A/N: Alright, time for the next fight. Just to warn you, this one is going to be VERY different from canon. Why? Neji didn't fight Naruto. You do the math.
Chunin Exams, Final Round, Part 2
Enjoy!
"If he wishes to win, he must change his approach. What he's doing now hasn't even come close to working" Hiashi said with a scowl as Shikamaru narrowly avoided being bisected by a gust of serrated wind. Naruto and Hinata both nodded in begrudging agreement as they watched their teammate struggle. For the past ten minutes, the lazy genin had been confounded and kept at a distance by Temari's fan and the various jutsu that she employed with it. Four times he had tried to capture her with his shadow, and four times he had failed.
Despite the variety of his tactics with said shadow, he had not even come remotely close to seizing control of the sand kunoichi. Without a practical way of utilizing his family's jutsu, Shikamaru was left in an unenviable situation. A specialized ninjutsu user stranded at a range at which his technique of proficiency was ineffective, all while being right in range for his opponent's equally specialized techniques.
"I don't see how he wins this. He isn't great at pressuring people, and he isn't overly threatening without Shadow Possession" Naruto said grimly. To the surprise of all three certified ninja, it was Hanabi who replied with a counter argument.
"Actually, he adjusted about two minutes ago. It may not win him the fight, but he's certainly putting himself in position to make this competitive" she corrected confidently. Hiashi raised an eyebrow.
"Elaborate" he challenged. The young Hyuga activated her Byakugan and gestured to the space between Shikamaru and Temari.
"Slowly but surely, he's been inching his way forward. Every time that girl unleashes a blast from her fan, she stops doing much of anything for around four to five seconds before attacking again. She noticed his adjustment immediately, and she's been slowly backing up to mitigate, but she's forgotten one major detail from the looks of it" she explained. Naruto, Hinata, and Hiashi all frowned and stared at the arena for a moment before the answer to the unspoken question dawned on them.
"The wall. He's trying to trap her. It may take awhile, but if he can survive the wind, Temari-san's back will touch the wall eventually" Hinata said, a smile forming on her face as she appreciated her unmotivated comrade's simple-yet-subtle tactics. Naruto gave Hanabi a grin.
"Not bad, kid. You figured it out before us" he complimented. The girl smirked proudly and leaned back in her seat.
"I appreciate the praise, but don't start celebrating. We don't even know if it's going to work"
Shikamaru gritted his teeth and took another five steps forward as Temari regathered her chakra to assault him with the very air he breathed. As expected, the sand kunoichi retreated five steps, all of which were measured to match his exactly so as to maintain an identical distance. As she set her feet to attack again, a smirk spread across her lips, her confidence surging. Shikamaru chuckled to himself.
'Poor girl has no clue what's coming to her. I almost feel bad' he thought as he prepared to evade the inevitable blast of wind as best he could. When it came, he leapt to his right. Despite his maneuver, the left side of his face was cut open underneath his left eye, sending a stream of blood down his cheek and chin. The shadow user grimaced and rose to his feet to continue his meticulous advance towards his foe.
'I can't afford to be more than grazed by her. I can't feel my face at all, and I barely got touched' he lamented as he broke out into a run, his patience finally having reached the end of it's lifespan. Temari scowled and prepared to predictably attack him with her fan.
"I never took you for the suicidal type, but I guess looks can be deceiving!" she yelled as she unleashed another blast of wind to intercept him. As the bladed air approached, Shikamaru took a deep breath and focused his chakra into his legs.
'Here goes nothing' he thought to himself. In a rare feat of athleticism and chakra control, the Nara leapt straight up, barely clearing the storm of wind as it ripped across the battlefield. As he crashed down towards the earth, Shikamaru looked to Temari, who wore a look of surprise. As he came into contact with the ground, the shadow user rolled forward to decrease the intensity of the impact.
Once he was in an upright position again, he sprinted at Temari head-on, prompting her to skitter backwards to maintain space. After no more than ten steps, however, she backed straight into the concrete wall of the stadium. Shikamaru immediately stopped in his tracks and made a hand sign.
"Gotcha" he said with a smirk as his shadow connected to hers. The sand kunoichi clenched her jaw and strained against the jutsu, but found that her efforts were in vain.
"You were walking me back to the wall, weren't you?" she asked through her frustration. Shikamaru nodded and shrugged, causing Temari to do the same.
"Yup. I'm honestly pretty surprised you didn't see it coming, honestly" he replied. The fan wielder sighed and made another attempt to break his control, to no avail.
"I got high on the feeling of slicing you up. You looked and acted like a sitting duck" she said. The shadow user sighed and leaned over.
"Yeah, because I was. I'm just as surprised as you are that this worked" he said before making a throwing motion straight up. Due to the jutsu she was under, Temari followed suit, launching her fan into the air in the process. The metal rectangle spun and arced towards the upper wall, eventually colliding with it and sticking into its side.
"Enough small talk. I have some questions for you, and you're going to answer them" the shadow user said firmly, earning a raised eyebrow from Temari.
"And why should I listen to you? The only thing you have to threaten me with is a concussion if you choose to make me slam my head into the back of the wall, and I wouldn't be able to answer your questions if I was unconscious" she asked skeptically. Shikamaru gave her a bored look and reached into his kunai pouch, quickly producing a blade. When the sand kunoichi made the same motion, she came out empty handed, as their punches were on opposite sides.
"You crafty little brat" Temari hissed as she was forced to approach the shadow user due to his own forward advance. Once they were roughly a foot apart, Shikamaru pressed his kunai to her throat and jammed a thumb towards the Hokage and Kazekage, who were sitting in a high position above the arena.
"Who the hell is that guy you're calling the Kazekage? Something about him is very off, and you're going to explain it to me" he commanded. The sand kunoichi pursed her lips and stared at the lazy genin.
"I don't know any more or less about him than you do" she replied tensely. Shikamaru increased the force with which he was pressing his knife into her skin.
"Really? I thought he was supposed to be your father. That's been the word around the village, anyway" he said. Temari's eyes briefly became flooded with an emotion resembling grief, but it quickly washed away.
"There are things at work here that are beyond you or I. I'm sorry, but I can't say anymore. You can go ahead and kill me if you want" she said shakily. Shikamaru felt his blood run cold.
'An apology, and something similar to submission. Something is very wrong' he thought to himself. He then glared up at the Kazekage.
'I have a strong feeling that I know what's going on here. Whoever you are, you won't be hidden much longer' he mentally promised the Kage. He then turned his attention back to Temari, whose eyes were now downcast as she awaited what she assumed would be her end.
"Wipe that look off your face. It doesn't suit you" Shikamaru said as he released her from his jutsu due to a mix of exhaustion and sympathy. The sand kunoichi's head snapped up as she regained control of her body.
"W-what? Why did you…?" she began as Shikamaru backed away from her and assumed a taijutsu stance. The lazy genin took a deep breath and wiped blood from his wounded cheek.
"I'm an overly sympathetic idiot. That's why. Now shut up and come at me" he replied. Despite the massive number of questions and the whirlwind of emotions circulating her mind, Temari obliged and stepped forward to attack.
What ensued could only be described as a war of wills.
Naruto, Hinata, Hiashi, and Habai all stared down at the arena with wide eyes and their mouths agape as Temari and Shikamaru traded strikes at a torrid pace. Many different scenarios had been envisioned for the match, but the one occurring had not been one of them.
"I think I'm missing something here. Why didn't he just knock her out or kill her? He had the chance to do both" Naruto questioned as Shikamaru snapped Temari's head back with a punch. Hiashi stroked his chin and winced as another sloppy-but-damaging exchange took place.
"Tactically speaking, without context, this turn makes sense on some level. Temari-san has been separated from her fan, and Nara-san appears to be out of chakra. Neither one of them really have any other areas of strength, leaving them with only their ancillary skill-set to rely on, which happens to be taijutsu for both. But as you said, Uzumaki-san, Nara-san could have finished her twice, and chose not to" the clan head said. Hinata frowned.
"They appeared to exchange words for a few moments before Nara-san let her go. I don't know what was said, but it convinced him to engage her head-to-head" she said. Hanabi tilted her head to one side as she watched the two genin fence in the center of the arena.
"For as sloppy as it all is, Nara-san is employing some interesting tactics" she said as Shikamaru cleaved an elbow into the side of Temari's head, forcing her to back up a step and heave a deep breath.
"Yes, he is. He is greatly uncomfortable gauging distance, and he seems to be aware of it. His solution is to march forward, tie up his opponents hands with his own, like a game of patty cake, if you will, and throw strikes over the top of his foe's outstretched arms. A fascinating tactic, but an effective one" Hiashi said. Naruto nodded in agreement as his teammate pressured forward behind ugly-but-relentless combinations of strikes.
"You've gotta give them both credit. They're pushing a crazy pace" he said. A moment after the sentence had left his mouth, Temari and Shikamaru clashed heads, an action that sent them both reeling back.
"This is a dog fight" Hinata said through a grimace. Apparently, the crowd as a whole agreed with her, as they were cheering loudly for the two warring genin. The heiress then activated her byakugan and gazed into the chakra reserves of her teammate.
'You had better finish this soon, Nara-san. The body always breaks before the mind'
Shikamaru spat blood out of his mouth as she slowly circled Temari. It had been roughly fifteen minutes since the shadow user had opted to release her from his jutsu, and both genin were now worn and battered. Shikamaru was bleeding profusely from the gash underneath his left eye, and his mouth was leaking blood due to a small split in his bottom lip. Temari was no less visibly injured, with a litany of bruises and cuts covering her face.
"Was it worth it, Shikamaru? Letting me go, I mean. You clearly aren't enjoying this from my vantage point. You could have ended this awhile ago" the fan wielder asked through heavy breaths. Shikamaru sighed and stepped forward to engage her once more.
"I already gave you a hint earlier. I don't really feel like explaining any more than I already have. It'd be troublesome" he said as he threw a right handed punch at Temari's face. The sand kunoichi ducked under the strike and whipped her head back up, slamming the top of her skull into his chin. The impact buckled the lazy genin momentarily, but not enough to prevent him from seizing her by the back of the neck and using the grip to throw her to the ground.
"Why won't you just break already? You told me that you didn't care if you became a chunin or not. Why are you trying so damn hard?" Temari demanded as she tried and failed to rise to her feet after rolling to her hands and knees with Shikamaru latched onto her back. The shadow user responded by snaking an arm underneath her chin and clamping down on her neck.
"Because this isn't about promotions anymore. You know as well as I do that something bigger is coming" he hissed in her ear as he squeezed her airway closed. Temari struggled against the stranglehold, but soon felt her senses begin to dull as the world around her became fuzzy. After another few seconds, she went limp. Shikamaru then released her neck from his grip and gently laid her on her back.
"Call the match, Genma. She's out cold" he called to the proctor, who was making his way over to the unconscious fan wielder. Once he reached her, he gave her a cursory inspection and waved his arms over her body.
"Temari of the Sand is unconscious! Shikamaru Nara is the winner!" he announced, eliciting a roar of approval from the crowd. The shadow user then began his unsteady walk back towards the stairs, exhaustion and pain slowing his pace to metaphorical crawl. His walking speed was decreased even further once he began to climb the stairs, a task that would likely take him several minutes to complete. Luckily, halfway up the flight, Kakashi stood waiting.
"That was ugly as hell, but you gutted it out. I'm genuinely impressed. I didn't know you had that kind of grit" the jonin said as he slung Shikamaru's arm over his shoulder to help him up the stairs. The shadow user rubbed the side of his head and sighed.
"I made that harder than it needed to be" he said vaguely. Despite the lack of clarity, Kakashi instantly understood what he was referencing.
"Would you mind explaining to me why you let her go? You were low on chakra, but you weren't running on empty when you released her. You two also seemed to have a conversation before the brawl ensued. What was said?" he asked. Shikamaru immediately tensed a bit, but quickly relaxed and organized his thoughts.
"Something awful is about to happen. Chaos is about to wash over this village. I'm sure you've noticed it by now, but the Kazekage isn't as he seems. Something about him is wrong. I don't know what it is, but I know that I'm not imagining this. All of that contributed to why I let Temari go when I could have killed her or knocked her out. I didn't kill her because I was feeling sympathetic. I gave her a fighting chance on a whim. I gambled on the notion that I could beat her in a taijutsu match" he explained. His teacher gave him a nod.
"Yes, I've been getting the same feeling from the moment the finals began. Something is afoot. As for your reasoning for dragging the match out, I understand why you did it, but you can't let your personal feelings interfere. You still won, so it doesn't exactly matter in this case, but don't let sympathy cloud your judgement in the future" Kakashi said firmly. The pair then reached the top of the stairs, where Shikamaru posed a question.
"Do you think Hokage-sama is aware of the disturbance?" he asked. The silver haired ninja nodded confidently and glanced to the other side of the arena, where Hiruzen sat alongside the 'Kazekage'.
"If you and I have caught on, then so has he. The better question is what he plans to do about it"
A/N: I changed the fight fairly drastically, but you also have to consider that Naruto never put a hole in the ground in this fic, so Shikamaru's strategy wouldn't have worked. I also changed the "I give up" scene into something a tad different.
Hope you all enjoyed it!
See you next chapter! Read and Review!