Chapter 74

After the first preliminary match, Ino had woken up from her failed technique and had returned to her team who was doing their best to cheer her up. Sakura had also rejoined the rest of Team Seven on the balcony catwalk.

"You almost ran out of chakra," I told Sakura.

Pinky Pie scratched her head sheepishly, "Yeah. But I won! I could see her chakra coming at me and my body just moved on its own. It felt awesome!"

Kakashi solemnly asked, "How is the seal doing?"

"It's...okay. I could feel it...pulling...like it's thirsty for my chakra. But I mean it was just a little distracting. I didn't notice Ino's trap because of it." Sakura adjusted the nape of her shirt to better cover the ink on her neck.

Sasuke was strangely quiet, merely glancing at me and Sakura as he sat against the wall.

"You knew, right?" I asked Sasuke.

"Yes. Did you think we wouldn't notice?" he responded.

"Haha, well, it's a good thing I have the heir to the Uchiha clan on my team to smooth things over with the police."

"You should be more careful, Haru. People notice you more than you think."

"I just do what needs to be done. I can't help it if I stand out a little. It doesn't concern me whether people get offended over a little thing like an eyeball or two."

Sasuke's eyes widened a bit when he heard 'or two'. He was still puzzling the meaning of those words when Hayate, the sickly shinobi, announced that the next round was starting. Two names lit upon the board on the far wall. "Round two will be between Hyuga Hinata and Hyuga Neji."

I spoke to Sakura, "Listen, no matter what I promise that I will take responsibility for the Sharingan. I will take care of it. Don't worry."

"You'd better," she replied. Then she hesitated for a moment, "Are you sure, Haru?"

"Yeah, I'm sure. I won't let it come back to you."

Kakashi said nothing to me. Instead, he watched the entrance to the testing room as the Hokage and Jiraiya walked in, conspicuously late. Naruto grinned and waved to his godfather like a lunatic.

"I wonder what could have kept them so busy?"

"Begin!" shouted the proctor as he waved his hand down and jumped away.

Hinata and Neji took identical stances across from each other. Hinata was wearing her ordinary jacket and had a hesitant look on her face. "I'm sorry, Neji-niisan," she spoke sadly before activating her Byakugan with a single seal.

"Sorry for what?" Neji growled as he mirrored Hinata and activated his own Byakugan.

"I'll try to end this quickly... Heavenly Fist Style: Kneel Before Me!" Hinata shouted, curling her fingers upward in a sinister gesture as dozens of tendrils of chakra snaked along the ground toward Neji's tenketsu. The invisible chakra strands went straight for the tenketsu in Neji's legs to paralyze him. But as a fellow Byakugan user, Neji jumped backward into the air, wary of the unfamiliar attack.

"What the? What is this technique?" Neji asked aloud in surprise.

While the boy was in the air, Hinata unleashed her next technique, "Heavenly Fist Style: Rain of the Heavens!" She pointed her palm at her target, sending homing needles of chakra at Neji from all directions.

"Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heavens!" Neji shouted, spinning in the air and sheathing himself in defensive chakra.

"You can't keep this up forever, Neji-niisan," Hinata taunted as she continued to send shards of lethal chakra at her cousin even as he landed on the ground.

"How?! How are you doing this? How are you so strong?" Neji yelled in frustration.

Hinata answered, "I worked hard. And I had help from a friend who believed in me. Now, Neji-niisan, please shut up while I kick your butt."

Never before had I ever felt so proud in my entire life. I only wished Hiashi was here to see his little girl all grown up.

Neji spoke seriously, "I know I can't win like this but I refuse to give up. I can't be defeated here. I didn't want to do this but..." His spinning defensive technique zoomed toward Hinata as he shouted, "Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms!"

The instant the protective chakra dissipated from the air, Neji had unleashed a devastating series of blows to Hinata's tenketsu. The technique only lasted a few seconds but Hinata was blown backward and landed prone on the ground.

"Sorry, Neji-niisan. You won't be able to defeat me that way," Hinata spoke as she hopped back onto her feet, unaffected by the barrage of attacks. "Now it's my turn. Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms!"

Neji was subjected to the same series of precision blows he had just inflicted. I knew from experience it felt like chunks of your body were exploding every time you got hit. Unlike Hinata, Neji's tenketsu were open and vulernable. The stunned crowd watched Neji hit the floor.

"No...why...I can't..." he managed to groan while on the ground, desperately trying to get up.

Hinata walked up to him and placed her fingertips on his chest. "Please rest now," she said as she knocked out the helpless boy.

"The winner is Hyuga Hinata," Hayate announced before checking Neji's pulse.

"That was quick," I said to Sakura who was one of the many people still flabbergasted from the fight. Her techniques weren't anything new to me. I had helped her develop a ranged version of the gentle fist. It just seemed like the obvious next step to take her family style. As I had promised Hiashi, I also taught her how to seal up her chakra in order to counter the gentle fist. Hinata was a lot better at controlling her chakra than I was though.

Naruto was screaming, "Good job, Hinata!" while Shino nodded his approval and Kurenai simply smiled.

After Neji was carried out and the murmurs of the crowd died down, my name lit up the board along with Kabuto. "The third match will be between Haru of the Leaf and Kabuto Yakushi."

"Finally."