Neji observed his opponent, and reviewed what he already knew.
Sasuke was fast, comparable to Lee's when he took his weights off. Neji was faster, and had been fighting — and winning — against Lee for years.
The Sharingan would allow Sasuke to keep up with him. Somewhat.
He wasn't sure what each tomoe meant, but he knew that Sasuke's Sharingan was not fully matured yet.
Lee was stronger physically, and had more stamina than the Uchiha.
Genjutsu wouldn't work on him, not even with the Sharingan.
The only possible trouble might come from his fire jutsu, then.
He'd go for close-range combat. Not that the Hyūga really favored anything other than up close and personal.
"You think he has a plan?" Naruto asked Toru.
"Huh? Of course he does. I think. Why do you ask?"
"I don't know, he really seems to have something against Neji. He doesn't show it too much, but he can be pretty… emotional sometimes."
"Pfft. Don't sweat it. He won't let pettiness cloud his mind."
Sasuke observed his opponent, and tried to formulate a plan.
Neji was faster, and a good close-range fighter. Not Uchiha good, of course, he thought, but close.
His eyes were decent against Genjutsu, too. Not as good as the Sharingan, but really decent, overall.
He'd have to rely on his Fire jutsu, then.
Then maybe he'd get close and beat the shit out of the arrogant Hyūga.
Neji bobbed and weaved through the Phoenix Fire jutsu that Sasuke initiated with. He could also see the shuriken hidden in the fireballs, as well as the wire the Uchiha held.
His Vacuum Palm slammed into his face, making him flip backwards, and he barely caught himself.
Neji saw Sasuke shake his head clear. This probably didn't feel too good.
He gave him no time to recover, dashing off with a blast of chakra.
Sasuke's Sharingan predicted his trajectory, and through the feint Neji was leading with.
He was able to deflect the strikes, as well as notice what Neji was aiming for.
Sasuke held a one-handed tiger seal.
Neji's eyes widened. He hadn't known that he was able to do this.
"Fire Release: Veil!" He clapped his hand on the floor, and a white flash erupted.
"Gah!" Neji closed his eyes too late. He was temporarily blinded.
Sure, the Byakugan allowed him to see through his eyelids, but that was only useful if he saw the attack coming. A flashbang, he could predict.
A fire jutsu he had never seen was more problematic.
Sasuke made sure to kick him as strong as he could in the face.
"This guy…"
Sasuke weaved signs that Neji could not see very clearly in his state.
Two fire clones appeared, and sprinted toward him.
Behind them, Sasuke weaved hand signs again.
"Fire Style: Cranium Carver."
The clones jumped high up in the sky, dodging the small ball of fire Sasuke had created. When it came in contact with the ground, it spread at a very fast rate, covering a huge area.
There was no way Neji could jump in the sky, where the clones were awaiting him.
He dug into the floor once more. He hoped there was nothing else he had missed, while half blind.
"Kaiten."
Neji spun, and while the flames crashed against his protection, they just went around him.
"Damn, that's a nice jutsu." Naruto said. "Why did he never show us before?"
"I think he might have learned it only recently." Toru shrugged. It was a B-rank he had seen some older clan members use in the past.
Neji slowed down once he was sure the flames were at a lower intensity.
He had dipped too much into his reserves by maintaining such a long rotation.
Well, Sasuke's technique probably had taken a lot from him as well. He could see him breathing hard already.
The clones were behind him, he'd have to avoid them-
When had this wire wrapped around his torso?
Ah, damn.
Flame went down the length of the ninja wire, courtesy of the clone holding it, who had detonated himself.
Neji could only shield himself by using the first step of the Kaiten.
Without the rotation part, it was a pretty bad shield, admittedly.
"This Rotation thing really is sweet. I wonder if I can learn it."
"Do you have good chakra control?" Karin asked.
"Nah. Why?"
"It looks like he's pushing chakra out of every node from his body… I think. It would require a lot of finesse." She said, observing Neji.
"Eh, forget it, then."
It hurt to move.
His shirt was mostly burned, and his hair was singed. Burns littered his arms too, as he had used them to shield his face while he rolled himself on the floor to smother the flames.
The worst part was that the Uchiha seemed at least a little bit amused by his situation.
He could see his chakra levels, though. He was almost running empty.
Neji, on the other hand, was still in combat shape, even though this wouldn't last for long.
Neji pushed his chakra out, giving him enough slack to slip out of the wire, surprising Sasuke, who had thought him as good as gone.
He threw a Shuriken at him, which Neji dodged. The clone behind him threw himself on them.
The resulting explosion burned his back and more of his hair.
He didn't slow down.
Sasuke winced, as he probably realized there was no way he'd outrun him. Neji read his emotions on his face.
There was surprise the clone trick hadn't worked.
The consternation at seeing Neji in a better shape than he was.
The frustration at coming so far, only to lose in the finals, in front of his clan.
The resignation to the fact that he could not beat him in a Taijutsu match.
Then… acceptance? How strange.
He settled in a familiar stance.
"Wait…"
This… This… Uchiha bastard.
He had copied his Gentle Fist stance.
After all the hard work he had put into learning the forms. The endless hours of toiling, of sweat and blood.
Uchiha Sasuke took them for himself in an instant.
Sasuke closed his eyes for a second, let out a long breath. He fell into an almost meditative trance.
His eyes opened, Sharingan spinning wildly.
He rushed at Neji, his movements perfectly symmetrical to his.
"Uh… Okay. That's pretty risky." Shisui said to Itachi.
"I had nothing to do with this. This is all him." Itachi muttered.
"Yeah, I kinda figured."
"Hizashi." The Hyūga clan head asked, deadly serious. "Did you teach him this…? Did he learn how to do the sixty-four palms from you?"
Hizashi snorted, arms folded. "How could I have, when I don't know it in the first place? I know my place. Hiashi-sama."
The same old resentment. Hiashi closed his eyes.
"Then Neji might be even more of an anomaly than we thought."
He then frowned. "But to see it mimicked by an Uchiha… Maybe I need to speak with our Hokage."
Neji fell into the stance he had practiced over and over again.
He envisioned himself within the center of an Eight Trigrams circle.
In front of him, Sasuke did the same, likely without even knowing what the mental process was supposed to be like.
Neji held back his anger at him. It would just help the Uchiha.
"Eight Trigrams: Sixty-Four Palms." He announced, voice clear.
This was the secret taijutsu of the Hyūga main branch.
In a mockery of it, Sasuke announced the same.
"Eight Trigrams… Sixty-Four Palms."
He probably didn't even understand how offensive that was to the Hyūga as a whole.
Part of him, the one that wanted to be free, would have found this amusing.
But mostly, he was too angry to find the humor in the situation.
Neji leapt forward, just as Sasuke did.
"Two Palms." "Two Palms."
His fingers hit Sasuke's, who were covered in chakra, in a very crude gentle fist imitation.
"Four Palms." "Four Palms."
Two more strikes. None reached his target, as Sasuke was a perfect mirror.
"Eight Palms." "Eight Palms."
Four more strikes canceled each other.
Neji stopped announcing them. Hearing the faker mimic him was too much to bear.
Eight more consecutive strikes. One of them hit Sasuke's wrist tenketsu.
He didn't falter.
Sixteen consecutive attacks. A total of thirty-two. He touched Sasuke's chest tenketsu, as well as his right shoulder.
He screamed. Thirty-two consecutive strikes.
Sixty-four palms.
Two more attacks reached Sasuke, who grunted in pain.
The last attacks canceled each other again, leaving both of their hands shaky.
Sasuke was breathing hard, but he was still standing.
The audience roared its approval.
The Hokage palmed his face.
He'd likely have to play diplomat with the Hyūga again. Was Itachi this much trouble…?
No. Probably not.
The Raikage laughed.
"This is even better than the time that Konoha genin dressed up like the Yellow Flash during the Iwa chūnin exams!"
Fugaku winced. That particular event had likely set back the Konoha-Iwa relationship a year or two.
"Wait, he can do that?!" Ino asked. "Is this allowed?"
"Uh… I guess." Toru said, dumbfounded. "We never really had a rulebook for this stuff."
Neji saw the displeasure on his clan's faces. Well, the main branch.
Whether it was because he had taught himself one of their most precious techniques… or because an Uchiha had used it as well, he couldn't tell.
Speaking of said Uchiha…
Neji couldn't help but wonder how much he had copied in this fight. He had used most of his strongest techniques, and his opponent's Sharingan had been on.
He could also see a third tomoe had formed into one of his eyes.
"You will regret doing this." He said, simply.
"Make me."
Neji scoffed. "So you can steal more of my techniques?"
"If you wish, sure."
"You're acting pretty confident for somebody who's already out of chakra."
"You're being very talkative for somebody who won't even beat me up properly."
Neji couldn't help it. He let out a short laugh.
"Well, you asked for it. Try to copy this one, I don't care any more."
And he really didn't.
"Eight Trigrams: One Hundred Twenty-Eight Palms"
"What did he say?!" The Hyūga Elder asked, outraged.
"… I think we've heard the same thing as you did, Father." Hiashi muttered, eyes hard. How had Neji managed to hide that he had learned these techniques?
Hizashi said nothing, but there was unmistakable pride in his eyes.
Sasuke groaned.
'Why did I even goad him into this?'
He stepped up all the same.
It went badly.
He managed to follow the first thirty-two strikes.
He fumbled before the sixty-fourth.
And got hit by most of the second half.
Apparently, the strikes did more than just close off your chakra network. He could barely stand, or keep the Sharingan active.
He sighed.
"…I think there's no way for me to go on."
Neji looked at him, almost surprised he'd admit as much.
"I give up."
"In that case." Shisui said, appearing in the arena in a flash. "Hyūga Neji is the winner of this edition of the Chūnin exams!"
The audience started to clap, and Neji basked in it.
"Man, I really thought you had him." Toru said, once Sasuke had come back from the infirmary.. "What was your plan like?"
"Winning, mostly." Sasuke answered, half-amused.
"Thought so." Naruto muttered.
"Hey, I tried keeping him away from me." Sasuke said, immediately on the defensive. "How do you fight someone faster than you, who has some annoying eye technique?"
"Should have asked me, I've got plenty of experience." Naruto snorted.
Sasuke laughed.
All Neji got from the main branch were terse nods, besides Hiashi, who acknowledged his talent, and promised to shield him from angry main house member's possible actions.
…And Hinata, who was visibly happy for him.
He'd celebrate with the branch house.
He hadn't expected much more, to be honest.
The Fifth closed off the exams with a short speech, thanking the audience for their presence again, and the candidates for participating.
The promotions would be decided in a week's time, after some deliberation.
Sasuke and Toru left to meet their clan. Naruto noticed a spring in Sasuke's step once he saw his brother waiting for him with a smile.
He left with Ino and Karin to meet Sakura.
Two days later, Karin was set to leave for Kusa.
"Well… I guess it's farewell." She said, quietly.
Sakura stared at her. "Farewell? It's just for some time. You'll come back, right?"
"Y-Yes!" She perked up. "Definitely. I'd love to."
"You can stay with me, next time." Ino said, before Naruto could propose the same thing. "We've got the room."
"So do we." Sakura added.
"Thanks, Ino, Sakura." Karin smiled, eyes a bit misty. "And thanks, Naruto… For everything."
"It wasn't much, really. You're always welcome here." He shrugged.
Ino got all of them into a hug, somehow.
"Let's keep in touch, in the meantime, I'll give you my address." Naruto finished.
"Sure!" She said, happily.
Neither of them knew that they would never be able to meet up like this in Konoha again.
With the exams over, Naruto settled into his routine of training and sparring once more.
Reading, too, but since he left this to the clones, he didn't really count it as something he did himself.
He focused on improving his chakra control, for now.
Everything else seemed like it would benefit from it directly.
Lighting Release, speed, stamina… Hell, even strength and reflexes.
Once you became good enough at it, you could just keep everything on autopilot.
Ninjas were stronger, faster, and thought faster than civilians, due to the benefits of having chakra circulating through their bodies, even passively.
Improving your mastery over it would make this difference even more pronounced.
He would still train his body with his team, but there was only so much he could do to improve before puberty hit.
Sasuke and Neji had the advantage of centuries of eugenics, with the goal of making the Hyūga and Uchiha with faster, more limber bodies.
On the other side of the spectrum, you had the Akimichi, who favored raw strength and fat storage.
Sure, you could get the odd thin(ner) Akimichi and larger Uchiha, but it usually took a lot more effort than leaning into their innate advantages.
Sarutobi were somewhat diverse, as they had never really focused on a specific type of conditioning.
Hiruzen was short and limber, — well, had been — his first son was tall and slender, and Asuma was basically closer to a bear than a man.
Naruto was kind of curious where he'd fit. Sarutobi Ren had been pretty unremarkable in this sense, and he knew nothing about his late mother, since nobody else really did.
Oh, and he was learning what he could about Fūinjutsu. It really was a long process.
Naruto had been called to the Tower.
He arrived early.
The Hokage nodded to him, ever cordial, and told him to wait until everyone else was here.
Neji, Sasuke and Toru filed in.
"I thought it was about the Chūnin exams, but well… Even Naruto is here." Toru whispered to Sasuke, who stifled a laugh.
Naruto kicked his shin. He yelped.
Neji threw them a dark look.
The Fifth cleared his throat.
"Congratulations are in order."
'Ah, so it was about the exams then.'
They nodded in respect.
"Good job, all of you."
His eyes lasted upon Toru and Sasuke a bit longer, pride shining through.
He let out a short laugh.
"Some things could definitely have gone… smoother, for sure."
Sasuke blushed. He knew this was about the finals.
"But politics — and a few rash moves — aside, all four of you have proved your strength in the exams. The former Team Eight members have reported your intervention in the Forest of Death, too. There are not that many people ready to face a Jinchūriki to help your comrades."
'…What's a Jinchūriki?'
The Hokage continued. "I know that time will smooth out all your rougher edges."
He unsealed four jackets.
"All four of you are Chūnin. Grow strong, and serve the village, and your clans well."
There really wasn't that much difference between being a reserve genin and being a chūnin.
Sure, he could now pull status over Ino when she was particularly pushy, and it didn't seem to get old.
But he could now take on C-ranks alone, and the pay was worth it, ranging from between 30,000 and 100,000 ryō.
He couldn't send clones to do them for him… yet.
He'd get there some day.
After a month of this new routine of training with Kakashi, — they were still his team, technically, even though he didn't have to train them anymore — the Hokage assigned Sasuke a diplomatic C-rank mission in the Land of Wind.
He could go with a team of his choice, with one or two teammates.
He chose to ask Toru and Naruto, of course.
It had seemed simple enough, on paper.
Oversee the construction of a well, built with Konoha funds, near an oasis that had suffered from drought.
Naruto prepared supplies for a long trip.
The old man slipped him a scroll containing a "couple things, just in case," too.
Biwako gave him a first aid kit, and some reading about medical jutsu.
Konohamaru, the big baby, gave him a tearful hug, and he made him promise to prank the old man for him.
"So, when are you coming back?" Ino asked, worrying her lower lip.
He really had done it, this time, getting promoted without waiting for her.
And now he was leaving for far-away places, too?
She'd show him. Next time, she'd become a Chūnin herself. Then he'd have no choice but to…
To…
She blushed. To what, exactly..?
Naruto shrugged. Sakura had been more casual about saying bye, and he wondered why Ino was like this about it.
"It won't be more than a month, at most."
"…That's pretty long. Will you write to me?"
"Can't promise. I don't know if we're going to have access to anything like post or… well, water."
"Oh." She looked disappointed.
"Don't worry, Ino-chan. When I get back, I'll invite you to this nice tea place that just opened up!"
"Like a date?" She perked up, cheeks red.
"Uh… I guess?" 'What was the difference, even?'
"Then it's a date! Don't meet any cute Wind girl there, okay!"
She kissed his cheek and left running before he could react.
'What was that about…?' He wondered, bemused.
Sasuke greeted him with a smile and a fist bump at the gate.
Toru arrived late, having gotten in trouble for trying to set his bakery tab on his older brother.
Kakashi saw them off with a wink.
A month later, only two of them would return to Konoha.
One would have stronger eyes, and they would bleed anytime he made use of them.
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