Dysfunctional - 4

"Team 13?" Gaara asked as he followed Haku down a trail leading to what Haku had claimed to be 'a welcome place for them to train.'

"Yes. You remember, Tenten's team." Haku clarified, smiling to himself.

Gaara frowned. He wasn't in the mood for sharing a training area this morning at all, and where the hell was Naruto? Maybe if his blonde friend was around he'd be able to talk Haku out of this folly and find an unoccupied place.

But no, Haku always had to choose the social route. It bothered Gaara to no end.

And before Gaara could think of another complaint they had stepped out into a clearing that looked as if a violent bomb had gone off: pulverized trees and posts, discarded weaponry and craters everywhere one looked. Initially, Gaara only saw one person; a tall, long-haired boy who at first he failed to recognize, until he turned around to face them with piercing white eyes.

Two other ninja appeared as well; one from the air and the other from a vertical yet, battered-looking log that was a receiving a thorough beating.

"I hope you don't mind if we train with you today," Haku called as they approached, "We've been deprived of our training area."

"Not at all, Haku-kun!" Gaara's ears hurt from a cry that was equal to Naruto's in volume, "Oh! Who is this with you?"

Haku stepped aside to give Lee, Tenten and Neji a better look at the newcomer.

"This is my teammate Gaara and Naruto-kun is not with us at the moment. He may show up eventually..." Haku introduced, "And this is Lee, Tenten, and you already know Neji."

Gaara gave a short nod but was no longer frowning.

"It is a true pleasure to meet one of Haku-kun's dear friends!" Lee had somehow gotten a hold of one of Gaara's hands and shook it enthusiastically, "It would be an honor if I could test myself against one of the geniuses of Konoha!"

Gaara gave him a confused look, "I wouldn't call myself a genius."

"Ha! So modest!"

Haku sighed as Gaara gave him a fierce glare before being led away to a place where he and Lee could compare their skills. Obviously Lee's first impression of Gaara had been a good one.

And Tenten's impression, well, she had seen Gaara once before, she had even heard him shout. But that was about it. Her opinion of him so far was somewhat accurate, 'Well, if fierce, artic eyes and crimson hair don't scream badass nothing will...'

Neji's current thoughts were indecipherable and maybe it was for the best.

Haku hadn't mentioned it to Gaara on their way over, that he hadn't exactly chosen Team Gai's training area for its mere convenience. He procured two ninja-tool scrolls from his gi, which he had recently acquired and turned back to Tenten, who was scurrying around the field retrieving her fallen kunai.

"Tenten, I have something for you." She looked over to Haku incredulously but quickly hid her surprise with a bright smile.

"Really?" Tenten trotted over to him. Her excitement was not well hidden. It had been a while since she had been given a gift of any kind.

He handed her both scrolls and she gave him a look of deep gratitude, "Thanks a lot! I'm pretty sure I know what these are, or I'll find out soon enough..." He smiled at her when she asked, "Where did you get these? These aren't like any weapons scrolls I've seen."

'I'm glad for that too. If she were wielding weapons this powerful on a regular basis her sensei would have a fit...' Haku didn't feel like admitting he had a talent for stealing high-level scrolls at the moment, "I don't think you should worry about where they're from. You just make sure you use them well."

Neji, a few feet away, raised an eyebrow at him, guessing that he had obtained them by less-than-legal means. Still he felt no reason to object. If Tenten began utilizing more dangerous weapons during training she'd be more of a challenge to him.

Tenten shrugged and tucked the scrolls away. Nearby there was a shout and they looked over to see Lee running around Gaara in circles, trying to evade the cloud of sand hovering in the air.

Haku chuckled to himself, "I don't know what good taijutsu will do against Gaara-kun. His defense is nearly perfect."

Neji looked intrigued, "If his defense isn't perfect then that means it can be penetrated," He wore a small smirk, "Lee's taijutsu may not be able to break through that sand, but mine will."

Haku took a moment to consider Neji's outstanding abilities and how he would try to defeat Gaara if they ever met in battle. The image in his head was a bit unnerving and he decided that it would be better to not explore the depths of that deadly match.

To Haku's slight dismay, Tenten nodded in agreement, "Neji's right. Lee focuses his attacks on the exterior, but I don't think that Gaara will last long after a few blasts of Jyukken, even with all that sand he's got."

True, Haku knew well enough that Gentle Fist was one of the worst pains there was in taijutsu. A few strikes to the stomach or heart could easily and painfully end a fight. 'And closing tenketsu off to manipulate an opponent's chakra seems almost unfair, but then again, I aim for weak points all the time...'

The dark haired boy watched in amusement as Lee leapt off of the sand shield surrounding Gaara in frustration, trying to find a way around his defense. It was then he was reminded of something he had recently developed that pertained to Team 13.

After quickly forming a few short hand seals and murmuring, "Water Gathering Jutsu..." Haku had extracted a fairly large amount of water from the surrounding air, leaving it dry and thin. Both Neji and Tenten who had seen Haku's Kekkei Genkai before watched as the water drifted around him slowly, being held up by only his will and chakra.

"Tenten, there's one more thing I need to show you," He said, as if preparing for an attack, "You're been an inspiration."

The kunoichi raised her eyebrows when he crouched down, water circling around him more rapidly. Neji didn't miss the surge of chakra that Haku gave off and even Lee and Gaara had paused in their squabble to have a look at the water manipulator.

"Rising Water Dragons!"

He moved almost too quickly to be seen, as two threads of water, dragon-like in shape twisted to a ridiculous height into the air, past the length Tenten's summoning scrolls could reach. Haku leapt up to the center of the twisting currents. He knew that it would be much easier if there had been a body of water there, rather than him wasting chakra to condense water.

Once he had reached the zenith of the helix, Haku quickly froze the top of the currents into ice, and smirked to himself as vicious shards of ice rained down, of course, away from his audience.

Neji estimated it was an assault he could easily deflect with the Kaiten. Tenten gazed upward wide-eyed, and then frowned to herself, "Now why didn't I think of that? Water is such a better medium!"

Neji gave her a disapproving look to which she quickly added, "I know I don't have some incredibly obnoxious bloodline limit like that, but still...it's cool..."

He shook his head in exasperation, wondering why she would even look beyond her perfectly lethal use of weaponry, especially if a jutsu she favored required a unique Kekkei Genkai.

Not far off Lee was clapping and wooting as Haku had reached the ground again, and the water he had used had all been spent as icicle spears. Gaara merely gave him a favorable look, which Haku equated with the phrase, 'Interesting.'

Of course, Haku wasn't about to get away with his unexpected arrival and his flaunting of abilities; it was something called karma.

"Haku," The dark haired boy turned as he caught his breath and saw Neji frowning, "Let us see how your skills compare to mine."

'This can't be good.' Gaara looked on, wondering if Haku would even consider fighting Neji. Even Lee looked upset, most likely because he had never been much of a challenge to the Hyuga prodigy. Their momentary pause ended and Lee immediately went back to evading Gaara's sand.

Haku took a moment to observe Neji. He wondered what it must have been like for him growing up, after Naruto had lead them on that courageous mission to prevent Neji from being endowed with the seal of the Branch Family. Although Naruto had assured them many times over the years that they had done the right thing and that Neji was grateful to them, Haku couldn't help but suspect that things had not gone as well for him as they had believed.

Tenten frowned, "Neji, I don't think that-"

"It's alright," Haku interrupted her and then nodded to his opponent, "Let's see how much we have improved."

"Why not just use Ninjutsu?" Gaara asked, bored as Lee continued to run around him in circles, slicing through wisps of sand with a kunai.

Lee's answer was slightly pained, "I can't!"

For a long, agonizing moment, Gaara continued to watch the green clad ninja run remarkably fast, but not enough to completely break through his sand shield. The redhead folded his arms and huffed, not understanding why his opponent was so stubborn.

"You cannot defeat me with only Taijutsu," Gaara warned finally, raising a hand to fight back, "I will make you change your strategy."

The sand that had been lazily drifting around Gaara deflecting blows suddenly came to life, lashing out at Lee. It made no sense; how he refused to fight back without substitution, clones or any type of ninjutsu for that matter. It was enough to make Gaara lose his temper, 'He isn't taking me seriously. He thinks I'm just standing around.'

Lee was barely able to evade the wall of sand that came crashing down, but even with this new prospective danger, it was a thrill. Neji often refused to train with him being that he thought himself to be a superior shinobi. It had taken many assurances from his sensei and Tenten for him to realize that Lee was not at all inferior. It was just that Neji was very selective of his opponents and didn't really see Lee as one.

So day after day, he resorted to battling a badly beaten tree stump or his sensei, sometimes even Tenten would stay late just to offer him a sympathy sparring partner.

'But this is different!' Lee couldn't help but grin to himself as he moved faster, evading Gaara's attacks and frustrating him more, 'I am not fighting Gai-sensei or Tenten. I am fighting a very worthy opponent, someone without prejudice towards me! This fight shall determine if I am truly a splendid ninja!'

It was only in a split-second Lee saw his chance and ducked under an oncoming wave of sand before barreling into the red haired shinobi, startling him. Gaara caught his punch, which to his astonishment, was so incredibly strong that it forced him back a number of feet, bruising his shoulder, 'He wasn't even trying to hit me that hard...'

Gaara recovered from his shock and put a wall of sand between himself and Lee to regroup, wondering why Lee wore a grin similar to Naruto's as he wove back, also preparing another assault.

Finally fed up with this preposterous match, Gaara made his furious sand halt and gave Lee a bothered look, "Why are you only using taijutsu? Tell me now."

Lee also paused and his smile faded, "Ah, I see...my fighting style discourages you?"

"You aren't...doing anything."

Lee gave Gaara a nearly offended look before grinning again, "Believe me, I am capable of much more! However my abilities, I am afraid, do not extend beyond taijutsu."

Suddenly, Gaara understood. As absurd as it sounded at first he realized that Lee was indeed taking him seriously, "You mean you can't use Ninjutsu or Genjutsu...at all?" His voice carried with it an air of disbelief.

Lee sighed, "It is true, comrade, I hold no capability for either. Still I am a fierce contender with my taijutsu and youthful spirit, am I not? After all, I am a genius of hard work!"

Gaara was somewhere between annoyed and sympathetic towards Lee. He couldn't imagine what it would feel like to be a ninja incapable of ninjutsu or genjutsu, it just seemed...so utterly hopeless in his opinion.

'What kind of dreams must he have,' Gaara pondered as Lee went on proclaiming his redeeming qualities, 'That make him this strong, despite his weaknesses? It is no easy feat to come this far with sheer will power...'

"Shall we continue our match Gaara-kun?" Lee inquired, still enthused even after admitting his weakness to an opponent.

Gaara nodded to him and smirked, 'A genius of hard work? He may be right.'