Naruto: Threads of Crimson

"That's enough," she called out, her Shadow Possession Jutsu holding Shiro and Shisui mid-strike. Akira groaned, falling to the ground, his head looking at the two boys.

"Let's not kill each other over a sparring match, shall we?"

The two boys lowered their arms as the jutsu released, taking a step back. Shiro's face was calm, his usual smirk gone, replaced by a quiet intensity. Shisui gave a sheepish laugh, rubbing the back of his neck as if to defuse the tension. The crowd of spectators erupted into chatter, their voices buzzing with disbelief.

But Arata didn't wait to hear any of it.

He pushed himself to his feet, his face flushed a deep red, his Byakugan still active and pulsing. Without a word, he turned on his heel and stormed off, his steps heavy and deliberate.

The chatter behind him only grew louder, and from the corner of his eye, he saw the two boys being congratulated by Akira, Lucy, and their sensei, Reika.

'How did it come to this?' he thought, his jaw clenched as he marched past the outpost barracks and towards the forest behind it. 'I've trained my entire life, years of discipline, drills, pushing my body to the edge, and I get taken down by a couple of cocky little Uchiha brats?'

His pace quickened, the trees beginning to blur around him. 'The audacity to talk like he knows what it's like to be me. As if he has any idea what it means to live under the weight of the Hyuga name.'

Arata stopped abruptly, his fists tightening at his sides. His Byakugan's heightened vision caught the movement of something white in the distant forest, but his mind didn't register the presence. His focus was inward, the echoes of Shiro's words cutting deeper than any physical strike.

'He had no right to say those things. "Stuck in the shadow of the main branch"? What does he know about being a branch member? About having your life controlled by people who see you as nothing more than a tool?'

The memory of Shiro's smirk made Arata's stomach churn. He lashed out, punching a nearby tree with enough force that he left a three-foot-deep hole in the bark. His forehead fell against the rough wood, his breath shallow and uneven.

'Damn it,' he thought, closing his eyes. "He's not even wrong, and that's what makes this hurt so much. Every success I've ever had, every technique I've mastered—none of it will ever truly be mine. No matter how hard I work, I'll always be in their shadow."

The words Shiro had thrown at him resurfaced in his mind. 'They'll never let you rise above. You'll always be just another tool for the main branch.' He gritted his teeth, the words echoing louder and louder. "Is that all I am?! A tool? Am I really that pathetic?!" He shouted out.

His fists pressed harder against the tree as a bitter laugh escaped his lips. "Why am I losing control now? It has always been this way and always will be, I've already come to accept it."

He pulled back, exhaling shakily, and stared up at the canopy above. The sunlight filtering through the leaves felt distant. 'I can't let this stand. I can't stand by as the future of our clan gets branded with these cursed seals.'

For a moment, he stood still, his breaths steadying. Then, with a deep sigh, he straightened his back and turned toward the outpost barracks.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

The barracks were almost too ordinary, a sharp contrast to the turmoil brewing inside Arata. Around a makeshift table, a group of shinobi sat laughing and playing cards. One of them passed around a jug of sake, the faint clink of ceramic cups mingling with the sound of their jokes and easy banter. Others lounged on the wooden steps outside, swapping stories about old missions and future dreams.

No one looked at Arata.

Not a word. Not even a glance.

It was as though he didn't exist.

He swallowed the bitter taste of their indifference, forcing himself to push forward. 'Not that I expected anything else,' he thought, some resentment building in his chest. Without pausing, he pushed open the creaky door to the bathroom, letting it swing shut behind him with a quiet thud.

Inside, the room was dimly lit, the faint smell of damp wood and soap hanging in the air. The wooden floor creaked under his weight as he stepped to the cracked mirror hanging crookedly on the wall. The reflection staring back at him looked as tired and blank as he felt.

His eyes lingered on the image for a moment before he reached up and untied his headband. The fabric fell from his fingers, landing on the sink with a soft thud. And there it was.

The seal.

The caged bird seal etched into his forehead.

Its intricate design glistened faintly under the dim light, a symbol printed into his skin that marked his place within the Hyuga clan. It was more than a mere reminder. It was a chain, unyielding and absolute.

Arata's hands curled into fists, his knuckles brushing against the cold porcelain of the sink. He leaned in closer to the mirror, staring hard at the seal. It felt like it was staring back at him, mocking him, as if daring him to do something about it.

'Is this my destiny?' The thought burned in his mind as his fingers grazed the mark. He knew the answer. No matter how much he trained, no matter how many missions he completed or enemies he defeated, this seal would always be there.

This wasn't just about the past—it was about the future. His future. No matter what he did, the mark would ensure his obedience. Even if he wanted to fight back, the seal would make it impossible.

Frustration bubbled up inside him, and his Byakugan activated instinctively, his vision sharpening as he traced the intricate lines of the seal. He could see the faint, rhythmic pulse of chakra infused into the design, like a silent reminder of his family's control over him.

'Why do they deserve all the control?' His thoughts turned bitter, his anger simmering just below the surface. 'No other clan does this to their members. The Uchiha reward strength. The more powerful you are, the more respect you earn. But here, it's the opposite.'

He slammed his hands against the edge of the sink, gripping it so hard the porcelain groaned in protest. His eyes returned to the seal in the mirror.

'It doesn't matter how skilled I am. If you're part of the branch family, you'll never rise higher than Jonin. You'll never become an ANBU captain, never advise the Hokage. You're not even allowed to dream about becoming Hokage.'

The sink began to crack beneath his hands, fine lines spiderwebbing outward as his chakra flared inwardly in response to his growing anger. His pulse thudded loudly in his ears, drowning out the faint sounds of laughter coming from outside the barracks.

'And the techniques,' he thought bitterly, his grip tightening further. 'The Hyuga clan's most powerful jutsu are kept locked away, shared only with the main branch. They want to keep us weak. They're afraid of us—afraid of what we could do if we had the chance to rise.'

For years, he had swallowed his resentment, buried it under the weight of obedience and duty. But now, after the fight with Shiro, in the stillness of this small, dimly lit room, something snapped.

A strange calm washed over him, unnervingly cold and steady. His shoulders, once hunched with the weight of his anger, relaxed. His clenched jaw loosened. His hands fell away from the fractured sink. And his back straightened again. At that moment, his resolve became something entirely different than it previously had been.

'I can't let this continue. Not for me, not for anyone else in the branch family. This has to stop.'

His reflection in the mirror was different now. The tired, blank eyes were gone. What stared back at him now was something colder. Determined.

Reaching down, he picked up his headband, tying it back into place over the seal. The fabric pressed firmly against his forehead, covering the mark.

When he opened the bathroom door and stepped back into the nightlife of the barracks, the laughter from the card game continued, uninterrupted. No one looked his way, just as before. The barracks felt as ordinary as they had when he first entered, but to Arata, everything had changed.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

(A/N: What do you think is going to happen to Arata? I don't really have a set-in-stone plan for him yet but I will say I have an idea of what I'm going to do with him.)