Team 7 was supposed to have more moments as true friends before the Chunin Exams shifted the Naruto story's original pace.

Kishimoto's plan for Neji's fate in Naruto is something I have made peace with compared to Oda's treatment of Bon Clay which ...

According to this Naruto theory, Kishimoto wrote Neji as a potential Akatsuki member but dropped the ideas due to his similarities with Sasuke.