AN: Er, hello? Heh, sorry it took so long, but my life got really stressful last semester at school and it didn't help when I also got a job. Now that I've more or less settled into my job and finished planning for my next semester at school, I felt I need to update this now. I mean, it's been a few months by now and it wouldn't do to leave my audience hanging. Well, without further ado, here is the next chapter.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or 666Satan. Kishimoto Masashi and Seishi do. Bow down to their mightiness!
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"Can't have a guy losing to a girl...so...well, I guess I'll do it!" Shikamaru said from his spot on the wall.
Temari smirked and once again swung her fan in Shikamaru's direction. A blast of wind hit the area Shikamaru was in. Once enough of the dust had cleared, Temari noticed her opponent was gone.
"Ha! He's great at running away!"
Shikamaru looked at her from behind a small tree. 'But, even so, a guy just can't go around hitting women so...'
"Bust her up! Shikamaru! Get her with a 16 hit combo!"
Shikamaru groaned form his position. What the heck was Ino talking about?
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Jio and Naruto chuckled at Ino's outburst.
"Looks like he's in a tight spot." Jio commented.
"Do ya think he can win?" Naruto asked. "I mean, as far as I know, I've only seen him use one jutsu. Can that be enough?"
Jio crossed his arms over his chest and thought for a moment.
"Sensei once told me: 'A ninjas strength does not lie in the number of jutsus he knows, but in his ability to use the ones he has to the fullest.' If what you say is true, then his victory will depend on how well he makes use of his jutsu."
'Wow.' Naruto though. 'I guess Ero-sennin can say some good stuff once in a while.'
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"Is it okay if I sit here?"
Ino looked surprised at the speaker. Not because she didn't know who it was, but because it was her team mate that was supposedly sick at the hospital with a bad stomach.
"What's with you? Your stomachs alright already?"
Choji ignored her and sat down beside her. "Huh? Wasn't it suppose to be Sasuke's match next?" he asked without noticing Sakura's mood drop.
Ino knew all too well that just mentioning the moody Genin would make Sakura a depressed mess.
"Sshh! Don't mention S-a-s-u-k-e around Sakura!" she whispered to her teammate. She looked back at her friend only to see her in worse shape than before. 'And here I hoped spelling out his name wouldn't make her notice. Well she isn't a brain for nothing. Best to leave her alone for now.'
Choji shifted his gaze from Sakura to Shikamaru.
"Hmm, for Shikamaru to be in the finals, it seems really out of place doesn't it?" He questioned Ino.
"Don't say that! Sure he doesn't have any special techniques but Shikamaru's really great at planning strategies, right? I get the feeling that's how we were able to survive until the final preliminary rounds, you know!"
"Hmm, yea I guess, but he'll just quit real soon anyway. I'm tellin' ya he's definitely gonna give up."
"And I'm saying he won't!" she turned her attention back to the match. "Just now, he jumped down into the ring on his own so... he seemed unusually revved up to go! He gets pretty hot about some things! GO SHIKAMARU!" she cheered.
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Shikamaru gazed longingly at the sky.
'Oh man, those clouds are so lucky. So free. More to the point, I didn't feel like doing this at all to begin with...I only became a ninja because I though life would be more interesting as one...I suppose things aren't gonna be that simple'
Shikamaru scanned his surrounding and came to a stop at the hole Naruto had created. His face became blank. Temari was getting impatient with the shadow ninja, but she knew she couldn't rush him from his current position. She would just walk right into his trap. With the trees providing more shadows for him, Shikamaru would be able to capture her if she got too close.
'What is he doing? Is he making fun of me!' She thought angrily. 'Ninpou Kamaitachi!'
A greater wind than the one, before swept through the area and into the stands. The wind was even powerful enough to cut into the trees. Temari stood, waiting for any sign of movement. Suddenly a shadow rushed towards her. Alarmed, Temari jumped back. She came to a stop once the shadow came to a stop as well.
'It's beginning to shrink!'
Temari quickly used her fan to draw a line in the ground.
"Ah, I see. I've seen through your Kagemane No Jutsu!"
Shikamaru said nothing.
"Looks like there is a limit to how much you can stretch, shrink and change the shape of your shadow, isn't there? No matter how much you change and stretch the shape of your shadow, you still can't stretch it any further than the surface area of you normal shadow, right?"
"Haha, that's right." Shikamaru conceded.
'Judging by the distance from where he attacked with his shadow, from the furthest point the shadow from the stadium wall stretched….taking into account the possibility of him using the stadiums shadow to extend his own… In other words, after subtracting the walls shadow from the distance to this point is the distance that he can attack with this shadow.'
Temari tapped the line she had made with her fan. 'This is the outer limit that his shadow attack should be able to stretch to. Even if Shikamaru's against the wall or at the edge of the wall's shadow, the distance he can stretch his shadow should be the same: 15 meters and 30 centimeters.'
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Kankuro watched his sisters' match with out showing much emotion. However, inside his head, he was carefully analyzing his sisters' moves.
'She's marked the distance of the shadow with her fan. Temari's even better at ranged combat than she is at close combat. The match has already been decided."
Jio was also analyzing the match, but he wasn't as quick to declare a winner. While it was true that Shikamaru's jutsu had a limit, but looks could be deceiving. Shikamaru was not out of the match yet. If anything, this match was going to get more interesting.
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Shikamaru looked at the sky and then back to Temari. He relaxed himself and closed his eyes. He brought his thumbs and fingers together in the shape of an O. Temari tensed in anticipation of an attack, but nothing came.
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In the stands, Asuma's eyes lit up in recognition.
"What is that? That seal…." Kurenai questioned.
"That's no seal." Asuma responded. Kurenai looked at him questioningly. "It's a habit of his."
"Habit?"
"He knows how to slowly take his time. He actually enjoys it. Like one of those old geezers. That's why he likes things like Shougi and Go. I've been playing against him a lot recently, and when he's backed into a corner he always does that. It's a sign that he's working on some strategy. As a result I've never won a game off him. Not even once."
Kurenai looked at him with doubt. "You speak of strategies, but this is a real fight. Not some game you know!"
"But it is said that those games originally had their roots as a device for tacticians to plot their wars with. So I guess you could say that Shikamaru's a shrewd tactician."
"Shrewd? Hold on a minute! I saw his grades when they were deciding the Genin squad assignments. He was supposed to be at the same level as Naruto!"
Asuma grunted. "He always claimed it was too much hassle to even move the pencil for the academy written exams. It seems that he would always sleep through his tests. Once it struck me as strange that he could be so strong at strategic games despite his grades. So I had him take an IQ test disguised as a game. I wasn't really taking it seriously at the time…"
"So? How was it?"
Asuma's lips curved into a smile. "He sure was a diamond in the rough. He is a super genius with an IQ over 200!"
'Tw-two hundred!' Kurenai thought shocked.
'He's done planning! It'll begin now!' Asuma thought with excitement.
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"Looks like you're finally going to be a little serious!" Temari exclaimed.
Temari again used her Kamaitachi No Jutsu. Shikamaru drew a kunai and began to move.
"There's no use hiding!" Temari yelled as she attacked again.
Shikamaru ducked for cover. Once the wind died down, Shikamaru proceeded to take off his shirt. He continued to dodge Temari's attacks for about twenty minutes. Everyone was wondering whether Shikamaru actually had a plan of attack.
"How long are you going to keep running away for?! Give up already!" Temari exclaimed.
She swung her fan again, but this time a kunai flew out of the dust. Temari reacted quickly and opened her fan. The Kunai bounced right off. She closed her fan just in time to notice that the shadow was moving towards her again.
'Ha! It's no use! As long as I'm on this side of the line there's no wa….' She sensed something was wrong and quickly jumped back.
"Very good. You saw through that." Shikamaru said.
"I see. You were whiling away the time. Waiting for the sun to drop lower so the shadows of the wall and yourself would grow larger."
Shikamaru grunted in response.
"The closer to sunset, the longer the shadows grow."
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"Whoa, this match is pretty intense." Naruto said.
"Well there are different types of fights. This one happens to be more strategic than physical. Each of them is trying to stay one step ahead of each other. One miscalculation and it's over."
"Heh, who knew Shikamaru was so smart!" Naruto exclaimed. "If he can outwit the sand chick then he's got this match in the bag!"
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'From the height of the sun and judging from the earlier attacks, my calculations say this should be the limit of his jutsu.'
"Temari from above!" Kankuro yelled.
Temari head shot up. 'What?'
She looked down to see a small shadow appear in front of Shikamaru's. Temari jumped away as fast as she could. The shadow continued to follow her.
"You won't escape!"
'No way, to use his shirt to make a parachute to add to the shadow. He's quite an impressive fellow. He drew away my attention to the ground with the shadow attack so I wouldn't notice what was going on above. The when I finally notice the parachute I'm attacked from below as well. A sneaky plan to create an opening, but now it's all clear to me! The Shadow Copy No Jutsu is…'
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"A technique that attacks by controlling your own and other shadows." Jio said. "Very interesting. What's more impressive is the way Shikamaru is using his jutsu and the terrain in order to take full advantage of his attack."
"So even if it's his only jutsu, he can use it so well that it doesn't matter that it's his only one." Naruto said in awe. 'It's kind of like me. Even though the only jutsu I was good at was the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu, I tried to use it in many different way so I could confuse the enemy. Maybe he's not such a slacker after all. Especially if he's gotta out smart his opponent.'
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Temari finally came to a stop when the shadow could no longer follow her.
"To be able to dodge even that attack…."
Temari looked up at the position of the sun. 'If I keep this up, his shadow will keep growing and he'll keep expanding his reach.' Temari opened her fan and set it on the ground in front of her. I'll end it here! I'll divert his attention with the Bunshin no Jutsu. First I'll hide behind the fan and create a clone. Then I'll jump out and draw his attention and with that opening… I'll use all my chakra and create the strongest possible Kamaitachi and rip him apart!'
Temari looked down to see Shikamaru's shadow receding. 'Good' she thought.
She began to make the hand sign for Kage Bunshin, but something stopped her.
'Impossible! My body….'
"Heh, finally. Shadow Copy no Jutsu, success!"
"Wha?" Temari asked in confusion.
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"What happened?" Kankuro asked no one in particular.
"It seems Shikamaru knows how to take full advantage of his surrounding." Jio said.
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"Why… won't my body move? That shadow can't have reached this far…"
"I'll show you what's behind you." Shikamaru said as he turned his head. Temari's eyes widened at what she saw. Behind her was the hole Naruto had created during his fight with Neji.
"You've noticed it haven't you?" Shikamaru questioned. "That's the hole Naruto dug and ambushed with in the previous battle. It's connected to the larger hole in front of you."
"No way…The shadow inside the tunnel.."
"Exactly."
'It can't be!' Temari thought. 'The attack using the shirt was just to move me to this spot? That was also a diversion? Th-this guy..'
Temari could do nothing as Shikamaru began walking towards her and she towards him.
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"He did it!" Naruto exclaimed.
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"Go!" Ino also cheered.
Choji began to eat his bag of chips faster as he watched.
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"That's it…. I give up." Shikamaru stated.
Everyone, including Temari, looked shocked. In the stands, Choji mad sure to let Ino know he had predicted the outcome correctly.
"What?" Temari exclaimed.
"I give up." He stated again. "The continuous use of the Shadow Copy no Jutsu has used up all of my chakra. I can barely bind you for 10 more seconds. I had though up about 200 more moves, but it looks like I'm out of time. I'm getting tired of this. One match is enough for me."
'Weird fellow.' Genma though with a smirk. "Winner, Temari!"
No one in the stands was sure how to react. Ino for example, clench her fists in frustration and why not? Her teammate had a chance to become a Chunin, but it seemed like he just wasted it. Choji smiled regardless of the outcome. After all Shikamaru was only being himself. Naruto groaned in disbelief that his friend had given up in the end. Jio smirked at the genin. In truth he had really surprised him. Who knew that that lazy genin had the qualities to become an excellent Chunin?
Shikamaru stretched and slowly made his way back to the contestant's balcony. Once he was back up, Naruto good naturally slapped Shikamaru's back. Shikamaru was just glad he wasn't near any railings this time. He and Naruto began to converse with Shino just listening in. Temari came next with an unhappy look on her face.
"You know, you did well." Jio told her.
Temari stopped and looked at him with a scowl. "I don't want your pity."
Jio crossed his arms over his chest and turned away from her. "I'm not pitying you. I'm just stating a fact. This match was the only one that showed that there are at least two candidates for Chunin." Jio turned slightly to look at her. "While Naruto and Neji's fight was interesting, they failed to show any skills that they would need as a Chunin. The rank is not given to someone just because they're strong. It's a rank given to someone who is able to balance the risks, sacrifice and the mission on a scale. If you can't act and think with the lives of the team as the top priority, you don't have what it takes to be a Chunin."
Temari looked a bit surprised that Jio was actually complementing her. Usually, their conversations would lead to just witty retorts and end with her fan on Jio's head.
"You'd make a find Chunin." Jio finished and quickly turned away from her.
Naruto noticed his brother had been talking with Temari a little too long and smirked when he saw Jio's cheeks tinted with red.
"Hey what's wrong bro? Got sunburn on your cheeks?" he asked with a grin.
Jio honestly wanted to beat his brother's head in.
"Naruto…" Jio warned.
Temari walked next to Kankuro and stood there silently.
'Maybe he's not so bad after all….'
Minutes passed and the crowd began to grow restless again. Kankuro looked doubtfully at the arena.
"Is he really going to come?"
"He'll come. Definitely." Gaara answered.
Suddenly, the wind picked up in the middle of the field and leaves swirled everywhere. In the middle of the field stood Kakashi with Sasuke. Naruto couldn't help but smile. His friend finally showed up.
'Show off.' Jio thought in the back of his head.
"Sorry we're late." Kakashi said.
Genma smirked. "Your name?"
"Uchiha Sasuke."
Sakura brightened up considerably when she saw Sasuke.
"Could that be…" Ino began.
"It's Sasuke-kun."
"Lee-san!" Sakura exclaimed.
Gai and Lee stood next to them with smiles on their faces. In truth they were all surprised that Lee was even able to walk around in his condition. Sasuke scanned the contestant's balcony. He spotted the Konoha and Sand genin along with someone he didn't know. Kakashi also took noticed and made sure to find out who the boy was later.
"I know we made a flashy entrance and all, but could Sasuke possibly be…. disqualified?" Kakashi asked Genma.
"No, Sasuke's fight was pushed back to last."
"Ahaha, That's good!"
Sasuke felt someone eyes on him. He turned towards the contestant's balcony to find Gaara staring at him intently.
"Kyaaa Sasuke-kun!" Ino squealed.
'He's worked so hard but she's already moved on to Sasuke.' Choji thought disappointed. 'Poor Shikamaru.'
The restless crowed had calmed down and were now buzzing with excitement.
"Sakura, your team is pretty amazing!" Ino said.
"What is?"
"Because who would have thought Naruto would beat that Neji and Sasuke-kun is an elite Uchiha. It looks like everyone here is excited about watching Sasuke-kun's fight."
Hearing all this, Lee couldn't help but feel inferior. Sasuke was about to fight the opponent he couldn't beat and Naruto defeated the rival he could only dream of beating. Ir hurt knowing he was being left behind. Gai watched his student with sympathy. There was nothing he could really do for him.
Jio watched Gaara from the corner of his eyes. He may not have been showing it, but he could feel the anticipation coming from him. He took a look at Temari and Kankuro. They seemed to be more tense than before.
"Gaara, get down here!" Genma called.
A maniac expression appeared on Gaara's face.
'Not Good.' Temari thought. 'I haven't seen Gaara like this in quite a while.'
"H-hey Gaara…. About the plan, do you under-" before Kankuro could finish his sentence, Temari covered his mouth.
"Don't talk to Gaara right now."
Kankuro looked confused.
"You'll be killed!" she told her brother.
Jio narrowed his eyes at the trio. What plan was Kankuro talking about? Gaara moved from his spot and headed down towards the stairs.
"Is Sasuke going to be alright?" Naruto questioned Jio.
He didn't want to lie to Naruto, so he told him what he thought. "No, unless he somehow learned a jutsu that'll enable him to kill Gaara in one blow."
Naruto looked even more worried.
"But don't worry. They wouldn't let Gaara kill him. If worse comes to worse, we'll have to get involved and take him out. After all, only you and I could stand a chance against him."
Shikamaru made a note to figure out what Jio's words meant. He didn't doubt that Jio possibly had the power to take on Gaara, but Naruto? What was Jio thinking?
Kakashi made his way towards Gai and the others.
"Heya Gai and Lee-kun too! You body is alright now?"
"Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura exclaimed.
"Oh sorry, sorry! You must have been worried. Sorry for not contacting you at all."
Sakura only glared. She looked away and down at Sasuke. "That doesn't matter anymore."
Ino looked surprised at Sakura's sudden change of mood.
"Kakashi-sensei…" Sakura began. "There was a mark right? Is that.."
"Don't worry." Was all Kakashi said and smiled at her.
Ino was confused as to what they were talking about. Sakura on the other hand, looked relieved and happy.
"BEGIN!" Genma exclaimed.
Gaara's sand poured out of his gourd. Sasuke quickly retreated to a safer distance. Now he knew what Kakashi meant by Gaara's sand. Gaara's attack stopped just as soon as it began. He clutched his head in pain.
"Don't…. get so angry" he wheezed out. "Mother…"
Sasuke looked on in confusion. 'What's he talking about?'
"I fed you some nasty blood earlier" Gaara continued. "I'm sorry, but this time it will be delicious."
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"Finally, 'conversation' has begun. This is bad." Kankuro stated.
"I've never seen Gaara like this before a fight. Is he really that much of an opponent?"
'He's probably talking to Shukaku.' Jio concluded.
'I'd be bad if Shukaku took control of the boy. If he did, we'd have to get involved.'
'I know Houkou. I know.'
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Gaara finally seemed to have regained control of himself and faced Sasuke. "Come."
Wasting no time, Sasuke launched shurikens at Gaara. Using his sand, he made a clone of himself that caught the shurikens. The sand stretched out and slammed towards Sasuke. The Uchiha prodigy jumped in the air only to have the sand clone throw back the stars at him. Sasuke countered with more and deflected the shuriken from him. As he descended on the sand clone, he attempted to kick through it. It worked and its hands were blown apart. He continued his onslaught, but his hand was caught in the clones sand. Using his other hand, Sasuke blew apart the clones head with one punch.
With the clone taken care of, he had a clear shot towards Gaara. However, the sand rose up and protected him before the punch connected. Sasuke smirked and appeared behind Gaara.
'Fast! Jut like….him!'
This time, Sasuke's punch landed.
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Gai and Lee were both surprised that Sasuke was so fast…. and using Lee's Taijutsu. Naruto was also shocked that Sasuke even knew it!
'He wasn't even there for Lee's fight! There's no way he could have copied it this flawlessly. The little fight they had before the exam wasn't enough for him to learn his entire style….unless…'
Kakashi was the one who had been training Sasuke and he was also there during Lee's fight. That meant that while Kakashi had his Sharingan revealed, he copied Lee's Taijutsu and let Sasuke copy it from him. For some reason, he felt like Lee had been cheated out of something important.
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Sasuke took Lee's Taijutsu stance and began his assault. Gaara's sand could not keep up with Sasuke's speed and he was kicked to the ground.
"What's wrong? Is that it?"
Gaara's sand swirled around him in an effort to stop Sasuke's attack, but it was no use, Sasuke's punches and kicks connected again and again. Gaara stood up from his latest visit with the ground and formed a hand seal. His sand swirled around him. Sasuke tried to reach him, but soon Gaara was encased in a cocoon of sand.
'Gaara isn't…. not that jutsu!' Kankuro thought frantically.
Sasuke's knuckles were dripping with blood from the impact against the sand cocoon.
'Kit, I feel a disturbance. If Gaara isn't stopped, he will awaken Shukaku.'
Naruto turned to look at Jio in alarm. Judging from Jio's grim expression, he guessed that Houkou had just told him the same thing.
"We have to stop the fight!" Naruto told Jio.
"I know."
"Let's go talk to Kakashi-sensei!"
Jio nodded and both of them ran towards the stairs. Naruto grabbed Shikamaru along the way.
"Hey wait!" Shikamaru exclaimed.
"I need you to confirm to Kakashi-sensei that Gaara isn't a normal genin. You're a witness too!"
When they got to the hallway, they saw two bodies lying on the floor. The walls were covered in blood. Naruto and Shikamaru were horrified with what they saw, but tried their best to keep calm. They jumped over the blood and continued to run towards the stands. When they reached the stands they quickly scanned the crowd for Kakashi.
"There!" Jio pointed out. He was with Gai, Lee, Sakura, Ino and Choji. As they ran they heard a noise, like that of many birds.
"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto screamed.
Kakashi and the others turned to look at Naruto, Shikamaru and Jio.
"You have to stop the fight! Gaara isn't like us! If we let this go on he'll kill Sasuke!"
"What are you talking about Naruto?" Ino asked confused.
"I don't have time to explain! Kakashi-sensei!"
"Just shut up and watch." Kakashi said sternly.
"No." Jio said firmly.
"And who might you be?" Kakashi asked in his usual way.
Jio was about to respond when at that point Sasuke charged at the sand cocoon. Jio's eyes widened.
"Son of a bitch!" he swore loudly. 'He stalled us long enough for Sasuke to complete his assault!'
Everyone's attention was brought back to the match.
"What is that Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked.
"The reason I trained Sasuke is because he is the same type as me. I taught him my ultimate attack: Chidori!"
Just as he finished saying those words, the attack broke thought the sand and pierced Gaara. Naruto and Jio watched with horror as they felt Shukaku's chakra spike. It was too late to stop the beast from awakening.
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AN: Well I hope you're all happy with the chapter. It was 14 pages long, but then again you all deserved it after waiting for so long. Well guys until next time, please review and no flames. Later!
