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Disclaimer: Is Lee getting chased by Seme's that want him as their Uke? No? Then I don't own Naruto.
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Title: Cherry Lotus
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Ah hour later had them in the forest surrounding Tazuna's home. Kakashi was on crutches to help keep him upright and he said that their training would now begin.
"First, we'll begin with a review on chakra." Kakashi said
"We already know that." Sasuke said and Naruto nodded.
"Yeah, it's the stuff Sakura-chan was talking about earlier!"
"Sakura?" Kakashi questioned, looking back at 'her'.
"I used the Diagnostic Jutsu to determine what was wrong with you. Naruto-kun was curious as to why my hands were glowing green." Lee answered.
"Medical jutsu? That's advanced. How long have you been learning?" Kakashi asked, knowing that Sakura came from a civilian family.
"Since we became genin."
Kakashi blinked and stared for a moment before chuckling, "I should really stop being surprised when it comes to you." he shook his head when Lee tilted his in question then looked at Naruto and Sasuke.
"We already use chakra energy in our jutsu." Sasuke said, "We don't need the review."
"No." Kakashi suddenly said, "You have not mastered this power, you've not even scratched the surface."
"What do you mean?!" Naruto yelled
"Calm down and listen." Kakashi said, "Chakra is made up of physical and spiritual energies. You have to combine them within yourself to use them, but each jutsu requires different amounts. You've only been guessing this entire time. You can have as much chakra as you could want but if it's not the right amount then the jutsu your trying becomes a joke. You waste so much energy that way then you run out and can't fight. You just become a target."
"So...what do we do?" Naruto said, chuckling nervously.
"Train so hard that it becomes second nature. To achieve this goal, you must be ready to put your life on the line." Kakashi said and Lee was slightly amused by how dramatic Kakashi sounded. He wasn't wrong of course, just, Kakashi liked terrorizing them.
"What do we have to do?" Lee calmly asked and Kakashi chuckled.
"Climb a tree." The man said.
Yep, dramatic.
"Climb a tree?!" Naruto and Sasuke exclaimed, incredulous.
"Yes, but there is just one rule. No hands."
"You're kidding!" Naruto shouted and Kakashi chuckled again.
"Am I?" Kakashi began to put his hands together and Lee made a noise, quickly trying to stop the man.
"H-Hey! No, you are still recovering!" Lee immediately said, "No chakra use!"
"Oh? Then can you demonstrate?" Kakashi said, leaning more on his crutches, "I wouldn't be surprised if you already knew how."
Lee felt his cheeks warm at the smile Kakashi was giving him and subconsciously began to fidget. It was teasing and it felt nice to receive. Then Lee nodded, "Fine, I can. I will do it."
"You can, Sakura-chan?! That's awesome!" Naruto cheered and Lee smiled. He hadn't even done anything yet and still Naruto was encouraging him. Sakura really had a wonderful teammate.
Lee nodded to himself and put his hands together though he didn't need to. He sent chakra down to his feet, automatically doing the perfect amount as he was used to doing, then went to the tree and walked up. He continued on until the first branch and settled there, standing upside down on it, "No hands." he said, just a bit cheekily as he waved his hands at the boys -and man- on the ground.
Lee heard Kakashi explain something to the boys but turned his attention onto the branch he was on. It was rather...thin.
'With our luck, it's going to break thanks to the weights. You better re-enforce the branch.' Inner said and really, he agreed. He nodded but his luck was apparently bad. Just when he was about to spread the chakra, he heard a loud crack.
'Shit.' Inner echoed Lee's thoughts and the branch broke.
Lee yelped as he fell and he heard Naruto call out 'his' name in panic. Lee looked at the quickly approaching ground and began to turn to soften the fall when a larger body caught him in midair. He yelped again in surprise and looked to see Kakashi. Then, when they landed, Kakashi's legs crumpled underneath him. Kakashi landed on his back and Lee on top of him.
"...Are you wearing weights?" Kakashi suddenly asked after a moment of silence.
Lee's already pink face turned slightly red, "...Yes?"
"I'm almost afraid to ask how much." Kakashi said, letting his head thunk back onto the ground after making sure that Lee wasn't hurt. He saw Naruto running towards them with Sasuke not too far behind but didn't get up. His body ached from the sudden save.
"Three hundred on each leg and one-fifty on each arm." Lee answered, pushing himself off of Kakashi then letting his hands glow green to see if the man damaged anything. He really wished that he had the skill for medical jutsu in his own body, it was convenient -if one had the skill- and reassuring to know that he could heal some injuries.
Kakashi didn't know whether to groan or sigh, "And when did you start weight training?"
"Sakura-chan! What happened?!" Naruto said as soon as he got close enough, cutting in to the conversation.
"The branch broke. I forgot to re-enforce it." Lee said with a slight shrug, then answered Kakashi, "The day after we became Genin."
Lee yelped in more surprise than hurt as Kakashi suddenly knocked his knuckles on his head. He looked at Kakashi wide eyed and the man said, "That's way too much and too soon."
Lee sputtered and tried to explain himself in a way that that would make sense but Kakashi covered his mouth without looking.
"No. I don't even know how your- wait." Kakashi quickly sat up and gripped Lee's chin, making him look at him, "Are you healing yourself?"
Lee swallowed nervously, "Um...what is the correct answer?"
"What's going on?" Naruto slowly asked, looking back and forth between the two. Sasuke just scowled, not liking that he didn't understand what was happening.
Kakashi shook his head then slowly got up, leaning on 'Sakura' as she helped him. He gripped her opposite shoulder so she wouldn't move away and said, "Nothing, why don't you two begin training." he took out two kunai and tossed both to the boys, "Let's see who can master this first between the two of you."
Naruto and Sasuke immediately began glaring at each other. Then Sasuke scoffed, "Dead last won't beat me."
"The hell was that?! I'm better than you, you bastard!" Naruto shouted and just like that, they were competing with each other.
Lee blinked, vaguely surprised at how quickly that worked. He hummed but then giggled nervously as Kakashi said 'his' name.
"Sakura..."
'Hey, the brat kid is watching.' Inner suddenly said, making Lee look around.
"Sakura." Kakashi said again and Lee jumped slightly before nervously looking up at the man. Kakashi sighed and Lee felt...guilty.
"You shouldn't be putting your body through so much strain. You could have done something irreparable." He said, "Do you understand?"
"Yes, sir." Lee said, standing straight, "Still, I weighed the pros and cons, and I thought that the payout would be worth it. In the last three months I have increased my speed tenfold and my strength half that. My skill in medical jutsu is coming along nicely as far as I can tell."
"How have you been learning?" Kakashi sounded slightly strained as he asked and Lee didn't understand why.
"Books." Lee half answered and watched as Kakashi sighed and ran a hand over his face, leaning a little heavier on him.
"Alright, we're coming back to this when we're back in Konoha." Kakashi said.
"Yes, sir." Lee said then looked towards the crutches on the ground not too far away. After a look at Kakashi, he slowly led the man over then Kakashi switched over, using the crutches again. Lee felt strangely cold without Kakashi using him as a crutch.
"Alright, do you know water walking?" Kakashi asked and when Lee nodded, Kakashi hummed in thought, "We don't know your element so I'll teach you a Genjutsu technique. The hand signs are Snake then Rat. The jutsu is Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing. It's the same jutsu I put you under during the bell test."
Lee nodded sharply in understanding
"Now, what do you know about Genjutsu?" Kakashi asked and Lee answered,
"There are two types. One affects a singular target and one affects the area around the chosen target or targets."
"Correct, Hell Viewing affects the mind and tricks all five senses into believing what you want them to believe. Now, cast it on me."
Lee jerked slightly then pressed his lips together. He didn't want to cast anything on Kakashi...he looked at the man then asked Inner, 'I have been in this jutsu a few times, will we be able to replicate it?'
'Yeah, it's not really difficult to do, the main problem is remembering to put everything. If you forget a sense then it's pretty obvious that you're in a genjutsu.'
Lee nodded, 'What about changing it? I do not want to show Kakashi something scary. I would rather give him something happy.'
'Yeah, I bet we can do that. It will be you controlling the jutsu after all, at least, in the beginning. Ah!' Inner made a sound of accomplishment, 'Here are the memories. I'll pull up two so you can remember exactly how it looked and felt.'
'Thank you Inner-chan. You are the reason I am able to be so skilled in anything revolving around jutsu.' Lee praised and she laughed happily
'And don't you forget it! Cha!' She said and Lee smiled before falling into the memories. Two minutes later, he looked at a curious Kakashi and was about to speak but then a stray thought crossed his mind.
'Wait...should we even do this?'
'What do you mean?'
'While Sakura-chan is amazing, she was not the most...skilled when we were Genin. Is it possible that maybe...I am showing too much? I do not know if this will be a good thing for Sakura-chan later.'
'...Don't think about it.' Inner said and Lee almost jerked in surprise but shoved down his reaction, sending his confusion to her instead.
'No matter what, you're here to help right? You need to stop acting like this body is on loan and utilize it. Show off our power but be smart about it. We need to cultivate more bonds and showing how capable we are will only help, especially with your previous team mates.'
Lee went silent and bit his lip hard. Finally, he closed his eyes and nodded before looking at Kakashi and saying, "Alright, I am ready."
Kakashi nodded and Lee quickly folded his hands into the correct hand-signs and brought up his chakra. It was slow at first as he tried to feel for the correct amount. When he felt like it was right he spread his chakra out and targeted Kakashi.
'Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing Jutsu.' He thought and then, he could see the ghost of the jutsu. With Inner's help, he first added himself and from there, he added more.
Then, to Kakashi, Sakura smiled apologetically, saying, "I am sorry, I do not think it worked, Kakashi."
Her voice was softer and a little sad, and he immediately noticed the lack of 'sensei' to his name, just like earlier. Just like earlier, he didn't say anything. Instead, he shrugged, saying, "Don't worry about it and just try again."
"Yes, sir!" She said, voice determined and there was that flare of fondness that came up often when he was around her. His eye squinted into a smile then he watched her 'struggle' to do the jutsu. A surprisingly warm breeze came through and Kakashi hummed. Then there was a sweet smell wafting through the air, the subtle scent of flowers.
That was when he realized it was a Genjutsu.
Impressive. He'd expected something bigger and not so gentle. Sakura had turned Hell Viewing into Heaven instead. He disrupted the jutsu with a small jolt of chakra and Sakura's form vanished.
"Was that acceptable?" Sakura's voice came from behind him and Kakashi turned his head towards her.
"Very. Have you done this jutsu before?" He asked and he wasn't even surprised when she shook her head, "What made you do Heaven Viewing instead of Hell Viewing?"
Lee blinked in surprise then shifted, "I did not want to make you see something bad. I though you would like something nice instead."
Kakashi hummed, staring at Lee rather intently, "You're a regular prodigy." he suddenly said and Lee jerked in shock.
"W-what? No, no, I am not!" Lee quickly waved his hands. He really wasn't, the only reason he was 'good' was because this was Sakura's body and Inner was able to fine tooth the Genjutsu's. If it was Ninjutsu, he'd have to rely on Sakura's natural chakra control. The only thing he was actually good at was Taijutsu.
Even if he had to stop thinking of himself as 'Lee' and be 'Sakura', he didn't want any misconceptions. He wasn't a prodigy; he was simply himself...or herself. Plus prodigies, though amazing, were kept on leashes and he wouldn't be able to do what he needed with a collar.
Kakashi's brow rose at 'Sakura's' rejection. He turned towards her completely, slightly frowning, "Sakura?"
"Ah..." Lee made a noise and held his arms behind his back, "I am sorry, it is just...I really am not that good. I only have a good memory and-...my body allows me to have near perfect control of my chakra. I am still very flawed, but I am working to change that."
Oh it hurt to say he was flawed because he never thought Sakura was. It was he himself who was the flawed thing, not Sakura, never her. She became someone respected and feared at the same time; Lee only held admiration -and a familial love- for her.
He would try to be the best for her, using this body in her name.
"I never forget anything I have seen at least once." Lee said because with Inner, that was true, "So it is just a matter of remembering really..." and that Inner can sense chakra. He could too, in the future, he had trained himself to be able to since he wanted -needed- the advantage.
Kakashi stayed silent while 'Sakura' was rambling then merely sighed when she stopped. He hobbled over and put his hand on her head, "You give yourself too little credit, Sakura, but...we can keep this to ourselves." His eye squinted as he smiled at her.
Lee blinked then slowly smiled as well, closing his eyes at the touch. He still felt guilty but...well; this would help Sakura in the long run. He would try to make things better and better for her. For her and for everyone else.
Wait, no. He already said he'd stop thinking about this as a loan.
"Thank you..." Lee murmured, wishing that his brain would just latch on to the thought quickly.
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