A/N: The Tournament finals! After this, there should 5 chapters left to round out this story. I realize that the upcoming chapters are going to be fairly close to canon in some parts, but hopefully the battles will be tweaked enough to stay interesting. Sasuke's fight against Gaara is as close to canon as I could make it, but the other two fights are all-new. The outcome will be very different, and hopefully will take some of you by surprise. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto
Chapter 15: …And Your Enemies Closer
Shikaku, Inoichi, and Choza sat next to each other in the arena, in an area reserved for clan heads. Near them were Tsume, Hiashi and Shibi, all of whom were watching the arena battlefield below with intense interest. Tsume, as the only parent there without a child in the finals, was taking the opportunity to stir up trouble. "Come on, Hiashi," she urged the severe Hyuga, "just a little bet. I'll put 100 ryou on Choza's son to knock Neji on his ass."
"I'm not interested in gambling," Hiashi replied curtly. "Just watch the matches, please, Tsume."
Choza wasted no time in putting a bet on his son, while Shikaku and Inoichi refused to let themselves get distracted by Tsume's antics. Instead, they kept their attention equally divided between the contestants below and the crowd around them. Of course, even Tsume was on her guard. Her ninja hound lay at her feet, but his nose was twitching, alert for trouble. Hiashi himself would have had his byakugan activated if it had been at all possible. Instead, he'd settled for putting ANBU masks on a few of his warriors, so that they could keep their byakugan activated at all times and inform the head of security of any suspicious characters.
Somewhere in this crowd, all the jonin knew, Oto shinobi were lying in wait. And outside the walls, more shinobi from Suna and Oto were no doubt congregating, just waiting for some signal to attack.
But then, the Konoha jonin were waiting for a signal of their own. And until it came, they would watch the Tournament finals like good audience members. The excitement of a good match only heightened the anxiety they all felt at waiting for the inevitable battle.
"Is somebody missing?" Tsume asked abruptly. "I thought there were more finalists than that."
There were only eight genin down in the arena.
"Both of Kakashi's genin," Shikaku observed drily. "Neither Naruto nor Sasuke are here yet. I suppose they've inherited their jonin sensei's penchant for tardiness."
Choza gave a deep belly laugh. "But the Copy-nin always comes through for Konoha. Maybe his students will, too."
Inoichi leaned forward in his seat, his eyes moving from one finalist to another. "I guess we'll see."
oOoOo
Down in the arena, the contestants were looking all around, waiting for the last two genin to arrive. Shikamaru sighed and shook his head. You could always count on Naruto to make a scene, but he would have thought that Sasuke would have better sense…
Just then, Naruto came flying out of the entrance into the arena, skidding over fifty yards and crashing into the line of finalists. He jumped to his feet, yelling something about a herd of stampeding bulls. Ino knocked him on the head, and told him to focus.
The jonin with the chronic cough was not in charge of the final round – instead, it was a slender jonin with a long senbon sticking out of his mouth. It was a strange habit, but Shikamaru could accept that it was much better than Asuma's characteristic cigarette. The jonin introduced himself as Genma, and unfolded a paper with the bracket for the final round. Shikamaru had long since memorized it, and he could see that the other genin had as well. No one but Naruto even bothered to look at the paper.
Choji was fighting Neji first, and then Shikamaru would face Temari. The third match was Sasuke against Gaara, then Hinata vs. Naruto and finally, Ino against Shino. Shikamaru wasn't expecting the tournament to make it to the second round, though. The battle for Konoha would probably be well underway before they reached the semifinals.
Once Genma ascertained that everyone knew the order, he reiterated the rules of the tournament: the matches would only end by forfeit, death, or by his ruling. Apart from that, everything was legal.
"It appears Uchiha Sasuke isn't here yet," Genma observed, "but we aren't going to delay any longer. Neji and Choji, remain in the arena. The rest of you, up to the Observation Deck." Genma pointed to a balcony well above ground level, but far below the rest of the audience. Shikamaru and Ino leapt to the balcony, but not before wishing Choji good luck.
"Don't worry about me, you two. Just be ready."
From his serious expression, they knew he wasn't talking about their matches.
When the seven other contestants were up on the balcony, keeping a wary distance from those who weren't on their team, Neji and Choji squared off. The Hyuga genius looked imposing, his jyuken stance just as threatening as the merciless look in his white eyes. But Choji cut a fairly respectable figure himself. The young Akimichi was covered from head to toe in red armor, which made him look muscular instead of chubby. There was a serious light in the kind boy's eyes, and he surveyed his older opponent without a hint of fear.
"You should give up," Neji said quietly, before Genma could begin the match. "It is not your fate to win this match."
"I have a question for you, Neji," Choji replied. "If I win this match, will you stop believing in fate? Or will you simply say that it was your fate to lose?"
Neji scoffed, dismissing the possibility with a wave of his hand. "That will never happen."
Choji persisted. "Well, if I do win, please just think about revising your philosophy. You limit yourself by believing in fate. It keeps you from trying your hardest to improve. If you worked as hard as Lee, you'd be twice as strong as you are now."
Now the Hyuga genius was beginning to get angry. "I don't have to take that from someone who is as far beneath me as the ground is from the sky. Prepare yourself!"
He gestured for Genma to begin the match. The jonin rolled his eyes, and raised his hand. "Let the first match of the final tournament… begin!"
For a few seconds the two genin stood still, sizing up their opponent. Neji activated his byakugan, the veins around his eyes thickening grotesquely. Then Choji charged forward, seemingly intent on bringing the fight directly to Neji. Those who knew the strengths of the Hyuga clan groaned, thinking that this fight would be over before it began. But Shikamaru, who had spent days going over strategies with Choji, was more optimistic.
Sure enough, Choji's first punch was not aimed at Neji, but was actually meant to activate a Doton jutsu. Instead of just maintaining contact with the earth, Choji slammed his fist into the ground with all of his strength, transferring a burst of chakra through at the moment of impact. The result was a devastating wave of earth that shot at Neji with surprising velocity, gouging a sizable crater in the earth as it went.
Neji's eyes widened, but he dodged without missing a beat. Choji's two kunai were already in the air, though, speeding straight for the space where Neji was heading. With almost casual ease, Neji knocked one kunai aside with his own, and ducked his head slightly to dodge the second by the smallest of margins. He landed gracefully, controlling his momentum to come to rest facing Choji.
"So you know better than to fight me at close quarters," Neji said. "Perhaps you aren't as worthless as I believed."
"Oh, I'm not ruling it out," Choji answered lightly. "But if I can beat you without getting my hands dirty, so much the better."
Choji performed the Earth-style jutsu once more, sending an even larger wave of rock and earth at Neji. The boy jumped backwards, kicking his feet out to meet the arena wall. Using chakra he cushioned the impact, and then pushed off to reverse his direction quickly. He shot towards Choji like an arrow, too quickly for the Akimichi to perform another offensive jutsu.
Instead, Choji made a simple seal with one hand, and braced himself for Neji's attack. It was hard to tell in the sunlight, but it seemed as though his red armor began to glow slightly. A gasp rose from the crowd as they realized that Choji was going to fight the Gentle Fist style head-on.
Up on the balcony, Ino was shoving Shikamaru excitedly. "Did you see that?" she said, pointing at the wall. "Neji didn't look behind him, but he knew exactly where the wall was. So his byakugan must give him 360-degree vision."
"Or close to it," Shikamaru agreed. "Let's just hope Choji realized." That was one thing they had been unable to discover during the month they had been training. It was technically a village secret, and their parents hadn't been willing to disclose any information that they couldn't discover for themselves. Well, now they knew, and Shikamaru trusted that Choji was staying alert for any potential weaknesses in the byakugan.
Meanwhile, Choji was meeting Neji's onslaught admirably. For a few seconds he turned aside Neji's opening blows, which were only meant to test his defenses but were delivered with the speed and precision of at least a chunin-level shinobi. But Choji had his trump card, and he was going to make it count. After jumping over a low leg sweep and turning aside one of Neji's left hooks, Choji deliberately let Neji land a hit. It was a straight jab with an open palm, aimed straight at his heart. A cry arose from the crowd, most of whom expected to see Choji collapse in a heap. Instead, the splash of blue chakra from Neji's fist diffused across the surface of Choji's red breastplate.
Surprise flitted across Neji's face, but it was already too late. Choji had let the blow fall, and used that opportunity to grab Neji around the midsection. He crushed the Hyuga genius to his ribs, straining his muscles in an attempt to end the fight quickly. Neji's veins bulged even more as Choji's bear hug cut off the supply of oxygen from his lungs.
On the balcony, Ino thrust her fist into the air. "Get him, Choji!" she cried. And for a second, Shikamaru thought that Choji had won. Neji wouldn't be able to stay conscious for more than a few seconds, as strong as Choji had grown. Shikamaru almost laughed, remembering that day all those years ago in the Academy. He had told Choji to let Kiba land a blow, in order to end the fight decisively. The simplest tactics were often the most effective, and Choji was proving that here. He held the supposed genius like a toy.
But Neji wasn't out of tricks. He began to glow with a blue light, as he forced chakra out from all of his tenketsu points at once. Choji's hold loosened, and Neji began to spin, using the same technique that had saved him from Lee's ultimate attack. Choji was caught in the spinning chakra shield, and went flying all the way to the other side of the arena. He picked himself up, his armor covered in dust and dirt and a dazed expression on his face.
Neji, on the other hand, looked incredulous. "I hit you point-blank with a jyuken strike," he said, sounding almost petulant. "Why is your heart still beating?"
Choji shrugged. "It's the armor. While it normally wouldn't repel bursts of pure chakra, we modified it with a special seal. Now I can channel chakra directly into my armor, and repel attacks whether physical or not. I tested it with Asuma-sensei – it even blocks his wind chakra, as long as he doesn't overload his technique with more chakra than I can use. But he's a jonin, and you're just a genin. And I can convert all of the calories in my body into chakra, so my bet is that my armor will continue blocking your attacks until long after you run out of chakra. Don't take my word for it, though – we'll find out soon enough!"
And so saying, Choji closed the distance between himself and Neji. Now that the audience knew about his armor, they could see quite clearly that his armor was glowing – faintly, but steadily. And to the considerable astonishment of all but a very small number of shinobi, the crowd witnessed something extraordinary: a Hyuga on the defensive. Choji rained a series of heavy blows down on Neji, foregoing subtlety in the hopes of doing as much blunt damage as possible. Neji was forced to defend, diverting blows without suffering their full force. And without the ability to launch counter-strikes at Choji's tenketsu, his offensive capabilities were severely limited.
The only place not covered in the chakra-repellant armor was Choji's head, which Neji realized after a few seconds. He began launching cautious strikes toward Choji's eyes and neck, which would be lethal if they connected. However, because his head was his only vulnerable point at the moment, Choji was careful to keep himself well protected.
Neji's speed was impressive, though, and he soon got the hang of Choji's taijutsu. His strikes at Choji's unarmored head grew more and more frequent, until Choji was forced to leap back to give himself more room. Neji would have followed up on his advantage, but Choji used his Earth-style jutsu again to drive Neji back a few yards. The two opponents circled each other, both wary of getting too close to the other.
Come on, Choji, Shikamaru urged his teammate silently. It's time to change the game.
Almost as if he'd heard Shikamaru's thoughts, Choji brought his hands together in a new series of series of seals. "Multi-Size Jutsu," he called out, and expanded to four times his normal size. "Human Bullet Tank!" Just like in the Preliminaries, his body began spinning at a deadly velocity. He bore down on Neji with increasing momentum, cracking the earth with the force of his rotation.
Despite the awe-inspiring power of the move, Choji's speed was not enough to daunt Neji. The Hyuga genius dodged effortlessly, keeping his attention trained on Choji. Shikamaru could tell that one benefit of the month of training had been increased maneuverability – Choji cornered without missing a beat, and tore after Neji with the unerring accuracy of a heat-seeking missile.
The game of cat and mouse ranged all over the field, and it was apparent to Shikamaru that Choji was herding Neji like a sheepdog. He purposefully aimed to one side of Neji, so as to make him jump in the direction that Choji wanted. After a minute of chasing Neji, Choji ended his jutsu. Neji stood almost directly in the middle of the arena, with Choji standing opposite.
"You only wasted your chakra with that technique," Neji sneered. "You're not nearly fast enough to pose a challenge to me."
"The purpose of my jutsu wasn't to crush you," Choji said. "It was to distract you from the line of ninja wire I was laying down as I rolled around."
He pointed at the arena, where the long gouges in the earth where his Bullet Tank had passed formed an uneven pattern. It was centered at the point where Neji was standing, and extended for many yards in every direction. Neji's eyes widened as he finally saw what Shikamaru had known would be there – a line of ninja wire marking Choji's trail, that was obscured by the rocks and earth that had been kicked up.
"I prepared this wire with my teammates," Choji confided to Neji. "It took a while to make sure that I could have it unroll behind me when I used my technique. And it took even longer to wrap all of the explosive tags around it. But the result is a very powerful, makeshift mine field. And you're in the middle of it."
He formed the seal that activated the explosive tags, while jumping backward to get clear of the blast. There was less than a second before they exploded, which wasn't enough time for Neji to activate his rotation defense. But he recognized that, and didn't try.
As soon as Choji started activating the trap, Neji pushed off from the ground. He channeled chakra through his legs to put more distance between himself and the explosion. The explosion was blinding and deafening, a conflagration blasting a crater into the middle of the arena and expanding outward with unstoppable force. Neji was caught by the outer edge of the blast and rocketed even further into the air. But Choji, who had practiced this maneuver many times, knew just how far back to jump in order to avoid the explosion.
He also knew how far away he was from Neji, and the best way to close that distance. With all of the speed at his command, Choji formed a series of hand seals, yelling "Partial Multi-Size Jutsu: Arm!"
He threw his right arm forward, watching as it expanded to a hundred times its size. His fist, now the size of a bull, snatched Neji out of the air as easily as a child grabbing a toy that had been tossed to him. He slammed his fist down to the ground, just hard enough to give Neji a severe shock and leave him dazed.
Choji turned to the proctor, who was watching the match with an impassive expression. "Call the match," Choji yelled. "If I squeeze it'll break every bone in his body."
Genma waited a long second, but when Neji failed to escape Choji's grip he nodded. "Winner: Akimichi Choji!"
Choji relinquished his grip on Neji, and his arm shrank to its normal size. Neji dropped to one knee, and then shook his head. He stood, and when he looked at Choji it was clear that the Hyuga genius was livid with rage. His normally serene, slightly scornful expression had been replaced by one of unthinking fury.
"Think about what I said," Choji said quietly. "If someone like me can defeat a genius, then maybe destiny isn't the only thing that determines our lives."
"It's not over yet!" Neji seethed, and set himself to charge. In a flash of green, Guy appeared behind him, and put his student in a headlock.
"Neji!" the jonin shouted, sounding shocked. "The match is over. I will not allow my student to participate in such an unyouthful show of poor sportsmanship."
Guy dragged Neji, who was struggling like a demon, off to a side exit of the arena, where he would presumably wait with him until his student cooled down. From the arena, thousands of spectators began to cheer. From the number of boos that Shikamaru heard, he figured that Choji had not been favored to win this match. Those who had bet on Neji, thinking his victory would be a sure thing, had just lost a lot of money. But the majority of the crowd had been won over by the soft-spoken Akimichi, and the show he had just given them had whipped them into a frenzy.
Choji made a chakra-enhanced leap, and landed on the Observation Deck next to Ino and Shikamaru. A few yards down, Temari stopped leaning on the railing and jumped down into the arena for the next match. Shikamaru waited for a few seconds – he wanted to talk to Choji.
"Great match," Ino gushed, giving Choji a hug.
"Yeah," Naruto added, from off to the side. He was standing next to Hinata, who had been blushing a solid, brick red for the entire first match. "You showed that stuck-up ass what hard work can achieve. I'm glad Lee got to see that, wherever he is."
Shikamaru patted Choji on the shoulder. "How are you doing on chakra?" he asked quietly. After all, no matter how proud he was of Choji, what was important was conserving chakra for the real fight. It would be no service to Konoha if, when the time came, they had exhausted their reserves fighting tournament battles.
"I'm fine," Choji reassured him. The chubby Akimichi reached inside his breastplate, and pulled out four bags of chips. "I'll restock now, and be ready to go soon. It was lucky that I didn't need to use any of the pills."
"Nah, not luck," Shikamaru said. "You were ready for him, while Neji came into the match underestimating you. That was his downfall. But everyone else will know what you can do now, so it's only going to get tougher."
Choji smiled at Shikamaru gently. "Thanks, Mom," he said, the mocking words belied by his kind tone. "Shouldn't you be worrying about your own match? Temari looks a little impatient down there."
It was true, the Kazekage's daughter was sending a flinty glare directly at Shikamaru.
Shikamaru shrugged. "Well, everyone who knows me knows I'm lazy," he tossed off. "Taking my time is only what they'd expect."
"Nobody who saw you in the Preliminaries thinks that anymore," Ino warned. "And after this fight, all of Konoha will see the new Shikamaru. You won't be able to throw anyone off by staring at the clouds any more – they'll know your reputation and be wary. So don't underestimate anyone, because they won't underestimate you."
"Don't worry about me staring at clouds," Shikamaru said. "The days when I napped on the job are over."
He stood there on the balcony a moment longer, sharing bittersweet memories with his teammates, until the sound from the crowd swelled and became impossible to ignore. He stepped away from Choji and Ino, and jumped down into the arena. His teammates' shouts of encouragement were completely lost in the crowd's answering cheer.
"About time," Temari said, tossing her head defiantly. "I was getting bored."
"I'm familiar with the feeling," Shikamaru said drily. "Trust me, a good fight will cure that. A bad one will too, but not for the same reasons."
Genma stepped forward, putting a stop to their banter. "The second match is between Temari and Nara Shikamaru: begin!"
Temari opened her fan immediately, the three purple dots looking deceptively ordinary, and not giving any hint of the power they contained. "You managed to really piss me off yesterday," she called out. "Now you'll find out why that isn't a good idea."
She swung the fan, sending a windstorm with razor-sharp air currents speeding toward him. Shikamaru dropped a smoke bomb, using the momentary cover to make his way at top speed to the copse of trees at the edge of the arena. The wind dispersed the smoke in an instant, and Temari figured out where he had gone an instant later.
She charged forward, bringing her fan forward for another attack, when Shikamaru activated his Shadow Possession. He sent it out in a straight line, as fast as a darting snake. Temari stopped her jutsu, instead retreating quickly to stay out of range of the shadow. Shikamaru didn't want to give away his full range, so he made his shadow peter out and become thin before it was necessary. He knew Temari would probably still be on her guard, but if he managed to trick her into thinking his range was shorter than it actually was, he might be able to trap her later.
When the shadow stopped, Temari drew a line in the dirt at her feet with her battle fan. Shikamaru considered making a quick grab, but if he missed then Temari would definitely catch on to his deception and be even more wary of any future tricks. So instead, he ended the jutsu and his shadow came back to its normal size. Temari stayed on the other side of her line, staring angrily at his leafy hiding place. She sent another gust of wind at him, which gouged and cut the tree trunks and even snapped off some of the smaller branches.
Shikamaru huddled behind one of the trees, working out his strategy. Once he captured her, the match would be over. He had a idea, one that would send a message to everyone in the audience. But first he had to catch her, and he couldn't risk wasting too much chakra in the process. His plan had to be quick, economical, and inescapable.
Shikamaru put his hands together in the thinking pose that always helped him clear his thoughts. A few seconds was enough, and when his plan had formed he rose to his feet. Temari was standing in the middle of the arena, behind her line, watching him quizzically.
Here we go, Shikamaru thought. I hope this works. If it doesn't, I'll be out in the open and her wind will tear me to pieces.
But dwelling on that particular image wasn't going to help his confidence, nor would it bring him any closer to winning the match. So Shikamaru pushed the unfortunate visual aside, and reached into his thigh holster for his kunai with explosive tags. He took out five, and with his left hand he grabbed two smoke bombs. The smoke bombs he lobbed up high in the air as a distraction.
As he'd expected, Temari wasn't about to let him obscure her vision. She swung her fan above her head, knocking the smoke purple pills aside with a powerful gust of wind. The smoke bombs detonated harmlessly against the wall, at the same time that Shikamaru threw the tagged kunai.
Temari was already turning, preparing to loose another gust of wind, but Shikamaru had purposefully underthrown. The kunai embedded in the earth twenty yards away from their target, and exploded as one. The explosion was many times smaller than Choji's minefield, but it served its purpose. That purpose was, along with one other thing, to obscure Temari's line of sight for a crucial second.
Shikamaru used that second to propel himself forward, directly toward the heart of the explosion. His fingers flew as he ran, and four identical copies of himself came into being, two on either side. They were insubstantial bunshin, created with the basic clone jutsu that every aspiring shinobi learned at the Academy. With Shikamaru's directions guiding them, they sprinted in four separate directions, so as to flank Temari. The real Shikamaru dove into the heart of the smoke, landing in the small crater just as Temari's second burst of wind shot out.
That was the second purpose of his explosion – it created a hiding place where he could escape Temari's far-reaching wind. The air currents whistled and screamed as they passed by, but Shikamaru was safe in the crater, huddled down with his face pressed into the dirt.
From his hiding place, he heard Temari laugh. "Clones? Are you trying to make me target the wrong one, and then attack me from behind? You should have done your homework more carefully. I can take them all out at once. Whirlwind Scythe Jutsu!"
This time the violent shrieking of the wind was even more intense, and even three yards below ground level Shikamaru received several deep cuts on his arms and legs from questing air currents. Shikamaru waited a second, then raised his head cautiously. He'd constructed his bunshin very carefully, imprinting specific instructions on where they were to run and when.
Three of the bunshin he'd made disappear, while the fourth, which coincidentally was the one that ran to the opposite side of Temari from the real Shikamaru, had a different set of instructions. The fourth clone was supposed to jump violently backward at the same time that Temari activated a Wind-Style jutsu. Because clones were insubstantial, the wind currents would normally go right through them without any effect. But the fourth clone flew backwards according to Shikamaru's instructions, and so to Temari and the crowd it seemed as if it was caught by her attack. And because Shikamaru had created the other three clones to disperse at the same time, it reinforced the illusion by suggesting that the fourth clone was real, but had lost control of the other clones when caught by the wind attack.
Meanwhile, Shikamaru poked his head up, looking like a mole emerging from a tunnel, and sent his shadow towards Temari's unsuspecting back. He almost had her, too, but her sharp eye saw through his deception at the last second. And Shikamaru had to give her credit for thinking on her feet; Temari didn't even look around, but jumped forward immediately. If she had taken a second more, Shikamaru would have caught her.
But this time it was all or nothing, so Shikamaru sent his shadow forward with almost – but not all – the speed he had at his command. Temari turned when she landed, and took in the shadow and Shikamaru's head with one glance. She jumped backward, staying just a second away from the shadow, until she reached what she thought was his effective range.
Shikamaru played along, making the shadow narrower, until it was no thicker than a needle at its tip. He purposefully made the shadow falter, and retreat an inch. But then, without warning, he reversed his shadow's direction, strengthening it to its full size and pouring on an extra burst of speed. It anchored Temari's shadow just as she was stepping forward, and her triumphant expression changed swiftly to one of horror. The change of pace had taken her by surprise, just as the true reach of his shadow had escaped her until that moment.
Shikamaru jumped out of the small crater, and she mirrored his motion. They faced each other, connected by his shadow, in the very center of the huge oval-shaped crater left by Choji's earlier technique. The crowd went silent, waiting to see what Shikamaru would do next.
And he did not disappoint them. With the artistry stemming from years of shadow manipulation, Shikamaru molded his shadow into a new shape: it was a leaf, with a spiral in the middle. In fact, it was an exact replica of Konoha's leaf symbol, which was etched into the hitai-ite of every Konoha shinobi. Shikamaru was positioned at the stem of the leaf, while Temari was anchored at the heart of the leaf, in the middle of the spiral.
With this, I may actually surpass Asuma in terms of melodrama, Shikamaru thought wryly. But he wanted his message to be very clear, with no possible misinterpretation.
Shikamaru formed a seal one-handed, and with his other hand reached down to touch his shadow. "Burning Fireball jutsu." His whisper was too quiet for the crowd to hear, but he knew that a hundred cameras were probably trained on his face.
And then, just as it had on that day before the Exams began, Shikamaru's shadow caught fire. An orange glow ignited, and then turned blue, with inky black streaks sputtering in the fire's depths. The flames raced along the lines of the leaf symbol, like a long line of blue dominos being overturned. A gasp rose from the crowd as they realized the fire's ultimate target: Temari.
Temari swallowed, and her eyes widened as she saw her immediate peril. But then she looked up, locking gazes with Shikamaru and refusing to look away. She accepted her death – he could see it in the proud light in her eyes, in the set of her chin. The fire raced along the inner spiral, encircling Temari in a ring that got smaller with each pass of the flames. Then, when the fire was mere feet from Temari, Shikamaru stopped its advance with an effort of will.
For a second he stood there, unwilling to break eye contact with Temari, while the crowd went deathly silent. Then Shikamaru turned, ever so slowly, until he was looking directly at the covered box where the Hokage and Kazekage sat, attended by their bodyguards. Shikamaru pointed at the Kazekage, and then drew his thumb across his throat with a slashing motion.
He could see himself out of the corner of his eye, on one of the big screens projected for those who couldn't see the arena at ground level. He was standing at the edge of the leaf symbol, which blazed a deep turquoise, holding Temari captive at the center. It was terrifying and beautiful at the same time. And then there was his expression, as he stared down one of the most powerful shinobi in the world, while holding the Kazekage's daughter completely at his mercy.
The message was unmistakable: if you mess with Konoha, you get burned.
It was stupid, it was unnecessary, it was dangerous – and the crowd loved it. Villagers and shinobi alike cheered with frenzied abandon, applauding his brashness without reserve.
Shikamaru raised his hand again, and the crowd was silent once more. "Call the match," he said, his quiet voice carrying far in the noiseless arena.
Genma declared the match finished, and Shikamaru ended his jutsu. His shadow retracted, and the flame died out without his shadow or chakra to sustain it. Temari fell to her knees, gagging and coughing from the smoke that she had inhaled. For a moment, Shikamaru felt a strange desire to go over to her, and help her to her feet. But the urge passed, and Shikamaru prepared instead to rejoin his team.
At that moment, two forms appeared from the entrance to the Arena – the same one Naruto had arrived through earlier. They were Sasuke and Kakashi, and they looked around in confusion at the crowd going wild over Shikamaru's flashy victory.
Kakashi walked over to Shikamaru, and scratched his head in confusion. "What did we miss?"
"Nothing much," Shikamaru sighed. He gestured to Sasuke, who approached him as well. "They're all warmed up for you, Sasuke. Also, you might want to be extra careful against Gaara. I don't think he's feeling too friendly toward Konoha right about now."
Sasuke only grunted, though Kakashi thanked Shikamaru politely for the information. Shikamaru went back up to the Observation Deck, where Temari had already gone. Her brother Kankuro had departed from the stands and joined her, even though he wasn't a finalist. He patted her back as she coughed, and glared daggers at Shikamaru.
Choji and Ino came up to congratulate him, although Ino's expression was one of weary resignation.
Again? She demanded, using her telepathy to communicate silently. I thought killing Dosu was ostentatious, but that was ridiculous. You practically challenged the Kazekage to single combat!
Shikamaru smiled tiredly. He hadn't used up too much chakra, but stopping the fire jutsu before it consumed Temari had placed a considerable strain on him, since it took so much control. Well, at least the crowd liked it, he pointed out.
What he didn't say was that, when the battle started, he hoped that that symbol of the leaf would still be fresh in everyone's minds. Many of Konoha's shinobi didn't know what today meant – they weren't of high enough rank to learn of the Hokage's plans, or the impending invasion. But hopefully, such a strong symbol of pride in Konoha, and determination to defend the village at all costs, would resonate with the genin and chunin who were shortly going to be called upon to lay down their lives.
oOoOo
Shikamaru and Ino weren't the only shinobi in the arena communicating mind-to-mind. Far above their heads, in the roped-off area with Konoha's clan heads, Inoichi was employing his ability communicate with one of the shinobi on security detail. Specifically, he was talking with the Hyuga captain who was, according to Shikaku's improved security plan, wearing an ANBU mask to hide his byakugan. The captain, along with a few other disguised members of the Hyuga branch clan, had kept their byakugan activated since the beginning of the tournament, scanning the crowd for any danger.
Now Inoichi was receiving a report, and in spite of his controlled expression the set of his shoulders made it clear to the truly observant that he was not happy. He turned his head, and transferred his mental connection to Shikaku and Choza.
Hiashi's men report multiple Oto shinobi in the crowd, disguised as villagers. There is also one ANBU with silver hair, who doesn't match the description of any active ANBU on security detail.
Shikaku's mouth tightened slightly, becoming the smallest of grimaces. That sounds like Kabuto. The traitorous bastard is passing as an ANBU. I'll bet anything that Orochimaru is here somewhere, too. Tell Hiashi's men to stay alert, but not to take any action that might tip off Kabuto. The Hokage's orders were to wait for them to make the first move.
Inoichi relayed the orders, and the Hyuga captain left to continue his covert surveillance.
I'm worried, Inoichi admitted. There aren't enough enemy shinobi to take us all down, but Kabuto's presence means that they have something big planned.
I know, Shikaku thought, the stress sounding clearly across the mental connection. But we planned for this. The most likely plan of attack will combine a frontal assault on the walls, with an assassination attempt on the Hokage. Whatever secret weapon Orochimaru has up his sleeve, he'll probably use it here, to even the odds in the arena. But the Hokage has taken measures of his own. We have to trust that he'll be fine, and just carry out our parts.
Inoichi broke the mental connection, and focused on what was happening down in the arena. Shikamaru and Temari were on the Observation Deck, and out of sight of the stands, but now Sasuke and Gaara stood across from each other on the battlefield. Even from where the clan heads sat, the intensity between the two genin was clear.
Choza elbowed Shikaku and grinned, trying to distract the Jonin Commander from his dark thoughts. "Hey, Shikaku, how about that? Both our boys have proven their worth. Do you think the Uchiha boy will be able to match up?"
Tsume laughed. "If Kakashi had anything to do with it, he will. I heard he's been working harder with Sasuke over the past month than he has in years. This match will be great!"
"Although," Hiashi pointed out, his cultured tones a little frosty after his nephew's loss to Choji, "Sasuke will be hard-pressed to win in a more spectacular fashion than your son, Shikaku. Quite a pyrotechnic display."
"Thank you, Hiashi," Shikaku responded drily. "I'm quite at a loss as to where Shikamaru picked up his flair for the dramatic. It certainly wasn't from me or Yoshino."
oOoOo
Down in the arena, it seemed that Gaara was raring for battle. Sasuke was no less eager, a permanent smirk drawn across his face. From the Observation Deck, Shikamaru watched to see how the last of the Sand Siblings would fare against the last of the Uchiha.
When Genma began the match, it was clear that Sasuke had spent many days planning his approach to the battle. With his sharingan activated, he flew into motion. Shikamaru had already seen Sasuke copy Lee's signature jutsu in the Preliminaries, but this time around Sasuke did more than that. He fought like Lee in every respect, his speed equal to Lee's even without his weights.
Gaara's sand snapped at his heels and thirsted for his blood, but Sasuke evaded the questing tendrils with ease. He danced closer and closer to Gaara, and eventually succeeded in landing a swift series of kicks, before darting out of reach.
The kicks didn't do any damage, but Gaara put a hand to his face and looked completely shocked. His sand exploded outward with even more force, but Sasuke's sharingan-enhanced reactions were equal to the task. He flitted around Gaara like a bee taunting an enraged bear – no matter how hard Gaara tried, he just couldn't catch Sasuke. The critical moment came when Sasuke got within Gaara's defenses once more, and landed a solid punch across Gaara's cheekbone.
As the crowd cheered, Gaara's face… split. There was no blood, but a crack appeared across Gaara's face, which rapidly spread into a series of cracks running from ear to ear. Thin granules fell to the ground, and Shikamaru realized after a moment that Gaara must be entirely encased in an armor made of hardened sand.
Even though Sasuke's attack had only dented that armor, the effect on Gaara was extreme. The red-haired boy screamed; it was a haunted, anguished sound, one that raised the hair on Shikamaru's neck and drowned out all of the noise from the crowd. Then Gaara's sand stopped shooting out after Sasuke, instead drawing inward and centering around Gaara.
It wrapped around him in multiple layers, changing color as it hardened, like clay after it comes out of the baking oven. The final effect was unmistakably that of a cocoon, which protruded from the ground and stood up to all of Sasuke's efforts to destroy it. Strange sounds came from inside, sounds that pierced the hubbub of the crowd and filled the hearts of everyone who heard them with dread.
Cocoons are for transformations, Shikamaru thought suddenly. What kind of transformation is Gaara undergoing?
But Sasuke was not fazed. The last Uchiha jumped away, to a spot high on the arena wall, and anchored himself there with chakra. He held out his left arm, which began to crackle and sparkle with a bright light. Shikamaru could faintly make out the sound of birds chirping.
"Is that electricity?" Ino asked, sounding faintly awed.
"I don't think so," Shikamaru said, shaking his head. "Electricity doesn't make noise. I think that's raw chakra of some kind, maybe infused with electricity."
Whatever it was, it was clearly incredibly powerful, especially if Sasuke planned on using it to penetrate Gaara's ultimate defense. When the jutsu was fully prepared, Sasuke ran down the wall and across the arena floor, his outstretched arm carving a long streak in the wall and on the ground behind him.
With blinding speed, Sasuke dodged the spikes of sand that shot out of the cocoon in an attempt to impale him, and jabbed directly forward into the cocoon with all of his might. When Sasuke came to rest, the world seemed to freeze. Everyone in the stadium held their breath.
Then, without warning, the sand convulsed. Sasuke jumped backward, tearing his arm free from the sand's grip. He got out of Gaara's range, leaving a circular hole in Gaara's cocoon. For a second, Shikamaru thought he saw motion within that hole; something large and swift, and not human.
There was a long moment in which nothing moved except for Sasuke, who was breathing heavily and watching the cocoon warily. Then the cocoon imploded, collapsing in on itself and resolving into Gaara's guard. The redhead was bent over, his hand clasped to his shoulder, where a trickle of red dripped slowly downward.
"Gaara!" Temari yelled, her voice still rasping from the smoke she had inhaled.
Gaara screamed again, and clapped his hands to his head. There was an explosion of killer intent that radiated from the injured genin. Everyone could see he was about to lose control, but it was much less clear what he might be losing control of. Nevertheless, the danger was clear, and all eyes were fixed on Gaara.
That made it the perfect moment for Kabuto to send the signal to begin the invasion. From his perch in the back of the stands, he proceeded to do just that; and then, accordingly, all hell broke loose.
oOoOo
The sleep genjutsu was subtle, yet powerful. The villagers didn't stand a chance, and were snoring within seconds after Kabuto initiated the technique. Most of the genin and chunin went the same way, lulled into innocent slumber. A select few resisted. The jonin were largely unaffected, and the clan heads sprang to their feet immediately as they recognized the genjutsu targeting their minds.
On the Observation Deck, the only one to be caught by the genjutsu was Naruto, who keeled over backwards and proceeded to snore loudly. Shikamaru, Ino, Choji, Shino, and Hinata looked at each other in horror, realizing that they had all dispelled an enemy's genjutsu, and understanding in a flash what that meant.
Shikamaru rounded on the Sand siblings, but they had anticipated it and had already jumped down into the arena, where they flanked Gaara on either side. Shikamaru wanted to follow and begin the fight, but judged it more prudent to check the stands. Already he could see the jonin beginning to fight, although they were vastly outnumbered by the Oto and Suna shinobi that had been hiding in the crowd.
Shikamaru waved upward, directing the attention of the other Konoha genin to the stands. As tempting a target as Gaara was, their duty lay with defending the sleeping villagers and shinobi. Shikamaru searched especially for Asuma, who would give them their working orders now that the battle had joined.
Out of the corner of his eye, Shikamaru saw that Gaara's jonin sensei, who wore a turban across half his face, had joined Gaara and his siblings in the arena. He was staring down Genma, the proctor, who had pushed Sasuke behind him. After a tense second, Temari and Kankuro bounded away over the arena wall, supporting Gaara and heading away from the battle in the direction of the forest. Genma appeared to give Sasuke an order – the Uchiha nodded, and then shot off in pursuit.
Gaara's jonin-sensei moved to stop him, but Genma blocked him by spitting the senbon he kept in his mouth. It multiplied into a swarm, forcing his opponent to begin blocking. Sasuke made it out of the arena safely, and disappeared from view. Shikamaru memorized the direction he had gone, guessing that it would soon become vital. The moment he saw Asuma he would recommend that some more shinobi be sent out in pursuit of Gaara. The strange power that he had been beginning to call on was not something that Shikamaru wanted to see firsthand – it would be much better if a retrieval team could neutralize Gaara before he recovered.
But first, Shikamaru had things to take care of. "Ino," he snapped, turning to his teammates. "Can you wake up sleepyhead?"
He pointed to Naruto, who was snoozing like a baby. Ino snorted, but bent over to release the genjutsu holding him in its sway. He blinked a few times, and rubbed sleep out of his eyes. "Wassat?" the blond muttered. "What happened?"
Shikamaru didn't answer, because he had just seen something far more worrying than Naruto's ignorance. In the top box, where the Hokage and the Kazekage had been sitting, there was a thick cloud of smoke obscuring all from view.
Of course, Shikamaru thought, his throat closing up in fear. They're coordinating the attack with an assassination attempt on the Hokage. Please, Father, tell me you planned for this!
But if Shikamaru was petrified on the inside, on the outside he was as cool and implacable as an iceberg. Until they found Asuma, he was in command of his team, and they would not see him falter.
"We have to join the fight," he snapped. "Naruto, Hinata, Shino, stay with us, and do as I say. First thing - we need to find a jonin, and we kill any Suna and Oto shinobi we run into along the way."
They all nodded, accepting his leadership without a qualm. Shino moved closer to the main group, and tapped Ino politely on the shoulder. She looked at him curiously.
"It appears that our match will not occur as previously scheduled," he said in his signature uninflected monotone. "I am somewhat relieved, as my reconnaissance efforts during the past month suggest that your abilities would have been difficult to overcome without sustaining significant losses to my colony. However, the change in our situation offers another way of holding our match. Would you accept a competition based on our respective inflicted casualties in the coming battle?"
Ino had to work through this speech for a second, but when she understood a wide grin spread across her face. "You mean, whoever kills the most enemy shinobi wins? You're on, Shino!"
They shook hands solemnly. The ritual struck Shikamaru as bizarre, almost surreal, especially conducted so calmly right before a battle in which they were outnumbered. But then he shrugged. Why not? I think I'll join this competition, too!
"Let's go," Shikamaru ordered.
At his word, the five genin joined the fight.
End of Part 2
A/N: And so the Invasion begins, and the story is almost over! Next time, you'll see just what Shikaku and the Hokage have cooked up in terms of defensive measures, and we'll see how the Hokage handles Orochimaru this time around. I'm really excited to be drawing so close to the finale of this story, which is the first one I started writing. I won't stop the momentum until the story is finished – I have all the chapters planned out, now I just need to write them :)
As always, I hugely appreciate all comments, questions, and any other types of feedback. It motivates me to do better, and I want to do better. For this chapter, and the ones coming up, I'd especially love to hear what you think of the fight scenes. Do they flow well, do I explain too much, not describe enough, etc… anything in that line, no matter how harsh, would be really helpful and greatly appreciated. Thanks, and see you next time!