Chapter 26

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Title: Bushy Brows

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"Hey, you guys go on ahead, there's something I want to check out first." Lee said as he came to a stop.

"Oh. Okay." Tenten said after sweeping a casual glance behind them.

"Be fast." Neji simply said and also left.

A few moments later, the trio of team Seven walked towards him and Lee said. "You with the scowl."

"Hmm?"

The three looked confused while Sakura looked particularly alarmed.

"What is it?" Sasuke asked.

"You and me. Here and now, want to fight?" Lee asked, straight to the point.

"You want to fight me...here and now?" Sasuke asked to make sure he got the message Lee was trying to pass across.

"Yes." Lee said. "My name's Rock Lee. Etiquettes dictates I introduce myself before asking the name of another..."

Naruto and Sasuke looked particularly weirded out at Lee's approach.

"... Uchiha Sasuke."

"Oh? So you knew who I was all along?"

"Hm. I'm calling you out. I want to test the effectiveness of my techniques against the Uchiha." Lee said as he blushed and looked at Sakura who's face turned blue in disgust.

'Tch, why is it always about Sasuke?' Naruto thought annoyed and made to go for the attack only for Sasuke to stop him and say. "I'm sorry, but I can't fight you now, if we do meet In the arena then we can go all out."

"Eh?" Lee and Naruto both sounded confused as Sasuke's outright refusal.

For Naruto, he knew that Sasuke would never give up on an opportunity to prove himself capable but little did he know that Sasuke didn't need to prove himself to anybody but one person.

"Why?" Lee asked

"I know you're strong. From the moment you caught my kick, I felt it, and maybe you do too. However, that was just a kick. In a real fight you wouldn't be my match." Sasuke said cooly and proceeded to walk past Lee who stood there dumbstruck.

He didn't expect Sasuke to reject him that outright so he didn't know how to proceed, but remembering his teammate who had the same demeanour, he muttered. "As expected from a genius."

This statement was said purely out of admiration, but Sasuke who heard it paused and turned around with a minor scowl on his face.

"What did you say?"

"Eh? I said as expected of a genius. My teammate Neji always said the same thing, and even when we spar, I always fail to win." Lee said in admiration.

"Well, then maybe he's just that strong." Sasuke said with a snort.

"I know, afterall, he was the best graduating Genin from our class. He's a genius." Lee said

"And you're saying you're not?" Sasuke asked.

"Of course." Lee answered immediately. "I can't even use chakra, how can I be a genius?"

"Alright then, come at me." Sasuke said without saying anything else. He had grown up hearing people calling him a genius since his academy days and he had gradually gotten used to it.

However, that was a different case when someone like Lee said it. To him, it sounded more like an insult than a praise.

Afterall, he has felt how strong Lee was, so for someone as strong to call him a genius wasn't something he would take lightly.

"Really?"

"Absolutely." Sasuke said and took a basic Taijutsu stance almost similar to the Konoha green lotus.

This technique was a modified technique Shun had created for Sasuke when he has entered the academy.

According to Shun, this technique focued on speed of his punches and kicks rather that the force behind them.

Lee frowned seeing the stance but relaxed after seeing it wasn't the same and also took the stance of the green lotus.

"Don't do this Sasuke!" Sakura tried to Reason but Sasuke wasn't listening.

"This will only take 2 minutes." Sasuke said as he blurred out of her sight.

'He's fast!' Lee thought in surprise as he too blurred.

The two met in the middle of the room as they exchanged several punches and kicks to which they were both at stalemate.

"Konoha Senpu!" Lee declared as his fighting style changed and he made to kick Sasuke.

'Above me!' Sasuke thought and made to dodge by squatting only for Lee's feet to follow him down.

'Nani!?' He thought as the feet made contact and Lee drew first blood.

"Sasuke!" Sakura cried out but no one paid her any attention. Even Naruto who was looking at the fight in shock.

'So there was someone this strong in Taijutsu, Eh?' He thought as he looked at Sasuke's miserable appearance in amusement.

'How did he get past my guard? Is this still martial arts or did he use Genjutsu there?' Sasuke thought as he stood up.

'At that moment he did mention Konoha Senpu. I see. He used the momentum of the wind to follow-up my movement without straining his muscles.' Sasuke thought as his eyes scanned Lee to ascertain if he really wasn't using Chakra.

'Good. This may be my chance to get a little practice using the sharingan.' Sasuke thought as he began smiling.

Lee on the other hand took his stance once again and motioned for Sasuke to come. 'So that's the famous Sharingan?'

At that moment they both blurred once again to Sakura who was swooning at how amazing her Sasuke was.

However the next moment sent a great deal of shock down her spine as Lee leveled an upward kick at Sasuke's jaw, throwing him a good distance into the air.

'Nani?!' Was the shared question in Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura's mind at that moment. Naruto and Sakura hadn't seen what had actually happened but Sasuke had.

However, seeing didn't mean he could physically react to Lee's abrupt increase in speed. Thankfully, his intelligence and lack of pride made him understand he shouldn't take it head on.

Lee seeing his attack hit placed his hands on the floor and said. "Exactly. This is neither martial arts or illusion."

Swish!

In another abrupt show of speed, he was already shadowing behind Sasuke who was still in the air. [Dancing Shadows of the Leaf.] He said and his bandages began wrapping around Sasuke.

"That's right. No Ninjutsu, no illusion. My moves are strictly physical. Hard as you may find it to accept. If your Sharingan can see the heart of every Shinobi, then I believe it'd be an invaluable Dojutsu. However, if you see but your body can't follow, it remains just that. A Dojutsu."

As Sasuke was fully wrapped, Lee didn't forget to add. "This move exceeds your Genius completely."

'Sasuke' who had been watching on with shock suddenly smirked and said. "Oh?"

Puff!

"Nani!?"

Lee cried out as he looked at what he had wrapped only to find a log of wood in his bandages.

"If you as an outsider could find out this minor secret about the Sharingan, do you think the Uchiha clan doesn't know that?" A familiar voice sounded out from Naruto who has been watching the battle with interest.

"Huh?" Both Sakura and Lee were confused as Naruto asked the question in the voice of Sasuke.

Puff!

'Naruto' disappeared in a puff of smoke and in his place stood both Sasuke and Naruto who was looking at Sasuke in anger.

"You-" Lee, who had landed looked shell shocked at the sight before him.

"No need to look surprised. I knew yourl were strong after our brief exchange, but as Shun-Nii would always say, talking in the middle of a battle is a move only two kind of people tend to exhibit." Sasuke said not minding Naruto one bit.

"An amateur or an expert." Sasuke lectured. "An amateur because he is an amateur or an idiot and then an expert because he has total confidence in himself."

Giving Lee a smug smile, Sasuke said. "you turned out to be the former. An amateur."

Lee who was listening to this didn't feel insulted but asked. "When?"

"When you kicked me up, my Sharingan was already active. That moment you used to talk was enough for me to perform a substitution technique and a transformation technique at the same time." Sasuke said

"Naruto happened to be the only person I could use so I kindly asked him to transform himself for me." Sasuke said smugly only to receive a punch from Naruto.

"Hey! What's that for?!" Sasuke said as he took a few steps back

"Phew. Now we're even." Naruto said. "Come, we'll be late if we dilly-dally." He ordered.

"Humph." Sasuke snorted but still followed leaving a still confused Sakura who was still trying to figure out how everything took place.

"And hey," Sasuke suddenly called out to Lee. "I'm not the strongest in Taijutsu in our set. I'm just the best all round."

"Eh?" Lee asked.

"If you're not the best, then who?" Asked Lee

"Him." Sasuke said pointing at Naruto who was walking away angrily.

"I see."

...

"Shun-kun. Why did you stop me? My student could've injured little Sasuke." Guy who was being bound with some rope he didn't even know could bind him asked.

"C'mon Guy. Those kids are no longer kids. They're the future of the village. Your village. If you go around hampering their potential, they won't grow up nicely." Shun said with a sagely look as he placed down a shogi piece.

"That's true Guy, the chicks gotta leave their nest, y'know. I'm with Shun on this one." Asuma, who was sitted opposite Shun answered as he puffed out a well shaped smoke circle.

Kakashi who was also by himself reading his Icha Icha paradise nodded. "You gotta let them duke it out every once in a while. They're kids, so they'll feel they're better than their peers. Letting them know their own strength is the reason for this exams right?"

"I kind of stand with Guy on this one. What if they had gotten hurt?." The only girl amongst them, Kurenai asked. "That technique Lee used could've put Sasuke out of commitment if he had succeeded."

"Exactly!" Shun raised his voice a little bit. "If!"

"If it has succeeded. But had you stopped Lee, we wouldn't have known. Lee would've still been in the dark about the weakness he currently has and Sasuke wouldn't have learnt this new technique." Shun said with a smug smile.

"Eh?"

"Hm. Sasuke's Sharingan was active. He should have gotten a new technique in his arsenal now, considering Kakashi hasn't taught him anything on that." Asuma nodded

"And who do you think caused that? Shun has taught them the best Taijutsu for their body, what else am I supposed to have taught them?" Kakashi shrugged and turned over the next page of his book

"Nee-san is actually in the village." Shun carelessly said and Kakashi was gone.

"Damn. I didn't know he was that fast." Asuma remarked with a chuckle. "She must have him on the whip eh?" He said only to look at Kurenai who was giving him a glare that could kill.

"Hmm?" Shun looked up in confusion. "What the hell? I meant she should be back in the village by now. The village, Hanagakure, not Konoha."

"Oh..Oh!" The suddenly realized and burst out laughing at Kakashi.

"Haha. You can go now Guy. Your turtle is already lecturing your student. Just don't hit him too hard. He's still got an exam to attend." Saying that, the rope around Guy dissolved to the amazement of the Jounins on the roof

...

"Hey Sasuke," Naruto suddenly called out.

"Hm?"

"You lost."

"What'd you say?"

"I said you lost that fight. If you two continued the fight, you'd have lost." Naruto said with his face serious.

Sasuke swallowed what he had to say seeing how serious Naruto looked but Naruto then smiled and said. "well, if the rules were, 'No Ninjutsu' then you still lost. In pure Taijutsu, you still lost. In physical strength, you still lost."

"What's your point damnit!" Sasuke snarked angrily.

"We'll win right?" Naruto asked.

Sasuke paused and calmed down as he heard the question. He knew what Naruto was talking about.

"We'll win. We're a team." Sasuke replied.

"Hmm."

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A/N: So this fanfic has finally been completed on Patre@n. It's been a long journey...Two years if I'm counting right. Enjoy