Today is Super Bowl Sunday! (The time of writing this anyways.) And I hate football! But I love ninjas and parodies! So in the spirit of the Gridiron talk box, we're going to have our very own pre-game commentary from our hosts in the booth! Take it away Gai, Kakashi!

"Thank you, Shinobi-san! YOSH! Can you feel it in the air my dear rival?! It's the spring time of youth and we have two fierce competitors about to go head to head!"

Kakashi looks up from his newest volume of Icha Icha Paradise. "Hm? I'm sorry did you say something?"

"AUGH! THAT'S MY RIVAL FOR YOU! COOL AS CAN BE! KAKASHI, TODAY IS THE DAY WE SETTLE THE SCORE!"

Uh. Okay so maybe I chose the wrong two for some pre-game commentary. Oh well, no one listens to those guys anyway so I think it's okay if we just pan away hm? Looks like things are about to get crazy down there, so don't blink or you might miss the action!

Also, don't forget to put on a bitchin' track and rock the hell out while the fight goes on! Your maestro of the pen and paper was personally listening to

Theme of Ryu : Street Fighter 4

Stains of Time: Metal Gear Revengance OST

All right, without further ado, Heaven or Hell, LET'S ROCK!

XXXX

"Byakugan!"

"Sharingan!"

It hadn't taken even a second for the fight to begin in earnest, both fighters ready to match dojutsu against dojutsu.

Sasuke, his rage still evident from the previous taunt of his opponent exploded forth leaving a cloud of dust in his wake, his fist cocked back.

Hinata made sure to keep her eyes down, but thanks to her byakugan's near unlimited field of vision, she had no problem keeping her view straight ahead.

Sasuke shot his fist out, aiming straight for his opponents face, only to be met with an effective parry from Hinata, who immediately countered with a quick strike.

Sasuke had lost the 'hypnotizing' effect of his dojutsu, but he was still able to read his opponent's moves, which gave him enough insight to lean back and backflip away from the Hyuuga heiress thus avoiding her attack.

Hinata, however, wasn't about to let up on her assault. She had to keep Sasuke in range while she had him there, she knew that if it came down to long range he had the upper hand due to his jutsu. While Hinata had begun learning various techniques, due to seeing the wisdom she saw from Naruto in trying to diversify one's method of attack, she wasn't one the same level as the Uchiha.

Sasuke landed his flip, but wasn't able to avoid the Jyuken strike to his shoulder, causing his right arm to feel numb. Sasuke cursed as he began to backpedal, barely avoiding and parrying Hinata's relentless assault.

XXXX

Up in the stands, Kurenai was on her feet yelling loudly to Hinata, cheering her on. She was overjoyed to see she had Sasuke on the defensive, proud of her student for her clever use of an insult to get her opponent enraged and move within her range.

She felt surprised as she heard a loud voice next to her, "Go Hinata-chan! Kick his ass!" she smiled seeing Asuma cheering alongside her.

"You know, brown nosing wont get you too far for a date." Kurenai teased with a smile.

Asuma smirked, looking over at her. "Hey, guys gotta try. Not to mention that I gotta root for someone since my lazy ass student decided to forfeit even after he had come this far. Rooting for the underdog is fun too, heh."

Kurenai nodded, not able to shake the warm feeling she got from seeing this side of Asuma. Before she had any time to think on it further another loud yell came from down below in the waiting room.

"C'mon Hinata! Kick that emo punks ass!" Naruto yelled, his voice just able to be heard over the crowd, watching his teammate unleash a flurry of attacks on Sasuke. "Dang it, I don't know if she can hear me over all these people." He grumbled to himself, as he could hear the Sasuke fangirls dwarfing his voice.

"Sasuke you're the coolest! Don't let her get you!" Ino yelled out, a large blush on her face as her imagination went wild, thinking of how her love would see her after the fight and tell her how it was all thanks to her cheering he was able to win.

"Don't listen to this pig Sasuke! I'm the only one you need cheering for you!" Sakura yelled louder than Ino as her imagination went wild, thinking of how her love would see her after the fight and tell her how it was all thanks to her cheering he was able to win.

"Dammit! Listen to those idiots up there! How the hell is she supposed to hear me over. . .kekeke." Naruto started to complain, before genius struck him with a grin and chuckle.

XXXX

Down back in the field, Sasuke was starting to sweat as no matter how fast he tried to get away Hinata was able to keep right on him, it was only due to his Sharingan that he had been able to avoid taking any damage up to this point, but continually avoiding her attacks was starting to take it's toll. Not to mention it took every movement just to avoid the deadly and rapid strikes. Deciding to chance it, Sasuke reached back into his pouch, and threw down a flash bomb closing his eyes, taking three strikes to his chest as a result.

Hinata didn't have time to react as the flash bomb exploded at her feet, temporarily blinding her. Before she had time to jump back, Sasuke had taken the advantage and landed a right straight, dead center of her face, sending her flying back with a yell. Hinata hit the ground hard, feeling her nose staring to bleed. She picked herself back up fast, wiping her nose and saw Sasuke roughly fifty feet away, giving himself a chance to breath.

As Hinata started considering what to do next, she heard an eruption of sound, far louder than the crowd coming from behind her.

Keeping with a rhythm of two claps and three stomps, she heard "Let's go Hinata!" followed by two claps and three stomps, "kick his ass!" then a repeat of claps and stomps.

Looking behind her, she saw at least thirty Naruto's, many of them having lined up on the very edge of the stadium spectator area, in front of the seats. They all cheered out in unison completely dwarfing the rest of the stadium cheering for their favorite.

"Sasuke sucks ass!" Clap, clap, stomp, stomp, stomp, "He likes dudes!" Clap, clap, stomp, stomp, stomp.

"Naruto-kun. . ." Hinata trailed off with a smile, before turning back to look at the Uchiha who was looking annoyed. Clenching her fists, feeling a wave of euphoric valor filling her from the support of the one she loved, she charged forward at full speed with a battle cry, opening up with a barrage of kunai aimed straight for Sasuke.

Sasuke began forming hand seals, jumping away from the kunai. He couldn't let his opponent get within range of him again. "Katon: Phoenix Sage Fire Jutsu!" Five small fire orbs shot erupted from Sasuke's open mouth, all of them heading straight for Hinata.

Hinata had been prepared though, starting one of her own jutsu she had taken the time to learn herself. One she had learned from Naruto, "Doton: Small Earth Wall Jutsu!" she yelled out, just as the fireballs were drawing near. The one thing different about her technique in comparison to how Naruto used it, was the execution.

Slamming her palm directly below her, the earth wall exploded underneath her feet, causing her to skyrocket into the air.

Sasuke had expected the jutsu she was about to unleash, having already copied it from Naruto, he couldn't of predicted how she unleashed it and had to cancel out his control of the jutsu as he turned and ran.

Hinata slammed into the ground where he had been not two seconds previously, hitting the ground running after her opponent. She was almost on him, when he turned around, raising his fingers to his lips.

Sasuke couldn't keep the smirk off his face, he had preformed the seals while his back had been turned from his opponent. "Katon: Great Fireball jutsu!"

Hinata was too close to the Uchiha, there was no way she could avoid the attack.

Fire erupted from the Uchiha's lips and the Hyuuga Princess was engulfed in the hellish inferno.

XXXX

Naruto's cheers had been short lived, as his clones came under attack by a rabid army of fangirls, and though they fought bravely they had been outnumbered and died with honor.

Naruto wasn't deterred however and kept cheering as loud as he could, with Lee and Shino joining in, not being able to contain themselves after seeing Naruto's enthusiasm.

As Hinata used the earth wall to avoid the fire technique, Naruto was got even louder, grabbing Shino and shaking him, telling him how awesome Hinata was, much to other boys displeasure.

Then, he caught the Uchiha's smirk and the familiar hand movement. Feeling his stomach drop, Naruto slammed against the railing, feeling dread in his chest as he yelled out as hard as he could, "Hinata-chan! RUN!"

Naruto fell to his knees, as he watched the fire overtake Hinata, and his world felt as though it had been destroyed and his heart destroyed. Just as shock took hold of his mind, a bright blue sphere could be seen within the fire.

XXXX

Sasuke held the fire for six seconds. Plenty of time to roast the bitch that dared to insult him and his clan. Releasing the jutsu, he relaxed, expecting to see the charred remains of the Hyuuga princess caked to the ground.

Instead, he was shocked to see a whirling blue sphere of chakra. His jaw dropped as it disspaited, showing Hinata coming out of a rapid spin, a large crater left in the wake of her technique.

"Eight Trigrams: Kaiten." Hinata spoke, feeling pleased seeing the shock written plain on Sasuke's face.

Sasuke clenched his teeth and felt his anger start to boil as his curse mark started to glow and expand across his neck and shoulder. Charging forward in a burst of speed unavailable to him before, he pulled out a kunai and flew straight at Hinata.

XXXX

Naruto let his head slump against the steel bars of the railing, as he breathed a deep sigh of relief. He gave himself a moment before he stood back up, hand to his chest making sure it was still beating. He didn't know what she did to avoid the attack, nor did he care at the moment. She was alive and that was all that mattered.

Neji too, let out a breath he'd been holding, knowing that Hinata had mastered the Kaiten. He trained her in how to use it, finding her a quick student, mastering it within the month's constraint. He hadn't been sure if she would be able to use it such a short time frame.

Glancing over at Naruto, Neji saw his entire being was devoted to watching every movement of the fight, not blinking and barely breathing. Neji couldn't help but see a resemblance in how Hinata watched Naruto. And the idiot probably doesn't even know it.

XXXX

Hinata started to sweat, having to focus even harder than she had before on fighting Sasuke. She was no longer able to keep him on the defensive, he somehow doubled his speed and strength and was now taking more hits than she was parrying.

Just as she was about to try a hard thrust into his abdomen, a spot she had hit a few seconds ago, Sasuke moved too fast and spun around her, slashing at her side and slicing open her flesh and inch below her breast. Blood exploded from the wound, coating her white vest red, causing her to scream out in pain.

Sasuke didn't stop, as he completed his spin with a hard backhand strike on her face, causing her to stumble. Seeing his victory at hand, Sasuke jumped forward and aimed to bring his kunai down on her collarbone.

Hinata's head was swimming in an explosion of pain, but she had received far worse than this in the Chunin preliminaries and was able to shake off the stunning sensation of receiving a grievous wound.

As Sasuke was about to plunge his kunai into her shoulder, Hinata reached out and grabbed his wrist able to redirect his attack. But before she let go, she pulled him forward with a hard yank on his arm and with a yell met his forced momentum with a vicious headbutt straight to his face, breaking his nose and spraying blood onto her face.

"Augh!" Sasuke cried out as he stumbled back, having his assured victory ripped away from him.

Hinata didn't let up though, as she let the pain from her wound direct her and grabbed a fist full of Sasuke's hair and began rapidly striking at his tenkentsu point in his face, completely disabling his Sharingan. She finished it off with a hard Jyuken strike to his solar plexus, delivering it with her fist and making sure to shove it in as hard as she could.

Sasuke was dumbfounded taking the unexpected move from the girl, not expecting her to use something else than the gentle fist to attack. With a loud cry he pulled out a kunai and being as close as he was, punched Hinata in her throat, causing her to let go of him and while she was stunned from almost having her larynx almost caved in, stabbed her in the side of her left knee, pushing it in to the hilt, and following up with a straight roundhouse kick to her midsection to knock her away from him.

Hinata couldn't hold back her agonizing scream from having a sharp metal object forcibly injected into her knee, and was effectively immobilized. She grabbed onto the kunai and she bit on her lip, puncturing it with her teeth, to keep her from screaming as she strained to rip out the kunai embedding into her leg.

"Enough is enough! Time to die!" Sasuke screamed, his curse mark now running out of control as it completely engulfed his face and body and rational thought left him as the mark intensified his rage. Jumping back, Sasuke landed and using a complicated set of seals, ended it with grasping his wrist and began to concentrate.

XXXX

Up in the stands, both Hokages were on the edge of their seats watching the heated exchange below. The Kazekage especially seemed to have his entire focus on Sasuke, unblinking and unmoving.

Sarutobi had been keeping his eye on the other Hokage, feeling as though something was off. First no concern over his child's death, and now his keen interest in Sasuke. Without letting the Kazekage see, Sarutobi made a subtle hand movement.

XXXX

Naruto was beyond consoling as everyone backed away from him. His skin almost seemed to be smoking from how heated his anger was as the steel bar he held onto wasn't enough for him to contain his anger. There was almost a noticeable red glow emanating from under his eyepatch.

He already disliked the Uchiha heir, but seeing what he did to Hinata was too much. The only thing he took comfort from was the brutal headbutt he saw Hinata dish out to fuck up his pretty boy face.

Yelling out with every last ounce of passion he could, he roared "KICK HIS ASS!"

XXXX

The sound of a thousand birds began to fill the arena, as sparks of electricity began appearing and arching into the Uchiha's open palm. His tenkentsu around his eyes were still shut down, but he grinned maliciously as he knew his opponent was weak and immobilized, watching her still struggling to remove the kunai. Setting his sights on her pretty face that he was going to plunge his hand through, the final burst of chakra came with a loud clap and lightning exploded from his hand and he wasted no time dragging it back along to his side leaving a trail in the ground from the amount of force the attack produced.

With sadistic glee, Sasuke charged forward screaming "Chidori!"

The stadium came to stand still as the powerful technique came alive, with everyone watching with horrible anticipation of what would happen next.

Sasuke was no more than five feet from his target, and seeing his prey having finally removed the kunai, he knew she wouldn't be able to avoid it, she was on the ground, kneeling. "Die!"

He thrust his hand out and connected with her head.

The entire stadium fell silent.

Sasuke's fist connected with Hinata's head, but he was stunned seeing it firmly planted against her skull, but nothing had happened and his Chidori was gone. Looking down, he realized with horror his opponent had indeed been immobilized, but she stayed still on purpose.

Hinata had struck first.

She had waited, knowing she couldn't move in time and instead threw it all onto one gambit. As soon as he was in range she thrust out and hit the major tenkentsu in his arm with as much chakra as she could, completely shutting off his chakra pathway and disabling the Chidori.

Looking up at her opponent, dead in the eyes she spoke. "You're within range of my divination."

Before Sasuke could even fully register what was about to happen, Hinata sprang up and begun striking him, Pushing him back with the force of her blows.

Two consecutive strikes to his upper chest and neck.

Two more to his arms.

Four strikes to his abdomen.

No way. . .I can't-! Sasuke tried to think as he was hit with lightning speed and felt his body forcibly shut down.

Then with a final yell, Hinata roared "Eight Trigrams: Sixteen Palms!" and hit eight more times across his body.

Sasuke couldn't even yell out, his whole body numb and unresponsive as he stumbled back unable to keep his balance.

"Hinata Style: Secret Technique," Hinata yelled out, cocking her arm back, "K.O. Punch!" And slammed her fist straight into the Uchiha's face finishing him off.

As Sasuke fell back, the powerful punch sending him towards a dirt bed he kept repeating in his head until he blacked out No way.

Sasuke hit the ground and the stadium shook with force from the cheering of the spectators. Hayate ran forward and checked Sasuke. After a second, he stood back up and raised up his hand.

"Winner: Hinata Hyuuga!"

"Hinata-chan!"

Hinata turned, wincing as she did from her wound complaining about the move, and saw Naruto leap from the waiting room and charge straight towards her. She gave him a warm smile, and then looked surprised as he didn't stop and almost slammed into her. He grabbed her and wrapped her in his arms with a large hug, making sure to avoid her wound.

"E-Eh?! N-N-N-Naruto-kun?! Wha-wa-wa-!?" Hinata stuttered out not knowing what to say.

"You're so freaking awesome Hina-chan! I was so worried! When I saw that punk almost hit you with that technique I was about to explode and kill him but then you stopped him, which was so super-cool and then absolutely destroyed him! You're amazing!" Naruto yelled out all in one breath, obviously unable to form a coherent sentence.

Hinata still couldn't register the fact that her Naruto-kun was hugging her or that he was showing such concern over her well-being, but found the nerve to return the hug, even though her face was cherry red. "T-T-Thank you N-Naruto-kun." She couldn't help herself as she started to breathe in his scent, she started feeling funny as she could feel his skin her arms.

Whistles and cat calls started coming out of the stands and Naruto turned his own shade of pink after realizing what exactly he just did. Then, with a yell he picked up Hinata bridal style, "We gotta get you to a medic this is no time to be celebrating!" He said, both as an excuse to get away from the embarrassing peanut gallery but also because she did in fact need medical attention.

Hinata couldn't hold it in anymore and buried her face behind her hands, not being able to handle the amazing feeling of being carried by the boy she loved.

The medics ran out just past Naruto who blew past them insisting on taking her to the medic station herself, and instead ran out with a stretcher to pick up Sasuke.

XXXX

Hiashi was beyond stunned at the display his daughter showed and lost his mask of refined nobility when he saw the Kaiten. He thought that only Neji had been able to master it, why had Hinata never shown him?

Beyond even that, she had already begun learning the most powerful Hyuuga Technique, the Eight Trigrams Sixty Four Palms.

"Onee-sama was amazing, wasn't she father!?" Hanabi asked, unable to contain her dignified manner.

Hiashi looked over towards her, "She has shown much improvement, yes. . ." He spoke, unable to find the correct words to say. He had no idea what to think of her anymore. What was the source of her exponential growth? In truth, she had the battle prowess that a father could be beyond proud of, yet her mannerisms and behavior was unfitting of the Hyuuga.

Standing up, causing the rest of the Main House to do so as well, Hiashi spoke, "Remain here. I am going to check on my daughter." He spoke, keeping his face turned away.

The Main House responded with normal courtesy and bowed as Hiashi began to make his way towards the Medic station.

"May I join you father? I wish to see how -" Hanabi started.

"No. I must go alone. You can see her after I've spoken with her." Hiashi spoke, walking away.

Hanabi frowned, sitting back in her seat.

XXXX

The Kazekage slumped back into his seat, his eyes closed. Even though only the eyes were visible, his displeasure at seeing Sasuke lose was evident.

"Something the matter, Kazekage-sama?" Sarutobi asked, his smile evident. He was proud of both fighters, but especially of the young Hinata whom he remembered being such a shy and quiet girl. She had certainly bloomed as of late however. He wondered how much of it was due to a certain blond shinobi.

"No. Nothing at all Hokage-sama. I was simply expecting the Uchiha to win." The Kazekage replied

"And why would that be?" Sarutobi asked, leveling a calculating look towards the Kazekage.

If the Kazekage knew that the Hokage was testing him, he didn't let on. "I had simply heard how powerful the Uchiha were. I suppose the Hyuuga are just as strong."

"That they are, and young Hinata will be one to watch out for indeed." Sarutobi added, a pleasant smile on his face. As soon as he turned back towards the arena however, he looked down towards an ANBU he knew would be over looking the stadium and gave the most subtle of nods.

XXXX

Kurenai fell back into her seat, relief coursing through her. The whole fight she had been on edge, watching the girl she felt a motherly connection to come so close to death multiple times.

She also made note to speak to Naruto, she probably needed to tell him what kind of effect he had on the poor Hyuuga Princess. Especially when hugging her, shirtless as he was.

"Holy crap, that was some fight." Asuma remarked with a whistle. "Didn't know the little girl had it in her! She's a firecracker though eh? Seeing the look on the Uchiha's face when she decked him was priceless!" Asuma laughed.

"This is why I didn't fight. That's such a drag to do all that. Screw that."

Asuma and Kurenai looked over to see Shikamaru, who had joined them at some point during the match, neither noticing from being too entranced by the fight.

Asuma looked at the boy like he had seen the stupidest thing in existence. "You little-!" Asuma yelled out, grabbing Shikamaru by the neck and putting him in a chokehold. "You little bastard! I told you not to forfeit dammit! How the hell are you ever going to advance if you just decide everything is such a drag." Asuma yelled, using a mocking voice at the end.

Shikamaru squirmed, trying to get out of the headlock, but to no avail. "Who the heck wants to advance?! All that added responsibility and work? No way. Now let me go!"

"Not a chance in hell you little punk!" Asuma retorted, using his left hand to deliver an atomic noogie.

"Ow ow ow ow!"

The sensei and student fight was drawing quite the crowd and Kurenai couldn't hold in her laughter from the display.

Then, a large rumbling was heard, and Kurenai looked over at the walkway below only to see a large herd of girls all rushing downstairs towards the medic station, a bright pink and blonde swath of hair clearly seen in the forefront, all yelling "Sasuke-kun!"

I'm just going to pretend I didn't see that. . . Kurenai thought, shaking her head. The antics displayed by Asuma and Shikamaru were cut short however as the field clean up was finished.

"The next match has been decided!" Hayate yelled out, catching everyone's attention.

"Aburame Shino versus Dosu of the Sound!"

XXXX

Within the waiting room, Shino looked over at Dosu who was already up towards the ledge. "It seems we're next."

Shino nodded, "Best of luck to you."

Dosu scoffed, leaping out to the ground below.

"YAHOO!" Lee yelled out, jumping into the air, startling Shino and Neji. "Neji-san! We will be fighting against one another! This is truly destiny my rival!"

"You've forgotten about the Suna girl. If she ever decides to return." Neji spoke, having starting to find Lee more bearable.

Lee stopped and looked him dead in the eye. "Well then let us hope she does not return!"

Neji laughed before motining to Shino who was about to leap into the arena."Make sure you win. It'd be rather nice to have all Konoha ninja advancing to the semi finals.

Shino nodded, "Don't worry. This is going to be easy."

Neji nodded, and then looked back towards Lee, but saw the boy had gone right back to his 'warming up'. Neji decided he better do the same.

XXXX

AND THERE WE HAVE IT LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! The lovely Hinata Hyuuga has claimed victory!

Rest assured the next chapter is being worked on as we speak. Time to place your bets ladies and gentlemen, who's gonna win the next round?!

And I don't about you but I think old man Sarutobi IS SMELLING A RAT. Can't try to flim flam the top dog in Konoha you goddamn snake.

See you all soon!

Shinobi no Ryu