The two people in the third row went up onto the stage.
Shikamaru climbed the steps onto the platform and stopped, his hands still in his pockets.
Temari stood inside the opposite line, three paces away, both hands empty.
The light at the stage entrance shifted, spreading over the empty space between them.
Shikamaru took no stance. His shoulders were loose. His eyes swept the stands, then returned to Temari.
Kiyoshi's row of seats sat a little higher than the platform.
Looking down, the first boundary below the platform was the waiting line. A barrier rope ran diagonally up from below, its other end tied to a post beside his row. The wind stirred it gently into a slack curve.
Several stagehands stood beyond the line, arms folded, none of them speaking.
The waiting area was empty now. No one stood inside the rope.
The wind came from beyond the line, passing first through the empty stretch.
Hinata had already returned to her seat below and to the side, her back straighter than before.
The side seats below the stage were quiet. No one moved about.
In the East End and West End sections, everyone sat a little more loosely than before.
Naruto sat in the East End section. This time, he neither jumped nor shouted, his eyes following the stage.
Their peers sat scattered through their section. Some rested their chins in their hands; others had taken off their forehead protectors and laid them on their laps.
Over in the injured contestants' section, Lee sat ramrod straight, a blanket draped over his knees.
His forehead protector weighed down one corner of the blanket.
As Shikamaru took those few steps onto the stage, Kiyoshi read something entirely different from what the rest of the stands saw.
Those steps were loose,