Hi-hi, fam! Man it's been a while, you guys all look so grown up *wipes tear*. I am going to start how I always start these. With an apology. I know I have said this before and it seems to mean nothing but I am well and truly sorry for abandoning you for a year and a bit. It was selfish of me and how much of an unorganised lazy tired and straight up mess of a human being I am. I do not pride myself of this part of me, nor do I want it to continue but knowing me...

Anyway, it's nice to see this thing still getting likes and favourites. And hopefully there will be more in the future (and more chapters lel). But now that I have gotten a major turning point in my life organised, I will set a billion little alarms to make sure I work on my stories. This is the new Minami! Yay!

On a lighter note, I made a tumblr a while when I should have been writing. If you guys want to see how much of a trashy, meme filled human being I truly am, that is the place to go. It is also another platform for you to know that I am neglecting my stories and harass me into writing them. it's called minami-the-door-lord and the link is in my bio.

Peace out and enjoy this long awaited chapter *blows kiss*

When it cleared, all they saw was Temari's fan protruding out of the ground and staring down at her was Shikamaru, standing on two kunai stuck in to the wall.

"I don't care if I can't become a Chunin" he said with a shrug. "But a man can't lose to a woman...so I guess I'm in." Angered by his sexist comment, Temari gritted her teeth and swung her fan, creating a large gust of wind towards Shikamaru. Dust blocked everyone's vision and ask silently waited for it to clear, revealing that Shikamaru wasn't there. Temari smirked and scanned the arena for him, her eyes hungry for a fight. It didn't take her long to find him. She spotted Shikamaru hidden behind one of the small trees in one side of the arena, apparently planning his attack.

"Damn it, get moving, Shikamaru!" Naruto shouted. In response to Naruto's yelling, there was an unusual smirk on his face.

"Wind Scythe!" She swung her fan and created a windstorm bigger than the last one. Shikamaru put his arms in front of him in a defensive stance, protecting his eyes from the dust created by the wind. A shadow shot out of the cloud of dust towards Temari. She gritted her teeth and took several flips back avoiding the shadows reach. Finally, the shadow stopped, unable to stretch any more than that. She marked the ground with her fan, indicating where the shadow stopped looking pleased with herself. "I see. There's a limit to how you can stretch, shrink and transform your shadow." Shikamaru undid the hand seal and the shadow returned. "No matter how much you transform or stretch your shadow, you can only stretch it as much as its surface area. Isn't that right?"

The lazy boy smiled. "That is correct."

Shikamaru closed his eyes knelt on the floor. He brought his hands together in front of him and pressed his fingers against each other. Suddenly, his eyes snapped open, a smirk etched across his lips as he hatched his plan.

"Looks like you're a bit more motivated to fight, now." Temari taunted. She opened her fan and swung it, sending another gust of wind towards him. Shikamaru took out a kunai and tried to run to the right, but the wind was too strong. He fell back and reluctantly took out his jacket, leaving only his fishnet shirt. Temari growled, this fight was going on for far too long and her patience was wearing thin. "How much longer are you going to run? Come out already!" She used Wind Scythe once again, but the result was not as she expected. From the cloud of dust, a kunai came flying towards. Surprised by the sudden attack, she jumped aside and used her fan to block another kunai thrown from her left. She turned around just in time to see Shikamaru's shadow stretching towards her. Temari smirked once she saw the shadow slow down towards the area she marked. Her eyes suddenly widened as it stretched further than she predicted. Temari quickly jumped backwards, alarmed. She was panting by the time the shadow stopped. Raising her head, she glared furiously at Shikamaru.

"Good insight," he said, standing up straight.

"So you were killing time to wait for the sun to move and increase the wall's shadow line to increase your shadow's surface area." Temari then gazed the ground and checked the shadow's length and position of the sun. She smirked, confident that that was really the shadow's limit.

"Temari! Above you!" Kankuro yelled, and everybody's eyes followed the direction his finger was pointing. Shikamaru's headband was tied to his jacket and a kunai was tied to it. The jacket floated like a parachute, carried by the wind. It then floated above Shikamaru's shadow and created another one so that the shadow could stretch even further. Temari jumped backwards and kept avoiding the shadow as Shikamaru pursued her fiercely. She kept dodging the shadow until it came to a complete stop. It started to stretch back and Temari got to her feet.

"So you've dodged this trick too, eh?" Temari opened her fan and stuck it into the ground so Shikamaru couldn't see her. She started to perform hand signs but she froze in the middle of it. Her eyes darted from side to side as she tried to comprehend what was happening. Shikamaru smirked and stood up straight as he separated his hands from the jutsu's seal. "Shadow possession complete. I'll show you what's behind you." He slowly turned his head backwards and Temari did the same, revealing his shadow stretching out of the hole Naruto created to defeat Neji.

"Well played, boy. He is highly intelligent." Ryoko nodded at Hakkai's comment as Shikamaru stepped forward. Temari with her body under his control, did the same thing too until they were only a few steps away from each other. Slowly Shikamaru raised his hand. Temari was forced to do the same. The girl shut her eyes closed, trembling. Shikamaru's expression remained impassive. Finally, he spoke up.

"I lose. I give up." Ryoko snorted with laughter at his laziness, covering her mouth with her hands.

"Whaaat?" Naruto yelled from beside her, his eyes bulging.

"What did you say?" Temari asked shocked.

Shikamaru sighed. "I used up too much chakra using the Shadow Possession jutsu too many times. I can only hold you for an additional ten seconds. So, I've thought of about 200 possible moves but time's up." Both of them lowered their hands. "It's too troublesome to do more. One match is good enough for me." Genma raised his hand, "Winner is Temari!"

"That idiot, why did he give up?" Naruto yelled infuriated. "Now I'm getting mad! I'm going to lecture him!" And before anyone could stop him Naruto jumped down to the arena. "You idiot!" Naruto shouted pointing at Shikamaru.

"Idiot yourself," he retorted monotonously as he stretched his back.

"Why did you give up?"

"That's a matter of the past now. It's fine."

"No, it's not! You almost won that match!"

"Never mind that. Let's get ready to watch the next match."

"Next match?" Naruto said, dumbfounded.

"Yes, my match." Ryoko jumped from the box.

"Hey, good luck, Ryo!" Naruto ran up to her and slapped her on the shoulder. She winced in pain. "Oops, sorry. That was your bad shoulder." Shikamaru sighed and drag him away. She tightened the sash around her waist and stood up straight. Her opponent, the bandaged Oto ninja, Dosu, jumped down from his area and faced her. Ryoko was last to go in the first round of the final test. Well, technically second to last since Sasuke had not arrived for his match. She elegantly walked onto the arena and gazed around the crowd. She saw Risa and Touya in the stands waving at her. The signal was given and they both took fighting stance. Ryoko pulled her staff out and forced some chakra into it. The sliver weapon changed shape and transformed into a katana.

"That is useless against me," he scoffed and charged at her. He pulled his arm in front of her and pulled back his sleeve, revealing a mental cylinder with multiple holes. Ryoko held her position and waited until he was about to reach her. Before he was upon her, she disappeared confusing both Dosu and the audience.

"Behind you." A soft bored voice drawled. He turned around and she swung her sword, slicing his arm off completely. He let out a cry of pain and staggered back. She rammed her katana into the severed arm and forced chakra through it, permanently damaging the sound weapon.

Eliminate the threat, done. She watched Dosu stagger back, holding his bleeding elbow as she returned her staff back to its original form and packed it away. She turned on her heel and walked away.

"And the winner is-"

"You..." he growled and ran at her before the examiners could stop him. She spun around, transformed her hand into a black claw and shoved it into his stomach, piercing his skin and wrapping her hand around his organs. She pulled it out and pushed him onto the floor. His eyes were wide open as he stared at the sky, his chest slowing down before it came to a complete stop. Several ninja jumped onto the arena and observed the scene. Blood poured out of his body and his insides were clearly visible. Someone jumped down and covered the corpse with a white cloth. She pulled off her bloody shirt and wiped her blade with it. Her right hand and face were covered in blood as well and she used her shirt to wipe it off.

"The winner of this match is Ryoko Kazuki!" The crowd watched in silence as she turned on her heel to leave but stopped when she felt a gust of wind.

"Are we too late?" She turned around and saw Kakashi and Sasuke standing behind her.

"Name please," Genma said with a smirk.

"Sasuke Uchiha." She noticed their eyes linger on the body under the cloth and the pool of bright red blood. The effect of those words were almost immediate as the crowd erupted into loud cheers. The person they had been waiting for had finally arrived.

"You are very... popular." Ryoko said as she stood beside Sasuke, observing the stands. Two seconds ago the crowd was stunned silent by her match.

Genma gave them a small nodded. "I think we can move on to his match. The next match shall start immediately. Gaara of the Desert, please come down."

"I'm guessing you won." Sasuke watched ninjas take away Dosu's corpse.

"Yes. Things got a little... out of hand," she shrugged and noticed his eyes sweep over her bloody body and the severed arm not so far away. He had a strange look in his eye but it wasn't fear. Why wasn't he afraid? Her thought chain was interrupted by Naruto running towards them followed by Shikamaru.

"Naruto... the match is about to start," she mumbled but he ignored her. He pushed past her and pointed at Sasuke.

"Don't even think about losing! I still want to fight you!" Ryoko grabbed Naruto by the shoulder and pushed him away.

"We should get going. Don't get yourself killed." She looked over her shoulder and gave Sasuke a smile.

"We're taking the stairs this time." Shikamaru grumbled.

"You're still pissed I pushed you off." Shikamaru scoffed and lead them up the stairs. They all froze when they heard blood curdling screams from the stairway. They looked from beneath the stairs and saw Gaara walking from a bloody massacre in the hallway. His slow agonising steps echoed in the empty hall as he walked closer to them. He descended down the stairs without a word or glance at them, much to their surprise. When the roar of the crowd brought them back to reality, Naruto and Shikamaru dropped to their knees while Ryoko pulled her eyes away from the horrific scene.

"If we had been here sooner, we would've been those two. "Shikamaru wiped his brow while Naruto breathed heavily. "Sasuke could be in serious trouble."

"Come on." Ryoko started to walk on ahead. "We'll miss the match." Shikamaru got up and walked past her to the stands. She noticed Naruto was lagging behind and she could feel Naruto's eyes on her. She tried to ignore it and walk on ahead but his eyes kept boring into her. "That's it."

"Ryo..."

"What's wrong, Naruto? You've been staring at me the entire time." He stayed quiet and shuffled his feet. "You can tell me." Her voice was soft and loving, like a concerned older sister as she placed her hand on his shoulder.

"You killed him..." he muttered.

"Huh?"

"You killed him, Ryoko. You cut that sound ninja's arm off then shoved your hand inside him. And you didn't even react. You were like Gaara." She gave him a sad smile and sat down on the stairs.

"You know I was a ninja for Amegakure." He nodded slowly. "My family moved there when I was a couple of years old. I studied being a ninja and by the age of eight, I was a trained assassin. It was better to use young children because they were an easy sacrifice. So at a young age I was taught kill or be killed. As I got older, that mentality got less but when I lost my family, I was literally fighting to survive. You see this scar?" She lifted up her mesh shirt and showed him her back. "It reminds me that helping others isn't always beneficial. If it wasn't for Hakkai, I would have been dead." She paused and stared ahead. "When I was fighting that sound ninja, I saw myself in danger and took whatever means necessary to survive. Killing is second nature to me, I don't do it for a blood lust but as protection. I'm sorry if I scared you." She played with the cuffs of her bloody sleeves and was surprised when she felt Naruto wrap his arms around her.

"You don't need to think like that anymore. You have friends who will protect you. Don't be scared, Ryo. We're here for you." She let him hug her. It had been too long since she felt this sort of affection from anyone. It had been her and Hakkai for so long she forgot the need for friends. She found herself wrapping her arms around him and enjoying his warm brotherly embrace.

"Thank you... Naruto." He pulled away and ruffled her hair. She giggled and smoothed down the messy locks.

"That's okay. Come on. Let's go see how Sasuke is doing." He held her hand and help her up. She hastily wiped her face of blood and ran after him to watch Sasuke's match against Gaara.

Here y'all go. Thank you for your patience. You all deserve a raise. Don't forget to check out my tumblr, the link is in the bio. It's literally just trash.

Until next time, my loves

Minami