Summary: The events that occur between Rock Lee's recovery to when he saves Naruto.
A/N: Hello hello, back again after a short while….had this idea one night about Lee…I figure it'll fit in right in the manga between chapters 180 & 209 (after Lee's surgery and before he saves Naruto)
Thoughts
"Dialogue"
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Hot-Blooded Pursuit
Faster. Faster. If I cant catch her, then, then, Ill have to run through these woods 6x with twice my normal weights!
Lee's mind was frantic as he ran through the woods. His eyes constantly searching for his next clue.
He heard that Sakura-san had left on her own to find Sasuke. He couldn't really explain why he had to find her, it wasn't a mission by the Hokage or anything, matter of fact, Tsunade-sama told him a few days ago to stay in bed and rest. She didn't even knew he had escaped. He didn't even tell Gai-sensei.
Lee knew why Sakura had left. Obviously she loved Sasuke very much and would never give up on her ability to bring him home. Lee believed that his love for Sakura-san was the reason he took it upon himself to find her. He was praying to catch her before she was injured or worse. The mission to bring Sasuke back was at least a B-Class mission, ninja combat was guaranteed. He quickened his pace.
As Lee thought about the situation at hand and the fact that he was still recovering when Sakura left, it angered him. It made him furious that he wasn't by her side. Sure he loved her company and would give almost anything to be in the woods alone with her, but more important to him, if he couldn't escort her, he couldn't risk his life to protect her. For some reason, she was the most important person to him.
I will protect you until I die.
The words echoed in his mind. Considering he had made his "nice guy pose" too, he had to keep his promise to her. If something happened to her, anything, he would be devastated.
I must find her, Kami-sama, please guide me. He quickened his pace even more. He started to jump from tree branch to tree branch on one foot. It wasn't particularly difficult or dangerous. The only thing that caused him any problems was removing his weights in such an awkward stance. He removed the first one and tossed it over his shoulder as he kept his balance on his other foot. The cloud of dust it left was amazing from such a high altitude. It even left a crater that was about 10ft deep. Lee performed a simple acrobatic maneuver and twirled in midair as he leaped from one limb to the next. As he was spinning he removed a kunai from his holster and a small bottle from his back pouch. He first threw the bottle towards the tree and with the other hand quickly threw the kunai. When the two collided, the small bottle exploded with a bright red liquid that marked the tree. Though Lee was no where near the liquid when it exploded, he already knew that it contained a strong odor.
There, should be easier to find when I come back by.
He repeated the process with the next leg weight a couple of yards away from the first.
Lee planned to take the same route back to Konoha that he had used to find Sakura. He didn't want to lose his weights, they were a new set, a heavier set. He had been saving little by little from his missions so that he could buy them, they were expensive after all. And using the smelly red liquid, he knew that if by chance he did lose them or couldn't afford the time to pick them up immediately on his return journey, he could have Gai-sensei summon a turtle to help him track them down.
I wonder what type of punishment losing my weights would merit?
He dismissed the thought and tried to focus more on the task at hand. Though she obviously wasn't thinking clearly or like the proud konoichi she was, both Sakura and Lee were familiar with the terrain of the Konoha forests. He had planned to use the shortest route from Hidden Leaf to Hidden Sound. But Lee, using common sense figured that because Sakura-san had a substantially lower amount of chakra than most of the other Genins in Konoha, she would most likely use the shortest routes too. Good control over your chakra is impressive, but it can only do so much.
He found his second clue, fresh footprints on the soft sand below.
Sakura-san is almost at her limit. She has used too much chakra jumping from tree to tree, she must be running on the forest floor.
It wasn't particularly difficult for him to track Sakura, his biggest obstacle was that she had a significant lead on him. He knew that Sasuke leaving had upset her, but he just didn't know to what extent. It was obvious she was upset. She was a skilled konoichi of Konoha, she wasn't the best by any means, but she wasn't the worst either. She understood the importance of stealth, however Sasuke leaving had affected her so much, that she blatantly ignored even the most basic tricks of remaining undetected.
His third sign.
A pile of leaves that had been scattered and overturned recently.
Sakura-san must have rested here…and not too long ago.
The signs were pretty old, but he could tell that he was gaining on her. Hard work had definitely paid off. Though he failed out of the Academy, hard work and training with Gai for the past few years had improved many of his skills. He quickened his pace yet again.
His next clue.
Another set of footprints and small spots of some clear liquid. It almost broke Lee's heart when he realized that the smalls drops of water, were actually tears. Not just anybody's tears. Sakura's tears. Lee's Sakura. He told himself last time that he wouldn't let another important person shed tears if he could help it. His head drooped a little as he followed Sakura's trail. He became very disheartened.
Lee was getting anxious to catch up with Sakura. He debated with himself on whether he should open the initial gate so that he could greatly increase his chakra and cover the shrinking distance between them in a matter of minutes, very few minutes. He might have caught up with her, but it was a huge gamble. If he didn't catch her in that time, he would have to wait for his body to recover from the stress, or he would have been immobilized completely. The latter was more likely because he did just recover from his surgery. Actually, he had to have surgery for opening too many gates anyway. Lotus was a forbidden technique after all, and for a good reason. Lee knew that better than anyone. Eventually, he realized that opening any gates would be too risky. Besides, Sakura was just ahead of him, and he was still gaining. He could wait. He did however want to increase his speed even more. He jumped down from the canopy in which he was traveling and began running on the ground. He figured that since Sakura was nearby he could catch her faster and with a sprint than he could moving from tree to tree.
1hr later (still sprinting, at Lee's speed)
Lee was exhausted, leaving before he was fully recovered was starting to have adverse affects on him, not only on his body, but on his mind and spirit. He started to doubt whether he would ever catch Sakura, whether he could get there in time to see her again. Whether he would see her again period.
"The springtime of youth! Being passionate is the best part of being young! For those who don't believe in themselves, hard work is worth less!! You, Lee, are a genius who has the strength and potential within him to surpass Neji, because you are a genius of hard work!! Become a good man I can look at and smile!!"
On the edge of exhaustion and delirium, Lee was almost at his limit. For some reason though, he could hear Gai's voice. He then thought back to the Chuunin exam and when Gai smiled at him and his efforts.
Tears began to form in Lee's eyes once again.
Arigatou, Gai-sensei.
Fire burned brightly and violently in Lee's eyes. He was blessed with a new determination and vitality.
Must be the youth power Gai-sensei always talks about.
Though he had been running for the last 5hrs straight, he was going to catch Sakura, and he was going to save Sasuke to bring a smile to her face again. He loved her smile. If he couldn't bring a smile to her face, he would save the man who could. He missed her smile.
Lee was focusing and using his senses intently when he heard the sound of something nearby. It sounded human but he wasn't really sure. He paused for a second so that he could pinpoint the direction that the noises were coming from. As he got closer to the sound he could definitely tell that it was two separate voices talking. He didn't know whether he should observe the two talking or continue with his "mission" until he recognized one of the voices.
SAKURA-SAN!!
One more time he quickened his pace, leaving a tremendous dust cloud behind him.
As he got closer, he could understand the conversation even more, little by little though.
"I'm hungry!"
"Choji? Choji? Where are you? I'm back"
"Over here Sakura-san!!" -Choji
"Oh, gomen, I couldn't really find anything to eat, but I did find something.." -Sakura
"Oi, is it anything good?" -Choji
Carrying a handful of various "goodies" Sakura spoke up
"I don't have a lot of time I still need to find the others, but here, I found you some mushrooms, some berries, and some edible leaves. I know it's not much, but its all that I could find." -Sakura
Lee finally arrived at his destination unnoticed on a tree branch above them. The sight warmed his heart and brought tears of joy and relief to his eyes.
"Awww…don't have some potato chips or maybe some cake? This stuff is nasty, I don't eat it." - Choji
"Choji!! We're in the middle of no where, you're injured badly and all you can think about is food? What a fat ass!" - Sakura
veins bulging in her neck
"DON'T CALL ME FAT!! I'm big boned…HURRAY FOR CHUBBY!!" -Choji
veins bulging in his neck
Irritated, and definitely tired, Sakura punched him on the head
"Shut up and eat his food….or else…" -Sakura
She's just like Ino, Choji thought as he quickly quieted down and ate his meager portions. He could feel a little energy returning to him. It wasn't enough for him to gain all of his strength, not even enough for a lot of strength to return, but it was enough to hold him over for now.
At that exact moment Choji and Sakura both noticed a presence above them. Because Choji was still critically injured, Sakura felt it was her responsibility to protect him.
Somewhat embarrassed, Choji thought…good thing Shikamaru isn't here…what would he say about a woman protecting a man? His thoughts quickly faded as he watched Sakura prepare her attack.
Sakura quickly and instinctively reached into her leg holster, she removed two kunais and in one smooth motion, threw one kunai above her and towards the figure in the tree and kept the other in her hand for her own protection.
Somewhat surprised and disappointed that she didn't recognize his presence, Lee quickly went on the counter attack, though his attack was purely defense. He was impressed by her aim as well, the kunai was aimed directly at his head, intended to pierce his right eye. Dead center. If it hit its target, it would have been a critical wound.
Her talents could almost rival Tenten's.. She would make a good eternal rival for Tenten, though Tenten is most likely stronger. But with enough hard wor--
He quickly dismissed the thought and came back to reality. If he hadn't, the kunai would have surely hit its mark and killed him. Lee effortlessly moved his head to the right and using his left hand, caught the handle of the kunai. It had looked like it had just stopped in mid motion, point headed towards heaven and handle still pointing perfectly in Sakura's direction. He saw her pull out a third kunai, but decided he should act. Before Sakura could remove her hand from her holster, Lee was beside her, preventing her hand from moving. She gasped at first until she realized that Lee was actually a friend. No not a friend, but a comrade.
She let out a sigh of relief.
Lee was dumbstruck. He didn't know whether he wanted to yell at Sakura for running away on her own or hug and kiss her. He was certain that the latter would guarantee him an uppercut, a punch to the face and a swift kick in the ass. The first choice wasn't necessarily better, how could he lecture her about leaving, when that was exactly what he did, the only difference, Sakura was in perfect health.
"Thick brows? I mean Lee-san? Why are you here?" -Sakura
Lee's hopes were crushed. Instead of the touching heart to heart reunion he was expecting, she called him…
Thick brows?? She called me thick brows again.. creases forming on his larger than life eyebrows and tears forming in his eyes.
A/N: GOMEN…don't worry tho….still more to come…its just a bit late….3:27AM…told ya that this creativity is messing with my sleep time….anyway…on my last fanfic…someone asked if they could use some of my stuff or copy stuff. I say….HELL YEA….aren't we all copying characters from a great anime. All I ask is…give me some credit for it…and by that I mean…tell people to read my story you got it from…and if not…oh well….it's the internet, people steal offa each other everyday…
2 fingaz!!