Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto nor do I own the characters that are in the manga/anime. I just enjoy adding things to their everyday lives.
A/N: I know I feel like I am taking forever to get these out. Had to stop writing for like a week and a half because of stress and headaches so bare with me now.
Thanks to:
Cassie07: There you go; I hope you enjoy this one.
Xdisturbed-angelx: It's what I try to do. When you hook the readers you know you are doing your job.
Silvermane1: Glad you liked it.
Chapter Twenty-Two
The crowd starts roaring its displeasure when Sasuke doesn't show up. "Sheesh…" The moderator says while looking up at the people in the stands.
"What's going on? Is Sasuke-kun even here for his match?" Ino asks.
'Sasuke-kun…' Sakura looks depressed.
"What the heck is that guy doing? Is he planning not to come?" Shika asks while standing next to Naruto.
"Confucius said, 'the wise do not approach the dangerous.' A wise decision perhaps?" Shino asks. Naruto looks over to where Gaara is standing with his siblings.
"What are you talking about? He's definitely going to come!" After Naruto says this both she and Gaara look at each other out of the corner of their eyes. Shikamaru is wondering what kind of energy he is feeling as the two's beasts start leaking a little Chakra to intimidate each other. 'But what's taking so long? If you don't show up soon, you'll be disqualified!' She thought while wondering where her boyfriend is.
"If he doesn't come, then the plan will…" Kankuro stops himself as he shoots Temari a panicked look.
"This is bad. What are we going to do?" She wonders.
"Hey! What's up with the match?! Isn't Uchiha here yet?!" Someone shouts in the audience.
"Okay, I got it…" The moderator says to the Chuunin messenger. He turns to the crowd. "Ladies and gentlemen! The contestant for the next match hasn't arrived yet! Therefore we will push this match back and begin the next one!"
"Just what is Sasuke doing?" Asuma wonders.
"What a relief! Sasuke-kun won't be disqualified!" Ino says with a huge smile on her face.
'Phew…thank goodness…' Naruto sighs in relief.
"Hey, this means that my match just got one closer!" Shika complains.
"And now, the next match! Kankuro and Aburame Shino! Come down!" The moderator says.
"Shoot…" Kankuro says as he grits his teeth. 'This match doesn't even matter…' He looks at his team leader over his shoulder. 'I'm more worried about revealing the gimmick that was planted into Karasu before the plan begins. There's no way that I'm going to do that…' He looks at his sister and they nod their head to each other. "I forfeit!"
"Huh?!" Naruto shouts as her and Shika look at him in shock.
'What?!' The moderator wonders and Temari tisks while taking her fan off of her back and flies down into the ring.
"Man…" Kankuro says while watching his sister.
"Looks like you're eager. Shikamaru! Get down here!" The moderator says.
'What's she getting all excited about? I wish she'd just die! How come I'm the only one who has his matches changed around so much? Well, I guess I can also forfeit and…" Shikamaru thinks while looking down at her.
"Alright! Shikamaru, go for it!" Naruto cheers for the teen and shoves his shoulder so hard he ends up falling over the railing into the arena below. Shikamaru screams the whole way down.
'Naruto…' He glares up at the girl who is looking down at him devilishly. She snickers.
"Hey! Hurry up and fight!" One person yells out in the audience.
"Yeah! Hurry up and finish this crappy match!" Another one joins in. Shikamaru lies there wondering why his life ended up being this troublesome.
"Get up, kid! How long are you going to lie there?!" Temari wonders as she watches him.
'Sigh…everyone wants to see Sasuke's fight…they're probably angry because after all this waiting, they have to watch this pathetic excuse for a match between two side acts…since nobody cares about this fight, there isn't really any point to doing it…' Shikamaru thinks while watching the girl he is supposed to be fighting.
"What, are you going to give up too?" Temari taunts.
'Aw man, it's a girl again?' He complains in his head.
'Sigh…well, it's not like he was motivated to begin with…' Asuma thinks as he watches his student.
"Shikamaru! Good luck!" Naruto yells out to him.
"If you won't come, then I will!" Temari shouts and starts running to him.
"Hey! I didn't start the match yet!" The moderator yells at her.
"Oh man…that girl is really revved up." Shika says while taking out two Kunai. As soon as Temari swings her fan down he raises them and a cloud of dust flies up when her fan hits it. Naruto looks on with wide eyes and Shika smirks up at her, then nods.
"Ya know, I don't really want to fight…and I don't care whether I become Chuunin or not…but I'm not going to lose to a girl!" Shika says while looking down at the girl while standing on the two Kunai he embedded into the wall. "Can't have a guy losing to a girl…so…well, I guess I'll do it!" When he says this Temari's lips turned up into a smirk and she waves her fan to throw a wind wave at him. The whole area clouded up with flying debris and Temari waits for it to settle.
'Hah! He's great at running away!' She thought as she now couldn't see him.
'But, even so, a guy just go around hitting women. So…' Shikamaru thinks as he hides in the small patch of trees in the arena.
"Bust her up! Shikamaru! Get her with a 16 hit combo!" Ino shouts out as she cheers for her team mate.
"Is it okay if I sit here?" Choji says getting the girls attention while he munches on a bag of chips.
"What's with you…your stomach's alright already?" She asks while she looks at him with worry filled eyes.
'Let's see…he's a Ninja that uses shadows…so he's probably trying to lure me into the trees where there'll be lots of cover…but no way I'm gonna fall for that.' Temari thought as she stands behind her fan.
'Oh man…why do I always end up fighting women? Shit.' Shika complains in his head.
"Huh? Wasn't it supposed to be Sasuke's match next?" Choji asks Ino who starts freaking.
'Best to leave her alone right now…' She thought as she holds her finger over her lips telling Choji to shut up. In the seat next to her Sakura is feeling glum since Sasuke didn't show up for his match.
"Hmm, but for Shikamaru to be in the finals…it seems really out of place, doesn't it?" Choji asks as he pops another chip into his mouth.
"Don't say that! Sure, he doesn't have any special techniques but…Shikamaru's really great at planning strategies, right? I get the feeling that's how we were able to survive until the final preliminary rounds, you know!" Ino says to him.
"Mmm, yeah, I guess…but he'll just quit real soon anyway. I'm tellin' ya he's definitely gonna give up. He feels things like this are such a hassle." Choji said.
"And I'm saying he won't! Just now, he jumped down into the ring on his own so…he seemed unusually revved up to go! He gets pretty hot about some things!" Ino says with her voice full of excitement. "Go! Shikamaru!" She cheers loudly for him. He looks up at her with a dull look on his face. His attention turns to the clouds.
'Oh man…those clouds are so lucky…so free…more to the point, I didn't feel like doing this at all to begin with…and…I only became a Ninja because I thought life would be more interesting as one…' As he was thinking his attention was brought to the crater that came from Naruto's and Neji's fight and smirked as an idea came to mind. He looks up at the pig tailed blond cheering for him with the other Genin's in the finals. 'I suppose things just aren't going to be that simple.'
'What is he doing with that dumb expression on his face? Is he making fun of me!?' Temari wonders as she stares at the boy. "Ninpou: Kamaitachi!" She waves her fan hard and made winds at storm level shoot towards him. He braces himself as they batted against him.
'This is it; all my weapons were knocked away by this attack.' Tenten says while shielding herself from the wind. Temari is staring into the dust cloud trying to see where he is when she noticed a shadow racing out of it towards her. She starts flipping backwards until it couldn't reach her.
'It's beginning to shrink…!' She takes her fan and draws a line in the dirt about six inches away from where the shadow stops. "Ah…I see. I've seen through your Kagemane no Jutsu!" She says to him as he is revealed when the dust settles more. "Looks like there is a limit to how much you can…stretch, shrink and change the shape of your shadow, isn't there…no matter how much you change and stretch the shape of your shadow, you still can't stretch it any further than the surface area of your normal shadow…right?"
"Haha…that's right…" Shikamaru says with a smirk on his face.
'This is the outer limit that his shadow attack should be able to stretch to.' She thinks of the logistics where his attacks could reach or not. '15 meters and 32 centimeters…' She analyzes the distance.
'She's marked the distance of the shadow with her fan; hmm…Temari's even better at ranged combat than she is at close combat. The match has already been decided.' Kankuro thinks as he watches his sister. Shikamaru looks up at the clouds longingly and sits in his analytical stance so he could revise everything inside of his brain. This causes people to look at him and wonder what he is doing.
"What is that…? That seal…" Kuranai wonders.
"That's no seal…" Asuma tells her.
"Huh?" She sounds out her confusion as she looks at the man sitting next to her.
"It's a habit of his…" Asuma says.
"Habit?" She asks.
"He knows how to slowly take his time…he actually enjoys it. Like one of those old geezers. That's why he likes things like Shougi and Go. I've been playing against him a lot recently, and…when he's backed into a corner he always does that." Asuma smiles at her confusion. "It's a sign that he's working on some strategy. As a result…I've never won a game off him…not even once."
"You speak of strategies…this is a real fight…not some game, you know! Sheesh…" She looks at him like he's lost his marbles.
"But it is said that those games originally had their roots as a device for tacticians to plot their wars with. So, I guess you could say that Shikamaru's a shrewd tactician." He tells her.
"Shrewd? Hold on a minute! I saw his grades when they were deciding the Genin squad assignments…he was supposed to be at the same level as that Naruto!" Kuranai says with a shocked face.
"When are you and others going to realize that if those two had given their all they would have been at the top of the class? Naruto's main focus then was keeping her Genjutsu up and Shikamaru didn't want to go up if she didn't. He always claimed it was too much hassle to even move the pencil for the academy written exams…it seems that he would always sleep through his tests…Once…it struck me as strange that he could be so strong at strategic games despite his grades…so I had him take an IQ test disguised as a game. I wasn't really taking it seriously at the time…When he found out he had me give one to Naruto as well since they were together more often than not growing up." He thought back to those days.
"So…? How was it…?" Kuranai asked.
"They were diamonds in the rough. Both are super genius with an IQ over 200! Naruto took the test after she released her Genjutsu as per request from Shikamaru, one of the few who knew she was using it. When they were both finished they used it as a joke together." He said as he watched Shikamaru sticking his hand in his pouch.
'Tw…two hundred? How can they both be that high?' She wonders as her eyes widen.
'He's done planning! It'll begin now!' Asuma says as he sticks his attention to the fight.
"Looks like you're finally going to be a little serious!" Temari shouts as she grips her fan tightly. "Kamaitachi no Jutsu!" She pushes another gust of wind towards him and he draws out a Kunai as he runs behind a tree for cover. "There's no use in hiding!" He covers his ears as the wind squeals by his head. He grits his teeth and starts taking his shirt off showing the mesh shirt underneath it more.
"Does he really have some sort of strategy?!" Kuranai asks.
"P…probably…he's supposed to…"Asuma stutters as he wonders what his student is doing.
"There's no way he'll get close with that!" Ino growls out.
"How long are you going to keep running away for? Give up already!" Temari says as she waves her fan yet again. As the gust of wind draws up the dust again a Kunai is shot towards her causing her to move away from her spot. She deflects it with her fan and notices the shadow approaching yet again. 'Ha! It's no use! As long as I'm on this side of the line, there is no wa…' She stops as it gets closer. 'No…hold on! Shit! This is bad!' The shadow went past the line she drew and she jumps into the air. As she lands she noticed it stop.
"Very good, you saw through that…" He says to her.
"I see. You were whiling away the time…waiting for the sun to drop lower…so the shadows of the wall and yourself would grow larger…" She muses as he humphs in disappointment. "The closer to sunset, the longer the shadows grow…"
"Bah!" He glares at her.
"So close, Shikamaru!" Ino cheers.
"But hey, how can Shikamaru use his shadows when he's in the area's shadow?" Choji asks.
"As long as there is light, there will be a shadow even within a shadow. You're his teammate and you don't know anything about Shikamaru." She scolds him.
'From the height of the sun and judging from the earlier attacks, my calculations say this should be the limit of his Jutsu.' Temari thought as she smirks. Gaara looks up which brought Kankuro's attention to what he is looking at and he looks down at her.
"Temari! From above!" He screams down at his sister who ends up looking above her with wide eyes.
'I see…' Shino says as he watches on.
'What?!' She could barely gather what is going on not noticing the shadow that is appearing a few inches in front of her. She finally looks down to see it bigger than a mango. 'Oh no!' The shadow passes by the rounded shadow on the ground and shoots to her, making her run and dart away from it. As she runs the shadow completely chases her, even turning when others would think it would not.
"You won't escape!" Shikamaru grits out between his clenched teeth. Temari notices exactly what caused the shadow and grits her teeth.
'No way…to use his shirt as a parachute to add to the shadow…he's quite an impressive fellow. He drew my attention to the ground with the shadow attack so I wouldn't notice what was going on above…then when I finally notice the parachute I'm attacked from below as well. A sneaky plan to create an opening…but now its all clear to me! The Shadow Copy no Jutsu is…! A technique that attacks by controlling your own and other shadows. Basically…he can move it around at his own will as long as he knows how to render the shadows his domain. So I can think of it like this…with the Shadow Copy no Jutsu, your own shadow's shade can be changed at will if you are within another shadow you can detach it and move it freely within the other shadow.' She watches the shadow closely and lands.
"To be able to dodge even that attack…"Shikamaru looks at her.
"His plan wasn't good enough…" Kuranai muses.
"Yeah…his opponent is pretty bright herself. She thinks ahead." Asuma agrees.
'If I keep this up, his shadow will keep growing and he'll keep expanding his reach.' Temari says as she watches the sun. 'I'll end it here!' She slams her fan into the ground. 'I'll divert his attention with the Bunshin no Jutsu. First I'll hide behind the fan and create a clone…then it will jump out and draw his attention and with that opening…I'll use all my Chakra and create the strongest possible Kamaitachi and rip him apart! Right now…his shadow is…' She looks at the shadow zipping straight at her. 'Good! Begin the plan! Bunshin no…' She tries to finish the symbols and can't move. 'Impossible! No…no way…my body…' Shikamaru released the sign when he notices his shadow hit its mark.
"Heh…finally…Shadow Copy no Jutsu, success!" He says with a smirk on his lips.
"Wha?" Temari chokes out trying to fight the Jutsu.
"What happened?" Kankuro wonders.
"That child…how many moves ahead is he thinking?" Kuranai asks.
"That's Shikamaru's ability." Asuma says with a cigarette sticking in between his lips.
"Why…won't my body move? The shadow can't have reached this far…besides…" Her whole body is shaking.
"I'll show you what's behind you…" Shika says and turns his head which turns hers to see behind her. Her eyes widen when she saw the shadow coming out from the hole that Naruto created when she was fighting Neji.
'Th…this hole!' She stared at it in shock.
"You've noticed it haven't you? That's the hole Naruto dug and ambushed with in the previous battle. It's connected to the large hole in front of you." Shika says with a grin.
"No way…the shadow inside the tunnel…" She says as she looks at him.
"Exactly." He nods and his smile fades from his face. "You see, the thing is, like Naruto I like to think outside of the box. We both have become like that throughout the years."
'It can't be…! The attack using the shirt was just to move me to this spot…? That was also a diversion?! Thi…this guy…' Temari stares at him as he makes them move closer together.
"Checkmate." Kuranai says.
'Suddenly everyone's into this fight…' One of the Chuunin's watching thinks as he looks around at the audience around him.
'This guy nobody took seriously has suddenly become a major dark horse.' His friend thought with a smile.
"Yeah! Do it!" Naruto shouts out as she grins at him.
"Go!" Ino shouts and Shika raises both of their right arms. Choji is so into the fight that he is eating his chips with a high speed.
"That's it…I give up." Shika says making everyone's jaw drop.
"I told you he'd give up. You're the one who doesn't know anything about Shikamaru, Ino." The chubby fellow says.
"Wh…what?!" Temari stutters out.
"I give up. The continuous use of the Shadow Copy no Jutsu has used up all of my Chakra. I can barely bind you for 10 more secs. I had thought up about 200 more moves but…it looks like I'm out of time. I'm getting tired of this…one match is enough for me." He says looking her in her eyes.
'Weird fellow.' The moderator thought as he smirks at him. "Winner Temari!" The shadow that immobilized Temari released its hold and went back to a regular shadow.
"Man…I'm tired." Shikamaru says while rubbing his shoulders. Temari is watching him while her face pours down the sweat from her struggles against her shadow prison.
"Aahh! What a waste! It was his chance to become a Chuunin!" Ino roared in outrage.
"That's just who he is." Choji says with a smile. Naruto looks down at Shika who does thumbs up to the girl, who now has a full grown grin on her face.
"Geez…is he motivated or not?" Kuranai asks.
"I don't really know either…" Asuma says.
'But…that child's intellect and strategy is beyond the level of a Genin. If this was an actual mission with a 4 member team, Shikamaru's victory would have been definitive at the point he caught her. Well, it's like he won the battle but lost the match. And we have two students with this kind of intellect?' She wonders as her gaze goes from Shikamaru to Naruto who looks innocent to everyone but those who are able to see the intelligence behind the girls' eyes.
'It's true that it's unfortunate that he doesn't seem to have any motivation, but you could also say that allows him to have calm and…collected decision making, because he knows his own strengths and skills. He doesn't panic in battle and he doesn't lose his cool. So even in the worst condition, he can act calmly. When you talk about the mental make-up necessary for a Chuunin…Shikamaru has the most important abilities…that would make for a good leader!' Asuma thinks with a smile on his lips as he looks at his student with pride.
"Why did he give up?! Is he an idiot?! This pisses me off; I'm gonna go give him a lecture!" Naruto says as she climbs over the railing to jump down to Shika.
"Lectures are tricky things…if you don't want to anger the other party." Shino warns her.
"Idiot!" Naruto yells at Shika.
"Shut up, you super idiot!" Shika says.
"Why did you give up?!" Naruto asks. "You and I both know you were holding back on her, and you still have Chakra left!"
"Forget about that already…Let's just enjoy the next fight…" Shika says trying to distract her knowing how easy it is even if the girl is one of the only smart ones he knows.
"Oh…" Then the girls face blows up in joy. 'The next one is…Sasuke…!' Temari joins her brothers up top.
"Hey…hey…it's time…is he really going to come?" Kankuro asks.
"He'll come…definitely." Gaara says showing no emotions whatsoever.
"Argh! What is that idiot doing? He's not here yet?!" Naruto asks while looking around and was about to boost Kyuubi's Chakra to look for his when a whirlwind of leaves pop up inside of the arena besides her. Shikamaru's face shows shock while Naruto hold a smile looking her boyfriend from head to toe, looking like she was checking to see if he was alright.
"Sorry we're late…" Kakashi says smiling at them.
"Your name?" The moderator asks with a smile.
"Uchiha…Sasuke." The teen says with narrowed eyes.
'Heh…after causing trouble for everyone…what an attitude.' Shika thought as he smirks.
"Hah! How late can you be? I was beginning to think you weren't showing up 'cuz you were too afraid to fight me!" Naruto says as she looks at him with anger in her eyes.
'Geez…whatever…who was the one saying he'll definitely come? She acts like she is pissed though.' Shika says as she looks at the girl with worry.
"Heh…don't get too worked up, you total moron…" Sasuke says cockily while Gaara's eyes narrow.
"See…he came." Gaara says.
"From your excitement…you won in the first round?" Sasuke asks his girlfriend as he looks her up and down, making sure she is okay.
"Of course!" Naruto replies with a cocky smile.
"Well…we showed up all flashy and the like, but…could Sasuke have been…disqualified?" Kakashi asked as he smiled sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head. "See…you're late Sasuke."
"Geez…your tardiness must be contagious…" The moderator joked.
"So…what is it?" Kakashi asked while Sasuke looked irritated.
"Don't worry…we pushed Sasuke's fight 'til the end…he hasn't been disqualified." He answers the Jounin.
"That's good! Good!" Kakashi says while laughing nervously. Gaara is getting aggravated watching the brunette checking the girl over in the arena so he ends up glaring down at Sasuke. The teen feels the eyes on him so he looks up at the red head and doesn't even give him a chance to read him.
"Don't lose to a guy like that." Naruto says as she gets closer to Sasuke.
"Yeah…" Sasuke says while grabbing her hand. She thinks about what he said before the prelims a month ago.
"Sasuke!" She squeaks out trying to get his attention. The teen looks at her confused. "I…want to fight you too!" She tells him with a blush painting her cheeks. After looking into her blue eyes his lips turn slightly in a smile.
"Yeah…" He tells her making her grin.
'I must admit I'm looking forward to this too…I can't blame them for glossing over me.' Shika thought as he listens to the crowd cheering for Sasuke.
"Gaara, get down here." The moderator says to the teen.
"Naruto, let's go back up." Shika says to get her attention.
"Yeah." She starts walking away from Sasuke, who reluctantly releases her hand.
"For going up at least, we're going to slowly walk up the stairs." Shika says while rubbing his sore shoulder.
"What? You're still pissed that I pushed you down?" Naruto whines as she follows him. Gaara starts getting the crazy look on his face.
'N…not good…I haven't seen Gaara like this in quite a while.' Temari looks at her little brother nervously.
"H…hey Gaara…about the plan, do you under-…" Kankuro was quieted when Temari placed a hand and nervously looked over her shoulder at the teen.
"Don't talk to Gaara right now." She tells him quietly and Kankuro really looks their little brother over. "You'll be killed!" While Shika and Naruto enter the stairway from below, Gaara starts walking down it from above.
"Come on, hurry up!" Naruto says impatiently as Shika is taking his time to go up the stairs.
"There's no advantage to hurrying through life…" Shika advises her, and Naruto's eyes widen when she saw someone above them. "What's wrong?" They watched Gaara walking towards them when two Shinobi stands in front of him.
"Stop." One tells him.
"These low level tournaments like the Chuunin exam are great for betting…many of the ministers are here for that…" One says.
"And so…this fight…could you lose it?" As the man asks this sand starts floating out of Gaara's gourd as he smiles creepily at them. It envelopes them and squeezes the blood from their body. When he was finished he walked on like nothing happened, while the two onlookers shake in fear. Gaara walks in between them only to pause just to stare into Naruto's eyes, then continued on downward. Sasuke continues to wait for Gaara watching the stairs for him to emerge. He finally does and Naruto and Shika sit on the stairs trying to gather their breaths.
"If those two hadn't been there, we'd probably be dead…I've never seen a guy who could kill with so little hesitation like that…even Sasuke could be in trouble." Shika says while wiping sweat from his brow.
'Sasuke…' Naruto starts worrying for her boyfriend.
"Now…finally…" The moderator looks at Gaara who has just stepped in front of Sasuke.
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