A/N: This is for Noinechan! Go read her fics, they are veeerryyy good. Merry X-mas Noinechan, much love!
The Path to Youth
Uzumaki Naruto wanted to become Hokage.
He wanted to be Hokage more than anything.
To become Hokage he would need to become stronger, but becoming stronger wasn't always the easiest thing to do.
It took dedication and hard training to become stronger.
It took hours of concentration on a single goal to become stronger.
It also took a teacher to become stronger.
Naruto did a double check.
Dedication?
Check.
Ready for hours of hard training?
Check.
Could he concentrate?
Check.
Could he stay single minded on his goal?
Triple Check.
Did he have a teacher to help show him training procedures?
Well, that seems to be where he failed.
Naruto sighed. He would never become Hokage at this rate!
What could he do though? Kakashi had vanished, Jiraiya was to busy peeping to help as well.
He couldn't even get a decent training partner. Sasuke had simply refused, and Sakura was going to be helping Ino at the flower shop.
The blonde boy needed to train. He needed to get stronger.
Or he'd go crazy.
'Think Naruto, think! Who's strong here in Konoha?'
He began to ponder all the possible suspects.
Kiba? No, he was still pissed from the last time.
Shino? Nope, He had rarely even spoke to Shino, much less trained.
Shikamaru? Again, he'd find it "to troublesome"
Chouji? He couldn't see why not...but it was dinner time, and trying to get Chouji away from food right now could be very dangerous.
Naruto growled in annoyance. 'Someone has to want to become stronger!!'
That's when Naruto remembered. There was ONE particular person who would want to be stronger. Realizing that he could have a training partner the boy jumped up and ran as fast as he could to the forest he hoped he'd find his friend in.
Rock Lee was surprised when Naruto leapt at him with a scream of 'Dattebayo!' and then begged to be trained. It was a strange request. Lee brought a hand to his chin and pondered. His mind was filled with his sensei's words.
"Never let someone in need down, Lee!"
Lee nodded. 'Gai-sensei! I will not let anyone down!'
He regarded the short blonde with a smile.
"Naruto-kun, I will help you train."
He was rather surprised when the blonde grabbed his arms and jumped up and down. "Thanks Fuzzy Brows!! Your the greatest!"
Lee smiled and laughed. "Okay! Naruto-kun, if you wish to become stronger , you must do everything I say, okay?"
Naruto nodded enthusiastically. "Yes sir!"
"Good! I will now share with you the secrets of youth!"
Naruto nodded enthusiastically. "Yes, yes! Show me the power of youth!"
Lee's eyes burned with fiery passion as he recalled all of Gai's lessons. "First Naruto-kun, you will have to wear the designated clothes."
Naruto blinked. "Designated...?" He looked down at his orange gear. "This isn't good enough?"
Lee shook his head. "It's not bad Naruto-kun, but it's not the clothing designated for YOUTH!"
Naruto blinked, "Oookkaaayyy...then what IS designated for youth?"
Lee chuckled, and quickly pulled out a strange green jumpsuit, which looked very ,very, VERY familiar.
"Naruto-kun, please put this on." Lee handed the piece of clothing to Naruto who blinked.
"Why do I need to wear this..?"
Lee simply smiled. "It represents youth!"
Naruto examined it closely, looking it up and down and nodded to himself, and Lee.
"Okay."
Lee closed his eyes trying to remember everything he could about his training with Gai-sensei. He nodded to himself. 'Gai-sensei....give me strength!' He re-opened his eyes and gasped.
"N-naruto-kun!"
Naruto glanced up, slightly annoyed. "Yeah?"
"Y-your clothes!"
Naruto blinked and looks down. "...Yeah?"
"T-t-they are gone!"
Naruto blinked and looked down again at his mostly naked body.
"..Yup..."
Lee shook his head. "Why are you undressing?"
Naruto crossed his arms annoyed. "You told me to change Fuzzy Brows!"
Lee blinked then nodded slowly. "Oh...yes....that's true.."
The blonde rolled his eyes as Lee turned away, turning a deep red from the sight of the other boys body. He could hear Naruto getting dressed, and when he could cease to hear movement he turned to face the other genin.
Naruto grinned, hands on his hips, green suit on his body. "What do you think?"
Lee smiled, teeth flashing, and gave him a thumbs up, "Great Naruto-kun! Just great!"
Lee lowered his hand and began talking. "First thing's first, Naruto-kun, you must know what your goal is. Do you?"
Naruto nodded. "Yeah! It's to become the Hokage!"
Lee couldn't help but smile at the boy, "That's a nice dream."
Naruto nodded, his smile still in place, "Yeah! I know."
"Okay then, now we will work on our kata's, then on our Konoha Green Leaf Spin Kicks."
Naruto couldn't grasp the long sounding technique, but it sounded strong, and so he held no complaints.
It was later that evening when the boys stopped. Naruto crashed onto the ground with a gasp of air. Lee moved and sat beside him, panting heavily as well. He gave Naruto a bright white smile and thumbs up all the same, "Good work...Naruto-kun..." he panted.
Naruto grinned back, his teeth seeming to shimmer, probably a strange effect from being around the 'beautiful beast' for so long.
"Your a hard worker Naruto-kun, but I'm going to tell you a secret."
"Hmm? Secret?"
Lee nodded. "To fight well, you must have someone to protect."
Naruto blinked, then nodded with a grin. "I know."
Naruto jumped up and dusted off the green pants. He gave a big smile.
"Thanks Fuzzy Brows." he leaned down and kisses the other boys cheek.
"Let's do it again sometime okay?"
Lee turned a scarlet red and stared at him.
"Oh, and I'm gonna take this outfit okay? It's really snug!"
He grinned and turned on his heel and walked away. Lee watched him leave, a rosy color covering his cheeks.
He was looking forward to training again.
-owari-