Mayu slowly breathed out. She needed to control herself. It wasn't wise to head into battle with a hot head. Neji was an asshole, but he was a strong asshole. Okay, that just sounded wrong… She mentally shook her head, and then focused on her Hyuga opponent. He was fast, but not as fast he could be. Right now, he was a genius, but not a super genius as he had been in his fight with Naruto. Perhaps she couldn't beat him, but she could take him. Mayu hadn't been just sitting on her butt since the last time she was here. She vigorously trained to get stronger. However, she hadn't expected to wind up here again.

She closed her eyes for a brief moment. Ah well… Now wasn't the time to ponder her dilemma. What she needed was to figure out a way to best Neji. She was satisfied that she had humiliated him, but what he had said to Hinata pissed her off, so now she wouldn't be happy until he was beaten to a pulp. Mayu rushed forward, deciding to come up with a plan once she gauged how he fought. Sure she had seen him, but she, of course, she hadn't experienced it firsthand. Mayu curled her fingers, and then launched a punch forward. This proved to be futile because Neji was faster than her. He blocked and dodged every punch that was thrown. He saw an opening in her defenses, but Mayu quickly jumped back when she saw that Neji's eyes were diverted from her face for a split second.

She backed up a little more, panting. "Ninja really are on a totally different level!" she thought. "Obviously he's faster than me. But with a bit of help from my sudden counterpart…!" Again, Mayu charged at Neji. This time, she used the combined speed of herself and Hinata, plus chakra to get that extra boost. Neji, not expecting her to gain this much speed, froze in shock as Mayu's leg collided with his chest. The Hyuga male was sent flying back right into the wall! Mayu smirked, putting her leg back down. "He may have poked Hinata's arm, but I can still push chakra out of my feet!" she thought.

Neji stood up with a hand on his chest. "It doesn't make sense! Hinata shouldn't be this fast... this strong!"He glared at his cousin. "Where is the coward she used to be?" His opponent extended her arm, beckoning him with a finger.

"Come at me!" Mayu yelled across the arena. Snarling, Neji did as she suggested. He attacked using the Gentle Fist, but the girl quickly already grabbed his wrist. "Crap... I made a mistake!" she thought, seeing Neji's leg lift up. He kicked her in the stomach. The force behind his kicked caused her to double over as she slid back about a foot. "Okay... it's clear that his hands are his strongest point." She held her stomach, watching Neji smirk at her. She almost rolled her eyes. He thought he did a good job with that? "Teh, my mom hits harder than you. Still, your hands are trouble. What can I do to make them unusable?" Her eyes shifted everywhere, trying to find anything that could help. "The jacket! I just need to get to it!" she thought. "I just had to take it off, didn't I? And it just had to be behind him, didn't it?" With a sigh, she stood up. She then ran towards Neji. His palm shot forward, intending to attack. However, Mayu used chakra to jump over him. "I'll just pretend I'm trying to attack!" She spun around, bring up her leg. However, Neji caught her ankle.

"Do you really think I would fall for the same trick twice?" he asked, sounding smug.

"It was worth a try...!" Mayu answered, grinning. Her carefree attitude caused Neji to glare, and then shove her back. She rolled, once but it wasn't enough to reach the jacket, so she forced herself to roll again and again, making it appear that Neji's throw was stronger. A glimpse of the jacket was seen. Finally, she stopped, hand gripping the bloody coat. Giving her no time, Neji came at her again. Grimacing, Mayu stood up just as his left arm launched forward. Again, she used a combination of speed. Mayu quickly wrapped one arm of the jacket around Neji's wrist. She yanked on the coat, bringing the shinobi closer. Her knee came up and hit his torso. Neji cough and doubled over. Mayu used this to her advantage. She orbited around him, and then roughly pulled his arms behind him. Effectively crossing them, she wrapped and tied the jacket around Neji, locking his arms at his back. She stepped away to admired her handiwork. Neji struggled, but could not get free.

"She just rendered his arms useless!" Sakura exclaimed.

"My jacket is stronger than your average rope, plus it's stronger than before because it got wet with my blood. You can't escape," Mayu stated.

"She's right! I can hardly move my arms," Neji thought, still attempting to get free. "Did she have this planned the whole time?" Chuckling, Mayu kicked his back, making him fall flat on his face. Taking her sweet time, she stepped over his body. Neji turned over and glared. Blood ran down his face, so it wasn't quite as intimidating as it had been.

"Oh, did you break your nose? You brought this on yourself, you know," Mayu said. "Instead of insulting and blaming it on fate, why didn't you just fight? No, no… You just had to bring our family into it. Well, I have news for you… Names and status means nothing, and shouldn't mean anything in a fight. Got it?" Neji merely continued to glare up, both embarrassed and confused. It was like he had been fighting a completely different person! But that couldn't be… It was still Hinata, his weak cousin. No… This was a fighter. He had underestimated her because he had been expecting a weak cousin.

"She has changed…" he thought.

Mayu gripped his shoulders, hoisting Neji up until he was on his feet. He tried kicking her, but that was useless, seeing as how she only danced out of the way. "You rely on your hands too much. Your kicks are ineffective," she stated, evading yet another kick attempt. Her leg came up in an axe kick. Her foot caught his chin, lifting him off the ground. Mayu followed after him, turning once. Her arms hugged her thighs as she turned. The soles of shoes smashed against Neji's head. "SHAZAAM!" She yelled when the impact happened.

Kakashi's eye widen in surprise. "That move…" he thought. His gaze shifted to his female subordinate. Her eyes were still on the match. Although she looked shocked, her surprise was the same as everyone else. That move hadn't been familiar to her at all. And neither had the shout that came with it. Kakashi turned back to the Hyuga, noting the expression on her face. He had always thought something was… different. Without warning, Haruno Sakura had seemed to change personalities after she had woken up on that bridge. "Hm… And now the personality that I was used to has resurfaced, but in another." What did this mean?

Back on the ground floor, Mayu watched her opponent struggle to get up. More than likely, Neji hadn't been hurt so badly before. It was his own fault, really. By not expecting much, he made himself vulnerable when Hinata suddenly switched her fighting tactics. She shook her head, slightly disappointed. If she had been taken seriously from the beginning, Neji wouldn't be in this situation. Mayu almost wished he would have just to see how strong she really was up against a ninja. Then she could see how she could take on Sasuke. "Sasuke… I wonder if you remember me," she thought. And then a sudden thought struck her. Wait… This was the chuunin exam, wasn't it? That meant… Slowly, her head turned behind her. To her utter glee, Gaara, shinobi of the Sand, stared down at her. Her eyes widen as she inhaled sharply.

"PANDA-CHAN!"

"Panda-chan? Who's Panda-chan?" Naruto asked.

"What kind of name is that for Naruto?" Lee muttered.

Mayu wiggled in place as she cupped her cheeks. This was a dream come true! Giggling cutely, she snuck a peek at him again. He was still looking her way. Almost hesitantly, she wiggled her fingers at him, waving, and giggled when his expression turned confused. She could no longer control herself. She ran over to his side, climbed the stairs and slid to a stop in front of him. Others looked on, flabbergasted. Mayu ignored the proctor calling Hinata's name. All she could see and hear was Gaara. "Hell… Hello, Gaara-kun!" She bowed her head. The fangirl had completely taken over her logical mind. She wasn't even aware that the proctor was giving her to the count of five to return. "My name is Ma—ah… I mean, my name is Hyuga Hinata!" She scratched her cheek and shifted her eyes to the side. "But you can call me Mayu-chan if you want!"

"Ma… Mayu…?"

At the sound her name on his tongue, she squealed and clasped her hands together. "HINATA!" Naruto's voice finally reached her ears. Man, he sure was loud. "What are you doing? You're going to lose!"

"Eh...?" Mayu peered over the railing to see the proctor holding up his hand. Only two fingers were sticking up. And then one of those fingers went down. "Uwaa…!" She leapt on the metal railing, preparing to jump, but that last finger went down before she could make a move.

"By forfeit, Hyuga Hinata gives the match to Hyuga Neji." He coughed in his hand after he made the statement. Mayu froze in place. Her mouth opened and closed, staring blankly down at the coughing jounin. He looked away from her, so she shifted her attention to the winner of the match. Neji hadn't moved from his tied up position on the floor. "Noooooo!" She wailed. "I lost to a guy who can't even move!" She moved herself back on the floor and dropped her chin in disappointment. "Actually," she thought. "If I had won, the whole thing would have been screwed up, wouldn't it?" Still, it didn't feel good to have her rapid fangirl syndrome (RFS) came about at such a crucial time.

Speaking of which, her eyes turned back to the object of her affection. His arms were no longer crossed, but he was staring at her with suspicious eyes. It was so cute she could die! However, she didn't die. She only fainted… just like that. "HINATA!" Naruto shouted. Temari walked over to Mayu/Hinata's twitching body. Her lip twitched.

"What the hell…?" she murmured.

0-0

"Are you positive that Hyuga Hinata has never summoned a clone of that nature?"

"No, Hokage-sama," Kurenai answered. "In fact, Hinata has never shown those abilities… or actions either. As her sensei, I know her quite well. That was the first time I had ever seen her behave assertively and aggressive."

"As I thought," the Third Hokage murmured. "That girl… has she finally returned?" he thought.

"With all due respect, Hokage-sama, what do you think?" Kurenai asked. "What happened during her match with Neji was strange, and shouldn't be ignored."

"Yes, you are right," he replied. "I will send someone to watch her during the one month break."

0-0

Hinata poked her fingers together and stared at the floor as she walked. Actually, she was pacing back and forth in the hospital room. She had no idea what to do. Minutes ago, she had found herself staring up at the ceiling. The preliminaries must have been over by now. She had missed the rest of the matches because of the… other being inside of her. The Hyuga heir deeply breathed in, holding her hands together in front of her. She had tried to communicate with her, but there had been no response.

The question of whether it was all a dream had been laid to rest quickly. It was plausible that it was a nightmare. Neji could have beaten her so bad that she fallen unconscious, which led to the nightmare. However, her body was extremely sore—most specifically her legs. Most often, Hinata only used her arms and upper body, choosing not to focus on her lower body. Most Hyuga trained and fought this way. So having the soreness in her legs told her it was not a dream. What had happened was real.

After the dream theory came the insanity theory. As the heir to the Hyuga clan, she was expected to know all about the human body, not just physically either. Although, many believed her to be weak, she was still taught about the human body. Mentally, something could have gone wrong with the brain and a split personality—an alter ego—could come about. This theory is what she was stuck on. If she had taken on another personality, then surely she wouldn't be in her right mind, right? Also, the personality came out in a clone, during battle. In addition to that, the clone was altered in colors. That, in itself, was strange. Because of that, the insanity theory was beginning to seem less likely.

Still, she paced, positively worried. "How will I explain this to my team…?" she questioned herself. Kiba hadn't been there. Shino was a bit on the quiet side, but he was blunt when he spoke. Surely, he would question her behavior in the future. And her sensei… Yūhi Kurenai was like an older sister. She, out of anyone on the team, would be the most concerned about this development. She couldn't very well lie to her—to them. Again, Hinata poked her fingers together. It was a nervous habit she had yet to get rid of. If only she knew what was going on herself…

Suddenly, a yawn filled her ears. Hinata whipped her head around, trying to discover where it came from. There had been no other patients in the room when she had awakened. The yawn came again. It sounded so close. Where was it coming from?

Hinata…?

Ah, it was her alter ego. Should she answer back? Well, there was no use in ignoring her other self. Besides, she had wanted to speak with Mayu. This was a very important matter, after all. "Y-Yes…?" Hinata replied. The Hyuga looked around the room. Perhaps it was best not to speak out loud.

Please tell me I didn't faint!

"You… You did," she answered. A sigh sounded louder than it should have. Then again, the alter ego was in her mind.

That sucks. So Neji did end up winning?

"Yes…"This time, Hinata replied to her within her head. Pouting could be heard only by Hinata. Swallowing, she waited until Mayu was finished ranting to herself. "Uh… Mayu-san…? Could we… possibly discuss how you appeared?"

Hm…?

"Are you my split personality?" It was a serious question, so it was quite a shock when laughter was the response.

God, Hinata, nothing like that. Don't worry. This has happened before.

"This has happened before?"

Yes, to Haruno Sakura. However, Sakura wasn't also there like you are now.

"I don't understand."

Um… Do you remember when the teams were assigned?

"Yes…"

Well, didn't think it was strange how Sakura behaved towards your crush and Uchiha Sasuke?

"Yes," Hinata repeated, and then blushed. "M-M-My cru-crush?" Her cheeks glowed red. Mayu scoffed.

It's no secret, Hinata. You like Naruto.

"…" Hinata chose not to protest. "What does that have to do with anything?"

Well, that was me in Sakura's body! But like I said, Sakura wasn't around.

"I see… Is this some type of jutsu?"

Hell if I know, but it's probably is. Who knows what jacked up plot sent me here. This is totally random.

"What…?"

Nothing, nothing…! By the way, my full name is Ishikari Mayu. Let's be friends!

Despite the sudden vagueness, the conversation did stifle the insanity theory. This was only a jutsu—meaning its effects were temporary. However, the duration of the jutsu had Hinata worried. This girl, Ishikari Mayu, couldn't be kept secret for long, could she? Eventually, someone would find out. Hinata frowned a bit. The very thought of possible outcomes made her cringe. What would her clan think of her then? What would her father think? The Hyuga shook her head in a shudder. That would be too much to handle. "Mayu-san, we should hide this for as long as possible," she thought.

I am in full agreement. Who knows what could happen?

"Yes," Hinata nodded her head. For now, it was safer this way. With her team, they would be too busy training Shino for his match in the finals. That gave her some time to think about what to say when the time came. "Now that things are a bit clearer, I will head home. If you become control of my body again, then please try to behave in the way that I do."

Understood, Hinata-sama!

The Hyuga girl blushed. She did sound as though she was giving an order, didn't she? Just as she was about to explain that and apologize, strange noises reached her ears. They sounded much too faint to be coming from Mayu. Hinata walked over to the door, and slid it open. The noises had gotten louder. They were coming from inside the room across from hers. It sounded as though someone was struggling. The thought of a patient falling and not being able to get up entered her mind. What if they were hurt? Without thinking, Hinata opened the door to the room.

Her eyes widen, seeing the occupant of the room. He hadn't been on the floor, struggling to get up. Instead, he was over by the window, attempting to open it. Hinata blinked. He was an old classmate, and currently a teammate of Naruto. Blushing because of the blond shinobi, she cleared her throat. Uchiha Sasuke spun around. Panic was in his eyes for only a second. His eyebrows furrowed as he gave her a once over. Hinata felt self-conscious under his gaze. She took a step back in response and lowered her eyes to the floor. "S-Sa-Sasuke-san… I'm so-sorry fo-for-"

"Hinite?"

… He didn't even know her name? That didn't make her feel good.

"What are you doing here?" He narrowed his eyes. "I thought you liked Naruto." The blush on her face increased tenfold.

"Na-Na-Na-Naruto-kun…"

Hinata, let me handle this.

Realizing she might faint because this, the Hyuga heiress nodded her head. Mayu, now in control, grinned at the young Uchiha. "My, my," she began. "I can't believe you have forgotten me so quickly, Sasuke!" The shinobi frowned. "I guess Naruto's beginning to rub off on you, ne?" Sasuke opened his mouth, looking as though he would say something, but then it closed. Rolling her eyes, Mayu shook her head. "It's me, Sasuke… or should I call you bird brain?" It took a beat, but then his eyes showed recognition.

"Ma-Mayu… You're back?" His tone was incredulous.

"In the flesh! Well, not exactly my flesh, but this seems to happen a lot, so…" Mayu gave a wave. "How's it going?" Instead of answering her, Sasuke did something so surprising that Mayu could only stand there, eyes wide. He had moved quickly, but the end result was his arms around her. They stayed like that for a few moments before Mayu finally blinked. "S-Sasuke…?" He released her abruptly, and then took a couple of steps back. His eyes found an interesting corner of the room to stare at.

"Don't… Don't think anything of it," he said. "I just… I thought you had died." Sasuke quickly glanced at the girl in front of him before turning his eyes again. "Suddenly, Sakura was back so…" After he composed himself, he cleared his throat. "Where did you go?" His eyes focused in on her.

"Ah… Well, I didn't die," Mayu answered. "I only went back to my own body. This time, I've ended up in Hinata's body, and I still don't know why this is happening."

"What happened the first time?" Sasuke asked, raising a brow.

"I ran… off a cliff!" Her answer seemed a little too fishy. However, Sasuke chose not to question it. "It was pretty bad, too!" She made a fast and shook her head. "I was in the hospital for weeks!" The Uchiha refrained from rolling his eyes. Now, she was just lying.

"And this time?" Sasuke questioned.

"Practically drowned..."

"…"

"…"

"Moron..."

"It wasn't my fault!"

"I have a hard time believing that."

"Eff you, bird brain!" She crossed her arms and looked away. Sasuke almost let a chuckle slip. It was so weird seeing Hinata behave this way. But it wasn't Hinata. It was Mayu. She was back.

"You still owe me a fight."

"Ah!" She looked as though she had just remembered. "I do have to kick your ass." Yeah, it was definitely weird to see Hinata acting this way. "I know you got hurt bad, so I won't do it right now..." She trailed off and furrowed her eyebrows. "What were you doing before I got here, anyway?"

"Trying to open up this window!" Sasuke glared at the window. Mayu gave him a flat look. "What?"

"Well, first of all... the window doesn't open upward," she told him as she walked over to the troublesome window. "It slides open!" As she demonstrated as to open the window, she watched Sasuke's mouth drop open. He was comical enough to make her snicker. "Wow… Someone must have really done a number on you, huh?"

"Shut up," Sasuke grumbled. He walked over, intending to leave via window, but Mayu stopped him.

"Hey, wanna see something cool?" she asked.

"No." Clearly, he was upset about looking like an idiot in front of another person.

"Well, too bad!" Mayu was unperturbed about his answer. She then went about performing hand signs. Almost rolling his eyes, the young Uchiha turned to her. She was going so slow that he almost told her to hurry up. However, just as he was about to say something, a puff of smoke appeared beside her body. When it cleared, a clone of Hinata stood in its place. Sasuke reared his head back.

"What's wrong with it?"

"What a rude thing to say!"

"It talks?" Sasuke sounded really surprised. "I thought it was the regular clone jutsu!"

"No, stupid. This is really me," Mayu spoke. "Well, except for the body... other than that, this is me!" Sasuke looked back and forth between Hinata and the 'clone.' He blinked three times. Finally, his eyes settled on Hinata.

"But, what about-" Sasuke began.

"That's Hinata, bird brain!" Mayu supplied. "And it's Hinata, not Hinite! Honestly, how can you not know your own classmate's name? Especially cute little Hinata!" The girl wrapped an arm around the blushing Hyuga's shoulders.

"M-Mayu-san…"

"This is too weird…" Sasuke murmured. "Why are you-?"

"My eyes are blue. My hair is black. And my skin is brown," Mayu explained.

"Brown skin…"

"Are you colored blind now?"

"Shut up." Sasuke glared. "I meant… I've never seen anyone with this skin tone."

"I guess that's true," Mayu shrugged her shoulders. She suddenly grinned, holding up her fingers. She wiggled them at him. "Does this intimidate you?"

"No," Sasuke answered, swatting her hands down. "You're still an idiot." Mayu stuck her lip out in a pout. She gasped when the Uchiha suddenly grabbed her hands. "You're real!"

"You sound more and more like an idiot every time you speak."

"The hand signs you did were for the clone jutsu, but you're not just a regular clone. You're like a shadow clone!" He chose to ignore the comment Mayu had made. The girl snatched her hands back.

"So what?"

"This is weird!"

"Newsflash! This whole situation is weird, bird brain!"

"Stop calling me that!"

"What are you gonna do about it?"

He promptly hit her.

"OW! What the hell was that for?"

"I thought you'd disappear."

"Haha! I only go back into Hinata's body when I want to!"

"Damn…"

Hinata looked on, unsure of what to do.

"Anyway, I'm leaving to train for the chuunin exam," Sasuke continued. Mayu smirked, and then nodded.

"Make sure you get stronger, so I won't have to take it easy on you when we throw down, ne?" Her words me the Uchiha smirk in return. He gave a nod, and then jumped out of the window. Mayu smiled, and then turned to Hinata. The Hyuga heiress wore a small smile of her own. "What?"

"Ah…" She averted her eyes. "It's just… Sa-Sasuke-san and Ma-Mayu-san seem close."

"Close…?" Mayu repeated. She blinked a couple of times, and then she grinned and scratched her cheek. "Yeah, well, I guess we did bond while I was Sakura. He found out that I wasn't really her."

"I always noticed Sasuke-san in the Academy. Despite his popularity, he seemed to be alone," Hinata remarked. "He has changed."

"Yeah, I am pretty awesome at changing people, aren't I?" Mayu bragged, crossing her arms. She gave haughty laugh. "Speaking of which, should we head to your house now?"

"Yes," Hinata nodded her head.

0-0

At some point or another, Mayu had switched places with Hinata. Really, she had spotted Gaara, and nearly had another fangirl moment. However, Hinata quickly informed her that the red head was clearly only Chouji's father. After realizing such a fact, the energy she had had seemed to drain from her system. She had spent nearly forty minutes getting to Hinata's home. With a sigh, Mayu slip out of the standard ninja shoes before stepping up. Wearily, she looked away before following Hinata's directions. Finally, she came to the proper room. Weakly smiling, Mayu opened the door. Just as she was about to go in, a voice stopped her.

"Hinata-sama!" Mayu attempted to look even more exhausted, but the Hyuga clone seemed too impassive to care. She almost scoffed. Did the whole clan, besides Hinata, have foots up their buttholes? "Your father requests your presence."

"Okay…" she replied, sounding miserable. The man nodded, and then led the way. With a disappointed sigh, Mayu closed the door to Hinata's comfortable looking room. She wanted sleep, damn it! Within a few moments, they were standing outside another room. "Hey, Hinata!" Mayu thought as the man made his presence known to the clan head. "Is your father mean?"

He's not… a bad father.

Mayu found herself blinking. Many, who were Hinata's fans, did not like her father—hated him, in fact. Ichiro was probably the biggest hater of them all. However, Hyuga Hiashi had never done anything too bad. Yes, he beat her with his words, but he had physically hard Hinata. Still, some would call mental abuse worse than physical abuse. Mentally, Mayu shrugged. Come what may, she was going to try to stifle her rage if the man had something rude to say. Besides, he was probably more intimidating than Neji. "Hiashi-sama will see you now." The older Hyuga bowed, and then left her there. Mayu pressed her lips together before she placed a hand on the door, preparing to open it. Let's get this over with, she thought. She stepped in. Hinata's father sat, formally, hands tucked into opposite sleeves, at the opposite side of the room. He didn't bother to open his eyes.

"Hinata, close the door," he said.

"Yes, father," Mayu replied, solemnly. She slid the door close behind her. She then walked forward until she was a few feet away. She bowed, and then sat on her knees. I waited for him to speak, but he didn't look like he was going to say something anytime soon.

"Hinata, I understand that you lost to your cousin, Neji, in the chuunin exam," Hiashi stated.

"Yes, father..." Mayu repeated. The man opened his eyes. She had been right to assume that he was more intimidating than Neji. She swallowed hard and looked to the floor.

"Once again…" Hiashi breathed in. "Once again you have disgraced-"

"Hold on there a minute, chief!" Mayu interrupted before she could stop herself. Hiashi cocked an eyebrow. "Oh crap," she thought, realizing she made a mistake.

Mayu-san…!

The girl cleared her throat, and then looked to the floor again. "Um… What I meant was… Could whoever told you this information have not gone into detail?"

"What?"

"If they had, you would have understood that I almost succeeded in besting Neji-san, father," Mayu explained, keeping her head bowed. Had she been looking up, Hiashi might have seen her smirk.

"Hinata, I did not raise a liar," Hiashi remarked.

"That's right, you didn't," Mayu replied. A frown surfaced. "Ass…" she finished in thought.

Mayu-san!

"What? Why does he think I'm lying?"

Hiashi stared at his eldest daughter. Her shoulders visibly shook. She was still as fragile as before. She could never beat—or almostbeat—the most promising member of the Hyuga clan. Hinata could not even beat her younger sister, let alone Neji. However, doubt crept into his thoughts. He knew his daughter well enough to know that she did not lie—especially not to him. His pale eyes shifted to Hanabi, whom was in the corner of the room. She, too, stared at her sister with an incredulous gaze. "Hanabi, retrieve Neji now."

"Yes, father!" His voice seemed to startle her, but she followed his order without question.

The room became silent. Mayu felt her eye twitch. She could still feel Hinata's father's gaze on her. It freaked her out. She couldn't stop her body from shaking. But 'creeper vibes' wasn't the only reason her shoulders trembled. If there was one thing she hated, it was when someone insulted another person. And this—this took the cake. Hinata's father—her own father was about to say how her loss against Neji was a disgrace! It was no wonder she couldn't control her mouth. "Hinata… I might lose it!" she told her host.

Please refrain from doing that, Mayu-san! My father… views me as a failure, so his reaction is expected.

"Still...!" Mayu hissed in thought. "If my father ever said something like this to me, I'd dropkick him!" Then again, something like that would never happen. Unlike Hinata, she had a doting father, who would love her no matter what her actions were. Perhaps, she should be a little more sensitive to the situation. The door suddenly opened, causing Mayu to turn. Hyuga Neji glared. Hah… He seemed to be doing that a lot. His body was riddled with medical dress. "Man, what did I do to him? Oh yeah, I practically beat him up! Fufufufu!"

"Hiashi-sama…?" Neji bowed, and then sat down beside me.

"Hinata has told me that she almost defeated you… Is that true?" Hiashi asked.

"Well, the bruises on his face kinda explain things," Mayu thought, cheekily. To her amusement, Hinata actually giggled at her comment.

Neji didn't say anything for the longest time. He looked towards his cousin, glared again, and then back to Hinata's father. He seemed hesitant on answering. "Yes… Hiashi-sama, that is correct." Mayu would have laughed if she was still trying to be Hinata. He seriously sounded as though he had a hard time admitting that. "Her skills have improved greatly... even without the use of her Byakugan... her taijutsu was… If I hadn't underestimated her, I would have won fairly."

"Won fairly...?" Hiashi sounded confused. "What do you mean by this?"

"Hinata-sama was given a ring out during the match. I was tied up, but still I won," Neji answered.

"Hinata... explain," Hiashi demanded. Mayu cringed. She forgot about that part. How was she supposed to admit such an embarrassing way to lose? Honestly, she wanted to cry. Lying seemed to be the best option. However, Neji was also in the room, and he could spitefully call her bluff. Scowling lightly, she apologized to Hinata in advance.

"Something distracted me," Mayu answered. She noticed that Neji looked towards her. She could feel questioning gazes on the others' faces. However, she did not elaborate. And she wasn't going to either.

"Something…?" Hiashi tried to get her to continue.

"Something," Mayu repeated firmly.

Hiashi narrowed his eyes at his daughter. She seemed to be refusing to speak more on the subject. It made him angry that she would display such disrespect, and in front of Neji, a branch member, no less. However, there was some part of him that liked it. Never before did Hinata show even a smidgen of defiance. "Hm… Very well," Hiashi said. His three charges all seemed surprised by his leniency. They shouldn't get used to it. "Starting tomorrow..." he continued. "Neji and Hinata, you will both spar and you will continue to do so until Neji is ready for his match in the chuunin exam finals."

"WHAT?" He was met with opposition.

"Do you have a problem with this?" Hiashi asked, glaring. As expected, the two young Hyuga cringed, shying away.

"No, sir..." Neji muttered.

"No, father..." Mayu whispered.

"Well, then, you are dismissed," Hiashi said. Slowly, the two returned to their feet, bowed, and then headed for the door. Neji allowed his cousin to go first. He closed the door behind him. Once they were far enough away from the clan head's room, he spoke.

"Don't think for a second that I'll go easy on you, Hinata-sama," Neji practically snarled.

"And don't think for a second that I'll faint again, brother," Mayu hissed back. If he wanted to start something with Hinata, he'll have to go through her first!

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