Neji's POV (Team Nine's Training Ground - Hidden Leaf Village)
The cavalier attitude from Naruto was annoying. "Do you even know how to use that blade?" Neji countered. "I never remember seeing it in the Academy, a recent choice? You can't truly believe a novice swordsman will let you close the edge?"
"Nope." Naruto replied in his infuriating simple and confident way. "Just part of it."
The two then charged, Neji drew a kunai to deflect a probing strike from Naruto's blade, ducked an elbow from the blonde's free arm and attempted to trip the blonde. However Naruto stabbed Riptide into the ground using it to dodge Neji's sweep attempt. Naruto then launched himself back, only to leap forward just as Neji rose. The two met bodily, yet Naruto smiled, hugging Neji tightly to himself and lifting him into the air. Neji attempted to free himself only to be slammed into the ground bodily. Naruto attempted to point his blade under Neji's chin, but the Hyuga kicked it away with one foot, and landed a surprise kick to Naruto's face with the other. Rolling through as Naruto stumbled back, Neji stood and elbowed Naruto in the face without turning. Neji attempted to spin for Kaiten, but a whistle of air alerted him. Neji trusted his instincts ducking to see Riptide fly by. The Hyuga smirked before he looked up to see both of Naruto's feet inches away.
Neji went skidding back from the powerful blow seeing stars. Stunned and desperate, Neji spun as he stood initiating a Kaiten, only to see a smiling but bloodied Naruto waiting calmly for him to regroup. The idiot was taking him lightly…
"I'm not some chump, you think a street rat like me could never beat you." Naruto declared. "But I'm slowly proving you wrong bastard. Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
Neji flinched as a dozen Naruto's spawned blades ready. He inhaled deeply as the thirteen Nartuo's closed in, his eyes couldn't tell the real from the fake. But this tactic of the blonde was a foolish one, Neji would merely treat each of the Naruto's as if they were real.
The first Naruto swung downward with his blade, Neji swiped it away with one hand and smashed the face of the clone with the other. An instant later Neji leapt over another clone and landed on a third. The fourth and fifth both swatted away with ease, however the sixth landed a haymaker which allowed the seventh to do the same. Neji's patience snapped from the two blows spinning into a massive Kaiten crushing the clones and the real Naruto in a single go.
Neji watched satisfied as Naruto smashed into the ground brutally again. He smirked at the still blonde and turned to walk away. Before he heard the scratching of dirt, turning to a raised brow he saw Naruto standing and glaring at him. Naruto simply pointed Riptide as if to continue the fight. "You surely recognize this is foolish right? I have beaten you into the dirt repeatedly in this battle, yet here you are crawling back out of it."
"I don't always get things right on the first try." Naruto admitted with ease. "However I've found being relentless makes up for that. It'll take a whole lot more than you're capable of to put me down."
Neji snarled at that comment. Did Naruto truly believe he could win? Did he not see that calling out such a thing put Neji down? He was called arrogant yet here this man was boasting emptily!
"Round Two! Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Naruto declared thrusting his blade into the ground as he formed four clones around him. "Naruto Shells!"
Neji watched in fury as the ridiculous spectacle of clones lined up before him. This idiot expected these parlor tricks to work on someone of his caliber? Neji allowed his muscles to loosen, he would show him… Neji would go all out for just a burst, he couldn't keep it up long, but Naruto would surely be near dead by then.
He charged forward, indignant as he watched Naruto rip a clone from his feet and hurl it head first at Neji. The Hyuga twirled around the first clone jabbing it lightly as he did. He kicked away the second, ducked the third, and leapt over the forth attempting to kick Naruto in the face.
However the Hyuga flinched as instead of popping or flying away the Naruto began to swell. An instant later it erupted in a miniature explosion, minorly burning Neji's foot and sending him skidding back.
"Like my Shadow Clone: Walking Landmine Jutsu?!" Naruto roared as he closed in near the Hyuga swinging down with an axe kick. However Neji rolled to avoid this attack and faced Naruto dropping into a very low stance.
The blonde flinched realizing Neji was going for something, Neji blurring forward in a furious charge. Naruto grinned, meeting the charge and summoning six clones to back him.
The real Naruto slashed Riptide from above at Neji, who sidestepped him and poked the next closest clone into smoke. The next Naruto slash at his hip and Neji skillfully caught the blade between his hands, and kicked that Naruto into another making both stumble back. Neji leapt on top of them both, using them to launch himself backwards, the force of the leap drove both clones into the ground destroying them. Neji used to leap to attack the real Naruto again, landing a poke on the real Naruto making him drop Riptide, before he could finish him off however his legs were taken out from beneath him. Before he could recover a second clone stomped on his chest, Neji kicked it back and spun on the ground, activating Kaiten and sending the three clones flying and destroying them, he watched the real Naruto collect Riptide as he narrowly avoided the blow, chuckling as he did.
"What's so funny?!" Neji demanded, this fight was no small matter. Naruto himself had spoken of the importance of this fight. Neji was slowly winning this brawl, and furthermore it felt like Naruto was treating this all as a game. "Do you truly find this amusing?!"
"Come on now Neji." Naruto said with a satisfied smirk. "You're gonna tell me you don't love a close fight like this? I can't help but have fun when going against someone like this. Don't you?"
Neji had reached his limits. Naruto refused to give up, taking a beating as if it barely bothered him. Somehow the fool was actually holding his own, Neji body ached in the few places Naruto had landed solidly. Now this fool wasn't even taking this seriously? "Maybe an equal Naruto, and while you have surpassed what I thought you capable of, prepare for my true power. I'll show you just how infallible destiny is. This is the power of the Hyuga! The power that cripples me… the same that will cripple you… you refuse to lose! Then I'll take that choice from you!" Neji dropped into an even lower stance, eyes focused on the ground. While Naruto doubtlessly was unsure of what he was doing he seemed wise enough to recognize it wouldn't be good. He summoned two clones and sheathed his blade to his own low stance. But it mattered not to Neji could already see the Eight Trigrams beneath them, Naruto was within range…
The two clones charged first howling as their blades began to glow with chakra. Neji however launched forward with a roar of effort, he allowed chakra to flow through his body enhancing his speed and strength in an instant. The clones before him cackled with excitement, one leaping over his head and the other leaping back, then the two struck, their blades cutting through the air in front of him and behind. "Clashing Waves!" Neji however had already begun his own technique, an attack that defended as well as destroyed. 'Two Palms!' Neji thought as he attacked in front of him and behind him at once. He heard the pop of the clones, saw his attacks catch them off guard and destroy them before they could unleash their own attacks. He saw the real Naruto's grin only widened as he began to draw his blade and call out his own technique, but Neji raced forward closing the gap between them to a near two feet. Naruto slashed his blade which was coated in so much chakra it was a blob around it, Naruto slash horizontally unleashing a powerful line of racing chakra mere feet away. "Slash of the Riptide, don't worry I pulled my punch!"
Neji however casually flipped over the attack, enjoying the stunned expression and reaction of Naruto as he landed mere inches away. "Four Palms!" Neji finger jabbed at Naruto at speeds the blonde seemed helpless to track yet alone defend himself from. Two along both arms made them fall uselessly, and made Naruto step backwards with a cry of pain. Neji smirked, this fight was over, the rest of this would merely be to crush his spirit…
X-X
Kakashi's POV
"They're tearing each other apart…" Ino said worriedly.
"I never realized just how powerful they both were…" Shino added. "To think they both are at this level…"
"They'd wipe the floor with me!" Choji agreed with a chuckle before frowning sadly. "But I think it's over…"
Kakashi didn't bother to respond or listen to the others. While he wasn't a user of Gentle Fist, one couldn't be an experienced Leaf shinobi without seeing this very technique at least once. The Eight Trigrams: Sixty Four Palms was a potentially lethal technique, used exclusively by Hyuga to disable or even kill their opponents. He needed to stop this!
Kurenai was clever, seeing his concern and moving with him at once. However, they were both stopped as glowing scarlet chains suddenly formed and held them in place. The group of spectators flinched, turning to see one Kushina Uzumaki standing before them.
"Kushina!" Kakashi barked, turning worriedly. "We need to stop this now!"
"I won't," Kushina said through gritted teeth.
"This spar has gone much too far." Kurenai agreed with Kakashi, raising a brow at the mother. "Naruto has performed admirably and should feel no shame in losing-"
"It's not over… he's not done."
"Whoever you are!" Ino yelled. "Let them stop this already!"
"That's my damn son down there! You think it doesn't kill me to watch?! But he wanted this… made me promise to not get involved… to not let anyone get involved…"
"Guys, look!" Choji interrupted the argument, the group turning to see Neji finish off his combo.