~Scroll 43~
Lee slipped into a comfortable stance as he faced his opponent while Gaara continued to look impassively at the strangely exuberant teen.
Up in the balcony, Kankuro smirked before turning to the petite blonde, who seemed to have some sort of ability to keep his brother relatively calm.
"I don't know what tricks this bowl-cut kid has up his sleeve," The Noh-masked teen remarked, "but there's no way he'll win against Gaara."
Naruto was quiet.
"Lee's stronger than you think." The petite blonde replied; neither agreeing nor disagreeing with the Suna Nin in regards to the outcome of the fight. As the small shinobi can sense the hidden youki within the redhead being barely contained, Naruto could not honestly say if Lee's Iron Fist Syndrome would give him the advantage needed to survive a fight against a youkai jailer.
Suddenly, Lee's open hand clenched into a fist. He did not even blink or flinched.
Hayate grinned at the teen's reflexes.
"Please," Lee began as he looked at the gourd's plug in his hand, "don't rush things."
"All right then." Hayate called, "Let's the ninth round battle begin!"
Suddenly, a green blur charged at the standing redhead.
Lee twisted as he prepared his Konoha Hurricane Kick.
Sand miraculously poured from the gourd and blocked the powerful strike.
Surprised, Lee watched as the sand moved to encase him.
Lee attempted to dodge the attack; only to be knocked aside.
Finding his feet underneath him, Lee lunged into another attack.
Each assault was met with a wall of sand.
"Physical attacks are worthless against Gaara." Kankuro sneered at the Konoha shinobi's attacks, "The sand forms a shield to protect his body… independent to Gaara's will. "That's why to this day, there's not one person who has ever wounded him."
Naruto looked at Kankuro thoughtfully before looking back at Lee and Gaara.
"Then the one within has done him a disservice." Naruto whispered, causing the Puppet Master to look at him in alarm, "It is one thing to protect, but to completely shield one from danger forces the shielded to be completely dependent on that shield… it creates a toxic relationship."
Kankuro suddenly found himself unnerved by the strangely perceptive blonde. He forced himself to look away; afraid that the smaller Genin would find some truth within him that he preferred to never have revealed.
"So, why is the bowl-cut kid only using taijutsu?" The Noh-masked shinobi asked as means to quickly change the subject, "I mean, c'mon, taijutsu are ineffective and painful against that wall of sand. He needs to use ninjutsu and start attacking from a distance! Or this fight is gonna end pretty soon."
"He can't." Naruto simply replied.
"Eh… what?!" The Suna shinobi gasped in shock. He knew that there are not many ninja who could use ninjutsu or genjutsu. In fact, in his own village, a ninja that could not perform ninjutsu or genjutsu was often killed in so-called training exercises; regardless if said ninja was only a child. By order of the Suna's Kage, any weakness within their shinobi forces will be eliminated to ensure the purity and strength of the ninja blood. So, to hear that Gaara's opponent was one of those shinobi, who would have been killed were he a Suna Nin, surprised Kankuro greatly and made him wonder – not for the first time – if his people's ways were wrong.
Kankuro then watched as the bowl-cut kid was able to dodge each of Gaara's sand pillars before landing safely on the carving of a ninja's hand seal.
"Lee!" Kankuro turned as soon as he heard the Genin's sensei call out and watched as the older bowl-cut Nin gave the younger a thumbs up, "Take them off!"
"B… but Master Gai!" Lee stuttered in confusion, "You said never to do that unless I was defending the lives of people who are precious to me!"
"It's all right!" Gai cheered, "I'll allow it!"
Instantly, Lee's expression changed from confusion to childish delight as he quickly removed his leggings to reveal a pair of weights.
"Aw'man!" Shisui groaned as he covered his face in disbelief, "That has to be the most sickeningly sweet, sentimentally traditional kind of training!"
"Right!" Lee stated as he stood up with his weights in his hand, "Now I can move freely!"
"How dumb!" Kankuro snorted, "There's no way drapping a few weights will let him keep up with Gaara's sand."
"I don't know…" Naruto hesitantly muttered as he looked at Gai-sensei, "From what I know about Gai-sensei, I wouldn't be surprised if those weights –"
The arena suddenly and violently shook as Lee's weights were dropped, creating twin craters.
"Yep…" The blonde coughed while Kankuro stared dumbfounded at the craters.
"What th-?! Don'cha think you're overdoing it?!" Shisui shouted at the obliviously insane Jounin.
"Go! Lee!" Gai cheered.
"Yes'sir!"
Gaara just looked at his opponent. He slowly blinked when he watched his opponent fade. It took him a second to realize that he was staring at an after-image. It was almost a second too late for the redhead to realize that his opponent was behind him and was about to break through his sand barrier.
With each kick and strike, Gaara was confused, surprised and amazed that his opponent was getting closer and closer.
Suddenly, Gaara almost buckled under the force of a powerful drop kick. He felt his cheek sting.
"Well," Lee remarked, "Here we go!"
"Lee!" Gai shouted, "Now… explode!"
"Yes'sir!"
Gaara was startled as he watched a series of after-images fade when suddenly he heard his opponent call 'over here…'. He felt his body go flying from a jaw-breaking punch.
Lee grinned; believing that he was wearing the redhead down, but quickly, his grin disappeared as he watched the Suna Genin slowly stagger to his feet.
"… What…?!" Lee gasped, watching a thin layer of sand break off and the redhead wearing a mockery of a smile on his face. The smile made Lee shiver in apprehension.
"… This is bad…" Kankuro whimpered, "If this Gaara is able to catch Lee… he'll be toyed with and then killed."
Naruto let out a small whine as he sensed more and more of Gaara's youki seep through. He watched as the sand gather around the redhead, creating a thin layer of armor around his entire body.
"Is it some way of protecting himself from Lee?!" The blonde asked Kankuro.
"It's Gaara's ultimate defense!" The Noh-Masked whispered, unable to mask his absolute fear.
Stay tuned for the next installment of Konoha no Yoko: Chuunin Exams coming 1 Dec 2016.