Hello!

We're finally at the first battle of the tournament arc! I've got a lot of wacky stuff going on in this chapter that I'm excited to unveil; I'll talk more about that stuff and my reasoning behind them in the post-chapter analysis, like usual. However before we get into the meat of things, I'd like to address a bit of a recurring topic I've been seeing in my comments/reviews.

The subject in question is Naruto's appearance. I've seen a couple of comments essentially boiling down to a criticism of the design choices and questioning my rationale in "turning Naruto into a femboy". I'd like to lay out a lot of my reasoning and logic for how we got to that point, in hopes that it'll somewhat inform you guys of how I see the situation and why I'm sticking with it.

Number one, and this is the most simple, honest statement I can give, regarding it: When I imagined the design, it really wasn't that deep. I didn't really think much of it aside from the fact that I liked the idea of using longer hair to convey growth; that was really about as much thought as I put into it, at first.

It was only in later iterations that I started going with more effeminate features as a prominent trait and that largely stems from how I see Naruto's relationship with his memory/impression of Mito, and by proxy, his image of the Uzumaki clan.

I wanted Mito to essentially leave a very noticeable mark on Naruto that would persist in a very prominent sort of way. Some would argue that I could've just done it with the purple eye and been done with it, but that felt like a boring and somewhat overdone aesthetic to simply stop with. "The eyes are the window to the soul" and all that jazz. I liked the idea of heterochromatic eyes, but I saw that as more of a defining characteristic in relation to my understanding of prominent Uzumaki features, as opposed to being a specifically Mito-related idea, if that makes sense?

Once I decided on that, I essentially needed to decide on a 'middle-ground' for the character and decided on something that I felt would clearly demonstrate his current values and mental state. Right now in this story, the most important people in Naruto's life are Kushina, Mito, and Hinata. There are others who are certainly still relevant, but the impact that they are currently having on this version of Naruto are either reduced or just not at the forefront of his mind right now.

Each of the named characters are people who he sees as icons of strength and resilience; yes, even Hinata! Keep in mind just how impactful her fight against Neji was for him in canon, and magnify it when considering the differences in their relationship, here.

Yes, someone like Iruka is still important to Naruto here, but their interactions basically grind to a halt for much of the series once Naruto graduates, and it felt kind've disingenuous for me to try and fit that into a narrative about Naruto essentially finding himself at his lowest point and coming out anew.

The point being that all of the people that Naruto sees as strong and would want to emulate at this point are females, and of them, two of them are powerful, competent women who accomplished great things in his life and -most importantly- served as guides and mentors for Naruto in a very low point in his life. All of this to say that I see Naruto at least subconsciously wanting to emulate them and this being reflected more than it otherwise would, even if we took the nuances of the Legacy Seal (which still has plenty more to show and this WILL play a role in it) off the table. Essentially, I tried my hand at story-telling and character writing through visual imagery. Some people like it; some people don't; some people hate it, and I see all three sides.

I respect you guys' opinions and appreciate the feedback from all -yes, even the negative ones!

All of that said, after giving it strong consideration and consulting with a few people about it, I've decided that yeah, 'Femboy Naruto' is staying. All of this to say sorry to have disappointed some of you, but this is the decision I've settled on. Personally, I found the discourse to be hilarious!

That aside, everything else can wait for post-chapter, so let's get right into it!


Hinata could barely stay still as Naruto stared down Neji, down below in the arena. Their fight hadn't even started yet, but already she felt just short of popping out of her seat.

"Relax," Kiba chided. "Even I can see Naruto's gotten stronger; he's gonna be fine."

"That is true." Shino nodded, confirming his teammate's words. "That said, it is clear that Neji-san has been hard at work, himself. It would be unwise to disregard that."

"Hey man, I'm trying to calm her down before she flies out of her seat and goes down there to jump her cousin. Don't go saying shit that's gonna get her even more stressed."

Shino simply inclined his head, falling silent once more, and Kurenai leaned past both boys to squeeze Hinata's shoulder. "You just focus on cheering him on, alright?"

"Right." Hinata smiled at her teacher, but it melted right off her face as she caught a hint of pink, just past her sensei's frame.

Sakura Haruno.

She was leaning past the barrier, watching her teammate with full focus, bordering on concern. To her right stood her friend and rival, Ino Yamanaka. Hinata wanted to ask Sakura where all that concern had been while her teammate was fighting for his life in the hospital; she really almost did.

But she reminded herself that she wasn't there for Sakura.

Hinata tore her eyes off the pink-haired girl, focusing back on the arena as Naruto and Neji both began to speak; their conversation was projected far beyond their natural voices through means unknown, leaving every person to listen in on their pre-fight banter.

"This is the only warning I will give you," Neji began. "Consider this an act of kindness from me to you… Relieve yourself of whatever foolish notions you have of beating me and-"

He was cut off all of a sudden by Naruto, the boy's smile and blasé demeanor strongly contrasting the harshness of his words.

"What the hell is he doing?" Kiba frowned as the two below spoke. "Is he trying to piss the guy off? Because if he is, he's doing an incredible job!"

"T-that's exactly what he's trying to do." Hinata did not take her eyes off the two opponents, even as Kiba, Shino, and Kurenai considered her words.

"Wait, but that's stupid!" They all turned to regard Sakura, who had suddenly spoken up. Clearly, she'd been listening in on their conversation. "There's no way Naruto's strong enough to compete with that guy in a straight fight. His only chance of winning is going to be to get that Neji guy to underestimate him. Otherwise he's going to get himself killed!"

Hinata felt a spike of irritation, but kept her eyes on the scene, below. She didn't think she could keep from tearing into the girl if she started speaking directly to her. "Naruto-kun's favorite win-condition here is to get Neji-niisan so riled up that he wastes his energy and tires out. If it comes down to a battle of stamina, Naruto-kun will win."

Sakura took on an indignant expression, gripping her hips and looking between Hinata and Naruto both. "I'm telling you he's making a mistake!"

"Oh, give it a rest, Sakura," Shikamaru thankfully piped up from his spot, a fair bit behind them. He was leaning back in his chair, looking like he didn't care at all how it went. To his left sat his buddy Choji, who had a bag of barbeque chips open at the ready between them. Hinata noted the tenseness in both of their shoulders. "Whether you're right or wrong, you're preaching to the wrong choir, here. Just let Naruto handle his fight and keep your mouth shut about it."

Sakura glared at Shikamaru, but he had already turned his sights back to the arena below. Ino shared a look with Choji before both followed Shikamaru's lead, gluing their eyes to the battle that was soon to start.

"Dumbass, you come from a branch of slaves and you can't even follow simple instructions. If he had to deal with an insufferable little rat like you all the time, it's no wonder your dad killed himself…"

The entire crowd gasped at once as Naruto's words echoed for them all to hear. Hinata chanced a glance to the Hyuga-clan box, noting the dark look on his face. As if somehow sensing her stare, Hiashi caught her eyes, rage swimming within his own, just beneath the surface. Hinata tore her gaze from the man and refused to look back, even as he continued to stare her way.

"What the fuck did he just say?" Kiba nearly choked in disbelief. "Holy fuck, is he allowed to say that?"

"Anything's fair in a fight like this, Kiba. Neji has made it perfectly clear that he has no qualms about killing a comrade, so Naruto has no reason to spare his feelings." Kurenai kept her eyes on the action, stone-faced. "And if his goal is to enrage that boy beyond reason, he's absolutely done the trick."

"What I'm saying is that you won't land a single hit on me."

Hinata bit her lip so hard she tasted copper.

"I super-duper promise. It's like a super promise, but super-duper… He won't harm a hair on my head!"

Naruto never broke his promises. All at once, she relaxed. "Naruto-kun will win," Hinata announced for everyone to hear. "I have no doubt in my mind."

"Proctor? Start the match right fucking now."

The proctor said his piece, and everything exploded into action.


"The battle between Naruto Uzumaki and Neji Hyuga begins now. START!" Genma took two big leaps back, and Neji exploded into action.

No, really.

The ground shattered underneath Neji's feet as he blasted off towards Naruto, a visible wave of chakra emitting from him as he launched himself. He was fast; far, far faster than Rock Lee could've ever hoped to have been, even without his weights. It was like he was standing a few meters away one second, then there he was, aiming to blow Naruto's head clean off his shoulders with a palm strike backed by a feral scream of rage.

Cute.

Naruto blurred forward to meet him, taking a long, gliding step forward and snapping his arm out to catch Neji's wrist as the boy approached. Neji squawked in surprise as Naruto passed him, completely ceasing Neji's momentum and forcing him to lose his footing; Neji's body flew parallel to the ground as he was suddenly taken along for the ride, with Naruto rearing forward and hurling him forward with a laugh.

Neji went flying, flipping backwards several times before landing harshly onto his neck and shoulder, a good few meters off from his opponent. He scrambled to his feet, his byakugan on full blast, only to blanche as he realized that Naruto had already crossed the distance between them.

A right cross smashed into Neji's hasty guard, so hard the Hyuga boy thought his forearm would snap under its weight. Naruto's shoulder rotated like the cog of a machine, and from it came a roundhouse punch that threatened to cave Neji's head in. He weaved to the left, evading the strike and finally finding his footing.

A heavy elbow was caught by Neji's palm, who tried to disable it with his gentle-fist. His chakra flared out, but was canceled out as Naruto matched his output, completely disrupting his technique.

"Wha-" Neji froze for a moment, caught off guard but snapped back into action as Naruto pushed off from him with a spin and snapped his leg out, scraping across his opponent's brow as he hastily evaded. "Useless!" Neji braced his stance and his hands became a blur, sending a blinding mix of heavy palm strikes and rapid finger-jabs toward Naruto in quick succession.

Naruto scoffed.

The gentle-fist was quite simple, in theory. The user used their palms and fingertips to inject chakra into their opponent through their vulnerable chakra points, which were littered throughout the body and connected to all of a person's major faculties. The technique required a great deal of precision, which was aided to great effect by the byakugan's ability to see through surfaces and track the foe's chakra points in combat.

Spooky stuff…

However, the efficacy of a gentle-fist strike depended on the user's ability to actually reach the targeted chakra points with their own chakra. Usually this was not an issue; it was virtually impossible to protect one's own internals through purely physical means.

However, chakra was only partly physical in nature. A clever opponent could attempt to match a gentle-fist user's output with their own through the targeted chakra points as a means to divert or even outright nullify a gentle-fist attack.

Hard as hell, but hardly impossible. Were the Kyuubi still interfering so heavily with his chakra, Naruto likely would've struggled to accomplish such a feat. As it so happened though, the fox was currently dealing with its newfound restrictions, leaving Naruto to enjoy a far greater degree of control than he'd ever had, previously. His developing innate chakra sense would serve to help anticipate Neji's attacks and match his output, nullifying his attacks with minimal waste.

Naruto easily intercepted all of Neji's strikes in a blinding flurry of hands, then crashed his shin into Neji's hasty elbow-guard. He followed up with a higher kick, which snapped past his guard and struck Neji's temple, sending him stumbling back.

Naruto chased his reeling target like a shark smelling blood, flanking the staggered Neji before leaping up with a heavy roundhouse kick that threatened to take his foe's head right off. Neji's byakugan spotted the move and he ducked, then trying to take Naruto's back with a gentle-fist strike to his spine as the weight of Naruto's kick had seemingly carried his momentum too far. He hissed with frustration as Naruto, without even landing to brace himself, stopped the momentum of his leg on the dime. He snapped his leg back out, driving the heel of his foot into Neji's chest. At the same time, Naruto tilted his torso to easily quash Neji's attempt to trade attacks by striking the blonde's gut.

Bracing himself against the pain, Neji caught Naruto's leg and swung him, throwing him away from him; Naruto easily caught himself in a clean handspring where he flipped to his feet and allowed himself to skid back. Neji pushed forward, his palm cocked back like a piston in motion.

"Eight Trigrams: Mountain Crusher!" Neji lashed out and Naruto bent backwards, balancing completely on bent legs and throwing his body completely parallel to the ground as he ducked under the palm strike. A bullet-like blast of force blew just overhead, careening forward and smashing into the wall a good ten meters away; a solid chunk of it was blasted apart on impact.

"Your aim is trash!" Naruto cackled as Neji seethed. He leaned fully back, forming a bridge with his body and planting his palms into the earth. Then, bracing his core with immense strength, Naruto elevated himself, slamming his legs upwards in a backflip kick that completely blew Neji's arms up with force as he tried to guard. Then, Naruto rotated himself on his hands just before his feet once again touched the ground, sliding into Neji's space from a low position and smashing his hip into Neji's own to send him stumbling. Naruto spun like a top, letting a backfist smash into Neji's face from the side, denting his cheek and temporarily blinding his left eye. Lastly, Naruto lashed out, snatching Neji by his long hair and dragging him back in so he could plant a brutal knee into his gut before hooking the boy by his upper bicep and the back of his neck and tossing the gasping boy to the floor.

Neji went sprawling, rolling several times onto the ground before managing to right himself enough to scramble to his feet. As he managed to finally find his footing, a streak of metal sliced past his cheek, shallowly scraping across flesh.

"Huh..." Naruto tilted his head, curiously. His eyes roved over Neji's dirtied, but otherwise undamaged form and whistled. "Neat trick!"

Neji pulled himself back to his feet with little difficulty, dropping back into his gentle-fist stance, his legs spread in a wide form with both outstretched palms guarding his torso. His hatred for the blonde was written all over his face.

"You won't get another chance like that," Neji snapped.

"Oh please," Naruto cackled back, his grin still on full display. "You're not even close to seeing my limit."


Sakura's jaw had fallen from the very moment the two started fighting. Despite themselves, Kiba and even Shino couldn't help but mirror her.

"Holy… That's Naruto?" Sakura whispered in awe. "When did he get so-"

"Strong? Fast?" Ino leaned forward, impressed. "Cute?"

"C-cute!? Naruto?" Sakura choked, and Hinata side-eyed both girls but said nothing.

Shino hummed in thought. "In terms of single combat via hand-to-hand, Naruto appears to have the immediate advantage. This is good news. Why? Because Naruto still has the clone technique at his disposal."

"Don't be so sure off just one exchange!" Several heads snapped toward the voice that had spoken. Tenten, Neji's teammate, looked fired up. "Neji's barely getting started, himself!" Joining her at her left side was her teammate, Rock Lee; he was still wielding crutches, following his near death experience with Gaara, back in the preliminaries. To Tenten's right was their sensei, Might Gai. As they caught sight of them, he grinned, offering a cheery thumbs-up.

"That's right!" Gai exclaimed, chuckling merrily. "Neji's got a whole lot of tricks up in his bag that are sure to blow your minds with youthful splendor!"

Shikamaru gave off a heavy sigh. "So you're saying he's still holding back a ton, too then?"

"Absolutely. We trained with Neji nearly all month so I know," Tenten leaned forward, her eyes fixed firmly on the pair below. "I know that he's still got plenty left to show."

Sakura frowned. "So Naruto really doesn't stand a chance, then?"

"You're wrong." Every eye in the vicinity snapped over to an obviously irate Hinata. It was rare that any of them had ever seen the girl look so agitated.

Sakura hesitantly spoke, not sure how to speak to Hinata when she was like this. "H-Hinata? I know you really like Naruto but I'm just being realistic here-"

"Y-you don't understand at all what's going on." Hinata did not raise her voice, but the weight of her words carried themselves without her even needing to. "If you did, you'd understand that Naruto-kun has been playing this whole time."

Several eyebrows were raised. Even Kurenai seemed curious. "You're saying he's not taking Neji seriously right now?"

"N-no," Hinata smiled. Her byakugan was active, the girl focusing her eyes onto Naruto and Neji's fight. "Between the two of them, Naruto-kun's chakra is as even as it was w-when they started. All he's doing right now is- well, he's just feeling him out."

Shikamaru leaned forward, his eyes calculating. "So he's just scouting his opponent and he already has a major edge on Neji. Even if Neji starts whipping out some new tricks, Naruto should be equipped to handle them; is that what you're saying?"

"Y-yes. Though, it isn't all good for Naruto-kun, I guess." Hinata suppressed the urge to blush at being the center of everyone's attention. "N-Naruto-kun has been leading the fight so far but- um, he hasn't actually managed to hurt Neji-niisan very much.

"Hasn't hurt him-" Kiba thrust his hand out at the downed Neji, incredulous. "He's got the guy laid out on the floor right there. What's that supposed to mean?"

Hinata bit her lip. Frankly, she was struggling to make sense of it, herself. "I-I know it looks like he's beating Neji-niisan up right now, but Neji-niisan's physical state is just as good as it w-was at the very s-s-start of their fight. I-I don't know what's going on either, but well- Naruto-kun's attacks aren't actually sticking, i-if that makes sense?

Tenten chuckled, reveling in their confusion. "That Gaara guy gave Neji a couple of ideas from back when he fought with Lee. You're right that your friend's attacks aren't reaching him; Neji's gone ahead and made his own ultimate defense!"


"I'll admit that you're a lot better than before," started Neji, his byakugan eyes trying to bore a hole through Naruto's head. "But don't think you have the advantage just because you managed to-"

"Enough talking! SCRAP!" Naruto flew forward, cutting Neji off once more with a laugh.

Neji threw up a guard, but was surprised as Naruto blew right past him, not even trying to strike him. "Let me finish my sentences!" He howled as he whipped around, his byakugan's omnidirectional movement attempting to track his foe.

"No!" Naruto tilted his head to avoid the thrust of Neji's fingers, then leaned back to dodge as Neji tried to catch him with a swift chop and a following backhand. Their hands met between them, once, twice, then one-dozen times in a flurry so fast their audience above was left unable to keep up. Blasts of opposing chakra met in the air as Neji's gentle-fist was expertly nullified.

"How are you doing that? You shouldn't be able to-" Neji once again was left unable to finish his sentence as he was forced to throw up yet another elbow block to protect against Naruto's own sudden elbow. At the last second, he was thrown off guard as Naruto fully extended his arm instead, clipping his ear. Then, Naruto spun the other way, hooking Neji by the elbow with his own forearm. Naruto spun them both around, dragging Neji off his feet and sending him stumbling. Then, Naruto reversed his spin, a snap kick attempting to catch Neji on his jaw, but was swiftly ducked.

Neji tried to send out his own high kick, but his and Naruto's legs met in the middle, with Naruto then using that same leg to drive his heel into Neji's inner thigh. The Hyuga spun off balance and fell to one knee, where he was promptly slugged in the back of the head, planting his face into the dirt.

Neji had no time to even right himself as an iron grip closed itself around his ankle, slinging him up and around with a careless twirl before he was brutally slammed headfirst into the ground. He screamed as he bounced, his body cracking the earth beneath him. Then, he was once more careening through the air, flipping helplessly above a ready Naruto, who then delivered a spinning roundhouse kick to his chest as he fell.

Neji was sent flipping forward, his head digging into the very dirt as he flipped over and over, before finally landing, face buried into the ground as he painfully struggled to right himself.

"Look at you, face in the dirt, ass tooted up... Is it Sunday already?"

Neji ripped himself from the ground and whipped around, his eyes bloodshot and oozing with frustration. "Shut up!"

Naruto simply matched Neji's rage with a careless grin. Internally though, 'He's still going strong'.

"He's quite resilient," Kushina agreed.

'Yes and no. He's been nullifying my attacks. I've been beating on him for the better part of the minute, but I haven't really done any notable damage.'

"How?"

Naruto had a theory or two. 'He's using well-timed chakra bursts from nearby chakra points at the moment of impact to cushion himself against my attacks.'

It was almost unnoticeable, but Naruto had the benefit of chakra-based perception. To be quite honest, it was the primary reason that he'd been able to take such a dominant lead, thus far. Neji was fast, strong, and plenty skilled. But he was also a giant, angry beacon of chakra; as he was, all of his actions were terribly telegraphed by the flow of his own chakra. Doubly so, seeing as the gentle-fist required such heavy, precise usage of the resource.

'Because of it though, I think I've figured out how his byakugan works.'

"Oh?" Kushina was definitely smiling.

'Mhm… The byakugan offers the user enhanced perception through telescopic vision and an increased field of view, but whether it be through inexperience or just genetic limitations, he can't do both at once. When he attacks, he uses the telescopic vision to lock onto me and anticipate my movements through the flow of my chakra. But it causes his vision to tunnel, making it easier to slip attacks past his defense.'

"So when he's on the defense then, he widens his field of view to warn him in advance of all of your attacks. So long as he can see your attack coming, even if he isn't quick enough to dodge it, he can still nullify it with those chakra bursts, huh?" Kushina hummed, impressed. "With this, even if you can get past his guard, he's got a second defense just under his skin. Is that right?"

'That's right. But there's a huge weakness, there.' Naruto smirked. If Neji had to actively switch between offense and defense, then that meant there was going to be a lag between the two. 'I've already tested the lag between his switches from offense and defense, both at the start of our fight,'

Naruto snapped forward, intercepting his charge to catch Neji's arm and throw him forward.

'And when he tried that mountain crusher thing.'

Neji was barely able to guard the backflip kick that followed, and having overextended himself, was left completely unable to protect against the combination that followed.

'Which means I just need to lead and bait him into trying to take the offensive.' Naruto stood tall and dusted himself off. 'I'll need to catch him mid-switch to bypass his sight, and cancel out those chakra cushions at the point of impact to negate his defense. That'll be my chance to put him down.'

He'd been wanting to keep the majority of his techniques a surprise for the time being, but it was clear enough that Naruto was going to need to cut loose a bit if he wanted to make it past Neji's guard.

'Something flexible is best. A water dance will keep me clear of his hits; when it's time to attack, I'll transition to a blunt force mountain dance to seal the deal without killing him.'

Neji was breathing a bit hard, but quickly catching his breath.

That wouldn't do.

Naruto reached into the pockets inside of his poncho, and nearly a dozen shuriken flew forward, their sheer speed causing them to ring through the air in a screech of metal.

"What a waste!" Neji easily weaved all of them, pushing forward to press Naruto.

Naruto met his charge halfway. "Dance of Tides: Whirlpool." Naruto spun past Neji's first palm strike, then spun back, dropping low as his foe tried to catch him with a wide swipe.

'Follow his momentum,' Naruto reminded himself as he once more spun, this time gripping Neji's shoulder and forcibly redirecting him. Neji tried to force him off by lashing out with a two-handed strike, but Naruto slipped his hands within Neji's stance, blowing his arms apart before slamming both of his own palms on either side of his head.

"Gaaahh!" Neji howled in pain as his vision began to blur. Blindly, he tried to ward Naruto off, but Naruto once again spun around him, this time planting a foot into the back of Neji's knee before jabbing him in the temple. Neji withstood the attack and immediately threw himself back to his feet, launching well over a dozen attacks that Naruto repeatedly spun out of the way of.

"What the hell are you doin-" Neji was stunned silent as Naruto twisted two of his fingers together in a sign that Neji didn't recognize, suddenly disappearing entirely from his sight. "Wha-"

His world flew into motion as Naruto reappeared behind him, gripping Neji's forearm so tightly he thought the boy would tear it right off.

"Dance of Mountains: Lion's Maw," Naruto whispered, whipping Neji around and spinning him completely off balance, heedless of the audible crack in the screaming Neji's shoulder as it was dislocated. "And Dance of Mountains: Tiger's Paw." Naruto spun around to meet Neji, his fingers and palm both tensed for a brutal strike that smashed into Neji's face, dead on. Neji tried to weaken it with several bursts of chakra from various points on his face, but found they were all nullified, themselves, as Naruto matched his output yet again. The cartilage of his nose completely crumpled and Neji flew back, his nose and mouth both spewing blood as he fell still on the ground.


Many within the crowd had gone absolutely wild as Naruto and Neji's fight picked up. The two were nearly too quick to actually follow at times! The fight was clearly leaning in Naruto's favor, but was close enough from an outsider's perspective to seem tense.

However, near the contestants' booth, where Naruto's graduating class and peers had seated themselves, they were nearly dead silent.

"How the hell did that guy manage to make such a leap in strength? Just a month ago I was soundly handing him his ass." Kiba whispered, disbelieving.

Naruto disappeared from sight, suddenly appearing behind Neji and catching the boy completely off guard.

"D-did he just teleport?" Ino asked, slack-jawed.

"No," Hinata's denial pulled everyone's attention back her way. Her byakugan had allowed her to give a relatively detailed breakdown of the fight, thus far. "Um- i-it's more like he turned into something really small, for a moment."

Shikamaru narrowed his eyes at that. "His transformation has always been kind've weird, compared to ours. Are you saying he used it to shrink himself?"

Hinata nodded. After all, that was the best guess she could hazard with the information currently available. The transformation jutsu was supposed to be little more than an illusion, but Shikamaru was right. Naruto's transformation jutsu had rarely followed the rules that Iruka-sensei had painstakingly explained to them.

Hinata couldn't help the sympathetic wince that followed as Naruto snatched Neji by the arm, spinning him around and nearly caving his head in with a brutal open palm strike.

"I concur with Kiba, for I am struggling to understand how he got so strong so quickly," Shino muttered, leaning forward. His glasses were just barely holding onto his face, in his shock. "Why? Because as I understand it, Naruto spent the entire month in critical condition. He would've had no time to train."

Kurenai tore her gaze from the fighting below to regard her student. "It's true that training is a valuable resource for a ninja's growth, but it's hardly the only way to improve. Heck, it's not even the best way to improve, technically."

Kiba frowned. "What's that supposed to mean? How is training not the best way to improve?"

"Because the best way to improve quickly is quite frankly through a good, messy fight," his sensei retorted. "You'll learn and grow at least a dozen times as much in just one good fight for your life than you would in a whole day of training, because that's when you're most locked in and when you internalize your lessons the most."

Seeing their dumbstruck expressions, Kurenai thought for a moment.

How best to explain this?

"You learned in the academy that chakra is composed of Physical and Spiritual energy, but do you understand what that really means in terms of training?" Her team collectively shook their heads, and Kurenai pushed on, noting that their peers had also all begun to listen. "The body and the spirit both play an important role in the strength of one's chakra. Chakra is, quite simply, the source of a ninja's strength in every sense of the word. Our chakra points allow our chakra to reach and influence every part of our bodies, and in turn enhance our natural abilities beyond the norm. Your physical strength, endurance, speed… Hell, even your intelligence can all be attributed in some way to the quality and strength of your chakra. This is because all that we are makes up our chakra, and in turn is made up of our chakra."

"M-my father said something similar, once." Hinata tore her eyes from her crush for the first time since his fight had started, her gaze once more trailing to the far right where the Hyuga booth was located. Her father was coldly watching the fight, joined by Hanabi and many others within her clan. "He s-said 'nothing is more important of a resource to a ninja than their chakra. Our ability to take that from them is what makes the Hyuga the strongest.'"

Kurenai nodded at the girl. "As you train to strengthen your body, your chakra strengthens; as you educate yourself to strengthen your mind, your chakra strengthens; as you become more resolved and confident in yourself, your spirit rises and your chakra strengthens. All of this contributes to a ninja's strength." She then smiled, proudly. "I'm sure that you of all people would understand this, right Hinata?"

Hinata blinked, slowly. True enough, she'd noticed a change. Her fight against Neji; her team's run in with Gaara… In both cases she'd found herself performing far better than she would've expected…

And after… Well, she hadn't really thought of it until recently, but she was definitely stronger than she'd been just a month ago. That was so, even though she'd barely been able to find time to train, since then.

"So if that's the case-" Kiba interjected, slowly. "If that's the case, then why don't ninjas just fight like hell all the time to get stronger?"

"Complacency, really." Kurenai shrugged. "No sane person likes getting hurt or having their lives on the line. Plus, you'll find that for most people, it's terribly difficult to bring oneself to fight to kill their own comrades, even if it's for their own benefit. But there's well-documented scientific evidence amongst ninjas that a good, bloody fight to the death is the single best way to improve yourself at a rapid pace." Kurenai had once more put her eyes on Naruto as he brutally smashed Neji's nose in. "I couldn't guess the exact details, but I suspect that whatever Naruto's experience has been, this month, has pushed him into a league of his own amongst you all."

"E-even still," Tenten cut in, looking flustered. "Even still, Neji's not going to lose! You'll see!"

Shikamaru snorted. "Give it a rest, already. You said that earlier and he's still getting picked apart." He pointed to the Hyuga prodigy, who was currently laying still on the ground before a pristine Naruto. "What, are you expecting him to just magically get up and turn the tides?"

Tenten smirked, looking past him. "Yeah, that's exactly what I'm expecting. Your friend isn't the only one who's been put through hell"

All of the Genin turned back to the conflict as Neji began to stir.


"Did you kill him?" Kushina sounded concerned.

'I don't think I did. His chakra is still, but he's still breathing.'

"Maybe stomp on him a few times then," She suggested, sounding innocent. "You know, just to make sure he doesn't get back up."

Naruto considered it, but before he could decide, Neji roused himself.

Groaning, he pulled himself back to his feet under the watch of an impressed Naruto.

"You know, I was going to make some joke about you loving the taste of your own blood but I can't even lie. You're tough as hell."

Neji said nothing for a moment, seemingly catching his bearings.

"You're going to let him recover?"

Naruto bit the inside of his cheek. 'He's not off guard. If I go in recklessly, he'll take my head right off… Nah, something's just changed about him, mom. He's dead calm all of a sudden.'

If he were being honest with himself, Naruto found it a touch unnerving.

"If we're both being honest with each other, then I must admit..." Neji began to unzip his jacket. "You managed to knock me out there for a brief moment…" He snickered, much to Naruto's surprise. "You're strong, and I was wrong to call you a loser back in the preliminaries; I apologize."

Naruto pursed his lips. "That's a surprise. I didn't ever expect something like that from you."

"I'm no fool. Naruto Uzumaki, was it?"

"That's right," Naruto grinned as Neji shouldered his jacket off from his frame, revealing a sleeveless black turtleneck. He was surprisingly well-built underneath.

"Well, Naruto Uzumaki, whether I like it or not, you've been playing me since the very start of this fight… I let you rile me up, and you made a fool out of me for everyone to see. That is the objective truth; up until now, you have been the superior ninja." Neji sighed, looking a bit ashamed of himself.

"But that changes now," he said, resolute. "You see, I decided with my whole heart just now that I'm going to kill you, today. It's not persona- actually, it's pretty personal." Neji gripped the hem of his pants, dropping them to the ground where they hit the floor with a heavy thump.

Naruto raised his eyebrows. "Weights, huh? I wouldn't have expected that from you…"

"You don't know me," Neji said, lightly. He tossed his jacket over his shoulder, and it cracked the ground as it impacted the ground. "You don't know anything… You're just an ignorant child fighting pointlessly against a fate that was predetermined from your very birth. I may have underestimated your worth, but that fact remains." Neji cracked his neck. "But that's fine, I'll teach you better. You and Hinata-sama both can regret your coming here today as I send you off to the afterlife."

Naruto began to laugh. "And here I was thinking we were just starting to buddy up!" Spreading his arms out with a toothy grin, he laid out his challenge. "Come on then and give me everything you've got. Weights or no weights, whatever. I don't care if you copy the rest of Bushy Brows' whole fit and whip out those gates of his too. You still won't land a single hit on me."

"Funny you should say that," Neji chuckled darkly as he crossed his arms into a familiar pose.


"Is that-" Kurenai nearly gave herself whiplash to glare at a smirking Gai. "You taught that technique to him, as well!?"

"Of course I did," Gai chuckled. "Neji truly is a genius in his own right, but this month has been just the kick in his pants he needed to really dedicate himself. In many ways, he seems to have followed my boy Lee here's example, and turned himself into a real genius of hard work!"

Lee mirrored his sensei, offering Team Eight's sensei a thumbs-up of his own. "It truly is humbling to see that Neji was able to pick it up so quickly when it took me months, myself! I will have to double- no, I will triple my workload once I've recovered in order to close the gap yet again!

"Attaboy, Lee!" Gai slapped his student's back and stood, followed closely by Tenten, who helped a struggling Lee to his feet, also. "He was only supposed to use this if he ran into that Gaara kid, but seeing how fired up he is now, I can't help but make an exception!" Gai laughed, striking a flamboyant pose, which was roughly mirrored by both of his students. "Now go, Neji! Show everyone here the real power of youth!"

"Go Neji!" Lee and Tenten both yelled for their teammate.

The arena exploded with a violent deluge of chakra, and all hell broke loose.

Hinata watched it all, her smile unchanging.


"First Gate: Gate of Opening!" A vein began to bulge in Neji's head as his entire body tensed.

"Second Gate: Gate of Healing!" Many of the boy's bruises began to fade as he grit his teeth with effort.

"Third Gate: Gate of Life!"

The arena was filled with a torrent of raw chakra, so intense that Naruto had to protect himself against the buffeting wind that followed. The ground splintered, then uprooted itself, stone being torn from its foundations and spiraling around his opponent.

At the center of it all stood Neji, whose skin began to rapidly redden as his blood flow multiplied itself. Steam emitted from his skin as his very sweat boiled off his frame, mixing chaotically with his angry blue chakra. Neji breathed a wave dense, flame-like chakra like an angry dragon. His hair went wild, elevated and swaying with the flow of his roaring chakra. Most striking however were his eyes, which had gone a deep pink as the blood vessels around his eyes bulged to the point of nearly bursting; thin streaks of blood oozed from the corners of his eyes as his byakugan was pushed to the very limit and beyond by the cataclysmic deluge of chakra emanating from the boy.

"Be proud of yourself for bringing this out of me, Naruto Uzumaki! This is my limit!

Naruto stared into the heart of the storm, wide-eyed. Then he began to chuckle, quickly evolving into a full-blown cackle! "Good god, now we're cooking with gas!" He extended both of his arms outward, as if to embrace his opponent. "Come on, then!"

It would've been inaccurate to say that Neji ran at his whiskered opponent. At the level that Neji had reached, his kickoff alone completely decimated the ground beneath his feet as the boy practically flew at Naruto, a living, howling, red-skinned projectile. In an instant, he was in front of Naruto, then the ground beneath them shattered as he collided with his foe, an unstoppable palm strike aiming to kill. Neji noted with wide eyes that a wall of ghostly chains stood stalwartly between the pair.

"Didn't I tell you? It won't make a damn difference ya know!" Naruto's chains tried to burn Neji's flesh, but were held at bay by the waves of chakra emitting from his form. More chains sprouted from the small of Naruto's back beneath his clothes, attempting to snag Neji's outstretched arm and hold him still, but Neji ripped himself from his grip and disappeared, suddenly blasting about the arena at increasing speed; he was like a bolt of lightning, shattering every surface that he impacted, even while he blurred around Naruto like a massive bullet. His speed was so great that multiple after-images littered the field, distorting Naruto's perception of his foe.

"How do you like your odds, now?" Kushina chuckled, even as her son's eyes flit back and forth, trying and failing to keep up with his foe's movements.

Naruto's lips twisted, into a grin that was all teeth. 'In terms of speed and strength, he's far above me now. My eyes can't keep up at all. So watching his movements and counter attacking normally is off the table. Even if I could reach him, I wouldn't do any damage; he'll just nullify my hits again.'

"So then why are you smiling?" Kushina knew damn well why. She was smiling too.

'Because as Granny Mito taught me, strength aint the only way to win a fight!'

His eyes had become obsolete in this fight, so Naruto closed them, instead allocating that extra bit of focus to his sensory jutsu. "Mind's Eye of the Divine Entertainment." Naruto stilled, focusing entirely on the overwhelming mass of chakra that Neji had become and tracking his trajectory.

Even with all of that speed, his movements had become far too linear. Naruto tilted his head as Neji blurred past him, then ducked as he ricochet back, skidding unsteadily across the ground.

Stepping forward, Naruto snapped his fingers, and another mass of ghostly chains burst from his back, crawling through the air like a swarm of angry metal centipedes.

Naruto formed a one-handed seal, his index and middle fingers intertwining with one another while the rest remained closed, and he pointed at his opponent. "Adamantine Formation: Mandible." Quick as a flash, his new appendages snapped outwards, melding together to form a shape reminiscent of an insect's maw as they threatened to crush Neji within their jaws.

The juiced up Hyuga was far too quick though, once more disappearing from sight. He ricochet on the uprooted chunks of earth only to appear several meters above Naruto, an open palm cocked back.

"Eight Trigrams: Mountain Crusher!" The attack only barely resembled Neji's earlier attempt, being less like a bullet in this state and more akin to a fast-moving bomb.

Coiling his chains around himself, Naruto formed a tight ball around himself which struggled to weather the force, but just barely managed to hold strong.

Neji cocked his arm back again for an encore, this time spinning to aim upwards. His burst of chakra roared through the open air, blasting him towards Naruto's dome like a streak of carnage, incarnate.

"Beartrap," Naruto intoned, forming the top of his dome into a closing mass of lethal spikes.

One more, Neji thrust out his palm, slowing his momentum as he unleashed a wave that completely blew Naruto's chains apart, this time. The pieces quickly slunk along the ground, hastily reconnecting with one another

Bracing himself against the residual force, Naruto sensed the descending Neji who now smelled blood. Naruto twirled out of the way, pulling his legs up and kicking off from a sizable piece of rubble that lifted from Neji's impact. Using it, he launched himself a few meters away, where he landed with grace.

Neji immediately kicked off toward a waiting Naruto. A mere couple of inches off from his opponent, he was wracked with his first wave of pain as the recoil of unleashing the gates began to take its toll. Neji's chakra spasmed and Naruto capitalized, blurring into motion and snatching a choking Neji up by the neck.

"Hair pin!" Naruto's chains quickly reformed before coiling together into a multitude of sharp spears, attempting to skewer the choking Neji before he could recover.

Neji and Naruto locked eyes as the spears closed in on the former, threatening to take his life. Neji grinned, and Naruto's eyes widened as he sensed Neji's counter attack. Releasing him, Naruto leapt back as a massive wave of volatile, spiraling chakra burst out from Neji's body, twisting itself into a dome which carved through the earth and threatened to swallow Naruto up. Several hasty backsteps allowed him to clear the danger though.

"Eight Trigrams: Rotation," Neji intoned, proudly.

Naruto simply whistled. "Not a bad technique!"

"It looks like the big brother to that chakra barrier of his," Kushina speculated.

'Mhm… He pushes chakra out from each of his chakra points, then rotates it all to form something akin to a sphere. It blew all of my attacking chains to pieces and carved through the earth like warm butter; if that had touched me, I'd have been ripped apart.' Still, 'It consumes a ton of chakra though; he definitely can't do it more than a few times, even juiced up as he is right now.'

Kushina hummed in thought. "Can you bypass it?"

'More than likely. That jutsu clearly has a major weakness aside from the cost: He's rotating his chakra all in one direction. If I introduce a strong enough opposing force, I should be able to cancel out his jutsu. Alternatively, I could try to disrupt his focus, which could make it collapse in on him if he slips up…' Of course, there really wasn't a need for Naruto to force his way past Neji's technique. The clock was ticking in his favor; every second that the Hyuga expended with the third gate active was a second that he was spending destroying his own body. A fact that Neji seemed very aware of as he rushed forward yet again, both of his hands blurring out to lash at Naruto with a number of strikes ranging in the dozens.

Still, he was a bit slower than before, and Naruto was getting faster as he adapted to his flagging opponent.

"Dance of Storms: Kraken Waltz!" Both of his hands blurred into action, intercepting each of Neji's strikes with immaculate precision, even as the strain of keeping up made itself painfully apparent.

That was the issue with using chakra flow as a means of self enhancement. The body could only handle being pushed past its limits for so long and to such a point before it started to fail. One could improve their limits by building strength, and solidify their resilience against the backlash by building endurance.

However, the backlash would eventually do one in if they continued to push past the point that they were able to handle.

Of course, there were other ways to mitigate the damage done. Greater chakra control would allow a ninja to refine their chakra to a greater degree, achieving more with less and putting less strain on the body as a result. It explained why Neji was so much faster than Lee despite being only a fraction as fit. His immaculately refined chakra control, courtesy of his innate heritage and gentle-fist training, allowed him to make the most out of his reserves.

But there was a major caveat to all of that.

Suddenly multiplying one's chakra without the experience to compensate would no doubt ruin one's control, no matter how talented they were. Opening even one of the gates had been the most foolish move Neji could have made. Oh sure, it uncapped his chakra flow and allowed him to increase the limits of his physical abilities, but he clearly was not yet used to manipulating all of that chakra intuitively, like he could in his regular state. He was only using a fraction of the potential available to him, and he was quickly burning himself out, just trying to manage even that much.

Being able to open the gates was not actually much of a feat. Any fool with a strong body and a good mentor could manage it just fine. No, the real feat was being able to actually use the power granted by them without destroying oneself. Neji was partly there, but still held back by a number of integral limitations:

For one, he wasn't able to regulate his own chakra, uncapped as it was; the resulting backlash was causing a ton of inefficiencies and completely destroying his body.

For two, his body simply wasn't resilient enough to sustain the extreme effort and endurance required to use the increased power efficiently. It had only taken a few short seconds for the Hyuga's body to start giving out on him.

At his current level, the Gates were meant to be a fight ender, not something to be used to simply get an edge on a superior opponent. Neji simply had not had the time to refine this technique enough to use it in battle. Oh, he was impressive, but he was no Rock Lee.

Neji planted his foot and sped forward, suddenly dropping low and smashing the ground with a devastating gentle-fist strike that sent massive chunks of stone flying upwards. "Eight Trigrams: Sundering Earth!. Then, Neji blasted off into the air, where he began to bounce from each piece of rubble so quickly it was like he was everywhere at once. As he did so, Neji spiraled, his body suffused with dense chakra pouring from every point of his body and rotating into a shape akin to a flying drill. This time, unlike when he used his rotation, he maintained the flow of chakra as he flew.

He was a living battering ram, slamming into and even through everything he touched as his speed continued to ramp up.

It was impressive, but ultimately pointless.

The simple, objective truth was that Neji was no closer to winning their fight than before he'd opened the gates. If anything, he'd gone and handed the win directly to Naruto.

'He's still no closer to hitting me than he was before.'

Naruto was torn from his feet, a manic laugh tearing from his throat as the vortex created by Neji's movements proved too intense for him to remain rooted to the ground; he and the earth were both rapidly swallowed up into the cataclysm. Sucked into the very heart of it all, Naruto could only throw his arms up, applying a thin layer of chakra over his body in a rough mimicry of Neji's barrier technique. Using it, he was able to weather the pelting rubble, unscathed.

"Eight Trigrams: Chaotic Rotation!

Neji's chakra was flitting about so quickly that it was nearly impossible to pin down, but Naruto could just barely manage, and the longer he kept a bead on the boy, the more he found himself refining his own sense to keep up.

"Don't say I didn't warn you, Naruto Uzumaki!" Neji screamed at him through the storm.

Naruto heard screams coming from the audience over the devastating howl of the surrounding winds, and suddenly it all came to a head. Well over a hundred cataclysmic attacks came careening toward him, seemingly all at once

"Eight Trigrams: One-Hundred Twenty-Eight Palms!"

It was an omnidirectional attack, each one carrying even greater speed and strength as his mountain crusher. There was no way to dodge; no way he could guard it, either. His chains were strong, but Naruto doubted they could take more than one attack of that scale, let alone over a hundred, if Neji's declaration was to be believed.

One-hundred and twenty-eight simultaneous attacks came in at the blonde and the storm detonated.


"Shit!" Kiba and Shikamaru cursed at once. Choji's grip went limp, leaving his chips to fall forgotten onto the floor. All around them, people began to scream as the debris torn up by Neji's attack battered the arena walls, leaving massive spiderweb cracks in the entire length, all around.

"It's too much!" Ino yowled like a cat as she was nearly ripped from her spot and sucked into the ensuing storm. She and Sakura held onto one another and dropped low, trying to wait it out in a panic.

Kurenai pulled her students into a protective embrace. From within her arms, Kiba and Shino both threw their arms around Hinata, all of Team Eight collectively using their chakra to stick to the floor and securing their grip on the balcony. All the while, Hinata refused to tear her eyes off the arena.

"T-there's no way he could've taken that," Kiba stammered. "I'm sorry Hinata I don't think he-"

"It's fine, Kiba-kun," Hinata whispered back. A wild grin had stretched across her face, unlike anything the boy had ever seen from his friend. "It's fine. Naruto-kun kept his promise."

She pointed down below where the debris was beginning to settle, revealing the wreckage below.

At the center of it all was Neji, firmly planted on both knees. He was leaning right above a cratered corpse, choking down oxygen with desperation, completely unable to even find strength in his legs.

"I-haa, I told you, you had no chance of winning from the start."

"Uh, H-Hinata, he doesn't look so good. Are you sure you aren't-" Kiba cut off as Hinata excitedly shushed him, her eyes locked onto the scene.

"Fate is unbeatable," Neji snarled. "It has to be."

Hinata couldn't help but notice that her cousin looked almost sad, at that fact.

"You were a fool to the very end, trying to defy that which is predetermined-" Neji suddenly stopped, his eyes widening into pain and disbelief as the ground beneath him was smashed apart, revealing a brutal fist which smashed into his gut like a freight train.

"Gaaaaah!" Neji spit out saliva as he was launched directly above like a bullet, hanging for a long moment before crashing into the ground, a spasming mess. Unable to get his feet under him, Neji loudly wretched, blood and bile signifying that something internal had been severely damaged.

"Your fate can kiss my ass." Naruto huffed, dragging himself out from the hole he had made. "Fate can tell me what to do when she starts paying my damn house bills." Much to everyone's shock, the Uzumaki boy was entirely unscathed.

"How the hell did he avoid that? There was nowhere for him to go!" Kiba's exclamation elicited many nods from the surrounding Konoha ninja, many of which looked to Hinata, hoping she might offer an explanation.

Recognizing the request, Hinata couldn't help but giggle. "Neji-niisan hasn't been fighting the real Naruto-kun since he disappeared on him." At their confused expressions, she twisted her fingers, mimicking her crush. "Naruto-kun shrunk himself down to slip past Neji-niisan's sight, then replaced himself with a clone, which took over the fight while he waited underground. Um- once Neji-niisan opened the gates, he'd completely lost the fight because Naruto-kun could just wait him out!"

"So that asshole was just playing him, that entire time!?" Tenten snarled in rage as Neji spasmed on the ground, repeatedly trying and failing to find his footing.

"It sounds to me like Naruto anticipated he might've had something in store and wanted to scout it out safely. Whether he knew Neji would open the gates or not is hard to tell, but either way, Neji played right into his hands," Shikamaru summed up. "Your teammate never stood a chance."


"Let me ask you something," Naruto began, casually brushing himself off as he paced around the still-spasming Neji. "Why exactly are you trying so hard?"

Neji froze. "Wha- what are you saying?" Looking up at his foe, Neji snarled. "If you're going to gloat, then you can do so without the need to be cryptic!"

"I'm not being cryptic, you sad sack of shit. I'm asking you the one question your dumbass hasn't even thought to ask yourself, yet!" Naruto rolled his eyes, then leaned down until his nose was just short of touching the near-paralyzed Neji. "If fate really is this unstoppable force that cannot be defied by any means, then where do you get off trying so hard to prove it? Shouldn't the universe just magically align itself to meet whatever bullshit you went ahead and conjured into the world with your inflated ego and magic eyeballs? By all rights, all you should've had to do was show up and I'd have gotten my ass kicked." Naruto snatched a groaning Neji by his hair, dragging the boy upwards as he stood until Neji was barely dangling off the ground, helpless. "If fate truly is out here making sure that a 'gifted genius' like your goofy ass always stays on top, then why am I gripping your head right now like some cheap whore?

Naruto slammed a crippling punch into the helpless Neji's gut, folding him over the outstretched limb with a loud retch. Neji tried to find enough strength in his legs to stay standing, but was sent skidding across the ground as Naruto brutally slapped him across the face. "I'll tell you why. It's because fate is just some magical fairytale concept you dreamt up one night to cope with your dead dad and your shitty clan's archaic, third world clown show policies. You're my bitch right now because you're full of crap, and fate is just an excuse you swing around to justify punishing the world over your petty trauma. Fate is just your excuse to be a bully."

"Y-you're wrong," Neji slurred. "Fate does exist!"

Naruto once more stalked the downed boy. "'Because if it doesn't, then that means my father died for nothing…' That's what you're thinking right now, right?"

"Don't mock me!" Neji howled, fighting back tears of frustration. "You don't understand a damn thing about me!"

Naruto laughed, sardonically. "Both my parents were murdered the day I was born. I grew up flitting through orphanages until I was old enough to kick to the curb; after that, I spent most nights sleeping in alley gutters until the Third found me. Most nights I had sleep for dinner." He shrugged in a 'what can you do' sort of way. "If I was lucky, I could find a half-decent meal from the dumpsters behind one of the Akimichi restaurants, assuming the rats didn't get to it first. Some days, there wasn't enough to go around so I killed and ate the rats too." Naruto squatted down next to the now stunned silent Neji. The horror on the boy's face spoke volumes. "You at least had the luxury of three warm meals a day and a place to rest your head. You were blessed enough to have known your parents enough to miss them. You may have had it rough, but people took your pain seriously."

Naruto sighed, suddenly lost in his memories. "Don't get me wrong, that doesn't invalidate what you've been through; don't think I'm trying to tell you to suck it all up and forget the shit hand you were dealt. That's not my point."

Then, Naruto pinned Neji with a toxic stare. "My point is that I understand far more than you could ever hope to dream, and it's because I get it, that I can say with authority that you're full of shit. It's never been about fate; you just wanted something to blame... Nah, If you really believed in that crap, you wouldn't have trained so hard to take down some dead last loser. You wouldn't be struggling to find your feet, even now." Naruto chuckled, standing tall. "If you're really as smart as everyone keeps saying you are, then you know that I'm right."

Naruto looked up to the Hyuga stands, and Neji meekly followed his gaze. "For the record, you guys suck and you really oughta figure your shit out. You shouldn't need a teenager to explain to you that slavery is bad. Get your shit together or I'll do it for you!" He grinned at the various expressions of outrage that sounded from their corner.

Looking down at Neji again, Naruto sighed. "Look, you can be pissed at me all you want; go ahead and hate the main branch while you're at it. Plot a coup; assassinate the head; 'power to the people' and all that jazz. I don't care." Naruto grinned toothily at Neji, but was disappointed as his 'joke' fell flat. In any case, "But don't let yourself be so wrapped up in your struggle that you go stepping on everyone else. Don't let some imaginary concept or the questionable policies of your loser clan hold you back from reaching your full potential either. That's all- oh wait, actually, you also owe Hinata an apology and some serious thanks, because she's the only reason I'm taking the time to empathize with you instead of just packing you up in a full body cast and calling it a day. Now I'm done."

Genma dropped down between them, his eyes somewhat wide. His toothpick had fallen out of his mouth at some point. He took a long look at the downed Neji, then said, "Neji Hyuga is clearly unable to fight any further. The winner of this round is Naruto Uzumaki."


Hiruzen watched the events below with a canny eye. Naruto had certainly improved by leaps and bounds. Moreover, he'd come swinging with skills and techniques that he most certainly had not had before.

"Quite the performance by both of your Genin, wouldn't you say, Hokage?" The Kazekage watched with interest as Naruto and Neji's fight finally wound down.

"I'd certainly say so, yes." That was an understatement. Both Genin had demonstrated remarkable growth; young Neji's opening of the gates was yet another tally on a long list of accolades, cementing his status as a true genius. That, or Gai was just that remarkable of a teacher; both were likely true.

More impressive though was Naruto. His use of his clan's dances and adamantine chains were both inspired and spoke of a level of expertise that he wouldn't have expected of someone so young; certainly not when he would've barely had any time to even get accustomed to them. That alone was sign enough that Naruto was hiding a great deal from him, in regards to his experience while unconscious.

A matter to bring up then, once the two were on slightly better terms with one another.

Still, the use of his chains were impressive, but surprisingly less significant than his strategic approach to his fight. His methods of riling up young Neji were a touch cruel, but ultimately efficient, and his later show of empathy did well to soothe Hiruzen's nerves regarding the boy. Most notable, however, was his foresight to plan in advance for young Neji's final attack. Hiruzen had wondered why he had not seen any clones from the blonde, despite the young man's tendency to favor them. Knowing now how far in advance he had planned though, both for the end of his fight and for later fights as well… The Third Hokage knew then and there that he would promote Naruto Uzumaki to Chūnin; his favorite Genin had gone above and beyond what was expected of him, both in terms of skill and judgment. Hiruzen made a short note and handed it off to Iruka, who was acting as his assistant. "Hold onto that for me please, young Iruka."

"Ah, Lord Hokage, is that-"

"It is. I would very much like it if you could deliver the news to him, once all of this is over; I'm sure young Naruto would be happy to hear from you."

Iruka clutched the small strip of paper, his eyes bright and full of pride. "It would be my honor, my lord."

"So you have chosen to promote your Genin, and off just his first battle, Hokage?" Rasa's amusement could be seen even through his veil. "Are you perhaps fond of that young one?"

Hiruzen side-eyed the man. "His performance was exemplary, rating well above even the level expected of one of my Chūnin. I would be a fool not to recognize his potential."

"And what of the other? He was quite impressive as well, was he not?"

The Kazekage made a decent point. Neji had certainly demonstrated a great deal of ability as a combatant. However, "Impressive as he was, young Neji Hyuga's inability to keep his cool during their battle caused him to lose a great deal of tempo, early on. His techniques were impressive, and I was happy to see that he was eventually able to regain his composure. However, he ultimately played the majority of his battle very poorly compared to young Naruto and allowed himself to be taken advantage of in ways I'd expect a Chūnin not to fall prey to. I am certain that he will be promoted sometime soon at his current rate of growth, but today is not that day."

The other Kage simply nodded his head, seemingly agreeing with his reasoning.


"We will take a brief ten-minute recess while we get the arena back to a functional level. Please take the time to resituate yourselves however you need… Thank you for your patience." His announcement made, Genma was quickly joined by several ninjas who began to cast numerous jutsus. In real time, those within the audience could see the effects of the techniques as the landscape began to reform itself to that of a mostly flat platform, decorated sparsely with trees.

As many within the audience began to mill about, Hiashi Hyuga took a deep breath and stood from his seat. Bearing the questioning gaze of his youngest daughter, Hiashi nodded to the girl. "I will be but a moment, Hanabi. I wish to speak to Neji."

Hanabi simply stared, suspiciously. "You're not going to go punish him for losing, are you?"

Hiashi suppressed a wince, seeing his daughter assume the worst of him. "I simply wish to confirm his health. That is all."

"Alright… In that case, can I go visit Hinata while you're gone?" Hanabi pointed at her sister, who was practically vibrating with joy from her spot near the challengers' booth.

"You may," Hiashi responded with a nod, allowing his daughter to leave. As the young girl merrily sprinted off, he regarded the handful of surrounding elders, many of which had begun giving him dirty looks for allowing such a thing. "Is there a problem?"

It was an old woman who responded -Kana Hyuga. Even at her age, she possessed an elegant beauty to her, which was unfortunately marred by the ugly scowl on her face. "With all due respect, lord Hiashi, your eldest daughter is being seen openly supporting an outsider, and against family, no less." Kana gestured towards Hinata, whose bold, orange clothing stood out amongst all of her peers. "I strongly question the wisdom of allowing your youngest to be exposed to her influence."

Hiashi felt a spike of indignance. Oh, he didn't necessarily disagree with the woman, per se… But what his daughter did was his business; it was not any of their places to speak ill of his children. "Your concerns have been duly noted, Lady Kana. Perhaps I will speak to my eldest, at a later date."

The elderly woman looked as though she had swallowed a lemon, recognizing the dismissal for what it was. "As you say, my lord."

Hiashi did not acknowledge his clan any further, instead making a quick, but steady approach towards the on-site hospital wing, where Neji was sure to have been moved. The injuries that he had sustained in his fight were hardly life threatening, but surely severe enough to require immediate healing. Hiashi's long strides set an imposing stride towards his goal.

He stopped, however, as the sight of his nephew's opponent stole his focus. The young Uzumaki was pristine, save for a few drops of Neji's blood, which had stained his knuckles. The wise decision would have simply been to ignore the young ninja; they had nothing to speak about, after all. But he had openly challenged their clan, and Hiashi couldn't quite deny that his daughter's fondness for the boy had peaked his interest.

"Young man," he called to the blonde before he could stop himself. Naruto Uzumaki's eyes snapped over to meet his, and he tilted his head with curiosity. "A word, if you would?"

"Oh dear," Naruto hummed. "You're not here to kill me and stuff my corpse in a garbage bin are you?" The cheery tone of his voice conflicted strongly with his words, briefly giving Hiashi pause.

"I had not considered such a thing, no. Though I am sure many within my clan would like to, considering the disrespect you have shown us."

Naruto simply smiled, serenely. "Ah, so you're seeking an apology, then?" Not allowing Hiashi a moment to speak, he simply tilted his head in the other direction, towards where Hiashi knew the medical wing had been stationed. "Before your clan comes at me for insulting their honor, they should probably figure out why they put a kill switch on the heads of their children. I'll apologize with my whole chest when you guys get that little oopsie settled."

"I would not expect you to understand our ways," Hiashi suppressed a long sigh. It was not the first time he had been challenged on the topic. He didn't quite care to justify himself to a child. Knowing the boy's relationship though, both with his daughter and the Hokage, he decided to make an exception. His foolishness aside, it would not be wise for the Hyuga clan to be at odds with their village's jinchuriki; this went double, considering the hype his most recent showing was sure to cause. "It is clear that my foolish daughter has been airing our clan's business to you." He would need to speak to Hinata, regarding that. "The nature of the seal is meant to protect the secrets of our byakugan from potential enemies. It is for the good of our clan that it exists."

"That certainly explains why you went and pilfered an old Uzumaki neuro-suppression matrix meant for prisoners of war, instead of -oh, I don't know-, a simple contract seal meant to rot the eyes on the condition that a Hyuga died or had their eyes removed?" Naruto rolled his eyes, even as Hiashi tensed. "I got a look at his forehead while I was taking him to get checked out. Let's not bullshit each other, Lord Hiashi. There's no justifiable excuse for putting that seal on family; if you're going to condone enslaving and treating your people like animals, at least go ahead and own it."

Hiashi said nothing, his eyes simply boring into Naruto's own with not so much as a twitch. "Your concerns are appreciated," he finally said, robotically inclining his head. "Back to the topic, however, it is not an apology that I came for."

"Oh?" Naruto looked taken aback by that correction. "Then what do you want? Wait sorry, that was ruder than I intended- how can I help you?"

"A congratulations for a respectable win against one of my own, for starters... Followed by a personal word of thanks." Hiashi simply bore the gaze of a now-gaping Naruto. "Whether you realize it or not, it is twice now that your influence has done some good for members of my family… Many within my clan would see you punished for your rather disrespectful approach." Hiashi walked past a stunned-silent Naruto, continuing toward the medical wing. "I will overlook it just this once, however."

It was long overdue that Hiashi and his nephew finally had a heart-to-heart.


Alright, that's that, for now! This was originally much longer, but once I had reached the 16k word benchmark, I started to realize that I was overdoing it a bit, and this chapter was going to take way too long to get out at the rate I was going.

Let's talk post-analysis:

First off, I really wanted to do Neji differently. The canon material went really hard on hyping Neji up as this super wacky combatant who even Lee couldn't dream of defeating. Lee even says that he learned to open the gates in secret because he was planning on using them to defeat Neji. This outright means that Lee thought that's what it would take just to have a chance at taking the guy down. We take this and look at the way he effortlessly dismantled Hinata in his fight and we're led to expect that Neji is an absolute monster of a combatant who stands head and shoulders above everyone else and is on a similar level to Gaara, himself.

What I wanted to do here was really lean into that element by having Neji feel like an overwhelming opponent while also differentiating his fight from how it was done in canon. Here, Naruto is much stronger and smarter, and isn't just willing to use Kurama's chakra if he winds up in a pinch. Because of that, I found myself with the unique circumstance of getting to write a far stronger Neji with new tricks up his sleeve and play the fight out a bit differently as a result.

I wanted there to be a bit of spectacle, but my main focus was on how Naruto would approach Neji AFTER the fight. Naruto vs Neji isn't worth a damn if Naruto doesn't reach Neji at the end and have him become a better person. But at the same time, Naruto's fabled talk-no-jutsu only really works AFTER he has kicked his foe's teeth in, a bit.

I wanted Neji to feel like he is desperate to prove his ideology. To that end, it felt more poignant to have him be the lesser combatant here.

OG Naruto has our boy fighting just to keep up with Neji and getting utterly outclassed the entire time. However it feels more like an antifeat for Naruto than an actual feat on Neji's behalf. Naruto needs to eventually rely on Kurama's power just to have a chance at fighting Neji, and it honestly feels pretty anticlimactic, to be honest. He throws a shuriken and clashes with Neji's middling 'ultimate defense' before ONE SHOTTING NEJI WITH A SINGLE PUNCH.

Good god, Neji sold.

I was much more interested in having Neji fight to prove his ideology and essentially force Naruto to take him seriously because that's kind've the benchmark here, for him.

Naruto comes into this fight without very much empathy for Neji at all; he interrupts him as he attempts to monologue, says cruel stuff to him just to get on his nerves, tells Neji "you're trash and you won't even hit me a single time," and basically beats on him until Neji gets his head on straight and decides "enough is enough." In essence, Naruto bullies Neji because that's what Neji did to Hinata.

However, Neji eventually proves that he's got some spine to him and in doing so earns enough of Naruto's respect for them to have a real conversation; this is where empathy finally comes into play and Naruto makes his focus more about helping this guy with some tough love, rather than just beating on him and embarrassing him.

At his core, Naruto is still a kind person who wants to help people. However that kindness is sometimes a bit harder for him to draw out because he's a bit more jaded, and he also isn't quite mature enough yet to put aside his own personal biases in full. That's kind've my mindset, here. This Naruto is somewhere between Part 1 Naruto and Shippuden Naruto in terms of maturity. He has experienced enough rough stuff that he's affected by it all, but not quite old and wise enough to look past it all.

Moving onto Naruto and Hiashi's conversation… Okay look, Hiashi is weird! I kind've hate him for being wildly inconsistent, but I see too many fics essentially just bash him into oblivion. I suspect that part of it comes from the fact that outside of him leveling with Neji, Hiashi is typically portrayed as a cold, unempathetic man and a trashcan of a dad. But then he suddenly becomes this doting grandfather out of nowhere. I'd like to tackle the nuances of his identity and his relationship with his children by approaching him from the perspective of a complicated man who loves his family and has good intentions, but is emotionally distant and maybe a bit incompetent when it comes to approaching his family from that angle.

Needless to say I've got some plans for him, but I felt like it was important to at least set the baseline of expectations when it comes to how I plan to tackle him. I'm still not entirely sure that I did a good job there. You guys can tell me in the reviews what you thought, and any suggestions you may have on how to tackle that mess of a guy. I certainly need it!

As for Sakura, and this is the hard part: I can already tell that writing her is going to be HARD! I kind've don't like Sakura at all. Not because she's useless; she was kind've cool as hell at the start of Shippuden and I was really vibing with her for a time. Nah, my main issue is that throughout much of Part one and a very important chunk of Part two, she comes across as incredibly emotionally manipulative and completely lacking in empathy for Naruto. It's kind've hard to believe that she really cares about the dude, with how often she just treats him like crap for the sake of comedy. She's got some decent moments where she's actually pretty cool. The most notable being when Naruto is doing rasenshuriken training and she makes him the food pills to help him out and show her support. My goal is to organically get to the point where that is the norm for her, hopefully dishing out a well-written and likable Sakura as a result. But hoo boy, getting there is gonna be a tough ask!

Here, I'd like to reiterate that my goal is absolutely not to bash Sakura. We'll probably get some major interactions with her soon, but I wanted them to specifically be between her and Naruto, so look forward to that. Suggestions there would be welcome, too.

LASTLY, I know I kind've set up a major potential plot point in regards to Naruto and the Inuzuka. I plan to touch on it; I'm just wanting to choose a more appropriate time for it and do it justice because I think it has a lot of potential when it comes to Naruto's relationship with Kiba and the rest of his peers. All of this to say I want to do it properly, so it may take a bit. But I haven't forgotten and it won't just become a dead plot point.

In any case, thanks so much for reading! Next chapter should be out in the next couple of days, once I find time away from work to focus on it.

Speaking of which, I've been meaning to ask, but would you all be interested in a forum or anything like that? I'm seeing the numbers, but I'm a little dumb and it's hard for my brain to wrap my head around it all; I just want to make sure that you guys are able to easily express your thoughts and have discussions if you want to. Let me know about that in the comments. If interest seems high, I'll look into that!