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Blah Blah Blah basic text (i.e. description, speech, etc)
Blah Blah Blah Thought or some transaction within someone's mind
Blah Blah Blah Kyuubi or some other large or imposing being talking
BLAH BLAH BLAH yelling or emphasis of some sort
Naruto of the Nine Tails
Rated M for language, violence, adult content, and graphic imagery
Chp 24: Queen's Gambit
Konoha Coliseum
It was nearly noon and the crowd was becoming restless as Sakura walked into the middle of the Konoha Coliseum to join with the other finalists, her cloak billowing slightly in the breeze.
Hinata quirked an eyebrow at Sakura's choice of attire; namely the thick cloak on a clear summer's day. "A little warm for that don't you think?" she asked teasingly.
"I completely agree," Sakura replied, nodding her head as she came to stand next to her friend. "You two ready?" she asked, flicking her gaze to Naruto. He was strangely… calm, composed, as he crouched next to Hinata his tails swishing lazily back and forth behind him.
Hinata's lip twitched. "I don't think we have anything to worry about," the young heiress replied.
Sakura pouted, sticking her lip out as her eyes began to glisten.
Hinata's lip twitched again.
"Mou," Sakura huffed. "Fine, don't tell me. See if I share any juicy gossip with you ever again."
"You really need to stop writing checks you can't cash, Sakura," Sasuke snickered as he came to stand with his teammates.
"No one asked you Sasuke," Sakura replied, pulling down an eyelid and sticking her tongue out at him.
"Remind me. Why haven't we killed him?" Inner Sakura wondered.
'Dying's easy, living is hard,' Sakura replied.
"It was an observation, not a response," Sasuke argued, crossing his arms.
"Yeah well-"
"If you two are quite finished!" Hinata interrupted, rolling her eyes at her teammates. "It looks like they are ready to begin the matches," she said, pointing at Genma as he turned to address the crowd.
"The first match will be between Nara Shikamaru of the Leaf and Haruno Sakura of the Leaf," he called, before turning to the chunnin hopefuls. "Combatants, please take your positions; the rest of you please proceed to the observation deck," Genma ordered, pointing toward a door in the wall of the coliseum.
"Good luck!" Hinata whispered as she passed before she and the rest of the other gennin walked off the field.
"We're gonna need it," Inner Sakura muttered
'Well aren't you optimistic this morning,' Sakura thought sarcastically as she walked over to stand across from Shikamaru.
"Nope, just realistic… Oh well, no matter what happens we'll look good doing it," she decided, nodding sagely.
'Ain't that the truth,' Sakura replied with a smirk.
"Combatants ready?" Genma asked, lazily chewing his senbon.
"As ready as I'll ever be," Shikamaru sighed, looking for all the world as though he'd rather be anywhere but here… which was likely the case.
"Very," Sakura said, giving Shikamaru a grin that was entirely too sweet to mean anything good.
"This is going to be troublesome," Shika muttered, he did not like that grin, not one bit.
"First match Haruno Sakura against Nara Shikamaru. HAJIME!" Genma cried before retreating to a safe distance.
Good thing he did too because a moment later the space between the two gennin exploded.
'Holy freaking—how many explosive notes did she use?!' Shikamaru wondered, taking stock of himself as he rolled to his feet. 'First degree burns, negligible. Minor bruising to the lower back and left forearm, also negligible. Equipment intact and accounted for. Opponent unaccounted for.' Movement at the edge of his vision, something coming out of the cloud of debris…
Shikamaru realized his mistake the moment he turned.
'Her cloak!' he cursed, whipping around to face the stuff of his darkest nightmares.
Sasuke's mouth fell open. This…was not what he'd expected.
"Sasuke… are you blushing?" Hinata asked, equal parts amused and disbelieving.
"N-no!" Sasuke choked, refusing to meet her gaze as he tried to rub away the trickle of blood running from his nose.
"Pinky and Broody, sit'n inna tree-"
"Shut up Naruto!" Sasuke barked as Hinata giggled. Then Sasuke paused before turning to stare curiously at his teammates familiar. "Wait, was he just singing? When did that start?"
"He's learned a few tricks," Hinata replied evasively, a knowing grin spreading across her face. "I'm more curious about… this," she continued, changing the subject as she pointed into the arena.
"Yeah," Sasuke muttered the blood rising a little higher in his cheeks as he turned back to the match.
Shikamaru was frozen, his terrified mind running miles a minute as he watched Sakura descend on him. 'Leather boots. Tight pants. Corset. Riding crop. Subject: Haruno Sakura. Stereotypical dominatrix dress. Evil smile. Tsundere Alert! Tsundere Alert! Abort immediately! Do not pass GO! Do not collect two hundred dollars! Run like hell! Amscray! Shit! Shit! We's gonna die!'
It was pure reflex and dumb luck that allowed Shikamaru to dodge the chakra charged riding crop and scramble away, his eyes shining with terror as Sakura's weapon of choice torn a trench into the ground where he'd just been standing.
"Going somewhere Shi-ka-kun?" Sakura crooned, giving him a saucy grin that was far too sweet to mean anything good as she snapped her whip aiming to snare his neck.
'Bullwhip Bad! Escape! Run! Duck! Dip! Dive! Dodge! Kawarimi!' Shika thought in the split second before the braided leather wrapped around the log he'd replaced himself with.
"Oh no you don't!" Sakura sang, swinging the whip and log like a flail toward where she felt her opponent exit the replacement.
"Ah!" Shikamaru yelped, just barely able to duck out of the way as the log struck the boulder he'd been hiding behind with such force that it exploded in a shower of splinters. 'Shitcrapfuck! No logs! No logs! Dangerous! Sloppy? Distraction!' he thought diving to the side.
No sooner had Shikamaru moved than Sakura's heel fell through the air where his head had been a moment before and shattered the hard soil, sending dust and gravel in every direction even as she swung her chakra charged whip to catch Shikamaru as he rolled to his feet.
Ironically, it was his terror induced clumsiness that saved him when he lost his footing and failed to roll to his feet allowing the whip to pass harmlessly overhead.
Then he saw the follow-up swing coming straight down on top of him.
Meanwhile…
Up in the stands, Kakashi stood frozen, Icha Icha Paradise open and forgotten in his hand as he stared down at the scene playing out in the arena with a look of abject horror on his face.
"Should we… poke him, or something? Take his pulse?" Kurenai asked as she and Asuma kept an eye on the traumatized jounin.
"I vote for taking a picture," Asuma chuckled as he took a drag of his cigarette.
"You know those will kill you right?" Kurenai muttered disapprovingly.
"Not before something else does," Asuma replied.
"Yeah, like me," she muttered with a scowl.
"Is that a challenge Miss Yuhi?" Asuma teased, smirking around his cigarette.
Kurenai rolled her eyes before returning her attention to the match, frowning thoughtfully, giving the occasional glance to her traumatized senpai. "This has Anko written all over it," she finally decided.
"Oh yeah."
"You don't suppose Kakashi…"
"Without a doubt," Asuma agreed, taking a long drag from his smoke.
"Idiot," Kurenai muttered, shaking her head.
"Yup."
'Too close! Too close! To close!' Shikamaru thought, rolling frantically as Sakura's whip snapped at him repeatedly. 'Fast! Imprecise. Less powerful? Distraction!' he realized, planting his hands and somersaulting out of the way not a moment before the ground where he would have been broke underneath another strike from Sakura's riding crop…
Only for him to come up with his back to a tree trunk.
'Notgoodnotgoodnotgood! Shiny leather! Boot? Incoming! Need distance!' Shika thought as he ducked under the incoming roundhouse, already channeling the chakra for Kawarimi as Sakura's foot destroyed the tree.
"Bad boy!" Sakura cried, completing her spin and bringing the crop into Shika's chest and sending him staggering.
"Gah!" Shika yelped, instinctively dropping into a backwards summersault to avoid the devastating follow-up from the whip. 'Pain! Fuck! OW! Still conscious. Bruising. No breaks. No breaks?' he listed, his mind racing as he flung himself into a back handspring even as Sakura charged him.
"No running Shika~" she sang, crop at the ready as she brought the whip around in an attempt to snare his ankle.
'Roll! Roll! Need more distance!' he thought, frantically diving over the whip, was just able to get out of the way as the crop came down, shattering the earth where he would have been if Sakura had been able to catch him with the whip. 'Damage inconsistent. Why?' he wondered distractedly as he rolled to his feet.
Crrrack!
"Gah!" Shika cried as Sakura's whip collided with his chest and sent him tumbling. 'Ow! Ow! Fuck! Ow! Underarmor torn. Bleeding from sternum. Painful but negligible. Diaphragm spasming,' he thought, scrambling to his feet.
Just in time to dive out of the way of Sakura's riding crop.
'Too close! Too close! Crop, whip, crop. Pattern? Why?' he wondered as he just barely dodged the follow up strike from Sakura's whip only to have to dive away from the crop again a moment later.
"Get back here Shikamaru!" Sakura cried, obviously frustrated as she brought the whip around to catch him when he came out of his roll.
'Crop, whip, crop,' Shikamaru confirmed as he dove over the whip and into yet another somersault. 'Damage variation... Charge time! Irrelevant. She just used whip,' he realized, a plan forming in his head as he rolled to his feet, his fingers already forming the Nezumi seal in order to activate Kagemane no jutsu when she closed in to attack with the crop…
And Sakura wasn't there.
In fact, Sakura wasn't attacking anymore. She hadn't even bothered to move from her previous position and was just standing there, muttering agitatedly, and looking very annoyed as she glared at him.
"Proctor, I forfeit," Sakura sighed as she started coiling her whip.
The entire stadium went silent.
Shikamaru blinked, wondering if his hearing had been damaged.
Genma blinked, no longer chewing his senbon.
"Um… what?" the poor confused Nara asked.
"My strategy hinged on keeping you off balance. I've lost the initiative so at this point the match is a forgone conclusion," Sakura reasoned crossing her arms and looking incredibly frustrated. "I almost had you too! But you are a lot better at running away than I thought you'd be so…"
Silence…
"Ah-hem!" Sakura coughed, looking meaningfully at Genma.
"Huh?" he started, coming out of his daze. "Oh right! Winner by forfeit, Nara Shikamaru!"
"Good luck Shika!" Sakura laughed giving a two fingered salute as she turned to leave.
"She just completely outmaneuvered me…" Shikamaru observed, as he watched Sakura walk away.
"No shit?" Genma asked, quirking an eyebrow sarcastically.
"…Is it weird that I find that incredibly hot?" the poor confused Nara asked himself as Genma tried to call Neji and Sasuke to the floor through his uncontrollable laughter.
Omake: A Nara Romance
Click
"Something on your mind, son?" Shikaku asked.
Click
"No," Shikamaru replied with a frown.
Click
Shikaku hummed thoughtfully, completely unconvinced.
Click
"Hey dad?"
Click
"Yes?"
Click
"How did you and mom get together?"
Click
"Troublesome woman that she is, she came up to me one day told me that I was marrying her," Shikaku chuckled.
Click
"But you dated before that?" Shikamaru pressed.
Click
"I suppose you could say that," Shikaku replied, a knowing smile playing across his lips.
Click
Shikamaru looked up at his father, confused. "You didn't date?" he asked.
Click
"Not in the traditional sense," Shikaku admitted.
Click
"Then um… what did you do?" Shikamaru asked, nervous. He wasn't sure he wanted to know what that smile was for.
Click
"Well son, there comes a time in every young woman's life where she will develop certain… needs, and some of them are different than others," Shikaku began, the corner of his mouth twitching slightly as he fought to keep a straight face as all color drained from his son's face.
Click
Shikamaru blushed to the roots of his hair. "Um, okay…" he muttered, embarrassed.
Click
"Not the answer you were looking for?" Shikaku asked with a smirk.
Click
Shikamaru glared at his father.
Click
"Well, if you must know," Shikaku sighed dramatically. "You're aware that I'm the one who invented Kage Kubi Shibari, right?"
Click
Shikamaru nodded.
Click
"Well, what you didn't know was that it wasn't meant for combat when I created it and had nothing to do with choking," the elder Nara explained.
Click
"What does that have to do with it?"
Click
"Well, let's just say your mother is anything but troublesome when she needs her Shadow-sama," Shikaku snickered.
Click
Shikamaru was almost completely certain he didn't want to know what happened next, but curiosity is what killed the cat, hopefully having his curiosity sated in this instance would bring it back. "What happened?"
Click
Shikamaru would forever remember his father's explanation of how Kage Shibari came into being as a glaring example of learning more about his mother and what went on behind closed doors than ever wanted to know.
"You're lying. Mom is far too troublesome to ever do that," Shikamaru spluttered, turning an impressive shade of burgundy.
Shikaku raised his eyebrow turned and raised his voice toward the upstairs. "Pet, come down here for a moment?"
There was a clatter upstairs and running was heard. Shikamaru smirked for a moment thinking his dad was about to be proven wrong as she suddenly appeared, kneeling next to her husband, looking incredibly docile.
"Yes Shadow-sama?" Yoshino asked sweetly, acting as if Shikamaru wasn't even in the house.
At this point Shikamaru found himself a touch over-stressed as the revelations of the night caught up with him and keeled out of his chair in a dead faint.
Shikaku smirked, staring down at the board.
Click
"Checkmate," he said, before putting his arm around his wife and leading her upstairs.
End Notes
YES I know it's short, deal with it. I had to write this through the biggest case of writer's block I have EVER experienced so you're lucky you got this much. Now, that said, I will be coming back to this chp in the future and attempting to add to it. If I do add to it I will tell you.
So, chapter name. I had always planned this fight to be a battle of wits, an epic meeting of minds and matching of strategy… which sort of went out the window when I started looking at how I'd set things up. Going into this Sakura was almost entirely CQC which, against a Nara one on one, is a fight already lost. So there I was, stumped and playing chess against a bot when I used a strategy called the Queen's Gambit when it came to me. How have I always handled my friend that can out think me at chess? I add a speed clock and wreck his ass because he doesn't have time to think! So I thought it was appropriate.
Now then, some of you may have noticed oddities in earlier chps. Missing line breaks, strange formatting, etc. These are more than likely glitches from the FFnet staff's apparent need to fix and fiddle with things that ARE NOT BROKEN! Now, I would gladly go back and fix these errors myself as I have many times in the past. Unfortunately, at some point the FFnet staff fucked with their word processor that WAS PERFECTLY FINE and I now have trouble reading my documents because the font is so fucking tiny in the editor that I can barely tell what I'm looking at. So, while YES I have noticed these issues, I am currently not going to bother fixing them until such time as I can do so without a magnifying glass.
Rant
Holy fucking shit… it's actually done. I never thought I'd make it before the end of the semester. Believe it or not I've been writing almost constantly since I last posted. Unfortunately, most of that was one essay or another for my teachers. Evidently I lucked out and got TWO professors that are absolutely in love with essays seeing as those are the ONLY kind of assignments I've received all semester.
That said, I'm thinking of starting a Drabbles Fic where I would post all my half baked ideas and fic fragments. Who thinks I should do it?