A/N: Some of the fights are the same as canon, so I won't describe them in too much detail. Some will be canon matches, but different in some way because of how Team 10 has changed (Ino's fight vs. Sakura, for example). The rest are all-new, like Neji's show-down with Rock Lee. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, or any of the characters in this story
Chapter 12: The Preliminary Matches
Twenty genin and their jonin senseis stood on the balcony overlooking the first floor. Hayate, the special jonin with a chronic cough, stood below.
"Naruto and Kiba, come forward," Hayate called out. The two genin jumped down to the floor, each eager for the fight to begin.
Shikamaru, Ino, and Choji stood together with Asuma, laughing and joking.
"This should be an interesting fight," Ino commented. "The two loudest, most obnoxious genin squaring off."
"You're one to talk…" Shikamaru muttered under his breath. Ino glared at him.
"You say something, asshole?"
Shikamaru shook his head. Choji stepped in between them. "Calm down, you two. Leave the fighting to the guys in the ring."
Asuma was watching Naruto and Kiba squaring off, looking interested. "I wonder how much Kiba has improved. Remember when we beat Team 8 on that mock mission? I hope Kiba's become a little bit wilier since then."
But it soon became clear that Kiba was much the same as ever. He and Naruto charged at each other recklessly, shouting the whole time. At first, Kiba had the upper hand and easily broke through Naruto's guard. Shikamaru was worried that Naruto hadn't improved at all since the Academy. But then Naruto struggled to his feet, and the look of determination on his face took Shikamaru by surprise. That was the face of a shinobi who had faced true danger.
When they began fighting in earnest, it was clear that Naruto had a few tricks up his sleeve. Even after getting caught by Kiba's smoke bomb, Naruto kept his head and was able to transform to look exactly like Akamaru. Of course, Shikamaru had to shake his head when the only thing that Naruto did was bite Kiba's arm. He had completely wasted the element of surprise! Naruto should have gotten inside of Kiba's guard, and then dropped some knockout gas. End of fight, right there.
Instead, Naruto gave Kiba the chance to toss Akamaru a food pill. The dog's fur turned red, and the little puppy suddenly didn't seem so cuddly. Kiba downed a food pill himself, and from the snarl that stretched across his face Shikamaru was beginning to think Naruto was in trouble.
One Kiba had been more than Naruto could handle in terms of taijutsu. Two Kibas, both jacked up on food pills and thirsty for blood, were completely taking him apart. Then Kiba and Akamaru launched themselves at Naruto, spinning like giant drills.
Naruto received a thorough pummeling, and it looked for sure like Kiba would pick up a win. But right as he was about to deliver the knockout blow, Naruto… farted.
Shikamaru looked on in amazement. "Wow," was all he could think of to say. Kiba keeled over, momentarily knocked out.
"Winner: Uzumaki Naruto!"
These preliminaries better not be televised! Shikamaru thought. Nobody watching that fight would want anything to do with Konoha shinobi. Ever.
Naruto rejoined his team on the balcony, shouting his own praises. Sakura edged to the side in disgust, while Sasuke just shook his head and sighed.
Hayate coughed once, then called the next opponents. "Gaara and Abumi Zaku, prepare to begin your match."
Zaku landed on the hard floor without a sound, while Gaara floated gently down from the balcony on a wave of sand. The Otogakure shinobi glared at Gaara belligerently.
"No way I lose here! I won't fail."
Gaara stared at the Oto genin with bloodshot eyes. "Mother wants your blood," he whispered. Shikamaru wasn't the only one who shivered after hearing the madness in his voice. Hayate raised his hand high.
"Begin!"
Zaku threw his hands forward, revealing the tubes sticking from his palms. Shikamaru leaned forward intently, determined to learn as much as he could about how Otogakure shinobi fought. Apparently this one had been physically modified, because there was no kekkei genkai that could graft metal tubes into someone's body.
"Decapitating Airwaves!" A concentrated blast of sound pumped from the genin's hands, roaring towards Gaara with a vengeance. Gaara's sand moved of its own accord, forming a shield in front of the redhead. The sound waves bit into the sand, but more kept reinforcing the shield. Shikamaru could see it was helpless.
Choji looked at Shikamaru questioningly. "If that's all he's got, this match is over, right?"
Shikamaru nodded. "Oh, the match is over all right. The Oto genin should give up now, but I doubt he will. And Gaara isn't the type to end this peacefully."
Ino looked away from the fight for a second. She wasn't missing anything, since Zaku was still trying to send his airwaves through the sand. "Wait, does that mean that Gaara's going to…"
"Just wait." Shikamaru had no doubt that Gaara was out for blood. There was something about the boy that just spoke of madness. And once he went on the offensive, Zaku had as small a chance of surviving as a snowball in hell. Shikamaru wasn't particularly worried, though. Zaku had made his choice when he tried to kill Sasuke, a shinobi of Konoha. His death ceased to become a tragedy and became a casualty of war. After all, even though these preliminaries were somewhat civilized, they were the opening blows of a battle that could mean life and death for hundreds of shinobi.
Just as Shikamaru expected, Gaara soon tired of toying with Zaku. His sand began to creep out along the floor, to either side of his opponent's airwaves. Zaku saw the sand and jumped away, stopping his jutsu immediately. But he was tired and had already expended a lot of chakra. There were only so many ways to avoid the sand, and he couldn't run forever. Shikamaru saw the realization on his face, as Zaku accepted that he was going to die.
The Otogakure shinobi put on a heroic burst of speed, bringing himself within mere yards of Gaara. "Extreme Decapitating Airwaves!" Zaku spent all of his chakra in a last-ditch attempt to take Gaara down. The force of his sound attack could be felt easily on the balconies, and Shikamaru had to acknowledge that Zaku was no coward. He had jumped right into the jaws of the lion, refusing to accept his death quietly. He had spent every ounce of strength he possessed, even though he knew it was probably hopeless.
And hopeless it was. Zaku's final attack drilled through the sand with ease, but a foot away from Gaara, the sand from his gourd poured out and formed a hardened shell, completely encasing him. Shikamaru watched with the eyes of a hawk, mentally noting everything he could about the way Gaara fought. There was no doubt in his mind that one of his team would end up fighting Gaara. It would be up to Shikamaru to discover the lunatic's weaknesses.
The sand tendrils finally grabbed hold of Zaku, though it didn't really matter. After his last attack failed, he'd slumped to his knees with the first stage of chakra exhaustion. The tendrils rapidly thickened, until Zaku was encased up to his neck. The hardened shell of sand around Gaara receded.
"You were strong enough for me to need my ultimate defense," Gaara said. "My sand will be enriched by your blood."
Hayate jumped forward, ready to call the match, but he was too late. "Sand Coffin." The sand imploded with deadly force, and Zaku's body burst like a grape. Blood spattered everywhere, bringing cries of shock from most of the watching genin. Team 10 was silent, though Choji and Ino looked horrified.
Shikamaru took the opportunity of looking across the balcony at Gaara's two teammates. The boy in the black cat-suit looked on, impassive. But the girl with blonde hair had a strange expression on her face. Shikamaru thought he saw fear, but beneath that a little regret, mixed with shame. He continued to watch her, trying to figure out what was hiding in her expression.
Somehow she sensed him watching, and looked up. They locked eyes, and Shikamaru once again felt a strange feeling, like an electric current. This time he didn't look away. The Suna kunoichi's face lost its earlier expression, and became one of complete contempt. She made what must have been a cutting remark to her teammate, who looked up at Shikamaru and laughed. Shikamaru just stared, and this time it was the kunoichi who broke eye contact first.
Down in the arena, Hayate called medics in to dispose of Zaku's remains. They proceeded with haste, and edged very cautiously around the sand still on the floor. Gaara didn't look back, and used his sand to float back up next to his teammates. Soon the floor was clear, save for the spatter of blood that was the only remaining sign of Abumi Zaku.
Hayate coughed a few times, then raised a hand for silence. "Everyone, take note. The next time someone fails to stop fighting when I call the fight, that person will be disqualified. Next fight, Temari vs. Tenten."
The two kunoichi jumped off the balcony. Tenten's teammate, Rock Lee, began screaming like a banshee. "Yosh! You can do it, Tenten. Show her the power of your youth!"
Tenten started the fight by jumping backward, gaining a better position for reacting to whatever Temari might try. But Shikamaru was already getting worried. That fan that Temari wore, together with Suna's reputation for being adept at Wind Release, made him wary. If Tenten was a long-range fighter, she would be in trouble.
Sure enough, Tenten began by throwing weapons. Temari shimmered slightly, and the weapons thudded into the ground by her feet. "She missed?" Choji said in confusion.
She didn't miss… Shikamaru thought grimly. She redirected the weapons with wind, without even using hand seals. This fight was over.
Naruto began shouting for Tenten to kick the other kunoichi's ass. "Stow it, Naruto," Shikamaru advised. "You're only going to make her feel worse once she loses."
The blond genin looked at Shikamaru defiantly. "Who says she's going to lose?"
Shikamaru just sighed and turned back to the fight. At least he was reasonably confident that the Suna kunoichi wasn't going to kill Tenten. He couldn't have said why he was confident, he just had a feeling.
Tenten's coordinated attacks all proved futile, and the fight ended just as Shikamaru predicted. Temari's wind whirlwind caught Tenten and held her suspended in the air, knocking her unconscious with razor-sharp wind currents.
Shikamaru couldn't help but notice that even though Temari sounded cruel, her attack didn't leave Tenten with any lasting damage at all. Her control over air currents was so precise that it would have been easy to slit Tenten's neck. Instead, Temari just knocked her out. Insult Konoha all you want, Shikamaru thought, but you're still holding back.
Hayate called the match once Tenten landed on Temari's fan. The other Konoha orphans exclaimed at the brutality of the move, but Shikamaru knew better. This kunoichi came from a brutal land, but she wasn't nearly as ruthless as her brother.
"Next match," the special jonin called out, "will be between Shikamaru and Dosu Kinuta."
Shikamaru nodded at his teammates, before jumping down into the arena. "You've got this, Shika!" Ino cheered.
Shikamaru sized up his opponent. Dosu looked older than he was, because he walked stooped over and covered his face with bandages. Shikamaru remembered the attack he'd used on Kabuto, when the metal device on his arm had affected the silver-haired traitor even when it didn't make direct contact. I can't get in too close, Shikamaru told himself.
Dosu jumped backwards immediately after Hayate gave the signal to begin. Shikamaru gave Dosu his best intimidating smile. "Running away already, huh? Scared to fight me like a man?"
Dosu only laughed. "Zaku was the one who jumped into situations head-first, not me. I prefer to take my time, and analyze my opponent. You don't think I've forgotten what happened before the first test, do you?"
Shikamaru shook his head. Well, taunting had been worth a try. He'd just have to win this one through skill, if he couldn't get his opponent to lose his cool.
"To be honest, I would have hoped that you'd remember," Shikamaru said carelessly. "I thought I was fairly clear what would happen if you targeted anyone from Konoha."
"Don't make threats if you're not strong enough to carry them out," Dosu sneered.
Shikamaru nodded. "Fair enough." He threw a kunai at Dosu with all of his strength. His opponent brought up his right arm, deflecting the kunai upward with the metal device on his arm. The blade was thrown with enough force to lodge securely into the ceiling, even after changing direction.
"Did you really expect that to work?"
"Couldn't hurt to try," Shikamaru shrugged. "Now see if you can dodge this." He threw a smoke bomb at Dosu's feet, blanketing the area with a thick smoke.
Dosu's voice came from the heart of the smoke. "What do you expect to accomplish with this? My sense of hearing is a hundred times more acute than yours! The minute you try and fight me in the smoke, you'll be at my mercy!"
"Did it escape you that this smoke casts a shadow?" Shikamaru asked dryly. He brought his hands together, and formed the familiar seal for Shadow Possession. He sent his shadow out in two long prongs, trying to seal the entire area blanketed by the smoke.
From the heart of the smokescreen came an eerie whistling noise. The smoke began to disrupt, until Shikamaru could see Dosu's spinning form. His opponent came to a stop, and saw the shadow tendrils reaching for him. He evaded them easily, coming to a stop on the opposite side of the arena.
"I may not know any Wind Style techniques," Dosu said, panting slightly, "but with my Melody Drill I can easily dispel a smokescreen. Stop underestimating me!"
"I'm not underestimating you at all," Shikamaru said. "I mean, you haven't even tried to attack me. We both know the moment you come close enough to affect me with your Drill, I'll be able to capture you with my shadow. You might as well give up, you have no chance of killing me."
Dosu's uncovered eye narrowed with anger. "Not if your shadow isn't fast enough! Die, scum!" He shot forward in a blur, easily evading the questing shadow. Shikamaru made no move to set himself; instead, he reached his hands to his ears and inserted two porous, cone-shaped earplugs. Dosu was almost within range when the concussion pellets went off. They were special ninja tools that created a concussive blast, similar to Zaku's airwaves but less concentrated. Hunter ninjas used them to disorient targets before apprehending them. Immediately after Shikamaru had thrown his smoke bomb, he'd activated a slow-burning detonation tag attached to a few of the concussion pellets. To Dosu's sensitive ears the blast would have been almost worse than a physical blow, while Shikamaru's earplugs shielded him from the effects.
Shikamaru lunged forward at the same time that Dosu clapped his hands over his ears, screaming in agony. Shikamaru's kunai lodged in the Oto genin's throat, cutting off his opponent's scream in a spray of blood. Shikamaru jerked the knife out in one smooth motion, and wiped it on Dosu's fur cape before putting it back in his pouch. Dosu's corpse collapsed to the ground. The entire arena was silent.
Hayate stared at Shikamaru, who walked past the proctor without a glance. In a second he was next to his teammates, who were practically the only ones not looking at him in surprise.
Did you really need to kill him? Ino's voice echoed in his head. Shikamaru nodded grimly.
He already tried to kill Sasuke once. As far as I'm concerned we're at war with Otogakure. I'm not going to leave a self-proclaimed enemy alive if I have the chance to kill him without raising anyone's suspicions.
Just as long as you know that you're a target now, Ino replied. They'll all be gunning for you.
Shikamaru knew Ino was right. That was exactly what he wanted. If he offered himself as a target, his friends were less likely to get hurt. Shikamaru was throwing down the gauntlet, for anyone who might be watching. If you want to get to Sasuke, or anyone else for that matter, you'll have to go through me first.
All of the eyes that had been fixed on Shikamaru were drawn back to Hayate, who was announcing the next match. "Kin Tsuchi and Hyuga Hinata."
Shikamaru watched with interest. This was essentially a rematch from the Forest of Death, if what Kiba had told them was true. It seemed that way, since Kin was glaring bloody murder at Hinata, and for once the girl wasn't shrinking back one bit.
"I'm going to carve you into little pieces," Kin snarled. The dark-haired girl could have been pretty, but the rage suffusing her face made her look more like a beast about to strike.
"You tried to kill Naruto-kun," Hinata answered. Her voice, for all that it barely reached the balcony above, didn't hold a hint of her usual stammer. "I won't forgive you!"
Hayate's hand rose. "Begin!"
Kin made the first move, reaching into her pouch and throwing a flurry of senbon at Hinata. She dodged easily, but Shikamaru was more interested in the small bells attached to the weapons. They made a strange, unearthly tinkling as they went soaring through the air. What was their purpose… of course. The senbon with bells would make the target grow accustomed to hearing a sound before an attack. Then senbon without bells would be much harder to dodge.
Shikamaru was able to figure out Kin's plan, but would Hinata? Shikamaru was about to shout out to her, but HInata already had her byakugan activated. It didn't matter, then. With her enhanced vision, Hinata wouldn't fall for such a cheap trick. She'd see the shadow senbon a mile away.
Sure enough, when Kin began mixing unmarked senbon in with the belled ones, Hinata didn't have any trouble at all. She pulled out two kunai and kept deflecting the missiles, moving with the fluid grace of the Gentle Fist taijutsu style.
The only time Hinata had the least bit of trouble was when Naruto yelled, "Go, Hinata!" at the top of his lungs. For a second, Hinata's concentration wavered and a senbon nicked her arm on the way past. Sakura smacked Naruto on the back of the head. "Quiet, you! You'll only distract her!"
"Why? I'm only cheering for her." Shikamaru had to shake his head at the blond's ignorance. Honestly, how could anybody be that blind?
But Naruto kept his mouth shut, and Hinata didn't have any trouble dodging after that. Hinata began edging forward, closing the distance between her and Kin little by little.
"You can't keep throwing senbon forever," Hinata said, her voice confident and sure. "You'll have to fight sometime, and when you do my jyuken will finish you."
Kin kept jumping away, keeping her distance while slowing Hinata's advance with more senbon. Then, for no apparent reason, she stopped. Hinata gathered herself to charge, when the sound of bells came, seemingly from nowhere. Immediately Hinata froze, as if somehow paralyzed by the sound. She fell to her knees.
"My bells aren't just distractions," Kin gloated. "They carry my genjutsu, which affects the messages your inner ear sends to your brain. Are you hallucinating yet? You will be soon. Let's see if you can dodge my attacks when you can't see which ones are real!"
Her senbon flew threw the air, and this time Hinata couldn't ward them away as easily. She dodged well, and guarded herself against all of the missiles, real or imaginary, aiming for vital spots, but after a second at least a dozen senbon were sticking out from her arms and legs.
The barrage paused momentarily, and Kin gave an evil laugh. "I'm going to enjoy this, and kill you nice and slow."
Hinata snarled, or at least made an angry noise, that for her, was the equivalent of a snarl. "It doesn't matter if I see twenty of you, I'll just kill you twenty times!"
Hinata charged at a spot fully five meters to Kin's left. The Konoha rookies groaned, seeing Hinata aimed in the wrong direction. Shikamaru wasn't sure, though…
Just as Hinata was roughly even with Kin, she flung out her right arm. A shuriken went flying directly toward the real Kin, who brought up the senbon she had been meaning to throw, and narrowly warded off Hinata's attack. Four more shuriken came flying at once, followed by Hinata, who had changed direction and launched herself perfectly accurately at Kin. Kin barely had time to block the flying weapons before Hinata was on her.
Hinata's first strike was turned away, and her second. Kin jumped over Hinata's quick leg sweep, but Hinata continued the motion and lunged forward. Her palm thrust hit Kin in the stomach, sending the Oto kunoichi flying back. She crumpled to the ground, hacking up blood. Hinata didn't let up a second, instead running behind Kin and catching the other girl a blow to the back of the head, with the handle of a kunai. Kin slumped down, unconscious.
"What just happened?" Naruto asked, confused. "I thought she was trapped by the genjutsu?"
"That's just what Hinata wanted Kin to think," Shikamaru answered. "Even though she was hallucinating, Hinata's byakugan can directly see chakra. She knew which one was the real Kin the whole time. But she pretended to fall for it, in order to get close enough to use her taijutsu."
Choji nodded in understanding. "So she let those senbon hit her on purpose? That's brave!"
"It was," Shikamaru agreed. "But if Kin had been analyzing the fight instead of bragging about her own powers, it would never have worked. It's obvious to anyone using their brain that a genjutsu that affects sound would never cancel out Hinata's sight-based ability."
Hinata had left her fallen opponent immediately, and was now back up on the balcony with her team. Naruto shouted loud congratulations, which made her blush a deep red. She seemed much more comfortable with Shino's quiet words of praise, although Kiba's somewhat sullen congratulations on getting to the next, even though he didn't, made her blush again in embarrassment.
Neji and Rock Lee were the next to fight. The two teammates jumped into the ring, exhibiting very different attitudes towards the approaching fight. Lee was literally quivering with excitement. His hands were clenched so tightly Shikamaru thought he could see where his fingernails were cutting into his palms. Neji, on the other hand, just looked bored.
"Yosh! This is it, Neji! The moment when I show everyone just what it means to be a genius of hard work. All the training, all the heartbreak, it all comes down to this one moment! I will defeat you!" The green-clad genin pointed dramatically at his rival. Neji just watched him calmly.
"Don't be angry when you lose. It is your fate."
Lee was seething so much that Hayate had to step forward and restrain him, lest the fight start right there. The special jonin stepped back, and started the fight. "Begin!"
Lee charged straight at Neji, moving so quickly Shikamaru thought for a second he was using the Body Flicker jutsu. But no, it was pure speed. Neji caught Lee's opening blow with crossed arms, and the force of it pushed him backward. Lee's follow-up kick came straight down, and would have crushed Neji's head if it had landed. Instead, the Hyuga genius managed to spin away, and Lee's kick cratered impressively in the Arena floor.
Neji paused for a second, surveying the crater as if pondering something. When he looked at Lee, his eyes narrowed. "Very well. I'll fight in earnest."
This time it was Neji who advanced, and without apparent effort put Lee on the defensive. Even with his immense speed and strength, Lee seemed at a disadvantage against Neji.
It took Shikamaru a second to figure it out. When he did, he was even more impressed with Lee than he had been before, even though he wasn't exactly winning. Lee's style of fighting seemed to be tailored for countering the Gentle Fist style. He made no blocks directly against Neji's fists, which would have allowed the Hyuga to shut down the tenketsu in his arms and legs. Instead, he used sweeping, circular motions that knocked Neji's arms out of alignment.
It took incredible timing, because in order to hit Neji's arms, Lee had to let the punch get close to his body. Neji's bursts of chakra kept dissipating mere millimeters away from Lee's torso. Lee must have spent countless hours developing his taijutsu, and it showed. He was going hand-to-hand with a Hyuga, which was supposed to be impossible. But to Shikamaru, and to the jonin-senseis, it was clear that Lee wouldn't be able to keep up his valiant efforts forever.
Finally, it happened. Lee was just a hair too slow, and one of Neji's blows hit his shoulder. The joint locked up, leaving Lee unable to lift his left arm above shoulder height. Lee swore and jumped back, giving himself more room.
"Lee," came a loud voice from the balcony. The rookies all winced and turned towards the source of the yell. It was Gai, Lee's jonin-sensei. "You can take off your weights. Show everyone the true power of your youth!"
Lee's grin scared Shikamaru just a little. "Really? Thank you, sensei!"
Lee clapped his hands together, and then his feet. His weights dropped to the ground, landing with a sound that echoed throughout the room like a thunderclap.
Shit, Shikamaru thought, how much do those weigh?
Without his weights, Lee's movements were barely visible. He moved almost like Asuma-sensei. But then, Neji's eyes were sharper than most, and when Lee struck, Neji was ready and waiting. This time, however, when Neji blocked, the force of Lee's attack knocked him off his feet. Lee tried to follow up with the attack, but Neji made a quick substitution jutsu with a kunai that he'd dropped on the ground.
When Lee turned for a second attack, it seemed as though Neji was moving faster as well. It's his eyes, Shikamaru realized. With his byakugan, Neji could track Lee's movements easily. The longer the fight went on, the more his body would adjust to the higher speed. In other words, if Lee couldn't finish the fight soon, he was done for.
Neji even began talking as he countered Lee's barrage of punches and kicks. "Do you see now? No matter how hard you try, your strength will never be a match for mine. Fate is immutable, and I am as far above you as the stars overhead."
"Yosh!" Lee cried out, punctuating his words with even fiercer blows. "I – will – not – fail!"
Neji lashed out with a low, sweeping kick, causing Lee to jump clear. When he came to a temporary stop, it was clear that Neji had been able to land a few telling blows. Lee's right arm hung completely limp, apparently immobilized by a series of well-placed jyuken strikes.
"I may only have one arm," Lee said, panting heavily, "but that doesn't mean I'll quit! Hard work alone is enough to overcome anything!"
The white-haired Hyuga stood up, temporarily abandoning his ready stance. "There are always limits to what we can accomplish. Our destiny is a part of us from birth, however much we may hate it. Struggling to change that is both foolish and futile."
"Hey, Neji!" The shout came from the balcony. Faces turned to see Naruto, who was pointing, red-faced, at the Hyuga genius. "Who are you to tell people what they can and can't do? Lee never gives up, it's his ninja way! Come on, Lee, show him what a real genius of hard work can do!"
The fires in Lee's eyes burned, if possible, even brighter. He clenched his fist passionately. "Yosh! Well said, Naruto! I will never accept defeat, as long as I have strength in my hands and heart." Lee addressed his sensei, who had tears streaming unabashedly down his face. "Gai-sensei! I am sorry to use this against my own teammate, but I can't back down. I am going to use… that technique."
Gai bowed his head, clearly worried. "If you feel you must. But remember that it's a killing move, Lee. Do you really want to kill your teammate?"
Lee shook his head furiously. "Of course not, Sensei!" Then Lee grinned, his white teeth sparkling ferociously. "But if he happens to get very, very bruised, that's all right by me."
Neji's eyes narrowed, listening to this conversation, and finally he couldn't wait in silence any longer. "Are you trying to scare me, Lee? I know you, you don't have anything capable of defeating me. You can't even use ninjutsu!"
Lee once again took up a ready stance, and faced his rival with determination. "I've been working on this for months, to prepare for the Chunin Exams. Prepare yourself, Neji!" Lee brought his hands together, and made a handsign completely unfamiliar to Shikamaru. "First Gate: Release!"
Immediately the atmosphere in the room changed, as a wave of chakra burst from the green-clad genin. Suddenly he didn't seem so ridiculous, as raw power emanated from him in a physical manifestation of light and wind. Lee's eyes and skin darkened, and the veins in his neck bulged. Neji was so astonished he faltered, and took a step back.
On the balcony, Asuma leaned over to tell his genin what was happening. "Lee just released the first of eight gates, which, when opened, increase the amount of chakra you can draw on at the cost of damaging your body."
Shikamaru nodded, not willing to tear his eyes away from the scene below. The First Gate, huh? What a powerful technique!
When Lee took off, he was even faster than before. Shikamaru was certain Lee was moving at the speed of a jonin, or just as close as made no difference. Neji tried to turn around, but Lee was already behind him, moving so fast that his afterimage tracked across the floor behind him.
"Konoha Whirlwind!" Lee's straight kick flung Neji into the air. Before the Hyuga genius had a chance to recover, Lee appeared underneath him. He unrolled his bandages, and with a powerful flick sent them around Neji multiple times, binding his arms and legs in place.
"Front Lotus!" Lee began spinning in the air, before beginning to fall to the ground.
"I've seen Gai use that technique," Asuma noted, amazed. "I can't believe Lee was able to master it!"
Choji pointed at the spinning pair, his voice squeaking a little bit with worry. "But they're going so fast. Won't Neji die?"
"I believe Lee is planning on stopping the move early, and then throwing Neji to the ground. He'll only be knocked unconscious."
Shikamaru shook his head. "He won't get the chance. Neji's not finished."
Sure enough, the bandages keeping Neji trapped burst in a rush of blue chakra, which didn't dissipate, but instead formed a dome-like shape. It was like a shield surrounding the two of them, rotating at the same speed as the two genin had been. The rotating dome of chakra ground into the arena floor, drilling deep and sending chunks of stone flying through the air.
When the dust cleared, Neji stood up and dusted himself off. Rock Lee didn't. He was unconscious, with his green spandex in tatters and massive bruises on his face. "That was a powerful technique, Lee," Neji said to his fallen teammate. "But rotating allowed me to release chakra from all my tenketsu points at once, and complete the Eight Trigrams: Heavenly Rotation technique. You should have listened to my advice, and accepted your fate."
The room was silent, as everyone surveyed the wreckage of the arena floor. That last battle had raised the stakes, everyone could feel it. There was power in this room, and only one of them would be left standing.
As Neji was about to walk away, Naruto's voice came loud and clear from the balcony. "Neji!" The Hyuga genius focused a questioning eye on the dead-last of the rookie class. "Neji," Naruto shouted again. "You're no genius, you're just a bully! If it's the last thing I do, I'll defeat you and prove that Lee was right. A genius of hard work is better than someone who never has to try. I'll make you admit that fate is what we make it!"
Neji regarded Naruto impassively for a second, then laughed wryly. "You're welcome to try." Then the Hyuga genius rejoined Tenten on the balcony. Gai was already on the arena floor, frantically directing the medics, all the while tears streaming down his face.
"I'm so proud of you, Lee!" he shouted at his unconscious student. "What a youthful fight!"
Finally, a stretcher bore away Konoha's younger Beautiful Green Beast, while the elder followed close behind, wringing his hands. Once they were out of the room, Hayate came forward, ready to call the next match.
A/N: This chapter was getting really long, so I decided to split it down the middle. The next chapter will finish up the preliminaries, and the one after that will cover the month before the Final Exam, in which the Hokage will be very busy preparing the village for war. Review, review, review!