Chapter 73: I, Your Father, Like to Doodle

Though he was surprised by the transformation of Gaara’s arm and the tail slowly taking form from the gourd on his back, the smile on Lee’s face only became more prominent as the fight continued. Gaara’s attacks had a lot of forward momentum, but he couldn’t change directions quickly, nor did he seem to be in total control of his actions. For someone as skilled in Taijutsu as Lee, the enraged boy may as well be telegraphing his attacks a week in advance.

After failing to grab Lee several times, the expression on Gaara’s face became even more deranged as he screamed, “Stop! Moving…!” with a cracking voice. At the same time, we aimed the palm of his transformed arm at Lee, a gaping, anus-like hole opening in the middle to blast out a highly compressed bullet of air.

“Whoa…!”

As Wind Release techniques were both fast and nearly invisible, Lee was ‘almost’ caught off guard by Gaara’s palm-based flatulence. He nearly got sucked into the vacuum produced as the bullet passed his position, giving Gaara a very brief window where he might have been able to grab him.

Sweeping past Lee’s location, missing the markedly faster boy by a wide margin, Gaara released a high-pitched scream that was equal parts rage and frustration. The transformation that had overtaken his arm began to encroach upon his face, but it didn’t get very far before Lee landed a very heavy kick to the affected area, shouting, “You’re wide open…!” as he sent Gaara’s body flying out of the transformed sand, seemingly unconscious as he bounced, rolled, and skid across the ground.

“Dammit…!”

“Shit…!”

“Gaara…!”

Ignoring the attention they were receiving from everyone else, Baki, Kankura, and Temari all gripped the catwalk’s railing at nearly the same time. The reason Gaara had such dark circles around his eyes was partly due to the fact he never got more than a few minutes of sleep at a time. If he ever fully succumbed to unconsciousness, there would be nothing to stop the Shukaku from taking over. At the very least, that’s what they all believed.

Instead of turning into a massive Tanuki, Gaara remained lying face-down on the ground for several seconds, his body unmoving. For the briefest of moments, the trio from Suna weighed the possibility that he may be dead, but then a faint snoring sound began echoing through the area, its origin the slumbering redhead that had half of his face swollen…

Though he had many questions and doubts, Baki leaped into the training field to retrieve Gaara’s body, cradling the incredibly thin boy in his arms as he firmly asserted, “Suna will tend to its own wounded…” while staring up at the congregation from Konoha. To his tremendous surprise, Hiruzen just gave a curt, ostensibly understanding nod as he said, “If you require any assistance or supplies, let our hospital staff know. They will be more than happy to render their services to the Kazekage’s youngest son.”

Without offering a reply, Baki Shunshin’d away with Gaara in tow, leaving the still-stunned Temari and Kankuro behind. He would ordinarily never let the two out of his sight, but as ‘Saiko Dadi’ had made his presence known, Baki presumed they would be safe as they waited around to draw lots at the end of the Preliminaries. The boy was all but engaged to Temari, so he wouldn’t stay idle if Konoha attempted to attack or capture her…

…

..

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While the Chunin Exam Preliminaries continued, Baki had Gaara stripped down to nothing but his underwear so that a team could inspect the seal on his body. What they discovered was a ‘second’ seal drawn around his original, an intentionally faulty seal that gave Gaara access to Shukaku’s power but at the cost of his mental stability.

Upon hearing the report, Baki, standing with a stern expression and his arms crossed, asked, “How does a second seal just miraculously appear?” before asking the even more relevant question, “Will Gaara be able to use the Shukaku’s power in the future?”