"Fuck NO!"
A beautiful day was taking place in the respected and feared Konohagakure no Sato. Today an air of excitement could be felt all around, countless vendors, different food, and game stalls could be found anywhere you looked. Children ran carefree on the streets playing and laughing like there would be no tomorrow.
The day of the Chunin Exams finals had finally arrived, a famous and prestigious event that takes place every six months in many different villages; visitors from distant lands were seen enjoying the nice atmosphere and welcoming warmth of Konoha's residents. All in all, it looked like the final tournament was going to be a fun and great event.
A shocking contrast with the conversation going on at the Hokage's office.
"You must finally be going senile in your advanced age, old man." The powerful and feared white-haired Sannin walked around the room as he venomously spat his disagreement with the Hokage's latest directives. "You're being stupid!".
Sarutobi Hiruzen had to resist the urge to chuckle at his students' childish behavior. It was truly refreshing to see him so focused on the matter at hand, it truly was heart-warming to see him so concerned, it almost made him reconsider. "You're being stubborn Jiraiya, this isn't up for negotiation."
Jiraiya was torn between smashing his head repeatedly on the wall or smashing Hiruzen's on his desk. "How do you expect me to let you in there alone?! Don't you realize how unreasonable you're being?!"
"Jiraiya." Oh, Jiraiya didn't like that tone, that was the voice that said you wouldn't be changing the man's mind. "I've made up my mind, this is something I must do. I can't allow you to neglect your duty to this village for the sake of keeping me safe."
Just last night Jiraiya had come to him with very concerning news, ever since Kakashi informed him of Rasa's absence- Hiruzen had grown weary of the standing between their allied nations so he had Jiraiya do a little digging. The man had been stationed in the village helping out with Naruto's training but that didn't stop him from using his carefully built spy network.
The information he got was not what they were expecting.
One of Jiraiya's spies had come across a lifeless body buried in the desert, just away enough from Suna to ensure that it would be hard to find but not impossible, whoever did it had been trying to make some sort of statement.
It's not every day that you find the corpse of a Kage after all.
"We both know the Kazekage that's resting in a hotel right now has to be him!" It wasn't so hard in Jiraiya's mind, to stay with Hiruzen and take on their invaders by surprise when the whole thing starts. "You have to let me help you sensei, please."
Beggin wasn't a good look on Jiraiya, it pained Hiruzen greatly to see him in such a state but it was necessary. "You're my best student Jiraiya, I know you understand what I'm asking you to do is the right thing, it truly warms my heart to see your concern for my safety but it is misplaced. This is my duty as Hokage and as a former sensei."
That was as far as it got and Jiraiya knew it, Kami knows he hates being in these kinds of situations, so powerless...
So utterly useless.
He knew his sensei was right, everyone had their task to fulfill and he had to comply, it didn't matter if he liked it or not, no matter how close he was to the seasoned old warrior Jiraiya was still a Shinobi under his command.
If his sensei wanted him to defend the village from their soon to be invaders with the aid of the toads he would do just that, he hoped to whatever god was listening to his thoughts that Sarutobi was still the same man worthy of being called the second 'Kami no Shinobi'.
"The ANBU are already on the move as we speak." Seeing as their little conflict was settled Hiruzen decided to update the Sannin on their current activities. "Civilians from strategic places are being evacuated as we speak and many of them are being replaced by our forces in disguise, there was however no way to start an evacuation on the Hospital and the academy."
It was funny to think that right now some of the foreign visitors were buying food from Shinobi in disguise, it was however a necessary step. Nothing would've pleased Hiruzen more than keeping their visitors safe but as a Kage, it was his duty to ensure the safety of his people first and foremost. They hadn't managed to evacuate half of their citizens yet and probably wouldn't be able to.
Many of the people in the arena were after all Konoha's citizens eager to watch the new batch of shinobi giving their all.
Hiruzen went for second best and put as many of his available shinobi in the protection of the places he knew they wouldn't be able to evacuate without alerting their enemies.
He sighed as he looked outside the window in his office and stood from his chair. "It's time."
—
The arena where the tournament would be taking place was full of people from all over the nations, even nations whose shinobi weren't competing. Loud cheers of excitement and chants of "Start already!" echoed around the stadium.
The Sandaime Hokage made his way into the Kage balcony where he found the 'Kazekage' waiting for him. He smiled at him and exchanged pleasantries to then move forward and use his powerful voice to address the public.
"Ladies and Gentlemen!..." The crowd erupted into even louder cheers and yells of 'Sandaime-sama!' at the sight of their beloved Hokage. "We are here today to celebrate the end of the Chunin Exams, I hope you all find the matches you're about to see to your liking. Let us all rejoice in our Shinobi's powerful show of their Will of Fire!"
The people went crazy in excitement and anticipation after the Hokage's speech and even more when a massive door in the arena where the fights would be taking place opened and in walked the contestants.
Naruto and Sakura both walked together smiling brightly and looking for familiar faces in the crowd. He might've known that something big was going to happen but that didn't stop him from feeling excited at the prospect of showing everyone how much he had grown since their graduation.
"Attention contestants!" A man with brown hair wearing a bandana not too different from the late Gekkō Hayate stood in front of them chewing on a senbon needle. "You already know your opponents and the order in which you will be fighting, my name is Shiranui Genma and I will be your proctor. You already know the rules and stipulations so there's no point in going over them again."
Behind him in a far wall was a giant screen that turned on right after his explanation was over revealing the names of the first match's contestants.
Nara Shikamaru VS Uzumaki Naruto.
"Everyone but Shikamaru and Naruto, make your way over to the contestant balcony." The Chunin hopefuls did as they were told, leaving behind only Shikamaru, Naruto, and his teammates.
Not much needed to be said between Naruto and Sakura, she stood in front of him with a warm and caring smile as she wished him the best of luck and left, not without stopping to say. "Kick his lazy ass Naruto!"
Ino and Chōji were sharing similar thoughts from their place on the spectator's podium. "You better do something Shikamaru!" Was her yell of encouragement as she frantically shook her fist in a promise of pain if he didn't.
"Are both contestants ready?" Asked Genma receiving only nods of agreement, he then jumped away and left both Genin to their devices.
Both Naruto and Shikamaru sported playful smirks on their faces. The Uzumaki simply took both of his staffs and started dancing around with them, showing off how skilled he had become in using them.
"You've become arrogant ever since you started copying my clothes, Naruto, so troublesome." Joked Shikamaru, noting the similarities between his clothing style and Naruto's, the main difference between them being the length of Naruto's sleeves and the color of his jacket.
"Well, I have to say they're pretty cool, though I look far better in them than you of course." He then rushed Shikamaru who only had time to fish a Kunai out of his pouch.
Naruto then started using both of his staffs to beat the crap out of him, Shikamaru managed to use a Kunai to block a few of his strikes but Naruto had an advantage over him in hand to hand combat, his style of fighting was fairly unpredictable, anytime he thought he had seen an opening Naruto would do something he had not seen coming. The blonde could use both of his weapons perfectly and mix his attacks with a few well-placed jumping kicks whenever Shikamaru tried to go low.
Seeing little choice, the Nara heir allowed one of Naruto's kicks to hit him in the face head-on and was sent flying away from him, in the air he threw a smoke pellet on the ground to cover himself.
Naruto was an accomplished sensor and knew where exactly Shikamaru was but decided not to risk getting close to the black-haired genius without the ability to see.
Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!
With both hands on a crossed hand sign characteristic of his favorite jutsu, Naruto sent 5 clones of himself into the smoke to fight Shikamaru. Having expected something of the sort Shikamaru used the cover the smoke provided him to use his clan's Kagemane no Jutsu to create a cover around himself. Every time one of his clones stepped in they would be frozen in place long enough for Shikamaru to stab them with his kunai.
Wanting to take the initiative for as long as possible Shikamaru then extended his shadow and made it launch forward to capture Naruto. The Uzumaki saw a string of shadows coming toward him and jumped away only for it to keep on his pursuit, Naruto jumped and jumped away until the shadow could no longer follow and used the special seal on both of his staffs to put them together into one large Bo-staff, he then started to spin it as he channeled his chakra creating a gust of wind that cleared the smoke from the arena and revealed Shikamaru was no longer there.
Naruto turned his gaze to a rock where he knew Shikamaru to be hiding in and was about to use his long-range Raiton Jutsu when a sizzling sound reached his ear. He looked down and found a kunai with an activated exploding tag and a shadow string.
"Son of a-"
BOOM
The tag exploded and Naruto managed to jump just far enough to avoid a lethal blow but was still caught in it and sent crashing into a tree, his back making a loud cracking sound on impact only to then fall to the ground.
He got back to his feet quickly however and was just about to run at Shikamaru when he found that he couldn't move.
Kagemane no Jutsu: Success
Shikamaru emerged from his hiding place and walked towards the frozen Naruto placing a kunai on his neck. "Give up."
Much to his surprise, Naruto didn't give up and instead smirked smugly. Suddenly a kunai was placed on his neck from behind. Shikamaru smirked when he realized he had been set up by Naruto and released his hold of him, as he did the clone that was pointing a kunai to his neck disappeared and the real Naruto jumped back to prepare a follow-up attack.
"I give up."
Shikamaru's sudden proclamation had everyone confused and some were even a little angry.
"SHIKAMARU YOU LAZY IDIOT!" The voice was that of his blonde-headed teammate and it immediately made Shikamaru regret what he was doing just a little.
"I'm almost out of chakra while Naruto hasn't even started to breathe heavily, I also know for a fact that if he wanted to he could've broken free of my shadow binding himself. There's no need to keep this going, he wins." Now, it was true that he could've easily broken Shikamaru's technique, it's easy to overpower it with his chakra because Shikamaru still neglected training it or training at all.
Naruto knew for a fact Shikamaru was lying about his chakra, while it was spent he still had more than half of his energy left, why would he lie about it?
"Winner: Uzumaki Naruto!"
The crowd erupted into loud cheers and a certain silver-haired Jōnin looked fondly at his student turned little brother as he released Shikamaru and both walked together back to the contestant's booth.
On their way, Shikamaru could feel Naruto's questioning look on his back and he answered it simply. "I have a feeling I'll be needing my energy later."
Naruto stopped breathing for a short second before continuing to walk after him. If there was someone who would be able to figure out something weird was going on today it would be Shikamaru.
"Yosh! Kakashi, it seems like Naruto-kun's flames of youth still burn as brightly as the day we met!" Flames could be seen burning in the man's eye and all everyone around him could do was sweatdrop at his antics and try to ignore him.
Almost everyone.
"My dear friend Naruto-kun is full of youth Gai-sensei!" Lee was still bound to a wheelchair but nothing could've stopped him from showing up to the finals and showing his support to everyone's favorite blonde.
"Well said, Lee!"
"GAI-SENSEI!"
"LEE!"
"GAI-SENSEI!"
"LEE!"
"SHUT UP!" Yelled absolutely everyone around him making them both deflate and sulk in a momentary depression.
Up in the balconies, the Kazekage watched as Hiruzen observed the young Uzumaki as he returned to the competitor's booth with a smile on his wrinkled face. "You seem fond of that boy Hokage-dono."
Hiruzen turned to look at the man's veil-covered face and smiled slightly. He was perfectly aware of who that man truly was but replied either way. "I had the privilege of watching Naruto-kun grow into the fine Shinobi he is today."
That seemed to be a good enough answer for the Kazekage as he simply turned his attention back to the matches.
"Haruno Sakura and Sabaku no Temari, come down here."
Both girls perked up at the mention of their names and had different reactions. Temari smirked at what she thought would be an easy match and unfolded her fan as she jumped from the railing, using it to glide down to the ground in a show of her skill with wind jutsu.
"You got this Sakura-chan!" Naruto hugged Sakura's shoulder and gave her a reassuring smile as she set off to the arena to face her smirking opponent.
"You'd do well to give up little girl, the Kunoichi of this village are a joke." Temari's mocking was of course referring to Tenten and her easy win in their match during the prelims. It had been a terrible matchup for the kunoichi in team 9 and it had gotten way over Temari's head, Sakura decided she would make sure to show her just how wrong she was.
Genma called the match and jumped away, leaving the two girls ample space for their fighting.
'She uses long-range jutsu, I need to get close.' Decided on her course of action, Sakura rushed her as fast as she could hoping to catch her off guard but ended up being blown away by Temari's quick use of her Kamaitachi no Jutsu with the aid of her battle fan. As she landed, Sakura threw a few kunai and shuriken her way only to have them blown away once again.
Realizing her opponent was faster than anticipated Sakura went through a short set of hand seals and performed the regular Bunshin making 6 of her start rushing Temari once again. She knew they were Illusions and only one of them was the real one so she used her fan and blew them all away but much to her surprise all the Sakuras disappeared leaving no trace of the real one behind.
She was left alone in the middle of the Arena and no matter where she looked Sakura was nowhere to be found; suddenly a hand emerged from the ground right below her and she jumped just in to jump in time to avoid it but Sakura didn't count on her falling for that trap so she quickly jumped from the ground in time to hit the still airborne Temari hard in the stomach and send her flying towards the trees in the arena.
Temari crashed loudly into a tree and fell limp on the floor, after she took her time recovering she quickly stood up and started walking back toward Sakura with an enraged look on her face. 'That bitch!'
She suddenly tripped with seemingly nothing and fell back to the ground. Sakura made use of the false surroundings illusion on her and decided to act before she had time to release it. She dropped from the trees and tried to stomp her back; Temari rolled on the ground and quickly stood up as she released the Genjutsu to start a Taijutsu bout with the pink-haired.
Temari proved to be a lot better in Taijutsu than Sakura anticipated and after trading blows for a while managed to use the closed fan as a weapon giving Sakura a hard blow with it in the stomach and then to the head sending her flying and crashing hard with a few rocks scattered around the area.
Sakura stood up dizzily and Temari decided to act before she had time to recover. Using the same jutsu she used on Tenten before, she sent her flying in the air and kept her elevated as multiple cuts and gashes appeared all over her skin and clothes.
Her screams of pain started being heard all over the arena and back in the competitor's booth, a blond-haired teen started cheering her on desperately.
"YOU CAN DO THIS SAKURA-CHAN! DON'T GIVE UP!"
Something started stirring in her after her loud teammate's bold exclamation. She started falling and Temari placed her fan for her to fall on top of it and humiliate her in the same way she did Tenten but Sakura wasn't having any of it.
She twirled around mid-fall and re-adjusted herself to dive fist first while focusing enough Doton chakra on her first that it quite literally solidified it and made it look like she was wearing a rock glove. Temari noticed and tried to use her fan as a bat to fend her off.
BOOM
Sakura landed and the force of the impact was so strong that the collision between the two made a big cloud of dust rise. In the stands, all the spectators were watching in shock at the edge of their seats, desperately trying to see what was of the two girls. The dust cleared and revealed a barely conscious Temari on the ground and a Sakura breathing heavily on her knees with a smile on her face.
She had made it.
"Winner: Haruno Sakura!"
"Way to go Sakura-chan!" With complete disregard for the rules, Naruto jumped from the railings and ran toward her teammate. He helped her stand up and raised one of her arms in a show of her victory. Loud claps, cheers, and whistles accompany his actions.
Looking up Sakura watched as people cheered her on and chanted her name in support, being moved to near tears she looked around the audience for her sensei and found him standing with Gai, his sharingan eye uncovered as he eye-smiled at her and gave her a proud thumbs-up.
"Calm down mother... I will give you blood soon." Back in the competitor's booth, Naruto observed his soon-to-be opponent as he helped Sakura to a seat. All he could feel when he looked at him was anger, anger because he hurt one of his dearest friends severely and ended his shinobi career for good.
He was even angrier because he tried to do it twice.
–
"Where are you going, Naruto?" Shikamaru ran behind his blonde friend on their way to the hospital carrying a gift basket he had bought for Chōji. The young Akimichi heir had eaten too much and landed himself in the hospital due to food poisoning.
Naruto turned around in surprise but quickly greeted his friend with a big smile on his face. "I'm going to see Lee, he was examined yesterday, and well... it wasn't good."
"Oh yeah..." Shikamaru's face adopted a more solemn look as he looked at Naruto. "Sakura told Ino during our team meeting yesterday, I'm sorry Naruto."
"People keep apologizing to me for some reason..." Naruto looked up to the sky and closed his eye. "I'm not the one you should be feeling sorry for."
"I guess you're right, what are y-"
Shikamaru was interrupted mid-sentence by Naruto placing a hand on his shoulder. He looked up and watched as the Uzumaki's gaze was focused directly on the direction of the hospital. He didn't have time to react however when Naruto used a half-ram seal and performed a Shunshin to get them both as close to the hospital as he could get them.
Once they were both at the hospital's door Naruto started running like crazy without stopping to look at him or tell him what was wrong but it didn't matter to Shikamaru, he still followed behind him through the corridors despite the yells from all the angry nurses at their step. Naruto then kicked the door of one of the rooms open and revealed exactly what was going on.
Kagemane no Jutsu!
With his hands on a rat seal, Shikamaru's shadow extended and froze the red-haired Jinchuriki in place, stopping him from using his sand to murder the resting Lee.
"What are you doing here?" Naruto's tone was menacing and full of anger, his knuckles started turning white from the sheer pressure he was putting on them.
"I'm going to kill him," Gaara spoke to them matter of factly and it only made Naruto start trembling in annoyance even more.
Trying his best to defuse the situation, Shikamaru decided to go for a more peaceful approach. "Why do you want to kill him? You've already won."
"Killing him..." Gaara looked directly into Naruto's lone eye and smiled a twisted smile that betrayed just how truly broken his mind was, "-will prove my existence."
"You think you can just go around killing everybody and doing as you please?" So much for trying to get a peaceful resolution, Shikamaru was already raising his tone. "You're a sick and psychotic bastard."
Gaara didn't seem at all concerned by Shikamaru's accusation and simply warned the both of them. "If you don't get out of my way I will kill you."
"You're a monster..."
Time slowed down for Naruto and Gaara at the same time as Shikamaru said that. One ready for a fight and the other just... amused?
"I am a monster." The sand started to pick up and swirl around him but Gaara's demeanor didn't change in the slightest. "My father used a jutsu to seal a powerful sand demon on me the day of my birth and I took the life of my mother."
"I was born a monster."
'His father sealed the demon on him? Like how my father wanted to seal one in me?' Naruto started feeling something he couldn't quite figure out as the thought filled his brain. 'I could've been just like him.'
"He's been trying to get rid of me since I was six, sending assassin after assassin after me, that's why I live only for myself; as long as there are people to kill I will always exist." He finished his speech by effortlessly breaking free of Shikamaru's biding and using his sand to attack them both.
"That's enough!" Gai appeared in front of them and stopped Gaara's advance to protect them the same way he had done Lee before. The young Jinchuuriki started trembling and grabbing his head tightly at the sight of the man putting his life at risk to save someone again. It didn't make sense, why would he keep saving the weak?
"It doesn't matter..." He talked as he left the room. "I will kill you all."
—
Naruto sighed and slumped dramatically on his seat, this whole thing has been going a little bit too stressful for his taste, there was too much at stake and what he knew to be coming was the more stressful, he knew that the moment his fight with Gaara started things were going to get real and he was starting to doubt himself, one thing was to fight a Jinchuuriki but having to fight to save his village?
His thoughts regarding the Jinchuuriki as a person weren't helping him either, the question he couldn't help but keep asking himself over and over again.
Could Naruto have been like Gaara?
If Minato hadn't failed in sealing the Kyuubi inside of him, would Naruto be as twisted as he was?
The thought terrified him.
One thing was clear for him, though he could never claim to know what Gaara had been through, he could relate to something in his eyes.
Loneliness.
The difference? Naruto never was completely alone, yes he cried himself to sleep many times in his apartment, wondering what was of his parents and why he of all people had to be in his situation, why he of all people had survived the day the Kyuubi attacked and not died along with those who were supposed to be there for him.
If Sarutobi Hiruzen hadn't made it a point of being present in his life, who knows what would've been of him.
Then there was Sasuke, his best friend, the one he always felt he could relate to. despite their situations being so different.
He miss Sasuke, a lot.
What if Gaara had turned out the way he did because no one had bothered to be his friend? It wasn't unfathomable, at least not for Naruto. He did firmly believe everyone deserves a second chance, perhaps that's all that Gaara's missing.
A second chance.
It's a pity he was on the wrong side of the upcoming battle, Naruto had never killed before but if it meant protecting his loved ones he wouldn't think twice about killing him.
"Aburame Shino and Sabaku no Kankuro, come down here."
Kankuro jumped off the rail begrudgingly as he looked back at his brother constantly while his thoughts went haywire. 'Oh fuck! I can't skip my fight, I need to give sis some time to recover for our plan. I just hope Gaara doesn't get too mad for making him wait.'
"I-I believe in you Shino-kun, g-good luck." Hinata timidly cheered her stoic teammate who only responded by giving her a court node as he went down the stairs to meet his opponent.
Genma called the match the moment both contestants were down in the arena and ready. Shino pulled both arms out of his sleeves and revealed them to be covered by a swarm of insects as he addressed his opponent. "I am from Konoha's Aburame clan, we never underestimate our opponents."
Kankuro's response to Shino's compliment? was to unveil Karasu the puppet he carried on his back and take the initiative of the match, hoping to take just long enough to buy some time for her sister but not so much that he would be pissing Gaara off. With a flicker of a finger, the puppet shot out his tail toward Shino who jumped back just in time for it to hit the ground instead of him.
Shino observed his attacker and noticed the needle at the tip was injecting poison into the ground. He extended his right arm and countless insects flew at Kankuro who chose to jump back and retreat to the mini-sized forest in the arena; once there he kept on using Karasu to try and stab Shino but failed on every single attempt.
Shino landed safely on a tree branch right in front of the one Kankuro was standing and stared him down as he calmly analyzed the situation. 'He keeps trying to poison me from a distance, why? Because he's most likely not good at hand-to-hand combat.'
Kankuro suddenly went into the offensive again and Shino barely dodged in time by dropping from the tree and jumping to a different one, he fished a few kunai out of his pouch and threw them at the puppet with perfect accuracy, hitting it in the head and joints from multiple angles. Having thought he had won he lowered his guard which proved to be a mistake when the puppet turned into a log and the real one stabbed him from the back.
Kankuro smirked from the distance and watched as Shino fell to his knees and then transformed into insects.
"What the f-"
A strong punch to the side of his jaw courtesy of Shino interrupted him and made him hit the tree he was standing in with a loud crash; he quickly jumped away in time to avoid further punishment and recalled Karasu.
"You were able to use a puppeteer's weakness against him, impressive but not enough!" The puppet opened his mouth and launched a bomb at Shino, when it exploded a purple gas that he immediately recognized as poison exploded and shocked him as he jumped away and started coughing.
'Did I inhale a little?' He looked around and realized the only thing there was Karasu and Kankuro was nowhere to be seen. "So you distract your opponent and hide to let your poison finish them off, smart."
The puppet went flying straight at him and managed to stab him with his poisoned needle but Shino once again exploded into a swarm of insects; Kankuro tried to use Karasu to attack again but found that he couldn't move it.
Insects had made their way inside the puppet's mechanisms and started eating from inside, obstructing its joints and rendering it incapable of moving in the process, then they started advancing towards the hiding Kankuro through the chakra strings that connected him to the puppet.
Kankuro reacted quickly and released the strings to avoid being found by the insects but reconnected them just as fast to make Karasu's head separate from its body and rush straight at Shino with another poisoned needle; it was just about to hit him when it stopped right in front of his face and dropped back to the ground.
"Once my Kikaichu get a taste of your chakra it's futile trying to hide from them." Shino was panting hard and dropped to his knees as his insects completely engulfed Kankuro and started eating away his chakra.
"If you don't want my insects to eat your chakra until you die you should give me the antidote." Seeing no alternative, Kankuro complied with his demand and handed him a vial containing a green liquid, Shino drank it and immediately started feeling better, he then walked back to Kankuro and kicked him hard in the head making him drop unconscious.
"Winner: Aburame Shino!"
The crowd erupted in cheers once again at the exciting display that though not as action-packed as the previous one had everyone on the edge of their seats in wonder.
"Your son fought well, Kazekage-dono." Up in the Kage balcony, Hiruzen decided on making conversation with the person he knew to be an impostor and - although not yet sure - most likely was his former student in disguise simply to see how he would answer.
"He should've done better, this was truly a disappointing display of ability." The fake Kazekage answered exactly the way you would expect a man of his reputation to. Hiruzen could admit that his student wasn't lacking in the acting department.
"Hyuga Hinata and Hyuga Neji, make your way down to the arena."
The Kazekage immediately turned his gaze back to the arena, specifically to the Hyuga prodigy who was calmly making his way to the arena.
Perhaps he wasn't that good of an actor.
In the stands, Hiashi tightly held on to his other daughter's hand as he watched his nephew go down the stairs with a smirk and a satisfied look on his face. He knew Hinata would be fighting him and he tried so hard to dissuade her from fighting him, Hinata was too weak to be fighting someone like Neji, a true prodigy.
He didn't manage to convince her not to fight.
Something had awoken within her and she started to be moved by a whole new drive, he still didn't understand it, despite showing better improvement than he ever hoped from her in the last two weeks from her training, it still wasn't enough to beat Neji but she knew it, and she didn't care, winning was not a part of her plan.
What was Hinata trying to do?
"Hinata!" Naruto stood up from his seat and quickly caught up with the Hyuga as she talked with his teammate before going down to fight. "Do you remember what we talked about?"
Hinata was a little surprised by his sudden approach but seemed to get a lot more confident. "Yes Naruto-kun, I will do my best."
"That's great." Naruto then put a hand on her shoulder and smiled warmly at her, it was a soft and small smile but it was able to convey everything that Naruto wanted perfectly. "I believe in you Hinata, you're not weak."
The girl beamed up at his comment and promptly walked away from both him and her stoic but curious teammate as she made her way to meet her beloved cousin.
"I advise you to give up Hinata-sama, it wouldn't do for you to humiliate the Main-branch." Neji of course didn't wish for her to give up, it was his time for vindication, after all, that didn't change his position as a side-branch Hyuga in charge of protecting her.
Hinata looked directly at Neji and in a show of confidence no one had ever seen from her she smirked and said. "Neji nii-san... you're full of shit."
Silence.
Everyone that had ever met Hinata before had their jaws on the floor, in the competitor's booth Sakura, Naruto and Shino were sputtering nonsense as they looked at each other and then at Hinata and then at each other again.
Hiashi...
Hiashi almost fell off, his seat trying to pick his jaw from the floor, his pupil-less eyes wide as plates while Hanabi - his younger daughter - giggled.
A voice started whispering in Neji's head, he trembled in anger and tried his best to calm down; he then gave Hinata a murderous look and said. "You will pay for your insolence."
The match was called and he didn't think twice, he activated his byakugan without waving a single hand sign and ran at her. Neji started going hard against her and connected strike after strike on her, he would hit her with open palm thrusts and switch to single fingers closing his tenketsu without breaking a sweat.
Hinata surprised him by fighting back, and impressively so.
The young and determined Hyuga heiress had a look of pure concentration on her face as she blocked as many of Neji's strikes as she could while connecting a few palms herself. She wasn't gaining territory on him but she was standing her ground in ways not everyone could consider themselves capable of when fighting someone like Neji. There was however much more to the fight than just hits and punches. "Your belief in destiny is idiotic."
Neji started seething in anger, almost allowing himself to get distracted.
'She's mocking you.'
'Shut up.'
Hinata could see something going on in Neji's mind as they battled and decided to keep on the pressure. "We make our own destiny Neji nii-san, it's time for you to accept it."
'Foolish little girl... silence her.'
'Shut up!'
His desperate attempts to remain calm started failing catastrophically, his hits started looking more like those of a brawler than a composed Hyuga, and Hinata could see it; it still wasn't enough to get past him.
Neji placed a few good hits on her chest and arms, he closed some of the Tenketsu in one of her shoulders and used a closed fist to hit her on the cheek, sending her flying and crashing to the ground.
"Give up Hinata-sama, you're weak." His words were spat and full of venom, he looked at Hinata's figure on the ground with eyes full of hatred and suppressed emotions, all bottled up for years and about to be released in a single blow.
"I don't think you're weak Hinata, if anything you're super strong 'ttebayo!"
On the ground, Naruto's words rang deep and Hinata couldn't help but smile as she stood up again. "I am not weak."
She rushed Neji and much to everyone's surprise, performed one of the main-branch jutsu she was notoriously bad at to perfection.
Hakke Sanjuni Sho!
A look of surprise filled Neji's visage as he did his best to block and deflect as many of Hinata's powerful strikes as he could. Hinata started connecting hit after hit in multiple places, sealing as many of the tenketsu on Neji's body as she could, including those in the arms Neji used to block her advances. She finished up by calling the last of her strikes, "32 palms!" as she connected an open palm in Neji's chest and sent him to the ground.
"I am not the reason your father died." Though seemingly an explanation for Neji, it was clear on Hinata's face that she wasn't only trying to convince Neji of his misplaced hatred for her, she was trying to convince herself of it as well. The sincere smile and approving nod on Naruto's face when she looked up to the booth reassured her even more.
'She's lying to you'
'SHUT UP'
Neji stood up once again looking like Hinata's hits were nothing and looked at her with pure hatred in his eyes. He didn't even try to answer her, he simply ran again and kept punishing her, this time, much more violently than before. He started striking vital organs and important chakra pathways in her body, Hinata couldn't do anything but spit blood and looked directly into his eyes.
"You know nothing!" He snarled as she dropped back to the ground and this time remained unmoving for much longer, Genma had walked up to her and was about to call the match but Naruto's yell of "Don't give up Hinata!" seemed to do the trick as she once again stood up with shaking legs.
"I-I was a baby, not even you would've b-been able to defend yourself at that age." Completely true and both Neji and she knew it, he just couldn't and wouldn't accept it.
He saw red, he started walking toward her body, now unable to defend herself, and fell into a jyuken stance again. Hakke Rokujūyon Shō!
The Hyuga in the stands went white as ghosts, Neji, a side branch member, had called out a jutsu only taught to the main branch and was now performing it flawlessly. Neji started placing hit after hit on Hinata's body, counting from 2 to 64, he watched as her body trembled from pain, he watched as she spat blood on his clothes and didn't look remorseful at all.
Hinata fell again, and this time, no one thought she would wake up. She laid on the floor barely conscious, a voice in the distance cheering her on while many others urged her to stay down, she chose to listen to the former.
"It's you Hinata, it's always been you."
"I-I don't care how much you hate me." Everyone watched stunned as she once again stood up, Neji even more than everyone else. "Y-You use main branch jutsu, if you truly believed your fate was to be a slave, why w-would you go against it?"
'She's mocking you again!'
'SHUT UP!'
"I don't care how much you h-hate me Neji nii-san." He looked at her stunned, there she was, bleeding barely able to stand up because of what he had done to her, and somehow she kept claiming she didn't hate him, but she had to, she had to hate him.
Because, if Hinata truly had always felt love for him despite his treatment of her for all these years then what kind of person had he become?
"I-I don't care because I've a-always looked up to you-"
'SHE'S A LIAR!'
'SHUT UP!'
"I a-admire you Nii-san, I know y-you will make the Hyuga better one day."
'KILL HER!'
'SHUT UP!'
"I don't care how much you h-hate me because... because I love you."
'KILL HER NOW!'
"SHUT UP!"
Hinata spat blood again and dropped to her knees, barely able to breathe, the medic team had already made their way to the arena and was running to her when it started. The whispers became unbearable for Neji, he started gripping his head and yelling nonsense as the curse mark started extending over his body, his will had finally faltered and the mark would make sure to take advantage of it.
He looked at Hinata and slowly started creeping up, the seal slowly making its way past Neji's neck.
Hiashi watched in silence and regretted completely what he was about to do, wondering just how he would be able to forgive himself or earn his brother's forgiveness, hopefully, Neji would survive it this time.
With a half-ram seal, he activated Neji's curse mark and watched as he dropped to the ground and yelled in pain, surprisingly the curse mark's advance didn't stop. Something that even the disguised Orochimaru found utterly surprising.
The curse mark kept advancing over him and reached Neji's forehead where both of the marks he had been given met. They started glowing red, this time both of them, and the agony became unbearable.
Gripping his head and thrashing around the ground didn't help, Hiashi had long since deactivated the seal but whatever was happening to him didn't stop. His screams of agony only grew louder and more difficult to hear without cringing.
After minutes that to him felt like an eternity both of the seals reached a final point, they shone in a red blood-like color and merged together only to end up collapsing, they became a puddle of ink on his body that just fell off looking like they never were there at all.
Neji stopped screaming and became completely still as he laid on the ground and faced the sun, not yet aware of the miraculous event that had transpired, his attention was elsewhere now.
The only thing his barely conscious mind could focus on was a bird, a bird flying alone in the sky.
It looked so...
Free.
—
AN: This chapter isn't as long as the previous ones though it is fairly long so I think it's alright. I don't think I ever explained my reasoning behind Orochimaru going after the Byakugan so here it goes.
I initially didn't see much value in Orochimaru going after the Byakugan but I think I'm at least partially right about this.
Canonically Orochimaru wanted the Sharingan to aid him in his quest for immortality and learning every jutsu in existence, he said as much multiple times. Orochimaru didn't really know about the true power of the Mangekyou Sharingan because no one really knew all that much about it besides the Uchiha. Danzo knew about the Kotoamatsukami because Shisui revealed he possessed that ability and wanted it for himself, Kakashi seemed to know only the name of it and how to use the power it gave him to a certain extent, so we know for sure that primarily Orochimaru wanted the sharingan to learn Jutsu.
The Byakugan isn't able of copying jutsu but it is capable of seeing through them as was stated multiple times, Byakugan users can perceive the flow of chakra, how it's used, and in what amount. Ao was even able to tell Danzo's sharingan had been taken from Shisui because he noticed the chakra even had the same color as Shisui's energy/susanoo, which was green.
There's no doubt in my mind that the Byakugan would aid Orochimaru in his quest for knowledge, maybe not in the way the sharingan would but it would definitely be helpful.
Even if it wasn't, Orochimaru collected Kekkei Genkais like they were Pokemon, think of Kimimaro, Suigetsu, Karin, Juugo, Guren, The Sound Four you name it.
I like to think that at the very least there's some logic in my reasoning.
That is definitely it for this chapter. I decided not to include Naruto's fight with Gaara on this one because it would honestly make it longer and I don't enjoy having to edit that many words.
I hope you all enjoyed it at least a little and will keep on enjoying it even more.
Be safe!
Glossary:
Kage Bunshin no Jutsu
Shadow Clone Jutsu
Kamaitachi no Jutsu
Sickle Weasel Jutsu
Kagemane no Jutsu
Shadow Binding Jutsu
Hakke Sanjuni Shō
Eight Trigrams 32 Palms
Hakke Rokujūyon Shō
Eight Trigrams 64 Palms