In a flash of lightning, all of Hitomi Kaijima's biggest hopes and dreams vanished. All she had ever wanted was to become a shinobi. Now left blind after a horrible accident, she is determined to prove herself to the people of her village. What Hitomi doesn't expect though, is to discover a kindred spirit, who will teach her to smile again.
Disclaimer: Obviously, as this is a fanfic, I don't own Naruto, or Rock Lee (le sob). I also don't own the song "Learning to Breath"I do however own Hitomi.
From the author of "Worlds Without End", AKA me! Hope y'all enjoy. I've done my best to banish as much Mary-Sueishness as I could from my character, so don't cringe at the letters OC. The only Pairings so far are LeexHitomi, so if you have any pairing requests, or heck, an OC you'd like me to stick in, just mention it in a review or e-mail. On a final note; No flames. Thanks in advance.
Chapter Song: Learning to Breath- Switchfoot
Here it is, Chapter 4! Thanks much for all the reviews guys! You rock!
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Chapter 4- Trust
/Hello, good morning, how you do?
What makes your rising sun so new/
It was just before seven when Hitomi reached area 13. It had taken her forever since she couldn't read the signs, but as passing Chuunin had pointed her in the right direction. She stood fiddling with the zipper of her jacket, her headband around her neck as opposed to her eyes today. She'd spent a good part of the night debating wether or not she should even bother accepting Lee's Request. Maybe everyone was right. Maybe she couldn't be a shinobi. Maybe she was just setting herself up for defeat. The girl bit her lip and sighed. It just seemed so pointless to hope that anything good could come of this. She had to go. As Hitomi turned to walk home, a familiar voice called out to her, stopping her in her tracks.
"Hitomi-san! I am so pleased you could make it this morning!"
Hitomi quickly projected a wall of heated air around her in a ring, bringing Lee's blue smear of a heat signature to focus. He'd been running when she looked over, but had stopped now a few steps away. She smiled weakly, turning and giving him a small wave.
"Hey...Lee-san. Nice to see you."
She paused, debating weather she should still chance making an excuse and escaping. Well, it couldn't hurt to try right?
"Umm...Lee-san?"
She questioned tentatively.
"I-I'm not so sure I should be here. I mean your team probably won't appreciate a stranger coming and-"
"Nonsense Hitomi-san! Gai sensei loves finding new students to teach the ways of youthfulness!"
Hitomi sighed and nodded meekly as if she understood what 'the ways of youthfulness' meant-which of course she didn't. She also chose not to mention that even if his sensei liked her, his teammates were the big deal.
"Lee-san...I need to tell you something."
Hitomi's ninjutsu vision flickered as Lee give her a puzzled look.
"What is it Hitomi-san?"
"Well you see, I'm not sure I really belong training with you. You see I-"
She was cut off by a pair of voices that suddenly echoed through the forest.
"Hey Lee!"
"Good morning my youthful student!"
Hitomi jerked her head around as several blue heat signatures approached. She sent another heat wave toward them, picking out details. One was taller than the others, apparently their teacher. There was also a girl with her hair tied up in buns, who was waving at Lee. The third...well Hitomi couldn't really tell if they were a boy or girl using her ninjutsu alone. What with the long hair and baggy clothes...
"Hey, who's your friend Lee?"
Hitomi switched her attention back to the girl. The three ninja had stopped a short way away, and seemed to be looking her over. She felt herself shrink back into her jacket.
"Good morning everyone! This is my friend Hitomi! I invited her to join us for training today!"
The blue glow of Tenten's-yes that was what Lee had said her name was, right?-features flickered into a smile, and she nodded. The older man however, still regarded her intensely, making her very uncomfortable. After what seemed like an eternity-but was really no more than a second or two-he spoke.
"Well hello Hitomi! My name is Maito Gai! Your brother is Kaijima Taishimaru, isn't he?"
His voice was kind, but there was just something about the way he'd been looking at her, or maybe his posture...she could tell he knew.
"Y-yes. Tai is my brother. Do you know him?"
At this point Hitomi saw where Lee had learned the 'nice guy' pose, as Gai smiled and gave her a thumbs up.
"I should say so! We've been on a few missions together! He's a very talented young man, and has told me a great deal about you Hitomi-san! I'd be glad to have you join my cell in training!"
Hitomi didn't know weather to sigh in relief of kick herself for not making an escape sooner. Instead, she smiled and muttered 'thank you sir.' The gate was unlocked and the genin walked inside. Hitomi was about to follow them, when she felt a hand fall heavily on her shoulder. She turned around with a start, realizing that it was Gai.
"I wanted to tell you Hitomi-san, that what you are doing ..."
Is pointless, Hitomi thought sadly. He'd tell her it was hopeless, and that he would humor her for today, but in the end it was...
"...is very admirable. A person who has no dream in life has no reason to live. I think it's wonderful that you aren't giving up on yours."
Hitomi was stunned. All she could do for a long time was stare up at the glowing blue features of the man next to her, searching for some sign that would tell her he was joking. She couldn't find any. This couldn't be for real...could it?
"I've wanted to meet you ever since your brother mentioned your accident to me."
He continued, smiling-not smirking at her ignorance, but truly smiling.
"As long as you will allow it, I will do my best to help you become the best shinobi you can be! That's a promise!"
Hitomi felt the corners of her eyes prickling with wetness and hurriedly blinked them to stop herself from crying. This was no time to start getting emotional, even if it was some of the first kindness she'd found in years.
"T-thank you...Gai-sensei that...that really means a lot to me."
The man smiled down at her and patted her shoulder. She followed him as he stepped into the training area, feeling as if she were walking through a dream.
/I could use a fresh beginning too.
All of my regrets are nothing new./
"Alright everyone! Today we will be sparring! Since we are fortunate enough to have a fourth trainee present , we can bypass eliminations this time, and have everyone training at once!"
Hitomi felt her heart leap into her throat. She hung back behind Gai, fiddling with her zipper again. Sparring? Why did it have to be sparring? She was no Taijutsuist! She'd end up making a fool of herself in front of everyone. In front of...
"Hitomi-san, you can be paired off against Tenten! And now, let me just remind you that there will be no use of weapons, or offensive jutsu today, other...advantages...are to be used within carefully restrained limits."
He seemed to focus his attention on the third member of the team. The boy...girl? Hitomi still couldn't tell. What had Lee said his name was again? Neji, that was it Hyuuga Neji. Anyhow he seemed to be totally unfazed by the comment, and simply stood with his arms crossed.
"Alright!"
Cried Lee excitedly as he started stretching.
"Neji-kun! Today is the day I will defeat you! And if I cannot, I shall run 543 laps around Konoha!"
Hitomi noticed a blue smear she assumed to be Tenten waving at her from across the clearing. She quickly scampered over to her, careful to keep her distance from the menacing person Lee was sparring with, who seemed to be glaring at her. When she arrived next to Tenten, the girl was tossing her equipment off to one side. Hitomi did the same, turning back to see her opponent crouched into a fighting stance.
"I'm sorry if I don't put up much of a fight."
The blind girl murmured feebly as she readied herself, praying that she'd last more than a few minutes. She sent out another pulse of heat in time to see Tenten smile and nod quickly.
"Don't worry Hitomi-san, I'll go easy on you."
"Begin!"
Yelled Gai, and the genin launched themselves at each other.
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/So this is the way that I say I need you...
This is the way...
This is the way that I'm learning to breathe .I'm learning to crawl.
I'm finding that You and You alone can break my fall.
I'm living again, awake and aliveI'm dying to breathe in these abundant skies.../
Hitomi winced as she skidded across the ground, her back thudding against a thick tree. A shockwave of pain coursed through her body. With a great deal of effort, she managed to get to her knees and wipe blood from her mouth where her lip had split. When she'd turned her attention back to finding out where Tenten was, she noticed a hand reaching down to her.
"Here, Hitomi-san, let me help you up."
Hitomi tentatively grasped Tenten's hand and felt herself hauled to her feet by a strength that belied the girl's body structure. The battered girl smiled weakly as she regained her balance.
"T-thanks. You...you're really good!"
A newly emmited wave of heat revealed the Kunoichi's smile.
"Heh, thanks. You're not bad either, you just need a lot more practice."
She turned her head to one side and gestured with an elbow.
"But, if you want to see good, check those guys out."
Hitomi followed Tenten's gaze to the nearby area in which Lee and Neji were continuing their fight. She sent out several blasts of heat to get a clear picture, and couldn't help a smile creeping onto her face. She had never seen two people move so fast before. As they fought, neither could miss a beat on the other, their movements. It was so fluid it seemed to be choreographed.
"Wow...Lee-san is so strong..."
She murmured to herself, sending out pulse after pulse of heat in quick sucession. It was just so hard to make anything out at this distance...
"Hitomi, if I might ask...how can you see what they're doing? I noticed that it seemed strangely hot today, almost like there were waves hitting me... so does it have something to do with it?"
The question came as such a shock that Hitomi felt like her body had been shot full of electricity. She found herself unable to speak for a while, but finally managed to choke out,
"Y-you knew?"
She was unable to hide the horror in her voice. Tenten smiled gently, and nodded.
"Yeah. Your pretty famous you know, the blind girl who would be a shinobi."
Hitomi couldn't tell if Tenten was mocking her, since the lilt in her voice held none of the obvious sarcasm she was so used to hearing. Still...
"Who...else knows?"
She asked quietly. The girl beside her took a moment to think, folding her arms across her chest thoughtfully.
"Well...since Gai-sensei knows your brother, he probably does, and Neji told me so I know he knows."
So Neji was a boy. Hitomi supposed that made sense, and was glad to have her little mystery solved, but there were more urgent things on her mind at the moment.
"Does Lee-san know?"
She asked, almost without thinking. Tenten said nothing for a few moments then shook her head.
"I doubt it. He's kind of a knucklehead. He'll figure it out eventually though, or I guess you could just tell him. That might be easier than just waiting around for him to put two and two together."
Hitomi's heart sunk. She'd had an idea what Tenten would say from the moment she asked, but had somehow still hoped that Lee had come to like her even knowing she was blind...
God that was a stupid notion. Had she already forgotten how he asked to join her 'training'? But how would she tell him...
The blind girl hadn't the time to think it out, for just then a cry of pain and loud crash made her re-focus her attention on the sparring match. Lee had gone flying through the air after a particularly violent attack on Neji's part, and had crashed into a low branch so hard it broke. Hitomi heard Tenten sigh, and watched the blue light in her vison flicker as she placed a hand on her forehead.
"Here we go again."
She muttered, and started jogging toward the fallen green beast. Hitomi was fast to follow behind her. She noted with distaste as she sent out a few heat pulses, that Neji's expression hadn't seemed to change in the time he'd been fighting. What an arrogant jerk! And now he didn't even seem to care what he'd done to his teammate. Gai was already there when the pair of kunoichi reached the battered, unconscious form of Lee. He gave Tenten a strange look that Hitomi could only decide was something of a signal that had developed through familiarity. Tenten sighed deeply once again.
"Dang. I'll go get the smelling salts."
/Hello, good morning, how you been?
Yesterday left my head kicked in...
I never, never thought that,
I would fall like that.
Never knew that I could hurt this bad.../
"So does that happen a lot?"
Hitomi asked Lee as they walked home. After such a long, brutal day of training, she was surprised she could walk, but she was more surprised that Lee could after the punishment he'd taken from Neji during their spar. Of course she wasn't about to complain that he'd offered to walk her home.
"Well, kind of yes."
Lee admitted with a sheepish smile.
"But I'll defeat Neji one day! That is part of my shinobi dream!"
Hitomi smiled as he struck a pose, wincing almost invisibly as his muscles protested the action. She sighed internally, remembering how Tenten had said that Lee might need some nudging to piece together the fact that she couldn't see. Now was as good a time as ever. If something bad was going to happen, it was better that it happened before she got too attached to her new friend.
"Lee-san?"
She asked quietly, watching as the blue smudge that walked next to her turned it's head to look at her questioningly.
"What is it Hitomi-san?"
She took a deep breath, knowing that she'd never be able to take back what she was about to say.
"I need to tell you that...that I'm not really what I seem to be..."
"How so?"
"Well...have you ever noticed my eyes?"
"Yes of course! They're lovely eyes! I've been wondering Hitomi-san, are you part Hyuuga? Members of their clan have similar white eyes, but yours have those strange purple spirals. And of course your name is different."
Hitomi blushed when Lee described her eyes as 'lovely', but made sure to keep fear closer to the front of her mind so she could concentrate on what she was trying to say.
"N-no I'm not...I got these eyes because... I was in an accident..."
She stopped moving, and Lee followed suit after a step, turning back toward her. Hitomi had noticed that she didn't seem to be able to walk and speak plainly at the same time, and at this rate she'd never manage to tell him.
"I...I'm not sure I follow you Hitomi-san."
Lee predictably said as he looked at her, clearly still puzzled by her words and actions. Spit it out, Hitomi thought to herself fervently. Just spit it out Hitomi-chan!
"Lee...My eyes were hurt in an accident. I can't see, and that's why...that's why I don't want you to put much faith in me as a shinobi...or a person."
She flinched and dropped her eyes, waiting for the anger and disgust to come. It never did. Instead, she saw Lee smile.
"But why would I think less of you just because you can't see?"
She was taken aback. There was no way he was stupid enough not to understand the ramifications of being blind...so why would he ask something like that?
"Well because...because I'm disabled!"
She said, still dumbfounded.
"I'm different from everyone else, and I'm trying to be something no one thinks I should be! That's why!"
She heard him laugh, and remembered how last night she had been convinced he was totally insane. That impression was starting to come back, this time laced with anger. How could he take something like this so lightly?
"Come now Hitomi-chan, being unable to do something is no reason to give up on your dreams! I didn't!"
She bit her lip in frustration. Why the heck didn't he get it?
"But you have enough talent for four!"
She protested.
",and you arren't blind!"
"Well, no I'm not blind, but no one ever thought I could be a shinobi because I can't use ninjutsu or genjutsu."
"Oh please..."
Hitomi spat, turning away. The flickering blue in her vision revealed Lee's fists clenched in anger, and she immediately regretted the statement.
"No, it's true! No one ever believed I could be a ninja because all I could use was taijutsu! They all said I should just give up! And then I met Gai-sensei, and he taught me I could be a shinobi if I really tried! That's why it's my dream to prove to everyone that I can be a splendid ninja, even with taijutsu alone!"
Hitomi found herself unable to speak. Her first attempt was nothing more than a squeak. When next she tried, she managed to choke out,
"I...Lee I-I..."
She then turned to him, feeling terrible about not taking him seriously. Hearing Lee tell her how he'd been faced with the same challenges she had left Hitomi painfully reminded of the way Kieta has scorned her for choosing to stay a ninja.
"I-I'm sorry..."
She muttered quietly, hugging her arms. Lee's expression softened immediately, but was mildly confused at the same time.
"Sorry for what?"
"Well...for saying that...I'm sorry I got you upset."
"But...but I'm not upset Hitomi-san. I was just telling you about my dream..."
It was at that moment that Hitomi realized just how stupid she was being. Lee wasn't mad at her! This was just the way he acted when he was passionate about something. Without knowing why she did it, the girl laughed. Lee seemed even more confused after this. Hitomi then smiled widely, and flicked her eyes up at him.
"Then...then that's my dream too! My dream is to prove to everyone that even a blind girl can be a great Shinobi!"
/So this is the way I say I need you.../
"That's great Hitomi!"
Lee said, striking a pose and smiling back at her
"A dream truly worthy of you!"
Hitomi just kept smiling, almost unable to believe what was happening.
"I guess I owe that to you."
---
/This is the way that I say I love you.../
"Hitomi-chan, you should join us for training more often. Why don't you come tomorrow as well?"
"Sure. I'd like that a lot."
/This is the way that I say I'm Yours/
----
And so the pair continued on through the forest together, chatting casually as if they'd been friends for years. Hitomi could never recall a time she'd ever been so content. It was as if a huge weight had been lifted form her chest.
/This is the way, this is the way.../
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And so chapter four ends! Here's hoping I've edited it fairly well, since I'm so sick of noticing spelling and grammar mistakes in my work. On a final note, I'm scrapping the timeline! It's really irritating to keep trying to squeeze things into the little gaps the story leaves, so let's all just say this is a parallel dimension. Okay? Okay! Thanks much for taking the time to read, and please review! G'night!