(A/N) And we are finally back! I'm sorry about the lack of updates, but I have a few things to blame for it. First is the fact that I love reading too much and I get absorbed into whatever I read way too much. I've been reading a lot of fanfics, and they have been sucking away time. The second reason makes a bit more sense, and that is that I had my wisdom teeth removed last Thursday, and I've been slightly incapacitated due to it. I hate not being able to eat what I want. I am recovering very well though, so I should be able to get back into my almost daily update schedule.

I would also like to say that I've been thinking of beginning a new story. I would split my time mostly evenly between this one and the new one, so no worries about me abandoning this one. Once I start something, I have a tendency to finish it, and I intend on finishing this story. I just want a change of setting with what I am writing, and I really want to do a take with shy Hinata. There is no shy Hinata in this story, so I missed out on that, and I love shy Hinata. Then again, I love Hinata in general. The story would probably be a challenge fic, if I can find a good challenge to go with. It would also be Naruhina obviously, and would probably not be a harem. I am actually getting more used to the idea of a harem though, since I'm broadening my interests in what I have been reading. Feel free to recommend any challenges you've seen and really liked, or come up with your own challenge.

Anyways, I would like to personally recommend Brown Phantom's "Students of the Snake" for you all to read. It's one of the stories that I read recently, and I absolutely loved it, even though it is a harem story. The thing is, the harem is done extremely well, and Hinata is the "alpha-female" so to speak. The story features a good Orochimaru, and a corrupt leaf village, and it definitely is a unique take on the world of Naruto. While you are at it, you might as well read some of Brown Phantom's other stories, as he is just an amazing writer. My personal favorites are "He will be mine", "Keibatsu", "Ai Youki", and "Walk a Mile".

Enough talking though, on with the story!

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Chapter 33: Brawn, Brains, and Bugs

The moment Genma began the second match, Ino reached into her tool pouch and threw a smoke bomb to the ground. A huge cloud of purple smoke erupted from the bomb, and Ino hid herself inside of it.

Kiba smirked at Ino's efforts to stay hidden, and thought "So she wants to stay hidden so that she doesn't have to engage me in taijutsu? A clever strategy, if it were not for the fact that I am an Inuzuka!"

Kiba sniffed the air to find Ino's scent so that he could locate her, only to find that all he could smell coming from the cloud was the scent of lilacs.

Kiba growled out "Clever girl, using a specially prepared smoke bomb that clouds our sense of smell." He then signaled for Akamaru to back away. Akamaru followed Kiba's orders and ran back away.

From inside the smoke cloud, Ino's voice said "That's right, dog boy! I know all about your sense of smell, and I intend on using it against you! But let's see if you can handle this!"

Inside of the smoke, Ino was standing still, going through hand signs. She whispered "Magen: Jabaku Satsu: Pulse!" as she finished her signs, releasing a pulse of chakra that she knew would reach Kiba without touching anybody in the audience.

Kiba waited patiently, as the smoke was starting to clear, when he suddenly felt a weird pulse travel through him. Suddenly, a large tree grew behind him, wrapping him up in its branches. He looked up to see Ino's body began emerging from the tree, kunai in hand.

Kiba's mind was racing, as he thought "Crap! Genjutsu! I knew she would try one, but I didn't think that she would know Kurenai-sensei's specialty. And it seems like she modified it so that I could be effected without directly looking at her. I know that I can't break out of this on my own."

Meanwhile, in the real world, the smoke had just cleared to reveal a smirking Ino. Kiba was meanwhile standing still with a glazed look in his eyes.

(In the stands)

"Well it looks like Ino won this match. Troublesome." Said Shikamaru through a yawn.

Naruto grinned and said "I wouldn't count Kiba out just yet, Shikamaru. Ino would have definitely won if Kiba was alone, but you are forgetting that Kiba is not alone. There is a reason why I genjutsu won't affect me, and that reason applies to Kiba right now."

Fu nodded and said "That's right. So long as Kiba isn't alone, he shouldn't have a problem with genjutsu, unless it's a really strong one."

Shikamaru raised his eyebrows and said "I get it. Akamaru."

(In the stadium)

Ino had started walking towards Kiba at a relaxed pace with a kunai drawn. She was going to end it by incapacitating Kiba fully while he was under the genjutsu.

Suddenly, Akamaru shot out from behind a tree and ran towards Kiba. He leapt onto Kiba's head, and injected some chakra into his master. Kiba blinked back into reality and saw Ino a few feet in front of him. He leapt forwards at Ino and yelled "Alright Akamaru! Thanks for breaking the genjutsu!"

Ino's eyes widened at the sudden turn of events and she was immediately put on the defensive in a taijutsu fight. She thought "Damn! How could I have forgotten about Akamaru? This is bad. I don't stand a chance in a taijutsu fight, even though I practiced a bit. I'm just not at his level."

Kiba was dominating the fist fight, and he landed a few heavy blows on Ino. He suddenly pulled back and said "I'll give you one chance to forfeit. I hate to hurt you more than I have to."

Ino hung her head and raised her hand before saying "Procter, I forfeit. I have no chance of beating Kiba in a taijutsu fight, and there is no way that he would let me put him in another genjutsu. I just had a bad matchup this time around."

At this, Genma jumped into the stadium and announced "The winner of the second match by forfeit is Kiba Inuzuka!"

The crowd exploded into applause as Kiba and Ino shook hands and headed back into the contestants box. Once they reached it, they were both heavily congratulated by their peers for a great effort.

When the applause died down, Genma announced "The third match of the finals is Shikamaru Nara vs. Sabaku no Temari! Will the contestants please come down to the center of the stadium?"

Temari immeadiately flew down by riding her fan, while Shikamaru lazily started walking towards the stadium. By time he got there, the crowd was quite annoyed with him, as he took five minutes to get there.

When he finally took his place, Genma announced "Alright! The third match is Shikamaru Naru vs. Sabaku no Temari! HAJIME!"

When Genma leapt away, Temari said to Shikamaru "Alright lazy boy. You better give me a good fight!"

Shikamaru replied, saying "Normally I would just forfeit right now, but my mom said that she would make my life "troublesome" if I did. I would rather not have to deal with that, even if fighting a girl is troublesome."

A tick mark appeared on Temari's forehead when she heard this, and she whipped her fan around, unleashing a huge gust of wind at Shikamaru, while she yelled "And just what is so troublesome about fighting a girl?"

Shikamaru leapt to the side of the gust of wind just in time, and when he landed he made the rat seal and sent his shadow streaking towards Temari.

Temari leapt backwards several times as the shadow followed her, but it suddenly stopped in front of her. Temari smirked and said "It seems like your shadow can only extend so far. If I stay at a long range and attack you from afar, this fight will be a cinch."

Surprisingly, Shikamaru smirked at her words and he disengaged his shadow. He then said "So you say. But what happens when I stop using my shadow?" He then went through hand signs rapidly and shouted "Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu!" He exhaled a large fireball towards Temari, blocking her vision of him while digging a trench into the ground.

Temari smirked and said "Kiryu Sosa!" (Air Current Manipulation) As the fireball neared Temari, it was caught by the air current surrounding Temari's body, which then directed it in a circle around Temari's body and sent it flying back towards Shikamaru, who was now a lot closer to Temari.

Shikamaru crouched down and made the rat sign again, saying "Eiheki!" (Shadow wall) Shikamaru's shadow went about a foot in front of him before it stopped and then spread out horizontally, before a wall of shadow emerged from the horizontal line. The fireball impacted the wall, and to almost everybody's surprise, it was absorbed into the wall, causing the wall to expand in size.

(In the stands)

Sitting together somewhere in the stands were the clan heads Shikaku, Choza, and Inoichi. They had come to enjoy seeing their children fight, and hopefully become chunin.

However, at Shikamaru's display of Eiheki, Shikaku's eyes widened and he muttered "Where did he learn that?"

Choza was curious and he asked "What do you mean, Shikaku? Surely you were the one who prepared him for this match."

Shikaku shook his head and said "Actually I didn't. Shikamaru came to me after Yoshino threatened to make his life troublesome if he forfeited his match. He probably was going to, but Yoshino's threat must have awakened something in him. He said to me "Dad, it's troublesome, but do I have your permission to stay and train at a friend's house instead of with you? I think I'll learn more that way." I asked him which friend, and he said "Naruto." I agreed that he could go, but I honestly didn't expect him to actually train hard. Anyways, that jutsu that he just used is a jutsu that my grandfather made. As far as I know, the only copy of the jutsu and its workings is locked away in our clan vault. I never taught Shikamaru how to use it, and I know that he never asked to see anything in the vault, so I'm really wondering how my son knows it."

Inoichi chuckled and said "Well apparently the Yondaime must have made a copy of it. He always did like collecting jutsu scrolls. I'm betting that Shikamaru found it when he was training at Naruto's or Naruto showed it to him. Naruto does have full access to the entire jutsu collection since he lives in the Namikaze estate."

Shikaku chuckled and said "I guess that you are right. Anyways, I think that Shikamaru will win now that he used that jutsu."

Choza asked "But what exactly did that jutsu do?"

Shikaku answered "It absorbed the fireball and turned it into shadow. Shikamaru now isn't limited by the size of his own shadow, and his options have increased a thousand fold. So long as he doesn't release the technique, then he has all of the shadow necessary to end this fight.

(In the stadium)

Shikamaru made his wall collapse into a very large circular shadow on the ground before he said "I'm ending this."

The shadow circle then split into multiple tendrils of varying thickness that shot towards Temari. Temari was hard pressed avoiding all of the tendrils, but she was able to avoid all of them. Suddenly, she realized that the tendrils were not just moving in an effort to capture her. Instead, all around her, the shadows had formed into what looked like a sealing matrix, with her in the middle!

Shikamaru said "And that's checkmate." The shadow matrix began glowing, and Temari knew that she had to get away or else she was finished. She was no expert at fuinjutsu, but she knew that it had endless possibilities. However, as soon as she tried to jump away, she found that she couldn't move.

Shikamaru released his hands, releasing his jutsu and said "As I said, checkmate. I had this planned from the very beginning. The first step was to acquire a large enough shadow with Eiheki, and I knew that I could make use of your control of air currents to give me that shadow. Eiheki is an interesting technique. It is a wall that absorbs jutsu and converts it into usable shadow. The downside is that the amount of shadow that I get is proportional to the light that the absorbed jutsu gives off. In other words, wind, water, and earth jutsu wouldn't give me much while fire and lighting jutsu would give me a lot. Since you are a wind user, I had to get you to either use a technique that isn't your element or get you to redirect one of my own techniques. I saw how you stopped the fireball that Tenten shot at you in the preliminaries, so I figured I could make use of that. Once I had the required shadow size, it was a simple matter of leading you to think that I was trying to trap you with Kagemane when in reality I was creating a sealing matrix. Since you had to focus on avoiding my shadows, it wasn't difficult at all. I created a large scale paralysis seal. Anything within the seal's outer boundaries, meaning you, is now paralyzed for one hour." Shikamaru then walked towards the immobile Temari and held a kunai to her neck before saying "And to answer your question, fighting girls is troublesome since I don't like harming girls. It just feels wrong. It has nothing to do with whether you are strong or not. I know that girls are strong. My mom and Hinata have proved that countless times, and you have proven it in your fight against Tenten."

Temari unconsciously blushed at Shikamaru's words and Genma hopped back into the stadium. He announced "The winner of the third match is Shikamaru Nara via incapacitation!" The crowd burst into applause. This match was far more exciting than the previous in the civilians' eyes. In the eyes of the ninja, Shikamaru had just gained a whole lot of respect. He proved that he was a genius worthy of the Nara name, as well as showing talent in fuinjutsu, something that is not seen every day.

Genma then said to Shikamaru "Is there any way for you to give Temari her mobility back or does she have to wait the whole hour?"

Shikamaru grunted and made the rat hand sign, sending his shadow around Temari, and forming another sealing matrix. The matrix glowed for a moment and Temari found herself able to move again.

Temari then said in a quiet voice "I'm impressed lazy boy. You certainly gave a good fight, even though I barely did anything. You've proved that you've got brains. How about a match of shogi sometime? I have to warn you that I've never been beaten in shogi before."

Shikamaru grinned and said quietly "Shogi, eh? That is certainly not a troublesome offer. I'll take you up on it sometime after today's events."

Temari could tell by the tone in which he said "today's events" that he knew about the invasion plan. She let out an unconscious sigh of relief and said "Okay then, it's a date! Let's get back into the stands."

Shikamaru's eyes widened at Temari calling it a date, but he said nothing and the pair headed back into the contestants box.

Genma then announced "Will the contestants of the fourth match please come down!"

Choji started heading to the stadium via the stairs, while Shino seemingly exploded into bugs that flew down and reformed in the middle of the stadium. He waited for Choji to arrive, and when he did, Genma announced "Alright! The fourth match of the finals is Shino Aburame vs. Choji Akimichi! HAJIME!"

(In the stands)

Shikamaru and Temari had just arrived back into the box, and Naruto immediately gave Shikamaru a high five. He then said "That was awesome Shikamaru! Training with us really helped you a lot."

Shikamaru grinned and said "You got that right. I have to say that I've really taken a liking to fuinjutsu. I can see why your family is so crazy about it, it's so useful. The idea you had of making seals on the fly with my shadows was absolutely brilliant."

Naruto grinned right back at him and said "After working with you a few days, the idea just floated into my head." Naruto then whispered "Anyways, if I heard right you've got yourself a shogi date, don't you?"

Shikamaru blushed a bright red and said "You and your troublesome hearing abilities! That was supposed to be private!"

Naruto laughed out loud and said "Don't worry, Hina-chan and I can keep a secret. Anyways, what do you think of this next fight?"

Shikamaru's color returned to normal and he said "I hate to say it since Choji's my best friend, but he doesn't stand a chance against Shino given what he is."

Naruto nodded and said "I agree. However, I'm curious to see what Choji is going to do. I'm also curious to hear what the audience will think of Shino when he dispels his henge."

Shikamaru just nodded at Naruto's words and they watched on in silence.

(In the stadium)

While Naruto and Shikamaru had been talking, Choji had been trying to hit Shino with basic taijutsu. It wasn't working at all.

Shino suddenly disengaged Choji and said "Now that I've got everyone's full attention once again, I think it is time to reveal my true self."

Choji stepped backwards as Shino made a hand sign and said "Kai." His body dissolved into millions of insects and reformed into his eighteen year old self. Only this time, Shino wasn't wearing his trench coat or undershirt. He stood proudly with his extremely well built body, showing off his beetle tattoo for all to see.

(In the stands)

Shikaku, Inoichi, and Choza all gawked at Shino. Choza said "That's really Shibi's boy? What happened to him? He was a normal thirteen year old boy last time I checked! But now he's like Naruto and Hinata!"

A quiet voice then said next to the trio "Your analysis is astute, Choza-san."

The trio turned to the voice and were completely shocked to see Shibi sitting next to them. Inoichi asked "When did you get here, Shibi?"

Shibi's aura became depressed for a moment as he said "I was always sitting here. I even said hello to you three when I got here. It would appear that you three have forgotten me once again. Anyways, you said that Shino is like Naruto and Hinata. You are correct. He is a hanyou, and is the king of our clan's new queen. Now I would suggest being quiet and watching my son."

(In the stadium)

Choji said to Shino "I know for a fact that you are out of my league, Shino, but I am not going to give up. I will probably lose, but I'm still going to try and prove that I am worthy of chunin!"

Shino gave a small smile and said "Very well. Come and try your hardest!"

Choji gave a huge grin and yelled "Alright! Let's go all out! CHO BAIKA NO JUTSU!"

With that, Choji's entire body began expanding at an alarming rate. He stopped growing when his head was at the level of the stadium roof. He then cocked back a fist and said "Try and stop this!"

From Shino's point of view, it was like a meteor flying directly at him. However, Shino was unfazed. The fist came closer and closer and it finally impacted.

To everybody in the stands, it felt like a meteor had actually struck the ground. It looked like it too with the new crater in the center of the field. But if you looked closely, Choji's fist was not touching the ground.

It was touching and was completely stopped by Shino's single outstretched arm. The crater was just from the pressure of the fist being diffused into the ground through Shino's body.

To say that the crowd was shocked would be an understatement. They were completely floored that Shino had stopped the attack with a single outstretched arm.

Choji undid his expansion and stared at Shino in absolute shock. He had expected Shino to dodge, not to stop his blow.

Seeing Choji's shock, Shino said "I can see that you are shocked and confused at the fact that I stopped your fist. It is simple really." He held out his arm and it proceeded to dissolve into a million insects that began flying around the stadium before returning and reconstituting back into his arm, as well as his shirt and trench coat. He then continued "The Aburame from birth use their bodies as hives for kikai. I was like that too, but now I am different. Instead of using my body as a hive, I AM the hive. I am actually a being composed entirely of other beings. Together, I am Shino, but apart, I am billions upon billions of a one of a kind insect. I am still human, but at the same time, I am not. Shino is the name of the conscious of the hive. I was able to stop you because I am not one being, but many. By adjusting the quantity and density of insects in specific locations of my body, I am able to form an impenetrable defense. That is how I stopped you. But now it is over."

With that said, Shino's arm disintegrated into millions of insects that flew around and landed on Choji. Choji could do nothing as his chakra was rapidly drained. Within moments, he fell to the ground, unconscious.

With that, Genma stepped forwards and said "The winner of the fourth match is Shino Aburame!"

Choji was carried off on a stretcher by medics as Shino's arm reconstituted itself and the croud erupted into applause. Shino then burst into insects and flew back into the contestant's box where he reformed. Once there, he received a huge kiss courtesy of Fu, who also said "That's my king for you! Although in my opinion, you could have showed off a bit more."

Shino kissed her back and said "Next time I will, my love. But now it is time for your match. Make me proud."

Fu nodded and jumped into the stadium with great enthusiasm. She was soon followed by Haku, who also jumped down gracefully. Once they got into position, Genma announced "The fifth match of the finals is Fu Aburame vs Haku Nii! HAJIME!"

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And that's a wrap! Shino's ability is very unique, and rather difficult to explain, but I hope you got the general idea. I also would like to say that I got the idea of Shikamaru using his shadows for fuinjutsu from Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. I got the general idea from when Pride forced Roy Mustang to use Human Transmutation. When he did, he formed a pattern on the ground with his shadows. So I thought, why wouldn't Shikamaru be able to do that with his own shadows to make seals? I think that it's a cool idea with a lot of potential possibilities.

Anyways, the next fight will probably be a chapter long fight, and it certainly will be interesting. A fight between two Hanyou always is.

Until next time,

Slice N Dicer