"Great! Back to the crazy Konoha kunoichi. If you're so worried about your friends, go check on them. I left them conscious, feel free to have a nice chat."
Hinata rushes off towards Ino. I can't blame her for wanting to make sure her friends are okay. I would do the same thing.
...
"I'm going to go make sure she doesn't get stuck too. Or, you know, cut someone loose and then they get our flags by some crazy odds." I start walking after Hinata. I want to make sure Ino keeps my secret. If she tells Hinata I need to get Sasuke and run.
"I'm coming too." Temari steps forwards.
"Whatever, the more the merrier." I dismiss her presence as we walk.
As we get closer, I start to hear their conversation. The Jiongu really does come in handy.
"Ino, are you sure you're alright?" Hinata asks.
"Yes, I'm fine! I'm just... hanging out?" She weakly jokes.
"He didn't hurt you at all? He didn't do anything weird or strange?"
"No, he was the perfect gentleman." I can feel Ino roll her eyes in irritation. "Of course he hurt me! This is the Chunin Exams and he was an enemy."
"Ino answer the question! Are you okay?"
"Yes!" Ino indignantly hisses out. "Beside the massive bruise I'm going to have on my stomach and probably a couple broken or cracked ribs I'm perfectly fine! The boy can hit." There's no way I broke some of her ribs. I pulled that punch a lot, it should have been barely enough to wind her. "Dammit Hinata I've been hit harder by Choji! I'm fine! Although in hindsight, going after him alone was a stupid idea."
"Ino, why did you go after him alone?" Hinata aggressively asks our bound friend.
"I thought I could find some more out about Sasuke and Alvarcus. Maybe I could get into his head and dig up some memories. I'm a Yamanaka, it's what we do."
"With a team! You don't do something this rash without back up! You're vulnerable when you use your mind jutsu. You know this!" Hinata is really chewing out Ino. I never expected the shy girl I remember to turn out like this.
"Yeah, but it worked. I got in his head." Ino brags.
I twitch. Temari and I are only a few seconds away, this is the moment. Either Ino tells or she doesn't.
"And? What did you see?"
"Pain. Suffering. Regret." She pauses, takes a deep breath and musters up her courage. "I didn't see Sasuke or Alvarcus. It... it was dark. Not dark like evil, just... dark. Like it was shrouded in something black. It was almost like a void. It was really strange, mindscapes are usually based on a place that someone has spent a long time at. Sure there are some exceptions, but I've never heard of a mind that's like his."
"Talking about my head?" I call out to them. Ino is right, my mindscape is based off of the place I spent the most time at. It wasn't a childhood home or even a house I lived in. No, it's the place I spent what felt like eons. It's the endless abyss that I was floating in before Orochimaru pulled me out. "Not the prettiest place, but I like it."
Hinata tenses at my words. She really doesn't want me here.
"Oh calm down! He's not our enemy." Ino reprimands Hinata.
"How can you be sure?" Hinata defensively asks.
"Hello? Mind reader here, I was in his head." Ino scoffs out. A lot of the effect is lost since she's... well since she's stuck. I'm starting to feel bad about that. "The only reason he attacked me was because we were on opposing teams. I could have been anyone else and he would have reacted the same."
"Wait really? You were in his head?" Temari asks. "What was it like?" Hinata and Temari both turn to Ino.
"Daises and roses." I cut in. Sarcasm is dripping off my words. "I've been experimented on by Orochimaru, how do you think it looks?"
Ino winces.
"Really? What did he do?" Temari asks again. This chick needs to stop with the questions.
"Fucked up my chakra network and a few other things." I'm not lying, my chakra network is gone according to Neji and Hinata. If I didn't have the Jiongu to help regulate the flow and dispersal of my chakra I'd be dead. Small victories.
"Other things?" She prompts.
"Things I don't talk about. Enough with the questions, I'm here for a reason. Hyuuga, don't free the captive. Oh, and don't get stuck yourself. I'd hate to have to get you out."
I walk away to leave the girls to themselves. I've confirmed that Ino won't share who I am, that was a perfect moment to do so. The second task will be ending soon and it isn't befit for a leader to not be present when his victory is announced.
I wonder how Sasuke did.
...
Back at the Exam Building
"I still can't believe I had to travel underground to get you gennin." Our escort grumbles to himself. "Only way to avoid those damn webs. Do you have any idea how long I had to hold my breath? News flash: There's no air underground."
"Hey, at least I led us out. Imagine doing that twice." Even with my guidance some people still got stuck. I had to peel webs off of three different people! Three!
"Never again." He promises himself. "Now wait here for the other groups. I've got to go claim my winnings."
"He bet on the Exams?" One of my Kusa shinobi asks.
"Its a common thing. All of the older nin do it." The other Kusa nin explains. Huh, this is the first time I've heard them talk.
We wait for the rest of the teams in silence. Eventually everyone shows up, White team is the last to show up. They did have to free them from my webs, I didn't do that myself. Sure it's a little petty, but they deserve to suffer for thinking I was the best leader to attack.
"Alright, now that we're all here let's see who won." Eito is back with is lazy attitude. "So, who has two flags?"
"Green team does." I say while pulling out our two flags, one in each hand.
"Yellow team does." Gaara drones out. He's holding his original yellow flag and a red one. That's Sasuke's flag!
"Red team has two flags." Sasuke pulls out a black and a blue flag. Oh that bastard, I bet he took all ten of his teammates and attacked the groups with overwhelming force.
"Unconventional, but within the rules. Congrats, you three teams get to pass to the next exam." Eito blandly says. Worst proctor ever. Where's the excitement at? "So, we have too many people for the final exam a month from now. Honestly we only expected one team to pass, so we need to cut this down to... let's go with twelve. That should balance the bracket better than ten. First twelve to bring me someone else's badge and their own gets to be in the finals. GO!"
I know I asked for excitement, but this is not what I wanted.
"Wind Release: Slicing Whirlwind!" Temari calls from behind me.
"Earth Release: Stone Wall!" I raise my defense in the nick of time. Temari's attack slams into my wall. "What the hell? I thought we bonded!"
"Bonded? There's no bond between us. Besides, you're one of the people I don't want in the finals. Otogakure doesn't deserve the publicity." She swings her fan again in an attempt to topple my wall. It fails, my wall is too sturdy. But with each gouge she carves into it the integrity is failing. "The only reason I put up with you was because I needed to move on to the next stage!"
"But Temari! We had such good chemistry! You: the unstoppable offense. Me: the insurmountable defense."
"How can we have chemistry? I've never seen your face!" She swings her fan again and my wall cracks. It can only take one more hit.
"I'm self conscious about my looks?" I weakly reply. "Okay, even I know that is a lie. I look badass and everyone knows it."
"I've had enough of you! Slicing Whirlwind!" Her attack rages straight through my wall. Rocks and dirt fly everywhere.
Thankfully I moved, I'm no longer cowering behind my defense. In fact, I'm casually standing next to Temari. There was a generously sized boulder that I kawarmied with.
"Whew! You've got some serious power!" I'm not entirely kidding, the damage she caused is very impressive. Her wind carried the broken bits of my wall and made a lot of projectiles that pelted most of the other fighting gennin.
"And you've got some serious issues! Take this fight seriously!" She snaps her fan shut and swings it at me, intent on bludgeoning me with it.
"You want me to take this seriously?" I nonchalantly ask as I step backwards out of her swing. "You sure? It won't be much of a fight then."
"This isn't a joke! Quit running away and fight!" She pairs her words with a flurry of blows, none of them connect. "Fight me! Or are you a coward?" She gives a mighty swing at my head, all of her strength goes into this blow.
I raise an arm in its path. "A coward?"
CLANG
Her fan slams into my arm, despite all of the force she swung with I don't budge an inch.
"I've been called many things. Murderer. Betrayer. Thief. Monster. All of those are true. But coward? Make no mistake, I am no coward."
...
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