"Oh… That's no problem, then," Shikamaru smiled comprehensively. "As I was saying, this final activity consists of three parts in a sequence. The first objective is archery. You must target the total of five bullseyes from a far distance, using either your shurikens or kunai knives. The second one is after you finish scoring, unlock the chests to get the scrolls."
"Lastly, you have to climb onto the rope ladder to place them on the wooden altars that Shikamaru and I have created. Be careful, it's very slippery, so make sure you don't trip over," Temari instructed formally and continued on. "Team One, we have Inner Sakura, Hinata, Naruto, Gaara, Sasuke, Lee, and Kankuro. Team Two, we have Ino, Tenten, Choji, Sai, Shino, Kiba, and Neji."
"Yes!" The seventh Hokage exclaimed, punching his fists in the air in enthusiasm. He wrapped his arm around Hinata, who blushed shyly, and declared proudly. "I get to be with my girl!"
"Hoy. Keep it to yourself, will ya? It's aggravating how you're rubbing it on our faces," Kiba commented with his eyes rolled.
"How? Is it wrong to confess thy love? You're just jealous because you're still single," Naruto stifles his laughter, covering his mouth.
"Why would I? I'm still lucky because I wouldn't be the one to get scolded," Kiba pointed out.
"Guys… Bickering will only waste our time, so please shut up," Ino gritted her teeth in pique.
"Thank you, Ms. Yamanaka, for scolding those two idiots," Temari chirped, much to Naruto and Kiba's sweatdrop and embarrassment. "So you have, at least, 30 minutes to get to the finish line and you will be rewarded."
"And of course, don't forget to-" Shikamaru was about to finish his sentence, but got interrupted instead.
"Wave the signal high up in the air!" Everyone responded in unison, causing Temari to guffaw.
Shikamaru furrowed his eyebrows weirdly and chuckled, saying. "I'm surprised you all know what to do then and are well-prepared."
The others nodded at him silently in amusement.
"Great. May the best team win," he declared with an intriguing smirk on his face as soon as the anticipation had begun.
The first participants have stepped in the white line and peered skeptically at one another. They held onto their bows as Temari pointed her weapon upwards.
"Ready, set, go!" She exclaimed as she fired it and glanced between Neji and Hinata, who lifted their elbows and shot the arrows to the bullseye, which made the others drop their jaws in awe.
"Wow. Impressive. You go, girl!" Inner Sakura saluted.
"Hehe. Thanks," the Byakugan kunoichi smiled.
"Good aim," Neji said, smirking.
"Hmm," Hinata hummed in response, then she went to the side of her team's spot and observed the next teammates.
Tenten brought her bow and looked at Lee daringly, saying. "Don't lose your focus."
"Oh, you bet on it," he retorted back once they pulled the string that strikes the arrows through their targets. However, he missed the score, whereas he saw his friend jump in triumph.
"Yes! I still got my flexes on. Uh huh," Tenten sang gleefully with a twirl.
Lee grabbed his head and groaned in defeat as he ran up to his team with a huge sigh.
"You still did great. Cheer up a little," Inner Sakura said.
"Awww, really? You wouldn't mind if I controlled your mind and broke all of your arrows?" Ino intervened.
"How can you? Remember, I'm a voice in my own head and can lead myself to go with my choices, so don't think I'm not able to outwit you," Inner Sakura stated with a taunting smirk.
"Hey, hey! Chi-chill down! I was only joking," Ino widened her eyes in panic, holding her hands up in defense and looked away strangely.
Inner Sakura burst out laughing at her reaction and said. "Me too. Oh my goodness, your face is so priceless."
"Tsk. No," Ino spluttered, then picked up the weapon as they both shot their arrows that pierced the holes of the fabrics.
The game has already gotten a little serious for Naruto and Sai when they hardened their stare, whereas for Choji and Kankuro, who shook their hands friendly right after they both scored for their teams.
The time limit was over as Temari whistled and clapped her hands twice vigorously to get their attention. "Okay, folks! Looks like you've made your results. You may now proceed to the next round in about four minutes and this may be a little tricky. Better not get bent out of shape."
They all shuffled amongst themselves and each two members were chosen to do the second activity, which is color coding the chests. One of them became befuddled since it is not to his appeal.
"Ah, shit! There's so many of them to solve," Kiba huffed.
"Quit whining and just do it," Tenten called out, causing him to roll his eyes.
"That's one thing that we should find out," Choji said.
"Timing starts… now," Temari declared.
The first two members immediately took the scrolls, whereas the other two went over to the chests to decode the four colors. They kept their focus on the coordination, but Kankuro and Choji were sweating pensively as they kept their hands steady. Lee and Kiba are also timid to solve the basic numbers for the equation to get the total outcomes.
"Damn. Just who on earth would make these stuff up? Numbers and letters being put together? Ugh. This is mental abuse. Oh well, the least I can do right now is not sit here and be dumb enough to answer," Kiba thought practically and slowly turned his eyes towards his opponent. "He seems to know this shit already. What a nerd."
"Halfway there…" Lee said, furrowing his eyebrows in concentration. Then, he held his fingers to depict two numbers to Kankuro, who smirked and nodded in confirmation.
"Heh, two more to go and this will all be over."
Choji furrowed his eyebrows in worry as he noticed Kiba stiffened a bit until he became surprised at the hand signals. He smiled and entered the numbers as soon as the colors popped in correctly. "Alright. We are rolling."
"One minute left!" Temari reminded them brazenly and clapped her hands in eagerness. "Let's go, gentlemen! No time to slack off!"
"You can do it, Cho cho!" Ino exclaimed, bumping her fists in the air cheerily.
"Focus, Lee!" Tenten said encouragingly.
"Hey! What about me?!" Kiba shouted.
"Hah. Who would care?" Naruto laughed, whereas Hinata nudged her elbow on his shoulder in annoyance.
"Shut up!" Kiba shouted with an angry funny expression, then went back to the activity. He counted the numbers in his head to calculate the total outcome for the third part before writing them down.
Lee was also doing the same thing, but both of them were quickly scribbling the scroll while everyone else was watching.
"40 seconds!" Temari said out loud.
"Shit…" Kiba hissed in thought.
"At this rate, we will not win…" Choji gulped as he was staring anxiously at his teammate.
"Hehe. Jackpot," Kankuro grinned with a sparkle of achievement in his eyes.
In a fraction of a second, Choji pressed the last number for the remaining part that made Kiba cry out in an uproar of exhilaration. Everyone else stood up and rallied up with their hands applauding.
"It's a tie for Team 1 and Team 2! Congratulations, gentlemen! You all scored four points!" Temari smiled and crossed her arms.
"Yes! We did it!" Lee said giddily.
"Hmph. I told you," Kankuro noted.
"Phew… That was not hard and not easy at all," Choji nodded as he wiped the sweat off of his forehead.
"You guys are so dramatic, it wasn't even that bad," Ino said.
"Oh really? You say it like that because you are a mind transfer user, so it makes it so easier for you to cheat," Kiba remarked nastily.
But Ino just rolled her eyes at him dismissively. The other members continued to praise their teammates, whereas Sasuke noticed Sakura getting close with Gaara as she helped him gather food for them.
"Time for a break!" She exclaimed.
"Ahh. At last, I'm craving for something," Choji howled.
"Same…" Naruto said, sighing in relief. Then, the rest of them followed along.
"What is going on? Did her memory just come back? No, no… It can't be. It will take time for her to recover," Sasuke thought dubiously and unclenched his fists.
Regaining his own posture, he calmly approached Sakura and whispered in her ear. "What are you doing with him?"
Sakura got startled and answered simply. "I'm just helping him out and wanting to know him. That's all."
Sasuke was nodding slowly in skepticism and queried. "I see….. Have your memories come back?"
"Umm… Yeah, some of them. Why?"
"Nothing. I thought I'd be the first one to know. What about the others?"
"Well, they haven't yet. I will tell them soon," Sakura smiled warmly at him.
"That's good," Sasuke said faintly and placed his hand on her back.
Moreover, Gaara was listening to them and faltered a little, not wanting to look at his action.
TO BE CONTINUED...