"Blah": Talking
'Blah': Demon speaking/Inner Sakura
'Blah': Naruto's thoughts/other people's thoughts
'Blah': Harry talking to Naruto
Hello friends, readers, and followers!
I'm back and I have a little bit of news:
I decided, after a recent review of the Scroll of Sealing, I should go back and make a few changes to Book 1 in order to clean it up. While the person that reviewed it was accurate on a few matters and encouraged me to take the story into my own direction (commenting on the lack of deviation from the canon universe), I feel, while I won't make any drastic changes to the entire book, I should at least make a few corrections and satisfy several of the points he made.
Such as the passage of time for Academy school years and the progression of Naruto's time at school. I also think I should change a few moments, like the Sorting Hat scene; instead of Harry enriching a very young and impressionable Naruto into a world that doesn't exist in the shinobi world, Naruto will start to 'remember' his brother's time at Hogwarts and ask about the Sorting Ceremony, to which Harry offers to Naruto if he wants to be sorted into a House. Perhaps Naruto starts to imagine himself at Hogwarts, surrounded with other students that watch him and then cheer him on when he's sorted into Gryffindor House. Perhaps at this point, Naruto becomes aware that he is in a false reality.
But I'm still in debate over it with Azeroth44, so I won't do the changes for a while until we reach a reasonable agreement.
In other news, this new chapter has little changes done to it from the original chapter I wrote. I did improve the grammar and made a change to Lee's fate near the end of the match, that I felt I needed to make different. You'll have to read below to find out.
Azeroth44: Man… I can't believe it's been almost four years since we posted that original chapter.
Naruto: Yeah… You two remember what we did in the introduction? Because I remember a lot of chaos and a dragon involved at some point.
K: Yeah, Azeroth44 burst into our base with the Deathwing dragon from World or Warcraft.
Naruto: Oh, yeah! XD That was insane! And Azeroth44 was so obsessed with WoW at the time; it was so mad back then!
Azeroth44: Yeah… Whatever, dude, I'm more into Lord of the Rings Online now!
K: That reminds me: Before we start the chapter, do you think we should extend the month-long training period of the Chunin Exam finals to two months or stick with the one month time period?
Azeroth44: I would stick to one month.
K: Ok, I'll decide when I post the next chapter. Let's start this chapter already!
Reviews are welcome and wanted!
Disclaimer: Naruto is the property of Masashi Kishimoto
Harry Potter is property of JK Rowling
Chapter 12: A Splendid Ninja
Lee roared and kicked the air in excitement, "AHA! I FOOLED YOU ALL! I thought if I said I wanted to be the final act, luck will have gone against me and made me next!"
"Now that's the Rock Lee I know and love! You have defied luck once more!" his over-enthusiastic sensei shouted, as he balled his hands into fists.
Sakura and the others around the infamous sensei and student duo stared at Lee and Gai while the two of them roared like animals. But then the two of them turned to a more serious mood in less than a second, Lee leaned close to his teacher and listened to some advice.
"Now, Lee!" he shouted, "I have noticed a crucial element that no one else might have noticed about Gaara!"
"What?" the student asked, "What is it?!"
Gai leaned in close to his miniature-clone, and said in a loud mutter, "That gourd of his is weird!"
"Yes, sir!" the student shouted before he withdrew a hand-sized notebook and wrote that detail down.
Gai scolded, "Don't write it down, Lee! Now is not the time to use that old notebook! Now is the time to use fists and shoes!"
The bowl-cut sensei looked towards the arena with a fire in his voice as his face beamed like the sun and he pointed to the direction of the arena, "GO GET HIM, LEE!"
Lee roared with excitement and threw himself off the terrace and landed about nineteen feet in front of Gaara. He stood and held his arm out to the foreign rookie and invited him to strike first. Lee tried to act like a gentlemen, as he smiled at the child from the desert in a manner that was not a smirk or a mean-spirited snare.
"I am very pleased to be able to fight you," he said to his opponent.
Gaara remained silent and stared at Lee without a readable human emotion. All he did was cross his arms in a bored manner and looked like a zombie. Above, on the terrace, Naruto looked down at Lee, excited to see what he had in store and remembered his battered and bruised hands from their first encounter. The blonde-haired shinobi liked Lee's enthusiasm as well as his manners; with that in mind, he almost wished he had faced him earlier, instead of Kiba.
Naruto smiled but then he frowned when Kankuro smirked, "I don't know what this Rock Lee is able to do, but there's no chance in hell he will ever win against Gaara."
"I wouldn't count on it, fart-face…" retorted Naruto in a bitter tone.
Kankuro flinched and then he looked at the blonde-haired shinobi.
The smaller rookie then stated, "There's no doubt that Lee is a strong shinobi. I haven't seen him in action, but I bet he has a lot of secrets he's had hidden until now."
Back in the arena, Lee heard a crack and blinked. He then snatched a small dark cork in his hand that would have knocked him out cold if it hit him in the face. Somehow, Gaara had removed it and threw it at Lee, so fast that no one noticed him even move. Lee clenched the cork in his hand and crumbled it in his fist. The remains were left abandoned on the floor while Lee stared down at the silent rookie.
He warned the smaller, redheaded kid, "Please… Don't be so rash."
Gaara stared at Lee and tilted his head a little bit to the side with a discontented and heartless look.
Silence had fallen in the chamber until Hayate announced, "Let the ninth round match commence! FIGHT!"
Gai looked a little bit nervous but wished his student the best of luck. At once, Lee launched himself forward and moved faster than Kiba on soldier pills. The rookies and teachers could still follow him, but his movements were so fast that he started to turn into an emerald blur. Lee launched himself into the air and landed a solid kick to Gaara's head. But then he noticed that he never kicked Gaara in the head at all, but instead his kick was blocked with a wall of solidified sand. Gaara never even flinched as the sand reacted to Lee's foot and threw him back into the air.
Somehow, Gaara was able to control the sand that started to ooze and flow out from the uncorked gourd on his back. The sand flowed out and surrounded Gaara, like a harsh, brownish river-like cloud. Soon, a massive amount of sand started to lash out and attack Lee. It was like the redheaded rookie was able to control the sand with his mind as it slashed the air but Gaara remained motionless the entire time. However the older Konoha rookie's reflexes were fast and Lee was able to maintain a fair distance between them. Once Lee did a series of backward somersaults and landed on his feet, he faced the smaller rookie, and Gaara's sand started to recede and flow in a calmer fashion around Gaara.
{{Treetops by James Newton Howard}}
All of the students and the teachers were shocked to see the recent turn of events as Gaara revealed his secret skill.
Kakashi commented, "What a freakish technique…"
Naruto held onto the rail and stared at Gaara. He had never heard of or seen such a form of ninjutsu. He tried to think back to his earliest lessons and still could not recall. The blonde-haired shinobi turned to his older brother for answers as he continued to observe how the sand seemed to ebb and flow around the redhead.
'Harry? You think that he's controlling the sand with his chakra?'
'No. There has never been a written record of a shinobi with the ability to manipulate substance without the use of any physical movement… At least not in Konoha… But it shouldn't be possible. That is, unless, Gaara has a frontal lobe the size of a beach ball…'
Naruto continued to stare at the sand that encircled the emotionless rookie. Naruto wanted to think that the rookie was a fellow sorcerer or even a shaman, but if that were the case, he would have sensed the use of magic in a heartbeat. But with that said, Naruto still sensed an unusual aura about him, but he could never understand what it was.
Lee stared and studied the other rookie and thought, 'A technique that controls sand, eh? How is he able to control it without the need to move or weaved handsigns?'
The taller and older rookie ran forward and Gaara's sand blasted out and formed a shield around him. Lee bounced forward and delivered a series of difficult kicks. Each blow was blocked with Gaara's sand. But when Lee felt his feet make contact with the sand, the substance solidified and became as hard as stone. Lee tried to reach and attack Gaara, but no matter how fast he moved it seemed like there was an invisible barrier, like a bubble, that surrounded the unfazed rookie and shielded him from harm. Most shinobi would have thrown in the towel after a while, due to exhaustion, but Lee was tenacious and continued to attack with more kicks and rock-hard fists. But to his irritation, the sand arose from the floor and blocked all of his attacks. Gaara blinked and turned his head a bit and decided to command his sand to attack. A column of sand flowed around to hit Lee from behind, but the older rookie sensed the movement behind him; he withdrew a kunai from his holster and slashed the column into dust.
Once or twice in a row after that, the sand shifted into the form of a human fist and knocked Lee in the stomach. Lee was forced to retreat and used a few kicks and backward somersaults to escape. While in midair, the rookie threw three kunai in an effort to strike Gaara down, but then Gaara's sand reacted; the sand arose to block the kunai, consumed the blades, and then blasted them out to the sides of the arena, embedded in the walls below the terraces. One of the shuriken almost hit Hayate and he soon retreated to a safe distance from the battle as he monitored the rest of the match.
Sakura looked more nervous for Lee and commented, "His attacks are not fast enough!"
"What's the matter here?" asked Naruto, confused that Gaara was able to block out Lee without effort.
Kankuro smiled as he watched the match, "Fists and kicks will never work against Gaara. The sand that Gaara carries with him protects him against his will. That's the reason no one has ever even wounded him… He's never even had so much as a cut or even a bruise since he was born."
Naruto's turned to Kankuro for a short moment, worried about Lee and curious about Gaara's origins, before his attention turned back to the match.
Lee had become frustrated and thought, 'Dammit, he hasn't even moved at all… He doesn't even look winded from all that excessive chakra control… not even a little bit…'
"We're not done now, are we?" asked Gaara, as he continued to stare at him.
Lee flinched at Gaara's dark and raucous voice. He then started to shiver a little bit, as he watched the rookie start to form a small, but dark smile.
"I wanna have a little more fun," he said, as the sand seemed to shake and rumble like the contents of a cauldron, "I want there to be more blood…"
Lee froze as a column of sand came out from the floor and licked Lee's face. He flinched, unharmed from the attack, but then he watched in shocked as the sand carried a sliver of his own blood from his face. Gaara reached out and held the column of sand in front of him to take in the smell of Lee's blood, as if it were a French wine. He then caused Lee and the audience to shiver when Gaara licked the blood and swallowed it down. Lee then flinched when Gaara's sand shot out at him from where he stood. The older rookie bounced to the side and rolled back to the left to avoid several blasts of sand that would have crushed him. But the sand reached him in time and held Lee at the foot. Like the victims of the Whomping Willow in the Forest of Death, Lee was tossed around the room, like a lifeless doll until Gaara threw him aside and watched him slide across the chamber.
Lee was still able to stand, but he had a little trouble as Gaara bruised his ankle in the last shuffle. He had no time to catch his breath when Gaara launched a second attack, identical to his first one. This time around, however, the older rookie avoided the tentacles of sand and tried to break into Gaara's shield. But to Lee's misfortune, none of his attacks worked and were blocked with more sand that seemed to come out of nowhere.
Sakura looked bamboozled and voiced, "I don't understand it! Why won't Lee use anything other than taijutsu if physical attacks are getting him anywhere? If he uses ninjutsu, he might be able to hit that freak from a distance."
"It's not that Lee refuses to use ninjutsu or genjutsu, it's because he's not able to use either one of them," answered Gai, as he smiled and crossed his arms, "Lee can only perform taijutsu. He was born with an inability to use any form of ninjutsu and genjutsu. No matter how simple and insignificant it is."
Gai then looked down at Lee and smiled with warmth and untold pride.
"That can't be true…" stammered the kunoichi, and then she half-shouted, "How is it that he's been able to survive so far?!"
The tall and buff teacher smiled again and answered, "You missed it earlier, but Lee told Naruto about how he was born without his chakra control. But in order to compensate for his lack of normal shinobi skills, I had him focus and specialize in one-hundred percent taijutsu."
Lee ducked and swerved around more of Gaara's sand-based attacks for another ten or so minutes. But soon, the older shinobi did a series of backwards somersaults that resulted him to land on the massive stone statue at the end of the arena. Lee stared down at Gaara while he took time to settle down and catch his breath. Sweat ran down his face and started to drench his collar while he observed his opponent, and noticed how bored and unbothered he looked.
Lee then flinched when he heard his sensei shout out to him from the terrace, "LEE! TAKE THEM OFF!"
All of the students and teachers looked to Gai with a shared look of utter bewilderment, confused as to what he meant for Lee to do or remove. Some of the students believed Gai had ordered his student to remove his clothes in front of everyone.
'Ok… if I wasn't freaked out at these two earlier, like Sasuke and Sakura-chan were, I think I am now…' thought Naruto.
'Yeah… I can see where that can come across as a tad bit awkward…'
Lee saluted his mentor but shouted back, "But, Gai-sensei! You said that I should never take them off unless I defended someone who is precious to me!"
Gai threw his number-one student a thumbs-up and beamed at the rookie while he announced with that loud, incredible voice, "GO AHEAD, LEE! I will allow it this time!"
Lee smiled in excitement and even started to chuckle while he beamed like the sun at the break of dawn. He sat down on the stone statue and removed his orange legwarmers. Underneath them, Lee had hidden a series of weights set secure around his shins. He soon removed them and held them out with both of his arms stretched out.
"Oh… those are weights!" realized the blonde-haired wizard, "It won't do much, but I'd like to see how fast he can move now!"
Kankuro and Temari looked amused as the two of smirked at Lee. The older rookie let the weights fall to the floor while Kankuro and Temari made unkind remarks about the rookie from Konoha. Neither one of them believed the outcome of the match would be different, even if Lee lost a little bit of weight. But the two of them should have remembered what Gai mentioned about his student earlier after Temari and Tenten's match.
"Like that will even work." Kankuro and Temari both said.
{{Jabberjays + The Fog by James Newton Howard}}
When the weights landed on the concrete floor, both of them created two enormous blasts, like bombs, that shook the entire arena. Two sizable craters formed at the base where the weights landed, to which the audience reacted as well as an audience should at such a random and dramatic turn of events; with mouths fallen to the floor and eyes the size of saucers. Kakashi looked disturbed as he held his hand over his mouth and shivered. He knew Gai well enough to understand how intense he trained, but had no idea he would ever have one of his students do the same as he did when he started out as a rookie.
"Uhhh… You don't think that's a little bit excessive, Gai?" asked the masked shinobi.
Gai shook his head and shouted out to his remarkable student, "GO! LEE!"
"SIR, YES, SIR!" he roared back.
Lee launched himself into the air and vanished, as if he turned invisible. Gaara blinked and seemed stunned at the sudden remarkable movement. He held his breath and then he turned around when Lee came out of nowhere tried to strike him from behind. Lee's speed was unbelievable; within a fraction of a second, he ran down the arena and tried to strike Gaara from behind. His sand shielded him, but this time, the older rookie was much faster and he was able to hit closer, almost a few inches from Gaara's stunned, bloodless face. With the sand aware of his current location, Lee vanished once more, as Gaara was about to turn his head to look at him and tried to attack him from around the corner. The emerald blur that was once Rock Lee tried to kick the confused rookie, but the shield still saved the redhead from harm. Gaara darted around, too slow to catch Lee or even his sand to hold him down to look at him, as it felt like his invisible bubble started to shrink. Lee then bombarded Gaara with an endless rain of various attacks; the sand went nuts and blasted all around Gaara as Lee's fists and feet bounced off his shield. With the succession of blows and kicks made to the shield, Gaara started to become overwhelmed with the sound of Lee's attacks. He tried to cover his ears and shivered as the sounds of Lee's fists on his sand shield beat down on his eardrums, like miniature sonic booms. His knees buckled and he stared down at his feet while Lee started to hit closer and closer with each attack he threw and enclosed him into an even smaller bubble.
Kakashi commented, "He's fast."
Sakura started to smile, excited as Lee threw another fist at Gaara that almost hit him.
Gai beamed and boasted out loud, "It's because Lee has no talent in ninjutsu or genjutsu that he's devoted himself to taijutsu alone… He's devoted himself to train and immerse himself in the most advance taijutsu arts… It's Lee's dream to become a splendid ninja, even if he cannot use ninjutsu or genjutsu… And now, he's a taijutsu specialist! That is the reason he cannot lose to anybody in a physical competition of strength. Karate, kick-box, sumo; no one can beat him."
Lee vanished once more, but this time he soared into the air above Gaara. He rolled forward like a wheel and delivered an axe-kick to the back of Gaara's skull. The force of the attack threw him into the floor, headfirst and a loud crack was heard.
All of the rookies stared in shock as Lee slid backwards from Gaara and stood in a defense formation while he observed him from a distance. Kankuro, Temari, and their sensei Baki were all horrified as their comrade was thrown into the floor. Neither one of them could talk or breathe, because until now no one had ever been able to touch Gaara in combat. While the citizens from Suna stared and stammered, Lee's comrades from Konoha smiled or held their breath as Gaara twitched and tried to stand with the aid of his sand. The rookie from Suna received a cut on his cheek that resembled more of a crack, as if he were made out of some kind of rock or stone. Gaara frowned and stared at Lee, but Lee returned the look with an enthusiastic smirk and invited Gaara to come after him now. On the end of the terrace near the stairs, Naruto smiled as he watched Lee with admiration.
Naruto then breathed, "He's amazin'…"
But as the blonde-haired shinobi watched his new friend break into Gaara's shield at last, Kankuro shivered and shook the metal rail that he clenched onto for dear life.
"It… It can't be…" the rookie stammered.
And then the chamber echoed with Gai's voice, as he roared, "LEE! LET THE POWER OF YOUR YOUTH EXPLODE!"
"YOSH!" the rookie shouted as his face became filled with fire.
Lee dashed after Gaara, to which he thrust his arm forward and commanded a wave of sand to rush forward to defend him. But the rush of sand missed as Lee vanished behind it and delivered three more blows and vanished three more times to deliver another succession of blows to Gaara's shield before he landed his second hit. Lee had tricked Gaara's sand shield and socked him in the face with all the strength he could muster. The blow sent Gaara off his feet and he landed on his side as a trail of sand followed him. Gaara soon recovered from the latest hit and stared at Lee with an intense hatred.
Lee struck a pose and then he said; "Now I know that must have hurt!"
The other rookies stared at the teen with amazement and admiration. Several of the males in the room (aside from Neji) started to fear the older rookie, convinced that he would win the match and beat them into dust in the finals.
"YOU GO, LEE!" cheered on Naruto.
Lee smiled at the encouragement from his new friend and continued to watch Gaara. While the human-raccoon recovered from the second blow, the silent rookie from Suna allowed more and more sand to fall out from his gourd in a slow flood of sand.
"This is bad…" muttered Kankuro.
Naruto heard him and smiled, "You got that right! Looks like your little brother took more hits than he can handle!"
"That's not what I meant…" the rookie from Suna stated, but he didn't look like he was insulted at Naruto's comment.
Naruto heard another loud crack. All the students and teachers turned and stared at Gaara. Down in the arena, Lee's face soon feel into horror as he watched Gaara's skin crack and crumble, he watched as more and more of Gaara's skin crumbled, fell off, and turned into sand when it hit the floor. Gaara's face switched emotions in a heartbeat; his face was more wild and insane, but not like how Kiba looked when he went wild in his match. Gaara's face was much more extreme and hostile. His pupils shrunk down to miniscule size and he let out this slow but audible breath; the kind of sound a zombie would make whenever it sees a delicious human brain. Naruto noticed the look on the rookie's face, but then his hand reached out to his forehead as he felt his old scar start to throb with an intense heat. An unnatural headache, like the one he had in Ibiki's classroom and the other he had mere seconds before Orochimaru attacked him and his teammates. Naruto shivered and felt a sudden desire to leave the room, but he remained where he stood. Back in the arena, Gaara hissed and stared at Lee, with the obvious intent to kill him in whatever sick manner he had in mind.
The students and teachers on the terraces looked on in shock, as more and more of Gaara's skin cracked off and turned into sand. Lee studied Gaara's skin from a distance and realized that Gaara had been covered in a coat of sand from the start of the match, like armor. The cut, he noticed, the one he had inflicted earlier vanished and revealed untouched white skin underneath. And then the remains of the sand on the floor rose into the air and swirled around Gaara. The sand then attached itself to his naked skin and clothes, to create a new armor of sand formed and blended with his skin and clothes like a chameleon. Once the sand coated and settled all over the redhead rookie, Gaara's crazed smile faded and he stared down at Lee with newfound enthusiasm.
"What the hell did he do?" asked Naruto, "Did the sand defend Gaara from Lee's attacks the whole time?"
"It's his sand armor," said Kankuro while the blonde-haired shinobi turned to look at him, "That shield of sand around him tends to defend him out of his control whenever he senses threat or hazard. But the sand armor will protect him at his choice. It's Gaara's ultimate defense."
Naruto looked nervous and scared for Lee, "Then that means Lee can't hurt him… He won't be able to win if he can't break into the armor…"
"No," said Kankuro, "Even if that weirdo can hit all of the armors weakness, he still couldn't beat him…"
The blonde-haired wizard froze still for a moment, aware that Kankuro seemed to have formed a bad habit to tell him all about his little brother in detail. He made a mental note to not take his facts into consideration, in case Kankuro had lied the whole time. Then Naruto looked down at the match and watched the sand continue to fluctuate around Gaara and he wondered.
"But to control all that sand must take a lot of chakra to maintain all the time, of his own will or not. Not to mention that sand armor must weigh a ton. If Gaara doesn't end the match soon, he'll run out of chakra and Lee will find out how to beat him."
Kankuro frowned at Naruto. He then turned back to the match, nervous but not uncertain of the inevitable outcome.
"He won't win…"
Lee stared at Gaara, terrified, but he remained as calm as he could and blinked, more determined than ever to beat him. Lee turned his head towards his sensei and nodded to him. Gai smiled and nodded back, as if the two of them had a silent conversation no one in the room could listen to. Lee smiled and started to unravel the bandages wrapped around his arms. The bandages hung down and swung from his arms with what little wind blew inside the arena. Lee then crossed his arms and peered over to glare at Gaara with an intense look on his face.
"Don't blink!" cried out the older rookie and then he vanished into thin air.
Lee turned into a blur and ran around Gaara in a constant circle; dust and sand were kicked into the air like a twister that followed his trail. Lee moved so fast that the twister rose nineteen feet into the air and encased Gaara within the confines, untouched as he waited for the older shinobi to come after him. The audience shielded their faces from the dust and tried to look and see what Lee was about to do next.
Gaara looked bored and said, "C'mon and attack me."
Lee did as he wished and moved around the sand shield and kicked Gaara in the chin. Gaara soared into the air for a short while, but soon started to fall back down to the floor, thanks to the weight of the sand. Lee noticed this in an instant and acted as soon as he could.
The audience heard him shout, "That's not all!"
Lee soared into the air like a bullet and kicked Gaara several times; each kick sent him higher and higher while the sand that once shielded him was unable to reach him in time as it flew into the air towards him. Lee continued to kick and kick Gaara hard in the back and then the stomach. The constant waves of attacks continued until the two rookies almost reached the ceiling. Strained with the amount of force he used to kick Gaara in the air, Lee winced for a moment and went ahead to kick the smaller rookie one last time. Gai watched as his student tossed Gaara into the air, nervous as he noticed Lee start to succumb to the strain of the numerous kicks. He closed his eyes and started to pray that Lee would be able to finish the move he had saved for the exams. Beside the taijutsu master, Kakashi stared at the rookies and refused to blink, while Lee unleashed his wrappings and cause them to sliver around Gaara until he was encased.
The green genin grasped Gaara against himself and started to swirl like an electronic drill. Lee and Gaara both bolted down toward the concrete floor like a rocket.
Rock Lee roared out as he shot towards the concrete, "PRIMARY LOTUS!"
Lee released Gaara at the last minute and let the redhead dive into the floor. The collision carved a crater into the floor of the arena while an enormous cloud of dust and bits of rock blasted out in all directions. The arena shook and left all those who witnessed the attack dumbstruck. Lee stumbled as he landed. Crouched down low, he turned to examine his work with a smile of success stretched on his face. A few others in the arena were amazed at what Lee was able to do; Naruto smiled as he whistled in awe.
"Wow…" he breathed.
Gai clenched his fist and hissed, "YES!"
But Kakashi and Hayate were both anxious; as if the match wasn't even over, as most of the students and teachers assumed.
Lee held his breath and almost turned white as Gaara's skin start to crumble, like it did before. But what made Lee's skin crawl was that Gaara's sand armor didn't fall off his skin. Instead, the skin of sand sank into him, as if he were hollow. Gaara's skin and clothes all turned to the color of sand and crumbled inwards. His ears fell off while his hands turned to dust, then his feet, cheeks, and it all ended when his face was turned into sand as well.
Gaara had slid out of his sand armor before Lee had the chance to harm him.
"When did he slide out from his shell?!" shouted Gai, "He couldn't have escaped!"
Kakashi turned to his rival and informed him, "In happened while you were praying, Gai. Lee blinked too and didn't notice when kid used the Replacement Jutsu. He must have created some kind of sand clone to switch with at the last minute."
Out from behind Lee, Gaara arose out from the sand he left on the floor before he was kicked. Gaara cracked a sinister smile as he let the sand in his hair fall down his face and his shoulders too. His cheeks were lined with cracks as he smiled and broke his constant frown to intimidate his opponent.
Kankuro felt his stomach fall into his lower intestines as he shivered and stammered aloud, "T-Those eyes… T-T-Those are the eyes of the beast…"
Naruto felt his forehead throb; it burned hotter than it ever did since his encounter with Orochimaru. He wanted to leave the room at once, but like before, he remained still and continued to watch the match. The blonde-haired shinobi heard what Kankuro said and couldn't help but feel like he had heard those words before. Naruto turned to look at the older rookie, shocked to see him, so scared and frozen with fright. But soon the blonde-haired rookie focused his attention back to the match.
Lee shivered as he watched Gaara arise, taller than he would be if he could stand. The older rookie was immobilized with fear, as Gaara tilted his head to the side and smiled. The redheaded rookie then raised both of his arms and commanded the sand behind him to ascend in a sudden rush. Lee was not able to avoid the attack and was thrown around like a doll. Gaara tossed the older rookie around and he seemed to have fun while he listened to his shouts. Once the redheaded child relented, Lee tried to recover but he buckled and his muscles were too strained to let him run free.
Gaara's cruel smile continued to decorate his face with more cracks and he sent more and more sand to attack the Konoha rookie. The redheaded shinobi relished in the moment as he watched Lee become bruised and beaten. Gaara soon caused a storm of sand to blast out from his gourd and take the form of a massive wave of sand. Delirious from the blows to his head and stomach, Lee raised his head to the tsunami of earth, unable to move until he heard a familiar voice scream out to him.
Naruto had screeched at the sight of the wave, "RUN, LEE!"
The blonde-haired shinobi watched as his friend was consumed in sand. He then saw him thrown into the air; a tentacle of sand held around his foot and threw him into a wall. Lee recovered and tried to stand, no matter how much it hurt to do so, and remained alert and focused. He tried to duck down when another sand attack aimed for his head before another hit him in the stomach and the shoulder.
"I don't understand!" shouted Sakura, "Why won't Lee move around that freak's attacks, like he did before? He's faster than most of the rookies here! He should have been able to avoid them!"
"He can't," answered Gai.
Kakashi then told his student, "The Primary Lotus he used is somewhat of a double-edged sword. That technique he used is almost forbidden to teach. Because such a level of taijutsu like that requires an incredible amount of speed that puts an unimaginable amount of strain on the body. Every move he makes, sets whatever he muscles he uses on fire… And how can someone avoid an attack if it hurts so much to move?"
Sakura looked back at Lee, worried about him, even though she didn't seem to even like him that much to start with.
Lee tried his best to duck, swerve, and avoid all the sand that would have otherwise flattened him or turned him into a bloodied mess of meat. Meanwhile, Gaara continued to smile and even started to laugh; like an infant with a bundle of colorful plastic keys dangled above him for amusement. Lee was exhausted, almost unable to move as his muscles and his chest burned. But the blood in his veins rushed harder and harder as he continued to move about and ducked under a rocket of sand.
Back on the terrace, Gai had to watch as his student was tossed and knocked around and he tried to defend himself with the techniques he had taught him over the last twelve months. He then flashed back to when he first read about Rock Lee before the two of them even became student and teacher. He remembered how it said the other students liked to make fun of him for his inability to use chakra. Gai also learned that Lee didn't have friends while he was in school and no one seemed to believe in him or his dream. Back then, not even Lee seemed to believe in himself when all his efforts seemed fruitless at the time.
When Gai's team was first formed, Lee announced to his new sensei and teammates that he dreamed to become a splendid ninja, even if he could not use genjutsu or ninjutsu. Gai was enlightened at Lee's determined declaration and it earned him the right to learn what he had in store for him when the time came. After the team became official, Neji continued to belittle Lee and insisted that it was against his fate to ever succeed, let alone become a half-decent foot soldier. At those comments, Lee declared Neji as his rival and challenged him to a taijutsu match. But no matter how many times Lee would fight him; Neji decimated his teammate within moments after the match started. The rookie then determined himself to train as often as he could and become stronger. But no matter how much he trained, Lee still could not defeat Neji and didn't even seem to be close from where he started.
Gai later confronted Lee in the middle of one of his countless training sessions. Lee then admitted that he had no chance to ever defeat Neji, let alone become a decent shinobi. That was when Gai scolded his student and advised Lee that all the training and hard work would be worthless if he didn't believe in himself.
Since that one afternoon, Gai made it his personal mission to make sure that Lee received all the help he needed to accomplish his dream and be on the same level as his teammates. Gai soon became his mentor and taught him, all the while he believed in him and the student and teacher became friends, almost like a father and a son.
Further down the terrace, Kankuro started to smile a little bit as he relished at the misfortune of someone else, "That Lee will call off the match soon. I can feel it. He won't be able to handle much more. No one could."
"You're wrong," stated the blonde-haired shinobi next to him as he looked down at the match, "I haven't known him as much as his sensei or teammates, but I can tell that he is not someone who will give up until the end…"
Gai looked down and compared the Lee he once knew to the one that refused to quit his match now. He now smiled down at his student as he faced Gaara with the same confidant smile stuck on his face. He admired how far he had come since his graduation and could have cried.
Lee refused to look weak in front of Gaara as well as his sensei, so he smiled and hardened himself for the next series of attacks.
'Gai-sensei is now enjoying the show…' he thought to himself, 'Just knowing that he is watching me is enough to revive me and make me stronger… I can hear someone else too… Naruto-kun… Even he believes in me too… And I can't let either one of them down now…'
"This next move will be the last one I use!" said Lee as he stared Gaara down.
Sakura looked like she was about to have a nervous breakdown as she watched the match, "If Lee doesn't cut it out he'll be killed! Why is he still smiling, knowing that?!"
"No worries, Sakura-chan," said Gai, "Lee is about to shove back at that Gaara-kid."
Sakura looked back at Lee's sensei, curious and confused about what he meant. Kakashi looked back at his fellow jounin and seemed suspicious as he reviewed what Lee had said and what Gai was about to unveil.
Gai beamed and told the kunoichi, "After all… the Lotus of the Hidden Leaf Village will bloom twice!"
Kakashi heard what Gai had said and he realized what the two of them meant and what was about to happen next. The masked shinobi almost looked horrified as he turned to face his rival.
"Gai! You didn't-" started Kakashi.
But then the taijutsu master said in a serious tone, "Yes, Kakashi, I did."
The masked shinobi looked at Gai with such disapproval, visible on his hidden face, as well as in his voice.
Kakashi then said in an almost furious tone, "You mean to tell me that kid, who is still a rookie genin, is able to unlock the Eight Inner Gates?"
"Yes," the man nodded, "I did teach him how to do it."
The masked shinobi shook his head in disbelief while Gai continued to look at his student and insisted, "He has the talent…"
"It doesn't matter! You taught him something that is incredibly dangerous!" argued Kakashi, "The Reverse Lotus is one of the top listed techniques that you should never teach to a rookie!"
Gai frowned but then Kakashi asked him, "How many, Gai? How many of the Eight Inner Gates is he able to unlock?!"
"Five," he answered.
Kakashi looked like he wanted to punch his rival after he learned that, "You disappoint me, Gai… You of all people should know how truly dangerous that technique is!"
"That kid has something he absolutely values," the tall, muscular man insisted, "He wants to achieve his dream so desperately, that when I warned him of the dangers of what I taught him, he didn't care. He said he was willing to die in order to achieve that dream… That's the reason I taught it to him with caution. I want to help him become someone who is able to stand up to his beliefs. I couldn't dissuade him from his dreams. I had to do it."
Kakashi was shocked, while Sakura looked between the two men and tried to make sense out of the techno-babble.
"Excuse me, but what the hell are the Eight Inner Gates and what's the Reversed Lotus?" she asked.
While the conversation continued, Harry asked Naruto to listen in on Gai and Kakashi for future reference. The older wizard when ahead and wrote down all of the information he obtained and added it to a book he had on the shinobi arts, under the taijutsu section.
Gai then went on and told Sakura, "The Gates act as chakra limiters to the flow of chakra within someone. These gates must be released in preparation for performing the Primary Lotus."
"Chakra limiters?" she asked.
Kakashi nodded as he removed his headband and revealed his Sharingan and see how much chakra Lee had accessed himself to.
Gai went on to explain, while Naruto listened in for his older brother to write down, "There are eight specific points along the chakra circulatory system. These eight gates are where the chakra nodes converge. Gates of Opening, Rest, Life, Pain, Closing, Joy, Shock, and the last one: Death. These gates are also called Kaimon, Kyumon, Seimon, Shomon, Tomon, Keimon, Kyomon, and the last one, Shimon. They are all called the Eight Inner Gates. They constantly maintain limits on the amount of chakra flowing through the body. These limits are forcibly opened when the Lotus requires the use of chakra."
Kakashi took over for a short amount of time and commented, "This enables the user to draw upon strength that is dozens of times the user's usual level."
Gai took over again once he saw Lee cross his arms and hold them above his head in concentration; "The Primary Lotus you saw Lee use earlier opens the first gate, Kaimon."
"What about the Reverse Lotus?" asked Sakura.
"Opening the first gate, frees the user from mental inhibitions and the second gate, Kyumon, boosts one's strength. And opening the third gate, Seimon, can allow the user to use the Reverse Lotus…" the instructor said as he noticed Lee's hair start to rise and waver.
"W-what would happen if someone tried to open more of them?" asked the now nervous kunoichi.
Kakashi answered his student's question with, "It will have devastatingly negative side-effects. The state in which all of the Eight Inner Gates are open is a very unstable formation. Anyone who manages to achieve that state will, very briefly, be given strength that even surpasses all of the four Hokage's combined… But in exchange, that person will die!"
Sakura looked down at Lee as the others in the room felt a sudden blast of concentrated chakra come from him. Lee's skin started to switch colors and turned an unnatural shade of red and brown. The veins and blood vessels on Lee's forehead throbbed and could have burst with blood. His chakra swirled around him and emitted an incredible amount of heat and wind that silenced the chamber. Lee hid his face from Gaara and the others while the faces of those few others he still wished to fight came to mind.
'Neji Hyuga… Sasuke Uchiha… and even Naruto-kun… I will not be the one who fails! NOT HERE AND NOT NOW!' the rookie then saw the face of his mentor come to mind, 'Gai-sensei… Please watch me… Now of all times…'
Lee thrust his arms down to his sides and revealed his face, red and furious. Chakra blasted out from within him, caused his face to become red and his muscles to fluctuate.
'NOW, WHEN I FINALLY ATTAIN MY SHINOBI WAY!' the rookie then roared, "THIRD GATE, SEIMON… RELEASE!"
Kakashi watched him from the terrace, used his Sharingan so he can watch how fast Lee moved.
"FOURTH GATE, SHOMON…RELEASE!" the rookie screamed, his voice even louder this time.
His voice boomed across the chamber and almost deafened several members of the audience. More veins around Lee's face and arms were inflamed and blood started to ooze out from his nose in torrents. More chakra emitted out from Lee, so much that the concrete beneath him cracked and several small rocks from the first Lotus attack levitated around him.
Naruto said in awe in his mind, 'Lee…'
Lee took action and rushed after Gaara so fast that not even Kakashi's Sharingan was able to follow. The floor behind Lee crumbled and exploded in his wake, and the force of his kicked feet made the entire chamber shake and rumble as clouds of dirt and dust to flew out and entire chunks of concrete could have hit the onlookers. The students and their teachers took cover and threw their arms and hands over themselves. Back in the arena, Lee burst into Gaara's shield and kicked the redhead into the air. Gaara soared into the air, his back arched at the force of the blow. He didn't even know what hit him as a crack formed under his chin and he soon realized his nose almost kissed the ceiling. He felt bits of his sand armor started to crack as solid chunks fell off. To Gaara, the world seemed to slow down in slow motion. Before Gaara could even move to defend himself or fix his shield, Lee came out of nowhere in front of him; his skin red and his bowl cut hair now fixed like an eccentric rock-n-roll artist as his chakra was exerted. Gaara then felt as if he were hit with a train after Lee hit him in the stomach. The rookie from Suna was thrown back down towards the floor, unable to determine if Lee had kicked him or used one of his fists. Before the redheaded rookie hit the floor, Lee had moved behind him and hit him back into the air. The older rookie from Konoha moved so fast and knocked Gaara around the chamber so much, that it was almost comical. Gaara started to resemble the silver ball in a pinball machine while Lee and his unbelievable speed tossed Gaara around the room in a similar manner to how he treated him in the first half of their match.
Lee was relentless and started to break down Gaara's sand armor more and more. He bounced and tossed Gaara into the air but before he was about to move in for the final blow, Lee's arms shivered from the unimaginable strain he forced them under and he heard his muscles become torn. Oblivious to Lee's torn muscles, the students that watched him in awe couldn't believe that he was once the dobe of his class. But much like Naruto, there was a lot more to him as he dominated the arena.
Lee unleashed another roar and cried out, "FIFTH GATE, TOMON…RELEASE!"
"THIS IS THE END!" he roared a second time, 'Neji…I wish I could have used this when we faced each in the finals… But it looks like that won't be the case…'
Gaara held his arms over his face, frightened of the monster Lee had turned into. But his feeble reflexes were useless as Lee shot a fist into Gaara's stomach and had unleashed several white bandages to lasso around his torso. Gaara was thrown backward as fast as he was thrown when he was the silver ball. His sand tried to reach him but was too slow as Lee pulled Gaara back to him, still in midair. Temari and Kankuro were terrified with the sand shield out of Gaara's reach for the first time in his life. And now that the sand armor was almost disintegrated, Gaara had no other defenses left and Lee could defeat or even kill him with one more hit.
"HIYAH!"
Gaara was pulled forward whilst still in midair and Lee drove his fist and foot into Gaara's stomach with the sound of broken rock in his wake.
"REVERSE LOTUS!"
Gaara shot straight down and the impact of the final blow caused the concrete floor of the chamber to re-level and crumble. The blast caused air to flush out from the final hit and rocks and dust flew out and filled the entire. The room was covered in crumbled rocks and debris all over the arena. The audience shielded themselves from the violent cloud of dust but looked out to see the result of Lee's final move. Gaara's flew downwards with no form of defense to soften or cushion his fall. But then his gourd deteriorated and revealed to the audience that it was made out of sand as well.
Gai couldn't breathe while Kakashi and the others watched. Gaara had landed on the floor and a crater formed around his frail and weakened form.
Lee soon closed the five Inner Gates he had opened. His skin returned to its normal color, as he was thrown out from the dust cloud. He fell down to the floor close to where Gaara had been crushed into, as the dust in the room settled down and allowed the other audience members to see.
{{Good Morning Sweetheart by James Newton Howard}}
Almost all of Lee's muscles were torn and made it almost impossible for him to move. A distance not too far from Lee, the redheaded rookie from Suna was on his back, embedded in the rubble with his sand beneath him like a bed. Gaara turned his head and glared at Lee with so much hatred that the sand around him reflected his emotions; the sand levitated around him as strands of sand shook whilst in the air. The redheaded rookie tried to raise his weak arm and created a mutated hand to reach out to Lee. The older shinobi tried to retreat, afraid of what Gaara was about to do to him. Lee tried to crawl to the entrance of the chamber, when the sand slithered around his limbs until his left forearm and thigh were consumed. Lee let out a scream when the sand closed in on his limbs like an anaconda and reached for the last of his shuriken.
But all became silent when Gaara uttered out, "Sand Coffin!"
Lee threw his shuriken at Gaara. At the same time, Gaara closed his hand and the sand that contained Lee's limbs caved in. Lee let out a terrible scream that broke his voice but it was soon cut short when the shuriken he threw at Gaara distracted the redhead and he was forced to release his hold over the older Konoha rookie.
"AARGHHHHHHH!"
The whole room froze when Lee's shrill screech echoed across the chamber. As soon as Gaara relented from the shuriken distraction, Lee was almost rendered unconscious and fell to the floor. The sand that surrounded his arm fell off in a stream and a low hiss. Gaara's sand allowed him to stand and face the unconscious Konoha-nin. The redheaded rookie turned as feral as a raccoon as he reached his hand out to command the sand one more time.
Gaara screamed, "DIE!"
Gai looked too intense as he saw his student fall to the floor, useless and covered in blood and bruises. The instructor trembled, unable to decide to save his student or allow him a chance to continue a fruitless battle. He didn't want to intervene, to cause his student to lose at default. Gaara then commanded a rush of sand to blast toward Lee, that turned into a set of clawed, demonic hands. But before the hand had time to thrust down and crush Lee to death, an emerald blur dove into the arena and saved Lee from further harm. Gai couldn't let his student suffer much more and defended him from Gaara's sand.
Gaara cancelled the attack and stared at Lee's sensei, and Gai stared back at him with his protective and caring concern for his beloved student. The redheaded child flinched at the look and remembered the ghosts of his own past reappear in his mind like pictures framed on a wall. He then felt those pictures shatter like glass. Gaara moaned and he clenched his head as it throbbed and burned. He tried to look back at Gai-sensei's face; he trembled and twitched until he looked at him and frowned, unable to understand that look on his carved, handsome face.
"Why are you…helping him?" he asked Gai in an uncommon and vulnerable voice that reminiscent to a small, terrified child.
Gai looked back at Gaara as he reminisced his past experiences with Lee. He remembered how Lee would continue to train even when his teammates turned in and went back home. How he would smile even when he looked like a complete mess after a sparring session. Gai remembered when he first met Lee and heard him declare his dream.
Gai collected himself and he admitted, "Because… he is… a precious student that I care for with all my heart…"
Gaara frowned and stared at Gai-sensei unable to understand his words and muttered a curse word under his breath. He stood there as all the sand scattered around the chamber returned to him. Some of the sand reformed into a new gourd, filled with whatever sand was left. He then turned his back to the student and teacher without another word.
Hayate stared at Gaara and he announced, "Gaara is the winner!"
Gaara had won the match but then Gai-sensei and Gaara both turned around to see that Lee had pulled himself off from the ground and tried to stand on his own. The audience held their breath, Gai looked shocked and horrified, and Gaara seemed to be either frustrated or indifferent. Lee tried to hold his arm out in front of him and invite Gaara to attack first. Lee's left arm bled out and so did his leg. He trembled and buckled several times as his muscles and joints popped under the excessive pressure and strain. He still wanted to continue the fight.
Gai couldn't believe it. Neither could the rest of the silent chamber. Naruto trembled as he watched his new friend force himself to continue. While sickened at the nature of his condition, Naruto felt a sense of admiration bubble inside him. Lee showed a similar will of determination he saw within himself and Hinata too. But in this instance, Lee had to end it before it was too late. Gai felt as if he were six hundred stones heavier as he walked over to his student, and rested his hands on his shoulders.
"Lee, it's ok… it's over…"
Gai was at a loss of words. His mouth twitched and it didn't take much more time before he lost control and he started to blubber and sob in front of the other students and teachers.
'Lee… You incredible kid…' he thought as he looked back into Lee's face.
Lee's face had been drained until he looked dull and almost lifeless; it looked as if someone had sucked all of the life and warmth clean out of him. Gai could not hold back the river of tears that flowed down his face as he observed Lee's flavorless and cold facial features.
'Even though you've been knocked and rendered completely unconscious… You're still trying to stay true to your nindo…'
The crowds looked down at Lee and Gai with indifference, while those that knew them looked at the scene with sadness or at least understood them. Kakashi had closed his eyes and lowered his head as he watched Gai embraced Lee and held him close in a paternal gesture of affection. He held him close and then thought to himself as if the unconscious rookie could still hear him:
'Lee… You have become… a most splendid ninja…'
Gaara stared at the duo as if he were sickened or bothered with it. So he turned around and decided to walk back to the stairs and return to his team. Hayate marched over to Gai and Lee and the two of them let the rookie rest on the floor. On the terrace, Sakura was about to bounce over the rail and see Lee; unable to understand her reasons so, when Kakashi lowered his headband back over his Sharingan and called out to his student.
"Sakura," he called out.
The kunoichi turned back to look at her teacher.
"Even if you go down there, what can you do?" he asked, as Sakura listened to him and remained where she stood with the rail still in her hands, "It's only going to make it harder for him to feel better about his loss."
Sakura surrendered the whole idea to see Lee and went back to stand beside her teacher. On the other ends of the terrace, Kankuro and Temari looked confident once more and smiled as Gaara walked on, still as bitter and silent as ever. Naruto shook as he watched the Suna rookie leave the match as if he hadn't even broken a sweat. He soon couldn't take much more and ran down the metal staircase. He ran down to the arena, moved around Gaara, but for one moment the two of them looked at each other. For that one moment, the whole world seemed to slow down and the two rookies took their time to look at each other; Gaara looked indifferent while Naruto was bitter and scowled at the redheaded shinobi.
'How can someone as talented as Lee ever lose to someone like him?'
'I don't know… But no matter the case, it wasn't a fair match…'
Kakashi looked down at Naruto and let out a difficult breath, as if he understood how his blonde-haired student felt about the match, 'Naruto…'
"Get the medical team over here! Now!" ordered Hayate, "WHAT THE HELL IS THE MATTER WITH YOU PEOPLE?!"
The medical team moved with haste and laid down a stretcher for Lee. As the team worked to move Lee with care, one of the medical-nin beckoned to Gai and talked to him about Lee's condition. Naruto's arrived in time to listen in on the news the medic informed the teacher. Kakashi could hear it too with his remarkable ears and was felt nervous and worried for his rival and friend.
"He's breathing on his own, he has compound compressive fractures and multiple torn muscles. If that were the full extent of his injuries we could still expect him to recover. But, the damage inflicted on his left arm and leg is severe… Sir, I don't want to have to be the bearer of bad news, but…"
The medic-nin hesitated for a moment before he said, "But he might not be able to recover well enough to be involved in shinobi activities for some time… It could be ten months, or even a whole decade before he can return to missions or even train…"
Gai looked crestfallen and let his head lean forwards as he blamed himself. Naruto looked down at Lee, unable to believe what he heard the medic team inform them.
"L-Lee… T-T-That's sick… T-this has to be some kind of sick joke…" he stammered as he shivered at the condition of Lee's limbs.
Gai held his head in his hands and tried to hold back the second wave of tears he felt were about to burst out in torrents, 'Lee… I never once believed he could ever lose… I wanted to help him achieve his dream…Please forgive me, Lee… I should have ended the match before it was too late…'
The taijutsu master then watched as the medics took his student to the medical center. Gai was silent, miserable for his student, but Naruto was more vocal towards the medics.
"Wait! Isn't there something that can be done? C'mon! He told me that he wanted to fight Sasuke and Neji! Can't you do anything to help him? Please?!" he cried out to the medics as the team tuned him out to escort Lee back to Konoha.
"Wait-" the blonde-haired shinobi shouted until Kakashi came from behind him and held him back from the medics with a headlock.
"Calm down, Naruto," hushed Kakashi.
Naruto shoved Kakashi's arm off of him and said with a choked voice, "But… Kakashi-sensei… He wanted to fight Sasuke and Neji so much… He told me all about it!"
"That could have been what caused this unfortunate turn of events," said the masked shinobi as he continued to hold onto his student close to him, "To make that wish of his come true, he used a self-sacrificing forbidden technique in order to emerge victorious… That is the result… Lee tried to abide a wordless promise that he made with Sasuke, Neji-kun, and even you, Naruto…"
The blonde wizard held still, enlightened to know that Lee considered him to be a rival, on the same level as two of the most revered rookies of their time.
"He was so desperate and tried to head for the stage so he could have a chance to battle all of his rivals," consoled Kakashi.
Naruto tried his best to hold back whatever tears he felt were soon to run down his face while he listened to his sensei and soaked in his lesson. Neji looked down at Lee as he listened in on Kakashi as well. The silver-haired shinobi then held his student in a gentle manner as his imagined what could have happened if the same fate fell on Naruto. Kakashi rested his hand on Naruto's lock of brilliant blonde hair and messed around with his hair in an affectionate manner.
He then told him, "Don't ever forget that…"
Naruto watched as the medics took his new friend from the chamber to receive whatever aid he can. Neji also watched as Lee was escorted out, but he had much different thoughts than most of the people in the room, 'Lee… You didn't notice until the end of the match… that the heavens would never allow you to advance further… Fate has denied you your access to ever win, now and forever more…'
Lee's sensei turned around and refused to let his allies see how ashamed he was with his inactions. Kakashi turned around and walked over to Gai to talk to him.
"Gai… I must have sounded sanctimonious a bit earlier, but to be honest…" the masked shinobi looked back at Naruto for one moment before he finished with, "I would have done the same… I mean that…"
Gai flinched before he relaxed his shoulders.
"We're both in the middle of the arena. We should head back now and let the final match continue," the masked man concluded.
Gai still refused to turn his head or look at his rival. But soon he answered back, "Ok…"
To Be Continued…
There we have it!
But for the record, I want to settle this now while I still have the chance: LEE WAS NOT CRIPPLED.
In this version, Lee distracted Gaara in time and broke his arm and his leg. Not to mention, most of his muscles were torn to shreds from the Lotus, all of which result in his suspension from shinobi activities for an unknown amount of time. There are no bone remnants in his muscles or bloodstream. Instead his bones were broken at an awkward angle and his muscles need a lot of time to heal and return to normal. Lee's depression in this universe will come from the fact that he had failed to make it to the finals and be a part of the massive live event despite how much he tried to win. To him, he had risen to his highest level and was brought down lower than he's ever been since his Academy days. He also holds resentment towards Sasuke when he displays how fast he can run in combat, feeling as if Sasuke had stolen his moment of fame. But don't be too worried out there, friends, because Naruto is able to brew potions :D Naruto could visit Lee in the hospital and give him one of his miracle remedies.
Azeroth44: That's a relief! I was worried you were going to break his spirit.
K: It's still a sad scene, nonetheless.
Azeroth44: Yeah...
K: AZEROTH! STOP THROWING TEA BAGS AT ME!
Naruto: Hahaha! That reminds me: back in the original version of this chapter, didn't Azeroth44 turn into a ghost to taunt and teabag us?
K: Ugh... Don't remind me!
Naruto: We never should have used the Resurrection Stone to bring him back that one time.
Anyway, that's all I have for now! This chapter concludes the first part of Naruto Uzumaki and the Chunin Exams! Please make sure to leave me a review and let me know what you think of the chapter (as close to canon as it is) and I will start part two as soon as I can! Until next time, folks!