𝐊𝐎𝐊𝐎𝐑𝐎𝐍𝐀𝐒𝐇𝐈 | 𝐍.𝐔𝐙𝐔𝐌𝐀𝐊𝐈

[7]

"The opponents of the first match, Naruto Uzumaki and Neji Hyuga, stay, and the rest of you can go to the waiting area," announced the proctor.

Asami stood on the stairs by the row where Ino and Sakura were sitting.

"Oi, Shinra! Let's sit together!" Kiba called him, causing the redhead to grin happily. "Nice to meet you again, Akamaru," he patted the dog's head.

"Um, hello, Asami... It's been a while," came a timid voice, and Asami noticed the shyly smiling girl standing a little behind Kiba.

She stared at her cousin for a while before taking seats a few rows ahead, giving the girl a curt nod, causing Hinata to lower her eyes dejectedly.

When the match was about to start, her eyes fell on her uncle and her cousin in front of her as she eavesdropped. "Watch carefully, Hanabi," he told her. "Nobody has inherited such a strong Hyuga Kekkei Genkai, to say nothing of your older sister and cousin."

Asami clenched her jaw and brought her eyes back to the match. 'He may not be the strongest compared to Neji, but a genius like even Neji could lose because Naruto doesn't give up,' she thought, knowing that everyone would assume that Neji would win, but no one knew Naruto like she did.

Naruto was launching attacks at Neji, who was easily dodging them all. Neji's one chakra palm sent Naruto flying, causing the brunette to bite her lips hard.

The blonde created four clones and attacked Neji, one by one, until all of his clones disappeared.

Again, he created almost fifty shadow clones that gradually met the same fate and vanished, and now he was lying on the ground after being hit by 64 palms, while her brother stood unharmed a couple of yards away.

'Naruto...' She quickly stood up, rushing downstairs. "Asami!" she ignored her teacher as her uncle gazed at her and stood behind the railing. "Naruto! Come on, get up! You can't end like this!" she shouted, grabbing his attention. The boy struggled and pulled himself up on his feet.

Neji began to pull his headband, showing his forehead, causing Naruto's eyes to widen. "That mark..."

Neji smirked at him. "Didn't my sister tell you?" He began to talk about destiny and the Hyuga clan, causing Asami's eyes to widen as she noticed him glancing at her and her uncle. "Our father, Hizashi Hyuga, and Miss Hinata's father, who's over there, Lord Hiashi Hyuga, were twin brothers."

When she found out the truth about her father's death, memories of watching her father getting killed hit her hard, causing her to gasp. 'I remember... I was there...' She began to breathe uncontrollably as her eyes found the dull lavender eyes, causing her to glare at him. "You..."

"I won't... run," Naruto said, causing Neji to turn around. "I'll stand by my own words... because that's my ninja way!"

Neji laughed. "I think I've heard that line before."

"You can't possibly understand the destiny of being burdened with a mark that cannot be wiped off for life!"

Naruto glared at him as memories of him being an outsider, Asami sitting alone on the swing crestfallen, flooded his mind. "Yeah... I do... understand it, and so does Asami!" he shouted at Neji, causing

Asami to look at him in shock. "So what about it? Asami's destiny has already been set, but she's the only one that won't let this destiny get to her because Asami is the only one that decides for herself!"

"Naruto..."

Naruto began to summon the Nine-Tails chakra, and the two collided with full force. The smoke cleared, revealing two craters. Neji stood up on his feet while Naruto lay there.

"Come on," she whispered.

The match appeared to have been won by Neji, but suddenly, the real Naruto emerged from the ground beneath Neji and punched him below his chin, leaving her brother immobilized.

"The winner is Naruto Uzumaki!"

The Hyuga girl stared at him in amazement as Naruto ran around the battlefield. The people who had always treated him like trash were actually starting to acknowledge him. A warm smile spread across her face, happy that he was getting closer to his dream. "Way to go!" she cheered, earning a grin and thumbs up from him.

Eisuke suppressed his smile as he watched his friend being proud of Naruto.

Hiashi's eyes fell on her as she smiled brightly and cheered for the blond. He had never seen the girl smile before until today, and he began to feel guilty.