Hinata walked up the stairs. She stopped at the balcony, pausing when she noticed that everyone was no longer focused on Shikamaru's match, which had winded down to Shikamaru hiding with Yarui stationed in the middle of the arena, and were instead gazing at her in apt interest.

"Yes?" She questioned softly, tilting her head and allowing a light blush to spread across her cheeks. She put up the illusion of a soft heiress that didn't deserve her title, keeping them on their toes and setting herself at an advantage.

The one known as Shisui narrowed his gaze at her before brushing her out of his mind, turning back to the current match. Everyone else followed his example. Soon, Hinata stood at the rails and waited for Shikamaru's next move.

In the time that she had been gone there seemed to have been a brief Taijutsu struggle followed by a few earth Jutsu that then dissolved into some weapons and trap placement with one or two explosive tags. Shikamaru had pushed Yarui to the middle of the arena so that the boy could avoid his Shadow Possession, though he didn't seem to notice Shikamaru wasn't relying on the Naru staple.

Instead, Shikamaru was relying on something else entirely. It was only Hinata's endless hours spent with Akihane, training and watching her make seals before trying at them herself, that helped her recognize his plan.

'That lazy genius.' She thought with a bitter tinge of jealousy.

I~~~~I

Yarui wasn't sure of what to make of the Nara Heir.

The boy was smart, on par with Shisui or even Kurotsuchi. He had a knack for weapons like Darui, just not as specialized. In fact, the boy didn't seem to specialize in anything and instead moved through multiple areas and became passable in each one.

Surprisingly, Nara Shikamaru was rather good at Taijutsu. After studying the clans of Konoha, Darui had expected the boy to be sub-par at best in Taijutsu and really good at his clan Jutsu. Imagine the blonde's surprise when Shikamaru turned out to be good enough to counter Yarui long enough to formulate a plan.

The boy had tried twice to stick Yarui in his Jutsu, but he knew better. Shisui had warned him beforehand to watch out for Shikamaru's shadow and he paid extra attention to his surroundings. He also made sure to stay away from any area that offered Shikamaru more distance, such as the craters that Shisui and his opponent, the cute albino Akihane, had created.

"Yo, you just gonna stay hidden or what? I mean, we have all day really, but I would prefer to get a move on. I want to face someone else today." Yarui rambled, his eyes warry and constantly active while his body never slackened. Despite his words and his general appearance of indifference or even nonchalance, Yarui was a Shinobi. He had earned his title and he had trained hard to be selected for the next Chunin Exams. The Tsuchikage hadn't even thought to send a team before Yarui's had come along. Despite being known as Team Kurotsuchi for the Exams, they had another name back home.

In the village of Iwa, their team was known as Team Overkill. They were originally trained under the Four-Tailed Monkey, Roshi, only to be given to Kurotsuchi when the man was tasked to go and find Han of the Five Tailed Dolphin-Horse.

Since then they had proved themselves repeatedly. No matter the mission or the situation they were thrown into, (Even that one with the fire monks and several gallons of booze), they had succeeded.

Finally, the Nara made his move. Out of the shrubbery that Fire Country was known for came several dozen Kunai.

Each Kunai looked different from the last in both shapes, size, and what was wrapped around the handle or pinned at the back.

"Well, that works," Yarui muttered before he readied himself for some hurt.

The first Kunai was a simple weighted one that he ducked under. The next three happened to be curved and two had a wire connecting them. He grabbed the first and cut the wire as he vaulted forward.

The next few he dispatched or dodged in the same manner. He tossed his own kunai and grabbed some from the volley in order to redirect them.

By the end of it, only two explosive tags had gone off and the other tagged kunai had been redirected elsewhere. He made sure they weren't going to explode in his face and then moved toward where he last saw the weapons come from.

Quicker than anyone other than a normal Chunin could see, Yarui hopped back and reached down for a flashbang from his bag, tossing it down as a shadow reached for him.

Yarui landed in the middle of the arena as the light covered the arena. The shadows were forced back as their source was literally destroyed.

Yarui carefully checked his surroundings while also glancing in the direction of the shadow's origin. No doubt the Nara had moved, but at least Yarui had an idea of where he preferred to hide. Up high, in trees or between branches. No doubt he was used to being there since he lived in the greenest place Yarui had ever seen. Seriously, the trees were worse than the Land of Grass's stupid bamboo forests.

"I suppose I asked for that," Yarui spoke drily as he stood from his crouch. He kept his muscles ready. He prepared to spring at any moment. He wasn't sure where the next attack would spring up from.

"Yeah, you did. It's troublesome, but I need to end this match here."

Yarui twisted sharply in shock, his eyes narrowed on the body of his opponent. The boy stood several meters from him, far enough that he couldn't nail him with his shadow, but he could definitely throw a few more weapons. Reflexively, Yarui tossed several kunai at the boy. He had learned from Darui to keep your opponent as busy as you could to keep things in your favor.

Suddenly, before the weapons could reach the boy, thin slivers shot form his feet and hooked in the holes in the knives. Every single one of the kunai was caught in thin, needle-like threads that wiggled about the Nara Heir.

Just as soon as they appeared, the threads vanished and left the Nara standing in front of Yarui while looking as calm as ever.

Narrowing his gaze, Yarui reached for more weapons.

"I wouldn't."

Shikamaru spoke up, his hand lifting up another kunai with an odd tag on the handle. The boy tossed it at Yarui. The kunai was deflected and sent spinning through the air.

Mid-air, the kunai suddenly slowed it's spinning and then jerked, driving itself toward the ground in a different area than where it had been headed. Once more, Yarui saw the thin threads. This time, however, Yarui noticed they were extending from the shadow that the weapon created off of the ground from the shadow of another weapon, one with a similar tag on it, stuck in the ground several meters away.

"Kai." The Nara spoke just as the kunai sunk into the ground, its guiding threads tightening in order to form a circle of connecting shadows. The seals sparked and lit up faster than Yarui could curse.

An explosion rocked the area, larger than normal tags and bordering on the destructive force of Akihane's earlier bombardments.

Shikamaru remained still the entire time, gazing at the dome of fire without emotion.

His only thought centered on how Akihane hadn't told him the tags would be that strong or that they would pack such a kick.

"Troublesome Woman." The Heir muttered.

I~~~~I

Shikaku felt his jaw slacken when the kunai shooting toward his son stopped mid-path. There hadn't been any warning, they had simply…stopped. Earlier he had noticed how the Kunai that Shikamaru had thrown with seals on the handles didn't always fall where they should have. Tiny changes in direction landed them in an almost perfect formation, in fact.

Shikamaru had somehow created paper-thin threads of shadows that he could extend over longer distances without using as much chakra as before. His son had just created a simpler version of the shadow thread Jutsu that didn't require the user to remain stationary while in use.

"Shikaku," Yoshino spoke up from beside him, placing her hand on his shoulder.

Shikaku glanced at her, meeting her unblinking gaze with his concealed shock. The woman, as always, read him perfectly. That quality was the main reason that Shikaku had married her and right now he was thankful for it. It was better to not let people know that he hadn't exactly helped Shikamaru with his new technique.

"Wait till this is over, then you can ask him about it." She murmured to him, guiding his eyes back to the match just as the explosions lit the arena. His breath hitched in his throat when he recognized the effects as the ones Kotetsu and Izumo had used on the last A-Rank he joined them on while doing a courier run to Taki.

That effect with the major explosive power concentrated enough into one area to cancel out the normal red and turn it yellow; that was the effect of Akihane's explosive seals.

Since when did the Uzumaki provide his son with her seals? Since when did Shikamaru learn how to not only use them properly but also integrate them with his newfound Jutsu?

Shikaku had far too many questions for both his son and the Uzumaki Jinchuuriki.

I~~~~I

Akihane was rather surprised that Shikamaru had decided to use her seals. She hadn't been able to see them in action since she was still standing with Sasuke in the stairwell, but she could hear them well enough.

"Someone needs to limit your Seals," Sasuke muttered into her hair, earning a blush from the ivory teen as she gently nudged him with her fist.

"A-And someone needs to limit your Genjutsu techniques." She retaliated, earning her an unamused glanced before Sasuke pulled away from her. He seemed reluctant to do so, but he was in control of his emotions again and back to his normal self.

"I suppose, Aki." Sasuke offered with a smirk. Akihane tried not to huff like a child, instead, she turned her head and offering him a soft 'tsch' instead.

They looked back at each other a second later. Both of them were tentative in the new atmosphere surrounding them. They didn't know how to act with the sort-of barrier regarding their previous arguments and feelings still in place.

Sasuke hummed and reached forward, gently scuffing Akihane's head before walking past her.

"Come on Aki. We should head up before something happens. I don't want to miss Hyuuga's match either. I know she won't forfeit on me." The Uchiha spoke teasingly on the matter, earning him another hidden flush that Akihane brushed off in the same manner as before.

"It wasn't planned, you know."

He didn't reply to her and continued up the steps, her soft footsteps echoing at his heels.

I~~~~I

"Winner, Nara Shikamaru!"

Genma called out from where he stood by Shikamaru. Yarui was currently being supported by two medic nin that were prodding him for injuries. His hair was a little singed and his skin slightly blackened, but other than that he was good. He had managed an earth dome at the last second of the blast, though it had left him drained and he had still suffered some injuries from the blast. He laughed those off and declared the match a good one after waving apologetically to where his teammates happened to be in both the stands and the viewing platform.

"Guess we didn't do too much, neh?!" Yarui shouted while scratching the back of his head.

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow and silently thanked kami and the Hokage that Yarui did not end up facing Akihane, or worse, Lee. He would get along quite well with either of them.

"Go back to the stands so I can call up the next match," Genma ordered Shikamaru with a smirk. The Nara raised a brow at the man before he headed toward his fellow Konoha Nin.

Akihane and Sasuke had arrived back at the top and were standing beside Hinata, while Shisui was leaning on the wall with an exasperated but accepting expression on his face. The Suna Nin were still in their corner and Lee was jumping around in anticipation of his own match.

Shikamaru decided to amuse the crowd and jumped on the wall, managing to leap over the railing in two chakra-enhanced bounds. He landed quietly beside Akihane and offered her a look.

"Unpredictable."

He muttered finally.

Akihane laughed gently, the sound echoing in the enclosed area.

"I told you they weren't to be used lightly."

Shikamaru shook his head and leaned on the railing, ignoring everyone else in favor of gazing at the arena he had just helped tear to shreds. He supposed it could be worse. Well, he could have used the other tag Akihane had given him.

Extreme circumstances were quite an understatement to the time that tag would ever be needed.

From his spot in the destroyed arena, Genma called out again.

"Hyuuga Hinata and Subaku no Temari, please come down to the…arena." Genma chuckled as he voiced the last part, giving the previous fighters equal looks that made each of them want to act sheepishly, even Sasuke to an extent.

Hinata looked about ready to roll her eyes, however, as an Heiress to the proud Hyuuga Clan she couldn't be seen doing such a thing. Instead, she vanished in a Shuinshin that left a chill where she had been, her body appearing in a swirl of water beside Genma.

"Well, that's impressive." The Suna Kunoichi remarked before she hopped out of the balcony and twisted her weapon, a large fan strapped to her back, around and glided down on it.

Shikamaru blinked and took note of the two opponents. In all honesty, he wasn't sure who would win. He had spent a lot of time with Akihane, but he hadn't spent any real time with Hinata without the girl using her façade in order to gauge her true skill level. The Preliminary match had swept him off his feet when it came to what he thought about the girl, so he didn't really want to make any assessments too soon. The same could be said for the Temari Kunoichi since he didn't know her personally, hadn't faced her, and he had yet to watch an actual fight with her in it. The Preliminary match she had been given was an utter joke.

"Hinata-Hime, give it your all!"

A shout from Shikamaru's side shocked him from his thoughts.

His gaze shifted over to the Troublesome Uzumaki shouting to her friend at the top of her lungs.

Just like with the Preliminaries, her voice called the Hyuuga down.

"You better win, Hyuuga, or you won't actually be able to hold up what you told me," Sasuke called out, his voice carrying without the need to yell. The crowd had silenced after Akihane's yell, and now it picked up in shock over the support that the Uchiha Heir showed the Hyuuga Heiress.

Shikamaru felt like slamming his head into the rail as a headache wormed itself over his temples. Of course, the two wanted to make the situation work in their favor. Of course, troublesome Uzumaki that she is, Akihane would find a way to surprise everyone more than once in this stupid Exam.

Out in the field, Hinata had her head held confidently and her weak façade fell away. She was different, like how she had been in the fight with Neji. Unlike that time, however, Hinata had an air about her that held confidence and power.

Temari stood tall as well and her eyes narrowed on Hinata as the change happened before everyone's eyes.

Hinata was no longer hiding.

I~~~~I

And there it is. Quite the conundrum this series is turning out to be. I still need to figure out how Shippuden will go and I decided that this would be a good point to express more character development. Earlier when I said there would be a Sasuke-centric chapter I forgot about Hinata. Now I have a feeling I'm going to be writing about her instead. Of course, that's if things go according to plan instead of dissolving into a shit storm when Orochimaru decides to attack.

Thank you so much for reading! This series is insane and I never thought I'd get so much support for it. I really appreciated it all, even if I don't mention it constantly. Also, credit to Hikari Nova for the name "Team Overkill". It's actually the name for the team in A Different Path, however, I felt it still made sense here.