"Father... is it... is it really you?"
A mist of tears clouded Neji's Byakugan. His precocious nature kept him from readily trusting the joyous surprise before him. He feared it was only a fleeting dream, one that would leave him even more devastated when he woke.
What if it's Genjutsu... what if it's a trap...
He raised his fingers shakily, struggling to recall what he had been taught at home.
That... that hand seal... how did it go again...
Barely managing to form the ram seal, Neji drew a deep breath and cried out in a low, tearful voice, "...Release!"
The technique activated, yet the scene before him did not change at all. His father still knelt there, those usually stern eyes now brimming with tenderness—and even a touch of heartache.
It's not Genjutsu... it's not Genjutsu...
At that moment, the tears Neji had fought so hard to hold back finally broke free. The tears that had been slipping silently down his face became a torrential downpour. The four-year-old could no longer keep up his pretense of maturity.
"...Father!"
The tearful cry burst from his lips as his small body lunged forward. Hizashi opened his arms and caught his son securely. Neji buried his face deep in his father's chest. His hurt and the joy of regaining someone he had lost poured out in great sobs that echoed through the quiet room.
Fortunately, the upscale inn Naruto had chosen had excellent soundproofing.
Leaning against the wall with his arms folded, Naruto's lips curved slightly beneath his mask. This reunion between father and son—something that could never have happened in the original timeline—was unfolding right before his eyes.
Instead of telling his son to "be strong" as he usually did, Hizashi gently stroked Neji's trembling back and let him release his emotions in his arms.
Having changed the tragedy of the original story, Naruto felt immensely pleased as he watched the father and son embrace.
Neji's sobs gradually subsided until only an occasional sniffle remained. Hizashi gently brushed his palm across his son's damp cheek, wiping away the glistening tear tracks with his thumb. The only sounds left in the room were Neji's sniffling and the faint chirping of insects outside the window.
"Father... you really are alive..." Neji knelt before Hizashi, his small hands clutching his father's sleeve tightly. "I... I thought you had already..."
His voice grew quieter and quieter, the last few words barely squeezing out between his teeth. Hizashi could feel the force of his son's grip.
"Neji, I'm sorry." He gently took his son's little hands. "I should have died, but someone gave me a second chance."
Hizashi slowly recounted what had happened that day. He had been about to be escorted to the Hidden Cloud Village when a man wearing a Fox Mask suddenly appeared. He attacked the Kumogakure convoy and rescued him.
When he finished, Hizashi turned toward the corner of the room and bowed his head deeply to the figure who had been leaning against the wall the whole time. Only then did Neji remember there was a third person in the room. Following his father's gaze, he saw the mysterious Masked Man still standing with his arms folded.
"Keep talking. Don't mind me." A casual voice came from beneath the mask, accompanied by a dismissive wave.
Hizashi nodded respectfully, then turned his attention back to his son.
"...Father." Neji's voice grew low. "Was what happened really just like everyone said... because you belonged to the Branch Family, you had to die in place of someone from the Main Family?"
Despite his overwhelming joy at his father's return from the dead, the Main Family's plan to use a scapegoat during Kumogakure's attempt to seize the Byakugan had still planted a seed of resentment in Neji's heart.
Hizashi fell silent for a moment, then slowly nodded.
"Yes, that was indeed what the Main Family intended. To keep the Byakugan from falling into outsiders' hands, I, a member of the Branch Family... was chosen to be handed over to Kumogakure as a substitute because I look almost exactly like my older brother."
"I see..."
Neji's voice suddenly turned cold. So being able to see his father again was nothing but a stroke of luck—if that mysterious Masked Man had not appeared, his father would now be...
"Father!" Neji jerked his head up. "Just because we belong to the Branch Family... does that really mean we deserve to be used like this?!"
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Hizashi sighed deeply and gently rested a hand on his son's shoulder. "Neji, if possible... I don't want you to hate them."
Those words hit Neji like a bucket of cold water. His eyes widened in disbelief. He could not understand his father's thinking at all.
Not hate them? Why? Even if they send us to our deaths for no reason, we're not allowed to resent the Main Family?
As he watched his son's bewildered, angry expression, profound guilt filled Hizashi's eyes.
"I... nearly died. But in that moment, I understood something. Hatred is easy, but it will only lead us into another cage, just like the Caged Bird."
Neji shook his head blankly, unable to grasp the deeper meaning of his father's words. But what Hizashi said next struck him like lightning.
"Neji... I'm so sorry." Hizashi's voice carried more guilt than ever before. "The truth is, that day... I chose death myself."
"...Huh?"
Neji's expression froze. He could not understand what his father meant. If he did not have to die, why would he choose death?
Hizashi continued explaining. "That day, the Main Family did propose that plan—to have me, a member of the Branch Family, die in my older brother's place."
"But in the end, my brother... Hyuga Hiashi personally rejected the proposal. As long as he, the Clan Head, refused to agree, the plan to use a substitute could not go ahead."
Neji's mind went blank. Then why...?
"My brother intended to destroy his own Byakugan and then surrender himself to Kumogakure." Hizashi's voice grew somber. "I've hated the Main Family all my life, and I still do. But at that moment... I volunteered to die in his place."
Neji's pupils contracted sharply.
"But I didn't do it to protect the Main Family." Hizashi's gaze softened. "I did it to protect my older brother... to die protecting someone I loved. For the first time, I truly had the right to choose."
He gently held Neji's shoulders, his voice firm yet tender. "Neji, my son, I don't want hatred to bind you. Now I finally understand—nothing matters more than seeing you grow up safe and sound."
"So..."
"Don't believe that your life exists only to serve the Main Family. Not until you find what you truly want to protect."
Hizashi paused, a flicker of reluctance to part crossing his eyes.
"But if you ever truly find yourself in danger... I want you to survive to the very end. I suppose that's... my selfish wish as your father."
For the rest of their time together, Hizashi and Neji's conversation became simple and warm. There were no conflicts of the Ninja World, no clan grudges—only the ordinary chatter of a father and son.
Remember to eat on time, for instance, and don't be picky. No matter how busy you are training, make sure you rest. Remember to dress warmly in winter.
If you run into a problem you can't solve, go to your uncle. He may be stern, but he'll definitely help you.
Don't take what happened out on anyone else. And don't put too much pressure on yourself.
Once you start at the Ninja Academy, listen to your teachers. But if someone bullies you, you don't have to put up with it.
Neji kept his head lowered, but he committed every word his father said to memory.
These reminders were ordinary, trivial, even a little nagging. Yet every word was steeped in a father's most heartfelt concern. Neji listened quietly, storing away that simple warmth in his heart, piece by piece.
Before they knew it, the sky outside the window had begun to pale. The calls of early birds drifted from the distant woods, their clear notes breaking the silence of the night.
Dawn was almost here.
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