Chap. 6
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. But Kaida, Ryuji and the ideas are mine.
Blah text
"blah" talking
"Blah" thoughts
BLAH noise
AN: Very, VERY sorry that this took forever but there was an issue with the laptop that I had everything on so now I'm using a different lappy for the present time. Now I actually took the time to respond to some of the reviews I received from the 5th chapter.
Ashen Rose: That's one of the nicest reviews I had received, in which I did read on x-mas eve too and that was a nice present.
nejithecagedbird: Yes this time I did get your name right! HAHA! Yes, the story in the middle was random but I needed to put it in to advance the storyline a little bit later. And I felt like putting that "Went on her merry way" part cuz I wanted to throw people off and put a smile on their face.
loveme731: Yes there will be more NejixTenten. And I guess you could say that Lee and Kaida are kinda bonding...not really...Since Kaida isn't exactly the nicest person in this fic...
KamayaNekoi: Ah yes enthusiastic as always about my chappies. I have to say the same for myself getting enthusiastic about your fine artwork...
Alright now on with the chappie!
The day was growing warmer as the rays of the sphere of inferno were glaring down on the earth. But as the day was getting hot, so was team Gai getting hot on the trail of the life form they discovered through the eyes of the Byakugan.
As they were moving northeast, Neji spoke up again. "There are five more."
Gai and Tenten perk their ears to listen. "Where?" The green spandex man asked.
"Three miles, moving east bound. They're moving at high speed." He answered, "They're moving in an X formation. Looks like they're protecting the person in the middle. Like he or she was injured."
Tenten began to critically think. "Do you think it's Lee? Because Lee was injured."
This seemed to brighten Gai's face a little bit. "I dunno, if it is then there must've been a healer amongst them to heal his wounds."
Gai finally broke in revealing a row of sparkly teeth. "Yosh! Then we know what we must do."
Neji and Tenten both nodded knowing Gai has been the worst off since Lee disappeared. He was the prized pupil. They've heard about Gai's promise to Lee about training Lee until he died. They sprinted ahead while devising a strategy to rescue Lee.
The west side was silent around the X - formation group who moved further in that direction at high speed. Dodging all obstacles and yet staying in formation. Clone number three was the first to notice the chakra presence of others. "They're coming." The clone responded, making everyone go full alert. "Well then lets crank up the speed then shall we?" Clone number four replied.
But the Lee clone had an idea. "Knock me out." He spoke up. The four sound clones stared at him like he was nuts. "You'll poof out! They're after you and if you disappear then our cover is blown!" The second clone cried. The Lee clone shook his head. "No I mean fake knock me out and one of you carry me so that way when they appear they will think I'm the real Lee."
They all nodded, knowing that he was right. And hopefully that they'll get as far away from Kaida's location so that they cannot retrace their steps. "I'll knock you out." Clone number one volunteered. Lee nodded.
"The person in the middle is trying to escape." Neji stated. This brought Tenten's and Gai's attention to full. "Unfortunately the others knock the escapee out and are now carrying the individual and their pace has quickened."
"So they noticed our chakra presence then..." Tenten mused.
"That's gotta be Lee. There's no doubt about. Let's put 'Operation: Triple play' in effect shall we?" Gai smiled.
"Hai."
Gai stopped in his tracks while Neji and Tenten went ahead of him. He bent down to unlatch the weights from his leg warmers. He stood up straight holding one leg weight in each hand. He dropped them to the ground, making the earth tremor. "Were gonna get you back Lee, I promise." He murmured and sped off at the speed of a bullet.
Kaida was making her way back to her cave and her prisoner when she felt the tremor, making her nearly lose her balance while having a load of fish on her back. "What the hell was that? Did something happen?" She thought. She dropped the haul of fish and did a quick hand seal. "Bushin no jutsu." She whispered. Another clone appeared beside her and looked to for orders. "You, go see what is happening but don't get caught. Report to back me to see if they were successful." She ordered. The clone only nodded and did a henge of a bird and flew away.
Neji and Tenten were moving at the highest speed they can go. Slowly catching up to their target. They felt a tremor as they went realizing what their sensei just did. No sooner did they realize what happened, a green and orange blur went past them. "He's carrying out his part. Let's do ours." Tenten stated. Neji only nodded, concentrating where their target is.
The clone crew were at high alert, getting ready to split up when they appeared. They felt the tremor also go through the forest. They wondered what that was. But that was their downfall. Their thoughts were distracted too soon and to late. Because a green blur appeared in front of them, catching them way off guard. The green blur flew at the first clone taking him out in a poof. The green blur stopped, revealing a nearly identical twin of Lee but he was older.
The other clones tried to escape but the third and fourth clone disappeared from being taken out by a young blind man and a female with mouse ears for hair. The final clone that was holding the Lee clone on his back was surrounded.
"Hand Lee over." Gai demand. The clone looked around examining each opponent. The identical Lee twin stood tall. His face was calm but the rage showed in his eyes. The young male who was blind had veins popping out on the sides of his eyes. His face was also calm, his eyes showed anger but not near enough with what the older man held. The clone held it's gaze the longest with the female. Her eyes showed worry for Lee but anger for the clone as well.
"What if I do?" The clone asked not expecting them to offer anything.
"Then we let you go." Neji simply stated. The clone only chuckled. "Then you'll have to catch me first!"
He kneeled down and let go of the Lee clone's legs and did a single hand seal. "Tajuu Kage Bushin no Jutsu!"
Then a whole mass of clones appear and scattered in many directions. "See if you can catch me now!"
And they were all gone. "Oh brilliant." Tenten groaned, "Here we go on a wild goose chase."
"That wont be a problem." Neji smiled. Gai agreed. They both did the same hand seal as the clone that they thought was a real sound nin. "Tajuu kage bushin no jutsu!"
And a mass of Gais and Nejis appeared everywhere around Tenten. Tenten smiled and also did a single hand seal. "Kage bushin no jutsu!" She called out and only half as many Tentens appeared.
"Yosh! Let the hunt begin!"
All the clones nodded and scattered.
Kaida made it back to her cave with her haul of fresh stinky fish. This was her home for a long time and she didn't want it any other way. She felt a wave of peace come over her, feeling that almost made her smile. That is until she saw her prisoner laying down staring at the ceiling of the cave. Completely unaware of her presence. "Damn human, he has his guard down. Completely unaware, a ninja should never have their guard down!"
She took a deep breath and bellowed. "HUMAN!"
Lee just turned his head and looked at her. "You bellowed?" He asked. Now Kaida was caught off guard but she didn't show it. "So you were on your guard then little turtle. Impressive." She said.
"Arigato but I have a name." Lee called out while getting up. "And it's Lee. Rock Lee."
"Too me your a little turtle." She retorted dropping the load of fish close by the fire pit. "Are you going to help me preserve this fish or are you going to just stand there?"
"Hai."
The clones were taken by utter surprise that they were nearly distinguished by thrice as many opposing clones. One by one each clone disappeared by one of the two male's many clones or by the kunoichi's clones. The real clone was able to escape from the rest fleeing further west to the other side of Moriko forest. "Do you think were far enough?" The real clone asked the Lee clone. The Lee clone opened it's eyes and looked around. "Yes, we did our job." The other clone replied getting off the sound clone's back.
"Well I'm outta here. It's not good to linger."
"Right."
And with that the Lee clone punched the other clone to make it disappear.
"Did we get them all?" Tenten called, taking out the last clone in her section. Neji clones and Gai clones were taking out the sound clones, hoping to find the real one that has Lee hostage. "I think so." Gai called back canceling out his clones. "Neji can you see if we got them all?"
Neji canceled out his clones as soon he was sure there was none in his area. "I dunno let's see."
He quickly activated his all seeing eyes as they pierced through the black and white vision. He searched all three-sixty degrees until finally he found one lone life force. "There's one west of me twenty meters." he called. As soon as he did so, Gai and Tenten bounded away towards Neji's coordinance. "You think it's gonna be Lee Gai-Sensei?" Tenten asked. Gai's face was tightened with concern. "I hope so Tenten. I really hope so."
Tenten took her time to study her sensei. Her first impression of him was an over enthusiastic adult who talked about youth ALOT. But from then on of getting to know him. He was still very enthusiastic about youth but he was also a very caring person and will go out of his way to help. And the best example to display that was through his most precious student, Lee.
Lee was helping Kaida finish up preserving the fish. He wasn't sure what Kaida was thinking about when she just returned with the fish.
FLASHBACK
When Kaida left Lee did eat some fruit that was in a basket. While munching on a pear, he was thinking about his teammates and how there were faring. It's been over a day since he's been separated from them. Then his thoughts veered over to Kaida.
To him, Kaida was a lot like the old Gaara. Except she did not seek out people to kill, she kills whoever comes close to her territory and shows no mercy. She showed some mercy to him though but then again he was being healed for answers that she wants and when she does he's most likely going to die so he kept his mouth shut.
When he finished the pear he threw it into the fire and watched it burn. Suddenly he felt a tremor move through the earth. "What was that? Did Kaida encounter someone? Did she meet Gai-Sensei and my teammates?"
He realized that he wont know until Kaida returned with whatever she caught. He went to lay down on the mat of his captor's and let his mind wander back to the battle field when he first saw Kaida.
He remembered her saying that she killed numerous oto-nin but he was surprised that she turned down Orochimaru's offer. He knows that Orochimaru liked pretty boys and took their bodies as his own. So there could have been a different reason.
Then his thoughts then went back to the dream he had. It was one of the most unusual dreams he ever had. Then he suddenly recalled that the girl in the dream had the exact same mask as Kaida. It could be a possibility that she was the same person but it was hard to tell since her hair was up and covered by cloth. He's just going to have to wait and see.
He heard foot steps coming his way. He looked through the corner of his eye to see. And there she was with a net full of fish. Her clothes looked damp from being in a river or lake. But the look on her face was peaceful. She looked like a completely different person than the one he was used to seeing. Her expression seemed softer and more gentle. Her eyes looked more innocent but still held deep wisdom but they looked tired too. Unfortunately the peaceful look of her disappeared and it was back to being emotionless. "HUMAN!" She shouted.
END OF FLASHBACK
"Kaida." He started, finishing another preserved fish. She looked up to him with a dull stare. "Yes?"
He swallowed a little bit before he asked. "What was that tremor that passed through here?"
Kaida hesitated a minute to think before she spoke. "I really do not know." She answered. Lee raised an eyebrow at her. A possibility that she was lying. "Are you sure? Or did you encounter more ninja?"
"I still do not know little turtle. And no I didn't encounter and ninja. But there was a possibility that someone else did."
Lee's expression really lit up at that. There was definite possibility that his sensei and fellow teammates were alive. "Do you think it could be Gai-Sensei, Neji and Tenten?" He asked very excitedly, his eyes burning with passion. Kaida just shrugged her shoulders while gathering some sticks. "Possibly. Now how many fish do you want?"
Lee realized how hungry he was and he only had a pear. He didn't want to be rude though to over indulge himself. "Three." He answered as his stomach yelled with protest. Kaida raised an eyebrow at her prisoner. She skewered five fish with sticks that she gathered and stuck them close to the fire. She got up and went to cave to retrieve a handled cooking pot and a basket that was full of rice.
Lee was surprised that she had any luxuries like that at all. The cooking pot he could understand if it was from her sensei but the rice he wasn't sure. "Where did you get the rice?" He asked. Kaida came back with a pot full of rice and water from a large jug. She placed the pot over the fire and lets it cook. "I kill anyone that comes in my territory that also includes merchants who take a short cut through my home. I get spoils from what I kill."
Lee stared at her, just completely shocked. She was full of surprises and he doubts the surprises end there. That is if he's around her long enough to see which he also doubted that as well. "That's terrible." He said.
"It is a cruel world out there little turtle and I only know how to survive it."
It fell silent for a while until Kaida spoke up again. "So who is this Neji and Tenten you mentioned? Companions?"
"They're my teammates." He explained. "Neji is pretty quiet guy but he's really smart and powerful. He's not really enthusiastic about the power of youth though. Tenten is our weapons specialist and her accuracy with throwing weapons is deadly."
She thought for a minute about whom he was talking about. Then she recalled the young man with white eyes and the girl with two hair buns. "Is he blind?"
Lee shook his head. But he was shocked that she's seen them at all. "Have you seen them? Where are they?" He asked desperately. Kaida was trying to calm him down.
"Yes I have seen them but it was when I took you as my prisoner. I observed some of the battle before all of you were defeated by those ninja."
Lee finally deflated himself from excitement. He still wasn't sure when he would see his friends again let alone Konoha. He checked his fish to see if they were done which they were. He plucked his three fish away from the fire and began to tear away at one while Kaida checked the rice.
"Look! There he is!" Tenten cried out as she saw Lee standing alone in the glade. Gai sprinted way ahead of Tenten to greet Lee with a bear hug and waterfall tears. "LEE!" He cried out as if he hasn't seen him in a million years. Lee on the other hand seemed to be caught by surprise as if this was the first time anyone gave him so much affection. Tenten watched with surprise since this was unlike Lee to not respond. But then again he was separated from them by the sound so he could be just traumatized.
Neji finally appeared beside Tenten to watch his sensei sobbing like a girl on Gai's shoulder. He was also surprised by Lee's reaction but was more suspicious. He knows that the real Lee would be hugging back and sobbing just as much as Gai. Neji looked at Tenten to see if she was thinking the same thing. Tenten looked back at him and realized what he was thinking and he could be right. This could not be their Lee.
They leaped down in front of Lee and Gai. Lee finally noticed Neji and Tenten giving him suspicious stares. He pulled away from the sobbing Gai to greet his teammates. "How are you two doing?" He asked. Neji and Tenten were silent and still staring at him knowing something was definitely amiss.
Gai looked at his other students then looked back at Lee. Then he noticed that something was not right. "Gai looked back at Neji and Tenten for an answer. They only nodded confirming that they needed to find out. "Lee, do you remember Sansho?" Gai asked. Lee quickly looked up at his sensei. "Who?"
That confirmed it, this was not their Lee. "Where's our Lee?" Gai asked looking very serious. Neji and Tenten moved into fighting stance. The Lee clone only laughed. "I have no desire to fight. My mission is done. I'm just a bushin."
This took Team Gai by surprise. "So if you're a clone then the whole chase was-" Tenten started but was interrupted.
"A diversion." Neji finished. The bushin only nodded. "Who were you protecting then?" Gai asked.
The clone just snickered. "Find the Little Dragon in the forest and you shall have your answers." He answered and canceled himself out with a poof.
End of Chapter 6.
WOW...that took forever. I really had to rack my brain for the fighting strategy. Thank you guys for reviewing and reading my story I now have 113 hits XD.
Now you all know what to do. Leave a review those are always nice.