I thank December Silentvale for helping me.
Above the fighters, the spectators were silent as they watched. Each with their own thoughts of how the match was going. None cheering for either fighter as they watched in silence. For those watching the match to evaluate the fighters and decide if they were worthy of being Chunin, the majority were a handful of feudal lords and shinobi from various ranks of the village. In their hands were the careers of the two ninja below.
Some had been impressed with Naurto's use of the Shadow Clone Jutsu. But the majority believed the Hyuga would triumph and move on to the next round of the exams. Before casting final judgments, most were waiting to see more of the two genins skills. Most would wait until the match was over to give their final evaluations on the loser of the fight and they would mostly likely wait to see more from the victor until he was defeated.
For Ren, a part of her was impatient to see Naruto mop the floor with Neji. But realistically, she knew it would be a long and perhaps grueling if there ever was one. Neji was intent on beating and drilling his dogma. Also known as garbage, into Naruto's head. But Naruto was just as, if not more so, determined to prove Neji wrong.
It was fights like this were not a mere a fight. It had the punches, the jutsu, and the injures of any other fight. But what made this one special, were the ideals the two represented and was what was really being fought over. The conflicting ideas bashing against the other as they fought for dominance. They say, might equals right. In this match it would be correct. If Naruto were to lose, it would only strengthen Neji's belief of fate and destiny. But, if Naruto were to triumph over Neji, maybe, just maybe, it would show Neji the errors of his ways and view the world differently.
Personally, Ren had never fought such a battle as theirs. For her, it was either her life on the line or the mission. Sometimes the two going hand in hand with one another. To Ren, she pitied the Hyuga brat. Even with his eyesight seeing far and wide, he was doomed to be blinded by his own bitterness of the world. Ren certainly didn't like Neji, if he stay the way he was, she doubted she ever would.
She was drawn away from her thoughts when she hear the sound of yelling down below. Dozens of Naruto charging at Neji.
As the first one came at him Neji reactivated his Byakugan. As a Naruto threw the first punch, he was deflected and swung around as the two punched at each other. Neji evading and landing hit while Naruto kept gaining damage.
Meanwhile, another Naruto shouted out, attracting Neji's attention as the blond and others took a swing at the Hyuga. Yelling and grunting as they fought. Reciving punches to the gut and face, along with kicks in several places.
Ren wouldn't admit it, but she was impressed with how well Neji was evading all the Naruto, though she figured the Byakugan had a great part to play in his advantage. In all honesty, Ren wondered why the clones weren't attacking more than at least one or two at a time. There is strength in numbers. Naruto could have drowned Neji in clones.
As Neji flipped away with a confident smirk, the Naruto panted. "This is ridiculous. We're not even getting close to this guy." Naruto groaned.
Even as he was surrounded, Neji was cool, calm. and collected.
"You think I can be fooled by a trick like that?" Neji asked as he charged through the ranks of the Naruto squad. 'Conjure all the clones you want. You can't hide from me.' Neji thought as he singled out one Naruto in particular. Yelling out as he aimed for the chakra point right over Naruto's heart. Hitting it.
Recognizing the stop and knowing the dangers of hitting it, Hinata couldn't help but gasp.
Ren was shocked, gripping the rail, she didn't know what to do. She just hoped Naruto wouldn't end up like Hinata almost did.
"You're the one keeping out of range for fear of my striking your chakra points like this. The more the others attack, the more you stand out for holding back." Neji pointed out. Naruto coughing up blood from the attack.
Looking at the Naruto he caught, the clones turned into puffs of smoke behind Neji. "You're the real one, aren't you?" He asked.
"Naruto." Hinata whispered.
"The match is over." Kotetsu assumed.
As for the rest of the clones, more were disappearing in the background.
"I told you it was pointless." Neji reminded the blond as he backed off and Naruto barely stood. His body nearly doubled over.
In the stands, Hinata couldn't help but cough. "No. Don't give up, Naruto." She pleaded.
As blood dribbled down his chin, Naruto laughed. "Oh yeah? And I told you it was a mistake to count me out."
Neji was startled by this and even more so when the Naruto before him turned into a puff of smoke.
"But how?" Neji demanded.
His question was left unanswered heard the sound of footsteps behind him, turning around Neji found two Naruto in the air, ready to pounce on him.
"All right! Way to go, Naruto!" Kiba cheered.
"Naruto." Hinata smiled.
'He held one of his clones back to deceive me, to lure me into a trap.' Neji realized.
"You thought I'd be too much of a chicken to attack you myself? Well, think again!" Naruto yelled, aiming to punch his opponent into the dirt. Only to meet with a blue wall of resistance. Keeping him from hitting Neji square in the cheek. Seeing this, Neji smirked.
Up in the waiting area, Sakuya narrowed her eyes in suspicion as she crossed her arms. Confusion rattling her brain as she tried to recall everything her sensei had told her about the Byakugan and what he knew about the Hyuga clan's fighting style, the Gentle Fist.
Down below, the two Naruto were caught in a whirlwind of chakra surrounding Neji. The swirling orb holding them hostage. With the clone and the real Naruto right where Neji wanted them, the Hyuga began to spin around in the orb he had created. His own rotation flinging the orange wearing ninja back as the clone disappeared in a puff of smoke and the real Naruto landed on his side.
Once he stopped spinning and the chakra orb he had created around himself disappeared as well, a crater had been formed around him.
Rolling over onto his back, Naruto was slightly ruffled up, but mostly confused. "Uh? What the heck was that?"
"Did you really think you'd won?" Neji asked condescendingly.
"Hm. This spells trouble." Shachi grumbled, scratching the back of his head in irritation. 'This is just great. This wasn't exactly what we had anticipated. Ao managed to tell us a lot about the Byakugan and some of the moves he had witnessed from the war. However, he's not a master in any of their techniques. The Hyuga clan has dedicated their entire lives to this fighting style. There was little he could actually show us and thus little we could prepare for since we couldn't actually experience it. This may prove to be more trouble than its worth if he manages to make it through the other rounds of the exam.'
"But that was-" Hinata muttered, recognizing the move.
Farther away in his own seat, Ao narrowed his eye in anger. "Rotation." He growled.
'That's one of Neji's special defenses.' TenTen thought as she smiled, cheering on her teammate.
"We'll see about that!" Naruto shouted as he picked himself off the ground and formed more shadow clone, having a total of seven Naruto on the field as they rushed to surround Neji. For his part, Neji wasn't afraid of this and simply changed his stance slightly.
'Neji can see almost 360 degrees with his Byakugan. It's pointless. He can detect any attack as soon as it's launched. That's when his real defense comes into play, the Eight Trigrams Palm Rotation.' TenTen thought.
As the Naruto all charged at Neji, a slight glow of chakra enveloped him as he spun his body around, the air pressure alone keeping the Naruto squad at bay before a major outburst sent them soaring through the air. Flinging them to ground in weird positions before the clone disappeared in a poof. Neji stopped to review his work, unharmed from it all.
'The moment he senses an attack, Neji discharges an intense, focused burst of chakra from the chakra points in his body. Then, by rotating his body quickly, he builds enough energy to not only block, but repel his attacker. Normally, chakra emitted from chakra points is difficult to control. Even Jonin can usually only utilize chakra from a single body part at the time, like the hands or feet. But Neji's mastery of the Gentle Fist Taijutsu is so great, that he can emit chakra from several places, warding off simultaneous attacks from multiple directions. It's an ultimate defense, even more impenetrable than Gaara's Shield of Sand. Nothing can get through it.' TenTen thought.
Back in the waiting area, Gaara was showing emotion. Seeing Neji's defense, skill, and power irritated the redhead. Eyes narrowing as he watched.
"Interesting." Ao murmured. "Only the main branch should be able to know how to do that. I doubt a member of the main branch taught him that. To learn it all on his own, he certainly earned the title of genius. Ren may have her hands full if she faces him. The real question is if he moves to the next round, will he or Gaara be able to get past either of their defenses."
'No one should be surprised. You haven't even begun to see his full powers.' TenTen thought.
Grunting, Naruto wiped the dirt off his face as he sat up.
"This is the end for you." Neji announced. "You're in range and you can't escape my Eight Trigrams."
Unknown to Naruto, Neji had a mental image laid out on the battlefield. The center was ying and yang, where he stood. Around this symbol was three circles, forming like a ripple of water when a single drop had disturbed the calm water. With the image clear in his mind, Naruto was indeed within range. This image acting as an aid for the possible combinations of the attacks he planned for Naruto.
As Naruto stood up, he could not see the image, nor any of the spectators. With his arms outstretched at first, Neji moved with ease into the next stance. "Gentle Fist art. Eight Trigrams 64 palms."
As this happened, Ao recognized the stance. 'Too bad for the Uzumaki. This battle is over. I hope Ren is prepared to fight whoever wins. Gaara or Neji.'
Naruto had yet to move, wary of Neji as he waited to see what the other would do. Charging, Neji rushed Naruto and with a spin, used only three of his fingers to hit close to Naruto's collarbone and the left side of Naruto's body roughly around his stomach.
"Eight Trigrams. Two palms." Neji stated before moving faster than most could keep up with as he completed the trigram. Naruto staggering and grunting in pain.
Hitting Naruto's right upper chest with his index and middle finger, his other hand used all four fingers to hit another chakra point on Naruto's left. This was followed by two more attacked, making four. "Four palms. Eight palms. Sixteen palms. Thirty-two palms. Sixity-four palms." He declared as he attacked Naruto's body not just the torso, but arms and legs as well.
The onslaught being too much for Naruto to keep up much less evade, escaped, or deflect the attacks. Only to end up screaming as the force of the blows flung him backwards as blood trailed down the corner of his mouth.
'No!' Ren gasped as she could only watch in horror as Naruto landged in a pile on the ground. Her team noticed her reaction and as they turned back to the fight and watched, were disappointed for Ren's sake. They had hoped the knucklehead would have lasted longer. But, moved on from their disappointment. Rest assured that Gaara would take Neji down or Ren would if Neji survived the fight.
With his move finished, Neji took a few deep breaths before returning to a more relaxed stance. Then, allowed himself to fully relax and drop it.
Seeing how Naruto wasn't getting up, the proctor made his way over to Naruto to check his status. "Looks like it's over."
Ren growled before leaning over the rail and shouting at the top of her lungs. "Don't! Don't you dare stop the match!"
Down below, Naruto was trying to get up. The blond managing to remain conscious though, he was falling back down to the ground.
"This match isn't over. He's still conscious!" Sakuya pointed out.
"Come on! You can do it, you little shrimp! Don't let this jerk push you around! Aren't you fighting for someone! Don't let them down!" Shachi shouted, cheering Naruto on.
"I have now struck all 64 of your chakra points. You're lucky to still be breathing." Neji told his opponent, wanting the blond to accept his destiny and be done with the fight.
"Agh. Come on!" Naruto growled at himself, trying to move.
"Well, must be frustrating to realize how utterly hopeless it all was, this little dream of yours. You thought you could succeed through hard work alone. That's only an illusion." Neji stated, once again playing his mind games and forcing his ideals and point of view on others.
In the stands, Hinata was coughing again.
"Hey, Hinata, what's wrong, you OK?" Kiba asked, noticing something was wrong from how often she was having these new coughing fits.
"Come on, Naruto! Don't listen to him!" Ren shouted before directing her voice at Neji. "And you're wrong about one thing, Hyuga. Kage were not born destined to become that title. They weren't gods, they were humans. And day after day, they fought and struggled and bled just like every one of us to become the best they could be. They had dreams and fought for them! The first Hokage had to fight a war that seemed endless. No one thought he could end it. He fought against that so called destiny and now look where we are!"
In the stands above, they could hear the shouting. Ao wasn't exactly pleased with his students butting into the match with their shouting, having never expected Ren out of all of them to shout.
'This trip has really changed her...' Ao thought.
As for the others in the stands, they couldn't help but mumble among themselves that Ren did have a point in some reguard, but most doubted Naruto would be able to fight on. The battle looked like it was already won. How would the Uzumaki win now?
"So who's right?" Ren questioned. "Naruto's a lot stronger than you say he is. And you know it, don't you? That's why you went so far, because it ticks you off that Naruto doesn't fit into that closed minded, twisted ideology you developed. That's why you've been drilling that garbage. Give it a rest already! Naruto! Pick yourself up and teach this blind fool a lesson."
Down on the ground with the sun beating down on him, Naruto flinched and grunted in pain as he tried to move, his vision blurry and hazy at times as he looked in Neji's direction. In his pain, he couldn't help but think of Lee. Even unconscious, he was still getting up. Ready to prove himself. Then, the stream of memories showed Hinata as she struggled from breath.
'Bushy brow. Hinata.' Gritting his teeth, Naruto determination soared. "No way." He gritted out.
The proctor was started by this, blinking in surprise.
"Huh?" Kiba asked, as he tore his eyes away from Hinata and back to the match.
Pushing himself off the ground with his hands, Naruto was making efforts to stand.
"Come on." Sakura cheered.
Rising to his feet, Naruto was breathing hard, but it was worth it to stand tall and proud.
Neji was shocked and astonished. "Impossible. How could he?" His mind racing to explain how it was possible and growing furious.
Naruto could help but chuckle. "I told you, I just don't know when to give up."
For a moment, Neji was speechless. It was completely inconceivable to him. For all intent and purposes, Naruto Uzumaki should not have been able to stand up on his own. He was lucky to still be breathing. Was it truly one ninja's sheer determination that made such a feat possible?
"It can't be!" Neji denied, almost unable to believe his eyes.
Meanwhile, Hinata was not doing well, her coughs coming back with vengeance. Her gentle heart still recovering and the stress from merely watching the fight wasn't improving her health. After all, it was a fight between her beloved cousin, even if he was a grouch, and the boy she secretly had a crush on. Seeing Naruto physically suffering caused her emotions to resonate the pain.
But now, her body was in agony as if a weight had been placed on her heart and crushing it. She could taste the iron of her blood as it came forth with every harsh cough, desperate to remove it from her airways and breath properly. She tried to stifle the sound though. She didn't desire to burden her teammate or be forced to leave the stands. She wanted to see Naruto win.
However, as she used both of her hands to cover her mouth, she could not contain the blood coating her palms and escaping to cover the back.
Noticing this, probably from the smell and his strong sense of smell, Kiba turned to Hinata "Hey! Hey!" He cried and began to rub her back to help soothe her. "You're coughing up blood."
"What is it?" Kotetsu asked as he turned to see what was going on beside him.
Kiba didn't answer him as he watched Hinata curl in on herself, her coughing not slacking for even a moment.
"Oh wow." Kiba muttered in awe before coming to a conclusion as to why this was happening. "You must still be injured from your match. Hinata, you going to be all right? You need some water or something?" He asked, wanting to help her.
So distracted he was, he didn't notice a member of the Anbu walking down the stairs towards them.
"Let me have a look at her."
"Who are you?" Kiba asked, as he turned to the black cloaked shinobi, the man wearing a mask to conceal his identity.
"It's all right. You can trust me." The Anbu assured him.
Down below, Neji was trying to get through Naruto's thick skull. "Stop this madness. You'll only get more of the same. I have nothing against you personally."
Naruto couldn't help but scoff at Neji. "That's touching. You're going to make me cry." Naruto declared, sarcasm filling every word. "Anyway, I've got plenty against you. And so does Ren and her team."
"I don't know what you mean." Neji declared.
Watching them, the Mist team couldn't help but scoff.
"Is this guy for real?" Shachi grumbled.
"You don't? And here I thought you were Mr. Know-It-All. You don't remember what you did to Hinata, huh? The way you worked on her with your mind games, tearing her down when she worked so hard to get here." Naruto reminded him.
Neji's eyes narrowed at the reminder. "Never mind that. It doesn't concern you." He declared.
Back in the stands, the Anbu took Hinata away from her seat and carried her to the top of the stairs where there was more room for her before setting her down on the ground. Coming up behind them was Kiba and Akamaru in the hood of his jacket. Blood still trailed the side of Hinata's face. Her condition not being the best, but she had stopped coughing for now.
"You mocked Hinata, calling her a failure, all that stuff about the great Hyuga clan, main household, branch families. What a bunch of crap! It doesn't give you the right to decide who is a failure. That's what we've got against you." Naruto ranted, point blank telling Neji what was wrong and why they each had beef against him.
While this was happening, the Anbu placed his hand over Hinata's upper torso, his hands emitting the healing light green chakra as they healed Hinata.
"Hey! What are you-?" Kiba asked before getting cut off.
"Don't worry. I'm a doctor." The Anbu member assure Kiba once again.
"Very well. As you are so interested in it, I'll tell you about it. The Hyuga clan's heritage of hatred." Neji informed his opponent.
"For generations, the main household of our clan has practiced a secret ninjutsu known as the cursed mark jutsu." Neji explained with disdain.
"Cursed mark jutsu?" Naruto asked.
"The curse mark is the symbol of a bird locked in its cage." Neji explained, eyes closed as the memories dragged themselves up to the surface of his mind. "It's a mark of those who are bound to a destiny they cannot escape."
Reaching for his forehead protector, Neji untied the cloth. Revealing his forehead with a mark. Like a brand or tattoo seared into his flesh with light green ink. The mark appearing as a large 'X' with hooks on the left and right, the ends of which pointing in opposite directions of the other side.
"Uh. Is, is that?" Naruto hesitantly asked, unsure to finish his question.
From his seat high above, the Hokage was silent as he watched. He had known a little of the Hyuga clan's practices, but was unable to do anything about it. Even with all the powers investing in him as Hokage, there was little he could do against one of the noble clans of his village. Butting into clan matters was beyond him. It would only do more harm than good in the long run.
In the arena, Naruto managed to finish his question. "That's the curse mark?"
"I was four years old when the leaders of my clan branded this symbol on my forehead with their cursed mark jutsu." Neji explained, starting his tale from the beginning.
Ren quickly did the math. If Neji was currently thirteen, and it happened when he was four, it had been at least nine years ago.
"On that same day, a great celebration took place in the Hidden Leaf Village. After many years of war, a peace agreement had at last been reached with the Land of Lightning and they had sent the Head Cloud Ninja to sign the treaty and join in the celebration. Everyone was there to welcome our old enemies. Every Genin and Jonin in the Leaf Village. Only one clan was absent, the Hyuga clan. Because this was the day on which the heir of the main household was to turn three. It was Lady Hinata's third birthday." Neji explained.
Listening the story, Naruto had forgotten his anger, drawn into the story.
Turning away from Naruto, Neji turned to the stands to where his uncle and head of the clan was sitting. Beside him was his youngest daughter, Hanabi.
"Her father, Lord Hiashi Hyuga, is sitting up there. He and my father, Hizashi, are twin brothers. And yet, he entered into the world first, so he is the head of the family, the firstborn. While my father, his twin brother, is banished to a lesser branch of the family." Neji explained, his memories recalling that fateful day of Hinata's birth.
Even then she had been shy as she had hid behind her father's kimono. Despite this, she had smiled at him. At the time, Neji had thought she was cute in all honestly. When he had told his father some of his thoughts regarding Hinata, he had given Neji a look he hadn't understood at the time. It was a look of sorrow and love of a father. A man unable to provide his son with better, with what he thought his son deserved.
"It was then, on the day the heir of the main household turned three that the curse mark was put on me and I was made a bird in a cage by my own uncle." Neji bitterly explained.
"It's like a brand one would use for cattle." Sakuya observed from the waiting area.
"Seems like even with a more peaceful outlook, this village as it's dark secrets and acts." Shachi added, agreeing with his teammate as he stood beside her.
Ren didn't comment on it or their remarks, far more interested to finally get to the heart of the matter why Neji was twisted the way he was. Listening to his tale, she was beginning to understand.
"You and this clan of yours, what's the point of it all? Why have a main family and a branch family? And this weird curse mark? What's it mean anyway?" Naruto asked.
'Why indeed? Why curse members of their own family, separate siblings, and create such resentment? Why hasn't the side branch of the family fought back? What does the curse do?' Ren wondered.
"I can assure you of one thing. It's not simply for decoration." Neji barked.
Thinking about the past, Neji couldn't help but recall the first time he had seen the curse mark in use. It was truly in that moment the seeds of bitter resentment were planted. That he truly began to curse his so called destiny.
Before that moment, even when he had first gotten the curse mark branded on him, he was still a relatively happy child. He knew his destiny was to protect Lady Hinata. His father told him he lived only to protect her and preserve the power of the clan's main house hold. He had no qualms about it...
Until he saw what the curse mark was truly capable of and how it was used against his father.
"You see, this is more than a mark that we wear. It is also the instrument by which they keep us in our place. We live with the fear that they will use this curse mark and turn our brains to jelly any time they wish. Fear, that is what we live with it. And we live with it every day. Only in death are we free of it. This is how the power of the Byakugan is kept sealed away." Neji explained.
"Brutal..." Shachi muttered.
'It's a no brainer why they don't fight back then. They can't...' Ren thought.
Listening to Neji's story, Naruto had nothing to say. What was there to say? He was still confused and trying to absorb the mass of information.
"Only the Hyuga possess the secret of this unique form of Kekkei Genkai. And of course, there are many who would steal it from us. That is why we exist. It is the purpose of the branch family to defend that secret and serve as the keepers of the secret- the main household-obediently and without question for eternity. That is our destiny or was until that dreadful night they went too far. When they murdered my father!" Neji declared.
Drawing a silent gasp from Naruto as disbelief grew within him.
'So that is the true heart of the matter... It's because of his father that his hate and resentment has grown to such extents...' Ren thought.
"One night, someone entered the main household and abducted Lady Hinata. Lord Hiashi quickly caught and killed the man. And who was this intruder, stealing through the shadows in the dead of night, wearing a mask over his face? It was none other than the Head Cloud Ninja of the Land of Lightning, the man who had just signed an alliance with us." Neji explained.
"The amount of protection and surveillance in this village sucks." Shachi grumbled. "You would think they would keep a close eye on former enemies in their own village. That was a stupid move of their part not to."
"My question is where was the second branch of the family during this? If they are suppose to live to protect the main branch, shouldn't they have stopped the Cloud Ninja before Lord Hiashi did?" Sakuya asked.
"Who cares? I just hope for the sake of the entire village, the ninja have done better these last few years with surveillance. If I was them, I would have placed surveillance on the contestants of the exams. Which they clearly didn't, making them stupid. Just think about what happened to that Dosu guy. Ren said he was left torn apart up on a roof somewhere. Some people hold grudges and this exam is as good as any other excuse to get in and assassinate someone." Shachi growled.
"Tensions between Ninja Villages are always high. Especially after a war. Even if they are allies, it can be quick to change. The incident Neji speaks of is proof of that. This village is too trusting." Ren muttered before focusing on Neji's explanation.
"It was obvious to everyone that he was after the secret of the Byakugan. But the Land of Lightning professed shock at this willful murder of their ninja. They claimed that the Hidden Leaf Village was in violation of the treaty and they demanded recompense." Neji explained.
"That's a load of garbage if I ever heard it." Shachi spoke, "They attempted to kidnap a child and when their men get caught, they play dumb."
"It makes me wonder of their intelligence." Sakuya agreed with his sentiments. "This place is a ninja village. Of course a father is going to eliminate the threat to his children, much less a ninja head of a clan. The Land of Lightning was in the wrong."
"Things got worse and worse until it looked like war would break out anew. The Leaf Village wanted above all things to avoid a war, so at last they made a deal." Neji explained.
"A deal?" Naruto asked.
"A life for a life. The Land of Lightning demanded the death of the person who had slain their ninja. If there was to be peace, Lord Hiashi must die. The Leaf Village accepted their terms." Neji explained.
'But Father, then how?' Hanabi thought as she looked at the man beside her.
"And so to avert a war, a man was killed, but not Hiashi. My father, his twin brother, was killed in his place in order to protect the main household!" Neji yelled, clenching the metal forehead protector in his hand in anger.
"Only in death was my father finally free of this evil curse mark. They were so much alike- twin brothers- but their destinies had been determined long ago when one was born a few seconds after the other." His expressing growing somber as he thought of his father.
'No wonder he's so bitter...' Ren thought. 'All his life, it's always been the main household this and the main branch that. Cheated out of choosing his own life and robbed of his father.' It was sad, Ren would admit that. 'However, that doesn't excuse what he has done to Hinata! She didn't choose to be born in the main house. She didn't cause for these events to happen. She didn't ask for this. To use her as a way to vent and take out his anger on the main branch is unfair.'
"And this match is the same. Your destiny was decided the moment I was chosen as your opponent." Neji finished.