Welcome to the next chapter.
Clarent excalibur; I could see Naruko creating something like that. Satsuki doing that would be pretty funny to see~ Thanks for the suggestions!
Morregen; Those opponents will be saved for later. Fighting either now wouldn't be the best time as I've got some moments with both of them planned later on.
danielsnow; Thanks, glad you liked them! Yeah, he did his best and respected Kiba as his opponent. We'll have to wait and see about that~
joharasbel; Thanks very much!
ShadowUzumaki55; They did yeah, they managed to win their fights~ Tenten showed a good deal of stuff, showcasing her weapon usage, and even some Taijutsu skills, managing to keep even Naruko at bay for a good time. Yeah, Ryouta's been through it with the harem Jutsu's of himself being shown to many people. Kiba definitely was, he showed his cool sides, and while losing, got a good battle with Ryouta out of it. Lets hope Gaara doesn't do that yeah~ Kakashi will help both Uchiha's in their training.
Moshiyari; Yeah, Naruko busted that out, to the embarrassment of Ryouta~ Ryouta was a bit, he also didn't want to kill Kiba so he couldn't use his more deadly Jutsu's, though we'll see soon enough his strongest kind of techniques. Thanks very much!
Silver crow; Thanks! Tenten did yeah. I'm sure Ryouta might do with Naruko in the future. We'll see what happens with Lee here. We'll see what Danzo's been up to when the time comes. Garaga did yeah. He didn't know if it was her, or something else, he's been through a good deal lately. Glad you liked their rivalry. With Guy as her Sensei, I thought it would make sense she'd know at least a bit of Taijutsu. Yeah, the girls had quite the reaction to Naruko's Jutsu's. Yeah, he could summon the snakes there. Kurotsuchi could do yeah. I've got some ideas for when the other Kage come into the scenes. Yeah, he could have missions with people like that. He'll create some Jutsu's in time.
Guest 1; Yeah, he very well might do it seems~ I could see Naruko developing things like that yeah. The Tsunade Search is for after the Chunin Exams, so a little bit of time just yet. Kakashi seems to be going to teach Ryou that yeah, and yeah he'll teach Satsuki as well.
GuoYaohui; Those two names would be the two main characters if I was lucky enough to ever do my own series with my own ideas, like a Light Novel, Manga, something like that.
Skull Flame; She really is yeah~ Lee might have a different fate from canon.
TheRagFromTheCrag; I guess it would be yeah~
Kylo Ren; We are yeah! Hopefully I'd love to do it at some point.
TheGreatGodzilla; All I can say about Pakura is that she'll have a good role coming up soon. I can't say what's going to happen and how the Chunin Exams are going to be going. Thanks for the suggestions. Because I just didn't want to add them here, that's all. Tenten and Neji are good. You'd have to ask Kumo that.
Guest 2; Thanks very much! Kakashi is yeah, Ryouta knows he needs to become stronger, and he's doing it the best way that he could do. Yeah, it seemed to be obvious with Guy as her Sensei that she'd know at least more Taijutsu than the average Ninja would be capable of using. That's Naruko for you~ Glad that you liked the fight. Lee vs Ryouta might happen one day~ Thanks for the suggestions!
Andrew123456; Maybe some of them, haven't fully decided yet.
kinggaleana19; Yeah, maybe one day he will do.
War Sage; Thanks! Yeah, they did have involvement in the past, so Mikoto might be onto something. Wouldn't be surprised if he did do that during canon. Thanks, glad you liked them! I thought Garaga doing that would make some sense~ Yeah, poor Ryou going through such an embarrassing thing again. Tenten did yeah. Haha, it might end up doing that to Hinata if she saw it~ That could be funny, Pakura doing that. That's how Karin is yeah. Satsuki's still going to learn the Chidori so she'll train with Kakashi as well, she might get some stuff off of her Mother though. I've got ideas for both Haku and Ryouta's training partners. Thanks for the suggestions.
Chicken BOI; Thanks, glad you enjoy it. Yeah maybe one day I will.
Hinata fan; It's got more this chapter in some developing plots. Ryouta will do yeah.
Guest 3; They'd be cool, thanks for the suggestions!
With those reviews out of the way, it's time to start the chapter!
The preliminaries part five!
It was a quiet day within the residence Danzo had. Because he was being watched, all of the time, he never had the chance to do much in his life. All he could do for the moment was simply drink his tea, and look at the same four walls that he had been staring at for a good long time now, something that ignited rage within him each time that he thought about it.
However, today was different, as he got an unexpected visit from Mikoto.
The young woman came into his house via the window, and his lone eye went towards her.
"You're an unexpected visitor."
Mikoto didn't reply.
Instead, she simply stared at him to see what was going on.
"It's a nice day, and you're inside here? For what purpose?"
Mikoto overlooked Danzo, seeing his demeanour.
She looked for any change, if anything was different than it usually was.
"...I came to see what you were doing."
Mikoto remained cool, she didn't let anything slip whatsoever.
Not even the way her body language was.
Thanks to her years of training, even Danzo had a hard time discerning what Mikoto was truly thinking.
"As you can see, I am merely drinking some tea. There isn't a lot that I currently can do due to the fact that I am under surveillance."
"That's because..." Mikoto caught herself feeling some resentment towards Danzo, so she calmed herself and continued on. "...your own actions caused you to be in the situation you are in now. You are lucky Hokage-sama hasn't done even more."
"Apart from taking my life, there is little that could be done. I have no freedoms."
Mikoto could certainly think of a few things more than Hiruzen could have done that didn't mean death.
But she kept that back for the moment and eyed up Danzo.
She couldn't see anything was amiss, so she didn't have much reason to doubt that this was the real Danzo before her.
"That's all, I shall make my leave."
Danzo watched as Mikoto prepared to leave, so he spoke up.
"I do hope young Ryouta-kun is doing well."
Mikoto paused, her hands tightened as she felt a spike of anger run through her.
"What did you say?"
Danzo's face didn't change, but within his lone eye, some slight excitement leaked out.
"I'm curious, it is around the time for the Chunin Exams, is it not? I am not privy to much information these days, but I recently saw some other villages coming. I have to wonder, how the last male Uchiha Ninja is doing. I'm sure Shisui would be proud."
Mikoto took a sharp breath in through her nose.
The anger that she felt for Danzo was growing, and she knew that she'd have to remove herself before she released it towards Danzo.
"...I'm sure he would have been."
"Yes, it is a shame. The older brother watching the younger brother, I often wonder how that boy has come along, he was talented back when I saw him, with Yashiro Uchiha's situation. I can only imagine how strong he's gotten now. Would you mind indulging me and telling me anything?"
"...Hokage-sama explained Danzo, that I may not reveal any information about his wellbeing to you."
"That's a shame."
Mikoto found it all the more hard to remain calm.
Danzo's elderly eye scanned Mikoto.
He was good at reading people, and he knew that he had rattled Mikoto's cage.
Even if it is only a little bit.
"Is something wrong Mikoto-san?"
If he could, then he would have smirked at her.
But he couldn't do that right now, and simply kept his head down.
He didn't want to give anything away.
Mikoto's eyes go towards his direction, seeing that he was simply sipping his tea.
"Nothing. I have to take my leave."
Mikoto quickly made her exit.
Danzo smirked within himself, and looked out of the window with his lone eye.
A small insect caught his attention, and he then dismissed it with a small wave of his hand.
Because of the previous match, the arena had to be fixed for the final time so Ryouta took this chance to go and check on the others.
He found Sakura was soundly sleeping, as was Ino.
He was glad that they were okay.
So he went towards Hinata's room instead, to see if she had woken up yet.
He knew by now the doctors had finished working on her, and that she was in a stable condition, but he didn't know the full extent of her wounds.
When he got there, he was surprised to see that Hanabi was sat with her big sister.
"Hanabi-san."
Hanabi's eyes went towards Ryouta, and saw a comforting smile on his face.
"Future Sensei...big sister, she's gone through a lot fighting Brother Neji."
"So you heard about that."
"Yes...I heard big sister fought really hard, and even managed to wound Brother Neji. I was surprised. But I was happy as well. Now though, all I am is sad...big sister, she hasn't woken up yet, and Dad said he isn't able to come right now...and I don't know what to do..."
He could see the sadness within Hanabi's eyes.
He didn't want her to have to be so sad.
Ryouta went over towards her.
Sitting down beside her, he placed a hand on top of her head.
"Don't worry, Hinata-san is going to be fine. You should be proud of what she did, she might have lost, but she was strong. She did everything she could during that fight and even wounded someone like Neji."
"Big sister...she's come so far, and she's able to be really strong now. I'm happy, big sister is really capable. I wish Father was able to see it. All he sees is big sister...and calls her a failure, but I know that isn't true..."
"He will see it, Hanabi-san. I have a feeling Hinata-sans only going to grow even more from this. She stood up to someone she thought she'd never be able to do. One day she'll show your Father, and everyone that she is strong, and very capable."
Hanabi wiped under her eyes, and nodded.
"B-By the way, did you have your match yet?"
"Yes, just a short while ago."
Hanabi wished she could have seen it.
She did believe that he was going to be her Future Sensei, so seeing what he was capable of against someone his own age would have been good. But she did wish to know if he had passed, so she asked him directly.
"Did you pass? Who was your opponent?"
Ryouta inclined his neck.
"I did pass and my opponent was Kiba Inuzuka-san. I'm in the Third Stage now. I don't know who it is that I'll be fighting next but so far all of the contenders that have passed I know are very strong, so either way it is going to be a battle that I'm looking forward too."
"I hope it is Brother Neji."
Ryouta tilted his head towards the right.
"Why him?"
"Because I heard what you did for big sister, you stopped him before he could...do the unthinkable to big sister."
"Yes, that's right."
"...That's why I know if anyone is capable of beating him, and making him see what he did wrong when he tried to...do what he attempted to do to big sister...then it is you."
Ryouta was surprised, yet happy about the confidence that she had within him.
"I'll do my best Hanabi-san."
"I'll be cheering for you, Future Sensei. Even though he's a Hyuga, and you're an Uchiha...big sister didn't deserve all of this. Please make sure that Brother Neji sees that this is wrong...and make him kind. Big sister said he was kind once and I remember it too...so I'd like to see it again."
"I understand Hanabi-san, I'll do my best for both you, and Hinata-san. But for now, I know the exams are going to continue soon, so I have to go and support Lee-kun."
Hanabi understood, and was glad that he was going to cheer on a friend.
"Yes, I understand. Thank you Future Sensei, I do feel better now, I know you'll be able to do it."
"Thanks for the belief. See you later Hanabi-san. Take care of Hinata-san for me."
Hanabi placed her hands cutely together, nodding again and again.
"Leave it to me."
Ryouta smiled, patted her head once more, before walking off to go back to the arena.
With the final match having been decided, it was to be Lee vs Gaara. People could be heard speaking about the match, some believing that Lee didn't have this, some believing that Gaara wasn't all what she was saying and some were wondering how the fight was going to go at all, if the opponents would put on a good display or not.
Ryouta looked towards Lee, seeing that his eyes shined with determination but Ryouta knew the power of Gaara, and while he did immensely believe in his friend…
Gaara wasn't someone to be underestimated.
She was someone that could fight strong and hard.
"Lee-kun..."
Ryouta began, wanting to convey a sense of strength and support to his rival.
Lee turned towards him and flashed a smile.
"You make it to the time when we fight one another rival! I wont settle for anything less!"
"Yes...you too Lee-kun. I'll be waiting for you in the finals of the Chunin Exams, so I hope to see you there."
He chose to believe in Lee's capabilities.
That's all he could do right now.
"Haha! Of course, I've been training hard to fight the Sharingan, I wont give my chance up until then!"
Guy smiled brightly, and turned to Kakashi, jabbing him with his elbow.
"See Kakashi? It seems the next generation is going to be like us!"
Kakashi lazily looked towards Guy, and yawned.
"Sorry, did you say something?"
Guy dramatically waved his hands in front of his face, the blazingly cool Kakashi simply stared on.
"It's just like you Kakashi! To be so cool and hip with everything!"
Satsuki glanced at them, and glad that she didn't have a rivalry like that.
She just had one with Naruko, which was quite...unique to say the least.
"Then I'll be going!"
Lee jumped down towards the stage, as did Gaara. The young red haired girls eyes filled with what seemed to be killing intent. Because of that, Ryouta did worry more and more for Lee, and what could happen to him.
"Hey, Lee's going against that Gaara girl...she was really dangerous back in the forest, right? Can he win against her?"
Naruko began with some worry mixed with excitement at the same time, Satsuki furrowed her brows.
"We'll see how this fight is going to go."
Karin looks over Gaara, and senses her chakra.
As she did, she felt a sinister form of chakra within her, then her eyes went towards Naruko.
Shaking her head, she turned back to the arena at hand.
"Ryou-kun, can Lee-san win this fight? I mean, we saw back at the forest, this girls speed, and power...Lee-san isn't weak, but this girl...she's very strong, I'm not sure if he'll be able to win the fight or not."
Ryouta could understand her skepticism, considering the opponent she probably could feel the strong chakra coming off of her, and the fact Lee is going to be fighting someone that they hadn't seen been injured just yet.
Still, Ryouta did believe that Lee had a chance to win the fight if he went at his all…
But at what cost, he wasn't so sure about.
"Lee-kun has a good chance of winning...but, I'm afraid that he'd have to...open a few of the gates to do it."
"Gates?" Naruko began. "What gates?"
Satsuki rolled her eyes.
"You really don't know?"
"I don't know what these gate thingy's are, do I?"
Satsuki turned her face while Naruko showed an annoyed expression on her face.
Kakashi raised an eyebrow, his lone eye going towards Guy.
"You didn't teach that kid the Eight Inner Gates, did you?"
Guy rubbed under his nose, and showed a confident expression on his face.
"Mehehe! Kakashi! Watch my student show his cool youthful sides! I'm sure you'll be blown away!"
Kakashi looked on with his lone eye, wondering how far Guy had gone when it came to Lee's training.
Hayate looks between the two opponents, before raising his hand up.
"Final match, begin."
After that long wait, Lee was excited to begin. He pushed his feet firmly on the ground, before shooting off at Gaara. The speed wasn't his top speed, but it was good enough that some people were surprised by it.
"Then lets begin immediately!"
Lee was saying it as he moved across the ground. Ryouta had to admit that even without taking off his weights, Lee was quite fast, and when he did take the weights off, then he knew that he'd be a top contender for sure.
But with Gaara as the opponent…
"Is this all?"
Gaara said as Lee's fist went forward for her body, but the sand rose up, and blocked the impact.
"Strong defence...but, it isn't impossible to break through!"
Lee said with vigour, but that was shut down by a cold look from Gaara.
"Yes, it is."
Lee wasn't going to be deterred in the slightest, and he came at Gaara from the right, and swung his foot at her, the sand around Gaara blocked the kick, and then shot for him so he took out a kunai and whipped it in front of him, cutting through the sand, and then followed it up by dashing left.
Appearing on that side, he tried a straight kick for Gaara's face. The speed of the kick increased a bit, but the sand managed to block the kick once more, and then it burst forward, nearly catching Lee up in the attack, but Lee put distance between them as the sand smashed into the ground, breaking through several of the areas before Lee.
"There..."
Gaara menacingly whispered, seeing a chance to gain an advantage.
One of the last attacks nearly caught Lee's leg, when Lee pulled it back, and used the sand as a stepping stone, moving his body so he could propel for Gaara, showcasing a high speed movement.
Getting before her, his fist dynamically went for the girls body, when sand came up, but the pressure of the punch caused the sand to become less dense than it was beforehand, the shield of sand weakening and having a small hole within it.
"Wow, Lee's gotten fast!"
Naruko cheered, but Ryouta knew this was a handicapped Lee, he had seen Lee immensely faster than this.
Neji looked on and simply bowed his head.
"It seems destiny is going to favour the genius Gaara over Lee."
Ryouta rolled his eyes at what Neji said, he expected for that to happen, while Tenten leaned forward, her arms resting on the railing before her, as she observed Lee trying to land blow after blow on the young girl, but her sand continuously managed to block the path of the attacks over and over again.
"It seems like Lee isn't going to be able to break it...though he hasn't shown everything Neji."
"Because even if he does, it doesn't make a difference to the outcome of the fight."
Neji replied to Tenten, Ryouta exhaled slowly.
"We haven't seen how the match is going to go, plus Lee-kun is your teammate so shouldn't you be supporting him?"
Neji's eyes turned towards Ryouta, showcasing a solid stare on his form.
"Supporting a losing cause? What would be the point?"
"Hinata-san did immensely better than you predicted, so why can't that apply to your teammate Lee-kun? Win or lose, he's your teammate, comrade, even if he loses, you should support those that you're close with."
Naruko was very happy that Ryouta said that.
She didn't like Neji's attitude to how he spoke to and about Lee either.
"Still, that shield of sand is something that Lee is having difficulty getting around. Without something bigger than his punch...something that packs more power into the attack, I'm not sure how he's able to get around that. Even with the speed that he has."
Satsuki began, only for Ryouta to lightly smile.
"Lee-kun's got some hidden stuff up his sleeves. He might be only a Taijutsu guy, but Taijutsu is very dangerous when used in the right hands and with his power, he'd be able to break through the defence. However, if he does..."
"With the gates, you mean?"
Satsuki wondered, Ryouta inclined his neck.
"Yes, with the gates...but they come at a price, the further he goes up with the gates, the more dangerous they become."
Kakashi nodded at what Ryouta said, and wondered how far Lee had mastered the gates. One or two, he could see it being fine, but going beyond that it was going to be something difficult to see what was going on.
Lee assaulted Gaara from different angles with his swift kicks and sharp punches, but the shield of sand proved to be too much for the current Lee's power, something that even Gaara noticed, and waved out her hand, sending off a strong wave of sand to blast him away.
"No..."
Lee was caught up in the sand, and went flying through the air.
Ryouta grimaced, seeing Lee's body hitting one of the walls, causing his face to bleed.
However, astonishingly, Lee avoided the worst case scenario as he rapidly swung out his foot several times, dispelling large chunks of the sand that could have crushed him under said sand, something that Ryouta thought was rather amazing to see.
Landing on the ground, Lee wiped the blood from his face, and turns towards Guy.
"Guy-sensei! This opponent is..."
Before Lee could continue, Guy began nodding.
"Lee, this opponent is someone that is worthy of showing your all to. Go ahead, take them off."
"Take what off?" Karin began, as she looked over Lee. She then paled as he saw Lee tugging at his outfit. "Please don't tell me he's going to get naked. I don't want to see that, please don't make me see something like that!"
Satsuki glanced towards the young girl, before shaking his head.
"No, it isn't anything like that."
"Then what is it?"
Karin asked, so Ryouta continued, seeing Lee jump towards the two large hand sign statue.
"He's taking off the weights."
Lee moved his hands down, and placed his hands on his legs. Pulling off weights tied to his legs, the others in the arena watch on as Lee simply drops them.
Slamming hard into the ground, the ground cracked apart and created holes in the place they smashed into.
"Wh-What the..."
Temari began, Kankuro looked on with nerves.
"He wore them this entire time..."
Pakura looked on towards Lee, seeing that his eyes were brimming with happiness.
But she also saw that Gaara was looking shocked.
More than shocked, it seemed that the need for a fight even more was growing within her.
"So the boy was wearing those? Since he was, he was handicapped a good deal. But with them off, how fast is this boy going to be? And if Gaara gets more excited in this fight...no, Shukaku can't come out yet, or it would spell trouble. If things get too serious then I'll have to step in..."
Pakura thought to herself, looking down to see that Gaara was giving a more and more excited face by the moment. Compared to the initial shock, it seemed that Gaara was going to be up against someone that could prove a good challenge to her...if this was good at all even Pakura right now didn't know.
"That's it Lee...now show them your youthful power."
Guy smiles strongly, Ryouta looks on and nods.
"Lee-kun...go for it."
Ryouta was glad Lee was going to show his stuff.
He knew now that Lee was going to be incredibly fast, and if it was anyone else other than Gaara, then he knew Lee would be a shoe in for a winner. Since it is Gaara, he hoped that he'd be able to win. But with Gaara, it was quite difficult to see which one was going to be the winner, as he felt they hadn't seen the full potential of Gaara just yet.
"Then...lets begin."
Lee then disappears from the statue, and Gaara feels her sand being disrupted along with feeling an impact against her, pushing her face towards the right and sent a shock through her system at the sudden attack.
She looks to see that the sand was shattering.
Then from the right, another sand disruption, forcing Gaara to look in that direction, and saw the sand scattering in the air.
But then Lee appears before her, and twirls forward in the air several times, building speed up, before slamming his heel into the top of her head, the impact of it alone caused the sand around to disappear.
"He hit her..."
Kankuro sounded shocked, Ryouta smiled with pride for Lee.
Lee then swiftly moved around her, and sent several punches towards her body, each making impact on her body, blowing holes in the natural defence that she has. But Ryouta noticed something that was quite shocking, but also made sense to what he was seeing.
"Yeah! Yahoo Lee! Keep going!"
Naruko yelled out loudly, with Ryouta furrowing his brows.
Lee came at Gaara from behind. The sand tried to block the attack, but it was too swift, and ended up punching Gaara's back with enough force that even the very punch caused a small shockwave to go around the pair of them.
Even with that however, Ryouta could see that something was wrong.
Something Haku also noticed.
"Lee-kun's attacks aren't damaging her."
Naruko turned towards Haku, perplexed.
"What are you saying? Can't you see that they are connecting? So why isn't she suffering damage?"
"They're making contact yes, but they aren't damaging her Naruko-chan. Look at Gaara-san. Does she seem to be damaged at all? Even though she's being hit, is it making her sweat, do you see any blood coming from her at all?"
Naruko looked on, confused.
So Ryouta clued her in.
"Gaara-sans wearing an armour of sand around her. Like a second skin. It's basically acting as another defence."
"She can go that far?! With only sand?!"
Ryouta nodded at Naruko's doubts.
"Yes, it seems that she has immense control over the sand. However, even with the amount of control, it must cost a good deal of chakra to maintain, and it would probably also be troublesome to move in as well. So it seems she's sacrificed speed for her defence."
"Is that good?"
Ryouta hummed.
"It's hard to say Naruko-chan. Different things work for different people."
As Ryouta said that, Lee also began to realize it, the more he punched and kicked, he got through the first line of defence, but the second was, the second skin sand was protecting her to the point that his attacks simply weren't getting through.
"It seems that my attacks wont be able to get through to her at all as I currently am. Guy-sensei, I'm sorry but I'll have to begin using the Eight Gates. If I use the Front Lotus, then it should be able to break through her defence and land a solid blow on her..."
Thinking like that, Lee activated the first gate. Ryouta noticed the change within him, while not outwardly, he knew when Lee was activating the gates thanks to his keen eyes.
Gaara was intrigued, and went to launch an attack, when Lee suddenly vanished from her eyes.
"Where did he..."
Before she could finish, Lee appeared below her, and his foot slammed hard into her chin. As he did, he undid the bandages around his arms, as he launched himself up into the air, kicking Gaara in the chin several times as he did so.
"It seems the sand might be more difficult than Lee-kun thought it would be...still, with the Front Lotus...it could work..."
Ryouta murmured to himself, as Lee continues kicking Gaara up into the air. However, because a brief pain that surged through his body thanks to opening one of the gates, Ryouta saw that Gaara did something as Lee managed to recover, and wrap the girl up in his bandages, and began spinning downwards with Gaara in his grasp.
"Ooh yeah! That's it!"
Naruko roared with happiness, but Neji shook his head.
"No, that didn't work."
Naruko pulled her tongue at Neji who blinked.
Ryouta didn't want to admit that he was right, and simply stayed silent as the young man smashed Gaara into the ground, creating cracks all around the body that he did slam deep within the earth.
Lee flipped back, and panted slightly at the feeling he felt.
But then shock came over him as he saw the body of Gaara begin to turn into sand.
"No..."
Karin lowered her eyebrows.
"She did a Body Replacement, and that allowed her to get away from receiving damage. If she did stay in that, then she would have been caught...and even hurt potentially. I feel like his attack would have hurt her anyway."
Karin's assessment sounded right to Ryouta, who watched on as Gaara appeared from behind Lee. A creepy expression on her face, Lee looked to see Gaara launch a barrage of sand towards him, slamming into his arm and leg, sending him skidding across the ground.
As he did, Gaara moved her hand up, creating sand within the air above Lee in order to crush him.
"Wait, what? Why isn't he moving as fast as before?"
Naruko asked Ryouta who furrowed his brows.
"It's a power that can cause an explosive power boost. But it also comes at a price. The Eight Gates, are dangerous double edged swords. The more gates he opens, the more stress it puts on his body…and this is only the first gate. If he opened all eight...then..."
"Then what?"
Naruko asked, concerned.
Kakashi's lone eye went towards Guy who kept his strong eyes on the boy before them.
"Then he'd die."
Naruko gasped as did Karin and some others around.
Ryouta looked down at Lee, and thought back on the time that they met, how he was being bullied by those kids because he couldn't use Ninjutsu or Genjutsu, how he proclaimed that Ryouta was his rival...how they trained and grew strong together.
He didn't want Lee to suffer any permanent damage, he didn't want Lee to die.
He watched as Lee saw the sand coming down towards him.
Because of the strength of the sand, Ryouta knew it could crush Lee if he stayed like he was.
So he placed a hand on his chest, and murmured "Guy-sensei...my rival...I wont lose here...I have to fight my rival in the finals...time to open the Second Gate..." and then he did as he said, by opening the second gate, pushing more of the power through his body, recovering quickly, and he jumped out of the way at high speeds.
Gaara was shocked by this, as Lee came forward. Due to the speed increase, Lee jumped and slammed both of his feet into Gaara's body, the impact alone Ryouta knew would finish off a good chunk of the Genin's in the Chunin Exams.
"Aah..."
Gaara was astounded as she was propelled backwards, skidding across the floor.
Lee shot up, and then bounced from the roof, coming down like a rocket for Gaara.
Gaara reacted, creating a dense shield of sand before her. The impact of the two created a decent shockwave around them, causing the walls to the right of Gaara to produce cracks, the sand Gaara used disappeared, and Lee came down with a strong fist to the girls face.
But Gaara at the last moment used her sand, dragging her away as Lee's fist smashed deep into the ground, smashing it apart a good deal.
"The Second Gate really has boosted his power by this much..."
Neji murmured to himself, shocked by how Lee was able to deliver such excessive blows to someone like Gaara.
Lee panted, looking towards Gaara, seeing that she was releasing several attacks towards him.
"It's not enough...I have to go even further! Third Gate of Life, Open!"
Ryouta winced, as Lee opened the third gate, his skin turned red, and his hair stood on end, as Gaara's attacks that she launched couldn't catch up to Lee at all, he weaved through them and got before her, spinning around and kicked Gaara in the face so hard that even the shell of sand formed around her tightly cracked, while she was sent down to the ground.
Gaara looked at Lee, seeing how his speed and power had grown, and even she was beginning to become frightened of the power that Lee possessed, she hadn't seen anyone like this with just Taijutsu alone.
"So, this is the power of the gates..."
Karin murmured, Kakashi's eye went towards Guy.
"Teaching him this technique is foolish, if he keeps going his body is going to break down."
Guy had a mixture of pride, and worry for his young student. He didn't want Lee to suffer, but he also understood the strength Lee had inside, how he was determined to get by with Taijutsu alone, and that's what Guy wished to do for Lee.
But even Guy had to admit when seeing his student in pain, it hurt him a good deal.
"I don't even know what these gate thingy's are. Ryou...what are they?"
Naruko asked, so Ryouta explained.
"The Gate of Opening, allows the user to remove their mental inhibitions. The Gate of Healing allows the physical strength of the user to increase, and also reenergizes the body, as you saw Lee-kun recovered quickly from what happened before to him. And right now what Lee-kun is using, the Third Gate, The Gate of Life, allows the user to perform the Reverse Lotus."
"The Reverse Lotus?"
Haku wondered, Ryouta inclined his neck.
"Lee-kun told me that it is his strongest attack, and would be the best bet for him to finish off the opponent if all other methods had been exhausted. So if he's doing it, he knows any other attack he has isn't going to work with Gaara-san and her defence."
Ryouta though didn't voice his concerns as much as he was thinking deep inside.
He could see the way Lee's muscles were already moving as if they were stiff, painful. Thanks to his Sharingan, he was able to detect the subtlest of movements, and because of that, he could examine him very well.
"What about the rest of them Ryou? There's eight, right? What's the others?"
"Yes...the Gate of Pain increases the users speed as they perform the Reverse Lotus. But, at that point, using the fourth gate, the muscles start to tear."
"Muscles tear at just that one? But that's only half way through."
Karin argued, with Shikamaru listening on, seeing Ryouta's hand tightening.
"Yes that's right. Half way through and you'd suffer a good deal of damage." Replying like that, Ryouta exhaled as he continued his explanation. "The Fifth Gate, The Gate of Limit gives another strength boost. Lee-kun told me that he uses it when he's about to deliver the final blow with the Reverse Lotus to increase his strength to the best it could be and deliver the immense damage so his attack would be completed. He said that's the gate he can open up to for the moment."
Taking in what he said, they all thought it was rather insane. Useful yes...but the price of it would mean a good deal of self damage. Something that many wouldn't want to do to themselves but some could see the benefit of it if there wasn't any other choice in the matter either.
"The rest?"
Naruko asked, so Ryouta explained once more.
"The Gate of View is a general power up to all physical attributes. Strength, speed, things like that. The Gate of Wonder is the seventh gate, and I believe from what Lee-kun's said, it allows the user to punch the air, and creates a pocket of compressed air to fire at your opponent. It sounds rather interesting, but at that point, the Seventh Gate is something that would be immensely difficult to use I imagine, the body would be under so much strain that afterwards, walking probably would be difficult."
Kakashi could see that Ryouta was concerned for Lee's safety.
Even he was concerned for the safety of Lee, and what he was currently doing to himself right now.
Then Ryouta continued.
"And then finally...the Gate of Death. The last one is something that would guarantee your death, in exchange for a huge boost to your powers. It's powerful, but will cost you your life if you use it...it seems like a last resort, Lee-kun's going through all of this, betting it all..."
Guy was impressed, he could see that Lee trusted Ryouta a lot to explain so much to him about their powers.
As he did explain, Lee sped over to Gaara, and punched the girl in the face, sending her flying up into the air. As she did, her eyes widened in shock, Lee then leapt up after her, and delivered a bone shattering punch, for both Lee and Gaara.
"The Gate of Pain, Open!"
Lee opened the fourth gate, and delivered faster impacts, bringing in the pain to Lee who felt his muscles beginning to tear, at the price of having even more speed than ever before, allowing him to slam Gaara around in the air.
Gaara went flying through the air, Ryouta could see the pain on Gaara's face, and on Lee's.
It was clear that he was in so much pain, but he kept going.
Gaara's sand couldn't do anything to assist her. The barrier of sand wouldn't be able to defend against the attacks, and pummeled Gaara from multiple directions, it looked like Gaara was a ping pong ball.
Ryouta also noticed during the attack, that Gaara's body was getting wrapped up in the bandages Lee had.
Ryouta could see Gaara's armour of sand around her was being cracked by the repeated assaults from Lee's barrage. It made sense to him that she was to be suffering from the attack, most in the room would suffer a good deal from an attack by Lee in the state he was in.
"Gaara..."
Temari was stunned, to see that her little sister was having this much trouble.
Neji on the other hand looked flabbergasted that Lee was able to do something like this.
"Lee right now in that state...Though I can see his body is also breaking down, so it isn't something that he can use so frequently either. Still, I never knew Lee was this powerful..."
Neji begrudgingly had to admit that Lee was showcasing impressive power.
To the point even he was questioning if Lee could beat Gaara.
As Gaara was at the mercy of Lee's attacks, Lee appeared before Gaara, and charged up his fist. Reeling it back, the excruciating pain on Lee's face was self evident. Guy looked proud...but pained at the same time.
Ryouta could see the determination behind Lee's eyes, and how strong willed he truly was.
Even in the amount of pain he was in, he wasn't giving up.
He wasn't backing down in the slightest.
"Fifth Gate, The Gate of Limit, Open! Reverse Lotsu!"
Pulling Gaara as close as possible, Lee slams his open palm into Gaara's body and sends her flying into the ground. The pressure of the attack caused windows around them to shatter, Ryouta also could see that Lee's body was suffering as a result of the attack as well.
At the last moment, as Gaara was about to hit the ground very hard, and could have caused major injury, she turned the gourd on her back into a shield of sand, acting and protecting her by absorbing the impact as much as possible.
Cracks appeared all across Gaara's body, the sand shell that she had was disappearing as Lee, pained, and broken, landed on the ground. His body looked terrible, Ryouta and Neji both could see the damage he had caused his own body.
Pakura could see the anger within Gaara's eyes, as she lifted her hand up.
Sand began to go towards Lee, and went for his legs, and arms.
Lee wasn't able to move, and was barely conscious after doing what he did, it was clear that he couldn't fight anymore.
But Gaara was angry, and she wished to showcase that to her enemy.
"Thinking...you can defeat me...I'll crush you..."
Ryouta could see the sand going for his limbs, and knew if they had anymore damage, then Lee would be in so bad shape that it could even cause permanent damage. His body was already fragile after the attacks from the Gates, this would have finished him off.
"Gaara-san don't!"
The yell caused Gaara's attack to stop short of Lee for a few moments, as Lee tried to move out of the way.
Temari, Kankuro and especially Pakura were surprised by how Gaara didn't go through with the attack she was going to give out to him.
Gaara's eyes turned towards Ryouta, as the sand kept going, slamming into Lee's body and blew him off his feet.
The attack was more than enough to cause Lee to hit the ground, though he wasn't crushed.
"Aaaah!"
He let out a cry of pain from the impact.
Because of that, and using the Five Gates so far, his body and mind couldn't keep up with the pain and caused Lee to become unconscious.
Gaara's eyes snapped onto Lee once more, trying her best to dismiss the thoughts of Ryouta from the depths of her mind.
Then her sand came up once more, and went for the unconscious Lee.
"He's unconscious Gaara-san! Don't do it! You've won the match, you don't have to hurt him anymore!" Gaara didn't stop the attack at his call, Ryouta looked to the proctor who called the match there and then as he saw Lee was unconscious. "Gaara-san, please stop!"
Please stop…
That rang within Gaara's mind, and she couldn't tell why that was either.
Gaara's eyes shoot towards Ryouta, and caused her movements to be hesitant.
For only a few moments.
Because of that, Guy was able to get between them, and dispel the sand with a wave of his hand.
Sadness was etched into the eyes of Guy, showcasing how hurt he was inside by his students body currently.
"He's...standing up."
Karin began, looking towards Lee's unconscious form.
Indeed, he was standing up, he was getting in a fighting position.
But it was still clear that he was unconscious.
"Damn...even after all this...he's still trying to go..."
Naruko was moved to tears, so Ryouta placed a hand on her back, causing her saddened eyes to go towards him.
She then placed her face against his chest, so he petted the back of her head gently, and watched as Guy went over to Lee.
"Lee...you don't have to do anymore."
Guy was moved to tears, embracing the student that he saw was suffering.
The medics soon came and took Lee away, with Guy following after him.
Ryouta looks on, saddened by what happened to his friend, and hoped that he'd be okay.
With the final match over, Hayate then announces that the trials for the Round 3 test have been completed.
Because of that, the finalists gather together in the arena. A board was placed behind Hiruzen as he stepped forward.
Ryouta, Satsuki, Naruko, Haku, Temari, Gaara, Shikamaru, Neji and Shino.
Ryouta looked between them, seeing how there was an uneven amount of people present, wondering if they were going to be able to have one on one matches, or if matches would be paired up together differently this time.
Hiruzen, once seeing that everyone was listening, then begins speaking to them all.
"First of all, congratulations on making it to the finals of the exams. The next set of exams shall not take place right away. It will be within one months time from today's date."
"A months time? Why?"
Naruko wondered, she was excited to have a fight already.
Hiruzen remained calm as he answered.
"Fighting now wouldn't do any good for anyone. The months time is to relax and recover from the events of the past few exams. And during this time, you may prepare for your next opponent, now that you've had a chance to see each others abilities."
Naruko tilted her head side to side, wondering what would be the best thing for her to do.
Hiruzen continued as Anko came along, carrying balls with her, hidden inside of a box, each labelled with different numbers.
"The next matches will be a series of one on one battles. Now, each reach into the box that Anko has here, and pick out your number, and show it to her if you would."
They all nodded, and began picking numbers out of the box.
Ryouta got his number and looked for the one he'd be fighting.
As luck would have it, Neji was to be the one who had the number he'd be fighting against.
"So, he's going to be my opponent…I'm glad."
Because of what happened with Neji and Hinata, and how Neji had been, the chance to fight Neji was something that he knew would be a good thing to have.
He also saw the other opponents, and who he'd have to be facing next.
The fights were to be Ryouta vs Neji, Naruko vs Haku, Temari vs Shikamaru, Satsuki vs Gaara, and then whoever won between Ryouta and Neji, would go on to face Shino because there were uneven numbers of people participating within the matches.
"Wait, I got Haku as an opponent?! That's not fair, she's smarter and stronger than I am!"
Haku glanced towards Naruko, seeing that she was panicking.
Satsuki looked satisfied with the fight between her, and Gaara, she wished to have some payback for the way that Gaara had been trying to kill Ryouta for a good while now. Shikamaru didn't seem to care who he fought, Temari was on the same boat. Gaara looked quite disappointed that she wouldn't be fighting Ryouta off the bat, but because it was Satsuki it seemed that was more than enough to not worry as much.
"It seems these are the opponents. Train, prepare as much as you can for the next exam, as it will be the toughest of all, showing everything you have accumulated during the entire of the exams and using it to showcase your ability to be Chunin. You don't have to win your matches, but if you do, you get more chances to show your Chunin capabilities. So train hard, and be prepared for the next stage. Dismissed."
With being dismissed, each of them bowed, and walked off in different directions.
Ryouta went towards the medical centre to check up on Lee, and how he was doing now.
As he got there, he saw Guy was staring at the floor, he had a face he hadn't seen on Guy before.
Dejected, depressed.
It was clear as day.
"Guy-sensei..."
Ryouta called out, moving closer to the older man.
Guy's eyes went towards him, and he did a peace sign beside his right eye.
"Ah, my Lee's rival! What's shakin?"
Ryouta always found Guy to be a very...peculiar kind of person, and someone he thought Lee had taken after a good deal.
"Erm...Lee-kun, I came to see how he is. Is he...how bad are the injuries?"
Ryouta knew Lee wasn't okay so there wasn't a point to asking that.
But he did know that Lee was a fighter, and he was going to do his best.
"...They're bad, it's because he pushed himself so far...because of me."
Hearing the guilt within his voice, it was clear as day that Guy was feeling responsible for what had happened.
"No Sensei, that isn't true at all, Lee-kun does what he wishes to do, and he knew what would happen if he did use the gates, he knew the risks..."
Ryouta could see that despite his words, Guy was thinking deeply about what had happened to his student.
The pain of what happened.
"I gave him the tools to do it...and because of the attacks that he did, along with how sturdy Gaara was...if that last attack of hers had hit him, they say the injuries could have ended his Ninja career. Right now...they aren't sure. He's suffered a good deal of damage to his body. Maybe...his body wasn't ready for the Fifth Gate..."
Ryouta could understand the turmoil that Guy was going through.
It was a student that Guy deeply cared for, invested in, and wanted to see succeed.
So, he tried his best to relieve Guy of the guilt he felt, believing that it wouldn't be the best thing for the moment.
"Guy-sensei, Lee-kun today….he did amazing and no one can take that away from him. His battle against Gaara-san...he did amazing, he fought so hard for his dreams. He is fantastic. And he saved our lives, during the Forest part of the exam. Otherwise, I don't know what could have happen if he hadn't shown up when he did."
"Lee...saved you?"
Guy had to ask it.
Ryouta confirmed it with a nod of his head.
"Yes...he did. Lee-kun came in, and protected us with his life from an enemy that tried to kill us. He was strong and brave, and protected us all. He truly is a Ninja to be proud of Guy-sensei. He lives by such a strong conviction."
Guy truly did appreciate the words that Ryouta was saying.
"So Lee came to your side and did his best for you guys...as expected of Lee, he is a good kid."
"He is...Lee-kun's someone I really care about...so, I know what happened today...and how you feel about it...but Lee-kun did what he thought was the best way to achieve his dream, aware of the risks that followed them. I remember when I first met him, and he said he wanted to be a Ninja despite not being able to use Ninjutsu or Genjutsu. I was surprised, but I was excited to see, and he kinda made me his rival that day. I'm happy though, because Lee-kun's been a really good friend to me. When...things happened, Lee-kun helped me through it, and pushed me and I did him, to grow stronger."
"Yes...Lee is quite like that. I remember as well, seeing Lee for the first time. And now...now he's really grown strong."
Ryouta inclined his neck in agreement.
"What Lee-kun needs now is...as he would say, is youthful energy. I know he wont let this stop him...he'll come back swinging in some shape or form. Even if...even if the injuries are life changing...Lee-kun wont quit. Lets support him Guy-sensei, together."
Guy was moved to tears once more by the words Ryouta had.
Hearing the genuine feeling behind them.
Guy nodded again and again.
"Thank you, you are a good friend to Lee, I am happy you both are friends."
"You don't have to thank me Guy-sensei...I just hope Lee-kun pulls through."
If Lee was going to be a Ninja again, Ryouta wasn't so sure about that.
He hoped that was the case since he wanted Lee to achieve his dreams.
He waited with Guy for a good long while, and sat down together with the leaf Jonin.
Even though Lee was unconscious, Ryouta stayed with him and with Guy for a good long while.
As that was going on, Orochimaru and Kabuto had successfully managed to escape for the moment from Konoha. Rendezvousing within a secret hidden area, Orochimaru had the wounds he had treated, his chakra having begun forming more and more deep within him.
"Orochimaru-sama, these wounds that you have..."
"Tch, it seems that I'll have to recover a little while longer. But soon, I'll becoming back, stronger than ever!"
Orochimaru said it with a strong expression on his face.
Kabuto could see that Orochimaru had something up his sleeve.
Whatever it was, he knew that Orochimaru wouldn't reveal all to him at the current moment.
But he wished to at least know something's of what was going on.
"Orochimaru-sama, now that we have escaped, what is the plan? Are you going to give up on the Sharingan?"
Orochimaru scoffed at his underlings words.
The very thought that he'd quit now, it was something ludicrous to him.
"I wont be giving up because of a set back. No, I'll just have to keep going with the plan. Sarutobi-sensei doesn't have long for this world. And with him out of the way, and those eyes the boy has, I'll be able to take him over and gain even more Jutsu's, more power and with his special eyes, have a one in a kind Jutsu that no one else in the world will ever have….hehehehe, my Ryou-kun, I'm going to make him come to me."
Kabuto didn't know how he was going to do it.
Whatever Orochimaru had planned, it seemed he was very sure of himself.
Nearing the end of the day, Lee hadn't woken up, but Guy insisted that he'd stay with Lee so Ryouta could get some rest after the events in the forest, and the exams.
Before heading home, Ryouta checked on Hinata, and saw that she was still unconscious, so he left a note, and began going back to his home.
Sakura and Ino had already been discharged and had gone home with their families as well.
It felt like months since he had been at home, when in actuality it had been less than a week.
As he walked on home, he got the sense that he was being followed.
Small little things that caused him to understand this feeling.
As he walked, he saw a dark alleyway, so he went down it.
The figure that had been following him also went down it, when suddenly Ryouta appeared behind them, kunai in hand.
"Hello Sensei."
Anko, had been following Ryouta.
Her eyes turned back towards him while her body faced away from him.
"My, it seems the Chunin Exams have sharpened your skills in detection even more. I was really trying then."
"So, how come you followed me Sensei?"
Ryouta curiously asked, so Anko moved to the side, and showed a dangerous look.
"Chunin Exams finals are coming up, so I'll be an awesome Sensei and support both you and Haku."
"That's really great Sensei!"
Anko chuckled darkly.
"So, thinking about heading home?"
Ryouta didn't trust the look in her eyes.
Something about the way that she was staring at him, the curling of her lips ever so slightly told him that she had something planned, something that he wasn't sure if it was a good thing or a bad thing so he spoke up.
"Yes, to get some rest Sensei..."
"That's good, because tomorrow we're going back to the Forest of Death."
"But I just came from there."
Anko began chortling in a scary manner.
Even Ryouta had to admit that it was unnerving.
"Well you're going back."
"But why?"
Anko lifted her head.
"Because it's about time for me to give you something now that you're in the exams finals, something I think you'll find very handy."
Ryouta didn't know what it was.
He definitely was curious as to what was going on.
"Sensei...what do you want to give to me?"
Anko pulled closer, revealed a dango stick between her teeth and shot it behind Ryouta with a flick of her tongue.
"It's time for you to form a contract with snakes my Genin!"
Ryouta blinked…
Sign the snake contract?
Certainly, he always did like and get on with snakes, so the fact that Anko was saying it was immensely satisfying.
So he agreed with a nod of his head.
"Yes, thank you Sensei."
"Good, then we'll be going tomorrow. Night."
"Goodnight Sensei."
Anko waved and walked off.
Ryouta smiled as he headed on home, ready for what was about to happen...
End chapter!
So this wrapped up the preliminaries, and Lee did his hardest against Gaara, and it seems Lee's ninja career is in the balance. Meanwhile, Mikoto and Danzo had a small confrontation with Danzo trying his tricks on Mikoto, but she wouldn't bow down to them. Then the fights were shown to be who's going against who. Ryouta and Hanabi even had a small moment together, with the matches for the next round also being shown. We'll see how those go and what they do for some characters soon enough.
Then at the end, Anko approached Ryouta, as it's his time now to finally sign the snake contract, and gain his own summon!
Well until next time, thanks for reading!
Ryouta; Satsuki, Sakura, Naruko, Hinata, Gaara (fem), Ino, Haku (fem), Kurotsuchi, Karin, Konan, Mei, Anko, Samui, Hanabi, Mabui,