And here we are on the next Shinobi's Creed chapter. You all really loved the fight in last chapter, and I'm so happy to see that I redeemed myself for what I did to Hinata way back. Though things aren't done with Hinata and the Hyuuga yet. Hopefully you'll continue to like what I do.

Now, to anonymous reviewer Hell Fire, to better clarify, Naruto became a full Assassin in chapter 19, if you wish to go and re-read that chapter. That chapter also has the answer to your next question, as it describes Naruto's assassin robes in it. But to give you a general idea, navy blue long sleeved shirt and pants with leather greaves over his shins, dual hidden blade bracers over his forearms, a black version of Minato's haori except minus the kanji, flames, and collar. Instead, burnt orange trim along the edges and an Assassin hood. Then a burnt orange sash around his waist with an assassin supply belt, a leather pauldron over his left shoulder, and a back scabbard/sling hybrid for his ninjato and crossbow. Lastly, an orange scarf around his neck under his collar. Again, check chapter 19 for a more in-depth description.

Nothing else to say, except thanks to Nightmares Around Winter for his message about my situation. So let's get this chapter going!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Assassin's Creed. They are the property of Masashi Kishimoto and Ubisoft respectively. This is a fan made work of fiction. Please support the official releases.


Chapter 39

The Finals Continue

Sarutobi could only smile with pride at the sight of Hinata Mitarashi leaving the field of battle, bloodied but victorious. He remembered the small girl, her spirit crushed as she meekly and lifelessly agreed to Anko taking guardianship of her, and had watched as she had grown from that to the fighter that had given all to win in the match before him. It filled him with pride to see what she had accomplished, and what the Assassins had done to help Hinata grow stronger.

Next to him, the Raikage was giving a nod of approval. "I'll admit, I thought that the Hyuuga boy was going to destroy her. But I suppose bloodline isn't everything," he said.

"I don't know about that. She too had the Byakugan," the Kazekage said, also watching the field as Neji was carried away. "I think that gave her the chance to emerge victorious here."

"I do not think that is the case, Kazekage-san. A kekkei genkai can only do so much to tip the balance of a fight in one's favor. It takes skill, intelligence, wisdom, experience, and of course, determination to truly determine the outcome of a fight. That genin, ever since the Hyuuga abandoned her, has pushed herself to become as strong as she can, and thanks to her tutors, I think she's shown that ability and determination can trump bloodlines and power," Sarutobi said with a smile to the leader of Suna, who merely bowed his head. "At the moment, I do not think I would judge her to be ready to be a chuunin, but it is only her first match."

"Agreement. We should wait to see more from her before making a judgment. The Hyuuga boy however, while skilled and powerful, does not have the proper mentality to be given the rank of chuunin," A stated, as Sarutobi nodded as well.

"Indeed. I shall be ensuring that he seeks professional counseling after the exams," Sarutobi said quietly, frowning at the actions of the Hyuuga boy. "For now though, I say we should prepare for the next match," he added, nodding to Genma who gave a slight nod before turning to the contestant area.

"Will Rock Lee and Shino Aburame please take the field for the second match!"

In the infirmary area, Hinata groaned softly as she sat on a bed while a medical ninja examined her injuries. She didn't bother looking as two more brought Neji in, taking him over to another bed where they could begin working on healing him. She instead focused on the medical ninja, who was running a glowing green hand over her mid-section, frowning slightly.

"Well, the good news is your injuries are not too serious. You have a slightly cracked rib, but I should be able to mend it here quickly. There is a superficial wound just below your hairline, which should also be easily healed. The greatest damage is to your chakra system, which has sustained temporary damage from your opponent's strikes. I cannot properly heal it now, but there is an elixir here which should begin healing the damage. I cannot guarantee you'll be fully healed by the time of your next match, but it is better than waiting for the damage to fade naturally," the medic reported to her, making her nod. "Other than that, I suggest resting and rehydration, but that's it."

"Thank you," Hinata said quietly, gently rubbing her left arm, letting out the tiniest of relieved sighs as the medic finished working on her rib, and moving to get the potion for her. She quickly downed it, gagging a bit, before accepting the water handed to her as the medic worked on her head wound. After a few moments, the medic pulled away from her head, nodding.

"All done. Remain here for a few minutes and then you can return to the contestant waiting area," he told her. He moved over to Neji, helping the medics there who were busy healing up his injuries. None of them were overly dangerous, but the cuts and slashes had led to substantial blood loss along with hampering to his mobility. The most damage done to him was exhaustion and chakra depletion brought on by the length of the fight and the injuries sustained.

When the medics finished patching him up they moved away, preparing more beds for the other contestants that were likely to require medical attention. This left Hinata and Neji alone, both of them refusing to look at each other, tension hanging in the air between them. Eventually Hinata, not wanting to deal with it anymore, stood up to go, only to be stopped as he spoke.

"How did you beat me?" He asked while staring at the ceiling. "It shouldn't have been possible. Fate favored me…"

Hinata let out a sigh, gently placing one hand on the edge of the doorway, staring out the hallway. "That's why I won, Neji. Because when push came to shove, you didn't have something driving you to give your all. You rely on fate and your hatred to drive you, only to find that when you need them most, they aren't there to push the final vestiges of strength and power out of your body. I have my friends who helped me when I was banished from the clan. They saved me, gave me purpose, gave me strength. I fight for them, to prove their confidence in me is worth it. I'm willing to fight to the death for them. What are you willing to fight for Neji?"

Neji slowly turned his head, looking in her direction as she left the room, leaving him with his thoughts. He stared at where she had stood before looking up again, slowly losing himself in his musings.

Back in the arena, the two genin now were facing each other, waiting for the match to start. Lee was smiling softly, nodding respectfully to Shino, who simply returned the nod. Both of them were going over their thoughts and strategies. Lee knew that he would have to strike fast and quickly, as even if he wasn't reliant on chakra, Shino's bugs could still deliver poisons if they got on him, and drain what chakra he did have. He would have to be fast and efficient in his strikes.

On the other side, Shino knew his opponent was likely far faster in speed and reflexes then himself. He would need to use deception to trap Lee with his insects, and deliver enough poison to render him unable to fight. It would be tricky but doable, he believed.

Genma, seeing them both ready, signaled the fight to start. Lee immediately shot forward, moving to attack Shino, only to stop and leap backwards rapidly as the insects flowed out of Shino's sleeves. Except instead of swarming on the ground, they were now flying, forming a barrier between Lee and their host. Lee's eyes widened, realizing that his opponent's insects had become more dangerous, now with an ability to move not just on the ground but in the air as well.

Shino directed his hive to form a loose shield between himself and Lee, thankful that during the month training period he had been able to integrate and upgrade his swarm with the flight ability. It gave him a great amount of tactical flexibility now. He released more insects, creating now a dome around him that was rotating around him as he began his strategy.

Lee frowned, examining the dome of insects carefully while keeping his distance. He knew he could easily break through the dome with his speed, but it would mean he would be surrounded on all sides by the insects. It would literally be walking into the lion's den. But he could not strike at Shino otherwise, as he had no ninjutsu and he didn't want to waste his explosive tags here. Seeing no other alternative he readied himself, lowering himself to get a good kickoff. He needed to try and grab Shino and pull him through the dome before his insects could react, giving him a chance to land blows on him. With a grunt he shot forward, pushing himself quickly.

Shino, in the dome, was caught off guard by the sudden emergence of Lee through the dome of insects, his right fist shooting toward Shino. Lee grinned triumphantly as his fist connected, only for his eyes to go wide as Shino exploded into a swarm of insects that he, caught off balance by his momentum not meeting real resistance, stumbled right into.

Outside, Shino watched as the dome collapsed around Lee, his bug clone the initial trap that now left his opponent in the middle of his insects. His satisfaction, however, quickly vanished as Lee erupted from the swarms of insects, flipping and spinning through the air. He quickly landed and hopped back several times while wiping himself clean of any of Shino's insects and wincing from several bites he had received already. He knew they most likely were delivering some type of poison into him, as he hadn't felt any drain on his chakra. Still, he couldn't let many more of those insects bite him or he might be paralyzed. He'd have to do this quickly.

Shino moved his insects between the two of them, watching Lee carefully. He knew that his best way to win against Lee was to play keep away. He'd not last long in a taijutsu match, and the month long period had been focused mostly on enhancing his hive, though he had worked on his taijutsu to a degree. He had also stocked up on smoke bombs and other supplies, though he wasn't sure how effective they would be against Lee. He was both highly skilled in hand to hand and was quite fast and agile, easily blowing through most of the traps or distractions. The young Aburame knew he needed to be highly creative if he was going to defeat Lee.

Lee began to quickly circle around Shino, trying to outpace the swarm of insects that were forming a barrier between the two. The swarm moved as he did, while Shino used them to hide his own actions in gathering a couple of items. His opponent was also starting to formulate his own plan, as he drew out a few smoke bombs and tossed them in a wide spread between them. All of them went off, creating a long arcing cloud of smoke to hide Lee.

Shino's eyes narrowed behind his glasses as he began to spread his insects out in a wider barrier, only for Lee to shoot out of the top of the cloud, vaulting over his insects. Shino quickly dropped a smoke bomb of his own, hiding himself in the cloud. Lee spun in the air, bringing his foot in a heel drop right where Shino had been.

Everyone blinked as they heard a loud cry of pain from inside the smoke cloud, as Shino's insects surged into it. Lee back flipped out of the smoke cloud, wincing as he landed as his right leg spasming and twitching a bit, causing him to stumble. He hobbled, keeping his weight off that leg as the smoke slowly cleared, revealing Shino had moved out of the way while a tag on the ground was sparking with electricity.

Shino let out a sigh of relief. The trap tag had worked, shocking Lee in the leg when his foot connected with it, but it hadn't been able to fully shock him and paralyze him. But so long as Lee was dealing with that leg, he'd be slower now. Shino sent his insects swarming towards Lee, who quickly did his best to get away from them. It wasn't easy considering his leg was numb and felt like it would collapse at any moment, his will being the only thing keeping him from just falling. But he needed time to work out the muscles. Grabbing a kunai and an explosive tag, he threw it at the swarm of insects, the tag igniting in the air. Shino wasn't able to see it until the explosion went off in the middle of his insect swarm, consuming a fair amount of them in flames as the rest were thrown away by the force of the explosive. Shino immediately withdrew the remainder to him, frowning heavily at the loss of his insects.

When the explosion cleared, he couldn't see Lee either, his eyes quickly moving to the small strip of trees and bushes as the most likely place where his opponent was hiding. He threw up his hands, his insects shooting in that direction to flush Lee out of hiding.

What he hadn't seen, but that the crowd did, was that Lee was actually sticking to the wall of the arena high above the ground. He was gritting his teeth, massaging his leg in a way his sensei had shown him to deal with muscle cramps to loosen the muscles back up. Feeling his leg was strong enough, he slowly readied himself before pushing off from the wall at high speed, diving straight at Shino.

The Aburame heir was barely able to see Lee and turn just in time for a powerful right to smash right across his jaw. He was thrown back by the blow, only for Lee to still be right there with him, spinning and driving a foot right into Shino's chest. The young genin was sent flying by the blow, smashing into the ground and rolling along. Lee landed, wincing as his leg did tremble a bit but he remained on his feet.

Shino gasped for air, lying on the ground, stunned and breathless from the two powerhouse blows. He could taste blood in his mouth, and his chest felt like it had almost collapsed from the blow. He tried to push himself up, only for his arms to collapse and for him to hit the ground again.

Lee heard the buzzing of the insect swarm as they shot towards Shino, intent on protecting their partner/hive. But he didn't advance, unsure if Shino was even able to fight anymore. Genma approached the downed genin, eyeing him. The insects allowed him to approach, and the jounin proctor crouched near Shino. "Can you fight?"

Shino took in a couple of shuddering gasps, before shaking his head. "N-No…it would…take me…too long to recover," he said in a gasping voice. "Even if I did…my opponent is too strong…and fast. I forfeit," he said.

Genma nodded, standing up. "Shino Aburame forfeits! The winner is Rock Lee!" He shouted, as the crowd began to clap and cheer, having obviously enjoyed the match.

Lee could only blink before smiling as he slowly raised a fist, enjoying the adoration of the crowd. This, this was what he wanted. He wanted to prove to people he could be a shinobi, even without being able to use ninjutsu or genjutsu. Having this victory in front of all these people, it was the start of truly fulfilling that dream. He turned to Shino who was slowly getting up, and approached him, holding out a hand. The Aburame studied his hand and then slowly took it, allowing Lee to help him up. Lee smiled as he raised Shino's hand as well, increasing the cheers at the sign of sportsmanship and camaraderie. The green clad shinobi just smiled as he looked to where his sensei sat, happily cheering him on, before his eyes landed on the smiling, enthusiastically clapping Yakumo. He felt his hear beat faster at that, even as gave her his trademark smile and thumbs up.

Yakumo, seeing that directed at her, blushed but kept clapping for him. Seeing Lee victorious, it made her believe more than ever that not only could he be a powerful shinobi with just taijutsu, but that she could be a great kunoichi with just genjutsu. She gave him a smile while next to her, Kurenai smiled as well, watching not the victorious genin in the ring but her charge. It warmed her heart to see this girl growing stronger each day, pushing forward thanks to encouragement from her family, her friends, and especially that young man. A flicker of guilt entered her heart as she remembered the time she wanted to give up on teaching the girl, thinking she wasn't good or experienced enough to tutor her. What might have happened to her if she had done that? She shook her head, banishing those thoughts. It was in the past. What mattered was she did right by this girl.

Gaining a grin, she leaned over to Yakumo. "Perhaps you should invite him out after the Finals are over to celebrate at least his victory here," she said with a wink, making Yakumo blush more at that.

"A-actually…I-I was planning to do that, s-sensei," she said shyly, making Kurenai raise an eyebrow at that. "I-Ino-san was planning to help me out."

"My my. Well I hope you'll have fun," Kurenai said with a smile at that, as Yakumo just blushed but nodded.

Near them, Anko whistled quietly. "I got to admit, Lee there has me a bit nervous now," she said. "He's pretty fast and that'll give him a huge advantage. You've trained him well Gai," she said, looking to the leader of Team Nine.

"Indeed. My youthful pupil has been driven by a need to prove himself a worthy and powerful shinobi, and as a sensei it is my duty to ensure he succeeds. Though I would say I am equally nervous at the prospects of him facing against Hinata-san or Naruto-san. Hinata-san has already proven herself to be better than Neji-san, and if she can bring that same fire and drive in her match against Lee, she will have an excellent chance of winning. And Naruto-san proved he is a skilled hand to hand fighter in his preliminary match," Gai commented, watching Lee and Shino leave the field to seek medical attention.

In the contestant area, Naruto grinned as he looked to Hinata, who had returned in time to see the final minutes of Shino and Lee's fight. "So, what do you think of your next opponent?" He asked her.

Hinata shook her head. "I'm wishing Shino could have done a bit more to slow him down or something. I don't envy going up against his speed, especially since I came out worse in my fight then he did in his. But he does seem a bit headstrong, throwing caution to the wind. I can maybe use that to my advantage," she said quietly, so the others couldn't hear.

"You know he'll be even more fired up to face you, right? You defeated his 'eternal rival', so now you're the bar he's going to be setting himself against," Naruto said with a chuckle, making Hinata groan at that.

"That's not what I needed to hear," she muttered, playfully punching Naruto in the arm.

Up above, the kage were discussing the match. "The Aburame was clearly outmatched by an opponent highly skilled in the field he was most weak in," A stated, feeling some respect for Lee. "He did show skill in attempting to overcome this deficiency, but clearly he still was relying too much on his clan's abilities. I do not believe he is ready to be a chuunin."

"I disagree. The Aburame clearly showed that he planned in ways to defeat his opponent, and when he realized he couldn't win, he forfeited. Given the option, I believe he would have retreated, allowing him to fight another day. He showed good judgment in a relatively hopeless situation. I would recommend him for chuunin," the Kazekage said.

Sarutobi nodded at that. "I will take that under advisement. As for Rock Lee, he showed great skill given his limitations, and also he showed strategic thinking. However he also showed a headstrong nature as well, that led him into two ambushes set up by his opponent. I believe he will need to show he can overcome that before he is made a chuunin."

Both of the other kage agreed with that, as Genma prepared for the next match, calling Shikamaru and Samui down to the arena floor.

In the contestant area, Shikamaru let out a groan as he slumped over the rail, watching Samui disappear. "This is too troublesome. Can't I just forfeit?" He muttered, only to find Naruto next to him.

"Shikamaru, I have to face off against two opponents, neither of which I trained immediately to deal with. I'm the one with the troublesome fight. You have only a single opponent you need to deal with, that you've been training all month to beat. So don't you go groaning about things being troublesome," he said, shoving his shoulders. "So go and fight now."

Shikamaru just groaned, looking at him. "Uugghh, damnit Naruto. Why did you have to say that?" He muttered, his posture slumped as he skulked out of the contestant area and started to head down to the arena.

As they arrived on the arena floor, he quietly studied his opponent again. She was standing there, a neutral blank look on her face, not giving anything away. She was calm, collected, so he knew it would be hard to exploit any weaknesses in her personality. Not like most of the others, like the blond girl from Suna. She was aggressive and arrogant, easy to manipulate into moving how he wanted. This fight would require more thought and planning, which he didn't want to have to do.

In the stands, Asuma grinned as he saw his student. "Glad he didn't skip out on the fight," he murmured, chewing on a toothpick to replace the normal cigarette he'd be smoking. "I'm guessing Naruto had some encouraging words for him."

"It might have been better if he did forfeit. I'm not sure how well he'll stack up against his opponent," Kurenai murmured, only for Asuma to grin more at her. "What?"

"You obviously haven't had much experience with Shikamaru or Shikaku. They're lazy, but I doubt you'd find more intelligent or strategic shinobi in this village. His IQ is over two hundred," he said, causing Kurenai to blink in surprise.

Genma, receiving the signal from the Hokage, started the match. Samui immediately drew her tanto and settled into a combat stance, while Shikamaru remained there, slouched with his hands in his pockets. Samui frowned, studying him carefully as she watched him. He was a Nara, and she knew their reputation as being strategic and dangerous. She wasn't expecting this rather lazy demeanor though, so it confused her. She knew he was capable, given his match against his own teammate in the preliminaries. So she had to be cautious.

Shikamaru glanced up, leaning his head back to study the clouds as he began to speak. "You know, I wonder what it'd be like, living in a shinobi village hidden in the clouds," he said. "Is your village that high up, that you're amongst the clouds? Maybe they're below you?" He asked, causing Samui to slowly shift closer.

"Why does that matter?" She asked him, as he shrugged.

"Because I want to be a cloud. Able to just drift lazily by, not a care in the world. I love watching them, as it's so relaxing and enjoyable. Getting to live amongst them would be a dream," he said.

Samui, seeing him still distracted, launched forward at him, only for him to dodge easily as he frowned. "Your focus should be here, on our match," she told him.

"If you insist, I suppose," Shikamaru muttered, before suddenly his shadow shot out towards her, causing her to dodge back. The shadow continued to follow for a distance, making Samui keep dodging and back stepping, until it finally stopped and left her in the clear as it retracted to Shikamaru.

"Your shadow has a limit I see. You can't extend it too far," Samui noted, studying him as he watched her back.

"Yep. But it does mean you'll never get close enough to use your sword," Shikamaru told her.

"True, but I am not a one trick pony," she said, as she began to channel chakra to her blade. The tanto became surrounded by lightning and she quickly swung the blade, launching a bolt of lightning towards Shikamaru.

The Nara genin had to quickly dodge out of the way, narrowing his eyes as he heard her rushing footsteps, knowing she had done this to get closer to him. He quickly launched his shadow towards her, forcing her back while he prepared to enact his strategy he had devised to defeat her.

Samui watched him draw out a kunai with some type of tag wrapped around the hilt and a parachute attached to the top of it. She frowned and slashed at him again, launching another bolt of lightning at him, which he dodged as he channeled chakra into the kunai and threw it into the air. Almost immediately he began to dodge backwards, as the kunai flew up, before gravity overcame it and the parachute deployed, causing it to hang in the air. At the same time, the seal on the kunai suddenly activated, unleashing a rain of long thin metal poles that drove into the ground in random places.

Samui was forced to dodge as several of those poles slammed into the general area she had been standing. She frowned, wondering what exactly he was doing. It was not entirely an effective attack; unless she had been pinned in the middle of the area those poles fell. Seeing the last of the poles fall into place, she quickly found him on the opposite side of them. Slashing the air in front of her, she launched another bolt of lightning, only to gape as she saw it immediately race to the nearest metal pole, striking it instead. Realization sank in that he had basically robbed her of her lightning jutsu, using these metal poles as lightning rods.

Shikamaru gave a tiny smile as he saw his plan was effective. He had commissioned a number of lightning rods that he could store into a seal tag, to negate her lightning jutsu. They also had a second purpose though, which now came into play. About five inches from the bottom of each pole, metal plates slid out, creating circular guards that cast shadows on the ground under each one.

In the stands, Asuma smirked as he looked at a surprise Kurenai. "See? In one single move he's not only robbed his opponent of her ranged abilities, but also has extended the range his shadow can reach," he said, nodding to the field as Shikamaru crouched down again.

"Kagemane no Jutsu! (Shadow Possession Jutsu)" Shikamaru stated, as his shadow shot to the closest pole, sliding into the shadow under it. His shadow darted to different poles in a path towards Samui. Her eyes widened in surprise as she saw the shadow dart out from the pole closest to her, heading for her. She hopped and danced back several steps, the shadow easily extending past its previous end point by almost four meters before it stopped again. Samui frowned as she analyzed the situation.

The mass of lightning rods, so long as Shikamaru kept them relatively between them, would attract her lightning jutsu, preventing her from engaging him from range except with kunai and shuriken. And those shadows each one now was casting apparently allowed him to extend the range of his jutsu, meaning she had less room to maneuver around the field. He could easily maneuver around the mass of poles, no matter how she approached him. Her only hope was to win by attrition, force him to use up his chakra before he captured her.

Samui eyed the arena, only for her eyes to widen slightly as she realized she did have one safe area. She quickly began running to her right, with Shikamaru watching her carefully. She had the barest of smirks as she entered the shadow cast by the wall, a thick band of darkness shrouding the area with the trees and bushes. Her shadow, as well as his own, would be lost inside the wall's shadow, protecting her from his jutsu. He would have to drive her out of the bushes and trees in order to capture her, and he couldn't do that without moving away from the protection of the lightning rods.

Shikamaru frowned as he had taken this into account, but had hoped Samui wouldn't notice. The fight would be more complicated now, as he had to flush her out without getting into melee range or where she could use her lighting jutsu. The problem was how to do that, as he thought over his equipment. He had several smoke bombs, some explosive tags, a few dozen each of kunai and shuriken, several yards of ninja wire, and a few flash bombs. Taking a glance at her, he studied the terrain, and then slowly crouched down, placing his fingertips together as he placed his hands in an odd pose.

Asuma chuckled as he saw the confused looks of those around him. "Shikamaru is primarily a long term strategist," he said. "Out in the field, he's the one who comes up with the strategies that see him and the others through each fight. When he really needs to focus on a problem, he adopts that pose, running over every strategy he can before he acts."

"That's not exactly a smart move right now. It could leave him open to attack," Yakumo said, watching Shikamaru.

"In most situations, without Shino and Chouji around to protect him, you'd be right. But right now, Samui can't do much against him. He's relatively safe now," Asuma said with a grin.

At that moment Shikamaru's eyes opened and he slowly stood, drawing out a flash bomb as well as shuriken and ninja wire. He began to set up, watching Samui as he did so.

Samui saw him setting to work, and quickly drew out some kunai of her own, throwing them at him to try and distract him. Shikamaru dodged to the side, finished setting up before tossing out the light bomb he had, looking away.

Samui's eyes widened as she saw the small object in the air, before it exploded, blinding her in a flash of light.

Shikamaru, seeing the flash of light go off, turned and chucked his shuriken, each one trailing ninja wire behind them. As they shot past the blinded Samui he yanked on them, causing them to spin and wrap around her. He yanked on them, tripping her over, before pulling on them to attempt to pull her out of the shadows as the light bomb now had fully dissipated.

Samui could only groan, blind and disoriented from the blinding flash of light. She could feel she was tied up, on the ground, and being dragged, though not by much as it seemed that her opponent did not have the strength to pull her very far with each bout of effort. As she became coherent enough to realize what was happening, and her vision started to return, she struggled against the wires, trying to wiggle free. Finding no success there, she let out the smallest growl of annoyance, before closing her eyes, focusing on her chakra. She began to channel it to create a brief pulse of lightning around her, that shot up the wires towards Shikamaru.

The Nara boy let out a yelp as the lightning hit his hands, forcing him to drop the wires as he shook his hands, both of them numb and shaking from the electrical jolt. Samui managed to wiggle free of the loosened wires and seeing Shikamaru trying to control his hands, decided now was her time to strike. She quickly drew her tanto, rushing towards Shikamaru with the blade drawn back.

Shikamaru looked up as she shot towards him, preparing to strike at him with her tanto. He suddenly stopped shaking his hands, dodging to the side from her blow and snapping his hands into position, his shadow shooting out and capturing her in an instant. Samui's eyes widened as she found herself frozen in place, her body forced to move to mimic Shikamaru's stance, as he slowly stood up.

"Success," the Nara boy said, grinning as he watched her. "I'm sure you're pretty confused right now, aren't you?" He asked her.

"Your hands were shocked. How could you move?" She asked, grimacing as her body was forced to mimic him as he raised one hand, using it to tug on his other hand. Except his skin stretched where he tugged it, snapping back into place.

"Rubber gloves. I had them made along with those poles to help me defuse all your lightning techniques, forcing this into a hand to hand fight. Which you couldn't really be caught up in because of my shadow manipulation," Shikamaru said with a smirk. "You're obviously highly skilled with a blade, but you couldn't get too close to me while I could use my shadows, so you'd have to turn this into a range fight. By getting outside my shadow's range, you could effectively defeat me without putting yourself in danger. So I had to negate your lightning, which led to those lightning rods that also allowed me to extend the range of my shadow. When you hid in shadows there, I knew there was a chance that if I caught you, you'd do to me what you did to Tenten, and take me out by running your lightning along the metal wires. So I planned for that as well."

Samui just gave him a cold stare, annoyed with herself for getting caught. "So…what now?" She asked.

Shikamaru smirked as he raised his empty right hand to his throat, forcing her to do the same with her right hand. Except hers still carried her tanto in it. His maneuver caused her to place her own blade to her throat. "Now you surrender, or I'll cut your throat. I'd really rather not but honestly, my mother will kill me if I just give up after putting you in checkmate," he said.

Samui glared at him, before resignation settled in. "Proctor, I forfeit," she said, a disappointed but rueful look on her face now.

Shikamaru waited till he was declared the winner, before releasing Samui. "Good match," he said, sticking his hands into his pocket, deciding the least he could do was be a good sport about his victory. Samui just nodded quietly, turning and heading off to leave while Shikamaru glanced at the lightning rods he had used, letting out a sigh. "What a drag," he muttered, moving to retrieve them.

As the crowd cheered for the Nara's victory, Chouji looked surprised. "I really didn't expect him to move on to the next round. He usually is too lazy to want to try really hard," he said, looking to the others.

"Heh, you heard him. His mom would kill him if he tried to be too lazy," Kiba said with a grin. "I can't believe how he basically controlled the match! It's like he had it all planned out from the start."

"He most likely did," Shino said, causing them to jump in surprise as they realized the battered but healthy Aburame had joined them. "Shikamaru most likely has scenarios for beating each genin in the Finals here planned out well in advance. It is his greatest strength, though also possibly his greatest weakness as well," he said, settling into a seat. "He is not capable of adapting to unforeseen circumstances quickly."

"I'll admit, I'm a little depressed. I gave my all against her and got trounced, and Shikamaru didn't even seem to try that hard and beat her," Tenten said with a rueful grin on her face. "Then again, he had the advantage of knowing some of what she could do ahead of time."

Sakura gave her a sympathetic grin. "To be fair, her ninjutsu was one of the worst counters to your techniques," she reasoned. "You shouldn't feel too bummed out."

Tenten just nodded, quietly resolving to expand her abilities to prevent something like that from happening again.

With the jounin, Asuma grinned at the others. "See? I had absolute confidence in Shikamaru. He studies his opponents, and plans out ten moves ahead. The only problem is when he finds an opponent who simply is too strong or smart enough to counter him."

"Indeed, and his courtesy at the end was most youthful!" Gai said. "He treated his opponent with respect, as one should to any worthy opponent!"

"He is pretty good, but how will he handle an opponent he doesn't have all the information on?" Raphael asked with a curious tone. "It seems to me that all his strategic ability would not be enough to handle an opponent he cannot properly strategize against."

Asuma blinked at that. "Well admittedly, that's something I've been working on helping him with. His short term game is a little less refined, but I'm sure he'll handle himself well enough for now."

Near them, Kakashi only half listened to them as he mulled over the match. Shikamaru had proven again the lethal nature of Nara strategic mind, not only disabling his opponent's ranged ability but extended his own in the same move. Shikamaru could be potentially the most dangerous opponent if he had time to plan and prepare before a fight. But of course, he had to be fast enough and strong enough to handle his opponents. Kakashi was impressed with Shikamaru's actions, though he was relatively confident that Sasuke would prevail if he had to face the Nara.

In the contestant viewing area, Temari nodded slightly in slight respect. "He had the fight won the moment he stepped onto the field," she said quietly, being able to appreciate the Nara's actions thanks to her own strategic thought process. "Good to see one of these tree huggers knows how to plan and execute a strategy to win," she said, a slight sneer directed towards Hinata and the recently returned Lee, before she directed her gaze to Ino. "I guess you and I are up next, little girl."

Ino just gave her a nod. "Eeyup, and I'm ready to wipe that smug grin off your face, bitch," she said, checking her kusarigama around her waist. Temari just sneered at her, only to tremble as she felt the slightest spike of killer intent and annoyance from Gaara at the end of the balcony area.

"Temari, be silent," he said in that emotionless tone. His older sister nodded, looking away and keeping her mouth closed.

Ino frowned as she looked to Naruto and Hinata. The latter looked just as confused, but Naruto looked grim, shaking his head quietly at them.

In the kage viewing area, A was frowning heavily while Sarutobi smiled slightly to himself. "Your kunoichi was highly skilled in her preliminary match, but I'm afraid Shikamaru Nara was potentially one of the worst opponents she could have," he said, trying to both gloat and be consolatory to the leader of Kumo. A just glared at him, as next to the Raikage the Kazekage could only watch the two with amused interest at their interplay. "I'm afraid though that without seeing more of her abilities, I cannot suggest her being promoted to chuunin."

"I must concur on that decision as well," the Kazekage said. "However, despite his obvious brilliant strategy and victory, I must see more from Nara-san before I could suggest his advancement."

"I agree. It's all well and good when he defeats one opponent he was prepared for. Let us see him face off against others he may be less prepared for before we decide otherwise."

"Agreement," Sarutobi said, nodding. "Let us continue."

Genma, seeing the signal from Sarutobi, called down Ino and Temari to face off against each other. Temari leapt over the edge of the balcony, floating down on her open fan with wind slowing her fall. Ino took a deep breath, turning to Hinata and Naruto. "Well…wish me luck," she said.

"You don't need luck Ino. Kick her butt," Hinata said with a grin. Naruto gave the same confident grin as Ino nodded, her own grin growing before she flipped over the edge, using her chakra to cling to the wall and quickly move to the ground.

As the two kunoichi faced off against each other Temari smirked, leaning against her fan. "So, are you ready for the same kind of thrashing I gave your little pink haired friend?" She asked, confident in her victory.

Ino just smirked back. "If I'm not mistaken, my friend had you in the perfect position to kill you, if she felt so inclined. So can you really stand there acting so smug? Especially since I've got a lot less mercy then she did," she added, her voice grower darker towards the end.

Temari glowered at that, shifting her stance to get ready for combat, as Ino did the same, loosening her kusarigama from its holster at her side. Genma, seeing them both obviously ready, quickly signaled for the match to start.

Immediately Temari opened her fan, sweeping it back to launch a blast of wind at Ino. The Yamanaka kunoichi responded by nimbly dodging to the side, the flurry of wind cutting through where she had stood as she quickly got the chain and ball of her weapon spinning, all while she kept light on her feet. Temari smirked as she held her fan at the ready, just waiting for Ino to come at her. She was confident that she could easily use her fan and wind jutsu to keep Ino at bay, blowing away any ranged attack against her and deflecting the chain and ball of the kusarigama. The real trick would be making sure she didn't get caught in the mind based jutsu the girl had demonstrated in the preliminary match. All she had to do was keep an eye on her and stop any attempt to use that jutsu.

Ino meanwhile watched Temari, knowing that she had to catch the Suna kunoichi off guard. Her wind jutsu provided her with an excellent defense against any ranged weapon, but having seen it being used before, Ino didn't think much of it as an offensive weapon. She broadcasted her attacks too easily, having to sweep her fan back before waving it, making it easy to predict and thus dodge her attacks. The problem came that the closer she got to Temari, the less time she'd have to react and dodge.

Seeing Temari start to swing the fan back for another sweep, Ino immediately began moving quickly in the same direction that Temari was sweeping the fan back, causing the Suna kunoichi to frown as she tried to turn and keep Ino within the general area of effect of her wind jutsu. It was awkward, however, turning fast enough to keep up with Ino while keeping her fan ready. She grunted as her attempts to turn led to her stumble and Ino shot forward, capitalizing as she swung the chain right at Temari's feet, to try and trip her up.

Temari half stepped back, closing her fan and swinging it low, sending the ball on the chain flying back at Ino, using the moment of the swing to turn and open her fan, preparing to launch another blasts of winds. Ino quickly spun, grabbing the chain to control the ball and quickly rolling to the side, barely dodging the blast of wind before rapidly sprinting in a circle around Temari, who now couldn't even ready her jutsu and keep up with the rapidly moving kunoichi. Instead she held her fan closed, ready to dodge at a moment's notice.

Ino smirked, seeing she had Temari totally on the defensive, and now was the time to make her move. She spun one hundred and eighty degrees suddenly, sprinting the other way as Temari was caught off guard, raising her left arm and sliding the sleeve back. Temari jumped back, trying to turn as Ino stopped and fired her senbon at her. The Suna kunoichi immediately brought her fan in front of her, the iron side acting as a shield and blocking each needle. She lowered her fan just in time to see Ino leaping at her, swinging the axe blade of her weapon at Temari. Temari barely blocked with her fan as the two of then landed; Ino keeping up close with her so Temari couldn't effectively counter her. Temari grunted as she did her best to wield her fan with both hands, blocking Ino's blows and attempting to hit back with hooking blows of the ends of the fan like it was a staff.

It would be Ino who drew first blood, getting close enough to land a shallow cut on Temari's arm and the Suna kunoichi leapt back, wincing a bit. Ino grinned, spinning her axe in hand as she prepared to charge forward.

Temari's eyes narrowed and she quickly ran through a couple of handsigns as Ino charged forward. "Fūton: Kaze no Tate! (Wind Release: Shield of Wind!)"

A swirling mass of wind erupted around Temari, creating a shield that Ino slammed into, being tossed to the side. The Yamanaka hit the ground, rolling and getting back to her feet, narrowing her eyes at Temari who smirked back at her. "Well, you managed to do better than your little pink friend. You at least got an actual hit in."

Ino watched as the wind shield dissipated, taking that into account. "So, you can't hold that shield up for too long," she said.

"But I don't need to use it for too long," Temari countered. "Now are we going to talk, or fight?"

Ino slowly rubbed her chest, feeling soreness from the wind smashing into her like a blunt force. That shield would make things a little complicated, but it was not something that was insurmountable. Temari most likely would bring it out as a last resort. She just needed to get to her before she could counter. Ino reached back into her supply pouch, grabbing a few shuriken, a plan forming.

Temari, seeing her actions, smirked as she quickly unfolded her fan and blasted more wind at Ino, who instead of dodging, instead seemed to be trying to stand her ground, crossing her arms to block. Temari just smirked as the wind hit, only to blink as the Yamanaka kunoichi disappeared, replaced by a log that was sent flying by the wind. Temari whirled, seeing Ino throwing shuriken at her from behind, quickly bringing her fan up to block them before quickly swinging her fan, blowing wind at the airborne kunoichi.

Ino again disappeared in a substitution, this time though a shuriken appearing where she was. Temari's eyes shot wide open, looking down where the shuriken had fallen, only to see Ino grinning as she jumped back away from Temari while at the same time throwing down a couple of smoke bombs around Temari. They quickly exploded, engulfing the Suna kunoichi in smoke before she could react, while Ino hopped backwards a couple of time, creating a lot of distance.

Temari quickly swung her fan, her wind dispersing the smoke around her quickly, glaring at Ino as she tried to understand what her opponent was playing at. She had to know smoke bombs were useless against Temari, so why had she bothered doing that? She growled, preparing to launch another blast of wind at Ino, only to gasp and stumble, shaking her head as the world seemed to lurch around her. She planted her fan in the ground, using it to support herself as Ino grinned at her.

"Something wrong Temari-san?" Ino asked her, watching Temari trying to focus on her. The Suna kunoichi growled, trying to bring her fan up, only to be forced to put it down again to keep herself up as her legs buckled. Realization set in, that the smoke bombs had been more than just smoke but probably some type of poison as well, that she had inhaled before she could blow away the smoke cloud. She let out a yell as her legs finally collapsed and she fell to her hands knees.

Ino approached her, loading her senbon launcher as she did so. "So, here's the question of the day now, Temari-san. You can either choose now to surrender, like my friend offered in your match against her. Or you can choose not to. That poison you inhaled is very mild, only meant to disorient and render you unable to effectively fight. You'll be perfectly fine in a few minutes, once it has worked its way through your system. But you don't have those few minutes. Because if you choose to keep fighting, I'm going to shoot these senbon into you, each one of them laced with a poison that is not fatal, but you're really not going to enjoy what it does to you."

Temari glared at her, slowly gripping her fan, only to see Ino raise her senbon launcher, clearly indicating she was ready. "Please make my day, bitch," Ino said. "I really want to return the favor for what you did to my friend," she said.

The Suna kunoichi growled softly, before suddenly lunging at Ino, who quickly fired the senbon off from her launcher. However Temari's movements had caught her off guard, expecting the Suna kunoichi to go for her fan, not tackle into her. She grunted as she hit the ground, with Temari swinging wildly at her, her first smashing into the side of Ino's head. Ino let out a cry as stars exploded in her vision, her head ringing, but she managed to get her hands up, grabbing Temari's flailing arms. Temari kept struggling, but her movements weren't coordinated due to the poison, making it easier for Ino to hold her off and get her feet into Temari's chest to kick her off.

As the Suna kunoichi turned, movingly frantically but drunkenly to retrieve her fan, Ino quickly got to her feet, shaking her head to clear the fuzziness that came from the blow Temari had landed while she grabbed her kusarigama from her waist. With a perfect cast she managed to wrap the chain around Temari, pinning her arms to her side and yanking her back onto the ground. Temari growled and struggled, only to find the blade of Ino's weapon at her throat, causing her to cease her struggles.

Genma, seeing Temari was pinned and unable to fight without being killed, decided to end the match there. "Temari of Suna is unable to fight. Ino Yamanaka is the winner," he declared, as the crowd began to cheer and clap.

Ino smirked, pulling the chain loose from Temari and stepped away from her while the Suna kunoichi glared at her, slowly pushing herself up as the disorientation and nausea was slowly starting to pass. She stood there, glaring murder at Ino, before grabbing her fan and stomping off. Ino just smirked as she watched her defeated opponent leaving, before turning and finding Sakura in the stands. She grinned, giving her friend a thumb up, before turning and heading off to the medical area to get checked up.

Sakura could only let out a sigh of relief at seeing her friend emerge without any serious injury. It was great that she had won, but Sakura was just relieved Ino hadn't suffered what she had. Kiba whistled as he watched Ino walk off.

"Man, is it just me or does Team Eight seem to be a major step ahead of all of us?" He asked. "I mean look at them. Hinata took down Neji, and Ino seemed to have things planned out against Temari."

"Yeah. She's really something," Chouji said quietly, watching Ino move off with the slightest blush on his face.

Anko however was slightly less impressed. "She could have handled that a bit better," she murmured. "She could have avoided that last part if she had kept her distance. She let her anger get in the way of rational thinking."

Raphael nodded in agreement. "A cornered and wounded animal or opponent is at their most danger when pressed, or underestimated," he said softly. "But still, at least she won."

"Her use of substitution to get close enough to her opponent was quite good," Asuma commented. "She couldn't get close while Temari was able to use her wind jutsu and could see her coming. I'm impressed she was able to overcome that problem."

"I'm surprised she didn't try for a genjutsu after she had poisoned Temari. That would have been an excellent time to do so, when her opponent was too disoriented to effectively throw it off," Kurenai commented quietly.

"She might be saving her genjutsu for a tougher opponent," Yakumo suggested, looking to her mentor. "She might not to use all her skills right off the bat." The others nodded at that as well, while Kakashi just neutrally listened to them.

In the kage seats, the Kazekage sighed quietly. "My daughter seems to have allowed her arrogance to defeat her this day. Your genin was quite good, Sarutobi-san," he said.

"Indeed, though Ino-san allowed herself to be lax and unprepared there at the end," Sarutobi said. "I do not think I can recommend either of them for chuunin at this time, though we will see what happens in Ino's next match."

A nodded in agreement as well. "I agree on that front. Both are skilled, but both also showed arrogance and other emotions that clouded their judgment. Not good for prospective chuunin."

"Then we shall hold off judgment on Ino Yamanaka until her next match," Sarutobi said, signaling Genma.

Genma nodded, turning to the contestant balcony. "Will Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha, and Gaara of Suna please come down to the arena for the final match of the quarter-finals."

Naruto took a deep breath, looking to where Sasuke and Gaara both were moving to leave the balcony. He was about to do the same when Hinata grabbed his hand, causing him to stop and look to her. She looked nervous, before gently hugging him.

"Be careful Naruto-kun," she said softly. "Don't get yourself killed."

Naruto returned the hug, smiling while blushing lightly. "Thanks. And I'll be careful, alright?" He said quietly.

Hinata nodded, releasing him as he turned and headed out of the balcony, trying to calm his nerves as he prepared for what probably would be the toughest fight he ever faced.

The crowd was cheering and clapping, some on their feet, as they saw the three contestants take the field, each moving to a position where they faced each other in a triangle. This was more than they were expecting, a match between three competitors, making it all the more exciting and dramatic as each opponent had to keep aware of both of their fellow competitots.

With the sensei, Kakashi put away his book, his attention fully on the fight now. This was the moment he was waiting for, to see his plans come to fruition. He had been a bit shocked when the fight had become a three way free for all with Naruto added in, but he was still confident that Sasuke would have the skill and smarts to pull out a victory.

Anko and Raphael both felt their nerves increase as they waited for the match to start. They both knew how dangerous Gaara was, and seeing Naruto have to face off against him, as well as Sasuke, definitely left them both anxious. But they both also had faith in Naruto, and would support him throughout the fight.

In the back of the stands, a cloaked and hooded figure finally took interest in the events below, sliding forward slightly as their ANBU mask hid their alert eyes and the smirk forming on their face. It was almost time for him to take action.

In another part of the stands, the Suna team's jounin sensei tensed slightly, knowing that soon enough, they were going to be called to action.

On the arena floor, the three genin looked at each other, two with analytic gazes, and the third with a passive look that hid bloodthirsty glee. Genma glanced between them, before raising his hand. "Let the match begin!" He shouted, as the crowd cheered.


Evil cliffhanger strikes again! All shall fear the dreaded suspense! MUHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHA!

Seriously though, sorry for the cliffhanger but after three other fights, I thought this was a good place to stop, setting up for the action of the next match. Hope you all think so too.

I also hope you all liked the fights. I'm sure there will be some who have questions or concerns about them, which I am more than happy to address if you want me to, so please either review your concerns, or send them to me in a PM, and I'll explain my line of thought.

Thank you all again for reading, and I hope you'll continue to do so. And thanks go out to my beta BillAlain for his continual work in catching my mistakes.

Till next time!