Н‘¾Ð‘¯Ð‘¬Ð‘Μ Ð‘»Ð‘¯Ð‘¬ Н‘¾Ð‘°Ð‘Μ𝑫 Н‘©Ð‘³Ð‘¶Ð‘¾Ð‘º €¢Ð’Ƒ𝒙Н’Ƒ• Rock Lee

The day of the Chuunin exam came. Naruto and Akashi left for the academy. Sasuke was already there, but Sakura was nowhere in sight. About 20 minutes later, she arrived. “Sakura! You’re late”. Naruto told her when she stopped next to him. “Good morning, Sasuke, Akashi”. She said. “Morning”. Sasuke replied, but Akashi stayed quiet. The Uchiha looked at the boy. He noticed how he wasn’t even looking at anyone, just staring off into the distance with no expression on his face. He’s acting weird.

The four of them went inside and stopped when they noticed a crowd in front of a classroom. Why is there a crowd here? This is the second floor, can’t they count? Akashi looked at the people there. Two guys were guarding the door above there was a number saying 301. An illusion? They started saying something about how there’s nothing wrong with sifting out those who aren’t going to pass anyway.

“That’s a sound argument, but I will pass”. Sasuke said as he went closer. The others following closely behind. “Undo the illusion you have created”. He told them. “I want to go to the third floor”. When he said that, the guys behind him started whispering. “What is he talking about?” Akashi turned around and looked at them. “Can’t you count the floors you passed? This is the second one”. Their eyes widen and they shut up.

“Oh, you noticed?” One of the guys guarding the door asked. Sasuke turned and looked at Sakura. “Sakura, what about you? You should’ve noticed first, your analyzation and illusion noticing are the best in our squad”. He told her. That seemed to boost her confidence. “Of course, I’ve noticed it already”. As soon as she said that, the number above the door shifted from 301 to 201.

“You’re pretty good, but just noticing it isn’t good enough”. The other guy guarding the door said and he jumped forward, aiming a kick. Sasuke was the closest, so he jumped in, also aiming a kick. Before their kicks could connect, a boy in a green jumpsuit grabbed both their legs. Oh? He’s fast, wasn’t he on the floor a moment ago? Akashi thought as he watched the exchange happen.

A long-haired boy walked over to the green jumpsuit one. “Hey, you broke the promise, you were the one who didn’t want to draw attention by doing something that stands out”. He told him. There was also a girl next to him, she had her hair up in two buns. Taking a closer look, Akashi noticed how pale the long-haired guys eyes were. A Hyuuga? The jumpsuit guy walked past Sasuke and stopped in front of Sakura.

“My name is Rock Lee, you’re Sakura, right? Let’s go out together, I will protect you until I die!” He declared, thumbs up and his cheeks red. Sakura grimaced. “No way…”. She deadpanned and Lee’s face feel. “Hey, you there, identify yourself”. Long-haired guy told Sasuke. “You’re supposed to identify yourself before you ask”. He retaliated. Akashi glanced at them. “You’re a Hyuuga, right?” He asked. His pale eyes looked at him. “And you are?” He didn’t sound very interested.

“Uzumaki Akashi, your turn”. Pale eyes narrow. “Hyuuga Neji”. He flatly answered. Sparks flew between the three of them, before Sasuke looked at Akashi. “Let’s go”. Akashi nodded and glared at Neji, turning away after a moment. Akashi grabbed Naruto by the hand and started dragging him away, Sakura did the same to Sasuke. The four of them headed up the stairs and towards room 301.

_

When they reached the floor, a sudden voice called out. “Hey, you there with the sharp eyes. Wait”. The four of them turned around and looked at the top of the stairs. There he was, in all his green glory, Rock Lee. “What do you want?” Sasuke deadpanned, hands stuffed in his pockets, radiating disinterest. “Will you fight me here, right now?” Akashi’s lips curled in a sneer, but Sasuke beat him to it. “Fight you right here, right now?” He asked. “Yes”. Lee answered and jumped down from the platform.

He introduced himself again and asked for Sasuke’s name. “Sasuke”. Akashi said. The said boy turned around and looked at him. “What?” He flatly responded. “Let’s not waste any time”. He looked pointedly at Lee. This behavior was unusual for the red haired boy and Sasuke was taken aback. What could have possibly caused such a drastic shift? He didn’t know. Huffing out a breath, He turned back to Lee. “This won’t take long”. Lee went into a stance. “I want to fight you”. He said he wondered about how effective his moves would be against a descendant of the Uchiha clan.

He turned to Sakura and proclaimed his love, causing Sakura to scream out in disgust. Sasuke called Lee ignorant. “Do you want to see what the name of Uchiha is capable of, fuzzy brows?” He challenged him. “Please”. Lee accepted the challenge. Before the match could even begin, Naruto interrupted them. “I will fight him”. He said, making a tick mark appear on Akashi’s forehead. “Oh no you won’t!” He stomped over to him and slapped the back of his head. “Stop butting in on other people’s business!” He raised a fist and glared at him.

Naruto grabbed the back of his head in pain and took a step back. “Huh?! Why are you so violent these past days?! It hurts!” He exclaimed. “You’ve been so weird for a while now”. He continued, glancing at his brother. Akashi blinked and furrowed his brows, he opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted. “I don’t want to fight you, I want to fight the Uchiha”. Lee said. That made Naruto mad and he dashed at Lee. “Damn it! Everyone’s annoying me with this ‘Sasuke, Sasuke, thing!”

Lee dodged his hit and Naruto spun around to hit him with his leg, Lee also dodged that, making Naruto fly into a wall. That’s fast! He’s skilled, alright! Akashi observed Lee. He hasn’t broken his form. “I will declare this now. You cannot defeat me”. Lee exclaimed. He said he was the strongest Konoha genin. Sasuke smirked at his words. “Interesting. I’ll accept it”. Sakura tried to stop him, but he waved her off. “Don’t worry, It’ll only take five minutes”. He coolly replied. Akashi rolled his eyes at his words. “Just hurry up”.

Sasuke paid no mind to his words and started running in Lee’s direction. As he went for a hit, Lee disappeared from in front of him and appeared behind him. He threw a kick, but Sasuke went underneath it. Lee quickly spun on the ground and went for another kick, and this time Sasuke couldn’t dodge. “Wow”. Akashi unconsciously said as he saw Lee’s movements. Sasuke went for a guard, but instead of kicking him, like he was about to, Lee hit him with his fist. Sasuke failed to block it, and that caused him to fly away.

Sasuke managed to stand up. “I’ll show you”. He muttered out and Akashi noticed his Chakra was gathering. Oh? Sasuke looked up and there it was, Sharingan. He started running at Lee again, but as Akashi expected, the Sharingan didn’t really help much against him. Sasuke was kicked and thrown back again. He engaged in hand-to-hand combat, but was quickly overpowered. Lee said his moves are just hand-to-hand combat moves. He explained how the Sharingan can see through everything, even close combat, but it doesn’t matter if he can see, if his body can’t keep up.

Angry, Sasuke went at him again, but Lee dodged everything and sent Sasuke back with one kick. While Sasuke was still in the air, Lee appeared behind him and the bandages on his hands unwrapped, just as they were about to wrap around Sasuke, a pink shuriken pinned one to the wall. A pink turtle appeared. As Sasuke was free-falling from the ground, Akashi went under him and managed to catch him before he could hit the ground. “5 minutes, eh?” Akashi shook his head at the boy. The said boy angrily turned away.

Naruto pranced over and started a conversation with Sakura about if that was a turtle and if it can be a ninja teacher. Sasuke was on his knees and looking at Lee and the turtle when his felt a touch on his chin. His head was turned to the side and he was met with violet eyes. Akashi clicked his tongue. “You’ve got a bruise already”. Sasuke wanted to move away, but the concerned look in Akashi’s eyes made him freeze. “Stay still”. Akashi commanded and warmth flooded through his cheek as a soft green glow touched it.

“Seems like I’ve improved”. Akashi said after a minute or so. He tilted Sasuke’s face so he was facing him. “Good as new”. He was released and Akashi stood up. There was a poof of smoke on top of the turtle and what seemed like an adult Lee, appeared on it. The four members of Team 7 had a look of pure disbelief on their faces. “You’re kidding me…?” Akashi exclaimed, eyes wide open as he looked at the sight before him. Team 7 then started talking about how unique they were, their bobbed hair, the bushy brows, etc.

A tick mark appeared on Lee and he turned around, a fist raised in the air. “Don’t make fun of Guy-sensei!” He shouted at them. Naruto shouted back that they will continue, because they don’t know how to react. They started arguing and Guy interrupted them. He then pulled back a fist and hit Lee straight in the face. “You idiot!” He yelled. Blood spew from Lee’s nose. “Why must I bear witness to this?” Akashi proclaimed in horror.

Lee fell onto the floor and Guy crouched in front of him. Tears were streaming down his face as he looked at Lee, who was also crying. They started saying ‘Lee’ and ‘Sensei’ to one another as they hugged. It was like a sunset appeared behind them. Akashi’s face mirrored the face of the rest. Pure disgust. “I need new eyes”. He said and clamped a hand over his eyes. I lost to that guy… Sasuke couldn’t believe himself.

Guy then asked them if Kakashi was doing okay. He said they were eternal rivals when Sasuke asked him if he knows Kakashi. Guy then disappeared from behind Lee. Akashi quickly followed his trail of Chakra and turned around in a hurry. Guy was standing directly behind them now. Guy said something about 50 wins and 49 losses and he said that he was stronger than Kakashi. After finishing that sentence, he looked at Akashi. This must be Akashi, seems like what Kakashi said was true, he is a talented young boy. Akashi looked to the side and noticed the expression on Sasuke’s face was different than a moment ago. Sasuke? He looked down and saw the Uchiha clench his hands in fists.

Guy said they should leave for the classroom soon and threw a kunai at the shuriken which was binding Lee’s bandage. As Lee was bandaging his fist again, his hand caught Akashi’s attention. There were scars all over his fist. Is that from his training? Wow. Guy then disappeared in a poof of smoke as he said bye to Lee. The turtle also disappeared. Lee turned to Sasuke and told him he came to test his skills and that he lied about being the strongest Genin in Konoha. He said the strongest one was on his team. Hyuuga Neji’s face instantly flashed through Akashi’s mind. Stronger than Lee? This is going to be a problem.

Lee said he entered the exam so he could defeat Neji. And with a ‘good luck’, Lee jumped up the platform and disappeared. Akashi noticed that Sasuke was even more angry now. “Seems like the Uchiha clan isn’t so great after all”. Naruto nonchalantly said as he brought his arms behind his head. Akashi turned to Naruto in alarm. You idiot! He then looked at Sasuke. He was gritting his teeth. “Shut up”. He growled out. “Next time, I’ll slaughter him”. He said.

“You lost so badly, though”. Naruto continued and Akashi came closer to him. “That’s enough, Naruto”. He told him. Sasuke turned and glared at Naruto. Naruto met his gaze head-on and then looked away. “You saw his hands, right?” He asked and Sasuke looked at him in surprise. “Yeah, we all did, he must have trained a lot to get to where he is now”. Akashi said. “More than you”. Naruto added as he looked at Sasuke.

“This is getting interesting… The Chuunin Exam, that is”. Naruto grinned at his words. “Yeah!” Sakura agreed. “Yes”. Akashi let out a sigh and turned to the three of them. He saw them looking at him in expectation. “The more interesting, the better”. He agreed. Naruto threw an arm over his shoulder. “You’re back! You wouldn’t even talk to me properly before”. He said and then separated from him, walking ahead. Akashi looked away from them and bit his lip. I’m sorry, Naruto.

He didn’t notice the Uchiha look at him with furrowed brows, as if he was trying to figure out what was going on. Sasuke shook his head and faced forward. “Let’s go, Naruto, Akashi, Sakura”. He said as they started walking towards room 301. “Yeah!” Naruto yelled out excitedly, a happy smile on his face.

Akashi trailed behind them, looking at Naruto with a conflicted look on his face.

I’m going to protect that smile, no matter the cost, no matter what I have to do.

A brief glint appeared in his eyes. No matter who or what I have to destroy.

“Good, good! Let the rage consume you!” A low voice, heard to no one, echoed through the dark sewer-like room. “When that happens, I will consume you!” It let out a growl.

“And when I consume you, I will be free from these chains that bind me!” Glowing red eyes appeared behind a golden cage.