DOWNFALL OF THE LIGHT
Chapter 10: Zealous Opponents of Chaos
Disclaimer: (Runs back with head down and a broken leg with a 9mm Assault Rifle in hand and reloads it.) I don't own Naruto in any way (Fires to aid soldiers for covering fire) or I don't own Warcraft 3 either. (Tosses a grenade out to block incoming troopers.) C'mon, I need some suppressing fire! I need to make out of this mission alive damn it! (Runs out painfully continuing to make suppressing fire and an advance signal.)
"…": Speech
'…': Thoughts
===: Scene Change.
AN: Looks like I made it out alive to write this new chapter… man, this is getting really tough on me. I can't believe I finished this in 1 day. Someone's gotta stop me from this insanity! I just been shot and I am still writing like there's no tomorrow. I know some of you have some questions but I won't answer them here since they aren't really major. I will answer them next time if it is very important. For now, I hope you all will enjoy my humble story while I need to return to the battleground and aid anyone who needs me. I will write a little note at the end of the chapter if I make it back alive! Wish me luck! (I make an advance signal and crouch down to fire) I need backup now damnit. I will repeat now damnit, NOW!
"Kakashi," said Naruto to his unreliable jounin instructor the next day on the bridge. "What is this important news that you need to tell us?" Hinata and Sakura weren't too thrilled too see their sensei that late either, they were starting to get a little impatient.
"The news that you all want is here, my children," said the jounin with a smile. "I have nominated all three of you in this term's chunnin exam, are you three excited?"
"I have to say you're doing a very bad job if you're trying to justify for your lateness, Kakashi," said Sakura with a very similar unsatisfied look just like her brother's. Both the girls no longer call Kakashi with the suffix sensei, they don't really think he deserved to be called that. As far as they are concerned, Naruto should be one called sensei since he was the one who did all the training.
"What makes you think that we are actually up for it?" questioned Hinata softly.
"I know you are, don't worry."
"How do you know that?" snapped Naruto coldly. "You haven't been here on missions, training, or even spend time with this team. How would you even know if we are prepared for it or not?"
"Hey, I have faith in you guys," replied Kakashi casually. "I know you three won't disappoint me"
"Don't put your hopes so high on a bunch of people who are like strangers to you," reminded Sakura.
"You guys aren't strangers to me…"
"You are to us," added Hinata bluntly. "No further comment would be needed. Now, are we even qualified for the exam. This is a very important task, I know that."
"Whenever genins have successfully completed 8 missions of any rank, they can be nominated in this exam. So far, you guys have completed more than enough."
"How many have we completed so far?" asked the Death Knight with an irritated expression. "We have been doing so many lame D missions that I'm not even sure that we are up to this." Of course he knew he was up for it, but the mission record really didn't look too promising to anyone.
"You three have done 6 C-Rank missions and 10 D-Missions, you guys would do fine." Kakashi then reached out three tickets of some kind and handed them to his students. The three genins looked puzzled of what those were. "There are the applications that you need in order to participate for the exam, present this before the test begins. It's your choice to whether you want to take it or not."
"Our choice?" asked Sakura as she took her application ticket and read it. "When is this exam?"
"It's 6 days away from today," explained Kakashi as he gave a grin. "The place and time is at the larger academy south of the academy you graduated from. The exam begins at 3:00, so don't be late or you won't be able to attend it."
"6 days?" questioned Naruto as he slipped his form in his jacket pocket. "That's quite sudden, Kakashi."
"It is, I think things aren't going that organized this year… anyway, there will not be any missions for these past few days, it's for you to train if you want to participate in the exam. Well, whether you want to take it or not there won't be missions neither way. So find something to occupy your time for now. If you three don't have any other questions, I need to be on my way to give in a report." With that stated, the jounin once again vanished in a cloud of smoke. Team 7 grinned to another and made their way back to town with very high hopes.
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"So Naruto-kun," asked the Hyuga heiress as she attached herself onto the boy while walking down the streets of Konoha. "Are you going to participate in this exam?"
"I might as well. I made myself a promise to Rin-chan that I would become a chunnin as soon as possible," said Naruto as he tugged the Hyuga girl closer. "I think I really should."
"I wonder why Kakashi allowed us to take on this exam individually?" Sakura wondered to herself out loud. Naruto smiled at his pink hair sister's sharpness. "This sort of doesn't make much sense."
"Trust me Sakura-chan," said the Death Knight holding Sakura's hand softly like an older brother would. "If one of us doesn't show up when the exam begins, the remaining 2 people wouldn't be able to continue."
"How come?" asked Hinata curiously.
"The chunnin exam is a test taken with teams of three, meaning the genin teams. Up to this point for all genins, the main task is to work together. We have been trained under the guidance of a jounin all for one purpose, to take on this chunnin exam and pass it and promote to the next level."
"How do you know that?" asked Sakura confused.
"Rin-chan, my sister, she took it last year before I left the village of Air and she required two other people to aid her before she could participate. That's how I knew."
"Is she a chunnin?" asked the lavender eye girl. The Death Knight nodded.
"Then why didn't you take on the chunnin exam then?" asked Sakura.
"Rin-chan preferred that I became a chunnin of Konoha… I think she was being too considerate…"
"You should feel grateful for having such a caring sister, Naruto-kun," stated Hinata sweetly. "I know Rin-san wouldn't like it if she heard what you just said." Naruto simply shrugged as Sakura jabbed him slightly with her elbow causing the silver hair shinobi to flinch slightly. As he flinched, the Death Knight unintentionally gathered more chakra into his eyes allowing him to sense several unidentified chakra levels nearby. They were high and it didn't feel like anyone from Konoha. He stopped immediately and formed a seal to sense the chakra signatures more clearly. He then made a small advance signal and took off in a flash. Hinata and Sakura grinned to another and followed their leader's lead. Naruto jumped from building to building with his teammates following close behind, he was impressed that they could actually keep up with this speed. It wasn't something that could be performed without more intense training. With their training for the past 2 months or so, the training seriously paid off. As Naruto arrived at the scene, he already saw a boy dressed in complete black suit with purple face painting lifting a young child with a blue cape. What caught Team 7's attention was that he had something like a mummy on his back. He seemed to be having a good time bullying the younger boy. The youngster had two other friends with him who were begging for forgiveness. Behind the face painted boy stood a short blond hair girl with dark brown eyes. She was dressed in a white shirt with a white skirt. She was equipped with a large metal object on her back and by the looks of things, she seemed to be even older than the black suit boy. The Death Knight knew that their chakra levels were the ones he sensed, he just didn't know what the hell was happening here.
"You know," began the black suit genin to the blue caped boy. "I really hate midgets who are careless, it makes me want to beat them up." It seemed that he didn't notice Team 7's presence, he was too focussed in trying to have fun while the two other kids were trying everything they could for him to release their friend. Naruto's cold stare didn't go unnoticed by the blond hair girl though.
"Kankuro," called the blond hair genin. "Let him go, we aren't here to cause any trouble."
"Quiet, Temari!" snapped the black suit boy named Kankuro. "I'll have my fun regardless."
"Fine, I'm not going to be responsible for what happens next." Temari just shrugged and backed off.
"You worry too much, Temari. Nothing is gonna happen."
"Leave Konohamaru-chan alone, you big bully!" shouted the little girl who had a pair of goggles on her forehead. Her other friend also had the same pair, he was wearing glasses.
"What did Konohamaru-kun ever do to you!" exclaimed the little boy with glasses.
"Shut up, you fools!" snapped Kankuro as he prepared to take a piece out of the helpless Konohamaru.
"If I were you, I would stop right now." Naruto declared coldly as he stepped forward to face the mummy carrier. As the two children saw help was here, they quickly went and hid behind Hinata and Sakura. Team 7's glare never left Kankuro as he was still smirking.
"What if I don't stop? Is something going to happen?"
"Oh, something will happen alright. I'll guarantee it, my friend." continued Naruto in authority.
"Like what?"
"Look, your friend made a good point just now. Don't cause any trouble and let him go.
"What if I don't? What are you going to do, stare at me all day?" taunted Kankuro snickering.
"I'll say it again, let him go now. Make your life a little bit more easier."
"I say it's a hell lot easier for me to beat him up!" Naruto simply gave an evil smirk of satisfaction.
"You just made your first mistake." stated the blindfolded boy grinning. At that instant, the silver hair genin was beside Kankuro and struck his stomach with his elbow. That pain alone made Kankuro release Konohamaru from his grasp. Naruto caught the youngster with his left arm as his opponent tried to attack back. With a slight turn of his hip, the Death Knight gave a heavy snap kick at the black suit genin to the face sending him at least 6 feet back. Temari was very impressed at Naruto's speed, it happened so quickly that she barely caught up. Kankuro slowly got up holding his painful face with anger as Konohamaru ran back to the safety of his friends. Naruto watched pitifully as his opponent flashed a furious glare. The dark shinobi didn't hesitate to give one back.
"Damn it…" cursed Kankuro. "I really hate showoffs!" He then angrily released the mummy on his back.
"You're going to use Karasu already?" asked Temari in disbelief.
"This will teach that showoff what I am made of." Naruto simply stood in a slight taijutsu stance giving a come on signal.
"Kankuro, stop it now." called a monotone voice with extreme coldness into it. Hinata, Sakura and Naruto looked above at the trees to the right and saw a figure with short red hair with a strange gourd on his back. On his left side of his forehead, there was a carved tattoo with the Chinese word 'Love'. The Death Knight didn't even sense him, that kid had Kakashi's level of sneakiness. However, that wasn't what troubled Naruto. He sensed a very powerful demonic presence within that boy, he had an incredible source of chakra as well. It was clear that he wasn't your average day shinobi.
"Ga… Gaara…" said Kankuro forcing a smile on his face with an additional cold sweat. That didn't go unnoticed by anybody, even the three kids saw it. It was dead given who was stronger.
"You better stop it now," said Gaara like a freezing wave of wind was blowing at you. "… Or I will kill you…" His words made Hinata and Sakura shiver to the core. Gaara then teleported himself to the street and stepped forward to Naruto. "I'm sorry that my teammates have caused you so much trouble," continued the red head somewhat warmer. "I will apologize for them on their behalf. I swear that this won't happen again."
"Apology accepted," said Naruto emotionlessly. "You better keep your word."
"Just who are those guys anyway?" asked Hinata to her boyfriend.
"They are shinobis from the Sand, I can tell by their forehead protectors."
"Even so," stated Sakura annoyed. "They can't just go around to other people's village like this!"
"Are you guys that clueless?" asked Temari which sounded a lot more like a statement. She then took out a small pocket book from her shirt and showed them a passport. "Here's my passport, you guys could check it if you want to. We are here for the chunnin exam."
"You guys are taking it too?" asked Hinata politely.
"Yeah we are, so you guys better be expected to see more foreign ninjas in the near future."
"Thanks for the good tip." Stated Naruto without much enthusiasm as he turned his back ready to leave.
"You with the sword," called Gaara. "I'm interested in you, mind if you tell me your name? I'm Gaara of the Desert."
"There's no need for me to tell you, you'll know my name soon enough." The two then gave each other a handshake while their chakra were battling each other in a rage. Naruto's was green, Gaara's was red. As the two finished the little confrontation, both smirked before changing directions.
"Hey, do you want to know my name?" asked a hopeful Temari with a blush.
"Not interested." The Death Knight then walked back to his Team with the Konohamaru corps leaving the Sand-nins do their thing. Naruto took one last look at Gaara with much caution. 'I need to look out for that guy…' thought Naruto as the girls were having worries of their own.
"Naruto-kun," said Hinata tugging his arm gently. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine…" he replied with a grimace. "Hinata-chan, Sakura-chan, those three are a lot more than they appear to be… especially Gaara…"
"I got a feeling you would say that," said Sakura with a smile.
"Promise me that you two will be careful on the exam, okay?" The girls nodded with a reassuring smile on their faces. They wouldn't do anything to worry him since they knew he wouldn't do anything reckless to make them worried. The corps were still too scared from the previous experience they ran away quickly after apologizing with a few introductions. It was understandable, at least Team 7 knew their names were Konohamaru, Udon and Moegi.
"Naruto-kun… I'm kind of hungry…" admitted Hinata with a slight blush.
"Thinking the same thing," said Naruto with a smile. "Sakura-chan, you coming?"
"You wouldn't leave your little sister out would you?" questioned Sakura putting her hands to her waist pouting a little bit. Hinata and Naruto laughed a bit at her sudden change in behaviour and the pink hair girl soon joined in to their fun. "Come on, what are you guys waiting for? Let's go!" She then grabbed both her teammates by the wrists and dragged them to the central district of Konoha where the real action was held.
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(The following night before the exam)
It was the night before the real deal that involved many people in Konoha. Every genin participating were very anxious and nervous. Uchiha Sasuke was confident that he would do well, he had been training intensely for a long period of time. He couldn't wait to see how much his hard work made him improve. Their team had been asking for C rank missions only after they completed their very first one with very outstanding results. Team 8's record was an impressive 10 C missions and 4 D missions. It was a promising genin team that was for certain. Hinata and Sakura weren't all that worried knowing Naruto would be on their side aiding them spiritually all the way. With a leader like the Death Knight, those two felt they could accomplish anything if they put their mind into it. Naruto currently was on the roof-top of his apartments doing his final meditations before the exam arrived. He was worried about his sempai who still hadn't wakeup from his exhaustion. It has been nearly a week since he arrived, all Naruto could hope was for Rin to arrive soon. No, he hoped Haku would be awake before Rin arrived, he didn't want to see his sister to be upset. He banished those negative thoughts out of his system, he had to be fully ready for tomorrow. Not only are Hinata and Sakura would be needing him to do his best, he knew there were plenty of strong rivals out there waiting. Once again, he regained focus and continued with his training. However, somewhere in the training area in the forests there was a gathering. 3 genins were present.
"Guess what I heard," said a boy in a green jump suit with thick eyebrows and a bowl haircut. "For the first time in 5 years they are allowing fresh rookies from the academy to take part in the chunnin exam. I really don't know if I should be looking forward to this or be disappointed."
"You sure about that?" questioned a girl doubtfully while spinning a kunai in her right hand. She was wearing a pink sleeveless Chinese style shirt which outlined her body very well. "It could be just jounin instructors who are trying to brag to Hokage-sama about their students."
"I don't think so though."
"You sound pretty certain about this," said the final member of the team. He had long dark brown hair with pale lavender eyes. "Tell us about it, Lee."
"I heard that students of that Hatake Kakashi are taking the exam too. What do you think, Neji? Tenten?"
"If it is Kakashi…" said Tenten while aiming her weapon a little. "It stills sounds like a rivalry."
"This would be very interesting indeed." Neji finished while smirking.
"Should we be looking forward to this then, Neji-kun?" asked Tenten happily.
"I think we should."
"But in the end," Tenten then tossed her kunai effortlessly at a doll above Neji. The doll was filled with Shurikens and kunais at every critical point from head to toe. The new one then hit at a more empty spot right at the crotch area. It was dead accurate.
"You just have to feel sorry for them."
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At 2:15 PM the very next day, Team 7 organized themselves at the designated academy. They were prepared to go all out on this, there was no turning back now. Hinata and Sakura both agreed to try their hardest and not mess up for Naruto, they knew that they couldn't afford to make mistakes at this crucial moment. Every chance of success could benefit them greatly. The three entered the academy and headed to the higher floors. As they reached a floor, they saw a crowd of people gathering around a sliding door with two young guards outside. At the same time, Hinata noticed there was a boy in a green jumpsuit on the ground wiping his chin a little bit from the punch he just received. Sakura looked up to the sign above, it said room 301 but a smirk soon came across her face.
Naruto couldn't imagine what he was seeing, that boy was weak, there was absolutely no way that he could participate in the exam with that low skill.
"You think you could just enter the chunnin exam like that?" taunted the first guard. "That was so pathetic!" The girl on the green suit boy's team helped her friend up as she stepped forward.
"Let us pass, I'll be the next challenger," she announced but with a several punches she was already knocked away and fell to the ground on her rear end.
"You think you can become a chunnin like that?" spat the second guard who looked at the two pitifully. "Even we messed up a several times before we claimed this title. Chunnins are commanders and platoon leaders in assault squads who are natural leaders and not everyone is capable of being one. One who has no skills and knowledge whatsoever shouldn't be here. If that's all you've got, you might as well go home!"
"The chunnin exam is full of deadly surprises," continued the first guard. "There were people who became psychologically impaired after facing such harshness in the process. You two are just kids, there will be other chances in the future, I suggest that you go home while you can. After all, we did survive through it and it was very tough. I suggest you take my advice and leave while you still can."
"Excuse me," said Naruto walking through the crowd of people with his team. "You two have a pretty sound argument just now. However, I suggest that you use that little speech of yours if you were actually on the correct floor don't you think?" Hinata and Sakura nodded silently in agreement while many of the crowd started to chat amongst themselves with the most confusion.
"We are trying to get to the 3rd floor, thank you." Hinata stated with a very friendly tone but firm.
"This is the third floor," answered the second guard.
"This is obviously genjutsu," said the Death Knight with a grin. "Sakura-chan, I'm sure you must've saw through this a long time ago. Your genjutsu ability is even higher than mine, you're the best on the team." Sakura then gave a smile to her brother and a grin to the two guards.
"So you saw through it?" The pink hair girl nodded and with a wave of her hand, the room number changed from 301 back to 201. She revealed it as if she was nothing, nearly everyone was shocked. In Naruto's mind, this little entrance test already proved to these two guards who were worthy and who weren't. Sadly enough, many of them were in the trash category before it started.
"Pretty impressive," complimented the first guard with mockery. "But seeing through it won't be enough." He quickly made a forward flip to gain more attack strength to give a flip kick to Naruto. The dark shinobi narrowed his eyes and prepared his own counter. Suddenly out of the blue, the green jump suit boy got up swiftly and achieved a high agility dash effortlessly into the middle. He then blocked both kicks with his hands holding each leg firmly. Once he knew both sides have stopped, he released with a sigh. 'He's fast!' thought Sakura as she witnessed the whole thing. 'He wasn't like the person who was being knocked around earlier…' said Hinata to herself in her mind very impressed. 'He caught my kick like that…' thought Naruto watching the thick brow genin. 'It's clear that he's strong… he did it without using chakra either…' Naruto made sure he noted that carefully.
"Hey, you broke our promise," called the final member with pale lavender eyes to Lee, this was obviously Neji. "Weren't you the one who said not to draw attention to ourselves?"
"Yeah…" admitted Lee in defeat. "I guess I forgot…" He then looked at Sakura and clenched a fist with both flaming passion and determination. However, Sakura didn't catch this.
"Oh no, she must be the reason why…" said Tenten shaking her head back and forth while Neji silently agreed with her. Naruto and Hinata watched Lee carefully as he made his way to Sakura.
"My name is Rock Lee," The thick brow genin introduced himself proudly. "So you are Sakura-san?"
"Huh?" was all Sakura could say at that awkward moment. Her teammates watched confusedly.
"Let's go out together!" exclaimed Lee energetically. "I'll protect you until I die!" He then did his trademark nice guy pose with his teeth shining with a touch of sparkle. Hinata immediately fell backwards anime style while Naruto's eyebrow with a touch of disgust. 'Aren't you being a little too direct, Lee-san?' thought the Death Knight secretly anxious for Sakura's response.
"No way…" replied Sakura absolutely terrified at the offer that was given to her. Lee looked pretty discouraged at this point in a very funny way. "I think you're lame…" At that instant, Lee knew he was defeated.
"Hey, you with the sword," called Neji to a relieved Naruto picking up his girlfriend. As soon as Hinata heard Neji's voice, she immediately ran to him and gave him a sudden hug. "Hinata-sama…" Neji whispered trying not to blush. "Please don't do that here…" Fortunately, Hinata listened to her older cousin.
"I'm just glad to see you, Neji-nissan," justified Hinata cutely making Neji sigh. Naruto silently chuckled at the scene displayed in front of him.
"C'mon, you see me everyday, Hinata-sama…"
"Fine, I won't hug you anymore." The Hyuga heiress pouted turning away pretending to be angry. However, Neji fell for it every time. He then tried to reason with her but she always ignored him with a pout. Tenten and Naruto could laugh at the sight but chose not to yet.
"So, you are Neji's little cousin," said Tenten breaking the previous little tension. Hinata then turned around with a bright smile on her face which made Neji widen his eyes a little bit due to her sudden change. "My, you are so much cuter than Neji, not to mention a lot less cold."
"I know I am less cold, right, Neji-nissan?" question the heiress cutely. Neji just mumbled something like a yes or whatnot to satisfy her. "So how was Neji-nissan when you first met him." Neji's eyes shot wide open at that question while Naruto couldn't help himself but to eavesdrop.
"He was like the ultimate cold guy when I met him," said Tenten. "Of course, it wasn't long before Lee and I found his soft side and worked on that. Now you can say he is a…" She was interrupted by Neji when he covered her mouth with his hand with an embarrassed face. Tenten flailed a little bit but Neji held her still.
"You can talk about that later, Tenten…" hissed Neji desperately. Tenten nodded with a small pout but gave Hinata a slight wink. At that point, she already knew she made a new friend. "Anyway, as I was saying…" continued the Hyuga boy to Naruto. "What's your name?"
"If you want to know other people's name, you should give yours first." stated silver hair shinobi.
"I'm Hyuga Neji."
"Uzumaki Naruto, it's good to see you." He then offered his hand for a handshake and the Hyuga didn't hesitate to offer his in a friendly manner. The two looked into each other's eyes with a deep sense of rivalry. 'So you're Uzumaki Naruto, eh?' thought Neji narrowing his eyes. 'Hinata-sama has told me a lot about you… you are a worthy rival.' Neji then tightened his grip in his handshake intentionally. Naruto did the same with a grin. 'Hyuga Neji… there are definitely a lot of monsters in this exam… this would be fun indeed.' "Who's that pretty girl beside you?" asked the Death Knight ending the intense moment. As he looked into her beautiful brown eyes, she immediately blushed.
"I'm Katase Tenten…" said the mentioned person very shyly. "It's nice to meet you…" (AN: I made up her last name, everyone needs one after all) 'He's so cute!' thought Tenten with joy. Naruto smiled a bit seeing so energetic.
"I am Uzumaki Naruto, it's a pleasure. Anyway, the exam is going to start very soon, it would be best for my team to get going for now." Neji agreed with a nod and Tenten quickly went behind him. Hinata looked over to Sakura who was relieved to be at her team's side. Naruto glanced back and still saw Lee in his depressed state, he didn't know to feel sorry for him or not. His first impression was truly kind of direct. The Death Knight then excused himself along with his team and made their way to another area of the building proceeding to the third floor. Hinata quickly made her way beside Naruto while Sakura wrapped her arms around the boy's neck like a baby sister.
"Naruto-nichan, Hinata-san, you wanna hang out downstairs for a bit before we head up to room 301? We still have time right now." suggested Sakura as she released herself from her brother.
"Sure," said Hinata agreeing with the idea. "How about you, Naruto-kun?" Naruto simply muttered something to satisfy them both, he wasn't really the person who liked to hang out when a task was ahead of him. Without Team 7 realizing, Neji, Lee and Tenten were watching them closely. The Hyuga and Lee were watching Naruto the entire time.
"Neji-kun," said Tenten holding his hand softly. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine, Tenten…" replied the Hyuga glancing at her for one second before reverting his attention away.
"You're interested in that boy, aren't you?"
"You read my mind like a book again," He then sighed slightly to catch her attention. "How do you do it, Tenten? You always seem to know what I'm thinking."
"I'm not your teammate for nothing, ne, Neji-kun?" she countered sweetly making him grin.
"Yeah, you're right on that. Anyway, we should get going." The female weapon master nodded and followed the Hyuga boy's lead. However, Lee didn't move from that spot, something was on his mind.
"Lee," called Tenten turning around to see her teammate not moving a muscle. "We have to go."
"You guys go ahead without me," said Lee turning towards the opposite direction. "There's something I want to check first." Without another word, the thick brow genin took off before Tenten could object.
"What was that about, Neji-kun?"
"How would I know?" was Neji's reply before he took her hand and left the area as well.
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Team 7 were currently on the lower opened area purchasing soda from the pop machine. Obviously Naruto decided to pay for them. Hinata rested her head on his shoulders as Sakura gave him a kiss on the cheek as a token of gratitude. Naruto simply put a smile on his face when he saw his team happy, he always did. He closed his eyes as he took a small zip from his soda. Then he opened them when he sensed a presence nearby. He took a glimpse at the balcony and saw someone he didn't expect to see. It was Rock Lee, the look on his face was a very serious one. The girls looked at him with suspicion, especially Sakura. The Death Knight simply smirked.
"What do you want?" asked Naruto as he crushed his can of pop.
"I've come to ask you a favor," replied Lee in a firm voice. Naruto simply gave him a gesture to continue. "Would you fight me here, right now?" The Death Knight raised an eyebrow a little while Hinata and Sakura was quite shocked at his request. Lee then jumped off from the railing and landed softly like a cat. Team 7 watched Lee carefully as he stood up in a taijutsu stance. The familiar one with the left arm behind your back and the right arm in front in a somewhat taunting position. "So you want to know someone's name, you should introduce your own first, right? My name is Rock Lee, this must be something you want to hear am I correct, Uzumaki Naruto-kun."
"So you knew all along…"
"Yes, I want to fight you."
"You're challenging me without even knowing who I am?" questioned Naruto with a bit of irritation. "I must say you are a lot more ignorant than I thought."
"What my ambitions are is none of your concern." Lee stated not affected by Naruto's words. "C'mon, my challenge still stands, Naruto-kun. Besides…" He then took a glimpse of Sakura with a blush on his face. The pink hair girl jerked immediately while the other two weren't looking forward to what would happen next.
"YEACK! I hate those thick eyebrows!" shouted Sakura flailing her arms, holding her head and finally hugging herself from non-stop shivering. "Those eyebrows… that bowl haircut… I hate everything about them!" Sadly enough, Hinata had to agree.
"You're an angel." The thick brow boy then gave a blow-kiss to his so-called loved one. Sakura, Hinata and Naruto's eyes turned as wide as saucers. The emerald eye genin panicked like mad but luckily she dodged it in one piece. She panted heavily but Lee's gift didn't end there for he then sent a swarm of those blow-kisses since he admired the girl's elegant movements. Sakura screamed in terror did a several twist and turns and ducks to evade the best she could. She couldn't believe how fortunate she was to dodge all of them alive. Naruto and Hinata continued to watch at most disgust.
"Hey!" yelled the pink hair genin shking her fist violently. "Don't send those creepy things at me! I had to dodge them as if my life depended on it, you bastard!"
"Oh, don't be like that… you don't have to be so negative about it…" whined a disappointed Lee. 'Negative is hardly the word…' thought Hinata with a sweatdrop. 'Sakura-chan is so gonna hate you for this.' stated Naruto mentally while grinning to himself.
"So you want to challenge me?" asked the Death Knight to confirm. "I have to say you're really overconfident."
"My offer still stands, Naruto-kun."
"This would be a good warm up for the exam," said Naruto reaching for his blade. "I'll glad…"
"Wait!" exclaimed Sakura firmly. Both Lee and Naruto then looked at Sakura. "I'll handle this guy!"
"The person I wish to fight is Naruto-kun, not you." ordered Lee seriously.
"You'll pay for giving me those kisses! Naruto-nichan, give me 5 minutes to deal with him!" refusing to hear what Naruto or Hinata had to say about this, Sakura decided to act on her own and engaged a battle with Lee. In a matter of seconds, Sakura was already giving a punch to the taijutsu specialist.
'I'm sorry, my love.' thought Lee as he took one small step forward with his right hand in a pointing position. When Sakura's fist got close, without trouble Lee used his two fingers and pushed her hand away from him. The Hyuga heiress was surprised at the boy's ability, he knocked away Sakura effortlessly. The pink hair shinobi glared at Lee with a bit of fear. As she prepared herself for a counter, her opponent was already ready. Using her hands to support herself, she gave a twin leg kick which Lee leaned his head a bit back to avoid all impact. What scared the girls was the fact he did it with his eyes closed. "Konoha Senpuu!" shouted the thick brow boy performing a 360 degree spinning kick striking Sakura by the arms causing her rolling backwards until crashing into the wall behind Lee forcefully. She was knocked out.
"He's strong…" whispered Hinata worriedly to herself.
"I'll say this," said Lee in his taijutsu stance. "You guys won't be able to defeat me."
"You sound very certain about that, tell me why." demanded Naruto.
"That's because I am the strongest amongst all the Konoha genins." 'Based on what I saw,' noted Naruto in his mind. 'This guy is a taijutsu specialist. His moves don't require any chakra and he's very good at it. I can't miss a chance at fighting someone like that.'
"Lee-san," called out a timid yet firm voice. Lee then looked over to see the 2nd girl on Naruto's team, the Hyuga heiress. "I'll fight you."
"Hinata-chan, there's no need for that." Said Naruto.
"I want to see how far I could go against him, please allow me."
"The person I want to challenge isn't you." stated Lee.
"I'm the heiress of the Hyuga family," said Hinata with calmness. "I'm sure this name would appeal to you enough to change your mind."
"If you put it that way, I shouldn't discard this offer. What's your name?"
"I'm Hyuga Hinata, may be the best shinobi win." Hinata immediately activated the Byakugan and stood in the Hyuga stance. 'She's very kind,' thought Lee sincerely. 'I can't believe she's the Hyuga heir that I've heard from Neji.' Without wasting another second, the Byakugan user dashed forward with her palm charged with chakra. Lee slid sideways a bit to dodge but Hinata's attacks didn't end there. She used her body to shift a bit to achieve more speed to catch up with her opponent's movements. 'She's fast!' thought Lee as her palm nearly struck him in the arm. Knowing how deadly the gentle fist was, the taijutsu specialist knew staying on defensive was a great disadvantage to himself. He needed to claim the upper hand but had quite the difficulty under Hinata's continuous deadly attacks. Lee quickly bent back slightly to give himself some time to prepare his counter. The boy delivered a snap kick to her, to his surprise it missed. She dodged it naturally but his pursuit continued for he then swiftly performed the Konoha Senpuu. Using her left arm, she took the hit and blocked it. However, it wasn't good enough not to take considerable amount of damage. Lee was just as strong as Hinata predicted. Using her right hand, she prepared more chakra and released the deadly Mana Burn in one hand. Not knowing what that technique was, Lee quickly broke away from her but not good enough not to hit him. The beam hit him in the arm, it was fortunate.
"Konoha Senpuu!" shouted Lee making an incredible recoil. However, Hinata shifted her body backwards so the kick whizzed by her face. With a small maneuver, Lee slid on the ground in an amazing pace to form another assault. Knowing she didn't have the speed to dodge, the only choice was to block it. However, with a bit more stamina, Lee gave a very quick kick to Hinata's cheek sending her a few feet away crashing to the ground. 'He broke through my guard…' thought the Hyuga heiress rubbing her cheek a little bit with fierce eyes. 'He's good.'
'So, she's getting up as I suspected,' said Lee mentally. 'I think I might need to use that move, I'm sorry, Gai-sensei!' The thick brow genin continued with his attacks but the girl was ready. As Lee's fist came aiming at her head, she shifted slightly to avoid it. Lee was impressed how she could dodge so easily, it was like as if her body was moving on its own accordingly bring her to safety. Of course, he didn't know she learned the passive ability Evasion. Seeing an opening point, Hinata gave a twin palm strike this time at her opponent's chest area. Knowing how fatal that could be, Lee sucked his body in so her hands didn't make contact with him. Even so, he felt the amount of chakra put in that attack, he couldn't help himself but to feel a bit of pain.
The Hyuga heiress already knew she was at a complete disadvantage, it was clear to her that Lee knew the gentle fist well, he was predicting her moves ahead of time already. As if that was discouraging enough, she could tell she didn't have the swiftness and strength that Lee had. She could catch up with him for now, but it was only a matter of time before she would fail to do so. She had no choice but to use the Hidden Techniques now, she was hoping to use them during the exam. The taijutsu specialist then dashed at her again, this time faster. When he gave another quick assault, Hinata smirked as she generated chakra in her left hand forming a shield.
"What?" said Lee as his kick was blocked by another mysterious attack. He couldn't get out of it as he prepared for the worst. 'Could this be the Hyuga's Kaiten?' Naruto simply grinned.
"Fan of Knives!" shouted Hinata spinning rapidly in a 360 angle multiple times releasing piercing chakra blades in every direction. The blades were unleashed quickly that Lee didn't have the time to react. The first wave struck him directly, the burning and piercing sensation was unbearable. There was at least a several dozen blades stuck to him. 'Is this a Hyuga technique?' thought Lee as he watched in horror as the second wave came in a flash. Using chakra to increase his movements, the thick brow genin jumped, flipped and rolled trying his best to avoid any more of those incoming attacks. Knowing Lee was too fast, Hinata dropped the Fan of Knives as she watched her opponent charge at her with a fist. Once his fist got close, she formed a seal and Blinked away to a fair distance away from him to recover. 'She's really good…' thought Lee attempting to ease the pain but inhaling more air. 'I really have to use that move on her after all…'
'I shouldn't be holding back this much…' thought Hinata focussing all her attention at Lee. 'If I used all of my attacks here… Lee-san would know my style of combat before the exam starts. However… I'm not sure if I could beat him even if I go 100%, I can tell he's holding back too.' The Hyuga girl then went into her preferred stance and prepared herself for more. Out of the blue, Hinata was sent into the air by one of Lee's heavy and yet quick kicks. That stunned the girl since it was aimed at her chin, she couldn't defend herself after that. At that time, Naruto was already at Sakura's side waking her up. Even so, that kick didn't go unnoticed by the Death Knight. 'He was putting a lot of stamina into that kick… what is he up to?' thought Naruto as he continued to watch both fighters closely. Lee then kneeled into a positon and suddenly appeared right underneath Hinata performing the Shadow Dance. The heiress twitched knowing this would be the end. Sakura finally woke up, her eyes widened in fear when she saw Lee was in the air underneath his opponent. She was shocked when she saw the opponent was Hinata. The heiress looked helpless.
"Naruto-nichan!" shouted Sakura shaking him. "What's going on? Why is Hinata-san fighting?"
"Sakura-chan," whispered Naruto calming her down a little. "Watch this move carefully, I might need to step in." It was then when Lee released a lengthy amount of bandage from his left arm, it was obvious that he was preparing himself to attack. 'He's preparing way too much stamina…' thought Naruto. 'Is he trying to pull off a forbidden technique?' As Lee was trying to wrap the girl, suddenly a needle with a windmill on it struck the tip of his bandage. It nailed right at the wall stopping Lee's attack from continuing. As the taijutsu specialist released the Shadow Dance, he landed to the ground safely while Hinata was falling helplessly. "Hinata-chan!" shouted Naruto running to catch her in an embrace before she made contact to the floor. He looked at her eyes and something was amiss. 'She couldn't even defend herself from that fall… damn it…' "Hinata-chan, are you okay?"
"Naruto-kun…" whimpered Hinata nuzzling closer to him. "Do you think I was bad?"
"I think you're beautiful," comforted the boy stroking her cheek. Hinata blushed like a tomato while Sakura giggled to herself. "Now… where did that needle come from?" Team 7 then took a glance at Lee who was kneeling in front of something, they didn't expect it was a turtle. The three stared blankly as Lee was looking at the ground with shame.
"So… you were watching?" asked Lee to the turtle with guilt in his voice.
"Lee!" shouted the red turtle with a Konoha protector around his neck. "That move is forbidden!"
"I'm sorry… I got carried away…" apologized the green suit genin. 'He's being scolded,' thought Hinata. 'Could that turtle be his sensei?' At that moment, the turtle shot an angry glare making Lee sweat in fear and flailing his arms to justify himself. "But… but… I really wasn't going to use the other one… I swear I am telling the truth!" The turtle still didn't look convinced. Naruto's eyes twitched when he heard Lee, that guy knows more forbidden techniques, he really wasn't your average day ninja. Hinata and Sakura on the hand were still confused at what was actually going on.
"Naruto-kun… what is that turtle?" asked Hinata curiously.
"I don't know…" replied Naruto a little bit annoyed at the scene himself.
"So, a turtle could become a jounin instructor as well?" asked Sakura equally lost.
"I don't know…" Naruto was even more confused than before.
"You fool!" shouted the turtle at Lee, the boy closed his eyes due to the sudden outburst. "Did you expect such a lame excuse like that would work? You should know better than anyone that a shinobi shouldn't reveal any of their moves!"
"Sir." Said Lee silently but audible. 'I can't believe Hinata-san lost to that weird guy.' thought Sakura
"So are you ready to pay the consequences?"
"Sir…"
"Then here comes Gai-sensei, please take care of the rest." With that, a cloud of smoke appeared on top of the turtle's shell revealing a jounin making a ridiculous pose that wouldn't appeal to anyone. (AN: I have to love this part in the anime. It's funny every time I watch it.)
"Geez, you guys are the epitome of adolescence!" exclaimed Gai still making that pose. Naruto, Hinata and Sakura anime style jaw dropped, eyes widening like saucers, yelping in both absolute shock and disgust. They couldn't believe that was actually a jounin standing in front of them, his appearance alone made Naruto and Hinata lose their usual calm and collected selves. That was something really rare. Gai had even thicker eyebrows than Lee! Not to mention another person with a bowl haircut, it was turning out to be a freak show than an exam.
"ACK!" yelled Naruto pointing at Gai with a twitching hand. "An even lamer guy came!" He totally lost it.
"Yo, Lee" greeted Gai with a slight nice guy pose identical to Lee's. Especially the part that made his teeth shine.
"Super thick brows… super bowl cut…" mumbled Sakura with most utter disbelief.
"Those eyebrows are incredible…" added Hinata with the identical emotion. "I've never seen such a thing before…" Lee heard those comments behind his back, a sense of irritation popped into his head.
"HEY!" shouted Lee turning around clenching a fist tightly. "Stop insulting Gai-sensei!"
"To hell we won't!" snapped Naruto still losing his cool completely. "You freaks just keep appearing, how the hell do you expect us to react?"
"What did you say…" questioned Lee in a threatening way anime style.
"That's enough, Lee." said Gai to his student telling him to shake it off.
"Sir." replied the thick brow genin obeying without question.
"You…" Gai then formed a fist forcefully. "You fool!" He yelled giving Lee a direct punch in the face which sent him soaring at least 10 feet closer to Team 7. The trio watched in disbelief with anime style shock, they couldn't believe what they were witnessing. Lee fell face first to the ground, Gai walked to him and kneeled down to his level as Lee started to get back up. "Lee… you're, you're…"
"Sensei…" said Lee completely touched.
"Lee!" The background changed into a sunset and the atmosphere was now on a beach. The jounin had tears flowing down his face passionately.
"Sensei… I…"
"It's okay, Lee, you don't have to say anymore. I undeerstand." The two were only 4 feet or so from each other.
"Sensei!"
"Lee!" The two then passionately hugged one another like father like son. Then an ocean wave came from the background making the scene even more 'dramatic'. This definitely disturbed the trio to no end. Naruto's eyes were blank and twitching non stop. Sakura looked even more shocked with her mouth mumbling something that didn't even sound like words while Hinata couldn't stop her eyebrows from constant twitching. Her eyes were blank anime style as well, all three were very disgusted. "I lost to him?' thought the heiress in disbelief.
"Yes, that's what youth is all about!" exclaimed Gai hugging his student.
"That… situation couldn't be that bad… it's good stuff…" said the Death Knight forcing a grin.
"What the hell are you talking about!" shouted the girls choking him. "That's dangerous, way too dangerous!" Naruto somewhat regretted what he just said.
"It's okay, Lee," said Gai breaking the hug but still put his hand on the genin's shoulder. "Youth and mistakes go together, just forget about it." He still had tears flowing down his face.
"You're too kind, sensei." said Lee with watery eyes and sniffing dues to Gai's great mercy.
"Now, we will run 100 laps to the sunset!" The jounin then pointed to a random direction.
"Yes, sensei!" exclaimed Lee supportively. The direction where Gai was pointing was now conveniently a sunset. Gai looked back to his student with his trademark smile with teeth shining. Lee wiped the tears off his face and smiled proudly as well, his teeth also glittered. "Let's go!" The duo started to walk away, leaving Team 7 dumbfounded.
"Hey, wait a minute!" said Hinata no louder than a whisper. "We're still here!" The team finally snapped out of it.
"The chunnin exam begins in less than half an hour, there isn't enough time." reminded Sakura.
"Oh yeah…" said Gai scratching the back of his head. "I forgot about that." The three fell back anime style. Gai then coughed. "Lee, your punishment for revealing a forbidden technique will take place after the exam."
"Hai!" replied Lee with a salute.
"Now, run 500 laps!" shouted the jounin with another ridiculous pose. Lee just answered enthusiastically surprisingly enough. 'When will this nonsense end?' thought the Death Knight dully with a sweatdrop. 'How does Neji-nissan put up with these two anyway?' asked Hinata to herself in her head.
"So," said Sakura breaking the awkward silence. "Who's that turtle?" Both Naruto or Hinata weren't in a mood to answer anything. There were just too many scenes that they saw today that they never expected to see in their life. It was certainly intriguing. Gai glanced over to Team 7 with a straight face. 'Those are Kakashi's kids…' he thought. Sakura noticed his glance and panicked. "He's looking our way!" she shouted making a barrier.
"You three," called Gai. "How's Kakashi-sensei doing?"
"You know Kakashi?" asked Naruto calmly.
"Know him?" The thick brow jounin chuckled with his hand holding his chin. "People refer to us as… Eternal Rivals."
"That sounds so fake!" exclaimed the girls in unison. Naruto on the other hand observed Gai closely for the first time for the past 10 minutes. He should've observed him sooner but he was too much in shock to do that. He noticed Gai's clothing was identical to Lee's, the green jumpsuit, the forehead protector on his waist, they were alike. If it wasn't for Gai's jounin vest, Naruto might not be able to recognize them. 'This guy must be another taijutsu specialist…' thought Naruto. 'I can tell he's even stronger than Lee.'
"What are you saying?" questioned Lee. "Gai-sensei is really amazing!"
"It's okay, Lee," said Gai calmly. "Actions speak a lot louder than words." He then smiled again but the Death Knight eyed him closely. The two were standing there at first but after he blinked an eye, only Lee was there. Naruto immediately drew his blade and pointed behind him accurately at where Gai appeared. Hinata and Sakura felt his presence 1 second later, their eyes twitched at that speed. If that was a real life battle, they knew they would've been killed.
"When did he…" whispered Sakura in slight fear.
"He's fast…" added Hinata turning around slowly.
"Looks like someone isn't too surprised at my speed." stated Gai as he looked down at Naruto. The Death Knight's cold eyes didn't leave the jounin's for a second. Once he knew Gai wasn't going to do anything, he withdrew his runeblade and lowered it. "My record is 50 wins and 49 losses. You can say I'm stronger than Kakashi." He then did his trademark smile confidently.
"See that? Isn't Gai-sensei incredible?" exclaimed Lee that discouraged the three even more. 'Better than Kakashi?' though Hinata as those words kept repeating in her head. 'This guy isn't bluffing…'
"Please forgive Lee for what he did earlier for the sake of my face. This refreshing face that is, I swear that this incident wouldn't happen again. Now you three should head to the classroom with Lee, the exam is about to begin." He then tossed a kunai at the needle that nailed Lee's bandage, it knocked it away so it would fall to the ground. Naruto took a glimpse of Lee at took a closer look at Lee's visible hand. He was shocked to see it was all bruised, cut and several stitches were on it as well. It was crapped up beyond imaginable. "Lee, I'll catch you later!" Lee replied energetically as he wrapped his hand back up. Gai and the turtle then suddenly disappeared in a cloud of smoke leaving the 4 genins there.
"Naruto-kun, Hinata-san," called Lee seriously. The two mentioned people looked at Lee right into the eyes with a sense of competition. "Let me say one last thing before I leave. In truth, I have come here to test my abilities." Naruto's eyes narrowed a bit in anger. "Also, I lied a little earlier about myself. The most powerful genin in Konoha is most likely on my team, he's Hyuga Neji." Hinata then felt a little uneasy at what he just said. "I have entered this to defeat him. A dropout will defeat a genius with hard work, and you two are also my targets." The duo just smirked but the Hyuga heiress showed a bit of worry. "Be prepared for the exam, I wish you three luck!" With that cleared, Lee jumped back to the balcony and took off. The three stood there in silence until they no longer felt the taijutsu specialist's presence.
"Naruto-nichan, are you worried about this?" asked Sakura concerned.
"A little… that guy just beat Hinata-chan…" replied the silver hair shinobi with a little irritation.
"I held back, Naruto-kun…" said Hinata honestly. "Was Lee-san that strong?"
"Did you two see his hand?" questioned the Death Knight. The girls then thought back and once they remembered it, their eyes twitched with anxiety. "Lee must have trained really hard for this. Day in, day out… sadly to say, he might've trained more than you two. He's definitely a worthy rival."
"Naruto-kun…" whispered Hinata hugging his arm for comfort due to the feeling of inferiority. "Do you think we would do well on this chunnin exam?"
"Are we strong enough to take this?" asked Sakura lacking confidence.
"Yeah, we are," said Naruto holding them both close to him. "Don't let minor setbacks break you. Success can only be achieved during hard times. Whatever difficulties we face, we face it as a team. Together we are one." The girls then nodded with a blush on their faces as Naruto gave them a positive smile. "Hinata-chan, Sakura-chan, let's do this." Team 7 then headed to the third floor to room 301 where the real deal awaited them. They showed no fear whatsoever. They entered confidently without worries. At this point, it was succeed in unity or together they fall. There was no turning back now.
AN: (Drag myself back in a nearly crippled state to headquarters.) MEDIC, I need a medic… help me… I don't think I can make it, sir… that last shot was critical, I can't go on! (Vomits more blood due to severe injury.) Oh, I see that you readers are still here…(cough)… man, aren't you all loyal, I'm really glad. How did you like my chapter, was it good? Bad? Whatever you guys think, I would appreciate it if you give me a small comment or review to make this story improve. I don't want to make a crappy story for people to make fun of after all. THANK YOU all so much for people who wrote some comments, you guys told me you want this story to be better. I don't have time to thank all of you but you guys know who you are. The next chapter would be out in a several days, please hang in tight! Now if you all will excuse me, I got a battle to attend to. (Takes the 9mm Assault Rifle and grenades but collapses due to exhaustion.) This sucks… see you all again soon… if I could get some medical attention that is… (Spits out more blood before fainting)
Chapter 10: Zealous Opponents of Chaos
Disclaimer: (Runs back with head down and a broken leg with a 9mm Assault Rifle in hand and reloads it.) I don't own Naruto in any way (Fires to aid soldiers for covering fire) or I don't own Warcraft 3 either. (Tosses a grenade out to block incoming troopers.) C'mon, I need some suppressing fire! I need to make out of this mission alive damn it! (Runs out painfully continuing to make suppressing fire and an advance signal.)
"…": Speech
'…': Thoughts
===: Scene Change.
AN: Looks like I made it out alive to write this new chapter… man, this is getting really tough on me. I can't believe I finished this in 1 day. Someone's gotta stop me from this insanity! I just been shot and I am still writing like there's no tomorrow. I know some of you have some questions but I won't answer them here since they aren't really major. I will answer them next time if it is very important. For now, I hope you all will enjoy my humble story while I need to return to the battleground and aid anyone who needs me. I will write a little note at the end of the chapter if I make it back alive! Wish me luck! (I make an advance signal and crouch down to fire) I need backup now damnit. I will repeat now damnit, NOW!
"Kakashi," said Naruto to his unreliable jounin instructor the next day on the bridge. "What is this important news that you need to tell us?" Hinata and Sakura weren't too thrilled too see their sensei that late either, they were starting to get a little impatient.
"The news that you all want is here, my children," said the jounin with a smile. "I have nominated all three of you in this term's chunnin exam, are you three excited?"
"I have to say you're doing a very bad job if you're trying to justify for your lateness, Kakashi," said Sakura with a very similar unsatisfied look just like her brother's. Both the girls no longer call Kakashi with the suffix sensei, they don't really think he deserved to be called that. As far as they are concerned, Naruto should be one called sensei since he was the one who did all the training.
"What makes you think that we are actually up for it?" questioned Hinata softly.
"I know you are, don't worry."
"How do you know that?" snapped Naruto coldly. "You haven't been here on missions, training, or even spend time with this team. How would you even know if we are prepared for it or not?"
"Hey, I have faith in you guys," replied Kakashi casually. "I know you three won't disappoint me"
"Don't put your hopes so high on a bunch of people who are like strangers to you," reminded Sakura.
"You guys aren't strangers to me…"
"You are to us," added Hinata bluntly. "No further comment would be needed. Now, are we even qualified for the exam. This is a very important task, I know that."
"Whenever genins have successfully completed 8 missions of any rank, they can be nominated in this exam. So far, you guys have completed more than enough."
"How many have we completed so far?" asked the Death Knight with an irritated expression. "We have been doing so many lame D missions that I'm not even sure that we are up to this." Of course he knew he was up for it, but the mission record really didn't look too promising to anyone.
"You three have done 6 C-Rank missions and 10 D-Missions, you guys would do fine." Kakashi then reached out three tickets of some kind and handed them to his students. The three genins looked puzzled of what those were. "There are the applications that you need in order to participate for the exam, present this before the test begins. It's your choice to whether you want to take it or not."
"Our choice?" asked Sakura as she took her application ticket and read it. "When is this exam?"
"It's 6 days away from today," explained Kakashi as he gave a grin. "The place and time is at the larger academy south of the academy you graduated from. The exam begins at 3:00, so don't be late or you won't be able to attend it."
"6 days?" questioned Naruto as he slipped his form in his jacket pocket. "That's quite sudden, Kakashi."
"It is, I think things aren't going that organized this year… anyway, there will not be any missions for these past few days, it's for you to train if you want to participate in the exam. Well, whether you want to take it or not there won't be missions neither way. So find something to occupy your time for now. If you three don't have any other questions, I need to be on my way to give in a report." With that stated, the jounin once again vanished in a cloud of smoke. Team 7 grinned to another and made their way back to town with very high hopes.
=======================
"So Naruto-kun," asked the Hyuga heiress as she attached herself onto the boy while walking down the streets of Konoha. "Are you going to participate in this exam?"
"I might as well. I made myself a promise to Rin-chan that I would become a chunnin as soon as possible," said Naruto as he tugged the Hyuga girl closer. "I think I really should."
"I wonder why Kakashi allowed us to take on this exam individually?" Sakura wondered to herself out loud. Naruto smiled at his pink hair sister's sharpness. "This sort of doesn't make much sense."
"Trust me Sakura-chan," said the Death Knight holding Sakura's hand softly like an older brother would. "If one of us doesn't show up when the exam begins, the remaining 2 people wouldn't be able to continue."
"How come?" asked Hinata curiously.
"The chunnin exam is a test taken with teams of three, meaning the genin teams. Up to this point for all genins, the main task is to work together. We have been trained under the guidance of a jounin all for one purpose, to take on this chunnin exam and pass it and promote to the next level."
"How do you know that?" asked Sakura confused.
"Rin-chan, my sister, she took it last year before I left the village of Air and she required two other people to aid her before she could participate. That's how I knew."
"Is she a chunnin?" asked the lavender eye girl. The Death Knight nodded.
"Then why didn't you take on the chunnin exam then?" asked Sakura.
"Rin-chan preferred that I became a chunnin of Konoha… I think she was being too considerate…"
"You should feel grateful for having such a caring sister, Naruto-kun," stated Hinata sweetly. "I know Rin-san wouldn't like it if she heard what you just said." Naruto simply shrugged as Sakura jabbed him slightly with her elbow causing the silver hair shinobi to flinch slightly. As he flinched, the Death Knight unintentionally gathered more chakra into his eyes allowing him to sense several unidentified chakra levels nearby. They were high and it didn't feel like anyone from Konoha. He stopped immediately and formed a seal to sense the chakra signatures more clearly. He then made a small advance signal and took off in a flash. Hinata and Sakura grinned to another and followed their leader's lead. Naruto jumped from building to building with his teammates following close behind, he was impressed that they could actually keep up with this speed. It wasn't something that could be performed without more intense training. With their training for the past 2 months or so, the training seriously paid off. As Naruto arrived at the scene, he already saw a boy dressed in complete black suit with purple face painting lifting a young child with a blue cape. What caught Team 7's attention was that he had something like a mummy on his back. He seemed to be having a good time bullying the younger boy. The youngster had two other friends with him who were begging for forgiveness. Behind the face painted boy stood a short blond hair girl with dark brown eyes. She was dressed in a white shirt with a white skirt. She was equipped with a large metal object on her back and by the looks of things, she seemed to be even older than the black suit boy. The Death Knight knew that their chakra levels were the ones he sensed, he just didn't know what the hell was happening here.
"You know," began the black suit genin to the blue caped boy. "I really hate midgets who are careless, it makes me want to beat them up." It seemed that he didn't notice Team 7's presence, he was too focussed in trying to have fun while the two other kids were trying everything they could for him to release their friend. Naruto's cold stare didn't go unnoticed by the blond hair girl though.
"Kankuro," called the blond hair genin. "Let him go, we aren't here to cause any trouble."
"Quiet, Temari!" snapped the black suit boy named Kankuro. "I'll have my fun regardless."
"Fine, I'm not going to be responsible for what happens next." Temari just shrugged and backed off.
"You worry too much, Temari. Nothing is gonna happen."
"Leave Konohamaru-chan alone, you big bully!" shouted the little girl who had a pair of goggles on her forehead. Her other friend also had the same pair, he was wearing glasses.
"What did Konohamaru-kun ever do to you!" exclaimed the little boy with glasses.
"Shut up, you fools!" snapped Kankuro as he prepared to take a piece out of the helpless Konohamaru.
"If I were you, I would stop right now." Naruto declared coldly as he stepped forward to face the mummy carrier. As the two children saw help was here, they quickly went and hid behind Hinata and Sakura. Team 7's glare never left Kankuro as he was still smirking.
"What if I don't stop? Is something going to happen?"
"Oh, something will happen alright. I'll guarantee it, my friend." continued Naruto in authority.
"Like what?"
"Look, your friend made a good point just now. Don't cause any trouble and let him go.
"What if I don't? What are you going to do, stare at me all day?" taunted Kankuro snickering.
"I'll say it again, let him go now. Make your life a little bit more easier."
"I say it's a hell lot easier for me to beat him up!" Naruto simply gave an evil smirk of satisfaction.
"You just made your first mistake." stated the blindfolded boy grinning. At that instant, the silver hair genin was beside Kankuro and struck his stomach with his elbow. That pain alone made Kankuro release Konohamaru from his grasp. Naruto caught the youngster with his left arm as his opponent tried to attack back. With a slight turn of his hip, the Death Knight gave a heavy snap kick at the black suit genin to the face sending him at least 6 feet back. Temari was very impressed at Naruto's speed, it happened so quickly that she barely caught up. Kankuro slowly got up holding his painful face with anger as Konohamaru ran back to the safety of his friends. Naruto watched pitifully as his opponent flashed a furious glare. The dark shinobi didn't hesitate to give one back.
"Damn it…" cursed Kankuro. "I really hate showoffs!" He then angrily released the mummy on his back.
"You're going to use Karasu already?" asked Temari in disbelief.
"This will teach that showoff what I am made of." Naruto simply stood in a slight taijutsu stance giving a come on signal.
"Kankuro, stop it now." called a monotone voice with extreme coldness into it. Hinata, Sakura and Naruto looked above at the trees to the right and saw a figure with short red hair with a strange gourd on his back. On his left side of his forehead, there was a carved tattoo with the Chinese word 'Love'. The Death Knight didn't even sense him, that kid had Kakashi's level of sneakiness. However, that wasn't what troubled Naruto. He sensed a very powerful demonic presence within that boy, he had an incredible source of chakra as well. It was clear that he wasn't your average day shinobi.
"Ga… Gaara…" said Kankuro forcing a smile on his face with an additional cold sweat. That didn't go unnoticed by anybody, even the three kids saw it. It was dead given who was stronger.
"You better stop it now," said Gaara like a freezing wave of wind was blowing at you. "… Or I will kill you…" His words made Hinata and Sakura shiver to the core. Gaara then teleported himself to the street and stepped forward to Naruto. "I'm sorry that my teammates have caused you so much trouble," continued the red head somewhat warmer. "I will apologize for them on their behalf. I swear that this won't happen again."
"Apology accepted," said Naruto emotionlessly. "You better keep your word."
"Just who are those guys anyway?" asked Hinata to her boyfriend.
"They are shinobis from the Sand, I can tell by their forehead protectors."
"Even so," stated Sakura annoyed. "They can't just go around to other people's village like this!"
"Are you guys that clueless?" asked Temari which sounded a lot more like a statement. She then took out a small pocket book from her shirt and showed them a passport. "Here's my passport, you guys could check it if you want to. We are here for the chunnin exam."
"You guys are taking it too?" asked Hinata politely.
"Yeah we are, so you guys better be expected to see more foreign ninjas in the near future."
"Thanks for the good tip." Stated Naruto without much enthusiasm as he turned his back ready to leave.
"You with the sword," called Gaara. "I'm interested in you, mind if you tell me your name? I'm Gaara of the Desert."
"There's no need for me to tell you, you'll know my name soon enough." The two then gave each other a handshake while their chakra were battling each other in a rage. Naruto's was green, Gaara's was red. As the two finished the little confrontation, both smirked before changing directions.
"Hey, do you want to know my name?" asked a hopeful Temari with a blush.
"Not interested." The Death Knight then walked back to his Team with the Konohamaru corps leaving the Sand-nins do their thing. Naruto took one last look at Gaara with much caution. 'I need to look out for that guy…' thought Naruto as the girls were having worries of their own.
"Naruto-kun," said Hinata tugging his arm gently. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine…" he replied with a grimace. "Hinata-chan, Sakura-chan, those three are a lot more than they appear to be… especially Gaara…"
"I got a feeling you would say that," said Sakura with a smile.
"Promise me that you two will be careful on the exam, okay?" The girls nodded with a reassuring smile on their faces. They wouldn't do anything to worry him since they knew he wouldn't do anything reckless to make them worried. The corps were still too scared from the previous experience they ran away quickly after apologizing with a few introductions. It was understandable, at least Team 7 knew their names were Konohamaru, Udon and Moegi.
"Naruto-kun… I'm kind of hungry…" admitted Hinata with a slight blush.
"Thinking the same thing," said Naruto with a smile. "Sakura-chan, you coming?"
"You wouldn't leave your little sister out would you?" questioned Sakura putting her hands to her waist pouting a little bit. Hinata and Naruto laughed a bit at her sudden change in behaviour and the pink hair girl soon joined in to their fun. "Come on, what are you guys waiting for? Let's go!" She then grabbed both her teammates by the wrists and dragged them to the central district of Konoha where the real action was held.
=======================
(The following night before the exam)
It was the night before the real deal that involved many people in Konoha. Every genin participating were very anxious and nervous. Uchiha Sasuke was confident that he would do well, he had been training intensely for a long period of time. He couldn't wait to see how much his hard work made him improve. Their team had been asking for C rank missions only after they completed their very first one with very outstanding results. Team 8's record was an impressive 10 C missions and 4 D missions. It was a promising genin team that was for certain. Hinata and Sakura weren't all that worried knowing Naruto would be on their side aiding them spiritually all the way. With a leader like the Death Knight, those two felt they could accomplish anything if they put their mind into it. Naruto currently was on the roof-top of his apartments doing his final meditations before the exam arrived. He was worried about his sempai who still hadn't wakeup from his exhaustion. It has been nearly a week since he arrived, all Naruto could hope was for Rin to arrive soon. No, he hoped Haku would be awake before Rin arrived, he didn't want to see his sister to be upset. He banished those negative thoughts out of his system, he had to be fully ready for tomorrow. Not only are Hinata and Sakura would be needing him to do his best, he knew there were plenty of strong rivals out there waiting. Once again, he regained focus and continued with his training. However, somewhere in the training area in the forests there was a gathering. 3 genins were present.
"Guess what I heard," said a boy in a green jump suit with thick eyebrows and a bowl haircut. "For the first time in 5 years they are allowing fresh rookies from the academy to take part in the chunnin exam. I really don't know if I should be looking forward to this or be disappointed."
"You sure about that?" questioned a girl doubtfully while spinning a kunai in her right hand. She was wearing a pink sleeveless Chinese style shirt which outlined her body very well. "It could be just jounin instructors who are trying to brag to Hokage-sama about their students."
"I don't think so though."
"You sound pretty certain about this," said the final member of the team. He had long dark brown hair with pale lavender eyes. "Tell us about it, Lee."
"I heard that students of that Hatake Kakashi are taking the exam too. What do you think, Neji? Tenten?"
"If it is Kakashi…" said Tenten while aiming her weapon a little. "It stills sounds like a rivalry."
"This would be very interesting indeed." Neji finished while smirking.
"Should we be looking forward to this then, Neji-kun?" asked Tenten happily.
"I think we should."
"But in the end," Tenten then tossed her kunai effortlessly at a doll above Neji. The doll was filled with Shurikens and kunais at every critical point from head to toe. The new one then hit at a more empty spot right at the crotch area. It was dead accurate.
"You just have to feel sorry for them."
========================
At 2:15 PM the very next day, Team 7 organized themselves at the designated academy. They were prepared to go all out on this, there was no turning back now. Hinata and Sakura both agreed to try their hardest and not mess up for Naruto, they knew that they couldn't afford to make mistakes at this crucial moment. Every chance of success could benefit them greatly. The three entered the academy and headed to the higher floors. As they reached a floor, they saw a crowd of people gathering around a sliding door with two young guards outside. At the same time, Hinata noticed there was a boy in a green jumpsuit on the ground wiping his chin a little bit from the punch he just received. Sakura looked up to the sign above, it said room 301 but a smirk soon came across her face.
Naruto couldn't imagine what he was seeing, that boy was weak, there was absolutely no way that he could participate in the exam with that low skill.
"You think you could just enter the chunnin exam like that?" taunted the first guard. "That was so pathetic!" The girl on the green suit boy's team helped her friend up as she stepped forward.
"Let us pass, I'll be the next challenger," she announced but with a several punches she was already knocked away and fell to the ground on her rear end.
"You think you can become a chunnin like that?" spat the second guard who looked at the two pitifully. "Even we messed up a several times before we claimed this title. Chunnins are commanders and platoon leaders in assault squads who are natural leaders and not everyone is capable of being one. One who has no skills and knowledge whatsoever shouldn't be here. If that's all you've got, you might as well go home!"
"The chunnin exam is full of deadly surprises," continued the first guard. "There were people who became psychologically impaired after facing such harshness in the process. You two are just kids, there will be other chances in the future, I suggest that you go home while you can. After all, we did survive through it and it was very tough. I suggest you take my advice and leave while you still can."
"Excuse me," said Naruto walking through the crowd of people with his team. "You two have a pretty sound argument just now. However, I suggest that you use that little speech of yours if you were actually on the correct floor don't you think?" Hinata and Sakura nodded silently in agreement while many of the crowd started to chat amongst themselves with the most confusion.
"We are trying to get to the 3rd floor, thank you." Hinata stated with a very friendly tone but firm.
"This is the third floor," answered the second guard.
"This is obviously genjutsu," said the Death Knight with a grin. "Sakura-chan, I'm sure you must've saw through this a long time ago. Your genjutsu ability is even higher than mine, you're the best on the team." Sakura then gave a smile to her brother and a grin to the two guards.
"So you saw through it?" The pink hair girl nodded and with a wave of her hand, the room number changed from 301 back to 201. She revealed it as if she was nothing, nearly everyone was shocked. In Naruto's mind, this little entrance test already proved to these two guards who were worthy and who weren't. Sadly enough, many of them were in the trash category before it started.
"Pretty impressive," complimented the first guard with mockery. "But seeing through it won't be enough." He quickly made a forward flip to gain more attack strength to give a flip kick to Naruto. The dark shinobi narrowed his eyes and prepared his own counter. Suddenly out of the blue, the green jump suit boy got up swiftly and achieved a high agility dash effortlessly into the middle. He then blocked both kicks with his hands holding each leg firmly. Once he knew both sides have stopped, he released with a sigh. 'He's fast!' thought Sakura as she witnessed the whole thing. 'He wasn't like the person who was being knocked around earlier…' said Hinata to herself in her mind very impressed. 'He caught my kick like that…' thought Naruto watching the thick brow genin. 'It's clear that he's strong… he did it without using chakra either…' Naruto made sure he noted that carefully.
"Hey, you broke our promise," called the final member with pale lavender eyes to Lee, this was obviously Neji. "Weren't you the one who said not to draw attention to ourselves?"
"Yeah…" admitted Lee in defeat. "I guess I forgot…" He then looked at Sakura and clenched a fist with both flaming passion and determination. However, Sakura didn't catch this.
"Oh no, she must be the reason why…" said Tenten shaking her head back and forth while Neji silently agreed with her. Naruto and Hinata watched Lee carefully as he made his way to Sakura.
"My name is Rock Lee," The thick brow genin introduced himself proudly. "So you are Sakura-san?"
"Huh?" was all Sakura could say at that awkward moment. Her teammates watched confusedly.
"Let's go out together!" exclaimed Lee energetically. "I'll protect you until I die!" He then did his trademark nice guy pose with his teeth shining with a touch of sparkle. Hinata immediately fell backwards anime style while Naruto's eyebrow with a touch of disgust. 'Aren't you being a little too direct, Lee-san?' thought the Death Knight secretly anxious for Sakura's response.
"No way…" replied Sakura absolutely terrified at the offer that was given to her. Lee looked pretty discouraged at this point in a very funny way. "I think you're lame…" At that instant, Lee knew he was defeated.
"Hey, you with the sword," called Neji to a relieved Naruto picking up his girlfriend. As soon as Hinata heard Neji's voice, she immediately ran to him and gave him a sudden hug. "Hinata-sama…" Neji whispered trying not to blush. "Please don't do that here…" Fortunately, Hinata listened to her older cousin.
"I'm just glad to see you, Neji-nissan," justified Hinata cutely making Neji sigh. Naruto silently chuckled at the scene displayed in front of him.
"C'mon, you see me everyday, Hinata-sama…"
"Fine, I won't hug you anymore." The Hyuga heiress pouted turning away pretending to be angry. However, Neji fell for it every time. He then tried to reason with her but she always ignored him with a pout. Tenten and Naruto could laugh at the sight but chose not to yet.
"So, you are Neji's little cousin," said Tenten breaking the previous little tension. Hinata then turned around with a bright smile on her face which made Neji widen his eyes a little bit due to her sudden change. "My, you are so much cuter than Neji, not to mention a lot less cold."
"I know I am less cold, right, Neji-nissan?" question the heiress cutely. Neji just mumbled something like a yes or whatnot to satisfy her. "So how was Neji-nissan when you first met him." Neji's eyes shot wide open at that question while Naruto couldn't help himself but to eavesdrop.
"He was like the ultimate cold guy when I met him," said Tenten. "Of course, it wasn't long before Lee and I found his soft side and worked on that. Now you can say he is a…" She was interrupted by Neji when he covered her mouth with his hand with an embarrassed face. Tenten flailed a little bit but Neji held her still.
"You can talk about that later, Tenten…" hissed Neji desperately. Tenten nodded with a small pout but gave Hinata a slight wink. At that point, she already knew she made a new friend. "Anyway, as I was saying…" continued the Hyuga boy to Naruto. "What's your name?"
"If you want to know other people's name, you should give yours first." stated silver hair shinobi.
"I'm Hyuga Neji."
"Uzumaki Naruto, it's good to see you." He then offered his hand for a handshake and the Hyuga didn't hesitate to offer his in a friendly manner. The two looked into each other's eyes with a deep sense of rivalry. 'So you're Uzumaki Naruto, eh?' thought Neji narrowing his eyes. 'Hinata-sama has told me a lot about you… you are a worthy rival.' Neji then tightened his grip in his handshake intentionally. Naruto did the same with a grin. 'Hyuga Neji… there are definitely a lot of monsters in this exam… this would be fun indeed.' "Who's that pretty girl beside you?" asked the Death Knight ending the intense moment. As he looked into her beautiful brown eyes, she immediately blushed.
"I'm Katase Tenten…" said the mentioned person very shyly. "It's nice to meet you…" (AN: I made up her last name, everyone needs one after all) 'He's so cute!' thought Tenten with joy. Naruto smiled a bit seeing so energetic.
"I am Uzumaki Naruto, it's a pleasure. Anyway, the exam is going to start very soon, it would be best for my team to get going for now." Neji agreed with a nod and Tenten quickly went behind him. Hinata looked over to Sakura who was relieved to be at her team's side. Naruto glanced back and still saw Lee in his depressed state, he didn't know to feel sorry for him or not. His first impression was truly kind of direct. The Death Knight then excused himself along with his team and made their way to another area of the building proceeding to the third floor. Hinata quickly made her way beside Naruto while Sakura wrapped her arms around the boy's neck like a baby sister.
"Naruto-nichan, Hinata-san, you wanna hang out downstairs for a bit before we head up to room 301? We still have time right now." suggested Sakura as she released herself from her brother.
"Sure," said Hinata agreeing with the idea. "How about you, Naruto-kun?" Naruto simply muttered something to satisfy them both, he wasn't really the person who liked to hang out when a task was ahead of him. Without Team 7 realizing, Neji, Lee and Tenten were watching them closely. The Hyuga and Lee were watching Naruto the entire time.
"Neji-kun," said Tenten holding his hand softly. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine, Tenten…" replied the Hyuga glancing at her for one second before reverting his attention away.
"You're interested in that boy, aren't you?"
"You read my mind like a book again," He then sighed slightly to catch her attention. "How do you do it, Tenten? You always seem to know what I'm thinking."
"I'm not your teammate for nothing, ne, Neji-kun?" she countered sweetly making him grin.
"Yeah, you're right on that. Anyway, we should get going." The female weapon master nodded and followed the Hyuga boy's lead. However, Lee didn't move from that spot, something was on his mind.
"Lee," called Tenten turning around to see her teammate not moving a muscle. "We have to go."
"You guys go ahead without me," said Lee turning towards the opposite direction. "There's something I want to check first." Without another word, the thick brow genin took off before Tenten could object.
"What was that about, Neji-kun?"
"How would I know?" was Neji's reply before he took her hand and left the area as well.
=========================
Team 7 were currently on the lower opened area purchasing soda from the pop machine. Obviously Naruto decided to pay for them. Hinata rested her head on his shoulders as Sakura gave him a kiss on the cheek as a token of gratitude. Naruto simply put a smile on his face when he saw his team happy, he always did. He closed his eyes as he took a small zip from his soda. Then he opened them when he sensed a presence nearby. He took a glimpse at the balcony and saw someone he didn't expect to see. It was Rock Lee, the look on his face was a very serious one. The girls looked at him with suspicion, especially Sakura. The Death Knight simply smirked.
"What do you want?" asked Naruto as he crushed his can of pop.
"I've come to ask you a favor," replied Lee in a firm voice. Naruto simply gave him a gesture to continue. "Would you fight me here, right now?" The Death Knight raised an eyebrow a little while Hinata and Sakura was quite shocked at his request. Lee then jumped off from the railing and landed softly like a cat. Team 7 watched Lee carefully as he stood up in a taijutsu stance. The familiar one with the left arm behind your back and the right arm in front in a somewhat taunting position. "So you want to know someone's name, you should introduce your own first, right? My name is Rock Lee, this must be something you want to hear am I correct, Uzumaki Naruto-kun."
"So you knew all along…"
"Yes, I want to fight you."
"You're challenging me without even knowing who I am?" questioned Naruto with a bit of irritation. "I must say you are a lot more ignorant than I thought."
"What my ambitions are is none of your concern." Lee stated not affected by Naruto's words. "C'mon, my challenge still stands, Naruto-kun. Besides…" He then took a glimpse of Sakura with a blush on his face. The pink hair girl jerked immediately while the other two weren't looking forward to what would happen next.
"YEACK! I hate those thick eyebrows!" shouted Sakura flailing her arms, holding her head and finally hugging herself from non-stop shivering. "Those eyebrows… that bowl haircut… I hate everything about them!" Sadly enough, Hinata had to agree.
"You're an angel." The thick brow boy then gave a blow-kiss to his so-called loved one. Sakura, Hinata and Naruto's eyes turned as wide as saucers. The emerald eye genin panicked like mad but luckily she dodged it in one piece. She panted heavily but Lee's gift didn't end there for he then sent a swarm of those blow-kisses since he admired the girl's elegant movements. Sakura screamed in terror did a several twist and turns and ducks to evade the best she could. She couldn't believe how fortunate she was to dodge all of them alive. Naruto and Hinata continued to watch at most disgust.
"Hey!" yelled the pink hair genin shking her fist violently. "Don't send those creepy things at me! I had to dodge them as if my life depended on it, you bastard!"
"Oh, don't be like that… you don't have to be so negative about it…" whined a disappointed Lee. 'Negative is hardly the word…' thought Hinata with a sweatdrop. 'Sakura-chan is so gonna hate you for this.' stated Naruto mentally while grinning to himself.
"So you want to challenge me?" asked the Death Knight to confirm. "I have to say you're really overconfident."
"My offer still stands, Naruto-kun."
"This would be a good warm up for the exam," said Naruto reaching for his blade. "I'll glad…"
"Wait!" exclaimed Sakura firmly. Both Lee and Naruto then looked at Sakura. "I'll handle this guy!"
"The person I wish to fight is Naruto-kun, not you." ordered Lee seriously.
"You'll pay for giving me those kisses! Naruto-nichan, give me 5 minutes to deal with him!" refusing to hear what Naruto or Hinata had to say about this, Sakura decided to act on her own and engaged a battle with Lee. In a matter of seconds, Sakura was already giving a punch to the taijutsu specialist.
'I'm sorry, my love.' thought Lee as he took one small step forward with his right hand in a pointing position. When Sakura's fist got close, without trouble Lee used his two fingers and pushed her hand away from him. The Hyuga heiress was surprised at the boy's ability, he knocked away Sakura effortlessly. The pink hair shinobi glared at Lee with a bit of fear. As she prepared herself for a counter, her opponent was already ready. Using her hands to support herself, she gave a twin leg kick which Lee leaned his head a bit back to avoid all impact. What scared the girls was the fact he did it with his eyes closed. "Konoha Senpuu!" shouted the thick brow boy performing a 360 degree spinning kick striking Sakura by the arms causing her rolling backwards until crashing into the wall behind Lee forcefully. She was knocked out.
"He's strong…" whispered Hinata worriedly to herself.
"I'll say this," said Lee in his taijutsu stance. "You guys won't be able to defeat me."
"You sound very certain about that, tell me why." demanded Naruto.
"That's because I am the strongest amongst all the Konoha genins." 'Based on what I saw,' noted Naruto in his mind. 'This guy is a taijutsu specialist. His moves don't require any chakra and he's very good at it. I can't miss a chance at fighting someone like that.'
"Lee-san," called out a timid yet firm voice. Lee then looked over to see the 2nd girl on Naruto's team, the Hyuga heiress. "I'll fight you."
"Hinata-chan, there's no need for that." Said Naruto.
"I want to see how far I could go against him, please allow me."
"The person I want to challenge isn't you." stated Lee.
"I'm the heiress of the Hyuga family," said Hinata with calmness. "I'm sure this name would appeal to you enough to change your mind."
"If you put it that way, I shouldn't discard this offer. What's your name?"
"I'm Hyuga Hinata, may be the best shinobi win." Hinata immediately activated the Byakugan and stood in the Hyuga stance. 'She's very kind,' thought Lee sincerely. 'I can't believe she's the Hyuga heir that I've heard from Neji.' Without wasting another second, the Byakugan user dashed forward with her palm charged with chakra. Lee slid sideways a bit to dodge but Hinata's attacks didn't end there. She used her body to shift a bit to achieve more speed to catch up with her opponent's movements. 'She's fast!' thought Lee as her palm nearly struck him in the arm. Knowing how deadly the gentle fist was, the taijutsu specialist knew staying on defensive was a great disadvantage to himself. He needed to claim the upper hand but had quite the difficulty under Hinata's continuous deadly attacks. Lee quickly bent back slightly to give himself some time to prepare his counter. The boy delivered a snap kick to her, to his surprise it missed. She dodged it naturally but his pursuit continued for he then swiftly performed the Konoha Senpuu. Using her left arm, she took the hit and blocked it. However, it wasn't good enough not to take considerable amount of damage. Lee was just as strong as Hinata predicted. Using her right hand, she prepared more chakra and released the deadly Mana Burn in one hand. Not knowing what that technique was, Lee quickly broke away from her but not good enough not to hit him. The beam hit him in the arm, it was fortunate.
"Konoha Senpuu!" shouted Lee making an incredible recoil. However, Hinata shifted her body backwards so the kick whizzed by her face. With a small maneuver, Lee slid on the ground in an amazing pace to form another assault. Knowing she didn't have the speed to dodge, the only choice was to block it. However, with a bit more stamina, Lee gave a very quick kick to Hinata's cheek sending her a few feet away crashing to the ground. 'He broke through my guard…' thought the Hyuga heiress rubbing her cheek a little bit with fierce eyes. 'He's good.'
'So, she's getting up as I suspected,' said Lee mentally. 'I think I might need to use that move, I'm sorry, Gai-sensei!' The thick brow genin continued with his attacks but the girl was ready. As Lee's fist came aiming at her head, she shifted slightly to avoid it. Lee was impressed how she could dodge so easily, it was like as if her body was moving on its own accordingly bring her to safety. Of course, he didn't know she learned the passive ability Evasion. Seeing an opening point, Hinata gave a twin palm strike this time at her opponent's chest area. Knowing how fatal that could be, Lee sucked his body in so her hands didn't make contact with him. Even so, he felt the amount of chakra put in that attack, he couldn't help himself but to feel a bit of pain.
The Hyuga heiress already knew she was at a complete disadvantage, it was clear to her that Lee knew the gentle fist well, he was predicting her moves ahead of time already. As if that was discouraging enough, she could tell she didn't have the swiftness and strength that Lee had. She could catch up with him for now, but it was only a matter of time before she would fail to do so. She had no choice but to use the Hidden Techniques now, she was hoping to use them during the exam. The taijutsu specialist then dashed at her again, this time faster. When he gave another quick assault, Hinata smirked as she generated chakra in her left hand forming a shield.
"What?" said Lee as his kick was blocked by another mysterious attack. He couldn't get out of it as he prepared for the worst. 'Could this be the Hyuga's Kaiten?' Naruto simply grinned.
"Fan of Knives!" shouted Hinata spinning rapidly in a 360 angle multiple times releasing piercing chakra blades in every direction. The blades were unleashed quickly that Lee didn't have the time to react. The first wave struck him directly, the burning and piercing sensation was unbearable. There was at least a several dozen blades stuck to him. 'Is this a Hyuga technique?' thought Lee as he watched in horror as the second wave came in a flash. Using chakra to increase his movements, the thick brow genin jumped, flipped and rolled trying his best to avoid any more of those incoming attacks. Knowing Lee was too fast, Hinata dropped the Fan of Knives as she watched her opponent charge at her with a fist. Once his fist got close, she formed a seal and Blinked away to a fair distance away from him to recover. 'She's really good…' thought Lee attempting to ease the pain but inhaling more air. 'I really have to use that move on her after all…'
'I shouldn't be holding back this much…' thought Hinata focussing all her attention at Lee. 'If I used all of my attacks here… Lee-san would know my style of combat before the exam starts. However… I'm not sure if I could beat him even if I go 100%, I can tell he's holding back too.' The Hyuga girl then went into her preferred stance and prepared herself for more. Out of the blue, Hinata was sent into the air by one of Lee's heavy and yet quick kicks. That stunned the girl since it was aimed at her chin, she couldn't defend herself after that. At that time, Naruto was already at Sakura's side waking her up. Even so, that kick didn't go unnoticed by the Death Knight. 'He was putting a lot of stamina into that kick… what is he up to?' thought Naruto as he continued to watch both fighters closely. Lee then kneeled into a positon and suddenly appeared right underneath Hinata performing the Shadow Dance. The heiress twitched knowing this would be the end. Sakura finally woke up, her eyes widened in fear when she saw Lee was in the air underneath his opponent. She was shocked when she saw the opponent was Hinata. The heiress looked helpless.
"Naruto-nichan!" shouted Sakura shaking him. "What's going on? Why is Hinata-san fighting?"
"Sakura-chan," whispered Naruto calming her down a little. "Watch this move carefully, I might need to step in." It was then when Lee released a lengthy amount of bandage from his left arm, it was obvious that he was preparing himself to attack. 'He's preparing way too much stamina…' thought Naruto. 'Is he trying to pull off a forbidden technique?' As Lee was trying to wrap the girl, suddenly a needle with a windmill on it struck the tip of his bandage. It nailed right at the wall stopping Lee's attack from continuing. As the taijutsu specialist released the Shadow Dance, he landed to the ground safely while Hinata was falling helplessly. "Hinata-chan!" shouted Naruto running to catch her in an embrace before she made contact to the floor. He looked at her eyes and something was amiss. 'She couldn't even defend herself from that fall… damn it…' "Hinata-chan, are you okay?"
"Naruto-kun…" whimpered Hinata nuzzling closer to him. "Do you think I was bad?"
"I think you're beautiful," comforted the boy stroking her cheek. Hinata blushed like a tomato while Sakura giggled to herself. "Now… where did that needle come from?" Team 7 then took a glance at Lee who was kneeling in front of something, they didn't expect it was a turtle. The three stared blankly as Lee was looking at the ground with shame.
"So… you were watching?" asked Lee to the turtle with guilt in his voice.
"Lee!" shouted the red turtle with a Konoha protector around his neck. "That move is forbidden!"
"I'm sorry… I got carried away…" apologized the green suit genin. 'He's being scolded,' thought Hinata. 'Could that turtle be his sensei?' At that moment, the turtle shot an angry glare making Lee sweat in fear and flailing his arms to justify himself. "But… but… I really wasn't going to use the other one… I swear I am telling the truth!" The turtle still didn't look convinced. Naruto's eyes twitched when he heard Lee, that guy knows more forbidden techniques, he really wasn't your average day ninja. Hinata and Sakura on the hand were still confused at what was actually going on.
"Naruto-kun… what is that turtle?" asked Hinata curiously.
"I don't know…" replied Naruto a little bit annoyed at the scene himself.
"So, a turtle could become a jounin instructor as well?" asked Sakura equally lost.
"I don't know…" Naruto was even more confused than before.
"You fool!" shouted the turtle at Lee, the boy closed his eyes due to the sudden outburst. "Did you expect such a lame excuse like that would work? You should know better than anyone that a shinobi shouldn't reveal any of their moves!"
"Sir." Said Lee silently but audible. 'I can't believe Hinata-san lost to that weird guy.' thought Sakura
"So are you ready to pay the consequences?"
"Sir…"
"Then here comes Gai-sensei, please take care of the rest." With that, a cloud of smoke appeared on top of the turtle's shell revealing a jounin making a ridiculous pose that wouldn't appeal to anyone. (AN: I have to love this part in the anime. It's funny every time I watch it.)
"Geez, you guys are the epitome of adolescence!" exclaimed Gai still making that pose. Naruto, Hinata and Sakura anime style jaw dropped, eyes widening like saucers, yelping in both absolute shock and disgust. They couldn't believe that was actually a jounin standing in front of them, his appearance alone made Naruto and Hinata lose their usual calm and collected selves. That was something really rare. Gai had even thicker eyebrows than Lee! Not to mention another person with a bowl haircut, it was turning out to be a freak show than an exam.
"ACK!" yelled Naruto pointing at Gai with a twitching hand. "An even lamer guy came!" He totally lost it.
"Yo, Lee" greeted Gai with a slight nice guy pose identical to Lee's. Especially the part that made his teeth shine.
"Super thick brows… super bowl cut…" mumbled Sakura with most utter disbelief.
"Those eyebrows are incredible…" added Hinata with the identical emotion. "I've never seen such a thing before…" Lee heard those comments behind his back, a sense of irritation popped into his head.
"HEY!" shouted Lee turning around clenching a fist tightly. "Stop insulting Gai-sensei!"
"To hell we won't!" snapped Naruto still losing his cool completely. "You freaks just keep appearing, how the hell do you expect us to react?"
"What did you say…" questioned Lee in a threatening way anime style.
"That's enough, Lee." said Gai to his student telling him to shake it off.
"Sir." replied the thick brow genin obeying without question.
"You…" Gai then formed a fist forcefully. "You fool!" He yelled giving Lee a direct punch in the face which sent him soaring at least 10 feet closer to Team 7. The trio watched in disbelief with anime style shock, they couldn't believe what they were witnessing. Lee fell face first to the ground, Gai walked to him and kneeled down to his level as Lee started to get back up. "Lee… you're, you're…"
"Sensei…" said Lee completely touched.
"Lee!" The background changed into a sunset and the atmosphere was now on a beach. The jounin had tears flowing down his face passionately.
"Sensei… I…"
"It's okay, Lee, you don't have to say anymore. I undeerstand." The two were only 4 feet or so from each other.
"Sensei!"
"Lee!" The two then passionately hugged one another like father like son. Then an ocean wave came from the background making the scene even more 'dramatic'. This definitely disturbed the trio to no end. Naruto's eyes were blank and twitching non stop. Sakura looked even more shocked with her mouth mumbling something that didn't even sound like words while Hinata couldn't stop her eyebrows from constant twitching. Her eyes were blank anime style as well, all three were very disgusted. "I lost to him?' thought the heiress in disbelief.
"Yes, that's what youth is all about!" exclaimed Gai hugging his student.
"That… situation couldn't be that bad… it's good stuff…" said the Death Knight forcing a grin.
"What the hell are you talking about!" shouted the girls choking him. "That's dangerous, way too dangerous!" Naruto somewhat regretted what he just said.
"It's okay, Lee," said Gai breaking the hug but still put his hand on the genin's shoulder. "Youth and mistakes go together, just forget about it." He still had tears flowing down his face.
"You're too kind, sensei." said Lee with watery eyes and sniffing dues to Gai's great mercy.
"Now, we will run 100 laps to the sunset!" The jounin then pointed to a random direction.
"Yes, sensei!" exclaimed Lee supportively. The direction where Gai was pointing was now conveniently a sunset. Gai looked back to his student with his trademark smile with teeth shining. Lee wiped the tears off his face and smiled proudly as well, his teeth also glittered. "Let's go!" The duo started to walk away, leaving Team 7 dumbfounded.
"Hey, wait a minute!" said Hinata no louder than a whisper. "We're still here!" The team finally snapped out of it.
"The chunnin exam begins in less than half an hour, there isn't enough time." reminded Sakura.
"Oh yeah…" said Gai scratching the back of his head. "I forgot about that." The three fell back anime style. Gai then coughed. "Lee, your punishment for revealing a forbidden technique will take place after the exam."
"Hai!" replied Lee with a salute.
"Now, run 500 laps!" shouted the jounin with another ridiculous pose. Lee just answered enthusiastically surprisingly enough. 'When will this nonsense end?' thought the Death Knight dully with a sweatdrop. 'How does Neji-nissan put up with these two anyway?' asked Hinata to herself in her head.
"So," said Sakura breaking the awkward silence. "Who's that turtle?" Both Naruto or Hinata weren't in a mood to answer anything. There were just too many scenes that they saw today that they never expected to see in their life. It was certainly intriguing. Gai glanced over to Team 7 with a straight face. 'Those are Kakashi's kids…' he thought. Sakura noticed his glance and panicked. "He's looking our way!" she shouted making a barrier.
"You three," called Gai. "How's Kakashi-sensei doing?"
"You know Kakashi?" asked Naruto calmly.
"Know him?" The thick brow jounin chuckled with his hand holding his chin. "People refer to us as… Eternal Rivals."
"That sounds so fake!" exclaimed the girls in unison. Naruto on the other hand observed Gai closely for the first time for the past 10 minutes. He should've observed him sooner but he was too much in shock to do that. He noticed Gai's clothing was identical to Lee's, the green jumpsuit, the forehead protector on his waist, they were alike. If it wasn't for Gai's jounin vest, Naruto might not be able to recognize them. 'This guy must be another taijutsu specialist…' thought Naruto. 'I can tell he's even stronger than Lee.'
"What are you saying?" questioned Lee. "Gai-sensei is really amazing!"
"It's okay, Lee," said Gai calmly. "Actions speak a lot louder than words." He then smiled again but the Death Knight eyed him closely. The two were standing there at first but after he blinked an eye, only Lee was there. Naruto immediately drew his blade and pointed behind him accurately at where Gai appeared. Hinata and Sakura felt his presence 1 second later, their eyes twitched at that speed. If that was a real life battle, they knew they would've been killed.
"When did he…" whispered Sakura in slight fear.
"He's fast…" added Hinata turning around slowly.
"Looks like someone isn't too surprised at my speed." stated Gai as he looked down at Naruto. The Death Knight's cold eyes didn't leave the jounin's for a second. Once he knew Gai wasn't going to do anything, he withdrew his runeblade and lowered it. "My record is 50 wins and 49 losses. You can say I'm stronger than Kakashi." He then did his trademark smile confidently.
"See that? Isn't Gai-sensei incredible?" exclaimed Lee that discouraged the three even more. 'Better than Kakashi?' though Hinata as those words kept repeating in her head. 'This guy isn't bluffing…'
"Please forgive Lee for what he did earlier for the sake of my face. This refreshing face that is, I swear that this incident wouldn't happen again. Now you three should head to the classroom with Lee, the exam is about to begin." He then tossed a kunai at the needle that nailed Lee's bandage, it knocked it away so it would fall to the ground. Naruto took a glimpse of Lee at took a closer look at Lee's visible hand. He was shocked to see it was all bruised, cut and several stitches were on it as well. It was crapped up beyond imaginable. "Lee, I'll catch you later!" Lee replied energetically as he wrapped his hand back up. Gai and the turtle then suddenly disappeared in a cloud of smoke leaving the 4 genins there.
"Naruto-kun, Hinata-san," called Lee seriously. The two mentioned people looked at Lee right into the eyes with a sense of competition. "Let me say one last thing before I leave. In truth, I have come here to test my abilities." Naruto's eyes narrowed a bit in anger. "Also, I lied a little earlier about myself. The most powerful genin in Konoha is most likely on my team, he's Hyuga Neji." Hinata then felt a little uneasy at what he just said. "I have entered this to defeat him. A dropout will defeat a genius with hard work, and you two are also my targets." The duo just smirked but the Hyuga heiress showed a bit of worry. "Be prepared for the exam, I wish you three luck!" With that cleared, Lee jumped back to the balcony and took off. The three stood there in silence until they no longer felt the taijutsu specialist's presence.
"Naruto-nichan, are you worried about this?" asked Sakura concerned.
"A little… that guy just beat Hinata-chan…" replied the silver hair shinobi with a little irritation.
"I held back, Naruto-kun…" said Hinata honestly. "Was Lee-san that strong?"
"Did you two see his hand?" questioned the Death Knight. The girls then thought back and once they remembered it, their eyes twitched with anxiety. "Lee must have trained really hard for this. Day in, day out… sadly to say, he might've trained more than you two. He's definitely a worthy rival."
"Naruto-kun…" whispered Hinata hugging his arm for comfort due to the feeling of inferiority. "Do you think we would do well on this chunnin exam?"
"Are we strong enough to take this?" asked Sakura lacking confidence.
"Yeah, we are," said Naruto holding them both close to him. "Don't let minor setbacks break you. Success can only be achieved during hard times. Whatever difficulties we face, we face it as a team. Together we are one." The girls then nodded with a blush on their faces as Naruto gave them a positive smile. "Hinata-chan, Sakura-chan, let's do this." Team 7 then headed to the third floor to room 301 where the real deal awaited them. They showed no fear whatsoever. They entered confidently without worries. At this point, it was succeed in unity or together they fall. There was no turning back now.
AN: (Drag myself back in a nearly crippled state to headquarters.) MEDIC, I need a medic… help me… I don't think I can make it, sir… that last shot was critical, I can't go on! (Vomits more blood due to severe injury.) Oh, I see that you readers are still here…(cough)… man, aren't you all loyal, I'm really glad. How did you like my chapter, was it good? Bad? Whatever you guys think, I would appreciate it if you give me a small comment or review to make this story improve. I don't want to make a crappy story for people to make fun of after all. THANK YOU all so much for people who wrote some comments, you guys told me you want this story to be better. I don't have time to thank all of you but you guys know who you are. The next chapter would be out in a several days, please hang in tight! Now if you all will excuse me, I got a battle to attend to. (Takes the 9mm Assault Rifle and grenades but collapses due to exhaustion.) This sucks… see you all again soon… if I could get some medical attention that is… (Spits out more blood before fainting)