post-mission debriefing (where neji is always in the hospital)
Not you putting Neji in hospital when he is a better fighter than Shikamaru đ
But the art is pretty
This drawing is meant to take place post-Sasuke retrieval arc, though I felt too lazy to add Shikamaru’s finger injury. Shikamaru is also a much more conservative fighter and Neji is shown to take more risks because he believes (rightfully so) that he can handle/make up for it. I would also believe, especially as a jonin, that he’d be sent on more higher stakes missions or take higher stakes roles regardless of both of their statuses. This was also referenced from my personal, unserious observation that Neji seems to always be injured/out of commission whenever important things happen to the konoha 11 in canon (atleast in the og show) đ So in the end, it was just my amusing musings. Thank you though! I absolutely adore Shikamaru and Neji’s characters and I can talk about them all day.
I am not attacking you,I just thought at first that you think that Neji is weak đ
Too often in fandom I see people forgetting that Neji is literally canonically the unique genius
But I am very happy to hear your opinion! This warms my heart ;)
But you are actually very right
Neji is literally an enslaved abused and exploited orphan used as a meat shield for hinata all manga till his death :/
So yea,Neji is probably always injured and likely fights even when he is hurt,unless he is bedridden
Also Neji is the only one who works both inside his clan for main branch for free and also for the village,so double shift goes crazy
Are you a NejiShika shipper? I always see Studio Pierrot for some reason putting Neji and Shikamaru together almost on all the merch and I always wonder if that is where ship came from
I donât judge,I myself also ship a rare pairingâNejiSasu,it is just that in my imagination Shikamaru always was a hardcore stereotypical hetero guy because of his several mysoginic jokes,especially the one about Temari after she literally saved his life
I didn’t take it as an attack, I just disagreed with what you said. I wanted to take the opportunity to discuss two of my favorite characters, Shikamaru and Nejiâ Neji if I had to choose one :)
The caption was meant to be mostly humorousâ I don’t think being injured constantly is special to him, but commonplace with shinobi of his level. It’s just especially obvious next to Shikamaru, who, like I said, is a much more conservative fighter (which brings him value as a leader) and who’s safety is prioritized over others as their strategist (as emphasized by Asuma).
Canon, unfortunately, also has never been explicit about the working dynamics within the Hyuga clan. It’s never been clear the kind of work Neji may or may not have under the head family outside of training Hinata.
If you mean whether or not I ship Shikamaru and Neji, yes, it was in the tags :) if you mean the dynamic NejiShika vs ShikaNejiâ I personally do not care and I don’t think they would either. While it is extremely delightful as a shipper to see them always beside each other in official art, I believe there was a thought process behind this. During the Sasuke Retrieval Mission, Shikamaru and Neji were prominent side characters that played similarly important roles within the arc. Secondly, they both have neutral, earthy color palettes (and other complimentary features) that are easy to pair up for the sake of composition.
It actually wasn’t the official art that made me ship them, thoughâ with how I binged Naruto, I barely saw any before I started slowing down post Season 5 đ. It was watching the Sasuke Retrieval Mission and witnessing how well they played off of each other, how seamless their teamwork, and how strong their field chemistry was that did. It’s easy to brush off their dynamic as “two smart characters getting along”, but I think it’s more than that.
That is amazing! I never saw such a deep perspective on NejiShika as a pairing,but you draw them beautifully and write about them very interesting.
Seriously,itâs great!
Now you made me think that in your AU it makes sense for Shikamaru being misogynistic if his hate comes solely from a place of his sexuality as a gay men: he dislikes women because he is not interested in them and being raised in a patriarchal society made him think that men are in deed superior to women.
I just want to add about Hyuga system:
Neji is not just hinataâs teacher and sparing partner,he is also her bodyguard.
Neji is hinataâs personal slave,hinata is a slave owner and she quite literally owns and uses him as her possession.
Neji was gifted to hinata on her 3rd birthday as a special personal slave,the same dynamic as in between Hizashi and hiashi.
Having a literal torture device on his forehead what can kill him any minute,Neji and Ko & all other side Hyuga branch members do whatever main branch members: hinata,hiashi,hanabi and hiashiâs father; tell them to do.
There is no choice except to obey or to die in torture and to watch your loved ones being also tortured to punish you and to set an example for other slaves.
Shikamaru for this is a nice proof himself because he is also a child of clanhead: the only son & kid of the Nara clanhead and unlike hinata,who lost her status as a heir to hanabi when she was 12, Shikamaru is the real,one and only heir.
Yet we donât see Shikamaru getting special treatment anywhere,not even in his own clan: he doesnât have bodyguards like hinata does and nobody calls Shikamaru -sama when he is just still a teen / a child.
It is clear that even if we compare hinata to other children of clan heads like Shikamaru,Ino,Choji, Kiba,Shino,Sasuke,Itachi,Gaara, Temari,Kankuroânobody is getting the same privileged treatment inside of their own clans and villages.
I also never thought that Neji and Shikamaru being put together on official Studio Pierrot arts is because they have similar patterns,I guess I just never noticed that they have similar colours in their designs.
Also,if I am not mistaken,Shikamaru is also a jonin,isnât he?
And in my personal opinion Shikamaru is the real Hokage while Naruto is just a cover up: Uzumaki can fight thanks to sheer volume of gifted to him Ashuraâs and Kuramaâs chakra but as a leader and a politician he is lacking.
Thank you so much! I do think they have great potential to even just be friends in canon. Shikamaru needs another shogi partner and while Neji wouldn’t beat him, Shikamaru would atleast have fun đ.
Now, I don’t think Shikamaru is gay either. I believe he is attracted to women and might even prefer women. I think his opinion was informed a lot by the time period (based off the 90s) and the women he grew up around, namely: Yoshino, Ino and Sakura. They’re all very assertive and it clashed against his lazy personality. He also just, self admittedly, doesn’t understand women đ. To a guy like him that’s all about logic, it’d bother him extra that he doesn’t understand them. My personal hot take is that Neji’s internalized misogyny is arguably worse than Shikamaru’s, but this is based off of a comment he made earlier on during the Chunin Exams like, once.
More reason to believe Shikamaru is attracted to women, I think a lot of his dynamic with Temari could be borrowed for his dynamic with Neji. I think he’d be attracted to Neji for a lot of the same things (smart hardass with a nice smile).
I am aware the owner-slave dynamics within the Hyuga Clan, I was talking more about work conditions for them. We don’t know if Neji does any manual labor or any other kind of work consistently for them, and him being Hinata’s bodyguard doesn’t seem to be a strict arrangement as A) they aren’t on the same team (and the Hyugas definitely have the power to make that true if they want to) and B) he isn’t with her all the time. We don’t know if this is because of Hinata, or that the agreement is a general “protect the head family” sort of thing. They seem to be okay letting Neji go off and do shinobi work, but we also don’t know if this is because the Hyugas are a shinobi clan so they respect that, or if Hiashi personally is okay with it, or if Hinata asked Hiashi to let Neji do these things. To reiterate, we don’t know a lot. Which is a shame, because the Hyugas are such an interesting clan to explore with so much potential for storytelling but never was.
Honestly,I think that only hinata fans claim Neji to be âmisogynisticâ and âhate womenâ just because they want to ignore the fact that hinata abuses and exploits Neji as his slave owner and takes advantage of her position in clan + Hinata fans want to paint Neji as a villain for saying out loud facts about hinata literally everyone from Hiashi to Shino knew.
May I ask why do think that Neji is misogynistic? He has zero problems with Tenten despite her being dramatically weaker than him + him having to watch out for her all the time on the missions. And his opinion about hinata on chunin exam is more than factual and justified + Neji doesnât like hinata not because she is a female but because she is a slave owner.
About Neji and Shikamaru playing shogi together,I think that they just have two different types of intelligent: Shikamaru is more âbookâ smart while Neji is more smart at a real fight.
Shikamaru is a great fighter when he is in a formation InoShikaCho and when he has the opportunity to outsmart the opponent by setting up the trap like he did with Hidan.
But can Shikamaru fight on his own? Yes and no: depends on the strength of the opponent. Shikamaru alone can take on only weaker than him or roughly the same level as him opponents or someone really stupid and/or inexperienced so that Shikamaruâs intelligence can overpower raw strength of the opponent.
Based on fight with Tayuya,Temari,first fight with Hidan and KakadzuâShikamaru has troubles fighting alone, especially when he previously didnât know the opponent and didnât have time and/or opportunity to make a plan and a trap beforehand.
Neji on other hands was born,raised and trained to fight alone: yes,he does perfectly in any team formation,but his specialty is working alone as a bodyguard of main Hyuga branch.
While Neji can also fight together with hinata or any other Hyuga,he always puts his role as a protector of hinata first,what we can brightly see in war arc.
Shikamaru from childhood was told that he has trusted allies in Yamanaka and Akimichi clans he can lean onto.
Neji from childhood was told that he is a meat shield and a weapon for main branch,specifically for hinata,and he must die on command.
As the result,we can say that Neji is more âshinobiâ smart while Shikamaru makes a great politician and is very sharp at theory,like when playing shogi.
It is important to say:
Hinata is not the Hyuga heir: she lost this status to Hanabi when she was 12 BUT Hinata is STILL the member of main Hyuga branch and a slave owner.
Hinata was allowed to go on a team in the first place because she lost her status as a heir and future clanhead.
We never saw Hanabi being on a genin team and it is save to say that it is solely because hanabi is the Hyuga heir.
Hinata isnât,she lost that place to hanabi and that is why Hiashi is okay with her being on a genin team under Jonin supervision.
AlsoâŠ
Hinata has Ko and Neji as her bodyguards. Being a slave owner from main branch Hinata is free to exploit all Hyuga side branch members,not just Neji.
In pain arc wee see Ko getting injured while protecting Hinata and still being deadly afraid that he will fail at his duty as a bodyguard.
So,hinata is on the Kurenaiâs team without a Hyuga bodyguard on there because hinata is just a member of main Hyuga branch but not the heir,she is not as valuable as Hanabi,who never was allowed on a genin team,is.
I agree with you that Kishimoto failed to properly develop the Hyuga clan,but letâs be real: work conditions FOR SLAVES are never and nowhere good.
I also agree that Shikamaru mostly hates confrontation: he prefers piece and quiet.
I wonder what do you think Shikamaru will do when,of course,Neji is ordered by main branch to marry a side Hyuga branch woman and to make more slaves for main Hyuga branch?
Considering that Neji is an extremely talented genius,his genes are highly valuable,the most valuable in the whole clan, even above main branch: Hiashi saw Neji fight Naruto and said that Neji deserves to be in main branch more than he and his daughters do;so it is very likely that Neji could have been ordered to take several side Hyuga branch women just to make more slaves for future main Hyuga branch members.
There isnât no way any main branch member would be okay with Neji having a relationship outside Hyuga clan.
Even if it is a gay relationship with a man,main branch would still want Neji to make babies for them to exploit.
And Shikamaru,unlike Sasuke and Naruto,doesnât have enough raw strength: he canât just march in the Hyuga compound and whoop Hiashiâs ass while threatening Hinata and hanabi if they dare to object.
In my personal opinion, Shikamaru just wouldnât bother and he with Neji would have ended having a secret relationship covered up with âfriendshipâ excuse while Neji has one or even multiple wives with a ton of children in Hyuga side branch.
I think that Shikamaru will lie to everyone that âwomen are too much of a bother to get marriedâ and that âhe and Neji are just close friendsâ.
But Shikamaru definitely will be pressured by his own Nara clan and his parents to find a wife and start a family to give birth to a future heir of the Nara clan.
Neji explicitly states in the Chunin Exams that the fight between Ino and Sakura isn’t anything noteworthy because they are two kunoichi. Tenten immediately corrects him and says that a good battle has nothing to do between being a man and a woman, and the conversation doesn’t continue. I don’t believe he carries this opinion for long, but I believe it was informed, like Shikamaru, by the women in his life. He greatly outperforms all of the konoha 11 as a shinobi which includes the kunoichi. However what informs this opinion the most is the most prominent woman figure in his lifeâ which is Hinata.
Wow,I donât recall Neji saying anything like that on chunin exam,but I am a manga only fan,I will have to look for this panel in the chunin exam arc.
Do you think that âkindnessâ is watch someone suffer and instead of helping use this person for your own benefits?
Because that is exactly what Hinata is doing with Neji.
Kind people are never slave owners just like kind people are never rapists,regardless of circumstances.
Hinata is a slave owner.
Hinata openly supports slavery.
Hinata passively and actively supports and enforces further the already existing Hyuga slavery system.
1)Hinata knows that she is a slave owner just like hinata knows that Neji is her slave: she is very clearly aware of the main-side branch relationships inside the clan.
2)Hinata knows that Neji is suffering,she literally says âYou, Neji,suffer the most.â It is not like Neji is oh so happy to be a slave, he doesnât have a dehumanization fetish.
3)Hinata,understanding the horrors of slavery system and knowing that it brings Neji pain, still uses Neji as her slave.
It is not even about that hinata never even thought or spoke up or even tried to change the Hyuga slavery system despite being a Hyuga clanhead daughter and a main Hyuga branch member,it is about the fact that hinata knows that Neji is in pain and instead of trying to bring him some kind of relief,hinata doubles down and continues exploiting his unpaid labour as her bodyguard and teacher forced on him under the threat of torture and death coming from caged bird seal Hinata,hiashi and hanabi all can use.
Can you recall any act of kindness coming from Hinata to Neji for me?
Kindness is pure and selfless:
Sasuke was kind when he saved Karinâs life despite 1)Karin being the ENEMY on chunin exam from the ENEMYâS village and 2)him not knowing Karin at all
Sakura was kind when she saved Karinâs life by healing her after Sasuke stabbed her despite the fact that 1)Sakura knew that Karin is a criminal and 2)Karin is a stranger to Sakura
Jiraya was kind when he for several months took care of Konan,Yahiko,Nagato and taught them shinobi basics for free so that they could survive and protect themselves
What Hinata did to Neji that you can describe as kindness? Because I,even when very trying, do not remember anything like that.
Do you think that hinata deserves an award for not torturing and killing Neji with caged bird seal despite being able to do so any moment?
I am confused,is that what you are implying?
Do men who donât rape children despite being able to do so also deserve a special treatment?
Or maybe people who donât rape goats and other animals when given the opportunity are also special?
What about humans who have guns and can go up to a local school and randomly kill innocent teachers and children but donât?
Isnât just not torturing and not killing someone even when you have the power and the opportunity to do so just a very basic bare minimum of human decency?
Even most animals donât kill for the entertainment,of course some do,but I never saw a hamster or a cow kill something just because they can.
I sure hope humans act better than animals thanks to a higher IQ levels and better emotional development.
Where did you get idea that âNeji and hinata were raised like siblingsâ? Where was that implied?
Neji and Hinata were raised like a slave and a slave master.
It is very clear that Neji was raised to die on command if hinata wants him toâor face the torture and death coming from caged bird seal.
Neji even calls Hinata SAMA,not âhinataâ, âhinata SAMAâ and not âlittle sisterâ.
I have no idea how anyone could have a look at such dynamics and say that they are siblings-like: no healthy relationships between a brother and a sister are like this.
âNeji is the one who insists on keeping it formal while Hinata just calls him brotherâ
WHAT?
I am sorry,what?
You have a VERY wrong idea.
Letâs start with using Tsunade,who is also called â-samaâ because she is the Fifth Hokage as an example.
Shikamaru calls Tsunade sama.
Shizune calls Tsunade sama.
Any Konoha shinobi or citizen calls Tsunade sama.
Why? Because Tsunade is the head of the village.
Does Tsunade calls anyone sama?
Yes,for example she sometimes calls OTHER KAGE OR DAIMO sama,because they have the same or higher rank as/than her.
But does Tsunade call Shikamaru,Shizune and other ordinary shinobi or Konoha civilians âsamaâ?
No,she doesnât
Because they have lower ranks and status than her
What do you think Tsunade calls Iruka in a formal settings?
Just Iruka,because thatâs it
That is how a higher one address the lower one
What do you think Hinata calls Neji in a formal setting in a super polite proper way?
Neji. Just âNejiâ or âBrother Nejiâ.
There is no special way for hinata to address Neji. âNejiâ and âBrother Nejiâ are literally her only two options.
Do you know why? Because Neji is a slave and hinata is a slave owner.
What gave you the idea that âit is Neji who insists on formal language while Hinata wants it to be casual and friendlyâ?
Can you name me any times where Hinata says something âNo,Neji,donât call me âsamaâ, I am just you little sister!â or âNeji,you are my brother,not my slave,drop the â-samaâ from Hinata!â?
Literally what could possibly give you the idea that hinata wants her communication with Neji be more friendly and casual? What did hinata do to give off such impression? Because I never saw it coming in any way.
Did you read the manga panels I put in the post? Read this one again,please.
Pay very close attention to what Kurenai is saying.
âFrom this day forward Hinata will be under my command (on a genin team of Kurenai) IF THAT TRULY MEETS YOUR APPROVAL HINATA IS SUPPOSED TO BE THE HEIR OF HYUGA MAIN BRANCHâ
âHINATA IN HER WORK AS A GENIN WILL BE IN CONSTANT DANGER OF DEATHâ
Kurenai tells Hiashi about hinata.
Now read the Hiashiâs answer to Kurenai about hinata:
âDo as you please. Hinata is useless to Hyuga clan,she is a failure.â
And in the end Hiashi shovels Kurenai away because he is busy with training and teaching Hanabi.
So,yes,hinata is on genin team because she lost her status as a heir to hanabi.
Hizashi is not in a main branch,he is in the side branch.Only Hiashi is the main branch.
Main Hyuga members are of course also shinobi and surely are also trained,duh: the difference is the treatment they receive.
Shinobi do operate solo and Jiraya is one of the brightest examples to it.
SKILLED and strong and experienced and smart shinobi do operate solo.
Shikamaruâs intellect is amazing,but can it beat the raw difference in power?
Can Shikamaru outsmart Kaguya,Momoshiki,Toneri,Sasuke,Naruto,Itachi,Madara,Hashirama,Tobirama,Kakashi,Pain,Deidara,Sasori,Kakuzu,Tsunade,Sakura,Jiraya,Orochimaru,Kabuto?
In one on one battles without beforehand preparations like with Hidan,just how far will Shikamaruâs intelligence take him?
What is the limit of strength & power difference that Shikamaru can bear and overcome with his incredible brains?
In your opinion,who is the strongest opponent Shikamaru can take on solo and beat without needing to be rescued like with Tayuya? (Shout out your thanks to Temari)
This is what I meant when I said that Shikamaru is a better leader / politician than he is a fighter.
Also,not every opponent of Shikamaru will be a prideful crazy idiot Hidan was.
Some of them are highly intellectual,like Itachi,Neji, Minato,Tobirama,Kabuto,Orochimaru,Danzo,Kakashi and so on.
Have you read manga at all? Or are you anime-only fan?
I am asking because between canon manga plot and anime plot there is a drastic difference and it sounds to me like you are talking about anime-only filler episodes.
I don’t think you understood what I was trying to say in my last reply, so let’s end this conversation here.
We have a lot of fundamental disagreements regarding the source material and…morality it seems. I don’t believe things are so black and white and choosing to think that way, in my opinion, removes a lot of the nuances that makes Naruto such a beloved and memorable franchise.
Frankly, I think you just hate Hinata, which is completely within your right, but you’re letting it cloud your ability to accurately assess Neji’s character and story. Which is a shame, because the Hyugas had so much potential to further add to Naruto’s themes about systemic victimhood. Yes, Hinata included.
I’m not even the biggest Hinata fan. I wouldn’t even name her in my list of favorite characters. I just acknowledge her role in Neji’s story and respect her as someone he admires and loves. Whether you like it or not, he clearly really, really does. I would count their early relationship as one of the tragic casualties of the shinobi world and Hyuga clan politics.
Everything that I have said, unless stated otherwise, has been taken from the source material short of verbatim. I have also gone through your account, and see that you have a history of being hostile and dismissive with people you disagree with.
I did see that you enjoyed my other shikaneji piece, and I thank you! You’re free to continue enjoying my art as this will definitely not be the last time I’ll draw shikaneji, or naruto characters in general. But for the sake of keeping the peace, this conversation ends here.
