Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. I wish I did though

When Naruto was an academy student, he had enough chakra to produce a small army of clones. This had been before he had access to the kyuubi's chakra. With access to that chakra, he could make a neither unlimited amount of clones without feeling tired.

At my current amount of chakra, I could produce one measly shadow clone.

It had been humbling to acknowledge that in terms of pure amount of chakra that Naruto would always be more gifted in this sense. But it was fine. One clone was all I needed.

One clone to take my place in the Academy while I trained or studied.

I had been skeptical when Shisui had first suggested it. If my clone had one hard hit, then it would pop, and my secret would come out. But Shisui had been quick to placate my fears.

"Relax, Neji." Shisui assured. "The clones are surprisingly durable. It takes a solid hit for them to pop. When was the last time you got hit during your time in the Academy?"

I frowned at him. It seems lax to think about it like that way. If I get caught, then I will be in serious trouble with Hiashi.

"But we have sparring matches every day!" I protested.

"Are you telling me, at your entire time at the Academy, someone has landed a hit on you during sparring?" Shisui said with a single eyebrow raised.

I mean…. I guess I couldn't argue with that logic, but that wasn't my point.

"It's not just that… Shisui, if I get caught then I will be in serious trouble. It seems a lot to bet on when a single hit will destroy my clone. If Itachi got caught, then it's possible for someone at my skill level to get hit by peers." I pointed out with narrowed eyes.

"I already said Itachi's problem wouldn't happen to you." Shisui quickly assured.

Next to him, Itachi nodded.

"I wasn't well liked by my classmates. They thought I was arrogant. To a certain extent I was, I thought it was impossible for another student to land another hit on me which is why I didn't take enough measures to get caught. I ended up fighting a large group of 7 classmates at once. I could of a taken them, but one of them managed to get behind me and grab me. This gave another student enough time to break my clone." Itachi confessed. "It ended up not mattering because I was already being considered for early graduation, and this display of talent ended up confirming their suspicions."

"But you agree with me that doing this seems risky?" I pressed him. I couldn't be the only one who thought this was crazy.

"Normally, I would. But not this time." Itachi assented. "To make your dreams palpable, to live the life you wish of and for you to achieve your goals, something is going to need to change. If you cannot graduate early, then perhaps this is the solution. Besides, the issues I had, none of them apply to you. You're relatively well liked by your peers meaning that none of them will want to pick fights with you. Your bykaugan means that no one will be able to sneak up behind you. If we plan this correctly, then everything will be fine."

I was floored. Itachi was the voice of reason in comparison to Shisui and I. I was the one ruled by emotions. Shisui was the one who would make rash decisions. I didn't think Itachi would agree with such an outrageous plan.

"Fine." I huffed. "But we need to come up with a strategy to this, besides just being careful."

At my agreement, Shisui threw his hands around Itachi's and I's necks. As we struggled to break free, Shisui burst into a grin.

"Now that we're all in agreement. Boys, lets finish planning!"

Rule Number 1: Be friendly to everyone. But not overly friendly, as you do not need unwanted attention. Make no enemies but maintain a distance.

"Neji-kun!" A group of girls called out as the clone entered the room.

"Neji" gave a half-hearted wave to the girls, whose names he couldn't bother to remember. Despite the lack of passion in his wave, the clone could hear a faint shriek as the group of girls began arguing over he was waving at.

"Neji" made his way to his usual seat making sure not to pay too much attention to his peers.

'Maintain your distance' He thought. 'Be kind, but also distant. They will sense your unwillingness and disinterest. They will think your merely introverted. This will cause them to not want to bother you and keep interactions at minimal.'

As "Neji" reached his seat, he was greeted to the site of an unusual visitor right next to his seat.

An excited visitor that looked at him with hopeful eyes.

"Neji-san!" Lee called out. "I hope you don't mind if I sit here today!"

Internally, the clone cursed. Sitting next to Rock Lee would bring him the opposite of the inattention and disinterest he sought. Instead of the irritation the clone felt, the clone shot Rock Lee a kind smile.

"It's fine, Lee-san." The clone said simply as he sat down. The clone cast his eyes towards the front doing his best to ignore the energetic boy next to him.

The said boy began to fidget next to him.

"Neji-san." Lee blurted out. "Would you care for a test of strength? Perhaps an arm wrestle or-"

"No."

The clone winced. Perhaps, that had been to harsh. But Lee needed to take a hint sooner rather than later. Besides, Neji being antagonistic towards Lee was how the original story went.

The clone risked a glance to his side towards Lee.

'It's just to check.' He assured himself. 'Being too mean to Lee would go against this first rule.'

Lee was pouting. But he didn't seem too upset.

Good.

The clone turned to face the front as Satoshi-Sensei walked into the room.

The first part is over now the next.

"Neji, may I speak with you?" Satoshi-Sensei called as the students filed one by one out the door

towards their destinations for lunch.

'What could he want now?' The clone sighed to himself. 'Is it time for the second rule?'

"Yes, Satoshi-Sensei?"

"It was unfortunate to hear about your Uncle's rejection regarding your early graduation." The teacher confessed.

It's time for Rule #2.

"Yes, I agree!" The clone huffed.

Rule Number 2: You can't pretend to not be upset over your lack of early graduation that would be even more suspicious. No, you must admit that your upset regarding the decision but also show acceptance.

"It was really upsetting when Hiashi told me. I couldn't believe that he would say no to this decision. It had been a goal of mine for a while to graduate early. But I have to admit that a small part of me was relieved though." The clone admitted.

Satoshi-Sensei cocked a single brow.

"Why is that?"

"Being a shinobi isn't as glamorous as my peers believe it to be. I've lost both my parents to the profession. As well as this, I'm not sure if I was ready to take another life." The clone shuddered.

"Your wisdom reveals your place as a prodigy." Satoshi-Sensei praised. "Rarely do graduates consider these factors when becoming genin."

"Thank you, Sensei!" The clone bowed.

Satoshi-Sensei placed a hand on the bowed shoulder of the clone.

"You're a good kid, Neji." The Teacher said gently. "Perhaps, it's good that you have more time to enjoy your youth."

The clone couldn't help but feel a warmth at these words as well a slight pang of something else. Satoshi-Sensei, despite the almost sadistic pleasure he took in causing his students suffering through testing, did honestly care about his students and made a point to check in on his students as he was doing for him for right now.

It almost made the clone feel bad about lying about being the real Neji.

"Thank you for checking up on me, Sensei." The clone said sincerely.

"You're welcome. This isn't the only the thing I wanted to tell you. I understand how slow this class may seem to you. That's why I'm giving you permission to read other material during my teaching." Satoshi Sensei explained.

The clone's eyes widened. To be able to do that would increase Neji's training twofold!

"Thank you, Sensei!" The clone gushed. The clone hurried into another bow.

"Just make sure you sit in the back of the class." Satoshi sensei chuckled. "But no sleeping during class or getting behind on your work no matter how easy it may seem!"

"Hai, sensei!"

"Neji-san?"

The clone turned to look at Rock Lee from where he was sitting down.

After lunch had been time for sparring, and despite the clone's best efforts, the clone had been unable to shake Rock Lee from following him. Rock Lee had quickly sat down by him and made a point to talk to him.

What could he possibly want now?

"Why is your byakugan active while you're sitting down?" Lee asked curiously.

Rule Number 3: Caution is key. Don't run when you can walk. Look both ways when crossing a street. Most importantly, use your byakugan when possible.

'Why do you always ask the hard questions, Lee?' The clone thought bitterly.

"Training." The clone explained, unable to hide the exasperation from his voice. "Using the byakugan more often helps me get used to strain it puts on my eyes as well as helps me improve the distance I can see."

This was a truth. Just not THE truth. Lee wouldn't know the difference.

Lee bought the lie and begin nodding.

"I see. A form of training that you can do even when actively not on a training ground." Lee's expression lit up. "I was thinking of doing something similar with training weights."

The clone couldn't hide the surprise from his expression. Lee hadn't started using training weights till he left the Academy in the original story. Another a sign in how his caster's presence had impacted the story.

"You might want to hold out on that till you're older." The clone said absentmindedly as he tried to focus on the sparring match in front of him. "Excessive exercises such as weight training at prepubescent ages can prevent and hinder the growth of the body and the formation of muscles that would be helpful for someone seeking to become a taijutsu specialist."

Rock Lee sent the clone a confused look.

'I forgot I wasn't talking to Itachi for a second.' The clone thought.

"Training too hard when you're young can sometimes prevent you from growing tall. Height can be a helpful tool if you want to be a taijutsu specialist. " The clone explained gently. Rock Lee looked astonished at the boy next to him.

"Training to hard can prevent me from growing stronger later? What am I supposed to do?" Rock Lee cried out.

Around them, other students began to look at the pair of boys as Rock Lee began to loudly lament the horrors of his lifestyle.

And this is why I shouldn't sit next to Rock Lee.

"The next match will be Neji Hyuga versus Rock Lee." Satoshi sensei called out towards us. Cursing his luck, the clone stood up making his way towards the arena with Rock Lee following him.

Behind him, Rock Lee had a look of visible excitement as he finally got to test himself against his rival. His expression screamed one of determination and one of resolve. Finally, he would have the chance to test his skills against the person he admired the most.

The clone felt noticeably less excited.

"Perform the Seal of Confrontation."

"Time to show you how much I've improved." Rock Lee said as he brought his hands to perform the seal.

The clone said nothing as he wordlessly performed the seals.

I'm sorry Lee.

Rule Number 4: End sparring matches as quickly as possible. You cannot afford to go easy. One lucky blow is what takes for your cover to be blown.

Lee stared up at shock from his place on the ground.

One throw was all it took.

Lee had been quick to throw the first punch. The clone had quickly sidestepped the punch and

threw and redirected his weight towards the ground.

Applying a soft pressure to Lee's throat the clone called, "End the match, Sensei!"

Satoshi-Sensei nodded.

"This match goes to Neji Hyuga."

"Sometimes the answer isn't power and speed, but patience and technique." The clone tried to say as gingerly as possible as he helped the boy up. "But you have improved since we last sparred, Lee. There was a lot of speed and power behind that punch."

'I also didn't beat him this fast last time we sparred. I hope I didn't break his new found self-confidence.' The clone worried.

"Just as skilled as I would expect from the my rival." Lee appraised as he was helped up. "I need to up my training even more if I am to catch up with you."

I guess not.

The two boys performed the Seal of Reconciliation and made their way towards their seats.

'Lee improving is actually worrisome. It could cause unforeseen circumstances in the plot, it could also mean that if he keeps improving he could actually land a hit on me. I can't afford to not take him seriously' The clone thought with a frown. 'I might not be able to keep this up for four years. But I still have other issues to worry about. For now, I need to take this one day at a time. This is a problem for the real Neji. Class is almost over, I need to find an alley on the way back so I can poof without detection.'

Memories flashed through my head as I reached the last page of my book on the theory behind medical ninjutsu.

I looked at the sun above me as an indicator of the time.

I guess it roughly time for The Academy to end. I just didn't realize because this day had flew by.

I had locked myself into a remote location of the training grounds, near my meeting place with Itachi and Shisui, for this portion of the day because I hadn't wanted to get caught.

The day had been largely uneventful. I had been too afraid to do too harsh training because I didn't want questions regarding why I was so tired. Itachi and Shisui were off on missions so I ended up spending the day by myself.

Most of my time was spent reading or doing chakra exercises that weren't too chakra intensive like the leaf sticking exercise. As well as this, I had practiced molding my water nature chakra without the formation of specific jutsu.

It had been a day well spent. I hadn't realized how much time I was actually wasting at the Academy. The amount of work and self-improvement I had gotten today was a good clue regarding this. I did a quick scan of the memories of my clone paying close attention to anything out of the ordinary.

Satoshi-Sensei is willing to let me read during class? That's great! But, my relationship with Rock Lee is getting to be troublesome.

I hadn't expected my words with Rock Lee to have such an impact. The anime and manga had shown Rock Lee to be rather talentless until he started training under Might Gai. But Rock Lee was improving at an exponential rate, he could end up top taijutsu in the year aside for me. I didn't know what this spelled for the plot. Rock Lee had been deadlast in his year with only slightly above average taijutsu. As well as this, Rock Lee was very actively seeking me out throughout our day. He didn't want me as just a rival but also as a friend.

This was another distraction I couldn't afford.

With my head in my hands, I made my way towards the Hyuga Compound. Hiashi greeted me as I entered the building. I gave him a nod back.

"How was your day at the Academy?" Hiashi asked.

This was a question with hidden meaning. Hiashi rarely asked this. No, Hiashi was using this to gauge my feelings regarding his decision to not let me graduate early.

"Uneventful." I replied honestly. "I hope this improves as I get further along with the Academy."

Hiashi nodded.

"I would expect so." Hiashi replied.

There was an awkward silence for the moment. Neither of us knew what to say to address.

Do I have to be the adult here?

"Uncle Hiashi, would you be willing to show me exercises on how to extend my sight in the byakugan today during my training with Hinata?" I asked him.

Hiashi nodded again. "Yes, I would be willing to."

"Thank you, Lord Hiashi."

Rule Number 5: Treat your Uncle with the respect he wishes from you. Do not show any sign displeasure regarding his decision. Also NEVER have him see your Shadow Clone because experienced byakugan users can tell the difference between clones and humans.

Notes:

IndraSenin: I'm not going to force you to read my story if it's not suiting your tastes. I mean obviously I've put my character in a position in which he is forced to be basically a slave to the Main Branch. Obviously, this will eventually be addressed within the story though an arc addresssing it. But, I have no immediate plans to do that within the next few chapters because that makes no sense for where the story or the character is currently at. As I said, I'm not forcing you to read this, I will keep some of your suggestions in mind as I write this story.

Thank you everyone for the feedback. I'm happy people still care about this story.