Underlined speech is thought.

Italicized words signify emphasis put on the words or a change in tone. You should be able to figure it out from the choice of words and the character.

Sentences of thought that are completely italicized were spoken by another character at another time.

Italicized sections are songs/chants; whatever you what to call them. When a word is bolded, it is being spoken by only Naruto. If it is underlined, it is being spoken by only Hinata. A word with (parentheses) around it is echoed. The numbers of echoes are the same as the number of parentheses pairs. Also, if a parentheses pair is (underlined), it is only Hinata's voice that echoes it. Songs will not use quotation marks like normal speech.

CAPITALIZED SPEECH IS YELLING.

These are … interruptions in …speech caused … by things …like laughing,…crying, thought,.. and…others.

Words-with-dashes-between-them-consistently-signify-when-a-character-is-talking-too-fast-to-understand.

Words with tildes~ after them are spoken for longer~ periods of time.

Bold words are author notes.

(Previously on Edel Raid and Pleasure: The battle between Lee/Sakura and Ino/Choji began with Ino sending Choji after Lee. She held him off as Choji prepared his jutsu. Sakura quickly hit the recovering Ino. As Ino avoided Sakura in fear, Choji began getting frustrated. Ino was forced to block, giving Sakura the chance to demonstrate her supper strength. As Lee tossed Choji into the air, Ino took over his body. Sakura was forced to use all her chakra to defeat Choji. Everyone in the stands watched as a rather defenseless Sakura was forced to hold off her own teammate. Ino noticed Lee's heavy legs and took off the leg weights. In her full speed charge, she tripped and knocked Lee and herself out. This gained Sakura and Lee the victory. Lee managed to wake first, but took some time to recover. They made their way back up and conversed. Kankuro/Temari and Shino/Shikamaru were called down.)

I highly recommend reading the large section above for a recap of the previous chapter. It has been a long time since my last update. I get to kick off this stories return with Shikamaru and Shino teamed up. I hope I do it justice.

9-19-10

Strategies

Even with the signal to begin, neither side was prepared to make the first move. Temari quickly began to get impatient. "WHAT'S WRONG? YOU SCARED JUST BECAUSE WE'RE OLDER!"

Shino responded apathetically. "A year's difference only matters depending on how that year is spent."

Kankuro glared at him. "Where does that little brat get off acting so cocky?"

"Calm down Kankuro. This guy is good enough to get Gaara riled up. We shouldn't underestimate him."

"Tch." Kankuro charged directly at Shino.

"Kankuro! What does that baka think he's doing?"

Shino stood stoically. "He's not aiming for me."

After closing half the distance, Kankuro made a sharp turn for Shikamaru. The Nara watched him do this with as much of an expression as Shino would have. "Troublesome." Shikamaru leaned back to avoid a wide punch. He then sidestepped a kick. "This guy's taijutsu is pretty bad. It's outright clunky."

Shino faced the fight and ran to join in. "Not so fast." Temari grabbed the large object attached to her back and opened it a little, revealing a fan. The moment she swung her fan, a narrow gust of wind sliced toward where Shino would be. An instant later, he froze in place and faced Temari. "He was focused on me the entire time."

"It appears your weapon of choice is a fan." He noticed a dark violet circle on the fan.

Temari smirked at him. "I've only shown you the first moon. When you see all three, it'll be over."

"I assume the third moon is revealed when your fan is unfolded. What I saw was a third of your power."

Temari lost or cocky expression. "So he is a little smart!" She swung the fan with all her might, unleashing a fierce gale heading for Shino, who made no move to avoid the attack. When it hit, he was blasted back, only to be scattered into countless black particles to Temari's surprise. "A clone? What kind of clone is that?" She noticed the black particles collecting and streaming towards Kankuro. "KANKURO, BEHIND YOU!"

He turned around and jumped away soon enough for the swarm to just graze him. "WHAT'S WITH ALL THESE BUGS?"

"Those are bugs?" Temari sensed danger at the back of her neck and leapt to the side with her fan in hand. "Where'd he come from?" Shino pulled out a kunai and charged without hesitation. "He is after my fan." She quickly closed the weapon, preventing any damage from the kunai. She then proceeded to use the fan as a giant club. Shino ducked under the wide swing and attacked again. He barely nicked her clothes as Temari used the fan as a vaulting pole. She righted herself and kicked it fully open before quickly using it to ascend into the air. She looked down with her teeth gritted in frustration. "When did he have a chance to pull all that off?"

Naruto and Hinata watched their teammate in action. "He came out of nowhere Hinata-chan. Did he teleport?"

She shook her head. "No. The Sh-Shino-kun who came out first was a-always a clone. The r-real one was hiding in the staircase."

"That's cheating!"

She shook her head again. "Not really. These exams h-have no rules."

"Oh, right." He rubbed the back of his head. "I forgot about that."

Sagesumi looked down with an awed expression. "He does not disappoint."

"Your son is a shrewd one Shiki-san."

"I agree with his tactical maneuver Shikaku-san."

"I wonder what he was setting up next to that tree."

"We'll see."

Kankuro worked to avoid the swarms of beetles while wiping even more of them off. Trying to do both at once proved too much as the larger swarm caught up and enveloped him.

Shikamaru narrowed his eyes. "This is going too well." The large bandaged object on Kankuro's back unfurled itself and backed away from the swarm of insects. "Shino's not the only one who thought of using a decoy."

The true Kankuro glared at Shino. "He's more dangerous than I thought." He turned to Shikamaru only to be frozen in place. "What the? I CAN'T MOVE!"

Shikamaru smirked. "Shadow Possession Jutsu … success."

Temari looked down at the ground where Kankuro stood. "What's with that shadow?" She traced it all the way back to Shikamaru. Quick analysis allowed her to see that Kankuro was forced to repeat everything Shikamaru did. "First bugs then shadows. What's with this village's creepy jutsu?" She slid off her fan and attacked from mid-air.

The attack hit the ground in an explosion of dust. Shikamaru shielded his face from this dust. "We'd have to get stuck fighting such a troublesome woman. She managed to cut off my shadow's connection by breaking up the ground."

Shino wasted no time in getting to Shikamaru's side. "The Web plan, tree nearest their entry point."

Shikamaru smirked. "How much time?"

"At least three minutes."

"I'll be there."

Kankuro glared through the dusty smokescreen, where he imagined Shikamaru to be. "I'm going to kill that brat."

Temari landed right next to him. "Relax Kankuro. It won't do either of us any good if you get riled up."

He clenched his teeth and looked over at his double. "Fine, but I'm still bringing Crow in."

The dust slowly cleared away as both sides prepared themselves for part two of the battle. Shino called in all the beetles covering the fake Kankuro. "Attack." The swarm of insects split in half and moved in towards the Suna pair.

"LIKE I'D LET THOSE THINGS GET CLOSE!" Temari gripped her fan tightly and swung it with all her might. The resulting wind managed to blow away all of the insects and reached Shino and Shikamaru as well.

Shikamaru shielded his eyes from the wind and dust. "Man that's a troublesome jutsu. She can attack and defend at the same time."

"I concur." All the beetles that were blown away recollected around Shino. He then noticed the fake Kankuro starting to move. "I forgot about that."

The fake quickly shed its skin and clothes to reveal a humanoid puppet with an extra set of arms and a third eye on the forehead as well as horns. Its cloak looked more like a large brown rag than actual clothing. The puppet clicked at an extremely rapid pace as it began to move. It then opened its mouth before firing off four kunai. Shino and Shikamaru quickly dodged them. "Great. He's troublesome too. Watch out Shino. All that thing's joints have weapons in them." He paused for a second. "No, it'll be safe to assume that there are more ways to attack."

Shino nodded in agreement. "This will become a long ranged battle."

Shikamaru smirked. "You're just now figuring this out. I figured ahead of time that the makeup guy wasn't very good at close combat. The puppet was unexpected though."

Kankuro smirked. "Time to show them why they shouldn't mess with us." With a swipe of his hands, Kankuro sent Crow after the pair. Its wrists folded back, revealing large needles.

Its first target was Shikamaru. As he barely dodged the weapon, he noticed a purple liquid dripping off the blade. "Is that?" The puppet redirected towards Shino. "IT'S POISON!" Shino quickly dodged the attack and joined Shino. The puppet flew into the air. As soon as it stopped, they were blown back by a massive gust of wind. Crow began shooting kunai at them immediately.

Shino threw kunai at the weapons heading for him and Shikamaru while letting out a swarm of insects to stop Shikamaru's flight. The Nara quickly formed his hand-seals. "Shadow Possession Jutsu." The shadow shot towards Shino, reaching his feet the moment they touched the ground stopping his backward movement. Shikamaru started running towards the trees, forcing Shino to follow. "BREAK!"

As soon as Shikamaru said that, the shadow retracted and Shino continued running of his own will. He found the nearest tree and jumped into its branches. He jumped out a second later, aiming for Crow. This irritated Kankuro. "YOU THINK THAT'LL WORK!" With a motion of his fingers, Crow revealed its needles again and attacked. "Stupid brat." His eyes widened when the one he pierced was just an insect clone. Seconds later, Crow fell to the ground. The insects returned to Shino, who was just standing in front of the tree he jumped into. "WHAT DID YOU DO?"

"The insects that I use are a specialty of the Aburame clan. They are known as Parasitic Insects, which feed on chakra. In return for allowing them to live in our bodies and providing sustenance, we are able to command them in combat."

Kankuro clenched his teeth and fists in anger. "So that's it. I have to attach chakra strings to my puppet if I want to control it. Those bugs ate the chakra I was using." He tensed his fists even further. "This guy is trouble. What's Temari doing?" He looked to his side to see Temari working to avoid being caught by Shikamaru's shadow.

She stopped after noticing that the shadow stopped moving. "So it has a limited distance." She noticed a ball of insects flying towards her and backed away from it. The insects stopped right over the shadow's limit, spreading out into a disk. Suddenly, Shikamaru's shadow started up all over again, forcing Temari avoid it once again. "So he can use other shadows to extend his range." She pulled out her fan and swung it. The gust of wind blew away Shino's insects, effectively ending the shadow's advance. "These two work together too well."

With a motion of his hands, Kankuro redid his connection to Crow. He picked it up and pulled it to his side. "Time to end this." He prepared some attacks, but Crow's movements moved too slowly. "What's going on?" A closer inspection showed Shino's insects crawling around in Crow's joints. "Why that … he's jamming Crow's joints." Kankuro's anger became even more evident. "THAT'S NOT ALL CROW CAN DO!" With a single motion of both hands, Kankuro split Crow up into ten pieces. All of the pieces spread out in preparation to attack Shino. "Let me show you crow's true power!"

"KANKURO, THE SHADOW'S!" Kankuro turned to his right. As soon as he did, he noticed the strip of shadow heading hitting the shadow of the nearest piece. It then shot after the next piece. "HE'S USING CROW'S SHADOWS TO REACH YOU!"

As soon as he heard Temari's warning, Kankuro directed the pieces he could up into the air. Shikamaru's shadow caught one more piece before it stopped casting a shadow. With his puppet safe, Kankuro quickly acted to avoid getting caught himself. This happened to put him right where Temari was. "I can't believe we are being pushed around by these brats."

"Maybe because they actually work together. I told you that we should have figured out some combinations."

"Shut up. We'll take out that bug freak first."

"They aren't going to let us do that."

"Shut up and do it."

Temari clenched her teeth. "Fine. This isn't the time to be arguing." She moved in front of Kankuro with a lowered stance and readied her fan. "TAKE THIS!" Her eyes widened when she stopped mid-swing. "I can't move my body." She focused her eyes on Kankuro. "MOVE KANKURO!"

The expression on his face revealed her warning to be too late. Shikamaru smirked and stood up. "Successes." As he stood, Kankuro and Temari were forced to mimic his stance.

Each of Crow's pieces crashed to the ground one by one and Temari dropped her fan. Kankuro scanned the ground the best he could. "I can't see his shadow anywhere." Shino slowly approached them without a care. "What is this?"

Temari squealed loudly. "GET-THEM-OFF.-GET-THEM-OFF!" He body trembled in a futile effort to move.

Kankuro looked down to see Shino's insects crawling up Temari's legs. He saw them crawling up his legs too. "I didn't notice because my legs are covered. Where are they coming from?" He noticed holes in the ground where the insects spilled out like a swarm of ants. "How?"

Shino stopped walking a mere meter away from the pair and slid his hands into his pockets. "As of now, I have two types of parasites to use. The first are small, winged, and maneuverable. The other set is larger and breed for subterranean movement. I developed them in preparation for this plan."

Kankuro's eyes widened. "IN ONE MONTH!"

"No. The parasitic insects we utilize live three hours at most and reproduce quickly to offset this. It took three days of selective breeding to develop them into today's form. The most difficult part was improving their smell so they could track females through soil." He held out his finger, which had a beetle with a red color on it. "I planted three on each of you to improve the chances."

"ENOUGH! WE FORFEIT! GET THESE THINGS OFF ME!" Her eyes showed her to be in complete panic.

Genma appeared an instant later. "THE WINNERS ARE SHINO ABURAME AND SHIKAMARU NARA BY DECISION!"

As soon as Genma said that, Temari began feeling the bugs make a U-turn. Three red insects flew to Shino from random points on her clothes. Why she never noticed them became obvious by their size. The moment she was able to move, Temari began sweeping her legs off instantly.

Kankuro dropped to his hands and knees as he was feeling unusually tired. "I still don't get how the shadow got us."

Shino adjusted his glasses. "I hate explaining things twice."

Shikamaru walked up to them. "I'll take this one Shino." Temari finished wiping her legs. "I can use any shadow to increase the range of my own shadow. I can even use shadows you can't see."

Their eyes widened. "The tunnel."

Shikamaru quickly guessed what they were thinking. "Yep. As soon as the match started, Shino ran around to your rear and then to the nearest tree. He then spent some time letting all his burrowing insects into the ground. After that, all there was left to do was to plant some females on you two so they'd know where to dig up. He told me that they'd surface in three minutes, so I just made sure both of you were standing together at that time."

"We've been playing into their hands from the very beginning." It took a fair amount of willpower for them to not attack the pair and despite the risk.

Up in the stands, two fathers looked down at their sons. "Our kids work really good together Shibi-san. I didn't expect our jutsu to be so compatible."

"Unique situations precede unique ideas."

"I had no idea you could develop multiple types in your bodies."

"It's difficult. Shino had to monitor breeding constantly to maintain two separate types."

"So he worked like that all month."

Shibi shook his head. "I'll assume he prepared them late in the month."

Tazuna looked down with a confused expression. "Okay, I don't expect to explain all these jutsu, but how do they win by decision. Didn't that girl forfeit?"

Haku nodded. "She may have forfeited, but the other one didn't. Since there are two parts to a team, both have to agree to the forfeit. It was decision because one gave up and both were immobilized."

"Oh, I get it. Still, wouldn't saying that it was a forfeit be simpler."

"Hai, but it would also be a false decision. Something like that can cause disagreements between villages. Many leaders have been known to argue over some truly petty reasons."

Tsunami looked at Haku. "The shinobi world sounds like a complicated place."

Sagesumi looked down at Shino with a smile. "He's looking more and more impressive. If only he would grow into someone I could literally look up to."

Both teams went up their side of the arena. Temari and Kankuro went up a different set of stairs leading to the stands in light of their loss. Kankuro's fists were tightly clenched. "I can't believe we lost."

"Shut up Kankuro. You know that we need to save our energy. How much use are we going to be with all our chakra eaten up by those bugs?"

Kankuro smirked. "And those bugs crawling up your legs had nothing to do with it."

She immediately turned to Kankuro in anger. "You try having those things crawling up your underwear." Kankuro immediately backed off. After a second of cowering, Temari continued on her way. "I'll have nightmares for weeks."

Kankuro followed after. "That was almost as scary as Gaara. I do not need that kind of mental image of my sister." He stumbled a bit. "Looks like I already don't have enough chakra to be of use. My jutsu doesn't use much chakra so I never worried about my chakra reserves. I'll work on that when I get home, if I make it back."

I think I'll leave this chapter at that. Writing for strategic characters like Shino and Shikamaru is a lot harder than writing for straightforward idiots like Naruto and Lee. I hope that this was a good chapter for this story's return. I really reused a lot of ideas that come straight from the manga/anime, just in a different way.

Next Chapter: Kin's Development.