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Greets

[Continued]

“If the chakra that runs through your body decreases to zero, you pass out and the chakra in your chakra reserves goes and tries to return the balance. If that chakra, and the chakra that is in your reserves is depleted, you die. Either way, we call that chakra depletion." Asuma added in. Shino frowned. All of this information was familiar, he was sure that they studied it in the Academy.

“When your chakra increases unnaturally, you can't just shove the extra chakra in your reserves because they're already full. The only way to can get this chakra to leave before it makes you into a walking time bomb is to use it.” Kurenai slapped a very stern stare on her students. “That is why, when under the effects of a solider pill, you must use all of your energy until the effect fades.” They had the grace to look guilty.

“But, back to chakra depletion-” Kakashi was interrupted by Hayate addressing everyone.

“Next round is between.. Kin of the Sound and Gaara of the Sand!” They all quietly watched the two walk down the stairs and into the ring. Kin looked nervous but Gaara was as blank and daunting as a white piece of paper to a writer or an artist.

“Chakra stamina and endurance has nearly nothing to do with the amount of chakra you have in your reserves or flowing through your body.” Kakashi said quietly. “It has everything to do with how fast your reserves can replenish the chakra flowing through your body when you use it.”

“And Naruto..” Gai inserted, surprising his team into showing that they were listening. “He has an unusually high amount of chakra, both in his body and in the reserves, but what makes him most formidable is the fact that it only takes a moment for him to drag chakra up to replenish what he has already used. Akado was fighting a losing battle. It was the worst possible match up.”

Kakashi nodded. “Yes, that's right.”

The battle between the sound kunoichi and the sand nin was short and brutal. Hayate was barely able to jump in before Gaara made the finishing blow. Kin was carried away in a stretcher stained red with her blood. The Rookie Nine flinched at the sight while Lee, Tenten, and Neji only looked on grimly.

He holds no affection for allies. Zaku thought to himself with a frown. He really didn't care what happened to any of his team mates but allies were allies because they were needed by Orochimaru. Thinking about the sound leader, he looked at the small collection of high officials and ninjas standing near the Hokage. His frown deepened when he realized that Orochimaru wasn't there. What happened to him?

Naruto walked back in the room, a raving medic nin on his heels. He had a grin on his face, one that faded in light of the bloodied stretcher. He turned serious eyes on Gaara, who ignored him in favor of walking back up the stairs. Sighing, he did the same, stopping when he reached his team.

“Yo.” he said, shrugging a shoulder at them in greeting. He blinked when he realized that most of the leaf nins on that balcony were staring at him. Naruto spun around in attempt to look at his back, ran his hands though his hair, and patted himself down. “What, no 'kick me' signs, gum in my hair, or attach-on stink bombs?” He sounded mildly disappointed, for reasons they could not fathom. “Just why the hell are you all looking at me then?”

Naruto's less than eloquent words had the desired effect on his peers. They shuffled and turned away, muttering things under their breath or scoffing to themselves. Hinata merely looked confused and edged over to Naruto. He smiled at her, ignoring the almost shrill voice of the medic nin arguing with Kakashi.

“Your student has refused medical help!” she said, obviously young, new to the job, and free of any hate against Naruto and Kyuubi because she didn't know about them and their situation. Kakashi only grinned, placing a hand on the girl's shoulder.

“Trust me. Naruto knows his own strength.” he said calmly. “If he was in need of medical attention-” Kakashi frowned to himself, knowing that even if Naruto really needed it, he wouldn't have asked for help. Certainly, someone who was not used to being offered help would naturally be wary of asking for it, right? But she didn't need to know that. “He would go and receive it.” A little white lie never hurt anyone.

She relented, turning a stern gaze on Naruto. As if he could feel her gaze, he turned around, giving her the patented Uzumaki grin, so obviously fake that Kakashi winced. She didn't seem to notice. “Just let me check you over really quick.” she said evenly. Naruto looked at her warily, then looked at Kakashi. Seeing no sign or reason to say no, he sighed heavily and walked forward.

She smiled triumphantly, holding out a glowing hand. “Now, just going to check your vitals, chakra flow..” Naruto yawned, meeting Hinata's eyes. Seeing that the medic nin's attention was averted, he started to mouth her words and mock her with silly expressions. Hinata giggled. Naruto was such a baby when it came to his own health.

The medic nin looked over him, then, deeming him fit to continue, left. Naruto stuck his tongue out at her retreating back, only to jump to the side with a yelp to dodge the kunai thrown at him for his offense. What was it with medic nins and their attitudes?

“Round three is between.. Uchiha Sasuke and Tenten!” Tenten winced. Out of all the people I could have ended up going against, I didn't want to go up against Lee, Neji, Naruto, any of the sand freaks, or Sasuke. She smiled sheepishly. Guess beggars can't be choosers.

“Don't you have a last name, Tenten?” Naruto's innocent question gave her an outlet for her rising annoyance. “Ow!”

“Ah, that felt good.” she murmured to herself, idly cracking her knuckles. She walked down the stairs. On the balcony, Naruto was being fussed over by Hinata, a large bump on his head where Tenten had nailed him for his curiosity.

“Yes, it's just so tempting to hit him when he starts acting stupid, isn't it?” Sasuke said quietly from behind her. She turned her head to nod at him, feeling the edge of her nervousness wear away.

Now silent, the Uchiha and the weapons specialist walked into the middle of the room and waited for Hayate to announce the beginning of their battle. The sickly jonin looked between the two serious genins. “Are you ready?” Tenten nodded, but Sasuke paused. Hesitantly, he stretched out his hand toward her, taking one step forward.

“To the best ninja.” he said simply. With a sudden grin, Tenten took the offered hand and shook it.

“Yeah! And let's hope the other isn't going to need medical treatment.” They smirked at each other, silently challenging.

“Alright!” Hayate said when he saw the two of them slide into fighting stances. Sasuke stood in a basic taijutsu stance, turned slightly to the side with one leg in front of the other. He kept most of his weight on his back leg, just in case in needed to do some quick dodging. Tenten stood slightly slumped over, her hands near her kunai pouches. She was leaning slightly forward, alerting Sasuke that when she attacked, she would attack fast and without warning, probably right after the examiner said to start. “Begin!”

Sasuke cursed his wonderful observational skills as several kunai immediately flew his way. He dodged all but one of them, the last of which that he couldn't was deflected by his arm guards, to his great surprise. He had forgotten that Naruto's present to him had metal in it.

With a frown, he activated his sharingan, startling Tenten when his eyes turned red. “Ah, you have one of those eye techniques too, huh?” she realized warily. Then smirked. “Well, then I guess it's the best time to find out the weaknesses of your eyes..”

She pulled out a scroll, then, with a cry, she unrolled it and tossed it into the air. Weapons appeared out of nowhere. Sasuke found himself dodging every type of bladed weapons he could think of, everything from typical kunai to sickles and scythes. His sharingan helped only slightly, letting him see where the weapons were going to go only a little faster than normal.

He winced when a sickle sliced the back of his thigh, but kept on moving, the sharp and raw pain of the wound reminding him bleakly that his sharingan wasn't as all seeing as the byakugan.

Finding a brief period of peace in the midst of flying weapons, Sasuke pivoted on his heel to face Tenten, making quick hand seals.

“Katon Goukakyuu no Jutsu!” A great ball of fire flew in her direction. She dodged quickly, letting her control over the weapons drop in her haste to move. The people on the opposite balcony of Sasuke's team(who he would have never aimed at) found themselves dodging as well as the ball of fire scorched the walls and the floor. It hit the wall, but didn't do much more than blacken the wallpaper.

Tenten stood, ignoring the damage, eyes searching for Sasuke's position. He was nowhere to be seen. Where the heck did that guy go? She walked away from the wall, looking around for the Uchiha cautiously. Not left, not right, not in front or behind either..

Humans rarely look up. Let's use that to our advantage. Oddly enough, it was Naruto's advice that had run through his head at the last moment. Like an overgrown bat, Sasuke silently dropped down from the ceiling, to which he had been attached to with a precise amount of chakra. It was only the sudden cry of her team mate that warned Tenten of his advance. He cursed Lee.


She threw up a defense, but his kick still landed, hitting the back of her skull. While he landed gracefully, she went flying forward, hitting the ground with a heavy thud. He turned around, half worried that he kicked a little too hard and killed her, the other half preparing for another attack.


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The room was dark, lit up only by the two candles by his knees. Drawn all over the walls and the floor in blood were ancient seals of healing, meant to balance the life force and spiritual energy of a person and other such uses. Wiping the sweat off of his forehead, he realized with an annoyed grunt that he'd have to be the one to clean it off before any leaf ninja caught them.

His master sat in the largest of the circles, sitting up with his amputated limb in front of him. Blood pooled around him. Initially, Kabuto had been able to stop the bleeding by forcing a major blood clot to form, but he had to undo it to heal the limb. Personally, the medic nin didn't know why Orochimaru was so worried about his leg. The body wasn't his in the first place. He'd get a new one in a few months.

Instead of just waiting for a new body, he had Kabuto reconstructing a limb for him. Three whole hours. Kabuto's eyebrow twitched in irritation. And he won't tell me just what in the world happened.

Orochimaru meditated quietly, seemingly ignorant of the blood pouring out of his leg. He felt the pain, certainly, but it was a mere echo of what a normal person could feel from such an injury. His soul was barely attached to the body, just enough so he could possess it and shove the other soul out, but not so much so that he was stuck in the body for good.

He felt cold and detached from everything around him, but then again, he had always been so. But the present feelings were on a whole different level.

Time did not matter. Mortals came and went. Even his clever pet Kabuto would die someday, either by his own hand when his right hand became worthless, or in a battle against his enemies. Orochimaru knew he was not immortal, but he was pretty close to it. The soul was immortal, but loose souls like his own were constantly harassed by the servants of the spirit world who were of the unanimous opinion that, since his body was long gone, he should be in spirit world instead of continuing his existence in the world of the living. These servants were promptly killed before they could exercise their force on him, and he continued on.

Souls like his own could also be sealed away or destroyed by a powerful force. But the soul was still immortal, technically, since it wasn't swayed by time. What he really needed was an immortal body, to shield his vulnerable soul from his enemies.

He had sought immortality so he could learn every jutsu in the world, and so he could prove to his old sensei that he had made a mistake when he had chosen that blond brat for Yondaime instead of him. And the first conquest he wanted to make with that immortality was the destruction and total annihilation of Konoha and all of its inhabitants.

Yet, now that he was closer to immortality than he had ever been before, his focus had shifted, putting survival in front of the desire to learn and destroy.

He hissed in surprise, watching as his limb regrew right before his eyes. Tsunade would be so pissed off if she knew her research had been used to heal me. He thought idly. The glow of chakra faded. He touched his calf and wiggled his toes, making sure everything worked.

“Good.” he said, standing up smoothly. He put weight on his regenerated limb, noticing the lack of muscle tone. Hm. That simply will not do. I'll have to fix that. Orochimaru looked over at his right hand man, coldly observing the wiped out medic nin. “You will have to clean up and leave before anyone notices.” With that order, he transformed into a ordinary looking jonin and walked out of the room.

Kabuto pushed himself to his feet, cursing underneath his breath.


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Tenten swayed, then dropped to one knee. She felt dizzy and tired, but also unbelievably alive. Sasuke hadn't gone easier on her, hadn't pulled any punches, or treated her delicately because she was a girl. He was looking at her as an equal, and that was the only reason why she was still grinning.

“Haha..” she chuckled, getting back up. She stumbled, then straightened. “I like you, Sasuke! You sure know how to make a girl feel special.”

Sasuke was confused. All he could see what that they had been trying to kick the crap out of each other in the last ten minutes, yet that made her happy? A girl's logic is strange. He was bleeding from multiple wounds and she was cut and bruised from his own attacks.

Tenten was having a hard time focusing on Sasuke. She feared that she had a concussion from that last attack, or some 'loose nuts and bolts' in her brain, as her father liked to call it. “Hm.” She couldn't tell if there was one Sasuke, or one Sasuke and two bunshins. “I don't.. think I can continue.” Her grin widened, first at Sasuke, then at Hayate. “I forfeit.”

“What!” Lee bellowed, leaning over the railing. He sounded angry. Tenten blinked, having forgotten that they were being watched. “How can you back down, Tenten!”

“He's stronger than I am.” she said honestly, looking up at his indignant face. “It is better to stop while I'm ahead before I end up needing to be hospitalized.” Tenten shrugged. Neji nodded silently, agreeing with her logic. “I'm not a moron. I'm also not in the habit of pushing myself so hard that I always end up having one foot in the grave.” Lee and Gai fumed.

“Wise choice.” Hayate said, nodding to her. “This round goes to Uchiha Sasuke!”

They both walked back up the stairs. Tenten lightly hit Sasuke in the shoulder, purposely where the shirt gaped open and pale skin was smeared with blood. He winced. “Nice going, kiddo. Don't get your a** killed in the final exam or I'll tie you down and toss you into a mob of your rabid fan girls.” Even Neji reacted negatively to that threat with a disgusted shudder.

“Ugh.” Sasuke covered his face with one hand, then leaned against the railing as Tenten walked over to her team, one silent while the other two started to lecture about 'never giving up' and things of similar nature until Tenten started to threaten them about something involving their jumpsuits and a creative use of kunai. They went silent almost immediately.

The wound on his shoulder suddenly warmed. Sasuke took his hand away from his face, frowning lightly at Sakura. “You really shouldn't be doing that.” he said blandly, not sure if he should be annoyed that she was using the energy she needed for her battle on him, or touched.

“I'll do what I want.” she said stubbornly. “And what I want is for you not to be hurt.” Kakashi smiled to himself, suddenly and almost painfully reminded of his own team mate.

The demon host smirked at Sasuke, elbowing him in the ribs, another place made sore by his inability to dodge certain items. “Besides, you need to be in tip top shape for your date with your rabid fan girls.” Naruto sneered gleefully. “'Cause I'm gonna kick your stupid a** in the final exam!”

“You wish!” Sasuke countered fiercely. The two grinned at each other.

“The next battle is between.. Haruno Sakura and Inuzuka Kiba!” Hayate announced, coughing lightly. “Can you both come down here, please?”

“Told you.” Sasuke leaned out of Sakura's range when she started to examine the cut on his cheek. She pouted. Naruto grabbed the back of her dress, and, in unison, the two genins pushed their team mate down the stairs.

“Don't let the mutt win, ya hear?” Naruto said encouragingly, squeezing her shoulder lightly before walking back up the stairs. Sakura felt a sudden onslaught of nervousness, realizing just who she had to fight against. Did he really think she could beat Kiba? Smarts was what got her through the Academy, force was what got Kiba to pass. In a one-on-one battle, logic and strength conflicted with each other, only to get strength as the winner. Like a computer nerd and a body builder in an arm wrestling match.

I am so screwed. Inner Sakura declared, her body flailing. She pulled a tombstone out of nowhere. Maybe putting 'death by dog' is a little too much?

“You don't have to win.” Sasuke said firmly, glaring at Naruto's back. “Just make sure you fight to the best of your ability, alright?” Sakura, suddenly relieved with the knowledge that she wasn't expected to win, nodded with a calm she did not possess. Sasuke, with an unreadable look, gazed at her for a moment, then nodded and walked back up the stairs.

“Hurry up, slow poke!” Kiba yelled, having taken the easier route by jumping over the railing. With a scowl, she quickly walked over, facing Kiba, who, with a flash of fangs, grinned savagely at her.

“Are you ready?” Hayate asked of them. Sakura nodded determinedly. 'To the best of my ability' isn't going to be too impressive, Sasuke-kun. She thought gloomily.

“You are so not ready.” Kiba challenged. Sakura blinked in surprise. “You could never be ready to fight me. Hello? Do you recognize me? Do you remember my scores, Miss Know-It-All? I got the second highest scores, after the pretty boy of course, in one-on-one battle. If I remember correctly, you had the second lowest, right above the dead last, Naruto, right?”

Naruto was the first to react. “Hey mutt boy!” he yelled, his loud voice echoing clearing in the ears of anyone who cared to listen. Jiraiya sighed and Tsunade rolled her eyes. Sarutobi only smiled. “Come say that to my face, and watch how I rip you a new one!”

“Oh brother.” Kurenai sighed, covering her face with one hand. “I thought we broke him out of that habit.” She looked over at Naruto, who angrily waved his fist at Kiba and had one leg slung over the railing. Hinata was holding onto his arm, no doubt worried that he was going to jump into the ring. “Calm yourself, Naruto. He has the habit of insulting his opponents right before a battle. I think it gets him into the mood to fight, but mostly what it ends up doing is pissing people off. You won't believe the insults he was hurling at me when we sparred for the first time.” It was only her words that kept him from leaping over the railing and kicking Kiba's a**.

Sakura was confused and a little hurt. “You might as well well forfeit, forehead girl! You won't win!” he finished. Akamaru yipped as Kiba laughed uproariously. Her confusion and pain were fiercely shoved aside by raw anger.

Just what the ******** did he call me! Inner Sakura bellowed, tossing the dreary tombstone to the side. She donned on a pair of boxing gloves and started bouncing from foot to foot. I'm gonna get you, my pretty! And your little dog too!

With a sudden yelp, Naruto was back on their side of the railing, backing up so far that his back was flush with the wall. Still, he kept trying to move back, convinced that, if he tried hard enough, he could meld with the wall. “Aw s**t, he just had to make her pissed off!” He whimpered, having a mental image of Sakura, towering and imposing, enveloped in the fiery flames of her wrath, her eyes cold as she cracked her knuckles, chuckling evilly. He whimpered again, thinking of the aftermath of such a powerful temper. Splat! His overactive imagination made Kyuubi snicker loudly.

“Aren't you overreacting?” Sasuke sighed, watching his team mate hide behind Hinata and peer fearfully over the Hyuuga's shoulder at the silent kunoichi in the ring.

Naruto's head whipped around. He glared at Sasuke. “Just what do you know?” he snapped. “You're always safe from her wrath! Take it from someone who knows. Messing with Sakura's temper is like messing with explosives: if you're fond of your life and you wanna keep it, you just don't do it!”

Sasuke opened his mouth to object, but Ino cut him off. “Actually, Sasuke-kun.. Naruto's right.” she too had backed away from the railing. “I've known that girl for a long time.”

“Give me one good example of her temper being so extreme to warrant your fear.” Sasuke said stubbornly. Sure, he had seen her get mad, like everyone else. A little mad here and there, but nothing to be dramatic about. She usually got over it pretty quickly.

Ino had a good example, and many more as back ups if he continued to challenge her. “Five years old. Sakura was shy and timid about the size of her forehead and was constantly paranoid that someone was looking at it and making fun of her because it.” she began ominously. “One boy commented on it, and in the next few moments, had a broken nose andwas blessed with unconsciousness.” Sasuke tried to imagine Sakura as a five year old, and then tried to imagine her doing something like that. The images just didn't fit.

Shikamaru suddenly started backing away from the railing too, as did Chouji. “s**t, I remember that!” he said, looking fearful. “That was me!” His hand passed over his face, trailing over the slight bump on his nose, the only reminder of that incident. He remembered his innocent question: “Hey, why are you always hiding your forehead?” And then bam! One shot KO. “That girl has one hell of a right hook when she's angry.”

Probably why Shikamaru hates girls so much. Asuma realized with a smirk. A little boy gets decked by a little girl. Talk about traumatizing.

Back in the ring, Sakura's eyes were blazing and her fists were clenched. Age had tempered her temper, making her different from the child who struck out at those who pointed out things she'd rather not think about. She said nothing, did nothing but stand there, silently taking in the insult, analyzing it, and logicly determining that Kiba didn't mean it. It took the edge off of her temper. She looked over at the examiner. “I'm ready.” she said. Her head turned sharply, narrow eyes as sharp as green glass glaring at Kiba. “Are you?”

“Hmph. Of course I am!” he stretched, smirking at her. “I'm gonna take you out, forehead girl!”

Sakura clenched her teeth. “You couldn't take me out even if you brought chocolates and roses, mutt boy!” she yelled. Kiba was offended, yet slightly impressed.

“What, you'd rather go out with Naruto?” he jabbed. Sakura snorted.

“Rather than you? Hell yes! At least he takes a shower once a month!”

“He has to!” he countered. “Your rank stench clings to him and he can't wait to wash it off!”

“How did me and my bathing routines did stuck in the middle of this?” Naruto whined. He looked at the other leaf genins. “For the record, I take a shower once a day, dammit!”

“I can't believe that Kiba found someone with as much of a temper as he has.” Shino muttered. “It's almost.. annoying.”

“Did your mother drop you on your head too many times when you were a baby, or are you that stupid naturally?” Sakura called out, sticking out her tongue at him.

“Did your's? Or is that forehead just a product of genetic mutation?” Kiba countered, stomping his foot on the ground and shaking his fist at her.

“At least a forehead can be concealed. Your stupidity can be seen from a mile away!”

“Sasuke freak!”

“Mutt lover!”

“When I said she should battle to the best of her ability, I'm sure I didn't say to engage him in a battle of the wits.” Sasuke said, a little bewildered.

“Well, I suppose her wits are her best ability.” Shikamaru said logicly.

“You tell him like it is, Sakura!” Ino cheered.

“I don't think encouraging her will help, Ino.” Shikamaru muttered with a heavy sigh.

Kankurou leaned over the railing. “Can you two stop bitching and just start fighting?” he yelled. “You're starting to piss me off!”

Grumbling, the two looked at the examiner. “We're done.” they said moodily.

“Good.” he said blandly. There was a hint of a smile on Hayate's face. “Then you might as well begin."

LMFAO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! seriously I laughed SO HARD during naruto's little hand description!! xd oh also u,... well shikamaru , mentioned that taking a hat out would be easier I was just wondering, DID you choose these pairing buy using a hat and bits of paper because I never would've expected ANY of these match ups PURE GENIOUS MAN ^^

Getting by. Finals are comming up soon @.@"
But shouldn't stray posting more chapters.

YEEEEEEEES!!!!!!!!! YOU'RE BACK!!!! I LOVED IT! THANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOU!!!!!! I CANT WAIT FOR SAKURA AND KIBA'S BATTLE!!!!!

[continued]

With a sigh, Kankurou loosened his hold on her. Relieved to have the kunai away from her neck, she didn't notice his fist until it impacted with the back of her skull, rendering her unconscious. As she fell towards the ground and into her mind, she cursed her inability to show everyone why Team Ten wasn't a group of losers. “Examiner!” Kankurou called. “She's out.”

“I see the idiot still has that girl thing going on.” Temari grumbled. “Anyone else but a girl, and they would have been a smear on the wall.” Gaara mumbled something under his breath.


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A Nara was usually passive and lazy, but unusually intelligent. They were slow to anger and tended to travel in groups, but often refused any position of leadership or high authority, simply because it was 'too troublesome'. A Nara was the laziest, yet the most loyal shinobi any Hokage could ask for. A city could be falling around their heads and there could be not a shred of hope left, yet the Nara would stay by your side, idly drumming his or her fingers against their knees and asking you if you could please move out of their sun, thank you very much. Some of the Nara weren't even that polite.

But there was one thing that Naruto, and many others before him, observed about a Nara. One guideline everyone, enemy or ally, must follow.

Do not piss off a Nara.

Naruto watched Shikamaru silently, seeing the signs that everyone else missed. The slight tightening of the shoulders, the grim set of the lips.. and the burning fire of anger in his eyes. And then it was gone, swept away with a heavy sigh as he heaved himself over the railing and, with his hands stuck in his pockets nonchalantly, walked over to the still form of his team mate.

Before he jumped over the railing, he had snapped out at Chouji to stay put. Noticing the same signs that Naruto did, he complied, even though he was just as worried about his team mate as his friend was.

Naruto didn't know whether to be awed at Shikamaru's control, or terrified, for the aftermath of the loss of his control would no doubt be nasty. A Nara was notoriously passive-aggressive. One would act like nothing was wrong, that everything was alright in the world, then, when their enemy least expected it, wham! Revenge is a dish best served cold.

He too heaved himself over the railing, not sure if he was there to help Shikamaru with Ino(no medic nins were available to get her, they all were trying to deal with Kiba, Sakura, and trying to reconstruct the bloody messy that was Kin), or if he was there to make sure that Shikamaru didn't attack Kankurou.

Shikamaru knelt next to Ino, gently taking her wrist in his hand to make sure she still had a pulse. With a sigh of relief, he felt it, as strong and as bold as ever, just like Ino herself.
Naruto stood tall, unconsciously adding his shadow to Shikamaru's just in case a fight would break out, an instinct ingrained in him from the old days of fighting the sound nins side by side with the shadow user. Shikamaru's gaze shifted from the relaxed features of Ino to the impassive features of the ninja who beat her.

“You could have just knocked her out earlier. You didn't have to make fun of her by making her a puppet.” he said, his voice even and calm. “You are on a more advanced level of skills than her. There must have been so many chances..” he trailed off, his shadow trembling at the edges, his fingers tensing reflexively on his team mate's wrist.

Ino had a thing about being controlled. She had always whined when Shikamaru caught her in his shadow bind, not liking to have anything to do with something she didn't have full control of. It came from years and years of being naturally devious and good at making other people do what she wanted, either with sly words or by blood limit. Kankurou must have seen that desire of control in her, and, by taking control of her, flaunted how weak her control really was. And he laughed.

“There was more than ample opportunity.” Naruto picked up from where the other nin left off. He took a step closer to Kankurou, scowling darkly. “Look, I just want to know one thing.” Naruto was silent for a moment, his eyes closed and his head tilted to the side. When the suddenly red eyes opened, Kankurou almost took a step back in reflex. “Why the hell were you toying with her!”

“Hmph.” Kankurou calmed his heart. Seeing those demonic eyes always made him feel jumpy, whether those eyes were gold or red. “I wasn't toying with her. I was teaching her a lesson!” Frustrated, he looked aside, thinking of his sister. “In the sand, a girl like that wouldn't have even survived past the harsh schooling. She should be thanking me for teaching her a lesson now that she won't have to learn later!”

“And what lesson is that?” Naruto snapped, displaying a flash of fangs as he snarled.

“There is no magical fairy tale romance.” Kankurou snapped back just as angrily. “A kunoichi isn't gonna be helped every time she cries out for help.” Up in the balconies, Tenten winced. “She isn't going to be able to rely on the strength and fortune of others. No one can!” Kankurou snorted, disgusted with them. “You stupid tree huggers with your silly ideals of chivalry and peace, treating every one else like family! No one who lives as peaceful as your damn village could even begin to understand the true pains of being shinobi!”

Naruto stared at him darkly, before dissolving into bitter laughter. “Is that so? Then, I am very proud to be a tree hugger!” He slammed his fist into his other hand, cracking his knuckles loudly as he glared. “I didn't like the sand's way of thinking then, and I certainly don't like it now, but know this, a*****e! If we face each other in the final exam, consider your a** creamed!”

“To each's own, fox boy.” the puppet user spat bitterly, walking back up to the balcony with stiff shoulders. Naruto was about to yell something at the sand nin's retreating back when Shikamaru halted his actions.

“I'm going to take her to the infirmary.” he said, eyes widening a fraction when he saw Naruto's eyes had taken on a red hue. He had already picked up the blond kunoichi. Something about the way that Ino's head rested against Shikamaru's collarbone and how carefully the Nara boy handled her made Naruto smile, chasing the red away from his eyes.

“The next round is between.. Zaku of the Sound and Nara Shikamaru!” Hayate announced.

“What?” Shikamaru grumbled, forgetting his previous pondering if the red in Naruto's eyes had been a reflection of the light. “How troublesome.”

Snickering, Naruto took a step forward, stretching his arms out to take Ino. “I'll take her. Just make sure you aren't killed, ya know?” After hesitating for a moment, Shikamaru passed Ino over. Naruto immediately frowned when he had the girl in his arms. “Damn..” he muttered to himself as he walked away. “What does this girl sustain herself on, air and grass?”

Shikamaru turned his focus to the sound nin, who had already made his way down. The older genin smirked at him, flexing his palms. He remembered that he was yet another person that Naruto had warned him about, but all he could think about was Ino.

Did Naruto know that Ino had an irrational fear of the white walls of a hospital? Of needles? Of nurses? Of clipboards? Did he know that Ino could be distracted from all of those things if he just got her talking about flowers?

No, he doesn't. Shikamaru realized anxiously, looking at Naruto's retreating back as he reached the door and disappeared from view. He doesn't know anything about her. Not like I do. He could just see Ino shrinking into the pillows, so small in the huge hospital bed, fearful eyes shifting from side to side as Naruto obliviously yapped a mile a minute.

“Ready?” He had to go after Naruto. He couldn't waste any time. “Begin!”

Zaku didn't care that Shikamaru was distracted. “Zankuuha!” the sound nin shouted, extending his arms and flattening out his palms. Razor sharp winds raced towards Shikamaru. Almost lazily, the Nara dodged, barely getting out of the way of the attack. Nevertheless, his shoulder was clipped by a blade of wind.

Grimacing, he lifted a hand to cover it, unsettled by the blood he could feel coming out of the wound. It reminded him that Ino hated the sight of blood as well. Would the nurse draw blood from her to check if there was anything wrong? Shikamaru didn't know anything about medical things, but all he could think of was needle plus blood plus Ino equaled disaster. He wasn't quite sure if he was more worried about Ino hurting someone, or Ino getting hurt. The thought of her scared made him grit his teeth in anger.

“Heh, pay attention, brat!” Zaku shouted with a smirk, once again flexing his palms. “Zank-” Shikamaru was faster.

“I don't have time for this.” he said coldly, extending his own hand. Ino wasn't the only one who knew an imperfect form of her blood limit. The shadow under Zaku's feet trembled, stretched, and morphed into a form of a hand. It curled around Zaku's body like a snake until it reached his throat. Then the shadow tightened, leaving no room for the sound nin to even breath.

Gasping, Zaku tried to free himself, steadily turning red from lack of oxygen. Shikamaru didn't budge, cold eyes watching as the sound nin flailed. And then, Zaku's face a faint purple, he finally stopped moving. Shikamaru dropped the sound nin, walked forward a few paces, then slammed a glowing fist into Zaku's chest. With a gasp, the nin began to breath again, but was still unconscious.

The Nara stared down at the nin, a frown tensing his face. He had often practiced the same move against his father, and had hated every time he could feel the life being drained away. If Shikamaru walked away, any of those times, without giving the customary blow to the chest with a precise amount of chakra..

He shook his head to himself. “He'll be out for a while.” he told the examiner. The jonin, surprised that he had killed and saved the sound nin in the span of a few seconds, nodded. He's just like his father. Hayate thought with a faint smile. Since Zaku wasn't seriously wounded, Dosu was ordered to take his team mate back up into the balconies.

Shoving his hands in his pockets, Shikamaru walked away, not to the balcony, but towards the infirmary where Ino was, hopefully sleeping peacefully.


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The medic nins rolled their eyes at the laughter they could hear from the other room, choosing to focus instead on healing Kin. It wasproving to be a difficult process.

A pillow flew out of the room. “Dammit, you stupid mutt! Get my pillow back!” Sakura yelled through her giggles.

Kiba pouted, heaving himself off of the bed he had been sitting on. “But it's Naruto's fault!” he grumbled, but retrieved it. Said blond, sitting on the foot of the other blond's bed, smirked.

“That's a good puppy.” he cooed. Ino and Sakura started to laugh at the look on Kiba's face. As if his mock anger was fueled by their laughter, he lunged at the fox boy, who, with a snicker, knocked the dog user's legs out from under him and started to wrestle with him.

The door swung open, hitting them both. “Ow!” they cried in unison, barely heard over the kunoichis' laughter. Shikamaru just gazed down at them impassively.

“You are fools.” he stated, stepping over them.

“Shikamaru!” Ino gasped. “You're bleeding!” Grimacing, Shikamaru remembered his injury. He started to walk back out of the room.

“Sorry, forgot you hate blood...” he mumbled.

“Naruto, Kiba! Stop him!” she ordered sharply. Suddenly, there was the Great Wall of Fox and Mutt in front of him.

Naruto frowned at him. “That wasn't why she pointed it out, fool!” he said, pushing Shikamaru back to Ino and Sakura. Shikamaru tried to resist.

“But-”

Ino sat up in her bed. “Sakura can heal, you know!” she snapped, feeling sad that he thought she wasn't worried about his health. “She's good too!”

Sakura beamed, not expecting such a great praise from her rival. “Yup!” she nodded. “But you're gonna need to take your shirt off.. unless you want bits of cloth fused in with your skin.” Shikamaru started to resist, but stopped at the sudden vivid imagery.

“Whatever.” he pulled off his jacket and his shirt, tossing them on the opposite bed. Because he was starting to get worried about the numbness in his shoulder, he ignored Ino's snide comment about his body.

“Damn Shika!” she said. “I didn't know you were so scrawny. And pale.”

“Well, I doubt that anyone with actual muscle would stand for your nagging and bossy personality.” Kiba snickered. Ino nearly snarled at him, pretty impressive for a human who wasn't infused with some type of animal instinct.

“Aw, lay off of him.” Naruto said, taking Shikamaru's side. “Besides, Sasuke's paler.” Ino immediately was distracted.

“My Sasuke-kun?” Ino's eyes sparkled. “You're saying you've seen Sasuke with his shirt off?”

Naruto blinked. Why was that so important? They were on the same team, after all. He had even seen Sakura in several states of undress. Of course, he either pretended that he didn't see it, or screamed that his eyes were tainted, just to get a rise out of her. “Uh.. yeah.” Then he smirked. “So has Sakura.” He put emphasis on the kunoichi's name.

“All done!” Sakura said proudly. Shikamaru ran a hand over unblemished flesh.

“Wow.” he said, slightly awed. “She was right. You are good.” Sakura grinned, as if saying 'yeah, I know'. She blinked as Shikamaru turned away to put his shirt back on, distracted by Ino giving her the evil eye.

“What?” she asked, confused. Naruto, she noted apprehensively, was looking a little too gleeful.

“Well, I have met my quota of the day.” he said with a chuckle, dusting off his hands. “If you ever need chaos, just call me, Naruto the Magnificent!”

Kiba rolled his eyes. “Yeah, if we ever need an idiot.” he mumbled under his breath.

Naruto's temper flared. He waved his fist at Kiba. “I heard that, mutt lover!” he yelled. Then surprised the rest of them by composing himself quickly. “I'm gonna go watch the rest of the matches, anyone wanna come with me?”

He got grim 'no's all around the room. “But who else can we expect to come in here?” Ino asked, only half joking.

“Um.. Chouji, the last sound guy, the green genin, Hinata, Hinata's cousin, Shino, that genin with the glasses, and that sand girl. I think.” Shikamaru said, trying to think of all of the genin who had been watching from the balconies and hadn't fought already.

“So.. out of all of us rookies, only you and Sasuke-kun have made it to the final rounds so far?” Ino asked Naruto, sounding disappointed. The other blond shrugged. Shikamaru looked up, realizing that Ino believed that he had lost. He didn't bother to correct her.

“Well, I'm gonna go cheer Hinata-chan, Chouji, and Shino on.” Naruto left, waving and shouting good bye after him.

Shikamaru smiled, realizing he never had to worry about Naruto distracting Ino. The blond didn't distract. He was a distraction, a whirlwind of chaos, pranks, and, oddly enough, control. He wondered what a Konoha would be like without Naruto. Just the thought of it made the smile slip off of his face. A Konoha without Naruto was like.. the sky without clouds, like fan girls without Sasuke, like shadows without the light. He wasn't a Yamanaka, but suddenly he had a very bad feeling about that the dreary Konoha without its number one prankster. Why do I have the feeling that we might not have Naruto for very long? Was it the blond's casual talks of war, or the Akatsuki's mysterious desire for him?

“What's wrong, Shikamaru?” Kiba asked, kicking the shadow user lightly in the shin to gain his attention.

“Nothing.” he lied. “Nothing at all.”


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Neji, Naruto realized, had fought and easily beaten the last of Kabuto's team mates during the time he had spent in the infirmary. By the time he got to the balcony, Chouji and Lee were already fighting.

The Akimichi was angry because Lee had made an off handed comment about his size. Knowing Lee, Naruto knew it wasn't as mean as something someone else would say, but probably an offer to help Chouji get his weight down.

Chouji, using his prized Meat Tank jutsu, rolled swiftly towards Lee, who calmly faced down the force of nature, one hand out in front of him while the other curled behind his back.

Instead of dodging like another sane person would do, Lee waited until the last moment to move. He went towards the ball, grabbed it firmly, and then, to everyone's but most especially Chouji's surprise, picked the Akimichi up and threw him at the wall.

The walls shook and barely held, dust flying everywhere from the impact. When the dust settled, Chouji was seen crouching on the ground. Silently, Lee watched as Chouji struggled to stand, but failed. He hit the ground and didn't move, save for his heavy breathing.

Hayate announced the winner while Lee made his way over to Chouji. The younger genin was barely conscious, and mostly disappointed that he couldn't go on to the final rounds with his best friend.

“You tried your best!” Lee said encouragingly, giving Chouji his customary grin and thumbs up. “Although you did not win, you should walk proudly, knowing that you put everything you had into our fight!” Lee sparkled.

Chouji sighed, searching in his pockets for any munchies, the only surefire way he knew how to regain his energy. He really didn't care either way. Being a genin was pretty much like being a chuunin, just without the flak jacket, right? “How am I supposed to walk proudly when I am so tired that I can't even stand?” he whined. Lee blinked twice, tilting his head to the side in confusion.

“Oh, right.” he said, finally getting it, and hauled one of Chouji's arms over his shoulders. With his help, the younger genin was able to get to his feet. “Then we shall hobble proudly!”

Naruto snickered, watching them hobble off to the infirmary, finally making it back to his team. “So that's Lee, Neji, me, and Sasuke-b*****d for us leaf genins going on to the finals, then there's Kankurou and Gaara for sand nins, right?”

“And Shikamaru.” Sasuke added, turning to look at Naruto. The other genin blinked in surprise, but then grinned, muttering 'I should have known' under his breath. “So.. you were in the infirmary, right?” Sasuke attempted to look indifferent, a ploy that failed on Naruto and a smirking Kakashi, who both knew the Uchiha too well.

“Yup.” Naruto said nonchalantly. “Kiba was loud and as bitchy as usual, Ino was whiny, Shikamaru was boring.” He smirked at the frustrated look on Sasuke's face, deliberately skipping over the one person he wanted to hear about. “Shika had this nasty gash on his shoulder, Ino was frothing at the mouth at the mental image of you without a shirt...” Shino snorted in laughter, then covered it up with a cough. Hinata hid her grin behind her forehead protector. They both knew what Naruto was doing. Sasuke glared at them accusingly.

“Is that so..” Kakashi said, joining in on the fun. “What brought that up?”

Naruto shrugged. “I'm not quite sure. I was too busy fighting with Kiba. Did you know that-”

“And what about Sakura?” Sasuke finally snapped. “If you can give so many details about other people, at least tell me you saw our team mate.”

Naruto smirked. “Well, you see.. Shika had this cut, you know? And Sakura has this ambition to be a medic nin. And then they were, like, 'wow we have so much in common!' And then they ran off to the countryside and got married and had billions of lazy and bossy babies. The end.”

Sasuke growled out Naruto's name in such a way that the blond had previously thought to be privy only to Iruka and Sakura. The others only laughed.

“Aw, cheer up, Uchiha.” Asuma said with an amused chuckle. “The chance that Sakura would hook up with my lazy a** student is about the same as the chance that Shika and Ino would get together.” Naruto bit his lip to hid his grin. Oh, the bloody irony! He thought, remembering Nara Shikamaru and Nara Ino of the future.

“Yeah, so you still have your girlfriend.” Kurenai cooed, enjoying the look of mixed anger and embarrassment that passed over the Uchiha's face.

“She's not my girlfriend!” he snapped, giving them the impression of an angry cat, teeth bared threateningly. “She's a team mate.” Sasuke flinched when Gai suddenly appeared at his elbow, dark eyes full of tears.

“Ah, young love!” he said, looking at the genin with adoring eyes. “You may have inherited the sour face of my eternal rival, but you still have the light of youth within you!” He straightened, coughing into his hand. “Of course, you don't have a chance against my Lee. I mean, look at you compared to him! You don't have the looks to catch your fair lady!” Sasuke started to back up, stopping when the railing hit his back. He had been accused of a lot of things, but he had never been accused of not having good looks! Good looks came naturally to an Uchiha!

Gai looked him up and down, nodding to himself. “I suppose, to give you a sporting chance.. I could give you a makeover..” Kakashi's one visible eye widened when he thought of Sasuke, wearing all green, with a bowl cut hairdo, huge eyebrows looming over his dark eyes. He immediately jumped between Gai and his student, moving faster than they had ever seen him while not in a combat situation.

“I could get you for child abuse, you know.” Kakashi said casually, though if Gai tried to get by him, he would not be able to get past. Kakashi wasn't going to sacrifice his student, the last Uchiha especially, to such a.. fashion statement. To put it delicately. “Why must you traumatize my students so?” He pointed at Naruto, who was rolling around on the ground, hysterical laughter making him incoherent. Worried, Hinata knelt next to him, confused hands fluttering over the genin's shaking body. “Look at him. He's broken.”

“Excuse me!” Hayate called. They all looked over guiltily at the sickly jonin, who looked very annoyed with them. “If you're quite done.. May we continue?” he pointed at the board where it blinked Shino and Dosu's names.

The bug user and the last sound nin sedately walked down the balcony stairs, studiously ignoring one another. Dosu, though he looked calm, was nervous. The traitors are all out, and Kin and Zaku failed to finish their opponents. He thought, fearful of Orochimaru's wrath. The only ones who have mostly accomplished their orders are those stupid sand nins, and they don't even know that their Kazekage is really Orochimaru-sama! He turned a determined gaze to the ground. I must win. I cannot allow Orochimaru-sama's orders to be unfulfilled!

Shino walked to the other side of the ring, then faced the sound nin, a frown hidden behind his high collar. He is emitting anxiety and blood lust. He thought, bugs rushing quickly under his skin in response to his sudden rise in adrenaline. I doubt he feels that way merely because he's fighting me. His frown deepened.

Hayate backed up with a cough. “Begin.” he said.

For a moment, both genins watched each other carefully, trying to figure out how the other fought. Dosu finally attacked, alerting Shino that his weapon was on his arm. The bug user jumped out of the range of the attack, noting that the other genin fought with sound. How fitting. He thought with a wry smile.

Dosu kept on pivoting and hurling waves at Shino, who consistently dodged. The spectators in the balconies and the examiner found that they needed to move as well to keep from getting hit. Luckily enough, the officials were far enough away that they were out of Dosu's range.

We've barely even started and he's already throwing wild attacks. Shino mused, idly dodging another attack. He's almost as bad as Kiba in a temper. He frowned. But it's not anger that makes this nin fight this way. It's fear. But of what? Quickly, he made a clone of bugs, then snuck up on Dosu, hiding himself under the guise of genjutsu.

Yes! Dosu thought, finally catching the elusive bug user in the middle of a dodge. But his victory was short lived when the genin exploded into bugs. He gasped, suddenly feeling the edge of a kunai at his throat, even through the bandages.

“Forfeit.” Shino commanded without feeling. Dosu gritted his teeth together. According to Orochimaru, nothing was more intolerable than forfeiting. He didn't want to die, and the only way to escape death was to win his match. He seriously doubted that the leaf genin had it in him to kill someone.

So, with this thought in mind, he whipped around, ignoring the scrape of the kunai against his neck, and smashed the back of his metal arm across the bug user's face. Sunglasses broke and fell off, and the younger of genins stumbled back, a little bit of blood coming out of his mouth.

Dosu charged up his arm, preparing to swing when Shino looked up. The sound nin suddenly wished he had forfeited, for the sight he met would haunt him until his very last hour.

The Aburame didn't have eyes.

The last thing Dosu saw as he was swallowed up by piles of bugs was those empty eyes, fathomless and dark, like the very pits of hell.

Shino called off his bugs just before they started sucking the life energy out of the sound nin, not aware that he was doing Dosu a worse favor than just outright killing him. He picked up and mournfully gazed at his destroyed sunglasses. He closed his eyes to spare the examiner the sight.

Hayate, thankful that Shino thought of his weak stomach, called for the now awake Zaku to take Dosu to the infirmary. “Just one more match.” he said to himself.

Shino, his eyes closed, walked up the stairs of the balcony, pausing by his teacher and his team mate. He could feel Hinata grab his sleeve.

“Oh, Shino-kun!” she whispered. “Your glasses!” He shrugged.

“Worse things have happened.” he said blandly. The Aburame clan were notorious for the glasses that every ninja that inherited the blood limit wore. They didn't wear the glasses for vanity, but to spare their comrades the sight of their eyes, understanding, even as the weirdest clan in Konoha, somethings were better left unseen. The bug users didn't have a use for human eyes, not when they had millions of bugs to see for them.

“Shino!” Naruto could feel Shino's eyes, his bugs, every last one of them, focus on him. The genin smiled merrily. Shino's empty eyes opened a fraction. “I don't think you're a icky bug guy at all! I think you're a kick a** ninja!” Shino drew back in surprise, realizing what Naruto was doing.

By learning, and peacefully accepting that Naruto was the host of a demon without hating him, Shino had given Naruto a rare gift: the acknowledgment that no other villager, save a few, had given him. Acknowledgment that, yes, he was a demon host, but he wasn't a demon. He was a regular, though somewhat odd, ninja.

Naruto was giving Shino that same acknowledgment. Shino opened his eyes all the way, allowing Naruto to look into them so he could see if the other genin was just saying empty words. He ignored everyone else, focusing entirely on the blond.

Naruto smiled, not at all bothered by the empty eyes. The only eyes, he reasoned to himself, that still held shock value were Jiraiya's when he was ogling a woman's assets. Shino finally smiled.

“Thank you, Naruto.” he said, somewhat humbled. It had taken his team a while to get used to his eyes, but Naruto accepted them so quickly that it made Shino wonder how horrible the demon was in Naruto for the blond to be so unaffected by his eyes. I guess he's probably seen worse.. Shino reasoned. Had Kyuubi had the power to read minds, the vain fox would have been very offended.

“The last match of the preliminaries!” Hayate announced loudly, dragging their attention back to him. “It is between Hyuuga Hinata and Temari of the Sand!” Shino and Naruto immediately looked at Hinata.

The girl looked stricken, her mouth opened slightly as she glanced to the side at Temari. I.. have to fight against her? She thought, nearly backing up into Sasuke. In the words of my cousin.. how cruel is fate?

nah... tho that would be a new one confused but i don't think sakura an kiba could ever stand eachother for that long I just think that Kiba has found a new respect for the great sakura haruno ... the hard way xd