Author's Note: Ooh…ninja action! Self confrontation! A chance for Romance! Now we're talking! Let's see what happens now! Grabs popcorn

17: Hinata's Strength

…and then he struck!

Souya Ikari formed a series of hand seals in rapid succession, ending in the snake seal (hebis). Hinata saw the air flicker around his arms, as if he was channeling something. She tried to focus the Byakugan to make it out, but she was running out of chakra. Her eyes returned to normal. She felt her vision fade into what she could only see in front of her.

Souya Ikari's arms began to glow an eerie black, as if a dark cloud of smoke was encircling them. The black cloud writhed and twisted around him until it coated his entire arm, shining like a piece of armor.

"Ninpo: Kagekuro no Youma!" he shouted (Black Demon Shadow). He raised his arm into the air and poised to attack.

"Sh'kuso!" Naruto swore. He ran to the opposite wall, forming shadow a doppelganger as he did. When the two reached the opposite wall, Naruto yelled to Hinata, "Oi, get yourself and Wonka-san out of the way! Leave this creep to me!" with that, he opened his palm to the Bunshin.

"B-but, N-Naruto-kun!" Hinata started, but the boy cut her off.

"There's nothing you can do! This creep is stronger than you! I'll handle him!" Naruto shouted at her, bright blue chakra swirling about his palm.

Hinata looked at Wonka-san and gave him a worried look, which Wonka-san returned. She grabbed his hand and quickly led him to a corner in the room. "W-Wonka-s-san, y-you'll be safe here." she said. From their safe point, the two of them watched the two shinobi prepare their attacks: Souya's arm glinted in the soft light of the room, shining like steel. Naruto was focusing a swirling ball of chakra into his palm; the Bunshin was focusing it with its free hands.

"Is…there nothing you can do?" Wonka-san asked her, his hand on her shoulder. Hinata looked round to see his face, meeting his eyes with hers. She swallowed.

"N-Naruto-kun s-said he's stronger than me…I'm not a v-very s-strong s-s-shinobi." She managed. "M-my duty is t-to protect you."

"I see," Wonka-san smiled, "well, you're doing a very good job of it, because I'm quite sure that neither of us are dead and that I still have the Felix safe and sound." He showed her the vial of clear liquid.

"But y'know," he continued softly, "I've always believed that a person isn't strong unless they show that they aren't afraid. That they show others their strength…"

Hinata heard these words and felt conflicted.

"But…I-I'm…I'm not a…" she whimpered, feeling less confident.

"You're probably right…I guess you aren't…" Wonka-san said sadly, turning away from Hinata.

Hinata couldn't quite make sense of what she was thinking; all of her thoughts were all jumbled all over the place:

I'm not strong enough…I couldn't face him, she thought.

I'm little, and weak…even Naruto says I should just stay and guard Wonka-san.

B-but…am I?

Every time I fell, every time I faltered, every time I failed…

Father…always discouraged me…

I'll never be good enough…

I…I'm afraid.

Hinata watched as the two combatants readied themselves, springing forward from the walls. Souya lunged forward with his black arm outstretched, poised to strike as he sailed through the air. Naruto's ball of chakra was complete. The Bunshin used its last ounce of strength to swing Naruto forward, giving him extra momentum as he flew forward, shouting "Rasengan!"

"A person isn't strong unless they show that they aren't afraid."

At that moment, Wonka-san's words echoed through her mind. She remembered all of the times when she'd seen Naruto, how he inspired her. She remembered Kurenai-sensei, teaching her important things.

They're such strong people…she thought.

So fearless…they're not afraid to show their strength.

I can't be afraid anymore.

I can't…I won't!

Hinata watched as Naruto and Souya hurtled through the air at each other, they looked as if they were moving in slow motion. They were drawing closer and closer to each other, they were so close to the giant central machine that if they were even centimeters off, they'd hit it.

By now, they'd descended almost to the ground. They were about to collide…

Hinata ran forward.

…

…

It was as if time had stood still.

Naruto was right in front of Souya Ikari. He could see the smiling expression on his face. Naruto tried to move, but found that he couldn't. His arm thrust forward, the Rasengan gone, dissipated. He grimaced and tried to move again. His arm felt heavy and dead, as if there was an enormous blockage along his wrist. He couldn't feel anything past his wrist.

Souya Ikari laughed in his face…then, suddenly, his face contorted with pain. He coughed up a bit of blood. He tried to come at Naruto, but his movements seemed rigid and limited.

Then, a face rose between them. Naruto recognized the vacant and cold white eyes, matched with veiny temples. He tried to speak, "Gck…" he spat, "H-Hinata, w-what're you, gck…doing!"

Hinata turned to him, her face no longer shy, but intensely grave. "Naruto-kun," she spoke softly and clearly, "gomen-ne, I've cut off the flow of chakra to your right hand, ending your technique"

Naruto managed to look down. He saw Hinata standing between the two of them, two of her fingers jabbed into his outstretched arm. Naruto suddenly remembered this feeling. He had felt it earlier that year when he fought Hinata's cousin, Hyuuga Neji. The both employed a type of taijutsu known as the "gentle fist", which attacked chakra holes in the body, blocking and manipulating the flow of internal energy.

"And you," she turned her head to face Souya Ikari, "I've disrupted the chakra flow to your heart, which in turn, will cut off the flow of chakra to your arms and legs."

Naruto looked past her to see her other hand extended to Souya's chest, it was shaped like a claw, clutching deep into his chest. She pushed forward with her palm, causing Souya Ikari to spasm in pain.

"H-Hinata-chan…" Naruto coughed, "w-why!"

Hinata's scary face slowly softened, she spoke to both of them in a clear and calm, neutral voice.

"It's like Wonka-san said. We're his guests here," she said "there's no reason for any of us to fight. We should all just calm down and think about this rationally."

"Gcrk…s-stupid b-bit-" Souya began, but Hinata grabbed him tighter, silencing him.

"H-Hinata! That kid tried to kill Wonka-san! He's insane!" Naruto yelled at her. Hinata remained calm.

"Even so, if you two just calm down, and promise to hear me out, I'll let you go. Promise?" she asked the two of them.

Naruto hesitantly nodded, as did Souya. She pulled her hands away from them both, causing them to slump to the ground. Naruto got to his feet almost immediately. Souya did the same. The two of them looked poised to fight, but Hinata shot them both a glance, and they eased up.

Hinata turn to Souya and gave a soft smile, "I met the same person that you're trying to steal the Felix for," she said. Naruto's eyes widened. "He offered me ten million ryou to steal the secret formula for him…and like you said, I've declined." She looked deep into the boy's eyes. "Urami H'coro, did he offer you something as well? Was it money? Or something else? Is he blackmailing you? If it's anything like that, we could help you. You don't have to do anything rash like steal something of Wonka-san's. Let us help you, ne?"

Souya Ikari spat onto the ground and grinned at Hinata.

"You really are naïve," he spat, "I'm doing this because I serve him. Because something as this shouldn't be wasted on delusional and juvenile things like candy, or making little children happy, or some bullshit like that! Peace is useless! This could become a tool for war! And no weakling like you can stop us!"

Hinata grabbed him by his shirt and brought him very close to her. She looked deep into his eyes.

"Then you're just a rotten person! H-hidoi!" she yelled. Her eyes focused and pumped with blood as she activated the Byakugan. She leaned in quite close to the boy and said something furiously in his ear.

"Hakke Rokujuyon Sho! (Eight Trigrams Sixty Four Palms)"

She pushed Souya Ikari forward and jabbed him in the chest with her palms. Then she pushed him forward even more, landing even more blows on the boy, pushing him past the enormous machine that produced the Felix Felicis. "Eight!" she cried as she continued to jab him, "Sixteen!" landing even more hits, which sent Souya stumbling backwards, "Thirty-two!" her voice rang out, her fists a flurry of movement, "Sixty-four! Hai!" she cried, landing approximately that number of carefully and precisely aimed blows to Souya's body. The final strike sent him flying across the room towards the large stack of barrels and crates against one of the walls.

Souya Ikari fell into a barrel, in fact. He landed with a very satisfying sploosh! Thick purple liquid issued forth from the barrel as Souya was completely submerged in the barrel. A cloud of smoke began to rise from the barrel along with a hissing and bubbling noise.

"Oh my…" Wonka-san said, coming out of his corner and striding up to the barrel where Souya landed. He hesitantly began to investigate.

Hinata, on the other hand, fell to the ground, exhausted. Her eyes drooped and she felt incredibly tired. Naruto walked up to her. Hinata looked up to face Naruto, and suddenly tears welled up in her eyes.

"Oh! N-Naruto-kun!" she sobbed, "I'm s-s-so sorry! I haven't h-hurt you, have I? I didn't w-want to, I j-j-just felt I had to do s-something! Oh, p-please forgive me! I'm so sorry, your p-poor arm, I-I'll mend it r-right away, I promise! Please, I'm s-s-sorry…"

Naruto knelt down beside Hinata, he put his hand on her shoulder. His eyes were wide with panic. "H-Hinata-chan! Oh, don't cry! I-I'll be fine! I heal really fast anyway, and you didn't hurt me that much, please don't cry. I'm perfectly fine, really I am!" he said quickly, seeing the horrified and sad look on Hinata's face.

He leaned over and put his arms around her, hugging her tightly.

"Daijoubu, Hinata-chan," he said softly, "I'll be fine…besides…you were right." Hinata looked up at him, a tear leaking out of her eye. He smiled warmly at her, the big grin that she admired so much, "You were right…I think what you did just now was very brave. You came between the two of us and risked yourself because you wanted to try and give peace a chance. T-that's really something admirable."

Hinata couldn't help but blush as she felt comfort in Naruto's soft and warm hug. His words made her turn an even brighter shade of scarlet. She was glad Naruto couldn't quite see her face. "N-Naruto-kun…arigato." She said at last.

"Aww, isn't that just darling…" a voice said behind them.

Hinata broke away from Naruto to see Wonka-san standing over them. He was grinning. "Well, that whole little bit of debacle certainly livened up the day. Are you two alright?" he asked. Both Naruto and Hinata nodded. "Well good. I must say that I'm ever so happy and proud that you two would go out of your way to protect me and my invention," he skipped over the large glass sphere and placed the Felix Felicis back it its holder.

"Now then, I do think we should check on our other ticket winner," he said with a mischievous face, "I'm quite unsure of what he landed in. We'd better go fetch him right away."

The party then walked slowly over to the barrel that Souya Ikari had landed in, purple goop oozing over the top. The barrel shook a bit, teetering on the crates it was on. "He's definitely in there…" Naruto said slowly.

The barrel shook again, this time, tipping over in front of them. Purple ooze splashed out a bit as it fell forward. Wonka-san nudged the two children back so that they didn't get near it. "Who knows what it is…it could be dangerous!" he said worriedly.

"Ano…you're the one who brought it in," Naruto said, "and you don't know what it is?"

"Hey," Wonka-san said hurt, "there are limits to my genius. I can't be expected to remember everything." He motioned for the two children to lean over to look in the barrel.

Something began to crawl out.

"Oh my goodness…" Hinata gasped.

"That's impossible!" Naruto exclaimed.

"It's…it's…" Wonka-san began.

Slowly, a small thing crawled out of the barrel. It was a small and fuzzy animal, its grey and brown fur covered in purple goop. It got out; looking quite flustered, and stared at them all with small, beady black eyes.

"…It's a raccoon!" Wonka-san said, a smile widening on his face.

Hinata couldn't believe what she saw. "B-but, what happened to Souya-kun!" She asked. Naruto simply rubbed his eyes in disbelief, making sure he was seeing all of this correctly.

"Who'da thunk it?" Wonka-san said excitedly. "Now I remember…I seem to recall having a few vats of something that could turn things into raccoons…I suppose that's what this must be!" he watched as the little animal sniffed them all and shook the purple ooze off of its fur. It gave a small cry of irritation.

"He's a tanuki?" Naruto asked.

"Um, no," Wonka-san said, "he's a raccoon, like I said."

"I think he looks like a tanuki. Or maybe a badger." Naruto insisted.

"Sometimes a-a tanuki is just a tanuki…" Hinata said quietly, remembering the old Konoha proverb.

"S-So that kid got turned into this?" Naruto still couldn't believe it. He watched the little animal scurry about, cleaning its bushy tail. "That's…" Naruto couldn't help but smile. His smile quickly escalated into a chuckle, which became a laugh. Hinata chuckled as well.

Wonka-san scooped up the animal with his gloved hands, "Ooh, there we go," he cooed as he held the animal in his arms, "You're just a cute wittle thing, aren't you?" the raccoon took a little swipe at him. Wonka-san lowered him a bit and made a bizarre clicking noise with his tongue. Suddenly, an Oompa-Loompa appeared right by his leg in an instant. Wonka-san bent over and spoke to the little man.

"I want you to take this animal…er, Souya-kun…and bring him along to the entrance with the other children. You might want to contact his mother…she'll be…surprised." He told the Oompa-Loompa, handing the raccoon to him. The Oompa-Loompa pulled a small leash out of his clothes and harnessed the animal, leading him out of the room.

"Ah well," Wonka-san sighed, "It's too bad none of the Oompa-Loompas worked in this room," he told the children, "I imagine they would have loved to sing a song about this. It would certainly have made for an interesting one."