You could cut the tension in the room with a knife. It was the preliminaries in the chunin exams and the giant display screen was beeping while unintelligible words flashed on the screen. Everyone was waiting with anticipation to see who would be in the next match. Suddenly the screen stopped blinking and making noise. There were two names prominently sitting there.
Rock Lee Vs. Gaara
Lee
stared in astonishment. His amazement quickly evaporated to joy. He
looked at his thick-browed teacher with a hopeful expression. Gai
flashed Lee a smile.
"Way to go, Lee!" Gai praised, "I
heard Gaara is the hardest competitor, though,"
"Don't
worry," Lee assured, "I'm sure he can't be that hard," Lee
looked over the railing out to the floor and saw that Gaara was
already down there waiting impatiently for him.
"Wish me luck,"
Lee called over his shoulder to Gai as he jumped over the rail.
"Go,
Lee!" Gai shouted as Lee landed on the ground. Lee looked up
when he regained his balance. As he expected, Gaara was standing
before him with his arms crossed over his chest. His expression was
cold and unreadable. Lee stood up and waited for the start.
A
sullen-eyed man walked onto the floor and raised his hand.
"Match
number 8," Hayate coughed into his fist, "Rock Lee versus Gaara,"
He stopped for a moment to relish in the apprehension of the
crowd.
"Begin." He said simply
Immediately, sand started
shooting at Lee in every direction. Lee jumped up and blocked the
attack. Five whole minutes of lee blocking Gaara's every attack
passed quickly for the audience, but was torture for Lee. He knew
that if he made the wrong move, Gaara wouldn't hesitate to end him
where he stands.
As Lee was blocking a front attack he felt
someone, or something, grab his leg. He looked over his shoulder in
terror to see the sand had caught him around the ankle and was
spreading up his leg. Lee struggled with the sand that was slowly
engulfing him, but he found that the pressure of the sand was so
extreme he couldn't move an inch. Quickly, the sand had reached his
chest and pinned his arms to his sides. It slowed and stopped near
his chin.
Lee looked in sheer terror as Gaara dropped his
extended arm and started walking over to the giant lump of
sand.
'Oh, god,' Lee thought to himself in a panic, 'He's
coming over to finish me himself,' Lee swallowed the lump of fear
in his throat as Gaara came ever closer with each step. He braced
himself for what was about to come and shut his eyes tightly.
After
what seemed like an eternity, Lee opened his eyes to see a wilted,
half-dead lotus flower shoved in his face. Behind it was his
opponent, his expression still stern, despite the situation.
"W-what
is this-" Lee was interrupted when Gaara's lips met his.
The
entire stadium was silent. After about ten seconds a cry was
heard.
"What the hell is this?"
Sakura
would have bashed Naruto's head in but she was frozen in shock.
Suddenly, the whole room was full of noise, most of it being made by
Gai, who seemed to be having a mental breakdown. Gaara pulled away
from Lee only then. Lee looked around in confusion at the people in
the balcony. Some were laughing, some were cringing, some were simply
standing there, mouths agape. He looked back at Gaara whom had on an
awkward grin and seemed to have the slightest bit of red in his
cheeks.
He felt the sand around his body loosen and evaporate
into the gourd it came out of. Lee was dropped onto his hands and
knees as the sand left him. He got up and looked at the red haired
boy who had just kissed him.
"What-"
"Take it."
Lee
was startled by Gaara's demanding tone and looked down at his
hands. He was still clutching the pathetic flower in his fist. Lee
hesitantly took it into his hands and studied it for a minute.
Abruptly, there was a burst of sand that got in his eyes and mouth.
When he looked up, Gaara was gone and there were traces of sand where
he previously stood.
The
room was quiet again.
"Damn it, Kankuro!" Temari
screamed at her sibling, "This is all your fault! Where the hell do
you think he went?" She was running down the stairs, nearly
tripping on a few of them.
"I don't know!" Kankuro yelled back as he sprinted down the other set of stairs, "And how is this my fault?" They rushed out the door, leaving the room in another stunned silence.
Hayate finally spoke up, "Ahem, the winner is Rock Lee. That concludes the preliminaries," He coughed awkwardly and it echoed off the walls.
People began to silently file out of the stadium. Lee was still looking at the sickly plant in his hand when he felt a hand clutch his shoulder. He looked up to see his teacher smiling down at him. He thought the confusion would never end.
"Are you okay, Lee?" Gai questioned his student
Lee looked down at his hand and gently closed it as not to harm his gift, "Yes," He smiled up to Gai, "I'll be fine."
