"Come on!"
"Hurry up with the match already!"
The restless voices of the crowd crashed together like waves, impatience thick in the air. Then came the barrage, peels of laughter, booing, and even scraps of trash tumbling down into the arena.
"BOOOOO!!"
"We want Uchiha and Hyūga!!!" Someone bellowed, earning a chorus of agreement.
The stands practically shook with anticipation for the marquee battles, leaving no mercy for the so-called 'minor players.'
Flat on the ground, Shikamaru brushed a crumpled wrapper off his shoulder, his half-lidded eyes unmoved.
"Evidently, people don't want to see the minor players' matches since they're looking forward to Naruto's and Sasuke's fights..." He murmured, voice heavy with disinterest. "If people aren't expecting anything exciting from this battle... makes no sense for me to have it..."
"What?"
Temari's sharp voice cut through the noise, commanding attention. She stood tall, her fan already resting against her shoulder like an unsheathed blade. Her gaze narrowed at him.
"Are you giving up?"
"Huh?" Shikamaru tilted his head back against the ground. From his lazy point of view, she appeared upside down, her blonde hair hanging with the sun glinting behind her.
'There she is… another girl as an opponent,' He thought with a sigh, dragging himself upright.
The crowd wouldn't stop. "Come on, get started already!"
In the stands, Asuma exhaled smoke through his nose, his lips twitching into a half-smile. "I'm surprised he even moved his lazy ass to fight. Turns out Sakura gave him quite the push."
Below, Sakura leaned against the balcony rail, arms folded. Her innocent smile never faltered as she watched Shikamaru struggling to rise, and for a moment, it carried more menace than comfort.
"If you don't come, then I'll go!" Temari shouted, no hesitation in her voice. She charged, boots pounding against the stone, her fan angled like a weapon ready to split the air itself.
"Man... that girl is so hung ho," Shikamaru muttered, finally pulling himself to his feet with the grace of someone already tired of life.
Whoosh!
Temari leapt into the air, her fan lifted high above her shoulder. Her shadow stretched over him like a predator's claw.
'Oh well…' Shikamaru flicked his wrists, drawing two kunai into his grip.
Boom!
The ground erupted as her fan slammed down, stone and dust exploding in all directions. A crater smoked where Shikamaru had been lying.
"Huh?" Temari's brow furrowed. Her eyes darted side to side until she finally caught sight of him.
Shikamaru stood balanced on the wall of the arena, both feet perched on kunai he had driven into the stone. His lazy posture hadn't changed, but his eyes gleamed with rare sharpness as they locked with hers.
"It doesn't matter if I become a Chūnin or not..." His voice carried evenly across the arena, calm yet edged with pride. "But there's no reason why a man should lose to a woman."
The gasps rippled through the crowd at his declaration, and Temari's lips pulled into a smirk that was anything but amused.
"HAH!" She didn't hold back anymore. Her fan swung wide with a force that howled like a hurricane.
The wall where Shikamaru had stood exploded into fragments, kunai clattering uselessly to the ground. Dust swirled through the arena, obscuring her view.
But there was no trace of him.
'He's running away... just like the previous matches,' Temari thought sharply, eyes scanning until they locked on one of the arena's trees.
His silhouette flickered in the shade.
Hidden there, Shikamaru leaned against the trunk, his expression as if this entire life-or-death match was nothing more than a tedious errand.
'Damn it… I want to get this over with,' He thought, tilting his head back to eye the drifting clouds overhead. 'But she's just too strong...'
Temari's grip tightened on her fan, suspicion creeping in. 'He's trying to lure me into the areas with shadows... smart... but I won't fall for it so easily.'
Whoosh!
Something small and fast cut through the air, arcing toward her.
'A ball?'
Instinct kicked in, and Temari leapt backward, her fan snapping in front of her defensively.
Poof!
The ball burst midair, releasing a massive cloud of smoke that spread like a suffocating blanket.
'The smoke has a shadow!' Her eyes widened. Her pulse quickened as she retreated further, unease crawling over her spine.
Meanwhile, Shikamaru leaned casually against the trunk of the tree, the ruckus of the crowd fading into the background. His eyes lifted to the sky, watching the slow drift of the clouds.
'Geez... I envy a cloud, just floating around, being so free...' His lids lowered in thought, his expression flat yet strangely wistful. 'The reason I chose to be a ninja in the first place was because I thought life would be fun... but with the war coming up...'
His jaw tightened almost imperceptibly. 'I guess I'd better take this seriously...'
For a fleeting second, the boy who never wanted responsibility allowed a rare fire to flicker in his eyes.
Cough! Cough!
Down below, Temari stumbled through the smoke, her sleeve brushing over her mouth. Her eyes narrowed with irritation as she raised her fan and swept it with a sharp motion.
Whoosh!
The smoke was blown apart in a single gust, curling away in ragged trails.
'What's with that stupid face...?' She thought, locking her eyes onto Shikamaru's seemingly absentminded stare at the clouds. His lazy posture looked almost mocking. 'Is he underestimating me?'
The ground shivered faintly.
'Shadow Shriek!'
Shikamaru's voice rang out with a calm clarity, and the darkness at his feet surged forward like a beast snapping awake. The black tendril of shadow raced across the stone floor, stretching toward Temari with surprising speed.
"Hmph!" Temari caught it instantly, her instincts razor sharp. She leapt backward, boots kicking up shards of stone as the shadow's tip clawed just short of her.
The black tendril halted, its jagged edge writhing before fading slightly.
'That's the limit of his range.' Temari's fan snapped open as she sketched a clear line across the stone floor with its tip, marking the danger zone. Her mind sharpened, calculating, dissecting.
"Shadow Possession Jutsu..." She murmured, her voice edged with understanding. Then, louder for all to hear: "Evidently there's a limit to stretching, shortening, and changing the shape of the shadow... No matter how much you alter its form... even when you stretch it—"
Her fan pointed toward him with authority, "—it can only span as far as the size of your own shadow allows."
The crowd stirred at her confident breakdown of his technique.
Shikamaru, rather than being troubled, smirked faintly. His voice came lazily, but the praise was genuine.
"You've got it."
The gasps and murmurs rippled across the stadium.
Up in the stands, Asuma folded his arms with a small grin. "Sharp girl... she's reading him well."
Kurenai's crimson eyes narrowed slightly. "But if he's praising her so openly... it means he's already thinking several steps ahead."
On the battlefield, Shikamaru exhaled slowly. His eyes closed, lids sinking with deliberate calm, but beneath that stillness was strain.
'Damn it... my chakra's running low. I don't think I've got enough left to play around for another drawn-out battle...'
His hands moved deliberately, forming a peculiar shape. Fingers locked into a square, creating what looked like a box held before his chest.
Temari stiffened, her eyes narrowing. 'What is he... doing?'
The same thought ran through the spectators like a spark through dry grass.
The gasps rolled through the arena as Shikamaru stood framed in his own box-shaped hand seal, expression calm, unreadable like a strategist pulling out the final piece of a plan no one else had seen coming.
--- ✦ ✦ ✦ ---
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