Wolvenwarrior65: I was actually planning to cram a crap-ton of Sakura bashing in this chapter since one of the stars here is Sasuke, but I'll try to only use her when things get too serious.

guest: Thanks you are nice too, fam.

This is addressed to an arrogant prick who gave me a review: Penises should be cut off of all men everywhere. Oh wait, my bad. I thought we were all supposed to say retarded shit for a second. Have a nice day son.

Sasuke vaulted over the balcony and fell to the arena three stories below. He rolled to a stop, came to rest on his head, and started breakdancing. Shikimaru took the stairs. One floor down, two to go. Sasuke was on to windmills. Two floors completed. Air flares now. By the time Sasuke had progressed to gliding like Michael Jackson, Shikimaru had finally gotten to the arena.

Yawning, he slowly forced himself to relax into a fighting stance.

Asuma brightened when he saw this. Maybe he has finally learned good work ethic.

Sasuke did the same.

Ankh shouted, "Begin!"

Then Shikimaru sat down, already tired. "Look Sasuke, I don't actually want to pass this stupid exam if I have to fight you. I'm nowhere near your fighting level - the Uciha aren't world-renowned for nothing. Just beat me up a little and we'll call it a day. Alright?"

Sasuke was startled at first, but as Shikimaru talked, a sneer grew and grew on his face. "Ok. Ok I like this. Did you learn how to be a pussy ass bitch from Asuma?"

Shikimaru opened his eyes slowly.

" -Please have him teach me. I mean, I've always wanted to be a coward." Sasuke cracked up, heaving and hawing.

He almost didn't dodge the gigantic shruiken that streaked past him.

A silvery thread dropped from Shikimaru's hands, but Sasuke didn't have time to worry about a trick on the eyes, because Shikimaru instantly threw three kunai in rapid succession. Two of them almost hit their mark.

A patch of grass was disturbed.

Sasuke's shocked face as the kunai tore his immaculate clothes to shreds almost made up for his comment about Asuma. Was something Shikimaru would never say in a billion years! Shikimaru rushed towards Sasuke, ducked Sasuke's desperate, last-minute punch and kicked his adversary's legs out from under him.

The boy ninja fell backward onto the ground, wind fleeing his lungs. He could only wriggle like a fish on sea, willing the air to come back to him. Shikimaru picked Sasuke up by his neck and then pushed him back down again with considerable force.

His hands formed a complex sign. Shikimaru reached for the innate chakra he could feel inside him, then, as he grabbed it with his mind, uttered, "Kagemane no Jutsu!"

The dam between reality and the aquamarine stream of energy broke, and the energy flowed out. Shikimaru's shadow bubbled like a potion in a cauldron, then stretched itself, extending like Laffy taffy. It crept along the ground before touching Sasuke's sandals.

Shadow possession complete.

Shikimaru made himself calm down. He smiled. Sasuke smiled.

"I guess I forgot to mention that I can possess people. I didn't think it was important because Asuma was the one who taught me it..." Shikimaru let the fake smile fall off his face.

Sasuke stopped mouthing words and the smile dropped off.

Shikimaru picked out a kunai out of his bag and brandished it in the sun. A tag with a seal that differentiated it from other kunai as an exploding type wrapped around the handle. He tossed it ten yards to the left of him, placing it in Sasuke's path. He took a step forward. Sasuke mimicked him.

"I want to enjoy this...you bastard," Shikimaru whispered.

Onlookers Might Guy and Hatake Kakashi convened together. "Has Shikimaru ever acted this serious around you Kakashi? All his teachers have nothing to say about him as a person, as he is pretty uninteresting. But he's like a new man!"

Kakashi replied with, "Shikimaru has a mild personality. You never really see his innermost emotions. But if a person insults someone dear to Shikimaru or someone he holds close to his heart and soul...he will never, ever forgive them."

By the time the conversation was over, Shikimaru had walked nine yards forward. Then he let Sasuke's foot step on the kunai, released his possession, activating the seal in the process, and caused it to explode.

Sasuke's body crashed into the wall behind him. Burn marks covered his torso and legs, giving a pocked look. Shikimaru did not move. I need Sasuke to go near that place, thought Shikimaru.

He threw another exploding kunai, hoping to drive Sasuke to the right.

Sasuke had other ideas.

Weaving signs, Sasuke finished by shouting, "Katon - Gouryuuka no Jutsu!"

The air itself was incinerated as a ball of fire formed into the shape of a immense dragon's skull. Rearing its head, the grand dragon fire technique went forward and collided with the kunai. It detonated a safe distance away from Sasuke.

Sasuke attempted to peer through the cloud. He spit out a curse and stimulated his sharingan.

Five kunai and eight shruiken ripped away the cloud cover.

Sasuke caught one kunai and hit four kunai and a shruiken away with it, then blocked the rest. A burning sensation resided as his curse seal throbbed on his neck, and a large wing sunk back into his back after bearing the brunt of the attack.

Shikimaru sent a single kunai on its way, this time in full view of Sasuke.

What child's play, Sasuke scoffed.

Shikimaru smiled.

The shadow belonging to Shikimaru's jutsu burst out of the sandy ground and plucked the knife out of the air. It launched it with greater force, increasing the velocity of the kunai by a hundred fold. It sliced Sasuke's cheek open. Sasuke stumbled. Shit, not even the Sharingan can see if I don't choose to look...he's a better strategist than I thought. Sasuke backflipped over another shruiken. But I won't be defeated so easily!

Sasuke flipped the switch on his chakra, letting it out in bits and pieces. "You almost beat me with that kunai, Shikimaru. If you had hit near a vital I would have been declared unable to continue. But even if you had hit me near my lungs I still would have defeated you before passing out." Sasuke reached towards the heavens. "You hear that, Shikimaru? It's lightning."

"I don't have to be a master tactician to use my senses you idiot," Shikimaru said, rolling his eyes.

"How odd. I was just thinking about the fact that you are not one. Because that sound symbolizes my victory!" Sasuke crowed as the lightning struck his chakra enveloped hand. It absorbed the crackling, pure-white energy. "This jutsu' power source is lightning from heaven itself."

A pause.

"I call this technique," Sasuke stated, "...Kirin."

A snowy-white jaw crammed with pointy, razor-sharp teeth were the first parts of the jutsu to appear. Then a snout and whiskers loomed out of the darkened clouds, lighting up the surrounding sky. The dragon of lightning parted the cloud cover entirely.

Shikimaru felt his jaw drop.

The humongous jutsu bore down on Shukimaru. Right before it struck he smiled.

And disappeared in a poof of smoke.

Sasuke walked over.

He bent down to try and pull Shikimaru's remains out of the huge piles of ash. Finding nothing at first, Sasuke began to search more frantically. Eventually he grew extremely concerned and scoured pile of ash after pile of ash. There's...nothing here. But I was sure my Jutsu struck him, and if it did-

" -he's dead for sure?" Shikimaru finished mockingly.

Sasuke turned and stared at Shikimaru. "How? That was my strongest technique!"

"Ever heard of shadow clones...?"

Sasuke nodded.

"I used those. My chakra is almost completely gone now. I have enough juice in me for one more jutsu at most. But I have to admit that this was satisfying..." Shikimaru smiled broadly. "Also, only dumbasses have ever fallen for that trick of mine!"

Sasuke lunged without thinking.

Now! Shikimaru made the hand signs and yelled, "Fuuton! Ashinaki no Jutsu!" He inhaled deeply, then exhaled air amplified by chakra.

The light bomb went off just as Sasuke tripped on the wire. Sasuke was in the air, blinded and helpless.

"It's over Sasuke! Kagemane no Jutsu!"

The shadow erupted out of the ground by Shikimaru's feet and seized control of Sasuke.

Shikimaru, enjoying himself, danced a small, uncomplicated jig. Sasuke could only look on in dismay. "How did you manage to do- ?"

Shikimaru smiled. "When you avoided my Shadow Imitation Jutsu, I knew I wouldn't be able to use it again unless I disabled your sharingan. But how should I go about doing it is what I asked myself." Shikimaru ruffled Sasuke's hair lovingly. "I planted a wire after throwing that giant shruiken when our fight first started."

Sasuke's eyes widened in realization.

Shikimaru continued, "And that burst of light you saw came from the light bomb, which I dropped in a patch of grass. The wind jutsu I cast blew away the grass, uncovering the bomb. This way I could render the Sharingan useless by taking away two of your senses: touch and sight. After all, the Uchiha clan became the strongest clan in Konoha overall because of their insanely powerful ocular jutsu. They were considered unstoppable. But there's one problem with this Sharingan of yours that stuck-up Uchiha haven't realized at all...it is akin to that Greek myth involving the seer Phineas. He was blinded because he saw too much. The gods cursed him for it. You saw too much of the light, kid. Lament your fate - lament your curse, for it was your downfall, Uchiha Sasuke!" Shikimaru propelled a kunai downwards, and it sunk into Sasuke's chest.

Sasuke slumped over, dead.

Shikimaru walked away and had one foot on the steps when the voice spoke.

"Where are you going, you son of a bitch? We aren't done yet. I will have to teach you that the concept of hell on earth is not just a product of someone's imagination!"

Now it was Shikimaru's turn to look appalled, and he stammered, "Your cha...your chakra vanished. This is impossible!?"

Sasuke, initially lying on the cold, hard ground, seemingly as a corpse, laughed.

"I would have died if not for this."

The air shimmered before flaring up into a fiery purple aura.

A skull materialized five feet above Sasuke's sweaty scalp.

A rib cage and arms followed soon after, hovering in the air.

Then wire-like pieces of flesh writhed and shook, before finally weaving together into a thin net over the bones, closing the gaps.

The flesh hardened as the thing's eyes glowed.

An outer shell engulfed its entire form.

Shikimaru tripped and fell backwards, the back of his head landing.

The outer shell of the thing radiated hostility. Teeth sharp enough to slice a fly in half filled the mouth of the thing, and a gem was enlaid in its forehead. Hair was formed on its head by purple flames. The heat felt like it would fry Shikimaru's face off. Shikimaru thought, No! Now I cant look good for Sakura. Wait what am I saying no one likes Sakura. Shikimaru shook his head to clear it of such thoughts. If I don't focus...he might actually kill me on accident. "W- what...w-w-what is that?"

Sasuke smiled. "Ocular Jutsu."

Shikimaru winced at the jibe.

"And it's name is - Susano'o!"

End of Chapter 2