Chapter 44: Tactical
~~~
The crowd cheered as they saw such a driving moment in the final phase of the battle. With Satsuki's victory, the crowd was completely overjoyed from such a spectacular fight.
Satsuki looked around her body and saw that she had been given a minimal amount of damage from Neji. She was quite surprised herself if she was being totally honest.
The Hyuga were very lethal when it came to close combat, there were many times in the battle that she could've jeopardized her own safety and be trapped in Neji's trap.
Satsuki sighed quietly before glancing at the downed Neji for a brief amount of time.
"Fate-worshipper," said Satsuki quietly as she walked away from Neji and inside of the black-abyss that was also know as a tunnel. The medics came in running to tend to Neji in a quick manner.
She then calmly went up the stairs and entered the spectating area for the contestants of the finals.
"He's still not here?" Satsuki asked Shikamaru as he just shook his head lazily. She by no means was friends with the lazy person known as Shikamaru, but she does know that Naruto and him were close acquaintances.
And that's really the only reason she was talking to him.
Well, I'm half-surprised. Naruto is always tardy and skipping things, but doesn't usually be this late when it comes to these kinds of things. Satsuki thought to herself and she looked down towards the battlefield closely.
She looked over the ledge and waited for the next to start up.
"Can I have Kankuro and Aburame Shino for their battle?" It was not a request — it was an order that one could say was absolute. Satsuki looked over at the two contestants that were called over.
There seemed to be a lot of conflict apparent on Kankuro's face. Satsuki questioned this — there should really be no actual reason to be so conflicted since all he had to do was simply go down there and fight.
Her analytical eye then warped right towards Shino and saw him ready him to go down to the arena right below them.
As Shino was about to move, Kankuro spoke out towards Genma.
"I forfeit proctor!" This caught many by surprise. And this decision was most definitely not liked by the public figure/audience that were surrounding them.
"BOOO!!!" Lots of the crowd yelled out loud with utter disappointment at Kankuro's forfeit. Well, now it was now one step closer to Naruto's fight.
Satsuki looked at Kankuro with narrowed eyes.
Weird. Your decision is quite odd. Thought Satsuki before moving her eyes back to the fight that was about to start in a few minutes.
"Can I have Nara Shikamaru and Temari for their fight!" Announced Genma. This announcement brought a smirk of arrogance on Temari's face.
And this brought out a sigh of laziness from Shikamaru. With much boredom, Shikamaru walked right down his way to the field.
He entered the dark and narrow tunnel and appeared from the other side and walked out in the blazing heat from the field around him.
Temari appeared soon after. Her hand was holding the large fan that she always held between her fingertips.
Shikamaru yawned loudly with little to no motivation involved at all. He looked up towards the blazing sun and sighed internally once more.
Today was just not his day.
Well, it usually isn't his day. But today is just being the worst to him than any other day that he had ever experienced.
And a split second, he felt the air around him start to vigorously tear apart. Before he knew it, a blondie jumped at him with her large fan creating its on power.
Her figure was blocking his view of the sun. Then in another second, the Giant Folding Fan came striking down with very serious power right behind it.
The ground shook lightly as the dusty smoke that was created from the impact of the dirt. As she lifted the fan off of the ground, she noticed that there was no one that got crushed from the fan itself.
"What a troublesome opponent," said Shikamaru with some marks that he got from dodging the fan. A small, but slight smirk appeared on his face.
"But I don't plan on losing to a hot-head." A blast of wind was directed right towards him courtesy of Temari.
Shikamaru narrowly sighed as he barely dodged the blast of wind that came from the Giant Folding Fan that was thrown at him by Temari.
Taking this time to his own advantageous position, Shikamaru ran away and jumped up to endless leaves of a tree on the opposite side of the arena.
With the dust of smoke slowly cleared away, the ever-so serious Temari quickly made her guard back up and tried looking around for Shikamaru in a fast manner.
Gritting her teeth, her eyes pierced through the area with her Giant Folding Fan showing 3 purple dots that indicated the power output that she could use.
He's a person who uses shadows. Thought Temari, analyzing her current situation. Even though Shikamaru was lazy and unmotivated, he is still quite the force to be reckoned with.
Narrowing her eyes, she slightly readied herself to begin her next attack. Unfortunately for her, Shikamaru seemed to have already exact his next move in the battle.
Starting out quite simple, Shikamaru tried using his 'Shadow Possession Jutsu' on Temari. Though while this could be seen as lazy attempt to defeat Temari like expected.
He was just. . . testing the waters you could actually say.
Reacting quickly, Temari used her Giant Folding Fan and backed away from ever getting caught by ever-so dangerous shadows that were being controlled by a lazy-smartass.
A bead of sweat followed and slipped right down her face as she glided her Giant Folding Fan and created a small but thin line at the very edge of the limit of the Shadows.
Glaring at the boy that was hiding within the shadows. She was slightly gritting her as her eyes looked at him. He knew that she couldn't cross that line. And that was the worst part. Hopefully.
With Temari unable to cross that line and enter the territory of Shikamaru and his shadows, the whole battle that they were currently having was full of stagnancy.
This was just simply a battle of tactical prowess.
With the amount of time she been thinking, Shikamaru had been doing his very cool and special hand sign thingy shebang and formed his very good plan.
And immediately after, he casted a shadow that was hone straight towards her. This shook her out of her thinking and made her tense up immensely.
It's fine. . . as long as I stand right behind this very line. I'll be completely fin-! Her thinking was once again cut off as she immediately saw the 'Shadow Possession Jutsu' suddenly cross the line.
With her eyes widened, she backed away with her fan purely out of her own instincts. Her heart was quickly beating as she saw the shadow once again reach its limit and stop completely.
She let out a sigh of relief as she saw this change of events. Now the real question: What was the cause of this?
Looking around quickly, she saw the shadows that Shikamaru that he was still currently in, to have been extended in its own length. This stagnancy that was in the midst was for sure beneficial for the lazy king himself.
She slightly looked up and saw the slight smirk on Shikamaru's face. He was keeping her on her toes very often. On the downside for her; she will be burning more of her stamina than Shikamaru.
This battle was much harder than it may actually seem. Shikamaru noticed her face or realization.
"You caught on," said Shikamaru, seemingly trying to lengthen the shadows that he was currently in. Temari knew she was in quite the shitty predicament.
As she breathed in and an out, a small circular shadow started to appear right at the tip of the jutsu. Not even giving her a second of breathing, the 'Shadow Possesion Jutsu' was back up and running.
WIth it extending its reach, Temari had to extend her guard once again. God, Shikamaru was a pain in the ass when he actually wants to be.
As she maneuvered her way around the jutsu that was being wielded by Nara Shikamaru, her eyes held a fierce glare that was directed towards Shikamaru.
It was clear that this technique was very useful for someone like Shikamaru. His eyes stopped following her as she stopped moving once the shadow once reached its limit.
She didn't like this — she was slowly — no — she was quickly being backed into a corner that has no way out. Sooner or later, she will lose a horrible battle.
It was either she keep dodging the endless tactics that Shikamaru throws and eventually gets caught by the shadows that loom over them from the walls.
Or she loses too much stamina and eventually falls to the tricks of a lazy boy and his lazy-but-smart attitude. She was entering a cycle that will be her own undoing.
Should she forfeit?
Or should she fight for the win?
It wasn't wrong for her to want to win, but at the same time, she didn't really need to win at all. What was truly important was not this battle, but the impending doom that was about to fall on Konoha.
To become Chunin, all she needed to do was display the the needed requirements to become a full-fledged Chunin that was recognized by their own village.
Nevertheless, winning was a bonus objective that she could work for. But actually achieving that goal was quite the whole different story than one could say.
The person right in front of her was a slippery person with a very intelligent mind that was highly dangerous. Even though she was losing the battle, she wondered what the person known as Nara Shikamaru was thinking throughout this battle.
I'll go a bit longer, then I'll just forfeit. Thought Shikamaru as he saw Temari hide right behind her Giant Folding Fan. From the very few battles that he somewhat saw, the fan that she wields can fluctuate in power depending the amount of dots shown.
He saw that she was once again lost in deep thought. Wow, she does love thinking on what she should do all the time. With her in a very deep thought, Shikamaru thought this would be a good time to initiate his next part of his plan.
Over with Temari, her mind once began running on its very own. She needed to knwo what she needed to do to potentially win this uphill battle against Shikamaru.
What should I do? A bead of sweat slowly dripped down from her forehead. Her eyes and body was very tense and stressed from the tactical and strategic battle that the two of them were currently in.
Maybe a Clone Jutsu? She was considering many options that could give her a route to her potential win. This was going to be her last, desperate attempt for the absolute win.
She then started to form the 3 hand seals that was required to create a simple clone.
Ram → Snake → Tiger
But just before the deciding moment, she suddenly froze — unable to even move from her singular spot. Her ability to control her own body was out of her own reach.
Her arms started to move on her own accord.
"Finally, took some time, but I finally managed to do it — Shadow Possession Jutsu — complete." Temari heard a voice just from meters behind her.
From. . . behind? Thought Temari as her process of thinking started to quickly come back to her just from the pure amazement.
"How about a quick look?" Asked Shikamaru as he moved to the right slightly. She widened her eyes from the surprise as he saw a regular clone just slouching there with no actual meaning.
"To think that last part would actually work. To be honest, I got to lazy by the end of the plan and just resorted to something simple. I just took advantage of your deep thinking." Shikamaru then made her look to the back, showing her where he truly was.
It was quite the gamble. The shadows from behind weren't nearly as sufficient as the one in the front. But it was enough, since she was close enough to the wall from the back.
To put it simply — he half-assed the plan but it managed to work out perfectly fine. Temari was not too happy about actually winning the battle that was way too one-sided in Shikamaru's favor.
"I forfeit," said Shikamaru, shocking the people that surrounded them. He then released the Shadow Possession and yawned immediately after.
He knew that this was probably a good time to stop this one-sided battle by forfeiting and losing the match due to this surprising forfeit by him.
Plus, this battle was probably good enough for him to pass on to become a full-fledged Chunin. Though he didn't really car about becoming a Chunin or anything.
"I know my own limits, and well, this is my limit. I guess." Genma slightly sighed at this as he looked over at the frozen Temari. He nodded before announcing the winner of the match.
"Winner: Temari!" The crowd had a mixture of displeasure and cheers from all around the stadium. Displeased with the fact that Shikamaru gave up at the end so easily.
And cheers due to the. . . spectacular of a fight between the two of them.
~~~
"You're running late, Naruto," said Jiraiya as he looked at him. He nodded, knowing what Jiraiya had previously said was the utmost truthful thing he had heard today.
"I know, I am horribly late to the exams. That's fine. I think." Jiraiya sighed at Naruto's answer and his very nonchalant way of answering the said question. He was closing in on the stadium.
"And? What's your excuse?" He asked Naruto. Though Naruto just shrugged at him as a response.
"I was just misinformed of the date, that's all. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been late to the finals of the Chunin Exams at all. Jiraiya then held a puzzled look on his face as he inspected Naruto.
"Then why are you walking instead of just doing something more efficient?" He asked Naruto. If he was being honest, he just didn't really want to see the fights and just wanted to relax.
Though while the Satsuki vs Neji fight would've been interesting, the other two battles would just lack the energy — if you want to put it in that kind of sense.
"I don't know, I guess the road of life that Kakashi-sensei speaks of is real."
~~~
"Hokage-dono, what will you do?" Asked the 'Kagekaze'. Hiruzen stayed silent for another moment or two. He had not been expecting Naruto to take this long to arrive.
"Hm, it would seem we will have to disqualify him," said Hiruzen. He didn't really want him to get disqualified, since he wanted to see how much power Naruto held at his age.
"Oh? Why is that?' The 'Kazekage' asked Hiruzen another question right after the former was answered. Hiruzen just slightly sighed as he looked down at the stadium below.
"Ah, well, I do know that the people in the crowds are wanting to see the two Genin duel it out for the win, but it would seem Naruto is yet to be present and for me to let him to not be disqualified would be a sign of his level of privileges."
"Well, wouldn't that be another good sign for you to give him some more time before he is fully disqualified? Think about it, the people that are here right now are wanting to see these two fight — even more than Uchiha Satsuki and Hyuga Neji. That shows." He did pose quite a good point there.
Some people may not know it, but Naruto was quite the important figure in Konoha. He was said to be a nobody but was a prodigy — that was something people aspire to be.
Oh, how wrong they were aspiring. Though even if that aspiration of theirs was everything but the truth, it was still an aspiration that inspired all.
"Hokage-dono, let me propose you something," said the 'Kazekage'. This caused Hiruzen to look up towards the '4th Kazekage' with much interest.
"And what will that proposal be?" Hiruzen asked him.
"Well, you don't seem to want to lengthen the time before the boy comes by anyone else here from your village. So, I was wondering if you were willing to lengthen the time of his arrival if it was requested by someone like me." Hiruzen sighed at that.
"Well, if it was coming from anybody else below your power, then I would refused. But since you requested it, i have no reason to refuse a request from a fellow Kage." Hiruzen nodded before he relayed this information to Genma.
Genma was surprised, but at the same time, not surprised. Quite a self-explanatory thing if you get the gist of it.
~~~
He's taking forever. Satsuki thought as she looked down at the arena with much boredom. While she did expect him to take long, she did not expect this long.
Satsuki thought it was going to be some cool-but-cliche entrance brought to you by the infamous Naruto of the Hidden Leaf. But no, he might actually get disqualified.
"I don't know why you're so worked up by this. He's going to show up," said Shikamaru as he laid on the concrete floor of the spectating arena. She glared at him.
"You don't know him like I do — he likes being weird by taking his time doing things if he considers them not a hassle. And well, I guess he considers this not a hassle." Shikamaru yawned, not caring about this conversation at all.
"Hm, I guess he and I are quite similar. Though I do know that — I play Shogi with him every once-in-awhile. Though it seems he is always busy now. Ah, well. Saves me the amount of times i have to think. He's a tricky one." Satsuki ignored the few bits and just continued to look down and wait for his arrival.
I want to fight him. She thought to herself.
~~~
"Ah, 30 seconds left," Genma said to himself as he played around with the small toothpick tat was sticking right out of his very mouth. He heard about rumors about Naruto.
Said that he was very proficient at the Shinobi Arts. A prodigy of his own right and was said to be a very intelligent person in the same league as the fourth and Itachi.
And the bad rumors about him? They are all quite very minor ones, but it is said that Naruto just didn't take things seriously towards the later years in the academy.
Though his skills did let him pass without needing to have good grades. His unmotivated persona was restricting him from his full capabilities.
If he actually tried constant training and honed every skill in his arsenal — he could've been as powerful or even more powerful than the infamous prodigy of the Uchihas.
Uchiha Itachi.
Though that may seem like quite the stretch.
Oh, 10 seconds left. There was a very slim chance that Naruto would actually arrive within that 10 seconds of time before his true disqualification. Gaara was madly waiting at the arena for his prey that he wanted to scream in pure fear and pain.
Oh? 5 seconds left. He thought.
5. . .
4. . .
3. . .
2. . .
1-! Genma's thoughts were then interrupted by a voice that came from the dark tunnels that was located to the side of the fighting arena. He looked over that location.
"I'm here. I'm here. Sorry, I'm late," said a familiar voice. And with that, Naruto appeared from the dark tunnel in all his glory. With a single yawn, the crowd cheered at his arrival.
To think he would come in at the lat second was surprising. Literally. Genma slightly sighed as he nodded at Naruto then looked up towards the Kage Stands and nodded at them.
Naruto stopped just a few meters away from Gaara. He readied himself and pulled out a kunai.
"Sorry for the wait, and because of that, your defeat was postponed," said Naruto as he brought the kunai upwards and pointed it at Gaara.
~~~