My Brother's a Jinchūriki!

Chapter 109: Rivals Get Serious!

Shikamaru yawned and stretched, then sighed as he following Asuma and Choji down the hall. "That nap was too short."

"I'm still hungry." Choji touched his stomach, and Asuma chuckled.

"Once this is all done, what if we all get some barbeque?"

"Oh!" Choji's eyes lit up and his mouth started to water. "Pork, beef, and chicken, with rice on the side and—"

"H-Hold on there, Choji." Asuma held up a hand, then scratched his head. "Don't get too carried away yet."

"I can't believe you really napped for the whole break." Ino looked at Shikamaru from the corner of her eye.

"You napped with us, Ino." Choji turned to her.

"W-Well..." Ino rubbed the back of her head sheepishly, then frowned. "I-It's not my fault! You guys talked me into it, and I was tired from being in the forest for so long and hardly sleeping in case anyone jumped out and attacked us..." She crossed her arms. "We should have been preparing for the matches instead."

"Getting rest is a form of preparing in its own way." Asuma patted Ino's head. "Being better rested than your opponents will mean that you'll have a distinct advantage in terms of Chakra regeneration and the ability to think and react more quickly in a fight."

"I guess you're right." Ino smoothed her hair again. "It'd be easier to feel less anxious if we only knew who we would be facing."

"Ninety-one." Shikamaru yawned again and stuck his hands into his pockets.

"What?" Ino blinked and turned to him.

"Ninety-one." Shikamaru repeated. "That's how many different possible combinations there are for each of us to be matched with."

"That many?!" Ino's eyes widened slightly. "Wait a second... when did you figure that out?"

"When do you think?" He shrugged. "It's easier to think of stuff like this when you're resting and aren't distracted by outside distractions."

"That's... kind of impressive, actually." Ino said.

"Huh? You really didn't think that'd I'd be able to figure out something this simple?" Shikamaru rolled his eyes slightly. "That was the easy part of it; The hard part is trying to come up with a strategy for everyone I might come up against."

"But how? We hardly know anything about the candidates from the other villages." Ino frowned.

"There's much more than you realize that you can tell about someone simply from watching them." Asuma answered. "Although, in terms of the other candidates, it's much more difficult."

"Then, can you tell what those others will be like in a match, Asuma-sensei?" Ino looked up at the Jonin.

"Me? Oh, no, I haven't got a clue." Asuma chuckled and glanced over at the Genin on the other side of the room. "From my experience, I might have a few guesses about a few of them, however, Otogakure is a recently-formed Village, and I'm not sure what to expect from their Genin. That said, I'm confident in your abilities." He smiled and looked between his students. "All of you have grown so much, and I'm sure you'll be able to handle whatever is thrown at you."

"Well, of course!" Ino scoffed, flipping her hair and crossing her arms. "I'm much stronger, smarter, and more beautiful than that Sakura. There's no way I'll lose in a preliminary match! I'll prove how impressive I am and Sasuke will fall for me."

"Sasuke again?" Shikamaru groaned. "It's always 'Sasuke this' and 'Sasuke that.'"

"As if you could ever understand!" Ino turned her nose up at him frowned.