Neji's words stung, and Hanabi thought back to what her own father had said - there was no one who had inherited their clan's advanced bloodline more strongly than Neji. Her father had said that Hinata didn't even compare, and that Neji was probably even more naturally gifted than Hanabi herself. In fact, he'd become the standard she measured her own achievements by. She thought of hours upon hours of training and pushing herself to exhaustion just to become as strong as he was. She remembered how long it took Hinata to recover from fighting him. This was going to be painful - in more ways than one.

Still, Hanabi didn't back down. She remembered Naruto, hopelessly outclassed against her older cousin during the chuunin exam finals and still coming out victorious in the end because he refused to give up. Her own efforts to bridge the gap between the head and branch clan, initially met with disdain and certainty that she would give up. Three years later, there were still skeptics, but there were those who sincerely welcomed her when she stopped by to visit, too. Thinking of those clan members, and of living here in Death City with Lain and Neji, and thinking of Karkat who agreed to be her Weapon partner today...how could she face everyone if she backed down like a coward?

"It's true. They call you the genius of the Hyuuga clan for a reason, Neji-niisan," she acknowledged. She got into a low and grounded stance, palm facing toward Neji while her other hand held Karkat. She couldn't hesitate.

"But I don't need to be a genius. I just need to be stubborn. I meant what I said. If I have to fight you to get you away from the witches, I'm sorry, but that's what I'm going to do to bring you home."