Friend or Foe?! - 4

Tenten gave Lee a pat on the back while he tore off on another youthful rant, "Yes! Finally my match has arrived! Today I shall defeat a genius with my hard work and make Gai-sensei proud!"

"Go for it, Lee." Tenten smiled at him, knowing he could hold his own.

Once Lee had raced down the stairs, Haku had returned to the balcony looking a little less beat up. His upper chest and shoulder were swathed in bandages and he had been given a white shirt as a replacement for his saturated gi.

He took his place between his teammates and smiled thoughtfully, "She really is just like you, Gaara-kun!"

Naruto nodded sagely, "See? I told you Gaara, you're like clones of each other! Does everyone in your family have a bad attitude?"

Gaara blinked at the blonde boy, not seeing how he had made his observation.

Haku chuckled, playing along, "Maybe there's a hereditary cantankerous gene in Suna that's responsible for-"

"There is just as much a trait for being irritable in my gene pool as there is one for you two being idiots!" He hated it when they ganged up on him, but it was preferable to fighting with them.

Naruto and Haku laughed at their friend as he folded his arms and scowled.

From the stands, Ino turned to the pink haired girl beside her, "Sakura, just where is Sasuke anyway? How can he be late for his own match?"

"He'll be here. He's been training all month for today," Uncertainty winced over the pink haired girl's face, and she turned to Kiba beside her, "He will be here, right Kiba-kun?"

Akamaru relocated to Sakura's lap and Kiba frowned, "I haven't seen him since yesterday. I really can't say what the hell he's up to if he hasn't shown up by now…"

Worry dominated Sakura's expression and Ino chuckled sheepishly, "Don't worry, Billboard-brow, I know he'll be here! Heh heh…what could possibly make him want to throw this match? He's up against that crazy kid from Team Gai!"

Sakura gave her a dark look, "Don't underestimate Lee like that. If he's anywhere near as strong as his teammates he'll give Sasuke-kun a really hard time!"

Once Lee had descended down to the arena, Tenten didn't miss his disappointed expression upon seeing his opponent was still missing, 'Don't sweat it, Lee. Even if you win this match by default because he doesn't show up Gai-sensei will still be proud of you...and maybe in the later matches, you'll get to fight me!' She laughed silently to herself; that would certainly be an interesting fight.

Hayate glanced down at a pocket watch he had with him, keeping track of how late the second genin was for his match, 'This can't end well. I don't mind calling this bout, but all the gambling lords up there won't be too pleased on losing their bets right now…' Many people had money riding on the Uchiha.

With a sigh he glanced over to a patient-looking Lee and then up to the Hokage, "Er-herm…since the opponent has failed to arrive, victory automatically goes to-"

A swirl of leaves blew into the arena, directly in front of Hayate before he could finish his announcement.

Naruto blinked a few times before he was able to confirm it, "Hey! He decided to show up!" He turned to Gaara, "Looks like you get to watch Lee give Sasuke a thorough beating after all, eh Gaara?"

Gaara didn't bother hiding his smirk. It had been something he had been looking forward to seeing.

Below, Sasuke stood back-to-back with his sensei, standing in the midst of the windstorm. Kakashi looked up from his book and smiled sheepishly at Hayate, "Hi there! Sorry for the inconvenience…I hope Sasuke isn't late or anything?"

Hayate glanced up to the Hokage again, and after receiving an approving nod he turned to the Uchiha prodigy, "You came close to forfeiting your match. If you're ready it will begin momentarily."

Lee, though thrilled, kept silent as Sasuke stayed behind while his mentor went up to the stands. He was still reading his book.

Hayate cleared them to begin and Sasuke regarded Lee for a moment before asking, "They say that you can't use either ninjutsu or genjutsu. You really expect to win this fight with only taijutsu?"

Lee smiled, unimpeded, "Yes that is correct. But I will not need those skills to match you, for I have trained harder than any ninja to be where I stand today!"

"If that's true, you won't mind if I restrict myself to taijutsu as well?" The Sharingan appeared in Sasuke's eyes for a brief moment, and Lee felt a stab of insult at the boy's words. Rather than loiter, he took an offensive stance which Sasuke mirrored perfectly.

'So this is what Gai-sensei meant by the power of the Sharingan,' He recalled everything his sensei had warned him of, 'I will have to be twice as diligent if I am to triumph in this match!'

Sasuke attacked first, lashing out with a speedy jab that Lee countered reflexively. Lee was startled once Sasuke countered his own maneuver with ease, and knocked him back with a kick that seemed more of a warning than an assault.

Sakura and Kiba looked on apprehensively as the fight intensified. They themselves were unsure of Lee and Sasuke's full strength, so the outcome of the match was still unclear.

Gaara's eye twitched for a moment while he observed. Shukaku's angered growls had grown much louder at the sight of the Uchiha, and he was beginning to suspect the demon also had a deep loathing for him as well. He wasn't going to try to find out why that was.

In a blur of movement Lee vanished, and Sasuke allowed himself to be kicked into the air, watching as Lee appeared beneath him. His arm bindings secured around Sasuke. The Uchiha had seen this move once before, but this time he was paying attention to it.

"Front Lotus!" Lee turned downwards, dragging Sasuke with him, and pile-drived him headfirst into the dampened ground. The recoil was heady and Lee leapt away, his arm bandages still slack. From the balcony, Tenten was cheering louder than even Naruto.

Lee grinned up at her from the ground level after hearing her ecstatic shrieks. He looked a short distance away to the impact crater in the ground and saw a demolished log, 'It appears I have forced him to use a substitution jutsu! I should expect he will use more jutsu once he is stressed…'

Sasuke stood a fair distance away. He had decided the match would end more quickly and in his favor if he utilized his impressive repertoire of ninjutsu.

Lee looked up questioningly to his sensei, who was watching from the stands like a grinning fool. Gai merely gave him a thumbs up, approving of Lee's unspoken request. Lee took a moment to remove weights hidden beneath his leg warmers and Tenten fell silent, seeing things had just become more serious.

Lee dropped the weights and the ground imploded where he had dropped them, due to their tremendous mass. Kakashi glanced over at Gai for a moment, finding his training methods just as old-fashioned as they were ridiculous.

Sasuke raced through hand seals, "Katon: Grand Fireball jutsu!"

The intense flames died down a moment later and Lee had appeared behind him within the blink of an eye, avoiding the fireball completely. Sasuke was pleased to see he had gotten a reaction and his eyes blazed red with the full strength of the Sharingan.

Suddenly, Sasuke was nearly as fast as Lee.

There was little the audience was actually able to see other than two blurs meeting and parting, and the painful sounds of violent contact that followed. For watching shinobi with trained eyes it was a marvel to behold.

The blows exchanged were ruthless and timed, and Lee had found that within seconds, Sasuke was able to mimic his movements and counter nearly all of his attacks. Sakura was wide eyed as the Uchiha prodigy kicked Lee into the air in imitation of Lee's earlier attack, and got a firm hold on the older genin, preparing his own variation of the Front Lotus.

Lee was too shocked at first to struggle, and was just barely able to break free before being subjected to his own technique. He tumbled away from Sasuke, kicking up mud, and found himself offended that one of his prized attacks had been tarnished at the hands of his opponent, 'Gai-sensei! I will win this match! Forgive me, but I will do what I must to preserve my ninja way!'

Tenten recognized the opening of the second gate and was fairly sure Lee did not aim to stop there, "This isn't good…"

"Why's that?" Sato was curious as he stood next to her, snapping a few pictures of the fight.

"This is the part where bones get broken…" It appeared as if she had put it very mildly, not wanting to admit that something worse was a possibility.

Sato reacted in the only way he knew how, "Cool!"

Gaara sighed from his spot nearby, hoping the silver haired nin would be less oblivious in his own match.