Hinata Chronicles Chapter 50: Surviving the Silent Hero

Naruto and Hinata were cuddling as Hinata told Naruto what Zexion showed her in her illusion. Naruto gave her reassuring looks and words of comfort whenever she had to pause to rein in her emotions.

"Wow. That must've been rough. . ." Naruto said as Hinata told him what would've happen if Hinata didn't summon her Keyblade in the Chunin Exam.

"It was. . ." Hinata said in a depressing tone of voice. "But it helped my resolution on wanting to save Neji and Sasuke." She then smiled at Naruto. "I will not give up on rescuing them!"

Naruto smiled at his girlfriend then chuckled a little. "To think, you used to be such a shy girl. And now look at you!" He then kissed her on the cheek. "A confident, amazing and incredibly beautiful woman."

Hinata blushed at the comment. "Thank you, Naruto." She then kissed him back, this time on the lips.

Sakura was mediating as her Materia glowed on her gloves. She was sitting a little ways away from the main group, legs crossed and head slightly bowed. Her face had the look of calm concentration.

"Aerith said that to use this kind of magic, you must concentrate, sending your life energy to the Materia," she muttered quietly to herself, eyes closed. She didn't notice that she had a light coat of chakra around her and that some of it went into the Materia.

"Awesome work Akamaru," Kiba said as he petted Akamaru. After seeing Akamaru almost dying again, he decided that he would care for him more. "We survived that last fight. Great job with those fireballs."

Akamaru happily barked and flicked his tail, causing a small flame to appear on the tip of it like he was lighting a match. It soon flickered away though and there was only a small wisp of smoke left. Akamaru didn't seem to mind though.

Xion was sitting on the ledge in front of the portal to the next member, Lexaeus, the Silent Hero. She shuddered, remembering how giant he was and the lesson Roxas had to learn from him.

"It's obvious that we should have our heavy hitters against him." she thought as she began to think of who should fight next.

As she was deciding on who, she noticed Hinata and Naruto cuddling each other. "Man, they make a cute couple." she thought. She then got up and stretched her limbs. "Well, it's time to get started," she said quietly to herself.

She stepped to the side to allow view of the portal and called for everyone's attention. "Hey! The next match is up!"

Soon, everyone had assembled near her, some of them eyeing the thick and large weapon on the portal. It resembled an axe of some sort with a handle.

"Alright," Xion said. "Up next is Lexaeus. He has power over rocks and earth. For that, I've decided to have Choji, Sakura, and Lee fight him."

"YOSH!" Lee exclaimed, a fist pumped and eyes alight with flames. Everyone sweat-dropped at the sight. "I WILL USE MY FLAMES OF YOUTH IN THIS MATCH! IT SHALL BE A MOST YOUTHFUL BATTLE! GAI-SENSEI! I SHALL NOT FAIL YOU!"

Choji stopped eating his chips and handed them to Shikamaru. "Well, I'm ready to go," He then headed up to the portal.

"Remember Choji, think of this guy calling you the 'f' word like the homo did last time you fought," Ino said. "It will probably help for the fight again."

"Ino, don't antagonize him," Shikamaru said. "It's just too troublesome."

"Good luck Sakura," Naruto said as he held hands with Hinata, who nodded in agreement.

"Thanks," Sakura said as she headed towards the portal, breasts bouncing. "Man I love these breasts!" She happily thought as Ino glared at her.

Before she reached the portal, she passed Sai who smirked. "Careful, we wouldn't want you to trip on them. Though I guess they'll just cushion your fall, huh?"

Sakura paused and glared at the artist. Her eye twitched and, before anyone can blink, she punched Sai in the face, sending him flying back. "BAKA!" she shouted as Sai slammed hard into the ground.

Kakashi palmed his face. "Again, we'll have to work on his social skills," He muttered.

Xion sweat-dropped at the sight. "Yeah, she'll do good during the fight," She thought.

Lee, for some reason, was going to attempt to do 100 push-ups in 5 seconds with a ridiculous amount of weights on his back. "YOSH! TIME FOR SOME LAST MINUTE TRAINING!"

Tenten twitched at the sight and she got out a scroll, the one that contained the weapons she got from the shop. "Lee. . ." She sweetly called out to him.

"Yes Tenten?" Lee looked up to see Tenten holding a machine gun, inserting a clip in. There was also a fire appearing behind her as her eyes glowed completely white. "Uh oh. . ."

"STOP IT WITH YOUR DAMN TRAINING!" Tenten yelled as she started firing bullets then chakra bullets at him.

Lee yelped and, dropping the weights, ran off to the portal. He passed Sakura and Choji, who blinked in confusion. The bullets stopped, but not before a few hit the floor a few feet behind them, making them jump. They whirled around to see Tenten smile sheepishly before putting the machine gun back in a cloud of smoke.

Everyone sweat-dropped. Xion cleared her throat before waving a hand to the portal. "Good luck guys," she said to the three.

Lee immediately ran into the portal, shouting out 'youth' and such. Sakura rolled her eyes before following after him with Choji.

The portal glowed yellow and everyone else made their way to the computer to watch. The two extra screens were still offline.

Inside, the arena was the same as Larxene's, though the pillars looked thicker. Sakura and Choji looked at Lee, who was scratching his head in confusion. "That was a most un-youthful thing for Tenten to do. I wonder why she did that?" Lee pondered as the two sweat-dropped.

"We'll tell you later Lee," Sakura said with a slight chuckle.

Back outside, Tenten was having a mild rant. "DAMN IT! HE JUST DOESN'T STOP IT WITH THE TRAINING! I DON'T THINK I'VE EVER SEEN HIM TAKE A BREAK!" She then cried anime tears. "Just one tiny break. . . just one. . ." She then went into a fetal position and started rocking back and forth, a depressed aura around her.

Everyone sweat-dropped at the sight. Hinata came up and pat her on the back. "There, there Tenten. It's alright," she comforted.

"You said he trains everyday with Gai?" Xion asked. Tenten nodded. "Isn't that unhealthy? Constant training without rest can cause serious muscle tears and it damages the body," Xion said, concerned.

"Really?" Naruto asked.

Hinata nodded and she looked at her boyfriend. "Back when we were training with Master Yen Sid, we had a rough schedule, but he let us have break days to relax for a short time." She then sweat-dropped. "Although Xion and I just slept for most of the times we had breaks."

Xion suddenly went into a fetal position of her own next to Tenten, muttering something about having only one vacation day back when she was in the Organization.

Back in the arena, the data streams appeared to form a giant, muscular man with the build of a rhino. At his side, he was holding a massive Axe Sword that was about a meter long with a blue handle roughly as long as the blade. The blade itself was made of black, red, and yellow metal, and appeared to be laborious to wield for anyone who did not possess his apparently great strength.

"Holy. . ." Sakura gasped, taking a few steps backward. "And I thought Choji's dad was big!"

Choji became wide-eyed, gulping. "Dang. . .he is bigger than dad." He then eyed the Sword Axe. "I wonder if I can wield that? I'll have to ask Tenten about it," He thought.

Lee stared at the large man with sparkles in his eyes. "WOW!" He just became more inspired to train.

"You've done well to make it this far. I am somewhat impressed. But to be friends with a puppet. . . . .what a waste," the giant of a man stated condescendingly.

Sakura immediately bristled at the insult. "She's not a puppet!" she shouted, green eyes blazing.

"That's right!" Choji agreed. "She's our friend!"

Lexaeus merely scoffed before hefting the Axe Sword onto a shoulder. He hunched down under the weight and widened his stance. In response, the three shinobi shifted into their own battle stances.

Outside, eyes widened at the appearance of Lexaeus. Jaws dropped and Akamaru had his tail tucked between his legs.

Kiba gulped. ". . .Big," he muttered in a small tone.

Xion chuckled nervously. "Yeah, he's intimidating. He was also very suspicious of others, especially of the other members. Surprisingly enough though," she said. "He trusted Zexion and, from what Axel told me, he was practically Zexion's minion or something."

Tenten was eyeing the Axe Sword with a finger to her chin in contemplation. "Hmm."

Beside her, Ino raised an eyebrow. "What? You're not gonna drool over the weapon like the others?"

"Not really," the weapon expert replied after a moment. "It looks too heavy for me to lift."

At that moment, Lexaeus hefted the weapon onto his shoulder. Tenten winced at the sight of a clearly strong man having to hunch down under his own weapon. "Yeah, it's definitely too heavy."

Lee immediately rushed to attack Lexaeus. Fist raised, he attempted to punch the big man in the chest. This was quickly thwarted when Lexaeus blocked with the broad side of his weapon. A painful tingly feeling jolted through Lee's arm at the impact and he quickly leapt away with a grimace, shaking his throbbing hand.

Sakura had followed behind the youthful ninja and crept behind the Silent Hero's back. Immediately after Lexaeus moved his Axe Sword to defend against Lee, Sakura raised her own fist and preceded to punch the fifth member in the back. But this was not to be so as a red and black aura emanated from Lexaeus, who thrust his weapon forward with a yell, sending out a dark pulse that threw her away.

Meanwhile, Choji and Lee braced themselves against the dark energy. It pushed against them with such a force that they skid back a foot or two, near where Sakura had landed on her side. Afterwards, they saw that an oval of pure power surrounded the fifth member; emanating black, red, purple, and gold in giant bursts.

"Sakura, are you okay?" Choji asked worriedly as the pushing force subsided.

"I'm fine," Sakura replied, getting back to her feet. "Let's attack him at the same time, though."

The other two nodded and before Lexaeus slid back into his stance, they immediately split up and headed towards him, Choji rolling to him. Sakura raised a fist for a blow to the head, charging it with chakra; Lee pulled his leg back, aiming for the back; Choji had enlarged both of his hands for a double punch.

Lexaeus simply scoffed before throwing his Axe Sword to the air. He punched the ground and a pillar made out of sharp rocks burst from the ground beneath each ninja, throwing them away. He reared back and punched the ground again, summoning another set of sharp stalagmites under his foes. Just as they painfully fell back down to the ground, the Axe Sword was caught by Lexaeus. With both hands, he stabbed the ground and giant, sharp pillars burst from the ground, throwing each ninja back into the air. The aura around him had shrunken and turned into wisps of red as he hunched down into his stance.

Outside, everyone winced once Sakura, Lee, and Choji fell hard back to the ground. Their eyes were wide at the display of power Lexaeus demonstrated.

"Oh-kay, he's frighteningly powerful," Kiba commented and Akamaru whimpered behind him, tail tucked between his legs. Everyone around him shakily nodded in agreement.

Back in the arena, the three Konoha shinobi slowly and painfully got back to their feet. They winced at the bruises and scratches on their persons and their aching backs/sides from landing so hard on the stone floor. They glared at the giant man across from them.

Lexaeus only looked down on them, face stern. "It seems I was wrong," he said. "You do belong with that weak puppet."

Now Sakura was pissed. "She's not a puppet!" she shouted angrily.

"She is one of the most youthful people I know!" Lee added in.

Lexaeus scoffed and continued to glare at them. "If it is so strong," he said. "Than you three are weaker."

He hunched himself lower and the wisps of red energy began to condense into a menacing red-orange glow. It was obvious that he was gathering his energy.

Choji winced at a twinge of pain from his side. Turning to his friends, he said, "We're going to need to go all out for this guy. I'm going to bring out my pills, but I need some time to concentrate all that chakra."

Lee nodded. "I shall take off my weights as well. Sakura, my cherry blossom, can you distract him for us?"

Sakura frowned at the pet name, but her emerald eyes were determined. "Right. Just don't take too long." She brought out a kunai and turned back to Lexaeus. Behind her, Lee was leaning down to take off his weights and Choji was reaching for the pills, aiming for the yellow curry pill.

With a roar, Lexaeus thrust his weapon forward, sending out another dark pulse. Sakura acted quickly and, one of the Materia equipped to her gloves glowing, thrust both palms in front of her. "Barrier!" she shouted and instantly a glowing, semi-transparent pale green wall appeared in front of her, shielding her and her friends.

The dark energy smashed against the wall. Sakura winced at the force and her barrier cracked all over, but still held. The attack dissipated soon afterwards and the wall immediately shattered. Lexaeus was once more covered in the powerful energy and he dug his weapon, which was glowing an angry red, into the ground. With a shout, he dragged the Axe Sword upwards and a wall of rocks was sent in her direction.

Although still winded from having used the Barrier spell, which took a good chunk of her energy, she gathered chakra into a raised fist and punched the ground. A pulsing earthquake, aided by the Earth Materia, hit the rock wall head-on, making it crumble to dust.

Taking out a kunai, she ran to Lexaeus, whose energy had weakened to a soft red. She slashed at him and leaped away, turning on her heel to throw the kunai at the giant. He had actually flinched at the attack and staggered backward when the weapon embedded itself in his right shoulder, the energy disappearing from around him. He reached out and pulled the kunai out, but had hunched over, Axe Sword slack next to him. He seemed to have suddenly gotten tired, breathing deeply.

Taking this opportunity, Sakura took out more kunai and held them between her fingers. Attached to the ends of each one was a small, pink cloth bag. Pumping chakra into her legs and feet, she quickly ran around the fifth member and showered him with her kunai. Lexaeus looked up and moved to block with his Axe Sword. The cloth bags burst with each hit, exploding in pieces of paper and pink petals.

Lexaeus raised an eyebrow as they fell around him like confetti. He looked to the pink-haired medic, who had stopped her run and stood in front of him. With a smirk, Sakura pulled out one more kunai, a marked tag tied to the end of it.

"Sakura Blizzard Jutsu!" she shouted as the far end of the explosive tag lit up and crackled.

She threw it at the ground in front of the giant, the petals and paper still swirling around him. Lexaeus' eyes widened in realization and he quickly raised his weapon to defend himself. The moment the lit kunai embedded itself into the floor, there was a giant explosion, shaking the ground.

The smoked cleared and Sakura looked back to the fifth member. Her eyes widened in surprise when she saw a giant cluster of rocks and stalagmites where Lexaeus once was. There was an enraged roar and the stones shattered into dozens of pieces, Lexaeus having spun in the middle. They flew threw the air and Sakura barely erected another Barrier spell. Even then, the glowing wall broke almost instantly and the pink-haired kunoichi was assaulted by the sharp pieces.

She fell back onto the ground and Lexaeus took this opportunity to charge at her. "I'll break you!" he shouted, raising his weapon for a devastating blow.

Before he could connect, however, a pair of heavy weights hit him in the back and the same shoulder that was hit by the kunai from earlier, making him cry out in surprised pain. He stumbled forward before catching himself and leaning on his Axe Sword.

"Spiky Human Boulder!" a voice shouted.

Lexaeus was thrown off his feet as he was hit on the side by a giant, brown, rolling mass. He was smashed into one of the pillars and the ball retreated back a few meters, where it reverted back into Choji, whose chakra had grown immensely after consuming the yellow Curry pill. It had also changed to a golden yellow color.

Just as Lexaeus was getting back up, he was kicked in the back and flew forward. Before he could crash into the ground, he was assaulted with numerous blows all around him, sending him flying in all directions like a pinball.

"Konoha Senpuu!" another voice shouted. Lexaeus was kicked in the solar plexus, making him gasp out with wide eyes, and he crashed to the floor. He slid on his side until he came to an abrupt stop by a pillar. His Axe Sword slid next to him, just missing his head.

Lee appeared next to Choji, the weights around his legs missing. The youthful ninja immediately went to help up Sakura, who was healing herself. They joined Choji and stood ready for what could happen next.

Lexaeus slowly climbed to his feet, picking up his fallen weapon. "Not bad," he commented, chuckling darkly as he stared back at his opponents. "I guess you're not as weak as I first thought. But no matter. I, Lexaeus, shall not yield to such frail-minded fools!"

Raising his weapon, he began to glow in an angry red-orange energy. The Axe Sword became engulfed in a smoky red aura and he slammed it to the ground. The red energy burst out in a grand pulse, accompanied by black darkness, and the following earthquake shook the floor so much, that the ninja thought the entire arena might just break.

Fortunately, the floor was still intact and they had dodged the attack by leaping to the air. However, with a dark chuckle, Lexaeus had leaped away into the shadows around him, surrounded once again by that powerful, bursting energy.

The three ninja braced themselves for impact. Sakura began gathering her energy and chakra into the palms of her hands, concentrating on conjuring up another Barrier. Magic was definitely exhausting her.

With a battle cry, Lexaeus fell back to the arena. His form obscured by gold, orange, red, purple, and black, he looked like a giant meteor falling to the Earth.

"Barrier!" Sakura cried. The glowing, pale green magic wall appeared in front of her and her friends. Lexaeus crashed into the ground just in front of it, cracking the ground and sending dust flying. Pillars of sharp rock burst from the ground in that same instant, but thankfully, the barrier held before shattering as the dust settled.

Suddenly, the ground seemed to explode beneath them. The entire area burst in stalagmites and sharp rocks all around, sending them flying with cries of pain. They slammed back to the ground before climbing back to their feet with a grimace.

Before them, Lexaeus was engulfed in a massive pillar of pure gold and black power. It burst out of him as though it couldn't be contained. Slamming a foot to the ground and once more hunching into his battle stance, he glared at the weary trio.

"Sakura!" Naruto shouted in fear and worry.

Around him, everyone's eyes were wide. Naruto and Ino were the most distressed. Tenten was biting her lip as she followed her teammate's movements. Shikamaru, Kakashi, and even Sai looked worried.

"Such power. . ." Kakashi whispered, a bead of sweat falling down the side of his face.

"Return to the Earth!" Lexaeus shouted, the powerful aura bursting around him.

He slammed his Axe sword to the ground and giant stalagmites surrounded him, sending Lee and Sakura, who were closing in on him, flying away. Choji quickly rolled to the fifth member once the rocks disappeared. He expanded the size of his hands and feet and proceeded to kick and punch at the giant.

Even so, Lexaeus didn't seem to notice, barely flinching or staggering back. After Choji performed a spin-kick that appeared to do little to no damage at all, Lexaeus suddenly spun around, his Axe Sword just missing the big-boned lad, who ducked. The giant grabbed the front of Choji's shirt with his free hand and lifted him up. He threw Choji to a pillar, making him slam into it with his back and upside down. Not a second later, before gravity could pull him to the ground, Lexaeus, ignoring the hits from a recovered Lee and Sakura, raised his weapon again. It was coated in the smoky, angry red aura again and when he smashed it into the ground, rocks exploded out from the ground and slammed into Choji.

"CHOJI!" Everyone shouted, Ino and Shikamaru being the loudest.

Lee and Sakura screamed out their friend's name as he fell to the ground. Choji landed painfully on his back, the wind knocked out of him. Though his clothes remained intact due to the three good fairies' magic, he was covered in numerous cuts and bruises.

Their attention diverted, Lexaeus took this opportunity to charge up his power again. He hunched down into his battle stance and began to glow in that angry red-orange light. Sakura immediately ran to her fallen friend and Lee turned to face their opponent, planning to give Sakura enough time to heal the big-boned teen.

"YOSH!" Lee shouted, a fist pumped and eyes blazing. "THAT WAS MOST UN-YOUTHFUL OF YOU! YOU MAY BE A YOUTHFULLY POWERFUL OPPONENT, BUT YOU SHALL PAY FOR HURTING MY YOUTHFUL FRIEND SO UNNECESSARILY!"

Lexaeus seemed to have unheard him as he continued to build his power. A frown on his face, Lee concentrated and shouted, "FIRST GATE! OPEN! SECOND GATE! OPEN!"

Not only did his strength and speed dramatically, but the wounds on his body began to heal as well. Soon, he looked as good as new and he immediately went on the attack.

Lexaeus, finally noticing the danger he was in, threw his Axe Sword into the air. He punched the ground, sending out a pillar of sharp rocks underneath the taijutsu user. Lee recovered quickly and took a glance at his friends to see that they had managed to dodge the stalagmites sent their way, Choji sporting less evidence of the beating he took because of Sakura's medical skills. He turned back to his opponent and took off at high speed.

He dodged the next set of rocks and before Lexaeus could catch his weapon, Lee kicked him in the side. The Silent Hero was sent flying with a grunt and before he could land, he was once more victim to a series of attacks courtesy of the youthful ninja.

A quick, final punch and Lexaeus was sent flying near where Sakura and Choji were. Sakura gathered chakra into her fist and Choji expanded both of his hands, both ninja preparing to punch the fifth member. But they weren't so lucky as Lexaeus recovered.

"I'll break you!" Lexaeus roared. He flipped onto the ground behind the two ninja and slammed his Axe Sword one the floor. The ground beneath them exploded in rocks and dirt and both were sent flying, Sakura landing further away.

Lexaeus coated himself in his unstoppable, colorful energy. Lucky for him since Lee was just about to kick him into the air. Instead, he didn't even flinch or show any indication that Lee's attacks were having any effect whatsoever.

Just as the youthful ninja landed a blow to the chest, with still no effect, Lexaeus reached out and slapped him behind the head. Lee was slammed into the ground and the force was enough to make him bounce back up. Lexaeus then kicked him further up into the air, adding to the momentum, and Lee was sent flying straight into the air. From up there, he could see the whole arena, but he didn't have time to actually look because Lexaeus had leaped after him. With an enraged yell, Lexaeus slammed his Axe Sword into Lee's back, smashing the taijutsu user into the ground. The secondary effect of such an attack was that the moment Lee smashed into the floor, the entire arena burst in multiple rocks and stalagmites, hitting Sakura and Choji as well as Lee.

Lexaeus was still engulfed in the powerful energy as he landed safely back on the floor. His opponents took a while before climbing back up to their feet. Their clothes remained undamaged, but they were still covered in scratches and bruises, Lee being the most wounded.

"Alright, that's it!" Choji declared. "Super Expansion Jutsu!" With that, he grew to three times his size, taking up half of the arena.

Lexaeus stern expression didn't change at the transformation. Instead, he dug his weapon into the ground, and with a swipe, the blade part of his Axe Sword was covered in rocks and compacted dirt. He then slammed his weapon onto one of Choji's legs.

This time, Choji was the one not to flinch under an attack. Eyes widened in slight surprise and energy weakening, Lexaeus braced himself as Choji swept a large hand towards him. Choji slapped Lexaeus into the air and then grabbed him before throwing the Silent Hero onto the ground. The floor shook on impact and Choji returned to normal size.

Lexaeus had no time to recover as Sakura appeared in front of him, a fist raised and coated in chakra. "CHA!" she yelled, face of pure anger and fury. The pink-haired kunoichi punched the Silent Hero flying across the floor.

Just before Lexaeus could hit a pillar, he was kicked straight upwards into the air (again). Like a pinball, he was thrown around as he became victim to Lee's fast-moving attacks. Facing the ground, he felt himself become restrained tightly by bandages and chains. The fifth member managed to glance back to see Lee behind him. The youthful ninja grabbed onto Lexaeus and they began to spin like a drill towards the ground; head-first.

"Primary Lotus!" Lee shouted as they neared the floor. On impact, a cloud of dust and dirt exploded into the air.

A few moments later, Lee burst from the cloud and landed beside his friends. Sakura had just finished healing most of Choji's injuries and as soon as she noticed how exhausted the taijutsu user looked, she began to heal him as well. Choji moved to defend them if Lexaeus recovered and attacked them again.

Because of the dust cloud from the last attack, the three weren't able to see Lexaeus become data. So, they didn't know if he was still alive or not. They looked on at the crater that Lee made.

"Is he beaten?" Sakura asked as she worked on healing Choji, who was mostly tired.

"I do not know; hopefully he was," Lee said as he got into a defensive stance just in case.

Choji struggled to get up. "He's strong. . .really strong."

"Indeed he is," Lee responded back.

Back outside, the group was having a (mostly) collective sigh of relief, hoping it was over as well.

"Jeez. . ." Naruto muttered.

"Yeah. . ." Kakashi said.

"I told you guys he was tough," Xion pointed out. "Although I wish he didn't call me a puppet. . ." She muttered in the end miserably.

"It's alright Xion," Hinata said as she placed a hand on her shoulder. "You're no longer a puppet. You're our friend. One with her own heart."

"She's right, Xion," Kiba smirked as Akamaru licked her face.

Xion smiled back. "Thanks guys."

"Alright, I healed up most of the inguries, but the rest will have to heal on their own," Sakura explained to Choji.

"Thanks Sakura I-" Choji was saying as he was interrupted by the ground shaking.

"Uh oh!" Lee said.

The three soon heard an extremely loud roar and a black blur shot out from the crater. It punched him in the gut, sending him flying before being slammed into one of the pillars.

"LEE!" Everyone, both in and outside the arena, shouted.

"I'LL CRUSH YOU!" Lexaeus roared out as he charged at Lee, weapon raised and glowing an angry red.

Lexaeus wildly swung his Axe Sword and sent out a large amount of energy at Lee. Like a red crescent wave, it hit the taijutsu user head-on, knocking the breath out of him. Suddenly, he felt a painful, tingling feeling course through his body. He couldn't think too much on it because Lexaeus began to perform a series of attacks on him.

"Why's he focusing all of his energy on Lee?" Choji thought out loud as he and Sakura ran to help their friend.

"Lee. . ." Sakura thought worriedly.

Before the two could get any closer, Lexaeus caught sight of them from the corner of his eyes. After slamming Lee into the pillar again, he raised his Axe Sword and slammed it into the ground. Giant stalagmites burst forth, heading towards the two 'rescuers' and stopping them in their tracks.

Meanwhile, Lee was being rapidly attacked by Lexaeus, trying to dodge and/or block his moves. His limbs felt stiff and he suspected it was because of that energy wave earlier.

"This is indeed a tough battle; even tougher than when I fought Gaara and Kimimaro," He said as he successfully dodged another attack. This was short-lived because he was hit in the back by Lexaeus' weapon.

"What did Gai-sensei once say when a battle gets this rough?" He thought as he remembered something while blocking another attack in mid air combat.

~*flashback*~

Lee and Gai were training for the 20th day in a row. Tenten, Kiba, Akamaru and Shino had already left from exhaustion.

"Now Lee, if you ever get into a rough battle I want you to eat this!" Gai said as he handed him what looked like candy.

"What is this Gai-sensei?!" Lee excitingly asked as he looked at the candy.

"It's a whisk- I mean A CHOCOLATE BOMB!" Gai proudly said.

"OH GAI-SENSEI! I AM SO GLAD THAT YOU ARE TRUSTING ME WITH THIS!" Lee cheered with tears running down his face, not noticing his teacher's little slip. In his excitement, he began to spin around while admiring the gift up close.

Gai's personality went serious as he grabbed Lee's shoulder, stopping his spin. "Look, only use it when the situation goes extremely, extremely bad and it doesn't go in your favor," he advised.

"I understand, Gai-Sensei!" Lee saluted.

~*end flashback*~

Back outside, Tenten and Kiba paled at what Lee was holding.

"Is that a…?" Tenten asked fearfully.

"It is," stated a clearly unnerved Kiba.

"Gai didn't. . .he did. . ." Shino plainly said, but one would still be able to hear a little fear in his voice.

"Huh? What's up?" Xion asked, confused and curious.

"There's this style of taijutsu that few people can actually have," Shino explained. "It's called Drunken Fist and Lee here is a natural at it. It takes just one drop of alcohol for him to attack anyone, friend or foe. Not only does his strength and speed increase, but his actions become more erratic and unpredictable."

Xion's eyes widened in surprise and worry. "Okay, so never let Lee touch any alcohol. At all. But..." she said, confused. "What does that have to do with that candy?"

"It's a whiskey bonbon," Shino finished bluntly.

Xion visibly paled. She turned back to the screen and muttered, "Oh dear..."

Tenten then grabbed the screen and started yelling at it. "Lee! Don't do it!"

"Forgive me everyone. . ." Lee grumbled on the monitor and popped the chocolate into his mouth after disposing the wrapper.

"NOOOOOO!" Tenten and Kiba screamed at once and hugged each other in fear, scaring almost everyone else in the room.

"This won't end well. . ." Shino stated bluntly.

Kakashi palmed his face. "Gai. . ."

Back in the arena, Lexaeus noticed that Lee's moves started to change, swaying from side to side. "What is this nonsense?"

"Wha'chu lookin' at?" Lee slurred with a red blush on his face. The world blurred in and out of focus around him. Thankfully, Lexaeus was standing in front of a pillar, so his dark coat stood out from the pale floor and stone masonry.

"I-I'm gonna beat you an. . . wha am I doin' here again?" He fumbled as he stumbled towards the giant man. "I see yoo starin' at me funny. . . stop starin' at me!" The clearly inebriated Lee charged at Lexaeus incredibly quickly despite his stumbling, uneven steps.

Lexaeus narrowed his eyes and rose his Axe Sword to block the attack. But then, Lee disappeared from his sight and he was kicked in the back, making him fly forwards. That was not all since he was punched in the side, abruptly changing his trajectory. Lee then kicked him straight in the jaw, launching him upwards.

In his drunk state, Lee lost his balance and fell onto his back. He lay there, eyes closed and slightly snoring.

Lexaeus, seeing the opportunity reared back his weapon and dived downwards. He was soon coated in his colorful energy, looking like a comet. At the edge of the arena, Sakura and Choji were making their way to their friend after finally climbing and breaking through the cage-like rocks. Though weak in chakra and energy, Sakura began to gather as much as she could to conjure two Barrier spells; one for the initial attack and the other for the unavoidable eruption afterwards.

Just before either party could reach the vulnerable taijutsu user, he suddenly leapt up to his feet and slammed into Lexaeus. Taking hold of the hood of his coat, he then threw the giant man to the floor. Lexaeus slammed into the arena, nearly cracking the floor, and Lee fell after him but instead of landing on his feet, he fell flat on his face. Almost like a worm, Lee pulled himself up, still swaying from side to side.

"Ha! You fell fer it!" Lee proclaimed. "I wuz only pretendin' to be ash-leep! A ninja doesn't jus sleep in th' middle of...of...a battle! Combat! Fighting!"

Behind him, Choji widened his eyes and tugged on Sakura's wrist, beginning to back away. "Oh no," he said, worry creeping into his voice. "Gaara and the others explained this to me after the Sa-" he paused, remembering what happens whenever the traitor Uchiha was mentioned around his former teammates.

"After that mission. Lee gets really powerful and fast when he's drunk; unfortunately, he can't tell the difference between friends and the enemy," he continued, explaining the situation while pulling Sakura to a safe distance away.

Sakura blinked in surprise before nodding, a curious glint in her eyes at Choji's little slip. Now a safe distance away from the two powerful combatants, they decided to heal and rest up. They kept a close eye on the match, though, in case Lee slipped out of his state and Lexaeus was still standing.

Meanwhile, Lexaeus began to pull himself to his feet. His hunch was lower as he stepped back into his battle stance. His jaw was clenched and eyes narrowed. Before him, Lee was still swaying from side to side, rambling every now and then.

"G...Gai-sensei! I've dun it! I've beaten the...the...this big boulder! I hope youze is proud o' me!" Lee yelled, a fist swaying in the air.

Infuriated, Lexaeus roared and thrust his Axe Sword forward, sending out a dark pulse out around him. Sakura was quick to conjure a Barrier spell, protecting herself and Choji, and Lee leaped high before landing on a pillar. He then pushed off, speeding towards the giant man. Lexaeus saw this coming and dug his weapon into the ground. With a yell, he swung upwards, big stalagmites bursting forth to protect him.

Lee simply used the stalagmites as stepping stones and pillars to leap between. Lexaeus' eyes widened as Lee proceeded to punch and kick him at extremely high speed. When he managed to dodge the attacks, he would be quick to lash out in retaliation. However, Lee simply dodged all of his attempts; bending in impossible angles that would even make a contortionist cringe.

Lexaeus finally had had enough. With a roar, he engulfed himself in his powerful aura, making him temporarily invincible. He stood his ground against Lee's attacks, not being affected by them at all. He gripped his Axe Sword with both hands, then stabbed the ground with all the force he could muster. The aura seemed to have compacted and condensed around him, turning him into a spiky pillar of rocks and dirt.

Unfortunately, Lee was moving in to punch him when this happened and one of the spikes shot next to his arm, scratching the unprotected skin and drawing blood. Lee winced at this, quickly sobering up, before more clusters of rock shot from the ground beneath him and around the pillar that Lexaeus was in, sending him flying.

Just as he was about to fall onto the ground, he was caught by a giant hand. Choji placed him back onto his feet, standing next to him after seeing that he wasn't drunk anymore. Choji kept a hand on his shoulder, seeing that Lee looked a little dizzy and confused, but most of all, very tired.

Choji was about to open his mouth to ask if he was alright when a crumbling noise was heard, coming from the pillar. The clusters of rocks cracked before exploding into many sharp projectiles. The pair braced themselves but a pink and red blur shot in front of them.

"Barrier!" Sakura yelled.

A glowing, semi-transparent pale green wall appeared before the trio. The rocks showered the protective spell like pouring rain, cracking it a little. Thankfully, the wall held up and soon the onslaught ended.

But now Lexaeus was rushing towards them like an angry rhino. About two meters away, he dug his weapon into the ground and swung upwards, catching Sakura in the chin and sending her upwards. More stalagmites followed afterwards, slamming into Choji and Lee. They fell onto the ground and began to pick themselves back up. Sakura was falling back to the ground, but before she could slam onto it, Lexaeus swung his Axe Sword and struck the pink haired kunoichi in the stomach. Her body was sent flying and slammed into Choji and Lee, whom just got back onto their feet, and turning them into a pile of limbs.

Even though his powerful aura was gone, Lexaeus was not done with them yet. He raised his weapon, preparing to send another set of rocks in their direction. Seeing the oncoming attack, the trio tried to quickly detangle themselves from each other. Lexaeus slammed his Axe Sword to the floor and a bunch of sharp pillars of rock burst forth, heading in their direction. They managed to separate themselves and quickly leaped away.

Sakura pulled a kunai out and threw it at the fifth member. He didn't see it coming and the small weapon dug itself into the back of his left shoulder. He shouted in pain and turned to face the medic, reaching behind himself for the kunai then pulling it out with a grunt. Suddenly, he heard a voice.

"THIRD GATE, OPEN! FOURTH AND FIFTH GATE, OPEN!" a voice shouted.

Lexaeus was unable to properly analyze it as he was suddenly attacked from behind (again). The attacker was none other than an enlarged Choji.

"Spiky Human Boulder!" he yelled as he turned his giant self into an even bigger sharp, brown rolling mass.

It slammed into the now helpless Lexaeus, sending him high into the air. Choji stopped and turned back into his giant size. He reached a hand down and pulled back before throwing something at the Silent Hero, shrinking back to normal sized afterwards. It turned out to be Sakura, who had chakra glowing around one of her fists. When she reached to just above Lexaeus, she drew a fist back.

"CHA!" she yelled out, punching Lexaeus with all her strength and sending him straight down with no time to react.

Before he could hit the ground, he was kicked square in the jaw, sending him upwards again, courtesy Lee. The now red-skinned taijutsu user then attacked him further into the air. Lexaeus was even sent higher than by Choji's attack. Lee then proceeded to kick and punch him all around like a pinball again. Chains and bandages wrapped around his waistline and he felt a tug upwards, towards Lee.

"THIS IS THE END! HIDDEN LOTUS!" Lee yelled as he fell onto the fifth member.

With arm and leg outstretched, he slammed into Lexaeus, sending him downwards rapidly, too fast for even a falling star. A giant dust cloud exploded when he crashed into the ground, bigger than the last time.

Lee also fell to the arena, having used up the last of his chakra and strength in that final attack. Fortunately, before he too could slam into the earth, he was caught by a giant hand once more. He was then gently placed onto the ground near Sakura, who quickly began to work on healing him. Choji stood in front of them to protect them.

The dust took longer this time to settle, but when it did, they were shocked at the sight. In a shallow crater, the ground cracked horrendously beneath him and his weapon stabbed into the ground nearby, Lexaeus lay there, breathing heavily. He was still alive.

"WHAT!?" everyone yelled outside.

"How the hell can that guy still be alive after that onslaught?!" Kiba ranted.

"Geez Louise! I swear this guy is freaking too overpowered!" Tenten ranted.

Everyone nodded in agreement.

With a grunt and a bit of effort, Lexaeus began to sit up. Sakura, Choji, and Lee watched in weary horror. They were too tired to continue the fight, too exhausted and having used up all of their energy in that last series of attacks.

Lexaeus reached out and grasped the blue handle of his Axe Sword. Using it as a crutch, he pulled himself to his feet while still leaning on it.

He smirked at the trio, but it no longer emitted cruelty or contempt. His usually stern face held respect and maybe even a little pride. He nodded firmly at the trio, who were starting to relax, though had confusion in their expressions.

True to his title, he did not say a word as he dispersed into streams of data.

At that moment, everyone, both in and out of the arena took a gasp of relief that Lexaeus was finally defeated.

"Damn. . .just. . .damn. . ." Naruto muttered

"Yeah. . ." Xion and Hinata said in semi-unison.

"That. . .was intense! Hell man, I don't think I would've been able to fight that guy!" Kiba said as Akamaru nodded in agreement.

"Glad that Choji's alright." Shikamaru said as Ino nodded her head in agreement as well.

"Same here with Lee but. . . Did he have to get drunk like that?" Tenten muttered as she palmed her face.

"It will only get tougher from here on. . ." Xion said as she waived her eyes to the portal with what looked like a shield.

Soon, the flash of light appeared again as it whisked them all to watch another vision in the past.

The group reappeared at the Keyblade Graveyard, seemingly at a different area with a recognizable armored man.

"Terra. . ." Xion muttered.

Terra was panting heavily, holding himself up with his Keyblade as he then ripped it off. As he continued to get up, he looked up at the highest piece of earth, starting to glow as his glider appeared as he suddenly started to go up to.

"Xehanort must be there. . ." Sakura muttered.

The group then suddenly started moving in place as they all followed him.

"Whoa!" Naruto yelled as he lost his footing for a moment.

Terra soon made it to the top as they saw Xehanort and Vanitas

Naruto growled at them as his eyes went red for a moment.

"Calm down." Kakashi said as he placed a hand on his shoulder.

Naruto clenched his hand into a fist as he watched on. "Fine. . ."

Terra's glider then disappeared as he then landed on the platform. His armor soon disappeared as he stared down Xehanort.

"Admirably done. I knew this a journey you could make-" Xehanort started.

The group sneered at him, for all the tricks that he had possibly done to him, Ventus and Aqua.

"Over the unseen wall that divides darkness and light. And I was not wrong. Terra!" He finished as if it was with enjoyment in his voice.

Terra soon held his hand out, ready to summon his Keyblade. "My friend Ven-" The light started to swirl around his hand. "You tell me Xehanort-" The light surged in his hand as it got brighter. "What did you do to him!?"

"Why I did him a favor and freed the darkness inside him." Xehanort started explained.

"All for a damn weapon you bastard. . ." Naruto angrily muttered.

"Alas, poor Ventus never had the fortitude for such strenuous trails."

"XHEANORT!" Terra and Naruto yelled at him in semi-unison. Terra the rushed in as he fought him and Vanitas. The three started clashing blades, two on one as Terra fought against Xehanort and Vanitas. After a while, Terra and Xehanort clashed blades, locked into each other, staring at each other eye to eye.

Xehanort then looked over at Vanitas as he was still in his battle stance. "Go take what Ventus owes you. And take Aqua's life."

Vanitas nodded as he ran towards the edge. Terra gave chase to him, but Xehanort wrapped in front of him, causing him to jump back after Vanitas jumped off the ledge.

"Well that explains where Vanitas came from in the last scene." Kakashi muttered.

"You see how powerless you are to save them?" Xehanort taunted.

"Bastard. . ." Kiba muttered as he and Akamaru then growled at him.

"Savior that rage and despair."

"Why though?" Xion muttered.

"Let it empower you!"

"What is he up to?" Hinata asked.

"You will pay Xehanort! Was my Master- no my father, Eraqus not enough for you? Terra asked as a dark haze started to surround him. "Leave my friends alone!"

"No. . .!" Hinata muttered, wide-eyed and in fear.

"Terra don't!" Xion tried to call out, even though she knew it was pointless.

"Yes, boy, that's it! More! Let your whole heart blacken with anger!" Xehanort demanded as he got into a stance.

Terra started to growl as he then started to roar loudly as the darkness around him expanded to dangerous lengths.

"Where have I seen something like that before?" Sakura wondered as she eyed Naruto.

"Please Sakura, not now." Naruto seriously said as he held Hinata's hand.

Terra and Xehanort started to fight again, but this time it was a losing battle for Xehanort as Terra this time gained the upper hand on him. Terra fought as hard as possible as countered every move that Xehanort made, soon leading to Terra summoning a meteor again like he did during his fight with Eraqus. "Your done!" He called out as he delivered the final blow.

"YES!" Naruto cheered as Kiba and Akamaru smirked in agreement.

"Pay back can be a bitch! CHA!" Sakura said, Ino and Tenten agreeing.

"THAT WAS INDEED A MOST YOUTHFUL FIGHT!" Lee cheered after recovering from his drunken state. Tenten palmed her face again, this time followed by Shino.

Xehanort was panting heavily as he was on his knees, holding himself up with Keyblade. Terra walked up to him, panting as well with his Keyblade in his hand as well. Suddenly the ground started to shake as Terra prepared himself incase of an attack.

"There, you see?" Xehanort asked as he pointed behind Terra.

"Oh no!" Xion said as she, Terra and the group turned around to see a pillar of light.

"What the heck!?" Naruto exclaimed.

"The χ-blade has been forged!" Xehanort announced.

"Ven!" Terra and Xion called out.

"And now Terra, it is time for the final union!" The group turned to see Xehanort bring his Keyblade to his chest. He soon then impaled into his chest as a same light came out of it.

"What!?" Terra and Naruto said in semi-unison as they turned around.

"What is he-?" Kakashi asked, wide-eyed.

"Oh shit!" Hinata said as she started to panic.

Xion's jaw dropped slightly. "THAT WAS HIS PLAN!?"

"What is he doing?" Shino asked in a serious tone.

"HE'S PULLING AN OROCHIMARU!"

"What do you mean!?" Sakura and Ino asked in panicked tones and in semi-unison.

"Jiraiya once told me about the Immortality Jutsu that Orochimaru used. THIS IS SORT OF THE SAME THING EXCEPT TRANSFERRING THE HEART TO A NEW BODY!" Xion explained, still in a panicking tone.

"Troublesome. . ." Shikamaru angrily muttered as he then heard a pop. He turned to see that Choji accidentally destroyed his bag of chips.

"At last our moment is here." Xehanort's Keyblade soon disappeared as an orb of light came out of him. "Out with the old and brittle vessel, and in with a younger, stronger new one!" Xehanort's body started to glow as Eraqus did before he faded away.

"SONOFA-" Naruto yelled as he wanted to charge at him.

"So that why. . ." Kakashi muttered as he watched on.

"I swore I would survive. . . and be there to see what awaited beyond the Keyblade War!" Xehanort stated.

"Keyblade War!?" Everyone except Hinata and Xion said. They all then turned towards them.

'We'll tell you all later." The two Keyblade Masters said in semi-unison.

"And now it is your darkness that shall be the ark that sustains me!" He brought his heart down towards him as he then launched it at Terra.

"NO!" Naruto yelled as he ran in front of Terra. As he tried to protect him, Terra summoned his armor as the heart flew right through Naruto and went into Terra. "DAMN IT!"

The group then looked back at Xehanort as smirked before fading away, like Eraqus did before. Suddenly, they all heard the sounds of metal being dropped onto the ground. As Naruto looked behind him, the rest of the group looked back at Terra, he changed for the worse.

"No. . ." Xion muttered as she and the group looked at the now silver haired and yellow eyed Terra.

"This heart belongs again to darkness." He started saying in a familiar voice. "All worlds begin in darkness, and all so end." The group vividly remember what another had said during the their first Chunin Exams. "The heart is no different. Darkness sprouts within it. It grows, consumes it. Such is its nature. In the end, every heart returns to the darkness whence it came."

"What a bunch of crap. . ." Naruto angrily muttered, clenching his fist as he and the group sneered at him.

Terra-Xehanort summon Xehanort's Keyblade as he walked away from the armor.

"So. . .that's it? Terra's gone?" Kiba muttered, still completely pissed at what just happened.

As Terra-Xehanort was walking, the area went completely black and soon an orange barrier that looked like there were made of chains that surrounded the arena, trapping him in. "What?"

"Eh?" Naruto said as he gave a look of disbelief.

"What just happened?" Kiba asked as he looked at Xion.

"Like I know!" Xion then turned to see something and smiled. "Oh yeah. . . Xehanort's going down now!"

"Huh?" The rest of the group practically asked as they and Terra-Xehanort looked to see Terra's armor kneeling and holding his Keyblade.

"How?" Kakashi muttered.

"Your body submits, your heart succumbs-" Terra-Xehanort started.

Naruto smirked at the resolution. "Time for a beat down!"

"So why does your mind resist?!" Terra-Xehanort yelled out as he got into Terra's stance.

The armor then started to pick itself up as it took the Keyblade out of the ground and got into the same stance, ready to face Xehanort and take the body back to its rightful owner. The two then started to clash, evenly matched in power. The more active members of the group cheered for the armor as they fought.

"Take him down!"

"Beat that prick!"

"Get your body back!"

". . .That just sounds so wrong Ino. . ."

WHACK!

"Shut up Kiba!"
Akamaru whined a little, but it was forgotten when Xion started to pet him.

"THIS IS AN EVEN MORE YOUTHFUL BATTLE THEN I THOUGHT! THE ARMOR OF A POWERFUL WARRIOR WITH THE MIND OF SAID WARRIOR, FIGHTING TO RECLAIM HIS LOST BODY THAT WAS TAKEN BY A GREAT EVIL! GAI-SENSEI WOULD BE SO PROUD OF THIS MAN FOR HAVING SUCH A STRONG MIND TO RESIST SOMETHING LIKE THIS!" Lee happily ranted as tears ran down his eyes.

Tenten sweat-dropped, but had to admit that he was right. "Beat the bastard." She plainly said.

Even with the power of darkness on his side, Terra-Xehanort was having a difficult time with the armor with the mind of Terra. Terra-Xehanort did get a few hits in, especially when he started summoning his own version of Meteor, except they homed in on the Terra-Armor. The battle soon ended when the Terra-Armor did an Ars Solum, the final strike being the finisher.

"Alright! He beat him!"

"That'll teach him!"

"Now that's what I'm talking about!"

Kakashi nodded his head as Terra-Xehanort became knocked out.

Terra-Armor stared down his body as he went back into the kneeling position.

"What's he doing?" Naruto wondered.

Suddenly the ground started to shake and the group saw an explosion heading towards them.

"What the heck!?" Kiba yelled as he tried to run away from the explosion as it passed the group.

Up above, they all saw that the clouds began to cover the Kingdom Hearts and it disappeared.

"What's done is done. . ." Sai said.

"Indeed." Shino said.

"But is it really over?" Shikamaru muttered as he looked at Luxord's cards, squeezing it in his hands.

"Aqua, Ven. . .One day I'll set this right." Terra's voice said as the group was enveloped in light, causing them to shield their eyes.

The group reopened their eyes to find themselves back at the garden, Choji struggling to hold Lexaeus's Axe Sword. "Heavy. . .really heavy. Tenten, if you could?"

"No problem. . ." Tenten said as she took out a new scroll and seal the Axe Sword into it. "Here you go. You sure you want it?"

Choji nodded his head. "Yeah. . .after going through that last fight and seeing all that, I'll need to work harder.

As the rest of the group went over to praise Sakura, Choji and Lee for their victory, Xion eyed the portal with shield on it as she silently summoned her keyblades. "Sorry guys but. . .this is something I gotta do. . ." She muttered as she lunged her keyblade into the air.