Disclaimer: I do not own the Naruto Franchise that belongs solely to Masashi Kishimoto; I do not own Heaven's lost Property, High School DxD or any other Anime I borrow themes from. The only thing I claim is my OC's and original Story Plot.
Author's Note (A/N): Hey guys I'm back a little sooner than usual and I'm glad. I really powered through this chapter since I was so excited to cover this match. This chapter is pretty long but it's for good reason. This chapter is very important and crucial to the development of Naruto and Hinata's relationship as characters and to Naruto's reasons and motivations to fight Neji. It's important to the dynamic that is shared between these three characters and this chapter brought all of that out and more. It gets pretty rough and emotional at parts and things get a little nasty towards the end but I think it just adds to the emotions the chapter is supposed to give off.
All in all I'm super happy with the way things turned out as I really put a lot of effort into this chapter. So leave a review if you can. I'd really like to know what my readers are thinking.
So sit back, relax, and enjoy.
Chapter 46
Familial Jealousy
That's all she wrote. Kiba was out and Naruto had won. That was definitely one of the most emotionally charged and difficult battles Naruto's ever had in his life. That he was sure of. He may have won but his body and spirit surely didn't feel the same way. "Do you need medical attention young man?" One of the three Medical Ninja's present attending to Kiba asked as he looked over Naruto with his eyes and could see the young Uzumaki on his last legs.
Naruto was seriously contemplating taking the medic up on his offer as he was hurting in places he didn't even know he had but something stopped him. A sense of foreboding anxiety that was accompanied by the timely awakening of Iris in the back of his mind stayed Naruto's hand. Iris was now awake in Naruto's mind and even though her actual presence in the back of his mind much like Chaos's was muted he could still feel her telling him to stay. "No sir that won't be necessary thank you. I'll be fine. I don't want to leave just yet." Naruto declined politely even though he was dripping blood out of many different places.
"But…" The medic started to say but he was cut off by his superior who was looking Kiba over. "That's enough Mokuro. The boy declined. Besides he heals fast anyways." The lead medic stated as he glanced Naruto over and true to his words some of Naruto's wounds were closing up with barely visible golden flames flickering across his skin. The look the Medic was giving him reminded him of the many looks he received from the villagers growing up and that caused Naruto to internally frown and sigh at the same time.
Limping pass the medic team Naruto headed over to the stairs that would lead up to the observation balcony. He stopped briefly to see what Kiba's condition was and the Medics were loading him up onto a stretcher. Hinata, Shikamaru, Sakura who was now awake after her match, Shino, and Kurenai all met Naruto at the bottom of the steps. The group stopped by Kiba's stretcher as Kurenai looked at her student in concern. Hinata approached and so did Shino. "Kiba are you alright?" Kurenai asked as she hesitated to touch any of his skin less she aggravate any injuries. "I'm ok sensei, I'm not as hurt as I thought I'd be after that last attack. Lucky me huh?" Kiba weakly replied with a short laugh. Turning his attention to Hinata's concerned form, Kiba's eyes showed hope.
"How did I do Hinata? Was I strong?" Hinata's lavender eyes drooped down in sadness as she hadn't realized the situation would come to this. "Yes Kiba, you were really strong. You've improved so much." Hinata admitted truthfully as there was no denying that Kiba hasn't improved greatly since the Land of Waves. He was high Genin to Low Chūnin at this point and was definitely one of the strongest of the rookies. That was indisputable. "Really!" Kiba asked with some hope reflecting in his voice and eyes.
Hinata nodded her head in confirmation to this but before she could further comment Kiba spoke again. "Well if that's the case how about after this…" Kiba began but stopped once he saw Naruto approach. The scowl was on his face in an instant as he glared at Naruto. "Here to rub it in…" Kiba growled both in anger and in pain. "No I was never going to do that." Naruto admitted truthfully as he glanced at Kiba's injuries. He was in bad shape but nothing life threatening which was quite contrary when compared to the finishing move used against him. "Don't think this is over Naruto… you beat me this time but don't think it will end up this way again." Kiba declared while coughing a bit. "There won't be a next time Kiba. I will not fight over Hinata with you. She's my best friend." Naruto countered with a wheezing sigh. It was going to take him a while to recover fully.
Kiba gritted his teeth at this as he felt like Naruto was looking down on him. "Am I not strong enough… is that it?" Kiba questioned in fury as he was about to go on a tirade. "No Kiba! It has nothing to do with that. You need to get this alpha dog mentality out of your head. I get it ok… you like Hinata but you need to let her decide if she likes you back. Stop making this all about you! My feelings towards Hinata don't even matter when you yourself can't even control yours." Naruto lectured in a stern voice as he completely put his foot down. He had to stop this now. Kiba looked like was going to retort but he was cut off again and by the one person he was not expecting.
"Kiba please stop this. I don't want this to get in the way of our friendship." Hinata cut in stopping whatever comeback Kiba was about to shout out. "I understand that you like me as more than a friend Kiba… but the thing is… I don't like you in that way. I've tried to give you those hints many times in the past and I've tried to let you down gently but you never once noticed those hints. You always came back. I want us to just be friends. I'm so sorry that I never made that clearer in the past. If I did, it wouldn't have come to this." Hinata explained as she apologized for what she felt was her mistake in handling the situation between her, Naruto and Kiba.
Kiba honestly looked hurt worst here by Hinata's words than the actual battle he just partook in. The words stung his pride and feelings more than he cared to admit. After a few seconds Kiba spoke up… the pain and hurt was clear in his eyes. "Do you love him Hinata?" Kiba asked as he tried to look in her eyes. Hinata smiled sadly down at her teammate as she knew she had to tell him the truth in order to truly help him. "Yes, Kiba I do."
Naruto blushed a bright red in embarrassment and shock as he was definitely not expecting Hinata… shy Hinata to come out and admit that in front of everyone in earshot. She was blushing even harder than Naruto was though but the resolve that was in her eyes couldn't be denied. She had to tell the truth. The pain that flared up in Kiba's eyes was tough for both Naruto and Hinata to see as he looked like he just swallowed a bitter pill. "Here Kiba take this." Hinata offered as she took out one of the healing balms she's spent the last few months making and stockpiling. Between the efforts of Hinata and Evangeline they've combined Eva's gold dust with the healing balm to create powerful healing ointments so strong that they could heal deep gashes in mere minutes.
"I'm sorry but the patient can't accept any unknown ointments right now." The lead medic declined as he stopped Hinata's hand from moving. Seeing that the medics were done with their initial patches ups and were ready to move him Kiba decided he had one last thing to say. "Hinata there aren't that many participants left. If you go up against your cousin… I want you to forfeit." Kiba advised showing that even though he was hurt right now he was still thinking of Hinata and her best interest.
"Ok Kiba… thank you." Hinata acknowledged as Kiba was hauled off. The look on Kiba's face told Naruto and Hinata that this problem wasn't quite over. Hinata couldn't even look Naruto in the eyes as she turned to him. "Here Naruto, you take it. It will help speed up your recovery." Hinata offered as she avoided making eye contact with her best friend. Silently taking the small container of ointment, Naruto could easily just like breathing feel Eva's demonic Yōki deeply mixed into the ointment boosting the healing properties it could provide.
"Hinata… I…" Naruto began to speak as he felt so many thoughts crossing his mind at the moment. It was true that he and Hinata kissed twice before. Once in the classroom on graduation day, which coincidentally enough was Kiba's entire fault and the second time was after Team 7 finished the Capture Tora mission. He had asked her help in shopping for a new tuxedo. After it was done he had kissed her on the cheek in a bold move that surprised the both of them. It was also the same day he first met the Kingpin of the Hidden Stone herself. Balalaika.
"Not here Naruto, there are too many people." Hinata cut in before Naruto could start to say the statement both he and Hinata knew he would make. The look in her eyes said it all. This was a conversation best left until after the preliminaries. The blush was still very much on her face and as far as she was concerned she wanted to disappear into her oversized beige jacket. She didn't want anyone to look at her right now let alone question her on what just occurred.
"Hinata are…" Sakura began to ask as she was also shocked that Hinata would admit something so important. "Don't Sakura… leave it be." Shikamaru sighed as he grabbed a hold of Naruto and started to made his way up top. Everyone else followed him up with Hinata close by. Once everything finally settled down the rest of the participants had to wait a few minutes as the arena floor was repaired. The one thing that they couldn't really repair in such a short amount of time would be the massive phoenix shaped scorch mark staining the floor. There was nothing that could be done about it.
"Ok the five-minute intermission is over; the next two participants are about to be chosen." Hayate announced once everything was ready to continue. The LED board high up on the wall lit up once again with the names of the participants in a green bold font. For close to thirty seconds the names randomly flashed across the screen going too fast for most people to follow and during that time Naruto felt a bad pit of anxiety rising in his body. He felt like he was going to hyperventilate and he didn't even know why. He soon got the answer when the system stopped on two names he never in his life wanted to see matched up.
[Hinata Hyūga vs. Neji Hyūga]
All of the color drained out of Hinata's face which was quite noticeable since her face was still flushed from embarrassment. Naruto's heart sunk into his stomach as the anxiety he was feeling hit its climax. Naruto felt an immediate rise in killing intent and negative emotions as he turned to see Neji glaring a hole into both his and Hinata's heads. "You should forfeit Hinata. You don't want to go through with this." Neji spoke as he watched Naruto grabbed Hinata's hand and intertwined his fingers with hers. "You can do this Hinata. I know you can." Naruto said encouragingly as he made sure his best friend was looking into his eyes instead of that of her cousin.
Hinata couldn't help but crack a small smile at her best friends attempt to encourage her. She really needed it as she was feeling apprehension, nervousness, and fear for what was to come. Hinata's smile faded however, as her eyes caught the same feelings she was experiencing right now reflecting in Naruto's eyes. "You don't really want me to do this, do you?" Hinata asked as she felt Naruto squeeze her hand, she could also feel a bit of his sweat mingling between their palms and she knew he was trying to stay calm.
"Honestly, no. If you could be as far away from Neji as possible it would make me feel better. With that grudge he has against you and the main branch he won't hesitate to hurt you." Naruto admitted truthfully as he decided not to hide the fear in his eyes anymore. "This is your decision to make Hinata, no one can make it for you." Kurenai decided to speak up as she watched the scene play out between her prized student and her best friend. She's been curious for months about the exact nature of Hinata's relationship towards Naruto. They've kept it quiet and to themselves but it's plainly obvious for anyone with a pair of eyes that there was definitely something serious between the two longtime friends.
"I have to do this. I have to stand up to him." Hinata said as a smoldering fire started to ignite in her eyes. She was well aware of the nonexistent relationship she shared with her very own cousin. He hated her and the entire main branch of the Clan. The sacrificial death of her uncle and his father Hizashi Hyūga deeply traumatized Neji at a very young age; especially as he grew up seeing his father subjected to the Cage Bird Curse Seal multiple times by main branch members because his father was never afraid to speak his mind in controversial matters. Sometimes the punishment would come from his very own uncle. Hiashi Hyūga the head of the clan and identical twin brother to Hizashi.
"Be careful Hinata, he won't hold back." Naruto warned as he squeezed Hinata's hand once again. Hinata finally smiled a warm smile at Naruto that had his face flushed pink. "I will. Thank you, Naruto." With that Hinata started to make her way down to the arena floor where Neji was there waiting for her. "Hinata fight smarter, not harder ok." Shikamaru offered up his advice and words of encouragement. "Stay safe Hinata." Shino curtly said as he was not a boy of very many words. Hinata appreciated everything her friends had to say as she nodded to them. "So, you decided to come down here after all. That was a big mistake." Neji berated with a glare boring a hole straight into Hinata's skull.
"I'm not making a mistake at all brother. I have to do this." Hinata countered as she stared at her cousin who she used to affectionately call brother. Till this day, she still does but Neji callously dismisses the affection and care Hinata attempts to give him.
"We shall soon find out about that. Did you honestly think you can come here to these exams and advance? You are far too weak to survive beyond this point." Neji dictated as he wore an arrogant look on his face. "You're wrong about this Neji. I'm far stronger than you may think." Hinata disagreed as she shook her head in disappointment towards Neji's casual dismissal of her abilities. "Humm. Now you're starting to sound like Naruto. You spent more time with him than your training. He's a weakling who's held you back for years." Neji lectured as Hayate who was in between them looked uncomfortable at the argument breaking out between the two-family members. "You would call what Naruto just did to Kiba weak? Has your anger really blinded you all these years?" Hinata asked in pity as for a long time Neji has refused to acknowledge Naruto's strength and character.
"You would dare call me blind! How dare you?" Neji seethed in rage as he took offense to what Hinata had just said. "My Byakugan is the strongest in the entire clan. And I can see more than any other. I see the truths of this world." Neji ranted as he briefly lost his composer.
Hinata truly couldn't help it. She tried to stop the reaction she involuntarily let loose but she just couldn't help it. Hinata let loose a quiet giggle that soon got louder as she laughed at the absurdity and irony of Neji's statement. It was completely not true. "That's not actually true Neji. Your Byakugan may be able to see farther than mine and it may even allow you to see all of the Tenketsu in the human body but as far as being stronger than mine and being able to see the truths of the world… you're very wrong about that." Hinata corrected as she fought to bring her laughter under control. It was highly uncharacteristic of her to do such an action but just listening to what Neji had to say and having all of the emotional stress of what's she's endured for the last few days piling up it caused her to just let loose.
The fact of the matter is Hinata's Byakugan is one of the strongest in the entire Hyūga Clan. Because of the fact from the age of six years old she's been around Naruto constantly she's actually passively absorbed a lot of his highly potent and mixed chakra into her body. Her enhanced Byakugan actually allows her to see Yōki, Holy Aura, and to a lesser degree other forms of foreign energy. This is an accolade not many individuals in the current clan can do. To the best of her knowledge her father Hiashi Hyūga is definitely someone with a Byakugan that powerful. A certain percentage of the elders have Byakugan nearing that caliber and only a handful of the clans top tiered Jōnin level shinobi can perceive energies that are not chakra.
"WHAT?!" Neji seethed as he looked as if he was going to pounce on Hinata right then and there. "How dare you mock me Hinata! You dare laugh at me when I speak the truth? You lie Hinata. You've allowed Naruto to fill your head with lies and now you've disgraced yourself by becoming just like him. You aren't worthy of being the heir to the clan." Neji raged as he slid into his Gentle Fist form.
The last comment of his was the only one to actually sting Hinata's feelings as she has worked very hard to maintain her position as heiress. The elders forced her father to make her fight Hanabi for the position of heiress years ago, but with the timely secret intervention of Naruto and Eva who had played a prank on the entire clan it left that whole situation forever unresolved. Most forgot about it as they turned their attention to beefing up the security around the compound.
"I will prove to you that I'm a lot stronger than you may think brother." Hinata said as she quickly gazed up at Naruto and saw the look of encouragement plastered on his face. Deep down he was worried for her and they both knew it but he was choosing to believe in his best friend. Hinata smiled up at him as well as the rest of her friends who returned the gesture with Naruto's smile being the softest and most tender.
"Are both fighters ready?" Hayate finally intervened as it looked like Neji was ready to attack Hinata on sight. "Ready!" Neji growled as his muscles tensed. "I'm ready sir." Hinata said politely as the sick looking Special Jōnin nodded in understanding.
"Then let the match begin." Hayate stated and no sooner had he jumped back out of the way of the brawl did Neji make his move.
Both Neji's and Hinata's Byakugan snapped to life at the exact same time as Neji rocketed off from his position far faster than anyone had ever seen. A loud smack was heard throughout the entire room as the prodigy from the Hyūga clan slam into his heiress like a freight train. A burst of visible blue chakra exploded from Neji's palm like an actual explosion as Hinata was forced back nearly three whole yards. Not letting up Neji blurred until he was right in front of Hinata and laid into her with strike after strike.
To her credit Hinata deflected almost every attack sent her way and for the ones she couldn't she simply dodged out of the way. Seeing a very brief opening that would disappear in an instant Hinata made her first move. "Gentle Fist Art: Palm Heel Strike!" Gathering a dense layer of chakra into her palms Hinata shot her hand forward with incredible speed aiming directly for Neji's left rib cage which was for a very brief moment exposed as he was unleashing his flurry of attacks. To the surprise of everyone except Hinata the older Hyūga boy managed to adjust himself and block Hinata's attack but he couldn't compensate for the actual power behind the move and was knocked back at least 10 feet.
Digging his heels into the ground Neji stopped his momentum in seconds as he glared daggers into Hinata's skull. "Is that all you've got." Neji didn't want to credit the strength Hinata used in that last attack as that would give weight to her boasting and claims. Resetting herself back into her kata Hinata's lavender colored Byakugan were focusing down her older cousin with an intensity that Neji didn't even know she was capable of. "Not even close. I'm not done yet." The veins in her Byakugan pulsed as Hinata took off from her spot. She could see everything Neji was doing and the same could be said from his perspective.
Hinata was abnormally fast as she was in Neji's reach within moments raining down pin point accurate strikes with her fingers that Neji was handling with expert ease. Quickly backhanding a stray attack coming at him Neji stepped up his game as he grabbed onto Hinata's arm. Squeezing tight and holding her in place for a brief moment, Neji took his free hand and landed three quick strikes from his fingers before Hinata could bring up her other arm as a defense. One hit her in the right shoulder blade, another hit in the right rib cage area, and the last landed in her inner triceps as she was bringing her arm around.
Hinata could feel each of those area's flare to life in stinging pain but through years of practice and experience she managed to clamp down on the pain and deliver a powerful blow to the forearm of Neji's arm which was holding onto hers. The brief moment that Neji was distracted by the pain in his arm was all the time Hinata needed to send another powerful blast of chakra out of her palms forcing Neji back while at the same time jumping back created a large gap between the two fighters.
Rolling her sleeve up Hinata saw one red spot on the inside of her triceps that looked strikingly similar to a mosquito or bee sting. Based on years of both firsthand experience and seeing it up close being inflicted to others Hinata knew that two more of these red spots were on her body where Neji landed a hit. It also helped that Hinata could feel her chakra was blocked in the Tenketsu located directly below her skin in the places Neji struck. Hinata winced in discomfort as she reopened her chakra points.
"What is Hinata going to do? They are pretty much at a standstill." Chōji asked as he munched on yet another bag of chips. No one knows where he gets that many bags of chips from and Naruto jokingly thinks the Akimichi boy has a storage seal somewhere on his body that has an unlimited supply of snacks. "I'm not sure Chōji. Hinata isn't going all out yet, they're still testing the waters and that's not even considering the fact Neji's just getting started." Naruto explained as he gripped the guard rail.
"Are you feeling confident now that you've managed to hit me?" Neji sneered as he got back into his stance. "You've belittled me and put me down for a very long time Neji. You hate me because I'm a part of the Main Family and because I'm indirectly responsible for the death of your father." Hinata countered as her eyes showed her inner pain at knowing she was connected to the incident that ended up with her uncle dying in her father's place. It hurt her deeply to not have her uncle in her life growing up and she knew that it hurt Neji much more. Over the years, she's tried to get close to her cousin to give him comfort and a shoulder to lean on but he quickly rejected her and began to hate her and the rest of the main household.
His hatred grew over the years as he threw himself into training himself into the ground. On the average day, he would train about 5 to 6 hours a day whenever he finished his clan related duties and on days that he didn't have any chores to do he would train consistently for nearly 8 to 9 hours and wouldn't stop until well into the night. He's done that consistently for years as he's pushed himself past his limits to become a prodigy within the clan. His gentle fist abilities at this time is easily on par with the average Jōnin within the clan.
"Don't you dare speak about him! You know nothing of the suffering I've gone through Hinata! You're nothing more than a failure who has no right to be a shinobi. You haven't suffered enough to earn that right!" Neji growled at her as he tightened up his Taijutsu stance. If looks could kill Hinata would have been dead long before this match today as Neji was channeling all of his anger at his younger cousin right now. Hinata took an involuntary step back as she was trying to deal with the amount of hatred and killing intent Neji was sending her way. It was much more than what she was used too.
"You don't belong here at these exams. Someone as weak and soft as you are doesn't have what it takes to survive the life of a Shinobi. You're a disappointment. Everyone is given a destiny at birth. A destiny that we can fight all we want but we will never get away from. My Byakugan can see it all. Your destiny is to not only be a failure for the rest of your life but to also be a nuisance and a constant walking reminder of everything that was taken from me." Neji ranted as he glared a hole into Hinata's skull who was starting to shake in emotional pain.
Hinata came into this match prepared to take on her cousin and win. If she could win she could prove to him how much stronger she is than he realized. He would constantly call her a failure at home and any demeaning statement he could think of and then walk away. He would never actively talk to her unless it involved belittling comments that he would say in passing whenever he caught her training or working on something. However, now that confidence was dwindling thanks to Neji's cruel words. They were hurting her more than she cared to admit.
She could feel tears prickling at the corners of her eyes as she fought to regain control of her emotions. She knew better, she was taught better than this but she couldn't help how her heart felt and how it went out to her cousin who was in more pain than she was. "No… you're wrong about me. I'm not a failure Neji and I'm not weak. All of these years… I've been holding back. I was conserving my strength. Hiding it away for just the right occasion." Hinata admitted as she tried to get her emotions back in check.
"You what...?" Neji growled as he narrowed his eyes at Hinata. Samui and her two teammates leaned in closely at this point as this was news to them. They remember their villages history with trying to capture unique and rare shinobi from the Hidden Leaf Village. They were also taught about the incident involving the Hyūga clan as well when they were back in their village's academy. "She's what?" Kurenai asked in shock as this was definitely news to her. She was understandably surprised to find out that Hinata was much stronger than she led everyone to believe when she proved herself during the Land of Wave's mission. Kurenai was understandably proud but also disappointed and sad that Hinata would keep this from her and her teammates but Hinata just implied that she's been holding back even more.
"Hinata stop letting Neji talk down to you like this. Show him what you're made of!" Naruto announced with an aggravated huff as he was sick and tired of listening to Neji's mouth. Everything that has ever come out of his mouth for as long as he's known him has been an insult towards Hinata and whenever he was around the boy couldn't help insulting Naruto as well. Naruto had long since grown tired of this attitude of Neji's. He couldn't imagine what it must be like to lose a father since he's an orphan who's never met his parents before but he did remember what it was like to almost lose Shoko years ago; It was a horrible feeling but in the wake of all the sadness and pain he felt it motivated him to grow stronger, he didn't mope around and take his anger out on the world.
Neji glared back at Naruto but the Uzumaki promptly ignored the boy in favor at staring down at his best friend. "You can do it Hinata." Naruto said confidently as he pushed his own reservations and fears out of his voice. He was trying to restore Hinata's confidence back in herself. She wouldn't be able to fight if she didn't have her confidence. Hinata looked up towards the balconies into her best friend's eyes and she saw nothing but comforting confidence and faith staring back at her. It enveloped her and honestly made her heart skip a beat. A tiny warm blush crossed her face but she forced it back down as she felt a well of fire erupt deep within her. 'I can do this. I know I can. I'll prove to him that I'm not a failure!' Hinata encouraged herself as she let this inner fire consume her.
Naruto saw it. Everyone saw it as Hinata took a deep breath before smoothly slipping into her clan's famous Taijutsu stance. Her Byakugan came to life as she started to circulate her chakra throughout her body. Neji was taken off guard when Hinata's overall chakra capacity nearly doubled without warning. With his Byakugan he could see it. A seal placed around Hinata's neck was activated and released a filter that was dampening Hinata's entire circulation of chakra. 'She released a Chakra Storage Seal on her body? Her chakra output just shot up but why is a part of the seal still off. How come she didn't activate it?' Neji thought to himself as he noticed that a secondary seal was a part of the first seal on Hinata's neck but she didn't activate it for some reason. Hinata's chakra capacity was already pretty big. Bigger than both Sakura's and Ino's combined and better off than some of the boys like Shikamaru, Kiba, Shino, and Chōji. Hers was below Naruto's by a long shot understandably and was just a few gallons short of Sasuke's so to speak. Sasuke's was bigger than hers but it wasn't a massive gap.
Hinata created this seal with the help of Naruto shortly after the incident when Evangeline went on a rampage. She wanted to grow stronger so that something like that would never happen again. She felt bad that she didn't have enough strength to help out her best friend so she was determined to grow stronger. She rarely used it. In fact, she silently and inconspicuously used it during the battle of the bridge in the Land of Wave's where she used the boost to take out the Chūnin attacking her and the group. She did so discreetly and didn't make a huge fuss about it and afterwards she used it a few times in intense sparring matches with Naruto, Eva, Aria, and Shoko. In fact, she had released it during that one particular spar between her and Naruto where his clone was distracted and innocently fantasizing about her.
"Thank you, Naruto… Here I come Neji!" Hinata announced as she tensed up. Neji did the same as he saw Hinata was ready to give it her all. 'Remember Hinata, fight smarter not harder ok.' Shikamaru's words were ringing in Hinata's ear right now as she took them to heart.
Hinata rocketed off the floor with a speed she was not known for. Neji blinked and nearly missed her approach as he narrowly deflected a powerful palm strike that actually made him stumble back. Retaliating Neji traded blows with Hinata at extreme close range as their palms smacked against each other and their arms. With each strike bursts of visible and tangible blue chakra erupted from the palms of their hands as they used the Gentle Fist Taijutsu style's most dangerous aspects.
The sounds that the chakra was making as it was forcibly jettisoned from their bodies was audible from all the way up in the balconies as it came off as high pitched wails. The fight was brutal as they slammed into each other with everything they had. Hinata was dodging, deflecting, and retaliating with everything she had as she yanked her body in different directions at neck breaking speeds and while some were concerned she would throw her back out of alignment Hinata herself was just fine as she used her natural feminine flexibility and years of physical training to contort and control the movements of her body with precise precision.
Hinata soon found her opening as she was going to take the lead. Neji was bringing both his hands in at the same time and this was what Hinata was waiting on. "Gentle Fist Art: Body Blow!" Slamming her palm into Neji's arms which were overlapping each other Hinata unleashed a powerful surge of chakra that forced Neji back nearly a dozen feet. Going through a quick sequence of hand signs Hinata's cheeks swelled up as chakra was building up in her mouth. "Water Style: Stream Jutsu!" Out of the indigo haired girls mouth came a powerful stream of water that struck Neji directly in the face with such force the Hyūga boy's neck snapped back and he fell to the arena floor in disorienting pain.
"A Hyūga that's using nature based Ninjutsu? Never thought I'd see the day." Asuma commented in mild surprise as he looked over to his close friend in Kurenai who was watching the fight below in wonderment, awe, and pride. "Well the girls got some spunk… interesting." One of the Hidden Cloud Genin stated. She was the girl with dark skin and auburn colored hair. "Well now, what do we have here?" Temari mumbled as she saw the look of pride and dare she say love in Naruto's eyes as she caught him gazing down at his best friend.
Hinata however wasn't done. "Water Style: Tearing Torrent Jutsu!" Spiraling whirlpool jets of water started to circulate within Hinata's palms as she slammed her hands onto the floor causing the water to erupt into a surging mini wave. By this time Neji was back on his feet as he saw the next water attack coming for him. Getting into a more defensive posture Neji pumped chakra into his palms as he was going to launch his own counter attack. "Gentle Fist Art: Body Blow!" Launching his palm into the center of the wave coming his way Neji managed to cause the entire wave to explode dispersing around his body which was exactly what Hinata was hoping for. A single hand sign and a stomp of her feet into the wet concrete floor below her activated her next attack.
"Water Style: Water Needle Jutsu!" The dispersed water droplets hanging in the air around Neji all straightened out into thin sharp needles that took the prodigy by surprise as there were hundreds of them. "What?!" Neji exclaimed as he snapped into a more defensive posture. 'There's no time for that Jutsu!' Neji thought in panic as the needles flew directly at him from every direction. Neji took several dozen scratches and cuts in the first few seconds as he gained footing and started to deflect the hundreds of needles that were left. He was contorting his body in jaw dropping ways that was afforded to him by his intense training and advanced mastery of his clan's Taijutsu style.
Within moments he had dispelled Hinata's Jutsu with stunning finest befitting a Jōnin which had most of the onlookers stunned and in awe. Of course, he didn't come out of that attack without a scratch but it was the fact that when he got going he became flawless. "Whoa!" Chōji mumbled as his bag of chips nearly dropped out of his mouth. "He's better than I thought." Shikamaru noted with a sigh as he leaned against the guardrail. "Of course, he is… prodigy my ass." Naruto mumbled while gritting his teeth in aggravation. His temper was flared due to Neji being in this match against Hinata and the trash talking mind games he was trying to pull earlier. Naruto rarely if ever resorts to using profanity of any kind no matter the severity of the words since he tries to set a good example for the girls but he wasn't in the mood for such formalities and etiquette right now. He hated to admit it but Neji just was that good.
"Both those Hyūga's are really strong. They'd make great opponents to fight against." The auburn-haired girl implied as she leaned over the railing in interest. "I agree. They're both really cool. Especially the girl and her unexpected usage of Water Style Ninjutsu." Samui agreed as she crossed her arms over her chest which was a little bigger than a girl her age should have. Luckily it was all natural, but that was beside the point.
"Cute trick but it's my turn now!" Neji declared as he disappeared at staggering speeds startling Hinata which led to her being unable to dodge Neji's follow up attack. Slamming into Hinata like a train Neji laid into her with dozens of strikes per second as the Hyūga heiress tried her best to gain distance between her and her cousin. Seeing this Neji didn't let up on the pressure as he hammered into Hinata's weakening defenses as the indigo haired girl was sweating and on her back foot.
"Come on Hinata it's not over! Do something!" Naruto shouted as his earlier panic was starting to creep back into his system. He knows that Neji is without a doubt no pushover and may very well be the strongest Genin in the village, although Naruto would heavily oppose such a claim with good reason. That still didn't refute the claim that Neji is very powerful and despite the fact that Naruto always held confidence in Hinata's abilities, the sheer fact that she was paired up with Neji made Naruto's faith go straight out the window.
Feeling a surge of energy Hinata charged forward with a war cry as she sent a large pulse of chakra out of her palms forcing Neji back a few yards but that was all the reprieve she would get as her cousin was not done yet. With permanent glare set in place Neji channeled a large surge of chakra to his palms as he slammed them into the concrete floor below. An interesting effect immediately happened as the concrete floor cracked and lifted off the ground in large slabs which shocked those who saw this but Neji wasn't done yet. Once the slabs were in the air the boy sent them hurdling at Hinata with a second pulse of chakra which broke apart the slabs into large chunks that were flying at Hinata like kunai.
Hinata's lavender eyes widened in shock as she realized she had no time to dodge as the chunks of stone and concrete were flying off in a wide radius. 'I can't dodge. I have to defend myself then.' Hinata realized as she quickly slipped into her Gentle Fist's main technique form. The 8 – Trigrams Formation. "Gentle Fist Art: Eight Trigrams Thirty-Two Palms!" Hinata's hands became nothing but blurs as she struck out at the rocks coming her way with pinpoint accurate burst of chakra so powerful they disintegrated the chunks of concrete before they could even impact her body.
The precious seconds it was taking for Hinata to defend herself from this unexpected onslaught was exactly what Neji was hoping for as he closed the distance between the two in the blink of an eye. Before Hinata could bring her hands up to defend herself Neji managed to score a direct hit to her abdomen with a strike so strong it took her off her feet and threw her nearly a dozen feet away. Saliva and spit flew out of Hinata's mouth as she let out a grunt of searing pain.
Slamming to the ground in a heap Hinata groaned in pain as her entire abdomen flared up in blistering pain. It was starting to become somewhat hard for her to breathe as she sucked in longer breaths of air. "Hinata!" Naruto yelled in concern as he could metaphorically feel the power behind Neji's strike. It was very strong and he knew that the boy must have hit several of Hinata's Tenketsu with that one single strike. Kurenai had sweat pouring down the side of her face as she was extremely concerned for her student's safety at this point. She knew that strike was strong and caused a lot of damage.
While everyone else was speculating on the pain Hinata was presumably in the indigo haired heiress was actually experiencing it tenfold right now as she felt at least 8 of her Tenketsu blocked off with that one strike. Not to mention the concussive blunt force trauma caused by the shockwave of chakra and kinetic energy rippling passed all of her organs and muscles inside of her body. That's the most dangerous thing about the Gentle Fist. It doesn't attack the outside of the body with blunt force. It attacks your internal organs which have the chakra circulatory system interwoven and wrapped tightly around them. Hinata felt as if she was seconds away from vomiting as a knot was forming in her stomach.
Pushing those feelings to the side Hinata struggled to her feet. "You should forfeit. You are nothing but a failure and a disgrace. The Hyūga have no need for other techniques but our own. Our Taijutsu is superior to all others and is more than enough to deal with any threat that comes our way. Yet here you are, I see another trait of Naruto in you. His penchant for Water Style Ninjutsu has been passed down to you. You two deserve each other. You're both disgraces!" Neji sneered as he viciously slammed a palm into Hinata's gut releasing yet another burst of chakra that caused her to spit out saliva. Hinata collapsed to her legs as she entered a coughing fit.
"NEJI!" Naruto screamed as it looked like he was seconds away from hopping the rail and attacking the prodigy of the clan. The hate with which Neji callously attacked Hinata with and the hatred dwelling within Naruto's eyes were one in the same as the killing intent starting to pollute the air was noticeable. "A loser like you has no room to call my name. I'm just reminding a certain piece of trash where it belongs." Neji coldly stated as his eyes bored into Naruto's which were turning a storming dark blue. The look of pure anger Naruto's eyes was exhibiting was clear to everyone who could see it.
It was because of this intense stare off happening between the two boys that no one was prepared for what happened next. One second Neji was on his feet and the next he was soaring through the air after a very loud and audible shockwave echoed within the arena walls. Hinata had launched a devastating Gentle Fist strike overflowing with her chakra directly into Neji's back that rattled his very spine and sent the boy crashing into the wall directly below the balconies Naruto and the others were using.
Naruto's look of anger quickly turned to shock as he watched Hinata rise to her feet. Once he saw her eyes he gasped in shock. They held a look of anger in them that he would never expect Hinata to have. He's rarely if ever seen Hinata angry before. Sometimes he would even idly contemplate if it was even possible for Hinata to get angry. But seeing her here now threw that notion out the window. Hinata was angry… scratch that, she was pissed.
"Holy shit." The girl from the Hidden Cloud mumbled as her eyes widened. Her teammate who had a lollipop in his mouth dropped it as his jaw hung loose. "Damn." Temari whistled. "Hinata…" Kurenai whispered. "That's my girl." Anko smirked.
"All my life you've called me a disgrace and a failure. You've put me down just like my father used to do. Over the years, I've just learned to take it but no more. I'm tired of it. You say I'm trash because I've spent the better part of half my life by Naruto's side, but guess what Neji you'll never be half the shinobi Naruto is. You call us failures… BUT EVEN FAILURES CAN STAND TALL!" Hinata screamed as she poured her heart out. Hinata's chakra flared around her to the point it became visible. "I'll show you just how much of a failure I actually am Neji!" Hinata challenged as the look in her eyes were not the eyes everyone was used to seeing from the quiet and shy Hinata.
Naruto felt his heart jump into his throat as Hinata defended his honor and the look in her eyes right now which was one he's never in his life seen before was causing his entire body to heat up. He's had reactions to Hinata's words and actions in the past before but none of them felt as powerful as this one. 'Hinata… I.' Naruto's thoughts were starting to head places and he could just feel where Eva's mind was at right now. He felt her little wings flutter in the mop he calls hair and her tiny hands gripping a fist full of his hair told Naruto everything he needed to know.
Naruto and everyone else was caught off guard by what happened next. Hinata's chakra which was visibly flaring around her started to transform into thick bands of water that were swirling around her protectively until they started to coalesce and condense around the palms of her hands. For most that was watching this was a surprise for them and they were very much enthralled but for Naruto something else was catching his attention. It was the color of the water that the Uzumaki took notice of and for good reason. The water was a deep cerulean blue color that sparkled almost like a rainbow. It was the same color as Evangeline's water which could only mean one thing.
'Yōjutsu! Hinata's using Yōjutsu but how… is this what she and Evangeline have been practicing since coming back from the Land of Wave's? I didn't even think it possible but Hinata's producing her own Yōki!' Naruto was shocked into silence as he would have never thought it possible for Hinata to channel Yōki within her body despite the many years she's been exposed to it. "Eva, did you know about this?" Naruto whispered to himself as he felt Eva stir in his hair. "Yes, Hinata and I have been working on this for months. There's a second seal that's a part of the first one around her neck. The first one releases the dampener placed on her chakra circulatory system and the second one allows her to convert approximately a quarter of the overall chakra within her body to Yōki. Any more and her body would be poisoned from the Yōki." Eva explained with pride evident in her voice as she watched her best friend who she affectionately refers to as her girlfriend cut loose with everything she had. Eva knew what was coming next.
"Eight Trigrams Gentle Step: Aqua Palms!" Hinata announced as the Yōki infused water settled down into an extremely dense layer around her hand that made Hinata's hands glow a beautiful kaleidoscope comprised of shades of blue. Hinata settled down into a different stance that was similar but fundamentally different than the rigid style of the Gentle Fist. "What is this? What did you do?" Neji demanded as he peeled himself out of the wall. His back was bruised he could see it easily enough with his 360 vision and what's more as he looked at Hinata's chakra he could see something was different about it. It wasn't the same as before but he just couldn't see what it was. The water surrounding her hands were not being fueled by chakra of that he could be sure of but he didn't understand how she was controlling it. To him it looked as if a quarter of her overall chakra was missing.
For the very first time in his life he's seen Hinata angry and he wasn't quite sure what to think of this new development but he wouldn't get the chance to elaborate or get an answer to his question as Hinata disappeared from her spot within a fraction of a second. His senses screamed at him to move and listening to them Neji just barely by the skin of his teeth managed to deflect the powerful palm thrust Hinata sent directly at his face. He could feel the power humming within the strike as it passed by his face by mere inches.
The second strike came in before he could even breathe and this time he was not able to block this one as Neji felt one of his ribs crack from the sheer impact of Hinata's palm against his chest. Streams of water flowed behind Hinata's palms as she moved showing just how much energy she was putting into her attacks. Slamming back into the same wall Neji growled as he launched himself at Hinata with everything he had. His form was perfection at its finest as he executed maneuvers of the Gentle Fist that was worthy of being recognized by its masters but something was wrong. Neji was missing his shots. And the reason was quite simple.
Hinata was dancing around him. As opposed to the rigid forms of the Gentle Fist that only flowed on occasion the Gentle Step that Hinata called was all about flowing from one strike to the next. The trails of water followed Hinata's every hand movement which ended up surrounding her and her cousin in a swirling veil of water that was spraying light patches of watery mist everywhere. Hinata was focusing much more on the movement of her feet as they twirled and glided across the floor while she balanced and rotated on the balls of her feet and on the very tips of her toes. Hinata was moving her entire body with her strikes as opposed to the Gentle Fist's reliance on just the hands. With each strike, she would drag and twist her body into the strike while avoiding most of Neji's attacks.
Neji was trying to find an opening but Hinata's moves were far to foreign to him, he couldn't anticipate what she would do next. 'These moves, what are they?' Neji cried out in his mind as he could not figure out for the life of him what to do. 'These moves I know them. Those are Iris's moves!' Naruto thought to himself in shock as he recognized that classical and completely foreign martial art. It was a combination of dancing and martial arts. More importantly the foot work and circular movements was a part of the style Iris uses when she's controlling the wind itself yet the body movements of dragging and flowing were unknown to him but if Naruto had to describe what he saw he would say it looked like she was flowing just like water.
"Gentle Step Second Dance: Eight Trigrams Sky Lance!" Hinata announced as she dipped down low into the gentle fist fight style. She rushed Neji before he could blink and started to shut off multiple Tenketsu across his body all the while flowing just like the water that was flying all around them. Hinata finished off her combo by dipping low again and coming up with a rising palm uppercut to Neji's jaw that sent him flying into the air accompanied by a geyser of water that flooded out of her palm. Neji flipped through the air until he slammed directly into the guard railing on the balconies which were about twenty feet off the ground. His body bent and warped the metal as he coughed up blood from his mouth.
Growling without saying a word Neji rocketed off the railings intent on slamming directly at Hinata but a single hand sign from her had the boy come back to his senses. "Water Style: Water Needles Jutsu!" The water from the impromptu geyser dispersed and formed into thin needles that shot at Neji's unprotected back. Twisting in the air Neji destroyed the incoming needles with a powerful burst of chakra. Hitting the ground Neji did a roll to dampen the landing and immediately he felt something was off. "Genjutsu: Optic Delusory." Hinata whispered as Neji saw himself being attacked by two water dragons from opposite sides ready to pinch him in the middle. He quickly shot his arms out to each side of his body to stop the dragons but his Byakugan registered the fact he was underneath the effects of a Genjutsu and with a tiny flare of his chakra Neji felt the illusion break only to feel a second one activate not even a split second later.
'What?!' Neji's body was completely paralyzed with his arms spread out to the side as he found himself under a second Genjutsu hidden beneath the first. "Genjutsu: Paralysis." The seconds it took for these events to take place was all the time Hinata needed to cross the distance between her and her cousin. "Gentle Step First Dance: Eight Trigrams Sea Lance!" Hinata once again rushed Neji again at blistering speeds but something that the more trained shinobi in the room immediately took notice of was the fact that Hinata was significantly slower than before. She was straining her body way past it's limits as she slammed into Neji's unguarded prone form. Laying into him Hinata's attacks snapped Neji out of the Genjutsu he was under. With each strike Hinata successfully landed a pressurized geyser of water would shoot out of Hinata's fingertips and palms blasting Neji back and bringing bruises to his skin.
Neji hated to admit it but Hinata was far more powerful than he could ever imagine. It felt like he was sparring against her father Hiashi. The clan heads overwhelming mastery and power in the Hyūga Clan's Gentle Fist Taijutsu clan made it so that no matter the circumstances he was the undisputed leader and head of the clan. His power was unmatched which was fitting seeing as he is within the top 10 strongest Elite Jōnin of the village. With very notable and famous names, such as Kakashi and Might Guy being on that list.
Hinata seeing Neji left exposed due to her latest attack saw the opening she was looking for as she completed the combo to her sea lance by taking both of her palms and placing them together to form a spear with her hands as she jabs Neji with the attack that shot him nearly halfway across the arena as he skidded against the concrete floor. He dug his heels into the ground to stop his momentum as he gritted his teeth in effort. Skidding to a stop Neji came face to face with Hinata who took noticeably longer to close the distance between the two.
Still deeply enthralled within her own flowing movements Hinata was able to outmaneuver Neji's first counter attacks but this time she was starting to have trouble landing her own. It wasn't because Neji was starting to read her movements. Those were still very much unpredictable to Neji… the problem was Hinata was slowing down. Noticeably at this point and it was making it possible for Neji to be the one doing the dodging and deflecting this time. He could feel a considerable amount of his chakra diminishing at that was all in due to the surprising amount of Tenketsu Hinata managed to hit within his body but that wasn't stopping Neji from getting back into the game.
Hinata was starting to see the tide of the battle turning against her and knew she had to finish Neji off with this last attack. "Do you think I'm strong now brother? Do you still think I'm a failure?!" Hinata questioned as she temporarily gained a boost in speed. "You're not even close to my level!" Neji growled out since hearing Hinata's voice was all it took to enrage him further. Seizing her opportunity Hinata unleashed a brutal showcase of advanced martial arts that took full advantage of her feminine build and flexibility.
Getting a leg sweep in and several powerful and varied kicks that are not a part of the Gentle Fist Art Hinata was able to turn the tables on Neji long enough that she was able to build up the chakra for her hopefully last attack. "Gentle Step Third Dance: Eight Trigrams Earth Lance!" Launching her final attack Hinata came rushing in and seeing this Neji jumped as far back as he could while throwing nearly a dozen shuriken at Hinata with blistering speed. Seeing these incoming and feeling her body moving on its own Hinata started to metaphorically dance her way through the hail storm of metal as she slid in between each metal star with finest. She was closing the distance between her and her cousin quickly and only a few shuriken stood in her way.
The last were in a nearly unavoidable path and so Hinata felt her body move so she obeyed. Pivoting sharply on her forward moving foot Hinata pushed off the ground into the air and twirled horizontally on her side parallel to the ground in a perfect butterfly twist as she dodged the last remaining shuriken that was flying at her. Coming out of her spin as she touched the ground Hinata pivoted again on her feet just in time to duck under Neji's immediately retaliation strike and land a hit to his jaw once again that sent him sailing into the air. This time Hinata followed as she rained down blows that sealed off almost half of Neji's entire chakra network. Hinata bombarded the boy's body with attacks as she sent a falling axe kick to Neji's back that had him speeding towards the ground.
'No time to think. Just act!' Neji screamed in his own mind and as he felt Hinata slam her palm directly into the small of his back mere feet off the ground. The amount of chakra or whatever energy holding the water to her hands that her palms were giving off right now were noticeable to Neji as he could feel the power vibrating against his back. 'I'm not going to lose here!' With this desperate thought mere feet off the ground Neji started to spin.
A massive explosion of Chakra, Yōki, cement, water, and dust rippled out across the entire stadium as from everyone else's point of view Hinata viciously slammed Neji belly first with a hard palm strike to the back into the hard-concrete floor below. Most people had wide eyes at this powerful attack. The most surprised individuals were to ones who knew Hinata personally and didn't know she was capable of such power. Especially Naruto who did not know Hinata was training this much. She was much more powerful than he could have ever possibly imagined. With this line of thought his mind trailed off to the possibility of him facing her in an all-out sparring match.
After seeing her display here in this match that notion all of a sudden made him feel nervous. Under the hypothetical pretense that the both of them were at full strength Naruto would have to immediately started out the match using his high-level techniques including his secret technique the Accel Turn. The speed he would achieve with his technique would be the only advantage he would have over her. Hinata would have significant advantages over him. The most prevalent being that her Byakugan is both strong and sensitive enough to track his every move and identify his unique energy signature which would make hiding from her virtually impossible. Not to mention that despite the multiple Taijutsu styles he has under his belt, hand to hand combat always came second to him as opposed to his Ninjutsu and combining his Taijutsu with his Bukijutsu skills which was much more natural to him. Hinata was his superior in Taijutsu and even when he combined his Taijutsu and Bukijutsu she would still just be ever so slightly ahead of him. Now with this new and completely original Taijutsu Style she's come up with the whole notion of beating her at close range goes out the window. She would quite literally dance circles around him.
The dust startled to settle and out of the debris everyone could see Hinata's body ragdoll across the floor as she slowly bounced to a stop a dozen feet away from the impact zone. She was barely moving but everyone could see she was in a lot of pain as she struggled to move her body. "Hinata…" Naruto whispered as he gripped the guard rail tightly. She was hurt badly and her clothes had tears and cuts all over it. It was torn to shreds in that last attack. Not to mention the cuts and bruises she had across her body.
The dust settled and a substantial impact zone was located where Neji's body was and he was at least a foot or so sunken below the level of the rest of the floor. However, there was something peculiar about the hole Neji was in that only a few picked up on. With such a violent impact the floor should be torn up badly with large chunks of the concrete tiles shattered and scattered around. But the hole Neji was in was almost smooth and circular in nature. It was highly unusual and unexplainable since no one saw what happened due to the debris that was kicked up.
Naruto gritted his teeth in pure aggravation when he saw Neji stumble to his feet while Hinata was still struggling to get to hers. "And here we are now… with me still standing and you below me. You can't change your destiny Hinata no matter how much you try. You've tried to beat me, a goal that is not within your destiny to accomplish. You said that your Byakugan could see the truths of this world and that it was stronger than mine but as you can see that is not the case. Once a failure… always a failure. Proctor call the match." Neji lectured as he turned to Hayate who had approached after that last attack.
Hayate looked over both fighters with his veteran and experienced eyes as he judged how he wanted to rule the match. He was at an impasse on how to call the match since while both fighters were exhausted and injured he could sense that they still had a little gas in the tank so to speak. However, the match was starting to drag on and he had to decide soon. Looking towards Hinata and seeing the condition she was in Hayate was starting to come to a decision and discreetly asking the Hokage for his approval which the wise shinobi gave.
Just as Hayate was about to make his ruling since Hinata still hadn't reached her feet yet he was stopped by Hinata herself who just barely managed to scurry to her feet. "I'm not a failure Neji. This match is proof of that… I have changed. I've grown so much and I feel like I've become my own person. I owe that to Naruto and the rest of my wonderful friends. They've made me the person that I am today and by calling me a failure, you're also calling them the same and that is something I can't allow." Hinata countered with a hidden defensive tone to her voice as she stiffly slid herself back into the Gentle Fist but everyone could see the amount of pain and exhaustion she was in. She could barely go on and everyone knew it but the passion and determination in her eyes was undeniable.
"It makes me sick to think that you would attribute your success to him." Neji scowled as he glared at Naruto who glared right back with just as much intensity. "I do… and I always will. It saddens me to think you have this much hatred in your heart for me and the main branch. It's truly blinded you to so much you can do with your life. Your father wouldn't have wanted this for you, for your heart to be blackened by his death." Hinata said sadly while shaking her head at her cousin.
Neji's eyes reflected what he was feeling at this moment. "I told you once already… you have no right to speak of my father when you still have your own! He was an honorable man unlike your own who couldn't even face his death like a man!" Neji yelled as his remaining chakra flared around him in response to his anger.
In her childhood Hinata didn't have a good relationship with her father by any means but in recent months he has opened up to her and become a lot friendlier. He was satisfied with her progress in her training and he was continuously impressed by her drive and work ethic. Needless to say, their relationship has improved much to the surprise of both Hinata and Naruto. Neji's last comment hurt her newfound respect she was building for her father and the pain that crossed her face let him know he hit a sore spot.
"Neji… uncle would be disappointed in the hatred that you've allowed to pollute your heart. I want us to be a family, not divided by the unfair laws of our clan." Hinata admitted but that was the wrong thing to say as the look of rage that appeared on Neji's face once again had Hinata taking a step back as he practically snarled at her.
Disappointed.
Disappointed.
Disappointed.
That one word replayed in Neji's mind like a broken tape recorder as the rage simmered within his heart until it reached a fevered pitch. His father would be disappointed in him… that notion including Hinata's admittance to wanting to be a family with him broke what little restraint Neji had left. His remaining chakra flared to life as he roared his rage to the heavens.
"YOU BITCH!"
Neji took off from his spot with such speed that Hayate who was standing near them for a brief moment completely lost track of the Hyūga prodigies presence. Naruto and the others saw it. The could feel it. Kakashi's Sharingan was out in an instant and the other Jōnin were getting ready to move as the amount of chakra Neji was building up in his palm would be enough to blow a gaping hole right through Hinata's body if it was to connect.
Naruto was trying to move with that speed as well. He really was but he just didn't have it in him. His base speed wasn't quite fast enough to intercept the insane speed Neji was traveling at right now. His Body Flicker Jutsu while fast still would fall short especially since he would need an extra second to build up the chakra for the Jutsu that he realistically didn't have right now and finally, he couldn't access his Accel Turn which would grant him the speed he needed but that was far outside of his reach at the moment.
Naruto saw this happening in slow motion as the Jōnin jumped off the balcony to stop the out of control Genin from outright murdering his fellow competitor not to mention his blood related cousin. Time slowed down even further for Naruto when he felt a powerful surge of Sōkyoku's Holy Aura ripple through his body with such force that it took his breath away and brought him to his knees. The energy shot down towards Hinata's body within nano seconds just as Neji came into range.
Neji's momentum came to a screeching halt as Kakashi, Kurenai, Might Guy, and Hayate appeared and restrained the boy inches away from Hinata but that did nothing to stop the thick shell of chakra attached to his palm from shooting off directly into Hinata's chest. A plume of golden flames erupted across Hinata's chest that took those around her by absolute shock but the shell of chakra from Neji's attack ripped a hole in Hinata's jacket. The shell of chakra exited her back and traveled out into the air for at least 5 feet before visibly dissipating.
"Why are you Jōnin interfering? Is this more special treatment that the Main Branch gets?!" Neji ranted as he struggled within the restraining arms of his sensei's. Might Guy himself had Neji's head in a tight headlock that the boy would not be able to wiggle out of especially with both his arms grabbed by Kakashi and Kurenai respectively. Hayate had his fingers pressed against Neji's headband ready to send a sudden jolt of chakra into the boy's brain to knock him unconscious if need be.
"Neji! You promised me not to let your problems with your clan interfere with your head during the Chūnin Exams!" Might Guy yelled in reprimand as he tightened his grip on his student to show his displeasure with what he just witnessed. Hinata's eyes started to sway and droop before she suddenly jolted and spat out a huge wad of blood onto the ground around her. Hinata's legs collapsed from underneath her as she fell to the ground in front of everyone. "Hinata!" Kurenai called in concern as she quickly dropped Neji's hand that she was holding in favor of running over to check on her favorite student.
"HINATA!" Naruto screamed as he managed to get enough feeling in his legs to jump over the balcony. Rock Lee, Sakura, Shikamaru, Shino, and Anko jumped off the balcony as well as they all raced down to their downed friend. Being much faster despite being much farther away Anko managed to reach their side first as she checked on Hinata's pulse.
In desperation Naruto was able to reach Hinata's side next as he grabbed on to her with fear gripping his heart. "Are you ok Hinata?! Say something?!" Naruto said with unstable breaths of air. "Naruto…" Hinata whispered as she was having trouble breathing. "Yeah!" Naruto immediately responded as he grabbed onto one of Hinata's hands to hold. An entire team of Medical Ninja were running into the room with stretcher and other medical equipment strapped down to their bodies. They were in a hurry.
"Was I strong…? Are we failures still…?" Hinata asked through coughing fits. Briefly letting go of her hands to grip his scalp in fear induced frustration Naruto cupped the side of Hinata's face tenderly while discreetly placing Evangeline inside the furry hood of Hinata's jacket. Rock Lee saw this and his large black eyes widened in shock, many questions were flooding his mind but a hand on his shoulder from Shikamaru had him stop that train of thought as the lazy boy shook his head to ward off Lee from making any outburst. Despite the fact his actions were hidden from the prying eyes of those in the balconies it did not stop Neji from seeing this with his Byakugan. By taking Eva out of his hair the illusion that they maintain constantly becomes broken and she becomes visible until she returns to his hair. His eyes widened by a fraction but he made no other indication that he witnessed anything.
"No Hinata you showed Neji and everyone today that we are not failures. We're far from it." Naruto said as tears welled up in his eyes causing his vision to get blurry. Hinata managed to crack a brief smile at this as her eyes closed and opened themselves repeatedly. "Hinata I want you to know something… I…" Naruto began to say as he choked on his words. He would rather not have such a tender moment with his best friend with so many people around and in such tense circumstances but beggars couldn't be choosers and Naruto was feeling the floodgates holding his emotions in check cracking.
"Naruto… I already… told you… not here… besides I'll be ok… the next time I see you… we can talk all about it…" Hinata choked and stuttered as her condition was growing worse by the second. Naruto could feel it. Hinata's entire chest cavity should have been blow straight open with the amount of chakra packed into Neji's attack. Sōkyoku's Aura protected her from an instant death and for that he was internally grateful to the ancient and primordial Phoenix Goddess who he could faintly feel respond to this gratitude. However, it did not stop the blunt force trauma of the shockwave the chakra produced as it ripped through Hinata's body. Naruto suspected that the Holy Aura only protected Hinata's body from rupturing at the impact. He knew Sōkyoku's power could do so much more. It was well within its power to completely stop Neji's attack cold. If it could overpower Jūra's insane demonic energy than Neji's attack should have been stopped completely. Now the question became why had that not happened.
Naruto chose to violently stop that stray train of thought right there and then as he felt a cold sweat break out across his body. He instinctively felt like he shouldn't question Lady Sōkyoku's motives. She's never reprimanded him before about speaking his mind around her but he had to remind himself that he was questioning a powerful goddess's motives. Surely that could get him killed even if it was Sōkyoku were talking about. She's never outright told him so but from the many conversations he's had with her over the years he's gotten the impression that Sōkyoku wasn't who she said she was. Sure, he could buy that she's some type of ancient Goddess in the form of a Phoenix but he got the impression that she was something much more powerful than even an ancient god. She was something beyond not only his but everyone else's comprehension.
Unknown to Naruto the very being he was talking about was resting within her cage watching the events that was unfolding before Naruto's eyes. Sōkyoku's massive emerald green eyes glowed briefly with power as Naruto's train of thought changed down the path to questioning and pondering the truth of her existence. 'Soon little one. Now isn't quite the time for all that yet.' Sōkyoku mentally thought to herself as her eyes dimmed a bit. Sōkyoku's mental prodding caused Naruto to subconsciously divert away from his line of thought. The Goddess did preen in amusement when Naruto unknowingly came close to the right answer in regards to just what type of being she was.
The medics wasted no time in strapping Hinata down to the stretcher while hooking her up to their portable machines. They whisked her away with urgency in their postures as they had to save Hinata's life before it's too late. As Hinata was hauled off and went around the corner Naruto's mind came to an epiphany. One single yet simple truth and revelation.
Naruto Uzumaki had a crush on Hinata Hyūga.
With this new revelation in mind Naruto's mind became clear to him. His feelings for Hinata were always there. And now he had finally come to accept and recognize them. Not to mention the fact he realized that these feelings were stronger than he could have ever possibly imagined. They weren't feelings he could just shrug off. They were here to stay and so was she.
"Hey loser!" Neji called out getting Naruto's attention. Having it Neji spoke his piece. "I have two pieces of advice for you. One, if you intend to call yourself a Shinobi leave your concerned cries and yelling for somewhere else. And Second, once a failure… always a failure. We can't change our destinies no matter how much we try. That's why she's probably going to die… and why I'm still standing." Neji spoke which left a bad taste in most people's mouth. Kurenai wanted nothing more than to place Neji in the worst Genjutsu she could think of and Anko wasn't known as the Lead Torture Specialist for the ANBU Black Ops I&T Division for nothing. As for Might Guy, he was deeply ashamed of his own students callous words but he held his tongue.
"Is that so. Once a failure… always a failure… I see. We'll just have to see about that, now won't we?" Naruto spoke in an eerily calm voice. No inflection of malice or hate could be detected within his voice or body language which made it next to impossible for those around him to determine what he may or may not do next. Naruto's dead eyes shifted slowly down to the ground near his feet. There was something there that had caught his attention.
The pool of blood Hinata coughed up was still there. Ever so calmly Naruto placed his hand into the blood catching everyone's attention. He soaked his hand directly into her blood silently with everyone's eyes on him. Standing up Naruto slowly turned his head over his shoulder until he was looking at Neji. This time everyone saw it and felt it.
Naruto's eyes were blood red with a vertical black elongated pupil in the center. The air in the room grew freezing cold as he held his fist dripping with Hinata's own blood out to Neji. This was a declaration of a lifetime.
"I vow to win!"
Jutsu Library
Juinjutsu: Cage Bird Curse Seal - This seal is branded on all branch house members in the Hyūga clan by members of the main house. The main purpose is to seal the Byakugan at death, so that its secrets never fall into the hands of the enemy. When the Hyūga dies, the seal disappears, sealing away the Byakugan with it. The secondary purpose is to control the branch house members, since it can be activated at will by a main house member with a hand seal only known by them to destroy the wearer's brain cells. The seal is branded on a branch member's forehead and is only removed upon their death. Branch house members tend to keep their foreheads concealed because of the seal.
1.) Gentle Fist Art: Palm Heel Strike - This attack consists of a quick, precise thrust of the user's palm to an opponent's body. Like other Gentle Fist techniques, it sends chakra into the target to cause internal damage which will temporarily paralyze an opponent.
2.) Gentle Fist Art: Body Blow - A technique born from their innate ability to expel chakra from every Tenketsu on their body, a member of the Hyūga clan can hit their opponent with a blast of chakra that will send them flying away from the user. It was also shown that this technique can be used with pin-point accuracy to target the weak point of a technique.
3.) Water Style: Water Stream Jutsu - The basics of water style. It is the exact same as it's other elemental counterparts such as the Wind Style: Stream. The user exhales a spray of water from their mouth in a sufficient quantity that allows them to wash away targets and many other objects in their way. It is the gateway Jutsu for each element that leads into many advanced Jutsu's of the same form and makeup.
4.) Water Style: Tearing Torrent Jutsu - This technique creates water that spirals in the user's hand and fires at a high speed at the enemy. The overall amount of water formed is large enough to help extinguish even large-scale fire style techniques. The technique however will do no damage to an enemy if connected.
5.) Water Style: Water Needle Jutsu - Using the chakra control granted by the Gentle Fist, Hinata concentrates her chakra until water vortexes are created around her. Those vortexes shoot water blasts which turn to needle-like water. By using the Byakugan, this technique can be used with great precision to hit very small targets such as bees which Hinata developed and practiced the technique on with Naruto's help or in this instance of the chapter to match objects of similar size such as Evangeline's ice Senbon needles.
6.) Gentle Fist Art: Eight Trigrams Thirty-Two Palms - A maneuver of the Gentle Fist fighting style. It is essentially a halved version of the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms, but seems to be no less effective. This technique is used to close off the flow of chakra through thirty-two chakra points of an opponent's chakra pathway system. This eliminates their ability to use chakra for quite some time and makes it difficult for them to move.
7.) Eight Trigrams Gentle Step: Aqua Palms - A technique that Hinata created that is based off the principles behind Naruto's Wind Style: Hurricane Fist Jutsu. With this technique Hinata can create jets of water on her palms and attack opponents using the Gentle Fist Fighting Style. Because the water has built up a lot of pressure Hinata can also forcefully push opponents back and stop Fire Style Ninjutsu by thrusting her palms forward into the attack. However, when Hinata releases her Chakra Storage Seal on her neck she can infuse the water around her hands in Yōki allowing her to dramatically increase the power of her attacks. When Hinata moves with her Gentle Step style it creates energy bands that trails behind that follows the movement of Hinata's hands.
8.) Gentle Step Second Dance: Eight Trigrams Sky Lance - The second of Hinata's Gentle Step techniques designed in the format of dances; it takes advantage of Hinata's unique dance like hybrid taijutsu style. Hinata attacks her opponent with this style closing off multiple tenketsu across the opponent's body with Yōki enhanced chakra strikes that if Hinata wills it will seal off the chakra nodes permanently. Hinata primarily focus on the lower torso and legs of the opponent to get them off balance and to keep them in this state. This second dance usually follows after the first dance in which the opponent has been blasted back by Hinata's final attack. Hinata moves in for the final combo after the opponent has had a sufficient number of tenketsu sealed off and delivers a rising uppercut palm thrust that shoots the target into the air with a high pressurized geyser of water that comes from Hinata's hands.
9.) Genjutsu: Optic Delusory - A Genjutsu that allows one to trick others into mistaking the place they're in for another. This technique's main feature is that it can be cast over an extensive surface, therefore any and all who step into the illusion's area of effect will fall under the spell. That said, it might not work so well on people who are well-versed or otherwise skilled in Genjutsu.
10.) Genjutsu: Paralysis - The user binds the opponent in a Genjutsu, this Genjutsu can be used on more than one target at the same time. Once the target is bound, the user or an ally can rush up to the enemy and deliver a devastating killing blow.
11.) Gentle Step First Dance: Eight Trigrams Sea Lance - The first of Hinata's Gentle Step techniques designed in the format of dances; it takes advantage of Hinata's unique dance like hybrid taijutsu style. Hinata attacks her opponent with this style closing off multiple tenketsu across the opponent's body with Yōki enhanced chakra strikes that if Hinata wills it will seal off the chakra nodes permanently. Hinata primarily focuses on attacking the midsection and torso of the opponent while simultaneously driving the person back. Hinata finishes off the combo attack by placing both her palms together into a spear formation that she slams into the gut of her target sending them flying with a pressurized geyser of water formed from the pressure built up in between her two palms.
12.) Gentle Step Third Dance: Eight Trigrams Earth Lance - The third of Hinata's Gentle Step techniques designed in the format of dances; it takes advantage of Hinata's unique dance like hybrid taijutsu style. Hinata attacks her opponent with this style closing off multiple tenketsu across the opponent's body with Yōki enhanced chakra strikes that if Hinata wills it will seal off the chakra nodes permanently. Hinata primarily focuses on attacking the upper torso of the opponent after they are hit with the second dance attack. Although each dance can be carried out separately from each other. Hinata seals off more of her opponents tenketsu then sends them plummeting to the ground with a downwards strike such as a falling axe kick. However, the final blow of this technique is to hit the opponent in the spine with a crushing Gentle Fist Palm strike that is supposed to completely pulverise the person into a crater in the ground and shatter their spine completely immobilizing the target and ending the battle.
Author's Note (A/N): Hey guys so how was that? This was one hell of a chapter for me to write. I enjoyed every minute of it. I made sure their was a lot of tension and emotions banking on this match. It was beyond personal at this point.
This chapter was a lot to unpack but I'll let you express your thoughts and opinions in your reviews. I will say that I'm already 3000 words into the next chapter. It is obviously Rock Lee vs. Gaara.
Next Chapter - Chapter 47: (Elimination Match 10: Sandstorm)
That's the end of Chapter 46 I sincerely hoped you enjoyed it.
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Published: 5/31/2017
