Watch Me
Part Four: Interaction
AN: I know I said nothing until Tuesday, but I'm done studying and I see no need to postpone this. Hope you like it! I fixed the weird formatting... don't know why that happened.
…
Gai had called his team together on the night before the Chuunin Exam. They sat together at Neji's favorite restaurant, one of the few places that hadn't blacklisted Rock Lee after what was dubbed the "Single Shot Incident" in the restaurant community of Konoha.
They split dumplings between them. Tenten and Neji both had to grab more than they anticipated on eating, first to guarantee the possibility of seconds for themselves, and secondly to deny the possibility of sixths for Lee and Gai. They were mostly quiet, dressed the same as always. Tenten noticed that Neji's hair had finally grown back to its normal length.
Gai beamed down smiles at his students. Lee returned that smile with a wink and a thumb's up, Tenten propped her check on her left fist and Neji gave something between a smile and his normal expression. They weren't saying much, but all their minds were racing a million miles a second. Tenten had the first match of the first round; Lee and Neji were in the last match. Gai would root for Lee, Tenten would root for Neji. Lee and Neji would root for Tenten.
"Tomorrow," Lee said, finally breaking the silence. "Let's all do our best."
"Hai."
…
The crowd poured in around the nine fighters with enthusiasm. Feudal lords arranged themselves to judge, examiners and assistants had score sheets and evaluations in hand with nine names of Chuunin contenders, some of those names would be crossed off their lists.
Bets had been made: many of them with high stakes. There were few unanimous assumptions about outcomes, but other than that the ratios were nothing special or unpredicted. Shizune had actively restrained Tsunade from placing any bets, lest she tipped the scales of the future.
Raidou stood before the genin nine and read them the rules. There had been no changes made. The landscape had few modifications, but other than that it was just like every other Chuunin exam held in Konoha.
The Jounin were arranged beside each other, Asuma's team present as well. Genma, Kakashi, Baki, Gai, and Kurenai waited with the rest of the crowd. The matches hadn't even started and Gai was already nervous, exciting, annoying, and unreasonably emotional. The other Jounin shook their heads. It was no secret that Gai had failed emotional training four times during his time at the academy before the sensei gave up and passed him. Gai was a damn good ninja, but had the emotional capacity of yogurt.
"First match," Raidou announced, "Tenten vs. Gaara. All other contenders please return to the waiting box."
Neji didn't even give Gaara an eye when he turned his back to walk with Hinata and the others to the waiting box. Lee turned back just once and gave Tenten his kindest Nice Guy pose before returning with the rest of the genin.
"Tenten, Gaara, to the center." Raidou commanded.
It bothered Tenten just a little that she was taller than Gaara. It was unsettling that something that small could be that powerful. The kunoichi took a deep breath. Gaara crossed his arms over his chest and meet Tenten face to face.
"First match: Tenten vs. Gaara. Begin."
The first move was Tenten's leaping back several feet to put distance between herself and her target.
In the stadium Gai was nearly beside himself. Kakashi remained cool and seemed to be observing with no particular enthusiasm. In the waiting box, Lee addressed his teammate. "What sort of techniques do you think Kakashi-sensei taught Tenten, Neji?"
"Tenten doesn't have the speed to overpower the sand armor, like you do. Most likely she's been learning diversion and subtle assault tactics from the air at varying angles."
"To try to test the limits of how much sand he can use at one time." Lee deduced.
"Hai."
Temari snorted gently. "It's useless, whatever she learned."
"We'll see."
Tenten's ability to accurately and precisely strike her target was beyond the level of a genin. Her finger training gave her the ability to release a weapon finger by finger, meaning ten weapons could be launched at once. Tenten retrieved a scroll and used her Tobidougu Kuchiyose no jutsu (projectile weapon summon technique) and summoned ten senbon and flicked them all at Gaara. The sand guard reacted immediately and deflected them all. Gaara remained still, arms crossed over his chest.
Temari smirked. "He's going to give her three moves before he goes on the offensive. She just wasted one."
Kankurou smiled cheekily.
Kakashi waited, knowing her strategy.
Tenten took another leap back, putting another few feet between her and Gaara. Gaara wasn't chasing her; she'd have time for her move. Her hands formed her seals cleanly.
Nezumi(rat), Hebi(snake), O-ushi(ox), Saru(monkey), Inu(dog), Usagi(hare), Usagi(hare), Nezumi(rat). "Doton: Sekainohate!" (Earth Release: End of the World!)
The waiting boxes eyes shot open as the earth began to split and erupt under Gaara's feet. The cracking earth split and leveled, throwing hot wind fissures into the air. The ground crackled unbalancing the lykomorph, making him shift to reassert a position.
"Doton?" Lee asked.
"Doton is one of Kakashi's specialties." Neji responded.
"Such a high level jutsu, he taught her that in only a month?" Lee questioned.
The ground cracked in unexpected patterns, tearing up more and more of the ground around Gaara. The sand nin leapt back, escaping a collapsing pit of earth.
Tsunade smiled from her observation box. I see.
Tenten unleashed a rain of projectiles then, as Gaara moved to a better position. The sand reacted, blocking each of the sickles and kunai as Gaara pivoted and adjusted to the new terrain. The earth continued to shatter. "Sabaku Fuyu (Desert Suspension)." The sand swept forward, flexing under Gaara, making a pedestal to keep his feet still above the raging earth. Tenten released her last projectile and frowned when it too was propelled by Gaara's steady supply of sand.Temari shook her head. It was a cute idea… to try and exhaust Gaara's volume of sand as you made him concentrate on his feet. But that gourd is always going to protect him and Gaara isn't just a puppet to it.
Gaara floated above Tenten, arms still crossed, looking down at his opponent. She had one more move.
And Tenten made it. She pulled two scrolls from behind her back. Kankurou looked outwards and recognized the stance. "She doesn't think she can beat Gaara with scrolls does she? She's cute, but not too bright."
"Those aren't the same scrolls as before," Neji observed.
Tenten's seal sequence flowed rapidly. "Sousokuryu!"
"Twin Binding Dragons?" Shizune pondered. The attendant leaned a little further over Tsunade's shoulder. The Godaime rested her pretty chin on her folded hands and observed.
The scrolls shot horizontally. The dragon faces were a demon black as they raced forward towards Gaara. The scrolls flashed and dashed around the armor of sand, touching and attracting the chakra drenched particles to her scrolls.
I see…Kiba smirked. She's collecting as much of Gaara's sand to her scrolls as she can to reduce the amount he can use to defend against her next attacks.
The sand was pulled away from Gaara's gourd in waves and waves. Tenten held the two scrolls in one hand, using her chakra to help her ninjutsu pull more and more of the sand against Gaara's will.
Gaara gritted his teeth behind his lips, his features tightening as he made commands to his chakra infused sand to return. Tenten gritted as well, pulling hard.
Kurenai sat forward in her seat and watched the struggle. "Those must be powerful seals to be keeping Gaara's will back." Kurenai observed as Gaara continued to struggle to release his sand from the jutsu.
"Kakashi! I trust you have not put my kawaii kunoichi in any danger with such a technique!" Gai shouted.
"Iie. I didn't create that jutsu. She did."
"She did?" Kurenai asked.
"Hai, I taught her the earth release, she had come up with the jutsu when she realized who her opponent was. We worked on her chakra control to make the seals hold. She's a smart girl, that Tenten"
Baki listened carefully to Kakashi's explanation. It is a clever idea, but it can only work for a few seconds. Ultimately that sand serves Gaara. He'll overpower her and go on the offensive. She's had her three moves; he'll finish it with his three.
Tenten's feet began to slide as the sand began to pull back against the seals. Gaara raised his hands, pulling more and more of the cursed sand back towards his body. The sand began peeling off in clomps.
Shimatta! I need more time! Tenten thought. Tenten pulled a set of shuriken from her pouch and hurled them for the center of Gaara's eye. Gaara's dark rimmed eyes widened forcefully. Another clomp of the sand pulled free and blocked the shuriken.
He still has so much!
Temari raised an eyebrow. "Oho? I thought that one almost had a chance."
"Tenten waited too long. Her hold was strongest when she had surprise." Shino observed.
Kankurou laughed. "Now Gaara's going on the offensive."
Lee and Neji's eyes widened in surprise when a blast of sand hurled Tenten across the stadium, effectively terminating the jutsu.
"Tenten!"
Temari pouted. "That's one."
"Two more." Kankurou responded.
"What are you counting down?" Lee asked.
Kankurou laughed. "I guess Neji is the smart one. Gaara's gonna finish this in three moves. Knocking her down was one. Knocking her out will come next."
Neji's brows tightened and Lee's fists clenched as they watched Tenten pull herself up from the ground.
"Ryusa Bakuryu (Quicksand in the Style of a Waterfall)!"A wave of sand washed toward her, reaching nearly twelve feet high. Tenten's face showed her shock. She didn't have the speed to evade. She crossed her arms over her face as a guard and the wave crashed onto her.
The Konoha genin leaned forward across the rails. "Tenten!"
Gai gasped and leaped up to his feet. "Tenten!" He had seen a wave like that before. She will be crushed!
"Gai, sit down, you're blocking my view." Kakashi said.
Gai turned and faced his eternal rival with flames erupting from him. Kurenai and the rest of the observers leaned back as Gai's head seemed to triple in size as he yelled down at the Copy Ninja. "Kakashi! My precious Tenten was just swept in an avalanche! How can you not be concerned?"
"If you look, you'll see why." Kakashi responded with a smile.
Gai turned and looked down to wear the wave of sand was retreating. The sand pulled back slowly, returning to Gaara with a drawl of confidence. Gaara's eyes widened when he realized he'd missed. His head turned to the left first, then to the right as he scanned the landscape for a sign of her.
Neji found her first, but he wasn't going to give her location away.
The ground behind Gaara split open as a serrated machete rose from beneath. Gaara's eyes widened as the ground cracked rapidly. He turned just in time to see Tenten fully emerge, the tip of the blade just missing his face, the armor of sand couldn't keep up.
"Hayai. (fast)!" Ino gasped.
"That was Jounin body-flicker speed!" Kiba shouted.
"Tenten is that fast?" Shino asked.
"Her trainer is." Neji responded.
"She could do it!" Lee shouted.
Gaara's eyes were wide as Tenten descended from the air, weapon turned to cut through him.
"Gaara!" Temari shouted.
Tenten's weapon dropped and the stadium was still.
The armor of sand was fast enough.
The sand turned into a Gaara replica and the hand caught Tenten's wrist. Tenten grunted and tried to pull free, but it wasn't letting go.
"Close." Kakashi whispered.
"Not good enough." Kankurou finished across the waiting box. "And that's two."
"This is it." Temari replied.
Lee gasped and turned his eyes back to the stadium.
The real Gaara took a leap back and made a single seal. "Sabakuro."
Neji, Tenten, Lee, Gai and the other genin shot forward in surprise. The sand replica lost its form as it combined with other rushing sand to create a prison around Tenten. They watched in horror as the sand swept over her head and trapped her in a tight dome.
"Nani!" Lee shouted. He turned to the Sand nin who were watching expectantly, casually as Kankurou leaned again the rail and Temari sat upon it, legs crossed daintily. "You said he wasn't going to kill her!"
"Baka." Temari responded. "He's only going to trap her in there until she faints. When she's passed out he'll let go and she'll lose. Don't worry you're bowl shaped head about her."
Lee turned back in frustration. His fists tightened at his side. Neji's hands were keeping a powerful grip on the railing.
"How long can she last?" Kiba asked to no one. Akamaru whimpered.
At the floor Raidou waited and waited, realizing Gaara's intentions to make the girl suffocate. "The human body can go four minutes without air to the brain before fainting. Five minutes and she'll die."
The minutes began to tick. Neji counted them slowly. He activated his Byakugan and observed her.
One.
Two.
Three.
Tsunade made a short sketch on her notes under both Tenten and Gaara. She understood too that in a moment or so the match would be called. She fought well. She thought.
Gai leapt from his seat again. "Tenten!"
"Gai, calm down." Kakashi stated simply.
"I will not! My kawaii Tenten is trapped in a sandbox suffocating!"
"You're overreacting." Kakashi replied.
Understatement of a lifetime. Shikamaru and Ino thought simultaneously.
"Overreacting! My precious Tenten is---!"
"SOUSHOURYU!"
Gai turned rapidly to the stadium fight, Tenten's voice echoing through the stadium. The desert prison shattered open from the top as two scroll dragons emerged and soared to the sky. Tenten's slight body followed in the wound her Tobidougu Kuchiyose no jutsu had created. The scrolls danced as the crowd was surprised by her escape. Gaara's eyes narrowed as the rain of weapons poured down. They spiraled out of her hands in fierce rotations.
"Tenten!" Lee shouted. "Ike! Tenten! You can do it, Tenten!"
"She can still do all that after being trapped for that long?" Kiba wondered.
"She will come to her limit soon." Shino responded.
"But still," Hinata whispered. "She is amazing."
Temari had to admit she hadn't expected the girl to hold on this long. It was a good plan and it would work on anyone… except Gaara. The kunoichi doesn't seem to realize one thing… that sand doesn't get surprised. There aren't enough weapons in her arsenal to clear it all away. Kankurou watched the weaponist turn and try to string dance her weapons for a second attack.
"Some girl… but it's over." The puppet master noted.
From the stadium, it became obvious what Kankurou saw that Tenten couldn't. While the girl was twisting her body to throw her weapons again, a volume of sand was raising beneath her. Kakashi's eye lowered. Mah, she fought well. Baki watched as Gaara finished his entrapment and caught the leaf genin off guard with a second prison of sand. She wouldn't have enough chakra this time to free herself.
The count started again in Neji's head. He activated his Byakugan and watched Tenten's body. After a minute, she had fainted.
"Examiner!" He called from the box. "She's fainted. The match is over."
Gaara pulled back the prison and gently rested the girl back onto the stadium ground. True enough, Tenten had fainted.
"Winner, Gaara."
Neji, Lee, Gai and Kakashi leapt down from their posts and ran forward to the defeated kunoichi.
"She's fainted. She wasn't suffocated long enough to cause any permanent damage." Neji observed.
"Hai."
"Tenten, you were great." Lee said.
The other three nodded in agreement. The medics took Tenten to the recovery ward. Gai made to follow. Kakashi stopped him. "You've still got fighters to watch. I'll look after Tenten."
"Arigato, Kakashi."
"Hai, hai."
Kakashi followed behind the medical ninjas and the others returned. Gai appeared before the rest of the Jounin, Shikamaru, Ino and Chouji.
"Is Tenten going to be okay?" Kurenai asked.
"Hai."
"That's good." Ino stated. "Your team is amazing, Gai-sensei."
"Ah, arigato."
They turned their attention back to the arena stadium and Raidou called the next match. Shino and Hinata made their way to the floor. It was Kurenai's turn to sit at the edge of her seat.
"Hyuuga Hinata and Aburame Shino. Second round. Begin."
As Kurenai expected, Shino was the aggressor and Hinata defended. Shino's bugs surrounded Hinata in a clouding swarm. They were all in the field of her divination.
"Shuggohakke! Roukujon yonshou!"
All of the stadium became stunned by the girl's jutsu. Her chakra beams shout out rotation after rotation. After a few minutes it became clear to Neji, Shikamaru and Kurenai what was happening.
"Hinata has been attacking for five minutes and there don't appear to be any less bugs." Ino commented.
"That's because there aren't any less. She hasn't killed a single one." Shikamaru replied.
"Nani? How can you tell?"
"He's doing something clever. This entire time he's been using Kawairimi no jutsu on his bugs."
"He's switching his bugs?" Chouji asked.
"Hai."
"With what?"
"Other bugs."
"Nani? How does that help?"
"His replacement bugs are eating the chakra she's emitting. Because of the speed, Hinata can't see that her targets are switching. Shino is switching them back and force and back and forth, making it look like there are more and more targets." Kurenai responded.
"But what does that do?" Chouji asked.
"She'll run out of chakra soon. Shino is going to let her defeat herself so he doesn't have to raise a hand against her."
They were correct and eventually Hinata collapsed, saved from the ground by a pillow of insects.
Tsunade smiled gently and rested her cheek in her hand. "He's a clever boy, Shino."
"Hai," Shizune responded. "He's the genius bug user of the Aburame clan."
"For good reason. He defeated his enemy without comprising his position or his integrity. There are few shinobi with such high character."
Raidou looked between the opponents and raised his hand. "Winner, Abarame Shino."
…
The third round was unexpectedly boring considering the cheekiness of the fighters, in Temari's opinion. Inuzuka Kiba and Akamaru were ridiculously fast, but fast didn't matter when it came to poison. Both ninken and ninken trainer receiving a single scratch when they had attacked Karusu and Kuroari with their Gatsuga and that had been enough.
The match went onto the second most anticipated match in the exam: Rock Lee vs. Hyuuga Neji. Lee and Neji made their descent down the staircase as Tenten was guided by Kakashi to her seat. They sat in a row: Kakashi, Tenten, Gai and Genma. Genma wasn't showing any emotion are abnormal anticipation, neither was Kakashi. Gai was emotional enough for the both of them.
Rock Lee and Hyuuga Neji stood beneath the sunlight of the open stadium. Tsunade and the feudal lords waited to observe Hyuuga Neji, Konoha's top sensation. Tenten looked around gently and saw that she was in the only row of people who weren't leaning forward expectantly for this to begin. Genma sat back relaxed, further in his seat than even Kakashi. Tenten turned and saw that Gai-sensei was exactly the opposite. He might have an emotional breakdown in the next few seconds. That's the difference between Lee and Neji… I didn't see either of them for a month, what could they have learned? I know Gai-sensei's style, what did Genma-san teach Neji?
Both Lee and Neji turned their gazes to the audience. Half the girls present swooned at that longing look in Neji's eyes. What is he looking for? I wonder. Thought Tenten. Both of their gazes found the same place. Lee's eyes landed on his emotional sensei, Neji's eyes found Genma-shishou, who looked back with no particular gaze. Tenten looked between the two senseis. She read Gai's emotion and felt Genma's cool. This two… do they mean the same to each of them? Tenten turned her pretty face back to the tournament.
Neji took a deep sigh. Lee was prepared.
Watch me.
Rock Lee and Hyuuga Neji stood opposite each other the sun resting on Neji's left shoulder, Lee's right. Lee was smiling. Neji was calm. "Hyuuga Neji and Rock Lee. Begin."
Neji slide his feet and took his Juuken ready stance, his right palm extended towards Lee, his other pulled back close to his own body. Lee turned his body, opening his left side, his right arm extended parallel to Neji's palms. Lee smiled. He turned his head to Raidou. "Examiner. I forfeit."
Neji balked as the rest of the crowd were thrown back in their seats with shock.
"Nani!" Tenten screamed from her seat.
Gai was effectively stupefied.
"Lee? What do you mean? Why are you forfeiting?" Neji stood straight up.
Lee smiled and relaxed his position. He took a step closer to Neji and extended his absolute brightest Nice Guy pose. "Neji, for longer than I remember, I've wanted to fight you. I wanted to fight the Hyuuga Neji who was a genius, who was cruel, who gave into fate. It was what made me strong enough to be worth Gai-sensei's smile. In truth, I owe you just as much as Gai-sensei for who I am."
"Lee."
In the stadium Gai's mouth was only an inch or so off the floor. Shikamaru looked exasperated. "How troublesome. He'll enter in the next exam and I'll have to mark him."
"I thought he did a nice thing." Ino whispered.
Genma made no expression either way. Kakashi shook his head as Gai remained locked in his surprise. The Copy Ninja turned to Genma. "Mah, looks like I'll have to wait to see what you taught him a little longer."
"Looks that way." Genma replied coolly. In truth there was one person who was cooler in attitude than Kakashi and it was Genma.
Chouji opened his third bag of potato chips. "Lee is a weird guy."
Back on the stadium floor Neji stood face to face with his long time 'rival'. It had started out as a one sided aggression on Lee's part, but since the last Chuunin exam Neji had come to respect and appreciate Lee's friendship. In truth he wanted to fight Lee as much as Lee wanted to fight Neji. He understood what it meant now, to have something to prove.
"Lee."
"I've always been a hardworking type. You will always be a bloodline genius… but more than either of that we're friends and students of the same great sensei. I still want to fight you, but I want to wait."
"Wait? For what?"
Lee gave another thumb's up. "The Renge blooms twice, I'm going to wait for you to catch up."
Neji's eyes furrowed, his expression lost between anger, surprise and uncertainty. But that cleared and he shook his head.
Tenten's eyebrow ticked. She was going to hit Lee the next time she saw him. She might use a weapon. Either way, she was going to make it hurt. Gai's body went completely stiff as tears of joy ran down his face. Lee! What a guy you are! Saving everyone from the heartbreak of teammates fighting. You are…
Gai beamed down on his beloved students. Tenten scooted back a bit more to avoid the waterfall.
Tsunade shook her head. That Lee kid is something else…
Raidou scratched his head. He was expecting a real slobber knocker from this one. "Winner, Hyuuga Neji."
The crowd was disappointed but kept their opinions to a low roar. Lee and Neji turned to the stadium and found their sensei. He was crying thoroughly, but he was looking down on them smiling. Lee gave another winning smile and turned his back to exit the arena. Neji smiled and called behind him. "You just don't want to give Gai-sensei a heart attack."
Lee flinched and rubbed the back of his head. "Neji-kun… I guess you're called a genius for a reason."
…
The second round followed starting with Temari vs. Kankurou to determine who would be Neji's opponent. It became apparent that the siblings were hesitant to fight each other, but one of them would have to win. Even though they were reluctant, their level of skill was still obvious. The Sand genin were truly in a high class. After an hour Temari defeated her brother's puppet mechanisms and won the match, to lose to Hyuuga Neji later in the round. Shino's tricks and strategies were ineffective against Gaara and the Konoha genin lost his battle.
So the final round was Hyuuga Neji vs. Sabaku no Gaara.
The strength of the Leaf against the strength of the Sand.
Hyuuga Neji and Sabaku no Gaara were called to the center of the stadium, having already been torn up by Gaara's fight with Tenten and Temari's fight with Kankurou. So far neither Gaara nor Neji had shown much of their true talents. The two fighters stood opposite each other, arms crossed over their chests. This match would be different.
Tsunade smiled and watched all of the audience move themselves to the very edge of their seats. Beside her, Shizune was leaning forward to get a better view and the advisors both had their scrolls ready to make notes.
Neji and Gaara stood toe to toe and waited. The sun was still high. The crowd was at its fullest. Though his eye didn't stare, Neji found Genma in the crowd above him. Just once he blinked. He was ready to show how high he could fly.
"Final Round: Hyuuga Neji vs. Gaara. Begin."
And it did.
For the entire fight there wasn't a closed eye. It became the longest match in the history of the Chuunin exam, six hours and thirty seven minutes. Gaara proved to be as brilliant as he was powerful and Hyuuga Neji appeared to be a true genius.
In the stadium, even the Jounin were amazed by the technique they were witnessing from the genin before them. Genma kept his senbon between his teeth slack, making counts and points in his head as he watched his discipline fight. Baki watched with equal determination, surprised anyone could hold up against Gaara's talents. This was different than what happened with Rock Lee and Uzumaki Naruto. This was truly a battle of strength and newly formed opinions on life.
Kunai flew through the air, waves of sand were dodged, chakra deflected sand blasts. Neji concentrated his chakra to his foot then slammed his heel into the ground, shaking a rock free, pushing the huge stone into the air. He twisted his body and molded his chakra to his spinning heel, kicking the huge stone at Gaara. The chakra behind it gave it speed and only just barely did Gaara manage to dodge it. The sand couldn't block it.
I see. My chakra is faster than the polluted chakra he uses. Getting close isn't possible, I'm not faster than his sand… but I can use that…
Gaara's sand rained at Neji. To preserve his chakra he shifted into his Juukenhou stance.
"Rokujon yonshou?" Ino asked.
"Isn't he too far away for that?" Kurenai asked.
"I thought that was used to block tenketsus." Asuma added.
Genma's senbon flipped, but he said nothing.
"Mah, we'll see." Kakashi added.
Lee's eyebrow raised when instead of starting his trademark move, Neji rotated his body. Tenten was surprised as well. "What is that?" She asked.
"Juukenhou, Hakke Hyaku Nijouhachi Shou!"
"Nani!" The crowd gasped.
Neji's body spun out rapidly cutting through the sand with his laser precision chakra.
"Hayai!" Lee shouted.
"Neji!" Gai shouted in surprise.
"That's Lee's speed!" Tenten added.
He's improved this much since the Chuunin exam… Neji… what a guy you are…
Tsunade watched Neji move and continue to cut through Gaara's assault. Neji and Gaara have been fighting for a long time…The strength of the Leaf and the strength of the Sand both had something to prove. But they can't have much chakra left…
Neji's strikes ended. The boy was breathing hard. Gaara's rain of sand ended, he was low on Chakra as well. The next move would be a big one and either way, who ever made it or missed, it would be the end.
"Ryusa Bakuryu!" Gaara's sand rose again, higher than it had when it went for Tenten. Neji set his feet.
"Kaiten, then." Tsunade mused as she watched the boy's motion.
"His absolute defense." Shizune replied.
"But after this long, he mustn't have much chakra left, I wonder if that's a wise move." Tsunade responded.
Neji turned his palm upwards.Genma flicked his senbon upwards.
"Hakke Kusho (Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm)!"
Tsunade's eyes widened as she watched the newest of Neji's jutsus cut through the air and through the wave of sand. The wave collapsed around the gaping hole and through the hole, Neji could watch his chakra travel further still, through the wave of sand and all the way to Gaara. The speed of the chakra was faster than the speed of Gaara's returning sand. The chakra slammed into Gaara as the rest of the sand wave crashed onto Neji. Neji and Gaara were thrown backwards. Their bodies crashed at the same time, sliding nearly the same distance. The entire stadium was on its feet.
"Which one will get up?" Lee wondered.
"Even for those boys, surely they must be at their end." Kurenai stated.
"They'll both get up." Kakashi stated. "With even the littlest bit of chakra, they'll fight."
"Have they become rivals?" Ino asked.
"Iie." Genma responded. "Neji isn't fighting Gaara and Gaara sure as hell isn't fighting Neji. They're fighting themselves, their old selves."
"You think so?" Lee asked.
Genma rolled his senbon to the other side of his mouth. "You know so, Lee. That's why you forfeited."
Lee laughed and rubbed the back of his head.
"Lee? That's why you forfeited?" Tenten asked.
"It's one of the reasons." Lee responded.
"If I would have known that, I wouldn't have hit you so hard!" Tenten shouted.
"As hard?" Shikamaru noticed.
"I still would have hit him. Baka."
"You're a good guy, Lee-kun." Ino stated.
Lee smiled and gave her his most radiant nice guy pose. "Ino-san, if you think so, we should go out." The glisten didn't miss a beat.
Neither did Tenten. Tenten punched Lee over the top of his head. "Lee! You never learn do you?"
"Alright." Tenten and Lee shot their heads back towards Ino as Chouji, Shikamaru and Asuma wore an equally horrified look. There was a slight blush over Ino's cheeks as she turned her head to the side a bit. Tenten was somewhere between horrified and stupefied. Lee was nearly beside himself. It's happening! Gai-sensei!
Lee turned to his sensei hoping to get a response, to find that his teacher was standing up looking over the edge of the railing. Lee turned and looked as well. The entire stadium turned their eyes to the battle. There was no battle. Neither fighter could get up. Raidou looked from fighter to fighter. Gaara was breathing hard, his hands scrapping at his side to find some way to push himself up. Neji's eyes were closed, his mouth hung open with each of his struggling breaths. The sand around him wasn't moving.
Raidou shook his head. "What a way to end it boys." Raidou turned to the crowd and raised his hand. "Both fighters are unable to continue! The final round has no winner!"
For a few seconds the crowd was silent before a roar of profanities and cheers erupted. Never in Konoha had their ever been such a fight. Tsunade propped her head in her hand. "Kids these days."
…
After an hour or so, the Feudal lords gathered in the meeting room of the arena and began their evaluations. Tsunade sighed and looked at her notes and the piles of paper between the rest of them.
"Let's make this easier on ourselves. I'll read every name and if you feel they should be a Chuunin, as if you only had one vote, vote for the candidate. Each vote is independent. You can vote more than once, but be critical, only if you would risk your name for this genin should you vote for them. I'll start with Gaara."
Hands rose and Tsunade counted them. "Hyuuga Neji." Again Tsunade counted the hands.
"Temari." The process continued until every name was read.
"Hmm, from the ratios per person, it looks like we'll be announcing six new Chuunin."
…
The sun began to set when the Chuunin exam commencement began. The nine qualifiers waited before the crowd as Tsunade stepped forward.
"We have concluded our decision. To all of you, you fought proudly and wisely. You have demonstrated multiple levels of talent and effectively given your senseis heart attacks." Kiba and Kankurou snickered. Temari shook her head.
"After deliberations, we have selected six of you to obtain the rank of Chuunin."
"Only six?" Hinata whispered.
"Each of you possesses the potential for further development. Those who do not become a Chuunin this round have more opportunity to train and grow. This is not the end." Each of the nine candidates stood perfectly still, except Tenten who was leaned against Kiba for balance.
"Now the names of those who are now Chuunin. Temari."
Temari smirked.
"Hyuuga Neji."
Neji took a single breath. His smile, though dead tired, was as cocky as ever.
"Abarume Shino." Shino tilted his head, just slightly. Kiba pouted. If I don't become a Chuunin, I'll have to deal with him being the boss…
"Kankurou." Kankurou smiled will all his teeth.
"Tenten." Tenten blinked and almost fell from Kiba's support. Akamaru barked as Kiba straightened the surprised Chuunin.
"Easy, Tenten." Kiba said.
"And lastly, Gaara." Gaara made no response.
"You six, three of the sand, three of Konoha, you are Chuunin!"
The crowd roared. Kiba traded Tenten off to Lee, effectively reducing the amount of shouting the taijutsu artist could put forth. The sand nin left with no pause or goodbye. They were too cool. Neji turned his eyes to the stadium. He found his uncle, some members of his clan, a few members from his class who hadn't become genin, a few that had, and the group of Jounin trainers. Kurenai, Asuma and Kakashi were showing various signs of applause. Gai was crying a waterfall. Neji continued to look as Lee and Tenten with Shino, Kiba and Hinata came to congratulate him.
He looked, but he couldn't find Genma in the crowd.
End of part.
In truth, how I had Shino beat Hinata wouldn't work. However, I didn't want to make Hinata fight Gaara, because then I'd actually have to write it out… I already put more into the actual exam then I meant to. I was originally just going to do the Neji vs. Gaara and the Tenten vs. Gaara. The Lee vs. Neji and Shino vs. Hinata just sort of happened. Not that it particularly matters, but originally only Gaara, Temari, Neji and Tenten were going to become Chuunin when I started… Anyways, expect some angst and relationship development in the next chapter. Please look forward to it.