Naruto Fanfiction
Disclaimer: I don't own a single shred of Naruto.
Chapter 14:
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Lee and Tenten met up in front of the village gates, ready for the mission ahead of them. Gai asked to come along, but the Hokage had forbidden him from coming, saying that more than two people on such a mission may endanger the entire squad. The two leaf ninja packed only the required necessities, planning to returning in a few days. Dosu gave them the entire layout of the sound village. According to him, the documents of every shinobi would be located in the Otokage's tower. He also said that the Otokage leaves his room, twice per day, to take a stroll in the academy and lecture a bit. The time it takes to get there and back was roughly an hour and a half, giving them an adequate amount of time to steal the needed documents. Dosu also asked for them to take Kazu and Kin's documents, as he would try to persuade them to become leaf ninjas as well. For accepting the mission, Dosu revealed a small portion of Orochimaru's plan, and would reveal the rest upon the success of the mission. He said that the sound village was mobilizing for something, of what, he didn't know. He also said that his squad only entered the chunin exam to test the limits of Sasuke's cursed mark. When they were ready, Lee and Tenten approached the guards of the village gates.
"Hello, you must be Lee and Tenten," said one of the guards. Said genin nodded. "I was given orders by the Hokage himself to open the gates for you to start your mission. He told me that it is an A rank mission. You two are either fortunate or unfortunate. I say fortunate because this is the first time genin get to go on an A rank mission. Unfortunate because you're going into a village in which we don't have information on. I do hope that you two will return safely. I've heard much about you both from other genin who have seen you walking through the streets."
"Thank you. We'll try not to disappoint you," said Tenten. The guard nodded and made a signal to the shinobi guards above. They nodded and had the gates opened for the two genin. Tenten and Lee smiled at the guards and sped off. According to Dosu, the distance from the leaf village to the sound village was a good seven day trip, and that was with sprinting and taking minimum brakes. It was really Kazu and Kin who took the breaks, as Dosu could pretty much run for at least three times the distance, with his ability. Lee looked to his girlfriend, allowing his eyes to wander. Although they are together now, there were still hormones and feelings that he was feeling while around her. Perhaps it's because he was getting older and actually had someone with the opposite sex to lean on. Of course he didn't see Tenten like that, but as a young man, the urges are there and are difficult to ignore. Tenten caught sight of him, his eyes trailing around her body.
"Lee... was that my butt that you were staring at just now?" she asked. Lee's eyes widened and looked away, feeling enough shame to flood the whole leaf village. No way he was just doing that, but it's true. He didn't know what his body was telling him, as no one educated him on this part. The academy didn't prepare him for this, for these feelings, and how to properly deal with them. He blushed hard, unable to look at her. Tenten rolled her eyes.
"Hey, look at me. I'm not mad, just curious," she said. Lee slowly turned to her.
"I'm really sorry, I don't know what came over me. I just turned to you... and started looking... and well... never mind," he replied. Tenten giggled.
"Don't worry. I know it's really early into our relationship to be thinking of such things but I don't mind if it's only you who is looking. To tell you the truth actually, I've been stealing a few glances myself, when you were training in the tower of the forest of death. I saw my share and you didn't complain," she said, blushing like crazy. She bit her lip to stop herself from thinking any more of such nonsense thoughts but couldn't help it from entering her mind. "You know, I'm at the midst of my teenage years. According to everyone else' eyes, I'm one year older than you and also have raging hormones that are hard to control. I think it's okay to act this way around each other, but we have to know our limits."
"Yeah, you're probably--" he stopped, slowing his running speed to a walk until he stopped running completely. Tenten stopped as well and walked back to him. Lee looked like he was scanning his surroundings as if there was something there that was invisible to the eye. Tenten was about to talk when Lee placed a finger on her lip. "I could swear I heard a twig snap. It came from behind those trees."
Tenten removed his gloved hand from her mouth and looked around her. There's nothing around except trees and other animals. It's probably just animals that Lee heard, and nothing more, but in the world of the ninja, anything can happen. The kunoichi pulled out a kunai and a couple of shuriken from her pouch. Lee took out his customized kunai blades and gripped them tightly in his hands. He moved closer and closer to where he heard the twig snap, Tenten edging right behind him. Lee jumped inside the bush, only to find a snapped twig. He sighed and was about to leave, when he noticed how the twig was broken. He picked it up, noticing that it was broken right from the middle of the body. No animal can be that precise, so can't be any of these forest animals that are living out here. Lee continued scanning around him. It was just at that time when he noticed a couple of figures falling from the trees. He looked to Tenten and nodded, who sensed the same thing. Both genin moved out of the way and saw two shinobi with an odd outfit but a familiar looking forehead protector. It had the same symbol as Dosu's gear. Before any word could be spoken, Lee sensed a lot of chakra signatures nearby, and they didn't feel familiar at all.
"We are hidden leaf ninja, doing a routine patrol around the village. State your name and business," said Lee, raising his kunais. Both shinobi noticed the leaf symbol on the black-coated shinobi's forehead protector, which was tied around the neck. The kunoichi next to him also had a forehead protector with the leaf symbol but tied around her left arm.
"My friend and I are chunin from the village hidden in the sound, and we were just on our way to the leaf village because we heard that the final round of the chunin exam was being held within a month," said a sound shinobi. His partner nodded.
"That's odd. How would you know that when that information was just divulged to us today?" asked Tenten.
"Oh, that's because the jonin teacher who's in charge of one of the squads who participated in there, has a friend from the leaf village, who told him the events and schedules of the chunin exam. Being a jonin of the leaf village, that man knows how the chunin exam goes. He told the sensei in charge of the sound ninja squad that I mentioned earlier and that sound jonin relayed that information to us via carrier pigeon. This information came to us last week, giving us enough time to get here," he said. Lee narrowed his eyes at him, able to hear the fast-paced beating of the man's heart. Either he was included in extreme physical activity or he's telling a straight and utter lie. He didn't look like he was breathing hard, but he was sweating from head to toe. The Iron Monkey smirked, this guy isn't a good liar.
"I see, that's a good reason. So, would you mind telling me what's with that shinobi army behind you?" he asked. Tenten was a bit surprised and nudged Lee.
"Play along," he whispered.
"Yeah, my partner and I saw that huge army from behind you. Mind explaining what they're for?" she asked. Both sound shinobi looked to each other, hoping that one or the other had a good excuse to escape from the current situation. These two leaf shinobi must be part of the ANBU squad that they heard so much about. The jonin of the sound warned them of how cunning the ANBU of the leaf village was, and their sources were right.
"Um... those guys huh?" asked one of the sound shinobi. "Uh... they're just bodyguards because we came here with a few land lords of our village and um.. you know.. protection is hard to come by these days, right?" he asked. Lee raised an eyebrow, completely disbelieving what he just heard, which was about to give the two sound ninja a panic attack. They knew that their skills were no match when it came to ANBU class shinobi. The ANBU would rip them apart and feed their limbs to sharks, and that would be a frightening experience. Lee wondered what it was that these two were hiding. It was just then that he remembered something. When he saved Anko, in the forest of death, from Orochimaru, the snake man's forehead protector harbored the same symbol as these guys... the mark of the sound. Slowly but surely, Lee was placing the puzzle pieces together. When the finished puzzle was seen in his mind. One word appeared in his mind, which explained Orochimaru's plan and why there would be so many sound ninja in one spot.
Dosu's information was right, after all. The sound ninja really were mobilizing and now he knew what for. The sound village was going to launch a surprise attack on the leaf village. But the real question is... when? If they do it now, the leaf will retaliate and there are hundreds and thousands of shinobi in the leaf village. Forget skill level, the sound ninja will get throttled with mere numbers alone. There has to be a proper time in where they could launch a preemptive strike and not have to worry about getting wiped out. Besides, even with a perfect strategy, the amount of chakra signatures he sensed earlier probably numbered in the hundreds, no where near matching the onslaught of the leaf village numbers. There's always the possibility that more will be coming, and that would definitely fix the massive balance problem. Suddenly, the leaf genin thought of something. If the sound ninja were mobilizing and would be headed for the leaf village, village hidden in the sound would be unprotected and would give him and Tenten the opportunity to find those documents and quickly return to the leaf village to warn the Hokage and the others. Lee cleared his throat.
"Oh really? Is that it?" asked Lee, closing his eyes and smiling at them. He faked a laugh, which managed to fool the two sound ninja. Tenten wondered what in the world had gotten into her boyfriend, but decided to ask later. "I'm sorry for troubling you two. Go ahead and enter the village and enjoy the final round that will be held next month. Now if you gentlement will excuse me, my partner and I have more patrolling to do."
"Good luck to you both!" said both sound shinobi as Lee and Tenten vanished. The two sound ninjas sighed and collapsed on the ground, unable to believe their luck. Lee and Tenten appeared about half a mile from where they used to be and continued their sprint to the sound village. Tenten looked to Lee, who seemed to be deep in thought. He knows something that she didn't, and if there was one thing that she didn't like in a relationship, next to lying and cheating, it's keeping secrets.
"Lee, what just happened back there?" she asked. The black-coated genin snapped out of his thoughts and turned to his partner.
"The sound is mobilizing to attack the leaf," he replied. Tenten's eyes widened in shock. That's huge news, but there's no proof. Then again, Lee wasn't the type to joke around about such things, and she knew that from first hand experience. "But we can take care of that later. They won't attack the leaf village any time soon, as they lack the man power. I sensed an army of sound ninja, somewhere in the back, and like I said before, that amount isn't nearly enough. The leaf village is rumored the have the strongest shinobi army, out of the five major shinobi villages."
"So... you're telling me to wait until the sound village has enough shinobi to overwhelm our home?" asked Tenten, anger rising. She couldn't believe he would ask her of such a thing. She was born and raised in the leaf village and he was telling her to wait? The kunoichi ceased her sprint and tugged on Lee's arm "Lee, what's wrong with you?! The leaf village is where our friends, family, and memories, reside. Now you're asking me to wait until the sound has enough to launch a surprise attack? I'm sorry but I can't go along with that plan. I'm going back to warn the others. You'll have to go on this mission without me."
"Tenten... I didn't mean it that way," he said.
"I don't care how you meant it!" she shouted. "I don't know who this sound genin is to you, but in basic summary, you just told me that his freedom from his village is more important than the lives of our family and friends. From what you said just now and the fact that you're not warning the village, tells me that I made a horrible mistake in falling in love with you. I don't even know you anymore."
"Tenten, please be reasonable," said Lee, already on the verge of tears. His heart was breaking by the second, and he didn't know what to do. He wasn't worried about the village at all, as he warned the Hokage about Orochimaru even before the chunin exams. He knew that the old Hokage must have been taking matters into his own hands and has been working in secret to thwart whatever Orochimaru has in store for the leaf village. He wanted to follow Tenten back to the village and tell her how wrong she was, but he couldn't. He made Dosu a promise that he would retrieve the documents, and promises must never be broken. That's what he learned from Naruto. In an attempted to stop her from leaving, Lee placed his hand on her shoulder. Tenten swatted it away, taking him by surprise. She crashed an uppercut on his jaw with her fist, sending him a couple of feet into the air, and back-kicked his chest, causing his body to be propelled through a tree.
"Don't you dare touch me, Lee. I don't know who this Dosu is to you, but he's your friend, not mine. My concern is the leaf village," she said. Lee looked up to her, trying to get the fallen tree off of his body.
"Tenten, they'll be fine. Don't underestimate the shinobi of the leaf," he said. "They'll pull through, I promise."
"Perhaps, but maybe it's you who shouldn't overestimate them. With the element of surprise in the hands of our enemies, they don't need numbers. I know where my loyalties lay... so where does yours?" she asked.
"My loyalties are with the leaf village and no where else, but you have to trust me. They'll be fine, I know they will. I've already warned the Hokage about this, even before the chunin exams. You don't need to go back. Just finish this mission with me and we'll be back at home in no time," he pleaded. Tenten scoffed as Lee stood from the ground.
"Do you really think I believe you right now? There's no possible way you could have even known about any of this until at least during the chunin exams. You are endangering the leaf village just by leaving, just because you made a promise to an outsider. What's more important to you? A promise to a sound ninja, or a promise to your friends and family in the village?" she asked.
"The village of course, but Tenten please... I made a promise and I refuse to break it. Don't you remember what Naruto said in the written portion of the chunin exam? He never goes back on his word, that's the way of the ninja. I believe him and I also believe in the leaf village. You have to trust me on this one," he said. Tenten shook her head and closed her eyes. She turned around and opened them, setting her vision back to her home.
"I fell in love with you once, big mistake. It won't happen again."
"Tenten... please don't," he said, tears already running down his eyes. But she didn't give a reply as she zipped.
Lee was about to run after her but ceased his movements, feeling something that he'd never felt before. His heart had broken and it hurt so much. His healing ability wasn't making things any better, but why should it? He had just lost the love of his life, but he knew that he still had a promise to keep. Battered and bruised from the inside, Lee continued his way to the sound village. As if losing a part of himself, he reached for the hood on his back and hung it over his head. He removed the leaf village forehead protector from his neck and placed it in one of the pockets on his coat. There should be more sound shinobi who should be making their way to the leaf. So why not trim their numbers as they come? Lee pulled out the staff of the Iron Monkey and stretched it to a good seven feet. He needed to get some anger out, and what better way to do so than to break some bones? As he made his way to his destination, his senses started picking up more chakra signatures, just before him. He smirked and stood his ground. Three by three, sound shinobi were appearing before him. Lee looked to them.
"A traveler?" asked one of them. "Step aside and maybe we'll spare you from our onslaught."
"Really now?" Lee replied darkly. "And just what are you guys up to? There's so many of you that I think you're about to invade a village. And from your direction, I'd say that it's the village hidden in the leaves, correct?"
"What's it to you, shit head?" barked a sound ninja, revealing his shuriken.
"I suggest you keep the bad language to yourself, if you know what's good for you. I'm in a really foul mood today," he warned.
"I'll show you a foul mood!" shouted the sound ninja as he launched his body to the black-coated genin. In a dark blur, Lee slammed his staff on the man's head, successfully crushing his skull to bits. The man oozed blood from his mouth and also from his ears. Lee shoved his staff down the man's torso, spilling more blood, and lifted it to the sky. He pushed the body off of his staff. Lee waited until the body fell to his level and kicked it to the crowd of sound ninja. A sense of relief filled the young genin, when he did that. He never knew why leaf ninja were taught not to kill, and up till now, he still didn't know. It felt quite good and he wanted to do it again. The other sound ninjas looked to the body of their comrade, and then looked to the black-clad shinobi before them. Because he had a hood on, they didn't couldn't see his face, but it was as if his aura was burning a black color.
"That felt pretty good. I don't mind doing that again," he said as he ran to the sound ninjas. One by one, he engaged them in close quarters combat. They all fell against him, but he didn't just defeat them, he murdered them. They shouted, but their screams of pain fell on deaf ears. No one could spare them from the fury of one very pissed leaf genin. There was so much blood everywhere. The bones and internal skeletons of the sound ninjas' corpses were actually showing. Lee was careful not to get any stains on his coat, but couldn't really help the case with his staff. The last sound shinobi who remained alive from the assault, looked to the corpses of his once living comrades. Their limbs were ripped apart, their flesh was twisted, their insides were torn, and their blood filled the air. He was taught to kill, but not in this fashion. The young man that just did this, he's not human. His strength and speed rivaled that of the gods. Something must have twisted this boy, but of that, he didn't know. Before another thought could pass through his mind, Lee jammed one of his kunai blades through the man's throat and ripped it out from the top. The leaf genin sighed.
"It's over already? Darn... oh well, I'll just take out the rest of my rage on the sound village," he said as he tilted his head to the direction of the leaf village, remembering Tenten. "You know what, Tenten? I've really got to thank you for breaking my heart. If you didn't do that, I wouldn't be pissed enough to do this, and it feels so good."
Lee pulled out his water bottle and used that to wash the blood from his staff and his kunai blades. Noticing that there was actually some left, he drank it all down and returned it into his coat. He couldn't leave any evidence that a leaf ninja was responsible for this and the water bottle actually had the mark of the leaf, on the cap. He retracted his staff and returned it to his sheath. The blood of these losers are unworthy to meet his sacred staff. Since it was Tenten who awoke the beast within him, it's only right that he used the very weapons that she forged for him, back in the cave of the Iron Monkey. He traced his fingers along the sharp ends of his kunai blades, smiling at the thought of killing more with those weapons. He figured that killing is bad, but then again, he was doing a service to the leaf. He told himself that he would just kill until he got his anger out, not wanting to further disgrace his ancestors. Lee nodded to himself and continued on his path to the sound village.
Lee continued to massacre every sound shinobi that came his way, each one having a different and more gruesome death than the last. Lee didn't even feel bad for what he was doing. The only thing that was crossing his mind was the fact that he was doing a service to the leaf village and getting rid of his rage. He knew that he wouldn't be the same after he made his first kill, but he didn't care anymore. Tenten was his life, and now that she didn't even want anything to do with him, what else is there to lose? She didn't say it officially, but he knew it for sure. They had broken up, so nothing really mattered to the boy anymore. As he continued killing, it didn't even bother him anymore. At first, it felt good, but he was receiving a bit of a guilty conscience in his head. But now, it didn't even matter to him. He just slew whoever got in his way, but made sure to kill only sound ninjas and other people who came close to even being a citizen of the sound village.
Normally, it would have taken an average shinobi about half a day of non-stop sprinting to get to the borders of the fire country, but Lee was still no where near it. Each wave of sound shinobi that came to him, all fell to his wrath. He didn't even stop to let them speak of their intentions. Good or bad, he would just rip their insides out, stuff them down their throats, and allow them to die that way. There was even one sound ninja who was unfortunate enough to be killed in a very horrible way. Lee grabbed the sword of one of the sound shinobi who fell to him, and stabbed it through another. He ripped a hole in that man's chest, pulled one of his rib bones out, and placed his arms around the half dead man's heart. From there, Lee crushed it, causing tons of blood to come out from the man's mouth. Fortunately, there was a river on the way, where Lee washed the blood from his coat. It's a good thing that it was made of soft leather. If it was cloth, like his first and second outfit, the red stains would never come off. There was a lot of red color, flowing down the river, and Lee merely smiled at it. He sighed to himself and pulled out a scroll from his coat. He unrolled it. It was a map to the sound village, from the leaf village, made by Dosu.
"Hmm... sheesh," said Lee, scratching his hooded scalp. "I'm no where near the place and it's been at least two or three hours since Tenten left me. Oh well, I better pick up the pace then. And seriously, I've got to stop pulling people's hearts out and crushing them in my hands. Tenten did that to me... technically... but I suppose even these guys don't deserve that kind of death. I think I'm way too lenient with my killing," he said as he exhaled a sigh and rolled the map and placed it back in his pocket. He unsheathed the two swords that he obtained from one of the sound shinobi who he killed. It looked kind of neat, having a pretty nice exterior design. Both were katanas, and had a fine silver color on the blade that seemed to shine under the sun. There were engraved characters on the blades. One said "Shadow" while the other said "Flash." Lee raised an eyebrow in confusion. Why would a sound ninja be carrying swords with cool engravings like these? He shrugged his shoulders and sheathed them. Luckily, there were two belt holes on the back of his coat. He placed both sheathes there. The odd thing was, it was a perfect fit, which sort of surprised him a bit, but didn't care after a while though.
"Well, better get going," he said as he continued on his way. He decided not to destroy the village hidden in the sound, as his anger was pretty much gone. There were other sound shinobi who got in his way, but he only crippled them to the point where they wouldn't be able to move, however, spared their lives. The most common cases were where he shattered the knee caps of the sound ninjas, so moving wouldn't be possible. There were a few times when he would just completely break their wrists and hands so they wouldn't be able to perform any jutsus. He figured that this would be good for his staff, as he didn't want the relic of the Iron Monkey to be drenched with anymore blood. He wasn't killing them like he wanted to, but he knew that he was only killing to let out some steam. Actually, a string of regret was flying around him. He had just disgraced his ancestors. He was apologetic about the whole incident, and even thought of himself as a hypocrite for telling Neji not to kill, when he himself took so many lives. He sighed to himself as he continued his way.
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After seven days of traveling, Lee eventually arrived in the village hidden in the sound. He was hidden under some bushes as he gazed at the village. It looked kind of like the leaf village, but a little bit smaller. There were two shinobi guards, posted on both sides of the gate, probably of chunin rank. No doubt, there would be other guards on top of the gates. The only way to get inside would be to zip there, undetected. It's a good thing that he waited until night time to execute his plan. His black robes would be a great help in sneaking inside. After making sure his hood was secure, he zipped from his spot, landing right on top of a building. He looked around him, careful not to attract any attention. It was a bit odd that there weren't much guards around, but that's probably because he killed off or incapacitated most of them. He shrugged his shoulders and looked at his map again. According to the parchment, the Otokage's office would be a couple of blocks from his current location. He placed the map away and proceeded to his destination. * (A/N: #1- see below for information) *
When he made it inside, he was rather surprised that even this place wouldn't have any guards. A bit disappointed for the lack of action, he entered the place. The building itself wasn't the huge but when he went inside, there were hallways that looked like the they could go on forever, kind of contradicting the size of the building. Remembering from the map, the Otokage's tower was supposed to be a maze of sorts, designed with powerful genjutsu to keep away those who didn't know the way. But Lee knew that way, thanks to Dosu. There were two secrets and the first one was within the first and fourth letters of the word that the whole village was named by, sound. The second clue was the amount of steps one can take as according to each letter, using the alphabet. When Dosu was explaining it to him, back in the village, he was a bit confused, but now understood it. The first letter of "sound" is S and is the 19th letter in the alphabet. According to Dosu's rule, Lee would have to take 19 steps going south. The fourth letter of "sound" is N and is the 14th letter in the alphabet, which means 14 steps to the north.
"Well, here goes," he said as he took his 19 steps south. When he finished that, he took the next 14 steps going the opposite way, north. When he turned around, he was face to face with a door with the word "Otokage" on the front. He smirked at his accomplishment and looked inside. It looked similar to the Hokage's office, with a lot of papers on the desk and the shelves nearby. Dosu said that if he was sitting on the chair, the documents of ever shinobi in the sound village would be on the second cabinet, going down, on the left side. Lee checked that cabinet and found a very large folder with a lot of papers. According to the table of contents, the names are in alphabetical order. He searched through the letter D and the letter K, eventually locating the documents that he needed. He took the information papers, folded them, and placed them in one of the pockets in the internal area of his coat. He placed the folder back in the cabinet to hide his evidence. Before he exited the office, two sword stands caught his eye, on his right.
The first one was an empty stand with only the sheath there. There was a tag on the bottom that read "Kusanagi." Lee rolled his eyes, wondering what that meant. According to the historical teachings of the academy, the Kusanagi is a legendary sword, found by the god of the storm, Susanoo, after saving a woman from a serpent-like dragon named Orochi. It was then given to a powerful warrior, who's name he had forgotten. Lee sighed in disappointment for the second time that day, hoping that the sword would be there too. The second sword stand had a sheath this time, but no sword. There was also a name tag below. The sword was called "Souseiki." Lee placed a finger on his chin. If translated by Japanese language, wouldn't that word be called Genesis? Just then, he remembered the two swords that he found earlier, from a sound ninja. He pulled the swords out and noticed how they were glowing. He looked to the sheath and saw that it was glowing as well. He looked at the tag, wondering if there is anything else on it. He looked to the bag of the small paper and saw a phrase. He read the following:
"Destruction brings forth new life," he said to himself.
What in the world does that mean? He shrugged to himself as he put the tag back where it was. There are better things to do than fiddling with these little clues that the Otokage probably got from a Chinese fast food restaurant's fortune cookie. Yeah, that had to be it, as the phrase on the tag sounded like something that would come from a fortune cookie. Secondly, the swords were quite heavy, at least for ordinary katanas. Lee threw them on the ground and heard them snap. He shrugged his shoulders again and was about to leave when he saw the ground glowing. When he turned around, it wasn't the ground glowing, but the broken swords. Lee watched as the broken blades floated and merged with the sheath, creating an illuminating light. It should have blinded him, but he found his eyes immune to the light. He didn't know if it was because of his healing power that was fixing his eyesight as fast as it broke, but that was probably it. When the glow was gone, the sheath was floating in a horizontal position. There was something different about it though, there was a black hilt and handle where it wasn't before. Lee looked around him, hearing voices, but he saw nothing. Was the sword calling out to him? He nodded and took the sword with both of his hands. The sheath glowed again for a second, with a white light, and then faded.
The young genin pulled the sword from the sheath and saw a katana shaped sword, but it was different from all the other swords that he saw in his life. Instead of the silver metal where the blade should be, it was a katana shaped sword with a white glow. The other thing was, it weighed like nothing exactly like his staff, but how was that possible? Could it be made with the same material as the staff of the Iron Monkey? And what about the white glow? What's up with that? So many questions were entering his mind about his new weapon, but he couldn't answer them. Wondering how strong the sword was, he slashed at the Otokage's table. For a moment, it looked like nothing happened. But a second later, the table collapsed. Lee noticed that not even saw dust was left on the cut part of the table. He whistled to himself and sheathed the weapon.
He was about to put it on his back, where he placed the two swords from before, when a bit of curiosity hit him. He knew that he would just heal from it, so it shouldn't be that bad. Lee pulled the weapon out once more and looked at the white glow of the katana. It looked so beautiful, he just had to touch it. He pulled the glove off of his left hand and stretched his index finger out. Once he touched the tip of the weapon, he felt a cut from his finger and saw some of his blood going on the sword. He pulled away instantly as his finger healed, but that wasn't what caught his attention. The sword began glowing red for a few seconds, before resuming to its former white glow. Lee didn't know what in the world just happened there, but decided not to delve into it as he still had a mission to complete. He placed it on one of the handles where he placed his two swords before. As Lee walked out of the office and out of the tower, he smiled at the knowledge of obtaining such a powerful weapon, the Souseiki. During his prancing around, a guard spotted him.
"Hey you! You don't look like a sound ninja or a citizen! Who are you?!" he shouted. Lee froze in place and cursed at himself for being so utterly careless. He turned around slowly and smiled at the man, noticing that his hood was removed. He wondered when his hood was removed, and why it was so, but that's a question for another time. The shout of that one shinobi, attracted others. Soon, Lee was facing against a good 20 or so of them.
'This isn't good...' he thought to himself. He was about to run out of there, but he figured they would just go after him. He was about to pull out his staff when his sword shook from his back. Lee reached for it, unsheathing the weapon. The other ninjas backed away, not knowing what in the world that was. As if moving by instinct, Lee raised his blade and swung it down. When a cut was made in the air, a sonic wave of black and white color was created and launched to the crowd of shinobi. All of them were cut horizontally, as well as a few other buildings that were unfortunately behind them. Lee stepped forward and examined the bodies, noting that there was something missing. If they were cut, where's the blood? He looked at the cuts of each one of them. It was definitely red, so where's the blood that should be coming out? He looked to his weapon. Could the blade be so hot that it evaporated the blood as it cuts the body? Lee whistled at it for the second time.
"Crafty..." he said as he sheathed it again. As he made his way to the village gates, the guards saw him and launched some projectiles at him. He was about to dodge them, when the Souseiki appeared in front of him, blocking the shuriken and kunai that were coming his way. As he watched for more, the Souseiki started revolving around him and created three other replicas of itself. Lee took the real one, as the three shot themselves into the hearts of the guards who attacked him. Lee's mouth formed an oval shape as he looked at his sword once more. "That is so awesome..."
Before Lee placed the sword back in its sheath, he wrapped a white bandage on the base of the handle, so he would be able to tell which was the real one next time without just guessing. He sheathed the weapon and stormed out of the village. As he ran, he noticed how quiet the village was. The few remaining sound ninjas were probably the ones that were stationed around the leaf village. Thinking about it, he realized that there weren't that many at all. On his way to the sound village, he remembered killing only two groups and incapacitating one group. Both groups probably only had a good 15-20 people. That's a lot, but shouldn't there be more? Perhaps he miscounted, but didn't care. He also wondered about that Kusanagi thing and pondered on whether or not he would see it up close. According to legend, the Kusanagi harbored a blue glow on the blade, much like the white glow on the Souseiki. Lee imagined having those two swords with him, in battle. It would truly be awesome. Lee increased his speed to the point where he was moving at the speed of sound.
After running for a good few hours, he noticed that the sun was rising. As he continued his travel, he noticed a glimpse of brown when he passed by a bush. He stopped his run and returned to the spot. The brown blur was there, but it was moving. He knew that it couldn't be the bark of a tree, as trees don't move. When he took a closer look, he couldn't believe what he saw. There were sand shinobi but what were they doing with sound shinobi? They were sleeping in futons and tents, why weren't they attacking each other? Isn't the sand allied with the leaf? Lee's eyes widened in sudden realization. The sand couldn't be allied with the sound... could they? If so, then the leaf village would be in danger. Although the leaf had a better quality of shinobi, the sand was rumored to have the largest army in terms of quantity. Their shinobi weren't bad, but the leaf ninjas were better. Lee backed away and doubled his speed back to the leaf village. This can't be, why would the sand betray the leaf for the sound? Could Orochimaru have threatened the sand? That's possible. But if so, why didn't the Kazekage just call the Hokage for help? So many questions, so few answers, but he knew he definitely had to get back now. He thought that it was just the sound who was going to attack, but if the sand was in on it too, that would cause a large problem.
He trimmed down the numbers of the sound by a good amount, but knew that if they had the help of the sand, a couple hundred isn't even worth too much. The quantity of the sand's army would fill in the gap that he destroyed, and fill it with so much more. Lee increased his speed even further, turning a seven day journey into a seven hour one. The leaf village's survival would be determined if he could arrive in time to warn them and help them. He sounded so sure of himself when he told Tenten that the leaf would be fine, now he wasn't so sure. Perhaps she was right all along, and an apology would be needed. He hoped that he could even arrive in time to perform an apology. She was right, the whole time. As the scenery passed by him, he hoped that he wasn't too late. But what if he was? He was wrong about the invasion, consisting only of sound shinobi. So what if he was wrong about the invasion hour? What if they attacked right when Tenten was just returning? She should still be alive, right? As strong as she is, she still has limits. Lee was now running faster than the speed of sound, but at the speed of light. He wouldn't allow his friends to be killed. He still had to beg Tenten for her forgiveness.
When he arrived at the leaf village, he jumped over the gates. Moving at an insane speed, none of the guards even saw him. He made his way to the Hokage's tower and stopped running to catch his breath. Normally, he shouldn't be tired, but running at the speed of light for hours can really wear someone down. Fortunately for him, his healing ability activated, shortening his heavy breath needs, significantly. When his lungs were in proper working order, he sighed to himself and opened the door. The Hokage looked up at him, as well as Dosu, who was simply relaxing on a chair. The Hokage raised an eyebrow at Lee, who looked to be a little short on breath and pretty sweaty. The sweat was almost impossible to see because of his black, leather coat, but the old man could see it from his face. Lee stepped forward to him and gave him the documents that would give Dosu, Kazu, and Kin, their freedom from the village hidden in the sound. The Hokage looked them over and nodded.
"Good job, mission accomplished," he said as he placed the documents to the side. "I'll get to these in a bit, but I'm curious... how did you get them so fast? Isn't the trip from here to the village hidden in the sound, a one week trip? Coming back should be another week, so how are you back one week early?"
"I ran... fast," said Lee, his breathing returning to normal. "But there's a few things I have to tell you. However, before that, one question. Tenten returned here, right?"
"Yes she did," he said, nodding. "She came in a hurry and told me that a group of sound shinobi are mobilizing for an attack, and were stationed just outside the village. I told her that I knew this because you told me about a week prior to the chunin exams. This gave me a proper amount of time to warn the ANBU squads, as well as my entire jonin and chunin staff. She seemed rather surprised at my answer. Do you know why?"
"I'm really not sure, but on to more important matters. The reason why I returned so fast was because I saw something that I wasn't expecting. I told you about Orochimaru, and you know about the sound village's attack. But what I found out is something that may surprise you, as it surprised me as well. I think that the sand village shinobi are going to attack along with the sound," he said.
"What?! Impossible... where did you come across such a claim?" asked the Hokage.
"I was running back to the village, after I retrieved the needed documents, when I saw tents and futons in a clearing, a few trees to the side of where I was running. Sand and sound ninjas were stationed there. Some were sleeping, while others were patrolling. The sand is allied to the leaf, so I don't know why they weren't attacking the sound. My claim could be wrong, as I don't have any more information, but please consider what I said," Lee pleaded.
"Yes, I will," said the Hokage, massaging his chin. "I've noticed that the sand village has been rather quiet and it has been bothering me for a couple of months now. I didn't think much about it, until I heard what you have just told me. It may be just a claim, but it explains a lot. If they were being quiet in order to mobilize their army, then this war is going to get bloodier than I thought."
"I have that feeling as well. The sand village is said to have the largest shinobi army, in quantity. Our shinobi are better, but are fewer in numbers by a near significant amount. That being said, I have a request that I'm hoping you can allow," he said. The Hokage nodded. "I would like for you to withdraw me from the last round of the chunin exam."
"What? Why? You're one of the brightest candidates who have a large chance of winning. You would be throwing away your only opportunity to be promoted into the next rank. Will you really sacrifice such an opportunity? The next chunin exam may not be similar to this year's," he said. Lee nodded.
"Be that as it may, other opportunities will arise. My gir-- um... friend once asked me where my loyalties lay, after we engaged in a verbal quarrel. I know that my loyalties lay in the safety of the leaf village, and that's what I'm going to prove. I'm willing to sacrifice my opportunity of becoming a chunin for the safety of this village. This is my home, lord Hokage, and I would rather die than see it fall apart," he said. Sarutobi was taken aback by such words. Never, in his service as the Hokage, had he seen anyone with so much love for his village. Many have told him that they would protect the village with their lives, but no one ever made such a sacrifice. Lee obviously knew that he could probably be promoted into a chunin easily, but he was giving up that opportunity to help and protect the home that he grew up in. A great shinobi, valiant reason, and a worthy sacrifice... such traits were indeed worthy of the title of chunin. The old man shook his head. No, these traits are worthy of something more than just a chunin. He would have to remember that for the future.
"Alright, I will allow this. I remember nine people who would be participating in the final round. Please tell me, if you remember, who your opponent was supposed to be. I'll match that person up with the one who was supposed to get a free pass to the second match," he said.
"The one I was supposed to fight, is Tenten. And the one who was supposed to get a free pass to the second match, is Shino," he replied. The Hokage nodded as he pulled out the sheet of paper that Ibiki used in order to plan the fights. He also grabbed a pen and crossed out Lee's name, placing Shino's name there instead. He nodded again and placed the paper away and started applying the proper information that needed to be applied, on Dosu's documents, as well as that of his squad. Lee turned to his friend and smiled at him. He was now free. Dosu bowed to him.
"Thank you so much. I don't think anyone has ever been this nice to me," he said.
"It's not a problem at all. That's what friends do, right?" he asked.
"Friends... yeah, I guess you're right," he said, shaking Lee's hand. When the Hokage was finished, Dosu took the papers. "I've already told Zaku and Kin of our plans, and they both agreed to it, seeing as though Orochimaru betrayed us. They agreed to help the leaf village in the war."
"Dosu, before you go, take these," said the Hokage as he threw him three pairs of forehead protectors with the mark of the leaf in the center, as well as a piece of paper that was taped on the metal part of the forehead protector. Dosu took one of the papers, wondering why they looked like coupons. "You'll need these if you want to walk around the village as a leaf shinobi. The chunin and jonin class shinobi, know of the sound's attack and may question you on sight. And you may wish to obtain a new set of clothes at a local cloth store. Those coupons attached to your new forehead protectors will allow you to go to any clothing store. I've already sent word to them to expect a sound shinobi or a sound squad, to be visiting them in the future. Trade those coupons in for a set of any shinobi clothing that you would like."
"I... I don't know what to say," said Dosu, bowing to the old Hokage. He turned to face Lee afterward. "Thank you so much. We are forever in debt to the leaf village. But mostly to you, Lee. Thank you for making this possible. I don't know when the sound or sand, or even both, will attack, but know that you will have my aid into this."
Lee and the Hokage nodded as Dosu bowed once more and left.
"Thank you Lee, again, for this new bit of information. I will summon the chunin, jonin, ANBU, even the hunters, and tell them of our updated situation. Since you won't be participating in the chunin exams and seem to have incredible skill, would it be too much for me to place you into an ANBU squad?" he asked. Lee blinked twice, jaw dropping on the floor.
"Are you kidding me?" was all he could say.
"I'm very serious. For your determination of protecting the village and for your sacrifice of further taking the chunin exams, I feel that I should award you with this. Not only that, but you're a very exceptional shinobi. Your skill and heart are all in the right places," he said. Lee couldn't believe it, he was going to be an ANBU. What a transformation indeed! Being an ANBU would allow him the freedom of leaving the village, any time he wished, either to partake in higher leveled missions, or just to go sightseeing. He was about to accept, but realized that ANBU class shinobi are supposed to wear the classical ANBU uniform. He didn't really want that, as he was growing to be rather attached to his black coat and overall outfit. He wanted to keep the title, but still also keep his current outfit.
"I... I would be honored, lord Hokage, but I have one minor request to that," he said. "I wish to retain the title of ANBU, but also wish to remain with my current shinobi outfit, as I perform in my best while wearing it. I'm aware of the fact that all ANBU have to wear a certain outfit, and I'm not sure if I wish to part with my outfit. Is there any way around this?"
"There isn't, but maybe I can offer you with a different rank. It's in the same league as a jonin-ANBU, just a different title and slightly different responsibilities. I was going to give you this title, but I wanted to know if you were interested with the rank of ANBU first, as we need more of those, but it's really your decision. The title that I'm thinking of is Hunter. Hunter class shinobi are able to take missions that ANBU take on, but they have one job that is different from ANBU. Whenever a shinobi goes rogue, and leaves the village, it's the job of the hunter to track them down and make sure that the secrets of the village don't leak out to the outside world. But they travel alone. They don't have a squad to travel with, but they can wear whatever they like, as long as they wear a special mask that signifies their title and rank as a hunter. Do you wish for this rank?" he asked.
Lee thought about it, looking away for a while at the ground. If it would give him the same leeway as an ANBU would, and would allow him to retain his outfit, then he was up for it. But that would mean that he would be removed from Gai's squad, as well as being parted from Neji and Tenten. But perhaps things would be better this way. He wouldn't have to worry about them and take missions where he could travel alone. The downside is, he might have to attend an academy that is special for hunters. He would definitely have to learn how to properly dispose of a corpse without revealing the secrets of that dead shinoi. When he finished thinking, Lee looked to the Hokage and nodded.
"I accept this title, lord Hokage," he said. Sarutobi nodded and pulled out a rather large sheet of paper with red marks on it. The red marks looked like names, but spelled out in Japanese characters. The old man turned it to him.
"This parchment holds all of the names of the shinobi from the leaf village who become hunter or ANBU class shinobi. In order for you to be granted the title and rank as a hunter ninja, you must sign this parchment with your name, using your own blood," he said. Lee removed the glove on his left hand and pulled out a kunai. He pricked his finger and was about to write his name, when his wound healed instantly. Sarutobi's eyes widened and was about to comment on it, when Lee looked at him, which was enough to silence the old man for a while. Lee looked around him and pulled a blank sheet of paper from a stack of other papers. He took his kunai and inserted it into his finger and kept it in there, allowing blood to seep down on the paper. When there was just enough, Lee pulled the kunai out and allowed the wound to close. He dipped the tip of his index finger into blood, and wrote his name. When he needed more, he dipped his finger again. When he finished, there was a bit more blood than he thought. He crumpled the paper, with his blood, and threw it away. Sarutobi nodded at the signature and rolled it, placing it back where he found it. As he reached for a hunter mask, he spoke.
"So, is that healing ability like Tenten's?" he asked. Lee nodded. "I see. Kakashi and Gai already came in here and told me about it. Your healing ability now ensures me that you will do well as a hunter. You're still young and maybe not having a squad may scare you a bit, but I know now that you will survive long enough for you to attain the experience you need to get used to the feeling."
The old man handed Lee a thin, concrete, white mask, that seemed rather light, and was big enough to cover the entire face, from forehead to the chin. The mask had a string that was tied to both sides, to keep it on. It was definitely heavier than his staff and the Souseiki, but not too bad. The mask also had green and blue streaks on the sides, as well as two holes where the eyes can see. Other than the streaks and the two small holes, it looked like a pretty ordinary face mask. It seemed to fit right on his face, perfectly, which placed a smile on his lips. He couldn't believe that he was now one of the top shinobi in the village. His dream was coming true, but celebrations should be held for later. He still had to prove to the Hokage, and possibly everyone else, that his title wasn't just given to him for free. He wondered what Gai-sensei would say. Technically, he outranked his own sensei now. He also wondered what Neji would say. The Hyuuga is definitely one of the many who didn't think he could get anywhere, but Lee would prove him wrong. The old man smiled at him.
"Congratulations Lee. And since you're a hunter now, you can wait here while I take care of some things, before I call my shinobi staff, minus the genin of course. And since you're of a rank that is above the chunin level, whenever you see a white bird flying in the sky, in a circular motion, that means I'm calling for you. Normally, people don't see that, but you get used to it. If you don't see it within a certain amount of time, I'll just call for some other chunin or something to get you. There aren't many hunters in the leaf village, so you'll have to prove your worth to them. You're the youngest, but I'm sure you'll do fine. You're rather tall and very skilled for a 14 year old, so maybe that would fool them," he said.
"That's alright, lord Hokage. There's something that I have to do anyway," he said.
"I see, then you're excused. Depending on what time I finish my paper work, will determine when the meeting will take place. For future reference, this meeting will be some time today. Perhaps you can tell other shinobi of your new rank, but don't go showing off. I don't want to have them think that I just promoted you into a hunter because I'm drunk or something," he said. Lee smiled and nodded. He placed his mask on and placed his hood back on, before he vanished in a puff of smoke.
"That boy... he's an interesting one alright..." said the Hokage as he returned to his paper work.
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OYAS!! Chapter 14 is done and turned out better than I thought. I have nothing to say this time, except to tell you all that the next chapter won't be posted for a while because I'm going on a vacation and won't be writing for about a week or so. Thanks everyone!!
Ja ne!