Once Nawaki had sat down, Oki began to talk.
"The story begins fifteen years ago, when the war was on. My mom, Ino, was fighting in the war. Both she and her teammate Shikamaru lost their fathers, and the two of them grew closer because of that. By the end of the war, Ino had fallen in love with Shikamaru."
Whatever Nawaki had expected, it wasn't this. He listened quietly as Oki continued.
"Things returned to normal after the war. Naruto was named the next Hokage, and Konoha entered a time of peace. During this time, Ino continued to work with her teammates, Shikamaru and Choji. Choji was the only one who knew about her feelings for Shikamaru. He kept her secret hidden, and supported her as best he could. When Ino was eighteen, she told Shikamaru how she felt about him."
Her face grew slightly bitter.
"Being the amazing genius, Shikamaru had known about her feelings for a while. Unfortunately, he didn't feel the same way. He let her down as gently as possible, explaining that he was already in a relationship with Temari, but he hoped they could still be friends."
Nawaki winced. Being rejected must have hurt.
"Ino was distraught. She felt ugly, and she needed convincing that she was still desirable. She asked Sai out."
Her face twisted angrily.
"He rejected her. Bluntly. So she went crying to Choji, and he comforted her. I'm not quite sure what happened next, but apparently, Choji kissed her and explained that he himself was in love with her."
Nawaki let out a small gasp at that. This seemed more like a romantic novel then a life story.
"It took Ino a while to understand how deeply Choji felt for her, but when she did, she found that she loved him too. He wasn't like Shikamaru, the hero who could save everyone, or like Sai, the good looking jerk, but he was sweet and kind and good to Ino. He had known her since they were children, and now that her feelings for Shikamaru would never happen, Ino accepted his love. They got married a year later."
Nawaki had a bad feeling about what she was going to say next. He had been keeping track of the dates, and Inori would have been born soon after the marriage.
"A few months later, Ino had twins, a boy and a girl. It was agreed that the girl would become the head of the Yamanaka clan, while the boy…"
"Chouko." Nawaki whispered.
Oki nodded.
"Yep, Chouko and Inori are brother and sister."
"How did…"
"How do Sai and I fit into this? Well that's the sad part of the story. We're part of the unhappy ending."
"That's not true!" Hisa snarled. "Tell the story properly Oki. You and Sai aren't the bad guys."
Oki sighed.
"Fine, it was around eight years ago. Choji and Ino had been married for, hm… around five years. Sadly, neither of them were happy. Choji irritated Ino in many ways, and she yelled at him a lot. At first he put up with it, because that's what he had always done when they were children. But after five years, they were both sick of it. They had a huge argument, and in the end, they agreed to separate. Choji took Chouko and moved out, leaving Ino and Inori to fend for themselves."
Oki looked angrier than Nawaki had ever seen her. He waited quietly for her to finish her tale.
"Ino didn't take it too well. She spent most of her time moping around the house and rarely left. Inori wasn't much better, but she went to the Academy every day, and she got to see Chouko and Choji. To be honest, mom was depressed. If it wasn't for Sakura, I don't think she'd be alive now."
Nawaki hid his shock. What did his mother have to do with this?
"Sakura? As in Sakura Haruno?"
Oki nodded.
"She was my mother's best friend. She hadn't left the village yet, and she was worried about Ino. She started coming to visit her every day."
A small smile curled around Oki's lips.
"She forced Sai along with her. She was trying to help him 'understand people better'. She insisted that his main problem was with girls, so she told him to study Ino. To be honest, most of Sai's friends thought he was gay. I'm pretty sure this was Sakura's way of finding out."
Nawaki was getting more and more surprised at the story. His mother had never told him any of this.
"So Sai come along, and he studied Ino. Sakura came almost every day, to try and snap Ino out of her funk. But nothing worked. Sai didn't do much; he just stayed in the background and watched. He studied Ino and Sakura, and learnt about 'how the female mind operates'"
Oki's smile turned into a full-blown grin.
"It took a year of studying, but Sai finally realised that he liked what he saw. He found himself falling in love with Ino. Eventually, he asked her out. Being Sai, it was very awkward, but Ino accepted. She had always had a small crush on Sai. A little while later, they got married and I was born."
Nawaki was confused.
"What does this have to do with Inori scaring you?"
Hisa glared at him again, as if to say: Don't push her, idiot. Nawaki ignored her, focusing on Oki.
"Inori didn't like the fact that Ino got married again. She hates Sai, and when I was born she hated me as well. She did her best to make my life miserable, and she still does. Dad tries his best with her. He never gives out to her, even when she insults him to his face. But she never insults me in front of anyone, only when were alone."
Oki was shaking again, and there were unshed tears glistening in her eyes. Nawaki felt a surge of anger towards Inori, she had no right to treat Oki like this.
"Why don't Sai and Ino do anything?" he hissed.
Oki glared angrily at him.
"What can they do? Ask her to stop being better than me? I can't stop her hitting me, or insulting me or doing anything to me! She's better than me at everything, and I've accepted that."
"No she's not!" Nawaki and Hisa yelled at the same time.
"She is." Oki muttered "She beats me every time we spar, she graduated top of the class at the Academy and she's the heir to one of Konoha's most powerful clans. And even if I somehow became better than her at all of these things, she still has her torture jutsu. When she tells me she's better than me, she means it."
Nawaki had never seen Oki so dejected. Hisa was glaring angrily, as if she wanted to hit something. Nawaki guessed that Hisa had tried to help Oki with her inferiority complex before. It obviously hadn't worked. Nawaki kneeled over until he was staring straight into Oki's eyes.
"Listen to me." he said gently "You are just as good as Inori. You're almost half her age, yet you graduated alongside her. So what if she's a Yamanaka? So are you. I've trained with you, and I know how good you are. At the risk of sounding too clichéd, I believe in you. Today's the day to show her that you're better than she thinks."
Oki stared at him for a moment, before rapping her arms around him and hugging him tightly.
"Thank you." she whispered.
Hisa rolled her eyes.
"I spent three years trying to get you to realise that." she muttered. "Then Nawaki comes along with his clichéd 'I believe in you.' and suddenly everything's better."
Oki stood up shakily, but her eyes were determined.
"Everything's not better yet." she said. "If I beat Inori, then everything will be better."
Nawaki grinned at her.
"When you beat Inori, I reserve the right to say 'I told you so'."
They heard a whistle coming from the field, signalling the start of the match. Oki hugged both of them, before jumping down.
"Good luck!" Nawaki yelled.
Hisa stood next to him, but she was not as optimistic.
"I really hope her new confidence lasts." she said quietly "Otherwise, luck will be the only thing she has."
!
It only took Kakashi ten minutes to find her. She had lowered her chakra signature to civilian levels, and had hidden herself in the most crowded part. Plus, her hair was dyed brown.
But Kakashi had spent ten years teaching and working with her. So even in a dense crowd, he could recognize her signature. It was almost like the war. Even when he was fighting, one small part of him had been tracking his student's signature, making sure she was ok. Naruto had been flying high, and Sasuke had been sinking lower and lower. It had just been the two of them left in the middle.
His mask crinkled into a smile. Now why would she bother coming to this exam, when she hadn't come to any of the others? Perhaps she was here on a family visit.
He had had the theory for about a month now, ever since Nawaki had demonstrated his Fire Style jutsu. It had been a wild guess, based on Sakura's abrupt departure from the village, and Nawaki's uncanny resemblance to Itachi Uchiha. There was a time when Kakashi had thought that Itachi was Nawaki's father, but he realized that there was another far more likely theory: Sasuke and Sakura were Nawaki's parents.
His gut had told him that he was right, but it was only this morning that he got to put his theory into practise. Nawaki's terrified expression after he had mentioned Sasuke watching was enough proof for him.
He found a seat three rows behind her, and sat down comfortably. For now, he would wait and spy on her. He'd talk to her later.
He grinned. A surprise welcoming was definitely in order.
!
Shikamaru declared the start of the second match, and Inori and Oki faced off.
"I'm sorry it had to come to this little sister." Inori sneered.
She expected Oki to be frightened, or to accept the fact that she was going to lose. That was always what happened, and Inori liked it that way. But today, Oki didn't seem scared at all. Instead, she rolled her eyes.
"Please stop with all that big sister crap." she said, loud enough for the entire arena to hear them. "I've dealt with enough clichés for one day. Let's just fight."
Inori snarled. If Oki wanted to act all tough, then Inori would simply be tougher.
She raced across the field and Oki mirrored her. The two met in the middle. Oki aimed a kick at Inori's face. Inori ducked easily, and smirked. Oki could bluff all she wanted, Inori would still be better at taijutsu than her. Oki tried to swipe her legs from under her but Inori jumped.
The two backed away and looked at each other carefully, sizing each other up.
"Is that all you've got?" Inori sneered.
"I'm just getting started." Oki snarled, then she winced "Wow that was incredibly clichéd."
"Just give up now." Inori said quietly.
Oki grabbed her tanto off her back and unsheathed it. Inori sighed. Why was her sister so stubborn today?
Oki lunged at her with the sword. Inori dodged every swipe, ducking and weaving. She had to admit, Oki was good with a sword, but Inori could still beat her. As Oki made another swipe Inori grabbed the blade by the handle and twisted it out of Oki's grip. The sword fell to the ground but Inori had no time to celebrate. Oki punched her hard in the stomach, before kicking her across the field.
Inori landed heavily on the grass. She struggled to her feet, trying to see through the dizziness. Suddenly, she felt someone kick her from behind and she fell to the ground. Oki stood over her, sword pointed at her throat. For a second, Inori thought Oki was actually going to stab her, but then she saw the hesitation in her sister's eyes.
That was all Inori needed. She sprang upwards, kicking both of her feet into Oki's stomach. Oki flew backwards, much like Inori had a few minutes ago. She crumpled on the ground, clutching her injured stomach. For a second, Inori thought the match was over, but Oki struggled to her feet once again.
To be honest, Inori really didn't want to face Oki. It was barely a challenge for her, and the crowd would probably be less than impressed. All she was doing was beating up her sister who was half her age. She decided to end this fight quickly.
She aimed both her hands at Oki, who was still struggling to get to her feet. Just before she cast the jutsu, Oki's eyes met hers. Her sister looked completely terrified. She knew what Inori was about to do. Inori smirked. Maybe this would show Oki once and for all who was better.
"Mind Destruction Jutsu!" she yelled.
She heard a few shocked gasps from the spectators. Most of them had presumed that she would use the Mind-Body Switch Jutsu, but Inori had mastered that jutsu at the age of ten. This jutsu was a lot more difficult and dangerous.
Which was why Oki had been the perfect guinea pig.
She smirked slightly. Oh how she loved the 'torture jutsu'. Her mother had no idea that when Inori went to 'train' with her sister, she had actually practised this technique on her. Unfortunately, Inori hadn't quite got the hang of it. It was supposed to let you enter your target's nerve system and control their movements from there. But all Inori had learnt to do so far was how to make the nerves feel pain.
Which was why Oki was now lying flat on the ground, screaming in pain. Inori had never been the victim of the jutsu herself, but she could feel herself forcing Oki's nerves to feel pain. She imagined that her sister was probably feeling the same amount of pain as a killing electric shock.
She let it drag out for a minute or two. She knew from experience that if she held the jutsu for two minutes, Oki was normally too weak to stand afterwards. The one problem with the jutsu was that it used up a huge amount of chakra.
When she felt her chakra levels reach close to zero, she released the jutsu. Oki stopped screaming but as Inori expected, she didn't get up. She grinned and made her way over to her sister. Oki gave no indication that she saw or heard Inori. Her eyes were blank, staring up at the sky. Inori pulled out a kunai, it was time to end this.
She brought the kunai downwards, aiming for Oki's exposed throat. She could see the proctors running across the field, trying to stop her but she didn't care. She brought the kunai down, satisfied when she felt it stick into something. She looked over at the proctors, expecting them to look horrified. Instead, they looked relieved. To her surprise, they made their way back to their positions as if nothing had happened. Inori frowned. Why weren't they ending the match?
She looked down at where Oki was lying. Her eyes widened as she saw her kunai sticking out of the ground. Where had Oki gone?
She jumped to her feet and spun around. She wasn't quick enough, and the punch caught her straight in her face. She reeled backwards, stunned from the blow. When the world stopped spinning, she was able to make out the figure of Oki standing across from her. Oki looked murderous.
"How are you still standing?" Inori shrieked "You've just been tortured for two full minutes!"
Oki smiled at her, but it wasn't a friendly smile.
"I've survived two years of you using that jutsu on me daily." Oki said, her voice low and angry. "Two years Inori. I've managed to build up qu ite a resistance. You could probably let me be interrogated by the ANBU and I'd come out fine."
Somewhere in the crowd, her parents were watching and listening. Inori was furious with Oki. Her parents would have understood her using the jutsu for the Exams, but Oki had just revealed that Inori had tortured her nearly every day. All her threats and warnings to Oki about keeping quiet, and she had just casually mentioned it. Inori was going to kill her.
She ran straight towards Oki, trying to punch her face. Oki calmly swatted her hand away. Inori was stunned, what had just happened.
"You used up most of your chakra on the Mind Destruction Jutsu." Oki explained "You're too weak to beat me now."
Inori's vision was tinged with red.
"Maybe I can't beat you, but you still can't beat me!" she screamed.
Oki stretched out her hand.
"Maybe not normally." she said "But I happen to know a special jutsu."
Inori's eyes widened as she realised what Oki was doing.
"Impossible…" she whispered.
!
High up in the Hokage's viewing area, Naruto was bouncing in his seat. Sasuke and Gaara were on either side of him, staring down in amazement.
"That's not possible." Sasuke whispered.
Naruto bounced even higher.
"It is! It is! I taught her it myself! It only took her a month to learn how to do it."
If Gaara had eyebrows, they would be raised. As it was, his eyes were simply bigger than normal.
"She's not using a clone." he commented.
Naruto nodded smugly.
"She doesn't need one. Now watch as my Dad's awesome jutsu saves the day!"
Sasuke had a slight frown on his face.
"Surely she doesn't have enough chakra to sustain it?"
Naruto stopped bouncing and gazed down at Oki.
"That's true." he muttered thoughtfully. "When we practised it before, she always had full chakra."
"Do you think she can do it?" Gaara asked.
Naruto nodded.
"I believe in her."
!
On the other side of the stadium, Nawaki and Hisa were both staring down at their teammate. Nawaki was stunned, Hisa just looked proud.
"Is that…" Nawaki whispered.
"It is." Hisa nodded.
"How did she do it?"
"Dad showed her it. He's been teaching her since we came out of the minefield."
Nawaki still looked amazed.
"But that jutsu's nearly impossible to master."
Hisa thought about her own impossible jutsu.
"Nawaki, I have the Rinnegan and you know one of the most difficult Fire Style jutsu ever. Why shouldn't Oki do the impossible as well?"
!
Kakashi watched in amazement as Nawaki's teammate began the jutsu. He usually prided himself on his ability to see two steps ahead. But this time, he had not seen this coming.
It was quite hard to impress him, but it seems that Team 7 could still do it.
!
Oki held the rasengan in her right hand. She could feel it sucking out her chakra. She needed to hit Inori soon, or else she was finished.
Inori stood there, staring at her in shock. Oki had to admit, it felt good to see Inori so scared of her. It was a welcome change.
She ran straight at Inori. Inori tried to dodge, but she was still slow from her lack of chakra. The rasengan slammed straight into Inori's stomach, sending her flying backwards. She was out cold before she hit the ground.
"Yes!" Oki yelled. She had done it! She had beaten Inori!
Suddenly, fatigue washed over her. She groaned in disappointment. She had used too much of her chakra, and now…
She fell to the ground and everything went dark.