Chapter One
Leaf -vs- Sand
Rock Lee and Gaara fight to the death!
The chunin exams were into the third phase where the students were matched up against other students and were to fight to the death or until one student can no longer battle. Sakura had already competed in this stage of the exams against Ino, they were both deemed unfit to continue. The next two to battle were Rock Lee and Gaara.
Sakura was very nervous, she had heard rumors about how Gaara was a ruthless murderer but had never seen him battle for herself. Although she didn't have romantic feelings for Lee she did care a lot for him. He had saved her life for one thing.
The battle was ready to begin. Lee automatically attacked with ti jutsu. None of his attacks however made it through Gaara's defensive sand. Sakura stood watching,
"Even as fast as he is Lee can't get anywhere close to him."
On the other side of the balcony Naruto stood beside Gaara's brother Kankuro. Naruto exclaimed,
"The sand! He's using it as a shield!"
Kankuro replied,
"He's not doing it; the sand is protecting him of its own accord. It's almost like a living thing it will come to Gaara's defense without his doing anything. That's why Gaara's never been injured, no one can get at him."
In his mind he continued,
'no one's even been able to touch him.'
Sakura wondered aloud to herself,
"I don't get it, he's only using ti jutsu, can't he see that's never going to work. Why doesn't he get some distance and use nin jutsu?"
Her thoughts were interrupted by Gui Sensei, Lee's teacher,
"Yes that might be a good idea...that is if he had any. Lee has no nin justu or gen justu skills at all."
Sakura gasps while adding,
"You're kidding?"
Gui laughed slightly before continuing,
"That's nothing; you should have seen how hopeless he was when I first met him. No talent what so ever."
Sakura stood in shock,
"Really? I can't believe it."
The match continued Lee was almost crushed by Gaara's sand defense, but nearly avoided death by jumping clean across the room on top of a statue. Gui continued,
"A ninja who can do no nin justu or gen justu is certainly a rarity, Lee has only his ti justu to rely on, some may consider that a disadvantage. But that's what makes him a winner."
He paused for a moment before sticking his thumb out,
"Alright Lee take em off!"
Lee sat stunned for a moment before stating,
"But Gui Sensei, you said that was only as a last resort when the lives of very important people were at stake?"
Gui answered happily,
"That's right I did but this is an exception!"
Lee's facial expression went immediately to a huge grin.
"Really? Really?"
He pulled down his leg warmers and took off...ankle weights!
Kakashi sensei thought to himself,
'Light weights? Basic training equipment'
Naruto yelled,
"Totally cool!"
Kankuro chimed in,
"Totally lame."
Lee stood up and sighed in relief,
"Ah that is better now I will be able to move freely!"
Just as he dropped the weights, Gaara's sister Temri thought to herself,
'Come on you really think you're going to get through Gaara's defenses just by dropping a couple of pounds of weight?'
And with that the weights crashed to the ground smashing up the concrete, creating a huge explosion of dust! Everyone sat there stunned while Kakashi thought,
'Gui you are too much.'
And with that Lee was off moving so fast you could barely see him! Delivering kicks and punches which made it partial through Gaara's sand defense. Gui exclaimed,
"I could see Lee had no aptitude for nin justu or gen justu so we skipped them, and focused all his energy into developing his ti justu. That way we turned his disadvantage into a blessing! Now he doesn't need those other things to win, because he's transformed himself into the world's greatest ti justu specialist!"
And with that Lee jumped above Gaara and smashed his feet onto Gaara's head! Everyone gasped especially Temari and Kankuro. At that point Lee was running around Gaara joking around, he was in one place then another, until he punched Gaara in the face sending him tumbling to the floor. When Gaara came to his feet his face was literally falling off! But it wasn't his face it was...sand! Everyone was trying to figure out what was going on for a while Lee figured out his next move. Lee started running around Gaara then kicked his chin lifting him off the ground, and continued delivering a series of kicks to the chest, lifting him further and further off the ground. Lee got behind him, wrapped his tapings from his arms around Gaara, tying his arms to his body, before grabbing him from behind and spinning them both head first into the ground! Lee nearly escaped the head first blow, and stood catching his breath. Sakura was so exciting for Lee,
"YA! You did it! Way to go Lee!"
By her outburst you would think that she cared for Lee, but actually she was just so relieved that he didn't get killed! Everyone looked more closely and noticed that Gaara's body was caving in! It had become sand! Gaara switched himself with a sand body while Lee was delivering those series of kicks. Everyone stood in disbelief, just staring. Lee was trying to understand everything, catching his breath when all of a sudden Gaara appeared behind him in a casing of sand; his laugh was so evil it was almost unbearable to watch. Gaara made a hand symbol under his chin which sent a wave of sand crashing into Lee, knocking him to the ground. Then creating a bigger wave crashing it into Lee again, crashing him into the wall! Everyone watched in horror at the scene in front of them. Gaara delivered his last blow of sand. Waiting for the dust to clear everyone was standing on edge. Lee sat there after the dust cleared bracing himself for the impact. The sand smashed into him, he screamed in pain! But that wasn't the end; Gaara gave him one more blow of sand knocking him clear across the room! Lee laid there in so much pain, he could barely move. Sakura yelled,
"He can't go on! Make him quit before he gets himself killed!"
Lee all of a sudden got a rush of energy; he started jumping around dodging the sand attacks. Kakashi and Gui were talking about Lee being able to open inner gates, Sakura had no idea what they were talking about, she just wanted this match to be over! All of a sudden there was a swarm of wind encircling Lee. The wind turned into traces of blue, Lee's face was turning red! Everything was just rushing around him! A green ora outlined Lee's body, along with the blue streaks rushing in the wind around him! The ground beneath him started to break apart with pieces swirling around in the wind. Lee was screaming! His veins were exploding off of his face! This was crazy! Sakura stood in disbelief, this can't be real! All of a sudden Lee sprinted across the room basically unseen and kicked Gaara under the chin. Creating a world wind of dust, once the dust cleared no one could find Lee or Gaara! Until they looked up. Gaara laid in midair until Lee delivered a series of blows knocking Gaara around the room like a ping pong ball! Lee smashed Gaara so hard into the ground that it basically shattered! There was so much dust! It took so long for it to clear! Sakura held her breath before asking,
"Is it over?"
The dust cleared and everyone saw Lee lying on the ground, attempting to catch his breath. But Gaara was lying on the ground in a semi ball of sand. He shakily raised his hand toward Lee, moving his sand towards him. Lee was so weak! He could barely move, he tried so hard to crawl away but did not succeed. The sand grabbed hold of Lee's left leg and arm, instantly crushing them once Gaara closed his hand into a fist! Lee's scream was heart breaking for Sakura, she couldn't believe that this match got this far!