My Belated Apology - Hyuga Neji x OC Fanfiction

Chapter 13

A/N: Tomorrow is Neji's birthday :D sadly I'm busy that day :'( Happy birthday early, Neji!! BTW, thank you all for supporting me!
If you wanna see some more about NejiShiyu (mostly my drawings, but I'm kinda lazy tho), please visit my Instagram: neji_snow78 (spoiler alert). Thank you!

Shiyuki's POV

"No way, Guy!! You..." Kakashi-sensei asks.
"It's exactly what you think."
"Then that genin kid will... The Eight Celestial Inner body Gates..."
"Yeah... He will open them. He had the ability..."
"Even if he had the ability... Such a dangerous technique like that... The 'Extreme Lotus' is one technique that shouldn't be taught!"
It sure is.

Neji-kun seems puzzled. I myself train with Lee, so I know about this well enough. Neji-kun, you never suppose that Lee is this strong, do you?

"Guy, how many of the Gates can that kid open?"
"Five."
Astonished, Kakashi-sensei reveals his Sharingan to have a closer look.

Lee, I know.
I know that you accepted to use this double-edged sword... Even if that means you'll die, just to protect your ninja way. Lee...
"The third Life gate... OPEN!!!"
His body, red. His forehead, full of veins.
"The fourth Harm gate: OPEN!!!"
What a monstrous speed! Lee is too fast to be seen. The Sand can't keep up, of course. The sand armour is being ripped off.

Lee, you are in pain.

"The fifth Limit gate, OPEN!"
Up here in the balcony, we feel his inhuman strength. I glance at the shocked Neji-kun beside me. Are you watching him, Neji-kun? That's the technique he prepared to defeat you.
Lee's movement is now no where near human's ability.

"Extreme Lotus!!"
While Lee's body twitches in pain, Gaara's gourd turns to sand. No way, he uses the gourd to protect himself?! Lee!
Lee falls. While he still hasn't recovered yet, the sand grabs his left side.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh!!!"
"Lee!!" I can't hold my scream anymore.
The sand continues to cover my poor buddy, but Guy-sensei has come to stop it.
The match is already over.

"Why... did you save..."
"He is my beloved comrade."
"Winner: Gaara!"

But no... Lee stands up on his stance.
"Lee, enough. It's over. You shouldn't be standing with that body."
His face... I'm at a loss of word to describe it... Even after losing consciousness, you still strive to prove you ninja way...

Lee, you are already a great ninja.

"Medical team, please come here quickly!" Gekko calls.
After checking Lee's condition, a medic nin asks Guy-sensei to talk privately.
"He is breathing properly but... He has shattered bones and torn muscles through out his body. We could do something about it if that was the only problem, but... The damage to his left arm and leg where he was attacked is grave. It's difficult to have to say something like this but..."

"With this body, he will never be able to live as a shinobi again."
What?!
I don't notice that tears are streaming down my face.

***

"To all of you who won the right to compete in the 'third round test' in the chunin exam. *cough* One is missing but, congratulations to you all!"
Naruto comforted me. I now calm down to listen to the Hokage.
"Well, now I'd like to start explain the main test."
"As I told you before," He continues, "In the main event, your matches will be seen by everybody. Each of you will fight to represent the strenghts of your countries. I'd like you to show off all your powers with no reserves. Which is why the finals will be held one month from now."

"We're not going to do it here. right now?!"
"This break you can say, will be for preparations. In other words, in addition to informing all the various country lords and shinobi leaders, this is the time needed to arrange for the gathering of the event... And this is also the preparation time for you examination students. Basically, it's the preparation to get to know your enemy and yourself."

"There's something that has to be done for the finals before I can dismiss you all."
"What the hell is it?! I've got to train now!!"
"Well, now don't get so excited. There are pieces ofpaper inside of the box that Anko's holding, so each of you take one piece."

8?

"Alright, you all took a piece. Now then I'd like you to tell us the number on that paper in order, starting from the left."
As we speak, Ibiki writes something down. The matches have been decided.

"Uzumaki Naruto VS Hyuga Neji.
Gaara VS Uchiha Sasuke.
Kankuro VS Aburame Shino.
Dosu Kinuta VS Akai Shiyuki.
Temari VS Nara Shikamaru."