"Mou! I had no idea that would have worked on Neji!"

"What's wrong Tenten?"

Ino's query made Tenten pull out a spool of wire identical to the one Naruto used.

"We make these in the shop at home. That jerk Naraku came by a few months ago and showed Tou-san how to make them. It's one of the most popular new items we have! Man I really hate that guy!"

Lee looked forlornly at his teammate.

"You still have not forgiven him for the incident that occurred-"

"Hell no! I'll never forget that! Using me as a hostage like that; grrrrr it makes me so mad! Especially since these wire traps work so well!!"

The other genin would have asked for details, but Tenten's habit of twirling kunai in her fingers made them think otherwise.

ttttttttttt

Genma cleared his throat.

"Next match: Kankuro and Aburame Shino come one down!"

Shino began his way to the arena floor when Kankuro shouted out.

"Proctor! I forfeit!" 'No sense revealing all Karasu's mechanisms before the invasion'

Temari leveled a glare at her brother. Gaara seemed to do the same. Genma sighed. Well it wasn't the first time a genin in the finals cracked under the pressure. At least there were rules for dealing with this kinda thing. In a tournament where you were judged on skills not wins, a forfeit wins wasn't what anyone wanted.

"Since we have one contestant that does not wish to continue as well as an extra fighter in accordance to the rules the extra will now take the forfeited fighter's place. Haruno Sakura, come on down"

Sakura gulped. With obvious shudders she began moving down the stairs. Soon she was standing in front of Shino.

"Hajime!"

Genma leapt back. Sakura was still shaky. Shino took notice of this.

"You will not perform at your best if you do not calm down"

"Huh? Oh right. Gai-sensei said the same thing" 'Come on Sakura pull it together!'

Sakura took a calming breath then drew her kunai.

"Here I come!"

tttttttt

Nary a soul wasn't shocked when Sakura dashed forward. While she may not have been in say Lee's speed class, she was moving much faster than she ever had before. Shino barely had time to dodge.

"This past month has been quite beneficial to you; however you are not alone in that respect"

Kikaichu burst forth from Shino's sleeves, aiming to swarm Sakura. A quick series of back flips and she was out of harm's way for the moment. Clapping her hands together the pink haired girl finished her newest jutsu.

"Gokyaku no jutsu!!"

But Shino was already gone. Sakura evaded the insect user's kick by a frog's hair. Now back in more her element Sakura engaged Shino in taijutsu. But for all her power and newfound speed Shino proved to be an elusive target. Jumping back she began using her shuriken and kunai; hoping to pin the Aburame down. In response Shino pointed.

"Below"

"Huh? What's bel-"

At Shino's word a large swarm of kikaichu came out from the ground beneath Sakura's feet. As they began to drain her chakra she poofed into a log. Shino recalled his bugs and scanned the area for his opponent. Sakura quickly hid in the small group of trees that ringed the edges of the arena.

'That was too close! He's been on top of me the whole time. There has to be some way to get past his defenses… I really wish bug spray worked on him. That would make this so much easier'

Shino slowly turned to the tree cover Sakura was hidden under. Opting for a less then direct approach he wrapped an exploding tag around a kunai and threw it in Sakura's general location. The kunoichi scrambled out of the way just before the explosion. Still determined to do her best Sakura makes some clones and charges Shino. He calmly lets them come closer and floods his kikaichu at them. All disappear in poofs of smoke. The world around Shino wavers, and ghostly images begin to envelope him. Oversized flyswatters and giant spiders materialized, poised to strike.

"An excellent plan. However…"

The illusion breaks and Sakura crumples, covered in kikaichu.

"My allies are unaffected by genjutsu"

Genma steps up and proclaimed Shino the winner. He turned to the waiting area to call the next two fighters as the medics came to pick up Sakura. Temari, still upset her brother punked out gracefully glided down on her fan. Shikamaru was less than enthused.

"Aw man, another girl. I must've pissed of someone in a past life or something…"

"Go for it Shikamaru!"

Naraku slapped his forehead. Naruto was overly passionate more often than not, much to the dismay of many around him.

"Wow, Shikamaru must really be ready for this, he just jumped into the arena himself!"

Not to mention an idiot. Naraku resisted the urge to groan in frustration.

'I only hope he calms down somewhat by the time we take over the village. If he remains this hyper we may incur some problems'

tttttttttttt

Shikamaru sighed. That Temari girl was even more troublesome than he thought. Not to mention really pissed off. Who knew being called a girl was one of her buttons? But here he was, hiding behind the few trees in the arena ducking scything winds from said angry kunoichi.

"You can't hide in there forever!"

'I sure as hell will try. Now how am I going to do this…'

Asuma smirked when he saw Shikamaru do his unique hand position. Kurenai questioned him on it.

"Is that a sign? For some jutsu?"

"Nah, it's more like a habit."

"Habit?"

"He does that when he needs to think when we play shogi. Not very often with his 200 plus IQ but whenever he does it he always comes out on top"

"That's good and all but a fight isn't exactly a board game"

"You'll see"

ttttttttt

Ino squealed.

"Oooo! I think Shikamaru's gonna win!"

"He'll give up soon enough"

"Oh shut up Chouji! Didn't you see how he threw himself into the fight? I think he's finally motivated!"

Chouji shook his head as Ino turned back to the arena and cheered wildly. Tenten and Lee just plugged their ears. Not that Tenten didn't want to see the Suna kunoichi defeated, but Ino was very loud when she wanted to be.

"YEAH SHIKAMARU! HIT HER WITH A 16 HIT COMBO!!! WOOOO!!!!!"

tttttt

Temari hated this. First Kankuro bailed on his fight; true it wasn't that big a deal but it still grated on her nerves. She wanted to vent on that little Konoha brat but he was still hiding in those trees. She really should cut them down, but she didn't have a jutsu that could. Until she got a hold of the weasel summoning contract that is.

'Damn coward. Why doesn't he make a move already!'

Almost as if he heard her thoughts Shikamaru sent his shadow out at her. Temari noticed immediately and quickly leapt back. The shadow tendril raced after her only to stop short.

"So, that's your limit huh? Too bad for you my jutsu can go much farther!"

Another Kamataichi blasted Shikamaru's location. When the winds died down Shikamaru dashed forward and sent handfuls of kunai at Temari. The kunoichi smirked and used her jutsu again, blowing the kunai and Shikamaru tumbling back into the trees.

'Guess I didn't think that one far through; that lazy SOB is hidden again'

Her thoughts were interrupted by Shikamaru's shadow.

"I measured the distance, your shadow can't--!!"

The shadow didn't stop but kept extending towards her. She retreated back once more, successfully getting out of range. Once there she looked out to Shikamaru's position.

"No way. You used the charge as a distraction to knock a branch into the open, making more shadow for you to use. Not bad, but it wasn't enough"

As Temari stood and took aim with her fan many in the stands thought the match was over. Shikamaru himself slowly walked out from the trees.

"Oh? Decided to give up have we?"

Shikamaru didn't say anything but his shadow started retracting. The crowd began rowdily cheering for the kunoichi.

"Temari! Above you!!"

Reacting to Kankuro's words she looked up. A small shape was visible, and becoming larger. She recognized it instantly as Shikamaru's discarded jacket.

'No! It'll make his shadow larger!'

Temari scrambled backwards and let loose a feeble wind attack. The jacket was blown off course. Shikamaru smirked.

"Checkmate"

Temari turned her attention back to her opponent just in time to see the flash grenade he set up behind himself go off. By the time her eyes cleared she was already completely trapped in the Kage Mane no jutsu. She felt herself walking forward. She and Shikamaru stopped near the center of the arena. She closed her eyes, hoping to not see what would happen next.

"Meh. I've had enough. I forfeit"

"Huh? What? But-"

"I don't have the chakra for anymore fighting"

Temari felt the pull of the Kage Mane disappear as Shikamaru turned and walked back to the waiting area. Genma announced her as the winner.

ttttttt

Chouji smirked as he opened a fresh bag of chips.

"Told you Ino. I know Shikamaru better than anyone"

Said blonde was frothing at the mouth.

"WFT!? He had her dead to rights! Totally in his power! Why didn't that lazy idiot keep going?! Yargh! You stupid Shikamaru!!"

Tenten was seriously tempted to join the many spectators that were throwing stuff at said Nara.

'Maybe I could chuck something at that Suna girl too'

Lee noticed his teammate's fingers twitch. He knew what that meant from prior experience.

"Tenten-san, you are not thinking of doing something ill-mannered are you?"

"I can think it all I want"

"But Gai-sensei says that-"

"Yeah yeah I know. I was there when he gave us that particular speech on proper conduct. Just go away let me have my fantasy"

"But-"

"No buts!!"

Lee hung his head. Why did his teammates always keep him from repeating Gai-sensei's wisdom? Back with the sensei Asuma hung his head.

"He won the battle but lost the war. Why can't he stay motivated for more than five minutes?"

Kurenai held back the "I told you so" she really wanted to say. She contented herself with patting Asuma on the shoulder. Gai was, amazingly, quietly contemplating the outcome of the match.

"Though Shikamaru did forfeit, he displayed tactical abilities beyond those of his opponent. He may yet be chosen for promotion"

"Only if the rest of the fights turn out to be brawls like Naruto and Neji's match. Naraku and that Oto genin should be next"

At Asuma's mention of his genin Aoba let out a pained sigh.

"Is it wrong for you to want your genin to pass just so they're no longer in you squad?"

"In most cases, yes; for you I'm not so sure"

Asuma's joke made Aoba give off a weak laugh.

tttttttt

Shikamaru returned to the waiting area only to find Naruto.

"Hey man! Why didn't you finish?! You could have won then go on to the next round an-"

Shikamaru quickly placed his hand over Naruto's. It quickly shut up the blonde and gave his attention to Shikamaru. Sadly this never worked on Ino… or rather he'd never try it on her.

"Listen Naruto. I'm fine with just one match. Remember wining isn't how to get promoted here"

"Uh auri. Hi fworget" (Oh sorry. I forgot)

"Besides, I'm fine with being a spectator"

Shikamaru let go of Naruto's face. Temari, having arrived just behind Shikamaru, glared at the boy. She then turned to Naraku and Dosu, sizing them up.

'One of those two is my next opponent. Provided we don't get the signal until the next round. It should happen when the Uchiha fights Gaara; if he ever shows up'

ttttttttt

Hajime – begin

Jutsu

Kamataichi – cutting whirlwind; sends spiraling winds out to target; can either just push or cut

Kage Mane – shadow imitation; used exclusively by the Nara clan it lets the user have control over their shadow to move about and touch the target(s) shadow. Once this is done the target(s) will imitate whatever motions the user does