Legend of the Iron Monkey
Naruto Fanfiction
Disclaimer: I don't own a single shred of Naruto.
Chapter 12: Preliminary Rounds, Part 2
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As the medical shinobi squad took away Hinata on the stretcher, the jonin teachers, Lee, Naruto, and Neji, returned to their original positions in the stands. Tenten and Kankuro walked to the center, with Hayate between them. Lee watched Tenten carefully. So far, he had no idea what Kankuro was capable of, but he figured that the thing on his back might have something to do with what kind of jutsus he had. He wondered if Tenten at least knew what she was doing, but he wasn't too worried. Kankuro's chakra looked normal, at least normal enough compared to Sasuke's cursed mark and Gaara's unusual chakra. Lee hoped that he would be able to challenge Gaara in one of the matches that came after this one. He couldn't allow anyone to get hurt if Gaara showed his true colors. Lee didn't know what those true colors were, which was what was bothering him. But for now, that can't be what his mind was on. This was Tenten's turn to fight, so Lee kept his attention on her. Hayate looked to both fighters again. Tenten pulled out two kunais from her pouch as Kankuro placed his large item down before him.
"Alright then, if both of you are ready... begin!" he said, backing up a bit. Kankuro unraveled the wrappings from his large item. It had odd looking eyes, an odd looking mouth, and six arms. The only normal quality that it had was its black coat that covered its entire body, but wasn't that long. Tenten narrowed her eyes at it.
"A brown, wooden puppet?" she asked.
"That's right, little girl. There's no way you can defeat me, so why not back down now? Maybe we can go on a date later?" he asked, attaching his chakra strings from his fingers to the key parts of his puppet. He started wiggling his fingers, making sure that his puppet was working properly. Tenten grimaced and readied herself to attack.
"Sorry, but I'm taken," she said. She wanted to run to him and surprise him with her speed, but she wanted to know what that puppet was for before she attacked him head on. Tenten tossed her kunais to one hand and reached for her pouch. She threw three shuriken at Kankuro, who dodged them easily and shot his arms over his chest, wiggling his fingers again. At that action, his puppet moved to his opponent at speeds that Tenten didn't think was possible for a wooden puppet. It was fast, but not fast enough. Tenten moved to the side and saw an opening. She ran to Kankuro and saw the puppet moving to intercept her. Just before it was about to capture her, Tenten zipped and appeared behind her target. Kankuro's eyes widened as Tenten's foot met his face. The sand genin was sent flying a good eight feet from where he stood. Temari narrowed her eyes. For such a petite girl, her foot seemed to have a lot of power in it. Kankuro stood, wiped the dirt from his face, and looked to Tenten.
"You're fast, but I have ways of capturing fast targets like yourself," he said as he wiggled his puppet back to life. "Get her, Crow!"
"Crow?" asked Tenten, dodging the puppet's rather slow attacks.
"It's the name of my puppet. If you haven't noticed yet, I'm a puppet master, and a damn good one. Don't worry though, I don't plan to kill you but when crow is through with you, you'll be in so much pain that you'll practically be begging for death," he said as he continued Crow's assaults on the leaf kunoichi. Tenten attempted to cut the chakra strings, which allowed Kankuro to properly control Crow, with her kunais but they just seemed to pass through the chakra strings. "Oh yeah, I guess I did forget to mention the fact that those chakra strings can only be cut by chakra."
"That would've helped earlier, but thanks for the info," said Tenten, moving back to avoid an attack from Crow.
"Alright, enough games. Time to capture you," he said as he flexed his left ring finger, causing Crow to open its mouth. From the crevice of its mouth, Crow spat out several kunai and shuriken that took Tenten by surprise, but not too much. Tenten blocked every projectile that was sent her way. There seemed to be no end to the constant barrage of projectiles, but Tenten had no problems blocking them. Kankuro smirked slightly and moved his right ring finger. Crow ceased its projectile attack and stretched its arms, attempting to grab the kunoichi. Already being a good distance from it, Tenten moved back, knowing that the arms of that puppet had to have some kind of limit. But what she didn't know was a second puppet waiting for her just a few more feet back. When she looked back to check how far she'd gone, it was too late. She tripped on something and fell inside it. Before she was able to react, the torso of the puppet closed, trapping her inside. Kankuro smiled as he moved his right ring finger, causing the second puppet to attach itself to Crow's body. Crow's torso then closed, trapping Tenten and the second puppet inside its body.
"Hey, let me out of here!" she shouted, trying to break herself free.
"No can do, little girl. In order to win, I have to defeat you. Unlike my teammate back there with the red hair, I'm pretty merciful. Instead of taking your life, I'm just going to knock you out. It might sting a bit but at least you get to keep your life," he said as he started wiggling the fingers on his left hand. Chakra enveloped Crow's arms as all six of them flew out of its body and unveiled hidden daggers on the shoulder areas of the arms. With a flex from his right thumb and index finger, the puppet that captured Tenten, constricted, crushing her from the inside. Tenten shouted through the puppet in pain, which only aggravated Lee. With a few wiggles from his left index finger and pinky, the bladed arms returned to Crow's body with heightened speed. There was a gasp from the stands, which belonged to the mouths of the other genin and some of the jonin teachers. Gai's eyes widened. Kankuro said that he wouldn't kill her, but six blades penetrating a human body would definitely be enough to kill her. A faint shout was heard from within the puppet's body, but ended as quickly as it came. Blood oozed out from inside Crow's body.
"Hmm... maybe I miscalculated a little bit but at least I've won the match, right?" asked Kankuro.
"Let her out first, and I'll be the judge of that," said Hayate. Kankuro nodded and reeled ever finger on his left hand, close to his palm. When Crow's body opened, Kankuro did the same with his right hand, opening the torso of his second puppet. Tenten's body was released and fell on the ground, eyes closed. Hayate moved to her neck to feel her pulse. Just as he was about to do so, he retracted his hand. The body should still be bleeding but despite the injuries that Tenten sustained, no blood was coming out from her body. "I don't know how it's possible but the match still continues. This girl isn't even unconscious."
"What?! That's impossible!" Kankuro shouted. As Hayate moved back to his original spot, Tenten's wounds started to close. When most of them were closed her eyes opened as she stood from the floor. Tenten stretched around, making a few cracks on her back, while waiting for the rest of her wounds to heal. When all of her skin punctures were closed, her bones started placing themselves back together. Tenten looked to all the other jonin teachers and her fellow colleagues. Lee was smiling at her, while Neji didn't look at all surprised. Kakashi raised his forehead protector, unveiling the sharingan on his left eye. Every injury that Tenten received from that last attack had closed, as if she was never attacked at all. What kind of training did Gai put his students through? Such a healing ability is astounding. Gai was as surprised as Kakashi, as well as Asuma, Kurenai, Sarutobi, Anko, Ibiki, and the rest of the jonin who were present at the time. When did Tenten get such an ability? The sharingan jonin looked to his rival.
"Gai, what kind of training did you give your students? I examined her body with my sharingan. That healing ability of hers required no chakra. It was as if the wounds were just closing on their own, against her own free will. That was no jutsu but it was incredible. Does Tenten have a hidden kekkei genkai?" Kakashi asked, shocked at the rather impressive ability of Gai's student. "And on top of that, where did her sudden burst of taijutsu skills come from? I saw her records myself, before this exam, and she had little to no talent in taijutsu. I know you're her teacher, but you spend more time with Lee. How did she get so strong?"
"I... don't know..." answered Gai, still baffled at Tenten's miraculous recovery. Gai glanced to his rival. "I'm as surprised as you are, Kakashi. I've never seen Tenten heal so fast from any wound before, it's incredible! And her taijutsu has improved far beyond what I could ever expect for her. Whoever taught her those techniques must be a well accomplished taijutsu master."
"That healing speed was amazing," said the Hokage, as he turned to Ibiki and Anko. "I don't remember us having those on our records. Could we have missed something about her family? Perhaps hidden jutsus or any kekkei genkai?"
"No sir," said Anko, flipping through her record book and scanned through Tenten's page. "This information was given to us by her parents themselves. They're just a family of blacksmiths and expert shinobi in the field of weaponry. We tested their blood samples and found nothing out of the ordinary. We got Tenten's blood sample too, a while back when she signed up to become a kunoichi. There were no traces of any kekkei genkai or any that haven't been awakened yet. She was a regular kunoichi. My wager is, something happened during her training with Gai. If there's anyone who can answer this, it's him."
"No, Gai has nothing to do with it," said Kakashi, appearing next to them in a puff of smoke. "I asked him about it and I'm pretty good at detecting lies, courtesy of Ibiki. I didn't pick up anything from him that would tell me otherwise. Gai isn't lying about this, he has no idea what happened to spark up this new power. And regarding your comment on it, lord Hokage, it was no jutsu and therefore required no chakra. I saw it all with my sharingan. I think her body just healed on its own."
"Very interesting, Kakashi," said the Hokage. "After the preliminary rounds, I want you and Gai to pay Tenten's family a visit and tell them about this. Chances are Tenten has been keeping this a secret from them and they have the right to know. Plus, this is something big. Keep an eye on her too, but don't go any further than that. And make sure her parents aren't to talk about it to anyone, especially their daughter. I just want them to be aware of it."
"I understand," said Kakashi, as he walked back to his squad.
Lee smiled to Tenten and nodded. Tenten nodded as well and turned to Kankuro, who looked ready to pee in his pants. Great, now everyone knew of her secret. She sighed to herself and finished her stretching. The blades that were attached to Crow, actually hurt when her body was pierced by it while being crushed from the inside by the puppet that caught her. She didn't even have the breath to shout in pain, but was glad that it was over. Now that she knew that abilities of Kankuro's puppet, it was her turn to attack. When she was sure that all of her wounds were healed and her bones were placed in the proper areas, she took out her weapon scrolls, the Twin Dragon scrolls. She unrolled her scrolls and flashed through several hand signs. The scrolls on the floor arose in the air in a spiral formation. Tenten leaped into the air and looked down to her opponent.
"Hey, sorry about blacking out on you earlier. Your puppets caught me off guard, but now that I know what they do, there's no more need to prolong this battle. I haven't really used this technique to the fullest extent but I figured that a skilled shinobi like yourself would be able to defend himself from this attack," she said as she pulled out weapons from her dragon scrolls. One by one, she threw them at Kankuro, who was having a tough time evading them all. He allowed his puppets to block as much as possible but there was just too many for even them to handle. After everything was thrown at him, Kankuro's puppets were fully impaled with kunai, shuriken, short swords, sickles, throwing axes, and a variety of other projectile type weapons. The puppet master had his share of injuries as well, stars and knives on his legs which prevented him from moving, but Tenten wasn't finished. attached to each of the projectiles that she threw, were chakra strings, similar to Kankuro's. She pulled her arms back as the weapons arose into the air. Tenten shot her arms forward as the weapons threatened to kill the sand genin. Kankuro closed his eyes, preparing himself from death... but it didn't happen. When he opened his eyes, he was being held from his shirt by Lee. Lee dropped him on the ground and watched as Tenten finally dropped to the ground.
"Alright Tenten, I think you've pretty much finished him off. I'm not sure if you heard it through your projectile throwing but the proctor already announced you as the winner of this match. Besides, this guy can't heal like you can, so give it a rest ok?" he asked. Tenten sighed and nodded. With a snap of her fingers, the projectiles on the floor, disappeared and her scrolls were rolled back to their original state. Tenten picked them up, hung them on her waist, and walked to Lee.
"Sorry Lee, I guess I really didn't hear the proctor after all. Good thing you came by though, or I might have accidentally killed him without knowing it," he said. Tenten glanced at the puppet master, who was trying to get up but couldn't because of the wounds on his legs. "I'm sorry. I was about to kill you, wasn't I?"
"Um.. yeah.. but I'm glad you didn't. And I'm sorry about earlier, I did know that my previous attack would have killed you, but I still lied about it," he replied as another medic squad arrived and carried him on a stretcher. When he was fully secured, they took him away. Tenten sighed as she and Lee retreated back to the stands. When they arrived, team Kurenai and team Kakashi were all looking at her. Tenten rolled her eyes, figuring that they stared at her because they were so amazed about her healing ability. Perhaps it wasn't such a great idea to keep it a secret, but she honestly didn't want anyone figuring it out so soon. The only secret left to be revealed now, is Lee's secret as the Iron Monkey. She hoped that her boyfriend would be careful to hide his secret. Everyone else was pressuing her so much as it was. She didn't want Lee to feel pressured too. Gai looked to her student, still amazed at how she gained the ability to passively heal at such an astounding rate.
"Tenten, where did you acquire that healing skill?" he asked. "Your records don't show anything regarding your background with healing jutsus or any kekkei genkai that involved rapid cellular regeneration. I thought Kankuro killed you for sure."
Tenten merely smiled. "I'm sorry Gai-sensei, but where I got this healing skill has to remain a secret for now. I'll tell you about it one day though. As to any kekkei genkai or healing jutsus, I'm sorry to say but I possess no knowledge of either of those fields. My parents don't possess this healing ability, you can test it out for yourself. As far as I know, I'm the only one in my family who can heal like this."
"Are you sure about that?" asked Kakashi. "The Hokage has given Gai and myself a mission to pay a little visit to your parents and ask them about this. Don't worry though, we have strict orders not to relay this information to anyone who doesn't yet know it and we'll make sure that no one else, not even your parents, will talk about it. So just tell us right now."
"I'll tell you everything you need to know, later," said Lee, interrupting their conversation. The two jonin, as well as Tenten and Neji, looked to Lee. "I'm the one who was responsible for her new power. As to how she acquired it, I'll tell you three, and yes Neji, that includes you. I'll tell you everything but you can't place it in her records. This information must not be revealed to the public."
"So you know about this then, eh Lee?" asked Gai.
"Yes. But let's keep it down for now. The next match has already been decided," he said as the monitor above successfully chose two new opponents. Lee sighed in frustration, hoping that he would be next. Neji was the first to fight in their squad and Tenten, right after. The young man thought he would be next but the monitor had other plans. He wanted to crush it so badly, but he figured it would not only be against the rules, but he may be disqualified from the whole exam. For now, he merely sighed, letted out all of his negative energy that he harbored to the machine. The two fighters stepped down from the stands and saw each other face to face.
Shikamaru vs Kin.
"I'm going to check on Sasuke for a while. I need to keep myself updated on his current status. Gai, will you please tell Naruto and Sakura that I'll be back in a few minutes?" asked Kakashi as he vanished in a puff of smoke.
"I'm going to go too. Tenten, please call for me when my match starts. I have something that needs to be taken cared of," he said as he zipped after Kakashi. When he reappeared, Kakashi was right in front of him, walking to one of the treatment rooms. He had been there earlier but had to check up on Sasuke again. The silver haired jonin sensed Lee's presence.
"Return to the others, Lee. This has nothing to do with you," he said.
"I can't do that, Kakashi-sensei. I have to check up on him as well. It's for personal reasons," he said. Kakashi shrugged and entered Sasuke's room. The Uchiha was awake, eating a bit of hospital food that some of the medics gave to him to help regain his strength.
"Are you ready for the sealing, Sasuke?" he asked. Sasuke nodded.
"It's about time, Kakashi-sensei. How did Naruto's fight go? He won, right?" he asked. Kakashi nodded and was about to reply when the raven-haired boy noticed a guest behind his teacher. "Lee, you're here too, huh? Tell me, have you fought yet?"
"I haven't. I seem to have terrible luck with that lousy machine. I might end up fighting last. You're looking well though. Are you feeling alright? You seemed to be falling apart during your match. Is that cursed seal still bothering you?" he asked. Kakashi's eyes widened at Lee's knowledge about the cursed mark. "Don't worry Kakashi-sensei, I know about it. I was actually the one who subdued him when his mark first activated, a few days ago while we were still in the forest of death."
"You took him down with his cursed mark activated?" asked Kakashi, unable to believe it. Sasuke nodded. "I see. Now I definitely have to ask Gai about his training methods. The cursed mark eats away at the holder's chakra, but grants him tremendous power. How you managed to take him down, I don't know. Anyway Sasuke, we should get going. You can come too, Lee, if you like. You're already here anyway."
"I had every intention in coming, Kakashi-sensei, whether you invited me or not. This is something that I have to see for myself," he said. Kakashi nodded as Sasuke hopped off of his bed. The three walked out from the treatment room and went downstairs, to the basement. It was pretty dark in there, but there were a few torches around. Kakashi ran through some hand signs and spat a few fire balls from his mouth. The fire balls were small but enough to light a few torches. There was a pretty large space in the middle of the room, which was where all the torches on the pillars were lit. Kakashi reached down one of the pockets on his jacket and pulled out three vials with red liquid in them. He uncorked it, dipped his fingers inside, and started drawing a circular diagram on the ground. At first, Lee had no idea what was going on, but soon realized what Kakashi was doing. It was from one of the books, back in the academy, while he studied there. One of the books that he read depicted sealing jutsus and how it required the caster to draw a circular diagram on the ground, using his own blood. Each diagram has different designs for every type of sealing jutsu. The Iron Monkey leaned against the wall and watched as the events before him unfolded.
"There we go," said Kakashi, corking his vials and returning them on his jacket pockets. It took a while, and a bit more blood than expected, but he had finished the circular diagram. Lee couldn't make out the signs on the circle, but couldn't care less. Kakashi formed another set of hand seals and blew a light, yet cold breeze of air, at the diagram, probably to dry up the blood. When that was over, Sasuke stepped in the middle of the circle and took off his shirt, moving smoothly as if everything was rehearsed. Kakashi moved behind Sasuke and drew more signs on his back with the remaining blood that was still on his fingers. The jonin inhaled a large breath of air and formed another set of hand signs. He placed his bloody hand on Sasuke's back and formed a single hand sign with his other hand, holding it just across his chin. Sasuke let out a massive shout of pain as the jutsu moved the blood signs from Sasuke's back and placed themselves around the cursed mark. Sasuke then fainted from the pain, but not before feeling the aching from his shoulders, vanish. Lee was impressed at the jutsu but moved his eyes to his left.
"Alright, you've been watching from those shadows long enough. Why don't you come out in the light of these torches?" asked Lee, speaking to the darkness. Kakashi's eyes widened as he turned to face a man who hasn't shown his face for years. Kakashi growled.
"Is that any way to greet an old acquaintance, Lee? I was hoping for a more pleasant one, like hello or good morning," he said. He then glanced to Kakashi and smiled at him. "Ah, Kakashi... it's been a while, hasn't it? You've grown into a man now and gained enough power to use sealing jutsus, I see."
"Orochimaru... you dare show your face back here after all this time?" he asked as he began charging his fist with a shocking blue type of sparking energy. Lee didn't know what kind of jutsu that was, but it felt powerful. However, he knew that all powerful jutsus consumed a massive amount of chakra. A sealing jutsu consumes a lot of chakra too. There's no way Kakashi's body would be able to hold the strain after he performed this rather impressive technique, which seemed to be increasing in power and chakra consumption with every second that passed by.
"Don't waste your energy, Kakashi-sensei," said Lee, stepping in between Kakashi and Orochimaru. "This thing is just a shadow clone. The real Orochimaru isn't anywhere near here. That being said, what do you want?"
"You noticed that I'm just a shadow clone, huh? You also noticed my presence while I was hidden under one of my cloaking jutsus. I must admit, Lee, you really are a very interesting specimen. Perhaps I should give you a cursed mark too, but I doubt I'd ever be given the chance to do so. A god-like being such as yourself would be a great ally to have, but I don't think you'd be interested in anything I'd have to say, are you?" he asked.
"God-like?" asked Kakashi as he turned to the genin before him. "Lee, what in the world is he talking about?"
"Oh? You mean he doesn't know?" asked Orochimaru, smiling a bit as he looked to Kakashi. "Interesting. I'd tell you but I don't think it's really my place to do so. Your power may allow you to survive my onslaught, when the time comes, Lee, but I doubt your little friends will."
"I won't allow it to happen. I'll stop you when the time comes. I refuse to allow you to slay anyone with your slimy little snake hands," said Lee, sounding very serious. Kakashi was baffled. What are these two talking about? What did Orochimaru mean when he said something about Lee being some sort of a god? How did Lee know Orochimaru? And what was Orochimaru planning? He had heard something from Anko that Orochimaru was in the village, but his motives remained to be a mystery. On top of that, Orochimaru can't have possibly come here to chit chat with them. Was he really here for Sasuke? What in blazes was going on around here?
"I've heard enough, Orochimaru. Tell me, why are you really here? You can't possibly be here to share a cup of tea with us and bore us with your life story," said Kakashi, holding up a kunai. The pale faced man shrugged his shoulders.
"I suppose it couldn't hurt. I came her to tell you that your sealing jutsu was a success, but it won't work for too long. I know that kind of jutsu and it's only as strong as Sasuke's will. Soon, he will seek me out in thirst for more power, when he learns of the true abilities of the cursed mark. He knows that I gave it to him and we all know what his purpose in life is, right? To kill a certain man? Well, to kill this man, he'll need power, a lot of it. He will come and find me and I will grant him the power and training that he desires in order to achieve his goal," he said.
"Do you expect us to believe that you're doing this out of the kindness of your heart? I'm not even sure that you still have one but come now, Orochimaru, what's the real game? There's something that you're hiding from us," said Lee, unwilling to believe what this man was saying.
"Very perceptive, but I can't reveal that part of my plan, or I won't get to laugh at everyone's hilarious facial expressions when they find out. I guess you'll just have to wait and see. Well, I better run. Evil doers have their own agenda to take care of and I'm no different, so I guess this is our good bye for now," he said as he vanished in a puff of smoke. Lee sighed to himself as Kakashi turned to pick up Sasuke.
"Well, I found out everything that I came for, so I'll be going now," he said. Lee was about to leave when Kakashi held him back by the shoulder.
"You're not going anywhere without me. You and I will take Sasuke back to the treatment room and we'll make our way back to the main hall on foot. All the while, you'll be telling me everything you know about this plot, as well as what you know about Tenten's regenerative properties," he said as he drenched all of the torches with a water jutsu.
"Do I really have to? My match could be starting at any minute now," he said, trying to get himself out of his mess. "What's Gai-sensei going to say when I tell him that you held me up because you wanted a few bits of information from a little genin like me? Besides, what do you expect me to know? Who's to say that I wasn't just playing smart so I don't look dumb in front of you or that guy with the pale face?"
"This isn't the time for games, Lee. I know that you're aware of what's going on around here. I don't give a flying fish about anything else at the moment, and that includes your match or this chunin exam. The mere fact that Orochimaru is here could mean danger for this entire village. Are you really willing to put all of that aside because of some test that presents itself twice a year? There will be other times for you to take this test, should you fail to be present for your match with whoever you're going up against," he said, anger emanating from his voice as the two climbed the stairs that led to the floor where Sasuke's room was located. Lee didn't want to do it, but he spilled everything that he knew about Orochimaru. He didn't know a single thing about the lunatic's motives but he knew that that man was up to no good. Regarding Tenten's ability to heal, he enforced his word earlier, while they were still in the main hall. He would tell him and everyone else who needed to know, after the preliminary rounds. Kakashi was reluctant to accept the offer but figured it was better than nothing.
After dropping off Sasuke, both leaf shinobi made their way back to the main hall for Lee's match. Kakashi was still confused about one last thing. What kind of god-like abilities did Lee possess? He decided to leave that question alone until Lee was ready to answer. It wasn't as important as everything else that Lee had just told him now. He encountered Orochimaru in the forest of death while saving Anko... and lived? How is it that one of the leaf village's most dangerous criminal was unable to finish off a mere genin? The boy is good at his art, no doubt there, but still. Orochimaru is in a whole other level that Lee shouldn't be anywhere close to. Orochimaru eluded the ANBU squads that chased after him, when they were given the order to. But not only did said shinobi elude them, but he managed to capture some and use the others for his egotistic experiments that did nothing but fuel his quest for power and the one thing that he craved for that a lot of people wanted... immortality. When they arrived back in the main hall Kakashi returned to his squad as Lee returned to his own.
"What happened, Lee?" asked Tenten.
"I learned a few things which I'll tell you about, after the preliminary rounds. But first, what happened while I was gone?" he asked.
"Shikamaru defeated that Kin chick from the sound village, using his shadow possession jutsu, which allows him to manipulate the shadows of whoever he captures. It was a rather interesting fight, to say the least. After them, it was Temari and Kabuto's other teammate. That guy had some odd powers, such as having the ability to stretch his body like a snake. He caught Temari only once, but it happened to be a substitution jutsu. Temari appeared behind him and tore him up with her Wind Scythe jutsu. That match just ended a while ago. Now it's Kiba's turn, and guess who he's pitted up against?" she asked. Lee didn't know at first but when he saw a gust of sand vanish from the other side and appear on the ground, he sighed.
"I bet I know who... what a lucky dog. I wanted to be the one to fight his opponent," he said. "Well, at least I get to see what techniques Gaara is capable of."
Kiba, for the first time in his life, was actually experiencing true fear. He could feel it from Akamaru, who was shivering like a wet dog, and he had every right to. Gaara's power was unlike anything he'd ever felt before, and that alone was enough to cause him to shake in fear. He had those eyes that made other killers look like infants. There seemed to be something more to this guy than just being a sand shinobi. His two sand teammates looked like regular people, possessing regular techniques and chakra levels. Akamaru has the ability to sense the chakra level of anyone that he comes close to and if he was shaken up this bad, it must mean that Gaara's power was truly frightening. Kiba jumped down from the stands, being warned severely by Kurenai, about Gaara's power. She asked if he wanted to withdraw, but he refused. He now wished that he didn't. Gaara looked deep into his eyes and spoke in his scary voice.
"I'll say this once and once only. Give up now and turn away. Someone who is shaking just by looking at me is not worth my time. Most of the good fighters have already fought and are done with their preliminary rounds. There's only one person remaining who doesn't seem to quake in his boots just by looking at me. The only one I wish to fight now is..." he said, looking over to one black-coated leaf shinobi, who was looking back. "... Him."
"I'm sorry, Gaara of the sand, but the machines decide who you fight against. If Kiba withdraws now, or you defeat him, then you may obtain the chance to fight the one you wish to do battle with, granted he's as strong as you say," said Hayate, as he looked over to the one who wore a leather black coat. That kid truly is something, alright. During Neji and Hinata's battle with each other, when Neji was about to deal the final blow, he and the girl beside him arrived in the scene about half a second before the other jonin did. His speed is amazing, especially since he's from all the way up in the stands, while Hayate was a few mere feet close to Neji. Maybe that boy really is as strong as Gaara implies, but rules are rules. Hayate knew that deep in his heart, he would actually like to see who is the victor between them both, but the machine chose the opponents, and those are who will be fighting for now.
"Again, Gaara, I sincerely apologize, but no one can grant your request. Your opponent is Kiba and that's that," he said. Gaara glared daggers at the proctor but nodded.
"Fine then. I'll kill him quickly," he said as he turned back to Kiba, uncorking his gourd. "You should feel honored that I'm going to end this as painless as possible. I normally play with my food before I eat it but I refuse to waste any more time than what I've already done in this worthless exam."
When Hayate started the match, Kiba readied himself for battle, but figured that he'd be in on this alone, since Akamaru was so shaken up with fear of Gaara. Kurenai asked herself if she was willing to allow herself to let her student be brutally murdered by this monster from the sand village. Whatever it was that this guy had with Gai's student, was of no concern to her. Her only priority was to save as many lives as possible. She nearly failed with Hinata, but she wouldn't allow herself to be anywhere near close to failing his next student, Kiba. The Inuzuka has a lot of potential, she could see it, but his true abilities hasn't manifested yet. Kiba is still young and needs time to continue training. He is no match for Gaara, that's for sure. As much as it pained her to be the one responsible for Kiba's failure of the test, she at least wanted him to preserve his life and live long enough to reach his fullest potential. But before she was able to act, Gaara already acted. Kiba tried to evade it, but Gaara caught him and Akamaru in a wrapping of sand, ready to crush them with the next move.
"Sand Burial!" Gaara shouted. Kiba closed his eyes, ready for death, but for the third time in the day, another person escaped certain death. Lee was seen in front of Gaara, his hand crushing the red-head's wrist like it was made of twigs. Gaara grunted in tremendous pain and stared at the one he wanted to fight. Kurenai and the rest of the other jonin were surprised again at the speed that Lee presented. They didn't even see him and there he was, holding Gaara's wrist and crushing it. Kiba had now lost, because of Lee, but Kurenai was grateful. Because she thought about it too much, Kiba could have lost his life. She wouldn't have been able to arrive down there in time to stop the attack. She was very grateful to Gai's student. Kakashi narrowed his eyes at the black coated genin. Oh, he's going to have a lot of explaining to do, that's for sure.
"I've interfered and saved his life, you are the winner of this match. Now call off your attack or I'll rip your wrist from your arm and shove it down your throat, causing you to choke in your own blood," Gaara was about to answer when his sand was removed from Kiba and Akamaru. Against his own will, the sand moved to attack Lee, but he vanished. He was seen on top of the stands, holding the back of Kiba's jacket. He dropped the Inuzuka genin on the ground, right next to his female sensei. Lee knew that he had total grip of Gaara's hand, so the sand must have moved on its own somehow. The sand shinobi wasn't controlling it at all, adding to the mystery that only Lee knew for the moment. Gaara massaged his wrist with his other hand and looked to Lee.
"Killing that worthless fool would have been a waste of my chakra, so I suppose I should thank you for saving his pathetic life before his unworthy blood soaked my sand. I expect you to defeat that weakling from the sound village. I would very much like to fight you in the final rounds of this exam. Your flesh and bones will be a good meal to satisfy my hunger," he said as he vanished in a swirl of sand. Hayate sighed to himself and thanked his lucky stars that he wasn't the one to get in the way of that one. It's odd that whenever someone's life was about to be taken, it was that student from Gai's squad who would always step in. Not that the proctor minded, of course, but he did wonder why the boy kept doing it. Oh well, that's a question for another time. As for now, there's one final match to deal with.
"Will the remaining genin please step down so the last battle will commence?" he asked, coughing in between his words. Lee nodded and zipped down to the ground. Dosu was a bit reluctant to fight him, after seeing him save three lives from one dangerous shinobi, one freaky kunoichi, and one powerful shinobi. Although a bit afraid, he knew that this guy seemed to be the self-righteous kind of person and would never kill. The sound ninja knew that this battle was a loss, but he wanted to be defeated with pride. In a sense, he counted himself lucky for being pitted against this guy. It could have been that Gaara fellow or even that Tenten chick who could heal from any wound, but it wasn't. Dosu smiled through his cloth wrappings and jumped down, ready to fight. His opponent was Rock Lee of the hidden leaf village, and he couldn't ask for a better fight. Dosu cleared his throat.
"Before we start this match, let me just say that it is an honor to fight against someone like you. You've saved three people from certain death today, and you've earned my respect. You also seem to be a great shinobi, another reason for earning my respect. I foresee that I will lose to you but even so, I still have my pride as a sound shinobi. You'll have to work for your victory, my friend, and I'll try not to disappoint you," he said, revealing the sound cannon from his right arm that he used to attack Kabuto, before the written portion of the exam.
"Thank you, Dosu. I'll try not to disappoint you as well. If you'll give it your best, I will be happy. Your best is all I could ask from you, friend, and it is what I will expect. Besides, I do believe you owe me from the bit of help that I gave you during the forest of death exam, or have you forgotten?" he asked. Dosu chuckled.
"I haven't forgotten that and it will be repaid to you in due time. However, I will fight you with my very best skills and jutsu, not because I am in debted to you, but because I respect you as a fellow shinobi. You should feel honored, as I rarely respect any of my colleagues, even those in my squad," he said. Hayate nodded to them both and gave the signal to start the match. Lee pulled pulled out his kunai blades from his hip belt and readied himself for combat. Dosu was the first to start by forming a hand seal with one hand his left hand. He looked to Lee and swiped his arm in the air. Lee was a bit weirded out when Dosu swung in mid air, but all was made clear when Lee's eyes saw what looked like a ripple in the air, and it was coming straight for him. Thinking quickly, he leaped a few feet up and landed right back down. He looked to the wall behind him, a horizontal and crescent shaped mark was left on the wall. He turned back to Dosu.
"I knew that my respect for you wasn't misguided. No one has ever managed to see my Sonic Boom jutsu in time to avoid it. Which makes me wonder, how did you see it? That attack is supposed to travel at the speed of sound, invisible to human eyes," he asked.
"Well, let's just say I have a few surprised up my sleeves," he said as he charged in. Having no time to perform another Sonic Boom, Dosu dropped his metal gauntlet, pulled out two kunai knives, and engaged Lee in a weapons battle. Both fighters appeared from on place to another and every time they made themselves visible to human eyes, they would be seen either clashing kunais or exchanging blows, and then vanish again. The speed of sound versus the speed of gods, and neither shinobi seemed to be getting tired of their incredibly high speed combat. They made themselves visible in front of everyone else once more, but started running at in a clock-wise circle, never removing their eyes from each other. Eventually, their impressive speed created a tornado where they ran around in and fought inside. The shinobi and kunoichi from the leaf, sound, and sand, were rather shocked at the speed of these two combatants. Gai smiled at his student, every bit as proud now as the day he met him.
Dosu and Lee continued to fight inside the tornado, never stopping to rest or to catch a breath. Black steel clashed with silver metal as both shinobi barraged at each other with increasing speed. Sparks flew out of the tornado, and that's about the only thing that everyone else saw inside. Kakashi raised his forehead protector, revealing his sharingan, using that in an attempt to see high speed combat that was being displayed between the two shinobi. Neji activated his byakugan for the same reason that Kakashi was using his sharingan. He knew that Lee could move fast, but who knew it could be this fast? The byakugan and sharingan couldn't even fathom and properly capture the speed that Lee was going in, and that meant Dosu as well. They could only see mere glimpses of the two, instead of full images. Neji understood Lee's speed, but never knew that someone else could move at such a pace. Dosu would definitely have been a great opponent to test out his new jutsu.
Tenten had about the same reaction as Neji and Kakashi. She thought that only she and Lee possessed that kind of speed, but it's only right that someone of the sound village could move at the speed of sound. Grateful for her training, her eyes were able to keep up with their movements, even with their increasing speed, knowing that she herself could move like that. It didn't seem like Dosu was tiring either, but he was sustaining injuries. It didn't look like Dosu could passively heal either, so that's something less to worry about. But his stamina was unreal. Tenten thought that only those with massive stamina capacities, or a healing ability like hers and Lee's, could keep up with that kind of strain on the body, but Dosu was proving her wrong. Lee was a bit curious as well, feeling the same sentiments as his girlfriend was. Dosu was moving at the same speed he was, and that was definitely something to note his attention on. Before he was able to think about it, however, Dosu surprised him with a back kick. Lee crossed his arms to block it, having already been moving at the direction to it and couldn't avoid. Although protecting himself from the attack, he was thrown out of the tornado and landed on the ground. Dosu slowed his running to a walk as the tornado disappeared. The sound shinobi noticed a few drops of blood coming out of his wounds. They weren't fatal, just minor flesh wounds.
"Impressive, very impressive indeed, Lee," said Dosu, closing his eyes and smiling through his cloth wrappings. "I've never seen anyone who could keep up with that level of speed. But I bet you're wondering how someone like me can sustain that kind of speed. Well, it all happened during a mission in the land of thunder. I saved Kin's life and pushed her away from a thunder based jutsu from one of the most powerful shinobi in that village. The jutsu knocked me out but my life wasn't in danger, as my squad managed to safely retreat. When I woke up, the doctors told me that the thunder attack burned off much of my skin and destroyed the vision I have on my right eye. My skin eventually healed, but my right eye wasn't so fortunate. A week later, the doctors ran a test on me and said that the lightning jutsu that took away half of my vision, was absorbed by my body.
"Now, I have a constant flow of renewable energy, pumping through my body. I may not be able to heal as quick as that Tenten girl, nor do I possess dangerous chakra like that Neji kid or Gaara of the sand, but I have near infinite physical stamina. I can fight for days, even weeks without tiring. Food and water is still something that I need but I can last longer without it, than any other human that I've seen in my life. I was seen as a freak by many of my colleagues and didn't want to have anything to do with me. But when I met a special someone, he took my under his wing and trained me to hone my new ability," he said.
"Who was this special someone?" asked Lee. Dosu, not wanting to say anything to anyone, couldn't directly answer that. He tapped in to his speed once more and vanished. Lee vanished as well, continuing to move in high speed again. They ran around the area to maintain the speed. Dosu moved close to Lee and whispered something in his ear. Tenten narrowed her eyes. She was able to watch their movements, but not hear whisper voices that was coming from Dosu. When he finished telling Lee, he returned to his original spot, as did Lee. Going at the speed that they were at, it looked like they vanished from the human eye for only a mere two seconds, but they were really running around for over a whole minute. As the two continued their battle, Tenten reminded herself to ask Lee what it was that Dosu said, after this exam.
"I see, and if what you say is true, then we have no quarrel with each other. This is just a huge misunderstanding then, and you were just following orders. I will speak to the Hokage about this and ask him for your request. You would be a valuable ally to us and I won't waste that opportunity. I'm pretty good at judging people when they are telling lies, and I don't sense any malicious intent coming from you. I will indeed speak to the Hokage, but after this match, which I believe has been dragging on for too long," said Lee.
"Are you sure it's been so long already? Most of our combat was done in high speed. To us it's been a long fight, but to those who can't keep up with our movements, it might have just been a few minutes, give or take," Dosu replied.
"Point taken, but they aren't in this fight, you and I are," said Lee.
"I agree. Now let's give it everything we've got in one final move," he said. Lee replied as both shinobi zipped and reappeared on the opposite sides of the room. Upon smirking at each other, they charged at one another in blinding speed, a single fist raised in the air from the both of them. In a sense, they were like jousting, but this punch would decide it all. When they clashed, Dosu was seen flying through the air, in the opposite way from the direction where he was running. The sound shinobi crashed on the wall behind him and made an imprint. Lee was still standing. No one but Dosu saw that a single trickle of blood was about to fall from a wound on Lee's lip, but went back inside as his wound closed. Dosu's eyes widened for a while but smiled a bit later as his body fell on the ground. Lee walked to him. Dosu looked up, noticing a hand near him.
"Oh yeah... I forgot you could do that too..." he asked, still trying to recover from the punch that was delivered to his face. He was actually surprised that his head was still in tact with his body. That punch felt like an elephant smashed his face with its feet. Lee helped him to stand on his feet. Dosu felt a bit shaky, but was alright.
"Do you mind keeping that between us? A few people already know and I don't really want the whole world to know that I can heal very quickly. I wanted to keep that to myself, but things happened and... you know," he said. Dosu nodded. Everyone who was watching the match was very astounded at the performance. All except Gaara, were very surprised. The only thing that was in the red-head's mind was doing battle with Lee, and he couldn't wait. Gai was proud of his student, incredibly proud. The Hokage smiled at the victory of a leaf ninja over one of the sound ninja. There were two sand ninja left and seven leaf ninja, all of whom seemed to be the best of the best. Ibiki was right earlier when he said that there was a very good crop of candidates this year. A preliminary match hasn't been held in years but the old man was glad that it revealed only the finest ninja out of the many who signed up and participated for this year's chunin exam. He was also proud that there were more leaf ninja that remained, than any other squad of genin that came from other villages. Sarutobi vanished in a puff of smoke and appeared right next to Hayate.
"I suppose that concludes the preliminary rounds. Now, will all of those who stand victorious, please come down?" he asked. Dosu moved back upstairs, noting that Kin and Kazu were still probably in the recovery room along with the others who sustained critical damage in their fights. The remaining eight shinobi and kunoichi walked down from the stands and gathered near the Hokage. "First off, I'd like to congratulate you all for passing the preliminary rounds of this exam. I know it was sudden but those of you who remain here out of the 20 people who were here before, are the best of the best in this exam. The third and final portion of the exam will be the same as this one, a sudden death exam. Land lords and other village leaders will be arriving to watch you all compete, and their time will not be wasted. However, this event will take place in exactly one month from today."
"What? A month?" asked Shikamaru. "Not that I'm ungrateful for the break period, but what's the deal?"
"Good question, Shikamaru. The reason why the third part of the chunin exam will be held in one month is because it takes that much time to relay the message to the neighboring countries, for them to respond, and to arrive in the leaf village to watch the final round. Secondly, you now know the techniques that your opponents possess. This month of preparation may also be used so you can develop new jutsus and fighting strategies to use against your opponents. It would be quite boring if you were to use the same old techniques as you used today, as powerful as some of them were. The ones judging you will be the land lords and village leaders, who will be the ones to give you your missions, should you become chunin. Does that answer your question?" asked the old man. Shikamaru nodded. The pineapple head looked to Lee. He never thought that the black-coated genin could move faster than a bullet. Maybe this month would prove useful after all.
"I have a question too, lord Hokage," said Temari. "If it will be the land lords and village leaders from other countries who will be watching us and judging us, wouldn't that mean that they are the ones who will decide whether we become chunin or not? Now, seeing as we're the best of the best, isn't there a chance that all of us can become chunin?"
"Correct," said the Hokage. "But there's also a chance that none of you can become chunin. Winning the competition doesn't necessarily make you a chunin, although there are very high chances of such a possibility that you will ascend to the next rank. The point of winning your matches is to give yourselves more chances of being able to show your judges more of your techniques, so as to strengthen their decision on whether you will or will not become a chunin. As I said before, they will be the ones giving you your missions and they'll need to know that they are promoting only the best."
Temari nodded and remaiend silent.
"If that is all, then it's time to move on to the next part. Anko will be passing around a box with papers inside. You will each pull a piece of paper out and it will be recorded by Ibiki," he said as the intimidating jonin from the forest of death started going around with a box in her hand. Every remaining genin reached into the box and pulled out a number. When that was finished, the Hokage pulled the last number out, which was for Sasuke, who was still probably in the recovery room. When they all showed their numbers, Ibiki wrote them down on his sheet of paper. Sarutobi showed him Sasuke's number as that one was recorded as well.
"The numbers that you have just presented to Ibiki has determined who you will fight in your first match of the final round," said the old man. He nodded to Ibiki, who showed the genin the results. Naruto versus Neji for the first fight. Shikamaru versus Temari for ther second fight. Sasuke versus Gaara for the third fight. Lee versus Tenten for the fourth fight. And because there was an odd number of competitors, Shino gets a free by pass for the first round. Naruto glared at Neji, glad that he would get the chance to teach that stuck up guy what it feels like to lose to a real ninja who works hard to attain power and change his destiny. Shikamaru looked to Temari and rolled his eyes, frustrated that he had to fight another girl. Gaara was a bit annoyed that he wouldn't get to fight Lee yet but wasn't too mad, as Sasuke is a good choice too. Lee looked to his girlfriend, who returned the glance. They knew that at one point, they would be placed against each other, and there's no better time than the final round of the chunin exam. Shino made no grimace or complaint.
"Good. Now that everything has been set, this concludes our meeting here today. Your jonin teachers or other leaf chunin will escort you out of this place. Those who are in the recovery room will be transported to the best hospital in the leaf village, as there is better equipment in there to further tend to their wounds and injuries. I will see you all in a month. Good luck in your training and may the best ninja become our next chunin," he said as he vanished. Neji, Lee, and Tenten, met up with their jonin teacher, as well as team Kakashi minus Sasuke. Kakashi turned to face Lee.
"Alright Lee, I think it's time for that explanation now," said Kakashi.
"I know, but not here. Meet me on top of the monument of the past Hokages, in about four hours. I'll explain everything and answer all of your questions up there. Oh and, Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke, aren't allowed to attend for personal reasons that I hold in my grasp. Neji is allowed to come because he knows about Tenten's healing ability, but not its origins, which I will also explain up there," he said. Kakashi rolled his right eye but agreed to the terms that Lee has placed on the table. In addition to that, a decent meal was in order from these rounds and Naruto wouldn't stop bugging him to be treated for some ramen.
"Fine, I accept your terms. So it's just you, me, Gai, Tenten, and Neji, who will be up there. Am I correct?" he asked. Lee nodded. "Okay, but may I ask why four hours? Why not just right now?"
"Well, you may not know this yet, or you probably already do but I'll tell you anyway. Tenten and I are an item now and I'm taking her on a date before I spill my guts to you guys. I know the way out of this place, so I'll see you three in four hours," he said. Tenten smirked her him and embraced his shoulders. She was unaware of the surprise date but it was all good. Lee picked her up, bridal style and zipped, vanishing from the eyes of everyone.
"Right then, Kakashi, Neji, I'll see you guys later too," he said as he too vanished but in a puff of smoke. Naruto and Sakura were unaware at what was going on, but didn't care at the moment. Sakura just wanted to go home and rest, while Naruto was aching to have some ramen in his stomach. The silver haired jonin looked to his students and was about to leave when a voice stopped him. He turned around, as did Naruto and Sakura, to face the one that the voice belonged to. It was that sound shinobi that Lee defeated in his match. What did he want? Neji looked at him but decided to remain silent, still thinking about his fight with Naruto, one month from today.
"Are you the one called Kakashi Hatake?" he asked. Kakashi nodded. "Well, you didn't see this earlier, but Lee asked me to tag along with you and he also told me to ask you to ask a man named Mito Gai, to show me his apartment, where I will be staying for a while."
"Oh... no, no, no, I saw that with my sharingan. Although I didn't hear any of it, I saw a nod from Lee when you two were talking while engaging in a high speed combat. I don't know where Lee lives but I'll ask Gai for you. Surely he knows where his prized pupil's apartment is. Until then, I suppose you're coming with me," he said as he and the four other genin walked out of the door, along with Asuma's and Kurenai's squads. The jonin from the sand village and his squad also followed suit.
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Wahoo! I think that was my longest chapter yet. Finally, on to the main event. Wait... no not yet. The next chapter will be a filler but still quite important to read. If you don't like filler chapters, I suppose you can skip it, if you want. I think that's all I'm saying for now. It's 4:36 am and I'm tired as hell. See you guys on chapter 13!!
Ja ne!