Gaara was watching Shikanenai with eager eyes as the judge backed away. His whole posture screamed 'attack me so I can rend you limb from limb'.
For his part, Shikanenai was so relaxed that some of the audience were wondering if he was heavily sedated. To be honest though, it was more the result of having been up all night getting bawled out by his mother over the whole Temari in his bed situation and then sneaking out to drug Kankuro's breakfast... he was bushed. He really didn't have the endurance for that sort of thing back when he was twelve...
"Sleep well last night?" he asked lazily.
Gaara glared. "No."
"What?" Shikanenai asked innocently. "I had nothing to do with that - I didn't get much sleep last night myself..."
(Somewhere in the stands, Nara Yoshino twitched and rose from her seat to push towards where Temari was sitting. The young woman had no living mother and apparently no one had taught her proper behavior... Temari shivered and wondered what had sent that frisson of fear through her.)
Back in the arena, Shikanenai produced a stick of pocky. "Pocky?" he asked Gaara, who simply shook his head.
"Do you think I am a fool, like Kankuro?"
In response, the Nara clamped the stick of chocolate between his teeth like a cigar... or the judge's ever-present senbon and shrugged his shoulders. "Never know until you try."
"Get started!" came a jeer from the crowds.
Gaara smirked. "Enough talk," he hissed and a fist of sand smashed through the cloud of smoke where Shikanenai had been. A bushin!? Where...?
There was a tap on Genma's shoulder and he snapped his head around, twisting his body out of the way of any incoming attack and raising a kunai with lethal intent... against Shikanenai?
"Kid..." he groaned. "What?"
"I quit."
"Huh?"
"Y'know, forfeit." The boy gave him a lazy look. "Team Seven may have something of a reputation, but we're not Kage-level combatants. And trust me, that's what it would take to stop him head on."
Genma blinked, then shook his head and raised one arm. "Nara Shikanenai forfeits! Gaara of the Desert wins!"
D for Drakensis
You're only young once, but immaturity is forever.
For his part, Shikanenai was so relaxed that some of the audience were wondering if he was heavily sedated. To be honest though, it was more the result of having been up all night getting bawled out by his mother over the whole Temari in his bed situation and then sneaking out to drug Kankuro's breakfast... he was bushed. He really didn't have the endurance for that sort of thing back when he was twelve...
"Sleep well last night?" he asked lazily.
Gaara glared. "No."
"What?" Shikanenai asked innocently. "I had nothing to do with that - I didn't get much sleep last night myself..."
(Somewhere in the stands, Nara Yoshino twitched and rose from her seat to push towards where Temari was sitting. The young woman had no living mother and apparently no one had taught her proper behavior... Temari shivered and wondered what had sent that frisson of fear through her.)
Back in the arena, Shikanenai produced a stick of pocky. "Pocky?" he asked Gaara, who simply shook his head.
"Do you think I am a fool, like Kankuro?"
In response, the Nara clamped the stick of chocolate between his teeth like a cigar... or the judge's ever-present senbon and shrugged his shoulders. "Never know until you try."
"Get started!" came a jeer from the crowds.
Gaara smirked. "Enough talk," he hissed and a fist of sand smashed through the cloud of smoke where Shikanenai had been. A bushin!? Where...?
There was a tap on Genma's shoulder and he snapped his head around, twisting his body out of the way of any incoming attack and raising a kunai with lethal intent... against Shikanenai?
"Kid..." he groaned. "What?"
"I quit."
"Huh?"
"Y'know, forfeit." The boy gave him a lazy look. "Team Seven may have something of a reputation, but we're not Kage-level combatants. And trust me, that's what it would take to stop him head on."
Genma blinked, then shook his head and raised one arm. "Nara Shikanenai forfeits! Gaara of the Desert wins!"
D for Drakensis
You're only young once, but immaturity is forever.