People talking. "How you dare!"

People thinking. "I will not forgive it!"

Nonhuman talking. "I didn't think you were so powerful."

Nonhuman thinking. "This battle has been very long."

Techniques / unknown names "Suiton Suishōha!"

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, Masashi Kishimoto does.

Chapter 29

Somewhere Near Konoha.

Several meters underground, in a room with almost no illumination, Danzō was gathering his subordinates. They were bowed before him, hearing their leader giving orders about their role during the invasion.

Sai was among them, listening with close attention to inform any relevant information to his 'master.'

He ordered them not to interfere in the invasion and let things follow their course.

There was another order, and this was the most important one. "You now know it, don't interfere," Danzō ordered before pausing. "But that doesn't mean we won't do anything. No, all of you will have a mission, a mission which failure is not an option."

Some of them raised their heads slightly. "Your assignment is to bring the Uzumaki girl here; you must do it quickly and cleanly. I don't want anyone being aware of our movement; I just want one person to know about it though I'm sure that he will when he notices her absence." Danzō smiled slightly.

The time to put Naruto under his Genjutsu had come, and he would do it with the help of Karin. He would kidnap her to attract Naruto to him. After that, he would order Naruto to kill Minato.

He was sure that the Jinchuriki could do it, not because the one-eyed man thought he was stronger than the Hokage, but due to the emotional burden that the Yondaime would feel if his son approached him with the intention of killing him.

And when the Yondaime and the Sandaime were dead, no one would be there to take the Hokage position, so he would take it and would 'execute' Naruto to keep the villagers happy. But no, the Uzumaki was a key piece, the key piece for Konoha's imposing to the world.

Danzō already sensed that Naruto had the Uzumaki artifact in his possession, and if so, he would order him to use it against the other villages.

Therefore, no one would disagree with him and Konoha anymore.

He stopped smiling and returned to his typical expression. "That is all; you are dismissed."

Everyone nodded and withdrew, except for Sai, who was intercepted by Danzō. "Sai, come with me. I have to talk to you."

Sai mentally cursed since he was about to inform Naruto about what Danzō wanted to do. He stood up and walked toward him.

Once he was close, Danzō walked out, and Sai followed him, hearing him speaking. "Sai, you will be the captain. I want you to use your Ink Jutsu to capture the girl. I don't want her to receive any damage since that could complicate things. Oni can be quite dangerous when he is angry. And if he is like that, then my plans could get complicated. So I want you to capture her and then send a message to Oni saying that I need him here for a special mission. I'm sure that Oni will want to know it; he always liked my special missions."

Sai nodded; that would make things easier. However, the artist didn't know what Danzō had planned, but that wasn't important; he would only inform Naruto when he had the chance.

After that, they went to another area in the new base.

Stadium

"Now, first match… Begin!" Hayate exclaimed and stepped away while the people in the stands shouted again.

Menma carried his right hand to his holster and grabbed three Kunai, throwing them at Neji, who chuckled and blocked them with a Kunai, sending them to the sides.

The Hyuga saw the Namikaze a few centimeters from him, about to punch him in the face, but Neji just led his right palm towards his wrist and sent him to one side, making him lose his balance.

The Jinchuriki growled, so he used both hands as support and propelled himself in an attempt to kick him. The Hyuga, however, blocked his attack, carrying both hands to his ankles before raising them, forcing Menma to do several flips in the air before falling several meters away from him.

The Namikaze quickly stood up and ran towards Neji with a battle shout to perform combos with his fists and legs.

However, the Hyūga blocked them all without even a sweat; Menma growled because he couldn't hit him even once.

Minato shook his head; he had repeatedly told his son that Taijutsu wouldn't work with a Hyūga and that he must focus on Ninjutsu. It seemed that his son was losing control. But this had just begun; anything could happen, he thought.

Sasuke thought that the Hyūga was good, and almost everyone else shared the same conclusion, especially the civilians, who just now knew who he was.

After being blocking Menma's blows for several seconds, the Hyūga got bored and for that reason he sent the Namikaze's hands to one side before carrying his right palm towards his chest, giving him one mighty blow which expelled some chakra.

Menma couldn't help spitting up a bit of blood; that blow had taken him by surprise. He saw that Neji brought his fingers to his shoulder, and only thanks to his training to increase his speed, the Namikaze could dodge a blow that could have been a problem; he rolled backward to get several meters away from Neji.

"I missed," Neji thought while standing correctly again, seeing his opponent standing up and sighing heavily.

Menma smiled. "Well, you're certainly good at Taijutsu. My Oto-san had told me about it; I just wanted to be sure. So, how about if we increase the level of our combat?" the Namikaze asked while crossing his fingers.

Neji said nothing because he didn't care about the Shadow Clones. He already knew that technique thanks to Naruto; he wasn't worried.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Menma shouted, creating fifteen shadow clones that smiled as they cracked their knuckles before carrying their hands on their backs to grab their Ninjatos.

Many Ninjas of the Leaf and the civilians felt surprised when seeing the high-level technique, but others weren't as they had seen the technique on several occasions.

The clones rushed to the attack in an attempt to confuse Neji as they tried to hit him.

But it didn't happen; Neji could dodge their attacks with a striking demonstration of Taijutsu, dealing accurate blows that dissipated them.

"It's useless; your fate is to lose to me. You don't have enough strength," Neji stated with a half-smile as he grabbed one of the clones by the neck to make him disappear due to a hit in his chest.

Menma growled and shouted, "Shut up! I don't care what you say. I'll impose my destiny. Now I won't hold back anymore; I will fight with all my strength." After that, Menma crossed his fingers, but this time, he made one clone.

The clone charged Chakra in the original's palm, forming a Rasengan, but one that was at least three times bigger than the normal one.

Menma and his clone rushed straight ahead after finishing the Rasengan.

"A direct attack? You gotta be kidding me," Neji muttered, but he had to turn around since he detected that two clones appeared behind him.

When the Hyūga dissipated them, he tried to look at Menma again, only to hear: "It's over, Odama Rasengan!" Menma exclaimed and approached the enormous Rasengan towards Neji, who didn't move; he just bent his knees slightly.

Hiashi couldn't help standing up. "Does he?" He asked surprised.

Neji chuckled as a shield of chakra appeared right where the Rasengan should have impacted. He stopped smiling while a rotating shield of chakra formed around him. "Kaiten (Rotation)!" Neji exclaimed as he continued spinning, destroying the Odama Rasengan, and redirecting its energy towards Menma.

The Namikaze flew back, quite shocked due to the technique and the result of it. Not only Menma stayed with that feeling, but all the Hyūgas were shocked too. Hanabi didn't know that her cousin could do that since they only taught it to Main Family.

Menma slowly stood up due to the pain he felt all over his body. "Did you think you had won?" Neji asked with a grin.

Menma growled while doing hand seals. "Stop underestimating me! Fūton: Daitoppa (Wind Release: Great Breakthrough)!" the Jinchūriki exclaimed, expelling a large wind gust.

The Hyūga used his Kaiten again, nullifying the effect of his technique, and the Namikaze couldn't believe what he was seeing. Did that mean that Ninjutsu was also useless?

Neji stopped spinning and added with a severe expression, "It's not enough."

Menma growled as he thought. "What should I do? I don't want to use that technique; maybe Neji wouldn't survive if I used it."

He instantly obtained a response. "Try it, boy. Did you not want him to pay for what he did to your little girlfriend? If you continue hesitating, you won't get anywhere. You won't defeat your brother like this," a voice replied within him.

"Kurama, I don't want to kill Neji; I just want to talk some sense into him," Menma replied.

Okay, but at least try it out. But stop doubting and start fighting seriously. This Hyūga brat is giving you a beating. The container of the most powerful part of the great Kyūbi no Yoko has to be much stronger than this." After that, Kurama cut connection with Menma.

Menma couldn't help chuckling; they had met several weeks ago; it had been an interesting day.

Two days after the preliminaries - At the outskirts of Konoha.

"D-Done, Ero-sennin, I've exhausted all my c-chakra. W-What do we do now?" Menma asked tiredly; Jiraiya had told him that he had to drain all his chakra to have special training.

Minato was there watching his Sensei instructing his son. The training consisted in Menma exhausting all his normal chakra so that he could use the chakra that was hidden inside him.

"Alright, Menma. Follow us; the next stage of your training is over here." After that, Jiraiya and Minato walked in a particular direction.

Menma sighed and followed them, reaching a wooded area where they stopped and turned around to face him.

Jiraiya approached Menma with a severe expression, which to some degree made him feel nervous since he had never seen his godfather like that.

"The training ends here, Menma," Jiraiya stated.

That confused Menma, and when he was going to ask him, Jiraiya continued, "Menma! Go and die."

"Die?" Menma asked confused.

The Sannin ignored him and continued. "Try to extract the powerful Chakra within you from the fear of death. And experiment that with your body, and grasp the trick to do it. If you don't want to die, do something on your own!"

The Namikaze boy was quite confused. Who would kill him? Jiraiya finished speaking and took a few steps forward, leading his finger to his godson's forehead.

The Sannin touched his headband lightly; the result was Menma being sent a few meters back at high speed, surprising him due to his strength.

He stopped thinking about it since he saw an abyss under him.

Now he was scared, and for that reason, he gasped and screamed as he fell.

Jiraiya and Minato approached at the edge, and the older man spoke, "Now we'll see if the power given to you was really meant to protect you."

"Sensei, I'll pick him up if he fails to do it," Minato added, looking into the abyss.

"Come on, Minato. Have faith in your boy; he must learn how to use the great power within him," Jiraiya replied patting the shoulder of his student.

The Yondaime didn't doubt in his son; he was only concerned about him; he just nodded and continued looking at the abyss.

Menma was still screaming but stopped doing it to come up with something to survive.

He had charged the chakra he had left in the bottom of his feet and the palm of his hands, but it was useless because the rocks were slippery.

Minato and Jiraiya saw that but continued watching in silence.

Menma couldn't help feeling increasingly scared. "At this rate, at this rate... I'm going to die!"

"I'm going to die... I'm going to die," Menma continued thinking while seeing the ground.

Menma instantly felt that everything went black and a kind of disconnection with the world.

He had closed his eyes but opened them again because he felt standing on something wet.

The place was strange; it was a sewer with gray walls. He looked down and could see water, or something that looked like it.

For some reason, he just started walking; he entered into several corridors, turned several corners until reaching his destination.

Menma entered a room, opening his eyes in surprise. "W-Wow," Menma whispered as he saw an immense nine-tailed dark-orange fox that was sitting on a sort of round platform and staring at him.

"So finally the day has come," Menma heard.

"D-Do y-You are?" asked Menma still surprised.

"Yes, I am the Kyūbi no Yoko. I thought you would never get here; you have certainly taken your sweet time. Thirteen years to be exact."

"Wow, so you're the Kyūbi? Wow, you are definitely huge," he stated looking him up and down.

The Kyuubi laughed loudly. "I like you, boy, you are lucky that I don't have so much hate like my other part, or else, this meeting wouldn't have been pleasant. I can assure you that."

Menma was surprised but left it for later. "I would like to continue this conversation. But now, we have a problem, could you lend me some of your Chakra?"

The Kyūbi carefully looked at him but raised his right fist and pointed it towards Menma. "Here, your fist."

Menma nodded, and fist bumped with the Biju, feeling a great power emerging from him. After that, they split fists, both laughing slightly after doing it.

"Hey, I'll return to ask you more questions. It was nice to meet you; I thought you'd be someone grumpy, but you're friendly. By the way, my name is Menma."

"Kurama," the Biju replied.

"Nice to meet you, Kurama. Now I'm leaving, we have to survive. Oh yes, how do I get out of here?" Menma asked with a silly smile on his face.

Kurama almost fell backward but growled. "Just close your eyes and think of the outside world, that should be enough," Kurama replied.

Menma nodded and did what he said, successfully leaving his mental landscape to return to the abyss.

The Namikaze shook his head and bit his thumb while doing hand seals. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu (Summoning Technique)!" Menma exclaimed, placing his hand under him.

A cloud of smoke appeared, and red legs came out of it, clinging to the peaks of the cliff.

Menma sighed in relief as he fell on Toad Boss' back, saving him from his death.

Minato and Jiraiya smiled while nodding.

After that, Menma had a conversation with the Toad Boss, and he accepted the blond-haired kid, although Minato insisted Gamabunta not to invite Menma to a round of drinks.

Flashback end

Menma shook his head; it wasn't the time to remember that.

He looked forward and saw that Neji was going to attack him, so he decided to use his new technique, maybe Neji wouldn't get hurt so badly.

Before the Hyūga could reach him, the Namikaze jumped high into the air.

Everyone looked up, wondering what he had in mind.

When being at an optimum height, the Jinchūriki crossed his fingers and shouted, "Taju Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

At least forty Shadow Clones appeared around him, surprising most of those present.

Half of the clones raised their hands while the other half led their hands towards them.

Those clones immediately had big blue spheres in their hands; the other half dissipated after that.

Minato was slightly surprised; there was no doubt that his son was excellent with the Rasengan; he had also learned the Odama Rasengan on his own, and the Yondaime had never seen this version before. He had never thought about it, to be honest.

When he asked himself the technique's name, the Hokage heard: "Let's see if your Kaiten can resists this, Neji!" The clones exclaimed as they plummeted towards the Hyūga.

On the roof of the stands, a Shadow Clone of Naruto thought. "Wow, I never thought of something like that. It seems that my little brother is good at this stuff, after all," the clone finished with a smile.

Neji only looked up and thought. "I have no doubt that my Kaiten will resist that attack, but I'll try something else. Thank you, Naruto-san. I've learned this technique from the scroll that you gave me." After that, Neji slowly raised his right hand.

The clones saw that Neji raised his hand and pointed it at them. However, they dismissed the threat because they thought that he was about to use his Kaiten; therefore, the clones shouted in unison when they were a few centimeters from Neji. "Odama Rasen Tarengan (Many Big Ball Spiralling Serial Spheres)!"

Neji smiled and bent down slightly before whispering, "Hakke Hasangeki (Eight Trigrams Mountain Crusher)."

Neji released a massive wave of white chakra from the palm of his hand, which dissipated the clones and sent Menma flying back in the air, making him spit some blood.

Hiashi clenched his fists; Neji was just too good, and that last attack was too powerful, not for nothing it had that name.

The members of Team 7 and Minato got worried, but Sasuke didn't show it much.

Hinata had clasped her hands, and Naruto's clone was looking at Neji with confusion. They didn't plan that, but maybe Neji was doing it for some reason.

The Hyūga smiled as he watched the Namikaze ascending into the air. Neji had in mind what Naruto had told him a few hours before the finals, but he couldn't contain the anger because Hinata had deceived him because of his opponent.

Even though he had in mind what he had planned with Naruto; that didn't mean that he wouldn't kick the ass of Naruto's brother. The Hyūga knew that he would need much more than that to end the battle.

Therefore, he prepared himself for another technique, a risky one... for Menma.

"What the hell was that? Was that a Fūton Jutsu? I believed the Hyūgas couldn't use Ninjutsu," the Namikaze thought in disbelief, quite sore due to the technique.

It looked like a Fūton jutsu; it was like an air cannon or something. But he stopped thinking about that; he had to keep his promise; that was something he didn't want to fail.

He regained his posture and spun in the air to land gently on the ground, a few meters away from Neji.

Many people clapped and cheered him on.

The Namikaze smiled as he wiped the blood that dripped from the corners of his lips. "T-This is not over yet," Menma stated in pain.

He wasn't exhausted, but sore. However, he started to feel better since Kurama was already healing him.

He softly thanked him while trying to make another move, but he couldn't do it as Neji spoke, "This is it," he paused for a moment as he closed his eyes before opening them. "You are within the range of my Divination."

An invisible green field appeared around the Jinchūriki while the Hyūga took the proper stance for his next technique. "Jukenho, Hakke Hyaku Nijūhachi Shō (Gentle Fist Movement, Eight Trigrams One Hundred Twenty-Eight Palms)," Neji whispered.

"That stance; is he going to...?" Hiashi asked as he looked at his nephew, who was smirking in the stance of the Eight Trigrams.

After that, Neji charged chakra in the soles of his feet and propelled himself. Menma was surprised by his speed; he tried to cover himself but couldn't do anything because Neji moved faster, bringing two fingers of both hands to him. "Two Palms!" Neji yelled, closing the first Chakra points of Menma.

However, he didn't stop there and continued attacking at an impressive speed. "Four Palms!" He exclaimed as he pushed Menma back for every hit he took, and Menma was unable to stop his assault.

"Eight Palms! Sixteen Palms! Thirty-two Palms!" Neji began to strike with increasing speed, surprising and worrying the spectators.

"Sixty-Four Palms!" Neji exclaimed; the members of the Main Family, who were still in shock, believed that Neji would finish the technique, but they saw amazed that he continued closing more points; Neji's hands were barely visible at this point.

Menma was spitting blood uncontrollably, and Neji finally yelled, "One Hundred Twenty-Eight Palms!" The Hyūga bowed slightly, and the Namikaze flew back as he moaned in pain.

Minato was shocked, and the Kazekage uttered. "Looks like the Hyūga boy has defeated your son, Hokage-dono."

Minato didn't answer; he was worried but knew that his son wouldn't lose yet. Maybe he would find a way, but he had plenty of his chakra points closed.

Hiashi was also shocked; Neji's talent was remarkable. If Neji had been his son, he wouldn't have to rely on his daughters. But that was impossible, and he was jealous of Hizashi for having such a splendid son; his daughters paled in comparison.

Hinata had covered her eyes, and Shino placed his hand on her shoulder as he saw Menma falling heavily on the ground. Kiba wasn't paying attention to anything; he just had his head down since the beginning.

Genma approached and looked at Menma. "I guess that's the end," the Jounin stated.

Menma groaned. "Damn, I'm getting beat up," the Namikaze thought as he tried to stand up.

"That's what you get for not fighting seriously. Now, what are you going to do? He closed one hundred and twenty-eight of your Chakra Points. You won't be able to use Ninjutsu for a long time," Kurama replied.

"I'll come up with something," Menma replied while trying to get up.

Neji said, "I hit one hundred and twenty-eight points in your body. You can't stand up anymore."

Menma growled and whispered, "Fuck." He was unable to stand up because of the pain.

Neji chuckled and asked, "Mortifying, isn't it? You are on your knees against a power you can't face, finding out how truly powerless you are. Your whole life is an illusion; you will never be able to face a power greater than yours," Neji stated, looking at Menma trembling on the ground.

The Namikaze could only clench his fists, but he suddenly remembered his promise; he couldn't lose.

With all his willpower, Menma slowly stood up, receiving the cheers of the public and his friends.

Naruto's clone smiled and nodded satisfied.

The Hyūga was genuinely surprised; he thought he had already won, but Menma was able to stand up.

"No way," he muttered, watching him breathing hard and with his right hand on his chest.

Menma laughed slightly. "I told you that I don't give up that easily," Menma stated, lowering his hands and breathing slowly.

Neji couldn't believe it, and for that reason, he said, "Stop fighting. It's going to be the same even if you continue; surrender, or I will have to kill you."

Menma chuckled and replied, "Shut up. I won't surrender until you lose. I made a promise."

Neji got confused. "What are you talking about?"

Menma stared at him. "Why? Why did you attack Hinata-chan like that? To your cousin, who has always loved and admired you. She hasn't done anything to you to attack her in such a brutal manner," Menma replied with an angry face.

Neji put on an equal one, but he restrained himself from saying his reasons. "That doesn't concern you," Neji replied.

"It doesn't concern me? You're very wrong. I-If you didn't know, I'm her fiancé, and I care a lot about what happens to her," Menma stated, surprising the most of those present.

Some girls almost cried because the other son of the Hokage wasn't available either.

Hinata blushed. "Menma-kun," she whispered, looking sideways after realizing that many people were looking at her eyes wide open, embarrassing her even more than before.

Neji was about to finish him off, but Naruto's words echoed in his head.

So he didn't move; he just looked with anger at Menma before talking, "Very well, I will tell you since you seem to care so much..., about the Hyūga's fate of hatred!" Neji yelled.

At these words, Neji commented on the mark that all the members of the Branch Family had and about the inevitable fate of his family.

He took the headband off his forehead to explain it better, which surprised Menma; he knew nothing about it.

After that, Neji commented the history about the Head Ninja of Kumo, who had come to Konoha, and the consequences of his arrival. He said that while looking with contempt at the Kumo ninjas who were there.

Bee had a slight knowledge of that incident, but the story was quite confusing since both sides had their own version of events; his Genin didn't have the slightest idea, so they just continued listening.

During his explanation, Neji was visibly upset. "Death is the only way to escape from this detestable curse seal... The fate that we all share," Neji stated, putting on his headband again.

Menma was frankly surprised, and when he was about to say something, the Hyūga continued. "Although those weren't my reasons to attack Hinata-sama. I've already accepted the decision of my father. But the fact that she lied to me is something that makes my blood boil!"

Menma and Hinata got confused, and the Namikaze asked, "How did she lie to you?"

Neji clenched his fists and let out a growl. "She said that she could unite the families, but it was a lie. AND YOU HAVE THE FAULT! Now, enough talk, it's time to end this once and for all." After that, Neji stood in his Juuken stance.

The Hyūga continued, "You better desist; your fate says that you will lose to me. There is nothing you can do."

Menma gave a slight step forward to answer. "We won't know that until we actually fight."

After that, he began to breathe hard, every word he said took away another ounce of strength.

Neji just stared at him, hearing him continuing. "Neji, believe me; I know how you feel. I've been lied most of my life too; my whole life is a lie. But you know what? I won't keep resentment in my heart just because of that. Hinata-chan could have lied to you, but have you ever thought that maybe she didn't know about that? Did you not think that maybe she never wanted to lie to you? Did you not think of her suffering?" Menma asked.

He continued, "But let me tell you something, Neji. You're wrong if you think that's why fate is predetermined."

Neji didn't want to her anymore, so he ran straight at Menma, who could do nothing to avoid the blow that sent him backward.

Once Menma fell, Neji spoke again. "Examiner, this is over,"

The Hyūga turned and continued, "Loser... Even if you're the son of Hokage-sama, fate has already decided that you're a loser." After that, Neji walked towards the exit.

But Menma's voice stopped him. "N-No... d-don't r-run away."

The Hyūga turned around to see Menma standing up again, carrying his right hand on his chest.

"I'm n-not running a-away... I'm not going to take back my words; that's my way of the ninja," Menma stated with a serious expression.

Most people smiled due to Menma's determination, even Naruto's clone. "I admire your guts, brother. But let's see if that will be enough to defeat Neji."

Neji chuckled and replied, "Nice words, but you won't win with that alone."

Menma spoke as he tried to take a step forward. "I won't lose to a guy like you... A coward who blames everything on fate and other crap!"

Neji clenched his fists and answered, "You know nothing; don't lecture me. People are born with an inevitable fate. Mine, to be part of the Bouke; Hinata-sama, to be part of the Souke; and yours, to be the son of Hokage-sama but also a loser. To carry a seal that can't be removed. You will never understand what it means!" Neji exclaimed pointing at him.

Menma lowered his head; he understood him in a way, but he didn't see his seal as a burden. It hadn't caused him any problems in his life. It could be said that he was lucky, unlike his brother; he had to suffer a lot because of it, and now Menma knew it.

Therefore, Menma thought in everything his father had told him about his brother's suffering. "I know... I know what that is, but unfortunately, I didn't suffer like you and my Nii-san did. I would have liked to experience a little bit of that so that I could understand you guys better. But now it's too late, all I can do now is try to understand you, and believe me, it's something I'm willing to do."

Many were confused by his first words, most of them didn't know what seal he had, but a few did know.

The Namikaze continued, "But that doesn't make you anything special; you complain that you suffer too much. But you're not the only one who does it. Hinata-chan does it too. Do you think she likes all the attention she receives? Do you think she likes that they ignore her sister to focus only on her, or that they do the same with the Bouke? Neji, you're wrong; she isn't like that. And I'll make you see it when I defeat you," Menma stated as he lowered his fists, but he couldn't avoid spitting some blood at the end.

Neji shook his head while chuckling. "I've closed your one hundred and twenty-eight chakra points. What will you do now? You won't be able to use your Chakra for few days," Neji stated with mockery in his words. "In the end, you are going to follow the same fate as Hinata-sama." After saying that, Neji activated his Byakugan.

Menma furiously growled. "Shut up! Stop talking as if you know everything with that Byakugan of yours!" Neji chuckled again. "Then show me if what you say is true,"

Menma growled and responded, "Sure, I'll beat you and prove it to you."

Menma thought frustrated. "Shit, shit, shit. Even when I say that, I feel no Chakra inside me. It feels like when I used up all of my Chakra during that training with Oto-san and Ero-sennin."

When he thought that, he remembered the words of his godfather. "That's it, the Chakra of Kurama."

Menma closed his eyes, and Neji got curious because of that.

"Kurama, give me just a little bit of your power. I need it, please," Menma thought.

Kurama chuckled. "I thought you would never say it. But let me warn you that a small portion of my power could make you kill this brat. You haven't trained to control my power yet; be careful." After that, Kurama provided a bit of his chakra.

"I will," Menma replied, feeling his Chakra Points opening slowly and a lot of pain.

"The conversation ends here," the Hyūga spoke while looking at Genma. "Examiner, I plan to kill him. If you're going to stop me, do it when you want."

Genma sighed. "Geez..."

Neji looked back at Menma and heard him chuckling as he did the Ram Seal. Neji deduced that he was trying to expel his Chakra, the reason why he shook his head. "I told you, it's useless."

Menma just ignored him and shouted. "AAAAAAHH!" In an attempt to expel his Chakra, many of his points were still blocked, but they were opening up increasingly faster. "I just can't lose here! I promised her!" Menma thought without stopping.

"It's useless; I hit your Chakra Points," Neji continued, looking at Menma with fun.

The Jinchūriki kept yelling; he wouldn't give up; losing wasn't an option.

The Hyūga shook his head; everything seemed that nothing was going to happen. Too bad; it seemed that their plan would fail. Therefore, he asked while shaking his head. "Why do you fight so hard against your fate?"

Menma stopped yelling but was still trembling due to the pain; he then opened his eyes and answered, "Because you've called me a loser; I'll prove that you're wrong."

Neji activated his Byakugan and stood in the Juuken stance.

The Namikaze growled again, and the Hyūga heard a strange whistling coming from him while a red chakra cloak slowly surrounded his body.

Naruto's clone was surprised. "Wow, that's a huge amount of chakra, and it's still increasing. Menma will win at this rate... Excellent." He was smiling and hearing Kurama's grunts because Menma was using his power without his permission again.

The red chakra began to heal the Namikaze's wounds at a tremendous speed, which surprised the Hyūga. "Chakra is leaking out from him. I didn't think that something like this could happen."

The Chakra kept increasing, surprising everyone who didn't know what was going on.

But Shinobis quickly concluded: Menma was also a Jinchūriki, which shocked them.

Naruto OST - Strong and Strike

Neji was having difficulty to keep his eyes open; that Chakra was generating a strong wind gust.

The Hyūga covered his face as he could, and the Namikaze looked at him. "Let's begin."

Neji thought. "This power is greater than the times that Naruto-san showed it to me. I believe that the plan will result after all." He mentally smiled.

Menma couldn't help thinking. "This is an impressive power; I feel much stronger than before." He looked at his right fist before disappearing from the view of almost everyone, moving at a surprising speed towards Neji.

The Hyūga looked with his Byakugan in all directions to locate the Jinchūriki.

Neji moved his head sideways, dodging a punch from Menma, who appeared right behind him.

After avoiding the blow, everyone could see that a sort of gust came out of his fist, which hit the ground and made a small crater.

Neji jumped back before throwing a Kunai to Menma, who dodged it before disappearing from his sight again.

"I must be more careful; that last blow could have hurt Neji severely. I know what I'll do. Kurama, pay attention," Menma thought, moving in all directions as he explained his plan to Kurama.

The Namikaze then took out two special smoke bombs that his father had given him before the finals, and he threw them towards Neji.

The Hyūga chuckled; his Byakugan would see through it. But when the bombs exploded, he felt that his eyes began to burn and itch, and the need to cough. He deactivated his Byakugan as he rubbed his eyes. "What the hell is this?" Neji thought.

Naruto's clone thought. "Hey! Those are my pepper bombs. Where did he get them? They're not sold in Konoha." He was a little angry, but they were working, at least. He knew that their effect lasted a few minutes. Therefore, he had no idea what his brother was thinking; he just continued watching.

Minato was also observing; those bombs had cost him a fortune in the black market, but they were working. He didn't think that using them should be considered cheating; they were Ninja supplement, but not many people were willing to pay the price for one of these bombs, so it was rare for a ninja to use it.

Neji stepped away the smoke as he continued rubbing his eyes. He tried to activate his Byakugan, only to turn it off because the itching increased.

He looked everywhere with narrowed eyes as he waited for Menma, who had disappeared from the arena, not because of his speed; he had just disappeared.

Neji thought where he could be, so he looked up and saw Menma descending with a Rasengan in his right hand.

His eyes still itched, so he took out a kunai and threw it towards Menma, who didn't make the slightest effort to dodge it. He disappeared in a puff of smoke, revealing that it had been a clone.

Neji instantly stood on guard because the burning sensation had stopped. He was about to activate his Byakugan, but the Hyūga heard a noise coming from the ground, the reason why he looked down and saw a fist wrapped in a red cloak at centimeters from his chin.

Menma mentally shouted: "Now, Kurama!" and the Chakra cloak disappeared, just when he gave him a mighty blow to his chin.

The Hyūga felt his world spinning as he flew up, spitting some blood before falling heavily on the ground, already unable to move.

The crowd burst into cheers; almost everyone stood up.

Sasuke smiled but said nothing, like Kakashi and the other Jounin Senseis.

Hinata let out a: "Menma-kun," blushing because people were smiling at her and sending her thumbs up.

The Namikaze approached the Hyūga, who was lying on the ground.

Neji couldn't deny that the blow hurt him quite a bit. He couldn't move, so he just accepted his defeat in silence.

Menma stood to his right before bending over and look into his eyes; he smiled and stretched out his hand to him.

Neji looked at him for a moment before accepting his help to stand up, doing it with difficulty.

Genma nodded with a smile and declared Menma as the winner; he came to that decision because Neji was barely standing.

After his statement, people erupted in cheers as they congratulated Menma for winning the match.

"Why are you helping me?" Neji asked as he leaned on Menma.

The Jinchūriki replied with a smile. "I just wanted you to come to your senses, Neji. I never held a grudge against you."

Neji smiled and nodded. "I think I owe an apology to Hinata-sama," The Hyūga said looking at the stands, specifically at Hinata.

He looked at Menma, who was widely smiling. Neji didn't ask and just walked out the arena with Menma's help as he remembered what Naruto had told him hours before the finals.

A Few Hours Before.

Naruto, Neji, and Hanabi were in the house where the former ANBU had placed his Hiraishin mark; there the Uzumaki told them some things.

Once the Jinchūriki finished commenting about what would happen today; he decided to proceed with the main purpose of his visit. "Neji, I must ask you something. Rather, I will assign you a mission."

Neji raised an eyebrow. "What would that be, Naruto-san?"

"I need you to lose your battle," Naruto replied with a straight face.

Neji got confused and asked out of curiosity, "For what reason?"

Naruto smiled and replied, "A few days ago, I discovered something interesting about my brother, something that would make your movements easier in the Hyūga compound."

Neji raised an eyebrow again. "I still don't understand it."

The Uzumaki smiled and continued, "Well, it's simple. My brother is one of those people who believes that everything can be solved with kind words, but with some punches in the go. I deducted that a few days ago. Therefore, be a douche in your battle but lose at the end. I'm sure that my brother doesn't want to kill you; he just wants to 'talk some sense into you' as he wants to do it with me. Pfff, I can't believe that kind of stupid people exists in this world. Anyhow, that's why I told you that. But of course, that doesn't mean that you don't have to fight, give him a beating if you like, but it would be better if you lose your fight."

Naruto paused and then continued. "After that, you have to act as if you were sorry for what you did and apologize to your cousin. You'll have to do continue with that façade until I take the Bouke out of the village, maybe in a few years. I can't give you an exact date. So you must suffer a little bit until that day. "

Neji nodded. "Alright, Naruto-san; I'll do as you say."

Hanabi was just paying attention to their conversation until she realized that Naruto looked at her. "Hanabi-chan, take care of your cousin while I'm not here. When they place the Caged Bird Seal on you, stick the Kunai that I gave you in this room, and I'll show up to extract it."

Hanabi nodded and added, "Don't worry, Naruto-kun. If something happens, we'll let you know." After that, she walked up to Naruto and kissed him, making him smile slightly.

Hanabi did no longer have an issue in showing her affection, not like in the early days when she was a bit reluctant.

He had visited her several times at night, but they didn't have sex yet, just because they both knew it wasn't the right time and both still wanted to build their relationship.

Neji had heard about their relationship a few days ago and couldn't be more than satisfied with her choice. He wouldn't have to worry about her cousin if Naruto was with her.

After that, Naruto went to another place after saying goodbye to both of them.

Flashback end

Neji mentally sighed, now the hard part came: behave as if he was sorry.

Even though things had gone as Naruto wanted due to luck, Neji couldn't deny that Menma beat him cleanly.

Well, not so much due to those things he threw at him, but they were Ninjas, and playing dirty was part of their job.

They went upstairs, and Menma said he would accompany him to the infirmary, but the Hyuga replied he was fine and that he didn't need to go there. Instead, he went where Hinata was and apologized for what he had done in the preliminaries.

Hinata hugged Neji and people cheered them on because things between them had settled down. After that, the crowd asked for a kiss between Hinata and Menma.

They refused at first, but after a while, they softly kissed each other since people kept insisting.

The clone of Naruto was observing with a smile. "All right, Neji. Now you won't need me for a long time; you've already earned the trust of that brat, and Hiashi will no longer bother you."

After a few minutes, everyone turned around and looked at the arena, now impatient for the next battle. Many had heard the rumors about Naruto, of having beaten two Shinobigatana and being the son of the Hokage.

Lee was looking in all directions, very close to the railing. But there were still no signs of Naruto, and that was making him angry.

Many of the Gennin saw his reaction but decided to stay silent; Naruto would probably arrive at any moment.

Menma was already there and asked the girls. "Hey, do you know why my Nii-san hasn't come yet?"

Haku answered. "We don't know; we haven't seen him for several hours."

That drew the attention of some of them, and Sasuke added. "The red-haired boy of the Sand isn't here either."

That called their attention again, mostly to the girls since Naruto had told them about the events of their confrontation. But they weren't worried because they knew that Naruto would be okay.

They turned around and looked at the arena, waiting for any sign of Naruto.

In the Kage Box, Minato was visibly restless, and Naruto was the reason.

Raidō noticed that and approached Minato to whisper in his ear. "We still haven't located Naruto. And there's the Orochimaru thing. Perhaps we should disqualify him before everyone causes an uproar."

Minato shook his head as the public yelled, demanding them to hurry up with the next match and other kinds of claims concerning the next battle.

The clone thought, "Should I dispel myself to let the boss know about this?"

"You shouldn't; Naruto is still fornicating with that woman. You already know how you can become when you are interrupted in those moments. So just keep watching, I'm sure that your dear daddy won't allow them to disqualify you," Kurama replied.

"Uuuuh, you're right. Damn boss, he's always getting the best part. Bah, I will go with the girls," the clone replied now grumpy.

Kurama only chuckled at his complaints.

In the Kage box, Minato made a decision. "Tell Genma that Naruto's fight will be postponed and to continue with the following combats."

Raidō nodded and was about to leave, but the Kazekage said, "Hokage-dono, I would like the same consideration with my son."

Minato accepted and ordered Raidō to pass this decision to Genma; Raidō vanished and communicated the Hokage's decision to Genma, who nodded.

After that, Raidō returned to the Kage Box.

Genma turned around and looked at the public. "Ladies and gentlemen. The fighters for the next two battles hasn't arrived just yet. Therefore, this battle and the next one will be delayed, and we will begin the next match set after the next two."

That caused boos; they didn't want to wait for the most exciting fights, although a few people smiled since Naruto would have another chance to fight.

Shikamaru sighed in annoyance because that meant his match was closer than before.

Ino and Samui knew what this meant. The Kumo-nin didn't wait any longer and went to the arena.

The Yamanaka stayed a few more seconds as the other girls had wished her luck, all but Karui since Samui was her teammate; she just decided to remain silent.

Once Ino went downstairs, she walked through the dark corridor and was about to go out when someone grabbed her from behind and placed her hands over her mouth.

She knew who it was, so she just stood still as she felt him licking her earlobe in a rather sensual way.

"Good luck, Ino-chan." Naruto's clone whispered.

Ino bit her lips and whispered, "Y-You're so mean, Naruto-kun. Doing this to me before my fight..." She moaned as she felt fingers going inside her.

The Uzumaki smiled and replied, "You know that I love to do this to you, Ino-chan. You have a very sensitive body. Besides, you stopped using those bandages today. Now it's much easier for me to do this to you."

He stopped and stepped back, which made the Yamanaka sigh in disappointment. She turned around and heard him saying. "Good luck in your fight, Ino-chan. I don't think that you're going to need it, but I still wanted to say it." After that, they both shared a short kiss.

Ino asked, "Why did you not show up when it was your turn?"

Naruto shrugged and answered, "I'm just a clone; the boss is busy right now. But he'll return to have his fight." He winked at the end.

Ino chuckled and said goodbye before running towards the arena because it was late.

After that, the clone used a Shunshin, appeared on top of the Kage Box and sat down there. "Here I'll be able to see everything," the clone thought, now using the Camouflage Technique.

Once both fighters were face to face, Genma asked if they were ready, both nodded, and the Jounin started the next match.

Notes

Well, some of you may be thinking that this chapter wasn't good because there was too much talking, or that it looked a lot like the canon.

You may be right, but I have my reasons.

1) I want to make clear that this Menma is the Naruto of the canon (personality), so there are going to be a few resemblances, but not every time.

2) I want to give 'camera' to all the characters, develop their characters.

3) I don't want plot holes; it's hard to deal with them afterward, even more so if a reader throw them at your face.

Another thing worth mentioning is that Menma has Kurama inside of him, but they are two different entities. Let's say that one is the Yang and the other the Ying (one is more powerful, the other one is pure evil).

If you have any questions, ask them, and I will answer them.

Until next time!