Konan looked on curiously, she hadn't been expecting that. But it would certainly aid in their plans. Most of the Kage were looking down with the same expression she wore. They all knew about the Yamanaka Jutsu to some degree, and to cause a reaction like that must have been something terrible. Finally A speaks.
"Is that Uzumaki Kushina's daughter?" He remembered the woman well, and the girl was her spitting image.
Before Hiruzen can answer in the negative Konan interjects. "It is."
"I see." A looked at the young girl, slowly walking through the hail of trash, again. So this was also the Yondaime Hokage's daughter then. He only knew about the two because he had been the man's rival, so of course he made sure to find out the two had been married. Especially since he had known his village attempted to kidnap Kushina when she was younger. He had never hated the yellow flash. He was a good man and a worthy rival. "Why then is she being treated so poorly?"
"I wonder the same thing everyday." They all heard Jiraiya mutter under his breath. So then this was a regular occurrence? Onoki scoffs. To think that Konoha liked to act like they were the good guys. When they treat one of their hero's children like this? He may have hated Konoha but this was just sad.
"There are circumstances none of you are privy to." In other words it's a secret he's not going to share.
"So do you think she will be promoted?"
"Not off of that alone, she barely showed anything. The only thing I'm sure of is that the Yamanaka heiress won't be." Of course he didn't mention the fact that that would only happen if she recovers from the trauma. The other Kage nod, it would be foolish to promote either of them off of that alone.
***
Hinata had immediately hugged her girlfriend as soon as she walked up. She was glad she won, but that match and the aftermath had been hard to watch. Gently she strokes the red haired girl's head. She could tell that the girl felt guilty for what happened. All Hinata could really do at the moment was embrace her in the warmth of the person who loves her the most in this world. The redhead deserves all the affection she can get and at this moment she needs it now more than ever. Looking at her she can see the first wound has already healed as if it never happened. Thank god for that healing factor, she could probably survive a Jyuken strike to the heart. Not that Hinata ever wanted to test such a theory. But the redhead was nothing if not resilient.
Fuu watched on, not saying anything, before receiving a look from Hinata. Wow this is a once in a lifetime chance. Fuu moves in and hugs the redhead from behind. Hinata wanted her to be surrounded by people who care for her and Fuu could do just that. She doesn't expect this to become a regular thing.
"I had a bad feeling going in, in fact I still kind of have it. But I didn't do anything to stop it! I could have stopped her. Or known better than to blindly go around a corner!"
"Shh, it's okay Naru-chan. It's not your fault. Remember it's never your fault. No matter what anyone says you are innocent. You are pure. You are good. You are loved. You are not at fault." Hinata kisses the girl on the forehead. "You didn't mean for anything to happen, and it was Ino who used the Jutsu on you. There is no way you could have told her not to use it."
"It's true, it's not your fault Naruko-chan. So don't blame yourself for it." Hesitantly the girl nods. She doesn't move to separate from the hugs and neither of the other two do so. They'd be here for her no matter what.
"Hina-chan, Fuu… Thank you." It felt good to be enveloped by their warmth, something she had lacked for so long in her life.
"Anything for you Naru-chan."
"Yeah, just say the word and we'll do it for you." Naruko looked up and offered the two girls a weak smile. She was still feeling guilty but she would manage.
"Can we just sit?" She couldn't bear to watch the last match right now, or even really be in the view of the crowd. Which would surely contain the Yamanaka clan who were just forced to watch as their heiress had a breakdown from being in Naruko's mind.
The other two girls answer in the affirmative and sit in the back of the competitors box with Naruko between them. Well between is not quite accurate, they had pulled Naruko onto their collective lap, which was sort of between them. It was easier to comfort the girl this way.
They remained that way for what felt like hours and faintly heard the proctor call the last match in Samui's victory. He proceeded to tell the crowd and combatants that they would have a twenty minute break to clean the arena up then the second round would start. The girls just took the time to bask in each other's presence. Finally Hinata breaks the comfortable silence and asks.
"Naruko you said you were getting a bad feeling, is it still happening?" The redhead nods.
"I'm not sure why, I thought at first it would be Sasuke's match, and then my own but neither of those seemed to make it stop, rather they both seemed to make it worse."
"I see." Hinata tosses her jacket into Naruko's head, covering her from view. The redhead understood the message and activated Sage Mode. She's not particularly surprised to feel a huge gathering of powerful individuals up in the Kage box. She feels Konan there, not surprising but it had been hard to see the blue haired woman from the arena floor. Wait. Who is that behind her? He exudes far more power than everyone else present. There's something else about him, something familiar. Like she feels she knows him. It's kind of similar to how she felt about Uzushio. Not only that but she felt a stirring from within her when she felt something about his eyes. In a way it reminded her of looking at Kaguya. She'd have to look into this mystery man more.
She continues to survey the arena and finds another familiar presence. Orochimaru is here. It's odd it almost feels like there are multiple Orochimaru's scattered around the arena. She knows this feeling. These people have curse marks.
"Orochimaru is here."
Hinata stiffens upon hearing that. Him being here doesn't bode well for anyone. "Where?"
"It's kind of hard to tell, a lot of people bearing his mark are here." She could tell he's here. It's only with a sudden spike in negative intent is she able to find him. He's in the Kage box, standing just behind the Tsuchikage. She relays this information to the other two.
"Do you think he's planning something?"
"I think he's always planning something."
"Okay but do you think he's planning anything regarding the exams?"
"Hard to say, he was targeting us in the forest so he may be waiting to see how we do in the finals. I can't really tell."
They didn't have more time to ponder as the proctor called all the contestants down to the floor of the arena. They all share a look and decide to discuss this later. They quickly arrive on the floor of the arena, noting how it looks good as new, except the still missing forest. "Things will be a little different for the second round of the exam. The second round will be a 3 vs 3 match with teams decided randomly. Because there are seven of you there will be one more bye given. It has been decided the bye will go to Fuu who will automatically advance to the next round. Fuu you may go up to the competitors box." The green haired girl nods and walks off. This is fine, it should still coincide with their plans. "Now then please come and draw lots." They do so quickly and he continues. "Everyone with a 1?" Naruko, Hinata, and Shikamaru hold up their papers. He turns to the others. "And you three have 2?" They nod and he continues. "Then the teams have been decided."
The genin moves to stand with their team members. Shikamaru sighs about being forced to continue on because of a team. Well he could forfeit, but these two would be a pain in the ass if he did. If nothing else it should be easy.
The proctor didn't seem intent on giving them time to plan as he called for them to begin.
Hinata wastes no time as she calls out "Naruko, I'll defend Shikamaru. Don't hold back on them. Shikamaru, use the time to come up with something." The boy nods and quickly moves into his thinking pose. He knew Hinata was strong and she wouldn't let him be taken down while coming up with a strategy.
Naruko didn't hesitate to rush in between the other three competitors. "I've been meaning to try this for a while now." They have no time to react as she holds her hands out in opposite directions. She starts to drain their chakra all at once. Interestingly it's not as fast when she does it like this as compared to targeting one person up close, but she is draining all of them, so it's good. She'll have to work on this more in the future.
Feeling the drain to their chakra they quickly move away from the redhead. "What the fuck was that?" Kurotsuchi says.
"Some kind of bloodline if I had to guess." Haku wasn't sure what to make of that but it's dangerous.
"I think we need to get rid of the other two first." Samui wasn't in the mood to let the Nara have time to plan while the redhead will just slowly drain them.
"That's fuckin stupid we should just kill the little red haired bitch." Kurotsuchi was not fond of the girl. Not in the slightest.
"Fine then you can deal with her, we'll take on the other two."
"Would it not be better for all of us to take on one target, three against one seems like a better deal than 1v1 and 2v2." Wait a second, why was she not chasing after them? She was just sitting there now, staring almost blankly into space. Suddenly her eyes snap open and her hair stands on end. This seems bad. "We need to get rid of her now." His two impromptu teammates look at the redhead and notice the changes. Whatever technique she started doesn't seem good for them. They nod and rush towards her.
It was for nothing as the now Sage Mode empowered Naruko quickly disappears from their view and reappears next to Samui, lashing out with a devastating kick to the blondes temple. It sends her flying as she bounces and skids across the ground, only stopping as she slams into the wall of the arena. She wasn't unconscious and could still move, but damn did that attack hurt. She probably had a concussion from that alone. The cute ones are always the deadliest it seems.
The other two seeing the redhead stopped from kicking fire off with a glob of lava and needles of ice simultaneously. Naruko dodges easily and retreats upon hearing the call of, "We're ready Naruko."
"Alright what's the plan?"
"You can double layer Genjutsu correct?"
"Yeah."
"Do so on Kurotsuchi. We'll take care of the rest." Naruko nods and flies through the hand seals.
Kurotsuchi quickly falls into a daze as she sees a blonde bastard flashing through her village. He's repeatedly slaughtering her kinsmen one after another. He quickly arrives at her mother brutally delivering a blue orb of chakra into her back, shredding her torso to pieces. She clenches her teeth as she breaks the Genjutsu quickly finding herself standing among only her teammates. A few sakura petals float calmly through the arena.
Haku quickly realizes the Iwa kunoichi is still under the effects of a Genjutsu but as he rushes forward to break her out of it he's stopped by the sight of the Byakugan blazing angrily at him. He quickly flies through several hand signs and a dome of ice mirrors appears around her. He uses his superior speed now to try and hit her with several senbon.
She retaliates with a Kaiten that blocks them. "You'll run out of chakra doing that eventually."
"Perhaps, but how long can you keep this technique up?"
"We shall have to wait and see." He continues to send a hail of senbon at her and she continues to deflect with her clans technique.
Shikamaru had just locked Kurotsuchi in his Kagemane no Jutsu (Shadow Possession Technique) and Naruko had quickly followed up with knocking the Iwa Kunoichi out. Only to wince in pain as a sword arcing with Raiton chakra stabs through her side.
"Sorry babe, but you are the biggest threat." Naruko just smiles at her and says,
"You haven't met my girlfriend properly then." Naruko quickly performs the Kawarimi no Jutsu (Substitution Technique) with Hina-chan taking her place inside the dome. Notably bringing the Kumo kunoichi's sword with her. She quickly pulls it out of her as she starts to drain the Chakra from the dome around her.
"Don't think I didn't see what you did, I should kill you for that." Hinata says while lashing out with a Jyuken kick to the ribs, shattering one of them in the process.
Haku quickly retreats from his mirrors and cancels the technique, knowing it's just wasting chakra at this point. As it turns out it was for nothing as he finds himself immobilized by the Nara. With a sigh she says, "Alright, I surrender." He knows the best he'll get is being knocked unconscious by the redhead.
Samui was struggling to stand, but seeing it now is a 3 vs 1 and she was injured unlike her opponents she raises her hands. "I admit defeat." The proctor seeing the match end quickly jumps in and says,
"Victors, Hyuuga Hinata, Nara Shikamaru, Uzumaki Naruko!" Unlike Naruko's previous match she and her team actually receive cheers for this one, likely because it was a team full of Konoha ninja. "A short five minute break will be given before we start the next round."