Neji Hyuga

Neji Hyūga (日向ネジ, Hyūga Neji ) was a shinobi of Konohagakure's Hyūga Clan . Originally having a fatalistic outlook on life due to his being apart of the Hyuga's branch family, his perspective was changed by Naruto Uzumaki . During the Fourth Shinobi World War, he sacrificed himself for Naruto and his cousin, Hinata .

## Appearance [ ]

Neji had fair skin and long black hair, which the anime usually depicted as dark brown. When his Byakugan was not active he has featureless white eyes; the anime gave them a slight lavender tint. In Part I, Neji wore a beige-colored shirt, a dull blue shirt beneath that, and mesh armor beneath that. He wore dark brown shorts, blue shinobi sandals, and wrapped bandages around his right arm, chest, and right leg. He tied his hair back in a loose ponytail tied a few inches above the end. He wore a black forehead protector, under which was a smaller headband with two straps that frame the sides of his face, both of which hide his Hyūga main family's jujutsu.

In Part II, Neji changed the clothing and bandages of his former wardrobe for a white kimono-shirt with long, loose sleeves, matching pants, a navy-grey apron tied around his waist, and black shinobi sandals. He stopped wearing the straps that framed his face, instead of allowing his now longer hair to do that instead. When on missions, he usually carried a tan and black drawstring bag over his shoulder. During the Fourth Shinobi World War, he swapped much of his wardrobe for the standard Konohagakure flak jacket and other attire. At the war's start, he kept his hair tied in a ponytail, but as the war progresses, he allowed it to hang loose.

## Personality [ ]

As a child, Neji was kind and prone to smiling; on Hinata's third birthday, he confided to his father that he thought she was cute. He lost these qualities after his father's death, growing serious and cold, more mature than most his age. For years he was driven by a fatalistic belief that his and everyone else's fates were determined from birth and were inescapable. He perceived his own destiny as being that of rare talent, causing him to arrogantly place himself above those he believes are "weaker" than himself. He also perceived that his talents would always be handicapped by mandatory servitude to the Hyūga's main house, which he resented and it fuelled his animosity towards the main house and its members.

Neji shared his philosophy about fate with those he met, gladly telling them when they are straying from the paths that have been set out for them by, for example, trying to exceed their natural limitations or trying to defeat him in combat when they lack any obvious ability to do so. When he shared his philosophy with Hinata, she concluded that his insistence upon destiny was actually a sore spot for him that caused him inner suffering: he so badly wanted to prove himself to the main house yet feels incapable of doing so. Neji attempted to kill her in anger for her words. Naruto Uzumaki also disagreed with Neji, claiming that Neji was not realizing his destiny because he was in fact holding himself back. Neji initially scoffed at Naruto's suggestion, but he was forced to reevaluate when Naruto, a "failure", defeats him, a "genius", in a fight.

From his experience with Naruto, Neji felt that fate is not inescapable but that, rather, one's destiny is what one makes of it; he felt indebted to Naruto for releasing him from his prior "darkness". The destiny Neji ended up selecting for himself was to become strong enough to never lose again, although his inevitable destiny would soon come to hold true. In pursuit of this goal, he trained with his teammates, whose own dreams he became supportive of, and later with members of the main house, whom he gradually started mending relations with. Over time his desire to get stronger became as much a motivation to never lose as it is to protect his friends and family. In particular, he embraced his responsibility as a member of a branch house to keep Hinata safe, showing greater concern for her than anyone else in combat situations and, ultimately, giving his life to save hers.

Birds were often used to characterize Neji's philosophy and growth: while he felt bound by destiny and the cursed seal on his forehead, he described his personal experiences as being like a caged bird; after being defeated by Naruto, he observed to his father's memory how many birds there were freely flying in the world; when trying to overcome the limitations of his Byakugan , he observed birds at a distance but could never spot the one at his blind-spot; after his death, the Allied Shinobi Forces took on a bird formation in his memory.

## Background [ ]

Neji was born the son of Hizashi Hyūga, placing him in one of the Hyūga clan 's branch houses. When the heiress of the main house, Hinata , turned three years old, Neji's forehead was branded with the customary cursed seal by his uncle, Hiashi Hyūga . Despite how young he was at the time, Neji's natural talent with the Hyūga's trademark techniques was apparent to his father. For this reason, Hizashi resented that Neji was marked with a cursed seal, as he felt it bound him to a life of service to the main house when he should be destined for greater things. His anger would often Killing_Intent manifest subconsciously, prompting Hiashi to activate Hizashi's cursed seal and punish him with pain, an act that traumatized Neji.

Shortly after Neji received his cursed seal, a Kumogakure Head Ninja visiting Konoha took advantage of a peace treaty and attempted to kidnap Hinata in order to gain the secrets of the Byakugan . Hiashi stopped and killed the Head Ninja. In what became known as the Hyūga Affair, Kumo denied the allegations made against its Head Ninja and insisted Hiashi's actions were a declaration of war by Konoha; the only way to avoid hostilities between the two villages would be if Hiashi's body were turned over to Kumo as compensation. Hiashi was willing to do so if it meant protecting Konoha, but that in turn would give Kumo the Byakugan. Hizashi, Hiashi's twin brother, volunteered to be his body double since his cursed seal would destroy his Byakugan at the time of his death, a fate he insisted upon over Hiashi's protests. Neji was too young to understand what was happening at the time, and over the years came to believe his father had been forced to die for the main house.

Neji became spiteful towards the members of the main house for what he believed they'd done to his father; in the anime, he missed no opportunity to try and harm Hinata. He also came to believe that the course of a person's life was determined from the moment of their birth and could be altered under no circumstances. When he graduated from the Academy at the top of his class he was added to Team Guy, where his philosophy placed him at odds with one of his teammates, Rock Lee: Lee wanted to become a great ninja despite his limitations, which Neji believed was impossible. Tenten was easily wowed by Neji, but Lee became determined to defeat Neji in a fight to prove him wrong. Their instructor, Might Guy , encouraged this, believing competition and the drive to succeed would push them to new heights.

## Time Slip Arc [ ]

In the anime, when the grown-up Sasuke and Boruto Uzumaki were sent back in time to shortly after Sasuke's defection, the two pretended to be travelling performers and were put under watch by Naruto. Past-Neji and his friends helped Boruto and Naruto clean up a bathhouse after the commotion Naruto and Jiraiya caused.

Days later, after completing a training session with Hinata, Neji noticed Boruto eavesdropping and confronted him, having noticed Boruto through his Byakugan, and seeing that he was troubled, offered to talk to him. The two head to a nearby bridge, where Boruto admitted to having been exposed to the berserk power inside of Naruto and talked about being attacked. Neji insisted that Naruto is not one to be pitied and that he could be trusted. Neji told Boruto of his own experience and growth with Naruto, insisting that he learned from Naruto's example to not let one's past define them, and claimed that despite Naruto's lonely and sorrowful life, he was capable of fighting his fate of being deemed a monster, and perservered to become a trusted friend and comrade. Neji's words helped cheer up Boruto, who decided to continue his training with Naruto and refuse to allow his fears to overwhelm him, and as Boruto runs off, Neji mumbles that he should've asked for Boruto's name.

Later, after Sasuke and Boruto completed their mission to defeat Ōtsutsuki, used his Sharingan to erase Neji and everyone else's memories of the events to protect the timeline.