Chapter 202: Provocation and Predestination
A few days had passed since the Academy tournament. The initial buzz had faded, replaced by the routine of training and anticipation for team assignments.
The afternoon sun, low in the sky, cast long shadows across the grounds in front of the Ninja Academy gate. Streams of students, chattering and laughing, flowed out, eager to be done for the day.
Amidst the crowd, Naruto Uzumaki walked, gesticulating wildly, his voice loud and boisterous as he recounted, for perhaps the tenth time, his glorious victory over Sasuke.
"...and then, BAM! I hit him with the clone feint, and he totally fell for it! You should've seen his face, Hinata! Priceless!"
Hinata Hyūga walked quietly beside him, a faint, fond smile on her face. She listened intently, her pale lavender eyes fixed on him, occasionally offering a soft affirmation.
"Yes, Naruto-kun, you were amazing," Hinata echoed softly, her voice barely audible above the din of departing students.
Just as the two were about to turn the familiar corner towards the path leading away from the Academy, a cold, clipped voice cut through the warm afternoon air from ahead.
"The esteemed young lady of the Hyūga Main Family... has she truly fallen so low as to associate with such a dead-last?"
Hinata's body trembled as if struck. The faint smile on her face froze, then vanished completely.
She subconsciously lowered her head, her gaze darting away. Her two index fingers began nervously touching, a familiar, ingrained habit of anxiety returning with crushing force. She didn't dare look at the figure standing before them.
Hyūga Neji stood not far away, leaning casually against the Academy wall, his arms crossed over his chest. His pale, Byakugan eyes, even when deactivated, seemed to see right through her.
[Inorin's Note: Hyūga Neji is Hinata's cousin and a member of the Hyūga Branch Family (Bunke). He is widely regarded as a once-in-a-generation genius but harbors deep resentment towards the Main Family (Sōke) due to the clan's rigid caste system.]
Seeing Hinata's immediate, fearful reaction, Naruto's easygoing mood instantly evaporated. He flew into a protective rage.
He stepped directly in front of Hinata, shielding her behind him. He pointed an accusatory finger right at Neji's nose, his voice booming.
"Hey! Who the hell are you?! Why are your words so damn unpleasant! What's wrong with hanging out with Hinata?!"
Neji's cold gaze slowly, dismissively shifted from the cowering Hinata to Naruto's furious face.
"Uzumaki Naruto," Neji said, his voice flat, devoid of emotion. "The 'top student,' I hear. Heh." A small, contemptuous smirk touched his lips.
"How utterly laughable. It seems Konoha is truly in decline if even someone like you can rise to the top."
"What did you say, you bastard?!" Naruto was completely enraged by Neji's utterly contemptuous tone. It wasn't just an insult; it was a dismissal of everything he'd worked for.
"I became the top student based on my own strength! Believe it! You... you're just jealous, aren't you! Jealous that I'm strong and you're... just some creepy weirdo!"
"Jealous?" Neji scoffed, a dry, humorless sound. It was as if Naruto had just uttered the biggest joke in the world.
"Don't be ridiculous. Your destiny, failure, was sealed the moment you were born. Look at yourself. An outcast. An orphan. Relying on borrowed power."
[Inorin's Note: Neji's Byakugan allows him to see chakra, including the potent chakra of the Nine-Tails sealed within Naruto, which he likely perceives as Naruto's only source of strength.]
"No matter how much you struggle, no matter how hard you train... a good-for-nothing will always, inevitably, remain a good-for-nothing. It is fate."
Neji's gaze then deliberately turned back to Hinata, who flinched behind Naruto. His tone grew even colder, laced with a familiar, familial disappointment and bitterness.
"Just like her."
"As the heir to the Main Family, she is blessed with status, privilege, everything... yet she is cowardly, timid, and utterly lacks strength. This is also her destiny. An unchangeable, pathetic fact."
"SHUT UP!" Naruto roared, his own chakra flaring instinctively. "Don't you dare talk about Hinata like that! Hinata… she… she works harder than anyone! She's strong! You just don't see it!"
"Hard work?" Neji shook his head slowly, pityingly.
"If hard work were truly enough, what need would the world have for geniuses? Some are born to soar through the skies like eagles, blessed by fate." His gaze flickered towards the Hokage monument in the distance.
"While others," his eyes locked back onto Naruto and Hinata, "are destined to crawl helplessly on the ground like ants."
"This is destiny. It cannot be defied. It cannot be changed."
Hinata, hiding behind Naruto's back, trembled slightly.
Destiny... Weak... Cowardly...
Since childhood, Hinata had heard such words countless times. From her father. From the clan elders. And always, always, from Neji-niisan.
If it were the old Hinata, she would have definitely lowered her head further, tears welling in her eyes, and silently endured it. She would have accepted his judgment as truth.
But now... after months of grueling training under Akira-sensei... after finally finding her own strength, her own purpose...
She was no longer the old Hinata.
A fierce, internal struggle raged within her. Fear warred with newfound resolve.
He's wrong... Sensei taught me... Destiny isn't fixed...
Slowly, hesitantly, Hinata stepped out from behind Naruto's protective stance. She faced her cousin, looking directly into Hyūga Neji's cold, judgmental eyes.
"Neji-niisan…" she began, her voice small but surprisingly steady.
"You're wrong."
Neji's eyebrow twitched slightly. He seemed genuinely surprised. She spoke back?
"Oh?" he drawled, his smirk returning. "And where, dear cousin, am I wrong?"
"Destiny… is not set in stone," Hinata said, gathering her courage, her hands clenched tightly at her sides.
"Everyone... everyone has the right to choose their own path. Weakness is also not unchangeable."
Her voice grew stronger, fueled by conviction. "As long as one works hard... as long as there are people one wants to protect... one can definitely, definitely become strong!"
She met his gaze squarely. "I… I won't be like before anymore!"
These words genuinely stunned Neji.
The Hinata in his memory, the one he had tormented and dismissed for years, was always that timid, stuttering girl who kept her head down and didn't dare speak loudly, let alone contradict him.
Today, she actually dared?
After that brief moment of surprise, an even more profound, disdainful expression appeared on Neji's face. He saw not strength, but foolish delusion.
"Easy words to say. It seems that spending too much time with this dead-last has taught you how to brag as well. How pathetic."
"Since you're suddenly so confident, Lady Hinata... then prove it to me."
Neji uncrossed his arms. He took a single, deliberate step forward. An oppressive, chilling aura washed over them – the aura of a true prodigy.
"Fight me."
The words hung in the air.
"Right here. Right now. Use your newfound 'strength' to prove how utterly ridiculous your twisted, naive logic truly is."
The direct challenge to fight instantly made some of Hinata's newfound courage dissipate like mist.
Fight... Neji-niisan?
Now?
Neji-niisan... the one hailed as the "Hyūga Clan's once-in-a-century genius" since childhood? The one whose Gentle Fist was flawless, whose Byakugan saw everything?
Her heart hammered against her ribs. Fear, cold and familiar, coiled in her stomach.
Could she… could she really do it? Face him?
"What are you afraid of, Hinata?! Just fight him!"
Seeing Hinata hesitate, seeing the fear return to her eyes, Naruto immediately jumped in, his voice booming with unwavering support from the side.
"Hinata, don't be afraid of this jerk! I'm right here! I'll cheer you on!"
He puffed out his chest. "Let this guy see how powerful the Fifth Hokage-sama's disciple truly is! Show him what Sensei taught you!"
The words "Hokage-sama's disciple"... they struck a chord deep within Hinata.
That's right.
She wasn't just Hinata Hyūga, the weak heir.
She was Uchiha Akira's student. She carried his expectations. His training.
I cannot disgrace Master!
Thinking this, Hinata's eyes, which had wavered, once again became firm. The fear was still there, but determination overlaid it.
She took a deep breath, meeting Neji's oppressive, challenging gaze. She nodded heavily.
"Okay, Neji-niisan."
"I accept your challenge."
Neji smirked, preparing to activate his Byakugan.
"However," Hinata continued, her voice steady, "now is not a suitable time. Our teacher is waiting for us to return for evening training."
She stood taller. "When we have a day off from training in a few days, I will fight you then. Prepare yourself, Neji-niisan."
Neji's smirk faded slightly. She wasn't backing down. "...Fine. I look forward to crushing your foolish delusions." He turned and walked away without another word.
By the time Naruto and Hinata returned to Uchiha Akira's residence, the sky was completely dark, stars beginning to prick the deep indigo canvas.
As soon as Naruto burst through the door, he eagerly, loudly, and with considerable exaggeration, began reporting everything that happened today to Uchiha Akira, who was sitting calmly in the main room, reading a scroll.
"Sensei! Sensei! You didn't see it! You won't believe how outrageous that guy, Hyūga Neji, was! He just showed up, acting all high-and-mighty!"
Naruto paced back and forth, waving his arms. "Not only did he look down on me, the Academy's top student, believe it! But he also kept saying all these mean things about Hinata! Talking about destiny this, and good-for-nothings that! It made me so angry!"
His face then broke into a wide grin. "But Hinata was super cool today! Bam! She stood right up to him! She told him he was wrong and left that creepy guy totally speechless!"
He leaned in conspiratorially. "Finally, that guy wasn't convinced, 'cause he's a jerk, and he wanted to fight Hinata right there! And Hinata agreed! Sensei, you gotta stand up for us! You gotta let Hinata beat him up!"
Naruto finally spoke until his throat was dry. He spotted the teacup on the table beside Akira and gulped down several mouthfuls of the cold tea.
Uchiha Akira had listened quietly throughout Naruto's breathless, biased retelling, a faint, almost imperceptible smile touching his lips.
He looked past the still-fuming Naruto towards Hinata. She had been keeping her head down ever since entering the room, her posture radiating a familiar unease.
"Hinata," Akira said, his voice calm. "Look up."
"Y-Yes… Master." Hinata slowly, hesitantly raised her head at his words, but she didn't dare meet Akira's eyes directly.
"You did very well today."
Akira's words were soft, but carried weight. "Daring to face your fears, daring to speak your truth even when it's difficult... that is the first, most crucial step of growth."
Receiving her master's direct affirmation, a hint of surprised joy flashed in Hinata's eyes. She finally looked up, meeting his gaze.
"However…" Uchiha Akira changed his tone, the smile fading, replaced by his usual, analytical assessment.
"Naruto is right about one thing. Your cousin provoked you. And while you stood up verbally... your first instinct was still to hide."
He leaned forward slightly. "Your personality is still too reserved, Hinata. And in the face of direct confrontation, you are still a bit too timid."
"You clearly possess strength far, far beyond your Academy peers now. Your chakra control is exquisite. Your Gentle Fist is precise. Yet, during the practical tests and spars at the Academy, you always hide it. You hold back, afraid of being discovered, afraid of hurting someone, afraid of... winning."
Akira's gaze sharpened. "This will not do."
"A ninja cannot afford to hesitate. A moment of fear, a moment of holding back on the battlefield... it will get you, or your comrades, killed."
"Your challenge with Neji... it will be more than just a fight. It will be a test. A test to see if you can truly overcome not just your cousin, but yourself."
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