Genius Hyuga Twins

Chapter 4: Making Friends

While much of my time is spent with Neji training, either at home or at the academy, I still have Death's words lingering in my mind. I was sent to this world for a lesson, and so far, my only friend is Neji. I have spent a lot of my time being angry at the clan, forgetting my purpose here as I've been so focused on surpassing the clan's expectations. Neji and I have both calmed slightly over the years, never losing our dislike of the main family, but calming enough to show proper respects to them when in their company and to behave properly at all times, even when we are seething on the inside. Our rage became something private, something only known or seen between the two of us.

When we were eight years old, we heard of the massacre of the Uchiha clan. While this struck many as a great tragedy, it hit me very hard personally. It made me realize two things; one, that I have spent enough time being so single minded and focused on my own goals and needs, and two, I felt sorrow for the characters, and not actually the real people. I don't leave the Hyuga compound often, there's usually no need for us to leave or the branch elders don't allow us to. Therefore, in my head, I still view the other main characters of the show as just that, characters. The massacre made me realize that just outside the walls of the compound are real life people, people that I should be getting to know.

So that is exactly what I started to do. Neji was confused the first time I said I was going for a walk outside our home, he said it was a waste of time that could be spent training. I said that I wanted to see more of our village every now and then, and get a better lay of the land. I offered for him to come with me, but he said he would rather spend his time training a new technique. I made sure he was ok with me going by myself, and when he assured me he was, I went out alone for the first time.

It was a day off from the academy, of which Neji and I are top of our classes. I wandered around different areas, until naturally I gravitated to one of the training grounds. It's been about a month since the massacre, and I was surprised to see the sole survivor was the person already at the nearest training grounds.

Sasuke Uchiha, identifiable by his clan symbol on his shirt and his dark glare in his eyes. I can only imagine the thoughts going through his mind currently, probably directing all of his anger towards his brother. I need to work out a plan to get him to direct his anger towards the right person, but that will be difficult, and should be handled delicately. For now, I think I'll just try to get to know him.

"What are you staring at?" He stops practicing throwing his kunai to turn around and face me where I stood. I wasn't exactly hiding, standing to the side of him while I contemplating how to approach.

"Your form. You hold your wrist too stiff, that's why you're missing the target. Hold it looser, see how it travels farther." I inform him after processing his form I had been watching.

He glares at me for a moment. "I didn't ask for your help." He says angrily to me before turning back to his stump, throwing his kunai the same way he had been. I take out three of my own, and throw them all near flawlessly at the center of the target he had been aiming for, all while standing almost double his distance. He whips around to stare at me in shock for a moment. Throwing knives has become one of my favorite things to do in this world, especially since I always have some on me.

"Like I said, relax your wrist more and you'll be able to throw further. Try it." I suggested with a shrug. He glared again, then looked at the kunai in his hand for a moment. He tried throwing with a looser wrist, but loosened it too much and threw it too high. "Hey, it went further, didn't it?" I ask him when he glares at me again as if him missing was my fault.

He tried again a few more times before he got the knives to land more consistently. I practiced on the tree beside him, and noticed him occasionally glancing over at me.