Disclaimer: Obviously, this is a work of fan-fiction, as I do not own anything derived from the Naruto world-set.

Early Spring, Konoha Village, Training Field #15, 5:30am

A barely visible silhouette practices a complex pattern of punch-elbow-kick-heel kick strikes, called kata', upon a large wooden dummy, early in the morning.

The figure has apparently performed the pattern so often, so many times before, that they seemingly have no need of the sun to show where the stout wood practice dummy's target arms reach out at random.

Forearms strike past them, as if the dozens of wooden arms were not there. Legs arc between the target limbs, as though completing the wooden dummy's form.

Clenched fists, hardened elbows crash against bark hardened by a hundred years of life as a tree of Konoha, home to some of the largest, strongest trees in the world.

THUD------thok------THUD ------thok------WHACK------thok------CRACK!

After the heel of the figure's foot impacts against the underside of the upper-right arm, the whole stump might be quaking - but we cannot be certain in this early dawn haze. If the rythmic sounds of punch-and-kick, elbow-and-forearm, fist-and-foot were any judge, it may even be shifting up and away from its traditional embankment of hardened soil.

Even though it must, absolutely, weigh in at well over two thousand pounds. Surely, that could not be, could it? Obviously, it must be a trick of the feeble predawn light.

If the sun was up, casting its golden rays clearly, we would see that figure shifting through the pattern of movements. It is as though the figure is not hard at work, performing excruciatingly hard taijutsu kata - even if one ignored the lack of sunlight - but rather dancing with an old partner, going over a old routine step-and-dip, for old time's sake.

Almost anyone else would be home sleeping, if they were one of the hundreds of civilians of Konoha, Village Hidden in the Leaves. Even the majority of the ninja living there would still be asleep, resting soundly before another day's worth of missions.

Not this anyone'.

Instead of slowing, rather than taking a break from the blurred pace of the kata, the lone figure is now flashing through the patterns, even faster now, as if climaxing of a spectacular ballroom performance Now, no longer an old pair of ballroom partners, this scene. Now resembling something else, the figure and practice dummy seem more like an ancient tree weathering the buffets and blows of the first thunderstorm of spring.

THUD-thok-THUD -thok-WHACK-thok-CRACK!

Finally now, the sun is climbing over the horizon. It seems to be looking for the one who is disturbing its golden sleep with the sounds of well-worn bony knuckles against heavy wooden bark. Now that the sun is casting its warm beams of light, it is clear that the great old weathered stump is indeed shuddering and shaking from the blows. We see with some difficulty that the figure is a young man, perhaps in his mid-teens, but tall for his age.

Almost anyone else would be proud to accomplish this much. Being able to move through that kata without flaw, with such speed and strength, without even sight, would be a record achievement for any respectable ninja.

Not this anyone'.

Instead, the figure speeds up again, intensifying the assault even further, if it were possible.Now, even with the sun's feeble rays flooding the field, giving us the light we wished earlier, we can barely catch the individual strikes within the kata with our eyes...
THUDthokTHUDthokWHACKTHUDthokTHUDthokWHACKthokTHUDthokWHACK

Finally, the sun has climbed high enough to allow us to truly see this young man's form, if he was not moving so impossibly swift now. All the spinning, turning form leaves us with, is an impression of ?Green?Gold? Wait, was that a flash of Silver?

CCCCCCRRRRRRAAAAAACCCCCCKKKKKK!

As if the stump was still alive, a great, agonized mooaaann of pain strips loose from its weathered form. The stump's once-invincible hold onto the surrounding grounds sundered, it tears free of the ground, launching skyward. incredible as it may seem.

...S I L E N C E...

After the rapid-fire cacophony of the previous sequence of kata, the lack of sound is deafening torture to our ears.

Now, we see something more of this whirlwind warrior of Leaf Village. The young man holds the last pose of the kata:

Left leg angled nearly straight up, foot planted in the air. Both solid as stone. The right arm and leg support the perfectly horizontal body above the ground, with the left side of the body towards the azure sky. Strong as the earth. The left arm folded behind the waist, across the mid-back, hand closed in a fist. Power is hidden there, as if a mountain wrapped by the first rain-laden clouds of spring.

Frozen, we can only view his form from the back-and-side angle.

The only indication that young man had been the merest of shifting shapes a moment ago, is that his bobbed, black hair is still caught in the incredible intensity of the kata.

Shifting up and away from framing the green-and-gold arrayed youth's face, the black hair shows a severe, sharp trim. That form's face, however, is still cradled by the early morning's shadow leading from the arch of his left shoulder. Once that fleet moment is complete, the emerald figure swivels the left leg back to earth, shifting it underneath and behind him, alongside the other leg.

Both arms are now locked full-length against the grassy field, angling the body upright, palms flat against the ground. Meanwhile, the body is now angled upwards in what some might see as a kneeling, resting position. Others might say that he is crouching, tensing for something. His head is bowed, and his black hair throws back ripples of light, even this early in the morning - and yet leaves his features obscured in shadow.

Now we hear a slight whistle of wind, curling it's aimless way across the small field. The stump is now some 30 feet into the air. The kata has completed.

Anyone would be satisfied with the results of the kata - moving a huge stump, just by residual impact alone. It beggars all reason.

Not this anyone'.

The figure's face snaps upwards, locking onto the now-airborne wooden practice stump

The kneeling, evergreen-and-gold figure seems to flicker, shift, and then fade from view; we hear a slight ?whirring?whistling? sound. That must have been the wind again, we think, as no one could be fast enough to tear at the winds... Could they?

Looking to the stump, now at the apex of a mathematically-perfect curve, again a flicker reveals the figure fading into view. We hear that slightest of ?whistling?whirring? sounds again. The figure appears just underneath the stump. The figure floats there, as if he was the shadow of a leaf, tossed by the first winds of spring.

Taut hands grip the massive weight of wood, fingertips crushing into the hard bark. He ignores the roughness of the bark, as his lower arms, even his hands, are tightly bandaged against
such treatment.

Fierce determination frames what little of his face we can see, as the bulk of the practice stump blocks our view. We catch a glimpse of a heavy, furrowed brow. The very picture of determination.

With a shrug of shoulder, the figure begins.

Turning---------------------------------------------------------------------------Spinning---------------------------------------------------------------------------Faster!

FASTER, now blurring beyond hope of any amount of the sun's illumination identifying this whirlwind warrior's full features. The giant green-and-brown corkscrew is now sighing, keening, drilling its way to the field once again.

Surely, surely a few minutes has gone by since we came upon the field.

CCCRRRAAAASHHHBBBOOOOMMMM!

The earth itself winces, and trys to pull away, as the spinning pair hits. It is as though a meteor has been cast down from the very throne of heaven. Ruined clods of earth and grass flee away from the site of impact coming to rest dozens of feet away. Dirt, debris, and clouds of dust obscure sight for a time, then clear away quickly - with the help of a stiff morning breeze.

The unwieldy stump is now again imbedded in the field. Now, however, it is a good two feet shorter than before; the impact has actually forced the stump deeper into the field than the tree the stump had once been had ever ventured with its roots.

But, where is the green-and-gold clad form that had followed it up into the firmament? The figure did not smash into the earth alongside the stump, after all. Nor is it still arcing through the air.

After anxious moments of searching for the figure... Over there!

The figure drops without sound onto a clear patch of field that hasn't been disturbedby the incredible corkscrew impact of the stump's replanting'. The figure straightens from his crouch, and looks over his right shoulder at his handiwork.

Dozens of brilliant emerald leaves circle slowly about the young man's frame, as if in congratulations and homage. They fall, arranging around his feet, but seem eager to follow him into the sky once more.

Contented, the young man turns, and steps over to the nearby tree line. Reaching for the towel and water bottle that were nesting alongside the duffle bag, the figure dries himself off briefly, leaving the towel wrapped his neck, with the ends falling down his front.

Then, he steadily drains the bottle. Not in the hurried fashion of the exhausted, and not in the relaxed manner of the relaxed, but in the way a clinician might deliberately measure out a powerful restorative. After quenching his need for water, he takes in a great, de-ee-ep breath.

He then lets that breath out s-l-o-w-l-y, with purpose, and lets go of the the rest of the tension from the kata just performed. He absently drops the water bottle into the duffle bag's open grasp.

Finished, he turns towards the singular trail leading back to Konoha proper. He slips a foot underneath the duffel bag, then snaps that foot upwards, as part of his certain stride forward. The duffel bag fairly leaps into the air a good foot above his head before pausing. Then, the bag falls evenly across his right shoulder as the young man steps onto the trail.

Only now does the sun's beams play fully across the whirlwind warrior's face well enough be recognized, as he paces down the trail, smiling with accomplishment.

This, then, is Rock Lee!

Early Spring, Konoha Village, Training Field #15, 5:32am

quoted words character's speech. Place, Time locations/scene breaks.

BR
Revised Version Author's Notes:

Whoops! Was attempting to revise the first chapter (without posting a second), and accidentally deleted the whole thing, along with my first 3 reviews! D'oh! Anyway, this revision was due to the helpful commentary by Xoni Newcomer & MommyRogers - I reduced the sound effect repetition, to reduce the eyes glazing effect... hope this fits better, along with the full paragraph style. Lemme know if this chapter still needs tweaking. As for Magus Black - yup, I read the manga very closely - Ch. 265 may well prove interesting for Team Gai... but I think that the anime may actually open up Lee a little - look at the episodes 98-100! A great little scene with Sakura, recognition by Iruka, and even a detailed explanation why Gai & Lee use the My Rules thing... but do keep reading and reviewing!

Original Version Author's Notes:
Well, this is my first attempt at fan-fiction; please forgive any blatant errors in FFnet etiquette in terms of how this is presented. While I may not have much experience in writing fics before, I've been paying attention to some of the more serious writers that have been displaying their artistic talents here. I am hoping to some of the better styles of writing I've been seeing here, and blend it with my own views and focus.

Also, in my non-writing life, one of my hobbies is paper-and-dice role-playing games; here's hoping that some 15+ years in telling stories' around a table of friends translates into good practice as a action writer, ne?

Folks, as you may have guessed from my pen-name', my favorite character from is Rock Lee. I make no apologies for this! In almost any anime/manga one cares to name, all of the good guys/girls' are oft so handsome/pretty as to be almost... dare I say fantastic. Before the first flame-volleys are warmed up, I DO NOT mean this in a bad or negative fashion.

Rock Lee, for all of his other good points', is not just average' looking in comparison to his fellow ninja heroes and heroines. He is rather plain' or even ugly' - particularly due to his unusual eyes. The fact that Kishimoto-sama drew his character in just such an uncool' fashion, but made him out to be such an incredible character... it makes me wonder what Hollywood may be doing things wrong these days.

Rock Lee proves that you don't have to be an on the 1-10 scale to be a worthy, interesting anime character.

Note also, almost the entire upper' class of important characters are, in effect, super-humans' by their use of chakra manipulation to give themselves an edge. Whether it's Naruto's bound demon, Neji's Gentle Fist' manner of attacking the chakra circulatory system, or Sasuke's nearly one-of-a kind Sharingan, many of the characters have rather unusual abilities, even in comparison to the rather fantastic' world that they find themselves in.

Rock Lee, on the other hand, has one other defining trait that most phrase as an disability to manipulate chakra at all. This rates him even more interesting in my book than most of the other characters, as he effectively has to fight his battles without the benefits of 2/3rds of all ninja techniques. Talk about a handicap! And yet, he is almost able to keep up with GAARA, fer crying out loud!

This is why I enjoy the character so much - even with handicaps that should, by all rights, be crippling for a ninja,
he carries on, stunning his fellow ninja with what (to them) a mundane', normal' person could be capable of! To put it in American Comicdom terms, Rock Lee is Naruto World's (NW's) Batman from the Justice League of DC comics. Don't laugh! No, he doesn't have a cool tool-belt, he doesn't have unlimited funds to wage his battles with. Heck, at times, it seems that Rock Lee is more like from the Batman series of comics, since he models himself upon Maito Gai so much. But I digress.

However, both Batman and Rock Lee are in comparison to their companions. Batman has none of the super-powers, alien heritage, technology from the 51st century that almost all other JLAers have going for them. Rock Lee has none of the bound demons, bloodline limits' (which sound like mutant superpowers in DC terms...), or most of the chakra manipulating techniques of his fellow ninja. Batman's abilities stem from years of hard work , mastering himself in ways most could not fathom. Sound familiar?

These are just some the reasons why I think Lee deserves more serious treatment, instead of being mere comedy-relief'.

I personally think that Rock Lee CAN manipulate chakra, but not outside of his body - he can't project' chakra in any way. Think back to Neji's abilities: he releases' chakra' in various forms to inflict damage, and to protect himself. As for Naruto, he epitomizes chakra-release - thousands of clones at a moment's notice, right? Well, assuming that the peoples' of NW are normal' otherwise, that they normally don't have superhuman physical ability, how does one explain Rock Lee's abnormal strength and speed? Yes, he trains all the time with massive leg weights - but how in the world does one even begin to move with those things, if not with some control over internal manipulation of chakra?

Oddly enough, Naruto himself helps prove this - one sees Naruto perform fantastic feats of physical prowess, while channeling Kyuubi's chakra. Finally, Rock Lee can not only open the Eight Celestial Gates, but he can go clear up to the Fifth Gate... something that cannot be gained by hard work alone, as according to the Technique Specialist Kakashi (during the Rock Lee-Gaara fight in 48-50). This implies to me that Rock Lee's disability is really something else... and this will come into play in this story.

About this story: I find that while there is A LOT of romance writing on this venue, in a suprising amount of variety', there does not seem to be much it the way of action-focused series/stories. At least, not many that couldn't be considered Romance-Action' genre, mostly the former, rather than the latter What I'm going to attempt in this story, is something more in the field, if I may be so bold. NOTE: I really enjoy the quality romantic stories I've seen exemplified here - particularly when focussing on my more favored characters. I'm NOT slamming' romance in favor of action; I merely feel that there should be more action' series, as that is what Naruto was founded upon.

This story is an attempt to fill in that genre-gap - a side-story' to the current arc - the time jump in the manga has occurred, and Rock Lee is now 16. The current arc has happened already - this way I can include any cool Lee stuff that Kishimoto shows us. Heh-Heh. This will also allow for more complicated story developments later on.

Now, I do plan on some guest appearances' by other Naruto World (NW) characters. However, I plan on this story being more Lee-centric; he will be the story's focal-point and protagonist. As for overall feel, while I will play on Lee's hot-bloodedness' (for good and bad), I'm not going to play him for sheer comedy only, but rather as someone who simply allows himself to experience his feelings, without the restraint created by worrying about what others may think.

I also plan on showcasing Rock Lee's Taijutsu skill - he's rated as #3 in Konoha, just below Sandaime (#1), and Maito Gai (#2) -- that is how skilled he is! Please correct if wrong, but he seems to be in the same Letter-class' in Taijutsu as many jounin like Asuma -- who is no slouch in the Taijutsu arts! Even though Rock Lee is merely a genin (according to snippets of the data books/.cards I've seen), he is rated in the same class as Asuma and other jounin.

Now, the data books I've seen rate him as he was during the first arc' - pretimejump - so just think about adding 2 and a half years of Rock Lee - intense training. Shudder. Be Afraid. BE VERY AFRAID! ;) Technically, Rock Lee gained almost all of his Taijutsu Specialist skill in about that length of time - during his last year of the Academy, and his first year with Gai-sensei. Do the math. That is why Lee will be even more capable in in story, and not just in , but in other skills as well (heh-heh).

As for pairings', I will not be focusing on that, at least during the first few chapters; many others have performed so well in this area, I feel that I would only screw it up, if I would try more than light touches. I do, on the other hand, firmly stand in the camp(s) - I don't feel any negativity about Yaoi or Yuri (particularly well-written stories with such elements), but as the base material implies that camp (or, at least one-sided Lee-Saku), I'm going with Lee-Saku if I do venture in that direction!

Finally, I welcome heartily any who want to point out glaring inconsistencies with the NW core world, my grammar, or how my story-posting formats. As stated, this is my first attempt, so any help would be most appreciated.

(If anyone wants to know, I'm using Appleworks 6 for the initial write up, and then uploading in HTML as saved by Appleworks 6)

And, as many others ask, please review! At this point, I'm looking for more hrm, this would work better if... type of comments, as I've got a good feel for how the actual story is going to go.

(or, at least I THINK I do... :)