Chapter 12
Sasuke and Hinata turned around, just in time for Naruto to tackle them down.
"Well, I see you're awake." commented Sasuke as Naruto helped them back up. He grinned sheepishly and scratched the back of his head.
"Yeah, my head's a bit fuzzy, but I do remember I saved you, which means we're even for the whole letting-me-move-in thing. Anko performed somekind of sealing jutsu on me. She seemed amazed that I even survived, which I guess is kind of cool for me." Naruto explained, grinning again. Naruto went on explaining what Anko told him about the Curse Mark for a while. As it would no doubt be long before the next team arrived, and much longer before the second part of the Chunin Exam was over, Team 7 decided to train. There was a small area in the tower for training, so they went there, lest they attract any other strange visitors outside. Sasuke was lifting weights, Naruto was practicing his marksmanship, and Hinata was brewing medicinal compounds using the small indoor garden they had. Sasuke felt a pang of nostalgia as he kept getting glimpses of Hinata's rump when she bent down. After he almost dropped a heavy weight on his foot due to loss of concentration, Sasuke thought it would be best if he did something less dangerous when he was around her. He got onto the treadmill and put it on a high speed, trying to get his mind off her. Unfortunately, all that bending down was having a toll on her back, so Hinata sat down and stretched her back, puffing out her chest. Coincedentally, this was done at the moment Sasuke happened to be looking in her general direction, causing a total lapse in focus. This lead to Sasuke tripping over his own feet, bashing his nose against the treadmill controls, causing not only a bloody nose, but also put the treadmill in its highest speed, which sent Sasuke's now unmoving body into the nearby wall of steel weights. I guess he should of done something a little less dangerous. While Naruto was histerically laughing his ass off, Hinata quickly ran over to him to check if he was ok.
"S-sasuke-k-kun? A-are you ok?" she asked worriedly. Sasuke slowly opened his eyes and smiled when he saw Hinata.
"Am I in Heaven?" he asked. Obviously the treadmill hit him harder than they expected. Naruto began laughing even harder after this statement.
"Let's hope not. We still have a Chunin Exam to finish." stated Naruto between his fits of laughter. Hinata looked very worried, but Naruto reassured her that Sasuke was alright.
"Don't worry, he'll be fine in a little bit. I would suggest that you just becareful with what you do when he's around heavy equipment." Hinata nodded, not really understanding where she fit into all this. Naruto laughed harder after his little joke, and even harder when she gave him a puzzled look, obviously not getting the joke. Hinata was getting a tad bit frustrated with Naruto.
'What's so funny?' she thought, 'I want to laugh too, you know...'
Sasuke stumbled back into sweet unconciousness. He arrived at the room where the Kyubi was sealed, being greeted by...more thunderous laughter.
"Hehehe, haha, HAHAHA! This is just too much! Oh, I haven't laughed like this in eons. You are very lucky that only your teammates saw that. Hinata is too innocent to even think that her body is what caused all that, but I bet Naruto isn't! Oh trust me boy, if he didn't know you like her before, he does now!" the Nine Tailed Fox explained. Sasuke got a little angry at that last statement.
"What makes you think I like her!? I don't need her! I don't need ANYBODY! I am an Uchiha! The most elite among elites, the wealthiest among the wealthy! She should be down at my feet, begging me to like her, not the other way around! I am NOT weak! I don't like anybody!" shouted Sasuke, losing his control. The Kyubi began laughing again.
"You don't like anybody? Is that why you let Naruto move in with you? Because you want to be left alone? How about when you cooked Hinata an extra breakfast, or when you paid her tab at Ichiraku's the night you guys graduated? Face it boy, you're getting soft. Just accept it. You're species needs interaction with others of its kind. It's just the way you guys are. There's nothing you can do about it."
"Watch me." replied Sasuke through clenched teeth. Kyubi sighed.
"Suit yourself. But before you do anything drastic, go home after the Exams and check your father's old stuff. There's something in there you need to see."
Sasuke was thrust back into the world of conciousness before he could reply. Naruto was shaking him violently.
"Finally, you're up! Come on, they're about to start the next part of the Chunin Exams!" exclaimed Naruto. Sasuke felt much better by then, and his regular human functions were coming back to him. He and Naruto ran to the central room and met up with Hinata just as the Hokage began speaking.
"It is great to see so many young, and alive, faces! Congratulations, you're two-thirds of the way finished already! Just one more test, and the Chunin Exams are over! Now, since there are so many teams that survived this year, we will have to make an exception to the usual way we do things, and have a preliminary round. Good luck to all of you! We will start now. The pairings will be announced on the computer screen, and will be chosen at random, excluding same team match-ups, of course. Now, the first match will be..." The lights on the screen began flshing wildly, and soon they stopped, forming the names of...
"Gaara vs. Rock Lee!" announced the Hokage. Various people around the room gasped, except for Gaara's teammates, who smirked, thinking that this Lee kid was toast...warm, buttery toast...mmm...
'Rock Lee uses a training jumpsuit and weights, similar to what I use. I better pay attention to his fighting style. I'm keeping my Sharingan active from now on.' thought Sasuke, two tomoe surrounding his pupils as he did so. The battle began, and Rock Lee was on an instant offensive. They say the best offense is a good defense. Well, Gaara's defense was tighter than Area 51. None of Lee's attacks were getting through, and Gaara remained motionless, letting his sand do all the work. It wasn't long before Lee realized he needed to get through Gaara's Sand Shield, and his speed wasn't cutting it. Lee's sensei and Sasuke were about the only ones who knew what Lee was planning on doing next. As craters formed on the ground and the shockwave blew everyone back, his peers finally appreciated just how hard Lee trained. Those were some serious weights he was packing, and Sasuke knew exactly how it felt to carry all that weight. It wasn't very enjoyable. As soon as the weights were off, Rock Lee was invisible. He broke through the Sand Shield easily, though it took a while to actually hit Gaara...at least, it seemed like he hit him. Turns out Gaara's defense was tighter than anyone had anticipated. Gaara was wearing a densely packed skin of sand. This Sand Armor is why Gaara wasn't moving. It's very heavy, and chakra-consuming. Rock Lee realized he couldn't hold back if he was going to beat Gaara. He stepped back and unwrapped his arm bandages, preparing for one of his trump cards.
"First Chakra Gate: Open!" shouted Rock Lee, launching himself towards Gaara and kicking him high into the air. Rock Lee disappeared and reappeared underneath Gaara. Lee proceeded to wrap Gaara in the arm bandages and piledrived him into the ground.
"Primary Lotus!" yelled Lee as he unhinged himself and jumped away. It seemed like he had a direct hit. It seemed like Lee had won. But appearences can be decieving. 'Gaara' imploded into a sand pile when the real Gaara appeared behind Rock Lee. Gaara's sand began enveloping Lee, preparing to squash him and splatter his blood and guts everywhere, until...
"Chakra Gates 2 through 5: Open!" Rock Lee shouted, a huge aura of green chakra pushing away all the sand. Sasuke, as well as everyone else, was by now awe-stricken.
'This guy is unbelievable. Most Jonin can't even open the Chakra Gates! I need to start training seriously, or I'm going to fall behind.' thought Sasuke. Rock Lee again kicked Gaara into the air. This time, he jumped up and began hitting Gaara so fast and with so much force, he looked like a ping-pong ball being flung around.
"Hidden Lotus!" he yelled when he grabbed Gaara with his arm bandages and pulled him into a powerful punch-kick combo. But that wasn't the end of it. Lee travelled so fast that he appeared to be beams of light striking Gaara from all around. As both of them hit the ground, he shouted, "True Hidden Lotus!" Gaara's Sand Armor was now very beaten, but still up. He grabbed Lee's left arm and leg with his sand and broke them easily, Lee not having enough energy left to resist. The battle was over. Gaara had won. He dispersed his defenses and walked away, leaving a badly damaged Lee there. He was carried away on a stretcher. It was time to decide the next match. The lights began flashing again, stopping in the forms of the names...
"The next match will be, Neji Hyuga vs. Hinata Hyuga! Let the match begin!" exclaimed the Third Hokage. 'Oh no...' panicked Team 7 simultaneously...