26. Destiny of the Hyuga

"The fourth match will begin shortly! Will Hyūga Hinata and Hyūga Neji please come forward?" Genma called out the names of the next participants.

The members of Team Three and Kurotsuchi, who had been in the middle of a conversation, stopped talking. Hinata's eyes widened and her heart started to beat rapidly.

'Well… it's time.' She told herself.

Hinata's eyes wandered to her cousin. Neji was staring intently, giving her a glare. Once he noticed that she was looking back at him, a scowl developed on his lips as he shook his head at her. He then started to walk towards the exit of the waiting area, towards the stairs. Hinata continued to watch her cousin as she started to imagine the fight that they were about to have.

"Hey, Hinata-chan! You good?"

The Hyūga was snapped out of her thoughts at the sound of her crush's voice. She turned her attention back to her friends, who were looking at her in concern. She gave them a small smile before speaking.

"I'm fine." She told them, resisting the urge to sigh.

"You better be. You got a fight to win!" Kurotsuchi started sharply with a grin.

"I…" The Hyūga looked downward for a moment before she gave her friend a grin of her own. "Right!"

"Think calm during your fight, Hinata. From what I've heard, Neji loves to psych out and toy with his opponents. Go in with a calm mind and just fight; don't listen to a thing he says." Shikamaru advised.

"I know…" Hinata frowned slightly at Shikamaru's advice. She was very well aware of Neji's 'tendency' to toy with people he didn't respect. Hinata, unfortunately, was on that particular list and was used to Neji's taunting.

"You have this fight in the bag otherwise. That's what I think at least." Shikamaru continued with a smirk. "Just don't let him get in your head. Go out there and kick his ass."

"He's right." Naruto nodded in agreement.

The Hyūga turned her attention towards the Uzumaki. "Naruto-kun…"

Naruto smiled and placed his right hand on her shoulder. "You've gotten a lot stronger during the month. I can just tell. So go out there and show your jackass cousin just how much. Show everybody here dattebayo!" A small blush developed on the blonde's cheeks. "Do your best!"

"Naruto-kun…" Hinata quickly gave her teammate a hug: one he was quick to return. A blush developed equally red as Naruto's developed on her face as another grin crossed her lips. "Watch me out there and cheer me on, okay?"

"Of course." Naruto replied.

The two broke their hug soon after. Hinata waved goodbye to her friends before she walked out of the waiting room and headed for the stairs. Once the girl was finally out of the area, both Shikamaru and Kurotsuchi turned to face the blonde. The two of them had matching, cheeky grins on their faces. Naruto noticed the looks they were giving him and tilted his head in confusion.

"What?" He questioned.

"So, should we be expecting a declaration of love once she gets back up here, or immediately after the match when she's still on the battlefield?" Shikamaru asked teasingly.

"Wh-What are you…" Naruto's cheeks reddened further as his two friends started to laugh. He then started to scowl at them. "I-It's not… You guys… We're just… Oi, sh-shut the hell up and stop laughing dattebayo!"

Much to his chagrin, Shikamaru and Kurotsuchi did not stop laughing. If anything, the laughing grew louder.

Hinata went down one flight of stairs on her way to the battlefield. She was about to go down a second flight of stairs when she noticed Neji standing at the bottom, glaring at her.

"Neji-niisan…" Hinata mumbled her cousin's name in surprise. "I wasn't expecting you to wait for me."

"I felt that we should talk, away from your teammates. I'd rather they not influence your answer." Neji told her, his glare never ceasing for a second. "You should surrender now while you have the chance."

"Huh?" The Hyūga heiress's eyes widened.

"We both know exactly how this will go, Hinata-sama." He sneered when he said her name. "Your friends may have tried to hide the fact from you, and maybe you believed it for a moment, but you can't hide from fate for long. You have always been a failure amongst the clan, and nothing you do or anyone says can change that." Neji's glare intensified as he continued to speak. "So, I'd advise forfeiting now before you humiliate yourself and the clan further and get yourself injured."

For a moment, Hinata's eyes lowered as she recalled her training with the Hyūga clan when she was younger. She remembered all the disappointment she brought to her father and the elders of her clan. She even heard conversations about them considering removing her title as 'heiress' and passing it down to her sister, Hanabi. She knew that Neji was right: she was a failure.

'But that's all in the past. I'm not that girl anymore!' She told herself sharply as she brought her eyes back forward towards her cousin and started to walk down the stairs. "I'm not going to forfeit."

"Hmm?" Her cousin raised his eyebrows in response.

"I won't quit. I will give it my all and fight you, Neji-niisan. Because I'm not the girl I was before. I have friends who believe in me now and know what I can do." Images of Naruto, Shikamaru, Anko, Kurotsuchi, Roto, and Han entered her head. "But also…" The Hyūga also started remembering her own training during the month with her father. "… I also believe in myself, and I know I can do anything if I try hard enough!"

"Hmph." Neji scoffed in response. "I'd be careful with your beliefs, Hinata-sama. Such thoughts may get you killed one day."

Hinata shook her head in response. "It's not harmful; it's the truth. I can fight you, Neji-niisan, and I want to show you who I really am. I want to show you that anybody, from people like me to people like you, can change their fate!"

"Tell that to every member of the Branch Clan! Tell that to my father!" Neji hissed, his eyes darkening exponentially. "Walk up to his memorial and tell him that his fate could have been changed!"

Hinata's determination and confidence started to fade and her eyes went downward again as she recalled her uncle, Hizashi. The circumstances behind Hizashi's death were a sore subject for her, but an even sorer subject for Neji. 'Neji-niisan…'

The Hyūga heiress arrived at the bottom of the stairs. Once she arrived, the two cousins started to walk together. Hinata opened her mouth to respond to Neji's comment about his father, but she was cut off by Neji, who decided to speak up first.

"If you are actually going to fight me, then I can't guarantee your safety. I will fight with everything I have." He informed her sharply.

Hinata looked upward again and nodded at her cousin. "I expect nothing less."

The elder Hyūga scoffed in response, but gave no verbal reply. The two cousins remained silent as they continued walking.

The clan elders of the Hyūga clan all sat together in the stands of the arena along with Hiashi and his youngest daughter, Hanabi. They watched the previous fights with slight interest, but they were now staring at the arena with their full attention. It was now time to see the heiress of the Main Branch fight the prodigy of the Branch family. The elders started to whisper to each other about their predictions and expectations for the upcoming fight.

"Watch this fight closely, Hanabi." Hiashi requested to his daughter. "There is no fight you can learn more from than this one right here."

"Right." Hanabi nodded in understanding. "Who do you think will win, father?"

Hiashi did not respond immediately, as he truly pondered that question. He had been wondering this question since he started his training with Hinata. For the first week, he knew that his nephew would be the one who would be victorious. Now, however, he watched his eldest daughter reveal a whole new side to her that he was unaware existed. He saw the full extent of her determination and strength. There was no denying that Hinata was much stronger than he had ever expected her to be. He had earned her respect no matter what, even if she lost to Neji.

'The only question is: did she get strong enough? Can she match Neji?' Hiashi continued to repeat the question.

"… The match will start soon. We shall see once it starts." Hiashi finally spoke his thoughts.

Since she was in public and didn't want to act in a way that went against the Hyūga clan's 'normally stoic' image, Hanabi resisted the urge to frown at her father's answer. Instead, she turned her attention to the center of the battlefield. Unlike her father, her thoughts were much simpler.

'Good luck neesan!'

"Hinata…" Kurenai mumbled the name of the Hyūga heiress as she watched her and Neji step forward to the battleground.

"You know, Kurenai, I always wondered: how exactly do you know my student?" Anko asked curiously as she briefly turned her attention to her friend. "I never actually introduced you to any of them when I picked them up, so what gives?"

"… I've been acquainted with Hinata for about two or three years now. Hokage-sama asked me to look after her one day and investigate some of the treatment the Hyūga clan elders may have given her." Kurenai sighed.

"…" Anko sighed in response. "Things have been better with her clan and her father, but I did read her file that she was bad off when she first started. The clan elders didn't like her much at all."

"No. They wanted her removed as heiress. And her father seemed as if he was going to do nothing to stop them… until now that is. Kinda late though in my opinion to decide to turn your attention back to your daughter and decide to act like a father." The red-eyed jōnin rolled her eyes slightly. Her eyes softened, though, as she turned to look back at the Hyūga heiress. "I was actually planning on picking her up this year as a genin student. Believe it or not, I was actually jealous that you got to be her sensei instead of me."

"… I can understand that." Anko nodded. A small smile developed on her face. "She's a great girl and she's going to be an amazing kunoichi, considering the kick ass one she is already. I'm pretty damn lucky to have her as a student." The tokubetsu jōnin then placed her hand on Kurenai's shoulder. "She's a tough girl. Just watch: she's going to show all those dumbass elders in her clan how tough she really is. She-"

"If you two actually want to see what she is capable of, then shut up. The match is about to start." Ibiki spoke up irritably, interrupting their conversation.

Anko and Kurenai immediately quieted themselves and paid attention to the battleground as they waited for the two Hyūga to start their fight.

Both Hinata and Neji had already talked before their match on the stairs. They had nothing left to say. Once they got on the battlefield, they simply stood across from each other and waited for the proctor to signal the beginning of the match.

"The fourth match between Hyūga Hinata and Hyūga Neji…" Genma raised his hand "… Begin!"

"Byakugan!" Both Hinata and Neji exclaimed in unison as they activated their dōjutsu.

The two Hyūga genin proceeded to get into position and readied to fight. Neji entered the standard gentle fist stance while Hinata entered a similar, yet slightly different, variant of the stance. Neji immediately noticed the slight changes and his eyebrows rose.

'Hmm, so I suppose it was true: Hinata-sama was working on a variant of the gentle fist.' Neji let a small grin develop on his face. 'An interesting idea, but in the end, it is futile.'

Neji didn't waste any more time and charged his cousin. Hinata quickly side-stepped out of the way of his palm and proceeded to strike at him with a palm strike of her own. The Hyūga prodigy blocked her attack with his arm and attempted to attack her again, this time aiming for the tenketsu in her chest. Hinata managed to dodge by leaning back. She then attempted to sweep him off his feet with a kick, but her cousin quickly jumped backwards to avoid her attack.

Seeing that Neji put distance between the two of them, Hinata quickly started making hand signs.

"Water Style: Gunshot!"

Hinata released a rapid-fire barrage of water bullets from her mouth aimed directly for her cousin. Neji's eyes widened at the sight of the jutsu for a second, before they narrowed in concentration. He proceeded to avoid each individual water bullet before charging again at his cousin.

"I was interested in seeing your variant style of the gentle fist, but even you know that it's not worth anything if you've already resorted to using other techniques." Neji taunted as he raised his palm, ready to attack Hinata.

The Hyūga heiress didn't respond immediately as she focused on side-stepping and avoiding Neji's palm. She then managed to strike her cousin with a palm of her own, hitting some of the tenketsu in his shoulder. The elder Hyūga winced as he quickly moved backwards to avoid another attack from Hinata.

"I'm not resorting to anything else, Neji-niisan. I want my fighting style as varied as possible, with different types of attacks." Hinata explained as she quickly got back into her stance, ready for Neji's next attack.

'… Tsk. She made the first hit.' Neji shook his head in frustration. 'I let myself lose focus for a moment. That won't happen again, Hinata-sama!'

Neji, once again, charged at his cousin. Hinata quickly side-stepped, avoiding his attack. Neji, however, predicted her dodge and struck again faster at his cousin. Hinata wasn't able to avoid his attack and managed to get struck in her shoulder. The elder cousin managed to land a hit at her tenketsu. She winced from pain, but responded back immediately and delivered a palm of her own at her cousin. She managed to deliver a quick hit at his tenketsu in his right arm before he could jump away from her.

'She hit again!' Neji mentally cursed as he glared at his cousin. He noticed that she was still wincing a little from his attack, which let a small grin develop on his face. 'However, looks like I managed to hit her harder.'

'Neji's attacks are ruthless… I have to be more careful.' Hinata told herself with a shake of her head. 'Be more mindful Hinata. I can't take too many and lose this easily. I have to prove myself to everyone here! Naruto-kun, father… and Neji!'

The two Hyūga proceeded to charge each other as they attempted to land attacks at each other.

"Whoa…" Hanabi mumbled in surprise.

All of the Hyūga in attendance had their Byakugan activated as they watched the fight in detail. Both Neji and Hinata were constantly attacking each other. Neji was the one to instigate the fights while Hinata would usually try to avoid his attacks and strike back with her own counterattacks. Every few seconds, the two cousins would jump backwards and start-up again fresh, continuing to try and land hits at the other.

Hinata's evasion appeared to be working well and she was able to avoid most of her cousin's onslaught. A few of Neji's attacks would land, however, and the heiress would usually wince in pain at them as more-and-more of her tenketsu were being sealed off. Neji, however, was also getting hit by Hinata's palms. The Hyūga prodigy was starting to get some of his tenketsu sealed off as well. It was impossible to determine which of the two had the advantage. From the perspective of the Hyūga observers, the match was even.

"I have to admit I wasn't expecting Hinata to be a match for Neji. Isn't he the best of the best of his generation?" One of the elders questioned as he watched the fight intently.

"While that is true, he is just a member of the branch family. It's almost an insult that Hinata hasn't won already, considering she is of the main house." Another elder scoffed in response.

"Saying that is a disservice to both Hinata and Neji. The two are proving to be extraordinary so far." A third elder spoke up, rejecting the previous elder's claim.

"I have to agree with him." A fourth elder nodded in agreement. "And I must say, I was expecting to see Hinata lose a direct fight with Neji like this. Her new style suits her well. It's giving her a chance to fight him directly."

'Hinata… Neji…' Hiashi was too wrapped up in his thoughts to respond to the bickering and comments amongst the elders. He was too focused on the battle between his eldest daughter and his nephew.

'I'm landing my hits on him, but I'm taking too much of his hits myself. I need to try something else again.' Hinata told herself as she jumped backwards, away from her cousin.

Neji, once again, charged his cousin. Hinata jumped backwards to avoid his next strike again. Once Neji rushed up to her again, she made hand signs.

"Water Style: Gunshot!"

Hinata released another barrage of water bullets from her mouth once the elder Hyūga was in close range to her. Neji's eyes widened and he was forced to jump out of the backwards to avoid the attack.

The Hyūga heiress took the opportunity to place more distance between her and her cousin as she pulled out her bow. She quickly grabbed an arrow and fired it at her cousin. She then proceeded to fire more arrows at him as she started to run in circles around him rapidly, always changing her position and the direction of the approaching arrows.

'Archery? I also heard you were practicing with that, but I really didn't think even you would try something like that in a fight with me. What an absolute waste of time!' Neji mentally scoffed.

His Byakugan made him aware of all of his cousin's attacks, despite her constant movement. He proceeded to duck and side-step, avoiding all of her arrows. Nevertheless, Hinata continued to fire away at him.

A few seconds passed before Hinata stopped firing arrows. Neji was now standing in the middle of fifteen arrows that were lodged into the ground. All of them had managed to miss their target. The elder Hyūga smirked smugly at his cousin and was about to charge at his cousin once again, but he noticed something in the corner of his vision. His eyes quickly went to one of the arrows and he noticed the tag on it.

'Explosive tags?' Neji realized with wide eyes. He then looked over to another arrow and noticed the same tag. 'They were all prepared with explosive tags!'

"Ha! Look at Neji's face!" Naruto smirked as he watched Hinata's display with the arrows and the explosive tags. "He looks like he just pissed himself. Hinata-chan got one over him good!"

"I wonder where she got that idea from, though." Kurotsuchi rolled her eyes as she looked at the Nara in the waiting room. "Surely not from somebody who overuses those things to death."

"Explosive tags are a great tool and should be used by everybody." Shikamaru huffed in response with a surprising amount of passion. Just as he was getting annoyed with people calling him 'lazy', he was also annoyed that he had to constantly defend his usage of explosive tags. "It only makes sense that Hinata would see that too. She's the only other sensible one here that would see them like me."

"What did you say?" Naruto and Kurotsuchi nearly shouted in unison.

The three could have continued their argument, but they stopped to continue watching Hinata's fight. The Hyūga heiress was really showing everyone exactly what she was capable of and all three of them did not want to miss anything else she had to show. Naruto, especially, didn't want to miss a second of the match.

'You got him on the ropes Hinata-chan. Keep it up!' He mentally cheered for his teammate.

'What are you going to do now, Neji-niisan?' Hinata wondered as she made a hand sign, activating the explosive tags.

Neji realized that he needed to get out of the way and avoid the explosive tags, but he wasn't certain if he could jump out in time without taking some damage from them. He shook his head as the only way to avoid taking the hit entered his head.

'I can't believe I was forced to use this against you, Hinata-sama. I was hoping to save this ace up my sleeve for a later fight, but it can't be helped. Tsk.' Neji thought bitterly.

The elder Hyūga quickly started to spin in place rapidly as the explosive tags started to detonate.

"Rotation!"

A shield of chakra appeared and surrounded Neji as he spun in a circle on the ground. The shield developed in time before the explosive tags activated, protecting him from the resulting explosions. Once all of the tags were activated and used, the elder Hyūga stopped spinning and the chakra shield disappeared. He stood in the middle of multiple holes in the ground, from his jutsu and from the explosions, completely uninjured.

"THERE'S NO WAY!" One of the elders nearly shrieked at the sight.

The entire population of the Hyūga elders bickered amongst each other about the sight they witnessed and the probability of it actually happening.

"Father… that was…" Hanabi mumbled in surprise.

"Eight Trigrams Palm Rotation… A jutsu only passed down orally amongst the main branch of the Hyūga." Hiashi replied to Hanabi's surprise. The Hyūga clan head was now gaping at the sight as he stared at his nephew intently. "Neji…"

'So this is what the other members of the clan mean when they say Neji's a genius.' Hanabi realized.

'To accomplish such a task and perform such a jutsu with no instruction… Hizashi, your son is truly a genius.' Hiashi closed his eyes and shook his head back-and-forth. '… I am so sorry that you aren't here to witness him for yourself.'

"Neji… That was…" Hinata's eyes were wide in surprise.

The Hyūga heiress activated the explosive tags knowing full well that Neji would somehow be able to avoid the attack, at least somewhat. What she didn't expect was for him to use the rotation, a technique that she was having a difficult time performing in general.

"Yes, it was." Neji nodded, answering Hinata's unfinished question. A cocky smirk developed on his face. "Ironic, isn't it? You, a member of the main household, are having difficulty performing that jutsu despite the help of your father. Yet I, a member of the branch family, managed to learn how to use the jutsu without any assistance from the clan."

"Neji-niisan… You did it." Hinata couldn't help herself: she smiled at her cousin.

"Excuse me?" The elder Hyūga gave a confused look.

"You've fought back against your fate." She explained. She noticed her cousin gritting his teeth and him tightening his fists, but she continued to speak. She knew that Neji needed to hear this. "Fate put you in the branch family, but you fought back and learned a technique reserved for the main household. You didn't let destiny hold your genius back; you kept trying and learned something outside of what you were told you were capable of." Hinata's smile grew wider. "You defeated your own destiny.

"Shut up!" Neji nearly growled in response. "You… How dare you! How dare you pervert my training and example to fit your beliefs!" His glare intensified as he stared down his cousin. "Nothing can change fate. I was destined to learn this technique by being a genius and a prodigy. And you are destined to be unsuccessful because that is what you are: a failure. Nothing can change their fate Hinata-sama!" Her cousin spat her name out as if it was poison. "My father couldn't change his, I can't change mine, and you most certainly can't change yours!"

Neji charged his cousin again immediately. The elder Hyūga struck her at a rapid rate and she wasn't able to avoid his palm strike to her chest. She was knocked backwards slightly and coughed up blood slightly. He then struck at Hinata again, aiming for another tenketsu point by her chest. The Hyūga heiress, this time, was able to jump backwards to avoid Neji's next palm strike. She was then forced to side-step and continue her dodging as the Hyūga prodigy continued his onslaught, not wavering even for a second.

'Such rage… It's causing him to move faster and fight more ruthlessly.' Hinata realized as she continued to try and avoid Neji's attacks. She didn't even have the time to try and counterattack him; he was attacking her that fast. 'Neji-niisan… How do you have so much anger?'

Hinata continued to try and place more distance and get to a place where she could attack Neji back, but her cousin wasn't giving her the opportunity. His attacks continued at great speed and Hinata couldn't do anything to stop him.

'… I could maybe try that. That'll work.' Hinata realized. 'I just need to distract him even for a second.'

As Hinata continued to dodge his techniques, Neji finally let up for just one moment. Hinata had managed to insult his beliefs, and by association, everything he viewed about his father and himself. The Hyūga prodigy was infuriated and was no longer interested in fighting her. He wanted to end the fight now and crush her and her belief about 'fighting back against fate'.

"This fight ends now, Hinata-sama." Neji spoke coldly as he entered a new stance. "You are within my field of divination."

Hinata's eyes widened once again. 'Neji-niisan, that's just… How? He's even capable of-' She then shook her head as she entered another stance of her own as realization hit her. 'Wait, this is the chance I was looking for!'

"Eight Trigram: Sixty-four palms! Two palms!"

"Protection of the Eight Trigrams: Sixty-four Palms!"

Neji's first palm strike, laced with his own chakra, made direct contact with a stream of chakra released from Hinata's palm. The collision of chakra created a small explosion that surrounded the two Hyūga. Dust started to cover the area around them, completely hiding their fight from the observers.

"Hinata-chan!" Naruto shouted in a mixture of awe and fright. "Wh-What the fuck just happened?"

"Damn…" Shikamaru shook his head. "Hinata, be careful…"

"What the fuck?" Anko's eyes widened at the sight of the explosion. "What jutsu does she know that can cause that?"

'Hinata… Be careful.' Kurenai closed her eyes for a second as she thought of the Hyūga heiress.

"Hinata-neesan!" Hanabi nearly screamed as soon as the explosion occurred.

'Hinata… Neji…' Hiashi shook his head at the sight, both of Neji's use of the Eight Trigram Sixty-four Palms and from Hinata's use of her completed, original jutsu. '… Great things are going to happen from both of you. You are the two best shinobi the Hyūga clan has produced in years.'

Amidst the dust, Neji was hit by a barrage of chakra streams coming from Hinata's palms. The Hyūga heiress was moving her palms and the rest of her body at a quick, circular pace. The Hyūga prodigy was getting cut up by the resulting streams, but he didn't let it stop him from his attack. He continued to try and land his own palm strikes from his jutsu on his cousin. Each of his attempts failed, however, as every single palm strike was blocked by the streams of chakra and resulted in him getting cut up further.

'What… Is this jutsu…' Neji questioned to himself as he grit his teeth in pain. 'This can't be happening… it can't!'

Hinata finally ended her jutsu and pushed her palms forward, releasing all of the streams forward. Neji was hit full-force by the streams. The Hyūga prodigy was cut deeply by them and was sent flying.

The dust that covered their fight was cleared at that moment as Neji flew backwards. The elder Hyūga hit the ground hard and rolled for a few seconds before he finally stopped rolling and lied on his stomach. With her jutsu completed, Hinata, finally stopped moving in place and nearly fell to the ground herself. She was breathing extremely hard and was having trouble standing upward. She, too, was also slightly cut up from her own jutsu: a sign that she still needed to work on improving her technique.

'I don't think I can do much more… Please, let that be it.' She thought to herself amongst her heavy breathing.

All eyes were on Neji. The elder Hyūga's clothes were cut deeply and he was bleeding quite a bit from any of his exposed skin. Despite the great damage, the Hyūga prodigy continued to try and stand up and continue fighting.

'I'm… I'm not done…' He told himself as he forced his body back. He finally pulled himself back to his feet and stared intently at Hinata, who was looking at him with surprise evident in her eyes. 'I won't give up here. I won't-'

Neji's thought stopped as he tried to take a step towards Hinata. He quickly fell to the ground and hit the surface hard on his stomach again. Once again, the elder Hyūga tried to get back up. This time, however, he failed to stand up and managed to hit the ground again.

"No…" His eyes widened as he realized what had happened.

Genma seemed to come to the same realization as he made a quick check-up on Neji's condition. He then held out his hand towards Hinata. "Winner of the fourth match: Hyūga Hinata!"

Genma's declaration was met with a roar of applause from the audience.

"THREE FOR THREE!" Anko nearly screamed. "YEAH HINATA! WAY TO FUCKING GO!"

Ibiki didn't even bother to complain this time about Anko. He simply massaged the temples on his head with his hands, trying to avoid the headache that he knew Anko was going to give him.

"Hinata…" Kurenai let a small smile develop on her face as she watched Hinata stare out into the crowd of people applauding her. "… You've really gotten stronger."

The proctor of the second exam turned her attention briefly to her friend. Anko was still screaming and cheering for Hinata due to her success in the match. Kurenai couldn't help but chuckle as she stared at her best friend.

'… I don't know how much of her strength came from her friends or from anyone else, but I know you certainly helped her out. Anko… thank you.' Kurenai made a note to thank her friend when she calmed down and stopped screaming.

Unfortunately, she would have a while to wait before that happened. Anko was going to be shouting and cheering for what seemed like a while.

"YEAH HINATA-CHAN!" Naruto cheered loudly from the waiting area as well, shouting just as loud as his sensei. "I KNEW YOU COULD DO IT!"

"That was actually really badass." Kurotsuchi commented with a grin. "Hinata fought like a true badass!"

"Are you really that surprised? She's always had it in her!" Naruto called out to the Iwa kunoichi. He had a giant grin on his face that seemingly was not going away anytime soon.

"No, I'm not. I'm just saying." Kurotsuchi replied with a chuckle. She had always seen Hinata as a friend since their mission at the Tenchi bridge, but she was now starting to look at the girl with even more respect as a shinobi. "… I really want to fight her myself, honestly."

"You and fighting." Shikamaru rolled his eyes for a second before he turned his attention to Hinata. The Hyūga was currently starring in their direction with a bright red blush. More than likely, she had heart Naruto's cheering even over the crowd of other people's applause.

The Nara waited until her eyes flickered over towards him. He gave her a thumbs up; a gesture she was quick to return.

'Hinata… In all the time we've been friends, I have to say: you've grown up. You're a lot tougher than anyone, even you, gave you credit for.' Shikamaru noted internally as he smiled at his friend. '… Now hopefully you'll realize that yourself.'

Hinata had not been prepared for the cheering and the applause, so she managed to awkwardly look and blush as she looked at all of the people cheering for her. To her, she felt like she was on cloud nine. She managed to find her teammates and Anko and smiled back to them, but shortly afterwards, she got out of her daze and entered the real world again. Once she was, she walked over slowly towards Neji's body. Medic ninjas were already entering the scene and were preparing to escort him out to the infirmary.

"Neji-niisan." Hinata called out to her cousin as he was being lifted.

"…" The Hyūga prodigy didn't say anything for a second as he glared at Hinata. He still couldn't really move properly, thanks to being hit so hard directly and up-close by Hinata's jutsu. A few seconds passed before his eyes started to relax. Instead of a glare, he simply looked at her bitterly. "I was wrong about you, Hinata-sama. You were not the failure I saw; I was. I failed to read your fate, and this was the result of my ineptitude."

"Neji, don't talk like that." Hinata shook her head, dropping the use of his honorific. That got his attention as he looked at her without the bitterness. "You… You weren't wrong. I used to be weak. I used to be a failure. I wasn't strong and I could barely function after training. And I used to not believe in myself. I knew I was a failure back then…" She then smiled at her cousin. "But that's not who I am anymore. I have friends who helped me get my confidence. I have gotten stronger and trained harder than I ever thought I could. I've gotten stronger than I ever thought I was. And, for the first time in my life, I can say that I know that I am not the failure that I thought I was.

"If I was destined to be a failure, than I have changed my destiny. I fought back at fate and won. Just like you did when you learned both the rotation and the sixty-four palms." Hinata explained as tears started to fall from her eyes as she slowly became more passionate in her speech. "Neji… Fate can be changed. I changed mine and you changed yours. And together, we can change the fate of the Hyūga clan: for both branches."

Neji's eyes widened in complete shock after Hinata's declaration. He barely even noticed that the medic ninjas had lifted him up and put him on a stretcher. He didn't even notice that he was being carried away.

"Neji." Hinata called out to him as he was carried out. She brushed away her tears and gave him a smile. "Please… Don't forget that."

Neji couldn't even respond as he simply watched her while he was escorted away from the battlefield.

As soon as Neji was escorted out of the battlefield on his stretcher, Hiashi stood up from his place in the stands. Hanabi quickly looked over to her father.

"Where are you going?" She asked him.

"I have business to do. It won't take long." He replied quietly as he walked off.

Hanabi sighed, wondering why her father seemed to have been acting strange during the entire match. Once he left, she was left alone with the Hyūga clan elders. None of them were paying attention to her and were still just talking amongst themselves about what they thought of the match. Realizing that she didn't have anyone to monitor how she was acting, a large grin developed on her face and she squealed slightly in excitement.

'Hinata-neesan… That was so cool!' She told herself as she starting to clap slightly with the rest of the audience. 'I… I hope that I become as amazing of a shinobi as you are when I'm your age!'

It took Hiashi about five minutes to arrive at his destination: the infirmary in the stadium. The Hyūga clan leader went to open the door, but the door opened from the other side. Kurogane Risho walked out, bandaged up and seemingly-okay to walk after his fight with Naruto in the first match. The Iwa genin noticed Hiashi's presence almost immediately and realized that he was blocking the door to the room.

"… Pardon me." He mumbled in apology as he started to walk down the hallway of the stadium.

Hiashi took a moment to look at the retreating boy before he returned his attention to the door and opened it. He then entered the infirmary. A few medic ninjas were in the room attending to both Lee and Neji. Lee was still unconscious from shock after the genjutsu during his fight. Neji, on the other hand, was lying on a bed as the medic ninjas finished applying bandages. About another minute passed before they finished and noticed Hiashi's presence.

"Hyūga-sama." One of the medics bowed in respect. "Neji will be fine. We have his wounds bandaged already and already conducted most of the necessary jutsus needed on him. We'll give him a check-up in around thirty minutes and, if all is good, he will be cleared to move around."

"Thank you." Hiashi bowed his head in thanks. "… If you are good for a few minutes, do you care if I talk to him in privacy? I realize it can't be long: this will only be for a few minutes at most."

"Of course." The medic replied before making a signal to his co-workers. They all proceeded to leave the room.

Hiashi and Neji were now alone in the room together. Neji sighed at the sight of the clan head. He wasn't in the mood for company, especially the company of his uncle. However, fate seemed to have other plans…

There was an awkward silence in the room for the first few seconds that was broken by Neji.

"You did an excellent job with Hinata-sama during your training with her this month." He admitted, looking downward slightly. "As expected of the clan head, but your eyes are much stronger than mine. While mine only saw her as a failure, you saw the potential she really had and helped her develop it. You were aware of her true fate while I was not." The Hyūga prodigy proceeded to shake his head in shame. "My eyes still need to develop further."

"… Neji, you and I are very similar in a way that I wish we weren't." Hiashi replied with a sigh. His comment gained the attention of Neji, who was now looking at him in confusion. "Like you, I saw Hinata as a failure. She was my eldest daughter and I should have seen who she really was better than most, but I saw her as too gentle and kind. She didn't seem like she could ever be a proper Hyūga shinobi, so I turned my back on her. I allowed her to train with others, like Nara Shikaku, because I didn't want to bother with wasting my time." The Hyūga clan head proceeded to shake his own head out of embarrassment and disappointment in himself. "I can't say I did a good job this month with her in all honesty, Neji. I saw her similar to how you did."

"… Then what changed your perception? Why were you willing to give her a chance to see what she could do?" Neji questioned.

"She changed my perception. She made herself more capable. Hinata did everything she could to get tougher through the help of others and through her own work. She changed who she was on her own… and showed that I was being blind in how I saw her." Hiashi stated bluntly.

Neji's eyes widened at the comment. Referring to a Hyūga as 'blind' was one of the sharpest insults possible. For his uncle to refer himself with such a comment meant that the man truly felt shame with how he acted and saw Hinata earlier.

"… I didn't do anything to change my perception of her. She did all by herself. She changed how I saw her fate. She changed her fate." Hiashi continued to clarify.

"I see…" Neji closed his eyes at Hiashi's statement. He repeated the same statement Hinata had been telling him. Just like Hinata, he was telling him things that directly contracted with how he viewed life.

For the first time in his life, Neji really had no clue what he was supposed to think about something.

"… Neji, I haven't been a good father to Hinata. And I haven't been a good uncle to you." Hiashi commented sadly as he looked at his nephew. "… It's time you and I had a talk about your father and the truth about what happened that night."

"… My father?" Neji's eyes widened as he stared at his uncle. A mixture of emotions entered his eyes: confusion, sadness, and anger.

Hiashi didn't say anything: he simply pulled out a scroll from his pocket and handed it over to his nephew.

Hinata was still sore after her fight and her climb up the stairs to the waiting area was a slightly slow one. When she reached the waiting area, however, she was met with a large hug.

"HINATA-CHAN!" Naruto chanted her name as he picked her up and swung her in circles. "CONGRATS!"

The Hyūga heiress's face burned a bright red and she put a conscious effort into not fainting in her crush's arm. Once she was able to accomplish that, she started to return the hug and let a large smile cross her lips.

"Thank you Naruto-kun." She told the Uzumaki as she laid her head on his shoulders. "I heard you cheering for me during the fight."

"Of course you did. I was the loudest one here dattebayo!" He told her as he set the girl down on the ground. He then showed off a grin of his own on his face. "You seriously kicked ass out there. Really: great job."

"Heh." The Hyūga heiress giggled slightly in response. Surprisingly, she wasn't feeling as sore as she was when she walked up the stairs. Instead, she was just happy to be with her crush. "I'm glad. I worked hard for this match."

"And it showed!"

Kurotsuchi and Shikamaru were both to the side, watching their two friends talk to each other. Both of them exchanged knowing glances.

"Hinata's confidence is at an all-time high right now." Shikamaru noted to the Iwa kunoichi. "She'll probably just up and confess once the whole exam is over. I give it a week longer tops."

"I give it even less time than that. I say she'll do it today and probably before the exams finish even!" Kurotsuchi told the Nara with a snicker.

'Father…' Neji reread the scroll for the sixth time.

After he had finished reading the scroll and learned that his father had chosen to die, not for the main family but to save the life of his brother and to choose his own destiny, Hiashi bowed his head and begged for his forgiveness. Neji, in the moment, gave it to the man. The Hyūga head soon left the room, leaving the Hyūga prodigy alone while he waited for the medics to come back and continue working on him.

'You were able to choose your own destiny, in the end. I…' Neji turned his attention away from the scroll and looked outside the window in the room. He noticed a few birds flying up into the sky to a nearby tree. 'I… I don't know. I don't know what I believe about anything. Fate, destiny, life. What anything means. I thought I knew everything and could see everything, but I learned today that I didn't see everything from my cousin… from the girl who I blamed your death on.'

Tears started to roll down Neji's eyes as he continued to watch the birds. 'I wish you were here father. I wish you could see these birds fly. I wish you could've seen my fight with Hinata-sama. I wish you were so I could just talk to you…'

'Father, I don't know exactly what there is to life right now. Everything I had ever believed in is now under question. But… maybe my fate is also undetermined. Maybe I can have it go in a new direction.' A smile graced Neji's lips. 'Whatever the way it may be, I know that I will follow Hinata-sama's example: I will follow your example. If there is such a thing as fate, then I will choose my path.'

Neji continued to watch the birds fly as he waited for the medics to come back. For the first time in his life in years, a weight had been lifted from his shoulders and he felt truly happy.

After letting the two talk amongst each other for a moment, Shikamaru and Kurotsuchi joined Hinata and Naruto and congratulated the Hyūga on a victory. A few more minutes of conversation passed by before Genma spoke up, interrupting their talk.

"It is now time for the next match. Will Sabaku no Gaara and Kankurō please come forward?" He spoke up.

Immediately after those words were spoken, Kankurō came forward on the balcony and shouted loudly for the proctor to hear.

"I forfeit." He exclaimed.

The reaction was instantaneous: the crowd started booing and complaining. After four rather exciting matches, they were not excited to see someone up-and-quit.

"What the hell man? You're quitting like that?" Naruto called out to the Suna genin.

"Uh yeah. I'm not fighting Gaara. No way in hell!" Kankurō shouted back to the Uzumaki.

"You could at least try to fight him. It's a waste of a spot for you to be here then." Kurotsuchi hissed at the puppeteer.

"Bite me. I could give a rat's ass." Kankurō snapped at her, rolling his eyes.

Both Kurotsuchi and Naruto glared at the Suna genin, but didn't say anything else. Nothing was going to change the puppeteer's mind and it was already too late anyway. He had already announced his surrender.

Realizing that same fact, Genma decided to raise his hand. "The winner of the fifth match, by forfeit: Sabaku no Gaara."

The audience started to boo loudly in response again. Once everything calmed down, Genma spoke up again.

"We will then begin with the next match immediately. Will Kurotsuchi and Uzumaki Naruto please come forward?" He announced.