Back down the lake, Himihime had interrupted the struggle between Taka and Team 10. As Naruto ordered, she kept watch over the mission, hidden in the background. In all honesty, she didn't really have any high hopes for Taka, but if her senpai had use for them, she couldn't complain. Actually, she was kind of hoping that they would fail, so that Naruto would see how useless they are and it would be just her and senpai again. There were two others that completed a four man group with Himihime and Naruto, but they were not always 'present'. So, normally it was just her and senpai.

Himihime skimmed over her surroundings, analyzing the situation. Taka was pretty much done. Suigetsu was just a lifeless puddle of water at the moment. Juugo's mind was sealed away and had a large gash done his upper body, stretching from his right shoulder to his left hip. Karin was the only one not out of commission, Unfortunetly she wasn't much of a fighter. Konoha still had all there players on field, and currently had the advantage. Shikamaru had reacted immediately to Himihime's assault by using the force of her kick to lean backwards and land a few feet from her. Choji had struggled to get up after Juugo's attack, but he was still capable of fighting. Ino regained consciousness and had joined with Choji.

Naruto had already heavily informed Himihime about his former comrades and their abilities. She didn't know how much her senpai's comrades had improved over the years, but it didn't matter to her. Most of them used jutsu that was clan specific. Shikamaru was a member of the Nara clan, who specialized in manipulating their own shadows to immobilize the opponent and could either attack the caught person themselves or wait for a teammate to make their move. Ino belong to the Yamanaka clan; mainly used for interrogation purposes, their main ability is sending their psych through a stream of chakra that they send into their opponent. From there, they can either dig around in someone's mind in order to extract information or completely subdue their opponent's psych and gain control over their body. Choji's specialty, belonging to the Akimichi clan, was to utilize the large amount of calories within his body in order to expand any portion of their body. They use this to focus on taijutsu that was overall heavy and powerful but generally slow. Himihime saw the three of them as a bunch of one trick ponies, and didn't really view them in high regard. She sheathed her sword, not believing that she would need it. Then, Himihime gave a heavy sigh as she began to drag Juugo's unconscious body, by the arm, through the water.

"Hey, let go of me!" Karin yelled as Himihime had gotten a hold of her also as she grabbed the back of her collar.

"Where's Suigetsu?"

"He's over there." Karin pointed a few good meters down toward the coast, at the unconscious blob that was Suigetsu.

"Alright." Himihime looked back toward Shikamaru and his group. "I'll be getting these losers out of our way. It would do you some good to come up with some plan before I get back. I wouldn't want this to be over too quickly." And with that, Himihime, carrying Karin and Juugo, shunshined out of sight.

She was arrogant, but Shikamaru knew that she was right. They needed a decent battle plan if they wanted to get even a chance at a victory. Most people would most likely underestimate the girl because of her age, and Shikamaru had seen many fall for that very reason. He knew that her age gave her a strong advantage as he could tell that she likely a lot stronger than most would give her credit for. His base for this was that not only did she perfectly time her attack in order to counter both his attack and Juugo's, but she did it without anyone even noticing her presence. Shikamaru had no doubt in his mind that she was watching the entire fight, waiting for her chance to attack. This meant that she has already gotten a pretty good look at their abilities and jutsu coordination. While, on the other hand, they knew nothing about her abilities. She undoubtedly had good kenjutsu skills, but other than that, they had nothing else to go on. Even before the fight had started, Shikamaru, Ino, and Choji were already at a disadvantage.

"So, Shikamaru, what's the plan?" Choji asked.

"C'mon, Choji. We don't need a plan." Ino said, putting in her two cents. "Especially against such a cocky little girl like that."

"No, there is much more to that girl then meets the eye." Shikamaru said. "We know that she is definitely skilled with that sword of hers. Also, she was hiding within the lake over the duration of our fight with Sasuke's lackeys. One would believe that she has some ability in suiton."

"So then, we should try to change the terrain. If we stay here we would just be at a disadvantage." Choji suggested.

"I don't think she would let us. If we try to make a premature, it would just provoke her to put more effort on her part. I don't think putting pressure on her that quickly would wise." Shikamaru paused for a second to think. "If we give her the advantage she wants, then she might become careless, and from there she might make the mistake that we need." Shikamaru knelt down and got down into his position. He wasn't down very long, as he got back up in only about ten seconds.

"Wow, done already. This must be a record." Ino chimed. "Is she just someone who is easy to read?"

"No, there's just not that much we can do with so little information." Shikamaru replied. "Now, I do have a plan though. Do either of you remember my match against Temari from the Chuunin Exams?"

Ino and Choji both replied positively. "Good cause this is what I have in mind." Shikamaru signaled for Ino and Choji to come in closer so that he could inform them of the plan. Shikamaru then began to explain the plan in detail. Ino and Choji listened intently, taking in every word Shikamaru was telling them. It wasn't long before Shikamaru was finished. "So, do you all understand?"

"I hope so; it's pretty simple isn't it?" Ino said.

"Like I said, I don't have much to work with on this one." Just as Shikamaru finished that sentence, he saw a familiar white and blue blur appearing right in the middle of their huddle.

"Move!" Shikamaru ordered has he, Choji, and Ino quickly leaped back from Himihime creating distance.

"I'm back." Himihime said in a matter-fact-tone.

"Your timing was near perfect." Shikamaru complimented sarcastically.

"Not really, you guy's weren't done talking so I waiting until you were done."

"You're pretty confident."

"You would be to if you knew what I know."

"And what do you know."

"Sorry, classified." Himihime was done talking, as she charged Shikamaru gripping her sheathed sword. As she reached him, Himihime unsheathed her sword and swung her blade horizontally, aiming for Shikamaru's waist. Shikamaru was barely able to dodge the assault, as Himihime was able to graze him just a little. She didn't let up. Himihime continued to strike at Shikamaru at incredible speed and skill. As expected, she was incredibly skilled in kenjutsu. Shikamaru had a hard time keeping up with her attacks. She even managed to get a few good scratches as Shikamaru continued to evade. As he was being pushed into a corner, Shikamaru drew a kunai so he could deflect Himihime's attacks instead of just evading them. However, this proved to be ineffective.

"You're too naïve." Himihime commented as her katana cut right through Shikamaru's kunai. Shikamaru immediately recognized the technique, and jumped out of the way so he would not sustain damage.

"Well, I wasn't expecting you to run fuuton through your sword."

"How are you sure that I am using fuuton."

"Because our Jounin leader from when we were Genin used the same tactic, but he used a different weapon." Shikamaru answered. "He used two large knifes instead of a katana."

"Well, that was a little more detail then I needed. You didn't have to tell me all of that."

"No, I kind of did. It wouldn't be stalling if I didn't try to distract you as long as possible."

"Huh?" Even before Shikamaru finished his sentenced, Choji was already prepared to attack. His right arm was expanded and was just a few inches away from crushing Himihime down into the water. However, just as Choji was about to strike, Himihime disappeared from sight. Shikamaru and Choji had completely lost sight of her.

"Above you!" Ino yelled from the sidelines.

"Death from above." Himihime said, expressionlessly, as she swung her blade down toward Choji. Thanks to Ino's warning, Choji was able to just barely dodge the attack. Choji got some distance between him and Himihime, making her current position between Choji and Shikamaru, a good few feet from both of them.

"Baika no Jutsu!" Choji followed up this technique with another. "Nikudan Sensha!" Choji's body began to rotate rapidly, and started to charge straight toward Himihime.

"Kaze no Yaiba!" A thin, crescent shaped blade of chakra shot out from Himihime's blade as she swung her katana at an acute angle. The chakra blade was heading right at Choji's large rotating body, and the chakra was sharp enough to cut right through him. Choji evaded the attack by forcing his rotating body down into the water, then, the water pressure forced his buoyant body back up through the surface, high into the air. As Choji hit the peak of the ark, he used gravity to his advantage and his large round body fell down hard and fast.

"Suiton: Suitengai!" A dome of thick, high-pressured water formed around Himihime. The shield was strong, and the full force of Choji's attack. He was unable to make dent in Himihime's offenses.

"Fuuton: Kamatatsumaki!" The dome of water broke as a fierce tornado shot up from Himihime's position. The force of the cyclone of wind forced Choji back, sending him flying. As the tornado dissipated, Shikamaru noticed that Himihime had vanished, using the vortex as a decoy.

"Suiton: Suigadan!" Twelve rotating drills formed from the surface of the lake, four for each of the Konoha shinobi. Shikamaru and Ino both were able to evade the jutsu. However, Choji was hit because he was still recovering from being knocked back by Himihime's fuuton. The drills missed any vital spots, but Choji was still seriously injured. He was pretty cut up and his leg had a huge gash, making it difficult to stand. Himihime slowly began to rise up from the surface of the lake.

"Come on, I was really hoping for more from you guys. I've already cut down your group by a third, and I haven't even begun to try yet." Himihime wasn't being sarcastic and she wasn't trying to taunt them. She was legitimately disappointed. Himihime had honestly thought that they would have been able to counter her at some point, but all they've done so far was run away and hurl a giant meatball at her. Recently, people have been performing under her expectations, and it was starting to annoy her. "I really hope that the two of you start to pick up the pace from here."

While Himihime was feeling disappointed, Shikamaru was becoming a little impressed. This young girl of about twelve-years-old was easily fighting on a level way beyond a Konoha Chuunin. For someone of her age to be able to perform the number of jutsu that she had in succession was no easy feet, and she came out of hit as if she hadn't even started to fight yet. Also, she had rapidly been able to switch between fuuton and suiton at an impressive rate. Her skills could easily put many of Konoha's Jounin to shame. However this is where their counterattack starts. Shikamaru pulled out a small detonator from his pouch.

The, all of a sudden, Shikamaru felt a large tremor coming from under the lake. A distance off, down the lake, a number of large pillars made of earth from under the water began to rise up from the surface of the lake. They rose in just about every direction, but they were still coordinated. They seemed to form into the shape of a ring.

"It looks like senpai's showing off." Himihime said while looking back over her shoulder, her sword now resting on her right shoulder. She then turned back to Shikamaru. "So, are you finally going to detonate those bombs you and your team have been dropping all over the place?"

"What?"

"You think I couldn't notice. Don't take me for some kind of fool; any novice shinobi could have seen you dropping bombs into the lake. I knew you weren't trying very hard with our little scuffle. I've already been informed of your team's abilities before hand. I know what you're capable of, and this isn't it. It was easy to see that you were concentrated on something else."

"I really have to admit, I am impressed. Yes, I and my team have been planting objects under the water, but they aren't bombs." Shikamaru activated the detonator. Eighteen kunai shot out from the lake. Their grips were wrapped in a cloth. The cloths unraveled and opened up. They were attached to the kunai by string.

"Parachute kunai?" Himihime was legitimately confused.

"You'll see." Shikamaru knelt down and formed a hand sign.

"Kagemane no Jutsu!" Shikamaru's shadow shot out forward, but not toward Himihime. Shikamaru's shadow connected with one of the shadows created by the kunai. The shadow continued to stretch until all eighteen shadows created by the kunai were connected. The shape resembled a hexagonal spider web. "This is my Kage no Amimono."

"Oh, it seems I can't make a move." Himihime wasn't kidding. She couldn't move her body in any direction without coming into contact with Shikamaru's jutsu. "Well this sucks."

"Shintenshin no Jutsu!" Ino had activated her clan's signature jutsu. With Himihime know immobile, the jutsu shouldn't have a problem connecting. But, just as her chakra was going to enter Himihime's psych, the jutsu took a sharp turn as it was absorbed into Himihime's blade.

"What the…" Shikamaru's shock was beyond description.

"Oh no, that just won't do." Himihime said.

"What…did you do?"

"Hm? Me? I didn't do anything." Himihime answered, honestly. "The sword did that on its own accord."

"You talk as though the sword is alive."

"Mmm, that's not a secret I wish to reveal quite yet."

"That's not surprising. You've been able to keep your mouth tightly shut this whole time."

"Really? Well then, if you want to know more about me that badly, then I guess I can tell you something." Himihime said with a taunting smile. "I have a kekkei genkai."

"Well that's a nice little tidbit of info."

"It's inconsequential to me. You'll lose whether I told you that or not. Now, would you like to see it?"

While this was all going on, Choji was slowly regaining his strength. With Himihime preoccupied, he saw his chance. "Baika no jutsu!" Choji's right arm expanded and shot toward Himihime. His fist connected, but not with Himihime. A mirror mad out of ice had appeared next to Himihime, which blocked Choji's attack.

"Makyou Hyoushou!" Twelve mirrors formed themselves around Shikamaru. Eight formed at an angle above the first twelve. Then, a final mirror formed at the center where the eight met. Himihime slide into the mirror that she used to block Choji's fist. That mirror disappeared as Himihime's reflection began to show among all of the twenty-one mirrors that had formed around Shikamaru.

"This is my kekkei genkai. Like Hashirama of the Senju clan, who combined doton and suiton to create mokuton, I combine fuuton and suiton to create hyouton." Himihime explained proudly, but then her attitude changed to one a little more humble. "Although, this particular jutsu isn't an original one of mine. My senpai was fortunate enough to have encountered someone with the same kekkei genkai who used this technique." Personally, this jutsu is one of her favorites because it was the first jutsu that Naruto had taught her which used her kekkei genkai. "Actually, you should consider yourself lucky that I used this jutsu."

"Why?" Shikamaru didn't fell very lucky at the moment.

"Well, because if I had used one of my own jutsu…" A sadistic smile came across Himihime's face. "…you'd be dead." Then, as soon as Himihime finished her sentence, Shikamaru felt himself being torn apart by a ton of sword cuts. "Unfortunetly, killing you three goes against my orders. So I avoided any vital spots. Although, the degree of damage I could inflict wasn't specified. So, how about it? Want another round?"

Shikamaru was in serious trouble and he knew it. From that split second of an attack, Shikamaru had already analyzed the technique. The girl used the mirrors as a transportation device to enable her to move from mirror to mirror at inhuman speed. Also, after seeing Choji's attack blocked, the mirror themselves were not so easily broken. Shikamaru didn't see much of a way out of the situation. He had no real way of countering her attack because he lacked the necessary physical ability to keep up with her. He would normally try to see if a few paper bombs would be enough to destroy at least one of the mirrors, but he currently did not have any on him. The only thing he could think of is to exploit the jutsu's only weakness. This kind of jutsu obviously required a large amount of chakra to use, and the user must continuously export chakra to keep the jutsu going. If he could just out last her, then he might have a chance.

"All right, ready or not." Himihime warned. She jumped from mirror to mirror, nicking Shikamaru here and there. She was only really messing with him at the moment. The cuts weren't very deep. "Come on, don't just stand there and take it. It's no fun if you make it this easy for me."

Himihime prepared her self to make another attack, but Shikamaru was ready. If he could time it just right, he might be able to land a hit. At such speeds, the opponent can't react very well, but neither can the user. Like with the Chidori, this jutsu requires straight, head-on assaults. If the receiver of the jutsu could endeavor long enough, that person could adapt their body to the speed in order to counter. While traveling at such speed, the user will have trouble avoiding the counter. Shikamaru was ready to try it.

Just like the first two times, Himihime came at Shikamaru head-on. When Shikamaru felt the attack, he looked down toward the cut. The blood coming from the wound was pointed at the mirror behind him, toward his upper left. Shikamaru reacted on instinct and through a kunai at the mirror. If Shikamaru's timing was right, the kunai should reach the girl when she is just about to leave that mirror. However, it didn't work. When the girl left the mirror, she had toward the next one, she shot straight toward the ground and cut deep into Shikamaru's left breast. Himihime then used Shikamaru's temporary shock to quickly get to the safety of one of her mirrors.

"That was close, but not quite close enough." Himihime was still only toying with him. "There was another minor detail about my kekkei genkai that I had forgotten to mention, and that is my eyes. Now, my eyes can't see chakra like the Byakugan or the Sharingan, but they do have strong physical perceptive abilities. The Sharingan uses chakra sight to be able to predict their opponent's movements. My eyes work differently. To me, the world around me simply slows down. It moves at such a rate that I can see an attack coming and have the necessary amount of time to react to said attack. So any counter you may want to try against me won't work." Himihime paused to give Shikamaru some time to think. "Also, don't think you will be able to out last me. With my current chakra level I can keep this jutsu up for at least thirty minutes." Himihime felt a little proud when the look of shock came across Shikamaru's face. "You see? You are in a completely hopeless situation. You have no way out, and now, it's high time we…"

Himihime stopped and looked as though she was in deep thought. Her reflection showed her sheathing her sword. "It seems those stooges have finally gotten away from here."

"Stooges?"

"Yeah, the three that I was ordered to rescue." Himihime said with a small hint of irritation in her voice. "Actually, I believe my senpai used to call your group that way back when."

"What? The only person who called us that was…" Shikamaru stopped as the realization finally hit him.

"Yep. Oh, and just for the record, my name is Himihime. You don't have to give yours; I already know who you are." The mirrors began to slowly disintegrate. "Actually, before I leave, I should probably release Ino shouldn't I?" With that, Himihime formed a hand sign and a stream of chakra shot from the sword and connected with Ino's unconscious body. The last of the mirrors disappeared, leaving Shikamaru alone with an injured Choji and an unconscious Ino.

During the fight, Suigetsu had managed to regain consciousness. He stretched as if he just got up from a long nap. "Aw man, how long have been out?"

"To long, idiot." A certain red-head, sitting next to his left, spat at him.

"I'm not an idiot."

"Yes you are. What kind of shinobi recklessly charges an opponent like that without some kind of plan? You deserved to be blown up." Karin retorted angrily. "In this situation, we really could have used your help."

"Well, sorry." Suigetsu said sarcastically. He looked over to where Himihime was fighting the Konoha shinobi. "Shouldn't we help out?"

"No." Karin replied. "I've been watching her fight. Trust me when I say that she definitely does not need our help."

"Aw man, is she really that good?" Suigetsu looked toward his right and saw the unconscious and wounded Juugo. "Whoa, looks like he definitely got his ass handed to him." Suigetsu expected some kind of reaction from Karin, but she was strangely silent. "Hey Karin…" Suigetsu turned back toward his left to talk to Karin, but she was gone. "Uh, Karin, where'd you go?" Suigetsu said while looking back and forth. Well, he might as well wake up Juugo. He turned back to his right, but Juugo had also vanished.

"Ahhhhh! What the hell man! Did you guys just leave me behind, assholes! Where the hell did you go?" Suigetsu started ranting to himself. Just then, his body began to feel strange, like he just lost what connected his mind to his body. He tried to look around to see if someone was using a jutsu on him, but his vision had started to become blurred. A white rim had formed around his line of vision, and it started to grow until his entire being was swallowed by the white light.