1 When Shikaku felt his genjutsu dispel, he opened his eyes and sat up on the tree branch he was taking a quick nap on. From his spot, he could see Naruto and Shino trying to encourage Ino to get out of her stupor she was in. A smile grew on his face when he saw his students begin to get serious. He turned and chakra-hopped through the treetops towards the north end of the training field.
Now things will get troublesome.
After a quick review of their plans, Shino led they way through the trees. The chemicals excreting from the female placed on Shikaku was telling his queen and males that Shikaku was traveling north.
"This way," Shino said to his teammates. He veered a little to his left and jumped through the treetops. Naruto and Ino turned and followed in his direction.
"How close are we?" asked Naruto.
"Sensei is half a kilometer ahead of us. You two should break off now and prepare for the plan."
"Right," said Ino and Naruto. They broke away from Shino and got into their positions.
Shino, meanwhile, continued forward to the destination his female kikaichu was telling him. A few more hops and he ended up in a small clearing surrounded by a ring of trees. They casted several shadows across the small area with the sun still rising in the east. And there, lying on his back looking at the sky, was Shikaku.
"Hello, sensei," said Shino casually. He raised his arms, letting his insects flow out of his sleeves. Once they exited, they hovered around his head, buzzing up a storm.
"Clever, Shino. Very clever," said Shikaku, who sat up slowly and brushed the dirt from his pants. "You're the decoy while your teammates get in position to attack. Your insects, as loud as they are, are to provide cover so I can't hear them sneak up on me."
Shino raised an eyebrow in surprise. He knew it couldn't be this easy to sneak up on his sensei, but he could hope.
"The question is how are you going to approach this?"
"Like this," answered Shino. He sent his insects forwards. Half his swarm shot forward like arrows towards his teacher.
Shikaku waited until the last moment before dodging the swarm by leaping over them. He landed on the other side of the field, but dodged again when the swarm changed direction and flew towards him, this time from above. Shikaku shunshined and appeared on the other end of the field, causing the insects to follow him.
When his teacher landed, Shino sent the rest of his insects towards his teacher's blind side. But before they could reach him, Shikaku ran through a couple of handsigns, finally ending in the tiger seal.
"Ninja Art: Shadow Barrier Jutsu!" he yelled. Instantly, a dark haze erupted from Shikaku's feet and spread out around him.
Shino's insects continued to fly until they stopped still a meter away from his teacher. A few insects fell to the ground, crushed. Several continued to fly, even though they hovered against an invisible force. All the rest flew back to there host.
"A barrier," stated Shino. He then noticed where his teacher was standing. "By standing in the shadow of the tree, you have used its shadow to enforce a shield around you."
"I could create a barrier from my own shadow, but by using the shadows of the trees, I can increase the size and strength of my shield," explained Shikaku. "Normally, with my chakra capacity, I could summon a shield that would last five minutes straight and could stop anything below a B-grade technique. However, with the trees, I can increase the time to half a hour and withstand anything below A-grade jutsus."
"And physical attacks?"
"As your insects found out, my barrier is impenetrable to physical attacks. You would need Chouza Akimichi's strength to break through my shield."
"Good thing I'm inside!" yelled a voice. Shikaku spun around to see Naruto drop from the hidden branches, aiming an axe kick towards his teacher's head. Shikaku brought both his arms up, crossing them and blocking the kick. The shadow user cursed his carelessness. His barrier formed around him, not from him. Naruto must have already been within a few meters when he performed the jutsu
Once Shikaku made contact with Naruto, his concentration was broken and his barrier was shattered. He immediately heard the buzzing from Shino's insects behind him. Shikaku kicked Naruto in the stomach and flipped backwards over the swarm, landing back into the clearing.
Naruto slammed into a tree and popped in a cloud of smoke.
"Shadow clones," stated Shikaku. "What a drag."
"You think that's bad," said several voices hiding in the shadows. "What till you see this!" A dozen clones of Naruto burst through the foliage. Each one charged at Shikaku with a kunai in their hands.
"Crap," muttered Shikaku. He leapt into the air and kicked two in their heads. They disappeared, but two more emerged from the smoke with their fists drawn back. Shikaku ducked under their punches, then jumped straight up with two uppercuts to their chins. Once they disappeared, two more leapt through the smoke with a high jump kick. Shikaku, while still in the air from the uppercuts, spun his body around and swung his leg in a horizontal arc.
"Konoha Leaf Hurricane!" Shikaku yelled. His kick ripped through the clones like they were nothing. He landed on the ground as the rest of clones surrounded him.
"What kind of move was that?" asked one of the surprised clones.
Shikaku just grinned. I've got to thank Gai for teaching me that. But then he heard buzzing.
"Swarm," called Shino and brought his hands down in a slicing motion.
Shikaku stood his ground, waiting for the opportune moment. When he felt the wind from the insect's winds, he made his move. The standard move for a graduating genin: Substitution jutsu. With one of Naruto's clones.
"Gaah!" yelled the clone as he was suddenly swarmed. A few seconds off futilely fighting them off before the clone popped when the insects absorbed its chakra.
Shikaku smirked at the five remaining clones. "Next?"
Each clone threw their kunais. Shikaku pulled out his own kunai and blocked them with ease, each one falling harmlessly to the ground. He then sheathed the knife and put his hand in the ram seal.
"Ninja Art: Shadow Weaving Jutsu."(1)
His shadow stretched into four different points and raced across the ground towards the clones. In an instant, the four shadow points rose off the ground like snakes and struck the clones right in the chests. They popped into smoke.
The shadows receded, leaving the real one standing face to face with his teacher.
"Whoa..." whispered Naruto. After all the skills his teachers showed in the academy, he was very impressed by what a jonin was capable of.
"Step three of a shinobi: Ninjitsu. What's your next move?" asked Shikaku.
"This," smiled Naruto.
The next thing Shikaku knew, there were five bangs and the kunai the clones threw at him earlier had now transformed into five shadow clones. Caught by surprise, Shikaku immediately got on guard but it was too late. Four clones each grabbed a limb while the fifth clone grabbed him in a full-nelson.
"Now Ino!" yelled Naruto. The girl landed beside him with her hands in her family's seal.
"Mind Transfer Jutsu!" she called out before falling over and being caught by Naruto.
Shikaku's eyes closed as Ino entered his mind. After a moment, Ino's spirit merged his body and she opened her/his eyes. The first thing she saw was herself. Her helpless body held by.....Shikaku?!?!
She looked down to find herself wearing a dark, gray jacket with black shorts. She integrated her body with Naruto's while Shikaku used a Substitution Jutsu with Naruto's real body.
"Nice try, Ino," smirked her sensei. "But after training with your father all these years, you don't think I would know how to dodge that move. Also, thanks to your inexperience, your spirit was shot out of your body about ¾ slower than his."
"Quit bringing my father into this!" yelled Ino with Naruto's voice.
Shikaku gently lowered Ino's body onto the ground then rose back up. "I must admit, this a very thought out plan, you three. I'm impressed." He turned and began to walk away. "But you still haven't caught me yet. And you have two and a half hours left."
Shino raised his arms and directed his thoughts to his insects in attacking their teacher. But before they reached him, he disappeared with a shunshin.
Ino sighed and jerked her arms out of the clones's grip. Then she remembered where she was.
"EEEWW!!! I'M IN NARUTO'S BODY!!" she screamed with horror.
Shikaku chuckled when he heard Ino screech. He was currently heading east, towards the more heavily, wooded area of training ground. It was a place where he could really test their abilities.
After Ino got back into her body, Naruto began to rub his arms furiously as he tried to scrub off any cooties he got.
"Whoa, that was real freaky," he muttered.
"I'm scarred for life," Ino said shakily as she rocked back and forth, holding her knees.
"You two quit being dramatic," Shino said. "We're still in the middle of a test. We need to get moving."
"Right," agreed Naruto. "Which way is sensei heading?"
"East."
"Ok, let's get going....whoa," Ino said trying to sit up. But before she could stand up straight, she fell back down.
"Ino, are you ok?" asked Naruto.
"I don't know, I just feel really weak right now," she said.
Naruto and Shino dropped down beside her. "Did you use too much chakra with your jutsu," asked Shino.
"No, I should have plenty left. I don't know what's wrong," said Ino. There were a few moments of silence before a loud grumble came from Ino's stomach.
Naruto's eyebrows rose. "Uhh....Ino...did you eat breakfast this morning?"
Ino suddenly blushed. "Yes...one hard-boiled egg and a half cup of grapes."
Shino's eyebrow rose. "Ino, when Shikaku said we should have a light breakfast, I'm pretty sure he meant something a little more filling."
"We need as much energy as we can so we can keep moving," explained Naruto. "Why did you eat so light?"
Ino sighed. "I didn't think being a kunoichi would so strenuous. My dad and his stories; he made it sound so easy. So I spent my time dieting so I could be more athletic. I figured if I ate too much, it would only slow me down." She was silent for a moment before lowering her head. "I also thought it would make me more pretty."
Naruto sighed and pulled a small package from his pocket. "Here, Ino. It's an energy bar, specially made to restore chakra and calories. It'll be enough to last you until the end of the test."
Ino grabbed the package, tore open the package and shove the bar into her mouth, chewing rapidly. She didn't even pause for a breath. Naruto and Shino watched with fascination, both speechless.
While she ate, Naruto and Shino stood up.
"We'll wait a few minutes so she can get her strength back. Then we'll go after Shikaku-sensei."
Shino nodded. "So which one will lead the attack this time?"
Naruto looked at the sun. "We have a two and half hours left. I'll lead the attack this time. It's your turn to capture."
"I'll do my best."
15 minutes later, Naruto was currently heading east. Shino had pointed in the general direction where their teacher might be. He and Ino would wait for Naruto's signal before coming as his reinforcements.
There were no clearings. He was surrounded by trees, each one only a meter away from another in either direction. The sun had still not fully risen in the sky, so sunlight was limited. In fact, it almost as dark as night.
"You know," echoed a voice from the forest itself. "It's unwise to walk through the forest without knowing what's inside. A big, bad wolf might come and eat you."
Naruto scoffed and kept walking. "If you think a bedtime story is going to scare me, you've got another thing coming, sensei. This is my training field. You're on my home turf."
"Oh, really? So the explosive tags you've placed on several trees are your home field advantage?"
Naruto cursed. Several months ago, he placed exploding tags as a trap for anyone who would cross onto his field without permission. He had the Third's consent to place dozens of low-level tags on trees to either surprise someone while he investigate or hopefully scare them off. These tags were not powerful enough to kill, or even injure. They were mainly used as a signal.
"Just to let you know, I've already disabled them." Naruto heard footsteps coming from the trees on his left. He turned to see Shikaku walking from the darkness. "So what exactly is your plan?"
The last thing Shikaku expected was for the blond to smirk.
"This," he said and hopped into the trees. Behind him were three clones. Two were holding on to a tree and something else while the third was pulling whatever....
"Ah, crap," muttered Shikaku.
"Ninja Art: Kunai Slingshot!" called the clone as it let go of the ramen. Five kunai were propelled towards the teacher at twice the speed of regular throw.
Shikaku hit the dirt and the kunai sailed over him. He barely heard the whistle above when Naruto landed in front of his face. With a smile, he reared back his leg.
"Strike!" Naruto yelled.
Shikaku pushed and back flipped off the ground just as Naruto's foot grazed the tip of his nose. When he landed on his feet, he saw Naruto's clones begin to fire another volley of kunai. Shikaku back flipped again as the knives flew around him.
"You'll have to try harder than that, buddy," said Shikaku when he landed again.
"What about me?" called Ino as she burst through the foilage and launched a barrage of shurikun at Shikaku, who cursed and twisted his body with ease to dodge them. Each shurikun zoomed by and flew into the dark.
"A frontal assault is useless, you two," sighed Shikaku. Ino and Naruto regrouped, both of them in a defensive stance. He began to circle them. "What do you hope to gain by this?"
"This," Naruto said, holding a fist. Ino held one up as well.
"Your hands?" chuckled Shikaku. "What's that going-" Shikaku froze when he felt his arm brush up against something that shouldn't be in empy space. He turned his head slightly to see the small glimmer of ninja wire. Wire that came from both Naruto and Ino's hand. He turned in the other direction to see the wire attached to the shurken Ino threw earlier. Gazing around, he saw that he was surrounded by wire.
"Okay. So you've trapped me with wires. Now what?"
"That's not all, sensei," said Ino.
Shikaku frowned and looked again at the shurikun. The light shifted in the trees, revealing more of their trap that made Shikaku swallowed. The wire was not only attached to the shurikun, but also wrapped around several kunai. They were the kunai Naruto's clones threw earlier. And wrapped on the handles of the knives were several explosive notes.
Not low-level ones. Very explosive notes.
"Double crap," Shika muttered.
"I'm really, really glad Ino has great aim," Naruto smiled at his teammate. "Because now you're open for an attack."
"Swarm," said Shino, who appeared behind his friends. Immediately, his insects surrounded their sensei, forming a dome around him before launching themselves.
He could sense his insects hunger as the landed on their teacher. But before they could satisfy their hunger, he felt their confusion as their prey disappeared.
"He's gone," he stated to his friends.
"I saw," muttered Naruto. "Your insects formed a man-shaped cloud before they dispersed."
"So he just vanished?" asked Ino.
"No," said Shino. "He didn't vanish. I felt him disappear straight into the ground. He somehow merged with it."
"How?"
"The shadows," said Naruto and a voice in the trees. Team 10 looked to see their teacher standing on a tree branch and leaning on a tree trunk. He was warmly smiling at students. "It's a specialty among the more experienced Nara clan members. Just like my Shadow Barrier, I can increase my powers using the shadows in the area to my advantage. In this case, ..."
"Merging with the shadows themselves," finished Shino. "That's how you were able to disappear from my kikaichu's attack. You can merge your body with the shadows and can travel within them unnoticed."
"Very observant, Shino," praised Shikaku. "You three are coming along nicely. I'm even more impressed. But the clock is ticking with only two hours left."
"This isn't over yet. We're just getting started," started Naruto, who pointed at his teacher. "And you just might be on your final stretch."
Shikaku grinned, but didn't give away his predicament. Using the Kage Crawl Jutsu was always a double-edged sword. It was meant to be an escape jutsu, only used in emergencies. He could travel as far as the shadow stretched, but the move would always cost him half his chakra and would take hours to fully replenish.
"Perhaps," countered Shikaku. "So I must do everything I can to prevent you from gaining an advantage." He pulled a kunai from his jonin vest and threw it towards the paper bombs.
Naruto's eyes widened when he saw it was one of his kunais with a exploding tag.
"Get down!" he yelled, pulling Shino and Ino away from the area. He only had a second to take on jump before an explosion rocked the area. The team was knocked off their feet and landed a good distance away.
Dirt and smoke enveloped the area, causing Naruto to cough. Waving the smoke away from his face, he slowly got up to his knees. Shino was getting back up and shaking the dirt out of his hair. Ino was slightly stirring. When they fell, Naruto and Shino instinctively covered her body with their own.
"Ino? Shino?"
"I'm okay," Shino muttered.
"I'm fine as well," Ino coughed. She got to her knees, a look of gratitude on her face. "Thank you. Both of you."
Naruto smiled and rubbed the back of his head. "No problem, Ino. That's what a teammate does."
A small grin formed on Shino's face. "We protect one another."
Shikaku looked on with a smile. Everything was coming together accordingly and his team was bonding very quickly.
He turned and hopped south.
Naruto heard the branches creak in the distance, telling him his sensei was heading away.
"Well, we almost had him," muttered Ino.
"It was a good plan, Naruto," Shino said. "We just underestimated him."
Ino slouched dejectedly. "So we're not really meant to beat him, are we?"
"Try not to think of it like that," encouraged Shino. "We are three genins against a jonin. We are meant to see how the skills we learned play into effect as well as the skills we learn on the field. We're learning how to adapt to our surroundings."
"This is not over!" yelled Naruto, jumping to his feet with fire in his eyes. "I'm not going to give up just because I'm getting my butt kick."
Shino chuckled softly got his feet. "Neither will I."
Ino grinned wickedly and jumped to her feet. "Me neither."
"We're not going to stop. We stand together and fight as one."
The three chakra-hopped towards Shikaku in the direction Shino's hive was telling them. Naruto lead the way south, towards their original location.
"Remember, we need to keep sensei out of the shadows. The plan this time is to keep him in the open field. It will be easier this time since he's heading south, where there are less trees."
"Are you sure this will work?" asked Ino.
"It will," Shino reassured her.
Three minutes later, they arrived silently to the location....
...only to find Shikaku calmly waiting for them. He was standing in the open field where the team met earlier.
"Well, that makes things easier," Ino said. The three were hiding behind the tree line that separated them from the field.
"Hold on. It could be a trap," Shino said.
"It is a trap," Naruto said. "He's waiting for us."
"So what do we do?"
Naruto grinned. "Spring the trap."
A moment later, the three dashed through the tree line towards their teacher. But before they could reach him, Shikaku threw several shurikun at them. They ducked and threw their ones. Shikaku pulled a kunai from behind his back and blocked every star thrown.
"Well now, attacking as one this time. Intriguing," said Shikaku. "But Naruto couldn't accomplish that with his shadow clones. What makes you think you can do it as a team?"
"Well, for one thing, we don't think like him," said Ino with a smirk.
"Hey!"
"And another thing is we won't pop when we're struck."
"So this is more of an endurance attack?" shrugged Shikaku. He got into his defensive stance. "Well, alright. Let's see how this will play out."
The team and their opponent stared at each in silence, each one waiting for the other to make the first move. The wind shifted around them, causing the grass to bristle. Once it stopped, Naruto, eager as always, rushed forward. Behind him, Shino raised his right arm and several of his kikaichus followed right behind the blonde.
Naruto swung a left hook at his sensei's head, who merely leaned his head back to avoid the blow. The blonde use the momentum, placed his hands on the ground and delivered a mule kick. Shikaku jumped back, but didn't get too far thanks to Shino's insects. His hive had surrounded the two, trapping them. Before he could counter, he twisted to his left to avoid Naruto's swinging axe-kick.
Shikaku was in a pickle now. With the insects surrounding him, he couldn't stretch a string of chakra to perform a substitution jutsu without it hitting one of Shino's insects. So his other option was to perform a shunshin and appear further away. But he couldn't concentrate long enough to perform it with Naruto's current speed and his low chakra.
Naruto could hardly believe it. Here he was, going toe-to-toe with his sensei and he was holding his own. He believed that it would be harder than this. But he wasn't one to turn back good karma, so he kept up keeping Shikaku moving.
But then he goofed. Naruto went for a leg sweep, only for Shikaku to anticipate it and jump earlier enough to land on his leg. Pain shot into his leg as Shikaku leapt off his leg and land over the barrier of insects.
However, Shino and Ino were there waiting for him before he had a chance to run. Ino swung her leg for a low kick while Shino jumped up for a spinning-heel kick. Acting on instinct, Shikaku hopped and stretched his bodies sideways to avoid the two kicks. The teacher evaded the attacks, hit the ground, and dashed for the tree line. He now had enough time to perform a shunshin.
Naruto saw this as his teacher avoided his teammate's attacks. He channeled chakra to his feet, propelling him off the ground and over Shino's insect barrier. He flew through the air, towards his sensei. As he fell, he threw a kunai at Shikaku's back.
Shikaku must have heard the faint whistle of the kunai because he twisted his body to the right to avoid. But the move caused him to stumble. When Naruto landed, he charge to his sensei. His fist cocked back into a punch. However, his teacher surprised him with a back kick to the stomach, knocking the breath out of him and sending him flying across the meadow. Naruto hit the ground and kept rolling and rolling. He even kept rolling when he hit the water of a pond and skipped across.
Naruto finally began to slow down. He channeled a stream of chakra through his feet and slid across the surface of the pond. When he stopped, he sunk a few inches before standing up a few inches. Then he sunk again.
"Well this is impressive," said Shikaku, who appeared in front of Naruto, standing on the water. His teammates surrounded them at the edge in defensive stances. "You already know the water-walking chakra exercise."
"You have your son to thank for that," smirked Naruto. He took a step towards his teacher, but slipped and sunk down to his knees.
"Looks like you haven't fully mastered the exercise yet," said Shikaku. "Well, that's something we can work on. If you pass that is."
"We're going to pass. Believe it!" yelled Naruto. He pushed chakra into this feet and shot off the water like a rocket. He swung an uppercut at his sensei's chin only for him to lean back to avoid the punch with ease.
Naruto flew over his sensei and landed between his friends, who threw a handful of shurikun at their teacher. A flash of smoke and the stars impacted a log over the water. The log hovered in mid-air before falling into the pond.
"Where did he go?" asked Ino.
"Behind us," answered Shino without looking around.
"How do you know?"
"Because we can't move," Naruto said.
"What do you...?" Ino started before she realized he was right. "Hey! I can't move! What's happening?"
"Shadow Paralysis Jutsu," answered Naruto. "The Nara clan's signature move. They stretch out their shadows and merge it with their opponents. The prisoner is then forced to mimic the actions of the Nara in question."
"Let me guess, you've sparred against my son a couple of times as well," said a voice behind the three. Naruto felt his joints move against his will and turn him around. His crossed his arms over his chest, a copy of Shikaku's posture as he stood a few meters in front of them.
"He would sometimes spar with us. Only on days he considered it wasn't too troublesome," Naruto told him.
Shikaku chuckled. "Naruto, I still haven't figured out if a good or bad influence on my son. I believe it's the former."
"Well, when your son is not complaining all the time, he can be a good person to hang around."
"Hello!" shouted Ino. Her posture matched Shikaku's. "We're trapped here in a shadow and you're having a conversation with our opponent! What's wrong with you?"
Naruto sighed and nodded. "Alright, spring the trap."
Shikaku barely had time to react when Naruto finished his sentence. As soon as stopped, Shikaku heard the faint whistle of several shurikun aimed at his back. He released his jutsu and jumped into the air. The stars whistled below his feet. Team 10 ducked and dodged stars thrown.
Shikaku landed a distance away from his team. They were getting up off the ground from the quick attack. Shikaku turned to the trees from where the stars came from. His eyebrows rising were the only indication of his surprise.
Standing near the trees was Ino and Shino.
Shikaku turned to Team 10 who was grinning like kids in a candy store. The Ino and Shino beside Naruto poofed into smoke and two Naruto clones stood in their place. Shikaku groaned.
"You had two shadow clones transform into your teammates so I would focus on them instead of the sneak attack from behind. But how did you use Shino's kikaichu?"
Naruto smiled. "He placed them on me earlier when I made their clones. When it looked 'Shino' was using them earlier, he was just controlling them from a distance." Naruto shuddered. "Although, it was really disturbing felling them inside my jacket. No offense, Shino."
"None taken," said the bug-wielder. "It does take a while to get used to."
"And right now, it's time to end this," Naruto said. He pulled his last kunai from his pouch and charged his sensei. Ino and Shino charged forward from the treeline, cutting off the sensei's retreat.
They were within attack range in seconds. Each one readied themselves for a kick, punch, or slash while their sensei just stood his ground. Naruto felt his jaw drop when his kunai went through his teacher's neck. It dropped even farther when Shikaku poofed away in a cloud of smoke.
Naruto instantly thought 'shadow clone', but then collided painfully with Ino and Shino.
A flood of memories instantly flooded Shikaku's mind, but he ignored them. He busted out laughing at his student's train wreck. In all of his years of being a shinobi, he had not seen anything this funny in a long time.
This actually makes it worth it being a sensei.
Naruto groaned in pain. He was currently at the bottom of the pileup with Ino and Shino groaning on top of him. At least they were alive and he didn't accidentally cut someone with his knife.
"I should've known a shadow user would know the Shadow Clone Jutsu," he groaned.
"Whose hand is that?" Ino demanded angrily.
"Sorry," muttered Shino, pulling his hand off Ino's butt.
"This is very cute, you guys," said several, familiar voices. Naruto pushed Ino's leg from his face to see at least a dozen Shadow Clones of their sensei surrounding them. The boy groaned and got back to his feet, pulling Shino and Ino up with him.
"How?" asked Naruto.
"You three, in a group hug," said one clone.
"It's very sweet," said another, wiping a fake tear from his eye.
"Ha ha," Ino said sarcastically. She turned to Shino. "So which on is the real one?"
"I don't know," Shino admitted. He held his hand out and one of his insects flew to his finger. "This was the female I placed on him earlier. Sensei must have used his shadow clone from the very get go. My insects can't tell which one his him. He has divided his chakra evenly between them."
"So all this time, we've been fighting a shadow clone?" Ino gaped.
"That's right," all the clones' anwered.
"After all the training and experience I have, I've managed to produce a shadow clone that can endure at least a few body shots and gather its own chakra."
"It has a limit, but it's hard to figure out the difference between the real me and the clone."
"Wow," Naruto said in awe. "I've got to learn that."
"I'll teach it to you," answered the clones. Then they got into attack positions. "If you pass. You have only one hour left."
"Oh, we'll pass," said Ino. The three each got into their fighting stances.
"Believe it!" Naruto yelled and the team charged their sensei's clones.
By instinct, each one took on four of the clones with a fury they never knew they had. Shikaku, who had studied his students profile's earlier, was shocked about how quick and accurate his students had become after three hours of fighting his clone. Most academy graduates would be too tired to keep up with their jonin sensei, but his students were fighting with everything they had.
Ino was furiously striking at her opponents with the ferociousness not shown by many kunoichi. She was using the basic academy taijutsu moves, but her speed was faster than earlier and her agility reminded Shikaku of a lion, with her pouncing and skills dodging his attacks. The real Shikaku's eyes widened when he received memories of one his clones Ino defeated. Apparently, she ducked under its left hood and then drove her knee straight into his clone's stomach.
Shino was just as good, if not better. He took on his opponents with a skill not seen by many ninja, especially with the Aburame's status as outcasts. Shino fought Shikaku's clones with his family's style, a kung fu form the relied mainly on directing opponents strikes and then retaliating instantly. It didn't matter which clone struck, Shino would deflect the strike, and then strike back. His speed made him look like he had several arms instead of just two. The clones couldn't get one single hit and sometimes even got tangled with each others arms. Shikaku almost gasped himself when received memories of a dispelled clone that received a palm strike to the chest.
Naruto, frankly, scared the crap out of Shikaku. It was not his fighting style, which consisted mostly basic academy taijutsu, nor was it his strength or speed. Naruto had endurance that most jonins would kill to have. Already, his clones had laid ten hard hits on the boy that would make most chunin either give up or be knocked out. The blonde would just grunt with pain before striking back with unmatched vigor. Naruto also had an uncanny ability to pull of moves that Shikaku didn't recognize from any style. One move, Naruto jumped over a clone's leg sweep only to grab the real Shikaku's head between his feet, twist in the air, and flip the teacher over onto the ground. When he landed Shikaku felt the breath get knocked out of him.
Despite Team 10's valiant efforts, they were still exhausted from their battles with Shikaku's clone earlier in the day. Ino's attacks became slower and slower before she finally stumbled. A clone's fist caught her in the stomach, lifting her off the ground and sent flying across the meadow.
Shino was tiring as well. His arms were finally caught by the clones he was fighting. Then, they each gave him a sidekick each to his chest. He flew through the air, the breath knocked out of him. He landed only a few feet away from Ino, spitting out blood.
Naruto was still fresh, but Shikaku and his clones had begun to adjust to Naruto's unique style. Naruto was finding it harder and harder to dodge or block Shikaku's attacks. He could feel the blows finally beginning to take effect on his bruised body.
Then, Naruto over extended a punch, causing him to stumble. One Shikaku clone kicked him in the stomach making Naruto grimace. The other clone caught the blond with viscious uppercut to the chin. Finally, the real Shikaku finished it with a spinning heel kick, catching him in chest and sending him flying. He hit the dirt hard, creating a long divot the carried him to his friends. He took several deep breaths, trying to fill his lungs back up.
"Well, I must admit. You three have shown more talent in these past three hours then most genin have in the past ten years," said Shikaku. He had gathered his clones around him. He still had nine clones with him, each of them gazing with acknowledgment at his students.
Naruto, holding a hand to his chess, slowly got back to his feet. Ino and Shino were struggling to sit up. Their bodies were wracked with pain and exhaustion after their battle with Shikaku and his clones.
But Naruto was not going to let it end this way. He reached to his side and unzipped the pouch. He turned to his side so he would let his teacher see what he was doing. Grabbing a handful of dough, he began to channel his chakra into it.
He gave the slightest glance to Shino, indicating his plan. Shino nodded and pulled a smoke bomb from his pocket. He threw the bomb at Shikaku's feet, engulfing him and his clones in a cloud of smoke.
"Ninja Art: Ramen Bind Jutsu!" Naruto yelled, throwing the ball of dough at his teacher. He hoped he hit him even though he was obscured by the smoke.
He hope was answered when he heard his teacher yelp with surprise. The smoke vanished quickly and there was Shikaku, wrapped in a rope of dough.
"Gotcha," smirked Naruto.
Shikaku struggled against his bonds while his clones looked on in surprise.
"Now, this is a jutsu," Shikaku grunted. "These bonds are stronger than any kind of rope or chain I've come across. Not only that, the chakra you've kneaded in the dough as cut off my ability to use a substitution jutsu or perform a shunshin."
"Whoa, I didn't know about that last part," Naruto said with awe. His friends were surprised as well.
"It's true," smiled Shikaku. "Looks like I was right. Your jutsu could be considered high-class."
But then, Shikaku closed his eyes. A look on intense concentration was on his face before they snapped opened. Using what elbow room he had, he formed several seals.
"Shadow Endgame Technique!"(2)
Shikaku's shadow started creeping up his body. It was able to sink underneath the dough, then hook around it. Next, the shadows seemed to tighten and strain along with Shikaku's face. A loud grunt later, the dough around Shikaku snapped off and fell to the ground.
Naruto had a look of disbelief while Shikaku stretched his arms out.
"But there's always a way to get out of any predicament if you put your mind to it," explained Shikaku. On last stretch and he turned back to his students. "You still have about an hour left. I'm going to give you a couple of options. One is that you quit now and I will send a recommendation to the Hokage and council about testing you again in another six months. Another option if one of you quits being a ninja right now and spend the rest of your life being a civilian, I'll pass the other two. Finally, you can continue fighting this fight until time runs out and your sent back to the academy and face another year of Iruka's lectures. Let's face it; you three are out of gas. And you haven't landed one good hit on me."
Naruto kept his steel gaze on his teacher. He really wanted to pass. He wanted to show the village that he was not an outcast, that he wasn't the Kyuubi, but a ninja of the village. A shinobi with dreams of becoming Hokage.
But....in the last few hours spending with his team, he realized he wasn't the only with dreams. Shino wanted to change his clan for the better and lead them to a better life. One were they were seen in the light. Ino wanted to change and be a better kunoichi. Her skills had taken a tremendous leap in just a short time due to her determination.
He couldn't let their dreams down. So, he took a deep breath and prepared to tell Shikaku he was quitting.
"We're never going to quit, sensei," said Shino with a determined voice that Naruto had never heard.
The blonde turned to see his teammates struggling stand on their feet. Their bodies were trembling with exhaustion and pain. Their faces were grimaced, but the stares were determined.
"We're a team. We've discovered that when we saw how well we work together," explained Shino.
"We either pass or fail. But if we're going to fail, we'll go back to the academy together," Ino said.
Naruto smiled at his team...no, his friends. They were willing to keep on fighting, regardless if the passed or not.
"Cute," said Shikaku. "But if you're going to pass, you might want to get a move on."
"Oh, we'll pass alright," said Naruto with a new strength. "We might still have some tricks."
"Like what?"
Naruto turned to his friends. They nodded, and then leapt away from the clearing and towards the treeline.
"Your teammates are retreating? That's exactly a sign of teamork."
"There not retreating," smirked Naruto. "They're just getting out of the way."
"For what?"
Naruto answered by digging as much ramen dough he could from his pouches. He meshed it together, channeling as much chakra he could. Then, he channeled his chakra into his feet and leapt into the air, soaring above his sensei and his clones. When he began to hover in the air, he took his kunai and spun like a tornado in the air.
"Ninja Art: Ramen Storm!"(3)
Shikaku had no idea what the blond was doing. It just look like he was wasting a lot of energy spinning in the air. But then he heard a splat coming from one his clones. He looked just in time to see the clone's eyes widen with surprise before dispersing. Then another clone popped. And another and another.
The man barely had time to wonder what was happing when something landed on his arm, right in his elbow joint. He looked to see a small, ball of dough on the his skin. Then, the ball began to swell in size. In seconds, the ball had become the size of a basketball and kept on growing. As it grew, the dough became heavier and more attached to his skin. Soon, he wasn't able to move his arm at all because of the weight and the fact that his forearm and bicep had now become glued together.
It was pretty much what Naruto said. It was a storm of ramen. Understanding the danger, Shikaku tried to hurry out of the rain of ramen. Several pops behind him indicated the rest of his clones popped. Then, another piece of ramen landed on his back, his other arm, and the very tips of his toes peeking through his sandal. Before he could continue, the ramen on his foot grew and became attached to the ground when he took another step. His momentum made him fall face-first onto the ground. When he landed, the swelling dough on his arms stuck to the ground. Several more splats on his back and the growing weight made him pinned to the ground.
Before he could concentrate on using his shadow, he saw two pairs of feet in front of his face and two kunai pointed at his face. He tilted his head up to see the grinning face of Ino and the slightly smirking face of Shino.
"Got ya, sensei," Ino said.
Shikaku sighed. He knew was pinned. He underestimated Naruto's attack.
"You got me."
Team 10 chuckled. A moment later, the dough around Shikaku began to shrink and crumble into dust. When it was gone, Shikaku got up and brushed off his arms.
"Just how did you do that?" asked Shikaku.
"I combined yeast with dough for this attack," explained Naruto. "Once it attached itself to a surface, the dough would rise up and gain weight from the air and my chakra, trapping my opponent. But there is a drawback. The jutsu only lasts for 15 seconds. Once time is up, the dough will crumble away."
Shikaku shook his head with disbelief. "Genius. You guys are a force to be reckoned with."
"So does that mean we pass," asked Ino eagerly.
Shikaku looked at his now formed genins.
"You have. Team 10 passes."
Well, here you go. How well did it turn out? I know I used a lot of Shikamaru's moves from the manga for his father to use. I guess I wasn't original enough.
(1)This is the technique Shikamaru used against Sai's art lions when they first meet.
(2)Shikamaru used this jutsu against Hidan in the forest to finish him off.
(3)The best way I can explain this technique is to take example from the movie 'The Incredibles, when Bob tried to escape the computer room and got caught in the trap.