~Scroll 40~
"Hunh?" Sakura gasped, "She's his sister?!"
Naruto tilted his head to the side.
"Yes and no…" The blonde remarked as he watched the two Hyugas and listened to their Heart Songs. While their melodies were similar, the petite shinobi could hear subtle difference between the two.
While Hinata's Heart Song was low in tone and soft in tempo; a melody that Naruto associated with a healer, Neji's Heart Song was sharper in both tone and tempo as if he was fueled with anger and hatred. It made Naruto shiver to realize that Hinata was facing her kinsman's anger and hatred, and she knew it.
"They're not brother and sister." Kakashi confirmed, "But they both are members of Konoha's oldest and illustrious family, through whose veins flows the most elite and accomplished blood… the Hygua Clans."
"Then…" Sakura began, "how are they related?"
"Well… it's complicated…" Kakashi answered, "I guess you could say they're related in the same way that a tree branch is related to the trunk."
"Branch and trunk…" Naruto whispered to himself.
"Yeah," Shisui continued the explanation, "Lady Hinata is from 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 quietly asked, "That must be hard on both of them."
The pinkette could not fathom the pain the pair must be facing for she could not imagine having to fight her otouto; even in a competition.
"It's hard for her…" Naruto replied, continuing to watch the pair, "but for him…"
"Naruto?" Sakura whispered, which drew Lee's attention, "What is it?"
"So much anger…" The blonde whispered, "It consumes him…"
"You're right." Lee remarked, drawing the blonde and the pinkette's attention to him, "There's been a strain between the central and cadet branches of Clan Hyuga for some time… Relations aren't exactly friendly."
"Why's that?" Sakura asked when Naruto turned his attention back to the pair down in the arena.
"I don't know all the details but…" Lee confessed, "It sounds like a pretty common tale among older families. The first generation of Hyuga Clan made all sorts of rules and decrees that favored the main branch of the family in order to preserve the family and retain purity of their blood. It's said that members of the cadet branch still burn with anger and humiliation."
"So, it's one of those fateful showdown things, then…" Sakura remarked.
"No…" Naruto countered as he sadly looked at the kinsmen, "It's much more than that…"
"Naruto?" Shisui questioned as he placed a ghostly hand on the petite blonde's shoulder, "What do you mean?"
"Naruto?" Kakashi called as he gently brushed a knuckle against his blonde's cheek.
"She's going to try to free him from his anger." Naruto whispered, "No matter the cost…"
"What?!"
Hinata easily slipped into the all too familiar stance; this style of fighting had been passed from one generation to the next. Her stand was mirrored by her big brother.
And in a blink of an eye, the pair charged one another.
They matched strike for strike; block for block.
Neither giving an opening for the other to strike when suddenly…
Here it is… Hinata thought as she saw a brief opening and struck!
Neji was pushed back with a grunt.
For a brief moment, she was surprised that her attack connected; however, she quickly pushed down her surprise and continued her attack; continuing to push him back until…
Neji's right hand laid on her chest and his left hand pressed into a pressure point just to the side of her right shoulder.
The momentum of their fight came to a complete halt, and the deafening silence was shattered by Hinata as she coughed up blood.
"…So, this is the full extent of the main branch's strength?" Neji sneered.
N… not yet… Hinata ordered herself as she attempted one more attack.
Effortlessly, Neji blocked the attack and jabbed at the underside of her arm; just above the shoulder.
It took Hinata's sheer will to remain standing; she could not understand why she was feeling so weak.
Without uttering a single word, Neji pushed up the sleeve of her coat, revealing her thin arm covered in specifically placed bruises.
Her eyes grew wide as she immediately recognized the locations of the bruises.
"… It can't be!" She gasped barely above a whisper, "You mean… from the very beginning…?"
"Precisely," He confirmed, "my eyes can detect the Tenketsu!"
Then with a harsh and yet simple shove, Neji pushed Hinata across the arena floor.
"What's happening?!" Sakura gasped in amazement as she watched sweet and shy Hinata fight against a family member.
"The Hyuga clan employs Juken, or the 'Gentle Fist', to inflict damage to the enemy's keirakukei, through which the chakra flows." Lee began as he watched the fight in concern, "That leads to the breakdown of the internal organs, destroying the foe from within."
"Their Byakugan enables them to see the ley lines of chakra flow." Naruto commented with a frown as he tried to remember the importance of the Tenketsu.
"The Tenketsu are charka points no bigger than the prick of a pin." Shisui explained as he noted the concentrated look on Naruto's face. "In theory, if you can accurately hit them, you can halt the flow of an enemy's chakra, or enhance it; controlling it in any way you wish."
Suddenly, oceanic blue orbs grew wide as he finally remembered a piece of information from his 'tousan's lecture on the Tenketsu that Shisui had not mentioned. The Tenketsu were undetectable, even with the Sharingan! The fact that Neji was able to detect the Tenketsu, and in the heat of battle no less, clearly pointed to the teen's skill and prowess.
Naruto began to worry his lower lip as he realized that this fight was such an one-sided fight, and looking at Hinata, she knew it too.
"Withdraw!" Neji's command echoed throughout the arena.
But nothing was more deafening than Hinata's breathy, "No… never…"