"Sasuke still isn't here?" I muttered out loud with a frown as I looked around for the Sharingan idiot, the other Leaf shinobi doing the same and all of us frowned as we didn't see him standing with us.
"That's already a few points docked off for his performance."
"Wait, everything about us getting graded?" Shikamaru asked with a groan as Genma spoke up, my own frown deepening as Genma's response was to simply smile while turning to look at us.
"Anyway, does everyone still remember their match-ups?"
"Not a single bit." I answered with a shake of my head, Hinata giggling softly, Shikamaru and even Shino looking slightly amused as Neji frowned while Temari and Kankurou raised an eyebrow at my response.
"Why am I not surprised, Naruto?"
"I know. I just wanted to see who else I'm facing after I beat the mummy over there." I said while gesturing towards Dosu, who frowned at my response as Genma sighed while pulling a folded-up paper out of his flak jacket, opening it and showing it for all of us to see.
Shino vs Neji
Shikamaru vs Kankurou
Hinata vs Temari
Sasuke vs Dosu
Naruto vs Gaara
"Well, at least we don't have to worry about your teammate fighting against Shukaku and his jinchuriki."
'No, because I have to deal with the crazy bastard & his 'mother'. Hah, at least Hinata's match-up got changed as well to Temari instead of Neji. I guess the old man didn't want to show a clan member trying to kill another.' I thought with a shaky relieved smile as I looked over at Neji, not surprised to see the disappointed look on his face as I remember how sadistically eager he looked when he found out that he was going to fight against Hinata.
Well, at least something good happened today.
"There you go. Everyone knows their fights so everyone that isn't fighting in the first round, follow the path to your left up to the viewing balcony." Genma spoke and we nodded as seven of us turned and began walking towards the viewing balcony while leaving Shino and Neji on the battlefield.
"Keep your guard up when you're fighting that Gaara guy. Something happened at the hospital yesterday and I can say the guy's unhinged." Shikamaru whispered to me as the two of us trailed behind everyone else and I frowned slightly and nodded.
"I'm prepared to fight all of you, but I am prepared the most for Gaara and his sand."
"I see. Well, at least you're a stamina monster so you'll have no trouble getting back up and being a nuisance." Shikamaru spoke with a smirk as he held a fist up and I snorted as I bumped it with a smirk.
"Of course, as long as you remember to not give up within the first couple of seconds."
"Nope, I'm giving up the moment I get a chance." He spoke with a determined look and I simply rolled my eyes before blinking as I found Hinata walking besides me with a slight blush.
"Remember our bet?" She whispered and Shikamaru decided to give us some privacy as he slipped away, leaving the two of us alone as we walked out onto the balcony.
"I didn't forget, Hina. Just make sure you remember it too."
"Oh, I will~" I don't know why, but the throaty way she said it both sent a tingle and a chill up my spine in unison, watching as she gave me an innocent smile before walking to stand at the railing.
'Kurama?'
"Don't look at me for help. You were the one who wanted to give her confidence."
'…Next time I try something like that, remind me of this moment.'
"For an extra two minutes, I will." He responded and I rolled my eyes before focusing my attention back on the battlefield, already beginning to take notes as Genma raised his hand before bringing it down to start the match.
'Neji Hyuga, member of the Hyuga's Branch Family. A prodigy seen once in a generation according to Hinata and is known to be better than even some adult shinobi of the Hyuga Clan when it comes to the Gentle Fist & Byakugan.' Shino thought with a frown as he began to fuel chakra to his insects, their chattering and droning echoing softly in the tunnels of his body as he felt them crawling out.
'Shinobi Aburame, heir to the Aburame Clan. While there is no official information of how their jutsu works, each Aburame Clan member is given a queen at birth that is placed inside their body which then gives birth to the insects they use for their jutsu in a symbiotic relationship.' Neji thought with a frown as he went into the opening stance of the Gentle Fist, his Byakugan already activated as he watched insects pour out from the holes in Shino's body.
"Let the match…begin!" Not wasting time, Neji rushed forward at his top speed as he wanted to stop Shino before he could do anything or use any jutsu.
However, it was not fast enough as a dome of parasitic insects enveloped Shino like a cocoon, forcing the Hyuga to come to a skidding stop and leap away lest he want his chakra to be devoured.
Quickly backflipping away in rapid succession while also dodging the insects trying to bite at him from the sides, Neji frowned as he watched the insects drawing closer, noting how they began to spread out to cover Shino's front while also flying up to make sure the Hyuga couldn't attack from above.
However, as Shino ordered his insects to fly closer and encase the Hyuga from all sides in a parasitic dome, he frowned as he saw a flash of light green chakra before his eyes widened as numerous of his insects were sliced to ribbons.
'Gentle Fist: Rotation.' Neji chanted in his mind as he came to a slow stop, chakra pulsing from his feet and launching him forward before Shino's eyes widened in pain as Neji landed a heavy palm strike to his chest.
However, as the Hyuga felt victory in his grasp, his eyes widened as Shino broke off into hundreds of parasitic insects, the Aburame feeling happy from his hiding spot in the shade of a nearby tree as he quickly spread out his insects and made them stick to Neji's body before he could stop them.
Within mere seconds, Neji gasped as he activated chakra from all the chakra points in his body, his chakra spiking out and stabbing rapidly at the insects trying to drain him dry, but it was too late as nearly half of his chakra was already gone from that one attack.
The Hyuga took deep breaths as he quickly leapt back and away from the insect storm, which didn't move closer from where they were protecting a few of the trees as Shino made them disperse chakra into the air to hide his position.
Neji frowned as he looked at the storm of insects in front of him, rapidly stabbing at his body with his index and middle fingers and killing the parasites still trying to drain his chakra before grimacing as he saw that he only had a little less than half left.
He also couldn't see how much Shino had considering his own chakra was being dispersed in the storm/ dome surrounding Shino, but it was most likely more than his which meant that he needed to get closer and take out the Aburame before he could attack once again.
'I need to make an opening to use that technique, so I suppose it's time to unveil it.' Neji thought with a frown as he went into the opening stance of the Gentle Fist before shifting his body so that his left side was facing the storm of insects.
'Eight Trigrams…Air Palm!' With a burst of chakra, Neji pushed his palm at the air in front of him and a cone of air filled with chakra erupted from his palm and pushed open a hole inside the dome of insects.
Rushing through it as fast as he could, Neji landed in front of a shocked Shino in a new stance, his body turned so his left side was facing the Aburame and crouching lowly with his arms stretched out to the sides with the palms facing upwards, his left arm lowered while his right arm was raised up.
'Gentle Fist Art: Eight Trigrams 64 Palms.' With a pulse of chakra to his feet, Neji gritted his teeth as he ignored the insects that clung to him and rushed towards Shino, who looked surprised at the desperate gamble of the Hyuga before quickly trying to bring his insects in.
However, it was too late as Neji stopped in front of him before the Hyuga slammed two fingers into the side of the Aburame.
"Two Palms! Four Palms! Eight Palms! Sixteen Palms! Thirty-Two Palms!" The Hyuga's arms were a blur as he rapidly kept stabbing them deep into Shino's body, the Aburame trying and failing to move out of the way as he felt the muscles of his body locking up with each attack to his chakra points.
"Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms!" With a final shout, Neji tripped Shino before slamming his palm into his chest and the shinobi into the ground, gasping for air while stumbling back as he watched the insects disperse and crawl back into Shino's clothing.
The Aburame was not out cold, but he couldn't move a single muscle in his body as he laid on the floor, his body too sore and his chakra nearly completely sealed off as he couldn't even tell the Queen to continue attacking despite his inability to move.
"Shino Aburame has been incapacitated! Neji Hyuga advances to the next round!" Genma announced as he landed next to Shino and finished looking him over, Neji looking smug as he nodded.
However, the moment he went to take a step to walk away, his eyes widened and he gasped as his body shook and fell to the floor, his Byakugan deactivating as he finally felt the severe chakra exhaustion hitting him all at once.
'It...it appears that fate...was not on my side today. However, I know...that Lady Hinata will not...triumph as well. Fate...deems it so.
'That was a pretty good match, as quick as it was.' I thought with a frown as I looked down at the field, watching as both of them were wheeled off by the medical ninja.
I thought that Shino with his insects and his long-range attacks would be beat Neji by draining him dry while fighting from a distance, but that last minute desperate attempt to get in the dome was surprising, especially with the techniques he used to do so.
I had expected the Rotation and the 64 Palms, but the Air Palm was a surprise, especially when he used it as a way to get inside and use the 64 Palms.
'Damn, even when he had the disadvantage, he still pulled off the win. However, that last move as well as the fact that he fell over from chakra exhaustion most likely means that a few points will most likely be deducted.' I thought with a frown as I looked up at the judges section of the audience, shaking my head as I turned back to the battleground just as Genma began to speak up once more.
"Next up…Shikamaru Nara vs Kankurou of the Sand! Would both please come do-!"
"Proctor, I give up!" I turned as Kankurou finished speaking, amused at Shikamaru's defeated groan while also hiding my concern as he and Temari shared a look.
'So, the attack is still happening, huh?'
"I should have spoken up. I should have just spoken up and quit, but no~ I just had to have good manners and wait until Genma finished speaking." Shikamaru grumbled while banging his head softly against the railing, rolling my eyes before smirking as I saw Hinata give him a pat on the shoulders.
"Okay~ I guess Shikamaru Nara wins. Will the next contestants please come down?!" The shinobi asked and Hinata looked up at that before giving me an expectant look.
"Remember the bet."
"I will." I answered and she nodded as she leapt out & through the air with a corkscrew, landing with a flourish before giving an elegant bow to the cheering crowd.
"What bet is this?" Shikamaru asked as Temari flew down on her fan and as I told him, he stared at me before shaking his head and looking back at the battlefield.
"You just love living in danger on a daily basis, huh?"
"I do. Now, let's see if she can't win this bet between us."
'Give a good showcase of my skills and tactics…and I have a good chance to become Chunin and win my bet with Naruto.' Hinata thought with excitement flushing through her body as she remembered her little bet with Naruto, having already made up a daily chart of what she wanted him to do to-uh with her!
Yeah, with her for the day she had him under her control.
'Focus on that more later. For now, focus on her.' The young girl thought with a frown as she looked at her foe, who looked confident as she rested on the closed fan at her side.
"Hinata Hyuga vs Temari of the Sand! Are both fighters ready?" Hinata answered by activating her Byakugan with a hand sign while Temari unfolded her fan and held it behind her, Genma simply smiling as he raised a hand with a nod.
"Then let the match…begin!"
"Wind Scythe Jutsu!" Temari exclaimed as she shot out a cyclone filled with razor-sharp wind at Hinata, but to her surprise, the girl leapt away from the cyclone in an acrobatic display of agility before rushing towards her with a pulse of chakra from her feet.
Spinning through the air, Temari quickly closed her fan and raised it in front of her as Hinata landed a heel kick into the metal, the Sand kunoichi surprised by the force behind the kick as she was lifted from her feet and sent flying back.
However, she wasn't known as the strongest genin kunoichi of the Hidden Sand for nothing as she flipped through the air while unfurling her fan once more, spinning it around her body before unleashing a series of air blades in all directions around her.
Hinata on the other hand simply smiled as she flipped over and slid under the air blades, surprising everyone as the Hyuga kept her eyes closed while expertly dodging the air blades that came her way as she raced closer to Temari.
"You're really flexible and the Byakugan lets you see through your eyelids so why not fight with your eyes closed to make sure no one knows what you're looking at? Then, we'll figure out how to apply the Gentle Fist to your more acrobatic style of fighting."
'Are you looking, Naruto? I'm dancing to the melody just like you told me to.' Hinata thought with an ecstatic smile as she barrel-rolled through a pair of air blades before rolling under another one, but as she went to flip over another, she gasped as Temari appeared in front of her with her fan closed up.
With a grunt, Temari slammed her fan into Hinata's chest and sent the girl rolling head over heels across the ground, spinning her fan around us before sending out a wind current that picked up the Hyuga and threw her up into the air.
Temari kept up with her attack as she spun her fan once more before swinging it down with a heavy slam, wind currents condensing above Hinata right before a powerful wind blast slammed into her and sent her flying back first towards the ground.
To her credit, Hinata was barely able to flip over to land on her feet albeit she stumbled upon landing, but Temari was not done as she rushed forward while throwing her fan into the air.
"Wind Style…" Temari trailed off as she leapt into the air with a flip while catching her fan, chakra flooding the weapon as she spun and swung it down at the Hyuga just as Hinata looked up with a groggy look of surprise.
"Wind Funnel!" With a shout, the air in front of Temari exploded into a tornado that flew down towards the Hyuga who shook her head and slapped herself awake as she expelled chakra from her entire body before rapidly spinning on her heel.
"Gentle Fist: Rotation!" Unlike Neji's, Hinata's Rotation was still a bit weak as it only mitigated some of the damage while still leaving her to get cut up by some of the air blades, but that was all the Hyuga needed as she pulled out a pair of kunai as she ended her spin and threw them upwards.
Temari snorted as she spun her fan in front of her and rode it out of the way of the kunai's path before her eyes widened as a shadow appeared behind her, turning back just as Hinata spun and landed a Gentle Fist-enhanced heel kick to the side of her head.
"Gentle Fist Art: Acrobat!" Temari felt her vision spinning as she slowly fell off of her fan, but Hinata was not done as she dove in after Temari, pushing the groggy kunoichi's arm out of the way and landing a vicious palm strike to her stomach before spinning once more and landing an overhead axe kick to her chest just as they landed.
Thankfully, that last attack wasn't enhanced with the Gentle Fist or else she would have destroyed the sand kunoichi's heart, but as she rolled over with the force of her attack and onto her feet, she kept her guard up even as she saw Temari lying out cold with a large purple bruise forming on the side of her temple.
Watching as Genma landed next to her, Hinata finally relaxed and elation filled her body as the Jonin stood up while pointing a hand towards the Hyuga.
"By means of knock-out, Hinata Hyuga is the victor and moves on to the next round!"
A/N: And two matches are done for the day, both Hyuga facing off against long-range fighters & showcasing the skill of the Gentle Fist even in a disadvantageous situation.
Also, Neji & Shino's fight could have gone on longer if he didn't use that Air Palm to force that opening which took most of the chakra he had left since he has not intensely trained to use it.
Next chapter, though, a bit of talking and then…Naruto vs Gaara!
Like always, you can go to my Pat-reon-.-com-/-KingCrimsonNova to read ahead on this as well as many other stories & even some that haven't been released out to this site yet. If you want to, you are free to, but if you don't want, all's good as I will still be uploading here. This is just me trying to get some extra cash.
As always, read, enjoy, review and until next week...
Ba-Bye~!
