Naruto vs Neji - Chunin Exam Stadium

"Your destiny is to lose to me, for sure." Neji declared with a smirk. Neji has long, dark brown hair that is usually tied into a loose ponytail. One of Neji's distinctive features is his unique eye design. He possesses the Byakugan, a powerful dojutsu (eye technique) that grants him exceptional visual abilities, including the ability to see chakra pathways in the body.

Naruto gritted his teeth in defiance, bearing the marks of Neji's previous assault. His tired eyes gleamed with determination. "You won't know until you try!" before proceeding to pant a bit.

Neji frowned for a moment. On his forehead was a mark. The branch family members are typically given a cursed seal called the "cursed mark" or "Byakugan seal." This seal is placed on their forehead to ensure loyalty and to protect the secrets of the Byakugan. If a branch family member is deemed a threat or if they violate certain rules, the seal can be activated, causing intense pain and, in extreme cases, death.

Neji carries this mark on his forehead as a visible reminder of the hierarchical structure within the Hyuga clan and the burden placed upon the branch family members.

Neji quietly began to wear his forehead protector, as Naruto admitted, "Your father was killed a long time ago, and I don't know the extent of the pain you've felt, but it's a huge mistake to think that that has determined your entire destiny!"

Neji had just finished tying his forehead protector on his forehead and remarked, "You're hopeless…" In a blink of an eye, his Byakugan flared to life. Without a missing a beat, Neji slipped into his battle stance. And then, like a coiled spring released, he charged straight towards Naruto, before slamming his palm onto Naruto's midriff with great precision, causing Naruto to stumble several feet backwards.

Neji ascended to an upright stance. While still keeping his gaze fixed on his opponent, he addressed the referee who was watching the fight unfold not too far away, his voice cutting through the charged air like a blade. "Proctor… It's over." he declared. His watchful eyes briefly acknowledged Naruto's prone form sprawled on the ground. With a disdainful exhale, he turned away slightly while still being able to see his opponent. "You failure…" And with that, he deactivated his Byakugan.

He then turned around completely before walking away. However, as he was doing so, he heard a voice say tiredly, "Don't… run away…"

Neji stopped in his tracks, his frame arrested in a momentary pause. He pivoted halfway, his discerning gaze capturing Naruto, who was already clawing his way back to an unsteady stand with a battered look on his face. A subtle furrow creased Neji's brow, understanding that his opponent persisted.

Clutching the fabric near his chest, Naruto drew a ragged breath as the weight of exhaustion was etched across his features. "I won't run away… I'll stand… by my own words. Because that's my ninja way."

Neji's memory stirred, as he remembered that his cousin, Hinata, had uttered similar words to him before. The words of his cousin replayed in the corridors of his memories. With a scoff and a wry smirk playing upon his lips, he remarked, "I've heard that line before."

Naruto's chest heaved with the weight of exhaustion. Beads of sweat clung to his furrowed brow as he panted and said, "You with your destiny stuff… I won't lose to a jerk like you with cold feet no matter what!"

Neji was smouldered with irritation, as well as the flicker of anger. "A brat like you who knows nothing shouldn't lecture arrogantly." he retorted. His gaze narrowed, and the lines etched upon his face deepened with annoyance. "People are born burdened with an inherent destiny that they cannot defy." he clenched his teeth as a low guttural groan escaped him. "You can't possibly understand," he seethed, his words heavy with bitterness, "the destiny of being burdened with a mark that cannot be wiped off for life!"

Naruto panted heavily with closed eyes as he held the fabric near his chest, and began to remember about how he had the Nine Tailed Fox inside him, and how he was mistreated by the villagers ever since he was a child. After a moment, he then opened his eyes and stared weakly at Neji, while still having determination etched on his face. "Yeah… I do understand it. He then smirked at Neji weakly. "So… what of it?"

Neji widened his eyes slightly in anger as more veins bulged near his eyes. "This brat…!" he muttered under his breath.

"Don't be acting cool… It's not just you who's special."

Neji frowned, as Naruto continued, "Hinata was suffering the same as you. Even though she's the head family, not being acknowledged as such, trying desperately to change herself, she fought you while coughing up blood with that in mind! You too! The branch family that protects the head family… doing all that to Hinata just because it's an exam… In actuality, you were just frantic in attempting to go against destiny, right?"

Neji made a slight grunt sound as he narrowed his eyes a bit at Naruto with a slight scowl, realising that Naruto had somehow figured out his feelings and thoughts.

Naruto coughed hoarsely a bit as Neji smirked and stated, "Your 64 Chakra points are now shut… How are you, who can't use chakra for a while, planning to fight? At the end of the day, you and Miss Hinata have the same destiny." he reactivated his Byakugan.

Naruto's face looked weary, but he managed to shout, "Shut up! With your Byakugan, labeling people and talking like as if you understand!"

Neji's smirk widened. "Then show me whether what you are saying is true or not."

"I will… I'll defeat you no matter what and prove that to you!" Naruto shifted uncomfortably, as he then thought to himself, "That being said, I don't feel any Chakra at all. It feels just like that time when I used up my Chakra during training." After a moment, Naruto widened his eyes in realization as he remembered something Jiraiya had told him before.

FLASHBACK BEGINS

"Naruto… you possess two kinds of Chakra. You must extract and utilize it at any time, the other huge chakra that has rested inside of you from the start…" Jiraiya said.

FLASHBACK ENDS

Naruto stood upright as he thought to himself, "That's it… the Nine Tailed Fox's Chakra… I'll use that…" he then closed his eyes, trying to locate the fox's chakra within him. This caught Neji's attention, as the Hyuuga deactivated his Sharingan and stared at Naruto with a mix of bafflement and curiosity.

"Stinking fox… Help me out!" Naruto thought.

Neji sighed. "This is as far as the talking goes. Proctor… I am going to fight him with the intent to kill. If you're going to stop me, please feel free."

Naruto scoffed while still keeping his eyes closed, and joined both his index and middle fingers together while intertwining his ring and little fingers, and began focusing on accumulating chakra.

Neji scoffed with a smirk. "Didn't I tell you it's pointless?"

"Haaaa!" Naruto yelled, as he continued to focus more on the fox's chakra while keeping his head bent down.

Neji continued to maintain his smirk. "It's futile… I have already blocked the chakra points." he then shook his head and grinned arrogantly. "Why do you try to go against your destiny that much?"

As Naruto's hands and fingers were trembling due to him struggling to extract the Fox's chakra, he slowly opened his eyes before revealing, "Because I was called a failure. I'll prove them wrong."

Neji reactivated his byakugan and narrowed his eyes at Naruto. That's when he noticed chakra was seeping out from Naruto! But how was this possible?! A circle of wind and red chakra surrounded Naruto, as stones began to levitate from the ground into the air due to the sheer force of the chakra. Thanks to the red chakra, it healed Naruto's wounds, recovering him back to 100%. However, just as Naruto was ready, something odd began to take place. More of the Fox's chakra began seeping out than normal. This time, Naruto's aura turned into a red cloak. The blond ninja felt like as if his mind was going to be taken over by the fox. "D-Damn it… I think I extracted too much Chakra!"

INSIDE NARUTO'S SUBCONSCIOUSNESS

As Naruto teetered on the precipice of losing himself to the overwhelming chasm of the Nine-Tails' malevolence, an ethereal presence manifested before him, bathed in a radiant, resplendent golden light. With fiery red hair that cascaded like a waterfall of molten silk, and eyes that gleamed with an otherworldly violet hue, the woman who stood before him was none other than Kushina Uzumaki. With a voice that resonated like the sweetest melody, she addressed him, her words carrying the weight of a mother's love and concern, "Don't let the fox's power consume you... Naruto."

BACK TO THE REAL WORLD - Naruto vs Neji

Neji widened his eyes in shock at what he was witnessing right now. "W-What is this demonic chakra?! Just who is he?!"

However, the red chakra suddenly stopped growing. It was not long before the red chakra faded away from existence. Naruto took a deep breath while still keeping his eyes closed, before exhaling slowly. That's when the blond ninja gained a complex silver and blue aura consisting of rippling, fire-like energy, complete with sparkling particles of a magenta colour. He then opened his eyes, revealing silver irises with black pupils.

Neji couldn't believe what his Byakugan was seeing. Even though Naruto exhibited clear signs of Chakra, he couldn't see ANY chakra in Naruto's body! It wasn't because it was blocked or anything. From what he could understand, there was simply no chakra in his body now. What the hell had just happened?

Even the proctor refereeing the match was in shock. He had never seen anything like this.

"W-What's this heat I'm feeling from Naruto…?" Neji shielded his face with crossed arms, as he could feel heat from Naruto's new aura.

"It's over… Neji. You don't stand a chance against me now." Naruto stated with a serious look on his face. He then clenched his fists to his side, before powering up. The aura burst upwards like a rocket and into the skies, breaking the landscape around them a bit in the process. This shocked everyone in the crowd, as well as the Hokage who was watching from his seat. Naruto yelled. But there was something different about his yell. It sounded like there were two voices layered over. One was Naruto's roar, and the other was a roar of some kind of beast.

"WHAT?!" Neji was in utter shock. "Where did you get this kind of power?!"

To be continued…