52 2/2

The Nara boy let out a yelp as the lightning hit his hands, forcing him to drop the wires as he shook his hands, both of them numb and shaking from the electrical jolt. Samui managed to wiggle free of the loosened wires and seeing Shikamaru trying to control his hands, decided now was her time to strike. She quickly drew her tanto, rushing towards Shikamaru with the blade drawn back.

Shikamaru looked up as she shot towards him, preparing to strike at him with her tanto. He suddenly stopped shaking his hands, dodging to the side from her blow and snapping his hands into position, his shadow shooting out and capturing her in an instant. Samui's eyes widened as she found herself frozen in place, her body forced to move to mimic Shikamaru's stance, as he slowly stood up.

"Success," the Nara boy said, grinning as he watched her. "I'm sure you're pretty confused right now, aren't you?" He asked her.

"Your hands were shocked. How could you move?" She asked, grimacing as her body was forced to mimic him as he raised one hand, using it to tug on his other hand. Except his skin stretched where he tugged it, snapping back into place.

"Rubber gloves. I had them made along with those poles to help me defuse all your lightning techniques, forcing this into a hand to hand fight. Which you couldn't really be caught up in because of my shadow manipulation," Shikamaru said with a smirk. "You're obviously highly skilled with a blade, but you couldn't get too close to me while I could use my shadows, so you'd have to turn this into a range fight. By getting outside my shadow's range, you could effectively defeat me without putting yourself in danger. So I had to negate your lightning, which led to those lightning rods that also allowed me to extend the range of my shadow. When you hid in shadows there, I knew there was a chance that if I caught you, you'd do to me what you did to Tenten, and take me out by running your lightning along the metal wires. So I planned for that as well."

Samui just gave him a cold stare, annoyed with herself for getting caught. "So…what now?" She asked.

Shikamaru smirked as he raised his empty right hand to his throat, forcing her to do the same with her right hand. Except hers still carried her tanto in it. His maneuver caused her to place her own blade to her throat. "Now you surrender, or I'll cut your throat. I'd really rather not but honestly, my mother will kill me if I just give up after putting you in checkmate," he said.

Samui glared at him, before resignation settled in. "Proctor, I forfeit," she said, a disappointed but rueful look on her face now.

Shikamaru waited till he was declared the winner, before releasing Samui. "Good match," he said, sticking his hands into his pocket, deciding the least he could do was be a good sport about his victory. Samui just nodded quietly, turning and heading off to leave while Shikamaru glanced at the lightning rods he had used, letting out a sigh. "What a drag," he muttered, moving to retrieve them.

As the crowd cheered for the Nara's victory, Chouji looked surprised. "I really didn't expect him to move on to the next round. He usually is too lazy to want to try really hard," he said, looking to the others.

"Heh, you heard him. His mom would kill him if he tried to be too lazy," Kiba said with a grin. "I can't believe how he basically controlled the match! It's like he had it all planned out from the start."

"He most likely did," Shino said, causing them to jump in surprise as they realized the battered but healthy Aburame had joined them. "Shikamaru most likely has scenarios for beating each genin in the Finals here planned out well in advance. It is his greatest strength, though also possibly his greatest weakness as well," he said, settling into a seat. "He is not capable of adapting to unforeseen circumstances quickly."

"I'll admit, I'm a little depressed. I gave my all against her and got trounced, and Shikamaru didn't even seem to try that hard and beat her," Tenten said with a rueful grin on her face. "Then again, he had the advantage of knowing some of what she could do ahead of time."

Sakura gave her a sympathetic grin. "To be fair, her ninjutsu was one of the worst counters to your techniques," she reasoned. "You shouldn't feel too bummed out."

Tenten just nodded, quietly resolving to expand her abilities to prevent something like that from happening again.

With the jounin, Asuma grinned at the others. "See? I had absolute confidence in Shikamaru. He studies his opponents, and plans out ten moves ahead. The only problem is when he finds an opponent who simply is too strong or smart enough to counter him."

"Indeed, and his courtesy at the end was most youthful!" Gai said. "He treated his opponent with respect, as one should to any worthy opponent!"

"He is pretty good, but how will he handle an opponent he doesn't have all the information on?" Raphael asked with a curious tone. "It seems to me that all his strategic ability would not be enough to handle an opponent he cannot properly strategize against."

Asuma blinked at that. "Well admittedly, that's something I've been working on helping him with. His short term game is a little less refined, but I'm sure he'll handle himself well enough for now."

Near them, Kakashi only half listened to them as he mulled over the match. Shikamaru had proven again the lethal nature of Nara strategic mind, not only disabling his opponent's ranged ability but extended his own in the same move. Shikamaru could be potentially the most dangerous opponent if he had time to plan and prepare before a fight. But of course, he had to be fast enough and strong enough to handle his opponents. Kakashi was impressed with Shikamaru's actions, though he was relatively confident that Sasuke would prevail if he had to face the Nara.

In the contestant viewing area, Temari nodded slightly in slight respect. "He had the fight won the moment he stepped onto the field," she said quietly, being able to appreciate the Nara's actions thanks to her own strategic thought process. "Good to see one of these tree huggers knows how to plan and execute a strategy to win," she said, a slight sneer directed towards Hinata and the recently returned Lee, before she directed her gaze to Ino. "I guess you and I are up next, little girl."

Ino just gave her a nod. "Eeyup, and I'm ready to wipe that smug grin off your face, bitch," she said, checking her kusarigama around her waist. Temari just sneered at her, only to tremble as she felt the slightest spike of killer intent and annoyance from Gaara at the end of the balcony area.

"Temari, be silent," he said in that emotionless tone. His older sister nodded, looking away and keeping her mouth closed.

Ino frowned as she looked to Naruto and Hinata. The latter looked just as confused, but Naruto looked grim, shaking his head quietly at them.

In the kage viewing area, A was frowning heavily while Sarutobi smiled slightly to himself. "Your kunoichi was highly skilled in her preliminary match, but I'm afraid Shikamaru Nara was potentially one of the worst opponents she could have," he said, trying to both gloat and be consolatory to the leader of Kumo. A just glared at him, as next to the Raikage the Kazekage could only watch the two with amused interest at their interplay. "I'm afraid though that without seeing more of her abilities, I cannot suggest her being promoted to chuunin."

"I must concur on that decision as well," the Kazekage said. "However, despite his obvious brilliant strategy and victory, I must see more from Nara-san before I could suggest his advancement."

"I agree. It's all well and good when he defeats one opponent he was prepared for. Let us see him face off against others he may be less prepared for before we decide otherwise."

"Agreement," Sarutobi said, nodding. "Let us continue."

Genma, seeing the signal from Sarutobi, called down Ino and Temari to face off against each other. Temari leapt over the edge of the balcony, floating down on her open fan with wind slowing her fall. Ino took a deep breath, turning to Hinata and Naruto. "Well…wish me luck," she said.

"You don't need luck Ino. Kick her butt," Hinata said with a grin. Naruto gave the same confident grin as Ino nodded, her own grin growing before she flipped over the edge, using her chakra to cling to the wall and quickly move to the ground.

As the two kunoichi faced off against each other Temari smirked, leaning against her fan. "So, are you ready for the same kind of thrashing I gave your little pink haired friend?" She asked, confident in her victory.

Ino just smirked back. "If I'm not mistaken, my friend had you in the perfect position to kill you, if she felt so inclined. So can you really stand there acting so smug? Especially since I've got a lot less mercy then she did," she added, her voice grower darker towards the end.

Temari glowered at that, shifting her stance to get ready for combat, as Ino did the same, loosening her kusarigama from its holster at her side. Genma, seeing them both obviously ready, quickly signaled for the match to start.

Immediately Temari opened her fan, sweeping it back to launch a blast of wind at Ino. The Yamanaka kunoichi responded by nimbly dodging to the side, the flurry of wind cutting through where she had stood as she quickly got the chain and ball of her weapon spinning, all while she kept light on her feet. Temari smirked as she held her fan at the ready, just waiting for Ino to come at her. She was confident that she could easily use her fan and wind jutsu to keep Ino at bay, blowing away any ranged attack against her and deflecting the chain and ball of the kusarigama. The real trick would be making sure she didn't get caught in the mind based jutsu the girl had demonstrated in the preliminary match. All she had to do was keep an eye on her and stop any attempt to use that jutsu.

Ino meanwhile watched Temari, knowing that she had to catch the Suna kunoichi off guard. Her wind jutsu provided her with an excellent defense against any ranged weapon, but having seen it being used before, Ino didn't think much of it as an offensive weapon. She broadcasted her attacks too easily, having to sweep her fan back before waving it, making it easy to predict and thus dodge her attacks. The problem came that the closer she got to Temari, the less time she'd have to react and dodge.

Seeing Temari start to swing the fan back for another sweep, Ino immediately began moving quickly in the same direction that Temari was sweeping the fan back, causing the Suna kunoichi to frown as she tried to turn and keep Ino within the general area of effect of her wind jutsu. It was awkward, however, turning fast enough to keep up with Ino while keeping her fan ready. She grunted as her attempts to turn led to her stumble and Ino shot forward, capitalizing as she swung the chain right at Temari's feet, to try and trip her up.

Temari half stepped back, closing her fan and swinging it low, sending the ball on the chain flying back at Ino, using the moment of the swing to turn and open her fan, preparing to launch another blasts of winds. Ino quickly spun, grabbing the chain to control the ball and quickly rolling to the side, barely dodging the blast of wind before rapidly sprinting in a circle around Temari, who now couldn't even ready her jutsu and keep up with the rapidly moving kunoichi. Instead she held her fan closed, ready to dodge at a moment's notice.

Ino smirked, seeing she had Temari totally on the defensive, and now was the time to make her move. She spun one hundred and eighty degrees suddenly, sprinting the other way as Temari was caught off guard, raising her left arm and sliding the sleeve back. Temari jumped back, trying to turn as Ino stopped and fired her senbon at her. The Suna kunoichi immediately brought her fan in front of her, the iron side acting as a shield and blocking each needle. She lowered her fan just in time to see Ino leaping at her, swinging the axe blade of her weapon at Temari. Temari barely blocked with her fan as the two of then landed; Ino keeping up close with her so Temari couldn't effectively counter her. Temari grunted as she did her best to wield her fan with both hands, blocking Ino's blows and attempting to hit back with hooking blows of the ends of the fan like it was a staff.

It would be Ino who drew first blood, getting close enough to land a shallow cut on Temari's arm and the Suna kunoichi leapt back, wincing a bit. Ino grinned, spinning her axe in hand as she prepared to charge forward.

Temari's eyes narrowed and she quickly ran through a couple of handsigns as Ino charged forward. "Fūton: Kaze no Tate! (Wind Release: Shield of Wind!)"

A swirling mass of wind erupted around Temari, creating a shield that Ino slammed into, being tossed to the side. The Yamanaka hit the ground, rolling and getting back to her feet, narrowing her eyes at Temari who smirked back at her. "Well, you managed to do better than your little pink friend. You at least got an actual hit in."

Ino watched as the wind shield dissipated, taking that into account. "So, you can't hold that shield up for too long," she said.

"But I don't need to use it for too long," Temari countered. "Now are we going to talk, or fight?"

Ino slowly rubbed her chest, feeling soreness from the wind smashing into her like a blunt force. That shield would make things a little complicated, but it was not something that was insurmountable. Temari most likely would bring it out as a last resort. She just needed to get to her before she could counter. Ino reached back into her supply pouch, grabbing a few shuriken, a plan forming.

Temari, seeing her actions, smirked as she quickly unfolded her fan and blasted more wind at Ino, who instead of dodging, instead seemed to be trying to stand her ground, crossing her arms to block. Temari just smirked as the wind hit, only to blink as the Yamanaka kunoichi disappeared, replaced by a log that was sent flying by the wind. Temari whirled, seeing Ino throwing shuriken at her from behind, quickly bringing her fan up to block them before quickly swinging her fan, blowing wind at the airborne kunoichi.

Ino again disappeared in a substitution, this time though a shuriken appearing where she was. Temari's eyes shot wide open, looking down where the shuriken had fallen, only to see Ino grinning as she jumped back away from Temari while at the same time throwing down a couple of smoke bombs around Temari. They quickly exploded, engulfing the Suna kunoichi in smoke before she could react, while Ino hopped backwards a couple of time, creating a lot of distance.

Temari quickly swung her fan, her wind dispersing the smoke around her quickly, glaring at Ino as she tried to understand what her opponent was playing at. She had to know smoke bombs were useless against Temari, so why had she bothered doing that? She growled, preparing to launch another blast of wind at Ino, only to gasp and stumble, shaking her head as the world seemed to lurch around her. She planted her fan in the ground, using it to support herself as Ino grinned at her.

"Something wrong Temari-san?" Ino asked her, watching Temari trying to focus on her. The Suna kunoichi growled, trying to bring her fan up, only to be forced to put it down again to keep herself up as her legs buckled. Realization set in, that the smoke bombs had been more than just smoke but probably some type of poison as well, that she had inhaled before she could blow away the smoke cloud. She let out a yell as her legs finally collapsed and she fell to her hands knees.

Ino approached her, loading her senbon launcher as she did so. "So, here's the question of the day now, Temari-san. You can either choose now to surrender, like my friend offered in your match against her. Or you can choose not to. That poison you inhaled is very mild, only meant to disorient and render you unable to effectively fight. You'll be perfectly fine in a few minutes, once it has worked its way through your system. But you don't have those few minutes. Because if you choose to keep fighting, I'm going to shoot these senbon into you, each one of them laced with a poison that is not fatal, but you're really not going to enjoy what it does to you."

Temari glared at her, slowly gripping her fan, only to see Ino raise her senbon launcher, clearly indicating she was ready. "Please make my day, bitch," Ino said. "I really want to return the favor for what you did to my friend," she said.

The Suna kunoichi growled softly, before suddenly lunging at Ino, who quickly fired the senbon off from her launcher. However Temari's movements had caught her off guard, expecting the Suna kunoichi to go for her fan, not tackle into her. She grunted as she hit the ground, with Temari swinging wildly at her, her first smashing into the side of Ino's head. Ino let out a cry as stars exploded in her vision, her head ringing, but she managed to get her hands up, grabbing Temari's flailing arms. Temari kept struggling, but her movements weren't coordinated due to the poison, making it easier for Ino to hold her off and get her feet into Temari's chest to kick her off.

As the Suna kunoichi turned, movingly frantically but drunkenly to retrieve her fan, Ino quickly got to her feet, shaking her head to clear the fuzziness that came from the blow Temari had landed while she grabbed her kusarigama from her waist. With a perfect cast she managed to wrap the chain around Temari, pinning her arms to her side and yanking her back onto the ground. Temari growled and struggled, only to find the blade of Ino's weapon at her throat, causing her to cease her struggles.

Genma, seeing Temari was pinned and unable to fight without being killed, decided to end the match there. "Temari of Suna is unable to fight. Ino Yamanaka is the winner," he declared, as the crowd began to cheer and clap.

Ino smirked, pulling the chain loose from Temari and stepped away from her while the Suna kunoichi glared at her, slowly pushing herself up as the disorientation and nausea was slowly starting to pass. She stood there, glaring murder at Ino, before grabbing her fan and stomping off. Ino just smirked as she watched her defeated opponent leaving, before turning and finding Sakura in the stands. She grinned, giving her friend a thumb up, before turning and heading off to the medical area to get checked up.

Sakura could only let out a sigh of relief at seeing her friend emerge without any serious injury. It was great that she had won, but Sakura was just relieved Ino hadn't suffered what she had. Kiba whistled as he watched Ino walk off.

"Man, is it just me or does Team Eight seem to be a major step ahead of all of us?" He asked. "I mean look at them. Hinata took down Neji, and Ino seemed to have things planned out against Temari."

"Yeah. She's really something," Chouji said quietly, watching Ino move off with the slightest blush on his face.

Anko however was slightly less impressed. "She could have handled that a bit better," she murmured. "She could have avoided that last part if she had kept her distance. She let her anger get in the way of rational thinking."

Raphael nodded in agreement. "A cornered and wounded animal or opponent is at their most danger when pressed, or underestimated," he said softly. "But still, at least she won."

"Her use of substitution to get close enough to her opponent was quite good," Asuma commented. "She couldn't get close while Temari was able to use her wind jutsu and could see her coming. I'm impressed she was able to overcome that problem."

"I'm surprised she didn't try for a genjutsu after she had poisoned Temari. That would have been an excellent time to do so, when her opponent was too disoriented to effectively throw it off," Kurenai commented quietly.

"She might be saving her genjutsu for a tougher opponent," Yakumo suggested, looking to her mentor. "She might not to use all her skills right off the bat." The others nodded at that as well, while Kakashi just neutrally listened to them.

In the kage seats, the Kazekage sighed quietly. "My daughter seems to have allowed her arrogance to defeat her this day. Your genin was quite good, Sarutobi-san," he said.

"Indeed, though Ino-san allowed herself to be lax and unprepared there at the end," Sarutobi said. "I do not think I can recommend either of them for chuunin at this time, though we will see what happens in Ino's next match."

A nodded in agreement as well. "I agree on that front. Both are skilled, but both also showed arrogance and other emotions that clouded their judgment. Not good for prospective chuunin."

"Then we shall hold off judgment on Ino Yamanaka until her next match," Sarutobi said, signaling Genma.

Genma nodded, turning to the contestant balcony. "Will Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha, and Gaara of Suna please come down to the arena for the final match of the quarter-finals."

Naruto took a deep breath, looking to where Sasuke and Gaara both were moving to leave the balcony. He was about to do the same when Hinata grabbed his hand, causing him to stop and look to her. She looked nervous, before gently hugging him.

"Be careful Naruto-kun," she said softly. "Don't get yourself killed."

Naruto returned the hug, smiling while blushing lightly. "Thanks. And I'll be careful, alright?" He said quietly.

Hinata nodded, releasing him as he turned and headed out of the balcony, trying to calm his nerves as he prepared for what probably would be the toughest fight he ever faced.

The crowd was cheering and clapping, some on their feet, as they saw the three contestants take the field, each moving to a position where they faced each other in a triangle. This was more than they were expecting, a match between three competitors, making it all the more exciting and dramatic as each opponent had to keep aware of both of their fellow competitots.

With the sensei, Kakashi put away his book, his attention fully on the fight now. This was the moment he was waiting for, to see his plans come to fruition. He had been a bit shocked when the fight had become a three way free for all with Naruto added in, but he was still confident that Sasuke would have the skill and smarts to pull out a victory.

Anko and Raphael both felt their nerves increase as they waited for the match to start. They both knew how dangerous Gaara was, and seeing Naruto have to face off against him, as well as Sasuke, definitely left them both anxious. But they both also had faith in Naruto, and would support him throughout the fight.

In the back of the stands, a cloaked and hooded figure finally took interest in the events below, sliding forward slightly as their ANBU mask hid their alert eyes and the smirk forming on their face. It was almost time for him to take action.

In another part of the stands, the Suna team's jounin sensei tensed slightly, knowing that soon enough, they were going to be called to action.

On the arena floor, the three genin looked at each other, two with analytic gazes, and the third with a passive look that hid bloodthirsty glee. Genma glanced between them, before raising his hand. "Let the match begin!" He shouted, as the crowd cheered.

Evil cliffhanger strikes again! All shall fear the dreaded suspense! MUHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHA!

Seriously though, sorry for the cliffhanger but after three other fights, I thought this was a good place to stop, setting up for the action of the next match. Hope you all think so too.

I also hope you all liked the fights. I'm sure there will be some who have questions or concerns about them, which I am more than happy to address if you want me to, so please either review your concerns, or send them to me in a PM, and I'll explain my line of thought.

Thank you all again for reading, and I hope you'll continue to do so. And thanks go out to my beta BillAlain for his continual work in catching my mistakes.

Till next time!