Disclaimer:
Naruto and all of its characters belong to Shueisha and Masashi Kishimoto.
I own nothing but the original characters I create.
"Dialogue"
'Thoughts'
-Author notes-
Chapter 89: Naruto vs Neji Part 2
"Sasuke!" Sakura grinned from ear to ear. It had been almost a month since she last saw him.
She took off running until she was almost at his side.
"Sasuke, how have you b—..." She stopped mid-sentence when she saw the face that Sasuke was making while staring at the arena, no… he was staring at Naruto.
His eyes were wide open, and his Sharingan was active. The two black tomoes on each eye were spinning at a steady pace.
Sakura didn't like the way Sasuke looked right now. He was glaring at Naruto like…an enemy.
"Sasuke…."
Kakashi must have noticed something because he moved to her side.
"Come on, why don't we go over there to watch the match?" He moved her away from Sasuke and brought her back to where she was before.
Ino also saw this and didn't know what to think.
"What's going on with him?"
Kakashi smiled wearily.
"We can discuss this at a different time."
Slap!
Meanwhile, the match continued, and Neji got hit for the third time.
Naruto had been steadily increasing the strength of the slaps. This one had sent Neji tumbling around.
When the Hyuga genius stood back up, his cheek had begun to swell, and there was a clear red mark in the shape of Naruto's hand on it.
"Yikes, I can see the mark on his cheek from here," Ino made a troubled face.
"Kakashi, did you… no… you did not teach this to Naruto…" Gai stated.
Kakashi shook his head.
"Don't bother to ask. Even I don't know where he learned this… I don't even know what style of Taijutsu he is using."
"Naruto is not using any style. He is just reacting to Neji's moves from a neutral position. That should be impossible unless his mastery over the discipline was several steps higher than Neji's," Gai explained.
"Sensei! Look, he is over there!"
They turned around and saw TenTen arriving with Rock Lee at her side.
Lee was using a cane to help him walk, and his teammate was accompanying him just in case he needed help.
"Lee… you were not supposed to leave the hospital yet." Gai frowned.
"I'm sorry, Gai Sensei! But I couldn't miss the finals. I'll run a hundred laps around Konoha when I recover!" Lee shouted.
Gai sighed. "Fine, come over here."
"Neji's fight has already started!" TenTen exclaimed.
"It's not going well for him," Sakura commented.
"What?!" TenTen shouted.
She and Lee looked at the arena and immediately noticed the strange situation.
Neji looked terrible. He was breathing heavily, he had his back bent forward, and he was glaring at Naruto with pure venom in his eyes.
On top of his swollen cheek, his beautiful long black hair was completely disheveled, and his clothes were dirty and torn.
Naruto, on the other hand, appeared to be completely fresh. His back was straight as an arrow, and his black tunic did not have a single stain on it.
"Neji would do well in calming down. Maybe he would then realize that he cannot continue to use the Academy Style against Naruto," Gai said.
"He is not using the Gentle Fist?" Lee asked.
"I'm afraid that Neji looked down on this opponent a bit too much… now he is paying for it," Gai commented.
"I told him not to underestimate Naruto…." Lee said.
"Neji is too stubborn, though…" TenTen said. She knew Neji better than most, even if that boy barely showed his feelings.
For Neji to go all out against someone younger and less experienced would be akin to renouncing his position as a genius.
Back at the arena, Neji was staring at Naruto with his enhanced white eyes, trying to figure out how he was losing on every exchange.
"You… how…."
"If you don't start using your fancy clan technique, you are going to lose on the next slap," Naruto told him.
"How dare you… I cannot be fated to lose against a nobody like you…" Neji changed his posture, and his eyes gained more intensity.
"Fate?..." Naruto hated that word.
"He is finally going to use it!" Hanabi looked excited. For a moment, she thought about the possibility of Neji losing.
"Oh no…" Hinata covered her mouth. She wasn't sure how much Naruto knew about the Gentle Fist. She should have warned Naruto about her clan's jutsu.
"That's right! Go for it, Neji!" The Hyuga Lord smiled.
"Kakashi… did you teach Naruto about the Gentle Fist?" Gai asked.
"Well…" Kakashi looked toward the sky.
"That's a strange bird…." He pretended not to hear him.
"If Naruto doesn't know about it… this will be over the moment Neji touches him…" Lee lamented. He did not want to see Naruto lose. He still hasn't had the chance to thank him for the help against Gaara.
"You want to see my real style?...very well. You are inside my range…" Neji moved his palms around before launching himself at Naruto.
"Gentle Fist… Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms!"
"Naruto, dodge it!" Ino shouted.
"Narut— ahh!" Sakura gasped.
Neji's palms impacted Naruto's chest.
"Two palms!"
Next, it was four.
"Four Palms!" And Naruto did not move.
"Eight Palms!"
"Sixteen… Thirty-Two!… and finally… Sixty-Four Palms!" A barrage of attacks landed on Naruto's body without giving him time to react.
"Oh no…" Lee said.
"It's over..." TenTen added.
"This is very bad!" Ino was clenching her teeth. "That idiot didn't even try to move!"
Gai narrowed his eyes as he watched the scene. There was something odd about the way Naruto took the attacks, but he could not figure out what it was.
Kakashi was also doing the same thing. Something was missing. He was sure that Naruto could have at least avoided some of those hits, but he did not move an inch.
After landing the last hit, Neji finally smiled. In the end… he had won, as expected.
He looked up at Naruto.
"You can't escape Fate… victory is mi—"
Slap!
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