So in case you didn't notice it already with Obito and Jiraiya, some characters will have their back stories tweaked a bit to fit the story. Not completely different, just changed in some places, or some things added. And in cases with characters like Kiba that don't really have backstories, they'll be given one that fits the story.
〰️➰〰️
*Whistle*
A jolly tune rang throughout a moonlight lit street. The beautiful moon hanging over head began to wane in the sky, as morning was soon to overtake the night. A man with hands in his pockets whistled jollily as he walked into the center of a neighborhood street.
"Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Moe!"
Pointing at a house, the man flashed a wicked smile as clay oozed out from the palm of his hands. It fell onto the cement ground, morphing into the shape of a spider and then split into a horde of tiny crack sized spiders. The man began to walk to the house, the smile not yet leaving his face as the spiders crawled into the cracks of the house he was now encroaching upon.
"This place should do for an art studio for at least two or three days." The man said to himself aloud.
He now stood at the houses front door, and with a small push...
The door creaked open.
He walked in, hands now in his pockets. He kicked the door closed behind himself as the sound of a girl screaming filled the stair case. Being dragged down the stair case by a pack of clay spiders, was the daughter of the household, trying with all her might to grab onto one of the rails on the stairs.
"Let it go, don't damage the canvas ya idiots. Hn."
The spiders threw her down the stairs, and strung her hands and legs together via the same substance their bodies were made out of. The girl began to cry, trying to crawl away with her elbows and shins as the man walked to her with an insidious grin.
Kneeling down on his knees beside her, he asked the girl...
"Hey there, what's your name?" The man asked.
The girl looked at him in horror, her lips trembling.
"I said..."
The man stood up, and kicked the chair next to him over.
"WHATS YOUR FUCKING NAME!?"
"U-Usaki!" She shrieked in terror.
"Okay! Screaming at children really works wonders huh? Anyways, next question!"
He bent over, staring into the little girls eyes.
"Want to see a magic trick?"
The girl froze, caught off guard. Suddenly, the sound of something thudding down the stairs caught her attention.
And what she saw...
Broke the girl.
She screamed bloody murder, tears bursting out of her eyes as she squirmed as far away from the man as possible. Her stomach began to ache as something hot began to well up inside her.
"Ta da! How do you like it! The great Deidara's newest masterpiece! I call it..."
The girl threw up all over the floor, driven mad by the sight of the abomination that sat at the bottom of the staircase.
"Mommy and Daddy together!" Deidara proclaimed, pointing at the melted together bodies of the two parents, a twisted gleam in his eye.
"W-W-Why..." The girl began to cry, turning to Deidara, a furious and yet terrified glare illuminating in her gaze.
"WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS!?" The girl screamed, now wracked with coughs as she threw up once more.
Her vomit was now, oddly enough...
White.
Deidara smiled, bending down to look the girl in the eyes.
"Because, art is..."
The girls' white vomit squirmed beneath her as her eyes widened in horror as the man laughed in her face.
"AN EXPLOSION!"
And with that, little Usaki's body exploded, guts spraying all over the kitchen floor. Blood splattered onto his face as he let out a satisfied sigh, standing to his feet, and taking a few steps away from the gory scene.
He held out his hands, the mouth on one of them grinning with its tongue out as he did a motion with them, as if capturing a scene.
"I think I'll call this one..."
"Ewsaki's dirty kitchen!"
His exclamation was met with deafening silence as he brought a hand to his chin, absorbed in thought.
"Hn. I don't know, that title is just a bit too tacky for my tastes. Oh well, will have to workshop it I guess." Deidara mused aloud, bringing his fingers together as he had burst into a cloud of smoke.
It soon dissipated, revealing the same little girl who had just had her life taken away.
"La...la,la,la? *Cough* Laaaaaaaa! There, I got the voice down! Am I amazing or what, hn!" Deidara said, now mimicking the vocals of the little girl he had murdered and assumed the identity of.
He smirked deviously, the wicked expression out of place on the visage of a little girl. Clapping his hands, the clay spiders ran to his side.
"Alright guys, lets clean this place up and move my newest pieces to the cellar!" Deidara ordered as the explosive abominations moved to do his bidding.
Wiping his hands clean, he smiled, and jumped onto the coach in their living room.
"Now, time to catch some Z's" Deidara joked, his clay spiders pulling the blinds closed on the window that lay a few feet behind himself.
And as the dawns rays were cut off by the window blinds, so too ended another night in the Village Hidden in the Leaves, as the moon began to wane in the sky, and sun began to rise.
〰️➰〰️
A single ray of light shined into the living room area of the Yugao Residence. The curtains having a small crack in its lining allowed it beam onto Yuma's right eye. He grimaced in his sleep, rubbing his eye as he began to stir awake. He squinted and with a grunt, turned to his side, burying his face into the sofa's fluffy pillows.
"Hey kid. Wake up. *Cough* Its time to train." Hayate said, having walked into the living room in full ninja attire.
Yuma grumbled.
"...Just a few more minutes?" He begged.
"Those few minutes could be *Cough* the difference between you becoming *Cough* a Chunin or not you know?"
With a grunt, Yuma got up.
Only to lazily fall into his own shadow, sinking into it with a satisfied grin.
Hayate waited for Yuma to come out, but when he didn't, he sighed. He walked over to the window's curtains with a frown And moved the shelf away from the wall as to not give Yuma a shadow to hide in. With nothing for Yuma to jump into after light filled the room, Hayate grabbed onto the curtains with a sly grin.
"You asked for it."
And yanked them open, causing sunlight to fill the room, and forcing Yuma out from his shadow that was whisked away by the light. Being forced out, he pulsed into the ceiling, and fell to the floor. Clutching his now sore head, he glared at Hayate.
"Like I said, *Cough* you asked for it. Now come on, *Cough* lets go start your training."
"Fine." Yuma forced out through clenched teeth.
Following the man out the front door, he remained quiet, still grumpy from his rude awakening. But after several minutes of neither of them speaking, he began to get a little antsy.
"So...What is it?" Yuma asked, looking at Hayate expectantly.
"Hm?" Hayate asked, not bothering to look Yuma in the eye.
"My training? What's gonna be my training?" Yuma asked.
"Oh that? I'll tell ya in a bit. *Cough* But first *Cough* first I got a question. How long can you stay in shadow?" Hayate asked.
"Well...I'd say fifteen minutes at most." Yuma answered.
"I see, and how many times *Cough* can you use Jutsu before *Cough* before running out of Chakra?" Hayate said, continuing his questioning.
"In a single battle? Well if its one on one, I'd say only around ten times. Most of my chakra I spend on going into shadow and increasing my speed." Yuma said.
"Increasing your speed? How?" Hayate asked.
"My feet are made out of pure shadow." Yuma answered back.
"What does that have to *Cough* do with it?" Hayate asked.
With a sigh, Yuma unraveled his red arm bandages.
"Yo Yumito, you awake?"
"Yes. I heard everything. You are Hayate right? You wish to know the correlation between Yuma's speed boost and shadowy limbs right?" Yumito sounded out, a golden ball of light shining form Yuma's backhand.
"Ah. Yeah. *Cough* That's right." Hayate answered back, not taken aback in the least by the fact he was now talking to a hand.
"His feet and arms and hands are now pure shadow. Shadow made from his Chakra System. Due to this, it is far easier for him to pump chakra into his limbs. This allows him to go faster and hit harder. He can even change the shape of his hands as well as their density, size and strength." Yumito explained.
"Yeah. I guess *Cough* that makes sense. So its basically a poor mans "Body Flicker Technique" huh?" Hayate said aloud.
"I guess if you wanna call it that. Increasing my speed is easy. The hard part is increasing the size of my limbs and making them dense enough to do any meaningful damage. It takes all of my chakra to do that." Yuma complained.
"Cool. That *Cough* makes this easier then." Hayate mused to himself, as he came to a stop.
Yuma stopped as well, hearing the sound of rushing water.
"Well, we're here." Hayate said matter of factly, as he turned to Yuma.
"What? What do you mean?" Yuma asked, now taking in his surroundings with a confused look.
The dirt path from the forest ended at a small meadow, to its left was a large waterfall, water rushing southward. A clear and pristine river that shined within the suns bright light was what laid before Yuma and Hayate.
"This is where we will be *Cough* training you." He explained, as Yuma looked at him like was stupid.
"But...Its just a river?" Yuma said aloud.
"Ah I get it." Yumito sounded out.
"Get what?" Yuma asked.
"You're training will be *Cough* swimming in this stream against the *Cough* current until you pass out." Hayate said, as Yuma looked at him like he was crazy.
"What!?" Yuma said in disbelief.
"Well how else *Cough* will we increase your Chakra Reserves to a Jonin level before *Cough* the Chunin exams?" Hayate stated like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"Huh?" Yuma asked, now gobsmacked by Hayate's statement.
And with a sickly smile, Hayate declared...
"Until the last week this month, your training will be increasing your Chakra Reserves!"
Without a single cough, Hayate revealed his plan to train Yuma.
And so began Yuma's hellish three week training.
〰️➰〰️
"*Cough* *Cough* Everything- *Cough* Everything hurts!" Yuma complained as he coughed up river water, having been pulled out from the river by Hayate.
For once, the one coughing wasn't Hayate.
"You'll be fine. *Cough* Now, I'll let you have a five minute break. Then its back into the river with you." Hayate said with a disinterested look.
"You have got to be kidding me! How much longer do we have to do this?" Yuma yelled.
"At least seven hours every day for the next three weeks." Hayate answered back plainly.
"Ugh. This better not be for nothing..." Yuma grunted, trying to dry himself off.
Hayate sat against a tree, taking out a book from his Chunin vest.
"Don't worry, it will turn out great for ya. The *Cough* only way to increase chakra is to either train your mind, or put your body through intense strain. By fighting *Cough* against the stream, you are not only putting your body through intense strain, but *Cough* are also constantly trying to stay focused as to not let the stream whisk you away which *Cough* trains your mind."
"Yeah, yeah. I get it, two birds with one stone and all that..." Yuma grumbled.
"You sure do *Cough* complain a lot." Hayate remarked as he turned another page in his book.
"So I've heard." Yuma said sarcastically, rolling his eyes in annoyance.
"I bet you have *Cough* heard with that kind of attitude." Hayate joked.
Hayate continued to read his book, as Yuma laid on his back, taking his time to rest. Hayate, unknown to Yuma, kept stealing glances at the boy, studying him.
'Poor kid...I wonder how he lived up until recently. I didn't even know who Gakuta's child was up until Ibiki told me about seeing him in the first exams. I wish...'
Hayate frowned, burying his face further into the book.
'I wish I could've been there for him more.'
His watch to his side began to beep, causing Yuma to groan.
"You heard the watch kid. Five minutes are up, back in the water." Hayate said, not looking up from his book.
"Yes sir..." Yuma grumbled.
Yuma grunted as he got up and walked to the rivers edge, and got into the stream. He began kicking his legs, trying to fight against the stream. He kept it for a while. Soon, an hour had gone by, then two, then three. Yuma was now sweating profusely, and trying everything he could to stay above water. His arms were becoming more and more tired, his strokes now less refined.
"H...H-Hayate! Five minute break? P-Please!?" Yuma yelled, in a panic as he felt his legs begin to get too tired.
But no response came.
"Hayate? Sensei?" Yuma asked, looking back briefly...
Only to see the man fast asleep, book on his face. He was about to curse aloud at the man, when he felt his legs go limp.
"Oh shit."
And with that, Yuma was swept away by the current. He tried fighting against it, but had no energy left to do so.
'I hate my life.' Yuma thought, as he fell unconscious.
And thus, Yuma's day had gone from sour, to terrible.
〰️➰〰️
"...Y...ma...O...ka..?"
'W...What?'
"W...ake...U...Yu...a"
'Ugh, w-who's that?'
Yuma began to awake, coughing up water in the process. Wracked with coughs, he clenched his eyes shut as his head was rattled. He tried to squint, opening his eyes to the blinding sun, putting one hand over them to shield from the sudden light.
"You okay Yuma?" A familiar voice asked.
"Y-Yeah, I'm...Wait...But you're-!?"
The fellow boy smiled, his long black hair covered in water as well. Behind him were another boy clad in green spandex and a girl with hair tied into twin buns.
"We saw you floating in the stream, so we got you out. Well, to be specific Neji was the one who saw you." Tenten said with a smile.
"Are you alright Yuma!? Please tell me you are alright! Should we get Gai-Sensei!? Do you need to go to the hospital!?" Lee said, squirming and looking every which way out of worry for Yuma.
"I-Its fine Lee. I've been through worse." Yuma said.
"Can you stand?" Neji asked, extending a hand.
Yuma looked at the hand hesitantly, an image of Neji looking down at a bruised and bloodied Yuma during the third exams flashing through his mind.
"Something wrong?" Neji asked in confusion as he looked at Yuma with a raised brow.
"N-No, its nothing." Yuma said, taking Neji's hand as the fellow boy lifted him up.
"You should've seen Neji! The moment we saw you in the water, he immediately jumped into the stream to pull you out! I've never seen him so worried!" Tenten joked, playfully elbowing the the young Hyuga in the side.
"O-Oh, he did huh?" Yuma said, faking a smile.
"Yes? He did." Tenten said, put off by Yuma's stand offish behavior.
Neji looked into Yuma's eye, took a breath, and turned to his teammates.
"I would you both to leave. I want to talk to Yuma privately." Neji said, a pleading look in his eyes.
Tenten frowned, about to ask why, only to be pulled by an enthusiastic Lee.
"Yes! Me and Tenten shall leave at once good friend!" Lee said with vigor.
"W-What!? Lee! Let me go!"
With that exchange, Tenten was dragged off by an energetic Lee, who flashed Neji a thumbs up as he left the area.
"Heh, that guy. Its nice to have a friend like that..." Neji said aloud, watching as the two left.
Neji turned to Yuma, a smile on his face.
"You too right? You have friends like Naruko and Sasuke after a-!?"
"What the hell do you want with me Neji?" Yuma said outright, cutting through the air of comfort with his words.
Neji's smile dissipated as he looked up at the sky, an odd look over taking his features.
"What do you know of the Hyuga clan Yuma?" Neji asked.
Yuma frowned, crossing his arms over his chest as he thought about it.
"Other than your Dojutsu and gentle fist techniques? Pretty much nothing." Yuma admitted.
A bird flew over head, as Neji's eyes grew misty.
"The Hyuga clan...Its divided into two parts. There is the main house that consists of first born's. They are the leaders of our people and lead our clan to greater heights. Then...There is my people. The branch house."
Yuma became silent, caught up in Neji's now somber atmosphere.
"This tale..."
Yuma's eyes widened in shock.
...Because Neji Hyuga was now crying
"Is about a boy who lost his father, to a cruel world that keeps moving forward."
〰️➰〰️
"Neji! Come out from behind there son!"
A little boy with pale skin, pale eyes, and long black hair hiding behind the couch in the living room area peaked out from behind his hiding spot. The father smiled and motioned for the boy, his son Neji, to come out from his hiding place as the father held a camera in his hands. The boy smiled nervously, waddling out from behind the couch with a shy bump in his step.
"That's my brave boy! Now smile for the camera!"
Little Neji smiled nervously, as his father took the picture.
The day was a sunny one, and Neji was starting his first day at the Konoha Ninja Academy. Him and his father were walking down the hallway in the interior of the Hyuga Complex, making sure not to disturb anyone of the main house. His father covered the young boys eyes, causing little Neji some confusion.
"Dad?" Neji questioned.
"Don't worry son, I was just..."
The sound of someone screaming in pain in the room they just passed reached Neji's ears.
"I noticed a lash in your eye, I was trying to get it out for you." His father said.
Neji frowned. He knew his father was lying and he knew what his father was lying for.
The Branch House has always been seen as inferior to the Main house. A cursed seal was developed to keep their Byakugan from falling into non clan hands, and thus, the House System was born. The Hierarchical system had been that way for decades in the Hyuga Clan. It was originally meant to keep their prized Doujutsu from falling into enemy hands, however, as such is the way of human nature...
It did not take long for the system to be used as a weapon and means of asserting dominance by the more privileged Main House of the Hyuga Clan.
Neji Hyuga did not like that fact, and neither did his father, Hizashi Hyuga. But they were able to deal with the cruelty of the Main House far easier than most in the Branch House. For they were brother and nephew to the patriarch of the Hyuga Clan, Hiashi Hyuga. That alone granted them far more protection from the less civilized of the Main House than their less fortunate brothers and sisters of the Branch House.
However, this did not make Neji and his Father immune to their fate. Neji had, at a young age, shown extreme talent in their family techniques, far more talent then the frail heir of the Hyuga Clan, Hinata Hyuga. This angered Hizashi, and, having been considered lesser than his brother for so long, caused him to manifest Killer Intent at a very special gathering for the Hyuga Clan.
Sensing this, the patriarch of the Hyuga Clan punished his brother by activating the Cursed Seal that had been placed on his brother a few weeks ago.
That event was why they were receiving glares and looks of disdain by members of the Main House. The contempt was palpable and caused Neji to become fearful.
"Hold your head high son. Do not let these weaklings look down on you. You are strong." Hizashi said to Neji in a whisper, causing the young boy to smile.
"Yes father."
As long as the two had each other, they could deal with their lot in life, Neji thought.
But their happiness, was not made to last.
A few months after Neji had joined the Academy, a infamous event that would come to be known as the Hyuga Affair would take place. A ninja who was visiting from the Village Hidden in the Clouds, would try and kidnap Hinata Hyuga, the daughter of the Hyuga Clans Patriarch. Having caught the ninja trying to abscond with his daughter, Hiashi Hyuga took it upon himself to end the cloud ninja's life.
In reply, the Hidden Cloud Village gave the Leaf Village an ultimatum. Either give them the life of Hiashi Hyuga, or they will take the event as a declaration of war.
Not wanting to be the cause of a war with the cloud, Hiashi agreed to sacrifice his life for the good of the village.
However...
Such a thing would not come to pass.
Neji's father, Hizashi, realizing that the clouds true goal was to obtain their clans doujutsu, did what he felt was right, and took his brothers place.
"Hizashi! Please don't do this. You shouldn't die for my mistake. Please, you have a son!" Hiashi begged his brother.
But Hizashi wouldn't listen.
"And you have a daughter. Besides...I find this preferable over a life of servitude."
Rather than live the rest of his life under the boot of the Main House and die a predictable and easy death behind the shadow of his brother...
He would take his destiny into the palm of his hands...
And end his own life on his own terms, giving back to the village in the process.
The funeral day was a rainy one.
Neji cried silently as Hiashi stared at the boy from afar.
He took a step forward, wanting to give the child a small speck of comfort.
But...
"Don't try and comfort me."
Neji turned to his uncle, his Byakugan pulsing as tears flowed from his eyes and his body trembled with rage.
"You should have been the one to die."
After that rainy, Neji Hyuga became a bitter boy, who felt cheated by life itself.
And remained that way for quite some time, as the world cruelly moved forward...
〰️➰〰️
"..."
"And that's my story." Neji finished, wiping his eyes.
Yuma remained silent, he looked away from Neji with uncomfortable eyes.
"I won't try and tell you I know how you feel. I never really had a dad so I wouldn't know how losing one would feel like. And i'm not really familiar with the Hyuga Clan's practices, so I won't try and give my thoughts on that...But..."
Yuma looked Neji in the eyes, giving him a smile.
"Still...I think your father would be proud to see the person you've become." Yuma said with complete and total sincerity.
"Thank you...My point was...For the longest time, I feel like I never really left that rainy day. I've been stuck in the past, stewing with hate for so long. I had always thought that the world moved on destiny and destiny alone." Neji began.
He took a deep and calming breath, mustering a smile to shine Yuma's way.
"But you Yuma, you showed me differently. You, the dead last of your year was able to beat me, the top student of my year. It shocked me. After that battle, I realized that if someone like you could defy your fate, than anyone could. You gave me my light back Yuma. And I have no idea how to repay you." Neji said earnestly, positively shining.
Yuma began to blush, looking away, not used to such high praise being directed at him.
"I uh...Don't know what to say ha ha...Uh, thanks I guess. But I really don't think i'm that special. I don't even hold a candle to Naruko and Sasuke..." Yuma said, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly.
"Even if you don't think yourself their equal, I believe in you Yuma. I promise you this, I will pay you back one day. That i'm sure of..." Neji said, looking up at the sky.
"Ah, its getting pretty late. I should get going. Thanks for hearing me out Yuma. If you need anything at all, just give me the word. And I'll be watching your match. I want to see you smack the cockiness out of Kiba the same way you did to me. See ya Yuma!" Neji yelled as he began to jog away, waving goodbye to Yuma.
"O-Okay! Nice seeing you Neji!" Yuma yelled, a strange and warm feeling settling inside his stomach.
He began to walk down the side of the stream, caught in a daze.
"Damn that guy..." Yuma said to himself, shaking his head while trying to suppress a grin.
"With a story like that, there's no way I can hold a grudge against him anymore."
And so Yuma began his walk back to Hayate's house, ready to give the Jonin a piece of his mind for letting him drift away.
And so ended day one of Yuma's one month training.
〰️❇️〰️
So few things I gotta say
I haven't updated because of health issues like I'm been dealing with toothaches constantly, few weeks ago I got a pretty bad tooth infection so I was on antibiotics and Steroids to help get rid of the infection so I'm getting the tooth out on 28th of July, I had issues with my throat as well and earaches as well, I'm also having problems with my old broadband provider trying to get over €221 out of me for service I cancelled so that the issue I been having and I don't need to deal with people begging for updates.
Good news tho is I will update the waiting game and curse hero, I'm also getting two adorable kittens instead of one, I mostly on discord and post updates on there so the link is on my profile
Thanks for people who didn't demand for updates for chapters updates, keep safe everyone