Confrontation of Three

8

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"H-Hinata-chan, why are you doing this all of a sudden?" Naruto stammered in alarm. What had gotten into her? To Naruto Hinata had always been weird, but this went far beyond anything he'd have ever expected. He didn't know what to make of things, but what he did know was that he didn't want to fight Hinata. She didn't seem like a strong person, and even though he wasn't that strong either, he was certain that if they squared off he would…hurt her.

"I won't fight you, Hinata," Naruto said, trying to be stern, but failing. "I don't want to hurt you."

"You must, Naruto-kun," Hinata responded, Byakugan activated, unflinching in her battle stance. Never had Naruto seen Hinata like this. He didn't know what she was doing with her eyes or what kind of fighting style this was, but there was something nagging at the back of his mind that told him he was wrong about the weak part.

There were things he didn't know at all about Hinata, including her status as a warrior, and though he was intrigued, he didn't want to discover things this way. "Hinata-chan, please…" Naruto begged. "L-Let's stop this. We don't have to--"

"Please defend yourself, Naruto-kun," she interrupted, her polite voice clashing with the fierceness in her expression. "Because whether or not you do, I'm coming."

She wasn't lying. Hinata sprang forward in one smooth leap, surprising Naruto with her speed, and thrust her palm at him. Naruto barely dodged the attack, but in the passing was shocked to see a spark of blue chakra shoot from her hand, creating a tiny split at the bottom of his jacket.

Naruto leaped back as a reflex and stared at Hinata with wide and attentive eyes. "Wh-What was that?" Naruto exclaimed.

"The Huuga fighting style is special," Hinata explained, once again taking battle stance. She sprang towards Naruto once more, palms lashing forward like the snap of a wolf's teeth. "We do not aim for our opponent's joints or outer body parts with the intention of causing surface damage," she continued, thrusting one attack after another, but purposely making it easy for Naruto to dodge.

"The body is a connected system of networking cables which work together, producing chakra, intensifying the amounts at the whim of it's master, and regulating flow. Huuga's take a precise and deadly concentrated amount of this chakra and sever the flow of others, rendering them utterly incapable of executing jutsu attacks."

Just then Hinata rammed her palm into the center of Naruto stomach, projecting him backwards into a tree. He hit the trunk with a loud thump and a sharp grunt of pain escaped his lips. Hinata did not shoot a blast of chakra at him to do this, but rather contained it, relying on her own strength.

She was…going easy on him.

"Please fight back, Naruto-kun," Hinata begged. "Please give me a good match. Use everything you've got against me. If you don't I'll never be able to show you…"

She trailed off, bowing her head towards the ground.

"Sh-Show me what?" Naruto asked with strain in his voice, lifting himself to his feet. Naruto couldn't believe what he was seeing--hearing. Hinata, this little…person, this quiet and shy girl, had so much power in her! Incredible.

Incredible.

"Show me what, Hinata-chan?" Naruto asked once more.

"To show you…" Hinata spread her feet apart, once again taking stance. Her eyes were bright with the thrill of battle, and the thick veins bulging out on either side of them made her look fiercer than any ninja Naruto had ever seen. But her mouth curved upwards into a pleasant smile, reminding Naruto all too clearly of who this person still was.

This was Hinata.

"To show you how strong you've made me," she answered proudly.

"What?" Naruto asked incredulously. "What did I do? I never knew you could fight like this! I didn't do a thing!"

Hinata, smiling still, shook her head slowly and said, "No. You did a lot, Naruto-kun. In fact…you did everything."

Naruto didn't understand what she was saying, what she was thinking, but Hinata standing there, palms outstretched and shoulders erect, eyes sharp and focused and feet planted firmly upon the ground, was presenting herself to him as a warrior.

Something in his chest stirred, making it hard to breathe. Never before had he seen a girl act this way, talk this way…look this way.

Stunning.

"Fine," Naruto responded, matching her boldness. "I'll fight you, Hinata, but don't expect me to hold back!"

Hinata smiled wider this time, and gave a single understanding nod. This made her happy. Because this was exactly what she wanted. And even Naruto didn't have a full grasp of what was going on, it was all too clear that Hinata was making a serious attempt to bring out her potential, and through him. Not that she had to say these words for him to know this, for it was a mutual understanding between two warriors, and Hinata looked as if she felt the same.

No one had ever done anything like this before. Strong opponents like Sasuke and that spook Gaara had always ignored him. But…things weren't like that this time. This time there was someone who'd purposely sought him out, wanting to test their skills, and wanting him to test his.

This made Naruto…so incredibly happy.

So in return, he would do as Hinata wished. He would fight.

"Here I come!" Naruto shouted, and swiftly produced a hand sign. "Shadow clones!"

Several eruptions of smoke exploded in a circle around Naruto and five clones jumped forward for attack.

Hinata was ready. She lashed out at each clone with a blast of chakra, sending them into the air, reverting them back into white puffs of smoke, but Naruto was relentless with their production. One by one they came, sprinting forward furiously with fists ready to throw. He had indeed mastered the art of cloning. You'd never think that it was once his worst jutsu…

Hinata was proud.

But her insides where screaming with pain. The wounds from yesterday were not yet healed, and every movement took a tremendous amount of effort to execute. Her joints were sore, her ribs ached, and her legs were taut with pain. Her hands were bandaged with a thick layer of healing cream on them, making attacks less effective than they otherwise would have been, but still she would not give up. This was what she wanted, and even though it was hurting her, she could not find it in her heart to regret anything.

The choices in life she'd made thus far were hers, and though a good number of them were poor, these last days of her life had been nothing short of revolutionary for her. And even though it was impossible that she'd changed a great deal, there was a change in her that she was proud of.

But still, her muscles were beginning to tire and overexert themselves, making it impossible to bring out her full potential. Her Byakugan was wearing, becoming exhausted, and her limbs weren't responding as they should have.

Two Naruto clones lashed out at her at the same time, making contact with the area right beneath her ribs, and she went flying.

She hit the ground hard. The impact was staggering. Hinata gasped and shuddered, clutching her sides in muted agony.

"Hinata-chan!" Naruto exclaimed in alarm.

Hinata was doubled over on the ground, gritting her teeth in pain, and Naruto ran over to her with a wildly concerned expression.

"Hinata-chan, what's wrong?" He rushed to her side, making an anxious reach for her trembling shoulders, but something stopped him.

A giant wall of sand exploded into view, curving forward like a wave, and shoved into Naruto's abdomen so fiercely that he went flying backwards. He hit the ground with a loud grunt of pain, and staggered to his knees, clutching his throbbing sides. "Naruto-kun!" Hinata cried. Completely ignoring the pain Hinata jumped to her feet to help him, but another eruption of sand blocked her, preventing her from advancing, and when the sand dispersed apart it was Gaara she saw standing there.

His back was to her and his arms were folded over one another in his usual calm and aloof posture. He seemed to be ignoring her, but at the very same time completely aware of her. Hinata felt that if she were to make a move of any kind Gaara would stop her.

But he only stared at Naruto. "What do you think you're doing?" he asked lowly, his voice quiet and rough.

Naruto grunted once more, trying to recover from both pain and shock, and when he looked up, drew back in alarm. His eyes boggled, wide and horrified, and even though Hinata was surprised by his reaction, she knew it was a reaction he would not have had if he'd never met Gaara before this moment.

Somehow or another they knew each other.

"Well?" Gaara pressed with impatience. It was the first time Hinata had ever heard him sound that way.

Naruto leaped to his feet. "I know you! You're that creepy guy we met the other day!"

Gaara took a step forward and Naruto rose his head in alert. "Leave." he ordered. "I have business with this girl and you're in the way."

Do it, Naruto-kun! Hinata's mind shouted on reflex. He'll kill you if you don't!

"N-Naruto-ku--"

"What do you want with Hinata-chan?" Naruto demanded angrily. As a threatening gesture he took a vicious step forward as well, jabbing his foot into the ground.

Gaara reached behind him in a movement Hinata found too familiar, and popped the cork on his gourd. "I'll tell you one more time," Gaara warned, tone sickeningly vile. Hinata imagined what his face looked like, twisted in a ferocious glare…"Get lost."

"I don't think so!" Naruto shouted. "There's no way I'm leaving Hinata-chan! If you're thinking about laying even one finger on her you got another thing coming!"

Hinata, though immensely horrified, found shame in the euphoric lurch in her chest. A pure second of joy rang through her entire being, and for a split moment she was tempted to smile, but the bitter reminder of reality shook her conscience when Gaara's voice cut through her ears.

"Very well," he said, tone resolved.

Sand started to pour out of his gourd, rising into the air as if completely exempt from the forces of gravity.

No! Hinata protested inwardly. She tried to choke out for Naruto to run, to save himself, for only she was scheduled to die today, but nothing came out. The searing pain in her body kept her from exerting the energy she needed to get up and move--to be of assistance. Move! Please move! Please! I have to help Naruto-kun!

Naruto called upon his shadow clones and sprang forward alongside them in a group.

Gaara lifted his hand in the air and gave it a single horizontal slice, sending a number of speeding sections of sand towards each one, and exterminated them all in one sweep.

Naruto's solid body went flying into a tree, snapping a few twigs as he landed amongst a cluster of firm branches, then fell to the ground.

"Naruto-kun!" Hinata cried in horror.

"Is that the best you can do?" Gaara questioned without much caring.

Naruto staggered to his feet as quickly as he could. "I'm not giving up yet!" he replied determinedly.

Again he came for Gaara, face twisted in an angry scowl. "Naruto-kun. please!" Hinata begged. "Run away! Ru--" she stopped herself.

Run away….run away? Did she really think that was going to work? Hinata knew Naruto better than anyone on the planet. She'd watched him grow and train and become the person he is today, right now at this very moment. She knew more clearly than anyone he would never run. He'd much rather die…exactly like an honorable shinobi. And wasn't his example the one Hinata herself was following? Wasn't it that precise characteristic of Naruto's that kept her there, fighting even though she knew she would die?

Gaara did not have to move at all. Naruto kept coming at him, dodging one sand attack after another, but every now and then one would get him, slamming him back, but Naruto was ablaze with adrenaline. He couldn't stay down for long.

Fed up, Gaara thrust out an outstretched palm, sending a mass of sand in Naruto's direction, and grasped him around his torso. Naruto struggled furiously, cursing and shouting, and Gaara narrowed his eyes venomously before smashing the mass of sand into the ground, bringing Naruto along with it. He did this repeatedly, hammering Naruto into the ground again and again.

"Stop it!" Hinata cried weakly. Gaara ignored her. "P-Please stop!"

Gaara rose the sand mass high in the air and spiked Naruto's body at the ground. Hinata gave a terrified cry. She struggled to her feet and dove past Gaara just as he was sending second wave of sand at Naruto's motionless form. Hinata jumped into the air and slid right in front of him, acting as a shield. She crossed her arms over her face for minimal protection, but beyond the gap they provided Hinata could see Gaara's expression, bewildered and utterly shocked.

The sand hovered in the air for a second, responding to Gaara's hesitation, and just when Hinata was sure he wasn't going to follow through with the attack, his features twisted into a vicious snarl and he brought his hand down forcefully.

The sand mass responded, no longer aiming at Naruto, but at Hinata.

Hinata grit her teeth, squeezing her eyes, waiting for the impact, but it didn't happen.

A white flash appeared in front of Hinata, blocking the attack, and sent a tremendous blast of chakra into the air, purging the oncoming sand attack.

Gaara and Hinata reacted with shocked expressions.

Hinata, taking a moment to recover and process the scene before her, couldn't believe her eyes.

"N-N-Neji-niisan?"

Neji, Byakugan activated, put one foot forward and squared his shoulders, palms facing outward. It was an exact copy of Hinata's battle stance.

"Gaara of the Sand, I believe," he said with a subtle thrill. "A pleasure to finally meet you."

//***********************************//note from moi//*************************************//

Ah, another cliffy, huh? Yeah, I know. I suck.

…lol.

I would like to dedicate this chapter to my awesome friend .roses who is a great inspiration to me, vice versa, and an awesome writer. You can check out her fanart for Little Mouse on her deviant art or her fanfictions themselves.