Yo!

I've been looking forward to this chapter for a while now, and I can safely say it's one of my favorites.

With this chapter, we also crest over 100,000 words, which is a pretty big deal, because before this story I think my highest word count on anything I'd written was like 7,000. So that's cool.

I'd like to note that we haven't really been focusing on our main trio as much in the past few chapters (Which is something that came to my attention as I realized I wrote maybe 6 or 7 lines of dialogue for Naruto this chapter, which is a criminally small amount for best boy), but that's been to let other characters share the spotlight as well. They'll be getting focus for their fights, and they all have things to do in the upcoming arc!

Also, someone in the reviews let me know that yes, Google Translate did betray me once again (to my immense shock), and that the actual way to write our "Without further ado" in french is "sans plus de cérémonie".

I have no idea what the validity of this statement is, nor did I feel like doing a reverse check into Google Translate again, for it has already failed me once. Instead, I will put blind faith into someone who reviewed this story, and simply say:

Sans plus de cérémonie!

Chapter 17: Opened Eyes

Zaku was exhausted, which he felt was fair, given that he hadn't slept at all.

The proctor who'd shown them to their rooms the previous night had come to retrieve them early in the morning, smiling at them and wishing them good luck the whole time. He'd grumbled his way to the arena beside his teammate, Dosu, who looked far better rested than he was.

"I did tell you to sleep." The boy had said, looking more than a little annoyed.

"Yeah, it wasn't exactly on purpose, jackass."

He was on edge from more than just the lack of sleep. Today was the day their fates were sealed. Either they proved themselves in Orochimaru's scheme, or they were cast aside, and, more than likely, killed.

He swallowed on nothing as their guide pushed open a door just in front of them, leading them into a massive central room, where a gargantuan carving of the leaf's unison sign hung upon the back wall.

Zaku realized that they were one of the first groups to arrive as he looked around, seeing only 1 other group present. He ground his teeth together as he realized who it was.

Team 7, their targets, and the one's who'd nearly killed Kin.

They'd noticed them as well, it seemed, as Sasuke Uchiha took a subtle stance, not directly threatening, but more of a deterrent. He didn't take his eyes off of them as he spoke to his teammates, gesturing their way as they looked over towards them.

Upon seeing Zaku, the other two members of that accursed team stiffened. The pink-haired girl, who'd been the one to stab Kin in the chest and shoulder, paled. She stood silently for just a moment, before actually taking a step towards them.

What is she doing?

Two hands stopped the girl in her tracks, each belonging to one of her teammates. They exchanged heated words, to which the girl could respond only with a small declaration, and she turned back towards them with fire in her eyes.

A second later, they let her go, gazing over towards Zaku and his teammate with a silent promise.

'Try anything, and you answer to us.'

Yeah, trust me, Zaku thought, growling under his breath. I get it.

After the girl had walked the few paces towards them, she faltered, standing just a step or two away from him and Dosu.

"The hell do you want?" He could feel some anger seeping into his words, anger that he hadn't meant to make known.

Pink-hair looked up at them, opened her mouth, blanked on what she wanted to say, and closed it.

"W-what happened to your arm?"

He'd actually nearly forgotten about what Orochimaru had done to it, what with the immense stress they'd been faced with. Staring down at the makeshift splint he'd spent some time in the forest making, he couldn't help but feel a twinge of annoyance.

This girl… It's all her fault.

"I broke it, fell off a tree." He lied easily, looking at her nonchalantly. "You got something to say, or what?"

The girl took a deep breath, and seemed to resign herself.

"W-where's the… your third member?" She spoke quietly, nearly whispering.

Something in the girl's expression made him shake with rage, and he had to physically calm himself down, taking a deep breath before he answered her question.

"She's in the medical bay, recovering from when you stabbed her!" He practically spat out.

He hadn't expected the girl to deflate at his words, falling to her knees in front of him in abject relief.

"That's…" The girl sighed deeply, a smile adorning her face. "That's fantastic."

"What?"

"I was worried I… I thought she might have succumbed to her wounds," The girl shook her head, likely trying to dispel such thoughts. "I'm just glad to hear everything was alright."

His teeth ground together.

Alright!? Zaku seethed silently. She thinks everything just turned out hunky-dory!?

"Well, if that's all, then kindly go fu-"

"That's not it!" The girl interrupted him, looking up at him with steel in her gaze. "I also wanted to… thank you personally."

Staring down at someone he'd been ordered to kill as they thanked them on hands and knees, he couldn't help but wonder how he was supposed to react.

What am I supposed to say to this shit?

"We tried to kill you, and you're coming over here to say fucking thank you!?"

The girl blushed, blushed, for gods' sake, and looked down, seemingly unsure of how to word her thoughts.

"Whatever it is that Orochimaru put on me… It was affecting me." She rubbed the back of her neck absentmindedly. "I wasn't myself, and I… I almost killed that girl."

The kunoichi below him finally looked him in the eye, but her gaze was softer than he'd thought it'd be, filled with honest gratitude.

"Thank you for stopping me. Even if you were just doing it to save your teammate, thank you." The girl looked away again, seemingly having said her piece, before, with an almost embarrassed smile, she once again looked towards him. "Oh, and… I don't think you guys are all that bad of people, so… I think you should probably stop working for that Orochimaru guy, he's bad news."

White hot anger shot through his veins as he stared down at the girl before him, and he scowled fiercely as he grabbed her by the shirt and hauled her off of the ground, shoving her back towards her team.

"Go." He commanded sharply.

"W-what?"

"Go back to your team, and stay the hell away from me, no, from us." He pushed the girl lightly, making her stagger back a pace or two.

"Why are you acting like that, I-"

"Don't ask me that bullshit!"

He'd screamed it so loud that the proctor's who stood on the walkways above them peered over, looking ready to intervene if this turned into a fight, but Zaku didn't care. There was too much anger coursing through him, too many things that raged within him, for him to ignore now.

"Why am I acting like this!?" Zaku howled, incensed with rage at the girls' question. "You want to know!? You come over here like a spoiled child, so comfortable in your own little world, and you say that you're oh so happy that you get to keep your eyes closed!"

The girl took a step back, her eyes wide.

"If that were all, then fine, you're just some spoiled little brat, I've met a million of those." Zaku's knuckles were white as he balled his fists at his side. "You're someone who's never seen the real world, and that's fine. Honestly, I'm jealous."

"W-what?"

"You were born in this village, grew up in this village, and, if I were to guess, I'd say you'll die in this village, too. Never once seeing the world, realizing just how bad it can be, just how unfortunate some of the rest of us are."

"What are you talking about!?"

A firm hand grabbed his shoulder, trying to pull him back. He knew without looking that it was Dosu, but he didn't much care. He had to teach this ignorant brat what the world was really like.

"I doubt you'll ever have to scrounge for food in the garbage, or steal from shops and stalls on the streets, or pick the pockets of other people who are just as unfortunate as you are, all just to survive." Zaku could tell his words were having an effect on the girl, for she drew further back with every word.

Good.

Behind her, the girl's teammates were stepping up to face him, but as he kept speaking, they halted.

"But all of that's fine, I don't expect everyone to have to go through the same shit I did. I'm not some idiot who thinks everyone in the worlds gonna' get dealt a bad hand. If that were it, I honestly would've accepted all this, just gone on and ignored you…"

His eyes locked onto hers, his face showing only fury.

"But then you have the fucking audacity to tell me to "stop working for him!?""

The girl looked indignantly at him; her lips drawn down in a small frown as she tried to retaliate.

"And what's so wrong with that? Do you honestly like working for that guy!?"

"Of course I don't!"

She took a step back, a quiet terror playing upon her face, like she was trying in vain to run away from his words.

The look suited her.

"Do you honestly think anyone would want to work for someone like him!?" He roared, throwing his arms out in wild gestures. "You think it's just the bad guys who end up on his side, don't you?"

He laughed as the girl tensed, realizing that was exactly what she'd thought.

"Everything's so black and white to you, isn't it!? Good! You should let it stay that way! Life's way easier if you can honestly believe that everyone you'll have to face down on the battlefield is evil!" Dosu pulled on him hard, trying once more to prevent him from shouting out, but Zaku broke away, leaning into his words like they were blows. "Don't take the time to realize that they've got people, too! Don't even think about how maybe, just maybe, they want to be there about as much as you do!"

"Or maybe, they're attacking because the food where they come from is scarce, and they don't have enough land to grow more! Or because they just want to protect the people they care about! Or maybe, just maybe, they never had a damned choice in the matter from the beginning!"

He looked upon the girl before him, silently relishing in her mortification as he dug into her.

"Some of us got picked up off of the street, told that our only chance to live was to become weapons, to jump when told to jump, to kill when we were told to kill, who we were told to kill, no questions asked."

"So no, girl." He found himself finally out of breath, his tirade finished. "I won't be leaving Orochimaru's service, and if I do?" He leaned directly into her face, barely six inches separating them. "It'll be because I'm dead."

The girl before him stared up at him in fear for just a moment longer, before her face contorted once more.

Pity.

"I'm sorry, I… I didn't know."

Looking down on me…?

A flash of red, and the feeling of hands all over him, preventing him from going any further.

His fist had been stopped only an inch from the girl's face.

"Sakura, are you alright!?" Sasuke Uchiha, the one who had stopped Zaku's blow mid-flight, spoke to the girl beside him, who was still frozen in shock.

"Y-yeah." She just barely managed to breath out a response, pushing herself off of the floor and backing away.

"Please refrain from attacking each other outside of the sanctioned fights."

He looked over at the man who'd spoken, who, even now, had yet to remove his hand from Zaku's shoulder. He seemed to be a Jonin, and quite obviously from the Leaf village, judging by the green jacket, and the headband. He coughed once or twice into his other hand, though even still, his aura was that of a skilled ninja.

"I'm sorry, sir," Dosu spoke up from behind him, the last person to have held him back. "It won't happen again."

The Jonin seemed unimpressed, but released Zaku a second later, anyways.

"See that it doesn't." The man spoke before he walked away, moving to stand back in the middle of the arena, beside him were a few other Leaf Jonin, who were all looking over towards their little grouping, as if it were the only interesting thing they'd seen all day.

"The hell do you think you're doing, anyways!?" The blonde ninja, who Zaku remembered very vaguely being named Naruto, yelled over at him, walking quite briskly towards him as he continued. "You looking to get beaten up by my super jutsu, you bastard!?"

To Zaku's quiet surprise, Dosu stepped in front of the both of them, holding his hand out at the young boy.

"The proctor has just told us to leave this be, I think it would be wise to follow his advice."

"What!?" The other boy didn't seem to agree, bringing his fist up in front of his face and looking like he wanted to say something more, but he was stopped by a hand on his shoulder, this time by the pink-haired kid he'd yelled at just a minute ago.

"It's alright, Naruto, he didn't hit me."

"What are you talking about, it doesn't matter if he didn't hit you! He tried to, that's it!" Naruto turned back towards him, an angry glint in his eyes. "And I don't let anyone lay a hand on my friends."

There was a tiny needle of pain in the back of his skull at the boy's words, as if one insignificant memory was trying to show itself.

A shouting voice in a cramped back-alley, amid dumpsters filled to the brim with unkempt trash, and among rats and bugs crawling on the ground, there was a miniscule, naïve little brat, filled with far too much hope for his tiny little frame, that demanded attention.

"I won't let you hurt him!"

The boy shouted, drawing his knife out and bringing it down into the adults face, as many times as he needed until the man's movements ceased.

"Y-you saved me, Zaku."

He looked back towards the sound of the voice to find a face filled with residual fear, running with tears.

"If you hadn't shown up, that bastard… he would've… I…" His friend paled, covering a small cut on his abdomen with his hand. "I could've died…"

"It's alright, Reis." He reached down, taking the boy's hand in his own. "You're alright."

"I…I almost…" The boy hiccupped lightly, before huge dollops of tears started to stream down his face, and he sobbed openly.

"It's ok, Reis." He spoke quietly, trying his best to comfort his only friend. "It'll be okay."

"I'll protect you."

"Your name is Zaku, right?"

He was flung back to the present, staring back into the face of the pink-haired girl, Sakura.

His anger had died down, but even still, he didn't want to look at her, didn't want to have to think about anything other than the memory that had flashed through his mind.

Reis… His head ached as he tried to remember anything else about the boy from that memory just now, but he wasn't able to find anything. Why does that name sound so familiar?

Still, the girl asked him a question, and even if he didn't really want to answer, it was better than getting yelled at by her teammates again.

"Yeah." He was surprised to find his own voice so weak as he spoke, coming out scratchy and quiet. "What of it?"

"I won't say sorry, not again. But I will say this." The girl took a deep breath, steeling herself. "I'll do my best to see more of the world. I… I won't pretend like I know everything anymore, so…"

To his shock, the girl bowed deeply before him.

What…?

"Thank you, once again."

He didn't even possess the strength anymore to get upset with the girl, and instead all he had left was a simple question.

"Thank me? What for?"

The girl smiled up at him, so innocently, but carrying just the smallest bit of pain.

"For opening my eyes."

Something in the girl's statement made him hesitate, made him want to respond, but the sound of the doors opening behind them had them all looking backwards.

"Yo, Sakura!" A blonde Leaf Genin shouted out, waving her hand above her head towards the pink-haired kunoichi.

"Ah, hey Ino!" The girl seemed to welcome the distraction, giving Zaku one last nod before she walked over to her friend, laughing and talking with her as they took their designated places.

Dosu put his arm around Zaku's shoulder, leaning into his ear.

"What the hell was that!?" He whispered angrily, trying to keep his voice quiet. "You're lucky Orochimaru wasn't here, we'd have been killed just like that!"

Zaku had to smirk at that.

"Right, I'll keep quiet."

"Yeah, I completely believe you." Dosu rolled his eyes, sighing quietly as he walked back into his spot, watching and waiting as more people entered into the room.

When it seemed everyone had arrived, the Third Hokage, who'd entered the room just before the last students, began to speak. He talked about the history of the Chuunin Exams, what they meant to each of the villages, and how they encouraged cooperation between the villages.

Zaku didn't care about a single word that came out of the man's mouth, he couldn't really muster up the energy to, not when he was potentially a few minutes away from the most important fight of his life.

"And now, I'll hand things over to this exam's proctor, Mr. Hayate."

The Hokage gestured over towards the same man who'd stopped them earlier, who coughed a few more times into his left fist, before he addressed them all.

He went over how the fights would be laid out, a random setup of match-ups, though, apparently, competitors would be able to face members of their own teams, which was something Zaku hadn't known coming into this.

That means… if I get paired against Dosu…

He gulped as he tried to ignore that thought. Surely the universe didn't hate him that much.

"Now, I'll ask that if anyone wants to drop out of this stage of the exam, they do so at this time." The proctor spoke, raising his own hand in the air. "All you have to do is raise your hand, and a proctor will escort you out."

Ah, I almost forgot, Orochimaru said his agent's leaving once the second stage starts.

No one moved, nor was a single hand raised in the air.

Wait… what?

"No one? In that case, please look towards the screen in the back."

At that, a giant hole opened up in the back wall, revealing a black screen that flashed with the names of each of the competitors.

After a few seconds, two names flashed up on the screen, and Zaku was mildly surprised to see a name he knew.

Sakura Haruno vs. Yoroi Akadō

"Anyone who is not one of those two fighters, please head to the railings above. You'll be able to locate your Sensei from here, please walk to meet them."

At those words, Zaku looked above him, seeing in just a moment the disguised Orochimaru, smiling down at them maliciously.

"Welp," Zaku sighed, trying to calm his fraying nerves. "This is it."

"Yeah." His partner replied.

He looked back over at the bandaged boy, smirking lightly.

"Good luck."

Dosu gave a harsh laugh under his breath.

"Same to you."

/-/

The fact that Sakura was up first was both a blessing and a curse for the girl.

It meant, of course, that she wouldn't have to be constantly fretting about when her match would be called, and that she'd be able to watch the remainder of the fights in relative peace.

Unfortunately, it also meant she had approximately 12 seconds to prepare herself mentally for a fight before the proctor began to run down the rules for their bout.

"Keep it as clean as you can. Accidents happen, but try to resort to lethal force as a last resort, if at all possible." Mr. Hayate coughed into his hand, in what Sakura was gradually realizing must've been a condition of some sort. "You won't be penalized for it, but just keep that in mind."

"Yes sir." She spoke confidently, not really put off by the idea that she'd be facing someone in a duel that could end in either one of their deaths.

Honestly, that seemed to be all she'd been doing for the past few weeks now, so this was nothing new. The only thing that bothered her was the slight pain that sprang from the mark on her neck as she looked at the railings above her.

That team's Sensei… Sakura thought as she looked towards the Sound duo, and their Jonin leader. He gives me the creeps, and the mark on my neck flares up, too…

"Are the both of you ready?"

Her idle pondering put aside for the moment, Sakura nodded over towards the Jonin. The other combatant, who looked to be much older than her, nodded as well.

"Then, let the first fight of the Chuunin Exams Second Round…" The man paused, his hand hovering in the air.

"BEGIN!"

Sakura was weaving signs with her hands the moment the man's hand came down, jumping backwards as she did. The man had a much stockier frame than she did, and she gathered immediately that in a short range duel, she'd be outmatched in strength.

Better to fight at longer range, and use one of the new Jutsu she'd picked up in the process.

It was a technique that, a bit ironically, came from the Rain ninja they'd faced in the Forest of Death. They'd used illusions to clone themselves, fog to hide themselves, but also, one lone attack jutsu.

She mimicked the movements she'd seen from the Rain Ninja back in the forest, copied the hand signs, and brought her hand up to her mouth.

"Water Style: Water Bullet!"

A harsh stream of water was expelled from her mouth, firing off at high speeds at the ninja before her.

What she hadn't expected was for the man to simply tank it on his arms, crossing them over his face and chest and preventing the Jutsu from doing any real damage.

Crap! Sakura thought, biting her lip as she felt the chakra allotted for the technique run out. The jutsu those guys in the forest used had a lot more stopping power!

She knew that she probably shouldn't have tried to use a jutsu for the first time in a real fight, but after sizing up her opponent, she'd thought this would be the best choice of action.

The man moved quickly as her torrent ceased, breaking into her guard with extreme speed.

In the second it took him to close the distance, she observed for any weapons the man was carrying, trying to see if she should be blocking with a kunai, but was surprised to see him stretch his bare hand out at her.

A martial artist?

It certainly wasn't unheard of. Taijutsu was just as legitimate of a practice for someone to specialize in as Ninjutsu or Genjutsu, and so she brought her arms up to block the strike, counting on her ninja training to tank the blow.

It was far softer than she'd imagined, not the palm strike she'd imagined, but instead a grab, that soon turned into a grapple.

"W-what!?" she choked out as the man got behind her, one arm around her neck, and the other holding her right arm out to the side. He lifted her a few inches off the ground not a moment later.

"Hmph, let's see what you'll do without any chakra to speak of!"

Without any chakra!?

She remembered back to her talk with Zabuza, when she'd told him about the curse mark.

"Now listen, I'm not going to tell you not to compete." The man had said, rubbing the back of his neck and sighing deeply. "Honestly I don't think you'd listen even if I said that."

"You're correct, sir." She answered.

"I will say this, however." The man raised his finger up at her, pointing directly into her face. "If that thing starts acting up, I'm withdrawing you immediately from the exam, got it?"

"W-What!? That's not fair, I can't-"

"You can't control it, right?"

"Kch…" the man was right, of course. She had no way of controlling the curse mark.

"If it activates, I pull you, end of story." Zabuza looked up at her, eyes unapologetic. "It's not fair, but kid? That's life."

She felt the chakra in her body gradually decline, exiting from where the ninja's hands covered her, one on her right arm, and the other just over her –

Just over her curse mark!

Does he know?

The mark on her neck was starting to hurt a little as more and more of her chakra was sucked out, and she struggled viciously against the man's hold, but found herself unable to escape.

"Now be a good girl and run out of chakra." The man spoke creepily into her ear, practically breathing on her as he did. It send a chill up her spine, and a white hot feeling of fear coursed through her.

Think, Sakura! Her inner voice shouted out. What do we have to get this bastard off of us!?

What did she have, what did she have?

Water bullet? No, that wouldn't work, he was behind her. Mud wall? Her hands wouldn't be able to touch the ground. A kunai and some shuriken? Alone, they wouldn't be enough to overcome this man in close quarters.

A combination of all three?

…That could work.

She brought her head forward slightly, before, readying herself for the pain, she brought her head back to connect with the man's skull.

The man was clearly buffeted by the impact, but he didn't let her go.

That's fine, I don't need you to!

She reached her left hand into her bag, and, with a small grunt, thrust the kunai up into the man's stomach.

He dropped her with a cry, clutching his chest as a small pool of blood began to pool on it. it wasn't a particularly deep wound or anything, and certainly nothing a doctor wouldn't be able to patch up in a minute or two, but it hadn't needed to be.

That was just step one.

She forced her hands to move, forming the signs for the Jutsu she'd grown accustomed to in the last few weeks.

"Earth Style: Mud Wall!"

She brought her hands to the ground, forming a small, densely packed wall of earth that sprang up in front of the ninja.

She had a few seconds at best, and so she reached back into her bag, and, with a small smile, brought out the flask that was in there. She took a giant swig of the water, but kept it in her cheeks instead of swallowing it.

The man flung himself over the wall, looking annoyed but undeterred. He ran at her, zigzagging slightly as he did, trying to avoid a potential jutsu.

That was fine, he was only slowing himself down.

'Water Style: Water Bullet!' She thought to herself, bringing her hand in front of her mouth and, trying to use the liquid in her mouth as a catalyst, fired the technique.

It was definitely more water, but as she'd feared, it wasn't fired with any more potency in terms of force. The man brought his arms up, tanking the barrage of water with ease.

"This all you got, kiddo?" The ninja taunted, stepping towards her slowly.

She smirked a second later.

Gotcha.

The man screamed as a shuriken impacted his stomach, just below where his arms were guarding. If he hadn't been covering his face, Sakura imagined it would've been easy for the man to stop her attack.

But of course, Sakura smirked, feeling more confident than she had in quite a long time as she charged forward. I planned it all!

She slid underneath a clumsy, almost desperate attack from the ninja as he tried in vain to fight off the pain. She kicked off the man's chest, arching into the air in a back-flip, and landing a few feet away from where she'd been just a second ago.

She looked towards her opponent as she ran forward, seeing the man having fallen onto the floor, still trying to get up even after all of that.

"Oh no you don't!" She shouted, leaping forward with a kunai drawn, and landing on top of the other ninja, straddling him as she brought her knife to the man's throat. "Yield!"

Yoroi breathed hard, made a sound of disappointed disgust, and spoke.

"I yield."

Sakura breathed out in relief as the proctor, who was stood just behind them, called the match, raising his hand in the air and proclaiming her the winner.

"Hell Yeah!" A loud, almost obnoxious voice sounded out across the entire arena, echoing off the walls and into everyone's ears. "You go Sakura! Team 7 represent!"

She looked up to see Naruto with his hands in front of his mouth, forming a makeshift megaphone as he called out his support to her, and to see Sasuke waving, a small smile set upon his face.

She waved back to the dark-haired boy and gave the blonde a thumbs-up, then turned back towards the proctor, listening to what he had to say.

"Well then, Sakura Haruno, you have qualified for the next stage of the Chuunin Exams. You may choose to exit the arena now, in which case you can head back to your room, or you can join your Jonin Sensei on the railings above."

"I'll go see my team, then." She smiled up at the man, feeling just a little giddy about the win.

The man smiled back at her, before he walked over to the other competitor, watching as a stretcher was brought out, and he was carried off into the medical wing to treat the two wounds on his stomach.

As she climbed the thin set of stairs to meet her team, Sakura couldn't help but notice another person standing at the top, watching her ascent.

The proctor from the Forest of Death?

Upon further inspection, her first instinct proved correct. The woman was dressed in the same tan trench coat and fishnets, nothing else adorning her figure as she turned towards the stairs and descended them, walking to meet her halfway.

"So," The woman, Anko, if she recalled, gave her a quick inspection, studying her frame up and down. "You're Sakura Haruno, huh?"

"Uhm…" She wasn't quite sure what to say, she hadn't spoken to this woman in her life. "Yes?"

The woman sighed, looking over her shoulder and back down to the arena, where the competitors were looking antsy to see who would be up next.

"Alright, I guess you'll do." The woman took a scroll out of her coat and handed it to Zabuza, who skimmed it briefly before his eyes widened. "An order from someone a bit higher up, I'm in charge of training this brat for the next stage of the exam."

"What?" She spoke, confused.

"What!?" Her teammates shouted.

"What?" Their stand-in sensei, Zabuza, questioned, looking mildly annoyed.

"Eh, don't think about it too hard." Anko stepped up to her and grabbed Sakura by the collar, hauling her off of her feet, and carrying her along her back like one would a coat. "I'll have her back by 8, I promise."

"Wait, where are we going!?" Sakura couldn't help but screech out, feeling more than a little violated.

"Don't ask dumb questions." The woman spoke back, sighing as she dragged her through one of the doors out of the arena, and into a higher corridor in the tower.

"What do you mean dumb questions? I'm being kidnapped!"

The woman seemed to ponder that for a second, before waving her hand in the air, as if dispelling her argument.

"Eh, semantics."

"What do you mean 'semantics!?'"

/-/

As Rock Lee watched his one true love be dragged out of the arena by some unknown woman, he couldn't help but feel the slightest bit confused.

"Uhm, Guy Sensei, who was that?" He asked his mentor, who was standing just a bit behind him and the rest of his team.

"That, my students," His teacher looked up, a fearful look in his eyes as he continued. "Is someone you should hope you never meet."

"Uh, what does that mean?" Tenten asked, flipping a kunai on her finger as she turned to look back at her teacher.

"A demon…" Guy whispered as he cowered against the back wall, tears streaming down his face. "She's a demon!"

"Right…" The only female member of their team sighed, looking back towards the massive screen on the back wall. "Still, that was a pretty good fight! I didn't expect Sakura to handle herself so well."

Lee caught something in the girls statement that made him tilt his head.

"Tenten, have you met Sakura?"

The girl turned back to look at him, a confused expression on her face, before she seemingly connected the dots.

"Oh, right, yeah, I met Team 7 in the forest of death, they're the guys that gave me their earth scroll."

"Ah," Neji spoke up, looking at Tenten annoyedly. "So they're the reason you were late by a full day."

The girl in question coughed into her fist, looking anywhere else but at the Hyuga as she whistled quietly to herself.

"But isn't Sakura just the most beautiful girl you've ever seen!?" Lee spoke up, turning back towards the arena with hearts in his eyes. "She's perfect! I've decided to dedicate my next fight to her!"

Tenten sighed, looking over at him with a disappointed expression.

"Right, well, you have fun with that."

"Pay attention," Neji, their self-appointed leader, spoke assertively, gesturing to the black screen at the back of the hall. "They're announcing the next fighters."

The names on the screen flashed by quickly, never remaining more than for a few tenths of a second. Lee only caught a few, mostly the ones he knew. Naruto, Sasuke, Tenten, Neji, Lee, and he briefly caught the name Gaara scattered among them as well.

When the machine finally stopped, Lee felt the air in his lungs evacuate his body, and he had to grip the railing in front of him to keep from shaking.

Their teacher patted Lee on the back, leaning over his shoulder.

"This is it, Lee. This is what you've been training for." The man gave him a pearly smile, his expression confident. "Go on and show him how strong you really are!"

His hands were shaking as he brought them up in front of him. It wasn't nerves, no, it might have been, but that wasn't all that was there.

It was excitement, because this was finally the moment of truth.

Neji Hyuga vs. Rock Lee

"Oh?." His teammate looked back over at him, the pale eyes of the Hyuga clan narrowed, forming a small, competitive expression. "Well, well, I suppose we can finally settle this once and for all, no?"

"Yeah," Lee spoke, quieter and more serious than he had ever been. He brought his arms up before him, and, unclenching his left hand into an open palm, slammed his right fist into it.

Would genius prevail, proving once and for all that effort could never truly match talent? Or would his own training, going against what everyone he'd ever met had told him, show the world the value of hard work.

He couldn't wait to prove himself.

"Finally!"

End Chapter 17

Heyo!

This will be the first of the fights I'm excited about writing. There are of course a few throwaway fight's, because there have to be with so many people taking part, but I'd say that at least 7 of the 10 fights are going to be super fun, and the three that'll be kinda boring won't take that long at all, maybe a few hundred words at most.

Neji vs Lee is one of the biggest things that Kishimoto built up, and then just sort of... forgot about? Who knows, but Lee never really got the chance to challenge the idea that hard work can surpass genius, even if maybe Naruto did in his stead.

Still, I always felt that the boy wonder himself deserved his shot, and I've decided to give it to him.

Welp, that's all from me, see you all next week!

(P.S. I know now that I'm going to be moving some time next month, so this story will be going on hiatus within a few chapters. It won't be terribly lengthy, probably 3 weeks to a month, but if I forget to write it in a note then, well, at least I wrote it here, right?)