The stadium was buzzing, there were so many faces Naruko found it almost overwhelming. The first match would be starting soon, and the redhead couldn't help but be excited to watch her girlfriend's match. She and the other participants were currently gathered down on the floor of the arena as the opening ceremony was happening. Naruko found it odd that the villagers were looking in her direction with any kind of positive attitude. She knew objectively they were looking at her but just the contestants in general, but she had to admit, she didn't hate the lack of glares. Looking at Sasuke she sees his hairs grow out a bit and he's traded in his high collared blue shirt for a brown one. She doesn't really think browns his color but given the dirt floor of the arena it's probably for stealth.
Looking towards Fuu she can see the green haired girl hasn't changed at all in the past month. Now that she thinks about it, it's a bit weird that she saw the other girl at all during the month. It's not like she saw her often, but she had been expecting her to try and spend more time with the redhead during the course of the month.
Her attention was drawn to the proctor, this time it was a man who seemed pretty intent on chewing on his senbon. He asked the other competitors to head up to the stands while Hina-chan and Neji remained.
"Good luck, Hina-chan."
"Thanks Naru-chan, this should be quick." Naruko smiles at that, she loves how confident her girlfriend has become since they were children.
Hinata watches as her girlfriend turns and leaves, she has to resist staring at her ass, no need to be thinking about how amazing it is while fighting Neji. She flicks her eyes over to the boy in question. She had no doubt in her mind that she would defeat him. He was strong, of that there is no doubt, but he was far too arrogant for his own good. He would likely underestimate her because he perceives her as a failure. Oh and her lack of a hand.
She moves to stand opposite of him as the proctor calls for them to ready themselves. The two Hyuuga's simultaneously activate their Byakugan.
"Begin!" The proctor calls out while quickly jumping back. He had already explained the rules during the opening ceremony so there was no reason to before the fight. Plus they hadn't changed from the preliminaries.
Neji rushes forward, aiming for the quick victory with a decisive Jyuken strike towards her functioning arm. She slaps it aside and lashes out with her own Jyuken style towards his ribs. He jumps out of the way easily enough. "You should surrender Hinata-sama. It is fate for you to lose here today. Please save the clan from further embarrassment."
"The only embarrassment to the clan is you, Neji-niisan. You proclaim fate as having been decided yet you fail to see how you struggle against it." The boy snarls and rushes forward once more. He quickly tries to overwhelm her with the use of both his hands, but she is able to block his strikes easily.
The two broke apart again and this time Hinata rushed forward. She lashes out with a kick towards his temple. She certainly doesn't hope to kill him, but she won't hold back here. She has to win this so she will. Not even family will stand in the way here. Plus holding back would be an insult to his skill, even if he was too arrogant for his own good. Of course Hinata wasn't arrogant, not in the slightest.
He blocks her kick and lashes out with a strike towards her heart. Good he's not holding back. She slaps it aside with her handless arm. She counters simultaneously with her own strike. It lands on the shoulder of his right arm. It quickly falls limp. He jumps back and strikes his own disabled tenketsu. He winces but regains use in the arm. "Your attacks are meaningless against me, Hinata-sama. Without both hands you'll never be able to make me lose control of my body." He on the other hand, no pun intended, would only have to disable one arm and she would lose the ability to undo his attacks.
"Perhaps, but I have no doubt that I will disable you long before you even harm me."
"Is that the arrogance of the main branch?"
"No, it's the resolution of a kunoichi." They both were ignoring the fact that she could win instantly and wouldn't suffer any punishment, because using the curse seal was well within her grasp and the rules.
"Then I will show you why your resolution will fail." He lunges forward once more and attempts to strike her. Once again she deflects him. "You are in my range of divination." He knew he had the win here. There is no way she could block all 64 strikes.
"I'm impressed you've learned a main branch technique with no aid." She was still blocking his strikes as he hadn't hit the blistering speeds yet. "I'll show you why it's not infallible. Kaiten !" She quickly launches him away from her with a spin of the chakra sphere. It was easily her strongest counter to the Hakke Rokujūyon Shō (Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms), as its range exceeds the other technique by a decent amount. Not to mention the other technique requires the user to stand in place.
Neji lands looking a bit battered from the Kaiten. As it turns out the extreme speed in the rotation still hurts those hit by it. That much had always been obvious while watching Naru-chan fight. Hinata gives Neji little time to rest as she rushes forward and lands a devastating kick to his shoulder. He cries out in pain and before he can retreat she strikes his other shoulder, disabling both arms. He finally manages to get away and struggles to stand as his arms hang limp.
"Look at yourself Neji-niisan. You mock me for my continuing to be a ninja despite missing a hand, yet here you stand trying to fight despite no longer being able to use either of them. You claim fate has determined your victory yet you stand here on the brink of loss. You claim me a failure, yet despite not having a right hand I have still disabled you. So tell me where is fate now?"
"Shut up! I can't lose to you, not after my father was sacrificed for your ineptitude!"
"You would call a child getting captured by a jonin an ineptitude?"
"You could have lost your father for your mistake, but instead the main branch had to be protected, and I had to lose mine! Fate decreed that my father would die and so it happened. Fate granted me the ability to be a prodigy like no other! Fate has already declared me the victor. Because I am strong and the strong will always win!"
"The strong do always win. But Neji-niisan, you are weak. You are still an angry child over the loss of his father. I'm sorry that Hizashi-Ojisan had to die, but I had no ability to make that choice. Perhaps you will understand that one day, and realize you still have a family who loves you." She rushes forward and knocks him out before he can react. One can hope he will realize his folly one day.
"Victor Hyuuga Hinata!" The crowd roars in applause. It helps that she was slated as the underdog given her handicap and younger age. Many had lost out in betting, but it's still exciting to see an underdog have such a decisive victory. Hinata swiftly heads up to the competitors box, she has a girlfriend to spend time with. The medics quickly sweep in and take Neji to be treated. As Hinata walked towards the competitors box she pointed ignored the cry of youth from Neji's green clad teammate. She doesn't ignore the rush of wind as the boy speeds past her and appears on the arena floor. He was certainly fast, easily able to match Naru-chan if she had to guess