DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO OR ANY ASSOCIATED CHARACTERS

Hello all. Very little time between updates here, I was bored and had nothing else to do. I'm getting better at this long chapter thing. Anyways, hope all of you enjoy, drop a review if you wanna support the story.

Chapter 20 - Pride

Minato couldn't help but give an unnoticeable sigh at the company that he found himself in. Having to manage both the Raikage's ego as well as the Kazekage's was beginning to take a mental toll. He almost wished that Hiruzen could have been the one to receive them instead of him, but that would send the wrong message.

Much of the morning had been tense. Ever since the arrival of the two Kage, Minato had been feeling a little on edge. A was hard enough to handle on his own, throw rasa in the mix, and that's a different story altogether. The isolation of the observation suite wasn't helping, either.

"These Konoha Genin of yours are quite impressive, Hokage," Rasa stated without so much as a glance Minato's way. The match between Shikamaru and Kankuro had just concluded. Minato had noted that Rasa had yet to even tense up with worry for his children, who had both lost their matches in rather painful fashions.

A gave a grunt of amusement from the other side of Minato. "You're only saying that because they've made your children look like fools to this point," he taunted.

"Gentlemen, please. I'm sure we can come up with a peaceful way of interacting," Minato said lightly, trying to balance the two tempers on either side of him.

Rasa gave a thoughtful hum. "I suppose they do look like fools, at least to the untrained eye. Temari was completely outclassed by the Hokage's own son, something she didn't realize until it was too late. And Kankuro got overconfident, resulting in his defeat. It matters not. Gaara will ascend to victory, and you'll no longer have anything to say to me."

"Such arrogance," A muttered, earning a smirk from his personal guard, C, who stood behind him. Asuma stood behind Minato, while an unknown man stood behind the Kazekage.

"Arrogance can sometimes be confused with confidence. Rasa is most likely confident in his son, the same way that I'm confident in mine. I believe that Naruto will be the one to best your son," Minato said, though malice was completely absent from his voice.

Rasa scoffed. "Your boy may have defeated my daughter, but he'll never pas Gaara's defenses. His sand is the Ultimate Defense."

Minato decided not to press the matter further. Doing so would only insult their guest. These Chunin Exams were unprecedented as far as the attendance was concerned. Teams from three of the five major villages had taken part, after all. In addition to that, three of the Five Kage gathered together peacefully was a momentous step in the political climate of the day.

As arrogant as it sounded, Minato knew that it was only because he was the Hokage. A was more pacified than usual, owing to his respect for Minato, which was returned. And Rasa was likely wary of the power of Konoha, as well as its Kage. He wouldn't do anything to endanger his village without first carefully considering the consequences.

Below, Genma made his usual announcement of the upcoming match. "The next match will be between Sasuke Uchiha of Konoha, and Shino Aburame of Konoha."

Having exchanged words already, both Sasuke and Shino fell into their ready stances as Genma raised his hand. "Begin!" he called as his hand came down.

Sasuke wasted no time in weaving hand signs, then bringing his right hand to his mouth at the same time that Shino raised his arms, beginning to release some of his insects. Sasuke breathed out, and the ensuing inferno charred and killed many of the beetles that Shino had released. The ground was littered with their burnt husks, and Sasuke took the opportunity to press his advantage, dashing forward with a drawn kunai.

Shino drew one as well, and the pair engaged in swift hand to hand combat, the clatter of steel echoing through the entire stadium. Their movements were hard to track for anyone who wasn't a shinobi, and even then, many of the Genin still had trouble.

Obito saw everything with his sharingan, though. Including the trap that Sasuke was falling into. The old, young, naive Obito would probably have stood up and tried to yell, to warn Sasuke. But the experienced killer in him prevented him from doing so. Sasuke would face some adversity sooner or later, why not in a controlled environment like the Chunin Exams?

Kurenai saw this, giving a smile of victory. "See? Shino's got Sasuke wrapped around his thumb!"

"Sucks for you, Uchiha," Anko teased, turning to face Obito. "Guess Kurenai here is a better sensei. Does that mean that Rin is better, too?"

Obito narrowed his eyes as the snake user, leaning forward to close the distance between their faces. "I hear a lot of commentary from someone who doesn't have a Genin team."

Anko bit her lip, the playful grin on her face as she glanced down at Obito's mouth. She looked as if she had something snarky to say, but Itachi's voice interrupted them. "Obito. You saw it as well, didn't you?"

"Of course," Obito said, separating his face from Anko, leaning back to close his eyes. "The kid has to learn for himself."

"What's he talking about?" Naruto asked quizzically. The blonde's question went unanswered as Sasuke and Shino finally parted, both panting lightly, thin sheets of sweat coating their bodies.

Sasuke weaved the signs for another fireball, but before he could blow the flames, he noticed that his chakra pool was considerably lower than it should have been. Instantly alarmed, the sharingan began to scan his surroundings. It was then that he saw his mistake. A line of beetles had been burrowing just under the surface during his and Shino's hand to hand exchange. They'd emerged behind where Sasuke had been standing, but he couldn't see any of them.

Quickly, almost frantically, Sasuke began to search for the missing beetles. Then, his sixth sense gave him an odd urge. He peered over his shoulder, down at his back, seeing the entire fabric of his shirt coated with the black beetles. They'd no doubt sapped his chakra, something that he'd tried to avoid, but had fallen right into a trap from Shino.

Quickly, Sasuke cut open the front of his shirt and leapt skyward, shedding the garment as he flew. He then performed a spin, shaking off the rest of the beetles that had clung to his bare skin.

The insects abandoned his shirt, linking up with their brethren, flying towards him in a condensed cloud at the same time that another cloud, originating directly from Shino, came from the other side. Having no choice, Sasuke formed the signs to another Fireball Jutsu, using the blast to propel him upwards, further into the sky, aided by the rising hot air. Shino's two clouds of insects collided with the fireball a fraction of a second later, incinerating all of them.

Sasuke allowed himself to fall to the ground, landing lightly on one knee. He panted much more considerably than before, his chakra pool having taken an immense hit by now. He stood to his feet as Shino faced him with his usual expressionless face. He was like a miniature Obito that hid behind a coat and sunglasses instead of the sharingan.

"Losing that many insects at once was costly. It will take a while to replace them all," Shino droned. "So I suppose I should finish this quickly."

"You read my mind," Sasuke laughed dryly. An idea forming, he crossed his fingers. "Let's take a page out of a friend's book."

A shadow clone of Sasuke appeared next to him in a puff of smoke, causing Naruto to grin in the audience. Then, both Sasukes drew four shuriken in each hand, dashing forward in unison. They veered in different directions once Shino sent insects at them. The cloud split into two parts, one for each of Sasuke. The pair of Uchiha ran in a wide circle, and when they had made it to the complete opposite side from where they started, they both skidded to a stop, launching their shuriken towards Shino.

Both clouds of insects were recalled instantly, forming a solid wall of beetles in front of Shino that caught all of the shuriken, at the expense of some of the bugs. But when Shino lowered the insects, he saw only one Sasuke. His head darted from side to side in search of the missing one, but he was suddenly filled with a weightless sensation. The next thing he knew, only his head was sticking up above the ground, the rest of his body immobilized by the tightly packed earth.

The real Sasuke crouched in front of him, twirling a kunai in his right hand before pointing it at Shino's forehead. "I suppose that copying that jutsu was the one good thing to come out of that damned bell test," he smirked.

"Shino is immobilized! Sasuke Uchiha wins!"

As Sasuke dug Shino out of the ground, Obito allowed himself a satisfied nod. Sasuke panned well to get himself out of the early hole. Raising an eyebrow, the Uchiha turned his gaze upon Kurenai, who only scowled at him.

Naruto was going hysterical. "Bahaha! Sasuke used my trick! And he did to Shino what you did to him, Big Bro Obito!"

Obito rolled his eyes. "Damn brats. You're all such smartasses."

"Obito!" Guy gasped. "That is no way to speak to your students! You should be encouraging them, not insulting them!"

Rin giggled. "He's right! You should be setting a good example for them, not torturing them with your words!" she teased.

Obito clenched a fist, glancing around at everyone. "I see that it's gang up on Obito day, huh? I shouldn't torture the kids, huh? Guy, you put Tenten and Neji through a hell workout every morning. Don't talk to me about torture. Your methods aren't humane. Itachi said something about me forgetting my coffee, but that guy sleeps upside down like a damn bat. And you two," he said, turning his blazing red eyes on Rin and Anko, "are getting on my last damn nerve. If I hear one more quip during the next match, I'm outta here, you got that?"

Both rows erupted into laughter as Sasuke made his way back into the tunnel he'd come from. "The last match of the first round is between Kina Inuzuka of Konoha, and Omoi of Kumo."

Omoi, the only Genin left in the competition from Kumo, looked incredibly nervous as he made his way towards the center of the arena. The Raikage's temper was famous, so that was probably the reasoning behind Omoi's fear. Kiba had beaten his teammate Karui rather handily as well, so Omoi had added incentive to beat his match.

Obito remembered this, stroking his chin in thought. He was shaken out of them by the appearance of Sasuke, who had arrived much faster than anticipated. He resumed his empty seat between Sakura and Itachi, where he was immediately badgered by Naruto.

"Just couldn't keep yourself from using my move, huh? Well, I gotta admit, I'm pretty awesome, so I won't blame you for it," the blonde said matter of factly.

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "You're not the only person in the world who uses shadow clones, you know that, right?"

Naruto smirked. "You're not getting out of that so easily. We both know you were inspired by me."

Sasuke's attention was torn away by a flick on the back of the head. Obito stared down at him. "Arrogant little bastard. Just had to flaunt that you copied my jutsu, huh?"

"I don't see why it matters," Sasuke defended. "You copied it from someone else first."

Obito frowned, sitting back in his chair. To someone who didn't know Obito, it would seem like he was just irritable today, or a general asshole. But Sasuke knew better. That flick and subsequent accusation was Obito's way of saying good job. Only the people who really knew him would pick up on that. For instance, Guy had a knowing smile on his face, while Rin only looked up in confusion.

"Very creative, Sasuke. You did well to persevere after you fell into Shino's trap," Itachi praised from next to him.

Sasuke turned away quickly. He wasn't accustomed to praise from Itachi, either. And sometimes, Itachi's affection was still unwarranted, even after all these years. Their relationship had healed considerably, but it wasn't complete. Though they were eons ahead of Obito and Rin's fledgling repairs. They hadn't even completed the foundation yet, while Itachi and Sasuke were almost finished laying bricks.

"Thanks," Sasuke settled for the simple response at the same time as the arena lit up with blue sparks. Omoi's sword had been coated with lightning chakra, which seemed to be keeping at bay Kiba and...Kiba?

"Why are there two Kibas?" Sakura asked nervously. One was bad enough. Two was worse.

Kurenai gave a wide smile. "One is Akamaru. It's Kiba's Man-Beast Transformation Jutsu."

Sakura shuddered. "Well I miss Akamaru. He was Kiba's one redeeming quality."

It seemed like Sakura got her wish, as a particularly nasty kick from Omoi, followed by a spark of lightning, incapacitated one of the Kibas, which turned back into a whining Akamaru. Kiba grit his teeth at the pain his dog had endured, but now his fighting strength had been halved. In a desperate last-ditch attempt, he tried to engage Omoi in hand-to hand combat, but he suffered a long, shallow cut on his arm that electrocuted him in the process. He fell weakly to one knee but Omoi held his sword above Kiba's left shoulder.

Genma raised his hand. "Kiba has been defeated. Omoi wins!"

"Well that'll keep the Raikage's panties from wadding up for a little while longer," Anko cackled, glancing up at the observation suite where the three Kage were sitting.

Once Kiba and Omoi had left the arena, Genma's voice once again carried through the stadium. "We will have a short intermission before the second round begins. Thank you."

Obito stood from his seat, sliding past Guy. He grabbed Naruto by the collar and dragged him with him. "You're coming with me. We nee to talk."

Naruto gulped as he was led up the stairs, back tot he main concourse, where Obito found a secluded area to talk. The blonde looked up nervously, genuinely concerned about what Obito could possibly have on his mind.

The Fire Storm looked down, raising an eyebrow. "So, what's your plan?"

"My plan?" Naruto furrowed his brow.

Obito facepalmed. "Your plan for the next round, you idiot."

Naruto grinned. "Oh. I don't have one. We only planned for Temari, so I figured I'd just wing it against my next opponent."

"Listen to me," Obito said lowly, so that no one else could hear. "He's Guy's student. You saw what he did to Tenten, his teammate. You can't match him in taijutsu skill or brute strength. But you can more than match him in speed. Force him to come to you. When that happens, use your shadow clones and your Flying Raijin to your advantage. You'll need to hit him with a powerful ninjutsu to finish him off, though. I'll leave the rest to you."

With that, Obito turned on his heel and walked back the way they'd came, holding a hand up as he did so. Naruto smirked at his older brother figure. There were some days that he'd think of everything. It was like he was being nice rather than just doing his job. It made Naruto amused to think about how much Big Bro Obito had changed in the short time since he'd been their sensei.

Naruto chuckled to himself as he made his way towards the waiting rooms.

Minato breathed out in relief. The first round had gone swimmingly, all six going off without a hitch. Under Asuma's advice, he'd tightened security as much as he could without putting the public ill at ease. Thankfully, the rumors about an attack seemed to be unfounded, at least so far.

"Your son did well in his first match," Rasa stated, turning to give Minato his full attention, his robe adjusting as he did so. "But I wonder if he'll be able to make it past his next opponent in order to face Gaara."

"Your son hasn't passed the second round yet, either, Kazekage. What use is a question like that?" A said gruffly.

Rasa shook his head. "It matters not. Gaara's victory is a foregone conclusion."

Minato couldn't help but chuckle at that, causing Rasa to form a blaze of anger in his eyes. "You dare mock me? What amuses you?"

"Just the fact that my son has already destroyed your son's sand. In the second round of the Exams," Minato informed. He left out the part about it being done with his own Rasengan.

A smirked, loving the indecisiveness that had crept into Rasa's mind for the first time. The Raikage was under no illusions like Rasa, though. He knew that Omoi had no shot of beating Minato's son, much less the sand defense of the Kazekage's son. A was here to observe the Chunin Exams and promote goodwill between their two villages. At least that was the political answer.

In reality, he was here because of B. The fool had snuck out of the village to attend the first two rounds of the Chunin Exams when it was supposed to have been Samui who led the team of Genin. So knowing that B would most likely sneak out again, A decided to officially attend in order to keep an eye on his fool of a brother.

As much as he hated to admit it, Minato was actually a welcome sight. The pair might have been close friends if they'd been born in the same village. But they were relegated to simple mutual respect between villages due to their status as Kage. But A enjoyed his company more than most others, so there was that.

Sasuke had been dragged up next to Obito, who had shoved Guy aside so that he could sit next to his student. For Sasuke, the need wasn't as pressing, because his opponent wasn't as strong as Lee, but he figured that he would still speak to him about his strategy in order to avoid the appearance of favoritism. Itachi was chipping in as well.

"He outclassed you in weaponry, as I'm sure you're aware," the clan head stated. "How do you circumvent that?"

"I keep my distance, hit him with long range attacks, force him to come to me. I have to wait for an opening to get inside the reach of his sword."

Obito nodded. "And your attack plan? Fireball jutsu doesn't have the kind of distance you would need. And he's already seen your Headhunter jutsu, so he'll be wary of that."

Sasuke frowned in thought. "I'll just have to chain some combinations as a substitute for true ranged jutsu. I'll figure something out."

His family finally leaving him alone, Sasuke was free to return to his own thoughts. In truth, he already had a plan, he just didn't want them to ask a bunch of questions and open up holes in his plan. He needed to trust in his decisions. Naruto probably waited until the last minute to think of a plan, but that woked for him. The blonde was so unpredictable that you couldn't ever really get a feel for his fighting style.

Sasuke let out a breathy sigh as Genma finally made his way back to the center of the arena. "The first match of the second round will be between Naruto Uzumaki of Konoha and Rock Lee of Konoha."

As the two competitors made their way out of the tunnel, Guy surprised everyone by shooting to his feet. "LEE! DO YOUR BEST! LET THEM ALL SEE YOUR BLAZING FLAMES OF YOUTH!"

"GUY-SENSEI!" came the reply.

"LEE!"

"GUY-SENSEI!"

"LEE!"

"GUY-SENSEI!"

"LEE!"

The entire stadium visibly shuddered at their display of attachment between student and teacher. Even Obito found himself twitching slightly, a deadpan look on his face as Guy sat back down next to him.

In the arena, Naruto grinned as he and Lee came face to face. "No hard feelings, Bushy Brow. You seem like a really cool guy, but I have to win this to impress my dad."

"I also will not harbor any feelings against you, Naruto. I am here to win this for Guy-sensei," Lee responded.

"You don't say," Naruto's voice dripped with sarcasm as he dropped down into his ready stance.

Genma glanced between the two competitors before bringing his arm downwards. "Begin!"

Lee dashed towards naruto so fast that the blonde almost didn't have time to think. Instead of attempting to retreat, he leapt upwards, unleashing a gust of wind so that lee couldn't follow him into the air.

While airborne, Naruto created a few dozen copies of himself, enough for a small army. They all landed in unison, fanning out to surround Lee. A vicious brawl ensued, with Lee dispelling clones faster than the smoke could clear. Naruto flashed between his clones, tossing shuriken in Lee's direction in order to add an extra element to the fight.

When Lee had whittled the numbers down to three clones, he delivered a sweeping kick in midair to destroy all of them. "Leaf Hurricane!"

When Lee paused to study his surroundings, he found a smoke barrier had formed from the amount of smoke coming from destroyed shadow clones. Movement within the cloud caused it to shift every now and then, Lee's eyes darting back and forth to keep him on his toes.

When the smoke finally cleared, Lee gasped in surprise at what he saw. Naruto was laying on the ground, with Guy-sensei kneeling down to check on him. When he saw Lee, he scowled disapprovingly.

"Lee, how could you do this to your own comrade? He could be critically injured! What have I told you about holding back?" Guy demanded.

Lee looked between Naruto's prone body and guy-sensei's disapproving expression. Had he really gone too far? Lee's stance relaxed, and he made to try and approach Naruto, moving to pass Guy-sensei, but the Jonin stopped him by placing a hand on his shoulder.

"He'll never be a shinobi again, Lee. You have to learn to control your strength," Guy-sensei said.

Lee dropped his head, nodding solemnly. "Yes, sensei. I will try to be-ugh!"

Guy-sensei had punched him extremely hard in the gut, throwing him backwards by ten feet or so, sprawling on his back. When Lee sat up, the prone Naruto poofed out of existence, and Guy disappeared, replaced by a cackling Naruto.

"I can't believe it! You actually fell for it! HAHAHA!" Naruto clutched his abdomen.

Lee furrowed his brow disapprovingly. "That was a dirty trick, Naruto. Do you not have the courage to face me head on?"

Naruto grinned. "Sounds good to me."

The pair ran towards one another at blinding speed. For a moment, Lee thought that Naruto was actually going to be foolish enough to meet him in a contest of taijutsu, but the blonde created a shadow clone. Both of them released a Wind Style: Gust at Lee, grinding his movement to a halt due to the backward momentum.

Then both clones delivered a simultaneous uppercut to Lee's jaw, throwing him backwards yet again. Naruto's clone disappeared once again, the blonde returning to a ready stance. As Lee began to regain his feet, a voice from the crowd drew his attention.

"LEE! TAKE 'EM OFF!"

The Genin blinked in confusion, then looked down at his feet once realization hit him. "But Guy-sensei…"

"JUST TAKE THEM OFF!"

Lee sprang backwards, giving him time separation between him and Naruto, where he set to work on his leg warmers. Naruto almost scoffed until he saw that leg weights were secured underneath.

In the stands, Obito slumped in his chair and sent a judgemental look Guy's way, the taijutsu master only grinning proudly.

"Leg weights. Really?" the Uchiha asked, unamused.

Guy gave him a thumbs up. "They help build your strength! An excellent way to train!"

"But leaving them on during combat is detrimental," Itachi pointed out.

Rin also joined in. "Yeah, isn't it kind of the point to not use them in a battle?"

Guy's grin only grew. "I told Lee he could only take those off to protect a comrade. But I'm giving him special permission."

Sasuke silent shook his head from his place next to Sakura. "Idiocy."

Back int he arena, Lee had completed the removal of his leg weights, holding them out to his sides as he took a deep breath. "This feels much better, I will be able to move much faster now!"

Naruto smirked. "How much could those things possibly-"

Every single person in the arena fell silent when the impact of Lee's weights on the ground shook the entire building. Obito ran a hand through his hair, utter disdain for Guy's training methods being broadcast to everyone.

Before Naruto could so much as blink, Lee had disappeared from sight, a fist impacting his gut a fraction of a second later. A barrage of speedy blows forced Naruto to fall back, unable to keep up with Lee using his eyes. He tried to leap skyward and cast a wind jutsu, but Lee had followed him too quickly, raining blows down on Naruto while in the air.

For the first time since Haku, Naruto felt helpless when facing an enemy. He absorbed as many of the blows as he could, but they were too fast. He was being picked apart. When trying to counterattack, Naruto found his attempts either blocked or colliding with nothing but empty air.

Finally, out of sheer desperation, Naruto substituted with the only thing nearby that wasn't the ground. A wide-eyed Genma suddenly appeared in front of Lee while Naruto stood down on the ground, trying to catch his breath.

Before Lee could land, Naruto crossed his fingers once again, forming another army of clones to buy him some time. Three dozen Narutos rushed forward, just looking to slow Lee down for as long as possible. From back behind his army, Naruto was able to somewhat read Lee's movements, to anticipate the pattern with which he targeted the clones.

Not waiting for Lee to finish off the clones, naruto made another batch and sent them in, still studying Lee. One clone hung back with Naruto, standing right next to him. Two kicks to that Naruto, gone. Sliding diagonally to the next Naruto, punch to the gut, gone.

Naruto smirked as he figured out Lee's next target. He may be fast, but with his clones, naruto was faster. Just as Lee was about to land a Leaf Hurricane on the next clone, another Naruto appeared directly behind it, catching his leg as it passed through the smoke cloud of the first clone. Another Naruto slammed his fist into Lee's cheek before the green-clad boy was able to twist his leg free and roll away.

Naruto flashed back to his clone that stood behind the army. He winced, holding his left side. He may have caught lee's kick, but he was pretty sure that it may have bruised some of his ribs. That would have to wait until later, though. He studied Lee's movements once again, repeating his actions from before.

After teleporting to the clone that Lee would strike, naruto would personally block Lee's attacks, allowing his clones to counter. They went back and forth like that a few times before Lee seemed to grow wary. He jumped out of the crowd, separating himself from all of the Narutos. By now, Lee had worked up a sweat.

The taijutsu user nodded to Naruto. "You are a tough opponent, Naruto. You shall be the first person that shall feel this next technique of mine in combat."

Without elaborating any further, Lee placed his fists by his sides, a look of pure concentration written all over his face. "Eight Inner Gates, First Gate of Opening, open!" The veins in his forehead began to bulge out, and Naruto could sense the power increase that Lee had undergone.

Cursing silently, Naruto knew that he had to end this quickly, before Lee got any faster. Hiding behind his clones, Naruto bent his knees and grasped his right wrist just as Lee burst forward. A shockwave seemed to flow off of each impact that the Genin made with one of Narutos's clones. Whatever he'd done, it had increased his physical strength and speed far beyond the ordinary.

When Lee had demolished Naruto's final clone with a punch that sounded like it could shatter bone, he turned to face Naruto. His hair was sticking straight upwards as he stared down the blonde, who held what looked to be a perfect sphere of blue chakra in his hand. Lee barely had time to ask himself what that technique was before Naruto had disappeared, and a powerful force slammed into the small of his back.

Lee was floored instantly, all of the breath leaving his body as he was driven face first into the ground. He groaned as a pair of feet landed next to his head, followed by a kunai pressed to his neck.

"Naruto Uzumaki wins!"

Lee turned his head to look up at Naruto. The blonde placed his kunai back into his tool pouch with one hand, the other held over his left side. He extended a hand down to Lee, who took it.

"How did you...beat me?" Lee asked.

Naruto gave a half smirk. "I planted one of my marks on you when I was posing as Bushier Brow Sensei. Then i teleported to you and used my Rasengan."

"The Rasengan is certainly a powerful jutsu," Lee nodded, lowering his head as the reality of defeat set in.

Naruto smacked him on the side of the arm. "Hey, what're you so down for? You totally had me on the ropes! When you did that crazy powerup thing, I thought I wouldn't have enough time to form my Rasengan!"

Lee raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"Well, I'm not great at it yet, so I kind of have to really concentrate to make one, and it goes way slower than I'd like it to. Guess I just have to work on that in the future," Naruto said, placing a hand behind his head sheepishly.

When he'd finished smiling, Naruto extended a fist to Lee. "Good match."

"Yes. You as well," Lee smiled back, placing his knuckles against Naruto's.

The stands erupted with cheers as the pair showed sportsmanship. Sakura was ecstatic. Naruto was going to the finals! Sasuke even gave a half smile, proud of his best friend. The two Genin turned around to see Obito's reaction, but all they saw was the Uchiha shaking his head at the now crying Guy.

"Lee, you did your best," the taijutsu master sobbed. "We'll just have to train harder, and you can make him your rival, as I've made Obito mine."

"You idiot," Obito facepalmed. "Sure, he was impressive. But did you actually teach him the Eight Gates?"

Guy was dragged out of his sorrow by Obito's question. He nodded, a smile crossing his face, such a stark contrast after his sobbing mere seconds before. "Yes, indeed!"

"But isn't that super dangerous?" Rin asked, worry evident in her voice.

Guy nodded again. "Yes, but only when one uses them recklessly. As of right now, Lee can use up to five of the Gates."

"What Gates?" Sakura asked.

"The Eight Inner Gates are a series of limiters placed on your body. With training, one can learn to remove those limiters, accessing your body's full potential," Guy grinned.

Sakura tilted her head. "Then why can't everyone just learn them?"

"It takes incredible skill, and it's extremely dangerous," Guy continued. "While the Gates can grant you a power increase, they also put strain on the body that is not easy to recover from. And when the Eighth and final gate is opened, the power increase is said to make you nearly invincible for a short time. However, death occurs shortly after."

Sakura blanched at the mention of death. Suddenly, using the Gates didn't seem like such a good idea.

The lesson over, Sasuke stood, making his way towards the stairs. "Good luck!" Sakura called after him.

Obito mirrored his action from before, a thumbs up held in front of his emotionless eyes and face. Sasuke climbed the steps, giving Naruto a fist bump as the blonde descended them.

"Go kick his ass," Naruto smirked.

"Yeah."

Naruto plopped back down in his chair from before, wincing as he held onto his ribs. Obito raised an eyebrow when he noticed this. Instead of addressing it directly, he used his right foot to lightly kick Rin's shoulder.

The kunoichi turned around with a scowl on her face, but it evaporated when she saw Obito. He jerked his head towards Naruto, and Rin understood. Smiling to herself, she made her way over to Naruto, kneeling beside him.

"Let me take a look at that," she said sweetly, lifting up the side of his shirt. A circular blotch of black had already formed over Naruto's ribs. "Looks like your ribs are bruised. Shouldn't be too much of a problem to heal."

The kunoichi placed both of her hands over Naruto's ribs, her palms glowing green as she began to apply her medical ninjutsu. Naruto visibly relaxed once the bruise had receded, slouching in his chair with a look of relief washing over his face.

"Thanks, Big Sis Rin," he sighed.

Rin giggled as she rose to her feet. "Of course."

She smiled at Obito as she made her way back to her seat, thankful that he'd brought her in. Obito only regarded her with the same eyes he always had, but there was something softer in his face this time.

As Rin sat back down, Genma raised his hand. "The next match will take place between Gaara of Suna and Shikamaru Nara of Konoha."

Naruto couldn't lie, he felt sorry for Shikamaru. That Gaara guy was a monster, and he didn't think that there was any way for the Nara to pull out a victory here. He actually feared for Shikamaru's safety, something that was no doubt shared by Obito and some of the other sensei who'd been present at the Chunin Exams.

The two competitors faced off in the center, neither saying a word as Genma's hand fell.

"Begin!"

The latest cheer from the stadium reached his ears from his vantage point in the treeline. Chuckling to himself, he dropped down to the ground, landing between Kabuto and Orochimaru.

"Won't be long now," Kakashi said.

Kabuto looked between the pair of former Konoha shinobi. "What is the signal supposed to be?"

Kakashi let out a harsh grunt of amusement, his sharingan lighting up. "Oh, you'll know. All he has to do is go to sleep."

Ah, how I love plot twists. They're so fulfilling. Anyways, hope all of you enjoyed the fight between Naruto and Lee. I had the finishing move in mind from the beginning, it was just a matter of how to get there. Also, if the action is hard to follow, let me know so I can be more descriptive. Stay tuned for the next update!