WARNING: None
DISCLAIMER: me no owny.
A/N: I'm sorry it's late again! I'm a horrible author trying to meet horrible deadlines - you just understand what it's like for me!! .:ahem:. right, sorry dramatics over, and I will try my absolute hardest to start updating on time from now on .
Nara Shikaku – July 15th
"Hey Shikaku!" Inoichi bellowed up at his lazy team mate from where he was currently stood on the street "You'll never guess what"
With the dignity of a Hyuuga, Shikaku rose from his favourite spot amongst the rooftops of Konoha and peered down into the sunlit street below him.
"What? Is it now?" he demanded with a yawn, noticing that Chouza the bottomless pit was also alongside his loud blonde friend.
Inoichi grinned evilly "Y'know the final of the Chuunin exams? Well it falls right on your birthday!" there was a long silence.
"Well! What do you say to that?"
"Toublesome" Shikaku sighed and waved his friend away lazily, returning to his prime cloud-watching position. I have to exert myself on my birthday? He thought to himself slowly what a drag.
The day of the dreaded finals arrived, and Shikaku had been woken up nice and early by his over-excited sensei and half-asleep team mates.
"Get your lazy ass down here" Kaido-sensei had yelled – so loud that half the street had opened up their windows to hurl things at him for disturbing the peace – while Chouza and Inoichi yawned beside him, the larger boy munching sleepily on a breakfast onigiri.
"Yeah yeah" came the muttered reply, and five minutes later Shikaku was outside with them, yawning widely with his hands in his pockets and his Konoha headband tied securely around his right arm.
"So who's up for some last-minute training before their matches?" Kaido asked, grinning hugely. No answers were given; the three boys were stood absolutely still, making no noises or any other sign that could be taken as positive response. "fine. Let's just go and get some breakfast then!" That elicited a great response and Kaido was practically left lying in the dust as his three genin sprinted off to their favourite western-style café for their blood-clotting full English breakfasts.
As they sat, looking out at the world and its inhabitants – all of whom currently seemed to be making their way towards the exam stadium – Shikaku wondered if there might be a way to escape the exams and just spend the day cloud-watching or beating someone at shougi.
Unfortunately it was just as his plan was beginning to form that the team was rudely interrupted by a fellow contestant yelling a message from Kaido at them; to get a move on because the final was about to start.
"That Tsume is too loud" Inoichi grumbled as she scooted off again, having delivered her message successfully "and her dog always smells"
"WINNER: CONTESTANT YOSHINO!"
That woman had won every single one of her five matches without breaking a sweat, and she was still going strong.
"What a troublesome woman" Shikaku muttered
"Yeah" a red-headed kunoichi from Kirigakure laughed at him "and she's your next opponent"
Shikaku sighed for the nth time that day "of course she is"
As the dark-haired girl walked back to the contestants box, her eyes met Shikakus and they stared at each other for just a moment before Yoshino smirked and looked away.
"How troublesome" Shikaku said to himself yet again
The next battle was over quickly, with victory going to the girl who had just teased him about Yoshino, and Shikaku spent most of it stealing glances at the dark-haired contestant.
"NEXT UP: CONTESTANT YOSHINO vs. CONTESTANT NARA SHIKAKU!"
With yet another sigh, Shikaku slowly dragged himself after his opponent who was already making her way down the stairs and into the stadium.
When the two were down in the stadium and facing each other, Yoshino spoke. "You'd do better just to withdraw now. I won't go easy on you just because you've got a pretty face"
Shikaku put one hand to his scarred and dirty face "you're flattering us both" he told her.
"FIGHT!" Called the examiner, but both contestants had perfected the art of forcing their opponents into attacking rashly and neither of them moved. They both stayed absolutely still until the crowd began getting restless, throwing drinks and wrappers of all kinds at the two of them.
In a flash, Shikaku began moving. He was running faster than anyone was aware he could and kicking up heavy clouds of dust as he went until neither competitor could see the other. To top off the dust shield, Shikaku reached into his kunai pouch and drew out a small mauve smoke bomb. Just as the dust seemed to be clearing, he threw it to the ground, engulfing them in purple smoke.
Inside the purple cloud, Yoshino could hear Shikaku as he cut through the smoke but she couldn't tell what was going at all. Finally the smoke cleared, and her eyes stopped watering allowing her to see that Shikaku was stood opposite her with a small smile on his face. When she attempted to move and found that she couldn't his smile grew wider. "you got me" she told him
"Have I really? I hadn't noticed at all. Must be something to do with this genjutsu"
"How did you see it?" Yoshino asked, and Shikaku pointed to the contestant's box.
"One of the railings should be missing. That Kiri girl took it out with her sword in the last match"
"I can't believe I missed that" Yoshino muttered to herself, stepping out of her fake shadow bonds. "So how do you intend to escape this incredibly well crafted genjutsu?"
"By waiting" he said, and sat down tilting his head back to look at the illusory clouds. "Such an excellently crafted genjutsu needs a lot of chakra. You've used up most of yours in the previous matches"
"I can agree with you there" she muttered and her image sat down opposite him ". . . Fancy a game of shougi?"
"You can do that?" Shikaku was mildly surprised
"How hard is it really, to create a shougi board in such a perfectly controlled genjutsu?" Shikaku still looked somewhat dubious "And I'll make you a deal. Whoever wins the game, wins the match. The loser has to forfeit."
"It's a deal" Shikaku smiled as wide as his lazy face would allow him "This shouldn't be too troublesome at all"
The exam proctor watched as the glazed look removed itself from both contestants' eyes. Slowly, the dark haired female raised her hand.
"Contestant Yoshino?"
"I withdraw"
There were yells of annoyance and confusion from the crowd as they expressed their distaste at such an action free match (at least it was to them). "I'm all out of chakra" Yoshino explained to the proctor "such an impressive genjutsu obviously takes more chakra than I had left to maintain."
"you're such a troublesome woman" Shikaku muttered, and both the others on the field ignored him.
"WINNER: CONTESTANT NARA SHIKAKU!" the proctor declared and the two contestants exited the stadium together.
"You ended the genjutsu before we could finish – you still had enough chakra left to maintain it" Shikaku whined once they had left the arena.
"Well, I couldn't let you loose on your birthday now could I?" Yoshino laughed as Shikaku began climbing the steps back to the contestants box.
"Troublesome woman" he told her, straight to her face and the girl laughed again.
"We'll continue that match later" she informed him, pinching his bum on her way past him to the infirmary "maybe I'll even buy you a birthday drink"
Shikaku stared after her lithe frame as it drifted off out of sight.
"She's got you whipped Nara" Inoichi, who had been watching the whole scene, told his slightly stunned looking friend and Chouza nodded, simultaneously munching on another onigiri.
"Troublesome."
OWARI!