Chapter 22: Too Short

After Saskues fight, Yuri shakes her head. He was almost gone, the guy was taking his chakra, and not like how Yuri does it. He would just take it. But of course, Saskue pulled through. He comes back up and sits down. Making Yuri shake her head.

The next names appear. Yuri can't help but smirk.

Isamu Haruno vs Kuri Dosa

"Oh… he's doomed." Yuri mumbles.

She and Shikamaru scoot closer together as she thinks. Isamu isn't a fighter, and she thinks this girl is more of a fighter than he is. All the people here probably are. She and Shikamaru were making bets, so they needed to be close by. Hinata was on Shikamaru's side to hear their bets and keep track. So far they were at one each.

"My bet is this Kuri girl. Not just because we have similar names, but Isamu isn't a fighter." Yuri claims.

Shikamaru smirks. "Sadly, I agree. Isamu doesn't stand a chance. Have you heard about the Village Hidden in the Mist?"

There had been rumors about the Hidden Mist for years. And Saskue said they encountered someone who had been in the mist. Calling it the Blood Mist Village. He mentioned it might have changed over the years, and she wonders if this girl was raised in that environment.

"Only that it's barely started to change." She smirks.

They watch as Isamu stands there. She can't tell if he is nervous, but she notices Ino has her fist clenched right in front of her. She leans closer to Shikamaru.

"Look at Ino. She seems worried about him. More worried than she was about Saksue."

Shikamaru leans in too. "She was talking about how brave he was when protecting you. She admired it, and she wanted to cheer him on no matter what. Think it could be something?"

Yuri turns her head to Shikamaru and their faces are close together. Of course, they had done this so many times it never phased her. But she always noticed the blush on his face, and thought it was cute.

"Oh? I can't wait to see where it goes. How about you Shika?" With a giggle she looks away and at Isamu.

They wait for the go.

She glances up and sees Kitty boy looking at her. She doesn't know why, but it makes her shift under his gaze. She shakes her head and looks back at Isamu, hearing the go ahead.

Once the go is given, Isamu and the girl remain still. Sizing each other up. Good for Isamu, thinking before he strikes. Could be bad news for the girl, but she might use his attack against her. But… Isamu rarely strikes first. It was part of his go to, attack second and get the edge.

Kenji comes and sandwiches her between him and Shikamaru. Giving her comfort to the taste around her. Yuri grabs Shikamaru's wrist. Not wanting to be distracted by whatever taste was around her. Not even Orochimaru's and he seems disappointed in Saskue's fight.

But the girl smirks. And she vanishes.

She can't see Isamu's reaction but this is going to be fun to see how much he needs to improve.

She reappears right under him. Grabbing his legs, giving him a shock. And he even falls to his knees. Yuri widens her eyes. An earth and lightning user. She might be a one trick pony though, but it's a good one. Being able to go underground and reappear under someone is something that would be a great advantage.

Isamu recovers and moves away. But she remains underground, Isamu isn't one to talk during a fight, that is all Yuri and Kenji. He usually just yells at them to not get hurt.

The girl comes back up but he reverses it and drags her back under. Yuri sees the shock on her face for a second and she is surprised. She wasn't prepared for Isamu to reverse her. And trap her underground.

"That brat…" Kenji mutters. "He learned that from Kakashi."

Yuri chuckles. "He is just as chaotic as we are."

Isamu had been subjected to fighting with Kakashi a few times, since Asami sensi thought it would be good for him, and Kakashi was able to use Earth Style. Clearly, Isamu learned a little more than they thought. And Asami would in turn beat Saskue with her sword.

Isamu appears above ground and charges at Kuri, with her halfway in the ground, her legs sticking out as she seems to be struggling. And Isamu kicks her in the butt and lower back multiple times.

"When did he get so good at fighting?" Shikamaru asks.

Yuri shrugs. "Might have always been good. But we just never noticed."

The poor girl can't seem to get out and Yuri wants to know why.

Kenji shakes his head. "What did he do to keep her from moving?"

It gets to the point that the proctor has to call the match since Kuri is stuck. Someone has to come down to get her out of the ground since Isamu is celebrating. Yuri knows this is exciting for him. And she and Shikamaru both just lost. Once Kuri is pulled out they all see he tied her so she couldn't make any handsigns.

Yuri shakes her head as Isamu continues to jump around.

"That… that was smart." Kenji muses.

"When did he…" Shikamaru starts.

But Yuri talks over him. "When he brought her under, he wanted to get caught first."

Yuri shakes her head. Isamu just showed how smart he is, and how much of a threat he is. Isamu can even heal himself in battle. That is going to make things even crazier for here on out.

Isamu comes back up and hugs Yuri. Leaving Yuri to smile widely. She is gald he passed. It just means the weakest on their team would be able to hold their own. It also means Yuri and Kenji have to one up him.

"Did you see me?! I totally crushed it!" Isamu has a smile on his face.

"That was smart of you, burying yourself and tying her hands? We thought you were going to fail." Yuri muses.

This gets a few laughs from Kenji and Shikamaru. But Isamu just shakes his head for a moment.

Isamu doesn't move. Just keeps his arms wrapped around her. "Wow, you bet against me? How rude. You know-"

He doesn't finish as someone clears their throat. They all look over and see Ino standing there. Yuri squeezes Shikamaru's hand lightly and leans away from Isamu a little. Hoping he understands that he needs to let go of her.

"Good job. I knew you could do it." Ino offers a small smile.

"Oh… um… thank you Ino! That makes me happy."

Isamu gets off her and turns to Ino.

What's impressive about Isamu, he didn't cause her any damage, he just tied her up. Yuri and Kenji exchange a look, and both of them know they are going to have to watch out for Isamu in the finals should they make it through.

The next names come up and it's Zaku Abumi v Shino Aburame.

What a boring match up.

"Shino." Yuri and Shikamaru speak at the same time.

"Reason?" Shikamaru asks.

Yrui smirks. "All the bugs. I didn't see him fight but Kenji and Isamu said he used holes in his arms. You know how Shino controls bugs? That is the worst thing."

Shikamaru smirks and nods his head. And as Yuri predicted, Shino destroyed the guy. Bringing a smile to her face. He plugged up the holes and destroyed the boy's arms. Serves him right. He was a pain in the ass with Kenji and Isamu.

"We have to worry about Shino now." Shikamaru shakes his head.

Yuri frowns. "You're right. I wouldn't want to face Shino. I hope someone else faces him in the finals."

With that the next round is announced as Shino comes back up. Not saying a word to anyone, and Yuri shakes her head. Some of these fights are going to be quick, and others might not be very fast.

Domi Ihori v Izugi Tsuneko.

And Yuri doesn't know who Domi is. She looks at Shikamaru and sees he doesn't know who she is as well. That bothers her a lot. She knows Izugi, he was with the other girl. But Domi is from the leaf as well.

"Alright! I am going to crush it." Domi yells out.

With that, Yuri and Shikamaru share a look. They both know this is going to be fast, something lame and nothing was going to come of it. If anything… She just wants to fight now.

"I am going to go with the Mist guy." Shikamaru says.

Yuri snorts. "Same here… only idiots boast about crushing it."

Yuri lets out a sigh as the two meet and the match begins. She doesn't even think it's going to be worth it.

Domi goes and charges at him, yelling and being just loud. It doesn't make any sense. She is going to get demolished. The boy instantly throws the Domi girl away, so fast she crashes into the wall. It was only a blink of the eye but even leaves Yuri shocked.

She glances at who she thinks is the girls team. They all don't look surprised by how quickly she is thrown away.

"Wind style." He mumbles. "Wind storm." He makes some handsigns.

And a strong gust of wind comes out of his hands and throws her against the wall again knocking her out. The proctor goes over and checks on her, shaking his head.

"I have to call this match. Winner, Izugi Tsuneko."

Kenji shakes his head. "A lame match. It was over too quickly. I couldn't figure anything out about him."

"I agree. He seems quick though. Maybe in the finals it will be easier." Yuri comments.

The medics come out and take her to the infirmary. Everyone watches as Yuri looks at Izugi. Maybe she should fight him. Would make for a fun match though. She shakes her head.

"Wow… that was such a bad match. Isamu was more entertaining." Shikamaru comments.

"Because Isamu won against the odds. We knew he was weak and it surprised us with the intelligents." Yuri muses.

She leans her elbow on the railing, and she doesn't know what is coming up next, but it better be fun. Some of the matches are predictable. Once everything is settled her eyes go back to the proctor.

"Um… alright everyone, we will move on to the next match."

Everyone looks to the screen to see the next battle. And she has to smile.

Misumi Tsurugi v Kankurō.

"Kitty boy is going to fight. I am excited to see what he has on his back." Yuri smiles.

"My guess is Misumi." Shikamaru comments.

She shakes her head. "For once we disagree. I think Kitty boy will win it."

Isamu comes back to Yuri after talking with Ino. He goes back to hugging her and she notices Kitty boy watching her. She smirks, wanting to know what he can do. It will give her some ideas of what she could be up against.

Once she sees it she shakes her head.

"What the heck?" Shikamaru asks.

Both of these guys are weird in Yuri's mind. But Kitty boy is a puppet master. She is sure hand to hand isn't his thing, but she doesn't know how to avoid it.

It was a quick match. But very informative for her. It takes a moment for everything to be clear, he had her going since she thought he got his neck snapped. What a shame, now she might have to face him.

The proctor coughs. "Now to begin the next match."

Her eyes go wide when she sees the next match up.

Ubuto Kojuri v Yuri Chibana.

"Go get him!" Naruto exclaims.

Yuri stands there stunned for a moment. She was going to fight? She really wanted to keep from fighting this round if she could. And she feels nervous all of a sudden. Yuri isn't the type. But she stares at the screen. She doesn't move, not until Kenji shoves her.

"Go Yuri." She moves down and doesn't look up.

She keeps her eyes down, she doesn't know how she is going to evaluate the person she is about to fight. While it might be a mistake on her end… she isn't sure what else to do. All she can think about is not using the sharingan or the byakugan. No Shadows and no mind transfer. She can't let people from a different village see her at her strongest. She doesn't like everyone watching her, and she knows how careful she has to be with this fight.

"Are you both ready?" The proctor asks, pulling Yuri out of her thoughts.

Looking up and looking at the boy, and realizing she needs to focus. Yuri cannot afford to be distracted. Not with Saskue and Shikamaru watching her. And she needs to show Hinata that the Leaf girls can win matches! She nods as the boy nods as well.

"Begin!"

He jumps out of the way.

But Yuri finally looks up and stares at the boy in front of her.

Slowly he moves to grab something, and Yuri has to snap out of her daze. She was seen as the weakest on her team… but she could barely win this one. With it, she needs to start figuring out the boy across from her. No way was she going to lose.

"COME ON! SOMEONE MOVE!" Naruto yells.

That does it for Yuri. She pulls out a kunai and throws it at the boy's hand. He manages to dodge her kunai, and she realizes he is fast. He moves in the blink of an eye, small and fast. Deadly combination, and Yuri had to find him quickly. She looks around and finds him by the protector, who also seems surprised by this.

Yuri smiles, quick, but she is also quick.

The boy unrivals a scroll and had throwing needles in his hand. Yuri pauses and smiles slightly. Summoning. He can summon things with his scrolls, but throwing needles? Why not any other weapon under the sun? That's what puzzles her.

He doesn't move and Yuri takes the chance to move. Coming right up to him, she sees him widen his eyes. She grabs his wrist and throws him into a wall.

He does go into a wall, but he doesn't stay down, with the needles in his hand he throws them. Forgetting the proctor is behind her, Yuri jumps up as high as she can and manages to dodge all the needles. Flipping, she lands on her feet and runs at the boy again.

This was proving to be more fun than she thought. He seems ready for her this time and pulls out a kunai, and Yuri smirks. He seems to anticipate her movement and runs away. Another game of cat and mouse. She just has to be faster than him. He throws the Kunai and Yuri dodges it, only to have a whole storm of throwing needles coming after her a second later.

This kid is smart. She will just need to be hand to hand to take him down. Charging at him, she pulls out a kunai. He spreads his legs out in a defensive position, or to start running again, they clash all the way to the other side. He throws down a ball and smoke covers her. She jumps out of it and feels a small cut on her upper arm. Turning around he is where he was before.

Yuri has to move fast. Charging at him she slides between his legs and hits the wall as she figures going underground is the best choice. She sinks into the wall and moves to being right in front of the boy.

Ubuntu looks around and Yuri comes out and tries to punch him. But he doesn't even flinch, his eyes wide as she sends him right into the ceiling above them.

He comes back down and hits the ground with a thud. Yuri tilts her head.

He slowly gets up, panting. "I won't… I won't be beaten by a girl."

With a smirk Yuri rushes and kicks him, she knows he isn't good at taijustu. He might be smart, but if she can hit him quickly enough, he won't have time to think. He summons weapons, but he might not be good at fighting hand to hand, meaning he is like Isamu and hangs in the back most of the time. Getting sent across the room he pants and seems to only stare at her.

"I give up."

Yuri is taken aback by this. Did… did he just give up? Why?

"I can tell I might have injured my head, and your kick might have injured me. Without a teammate I would be toast. I know when I could be killed."

"Winner." The proctor coughs. "Yuri Chibana."

The boy walks out as the medics come over. Yuri only blinks and holds her arms. Shaking her head she goes back up to her team. Isamu is all over her. Even fusing all over the fight and half of it Yuri tunes out. She doesn't really want to listen to Isamu complain about her getting hurt.

"What the hell! You even got hurt!" Putting a hand on her upper arm he heals her. "And you were moving fast!"

She opens her mouth to reply but Saskue comes over. He takes Kenji's spot next to her and begins to shake his head.

"Took you long enough to win that one." He smirks.

Yuri sticks a tongue out at him. "You're one to talk. Mr. I almost got my ass kicked."

He frowns as Yuri takes her place next to Shikamaru. Leaning against the railing as Saskue follows her and sandwiches her between him and Shikamaru. She doesn't mind though.

"At least you won. He gave you a run though." Shikamaru comments.

Yuri shakes her head. "I know. He was smart."

"Sakura is about to fight." Saskue comments.

Pulling all their attention to the board. Yuri shakes her head.

Sakura Haruno v Ino Yamanaka

"I have to go with Ino." Shikamaru says.

"Sakura… She might win." Yuri glances at Shikamaru.

But he only shakes his head a little more. "I think you forgot, Ino has improved greatly."

Sakura and Ino trained hard, and they might be an even match.

The girls stand there for a moment. And they start fighting. Of course… Yuri knows they are holding back. And when they put their headbands on their foreheads.

"But you forget, they are probably the most evenly matched out of everyone. Their skill levels are similar. Even with all the training." She smirks and watches.

In the end, the girls both end up getting knocked out and it's determined a tie. Yuri shakes her head. That was the longest match out of everyone. And it took forever, but they tied. Proving Yuri right at the very least.

"Wow, that was a fun match at least." Yuri comments.

The girls are brought up and she can see Saskue seems to be watching Sakura. She tilts her head, she knows Sakura is his teammate, but Yuri shakes her head. What is she even thinking? Saskue is her friend.

"She did well. She might not last against anyone else though. But she managed." Saskue shakes his head.

He turns back and settles in next to Yuri. And she is aware of how close he is to her. She enjoys it… but she isn't sure why. It's not a comfort thing, it feels like something different.

She looks at the screen seeing the next two names.

Awagi Montayaki v Akira Hatsu

Yuri thinks for a moment. She doesn't know anything about either one of them, and it bugs her a little. She knows Akira is from the Leaf, and she had heard a rumor before about her. She doesn't know what it is… but she doesn't seem strong. And the Sand guys are proving to be strong as well.

"I think sand." Shikamaru says.

Yuri frowns. She might have to agree with him. "Sadly, I agree. I have no idea what this girl can do, but I heard a rumor that she caused her team to fail."

The match begins and the guy holds his ground, opening up his coffin, but something strange happens. He freezes as Yuri tilts her head.

She doesn't know what is going on. Why did he freeze like that? It doesn't make any sense to her! People are frozen as well, waiting for the next thing to happen.

"What? What's happening?" Shikamaru asks.

Yuri shakes her head. The boy just stands there as the girl moves around. She attacks him while he stands still. Is this really a girl who caused her team to fail? She is messing with him and he is only able to stand there. It was something to watch out for.

"I know. She is doing the same thing we encountered with Kabato. She has him in a genjustu, she can attack him but he won't hit her." Saskue explained.

Yuri only looks at Saskue, tilting her head. She would need to get the full story from him later on. But she looks back at the match and shakes her head.

"Awe man. This match is as good as over." Shikamaru complains.

In a few seconds the guy screams and falls to the ground. Everyone stands there shocked, even the sand guys seem to be in shock. No one moves for a moment as the boy doesn't move.

She shakes her head.

"Well, that was short. But that girl is a threat. She might be just as scary as Shino. But… she would lose against me or Saskue. Maybe if Sakura passed she wouldn't be able to against Sakura." Yuri comments.

The field is cleared out, and the next names are displayed.

Tenten v Temari.

"I think Tenten." Yuri says.

Shikamaru shakes his head. "I think Temari."

Yuri shakes her head. She doesn't know why but she has a feeling Shikamaru is right. But seeing as a sand ninja was just taken out. But she doesn't know any of their skill levels.

The match begins and it's easy to see Tenten has an unfortunate matchup. Temari just deflects everything thrown at her. Maybe it would have been better for Tenten to be against anyone, but Temari just destroys her.

"Damn… That wasn't even close." Shikamaru shakes his head.

Yuri lets out a sigh. "No it wasn't." But Temari throws Tenten. "How disrespectful."

Saskue shakes his head, and she can tell it pisses him off as well. That isn't a way to take a victory. Even though Isamu's way was a little… tasteless… it was better than this.

"These sand guys are ruthless." Shikamaru comments.

She glances over at him and nods her head. The sand siblings seem tough, and she knows the redhead is going to win. He won't really have a match. But she doesn't know how it's going to go on though. But the next names are displayed.

Azuri Nobumoru v Totomi Torobei

When they both walk down, Yuri notices they have animals with them. Strange, that both of them are going to be fighting with their animals. And there is another, another two, using ninja animals.

"Both animal users…" Shikamaru mumbles.

Saskue shakes his head. "Makes for an even match though."

She has to agree with Saskue for that one. They are evenly matched, but that means they know all the tricks of having an animal with them, making it seem like this could last a while. She doesn't even know which one could win.

"Bet?" Yuri asks.

Shikamaru pauses for a moment. He had won the last one and she believes they are tied. But she can't be sure, they never ask Hinata who has how many points. It would just make things harder. They would ask before her match.

"I'm going with blue hair." Yuri says. "Bigger cat it seems and might have been having more things up his sleeve."

Shikamaru nods his head. "I agree. But the other guy is sand. It's way too hit and miss."

The match begins and the boys go after each other right away. The sand guy pulling a knife out and his desert cat jumping off him to go from the side. Blue hairs cat goes off and engages with the desert cat, and the two boys clash. But, there is a puff of smoke and the blue haired boy is replaced with his cat and the desert cat gets thrown against the wall.

A good move.

"Trying to separate the animal from the human." Saskue smirked.

She knows this would be something Saskue would try. And it's a fair thing to try. Get one half away, the better chance one has of surviving. These one on one battles are becoming more interesting and harder to tell who is going to win.

"Take out one of them and you don't have a chance when it's like that. Look at Kiba and Akamaru. They would be useless without the other." Yuri comments. Stealing a glance at Kiba.

He is another one she wouldn't want to fight. Kiba and Akamaru are a good team and she knows Kiba would think outside the box to strong arm his way into winning. While Yuri was strong, she knows she can't outrun Kiba.

But her attention goes back to the match when clones are made. Frankly… Yuri doesn't care for this match. It's just like all the others. And she doesn't want to watch anymore matches. Yuri wasn't one to just watch, while she can make sure she figures things out, she doesn't know how it's going to go.

Yuri still watches as they separate the human from the animal and attack the weaker. It's a good match… but predictable. And she doesn't even know who is going to win.

It ends in a tie.

Notes: Hello! Here is another chapter! Thank you everyone for you support and the follows! I hope you guys enjoy this chapter and the fights that happened within this chapter! Next few chapters should be out a little sooner. (At least I hope so. I am about to get pretty busy.) As always, please follow, like and comment on the story! Thanks again everyone.