Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Will You Promise To Love Me ❯ The Test of Strength; Who's Best! ( Chapter 18 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

"Neji, maybe it would be best if you left her alone for awhile." Suggested a kind nurse nin as she watched the black haired boy worry deeply over the injury of his friend. It had been painful enough for her to see the boy hovering over the side of Tenten's bed, waiting for the moment the petrifaction jutsu wore off. His eyes had never looked so troubled and determined, the nurse wondered what could have been on his mind.

Neji had paid the woman no attention. Sure he still worried over the results of the last battle for it decided if he would have to fit Sasuke or not, but he was more concerned with the girl that had risked her life just to prove herself for him. He felt rather stupid for not talking Tenten out of it in the first place, then again he had no idea she was joining in the first place. But if he was a better, more attentive friend, he probably would have noticed.

Finally the eerie silence of the room was broken as the door came slamming open. The nurse gasped instinctively and was about to reprimand the student that had so rudely busted in, but her words were quickly forgotten as she saw a bleeding, unconscious blonde being carried into the room.

Neji's head jerked around at the intruder, and his eyes immediately widened. Sasuke looked pretty pissed and Naruto was not in a good condition himself. Standing up, the Hyuga approached the Uchiha just as he set Naruto down on one of the beds. "So how did it go?" He asked. He had to know if Naruto was injured in his loss to Tsubaru or in his victory. Either way he would still ring that girl's neck for harming his beloved blonde.

Sasuke didn't seem to care much for the question, for his eyes remained intently staring at the heavily breathing boy on the bed. His hand was still frozen in place, but at least it didn't get his shoulder, so he could set his arm down. His stomach still had a large bleeding gasp from when Tsubaru attacked him by surprise. And across his arms, thick red marks remained from when the girl nearly squeezed him to death. The demon fox hadn't the energy left to heal his wounds. So Naruto would need to rest naturally, which was not much of a good thing.

"He won." Sasuke said somewhat angrily. He wished Naruto could have stay conscious enough for him to tell him about his and Neji's battle before the boy collapsed out of the field from exhaustion. But it looks like Naruto would have to find out after he awoke, and Sasuke knew he would not like being the last to know especially he was the prize to be won over. After all the trouble he had went through just to get Sasuke for himself, the Uchiha wouldn't blame him for being angry over the fact that the fight didn't matter if Neji won the battle. Sasuke deeply regretted the challenge more then ever, how could he have been so stupid and prideful as to make such a bet with Neji.

Neji didn't seem as happy as one would expect him to be after given the chance to win Naruto back. In a way he pitied the Uchiha for even if he won, Naruto would still be angry with him. Even this happy-go-lucky, naive blonde wouldn't be so kind as to forgive Sasuke without a second thought. "Well then Uchiha, you better prepare yourself. I won't lose this match." Neji snarled seriously, giving Naruto a sincere glance before stepping out of the room.

Sasuke sighed and brushed the hair of Naruto's fore head. "Rest up Naru-chan. I'll come back to you a winner." And with that the Uchiha left as well. There was no way he was going to lose to Neji. He would make Naruto be proud of him and maybe even forgive him for what he had done. Hopefully Naruto wouldn't wake up until after he won, otherwise Sasuke might not be able to fight without worry if he knew Naruto was watching.


The few people that were rising from their seats all stood still once they saw the two males walking out onto the field. They were all curious as to why both the Uchiha and Hyuga looked so serious, for they had yet to find out about the bet as well. Among the crowd was a strange, who found the pair below to be quite intriguing. Temari quickly brought herself to the scene, swooping down on her fan to separate the boys. "What's going on here? The competition is over. You both have to leave for this place can get cleaned up." She warned sternly. She was not in the mood for their childish playing. She was ready to leave after a day of announcing challenger after challenger.

"We are going to fight." Sasuke explained, not even bothering to look Temari in the eye. His glare was completely focused on the Hyuga before him, the one he would soon defeat. "The prize...is Naruto." He replied.

"What?! Are you kidding me?!" Temari broke out angrily. These two idiots wanted to brawl it out over that dumb blonde right after the competition for Sasuke, what sense did that make? "Can't you two settle your hormones any other way?" She argued. Temari for one was not all that keen on the guys fighting for another boy. After all she preferred a boy herself, who would remain unnamed to everyone at school, though it wasn't hard to find out it was Shikamaru.

"Just say it!" Neji ordered, his patience long gone since yesterday when they first made the bet.

Temari growled at him but finally sighed. "Fine." Seeing as how some people were leaving now, Temari rose her voice. "Get your asses back here, this isn't over!" She screamed, the frustration of having to do this again, showing through her voice. "Sasuke Uchiha and Neji Hyuga will be battling as our final round. Except the terms are different. Winner gets Naruto!" She exclaimed, turning back to the two guys and giving them a look as if to be saying 'there, satisfied?'. "Alrighty then...begin!" Temari shouted, disappearing again.

Sasuke wasted no time before he drew out several kunai knives and tossed them toward Neji, already disappearing into a cloud of smoke. Naturally, Neji wouldn't fall for such an elementary trick and dodged the blades without any trouble at all. Plus, he had the best known defense among all of the ninjas at their school. But it was too bad Sasuke didn't know this, for he was not present during Neji's match against Naruto. He would at least make up for that lost time right now. He would show Sasuke the best he had.

Neji merely looked around, Sasuke had yet to reappear but as soon as he did, Neji would be ready for him. And just as Neji had suspected, Sasuke appeared before him about to deliver what would have been a strong attack, if not for Neji's quick barrier. "Hakke Shou Kaiten!" He yelled, and almost immediately a blue orb of hurriedly spinning chakra surrounded Neji just as Sasuke reached him. Unfortunately the Uchiha's attack was useless against the Hyuga technique. And without realizing it, Sasuke was suddenly pushed back by the force of his own attack, sent flying half way across the field.

Neji had the pride to laugh mockingly. "Come on Uchiha I know that is not all you are capable of."

Sasuke, easily ticked whenever he was mocked, charged for Neji again, as though he did not receive any pain from the previous attack. He drew out more blades only to have them reflected by Neji's shield as they fell to the ground beside the Hyuga. Finding a opportunity Sasuke raced over, his hands formed into several different signs. "Dragon Fire no Jutsu!" Instantly he blew out a large flame along the invisible wires connected to all of the kunai knives Neji had earlier dodged.

Smirking, Neji simply spun around again as the flames came. But they collected on the spinning chakra and surrounded the Hyuga quickly, so the moment Neji stopped the flames consumed him. Even so, he was not in the least bit injured from the fearsome amount of heat. He still stood proudly. Positioning his own hands, Neji shouted audibly. "Byakugan!" Without a moment's hesitation, his eyes widened and the veins around them were clearly visible. All of Sasuke's chakra flow was visible to him, he would simply shut the Uchiha down. There was no way he would be able to pull enough chakra through like Naruto had. "This is over Sasuke." Neji warned, charging for Sasuke himself.

The crowd was in a uncontrollable uproar as they witness jutsu after jutsu, almost as if both ninjas had chakra to waste. One particular member of the crowd had dared to smirk knowingly. He, unlike the rest of the viewers, was not entertained by the fight, but more of the outcome. He slipped away as the battle raged on, he had something better to check out.

Slowly the nurse's door opened, and the woman went to tell the person to leave, but she hadn't the chance. "Who are y-?" Not even a minute upon arrival, the guest had managed to knock the woman unconscious without barely touching her. She fell to the floor and the visitor simply stepped in, his eyes running over the two unconscious students on the beds. One in particular caught his eye, a certain blonde.

"So you are now the most cherished thing in his life?" Came a husky whisper as a sinister smirk showed itself. He stepped forward and lightly caressed Naruto's forehead, brushing back the short blonde bangs from his eyes. "You always manage to find a new weakest brother. Should I help remove yet another pebble in your path?" He questioned himself.

To Be Continued...


A/N: Muhahahaha, okay, sorry about the cliffies. And I bet you all should be aable to guess who the stranger is, it's not that hard, lol. But you shall find out more of his reasons for being there and how Sasuke and Neji's match ends up^_^ so see ya soon!