Hyuuga Nen

In a small town in the Land of Iron, a little boy stood beside a frozen stream.

The boy looked about seven or eight. With short brown hair and dark eyes, he stared blankly at the ice in the distance, lost in thought.

"It's been seven years since I came to this world. I've really been living like an ordinary kid."

The little boy—Hyuuga Nen, as he was now known—thought to himself.

On the day Hyuuga Nen had come to this world seven years ago, he had seen a man with the Byakugan seal his own eyes. He hadn't seen that man again since.

Touching his own eyes, Hyuuga Nen thought, Why did that deadbeat old man of mine have me? Was it so I could help him break the Caged Bird? If so, why hasn't he contacted me all these years? Is he dead?

But considering how his mother had been doing all these years, it didn't seem like his father was dead.

Did he just act on impulse and fail to control himself? Or did he want me to help the Hyuga Clan have more descendants?

He shook his head, casting those two absurd thoughts aside. Hyuuga Nen knew they were both unlikely. The fact that his father had sealed his Byakugan and left him and his mother to live in hiding was proof enough.

"I can't keep hiding like this, because I have the blood of the Hyuga Clan."

"If I'm discovered, the best-case scenario is that they mark me with the Caged Bird. The worst is that I'm killed. I can't accept either. I need the strength to fight against that possibility!"

Hyuuga Nen clenched his fists and spoke softly.

When he had first come to this world, Hyuuga Nen had thought he might gain supernatural powers and had looked forward to it. But as he gradually came to understand his situation, he grew afraid of being discovered and became increasingly anxious.

In all these years, Hyuuga Nen had neither heard a "ding" nor experienced the sort of life where you became a Genin at four, a Jonin at six, and Kage Level at eight.

All he had was a history of needing three naps a day until he was six. After that, Hyuuga Nen began learning to read and studying herbal medicine with his mother.

Although Hyuuga Nen had watched Naruto, he wasn't a devoted fan. He only had a general understanding of the world and knew little about its details. He didn't know the timeline at all, either, so he couldn't get ahead of his enemies.

Thinking about his situation, Hyuuga Nen furrowed his brow and let out a deep sigh.

"Waiting around for a windfall from the sky is unbearable. It's like slowly hanging myself! I need to take the initiative. Maybe becoming a samurai first wouldn't be a bad choice." Hyuuga Nen thought to himself.

Noticing that it was getting late, Hyuuga Nen turned and headed home. When he got back, he saw that his mother, Rika, still wasn't home. After cooking dinner, he picked up Rika's herbal medicine notes and began reviewing them.

As he looked up, Hyuuga Nen suddenly noticed Taro, the family's yellow dog, staring intently at him. Frowning, he stared back.

When Taro realized Hyuuga Nen was looking at him, he quickly turned away. Hyuuga Nen muttered under his breath and went back to his notes.

As he read, Hyuuga Nen began to feel that something was off. He looked up and saw Taro staring intently at him again.

"Taro, what are you looking at?" Hyuuga Nen asked curiously. This time, Taro didn't turn away. He wagged his tail and kept looking at Hyuuga Nen.

Hyuuga Nen closed his notebook and sat up straight, watching Taro as he recalled what the dog had been like over the years.

Taro was usually quiet, but sometimes he could be ferocious. Once, a thief had broken into their house at night, and Taro had barked so fiercely that he looked ready to tear the man apart. The thief had been scared half to death.

Hyuuga Nen and Rika had been frightened, too, but ever since then, the area around their home had been much safer.

Looking at Taro's much larger-than-average frame, Hyuuga Nen thought of the dog's strangest trait. Sometimes Taro's gaze seemed more human than animal. That thought gave Hyuuga Nen a vague suspicion.

"Taro, can you understand what I'm saying?" Hyuuga Nen tried asking him.

Taro blinked. "Can you talk?" Hyuuga Nen asked next, but this time Taro didn't react at all.

Just as Hyuuga Nen was trying to figure out what Taro meant, he heard the front door open, followed by a voice he knew very well: "Nen, I'm home!"

Hyuuga Nen stood up and saw his mother, Rika.

Rika came in and looked at Hyuuga Nen and Taro. In a curious tone, she asked, "Were you just talking to Taro?"

Hyuuga Nen gave an awkward laugh and said nothing. Rika came over and stroked his hair, smiling warmly. "You're not like a child at all. You act like a grown-up all day. You should go out and play with the other kids more."

Hyuuga Nen tilted his head slightly, dodging Rika's hand, and awkwardly changed the subject. "Mom, I'm hungry."

Seeing his reaction, Rika looked a little disappointed. "Wait a moment. Dinner will be ready soon." With that, she headed to the kitchen.

Watching Rika's back, Hyuuga Nen sighed inwardly. Although they had lived together for years and he called her Mom, he didn't think of Rika as his real mother. He only saw her as family he lived with.

Rika's warmth was a little more than Hyuuga Nen could handle.

At the table, Hyuuga Nen and Rika ate in silence. After thinking it over, Hyuuga Nen decided to ask a few questions. "Mom, how did Taro come to live with us?"

Hearing this, Rika set down her chopsticks and glanced at Taro, a flicker of remembrance in her eyes.

"Back when I was still in the Land of Grass, before you were born, Taro suddenly showed up at my house one day. It's been with me ever since. It's always protected you and me. It's family."

Hyuuga Nen nodded and asked, "The Land of Grass?"

"The Land of Grass is my homeland. It's quite far from here. I don't think I've ever told you about it, have I?"

Hyuuga Nen had tried asking Rika about her past before, but she always avoided answering. He continued, "Then why did you leave the Land of Grass? Was it because of my father? Who exactly is my father?"

Rika looked at Hyuuga Nen and smiled as she shook her head. "You'll find out someday." Then she picked up her chopsticks and continued eating.

That line again. Hyuuga Nen felt frustrated and pressed on. "Then what are we supposed to do in the future?"

Rika's face turned pale, and a pained expression appeared on it. Her hands stopped moving. After more than ten seconds, she lowered her head and silently continued eating without saying another word.

Only then did Hyuuga Nen realize he'd said the wrong thing. He no longer felt like asking anything and silently ate his dinner.

Late that night, Hyuuga Nen felt something pressing down on his chest in his sleep. A tongue was lapping at his face.

Hyuuga Nen slowly woke up and found Taro lying on top of him. When Taro saw that he was awake, it jumped off the bed, gripped the leg of his pants in its mouth, and dragged him forward. Then it turned around, lowered its head, and crept ahead a few steps.

"Are you telling me to follow you and stay quiet?" Hyuuga Nen whispered, looking at Taro. Taro glanced at him and nodded, then continued on.

Seeing this, Hyuuga Nen grew excited. He carefully followed Taro out the door and headed toward the distant forest.

About twenty minutes later, Hyuuga Nen and Taro reached a clearing in the forest. In the moonlight, Hyuuga Nen could just make out a shadow crouched on a large rock.

Hyuuga Nen strained to see. "Is that a leopard?"