The Hyuuga feud

Hyuuga Neji vs. Hyuuga Hinata

Those where the names on the board. There was a moment of silence. Tentens team was silent. They knew some things about Neji. And they knew that this was bad.

Shino also had an idea of what was coming, so he turned to his teammate. "Hinata, if you wish to withdraw, no one is going to hold it against you.", the bug-user offered, but Hinata just shook her head decisively. "No, I will face him.", she said, surprising everyone present. While Neji had simply jumped down to the ring, Hinata chose to walk down the stairs.

On her way there, she passed Naruto. Stopping there for a moment, she looked at her boyfriend. "Naruto-kun, please watch me. I will not lag behind you.", she simply stated.

Naruto was speechless. Hinata had really changed. She meant it now. And he knew that if he just believed in her, she would be able to accomplish anything. "Go get him, Hinata-chan.", Naruto nodded, having full confidence in his girlfriend.

Nodding back, Hinata did something that amazed anyone who knew her. She broke out into a full smile. A happy smile. She was happy that Naruto had real faith in her. Like this, she descended the stairs and was soon facing her cousin.

Nejo stood there, frowning as Hinata had chosen to oppose him. "For your own good, Hinata-sama, I advise you to stand back. You will not be able to hold your own against me.", he warned the girl. And it was not just gloating, most knew it was the truth.

But the Hyuuga girl wouldn't bow to that truth. "I won't know that until I tried.", was all that he got from Hinata as a response.

"Very well then. If you have decided to try, I will show you futile your attempt is.", her cousin acknowledged her resolve with a cold smile.

Seeing as the two had said everything there was to say, the proctor decided to start this battle. "Begin!", he signalled them.

Both assumed their fighting positions, Hinata was a seemingly gentle and composed stance while Neji was nearly crouching, one hand pointing towards Hinata with his index and middle finger and his other hand the exactly other way with the palm towards the ceiling. And so they began...

The fight appeared to be even at first. Hinata attacked vigorously be controlled, not letting her emotions get the better of her. Neji defended and attacked in the same motion however, and soon, he got faster, so that Hinata was slowly driven into the defense.

Finally, he had **** Hinata to created an opening for him, which he exploited without a moment of hesitation. A strike with his palm against her stomach send Hinata skidding backwards.

Seeing as she coughed up blood, Neji stood straight. "What are you trying to prove, Hinata-sama? You will accomplish nothing. Against me, your attacks are fruitless.", he reasoned with Hinata.

But Hinata would not listen to his reason. She had a reason of her own to keep on fighting. "Still, I will not give up. Because... a person I hold dear to me also has never given up. So, I couldn't face him again if I gave up. I couldn't even face myself if I just give up now.", she responded as she recovered from the blow. Wasting no time, she again relaxed her body for a moment before assuming the basic Juuken stance.

The eyes of her cousin widened. "Hinata, you...", Neji gasped as he recognized something as he looked at Hinata now. The fluttering in her heart as she spoke of that person. The fact that her eyes turned ever so slightly to a blonde ninja who was watching her. Neji jumped immediately to the correct conclusion.

Anger flared up on Nejis usually indifferent face. His posture changed, he now crouched even lower as his eyes now target another part of Hinatas body. Then, he attacked.

It was an attack unlike any other. It was quicker, faster, more decisive than any before. Everyone realized, he wanted to end it with this one. No, even more...

"He's going for the kill!", Shikamaru exclaimed, out of his unusual self. He was well aware of what exactly Neji was trying to attack: Hinata's heart!

Before Naruto or any of the other Genin could react though, the Jounin proved to be the strongest ones, as Kurenai-sensei, Kakashi and Gai intervened and held Neji in place, the tips of his fingers just an inch apart from Hinatas chest.

"That's enough, Neji. I won't let you do this!", Gai reprimanded his student. Huffing, the Hyuuga saw that there was no way he could overcome those odds and backed up.

Just as he stepped back, Kurenai saw Hinatas legs giving in and caught the young girl just in time to stop her from crashing to the ground. She immediately saw the dire situation Hinata was in and called for medic-nin to come and pick her up. Team 7 and Tenten also rushed down towards the floor of the hall to Hinatas side.

While the girls hurriedly checked on Hinata, Naruto only looked at her once and, unbeknown to him, his eyes turned bloodred. He turned towards Neji, his hands clenched to a fist. He clenched it so hard that he very nearly drew blood. Slowly, he advanced towards the cold Hyuuga who had just injured, maybe fatally, his cousin. Narutos girlfriend.

Kurenai saw what had happened to Naruto. She knew well about the Kyuubi, but so far he had not showed up. She hadn't been confident about her chances to train the 'demon kid', but so far Naruto had shown to be a dilligent, nice young man. But now, she sensed the chance occuring in him. "Naruto, what are you doing?! You can't attack him outside of a match or you'll forfeit automatically.", Kurenai stopped him as she appeared before him.

But Naruto would have none of it. "Screw this, Hinata-chan is...", he yelled in anguish, even more so as he heard Neji smugly comment that it took Jounin to stop him. "Hinata-chan is...", he repeated before growling sorrowfully.

All of them felt Narutos anger and they could understand. But it hit Naruto the hardest. Sakura was the first to speak up as she touched his shoulder. "It's okay, Naruto. Please stay here, I'll go with Hinata-chan.", Sakura offered.

Naruto, breathing heavily in anger, calmed a little down as he heard Sakuras voice. He turned to look at her, a mixture of pain and regret in his eyes. Pain that he had watched Hinata's futile struggle, and regret that he wasn't able to stop Neji. "It's best if just one of us goes with her. Besides, Ino-pig probably needs all the cheering on she can get from you soon.", she added with a smile.

Naruto breathed out audibly, trying to clear his head of his anger. "Alright, if you say so... thanks, Sakura-chan.", Naruto agreed, truly thankful that Sakura was so considerate.

Sakura nodded and then turned to Ino. "Ino, the next time I see you, you better tell me you've made it to the final round, too.", she jokingly told her.

The words of encouragement didn't fail to have the desired effect. "You can bet on it!", the blonde replied, pumping a fist in the air to show off her confidence in her own abilities. After all, if her teammates had already won their matches, it would just look bad if she lost.

Nodding, Sakura hurried after the medic-nin who carried out Hinata on a stretcher. Naruto and Ino watched them leave the hall and only then slowly returned to their spot. While doing so, Ino looked at her boyfriend worriedly. He was fuming with anger. She had never seen him this angry and it frightened her. "Naruto, are you alright?", she asked, concerned for him.

Naruto found it hard to stop gritting his teeth in anger. But finally, he opened his mouth. "I'm gonna... I'm gonna beat the living daylights out of that guy. How dare he treat Hinata-chan like that...", he growled as he stared wildly at Neji, who only brushed his glare off as it was inconsequential to him.

While Ino tried to both calm and console her boyfriend, the monitor began to spin the names of the remaining contestants again.