"As you wish," Lee answered and kicked Gaara under his jaw to make him hover before he used his Lotus Jutsu. But Gaara didn't hover. Lee noticed this as well and started continuously kicking him under the jaw to take him far above enough.
"What an amazing serious of kicks," Kakashi said. Tsukiko continued to stare at the older Genin while his Sensei started praying, clutching his hands together. She could imagine this been very straining for the body.
And it was, for Lee let out a grunt as he tried to make Gaara hover. Tsukiko's eyes widened when she saw Gaara's eyes narrow. He couldn't have done it in that span of time, could he? She gripped on the railing. Please, let this match be done with this...
"Take this," Lee said as his bandages wrapped around Gaara. "Front Lotus...!" He grabbed him and the two of them started spinning around like a tornado and Lee slammed him onto the ground, making a large crater. "That should've hurt,"
"All right...!" Guy shouted.
"I-It's over?!" Naruto gasped.
"W-What?" Kankuro stammered. "This can't be!"
"Yeah, Lee-San won!" Sakura shouted, holding up a fist.
"Hey, did he die?" Shikamaru asked, shocked. Gekko walked over to check him but then there was crackling and Gaara started breaking apart, or well the hollowed sand shell.
"Oh, no," Tsukiko groaned. "I hoped it wouldn't have been the case..."
"What?" Lee said in surprise.
"A shell made of sand...?" Sakura said.
"When did he switch? This can't be possible!" Guy said. Kakashi turned to look at him.
"When you were closing your eyes and praying," Kakashi told him. "Lee briefly paused from pain. That's when..." Gaara appeared behind Lee. His eyes were different. Tsukiko felt even more unnerved. The look was inhuman.
"There's no doubt about it – his eyes..." Kankuro muttered. Gaara threw off Lee with his sand before sending a wave of it towards him.
"Run!" Naruto shouted. Lee was hit by the wave and the wall behind him. Tsukiko's grip tightened on the railing and her knuckles turned white as she watched Gaara continuously attack Lee.
"That Bowl-Cut's totally worn down," Kankuro said. "Gaara is totally toying with him now," Tsukiko frowned as she watched the match.
"Why...? Why isn't Lee-San dodging them?" Sakura said. "With Lee-San's speed, he should be able to dodge those attacks easily,"
"It's not that he's not dodging them, but that he can't dodge them," Guy answered, clearly concerned for his student.
"What do you mean?" Sakura asked.
"That move he used, the Lotus, is a double-edged sword," Kakashi replied.
"What do you mean?" Sakura asked.
"Why do you think the Lotus move is considered a forbidden Jutsu?" Kakashi asked. Sakura thought about it. "The Lotus is not a Ninjutsu or Genjutsu. It's just a Taijutsu move that requires the user to move at a high rate of speed. The amount of strain it causes on a body is unimaginable. His body hurts all over right now, so he can't move around, right, Guy?"
"Oh, no," Sakura said as she turned to look back at the battle going on. Tsukiko frowned as she tared at Lee, who was now breathing heavily, trying to avoid the sand attacks. Gaara held up his hands in a seal. "He can't use any Ninjutsu or Genjutsu..."
"And his only hope, Taijutsu is inferior even by normal standards," Ino said.
"He can't win," Choji said.
"At this rate, he's going to..." Shikamaru said. Lee was shaking all over as he breathed heavily. Gaara attacked him once more, making him scream.
"At this rate, he will simply die with Gaara just toying with him," Kankuro said. Tsukiko spared him a glance before looking back down as Gaara attacked Lee again.
"Such meaningless actions..." Gaara said.
"The Bowl-Cut was unlucky to have Gaara as his opponent!" Kankuro said as he looked at Naruto and Tsukiko.
"No, Lee is not a guy who will surrender to something like this," Guy said, catching Tsukiko, Naruto and Kankuro's attention.
"What?" Tsukiko, Naruto and Kankuro echoed.
"That is because Lee is..." Guy said. Gaara threw Lee back once more and used his sand to strike Lee on the back, making him scream. Guy had reduced to his thoughts.
"No, Lee-San! If you fight anymore, you'll die!" Sakura shouted. Gaara sent his sand towards Lee once more but Lee dodged them.
"What?" Kankuro said in shock.
"Lee's movement..." Neji started.
"... Is back to normal..." Tsukiko gasped. Guy smiled and Lee immediately got into his stance as he faced Gaara.
"Lee-San is laughing, even when he's cornered," Sakura said as Lee continued to dodge Gaara's attack.
"No, now the tables will turn," Guy mused. Sakura looked at him in confusion. "The Lotus in Konoha blooms twice,"
"Blooms twice?" Sakura asked. "Lee-San said that, too!" Tsukiko looked at him as well. She was curiously about that too.
"Guy, who did you...!" Kakashi said.
"It's exactly how you imagine it," Guy said.
"Are you telling me...?" Kakashi asked. "So that boy, a Genin... Is capable of opening inner gates of the Eight Gates? And using the Front Lotus?"
"That's correct," Guy said. Kakashi was shocked.
"What a disaster..." Kakashi said. "Guy, how many gates is that boy capable of opening?"
"Five," Guy answered.
"What is this Eight Gates and Front Lotus thing?" Sakura asked as she had been looking back and forth between the two.
"The Eight Gates Manipulation is a preparation of taking limiters off to use Front Lotus," Guy explained.
"Taking limiters off...?" Sakura asked. Kakashi turned around to the battle and pull up his forehead protector to see through his Sharingan.
"That's correct," Kakashi said. "In the Chakra Circulatory System, there are gates in each part of the body. From the top, they are Gate of Opening, Gate of Healing, Gate of Life, Gate of Pain, Gate of Limit, Gate of View, Gate of Wonder and Gate of Death. Those are the eight places in the body where Chakra Holes are concentrated at. These are known as the Eight Gates,"
"These Eight Gates constantly control the Chakra that flows in your body," Guy explained. "But Lotus unfastens those controls with force and grants the user more than ten times more power. That is its power source. Front Lotus is a move that opens the First Gate, the Gate of Opening... It unfastens the control of the brain and enables a person to use his muscles at their limits,"
"What about Front Lotus?" Sakura asked him.
"It opens the Second Gate, the Gate of Healing, and increases one's strength forcefully..." Guy said. "And after opening the Third Gate, the Gate of Life, the Front Lotus is carried out,"
"But the Front Lotus alone wears out his body," Tsukiko cut in from the other side. "If he tries to do something more straining than that then..."
"Yes," Kakashi said. "By opening all Eight Gates, you are able to gain temporary powers greater than a Hokage. But that person will... Die," Sakura stared in shock. Kakashi looked at Guy. "I have no intention of prying into what that boy is to you, and I won't tell you to leave personal affairs out of this... But there's such a thing as a limit. I have lost faith in you, Guy,"
"What do you know about him?" Guy said looking at his rival from the corner of his eyes. "That kid has a precious thing he would give up his life to prove. So, I wanted to turn him into a man that could accomplish it... That is all..."
Tsukiko looked down at the arena worriedly. If everything Kakashi and Guy are saying is true, then Lee shouldn't be trying it like this. This match is not as important as his physical condition. Suddenly Lee flared up.
"I don't know what you're trying to do, but you're going to be finished here," Gaara said.
"Yes," Lee said. "Either way, the next move will end everything," Tsukiko gasped as she felt a huge surge of Chakra emit from Lee, she had never felt this before. Everyone watched in silence as Lee's skin began to turn red.
"The colour of his skin..." Sakura said as she stared at Lee.
"Turned red..." Naruto finished.
"What's happening to him?" Kankuro said.
"No, not yet," Guy said suddenly.
"What?" Kakashi asked, looking at him.
"Now for the Fourth Gate, the Gate of Pain... Open!" Lee said. Tsukiko clamped her hands over her mouth, shocked. How can someone be so young yet so powerful?
Lee rushed towards Gaara at a speed no one expected and kicked him harshly under the jaw. There was dust and debris everywhere. Tsukiko, among everyone else, shielded their eyes from the flying wreckage.
"Gaara...?" Kankuro said. "Where are they?" Tsukiko looked up in the air and saw that Lee had gotten Gaara into the air but he himself was not in sight. The sand was officially unable to keep up anymore. Gaara had no choice but to use the Sand Armour.
"Byakugan," Tsukiko muttered, activating her Dojutsu to look at what was really going on with Lee's body, and where he really was.
Suddenly, Lee appeared above Gaara and punched him down then appeared under him and kicked him up. This procedure continued for a while in the air. The Sand Armour was breaking away but there was something else going on –
"His muscles... They're being ripped," Tsukiko gasped as she stared at Lee's frenzied state. Neji himself stared in shock at his teammate, clearly not seen him like this before.
"This is the end," Lee shouted. "Fifth Gate, the Gate of Limit... Open!" Gaara was shocked out of his wits as well. Tsukiko could barely keep her eyes on the scene.
Lee disappeared from his sight but then Gaara was punched in the stomach, sending him down but then Lee held him up with the piece of bandages wrapped around Gaara's stomach. The sand shield was out of question. Lee pulled Gaara up and gave off his finishing move, half destroying the arena.
"No..." Guy said.
"The gourd turned into sand..." Kakashi said. Lee rolled away onto the floor and Gaara fell into a crater made by the gourd sand to defend him. Lee must be in so much pain right now, his leg muscle was pulled. Tsukiko couldn't bear to see the condition of his legs from the inside, it was repulsive.
"Lee-San..." Sakura said. Lee tried to crawl away but Gaara was sending sand towards him, and Tsukiko's eyes widened when she realised that Gaara was trying to use his Sand Coffin on the older Genin.
"Lee!" Tsukiko shouted. "Get out of there!" The sand wrapped around his left arm and leg. She stared in shock as Gaara closed his hand into a fist and Lee screamed out in pain. "No!"
"Die!" Gaara said as he sent even more sand towards him. Just before anything further happened, Guy jumped in and stopped it. He stared at Gaara, who, for some reason, clutched his head. "Why...? Why did you help him...?"
"He's..." Guy said. "He's... my beloved comrade," Gaara stood up and started walking off, his sand joining him back as the gourd.
"I quit," Gaara said, seemingly back to his 'normal'.
"He quit...?" Sakura asked.
"The moment Guy went down there, Lee lost," Kakashi said.
"Winner, Ga..." Gekko was stopped midway. Gaara looked behind and so did Guy. Tsukiko looked towards Lee and was shocked to see him standing even though he was heavily bleeding.
"This can't be..." Guy said. He hurried over to him and placed a hand over his shoulder. "Lee, it's okay. It's over. You shouldn't stand up... Lee... You..." Guy had started to cry. "You're... Are you trying to prove your way of Ninja even after you have lost consciousness?"
"So, he was no longer conscious," Kakashi acknowledged as he pulled down his forehead protector. Tsukiko's own Byakugan had deactivated itself in her surge of emotions.
"Lee... You are..." Guy said before pulling him into a hug. "... An excellent ninja already," Gekko looked between them.
"Winner, Gaara," Gekko announced. Gaara stared at Guy and Lee. Tsukiko wiped harshly at her eyes, unable to stop her stream of tears. Lee fought so hard yet he failed...
"Naruto!" Tsukiko said as the blond jumped down from the balcony and the white-haired girl followed after him as the two of them went rushing toward the fallen Genin.
Tsukiko glanced at Gaara as she passed him, and felt rather annoyed that her eyes had been teary when she glared at him. Gaara stopped when he saw the girl's long white hair flew by close to him, reminding him of how close the girl had gotten to him in the forest, and looked at both her and Naruto as they went running off to their friend.
"Medics, please hurry," Gekko said. Tsukiko and Naruto stopped next to Guy as the medical team began to look at Lee's condition as he laid there, unconscious. His left arm and leg were splattered with blood.
"Are you the Jonin in charge of him?" one of the Medical-Nins said as he turned to look at Guy once he was done having a look. Tsukiko didn't like the look on his face.
"Yes..." Guy answered, nodding.
"This way, please," the Medical-Nin said as he and Guy walked aside. The other two Medical-Nins laid Lee down carefully on the stretcher. Tsukiko followed Naruto a little closer to the unconscious boy. She turned to look at Guy and the Medical-Nin.
"He is breathing but the bones in his entire body have suffered fractures, and his muscles have been torn up," the Medical-Nin was telling Guy. "I believe it will take a lot of time for him to recover. That lone would have been fine, but..." He looked down.
"But the damage to his left arm and leg is severe. Too severe," Tsukiko's hands shook as she stood there, thinking back to how Gaara had killed the Amegakure Ninjas and now injured Lee. "It is hard to say this... But his body will no longer allow him to live as a Shinobi,"
"No..." Tsukiko whispered. The Medical-Nin bowed to Guy, who was absolutely crashed at what had happened to his beloved student. The other two Medical-Nins picked Lee's stretcher up.
"T-That's..." Naruto stammered. "That's got to be a lie," Guy walked over and stared at Lee for a while and was lost in his thoughts. The Medical-Nin took Lee away. "This can't be. Tell me it isn't... What's the Bushy Brows supposed to do if he's told that?!"
"Naruto..." Tsukiko whispered, holding onto her eyes to avoid crying but it was difficult to do after seeing Lee in such a horrible condition, and the look on Guy's face, and the look on the Medical-Nin's face, and how Lee's insides looked like right now...
"He said that a dropout was going to defeat a genius through hard work...!" Naruto shouted, shaking. "Can't something be done?!" Kakashi appeared behind him and tried to quieten him.
"Calm down, Naruto," Kakashi said as he placed his hand over the blond's mouth and stopped him front following the Medical-Nins. Naruto pushed off his arm.
"But... Kakashi Sensei..." Naruto said. "He kept saying he wanted to fight Sasuke and Neji!" Tsukiko chewed on her lips.
"That may have caused this unfortunate incident," Kakashi said. "To make those wishes come true, he used a self-damaging forbidden Jutsu to try and win, and that is the result. He tried to abide by the wordless promise that he made with Sasuke, Neji, Tsukiko and you, Naruto. He desperately tried to head for the stage so he could fight you guys," He placed a hand on his head. "Don't forget that,"
"Kakashi Sensei..." Tsukiko muttered, watching the Medical-Nins disappear around the corner with Lee on the stretcher. She glared at Gaara, who was still standing in the arena. He stared back at her with his usual emotionless look. Kakashi patted Tsukiko's shoulder.
"Guy," Kakashi said, turning around and walking over. "I was kind of being preachy up there, but after thinking about it... If I were in your position, I would have done the same..." He looked at Naruto and Tsukiko and then at Guy. "Guy, we're in the way for the next match. Come on, let's go back up,"
"Okay," Guy said after a few moments of silence. Kakashi led Tsukiko and Naruto back up to the balcony. The white-haired girl continued to glare at Gaara, who was back to his own sister and Sensei. She understood it was a fight but he went too far.
Tsukiko knew that it was just her superficial thinking that people would be kind to each other. She has been disappointed again and again yet she always expected people to be kinder. Just because she prefers a fair fight and abiding by the rules, doesn't mean everyone else is going to do the same.
The thing was, Tsukiko couldn't understand why it hurt and angered her the most when Gaara did it. She had seen Zabuza and Haku attempt killing her and her teammates and Tazuna, yet it hurt the most when Gaara did it. Was it because he, like her and Naruto, was also a Jinchuriki? It had to be.
Tsukiko could not stand watching another Jinchuriki act like this. To be swallowed by the hate of the tailed beast inside of him. She knew that she had it easy with Okuninushi, the two of them treated each other as equals. But everyone else considered them beasts.
"The 11th and final match," Gekko announced. "Fighters, step up," Dosu from Otogakure and Chouji from Asuma's team stepped up. "Now, 10th match, begin,"
"Do your best!" Shikamaru called.
"Fatty!" Ino called out. That annoyed Choji, something that Ino was trying to do. A couple veins popped out angrily.
"Damn it, they're going to get it!" Choji shouted. "I'm going to finish this match quickly, then beat them to a pulp!"
"Then I'll finish this match without fooling around..." Dosu said. "Mr Fatty," Choji's eyes flared up and he turned around.
"Are you talking to me, you bandaged imp?!" Choji shouted. "Multi-Size Jutsu," He grew in size around the abdominal area and then went onto the next Jutsu. "And Leaf-Style Taijutsu: Human Bullet Tank," Choji tucked in his limbs and used Chakra to propel himself into a powerful roll. "I just have to protect my ears!" He went rolling towards Dosu. "Hurray for big-boned people,"
"Alright, crush him, Choji!" Ino shouted. Choji rolled around for Dosu, who dodged him around and then made him crash into the wall and get stuck. Dosu jumped.
"You're not able to move like that, now," Dosu said. "I will take advantage of that!" He punched him but it didn't have any effect on him.
"I have ear plugs, so it's no use!" Choji said.
"No, it's over for you," Dosu said. He used his sonic sound waves as his hand was still on Chouji. The Akimichi shook all over. There was a loud puff, smoke and Choji was there, finished with the fight. "More than 70% of the human body is mad of water, and water transmits sound. In other words, your whole body is an ear,"
"Winner, Dosu Kanata," Gekko declared. The Medical-Ninjas rushed over to the passed out Choji on the floor. Tsukiko rubbed her face. That was awfully quick.
"Are you okay?" one of the Medical-Nins asked.
"I want to eat meat," Choji forced out.
"The opponent went easy on him," Shikamaru said.
"He lost, but I guess I can take him to eat barbeque," Asuma said. Gekko walked to the head of the ground and looked up.
"That concludes the Third Exam's preliminary matches," Gekko announced. "Those who won their matches, please come downstairs,"
Tsukiko and Naruto nodded at Sakura and Kakashi before they headed downstairs to the head of the arena where Gekko was now joined by Anko and Ibiki on the lower ground while the Third Hokage stood in the back, watching over them.
"To those who have made it to the main matches of the Third Exam of the Chunin Exams... All except for one are here, so congratulations," Gekko said. Tsukiko glanced next to her and at those who had passed along with here.
Sasuke, Tsukiko, Shikamaru, Naruto, Neji, Shino made six Konohagakure Genins; Kankuro, Temari and Gaara made three Sunagakure Genins, and Dosu made one Otogakure Genin who passed to the next level. Only two females, too...
"I will now begin the explanation for the main matches," Hiruzen said. "Your main match fights will be shown in front of everyone. We wish for all of you to show off your abilities as your country's representative power. Therefore, the main matches will begin in one month,"
"We're not going to do it right here, right now?" Naruto asked. Tsukiko gave him a tired look, does he really want to keep fighting and fighting when they could get some rest?
"The one month is a time to conduct appropriate preparations," Hiruzen replied.
"What do you mean?" Neji asked.
"In other words, we are going to announce to the feudal lords and head ninja of the individual countries that the preliminary matches have ended," Hiruzen explained. "And time is needed to gather those people for the main matches. This is also preparation time for you candidates,"
"I still don't understand," Kankuro said. "What do you mean?" Tsukiko gave him a look over his younger brother's head, ignoring Gaara entirely between them.
"This time is used so you can know your enemy and yourself better," Hiruzen informed. "It is a time to analyse the information you have gathered during the preliminary matches. The battles we had were just like real combat situations. It has been done where both parties knew nothing of each other.
"But the main matches will not be like that. There are those who have revealed everything to their rivals. To make this fair, work hard and improve yourselves on your own in the next month. So, I want to let you guys go, but... There is something important we must do before the main matches,"
"What is it?" Naruto demanded. "I have to hurry and train!"
"Don't get so hasty!" Hiruzen said. "Take a piece from the box that Anko is holding,"
"I'll walk, so take it in turns," Anko said. "Take just one," Anko walked through the line of the remaining Genins and each of them picked out a paper as ordered.
"Okay, everyone got one?" Ibiki called out. Everyone, including Tsukiko, nodded in response. "Now, tell me what number you got, starting from the left,"
"I'm eight," Dosu said.
"I'm one, dattebayo," Naruto said.
"Ten," Temari said.
"Five," Kankuro said.
"Three," Gaara said.
"Seven, Usa," Tsukiko said.
"Two," Neji said.
"Nine," Shikamaru said.
"Six," Shino said.
"So, he must be four," Ibiki said, referring to Sasuke.
"Yes," Hiruzen said. "We will now tell you the match ups for the tournament," Tsukiko looked up in surprise. So, this is what they picked them out for?
"What?" Naruto said in shock.
"That's what we drew for?" Shikamaru said.
"Ibiki, show the matchups," Hiruzen said.
"Sir," Ibiki said before holding up the clipboard. The fighting match-up was rather simple, and everyone glanced at their opponents:
First set: Naruto versus Neji. Second set: Gaara versus Sasuke. Third set: Kankuro versus Shino. Fourth set: Tsukiko versus Dosu. Fifth set: Shikamaru versus Temari. Those who won from first and second sets would go against each other in semi-finals.
As for the third, fourth and fifth sets, it was somewhat different. The person who would win from the fifth set would have to battle the winner from fourth set before the person would go forward and battle the winner of the third set in semi-finals.
"I have a question," Shikamaru said, raising his hand. Hiruzen nodded. "If it's a tournament, that means there's only one winner, right? Does that mean that only one person can become a Chunin?"
"No, that's not how it is," Hiruzen said. "These main matches will have judges, including me, Kazekage, as well as the feudal lords and head ninja from the other countries, who will be potential clients. These judges will grade you by watching you in the tournament and those who are qualified to be a Chunin, even if they lose in the first round, will become a Chunin,"
"So, there's a possibility that everyone here can become a Chunin?" Temari asked.
"Yes, but that also means that it's possible for no one to become a Chnin," Hiruzen said. "Winning the matches in the tournament means that you are able to show off your skills more, understand, Shikamaru-Kun?" Shikamaru was obviously finding this troublesome. "That is all. We are adjourned until the next month,"
☾