Lee faced his opponent, Subaku no Gaara, with a calculating gaze. Gaara was just standing there. Hayate was about to start the match when Lee suddenly snapped his hand in front of his face, catching the cork from Gaara's gourd.

"You need not be so hasty"

"Start the match already"

Hayate called the match started and Lee wasted no time in attacking. He rained dozens of blows at Gaara, but all we blocked by his sand. Lee increased the speed and location of his strikes, but still was blocked. He leapt back to get some distance. Up with the other genin teams Sakura yelled encouragements at him. Gai wept manly tears of joy.

"How truly joyous and youthful! To think my adorable student Lee-kun could have found such a wonderful young flower to share his youth with!"

Sakura blushed and kept cheering for Lee. Ino rolled her eyes. Naruto joined Sakura in cheering for the formerly green-clad genin. Back in the fight Gaara had begun to try and smash Lee with is sand. He was getting irritated that the taijutsu specialist kept evading him. He moved his hands to the sides and slapped them together; two huge hands constructed of sand did the same. When they hit they dissipated, showering sand everywhere, but still they missed. Gaara glared at Lee, now perched on top of the statue hands at the front of the room. Gai decided it was time to intervene.

"Lee-kun! Take them off"

"But you said I could only do that if-"

"I'll allow it! Show them the power of youth!"

Lee happily pulled down his legwarmers revealing his training weights. He removed them and stood up.

"There! Now I can move much more freely!"

There was obvious skepticism in many of the assembled genin, until the dropped weights hit the floor. And shook the whole tower as they embedded into it. Gaara didn't flinch. That's when Lee disappeared from sight. The Suna nin's only indication of where his opponent was attacking was his sand as it raced and swirled around him, blocking Lee's powerful blows. Gaara tried to retaliate, but when he did the impossible happened. For the first time in his life Gaara was injured. It was a light scratch on the cheek, but an injury nonetheless. Although his team was shocked beyond words Gaara was angry. He lashed out with his sand, tearing great gashes in the floor and walls as Lee dodged. Lee countered with a straight punch to Gaara's face. As he flew back Lee reached him before his protective sand and delivered another punishing blow, sending Gaara sprawling. The sands swirled around him as he stood up. Lee was shocked as he looked at Gaara, parts of his face cracking and falling off.

"So. Your sand coats your body as well"

"Die"

Gaara sent a stream of sand at Lee, enveloping him. Gaara though he finally caught him but his sand exploded. Lee spoke up behind him.

"I see my exploding tags cannot damage your sand. I believe I will use this"

Lee pulled out his training weights and opened up the side. Reaching in Lee pulled out the solid metal bars, showing them to be attached in a chain like fashion. Tenten giggled.

"That's Lee's custom chain whip. It can smash through almost any barrier with weight alone"

"Sugoi. He's so strong…"

Sakura had stopped cheering and merely stared in awe. Lee began swinging the impossibly heavy chain whip. Gaara glared at him, contemplating how best to deal with his new weapon. He didn't have much time as Lee swung at him, easily plowing through his automatic defense and nearly striking him. Gaara realized he needed to consciously reinforce his sand to stop that swinging mass of metal.

"I believe the advantage is mine"

"I will end this"

Lee's weapon slashed through Gaara's defenses and plowed into the Suna nin's shoulder. But then Gaara turned into a suna bunshin that quickly spread out over the chain whip. Lee dropped is weapon before the sand could reach him. Lee quickly evaluated his options.

'This is no good. His defenses are too tight. My only option it hit him hard and fast; all in one shot. I am sorry Gai-sensei, I may have to use that move'

"Kaimon, KAI!"

Gaara thought Lee was fast before, but now it was just plain nuts. He was pounded left, right, up; he desperately pushed his chakra to his Suna no Yoroi, hoping to weather this storm of blows. Lee, satisfied that it wasn't a bunshin, used the true Omote Renge. He rammed into Gaara, kicking him repeatedly until he was out of the reach of his sand. Once the two were airborne Lee turned Gaara head down and started rotating. Their descent was watched by every eye in the room.

"Omote Renge!!"

The impact let out a visible shockwave. Lee rolled away from the impact crater breathing heavily.

"Urg…" 'My body is not in good condition after that. I only hope that Gaara is in a similar condition'

Much to everyone's surprise, Gaara was still standing. His Suna no Yoroi was profoundly damaged; in some places large chucks of it were missing. Gaara was also holding his side and breathing heavily. His sand slowly filled in the damaged areas.

'My sand was able to take the brunt of that attack, but it might have killed me even then. He is the first… he will truly let me feel alive!'

A dark chuckle escaped his lips as his sand finished repairing his armor. He raised his hand, calling forth a rush of sand at Lee. Unable to dodge he took it head on. Sakura nearly broke out in tears.

"But why?! Why didn't he dodge it?"

"It wasn't that he didn't more like he couldn't"

"What do you mean Gai-sensei?"

"The Hachimon are a kinjutsu for a reason. They allow you to do massive damage to your opponent, but take a severe strain on the body; most likely Lee-kun cannot move for awhile"

"But Gaara's already moving! Lee-kun! Move!!"

Lee struggled to his feet after Gaara's sand slamming into the wall again. He did not like his options but he had little choice now. He closed his eyes as the sands came closer. Gaara was confident this would finish it. He smiled.

"Seishun Fulu Pawah! Kyumon, Seimon, Shoumon, KAI!!"

From behind Gaara's sand Lee began pulsing out chakra in enormous quantities; turning his skin red and blasting the sand away. Gaara took an involuntary step back just before Lee made his move. There was a visible tear in the air behind Lee as he attacked. Every blow sent Gaara rocketing in a different direction, every time with Lee there waiting to deliver more punishment. Both fighters seemed to hover in the air as the exchange went on. Kakashi angrily turned to Gai.

"Gai, I've lost respect for you. I don't know what he might mean to you but to teach him-"

"You know nothing! That boy has a dream; one worth putting his life on the line for. I only helped him in achieving it. He's a hard worker unlike some I could name"

"… How many can he open?"

"Five"

The action came to a relative stall as Lee kicked Gaara towards the ceiling. Lee jumped, reaching the ceiling just before Gaara did.

"URA RENGE!!"

Lee sprang off the ceiling, colliding with Gaara with the force of a tsunami, propelling them both back to the floor. The landing left a massive crater as enormous reverberations rocked the tower. Lee tumbled to a stop just outside the crater. He barely had the energy to look at his handiwork. To his horror Gaara's gourd had turned to sand, cushioning his impact. The bruised and battered Suna nin weakly reached out, his sand almost reaching Lee. Lee threw an exploding tag into the sand tendril, blasting him out of harm's way and dispelling the appendage. He stood with great effort.

"P-pro-proctor… I .. I.. yield"

"N-no I wi-ill kill y-you f-first…"

Hayate called the match, but Gaara refused to stop. Gai repelled the sand before it could reach his pupil.

"Naze?"

"Because he is my student, and very precious to me"

Gaara's mind flooded him with images of his uncle, and his childhood. He clutched his head as if in pain. Satisfied he was not going to renew his attack Gai turned to Lee.

"I have failed, Gai-sensei"

"No Lee-kun. You have shown everyone just what a truly splendid shinobi you are"

Lee managed a weak smile but couldn't remain standing. He was caught by Sakura.

"S-Sakura-san?"

"You were awesome Lee-kun. But we have to get you to the medics now"

"…right"

Back in the upper level many of the genin and jonin were shell-shocked. Most didn't even register the fight between Dosu and Chouji. They were all brought back to reality when the Hokage announced the format of the finals.

gggggggggg

Sugoi – wow

Kai – open or dispel

Seishun fulu pawah – springtime of youth full power

Kinjutsu – forbidden technique

Naze – why

Suna bunshin – sand clone

Suna no Yoroi – armor of sand; Gaara uses his chakra to compact his sand around his body to reduce damage taken, not an automatic defense

Omote renge – front lotus; taijutsu technique usable only after opening the first of eight chakra gates, user knocks the target into the air then hold them as the spiral down to crash into the ground

Ura renge – reverse lotus; usable only after opening the third gate, user knocks opponent up then slams into them crashing opponent into ground

Hachimon – eight gates; gates that limit the body's usage of chakra, the first 2 are in the head the rest go down the spine and the eighth is in the heart. Forbidden due to damage gates cause user; the eighth gate kills the user shortly after opening

Kaimon – first gate

Kyumon – second gate

Seimon – third gate

Shoumon – fourth gate