A/N: Awesome feedback for the last chapter! I honestly didn't expect much, but you guys blew me away. Thank you all for that. Makes it easy to keep turning out chapters.
So, this chapter is going to be very long, because I think we all want to move on from the prelims. There are going to be two separate fights, which might end up making this one feel very drawn out, but I'll do my best to skim over the less important details. Most of it will be narration of combat rather than perspective-based.
Time for Chapter 29
Enjoy!
"How many gates can that boy open, Guy?"
Satsuki strained her ears to accurately hear the conversation taking place just behind her. It required a degree of multitasking, as Gaara of the Sand and Rock Lee were still locked in pitched combat down below, and had been for nearly twenty minutes. The gap in power was staggering. Gaara was an absolute monolith compared to every other competitor in the room. How he was a genin to begin with was a mystery. That had been the initial impression of the matchup, at least.
"Five gates." said Might Guy, who was locked in an intense staring contest with Kakashi. Finally unable to help herself, the Uchiha girl turned around to face the two Jonin. Her teacher was visibly perturbed.
"It'll kill a boy his age. You know that, don't you?" he said rigidly. Guy, who had remained rather calm throughout the entirety of the match and the debate that had come along with it, finally showed a hint of irritation.
"You know nothing about him. Nothing at all. Just sit back and watch. I think the results will shock you." he shot back sharply. Though clearly unhappy regardless of his comrade's assurances, Kakashi stepped away from the back wall they were leaning against and joined his genin back on the railing.
"You still haven't bothered telling us what the gates are, you know." Shikamaru, who stood on Kakashi's left, pointed out. Satsuki nodded in agreement and gave the Copy Ninja an expectant look. Gesturing down to the lower floor, where Lee was evading the shifting tides of sand Gaara was sending his way, Kakashi uncovered his left eye.
"Along the human body, there are eight different nodes at which chakra is heavily concentrated. These nodes, referred to as gates, act as limiters on this massive flow of chakra. With enough effort and control, a person can force these gates open." he began. Naruto, who stood between Satsuki and Kakashi, furrowed his brow.
"That sounds really dangerous." he said. The older ninja nodded and pursed his lips as Lee managed to graze Gaara with the edge of his shin bone, only to be tossed aside by a tendril of sand.
"It's an enormous gamble. Performed correctly, and at its fullest extent, the Eight Inner Gates Formation could grant even a genin like one of you power that exceeds any of the five Kage. Doing so, however…" he said, pausing halfway to allow his words to sink in more thoroughly.
"...would kill you." he concluded. Team Seven remained collectively silent at the information. It was a grim piece of information, especially given just how badly Gaara was beating Lee for the most part.
"That insane taijutsu blitz Lee hit him with earlier. He opened the gates for that, didn't he?" Satsuki asked, glancing back over her shoulder at Guy, who promptly nodded his head.
"The Primary Lotus. It only utilizes the first gate, but it's still extremely destructive, as you saw." he said in confirmation. The Uchiha girl's eyes widened as her attention returned to the battlefield. Such enormous power, and yet, only a mere fraction of what the odd boy was apparently capable of.
'My eyes could barely keep up with him when he opened the first gate. I have a feeling I'm about to be as blind as everybody else.' Satsuki thought to herself.
"He's slowed way down since that first assault. If just one gate drained him so much, what would five do to him?" Shikamaru pondered out loud. Kakashi's grip on the railing visibly tightened, his eyes drifting back toward Guy.
"Nothing good, if he can survive it at all." he said darkly. The group lapsed back into tense silence for several minutes. Lee was fighting valiantly, but Gaara was simply overpowering him. Whoever the Suna boy truly was, he was not ordinary. Despite the seeming enormity of the chakra he was expending to move the enormous walls of sand at his disposal, he never tired, and he seemed completely invulnerable.
Then, just as affairs seemed to be wrapping up, another shift in momentum occurred. All at once, Lee's speed increased drastically, his strikes seemed to gain more impact, and his stamina returned. Before any of the genin could bother asking the obvious question at hand, they were given an answer.
"He's opened the second gate." Kakashi reported as Lee struck Gaara's barrier of sand. Satsuki, whose eyes were indeed beginning to fall behind the action as she had feared, brushed a strand of hair behind her ear.
"How'd he manage that? He looked spent a minute ago." she asked. Before Kakashi could reply, Guy chimed in from the back wall.
"The second gate is known as the gate of rest. It allows the body to recover, while also providing a serviceable power boost." he explained. It certainly did appear as though Lee had gotten a second wind. He was faring far better at present than he had been since his use of the Primary Lotus.
"What's the point of it, though? Gaara is still bossing him around, and the Lotus didn't even put a dent in him last time, if that's what he's trying to set up." Naruto inquired. Guy simply smiled at the blonde's question.
"Just you watch. This is far from over." he said confidently, making his way to the railing as he spoke. Lee had rebounded away from Gaara, and there now existed a large amount of space between them. The leaf genin then glanced up to the balcony, meeting the eyes of his teacher. Guy gave a slight nod. Lee then crossed his arms in front of himself.
"What is he…?" Satsuki began, trailing off into silence once the balcony began to vibrate beneath her feet. Lee soon began to glow with pulsating energy. It was a simple matter to deduce what was occurring. He was unleashing further stages beyond the second gate. How many he would open was an open question, but the raw presence of his aura was palpable. Naruto and Shikamaru appeared equally as taken aback, if their silent focus was any indication.
A massive shockwave then ripped through the room, with Lee at its epicenter, the force of which caused Team Seven to take a step back from the railing.
"He's opened the third gate. Now he'll attack." Kakashi said, blocking the forceful wind with his arm. Guy shook his head and smirked.
"Wrong. One more to go." he said, earning wide-eyed stares from the genin near him. His words were soon proven true, as Lee continued to strain his body to reach new heights. Finally, after nearly a full minute of extreme effort, a second shockwave reverberated through the large room.
"Fourth Gate, Gate of Pain…open!" Lee bellowed, his voice loud enough to be heard by all in the room. The observing crowd was afforded no time to process, as Lee burst forward across the concrete with a speed that ripped up the ground beneath his feet. A split second later, Gaara was sent spiraling into the air by a brutal kick to the bottom of his chin. The very same initiating sequence as the Primary Lotus.
"I couldn't even see him move." Satsuki said in amazement, her eyes wide as a cloud of dust overtook the upper level of the chamber. For a brief moment, all seemed still, with Gaara and Lee both entirely out of sight.
"They're up above us!" Shikamaru called out, prompting the entire room to turn their attention to the ceiling. As the Nara boy had said, Gaara was suspended in the air high above the ground, his sand unable to keep up with his body as he soared upward. Lee soon appeared just above Gaara, his form a blur. The redhead was promptly launched downward again.
What ensued was an awe-inspiring display of power. Gaara was battered pillar to post, with his body being ricocheted from side to side, up and down, forward and back. All while never leaving the airspace Lee had sent him to.
"What kind of person can move like that?" Naruto said breathlessly. Satsuki shook her head, her sharingan completely unable to track Lee's dynamic movements.
"If you need a reference, Lee is stronger than most Chunin right now. Maybe even a few Jonin in terms of raw speed." Kakashi said, his own eyes straining to follow the action unfolding before the group. The pounding continued on for another ten seconds. Once those seconds had elapsed, Gaara was struck directly in the chest, sending him cascading toward the ground at breakneck speed. Unlike every other time he had struck him, Lee remained stationary above the redhead.
Before Gaara could make it even halfway to the ground below, his momentum was brutally halted. In the midst of the chaotic rush, Lee had attached the bandages around his arms to Gaara's tunic, anchoring the two boys together. Finally able to see him clearly, Satsuki suppressed the urge to gasp at what she saw.
"His muscles are shredding apart. His body is eating itself alive." she said, her mouth hanging open. One final time, Lee's body glowed, signifying yet another gate being forced open inside of him. Yanking on the bandage linking he and Gaara together, Lee pulled the Suna boy into a vicious punch that sent him searing toward the ground below. This time, he made no move to stop him.
In an instant, Gaara slammed into the concrete with an impact that shook the entire tower.
Blackness.
For a time, all that could be seen by Gaara of the Sand was a dark void. An empty space around him as he floated along. No feeling, no sensation. Only silence. The brief quiet vanished as quickly as it had come, with light slowly fading back into his reality. Soon enough, his surroundings became clear again, as did the signals rushing through his nervous system. He was in pain. Severe pain. Every inch of him burned like fire. Despite the discomfort, it was a good sign. Pain meant that he had survived.
'I'm still alive.' Gaara thought to himself as his eyes dragged open. His hearing was muffled, but he could make out cheers coming from the balcony. Sounds of elation, of joy, of relief. They were under the impression that he had been beaten. Glancing down, Gaara found that his gourd had expanded beneath his back, creating a landing pad of sorts.
'So, that's how I'm still breathing.' he noted, slowly sitting up on his cushion of sand at the thought. Immediately, the cheers ceased. As the redhead rose up to his feet shakily, a defeated silence overtook the room. Turning his attention to his left, Gaara spotted Lee, who was on his hands and knees. He appeared to be completely bone dry. Stepping off of his platform of sand, Gaara slowly began stalking toward his prey.
As he looked upon the exhausted leaf genin, a mix of frustration and begrudging respect coursed through him. Frustration at his own underestimation of the challenge before him, and a respect for Lee's truly staggering levels of unexpected strength.
"That's as close to a brush with death as I've ever had. You really are something." Gaara rasped, finding that his throat was clogged with his own blood. His gourd then reformed itself on his back, collecting the leftover sand around the lower floor. Lee did not respond beyond a simple glare from his knees. The redhead's hand then twitched, prompting a tendril of sand to fly forth and seize Lee by the neck. As he dangled before Gaara, the leaf genin's steely glare remained intact.
"Nothing to say? I'll give you some last words if you want them." the Suna boy offered. Lee remained silent once more. Gaara shrugged his shoulders apathetically.
"Have it your way, then." he said, beginning to tighten his hand into a fist in order to crush Lee's windpipe. Before the redhead could finish what he had started and end the boy's life, a green blur snatched Lee up, pulling him free from the grip or Gaara's sand. Scowling at the development, the Suna boy took a step back.
Standing between him and Lee, who was now lying unconscious on the ground, was a man who strongly resembled Lee himself. Straining his memory for a moment, Gaara quickly recalled the man's name. It was Might Guy.
"Why are you stopping me? He's been beaten. I'm allowed to finish him any way I like." Gaara asked. While his voice was calm and even, his sand whipped around him like an angry swarm of bees. Guy remained steadfast, not budging an inch.
"He's my student, and I refuse to let you kill him." he said firmly. Gaara tilted his head off to one side, now rather intrigued.
"Why? He failed you." he asked simply. Guy glanced back at Lee, his eyes full of concern and emotion. When his gaze returned to Gaara, a slight light of anger burned within his irises.
"Because he's precious to me, and I love him." he said. At the older man's declaration, Gaara felt nothing but puzzled confusion. He knew the definition of the words being spoken to him, but had long since forgotten their meaning. Shaking his head, Gaara turned his back on the pair and began to walk away.
"Empty words." he muttered under his breath. Just as he was about to begin ascending the steps of the staircase, however, an audible gasp erupted from the balcony. Deducing that it likely had little to do with him, Gaara turned his attention back to Lee and Guy. As it turned out, the sharp intakes of breath had been warranted. Somehow, someway, Lee was back on his feet.
With lurching posture, and a periodic shake, the odd boy stood at the ready. His eyes were downcast, and his mouth was slightly open. He made no noise, but his actions spoke a thousand words. Fully turning around to face his foe, Gaara took a step back toward where he had come from.
"You don't know when to quit." he said, sand leaking out from his gourd. A moment later, the redhead realized the truth. Upon further inspection, Lee was completely unconscious. His eyes were vacant, and his breathing was shallow. Nothing but raw willpower was keeping him vertical. With a shake of his head, Gaara turned away again.
Retracting his sand and walking up the steps, he left Guy to cry with Lee in his arms.
Naruto took a quick swig of water from a flask Kakashi had given him as he sat leaned back against the wall. Three more matches had taken place since Gaara and Lee's vicious confrontation. Kankuro had defeated Misumi of Otogakure in dominating fashion with an odd puppeteering Jutsu, Choji had crushed Dosu into the far wall, and Shino had taken Zaku, Dosu's teammate, apart at the seams. While each of the matches had been fairly interesting in and of themselves, they had all felt dull. Nothing could match the visceral emotions that Lee's valiant effort against Gaara had inspired.
After the conclusion of the final of the three matches, having been Shino's victory over Zaku, Hayate had called for a fifteen minute recess for unknown reasons. While it was certainly strange, it was a welcome break from the chaos.
"I'm getting sick of just watching. I wanna fight." Satsuki, who was sitting shoulder-to-shoulder with the blonde, grumbled. Naruto chuckled and stretched his legs out in front of him.
"Just your luck to get stuck being the closer." he said jokingly. The Uchiha girl puffed out her cheeks and drew her knees up to her chin.
"There are only three other people in the room who haven't fought yet. Hinata, Neji, and one of the Oto genin. My options are pretty slim." she said. Naruto finished the last of his water and set the flask aside.
"Hey, at least you can do some gameplanning." he said optimistically. Satsuki shrugged her shoulders, which inadvertently caused her long hair to spill over her front.
"I don't think it makes much of a difference at this point. We're all just winging it." she said dismissively. The Jinchuuriki glanced across the balcony, picking out the three remaining genin whom his teammate may face.
"If you had to choose one of them, who would it be?" he asked. Satsuki's response was automatic and completely lacking in hesitation.
"Hinata." she replied. Naruto raised an eyebrow. To his knowledge, the Uchiha and Hyuga girls had never meaningfully interacted, especially not recently.
"Why's that? Is she the easiest?" he pressed. Oddly, Satsuki's face appeared to redden slightly at his questioning. Taking far longer to respond than before, his teammate's eyes drifted over to the Hyuga heiress.
"Yeah, that's why." she said, her tone sounding strangely dishonest. Opting to ignore the oddity of Satsuki's reaction, Naruto shifted his attention to Shikamaru, who was still standing on the railing He was staring off into open space, his expression blank and vacant. In short, he was entirely in his element.
"I wish I could be like him sometimes." the blonde said absently. Satsuki sighed and shook her head.
"I don't need both of you attracting weird women. His problem is awkward enough on its own." she said tiredly. The blonde stifled a laugh. It was far more true than it should have been, and that fact was greatly humorous.
"He hasn't even talked to that chick from the sand village. I don't know how he does it." Naruto pondered aloud. Satsuki produced a kunai from her pouch and began using it to file her nails.
"She's probably used to men drooling all over her. Shikamaru being totally indifferent has her feeling insecure." she theorized. Naruto blinked several times.
"You didn't even have to think that through." he said. Satsuki glanced at him out of the corner of her eye.
"I am a girl, you know. We think a certain way about certain things." she said matter-of-factly. The blonde smirked
"Oh, so you're just projecting." he said wryly. Satsuki simply stared at him for a time, her expression unreadable. Eventually, she spoke.
"Maybe, maybe not." she said vaguely. A moment later, she stood up to her feet and leaned her head forward, letting her hair dangle down toward the floor. She then began to braid it. Though he initially began to shift his focus elsewhere, Naruto soon found himself staring at Satsuki as she fixed her hair. He couldn't quite pin down why exactly it was, but found the process captivating to watch. Before he could correct himself, or find a way to be more subtle, Satsuki caught him.
"Take a picture. It'll last longer." she said with a sideways smirk. She then let the loose braid hang over her shoulder. Naruto immediately looked to the floor.
"Sorry." he muttered, though he hardly knew what exactly he was apologizing for. To make matters all the more difficult, Satsuki sat herself down exactly where she had been before, that being right next to him. Taking a deep breath to clear the embarrassment from his system, Naruto glanced back at the Uchiha girl again. To his surprise, she looked neither smug nor uncomfortable. If anything, she looked genuinely pleased, with a smile on her lips and her eyes brighter than usual.
'You're so…all over the place.' Naruto thought to himself as Satsuki fiddled with a kunai. For all of her stoicism and abrasiveness, the Uchiha girl was prone to odd mood swings. Especially, it seemed, when in his presence. Before he could ponder Satsuki's strangeness any further, Hayate's voice echoed through the chamber once again.
"Break's over, folks! Eyes on the screen!" the proctor called up to the balcony from the ground floor. Naruto and Satsuki immediately rose up to their feet, quickly scampering over to the railing for a better view. As had been established, there was a coinflip's chance that Satsuki would be competing next. As such, the subsequent wait for the roulette of names to settle bordered on tedium.
When two names finally remained on the board, Satsuki groaned in frustration. Indeed, her name was not among those listed. While he certainly felt a degree of sympathy for his impatient teammate, Naruto couldn't help but find the matchup being presented to them as fascinating.
"Up next, Hinata Hyuga will face Neji Hyuga, both of Konoha!"
Shikamaru shifted uncomfortably in place as he forced himself to keep his eyes on the match currently playing out. Rock Lee versus Gaara had been difficult to watch at point for its sheer carnage, but Hinata's pointless struggle against Neji was shaping up to be a more unpleasant viewing experience. The poor girl was hopelessly outclassed. She had yet to land a meaningful strike on Neji, and worse yet, the older Hyuga had been laying into her verbally since the very beginning of the match.
'Family drama. Brings out the worst in people.' the Nara boy thought to himself with a wince. Hinata had been knocked down once again, and she was struggling to rise more and more each time.
"All that prestige, so much privilege, so little talent." Neji, whose voice cut through the uneasy silence of the chamber, said in a stabbing tone. Shikamaru Nara had never shared a meaningful conversation with Hinata Hyuga, and knew very little about her, but even so, every sympathetic bone in his body ached for the girl. She had always been kind, if a tad awkward. Neji clearly did not feel the same.
Taking a glance over to his teammates to observe their outward reactions to the physical and psychological beating playing out down below, Shikamaru found something close to what he had expected. Satsuki was largely calm, but her eyes held a certain degree of displeasure. Naruto, on the other hand, was far less subtle in his reaction. He was tightly gripping the railing, with his jaw visibly clenched.
'You relate to her, don't you?' Shikamaru silently asked his indignant comrade. It made a fair degree of sense. While their circumstances were vastly different, it was obvious that Hinata's own family saw her as something resembling a disappointment. Even excluding Neji's harsh words and insults, it was rather common knowledge that Hiashi Hyuga was the opposite of a loving father.
Empathy was a potent thing, and Naruto appeared to be suffering from quite a powerful surge of it as he watched Hinata be bullied and beaten. Breaking him from his thoughts, Neji slammed his shin into the right side of Hinata's neck as she leaned the wrong way when attempting a defensive maneuver. The Hyuga heiress staggered back, barely able to keep her footing.
"This needs to be stopped." Satsuki said, finally breaking her lengthy silence. Shikamaru gave no response beyond a slight nod, taking another sideways glance at Naruto. He was struggling to remain composed.
"You're just like your mother was. You're not cut out for this. There's nothing wrong with that, but you really should consider a career change." came the mocking voice of Neji once again. His words were brutally cutting. Even without extensive knowledge of their history, it was clear just how much Neji desired to break Hinata mentally.
"Way too far." Shikamaru muttered under his breath. It was one thing to insult a person's prowess, but another entirely to mock the death of a parent. For a person who had seemed rather reasonable to the Nara boy upon first impression, Neji's inner darkness and cruelty were intensely unpleasant.
Before any more could be said between the two Hyuga children, Naruto finally snapped. Slamming his hands down on the rail, a look of emotional anger on his face, the blonde omitted his self-control.
"Shut the hell up and fight! Nobody wants to hear you run your mouth!" Naruto yelled down at Neji, who shot him a disinterested look.
"She's earned this. If you knew the context, you'd understand." the older Hyuga said bluntly. Naruto leaned further over the railing.
"Or maybe, you're just a bitter asshole with nothing better to do!" he countered. Much to the surprise of all those listening to the unusual conversation, Hinata's voice promptly cut in.
"It's…okay, Naruto-kun. He's not wrong. I've never been much of a ninja." she said softly, her eyes downcast and defeated. Her words did nothing to quell the Jinchuuriki's temper. Shikamaru put a hand on the boy's shoulder, only to be shrugged off.
"If you give up without fighting, then yeah, he's right. But you're better than that. You're better than him." Naruto insisted, finally drawing Hinata's eyes up from the ground. She was clearly distraught. Stuck between wishing to listen to him, and the harsh reality of her situation.
"As I said, you don't know the context. If you'd seen what I've seen from her, you wouldn't be bothering with this little speech." Neji said calmly. Hinata's frame shook just a tad. Every word her fellow Hyuga spoke damaged her. Naruto did not waver. Not even slightly.
"Hinata." he called down to the heiress, whose gaze had returned to the floor. Looking back up at him again, tears visible in her eyes, the meek girl awaited his voice.
"You wanna do right by your mother?" he asked, his voice a tad softer than before. Finally, painfully, a few tears dragged down Hinata's cheeks.
"Yes." she mouthed. Naruto's eyes then shifted to Neji once more, who looked rather amused by the heart-to-heart occurring before him.
"Then don't let that punk scare you. Even if you can't beat him, make him taste some blood before you're done." he said, locking eyes with Hinata again. Though it took a moment, the Hyuga heiress' posture slowly straightened, her hands balling into fists. She then turned to face Neji, assuming her taijutsu stance.
Shikamaru swallowed a lump that had formed in his throat. Naruto was brash, awkward, and haughty at times, but down at his core, above all else, he was deeply caring. Even for those he hardly knew. Shaking himself of the emotions gripping him, Shikamaru devoted his attention to Hinata and Neji again. They had immediately engaged once again after Naruto's speech had concluded.
While she was certainly not winning or in control, Hinata's intensity had increased, and it was paying dividends. For the first time since the match had begun, Neji was being made to work defensively. Then, hearteningly, Hinata snapped his head back with the heel of her palm, which she had planted firmly on his jaw. The success was short-lived, as Neji quickly retaliated by striking the heiress twice in the gut.
Hinata coughed painfully, staining the floor at her feet with blood. Shikamaru fought back the urge to look elsewhere. As inspiring an effort as it was, it was difficult to stomach. Despite the injury, Hinata did not relent. Stepping into range again, the heiress resumed pressuring Neji. She was able to graze him several times, but was again repelled harshly. This time, she had been struck in the chest.
Dropping to her knees, Hinata grit her teeth and ignored the blood seeping from her mouth. She was fighting her heart out, but she was severely outgunned. Kakashi, who was leaning against the wall behind the genin of Team Seven, loudly cleared his throat.
"Kurenai." he called out simply. His words had been brief, but the message was clear. The Jonin woman, who stood on the other side of the balcony, gave a curt nod. The pair promptly vanished.
A beat later, they were down on the lower floor, with Kakashi seizing Neji in a full-nelson from behind, and Kurenai pressing her palm into the Hyuga boy's forehead. The match had been stopped prematurely, and for good reason. Neji had been mid-charge to deal yet more damage to the battered heiress.
"Thank god." Satsuki said, a slight sigh of relief escaping her at the development. Shikamaru felt himself relax slightly. Hinata had fought admirably, but the match was only headed in one direction. Naruto's reaction to the turn of events was unexpected. Vaulting over the railing, the blonde quickly landed on the lower floor.
Neji, having been released from the restraints of Kakashi and Kurenai, promptly walked to meet him as the blonde approached. The two boys met in the middle, stopping toe-to-toe and exchanging hushed words. What was said was a mystery to the Nara boy, but he could only assume that the conversation had involved a vow of combat. It was only natural.
"He's hopeless." Satsuki commented strangely, eliciting a look of skepticism from Shikamaru. The Uchiha girl met his gaze.
"It's just like you said in the forest. He can't help himself." she said. It was a valid point, though slightly out of place contextually. Soon enough, the blonde came trudging up the steps. He was unhappy, and his posture showed it. Joining his teammates on the railing, Naruto took a deep breath, held it in, and then released it.
"You're up next, Satsuki." he said, changing the topic on a dime. The raven-haired girl perked up at the reminder.
"Yeah, I am. Nobody else left but me and one other guy from Oto." she said, her voice eager and anticipatory. Shikamaru chuckled and shook his head. Both Naruto and Satsuki had been oh-so-enthusiastic to compete, while the shadow user had dreaded it both before and during.
'To each their own, I guess.' he thought to himself. The lower floor was clear again, with Hinata having been taken away to the infirmary to be tended to. The only person remaining was Hayate, who was looking up at the balcony expectantly.
"Alright, one more match to go. Given that there are only two genin left, we won't bother with the screen. Satsuki Uchiha of Konoha will be facing Yoroi Akado of Otogakure." he called out calmly. It seemed that even the proctor had been sobered by the brutality of the preliminary round.
"Make it three for three." Naruto said with a grin as Satsuki began her trek toward the stairs. Nodding with her eyes straight ahead, the Uchiha girl quickly descended down to the ground floor. Shikamaru slid his hands into his pockets. Satsuki was reliable. She was strong, perhaps the strongest of their cell, and intelligent. It was unlikely that she would lose.
Within moments, Satsuki and Yoroi, who stood a fair few inches taller than the girl, were situated across from one another with Hayate in the middle. With a brief glance at both genin, the proctor raised his hand upward, and then chopped it downward.
"You may begin!"
A/N: Alright, so I'm gonna be saving Satsuki vs Yoroi for the next chapter, as it will require more delving into. It will be similar to canon, but the message it sends, and its ending will be very different.
I don't really like how this chapter turned out, and I'm aware that Gaara vs Lee was pretty poorly done, but that fight is incredibly difficult to do justice to.
I hope it wasn't too bad as a whole. Tell me your thoughts in a review :)
Read and Review!
