New Soul (Naruto Various! x Reader)

Ch. 73: Dancing Leaf, Squirming Sand

3rd POV

Temari and Shikamaru stand there in silence, as the atmosphere feels dense. Soon, the shadow unlatches itself from the girl's feet and roams back to the Nara.

Temari snaps her head down. "What the—"

Shikamaru exhales his breath and rubs his aching shoulder. "Ugh man, I'm beat."

The once sassy sand genin just stares at him speechless.

Ino growls in her seat. "What a waste!" She turns to Choji and grabs his white scarf in a tight hold. "Why?! What is he thinking? Doesn't he want to be a chunin?!"

"What can you say? It's Shikamaru." Choji chuckles, unphased from her shaking him.

"I wonder, you think he has the motivation for this?" Kurenai asked.

Asuma crosses his arms. "I've wondered that same thing myself so many times."

'Even so, his tactics and ingenuity are far beyond those of your typical genin. If that had been a real mission and he'd been leading a squad, he would have succeeded. The battle was won the moment he caught Temari in that shadow possession. I guess you could say he won the battle, but lost the match.' The dark haired woman thought.

Asuma plucks out his cigarette from his mouth. 'That boy's lack of drive can sure be frustrating. Still, there's something to be said for not having a killer instinct. It means he never lets his emotions cloud his judgment. He never panics. He's able to calmly assess his tactical situation and determine the wisest course of action.' He smiles broadly at his student. 'He even has the wisdom to retreat if his position is untenable. He has something a lot of the others lack, clarity. That's a vital trait in a chunin and in a leader.'

Izumo leans forward and plants his elbows on his legs. "He may not be as motivated as some of the others, but, you know, it's not such a bad thing for a squad leader to trust his head more than his gut. He'll get in a lot less trouble that way."

Kotetsu straightens his back. "You said it. A squad with a hotshot for a leader is a squad that's not gonna survive very long. Some of these kids don't understand there's not much point in completing a mission if your whole team gets wiped out. That's not what being a chunin is about."

"If you're scoring them on that, Naruto and Neji failed the test. As well as y/n and Kaen. Not that they don't have talent, for a genin. Still, I can't help feeling Shikamaru gave up too soon." Izumo faces his friend expectingly. "What do you think?"

Kotetsu wraps his fingers around his wrist. "Well, one thing I'm sure of; he's got a lot better chance than that Naruto kid."

With Naruto, his knuckles are turning white from latching the rusty railing. He snarls though his enclosed teeth and his body is visibly boiling.

Outraged, he loudly barks out, "What the heck was that?! Forfeiting the match when he had it won, geez!" He slams both fists on the railing. "Man, that really ticks me off. That lazy son of a—!" Placing his left foot on the railing, he made a big jump towards the battleground. "I'm gonna give him a piece of my mind!"

Y/n leans in close to Shino, lowly telling him, "Sometimes I wonder if he was a frog in his past life."

Shino doesn't say anything, except his hidden eyes secretly roam to the young girl. He has the ghost of a smile beneath his coat.

The songbird heads off telling him and Haku, "I'm gonna make sure he doesn't get out of hand."

Kotetsu chuckles under his breath. "And to think that lazy kid's gonna be a chunin."