Chapter 11 – "I won't run away anymore." Hinata Roars!
Naruto had been victorious over Kiba. Despite it all, despite the pain, fatigue, and loss of the Fox he had come out on top. But it was at a price. In his current state he had lost control of himself and nearly killed Kiba. He wanted to kill him. Nothing else seemed to matter and he would not have stopped at Kiba. Just as he was about to cross a line, taking an action he could never come back from, he was pulled back from the brink. In this time of chaos and turmoil for Naruto, Hinata pulled him back from the darkness.
One simple act had stopped Naruto. Hinata did nothing more then embrace him and ask for forgiveness. Not for herself but for the village. The strength and courage he could see in her eyes was overwhelming. There was something else there. Something deeper that compelled Naruto to listen to her. When she spoke he could only hear her. Not the swirling noise and chaotic screaming of other voices in his head. Just by holding her he had he found the happiness he had been denied his entire life. Unfortunately life has a way of being cruel and taking away what we want the most.
The next round was to begin shortly, a fight between Hinata and Neji. Naruto walked her to the stairs that led to the arena floor. He never let go of her hand. Her body was tense now and he could sense the apprehension coming from her. He knew that this would be difficult for her. He new that Neji was some sort of genius of the Hyuga Clan but something in Hinata's change told him there was more to this fight then appeared on the surface.
"Hinata," Naruto said. She looked up at him, worry evident on her face. "You can do this. You're one the bravest people I know and you're stronger then you think. Show them all the real you that has been buried for so long. Show them everything I see in you."
"Naruto . . ." She let his name hang in the air. She believed him and was overwhelmed that he thought these things of her.
"Now, get down there and beat the snot out of him. Tonight I'm taking you out to dinner. There are things I need to talk to you about." She just smiled and nodded.
Naruto watched her walk down the stairs with confidence. There was doubt and fear still but he believed in her and that's all that she needed. He then walked back over where Sakura was standing. Kakashi had joined her and even Rock Lee was standing nearby.
"I don't know what you said to her Naruto," Sakura spoke to him, "but it seems to have done the trick."
"She just needs someone to believe in her," Naruto replied. He never took his eyes off Hinata.
On the arena floor Neji and Hinata stood facing one another. Neji was expressionless. He simply stared at her. It was like he was trying to burn a hole through her. There was so much hatred in his eyes. It may not have all been at Hinata but it was all being focused on her.
Before the proctor said a word Neji spoke. "I never dreamed we'd find ourselves fighting each other."
"Neji, big brother," was all Hinata said.
Back on the observation deck Sakura was confused. "So, wait. They are brother and sister?"
"No, not brother and sister, but still related," Kakashi explained. "Both are members of Konaha's oldest and most illustrious family, through whose veins the most elite and accomplished blood flows, the Hyuga Clan."
"Then how are they related?"
"Well, it's complicated. I guess you could say they're related in the same way that a tree branch is related to the trunk."
"Yes, exactly," Lee cut in. "Hinata is a member of the main branch of the Hyuga clan, and Neji is a member of the cadet branch that supports it."
"So, it's family fighting family?" Sakura asked. "That'll be hard on both of them."
"No, it won't." Naruto dryly said.
"Naruto is correct." Lee continued. "There's been strain between the central and cadet branches of the Hyuga clan for some time. Relations aren't exactly friendly."
"Why is that?" Sakura turned to Lee.
"I don't know all the details. But it sounds like a pretty common tale among the older families. The first generation of the Hyuga clan made all sorts of rules and decrees that favored the main branch of the family in order to preserve the family line and retain the purity of their blood. It's said that the members of the cadet branch still burn with anger and humiliation."
"So, it's on those fateful showdown things."
"Maybe," Naruto started to say. "In truth it does not matter who she is fighting. This is her time to show everyone who she truly is and what she is capable of. It's her time to shine."
Back on the arena floor the Proctor finally spoke up. "Well, please begin the match." He started to cough again.
Neji didn't seem ready yet. "Before we begin there's something I have to point out to Lady Hinata." He let his words hang for a moment. "You're not cut out to be a shinobi. Withdraw from the match!"
"Wh . . . what do you mean?" Hinata's confidence suddenly started to falter. As strong as Naruto's words were to her it's still going to take more to overcome a lifetime of putdowns, abuse, and being told you're worthless.
"You're all sweetness and light," Neji began to explain. "A peacemaker not a troublemaker and you have no self confidence. You're easily led not a leader. You've got a world class inferiority complex. So I know you'd have been more comfortable and content staying at Genin level." He paused for a moment but was far from done. "But applicants for he higher level Chunin exam must compete as a trio and you couldn't let your teammates down. The truth is your participation has been reluctant from the start, hasn't it."
"N . . no you're wrong," Hinata finally said back. Her voice was shaken. "I . . . I really wanted to change that about myself. I chose to do this own my own. I . . ."
"A leopard doesn't change its spots," Neji cut her off.
"What? That's not true. You don't know anything about me." Hinata tried to strike back with more confidence. The truth being that she was changing. Breaking free of her shell. Trying to do as Naruto said, to show the world who she really is on the inside.
Neji sensed this and pressed his verbal attack harder. "A failure is always a failure. A weak personality won't become strong. It's precisely because of the unchanging nature of humankind that differences between people are born. It's why we've coined terms like "Elite" and "Failure"."
The entire arena was fixated on Neji. His words were cutting into Hinata and were as devastating as any physical attack. Naruto was started to get mad again. A fight between them was on thing but this was just being cruel. Using her life, her family, as a weapon against her. It would almost be less cruel to just kill her. No, Neji doesn't want to just beat her, he wants to destroy her.
On the floor below Neji continued his attack. "Yes, it's a form of discrimination. The factors that it's based on don't change. We have no choice. We must live within the boundaries set for us by the judgment of others. It doesn't matter who you are. We're all judged on the basis of our looks, our intelligence, our talent, or our personalities. Just as we judge others in their turn. It's as unchangeable as the fact that I'm of the cadet branch of the family and you're a member of the main branch."
Neji paused again. He wanted to let his words take affect. Hinata's resolve was starting to crumble under his assault. She had not been prepared for any of this. The weight of her life began to press down upon her and she despaired. Was he right about her?
Neji sensed a weakness and pressed on. "I've seen through many things with this all-seeing Byakugan Eye. So I know this courage you're displaying is just a bluff! In the truest, deepest, part of your heart you're desperate to run away from here right now."
"No!" Hinata struck back at last. "I really want to change. I'm not who I once was. That isn't me anymore.
Back on the observation deck Sakura asked, "The Byakugan?"
"The Byakugan is the Kekkei Genkai of the Hyuga Clan," Naruto began to answer. "An ocular art in some ways similar to the Sharingan, but in its penetrating perceptive ability the Byakugan surpasses the Sharingan completely."
"Wow, Naruto, how do you know so much about it?"
"I've done my homework, studying up on the various clans of the village." What he didn't say as to why he had been researching them. To know his enemy gives him an advantage over them. So when the time came he knew what he would be facing in battle.
On the arena floor Neji suddenly became irritated by Hinata's fighting back. "My eyes can't be deceived." Naruto sensed a change in the flow of Neji's chakra. The smell became more intense. He was using his Byakugan. "Just now, to escape my stare you averted your own eyes, glancing towards the upper left. It signaled your recall of a past experience. One that brought you pain." Hinata's courage was now wilting under the intense stare of the Neji's Byakugan. "When you subsequently glanced to the lower right it indicated that you were envisioning physical and mental agony. In other words you recalled your own previous experiences and based upon those memories you imagined the outcome of this match." He paused for moment. "You foresaw your own defeat!"
This had the effect that Neji wanted. Hinata physical reaction was that of fear. She felt as if she had lost and now there was nothing left. She may have even withdrew form the match right them but Neji would not let up. He was not satisfied with just beating her, wanted to crush her completely.
"Even now as you bring your arms up in front of your body as if to shield yourself," he continued without mercy. "Your body is signaling your desire to raise a wall between us. To create some distance from me. You implore me to come no further, to peer no more deeply into the innermost secrets of your heart, because everything I have said has been right on target." Now for the final attack. "In addition, the way you're touching your lip. It's another of those tender intimate behaviors that express the agitation in your heart. It's a defensive reflex. An attempt to ease your own anxieties and doubts. It's completely clear, whether you admit it or not, that you are aware that you can never change yourself!"
"SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Naruto screamed. All eyes were now on him. Neji looked up in annoyance. "You don't know one damned thing about her and you could not be more wrong. All this talk is just your way of stalling because you know she is better then you. Hinata is one of the strongest and bravest people in this village. She has stared death in the eyes and never once looked away. She is the only thing standing between you and complete destruction!" Naruto needed to take a breath. His body hurt and he was so tired. But if he had to listen to Neji anymore he would kill himself. "Hinata, this is your time. Your time to show everyone who you really are on the inside. Show them what you have shown me. At the very least break his damn jaw so you can spare us all form having to listen to him any more."
All of Neji's work was undone. With just a few words of encouragement Hinata was once more standing tall. The doubt and fear was gone. Her stance was firm. Everyone was watching her, Naruto was watching her.
"So you're not going to withdraw?" Neji asked almost sounding defeated. "Then I will not be responsible for what happens here."
Hinata then brought her own Byakugan to bear on Neji. "I won't run away anymore!"
"Ok then."
The fight began immediately. Both Neji and Hinata took up their fighting stances. Both were mirror images of each other. Charging each other their moves were both fierce and graceful. The fluidity of their attacks was near hypnotic, if you could keep up. They both moved so fast they became a blur before long.
"Amazing," Lee exclaimed in admiration. "They both have the same Hyuga style. Even her stance is identical to Neji's. What we are seeing is the strongest school of Taijutsu in Konoha."
"Lee is right, this is amazing," Naruto thought to himself. He had never seen Hinata fight before and was blown away by her moves. "Her moves, her power, her speed, her agility, everything is so beautiful. Hmm, best to keep on her good side."
On the arena floor the fighting was intense. The two keep going at each other. Suddenly there was a break. A look on Neji's face and a sudden move by Hinata signaled that she had finally gotten a hit. Amazingly it was the first hit of the fight.
"Did she get him?" Sakura asked.
"It looks like it, but no more then just a glancing blow," Naruto answered.
"But that's all it would take," Lee began to explain. "That's why the Hyuga Clan is often regarded as Konaha's most illustrious family."
"What do you mean?" Sakura asked but everyone turned to Lee to hear his explanation.
"Among the Hyuga there are unique Taijutsu passed down from one generation to the next. It's unlike the Taijutsu that I specialize in, which is all about beatings, bruises, and broken bones. A style its proponents call Goken or "Ferocious Fist". The Hyuga Clan employs Juken of "Gentle Fist", to inflict damage to the enemy's Keirakukei, the system which the chakra flows. This leads to the breakdown of the internal organs destroying the foe from within."
"It does not look like much," Kakashi cut in," but the effects grow gradually after the initial attack. There is no way of strengthening the internal organs so any enemy struck with that blow is going to succumb."
Down on the floor the fierceness of Hinata's attacks force Neji to retreat. Each strike comes close to connecting but Neji manages to evade. Despite it though he is being placed on defense, unable to make his own attacks. He never dreamed that this was possible from her. Now as he is forced to defend his anger grows. Never showing, it boils beneath the surface. How dare she try to prove she is better then him. How dare she try and stand against him.
The conversation among the spectators continues above the combatants on the floor. Sakura presses on with her questions. "What kind of people are they to be able to attack the Keirakukei? It doesn't seem possible. I mean they are just lines inside the body so how do you attack something you can't see?"
"They can," Kakashi answered. "Their Byakugan can see them. Gentle Fist attacks are different from the purely brute force physical kind. You take your own chakra and release it though the energy portals in your hands forcing it into the body of your foe. Where it can inflict massive damage on the enemy's Keirakukei."
On the floor the two fighters finally connect solidly upon each other. Hinata takes a vicious hit to the chest and her right arm near the shoulder. She is stunned for a moment and suddenly coughs. She spits blood out onto the floor.
"So this is the full extent of the main branches strength?" Neji taunts her.
Naruto's frustration starts to build. "Damn it! What the hell happened? What about Hinata's attack? She hit him, I saw it."
Hinata continues her attacks against Neji. But things are different. He is dogging and evading all of her blows. He is quicker to respond now. He underestimated her at first but now was not holding back. She knew what was happening. Everyone watching would be unable to see it but all her training told her what was happening.
"It can't be!" Hinata said. She sounded out of breath. "You mean from the very beginning?"
"Precisely," Nejie answered smug. "My eyes can detect the tenketsu!"
"That's not possible!" Naruto shouted. Until this moment, in all his research into the Hyuga clan, the chances of this were nearly impossible. For Neji to have such skill at his age.
"Remarkable," Kakashi said with a slight sense of amazement.
"What's going on?" Sakura asked. She knew what the tenketsu were but was not putting together what everyone else was.
"Along the Keirakukei there are 361 chakra points no larger than the prick of a pin. These nodes are all called tenketsu and, in theory, if you can accurately hit them then you can halt the flow of chakra, or enhance it, controlling it in any way you wish. While on the topic these points are invisible to my Sharingan eye. But, regardless of the all seeing penetrating eyes of the Byakugan, to be able to, in the heat of battle perceive so accurately . . ."
Kakashi was cut off by the action on the arena floor. Neji threw Hinata back sending her crashing to the floor. He felt very superior right then. As if it was all over and he had just won.
"Lady Hinata," Neji began another one of his "famous" speeches. "This is the unalterable difference in strength. The distinction that separates the elites from the failures. This is the unchangeable reality. From the moment you said you wouldn't run, your defeat was inevitable. The only possible outcome was your present despair. . . Withdraw!"
"I," Hinata tried to answer and was also trying to catch her breath. She began to stand. "I . . . never . . . go back on my word. I will never run away again!"
Naruto watched with pride "Ata girl. You're finally starting to break free of the doubt that has chained you down."
"You were right about her Naruto," Sakura said to him. "She is so much stronger then she seems at first."
Looking back at Sakura. "I'm usually right about that sort of stuff. Just like I can see in you." He gave her a knowing smile.
"Neji's strikes on Hinata's tenketsu have completely arrested the flow of her chakra." Kakashi observed. "She can no longer perform the Juken attacks. This fight is as good as done."
Sakura looked on the floor at Hinata. She suddenly felt a sort of kinship with her that was not there before. It was because of Naruto. He has the same faith in Hinata that he placed into her. She knew watching Hinata taking such a beating like this was affecting him and she started to feel that same pain. "His level of strength, it's not a fair fight. He's just too strong!"
Naruto watched intently. Hinata was pouring all she had into this. Never had she fought so hard. But it was not enough. She was slowing down. She needed help and Naruto knew just what she needed. "You're doing great Hinata! You're simply amazing! All Neji's talk is just to hide his fear of you. Just hang in there!"
Hinata smiled. Her strength returned and her breathing was steady. She charged Neji with a new determination. Her moves were faster now, were more fierce. Her mind now focused on one thing.
"Naruto," she thought as she pressed her attacks. "I've been watching you for years. Why? Why am I drawn to you? I don't what it is, but when I watch you, I feel a newfound courage flooding me You has been beaten down so many time but still stands tall. I feel like if I just do my best then even I cam worth something." She takes a blow to the head but never lets up her assault. "I've been watching you for such a long time, but now at long last you are watching me!" She takes another blow to the chest and falls to the ground.
"Don't you know when to quit?" Neji says with a slight edge in his voice. This fight has gone on far longer then he would have liked. "From the start your attacks have been completely ineffective!" He lied.
"That was Neji's master stroke," Lee explained. "It targets the heart. Hinata will no longer be able to stand."
On the floor the proctor stepped in. "Seeing as the match cannot go on I . . ."
"DON"T YOU DARE STOP IT!" Naruto roared across the arena. All eyes were now on him once more.
"What are you talking about you idiot," Sakura yelled back, dumbfounded why he would want to see Hinata keep taking a beating. "She's got nothing left. She's already collapsed."
"No, this ends when she says it's over."
As if on cue Hinata stirs. Then she stands once more, albeit on shaky legs.
"Why are you getting up?" Neji asked with annoyance, both at her and at Naruto. "If you push it too far you really will die." Not that he cared.
Hinata answered. "It's because the person I have admired for so long is finally watching me . . . and in front of him I can't bear to look un-cool."
Naruto smiled with great pride. "That's my girl. No one will ever look down on you again. You have proven yourself to everyone."
Neji, irritated, began another long diatribe. "You're not fooling anyone. I can see with these eyes that it's taking all your strength just to stand. You were burdened from birth with the destiny of the Hyuga clan's main branch. You've hated and punished yourself for your own weakness and frailty. But you can't fight your nature or change your fate. But you need not suffer any more. Be at peace!"
"But you're wrong cousin," Hinata countered with her own speech. "I can see it now, that, even more then I, it is you who are torn and suffering. Caught between the destinies of the main branch and the cadet branch of our clan. I'm sorry for you."
She was sorry for him. The last thing Neji ever wanted to hear. Her of all people are sorry for him? That was more then he could take. This fight had been longer and more difficult then he had envisioned and now she was sorry for him. Something in Neji snapped and the anger that had been building over flowed. He charged her hands up ready to make a killing blow.
Naruto saw it. He had seen the killer look in his own eyes enough times to recognize it in others. Even before Neji knew he was going to kill her Naruto knew. The fight was over, but Hinata had made her point and she came out of this a winner. But Neji now took things to a whole other level. It was time for Naruto to step in.
In a flash Naruto was gone. One second he was standing next Sakura and the next he was simply gone. Only to instantly reappear on the arena floor flying through the air. His foot squarely impacting with the side of Neji's head. Neji was so focused on Hinata that he didn't bother to pay attention to movement all around him. Naruto's hit sent him flying across the area floor and slamming into the wall.
Naruto landed on the ground but suddenly fell to one knee. He threw an arm around his chest in a reflex to the pain. His body roared in agony from the sudden movement. Stars filled his vision as his body wanted to black out but he pushed through the pain and stood. His body was devastated from the past weeks events but he could not show any weakness now.
Neji was standing back up as well. Naruto cursed his weakness. He wanted to kill him but didn't even have the strength to knock him out. "If you ever lay a hand on her again I will carve out those precious eyes of yours and feed them to you, and that will just be for starters. By the time I done you will be begging me to kill you!" Naruto's rage flowed from him. Neji just stood staring at him coldly unsure what to do next.
Hinata suddenly started coughing and blood flowed from her nose and mouth. She starts to fall but in a flash Naruto is there to catch her. Her eyes look unfocused and distant. Her breathing is ragged. Fear begins to cloud his mind.
"Hinata! Hey are you ok? Come on, say something. Let me know you're ok."
"How was I?" was all she could manage.
"You were amazing out there. You are simply amazing."
"N . . . Naruto . . ." She coughed spitting up more blood, some hitting Naruto in the face, and blacked out.
Naruto didn't notice but the other Jonin were now around him including Hinata's sensei Kurenai. "Damn it, where are those medics? Hurry!"
The medics quickly arrive. "Sorry." They looked her over real quick. "At his rate she won't last 10 minutes. We've got to get her to the emergency room right now! Move it!"
Naruto watched in horror as the stretcher carrying Hinata away left the arena. All he could do was stand by helpless as the woman he loved lay dying. The thought that he could lose two people he cared for in less then a week was too much. First the Fox and now Hinata. Neji made a mistake just then.
"Hey you!" He started to say in a condescending voice. "Mr. Failure! A couple words of advice. A true shinobi warrior would have too much class to make a spectacle of himself by cheering during a serious match. And one more thing. You may as well accept who you are. Once a failure, always a failure."
Naruto let his anger get the better of him. He stupidly charged Neji. He did not have the strength to fight him. He did not have the strength to throw a punch. He barely had the strength to stand. In hind sight it was a blessing when Lee jumped in and cut off Naruto before he ever got close to Neji.
Stopping short of his target Naruto looked at Lee bewildered. "Why?"
"I understand fully well what you're feeling Naruto. But we have to limit our battles to the confines of the scheduled fights. Think of it. Having ones he has deemed to be failures be the ones to defeat a genius." Lee was no longer just speaking about Naruto. He was speaking of himself. Sharing his own pain and humiliation that he has suffered at the hands of Neji. "It really makes you look forward to the final round, does it not?"
Just then there was a hand placed on his shoulder. Suddenly Naruto was aware of who it was from he unmistakable smell of his sandy chakra.
"What he says is true," said the cool even voice of Gaara. "You are in no shape to face him this day." Naruto turned his head to stare Gaara in the eyes. Naruto saw no fear and to his own surprise Naruto showed no anger. "It makes me glad to see that there is something in this world that brings you joy and takes away the pain that has consumed you. Trust in me when I say your time of vengeance will be soon . . . my brother."
"Come on Naruto there is nothing you can do right now," Sakura said as she came up behind him. "We have to let the doctors do their jobs and we will go see her as soon as they say it's ok." She placed and arm around him. To everyone else watching it was nothing more then one teammate supporting another in a time of sadness. In reality Sakura knew the truth of Naruto's physical condition. She was not so much consoling Naruto as she was supporting him and keeping him form falling to the ground. She gave him the dignity he deserved by allowing him to walk out of the area on his own two feet.
"Thank you Sakura," he whispered to her. She simply smiled. He then turned to Gaara. There was a brief pause. He couldn't bring himself to say the words. The memories of that night on top of the mountain came back. All the feelings he had, all the things he said, everything. Gaara understood him better then anyone. Brother he had said. With all the turmoil going on in his head and heart all Naruto could manage was a nod. It's more then Gaara expected and he returned the nod.
With Sakura's surreptitious assistance the two of them made their way back up to the observation deck. The proctor was eager to clear the arena and get the next match under way. Once the commotion was over with and people had returned to their designated areas all eyes once more turned to the giant screen waiting to see what names would be called next. Only Lee did not care. He stood defiant stating that he had waited so long now that he wanted to go last.
The names appeared on the board. There was a cry of triumph from Lee as he saw his name had been posted. He began cheering about how he had tricked them. That how by saying how he wanted to go last that it would not happen and in fact he would be next. The logic made perfect sense to him and Guy. They began crying again and the magic sunset over the water once more appeared as they hugged. Trying to make sense of it made Naruto's head throb and watching them made his stomach turn.
Upon the decision the proctor called out the next combatants to come to the floor. "The next fight will be Rock Lee Vs Gaara. Both of you come to the floor at once."
Gaara vanished in a twister of sand and reappeared on the floor. His arms folded across his chest. Standing waiting with an expressionless look on his face. It was his game face. He was ready to fight. Lee too took up position opposite Gaara. He immediately took up his fighting stance with a big smile on his face.
Naruto cursed his luck. He just wanted to sit down and rest. No, what he really wanted was to be at Hinata's side at that very moment. But there was nothing he could do for at the moment. Instead all he could do was watch the coming fight with great interest. He didn't so much care to see what Lee was capable of, though he knew that would be interesting, but was more curious about seeing what Gaara could do. He and Gaara were two sides of the same coin. So what sort of fight was Gaara capable of coming from a charmed life instead of a broken one?