Neji sighed in annoyance as he sensed Team 10 hiding behind the bushes.

"Come out from there," he said in an emotionless voice.

"Damn," thought Ino. "We quickly hid...Operation 'Hide and Hope he Doesn't Notice' has failed. We will now switch to Operation No.2..."

"Man, we've been discovered by the wrong guy..." sighed Shikamaru.

Team 10 came out of the bushes.

"Oh my! I never thought I'd get to meet last year's No.1 rookie, Hyuga Neji-sama here," gushed Ino. "Can I get an autograph?"

"Oh, its's just you guys..."

"That's it!" thought Ino. "Time to use another technique."

Pulling out her hair tie, Ino's long blonde hair cascaded down her back.

"I've always wanted to get to know you better," said Ino, fake blushing.

"Get lost," said Neji coldly, walking off.

"What?! Why doesn't my sexiness work? Ahhh! This pisses me off! Damn it!" screamed Ino internally, clenching her fist and shaking it at Neji behind his back.

"Nobody was counting on you..." deadpanned Shikamaru, sighing.

"Hey...Does the fact that you're shaking your fist at me mean that you want to fight me?" asked Neji coldly.

"No...of course not," said Ino guiltily, cowering in fear,

"How did he see that? Does he have eyes on the back of his head?!" she thought.

"Then leave! Taking a scroll off cowards like you will only make me the laughing stock of the village."

"Yes!" said Team 10, running off in an instant.

"Pft, they're like cockroaches, pathetic," thought Neji, walking off.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

After running for a few minutes to get away from Neji, Team 10 reached a clearing and they dropped to the ground, panting.

"Okay!" said Ino determinedly, cheering. "Let's find some weak guys."

"There is nobody weaker than us...This is troublesome," thought Shikamaru, sighing.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"Hehe...up all night?" said a voice.

Sakura's eyes widened and wariness took over her fatigue.

"Wake up Sasuke-kun," ordered Dosu. "We want to fight him."

"Wha...What are you talking about," asked Sakura, shakily reaching for her kunai. "I know that someone named Orochimaru is pulling the strings from the shadows. What is his purpose?! What is this weird mark on Sasuke-kun's neck? You did this to him and now you want to fight him?! What is happening?!"

"Hmmm...I wonder what that man is thinking," thought Dosu.

"But hearing that, we can't let you go. I'll kill this girl and I'll also kill this Sasuke," said Zaku.

"Wait, Zaku," said Dosu.

"Huh? Why?" asked Zaku, irritated, itching for action.

Dosu bent down, inspecting the floor. "You're not very good. A recently overturned stone, different coloured dirt. Grass doesn't grow here. A trap is pointless unless it goes unnoticed."

"Pfft, stupid," scoffed Zaku. "So that kunai was to prevent the squirrel from setting off the trap."

"Well since we have no use for this girl, kill her."

Before the sound trio could attack, Sakura had set off another one of her traps. Dosu's eyes widened at the incoming log but smirked and easily obliterated it with his sound techniques.

Sakura's eyes widened in surprise and before she could throw the smoke bomb into the air to ask Naruto for help, Zaku had snatched it out of her hands and deflated it, making it unusable. She looked at the sound trio in horror, feeling helpless and defeated.

"Frankly speaking, you have no talent. People like you have to work harder to become stronger. A weakling like you shouldn't mess with guys like us," insulted Dosu, smirking.

And then...

"Leaf Whirlwind!"

The whole area was engulfed in strong winds. The sound trio jumped back to avoid the attacks while Sakura braced for impact.

"Then you guys should also work harder," said a familiar voice.

"Who are you?" questioned Dosu.

"The beautiful green beast of the Hidden Leaf, Rock Lee!"

"W-why are you here?" stuttered Sakura, surprised by her saviour.

"I will always appear when you are in trouble," answered Lee, thankful to the squirrel for his chance to show off in front of Sakura.

Sakura, sighed, wearily smiling and wiping a tear out of her eye.

"Thank you, Lee. You saved me," she said gratefully, slumping on the ground.

"I said it before that I will protect you until I die."

"Oh well, Zaku you can have Sasuke-kun. I'll take care of them," said Dosu.

"From what I can tell, Sakura-san is in no condition to fight," thought Lee worriedly at the prospect of facing three strong genins alone.

"That thick brows has some advanced taijutsu...this will be pretty fun," thought Dosu.

Sakura flung a kunai at Dosu but he dodged it, jumping elegantly over as he charged for Lee. As a defence, Lee braced for impact...BOOM!

Dosu's attack had overturned the earth and dislodged it.

"There's some trick to your attacks, right? I'm not going to just simply dodge it. Since I've seen your attacks before," he stated confidently.

"Pft..." scoffed Zaku.

"This person...strong..." thought Sakura.

"3 against 1, I'm at a big disadvantage. I'll have to risk it...to crush each at full power," thought Lee seriously.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"Ahhh! We can't find any weak-looking guys!" screamed Ino in frustration.

"As I said, the only guys weaker than us would probably be Naruto's team," sighed Shikamaru.

"Idiot! What are you saying?! Sakura is just plain average but Sasuke-kun is a super genius. Plus Sakura has been bragging about Naruto to me. Apparently, he's on the same par as Sasuke-kun!"

"Okay, okay, sorry that I upset you," drawled Shikamaru while Ino glared at him.

"Oh! Sasuke's knocked out cold! Naruto's gone and Sakura is fighting!" exclaimed Choji suddenly, pointing in the direction of the sound trio, Lee and Sakura.

"Huh?!" exclaimed Ino in disbelief.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"Lee is sure late," mused TenTen as they waited for him at the meeting spot. "Strange, he's usually accurate when it comes to time. Could he have run into the enemy? No way..."

"That's unlikely," stated Neji.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Gai-sensei's words replayed in Lee's head: "...This technique is the Lotus and it is forbidden from now on...This technique puts too much strain on the body, however, you may only use it when you have a precious person to protect."

Lee jumped in front of Dosu as he prepared to attack again.

"Wha—he vanished?!" thought Dosu.

Lee appeared again, this time throwing a kick at Dosu's chin. Dosu couldn't dodge in time and he fell but Lee wasn't done yet.

"It's not over," said Lee seriously while Dosu's eyes widened.

Lee untied his bandages. Round and round Dozu he ran, wrapping him with his bandages.

"Initial Lotus!"

Dosu's head plunged straight through the earth...but Dosu was unscathed.

"What a terrifying technique, but now it's my turn."

"Damn," thought Lee. "My body..."

Dosu kicked Lee's stomach.

"Your moves are at high speed, but ours is at the speed of sound. I'll show you something that no amount of hard work can pass."

Lee knelt on the ground, exhausted. Then he doubled over and started vomiting.

"Lee-san!" screamed Sakura.

"My ear..." thought Lee.

Sakura glared at them.

"You can't dodge my attacks," said Dosu cockily. "Even if you dodge my fist, my sound will attack you. You eardrums will break when you fight against me. Then you will feel dizzy and lose your balance. This is why you cannot defeat me!"

"Taijutsu won't work against us. Our techniques are different from your stupid ones. You won't be able to move for a while," gloated Zaku.

But Lee was not ready to give up. All his hard work and Gai-sensei's passion and faith in him was not to go to waste.

Lee stood up and charged at Dosu.

"Leaf Whirlwind!"

But as Lee was about to roundhouse kick Dosu, his body spasmed and he fell to the ground, clutching his stomach in pain.

"Heh, so the attack has got to you," chuckled Dosu.

Lee and Dosu engaged in a series of blows, but Dosu had the upper hand.

"Let's finish this."

Dosu was about to land the final blow but he was interjected, by Sakura.

"I won't let you harm him!" she screamed while throwing a bunch of kunais at Dosu who deflected them with his sound speaker.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"Hey, let's run away, they're in serious trouble!" hissed Choji.

"Sasuke has been knocked out and Naruto's not there. Lee has also been beaten and Sakura is alone. What will you do Ino? Didn't you guys used to be good friends?" whispered Shikamaru.

Ino's eyes widened as she remembered how her friendship with Sakura started. How they ate lunch together. How they hopped for clothes together. How they picked flowers together. And how it all ended with a boy: Sasuke

"Hey, Ino, what do we do?" hissed Shikamaru urgently.

"What can we do?! I mean, we can't just jump out, we'd obviously be defeated," hissed Ino back.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Sakura threw a bunch of shurikens at Dosu but Zaku blasted them back with his sound speaker. Sakura was yanked onto her knees by Dosu and Zaku's teammate.

She was grabbing Sakura's hair and pulling it sadistically.

"Your hair...pft, much softer than mine. What are you? A sexy shinobi? If you have time to treat your hair then why not train you swine," she mocked. "Zaku, kill Sasuke in front of the boy. Teach thick brows a lesson."

"Ha, good idea, Kin," said Zaku.

Sakura's eyes widened in fear. "I can't allow that!" she thought frantically. "I can't keep on being weak. I can't just be getting in the way. I'm always being protected...I can't stand it. This time, I have to protect."

Sakura pulled out a kunai.

"Useless," laughed Kin. "That won't work against me."

"What are you talking about?" smirked Sakura.

She sliced her hair off. The sound trio, Lee and Team 10 widened their eyes in surprise.

"What?" said Kin.

"Kill her!" shouted Zaku.

Kin went behind her and punched her back but it was a substitution. From the side, Sakura threw a bunch of kunais at them.

"Air Slicing Blast!" shouted Zaku.

Sakura fell onto the ground. POOF! It was a substitution again. Zaku looked around for any signs of Sakura. Just when he was distracted, Sakura leapt out. Although Zaku was caught off guard, he was able to hold Sakura in a headlock.

Desperate to escape, Sakura bit Zaku's arm.

"Let go of me!" she shrieked.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Ino stared at Sakura fighting in horror. The memories came flooding back.

"See Sakura. You're much cuter this way. You can have the ribbon."

"Thanks, but...my forehead..."

"They make fun of it more because you try to hide it. You have a cute face so show it off confidently!"

"I-Ino-chan...Thank you!"

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"You brat!" screamed Zaku. "You're dead!"

Zaku was about to land his killing blow but...Team 10 jumped in.

"Pft, more weirdos have appeared," scoffed Zaku.

"Looks like there are more leaf insects," taunted Dosu.

Ino smirked. "I told you Sakura, I won't lose to you."

Choji was about run away but he was stopped when Shikamaru grabbed his scarf.

"Shikamaru, let go of my scarf!"

"No, they're too strong for us but we've got no choice to help. Ino has gotten involved already," sighed Shikamaru.

"Sorry to get you involved but we are a team," smirked Ino along with Shikamaru.

"Pft, fatty, run if you want," taunted Zaku.

Choji's ears perked up. "What did he say, I couldn't hear him..."

"That word is taboo for Choji, say it twice..." shuddered Shikamaru.

"You can run away if you want, you fatass!" screamed Zaku.

Choji exploded: "I'm not fat! I'm just chubby, damn it! Alright, you guys, this is a war between the Leaf and the Sound!"

Ino smirked. "Sakura, take care of Sasuke while you watch Ino-Shika-Cho's real power! Formation! Choji, do your thing!"

"Okay! Multisize Jutsu!"

Choji expanded into a ball and rolled quickly towards Zaku who blasted it back. However, he bounced straight up, landing on Zaku.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"Shadow Imitation Jutsu!"

"Urgh, my body...?! What? My shadow?!" thought Dosu, panicked.

"Alright, Ino. There's just the girl left!" said Shikamaru.

"Okay, Shikamaru! Take care of my body! Mind-Body Switch Jutsu!"

Kin's body spasmed and she fell unconscious.

"It's now over!" said Ino in Kin's body. "If you guys move, I kill this girl. If you want to end it, leave your scroll and get out of here."

Zaku blasted Kin and Ino away. Kin was shoved against a tree.

"Ino!" screamed Shikamaru as he bent down to see Ino with a trickle of blood coming out of her mouth.

"Hurting your comrade..."

"Heh, our goal is not these stupid scrolls. It's Sasuke-kun!" exclaimed Dosu.

Dosu analysed the situation. "His shadow jutsu can't hold for much longer nor can that girl's mind switch. Pft, pathetic."

Dosu was about to attack but he was interrupted.

"Some minor sound nins bullying these second rate shinobi and declaring victory? Pathetic. That knocked out freak right there is from our team. You guys are going to pay for that!" said Neji, activating his Byakugan.

"Pft, they keep coming out like cockroaches," scoffed Dosu, irritated.

"If you are going to go any further, I'm going all out!"

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Hey reader-chans! I'm back with another update! Hope you guys enjoy the chunin exam Arc. I promise we're nearly up to the preliminaries.

It's coming soon, in chapter twelve-thirteen-ish. Thank you for all the reads so far and all the support for my first fanfic.

Do you like reading all the fight scenes! I hope you enjoy!