Routine: Lee
He regretted training late yesterday. He hasn't been this sore since the first time Neji beat him up, and that, was saying something. Lee wormed his way out of his perfumed sheets. He knew now why they smelled so good, the soap he bathed with last night was strawberry scented.
Lee dragged himself across the carpet flooring, but stopped mid-step in front of the door mirror. He brought his bruised hands to his face and examined them. The bark from the oak tree out back had been rough enough to turn his knuckles purple. Curling them into a fist, Lee smiled. Yes, he was making progress, slowly, but surely. He looked to the window and had to squint at the sun. It was really flaunting its heat today. He'd have to cover up.
Quickly, Lee dressed in simple clothes; a quarter sleeved jacket with a tank top underneath, some baggy cargo pants, and black fingerless gloves. On the way out of his walk-in closet, he spotted a pair of elastic yellow goggles hanging from the doorknob. Lee preferred the color orange, but tugged the eyewear down to his collar anyway. He might need them if the wind picked up.
With a breakfast of just two slices of bread and a glass of milk, Lee was out the door. Upon exiting, he was blinded by a white glare. Lee fanned a gloved hand over his forehead to shield his eyes from the sun's piercing rays. God was it hot!
"Okay, what are you wearing? No skirt for you today?"
Lee smiled at the sound of Amane's deep voice. He didn't know how long she had been waiting, but he was glad he rushed in getting ready.
"But it is a hot morning. I do not understand why you have on a skirt. Look, your skin is already tanning." Lee laughed, pointing at Amane's ruffled forest-green skirt. It was a good four inches above her knees, if she jumped during practice, well, Lee just hoped she had on good biking shorts. How embarrassing would it be to have one's undergarments show? Even his teammate Tenten had the sense to cover up, especially when it was hot. Amane yanked her skirt down with an embarrassed flush on her cheeks. Sapphire eyes narrowing at him.
"…Shut up." she grumbled. Lee smiled while scratching the back of his head.
They made their way to the training field, joking about the heat and appropriate clothing.
The sound of hoarse grunts and calls told Lee and Amane that the sandy training area was approaching. Small black figures could be seen at a distance, hopping and scurrying about, sand whipping about their frames as they sped along the desert flooring. Lee could feel his heart thumping at the excitement of working out. Finally, they arrived. Lee almost did a double take. Amane wasn't the only one wearing a skirt… All the girls roaming the practice field had them on. The scanty length of the skirts bounced on their thighs and crotch.
Everything.
He could see everything.
Why such clothing? He looked Amane's outfit over and saw that it wasn't so bad, almost appropriate compared to everyone else's… Quickly enough, Lee discovered that he was the only one fully dressed.
He was brought out of his confusion when a rich voice addressed him, "Matsuri." Lee, still not used to the name, delayed in whipping his head around to see his sensei calling him from two feet away. The Kazekage stood tall in his handsome maroon coat and black desert pants. All the other kunoichi turned at the sound of his voice, their faces flushed in unison.
Oh.
No wonder the girls were dressed down.
Lee couldn't help but smile when he parted with Amane and made his way over to the powerful ruler of Suna. Great waves of chakra lay suppressed under Gaara's great control, but the small portion that Lee could sense was dizzying.
Well, dress-wise, Lee wasn't left out anymore.
Ocean eyes studied Lee's figure. Gaara gave an approving nod to Lee's outfit. The Kazekage turned away from Lee and began making his way to the target stands. Lee took that as a sign to follow the redhead. After a good minute, Gaara stopped about six feet in front of a target and faced Lee at last.
"Here." A kunai was pressed into Lee's purple fingers. A kunai? Lee glanced at Gaara, and then at the kunai, and then to Gaara again. Lee looked at the throwing projectile, offended.
"What is this? I have no use for it. I plan to train in the Dunes just like everyone else."Lee said confidently, but as he was preparing to take a step toward the Dunes, the sand underneath him shifted, causing him to trip and land on his knees.
"No. Your skills are not yet mature enough for battle."
Lee looked far off into the sandy abyss and noticed a deformed training post made of sand woven clay. He brought his attention to Gaara with an idea gleaming in his eyes.
"If I can hit that clay post from this distance, will you let me fight?"
Gaara studied Lee's eyes hard. He was calculating something… After moments of thought processing, the redhead folded his arms across his chest.
"You may try if you wish."
"And if I can do it?"
"Then I will let you train in the Dunes."
Lee smiled at that. Finally! He would show Gaara he was useful. He clutched the clothed handle of the kunai, twirling it to entertain his sensei's eyes, but Gaara was unfazed. He threw his arm out swiftly, watching as his weapon ripped through the air. A powerful throw it was, for the friction in the air sparked heat from the speed. The kunai's velocity dropped slightly in the middle of its journey and soon after, the speed dropped completely. Finally, it plopped dead in the desert grains a foot away from the clay post. Lee couldn't believe it.
How could he have fallen so short? He'd thrown kunai's millions of times and with great practice, he never missed his targets. What was going on? He could feel himself sweating, and it wasn't because of the sun. Gaara's eyes were upon him now and seemed to be saying, "That's what I thought."
"One more try…" Lee murmured. He threw another kunai, yet, this one landed crookedly at the post's feet. Why did it dive down like that?
"That was a fluke!" Lee laughed off his discomfort. He was so embarrassed! "Okay, this time for real." He threw another kunai. His prediction turned out to be false.
"My arm you see, it was off to the side and…"his explanation died on his lips. The look Gaara was giving him was a smug and questioning one. Lee threw six more kunai, ten shuriken, and then proceeded to throw his small array of simbon. After completely exhausting his weapon pouch, the clay target remained untouched with a silver pallet of weapons glittering at its feet. Never has Lee's wish to disappear been so strong. Gaara stepped into Lee's view and pressed a pack of weapons into his throbbing chest.
"Train." was all his sensei said before dispersing into a cloud of sand. Lee was left to be supervised by the guard captain, Baki. He trained through the hottest part of the day and the coolest of the afternoon. He even passed on the lunch offer Amane made. The sun was setting, and after throwing what felt like his thousandth kunai, Lee discovered what his problem was.
Miscalculation.
His real body was an entire foot taller than Matsuri's, so his angle of throwing was off by quite a few degrees. His arms were longer and fluid with motion, but with Matsuri's stiff limbs his accuracy was fuzzy. He had lean muscles to back up his flexibility, but Matsuri was too lanky for balance.
In short, Matsuri's body was as raw and fresh as a genin's. With all the attributes he once possessed, Lee's kunai throwing was mastery, but those qualities were gone now. He'd have to train. From. Scratch.
The sun was now licking the dry horizon and made the sky bleed orange and fuchsia. Lee was completely out of weapons and the only markings he made were way below the target area. He went over to the clay post and cleaned up his silver mess. He fixed up the pouch he owned, and the one Gaara lent to him.
No one was in the training field, not even the guard captain, Baki. He had left an hour ago, said he had to retire to his wife.
Lee sighed, but the sound that escaped him was a hoarse gasp.
He was dehydrated.
He swiftly turned around to leave, but a bottle was pressed into his chest just as he did so.
"You idiot…I left hours ago, and then went to your house, but your mom said you weren't back yet."
Lee gave a small smile. Amane was a very good friend for Matsuri to have.
"I am sorry." Lee took a long swig of his drink and gasped when he took a refreshed breath. The bottle popped back into shape when refilled with the oxygen it had lost. Amane blinked.
"Oh my god…I don't even know who you are anymore." She shook her head and laughed with a disbelieving air. "Whatever." She hooked an arm into Lee's and flashed a toothy smile at him, "Let's get you home, crazy."
They laughed the whole way back to Matsuri's house; about the heat and how if one's saliva dried up, they'd fry up in to sun like an old lizard.
The next morning Lee rose early, but before he could get out the door, Matsuri's mom was there in her sleeping robe, laughing about how determined her daughter was.
"It is an off day?"Lee scratched his head and then peaked out the dome shaped window in the foyer.
"Oh, yes." Matsuri's mom said, smiling. "You were never one to make use of it!"She laughs a hearty laugh. Lee smiled wide.
"Sorry, but today I must go!" Lee waved the mom off before she could say anything against his leaving to the Dunes. Yes.
The Dunes.
Lee was quite sure that Matsuri was not allowed to venture any farther than the training fields, but Lee was bent on training, and shallowly throwing kunai at clay stumps all day wasn't an exercise in Lee's book. He was going to make Matsuri Jonin material. Well…as close as he could get her to it anyway.
The Dunes weren't too far. The mounds of earth and sand made Lee smile. There were a few shinobi there, but not many. In Konoha, a lot of shinobi used their off days as rest days, so to see that the proud ninja of Sunakagure were the same, made Lee relax a little.
Finding a mound for himself wasn't hard to locate. He cupped his ear and listened as he walked toward the mound he wanted. Despite the wind carrying away sound, he could catch small grunts every now and then from other distant shinobi. Being a good six yards from another person, Lee commenced his training.
Lee struck a round-house kick to the mound's side, splaying a bit of sand from it. He would have smiled at his handiwork, but his whole leg was vibrating from the force of his kick. Rubbing a knee, Lee glared at the mound. They were solid like clay and as hot as the sand beneath his feet…
"I'll work on my hands then…"
Lee threw out ten punches with each arm, each vibrating into the mound when he made contact. The Dunes were packed solid from many storms and quakes, but they made excellent training posts, just like the trees in Konoha...
64…67…71…75…
"Hn…uhn…hughn!"
Pack. Pack. Pack!
At 93 punches with his left arm, Lee gripped his knees, huffing and puffing. He didn't remember training being so exhausting…even as a genin he was able to do a set of one hundred before getting tired.
"Heh."
Whipping his head around, Lee blinked.
There was a girl with long amber hair staring at him. With an arm crossed around her waist and a hand covering her mouth, her shoulders bounced slightly.
She was laughing at him.
Scratching an itchy elbow, Lee frowned.
"Um…yes?"
The girl shook her head at him, "Sorry…I couldn't help but find your effort humorous."
Without knowing any better, Lee smiled sheepishly, "Yes well…I have never been to the Dunes so…"
Giggling, the girl placed a hand on her hip, smirking.
"Well of course not. The Dunes are for sparing. If you had paid attention, everyone here has a partner to fight with."
Lee blushed, embarrassed.
"O-oh! I see…um…I guess I could ask someone…maybe Amane?" Lee murmured, thinking in whispers.
"Would you like to spare with me? I came without a sparing partner as well." The girl eagerly approached Lee despite the fact that he hadn't answered her question yet.
With an excited, "Really? Yes, yes of course!", Lee hopped away from his mound, and before he could get in ready position-
SWAP.
Sand whipped about him, curling and bouncing as he went skidding across the desert floor. He caught himself, hopping onto his feet, but was quickly on the defense as the girl sent flying kicks at his midsection. Lee was quick, throwing up his arms as shields to his lower body, grunting from the force of the girl's attacks…
"Uh…ah…ack!"
Snorting, "What's the matter, Matsuri? Weren't you prepared for the Dunes?" The girl sent another harsh kick, this time breaking Lee's defense and sending him rolling into a mound with a 'thunk'!
Was this really how Suna shinobi fought? He thought back to his genin days when he had fought Gaara for the first time. That guy was full of surprises…and remembering Kankuro and Temari in the preliminaries as well…they were quick with their offense and cruel with their strength. If that was the way Suna people were, then there was no need to hold back what he knew as a taijutsu specialist.
In the dust that their fight kicked up, Lee sprang from behind it with a shout. Unimpressed, the girl threw up her elbow, knocking Lee square in the chin.
Backing away with clumsy feet, Lee wiped his mouth clean of blood.
"…"
Sweeping a stray hair off her shoulder, the girl crossed her arms, smirking.
"Perhaps I should leave you alone now? I don't want our Kazekage getting mad if you go into another coma."
Despite being sore, Lee took a firm step forward. He smiled, "No. Fight me. This is the most fun I've had all week!" Rushing toward the girl, he dodged her punch by dropping into a crouch and with a quick jut, fanned his legs out beneath her, knocking her off balance. Flailing her arms around, the girl fell flat on her bottom. He successfully tripped her. Lee celebrated the blow with a silent 'Yes!' His Konoha Whirlwind always did him justice.
The girl whipped her head up, but Lee was too fast. His leg was already coming down like an axe onto her shoulders. The girl went down with a bounce before settling onto the sand with a small groan. Lee took a moment to wind his shoulder back, popping it back into place…This girl fought hard!
With a kind smile, Lee approached his partner.
"Ah! You're good!" Cheerful, Lee crouched down and smiled at the groaning girl. She was a really determined shinobi…he wondered what her rank was. He gave his hand to her in good spirit.
"Here, let me hel-"
SWACK.
Staring at the girl, Lee wasn't sure what he'd done wrong.
Stray amber hair was about her forehead and her cheeks were ruddy. A curled brow, narrowed eyes, and a gritted mouth…Her expression was one of anger.
"I don't need a hand from you. You were just lucky!" And with that, the girl was on her feet, then quickly, was a whirl of sand.
Blinking, Lee was alone with his mound once again.
Sitting cross-legged, Lee frowned at the hand he offered the girl.
"She did not have to slap it away…" He rubbed it with his other hand, confused. He stared at the sand whipping across the flooring…The wind was picking up. After a moment of thinking, he stood. Strapping on his yellow goggles, he headed back to his home.
Again.
He forgot to bring water.
AN: Writing action is fun, but it is totally not my forte. Anyway, I was going through some old notebooks of mine from high school, and I found one with a few random skits for Cardioid, and I was like 'These are good...why are they so good? Maybe I should update so that I can include these skits!' so I did that. I guess the secret to continually write stories, is to write on different one's when you're having an art block :0!
And yeah...sorry that's it been-idon'tevenknowhowlong-since I last updated otz. But~I do like this story, although other's may argue that it's crap. I just can't put it away ;o;~! Anyway~Chapter 2 you guys!
~Ciao~