In Their Shadow

Chapter 30

Ino and her team were eyeing the competition, Shikamaru concocting strategies and trying to decide who they should take out first. Kiba was glaring at Yuma while Shino and Hinata remained behind him. Rock Lee was doing push ups while Neji remained indifferent to everything and Tenten laughed nervously at people staring at Lee's antics.

'The biggest concern here is Team Seven. Naruko and Sasuke are too strong, and their third teammate Yuma is an unknown. We should do everything we can to avoid confrontation with them.' Shikamaru thought to himself, going over who to look out for in his head.

"Man! That crazy lady is taking too long! When is she gonna be here!" Ino complained, stomping her foot on the ground in frustration.

"Calm down Ino, she'll be here soon. Don't worry about it." Choji said while munching on a handful of potato chips.

Ino grumbled to herself as Shikamaru looked over to Team Seven.

"So, what do you guys think about Yuma?" Shikamaru suddenly asked his teammates.

"You mean that guy with the weird arm? What about him?" Choji asked.

"I mean, what is there to say? He is just the teammate of Sasuke and Naruko. He's nothing special, besides his weird arm thing." Ino responded.

"...I'm not so sure." Shikamaru said, narrowing his eyes.

"What makes you say that?" Ino asked.

Shikamaru stared intently at the pale skinned and jacket wearing Yuma, noticing how the guy was doing exactly what Shikamaru was doing.

Scouting the competition.

He narrowed his eyes at this, taking note when Yuma's eyes finally panned over to Shikamaru's. They stared at one another for some time, both gauging one another's level of threat. Finally, Yuma smiled his way, and nodded, turning back to his teammates. Shikamaru's eyes closed, a satisfied smirk on his face.

"Its just a hunch." He said.

'There's more to you then you let on, Yuma.' Shikamaru concluded to himself, taking a mental note to find out more about the person that is Yuma Ito after the exams.

Suddenly, a burst of smoke appeared in front of the gates, Anko Mitarashi appearing before the students with a smirk. She licked her lips before breaking out into a grin. Yuma frowned, thinking that wasn't a good sign.

"Hello boys and girls, and welcome to the Forest of Death! Sorry to have kept ya waiting! The way getting here was killer!" She joked.

No one laughed.

"Damn, tough crowd. Well, can't say I didn't try!" Anko said, shrugging her shoulders.

"Lets get to the point shall we." She said with a shrewd smirk.

She pointed out to the gates behind her with a grin.

"Behind me is the stage in which you cute little Genin will be competing against one another for the title of Chunin. This forest we stand in front of is filled to the brim with dangerous insects, tigers, and various deadly plants and animal. This, as some of you may know, has lead to many referring to these grounds as the Forest of Death!" She said, a wild expression of excitement spreading over her face.

"The perimeter of the forest is enclosed by gates on all ends. This is to prevent the creatures from getting in, and what ever poor bastards who got in, from getting out. Over a hundred-thousand people have died behind these gates, causing many to refer to this forest as, the Forest of Death." Anko said, eyeing the fear in many of the test-takers eyes with a smirk.