Hisa had been in a lot of awkward moments before. Most of them she created by being antisocial, but that wasn't the point. Trying to make Nawaki feel better after his confusing loss was the most awkward thing she had ever done.
To be honest, none of them had expected Nawaki to lose. Hisa couldn't explain it. It just felt like he was supposed to win, the two of them were supposed to make it to the finals and then they were supposed to have an epic duel. Simply because he was Nawaki.
Instead, Nawaki had been knocked out in the first round, and now his three teammates were completely confused about what to do. Nawaki was just sitting there, staring off into space. It all felt so wrong. To them, Nawaki was the good guy, and Lu was just a random opponent. If this was a book, Nawaki would have made a fantastic comeback and won the match. But sadly, this was life, not a story. Lu had simply been better.
Oki was the first one to try and cheer him up. She went over to him and gave him a hug. He gave her a small smile, but after that he relapsed into silence. She went back to where Hisa and Konahamaru were waiting.
"I don't know what to say." she said "I never expected him to lose, I'm not even sure how he lost."
Konahamaru was next in line to try. He went over and sat beside Nawaki. For a minute, they sat in silence, until Konahamaru spoke up.
"You did good Nawaki." he said "There are worse ways to lose. You put up a great fight, and it wasn't your fault that you lost."
"It was." Nawaki said dully, speaking for the first time since his defeat. "I underestimated Lu, and I didn't even try to find his strengths and weaknesses. I was careless."
"Okay, so it sort of was your fault." Konahamaru admitted "But you're only seven, there'll be plenty of other exams. You can try again in six months. You know, Naruto didn't become a chunin on his first try."
"Naruto's Exam was cancelled because Orochimaru attacked. Look, I lost. I've accepted that. Next time I go into the Exams, I'll be better prepared."
Konahamaru nodded approvingly.
"That's the spirit! Six months will pass before you know it."
"I'm not entering in six months." Nawaki said "In fact, I doubt I'll enter for at least two years. I'm too young and inexperienced. I learnt that today."
"Eh, maybe I'll talk to you later about this!" Konahamaru left quickly. Nawaki was giving off very depressing vibes.
He made his way back to the others and shook his head sadly.
"He's still really depressed." he explained "He's talking about not entering for a few years. Someone needs to snap him out of it."
Both Oki and Konahamaru turned to look at Hisa.
"What? Are you joking?"
They stared at her. She sighed.
"Fine, I'll give it a shot."
She walked over to Nawaki.
"Uh…"
He didn't even look up.
"Whatever you're going to say won't help."
She shrugged and walked back to the others.
"I tried." she said.
!
Although Sakura had remained calm throughout the entire fight, Kakashi could tell she was nervous. He had decided not to tell her about Sasuke's reaction to the match. It was better if neither she nor Nawaki knew about it.
"Are you disappointed he lost?" he asked.
She shook her head.
"Of course not. He did great, did you see those jutsu? I'm just worried about how he's feeling. He's probably very upset and disappointed in himself. Nawaki doesn't like to lose in front of me."
"So go talk to him." Kakashi suggested.
She looked at him like he was an idiot.
"Oh that's a great idea! I'll just walk up into the out-of-bounds competitors area and ask to speak to Nawaki. 'Oh by the way he's my son!" Yeah that'll go down great."
Kakashi sighed.
"I meant after the exam. Don't leave straight away, stay for a day or two and talk to him. He'll need you."
She sighed.
"I really wish I could. I'll stay for a day, but that's all. Can you try and arrange a place for us to meet?"
Kakashi nodded.
"I think I can manage that."
!
Round Two: Hisa Uzumaki vs Hizashi Hyuga.
Fate really had it out for Team Seven today.
Hisa wasn't like Obito and Naruto. She hadn't inherited Naruto's ability to solve everyone's problems through fighting them. So when Hizashi started whining and demanded to know why Obito had quit, Hisa decided to be brutally honest.
"Neji sacrificed himself to save Naruto and Hinata. If it wasn't for your dad Obito and I wouldn't exist. Tenten didn't tell you because she thought you would hold a grudge against my parents for living, even though it wasn't their fault. Neji was a hero, not a useless shinobi. So stop blaming your own problems on him and get over yourself."
With that, she punched him in the face and knocked him unconscious.
When she got back up to the balcony, Obito and Oki were waiting for her. Nawaki was talking with Kakashi, so he didn't notice her. Oki just sighed and shook her head, but there was a smile on her face. Obito was a little bit sterner.
"I don't really like your method of 'dealing' with Hizashi, but I hope it worked. Didn't Dad tell you that beating people up won't help them?"
Hisa shrugged.
"It works whenever Naruto does it. Don't you remember that time he fought the missing-nin? After ten minutes of fighting the shinobi agreed to return to his village and mend the problem in his family. Besides, Hizashi is Tenten's kid, not mine. She can deal with him once he wakes up."
Obito sighed, but he looked slightly proud. She looked at him curiously
"That was a good punch." he muttered "Really, you managed to knock him out with one blow. I feel like I won't have to worry about you when you get older."
Hisa rolled her eyes, but she smiled slightly.
!
"Firstly, Sakura said that she's proud of you and she thought your jutsu were amazing."
Nawaki was surprised.
"You talked to her?"
Kakashi nodded.
"She's staying in the village for a day. She wants to meet up with you after the exams. Do you know the secret room in the Hokage monument? She'll meet you there."
Nawaki nodded. Even though he had lost, the thought of seeing his mother again made him happy. He hadn't seen her since the start of the exams.
!
Round Three/Semi-finals: Hiza Uzumaki vs Lu Ten.
Well this was awkward.
Lu was good, but he was no Lee. He had used up a lot of his energy fighting Nawaki, so he had been slower in his second match against Karura. Still, for a boy with very little ninjutsu, he had done well to get this far.
The match started fairly slowly. Lu was still good with his taijutsu, but his obvious fatigue plus Hisa's advantage with the Rinnegan meant that she was able to track his movements. Although Lu was tired, his kicks still hurt, as Hisa painfully found out.
After five minutes of pure taijutsu, Hisa was getting bored. She hadn't used her special kunai yet, since she decided to save them for the finals. That left her Rinnegan.
Lu jumped at her with a "Yosh!" aiming a kick at her face. She calmly stuck out her hand and said\;
"Almighty Push!"
Lu went flying into the already battered wall. He hit it with a sickening crack and didn't get up. Hisa began to panic, until the medic-nin confirmed he was alive. Shikamaru declared her the winner.
She did her best to stay away from Nawaki. She wasn't mean enough to gloat about beating Lu right in front of him. Besides, Lu had been twice as energetic while facing Nawaki. Hisa was lucky and she knew it.
She watched the other semi-final: Naruko vs Shikai. To Hisa's frustration, Naruko still hadn't used her kekkei genkai. She had won all her matches through pure taijutsu and the basic three techniques. For a while, Naruko and Shikai played a game of strategy, using clones and substitutions to outsmart each other. However, Naruko had the larger chakra reserve, so after half an hour Shikai forfeited declaring the match 'Too troublesome.' Hisa could almost hear Temari groan at her son's new catchphrase.
Hisa had her own problems. She was against Naruko in the final. For some reason, Naruko had been holding back and hadn't killed a single opponent. Hisa didn't know if it would last. There was a very good chance this would become a fight to the death.
She made her way down to the field (by jumping off the balcony of course). Naruko was already waiting for her. As they shook hands, Hisa tried not to shiver. Naruko's stare was cold and intense.
"I'm going to kill you." Naruko whispered softly.
Well, we're off to a good start. Hisa thought.
"Good luck with that." she whispered back "Try not to cry too hard when you lose."
Naruko's stare got even colder. She scowled at Hisa before stepping back. Hisa noticed that she was carrying a gourd with her. It was a tied around her waist, and nowhere near as big as the Kazekage's one. Still, Hisa had a bad feeling about that gourd.
!
"Heh, who would have guessed it Gaara? Your kid versus mine in the final. Are you sure you don't want to hand over the money now?"
Gaara kept his eyes on Naruko. Naruto didn't know this, but he was searching for signs of bloodlust. Naruko generally got stiffer and her hands started twitching when she wanted to kill someone. Gaara didn't think Naruto would like it if Naruko killed his daughter. It definitely wouldn't help the bond between the villages.
"I'm worried." he explained to Naruto "Naruko brought her gourd onto the field, that generally means she's going to go overboard."
Naruto didn't look impressed.
"So she's got a jar of dirt. Big deal. You have one too and I still beat you."
"No Naruto , you see-"
Naruto wasn't listening. He was too busy singing.
"Gaara's got a jar of dirt! He's got a jar of dirt…"
Gaara looked at Sasuke. Sasuke quickly stepped forward and whacked Naruto on the head. Naruto stopped singing and glared at Sasuke.
"Hey! You can't just hit the Hokage, I could have you arrested for that!"
Sasuke didn't even pretend to care.
"Dobe, I'm in charge of the police. I'm not going to arrest myself."
"Yeah well…" Naruto flopped back in his seat with a scowl. "Stupid teme."
!
Shikamaru declared the start of the match. He would have laughed if it wasn't too troublesome. Finally, his job was done. He could relax and play a game of shogi with Temari.
Hisa watched Naruko carefully. Naruko was standing in the centre of the field, arms crossed, looking like she was waiting for something. It was up to Hisa to make the first move.
She ran forward, fist raised. Naruko watched her run, but didn't move. Hisa waited until she was close enough before swinging her fist. It should have hit Naruko straight in the head. Instead, it hit something that was as hard as metal. Hisa heard a clang and felt pain shoot up her arm. She quickly jumped backwards before Naruko could counterattack. Naruko didn't move, just continued to glare at Hisa.
Hisa touched her hand delicately. It hurt like hell, but it didn't appear to be broken. She looked up at Naruko, searching for the thing that had connected with her hand. There was nothing there. The only thing that was different was that the lid of the gourd was open.
Hisa knew she should save her strength, but she needed to find out what she was up against. She needed to attack from a distance so that she could see Naruko's defense.
"Almighty Push!" she yelled.
She saw the wave of chakra rush straight at Naruko. Just as it was about to hit her, a mass of dark gray dust erupted from the gourd. It swarmed around Naruko and formed a shield. As the chakra wave hit it, it hardened on impact. Hisa heard the same clang as before, it sounded like metal.
"What is that?" she asked as the dust cleared.
"This is my grandfather's kekkei genkai. The Fourth Kazekage had the Magnet Release. This jutsu is my own version of the Third Kazekage's Iron Sand Jutsu." Naruko stated it all in a dull monotone.
"Oh," Hisa said "Well, thanks for telling me."
Naruko shrugged.
"It's not like you can defeat me. This jutsu can be used to attack and defend. You don't stand a chance."
"We'll see about that." Hisa muttered.
She pulled out her special kunai. She hadn't quite mastered the jutsu, but it was good enough.
It was time for her secret weapon.