better left unsaid

Chapter 24: Eyes of the World

In a special box set aside for the visiting kage and their guards, four of the five powerful village leaders sat up top watching attentively along with Mifune, "The teams in the final round are comparably young this year. Other than Kirigakure's representatives, Amegakure's, and Iwagakure's of course." The calm, even tempered samurai general commented.

The Raikage, a large, burly dark-skinned man with slicked back white hair and a mustache and goatee let out a barking laugh in his ceremonial robes, "If you don't get promoted young and get over that hump early it's hard to go far in our line of work. Two of those kids down there were trained by my younger brother and Samui herself should have gotten promoted last year. She was too heavily injured to continue into the combat test after the survival portion of the test."

"How unfortunate." The Kazekage said. Under his hat he had spiky auburn hair and a stern look on his face as he looked down at all of the genin walking away from the field to head up to their viewing area, "But Temari, Kankuro, and Gaara are the absolute best in Suna without question. I even considered sending them and only them to make a point, that the quality of our shinobi can overwhelm any odds."

A bit his tongue at mentioning that those overwhelming odds ended with them in the easiest bracket of the tournament as Hiruzen spoke up instead, "Raikage-dono where is the sensei of your team in the upcoming match?"

"Killer B has his own responsibilities in addition to teaching Omoi and Karui." A explained, "He's Kumo's guardian by my decree. He can't really leave."

At that, the Tsuchikage let out a scoff, "What a waste of such a powerful shinobi." The Tsuchikage was a very short old man with a rather bulbous nose and a smirk on his face, "You two were very infamous as the A-B Duo. Weren't you two supposed to be unbeatable when fighting together? I guess that's as good a use for a jinchuuriki as any I've thought of though."

A clicked his teeth loudly in irritation. That was his brother the Tsuchikage was talking about, "You should watch how you talk about people Onoki." He said evenly, "I believe we should pay attention to the fights now."

XxX

Down on the field the proctors decided to referee the one-on-one fights one at a time, with Jei being the first to do so from a neutral starting point in the Zen-garden. Over on Team Gai's side of the field, it seemed like Neji was going to walk over first, but before he could do so Lee raced out ahead of him and came to a stop right in front of Jei, much to Neji's chagrin apparently as Tenten palmed her face at Lee's exuberance, "Okay... I'm guessing you're first up for your team."

"Yes proctor-san. Rock Lee at your service and ready for combat!" He said, giving a thumbs up and a smile, complete with glistening white teeth.

"Show everyone the power of your youth Lee!" A very distinctly 'youthful' voice shouted over the low rumbling of the crowd anticipating the first match.

"Hey sit down and stop yelling weird guy! That jumpsuit of yours is disturbingly tight!" A spectator nearby the first shout said.

Jei scratched his bald head awkwardly at Lee's rather eccentric demeanor. He turned his head to see Karui walking towards him rolling her shoulders out as a rudimentary way to get her arms loose and limber, "Looks like it's time to get this show on the road. The first round match, fight one: Rock Lee of Konoha vs Karui of Kumo! Are both competitors ready?" He asked, looking at Lee who had slipped in his special stance and Karui who had gotten into her own ready position, getting nods from both, "Begin!" He yelled before jumping away.

Before the last syllable left Jei's mouth, Karui's hand was on the hilt of her katana and drawn in a quick slash directed at Lee, "Kumo-Ryuu Omotegiri (Cloud-Style Front Beheading)!"