Chapter 10 - Taking Control

"Much tougher than I think . . . You got to be fucking kidding me!"

Instead of launching into a full-blown, headache-inducing yell, Shukaku quietly said his words in a measured tone that he rarely used. For a moment, Gaara thought the tanuki actually sounded normal as his sand started to swirl around his body, but he pushed that aside as the sand began to thicken.

It became a swirling, almost violent cloud of earth, transporting the redhead down to the battlefield below. When Gaara's feet returned to solid ground, the sand dissipated as fast as it appeared, barely leaving a trace.

A quick glance up at the railing told him that his little 'trick' left quite an impression on the rest of the competition.

"Now what are they looking at?"Shukaku teased. "They'reacting like they've never seen a swirling cloud of sand transport a human before."

"In their defense, I doubt they have. They're not around the desert as much as we are after all . . . Anyway, if they haven't realized what I can possibly do yet, they have an idea now." Gaara reasoned as he noticed the Fire Princess from the corner of his eye.

"I see someone can't keep his eyes off a certain somebody!" The tanuki added, his voice forcing Gaara to move his gaze. ". . . Must you be so obvious?"

"Oh, shut up Shukaku!" Gaara growled, irritated by the tanuki's sing-song tone as he waited for his opponent to come down. His jumpsuit-wearing adversary threw himself over the railing with gusto, landing on the ground in a crouch before jumping to his full height with a small smile on his face.

Gaara was not impressed, but he was suspicious.

"There's something about him, something off, but I'm not sure why. . ."

"Are you sure it's not his appearance that's throwing you off?" Shukaku grumbled as Lee approached. "Look, all you have to do is kick this guy's ass and boom, you're through to the next round. . . Against you, the boy won't last long."

"You always did like to underestimate your opponents Shukaku."

"I'm a malevolent ball of chakra capable of kingdom wide destruction!" Shukaku was quick to say, a little miffed by his vessel's words. "Not that much can compare to me in general."

"Except for your own siblings, of course," Gaara was quick to point out, earning a fierce growl from his tenant. "He maynot seem impressive to you Shukaku, but for this match, I believe it is for the best that I do not follow your line of thinking. . . I hope you understand."

"Now don't get all catty with me Gaara . . ." Shukaku mumbled as the proctor checked on each competitor. "I get enough of that from Matatabi already."

"Begin!"

Assoon as the proctor gave the word, Lee sprinted toward Gaara, but the redhead didn't bother to move a muscle to counter the incoming attack. He stayed perfectly still with his arms crossed against his chest as Lee leapt into the air with a yell, delivering a roundhouse kick to his head.

Unfortunately, Gaara's sand wouldn't allow it to happen, shooting out of his gourd to form a wall between Lee's foot and the prince's head.

Lee was quick to back away when the attack failed, but the sand wouldn't let him get away that easily. It gathered into one large mass before launching forward, but Lee leapt out of harm's way. Rather than go for him again, Gaara recalled his sand, his face void of emotion as he stared his opponent down.

"He has decent reflexes," He thought as the crowd whispered amongst themselves. "I'll give him that much."

"He's still going to get crushed,"Shukaku mumbled, adding his two cents. "He won't get through the Absolute Defense with kicks and punches alone."

After taking a deep breath to gather his bearings, Lee launched himself forward for another offensive attack, but every time he tried to land a hit, the sand met him blow-for-blow. When the sand itself went on the offensive, Lee used a kunai to cut through the attacks, but as soon as the sand grew to a denser, larger size, he was forced to dodge instead of defend.

"Hmm, we got ourselves a wily one here, which means things can get very interesting, or annoying, the longer this battle drags on . . . It can go either way," Shukaku realized as the sand finally caught Lee, grabbing his leg before swinging him into the nearest wall. "Right now, I'm leaning towards annoying."

Though a little banged up, Lee was not willing to give up on his strategy just yet. When he saw Gaara's sand coming his way, he sidestepped it, letting it splatter against the wall beside him.

"Smart move. . ."Shukaku mumbled as Lee launched himself forward yet again. "This kid is a tenacious and determined brat; I'll give him that much."

"Tenacious, determined, but oh so predictable." Gaara added as he watched Lee narrowly miss getting grabbed by an arm of sand.

"That's true. He has only used kunai and taijutsu so far," Shukaku groused. "What happened to his ninjutsu and genjutsu? Does he even know anything else besides punching and kicking?"

"I don't think he has used any genjutsu or ninjutsu since this exam started. He has been heavily reliant on his taijutsu so far," Gaara answered, a sudden thought popping into his head as Lee tried to find an opening. "Or maybe . . ."

"Or maybe what?"

"Maybe he has no talent in ninjutsu or genjutsu whatsoever."

"The fuck?!"

"I know it sounds a little crazy, but maybe he's just not capable of doing either discipline," Gaara suggested as Lee dodged once again, flipping into the air before landing on top of the hand sign statue. "If he had any skill in those areas, he would have used it by now. We're getting too far into this match for him to still gauge my skills. . . If he's not going to use ninjutsu or genjutsu now, I highly doubt he's going to use them at all at this point."

"If all he has is taijutsu, then this match is over for him!" Shukaku said with a flourish of finality. "He's basically a short-range fighter who'll have to approach you in order to land a decent hit. . . He'd be walking into his own defeat at this point. This is your match to win."

"ALRIGHT LEE, TAKE THEM OFF!"

"What the hell?! Who yelled that?!"

"I believe it was my opponent's sensei. . . You know, the one who looks like an older version of him."

Gaara watched Lee's sensei keenly as he gave a thumbs up to his student, his eyes hinting at something that was only known between the two of them. Lee could only grin and nod as he sat down and pulled off his leg warmers, revealing the set of leg weights underneath. Pulling them off, he stood up with a leg weight in each hand, the grin never leaving his face.

"Ah, now that I got these weights off, I can move more freely!" Lee announced, his tone bordering on gleeful as he let the weights fall from his hands. . .

"Oh, come on! Does he really think that dropping some weights will give him a better chance in winning this bout? This boy must be crazy!"

. . . And then the weights hit the ground.

"WELL DAMN!"

And Gaara couldn't help but agree with that sentiment.

The weights imploded the ground as soon as they landed, sending large plumes of dust and debris flying high into the air. Amidst the smoke, Lee disappeared, making Gaara visibly react for the first time all match.

"The first lesson they always teach you in training? Never lose sight of your opponent." Shukaku reminded his vesselas he quickly looked around in a vain attempt to spot him.

"I don't need the reminder Shukaku . . ." Gaara thought, just as Lee reappeared, aiming his fist right at the redhead's blind spot. His sand protected him just in time, but even he couldn't help but notice that its reaction time was slower than usual.

It was something that Shukaku noticed as well.

"Did his damn fist almost get through the sand!?"

Gaara had no time to answer him as Lee suddenly reappeared behind him, this time going for a kick to the head. He was blocked once again, but vanished before the sand could grab him.

The genin in green continued his smash-and-dash tactic until he finally found an opening, reappearing right in front of Gaara to nail him with an axe kick right to the top of his head, shocking everyone in the room, his siblings and sensei especially.

"Did he just, did he just HIT YOU?!"Shukaku yelled as Lee slid away, daring to keep a smirk on his face. The redhead grimaced as his right cheek was wracked with pain, a sensation that was completely unfamiliar to him up to that point. "You better make that bastard pay!"

"I'm working on it."

Gaara swung his arm, taking a more direct command of his sand as he moved to attack Lee, but his opponent moved before the sand could touch him. ". . . Shit."

It wasn't long before Lee connected again, this time nailing Gaara right in his left cheek. The impact sent him sprawling to the ground, and Shukaku couldn't help but speak again.

"Well, well, well, this is some plot twist."

"Don't start Shukaku. . ."

"What?! I'll admit it! This boy is decent!"

"Oh really? I haven't noticed. . ."

"He's actually managed to land some good hits on you, and for fuck's sake! He's forced you to implement the armor!" The tanuki was quick to point out as the sand started to swirl. "If you're not careful, he may actuallyforce my hand. . ."

"Don't you dare think about it Shukaku!" Gaara was not in the mood for the tanuki's threat as he felt his sand armor crack off his skin. "I can handle Lee without your assistance."

"There's a part of me that thinks you may actually need it, and then there's a part of me that thinks you're just trying to save face. . . You sure you're not saying that because you want to impress a certain blonde-haired princess?"

"As if I'm doing this because I want to impress my sister."

"You know what I mean fleshbag!"

Gaara immediately tuned him out as he watched Lee unwind some of the bandaging around his wrists, tense to what he could be planning next. He sent his sand toward him, but Lee moved with no hesitation, running around the redhead in a large circle before striking him with a kick to the chin that sent him up into the air.

Knowing that time was of the essence, Lee continued his assault, kicking the prince further and further into the air until they were close to the ceiling. Gaara could barely defend himself as his sand struggled to catch up to him, but it wasn't enough to stop him from noticing Lee close his eyes and wince in pain when he delivered one of his kicks.

Before he could move, the bandages Lee had previously unwound from his wrists wrapped around Gaara. Trapping him in a tight hold, Lee grabbed hold of the redhead and pivoted him downward, rapidly spinning both him and himself as they plummeted to the ground.

"Well this is gonna sting. . ."

It was the last thing Gaara heard before he hit the ground, the impact being so great that a large plume of dust and debris rose into the air and covered much of the room. Lee soon appeared from the smoke, appearing unscathed as he landed a few feet away from the carnage he caused.

As for Gaara, his body was at the bottom of the crater, laying cracked all over as he remained perfectly still, his face the textbook definition of shock and disbelief.

Well, that was what everyone was led to believe . . .

"Okay, now I definitely need to take charge," Shukaku announced, his tone serious for once. "I'm not going to just sit back and let you get your ass handed to you in this fight any longer. I live here too, you know!?"

"I'll admit it. I underestimated my opponent. . . No man has ever gotten past my sand like he has before," Gaara admitted as he felt his sand shell break apart, thus ending his momentary ruse. "Still, just because Lee has the upper hand at the moment doesn't mean I'll let you take over in this battle!"

"We'll see about that!"

"What? WAIT SHU-"

Before Gaara could finish his statement, Shukaku's presence grew in his mind, his consciousness slowly slipping under the tanuki's influence. He felt like he was starting to lose himself as Shukaku started to take more of a front row seat, but instead of being completely forced out, Gaara felt like he was just being pushed aside as the other being took control, like a puppeteer preparing to man the strings.

The change was noticeable on the outside just as it was going on in the inside, and it was a shift his siblings and sensei couldn't ignore, no matter how much they wanted to.

They had seen it too many times now to not recognize it.

"This isn't good," Kankuro mumbled as he nervously watched his brother move.

"It looks like Shukaku is starting to take control," Temari added as she looked on with a tense expression on her face. "When that look appears on Gaara's face, it's never good for anyone involved."

"If his opponent was wise enough, he would forfeit this match right now," Baki mumbled as he looked at Lee. "Just look at him now. He's barely moving. . . At this point, I doubt Gaara sees him as an opponent at all. . . Just another "toy" to play with before he throws him away."

With a sinister grin on his face and his hands folded into a position that mirrored the statue's own, Gaara sent his sand shooting out in multiple directions before having them converge on Lee. The onslaught sent the jumpsuit-wearing ninja into the air before smashing him into the wall, sending sand and dust flying everywhere and covering the battlefield in a thick beige cloud that didn't seem to have an end in sight.

"This isn't just a battle anymore," Nanami mumbled as she took out a blue handkerchief from her pouch, using it to cover her mouth as the dust around the room continued to swirl around. "It'll be a one-person massacre if things continue on like this."

"Prince Gaara doesn't even look like he's in his right mind right now," Haruka added as she leaned against the railing. ". . . I'm so glad that I didn't have to face him."

"It's a good thing you didn't have to," Their sensei admitted as she leaned against the wall behind them. "Your skills revolve around taijutsu, just like Lee's, and even though you do know some ninjutsu, it wouldn't be enough against Prince Gaara. . . Not by a long shot."

"Thanks Ishida-sensei, your vote of confidence has brought my spirits up real high."

Her sensei could only smile at the remark before turning to her third charge, who watched the proceedings with barely hidden interest.

"Hmm, you've been silent since before this match even started, princess," She pointed out as the blonde looked at her. "Care to speak your mind like the rest of us?"

"Your sensei is right, young one. You've been very quiet so far."

The voice of her tailed beast reverberated throughout Shizuka's mind in a tone that was almost hypnotic, but the words the bat-dragon spoke were something that the girl couldn't really dispute.

"Have I really been that quiet?" She asked as the dust cleared. To everyone's surprise, Lee was still standing, his arms stretched in front of him as a large crater decorated the wall behind him.

"Quite so, but I don't mind it of course," Shizuka couldn't help but smirk at her tenant's words, knowing that Ryuna preferred her peace and quiet over continuous noise.

Knowing that her team was expecting a response, Shizuka finally gave them one.

"I highly doubt that Lee will pull off a victory, but considering his sensei is Master Guy, he may still have a few tricks up those green sleeves of his." She mumbled as her eyes followed Lee's movements.

"But what can he still possibly do though?" Haruka grumbled as she turned to Shizuka, her slightly feline-like face scrunched up in agitation as Gaara continued to toy with Lee. "As we all just saw, pulling off the Primary Lotus hurt Lee more than the panda-eyed prince himself. He can barely move now!"

"Now, now Haruka. Shizuka does have a point," Their sensei rebutted as she stepped over to the railing, her blue hair gently swaying as she walked. "If my suspicions are correct, Guy may have taught Lee a move that could win him this match. . . The question now is whether or not he's willing to make the sacrifice needed in order to use it."

"Sacrifice!? What kind of sacrifice?" Haruka quickly asked as Lee started popping in and out of view once again. "And wait, he can still move that fast!?"

"Somehow he has the audacity to appear a little smug," Nanami added as she uncovered her mouth. "Just look at him. He's smiling. . . He must have something good planned if he's going to go as far to smile in the face of almost certain defeat!"

"For Lee's sake, I hope Nanami is right."

"I doubt it."

"Way to give Lil Bushy Brows a vote of confidence Ryuna," Shizuka quickly retorted, using her brother's nickname for Lee in the process. Ryuna simply chuckled in return. "Don't laugh."

"Sorry, I couldn't help myself . . ." The tailed beast responded in return. "When you've lived in this world for as long as I have, you start to notice who wins and who loses much more easily."

"Care to explain?"

"Your fellow countryman may indeed have a trump card in his pocket, but it likely won't do him any good against the young prince, especially if my little brother has indeed started to take him over."

"Shukaku hasn't fully taken over yet, or else we all would be buried under a wave of sand by now." Shizuka pointed out as Lee finally stayed still, bowing his head and crossing his arms in preparation for his next move. "Gaara still has some semblance of control. The question now is how long can he actually maintain it."

"Not long if Lee continues with what I think he's about to do."

"What the hell is going on now?!" Haruka mumbled as Lee's skin tone started to change color. "Is, is it just me, or is he actually turning red?"

"He's opening more of his Eight Inner Gates." Ishida-sensei explained, looking on in disbelief. "I've only seen this kind of skill used only once before, but I can recognize the signs easily enough. . . It's a high-risk maneuver, allowing the user to surpass many of their limits for a short time, but it is one that has easily ended the careers of those that have used it in the past. The longer Lee uses this technique, the more damage he puts on his body, so if he's going to win this match, he has to end this quickly!"

"But what does opening more of the Eight Inner Gates do for him exactly?" Nanami couldn't help but ask as Lee got redder by the second.

"Just watch."

Lee attacked with blistering speed, breaking the floor in his wake as he landed a kick to Gaara's chin, sending the redhead high into the air. He then proceeded to pummel him, landing blow after blow as he launched the prince back and forth throughout the air, rendering Gaara's sand useless as it was too slow to stop the relentless onslaught.

Before long, Lee had grabbed the fabric that helped hold Gaara's gourd to his back. Pulling back the fabric like a yoyo, Lee slammed his fist into the prince's midsection, sending the redhead into the ground in a cloud of sand, dust, and rubble. Lee soon fell with him; his body having given out from under the stress.

"Lee looks absolutely done," Nanami mumbled. "Has he done all he could?"

"Possibly," Her sensei noted, looking slightly unsure. "Unfortunately, I don't think the prince is finished just yet."

"You're right sensei," Shizuka mumbled as she watched the scene with keen interest. "Prince Gaara has not lost yet."

"How can you be so sure Shizuka?" Haruka grumbled as she turned to her. "He seems pretty done to me."

"It's just a feeling I have," Said the princess, smirking despite the situation.

Haruka's frown only deepened in response. "Haruka, why are you frowning?"

"Because whenever you go by one of those "feelings", it's usually right," She answered glumly as the dust started to settle. "And here I thought the bowl cut had the redhead beat."

"You were pulling for Lee Haruka?" Ishida-sensei asked as the redhead finally came into view. The prince was laid out in the crater, cushioned by the sand underneath him as he stared Lee down with wide, disbelieving eyes.

"I was, for a moment. . . Lee really had me rooting for him for a good second," The brunette admitted as she watched Gaara hold his hand out toward his opponent, the sand moving with the motion. "But now, it's all over for him."

"Well, it was fun to watch while it lasted," Nanami added as the sand struck, grabbing Lee's left arm and leg in a stranglehold.

The ear-splitting yell that erupted from his mouth as the sand crushed the appendages chilled half the crowd to the core of their bones. ". . . That has to hurt."

"Now then, it's time we kill this green fleshbag and be done with him for good!" Shukaku growled, readying the sand for another attack.

"Shukaku, don't do this!" Gaara exclaimed, helpless as he watched the sand rush toward Lee. Lee disappeared from his view, but to his shock, the sand was batted away by Lee's sensei, who stood before his pupil with his arm outstretched and calm anger shown across his face

"Don't you think you've done enough?" Might Guy asked, not a hint of emotion in his tone.

"WHO DOES HE THINK HE IS?! INTERRUPTING ME IN THE MIDDLE OF MY KILLING?!"

"I believe he is someone who simply wants to protect his student from the crazy psycho that's trying to kill him Shukaku." Gaara calmly explained as he slowly got back to his feet as his sand armor started to reform itself around him, having protected him from the most grievous of injuries that Lee could have dealt him with that last attack. "Now then, I'm going to take control of my body back now. Goodbye. . ."

"Oh no you d-"

That was all Shukaku could get out before Gaara completely tuned him out and regained control. Once he was back on his feet and his armor was perfectly intact, he looked toward Guy, who was trying to stop Lee from continuing the fight, despite his heavy injuries.

Realizing that Lee was too injured to continue, the proctor gave the win to the redhead, who had already transported himself back to his team, who nervously awaited him.

"Congratulations on your win Gaara," Temari was the first to say, finally finding her voice. "That was quite the match, to say the least."

"I wish Shukaku hadn't jumped in when he did though." The redhead quietly admitted as Lee collapsed into his sensei's arms, just as the medical staff approached them.

"Hey! Despite the hostile takeover, you still got control back and won the match, and that's what's important. . . It definitely wasn't pretty, but a win's a win." Kankuro advised as Lee was taken out of the room. "All you can do now is look forward to the next challenge."

"Easy for you to say Kankuro," Gaara thought as he looked out at the damaged floor. "But still, Shukaku doesn't make things easy?"

"It's only a matter of time before I try again."

" . . . And that's exactly what I'm worried about."

A/N: Leave a comment if you like!