Author Notes: Alright, anyone else getting increasing annoyed by the chapter numbers being out of sync with the update number? Well I am!
I think the only logical answer to this is to do a double episode. I know, I know
'Oh darn, EA's going to make me read TWICE as much this time?'
Yes I am, so suck it up! =P
.
.
.
.
Naruto Sempai: Chapter 12 & 13 – Hinata vs Sasuke
.
.
.
.
'Faster.'
If she could only be a little faster then maybe, just maybe she could keep up. With less and less time remaining Naruto was taking it decreasingly easy on her. The strength she had once been curious about was becoming apparent. He was strong.
She fired another palm toward him only to have it swatted downward, the same hand then fired toward her as a fist. She leant the side only to find a snap kick already coming her way. Again she found herself tumbling back. This time she didn't have time to ready her stance again. He was already on top of her coming down with a heel kick. She darted to the side and fired another palm at him. Mimicking her own move he darted to the side too. They both snapped into their respective stances.
As he had been revealing his own strength she had been putting the picture together. The first thing that she had learnt was the kage bunshin ability. Unlike what she had read about the ability, Naruto seemed to be able to use them seemingly without limitation. If her research material was to be believed was a sign of an overwhelming chakra reserve. She hadn't noticed previously due to her ability with her bloodline being lesser, but after studying him with her Byakugan carefully she could sense his ocean of chakra. After comparing him to herself it was easy to tell he had more than tenfold her own. After her curiosity had gotten the better of her she even inspected Iruka-Sensei to discover that Naruto even had many times more still.
Given the revelation with his taijutsu prowess, she was beginning to marvel at his ability. She couldn't help but wonder if that was normal for a chuunin. He was after all the same rank as Iruka. So he wouldn't be much stronger, assuming he was at all. But her wonder remained; would she be that strong when she became a chuunin?
Naruto bolted forward, aiming another punch toward her. She made to move around him his arm suddenly bent, hitting her head with his elbow. She groaned in pat and did her best to whirl around to react but Naruto wasn't fighting any more.
"Sorry, Hinata-chan" he said apologetically, his stance relaxed. Hinata retook her stance, ignoring the pain from her head. Naruto blinked. There was a brief pause before Hinata shot forward again, letting him know that she wasn't done yet.
Naruto did his best to block but her attacks this time seemed more focused. He blocked her strikes at the wrist, as she hadn't given him the room he needed to dodge. His focus was completely occupied with avoiding her Juuken and wondering where this brilliant surge of strength had come from.
'Where did this… conviction come from?´ he silently marvelled. He always had assumed that Hinata was unconsciously holding back. Of course despite his best efforts she was still soft hearted, and thus it proved difficult for her to really attack with meaning. But something had triggered this reaction. Seeing a juuken aimed for a dangerous spot he had no choice.
Hinata suddenly found herself whirling back.
'What?' she mentally stammered, 'But… he didn't hit me. I am sure of it´ she thought. Her Byakugan would surely of seen it. Besides; whatever had knocked her back also felt like it was moving in a peculiar way.
"Sorry, Hinata-chan. You'd have dealt a pretty nasty blow if I didn't cheat" he admitted sheepishly, scratching the back of his head. Silently wondering what the trigger had been. He knew it wasn't pain. He'd unfortunately inflicted plenty of that since they had started training.
"What did you do?" she asked, her lack of breath catching up with her. Naruto paused, before grinning.
"Secret jutsu" he answered mysteriously.
'A jutsu without hand signs?' Hinata questioned in her head. She had never heard of anything like that. Naruto found himself smiling at the confused girl's expression.
"But… Did you perform hand signs too fast for me too see, Naruto-Sempai?" she asked. But didn't believe, if he had, why didn't he simply move that fast to deflect her attack?
"No, this technique doesn't require hand signs" he said looking up. Hinata couldn't help but frown in puzzlement. Before she could ask further he spoke again.
"I have my own secrets, Hinata-chan" he chuckled "Perhaps when you pass I might share some with you. You seem pretty intrigued" He commented with raised eyebrows.
"I-I just. I've never seen a jutsu performed without hand signs" Hinata admitted with obvious confusion. Naruto looked at her for a moment thoughtfully before raising his hand, so though he was waving something off.
"I'll be happy to teach you, Hinata-chan. But let's focus on one difficult task at a time, okay?" he grinned. Hinata smiled back, nodding.
She knew he was right. However intriguing that ability may be she had to focus. There was precious little time left. She couldn't afford to become distracted now. Not when she could feel that spark of a chance. However small. She could feel it!
.
.
.
.
She had taken notice of the less and less time per session they spent of physical activities at the academy lately. She supposed it was to prevent any strain or injuries so close before the exams. But it did mean that overall they spent less time practising it.
She tried to see it as a blessing. After all, if Sasuke took notice of her improvements he might also begin fuelling in extra effort, then she'd have no chance. But even with that in mind, she found it to be disappointing. It did mean that she was practising less. Plus, she also liked to watch Sasuke fight. To see what she had to compete with, even if he didn't know it.
"You seem to be thinking a lot lately" Sasuke commented. Hinata looked around surprised to see him sitting next to her again. Normally when the weather was fine he was practising his shuriken techniques.
"Yes" she nodded with a polite smile "It's just… with the exams around the corner I can't help but feel a bit nervous" she confessed. Sasuke looked surprised.
"Nervous about what?" he asked without bothering to point out that she'd been steadily rising from one of the worst in the class to one of the top.
Hinata was about to answer but stopped herself. She couldn't just say anything, yet she didn't want to lie.
"I guess" she began, unsure herself where she was going with it.
"You have a lot to live up to?" Sasuke finished for her. Hinata blinked, not actually believing she was that lucky for a moment. Sasuke cocked an eyebrow. She smiled and nodded.
"Well then you should be nervous" Sasuke commented folding his arms and closing his eyes in a knowing fashion.
"Huh?" was all she gasped. Sasuke smiled, looking back at her
"I'm not going to let you beat me, Hinata"
Hinata found a smile of her own creeping on her face. Perhaps it was that Sasuke's very rarely seen smile was affecting her. Or that in that single sentence he seemed to acknowledge her as a rival. But she found herself grinning back to him without being able to help it.
"In fact once we pass I'm going to leave you behind" Sasuke continued turning away.
"Then I will do my best to keep up with you, Sasuke-kun" she answered quietly. Sasuke turned his head to look at her.
"You can try" he smirked, then proceeding to walk away. No doubt going to practise a little more, Hinata assumed.
She turned back to her lunch. Her mood considerably lifted by the Uchiha. So far as she could recall he never acknowledged anyone. But he seemed to acknowledge her.
She allowed a smile for herself.
Even if it was only for a day. If the Uchiha genius acknowledged her, that had to be worth something, right?
Soon enough classes began again. She didn't mind so much. But only wished she could spend more time training. She knew that she was at the passable level now, but she would still feel better doing that than constantly going over the theory side of the exams. She felt that she knew as much she was going to learn. Going over it again and again was beginning to feel pointless.
She bit her lip. She was being selfish again. She knew this was for the benefit of everyone, not just her. She glanced over the newest worksheet that was placed before her. Each question was one she felt she'd been asked dozens of times.
She resisted the urge to kick herself. She wouldn't be caught thinking such things while she knew not everyone felt the same way. She picked up the paper and began reading question two.
She blinked, and then smiled to herself.
'Iruka-Sensei… you copy cat'
.
.
.
.
Naruto performed the hand signs again. This was much harder than he thought. He groaned at the jutsu only made a fraction of the desired effect.
"Wind jutsu were never this hard" he whined in a whisper to himself "Stupid-" He paused, turning oddly having sensed the presence behind him.
It was the Hyuuga kid stood behind him. Naruto turned fully, looking at the boy up and down before looked at him with wide, expecting eyes.
"You did not defeat Hyuuga Hiashi" he drawled accusingly. Naruto frowned, wondering what on earth was going on all of a sudden.
"I'm sorry, you are Hyuuga…?" he asked.
"Neji" the boy answered. Naruto noted the venom in his voice.
"Right… Well if you hurry up and ask me whatever it is you want quickly we just might have time to extract that stick from your ass" Naruto said, returning a portion of Neji's obvious dislike. Neji gritted his teeth, his previous calm yes disapproving expression morphing into anger. But Naruto didn't really care so much. Besides, this kid approach him with his attitude. That and, he didn't like how he looked at Hinata. Not one bit.
"Why is it she still trains with you?" Neji asked, keeping his anger in check. Naruto looked on.
"Because I won my challenge against Hiashi" Naruto explained slowly, as though he were talking to a first year academy student. This was not earning him points with Neji.
"That's ridiculous" Neji spat.
"Your attitude to a senior is ridiculous" Naruto snapped "I am helping Hinata-san train. What's with the attitude?"
Neji paused.
"Alright" Naruto said, holding his hands up in a surrendering expression "I insulted you directly. For that I apologise, it was wrong" he said earnestly
"Noted" was all the Hyuuga responded with. Naruto sighed, rubbing his forehead.
"Now you can explain yourself" Naruto gestured. Neji didn't look amused.
"I'm not talking about what you think" Naruto explained "Back then, with Hinata. You didn't think it was anything short of obvious, did you?"
"That's none of your concern" Neji said
"Right, like Hinata's training is none of yours. Yet here you are" Neji folded his arms and shook his head.
"Actually, overseeing the safety of Hinata-sama is one of my duties" he shot coolly.
"Wrong" Naruto retorted "After besting him, I received a message from him from the Hokage directly. I am now responsible for Hinata's safety. I guess that means you've been relieved of that burden" Naruto couldn't help but feel a dislike toward the Hyuuga before him. He was rude and infuriatingly arrogant. It took all his willpower from just kicking his ass here and now.
His expression at Naruto words was surprised to say the least. Naruto knew that no matter what, Branch members would be tasked with the protection of the Main house. He wasn't that stupid. Still, those words should help Neji to recede his assertion on the matter. But it did not. He continued to stand there just watching.
"What?" Naruto said, finally breaking the silence. Neji smirked.
"I am trying to work out how exactly you defeated Hiashi-sama." He remarked.
"And?"
"It is incomprehensible" Neji drawled. Naruto grinned and shrugged,
"Fine, we can trade secrets. You tell me what your problem with Hinata is, and I'll tell you how I defeated Hiashi" Naruto offered. Neji visually hesitated.
"That's" Neji began "None of your business"
"Very well" Naruto said turning around "Then I'm getting back to my training. If you stay here I'll be assuming you want to spar. And I'm no longer in the mood to hold back." he shot dangerously, not bothering to look back at the boy as he sped through the seals again.
'Damn Hyuuga's' he thought.
He tried for several hours to get back into the mood for his own training. But after the interruption he couldn't get him mind of Hinata's home life.
He knew that there was always some resentment from the branch of that particular clan to the main house. The caged bird seal of course was the reason. But Naruto also understood its purpose. It did keep a powerful tool on the side of the Leaf after all. The unfortunate truth was that even ninja without such a powerful bloodline power could turn traitor. The thought of a Hyuuga Clan as an enemy was not a pleasant one.
He found himself absently walking toward the Hyuuga estate. He resisted laughing at his own irrationality, after all what he was doing was also kind of pathetic. In just a few days she would be kunoichi of the leaf. She did Not need rescuing. Certainly not from her own family.
But before Naruto could regain control over his actions he had already requests her to the Hyuuga guarding the door.
'Crap' he thought, trying desperately to think of something he could do. Ichiraku's probably wasn't going to quite cut it this time.
"Naruto-Sempai?" the soft voice came. Naruto snapped back into reality. He flashed her a grin
"Hey Hinata-chan" he greeted. She smiled back, and patiently waiting for him to say something.
"Say, want to take a walk with me?" he asked, noticing the guards expression at him asking her for a walk when the sun was nearly set he added on "You know, talk about your training" he finished with a firm nod to her.
Hinata nodded, and followed Naruto for awhile, waiting for him to talk. But he didn't. She allowed herself to wonder what he was up to. She immediately noticed they didn't seem to be heading towards either Ichiraku's or their usual training ground.
"Naruto-Sempai?" she asked meekly. He seemed to snap out of a daze when she spoke.
"Oh Sorry Hinata-chan. I was just thinking I guess" he smiled "How was your day?"
"It's was good." She replied with a smile. She continued to give him the details she never got to tell anyone else, giving particular focus to the words of Sasuke. Naruto grinned.
"Scaring him into acknowledging you eh? Always a good sign" he chuckled.
"Well, I don't think I'm scaring him Naruto-Sempai" she pointed out nervously. Naruto glanced at her with a kind smile.
"Always so modest" he commented. Hinata felt her cheeks redden.
"Say" he said, coming to a halt "Have you ever seen the sun set from the Hokage mountain?"
.
.
.
.
Hinata marvelled at the colours of the sky. It was beautiful. The sun shot golden rays of light into the darkening sky above, hitting the clouds above, igniting them into a series of black, gold and red. Like some wonderful tides of colour in the sky again the even deepening blue skies.
It was strange how difficult it looked only from being in a different place.
"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Naruto asked for once his voice not filled with energy, but calmness.
"It is" was all she could respond with as a whisper. They sat there together in silence until the light show was finally over, and only the stars from above gave light.
"Ano, Naruto-Sempai?" she asked, breaking the silence.
"Yeah?" Naruto responding, not getting up from his position from lying on his back
"I was just wondering if there was a reason you asked me out tonight" she said, fighting the uncomfortable heat in her face.
"To be honest?" Naruto asked "Not really"
"Oh" Hinata replied lamely. She couldn't help but feel flustered by that answer. After all, who asked someone out just for the sake of it? Certainly no one did that to her before.
"Besides, I told you to take it easy tonight. Watching pretty things is about as easy as it gets" he pointed out, as though he were trying to defend his actions.
"Ano… but we did have to climb a mountain" she pointed out. Naruto mused with a hum.
"But it was worth it?" he ventured
"Of course" Hinata replied happily. Naruto let loose a chuckle
"I'm glad you think so. I used to come up here all the time. It's better when I'm not alone" he said with a faint smile.
Hinata opened her mouth to talk, but nothing came out. She wanted to say that if he wanted, she could always be here with him. But after failing to say it, the words played in her head. Causing her to feel horribly embarrassed. She felt her head burning at the idea of saying such a thing. In the midst of her own inner turmoil Naruto spoke again.
"Thanks for coming out with me, Hinata" he finished, finally sitting up.
"Its okay, Naruto-Sempai. I was glad to" She said quietly. She could understand it but, her cheeks would not cool down. She found herself absently playing with her fingers. And her smile wasn't fading at all. She found her mind not wondering from the present, completely content with that as it was. Before she could fully investigate these feeling she was interrupted by Naruto.
"So, are you ready to prove to Sasuko that he's right to keep an eye on you?" Hinata smiled
"It's Sasuke"
"Still insisting that's his name? Bless" Naruto chuckled.
"And yes, I think so, thanks to you Naruto-Sempai" she answered, looking at him fondly.
"Well, that's good. Because we made a promise. So we've got to stick to it, right? Hinata nodded enthusiastically.
"Oh, speaking of promises." Naruto said thoughtfully "I was supposed to tell you this awhile ago. But what with training there's not really been a moment to bring it up." He glanced at her curious expression before proceeding "After my victory, challenging Hiashi it seems he sent a personal request to the Hokage."
Hinata swallowed, not liking the way this seemed to be turning out.
"He's asked that I become a guardian for you in addition to my supervising." He paused allowing her to absorb the information "What do you think?"
"What do you mean guardian?" she asked uncertainly.
"Well, just keeping an extra eye out. You are the current heir after all. Hopefully maybe that might mean we can get put on more missions together after your initial genin days" he said cheerfully. Hinata gave him a nod, returning his smile.
That sounded nice.
.
.
.
.
The day had finally arrived. That was her first thought as her eyes snapped open, instead of the usual slow but steady awakening. She found herself spending more time on everything during her morning ritual, as though one thing which was not done properly would doom her to certain failure.
By consequence she found herself to be running behind schedule. She hurried though double checking all her equipment for the big day before darting out of her room, to find her father waiting outside.
"I expected you to be earlier for today" he announced, his words weighing heavily on her.
"I'm sorry Father" she said with a regretful bow.
"Be sure to do your best, and bring the Hyuuga clan honour" he said with a nod.
"Yes, father" she said bowing again, before hastily walking toward the courtyard.
As soon as she was out of the Hyuuga estate she broke out into a run toward the academy. Not wanting to be late, even if by comparison she would only be late for being early. The idea of her being actually late was beyond horrifying to her.
In record time she found herself slipping through the still somewhat empty hallways and into her classroom. Looking around she found herself only to have been beaten by a few students, one of which predictably being Sasuke. She moved over to her usual seat, which happened to be next to the genius. He greeted her with a grunt and nod.
"Good morning Sasuke-kun" she greeted.
"Ready for today?" he asked, nonchalantly.
"I think so" she said with a smile. It was only as those words left her mouth did the crushing feeling of 'Not ready at all' began to weigh heavily on her conscious thought.
In what felt like the blink of an eye, Iruka walked into the classroom with Mizuki and Suzume-sensei carrying a large stack of test papers. Hinata shrank in her seat, suddenly very will to honest take back everything she ever said about previous theory being in any way below her. In fact she would do that now just to make a point of it.
Slap.
Before her lay the paper. Except it wasn't a paper. It was a book! She tilted her head down toward the desk to inspect the thickness of the item before concluding it had to be at least 50 pages.
"You have 90 minutes. You may begin…" Iruka called from the front. Hinata's attention snapped forward. "Now"
.
.
.
.
.
Two hours later Hinata was still mentally pacing back and forth. The test didn't turn out so bad, did it?
She felt was though she had answered every question right, but then she didn't have time to check them all over. And worse, what if some of them had genjutsu's cast upon them?
Wait, she told herself. Did she check to see if the paper had a genjutsu on it?
Uh Oh.
"You look tense" Naruto commented. Hinata whirled around.
"I didn't check the genjutsu for a test!" she burst out in alarm. Naruto blinked several times before a smirk fought it way onto his face. It was all he could do not to laugh.
Hinata mistook that for the worst possible sign.
"Did it really have one on it?" she gasped, mortified.
"N-ugh!" Naruto paused "Er, I cannot tell you that, actually" he said scratching his head and looking toward the floor. Her expression that was nothing short of pure despair caught his eye and he looked with a forced grin.
"Hey, Hey, you'll do fine!" he tried to comfort, but she was already slumped on the floor her face buried in her hands. He sat next to her and rubbed her back.
"Don't worry so much. I am confident you did fine" he said trying to emphasis the last word. Hinata broke out of her hands and looked at him with slightly watery eyes.
"Y-You mean it?" she stammered. Naruto smiled, this time for real.
"Definitely. Now come on. This is no time for a funk. You have three more tests to go"
"Shuriken, Ninjutsu, and then… Taijutsu" she said, forcing out the final word. Naruto hooked his arm on her far shoulder.
"Yep, and you're gonna be great! Just remember how far you've come. And more importantly. How far you have yet to go!" he encouraged her. She smiled back with a small nod and pink cheeks.
"Your next two tests you'll take one after another so I'll say this now. Good luck, and Hinata-chan. I believe in you. Try to believe in yourself too, okay?" he said rocking her gentle a little. She gave a stiff nod in response before another bell rang. One she was secretly hoping never rang.
Naruto lead her towards the fields where she would take her next tests, before departing. Explaining that not being an official instructor it would be against the rules for him to be present. That deflated Hinata a little further. But she steeled herself as best she could before preceding.
After the explanation of how the tests would be run she was glad to find out that she would be taking the shuriken tests first. While she had no doubt that if she wasn't paying attention she could very easily fail this test, she felt there was still an awful lot less pressure on doing this than the taijutsu. The groups split into two groups, the other half being lead away by 3 instructors while the rest of them would apparently do the shuriken test with the others watching one by one.
"Alright for basic points You must hit the red targets" Iruka explained. As Hinata looked the red dots on the setup before them were simple enough to hit.
"For more points you must throw at least three at a time" he continued. She swallowed, that could prove difficult. She had only just gotten up to a 10/10 throwing just one at a time.
"Finally for extra credit use a combination of kunai, shuriken and senbon. If you do not have senbon on you, I have some you may use" Iruka finished. Hinata just stared on. Surely that was impossible.
Not two minutes later Uchiha Sasuke proved that it was very much possible. Scoring full marks. Hinata could only gape in disbelief. She had never even handled a senbon. Never mind throwing scores of them like he did, each one finding its mark perfectly.
She was able to feel slightly better when Kiba tried to mimic the Uchiha only to look a bit foolish. Fortunately he was able to realise how poorly he was doing and focus well enough on the final shots well enough so that Hinata thought he would pass. Would be close though.
"Hyuuga Hinata" Iruka called out. Hinata froze. It was only when Iruka scanned for her and found her, did she find the courage to move. She shakily approached the mark she was to stand on.
"Would you like to try using senbon?" Iruka offered. Hinata glanced at the weapons before shaking her head. This was going to be hard enough without risking that. She counted the targets, and worked out that she could try throwing three at once twice if they all missed before she would have to go singular to get decent marks.
'But if I just use single shots, and get them all right, wouldn't that be better?' she doubted in her mind. After a minute of a inner debate she decided that in the field she would have to learn to throw more than one at a time. And so she should at least try.
Slowly she drew three shuriki. After a moment of steadying herself she threw them. She watched carefully as the flew through the air. The first hit it's mark. The second disappeared into the bushes. The third found a thud of it's own. A bird fell out of the tree. Hinata's mouth shot open in humiliation. The class erupted into laughter.
"It's okay Hinata" Iruka assured her. She glanced at him, before nodding and drawing another three.
In the end she didn't perform too poorly. Though she was utterly aghast that she had killed the poor bird. Iruka told her not to concern herself so much, and that they thought they had cleared the area, but accidents happened.
But it was over now, she told herself, and she could relax and think of a plan for her taijutsu test. She had only gone over a fraction of the techniques Naruto had built up with her before she hear Iruka calling out for them all to follow him.
"Alright, now, your taijutsu tests will be broken down into two parts. First of all you will be organised in a formation. We will call out moved, and you do them. In this case it will be simple things such as left kick, right punch. By simply completing this all correctly will earn you a pass. If however you do something wrong, you will need to impress us in the next stage. Which involves pairing off all students for a little one on one spar. Taijutsu only, and we will tell you when to stop. We will stop some fights early, others we will allow to continue until we feel you have displayed your ability.
Hinata very slowly edged her eyes over to Sasuke. Only to find him looking at her. She instantly looked the other way, and then all over, as though she was merely looking around. Realising she probably didn't have him fooled, she settling for looking at the ground.
Soon enough she found herself in the formation waiting for Iruka to begin the test.
"Alright everyone" he called out "Right punch" The whole class followed his instruction.
"Left punch" again the whole class followed.
"Left kick, right punch" At their own speeds the class followed. Hinata realised that however simple this test initially sounded, was probably harder than it would seem
"Left punch, right punch, left kick" Hinata obeyed.
The test continued for several minutes. With the chain of attacks growing slightly more complicated at the time went on. But no one seemed to have any real difficulty with it.
"Haruno Sakura, you will be with Yamanaka Ino" Iruka called out. The two girls glared at each other with such intensity Hinata was sure she saw sparks fly.
"Inuzaka Kiba, you will be with Akimichi Chouji" Their reaction was far less dramatic. Kiba sneered at Chouji, who didn't seem to notice from his chips he pulled out from seemingly thin air.
"Hyuuga Hinata, you will be with Uchiha Sasuke" Hinata paled. She met the onyx eyes, but didn't share the grin that came with his. She looked around to find all eyes on her. They eyes all screamed the same thing.
'I'm dead' she cried in her head.
After Iruka finished calling out the list, he became calling out the pair in the order they were assigned. But nothing could distract her from that fact she would literally have to beat Sasuke to beat him. The irony was not lost on her. She could only hope her fight was not as brutal as the carnage that was taking place between Sakura and Ino.
After the instructors finally tore the girls apart, who both came away worse for wear, it was Kiba and Chouji. Which seemed to be quite different. While Sakura and Ino both used similar styles, and had similar strength and speed. Kiba was obviously much faster than Chouji. But Chouji was much stronger. Kiba managed to get in some good blows at first, but then Chouji caught him and wrestled him into submission. Hinata looked down at the half crushed Kiba and could only hope she would suffer so little.
"Hinata, Sasuke, you're up" Iruka called.
Hinata could feel her body tremble. Weeks and months of her hard work, had all been leading up to this moment. Shakily she stood, and slowly moved forward.
Sasuke was standing before her, already in his own ready stance. His expression was unreadable, except for that glint of excitement in his eyes. Perhaps it was her test again Mizuki-Sensei that was the reason behind that glint. She unconsciously slide her fingers upward and began to twiddle them, pushing them against each other occasionally.
She found herself thinking of all the time she'd spent with Naruto, training so hard her body literally felt as though it was ready to come apart. Would it be enough? Or was it all time spent wasted?
She couldn't shake the thought that she just wasn't ready. She wasn't prepared for this, and was going to loose badly because of it. It was the same as everything else. Whenever she seemed to find herself in the face off situations she always came off as the loser, the failure who couldn't even achieve some dignity in losing. She looked about her, her own sad eyes meeting the ones that knew she was going to lose. No one believed in her.
'I believe in you. Try to believe in yourself too, okay?'
Hinata blinked. Of course! Naruto believed in her. She could help the smile that slowly and secretively replaced her already-defeated expression. He'd worked so hard with her, the past few months. He had spent time with her, helped her getting stronger, as well as was there just to talk to if ever she needed it. He didn't do it because it was an obligation of any sort on his part. He did it for her, and she knew, he truly did believe in her.
'I never to go back on my word. If I say I'm going to do something, I'll do it' If she really wanted to follow that ideal. She would have to start now.
She dropped her fingers from their twiddling, and slide into the stance she had been practising almost non-stop for month.
She activated her Byakugan. She poured all of her focus before her.
'Sorry Sasuke-kun… But I promised to win!'
"Alright, you both seem to be ready" Iruka said, "Begin"
It was Sasuke that attack first. As she had seen before his attacks were blindingly fast, and quite circular in motion. She blocked his strikes rather than trusting herself to dodge them. His first burst of attacks soon came to an end when she was able to distance herself. He didn't seem eager to jump right in after her.
After a second pause he came forward again, this time leaping in for an aerial kick. Hinata bobbed beneath it, aiming a palm thurst for his chest as he landed. He caught her wrist and used it to launch her flying.
She landed with a skid, spot to counter the attack she already knew was coming. She countered his punch with a powerful kick.
Thud.
Sasuke was sent backwards. Hinata blinked.
'I… I got him?' she thought with awe. He was already coming back toward her this time with a kick. Drawing courage from her first hit against him, she step forward meeting his kick with her own. As they cancelled each other one she resummoned energy to her leg, not allowing it to land, instead redirecting it toward his head. He ducked underneath it. But she was prepared for it. As he roses again she brought her leg back, crashing her heel into his head.
There was an gasp from the class when Sasuke was knocked down for a second time. Hinata resisted a smile, but inside she was flying. That heel kick held no real power, but it was enough to kick your opponent down. A little trick Naruto had used on her. Back in his stance, this time she summoned the courage to take the offensive. Aimed several thrusts towards him, he seemed to know how to block her juuken correctly.
Suddenly he shot his own fists at her whilst dodging her strike. She bobbed her head to avoid his. Immediately having to do so again as he came back with his other hand. At the same time they each fired right kicks against each other resulting in a double impact. Not satisfied she immediately kicked again. Not expecting it Sasuke was hit again. Then tried it himself, but Hinata was able to duck under it. She found herself having to block a punch from him as soon as she stood. Able to knock his arms away with her block she was able to land a palm onto his shoulder before they broke apart.
She had the advantage. And damn it all, she was going to keep it!
Sasuke rubbed his shoulder, clearly feeling the effect of her juuken. Iruka looked at Mizuki who could only look back with a perplexed look.
Retaking stance Sasuke, edged closer. Hinata was ready for him. He feinted a punch, instead launched a kick which she couldn't dodge in time. Following up with a series of punches, Hinata dodged the first and proceeded to block the following. Sensing the danger Sasuke disengaged just as Hinata aimed another palm. She retook her stance, not willing to miss another opportunity.
Iruka stood in shock at the shy girl's transformation. The only reason she had been paired with Sasuke was because it was believed her juuken might provide a challenge when Sasuke was clearly above and beyond anyone else. He never would of imagined Hinata could fight him toe to toe and come off as the stronger fighter. He would have to stop the fight soon. Due to the toll of damage juuken would do to Sasuke.
They re-engaged, trading series of blocking and striking with their arms. Sasuke tried a kick to Hinata's body but she was too fast, and slapped it back down with a juuken blast added. Sasuke grunted.
Iruka's eyes narrowed, that last exchange had sealed it.
As they re-traded blocks and strikes again this time it was Hinata who launched a kick into the mix. Sasuke narrowly dodged it, and even managed to hold into her leg. Hinata in response kicked off with her other leg and planted it into his stomach. Freeing herself and knocking him backward.
"That will do" Iruka said stepping in. Hinata was already back on her feet.
Sasuke groaned, clutching his stomach as he rose up.
Iruka didn't need to say anything.
Hinata bowed to both Iruka and Sasuke before turning and moving to her original sitting position. A faint smile graced upon her lips. She thought only one thing.
'Thank you, Naruto-Sempai'
.
.
.
.
Author Notes: Yeah…. I did it. Now you see!
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it. Sorry it was a slightly later update than I planned, but hey, it's effectively a double-episode so you hush up!