Let's start this from the beginning

Graduation

VII

"Hinata, you're up next."

She nodded at Itachi-sensei but didn't immediately move towards the fighting field. Instead, she focused on the gloomily looking form of Shino that was slowly moving in her and Kiba's direction, unsure about what she was supposed to do. Were she in his position, which was something that might very well happen yet, she would probably prefer to be left alone instead of listening to well-meaning but ultimately useless words of comfort.

That being said, just ignoring him and not acknowledging what had happened didn't seem right either. There really isn't a right answer to this, is there?

Personally, Hinata didn't think he had anything to be ashamed of. His opponent had held every advantage over him and yet he had put up a good fight. She was sure that his strategy would have worked against most of their classmates had one of them been his opponent instead, and Hinata herself would only have been able to defend against it because her Byakugan would have allowed her to look through the smoke and predict his attack.

Judging from the depressing aura that surrounded him, Shino clearly thought differently about the matter, and she doubted he would appreciate any efforts to convince him otherwise right now, so it was probably better to not even try. At least not yet.

"Shino," she said once he was within talking distance, trying to make her voice sound not too concerned lest she accidentally hurt his pride even more. "Are you hurt? I'm sure Sensei could-"

"I'm fine," he interrupted her, and if there was anything that proved just how much that loss bothered him, it was the fact that his voice wasn't perfectly neutral as always but curt and gruff instead. "I didn't receive any noteworthy injuries at all."

"Are you sure-"

"Thank you for your concern, Hinata."

Deciding to accept his rebuffs as what they were, she dropped the matter and merely nodded her acquiescence before beginning to move towards the centre of the clearing to prepare for her own fight after giving Kiba one last glance that hopefully conveyed the message not to bother Shino too much. She really didn't want them to start another fight while she wasn't there to stop them. Things were tense enough as they already were even without them causing even more problems.

Kiba huffed and looked away, but she took that as a good sign. Him not outright complaining or arguing usually meant he agreed and just didn't want to admit it out loud.

Honestly, Hinata thought with a hint of a smile on her lips. He tries way too hard to look tough. There wouldn't be anything embarrassing about him admitting that he had been worried as well.

She had seen how hard he pretended not to watch the fight only to wince whenever Shino got hit and how he twitched as if he wanted to interfere when Tenten increased the pressure on him, so his uncaring act was understandably ineffective on her.

And while she wished he would be a bit more open about his feelings -now that would solve quite a few problems within their team!- and just admit that he cared for them as well, Hinata was already content with just knowing it to be the case. The rest could come later.

"Well then," Guy-sensei called from the sidelines with an oddly contemplative voice. "In that case… Lee, it's your turn now!"

"Yosh! I'm already all fired up!" Rather than simply walking over, Lee first crouched down before he jumped, crossing the distance in a single leap that included several unnecessary but certainly aesthetically looking flips before landing a dozen metres in front of her with a beaming grin. "Let's enjoy ourselves to the fullest, Hinata-chan!"

Her only reply was a somewhat shaky smile, but Lee didn't seem to care. If anything, that little gesture seemed to be enough to motivate him even more.

No matter how often I meet him, he never gets less overwhelming. Hinata wasn't sure how Neji managed to not only deal but actually get along with him; while her cousin wasn't quite as reserved as she was, he was still a rather introverted person. Someone as outgoing and loud as Lee should theoretically be the last person he got along with, and yet he had nothing bad to say about him.

It wasn't as if Hinata disliked him either, but the thought of being on a team with him seemed, well, exhausting. Even Kiba, while certainly energetic and brash, at least understood when she needed a break and a bit of silence.

"Are the two of you ready?" Guy-sensei's voice pulled her out of her thoughts.

Lee's reply was instantaneous. "Yes, Sensei!"

Hinata fell into her stance and activated her Byakugan before showing her own agreement with a nod.

"Then let the fight begin!"

Lee was upon her before Guy-sensei's voice had even entirely faded away, and if her body hadn't jumped away on its own, his first kick would have already knocked her out. Not letting up, Lee quickly rushed after her and followed up with a punch to her head. Hinata, sensing her chance, immediately moved to close the tenketsu in his arm only for him to pull back at the very last moment and exploit the moment where her stance was open to throw a kick to her stomach.

Funnily enough, the first thing that went through her head wasn't the pain but the face of one of her teammates. Did you see that, Shino? she thought. Less than five seconds into the fight and I already got hit. You really don't have anything to be embarrassed about.

Hinata somehow managed to stay on her feet even as she slid backwards, but it was a close thing, and it took all the self-control she had to keep her arms in a ready stance instead of cradling her throbbing stomach.

It was this that allowed her to defend herself when Lee rushed towards her again, however, so it was definitely worth it.

She took a step backwards to avoid his first roundhouse kick and then another one to dodge the following one to her chest before she was forced to actually defend herself when he threw a punch to her face.

She moved once again to close the tenketsu in his arm, and once again he redrew his limb at the last possible moment to follow up with another kick to her stomach, but she was prepared this time and immediately lashed out with her other arm to target the tenketsu in his leg instead, deliberately moving in a way that would keep one arm between their bodies in case he was able to dodge and she needed to block another one of his attacks.

And that was exactly what happened; just as Lee had done before with his arm, he pulled his leg back before she could actually touch it. Then he jumped into the air, spun around his own axis, and followed up with another kick.

She was prepared for that as well, though.

Hinata didn't bother targeting the leg itself this time and neither did she try to dodge it. Instead, she made to move forwards while doing her best to ignore the pain that shot through her veins when his kick connected with her shoulder. Having expected the blow, she managed to hold her ground and push onwards to close the distance between them, bringing herself into a perfect position to throw an attack of her own.

From this distance, hitting Lee with the Eight Trigrams Sixteen Palms manoeuvre was well within her abilities.

However, for just about a split-second, she hesitated.

Hinata knew that she could perform the technique. She had gone through the motions of it countless times, sometimes on her own and sometimes with either her father, Neji, or her uncle to supervise her. By now, the manoeuvre was as easy as breathing. That being said, she never actually used it against anyone other than the aforementioned three people, and the difference between them and her current opponent was that they would definitively be able to counter her if she messed up.

They could see if she used too much chakra, could notice if her aim was just the slightest bit off, and could consequently avoid receiving internal injuries due to her messing up. If push came to shove, they could even emit chakra from their own tenketsu before she hit them to block her attack.

Lee, on the other hand, couldn't. It had been one thing when targeting his arms of legs. Even if she messed up there, nothing too bad would happen. Nothing that couldn't be healed in a single visit to the hospital. Now, however, she was aiming at his chest. All it took for her to fatally injure him by accidentally harming one of his organs was a single mistake.

Maybe she wouldn't have hesitated if this was an enemy, someone she didn't know. Lee was an acquaintance of hers, though, and her cousin's teammate. He wasn't someone she wanted to kill.

The moment lasted for less than a second, but that was more than enough time for her opponent to twist out of the way and bring some distance between them, resulting in her hand striking nothing but air.

I did it again, she thought, disappointed in herself. Why does this keep happening?

She resolutely avoided looking towards their audience whose presence she had almost forgotten till now.

"Woah, you're really good, Hinata-chan," Lee suddenly called out to her, his voice completely sincere. "I see now why Neji is always bragging about you!"

She blinked in surprise. "What?" Her earlier decision already forgotten, she briefly focused her Byakugan enhanced vision on her cousin only to notice the slightly embarrassed expression on his face that he tried -and failed- to hide.

"Oh, yes! He always tries to act cool, but whenever you come up in conversation, he gets all excited and has this proud look on his face while he-" Lee suddenly stopped as his eyes widened in some kind of realisation before his face reddened and he nervously scratched his cheek. "Actually, he probably doesn't want you to know that, so can you please forget what I just said?"

'How could I possibly just forget that' was what she wanted to scream, but what left her mouth instead was an uncertain sound of agreement that nobody in their right mind would buy.

Naturally, Lee was immediately convinced by it.

"Whoa, that's a relief," he said while letting out a relieved sigh, and if Hinata didn't know better, she would have thought he had let his guard down entirely. "He would be really mad if he knew that I told you that, you know?"

She shot him a shaky smile. "Of course." I think it's a bit too late for that, though.

"Anyway, I guess I better take you more serious. That attack just now almost hit me! I really can't take you lightly anymore."

Hinata blinked. What does he mean with-

Before she could finish the thought, Lee vanished in a blur only to reappear right in front of her almost immediately.

A moment later, while she was still trying to understand what had just happened, a kick to her side went her flying.

She had been thrown around in enough spars throughout her life for her body to know how to land and get back to her feet as fast as possible without actively thinking about it. Thus, after rolling over the ground for a few seconds, she managed to catch herself in a crouch.

That didn't protect her from the following kick to her head when Lee once more appeared right in front of her, and the only thing that stopped his leg from crashing into her face was her instinctive reaction to cross her arms in front of it.

The power behind the attack still smashed her own arms painfully hard into her face and threw her back once more, but it at least made her avoid much worse.

Has he just been playing with me? she thought in panic as she tried and failed to follow her opponent's movements. No, he wouldn't do that. He isn't like that at all. Holding back that much against an opponent would be an insult in his eyes, right? So why-

Another barely blocked kick that sent her flying for the third time interrupted her before she could finish that thought, but it made something else sink in: Lee was serious right now.

Hinata just knew that she was in danger. Not a life-threatening one, of course, but still very much in danger. Itachi-sensei would intervene if Lee went too far, after all. However, that didn't mean she wouldn't be injured or that she wouldn't experience a world of pain before that happened.

Judging from the way he pressured her, he certainly wouldn't be happy to end the fight in a decisive but ultimately harmless way as Tenten had done. No, he wanted to knock her out!

Hinata didn't even notice her hands move on their own when a flash from the corner of her eyes alerted her to Lee's presence to her left, and while his kick still sent her flying once more, her finger stabbed into his calf at the same time without her even needing to think about it.

Unfortunately, that wasn't enough to actually close his tenketsu there as something blocked her access. Is he wearing some kind of leg guard beneath his clothes? A quick, closer look with her Byakugan revealed that no, he didn't, as it were actually ankle weights of all things. She didn't think much further about it, however. All that mattered to her right now was that they were the only kind of protection he wore, meaning the rest of his body was open to her attacks.

Although she had been kicked around several times, Hinata's vision felt strangely clear. Her body should have hurt and been weighed down by injuries, but instead, she felt almost weightless. Somehow, everything just made sense.

It was an odd feeling, but she wasn't in any position to question it at the moment.

The next time Lee closed in on her, she actually managed to dodge first his kick and then the following punch before throwing a palm strike of her own towards his chest.

Hinata didn't notice it herself, but this time, there was no hesitation in her movements whatsoever.

He dodged, of course, but she didn't let that dishearten her. Without pausing her movement in the slightest, she shifted her weight further forward before throwing her right leg out backwards in a mule kick. After all, just because she couldn't actually follow Lee's movements didn't mean she couldn't predict them, and while she had no guarantee that he would truly reappear behind her, it just felt right.

Her hunch was confirmed a moment later when an unrelenting grip caught her ankle, stopping her kick but not her attack as she immediately emitted spikes of chakra from the tenketsu in her leg where Lee's hand had caught her before he could follow up with another attack himself.

It wasn't the same as if she had deliberately hit one of his tenketsu with a direct attack, but it would still feel similar to being hit by some weak electronic charge; not exactly painful but enough to let her go and briefly distract him.

The moment she was free, Hinata immediately drew her leg back towards her body and used the resulting momentum to start spinning around her own axis while emitting chakra from all her tenketsu at the same time.

"Hakkeshō Kaiten!" (Eight Trigrams: Palm Rotation)

Technically, she hadn't mastered this technique yet. Not only did she tend to fail to use it altogether one out of three times, but she also regularly lost control while she was spinning even when she actually succeeded. However, this time, it somehow was just so easy. The movement felt so natural that the thought of failing didn't even cross her mind. Not being able to pull it off was simply unthinkable at the moment.

And succeed she did

Thanks to her Byakugan, she had seen that Lee managed to collect himself in time to avoid the worst of her attack, but he had still lost his footing been thrown back. Just a little bit more, she thought as she stopped rotating and prepared herself to move after him while he was still dazed. Just one more attack, that's all I need. If I can hit him just once, I-

One moment, she was tensing her muscles in preparation for the leap that would cross the distance between them, and a moment later, she was in the air and only vaguely aware that she had been propelled upwards by a kick to her chin.

There was no pain, nothing that indicated that she had been hit, and she certainly hadn't seen the attack coming. The entire situation felt unreal, and it was almost as if she was watching it happen from an outside perspective instead of experiencing it herself- something she was technically able to do thanks to her Byakugan but certainly wasn't doing right now.

Instead, she was focusing on the figure that had appeared in the air behind her.

Hinata should probably feel worried or even scared, but she wasn't. In fact, she felt much calmer than she had ever been in her life. She might be in danger, yes, but at the same time, everything was just so clear as if time itself had stopped to allow her to observe everything around her in great detail; from the blades of grass on the ground to the flailing of Lee's clothes behind her and even the distant sound of surprised cries from their crowd on the sidelines, everything was crystal clear to her.

She was also more than aware that she was about to lose this fight and that there was nothing she could do about it, but strangely enough, that didn't bother her either.

It was just one more observation, one more fact that didn't feel any more personal than all the others.

Then two arms suddenly wrapped around her and the moment was over.

Just like with Lee's attack moments earlier, Hinata didn't see anything that could have warned her about this beforehand, and still confused as she was from being pulled out from that strange tranquillity she had experienced earlier and dazed from the sudden onslaught of pain from wounds that she hadn't felt previously, she didn't have the presence of mind to actually check whose arms she was in before she instinctively used the Gentle Fist to close several of the culprit's tenketsu.

The person winced noticeably at that action but -much to her shock and growing horror- didn't actually let go of her. She could feel her heart beating painfully in her chest as the need to do something -anything- to break free from this grip grew stronger and stronger, and she was just about to release chakra from all her tenketsu at once just like she had done when Lee had grabbed her ankle when the person finally spoke up.

"Hinata, calm down. The fight is over."

It was seven simple words, nothing special in the grand scheme of things, but fortunately, they served their purpose. Perhaps it was the intensity with which they were spoken, perhaps it was that she subconsciously recognised the voice and reacted instinctively, but whatever the reason, it was these seven words that calmed Hinata enough to finally allow her to actually assess the situation.

"Itachi-sensei…?" It hurt to speak, Lee's last kick having evidentially done its job, but that didn't matter to her right now. "What happened?"

"It appears you lost your match, I'm afraid," he said, looking down at her with a warm smile. "However, you put up a very good fight. You can be proud of yourself, Hinata."

She could feel her cheeks heating up at these words. Looking back, it certainly didn't feel as if she had done much good of anything, really. All she had done was take one blow after another. It was kind of him to say that, though, especially after she…

Hinata's eyes widened as the realization of what she had done set in. "I-I'm so sorry!" she exclaimed as she began wriggling in his arms, her pain momentarily forgotten in favour of remembering the fact that she had closed his tenketsu! "I didn't mean to-"

He actually had the gall to chuckle at how flustered she was. She could have actually killed him if her aim was just a little bit off, and she knew from experience that even just the regular closing of tenketsu hurt a lot, and yet he was chuckling!

"Don't beat yourself up over this," he told her, still amused but with an underlying tone that told her not to argue the point. "In fact, I'm proud that you reacted this way. If someone unknown grabs you like this and tries to steal you away, I expect you to act just like you have done now."

Hinata really wanted to argue, but she knew by now that doing so when Itachi-sensei used that voice was all but useless.

That didn't mean she agreed with him, though.

Visibly satisfied with her lack of a fight, he continued: "Much more importantly, do you think you can walk on your own?"

And with that simple question, the realisation that he still held her in his arms set in and made her face feel like it was on fire.

"I-"

"And please answer honestly. You won't do anyone a favour if you collapse as soon as I let you down."

Hinata swallowed her immediate reply down in favour of taking a few seconds to collect all the dignity she had left -little as it might be- before opening her mouth again. "I can walk, yes. Thank you, Sensei."

She regrated that decision as soon as her feet touched the ground. Her entire body felt sore, and now that the adrenalin slowly left her body, she could feel herself growing weaker by the second, but by far the worst was her legs that felt like jelly beneath her.

Itachi-sensei thankfully limited himself to a pointed look with a raised eyebrow when she grasped his arm for support. If her face weren't already beet red, it would be now.

And just like that, they began to slowly walk towards where the rest of the group was already waiting, her teammates and Neji shooting her concerned looks and appearing as if they were just barely restraining themselves from rushing over while Lee stood with bowed head before Guy-sensei and Tenten who spoke to him in hushed voices that were too silent for her to hear.

Somehow, the entire scene felt oddly peaceful.

Although she had lost, Hinata didn't feel too bad about it. Really! While she knew that Itachi-sensei had exaggerated when he said she had done great, she had tried her best and given all she got. Before the fight, she wouldn't have thought that this would be enough for her, but now, she knew better.

She might not be happy with the outcome, but she was satisfied.

Now if I only could believe that myself…

"Hinata, are you alright?"

Kiba might not have been particularly interested in Shino's fight -a lie, his subconscious whispered, but he paid it no heed- and was fine with him being put down a notch, but this was different. This was Hinata. If there was one person that didn't deserve being beaten down like that, it was her.

She shot him a reassuring smile that would have been much more effective in soothing his nerves if she weren't also still holing to Itachi-sensei's arm to support herself. "Of course," she said, but Kiba didn't miss the slight wince as she opened her mouth. "I just need to sit down and catch my breath for a few minutes, that's all. You don't need to worry."

He was tempted to disagree. While he didn't spot any serious injury, he had watched her being thrown around the field like a rag doll mere minutes ago. That kinda thing left its mark. However, Kiba understood that she didn't want to be pitied and could respect that. After the performance she had put on, that was the least he could do.

He tried not to dwell too long on just how well she had actually held herself or what this kind of performance meant for his position within the hierarchy of their team.

As if reading his mind, Shino stepped up beside him. "Congratulations on your performance, Hinata. You were most impressive."

Kiba suppressed a growl at his teammate's sudden proximity. So maybe he had gone a bit too far earlier during their disagreement, but Shino had replied in kind, so he saw no reason to be all buddy-buddy with him again just like that. The only reason he restrained himself at the moment was that Hinata was more important right now and because Itachi-sensei would probably not be very amused if they started fighting again.

Hinata looked vaguely uncomfortable by that compliment. "I still lost, though…"

"It's alright to accept a compliment when it's given to you," Itachi-sensei said before either he or Shino had the chance. "Especially when you deserve it. As I already said, you did do great."

She did look to the ground at that, avoiding all their eyes, but Kiba noticed her lips tucking upwards in a shy smile. In all honestly, he wasn't sure why she seemed so hesitant about accepting that she had put up a good fight- a very good fight, even. In fact, he had never seen her fight like that before. Never had she been so fast or so aggressive in any of their spars, and she most certainly had never used that crazy sphere technique before. It was almost as if this Hinata was an entirely different person than the Hinata he knew. If it weren't for the fact that he would have been able to smell if this one in front of him was a fake, he would have thought that she must have some secret twin or something.

It made Kiba wonder if she had always just held back during their fights or if there was something else going on he didn't know about. Just playing with them and offering words of praise while secretly holding back didn't seem in character for her, at least, but what other reason could there be…

"Kiba," Itachi-sensei interrupted his thoughts. "It's your turn next."

Blinking, he looked from his sensei to the centre of the clearing where Hinata's cousin was already waiting,

Right, he thought. I still need to beat that asshole up, don't I?

He had kinda forgotten about him in his worry about Hinata, but now that it was clear that she was fine, Kiba could feel the anger in his stomach boiling up again. Not as intense as earlier, but still very much present.

"Sure," he said, a wide grin plastered on his face. "Just watch us. We're going to make this quick so that we can go back to training, right, Akamaru?"

His ever-loyal companion replied with an enthusiastic bark.

With a last friendly nod towards Hinata and while ignoring Shino altogether, he began making his way over to the waiting form of his opponent.

Kiba wasn't stupid. He was the first to admit that he might be somewhat brash sometimes, sure, but never stupid. The last two matches had shown him that their opponents weren't weak. Shino, while of course weaker than himself, wouldn't have been beaten that easy by just anyone, and Hinata's opponent had brought the point home even more. At some point during her match, he hadn't even seen him move! Moreover, he had also come to the realization that he might not know quite as much about the Gentle Fist as he thought he did, so his own opponent might still have some ace up his sleeves Kiba didn't know about.

Whatever. I have my own tricks up my sleeves, and even though I don't know everything about his style, I still know more about it than he does about mine.

"You took your sweet time, didn't you? I was almost convinced you were trying to avoid fighting me after all."

"I wouldn't have taken so long if your teammate didn't beat Hinata up as badly as he did," he replied, his eyes narrowed. "Not that you seem to care much. For being her cousin, you're surprisingly unconcerned with her well-being."

Judging from the tightening of the other boy's jaw, that seemed to have hit a nerve. "Lee shouldn't have gone that far, but I trust Hinata to be able to handle that much. I plan to end this fight quickly and check up on her afterwards, though, so better don't expect me to hold back against you."

"Funny. You took the words right out of my mouth."

"Let's see if you're still that cocky when the fight is over."

"I wonder how you're going to do that when you're not awake to see it because you're lying unconscious at my feet."

"That's enough," Itachi-sensei interrupted their quarrel, taking over the position of the other team's sensei who was still talking to Lee. "Spare your breaths for the fight. Can I assume from your behaviour that you are both ready?"

"Yes, Sensei."

Neji scoffed but nodded nonetheless before falling into the same stance Hinata always used.

"Then you may begin."

Kiba saw no reason to wait for his opponent to make the first move. The Gentle Fist was dangerous enough as it was without being on the defence as well.

"C'mon, Akamaru! Gatsūga!"

Within a second, Akamaru had transformed into a human clone of his and the two of them immediately rushed towards Neji with their trademark attack. The Hyūga, on the other hand, merely tensed his muscles in preparation for the attack, probably intending to take him head-on and finish this fight in an instant just like he had said he would.

Heh, you wish!

It was when they were almost upon him that Kiba and Akamaru put their plan into action: Neji was just about to strike when the two of them suddenly changed direction, going from a confrontational course to one that brought them just outside his range before starting to circle around him. Neji, being too caught off-guard by their unexpected action, hesitated just a tad too long before attacking them, so by the time he rushed forward, they were already goon again.

They left a few surprises behind, however, and judging from the widening of his eyes, Neji had noticed that as well.

A moment later, the explosion tags they had planted on the ground around him went off.

Usually, all of his clan's techniques shared the same basic attribute of being a physical attack. That was what they were specialised in. Most members learned some long-raged techniques as well simply to compensate for their weaknesses, well-aware that not doing so would lead to nothing but problems, but in the end, they were still Taijutsu specialists. It was close combat they were best in, and it was that which their techniques focused on.

That being said, they could also recognize when the situation called for a more… creative approach.

Their beast-human combos were so dangerous because they hit quick and hard. Against a Hyūga who could potentially beat them with a single touch, that wasn't enough to guarantee a victory. Thus, their usual approach wouldn't work. That didn't mean that they were at a disadvantage, though, as there were other ways to utilize their speed and mobility.

By getting close to their opponent, dropping off some bombs, and then getting away before they exploded, for example. With their speed, they would be able to avoid Neji easily, and as he was a Taijutsu specialist as well, he shouldn't be able to attack them from afar either.

In Kiba's humble mind, it was a brilliant plan. After all, it was only a question of time until one of their attacks hit and brought them the win. All they needed to do was to be patient.

"Tsk, it would have been too much to hope for that the first onslaught would be enough, wouldn't it?" He had expected that, of course, but seeing Neji jump out of the dust cloud the explosions had stirred up was still annoying. "Whatever. Let's go, Akamaru!"

He might somehow have dodged their first attack, but now that he was in the air where he couldn't move around, his fate was sealed.

They once more rushed forward and began to circle around him, careful to keep out of his range, and Kiba prepared to let some more explosion tags drop. It was still beyond him to actually throw kunai with them attached to it while he was rotating at high-speed like this, but for this specific purpose, just dropping them while close to his target was more than enough. As long as he-

"Hakkeshō Kaiten!" (Eight Trigrams: Palm Rotation)

Kiba didn't have the time to finish that sentence before he was thrown away by a sudden onslaught of chakra.

So he's able to use that technique as well, he thought as he slid over the ground before coming to a stop in a crouch. I thought it might be possible, but I hoped he didn't.

It was fortunate that he hadn't been up close to him or that attack would have been much worse.

It did, however, interrupt his technique and briefly daze him, giving Neji more than enough time to cross the distance between them and force him into a direct confrontation in which Kiba didn't have the advantage of his clan's technique.

He rolled backwards to avoid Neji's first palm strike and then pushed himself off the ground with his hands to do the same with the second. The third came close enough to his face to make him feel a cool breeze, and he was forced to continue jumping backwards to somehow evade the fourth and fifth attacks as well.

Neji came too close to make evasion possible for the sixth strike, though, so Kiba grudgingly moved to slap the strike away before it could hit his chest.

A moment later, his left hand went numb, proving that Neji had closed at least one tenketsu there during that short contact.

Neji was clearly different from Hinata, and while he hated to admit it, he was better too. His movements were quicker, more fluid, and his attacks held the intent to finish the opponent off as quickly as possible. There was no hesitation to be found in his attacks.

If the fight continued like this, Kiba had no doubt that he would lose. That didn't bother him, though, as he wasn't alone. An Inuzuka never was.

As if on command, Akamaru came smashing down, hitting the ground between Kiba and Neji and consequently forcing their opponent to back away lest he got hit by the blast of the impact.

Kiba didn't intend to give him any break.

His right hand went into his pouch. "Don't stop there, Akamaru!" he exclaimed while simultaneously pulling out a flash bomb. "After him!"

The Byakugan could see perfectly fine even in absolute darkness, but blinding light was more than just a little bit effective. Their special sight would still allow them to see everything outside the range of the flash bomb clearly, meaning surprise attacks were only partially possible, but that wasn't what Kiba was aiming for anyway. After all, as he had learned from Hinata, the stimuli triggered by the light could be enough to force a Hyūga to deactivate their Kekkei Genkai, so if used correctly from up close, it was a very useful weapon. If Neji didn't close his eyes quickly enough to avoid the flash, he would be effectively blind for a short duration of time during which Kiba could strike.

He and Akamaru -why is he slower than earlier? Has that bastard somehow hit him when he broke us off?- rushed forward once more with their eyes closed, trusting their noses to lead them. The ground around their squinting opponent was covered in paper bombs within moments, and with their job done, they immediately turned around to gain some distance.

Sure, they could have used this opportunity to physically attack him, but why risk a possible counterattack if doing it this way was also an option? It was better to be safe than sorry.

Did you see that? he thought with a sideways glance towards his team. That's how you win a fight!

No one could claim he was the weak link in their team now.

The paper bombs behind him went off.

However, that wasn't enough to drown out their opponent's voice coming from the same direction:

"Hakke Kūhekishō!" (Eight Trigrams Vacuum Wall Palm)

Kiba's eyes widened as his body moved on its own to evade the wave of compressed chakra that was flying in his and Akamaru's direction, but he was only partly successful, resulting in him being thrown backwards alongside his canine companion.

This time, there was no semblance of control in his form as he slid across the ground, and he didn't end up in a crouch either but instead came to a stop lying on his back.

Were it not for the sound of whimpering to his left, he might just have stayed like that for a while.

"Akamaru, what-" His voice failed him when he saw his companion -his friend!- lying a few metres to his side, having once again taken his four-legged form.

"Don't worry," an approaching Neji said, his voice bored. "While my attack targets your vitals, I held back just enough to avoid serious damage. That's also the only reason you were able to dodge, by the way."

"You bastard," he growled but immediately stopped when he felt a cough build up in his throat because of it. "Why would you hold back?"

"I have a problem with you, not the dog. It's not his fault to have you as his master, after all."

"I'm not Akamaru's master! He's my-"

"Anyway," Neji interrupted him. "Much more important is what you plan to do now. I think it should be evident that you're outmatched, especially now that you're battered and lost your partner. If you ask nicely, I'll graciously allow you to yield instead of knocking you out."

Kiba clenched his fists as he glared up at the other boy. As much as he would like to disagree, he really couldn't argue with that assessment. Even though he had been hit with only one attack, he was already battered and almost unable to move. That wave of compressed chakra had clearly done some damage. Neji, on the other hand, was completely fine. He had not a single scratch, his clothes were as pristine as to begin of their fight and had no signs of having been in any way affected by the previous explosions, and his breathing was as calm as ever.

It was crystal clear that he was the stronger of the two of them.

And yet, Kiba didn't want- no, couldn't yield. He couldn't admit defeat just like that. Not in front of not only this team but his opponent's as well. After all the effort he had put into becoming stronger, yielding would seem like a punch to the face.

It simply wasn't an option.

Collecting all his remaining strength, Kiba drew a kunai with his one good hand and jumped to his feet. He might be at a disadvantage, but if he could catch his opponent by surprise, maybe-

"Hakke Jūroku Shō!" (Eight Trigrams: Sixteen Palm)

Kiba didn't have enough time to do more than widen his eyes before the attack hit.

"Two Palms!"

The first two strikes knocked the air out of him, and without him even noticing it, the kunai fell out of his hand.

"Two Palms!"

The impact of the attacks now pushed him backwards while everything around him began to blur.

"Four Palms!"

Why is this happening? Kiba thought as four consecutive strikes crashed into him with enough impact to lift him off the ground. Why is he so much stronger?

"Eight Palms!"

He was only vaguely aware of what was happening around him, not even feeling the pain of his wounds anymore as most of his body became numb, and when his back finally touched the ground, he was almost relieved.

So I lost, huh? For some reason, instead of being angry or even disappointed, he felt oddly elated by it. In fact, it was almost funny. That's what I get for having such a big mouth, I guess…

Maybe it was only a side-effect of him being dizzy from that last attack, but he found this defeat -for a lack of better words- liberating. Is this how strong I will be in a year from now?

In a way, fighting someone around his age who was so much stronger opened his eyes to what was possible and how much he himself could still grow. He was sure even Sasuke wouldn't be able to win against this opponent, and he had always been the best in their class!

Yes, Neji was indeed the strongest opponent he had ever fought- excluding his sensei, of course.

This thought actually caused Kiba to smile ruefully. Too bad he's such an asshole. If he weren't, I could almost be thankful to him.

Itachi watched Shino support Hinata as the two of them rushed towards their fallen teammate while Lee and Tenten moved towards Neji. Well, this went about as I expected, he mused with a thoughtful hum while absently rubbing his chest where Hinata had closed some of his tenketsu earlier. He went a bit over the top towards the end, though.

He had actually considered intervening until he noticed that Neji held back with his final technique. While he did close some tenketsu, not all of his stabs had actually been enhanced by chakra, meaning they might have been uncomfortable but didn't do any damage. Kiba could probably even stand up right now if he wanted to. What kept him down was more the fact that he believed he had been beaten and that he accepted his defeat rather than any actual physical damage.

"I take it you're satisfied?"

He turned around to look at Guy, slightly caught off-guard at the other man's uncharacteristic serious tone. "Shouldn't I? Aside from the little hiccup during the fight between Hinata and Lee, everything worked out well, didn't it?"

"That depends on what one understands under 'worked out well', I would say."

Many were easily fooled into believing that Guy was an idiot by his usual behaviour, but Itachi knew that to be wrong. Nevertheless, seeing him act like this was a first, and it made him wonder if the man saw something he didn't. "Can I assume you disagree with my method?"

Guy seemed to consider that for a moment before he sighed. "It's not something I would do myself. However, I don't know any of your students well enough to judge you, so I will refrain from forming any sort of opinion for now. That being said…" He turned around to look him straight in the eye. "They're Genin. It's important to sort their deficiencies out early and helping them to notice them themselves instead of just lecturing them is a good method in and of itself, but one needs to be careful while doing it. Trusting them is fine and well, and it speaks highly of your opinion of them that you chose this approach, but it's all too easy to do serious damage like this as well."

Itachi would be foolish to discard advice from a more experienced teacher, so he took a few moments to think about that before he replied. "You think their losses might have dealt a blow to their self-confidence?"

He had obviously considered that as a possible side-effect but ultimately concluded that the likelihood of that was low. Whatever damage in their self-confidence they might suffer would be a negligible amount easily compensated for by the next step in his plan. However, maybe he had judged too quickly?

"Among other things, yes. My worries seem to have been unnecessary from what I have observed so far, but again, I don't know them very well, so it's hard to say for sure. At the very least, I don't think there has been any serious damage done, and the girl will definitively benefit from today. Still, I recommend you remember their age and experience in the future when you think of another training method."

Itachi gave the other man a respectful nod. "I will keep that in mind."

Until now, he had assumed his experience in training Sasuke, Naruto, and Haku had given him enough experience in factoring his students' ages when training them, but maybe that wasn't quite the case. After all, training them was more of a pastime while training Team 8 was his duty. Where training his brother and the others was light-hearted and driven by his desire to both have a good time and keep them safe, his priority when training his students was making them grow both mentally and physically.

He needed to remember that while he trained them to become soldiers for their village, they were also people- young ones, at that.

"Well then!" Guy suddenly exclaimed, all traces of seriousness forgone as he shot him a beaming smile. "With that out of the way, I hope you haven't forgotten your part of the bargain, did you?"

"Of course not. I will see to it first thing tomorrow."

I feel almost sorry for him, he thought with a hint of humour while picturing the victim of the aforementioned bargain.

At the same time, somewhere in the village, a certain silver-haired shinobi sneezed.