Chapter 7: Fist .vs. Sand: The Rematch of the Century!!!
Rock Lee
VS
Sabaku no Gaara
This time it was Lee's turn to be shocked. Naruto bellowed out, "What gives!? Gaara's already a jounin! Hell, he's the bloody kazekage of the Sand Village! Why the hell is he…"
"It would do you good to shut that mouth of yours, Naruto Uzumaki."
Naruto instantly shut his mouth and turned to find Gaara standing behind him, the faintest of smirks on his face. "Your voice is quite piercing, Naruto. I'd appreciate it if you'd kindly shut up while I fight my match. I wouldn't want myself, or my opponent, to be distracted by your endless babble." Naruto made to snap back but Gaara leapt from the balcony to the stage. Lee gave an excited shout and leapt down after him. Sakura was plainly nervous, everyone could see it.
She had been scared beyond all belief after Gaara practically destroyed Lee in the chuunin exams, back when they were twelve. But now, things had changed. Given, Gaara was now a friend of Konoha and a fierce ally in battle, but Lee was also Sakura's husband now. She couldn't shake the feeling that somehow, Lee was not going to come out of this battle in very good shape at all.
Lee took his traditional fighting stance and said, "It is an honor to be able to face you again, Kazekage Gaara. But I must ask you, why are you fighting if you are already past jounin level?" Gaara merely gave a shadow of a smile and said, "If you wish to know my purposes for being here, you're just going to have to beat me, Rock Lee of the Hidden Leaf." Lee took that as an invitation and smiled broadly, his muscles tensing for the coming battle.
"But before we start, I must warn you, I have been training non-stop every single day since we last met. Do not think, for even a second that I am the same Gaara as you met before."
Lee smirked and struck back, "This may be true, but I can only wonder… without the beast Shukaku inside of your body, how much has your strength been preserved, Gaara-sama?" Much to everybody's surprise, Gaara merely smirked and said, "Why don't you come and find out?"
Neji gave the signal and the fight began. Lee made to strike, but froze as he noticed something very odd. Gaara was taking a specific fighting stance. Last time he faced him, Gaara merely stood casually as his sand did the fighting for him. But now, it seemed as if he were taking a page from Sasuke Uchiha's book… his stance resembled Lee's to a great degree. Lee smirked again and said, "This indeed will be a glorious fight! COME!"
Gaara and Lee took off at the same time, Lee just managing to whip out a kunai to deflect a small burst of sand from Gaara's hand. Gaara followed with a low sweeping kick, which Lee leapt over quite gracefully, taking a stance behind Gaara. Before he could move, however, a geyser of sand erupted under his feet, throwing him into the air. Gaara whipped his hand towards Lee and a clawed hand of sand erupted from his gourde, catching Lee in midair and slamming him into the ground.
Gaara called back his attack, but felt his stomach drop when the receding sand revealed that Lee had vanished, all that was left in his place were two sets of weights…
"Damn, he's already dropped his leg weights!!!!"
Indeed, Lee had pulled out his first trump card. The taijutsu master flashed in and out of visibility as he pounded Gaara's sand shield with a flurry of fast, powerful kicks and punches. Gaara knew this was bad… it would only be a matter of time before he managed to either break through his sand shield or work his way around it…
BAM!!!
Gaara went flying and rolled just to the edge of the arena. Lee appeared again and took his stance once more, a smirk visible on his face. "It seems your time in office has made you slower, Kazekage-sama." Gaara got up and smirked, "I am nowhere near serious yet, Lee. So bring it on…"
Lee obliged and charged again, disappearing from sight as he moved faster than anyone could follow. That is… everyone except a certain blonde haired shinobi and indigo haired kunoichi up in the balcony. Naruto and Hinata's eyes seemed to bounce back and forth, following Lee's movements with ungodly precision. Sakura didn't feel as if she could look either of them in the eye for fear of getting motion sick.
Lee continued to worm around Gaara's shield, managing to lay a couple hits in the process, but he definitely knew it was harder than last time. "It would seem Gaara has become quicker with his sand, his shield is blocking more of my attacks than last time… perhaps it is time to pull out my next move."
Lee appeared right in front of Gaara, who managed to get his sand up in enough time to block Lee's fist. Lee turned on his heel and disappeared in the blink of an eye. Gaara smiled and whipped around, a hand of sand ready to grab Lee when he appeared. But he found nobody there… "UP HERE, GAARA!"
Gaara looked up just as Lee yelled, "KONOHA PILEDRIVER!!!" and brought his fists down on Gaara's head. The red haired sand ninja bounced off the ground, and Lee kicked him away to the other side. Sakura jumped and yelled, "KICK HIS ASS, LEE KUN!!!!" Lee smiled and looked back down, only to find Gaara once again missing. He flipped away, just as Gaara came crashing down in a giant blur of sand. Gaara suddenly appeared behind him and murmured, "This is the end… SAND COFFIN!!!" Lee was trapped in the huge pile of sand that Gaara had summoned, a familiar fear clutching at his stomach. He buckled down and prepared his escape, and both combatants boomed out…
"SAND BURIAL!!!!"
"FIFTH GATE! GATE OF CLOSING, OPEN!!!!!"
Gaara's sand compressed about an inch, but the sudden expulsion of chakra from Lee was too much to handle. The sand tomb exploded and Lee burst forth, landing a bone shattering punch right in Gaara's stomach. Lee then kicked Gaara into the air, and began battering him about mid-air. Lee struck Gaara down towards the ground while tying him to one of his arm bandages.
Gaara felt himself get yanked back up, but this time; he knew what to do…
"HIDDEN LOTUS!!!!"
"SAND EXPLOSION!!!!"
Lee's fist connected with Gaara's body, but fell right through as Gaara exploded into a cloud of sand. The streams of it cut across Lee's arms and face and as Lee landed on the ground, Gaara suddenly reappeared above him, "FIST OF SAND, VULTURE STRIKE!!!" Gaara's hand became encased in an armored glove of sand and he socked Lee right in the face, causing him to plummet to the ground and land with an earth rumbling boom.
Gaara was sure that it was done, there was no way Lee could've kept the chakra gates open after being hit so hard… so imagine his surprise when Lee's voice rang from the cloud of dust that had been kicked up…
"SEVENTH GATE! GATE OF SHOCK, OPEN!!!!"
Gaara had no time to react before Lee sprang back out of the dust, kicking Gaara firmly in the face and sending him barreling into the roof. Sakura shouted, "At this rate, those two idiots will kill each other! LEE-KUN!!!" Lee leapt up to the roof, only to have Gaara crash on top of him, now decked in a full cloak of sand. One punch sent lee back down to the ground, but the now super-charged taijutsu master disappeared just before the hit the earth. Gaara disappeared in another burst of sand.
Nothing happened for a few agonizing seconds. Neither opponent could be seen; and then the first boom rang out loud, shaking the walls. Gaara and Lee clashed in mid-air, their strikes ringing out like cannon fire. Eventually a giant clash rang out right in the center of the room, and both combatants plummeted to the ground. When the dust had cleared, Lee was just barely keeping the gates open, and Gaara's sand cloak was gone, his sand armor cracked and missing large sections. They both dashed one last time and roared as their fists met their target in each others guts. They both once again fell to the ground and Gaara's sand fell limp and motionless, Lee dropping out of his accelerated state.
They both struggled to rise, and managed to get to their feet. They both took one step forward, and then couldn't move anymore. They once again fell in their respective parts, and didn't get up again. Neji's voice boomed out, "THIS MATCH IS OVER, I DECLARE A DRAW!!!!"
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A/N: Now before anybody kills me for not letting either Gaara or Lee win the match, let me give you my two reasons for doing so…
1: It is necessary to the plot in the next chapter that Gaara lost, and from the start I had not planned for Lee to advance to the final round.
2: I had originally tried to choose one of them to win…. I just couldn't because I love them both XD
But anyway, it is a tie! Stay tuned for the next chappie, "Gaara's Secret: Tsunade's Plan Goes Forward!!!" Remember, for every review I get, Hinata gets a kiss from Naruto! (if that doesn't please you Naruhina fans, I don't know what will)