back.

Hanabi can complain about this and that, whining like a child that she was, and Hiashi was only going to give her a fond, amused glance. That was fair enough. But Sage forbid that Hinata complains about something. That would be the end of the world!

Yes. Ren knew he was biased. But he really did not like how Hinata was treated in her own home. If she weren't so stubborn and begged him not to get involved, he would have already given Hiashi a piece of his mind long ago about his blatant favoritism.

For any other Branch Hyuga member, learning the main house techniques would be a life and death situation where the Elders would cry for their blood for daring to steal the techniques of the main house.

But for Neji? Nah.

It is not that Neji is so extremely talented that he can recreate these techniques. It's simply that he is stupid and arrogant enough to do it. The actual impressive part was that he was capable of recreating them at fourteen years of age. Something he was not going to be achieving in this reality, considering the boy is already around eighteen now. Even if he did it again, the feat would have been way less impressive by now.

Any adult Hyuga would most likely be able to accomplish the same thing. Maybe not as fast as Neji. But give them five? Ten years? They would eventually get it right. They had Byakugan and free access to observe the training of the main house members without being noticed. They could secretly observe how these techniques were done and what they needed to do with their chakra.

The reason nobody was doing it was that they didn't have Hiashi's protection. They knew if they were discovered, they would be in the world of pain. But Ren would bet that there were many Branch Hyugas who knew at least bits and pieces of the main house techniques, keeping it on the down low.

Shaking his head, Ren decided to stop complaining and refocused on the arena when Neji and Hinata met in the middle, and the usual pre-match trash talk ensued. It was practically a tradition by now. Even Hayate waited for a moment to give the contestants the chance to say something to each other before he started the match.

"Lady Hinata, looks like fate is smiling upon me today. You were simply unfortunate to be paired against me since we both know the outcome already." Neji uttered in his mock humble tone that oozed casual entitlement.

Hinata's expression turned baffled as she gave her cousin a weirded-out look. "What is that even supposed to mean?"

With her Byakugan already activated, she could see that even the Hokage's lips twitched in amusement at Neji's declaration because... unfortunate? Really?

She was very aware she could end this match literally in a second. There was only one unfortunate person in the arena, and it wasn't her.

What floored her was the fact that Neji hadn't seemed to realize it.

"Please give up." Neji, a bit miffed that Hinata seemed more confused than afraid at facing him, the Hyuga genius, continued speaking. "Your fate is to lose here. I have trained long and hard while you were inappropriately playing ninja with your new boyfriend."

"Right." Hinata deadpanned at him in reply.

She knew that nothing she said would reach Neji at the moment, so why bother?

Pissed that his words have no effect, Neji decided to get mean with his trashtalk. "But that relationship is going to end soon anyway. The Hyuga heiress should not be sullying herself by frolicking with some common rabble chunin."

Hinata's eye twitched, and Neji almost smiled at finally getting the desired reaction. 

Back on the balcony, Ren's lips became a thin line as he heard what the boy had just said. He was not surprised. Neji hated him as much as he disliked the boy. But being called 'common rabble' by a slave was very rich.

"It's disgraceful, Lady Hinata. You had your fun, but the Elders are no doubt going to ensure it ends soon." Neji continued.

"Oh, I am sure they will try." Hinata calmly smiled, raising Neji's hackles even more, but before he could speak up again, she gave Hayate an annoyed look, getting a nod in return.

Understanding her intent, Hayate quickly started the match.

Neji didn't waste time with useless banter. The second the match started, he rushed at Hinata, sending a flurry of ferocious finger strikes in her direction.

Only to be bewildered when his desired outcome didn't come to pass, and Hinata simply blocked every single one of his strikes with seemingly effortless ease without even taking a step.

Neji jumped back, creating a small distance between them. "This is impossible! You were not this strong the last time we sparred!" He exclaimed, making Hinata shake her head at him.

"I am sorry, Neji, but I was always holding back. The purpose of training is to improve and learn new things. Not to unnecessarily hurt my family to boost my own ego."

That made Neji speechless.

And Hinata understood. She had not won even one match against him during their sparring sessions. He probably never suspected that she had lost on purpose.

Then came the rage as the realization struck him, and Neji's usually calm facade cracked, his expression twisting. He rushed at Hinata again, chakra almost visible on the tips of his fingers as his attacks quickened.

"Two palms." Neji shouted, and Hinata blocked with the same exact motions Neji was doing, showcasing that she was using the same technique.

"Four palms." Their chakra-laced fingers clashed and negated each other.

Eight palms!" Neji's tone gained more urgency while Hinata stayed silent, small air waves rippling through the air whenever their fingers met and their chakra clashed.

"Sixteen PALMS!" Neji became frantic, his voice rising when he still hadn't managed to score even a single hit.

"THIRTY-TWO PALMS!" 

"SIXTY-FOUR PALMS!!!" With gritted teeth, Neji finished his combo, his body slowing down as his chakra network was unable to go further. Sixty-four palms was his current limit. And yet, he couldn't believe he had not hit Hinata's tenketsu even once!

But his disbelief turned into dread when Hinata's fingers had not slowed down at sixty-four strikes. Instead, their speed increased.

A split second later, Hinata's chakra-infused fingers smashed straight through Neji's weakened guard, into his tenketsu, again and again in a series of quick pokes that had Neji release a few painful grunts while his body shook under the onslaught of blows he found himself utterly incapable of countering.

"One hundred, twenty-eight palms." Hinata's calm tone resounded through the arena, and it took Neji's entire focus not to topple over or fall on his knees as he felt sixty-four of his tenketsu sealed, flaring a massive amount of pain straight through his body.

Despair and disbelief filled him. This was not how the battle was supposed to go!

He still had Kaiten!

He could still...!

Neji coughed a bit of blood and barely managed to stand on his feet as his vision swayed while he gave Hinata the most hateful look he could pull off.

Deep down, he knew that with sixty-four tenketsu sealed, there was no way he could execute Kaiten. One, two, or even five tenketsu, he could unblock. But sixty-four? The match was over. He was just too stubborn to give up.

Snarling, he pushed himself forward, throwing another finger strike straight at Hinata's heart.

Only for his arm to be caught by Hinata before she unceremoniously unrolled his sleeve, showing that his arm was full of red dots, signifying the blocked tenketsu.

"Please, give up, Neji-nii-sama. It's over." Hinata's soft voice entered his ears as she gave him such a pitying look that Neji's anger exploded again.

His chakra flared, and uncaring about the disastrous consequences of trying to do Kaiten with blocked tenketsu, he...

His vision went black, and he knew no more.

Hinata caught the freshly unconscious Neji and carefully put his battered body on the floor, releasing a weary sigh as she was declared the winner.

Shutting his body down through the physical contact she had via touching his arm was no big deal for somebody with her medical skills.

It was sad, but she knew she could not fix him. Ren made sure to hammer this into her head, and Ino agreed. Hinata didn't want to accept it, but if even the Yamanaka came to that conclusion, it was hard to refute it.

After all, Ino's clan was the experts at this sort of stuff.

Neji's hatred for her was something only her father could resolve by having a good, long talk with the boy. He needed to explain everything that happened during that night. Everything that led to Neji's father sacrificing himself.

Because really, blaming Hinata for not being able to defeat a Jonin that kidnapped her when she was a little kid was just ridiculous.

His arrogance and the fate bullshit... Now that was something Ren believed could be only fixed by Neji losing a fight against somebody he deemed so inferior to him that the idea of defeat was unthinkable.

That should have been enough to shake up his entire world-view and force him to re-evaluate it.

Sadly, Hinata could not be that person for Neji. She worried that this loss was only going to make the issue worse. She would be pleasantly surprised if her cousin did not come to the self-deluded conclusion that his loss was predetermined because she is from the Hyuga main house.

But she was not holding her breath for it. She knew it was more or less just her wishful thinking.

Giving her unconscious cousin one last look of pity, Hinata turned around and walked back to the balcony under the surprised gazes of many Konoha people.

Neji was the Hyuga prodigy, and she had tried to keep a low profile. Her victory against him was definitely surprising. It was going to cause a lot of issues for her in her clan. People won't be happy she hid her strength, she reckoned.

But right now, Hinata couldn't care less. Her good mood was absolutely ruined, and she required some cuddle time to recover and forget about this disaster.

...

(AN: Just for the record, I don't dislike Neji. I can even sympathize with him. But with the snippets I wrote about his character in this story previously, he just slotted into that role of a spoiled brat very easily for me. I didn't plan for it. It just happened.)