Naruto: The Prince of Lust-Chapter 320

Neji attacked ferociously with his superior speed and strength, but Hinata continued defending herself with her Eight Trigram defense. He attacked her constantly, and though she was getting tired from her constant use of chakra, she manages to close a few more of his tenketsus without even touching him. After several moments of visceral attacks, Neji finally managed to break through her defense and attack her organs with the few chakra covered ringers remaining.

Neji beat her internally, striking her liver, stomach, kidneys, and heart, but it was with less than half his usual strength, and when she fell, it wasn’t enough to satisfy him. She struggled to her feet but she was within his range and he reignited his Sixty-four Palms. Though he started with two strikes, then four strikes, followed by eight strikes, and on until he struck her chakra network with sixty-four strikes, less than half his strikes actually closed her tenketsus.

After his onslaught, Hinata falls to her knees, coughing up blood, but she doesn’t stay there. She tries to get up again. She looks at him, sweating dripping around lavender-white eyes brimming with a strength and determination he’s never seen before, making him believe that destiny is once again showing him his place.

Neji can’t help but yell, "you’re beaten! Stay down!"

Hinata only shakes her head, causing drops of sweat and blood to drop on the ground as she struggles to return to her stance. "You can’t know... what you can really do... until you’ve tried... and failed... and tried again... a thousand times."

Neji practically teleports in front of her before landing every attack he hits her with, despite strained inability to stop him. Hinata holds her breath as she tries to push her body beyond her limits. Despite her best efforts, Neji strikes her liver with minimal chakra, though it was enough to shock her entire system, and even then, he heal-palms her in the face, sending her flat on her back several feet away.

Disappointed with his performance, Neji curses as he begins walking back to the observation deck when the silent crowd gasps in unison. The young genius turns around and to his staggering disbelief, Hinata is battling just to stand up. Like a new-born baby attempting her first steps, Hinata’s hands push off the ground onto weak and unbalanced legs.

"You’ve lost already, thus have nothing to prove or gain," Neji calls to her, feeling his anger swell in his chest. "If you don’t stay down, I will attempt to kill you."

"I’ll kill you first," Naruto’s lone voice yells from a large distance away, making Hinata smile a bit.

"Your problem... isn’t destiny... Neji-niisan," Hinata gasps through wheezing breaths. Sweating profusely, freely bleeding from her nose and mouth, fire in her lungs making her wince as she pants, "or that... you’re weak... Your problem... is that... you give up..."

Anger rolling off of him, Neji sprints after her. His tenketsus were closed in the most inappropriate places, weakening his attacks, and forcing him to use Lee’s Iron Fist to combat Hinata’s smaller weaker body. With closed and angry fists, Neji punches Hinata down to her knees, and with a clean punch across her temple, he’s certain he’s knocked her out.

Hinata drops to the floor with her blurry vision of her cousin, the sky, and the stadium as gone as her equilibrium. She sees only darkness surround her with an unstable floor that feels like sleeping on a rocking boat. Above her is a single ray of light, warm and inviting like a celebration dinner with family. Hinata doesn’t know how to reach the light, but she knows she can. She knows she will and unbeknownst to her, she’s standing to reach the light. Hinata knows nothing else, not the awe of the crowd, the medical observation of the proctor, or the shock of her father. She stands in the Gentle Fist’s ready stance without being conscious.

Neji looks shocked as Genma mumbles with respect, "even unconscious..."

Despite lacking consciousness, Hinata’s pure will to never stay down permeated the muscle-memory of her limbs to move regardless of position or orientation to will herself upright. Even if she couldn’t consciously feel the pain standing up flared through her ravaged muscles and chakra network, she wobbled and struggled to lift her open palms to the ready position. It might have pained Hinata to lose in front of the person she admires most in the world—she was simply too far behind her dear cousin in nearly every way—but she wasn’t going to show Naruto the sight of her staying down. More than anything, she will never stay down in front of him.

Around the silent or gasping crowd, both Kurenai and Naruto couldn’t be prouder of Hinata. This match was obviously a win for a genius of Neji’s caliber, but for her to push him so far... for her to stand even beyond consciousness, impacted both Naruto and Kurenai—everyone in fact—deeply. She may have lost but her character molded a special place in the hearts of many that will not be forgotten anytime soon.

After Genma declared Neji the winner, Hinata receives a standing ovation for the depths of her tenacity despite overwhelming odds and it hurt Kurenai to think of Hinata’s future pain when she learns of her Sensei’s betrayal.

—

"Go," Kurenai hears Asuma tell her. "I’ll cover your section."

Kurenai was hesitant, to say the least. Conflicting feelings of disgrace, shame, pride, and concern tore at her insides, but mechanically, she takes Karin’s hand and they walk to the infirmary. Opening the door to Hinata’s room, Hiashi walks away from his daughter’s bedside and stops before the ebony sensei. Eyes locked on one another, his hard face says nothing and Kurenai isn’t sure how he’ll address their individual pledge for Hinata; spoken in what feels like a lifetime ago. The arrogant man does something unexpected to her and bows deeply.

After Hiashi leaves, Karin waits in the corner of the room while Kurenai looks over her bruised and slumbering student. Lamenting discovering both her great love and her great shame on the same day, Kurenai doesn’t stay long. She didn’t need to be near Hinata longer than a few seconds to feel the adult decision inside her clash fiercely with the selfish woman inside. She places a gentle kiss on her daughter-like student’s forehead before exiting the room and running into Naruto. Kurenai’s heart beats incredibly fast at the sight of him and for the life of her she can’t understand why she’s blushing; after everything they’ve done together, she shouldn’t feel so hot and happy to see him.

Curiously, Karin calls to her cousin with the implication of asking why he’s here, "Naruto?"

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