The third and final part of our interlude is here. I have really enjoyed writing this interlude as I've had many scenes from it planned out in my head for a while. I hope you have enjoyed and continue to enjoy it too!

Introduction:

A stone thrown into a pond will inevitably sink. But with the right angle, the right force, and the right waters, it may skip across. Perhaps it just might reach the other side.

Chapter 18: Pass

At last, the day of the finals arrived. Hinata walked toward the stadium by herself; Neji had gone ahead of her.

She passed by Ichiraku and smiled. She'd already eaten a big breakfast and lunch, so she wouldn't be stopping in for a bowl, but the sight of it reminded her of the day of the finals last year. She'd uplifted up a depressed Naruto, energizing him enough to fight and defeat Neji. Now she had no one to do the same for her. Now she would have to cross that terrible bridge alone. She tried thinking of what Naruto would say if he were here. He'd probably cheer her on, smiling that brilliant smile of his. The thought of it filled Hinata's heart with calm. With that calm, she entered the stadium.

The contestants eyed each other as they lined up in the arena. Hinata caught Neji's eye and he gave her a warm expression. It felt strange coming from a possible future opponent. "I see some familiar faces," said Genma, eyeing the group. "Welcome back and welcome to the newcomers. Now then, go ahead and face the customers. In this tournament, you're the stars of the show."

Hinata looked at the crowd. There were so many people watching her, more than she ever could have imagined. Had it been like this for Naruto, too, this overpowering feeling? She took deep breaths to steady herself.

Then she caught sight of Tsunade, sitting in the Hokage's seat next to… Gaara?! Hinata went wide-eyed. What was he doing here? He was Kazekage now? She'd been so preoccupied with her training over the past year she hadn't known. Tsunade must have assumed Hinata would've heard of it on her own and not told her. Memories of being caught in his sand, of her sense of impending death, of her bones snapping, ran through her mind. She took another deep breath, doing her best to quell them. Flanking Gaara were Temari and Kankurou, both as serious-faced as their brother.

Tsunade stood up and smiled at the crowd. "Thank you, everyone, for coming to the Hidden Leaf's chuunin selection exam! We will now begin the matches between the twelve finalists! Please stay until the end!" A low wave of excitement rolled over the crowd.

"Alright, guys, listen up," said Genma. "The rules are as follows: there are none. The match will proceed until one of you surrenders or dies. However, if I determine that the match is over, I'll step in. Got it?" The participants took this in. "Now then, the first match: Haruno Sakura vs. Hyuuga Hinata. You two stay here; everyone else, go to the waiting room."

Hinata and Sakura eyed each other as the rest of the group left the arena.

"Hinata," said Sakura, "Let's have a good fight, okay?"

Hinata nodded. "Definitely."

Genma raised his hands. "Ready?" Bringing them down, he said, "Begin!"

Hinata immediately rushed at Sakura, who correspondingly backed off as fast as she could. "Can't let you get those Gentle Fists on me just yet," said Sakura, biting her thumb and forming some quick seals. Hinata recognized them as Sakura cried, "Kuchiyose no jutsu: (Summoning technique) Kotan!" Hinata watched as another chakra signature appeared in a puff of smoke. Hovering above Sakura was a large owl. Sakura smiled as the owl hooted and gazed into Hinata's eyes.

All around her, the surroundings seemed to melt into mist. Sakura and the owl faded from view. Instead, she could only hear the hooting of the owl and the flap of its wings. Hinata tried to move her legs, but it felt like moving through mud. Her Byakugan made what was happening obvious: she was caught in a genjutsu. Focusing her eyes, the surroundings dissolved again, returning to normal, with Sakura standing right in front of her, fist raised. Hinata raised her arms to block, but Sakura passed through her guard and struck her in the face. She attempted a retaliatory strike, but found herself too slow to touch her. How did she…?

Then she heard the hooting of the owl again.

As Sakura reeled back for another blow, Hinata put her hands together and cried, "Kai!" The Sakura in front of her disappeared. "Auditory genjutsu," she muttered. "Not bad, Sakura-san."

"Thanks, but you're too late," said Sakura, appearing behind her as the last of the genjutsu wore off. She formed a series of seals that Hinata didn't recognize, planted her hands on the ground, and called, "Doton: Dorabasami Fuuin! (Earth release: bear trap seal)" Hinata moved to kick Sakura, but her leg wouldn't move. She looked down – a clump of dirt had wrapped itself around her foot with markings covering it in a perpendicular pattern. "That takes care of your kaiten," Sakura said with a grin, backing off again.

Hinata thought back. The first genjutsu had been deliberately visual. Sakura knew she'd see through it, and so layered the second genjutsu. But that was just a distraction to allow Sakura to approach and apply her seal. "Clever," said Hinata. "As expected of you, Sakura-san."

Sakura's smile brightened. "Why, thank you," she said as she brought out a handful of shuriken. "Now, will you surrender, or do we have to do this the hard way?" Hinata frowned. This was bad. Sakura tossed the shuriken at Hinata. Hinata dodged as well as she could given the circumstances but felt several cuts on her arms and one on her face.

In the stands, Hiashi and Hanabi watched over the battle. Hiashi sat with his arms folded, expression stern, while Hanabi was leaning forward in her chair. "Neesama…" she said softly.

Kakashi, sitting next to Guy, looked on with a stoic expression.

"Come on, you don't need to get hurt any more than this. Just surrender and it'll be over," said Sakura. Hinata appeared to attempt to dig her foot out to no avail. Then she sank deeper into her fighting stance. "Alright, if you insist." Sakura came closer. "Try dodging at this range," she said as she hurled more shuriken.

But then Hinata began spinning. "Kaiten!" she cried, deflecting the shuriken.

Sakura was stunned. "Wha-?"

Hinata used the moment of her surprise to close the distance and slam her in the face with a heavy palm. Sakura went down hard. Picking herself back up, she asked, "How did you do that? There's no way you could have escaped on your own; that seal applies way too much force for an ordinary person to break!"

"And yet I did it," said Hinata with a grin. Sakura tried backing away once more as Hinata charged, but Hinata outsped her and she quickly reached the wall of the stadium. She tried fighting with a kunai, but Sakura's strikes were nowhere near as fast as Neji's or Tsunade's. In short order, Hinata tapped her wrist and forced the knife out of her hand. Then she tried directing her owl to attack Hinata, but it too fell to a few well placed hits. Her taijutsu wasn't bad at all for a non-specialist, but even while she tried to block, Hinata pressed her tenketsu with every strike. In close quarters, the fight was decided quickly.

Sakura fell to the ground, a great number of her tenketsu closed. Unable to mold chakra, she raised her hand. "I surrender," she said reluctantly.

Genma nodded and raised his arm. "The winner: Hyuuga Hinata!"

A smattering of applause passed through the crowd. It was a short fight; they would need to see more to be impressed.

Guy, on the other hand, was raving. "Did you see your student?!" he asked Kakashi.

"In fact, I did," Kakashi replied coolly.

"She was splendid! Truly impressive!"

"I agree. You're acting almost like she's your student."

Guy took on an uncharacteristically bashful face. "Well, she has been training with us a lot lately."

Hinata walked over to Sakura and helped her to her feet. "Seriously, though, how did you get out of that?" Sakura asked. "I specifically prepared it to counter you and Neji."

Hinata smiled, grateful that few were aware of the full details of her training. "It was an earth release seal," she explained. "I disrupted it with lightning chakra when I reached down to it. Just bad luck, I'm afraid."

Sakura clicked her tongue. "Damn. I should've prepared for something like that. I was too focused on trying to counter your taijutsu."

"You still did well," Hinata reassured her. "That was some good elemental transformation."

"Thanks," Sakura said earnestly.

"Please clear the field for the next combatants," said Genma. Hinata headed back to the waiting area while Sakura went to find Kiba, Chouji and Shikamaru in the stands.

"You seem pleased, Hokage-sama," said Gaara at Tsunade's grin.

"Well, she is my apprentice," Tsunade said, beaming.

"Hmm." Gaara had stayed to watch the chuunin exam finals despite there being no Sand shinobi among the finalists for two reasons: first, he felt it was his duty as a recently appointed Kazekage to get a sense of Konoha's new chuunin. Second, he had heard some of his old foes were participating. He gazed at the girl who ran back to the waiting area. He remembered her from his fight with her team, with Uzumaki Naruto, a year ago. She had managed to escape his sand claw somehow and fight his partially transformed state with her teammates. He had broken her wrist in a show of sadistic pleasure, one of many things he regretted following that fight. Something about her seemed different, and it wasn't just in her appearance.

"Close one, Sakura," said Kiba as Sakura sat in the seat next to his. "You really pulled out all the stops and it almost worked."

"Yeah…" said Sakura.

"Nice fight, Hinata!" said Ino back at the waiting area. "Sakura's gotten really good at her stuff, eh? I thought she had you for a minute there."

"She nearly did," said Hinata with a small smile, applying the mystical palm technique to her cuts.

Meanwhile, Neji gave Hinata a broad smile. "Well done, Hinata-sama," he said. "I didn't know you'd mastered lightning release."

"I wouldn't say I've mastered it," she replied, "But it was enough to get me out of a bind."

"What would you have done if it wasn't an earth release seal?"

Hinata appeared to think for a moment. "I guess I would have lost," she said easily.

"Is that so…" Neji muttered.

"You did really well," said Tenten. "I'm kinda worried about fighting you, myself."

"We'll see what happens," Hinata replied evenly.

The group watched as the next match played out. It was a simple one. The Mist shinobi seemed to be similar to Tenten, a weapons user, launching a huge volley of senbon from his umbrella. The Stone shinobi, however, countered with earthen ramparts, effectively nullifying the attack. In the end, the Stone shinobi won by merely exhausting the Mist's supply of needles.

Genma declared the winner and the combatants left the arena. In the next match, the Mist shinobi won by piercing the Stone's earthen ramparts with shots of highly pressurized water taken from a massive tank he carried on his back. Hinata was reminded of the combination jutsu Naruto had learned a year ago. It was impressive that the Mist shinobi was able to carry that tank and move nimbly. At the end of the match, he manipulated most of the water he had shot back into the tank, conserving as much as he could.

With that match done, Ino gulped in nervousness while Neji headed down before her. She gave Hinata a look that seemed to say Save me before finally joining her opponent in the arena.

All in all, Hinata couldn't blame Ino for the match that followed. After all, Neji was a truly monstrous foe. He was quicker than she was by a large degree, and he could see the wave of chakra that she would have to fire to try her Shintenshin. He was able to close the distance between them in a second, easily outmaneuvering her in melee combat. He didn't even use the Sixty-Four Palms; he just plugged her tenketsu with normal blows until she fell. Genma, with an unsurprised expression, declared Neji the winner.

After a moment of recovery, Ino hobbled off to join Sakura, Kiba, and Chouji in the stands. As she sat, Sakura uttered, "Those Hyuuga, huh?"

Ino sighed. "Those freakin' Hyuuga."

The second round began, incorporating the fighters who hadn't participated in the first round.

"Well, it's time," said Tenten with a resigned tone. "Shall we?" Hinata nodded and the two headed down to the arena.

"Best of luck, both of you," Neji said as they left.

"Go Tenten! Go Hinata-san!" Lee cheered behind them.

After the two arrived, Genma raised his hands once more. "The next match, Hyuuga Hinata vs. Tenten: begin!"

As expected, Tenten leapt away to evade Hinata's advance and revealed a scroll. "Not so fast!" she shouted as the scroll ejected a huge volume of sharp metal objects towards Hinata.

Hinata reflexively began to spin. "Kaiten!" she cried, but only after she began did she recognize them for what they were. Caltrops! The spiked objects littered the ground around her, outside the radius of her spin.

Tenten smiled. "There, now you can't maneuver so easily. Time for part two!" With the opening of a second scroll, about a dozen thick steel cables launched themselves at Hinata, who repelled them with another kaiten. Tenten grabbed the ends of them and they began to wrap themselves around the kaiten dome. "I was saving this for Neji, but I figure I don't have much of a choice. You won't be getting out of this bind!"

Hinata observed the cables as they slowly encircled her. This is different. She would have to maintain the rotation to keep them at bay, or else she'd be caught. She had to think quickly or she'd run out of chakra and be helpless. Carefully, she counted the number of cables surrounding her.

Tenten looked on as the dome began to diminish and the cables closed in tighter and tighter. But then they began to fly away at rapid pace. "What?"

Hinata was attacking the end of each cable directly with rapid fire chakra-charged blows. In her head, she counted each. Two. Four. Eight. With a surplus of strikes left in the move, she grabbed the ends of a few cables and channeled her chakra into them. As Tenten could manipulate them by simple touch, Hinata concluded they must be specially made to conduct chakra. Little did Tenten know, Hinata had been working with chakra-conducting material for months now. Tenten suddenly recoiled from the ends of the cables she held, her hands flying away. Hinata seized the chance to jump on top of the cables, keeping her safe from the caltrops as she approached Tenten.

"Yeah, Hinata!" cheered Sakura.

"Go, go, go!" shouted Ino.

Elsewhere in the stands, Hanabi blurted out, "That's the way, neesama!" Immediately after, she covered her mouth and looked at her father, blushing. At first Hiashi bore a stony expression, but it soon turned to slight amusement.

Kakashi smiled while Guy looked like he was struggling to contemplate something. "Gah! I can't decide who to root for!" panicked the latter.

While Hinata ran towards her, Tenten attempted to manipulate the cables again. As she channeled her chakra into them, they twisted back on themselves, the ends chasing after Hinata. They attempted to wrap themselves around Hinata's limbs, but she turned abruptly and unleashed another volley of sixteen palms. With the cables deflected, she flipped back towards Tenten. But as soon as Hinata reached her, Tenten held up her hands. "I give, I give," she said. "I've sparred with Neji enough to know when I've lost to the Gentle Fist. Looks like I was a bit overly optimistic in thinking that'd work on him," she added with a slightly embarrassed smile.

Genma nodded. "The winner, Hyuuga Hinata!"

"Quick thinking," commented Tsunade.

"Indeed," said Gaara.

This time, the applause was substantial. They seemed to appreciate Hinata's sudden reversal. Hinata smiled at the crowd, cheeks red from the attention. It was overwhelming and she couldn't suppress a giggle. As she and Tenten departed from the arena, her expression faded. She knew her next match would be the start of the real test.

"Well done, Hinata-sama," said Neji, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Clever move, charging those cables with lightning, and very good use of what you could use of the Sixty-Four Palms."

"Thank you, Neji-niisan," she replied.

"Truly a fine match!" said Lee, taking a power stance. "I can't wait to face off with you!"

"That's assuming you win now," Neji noted with a grin.

"Of course I will!" Lee yelled, bounding down to the battlefield.

Lee was as good as his word. He had started the day without his weights; lacking an absolute defense like Gaara's sand shield, no amount of earth could keep the Stone ninja safe from Lee's onslaught. It was over almost before it began.

The next match unfolded interestingly. The newest Stone ninja revealed his ability to levitate and hurl rocks from above, keeping him out of the tank-bearing Mist shinobi's grasp. But the Mist shinobi was quick on his feet, avoiding each missile carefully. After a protracted battle, he launched himself at the Stone shinobi with a huge spray of water, spinning in midair to smash him with the tank. The Stone shinobi hit the dirt and lost consciousness.

Following that was Neji's fight against the last of the Mist ninja. Hinata felt bad for him when he tried to use the Kirigakure no jutsu (hidden mist technique) and attack Neji from behind. Not only was the mist nowhere near as thick as Zabuza's, meaning Neji would see through it instantly, the Mist ninja had apparently not picked up on the Byakugan's ability to see in a near 360 degree radius. It was over in a flash.

At last, the penultimate round began. Lee bolted down to the arena before Genma could call the next match. "Do your best, Hinata-sama," Neji told Hinata. She thanked him and followed Lee down. Neji's face turned to one of concern. Lee was no ordinary opponent. Now was when Neji would get to evaluate just how much Hinata had grown over the past year.

"Before we begin," said Lee, "I would like to say something." Genma gestured for him to continue. "Hinata-san, you and I have both been called failures. Now we stand against each other with the same goal: win so we can face and defeat Neji, a true genius. We are equals in this regard, fighting to protect our dreams. Let us fight with that in mind."

"Agreed," said Hinata with a smile.

"Ready?" asked Genma. "The next match – Hyuuga Hinata vs. Rock Lee: begin!"

Guy took on a serious face. "This time, I'll have to stick with rooting for my adorable Lee!"

"That's fine," said Kakashi. "I'll root for Hinata."

Unlike her last two opponents, Lee rushed at Hinata quickly, catching her before she could begin to spin. "Konoha Senpuu! (Leaf hurricane)" he roared, unleashing a flying spin kick at Hinata's head. She barely managed to block him, but it was a heavy blow, and she went sliding across the ground, kicking up a dust cloud. He was on her in a flash, punching and kicking in rapid succession. It was all Hinata could do to keep up an only mostly effective defense. Lee gave her barely any room to counter attack. If she hadn't watched Sasuke spar with Neji using a variation of these moves, if she hadn't fought him herself, and if she hadn't received evasion training from Tsunade, she wouldn't be able to defend against it at all. "After what I just said, I hope I do not come across as hypocritical, Hinata-san," Lee said after taking a few small counter-hits from Hinata. He began to undo his wrist wraps. "But given your fighting style, I am going to have to end this as soon as possible."

She watched as he crossed his wrists, undoubtedly opening the first Gate. Taking advantage of his diverted attention, Hinata threw down a smoke bomb. Lee leapt back, watching the cloud of smoke. A kunai came flying out of it, which Lee dodged easily. Once again, he sprinted towards Hinata, telling her, "Feel free to try and spin your way out of this." It seemed that everyone was hell bent on overcoming the kaiten, and, Hinata had to admit, for good reason.

Hinata attempted to counter his charge, but he was too fast. Lowering himself, he kicked her in the chin, launching her into the air and then leaping to give chase. Binding her with his bandages, he waited until the exact moment when gravity overpowered momentum and began spinning the both of them as fast as he could. "Omote Renge! (front lotus)" he bellowed before abandoning her to crash into the dirt below.

Lee observed her defeated form, collapsed on the ground in front of him. "Proctor," he said, still looking at her, "Call the match, please."

That was when Lee felt two palms hit the back of his head: "Hakke: Juurokushou! (Eight trigrams: 16 Palms)!" Hinata cried, somehow appearing behind Lee. Lee was stunned; how was this possible? "Two palms! Four palms! Eight Palms! Sixteen palms!" she cried, blasting his body with the flurry of strikes.

As Lee hunched over, he looked towards the ground where Hinata previously lay. Sure enough, she was gone. She remained in front of him, ready to reengage. "I do not know how you did that," he said, breathing heavily. "But it will not be enough." He crossed his wrists again. "Gate of Healing, open!" But nothing happened. Lee felt no immediate recovery. "Eh?" He tried again. "Gate of Healing… open!" Still nothing.

In the stands, Guy looked on in despair. "Oh no," he whispered. "Lee… you…"

Meanwhile, Kakashi smiled. "Well done," he muttered, remembering his and Hinata's first day of training last month.

…

"What jutsu?" asked Kakashi.

"Well," said Hinata, "Since I've been training with Guy-sensei and Lee-kun, I've come to learn just how powerful the Gates are. And they told me that Lee-kun knows a strong move that requires three Gates, but he can use up to five to make it even stronger."

"Right," said Kakashi. "I won't lie, if you take a direct hit from that, the fight will be over at best. At worst, you'll take an immense amount of bodily damage, some of which could be permanent. The flip side is, if you avoid the attack, the battle is basically won."

"That's why I need this jutsu – to avoid that attack."

"Ah," said Kakashi. "Then the jutsu you want to learn is…"

…

"Kagebunshin no jutsu, (Shadow clone technique)" said Hinata. "I can only make one, but I trained to make it sturdy. All it had to do was survive that first kick."

"When?" Lee asked. Then his eyes widened. "The kunai! Of course! It was your real body, transformed!"

"I didn't come up with the idea," she admitted. It had come to her when thinking about her favorite subject, none other than Naruto. He and Sasuke had used a similar tactic to great effect against Zabuza to undo Zabuza's water prison.

"But my Gates…"

"I know where they are on the body," said Hinata. "I closed enough tenketsu to prevent you from using chakra to open them."

Lee's expression fell. "Then," he began, "then I'll fight without them!"

Hinata nodded. Once more he ran at her, but with so many tenketsu pressed and the fatigue of the first Gate hitting him, he was decidedly slower. Unlike Sasuke, he didn't have a souped up Sharingan to compensate. Hinata was able to block his blows fully, now, and slowly she began to retaliate with more strikes to Lee's tenketsu. Soon she was able to outright dodge a strike here and there, then multiple in a row, and then Lee was so sluggish he couldn't hit her at all.

Finally, she caught a punch, sealing the chakra points in his fist. "I won't tell you to surrender," said Hinata, her voice soft. "I know it's not your way."

"Lee…" muttered Neji as he watched this display. In the stands, Guy and Kakashi were silent.

Lee looked frustrated, but Hinata sensed it wasn't at her. "I thought this time I could do it," he said, his tone thick with sorrow as he weakly threw a kick at Hinata. "I thought this time I would be strong enough."

Intercepting the kick and closing yet more tenketsu, she replied, "You are strong enough, Lee-kun. You are stronger than I am."

"How can you say that?!" Lee cried, his voice breaking as he retracted his leg. "After this, how can you claim that I'm stronger than you?"

"The lotus of Konoha blooms twice," she answered, repeating something she'd heard Guy say about Lee's techniques. "Yours only bloomed once this time." Lee was quiet and paused what remained of his assault. "If you had used all five of your Gates on me from the start, my shadow clone wouldn't have survived the first strike, and you would have figured out my strategy immediately. I would have been helpless after that."

Lee's voice became softer. "You knew from the start, didn't you?"

"It was a hunch," Hinata answered. "You said earlier that we were both here to defeat Neji-niisan, right? But if you used the Reverse Lotus on me, your body would be too weak to fight him, wouldn't it?" Lee looked to the side at Hinata' words. "You had to hold back against me to have a chance of achieving your goal. That's the only reason I haven't lost yet."

Lee fell to his knees. Tears began running down his face. "You are a truly kind person, Hinata-san," he choked out before slowly raising his hand. "Proctor. I surrender."

Genma raised one arm. "The winner, Hyuuga Hinata!"

Applause poured out of the crowd in a wave. Still feeling the emotional weight of the match and not knowing what else to do, Hinata bowed to the audience as Lee went to join Tenten.

"Yes!" shouted Tsunade, pumping a fist. "That's how you do it!"

"Tsunade-sama…" muttered Shizune, a disapproving look on her face.

"I know, I know." Tsunade gave a dismissive wave. "Impartiality."

In the stands, Hanabi was cheering full on along with the audience at this point. Even Hiashi gave a small clap at her success thus far.

"Guy," said Kakashi. "Lee did well. He'll probably be promoted."

Guy nodded. "As expected of my Lee. Your Hinata did splendidly."

"Well," said Kakashi, glancing at Tsunade, "she's hardly just my Hinata."

Hinata arrived at the waiting area, where Neji and the tank-laden Mist shinobi stood. "That was a well thought out strategy, Hinata-sama," Neji said as the Mist shinobi headed down to the arena. "Lightning release. Shadow clones. So many surprises out of you today."

"I'd hoped to save them until the end," said Hinata. "But I haven't been able to."

"Just so you know," he replied, "unlike your previous opponents, I won't surrender."

She smiled. "See you in a bit."

Neji nodded and headed down to the arena.

As he left, she slumped against the wall. She'd depleted more than half her remaining chakra making the extra durable shadow clone, and that was after two bursts of lightning release, the mystical palm technique, and her uses of kaiten, which, somehow, everyone had a strategy to counter all of a sudden. Retrieving from her pack a soldier pill she'd received from Shizune, she popped it into her mouth. It tasted sweet as she chewed it and slowly she felt her stamina replenish. She looked at her sleeves; they were quite dusted up after her bouts. Neji's clothes, on the other hand, were spotless.

She couldn't believe it was almost time. They had sparred for several months now, but those were friendly practices. She'd only managed to knock down Neji one in ten times during them. One in ten. And that was just for a knockdown. For a knockout, it would probably be ten times harder. One in a hundred. Those weren't comforting odds.

Just then she noticed her fingers fidgeting unconsciously. It had been a while since she'd done that, she realized. It had been quite some time since she'd been this nervous. She took a breath and separated her hands. Fear wouldn't help her now. She closed her eyes, trying to center herself.

That's when Naruto's words came to her. "You can do this, okay? Don't be afraid."

He'd said that before her first fight with Neji. He'd called her amazing as he watched her desperate struggle. Even when she lost, he supported her. He's so wonderful.

Her eyes opened and she felt courage begin to swell within her. No matter what happened next, she'd be able to face Naruto and tell him in no uncertain terms that she did not give up or go back on her words. Most importantly, she'd be able to face herself.

Genma's voice came from outside the waiting area. "The winner: Hyuuga Neji!"

It was time. No going back now.

In the stands, Kakashi listened around him to the mutterings of the spectators. Over the course of the last few fights, people had been speculating about the possibility of an all-Hyuuga grand final. Shortly after, the fact that Neji had cleanly defeated Hinata a year ago blew through the audience like a breeze through a meadow. The verdict was in: Neji was a shoo-in. Still, Kakashi held hope for his student. At heart, he was quite sentimental, after all.

Hinata approached Neji and Genma as medics hauled off the last Mist shinobi, his tank wrecked on the ground nearby. As before, Neji was untouched, as if his opponent had simply stood still and accepted the beating. "Hinata-sama…" Neji began.

"Neji-niisan," she interrupted. "Let's fight."

Neji smiled. "As shinobi of Konoha."

Hinata nodded. "Right."

Tsunade, meanwhile, was listening to Shizune's counsel before the final match began. "Really?" she asked her apprentice excitedly. "Do it! Put everything on it!" Her face was awash with glee. Shizune, meanwhile, seemed exasperated.

"Excuse me, Hokage-sama," Gaara interrupted. "I believe they are waiting for you."

"Hm? Oh, right," she said, standing from her chair. "Esteemed spectators, thank you for watching our Chuunin Selection Exam until now! I hope you have enjoyed observing these talented shinobi display their skills. Now we come to the grand final, the match that will determine the ultimate winner of this tournament. Behold our combatants, who have overcome opponent after opponent to reach these heights, Hyuuga Hinata and Hyuuga Neji!" The crowd roared their approval. "As Hokage, host of this event, I hereby declare this match to… begin!"

Neji and Hinata flew at each other, palms raised. Their first strikes bounced off one another. Immediately, both began to spin in place, simultaneously yelling, "Kaiten!" The two rotating masses of chakra collided, creating a deafening shockwave and ejecting both combatants backwards in a dust cloud. When it cleared, both Neji and Hinata were on their feet. They exchanged grins and charged back into close range. Soon they were tangled in a combat dance, throwing strikes at one another while dodging and blocking each other.

Neji's thoughts were preoccupied. Hinata-sama seems quite confident. He didn't sense it was a bluff or bravado like the last chuunin exam they'd taken. He was faster than she was, no doubt about that, but there was a crafty look in her eyes. She had certainly proven trickier than he would have thought over the course of this exam.

Suddenly, Hinata backed away; Neji sought to follow but Hinata nimbly traced a path through Tenten's caltrops, creating just enough of a delay in Neji's advance that she was able to weave a few hand signs. She cried, "Raiton: Nekoken! (Lightning style: Cat Fist)" and her hands began to crackle with electricity. When Neji reached her, she attacked fiercely, forcing him to redirect her palms.

When her hands made contact with Neji, he felt a small shock, like touching a poorly wired light switch. Was this her strategy? If so, she had severely overestimated its effectiveness. The shocks barely registered with Neji; he simply plowed through the sensation to continue attacking. She seemed to be avoiding having her tenketsu pressed, but he was still jamming chakra directly into her musculature. It was easy to push her back.

Until, suddenly, it wasn't. As Hinata made more and more contact with Neji, she slowly stopped moving back. Then, as she steadily began to attack more, she took a step forward. Then another. Then another. Her speed was increasing somehow and now Neji was the one being pushed.

"She's doing it, she's really doing it!" Sakura said excitedly, tapping Ino on the shoulder repeatedly.

"I see, I see!" said Ino with the same energy.

"Go, Queen of Gluttony!" Chouji roared, earning him a punch on the arm from Ino.

"Father…" Hanabi muttered quietly, as if being too loud would break the illusion. "Neesama's pressing him…"

"Indeed," said Hiashi, eyes narrowed.

Neji scrutinized her chakra network; he didn't detect any excess flow, so she wasn't using a Gate. Had she simply been holding back until now? Her grin seemed to suggest so.

But that couldn't be it, he concluded. She had never displayed such speed during their sparring. She was definitely moving as fast as she'd moved in her previous matches. No, he must be moving slower. But why? He certainly wasn't fatigued at all. Suddenly, before he could think more on it, she opened up a hole in his defense and, with as swift a palm as she could manage, she struck him square in the chest.

He stumbled backwards, shocked in more ways than one.

That was when he figured it out. The shocks from her Nekoken were barely anything, but they were still something. Her strikes on their own were definitely still slower than his, but over the last several months she'd caught up considerably. With enough of a delay, the gap could be closed, perhaps even surmounted completely. Hinata was a medic ninja; with repeated strikes, she must have been building up charge in his nervous system, gradually increasing the delay until it reached a critical point.

While Guy and Lee freaked out in the seats next to him, Kakashi watched appreciatively. Nekoken was a C-rank technique, barely an introductory jutsu for lightning release, so named because the extent of its damage was like that of cat claws. If Chidori was an unstoppable spear, Nekoken was a dull pencil. But even a dull pencil, if used correctly, could do some damage.

Now Neji leapt away from Hinata, shaking off the effects as he concentrated his chakra to his arms to release some of the built-up charge. She gave chase, but he had recovered somewhat and now the two were even, trading strikes back and forth for a long while. Bit by bit, Neji began to build his advantage back up. Now that he knew her gambit, adapting to avoid her electrified palms was trivial. It meant mounting a slower offense, but an effective one nonetheless.

The battle raged on. Neji advanced as much as he could, noting how much stamina Hinata seemed to have while he was starting to tire by the smallest amount. Was she trying to outlast him? She was slowly losing ground, but still had a smile on her face. Neji suspected why: she still hadn't opened her Gate, having won against Lee without it. She must be counting on it as her coup de grace. He couldn't seem to get in reach of her skull, meaning he wouldn't be able to seal the necessary tenketsu to prevent her from opening it.

Unless, of course, he used his trump card.

As Hinata's back approached the wall of the arena, her friends looked on, worried at the momentum of the battle. "He's cornering her," Sakura said in a worried voice.

"Maybe he is just too strong," Ino added in the same tone.

"It seems the tide has turned against her," said Guy. "Why hasn't she used her Gate yet?"

Lee answered, "If she used it too early, Neji might simply avoid her attacks, and she'd be vulnerable."

Kakashi hmm'd next to them, eyeing the battle carefully. It's getting awfully late to use it. I hope you have a plan, Hinata.

Hanabi, meanwhile, frowned concernedly. Please, neesama, do something! Hiashi merely sat stone-faced at her side.

Neji suddenly dipped into a low stance. He launched at her, declaring, "I'm ending this, Hinata-sama," before unleashing the Sixty-Four Palms.

This was the exact moment Hinata was waiting for.

Hinata had expected Neji to counter the Nekoken eventually. She just needed him to be wary of getting into a battle of attrition while she still held a hidden hand. She knew he was waiting for her to open her Gate and she also knew he held his ultimate technique in reserve. Nearly all opponents would be unaware of this, but with careful eyes one could observe the preparatory stance no matter how fast the user dropped into it. She was certain that if she could force him to use it, she could see it coming. Even so, most would be unable to avoid the attack even if they anticipated it. Indeed, Hinata did not trust her base speed to compete with Neji's divination, affected by her Nekoken or not.

But she wasn't going to move at her base speed.

As Neji approached, Hinata dug deep within herself. Finding the right sensation, she channeled as much chakra as she could into that special spot in her head. As she cried out, it opened, and she met with a wave of energy that suddenly coursed through her body.

Hinata knew the strikes of the Sixty-Four Palms by heart. She'd never been able to reproduce all of them at the desired pace, but the form was clear in her head. All she had to do was apply that knowledge. Apply it she did; Neji was stunned as she blocked every single one of the Sixty-Four Palms with just her left arm and leg.

Impressive though it was, he knew it was a futile effort. She'd basically traded her strength and stamina for a short term boost and she'd given up the tenketsu of her left limbs to boot. With one side of her down, she wouldn't even have the capacity for a kaiten while he could easily fire off another string of Sixty-Four Palms with no cost. It was hopeless for her.

Then why was she still smiling?

She couldn't have another surprise left unrevealed, could she? Neji couldn't eliminate the possibility completely. Besides its lead-in stance, the Sixty-Four Palms had one other weakness: the final strikes required a strong step forward, meaning that following up with a substantial attack necessitated a slight delay to regain proper footing. It was slight to the point of being almost negligible, and most opponents wouldn't be able to recover in time anyway, but it could conceivably still be a factor. Indeed, Hinata seemed to be preparing a counterattack, springboarding off the wall toward Neji using her good foot with her good hand raised.

But Neji saw that she had miscalculated. It was true that a follow-up attack was a bit difficult after the Sixty-Four Palms, but a defensive maneuver wasn't. It would mean going into a somewhat off-balance stance, but he could pivot into a kaiten easily. Rather than risk falling for whatever she might have planned, he would simply choose the safe option and finish her off once he was clear.

As he brought his back foot closer to begin the spin, however, a few things bothered him. Hinata was leaping at him, fist – not palm – ready, a significant amount of chakra concentrated in it. Her grin had been replaced with an open-mouthed roar. Most troubling were her eyes; they were wide, focused, and wild with flame behind them. These weren't the eyes of desperation, but of determination. Neji had no time to contemplate this further. His victory was in sight. All he needed to do was spin.

In the split second that Neji ruminated on these things, Hinata had very different thoughts. For nearly a year, she'd been training nonstop, pushing herself way past what she thought she were her limits. In so many ways, she felt she had come far, but in so many other ways, she felt far behind those she admired. But right here, right now, things were different. So she couldn't make as many clones as Naruto. So she wasn't as good at lightning release as Sasuke. So she couldn't open as many Gates as Lee. So she wasn't as good at taijutsu as Neji.

So what?

She didn't have to be the best. She didn't have to be better than them. She didn't even have to be good. She just had to be good enough. What that meant was up to her, not anyone else.

And she had one more thing that none of them had, the last thing she had gained in her training for this moment.

With the herculean strength of her master, Tsunade of the Legendary Three, the Fifth Hokage of the Village Hidden in the Leaves, Hinata smashed the dome of Neji's kaiten.

Neji crumpled from the force of the blow and was launched backwards, bouncing along the ground repeatedly and getting lacerated by caltrops, until he crashed hard enough into the far wall of the arena to crack it extensively.

Hinata was blown backwards by the kaiten and she hit the wall behind her with a thud. Slowly, with immense effort, she stood with shaky posture. Now, with the post-Gate pain and fatigue and so many of her tenketsu sealed on top of the damage Neji had dealt her throughout the fight, she was completely depleted. She breathed heavily, watching the site of Neji's impact with her Byakugan. If he still rose after this, she was truly finished.

With bated breath, she observed as he detached from the impact crater. He swayed on his feet for a long moment. Then, as if in slow motion, he fell face-first onto the ground. Genma walked over to inspect him. Projecting his voice, he declared, "The winner and champion of this chuunin selection exam: Hyuuga Hinata!"

The effect was instantaneous: the crowd erupted into blaring cheers. Hinata slumped to her knees in exhaustion and disbelief. It was over. She had won. Tears of relief streamed down her cheeks as the stress and tension flowed out of her, her hands flat on the grass of the battlefield in front of her. All of her training, all of her pain, all of her struggle over the last year had led to this moment. One in a hundred odds and she had won.

As the medics headed to lift Neji onto a stretcher, Hinata wanted to run to him, but found herself too worn out. It was all she could do to stand back up at this point.

Instead, she looked up to the audience, wiping her tears. With a bright smile on her face, she waved at the people celebrating her win. Once more overwhelmed by the positive attention, she couldn't help but laugh. It was inconceivable. Victory was hers.

After a minute, Gaara and Tsunade descended to the arena with Shizune and Gaara's siblings following. "Congratulations, Hinata," Tsunade said, beaming at her as Shizune began to run her glowing hands over Hinata's body. "You've made me very proud today."

"Indeed, Hinata, well done," said Shizune. "To think you've gained Tsunade-sama's strength in just one year. It's quite the feat."

Hinata smiled. "Thank you, master, senpai."

"And you've made me a mint!" Tsunade added gleefully. "This bookie I know gave me ten to one odds against you and I put a lot of money down on you to win! That's the first bet I've won in a looong while." Shizune side-eyed her mentor, ruminating on the ethics of the situation. Hinata, meanwhile, laughed a nervous laugh.

"Hyuuga Hinata," said Gaara. "You fought well today. You are much stronger than when we last met." Behind him, Kankurou looked pleased, perhaps at the idea that the shinobi he'd been humiliated by a year ago had been a worthy foe after all.

Hinata felt conflicted, looking at the man who had given her a horrific injury as he extended his hand. Reaching out to shake it, Hinata simply replied, "Thank you, Kazekage-sama."

Finally, the Land of Fire daimyo descended to the arena with his retinue behind him. It took a bit of maneuvering for them to avoid the caltrops, but eventually they made their way to Hinata. "Oh my deary goodness!" said the daimyo, fanning himself. "What a remarkable showing! We had not expected such a feat of strength from you."

"You honor me, sir," she said with a bow.

He cleared his throat. "Spectators of this exam," he began, "for her victory in this final round, we hereby award Hyuuga Hinata with a medal of triumph!" The daimyo's words reinvigorated the crowd's cheers and a member of his retinue retrieved a box from his kimono. When he opened it, Hinata saw a large gold medal with the kanji for fire engraved on it, the band of which he quickly placed around Hinata's neck. She stood still as she felt its weight and gazed at the audience cheering for her. For her. Waving his fan to the audience, the Daimyo said, "We hereby declare these exams finished!"

As Hinata bowed once more, the Daimyo and his procession filed out of the arena. Gaara soon turned and followed. "So, what are you going to do now?" asked Tsunade. "Don't tell me more training."

Hinata chuckled. "I'm going to take it easy tonight."

After parting ways with Tsunade and Shizune, Hinata made her way to the infirmary, where she found Neji lying on a cot among some of the other contestants. "Neji-niisan," she muttered, looking at his defeated state.

With a groan, he slowly sat up to face her, smiling. "Hinata-sama. Congratulations," he said earnestly.

"Thank you," she replied.

"I can't believe you were hiding such a power like that. Why didn't you use it right away?"

"I had to make sure it would work," Hinata explained. "With the chakra control it requires, I can't attack nearly as fast as I can with the Gentle Fist and you're a genius, Neji-niisan. If I showed it to you too early and you avoided it, you'd have instantly devised a counter. If you hadn't been imbalanced in that final kaiten, the power wouldn't have been enough for a decisive blow. My only option was to force the right situation."

Neji chuckled and said, "You really do remind me of Naruto, sometimes." She blushed. "That's why you didn't use it to escape Sakura's seal," he concluded. "You opted to use lightning release instead of revealing it to me."

Hinata nodded. "I got lucky. If you had known about it from the start, I never would have won."

Neji grinned. "Maybe."

"You're much better at taijutsu than I am, Neji-niisan," Hinata said with a serious tone. "Maybe better than I ever will be. That's why I had to look elsewhere to have enough power to win."

Looking into her eyes with a gentle expression, he said, "I think another reason you won was your confidence." She blinked at this. "The whole match, you seemed like you were in control, even when I pushed you back. Ultimately, seeing you like that provoked me into a more cautious mindset, leading to that imbalanced kaiten. You have grown a lot." He paused for a moment as she took in his words. "I am truly happy for you, Hinata-sama. Now go," he said, tilting his head toward the exit. "I think people are waiting for you."

Hinata smiled, wiping a tear from her eye. "Thank you, Neji-niisan."

Far from Konoha, in a distant land, Naruto looked up at the night sky, to the stars above. It was a lovely view. He'd wrapped training for the day and Jiraiya lay in a sleeping bag a few feet away. Naruto drew a deep breath and sighed. His thoughts drew him away from the stellar sight. Sasuke… Naruto was getting stronger, that was certain, but who knew how powerful Sasuke was getting in the interim? Naruto had won their first duel, but after hearing about his fight with Hinata, about the power of that cursed seal, he knew Sasuke wouldn't be the same when next they met. Thus, he trained harder and harder every day.

He rolled over in his own sleeping bag and his muscles throbbed in pain, causing him to wince. Today had been an especially harsh day of training, full of advanced taijutsu and combination ninjutsu, and even with a belly full of less-than-Ichiraku-quality ramen, Naruto was worn out. His gaze grew distant. He wished Hinata were here with him. It would be nice to have someone to talk to besides his perverted mentor and she could help him train as she had before. His hand unconsciously went to his cheek. The sight of her as he left Konoha lingered in his mind. He missed her. He wished he had been able to protect her. He wondered what she was doing right now.

What Hinata was doing right now was sitting in a booth at Yakiniku-Q.

Her friends, Kakashi, and Guy had mobbed her when she left the arena. Each gave their excited congratulations. Sakura and Ino shrieked with joy. Shikamaru complimented her strategy. Chouji offered chips to the Queen. Guy and Lee clenched their fists and cried out how happy they were that Hinata had defeated Neji. Kakashi patted her on the head and told her he was proud of her. Then Hanabi walked up and hugged her tightly before she admired the medal hanging from her sister's neck. To Hinata's surprise, Hiashi also expressed his pride in her and gave her a soft embrace. It felt warm and safe in ways she hadn't felt in years; her eyes welled up with tears from it.

Once the congratulations were done, Ino suggested a celebratory dinner. Chouji immediately voiced his assent. At first, Hinata thought about simply retiring for the night, but she couldn't deny the matches of the day had left her quite hungry, even with the soldier pill she'd taken, so she accepted. Hiashi declined on his and Hanabi's behalf, leaving the latter with a disappointed pout, and the rest set off to their destination.

Now they sat awaiting their food. When the meat they had ordered finished cooking, Chouji's face screwed up hard as he restrained himself from snatching all of it. Hinata was genuinely touched by the gesture and she picked some pieces up for herself. As the group talked about the exam, Hinata was mostly quiet. She was tired from the day and let herself simply bask in the sense of victory and the company of her friends.

Just then, the door to the restaurant was flung open and in stumbled Tsunade holding a bottle of sake, followed by a put-upon Shizune. "Ahh, there you are!" Tsunade bellowed, pointing at Hinata, a drunken smile on her face. "Move over, move over!" She made sweeping motions at the others in the booth so she could sit down next to Hinata; they quickly obeyed. "That's better." Tsunade put her arm around Hinata. "Here she is! That's my girl!" She took hold of Hinata's cheeks with her free hand and squeezed them together. "My triumphant apprentice who won me a ten to one bet! Guess what! I'm paying for everyone tonight!" A bit confused, the group nonetheless uttered their thanks. Kakashi and Guy looked relieved, having assumed they would be the ones picking up the tab. Hinata merely looked at Tsunade, unsure of what else she should do.

"Tsunade-sama, I thought you were going to use that money to pay off your other debts," said Shizune quietly.

"Ahh, shaddup!" Tsunade shouted, waving Shizune off before taking a drink. "I'll get 'em back with the next bet's winnings." Shizune sighed. She knew it would be a long time before the next win. "Tonight it's all about partying, because she beat you, and you, and you!" Tsunade pointed at Sakura, Tenten, and Lee in turn. "And she beat the other guy!" She let out a whoop of joy. Turning to Hinata with a sly grin, she added, "I bet Naruto's gonna love it when you tell him this story."

Hinata blushed. "Tsu-Tsunade-sama!"

"Oh, what? It's not like anyone here doesn't know," Tsunade said before laughing. The rest of the group exchanged acquiescent looks. Hinata's blush only deepened.

More food arrived and Tsunade's drunken antics were tamped down by her desire to stuff her face. "No but seriously, all of you did great," she uttered through a mouthful of pork. "I'm proud to be your Hokage. The Third raised a good crop of kids."

This seemed to relax everyone, except Guy, who carefully eyed Tsunade's sake to make sure it never came into Lee's reach, and the conversation resumed. Eventually Neji, covered in bandages where the caltrops had sliced him, found his way into the restaurant and joined the group. Tsunade couldn't resist a jab about his loss being her gain, but Neji took it in stride.

Once the meal was over and Tsunade had paid the bill, which had accumulated quite a sum with all the food she, Chouji, and Hinata had consumed, the group dispersed. Hinata waited until everyone else left, telling Neji to go on ahead and that she'd catch up. For a few minutes, she simply gazed at the night sky, at the countless lights above, alone, her hair blown by the occasional breeze. As she began to walk home, this sense of peace after the day's efforts soothed her exhaustion.

Finally, she made it to her room. There, she looked at the photo of Team 7 on her dresser. She smiled at Naruto's grumpy face, touching it with her thumb. Then she looked at herself and realized she was quite different in the picture. Back then, her hair wasn't as long, she was a bit shorter, and she wore her old jacket. The biggest change was her expression. The girl in the picture had a smile, but it dripped insecurity. She remembered how nervous she had been when the photo was taken, not just because she was standing next to Naruto, but because she still couldn't believe she had passed the genin exam.

Perhaps things weren't so different now. Indeed, while she didn't definitively know if she'd passed, she still couldn't believe she had won the finals. She knew she had gotten lucky. She was lucky more teams didn't pass the written exam. She was lucky more teams didn't pass the Forest of Death. She was lucky that everyone had been preparing for Neji instead of her. She was lucky that Sakura used an earth release seal, that Tenten used chakra-conducting cables, that Lee held back the Reverse Lotus. She was lucky she didn't have to reveal her final ace early on. Lastly, she was lucky Neji chose the strategy she'd predicted he would.

So, so, so lucky.

But, a part of her chimed in, she had heard from Guy that Kakashi once told him, "Luck is a part of skill."

She decided she was different from herself in the picture after all. Gone was the insecure smile. Now she smiled wide, proud of herself for her accomplishment.

What a year it had been. Only two more and change until Naruto returned. What else could she accomplish in that time? The possibilities, for once, seemed endless. Removing her medal, she set it next to the photo of Team 7, changed into her pajamas, and allowed herself a long, restful sleep.

Thus ends Hinata Gaiden. For a while I wasn't sure how I wanted this to play out, if she could reasonably beat Neji with enough growth, but I fell in love with the idea of Hinata just barely eke out a win with a few tricks up her sleeve and I couldn't resist it. Besides, this isn't canon Hinata, this is Ripples Hinata, who has been trained by Kakashi, Guy, and Tsunade for a year. If Rock Lee can go from useless to strong through harsh training in one year, then why can't Hinata, right? I decided to make her an all around fighter, unlike other characters who are more specialized. I thought that was a good way for her to be strong without achieving unrealistic levels. I decided to do something similar with Sakura, who gets a diverse array of jutsu making full use of her abilities in lieu of her canon powers.

Part 2 comes next. I'm a bit nervous to write it, if I'm being honest, but I'm hoping I can deliver a satisfying tale for all of you. Let me know what you think about it! As always, if you like the story, please leave a review! Thank you for reading!