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The veteran warrior hunts in the jungle, as far away from civilization as he could get. He spins a knife in his palm and throws it, impaling a passing rabbit. "Dinner," he grunts with a slight smile. He lifts the dead rabbit up by the ears and heads back to camp.
He trudges through the shrubbery and trees as it gets dark. He frowns and looks around at his dark surroundings, but does not see anything familiar. The muscular man sheathes his knife and walks in the general direction of his temporary camp and supplies. He hears grunting in the distance. He carefully sneaks closer to the sound, his knife drawn. He presses against the nearest tree and peeks out behind it.
"Only eighty kicks left to go!" a boy's voice pants. "If I cannot finish the eighty kicks, I will do one hundred and twenty push ups! If I cannot finish the one hundred and twenty push ups, I will climb trees with my pinky until sunrise!"
He moves closer to the voice and peers through the darkness at a boy dressed in dark green, kicking a thick wooden post. The boy finally collapses from exhaustion and the man decides to reveal himself. He approaches the boy cautiously and looks him over, seeing bandages and stitches covering the boy's arms and hands. "Wow, you really did a number on yourself, didn't you, kid?" he murmurs.
The boy opens his eyes and tries to punch at him. The man easily catches his punch and twists the boy's arm into a submission hold. "Don't try to fight when you are this tired, kid. You'll get yourself killed." The boy stops trying to struggle. "That's better," the man says, "So, what is a kid like you doing out here in a forest like this? It's dangerous."
"I was training!" the boy protests.
The man chuckles with amusement and releases the boy's arm. "Oh, really? What kind of training?"
"I was training to be a better ninja! My youthfulness carries me on even onto the darkest of nights!" the boy shouts, his eyes glowing with a strange fire as his teeth somehow shine in the darkness.
The man shivers slightly and shakes his head, "Do you have a name, boy?"
"Rock Lee! And what is your name, sir?" the boy responds quickly.
The man looks the weary boy over again and shrugs, "I'm Rambo. I'm getting out of here. Be careful out here, Rock. It's dangerous being in the forest alone."
Rock Lee shouts after him, "Sir! If I may be so bold, are you a warrior?"
Rambo seems to think it over and nods slowly, "I guess you could call me that."
"Than may I have the privilege to spar with you tomorrow?" Lee persists.
Rambo chuckles and starts to walk away, "Sure, Rock, if you can find my camp." He walks through the forest, promptly forgetting about the boy. He finds his camp after an hour or two and tosses the rabbit onto a fire spit. He roasts it for an hour and eats it before turning in for the night.
He is awoken early the next morning by shouts of, "Mister Rambo! I am prepared for our spar!" He jumps awake, drawing his knife instinctively and putting it against the boy's throat.
He sighs, "Oh, it's you. You're the Rock kid."
"Rock Lee, sir! Are you ready for our spar yet?" Rock Lee says enthusiastically.
Rambo stretches and drops his knife to the ground. "Fine, you came this far. Might as well see what you can do, ninja boy."
Rock Lee grins and announces, "Thank you, sir! I will not hold back!"
Rambo stands silently and falls into a loose fighting stance. Lee runs at him fast, but Rambo watches his movements and dodges at the last second, kneeing him in the gut, grabbing onto his bowl cut hair and throwing him away. He falls back into the defensive stance. "Come on, Rock. You said you weren't holding back, and I'm not even completely awake yet." He yawns loudly and catches a punch aimed at his mid back. He spins around, twisting Lee's arm in the process and bringing him to his knees. "Ninja or whatever you want to call yourself, no amount of training and kicking compares to real combat experience and instincts. Always follow your instincts." He releases the boy and steps back a few spaces.
Rambo closes his eyes and waits. Lee appears in front of him and punches his stomach, but does not seem to have much affect other than drawing a grunt from the man. He disappears and reappears behind him, kicking at his head, but Rambo catches his foot and throws him back. Lee frowns and runs in faster. Rambo ducks, causing Lee's foot to barely miss his head, brushing against a few of his hairs. He grabs onto the boy's thigh and jabs on the back of his knee hard with two fingers and throws him aside again. Lee falls to the ground without getting back up. "I hit a tendon, kid. You won't be getting back up for a few minutes at least. Take a break for a second and let me give you some pointers."
Lee grimaces with pain but nods quickly. "Good, I like kids who listen. One: you were sloppy. You think speed and power is everything, but it's not. When you move fast, if someone can feel the air being moved right before you appear, you can't hit them. If you can't hit them, than power means nothing. Two: you don't know any weak points on people. You aimed for the head, the back, the chest, which is okay; but you didn't go for anything vital, like the kidneys, the eye, or the knee. The trick with fighting isn't who can punch harder or faster or use a flashier move. The winner is whoever can take down the other first. Got that?" Rock Lee nods quickly again. "Good, now attack me again. Your leg should be fine by now."
Rock Lee tests out his leg and nods. "Begin," Rambo states. Lee rushes in again and disappears again, appearing behind him and punches for his spine. He shifts to the left and catches the blow full in a pack of muscles. He spins around and elbows the boy hard in the face, knocking him back. Rambo frowns and rubs out his badly battered muscles, "Better, kid. You tried to take out my spine. Not bad at all. Point out all my weak points."
Lee tilts his head and shrugs. Rambo sighs, "That's what I was afraid of. Here, let me show you." He points out the solar plexus, the kidneys, the eye, the lower spine, the knees, the ears, the neck, and the Achilles tendon. Rock Lee stares at him in awe. "You're a ninja, right, kid?" The green-clad boy nods again. "What do ninja do?"
"We carry out missions!" Lee exclaims.
Rambo nods, "Like what?"
"We protect people, we do chores, we do all sorts of things," Lee smiles.
Rambo frowns, "Wrong answer. Ninja are paid assassins. That's all they are. Do you work alone or with teams?"
"Teams," Lee says uneasily, not sure where this train of thought is leading.
Rambo sighs, "That's what I thought. When you attack someone, always make sure they are surprised. Sure you protect people, but that involves killing your enemies or making sure they can't fight anymore. You're a warrior. Warriors fight to kill quickly and mercilessly. They don't wait around for the enemy to attack and just try to punch them to death. The longer the fight, the harder it is to win. The harder it is to win, the more likely your teammates or you will die."
Lee frowns and crosses his arms thoughtfully, "So, take out their vital spots and they can't fight?"
"You catch on quickly, kid," Rambo replies.
Lee shouts, "Than will you teach me, sir? The Chunin exams are coming up in a few weeks and my sensei has taught me all he knows. He told me that training on my own would be best for me."
Rambo looks around the camp, back at the boy, thinks about his schedules for the next month or two, and smiles. "Sure, Rock. I'll train you with what I know. I'll even come to watch you fight."
"I prefer to be called Lee, Master Rambo!" Lee announces. "The flames of youth guarantees our success!"
Rambo rubs his temples and grinds out, "If you say one more thing that has to do with flames or youth, I will teach you a new level of pain. And, Lee is sounds like a sissy's name. You're a fighter, you need a more intimidating name. Rock will do."
"Intimidating, sir?" Lee asks, scratching his head.
Rambo sighs, "You're hopeless. Intimidation! Using your presence to scare others into fearing you. People get scared; they don't think well. They don't think well; you win. And call me Rambo or Rambo sir! Just 'sir' isn't me."
"Sorry, Rambo sir!" Lee salutes quickly.
Rambo groans, "Close enough. Now show me what points I showed pointed out to you." Rock Lee points them out, barely misplacing a few of them. He corrects Lee's mistakes and smirks, "I guess there is hope for you yet. Drop down and give me 1,000 push ups. Then we'll spar again." Lee drops down and starts his pushups.
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