Chunin Exams part II

Naruto was ecstatic now; he couldn't believe his own eyes. He was a genin little over 6 months ago and here he is now, standing in an arena full of crowd for the chunin exams to begin. Sure, Naruto by far is the strongest shinobi in his village after old man hokage; in terms of talent and strength that is. To be honest he and Sasuke are on an equal footing if Naruto doesn't use his Mangekyou. Most of their skills were pretty much equal in terms. Whenever they both had an all-out taijutsu spar, it would always be a stalemate. If Naruto wins one fight, then Sasuke would win the next one. That is how it goes. However, Sasuke himself knew that fighting Naruto with his Mangekyou is just a one-sided battle. Naruto would emerge victorious any given day and time. But despite all of that both of them were eager today. Afterall today would be the day they both would be testing their strengths against the best genin opponents the nations had to offer.

'Finally, the showdown begins!' thought Naruto as he assembled with his team along with other genin from respective villages. In front of them stood the Tsuchikage. Honestly the man was more-older than his jiji. He had his back completely hunch. Naruto though knew more than that, you can never see a person and determine their strength. He might be old but he wouldn't be a kage if he wasn't strong. That is what he thought upon seeing him for the first time during the first stage of exams too.

"Congratulations to each and every genin present in this arena. You really are the best genin from your village and hence you have a duty toward your village. As you all know chunin exams are conducted in order to display a village's military strength and the potential its younger generation is having. And hence your duty here is to fight to the best of your abilities and hold your nation's head high as you are its pride. Without further delay let us begin the tournament." Said the Tsuchikage, who finished his speech and set the exams into motion. Upon his speech finishing the whole arena roared as the crowd in there, shouted in excitement and started to prepare themselves for the showdown. However, many Iwa shinobi who came to witness the tournament, were setting their eyes on a familiar blond ninja and recognised him immediately. And they all had only one feeling. 'Its that bastard Yondaime's son!' a collective thought screamed in majority of their minds, who witnessed the third great shinobi war. Be it jonin or chunin.

Also, the Iwa jonin who heard rumours about Roshi being defeated by a team from Konoha; a team lead by Kakashi if rumours were true, were still seething in anger. They were seeing that masked jonin from Konoha sitting along with his fellow jonin next to him. Of course, being one of the students of Yondaime Hokage didn't help him much either. Everyone who recognised him were giving him daggers of cold glares. Kakashi didn't pay much mind though he knew it was like this. He was a shinobi after all. Even after all these years the bad blood between Iwa and Konoha still exists. Moreover, he was the third great ninja war hero too. He might not be as famous as his sensei, but with his sharingan during the third great shinobi war, he was giving quite the run for money to his Iwa opponents on the battlefield. Konoha had their fair share of Prodigies, and the coming generations are already having two of them as we are speaking. Kurenai and Asuma along with Guy were also having a collective expression on their faces and ignored the glares.

Right now, Kurenai and guy were little sad that their teams didn't get past the first stage. They simply couldn't finish in the top 4 teams that would be contending in the final stage. Guy upon knowing his team failed to clear the exams cried a lot and then vowed to train them thrice as harder and that he shall stroke their flames of youth much higher and will make them splendid shinobi. During the entire conversation except for guy and Lee everyone had sweatdrops on their faces. Lee being a clone of guy just shouted any phrase that came to his mind about youthfulness and said that, 'He would do his best and work even harder from that day on.'

Team 8, led by Kurenai also quickly resolved themselves to train harder than they did, and that they shall return back the next time the exams are held in their best shape. Hinata and Shino were quick enough to assess their short comings but Kiba was quite loud and brash about his defeat. Eventually with persuasion from his Sensei and his teammates he mellowed down and vowed that he will work a lot harder than he did before. He steeled his resolve even more upon seeing Naruto and his team going to the finals.


In the arena with team 7:

Naruto and the rest of the genin that were on the field just sweat-dropped on hearing the age old kage giving his speech. I mean didn't he just say the same thing during the first stage of the chunin exams too? Nonetheless Naruto just let it slide, thinking it has got something to do with old age. He then had a smile as the tournament begin. He couldn't contain himself any longer. And then a tall man who was in his middle age, and appeared to be a jonin of Iwa came into the grounds and introduced himself. "My name is Hagehiro. I will be your proctor for this tournament. The rules are really simple. You all fight with your opponents until either one of you is no longer able to continue or dies. If I see a match reaching its result, I might declare the winner and stop the fight. I don't like unnecessary bloodshed. Your matchups will appear on the screen in front of you. The matches will happen in that order. Is everything clear?" Said the proctor in an even tone.

There was a unison 'HAI' from all the genin present on the field. Naruto then quickly glanced towards team 10 that has passed the first stage too and then gave them a thumbs up, wishing them good luck.
Shikamaru just muttered "troublesome let's get these exams done with and go to Konoha." Sakura then just smiled at her teammate's antics while Choji just nodded his head and then looked up at the screen to see the match up. Other than team 7 and team 10 there was another team from Iwagakure and one other from Kumogakure. The team from Kumo looked quite older than the rest of teams. They might be at least 2 years older than the others. Other than that, the team from Iwa was almost the same age or maybe a year older than them. However much due to Naruto's surprise the Iwa ninja were directing cold glares towards team 7 specifically towards him. The team had a brunette Kunoichi who was fair skinned and had brown eyes. A boy with messy curly hair and looked fat enough to rival Choji with plump face, and lastly a boy with purple spiky hair with a ponytail. He was carrying a ninjato on his back and according to Naruto he was the one who appeared collected among his teammates. He was just having a monotonous expression that didn't give away any emotion. It looked like for him the tournament mattered the most right now.

'Strange… it's true that Iwa lost really bad to Konoha, so its fine that they still bear hatred for us. But why are they specifically looking at me with a lot of hatred than the rest of my teammates, I don't understand it. I didn't do anything wrong to them. Hey Kurama you in there? What the hell is happening around me?' asked Naruto to his furball as he couldn't contain his curiosity anymore. He was getting sick of it too. He needed answers. Kurama though didn't reply anything. He didn't want to speak anything right now. Anything that comes across as a satisfactory answer means to reveal Naruto's heritage to him, which obviously the fox doesn't want to. He just tried to play as if he didn't know. 'I don't know Brat! Just get of here let me get some sleep. You have a tournament. Pay attention to it first!" Said Kurama as he just evaded the question with a smooth lie, Naruto just sighed at his lazy furball partner 'Yea sure you are just a lazy furball who likes to sleep a lot, see ya. And hey we both know that I am going to wipe the floor here, even without you. So, rest assured Kurama, you are going to witness me be kickass.' Said Naruto as he exited his mindscape after his mental conversation with his bijuu friend. Kurama for his part just had a smirk on his face with closed eyes. Oh of course he knows that his container is the strongest genin among all here, even without Mangekyou and his bijuu chakra.

And then the screen started to spin with the names as it started to randomly match up the shinobi.

Match 1: Shikamaru Nara vs Tsubaki Mikage

Match 2: Ino Yamanaka vs Setsuna Mikage

Match 3: Sasuke Uchiha vs Itoshi

Match 4: Sakura Haruno vs Todoroki

Match 5: Hanayamavs Choji Akimichi

Match 6:Yugito Nii vs Uzumaki Naruto

Upon seeing it Shikamaru just hung his head in despair. He couldn't believe in his luck. He just had a terrible luck these days. Of all the people present in the stadium why should it be him on the first fight. On top of that why should it be a girl. And to put cherry on the cake why was she an Iwa Ninja

"This is such a drag, troublesome… why am I the one who is going to fight first. I will just forfeit-" before he got to finish what he was saying Sakura immediately hit him on the head and said "stop complaining Shikamaru, just go and fight for once dammit, how can you be so lazy?!" Shikamaru then muttered 'troublesome woman' and then walked to the centre of the field. "All the best Shikamaru, show what you got!" said Naruto as he too disappeared into the participants booth.

As he reached the centre of the field and stood face to face along with his opponent he just yawned. The crowd Booed at Shikamaru's antics and his unmotivated stupor. The girl in front of him too frowned for his behaviour. 'Crazy Nara. Thinks I am no fight and looks bored.' Thought Tsubaki. She then said "I suggest you to take me seriously and quit thoughts like she is just a girl, or else you will regret. " Said Tsubaki, Shikamaru's opponent in a cold voice trying to give Shikamaru a death stare. Shikamaru didn't change the look on his face instead decided to retort "Troublesome…. I wasn't trying to be an ass over there. I find it hard to deal with women. That was it. Anyways all the best." Said Shikamaru in his usual lazy tone and yawned once again. After the verbal argument or so what it looked like finished the proctor got to the centre of the arena and then just looked at each other earning a nod From each other. He then said "Hajime!"

Upon hearing the proctor both of the shinobi took their stances. From what Shikamaru saw from Tsubaki's stance he deduced that she was an offensive fighter. He just sighed once again, and then got serious. And from the looks of it since she was preferring taijutsu first he realised that she is more of a close-range fighter. Shikamaru knew that his taijutsu was mediocre, he doesn't have stamina like his fellow blond genin or raven one either. He just had to rely on his tactical brain and his clan jutsu. But to test for how long he can manage with her Shikamaru just took upon the Nara clan's traditional style and then waited for her to move. Neither did anything for good few minutes and then after losing her patience Tsubaki charged forward. Shikamaru then had his full concentration over her. Though he was having eyes on her and started to engage her in a taijutsu dance he already started to workout the strategies he might be having in his reach to defeat his opponent. Meanwhile Tsubaki was just planning out her own way to take Shikamaru down. She knew about the Nara clan. They were known to be extremely intelligent and tactful people who would organise the best strategies in winning a fight. At first, she suspected him to stay at long range distance like all the Nara clan. After all they were known to be the support and long-range attackers. So, she decided to first engage him in close combat and thus chose this taijutsu bout. By all means she expected him to evade her attacks as much as possible and then try to distance himself from her immediately she tried to get close to her. To her surprise he didn't but instead engaged in a bout with her. That was quite baffling to her. She nonetheless decided to finish him off before he could formulate any plans, using only taijutsu alone.

Tsubaki was a hard hitter. That much Shikamaru knew by now. She was hell of fast too, he just wasn't able to keep up with her. 'Troublesome, why is this woman so strong and quick at that. Man… what a drag! I want to finish this quickly and take a nap.' Thought Shikamaru to himself. And then as he went through the best way to deal with her in his mind, he found just the one that would mostly get him a win. 'This is it! This would be the best shot I have against her!' Shika thought to himself. There was a left hook from Tsubaki which Shikamaru upon seeing at the nick of the time, just evaded it and managed to redirect it towards other direction in hopes that she will lose her balance. But to his surprise she didn't lose her footing and then simply landed a low kick to his knee, Shikamaru parried it with his own leg but little late than he actually meant to, she was really quick. Because of that he lost his footing for a moment and then Tsubaki found an opening. She immediately saw his left part of lower torso to be unguarded. She gave a kick to his torso and then Shikamaru fell to his side. Even then he managed to hold himself. 'god that hurts like hell. What is she eating, to hit so strong!' Shikamaru yelled mentally to himself upon the pain he felt shooting through his body. Shikamaru then took out his kunai and started to go at her swiftly and then both of their kunai clashed. There was the sound of clang everywhere and Shikamaru knew that if this keeps going on he would lose. He wasn't meant to fight in close range. They then continued to exchange few blows for few seconds and Shikamaru knew that he put up enough of a show to deceive the kunoichi. After all, that was his plan from the beginning.

Shikamaru then simply got out of Tsubaki reach upon evading her latest kick and started to maintain a good distance between them. She frowned upon seeing him go away from her reach. "For someone who is only a rookie genin, you are pretty decent. But hey I said you to take me seriously or else you will regret it didn't I? You thought you could take me on in taiju—" before she got to finish her talk, she saw a kunai thrown at her, she immediately deflected it with her own one and then noticed that it had an explosive tag on it. She immediately jumped away from it and evaded the possible damage she could have as it detonated, as she left the place and landed some where she saw a barrage of kunais landing around her but neither one of them hit her, she even checked if there was an explosive tag around them but realised there weren't there any. She then got confused at him. She still didn't understand what was happening and then she noticed something the kunai that were thrown at her were not the regular sized ones; a bit bigger than the usual. Before she could collect her thoughts Shikamaru immediately threw something into the air that appeared to be a smoke bomb. As it reached mid-air, it blasted suddenly to reveal a blinding light for a few seconds. This window would be enough for Shikamaru, 'First step executed, on to the next one!' thought Shikamaru to himself.

And then there was the Nara clan's signature Kagemane jutsu. 'Kagemane Jutsu' thought Shikamaru as he performed his last and final step. The shadow started to travel farther and farther until it reached the huge shadows caused by the light that was thrown above. And there was the shadow of the kunoichi too. As the light receded and it eventually died out Shikamaru's shadow was now latching on to the shadow of Tsubaki's.

"Kagemane Jutsu complete!" said Shikamaru with a smirk on his face. But truth be told he is expending a lot of chakra in maintaining the jutsu since the shadow he stretched out is quite far. He then slowly walked towards Tsubaki. Replicating his actions was Tsubaki. 'Damn this Nara brat. How was he able to catch me in his shadow possession jutsu so quick. I couldn't even understand what was happening to me.' Cursed Tsubaki mentally as she begrudgingly walked towards the centre of the arena mimicking Shikamaru's action due to his jutsu despite her resistance against it.

Upon both of them getting near to each other she saw two pairs of hand coming from her shadow towards her neck that were ready to strangle her. "This whole fight is troublesome…. just quit it now so that we both can leave already." said Shikamaru in his usual lazy tone. Victory has been set for Shikamaru already. Even the proctor knows it he wanted to call off the match. But he was waiting if the Iwa kunoichi will surrender herself. Finally, after a huge frown coming on her face she said "Proctor I forfeit." rather begrudgingly.

The proctor just nodded his head and then said "Winner Shikamaru Nara from Konoha!" Shikamaru then called off his jutsu and then gasped a sigh "Damn that was tiring, I need a nap said Shikamaru." And then walked away from the field without paying any attention to the crowd. Though many people in the audience despised Konoha and its ninja they did know when a ninja is good or mediocre. Upon seeing the Nara handle the fight with a single move they couldn't argue anymore about which nation had the best shinobi in their next generations.


In the arena stands:

"Wow! Who would have thought that Shikamaru would be able to pull off the fight so easily. He just used one single opening he found and had her in his Kagemane. How was he able to do it. During the start of the fight, it looked as if Shikamaru was going to get himself beaten to pulp by that kunoichi. It was really hard to think at that time that Shikamaru had any chance of winning his fight." Said Kurenai in a shocking manner. She couldn't believe what she saw. There was no flashy jutsu, there was no deep exchange of fierce taijutsu blow. It was just out of the ordinary. In just mere seconds he turned the tides of the match.

Asuma had a proud smirk on his face. It was because of Shikamaru of course. The kid just bagged enough points to get promoted to chunin. He really showed his battle tactics out there. "Shikamaru isn't just a normal kid Kurenai. After taking my genin team I introduced him to shogi. True being a Nara intelligence just comes to them but Shikamaru's intelligence is off the charts. There wasn't even one time I beat him in shogi after he learned the game. I was getting really curious and when I got him tested for his IQ it was off the charts…. He is a genius level shinobi with an unparalleled IQ of over 200. He can come up with the best strategy you could have there in mere seconds and will be able to execute it to its best when he puts himself to it. The only thing he lacks is—" before Asuma could complete Kakashi continued "the drive and motivation to train!" with an eye smile of his.

Kurenai was in shock though. She knew that Shikamaru and his clan were born intellects. Even his father Shikaku was the jonin commander of Konoha. She knew all of that. However, upon hearing that he had IQ of over 200, she couldn't contain her surprise. Asuma then continued "Kurenai, Shikamaru is the kind of tactician who plans at least 20 steps ahead of his situation. His mind runs through various scenarios that are possible and then develops a countermeasure and a plan for each of them immediately. Even if his plan backfires or his execution of it doesn't go properly, he always has another best one with him to deal with the situation. That way he strategized everything from the beginning of the match." He finished leaving out the smoke from his puff of cigarette.

"He first got into that taijutsu fight with the kunoichi not because he felt he could take her on in a straight hand to hand combat. He did it to deceive her. Since he is a Nara, she would expect him to stay afar from her and continue attacking her with his Shadow techniques. But he went in to fight hand to hand combat, and held himself carefully long enough to let that girl think that, she will have him beat in no time. Sure, that would have happened if Shikamaru didn't jump away from her at the final moment. Until that moment he had her deceived and lead her on to just use her taijutsu. Upon freeing himself and finding the perfect opening he used his light bomb to increase the size of shadows around him, and then had her caught in his Kagemane. Those kunai that were thrown at her were also just to confuse and create a distraction for her. He had her thinking something else and kept her busy for a moment. By the time the girl tried to anlayse the situation she got herself in, Shikamaru had her in his jutsu." Said Kakashi as he now summarised his battle to Kurenai pointing out the strategic method Shikamaru chose to fight an opponent who is potentially stronger than him and experienced as well.

Kurenai after listening understood about what kind of a battle tactician Shikamaru is and then it made sense. She then realised that Shikamaru would be a splendid shinobi if he had little work ethic and ditched his laziness. She had a smile on her face. The younger generation of Konoha are sure having a lot of potential and she couldn't wait to see them grow out into fine ninja.

Guy for his part though couldn't hold himself back anymore. "Shikamaru-kun is indeed an amazing shinobi indeed. He had the battle analysed right from the beginning and had the upper hand from the start of the battle. I feel he deserves the title of chunin for his youthful display of such tactical talent!" said guy with fire in his eyes as he admired his fellow jonin's genin. Kurenai, Asuma and Kakashi nodded as they couldn't agree more. Shikamaru certainly deserved his promotion.


With Shikamaru as he reached the stands:

Naruto was there waiting to congratulate Shikamaru. After seeing him defeat that Iwa kunoichi he was elated. "That was awesome Shikamaru! Believe it, you beat her pretty hard. I mean one second you were fighting her in a fierce hand to hand combat and the next second you got her trapped in your Kagemane. You planned it all along, didn't you!" asked Naruto… ahem more of in a stating manner; as he high fived Shikamaru. Sakura was there in the next instant and was beaming with a huge smile on her face. "Shikamaru, you really did nice there!" said the girl as she praised him for his victory. "You were cool there Shika, you shut her for good, what do you say Choji?" said Ino as she too joined the chatter. "I couldn't agree more Ino, congrats Shikamaru!" said Choji as he munched on his bag of chips with a smile on his face. After that Shikamaru just talked with them for a while and though it was troublesome, he liked his victory and thus he kept a smile on his face. It was a smile that had a hint of pride and also a sense of accomplishment. After that he left the group to their own vices and then walked towards a seat and sat next to Sasuke.

"That was a nice fight there Shikamaru." Said Sasuke in his monotonous voice. Shikamaru just smiled and said "yeah it was! Troublesome… I need a nap" and then fell into the world of slumber as his tiredness took him in. Sasuke though just replayed his fight once again in his mind. He couldn't believe the strategic mind the Nara had. He was really good out there.


Match 2: Ino Yamanaka vs Setsuna Mikage

As it was time for the second match to begin Ino looked out into the arena grounds. She was still nervous though. Sure, last night Naruto really helped her out. Pulled her out of her insecurities. Even then there was, still self-doubts lingering in her mind. 'Enough of that! I can't just remain in her doubting myself and whine. I need to give my all. Winning or losing doesn't matter. I will give my best and will believe in myself.' Thought Ino and then had a confident look on her then turned towards Naruto. "Guess it's my cue huh… well then I better get in there and prove myself." Said Ino with a smile. "You bet! Go Ino-chan give your best and show how awesome you are. I believe in you!" said Naruto. It didn't surprise Ino though she knew about her fellow blond.

She then walked towards him and embraced him. A bit tight in fact. Naruto though blushed. Not because he wasn't familiar with her hugs. It was because they were being watched by their fellow classmates. He didn't want them to have the wrong idea. She then released herself from him and then looked at Sasuke. He just nodded at her and said, "All the best Ino." And then looked at Naruto as he continued "we believe in you." Ino then nodded her head and left to the arena grounds. Even team 7 gave her a collective "all the best".

In the arena:

"it's better if you forfeit Konoha Bitch! I won't go easy on you. I will break each and every bone in your body!" spat Setsuna venomously at Ino. Ino for her part didn't get riled up. She knew it. Iwa has always been like this since the beginning towards Konoha shinobi. She just sighed and then put a fake smile on her face. And that smile infuriated her opponent even more. "Why are you smiling you bitch!?" Setsuna shouted again. Ino didn't give any response. The proctor then came in and said,

"Match 2: Ino Yamanaka vs Setsuna Mikage begin!"

Setsuna as soon he heard the call immediately rushed towards Ino and went for a straight punch towards her stomach. Ino though wasn't surprised. Sure, taijutsu isn't her strong forte. But she wasn't outright worst in it. She quickly dodged it in time and then and landed herself right behind Setsuna. Setsuna though, as if he has seen it coming immediately raised his right leg aiming a kick at Ino as he repositioned himself turning towards her. Ino wasn't able to dodge on time and then immediately got herself struck by his kick. 'God! that hurts like hell! Even after all that training I did, this guy's punches are faster and stronger." Ino yelled mentally to herself as she fell back. Seeing it as his cue, Setsuna immediately rushed to Ino with a finishing blow. He had an evil smirk on his face though. That bitch is going to see his wrath today, or so he thought. Ino was able to get up before he could deal the blow and immediately took a kunai out of her pouch and started to use it against him. In response even Setsuna took his kunai and started to involve with her. But soon enough he was overwhelming her. Ino upon realising it quickly created distance between them and then dropped a smoke bomb to gain a little time and distraction so that she can plan her attack on him.

'This guy is too fast to deal with! He is hell of lot stronger too. How am I supposed to defeat him. I am running out of time what are the possible ways I might be having to fend him off!' Ino thought to herself as she tried to analyse her situation. And then after a few seconds an idea struck her. 'yep genjutsu is the best option I might be having with this guy!' thought Ino to herself as she started to weave few hand-signs. 'Magen: Koko ni Arazu no jutsu'Ino said to herself as she had her opponent caught in her trick. Yep, that guy was now going to see what she wanted him to see. Ino was a Yamanaka. Most Yamanaka had little skill in being a sensor naturally. But Ino trained a little with her dad since she realised that she could sense things around her. And that is how she was able to cast her genjutsu on Setsuna even though she couldn't see him. She had his chakra signature targeted and then caught him in her genjutsu. "Your little tricks aren't going to work on me you blond bitch! I am going to defeat you and skin you alive!" shouted Setsuna as he searched for Ino amidst the smoke. And then Ino was preparing something behind the smoke screen. She took out all the kunai she had in her pouch and then attached an explosion note to each one of them. She did it as soon as she could and then went on to throw each one of them towards Setsuna. Setsuna upon seeing them quickly evaded as they came one by one and even parried few away from him with his own kunai.

BOOOM!

And the kunai didn't stop there they kept coming towards him for few seconds. Setsuna was thinking how the hell the kunoichi had so many kunai with her.

BOOOM!

There was another loud explosion as soon as the explosive notes set off. Seeing that he had enough, Setsuna quickly weaved few hand-signs and then yelled "Futon: Daitoppa". As soon as he said that a strong gust of wind emerged out of his palm and then the smoke moved away due to the wind. Ino was now visible to him. She was panting a lot and had sweat all over her face. She then rushed towards him and then again had him in a taijutsu fight. They both sparred for a while and then Setsuna was overwhelming her or so he thought. Isn't this all just a mere illusion of his. How futile.


Back in the stands with Setsuna's team:

"That fool! He still didn't realise that he is stuck in that girl's genjutsu. Come on Setsuna break out of it!" said Tsubaki to herself as she saw her teammate fighting nothing but thin air. To many people it looked like he was just performing some Katas. All this while her other teammate just looked calm and composed without any hint of emotion on his face. Honestly how does keep himself like that?


Back in the ground:

Ino now saw her perfect opportunity closing in. She waited this entire time, since performing the Magen: Koko ni Arazu no jutsu requires lot of concentration and fine chakra control to execute it she was now at the back of her enemy, so she didn't have to worry about missing her jutsu. Even is she cancels her genjutsu on him he wouldn't be able to see her immediately and escape her last trick.

Ino then closed her eyes as she cancelled her Magen: Koko ni Arazu no jutsu. Setsuna now upon seeing the illusions fading away realised that he wasn't fighting anyone. He looked for his opponent everywhere and couldn't find her 'shit! Was that genjutsu! Damn where is she?!' he yelled mentally to himself and looked around. "shintenshin no Jutsu" yelled Ino as she locked her target and performed her jutsu. Soon her body fell on to the ground upon her soul leaving it.

Setsuna got hit by Ino's jutsu and then paused his movements as Ino took control over him. He had a smirk on his face. Ofcourse it was actually Ino who was in control of his body now. "Proctor, I forfeit the match." Said Ino as she raised her hand in defeat. The proctor knowing what was happening simply nodded his head and sighed that one more Konoha genin won the match. Honestly why is konoha's next gen so strong?

"Winner: Ino Yamanaka" said the proctor as he announced the match result. Ino simply cancelled her jutsu upon hearing him announce the victory and then quickly got back to her own body. She then stood up and dusted herself off. Setsuna though didn't regain his control back. He still laid there unconscious and then the medics had to come take him.

There was a loud roar of cheers from the arena as the fight came to an end. People were now taken aback by the fight. Who would have thought the girl despite her odds take the promising genin of Iwa with such tact. It was truly a remarkable display of talent in there.

Ino though beamed and had a bright smile on her face and then simply walked out of the arena grounds. She then went on to the participants booth… possibly to rest. She did have a lot of mental strain after all.

"You were awesome Ino! Wow you really defeated him! Congratulations!" shouted Sakura as she was the first to greet her teammate back into their stands. "Yeah Sakura, guess I was good back there. One person down…. I am so happy." 'and relieved that I am not just a burden to my teammates' thought Ino to herself. She then looked for her blond crush…. Err teammate. She wanted him to praise her and then, there he was standing right in front of her as he shunshined.

Ino then just got a bit surprised at his sudden appearance and then decided to speak. "So…. How did I do Naruto?" she asked him as she stared into his eyes. Naruto was also staring into her eyes and then after a while he decided to speak "You were….


Author's Note: yep there you go another chapter thrown in. Hope I got a bit better writing my fights. I know that I didn't update since a year probably. I cant promise you that I may update again. But I will try to nonetheless. So please guys review it. If you do review it who knows maybe I will be posting another chapter soon enough.

Oh an by the way, sorry for the cliffhanger I dunno I just decided to stop it in here I guess ;)

Ja ne.