This was a mistake., was all Kaiya could think, as the blood pulsed through her neck like crazy.

The group of four stood still before some bushes, watching horrified how a familiar team changed completely from what they last remembered.

The two boys in the team laid down under a tree seemingly unconscious, while the pinkette stood by their side with a horrified look on her face as an unknown enemy team approached.

As Kaiya gave the girl her fair share through the thought that the enemy didn't look friendly in any way, somebody from the unknown group said something unintelligible, before attacking with kunai and shuriken of various sizes around the group.

'We have to help.' Lee murmured.

'What?' Kaiya spat out, trying to be as quiet as possible. 'We're going to die there!'

'Well, we can't just sit here and watch!' Lee protested. 'I promised Sakura that I'll protect her with my life, and I'm a ninja of my word.'

Kaiya grunted, unsure of the whole situation. 'Look, I don't know what promises you made to Sakura -and to be honest, I don't really care!-, but the whole situation doesn't look OK. The enemy doesn't look too easy-going, and we barely have any back-up, so jumping to fight might as well be a one-way ticket to the afterlife.'

'But he's right, you know?' Tenten said. 'It's risky, but it's not like this will change when we become chuunin. With this fight, we might get the scroll we need and get as well a positive view from Sasuke's team. One less enemy, y'know?'

Kaiya gulped down; she couldn't deny Tenten. 'Fine. So what's the plan?'

They didn't get to say anything more, as somebody from the unnamed team jumped to attack Sakura, only to be blocked by Lee, who jumped into action faster than lightning.

Everyone stopped for a second to look at the boy in surprise. The pinkette, who had her arms before her head looked up at Lee, her face taken over by shock.

'What are you doing here?' She murmured.

'I am the handsome devil of Konoha.' He announced. 'My name's Rock Lee.'

As much trouble as they were in, couldn't help but cringe a little. Handsome devil? Where'd he get that one from? she thought, before getting to her feet with a sigh.

'He already made an appearance. There's no point for us hiding, is there?' She said, seeing the weird looks on her teammates' faces.

They seemed to agree, as they joined her.

'Lee, I can handle this.' Sakura tried to reason with him. 'You don't have to be here.'

'I've already told you; anytime, anywhere, I'll always be there to help if there's trouble, Sakura!' Lee assured, in what Kaiya assumed to be an attempt to look cool.

'But-' Sakura continue.

'Cut it out, Sakura.' Kaiya said as she found herself a place next to Lee, putting a grip on her kunai. 'He's a ninja of his word, right Lee?'

Sakura's eyes widened at her sight as a large beam made itself present on Lee's face. 'Believe it!'

Even with all the danger floating around them, Kaiya smirked- just a small pouting of lips and a tilt of the head. 'Then let's finish them, shall we?'

Lee nodded, and, just as he was about to attack, a bandaged member of the enemy team told his teammates something about who attacks who, before approaching Lee faster than expected.

A knot made itself present in Kaiya's stomach as she fixed her eyes to where the bandaged boy was and threw her kunai in his direction.

The timing was perfect as, as soon as it passed the enemy, a sprinkle of blood escaped from his ear, making the boy lose focus for a second.

A few kicks later, the bandaged boy jumped back beside his team.

'Zaku... We have no other choice.' The bandaged boy said in a gruffly, dead-like voice as he handed a scroll to his teammate, 'I'll leave you Sasuke, and I'll kill these three.'

Was that an earth scroll?, Kaiya thought, Just what we need! Although seemingly shocked, the boy named Zaku nodded in understanding.

'Looks like we're going to have some fun.' The bandaged boy said as he raised one of his arms, only to reveal a large piece of metal full of holes.

Kaiya narrowed her eyebrows but didn't get the chance to reflect on what that devilish machine could be, as the boy ran up to them, preparing to attack.

As soon as she realised his plan, Kaiya jumped a couple of meters into the air and aimed a few shurikens towards him. Meanwhile, Sakura threw a kunai and Lee pulled out the hugest tree root possible out the ground.

'How'd you do that?' Kaiya asked as she landed back on the ground.

'I'll explain.' Lee answered quickly, before drawing his attention back to the enemy. 'Your attack has some sort of trick, doesn't it? I won't dodge it in a normal way. I saw your move before.'

Lee shot the enemy group one more look, before looking at his arms, and beginning to unfold the bandages around them as he mumbled something.

For a second, Kaiya breathed in sharply in recognition of the move

'Lee, ' she said, trying to sound rational. 'You don't plan to...'

He looked up and looked straight in her eyes for a second. 'I promised Sakura that I'll protect her with my life. You remember what Guy-sensei said about this technique, right?'

'To use the technique only for the ones you care about.' Kaiya answered with a slight tent of hesitation.

'Exactly.' Lee said calmly. 'I care about Sakura and I promised her something, so now I'll have to do my best in keeping it!'

The bandaged boy jumped into the air, followed quickly by Lee.

'You're finished now!' Lee exclaimed as he took the bandages from his arms off, before putting them around the boy and spinning towards the ground at lightning speed.

Kaiya blinked a few times, trying to block the dust from entering her eyes and searched for Lee anxiously from where she stood, only to see him jump over the dust cloud a few moments later.

He landed next to Kaiya, without taking his eyes off the opponent. The bandaged boy now stood upside down in a ball of mud, but didn't hesitate much and freed himself quickly.

'Nice one, Lee!' Kaiya said, taking advantage of the moment and retrieving her kunai.

'Now it's my turn.' The bandaged boy said, revealing his metal arm.

This isn't good, Kaiya thought. Lee was in an already bad state, it was the first time she saw such techniques, and Tenten and Neji were nowhere to be found. If she was to take complete action and push her buttons, then...

She shook her head. She had to help, and if they were to ask questions, she would have to answer them. Whatever happened, happened.

The bandaged boy uncovered his metal arm and aimed at Lee, who successfully dodged his fist. At first, everything seemed fine, but it immediately became clear that it wasn't so.

'Your moves are indeed fast.' The bandaged boy said, 'But our moves work at the speed of sound, and exceed yours.'

Lee lost his balance and knelt down, breathing heavily.

'I will teach you that there is a wall that you can't get past by just hard work.' The bandaged boy said.

Kaiya couldn't help but growl. She had the luck to be born in a rather strong family, but Lee still stood the chance to beat her. And all because of his hard work, she thought.

'Hey, you mummy!' She yelled.

'Hm?' He grunted in response. 'What do you want?'

'I would recommend you leave before its too late!' She said, warningly. 'Please acknowledge the fact that you have to do with capable shinobi; after all, I bet not many could resist so well to your techniques.'

'Hmpf, ' he puffed, half amused and half disgusted. 'as if! Just look at your friend.'

Kaiya shot a look at Lee, only to notice horrified that droplets of blood began lingering from his ear.

'My left ear...' He murmured as he covered his wounded ear.

'There's a little trick in my attack, you see.' The bandaged boy said, showing off his metal arm. 'Just dodging it won't help.'

'I think everyone noticed by now...' Kaiya mumbled, her cheek twitching.

'You see, the trick is very simple;' he continued, unbothered. 'it's sound. You may have dodged my fist, but the sound still attacked you.'

Kaiya couldn't help but block for a second. Sound? But she didn't hear anything, yet Lee was on his knees, with one ear-bleeding! And as sure as hell he wasn't weak. How that should be possible, Kaiya couldn't understand. For one thing, everyone appeared as confused and shocked as her.

'Do you know what kind of sound this is?'

'Vibrations, aren't they?' Sakura said, from behind them.

For a second, hearing her voice make Kaiya jump a little. Since the pinkette didn't say nor did anything before that, Kaiya seemed to forget she was there, watching the fight.

'Correct.' The bandaged boy answered with a nod. 'Being able to hear something, means that your eardrums catch the vibrations in the air. And the human eardrums will basically shatter at anything above 150 decibels. Also, by adding a shock to the semicircular canals, the enemy will lose their sense of balance.'

Well, that explains would explain it, Kaiya thought. He was really good at explaining his moves, for an enemy. She looked at Lee, who grunted in pain.

'Don't worry, Lee.' She said. 'I'll take care of them now.'

He shot her a confused look. 'But-'

'It's alright, you did enough. Now it's my turn.'

The bandaged boy laughed.

'I'm afraid she will have to deal with us on her own! You won't be able to move your body well for a while.' He told Lee. 'Your outdated hand-to-hand combat won't work on us, as you just saw.'

Kaiya clenched her teeth. Fair enough.

'It was effective for a while, ' the other boy admitted. 'but I already showed you my techniques. So it's not going to work as smoothly as you thought.'

Just as he said that the boy stood up on his toes. 'I can control supersonic vibes and air pressure. I could destroy even a rock. I can send air into the ground and make it a cushion. It is different from your dumb moves.'

The boy opened his hands, only to show a hole on each of his palms through which air rushed out at an alarming rate.

'You're next!' The bandaged bit announced, before rushing towards Sakura, who prepared a kunai for the impact.

'Sakura!' Lee exclaimed, getting on his feet and making his way towards the girl.

Goddamit, Lee! Stop pushing yourself!, Kaiya thought, sprinting to the place of impact as fast as possible.

The bandaged boy aimed a hit towards Sakura, but failed; Lee's dodge was a success.

'Good one, you fooled me with this one.' The bandaged boy admitted.

He attacked again but this time, his hit was accompanied the supersonic sound. Lee dodged the punch again, but this time, he wasn't on his own.

Just as the sound came out the metallic arm, Kaiya managed to land on the arm and push in down. The only problem? The sound.

The bandaged boy must've seen her move coming, but knowing his powers, he didn't worry about how to dodge the girl.

As soon as the sound came out, Kaiya's muscles stiffened and refused to move any further, letting her fall down with an excruciating headache.

'This arm amplifies the sound to the maximum, just like a speaker!' The bandaged boy said, sounding somewhat pleased with the results of his attack. 'But the sound isn't stuck to the direction of the sound, y'see. I can use my chakra and follow it as it hits the enemy!'

With the corner of her eye, Kaiya noticed how, just as he said that, Lee's feet numbed and let his body drop to the ground as well, as weakened as he could be.

The bandaged boy mumbled something about finishing the two and just as he prepared in doing so, something distracted him.

'I won't let you to!' The pinkette Kaiya recognised as Sakura said, as some kunai made themselves visible from her hands.

Sakura threw the kunai towards the boy with perfect aim, only to be dodged by the metal arm like it was no big deal. At the sight of it, Kaiya couldn't help but frown a little.

'Geez.' The bandaged boy sighed, looking at Sakura from behind his shield.

Sakura shook her head. She isn't giving up just yet, is she?, Kaiya thought. Even if they weren't on the same team, Kaiya would've gladly helped Sakura, but taking her current state, she would've been just another burden for the girl.

'I... I can fight too!' Sakura exclaimed, as she threw a handful of kunai towards the boy, this time not to be dodged by him, but one of his teammates who fought with them just earlier.

The other boy opened his palms only to show two holes in the middle, through which air escaped at amazing speed, pushing the kunai away from him and the bandaged boy, nearly hitting Sakura.

Before she could do any other move, Sakura was immobilized to the ground by a dark-haired girl who held her tightly by her hair.

'Your hair's softer and glossier than mine.' The dark-haired girl murmured with a smug on her face. 'Perhaps, if you would've used that time you used in shampooing for training, you would've been in a better position now. What, are you trying to look pretty? Zaku, kill that Sasuke in front of this pig!'

The boy named Zaku seemed to like the idea and nearly followed the orders if it wasn't for the bandaged boy.

'Hey, guys...' The bandaged boy mumbled.

'Don't move!' The dark-haires girl yelled as Sakura attempted to escape.

Lee turned his head shakingly towards Sakura, and Kaiya knew exactly what he was thinking.

Tears began rolling down on Sakura's cheeks as her arms began tremblings. Come on, not now!, was all Kaiya could think at the moment.

'Sa... Sakura...' Kaiya said as quietly as possible, but it seemed to catch Sakura's attention.

For a second, they made eye contact, but it was enough for Sakura to understand what Kaiya wanted to say. Please.

'Come on, let's do this.' Zaku said, after a few moments of silence.

He slowly made his way towards the two boys from Sakura's team and, just before he could reach them, Sakura drew out a kunai.

'There's no point with that.' The girl who held her warned. 'That won't work on me.'

Hearing those words, Sakura couldn't help but smirk as she turned her head around to face the girl. 'What are you talking about?'

The enemy girl was obviously taken aback by those words. 'What?'

Just before she could do anything to counter, Sakura let her kunai cut through her hair, right under the other girl's hand.

The other girl took a few steps back, only to give the girl the chance to stand up and begin to form some seals. Kaiya squinted her eyes in recognition when seeing the seals.

'Kin, kill her!' The boy named Zaku ordered, without losing any time to form some seals himself.

The enemy girl nodded before pulling something from her bag and attacking Sakura, only to realise that she attacked a log.

'A replacement technique?' The girl said.

'She's to the right.' Zaku announced as he kept his hands ahead.

Just as he turned around, Sakura was running towards him, with a handful of kunai in each hand.

'Kin, stay back!' He yelled as he prepared for the attack.

Sakura threw her kunai, only for him to repel them back towards her with air pressure. Just as the kunai should hit her, her body was replaced by another log. This time, the enemy wasn't surprised at all.

'So obvious... She's above.' He mumbled.

'I'm telling you, it's not going to work more than two or three times.' He said as Sakura began forming some scrolls. 'This is good enough for you!'

Kaiya tried to watch what happened, but after that sound attack she got earlier, her head got heavier by the second until she couldn't move it at all. The heaviness moved itself to her face and eyelids, making sure that Kaiya's consciousness didn't remain untouched.

For some time, it was dark and quiet. Kaiya didn't feel no more, knew no more what happened around her and for some reason, she didn't really care at the moment.

It was quiet, and ever since she got to Konoha- no, ever since her brother died, she didn't get the chance to recollect much. Everything went so fast, she didn't know what to do but to roll with whatever happened.

'Are you alright?' A voice asked, startling Kaiya.

'Who's... Who's there?' Kaiya asked, still feeling numb.

'That's not important.' The voice answered, in a now aggravated tone. 'But what is important is that your friends are out there and they need your help. You can't just let them die, now can you?'

Just as she wanted to say that she didn't have that type of relationships, she came to a realisation. Tenten, Neji and Lee... they could be considered friends of hers, couldn't they? Even Guy-sensei, too...

'I don't know if I can do much, though. I'm out of conciousness.'

'Yes, that's true, but you can't stay like that forever. You still have a chance to save them, I'm sure of that. Won't you try to push yourself to the last of your limits to protect your friends? I'm sure they put their trust in you more than they show.'

For a moment, she fell silent. Tenten and Neji, well, if they had the luck, they would still stand somewhere hidden, without a scratch, but Lee... well, he was still there. He had way more injuries than needed and, if they weren't treated, well, he would be just as good as dead. I bet that that bandaged boy and his team won't be nice enough to treat his wounds., Kaiya thought.

Whoever was talking to her did have a point. She had to save Lee. With no one else on their side now, it was like her responsibility to protect him.

'You're right.' Kaiya said, after a long pause. 'They... they took care of me and gave me shelter. Now it's time for me to repay them.'

'Well, you better do that before it's too late.'

As she forced herself to come to her senses, her body feeling tired and numb. She couldn't let herself be stopped by it. Pain goes away, eventually. Death doesn't. She collected all the remaining energy in her body and it didn't take long before she fully came back to her senses.

She opened her eyes and, after a few blinks, noticed how she was in the same spot she remembered, and so was Lee. But this time, there was something weird in the air. It felt tenser and... the field was quieter than when she passed out.

'Say, Sakura, who hurt you?' a rather dead-sounding voice asked.

Kaiya moved her head a little, only to notice a dark-haired boy with black marks all over his face and arms, along with something Kaiya assumed to be purple chakra all around his body. She attempted sitting up on her knees and succeded, but she still needed to sustain herself with her hands.

As if he didn't feel the danger, Zaku smirked with confidence as he tilted his head to aside. 'I did!'

The boy's eyes locked it immediately on Zaku. He turned around without even blinking as the black marks on his body turned into a red-ish colour, like some sort of horrible burn or wound, before returning back to their dark colour.

Kaiya couldn't help but squint her eyes a little. What was he? She wasn't sure, but she knew for a fact that she wouldn't want to have anything to do with him.

'This is too much for us...!' Dosu said, with a trembling voice.

'Dosu, don't be scared of the guy! He's already halfway dead!' Zaku yelled as he readied his hands for some seals.

'No, Zaku, stop!' The bandaged boy now yelled in horror. 'Don't you understand?!'

'I'll finish this in a flash!' Zaku yelled back still confident as ever as he stretched his arms out for an attack. 'Maximum air cutter!'

As he said that, a massive amount of air came out from his hands at an amazing speed. Luckily for Kaiya, she laid out the air's range of attack, so the attack didn't affect her much, other than giving her back a light headache.

The attack didn't last long; in a second or two, it was already done. But the impact was on a different scale. There was digging in the ground leading from Zaku to where the dark-haired boy should stand.

Seeing the effects that the attack had, Kaiya was tempted to get herself and Lee out of the battlefield, but something stopped her.

'They're finished!' Zaku exclaimed. 'This attack cut them to pieces.'

'Who was, exactly, cut in pieces?' A now familiar voice asked.

The boy was clearly shocked when realising that they survived, but his shock was even greater when he realised that the boy and his team was now located just behind him.

With a single punch, Zaku was thrown away to the other side of the field, now close to the bandaged boy.

'Zaku!' The bandaged boy exclaimed.

The tattooed boy aimed with a fire jutsu, to which Zaku responded with his usual air pressure dodge. Just as the fire was about to hit him, the fireballs transformed into shuriken. It was enough to distract the boy, as the next thing he knew, the tattooed boy was, yet again, behind him, but this time immobilising his arms as he put a foot on his back.

'You seem really proud of your arms.' The tattooed boy said, with a chuckle, before pushing Zaku's back with his leg.

As he pushed the boy's back, a loud crack! along with a blood-curling scream from Zaku sent a shrivel through Kaiya's spine.

The look on the tattooed boy's face as he turned around didn't make it any better. His eyes were now red and that would've probably been not such a big of a deal if the way they made contact with everyone around would've not been so... chaotic and fierce.

'That leaves just you, now.' He said, locking gazes with the bandaged boy.

Hearing his words, the bandaged boy began shaking uncontrollably.

The tattoed boy took a step towards the boy, then another, and another. Slowly but surely, the boy made his way towards the bandaged boy, who froze in his spot, staring at his enemy, horrified.

As he slowly made his way towards the bandaged boy, a pair of arms tugged around him, stopping him from walking any further.

'Stop!' Sakura pleaded through sobs as she held onto Sasuke. 'Please... stop.'

Sasuke turned his head around and, for reasons Kaiya couldn't exactly understand, something in Sakura's eyes had an effect on him.

He didn't attempt going anymore forward, and the marks on his body slowly faded, before his body collapsed on the floor.

Turning around, Kaiya noticed how the bandaged boy took out two scrolls and put them on the ground.

'Let's make a deal.' He said as he got up and reached for Zaku, who was out of consciousness. 'Please let us leave for now. We might be asking for much, but we have something to confirm.'

Everyone watched quietly how the bandaged boy walked away, carrying his teammate.

Seeing him gone, Kaiya felt a little less anxious, yet worried that the tattooed boy might turn to attack her. But, once she saw him and his state, she was sure that he wouldn't really be up for yet another battle right now.

She took a look at Lee, and noticed how he was still out of consciousness. She shook her head; she'll take care of him later.

She got up to her feet and, with a little bit of effort, she made her way to the scrolls, and noticed that those were different scrolls, including the one that she and her team needed. Bingo!

'Which scroll do you guys need?' She asked, looking at the group.

'Um... The Earth scroll.' Sakura answered, a little surprised by the sudden question. 'What about you?'

'So you need the Earth scroll?'Kaiya frowned for a second, before smiling, pleased. 'Then it's perfect! My team and I need the Heaven scroll. Here, catch it!'

Kaiya threw the earth scroll to Sakura, who caught it successfully.

'Thanks... I guess.' Sakura thanked, while couldn't help but feel a little awkward as she watched how the girl then took the other scroll, before returning to check on Lee.

She only had talked to Kaiya, maybe, once, yet she couldn't brush off the odd vibe that the girl gave. She wasn't stupid; rather the opposite. But what Sakura found odd was how she could be cold and yet not so cold towards people at the same time. Weird, she thought. At first, she considered asking her about it but eventually dropped the idea.

If the right moment came, she might as well as her. But for now, she had to take care of Sasuke and Naruto and make sure that they all made it safely to the end of the exams.

Hey, people!

No update in a long time... I know. Believe, I know. It's a really chaotic time right now for me due to school and the fact that I have many books to judge in the Majestic Inc. I hope you guys can understand.

On a lighter note, I made this chapter extra long, with 4250 words, and I hoped you guys liked this chapter. What did you think of it, anyway?

Let me know in the comments!