What a drag...

"Uchiha Sasuke wins!"

Looking at the unconscious Temari, I sighed. She had drawn the short-end of the stick, really. I couldn't blame her, although she could've maybe done a little better.

Next to me, Naruto looked shocked to the core. He tightened his grip on the handrail as a smile appeared on his face.

(Naruto's POV: 'Sasuke… He's strong…!')

Closing my eyes, I leaned against the wall… The wait was killing me. I wanted to fight.

Flickering next to Naruto, Sasuke smirked. He looked towards me with provoking eyes.

I looked back, amused by his eagerness. He beat Temari, but does he think he's hot-shit now?

When our eyes met, I released some killing intent, making him retreat a little. Steeling himself, he didn't back down.

After reaching a body-count of over fifty people, one could say my killing intent was strong… Especially if you add Shukaku to the mix. For him to not back down was very impressive.

One reason was probably that he already felt Orochimaru's. His probably exceeded mine by a great margin... Not that I cared.

Interrupting our little contest, Genma shouted once again.

"Nara Shikamaru vs. Kiyo! Both contestants, please walk down to the arena!"

"What a drag…"

Shikamaru stretched, lazily walking down to the arena. I watched silently as Kiyo also made her way there… I had a feeling that this fight would not be very entertaining. Especially after the last three.

-----------------------------------—

(AN: Switch to third-person POV.)

Ino stood up, cheering for Shikamaru as loudly as she could.

"Shikamaru! Beat her up with your brain!"

Suddenly, a guy munching on chips walked up to her.

"Hey, can I sit here?"

"Choji! You're fine!"

Smiling, Choji continued munching on his snack.

"Heh, I'm big for a reason. All my fat directly mitigated that impact… That sand guy went easy on me."

"Although he seems all threatening, I don't think he's an inherently bad person. That said, his power is monstrous. It felt like he didn't even use ten percent of his strength in our match…"

"Really..?"

Ino looked down to the contestant's stands, locking her gaze on the red-haired boy. Looking at him, he seemed way better looking than she had previously thought. Although he had no eyebrows and his expression was even worse than Shikamaru.

Choji kept on munching on his chips as Genma raised his hand.

"Begin!"

As soon as she heard Genma, Kiyo drew distance. She knew of Shikamaru's shadows from the preliminaries, and did not want to get caught up.

In his head, Shikamaru was cursing his luck.

"Damn it… I became a ninja because I thought I'd have fun… But this… This is not fun. What a drag."

"Why do I have to fight a girl? A man can't hit a girl… But I can't lose to a girl… Ah. So complicated."

Squatting, Shikamaru looked up at the clouds, longing to become one. On the other side of the pitch, Kiyo looked at him confusedly.

'What is he doing… Whatever…'

Drawing a bunch of Shuriken from her pocket, Kiyo sent them flying towards Shikamaru, who back flipped and dodged them easily.

"You're nimbler than I thought."

"Heh, I guess you could say so."

"Well, it doesn't matter… I'll end this now! Fūton: Sōseiji Tatsumaki!" (Wind-style: Twin Tornadoes!)

Kiyo extended her palms, and two balls of condensed wind chakra appeared in front of them. The chakra spun and started getting bigger.

She then released them in Shikamaru's direction.

Shikamaru felt danger, and quickly backed away, but the balls followed him wherever he went. Thinking fast, he there an explosive Kunai to the ball of wind, and it turned into a massive tornado upon impact, gobbling up the explosion.

'Crap… I can't get hit by that… Ah, I have an idea."

Shikamaru then started running in Kiyo's direction, scaring the crap out of her. Behind him was the threatening tornado-ball.

"Hey! Don't run here!"

Hearing her, Shikamaru smiled. He continued running towards her at full speed.

Kiyo calmed herself and also started running. This started a goose-chase that bored the audience to no end.

"Stop following me- What?!"

Suddenly, Kiyo stopped moving. In fact, she could not move.

"Got you… Kagemane no Jutsu!"

"But when…?"

Kiyo then looked up and realized she was under a tree.

She had been so preoccupied with running away from Shikamaru that she had fallen right into his trap.

"Heh. I guess its over… What a drag."

Shikamaru massaged his neck and looked towards the tornado-ball that was quickly approaching him.

"Yeah, it's over. But for you!"

Kiyo also saw the ball and rejoiced… Shikamaru had ruined his own chances of winning. He would get hit any time soon.

Hearing this, Shikamaru smirked.

"That's where you're wrong."

"What do you-"

"Kawarimi!"

Just before the air-sphere touched him, Shikamaru switched places with her, nullifying the shadow-bind.

"No…!"

Kiyo could not react in time and got hit by her own jutsu. A massive tornado engulfed her, cutting through her skin and drawing blood.

"Gyaah!"

Kiyo was sent flying into the air and landed right on her back. Coughing out blood, she fell unconscious.

"Kiyo!"

Shira gripped the handrail, almost bending it. He jumped into the stage, ignoring everyone and picking Kiyo's head up.

"Kiyo!"

Seeing no response, worry appeared on Shira's face, and Genma walked over.

"Kid, do you want to get disqualified? Go back, now!"

"But…"

"I said now!"

Looking at Kiyo one last time, Shira walked back to the participant's area… His face was all gloomy.

After checking her condition, Genma declared the winner.

"Nara Shikamaru! On to the next round!""

"Kyaaa! Good job Shikamaru!"

Ino could not sit down as she punched the air with excitement. Next to her, Choji kept on munching his chips.

"Damn, I thought he would give up, given how lazy he is… *munch* *munch*"

"Shut up! Shikamaru can get motivated too, sometimes..."