Neji Hyūga

**Neji Hyūga** was a member of Konohagakure's Hyūga Clan. Though a prodigy even by the Hyūga standards, Neji was a member of one of the clan's Branch houses; no matter how skilled he may become, he would always be in the serivce of the Hyūga's Main House, a fact that convinced him fate is predetermined.

## Physical Appearance

Neji is a lean-built and tall young man with long, dark brown hair that reaches down to the lower portion of his back, which ends in a loose ponytail. Like the rest of his clan, he had very fair skin and possesses the renowned Byakugan with a slight tint of lavender to it, which when activated, stimulates the veins and arteries immediately around his eyes to protrude more prominently.

For attire, Neji wears traditional Hyūga-like robes: a white shirt with loose sleeves, closed on the right shoulder, with a fastener running down the right part of the chest, matching pants, with a dark navy grey apron tied around his waist and black, ankle-high shinobi sandals. This may or may not have been to facilitate easier execution of his techniques, or to symbolize his warming relations with his clan. Neji usually carried a large, tan and black drawstring bag, which he carries over his shoulder.

## Personality

Neji was extremely serious and mature for his age, and had great control of his emotions. Before and during the Chunin Exams and his fight with Naruto, he was cold, and somewhat arrogant. In his younger years, Neji was a kinder, optimistic child who smiled more often. He even told his father he thought Hinata was "cute" when the two branches of the Hyuga clan met for her third birthday.

While under the belief that his father had died because he was a member of the branch house, Neji concluded that fate is something decided at birth and that no matter what one does, people cannot escape their destiny. Neji often applied this to people he viewed as weaker than himself, such as his cousin, Hinata. During his match in the Chunin Exams, he told Hinata that she was unfit to be a ninja, due to being too kind and not confident enough. When she was eventually able to turn his philosophy against him, telling him that she believed that he was suffering from trying to become worthy of the main house, despite him being born into the branch family, Neji became enraged, and attempted to attack Hinata. He was stopped by multiple jonin, but Hinata, nevertheless, was left in critical condition from his earlier attacks.

Neji displayed similar efforts to condescend others during his match with Naruto Uzumaki who, despite being repeatedly struck down, continued to try and fight him. While Neji tried to show Naruto that fate cannot be fought, and that someone who is weak will always remain weak, Naruto was unwilling to accept this mindset, arguing that Neji, for all his belief in fate, had not accepted his own destiny. Naruto went on to defeat Neji, suggesting that, if a "failure" like himself could change his destiny, think of what a "genius" like Neji could do.

With this example of overcoming "destiny", as well as finding out the truth about his father's death soon afterwards, Neji abandoned the concept of inescapable fate. No longer bound by the idea that he was stuck at his current status, Neji resolved to become strong enough to never again lose in a battle. To do so, he began putting more emphasis on working well with his team and started to value a mission's successful completion and his team-mates' safety over his own betterment, even encouraging Lee to continue pursuing his own dream. His abandonment of the concept of inescapable fate was most prominent during his fight with Kidomaru, where despite the Sound Ninja's discovery of the Byakugan's weak spot and Neji being severely wounded, he was still able to fight on and eventually defeated Kidomaru, because he remembered what Naruto had said to him.

## Abilities

### Dōjutsu

**Byakugan**: As a Hyūga, Neji possessed the Byakugan, a dōjutsu kekkei genkai which granted him near-360° vision, along with x-ray vision, and the ability to see chakra networks, amongst other things. The Byakugan however, does have a small blind spot located at the third upper thoracic vertebrae - a weakness of which Neji was actually aware of and took extra precaution in concealing it from opponents. While the Byakugan naturally has an immediate 50 metre field of vision when activated, Neji was able to increase its range several times that by the start of Part II in *Naruto*, to at least 800 meters. He was also noted to have a particularly strong Byakugan in comparison to the other members of the Hyūga clan.

### Other Abilities

**Taijutsu Master**: As a member of the Hyuga clan, Neji specialised in close-range taijutsu combat. In battle, Neji has shown tremendous agility and dexterity, capable of simultaneously dodging and striking an opponent with no wasted movement. His attacks are fast and fluid, precisely striking in rapid succession to leave very little time for his opponent to find an opening to counter.

* **Gentle Fist**:
* **Enhanced Speed and Reflexes**:
* **Enhanced Durability**:

**Child Genius**: As stated by Tsunade, Neji had excellent instincts, both on the battlefield and as a leader. When forced to make difficult decisions on missions, he showed himself able to make a decision through keen observation and analysis. His observational skills were quite advanced, being able to deduce the workings of the Hyuga clan's secret techniques and use them effectively despite being forbidden to learn them as a member of the branch house, further exemplifying his status as a genius.

**Great Chakra Power**: Even though he is a member of the Hyūga Clan's Branch House, Neji boasts strong chakra equivalent to that of the members from the Hyūga's Main House.

## Relationships

### Family

* Hizashi Hyūga (Father, Deceased)
* Hiashi Hyūga (Uncle)
* Hinata Hyūga (Cousin)
* Hanabi Hyūga (Cousin)

### Friends/Allies

* Hidden Leaf 11
	+ Rock Lee (Best friend and arch-rival)
	+ Tenten (Best friend and teammate)
	+ Naruto Uzumaki (Close friend and friendly rival)
	+ Sakura Haruno
	+ Sai
	+ Shikamaru Nara
	+ Ino Yamanaka
	+ Choji Akimichi
	+ Kiba Inuzuka
		- Akamaru
	+ Shino Aburame
* Sasuke Uchiha
* Might Guy (Sensei)

### Rivals

* Rock Lee (Arch-rival)
* Naruto Uzumaki (Friendly rival)

### Enemies

* Ryuha Armament Alliance
* Madara Uchiha
* Obito Uchiha
* The Ten-Tails
* The Akatsuki
	+ Kisame Hoshigaki
* Orochimaru
* Hidden Sound Village