Part Four

Chouji looked gravely at the remaining nine participants in the contest to win Shikamaru. Not taking a pause from his sandwich, he reminded them of their contracts, and informed them that the selection would take place a lot quicker this time, since Shikamaru thought any delay was pointless.

Shikamaru cleared his throat, and muttered something that sounded suspiciously like 'troublesome.'

"Alright, let's get this over with," he said, peering down at a list of names he held in his hand. "The following people are safe for today: Ino. Sakura. Neji. Gaara. Naruto. Deidara. Sai."

Temari and Hinata were left, standing awkwardly with a large space between them, not daring to look at each other. At last, Temari looked up, and fixed Shikamaru with a bold stare. He met her eyes, and crumpled the list in one fist.

"I'm sorry, Hinata. You couldn't even think of a strategy." He said, and walked away with a strange expression on his face. Only Chouji understood that it signified deep unhappiness, and he followed his friend to comfort him on his hard decision.

Left behind in the centre of the open space, Hinata was staring fixedly at the floor just in front of her feet. She did not move or make a sound, but her eyes were wide and full of tears.

"…Go home, Hinata." Temari said after a while, as all the others went back to their rooms. She looked up slowly, turned, and walked away. After only a few minutes she sank down against the base of a tree and began to cry, not realising that she was sat under one of Tenten's kunais from the day before.

Group One

Ino was sat staring out of the window, trying to see if Shikamaru was outside. She wondered what was wrong with him, and where he was, and if this delay was planned.

Sakura was sat in silence as well, fiddling with her medical kit. After a while, she said, "Ino… you do realise that there's only three girls left now."

Feeling uncharacteristically quiet, Ino merely nodded her head.

"You… you don't think he really likes guys, do you?"

Disturbed, Ino had no reply.

Group Two

Neji was collecting his cousin's things together, since she had forgotten to do so.

"Disgrace to the clan… lower branches of the house, can't be trusted… damn cute blushes…" he muttered to himself as he worked.

Group Three

Temari idly traced patterns in Gaara's sand with the end of her finger.

"Nii-san…do you think he likes me? I mean, he kept me till last because I'm the obvious winner… don't you think?"

Gaara turned and glared at her, the first time he had done so in ages. "Hey, Temari, I'm in this competition too." He said angrily. "Just because I'm your brother, don't underestimate me. And stop touching my sand!"

Temari shot up and returned to her side of the room with a slightly alarmed expression.

Group Four

Deidara was making little clay models of everyone in the competition, and arranging them on a little shelf. So far he had Shikamaru, Chouji, himself, Ino, Gaara, Temari, and Sakura, and he was just putting the finishing touches to another.

"Hey, nine-tails," he said in a cunning tone of voice, "Look. It's you, un."

The figurine he held up was tiny, with ears like a cat and a baby's dummy in its mouth.

"YOU—" shouted Naruto, and sat, and glared, and glared.

Group Five

Sai was humming cheerfully as he reread the flirting book.

"Show off your best assets… check. Let them know you want to be with them… check. Smile sexily… check." He looked at himself in a small mirror and practised a wink. "Perfect!" he beamed, and carried on reading.

Chouji called all of the contestants out, and within a few moments they were all stood, ready and waiting.

"This test," he said, "Is a test of physical stamina. So, when I tell you to, you must run to the other side of the forest and back. The victory of this test will depend on a number of factors; energy expended, total time spent, navigation skills, and tactics employed, to name but a few. Now, I'm sure you're wondering where Shikamaru is. Well, when you win… he'll be here waiting." Chouji tried to look as if he was totally sure that would happen. "So… without further ado… GO!"

The contestants all raced off, shocked by the sudden and also biased start – Sai had been a few paces ahead of everyone else! In a battle of ninjas, even an inch could make a difference.

Chouji headed back to the room he was sharing with Shikamaru and found his best friend sat on the roof, staring at the sky. The decision he had made this morning had broken Hinata's heart, and he knew it.

"Chouji," he said after a while. "This whole… love… business is rather troublesome, isn't it?"

"Yeah… so I've heard." Chouji replied.

An hour later, Shikamaru and Chouji stood facing the forest, waiting for the first person to arrive back. They did not have to wait long.

Deidara strolled into the clearing, without a scratch, hardly out of breath, an easy smile spread across his face.

"Did you miss me, my little stag, un?" he purred sexily, making Shikamaru sweat a little.

"Er… well done, Dei-dei – er, Deidara. Ahem. Er… Chouji?" he said desperately.

"Yes," Chouji added, springing to the rescue. "Well done. Now if you'll just come over here so we can record the results…"

It was some five minutes before Neji arrived in second, an angry look pasted across his face.

"Shikamaru, you have to come quickly," he said. "I want that creep disqualified. Sakura's in there, tending to everyone he hurt." He gestured towards Deidara, who simply waved cheerily. The mouth on his hand licked its lips.

Shikamaru rushed after Neji, with Chouji and Deidara in tow. The first person they found was Naruto. He was leaning at the base of a tree, with a nasty cut on his forehead. He seemed to be in a foul mood.

"That idiot! He could have killed us all!" he screamed as soon as he saw Shikamaru. "He used clay bombs! I got hit by shrapnel, but it could have been so much worse! Ino got hit when it exploded! That guy's a lunatic!"

Shikamaru hurried around the forest, checking up on all his admirers. Ino was burnt, but Sakura was able to patch her up; Gaara had managed to protect his sister and himself with a sand shield, and Sai had a nasty cut across his stomach that Sakura managed to heal as well.

"Kami, Deidara!" she shouted. "I know you're evil, but it's just a stupid contest! It's not this serious!"

At that, Deidara pouted. "It is. I want Shikamaru more than any of you, un? You weren't prepared to suffer for him. I am. I could have been caught while I was here, and tortured, un? I didn't cheat, either, so you can't disqualify me. I just did what I had to, un?"

Shikamaru's face softened a little. Deidara looked genuine enough; and with the kind of people he hung around with, how could he know any better?

"Sakura, are you alright to clean everyone up?" he asked.

"Yes, it's fine. What are you going to do with HIM?"

"I'm going to tell you tomorrow."