It's Not Forever *Shikamaru/OC/Gaara* (Book 1) COMPLETE

Chapter 8

    The last days pass by without incident, though Shikamaru and I seem to be closer than ever. I spent some time with Gaara as well, and he talks more now with me but still hasn't really let me in. I don't mind considering he doesn't know really anything about me either. I step out of the shower and dress in my black and white outfit. I tie my hair back into a pony tail before stepping out into the bedroom. Ino, Shikamaru, and Choji are sitting on their beds, waiting for me I suppose. I let them go first on getting ready this morning since I'm usually the first to shower. All the teams are either here, disqualified, or dead now. Everyone got summoned to the lobby today, so we're all meeting there now to hear about the next round. The proctors tell us that too many people passed, so we're stuck having a preliminary round to weed more people out. We're to fight a randomly assigned person to death, draw, or unconsciousness. Fun! We're led into a large arena with a concrete landing circling the fighting area, separated by elevation and a rail all the way around. The rules are explained to everyone and a screen is revealed. It flips through the names before landing on Sasuke and Akado Yoroi. They jump down into the arena and begin to fight. Sasuke wins in the end, like I predicted, and the next round begins. Kankuro fights a few rounds later and I secretly cheer for his failure before he wins. I scowl as he returns to the landing nearby. Temari and Gaara came to stand next to us shortly after we arrived, and we've held a quiet commentary on all the matches so far. Ino and Sakura are called down together and I frown. I know their past so I'm not sure what will happen. I watch as they talk to each other before fighting and it ends with a double knockout. Temari fights afterward, securing her victory against TenTen. My heart stops for a moment when Shikamaru is called down to fight against a girl from the sound.
The two meet in the center and the proctor allows them to begin. The girl, Kin, seems to be skilled with senbon but I have faith in his ability to kick ass. He tries to control her shadow, but it seems she knew his skills already and dodges the shadow, throwing belled senbon as well. I can tell by Shikamaru's demeanor he's thinking through and anticipating her next moves. He starts to taunt her, overconfidently explaining what he believed would happen. Suddenly the bells on the senbon behind him start to move, drawing his attention. I gasp as she pulls on chakra strings and hits him with needles. My hands tighten on the railing when he hits his knees and it takes all of my self-control to not jump down to help him. Kin explains that the bells give off a special vibration that can paralyze him and make him hallucinate. He gets struck again and I move to climb the railing, but a circle of sand latches around my waist to hold me in place. My gaze doesn't waver from Shikamaru but I mutter a 'thanks' to Gaara. As Kin moves to deliver the final blow, I notice the shadow on the ground under the string. It's not a thick enough string to create a shadow so high up. A smirk crosses my face as Shikamaru stands once she's bound by his shadow. They both pull out shuriken in unison, effectively freaking out the kunoichi. I hear Ino and Temari questioning his thought process, but I know what he's planning. I know him too well. They throw the shuriken and I watch as hers heads straight for him and he ducks in time. The girl tries to mimic him but knocks herself out on the wall behind her. Shikamaru casually flips backward to land on her feet. I cheer and Gaara releases me. When Shikamaru makes it back up to the landing, I tackle him in a hug and scold him for worrying me. I frown at the injuries though they're minor and fuss over him until he grabs my hands.
"Calm down Kaida, I'm alright."
"I know. You just worry me sometimes." I reply, finally calming down a little.
Watching him fight has worked me up though, making me restless and eager to fight. The names flicker through and the people fight, nothing truly interesting to me until Gaara is called down to fight against Lee. Their battle is intense since Gaara's sand can move blindingly fast and Lee himself is just as fast. Lee can't seem to land a hit on Gaara and it makes me wonder how the round is going to end. I haven't seen Gaara fight before. His sand acts as a barrier and a weapon in one so Gaara doesn't really have to move. Guy-sensei suddenly yells out for Lee to take off the weights and when he does, the attacks start coming faster and faster until Gaara yells. I have never heard him convey emotions really and I'd certainly never heard him in pain before. I leap up onto the railing to jump down and help, but Shikamaru and a nearby Naruto catch me and pull me back. I thank them quietly and watch as the fight intensifies. Lee's started to unlock the gates while Gaara is lashing out at the boy with his sand. The sand catches his arm and leg and I watch Gaara perform a hand sign causing the sand to crush the limbs. The match is called and Lee is taken away by the medical ninja. Gaara returns to the sidelines and I rush over to wrap him in a hug while simultaneously scolding him for worrying me as well. The sand wraps around me and lightly squeezes as if it's trying to kill me but is being restrained. It releases me and I release him.
"Nice job out there. Maybe one day we'll go toe to toe."
"You'd lose." I hear him respond with a ghost of a smirk on his face.
"Whatever you say Gaara. You'll see."
Choji fights another sound villager and loses, making me sad. I jump down into the arena after the match is called and talk to him as the medical ninja take him away. I return to the ledge and watch the screen as my name is selected.
'Hattori Kaida vs. Nakane Isamu'. I cheer and jump down to the center of the arena. I pull my headphones up over my ears and adjust my mask before checking my socks to see that my sticks were still there. A man with dark brown hair and shining golden eyes jumps down and looks me over with a smirk on his face. I ignore the stare and focus on all the details I can before it begins. He's got two large swords strapped to his back but those seem to be the only weapons he has, no weapon pouches seem to be openly on him.
"I've been watching you during the previous fights. You seem loud and obnoxious, obviously a weak ninja. I'll enjoy spilling your blood." He says cockily.
"What's with everyone wanting to spill my blood lately? Anyways, come at me and we'll see!" I taunt, sounding overly cheerful.
He scoffs and draws his swords once the proctor leaves. He runs at me and I giggle before sliding out of the way with ease. He growls in annoyance and spins around to face me, swinging both swords toward me. I laugh again and dodge the attack, landing gracefully on my feet. I can tell that he's frustrated with his inability to take me down yet and sheathes his swords. His hands begin to form signs and I feel the pull of a genjutsu. I block the jutsu before it can take effect and smirk.
"Keep trying sweetheart! This is fun!"
He tries to back me against the wall using rapid strikes but I refuse to let him make contact with me. I use the wall to flip over him and kick him into the wall in the process. I toss myself backward into a series of flips to land in the center of the arena again. I hear multiple conversations above us about how I'm just toying with him and not even exerting myself. Shikamaru's voice reaches my ears but I can't pick out the words. I click the button to turn off my music and smirk as Isamu comes running at me again.
"Ready for some more fun, eh?" I pull out my drum sticks and spin them with my fingers.
I stop the sticks and drum a beat in the air. With each strike, it sends large shockwaves of sound in his direction. I hear gasps when I send out the first wave. As I send more out, I quickly scan the crowd and track the gasps to the sound nin. I raise an eyebrow before leaning back to dodge a flying kunai. It embeds into the wall behind me and I watch him dodge the last wave. It barely misses and the wall behind him shatters. I giggle and pout.
"Do you not like my music Isamu?"
He flings senbon at me from a pouch behind his back and I block them with soundwaves. I use my drum sticks in another pattern to create the Blast Wave jutsu, typically used by mouth, but I've managed to recreate it using the chakra I infuse through my sticks. I push the sticks out in front of me with one hand, releasing a huge blast in his direction. I watch the panic cross his face before he gets struck full on, sending him flying. I watch him hit the wall with a loud crack and slides down.
"Is that better? Would you like to keep playing?"
He groans and shakily gets to his feet, wiping blood from his lip. I put my sticks away and make the signs for the ram, rabbit, and tiger.
"Needle melody." I mutter.
When he starts to wobble in place, I know I've ensnared him in the genjutsu. He starts shouting and panicking, looking around aimlessly before screaming and passes out. I grin when my name is called as winner and skip over to his body.
"I win!"
The medical ninja rush over and carry him away as I move back up to the landing between Shikamaru and Gaara.
"That was so much fun! I didn't even break a sweat!" I smile, jumping up and down.
"That was barely any effort on your part, like usual." Shikamaru says.
"There was no sense in really trying, I knew I'd win."
I'm suddenly smothered in hugs from Ino and Temari while they congratulate me on passing. I smile and listen as the proctor announces that the winners have a month to prepare for the final exam.