"Hey you there, with the attitude. Hold on!" A loud voice called out.
"Yah! You again bushy brows!" Naruto yelled back to Rock Lee who was standing a balcony above Team 7.
Sakura let out an exasperated sigh, with all these interruptions how were they supposed to make it to the third floor in time for the start of the exams. Laying eyes on the bowl cut boy, Sasuke clenched his fists. What was with this guy? These exams were a freak show, and he was clearly the main attraction.
"What do you want?" Sasuke asked in an annoyed voice, clearly the attitude comment had been directed at him. Glancing at his pink haired teammate, Sasuke was pleased to find Sakura wearing an agitated expression.
"I want to fight, right here and right now!" Rock Lee declared loudly.
"You want to fight me here and now?" Sasuke questioned in disbelief, was this guy stupid?
Yes! My name is Rock Lee, you said it was common curtsy for a challenger to give his own name first, right Sasuke Uchiha?" The bushy eye-browed boy said, jumping down from the balcony.
"So you know me huh?" Sasuke replied, intrigued.
"I challenge you! Everyone is always talking about the Uchiha clan and how great they are. I want to see if it is true, I figure you will be a good test for me and also…" Rock Lee trailed off and stared at Sakura.
"Oh no, not again! This guy is a total creep!" Inner Sakura yelled and Sakura thought it was about time she made an appearance.
"It is obvious to me that I cannot attempt to succeed with Sakura while you Sasuke Uchiha, a youthful suitor for her heart, shield her so protectively from me!" Rock Lee said in a gallant voice.
Sakura looked towards Sasuke who glared at Lee viciously but said nothing.
"Lee I'm not interested in you, you seem nice and all but I'm not looking to date anyone. This is no time for either of you to fight, Sasuke we're going to be late for the exam" Sakura said, trying to dispel the tension.
"Oh Sakura! I love you!" Lee declared blushing and completely ignoring Sakura's rejection.
"What!" Sasuke snapped loudly.
"You're being really creepy! KNOCK IT OFF DAMN IT!" Sakura yelled, her patience gone.
"You are an angel, sent from heaven!" Rock Lee announced and blew Sakura a kiss which she skilfully dodged.
"That was a good move, but let us see you dodge this" Lee persisted, blowing kisses rapidly in Sakura's direction. Convinced she could easily destroy them all, the pink haired teen reached for her kunai knife but Sasuke was in front of her in an instant.
With little effort, the Uchiha prodigy popped every single one of the kisses Lee had blown much to the confused relief of Sakura and the eternal amusement of Naruto.
"You destroyed my proclamation of love!" Lee cried
"Shut up. She said to knock it off and you didn't listen. Keep your creepy kisses to yourself, she's not interested. Now are we going to do this or what?" Sasuke said adopting a fighting stance.
"Bring it on" Lee said also falling into the same stance.
"HOLD IT!"
Both Sasuke and Sakura turned towards Naruto who had been the source of the outburst. The blonde haired ninja took a step forward determinedly. Sakura could only shake her head, great now Naruto was involved.
"At this rate we'll never make it to the exams in time" Sakura thought to herself as she watched Naruto and Lee square off.
"I get him first, this weirdo is mine!" Naruto said angrily.
"Go for it" Sasuke affirmed.
"No thank you, right now the only one I want to fight is Uchiha" Rock Lee spoke in a calm voice.
"YEAH WELL I'VE GOT NEWS FOR YOU! SASUKE CAN'T COMPARE TO ME! BELIEVE IT!" Naruto yelled and charged forward with his fist raised. Rock Lee simply stood still, bringing his hand in front of his face.
Raising his fist, Naruto aimed straight for Lee's chest, but before he could even throw the punch, Lee had moved forward a step and gave Naruto's punch a light tap with the tips of his fingers and knocked the blonde boy to the side.
Realising what had happened; Naruto quickly put his hands out and turned his impending fall into a well-aimed back kick towards Lee who side stepped it as quick as lightning.
"Leaf Whirlwind!" Rock Lee called out as he swept his leg under Naruto's attack, sending him spinning upside down into the concrete wall of the studio. Naruto collapsed against the wall, dazed and unable to move.
This guy is better than he looks, Sakura thought as she and Sasuke stared at the green spandex boy.
"You see Sasuke, your skills are inferior and I will defeat you. Out of all the genin in the Leaf Village, I am the best" Rock Lee declared proudly, his palm in in front of his face again.
"Hmph. Yeah right. This will be fun" Sasuke said, disregarding the bravado.
Sakura snuck a quick glance at the clock on the wall; it was 2:35pm. That gave them less than half an hour to make it to the third floor and the exam room.
"Sasuke, this fight is pointless. We have less than half an hour to register. Let's just pick up Naruto and leave" Sakura reasoned but it fell on deaf ears.
"Relax. This will all be over in five seconds" Sasuke spoke loudly as he charged straight for Lee much to the annoyance of his pink haired teammate.
"Here he comes. Forgive me Gai sensei, for I may have to break the rules and use that jutsu" Lee thought to himself.
Sakura watched as Sasuke charged forward with a strong punch that would have surely struck its target, had Lee not disappeared into thin air. Suddenly Lee was above the Uchiha boy and twisted in mid-air before landing on the ground shouting "Leaf Hurricane" and performing a similar sweeping kick to that of his fight with Naruto.
I'm not moving fast enough, I've got to block him!,Sasuke thought and quickly raised his arms to his face to block Lee's next move in mid-air.
Lee raised two fingers towards his lips and before Sasuke could even blink, Lee's powerful kick collided with Sasuke's cheek throwing him backwards.
"Sasuke!" Sakura called out in a mixture of surprise and shock as the Uchiha boy hit the ground. The pink haired ninja had seen it clearly, Sasuke had his guard up and Lee had in some way gotten straight through.
The technique he's using, is it ninjutsu or genjutsu?,Sakura thought to herself as she watched her teammate stand shakily to his feet.
As I expected, he is coming back for more, Lee mused as he resumed his fighting stance.
"I've been waiting to try this out" Sasuke spoke darkly and Sakura watched incredulously as her teammates eyes turned from onyx to a deep red.
The Sharingan! When did he learn to – and it's in both of his eyes!, Sakura thought.
"Genjutsu or ninjutsu. Whatever technique this guy is using I'll see it now" Activating the sharingan and focusing in on Lee, Sasuke charged forward.
Hurtling towards Lee at great speed, Sakura couldn't help but feel admiration towards her teammate's abilities. With his Sharingan in play, Sasuke could surely read Lee's moves and beat him.
No sooner had she reached this conclusion, Sasuke was once again hit by Lee who acted with unimaginable speed. A quick upwards kick to the jaw saw Sasuke fly through mid-air, the Uchiha prodigy was able to land safely.
"My technique is not ninjutsu or genjutsu!" Lee yelled as he charged forward and immediately began throwing close up kicks and punches at Sasuke who tried his best to dodge them. Naruto had snapped out of his dazed unconsciousness to see his teammate take a crippling elbow to the stomach.
"You see, I am using taijutsu. That means no tricks Sasuke; it is just straight martial arts nothing more" Lee explained, appearing behind the Uchiha boy only to re-appear in front of him before Sasuke could even react.
"I know your technique. That Sharingan gives you the ability to read your opponents jutsu, reading his chakra and deciphering his hand movements, but it will not work on me. Taijutsu is different" Lee continued as Sasuke shot him an angry glare.
"So, what's your point?" The Uchiha boy demanded angrily.
"I do not try to hide or disguise my movements, I don't have to. Even if you can read them you still cannot stop them. You are too slow, your eyes may be quick enough but if your body cannot do the same what good is it?" The bushy eye browed boy lectured and Sakura could feel the anger radiating off Sasuke.
"I believe there are two kinds of ninja, those like you Uchiha who are born with talent and do not have to work for it and those like me who have to train for it every day of our lives!" Lee stated as Sasuke charged forward angrily and threw a punch which was skilfully dodged.
"Here is what I mean!" Lee shouted and threw another upward kick which connected with Sasuke's jaw and sent him into the air. Crouching on all fours, with a burst of chakra the green spandex boy also shot into the air and materialised underneath Sasuke.
"Dancing Leaf Shadow" Sasuke uttered reading the jutsu.
"Good eye, now I will prove my point" Lee declared as his hands twitched and the bandages around his arms began to unravel.
I have to do something, Sakura thought as she reached for her ninja pouch. The jutsu Lee was about to perform was nothing like she had ever seen before and Sasuke was undeniably going to get severely injured which would be devastating for the team.
Watching the bandages carefully, Sakura had come up with a plan; she would aim her kunai knife at one of them trapping it against the wall. And then from there… She had no idea. But before she could even throw the knife, a shuriken in the shape of a pinwheel hurtled through the air and trapped one of Lee's bandages against the wall.
"ALRIGHT LEE, THAT'S ENOUGH!" A voice called out loudly and Sakura snapped her attention to…
A turtle?
Lee immediately swung around and dropped from mid-air to the ground to kneel in front of the turtle. Sakura quickly turned her attention to Sasuke who was free falling head first toward the floor. Quickly the pink haired teen jumped into mid-air and caught the Uchiha boy, landing gracefully on the ground.
Sakura attempted to bring Sasuke into a sitting position and began to carefully heal the bruises and cuts he had sustained. The Uchiha boy was able to offer her a nod of thanks but remained completely silent.
He's really shaken up, he didn't even take the fall properly, Sakura thought as she continued to heal Sasuke who stared straight ahead focusing on Lee.
"That guy totally beat Sasuke, what the hell happened while I was knocked out?" Naruto mumbled as he watched Sakura healing the Uchiha boy.
"Y-you, you were watching us the whole time?" Lee asked the turtle.
"Of course! That last technique was forbidden and you know it!" The turtle replied
He's talking to a turtle, and the turtle is talking back…. Now he's apologising to the turtle…. Wait a minute! Could that be his sensei!? Naruto thought completely perplexed as he watched Lee make hasty apologies for the use of the jutsu.
"I'm right! It really is his sensei!" Naruto determined and ran over to Sasuke and Sakura who were now both staring just as perplex at Lee as their blond teammate had been.
"HEY YOU GUYS!" Naruto yelled as he rushed over.
"What is it Naruto?" Sakura asked in an annoyed tone.
"That thing he's talking to is a turtle, right?" The blonde boy questioned stupidly.
"Of course! What do you think it is!?" Sakura snapped loudly, attempting to help Sasuke to his feet.
"MAYBE THAT MEANS TURTLES CAN BE SENSEI TOO!" Naruto bellowed at ear splitting volume right in Sakura's ear.
"WHY ARE YOU TELLING ME? HOW WOULD I KNOW IF THEY CAN BE SENSEI TOO" Sakura yelled back just as loudly.
"You're a disgrace; you think you'll get away with a bunch of lame excuses like that? A shinobi never reveals his techniques unless it's absolutely necessary, it's such a basic rule you should know it by now" The turtle berated Lee.
Sasuke glared at Lee, how could he have lost to such a freak like that? Sakura could only stare at the scene in front of her, these exams were too weird.
"Are you ready to take the punishment for your actions?" The turtle asked.
"I uh yes Sir" Lee replied, downcast.
"Alright then, please come out, Gai-sensei!" The turtle yelled and in a puff of white smoke a man stood on top of the turtle, looking like an exact copy of Rock Lee but older.
"Hey what's shakin everybody? Life treatin ya good?" Gai asked in a loud booming voice and struck a weird pose. Team 7 wore matching expressions of horrified embarrassment and shock.
"So that's where Lee gets it from, same soup bowl haircut and even bushier eyebrows" Naruto commented thoughtlessly.
"HEY DO NOT INSULT GUY SENSEI HE IS ONE OF THE GREATEST MEN IN THE ENTIRE WORLD!" Lee whipped around to yell at Naruto.
"WELL EXCUSE ME FOR NOT NOTICING HIS GREATNESS I WAS TOO BUSY WATCHING HIM CRAWL OUT FROM UNDERNEATH A TURTLE!" Naruto screamed back with equal volume.
"HE DID NOT CRAWL OUT!" Lee yelled louder.
"Give it a rest Lee… and now for your punishment. YOU LITTLE FOOL!" Gai shouted and delivered an impressive punch to Lee's face knocking him to the floor.
Gai walked over to Lee and bent down on one knee to comfort him. "Oh sensei!" Lee shouted and ran to hug as both sensei and student began to cry sharing a tender moment like two lovers.
Naruto wore an expression of shock and Sakura looked disgustedly horrified. "How could I lose to someone that lame?" Sasuke asked himself, disturbed by the exchanged.
"Now take off! I want you to give me a hundred laps around the practice field! Show me what ya got! Run into the setting sun, run and suffer! But don't mess up your hair! Let us go!" Gai declared.
"Hey you guys just can't leave. What about the Chunin exams?" Naruto asked
Oh uh right. Forgot about that. Lee you have not only broken the rules of fighting but you have also interrupted the Chunin exams. I think that warrants a more serve punishment right? How does 500 laps sound!" Gai declared striking yet another strange pose.
"Outstanding sir!" Lee replied.
Team 7 stood staring at the latest display of insanity; Gai immediately focused his attention on them. So this must be Kakashi's squad, I'll check em out, he thought.
Naruto and Sakura shifted uncomfortably under Gai's gaze but Sasuke wore an indifferent expression.
"Say how is Kakashi-sensei?" Gai asked.
"Do you know him?" Sasuke asked sarcastically.
"Do I know Kakashi? Well people say he and I are rivals for all eternity" Gai declared proudly.
"THERE'S JUST NO WAY!" Naruto yelled.
"How dare you! If Gai sensei says it is true..." Lee began to chastise Naruto but was stopped by his sensei.
"Leave it Lee, a ninja's actions always speak louder than his words" Gai said and suddenly vanished only to reappear behind Team 7 making them all jump.
"My record is fifty wins and forty nine losses, which is one better than his by the way" Gai spoke proudly.
"What?" Sasuke asked disbelieving, although now he didn't feel as bad for having lost to Lee.
"You're kidding, how'd he beat Kakashi?" Naruto asked to no one in particular. Sakura was also surprised as this information but was more fed up with Lee and his sensei creepily sneaking up behind people than anything else.
"The fact is I'm stronger than Kakashi and faster" Gai said, giving a hundred megawatt smile to the confused genin.
Sasuke stared at Gai in disbelief, did he really beat Kakashi? Clenching his fists in anger the Uchiha prodigy glared at the floor.
"Lee, you should accompany these fine young ninja to the classroom to register" Gai said jovially throwing a kunai at the wall to release Lee's bandage. Sakura turned around to see Rock Lee retying the bandages around his hand, which appeared to be covered in scrapes and bruises.
Gai disappeared in a puff of smoke and Lee soon followed but not after informing Sasuke that he had not been the one who was Lee's main target (that was reserved for his own teammate) and promised Sasuke the next time they fought that he would be defeated.
"Eh, how about that. Looks like the Uchiha's aren't as great as everybody thinks they are" Naruto said in a casual tone, hands behind his head.
"Drop it Naruto, we're going to be late for the exam registration so let's go" Sakura said in a vain attempt to keep the peace.
"Just shut up, next time I'll drive him to his knees" Sasuke spat, clenching his fists.
"Yeah right, look who just got his butt kicked. You saw his hands didn't you? When he took of the bandages, I bet old bushy brow has been training until he drops. Day in and day out, he trains harder than you. That's all I'm saying." Naruto spoke and Sakura couldn't help but feel this was somewhat of a self-reflection as well. Sasuke seethed but beneath that he was ashamed.
"Hmph. Can't you see Naruto; this thing is finally starting to get interesting. We're finally up against worthy opponents. Chunin exams are going to test us but we're ready!" Sakura said in a strong voice, diffusing the tension instantly.
"Yeah!" Naruto yelled in agreement.
"Let's get started" Sasuke affirmed, his smirk returning.
Finally they had made it, looking up above the door the sign read 301. Team 7 stood shoulder to shoulder in front of Kakashi who had surprisingly turned up to greet them.
"I'm glad you all made, especially you Sakura. For your sake and the others" Kakashi spoke calmly. Sasuke and Naruto shot quizzical looks at their teammate.
"What do you mean?" Sakura asked, equally as confused.
"You see, only groups of three are allowed to apply for and take the Chunin exams, it's the way it's always been" Kakashi answered looking directly at Sakura.
"The decision to apply was up to the individual, right?" Sakura questioned Kakashi and immediately she knew.
He didn't think she would show up. He must have figured out somehow that she had doubts and he thought she wouldn't show. Sakura's eyes narrowed, he was essentially inferring his thoughts that she was still some weakling that would be scared off into not applying.
Sakura immediately recalled the illusion with Sasuke and that ninja was that Kakashi trying to confirm his theory. That she wasn't good enough for the exams. Sasuke felt Sakura tense up next to him and shot the silver haired man a confused look, what exactly was he getting at?
"It is an individual decision, but it affects all of you. I didn't tell you before because I didn't want the other guys pressuring you. At the same time I didn't want you feeling obliged to participate because of any feelings you might have for Sasuke or Naruto." Kakashi finished.
Sakura had heard all she needed to hear, Kakashi obviously still felt that she was easily influenced and really she would have been the one to not show up.Why me then? Why not Sasuke or Naruto?, she thought.
Surely she couldn't have been the only one nervous and doubting her abilities for the exam. But once again she'd been singled out as the weak link.
"But that is all irrelevant now, you've all come and for the right reasons" Kakashi said and Sakura sighed,irrelevant huh?
"I'm proud of you all, couldn't have asked for a better team" Kakashi smiled through his mask at his students. Sakura quickly re-arranged her facial features to mask the disappointment she was feeling.
Stepping away from the door leading into the exam room, Kakashi watched as both Sasuke and Sakura headed for the handles with Naruto in the middle.
"We won't let you down Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto called out as all of Team 7 entered the room. Closing the doors behind them, all three genin stood together.
"W-what's this?" Naruto asked as he stared disbelieving.
"Hmph" Sasuke muttered.
"I guess we're not alone" Sakura replied.