Son of the Sannin(Back)

Fight to become a Chunin, Part II

Cats, Tanukis and Beetles, oh my!

Author's Note: Okay, it seems that the beginning of the finals got quite a nice overall reception. That's pretty good. Anyway, enjoy the second part of the first round.

"Look, it's Hinata-nee chan's turn to fight!"

A week before the Finals had started, Hikari Hyuga had reserved several front row seats for herself, her closest relatives, and some other Hyuga members. To her left was Hanabi, her youngest daughter, and to her right were Neji and his father Hizashi. A dozen other Hyuga members of both Main and Branch houses occupied the remaining seats, among those were some whom had disproved of Hinata being kept as the heiress as opposed to Hanabi. Naturally, they weren't going to voice their thoughts in front of her mother, but it was no secret to anybody as to who weren't fond of Hinata.

So far, the mood had been quiet among the Hyuga, even during the Naruto fight, but seeing their heiress walk into the arena alongside her opponent caused them to stir with excitement.

"It was about time," Hikari told her daughter. "Let's hope the results of the training pay off."

"Hinata-sama's opponent didn't strike me as a particularly strong opponent. Hinata-sama shouldn't have any trouble defeating her."

"Maybe you're right, Neji-kun, but underestimating your adversaries is not a wise thing to do. I thought that after your battle against the Uchiha, you'd know that," Hikari reprimanded him.

Neji couldn't help but frown at the mention of his most brutal humiliation so far. His only consolation was that nobody from the clan besides Hinata was there to watch Sasuke pounding the Hyuga prodigy to near death. Not that it made the memory any less painful.

"There's nothing wrong in making a general assessment of your adversary as long as you keep your guard up," Hizashi intervened. "And while I agree with Hikari-sama's statement, I also agree with Neji in that Hinata-sama's match will end in victory."

"I hope you're right, Hizashi. We all have high hopes on Hinata's performance," Hikari replied.

...

Meanwhile, in the arena, Hinata and Tamaki were in front of each other, waiting expectantly for Yugao to announce the start of the match.

"The fourth match of the Chunin Exam Finals between Hinata Hyuga, from Konoha, and Tamaki, from Konoha..." the purple haired woman raised her hand in the air. "Begin!"

Wasting no time, Tamaki started to form hand seals that Hinata recognized as those used for the Summoning Jutsu.

"I can't let her summon her cats!" Hinata thought as she activated her Byakugan and launched herself at her adversary.

Tamaki had to interrupt the seal sequence in order to avoid Hinata's palm strike. However, much to her shock, Hinata's Byakugan detected two blurs that rushed towards her. Upon closer look, she realized the blurs were Tamaki's cats, who leaped into the air, ready to pounce her.

With almost no time to react, the Hyuga heiress turned around and managed to kick the male cat, Denga, before he could slash her. She managed to hit the female cat, Hina, with a palm strike, but not without taking a painful scratch from her in return.

"How did you do it?" Hinata asked as she proceeded to heal the scratch. "I interrupted your summoning jutsu!"

"That you did," Tamaki said as she started to put on her bladed gauntlets. "But Denka and Hina were already in the stadium. I knew that you wouldn't let me summon them."

"She baited me by pretending to summon her cats, when the cats were already there...I have to stay alert, Tamaki might not be the strongest kunoichi, but she's really crafty," Hinata thought.