Greetings all! This is a One Shot I have written as part of a larger side project to my main story 'Midnight Sun'. I hope you enjoy it, even if you haven't read the main story!
He had 6 months until the academy would be accepting new students and Shimura Danzō was less than pleased that he had no pawn to place amongst the regular applicants. Tapping his cane in annoyance, he pondered his options before finally coming to a decision.
"Jirou." He called quietly to one of his guards.
"Yes sir?" The young man emerged from the shadows and knelt before him, awaiting instructions.
"Find Kyoko and tell her that I need her to find and train a student to enter into the academy, there is no time to waste."
The Root shinobi nodded sharply before disappearing from the room to look for Danzō's second in command.
It was sometime before he caught up to the red-headed woman, though what he saw made him take pause before approaching her.
She was in interrogation room 14 with a prisoner strapped to a circular platform that was swivelling at a dizzying speed, she also had her foot pressed against the weeping man's neck and was repeating a question.
"Who sent you?" She released her foot long enough that he would be able to speak properly.
The bound man gasped for air as he tried to crack his neck slightly before responding.
"Go fuck yourself."
There was a collective wince as her foot connected with his jaw and caused a loud cracking sound to echo around the otherwise silent room. All eyes were on the violet-eyed woman as she produced a small dead mouse from seemingly nowhere, kneeling down to pry open the protesting man's bloodied mouth she shoved it in before clamping her hand over his lips.
"Who sent you?" The platform was now spinning in the opposite direction and the man was shaking his head wildly with wide panicked eyes as he tried to eject the rodent from his mouth. Eventually, Kyoko released one hand to slap the mouse out of his mouth before waiting for a response.
"I won't tell you anything, you bitch!"
The woman chuckled before leaping off of the platform and walking towards a slightly disturbed Jirou with a warm but unsettling smile on her face. Before she reached him, she tilted her head over her shoulder and called out to her student.
"Itachi-chan, I believe our guest is a tad parched, fetch him some water won't you?"
The Uchiha boy didn't react to the 'chan' and merely nodded as he filled a large bucket with boiling hot water and carried it over to pour on the man's face.
Trying to block out the sounds of the man's choked screams, Jirou braced himself to deliver Danzō-sama's message to the red-head as she turned around to stare at him expectantly.
"Kyoko-sama, Danzō-sama would like you to find and train a new agent to be entered into the academy in 6 months."
"Understood." She said nothing more as she cracked her knuckles and turned to make her way back to the podium.
Nodding to his superior, Jirou slipped out of the room quietly to return to his station.
A 5 year old Rock Lee watched with wide eyes from the window of the orphanage as a woman with swaying red locks approached the main door with two bulky men on each side of her. He ducked down quickly though when she turned to meet his gaze and smiled softly at him.
He was surprised when the orphanage owners flung open the door and began shouting at the woman to leave. Why would they be so mean to a visitor? She seemed nice enough?
The woman did not seem remotely affected as she merely pushed her way past the owners and called out to the children, her voice ringing throughout the building.
"All children in the garden now, I have exciting news for one lucky orphan!"
The old lady they all called 'Fukuyo-baa-chan' was tugging at the woman's cloak and screeching at the calm red-head.
"Kyoko you bitch! Don't do this! They are children, they don't deserve this Kyoko!" The Root captain merely shrugged as she tugged her cloak from the woman's grasp and proceeded to the garden herself, calling casually over her shoulder.
"It's the opportunity of a lifetime Fukuyo-san. Besides, you'll have one less mouth to feed now. You should be thanking us."
Neither of the two other Root agents reacted as the old woman fell to the ground and began pounding the floorboards as tears ran freely down her face.
Rock Lee was mesmerized as the woman he now knew to be called 'Kyoko' tossed aside the chair that was reserved for storytelling and sat down on the grass with her cloak pooled around her. She had a warm smile on her face as she motioned for the children to form a circle around her, everything about her seemed gentle and welcoming as she giggled with the kids she already seemed to know and waited for everyone to settle down.
"Right everyone, I'm sure some of you remember me from my last visit. Am I correct?" Lee looked around and saw that many of the kids were nodding cheerfully and one young girl raised her hand as she called out to the woman excitedly.
"I remember you Kyoko-nee! Do you remember me?"
The red-head's violet eyes seemed to glow as she found the source of the voice and responded with an eye-smile to the young doe-eyed girl.
"Yes I do remember you Koemi-chan. Now children, who would like to hear a story?"
Lee, who was sat right at the front, nodded along with all the other kids and was surprised how quickly everyone went silent, the other kids were never completely quiet during story-time.
"Once I knew a person who had the kindest most loving heart, this person was brave and everyday they would set out from their home to go on dangerous adventures that would help keep their loved ones safe and ensure they could live comfortably. This person would wear a leaf insignia as a sign that they were proud to serve their home and to do things that many would rather not, so that their loved ones would not have to see the sad things the outside world held."
She paused to gauge the children's reactions and saw that she had each of them captured with her story, particularly the young boy from the window, who's eyes now held an inspired twinkle in them.
"One day this person, this friend of mine, this hero they.. they did not return to their home. They were slain by the enemy as they battled for the freedom of their loved ones."
She paused once more to see which kids eyes now held fear and which did not, she was surprised that the young boy from earlier was clenching his fist in determination.
"Many cried and many were angry, but those that were just like this hero, those that had trained and fought by this person's side were motivated to work harder. To succeed where their fallen comrade had not and to continue the task of protecting their home, their village."
She slowly let her eyes roam over each of the gathered children's faces and smiled as she saw Koemi with tears rolling down her face, she was impressed by the flames in the eyes of the boy directly in front of her though. The boy from the window.
"They were fearless and determined and did not shy in the face of the enemy, but for everyone of their number that fell someone would have to take their place. Some brave young soul would rise up to stand as a proud shinobi of the leaf and to protect their home until they drew their last breath."
She stopped speaking and the children remained silent for several long moments, expecting her to continue. It was Rock Lee that finally asked the question they were all dying to hear the answer to.
"What happened next?" He could tell he had been wise to speak as she smiled warmly at him once he had finished speaking.
"Oh the story never ends, the cycle merely continues" She whispered and looked down to the ground, smiling to herself as all the children leaned forward as one.
"The story never ends because we will always need a new and brave young person to join our ranks and fight to defend our home. I have come here today because another has fallen and I wonder if any among you will be brave enough to to take their place?"
It was to be expected that many of them would look away and many would start to shake in fear, it did not concern the red-head though as she had already decided who she was taking with her. Ignoring the sound of Fukuyo's whimpering in the background, she locked eyes with the small boy from the window and waited for him to react.
He did not disappoint.
She could barely conceal her smirk as the boy leapt up from his spot with his fists clenched in front of him.
"I will go, Kyoko-nee! I will take the place of the fallen and I will work extra hard so I will not fail and will be able to protect everyone and be a proud warrior of my village!"
Kyoko stood up and clapped her hands with a smile.
"Perfect. What is your name child?"
"Rock Lee." He tried to respond in his most disciplined sounding voice. She chuckled at the serious look on his face.
"It is a pleasure to meet you Rock Lee, from now on you will call me Kyoko-sensei. Come along, we have no time to waste. Goodbye children!" She took Lee's hand and led him back through the house to the main door.
The children were quickly jolted out of their shock and leapt up from their spots to chase after the Root agents as they made to exit.
"Goodbye Kyoko-nee, Goodbye Lee" They chimed as one. Some were sad to see the boy go and others were jealous that he had taken the chance before them but they all came to see him off cheerfully nonetheless.
Fukuyo-baa-chan barrelled through the kids to grasp Lee in a tight hug as the other orphanage staff stood lined against the walls with mournful looks on their faces.
"Please Lee." She whispered into his ear. "Never forget who you are."
He was too young to understand the true meaning in her words and he laughed heartily as he moved to stand beside the red head at the door and addressed everyone together.
"I know who I am. I am Rock Lee! A proud shinobi of the Leaf! Goodbye everyone!" He missed the dark look the old woman shot his new sensei along with the smirk she received in return and quickly turned to skip behind the Root agents as they headed off down the hill away from the orphanage.
Danzō looked down at the shaking young boy that Kyoko had brought to him before finally turning to face the red-head.
"He will do. Train him as you see fit and keep me updated on his progress, we don't have much time to get him ready."
"Understood, Danzō-sama." She beckoned for the boy to follow and swept out of the old war hawk's office with the new recruit in tow.
Danzō pondered what he would do with the boy once he was trained to an acceptable level, it had been difficult getting his shinobi into the Sandaime's ranks as the Old Monkey had been keeping a much closer eye on him since Root had been officially disbanded.
He had been hoping to get Hyūga Neji inducted into Root but his father Hizashi had shot the idea down and he had been given another young boy by the name of Jun instead. The boy was proving to be a quick learner and was exceptionally proficient at the Gentle Fist but Danzō had too much need of him in the shadows to send him to the academy. In the end Danzō had decided to have someone trained from scratch for that purpose, it would be unacceptable for him not to have at least one agent in that graduating class. This 'Rock Lee' had better not disappoint him.
12 months later and Rock Lee had proved to be a rather interesting investment, it had been discovered early on that the boy could not use chakra externally, though he could mould and use it for exercises such as tree-walking. Initially Danzō had been annoyed that the boy would not be able to perform ninjutsu or genjutsu but Kyoko had reassured him that the child would still be useful.
It was simple really. They would make him a sleeper agent.
Usually sleeper agents were sent to enemy villages but Rock Lee was going to be a sleeper in Konoha as part of a new experiment they were trying out. The boy would continue to go to the academy until he inevitably failed the exams and had to take up a civilian job, no one would ever suspect him of being a Root shinobi so Danzō would be able to activate him at a time that was useful and he would have an unassuming agent at his disposal when the time came.
That had been the idea until Kyoko had gone to a bar one night and overheard one Maito Gai groaning that he had no new passion to stoke his flames. It had been all too easy for the woman to use an undercover Root agent to mention to Gai that there was a budding Taijutsu practitioner in the academy that was desperately in need of a mentor.
Danzō loved the new idea even more.
Lee would train under Konoha's taijutsu master and actually make it into the Hokage's ranks which would make him much more valuable, they weren't sure how he would react if they activated him years later but it would be an interesting experiment that Danzō was more than willing to go along with. If it failed they could just kill him after all.
Lee groaned as his training partner for the day slammed him into the ground once more, Uchiha Itachi was no slouch and even though he didn't have his sharingan activated, Lee was having trouble keeping up with the famed 'Interceptor Fist' that the Uchiha clan used.
"You are good, Itachi-san but I won't give up." He said in an emotionless tone before jumping up to his feet and launching at the older boy.
"Lee. You are still not thinking far enough ahead with your movements, clear your mind and focus on your attack."
Before Lee could make another move, his sensei appeared in a shunshin and called an end to the spar.
"Come Lee. You have been summoned by Danzō-sama." Bowing to Itachi, Lee quickly hurried off after the woman.
Itachi stood alone in the field for a few moments as he thought about how Lee had changed over the past year, he wad watched the flames of dedication slowly leave the boy's eyes each day as he was moulded into a cold and sharp weapon.
Emotion was not necessary in the Foundation, only discipline.
The thought brought a smile to his face in the end as he considered one recently inducted Root agent that would never truly succumb to the Root training, the Will of Fire just burned too strongly in his adopted brother Naruto.
Seeing as he no longer had to spar with Lee, Itachi decided he would pay his favourite blonde a little visit and maybe kick him around the dojo for a bit while he was there.
The room was silent as the Root Commander gazed at the young boy stood in front of him with a dazed look on his face.
"What did you do to him Kyoko?" He waved his hand in front of the boy's face but there was no reaction.
"I have done everything you asked of me Danzō-sama, the boy is currently at mid-chūnin level in Taijutsu and is highly proficient at intel gathering and deception, though he does not currently remember those last 2 facts. I have hypnotised him and manipulated his mind to believe he is nothing more than an academy student with a burning passion for Taijutsu."
"Very well. How will you get Maito Gai to train him?"
"It has all been arranged. The man will be visiting the academy tomorrow to see the spars and hopefully he will be impressed enough to take the boy on."
"What will you do if he does not?"
"I will do whatever is necessary to make sure he does."
Danzō leant back in his chair and stroked his chin.
"How do I know he has been properly brainwashed?"
Kyoko took a step forward and knelt in front of the boy before running through several quick handseals.
Lee blinked a few times before realising where he was and standing up straight in front of his commander.
"Name?" Kyoko demanded in a cold tone.
"Rock Lee."
"Position?" She continued
"Kōhai in the Root Division."
"Priority?" She asked quietly.
"Serve and protect Konoha."
Danzō smiled and watched on with mild interest as Kyoko held her hand in a single seal and the boy returned to his hypnotized state.
He chuckled as the woman turned to face him with a smirk on her face.
"Satisfied sir?"
"Very." He responded with a smirk of his own.
This boy would be the first of his back ups, he would slowly gather many more children and indoctrinate them in the same way before letting them loose in Konoha's ranks so that one day he would have a secret army of unflinchingly loyal nin at his command.
Rock Lee. He would become a Taijutsu beast and would be activated at a time that was ideal for the man they called the 'Shinobi of Darkness'. Lee would rise through the ranks completely unaware of his true talents and loyalties. No one would suspect him at all.
The wolf in sheep's clothing.
There we go! Thank you for reading and I hope you liked my idea of Rock Lee as a secret Root agent. If you did you might enjoy reading the main story:
s/10142829/1/Midnight-Sun
Or the first One Shot
s/10288451/1/A-Petal-In-The-Grass
If you do end up reading it or are already a follower: this does not affect the main story AT ALL, it may not even be happening. It's just an idea that could be taking place in a similar world but the idea is never discounted in the main story if you choose to read it in that way.
Please let me know what you think!
Until Next time.
Winnieflutters