Title: 90 Degree
By Fancyspinner
Comments and feedback welcome
Disclaimer: The Naruto franchise does not belong to me. This is a work of speculative fiction and I intend no monetary gain from this effort.
Summary: Let us suppose Naruto and Lee get that encouraging hand to make a difference in their lives as very young children. Focus will be on pre academy and academy days for now.
Author's notes: I hope this is entertaining. I am rather fascinated by Maito Gai and Rock Lee. I also admire Naruto. If you put all that together, you get something like this. I've seen many stories where Anko, Kurenai or whoever raise Naruto. I haven't seen much exploration of Lee's character and Gai can't just be all "Youth!" all the time. He was Genin by 7 and Chunin by 11. My belief is that part of his personality is a mask. We're dealing with a bunch of kids made to grow up waay too fast. They deal with loss, betrayal and death. I'd like to explore the difference bonds will make for these characters.
I took inspiration from SincereNaruto's Eyes of a Broken Soul
A/N on characters , For speling I'm using the Wiki. When it comes to character info I'm using narutopedia.
This is my NaNo project for 2009 so its getting minimal beta work.
A/N On pairings: There will be some! Lee and Naruto are obviously too young. The others are not. I'll warn for Yaoi and het. I will also state that while the relationships will be there, they are not the focus of the story.
Pairings: I don't know for Lee. Naruto probably Hinata. I will warn for Asuma/Kurenai and Gai/Ibiki. Don't everyone run away! Please.
Kkkkkkkkkkkkkkk
Part 1: a friendship is born.
It was early morning in the Village of Konohagakure. It was right before the breakfast rush, that time when citizens were preparing for the day either to work or go to the academy. For those younger children in clans it was that special time when tutors began instructing them in their letters, clan history, and general history. In some rare cases even weapons training.
If one was not blessed to be part of a clan then parents would instruct younger children in whatever craft or business their parents were involved in until the child was old enough to attend non-shinobi schooling. If the child then proved willing and able, they had the opportunity to attend the shinobiacademy. Reading, writing and history were also a part of that training. For all children drawing and pictures were used to get across concepts that would not be easily understood through words. This was the life for the children too young to attend school in the village of konoha.
There were those however not blessed to have clans or family of any sort to begin their instruction. These children – now more numerous than in several generations, were placed in orphanages. While there were standards mandated by the Hokage for these places there wasn't anyone to really enforce them so the quality varied from location to location.
It was noted that there was one location that was watched by the Anbu core for at this location lived a very special child. This child was Uzumaki Naruto a jinchuriki one of the demon containers. At his birth the Kyuubi no Kitsune or the 9 tailed fox attacked Konohagakure killing many of its most well known shinobi. In one final act of desperation, the Yondaime Hokage had taken Uzumaki Naruto and used his very being to contain the most powerful of the Bijuu.
Instead of seeing this child as the guardian he was, the village saw him as evil and it showed in their every action. Even those Shinobi considered knowledgeable enough to be Anbu ignored many of the abuses he suffered. If asked, each anbu could say with all truthfulness that they watched over the child. In their reports the group of watchers stated that Uzumaki seemed to fall down a great deal and that he was generally scruffy and undernourished. Uzumaki was now 4 years old but could easily have been mistaken for 2.
There was one who watched out for the small child. This person was also a child only slightly older than Uzumaki. If asked, he would say that his name was Rock Lee. He would tell you that his parents had not wanted him. The reason for his abandonment was very simple. Rock Lee did not have the ability to mold chakra.
For the village of Konohagakure chakra was its lifeblood. It was chakra that gave shanobi the ability to compete in the world of ninja. An inability to use this energy meant that you could not be shanobi. Lee's parents had been counting on the child to become a ninja. Children usually manifested accidental chakra use. Rock Lee did not. There was currently no medic available to explain what was wrong. His parents had decided to leave Konoha and their child behind.
The two boys did not speak to each other. For Lee, he could feel the huge chakra reserves the smaller child held and it frightened him. Whenever he felt the younger boy's chakra it curled around him and he feared it would squeeze the life out of him. He sometimes dreamed that he couldn't breathe. He saw Red eyes glaring at him and heard a voice echoing all around laughing and telling him that if he came too close the younger child would suck his life away because he didn't have chakra. This didn't stop him from defending the younger boy. It wasn't right that he was kicked and stomped on. He shared his food too because no one wanted to feed the younger child.
Uzumaki Naruto was aware of the other boy that tried to protect him and did his best to show his gratitude. He didn't have words to use. He was sure the words he understood were not nice "Demon, monster, Kami cursed." He barely knew his name Uzumaki Naruto.
He drew a picture of the slightly older boy dressed in Shinobi clothing and left it where the other boy slept. When the picture was found, the dark eyes filled with tears. Rock Lee stared at the picture for a long moment and felt something inside of him shift. Within him, a dream had been born. It would take years before the newly kindled dream was fulfilled but the road Rock Lee needed to set his steps upon had already found him. He began the moment he put the needs of another before his own.
"I have to thank him." Mumbled the older boy to himself and depending on the same rightness that had made him defend a demon child, Rock Lee went to meet his Destiny.
Uzumaki Naruto huddled outside the food place and shivered. It was always so cold. He heard sound behind him and scrunched himself into as small a target as possible.
"H-h-hello?"
The voice was easily heard by Naruto's ears. He didn't move though moving would cause pain and he was smart enough to know he didn't want more pain.
"M-my name is L-Lee. I wanted to thank you for the picture." Once Lee saw that there was no chakra coming to eat him he sat next to the boy.
"Nar-u-to."
"Naruto?" Lee blinked
"Oh, your name is Naruto." Lee gave his brightest smile.
Naruto responded to that by uncurling himself and moving closer to his protector. He didn't speak though.
"Are you hungry? I'm sorry I couldn't give you food yesterday. I tried to find you. If you go," Lee pointed to the battered swing set, "there I will take you some food, ok??"
Naruto scratched the back of his head trying to put the words together. He stood, understanding go,
Lee pushed Naruto gently towards the swing continuing to point. Naruto suddenly nodded and took off.
Once Naruto made it to where he needed to be, he rose and quickly entered into the dining hall. It had comfortable chairs and tables. Some were for younger children and some for older. The food was also good. Lee quietly made his way to the line and was not too surprised when he was pushed out of the way. He managed to sway almost into the push and staid on his feet. In order to avoid more pushes he allowed the others to pass him. The woman at the line looked like she should be nice and she usually smiled at the children but not at him and not at Naruto.
She shoved a tray at him and glared her eyes looked mean. He staggered with the weight of the tray and quickly stumbled out of the dining hall. He didn't even look down at what was for dinner. He just concentrated all of his effort and will on not spilling the tray or even moving it a little bit. When he made it over to the swing, he motioned Naruto to follow him.
The younger child did.
Together, they hid behind some broken equipment. When Lee lifted the cover he smiled. For once, there was enough food. Maybe he could even save some of it for when Naruto didn't eat. He quickly looked at everything available. Rice balls, veggies, some soup, meet. Lee poked it gingerly. Naruto was staring at it so he tore it in half with his fingers and gave Naruto the larger part. The real important stuff was the bread and the fruits. HE could save those. Naruto watched Lee put them away in a bag he always had with him. Lee then began to divide the rest of the food between them. The two ate with their hands except for the soup. Lee carefully helped Naruto to drink most of it.
Lee had learned to watch carefully as had Naruto. They both understood how things worked. After dinner, without a word, the two rose. The others would come and play and not a single child would play with them.
Hand-in-hand the two boys slipped back towards the orphanage. Naruto tugged on lee's hand so he followed and they ended up in a cramped little room. Lee stared. There were drawings on the wall and two plants sitting where a big hole in the ceiling allowed sunlight to come in.
"How did you draw the pictures?"
Instinctively realizing that Naruto didn't understand all of his words Lee made sure to point at the pictures and then towards Naruto then flash one of his brilliant smiles. Naruto returned the smile and then removed the picture Lee had pointed at from the wall. He held it out and Lee gently took it. It was very pretty. It showed Konoha with Shinobi dressed in battle gear protecting the village. There was a sun drawn protectively around the village and the Shinobi. Lee loved it. He went back to the wall and hung it back up. He noticed that on the back of the paper a glob of something was stuck to it. Lee didn't really want to know what it was.
Naruto went to another corner and tugged a pile of blankets and a cot out and set them up. Then he motioned to Lee.
"Oh, wait! I'll be right back!" Lee thought quickly and ran towards his own place.
Naruto was left alone to wait. He smiled and tried to repeat some of the words he had heard. "Lee." Dwaw." He went and touched one of his pictures and smiled.
Then he used all of his strength to stretch the bed. He didn't do it too often because the bigger he made the bed, the less comfortable it was. He didn't mind though, not if Lee would stay with him. Naruto then spread his blankets and took out some colors to make more pictures.
The moment Lee returned Naruto could see something was wrong. He jumped off of the cot and went to him. Lee allowed some of his weight to fall on the smaller boy though he tried his best to stand straight. He hadn't expected to be attacked. He was used to being ignored and made fun of – but attacks were few. It always happened around this time of year that people just started acting strange. He couldn't understand it.
Naruto guided Lee to the cot and helped him sit. Then he took the blankets and other things out of Lee's hands. It took him a bit of time but he managed to make a comfortable sleeping place then helped Lee to curl up in it. Lee reached for Naruto and he allowed himself to curl against Lee and the two boys drifted off to sleep.
Had either of the 2 boys realized that today was a day of mourning and celebration they might have avoided the orphanage all together – or at the least found another place to sleep in an attempt to keep one another safe. This day would change the future of the two boys because they had found something they both ached for companionship – each other. While Lee had the word to use "Friend." Naruto only knew "precious person." It meant the same thing.
While friendship and precious people were barely concepts to the boys. Their lives would be shaped by those simple phrases.
At the time the two boys fell asleep, it was still early so the usual drinking hadn't started. It would be hours before the villagers took it into their heads to find the demon child and cause him harm. It didn't occur to them, nor would it have made a difference to them, that on this night, another would be with the demon child. They wouldn't care that in harming the child they reviled they could potentially be harming another who had only committed the crime of protecting one seemingly weaker than himself.
TBC: