A/N (New readers can just skip to the start of the chapter): If you're one of the readers from my other story who happens to see this one because of the author alert, rest assured that Mass effect: ODST isn't abandoned, just on a short hiatus (Well, not that short, I guess, since it has been a year since I updated) Anyway a lot of stuff happened IRL, but here I am, writing again. So, I wanted to start off with something new. I'm going to write a few chapters for this fic and then start alternating between this and the other story. If you have any other questions, then PM me.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Fairy Tail :(
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Prologue
Location: Village hidden in the Leaves, Land of Fire.
"Two thousand nine hundred and ninety eight...Two thousand nine hundred and ninety nine...Three thousand!"
With a final push, Rock Lee swung his legs over his head in a front flip and stood up as he finished his one-handed push-ups.
'Wait...was that last one technically three thousand and one?'
...
'NO! That one did NOT count!'
He was waiting for certain someone. It had been a while and his patience was running thin, so he started a fourth round of his training routine of the day just outside the Leaf's hospital. Granted, he had shown up way before he was supposed to and now he was beginning to feel tired...
'Tired?'
'TIRED!?'
Lee slapped the sides of his face with both hands, 'Get it together Lee, you do NOT mess around with training like an amateur!'
"Now I shall do another one thousand one handed push-ups to make up for it and then add a hundred laps around the village if I fail at it!" He declared loudly as he brought up a fist up to his chest and, earning weird glares from passersby, he didn't notice as he was too busy with his own musings.
'And then it would be two thousand push-ups in total...'
"NOOOOOOO, that's one thousand push-ups for both hands individually, nothing more, nothing less! And now I will increase it to two thousand push-ups each for having such ideas!"Lee nodded to himself,compromising training with such thoughts would be unbecoming of the Handsome devil of the leaf, and that was absolutely unacceptable!
"Argh! I can't concentrate like this"
Lee couldn't help but feel anxious, maybe if he just had continued his training in the training grounds with Tenten and didn't show up way before visiting hours, he wouldn't be this distracted. But still, he had been looking forward to this day for a while. Just as he was about to go back to training, the hospital's front gate opened and he saw two figures approach, one of them was the copy nin, Kakashi Hatake, helping the other one in a wheelchair, most of the man's body being covered in bandages. Lee's eyes watered as he saw the man in the wheelchair, the one who had become a legend among the shinobi by being the only one ever to open all eight inner gates and survive the aftermath, the one man he idolized, his sensei, Might Guy.
"S-sensei?"
Lee started running towards, tears now running down his cheeks in a comical fashion, "Sensei!"
"YOU FOOL!"
Suddenly punched by his sensei, he went flying several feet away.
"What do you think you're doing here?" Guy yelled, barely able to stand up from his wheelchair and pointing his finger at Lee, "You should be training at this time of the day!"
"But Sensei-"
"No buts!" Guy interrupted, "You are not allowed to slack off from training unless it's a matter of life or death!"
"Sensei, I've been training this whole time right here", Lee pleaded as his eyes started watering again, yet having a determined expression, "I would never make such transgressions! I just wanted to see as soon as you came out"
"You...you did?" Guy's eyes widened, "I didn't know and I acted so rashly towards my own pupil"
Guy sat back on his wheelchair and gazed at the sky, tears started racing down his cheeks in a comical fashion, "To have such a good student who meets his injured teacher without interrupting his duties, I am truly blessed!" Then he looked at his student, "Lee, my boy!"
"Guy-Sensei!"
Lee started running towards Guy again as the latter rushed at him with his wheelchair, they hugged in a very dramatic fashion and both started crying loudly.
"I'm sorry, Lee!"
"Guy-Sensei!"
Kakashi, who had been silently watching the whole drama, sweat-dropped even as he smiled to himself. The copy nin had agreed to help his old friend and rival, who had refused to stay in bed as soon as he was able to stand on his own feet, to accompany him around the village as long as he agreed to stay in the wheelchair. That and it was good to spend time with his friend and to get away from the tedious tasks for a while that he would be otherwise doing in the village.
It was still too early in the morning to suffer through...this.
But he wasn't about to interrupt their moment. After all, Lee wasn't allowed anywhere near Guy's room for the entirety of his recovery process and this was the first time he had seen his Sensei since the war ended. So he decided to wait patiently until those two were finished, no matter what his opinions were about the overdramatic nature of it.
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After their little scene over at the hospital, Guy, Lee and Kakashi sat down at a nearby restaurant for lunch as Guy had told them that he had something that he wanted to discuss.
"Now, Lee", Guy began, "I've had a lot time while recuperating and I spent all that time thinking about your future"
"My future?" asked Lee.
"Yes, and I've decided that you will now go on a journey!"
"A journey?" asked Lee.
"Yes, a journey!" Guy replied enthusiastically, "A journey to become strong, to become the master of Taijutsu you always wanted to become, a journey to unlock the full potential of your youth!"
"But Sensei!" Lee pleaded, "I still have so much to learn from you"
"Listen to me, Lee"
The scene suddenly changes and both the master and student found themselves standing on a cliff near an ocean as the sun sets in the background.
"I am both in pain and proud to say this, I have taught you everything that I possibly could" Guy had a warm expression on his face, "But as I am now, I can't train you for the foreseeable future, so the rest is all up to you and now you must find your own way"
"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!" Lee looked at his master with an exaggerated slack jawed expression, "Sensei, how can hope to become if you don't teach me more?"
"Because I have complete faith in you, Lee" Guy said with a grin on his face and gave him a thumbs-up, "I know that you can develop your own powerful Taijutsu and surpass even me!"
"R-really sensei?" Lee stuttered as tears started welling in his eyes, "But, what about you?"
"For now, I must do my best and use all of my willpower and youth to get back in shape", replied Guy, "It will likely take a long time, but when I do get better and whenever you return, I expect you to be able to beat me on a one-on-one match"
Lee contemplated what he had just heard as both maintained eye contact, his hair flowing with the breeze.
"So, will you do it?" asked Guy.
"If you say so, sensei", Lee replied, "I will go on this journey and become strong", He raised his fist in determination, "And I won't disappoint you!"
"Make me proud, Lee"
"I will"
"Lee!"
"Guy-sensei!"
Before the two could hug again, Guy felt a hand on his shoulder and he found himself back at the restaurant, looking at Kakashi.
"But, why all this talk about going on a journey all of a sudden?" He asked, "What is this really about, Guy?"
"Well, this the beginning of an era of peace", Guy explained as he calmed himself down from the recent drama, "So, there will likely won't be much fighting or travelling to look forward to and gain experience like we both did when we were younger", he then perked up again, "And so I had this idea, if the fight doesn't come to Lee, then he can take the fight to them!"
"I would've imagined the war gave him plenty of experience", said Kakashi.
"That is so brilliant sensei!" Lee praised as he looked at Guy with awe.
"And what if he gets into trouble for openly challenging the ninjas of other villages?" asked Kakashi.
"All right, Lee", said Guy, the master and student ignoring the copy nin again, "Now, get going and prepare yourself for the next mission that I'm personally going to give you, because it's going to be a long one"
"Yes, sir!" Lee saluted and rushed off to his home.
"Are you sure about this?" asked Kakashi, now having Guy's attention but was still annoyed that his previous comment was ignored, "Have you really thought this through?"
"Of course, I did", replied Guy, "As I said earlier, I had all the time in the world to think about this"
"You were on sedatives the whole time", Kakashi gave him a deadpan look.
"Even after all these years, you still don't know me that well, my eternal rival", Guy countered with his signature grin, his teeth giving out a single glint, "The sedatives may dull my senses, but they will never dull my youth!"
Kakashi sighed, 'What am I going to do with you, Guy?' he knew that arguing about that wouldlead to nowhere. He would just have to wait and see what happened next.
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After having lunch, Guy told Lee to go and make preparations for the journey while they cleared things up with the higher ups, he immediately tried to find his friends first but to no avail as many were busy doing chores around the village or went out of the village on some business or another. He even tried going to Tenten's house, but didn't had any luck there either. So, he decided to pack up for his journey and ready himself up for the next day.
This is it.
If Guy-sensei believed that he was ready to test his mettle against ninjas of various villages, then he was more than happy to give it his best and go for it. He was still concerned about not being able to see his friends and Sensei for a long time, which is why he wanted to let everyone know about his plans to leave for the journey, he didn't wanted to go without saying his farewells. But for now he had to focus on preparing for the journey, so he started with packing up his belongings.
A few extra pairs of Guy-sensei's super special green tights, check.
A photograph of all of the Konoha 11 together and another, check.
A photograph of Team Guy from when they were still Genin, check.
Some of the Ryo from his savings, check.
A change of other clothes and underwear, check.
Extra pairs of Guy-sensei's super special green tights, double check.
His personal ninja handbook, check.
Camping equipment, check.
A good supply of Kunai and shuriken, check.
Extra pairs of Guy-sensei's super special green tights, triple check.
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He woke up early the next day and headed straight for the cemetery for his first stop. It had become considerably bigger since the war, but aside from a few others, the graveyard was relatively empty. So, he found the grave he was looking for, put some flowers near the tombstone and sat down in front of it.
"Hello, Neji", Lee greeted, "There is something that I need to tell you"
He set his backpack beside him, sat more comfortably and continued.
"I won't be able to visit you for a while, my friend" He began, "You see, I'm going to go on a journey around the world and Guy-sensei says that it will help me become stronger"
Lee gazed towards the sky, "When I got stuck on infinite Tsukuyomi, I dreamt about defeating you and Naruto in battle and now I've decided to make that dream a reality. So, you'd better be ready for a fight...because whenever we meet again", Lee stood up and pointed at the grave challengingly, "I will defeat you!"
"There you are", a familiar voice came from behind him, "I've been looking all over for you"
"Tenten..." Lee turned to greet his teammate.
"You might want to tone it down a bit", Tenten scolded as she put her hands on her hips, "Remember last time when some of the Hyuuga clan members heard you and chased you all over the village?"
"I know", replied Lee, "But this is the last chance that I'll be getting to visit Neji"
"Yeah, Guy-sensei told me everything", Tenten's expression dropped as she moved her gaze towards Neji's grave but quickly regained her composure, "Let's talk somewhere else"
"But I'm not fin-"
"Now"
"Okay"
Both the members of team Guy exited the graveyard, the streets of the leaf village were almost empty at the time as most people were still resting from the previous day's hard work. Lee and Tenten walked in silence for a while, since the latter didn't wanted to talk about this in the graveyard. Lee had made her to make a promise to never show sadness if front of Neji's grave, since then, she would often find him talking in a lively manner and he would get dirty looks from others in the vicinity many times because of his apparent 'dishonouring' of the dead. Even after all the talk about keeping your friends in your heart, she had always wondered if he ever dropped that eccentric and optimistic attitude when no one was around to see him thinking about their former teammate, but at the same time admired him for keeping it up. Only she and Guy-sensei knew that he was one of the people affected most by Neji's death.
"So", She said, breaking a little too stretched out silence, "you're really doing this, huh?"
"I am", replied Lee.
"But, why now!?" asked Tenten, barely able to hold her emotions, "What's the point in going on this 'journey'?"
"It's-"
"The war is over", She interrupted him and suddenly raised her voice, "So there's no reason for you to do this!"
"Wrong, Tenten", Lee's face held a determined expression after hearing the last part, "Becoming a great ninja using only Taijutsu has always been my dream, war or no war"
"I see", Tenten had her hands clenched at her sides as she tried to hold back another outburst, "I suppose I can't convince you to stay once you've made up your mind"
"Why don't you come with me too? We are a team after all" Lee suggested, "And you've always wanted to become the strongest kunoichi yourself"
"I can't", She replied, "I'd love to, but I can't...I still want to stay in the village to help around and I still need to help my folks to settle down"
"I understand", replied Lee.
"So, you're leaving now?" asked Tenten, looking at his backpack.
"Guy-sensei told me to get ready as soon as possible", Lee looked down, "But I can't leave without saying farewell to all my friends"
"Damn right, Bushy brows"
Both of them hadn't noticed the rest members of Konoha 11, who had just showed up and stood before them, while Naruto and stood at the building in front of them. Naruto jumped down and landed in front of them, his cloak and Hokage's hat swaying with the wind.
"Good thing I gathered everyone in time", said the newly appointed Hokage of the Hidden leaf, "Didn't think you were gonna leave so early"
"Thanks, Naruto!" Lee immediately brightened up.
"Ehh, no problem", replied Naruto waved his hand dismissively, "...but I think they all want to have a word with you"
"Yeah, what the hell, man?" Kiba was the first to speak up, "You were gonna run off on us without saying goodbye?"
Akamaru barked in agreement.
"You could've at least waited for us to give you a farewell party or something, Lee", Ino said crossing her hands on her chest.
"To top it off, you're leaving at this early in the morning", Shikamaru said irritably, "Do you know how much of a drag it is to come all the way out here?"
"Come on, you guys", said Choji defensively before anyone else could add to it, "I thought we all had agreed to be more supportive about this"
"It's all right, Choji", said Lee, "I am willing to hear everything that you all have to say"
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Every member of Konoha 11 accompanied Lee as he made his way towards the main entrance of the Hidden leaf, everyone had similar questions as Tenten and so he had to parrot everything again to all of them. As they arrived at the gates, they saw Kakashi and Guy were waiting for them.
"So, are you ready, Lee?" asked Guy as they approached him.
"Yes, Guy-sensei", He replied.
"Good, then you know what to do?" Guy crossed his arms over his chest.
Lee nodded, "I will train hard, fight harder and face every challenge with hot-blooded passion!"
"That's my boy!" Guy laughed
"All right, I'll do my best" Lee gave a thumbs up to his Sensei, "Sky's the limit, right Sensei?
Guy sighed, "Lee, let me give you one last life advice before you go"
The scene changed and the teacher and student found themselves standing on a hill overlooking the Leaf village under a lone tree, it was also night time.
"Look at the sky, Lee", Guy put an arm on his student's shoulder, "What do you see?"
"Stars?"
"Exactly! That means sky isn't the limit" said Guy and continued despite watching his student gasp at the revelation, "So, aim for the stars, son. And don't stop until your hot-blooded youth shines brighter than the brightest star on the sky!"
"I knew it!" A river of tears started flowing down Lee's cheeks in a comical fashion as he scribbled everything that his Sensei had said on his handbook, "I knew that I still had much to learn from you, Guy-sensei!"
"I know, you do" Guy had a similar expression on his face, "But it's for your own good. So, you're on your own from here on"
"Then, don't worry about me, Sensei" said Lee between the sniffs, "I will never forget anything that you have taught me and continue on with my own NindÅ!"
"Lee!"
"Guy-sensei!"
The master and student hugged each other and started bawling loudly.
Sakura, along with everyone else watched their antics in silence. It didn't matter anyway, when those two went at it, it's as if the rest of the world didn't exist. That was until she heard sniffs on her side and saw Naruto had the same expression with running nose and tears. She sweat-dropped and elbowed him lightly, which made him snap out of his stupor, giving her a sheepish look.
After about another minute of crying, the teacher and student finally broke away, after which, Lee proceeded to saying his farewells to all his friends, reminiscing about all the memories that they shared together and the promises of returning to everyone once Lee believed that he was strong enough. And then, he finally approached Naruto and Sakura.
"So, this is it, huh?" said Naruto, "I'm really gonna miss having you around, ya know?"
"I'll miss you too, Naruto, Sakura" replied Lee and then, pointed towards Naruto challengingly, "But, when I return, we will have an all out match and I will surely defeat you!"
Naruto smirked, "He-heeee, in your dreams, Bushy brows"
"Naruto, be nice" Sakura frowned and elbowed him again, "That's the worst choice of parting words with a friend"
"And Sakura", Lee grabbed her hands, a blush formed on his cheeks, "When I do defeat Naruto, will you go out with me?"
"No way!" She yelled and pulled away from him.
"Sakura, be nice", said Naruto cheekily, "That's the worst choice of-" He abruptly stopped when Sakura put her hand in his shoulder, squeezing tightly, sound of a few broken bones could be heard.
"What was that?" She gave him a pleasant faux smile.
"I-I-I was just j-joking around", the Hokage's body went rigid as an attempt to avoid any more pain, "Believe it!"
Everyone, including Lee, chuckled at their antics, but decided to butt in before Naruto made the situation worse. After breaking off the two teammates and having a good laugh at the Hokage's expanse, Lee decided that it was time to go.
"All jokes aside, good luck on your journey", Naruto smiled and held his hand out, which Lee promptly shook, "No matter how long this thing takes, the gates of the leaf will always be open for you, buddy", his smile turned to his signature foxy grin, "Believe it!"
"Of course", Lee replied, "And do not forget, when I return, I want that rematch"
"Sure thing, Bushy brows"
"Good", Lee grinned and gave him a thumbs up, his teeth gave off a single glint, "Until next time, then, Naruto"
"Finally, it's time!" Guy declared enthusiastically, "Now go, Lee. Go and face a world full of challenges, show them what you're made of!" he pointed towards the road leading away from the village, "Onward, with the full power of youth and don't look back!"
"All right!" replied Lee with similar enthusiasm and a fire of determination in his eyes.
And with that, Lee set out on his journey, following the path outside the village.
"...don't look back..." Guy said silently to himself, tears started spilling from his eyes. His voice drowned out by the cries of goodbyes from the others.
Kakashi noticed the look on his friend's face and realised that the tears were genuine this time, so, he laid a comforting hand on his shoulder. They saw Lee turning back to wave at them one last time before he disappeared around the corner. The copy nin felt his friend's shoulders get tense, before he growled.
"I said don't look back...and you..." Guy looked at the retreating form of his student at the distance in anger, "LOOKED BACK!"
Before Kakashi could stop him, Guy bolted from his wheelchair and headed straight for Lee.
"As a punishment, I'll send you flying over to the next town, where you can contemplate your mistake!"
Tears formed on Lee's eyes, when he saw his sensei running towards him with his hands reared back for a punch. He didn't try to dodge it, instead, welcomed it with open arms. He couldn't believe that his Sensei was trying to help him by helping him to stick to his rules, even as he was leaving. The punch connected and Lee was sent flying.
"THAAAAAAAAAAAANK YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOUUUUU, SEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEN-"
He disappeared with a twinkle on the sky.
"...I overdid it, didn't I?" Guy stated as he saw his handiwork with wide eyes.
"YOU THINK!?" Everyone yelled in unison.
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Location: Town of Inizio, Fiore.
Carlton, a middle aged man and the resident craftsman of the town of Inizio, was on his way home from a particularly hectic day at work and was looking forward to spend the rest of the evening resting and maybe playing with his daughter. The weather looked good too, perfect to stay at home and relax. He almost reached his house but stopped when he noticed a twinkle in the sky and a faint sound that got louder every second. Only then, did he notice something falling from the sky, getting closer and closer, heading straight for the town.
"-SEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!"
The craftsman then realised that whatever the thing was, it was headed straight towards him, but before he could even attempt to run for his life, the thing caught up but instead of falling on to him, crashed a few clocks ahead...right into his house. His face paled, as he ran towards his house, fearing for the safety of his daughter. He found the upper floor of his house to be almost half demolished, a few townspeople were already gathered outside his house murmuring amongst themselves. His heart beat heavily against his chest as he opened the door of his house, expecting the worst, he entered his living room. To his relief, his daughter was okay, but the little girl was poking something with a stick.
"What..."
Carlton walked over to the thing to investigate it himself, which was not anything that he had expected. Lying on a crater on his living room was a boy on his late teens, clad in strangest clothing, with swirls on his eyes and a look of pure bliss on his face.
"...the hell?"
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Chapter End
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A/N: Hello to all the new readers, this is my second story on this site and I'm really excited for this fic. So, thanks for reading this. Now, English isn't my first language, so I'd really like some feedback on the way I write, or pointing out spelling and grammatical errors, anything in general.
Anyway, I really didn't expect this chapter to drag out to 4k words, but I really wanted to write as many Naruto characters as I could. So...the way Lee got to earthland...well, just about everything has been done by someone in this site, from Kakashi's kamui to Anima or kami's intervention and whatnot. You know what hasn't been done? Might Guy's secret technique, Dimensional (Plot) Shattering Fist. But seriously, that's enough of a plot hole for this story, hopefully.
Till next time.