Hisa hated to admit it (and she really, really hated it) but she had underestimated Kawa. Because of his poor ninjutsu skills, she had forgotten to think about his intellect. Now, there was a good chance that she would lose the match.
She wasn't sure how much food pills Kawa had, but she was sure he had brought enough to keep his chakra levels full for most of the match. She on the other hand, had used up a lot of chakra already, and didn't have any way to get it back. She needed to end this soon, otherwise she would lose.
Kawa finished eating the second food pill, and now he was almost glowing with chakra. Hisa tensed as he slid into a fighting stance. Then suddenly, he was gone.
Hisa looked around wildly, where had he gone? At the last second, she glanced upwards and saw Kawa about to descend on her, fist pulled back ready to punch. She quickly did a backflip, just in time. A split second later, the ground was shaking from the impact of Kawa's punch. But Hisa was safely out of the damage zone.
Kawa didn't give her any time to recover. He came straight after her. She ducked as he threw another punch at her head. His other hand snapped forward and she dodged again. He punched again and again, never letting her recover or retaliate. All she could do was dodge.
After he had thrown six punches, Hisa managed to backpedal away. Kawa ran after her again. The food pill had changed him; there was a feral and dangerous look in his eye. He swiped at her again and she jumped into the air to avoid him.
Big mistake.
As she landed, he charged straight at her, burying both his fists in her stomach. Hisa was sent flying; she crashed painfully onto the ground, cutting the side of her head on a stray shuriken. Maybe I can sue the clean-up crew she thought dazedly.
She tried to get up, but every bone in her body felt broken. It took all her strength to move her hand a few inches. Her body was trembling. How could she fight if she couldn't even move?
!
Gaara gazed down at the small girl. She was quite a good fighter, but he doubted she could beat Naruko, even with the Rinnegan. It was clear that she had lost to this boy and he hadn't even used a jutsu.
He turned and looked at his two companions. Sasuke was staring impassively down at the match, but his forehead was slightly creased. For Sasuke, this meant that he was very worried. Naruto surprised Gaara. He was completely calm, Gaara thought he even saw a small smile. Gaara was confused, did Naruto think his daughter could still win? It was clear that she was beaten.
"Well, I think it is time you paid me Hokage. I've won the bet." Gaara said.
Naruto smiled and shook his head.
"The match isn't over yet." he said "And knowing Hisa, it won't be over for a long time."
!
This was it. The match was over, Hisa had lost. As she lay on the ground, she felt nothing but anger. She had failed everyone. The entire village believed that she had God-like powers. Well, if I do it would be nice if they could heal me now. She tried to push herself up again, but the pain was too much. She fell back onto the ground.
How was she supposed to live up to the Sage of Six Paths if she couldn't even become a chunin? She was weak, far too weak. She was too weak to beat Kawa Inuzuka- Wait a minute! Kawa Inuzuka? There was no way she was weaker than him! New strength flooded through her limbs as she struggled to her feet. So maybe she wouldn't become a chunin today, but she was still going to beat Kawa!
She could hear the gasps coming from the spectators as she stood up. At first, there was a shocked silence, but then the crowd started cheering. She smirked and looked up at the Hokage. Her father was staring down at her, and even from here she could see the proud smile on his face. Never give up was one of the main lessons Naruto had taught her.
She turned around and faced Kawa. The effect of the food pills seemed to have lessened, and he was staring at her in concern. She was pleased that he didn't try to help her, it meant that he was taking her seriously.
She reached up and wiped the blood off her face.
"Nice try." she said "But it'll take more than that to beat me."
He grinned at her.
"You can be pretty cocky for someone with blood pouring out of her face."
"I learnt from the best."
"Let's hope he taught you how to beat this!"
He ran at her again, but this time she was ready for him. He jumped up, aiming for her face, but she jumped higher and avoided him completely. She landed in a crouch and followed him when he landed.
"I'm still not sure you're taking me seriously." he said. "You've barely gone on the offensive at all."
She scowled at him.
"Sure Kawa, I let myself get cut and bruised like this because I know I can easily avoid you if I want. I obviously chose to let you hit me."
His hand dipped into his pocket again, pulling out something Hisa couldn't see.
"Actually," he said (She was getting tired of all the talking, they were in a middle of a fight!) "The Hisa I knew a few months ago might actually have done that, but I can see you've changed. You're treating more and more people like they're your equals."
She sighed, she didn't have time for his psychoanalysis. They could talk after the match.
She tried to run towards him, but he threw the hidden objects from his hand. Hisa was once again enveloped in purple smoke. This time, she didn't panic. Even as Kawa began attacking her, she tried to think of a plan. Using her Rinnegan was out of the question. All she could do for now was try and block the worst of Kawa's attacks. When the smoke thinned, she would think of something.
It took a few minutes for the smoke to clear, and Hisa had some brand-new bruises when it did. When she could finally see, she saw Kawa standing in front of her. She was frustrated to see that she hadn't been able to land a single hit on him. He had a huge advantage in the smoke, seeing as his nose was as sensitive as a dog's. But she had managed to think of a plan of sorts, one that didn't involve too much chakra.
Kawa threw two more of the purple balls. It was obvious that he planned to finish it this time. But Hisa knew this, and she used the smoke to her advantage. When it cleared again, there were four Hisa's surrounding Kawa. While his sense of smell was much better than an average human, he wasn't good at things like identifying clones.
Kawa struck the first clone in the stomach, making disappear in a puff. The second and third Hisa met the same fate. He turned and looked at the last Hisa, who looked nervous now that she was all alone. He ran at her, and for a minute they traded punches and kicks. Finally, Kawa was able to punch her in the head. She hit the ground hard and didn't get up.
He walked over to her, hiding his concern under a smirk. Her eyes were closed and it was clear that she was unconscious.
"Proctor…" he began.
Hisa disappeared in a puff of smoke.
Kawa gasped and turned around, but it was too late. Hisa's foot connected with his face, knocking him down. As he hit the ground she ran forward and grabbed the pouch with the purple balls in it. She tucked the balls safely away in her own pouch, before turning back to him. He was on his feet again, staring at her incredulously.
"How… How did…"
!
"How did she do it?" Gaara asked, staring down at the girl closely. She had suddenly appeared, as if out of thin air, and kicked the boy in his face.
Gaara turned and looked at Naruto. Naruto had a huge smirk on his face, which Gaara expected. What he didn't expect was for Sasuke to also have a huge smirk on his face.
"She copied one of the teme's techniques." Naruto explained smugly.
"Instead of making three clones, she made four and substituted one for herself. That way she was able to hide in that tree." Sasuke pointed towards the grove of trees growing at the side of the field. "She waited until he was too confused and off guard. Then she attacked him."
Gaara returned his gaze to Hisa. Perhaps she was good enough to face Naruko after all.
!
Down on the field, Kawa had just realized Hisa had taken his smoke bombs. His smirk faltered for a few seconds. Hisa watched him quietly, wondering what he was going to do next. He had no ninjutsu he could use, and apart from his strength she was slightly better than him at taijutsu. That only left weapons.
Sure enough, Kawa drew out eight shuriken and flung them at Hisa. She dodged each one with ease. Although the Rinnegan didn't have the powers of the Sharingan, it had improved her eyesight, reflexes and hand-eye coordination. The shuriken couldn't touch her.
But Kawa knew that. He ran directly behind the shuriken. Once she had dodged them, he attacked her again. He managed to land two direct hits on her, one hurt her left arm and the other winded her. She started to get frustrated. She needed time to form hand-seals for her ninjutsu, but Kawa made sure she didn't get any. It was a battle of pure strength and speed, and although Hisa was good at both of these, they were Kawa's specialities.
Another kick managed to knock her down. While she was on the ground, Kawa jumped into the air, fist pulled back. He aimed a punch at her chest, and she raised both of her hands to block him. His fists hit her arms like a sledgehammer, but she gritted her teeth and kept her arms steady. Once his punch had lost its strength, she grabbed his arm and threw him behind her. He slammed into the wall with a satisfying crunch.
She pushed herself to her feet, and watched as he did the same. His movements were shaky now; the wall had hurt him badly. Nevertheless, he stood up straight and ran towards her again.
It was easier for her this time. His strength and speed had lost a lot of energy, and now they were fighting on equal terms. Although Kawa was stronger and faster, Hisa had the better technique. They fought for ten minutes, punching, dodging, kicking and jumping. Hisa was losing energy, but Kawa was too. She mimicked his strategy from earlier, not letting him have enough time to reach for the food pills.
After ten minutes, they stood facing each other, panting heavily. Both of them were down to their last reserves of energy. Everyone could sense it: this was the final blow.
It's funny, Hisa mused, what it all boiled down to in the end. All her ninjutsu and taijutsu techniques meant nothing now. All that mattered was your will. Which one of them wanted this more? The answer was obvious to Hisa.
She ran at Kawa with strength she didn't know she had. He was too exhausted to do anything but stare wide-eyed as she kicked him. He flew into the air and she followed him. As he began to fall she brought her foot down on his stomach and kicked him into the ground with all her remaining strength. The result was a small crater and a boy who was beaten.
The stadium erupted into cheers as Shikamaru declared Hisa the winner. She ignored all of them and walked over to Kawa. He was trying to pull himself out of the crater but he could barely move. She rolled her eyes as he tried once again to pull himself up.
"Here." she said, jumping down next to him. "Let me help you."
He grinned tiredly at her.
"Thanks Princess but you can leave me here for the medics."
She raised an eyebrow.
"Princess?"
His grin got wider.
"Yep, I figured it was time you got a new nickname. I think you've earned it today."
As Hisa walked back to the balcony, she felt confused. Why did she feel happier about the new nickname than she did about winning the match? Why did she feel so proud when Kawa had said she'd earned it?
She had no answers to these questions, so she ignored them as best she could and focused on waving to the crowd.
!
"Hah! I told you she would win!" Naruto yelled pointing a triumphant finger at Gaara.
Gaara calmly pushed the finger away from his face. He looked at Sasuke, begging for help. Sasuke smirked.
"I'm going to take a quick break. I'll be back in a minute."
He left quickly. Gaara glared at the back of his shirt. Stupid Uchiha. He sighed as Naruto continued to jeer about his daughter's success.
"You thought she wasn't good enough Gaara! I'd like to see your kid try any of that! You might as well just hand over the money…"
!
Nawaki watched as an exhausted Hisa made her way up the stairs. Once she reached the balcony area, she slumped against the wall and closed her eyes. Nawaki decided to let her rest and congratulate her later. She needed to replenish her chakra for her next match.
Oki walked over to him and they watched as Kawa was led off on a stretcher. Despite his loss, he was grinning smugly. Nawaki guessed it had something to do with what he had told Hisa a few minutes ago. He had noticed Hisa leave the field with a very red face.
Oki pointed down towards the computer, which was once again spinning through names. Nawaki wondered if this would be his turn now. The only people left were him, Hizashi, Obito, Shikai, Chouko, Naruko and Lu. As long as he didn't face Naruko, he thought he had a decent chance.
The screen finally settled on two names. Nawaki heard Oki gasp beside him, although he wasn't quite sure why.
Obito Hyuga vs Hizashi Hyuga.
Nawaki wondered why Obito had his mother's surname. Perhaps it was because he was going to be the next heir of the clan. He suddenly noticed that the whole balcony had gone quiet. Everyone was staring at Obito and Hizashi, who were having some kind of mental conversation. Eventually they seemed to come to an agreement, and the two of them vaulted over the railing and onto the field.
Nawaki didn't bother asking what was going on between them. He was pretty sure he would find out soon enough.