Naruto pulls himself to his feet. "I understand Neji. There is pain in your heart," he says, smiling sadly. "Share it with me. Tell me why you believe in fate so strongly. Tell me why you ridiculed Hinata so cruelly. Tell me what happened to you Neji."
"Fine if it is so important to you to know, I will tell you the Hyuuga clan's Destiny of Hatred," says Neji. "The Hyuuga family had a jutsu which has been passed down through the main family. It is a curse-seal." He reaches up and takes off his headband, revealing a mark on his forehead. "This is the symbol of the Caged Bird, given to those with an inescapable I was four years old, I was marked as a member of the branch family and sealed with this mark.
"On that day, a visitor from the Hidden Cloud came to the Hidden Leaf to sign a peace treaty. All the clans attended except one: the Hyuuga clan. On that day, the heir of the main house, my cousin Hinata, turned three years old. My father, Hizashi, and Hinata's father, Hiashi, were identical twins. Because my father was born second he was marked with the curse seal, while his brother became the clan head.
"On her birthday, I became a member of the branch house and was marked with the Caged Bird Seal. The reason for this was because I was to be her bodyguard from that day forward and protect her from harm.
"But the seal can also be used to harm the bearer - a device used by the main house to control any branch members that step out of line. The seal can also kill the bearer, or destroy their mind if the main house wishes. And if the bearer dies, their byakugan will be sealed away and the seal will vanish along with it.
"The seal is meant to protect the byakugan from people who would wish to steal its secrets. On that day, something else happened. The man who came from the lightning to sign the peace treaty tried to kidnap Hinata for her byakugan. Hiashi-sama discovered and killed him. The man had been after the byakugan from the start.
"The Cloud accused the Leaf of breaking the alliance, and the Leaf and Cloud almost came to war. In an attempt to prevent the war, the Leaf and cloud made a deal: since the Cloud was after the byakugan, the Leaf was to give them the corpse of Hiashi Hyuga. The Leaf agreed to their wishes and war was avoided.
"But they didn't send Hiashi-sama!" Neji shouts. "The main family sent my father in his place!" then Neji sniggers. "To escape this curse there is no method but death. They were twins: their strength was equal. But their fates were decided by which one was born first, and which was born second. No one can escape the fate they were born with unless they die!"
"Really?" Naruto asks. "You know, you aren't the only one with a seal that decides your fate." Come on, Kurama. Let's beat this guy. Give me some of your chakra and heal my injuries! Please. Naruto lifts up his jacket and shirt, showing the eight-trigrams seal on his stomach. "This is my seal," he says, grinning as Kurama's chakra fills his body and heals him. "Inside it is the Nine Tailed Fox. My mother came to the Leaf from the Whirlpool just to be its container, and when she died, the lil' furball was passed on to me. I keep you all safe every second I hold him inside me. My fate is to be hated and feared and scorned like every other jinchuriki. But I will beat it. I will become the Hokage, and I will prove that the Tailed Beasts are not just monsters to be used for human gain! Let's kick his ass, Kurama!"
Laughter fills Naruto's mind. It takes him a moment to realize it is the fox laughing. They jump forward and punch Neji upside the jaw. Neji flies up into the air and comes crashing back down, landing in a crumpled heap. Naruto stalks towards Neji. "I accepted what I am; that is what gave me the courage to change my fate. I failed the Academy graduation three times because I couldn't do a simple clone jutsu. Now shadow clones are my best jutsu. I am a loser: you're a spine and face who and what you are, then change what you can before you change what it seems like you can't."
Naruto watches as Neji's eyes close.
Sakura stares as the colour come back to Hinata's cheeks. Karin first scream was only a short one from the pain of Hinata biting her wrist. Now she sits calmly as Hinata's teeth sink into her flesh.
Kiba is staring at Karin. "Who are you?" he demands.
"Karin Uzumaki," says Karin. "Of the Hidden Rain."
"She's Naruto's cousin," adds Sakura. "What is that power?"
"This is the power I inherited from my mother: a power of the Uzumaki clan," says Karin. "My chakra is going into her body and healing her."
"This is the power the Grass held you captive for?" Sakura guesses, askance.
Karin nods. "Only a few members of the clan had it though," she says. "It's actually a miracle anyone with it survived the destruction of the Whirlpool."
Hinata pulls away from Karin. "Th-thank you, Karin-san," she stammers out.
"You're welcome!" says Karin. "If you're a friend of Team Seven you're a friend of mine!"
Down in the arena, Naruto is giving Neji a thorough talking-to.
"Is Naruto-kun winning?" Hinata asks.
Then Hayate shouts, "Winner: Naruto Uzumaki!"
Karin jumps up and cheers, "Go the Uzumaki clan! We're the greatest!"
Applause and cheers fill the stadium.
Sakura looks down into the arena to see Naruto standing next to a prone Neji. as she looks she sees Naruto look up at the crowd. He smiles and waves and after making sure the medics are taking care of Neji, he runs out of the arena into the contestants' area.
"That idiot," she says, shaking her head.
"Where is Sasuke?" asks a voice behind her.
"Itachi!" Karin shouts. "You're here too!"
"Yes," says Itachi.
Sakura turns and says, "As far as I know, Sasuke is still training with Kakashi sensei."
"That will never do," says Itachi. "I had better fetch him. But first, I will tell Hokage-sama to continue with the match after Sasuke's while you all wait."
"Okay," says Sakura. "But please hurry before they disqualify him."
Itachi nods and disperses in a flock of cawing crows. The crows fly over to the Hokage and Itachi reappears, whispers something to him and disperses again.
One of the Hokage's guards shunshins into the arena, and whispers in Hayate's ear, then shunshins back up to the Hokage.
"Who was that guy?" demand Kiba.
"Oh, that's just Sasuke's big brother Itachi," says Sakura. "He used to be in ANBU, now he's in Akatsuki."
"He's pretty cool," says Karin. "I met him just after we arrived for the final round."