"Blah": Talking

'Blah': Demon speaking/Inner Sakura

'Blah': Naruto's thoughts/other people's thoughts

'Blah': Harry talking to Naruto

And I'm back! Sooner than any of you probably anticipated! And just in time for the holidays too! In this new chapter we're going to see the remastered version of the battle between Hinata and Neji. Back in the original version I wrote the most damage Hinata inflicted onto her cousin was cause a small amount of blood that leaked out of the corner of Neji's mouth and that was pretty unsatisfying. But this time around (as you'll soon find out) I decided to take a greater liberty with the match and hope all of you enjoy!

Azeroth44: What about the rest? What else did you change?

Kvsyaoran: And he's back! Welcome back, Azeroth44! Oh, how we missed you!

Azeroth44: Whatever, dude. And why are you talking like Doctor Who?

Kvsyaoran: What are you talking about?

Azeroth44: You're waving your arms while you're talking and wearing a bow tie.

Kvsyaoran: Whatever. Bowties are cool.

Naruto: That they are! Why haven't I started wearing these sooner!

Azeroth44: Oh, not you too, Naruto!

Naruto: Sorry, I'm a Whovian now! Toss me the fez! These guys sure know how to party!

Azeroth44: That we do!

Naruto: Always bring a banana to party...

All of us at the same time: BANANAS ARE GOOD!

Azeroth44: Hahahaha! Shouldn't we start the fic now?

Right! Give me back the fez, Naruto! Anyway, no more spoilers here. I hope you guys enjoy this latest chapter and wish you all a happy holiday this year in case I don't update before December 25th! Please, don't let me keep you! Have fun and be sure to leave me behind a review! Thanks and happy holidays!

Naruto: GIMME BACK THE FEZ! (tackles me to the ground)

Reviews are welcome and wanted!

Disclaimer: Naruto is the property of Masashi Kishimoto

Harry Potter is property of JK Rowling

Chapter 11: Bitter Rivalries Part 3

Naruto settled in well with his team while he rubbed the ointment he received from Hinata on the wounds of his arms, hands, torso, and his midsection, in the areas between his torn clothes. The ointment burned his sliced flesh but he braved it and stared in amazement as he watched his wounds heal within moments. The ointment worked like a charm and created a small amount of steam as his wounds were sealed. Naruto winced, but smiled, as he felt better than he did when he entered the victorious match.

"Wow! This is fantastic… I didn't know medical ointment was so useful… I should have had some of this while we were in the Land of Waves…" he said in celebration.

The blonde-haired shinobi offered some of Hinata's ointment to Sakura but she answered with a confused look on her face. She stood and stared, as her teammate's wounds healed within moments after he used the medicine. Kakashi, on the other hand, looked at Naruto's use of the ointment with a more serious look, for he knew the reason Naruto was able to recover so fast.

'No one else's wounds can heal like that, Naruto… It's all thanks to the fox demon sealed within…' he thought as he watched his student's wounds heal, still convinced that his demon seal had been fixed.

Naruto smiled, 'This ointment sure does the trick, but it doesn't hurt that I have magic that does most of the work for us, eh, Nii-san?'

'Yeah, but it's still a little tough without the demon here to do this work with me. Ever since Orochimaru cut us off from the beast, I had to double the amount of magic that flows through our veins. That ointment acts more like a bonus for me when it comes to basic wounds and injuries; it seals the wounds in addition to the magic and what little chakra is able to help. But that Jiraiya better be here soon before any other serious side effects come to light… But aside from all that techno-babble, it must have felt fantastic to beat Kiba back after all this time. Not bad for someone with a handicap, Naruto…'

Naruto finished with his wounds and looked at the scoreboard as two more names were run and chosen at random. When the scoreboard chose two new names, Naruto could have mistaken one of the names for the other.

HINATA HYUGA VS NEJI HYUGA

He looked down the terrace towards the kind-hearted kunoichi he received the ointment from, but he noticed she had no other look on her face other than dread and horror. He noticed her shiver and started to reach her hand over her mouth. The shinobi she was chosen to battle, based on the name alone showed that the two of them were indeed related. As if the name didn't make it obvious, their likeness was remarkably similar, almost like the two of them were twins. The somewhat older rookie, Neji Hyuga, shared the same lavender eyes as Hinata, and like his relative, his pupils were so miniscule that it made him look blind, but also handsome and distinct. The blonde-haired shinobi watched as Hinata and Neji marched downstairs and faced each other at the center of the arena. Neji stared down at the somewhat shorter and timid kunoichi. He looked fierce and dead serious, while Hinata looked more nervous and too scared to even look at him. Hiruzen Sarutobi stared at the two rookies and seemed a little disturbed but also fascinated. Kurenai watched her kunoichi student and seemed worried, while her associate Gai seemed serious for once as he observed his rather stoic student.

The rookie named Neji raised his voice and said, "I never believed that I would be chosen to fight each other, Hinata-sama."

Hinata nodded and then she started with, "Neji-nii…"

Naruto and Sakura looked down at them both, and then looked at each other with identical looks of bewilderment.

The blonde-haired shinobi asked out loud, "How are those two related?! Are the two of them brother and sister?"

But Naruto's answers would have to wait when Hayate raised his arm, threw it down as he announced, "Let's start the match!"

Neji and Hinata remained still and neither one of them shifted or flinched. Hinata did not run after Neji and the older rookie did not attack either. Instead Hinata still looked nervous and reluctant while Neji looked more like he wanted to talk business. The onlookers on the terraces were lost, unsure if the two rookies even knew their match had started. But it seemed that the two of them were aware but a more sinister form of battle was about to start first.

The older of the two rookies addressed Hinata in a cold, calculated voice, "Before we start, Hinata-sama, I think it best that I address a serious matter between us... Surrender the match and leave."

Hinata flinched and she stared at her relative.

"You are not cut out to be a kunoichi," he insisted with a dark tone, Hinata looked intimidated far more than she should have been while he continued, "You're too kind and soft to ever make it in this line of work. You seek peace and to avoid violence… You always go along with someone else's ideas and follow without a word… You never make a decision alone and never have before… You have no self-confidence at all…"

With each word he uttered, Hinata felt more and more hurt inside.

"You feel so humble and so small, that it's ridiculous. You thought it would be fine to be at a rookie level. But those that want to become chunin must enter this exam in a team of three members. You're teammates pressured you without effort and you didn't want to let them down. You never wanted to even think about taking this exam."

But Hinata shook her head and insisted, "T-That's not true! I-I wanted… All I wanted was to be better… I wanted to be different… So I chose to be here… I-I w-wanted to-"

"Don't insult me," stated the older rookie, "You're nothing but a sheltered little spoiled child from the main house of our clan."

Hinata stammered, "What?"

"Your kind can never change, and never will," he said answered and caused Hinata to flinch, "A failure will forever be a failure."

Naruto frowned at the older of the two and then he started to clench the rail of the terrace, as he watched Neji belittle the nicest kunoichi he had ever known. All the while, Neji continued to attack with more cruel statements and harmful words that were like swords to her innocent heart.

"Ever wondered why there is even a difference between the elite and a failure? Who cares about who you are on the inside? We are all judged based on our looks, intelligence, talent, and our character. We all judge others based on those same methods and it's inflexible. Just like how I can never be a member of the main house of our clan and will forever remain a member of the branch house."

With each new malicious word Neji threw at his cousin with his cold but calm and charismatic voice, Hinata felt and looked more and more insecure as she crumbled in front of all the other rookies. But Naruto felt ever more furious and wrathful as he was forced to listen and watched as Hinata retreated and shriveled with hurt.

Neji stared down at his cousin and observed all of her actions, but obvious and subtle, "I have seen many things with my Byakugan. That's how I know that you are pretending to be tough. All you really want to do is run away from this place as far away as possible and never look back, like a coward."

"N-No!" she shouted and shook her head with insistence, "That's not what I want to do at all!"

Back on the terrace, Sakura turned around to look at Kakashi and asked him, "Sensei? What's the Byakugan?"

"The Byakugan is one of the kekkei genkai inherited in the Hyuga clan," he said but he refused to look from the match, as he started to feel the heat, "It's another doujutsu that is somewhat similar to the Sharingan. But unlike the Sharingan, the Byakugan surpasses its abilities. It allows the wielder to have vision of almost three hundred and sixty degrees. It also allows the wielder to be able to see through solid masses and to zoom in on details the normal human vision is not able to see. Someone that wields that vision would be unhindered from total darkness and the user is able to see the smallest details around them, even details as small as the bits of dust in the air around us."

Hinata looked even more terrified and started to shiver as she stared at her cousin. He had activated his Byakugan and looked like he was about to attack her. In comparison to the Sharingan, the Byakugan looked much more fearsome and intense. Neji's once invisible pupils were much more distinct, and around his eyes the veins that surrounded them inflated as he fueled them with chakra. Neji looked like his head was about to burst in a hideous mess of blood and brains as he stared at Hinata with untold amounts of hatred. Hinata couldn't move as her cousin glared at her. She felt whatever little confidence she had start to fade as her heart ached to be saved. Hinata couldn't even look at her cousin as she tried to cover her face with her hands, or at least hide her face behind the sleeves of her coat. Neji had observed all of these details mentioned, and used the information he obtained to rub salt into the wound.

"You can't fool me. You avert your gaze away from me once I readied myself to attack. You're probably thinking back to a past experience and tried to convince yourself that you've been through worse. Probably thinking back to when your mother died or something horrible like that."

Hinata twitched as she reminisced his own experiences and her most horrible memories when Neji forced them to resurface. Neji could have smirked as he moved in and continued to torment his little cousin.

"You're probably thinking back to your past experiences in fighting and tried to imagine the outcome of this match… In other words, you have predicted your own defeat at my hand. Even now, you are bringing your arms up towards your face, almost as if you're defending yourself. Brought on by a desire for a wall to be set in between us and attain a safe distance. All of these actions of yours are proof that my prediction was correct."

Naruto felt all the more furious at Neji, more so than he did with Kiba. His older brother forced him to remain on the terrace as he felt Naruto's desire to sock the older rookie in the face. The blonde-haired shinobi couldn't take it as Neji continued to belittle and humiliated Hinata. The timid kunoichi looked like she was about to break down into tears as her faced reddened in humiliation and the reminder of her mother's death overwhelmed her with sorrow.

"I can see as you are touching your lip as an action to show that your mind has now been disturbed. It's a defensive instinct that tries to help you feel less nervous and relaxed but it will never work."

Hinata almost couldn't breath but tried to calm down and hold back those tears about to run down her cheeks. She felt as if the walls had started to close in on her and her whole world was about to crumble and end. She wanted to scream, but the will to do so much as raise her voice had been taken from the moment Neji forced her into submission.

The older rookie continued to stare down his cousin and stated, "In other words, you already know that you can never change what you are. Never-"

"YOU'RE WRONG!"

Neji canceled his Byakugan and turned around to look at the blonde-haired rookie. Hinata looked at Naruto as well and felt as if the walls that were about to close in had crumbled and felt free once more, at least for one moment. Both of the rookies noticed Naruto looked more feral and fierce. With the subtle whiskers on his cheeks and the intense look he showed them, he started to resemble a ferocious lion.

Naruto aimed his frustration at the older of the two rookies and roared, "HOW DARE YOU SAY THAT HINATA CAN NEVER BETTER HERSELF! WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE TO SAY SOMETHING LIKE THAT TO ANYONE ELSE?! YOU CAN'T LOOK AT SOMEONE AND JUST DECIDE THAT THEY'RE A FAILURE BASED ON SOME PRETENSIOUS KNOW-IT-ALL RUBBISH!" he then turned to look at Hinata and sounded kinder but still intense as he shouted, "YOU'RE NOT A COWARD! Go show him, Hinata! SHOW HIM THAT'S HE'S WRONG AND SHOW HIM WHAT YOU'RE MADE OF!"

Naruto did not know Hinata all that well, but after he witnessed her take all that trash-talk from Neji, he rose to the occasion as if he were her best friend. All the other rookies that were left in the room stared at him with interest or confusion while Naruto remained oblivious to their stares and offered Hinata one more word of kindness.

He said in a calmer voice but still shouted, "You're the one who has to battle him! You can do this, Hinata!"

The timid kunoichi stared at Naruto as the tears that were about to fall down her face froze above her cheeks and then vanished.

She lowered her head to shadow her face and thought, 'Naruto-kun…'

Hinata cracked the smallest of smiles but then she frowned as she raised her chin and stared at her cousin with fire. Neji dismissed Naruto's loud statements and criticism and looked back at his timid little cousin. But then he flinched as he watched her turn the tables and stare him down without the slightest trace of fear visible on her face.

'All I needed was someone to believe in me…' she thought as focused her chakra and felt a fire burn inside her chest, 'Naruto-kun… Your words mean all the world to me… Domo arigato…'

Hinata flashed back to warmer memories as she remembered Naruto's declaration in front of Ibiki Morino when he stated his nindo. The once timid kunoichi focused more chakra and felt that fire in her chest evolve into a storm of heat and flames. Within no time after that, Hinata activated her Byakugan moved into an offensive stance. Hinata held her hands out and focused an enormous amount of chakra into them.

She was intent to show her cousin that she was not a coward and stated, "I won't run away from this… never again!"

Neji looked discontented that her cousin refused to surrender as he ordered her to. He frowned at Hinata and formed the same stance as he steadied his breath and seemed intent to attack his cousin.

"You've been warned, Hinata-sama," he activated his Byakugan once more and said, "Don't tell Hiashi on me later once our match is done."

"I never intended to, Neji," she threw back as she refused her cousin his honorific and then she said, "Let's do this…"

Back on the terrace, Lee was bemused and said out loud, "That stance!"

Naruto and Sakura turned to look at him for a moment and listened to what he had to comment when he referred to the taijutsu Hinata and Neji were about to demonstrate.

"Those two have mastered the same taijutsu from their illustrious clan. Their stances are almost identical… the most excellent school of taijutsu in Konoha!" the older rookie said as he clenched his fists and his sensei looked more hardened and serious, "Back when I said that the strongest rookie was in this exam, I referred to him… Neji Hyuga…"

Naruto turned his attention back to the match and watched as Hinata and Neji stormed after each other. Hinata struck the first blow, Neji blocked with his forearm. But then Neji struck back and Hinata blocked in the same manner he did. The two of them continued to attack and strike one another with the other able to block and hold back the attack of the other. But each blow that was thrown and blocked let out a distinctive sound followed with a series of miniature sonic booms that echoed about the arena. Naruto could feel the chakra the two of them released with each attack and strike. It was like a blast of hot and cold air was released as the sonic sound waves of their attacks vibrated inside their chests. The arena was soon filled with little bursts of wind that caused the somewhat intimidated audience to shiver.

Hinata tried her best to move around her cousin's defenses and land at least one strike to his shoulder or chest. But soon, to her incredible luck, she was able to strike Neji's left shoulder and forced him back. Once she could see his chest, she moved in and struck him as hard as she could.

Naruto, Sakura, and Lee held their breath, as did most of the other rookies and teachers.

"Did she hit him?!" wondered Sakura.

Naruto shook his head and said, "No. It looked like more like a scratch…"

"Sometimes, a scratch is all that it takes for them and that kind of taijutsu," said Lee, "That's reason the Hyuga clan is often considered to be Konoha's most illustrious clan…"

Sakura asked him, "What does that mean?"

Gai decided to take over for answers and allow Lee to write down some notes on the match; "In the Hyuga clan, there is an advanced form of martial arts that's handed down to each new line! Unlike the taijutsu that Lee and I specialize in, which is all about breaking the enemies bones and create a lot of outside damage. Our favored form of martial arts is mastered with months and months of hard work; it is called the Ferocious Fist. However, the Hyuga clan's taijutsu uses focused chakra to cause damage to the chakra circulatory system. This method is also used to burst the internal organs and muscles. Their method of taijutsu takes the opponent down inside as well as on the outside… This form of taijutsu is called Gentle Fist, or Juuken. And no one outside the Hyuga clan knows how to utilize it…"

Kakashi decided to take over after his rival and said with a more dramatic effect, "You see, it's not possible to strengthen the internal organs. Whenever someone is struck from a blow like that is dead. It would take one hand on the face and chest the turn the human brain into a scrambled mess and for the heart to burst like a water balloon."

Hinata and Neji took a break from their constant strikes and blocks and started to encircle one another and raise their defenses, like two cats about to claw at each other. Hinata had never looked so fierce and determined as she moved in a smooth motion with her feet. Neji did the same movements, but did not look as fluent as his cousin. He was amused that she hadn't failed to block his attacks, but for him, it wouldn't take much time for him to unfold what he had in store for her. Hinata continued to stare down her cousin but was soon forced to block and attack. She blocked a series of three individual strikes aimed at her shoulders and face. Hinata then waited for her chance to move in and attack; all the while she defended and blocked.

'Yes! I can!' she thought after she struck her cousin's shoulder a second time, 'Even I can be different!'

Kurenai could have cried as she watched her most ambivalent student start to shine after she had landed two blows.

Naruto saw the attack and he cheered, "YES! Get him, Hinata!"

Irritated at the sound of Naruto's voice, Neji dismissed the blonde-haired rookie and focused more on his cousin. He wanted to mock her a little bit and force her to make a mistake. But the end result turned out to do more harm to him than to Hinata.

He shouted as he blocked and attacked his cousin, "Admit it, Hinata-sama! You were never cut out for this life!"

But from the moment Neji shouted at his cousin he almost didn't notice when she withdrew a shuriken from the sleeve of her coat. Hinata threw the shuriken at her cousin's face, and forced him to duck and slide backwards. With her cousin distracted from the shuriken, Hinata reached out and clutched Neji's left arm. She turned around into him in a fast but fluent movement, she curled his arm with her, and then she struck her cousin hard in the chest. The older of the two relatives was thrown backwards and slid across the concrete floor at his feet.

"AHHH!" he shouted as he reached for his chest.

Hinata retreated from her cousin but maintained a defensive stance. She held her arms and hands out and watched him as he held his chest. Neji coughed and let out a small stream of blood ran from his mouth and down his shirt. Neji almost couldn't breathe after the blow he received. He tried to remain calm and focus on Hinata; his blood boiled at the sight of her and he willed out the pain in his chest to help him focus and recover from the blow he had received. He cleaned the blood that drooled from his mouth and looked even more furious and determined to defeat his cousin. Naruto smiled and cheered for Hinata, but the kunoichi didn't have time to be distracted with her crush now. She frowned at her relative, as she was sure that last strike to his chest should have knocked him out cold. But it turned out that Hinata didn't have the time she needed to focus enough chakra to inflict the damage she had intended.

'I missed…' the kunoichi frowned and thought, 'But at least I was able to slow him down a bit…'

Back on the terrace, Sakura seemed to be alarmed at what a force her former classmate had hidden from the other kunoichi, "What kind of shinobi are able to attack the chakra system, as well as the chakra points?"

"I really don't know all that much about the chakra circulatory system," admitted Sakura's blonde-haired teammate, "Remind me, what are the chakra points again?"

Sakura looked at her teammate, insulted at his lack of information, "You don't remember?!"

Lee tried to break it down to his new friend before Sakura could shout at her teammate about his former laziness, "For starters, the chakra circulatory system is the network of energy lines spread throughout the body just like the normal circulatory system. Only it wraps around the internal organs and serves as passageways for chakra."

"Yeah, I know that bit," moaned Naruto, "But what about the chakra points?"

Lee cleared his throat and answered, "Well, since the chakra system encircles around the internal organs. So if someone attacked the chakra points then that would cause damage to the internal organs."

Naruto seemed lost even with this new information and so did Sakura.

"It doesn't seem possible," she said out loud, "The chakra system is a series of lines of chakra inside the body, not like solid blood vessels! You can't attack something that can't be seen, touched, or even severed with a blade!"

Kakashi looked down at the Hyuga clan members as he watched them continue to attack each other, one of them more bloodied than the other.

"But the Hyuga can do that…" he stated, "Those two kids down there can see the chakra system with their Byakugan and attack it… Gentle Fist taijutsu attacks are different from brute force… The Hyuga clan uses their chakra and releases it into the chakra point from their hand after direct contact. This causes direct damage to the opponent's chakra system, kill them stone-dead from the inside-out."

At the end of Kakashi's sentence, Hinata and Neji struck each other at the same time, each one of them hit each other in the chest and froze, as still as statues. The two of them stood there, still frozen, for a few intense moments as the audience watched and waited for one of them to reveal who had been hit.

It was revealed to be Neji, as he smirked, victorious with his hand on his cousin's chest.

Hinata felt the chakra forced into her chest and she felt it as her heart beat in an unnatural manner. She held her breath and then blood oozed out from her mouth and ran down her chest and onto the floor. She looked down and saw Neji had struck two fingers into her right arm and forced her to miss him.

The older rookie smirked at his cousin and asked, "Is this the best the heiress of the main house can muster?"

Hinata blinked and knocked Neji's arm from her chest, she tried to turn and strike her cousin in the face. But the older rookie moved fast and clutched Hinata's arm and struck her twice with his two fingers. Hinata froze in shock while the audience above watched as Neji slid the sleeve of Hinata's coat and revealed her arm to her and the other rookies in the terraces above. Her slim and chalk-white arm had been decorated with dark red dots that looked like bruises but swelled like venomous insect bites.

Hinata looked terrified as she stuttered, "Y-You don't mean! From the start?!"

"That's correct, Hinata-sama…" the older rookie's smirked widened while he stated, "These eyes can detect the chakra points without flaw…"

Naruto asked his sensei, worried about his old classmate, "What does she mean from the start?!"

"There are three hundred and sixty-one chakra points in the chakra circulatory system. No smaller than the end of a needle. If someone were to hit them, then the blow could actually stop the enemy's flow of chakra or enhance it. That's another reason the Hyuga clan either specialize in fighting or healing. Those with the Byakugan can stop and start the flow of another's chakra whenever the wielder desires to do so," answered Kakashi, and then he said, "I should also mention, the chakra points are invisible to the Sharingan… Although the Sharingan is able to provide insight on an enemy, it can't see the body precisely enough during battle like the Byakugan can."

After that statement, Neji struck Hinata in the chest when she tried to break free of his hold. She covered her chest while she slid backwards until the distance between her and her cousin was at least ten feet. Naruto watched in horror as Hinata was thrown back and let another burst of blood drool out from her mouth. Her knees buckled and she almost hit the floor, but she tried her best to stand and soon started to march back to her cousin. Neji was a little bit shocked; amazed that Hinata hadn't thrown in the towel after that last strike. He then raised his defenses when she made a sudden move and ran towards him. But the brawl was short-lived as he crossed Hinata's arms and locked her still. Irritated at her insistence to continue the fight, Neji decided to weaken her moral, face-to-face.

"Hinata-sama, this is the difference that sets us apart from the elite and the failures of this world. This is the unchangeable true… You are a failure."

The timid kunoichi stared at her cousin, afraid of his harmful words. But then she looked different, her face switched emotions almost in a heartbeat and she started to look somewhat livid. Her older relative then noticed as Hinata closed her mouth shut, her cheeks swelled a little bit as if she filled them with air. And then, without warning, Hinata blinded Neji with a mouthful of her own blood.

"ARGH!" he screamed, unable to see.

Hinata broke free of her cousin's hold and asked as she marched toward him, "How's this for a difference, cousin?"

The kunoichi moved in after her cousin and slammed her bare fist into his stomach. With or without her chakra, she could still attack her cousin with her fists alone. Hinata used brute force for the first time in her life when she drove her fist into Neji's uncovered stomach. The older rookie hunched over, the wind knocked clean out of him. With him hunched down to her level, Hinata closed her other fist and imitated Naruto when he socked Kiba in the mouth. Neji felt as if he had been hit in the side of the head with a baseball bat and let out a mouthful of blood as well as a tooth from the corner of his mouth. He was still blind with Hinata's blood all over his face, unable to see or sense his cousin's advances when she moved in on him and unleashed her wrath. With her other fist, Hinata hit Neji with an uppercut and forced him to bite down on the inside of his cheek. The older rookie let out a somewhat muffled shout but was soon cut short when Hinata hit him once more and continued to decorate the concrete floor with his blood. Kurenai couldn't believe what she saw and neither could a lot of other rookies and older shinobi alike. No one had ever seen Hinata look so ferocious and so hurt at the same time. It was obvious that she never liked violence, but at the same time it looked like she had unleashed a closetful of bottled emotions, she had craved to release. Kurenai could see tears run down her face while she struck her older cousin, but soon cleaned them off with the sleeve of her coat, and then continued to attack her cousin. Naruto watched and smiled in admiration as he watched the kunoichi stand against her cousin and heard it when she knocked out one of his teeth. He cheered and raised his arms in her favor as she continued to show him and the rest of the attendants in the room that while she was timid, she was not weak.

Within moments, Neji's face was covered in cuts and bruises and his face had started to swell and turn red in certain areas. Blood ran down his face from his nose and mouth. He had lost two teeth, unnoticeable if he ever smiled, but still caused his mouth to become filled with blood. He was stuck, and his cousin would soon knock him out cold, with or without access to her chakra.

But to his unfortunate luck, Hinata needed a break for two seconds to reel her arm back for the final blow, which was all the time he needed. Neji blinked the blood out of his eyes and wiped his swollen face clean in a fraction of the time he needed. He blinked once more, his vision blurred and unfocused for a moment, but then he activated his Byakugan and his vision was more clear and visceral than ever. He locked his sights on and ran after her, merciless as he knocked her arms to the side and struck her in the chest and torso in a series of attacks that were almost too fast for the audience to see. Hinata was thrown backwards while she held onto her chest and coughed out an alarming amount of blood.

Naruto's smile started to fade while Kurenai and even Shino looked concerned and leaned closer to the rail. Hinata's knees buckled, but she tried to stand on her own like she did before. But the pain in her chest was overwhelming, almost too much for her to withstand. Whatever her cousin did to her in that last attack, Hinata felt as if her connection to her chakra had been severed, at least for the duration of this match.

Hinata tried to breath nice slow even breaths, but then she heard Neji shout at her, furious at her defiance and the harm she had inflicted, "YOU WERE DESTINED TO LOSE THIS BATTLE FROM THE MOMENT YOU REFUSED TO RUN AWAY!"

Naruto started to frown at Neji as he continued to mock Hinata while she tried to stand on her own.

"Forfeit this match, Hinata. I will not ask again," the teen warned in a darker and more controlled voice.

But Hinata refused to submit and tried to stand tall. Her torso felt like it weighed more than a ton. It felt as if her coat had been lined with iron bars, but still she insisted the match continue and moved one step at a time. But in the middle of her struggle to endure, she started to mumble and forced herself to talk.

"I… never… go back… on… my word!" she forced out with all her might.

Hinata let out a small smile as she faced her bruised and bloodied cousin. Naruto was somewhat shocked when she heard her make that last statement. She said the same words he had said back in Ibiki's classroom, and created the nindo for himself that he said he would back in the Land of Waves.

"Because… that's the nindo… I choose to follow too…" said Hinata as she took her time to catch her breath.

Naruto stared down at Hinata and she raised her head to look back at him and smiled. The blonde-haired shinobi felt frozen and warm at the same time, as he looked her. He felt as if no one else were there in the room aside from each other. His heart beat a little bit faster as blood started to rush into his face and cause him to blush.

He then said as he came back into the real world, "I had no idea that Hinata was so tough…"

"You know… You two are a lot alike…" said Lee with a smile.

Sakura nodded and then she said, "Come to think of it, Naruto, she's always had her eyes on you…"

He looked back down at her and watched her with even more attention than he had before. His older brother smirked and then he started to shove his little brother in the direction

'Come to think of it, Hinata was one of the few kunoichi in class that was ever so kind to us back then… You two could have been nice friends…'

'… Better late than never then…'

Hinata stared back down at Neji with determination to move forward, no matter how much it hurt her to do so. She activated her Byakugan and her cousin did the same.

"Fine then…" said the old of the two, as he watched Hinata start to succumb to the damage she sustained.

Hinata clenched her chest and she started to cough out more blood. She almost fell down, but forced herself to stand and face her opponent. Kurenai looked worried as she watched her student tremble and continue to bleed. It seemed to her, that Hinata had reached her limit and she wanted to reach out to forfeit her from the match and save her from further harm, like a concerned mother or an older sister. But the woman resisted, and let her student continue until she was forced to intervene.

However, other much older shinobi waited for the match to be done and over with.

Kakashi shook his head and said out loud, "She's doomed. With those last blows she sustained she won't last five minutes. With or without access to her chakra, this match is over."

Gai looked down at his student in consternation, certain as Kakashi that his student down in the arena would be the winner. Meanwhile, Asuma looked nervous while he listened to his students comment on the match.

He listened in as Ino said, "That look on his face… He looks like he wants to kill her… I hope Hinata doesn't die…"

Back with Kakashi and his students, Naruto and Sakura watched the match with mixed reactions. Sakura didn't think her former classmate stood a chance now, while Naruto looked like he wanted to see a miracle.

"She won't be able to win…" said Sakura, "He's just too strong…"

Naruto shook his head and leaned forward over the rail and cheered on the hopeless kunoichi. The blonde-haired shinobi shouted and refused to let Hinata feel as if her efforts were fruitless. He wanted her to know at least one soul in the room believed in her.

"C'mon, Hinata!" he shouted.

The kunoichi heard him and shouted inside her mind, 'Naruto-kun!'

Hinata marched forward, dashed toward her cousin while he did the same. Hinata and Neji hit each other and blocked one another's attacks like before. Their movements were fluid and swift, like a dance, as Hinata continued to fight Neji. But while she moved around her cousin, blocked, and attacked, she started to think about Naruto as well as herself. But not the kind of thoughts that someone like Sakura or Ino would have when it came to men or crushes:

When she reflected on herself, Hinata remembered she was always soft and gentle; she hated violence and cruelty. But when she was little, her mother comforted her on such dark matters and she had confidence in herself. However, when her mother died, Hinata's father Hiashi started to train her in ninjutsu and Gentle Fist. He wanted to train her to be the new leader of the Hyuga clan. But without her mother around to believe in her she wasn't able to succeed well when her father trained her. Hiashi was cold to his daughter and almost ashamed to have named her his heiress. He called her weak and useless and criticized her almost all the time. She didn't have the most excellent marks in her classes and the other students never wanted to be friends with someone as timid and boneless as she was. Hinata would have abandoned the whole idea to be a kunoichi and let her father chose another heir. But then she met Naruto Uzumaki for the first time. She was bothered with three much older bullies that teased her about her stutter and were about to knock her around until Naruto came out of nowhere and confronted the delinquents. He defended her and started a whole brawl after one of the three bullies shoved him. Naruto would have won the fight, had one of the bullies not whacked him in the back of the head with a branch from a fallen tree. Hinata's father had arrived and scared the children into the woods but decided to leave Naruto unconscious.

No one had ever been so kind to Hinata and ever since that incident; when the two of them became classmates, Naruto had motivated her to do better and she admired him from a distance ever since. That oblivious blonde shinobi was the reason she continued to battle her cousin, even while the odds were still in his favor as the odds were back when Naruto faced off with those bullies.

'I've watched you, Naruto-kun… I've watched you ever since we were little… And when I watch you fight, Naruto-kun… I feel like I can accomplish anything if I do my best… I feel a spring of courage flow inside of me and fill me with such bravery and skill I never realized I had… It makes me feel like I'm actually worth something!'

Hinata tried to strike Neji's arm and fracture it, but she missed. The result left Hinata a victim of a strong uppercut thrust that sent her backward and caused her to let out another mouthful of blood. The students held their breath in shock as Hinata bounced backwards and tried to remain calm and breathe. Kurenai looked sad but stared down at her student in absolute admiration. Hinata looked back at Neji, and continued to stare him down as if she were about to attack.

'Naruto-kun… I've been watching you for such a long time…but now at last…'

She raised her arms and tried to run towards her cousin. She tried to strike at Neji's chest and he did the same as he raised his arms as well.

'You are watching me…'

But in the end, Neji was faster and he struck first. He knocked Hinata's arms to the sides and thrust his hand into Hinata's chest. This caused her to shiver and buckle, while more blood leaked from her mouth and onto the floor. She started to fall, but then, Hinata clenched her cousin's arm. She held on and sank her fingernails deep into his skin. Neji winced as he felt blood start to run down his arm. He flinched at Hinata, almost intimidated at her insistence. The older shinobi flinched once more, but this time, his intimidation quickly turned into frustration and hatred as he watched her sink towards the cold stone floor.

"You don't even know when to quit," he said and then he blurted out in a somewhat sadistic tone, "You foolish child…"

He broke his cousin's hold and knocked her down to the floor. Hinata landed with a soft thud, and she remained motionless. Neji cleaned whatever blood was on his face and arms but continued to look down at his cousin and wait for Hayate to name him the winner. Hinata didn't move and he remained certain she wouldn't make another noise after that last blow to the chest.

Kurenai accepted the inevitable, 'You've done enough, Hinata. You may have lost this match, but you've proven to yourself that can change… And that's what counts… You did an amazing job, Hinata…'

Back on the terrace, Naruto felt crushed as he watched Hinata land on the floor. He then remembered Hinata's statement from earlier, how she wanted to be different. He stared down at the kunoichi in sadness, but then his eyes widened as he watched her arms shake and tremble on the floor.

Hayate then announced with reluctance, "Seeing as the match cannot continue, I-"

"WAIT! DON'T DO IT!" Naruto cried as she looked down at Hinata and saw what no one else seemed to notice.

Sakura almost smack her teammate and shouted, "Naruto-baka! SHE CAN'T FIGHT ANYMORE! SHE PASSED OU-"

But Sakura and all the others in the room noticed what Naruto had seen: Hinata was almost back on her feet. It took her over three minutes to stand on her own, her hands stuck to her chest and stomach, almost unable to draw a normal breath as more and more blood drooled down from her mouth. But Hinata was soon able to stand on her own and she confronted her cousin with a small smile on her face.

Neji was shocked, almost unable to make a retort, but soon he asked, "Why are you getting up? If you push yourself too far, you really will die. Why are you doing this?"

Hinata did not answer him out loud. Instead, she continued to stare at her close relative with that same small smile on her face.

'Because now, the one I've admired all this time is watching me…' she answered him with her thoughts, 'And I can't bare to let him see me be defeated…'

Naruto looked astonished and exultant to see her return to the battle. But he also felt worried and didn't want to see her suffer and take more abuse from her cruel and cold-hearted cousin. At the same time, Neji looked furious and as he looked down at Hinata.

"T-This isn't over!" she cried as she held her stomach.

Neji twitched at her determination and shouted, "Y-You… You're not fooling me! I can see with these eyes that it's taking all of your strength just to stand! You were burdened at birth to carry the destiny of the Hyuga clan! You've hated and punished yourself for your own weakness and kind nature. But people can't ever change… You can never change your fate…There is no longer any need to fight it anymore! Let yourself be at peace and submit to your destiny!"

"Y-You're wrong Neji-nii…" the kunoichi shook her head and said, "I can see it now… so clear… that even more than me… You're the one that is more torn and suffers in silence… caught in between the destinies of the main house and branch house of our clan… You're the one in denial… absolute denial… You won't even admit to it…"

Neji was not amused at his cousin's words. For one moment, he had no facial expression on his face. But then the next second, his face was full of absolute rage and hatred. His anger triggered his Byakugan to activate in an instant. He focused chakra into his feet and blurred towards Hinata with the intent to kill her. Hinata was frozen with fear and she was weakened far too much to move or even defend herself.

Hayate ordered Neji to stand down, but his command was ignored. The next second after that, all of the Konoha jounin instructors (minus Asuma) reappeared in front of Neji and held him back. Kakashi held the arm that threatened to be driven into Hinata's chest or head. Kurenai held his other arm back while Hayate stood in front of him and placed his two fingers on his forehead. Gai held his pretentious student in a light chokehold that held him back with the strength of a hundred men.

The older Hyuga clan member seethed at his cousin and could have foamed at the mouth, but then his sensei shouted at him and tried to calm him down.

"THAT'S ENOUGH, NEJI!" he shouted, "Before you signed up for the exam, you swore to me that you wouldn't drag the issues you have with your family into this. Remember the promise you made."

Neji 's blood continued to boil as he said, "Then… Then how come the other sensei are involved?! More better treatment for the main house, huh?!"

Hinata then shivered and fell to the concrete floor once more. She let out another mouthful of blood and started to cough and breathe without control. She shook and then convulsed on the floor in a rather violent manner. Kurenai released her hold on Neji and rushed to her student's side. Naruto and his friends soon came forth and rushed to Hinata's side as well while Kurenai check Hinata over. Kurenai rolled Hinata onto her back while Naruto hovered over the kunoichi, closer than Lee or Sakura. The weakened kunoichi almost lost consciousness, but held on in time to see Naruto looked down at her, his face filled with concern as the darkness started to overwhelm her vision.

'Naruto-kun… You think that I was… that I was able to change… even a little bit?'

Naruto watched as Hinata fell into slumber and her breath evened out somewhat. He was amazed that she was able to hold her own with her cousin even if she was defeated in the end. He had no idea that the timid kunoichi he never noticed in his class was able to be so brave and determined to win, like a real kunoichi should. He smiled a little bit, but then he heard someone call his name.

"Excuse me, Naruto Uzumaki!"

Naruto turned to see Neji Hyuga was the one that called out to him. His small smile faded and soon the blonde-haired shinobi stared at him with utter disdain.

"A few words of advice," the older rookie said in an arrogant tone, "A real shinobi warrior doesn't make a scene and cheers in the middle of a serious match. And one more detail I want to cover… I am aware of who you are, so I want to make this clear between the two of us on a more personal level; Just like that so-called kunoichi on the floor, you may as well accept the same fate the two of you share. Once a failure, always a failure."

Still fueled with the medication he took earlier, Naruto felt his blood boil as he turned and faced the older rookie. His furious, adrenaline-fueled emotions started to bubble and Naruto almost lost control of his magical abilities as the lights started to flicker and several adults and rookies alike felt the room start to feel a little bit colder. Neji didn't seem to notice the anomalies in the room, as he was amused at the furious look on Naruto's face. Naruto cracked his knuckles while his invisible older brother tried to hold him back.

He then asked in a controlled voice, "You want to start a fight with me now?"

Neji smirked and Naruto was about to dash at the older rookie and almost reached for his wand to hex him. But before he slammed that first foot on the floor, Lee came out of nowhere and stood in front of Naruto and faced him with his arms held out at his sides. He lowered his arms and held Naruto down at his shoulders. The blonde-haired shinobi almost threw Lee off of him, but Lee's hands were like solid steel and held him down where he stood.

"Naruto-kun, I understand what it feels like to take his arrogant insults," he said, "But we both have to limit our battles to the confines of the scheduled tournament. Besides, the idea to see someone like one of us to defeat him in battle through sheer force of will makes someone like us look forward to the finals, huh?"

Lee tried his best to calm down his new friend, and didn't want him to be forfeited from the tournament, as he was sure that was what Neji would have wanted to happen.

"Even though his opponent could be me or if you're the one that has to fight him in the end, I will have no regrets and I will cheer for your victory!" he stated in an enthusiastic tone.

Naruto was able to calm down and said in frustration and reluctance, "Fine… I understand, Lee. Thanks."

Lee then turned around and gave a thumbs-up to his sensei. Gai returned the gesture and smiled at his student.

But then the mood took a sudden dark turn when Hinata coughed out another mouthful of blood. All the students in the chamber (aside from Neji, the Suna team, and Dosu from Oto) turned their attention to her in concern. Kurenai, who had some medical experience, unzipped Hinata's coat and pressed her hand against her student's chest and felt the pulse on her neck. Kurenai immediately turned to panic as Hinata was going through ventricular fibrillation.

Kurenai turned her head to look at the older Hyuga child and realized, 'He tried to do it… That monster tried kill her!'

"Instead of glaring at me, shouldn't a certain sensei call the medics about now?" smirked the older rookie.

Kurenai then shouted, "WHERE ARE THOSE STUPID MEDICS?! GET OVER HERE!"

Naruto couldn't make that much sense as to what the medical team said about Hinata. All he heard was that she wouldn't last ten minutes and that she needed to be sent to the main medical clinic back at Konoha. The blond-haired shinobi watched as the team took the kunoichi on a stretcher and soon vanished. Naruto was left with the shaken remnants of Hinata's battle as flashes of the battle reeled over and over like a broken movie in his mind. Naruto then looked down at a small amount of Hinata's blood on the floor. He knelt down to it and touched it with his fingertips; he then stood and looked back over at Neji. The blonde-haired shinobi then held his fist towards him while Kakashi, Sakura, Gai, and Lee all stared at him.

'Hinata-chan… I swear…' he thought and then he vowed, "I swear, when the time comes, I'll be the one to win!"

The look on Neji's face held an unusual combination of insult and amusement. He soaked in Naruto's statement and soon returned to the terrace alone. Back on the other side on the other terrace, Kankuro took the moment to act like an idiot and break the mood, "This is hilarious! The idiot doesn't even know how outranked he is!"

"You were the one that he beat in the bathroom, Kankuro. So shut it…" Gaara stated without emotion.

Kankuro stared at his little brother and asked, "How do you even know about that, Gaara?"

The red-haired rookie didn't answer as he took in a breath with his nose. Gaara then seemed to be entranced as he stared out in front of him. Kankuro, Temari, and their sensei Baki all looked alarmed, as all of them were sure Gaara could smell the scent of human blood in the room now if he didn't earlier. It all started when Kiba sliced Naruto's torso, but now the smell of blood started to fill the room and Gaara started to smell it more and more after the last match. Kankuro and Temari soon noticed as Gaara let a small smile stretch across his otherwise emotionless face. Both the older brother and sister shivered and tried to focus on the next match to come. But Kankuro looked across the terrace and found an excuse to leave his little brother.

Naruto did not bother to clean Hinata's blood off his hands as he returned to the terrace with his team. He started to climb the metal stairs until a certain hooded shinobi called him from behind, to hold him back while the rest of his team returned to their station.

"Oi! Blondie!" called out Kankuro.

Naruto turned around and was irritated at once, not in the mood to deal with him now, "What is it now?"

"Look, I think we started off on the wrong foot. How about we-" the older rookie said as he faked a smile.

But the blonde-haired shinobi barked at the older rookie and threatened him, "I don't wanna hear it, arsehole! Now beat it before I demonstrate our little shuffle in the bathroom to the rest of the rookies in the room."

Kankuro's face darkened for a moment. He seemed intimidated but then Kankuro looked like he wanted to slice him in two before he continued to follow Naruto, forced a smile, and acted like he wanted to be allies.

"Listen I think we should start over with a clean slate. I know that I was rude when we first met and, let's face it; I was a real idiot in the bathroom. But, c'mon, that was all testosterone back there! Let's be better shinobi and, who knows, we could even be friends," he said as he tried his best to be nice.

It was obvious that he wanted to avoid his little brother, but Kankuro decided he should see what he could do and attempt to extract information from Naruto. It made sense to him, because out of all the Konoha rookies he met, Naruto was the one he knew the most. As much as he hated and somewhat feared him, Naruto was the best shot Kankuro had. At the same time, Naruto was about to turn back to his team, but then he noticed all of them were seated next to Gai's team, with Neji too close to them for his comfort. If he walked back to his team, Naruto would be forced to confront him a second time, and he didn't want that. The blonde-haired shinobi seethed, he turned back to Kankuro, frustrated that the older rookie held him back and forced him into this awkward situation. Naruto decided to break Kankuro down, infuriated at all the redundant trouble he caused him.

"You think I want to be associated with the kind of scum that bullies small children and attacks other blokes while in the toilet?! You must think I'm a real idiot to think I would ever let all that slide! You meant that business in the bathroom, it wasn't all testosterone, it was intentional! You made one hell of enemy in the short time since these exams started! So do me a little favor; choose a station and shut it!"

Naruto then rested his hands the rail at the end of the terrace and looked bitter while he stared at the scoreboard. The blonde-haired shinobi remained oblivious to Kankuro as he stared him down with a look of hatred unlike that which he showed earlier. The older rookie had a much darker look on his face, that suggested a much more sinister truth behind him. He leaned closer to the rail as well and looked at Naruto with that cold and somewhat murderous stare.

He then said under his breath, "It won't make a difference in the end..."

"What was that?" the blonde-haired shinobi turned his head and shot fierce look back at the older rookie.

Kankuro twitched and stammered, "N-Nothin'!"

Naruto then looked back at the scoreboard as he waited for the next match to start. Kankuro soon leaned on the rail with him, but maintained his distance. Still set on the information he wanted to attain, he tried to ask Naruto for a small amount of information, but tried to be subtle about it.

"So… about that Neji Hyuga…" he started in a somewhat awkward manner before he asked, "What do you know about him?"

Naruto frowned and stated, "Other than the fact that I'll beat him to an inch of his life, nothin' at all."

With four combatants left, the preliminaries were narrowed down to two final matches with some of the strongest or most mysterious rookies left. All the attendants in the chamber couldn't wait for the matches to be done and over with. Once the final two matches were through, the rookies would commence to the final rounds at a set time and then this constant nightmare of examinations and survival would be over. But out of all the rookies that were left, Choji looked the most frightened. He shook and sweat with the fear of facing some of the most gruesome looking rookies left. Shikamaru doubt his old-time friend even stood a chance with the other contestants and voiced his doubt over the matter.

"You're in a lot of trouble here, Choji," he said, "the last rookies that are left are some of the strongest we've seen so far…"

Choji shook his head and moaned, "Screw it! I'll withdraw! So it doesn't matter who I'm chosen to battle with!"

Asuma didn't want his chubbier student to have to withdraw from the tournament, without even giving himself a chance to fight. So he leaned down towards Choji and tried to convince him with his number one weakness.

"Awww, c'mon, Choji," he then offered, as he knew the Akimichi were vulnerable to delicious food, "You'll miss out on a chance for an All-You-Can-Eat barbecue once this exam is over!"

Shikamaru shook his head at his mentor, "That's not fair, Asuma! Don't bait him with food or he'll buckle…"

Now it looked like Choji was in trouble. For he didn't know whether or not his life or food was more valuable to him at the moment.

Asuma smiled and continued to entice his fattest student, "Relax, kiddo. If it looks bad, I'll dive in and end the match like the one with Hinata! I'll do it in a heartbeat! How about it, Choji?"

Ino sided with her sensei and convinced him to listen to their mentor. All the while, Shikamaru did not look the least bit enthusiastic, nor did he seem to trust that Asuma would throw himself into the match like the other instructors did. After all, he was the one Konoha sensei that didn't dive in to hold back Neji.

But it looked like Asuma had won him over when Choji threw his arms into the air and roared, "Yes! Think of the barbecue, man! All the meat I can eat!"

"Now then…" Hayate coughed and then he announced, "It's time to start the ninth match!"

Gai looked excited and shouted as he raised his arm into the air and closed his fist, "YOSH! It's gonna be your turn this time, kiddo! GO GET 'EM, LEE!"

The bowl cut taijutsu master smiled at his student and threw him a thumbs-up, but Lee became stubborn and turned from his sensei to sulk.

"No!" he stated, as he shocked both his new friends as well as his sensei, "If I've been forced to wait this long, then I shall hold the honor of the final act!"

The scoreboard ran through names again. And like all other times before, no one could see even one name. But while the last four names were shuffled at random, Gaara held two fingers to his face and small particles of sand swirled around him in like a mini-tornado. The sand surrounded Gaara and consumed him until he seemed to vanish out of thin air. The sand-tornado reformed at the center of the arena with Gaara in the middle, untouched and unharmed as he crossed his arms and waited in bitterness.

The sand around him vanished and he looked bored and tired as he said, "I don't want to wait. Come down here and face me…"

On the terrace, close to Kakashi and the others, the wide-bottomed heir to the Akimichi clan raised his arms into the air and screamed, "I'M SAFE AGAIN!"

After Ino smacked her teammate on the head, the other attendants looked to the scoreboard and read the two latest names that were chosen at random.

GAARA VS ROCK LEE

To Be Continued…

What a chapter! It took me two weeks to finish and double-check the grammar, but I hope the effort was worth it. In the previous version, Neji was more dominate in the preliminary match, like he was in the original manga. I also changed the scene with Naruto and Kankuro, where I directly ripped off the coffee shop scene from the Scott Pilgrim movie when Julie Powers (AKA the voice of Eska) dropped the F-bomb multiple times and both her voice and mouth were censored for comedic effect. Naruto did the same when he criticizes Kankuro's behavior and brings up Konohamaru and the fact that Kankuro almost punched the grandson of the Hokage and could have started a serious crisis between Konoha and Suna. In this version, Naruto scolds Kankuro and tells him to **** off.

Other than that, I can't think of anything else that I changed from the old version to the new version here. I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter and I look forward the reading your reviews. Until next time, guys! Happy holidays!