Author's Note: Nope, this isn't a Training Chapter. You might think it is at first, but trust me, it's plot-pivotal.

Chapter 25 – An Awakening, A Promise

I was lounging with Shikamaru on the roof of his house, lazily looking up at the clouds with him. I could see why he liked doing this so much; it was so peaceful. I had been working hard the past few days, and I certainly needed a break. But it had been a while since Naruto and Sakura came back from their mission in Suna. I was beginning to worry.

"Shikamaru," I said, turning my head to him, "Do you think Sakura and Naruto are okay?"

"I would think so," Shikamaru said matter-of-factly, "The thing about Naruto is, he pulls through pretty much everything. I wouldn't worry about him at all." He turned to me and hinted a smile. "He'll come back, you'll see." Shikamaru's face changed all of a sudden. "Oh, that reminds me James, if you want to go learn something from Rock Lee, now's your chance. If Naruto's squad isn't back by tomorrow, Gai-sensei's team will be going as backup."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Sorry I forgot to mention it earlier."

"It's no problem! I'm glad you mentioned it now, I'll head over there right away!" I got up and started heading out.

"Don't overdo it, alright?" Shikamaru said.

I turned back and grinned, "Oh I'll be fine." I took off and headed to Rock Lee's dojo.

~!#$%^&*()_+

I entered Rock Lee's dojo, seeing him inside doing pull-ups with what seemed to be his pinkie toe. I smiled and waved, "Hullo Rock Lee!"

He looked to me and dismounted his pull-up bar, landing in front of me happily. "Hello James! It is nice to meet you again! Were you looking to challenge me at my dojo?"

"Ha, very funny," I said, "There's no way I'd be able to beat you!"

"You shouldn't have such little confidence in yourself!" Lee exclaimed, "You truly are a splendid ninja after all!"

I smiled real wide. It's nice to hear that every once in a while. "Thanks. But actually, I came hear because, well, I want to learn a little from you."

Lee's face was of pure delight. "Are you saying you'll be my first student!" he said, thrilled.

"Ahaha…umm, maybe not student, but really I just was looking for a few pointers, and maybe to learn a new technique."

"Well I warn you James, I specialize in Taijutsu only, and-"

"Exactly," I said, "and I'm lacking in the Taijutsu department."

"…well…hmm…I wonder…" he turned to himself for a moment. "do I dare teach him that?"

I just sorta looked at him, waiting.

Lee turned back to me, serious-faced, and said, "You must promise to never use this technique unless you absolutely need to, or for training, and you can't overuse this at all. Got it?"

"Y-yeah, of course!" I said, startled. I'd never seen Lee this serious.

"Okay," Lee said, a little tentatively, "I'm going to teach you how to open your first gate of chakra."

A pause. "My first what now?"

"Your first chakra gate," Lee explained, "Your chakra gates are what regulate your chakra flow. One isn't too hard to open, but anything above that requires intense training, and even one can be dangerous. There are eight in total."

"How many can you open?"

"Five."

"Holy shit."

"Here, all you really have to do is focus your chakra at a certain point in the left part of your head." He dug around for a bit and found a diagram of all the eight gates. "Right here!" he said as he pointed to the first gate, Open Gate.

"Alright, I'll try it." I focused as much chakra as I could in that area…focusing…focusing…

Why does this feel like I'm taking a really heavy dump?

Focusing…focusing…FOCUSING!

After a heavy push of chakra in that area, I suddenly felt lighter. My vision was suddenly tinted green, and when I went to move, I moved surprisingly easy. "Whoa…this is hard to control…"

"It takes training and getting used to, but I'm sure you will be able to use it in no time!" Lee reassured me.

In no time, eh? It feels like my motor functions are twice as sensitive now! I jumped a long ways into the air. If I want to jump 4 feet, I jump 8 feet instead! This feels so weird!

I landed, and said to Lee, "Okay, how do I deactivate this thing! It's getting too weird!"

"Just focus the chakra up in the gate you want to close like you did before!"

Focus…focus…focus…FOCUS…After a couple of minutes, I felt my body become heavier, and my motor functions returned to normal. I was still seeing tinted green though.

"Hey Lee, when's this green-sight gonna wear off?" I asked him. I noticed then that Lee had a weird look on his face, almost panic, but not quite. "Hey man, what's up?" I asked.

"J-j-James! Can you see!"

I blinked in surprise. "Uhh…yeah…just everything's tinted green…why?" I focused on Lee, and it seemed like I…started to…see through him? Wait a minute, I recognize those lines inside of him…

"Lee." I said, panicking inside but keeping cool, "I can see your chakra network."

"YOUR PUPILS ARE GONE!" Lee yelled in panic.

"WHAT! GET ME A MIRROR!" Lee dug around and found a hand mirror. I looked at myself in it, only to be shocked at what I saw.

My eyes were…pure light green. Almost as if they were a Hyuga's eyes…except pure light green…

"…what the fuck…?" I said slowly. I turned to Lee, and saw a stream of green stuff coming out of him and entering into me. "Lee, what's that coming out of you?"

"Huh? I don't know what you're talking about, nothing's coming out of me."

"No man, it's like…a green cloud floating out of you and into me…"

"I don't know…but all of a sudden, I feel…fatigued…weak…James…what's…?" He suddenly collapsed.

I stood there in horror. Oh god…did I kill him! No, please tell me he's not dead! I've got to get to someone fast…I've got to let someone know that I'm dangerous like this! I paused for a brief second, thinking on what I should do. Luna! Where are you!

"Hey James-kun! I see you're coming inside of me of your own will now!"

This is no time for jokes, Luna. This is serious. I…I made Rock Lee collapse by accident, I'm somehow draining his chakra, and I can't control it! What do I do! Shit shit shit shit-

"James! Calm down!" Luna yelled at me in my mind. I was startled; she'd never yelled like that before, nor sounded that serious. "I'll get Tsunade-sama to get over there. You need to get as far away from Rock Lee as possible without leaving the dojo."

How did you know I was in his dojo?

"No time! I think I know what it is! Just get to the farthest corner of the dojo and stay there!"

Alright…I went to the farthest corner from Rock Lee.

"Are you seeing green?"

Huh?

"Is everything tinted green in your vision?"

Y-yeah…how did you know?

"I figured that was it…just wait there, Tsunade and I will be there in a few minutes."

Alright…Luna…thanks…

A small pause. I could almost feel her winking as she said, "I wouldn't want my love toy to be stressed like this all on his own, now, would I James-kun?"

Ah, there you are Luna. I was wondering when you'd be back.

"Oh, shush you. We'll be there in a little. See ya."

I all of a sudden felt very energetic. I'd been doing nothing but training for the past few days, and I felt no fatigue I felt earlier. The green cloud of what I guessed to be chakra was too far away to make a connection with Lee now, so I guessed he was safe.

After about ten minutes, Tsunade and Luna arrived. "Don't get too close to me!" I exclaimed, "Your chakra might be sapped!" It was small, but I already saw a trickle of chakra from Luna and Tsunade going to me.

"It's a Dojutsu, an eye technique." Tsunade said, seemingly calmly, "Usually you activate or deactivate them by focusing your chakra to your eyes. Try to do that now."

"O-okay." I replied shakily. I tried focusing my chakra into my eyes, though admittedly, the first time it felt really weird. Focus…focus…focus…FOCUS…..

….FOCUS DAMMIT….

"Tsunade!" I called in disdain, "It's not working!"

Tsunade sighed, then said, "I figured we might have to resort to this. I'm a medic nin, so you can trust me with what I'm about to do. I'm going to pinch a few nerves to knock you out. It won't hurt at all, I promise, but it should deactivate the Dojutsu."

I was startled at first, but then I understood. I smiled, satisfied. "Thanks for coming here and helping. Alright, I'm rea-"

~!#$%^&*()_+

Pure darkness once again. I was beginning to think that darkness in general had a thing for me. It would certainly explain Luna.

"James-kun?" I heard Aurora's voice asking.

"Hello there, Aurora." I replied.

"I just…feel like I need somebody to talk to…I'm sorry if I'm bothering you…"

"Hey, no bigee. It's not like I'm doing anything anyways. If I'm here, I'm probably in a coma or something, drooling the hours away."

Aurora giggled. "You're funny. Thank you…that's the kind of thing I want most right now."

"I'd imagine, considering your situation…"

A solemn silence.

"So…may I ask, Aurora…how long have you been stuck in Orochimaru's?"

"…I don't know how long…it might be years by now…I don't get to see the outside."

I felt it swelling up inside of me. This urge, this uncontrollable urge to save her, this rage I had against Orochimaru and Kabuto for what they'd done to her, for what they'd deprived her of all these years.

"…Aurora…I'll get you out of there somehow…I…I…" I paused to look at her, even though she wasn't really there and it was just darkness. "I…promise."

"…it's hard for you to promise things, isn't it?" Aurora said.

"…I don't like making promises I can't keep. When I do…I keep them…always. That's my ninja way, same as Naruto."

"You don't have to promise something like that…I wouldn't want you being hurt if you end up not being able to keep it. And if you can't keep it…I'll understand…"

"I'm getting you out of there. I don't know how yet, but I will. I promise." I said, more determinedly.

"…thank you…James-kun…thank you so much…"

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Alright, let's go over what James learned in the Training chapters if you decided to skip them:

1st of 3 Tests in Rasengan from Naruto
Enhanced chakra strength from Sakura
Eight Trigrams Sixteen Palms from Neji
Enhanced Gentle Fist Defense from Hinata
Mind-Body Switch from Ino
Shadow Imitation from Shikamaru
Partial Expansion Jutsu from Choji (limited range for both shadow imitation and partial expansion)
Piercing Fang from Kiba (though James still needs to work on how to aim it, or else it's useless)
Lightning Bugs from Shino
Lightning Knives and Bo Staff from Tenten