Hey, I'm back with another chapter!
Also wanted to answer some reviews, so you can skip this bit if you want.
This one is from a Guest (remember to make an account!): "I thought you said Tsunade Arc chapters ago?" Yes I did say Tsunade Arc, but meant it as a guide so you knew it was happening at the same time, I didn't mean Tsunade Arc literally. So sorry if it was misunderstood. The main reason of this arc (which is new one because Gohan joining Jiraiya and Naruto would be a bit forced imo) is to redeem Gaara and expand the world a bit more. I'm guessing you realized that since Gohan was the one to fight Gaara/Shukaku, the redhead didn't get his key interactions with Naruto for his redemption, so it must be worked differently now, and part of it is this arc. Also expanding the world for later points in the story. But anyways, I think I've spoken enough lol, hope you like the arc tho!
Disclaimer: I do not own DBZ or Naruto.
Once having entered the city, Guy told his students to split and go to the west area of the city. They would meet at the opposite end of the city, from the gate, though they were given the mission to calm the chaos and kick the invader forces out.
The hardest part proved moving through the desperate crowd, hundreds of people trying to escape out of panic from the explosions and battles going on all over the place. Not only that, but the amount of people made it difficult for the genin to face their enemies in battle without hurting civilians.
Their attention snapped out of the street as they heard something breaking a wall of the building next to them. They stopped running, trying to identify what had fallen through the wall.
Neji was surprised by a cloud of sand that came from the hole of the wall. Though Lee was able to break the mass of sand apart with a kick, saving his teammate from being hit.
Tenten reacted by throwing an explosive scroll so the sand would be completely scatter, of course waiting for the genin of the green jumpsuit to be away. The sand gathered back together in little to no time, but this time it moved towards the redhead sand-nin that was standing up.
"So it is him," said Tenten, her teeth clenching at the mere sight of that monster.
"It was clear since the sand attacked." Neji adopted his fighting stance.
"We can beat him together!" Lee followed Hyuga and adopted his own stance, the own taught to him by his mentor, Guy.
The sand attacked again immediately after Gaara was standing firmly. It adopted the form of a giant punch, though as it was about to be hit by another explosive scroll, it scattered into just a flying bunch of sand again to avoid it. As it kept advancing, the kunoichi of the pink shirt was forced to jump back while her teammates ran behind the sand, aiming to attack the redhead.
The cloud of sand divided in two, one portion following Hyuga and Lee, while the second portion of it continued their trajectory upward towards the kunoichi. And because of the genin of the bushy brow's speed, the sand catched Neji before they could get to the redhead.
Lee had to stop and recover his pace towards the shinobi of the white eyes, who struggled against the powerful grip of the sand. However, as he was about to get to him, something hit his back, causing him to fall to the ground and bruise his face as it crashed against the floor.
Tenten fell from the sky, opening her way through the sand with a sword she'd summoned from her scrolls, and managed to masterfully change the direction of her sword before it landed on her teammate. Neji took the chance and, using his gentle fist, escaped the grip of the now little amount of sand that was attached to his legs.
Now, the brown-haired kunoichi faced an old opponent, a previous rival from the chunin exams. Reinforcements had arrived for the redhead, and they were familiar to the members of Team Guy, who recognized the girl of the giant fan and the boy with purple tattoos all over his face.
Hyuga was known for being ruthless in battle and not letting his opponents have a chance, and he honored such reputation by unexpectedly landing a palm on the tattoed sand-nin's chest, pushing him slightly back. His new position gave the prodigy of the Hyuga clan the perfect angle to land a direct hit on his neck, this time managing to knock him out. His technique was clean.
Temari reacted just as quickly, though all she managed to do was push Neji back with wind boosted by her giant hand fan. However, he wasn't alone, and so she was left in a precarious position when the brown-haired kunoichi dashed and tried to slash her sword through the blonde's body.
As the fan blocked the sword several times, Tenten jumped back and grabbed her scroll, though only to surprise the sand kunoichi. From the scroll, she summoned a chained scythe, and swiftly attempted to hit her opponent with it, but as it was about to cut through the blonde's face, a wall of sand blocked it and absorbed the scythe, only letting go once it was completely destroyed.
Tenten was never happy to see one of her favorite weapons be destroyed like that, but she had more important issues to take care of at the moment.
"We should split, you take care of the sand guy and I can take care of the girl." Tenten suggested as she summoned another scythe from her scroll.
"Are you sure?" Neji raised an eyebrow, not as sure about whether his teammate would be able to handle the sand kunoichi by herself after what happened in the chunin exams. "Remember-"
"Yes I do," Tenten firmly replied, knowing very well what Hyuga wanted to remind her. "I can take her down."
"Alright, be careful!" Lee gave her a thumbs up before charging against his own opponent.
Neji was hurried up by his teammate's move, though he still looked directly at the brown-haired's eyes, confirming her confidence and nodding in approval. And only then, he jumped to support the genin of the bowl haircut.
"Get ready, because I intend to win today!" Her eyes showed complete focus, and stared at her opponent's soul through her blue eyes.
"Bah! You just caught me by surprise, don't think you'll beat me!" Temari opened her giant fan, and put it behind her back as she invited the brown-haired to come at her.
Her invitation was followed as the chained scythe was thrown again, though this time it was blocked by the fan rather than a wall of sand. Tenten used the chain to pull the scythe back to her, and perfectly grabbed it in the air after jumping forward. However, she was caught on air by a powerful wind current impulsed by the fan, which threw her back into a nearby house's wall.
Tenten coughed blood, clearly watching the drops of it fall on the floor. She was sure something was wrong with her back, because when it hit the wall something cracked. But she ignored it in the end, and stood up, with her scythe still held in her hand.
The dark blonde kunoichi got ready to blow the fan again, but once again her opponent ran directly towards her. This confused her, but she still blew another powerful wind stream. She understood what the leaf kunoichi was trying to do when, with the support of her scythe, which she nailed into another wall, she moved away from the current and dodged it.
Before Temari could respond in any way, Tenten threw several kunai and shuriken at the fan, making several holes in it. Once she fell onto the ground, the fan was unable to serve its main purpose, and such, conditions were favorable for Tenten. She smirked and pulled her scythe's chain so it would go out of the wall.
"Seems like the tables have turned."
"Don't get too cocky, I'm pretty sure a you have at least a broken bone after hitting the wall!" Temari, frustrated and nervous, gritted her teeth. She knew whatever was left of the fight, would leave her with a serious disadvantage after her main weapon was destroyed.
A sand wall was already there to block Lee's kick, but it couldn't grab his leg as Neji was already attacking the redhead as well. His veins heavily marked all around his white eyes warned the redhead that he had already activated his byakugan.
This time the sand wall did have enough space and time to grab Neji, though not enough to crush his arm, so he was just thrown away. Continuing the turns, the genin of the green jumpsuit ran towards the wall, dodging it once he got right in front of it, and managing to run past it thanks to his speed. And so, he landed the first punch on Gaara's face.
Having fought against the redhead previously let him know the redhead better, as well as the lesson that he had to go all out against him. And such, allowed him to predict the sand's movements and dodge it, and then land a punch. However, he was also aware of the sand armor, it being the reason he punched the redhead a couple more times. What he didn't know, was that he gave his opponent the chance to prepare another technique, and Lee didn't notice until he saw Gaara's hands moving.
"Sand Burial Prison." Gaara said, cold and plainly.
Under Lee's feet, a hole opened, breaking through what used to be street and getting to him. And just like quicksand, the genin started sinking in it. He was saved just before his ankles sank as well, though, as his teammate went through the weakened sand walls and grabbed his arm just in time to pull him out. They, however, weren't lucky enough not to be hit by another huge mass of sand.
"His sand is everywhere..." said Neji, just in time to be hit again by a big mass of sand.
Lee, however, managed to dodge the attack. Seeing that his teammate was in danger warned him of the redhead's true power, and for such he took the decision to use his last resource again.
A green aura started surrounding his body while veins emerged on his forehead, and his skin turned red. After his pupils disappeared, he was ready. "Gate of Pain, open!"
Gaara was thrown back to their fight with just that phrase, and he immediately tried to pull back his sand from Neji to be able to defend appropriately. However, he wasn't fast enough to surpass Lee's speed at this point, and so, he received a kick directly on his nose, which completely broke the sand armor he had. And then, Lee followed with another kick, though on the cheek, and, once again he felt pain.
The redhead fell to the floor, and he was shocked. Neji joined back next to his teammate, who was observing the seemingly broken Gaara, who was doing a mix of sobbing and laughing.
"Time to finish it off." Neji said, getting his palm ready to kill his opponent. However, Lee put his arm in front of Hyuga and stopped him.
"No, don't."
"Huh?" Hyuga raised his eyebrow as he turned to face his teammate. "Did you forget that he tried to kill you? And that other guy. He's the enemy!"
"Maybe, but killing when the opponent is unable to defend themselves is disgraceful." He kneeled and checked on the redhead's pulse.
Then, the sand went back into the pumpkin Gaara held on his back. Neji was surprised at this, because it meant that the redhead wouldn't fight against the genin of the green jumpsuit.
Gaara got scared once the leaf-nin of the bowl haircut checked on his pulse, his breathing and heartbeat accelerating considerably as he thought he'd be killed. For such fear, the sand behind them turned into a spike, ready to stab Lee's chest. However, he decided not to once he was left alone and saw he wouldn't be done any harm.
Not being used to such treatment and feeling of safety, he decided to just let the pair of leaf-nin go. However, he remained shocked, as he had lost once again and against someone he thought to be a weaker opponent.
"Let's go find Tenten." Lee turned to his rival, who nodded in response before following him.
And that's it for now, hopefully I update soon!
I'd also like to know your opinion on this bit of the city, would be nice to know if you like it and yeah. Also remember to support the story with a follow/favorite if you liked it!
But anyways, enough of me wasting your time, I'll see you soon with the next chapter, bye bye!