Credits:
The plot is mine.
"Naruto", and all of its characters and recognizable locations and concepts, is created and copyrighted by Kishimoto Masashi, and owned by Shueisha Publishing Co., Ltd. and Studio Pierrot.
Prologue betareader: GelbertBlitz. Thanks a bunch!
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"The longest road you're going to have to walk is from here to here. From your head to your heart. And you can't speak to the people as a leader unless you've made the return journey. From the heart back to the head."
~Dakota proverb
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The Longest Road
~Prologue~
There were many things Rock Lee hadn't expected to see during the chūnin exam, and the boy from Sunagakure was definitely one of those things. Yes, things, because you couldn't call it human even if you wanted to.
At first, Lee hadn't noticed that anything was off the game. His opponent had glared at him with an apparent contempt, and the cold aura surrounding him could have scared Lee away if he hadn't seen such attitude day by day. Hyuuga Neji was always looking down his nose at his teammates, after all.
So Lee didn't falter nor cringe even after loads of sand had come crushing down on him and the pure, unreasonable hatred in the tiny redhead's eyes had increased beyond all imagination. Bruised and hurting, Lee stood up bravely, only to be knocked down again and again, simply unable to scratch the surface of the cold unholy mask, which seemed to hide his opponent's face.
Then Lee understood. The fight wasn't about who was going to be a chūnin any longer. The fight was about how long he would last before Sabaku no Gaara would give him a final blow. A lethal blow.
The conclusion made Lee hesitate for the first time but the redhead missed it, obviously. His head hanging and his shoulders sagging, he started whispering to himself. Lee couldn't hear the words since the whooshing sand was drowning them out but he didn't have to. Even if he had never seen it before, he recognized it immediately in his opponent's expression.
Insanity.
You can't fight it, can't reason with it, can't comprehend it. The only thing you can do is run fast before it is too late.
Unfortunately for Lee, it was too late. Not that Lee would have been eager to escape. His pride might have won with his will to live. Anyway, running away wasn't his option anymore when the clouds of sand encircling his opponent clung to the redhead's body, wrapping around him almost lovingly until they formed the strangest and the most frightening shape Lee had ever seen. The shape of a monster.
Everyone froze, shocked and speechless, and even the sand came to a halt in its moves for a few seconds, before a pandemonium rose. Lee was the first one who was hit by the monster's enormous fist, and Lee's head would have been smashed against the wall like an egg if his sensei hadn't caught him, carrying him away from the hall. In the hospital, Lee was treated by the medics, and he couldn't see what happened next. He didn't see the jōnins trying to fight the sand monster and how it repelled their attacks. He didn't see Suna ninjas emerging from their hideouts, attacking surprised villagers. He didn't see the fake Yondaime Kazekage killing Sandaime Hokage, before Jiraiya appeared and made him retreat. And finally, he didn't see Jiraiya defeating the monster before it could change to its ultimate form.
The traitors were captured easily since Otogakure didn't support their efforts as expected. It turned out that Orochimaru had his own plans inside plans, and turned his back on Suna immediately, leaving it to Konoha's tender mercies. However, Konoha didn't plan on keeping the prisoners in the village. Suna's leader was gone and without him, any treaty couldn't be signed. The prisoners were released quickly right after declaring an unconditional surrender, Shukaku's host included. Furious, he could barely take being defeated for the first time, and mentally swore an oath to take his revenge on Konoha in the future. However, the future had its own plans concerning him, and he went out of Konoha's borders completely oblivious to the fact that his journey down the longest road he would ever have to take had just started.