Akira made it back to her original position beside Kai and Shikamaru and looked down at Kiba talking to Hinata just before he was taken away. Akira looked back up at the viewscreen, suddenly very anxious. She hadn't had her turn yet and there weren't many opponents left that she'd like to face.

Going up against Choji and Dosu would be easy. Akira knew that she'd be able to defeat Choji quite easily and because the other Sound ninja were defeated without much effort, she was sure she'd be able to take Dosu on. However, there were still opponents like Gaara, Lee and Neji left to fight. Gaara was a complete mystery. She knew there was something odd about him, something dangerous, and that was enough to make Akira afraid to fight him. Lee was a taijutsu user who needed to be feared. With arms in the condition hers were in, and with the inability to use ninjutsu or genjutsu to compensate for the lack of close-combat ability, Akira would be in deep trouble if she went against him. And then there was Neji Hyuga. She expected the most out of him because of his name and reputation as best rookie last year. Of course, there was also Hinata Hyuga to fight, and she was a user of the same techniques as Neji, but from what Akira could tell, Hinata seemed prone to giving up when there was just a little resistance. If Akira was going to go up against her, she'd have no problem. As for Kai, well, that would be an interesting battle. They knew each other's tricks from A to Z. They trained together, basically grew up together. There were no secrets between them. Fighting Kai wouldn't be easy if for the simple fact that they would be able to predict each other's moves which such ease.

Akira watched nervously as the screen began to scramble names again, and she released a sigh of relief when both Hyuga's names appeared. Hinata was surprised and clearly afraid to go up against one of her clansmen, but Neji seemed annoyed, angry even. It was clear, from the past behaviour Akira had experienced from him, that Neji didn't think Hinata was a suitable opponent. As soon as Hayate gave the all clear, Neji didn't hesitate to insult Hinata. He kept insisting that she should withdraw, that she wasn't a good enough shinobi to even take part in the Chūnin Exams in the first place. He kept hurling insult after insult until Akira had had enough.

"Shut up, Neji," she spat. "If you're so sure you're going to beat her, then do it! Don't insult her like that just because you have an inferiority complex, you simple-minded walnut!"

Neji looked up and glared at Akira, who was looking down at him defiantly. From a distance, Maru was smirking and Akira heard Kai snort quietly and attempt to hold back laughter. Neji huffed, visibly annoyed. Akira turned to Kai and smacked him on the arm, trying to get him to stop chuckling.

"Stop laughing, you child."
"That was good," Kai said, a little giggly. "'simple-minded walnut', amazing."

Neji turned back to Hinata and put his hands together to form a familiar sign. Veins began coming out from underneath the skin around Neji's eyes and his nonexistent pupils took form, concentrating a deeper shade of his eye colour in the centre.

"The Byakugan..."
"I think you struck a nerve, Kira," Shikamaru commented.

Under the intensity of Neji's gaze, even Akira would have problems staying composed, and it was evident that Hinata was having the same problem. She couldn't even look at him. She was shaking. It wasn't helping that he kept antagonising her. At this rate, this was going to be more of a psychological battle than an actual fight, and Hinata was going to be the one to surrender.

"That does it!" Naruto shouted. "Who have you the right to tell her what she can or can't be!? Go on, Hinata! Show this guy he's wrong!"

With Naruto's words came a small amount of courage.

"Hinata, you just gonna stand there and take that!? Do something, you're driving me crazy!"

The look in Hinata's eyes had suddenly become sterner. Her stance became more solid, her body was no longer shaking. Her fists were clenched in anger and after a few moments, Hinata had awoken her own Byakugan and was weaving hand signs. Battle ensued. The gentle fist style was a wonder to observe. The way that every hit was infused with a bit of chakra was meant to feel like you were getting stabbed by a knife, chakra currents being cut off with every successful touch. Pale blue chakra shot out of Neji's and Hinata's hands as they fought, almost like a choreographed dance, their movements fairly synchronised. A small smile rose to Akira's lips. The way that the chakra shot out was similar to how she practised her own chakra control with water. Under normal circumstances, Akira would use the Sharingan to examine their technique, but considering that the dull pain on her shoulder was still there, Akira didn't take the chance.

Eventually, the subtly of the gentle fist technique began to yield results. Hinata had managed to land a few blows with her chakra, but Neji had started to attack specific points on her body, landing blows on pressure points to block Hinata's chakra network. But, just like Naruto, when Hinata fell she got right back up and kept going until Neji had disabled both of her arms. However, even without her arms, Hinata rose again, determined to keep fighting. This angered Neji and he concentrated an excessive amount of chakra into his fist and dashed straight for Hinata, intending to finish the fight once and for all. Luckily, Hayate, Kurenai, Kakashi as well as Guy stepped in to stop Neji from killing his cousin. The second he stopped, Hinata collapsed, and Hayate declared Neji the winner. Akira smiled. She may not have known Hinata very well, but that was probably the bravest fight she was going to see today, and Akira was immensely proud of her.

"Hey, you!" a voice to Akira's left said.

She turned and saw Kankuro approaching her. Akira rolled her eyes and looked back at the arena. All of her friends were down there with Hinata.

"What're you doing here on your own? Shouldn't you be with your friends?"
"I'm not in the mood for pleasantries, Kankuro. Just ask your questions and be gone."
"I just wanted to apologise for my behaviour a few days ago."

Akira snorted.

"Yeah, right. What do you want?"
"Hey, I'm trying to be nice here."
"You just want—"

Just then, a wave of pain shot throughout Akira's body, originating at the neck. She winced and nearly doubled over, but she clenched her jaw and squeezed the railing to distract herself from the pain instead. Kankuro glanced at her.

"You're not fit to battle, are you?"
"Shut up, Kankuro," Akira said through clenched teeth. She winced again. "No, definitely not."

Kankuro stared at her for a moment, curious, but looked away the second Akira glared at him. Then, they both turned their eyes to the viewscreen. In big yellow letters, Gaara and Lee's names were shining, and Akira took that moment to curse at herself out loud. This would have been the perfect moment to use her Sharingan, but she couldn't—she wouldn't. So much was riding on her ability to control herself and she wasn't about to ruin those chances just for the sake of curiosity.

In a cloud of sand, Gaara disappeared from the other side of the arena and appeared on the floor below. Lee jumped down, landing softly on his feet.

"Mind if I stay here to watch the fight?" Kankuro asked.
"Knock yourself out."
"I don't know what kind of moves the kid with the dumb haircut has got, but he's never gonna take Gaara down. Not in this lifetime, at least."
"Lee is stronger than you think, Kankuro," Akira said. "However, that Gaara of yours has got a look in his eye which makes me think you may be right on this one."

As soon as Hayate called the start of the match, Lee ran head-on towards Gaara. The cork on Gaara's gourd flew off with extreme speed and without him doing anything. As soon as he was in range, Lee went to attack. He was faster than Akira could have anticipated, but he couldn't manage to land a single hit. The second that Gaara was threatened, a large amount of sand flew out of his gourd and shielded him without him having to move an inch. Unlike Akira, who had to move the water with her chakra, Gaara's sand moved of its own accord. She watched, wide-eyed, as the sand then formed what looked like a clawed hand and went to attack Lee. Luckily, he moved out of the way just in time.

"So that's what's in his gourd..."
"Fun jutsu, huh?" Kankuro said, almost gloating.
"Stop trying to fool me, Kankuro. I know that's not a jutsu," Akira said, her eyes fixed on Gaara. "What is he?"

And that begged the question: what was she? Akira's ability to move water around with chakra wasn't very different to what Gaara's sand ability was. If this bloodthirsty-looking kid was able to move this sand around without having to direct it, would she be able to do the same thing one day, too?

Lee ran at Gaara again, but all he was hitting was sand. It blocked all of Lee's kicks and punches and, after a while, the sand became faster than Lee, forcing him to pull back during several attacks for fear of getting caught by the sand. Lee couldn't even get any kunai or shuriken through. Gaara on the other hand was just standing there, still and silent, like an immovable object.

The sand lashed out and got a hold of Lee's foot and swung him around, flinging him into a wall. Lee got back up just in time to avoid another hit from the sand. He ran back towards Gaara, trying to hit him in the face, but the sand didn't allow it. Instead, it defended and counter-attacked, forcing Lee to retreat using a series of backflips. However, on the last flip, Lee's foot landed on Gaara's sand and he fell. This created an opportunity for the sand to form a giant ball and come crashing down on Lee. Thankfully, Lee was faster than the sand this time and he was able to dodge, retreated to the top of the stature that stood at the back of the stage. He exchanged some words with his sensei and removed the training weights attached to his ankles. With a surprisingly powerful crash, the weights fell to the ground. Akira rose an eyebrow. If the weights were that heavy, she could only imagine how much faster he'd be without them.

As soon as they were removed, Lee flickered from his position and reappeared behind Gaara. Akira's eyes widened as Lee punched through the sand this time. He flickered again, this time in front of Gaara, and the sand wasn't able to keep up. He was getting punches through a little faster than the sand, making Gaara's stony expression turn into one of shock. For a second, he almost looked human. And then all of a sudden, Lee kicked Gaara straight in the face, coming from above. Everyone in the arena gasped. Lee came at him again and Gaara actually had to move the sand himself this time in order to block his attack. But Lee antagonized him, appearing and disappearing with such speed Akira wasn't sure even the Sharingan would be able to keep up with him. Then, Lee kicked Gaara again, sending the red-haired boy skidding across the arena on his back.

Gaara stood up, still bent over, his sand swirling like flames around him as it poured almost lazily out of his gourd. Out of the corner of her eye, Akira saw Kankuro take a step back.

"Uh oh..." he whispered.
"Uh oh?" Akira asked, turning to look at him.

When Kankuro didn't answer, Akira looked back to Gaara, worried. Upon closer inspection, she could see shards of hardened sand falling from his face. Gaara was trembling and when he looked up, there was a crazed look in his eye, almost as if there was a demon inside him. A layer of hardened sand was now visible over his entire body, an impressive last line of defence should a lucky ninja, like Lee, be able to break through his original sand guard. The sand pooling at his feet began to crawl back up his body, reforming the shell on top of his skin, making the crazed eyes and smile disappear, replacing it with the stony expression Gaara usually wore.

"The hits Lee landed... they meant nothing, did they?" Akira asked, a little scared.
"No, they didn't do anything," Kankuro said, stepping forward again. "It's like he's wearing a suit of armour. Ordinarily, those shifting clouds of sand are enough to shield him, but in the event the shield is penetrated, Gaara can also wear the sand-like armour as a last line of defence."
"Incredible," the girl whispered. "The amount of chakra it must take to maintain that..."

Lee began undoing the bandages around his wrists and Akira knew what was going to happen—she'd seen him do this before. He dashed towards Gaara and then swerved, spinning around him until he was barely visible due to his speed. Then out of nowhere, he kicked Gaara in the chin, sending him upward, and he kept on kicking Gaara upwards repeatedly, faster than the sand could catch up. The bandages that Lee had untied then began to wrap themselves around Gaara, trapping him in some sort of cocoon. Lee grabbed Gaara from behind and shot them down to the ground, getting out of the way just before impact. A large cloud of dust and rock rose into the air upon impact, creating a giant crater in the arena. When the smoke cleared, Akira saw Lee crouching beside Gaara who was lying flat on his back in the middle of the crater. His eyes were wide open and the sand armour was cracked all over. Gaara wasn't moving.

"Lee won?" Akira asked, not believing her eyes.
"I don't believe it," Kankuro muttered.

But just as Hayate was about to announce Lee as the victor, he stopped. Akira looked closer and, to her surprise, she saw that Gaara's face was caving in. Piece by piece, what she thought was armour disappeared and turned into a pile of sand. Gaara appeared behind Lee in a cloud of smoke, laughing darkly. A chill went down Akira's spine and she felt a surge of power in the air—the demonic look was back on Gaara's face.

"So it's happened, just as I thought, " Kankuro said, looking truly afraid. Akira turned to look at him. "That look in his eyes—it could only mean the demon inside him has been awakened."
"Kankuro..." Akira said tentatively. "When you say demon, you don't mean an actual demon, do you?"

With a simple glance, Akira knew. The power she felt—she knew it somehow. And she'd felt similar power in the Land of Waves, in the Forest of Death. Gaara was like Naruto. There was a demon inside each of them, but unlike Naruto, Gaara's didn't seem to be sealed at all. If the demon was awakened, it was free to take over Gaara's mind and body and do whatever it pleased. Akira watched in fear as Gaara made a hand sign. All the sand around him shot out in arms going in different directions, then they all went for Lee like a guided missile. They hit him one at a time and since Lee used everything he had on his last attack, all he could do was take the hits. He flew backwards, crashing into rock and concrete, but stood up strong again. However, just as he'd gotten to his feet, a literal wave of sand knocked him back down and pinned him to the concrete walls of the arena. More arms of sand came at Lee one at a time, each of them direct hits on the helpless boy.

"The poor kid is helpless, he doesn't have anything left," Kankuro whispered.
"That's why the Primary Lotus is a forbidden technique. It takes too much out of the user," Akira said with a harsh sigh.
"Gaara's just toying with him now. He'll be lucky if he survives."
"Why isn't the demon sealed?" Akira said all of a sudden, turning to Kankuro. "As unstable as Gaara is, he probably could have destroyed your village ten times over by now."
"That's none of your business," Kankuro said.
"There's a demon running around in my village, Kankuro! Of course, it's my business!"

Akira's attention was drawn by another wave of sand crashing down on Lee. When she looked over at him, he was lying face down on the ground, trembling. Worried, she looked back at Gaara. When she'd first met him, there was only an emotionless vacant expression on his face but now his eyes held nothing but contempt—pure evil.

Sand began gathering up towards Gaara again. In the blink of an eye, a large hand of sand crashed down on Lee's back, making him cry out in pain. However, Lee stood back up as Gaara prepared for another attack, and when the sand launched itself towards him, Lee dodged every single attack. Akira's eyes widened, impressed that Lee could still move after everything he'd just suffered. Another surge of power rose through the air, but this time it wasn't Gaara. Power radiated upwards from Lee's body and a whirlwind formed around him. Pale blue chakra rose from his body and his skin began peeling off due to its intensity.

"What the hell is that?" Kankuro asked, visibly confused.
"Don't quote me on this, but I think this kid is opening the eight inner gates," Akira said, shocked.
"The what, now?"
"They're figurative vales that limit one's chakra flow throughout the body. Sort of like... some form of enlightenment. By opening these gates, Lee is gaining unimaginable power. If you open all eight gates, your power could increase tenfold. Problem is, if he opens all eight, or more than he can handle, this kid is going to die."

Lee launched himself at Gaara in the blink of an eye and kicked him straight in the jaw again. The speed at which he'd moved created a dent in the ground where he'd kicked off, sending shards of stone and dust everywhere. Akira shielded her eyes, and when the dust cleared Gaara was in the air again, his armour cracking. Lee appeared over him again and kicked him back down. He reappeared behind Gaara and kicked him back upwards. He did this over and over again, the sand shield unable to keep up with Lee's speed. And then Lee punched Gaara so hard that a sonic wave blew through the arena. Akira looked away, using her arms to shield her face. She felt every chunk of stone land on her burnt arms, pain radiating throughout. Just as Akira looked back, Gaara was plummeting to the ground. The gourd on his back then disintegrated and cushioned his fall, allowing Gaara to stand back up, still conscious, unlike Lee, who could barely move at all.

Gaara's hand reached towards Lee, the sand beginning to slowly rise and bend to his will. It crept up on Lee and when it reached him, it covered both his legs. In the silence of the arena, the crunch of Lee's bones was deafening. Akira watched in horror as Gaara's sand crushed his legs and she looked away as Lee screamed. When she looked back, Guy was standing between Lee and Gaara. Lee was unconscious, which was probably for the best, as the pain would have been unbearable. Gaara seemed to be in pain as well. He was clutching his head, wincing.

"But why? He failed," Gaara said, wheezing in pain. "Why save him?"
"Because he's—Because he's my student, and also because he is precious to me," Guy said.

Akira looked on, surprised. Friends were precious, a family was precious—a student? Shinobi weren't supposed to bring their personal feelings into play this way. They were supposed to remain detached, concealing their emotions until the day they died. Saying that Lee was precious to him in front of everyone—in front of the Hokage—was bold. Akira thought it was a little stupid, too. Surely, Guy knew that Hayate was going to step in before there was an unnecessary death. He didn't have to intervene.

Gaara stared at Guy for a long while, as if he had no idea what he'd just said. He looked like he was in pain, confused, and tired. As time went on, the gourd reshaped itself and came to Gaara's back again, and just as Guy went to say something again, Gaara cut him off.

"I quit."
"What?" Akira whispered, not believing her ears. "He quits? But he's won. He won the second Guy intervened."

Akira's eyes followed Gaara as he went to leave. Almost as if he knew she was watching, Gaara looked up at her, and they held each other's gaze for a moment. There was no malice in his eyes anymore, just emptiness, and Akira maintained eye contact with him until he stopped to look at Lee being put on a stretcher. For a moment, Gaara didn't do anything. He simply stared at Lee being carried off. Then it seemed he had a change of heart. Instead of walking out as well, Gaara vanished in a cloud of sand and reappeared beside Temari on the other side of the arena.

"Good," she muttered to herself.
"You're happy he didn't quit?" Kankuro said, then took a sip of water from a bottle he had in his hand.

Akira stared at it for a moment, then looked back towards the arena.

"If he'd left, then he and Lee would have gone through all that for nothing."
"Well, I'm gonna head back," Kankuro said.
"Yo, Kankuro," Akira called. "Keep him in check, will you?"
"Don't tell me what to do." He paused. "But yeah, I will."
"Good."
"You know, you're not so bad, Uchiha."
"I know."

Kankuro chuckled and shook his head, leaving Akira's side to return to his team. The second the battlefield was cleared, the viewscreen began randomizing names again.

Contrary to popular belief, or Naruto's belief, in this case, Akira didn't like being the centre of attention. As she stepped down to the battlefield, she could feel everyone's eyes on her and it made her unnecessarily self-conscious. She knew what they were staring at. She could feel the gazes locked on her singed arms, on the way she winced ever so slightly when she walked, on the cuts and bruises, on the blood-stained clothes she was wearing. Everyone could tell she was in no condition to fight, that she was weak. However, the look on her face told everyone the contrary. It was stern, almost cold, and her eyes gleamed with the kind of determination that was almost tangible. When her opponent jumped down in front of her, he didn't recognise her at all.

"The tenth battle is next," Hayate said, looking between the two opponents. "Akira Uchiha and Kai Manzo!"