Disclaimer: I own neither DBZ nor Naruto. If I didn't I wouldn't be up to my eyeballs in debt from college loans.
Last time: The Sound Trio gets a taste of just what a pissed off Sasuke and Gohan are capable of.
This time: Some stuff happens.
Gohan couldn't believe it. The last few days had been a blur to him. They'd made it to the tower with some help from Kabuto, listened to some weird saying about how a shinobi should better his or herself and then been told to relax at the tower while the rest of the exam was finished. That had been a day ago. Now the young warrior was spending his time wandering the halls of the tower looking for Kakashi or the Third, whoever would be able to tell him what to do about the Curse Seal on Sasuke.
He wasn't clad in his gi anymore. That was tattered and shredded from his battles and skirmishes in the Forest. Now he was wearing what he'd had on when he'd arrived in this dimension. It was the white T-shirt with the blue square in the middle and the blue jeans. The cape stayed, though. There was no way in hell that the warrior would take that off, not when training was more important now than ever before and his hirai-ate was tied firmly to his right bicep.
The shinobi world was a strange and dangerous place and it'd already shown the young fighter, even after only a month or two here, that brute strength wasn't everything in the world. Planning was essential too, and as much as Gohan didn't want to admit it, strategy in his style of combat came second and that could be his undoing.
"Well, we meet again," said a voice from behind the fighter, making him jump. He spun and his eyes widened.
"You!"
Kabuto was tired. He'd spent all night shepherding some feeble little genin to safety, all the while using genjutsu to steer another team of shinobi into the area so they would ambush Team Seven and force them to fight. That had been the most rewarding part of his marathon day.
Just getting to see the Sharingan was a treat, but it got better when Naruto-kun and Gohan-kun had entered the fray. Between the Kage Bunshins and blinding speed, the enemy hadn't stood a ghost of a chance, falling in mere minutes, though it would've been shorter if Sasuke hadn't been marked as he was.
What Orochimaru-sama saw in that kid was beyond the medic. Clearly Gohan-kun was superior in all categories and would make a much better host for the Snake Sannin, though the Sharingan would be the great equalizer should the Uchiha and other boy come to blows.
There was a force in Kabuto's simple quarters that had been allowed to him after his team had finished the match in the forest. The force was malevolent, leaked killing intent like a hurricane leaks rain and was clearly superior to anything Kabuto could put up against it. That was part of the reason he'd joined the missing-nin instead of spying on him like Sasori had intended.
The bespectacled shinobi also knew perfectly well that that presence could hide itself without a trace and slit his throat before Kabuto was even aware he wasn't alone.
"Would you like to see the results of my research, Orochimaru-sama?"
The wall rippled and the snake shinobi himself stepped out from behind his genjutsu.
The pale man chuckled lightly. "Please, do tell, Kabuto-kun."
Kabuto pulled out his deck of cards and swiped a chakra-infused hand over it. Immidiatly the top card sprang into the air, was plucked deftly between gloved fingers and the card tossed causally back to the other man, who caught it almost lazily.
"Ah," the Sannin purred, "the data on Sasuke-kun."
The card showed Sasuke's picture, sensei, teammates, number of missions (divided by rank of course) and the matrix Kabuto used to assess everyone he came across, but there were three new categories, all of which Sasuke had scored high in.
"Growth Potential is exceptional," Kabuto remarked without turning around, "as is Host Potential and his…let's call it Betrayal Potential."
"Not surprising," Orochimaru replied, "considering my seal and his brother's 'atrocity' against the Uchiha clan." The amber eyes searched the back of Kabuto's ponytailed head. "I assume you have the data on the other target I wanted?" That remark was said with an underlying velvety tone that told Kabuto he'd better have the data or wish to die quickly by Itachi's Tsukuyomi, which would be more merciful than anything Orochimaru would do.
Fortunately for the medic shinobi, he did indeed have the data.
"I have it, but I can't vouch for the accuracy of it," he said warningly as he flicked another card at his master. "After just one engagement, it was hard to discern just how powerful Gohan-kun is."
On the card was Gohan, with the sensei's face blanked out and a black question mark in its place, the number of missions was mostly blank as well. The matrix was odd. All the stats had a solid portion then a fainter section extending from that.
The ghostly sections were much larger than the solid parts, however the Growth and Host Potentials were high, while the Betrayal was very low.
"Not remarkably accurate," Orochimaru said casually. "Even without his bizarre transformation, Gohan-kun is much stronger than you make him out to be. This says that he's about on par with Sasuke when he could fight you, Kabuto-kun, and have a very good chance of winning, even without changing form."
"Like I said, Orochimaru-sama," Kabuto answered, slightly defensive if the snake was one to judge, "I was unable to compile an accurate graph. All I had to go on was one encounter plus your descriptions."
"Do you have a theory on his abilities? Clearly they are not chakra."
"No. I believe them to be ki-based."
"I believe them to be ki-based as well, which makes Gohan-kun a powerful enemy."
"Shall I assassinate him?"
"No need. Even with his transformation, Gohan-kun is only around half my strength, if I were one to guess."
"Are you going to mark him?"
"Possibly. It all depends on what happens in these upcoming preliminary matches."
Kabuto looked mildly interested. "Do you think we'll see his transformation, Orochimaru-sama?"
The snake shrugged, flicking the cards back at his chief servant. "No, not unless he's paired with that insomniac Sand brat. I think Gohan-kun would be stronger by a wide margin, though the sheer ferocity Gaara-kun is capable of is astounding even to me." With that, the Snake Sannin sank into the ground and vanished, leaving Kabuto to marvel at just how much of a threat Son Gohan really could be.
Gohan was surprised. Of all the people he'd expected to meet in the tower, Mitarashi Anko wasn't one of them. The kunoichi was standing behind him with one hand on her hip and a grin that promised bad things.
"Uh, can I help you, Anko-san?"
Anko laughed heartily and somehow made the Z fighter sweat even more. "Yeah," she answered, draping on arm around the teen's shoulders. "C'mere, Kaka-jii and Sandaime-sama wanna meet with you." Though he went with her willingly, Gohan knew that even if he didn't, his chances of getting away were slim, since Anko's fingers were resting, feather-light, on a pressure point that would disable his legs and allow her to cart him off like a sack of potatoes.
'This lady's like Mom,' Gohan realized and he had a truly frightening mental image of his Mom and Anko standing side by side with a huge banner that said 'Crazy Lady Society' on it looming behind them. 'Good thing they'll never meet.'
Kakashi and Sarutobi were sitting in the room with the bank of security cameras in it, watching the door for signs of Anko returning with Gohan in tow. Soon enough the door was throw open hard enough to bounce off its stop and Anko smirked, pleased to no end with herself, with her prey standing beside her and looking very much like he'd either had a heart attack or seen a ghost.
Of course, if Sarutobi and Kakashi both knew Son Chichi, they would look sick too.
"Gohan-kun, welcome," Sarutobi said genially, "you look well. Please, take a seat."
Gohan did so, feeling like he was in a judge's chambers on trial for some crime, even if the atmosphere of the room didn't reciprocate it.
"I suppose you want to know why you're here?"
The warrior nodded mutely, his uneasiness giving way to curiosity.
"Well," Sarutobi continued, "why don't we let this video do the talking for me?" He gestured to Anko who walked over to the video banks and called up the video of Gohan's skirmish with Orochimaru. They watched until a burst of brilliant light filled the screen and the video cut to static.
"I assume that that is the transformation you've mentioned?" The Hokage said with no small amount of curiosity. He was called 'Professor' after all and he was genuinely interested in this turn of events.
"Yes," Gohan said, his voice tiny.
Sarutobi laughed. "Oh, come now, Gohan-kun, we aren't going to bite…" he trailed off then added. "Well, Anko-san here might, but Kakashi and I won't."
Anko simply grinned.
"Why don't you tell us what happened out there," Kakashi said, speaking for the first time.
Gohan took a deep breath and then began his story. He quit talking an hour later and when he finished, you could've heard a pin drop in the room.
"So, Sasuke has been marked with a Cursed Seal," said Sarutobi grimly. "This is a very unfortunate turn of events."
"Bastard," Anko hissed, her hand subconsciously traveling to her shoulder where her own mark lay. "What's he getting at, marking that brat like that? What's he gaining out of it?"
"The Sharingan I would imagine," said the elderly Fire Shadow, "however I cannot say for certain." He tamped tobacco into his pipe and lit it. "I'll summon Jiraiya back to the village. He's made his business to track Orochimaru over the years."
"Good idea," Kakashi remarked, "but I think we should concentrate on the main problem right now, namely Sasuke's recent acquisition."
The Hokage took a pull on his pipe and exhaled the smoke. "Yes. We'll have to remove Sasuke from the exam until we are able to seal away the mark. To leave it unchecked would be…bad, especially considering the boy's past." He looked gravely at Kakashi. "I leave it to you as his sensei to deal with him."
"Right."
"I want to see this little transformation everyone keeps banging on about," Anko interrupted roughly. "I still don't get what's so damn special about it."
Gohan rubbed the back of his neck. "Uh, sorry, but I generally don't transform unless I have a reason."
"Well then oblige an old man his curiosity," the Third said. "We need to figure out just what you're capable of in that state."
The warrior shrugged then closed his eyes. For a second nothing happened then there was a burst of gold light accompanied by an indescribable noise, though it was akin to a popping noise and Gohan was enveloped in a golden flame that lit his spiky now blond hair and hard emerald eyes. His cape rose and fell gently with each chirp of the aura. The Super Saiyan's eyes roved over the three astonished faces then the aura popped out of existence, leaving the room with the sense of being darker after the brilliance of the transformation.
"That's it?" Anko said, feeling let down. "Well this is anticlimactic."
"I wonder if you would give us a small demo?" Sarutobi asked.
The kunoichi snorted. "Please like that little light show has any…" Someone tapped her on the shoulder. When she looked, Anko's jaw fell open. Gohan was standing behind her, as if he'd been there the entire time. Even Kakashi was stunned, though Sarutobi had a smile on his face and something told the kunoichi that he'd been able to track the kid's movements, even if he couldn't totally see it.
There was another burst of light and Gohan in his normal form stood behind her.
"It would appear," Sarutobi said calmly as if this was normal, "That your powers receive quite a boost with that Super Saiyan ability of yours."
"Any theories on how he broke the seal?" Kakashi asked, not quite believing his eye.
The Sandaime was silent before speaking. "I would imagine that his situation is the key."
"What do you mean?" Anko asked.
"Well, maybe not so much the situation, though it certainly was integral, but perhaps the desperation and resolve Gohan-kun was feeling at the time truly shattered the seal's limits."
"That would make sense," Gohan added. "Something similar happens whenever I'm backed into a corner. Piccolo-san was the first to realize it then my Dad, but I didn't believe it until Cell destroyed Android 16."
"What happened then?" Kakashi asked.
"I ascended to Super Saiyan 2."
"So, you have a level beyond what you are capable of now?" asked the Kage.
"Yes."
"We should assume that it's been sealed away as well," Kakashi suggested, "and Gohan shouldn't try to activate it until he's away from anyone who would get hurt."
"I agree," Sarutobi said.
"Yeah, that's probably best," Gohan agreed.
"Very well, Gohan-kun, that will be all," said the Third, gesturing gently at the door. "Rest assured that we will handle Sasuke."
Gohan nodded and headed from the room, wondering what the others were going to do about the marked shinobi and how Sasuke would handle it when the word came down that he'd been disqualified.
'He's going to be livid. I have to make sure he doesn't take it out on Sakura or Naruto.'
The remaining days of the exams passed with no real incident, then not ten minutes after the Second Exam reached its conclusion, the teams that passed were called into the main room. It was a grand place with a very high ceiling and at the end of the room a massive statue of hands molded into a shinobi seal. On the walls, also high above the floor, were two balconies, opposite each other with a clear view of the arena floor below.
On a small stage of raised steps underneath the hands was the Hokage himself along with the instructors for the passing teams and a squad of plainclothes ANBU posing as miscellaneous jounin though their true purpose was to safeguard their leader.
"Congratulations on passing the Second Exam," announced Sarutobi. "We have assembled you all here in order to prepare you for the next part of the test."
"Wait!" Temari called out, not caring that she was the Kazekage's daughter and she was being rude to another Kage. "You're saying that we have to finish the exams right now?" Mutterings broke out among the assembled shinobi. Clearly they didn't want to continue until they had a chance to rest.
The Hokage smiled as he took a pull on his pipe. "This is not the final exam," he said, exhaling a cloud of fragrant tobacco smoke. "This is the preliminaries. Only a few shinobi are allowed to compete in the final exam and as you can see, too many of you have passed the second test.
"So what you're saying is," Neji said, "is that we will all have to fight a preliminary round right here and now."
The red-garbed old man nodded. "Yes, that is correct, Neji-kun. All of you here, with a few exceptions, will fight in the preliminaries to secure your place in the Third Exam."
"Wait, exceptions?" Sakura asked, puzzled. "Who's not fighting?"
Gohan winced slightly as he waited for the other shoe to drop. Sasuke was going to be pissed and he had to be ready for any sudden moves by the Uchiha.
"First, is there any among you who would wish to cease competing here? These prelims will be all out battles without restrictions on weapons, tools, jutsu, or…" here his eyes flicked over the caped saiyan, "any potential unusual abilities you may be in possession of."
"Kabuto's hand shot into the air almost without hesitation. "I can see when I'm outclassed," he said. "I hereby withdraw from these Chuunin Exams." Without so much as a backward glance, he turned on his heel and marched out of the room.
"Anyone else?" Sarutobi asked. No one else's hand went up. "Well, we do have one other disqualification." The tension in the air tightened considerably. "Due to events beyond his control and from testimony given by a trusted source, Uchiha Sasuke is disqualified, pending an assessment of his struggles in the Forest of Death."
Dead silence met the Hokage's words, though the tension leeched out of the silent room and was replaced by rage and killing intent that spilled from Sasuke like a cup running over with water. The raven haired boy rounded on the rest of Team Seven, Sharingan flaring in response to his rage.
"Who?" he demanded, his voice low and silky, something that made him seem a thousand times scarier that if he'd shouted.
"Wasn't me, Sasuke," Naruto said, backing up a step.
Sakura shook her head, looking alarmed at just how angry the Uchiha avenger was.
Gohan didn't meet the Uchiha's crimson eyes, looking away and not saying anything. Sasuke, the ninja he was, keyed right in on that.
"You," he growled. "You did it!? You bastard-"
"This isn't child's play," Gohan snapped, meeting the other teen's glare with one of his own. "This is serious and it could still kill you! What was I supposed to do? Let you go out of control like last time and hurt Sakura or Naruto!?" Gohan's hand clenched hard enough for the three others to hear his skin straining against itself. "Sorry, Sasuke. I won't just stand by."
"Damn you!" Sasuke screamed, lunging at the saiyan with his hands reaching for Gohan's throat.
The warrior reacted instantly; his arms moving as if of their own accord and knocking Sasuke's outstretched arms aside and away, leaving the genin wide open. A quick half-step brought the Z fighter inside Sasuke's defenses and his left arm flashed once, the middle finger's knuckle extended just a bit, driving into Sasuke's throat hard, once, then again in a blur of motion.
The other boy stumbled backwards, clutching at his neck and gurgling like he had something stuck in his throat.
"Take it easy, Sasuke. You won't be doing anything with your throat hit like that," Gohan stated, though his onyx eyes showed that he truly regretted his actions, even if they were forced.
Sasuke gurgled something that might've been a vehement 'damn you!' and lunged again, though before he'd even reached his opponent, he lurched and stumbled collapsing out cold in Gohan's arms.
"What'd you do?" Naruto asked, cerulean eyes shining with awe. Gohan handed the unconscious genin to Kakashi, who'd come over only after Sasuke had passed out. The masked man had known Sasuke would do something like this and had decided to let Gohan handle it.
"I hit him twice in his throat, making it hard to breath. Sasuke took a deep breath and his body couldn't handle it so it just shut down on him."
"Will he be alright?" Sakura asked, though she didn't seem as concerned as she would've at the beginning of Team Seven's formation.
"He'll be fine. All he needs is a little rest and time to recover. He should be up and about by tomorrow."
"So what now?" Naruto asked.
"Never mind that," Kakashi said briskly. "I'll take it from here, you don't need to worry. What you three need to concentrate on are your fights."
"You're not going to watch?" Naruto cried.
"I don't need to," answered the lanky Copy-Nin as he walked away with Sasuke slung on his back. "I have faith all three of you will advance to the finals."
"How can you be so sure?" Sakura asked, feeling rather numb at the prospect of fighting in front of all these people. After all, all she had was her chakra control. She had no major jutsu to speak of and didn't have anything but the slightest grasp of taijutsu.
A comforting hand on her shoulder make the kunoichi look up, turning slightly pink when she noticed it was Gohan's hand. "You'll do fine, I'm sure," he said. "Just do your best and no one can belittle you for it."
"Now that we have an even number again," interrupted the Hokage, "we will be fighting ten matches that will be decided at random with this method." He gestured to a corner of the wall, which slid aside and revealed a screen that began scrolling through all the names of everyone present.
A sickly looking jounin with heavy bags under his eyes stepped forward. "I, Gekkou Hayate, will be the referee. If I say stop, you stop. Fight until one of you dies, cannot continue, or I stop the match."
'Just like the Tenkaiichi Budoukai,' Gohan thought. 'Though we weren't allowed to kill.'
"The first match-up…" The names stopped scrolling. There was a small gasp of shock from Hinata.
"Hyuuga Hinata vs. Hyuuga Neji. These two please stay here, the rest of you please proceed up to the balconies."
The rest of the contestants proceeded to their positions and leaned against the walls, the rail, or sat and dangled their legs in preparation to watch the match.
"You cannot win," Neji declared boldly. "You are simply the pampered and spoiled air of the Main House and today I will show just how feeble you really are."
Hinata seemed close to tears, but Gohan's respect for her rose a few notches when she didn't back down from her relative's scathing remarks. Instead she activated her kekkei genkai and sank into the basic Jyuuken stance.
Neji snorted derisively. "What use is it to defy fate?" he asked, though he slid into the same pose. "I offer you one last chance to back down without any humiliation."
Above, the saiyan warrior looked from one Byakugan wielder to the other. "Wait, I thought they were related. How come Neji's picking on her?"
Maito Gai answered, and his answer was most serious, devoid of his usual glitz and pontifications about the Springtime of Youth. "The Hyuuga are a prominent clan in Konoha, much as the Uchiha once were. However, despite their prominence, they have a very big problem."
"And that is?" asked Ino from her place beside Shikamaru a few paces down.
Gai continued, "There are two houses within the clan, the Main house of which Hinata-chan is a part, and the Branch House, from which Neji-kun hails. The two houses are often at odds since the Main House considers the Branch to be little more than slaves or servants, not worthy of equal footing and not worthy to share in the clan techniques. No one knows for sure how the Branch are kept in line, though most of Konoha believes it to be some kind of seal."
"That's awful!" Sakura cried. "It isn't Neji's fault that Hinata is from the Main House!"
"Perhaps," said the taijutsu master, "but Neji harbors a very deep grudge against the house, especially against Hinata herself."
"What do you mean?" Gohan prodded.
"When Hinata and Neji were kids, Konoha was just concluding a war with the Cloud village. The delegation from Cloud agreed to come to our village to discuss peace, but that was only a cover for their real intentions. During the deliberations, a Cloud-nin broke in to the Hyuuga mansion and kidnapped Hinata in her sleep. Hiashi, the head of the clan, killed the man, but his identity turned out to be the chief delegate. Cloud was livid and demanded that Hiashi be killed and his head delivered to them as proof."
"That wasn't the real reason, was it." Shikamaru stated bluntly.
"No. The real reason was that they wanted to take the Byakugan and implant it in their own shinobi and thus gain one of the most potent dojutsu in the world. To prevent this, Hiashi's younger twin brother and Neji's father, Hizashi, volunteered to be killed in his brother's place, thus sparing Hiashi from death and preventing the Cloud from gaining the Byakugan since when Branch members die, their Byakugan is disabled somehow."
"So Neji blames Hinata for his father's death since she was the one kidnapped." Gohan finished, to which Gai nodded.
"Yes and that is the reason I fear for Hinata-chan's life in this bout."
Sure enough, while they had been trading words above, Hinata and Neji had been trading blows and it was instantly obvious to Gohan as a martial artist who was the better fighter. Neji was ahead in all areas from form to speed to defense and offense. Hinata stood a very slim chance of winning, though she struggled valiantly, getting up and continuing even when a particularly vicious series of blows knocked her seven feet backwards.
"Why do you continue to struggle?" Neji asked, folding his arms and shaking his head. He snorted. "You aren't very talented, you shy away from combat and you seek to comfort others. All of these things are unbecoming of both a shinobi and a clan heir. Give up and quit being a shinobi, that is the only thing destiny has given you!"
"This guy's really pissing me off," Naruto growled, "with all that talk of fate and destiny and shit. What the hell does he know, huh!?"
"I'm s-sorry, Neji-nii-san," Hinata stuttered, heaving great breaths, "b-but I will not back d-down. I r-refuse to b-believe in destiny a-and," here some inner passion lit within the heiress and she drew herself up proudly, "I will change the Hyuuga's ways! A-all in the name of Uncle Hizashi."
A cold fury blossomed on Neji's stoic features. "You dare speak my father's name!?" he thundered, "you have no right, none at all, to speak his name, not after it was you who caused his death!"
"And th-that's why I'm going to change the clan, so tragedies like this never happen a-again! I-I've resolved to do this and I-I n-never go back on my word!"
"You tell 'em Hinata-chan!" Naruto shouted exuberantly from the balcony. "Show this Neji prick what you can do!"
Sakura and Gohan traded glances then looked away with knowing grins. Naruto was too thick to see it, but it was obvious whom Hinata was imitating with her talk of resolve and never backing down.
"Tragedy. Tragedy!?" the Hyuuga prodigy shouted furiously. "Is that all my father's death is to you bastards of the Main House!? A damn tragedy!?"
"N-no! Neji-nii-san…"
"Don't call me that," Neji said through gritted teeth, clearly trying to hold back from killing his family member. "I'm no cousin of yours!"
That rocked Hinata back on her heels and sapped her will to fight. "Could it be, Neji-nii-san," she said softly, "that you are still mourning Uncle Hizashi's death and hating your own destiny of growing up without knowing a father's love?"
"Shut the hell up!" Neji shouted, darting forward and slamming a Gentle Fist attack home, only it was a full on punch, not the taps that Juuken espoused.
Hinata yelped in pain as she was thrown even farther back and landed hard.
She didn't move.
Instantly, the jounin were escorting Neji back to the balcony, admonishing him about his intent to kill his own family member and the Rookie Nine plus Gohan were all clustered around the Hyuuga heiress' sprawled form.
Gohan dropped to his knees and pressed his ear to her chest, closing his eyes to better hear a heartbeat or feel the faint passing of breath across his face.
He lurched upright, looking startled. "Medic!" He shouted, though it was unnecessary. The medic-nins were already on the way, but Gohan hadn't heard any sign of life from Hinata's body.
"Stand back!" He commanded, charging what looked to be a ki blast in his hands, though the ball of glowing energy was ringed with a faint golden aura.
"Gohan-kun wait…" Sakura's cry came too late as Gohan fired, the blast slamming into Hinata, but instead of detonating, she was outlined in the faint gold flame, which hummed softly, like a flock of hummingbirds.
Color returned to the girl's face and she began to breath shallowly, though she still didn't wake up or show any sign of doing so anytime soon.
"What did you do?" Naruto asked as Hinata was loaded onto the stretcher and borne away at a brisk pace.
"I gave her some of my ki, some of my life essence," Gohan explained. "It acted like one of those shock machines that they use at hospitals and jump started her heart again, but she's going to need serious medical attention if she's going to make it."
"Wow," Sakura said marveling, "ki can do so much!"
Gohan shook his head. "I really wish Dende were here though, he would've been able to get her up on her feet in just a few seconds."
Hayate stepped up to them, coughing slightly. "Ahem," he said clearing his throat. "If you would all return to the balcony, it's time for the next match."
Sure enough, the board showed the names of the next two fighters.
"Rock Lee vs. Akimichi Chouji."
The two took their places below and the match began. It was a complete mismatch. Lee was slender, fast and fit and Chouji was none of those things, though his peculiar clan jutsu took full advantage of that as he transformed into a huge rolling ball and tried to crush Lee.
Lee seemed simply content to dodge and throw out advice on how to fight more efficiently, though things really heated up when he called Chouji fat and the boy had covered himself in kunai, becoming a spiked speeding ball instead of just a ball.
The other boy was still ahead by a wide margin, though the extra traction given to Chouji by his kunai meant that the gangly taijutsu protégé had to do more dodging and less simply running away.
In the end, Lee wore Chouji down and made the Akimichi kid so tired that he couldn't stand, which meant he couldn't continue.
"Winner, Rock Lee," Hayate announced after a coughing fit.
"You did well, my friend!" Lee proclaimed with a gleaming grin as he scooped up the other and helped him back to the balcony. "With some more training, you could be a truly beautiful shinobi! When we've both trained some more, we shall fight again!"
Chouji smiled weakly, though he was looking kind of put off by the spandex-clad shinobi's intense manner. "Uh, sure," he said slowly, not knowing what else to do. "We'll see about it!"
"Yosh!" Lee shouted happily. "So to prepare, I shall kick a boulder six hundred times with both legs and if I cannot, then I will run one hundred laps around Konoha on my hands!"
"And if my Lee cannot do that," Gai cried in answer, "then I, Maito Gai, shall…" Everyone else on the balcony tuned out the 'Beautiful Green Beasts of Konoha' as they planned their intense (and rather ridiculous) training regimen.
"The third match!" Gekkou announced, as the screen stopped on two names. "Dosu vs. Haruno Sakura!"
Sakura went pale as she looked at the mummified Oto nin across the room on the opposing balcony. Her gaze was met by a glare that promised very bad things.
"I should just give up," she whispered softly to herself. "He'll tear me apart! After all, he probably wants revenge for what Sasuke did to him in the forest!"
She wasn't aware of her feet carrying her to the stairs, or of everyone's calls of encouragement. What she did notice though, was Gohan stopping her at the top step.
"G-Gohan-kun?" She asked. "What is it?"
"Nervous?" He asked.
"Yeah."
The warrior laughed. "Don't worry. I'll have to tell you about my first fight. Anyway, I came to offer some advice."
"What is it?" She asked, glad for any tidbit that might help her survive this battle.
He leaned in close, making Sakura color by his closeness, and whispered something in her ear that made her green eyes go wide. It was so obvious and it would certainly help her.
"Wow, that should work!"
"I'd think so. There's one other thing."
"Huh?"
"Think of this as your first lesson."
"Oh! Does that mean…"
"Yeah. It would help the team out a lot if I helped you to get stronger, right? Now, here's my advice. Feel, don't think. Use your instincts. Let your body move for you."
"But I'm no good at taijutsu…" The kunoichi began to protest, but the black-haired warrior shook his head, cutting her off.
"But you still know it and you've had to practice it until it's muscle memory, right?"
"Yeah but it's still the basics…"
"You'd be surprised what the basics can do," Gohan said, knowing that even the littlest bit of knowledge could go a long way. "Your body knows the motions, the blocks, the punches, the kicks. All you have to do is let your body do the moving for you. And when you get into the finals, I'll teach you some more advanced stuff." He patted her on the shoulder in reassurance and moved out of her way.
"Finally," Dosu grumbled as he moved one of his shattered arms out of its sling. It had to have hurt him tremendously to do it, but he wasn't about to loose to this pampered little wisp of a girl. "Saying good-bye to your boyfriend?"
"He's my friend," Sakura corrected irritably, "and he was giving me advice on how to pound your ass into the ground!"
If anyone was surprised at the change in Sakura's language, they didn't show it.
"Ready…begin." Said the proctor as he moved back a few paces.
Sakura went into a basic stance and waited, trying to empty her mind so as to be able to react at the drop of a hat. The arm Dosu had chosen to fight with was the one without the bracer. Maybe that other arm hurt too much or maybe it was damaged, but either way, the kunoichi wasn't complaining. It would be so much easier to beat him if he didn't use it.
Dosu lunged, his arm flying at her face. Sakura was caught off guard at the sudden motion and took a glancing blow as she moved out of the way. She stumbled backwards, trying to ignore the throbbing in her head and concentrate.
"Nice try, girly!"
The mummy led off again with a quick punch that was much slower, allowing Sakura to block it. She smiled to herself.
'See?' she told herself. 'I can do this!'
Dosu noticed the expression. "Don't get cocky, bitch!" He spun on his heel, following up his earlier attack and driving his other heel into her temple. Sakura yelped at the pain and was thrown to the ground, feeling as if her head was splitting from where she'd been hit. Her vision returned just in time to catch Dosu's heel coming at her again in an axe kick that would've probably knocked her out, but she managed to roll away.
Sadly, Dosu was still close enough to kick her in the back and send her bouncing away. The kunoichi staggered upright again and took up her stance.
"Hm," remarked the mummy. "Persistent little girl aren't you. Give up. You couldn't beat me in the forest, not without your cheap little traps and without them you stand not a ghost of a chance."
"That was three on one!" Sakura ground out. "Now it's a little more fair and I'm not going to lose to you!"
"Fine, but don't blame me when you die or cry. I don't hold back," he lifted his other arm out of its sling and let it hang, "not even against women."
Sakura snorted. "Who said I wanted you to hold back? I'm a shinobi and I'm not going to lose here! Not after we've come so far."
"Please. You've ridden on the back of your teammates, men who are infinitely more gifted than you, to get here. Your just riding on their coattails and you know it."
"I do know it," Sakura admitted, then a steely determination set itself in her eyes. "And that's why I'm going to get better, so I don't have to rely on them to save me!"
Dosu looked at his bracer. "But the real question is," he said slowly, "how are you going to get better when your dead!?" With that he sprinted at her as fast as he could, confident that she wouldn't be able to react in time and judging from the look she had, he was right.
'I can't track it,' Sakura realized, terrified. 'How am I supposed to dodge something I can't see!?' Then she remembered Gohan's words as she pushed her hands to her head and shook it to clear it out. 'My body knows what to do,' the pink-haired kunoichi repeated. 'All I have to do is…react!'
Her right arm snapped up and across her body as if she was wiping a window in great circles, her left fist, fingers aimed at the ceiling, going into chamber by her left hip. She was rewarded with the satisfying shock of a solid connection as she intercepted Dosu's coming attack and pushed it off to her right. Almost in the same instant, her left arm snapped forward, her fist rolling right side up, her left hip snapping forward, putting her full weight behind the blow.
Her attack connected full on with Dosu's face, shattering his nose and making him stagger backwards, clutching at the section of bandages that was rapidly turning red as blood gushed from his wound.
Sakura felt oddly detached as her feet carried her forward, her left hand falling to Dosu's shoulder and jerking him forward and down as her left knee came from behind Sakura's body and bashed full force into Dosu's face once then again as her leg returned to its place behind her then snapped forward again.
"You bitch," Dosu managed to get out as he staggered back from the twin knees to the head. His vision was filled with pink hair and unfocused green eyes before he was hit in the jaw, snapping his head back. Something swept his foot from underneath him and Dosu went down, his head bouncing off hard concrete of the floor and knocking him out cold.
Sakura blinked and looked at the limp form in front of her, almost taking a step back in surprise. She had no clear memory of the past few seconds. All she remembered was getting the ear plugs Gohan had told her to use into her ears as a precaution, then there was nothing but a haze of rather satisfying impacts and flying limbs then she was looking at Dosu out cold at her feet, Hayate proclaiming her the winner.
She pulled out the earplugs and rolled the small bits of cotton in her hand. During the match, she'd slipped them into her hands, though she had no memory of exactly when, and then pretended to clutch her head and slipped them in. It'd all been in vain, perhaps, but better to be safe than sorry.
"Way to go, Sakura-chan!" Naruto shouted.
"You showed him!" Ino cried, secretly wondering just how Sakura had moved the way she did. During the entire sequence, it seemed as if she were floating and letting her body to the work for her.
Sakura really did feel like floating on the way back up the stairs and she grinned happily when she Gohan met her that the top. "Gohan-kun…" she stopped, not knowing what words to use to tell how grateful she was to him for his tip.
"Nicely done. Now imagine what you can do with a little training," he said simply, something in his eyes telling her that she didn't need to tell him. He already knew.
Shivers ran down Sakura's spine at the mere thought. "That's…exciting."
"Fourth match! Zaku vs. Inuzuka Kiba!"
"Yahoo! Here we go, Akamaru! Time to show everyone what we've got!" The small dog perched on Kiba's head yipped happily as his master and best friend vaulted over the railing and landed heavily before running over to Hayate and tapping his foot impatiently, waiting on Zaku.
Zaku knew that he was making the dog user mad, so the Oto-nin took his good sweet time in making his way over.
"Che, 'bout time!" Kiba snarled when Zaku finally arrived.
"Why should I hurry?" asked Zaku. "I was doing you a favor, letting you savor your time in the spotlight before I crush you and your little Chihuahua."
Akamaru went into a barking frenzy at the shinobi's insult, his high-pitched yelps and barks not at all intimidating.
"Now you've gone and done it," Kiba said. "Most of the time, Akamaru doesn't like to fight, but when he really wants to tear it up, he can be as ferocious as a bull mastiff, and you my friend, have just royally pissed him off." The white dog yipped in agreement.
"Whatever. I'm gonna turn you and your Chihuahua into dog food."
Hayate knew that he didn't need to say begin and simply stepped out of the way. Immidiatly, Kiba pulled out two small back pills and flicked one to Akamaru and downed the other one himself. Their chakra spiked through the roof and Akamaru's white fur turned a bloody crimson as Kiba himself took on a more feral look.
"Well," Zaku said lazily. "This might actually be interesting."
Kiba leaned over on to all fours and Akamaru jumped up on his back.
"Ninpou! Juujuin no Jutsu!"
There was a burst of smoke and now two feral-looking Kibas were crouching in front of Zaku.
"Oh? Looks like you might actually be a challenge."
"Buddy, we're gonna be a lot more than that." One of the Kibas growled before they split and rushed the Oto-nin from two different directions. "We're gonna put you in the hospital!"
Zaku calmly raised his hands and pointed one at each Kiba. "Really? Well, I'm gonna put you in a body bag. Zankuuha!"
The twin Kibas forms were lost amid the onrushing of air, dust and other detritus that was picked up by the passing of the hurricane-force winds. When the spectacle subsided, there two furrows ripped in the tiled floor with no sign of Kiba or Akamaru, as a corpse or otherwise, at the end of them.
"Keh, missed me!" taunted a voice. Zaku spun and saw that both Kibas were hanging by their nails from the walls, several feet above the balconies. "Now it's our turn! Gatsuuga!"
They dropped and began spinning, becoming a pair of horizontal tornadoes that tore up the floor like a scythe through weeds. Zaku leapt aside, then twisted and managed to avoid both whizzing blurs. They quit spinning, skidded, then launched into another spin, coming at Zaku from both front and behind.
"Zankuuha!"
Another explosion of wind and both tornadoes were blown off course to collide together with a grating noise like a steel drill trying to go through a steel wall. The madly spinning twisters resolved into Kiba and Akamaru, who fell in a heap, Akamaru returning to his normal form in a hissing puff.
"Akamaru!" Kiba called, wiping a line of blood from his cheek. Akamaru's claws had grazed him when they'd hit. "Hey!" The little puppy stirred, but fell back down with a whimper and didn't move. "Damn you," the Inuzuka snarled. "I'm gonna make you regret that."
Zaku outright laughed. "Somehow I doubt that. You and your puppy can't beat me."
"Well see about that," Kiba snarled, hands dipping into his pouches for weapons. He leapt into the air and spun. "Gatsuuga!" Kunai and shuriken spun from the twister, moving many times faster from the spinning. Zaku sprinted away from the oncoming attack, his eyes narrowing when he noticed the weapons digging into the hard floor with puffs of smoke. They'd been thrown so hard that they were penetrating the hard material with almost no effort, the kunai embedding themselves up to their rings and the shuriken disappearing entirely.
Kiba's weapons assault ceased and he dove on the Oto-nin, a solitary gray tornado that, while not as dangerous as two, would still tear Zaku a new one if it happened to hit.
"Come on, kid," Zaku called with a scathing laugh. "If you wanna avenge your little Chihuahua, you'll have to do better than that!"
Kiba quit spinning and sprinted on all fours at Zaku, who got ready to attack.
"Oh, a head-on attack? Keh, you really are stupid!" There was a third blast of wind as Zaku cut loose again, thrusting one hand forward and unleashing the hurricane in his hand. "Take that!" Kiba took the full force head on, then promptly exploded into smoke, the log that replaced him shattering in the lashing winds. "What!?"
"Gatsuuga!"
The tornado spun from Zaku's right side, but the shinobi turned and thrust both hands forward. "Zankuukyokuha!" It wasn't so much of a blast of air as it was an explosion. Kiba, spinning as fast and as hard as he was, wasn't able to see and avoid it in time and truly took the full force of the attack.
He was instantly blown out of his spin and thrown backwards, the wind tearing his parka to shreds and sending small plumes of blood flying from the numerous lacerations that opened up on his skin from the grit that was contained in the attack.
Kiba flew through the air, bounce twice off the ground, then tumbled head over heels into the wall just beside the massive hands, a huge explosion forming when his body finally hit.
"That's enough!" Hayate said stepping in. "Anymore would be pointless."
"No!" Kiba called, staggering from the crater in the wall. "I…can…still…f-fight!" That sapped the last of his will and he collapsed in a heap, out cold.
"Winner, Zaku!"
There were no cheers or calls of congradulations. Zaku didn't seem to care as he ascended the steps to his team, with the medics carting off Akamaru and Kiba, the boy going to the hospital wing and Akamaru likely going to the veterinary clinic that the Inuzuka clan ran.
The names began their scroll again and this time, Gaara's teal eyes flickered over the sign.
"Hurry up," he snarled, as if he could intimidate the selection into going faster. "Hurry up so that I can kill the boy with the black hair!"
Temari, Kankuro and Baki traded glances then took a few tentative steps away from the volatile Jinchuuriki. It stopped on Akado Yoroi vs. Aburame Shino. Gaara's fury was almost palpable but then it faded just as quickly as it had arisen, as if it was a wraith that was there on minute then gone the next, it's passing heralding another death.
Below, the two shinobi were ready willing and able to fight each other.
"The Aburame, a clan noted for their Hijutsu that involve draining the opponent of all his chakra."
"What's it to you?" asked Shino lightly. His voice was slightly raspy as if he didn't use it much and his sunglasses along with his jacket's high collar gave away nothing.
Yoroi's hand glowed a pale blue and Shino and his kikaichu felt a tug on their chakra coils, as if the other genin's technique was trying to draw in the bug-user's energy.
"You see? I have a chakra absorption technique too. Shall we see which one is the stronger?"
A black cloud boiled out from Shino's pockets and from the high collar of his jacket. The stoic genin had released his bugs and they swarmed all around and on him with an audible clicking of mandibles and many-jointed legs.
"Yes," the Aburame answered with no change in tone. "Let's see which is the better."
Damn! Long chapter! Oh well, I enjoyed writing it. Still, it's been quite the blitz. I updated The Disappearance not four days ago and now I'm already done with Gohan's Dilemma. Gotta be some kind of personal record. Oh well. Sorry if the fights were rushed, but I wanted to get the minor battles out of the way. Including Yoroi and Shino's match, there're only five more fights left then we get to Gohan's duel and that will start next chapter, no ifs ands or buts about it. SO! I will see you next chapter and we will see just who Gohan will get to fight. And yes it will be another knock 'em down, drag 'em out match like what happened with Orochimaru and yes it will be against Gaara. Many of you have probably guessed at that already, so there's no point in being so mysterious about it when you might as well put a neon/LED billboard over my head announcing it.
Glossary
Zankuuha and Zankuukyokuha (Air Slicing Blast and Ultimate Air Slicing Blast respectively): Zaku's seemingly one and only technique, it's a massive blast of air and sound that shatters pretty much anything. It comes in two variations, big and bigger. The second one is also a handful to type and damn near impossible to say...for me anyway.
Gatsuuga (Twin Piercing Fang (Or somehting like that)): Kiba's one of two techniques. He and Akamaru become two tornadoes from Hell and drill out the enemy. I guess you could call it a Rasengan on steriods. Much more effective if there are two.
Jujuin no Jutsu (Man/Beast Clone Jutsu): Kiba's other technique, used as a set up to the Gatsuuga. Kiba and Akamaru both down soldier pills and become two clones of Kiba that can attack as they are or go for the Gatsuuga.
Juuken/Jyuuken (Gentle Fist Style): The Hyuuga clan's taijutsu style that uses the Byakugan to see the inside of a person then proceeds to attack the innards directly. This style would give even Gohan trouble since even he cannot train his insides.
Kikaichuu (Destruction Bugs): Bugs that live in a symbiotic relationship with the Aburame. The bugs feed on chakra which is enough to disable even the strongest of opponents since without chakra, they would pass out.