ooc: application
[→PLAYER INFO]
Name/Nickname: Jen
Age: 34
Journal: alias_llawliet
AIM/MSN/IM: AIM: thisisillogical
Email: mus_tange@yahoo.com
[→CHARACTER INFO]
Character Name: Hyuuga Neji Registration Number 012587
Canon: Naruto
Point taken from canon: Chapter 430
Age: 17
Gender: Male
Preferred Village: Konohagakure
[→APPEARANCE]
Hyuuga Neji emanates an androgynous elegance which few male shinobi achieve, due largely to his style of fighting. The economy of his Gentle Fist in combination with the graceful dance of his taijitsu serve not only as a quick effective means to dispatch his opponent, but personifies the shinobi behind the art.
At 172.1 cm., 54.2 kg., Neji is tall and slender comparatively to his comrades. His long, black hair is undeniably beautiful; he habitually ties it into a low ponytail in the back for the purpose of keeping it from becoming a distraction at critical moments. Untied, it falls to his waist.
Born on July 3rd, his current age is seventeen-years-old, although he bears himself in a manner of one much older. His expression rarely varies from stern and/or impassive.
Most striking are his eyes, a 'blind' white iris concealed within the white of the eye itself. Their startling monotone presumably originates as legend. Hyuugan ancestors were blind and cultivated the jutsu to compensate for the disability. Across the middle of Neji's forehead is a mark in the form of a plus sign which lines end with tiny wing-like curves called Juin Jutsu, 呪印術, literally "Cursed Seal Technique", hidden by wrappings and his headband. It loosely resembles a swastika but is, in actuality, a Buddhist symbol.
Neji wears the traditional robes of the Hyuuga Clan, grey and black tunic, with grey shorts. His other wear is traditional shinobi gear from the headband bearing Kohona's Leaf to a pack at his belt which carries shiruken, kunai knives and cloth for bandages/stabilization. Neji doesn't carry any special equipment as his eyes, kekkei genkai and training are effective weapons.
[→BACKGROUND]
Neji was born into one of the eldest and most powerful Houses residing in the Kohonagakure. The Hyuuga Clan were a family whose members commanded the kekkei genkai, Byakugan, and traditionally split their Clan into two separate groups, the main family and the branch family. The main family served as the Leaders of the Clan and Custodians of the kekkei genkai, while the branch family served as protection for the main family and, by extension, the Byakugan. Specifically, the system of the family hierachy was implemented to keep the knowledge of how to obtain and use the Byakugan within the family via a curse seal placed on every branch family member at the age of four. The “curse seal jutsu” served as a tool to punish and force the branch family into obedience and servitude. A single hand sign by the main family had the potential to cause great pain, crush the mind or kill any branch family member who wore the seal.
As Neji's father Hizashi was the second born twin, he placed into the branch family by order of birth alone. The first born of the twins, Hizashi's brother Hiashi was afforded the heritage of the main family.
Hyuuga Hinata was Neji's cousin and the Heir to the Hyuuga House. On Hinata's third birthday, Neji's uncle Hiashi, as the head of the Clan, performed “cursed seal jutsu” on the four-year-old boy.
I can only speculate as to Hizashi's personality, but clearly he adored Neji. He loved him as his son and knew the ferocious pride of not only a parent, but one of a sublime prodigy. Eventually, that same love and pride served as a catalyst to further his resentment against the main family.
Neji witnessed his father's growing hostility, through discreet talks with his son to surreptitiously resentful glares in the direction of Hinata, who lacked the natural ability which blossomed in his own progeny.
It wasn't until Hiashi used the curse mark against Neji's father that the boy came to fully understand ramifications of the seal, and consequently, the true reason behind his father's hatred toward the main house.
A conflict between the Hyuuga and the newly allied Cloud Country resulted in the latter's demand for Hiashi's dead body. In an effort to avoid war, the Kohonagakure agreed to the Cloud's terms, however, instead of Hiashi's body, the corpse of Neji's father was offered.
The politics behind the loss of his father killed the remnants of Neji's innocence, leading to a cynicism too young: a bleak, bitter outlook on life which, over time, metastasized to a philosophy of resignation to fate. Conversely, he strove to become ever stronger in deference to his father's wishes.
Neji rose at the top of his class from the Ninja Academy as Rookie of the Year at the age of twelve (12). Matched with Ten Ten, and Lee Rock under Might Gai, the Hyuuga Genin remained a silent member of the team, showing little of himself and his feelings outside his fatalistic philosophy and the hostility toward his Clan.
Neji was fifteen-years-old during the Chuunin Exams, which culminated in two matches. He fought both Hinata and Naruto.
As the two squared off, Neji taunted his cousin, telling her that since she was weaker and lacked confidence, she was destined to lose. When they fought, Neji used his Gentle Fist jutsu to close Hinata's tenkutsu, rendering her incapable of accessing her chakra.
Urged on by Naruto, who heard Neji's taunting of Hinata early in the match, Hinata refused to give up and continued fighting. Further, Naruto gave Hinata the courage to point out the contradiction between the philosophy Neji touted and his determination to achieve the strength of a main family member.
Hinata's insightful comments infuriated Neji into a killing rage. That his final blow was halted by five Jounin enraged him, due not only to his fever for revenge, but also for perceived prejudice against himself as a branch member.
Neji drew Naruto as his next match in the Chuunin exams.
Overconfident and condescending, Neji predicted Naruto would lose the fight, as he had predicted Hinata's loss previously. Intimidated, but fighting in the name of Hinata and his own memories of having been called known called a loser (in particular by Sasuke), Naruto called out his Kage No Bushin and impressed not only the crowd, but Neji himself with his bravado and increased skill. When he tried to attack Neji, however, the young Hyuuga used Kaiten to deflect the attack, going on to use Eight Trigrams Thirty-Two Palms to shut down Naruto's chakra completely. The match should have ended right then, but Naruto's great stamina and ability to tap into the Nine Tails' power allowed him to get up. He asked Neji why he treated Hinata the way he did because he didn't understand the difference between the main and branch families.
Neji smiled, taking the opportunity to out the entire clan's atrocities in a venue where he couldn't be punished. Exposing the curse mark on his forehead, Neji explained that the curse of the mark represented, “A bird in a cage, it is a symbol of being tied to an inescapable destiny.” Neji went on to describe traumatic childhood memories of being marked on Hinata's birthday, seeing his father punished via the curse mark and the subsequent death of his father, whom Neji believed was murdered by the Clan.
In the long, drawn-out fight between the two Genin, Naruto ultimately drew on the Nine Tail's chakra and won the match, but barely. Even then, Neji blamed himself for the outcome, rather than acknowledging Naruto's strength. Naruto in turn advised Neji to rethink his ultimate destiny philosophy by implying if a “loser like me” could change their destiny, then a genius like Neji could do the same.
As the next match commenced, Lord Hiashi visited Neji in the medical room to tell him the true story behind of Hizashi's death. Reaching out to Neji in hopes his nephew would be receptive to a new way of thinking (and possibly impressed by his Neji's skill), Hiashi explained that Hizashi chose to sacrifice himself that day, and not for the sake of the main family. Neji's father chose to die in his brother's stead to protect his brother as a person, to protect Neji and to protect his Clan. To emphasize his remorse, Lord Hiashi knelt, touching his forehead to the floor.
Since Neji took Naruto's words to heart, he came to believe his uncle and changed his perspective on life and destiny.
Neji showed his growing acceptance of and allegiance to the Leaf Village by the time he was chosen to be a member of the Retrieval Team formed for Sasuke in his willingness to lay down his life for his comrades. Gone was his condescending attitude, peaceful maturity having filled the void.
During the course of the mission the team was stopped by one of the Sound Nin, Kidomaru, a Shinobi whose Ninjutsu only Neji could deal with. With gentle insistence, Neji urged the rest of the team to head out without him, quoting Shikamaru's previous insight that given each side's numbers were matched, it may come down to one-on-one fights.
While Neji acknowledged Kidomaru's strength outmatched his own, he swore to dispatch the enemy in light of Naruto's inspiration, refusing to bow to destiny. Conquering the Sound Nin nearly cost the young Hyuuga his life, yet at the end of the fight, the knowledge he'd defeated destiny itself brought him peace.
During the time-skip, Neji rose in rank to a jounin.
In the interim of Naruto's extended absence, Neji's mindset as well as his body and jutsu vastly matured. He developed a relationship with his uncle and took to wearing traditional Hyuuga Robes.
As part of Team Gai, he participated in the mission to save Gaara. The team fought and defeated a sacrificial doppleganger of Hoshigaki, moving on to find the entrance into the Akatsuki ceremonial room. Upon removal of the five seal barrier found at the door, clones of the Team emerged from the earth as an obvious distraction to any Akatsuki enemies attempting to gain entrance. Maito Gai, Rock Lee, Ten Ten and Neji fought their respective clones to exhaustion only to realize that the only road to victory lay in growing stronger than their current level.
This was accomplished by all.
From this point, Neji's role in canon becomes extremely minor.
[→PERSONALITY]
Having been raised in an older, traditional house, Neji finds extremely loud, undignified behavior unseemly. His constant exposure to Gai and Lee has inured him somewhat, yet they occasionally manage to induce a state of appalled speechlessness. Naruto in particular is an exception to this. Neji holds the genin in high esteem for his role in turning the Hyuuga's life around.
Early in the series Neji proves himself capable of vehement emotion in the face of being wronged. It's easy to extrapolate he is an altogether passionate person who rarely shows his feelings, speech, facial expression and body language alike. The fact is he's an introvert, with an emphasis on dignity. On the occasion he feels the need to speak, he's all business and almost unfailingly polite. You'll hear little small talk from this one.
An analytical, insightful thinker, it could be said his purported genius goes beyond his natural talent to include the strategical. Neji is no Shikamaru. His intelligence may be more intuitive than Shikamaru's, considering he mastered his uncle's jutsu by observation and the almost telepathic understanding of Shikamaru's thinking.
A driven young man and intensely so, his ultimate goal is to never lose again (logically speaking, in order to do that, he must the best). The curse seal carved into his forehead is no joke. A single hand sign can potentially break the mind of a branch member and/or strip them of their life. It's not the pain Neji fears, it's the stigma, the helplessness of wearing the Seal. His search for strength symbolizes his search for freedom: all of which points to a great deal of pride.
For all of Neji's arrogance and personal drive, he's mature for his age. While he may question the wisdom of a mission, he won't hesitate to give his best effort. He's proactive, choosing to analyze a situation and implement a plan, rather than charging in, reacting to emotion. His maturity overrides his pride, leaving him open to others' opinions.
[→ABILITIES/STRENGTHS]
Byakugan not only gives Neji a multilateral 360 degree range of vision up to 800 meters, affording him a sort of x-ray vision (if you will), the ability to see chakra through people and things, the jutsu bestows the rare ability to specialize in Gentle Fist, a fluid style of fighting designed for close combat. By pressing specific points on another's Chakra path, Neji can shut his combatant's tenketsu, halting the flow of chakra entirely. In addition, this single jutsu allows for him to eject chakra from his body, creating a perfect defense in the form of Kaiten, in which he spins to form an impenetrable sphere of chakra around himself.
Specific Gentle Fist Techniques include, but aren't limited to Eight Trigrams Thirty-Two Palms. By fourteen-years-old, Neji doubles his technique to Eight Trigrams One Hundred Twenty-Eight Palms. The former technique lends to incapacitation, the latter to kill.
Neji's intelligence, calmness under pressure, and the analytical style in which he approaches the entanglements unavoidable to his profession make him a formidable shinobi.
[→WEAKNESSES]
Neji's most obvious weakness, the curse seal, is worn on his forehead, burnt there by his own family at the tender age of four. Forever a reminder of his lowered status, forever a threat of pain, disablement and death, the depth of their violation of trust has left a lasting impression on the boy even as he grew into a man. Initially, he chose to react to it with condescension and denial.
Unfortunately for him, Neji doesn't confide in others (with that one exception during his fight with Naruto and when he did express himself, he outed his entire clan). The repression of his feelings even outside those of his traumatic childhood has to find an outward expression lest they fester within.
Finally, Neji has a blind spot in his field of vision of which he's hyper-aware as it makes him feel extremely vulnerable.
[→DEFINING QUOTE]
“Father, is a person's destiny a thing like a cloud flowing with an inescapable flow? Or can a person choose the flow he wishes?”
All around me are familiar faces
Worn out places - worn out faces
Bright and early for their daily races
Going nowhere - going nowhere
And their tears are filling up their glasses
~No expression - no expression~
Hide my head I want to drown my sorrow
~No tomorrow - no tomorrow~
And I find it kind of funny
I find it kind of sad
The dreams in which I'm dying
Are the best I've ever had
I find it hard to tell you
'Cos I find it hard to take
When people run in circles
It's a very, very Mad World
Children waiting for the day they feel good
~Happy Birthday - Happy Birthday~
Made to feel the way that every child should
Sit and listen - sit and listen
Went to school and I was very nervous
~No one knew me - no one knew me~
Hello teacher tell me what's my lesson
~Look right through me - look right through me~
-REM's "Mad World"
It's been a long cold lonely winter
It feels like years since it's been here
Here comes the sun, here comes the sun
and I say it's all right~
The smiles returning to the faces
It seems like years since it's been here
Here comes the sun, here comes the sun
and I say it's all right~
Sun, sun, sun, here it comes...
I feel that ice is slowly melting
It seems like years since it's been clear
Here comes the sun, here comes the sun,
and I say it's all right~
-The Beatles' "Here Comes The Sun"
[→OTHER]
Neji cannot tolerate "spice".
[→THIRD PERSON SAMPLE]
Spring rushed in blue and white, a sparkling clarity of presence in the river streaming underfoot. Below the ledge where he stood, Neji saw it in the velvet buds of newly formed flowers, in their graceful stems bowed gently over the edge of the blackened soil at his feet, in the dew which, even now, pebbled his legs from passing through its grasses.
His heart pounded thunderously and a barely-there smile curved the jounin's lips. Spring was a time for new beginnings. Scanning the cliffs for familiar landmarks, the fluttering of wings drew his attention. There! A land where birds took flight and flew free was a land that he could believe in. He could afford to take a moment to watch their aerial dance. He could yearn to fly, if only in the secrecy of his imagination.
Neji clapped, the hand sign a prayer. “Byakugan!”
Here it came, the rush of power roiling from his abdomen to spread throughout his body. His fingers tingled with potential. And then came the moment he dreaded and anticipated with equal measure as chakra crackled around his sockets, injecting itself through the the pathway around his eyes. Activating Byukugan meant danger, possible death of his comrades, juxtaposed against the exhilaration as his vision soared.
It was almost like flying.
Spotting his target, Neji watched without bothering to turn as he spoke to his companions. “I've found them. Five-hundred meters west. They're resting.”