A/N: Sorry for the short chapter, but it's nearly christmas and I'm a bit busy. So, I just wanted to give you this before I took a break for Christmas. Have a nice Christmas and a happy new year, and I'll be sure to get the next chapter up as soon as I can :D
Chapter Twelve
Chunin Challenge: Rock Lee vs. Sasuke
"Hey you. Over here." A boy called to Sasuke and Sakura. They turned to see the white-eyed team mate of Lee. "What're your names?" He asked with a sour tone. Sasuke looked at Sakura and she swept a hand in the brunette's direction, gesturing for Sasuke to go ahead.
"It's common curtsey to give your own name before asking someone else's." Sasuke told him, as if lecturing him on manners.
"Hey, you're a rookie, aren't you? How old are you anyway?" The boy continued as if Sasuke hadn't just insulted his manners.
"You shouldn't ask a lady to reveal her age. Shame on you." Sakura scolded, getting a frown out of the boy.
"I'm not obliged to answer." Sasuke stated, getting another frown.
"What's that?" The boy asked, getting angry from being smart-mouthed by both of the rookie Genin.
'Cute.' The girl thought with a small blush and a giggle. Sakura rolled her eyes and turned to get Naruto, but found him and the Lee-boy resting a hand against the wall in a depression that you would only find in an anime.
[--
"Hm. So that's the bunch of misfits that Kakashi and Gai have been going on about." One of the bullies stated from behind a door. "I guessed that they passed their first test; getting their applications through." He mused.
"Right." The one with spiked hair snorted as they turned from the Genin and preformed the tiger seal. A cloud of smoke later and the bullies were replaced with older versions of themselves in grey uniforms. "It looks like the exams are gonna be fun this year." He stated, amused.
"Yeah, for us, but maybe not for them." The other joked.
[--
"Well, do you sense her?" One boy asked his two comrades.
"Yes! She's here!" Another cheered.
"Finally." The last one sighed in relief.
"We found you." The three muttered in union.
[--
"Now come on, I'm meeting Hinata-chan upstairs!" She added, not seeing the brunette stiffen at the name 'Hinata'. He watched as the pinkette practically dragged her team mates away, his eyes lingering on her and the boy in the blue shirt.
"Hey, quit pulling me, Sakura!" Sasuke complained.
"Deal with it, Sasuke. Naruto's not complaining." She scoffed, rolling her eyes.
'Sasuke…of the Uchiha clan…and Sakura…the one who turned up one day without a word of where she came from.' The brunette noted, only looking away from them when they turned a corner. Lee then looked around at him, seeing him watching were team seven had left.
"They're pretty bold. You gonna challenge them?" The girl asked her team mate, smiling. 'That girl seemed strong. I might just find a decent kunoichi battle with her around.' She noticed to herself.
"Hm." The brunette grunted in reply to the girl, who rolled her eyes at his typical behaviour. She and the boy walked ahead, leaving Lee behind them as he too looked at where Sakura, Naruto and Sasuke had gone.
"Lee, what are you waiting for? We're supposed to check in." The girl stated, turning to face the green-clad boy as she and the brunette stopped in their tracks. She smiled at him.
"I will catch up with you two in a moment. You do not need to wait for me, I just need to check something." He stated, turning and walking in the opposite direction to where his team were headed.
"What's up with Lee?" The girl asked, looking back at her other team mate in question. He closed his eyes and sighed.
"I have no idea." He told her as he walked on towards the check in room where the others had gone. She shrugged and hurried after him, hoping that Lee wouldn't get in too much trouble.
[--
Team seven walked through a large training room, towards room 301, where they were told to check in five days ago. Sakura and Naruto were fighting, as usual, and Sasuke was huffing about not getting any attention, as usual.
"Hey you! The boy with the attitude!" A well-spoken voice called out from the balcony above them. "Hold on!" He called again, causing team seven to pull to a halt and turn around, looking for the one who spoke. Surprise, surprise! It was Lee.
"What do you want?" Sasuke grunted. It was pretty obvious that Lee was talking to him because Sakura isn't a boy and Naruto's attitude is a lot less noticeable than his own.
"I want to fight you. Right here and right now." Lee stated, not blinking or planning to take back his challenge.
"You wanna fight me here and now, huh?" Sasuke mused, not at all bothered by the statement.
"Yes." Lee replied, jumping over the balcony and landing on his knees and hand in front of the ninja. He straightened up and pointed his thumb at himself. "My name is Rock Lee. You said it was common courtesy for a challenger to give his own name first, right?" He remembered, pointing at Sasuke. "Uchiha Sasuke."
"Hn. So you know me." He stated. Lee got into a fighting stance than none of the ninja, not even Sakura, recognised.
"I challenge you." Lee claimed. "Everyone is always talking about the Uchiha clan, and how great they are. I want to see if it is true. I figured that you would be a good test for me." He informed them surely. "And also…" Lee trailed off, his gaze turning to Sakura and a new blush staining his cheeks.
"Uhhhhhh." Sakura said, her mouth open and a confused look in her eye.
"Oh, Sakura!" Lee began confidently. "…I love you!" He confessed. Sakura was taken aback with a yell of protest.
"Wha-! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! Those eyebrows! They should be illegal! And those clothes! No! No! No! Why does it have to be a freak who loves me? Life is cruel!" She yelled, her eyes switching between yellow—fear—and dark blue—depression. She shivered as if she were cold and clung onto Naruto's arm, as if he would save her.
"You are an angel, sent from heaven." Lee claimed. He winked and a floating red heart appeared. The boy blew it to her, like he was blowing a kiss.
"Ahhhhhhhhh!" Sakura's eyes were now remaining yellow as she yelled out in fear and dodged it. The heart hit the stone pillar behind her and she sighed in relief.
"That was a good move, but let me see you dodge this!" He stated, blowing at least twenty more.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" She screamed as she swung around and began to dodge them all, but there were more to come and…wait, they're hearts!
'Why the heck are we dodging these like kunai?!' Inner Sakura screeched. 'You are overreacting, Fear-chan!' She yelled at the yellow-eyed emotion who had taken over outer-Sakura's body.
'They're from LEE!' She screamed.
'Oh yeah…DODGE FOR YOUR LIFE!' Inner cheered, hiding behind Desire.
It looked almost as if she were dancing as she dodged every heart, careful to not let one even graze her jumper. One by one, the hearts hit the stone pillar behind her and she moved to dodge another. The last one was a close call, but she managed to get away from it by leaping up, twisting in mid air to avoid three mini-hearts that he had thrown at the last minuet, and she landed behind Naruto.
"Save me!" Fear yelled. Naruto nodded numbly, but she soon leapt out from behind his protective form, her eyes turning red.
"HEY! Keep your creepy little valentines to yourself! I was dodging for my life there!" Rage screamed at him as Sakura fought to take control. When she did and her eyes were back to the normal shade of green she called her own, she sighed and leant her back against Naruto's shoulder from the tiring process of fighting her emotions…literally.
"You do not have to be so negative, Sakura." Lee stated in his depressed mode, not taking any notice of how her eyes changed colour. One person, who had conveniently placed themselves in she shadows, noticed the change all too well.
'Gah! He wants to fight Sasuke?!' Naruto yelled mentally when Sakura stopped leaning on him. 'It's always Sasuke! I'm just as good as he is. No, I'm better than that teme!'
"You've heard of the Uchiha clan, and yet you're challenging me?" Sasuke asked Lee, ignoring the freaky heart things and Sakura's temporary loss of control.
"Indeed." Lee nodded.
"You must be even more psycho than you look…if that's possible. You wanna know more about my clan? Then I'll teach you." He promised darkly. "The hard way." He concluded. Lee grinned and sunk back into his odd fighting stance.
"Bring it on." Lee stated confidently. 'Excellent. A match up against the number one male rookie. I will draw him out and get him to reveal his technique, and I will prove myself to you, Gai-sensei!'
"Hold it!" Naruto yelled out to the others in the room, not liking the current circumstances one little bit. It was always about Sasuke and, even though he didn't hold it against her, Sakura. At least she didn't rub it in his face that she was more popular, like the Uchiha did.
"What is it?" Lee asked impatiently. Naruto glared at the green-boy, not letting his eyes leave him in all his bushy-eyebrow glory. The blonde, trying to look 'cool', pursed his lips.
"I get him first, teme. This weirdo is mine." Naruto said to Sasuke, not looking at the cockatoo-haired boy as he said it.
"Go for it." Sasuke said as Naruto got ready to charge.
"Watch, Sakura-chan, it'll take me two minuets to have this guy begging for mercy." Naruto stated with all the confidence in the world.
"No, thank you." Lee said to him. "Right now, the only one I want to fight is Uchiha." He claimed. Sakura noticed the look in Naruto's eyes and quickly walked to him, whispering something in his ear. Naruto pouted, but nodded none-the-less.
"Yeah? Well, I've got news for you, fuzzy-brows." He thought over what Sakura said and decided to meet her half-way. Naruto, despite what she had said, ran at the green-boy. "Sasuke can't compare to me, Dattebayo!"
With his usual battle-cry, Naruto leapt up to punch Lee right in the cheek, but the latter didn't move out of his stance. Pulling back his fist, Naruto growled and hesitated as he remembered what Sakura had whispered to him.
[--
"Don't let him see your true strength. Don't fight." Sakura warned him, obviously sensing something about the boy that neither Naruto nor Sasuke could sense. Naruto pouted, but nodded none-the-less.
[--
'Fine…just this once.' Naruto thought as he stopped his fist and slowed his attack. This was all it took and Lee found a flaw in his punch. The green-nin moved his hand and poked Naruto's wrist, sending the boy down. But Naruto wasn't the type to give up. He put both hands on the ground and aimed a slow kick at Lee, only to have him dodge and sink to the floor.
"Konoha Reppu!" He yelled, kicking Naruto's arms and sending the boy across the floor, spinning like a kicked tortoise on his back. Naruto hit the wall a few metres from Lee and wished he didn't do as Sakura asked. He sunk to the floor, dizzy.
'Whoa. He's better than he looks, but thank you for doing as I asked, Naruto. Even if you did fight him when I said not to, you still held back enough for him to think you're weaker than you truly are.' Sakura thought, looking at the fallen blonde. Lee resumed the original fighting stance for the third time and looked at Sasuke.
"Just learn to accept it. You have no chance against me. Your skills are inferior." Lee stated calmly. "You see, Sasuke, out of all the top Konoha Genin, I am the best." He boasted. "Fight me and I will prove it to you."
Sasuke looked at Lee, narrowing his eyes. He recalled the boy's impressive move from earlier as well, when they fist saw him to be more than some weak boy who got knocked around by other people.
[--
Noticing the attacks, the guy in green spandex rose from the ground and with speed that greatly surpassed Sakura's own, he grabbed the offending two legs with his bare hands. Sneering, Sasuke looked at the captured leg that was still in the grasp of the spandex-clad boy.
The boy released the legs and the bully flipped back to his friend. Scoffing at the boy who stopped him, him and his partner left the room on their own and walked through another door. Sasuke put his foot down and stared at the strange boy's hand, which had stopped his most powerful kick before he could even register that he had been halted in his attack.
'He stopped my kick.' Sasuke acknowledged. 'That's some chakra he has in his arm.'
[--
Sasuke looked up and smirked, capturing the attention of Sakura, who was previously wondering whether she should go and help Naruto. She looked at him in question and he turned his head slightly to look at her, still smirking.
"You mind if I take him?" Sasuke asked. Sakura shrugged, running towards Lee. He got ready to dodge, block or counter any and all attacks he could think of, only to have her pink hair blow beside him and a strong scent of snow to enter his nose as she ran passed him.
"Be my guest." Sakura replied to Sasuke and she helped Naruto sit up properly and check to see if he was okay.
"Okay then. This should be fun. Let's do it." He agreed. Sakura rolled her eyes at the acceptance.
"Stupid Uchiha pride." She muttered, getting a chuckle out of the blonde next to her.
"Nah, I think it's just teme." He replied, half-joking and half-serious. The pinkette rolled her eyes again and looked up at the clock, her eyes widening when she saw that they only had a short amount of time to get registered.
"There's no time, Sasuke." She told him, frowning at the clock. "We've got to register by three o'clock. That's less than half and hour."
"Relax." He told her. "This'll all be over in…five seconds." Sasuke stated, running forwards towards Lee.
'Here he comes.' Lee noticed, getting tensed and ready for fighting against the Uchiha. 'Please forgive me, Gai-sensei. I may have to break the rules and use that jutsu.' He stated mentally as Sasuke tried to punch him, but he seemingly vanished.
Sasuke straightened up and everything happened in less than a few seconds. Lee was above him, Sasuke was bewildered, the person in the shadows was yawning now that he couldn't see Sakura and Sakura and Naruto were watching the fight commence.
"Konoha senpu!" Lee yelled. He swept a high kick at Sasuke, who barely dodged, then lowered to the ground and aimed another kick.
'I'm not moving fast enough. I've got to block.' Sasuke thought with mild panic. He moved his arms up to block the attack. Lee noticed his plan and lifted his free hand to perform the tiger seal.'What?' Sasuke wondered, not even dropping his guard for an instant. That was proven to be useless, as he still gained a foot in his face.
The Uchiha was hit right across the room and skidded to a halt on his side far from Lee and his kicks of doom. His body shook once and Lee stood straight, the person in the shadow leaning forwards slightly to get a better look at the battle. His forest green eyes glinted.
"What's going on?" Sasuke asked himself as he struggled to get up again after the fall.
'He had his guard up…but Lee went right threw it! I'll have to keep an eye on this one.' Sakura thought, her eyes narrowing in Lee's direction.
'He's using some technique to get to me…but what is it?' Sasuke wondered, getting up on his knees and elbows. 'A ninjutsu, perhaps? Or is it a genjutsu?' He looked at Lee with a quick turn of his head, trying to guess the fighting stance his opponent was in.
'As expected. He is coming back for more.' Lee noted, holding strong in his stance.
'Hmm…okay, this is good. I have him right where I want him. This is my chance and I'm not going to waste it.' Sasuke nodded mentally. "I've been waiting to try this out." He smirked, his eyes shadowed as he straightened up and stood in front of Lee.
'He's using…no way!' Sakura gasped. Sasuke lifted his head, his smirk still in place. His eyes were red, just as on the bridge.'Sharingan! He can use the Sharingan!' She recognised proudly.
'Sothat is the Sharingan.' Lee frowned.
'Wait…who's that?!' Sakura wondered, looking above her again. There was a shift in the shadows in one corner, but nothing following that. She narrowed her eyes and glared at the shadow, recognising the chakra she just felt. It wasn't, however, anything like the chakra of the one who was supposed to be checking in on her soon.
'Damn it! She saw me…just like my Sakura-chan.' The one from the shadows smiled under his conical straw hat. White bangs slipped in front of his eyes, but he blew them away once he met up with his team, consisting of two boys who also wore conical straw hats.
"Did you find anything?" One of them asked. the boy with the white bangs nodded.
"I sawher." He grinned as the other two copied his unseen expression.
[--
'Ninjutsu or Genjutsu…what ever magic he's using…I'll see it now!' Sasuke thought as he concentrated his eyes on Lee. He picked up his feet and moved forwards with new found speed. Sakura's head snapped back from the shadows to watch Sasuke and Lee's fight with Naruto.
'Sasuke's getting stronger every day…' She realised with a frown as Sasuke neared Lee. 'But Naruto…ah-ha! I know just what to do to help Naruto!' The girl nodded, looking at Sasuke again in enough time to see Lee kick him on the bottom of his chin and send him flying into the air.
'Gah! He got around my guard again. But how? What kind of jutsu is that, anyway?' Sasuke wondered as he continued through the air.
"You see, my technique is not ninjutsu or genjutsu." Lee told them as he ran to where Sasuke would land. The latter landed on his knees on the ground. Using his left hand for balance, and Lee aimed another attack at him. he kicked Sasuke in the gut, and Sasuke aimed a punch at him, but Lee dodged too soon.
"Sasuke!" Naruto, who just woke up from that one attack Lee gave him, called out to his team mate, who was still losing his battle. Sasuke blocked Lee's fist, only to get a green-covered elbow in his stomach before he could dodge that. Sasuke backed off, clutching his stomach tightly in pain.
"You get it now?" Lee asked seriously. "I am using taijutsu. That means no tricks, Sasuke." He stated as he leapt up again, but he was still too fast for anyone to track with their eyes alone. Sasuke grunted and looked around a second after Lee appeared behind him. "It is just straight martial arts, nothing more." He informed them.
'Ugh…taijutsu. No wonder I couldn't tell…I hate taijutsu. And I completely suck at it.' Sakura pouted, looked at Lee with a new sense of envy as the latter feeling sank into her eyes, making them a darker green and she glared.
"Why you-!?" Sasuke grunted as he spun around and aimed a fist at Lee, who was quick to move and dodge it. Still in front of him, Lee landed a few feet from where he once stood.
"I know your technique. Forget it. It will not work. Not on me." Lee stated confidently. "I know that you can see through your opponent's jutsu and it is all because that Sharingan gives you the ability to read his chakra and decipher his hand signs and movements. You can guess what he's going to do almost before he knows himself."
'So…he knows about the Sharingan.' Sakura thought suspiciously.
"The problem is; taijutsu is a little bit different." Lee continued.
"Right…so what's your point?" Sasuke asked, planning his next attack while still trying to guess Lee's move too.
"I do not try to hide or disguise my moves. I do not have to. Even if youcan read them, you still cannot stop them. You are too slow." Lee told Sasuke bluntly. "Your eyes may be fast enough to keep up with me, but if your body is too slow then what good does it do you?" He asked the Uchiha rhetorically.
"Grrrrrah!" Sasuke growled, not liking to be put down by the weirdo who tried to flirt with his team mate.
"You know what? Here is what I believe." The green-boy said. "There are two different kinds of ninja. Those like you who are born with talent and do not have to work at it." He stated. Sasuke had heard enough and charged at Lee. "And those like me, the ones who have to train every day of our lives!" He ended angrily.
"Shut up!" Sasuke roared, throwing a punch at Lee. The boy dodged and continued to mock Sasuke.
"The fact…of the matter is; your Sharingan…is the worst match…for my extreme taijutsu." He scowled as he continued to dodge Sasuke's petty blows. "Here is what I mean!" Lee stated, readying an attack.
'I have to stop him!' Sasuke panicked, putting his arms up in defence. It was no use and Lee kicked his chin, sending him up into the air just like before. This time, however, he did not wait for Sasuke to land. Instead, Lee jumped up quickly and appeared under Sasuke, who was still flying in the air with his back to the ground.
"Kage Buyo." Sasuke recognised immediately, acting surprisingly calm about his vulnerable position.
"Good eye." Lee complimented. "Now I will prove my point." The boy flexed his hands and his bandages came undone. "That hard work beats out natural talent." He stated. Sasuke's eyes widened.
'What's his next move?' The Uchiha enquired of his own, unknowing mind as he calculated the possibilities.
"You're finished!" Lee threatened. His round eyes widened when a red and orange wind-wheel fly by him fast and pinned the unravelled end of his bandage to the wall above Naruto and Sakura.
'What the-?!' Sakura thought in alarm as she looked up at the brightly coloured 'weapon'. She then raised an eyebrow at it.'A…toy?'
"This is bad." Lee frowned, looking in the direction it came from.
"Alright! That's enough, Lee." The one who had thrown it yelled. Everyone looked in the direction of the voice to see a…turtle? Yes, it was a turtle. A red one with yellow swirls and a Konoha Hatei-ate around his neck to be precise.
Lee, heeding the word of the turtle, flipped in the air and landed on his knees in front of the creature as Sasuke continued to fall in the air from the attack. The Uchiha boy looked as far as he could, but he couldn't see who was speaking to Lee because of his position in the air.
'What…what now?' Sasuke asked himself. Sakura looked to her falling team mate and made a clone, since Naruto was still in her arms and she couldn't put him down quickly enough without hurting him. the clone ran in Sasuke's direction and caught him, lessening the bulk of the fall by letting Sasuke land on top of her. Once he was safely on the ground, the clone disappeared and Sasuke fell the small distance that was between her body and the floor, grunting as he did so.
'He totally beat Sasuke.' Naruto thought as he looked at Lee.'Something happened while I was knocked out. What'd he do?!' Naruto wondered desperately, still staring at lee in wonderment.
"Sasuke, are you okay?" Sakura called over to him, still holding Naruto in her arms. The blonde was in front of her, his lower back on her thighs, the rest of his back on her stomach and his head near her shoulder as her arms wrapped around his chest. Naruto blushed deeply as Sasuke narrowed his eyes as the blonde.
'Sasuke looks really shaken up…he didn't even take the fall right.' Naruto noticed. 'But, more importantly, SAKURA-CHAN IS ALMOST HUGGING ME!' He cheered with a grin.
"You were watching us the whole time?" Lee asked in almost fear as he remained respectfully on his knees before the turtle.
"Of course." The red reptile replied. "That last technique is forbidden, and you know that."
'He's talking…to a turtle.' Naruto stated, his left eye twitching a little. 'And it's…taking back…'
"I am sorry…I did not mean to." Lee told the red creature as Naruto looked even more freaked out.
'Now he's…apologising…to a turtle.' Naruto raised his eyebrow before coming to a conclusion. 'Could that be…his sensei?' He wondered, his mouth forming an '0' as he nodded at his own genius. Lee looked up to the turtle's eye, only to see it narrow. He freaked and stood up, stuttering excuses.
"Gah! I was not planning to use a forbidden jutsu…it is just…I-I was in the middle of a fight and—I mean…you understand!" Lee carried on and on, trying to find a good excuse.
"I'm right! It really is his sensei!" Naruto exclaimed, grinning. Sakura looked down at him with her eyebrow raised. She cleared her throat. "I mean…umm…err…I'm unconscious?" He squeaked.
"Yeah…and I'm in love with Sasuke." She replied sarcastically, rolling her eyes and getting up, letting Naruto's head hit the floor. Unfortunately, Naruto didn't quiet get the sarcasm.
'Oh no! Sakura-chan loves teme?!' He panicked. Then, seeing her half-lidded and un-amused eyes, he got that she was kidding. Naruto sighed in relief.
"Wait; didn't you say something, Naruto?" Sakura asked, frowning slightly as she walked over to Sasuke to see if he was okay. Naruto nodded and followed her.
"Well, that weird thing he's talking to is a turtle, right?" Naruto asked, pointing to the red and yellow creature.
"No duh." Sakura replied, crossing her arms over her chest and blowing her bangs out of her eyes. As she did so, her eyes latched onto the shadow again. 'Who was that earlier?' She wondered, narrowing her eyes again.
"Okay, so maybe that means that turtles can be sensei too!" Naruto stated in awe of his own intelligence.
"How the heck should I know?" She asked, wrinkling her nose in a cute way and pouting without really meaning to.
"You're a disgrace." The turtle stated. Lee closed his eyes and lowered his head in shame. "You think you'll get away with a bunch of lame excused like that? A shinobi never reveals his techniques, unless it's absolutely necessary. It's such a basic rule; you should know it by now!"
"Forgive me, sir." Lee said in a disappointed tone. Sasuke wiped a speck of blood from the corner of his mouth as he looked over at Lee.
'How could I lose to that freak?' He asked, a light pink dusting his cheeks when he looked over at Sakura. 'And in front of Sakura too! Now she'll think that I'm some weakling!' The Uchiha growled, looking back at the one who shamed him.
"Are you prepared to take the punishment for your actions?" The turtle asked Lee, who was still looking down in shame.
"I…Yes, sir." He sighed, seeing no point in more excuses.
"Alright then, please come out…Gai-sensei!" The reptile introduced as a cloud of smoke appeared on his back. When the smoke cleared, there looked like an older version of Lee with less-freaky eyes, bigger eyebrows, taller and a Jounin vest. He had his left hand in front of his face, making a circle with his fingers around his eye, and his right hand above his head.
"Hey! What's shaking?" He asked joyfully. "How you doing everybody? Life treating you good?" The man continued.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" The Genin of team seven yelled together as Sakura's eyes turned yellow and they clung together in fear. Naruto was hugging around Sakura's waist, Sasuke clutching her arm and Sakura burying her head in Naruto's jacket.
"He's go the biggest eyebrows yet! They're almost alive!" Naruto yelled out as Sakura's eyes became their natural green hue again. Only when they realised their position did they let go of each other—not forgetting the blush, even on Sakura—and the three looked at anything but their team mates.
"Hi, lady." He said in a 'seducing' tone as he pointed his thumb at himself, grinned and added a tooth 'ping' to go with it.
"Too weird." Sakura stated with a wrinkled nose as her left eye twitched.
"Sothat's where Lee gets it from." Naruto stated, not noticing the growing anger mark on Lee's head. "Same soup-bowl-haircut and even bushier eyebrows! Dattebayo!"
"Hey! Do not insult Gai-sensei!" Lee yelled, turning to face Naruto. "He is one of the greatest men in the entire world!"
"Well, excuse me for not noticing his greatness! I was too busy watching him crawl out from under a turtle!" Naruto screamed back with just as much annoyance in his voice.
"He did not crawl out-!" Lee began, but Gai interrupted him.
"Give it a rest, Lee." Gai warned, waving his had in dismissal.
"Ah…yes, sir." He said in surrender, turning to face his sensei again.
"Now for your punishment. Ahhhhhhhhh!" He cried, rolling back his fist and punching Lee across the floor. "You little fool!" Gai yelled as he stuck Lee on the cheek.
Lee landed and Gai walked to him. The bandage around Lee's hand was still attached to the wall via a wind-wheel, so he couldn't fall beyond the boundaries of the length of bandage. Gai, once he was close to Lee, knelt down next to his student. Lee pushed himself up on his knees, feeling pain from the hit.
"I'm sorry, Lee. But…it's for your own good." Gai said with a crack in his voice, indicating forced down sobbing.
"Gai-….sensei." Lee acknowledged. The background became a sunset—don't ask how, because I have no idea—and both had tears running down their faces to add to the drama.
"Lee…" Gai sobbed.
"Oh, sensei…I am…so sorry!" Lee cried.
"Alright, it's over. You don't need to say any more." Gai assured his look-alike student. Lee leapt forwards and hugged his sensei, who returned the embrace.
"Sensei!" Lee sobbed as his sensei cried with him. A wave crashed onto the rocks by the sunset, creating the perfect father-son moment. Or, a very creepy clone-love moment, which is how team seven saw it.
"Guh!" Naruto grunted as he tried not to vomit.
"Uhhhhhh." Sakura moaned, holding her stomach to keep in her breakfast.
'How can I lose to someone that lame?!' Sasuke fumed, also trying to keep down his food.
"It's okay…I understand." Gai promised as the sunset vanished and they were back in the room. The turtle was also holding tears on his face in just as much sorrow as Gai and Lee.
"I-I'm s-sorry, sensei." Lee stuttered through his tears.
"Well, actually it's kinda sweet, the way they're all huggy and stuff." The blonde of team seven acknowledged, smiling at Sakura while pointing to Lee and Gai.
"Youhave to be kidding! They're both freaks!" Sakura shuddered.
"But it's good to hug your friends or team mates or boys with spiky blonde hair and blue eyes and an orange jumper." Naruto grinned innocently, hinting his goal.
"Fine, one hug." Sakura said with a sigh. Naruto whelped with joy and crushed her in his arms in a very tight hug, knowing that he might now get another one. "Na…Naruto! I-I ca-can't breath!" She gasped.
"Oops…sorry." Naruto apologised, putting her down and rubbing the back of his head with a blush.
"Don't worry Lee." Gai said as he released Lee from his hug. "You're just caught in the in between. You're too old to be called a boy…but still too young to be called a man."
"You are so good to me," Lee stated with tears still on his face. "Gai-sensei."
"Now, take off." Gai said, pointing away from him. "I want you to give me one hundred laps around the practice field. Show me what you got!"
"Yes sir! No problem." Lee assured.
"Run into the setting sun." Gai continued as the sunset mysteriously reappeared. "Run and suffer…but don't mess up your hair." He added quietly as an afterthought. Gai smiled with a tooth ping as Lee wiped his face from the tears and did the same. "Let's go!"
"Right!" Lee cheered.
"Hey, wait a minuet! We're not finished here!" Naruto yelled. "You guys can't just take off like that!"
"And what about the Chunin exams?" Sakura added. "There's no time for fooling around." She told them seriously.
"Uh…Oh right! I forgot about that." Gai said nervously. He turned to his student and cleared his throat. "Lee, you now only disobeyed the rule against fighting, but you disrupted the Chunin exams. I think that warrants a slightly more severe punishment, don't you?"
"Yes, sir!" Lee agreed with a salute.
"Let's say five hundred laps! How does that sound?" Gai asked, putting on hand on his hip and the other in the air.
"Outstanding, sir." Lee nodded.
"They're insane." Sakura stated bluntly.
"Probably. But never mind them, Sakura-chan, what's the deal with that turtle anyway?" The blonde asked, pointing to the aforementioned creature.
'This must be Kakashi's squad.' Gai noticed, looking up at the pinkette, who was speaking with the blonde, and the freaked-out brooder. 'I'll check them out.' He nodded. Team seven noticed him looking at them and Sakura twitched as gritted his teeth and let his eye twitch.
"Ah! He's looking at us!" Naruto yelled, clinging onto Sakura's arm.
"Hey! One hug only, brat!" Sakura screamed at him, pushing him off.
"Brat?" Naruto echoed.
"You are younger then me." She stated.
"Only by a few moths, though!" The blonde defended himself. Sakura was going to reply, but went back to twitching when Gai didn't look away from the three of them.
"Tell me. How is Kakashi-sensei?" Gai asked them.
"Do you know him?" Sasuke asked, recovering from his freaking-out-ness.
"Do I know Kakashi?" Gai mused. "Well, people say…he and I are arch rivals for all eternity." He stated.
"No way!" Naruto and Sakura yelled at the same time. Lee's eye twitched.
"How dare you!" He called out to them. "If Gai-sensei says that it is true, then-!"
"Let is slide, Lee." Gai waved off. "A ninja's actions always speak louder than words." He said with a tooth ping. Sasuke's eyes narrowed as he looked at the turtle, Lee and Gai. He blinked once and Gai was gone, causing him to gasp.
'Where-?' He began, but was cut off when Gai spoke from behind him and his team.
"I reckon its fifty wins and forty nine losses, which his one better than his, by the way." Gai nodded to himself. The team gasped and spun around to face the man who appeared behind them in a matter of milliseconds.
"What? You're kidding!" Naruto gushed in disbelief. "How'd he beat Kakashi?" He asked. Gai grinned and pointed his thumb at himself again.
"The fact is, I'm stronger than Kakashi." Gai grinned. "And faster." He added at the last minuet with a tooth ping that the team was now beginning to recognise him by.
'His speed is incredible.' Sasuke noted as he looked at Gai. 'He's defiantly faster than Kakashi. Is he even human?'
"You see? Gai-sensei is the best there is!" Lee stated proudly.
"I'm sorry for the trouble Lee caused you." Gai apologised, mainly looking at the beat-up Sasuke. "Please, look into my eyes and accept my sincere apology. Also notice my handsome manly features." He grinned.
'He claims he's better than Kakashi.' Sasuke ticked off in his mind. 'Could that be true? Ahh! I don't think he's making this up.'
"Lee, you should accompany these fine young ninja to the classroom, right now." Gai ordered, throwing a kunai at the wind-wheel that had pinned Lee to the wall. It knocked the wheel off the wall and released Lee's bandage. Naruto looked over to Lee and saw his unwrapped hand in shock. It was covered in scars, cuts and bruises.
'Huh? His hands…' Naruto thought as Lee wrapped his bandages back into their proper place.
"Remember to give it your best! Lee, farewell." Gai bid as he saluted his pupil.
"Yes, sir!" Lee promised. Gai grinned again and disappeared in a puff of smoke, just like Kakashi would. The turtle disappeared in the same way, leaving Lee and team seven alone.
"Hey, Sasuke." Lee called out, getting his attention. "Actually, I have not been totally honest with you." He admitted. "I said I wanted to test my skills and that it true enough, but you are not really the one I wanted to test them against." The boy confessed.
"Hm?" Sakura hummed, her attention caught.
"I lied to you when we were fighting before. I told you that I am the best Genin here, but there is another top ninja." Lee stated. "Someone on my own squad." He said as an image of the boy with long hair flashed through everyone's mind. "I came here to defeat him. You were just practice. Now you are a target. I will crush you."
"Grrrrr." Sasuke growled, clenching his fists.
"There you have it. Consider yourself warned." Lee scowled, running off to find his team. Sasuke turned away from where Lee ran to in anger as Sakura looked at him, but her and Naruto ready to make fun of the defeated Uchiha with too much pride.
"He really kicked your butt, back there." Sakura scoffed. "Relax…This'll all be over in…five seconds." She mocked, doing a surprisingly perfect impression of Sasuke when she copied his previous words.
"Whoa! That was cool, Sakura-chan! Do me next!" Naruto called, grinning from ear to ear. Sakura smirked.
"I like ramen, Dattebayo!" She copied, also with a perfect copy of Naruto's voice.
"Is that part of your bloodline?" Naruto asked in shock.
"No, just a talent." Sakura laughed. "But really, Sasuke, how many bruises did he give you, anyway?" She asked in mock concern.
"Maha. Well, would you look at that." Naruto said, joining in on the teasing. "Looks like the Uchihas aren't as great as everybody thinks they are." He snorted.
"Argh! Just shut up!" He warned them. "Next time, I'll drive him to his knees." The boy promised.
"Yeah right." Naruto scoffed. "Who just got his butt kicked?" The boy continued.
"Shut up, dobe." Sasuke warned.
"You both saw that guy's hands, didn't you?" He asked, getting their attention on him. "I bet bushy-brow has been training until he drops, day in and day out. He trains harder than you, teme…that's all I'm saying."
"Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr." Sasuke growled quietly. "Fine then. This is just starting to get interesting. The Chunin exams." He muttered. "I'll beat everyone who enters three times over."
"You know, cockiness will only get you hurt, Sasuke." Sakura warned with genuine concern. "Don't make the same mistake as you did with Lee. You could get seriously hurt or-" Sakura's concern was cut short when she fell back with a sharp pain in her cheek from where Sasuke punched her.
"I said SHUT UP!" Sasuke roared, losing his self-control to anger. Sakura glared at him and spit a small amount of blood on the floor from where her cheek was cut when his fist punched it unto her teeth, thus cutting it.
"Control your anger, Sasuke." Sakura warned him, her hands getting coated with ice. "You never know when your punch might return twice as hard." She threatened, letting the ice melt. The tension this threat caused between the two team mates lingered on though, and it was then too think to be cut by anything short of a katana.
"Hey, calm down, guys." Naruto said, trying to loosen up the suffocating air around the two. Sakura glared at him again and picked herself up off the floor, walking in the direction the three where heading before Lee turned up in the first place.
"Pff, I'm leaving." She hissed.
"Sakura-chan!" Naruto called. Sakura didn't stop, but Naruto turned and glared at Sasuke. "She was worried about you. Sakura-chan was just warning you because she didn't want you to get hurt!" He yelled at the Uchiha boy, who just looked away and glared at the floor. "Teme." The blonde growled, running after the pinkette of his team.
"Kuso…why did I lose my temper?" Sasuke asked himself, kicking the ground in anger. "Sakura…I'm sorry." He sighed, slowly going to follow his team. When he caught up with them, Sakura just nodded in his direction as if he hadn't just hit her.
"Come on…we're almost at the classroom." Sakura sighed, trying to act as if the punch and the threat didn't happen. The boys, catching on with what she was doing, nodded. However, no manner of acting could hide the slowly forming bruise on Sakura's cheek and the small tear in their already weak quilt of friendship.