Wow it has been a while. School's started back up and boy is it punishing. I don't think I've ever seen so much homework in the first week of school EVER. And I don't even have all my books yet!!! Oh well. Hope you enjoy.

Naruto glanced at the purple haired girl quickly as Neji walked back up the stairs to return to his team. She was obviously still tense. Her knuckles were white which meant she was gripping the iron rail hard. Her breathing was a little ragged and her eyes kept glancing back and forth between her cousin and his former opponent. As Neji passed her shoulders hunched forward almost imperceptibly as if expecting a blow. Once he had passed her however her grip slackened and her eyes stopped their jittery movement. Her breathing returned to normal and Naruto could have sworn she grew an inch.

The blond looked away and crinkled his brow in thought. He had no real idea why the girl acted like she did. Maybe she was simply scared. Whatever the reason though Naruto wanted to know why she acted like she did around Neji. He made a mental note to catch the girl and ask her about it after the exam was finished.

The electronic score board came back to life and flipped through the names until it stopped on the next two unlucky fighters.

Tenten Vs. Kin

Two girls Naruto vaguely remembered from before the first exam stepped forward and confronted each other. Naruto was more concerned with saving his hearing though then watching them fight. Both of the super eyebrows had launched into a bout of yelling support for their teammate. It's volume was punishing enough but when one considered the terminology used by the two green fighters volume took a back seat. Naruto would have gladly cut off his ears after just a minute of the stuff but he decided that it would eventually stop and that he would eventually need his ears again. So he gritted his teeth and tried not to yell. The blond also noticed that the rest of his team, even his sensei, were trying desperately to block out the mind numbing yells.

The battle that followed was not incredibly impressive but very long compared to previous fights. Both girls favored weapons over actual jutsu which made them uninteresting to both Naruto and Sasuke.

After nearly ten minutes the fight ended in a draw. Both girls had collapsed in exhaustion and from loss of blood. The amount of weapons strewn about the floor or lodged in walls or bodies was truly amazing. Naruto didn't even realize a ninja, let alone two, could carry so many weapons. He really shouldn't have been surprised since he himself knew how to multiply shuriken and kunai with his Kage Bunshin training. Tenten had done something similar with a scroll at one point in the battle which had been the high point in the battle for Naruto. Flashy jutsu, especially ones with lots of smoke involved, was always something Naruto enjoyed.

The girls were carried out on stretchers and the floor was cleaned of weapons before the scoreboard once again announced a pairing.

Yamanaka Ino Vs. Temari

Sakura gave her rival a glare as the blond made her way down to the floor. Ino grinned smugly as she passed and stopped next to Sasuke.

"You'll cheer me on won't you Sasuke-kun?" She asked in what she thought was a cute voice. Sasuke grunted and rolled his eyes in disgust. Ino apparently thought it was good enough and continued on her way, now with an added skip to her step.

Temari was already waiting. The sand nin's lip had turned upward as she'd seen her opponent for the first time. The thought of fighting a girly girl did not sit well with the brash young Sand ninja. Ino's actions on her way down to the floor only made Temari hate her even more. 'Still,' Temari thought with a mental snort, 'a girl so worried about her looks should be an easy mark for me.'

Hayate nodded once both girls had faced off. "Yamanaka Ino vs Temari. Let the fourth match begin."

Ino grinned. 'No sense in prolonging this fight. I'll just end it now," she thought as she brought her hands together in a strange seal.

Temari gripped her fan which was still in her waist band. 'That seal...what is she up too?'

Temari never knew what hit her. Ino spoke her jutsu out loud, "Ninpou, Shintenshin no Jutsu", and then abruptly collapsed.

To the crowd it looked as if Ino's jutsu had somehow failed. Those who knew better were already shaking their heads in amusement or disgust. Temari apparently didn't mind her opponent falling over suddenly. The girl didn't even look like she'd noticed. Her head had lowered, shading her eyes, and her hand had come away from her fan. She appeared about as lifeless as Ino did at the moment except for the fact that she remained standing.

After several suspenseful seconds Temari's head rose along with her hand. The confusion grew as her hand rose until it was quite high in the air. What she meant to do was beyond everyone but those who knew Ino. Even excluding the few who knew the long haired blond the reaction to Temari's next words was loud.

"I give up."

The loudest yell came from Temari's brother Kankurou. He flew forward, almost falling over the rail, and yelled his lungs out. "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING TEMARI?!" The less vocal of the crowd muttered confused 'what's and 'why in the world's. Naruto was scratching his head vigorously. This odd twist in the fight had confused him to no end. It made absolutely no sense to him whatsoever.

Sakura saw his confusion and explained it to him. "Ino's family has a special bloodline ability that allows them to invade and take over another person's mind and body. Ino "left" her own body and took over that sand girl's so she could make her surrender. She's done it to me once or twice but it never works very well for some reason. Do you get it?"

Naruto was still scratching his head but he was nodding as well. "Yeah I guess that would kinda explain it. What a weird technique." He threw up his hands. "Just one more reason girls are weird."

The blond realized the moment the words left his mouth that he had said the wrong thing. He backed away from Sakura quickly, stuttering out an apology before the pink haired girl could react. Sakura reigned in her anger and simply gave him a glare.

"Ugh, never mind Naruto. Just don't say stuff like that again. Don't worry. I won't hit you."

Naruto lowered his hands and slid back towards his team. "You sure Sakura?"

Sakura's eyes flashed and her fist came down hard on his head. "Baka. I just said that so I didn't have to chase you. Now sit still and don't say anything else stupid."

Naruto humped as a lump appeared on his head but did as he was told. 'Girls,' he decided, 'are definitely not human. More along the lines of devils I think. '

Below them Hayate was giving the fight to Ino. As soon as the ref chopped his hand down Temari collapsed as well. At nearly the same moment Ino began to stir on the floor.

It took Ino about a minute to rise again. When she did it was with a smug smile. Her opponent took a little while longer to rise. Temari stumbled to her feet with a dazed look on her face and even asked out loud what had happened. Her brother provided the answer for her.

"YOU SURRENDERED YOU STUPID ASS OF A SISTER! YOU GAVE UP!"

Temari would have yelled back if the statement had made any sense to her. As it was she just opened and closed her mouth a bit then looked at the ref who nodded, answering her unspoken question. Temari turned to glare at Ino who simply smiled and turned to leave. "Sorry girlfriend," she said, waving a hand above her head as she headed off towards the stairs, "but I won fair and square."

Temari fumed but remained silent. She entertained the thought of attacking the girl just to get revenge but thought better of it. She'd get her chance soon enough she knew. When that time came she'd search that blond hussy out and make her pay for what she'd done.

Sakura gave Ino a similar glare as the blond returned to their side of the arena. Ino, seeing the look of doom Sakura was giving her, promptly latched herself to Sasuke's back and stuck out her tongue at her rival. Before Sasuke could shove her off or Sakura could punch her off Naruto intervened.

"That was really something Ino-san," Naruto said, smiling.

The blond girl blinked and hesitated for a second before giving Naruto a smile. This boy she barely knew was smiling and complementing her and she could barely remember his name.

"Uh, thank you um, Naruto-kun," Ino said as she detached herself from the raven haired boy's back and gave bowed slightly. "It was pretty good wasn't it?"

Ino trotted off to rejoin her team leaving Sasuke and Sakura in awe. Naruto had defused a potential Ino/Sakura confrontation and gotten her off Sasuke's back. Naruto just smiled, thinking nothing of it, and turned back to the screen as it blinked to life again. If Sakura or Sasuke could have read each other's thoughts at that exact moment they would have found that they were quite similar. Both were along the lines of 'What else can this guy do?'

The screen was yet again running through the, now much shorter, list of names. Seconds later it spit out the next pairing.

Haruno Sakura Vs. Nara Shikamaru

Shikamaru groaned. "How troublesome. Why does it have to be a girl?" He glanced at Sakura and sighed.

Naruto pointed at Shikamaru as he passed them on his way towards the stairs. "You can beat him Sakura. He's a lazy bum."

Sakura smiled at his comment and followed her adversary down to the arena level. On the inside however she wasn't as confident. She was a lot smarter and more knowledgeable then most people knew. She'd taken a look at each major family blood line in Konoha and had memorized each's know, or at least generally know, abilities.

So despite Naruto's words of encouragement Sakura found she was quite nervous. She knew her opponent and knew, in layman's terms, what he was capable of. The Nara clan was one of Konoha's smaller families but their techniques were quite good. Shadows, after all, were everywhere.

Sakura and the black haired boy stopped a few paces away from each other and sized each other up as Hayate stepped up next to them. Sakura's mind was working in overdrive to figure out a strategy as Hayate spoke.

"Haruno Sakura vs Nara Shikamaru. Let the fifth match...begin."

The referee stood back, expecting the battle to begin, but found that the two opponents were quite content to stand there and stare each other up. Sakura was still thinking hard, formulating plans, thinking out strategies, and weighing what she knew about his abilities against her own experience and range of techniques. Shikamaru was doing the same only with much less information to go on. The legendary slacker hadn't ever bothered to get to know Sakura. He knew her as a know-it-all and that was about it.

Seconds stretched out into a full minute as their eyes remained locked on each other. The room had dropped into total silence when Hayate had dropped his hand. Even Ino was silent, for once not yelling out support or issuing orders to her lazy compatriot.

Quietness dripped from the ceiling. It beaded on the iron guardrails, and formed small pools on the floor. Watching eyes strained to see the first moment. Ears stretched to catch the smallest sound.

Two minutes passed. By now Naruto's patience was stretching thin. The silence and anticipation was getting to him. Even Sasuke was getting a little unnerved. Sakura wasn't normally like this. He'd never seen her still intense before.

The stillness was broken quite suddenly. Both combatants moved in one fluid motion, each leaping backwards to gain some distance. So sudden were their movements in fact that several people jumped slightly.

Landing almost in unison with each other the two genin began forming seals. Shikamaru's shadow snaked forward in the blink of an eye. Sakura countered, forming a shadow clone and leaving it there while she jumped away. Too late Shikamaru realized what was happening. His shadow snagged the clone and held it fast. As the shadow caught hold Sakura ended her jump and threw a shuriken, aiming for Shikamaru's head.

The shadow ninja moved quickly, managing to take his body out of the line of fire and bring the clone's body into line to take the blow. The clone disappeared in a puff of smoke as the shuriken sliced through it.

Thus freed from the clone Shikamaru sent his shadow after Sakura once again. Sakura reacted by firing off another shuriken and flipping away quickly. Shikamaru dodged the flying missile but lost enough of his concentration for his shadow to shrink back into itself.

They paused for a moment to gauge each other and their positions.

The hokage chuckled softly and made a comment to Jiriaya. "It's a chess match."

Jiriaya nodded sagely. "It's more a battle of minds then anything else that's for sure," he muttered back.

The other Leaf genin were watching spellbound as the match unfolded. Naruto was grinning, quite pleased with himself for thinking of sharing his skills with his friends. He hadn't expected Sakura to pick up the Kage Bunshin so quickly. She had, in fact, managed it on her third try. She hadn't had enough chakra at the time to keep practicing it but that didn't seem to make a difference for her.

It was Sakura who made the next move. She formed two more clones and charged, each of the Sakuras weaving in and out around each other to confuse their target. Shikamaru took out and threw his own Shuriken now, throwing one at each of the pink haired ninjas. Using them as a distraction he threw his shadow forward once again.

The three Sakuras, too busy dodging the shuriken and trying to maintain their weaving pattern, didn't see the shadow coming until it was too late. Shikamaru caught one. The caught Sakura's sudden stop threw the other two into confusion. They stopped in amazement then darted off in opposite directions.

Shikamaru released the Sakura he'd caught within seconds and quickly went after another of the girls. He threw a kunai at the one he'd just released to distract her for a second while he reformed and sent out his shadow again. The two Sakuras, now moving in sync with each other, allowed the one closest to the shadow nin to be caught. With one caught the other had time to pull out an exploding note kunai and launch it towards Shikamaru. The missile dispersed the caught Sakura clone as it passed through her and detonated on the far side, right where Shikamaru was standing.

Only the boy wasn't there.

Shikamaru had released the clone bare seconds after he'd caught it and dodged away towards the currently unengaged Sakura he'd caught earlier. The exploding kunai hit empty space, filling the air with fire and small metallic pieces. The explosion dazzled the Sakura Shikamaru had caught earlier which gave the boy enough time to stick a kunai into her abdomen.

Eyes widened in shock and dismay as they saw the kunai sink deep but shock turned to amazement when that Sakura exploded in smoke leaving Shikamaru standing there alone.

The two fighters turned and eyed each other through the dissipating smoke from the explosion. Both were breathing hard as fatigue began to take it's toll on them. Neither had ever had much chakra to burn in the first place. If the fight wasn't decided soon they would both be out of energy. But neither of them knew that the other was having the same problem so they both put up a front and carried on.

There was a general sense of amazement with a dash of disbelief and new found respect circulating among the spectators. The jounin and chuunin had all found Sakura's use of the Kage Bunshin to be a great surprise but that had quickly died out as the moves and countermoves of the match drew them in. The genin, especially those from Konoha, were infinitely more surprised then their superiors. Only Chouji and Ino knew of Shikamaru's potential and likewise only Naruto and Sasuke knew of Sakura's. It was a common fact that Sakura had been a first rate student in academy but no one had suspected her of possessing such tactical skill and jounin level jutsu. People had passed her off as a smart but overly image conscience girl.

But more surprising still was the energy, skill, and combat prowess of Nara Shikamaru. The slacker extra ordinaire had never shown any great skill or ability. In fact he went out of his way to avoid such "troublesome" things as work or effort.

But now, now they both appeared to be in their element. It was indeed like watching a chess game in action. It was cold, calculated, and impersonal. Each move evoked a planned counter move from the other which in turn produced another equally planned out move. 'It's not just like watching any old game,' Kakashi thought with a smile tugging at his mouth, 'it's like watching a game of between masters.'

Sakura tried to bring her breathing back under control. So far every plan and strategy she'd thought of had been countered and beaten. True she'd done the same for most of his but that didn't count. She needed to win and to do that she needed to do something totally off the wall. Something he'd never expect. But what could she do that would fool this unassuming opponent?

The pink haired girl grasped at her side as her muscles complained. 'Whether I win this or not I've definitely got to get in better shape then I am now,' Sakura thought. 'But if I don't win I can't show Sasuke how much I've improved, how much I've tried to better myself for him...'

Her inner tirade ground to a halt as the thought of Sasuke sparked a neuron deep within her mind. An image from the previous day leapt to the forefront of her mind. Naruto's jutsu trade! It just might work.

Sakura's hands began to form seals before she'd even truly formulated a plan. It was risky to the extreme and if she missed she was done for. Not to mention the fact that she'd never even performed the jutsu before, but that was beside the point. Her hands formed the last seal and her chest expanded, her mouth sucking in as much air as it could. She had the pleasure of seeing Shikamaru's eyes go wide in confusion and horror as her back arched, allowing every corner of her lungs to be filled.

Throwing the last of her chakra into the effort Sakura concentrated, sighted, and released.

An arrow of white hot fire, no more then a foot wide all around, flew from her mouth at blistering speed. It was a variation on the Karyuu Endan that only someone with perfect control could have accomplished. The concentration of fire so tight, the accuracy dead on, and the amount of chakra used so small yet so perfectly controlled and focused that it did the same amount of work as a much larger but sloppier version would have done.

Shikamaru knew as he saw her form the last seal that he was in trouble. But for some reason his body simply didn't want to move. Was it fear? Or perhaps it was the sheer impossibility of her performing a fire element jutsu now, after they'd worn each other down so far. Whatever the reason he simply couldn't find the power to move.

He saw her rear back, taking that enormous breath, then pitch forward. Her lips pursed just so, funneling the fire so exquisitely, perfectly aimed...straight at his chest.

Shikamaru's reflexes kicked in as the bolt of fire with his name on it roared to meet him. He did the only thing he could do. He dropped and dove.

Sakura dropped to her knees as the last chakra mixed air left her lungs. The burning sensation it left behind was like no other she'd felt before. She greedily sucked in air, ignorant as to the effect her jutsu had had on her opponent.

Shikamaru realized he hadn't reacted fast enough to totally avoid it. It was going to hurt, the back of his mind told him, in the split second before the bolt of fire reached him. The edge passed inches away from his right shoulder. The distance had little effect, the heat boiling off the white flame did almost as much damage as it would have done if it had actually hit. The two layers of clothing between his skin and the heat simply ceased to be. It peeled back the cloth nearly to his neck line and half way down his arm. His skin turned black and crisped in an instant. Luckily for him the heat neatly fried the pain receptors in the worst areas. His whole right side burned in pain but from his lower neck to his elbow he pretty much felt nothing. That fact allowed him to finish the match.

He scrambled to his knees as quickly as possible, ignoring as best he could his whole right side, and formed his seal. His shadow reached out and covered the distance between him and his still unknowing opponent in a moment. But instead of simply snagging her the shadow wound it's way up her body, its end forming into a clawed hand as it circled her neck and began to apply pressure.

Sakura gasped in shock at she felt her throat constricting. Her head flew up and she saw what was happening. Before she could even think of doing anything however her vision blurred and she collapsed in a mix of exhaustion and loss of oxygen to the brain.

The moment she went down Shikamaru released his hold on her and canceled his jutsu.

Hayate didn't miss a beat. Seeing Sakura go down for the count with Shikamaru still up and in control he raised his hand and then pointed to the black haired ninja.

"Winner, Nara SHikamaru."

Shikamaru managed a lopsided smile before falling over on his good side. A nearly inaudible grunt came from his lips, two very familiar words.

"How troublesome."

Sorry I kinda glossed over the Kin/Tenten fight but I didn't feel it was very important. Then there was the Temari/Ino fight. I really love Temari, she's my favorite female character in the series, but I wanted a change up so she had to take a hit. Sorry people. And of course there was the last match. Hehehe...Shikamaru is my all time fave guy in the series but I felt he needed a bit more of a challenge. And for all of you who don't read the manga the finishing move he used was something called Kage Kubi Shibari no Jutsu Shadow neck cantry. It comes in much later...yeah I know it's a spoiler. Sorry. But after I mapped it out I figured I had to give him a power boost for this fight. It's longer too. And please forgive any spelling/grammar mistakes. I didn't want to go through it just now...I need sleep. But I felt you guys deserved a new chapter.