Legend of the Iron Monkey

Naruto Fanfiction

Disclaimer: I don't own a single shred of Naruto.

Chapter 7: Confessions of a Teenage Kunoichi

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When team Gai entered the room, there were hundreds of pairs of eyes, on them. They didn't know if it was because they were making a scene by being the new squad to enter, but the stares were getting pretty annoying. Lee looked to the crowd and saw many pairs of eyes, going to Tenten's direction, mainly the male population of the crowd. A lot of female eyes were on him as well, not that he minded of course, but he didn't have time for these nonsense games. As they were about to take their seats, one male, seemingly older than the rest of them, jumped out from the crowd and walked up to Tenten. He smiled at her seductively, looking up and down her hourglass figure. He had to admit, that outfit really did make her look extremely sexy. He didn't know her, but he didn't care at the moment. He was one of those types who were simply looking for a bit of fun. Tenten rolled her eyes... great, another pompus scumbag who wants to get hurt. She wondered if this chunin exam was filled with guys like these.

"Hey, why don't we get out of here and do something a little personal? There's a lot of time until the first exam starts," he said. Lee sighed to himself, crossing his arms over his chest, and stepped in. He really didn't want this guy to get hurt, knowing he trained Tenten very well.

"You don't want to do that, trust me. Staring is fine, and although she doesn't like it, she can't do anything about it until you touch her. And when you do, I won't be able to stop her because a lot of people in this crowd will agree with me that you'll probably deserve it. So do yourself a favor now and back off," he said. Neji's eyes moved to said teammate and took a few steps back. From what he's seen with his two teammates, they were far more skilled than they've been showing recently and he didn't want to get in the middle of it. The other guy narrowed his eyes for a second, looking to Lee.

"Why don't you mind your own business, you little punk?" he rudely asked. He turned back to Tenten and licked his lips. He was about to place his hand on her shoulder when he found himself in a rather painful position, a second later. His body was on the ground and Tenten had his hands secured, twisting them slowly, while pressing her knees to his back, causing additional pain. Lee walked over to the young man and knelt to him.

"Told you so. Now you face her wrath," he said. For the umpteenth time in the day, Neji was surprised with Tenten and Lee. He didn't even blink and Tenten already had this guy begging for mercy. He looked over to Lee, again, looking as calm as he was before. How could he be so calm when his own teammate has improved so much? It wasn't that the Hyuuga was scared, far from it. He was more of jealous at how Tenten achieved such speed and power in just one week of training. As Lee walked back to his original spot, Tenten pressed her knee harder. When things seemed to be going too far, the young man's teammates jumped from the crowd and aimed to attack Tenten. Said kunoichi's eyes moved to one of them, and then the other. Faster than the blink of an eye, she was stepping on the first guy, had the second guy pinned to a wall, and had the third guy pinned to the opposite wall that the second guy was pinned to. Much to everyone's surprise, there were three Tentens.

"Shadow clones?" asked Neji. "It's impossible. That's a jonin level technique. How did she get her hands on that kind of jutsu?"

"Those aren't shadow clones, my friend. She's just moving really, really fast," Lee calmly stated. Neji glared at him now, tired of his antics. It shouldn't be possible that Tenten improved this much and according to how confident Lee was speaking, could it be that he was capable of the same thing too?

"So why is it that you don't seem so shocked? Are you telling me that this speed is nothing to you?" he asked, trying to contain his anger. There's no way he would allow the Hyuuga clan to lose to these people, even if they are his teammates. Lee smiled at him slightly.

"Oh yeah. This speed is nothing to her and it's child's play to me. She can go so much faster than this, you wouldn't believe it. And speed isn't the only aspect that she improved on, that I can promise you. If you ever meet her in combat, don't expect the same Tenten that you saw a week ago. She's much stronger now," he said. Neji chose to remain silent after that. Lee seemed so sure of his answer and as of now, after seeing what he and Tenten were capable of, he couldn't find a single bone in his body that would disagree with them. Could it be that they have surpassed him in every way? He knew that he wasn't capable of the speed that Tenten is going at, right now. And if what Lee said is right about the rest of her abilities improving and not just her speed, could it really mean that she achieved power greater than even his own? Neji inwardly nodded to himself. Due to the pride of his clan and his own pride, he knew that asking them for help would be difficult, but he wanted to become stronger too. Lee stepped forward to Tenten and held her by the arm. She looked to him with disappointment as the replicas of her vanished, proving once more that they weren't shadow clones but just her incredible speed.

"Alright, that's enough. I think they've had enough punishment," he said.

"But you said you wouldn't intervene with it if he touched me," she replied sourly.

"He tried to touch you, but failed in doing so," he said. Tenten looked at him strangely as if trying to comprehend what he just said. A couple of seconds later, she remembered that the guy indeed tried to touch her but his hand never landed on her skin. The leaf kunoichi sighed.

"So if I allowed him to touch me, you wouldn't interfere?"

"Would I ever lie to you?" he asked causing her to flush hard. Tenten giggled and removed her foot from the unfortunate young man. It took them a few seconds to recover from the shock until the two other teammates collapsed on the ground. Tenten smiled playfully.

"I guess not, my mistake. We should find some seats then, shouldn't we?" she asked as she moved vanished and appeared behind Lee. She placed her hands on his shoulders and started pushing him to some seats that she spotted at the corner of her eye. She turned to Neji slightly. "Hey, hurry up or you're going to be left behind!"

'I think I've already been left behind...' Neji thought to himself sadly. He nodded to her and followed them.

The seats that they were going to had actually belonged to the team that tried to harass Tenten. In a sense, her two other teammates had to thank her for finding them some seats, even if it meant the cost of the three others who no longer had anywhere to sit. The surrounding shinobi and kunoichi looked to them all and and moved back a bit. They were really catching some unwanted attention and Neji was getting sick of it. Lee didn't particularly care, nor did Tenten. Unknown to their knowledge, two of the rookie teams had arrived there before they did. They probably took a different entrance to get here, that's why they made it there without being seen. Shikamaru narrowed his eyes at the display of actions that he had just seen. Since when did Tenten get so fast? And why does Lee seem so calm about it? It's like he's been through this kind of thing already and it's child's play to him. If that's right, then this exam may truly be living up to its reputation about including some very powerful shinobi. The lazy genius sighed to himself, knowing things were about to get uglier than they've already been. He was about to take a nap when team seven arrived. He was wondering what was taking them so long. He looked to his teammates and friends, and nodded. They stood up and greeted their fellow rookie comrades.

As the rookies mingled with each other, Lee scanned his surroundings once more but in a much slower pace, so as to not attract anymore pairs of eyes to his direction. The room seemed to be full of very uninteresting shinobi and kunoichi, few of which even caught his interest. His eyes moved to a group of people who wore forehead protectors that he had never seen before. They seemed to be wearing army style clothing. There was one girl with very long hair and a sleeveless top, one guy with spiky hair and a longsleeve top, and one other guy who sort of caught some of the taijutsu master's interest. Most of the third guy's face was covered in white wrappings. He had longsleeves but perhaps too long for his own arms. Lee wondered why he would wear such a garb with such length. Wouldn't something like that hinder his performance in battle? The Iron Monkey shrugged to himself as his eyes moved to another group. It was those siblings from last year... well, last week technically. The blond girl with a large fan on her back, the black clad guy with face painting and something that looked heavy on his back. Lastly, there was that redhead with the big gourd on his back. What was it with those three and carrying something so heavy?

There wasn't much of anyone else that caught his interest. His mind couldn't stop thinking about the redhead... what was his name... Gaara? There was something abnormal about this one but he didn't know what. It was actually the aura that resonated within him that was bothering the taijutsu master. It was so dark and so full of death and emptiness. The life that this boy led must have been nothing but sadness and despair, if his aura resonated with such negative emotions. It's like he wanted nothing more than to rid the world of all human life but why would anyone wish for that? Humans live in this world for a reason and no one should have the right to take their lives away. Truly, this guy was someone to watch over. His power, unlike the two others from his village, is off the charts. But that's not to say his teammates are completely weak either. They're strong, for sure, but at least their strength seems like it can be achieved through normal means of training and a bit of hard work. He sighed to himself again and was about to relax a bit when one other shinobi caught his eye. It was a silver haired one with glasses. Lee's eyes widened. Silver hair?! Only Kakashi has silver hair in the leaf village... could this be... the right hand man of whom the prisoners spoke of? Tenten noticed her friend's uneasiness and scooted to him.

"Hey, are you ok?" she asked. Lee looked to her.

"Oh, um... yeah, I'm fine," he said. Tenten narrowed her eyes at him raised one eyebrow.

"What did you say earlier about not lying to me?" she asked. Damn, she got him there.

"Alright, alright. You see that silver haired guy over there?" he asked, pointing at him. Tenten nodded. "Well, remember the shinobi and kunoichi from the village hidden in the clouds? They were captured on the day of my disappearance, almost three months ago. I spoke to them and they said that they were hired by someone to retrieve me alive or dead. They talked about some guy with pale skin, long black hair, and snake-like eyes but that's not that point right now. According to them, this snake man has a right hand man. They said that he has silver haid and wears glasses. I'm almost certain that only Kakashi-sensei has silver hair, in this entire leaf village. I was just wondering if that guy over there could be the snake man's right hand man. Maybe I can get some answers off of him."

Tenten nodded at him, accepting his explanation. The shinobi and kunoichi who were responsible for his disappearance were indeed captured and were being held in a prison where the criminals of the leaf village reside. No one was really allowed to talk with them unless given special permission from the Hokage. She remembered that Gai talked to them once but couldn't get anything useful out of them. So how did Lee succeed where Gai couldn't? Tenten huffed at herself, cursing at herself for even thinking about that question. It's because Lee is amazing, and the one year of training inside the cave told her that. She realized skill and strength from her comrade that she had never seen in anyone in her life. But it wasn't just that that she noticed within him. There was so much going on about him that she couldn't describe. She knew that she had gotten closer to him in that cave, than anyone in her whole life. There were things that she trusted him about that she would never trust with anyone else.

Now that she thought about it, he was the closest male that she had ever gotten close to, even closer than she could ever get with Neji. Unlike Neji, Lee was willing to share whatever he could. He offered to help her train where Neji would never. It had just dawned to her now that Lee was sort of like her guardian angel. He protected her that day, almost three months ago, he looked out for her and helped her to be strong. And what did she ever do for him? In the past, she would always agree with Neji, just as that Sakura girl would always agree with the Uchiha. She wasn't as attached to Neji as Sakura was with Sasuke, but she knew that at the time, she would do anything for the Hyuuga. But all those times that Lee was there for her where Neji would just turn his back, really changed her views about him, and Neji. She thought Neji was like some knight in shining armor, but she overlooked the one person who was always looking out for her and helping her out. Neji wasn't a bad person, but not good either. Lee has and always had pure intentions for everything that he did. He didn't grow up with parents but he still turned out better than most people have. Just then, she felt something jabbing at her side. It was Lee's finger.

"Can I help you?" she asked.

"I should be asking you that. You kind of spaced out on me for a couple of minutes," he replied.

"Sorry, I was just thinking. Nothing to worry about," she said. Lee was about to say something else when something caught his eye. The mysterious ninjas from earlier, with the army style outfits, moved out of their seats. They were moving at a moderately fast pace but not too fast. It was fast enough for the people in the middle of the room to not notice, but not fast enough for Lee and Tenten to catch up on. Tenten was about to move when Lee placed his hand on her thigh, pushing her down. She kind of blushed at where Lee's hand was but chose to think nothing of it. From the look of his face, it probably didn't even occur to him where his hand was placed on. As the mysterious ninjas made their way to the rookies, Lee zipped from his seat and to the group in front. He pulled out his staff and increased the length to seven feet. He placed his staff in front of the kunoichi and the spiky haired shinobi, blocking their path. Before they were able to turn to see who had impeded their path, Lee grabbed the back of the last shinobi's shirt, stopping what looked like an attack to the silver haired young man. Lee didn't want anyone to be harmed in any way.

"Hey, hey, I saw what you guys were about to do. Why don't we all just sit down, alright?" he asked.

"This fool insulted the shinobi of the sound village. We just wanted to talk to him, that's all," he said.

"I'm sure he didn't mean it and I saw what you were about to do. You weren't going to talk to him and if you were, you wouldn't have prepared to strike him down just now. Violence to quell violence doesn't equal peace. If you wanted to talk to him, you would have walked up to him like a normal person instead of striking the poor guy," he said. The shinobi with the white wrappings on his head, turned around to face the leaf shinobi. Lee retracted his staff and placed it back into its container.

"The name's Dosu, of the Sound. What's yours?" he asked.

"Lee, of the Leaf," he replied. Dosu nodded.

"Your speed is impressive, one to keep a close eye on. I saw you a week ago while my squad and I examined the Uchiha and the sand kid. Those two are both worthy of my attention and as it stands, so are you. Remember my name, as I'm sure we will meet again," he said. Lee nodded as Dosu and his squad returned to their seats. Lee was about to do the same when the silver haired shinobi walked up to him.

"Hey, thanks for what you did earlier. You really saved me from a lot of trouble with those guys. My name is Kabuto, by the way," he said, extending his hand out. Lee nodded and shook his hand as well.

"My name is--" he was about to say his name, but was interrupted when a large explosion of smoke, filled the opposite side of the room. Lee removed his hand from Kabuto's and looked to where the smoke was held. When the smoke was gone, at least ten adult shinobi of the leaf village, appeared. One of them had his forehead protector covering his entire head and wore a large trench coat. The others wore matching attires; a buttoned long sleeve and a pair of pants.

"Alright you pine-faced degenerates, listen up!" shouted the man in the middle. "I am Ibiki Morino and I will be your test proctor for this portion of the chunin exam. Although you're in the chunin exam, this is no place to display any behavior of irrational judgment! The use of excessive force is strictly prohibited, unless allowed by an instructor and even then, the use of fatal force is restricted!!"

"Sorry, just got a bit excited is all," said Dosu. The older man glared at him.

"You are lucky that the leaf genin stopped you and your squad. If you were to lay a single finger on your target, you'd have been out of this room before anyone can say shinobi," he said. Dosu grinned and nodded. "As for the rest of you, you will each bring up your permission slips to the front desk where you'll be given a number in return. These numbers will tell you which seat you will sit your butts down for the written portion of this exam."

Every genin in the room nodded, save one orange-clad shinobi. One by one, they received their numbers, test papers, and one pencil. As if rehearsed, they all searched for their numbers and sat down on their respective seats. Lee noticed that they were all seated in a random order and saw that no student was next to someone that belonged to their squad Tenten was three rows behind him, sitting at the middle. Lee sat in the middle row to the far left. Neji was four rows in front of him, who sat in the far right. It was a near perfect triangle position but that wasn't the point. He looked over his test and read the first question in his mind. The 10 years of training in the cave wasn't just spent on training the body, but the mind as well. He sort of understood the layout of the questions but knew that they were questions that genin couldn't possibly be expected to answer. Just as he read through the following questions, he also paid close attention to what the test proctor was saying regarding the rules of the exam.

"Pay attention! This test has a few rules to it and I will not answer any questions, so you better listen good. Contrary to what you're probably used to, you each start off with the maximum of 10 points. Each question is worth one point, and so, one point will be subtracted from your total score for each answer you get wrong. As for the second rule, teams will be graded as an entire squad, not individually. The third rule regards the 14 sentinels placed around you have eyes that are sharper than that of eagles. They will subtract two points from your score for every time they catch you cheating. Those caught cheating have no right to be here or to be called shinobi of any village. If they catch you cheating five times, you're out of here and so is the rest of your squad."

"What?! That isn't fair!" shouted someone from the back. "Why should I be taken down if someone in my squad messes up?"

"Silence, you little runt and pay attention!" shouted Ibiki. The genin growled a bit but sat back down. "Lastly, the fourth rule is, if any single person in your group manages to get a zero in his or her exam, the whole team is disqualified. Those numbers will be recorded by the sentinels and escort that squad out of the room. For those of you who have taken the intiative to look over your test papers, you'll notice that there are only nine questions. The 10th question will be revealed 15 minutes before the end of the exam... begin!"

The genin in the room grabbed their pencils and started working on their exams. As Ibiki finished explaning the rules to the written portion of the exam, Lee had just about finished reading the 9th question on the exam sheet. Each problem was more difficult than the one before and each one requires expert analysis and mastery with the shinobi arts. These aren't problems meant for genin to answer, it can't be. Lee admitted to himself that he should be able to answer the first four or five on his own but the problems after that are simply too difficult to get without... no. The Iron Monkey almost hit himself but stopped immediately for fear that the sentinels may count that as... cheating. This is a room full of genin, so why would the test require knowledge that only advanced shinobi would have? Genin are still in the trainee level and shouldn't be expected to answer any of these questions. Just then, and idea appeared in the young man's mind. Why only two points subtracted from the total score if someone was caught cheating? If someone is caught cheating, shouldn't that be grounds for failure, on the spot?

Lee's eyes widened as his eyes moved from side to side, looking at each sentinel. Each one of them looked to be of jonin rank, maybe ANBU. If their eyes are as sharp as Ibiki says, they should be able to-- uh oh... someone just got caught. So what's with this cheating thing? And why only two points removed from the final score? It makes no sense unless they actually want us to... 'No way!' Lee thought in his mind. Could it be that this test is designed to dare us to cheat without getting caught? If that's right, then it all makes sense. The difficult questions, only two points subtracted from the total score with each incident of cheating... that's it! It's just as Gai-sensei said. Seeing through deception really is the clue to solving the puzzle that was hidden in this exam. It's a clever idea but he didn't think much of anyone who knew the brilliant truth of what this test is all about. It was hidden so well that it was almost impossible to unveil the truth. Lee looked to Neji, from the corner of his eye. Neji turned his head slightly to the left and nodded to Lee. So he's guessed it too. Tenten isn't dull at all so she's probably aware of the circumstances of this exam. So now that that's figured out, the next question is, who's got the answers to this exam? There must be at least a few here to cheat from that actually know the answers or else cheating would be meaningless.

Lee looked around him. Not many were even passed the first question. As he contemplated his thoughts, he was already answering the ones that he was able to answer. When he reached number five, he knew that he couldn't go on any more. The questions became far too difficult. As his eyes moved around, he could hear something fixating itself from above his head. He tilted his head up, just enough for his eyes to see what it was that was going on above him. There was a mirror there, beside the light bulb. There were also near invisible strings attached to the mirrors. No ordinary shinobi would be able to see those strings. They were probably from Tenten. She must have found a way to cheat and who to cheat from. Lee squinted his eyes and noticed that the test paper was coming from Shino, from team Kurenai. From the looks of his paper, the first two answers are similar to his own but the ones after that were different, probably wrong. Lee removed his forehead protector and placed it in front of him, right at the angle where it would reflect whatever the mirrors above were reflecting. When they were finally adjusted properly, he was able to fully see Shino's answers.

As the minutes passed, several other squads were excused from the room for cheating. These sentinels are really sharp with their eyes after all. Even as Lee was finishing his 9th question, he too was able to catch a few near him, cheating but so obviously. He figured that if he could see those guys cheating, the sentinels could as well. More than half of the people that were present, were gone and more were still going. As for his comrades, if Tenten was the one aiding him in this exam, surely she wasn't too far off with answering the questions, probably finished by now. Neji had it the easiest because of his byakugan. All he really has to do is activate it and see right through someone. And even though his target is really far from where he's sitting, the byakugan allows him to see much farther than everyone else. His eyes truly are a gift to him... he's a true cheater, if anything. But alas, that's what this portion of the chunin exam requests. To cheat without getting caught and Neji's kekkei genkai helped him to do that easily. As Lee finished his exam, he dropped his pencil and flipped his paper down so as to remove any unwary eyes from his answers. When there were only 15 minutes left for the test, Ibiki spoke up.

"Alright, now that the hopeless cases are gone, it's time for the main event. It's time for the 10th question," he said as the candidates in the room, looked up. "Listen up and listen well. There are more rules that you must learn before taking the 10th question. The first one is, you can choose to skip this question. But by doing so, regardless of how many correct answers you have with the other nine questions, you and your squad will fail the exam. The second rule is you can take the 10th question but if you answer it incorrectly, not only will you or your squad fail the exam, but I will see to it that you'll be barred from taking any future chunin exams for the rest of your life!"

"What?!" shouted Kiba, standing from his seat. Truth be told, Lee was about to do that as well, but Kiba just beat him to it. "That's complete and utter bullshit! Lots of people have been here before and have taken the exam multiple times. Now you're saying that you're taking that oppotunity away from those who can't answer this last question of your stupid test? That's unfair and you know it!"

"Well, I guess you're just very unfortunate then. I wasn't the test proctor last year, but I am now. As I was saying before, will you take the 10th question or skip it?" he said in a rather creepy tone. Kiba grimaced but sat back down. Everyone remained silent after that, quietly contemplating their decision on whether or not to take the 10th question or skip it. Skipping it is the safe bet, which fails them but allows them to take the test again next year or whenever it is held next. But if they took the 10th question and answered it incorrectly, they would be banned from further chunin exams. It's a no win situation, well, almost. Taking the question gives them a chance at passing, but not a very good one. Each question on the test paper was harder than the previous one. So that would mean that the 10th question would be harder than the question that Lee was unable to answer on his own. There's a chance to pass it, but not a very good one. Skipping the question is a total loss. But trying to answer it only grants a five percent chance in passing, if even that much. As Lee contemplated on his answer, one person stood.

"Sorry, that's too much for me to handle. This test's questions are more difficult than the last and I can't risk getting it wrong. So I give up. I'm sorry guys," he said. His two other teammates stood up, eyes closed in shame. They were disappointed in their teammate for giving up but also in themselves for thinking the same thing. As they walked out of the room, more and more squads did the same thing. When enough squads were gone from fear of getting the 10th question wrong, Ibiki looked around him for any more losers who aren't brave enough to answer a simple yet extremely difficult question. When he thought that no one else was going to volunteer and take the safe way out, a boy in an orange jumpsuit, slowly raised his hand. Sakura and Sasuke were a bit surprised, but not too much, given the rules of the 10th question. Naruto wanted to become the Hokage and if he couldn't even become a chunin, that would kill his chances of ever becoming one. Ibiki smirked, there goes one more te-- bam! Naruto slammed his palm on his desk and glared at the test proctor.

"No way, I never quit and I'll never give up! You can throw all the questions you want at me and beat me down all you want. I'll always stand and fight for what I believe in. This test won't stop me from ever fulfilling my dream and nothing will! I don't care what question it is or if it's harder than the ones before it. I'll take it head on and stand proud. Even if I get it wrong and stay a genin for the rest of my life..." he trailed off, standing up on his feet. "... I'll still become the greatest Hokage that this village has ever seen!"

Ibiki narrowed his eyes at him.

"Are you sure? You can still turn back now and take the test next time. I may not be the proctor then and you'll have a proper chance at taking a real test without any of these bogus rules. Are you really going to attempt to answer a question that you might fail to answer and ban yourself from ever becoming a chunin?" he asked, trying to bend the boy's mind. But it was futile. Naruto's mind may not be the sharpest in the shed but his resolve is stronger than steel. Not even Ibiki could break his will.

"I will never back down on my word. That is the way of the shinobi!" Naruto exclaimed as he sat back down on his seat. Lee was absolutely blown away at Naruto's resolve. He may not be the most skilled shinobi around, but resolve like that doesn't just grow within anyone. That outburst of his actually inspired courage into the rest of the genin in the room. They were no longer shaking, no longer quivering. It was like Naruto was their general and they were willing to follow him to war and place their faith in him. Naruto didn't disappoint and that's what gave everyone the courage they needed. The test proctor looked around him, noting 78 people that were still left. He wanted to wait to see if anyone was still going to give up but was convinced that no one else would, after that outburst. He looked to his sentinels, who smiled and nodded to him. Ibiki nodded back.

"Now that those weaklings are gone, the only thing for me left to say to you all is..." he trailed off. This is it, thought most of the remaining ninja in the room. He's going to give the final question. The matter how difficult it is, they'd always be a ninja in the end. "... You've all passed the first exam!"

'... What...?' Lee thought to himself. So where's the 10th question? What is it?

"Wait, time out, what happened to the 10th question?" asked a kunoichi in the back. Ibiki grinned widely, taking extreme pleasure in watching as how the genin in the room would squirm at his cheap antics that he considered fun.

"There never was a 10th question, not a written one at least. Well, if you really must know, the 10th question was when I asked you whether or not you will take it," he said.

Most of the genin didn't understand, especially their general, Naruto. Upon hearing that, Lee nodded. So that was the 10th question... why didn't he see it before? It was literally the last question that Ibiki asked, right after answering to Kiba's complaint. It was so well masked that not even he was able to see it. This was the first time that he had met Ibiki and already he had earned the respect of the Iron Monkey. Not just anyone can mess with people's minds like he can. Lee reminded himself to ask his sensei after being excused from this exam. Perhaps Gai-sensei would know more about this Ibiki Morino fellow. Ibiki went on and lectured about what it takes to be a true chunin and Lee found himself listening to every word without getting bored of it. Everything that came out of this man's mouth was interesting and made a lot of sense. When he finished, Lee sensed someone... or something... coming their way really fast. He placed his hands on the kunai blades that hung on the sides of his hips, readying himself for what may happen. The window to their left shattered to pieces and from it entered a woman, a kunoichi with purple hair, a fish net shirt, and a long, brown trench coat. She released what looked like a black blanket with her name on it. Considering she isn't a genin or even a chunin, for that matter, what jonin would that childish?

Tenten narrowed her eyes at the kunoichi in front of her. Was she trying to win the attention of every guy in this room? It felt pretty good to have their eyes off of her but that's not what Tenten cared about. For some odd reason which she couldn't explain, she didn't mind if Lee looked at her in the way that the other guys in the room would. Although he would never do it, she felt as though she wouldn't mind if he did. She didn't know why though. The privacy of a girl is one of the most sacred things among humans. When Lee placed his hand on her thigh earlier, that was definitely the wrong place to put his or anyone's hand on. But Tenten couldn't seem to care if it was him. It wasn't because it wasn't his intention to place his hand there that caused her to not think about punishing him for it, earlier. There was another reason, but one that not even she could point out. She admitted to herself earlier that they had gotten very close while training in the cave and Lee was probably the only person in her 14 years, well technically 15, that she would entrust her life to. He helped her to achieve skill and strength that no one could grant for her, no matter how much she pleaded. Not even her sensei was able to make her as strong as Lee was able to and she was forever grateful to him for it. Maybe the reason isn't because she owed him for what he did. Maybe there's a deeper reason to that, if only she knew what it was.

"Alright you little babies, listen up! My name is Anko Mitarashi, and I will be your test proctor for the second part of the exam!" she shouted to the room. The sentinels rolled their eyes at the outburst of their colleague. Ibiki spoke from behind the sheets, telling her that she was early. Anko shrugged it off and glanced at all of the remaining candidates for the chunin exam. "Look at all this, there's so many of them. You're getting soft, Ibiki."

"Or, there's actually a fairly competent group this year," he replied.

"Well whatever it is, after I'm through with them, over half of them will fail," she assured. A few of the genin candidates were a bit surprised but a select few weren't. The shinobi and kunoichi who weren't surprised just remained seated, unafraid of what was to come. "Your jonin teachers are aware of the meeting place of the second part of your exam. It will be held tomorrow. So get some rest, you'll need it if you're to survive tomorrow. Dismissed!"

With that, the loudmouth special jonin vanished in a puff of smoke, taking her blanket with her. The genin were all escorted out of the room by the sentinels. Lee took a breath of air when he walked outside. The written portion didn't bother him one bit, as he was quickly able to realize the true meaning of the exam. Their second proctor, Anko, mentioned that the second part of the exam's location was known only to their jonin teachers. The remaining genin regrouped and made their way out of the building. Before he was able to find his group, however, his group found him. Neji granted him one of his rarest smiles as he walked ahead of the two. Tenten tackled Lee and gripped his shoulders with her arms. He could tell that she was excited to have passed the test. He had to admit though, it was quite nerve wracking to have all of those sentinels watch you for everything that you did so he could understand how Tenten was feeling. As they started their walk out of the building, Tenten turned to face her comrade, who looked to be in deep thought. She nudged him with her elbow but found that he blocked it with his palm, without even looking. Lee felt his arm move and looked to his friend.

"Something wrong, Tenten?" he asked.

"Nothing's wrong I just wanted to ask you of something and I want your honest answer," she said, slowly turning red in the face.

"Okay, what's up?" he asked.

"Did you... were you..." she stuttered, unable to find the proper words to use for her question. Tenten found her fingers playing around, just as Neji's cousin, Hinata, would. Why was she so nervous to ask the question? "Um... did you... were you examining that woman's appearance?"

Lee's eyebrows sunk a bit, wondering what kind of question that was. Well, it's a legitimate question, but why would she care for such a thing? Lee took a large inhale and exhaled it right out. Why would Tenten ask him such a question? Was she that curious at what it was that he was thinking about? Or in this case, looking at? It couldn't be... that... can it? Lee smirked to himself, wanting to test the theory. He knew that it wasn't possible though. But he wanted to try something out, just to spark a bit of entertainment.

"What's it to you? What if I did?" he asked, teasing her to give in. Tenten's face ran through ever shade of red that was known to human kind. She knew what he was doing and she was falling for it. Why did she care so much anyway? Who cares if he was looking at Anko's... no! But he's a guy too, after all. She shouldn't be able to stop what he can or can't look at. It's not like they're... dating. She did get close to him during her training but she only thought of him as a friend. But now that she thought about it, she only thought as Neji as a friend too, no longer harboring the romantic feelings that she had for him. So if she didn't like Lee as more than a friend or a brother, why did her body allow Lee to touch her in a spot where she shouldn't have allowed any man to touch? Why was it that her mind allowed Lee to do what he did? Only girlfriends allow that from their boyfriends, right? Tenten sighed to herself. Even if she was interested in having a boyfriend, she didn't have the time for it. She was too busy for that kind of thing. So why was her mind and body disagreeing with each other? Her body told her to go for it but her mind refused. The bigger problem is, she didn't know which one to believe.

"I don't care. What makes you think I would care?" she asked.

"I don't know. Why are you asking? You seem interested to know what I was or wasn't looking at. If you aren't interested, you wouldn't be asking, would you?" he asked. Tenten blushed once more but managed to push the blood down from her face and back down to her body. She could swear that her skin was turning a bit pale from all this blushing. How was it that Lee was able to do this to her? How can he make her body react in ways that even she didn't know? She knew he wasn't doing it intentionally, how would he know how her body worked anyway?

"Well, in any case, I wasn't looking at that. Come on Tenten, that woman is way too old for me and I'm not interested in getting a girlfriend right now. There's far more important things for me to consider and think about it. I may be a guy but I'm also a ninja with a pretty long amount of training. I can endure and wait until it's my turn to experience that and when it happens, it will be with the right person," he said. Without even sensing it, Tenten felt a pair of lips touch her cheek. She stopped walking and placed her hands there. She looked up to Lee, who was grinning a bit. He winked at her with one eye, similar as to what she did for him after they left the cave. As he started to walk away, he finished his sentence. "Consider that the appetizer of... well... what might come, when all this is over."

"Lee... I..."

"Come on. Neji and Gai-sensei are waiting for us. Wouldn't want to keep them waiting, now would you?" asked Lee. He took her by the hand and pulled her to him, causing her legs to move on their own. Her mind was too much in shock at what Lee just did. Was this how he felt when she did the same to him? She couldn't even feel anything from neck down. All she could feel was the burning sensation on her cheek where he placed his lips on. She didn't know what was happening to her body, but it was surely reacting to his kiss. It's just a kiss to the cheek, friends do it all the time, so why was her body reacting to it in ways that even she couldn't understand? There's only one person she could turn to for this issue. Tenten nodded to herself and regained control of her legs. She could have removed her hand from Lee's hold, but she chose not to. For once, she would listen to what her body was telling her, instead of her mind. When they finally were able to walk outside, Lee removed his hand from hers, leaving the kunoichi with an aching feeling of wanting more. But she decided to drown that feeling at the current moment. She didn't want anyone to know about her feelings just yet. Gai and Neji were indeed waiting for them both.

"Great job, you three and congratulations for passing the first phase of the exam. Did my clue help any?" he asked. Lee nodded and smiled.

"Thanks, Gai-sensei. Your clue helped me to decipher the hidden message of the exam," said Lee. Just then, his smile vanished, his face reverting to a normal facial expression. "Anyway, our second proctor for the chunin exams will be a woman named Anko Mitarashi and she said that you would know the location of the second phase of the chunin exam. So, do you know where it is?"

Gai nodded to his pupil.

"It's located about a mile from our training grounds, to the north-east. You'll know that you're in the right place when you see a large forest, surrounded by a metal fence. I'm prohibited from saying anything more than that or else you guys might get disqualified," he said. Neji, Lee, and Tenten, nodded to their sensei. "Okay, now that I've relayed the information to you, I have instructions to leave you three alone. I'm not allowed to escort you to that place. I guess part of the test this year is to have you guys get there on your own. Don't sweat it though, finding the place isn't the hard part. It's the actual second phase that you have to worry about. Go now, get some rest and be there by sunrise."

With that said, Gai vanished in a swirl of leaves.

"Alright guys, I'm going to head on home," said Neji. "Be prepared for anything tomorrow. I have a bad feeling about this."

Tenten and Lee nodded as the Hyuuga departed. He wondered if he was the one that was going to win the little bet that he made with his sensei, but that's another matter to be explained for another time. When he was gone, Tenten looked to Lee. She knew that she still had to speak to that special person about her feelings and she wanted to do it alone. She hoped that Lee wouldn't follow her with where she was going. Lee wondered what was in store for him for the next part of the chunin exam. He really wanted to meet up with Kabuto again. He seemed like a nice guy, maybe he would be able to tell him what he needed to know. And speaking of whom, there's still that snake man to worry about. If he's in this exam, Lee knew that he would have to be extra careful. He figured that Tenten's increased skill, strength, and healing ability, would play her away from death's grip but there's still that possible chance that something could go out of plan. Then there's Neji to worry about. Neji is tough but he's still just a genin. There are things that they may not be able to take down, especially that redheaded sand shinobi. Then there's that other sound ninja, Dosu, and his squad to worry about. They're fast but it seemed like they weren't moving at their fastest. Yet even with such speed, not many noticed their movements. He had to return home and meditate.

"Hey Tenten, I'm going to go home. You should as well and get some rest. Oh what am I saying, your regeneration ability supplies you with a slow but constant stream of energy, right? And we haven't done much of anything today so you should be alright," he said as something else clicked in his mind. Since they didn't really do anything yet, maybe it would be a good idea to stretch a bit and do a little sparring match. "Actually, do you want to do a little sparring match before we go our separate ways?"

"Um... I would but there's something that I have to take care of right now," she replied, a bit disappointed. Ever since she was capable of rapid cellular regeneration, there wasn't much that she was actually afraid of, not that there was really anything that scared her out of her wits... except for one thing. Her uncertain feelings for him was actually the one thing that was scaring her, and her healing ability couldn't make that go away. She actually wanted to spar a bit with Lee but there's something else that's more important. She needed a few tips from an expert, and she needed it fast.

"Okay. Then I'll just head home too. See you tomorrow," he said as he vanished in a swirl of leaves, copying his sensei's trademark. Now that he was gone, Tenten would be able to proceed with her plan. She looked around for the person on her mind and found her a minute later. She was explaining the directions of the location of the second phase of the exam, just as Gai did with Neji, Lee, and herself. When the woman's students left, Tenten quickly approached her.

"Excuse me, Kurenai-sensei?" she asked. The older kunoichi was about to leave, just as her students had, but turned around to face a girl that she had never seen in her life, yet something about her seemed familiar. Tenten inwardly slapped herself. Of course Kurenai wouldn't recognize her with her new outfit. "It's me, it's Tenten from Gai-sensei's squad."

"Oh, really? I'm sorry that I didn't recognize you earlier. What's with the new outfit? It looks really good on you. It makes you look more mature and more of a professional kunoichi than just a simple genin. Are you trying to impress someone?" she asked slyly.

"No I'm not. I need to ask you for a few tips on a problem that's recently been scaring me," she replied.

"Boy problems?" asked the older woman. Tenten surprisingly nodded. Kurenai sighed. "Of course, you do have two boys in your team, after all. I did the same thing you did when I was your age. I consulted with my sensei for advice with boys. So, what do you need help on?"

"Well... it's just that..." she trailed, wondering how to properly say what was on her mind. "I... I think I..."

"Yes...?" asked Kurenai. Was stuttering the trend with girls that liked boys these days? She sighed once more as she remembered those days, all those years ago when she would stutter while talking about the boy that she liked. In a sense, she couldn't really blame the younger kunoichi before her, as she did the same thing when she was younger and the sensei that she consulted didn't really say anything against it. Tenten looked to Kurenai, unable to fully let out what she wanted to say. She was still uncertain of her feelings for him but the thing is, it's there. The feelings are there and it's not something that can easily be ignored. They spent a year together, in a cave. There were many things that happened in that cave, other than just simple training. He didn't lay a finger on her unless she asked him to help her on something. But emotions arose in that cave, feelings from somewhere deep inside her, began to surface. And the thing is, it all pointed to him, to that one special person in her life. He paid attention to her, answered to her call, made her stronger than she ever thought possible. He isn't like other shinobi who brushed her aside, thinking that she wouldn't be able to handle his training, just because she looked like a delicate little girl.

He saw passed that and saw who she was, not who others saw her as. She didn't think she'd ever feel such emotional affections for someone like him... a drop out. But it was only recently that she realized that she was something of a drop out as well. Even as a good kunoichi who was talented in weapons and other forms of armed combat, she had no one to help her and she just fell. She wasn't strong enough like lady Tsunade, her idol. When even Neji gave up on her, he turned to her. He answered her prayer of wanting to become even stronger. He gave her the opportunity to make her dream into a reality. He was there when others weren't. He walked to her when others walked away. He stretched his hand to her when other kept theirs to themselves. He pulled her out of the darkness that she stumbled into it on her own. He brought her to the light and gave her something that no one, not even her busy parents, gave her. He believed in her, and stuck with her even when she had problems with learning a few simple taijutsu techniques. He never gave up on her, just as others gave up on him, just as she gave up on him before. Tenten looked to Kurenai, deep into her red eyes. She was sure of it now, more sure than ever.

"I think... no. I'm sure of my feelings now..." she said, smiling at the older leaf kunoichi.

"So, what is it?"

...

"I'm in love with Rock Lee."

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Dun dun dun...! Hmm... I'm supposed to have some comments to say for this chapter, besides the fact that I think it's really long. Then again, I'm trying to make my chapters longer and longer. I'm also trying to add more detail in the next chapter than the previous one had. Sometimes I get really lazy though, but sometimes I actually want to include the extra detail. Does that ever happen to any of you guys? Anyway, the LeexTen thing won't be coming around for a while. There are a couple more things that I have to concentrate on for now. There hasn't been as much romance between them, like I've been hoping for. But be patient with it, if you're the type that likes romance. Hmm... I think that's all I had to say, unless I'm forgetting to mention something that I'm supposed to be letting you all know. Uh... yeah I think that's it.

Ja ne!