Updating is so fun on the weekend because I have so much time, I can type lots of words and not feel like I'll be thrown off track. Anyway, as with many fan fiction writers now that the storyline has gotten from the manga feel free to complain if you feel that I'm ever taking anything over the line. Heh, I really just want to write something enjoyable and generally different. Though I'm pretty well set on the ways of how the story is going to play out I still don't mind having suggestions. After all, I know I can't appeal to everyone, but I can try to appeal to as many people as I can. If you were worried this was going to be another linear romance without any combat whatsoever, read on. And those wondering over my e-mail address can know it's:
Don't be shy with suggestions, I suppose. I
won't get angry if you say 'I'd like to see this exact event occur' but
it'd be nice to lean towards 'I'd like to see more of this type of
action as opposed to this typoe of action'. Everything helps, in the
end. Thanks so much!
As Lee stepped down the stairs of Konoha and out into the training grounds for the ninjas he sighed heavily. With the way Sakura was beginning to act around Naruto he continually was loosing ground against Naruto. First Sasuke overshadowed him, now Naruto. It made him feel quite bad, but he trusted completely in his inner strength, his luck and own personality. He wouldn't loose to them, somehow Sakura would recognize his strength, his willingness to defend her. Still, his ninja training came first, yet his taijutsu seemed so perfect improvement seemed harder and harder. Yet for Lee it just meant more training, harder training and then he'd improve. He grinned to himself, in his good-guyish way of grinning. That was his ninja way, to always improve.
A gust of wind caused him to stumble a bit as he exited the city limits and, as he progressed further outside the village, the stranger and more in danger he felt, like some sixth sense clawing at him. He ignored it and instead thought of the training he'd do, training in another style that he hadn't quite mastered to master it and get forever stronger. If he couldn't master the drunken fist, the style that Gai had told him to try for some odd reason, he would double his weight training. Sadly Lee also wasn't quite allowed to have saké for some reason he couldn't discern, even a little. But when he'd managed to get a taste accidentally it had been, in his opinion, pretty good.
Another discomforting gust of wind curled around his feet. Lee's attire had decreased in 'lameness' value, in fact Lee's face had decreased in 'lameness' value to, or at least that's what everyone else though. Lee wasn't so much a 'freak' anymore as a little odd, not in the cool manner of Sasuke or the nonchalant manner of Shino, but still in a way that broke away from Gai. He wore his hair braided in a thick strand every day, hair that was down to his shoulders for once, the black strands giving his tightened face less of an odd look and more of the look of a foreigner. He wore a long sleeved shirt and baggy pants, both for the fact they were warm but also for the fact they concealed the weights he had on, though he wore the same ninja headband as a belt. Still he treaded about in sandals.
His weight training had gone wonderfully ever since his back surgery, in fact the only thing it honestly did beyond making him next-to-permanently paralyzed was increase his will to get stronger. Yet he couldn't feel that life was being unfair to him… Naruto's initial diagnosis had been roughly ten times worse then him, yet without a single stitch he had managed a natural recovery. Yet to Lee that meant one thing, that being he was slacking off in his training and had to get stronger. And stronger. And stronger. And if he ate his vegetables, and a lot of him, soon he'd be able to recover like Naruto. Gai continued to support that goal, and that meant it was achievable despite some sarcasm given off by Neji, but he contended with the fact that maybe Neji just did that to drive him on. Tenten had hinted to it.
Then, when Lee had realized what it really was, it was too late. The gust of wind sent him off his feet and he felt two objects connect with his lower neck, at the trunk that connected into his shoulders. It was a suddenly, jolting motion that sent him flying into the floor, smacking the ground harshly. Whoever had hit him had hit him hard and he yelped in pain. The ground had seemed just like a blur and his entire body shifted its weight for a moment. If it hadn't been for that amazingly fast reaction time Lee would've probably been knocked unconscious at least by the attack.
However the minute his momentum ceased he pushed himself back. It hurt a bit with his strength to slide on the rock ground but his toes eventually grabbed on the surface of the ground. Unable to bend up any further they stopped and instead began forcing his heels up. When his heels contacted the ground he flipped backwards into a handspring, yet as his feet landed and he raised his back he felt a palm hit him in the back. The strength was amazing, it sent him flying forward the same distance he'd gone only to hit into an awaiting first there. It managed to uppercut him in the stomach, his gasp for air doing nothing as he was sent upwards. Two people? Yet as he went towards the air he felt two hands hammer his back. The motion sent him towards the ground again, only to find there were feet waiting there. Three people?
The kick sent him into the air, it seemed to have been executed from a handspring and was exceptionally powerful. His body looked like a rag doll as it went up and then forward, straight towards a tree. However his second assailant had jumped up and grabbed his ankles. The world around Lee blurred as he felt his body spin in circles with the man holding his ankles spinning as well. It was sickeningly and amazingly fast, at a speed that impressed even Lee. He'd even have problems with moving nearly anything as the speed he was spinning then and there. What was worse was the release, he couldn't even figure if he was going up, down, or straight into a tree. Sadly, it seemed the latter was the choice of his attacker, if his attacker had even made a choice at all and instead hadn't just released him randomly.
The tree was horrible but he was relieved to find that he wasn't impaled on a branch. Sadly that wasn't worth much because he felt that he had hit so hard that he had created an impression on the tree. Moments later the tree actually fell over and Lee coughed up some blood, jerking out of the bark before it ended up ripping him in half. He knew that if whatever hit him hit him again he'd probably die, yet the fact that he hadn't even gotten a view of an opponent wasn't a good fact. However as he got into a defensive stance as quickly as possible in front of the tree he noted his opponents were just standing there, all exactly identical. Moments later two disappeared. Naruto's technique, it seemed, was it really the kage bunshin no jutsu? His opponent grinned a little, and Lee took a chance to wipe blood from his mouth. The voice sounded nearly kind:
"You're very heavy for a skinny young man."
"Who are you!"
"You can call me… X-san."
"What kind of name is that?"
"Not a very good one."
"Hah! You must think it sounds pretty 'cool' now don't you?"
"Not exceptionally."
"Why have you attacked me?"
"Because you're just a very convenient target."
"What!"
"You're a taijutsu specialist, or at least that's what your training has entirely been."
"How do you know of my training?"
"You're a very impressive young man."
"What are you talking about?"
"All that training and absolutely no spiritual energy whatsoever."
"How do you know this much?"
"Like everything in this world information about other people is cheap."
"What do you mean like that?"
"You've got plenty of traitors in your village, getting some facts about a weak taijutsu specialist doesn't cost much."
"Traitors? Who do you speak of?"
"Well, I'm afraid I can't help you with that."
"You will tell me!"
"Nah, I only trade information indirectly, you see. I couldn't tell you who is committing a back stab here."
"Indirectly?"
"I don't know tells me what, but just what they tell me. Trust me, you're too stupid to get it, just don't think about it."
"Kya! I am not stupid!"
"I'm not insulting you here, I'm just saying trading information on this kind of level is hard to understand."
"Why act like you're some sort of friend!"
"How about this… I'll trade some information with you. Give you some basic understanding."
"Huh?"
"Information. About things. You know?"
"What kind of information could you possibly give me, and what information could I possibly give you?"
"Wow! I'm thoroughly impressed, you're more competent then you look."
"Stop insulting me!"
"I'm hardly insulting you, Lee."
"How do you know my name…?"
"Guh… nevermind. I retract my previous statement."
"You're confusing me! Just get to the point, or else I'm afraid I'll have to unleash my taijutsu on you."
"Okay… simple terms… simple terms…"
"On what?"
"On negotiation. How about you tell me about this Naruto character and some of his close fri-"
"I see where you're going! I'm not giving you information! Enough of this!"
"Lee… now, now, Lee, that's a bad move.
Lee grabbed the weights on his wrists and tossed them aside, then he bent down. Two shuriken landed on the tree stump behind him from the dodge, which ended in him taking off the weights on his legs. Before he could be pelted by the four new shuriken flying in his direction his legs stopped bending and he instead pushed himself in the air. He didn't like the looks of his opponent, they wore a large straw hat and a kimono, but the hat was worn in such a manner and with such dexterity that he couldn't catch a glimpse of the owner's face. The black kimono looked dangerous with various pockets, and a katana attached to the belt. Lee noted as many weapons as he could as he landed on the man's head with both feet, only to feel the entire thing give out from under him. Instead of blood there was smoke, then a piece of wood.
Causing the wood to shatter from the incredible force Lee quickly jumped up and away, only to feel his leg get hit by a kunai. It went straight through and he caught a glimpse of the object too, a glimmer in the sunlight indicating a very thin razor wire. It hadn't been just a normal kunai, he realized. Rather he heard the sound of metal moving past metal and scraping just barely to feel something against his leg where the wound had been. Some sort of grappling hook. The force exerted by the pull on the kunai was horrible, Lee thought his leg would break, but the kunai itself had missed all the vital spots it could've got. Then again his opponent could've missed, he told himself.
Flying towards his assailant he tried to jerk around in the air and just barely managed in time to begin spinning. Placing his other foot against the wire he drew his grappled leg up, yet his opponent had anticipated and let go. Lee's spin did nothing, rather he was heading to the ground. Yet just before what should've been his contact with the ground open palms hit his chest, sending him back a bit, then up. The change in momentum was devastating, the blood in his head was swirling about. Seconds later Lee couldn't help but open his defense widely and that was accompanied by a flurry of nonlethal blows. Each one was worse then the last, his opponent's abstract taijutsu was amazing. Lee had never seen such a style. Sadly Lee had little time to think of this because he felt his jaw contacted seconds after the hailstorm of punches to send him into the sky, only to have his ankle grabbed again. The wire around his body tensed and he heard a jutsu performed.
The sharp razor wire never once cut into his flesh, yet as he landed not only was it all about his body, but his neck had the most dangerous weave around it. It was a weave that, if pulled on, would simply kill him to the point that medical ninjas would be only of use to kill him a millisecond quicker. He nearly landed wrong but the opponent behind him restrained him from doing so. He couldn't move his arms or legs without feeling the razor sharp wire. His opponent stood there before him and he tried not to kill himself. His opponent raised their head. A mask, and odd one too. That of a fox, a fox smiling too. Again he got that kind voice:
"Lee, that was indeed a fun fight. Sadly pawns are not players."
"What?"
"You're going to be my pawn for the time."
"Pawn? No! Gai-sensei wouldn't let such a thing happen, I won't be killed. I am too strong!"
"Killed? Whoever said that?"
"What? Konoha will not suffer my weakness of mind! I will not betray my friends!"
"I'll do it for you… Eleven Part Seal!"
"Gwah!"
"Become disposable, shinobi."
