Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. I never will.
The moonlight illuminated the boy's feature as he sat on the edge of the wooden plank of the old worn out temple. He glanced down at his fists and gripped them tightly, trying his best to recall his last battle. His eyebrows furrowed for a moment, then he let out a hopeless sigh. He looked at his clothes dyed in blood again and it scared him.
"You displayed something quite frightening."
Rock Lee recognized the voice. He let his arms dangle on his sides while he stared into the muddy puddle in front of him.
"I...I'm sorry about hurting your grandchildren..." the boy apologized. His fear had overshadowed any sincerity in his words. The Old Man walked around Rock Lee and sat next to him on the edge.
"No need for apologies. They were careless. I've told them countless times that their antics will soon bring forth an opponent...like you," he replied. The Old Man caught Rock Lee shivering slightly next to him and frowned at the sight.
"I think it's best if...you didn't use that tech--"
"You don't need to tell me twice,"Rock Lee interrupted. "I...I had no idea how frightening it could be, not to have any control over myself."
The Old Man nodded in silence. He remembered trying his best to subdue the boy himself when he found him on the verge of killing his own grandkids. He was left with no option, but to paralyze the savage ninja with fatal poison darts. He later applied remedies for the poison when the boy calmed down.
But he couldn't shake off the tremendous amount of fear he felt when he faced against him. He couldn't help but shiver himself, when recalling the memory of that abominable expression on the boy's face.
"How...are they doing?" the thick browed boy asked timidly. The question brought the Old Man back to reality. He regained his composure and calmly answered his question.
"They suffered some steep injuries, but nothing that can't be cured by Dr.Tenma."
Upon hearing that, Rock Lee gained some color in his face and he let out a sigh of relief. The Old Man was relieved as well at seeing the boy not shaking as badly as he did before.
"Just exactly why were they collecting the hidden village head bands?" he asked, after a few second of pondering. The Old Man scratched his head as he searched for the right words.
"Well, it served as their goal. Albeit, it was a dishonest thing to do, but..."
"...But?" the boy repeated.
"They were too deep in their philosophy. They honestly believed that the world would have nothing to offer to them if they were able to defeat 100 opponents in a row. They also believed that their opponents didn't deserve to wear their head protectors if they were defeated by two ninjas who have never seen the world themselves."
Rock Lee felt a ping in his heart. He, too, was on a quest to measure his strength and was amazed at how differently they approached the matter at hand.
"Would you like to see them?" the Old Man asked. Lee honestly wanted to see them, but something in his heart won't allow him the luxury of apologizing to them, face to face.
"No. I just can't face them after all that. But can you relay a message for me?"
The Old Man was intrigued. "And what would that be?"
"We...sort of made a wager before our bout and..."
"...And?" the geezer repeated.
"And since I won, I want them to find a new path to discovering their strengths," he firmly stated. The Old Man stared blankly at the boy for a moment, then let out a roar of laughter. Lee found it to be a little disturbing and a bit offensive.
"W-What's so funny?" he inquired.
"You're the most interesting ninja I have ever encountered!" the man shouted in amusement.
Chapter 3: Blood Hounds
At the crack of dawn, Lee packed up his bags and fitted into his sandals to leave for the city. He shouldered his belongings and approached the lone pillars when he felt something holding him back.
"Where do you think you're going?" the Old Man asked as he held on to the boy's sleeves.
"To the city," he replied.
"Ah, so you'll have no problem running an errand for me."
The Old Man's last comment caused Rock Lee to falter.
"W-why do I have to do such a thing?" Lee shouted angrily. He was still mad about the geezer laughing at his face when he stated his request the night before.
"Ah, originally, my grandkids were supposed to carry out this duty. But as you can see...They're in no condition to do anything."
Rock lee faltered again and collapsed under guilt.
"What do I have to do?" he gave up and asked. The Old Man brought out a scroll and unveiled a group picture.
"They're known as the Bloodhounds," he said, pointing to the group of vicious looking individuals. Lee gulped at the sight of the seemingly evil delinquents.
"They've been causing nothing but trouble for the folks back at the sea port city. They recognized my grandkids' talents and requested for their help, but now you're going to drive these punks away for them."
Rock Lee continued to stare at the pictures.
"Well, it's another chance to test out your strength, isn't it?" the Old Man asked in hopes of bring back the boy's confidence. Rock Lee back stepped, not being able to withstand the pressure of the geezer's question at first.
"Did you know that the 'Man of 1000 Jutsus' is still alive? If you go, I'll tell you more about him."
Rock Lee stood still and allowed this new piece of information to wash over him. His eyes flared and he seemed resolute.
"I'll do it!" the boy yelled at the top of his lungs. The Old Man mentally pat himself on the back for his talent for pushing all the right buttons at the right time.
"Good, good. Then I guess we'll leave immediately," the Old Man stated, dumping his own belongings on top of the boy. The boy was caught off guard and he collapsed under the weight of the old man's baggage.
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The journey lasted them around 6 hours on foot. Being a professional ninja, Rock Lee was used to traveling for miles. But he usually traveled light and without having to carry an Old Man whenever he faked a fatigue. By the time they arrived at the city, he was dead tired.
"Look up, boy. We're here at Ichibawa City!" the geezer yelled out joyously. Rock Lee fell flat on his face and allowed his back to get a nice tan. His breathing was uneven and his pulse was abnormal. The Old Man crouched down and shook the boy with a worried look on his face.
"Hey, you alright?" he asked.
Then Lee caught the scent of fried octopus shishkabobs and immediately stood up, drooling all over his clothes. The Old Man smiled and took out his wallet.
"My treat, boy."
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"So do you have any information, regarding these bandits?" Lee questioned the Old Man before biting into his morsel of food. The geezer sipped his glass of sake and took out another parchment along with their picture.
"Well, according to this, they are a group with no central leadership. A bunch of anarchists, apparently."
"How hypocritical. And they decided that they should run this city?" Lee asked.
"Not exactly run it. More like, they're here to destroy anything they deem annoying," the Old Man replied, helping himself to some octopus balls. He bit into one of them and squirmed as he chewed on the food and felt the sweetened juice explode in his mouth.
"Delicious! I could never get anything this good back in the mountains!" he yelled out in ecstasy. Lee slapped himself on the forehead.
"So, what about their battle stats?" he inquired, a bit embarrassed by the other customers glancing at the Old Man next to him.
"Battle stats? Well let's see..." the geezer referred back to the parchment.
"Hmmm...They basically beat down their competition in large numbers. Oh, they have one or two chunnin level fighters in the group, but they almost never participate in their usual brawls, so there's not much on them," he finished. The information didn't really tell Lee anything outside of what he already anticipated. He sighed and sat back on his chair.
"Now that I think about it, you sigh way too much for a kid your age. Not confident or what?" the geezer asked in a playful tone. Lee considered this in retrospect.
"I used to jump into things head on, believing that I could take on anything..." he said. He remembered his painful match against Gaara and how he wounded up taking a severe damage. If it wasn't for the Fifth Hokage, he wouldn't have been able to pursue his ninja dreams ever again.
"I just can't afford to make any mistakes again. That's why I have to take in as much information as I can on my opponents."
The Old Man sipped his sake and poured another glass. Then he slid it to the boy's side.
"Have a drink. It should relax you," he said. Rock Lee stared at the glass before him as if he was deathly afraid of the liquor.
"Um, I wouldn't dare. Bad things tend to happen when I drink even a sip of--"
"Hey! Bring me 50 pieces of pork dumplings right away!"
Both Rock Lee and the Old Man spun around in their seats to find a dozen men entering the tiny restaurant. Lee recognized some of their faces from the picture that he was shown before.
"The Bloodhounds," he whispered. The geezer nodded in confirmation. They both turned their backs and pretended to eat their food in silence.
"What do I do?" the boy asked, a bit flustered from the abrupt encounter. He picked up his glass and drank its content in one clean sweep.
"We still haven't met up with the mayor yet, so I don't know if it's wise to make our move now..." the man trailed off as he watched the boy's face grimace and turn bright red.
"Are you okay, kid?"
"I--er---hic!" he spat out. Rock Lee slammed the table and got up from his chair. He staggered across the restaurant and tumbled into the banquet room where the Blood Hounds were waiting for their food.
"K-kid!" the geezer shouted after him. The Blood Hounds all looked up at the young ninja swaying back and forth with no concept of balance.
"What the hell are you doing here, you fucking kid!" one of the man with slick hairdo yelled.
"Hic. W-what am I doing...here?" the boy repeated. Then he spun around involuntarily and kicked their table across the room. It hit the opposite wall with a thud and smashed into million pieces. The rest of the Blood Hounds looked quite shocked at the force of his kick and immediately became defensive.
"What the fuck? This kid is nuts!"
"Fuck him up!"
"Wait!" Lee screamed. "Before I do anything, um...what did Gai sensei tell me to do? Oh yeah! Warm up exercises!" he yelled out in epiphany. The Blood Hounds all looked at one another with a puzzled look.
"Grrr...Don't fuck around with us kid!" one of them yelled as he swung his fist. Immediately, Lee bent over to touch his toes, completely avoiding his preemptive attack.
"This one works out your trapezoids...Or was it the biceps, hic!" he muttered. Then he danced around their attacks while he performed successive jumping jacks. The Blood Hounds got annoyed at his drunken antics and threw frustrated punches at random patterns. Lee slipped past their hands and slammed them collectively on the jaws with his palm, completely shattering their jaw bones. They each fell down like flies at the boy's strength.
"Okay, I'm done with stretches, now...I sleep!" the boy yelled before falling down on the floor himself. The Old Man who had been watching this scene unfold from the distance was having a hard time closing his wide open jaws.
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The Old Man helped support the young ninja by lending him his brittle shoulder.
"You okay, kid? That was something good you showed me back there," the Old Man complimented. Rock Lee looked sick to the stomach and didn't bother with the geezer's comments.
"Are we there yet?" he asked, his voice wavering.
"Almost," the man replied.
They climbed the last flight of stairs and finally arrived at the mayor's office in the second floor of the city department. The Old Man placed the boy by the wall and tapped on the rich oak wood door.
"Come in," came the voice from within. The Old Man carried Lee back on his shoulder as he helped themselves into the office. The plump, yet pleasant looking mayor awaited them inside. He frowned at the sight of an elderly man supporting a drunken young boy.
"I tell you, Shinichi. Youth these days are a complete and utter waste," the Mayor said in a casual tone.
"Well...Not this one," answered the elder man. "It's been a while, hasn't it, Kobuki?"
"Yeah. And thought it was going to be a while longer before I meet you again. Didn't your kids decline the job before?" the Mayor questioned. At that instant, Rock Lee's eyes popped wide open.
"Hey, wait a minute! Your grandchildren declined the offer?" Rock Lee shot out coldly. "Then I've been guilt into this job for no reason!" he screamed. Shinichi let out a weak chuckle and smacked the boy on the back of his head.
"That's not important right now," he said. Then he turned back to the mayor.
"Kobuki. This kid is the real thing. He can solve your problem in no time!"
The Mayor looked over at the staggering kid, quite unimpressed.
"So, this is the kid that defeated a dozen Blood Hound members just now..." he whispered in disbelief.
"Your information network is awfully dependable, it seems," Shinichi said, admiring the administrative title.
"Are you sure this kid can handle it?" the stern Mayor stared back at his old friend. Shinichi looked definitive and quite sure of himself when he nodded at the question.
"Albeit the kid can't use any ninjutsus or genjutsus, his taijutsu is more than enough to completely shatter the Blood Hounds."
"A ninja that only possesses taijutsu. Is this a joke, Shinichi?!" the Mayor yelled.
"Now wait, just a minute, Kobuki! This kid--"
"That's enough," Rock Lee cut in.
"It won't be enough just trying to convince him with words. Nobody ever believed that I could ever be a great ninja with just physical abilities," the boy muttered as he recalled his childhood briefly.
"But what people do believe in, are actions. If I drive out these guys out of the town with my fist, once I do that, they'll start to believe in my ability as a ninja..."
With that, the leaf's proud azure beast let go of Shinichi's shoulder and stood on his own feet.
"I'll just have to show you exactly what I'm capable of with these fists of mine!" he shouted, extending his right fist into the mayor's vision. Both the geezer and the mayor stood still as they exchanged glances with one another. Then sighing, the mayor nodded his head in approval.
"Alright kid. Lend this city your talents."
To be continued...
Author's Notes: I seem to be having trouble writing past 10 pages per chapter now. I haven't updated in about 3 months, so this should satisfy my few readers, wouldn't it now...