Chapter 13

Neji jumped down to the fighting square, eager for battle. Hinata reluctantly made her way there as well, very scared and surprised. She was not expecting to fight her own cousin. On the other hand, Neji was hoping for it.

"Finally, a chance to teach the Main House a lesson! Prepare for defeat, cousin!" shouted Neji, rushing towards her when the proctor said fight. The two Hyugas activated their Byakugans and started a battle of Jukens. Blue chakra flared everywhere as they furiously attacked each other's chakra points. Hinata showed an uncharacteristic rage, and Neji was not as stoic as he usually was. Most people expected that from Neji, but not from Hinata. She seemed unusually motivated.

'I can't let my team down,' she told herself, 'everyone's watching. Naruto is counting on me. And Sasuke-kun...' Hinata felt much more determined knowing that Sasuke was watching. She wanted to prove herself to everyone, but she felt she owed it to Sasuke especially. He was the only person who showed any interest in her well-being. She started fighting back extra-hard. It didn't take long for her to over-power Neji. She was taking control. She hit one tenketsu, then another. Neji was soon on his knees, with Hinata smiling widely to the astonished public. Neji was so mad. He couldn't control himself. When Hinata went for another attack, he focused his chakra around him, making it spin. Using his Rotation defense, Hinata was pushed back, just enough for Neji to prepare his ultimate attack.

"Eight Trigrams: 361 Palms!" he yelled, blanketing Hinata's face in fear. His movements were unbeliveably fast. What seemed like one punch was actually six! Neji blocked every single one of Hinata's tenketsu, which definitely wasn't good. Not only could she not use her chakra, or even stand, but because no chakra was flowing, she began to go into cardiac arrest. A few of the Jonin present, Minato included, jumped down to intervene, followed by Sasuke and Naruto. Hayate, the proctor, and another Jonin held Neji down and declared him the winner. Sasuke, Naruto, Minato and Kurenai were franticly by Hinata's side.

"Hinata! Hinata, wake up! You can beat this, come on!" yelled Sasuke. You couldn't see it because his hair was covering his eyes, but tears were forming. In his unchecked emotional state, the Kyubi's chakra leaked out, giving his hands a light, red aura. He put his hands on her shoulders to try to wake her, and unbeknowst to those present, the red chakra seeped into her pores, making its way to her chakra circulatory system and washing away Neji's chakra, bringing balance back to her body as the red chakra harmlessly mixed itself into her chakra. Hinata's eyes opened up slowly, and Sasuke could hear her heart beating normally again. The group let out their held breath as Neji began to look panicked.

'No,' he thought, 'how could a runt like her survive my ultimate attack!? Her destiny is to forever remain a weakling! She couldn't have survived! It's impossible!'

Kurenai picked Hinata up and took her to the infirmary wing of the tower. Sasuke looked down at where she had just been, seeing a pool of her blood instead. He dipped his fist into it and grabbed a handful.

"Neji! I swear to whatever God there is up there, I will avenge my teammate! Hinata's blood will not have been spilled in vain. I have seen your 'ultimate' attack, and believe me, when we fight, I'll have something even better." Sasuke promised. Neji looked a bit shaken up, but he was still his stoic old self. Everyone went back to their spots for the next battle, which was...

"Sasuke Uchiha vs. Shino Aburame!" announced the Hokage. They got into their places.

'This should be interesting.' thought Sasuke. The Aburames were such a mysterious clan of ninjas. A good start to test his skills. The battle began, and Shino's bugs swarmed on Sasuke. All his fangirls that made it to this round squeaked at seeing Sasuke covered in bugs. But a few seconds later, what everyone thought was Sasuke blew up, eradicating the bugs. Turns out he had used Substitution Jutsu and slapped an explosive note onto the log. Shino hadn't noticed in time. Now behind Shino, Sasuke kicked him high into the air. Appearing behind him, Sasuke kicked Shino back down and sent a fireball flying his way. Shino reluctantly used his bugs to defend himself. Sasuke fell back down, and was attacked by Shino's bugs again, this time paying attention to Shino's chakra flow as he sent the bugs. When you have Sharingan, you always got to pay attention to the enemy. You never know when their technniques could come in handy. He repelled the bugs with a smoke bomb he had been developing in his little lab back home. After watching Rock Lee's battle, he felt he should test his new found speed and strength. Sasuke removed his weights, leaving that same dramatic crater in the ground. He flew past any other defense Shino had and proceeded to punch and kick him beyond the speed that regular eyes could see. Shino flew into the wall, battered and bleeding. While his teammates and sensei began rioting, Hayate announced Sasuke the winner. He went back to his spot near Naruto after picking up his weights.

"Nice work Sasuke! But watch and learn. I'll show you what a real ninja can do." Naruto said, giving Sasuke a high-five. The next match was announced.

"The next battle will be...Kiba Inuzuka vs. Naruto Uzumaki!"