Neji watched as Sakura pulled her teammates toward the stairs, watching the back of Sasuke's head intently. "Sasuke... Sasuke Uchiha, eh."
Rock Lee turned to look at Neji, and Tenten smiled at the Hyuga.
"Does that kid concern you?"
"Hmph." Neji smirked slightly, closing his eyes briefly as he walked down the hall. Tenten following behind.
Tenten turned to look at the other boy. "Lee, let's go. What're you doing?"
"You guys go on ahead. I have something I want to check out." Lee replied, and turned to walk the other way.
"What's that about?" Teten mumbled, looking back at Neji.
"Why should I know?"
Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke walked through the Academy's training hall.
"You, with the unpleasant look. Wait a minute!"
"Huh?"
They stopped and turned to look at the upper level where Rock Lee looked down at them.
"Oh." Naruto squinted at him in surprise and Sakura paled and her eyes widened.
"Oh no!"
Sasuke put his hands into his pockets. "What is it?"
"Why don't you fight with me here now?"
"A fight right here and now?" Sasuke furrowed his brows.
"Yes!" Lee hopped down, thumbing at himself. "My name's Rock Lee." He pointed at Sasuke. "When asking a person their name, I'm supposed to give my own name first, right? Sasuke Uchiha..."
"Hmph. So you knew?"
"I want to fight with you!" Lee took a stance, awaiting a reply. "I want to test how effective my techniques will be against the descendant of the clan reputed for genius Ninjas. Also..."
Lee turned his attention to Sakura, who shuddered at the eye contact. Lee's cheeks flushed as he looked at her.
"Sakura. Love."
"N-No!" Sakura shook her head quickly. "Those lower lashes are awful!" She hugged her arms close, muttering. "The hairstyle is awful, too... and those bushy eyebrows... just too intense. Everything is...!"
"You're an angel!" Lee blew a kiss at her.
"Noooooo!" Sakura dodged as if a heart floated to her and missed.
"Oh, you're good." Lee admired her. "Then, how about...?"
Lee blew dozens of kisses at her, one after the other, and she continued to shriek and dodge.
Sakura panted, catching her breath as her eye twitched and she looked at him. "That... was super close." She furrowed her brows and balled her hand into a fist. "Hey! Don't do strange things! I was dodging for my life!"
"You don't have to resent me that much..." Lee slouched slightly and his expression fell.
"It's Sasuke again! Darn it! Darn it!" Naruto gritted his teeth and clenched his fists.
"To be honest, you're a naïve one, knowing the Uchiha name and still challenging me." Sasuke responded finally, narrowing his eyes at him. "Do you want to realize what this name signifies, Bushy Brow?""
"I insist." Lee smirked faintly, taking a ready stance again with one arm behind his back and the other hand in front of him. "I'm lucky... to be able to have a bout with the number one rookie right away. And I'll prove It to you, Guy Sensei!"
"Wait!" Naruto interrupted and all eyes fell on him. "I'll be the one to take out Bushy-Brow. Believe it!"
"Hey, you!" Sakura frowned at him and Naruto stepped forward.
"Big deal!" Naruto rubbed his nose, sniffing as he smirked. "I'll be able to take care of him in just five minutes!"
"The one I want to fight isn't you... it's Uchiha." Lee kept his attention focused on Sasuke.
"Tch!" Naruto balled his fists. "All these people keep saying Sasuke, Sasuke. How annoying!" He ran at Lee at full speed, throwing a punch. Lee quickly tapped Naruto's hand, diverting the strike to the side and causing Naruto to lose his balance.
"Darn it!" Naruto adjusted, placing his hands on the ground and aiming a kick at Lee.
Lee dodged skillfully and dropped to the ground, spinning and extended a leg to knock Naruto to the ground.
"Leaf Whirlwind!"
Naruto shouted in surprise, then spun and was flung into the wall, hitting it with a grunt.
"As I thought... he's strong." Sakura watched Naruto blink and rub his head as Lee stood straight.
"I declare you are absolutely no match for me. That's because... of all the Leaf Village Genin, I'm the strongest now." Lee looked at Sasuke, taking a ready stance again in confidence as Sasuke narrowed in his eyes in a slight scowl.
Sasuke smirked, closing his eyes temporarily before he looked back at Lee. "Interesting. I'll do it."
Sakura turned to the wall clock and blinked. "Oh." She turned to Sasuke. "Stop. There's less than thirty minutes until the registration."
"Hmph. Don't worry." He furrowed his brows. "It'll be over in five minutes."
Sasuke ran at Lee quickly and Lee smiled faintly as he watched his movements.
"Here he comes! I'm sorry, Guy Sensei. I may end up breaking the taboo. I may just end up using... that technique."
Sasuke arced a punch at him, his eyes widening slightly as Lee suddenly vanished. "He disappeared?" Looking all around, he saw out of the corner of his eye as Lee appeared in the air above him and kicked at him in series.
"Leaf Hurricanes!"
"I can't get completely out of the way...!" Sasuke gritted his teeth as he started to dodge and instead raised his arms. "Guard!"
Lee held up a single hand sign and his foot made contact with Sasuke's face, knocking him back.
"What...?!" Sasuke was thrown backward and fell hard onto the wooden floor.
"Sasuke!" Sakura's eyes widened as she held her hand up to her mouth.
"What's going on?" Sasuke slowly got up, scowling as he thought.
"But... he did guard himself just now, no mistake." Sakura looked from Sasuke to Lee in silence.
"He got around my guard." Sasuke wiped his face with the back of his hand and narrowed his eyes at his opponent. "What is it? Is it Ninjutsu? Or is it Genjutsu?"
"As I thought... he's going to get up!" Lee waited in his stance again, keeping his attention on Sasuke.
"Hmph... That's okay. If that's the case, this is a good opportunity to get used to that." Sasuke smirked. "I'll do it."
"H-Huh?" Sakura blinked. "Could it be...?"
Sasuke blinked and his eyes shifted to reveal the red Sharingan where two tomoe encircle each of his pupils.
"Sharingan!" Sakura blushed faintly as she stared at him. "Since when has he... what is that in his eyes? And, in both of them...!"
"Is that the Sharingan?" Lee furrowed his thick brows and pressed his lips together to form a hard line.
"Sasuke's so awesome, after all!" She smiled and clasped her hands together, holding them close. "If this is the same Kekkei Genkai as Kakashi-sensei's... he can read Bushy-Brow's Jutsu! This will be over soon."
"Genjutsu or Ninjutsu... it's some kind of magic either way... I'll expose it!"
"It feels like Sasuke's rapidly getting stronger. That's to be expected of one from the Uchiha clan. That's right! There's no way that Sasuke could lose to a guy like this."
Sasuke ran at Lee full speed, smirking. Lee closed his eyes briefly, then seemed to vanish again, reappearing to deal a firm kick from below. Sasuke flew across the room once again, clenching his jaw.
Sakura covered her mouth as it gaped open. "The Sharingan...!"
"To not be able to discern the Jutsu with the Sharingan... could it be... that his technique is...!"
"That's right..." Lee straighted and looked at Sasuke. "My technique is neither Ninjutsu no Genjutsu."
Sasuke flipped mid-air and landed on his feet, barely having time to catch his breath before Lee rushed at him.
Naruto rubbed his head, finally regaining consciousness. He blinked and his eyes went wide as he saw the fight before him. "Sasuke!"
Lee advanced, landing punch after punch and kick after kick as Sasuke struggled to keep up, barely able to block. Lee parried a counter-punch easily, gripping Sasuke's wrist to pull him into his elbow hard. Sasuke coughed and staggered back several meters, clutching his stomach with a glare.
"That's right." Lee turned to Sasuke once more. "My technique is mere Taijutsu... Sasuke."
Sasuke's eyes widened as Lee vanished again, reappearing behind the Uchiha. Sasuke gritted his teeth and glanced behind him as Lee continued to speak.
"You may not be able to believe it just like that, but..."
"Punk!" Sasuke growled and swung at his rival, who easily dodged by leaping high into the air before landing gracefully across the room and taking the ready stance again.
"It's said that the Sharingan has the ability to spot all Genjutsu, Ninjutsu, and Taijutsu..."
Sasuke trembled slightly as he stared at Lee, fixed in place.
"Make no mistake," Lee continued. "The Sharingan reads Ninjutsu and Genjutsu that require the principle of building up Chakra and weaving signs... and can most surely handle such Jutsu. However, only Taijutsu is a different story."
"What do you mean?!" Sasuke scowled slightly and narrowed his eyes.
"Even if you can spot my movements with the Sharingan, your body is not equipped with the speed to respond to my Taijutsu. In other words... even if you understand with your eyes, there's nothing to be done if your body is unable to keep up."
Sasuke clenched his fists, glaring in response.
"Do you know? There are two types of strong people in the world. Genius types and Effort types." Lee paused. "If your Sharingan is a genius type drawing Uchiha ability... I'm an effort type who has patiently mastered only Taijutsu."
Sasuke clenched his teeth and ran at Lee once again, swinging a punch at Lee, which he dodged easily as he continued talking.
"In a manner of speaking, your Sharingan and my ultimate Taijutsu have the worst compatibility..." Lee continued to dodge Sasuke's heavy attacks without moving from the spot where he stood, then turned on his back leg to land an upward kick to the Uchiha, who flew back.
Lee placed his hands and knees on the floor, then seemed to vanish, reappearing behind Sasuke mid-air.
"Dancing Leaf Shadow!"
Sasuke glanced over his shoulder at Lee, speechless.
"And I shall prove it with this technique." Lee's bandaging on his forearms loosened. "Prove that effort exceeds the genius."
"W-What's he going to do?!" Sasuke's eyes widened.
"It's my victory!" Lee's bandages moved to wrap around Sasuke, only for a pinwheel to fly through the air, catching the end of a bandage, and sticking into the wall to interrupt the match.
Sakura flinched at the sudden interruption, and she and Naruto looked over at the source simultaneously. "Huh?!"
Lee's eyes widened slightly. "That's...!"
A large red and yellow tortoise scowled up at the green-clad Genin. "That's as far as it goes, Lee!"
"What is it? What's going on?" Sasuke gritted his teeth, turning to look as he fell to the ground.
"Sasuke!" Sakura ran over to him, catching him just before he reached the floor and cushioned his fall with a grunt.
Lee rolled in air, then landed in front of the reptile, kneeling.
Naruto stared wide-eyed at Lee, trembling slightly. "Sasuke was... beaten?! What happened while I was knocked out?!"
Sakura helped Sasuke to get up carefully and he lifted his head to glare at Lee.
"Are you okay, Sasuke?" Sakura frowned slightly at his slight bruises. He gritted his teeth without acknowledging her and she stared at him quietly. "He's agitated... to think he couldn't even fall properly..."
"Y-You were watching...?" Lee asked the tortoise, his eyes cast downward as he continued to kneel.
"Lee! That technique just now is prohibited, you know!" The tortoise narrowed its gaze at him.
"W-What's with that turtle...?" Naruto's eyes fell on the animal and he blinked several times. "He's getting scolded or something, it looks like."
"I'm sorry." Lee bowed his head. "I didn't mean to..."
Naruto's eyes widened slightly and he tapped his fist against his palm. "I know! Could that be... Bushy Brow's teacher?!"
Lee's eyes rose to look at the tortoise, who glared at him. Lee reeled back slightly, waving his hands.
"B-But of course, I-I didn't even remotely have a mind to use that Forbidden technique..."
"There's no mistake." Naruto stood slowly, watching Lee frantically defending himself.
Sakura and Sasuke both turned to look at Lee, blinking wide-eyed.
"Huh...?"
"Hey, hey!" Naruto ran over to his teammates.
"What?" Sakura turned to him.
"That thing..." Naruto pointed at the reptile. "It's a turtle, right?"
"Isn't it obvious?!" Sakura's eye twitched slightly as her brows furrowed.
"Say, say..." His arm lowered and he narrowed his eyes at Sakura. "Can even a turtle become a Ninja teacher?"
"Huh?! I don't know!"
"Fool!" The animal loudly shouted at Lee. "You think such subterfuge will work?! You should know very well what it means for a Shinobi to give away his technique!"
"I... I know." Lee hung his head.
Sasuke wiped away the dirt smudged on his face, clenching his jaw as he furrowed his brows at Lee from across the room. "To think I lost to someone so flippant..."
"Have you prepared yourself?" The tortoise asked and Lee's head hung further.
"Hm..." The animal looked away for a moment. "All right, if you will, Guy Sensei!"
With a puff of smoke, a man with thick brows, a bowl cut, flak jacket, and green tracksuit appeared, standing on top of the tortoise's back in a peculiar position.
"Man! Life treating you good, huh?"
"H-Huh?!" Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto paled as their jaws dropped and they stared in shock at the man.
"Whoa! An even more intense guy has appeared!" Naruto twitched slightly as he stood rooted in place.
"Yo, Lee." The man thumbed at himself with a smile and one eye closed in a wink.
"Super intense... that extreme bowl cut..." Sakura stammered under her breath, her eye twitching.
"T-Those are some incredibly raging brows..." Naruto added shakily. "I've never seen anything like that in my life."
Lee twitched as he overheard them talk, then quickly turned toward them with his thick brows furrowed and his fist clenched. "H-Hey! You guys! Don't mock Guy Sensei!"
"Shaddup!" Naruto's brow tensed and he balled his hands into fists. "I'm at a loss for a reaction because of the bizarre things appearing one after the other!"
"What?!" Lee shouted back.
"Hey, Lee!" Gyu waved. "Drop it."
Lee stopped, regaining his composure as he turned to look at his sensei. "Yes, sir."
Guy drew his fist back suddenly, then hit Lee directly in the cheek, knocking him back. "Idiot!"
Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke stared with their eyes and mouths wider, speechless.
Guy walked over to his student and knelt in front of him as Lee slowly picked himself off of the ground.
"Lee, you... you..."
"S-Sensei...!"
Tears poured from Guys eyes as he smiled faintly down at the boy. "Lee..."
Lee started to cry in the same way, sniffing. "S-Sensei... I... I..."
"Enough, Lee! Don't say anything!"
"Sensei!" Lee lunged forward, wrapping his arms around the man in a tight hug.
"Lee!" Guy returned the embrace.
"I lost... to a guy like that..." Sasuke's eye twitched.
"Yes... this is youth!" Guy continued to hug Lee as they cried.
"S-Sensei!"
"Heh..." Naruto chuckled and pointed over at Lee and Guy. "That sort of tone's kind of nice, too, right?"
"I-Idiot!" Sakura pointed at him, glaring. "That's dangerous! Very dangerous!"
Lee and Guy wiped their eyes and stood, and Guy patted the boy's shoulder. "It's okay, Lee. Mistakes come with youth. Don't worry about it!"
"Y-You're so kind... sensei." Lee sniffed again as tears continued to flow down his face.
"Now then!" Guy pointed outside with a grin. "Take a hundred laps around the training field toward that setting sun!"
"Yes, sensei!" Lee wiped his eyes again with his forearm and smiled brightly.
"Let's go, Lee!"
"Yes, sir!"
They turned and started to leave, and Naruto blinked.
"H-Hey, wait a minute! We're still in the middle of the conversation!" Naruto clenched his fists in frustration.
"What're you going to do about the Chunin Exam?!" Sakura added, holding her hands out in a slight shrug. "There's no time!"
Guy stopped and turned to Team Seven and rubbed his head. "Huh? Oh, that's right..." He cleared his throat, putting his hands on his hips as he turned his attention back to his student. "Lee, you will be punished for attempting to break the prohibition on top of fighting... in principle, after the Chunin Exam."
"Okay!" Lee saluated, and Guy grinned and struck another odd pose, with one hand on his hip and another pointed at the ceiling.
"Five-hundred howls of youth!"
"Yes, sir!"
"I-Idiots..." Sakura muttered quietly.
"Say! Say!" Naruto pointed at the tortoise again. "By the way, what's with that turtle?"
Guy looked over at the other Genin, quietly watching them. "If I'm not mistaken, those kids are... Kakashi's."
Sakura blinked, then paled and held her arms up like an X. "Oh no! He's looking this way!"
"You guys..." Guy rested his hands on his hips. "How's Kakashi?"
Sasuke blinked, finally reverting his shocked expression to normal and stuck his hands into his pockets. "You know Kakashi...?"
"I know him all too well." Guy chuckled and touched his chin. "People call us... eternal rivals."
Sakura and Naruto made a face.
"S-Sounds like a lie!"
"What're you saying?!" Lee held up his fist in defense. "Guy Sensei really is...!"
"That's fine." Guy chuckled again and held up his hand. "Actions speak louder than words, anyway."
Sasuke narrowed his eyes slightly at them, then widened quickly as he realized Guy was suddenly missing.
"H-Huh?!"
"By the way, my record is fifty wins and forty-nine losses." Guy chuckled, behind them now.
They froze in place, trembling slightly at his speed and turned quickly to look at him.
"T-This guy..." Sasuke watched him intently, narrowing his eyes further.
"W-When did he...?" Naruto stammered and gulped.
"Ha!" Guy pointed a thumb at himself. "For one, I'm stronger than Kakashi."
"N-No way..." Sasuke gritted his teeth. "He's fast! He's even faster than Kakashi! Is he even human?!"
"How about that?!" Lee grinned at them. "Guy sensei is awesome, isn't he?!"
"Damn it..." Sasuke averted his eyes slightly.
"This time around, Lee caused the trouble. Out of consideration for my face, please forgive him."
Sasuke didn't answer, only staring blankly, lost in thought. "He's better than Kakashi...? Damn it... He's... not just all talk."
"You guys and Lee should probably go to the classroom pretty soon." Guy continued, throwing a Kunai knife to knock the pinwheel off the wall, freeing Lee's bandage that tethered him there.
Lee slowly rebandaged his hand and forearm, and Naruto's eyes widened slightly at the bruises on the back of the boy's hand.
"He...!"
"Alright then! Do your best, Lee!" Guy held up a thumbs-up and smiled. "Farewell!"
"Yes, sir!"
Guy disappeared in a pop of smoke the same way he had appeared, along with the tortoise, leaving the Genin alone.
"Sasuke..." Lee turned to his rival, and the Uchiha met his gaze. "I have one last thing to tell you. I actually came here to verify my own ability... I lied before. The strongest of the Leaf Village Genin might be on my team."
Sasuke furrowed his brows and Lee continued.
"I'm entering in order to defeat that person. And, you are also one of my targets. Please prepare yourself for the Exam accordingly!"
Lee leapt upward, performing a front roll mid-air, and landed gracefully on the other level before leaving the training hall entirely. Sasuke clenched his fists tightly and looked away.
"Sasuke..." Sakura looked at him, whispering quietly.
"Ha! So..." Naruto crossed his arms behind his head and looked sideways at his teammate. "I guess the Uchiha clan's not all that, huh?"
Sakura blinked, balling her fists as she glared at the blond. "Naruto!
"Shut up!" Sasuke hissed. "I'll knock him flat next time!"
"Heh..." Naruto turned away as he muttered. "That from someone who just got whipped."
"H-Hey!" Sakura glared again. "What's your problem, Naruto?!"
Sasuke shot a glare at Naruto from the corner of his eye, and Naruto looked down at the ground, his expression solemn.
"You saw it, didn't you? His hand..."
Sasuke's eyes widened slightly.
"That Bushy-Brow probably did a heck of a lot of special training. Day after day... probably more than you have. That's all it is."
Sakura looked at Naruto, then back to Sasuke, who turned his back to them as he gritted his teeth. "Sasuke... "
"Interesting..." Sasuke opened his hands, then closed them again with a smirk. "Hmph. It's starting to get really interesting... this Chunin Exam! I wonder what's coming next."
"Yeah!" Naruto grinned at him, and Sakura smiled.
"All right!"
Sasuke stuck his hands into his pockets, looking at the doorway. "Let's go, Naruto. Sakura."
"Yeah! I'm ready!"
Sasuke stepped through the doorway first and Sakura watched him walk confidently with a faint blush.
"Sasuke's so cool!"