Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. I don't have enough money to buy it…
This chapter is officially dedicated to everyone who has favorited, added this story to their alerts, and/or rated. That really is a huge confidence boost. So, I thought I'd reply to all of last chapter's reviews:
kibafangirl11: Yeah, I know it's short, but hopefully, this one will be nice and long. I'm not making any promises on that one. I do think that I'll do a time skip to the chunin exams soon; I'm thinking after this one and one more, but it might be the next chapter.
Ume Midori: I'm thrilled that you like it. It makes me so happy that people like my stories! Also, Megumi is a Japanese word/name that means blessing. It is a pretty cool name, isn't it?
Kyori-hime: I'm sorry that I haven't written much; it's been a little difficult because my computer is having difficulties constantly and I'm getting tons of homework lately. (Darn you, Geometry!) But I doubt that I will ever abandon this story. Everything is in my head; I just need to type it.
So, I have a special request: I want to know what people think of Megumi so far. I mean, I know that so far, I haven't put in much about her past, but I want to know what people think of her so far. This is really important. Please say what you really think; you won't hurt my feelings at all.
"I hate obstacle courses," Megumi heard herself moping aloud as she and her teammates continued their efforts on finishing Gai's crazy test. So far, Lee had activated a string of exploding tags, the group had fallen into a virtually unavoidable pit trap, Megumi had gotten herself ensnared in a sticky artificial spider web, and some how or another, a large beehive had also found its way onto the maze's floor and promptly been stepped on. After being singed, falling several feet down, becoming tangled, and being stung, Megumi had lost a great deal of her social inhibitions.
She didn't think that it mattered now. She could imagine how she looked. She had strings of glue in her hair. Her pants were practically dirt encrusted, and her legs were skinned from her hem down. She had taken off and tied her jacked around her waist. She had lost her hair clip and moved her headband so it was worn like a loose necklace. Her right arm had been burned and the left had been stung. Her bangs were thick with sweat, and she felt like she had dirt on every square inch of her body. She hadn't known that it was possible to put on deodorant and smell as bad as she did.
Lee and Neji hardly looked better than she did. In fact, they were much the same, except that neither had glue in his hair. Neji had managed to avoid the bees for the most part, but Megumi could see a suspicious lump on his left cheek that had swollen roughly to the size of a marble and seemed to be getting larger. I hope he's not allergic to bee stings, she thought suddenly, wondering if she should have shielded him before running herself. She turned to look at Lee and noticed that he seemed okay, other than the gash that had taken residence on his left leg.
"Stop complaining," Neji commanded at the front of their line. "We're almost at the end. " His tone was as sour as Megumi had ever heard it. The last time he had ever used that tone during the academy days was once when someone had inquired about his family. She was in no mood for his bitterness at the moment; she merely rolled her eyes at him. "I saw that!" he hissed ahead of her. Megumi huffed.
Freaking Hyuuga, she thought haughtily. Thinks he can tell me what to say, thinks he can see everything I do! Well, I don't care who he thinks he is, he can't see my thoughts. I'd like to see him try.
"I think that this is the last obstacle, Megumi-chan," Lee whispered back to her. "How long can it be, after all?"
Neji stopped quickly; Lee bumped into him, and Megumi bumped into Lee. She fell onto her butt in the dirt, scowled irritably as Lee went to stand beside Neji. We seriously need to work on this teamwork thing. How many times have we bumped like that? She scrambled to her feet and attempted to dust herself off. "Why'd you stop, Neji-san?" She peered ahead of her in the darkness, and as she took a few steps forward to stand by Neji, she saw why.
"Ah, excellent timing, students!" Gai cried, and she saw his smile clearly in the darkness. "I have just finished my lunch. Now, what you have guessed is probably true: I, myself, am the last obstruction on your path! I shall even tell you the rules to this last challenge: behind me, there is the exit. Your objective is to get past me and out of the maze. If even one of you makes it out, then we call it a success and you all graduate." Even from a distance, Megumi could see his cocky grin. "But if I catch and bind all three of you at any one time, you are all sent back to the academy." He suddenly whipped out a coil of rope. "And we shall begin…now!"
And then he disappeared, and the students were left, blinking around themselves. She was starting to feel panicked, as if there was someone else inside of her head that was going crazy, a little voice screaming, 'What? Now?! Where did he go?' Then, the voice came out of her mouth, and she blurted, "What do we do now?"
Lee looked at her and grinned daringly. "I say that we make the first move!" He bolted towards the small window of light and was immediately cast down upon by the green blur that they know recognized as Gai-sensei. Megumi's eyes widened and she shook herself before going after him, not caring what Neji did then.
"Lee!" she called, jogging towards the blur of white and green at consisted of her sensei and teammate. Lee was frantically trying to stay away from Gai, who was already wielding a long piece of rope as if he were going to strangle them all. The boy ducked, but the man didn't miss a beat and soon had the first loop around his abdomen. His arms constricted and unable to really move, Lee kicked at the man, but couldn't stand. He was on his knees when Megumi reached the pair, and Gai wasn't stopping for anything. She couldn't think of what to do; finally, she remembered her shinobi tools. Taking out a silver shurikan and aiming swiftly, she tossed it as hard as she could at the staunchly held piece of rope coming from Gai's hand. The rope frayed a bit. She considered throwing another, unwilling to get too close to them, but she would have to throw a lot of throwing stars before the rope would cut that way. Suddenly, she got the bright idea, and she jumped on Gai's back, catching him in a two-armed chokehold and trying to pull back. The rope slid from his hands, and they went to her arms, trying to pull her off. She didn't let go. She couldn't.
She looked around frantically. Where was Neji? Why wasn't he helping them? When she spotted him, she gasped involuntarily; the Hyuuga was sneaking along the side of the maze while Gai was distracted. She willed him to hurry, but it was too late: he had been spotted. Gai, in a sudden burst of strength, jerked her arms from his own neck and reared, and threw off of him. She hit the shrub wall, beside Lee, amazed by the man's strength. He could have done that anytime he wanted to, she thought, bewildered. He was only pretending to struggle. She groaned. Of course! He's a jounin, after all.
Lee mistook her groan of realization for one of pain. "Megumi-chan, are you okay? Do you need help?"
She shook her head and stood up. "I'm okay." Taking out her kunai, she worked on cutting him free. She looked towards Gai and Neji; the prodigy was doing surprisingly well for a new genin. She turned to Lee again. "What about you?"
The ropes fell away from his arms, and he grinned. "I am fine." He also stood and stretched a bit. "We must help Neji! Come on, Megumi-chan!"
Megumi sighed and closed her eyes. "Lee-kun, we should make a plan before we do any-," she started, opening her eyes again to notice that he was already gone. "Thing." She finished before walking forward into the middle of the clearing so that she could see well. Gai sensei finished binding Neji and tossed him to the side, and Lee came at the man from the other side. Lee went in with renewed fighting spirit, a battle cry on his lips as he swung at the man. He missed, and Gai retaliated, a kick sending Lee into submission. More rope was in his hands, and he began to tie the dark-haired boy up.
"Megumi-chan!" Lee cried, trying without success to escape from under Gai's foot. "Do something!" He was shoved face into the dirt, and he lifted his head again. "Quickly!"
A new voice caught here ear. "Megumi, don't just stand there! Help us!" Neji yelled, trying to squirm out of the bindings.
She didn't know what to do. Should she go cut Neji free, or should she get Gai off of Lee? If so, how would she do it? Her golden eyes flickered back and forth, and she noticed that the exit was wide open. Oh, great, she thought, what do I do? Do I help Neji, or do I get Gai? If I get Lee, then I'll be tied up. But Gai-sensei's fast; he'd be on me before I got to Neji! She was sure that she was going to have a nervous breakdown; Gai-sensei wouldn't have to tie her up. Or maybe I should-
"Megumi-chan!" Lee hollered.
"Megumi!" Neji yelled.
"Stop pressuring me!" she screamed back. She had to make a split second choice, and she did. Her choice was to run past both of her teammates, hurling herself towards the exit.
Maybe she would have made it. Maybe she wouldn't have. But Hottan Megumi would never know if she would have made it to the end of the maze, because three feet away, she tripped, and the earth came crashing up to her face. Then Gai was there, and she felt cord constricting her diaphragm, and she knew that it was all over.
They had walked back to training grounds twenty six solemnly. Well, at least the students had been solemn; Gai had bragged all the way back. Megumi had been torn between the desire to cry and throw up as Neji glared at her with intensity she had never known and Lee fingered his forehead protector forlornly. It was all her fault, she thought over and over as they arrived back and each one picked up their bento. Megumi opened it and ate a bit of rice before gagging and placing it on the ground. She didn't deserve to eat.
Gai-sensei allowed the boys to finish eating and put their boxes away before looking at them. "Alas, you did not pass the final test," he said sadly. "And I had such high hopes for the three of you."
The lilac-haired girl could no longer stand it; she burst into tears. "I-I'm sorry, G-Gai sensei!" she gasped. "P-p-please don't fail N-Neji and L-Lee. They didn't do anything wr-wrong! It was all me! I shouldn't have been selfish and ran! I should have helped my teammates!" She sniffed. "I don't care if I don't pass! Someone else can have my spot on the team! I won't ever go back to the academy or anything if you don't want me too. Just please don't send them back to the academy!"
Gai looked at her for a long moment. Then, instead of yelling or telling her that she was a disgrace (which, according to the ninja rules, she was), he smiled at her fondly. "Thank you for owning up to your mistakes, young lady. That is a sign of not only a good shinobi, but a good person. And do not worry, Megumi-chan. No one is going to be failed."
"Not even me?" Megumi sniffed, wiping her tears on her jacket sleeve.
"Not even you." Gai said, still smiling. Megumi thought for a moment that she might hug her sensei.
"Excuse me," Neji interrupted. "You said that if we were all tied up, that we would be failed and sent back to the academy. And we failed." His eyes were stormy. "But we're not being sent back to the academy. Is that right?"
"That is correct."
"Oh, thank you, Gai-sensei!" Lee cried, tears forming in his eyes. He threw himself at the man, and they did a odd hug. Suddenly, Lee stopped crying. "But why aren't you failing us? Like Neji-san pointed out, we did fail the test. Why are you passing us?"
"I've decided that, even though you did not pass my test, that you are worthy of being shinobi. You seem to be capable enough, though you are not truly skilled. I admit, I have grown fond of the three of you, and I do believe that you would make fine shinobi under the proper leadership!" He gave them another pose. "And I believe that I myself am the only person fit to take on the challenge of turning the three of you into a team of elite shinobi."
The students merely blinked at him as he droned on and on about exactly why he didn't fail them. Megumi didn't pay much attention; all she could think of was that they had not failed, though they had screwed up. She merely nodded. He's going to give us a chance. Me, and Neji, and Lee…we're really ninja now! We're a team now. She grinned. She liked the way that the thought felt. I'm part of a team. It made her feel giddy and happy, despite the fact that she was caked in dirt and sweat.
"Meet me in front of the village's eastern gate tomorrow morning at seven sharp. We shall do some light exercising before we take on our first mission."
The students nodded, and then everyone went their separate ways.
Entering the clan compound, she wasn't sure what she would do with her afternoon. Well, the first thing to do would obviously be to get cleaned up. She decided that she would head to the Konoha Library, and maybe to her favorite bookstore, and look for books and scrolls on shinobidom and medical jutsu. She couldn't simply forget about her books because she now had people that she was fond of and loyal to. Her books had been there for her since she had been able to read, which had been since she was three years old. When her mother was dying, she had read in the hospital room to keep herself from concentrating on the smell of death that hung over the room. When her father and Takara were on missions, she had read to pretend to herself that the house wasn't empty. When she was in school, she had read so that she could ignore the mean children and their taunts. Her books and the characters in them were her only friends for a long time, but now that she had real people for friends, she was too attached to them to give them up.
She was halfway to her house when something smacked into the back of her head. It stuck in her hair, and Megumi reached back to find a shurikan made of cardboard. Behind her, a voice whispered, "Oh, crud."
She turned to see that three of her younger cousins, a six-year-old boy named Katsu, an eight-year-old girl named Aika, and a ten-year-old boy named Isamu staring at her, wide eyed. The three siblings all had blue hair and gold eyes. She extended her arm and dangled the fake throwing star at them with two fingers. They looked at her as if afraid she would yell at them, and it was a bit disturbing. That's just part of being part of the head family, she reminded herself. If they mess up in front of me, they expect that I'll have a temper tantrum. I probably look a bit scary, too.
She smiled at them. "Do you want this back?" she asked cheerfully.
The first child to recover from their shocked state was Aika. The little tomboy grinned and said to the boys, "See? I told you Megumi-san is nice!" She ran the short distance between the trio and Megumi and took the cardboard shurikan. "Thanks, Megumi-san!" She grinned, and then looked at her curiously. "Where have you been? You're all dirty!"
"I've been training today, Aika-chan." Megumi beamed at the younger girl. "I'm a shinobi now, and I had my first team meeting."
"Aika!" Katsu called anxiously. "Come on! We have to finish the game before dinner!"
"Okay!" Aika yelled back. She looked at Megumi again. "Thanks again, Megumi-san! Congratulations on being a shinobi now!" She ran back to her friends, and Megumi walked home.
It felt so good to be clean. The white sundress had never been as loved as it was when she slipped it on after the longest shower she thought that she'd every had. She took her shinobi clothes and put them with some other items in the washing machine before she walked out the door, carrying a small wallet in her pocket and a small drawstring bag on her back. Her hair was wet when she left the house; she decided that she would let it dry on its own.
Her trip to the bookstore was pleasant, and so was her time spent in the shop. She looked around the non-fiction section for a while, but she was disappointed that she couldn't find anything on medical jutsu. The place usually had anything and everything she could think of on how-to manuals. Refusing to quit and return home, she headed towards the village library. They did actually have some books and scrolls on medical jutsu, and she checked out a small pile of them. This pile was shoved into her bag and she walked around the village humming.
Konoha looks so pretty at twilight, she mused to herself, smiling as she walked. I should take a nice, long walk ….After all, it's not like I'm in a hurry to go home and eat instant ramen by myself. She looked at her watch. I've got three hours until the compound doors are locked for the night. I walk around the entire village and back before that. She did take a walk, strolling through Konoha and by the training grounds.
As she approached training ground twenty-six, she heard the sound of someone talking. The voice was familiar, and as she got close enough to really understand it, she identified it as Lee's voice. Curiously, she stood in the entranceway and looked inside.
His back was toward her, and she could see that he was jumping rope furiously. He counted, and she was shocked to hear the number two hundred. From the dried blood on his ankle, she could tell that he hadn't left when she did. The rope went around once more, and Lee tripped. He got back up and started again, counting from one. Astounded, she silently sat on the ground and watched.
It was like she could sit there forever and watch him skip rope. Every time he fell, he would get back up and start again from zero. He simply wouldn't stay down, and it shocked her. How is he doing that? She pondered. It finally became apparent to Megumi that he was counting to three hundred. He would get close –one time to two hundred ninety-nine- before falling. Two hours and fifteen minutes after she had arrived, he made it to three hundred and promptly collapsed. She waited for him to rise, but when he didn't after a few long moments, she grew worried. She stood up and walked towards the boy, kneeling down beside him.
"Lee?" she murmured. "Lee-kun, wake up. Come on, Lee. Wake up." She shook him gently, and he finally opened his eyes. He jumped up, startled to see her there.
"Megumi-chan?" he asked. "What are you doing here? How long have you been here?"
"Oh, I was taking a walk and I heard you over here. I came to see what was going on, and I was just watching you for a while. I've been here for a couple of hours," she said, brushing it off. "I didn't think that it'd be a good idea to let you sleep out here. It's kind of cold here."
"Oh. Thank you, Megumi-san." He still seemed confused. Though he probably couldn't see it in the dark, she scowled. Does everything I do confuse him?
"Have you been here all night, Lee?" she asked, though she knew the answer. In the moonlight, she saw him nodding.
"Yes. I always train in the evenings. By the way, do you know what time it is?"
"Yeah, I have a watch on." She squinted at her watch. "It's about seven thirty."
"I need to go home," Lee said. "My mother will be worried about me."
"I need to go home, too." Megumi agreed. "The doors lock at eight, but they might close them early." They both walked to the entrance way and down the narrow row of training areas. They stopped at the end; Megumi hung by the south of the street and Lee towards the north.
"Good night, Megumi-chan." Lee said, turning away and running down the street. She watched him go for a moment, wondering how he could do that after spending most of the day training.
"See you tomorrow, Lee-kun!" she called after him. His silhouette turned to face her, and she waved. He nodded, and they both headed their separate ways.
So, I've been trying to keep Megumi from being a mary sue. In this one, I tried to give her some real human things, such as: a) she gets irratable when she's tried and frustrated, b) she's kind of spoiled, and c) she doesn't do well under pressure. Does that help her character at all? Did I express it clearly enough? Thoughts, please!
