"HINATA!" Naruto roared angrily. Sakura clasped her hands in front of her mouth fearfully, while Kakashi grimaced sadly. Tenten prepared to catch her friend, telling herself she should not feel guilty about the joy blossoming in her heart.
"What are you doing, Hinata?" Naruto shouted the question less loudly; despair replacing the ire in his previous outburst. His words reached her this time, and her eyes snapped open. The action was more indicative of her restored focus than of a need to see, her Suigin Byakugan was still active. Hinata Hyuga placed her hands together, summoning her chakra.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu," she said simply. Naruto's voice had inspired her to take a page from the beloved's playbook. The clone appeared below her and placed her palms to the bottoms of the original's boots, each pushing off the other. The duplicate began to fly even faster towards the crowd, while the real Hinata rocketed back towards the arena floor. The shadow replica disappeared just before it struck Tenten, and Hinata was completing another jutsu as she landed.
"Medical Arts, Accelerated Healing Jutsu," the silver eyed woman incanted. In the same instant, she removed the lightning projection lingering around Ginmaki. She met Neji's gaze with a new expression. Instead of the grim determination she had shown earlier, she had a deep calm, and appraised him openly.
"It's about time you started fighting, Hinata," her boyfriend grumbled softly, even though she could not hear him.
"What do you think she was doing before?" Lee asked, confused but cautiously smug.
"Sparring."
"What's that mean?" Choji prompted curiously.
"She was trying not to hurt Neji, and over-thinking her moves," Uzumaki explained, "That's why she was relying too much on Ginmaki. She normally only uses the kote as a weapon when she's sparring, or if she needs to cut something. But I know that look; she's finally gonna fight him."
Hinata assumed the Gentle Fist stance, even as full flexibility and strength returned to her knees. Neji did not want to give her any more chance to recover further; he snatched up both of his tonfa from the earth, and charged her.
She caught the first spinning bar with her right hand, accepting the stinging pain to hold the tonfa. She pulled him in by the weapon, blocking the second tonfa incidentally with Ginmaki as her left hand stabbed at Neji's right lung, just under his rib cage. The Jonin braced for the stunning impact of the Gentle Fist, building up a mass of chi into the chakra point she was targeting, and then stopping the energy flow in or out. It would not negate the effect of the Gentle Fist, but it would minimize the impact.
At the last instant, Hinata's fingers curled, and she sent an extra spark of chakra through her muscles. Her fist drove into his gut, and his white eyes bulged as the breath was driven from his body. She released his tonfa, quickly tapping the thumb and index finger of his left hand as she did. Neji just barely managed to keep hold of his weapon with the three digits that were still functioning. He tried to retreat, spinning his right hand tonfa repeatedly to try to keep her at bay.
"I am sorry, my brother," Hinata paused, letting him gain space, "I can't hold back any longer, so you shouldn't either."
"What do you mean, Hinata?" he asked trying to hide the kernel of worry that sprouted in his stomach. Short of techniques that would almost certainly kill or maim his cousin, he was not sure there was much more he could bring to the fight.
Hinata did not answer with words; she jumped forward, aiming her hands at his neck. He expected a feint, so he blocked lightly while watching for her follow-up. Unfortunately, her attack was in earnest, and her left fist sent tingles up his left arm where he caught it, and her right arm clipped the side of his neck. Neji recognized that if he had not shifted to block the first blow, her second could have rendered him unconscious, speechless, or worse. He berated himself for blocking with his wrist instead of his tonfa.
"Why are you still using weapons?" Hinata finally answered his query with one of her own. She opened her hands, and swung her fingertips at his shoulders. Neji dropped clumsily to avoid the attack, and aimed his undiminished right hand weapon at her knee. She stepped into the attack, at the same time throwing the targeted joint towards his nose.
The tonfa hit the heel of her boot, and her knee brushed his nose and cheek.
"You want me to use the Gentle Fist against you?" he shook his head, "That would be foolish of me, given the training you and Naruto have undertaken."
"Taijutsu is your specialty," she said, "whether it is the Gentle Fist or another style. Your unarmed skill far surpasses your weapons skill. And refusing to use your best techniques because I know a way to counter them, that is the more foolish choice."
Neji restored his stunned left digits as she spoke, and the lecture stung. Still, he gripped his tonfas more tightly, determined not to be manipulated. He stepped towards her, swinging at her face and stabbing for her stomach simultaneously. Hinata back-fisted the spinning weapon with her left hand, using her chakra to protect her knuckles and increase the power of her attack. The tonfa in Neji's right hand gave off an unsettling 'crack' as it reversed direction. She tried to reach past the second weapon to tag the arm holding it, but Neji dropped his arm and responded with a spinning kick to the small of her back. The blow staggered the young woman, but she used the impact to roll past him, swiftly rising to stab her fingers at his spine.
"Byakugan," Neji finally activated his Kekkei Genkai, and was amazed by the amount of chakra still left in her body.
"Since when do you have such expansive chakra reserves?" he asked as he leaned away from her strikes, also swinging back his right hand weapon to drive off her assault.
"Training with Naruto consistently for sixteen months has many advantages," she answered, shifting her feet and stabbing again, remaining behind him, "Trying to keep up with his chakra supply has greatly increased my own limits."
He nodded reflexively, rotating quickly to face her again. But Hinata was faster still, she tagged his left side and made sure her right arm remained in his blind spot. Neji took a quick tally, and realized it had been almost two years since he had actively worked out with his cousin. The last time he had done any sort of training with her was she had taught him the Protection of the Eight Trigrams Sixty-four Palms just over a year ago. Recently their interactions had been less business and more social.
The Jonin suddenly somersaulted forward twice, trying to gain enough distance from the young woman to meet her head on again. She was sufficiently surprised by his forward retreat, and he was able to turn around, if only just.
"Rasengan," she crafted the sphere again and darted after him. As Neji turned to face her, she was already thrusting the ball of energy towards him, and he was barely able to get his paired tonfas between himself and the orb. Though he had not been using his Byakugan earlier, he could still tell that this time the Fourth Hokage's Jutsu was denser and the chakra threads were moving faster. The Hyuga Bloodline was better able to detect the edges of the Rasengan, so to his enhanced vision the spiraling sphere looked more like a thousand faceted jewel. Hinata pushed forward, and Neji dug in his feet, keeping the tonfas angled so she could neither force her way past, nor divert for attack any direction other than into the dirt. The wood and metal bars shook under the assault, and as the third second passed, a whine began to rise from his right weapon. He recalled with a moment of worry that it was the same weapon that had stopped her last Rasengan as well as the one she had punched. The chakra-reinforced oak outside splintered, and the orb began to both bend and grind away the first steel ribbon through the middle of the weapon.
"Rotation," Neji spun in desperation, trying to throw his cousin back. The Rasengan shattered the Heavenly Spin where they met, so the Hyuga technique never touched Hinata. The act did make her pause just long enough for him to back away. She released the Rasengan while Neji examined his ruined weapon with a growing hint of rage. He returned both tonfas to their hidden scabbard.
"Have it your way," he informed her, chakra lighting his fingers. He stepped forward, his hands darting independently at her shoulders. Hinata slid past his right arm, while attacking his left. Her right elbow impacted his forearm, throwing it aside, and then her other hand punched his elbow in turn. Neji grimaced at the hits, but was able to redirect his right strike, hitting her right breast and the lung underneath.
"Chakra Pulse," she quickly undid the effect of the Gentle Fist so that her regeneration technique could restore the shortness of breath she was already feeling. Hinata debated the merits of continuing the healing jutsu; most of the damage that the simple technique could deal with was already gone, and it was starting to be a drain on her chakra supply. But if she kept mixing the Tiger & Heron with the Gentle Fist, she would need it to restore the damage that the aggressive style forced her to accept. And if she dropped the restorative spell, she might not have another chance to restore it. Despite her misgivings, she silently ended the jutsu.
'How fast can she form the Rasengan?' Neji asked himself, 'Is my Heavenly Spin faster?'
Hinata shifted her stance, bringing her feet closer together, even as she swung out both her hands at her cousin's right arm again. He dropped the targeted limb, and countered with a jab at her neck. She leaned back subtly, and at the same time pulled her own left elbow back, tagging his wrist. Neji was surprised as he felt the chakra point close down. His fingers darted forward again; bypassing the blockage, he had just received. She shifted her body at the waist causing his left hand to miss her shoulder, and tapped her palm to his, pushing his other hand wide as well.
"I see," Neji said, stepping back carefully, "Before you were mixing the Tiger style with the Gentle Fist, but now you are combining Whipping Willows and the Gentle Fist."
She saw no need to respond, other than to angle one hand towards his gut and the other towards his neck. His response caught her off guard; he grabbed her wrists, threw himself backwards, planted his foot in her sternum, and flipped her over him. By the time Hinata managed to right herself so she could land on her feet, Neji had completed his roll and was signing.
"Doton: Sand Trap Jutsu," he finished an instant before she landed, and the ground under her feet changed from hard pack dirt to soft, shifting sand. Her landing was slightly disrupted, and both of their respective Byakugans registered the minor tearing of her left Achilles tendon. He charged forward, sending chakra out of his feet to walk on the sand like it was water. His right hand darted out, but the Gentle Fist strike was a feint, and instead he landed a weak roundhouse kick on her left knee. Hinata took a half step away, carefully, hiding her left leg from him.
"Doton: Sedimentary Jutsu," she inverted his maneuver, compacting the dirt and sand into a layer of stone. Then she kicked at his face with her left foot. Neji caught her leg, and tossed her again, increasing the damage to her ankle and knee. Hinata managed to tuck and roll as she fell, and as she stood, was obviously favoring her right stem.
"Now you are mixing the Hard Fist with Gentle Fist," she observed.
"The Gentle Fist lacks kicks and throws," he noted, his lowered body tensing. He hopped forward, his foot leading. Jump kicks were Gai's specialty, flashy, powerful, and somewhat dangerous to the user. Neji aimed for her midsection, counting on Hinata being slowed enough that she would not be able to avoid him. Hinata grabbed her left forearm with her right hand and blocked the kick with Ginmaki. As soon as his foot touched, she forced it downward, dropping to one knee to put her weight onto his ankle. Neji's foot twisted oddly, both when it struck and again when it hit the ground.
The instant his foot was on the ground, Hinata propelled herself back up, driving her right fist into his chin with every ounce of force her light frame could muster. The uppercut bowled Neji over; he landed on his butt with his face between his raised knees. She quickly started crafting hand seals, hoping to restore her leg before Neji recovered.
His head snapped up, recognizing her technique. Neji surged to his feet, spinning as he went.
"Eight Trigrams Palms Heavenly Spin," he announced, taking advantage of her commitment to the jutsu, counting on that to prevent her from countering with the Rasengan. The expanding sphere of power struck the startled Kunoichi, knocking her back. As she collided with the ground, the pale beauty was careful to roll so that she didn't hit her injured leg too hard.
"Looks like Neji took care of that glass jaw," Choji commented before taking another bite of his sandwich.
"Yes," Gai stated proudly, "We did some special training for that."
Neji sighed slightly as his rotation ended. He kept his distance, watching Hinata carefully.
"Please, stay down," he said kindly. Hinata drifted gracefully to her feet without a word, and faced him angrily. A long cut on the right side of her forehead loosed blood down into the eye below, which she held tightly shut.
"No, my brother," she shook her head, "That is no where near enough to stop me."
Neji briefly wondered how half of her Suigin Byakugan compared to his normal Byakugan, not that blood or a closed eye would inhibit her vision in any way. She wiped her face quickly on the sleeve of her shirt, and faced him again with both eyes open. She dropped back into the Gentle Fist stance, waiting for him to move. Though he could see the injuries to her knee and ankle had not been repaired, she was no longer favoring her right leg. The Jonin frowned slightly and matched her posture.
"But this will end it," he told her confidently, also with a touch of regret. A seal spread out from his feet, encompassing almost half of the arena floor.
"Eight Trigrams," he incanted, stepping off the duality symbol to meet her. In the stands, Hyouta Hyuga stood, and moved to the edge of the Hokage's box with a look of triumph.
"Two palms, four palms, eight palms," his fingers darted in at amazing speed, aiming for chakra points all throughout her system. He moved to her side, and continued.
"Sixteen palms," he slid behind her.
"Thirty-two palms," he completed the circuit, standing in front of her again.
"Sixty-four palms," Neji grimaced slightly, finishing, "One hundred twenty-eight palms."
The seal broke apart, and the two cousins just stood there, facing one another. The crowd collectively held its breath in anticipation.
"I am sorry, Neji," Hinata said gently, and her opponent slid down onto one knee, no longer able to stand. For a moment, Hyouta's face went slack with surprise; but he recovered quickly, bristling with anger.
"What is going on? Why is Neji down?" he demanded of no one in particular, then he pointed his finger at Hinata on the arena floor, "You cheated, didn't you girl? Someone helped you!"
"Back off, old man," Naruto growled, with none of the affection he used when calling Hiashi or Teuchi 'old man'. The blonde teen jumped to his feet, glaring up at the Hyuga elder.
"It's not Hinata's fault you couldn't see or hear what happened," Uzumaki shouted, "If you're blind without your Byakugan, maybe you should leave it on all the time."
"How dare you?" Hyouta sniffed imperiously, using the advantage of their respective positions to look down on Naruto literally, as well as figuratively.
"Even I couldn't see the whole thing," Kakashi said, turning his face up so Hyouta could observe his uncovered Sharingan, "But Hinata blocked or avoided at least half of Neji's strikes, while every one of hers was spot on..."
"Eight Trigrams," Neji incanted, his right foot leaving the center of the seal.
"Two palms," he started his barrage, his left hand angling towards Hinata's right shoulder, while his right shot towards a chakra point above her heart. She shifted her stance slightly, so that he missed the chakra point in her shoulder, though he still scored a minor cut into the muscle. At the same time, she gently tapped his other hand aside with her wrist, so that he missed entirely.
"Eight Trigrams," she whispered, the smaller, purple circle spreading out from her foundation, lost in Neji's overpowering green.
"Four palms," he struck her left side where he intended to, but both of the blows to her arms were deflected, and the strike at her liver did not hit anything vital due to her movement.
"Two volts," her own arms darted out, scoring hits on his right lung and hip. She had returned to her guard position before he completed the next statement.
"Eight palms." This time Neji was slightly more successful, landing five of his eight attacks where he intended to, though all of the remaining three failed to connect.
"Chakra pulse; four volts," Hinata intoned softly, restoring her chakra flow, before landing two hits on his left lung, one on his stomach, and the last on his right arm.
The duration of the opposing techniques was much the same. The 'eight palms' level was Neji's most triumphant set in terms of hit percentage; but Hinata landed every strike, while occasionally undoing the damage he inflicted on her chakra network.
"One hundred twenty-eight palms," Neji panted the verbal seal slightly, completing the technique more on determination and momentum than anything else.
"Thirty-two volts," Hinata announced the final strike at the same time her cousin did, but completed it before he did. As with each other stage, her strikes all hit, even while avoiding or deflecting sixty-seven of his one hundred twenty eight attacks.
Neji struggled to remain upright, but both his chakra and nervous systems where in a disarray, and he had taken almost as many minor cuts to his muscles and organs as Hinata had, but the damage she inflicted was also more critical.
"Hinata is faster," the Copy Ninja concluded, referencing Lee and Naruto's earlier debate, "So by using a slower, simpler technique, she was able to attack and defend at the same time."
Hyouta Hyuga stared down his nose at Kakashi for a moment, and then sat back down, hiding a look of smug satisfaction.
Ignoring the pain and disrupted motor control, Neji forced himself back upright. He could not lift his arms, but nevertheless he squared himself against Hinata.
"I cannot lose," he whispered, "Setting aside the leadership of the clan, my engagement with Tenten is also at stake here."
Hinata's face darkened, and she quickly closed the gap between them, shouting, "Gentle Step Twin Lion Fists!"
The chakra feline surrounding Hinata's left hand bit lightly into Neji's right shoulder, and the other predator clamped down on his left hip. She lifted him into the air, using his body and the form of her jutsu to hide her face.
"Please, surrender, Neji," she pleaded loudly, and then murmured, "Is that what our grandfather told you?"
His head dipped, and she took the motion for an affirmative.
"You can barely breath, and if you try to hard, you might do permanent damage to your lungs," she yelled for the crowd, and then said softly, "That is a lie. Your relationship is entirely safe."
"Don't make me finish this jutsu," she cried out, added sotto voce, "I... overheard... my father and Aunt Hiroko talking two months ago. She was representing the Elders, and was asking father to encourage you to propose to Tenten."
His eyes widened, he knew all to well that the will of the Elders was the will of Hyouta.
"The damage to your limbs will take months to heal," she shouted at him, while really saying, "Grandfather is fascinated by her lineage. Her mix of Uchiha and Takamichi blood means a better chance your children will have the Byakugan, or possibly a Byakugan/Sharingan hybrid."
"You might never fully recover," she implored him, then whispered, "Grandfather would never try to separate you two, unless he was disappointed in your offspring."
"But if you don't give up, I will incapacitate you," she told him earnestly, her secret monologue completed, "If that is what it takes to protect my relationship, I will break you, my brother."
Neji considered her words for a moment. He did not think she would lie to him, and what she said fit with what he knew. Tenten's father had been born into the Uchiha clan, though without the Sharingan. Her mother was a Takamichi, a cousin of the leader of the Hyuga's former servants. There was a long-standing feud between the two families, so when Tenten's parents fell in love, they quit their respective clans so they could marry without interference. That was reason his fiancé lacked a family name. It made sense that Hyouta would want him to marry someone with the latent genetics for not one, but two of the legendary Dojutsu.
"I concede," he announced for the crowd, his head dropping. At first, Hinata thought it was an act as part of his surrender. But as she set him down, she realized he had lost consciousness. She looked up at the Hokage's box, worried.
"OK, let's get some medics down there," Tsunade barked, "The winner is Hinata Hyuga!"
Hinata smiled faintly; concerned she had hurt Neji more than she needed to. She swayed slightly as she straightened; she was exhausted, nearly out of chakra, woozy from the head injury, and had lost a not insubstantial measure of blood.
"All right!" Naruto bellowed triumphantly, punching the air as he jumped to his feet. He started to run back down to the arena, but was interrupted.
"Stop," Hyouta Hyuga barked, amplifying his voice with a minor Genjutsu, "Just where do you think you are going, Uzumaki?"
"I'm going to congratulate Hinata," Naruto shouted back.
"I don't think so," the Hyuga elder shook his head smugly, "As per the terms of our arrangement, Hinata's inheritance is forfeit, as is her relationship with you!"