Things we do for love

Chapter 32

The next match was Kurotsuchi vs Temari, but the focus of our little genin was on Naruto and Shikamaru, who had just reached the stands.

Everyone was gaping at Shikamaru and Naruto.

"What the hell was that?" gaped Ino.

"Our display of Ninjutsu," said Naruto.

"Shikamaru I never knew you were so good in ninjutsu," said Choji.

"Well, since Naruto returned to the village, I saw that he had become strong, and to stand in the same ring as him, I had to too. It was too troublesome," said Shikamaru.

"Wow," said Kiba.

"But really, you didn't give me enough time to even think about the higher ranked jutsu, because I thought that I might lose too much chakra," said Naruto.

"That was the plan. I wanted to make you deplete your chakra, because I noticed that even though you are skilled, you used your jutsu carelessly, and became exhausted quickly," said Shikamaru. "Looks like I was wrong."

"No, you were right. But Ero sennin told me about it during training. he said that I carelessly threw jutsu here and there, and I needed to be careful and precise about it, because some battles are won based on stamina rather than strength. had I used Hiraishin or other stuff, I would lose to you, as I promised myself that I will win only using my strength, not his," said Naruto.

"Well, also I planned to keep you far from me, so that you couldn't use your seals or your sword or that big ball of concentrated chakra you showed to Sasuke," said Shikamaru.

"But didn't you master Hiraishin?" asked Sakura.

"I did, but still it's Shikamaru we are talking about. He would have a plan to counter a jutsu as deadly as that," said Naruto.

"Explosive tags," grinned Shikamaru wickedly, and everyone got creeped out.

"W-what?" asked Naruto, himself disturbed that a person such as Shikamaru could have such an evil grin.

"I would plant these tags on them," he said, and Naruto paled at the thought of being blasted.

"How?" asked Sasuke, intrigued.

Shikamaru showed him ninja wire, used for traps.

"Look! Kurotsuchi won," said Naruto excitedly.

Indeed, Temari was on the floor, clutching her stomach while Kurotsuchi was standing next to her.

"Winner: Kurotsuchi," declared Hayate.

"I think Kurotsuchi deserves a raise in the rank, as the skills she showed are exceptional," said Hiruzen.

"Yes, she is really skilled. I bet that she will take that hat from you too in a few years, Tsuchikage sama," said Jiraiya.

"I agree," said Kazekage.

"Well well well, we will see about the hat, but the promotion, I can agree upon that," said Onoki with a smile.

'This old geezer is really friendly with sensei. If he sides with Konoha I will have to eliminate him too,' thought Orochimaru.

"The next match is Sasuke Uchiha vs Shino Aburame," declared Hayate.

"All the best Sasuke, Shino," said Naruto.

Their battle was very long, and both of them refused to give up, but Sasuke then used Sharingan to find an opening and attack him.

"Both of them were formidable and displayed skills that were way beyond genin level. I say both of them to be promoted to chunin," said Onoki.