When the Hokage's voice, piped into the locker room, announced Naruto's victory, Hinata's heart soared. Though she would never have admitted it, she had been worried for her paramour. A small part of her was still concerned he might have been injured in the fight, but she pushed the fear aside. She couldn't afford it.
"Besides," the young woman told the wall, "with Naruto's regeneration, it doesn't really matter how much he gets beat up, right?"
"Knucklehead, get out of there so we can reset the arena," Tsunade's voice sprang up again, "the match between Hinata Hyuga and Neji Hyuga will begin in twenty minutes."
Hinata's breath caught in her throat, and her hands trembled.
"Neji," she whispered. Her cousin was the acknowledged genius, who learned the clan's primary techniques all by himself. He was one of only two Jonin in the last three generations of Hyuga shinobi. No matter what she had learned, or what Naruto said, she was not certain she could defeat him.
And part of her wasn't sure she wanted to. Neji's father died to save hers, because she could not stop the Cloud ninja had tried to kidnap her. She somehow felt she owed him for that. And she felt her cousin would make a good leader for the clan...
Naruto's face appeared in Hinata's mind. Not his happy, energetic face, but his kind loving face. She remembered what she was fighting for; not just for her love life, but also for how far she had advanced, and for her own freedom. Hinata resolved herself, unconsciously tightening the top strap on her left hand kote. She had promised her beloved she would do her best; she had promised herself she would do her best.
'If Neji wins, I will not begrudge him his victory,' she decided firmly, 'but I will not go down without a fight!'
"Do you think Hinata can beat Neji?" Sakura asked nervously. The seats beside her had been filled by Ino, with Choji on his lover's other side; however the space next to Yugao had been empty, so Naruto had plopped down there. He was still frowning after his match, not pleased by how he won, yet unable to refute the results. But he raised his head and grinned at his teammate's question.
"Of course she can," Uzumaki insisted, without a hint of doubt on his face.
"Nothing against Hinata," Lee shook his head, "for she has come very far. But I do not believe she can defeat Neji. He is a Jonin, while she is only a Tokubetsu Jonin. Neji also has the advantage in strength and speed."
"You're kidding me, Bushy-Brow," Naruto shot back, "Hinata knows all the Hyuga clan tricks, and how to counter them. She's got Neji's number. Plus there's no way Neji's faster than Hinata."
"Then I guess we shall see," Rock Lee did not sound convinced, and Kakashi looked unsure as well.
The cousins stepped onto opposite sides of the field, each observing the other. Neji could not help but be surprised by the rigid resolve in Hinata's eyes and in the set of her shoulders. And Hinata could feel Neji's sadness, and also his lack of doubt. Her eyes also studied the polearm he carried; the spetum had a six-foot wooden staff, topped with a two-foot long, five-inch broad shortsword. And where the two met there were two crescent blades, one facing forward the other facing backwards.
"Hinata Hyuga, Neji Hyuga," the leader of the Leaf shinobi addressed the near siblings, "The rules of this duel are the same as the previous battle. The winner will be the first of you to incapacitate your opponent, to force your opponent out of the arena, or to make your opponent surrender. Begin!"
Hinata pushed off before Tsunade finished the second syllable of the command. She opened a channel to Ginmaki, manifesting the lightning blades. As she took her third step, she started signing.
"Doton: Stone Claws Jutsu!" she incanted, and a half dozen hands formed out of the rocks in the earth around Neji. The Jonin leapt forward, but one of the hands caught his robes. He swung his weapon down, cutting himself free, and completing the rotation so the blade was facing Hinata. He hopped forward to meet her, jabbing lightly towards her stomach. She caught the blade of the spear with her left bracer, and turned it away from her. She took another step forward, keeping the pole blade against her forearm guard, and brought the sharp extension of her other weapon down on the haft.
"Suiton: Shield of Storms," Neji proclaimed, and a layer of thick mist sprang up around the wooden pole, preventing her from cutting through it. He spun the spetum away, jabbing the back end into Hinata's ribs. The Tokujo tried to dodge, but she was too close, and part of her breath was driven from her lungs. She placed her forearm against the reverse end of the spear, and slid closer to Neji, stabbing towards his upper back. He dropped away, swinging his foot up towards her stomach. Hinata countered with a crescent kick, tagging his thigh, forcing his leg away, and trying to put him off balance. The Jonin drove his polearm into the earth, and used the new point of stability to launch his other foot up, catching her right elbow. His momentum carried him around the spear, and when he landed, he quickly freed the weapon and pointed it at his cousin. She took a defensive stance, watching him carefully.
His technique was still rough, she could tell that much. But the spetum gave him a great advantage in reach, and with his superior strength, he could guide her around the battlefield. Her kote style did not have a method of dealing with polearms beyond 'break them or disarm them'. His jutsu had prevented the former, and she was not sure if she could achieve the latter.
'On the other hand,' she thought, 'Ginmaki might not be able to cut through that defense, but that doesn't mean there isn't another way.'
Neji moved again while she was considering her options. He charged in, sliding his hands further back on the spetum's shaft, increasing the range at the cost of being slightly off balance. Hinata started to sidestep again, but Neji stopped before he passed her, and rotated.
"Eight Trigrams: Celestial Roar," he announced, channeling his chakra into the spear as he spun. The speed of his technique caused the heft of the weapon to hum loudly. Hinata braced her arms in front of her, catching the spinning sword blade on both bracers. The strength of his technique threw her to the side, and she tumbled to the ground. He jumped forward preparing to pin her down.
Hinata placed her hands to the dirt, and swung her feet out, channeling her chakra out through them.
"Eight Trigrams Soles: Heavenly Spin," she stated as the unexpected sphere knocked the airborne Neji back. She shifted her weight backwards from her handstand, somersaulting back to an upright position. He was already attacking again, stabbing out with seemingly reckless abandon. But as she slid to the side, he quickly reversed his weapon, pulling it back towards his real target.
"How much do you know about Ginmaki?" Tenten asked slowly, as Neji leaned on the practice spetum, panting heavily.
"I know that Naruto forged the kote for my cousin," he answered, "and they are her primary weapon. Beyond that I know little; I have not had much chance to see them in action, nor have I had reason to ask Hinata about them."
The weapons mistress nodded, it was redundant to send two Hyugas on most missions, so Hinata, Neji, and Hanabi did not work together often.
"Why?" he prompted, doubting his lover turned trainer had mentioned his opponent's bracers idly. Tenten mulled over the question, torn once again between her currently conflicted loyalties and responsibilities.
"If you can't tell me, I won't pressure you," Neji told her, trying to sound reassuring.
"I can't tell you about the Jutsus Naruto placed in Ginmaki," she finally said, "But about kote in general, you should remember that they are designed for defense. On the other hand, don't underestimate them because of it. And I can't tell you about how Ginmaki is secured. But if you could find some way to remove the bracers it would hurt Hinata's offense and her defense at the same time."
Neji had caught notice of the three leather straps on the underside of the kote early on, and he made his move. As he drew his polearm back, he aimed the rear-facing crescent at Hinata's right arm. He slipped the blade between Ginmaki's support bar and Hinata's wrist, and yanked back, sending some extra chakra to his muscles. With a dull whine of scraping metal, the spetum cut through the straps. As the bracer dropped away, Neji noticed first the series of cuts on his cousins arm, and second that the head of the spetum was chipped and dull where it had scraped against the kote, while Ginmaki remained unmarked.
'It seems I have underestimated Naruto's skills as a crafter,' the Hyuga Jonin decided silently, 'If he is still speaking to me after today, I should ask for his assistance in forging Tenten's wedding present.'
Hinata dove for the fallen bracer, but before she could reach it, Neji caught it in the guard of the spetum, and launched it into the crowd, straight for Naruto. Hinata's paramour caught the armor piece with a grimace; by moving it into the audience, Neji had made it impossible for his cousin to physically recover the weapon. She could have summoned it back, but that would have taken precious moments and chakra, and that was not counting the time to find a way to secure it.
The Jonin took a few steps back, signing. His opponent regained her feet, and started to close the distance, but he completed his jutsu first.
"Suiton: Polar Globes Jutsu," he called out quietly, and five one-foot diameter spheres shot at Hinata. She cut through the first with the electric extension of her remaining bracer, but the second struck her right shoulder with a power of a moderate punch, and remained there. As the third hit the right side of her abdomen, the second sphere had started to freeze, and was spreading over her chest and down her arm. She was already shivering as she knocked away the fourth sphere with the main body of Ginmaki. But the ice from the second and third orbs had merged as the final ball of water struck her right hip. Most of the right side of her body was trapped, the frost spread down to her knee and elbow, and even partly encasing her neck. She manage bring her hands together as Neji reclaimed his spear and started to move forward.
"Mi, Hitsuji, Saru, I, Uma, Tora, Fireball Jutsu," Hinata brought her left hand to her mouth, and exhaled a weak cloud of flame. Sakura and Naruto exchanged confused glances; Hinata's mastery of the technique had been much stronger in their last team practice. Her intent became clear as she turned the fire on her frozen side. The ice melted under the assault, while her skin reddened and her flame retardant uniform charred slightly. She broke free just in time to block Neji's shallow slash at her stomach.
Hinata grabbed hold of the staff with her right hand as she absorbed the blow with Ginmaki, but Neji turned over the weapon, tearing it from her grasp before she could capitalize. He jabbed again, and Hinata swayed out of the way, blocking his reversal blow with both of her palms. The Jonin grimaced slightly as his next four attacks were easily avoided or deflected even while she shivered occasionally. He recognized the Whipping Willows style, and shifted his attacks. He swung at her eyes, and then aimed a kick at her still stiff right shoulder. She ducked under the spetum's blade, and pushed aside his leg at the thigh, sending out a small amount of chakra to damage the muscle. He took the minor blow without complaint, and spun his polearm around so she had to lean back to prevent both sides from hitting her neck in succession.
This was what Neji had been waiting for. He continued to pivot the spetum, but changed its angle. Off balance, and lacking a clear view with her Byakugan inactive, Hinata could not do anything as the back end of the spear struck her knees. She tumbled to the ground, landing facing him.
"I am sorry, Hinata," Neji whispered as he stabbed the blunt end of the polearm fiercely at her forehead. But his apology was premature; Hinata brought her hand together as the staff approached her face. Time seemed to slow down, and the Jonin recognized her movement was in vain; the bludgeon would hit her before she could stop it. And for the second time in two heartbeats, he realized he had underestimated Hinata, as the clouds of chakra in each of her palms coalesced and merged.
"Rasengan," she said victoriously, as the sphere shredded the wooden haft of the weapon. The short portion of the staff, on the near side of the Rasengan no longer had support, and was thrown upwards by the spiraling orb. She released the sphere with her right hand, while at the same time expanding it. As the Fourth Hokage's Jutsu chewed away at the oak haft of the spetum, Hinata also sent chakra to her eyes, activating her Suigin Byakugan, determined not the be caught off guard again.
Neji hopped backwards to avoid losing any more of his weapon. In the end, between the broken part that had just crested and was starting to fall, and sawdust littering the floor, he had lost over three feet of the staff of the weapon. His spetum had been reduced to a shortsword with an odd crosspiece and an extra long handle. Hinata kipped up, and caught the falling stick in her right hand, taking a new fighting stance, holding her trophy like a club and with the Rasengan in her left hand.
Neji examined her. Hinata had taken more, harder hits than she had given, but she was not showing it. Her shivers were gone, and though her knees must have hurt, she held her stance evenly. Though he had come to care for his near sister, this was the first time he felt he could follow her as leader of the clan.
"But it's too late for that now," he told her, drawing a look of confusion, "I won't lose."
He threw the spetum at her like a javelin, and while she ruined the weapon with the Rasengan, he withdrew his tonfas from under his robe. Though the wooden and metal bars were not of the quality of Ginmaki, they were imbued with a few tricks and were sturdier than the spetum had been. Neji darted forward, swinging with his right arm. His confidence was rewarded when Hinata moved her Rasengan to intercept and the tonfa was deflected but not damaged. He swung his second weapon at her, and she raised the broken haft of the spetum to block. Neji sent a stream of chakra into the tonfa, and the simple wooden rod splintered and shattered from the increased impact. Hinata fell back, divesting herself of both the broken stick and the Rasengan. Her hands moved with incredible speed, and she was signing her second jutsu even as her first left her fingertips.
"Spark Darts," she incanted, following it with, "Doton: Fault Line Jutsu."
Seven barbs of electricity flew towards Neji, and before he could dodge, the ground started to buck and shake under him. He drove his left tonfa to the ground to steady himself, and spun his right hand bar to absorb the lightning jutsu. As soon as he was stable, the Hyuga Jonin darted forward. He scissored his tonfa, and aimed for her neck. She caught the attack on her remaining kote, but was forced back and left open for a quick kick to the ribs. She blocked it with her right forearm, but her cousin was still at the advantage in both strength and leverage, and pain shot up her arm. She took small comfort in knowing that it would have been worse to get hit in the torso. Hinata pushed away as hard as she could, signing again.
"Doton: Earth Skippers Jutsu," Hinata cradled her injured arm slightly as two flat stones wrenched themselves from the dirt, and bounced towards Neji. He smashed them with his weapons, and in that instant, she slid back in and stabbed her glowing fingertip into his elbow. His grip on his right hand bludgeon loosened. He swung his left hand weapon at her head, nearly clipping her chin, and then tucked both tonfas under his stunned arm. He hit the same pressure point she had, restoring his nerves and chakra flow. The Jonin jabbed at her with his newly restored arm, so she could not land another blow and so he could recover the weapons trapped in his between his bicep and his rib.
Hinata was already moving through a new set of hand seals, but Neji was not about to let her use another jutsu. He aimed his attacks at her wrists. She was able to shift without stopping, causing him to miss her right arm and hit Ginmaki on her left. She also was able to spare a thread of chakra for her kote, sending a reverberation back through his tonfa. He dropped the weapon.
"Suiton: Water Spout Jutsu," she finished, launching a sphere of water at Neji. He struck it with his remaining bar, and it exploded, pushing him to his knees and soaking him.
"Ranshinsho," Hinata whispered, diving towards him. The purple lightning around her hands arced lightly to Neji's soaked clothes. But before she reached him, he dropped his other tonfa and drew his hands in to his chest, before thrusting them out at her.
"Eight Trigrams Mountain Crusher!" Neji shouted, even though he purposely held back the full power of his jutsu. He cut the strength by a third, and softened the impact slightly, so as not to seriously injure his cousin. Instead, his intent became clear as Hinata was launched into the air towards the audience. Once she landed outside the arena, Neji would be the victor. The young woman tumbled through the air, her eyes fluttering in semi-consciousness. She reached the apex of her flight above the wall of the battlefield, and began to drop towards Tenten, as if she had been directed there.
"HINATA!" Naruto roared angrily.