𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐔𝐑𝐒𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐀 𝐇𝐘𝐔𝐆𝐀 𝐓𝐖𝐈𝐍

The Preliminaries, Pt. 6

Last time:

Shikamaru's Perspective:

"The next match is Shikamaru Nara vs Kin Tsuchi!"

'It's me now? What a drag. And I'm against a girl, too.'

"Yeah, Shikamaru! You better kick her ass!" Ino declared, "All you have to do is tell yourself 'I cannot lose' and you'll win! Come on! You can win this no problem! Yeah! Here we go, Shikamaru! Make that little girl cry!"

'When did she get so darn enthusiastic?'

"I think he gets it, Ino..." Hana sighed, "But really 'Maru, listen to her. You better actually get up and do something!"

"Just do your best," Choji said through a mouth of chips.

"What a drag..." the lazy male sighed, "Guess I better go down there then..."

Now:

(Still Shikamaru's Perspective)

"Oh man, this is such a drag. I mean, give me a break. I've got to fight a girl?" Shikamaru groaned as he stopped in front of Kin.

"You just keep thinking that, little boy," she snarled.

'I know what these guys are capable of because of the second exam. Problem is, I didn't get a look at her jutsu. And to make things worse, she saw mine.'

"Ready?" the proctor asked.

'Oh well, nothing I can do.'

Shikamaru and Kin nodded.

"Begin!"

"It's all I've got," Shikamaru said, putting his hands in the Shadow-Possession Jutsu's trademark hand sign.

"You're not trying that stupid shadow thing again, are you?" Kin asked, mocking him.

"Agh! Shut your mouth!" Shikamaru said, defensive.

'Ninja Art: Shadow Possession Jutsu.'

"Is that all you know?" Kin smirked, dodging the shadow that was coming at her, "If that's the only trick you've got, this is going to be easier than I thought!"

As she ran away from the shadow, Kin took out senbon with bells on them and threw them at Shikamaru.

Shikamaru dodged them and turned away from his opponent, inspecting her weapons.

"Bells?" he asked skeptically, "Heh. Oh please, not that old trick. Lemme guess, next you'll throw senbon with bells and senbon without bells at the same time. I'll react to the bells, and while I'm focused on dodging them, I won't notice the silent needles coming at me. Am I right? Heh. Good luck."

"You sure talk a lot, don't you?" Kin asked, not acting at all worried that Shikamaru figured out her trick as she threw more senbon at him.

'So either that's not it or she's overconfident. With girls like her, it's hard to tell.'

"Now I know to dodge all the senbon, not just the ones with bells," said Shikamaru, dodging everything that was thrown at him.

Ring!

'What?' Shikamaru thought, his eyes widening in surprise, 'It came from behind me. Threads? So that's her trick. Oh man.'

"Too late!" Kin yelled, throwing some senbon that hit Shikamaru's shoulder.

Hanara's Perspective:

"Shikamaru!" Ino exclaimed worriedly.

"Well that didn't take long," Naruto commented.