Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or anything associated with it. It is the property of Masashi Kishimoto.
There Once Was A Man...
I think that Naruto was an unusual child, going by all the things I've heard about him. Given his unconventional childhood, I would have expected Naruto to be much less compassionate and amicable than how so many people describe him as. Naruto should have been a spiteful and unstable individual regardless of the Sandaime Hokage's gestures of love; negative emotions are much stronger than positive emotions, and the effort that is necessary to control those negative emotions is immense. That blond boy who knew kindness from only one old man, and utter disgust from nearly every other soul he met - indifference from the remaining few who did not - should have been a monster.
I can't help but imagine Naruto as a villain. His life is the perfect conglomerate of tragedies able to create a sociopath with psychotic tendencies, so it just doesn't make sense, to me, how he could be so good.
The possibility that the smile you adorned the day you took that picture with mother is fake is one which I cannot ignore. You left us all so many years ago - your village, your children - and no good reason comes to mind for you doing so. I believe that you just did not want to be bothered with us any longer - your village, your children...
Maybe...
I sit in the seat adjacent of my two siblings, quietly sipping my cup of tea. Saiseki and Arakumo are both enjoying their breakfast, arguing about the practicality of exploding senbon. Today is our last day in Konoha. At approximately four a.m. tomorrow morning, all three of us siblings will be heading for Iwagakure, with myself branching off from that point to begin an arduous journey to locate our wayward father, Uzumaki Naruto.
Ever since I acquired the strange black sphere hidden in Naruto's old apartment, I have only allowed it to leave my person on two occasions. The first time was when I handed it to Kakashi to see if he was familiar with the sphere which, sadly, he was not. Sasuke had held the mysterious item last. His observation of the sphere had allowed him to deduce that Naruto had created it through the same means which a Bijūdama is created. Currently, the strange object sits in my pocket.
"Niisama," Arakumo calls for me. Like always, she was the first to finish her meal. Saiseki is briskly putting away the remaining rice in his bowl. I respond with a only an inclined eyebrow and she goes on to say, "Can we stay for just one more day?"
"Yeah!" Saiseki nearly chokes on the few grains of rice he had yet to swallow. He gets it all down with a cup of water and sighs in relief. "Can we stay a while longer?"
Without even a second thought, I dispatch that notion. "Absolutely not." I sip my tea as both Arakumo and Saiseki plead with me. Of course, I am unmoved. I have no intention in delaying the start of my journey anymore than it already has been. However, I am willing to compensate them with something else.
"We'll visit everybody instead." The twins have stopped their whining, but I do not look up. "I realize that you enjoy spending time here, but we cannot stay any longer than the time allotted to us. So I'll take you both to see whomever you want today. But only for today." I lift my head now and they are both unable to utter a word.
I was originally going to have the twins run a training exercise through a small portion of the Forty-Fourth Training Ground, but I believe they will both appreciate my current offer much more.
"Yes!" they exclaim.
"Alright." I continue to drink my tea; it is quite good. "Tell me who you want to visit first."
They both grinned at each other, their whiskers crinkling. "Konoha's Beautiful Green Beast! Rock Lee-oyaji!"
I really could not prevent the smirk from taking its place on my face. "Alright. Get your dishes cleaned and we'll leave right away."
Their plates and bowls were clattering already. They knew they had very little time and that they probably would not be able to see everybody before we leave, so the twins moved as quickly as they could.
I rested my head on the palm of my left hand, and I sipped my tea. Tomorrow is only a little while away.
Rock Lee opened his door with a howl. He had just finished a daily routine of five hundred laps around the village, upright and on his hands, and, apparently, he could not contain "the burning sensation of Youth" within his chest.
"What can I do for you all today, Menma-kun, Saiseki-kun, Arakumo-chan?"
"We've just come for a visit," I say. "As you know, the twins and myself will be leaving the village tomorrow. Before we go, I want them to see some of their precious people."
Lee was gushing before I had even finished my explanation. "What a good brother you are!" he exclaimed. He went off on a tangent, declaring how youthful Menma is, how caring he is; the twins laughed all through this. "Come in! We have no time to waste!"
Rock Lee's family room is devoid of furniture. In fact, there was not even a floor present in this one particular room in his house. There is only the bare ground and several training dummies and logs strung out in the area to be used for whatever practice is desired. Lee kicks a few logs over toward the center of the area to be used as seats. He smiles genially and says, "Sit."
As we all take our places on our respective logs, I suddenly recall the memory of myself on a camping trip. On my tenth birthday, Kakashi had taken it upon himself to postpone his duties as Hokage for a full three days and take me camping as some queer right of passage. We fished (using lightning nature chakra to shock the fish to death while they were still in the water), we foraged (using a mass of shadows clones and the like to find and test the local flora), and we sang old camp songs (HE sang - about some rather questionable scenes in his favorite book). In all, it was one of Kakashi's more tame birthday presents.
I shook myself from my reverie as Lee began to speak. His dialogue was more aimed toward the twins, but still I took it upon myself to afford him that attention.
"I know the reason for coming to our village was not a joyous one," Lee looks my way for a second but redirects his attention with a small curse, "but I hope that you have enjoyed yourselves here nonetheless." He closes his eyes momentarily, and I can already tell what his next words will be. "Please! Tell me what I must do to make your last day in Konoha the most youthful it can be!"
The twins are giddy. They bounce atop their logs, voicing their acceptance of his fiery resolve.
"It can't be anything too time consuming. I'd like them to be able to see as many people as possible, Lee-san."
Rock Lee's response was simple astonishment. "How could I be so selfish! To think only of my desire to savor the presence of Naruto-kun's youngest offspring and not of Neji-kun's, Sasuke-kun's, Kiba-kun's..." Lee went on admonishing himself, leading the twins to more fits of laughter.
Just as I was about to interject, Saiseki suddenly calmed himself. And next he says, "Lee-oyaji," this brings the Green Beast back from his rant, "can you please tell us a story about our dad?"
"Oh!" Arakumo says in excitement. "Yeah, tell us something that you and daddy did when you were kids!"
My armed moved to lay across my lap before I even realized what I was doing. I'm sure Lee noticed my unease, so I said, "Yes. Please, Lee-san."
Rock Lee's face became solemn as he looked at me, but then a sternness was upon it. This constipated look he adorned was his thinking face. It remained there for a couple of minutes before falling miserably. "I'm sorry, but there are much too many stories for me to consider. In order to give you the most optimal experience in Konoha I must choose the very best story, and to do so I must deliberate with myself on several criteria. Namely: length, how much ramen is involved; the amount of times Naruto used his clones, his rasengan, and his oiroke no jutsu. In addition, I must also-"
Again, just as I prepared to cut into Lee's monologue, someone else beat me to it.
"Why don't you tell them about the time you and Naruto had to find and retrieve the Raijin no Ken?" Tenten entered the not-so-living-room carrying her and Lee's sleeping daughter Sonkiko, age three.
The twins greeted her warmly, I mumbled, and Lee shouted, "Yes!"
"Raijin no Ken?" Saiseki tested the name. Arakumo deciphered his confusion. "What's that?" she says.
"It's a famous weapon that the Nidaime Hokage wielded in battle once, his final battle," I reveal. I turn my attention to Tenten. "But I thought that it was destroyed in Cha no Kuni?"
"It was." Tenten shifted her child. "Lee tell them."
"Ah! Yes!" Lee thought a while longer, then he clapped his hands together. "The Raijin no Ken had been broken in Cha no Kuni during a mission many years ago, but the previous Hokage, Tsunade-sama, chose to recover the weapon later on and hand it over to Kumo as a gesture of good will."
"Despite it not being in working condition, giving such a cherished artifact to another village would absolutely inspire good relations between us. That is why, while on our mission, we were attacked."
I could see the luminescence from the twins eyes plainly, their excitement unbound. I cannot mirror that same elation whenever the current subject is addressed, but I do not bother to bring them down.
Lee pulled in closer, effortlessly grabbing the attention of the twins as he began to recite a tale of himself and Naruto.
I'll stop here for the moment. Just because...
The next chapter will revolve around Lee's story, and I may or may not continue past that point. If I do, that's more characters (most likely only children at this point) for me to introduce. :D
Anyway, do your thing and write a review. It motivates the writer and gives the story greater exposure.
Raijin no Ken - Sword of the Thunder God
Cha no Kuni - Land of Tea
(Rock? Lee?) Sonkiko
Age: 3
Born: February 5
Blood Type: O
Affiliation: Konohagakure