ch. 21

"It is time for the third match. Can Hinata Hyuga and Temari please come down to the arena?" The proctor announced. Temari wasted no time in using her giant fan as a glider to gently float down to the proctor. Hinata had no such ability so she turned to walk down the stairs. She locked eyes with Naruto for a second and the two winked at each other. As Hinata descended down the stairs she passed by Gaara who was still on his way up. He was visibly infuriated and he walked past Hinata as if she wasn't even there. Hinata silently thanked the gods he hadn't noticed her and made her way to the middle of the arena and stood ready to fight.

"Ready? BEGIN!"

Hinata knew this girl favored the long range game so she charged in immediately. Temari foresaw this and used her fan to stir up a great wind that stopped Hinata's charge and sent her flying backwards. With a graceful backflip Hinata landed on her feet but she was now much too far away to use her gentle fist techniques.

"This isn't good. I can't get close." Hinata thought.

"Wind scythe jutsu!" Temari yelled as she began her long range assault. Hinata was forced to dodge the constant barrage of wind attacks. She began racking her brain for some way to get around this girls wind style.

Flashback

"That's enough practice for the day Hinata." Neji said as he stood above an exhausted Hinata. Hinata had been drilling the eight trigrams for hours and was at her limit.

"Neji, may I ask you something?" The shy girl asked as she forced herself to sit up.

"What is it you wish to know?"

"I was just wondering what you do when faced with an opponent that you can't get close too."

"Normally I would just use some kunai but that won't help you get past the sand girl. That was why you asked correct?"

"Yes... I don't know what to do if I can't get close to her. Her wind style will deflect any attempt I make from long range."

"The wind style is a powerful element but like all things it has flaws. Wind jutsu require large amounts of chakra and as you saw in the preliminaries the wind style can't defend from fire jutsu."

"That doesn't help me though. My affinity is water."

"I don't know what else to tell you. I've never fought a ninja skilled in the wind style. If you are going to win this fight then you're going to have to do it with your own strength and cunning."

Flashback end

"My own strength and cunning." Hinata repeated in her head.

"I can do this. I just need to think of a plan... I got it. Now I just need an opening."

Hinata immediately put her plan into action. She made a rush straight at Temari. Temari of course tried to push her away the same way she did before but Hinata was prepared this time. She stopped in place as soon as Temari stirred up her great wind and prepared herself for the next phase of her plan.

Flashback

"You had the basic form for the rotation down fairly well. The problem was that you had the wrong balance of rotation and chakra exertion. If you rotate faster then you can get the same power from the technique with less chakra." Neji lectured to his cousin.

"I understand. How will I know what the proper balance is?"

"The same way you would learn any other jutsu. Practice it over and over again until you have the technique mastered."

"How long did it take you to master this technique?"

"Three months. The circumstances were different for me however. I was learning it during a time where I was actively taking missions. My training time was limited. I'm sure you can do it within a months time if you apply yourself."

Flashback end

"ROTATION!" Hinata yelled as she attempted her clans sacred technique. In the stands Neji began smiling.

"So that is the plan she came up with. Interesting." Neji said aloud.

"What are you talking about Neji?" TenTen inquired.

"Watch closely and you'll understand." Neji responded.

TenTen listened to his advice and understood what he meant. Hinata was using the rotation not only as a way to protect herself but to manipulate the wind Temari had stirred up. She created a small tornado and was using it to kick up all the dirt around her. When she halted the rotation the tornado turned into a huge cloud of dust that covered a huge portion of the arena.

"Do you really think you can hide in that dust cloud? I'll just blow the whole thing away!" Temari never got a chance to get rid of the dust cloud because Hinata immediately jumped out of it. Her headband covering her eyes from the sand. She brandished a kunai and came down on Temari from the air.

"WIND SCYTHE JUTSU!" Hinata had no way of blocking this attack. It looked like it was all over. When the wind scythe reached Hinata it cut her in half causing her body to turn into a puddle of water.

"I win." Hinata said from behind Temari. Temari swung around only to be assaulted by a barrage of gentle fist strikes.

"EIGHT TRIGRAMS TWO PALMS! FOUR PALMS! EIGHT PALMS! SIXTEEN PALMS! THIRTY TWO PALMS! EIGHT TRIGRAMS SIXTY FOUR PALMS!" When the attack was done Temari fell backwards unable to move. Around this time the dust was clearing up a little more and an empty canteen could be seen lying abandoned on the floor.

"You used the dust cloud as a distraction to create the water clone. You then used the water clone to bring my attention upward so I wouldn't notice you coming at me from behind."Temari managed to say from her spot on the ground.

"That's correct." Hinata replied as she pulled down her headband. Like the clone the real Hinata had also pulled it over her eyes to protect them from the dust cloud.

"The winner of the match is Hinata Hyuga!" The proctor loudly proclaimed.

In the stands Hiashi stood up from his seat with the other members of the hyuga clan. Hinata watched as he began clapping. Soon the entire audience was in an uproar of applause for Hinata's victory.

Hinata's face became an almost impossible shade of red. She couldn't handle all the cheers and applause so she ran back to the balcony as fast as she could.

"Hey Naruto, you know what they say about female water styler users?" Kurama inquired to his partner. His tone making his intention with the question obvious.

"I swear to god Kurama. Don't say it."

"THEY'RE ALWAYS WET! HAHAHAHAHA!"

"THAT JOKE SUCKS!"

"BETTER THAN YOUR DUMB ROCK BOTTOM JOKE!"

Elsewhere the hyuga clan were all talking among themselves about Hinata and how much she has grown.

"It seems I made the right decision this time." Hiashi said to himself.

"Daddy?" Hanabi said from next to Hiashi.

"Yes Hanabi?"

"Now that Hinata has become so strong do I have to be the heir anymore?"

"No. Now that Hinata has finally become worthy she will become my heir again."

"Good. I didn't want to be the clan head anyway. I can't go around opening up cans of whoop ass if I'm stuck behind a desk." Hanabi slapped her hand over her mouth after she said that. In her excitement she swore in front of her father and was afraid of the consequences.

"Perhaps I'll make you continue your etiquette lessons. Even if you won't become clan head it is still important for a young lady to learn proper manners."

"Yes sir."

In the infirmary

Temari was laying down on a bed staring up at the ceiling.

"That girl made me look like a fool." She solemnly thought to herself.

The door opened and her sensei Baki walked in.

"Would you medics please excuse us? I have something I wish to discuss with my student in private."

Assuming that he intended to scream her head off for losing her match the medics did as he requested.

"How are you feeling?" Baki inquired to Temari.

"I can't move very well. They said that in a few hours my chakra network would open itself back up. Until then I'm useless."

"Take this scroll. It's going to start soon. When it does Kankuro is going to take Gaara outside the village where he can prepare for the transformation. That scroll will bring out one of my mole summons. I've instructed him to protect you and help you escape the village."

"Thank you." Temari said as she grabbed the scroll.

"Don't thank me, thank your father for being the kazekage. If I left you here to die he would make me regret it." Baki left Temari alone again.

"At least I won't have to be a part of this useless battle now." She thought as she lay on her bed.

With Karui

Karui was splashing water on her face in the bathroom attempting to make sense of what she just did.

"I can't believe what I just did. I-I kissed a shinobi from a different village in front of everyone. I shouldn't have done that. He saved my life though, it was the least I could do. His muscles felt so strong under his shirt too. NO! What the hell am I thinking!? He has those weird eye brows. I can't possibly find a guy like that attractive! He wasn't terrible looking though. If you can get past the eye brows I guess he might be a little cute."

Karui was snapped out of her thoughts when she felt a hand grab her shoulder. She saw in the mirror that it was Yugito. Yugito had a face as if she understood exactly what Karui was thinking right now.

"How long have I been in here? I lost track of time." Karui said.

"Not long. You missed the third match though. The Hyuga girl beat the sand girl." Yugito answered.

"I'm sure Naruto is happy about that."

"Oh I'm sure he is. Knowing him he can't wait until the two of them meet in the arena."

"He probably can't wait to use the opportunity to feel her up. That pervert learned wrestling from Bee just in case he ever had to fight a female shinobi."

"He told me that he learned wrestling because he wanted to be more like Bee."

"Do you believe every bullshit lie that boy tells you?"

Yugito slapped Karui in the back of the head.

"OW!"

"Don't cuss. Now come on before the next match starts."

The two began leaving the bathroom when Yugito stopped and turned around.

"I almost forgot. I got this from Iruka to give to you, just in case you needed it." Yugito held up a condom.

"WHAT THE FUCK WOULD I NEED THAT FOR!?"

"To give that boy a more generous thank you gift for saving you of course. You don't have to use it but I just felt like it would be good for you to have it just in case."

"I don't need that crap! If anyone needs those it's Naruto."

"Naruto already carries them around but that's beside the point. Just take the stupid thing. Even if you don't use it on that Lee boy you can save it for when you need it later in life."

"You won't let me leave this bathroom until I take it will you?"

"Nope."

Defeated, Karui took the condom and slid it into her pocket.

"Can we go now?"

"Yes."

The two left the bathroom and made their way back to their seats.

With the kage and Bee

"That was an impressive match to be sure. An excellent use of both the Hyuga clans techniques and water style." The hokage said aloud in a somewhat gloating manner.

"Lord Hokage, was that Hyuga girl who I think she was?" Bee said in an uncharacteristically serious voice.

"I know what you're thinking Bee, and yes that was the very same girl."

"I'm glad to see she turned out fine. When I found out what happened I got into a huge fight with my brother. I would have left him and the village if he hadn't proven to me that he had nothing to do with the incident."

"Yes I've heard his cover story about being away at the chunin exams during that whole ordeal. You understand if I'm a little hesitant to believe such a convenient alibi."

"Let me ask you something lord hokage. Do you think lightly of my brothers intelligence?"

"Of course not."

"Then why are you so quick to think he had a hand in such a short-sighted and idiotic plan? Think about it for a second. What kind of idiot would kidnap a little girl if the intention was to steal her bloodline trait? Not only would we have to wait until the girl matures until she could bear children but then we would have to wait nine months at a time for the children to be born. It's obvious a boy would be a much better target. One male can impregnate multiple females. Not only that but the idiot who masterminded the event was stupid enough to ask for the ambassadors murderer dead instead of alive. If he asked for the man alive then whether or not he had the caged bird seal would have been irrelevant. We could have taken his genetic material and that would have been enough. My brother may not be the nicest man in the world, he may steal and kill in his quest to make the cloud the strongest ninja village, but the man isn't an idiot, and he certainly isn't the kind of monster who would steal children from their beds at night. Not like your Orochimaru."

When Bee finished his rant the hokage was speechless. The two stared at each other for a few seconds. Their attention was so focused on each other that they didn't notice the kazekage signal someone in the stands.

"Finally. I was wondering when he would give the signal." An anbu thought as he prepared his genjutsu.

Authors Notes: The more I think about it the more I realize that Kishimoto is an awful writer who got lucky with a great concept. Seriously think about it for a second. HINATA IS LITERALLY THE LAST PERSON WHO SHOULD HAVE BEEN TARGETED FOR A KIDNAPPING! Why would they try to kidnap a little girl? Just like I had Bee say above, a male is the logical choice. Neji was the one who should have been targeted. Not only that but with how mistreated the branch family is you would think it would be easy for the cloud or another village to just bribe some pissed off male by giving him a bunch of money and women. The caged bird seal doesn't affect fertility so all it would take is one branch member managing to make it to another village and boom. A whole new Hyuga clan in a whole new village. The caged bird seal is a stupid idea that doesn't do the job it was created for. What if a branch member was kidnapped alive? What's stopping the enemy from jerking him off into a test tube? Even if it was a woman the caged bird seal can't do anything to protect the byakugan as long as she is alive. Even if we assume that a branch member can activate his seal and kill himself whenever he wants (as far as I know this isn't even hinted at in canon so it's a big if) then you still run into the problem of the branch family being mistreated and more likely to defect to another village where they would be treated as kings. The kidnapping attempt and the caged bird seal are both ideas that make no logical sense if you stop and think about it. Okay rant over. Next chapter the invasion starts. As always review and flame and all that good stuff.