Boulders

Schist

And where was Sauske?!

▪▪▪

Toph leaned back and towards Ino. "So, what kind of jutsu is that?"

The Yamanaka let out a small huff, then explained. "That is Naruto's signature move, Shadow Clone Jutsu. He uses it practically every fight from what Sakura says."

"Hm," Toph felt the trample of numerous feet. They hadn't been there seconds ago and yet... "This world is so wierd."

"What?" Ino asked.

"Nothing," Toph remarked. "What's going on now?"

"Neji is busting out Hyuuga moves like they're throwing stars and Naruto is doomed," Ino said briefly, then turned back to Hinata. She totally missed the sudden sharp look Kiba shot Toph. His whole face creased in confusion as he leaned slightly closer.

▪▪▪

In a conclusion beyond all odds, Naruto used his head and defeated Neji. It was an incredible fight on both sides, apparently, but Sakura missed it because she had sunk down with her back against the wall trying not to panic.

And oh, Kami, it was hard.

She kept turning rocks from the slightly shabby pile beside her over in her hands. Toph-sensei had made them for her a few days after her duel with Neji; she had been training with them in secret, away from prying eyes.

Anyone who looked at her would never notice that the rocks were anything more then a pile of...

She actually didn't know. A pile of rocks, maybe?

Naruto landed besides her. "I won, Sakura-chan! Did you see that?!"

Sakura let the rock in her hands fall into her lap as she reached up and squeezed his hand. "You did very good."

"...Are you alright, Sakura-chan?"

She bit back a bitter laugh. Kami, she was going to die in front of all these people.

"No," she managed. "I'm really nervous, and Kakashi-sensei is late, and Gaara will kill me like he wanted to kill Lee."

She felt her eyes start to burn but she refused to cry in front of all these stupid uncaring shinobi. She watched Shino descend into the arena, all spooky gracefulness.

"Oh." Naruto plopped down besides her. He was all dusty and covered in scratches. "Well. At least you still have two fights left before-"

Kankuro poked his head out the opening. "Excuse me! I surrender!"

"You sure?" The proctor yelled up to him.

"Very!" Kankuro asserted.

"Okay!" Genma waved his arm. "By defacto, Shino Aburame is the victor!"

"-one fight left before it's your turn." Naruto continued smoothly. "Don't worry. This one is Shikamaru's so it-"

He stopped, then looked up at the Nara. "Shikamaru! You'd better get down there!"

"This is such a drag," Shikamaru groaned. "I might just quit too."

Naruto leaped to his feet, speedwalked over to the lazy ninja, grabbed his arm, came back, and pitched him right over the railing, ignoring his yelps.

"You can do it, Shikamaru!" Naruto yelled down at where Shikamaru had landed. "Take all the time you need!"

Sakura almost laughed. Since when had her teammate become so caring?