Chapter Nine
"GAARA! NEJI!" Hinata screamed, "PLEASE! STOP!" She fisted her hands and then determinedly loosened them. She wasn't going to get out if she kept panicking. She centered herself and activated her bloodline.
Veins bulged around her eyes as she studied her sandy prison. There wasn't any chakra strings to sever. No points to hit in order to disable a chakra system. Each grain seemed to be infused with Gaara's chakra. Hmm.
She settled into a stance as best she could in a kneeling position. She might be able to disable his sand as a whole but she might be able to knock his chakra out of enough of it to escape.
She would not be shoved aside.
**
Rock Lee glanced up when he felt two distinct chakra's flare near his location. For while, he had never been able to manipulate chakra outside of his body, that didn't mean he couldn't sense it.
Neji! Lee was on his feet and in a dead run as he dimly recognized the other chakra. Gaara. They were sparring without him!
**
Tenten nearly ran into Naruto when she left the forest. He had felt his friend's chakra flare and, while he trusted Gaara, he also knew how touchy he was!
"Naruto!" She latched onto him, "Neji- Gaara-!"
Naruto tore out of her grip and launched himself straight up into the trees. This was more serious than he thought!
**
Temari and Kankuro took off at a dead run, their brother needed them.
**
Neji dashed to the side narrowly avoiding a wave of sand and continued to make random dashes in order to get closer. He would have to be fast and efficient in order to get past Gaara's ultimate defense.
His bakyugun told him that his opponent's chakra points were completely covered by the chakra enriched sand and no visible strings in sight.
His mind working quickly, he figured if he could pump enough chakra out of his palms then he would not only disable a portion of sand but keep the flow going into the body itself. It was risky since the sand could alter the trajectory and miss the chakra point but it might be enough to slow him down and allow Neji to complete the sixty-four palms. Or maybe he could try for double strikes so the first would disable the sand and the second allow him to strike flesh. Also risky since all Gaara had to do was quickly recover the spot before he could land the second strike.
First, though, he had to get within range.
**
Gaara tracked the Hyuuga with cold calculating eyes. He knew the other's specialty was in close combat while he was mostly long range.
He reached out with his hands and started to grab at the air. His sand responded by trying to close around the speedy Hyuuga.
He was missing as he expected but this was merely a diversion. He was discreetly pouring the sand into the ground directly around him loosening the dirt into a quick sand pit. It was unlikely that the Hyuuga was using chakra to skim atop the ground like one would on water.
The Leaf ninja would come at him full force and sink at least one foot into the pit before realizing the danger.
Then the Hyuuga would belong to him.
**
Neji dashed forward after administering a couple short blasts of chakra at the sand trying to grab him. For as expected, the closer he got to Gaara the more the sand he had to contend with and the hairier the situation.
He almost stumbled when a hand burst from the dome.
Hinata! Neji saw or rather felt Gaara's attention shift and he rushed to take advantage. Keep his attention for a few more seconds, Hinata!
**
Pale green eyes widened slightly as he felt his sand give behind him and couldn't help but turn his head ever so slightly to glance behind him.
She had punched a HOLE in his SAND!
"Let me OUT!" She screamed at him.
He made a smoothing gesture with his hand and the sand filled in. That had never happened before and he wasn't sure he liked it. Only the Uchiha had ever managed to penetrate his sand and that was only with an advanced jutsu.
He turned his attention back to his opponent only steps away from his pit.
Perfect.
**
"Dynamic entry!"
**
Gaara's eyes noticeably widened as sand jumped up to protect the back of his head.
"How dare you spar without ME!" Rock Lee scolded as he flipped backwards onto the doom -
Neji stopped a step away from his doom and quickly got into his sixty-four palm stance, "You are in-"
- to launch himself at his teammate like a demented pinball.
Caught off guard, since he hadn't expected Lee to target him, Neji was forced back a good ten feet as he blocked his teammates enthusiastic attacks.
"Never fear," Lee grinned, "I'll forgive you as such-"
"Lee-"
"-is the power of YOUTH!"
"-get out of the way!" Neji struck out at his teammate almost viciously as his anger caught up with him. He managed to send the green clad shinobi flying back at Gaara.
Lee twisted midair and happily continued his assault on the Kazekage with a happy "Whoo!"
Neji wasted a precious second to send Lee an incredulous look before darting in once more. It was easier this time but by no means a simple task.
The waves of sand were larger but less frequent.
Neji swallowed a curse as Lee drove him back again. He was never going to make any progress at this rate!
**
Gaara came close to cursing himself as he tried to divide his attention in three different directions at once. He tried to keep the majority of it on the Hyuuga who he was sure meant him great bodily harm.
Lee, who as far as the sand ninja could tell was just sparring playfully, kept putting him on the defensive. Rock Lee was not a ninja to take lightly at the best of times and he was dragging a lot of Gaara's focus away from his main target.
Thankfully, Gaara had grown a little accustomed to Lee's fighting style and could compensate to fighting both him and his teammate.
What was really distracting him was the one he was actively trying to protect! Hinata was messing with his sand! He could feel it thinning as the seconds passed and if it got any thinner then it would be useless as a barrier.
He narrowed his eyes as she made yet another hole and that was it. He lifted both his arms and his sand stood at attention for an instant before zooming towards his opponents.
He turned and stepped into the dome to the surprise and horror of both Hyuugas.
**
Neji lost all sight of what reason he had left. Hinata was trapped in the dome with Gaara!
"Lee!" He dropped low and struck out with both hands. He knocked the other boy back, "Get OUT of my WAY!!"
Lee paused, surprised at the unadulterated fury in Neji's voice.
Neji charged forward, finally a clear shot at the dome only to be covered in orange.
**
Hinata eeped and fell back onto her hands as her knees came up defensively.
Gaara wobbled a bit as she hit his legs and caught himself before he fell onto her, a hand on either side of her body.
Their eyes met surprised and somewhat unhappy.
The sand thickened considerably as it spread to give them more room to maneuver. He immediately pulled back so he wasn't over her while she pulled her legs beneath her so she wasn't sprawled out awkwardly.
"I can't protect you if you don't stay here," Gaara's brow lowered, "Stop trying to get out."
She blinked and then frowned, "I don't need you to protect me. Neji wouldn't hurt me."
Gaara tilted his head, "He came at us with killing intent."
"He was angry, yes, but he would never hurt me," she insisted.
"If he wasn't aiming his intent at you then it must have been aimed at me," he narrowed his eyes.
"No!" She leaned forward a bit, "He was just mad. This is all a big misunderstanding."
Gaara ignored her and turned his head to study his sand.
Hinata almost flinched when his hand shot out quicker than a snake and pulled a body through the sand.
A dusty figure fell between them coughing, trying to clear his lungs of accidentally inhaled sand.
"Naruto?!" She gasped and moved to assist him.
**
Naruto clones were popping left and right as a thoroughly pissed off Neji tried to get clear of the sheer numbers of them.
Tenten grabbed Lee before he could rejoin the fray and started whispering furiously into his ear.
The real Naruto made more clones to dog pile Neji in hopes of pinning the prodigy to the ground. He then sent more to the dome to tap on it to get Gaara's attention. He couldn't help if he couldn't get them to listen to him!
A clone disappeared into the dome, Naruto tilted his head, it hadn't poofed so maybe it was making contact.
Oh, well, he turned his attention to Neji and jumped in himself.
"Neji! Stop!"
"Get out of my way!" Neji hissed and stepped into his heavenly spin.
Twenty clones gone.
"Neji!" Naruto planted himself firmly in front of the enraged Hyuuga, "Hinata's fine-"
"He has her TRAPPED inside that DOME with HIM!" Neji dropped into his sixty-four palm stance, "Beware, you are in range and I will not stop until she is free."
"So I just have to get Gaara to lower his sand and you'll calm down?" Naruto nodded to a nearby clone and it poofed sending the information to all of his clones. "Give me a second, Neji, and I'll see what I can do."
He turned his back to the older ninja and all his clones rushed to the dome.
Neji opened his mouth to protest that it wasn't that easy and then just shook his head. There was no point in trying to argue the point with the blond, not when he was in this mood, and, besides, if Naruto could get Hinata safely out of the dome then he would not interfere. What happened after she was out and safely out of the way was a different matter.
Neji approached the dome with the real Naruto ever so slightly appeased only to frown as he spotted half a dozen clones submerged to the waist. He did some quick mental calculations and his frown deepened. He would remember this particular trick the next time they fought.
The sand dome grew in height suddenly.
Naruto turned to him, "They'll be out soon."
"Hn," Neji tensed in preparation.
**
"Hey Hinata!" The Naruto clone grinned at her and then turned to Gaara, "You gotta lower the shield."
"No," Gaara watched both of their faces fall, "The Hyuuga seeks my blood."
"No, he doesn't!" Hinata exclaimed, "He's just concerned for my safety."
"Gaara," the clone locked eyes with him, "Trust me, I will not let anything happen to anybody. Neji's just a bit touchy about certain things, that's all."
"I just need to talk to him," Hinata jumped in went as far as to reach out and touch him. "Please."
Gaara eyed her and then the clone, "If he comes at me again then I'll kill him."
He stood and the sand automatically adjusted to his movements as naturally as air.
The clone nodded and poofed.
Gaara waited until Hinata had joined him and then lowered his sand.
A hand shot out and grabbed her wrist but before the hand could pull her into danger, or safely, Gaara's hand grasped the offender's wrist in turn.
Cold green met burning white.
Sparks flew.
Hinata glanced between her cousin and Gaara worriedly and then frowned. She brought up her free hand decisively and brought it down sharply, separating them.
"Stop it, both of you," she glared and, then to everyone's shock, shoved Neji, her anger stunning him enough for her to actually make him stumble a few steps back.
Gaara shifted as if to make a move for her and she stopped him with a curt, "No, stay here."
Hinata snagged a slowly recovering Neji and pulled him away for some privacy. She would not be fought over like a bone with dogs especially when there was no reason for it. She would not be protected when she could fully protect herself. She would not be sheltered and coddled. She had thought Neji realized this about her but she was mistaken.
No matter she was going to clear up the misunderstanding right now.
End Chapter
AN: The long awaited battle! But, uh oh, looks like Hinata's about to rake Neji over the coals! Will she be able to hold her own? Or will Neji gain the upper hand? Let's not forget Sand Sib fun!