Child of the Moon

Red Means Crazy

"Dude..." Aki stared open-mouthed at the scene before her. Thus far, the fight had been incredibly cool - with a few moments of frustrating smack talk.

"Hollow? But when..." Aiyanna blinked in confusion.

"How closely were you watching Lee?" Tsukiko questioned.

"Uh..."

"He flinched, didn't he?" Aki kept her eyes trained on the fight below. "Closed his eyes for a split second."

"Which would be when Gaara took advantage and switched," Aiyanna realised.

Aki was vaguely aware of an explanation along those lines happening somewhere behind her but kept her eyes fixed below.

She sucked in a breath.

"DUDE BEHIND YOU!"

Boss Brows turned sharply, crying out in surprise as Gourd Guy appeared behind him.

"The guy is completely off his rocker," she thought absently as the redhead cackled darkly.

Wave after wave of sand attacks threw Boss Brows around, and Aki heard Naruto yell "Run Lee!" but it was obvious the boy was in no shape to do more than struggle to fend off the relentless attacks.

"Why isn't he dodging?" Aiyanna questioned, a deep frown forming on her face.

"Because he can't," Tsukiko said, her own expression worried. "Using the Lotus is a double-edged sword. Like Aki trying to punch someone while using her Bird technique. She might be faster, but her bones are more fragile."

"So... what? His bones get fragile from using that technique?" Aki questioned.

"No," Tsukiko said. "But the effort required to use that technique, which is fully taijutsu, is enormous. The body can't sustain it for long, and that's why Lee is struggling right now. He's in so much pain, moving is probably hell."

"Dude..." Aki whistled lowly. "The dude has guts..."

They watched as Boss Brows struggled to dodge the incoming attacks, just barely avoiding attacks in some cases.

"Why doesn't anyone call the match?" Aiyanna said softly. "It's obvious the other guy is just toying with him right now, and Lee clearly can't keep fighting."

"Because Lee won't quit," Tsukiko said softly. "Because he doesn't know how."

After a moment of painful struggling and clear toying, Boss Brows suddenly moved like he did when the match started.

"Dude!" Aki jumped up again, excitedly watching the match. "Looks like Boss Brows got his second wind!"

"That's incredible," Aiyanna leaned on the railing. "I might just have to believe him the next time he says he's the strongest genin."

Tsukiko chuckled at their reactions.

Aki was vaguely aware of technical discussions of "gates" or something happening from over where Kakashi and Bigger Boss Brows were talking, and Kakashi sounded slightly mad about something.

But Aki had bigger concerns.

"KICK HIS ASS BOSS BROWS!" she cheered as he started making his comeback.

Aki was vaguely aware of a small disagreement between Kakashi and Bigger Boss Brows that Tsukiko-sensei stepped into, but she was honestly more interested in the display of skill down below.

Because Boss Brows chose that moment to go very still.

Aki was not a sensory type, but even she could sense the sheer level of chakra coming off him in waves.

His skin turned red, and Aki could see his veins bulging.

A huge grin spread across her face, as adrenaline began pumping through her.

"This just got hella exciting," she grinned.