Chapter 25: Beauty and the Beast

A/N: Hey hey, only two fights remain which means Shikamaru/Kiba time! Final preliminary chapter actually :)

After this chapter… I will be spending some time on just character/training developments. As yall know I have had a tendency to stay the hell away from training stuff. A big part of that is due to how the pre-Chunin exam chapters were a faster pace than the rest of the story is intended to be along with the fact I dislike writing training for some reason. But like I mentioned before, Chunin exam and onward is a more comfortable pace and the characters shall be developed much better than in the past where I've been too busy juggling a number of things.

Also… Ch.1-17 approx Over 90k words 18-25 over 60k 2/3 as many words in 8 chapters lol

Yeah… pretty big difference there eh? My current goal is to keep writing like this for as long as I can for you guys and for myself… I'm having fun and I feel like these lengthy chapters (in comparison to before anyway) make for a much better story. Thanks for your continued support!

Enjoy

"Well done," Tokuro offered his pupils.

His two students smiled in gratitude. "Thanks sensei."

"Man, having to blast Kin with that really sucked though."

The other Genin patted his partner on the back. "She won't hold it against ya… I hope."

The first rolled his eyes. "How very reassuring."

Tokuro put their conversation on mute and let his eyes linger to Anko's remaining two Genin. Only two matches left; I suppose we'll see if your other two are worth something. I didn't think her team had a chance of getting this far. And to think that the Ninetails will be in the finals. The Hyuga mused. Then again, who's to say the finals won't be cancelled? He had as an afterthought upon glancing at Orochimaru.

"Someone, help me set her down!"

"More work…" Shikamaru complained, coming to the pinkette's aid. "And my fight hasn't even started yet!"

Sakura shot the Nara a deadpan look but snapped out of it as he locked his arms under the unconscious Ino's shoulders and eased the weight away from her before gently resting the blonde against the wall next to Naruto who was content with sitting while the numbing poison was still tampering with him. As Shika slipped his hands back into his pockets and eased into his slouch he caught the look in Naruto's eyes and grunted. "What?"

"Oh nothing…" Naruto feigned innocence. "Just taking note of how gentle and helpful you are with Ino. I'm sure she'll appreciate what a sweet caretaker you are.

Shikamaru sighed. "I know Ino would probably do this if she could since Kiba's been driving her nuts about it lately so I guess I'll just do it for her this once…"

*SMACK*

"Ha, the jokes on you Shikamaru! I still can't feel anything!" Naruto cackled.

"Troublesome teammate…"

"Just admit it!" Naruto pointed at him accusingly. "Kiba and I are totally right. You've been caught red handed."

Shika raised an eyebrow. "What did I do, exactly?"

"You VOLUNTEERED to do something you called work! Duh! Tell me you'd do that for someone else!"

Anko busted up laughing. "Naruto's got a point you know."

Shikamaru's eye twitched as he considered the point but didn't stand down. "Woah hold on, I would too do something like that for other people."

Kiba snorted. "Such as?"

"You, Naruto, sensei…" He responded shooting a glance at the Inuzuka.

"We're your teammates…" Naruto deadpanned. "We don't count."

Shikamaru groaned. "You guys can be such a drag, you know that?" He sniped.

"Yeah yeah we know," Kiba waved off. "Just make sure she's okay so you're focused on our fight," he taunted, drawing laughter from Naruto. "We could be next you know." Shikamaru didn't bother to retort and simply pinched the bridge of his nose mumbling something.

Naruto's chuckles were silenced and he momentarily forgot to breathe, looking at his left shoulder scared for his life. Ino, for some reason or another, fell onto him. Her head was now resting on his shoulder and if someone were to walk in the room at that moment they would easily mistake it for cuddling. "Um, a little help?" He requested.

Shikamaru smirked. "Nah… I'm sorry Naruto but my fight could be next so I have to get ready…" He refused sarcastically.

"Oi, if she wakes up like this she'll kill me!"

"What a shame…" Was all the Nara said in return grinning away at the predicament and he turned his back the Uzumaki and walked over to the rail and stood by Anko.

A vein appeared on Naruto's head. "That's not funny! She's seriously gonna kill me! I'd move her off myself but my muscle control is all screwed up and I might knock her over and crack her head open or something." Shikamaru and Anko began conversing about something completely ignoring him.

"…"

"Kiba?" He solicited hopefully.

The Inuzuka merely shrugged. "You're all numbed up remember? She could dropkick you from the roof and it wouldn't matter considering you wouldn't feel it and your special healing… prowess."

"So you're not going to help me?" Kiba shook his head in return. "Bastard."

"I'll help you, Naruto," Sasuke offered, suddenly present among Team Six and his fellow Team Seven members.

"Re-Really?" He asked, dumbfounded.

"No," Sasuke smirked and walked by, apparently on his way to the restroom.

"You're a bastard too!" He shouted at his rival's back.

"Aw damn it… I guess we're last then," Kiba complained impatiently, reading the names on the screen and recognizing none of them.

Shikamaru yawned. "Who cares? Fight now, fight later, whatever."

"Can't you show some enthusiasm?" Anko grunted, knowing better than to bother saying that.

"Sensei… I am showing enthusiasm."

"Not really."

"Okay fine… I'm awake though."

Anko sweatdropped. "Is that supposed to count for something?"

"Kin!" Naruto exclaimed, grateful she was back with the predicament he was in. "I thought they took you for medical treatment?"

Kin shook her head. "They took a quick look at me and said nothing was serious and asked if I wanted to stay and watch the rest of the fighting or go get patched up. Then that Hinata girl was kind enough to offer me some healing ointment so I was over there," She pointed to Genma's team.

Then she giggled. "So…" and smirked down at him, "…you work fast,"

"What?" He stated, confused. "Oh! No this is not what it looks like! She fell onto my shoulder and Shikamaru and Kiba are being douche bags!"

Kin clenched her ribs where one of the deeper wind chakra cuts was in her laughter but bent down to one knee and adjusted Ino's position for him. "Thanks…" He offered, somewhat embarrassed.

She shot him a smile. "No problem…" She assured, still chuckling and went to join the others against the rail.

"What's happening?" She inquired.

"Two Snow Genin are fighting their third teammate and the last Waterfall guy," Sakura supplied.

"Hiruzen," Danzo broke the silence between the three of them for the first time since Neji and Lee's match against the sand siblings.

"Yes, old friend?" Sarutobi replied, keeping his eyes on the ongoing match and exhaling smoke.

Through his peripheral, the Hokage could see the councilman's lone eye bore into him coldly. "Since you have chosen to not heed my advice in ending these exams, I insist you allow me to interrogate this supposed Baki."

The Hokage's face hardened slightly as he turned ever slightly to return Danzo's stare. "You know that I cannot do that. Baki is entrusted with being the sensei of the Kazekage's own blood. I would be exercising poor judgment if I were to do something foolish as that. I require more proof that he is indeed Orochimaru than Tokuro's hunch." Hiashi pretended to be oblivious to the conversation, keeping his attention seemingly latched onto the match.

"Hiruzen! Don't be a fool!"

"You might want to reconsider your tone," Hiashi spoke freely. "He's the Third Hokage, not you, Danzo."

Danzo scowled. "Hiashi, until you are privy to the current happenings within the gates of our village… I would stay out of it."

"What are you implying?" The Hyuga clan head responded unfazed and still with his eyes on the battle. "I am aware of our current… situation," He revealed.

Danzo turned to glare at Hiruzen. "He's involved?"

"Are you questioning the steps I've made to deal with Orochimaru?" Sarutobi returned. "Hiashi has discreetly worked with my ANBU on the matter as we do not have any Hyuga clan members in our roster, if you must know," Hiruzen sold.

"Then why did the two of you see it fit to pretend he was unaware?"

Hiashi answered him. "Because I valued discretion above glory. I am a retired shinobi, and a very busy clan head with numerous responsibilities. It would please me if my involvement in capturing Orochimaru remained unknown to most."

"Fair enough," Danzo conceded. "And you actually agree with Hiruzen?"

"It doesn't matter if I agree," Hiashi replied stoically, looking at Danzo finally. "I know my place."

I understand what you're trying to do Hiashi. But your comments will not deter him and leave things in my hands. Not in regards to Orochimaru. Sarutobi thought. Knowing the truth, you thought it would be wise to influence faith in actions to dull the shock when we inevitably have to reveal to the village Orochimaru's true intentions. Danzo holds a grudge with my former student… And see's him as possibly the biggest threat to our village currently. Nothing will convince him to back off.

"Well, we've finally reached the last match. Those of you who haven't fought yet come down!" Asuma barked, he was getting a little tired of this. The last three matches hadn't entertained him in the slightest. Although, it was a little unfair to count the one in which the Waterfall Genin lost in four seconds as a match. Officially, it was though.

Kiba smirked at Shikamaru who nodded his head, it was time.

"All right kids… listen up," Anko gathered their attention quietly. "As I'm sure you already realized you're fighting the timid Hyuga girl and Shika's Akimichi friend. Kiba, normally up close and personal is your best bet, but with these two as your opponents you'll have to be cautious. Unlike Naruto, your opponents know what to expect from you guys. Use it against them."

"You got it sensei," Kiba agreed.

"Like Naruto… I believe in you twerps, so you better not lose it reflects badly on my teachings! Going one for three is unacceptable," She paused to smirk. "And I promise to make things… unpleasant for everyone but Naruto if you both lose."

Kin rolled her eyes. "Whatever… Just go down there and show them what ya got. By the way Anko it would be one for four with me on your squad now."

Anko's eyes widened momentarily. "Shit, go down there and whoop their asses!"

Shikamaru sighed. Women… As he and Kiba began their trek down the steps.

A grin came across Naruto's face that made him look wired on caffeine. "Poor Choji and Hinata…" He said almost sympathetically and forced himself up to join Anko and Kin against the rail.

Just our luck… Genma inwardly grumbled. His team would get stuck fighting all three of Anko's team. Shino had been narrowly beaten by Naruto without the aid of Sakura and now his other two pupils were going to square off against Anko's remaining two. There was a lot of hype surrounding Team Six as of late, due to their misfortune of coming across the likes of Inoanji Yamanaka, Kakuzu and Kisame Hoshigaki all within the early months of being rookie Genin. Misfortunate or not, they were all still alive which was impressive in its own right. Gai's Team Nine and Kakashi's Team Seven were also present for that second one, and Team Nine had already been hyped a good deal prior. Seven on the other hand, had so much baggage it was considered a stroke of luck combined with the teams they were accompanied by.

Team One, hadn't had any crazy A-rank endeavors and Genma was thankful for that, but it did make him a little uneasy about pitting Hinata and Choji against Shikamaru and Kiba. It didn't help that in the exams he knew they would advance passed the first stage since it was information gathering. Hinata and Shino were perfect for that and Shino passed a message along to Choji for him. In the second stage, they took advantage of Shino's tracking abilities and got both the key and flag through a beautiful strategy and element of surprise finishing that stage before anyone else.

One could make a legitimate argument that luck played a fine role in their advancement through the first two stages as so far they haven't been pushed in any way. Their skill sets dulled the tests, but now their luck had run out. Shino lost presumably because of the Kyuubi's presence which ruined his paralytic poison.

Now Shino's teammates were faced with the challenge of taking Naruto's teammates. Were Kiba and Shikamaru stronger than Naruto? Genma personally doubted they could be much better; he'd seen firsthand how hard Naruto was willing to work when he devoted some time to training some of his own skills. Whatever the case, he had a feeling they were not going to be pushovers like the two Snow shinobi that just advanced from the previous match.

"Listen, you guys got this. There's no reason why you two shouldn't be confident," He claimed, looking in the kunoichi's eyes as he did so. "You know what they can do; the Nara has shadow jutsus and Kiba has Inuzuka Taijutsu. I suspect they got snake jutsus like Naruto, which means you've seen all of their primary moves and you can handle them. And also, barbeque on me if you both advance."

"W-We'll try Gen-Genma-sensei. We'll—"

"Don't try," Genma cut her off. "Just do it."

"Right! Let's go, Hinata," Choji asserted, licking his chops at the prospect of some all-you-can-eat barbeque.

And with that, Genma replaced a senbon in his mouth.

"Begin!"

From the moment the final syllable left Asuma's lips, Kiba reached into his new black trench jacket and threw down a cluster of smoke bombs like Shikamaru asked him to do on their way down the steps. Hinata activated her Byakugan to counter and Choji moved to a closer position to that of his all-seeing partner.

"No! Choji, back away!" Hinata attempted to warn but it was too late.

"What the? Oh…" He realized, looking down at the shadow connecting him to Shikamaru.

The purple fog faded away to reveal the smirking Genin, still with his hands in a sign for his jutsu. "That was too easy… I like easy," He commented.

In the upper level Anko was chuckling. "He had Kiba drop the smoke bombs predicting Choji would stick close to Hinata who could actually see, and intercepted him with his shadow."

"That sounds pretty lucky to me…" Kin considered but Anko shook her head.

"Not at all… Shikamaru may be a lazy ass, but he's way smarter than either of us. I bet he did some quick thinking in his head to figure out how long he needed to wait to catch Choji in a particular spot."

Hinata gulped as she felt some sweat build up on her forehead, glancing in the direction of her father, the Hokage the ANBU and that other guy with the bandages before shaking her head slightly. No, I can't let myself think about father… I have to focus!

Choji laughed. "Nice one Shikamaru… But this plan's not gonna work!" He smirked back at his friend as Kiba and Akamaru joined their teammate at his side.

"Seems like it's working to me Choji," Kiba rebutted confidently.

"I know Shikamaru can't hold me like this forever; he'll run out of chakra! He can't eliminate me like this so he needs you to do that for him… But the Inuzuka are tracking and Taijutsu specialists. Hinata can counter that and protect me long enough to force Shikamaru to drop his hold on me."

Choji then glanced at his teammate and caught onto the fact that she was becoming increasingly apprehensive about this stage. "Hinata," He whispered, snapping her out of the daze to look at her ironically smiling teammate. "Don't worry about it, you can do this…" He encouraged.

"I-I don't know, I'm not as good at this as Neji is."

Choji frowned. "C'mon Hinata! You can't psych yourself out like this just because they're watching!"

Hinata nodded slowly. "You're right… I-If I let them get to me I w-won-won't be able to show them wh-what I'm made o-of."

"Akamaru!" The dog barked and wagged its tail in response. "I'll leave Choji to you!" He declared, dropping to all-fours.

Choji and Hinata appeared confused by that statement before the puppy before them transformed into a second Kiba. "Ninja Art: Man-Beast Mimicry… All Fours Jutsu!" Kiba prepared, sharpening and enlarging his nails as well as his teeth, eying Hinata with a menacing feral look.

"You got it sensei," Anko grunted in a sarcastic manner. Seeing the Uzumaki give her a curious look she rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. "I told him to use it against them that they know what to expect, and he's going to charge at a Hyuga with fucking Taijutsu… Idiot."

Naruto laughed and placed his hands behind his head in relaxing fashion. "Yeah Kiba can be hard headed at times… But maybe he's just checking her out?" After receiving no reply the blonde turned his eyes off the dual to see haphazard facial expressions of Anko and Kin.

"Not like that…" Naruto sweatdropped. "I meant like, see how good she is compared to Neji, ya know?"

Kiba and Akamaru each moved in towards their individual prey. Thinking fast, Hinata produced a simple clone and sent it after Kiba while she moved to intercept Akamaru who was beginning the Tunneling Fang to knock Choji out. Before the Kiba-lookalike could fully perform the technique, a tactful kick from the Hyuga gal knocked him away. The impact of the kick sent Akamaru away who bounced off the ground hard enough to transform back into his usual appearance. Hinata's eyes widened as she saw the Tunneling Fang through her Byakugan but was unable to avoid it at the last second, and winced at the drilling motion in her back, sending her skidding.

Coming to a halt on all fours, a grinning Kiba snorted. "You'll have to try a lot harder than that Hinata!" He exclaimed, rubbing below his nose with one finger. "Simple clones don't have a scent, that stupid academy trick won't fool me."

Akamaru stood up and violently shook his fur. "You all right, Akamaru?" He asked with slight concern, having seen how hard he got kicked. Kiba truly hated it when Akamaru took a hit like that because he put him in a position he could get hurt. The dog barked in confirmation and was wagging his tail, always a good sign.

Hinata pulled two handfuls of shuriken out, launching them at her target and rushing to Choji. Kiba just shook his head as he sunk lower to the ground to avoid the projectiles. A ways behind him, Shikamaru widened his eyes and dropped to one knee, allowing the shuriken to pass over his head. Consequently, Choji did the same.

"Shikamaru, what the hell?" Kiba groaned upon missing a swing that was supposed to knock the Akimichi out cold. Before he could look back at his lazy teammate he was forced to instead defend himself from the dangerous close-range opponent that had now set her special eyes on none other than him. Hiashi's eyes flickered ever so briefly a hint of amusement at how his daughter turned the tables on them.

Damn it. Shikamaru grit his teeth and refocused his chakra in order to hold Choji down, who attempted to force his way free of the shadow jutsu upon seeing the shuriken distraction take place. Choji was not an easy person to restrain due to his abnormal strength but he had control of him still, for now.

Kiba meanwhile, was fending off Hinata's Jyuuken to the best of his ability, doing an impressive job at that. So far, Kiba had remained low to the ground, relying on his All Fours jutsu to combat her and impair her ability to use Gentle Fist. By doing so, Hinata was having difficulty closing any of his tenketsu since she had to strike too low and with Kiba's speed and wild movements, attempts to hit him where she needed was more challenging than one would've expected. The only good shots she was getting in on him were kicks, which she couldn't use to shut his chakra network down!

The Hyuga's foot connected with her feral opponent harshly driving him into the air by his chin. Steadying herself back on two feet, she leapt after him and Genma smirked in the upper level. An opponent in the air is more vulnerable than an opponent low to the floor. Well done, Hinata. As the kunoichi was prepared to strike out at his tenketsu points, a quad of snakes emerged seemingly out of nowhere to those without a Byakugan from Kiba's new trench jacket. She retracted her arm but the snakes didn't stop. Abandoning her attack, she swatted each snake away with light Jyuuken taps and landed gracefully the snakes dropping in front of her in pain. This got a brief chuckle out of Orochimaru on the upper level, who enjoyed seeing his more basic techniques on display in the younger generation.

Hmpt… She's the clan heir and she cannot even dominate a Taijutsu battle against a member of another clan. Once a failure, always a failure. Neji silently berated.

Kiba landed on all fours and popped a food pill for the speed boost, radiating confidence. "Akamaru!" He called out, tossing another pill in the air. The ninja hound jumped to catch it and swallowed, its fur taking on a crimson hue as it growled in the direction of Hinata.

Uh oh, that doesn't look good. Choji thought to himself upon realizing Hinata was going to have to deal with them two on one now and redoubled his efforts to shake free of Shikamaru's shadow to no avail. "You can't hold me forever Shikamaru!" He shouted at his friend who smirked back.

"Maybe not," He conceded. "But ask Kiba; ask Naruto, my sensei, anyone really… I'm great at staying in one place and not moving. It just so happens that we're doing exactly that right now… I intend for it to stay that way awhile."

Choji chuckled at his retort. I can't even tell if he's joking. "I don't think I would need to talk to someone else to know that…"

"Ninja Art: Man-beast Clone!"

The two Kiba's jetted at Hinata from opposite sides, moving far faster than a moment ago. Due to the Byakugan, she was well aware of where Akamaru was as he converged on her from behind but reacting to both speedy savages accordingly was no easy task. The real Kiba reached her before his counterpart. She spun away from his strike, all the while keeping tabs on Akamaru and made a timely hurdle, landing a kick on Akamaru with the back of her foot in the process. Kiba saw this and snarled, lunging towards her position with a possessed look on his face.

Striking out timely with the Gentle Fist, Hinata forced Kiba to rethink that approach and he came to a halt just short of her before wildly bouncing out to the right of her and continuing past the Hyuga heiress. The Inuzuka clenched to the wall itself with all fours and propelled himself towards her again using the Tunneling Fang. Narrowly evading Kiba's attempt to drill right into her, she found herself vulnerable in midair to a second Tunneling Fang user. Her cry was audible as Akamaru blasted himself straight into her back, painfully knocking her into the wall before landing on her side.

Th-Theey're so darn f-fast… She thought grimly, lying still on the floor.

"Atta boy, Akamaru!"

I'll have to try…that now. Hinata decided, picking herself off the ground and staring back at the cocky Kiba determinedly. I can't give up! Father's watching, N-Neji's watching, Genma-sensei's watching and… Naruto, even though he's probably rooting for Kiba!

"Looks like Kiba has her number Choji; care to just give up and save me the trouble? I really haven't been in the mood for any of this crap since I got up…" Shikamaru yawned for what had to be the hundredth time since the first match began.

"He's like three times worse than normal today!" Anko grumbled under her breath getting a chuckle out of Naruto.

"Didn't think so," He muttered when it was clear Choji had no intention of paying Shikamaru that favor.

I'm burning through my chakra; I have to let him go before I tap beyond half of my reserves just to be safe. I could try to restrain him with snakes before that, but knowing Choji and the Akimichi clan that would be ineffective at best, the death of the snakes at worst. I could use their venom but I'd rather not poison my best friend, so what other options do I have? Snake Ninjutsu is a bad mismatch against someone like him… and aside from Shadow Possession I don't have anything that can allow me to control this fight. And even if I was good at Taijutsu… that would be suicide too.

Choji was meanwhile patiently musing how to deal with Shikamaru. How hard could it be to get Shikamaru to quit? I don't want to hurt him so there's no way I'll pound on him with my Expansion jutsu. But then again he doesn't know I wouldn't… So maybe I should just make it seem like I'm trying to crush him until he decides dodging my attacks over and over is too much 'trouble.' The rotund shinobi decided. It should work out; no one's lazier than him! Then the Akimichi noticed the smirk on his longtime friend's face. Uh oh. He thought as the Nara began walking towards him. I know that look, he's planning something, this isn't good! Choji knew, redoubling his efforts to break free of the shadow forcefully. When Shikamaru was right in front of Choji he then confused many of those by turning around, Choji being forced to copy his actions and they were now back to back with nothing but a foot and a binding shadow between them.

Shikamaru reached out and shoved his hand into Choji's pockets, one by one littering the floor with empty bags of chips and other snacks while Choji's hand consequentially grasped at Shikamaru's trench jacket multiple times. "Only one bag left?" Shikamaru raised an eyebrow, taking the last of Choji's chips.

"I haven't been home in days so I've had to conserve and that's all I have left! Now GIVE. THEM. BACK. TO ME!"

Shikamaru chuckled and the two figures turned around again to face one another. "No can do Choji…" the two of them plopped to the ground in Shikamaru-esque relaxing fashion as he opened the bag.

"Shikamaru…" Choji seethed as Shika reached into the bag.

"Hm, barbeque. Isn't that your favorite? How troublesome this must be for you, if you really want them… All you have to do is forfeit, Choji."

"CHOJI! If you give up over a bag of CHIPS… I will go down there and kick your ass!" Genma snapped.

Hinata's body was forced into the air from the impact of Kiba's forearm at the same time Akamaru returned to normal with a piercing whine. "Akamaru?" Kiba said wide-eyed.

The ninja hound was currently struggling to stand, with a senbon sticking out of his side. "Akamaru!" Kiba shouted, his voice on edge as he ran hurriedly to his companion's aid. Akamaru continued to whine at him as he slowly removed the senbon and stroked its fur. To Kiba's confusion, the dog slipped and dropped to the floor lying sideways and whined more. "What is it, Akamaru?" Anko and Naruto stared on with puzzled expressions of their own, very familiar with the dog and sensing something amiss with his behavior.

Neji gasped in surprise at his cousin's action for a second and hid it away to drift in his thoughts. Hinata harming a puppy? I never would've expected that; I suppose her sensei has forced her to progress mentally more than I originally thought. No matter, she's still weak minded when it comes to people. She didn't even bother to stand up for herself when I cut her down earlier; she's still a sniveling coward. Fate is betraying the main house, cousin. Your reign of fortune and false superiority is near the end!

"It was just a senbon," Kin spoke up. "Akamaru shouldn't be affected so much unless it was… oh."

"Poison…" Anko finished the thought, agreeing completely.

"Poison," Naruto repeated, pausing to stare at his own hand as he pinched it with the other, feeling nothing still thanks to Shino. "So she numbed him… There's no way Akamaru will be able to fight like that! I could barely do anything like this."

"We can't assume it's the same poison, Naruto," Anko contradicted. "Though it probably is. The Hyuga clan isn't known for using anything like that, so it must be Genma's teaching."

"And it was a poison coated senbon again, like in Naruto's match," Kin nodded.

"What's wrong with him!?" Kiba growled, his predatory eyes transfixing on the Hyuga.

"He'll be fine, I promise," Hinata replied, slipping into a defensive Jyuuken stance.

Kiba's fury did not diminish. "You're going to regret doing that!" He scowled and charged at her again.

Once more, Kiba played on the advantage of sticking low to the ground to minimize Hinata's ability to work on his tenketsu. This time Hinata had a different tactic to deal with him. Striking downward with her Gentle Fist, Kiba predictably evaded it by making a four limbed leap to the side playing to his speed advantage and allowing her attack to slap at the ground. Quick to retaliate, Kiba raised from the ground and lunged at her with his leg extended. Hinata had been tracking his movements with the Byakugan and easily rolled to the side of it without needing to turn around and see it like a normal opponent. Off balance, Kiba had no chance as her hands lightly danced across his body, each tap sealing a tenketsu.

Gritting his teeth in pain, he knew he had to do something quick or it'd be useless to continue this fight. With a little assistance from gravity, he managed to fall to the ground before she completed the disruption of his chakra network. Persistent on ending this, she ventured to the ground after him hands ignited with invisible chakra.

Her hands were halted short of the tenketsu she was targeting as his feet blasted into her gut and pushed her off. He rolled over, propping himself back onto all fours. Damn it! That Jyuuken shit hurts like hell! No wonder it sent Shikamaru to the hospital back then. He inwardly ranted, clasping one of his shoulders.

Speaking of Shikamaru…

The Nara was currently shaking the empty chip bag upside down, producing nothing but crumbs, holding the final chip is his other hand. "This is it Choji… the last one. Give up, or I swear to you I'll eat it," He threatened.

Sakura facepalmed. "What kind of fight is this!?"

"Just watch, Choji's about to quit!" A prominent female voice declared, suddenly standing between her and Kin. "Choji's always had a weird obsession with not allowing anyone but him to eat the last chip."

"Ino! You're awake," Her pink haired friend greeted.

"How long was I out? It looks like this fight has been going on awhile…"

"This fight has been going on for more than ten minutes, maybe fifteen," Kin answered.

"What!? It shouldn't take me that long to regain consciousness… It was just a misfire!" Ino frowned. I'll definitely be talking to daddy about this…

Shikamaru sighed and shut his eyes in annoyance, his little idea wasn't working. "I've got to hand it to you Choji… I didn't think you'd be able to handle this."

Reopening his eyes, the Nara decided to stop playing hostage with the final chip and just eat it, knowing that even though Choji wasn't quitting… the action would still deal a mental blow to an angry Akimichi at least. NO! Choji exploded, watching the chip slowly progress closer and closer to Shikamaru's lips.

A contagion of shocked expressions flooded the upper level as well as Lord Third and his company. Choji broke loose of the paralysis jutsu and rocketed into the Nara faster than Kiba could have, sending the chip flying into the air.

"…" Was the general reaction.

Catching sight of the chip's position in the air, Choji moved under where it would land and allowed it to drop in his mouth. "THE LAST CHIP IS MINE! I WON'T LET YOU!" He screamed in an absurdly demonic sounding voice.

"Ugh my head…" Shikamaru complained, rubbing his temple and snapping Choji out of his trance.

"Sh-Shikamaru? Are you all right…?"

The Nara groaned and got on his feet. This is such a drag. "Yeah but I'm probably gonna need some aspirin after this." Choji's strong when he can't have the last chip… Strong enough to just brush off my Shadow Possession in one undetectable burst of power. Who would've thought?

Choji's previously psychotic demeanor had softened to that of the clouds Shikamaru admires. "I'm really sorry…"

The Nara shrugged. "Don't be, this is a Chunin exam match."

"Yeah I know that… But I.." He trailed off. He wanted to surrender right there. He broke a promise to himself, a promise that he would never attack someone close to him because of what he and his clan were able to do. But he knew he couldn't do that just yet. If he did, Hinata would be forced to take both Kiba and Shikamaru. Choji would never throw a comrade to the wolves like that, and especially not Hinata, his teammate. Making it to the finals would be good for her confidence, she needs this, and he would not be the one to ruin her shot at it.

"How bout we make a deal, Shikamaru?"

Shika's eyes narrowed on him thoughtfully. "I'm listening…"

"We wait for our teammates to finish their fight, if Hinata defeats Kiba… You forfeit, if Kiba wins… I forfeit."

"Tempting, but I have to decline. Sensei would nag at me for the next six months until we can enter the next Chunin exams if I struck a deal like that and had it backfire. No way, definitely not worth it," He explained, peering his eyes beyond Choji's to see what was happening with Kiba.

Hinata and Kiba were in a deadlock. Each had a kunai in one hand, struggling against each others. Kiba snatched the kunoichi's other hand by the wrist when she attempted to jolt it forward and strike at the tenketsu along Kiba's arm that was participating in the kunai lock. After he foiled her plan, he withdrew the kunai back and slashed three times, forcing Hinata to block with hers. Serving as a distraction, he then tugged her towards him forcefully by the wrist he was still holding and tried to bring the blunt end of his kunai down on her to knock her out. Fortunately for Hinata, she thought quickly and leaned her head to the side, suffering a painful jab to the exposed neck with Kiba's blunt ended weapon. Trying to ignore the pain she had just grunted in agony over, she swiftly moved inside with a Gentle Fist strike that Kiba narrowly avoided.

This could go either way. Shikamaru decided, after watching that bit of the fighting.

"To be honest… I was all talk when you caught me in your shadow. I never planned on hitting you, just attacking and try to get you to quit somehow… I don't think I'm going to be able to do that now."

"Choji…"

"I can't handle being forced to hurt my friends, I don't care about this stupid promotion. I guess it's my nindo." Asuma shot Lord Third a questioning look while listening to this conversation.

"So you're giving up?" Shikamaru asked, surprised.

"No… Well, not yet anyway."

"Not yet?" The Nara repeated.

"I can't quit now or else Hinata would be overwhelmed… So I'm staying in this until she wins. If I quit now I'm abandoning her, if I quit after Kiba's eliminated I'm only betraying myself."

Shikamaru smirked. "You're assuming Kiba's going to lose in the first place."

"Even if he wins… I'll still forfeit," Choji shrugged.

"CHOJI AKIMICHI ELIMINATED BY INADVERTANT FORFEITATION!" Asuma barked for the whole arena to hear.

"What!? What are you talking about!?" Choji bellowed at the bearded ANBU captain.

"Ch-Choji?" Hinata let out a quiet, shocked stutter.

"Inadvertent? What the hell.." Kiba muttered, the two of them having paused their battle.

"I know it was never outright stated, but it's a violation to stay in a match just to keep your teammate from fighting a two versus one when you have no intention of participating. You've just forfeited."

Genma appeared between the proctor and his student and eyed Asuma harshly. "I've never heard of such a rule before… Not that I'm happy with my student's decision either way." Genma knew if he didn't argue Hinata was screwed, so he intervened if only for that reason.

"Well that's because we've never held tag team preliminary matches before," Asuma explained. "The ruling was confirmed by the Hokage. This is over for Choji and Hinata as well if she chooses."

"But… If Shikamaru were to try and interfere with their fight I wouldn't have let him get by! That's strategical participation!" Choji argued.

"No, that's turning a two versus two into a one versus one and giving this Nara kid a free pass. You're abusing the system to your liking, kid," Asuma retorted.

"Hinata Hyuga…" Asuma turned his attention. "You may drop out now if you like. The choice is yours."

Wh-What should I do? She thought, her eyes wandering to those whose opinions mattered to her.

First she sought out Neji, who was currently scowling and muttering things about main house favoritism and being offered a moment to decide whether or not to continue. Then she saw Tokuro, a more distant family member who showed zero interest in what was happening at the moment. Then Naruto who was seemingly conversing with Sakura, probably about what just unfolded with Choji's elimination.

Finally, she stared at her father who returned her gaze emotionlessly and nodded ever slightly at her as if to say 'it's okay.'

She swallowed hard and nodded back at him. "I forfeit as well, I cannot take them both."

Why can't I be strong like you, Naruto? You wouldn't have quit, you would've fought them both at once until someone was in the need of medical attention. But me? I just take the coward's way out…

A/N: If you're wondering why the fuck I didn't have Kiba/Hinata finish their fight well, think about it. Shikamaru and Choji sitting around waiting for them to finish so Choji can forfeit is just bullshit so I made up that rule to disqualify him. Why in the hell would anyone want to read about Shikamaru inserting himself into that fight making it two versus one so she can get paralyzed and smashed by Tunneling Fang? Waste of your time and mine honestly.

And I couldn't have them finish on their own without Shikamaru because if someone was eliminated Choji would've forfeited! So I didn't have a choice

I wanted to make Choji do something awesome but at this point of time in canon it was difficult to get Choji to spar with his own sensei. I figure in this story he would be hesitant like that with: Hinata, Shino and then Shikamaru/MAYBE Ino based on childhood.

It's been noted before that Ino wasn't particularly close to the two of them during the academy days (if you re-read some comments made by Shikamaru and her early on) At least in my story that is… Since none of us know a ton about the academy days relationships aside from Ino/Sakura rivalry and Sasuke's popularity or in Naruto's case a lack thereof I kinda had to go with some things of my own. Basically, Ino was more of a friend to them as kids when they were younger than the academy graduation point where she was popular and talked/fought with random girls over Sasuke. Choji/Shikamaru were still tight though and mostly neutral to everyone else. That's just a bit off track though… the point is idt Choji can stomach doing that to a close friend so I had him forfeit, believing that's what he would've done in canon as well.

Having an Inuzuka/Hyuga fight was something I wanted to do for obvious reasons. The Leaf's two best Taijutsu clans' heirs going at it hell yeah. Kiba/Hinata fighting is precisely why I named the chapter that :P I actually thought the clash between the two was pretty good and even

Anyway, glad to get passed the prelims. I told yall the story is not about the pre-Chunin exam days and now that we're at this point I'm really happy. Big things are coming very soon. Very very soon and I have a feeling you will all be quite surprised with the turn of events I have in store.

I know this fight was a little shorter and probably less exciting than the others but I hope it was enjoyable. I don't feel too great about it considering it has 2 of the main characters in it but I had to work with the cards I dealt myself, right?

Until next time pointa out