NaruHina: Duty

Chapter 7: The Pact

Just a heads up, guys: Part Two, Hinata's story, contains gory details that might make some of you uncomfortable. This is where the hurt comes. (But not in this immediate chapter, though, and I will give you warnings ahead to let you know which ones.)

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Part 2: Assassin

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Chapter 7: The Pact

The sound of an open palm hitting flesh echoed through the training room. Neji grunted in pain as Hinata's hand grazed him on his stomach, sending a wave of powerful chakra that penetrated into his guts and made him stagger backwards. He landed on his butt on the tatami mat.

From his position on the floor, he drew back and shook his head slightly at her. The action was small enough to escape the sharp eyes of the older Hyuugas watching them fight. His grandfather sat tapping his cane as he glared at Hinata. Hiashi's arms were folded, his face frozen and expressionless. His younger twin stood beside him, his face held a hint of worry for the two combatants.

Neji sharpened his gaze on Hinata's face and raised a slight brow.

What are you doing? It's my turn today, he communicated silently.

Hinata apologized with the slow downward sweep of her eyelashes. I'm sorry, Neji. She bowed slightly. Yes, it is, and I'll fight according to plan.

"Again!" came their grandfather's gruff voice. "We haven't decided today's victor."

Neji stood up and the younger Hyuugas bowed again at each other. After that, he suddenly went on the attack. Her cousin's palm grazed her arm and she felt the pain all the way to her neck. She resisted the urge to punch at Neji's hand that made contact with her body.

Instead, she pooled all her energy into deceiving their audience. This time around, Hinata channeled just the right amount of chakra to match Neji's strength. She fought back with all her might—or made it look like she was still giving it her all and matching Neji's skill.

Unbeknownst to the older Hyuugas in the room, the fight had already been decided between the younger generation. Today was supposed to be Neji's victory. Two weeks ago, Hinata had won. In another two weeks, they were planning for her to win again.

This was the only way to thwart their grandfather's schemes.

But she'd momentarily forgotten to stick to their plan when she'd heard her sister's voice. Neji had been fighting her, relentlessly landing blows against her arms and her legs with his Gentle Fist technique. It had taken all her concentration to let her body accept the pain and restrain her instinctive desire to use all her power to hit him back.

The plan had been for her to resist and then let him hit her on the stomach, for her to go down in defeat.

It had almost fallen apart when Hinata had heard Hanabi laughing. Her younger sister's happy laughter had drifted through the open windows from outside, breaking her concentration. Hearing it, Hinata had been driven by a surge of adrenaline and she'd fought back with her true ability, surprising Neji with the sudden flow of power.

She'd almost upset their carefully laid plans. She shouldn't win today because that would make their win-loss uneven, overturning the balance of their carefully planned record.

Hinata forced herself to feel nonresistance and commanded her body not to fight back as Neji spun and hit her leg, sweeping her down onto the floor. As he did, his hand grazed her thigh, hitting an essential tenketsu. It knocked her out of her breath, leaving her gasping on the floor.