1Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and I probably never will.
Author's Notes: College eats most of my time. Sorry about the lateness of it all.
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Two days and two nights, and still no sign of the village in question for the two travelers. The one in the green outfit looked around the forest with overflowing optimism, while his companion carried himself with the aid of a sturdy tree branch, looking awfully exhausted from walking around aimlessly all day. The situation seemed hopeless, as they were still trying to find their way out of the lush forest, hearing faint howls from a distance, and seeing sharp red glaring eyes from the brushes behind them.
"I think we should stop here for the night!" Lee shouted with his index finger pointed high in the air, suggesting authority. The older man looked at him and them slapped him hard on the back of his head.
"Are you crazy? Don't you hear all those noises in here? Whatever we do, we have to get outta here before we can stop to rest," he explained. Lee rubbed the back of his head to ease the pain and pumped his fist back in the air.
"We can...Beat them up for dinner if they try anything funny!" he screamed. Hozaku gripped his branch tightly, trying to hold himself back from injuring his fighter. Then they heard a loud shrilling scream, echoing through the forest. The noise itself was enough to send a shiver down the spine of any great Shinobi. The two man found themselves holding each other tightly in their arms and loosen their grips, blushing afterwards. They both gulped and looked down the darkened path.
"We have to check it out," Lee whispered, trying as hard to look undaunted by the noise.
"We can't. We have some place to be right now," the older man reasoned. Lee looked up at him sharply.
"Someone out there needs our help!" he yelled. Hozaku gritted his teeth and gripped the boy's shoulders.
"Look, we have to get there by tomorrow morning in order to register and right now, we're in no position to help anybody aside from ourselves!"
Lee looked away from him wearily.
"I wouldn't perform as well as I possibly can if I let somebody down by not helping them. It'll keep nagging at my head till I can't take it anymore..."the Genin whispered weakly. The fight promoter continued to grit his teeth.
"Are you black mailing me?" he asked.
"Yes," the boy confessed. "Not only that, but I'll perform SO BADLY, that you'll never be able to return to the tournament, because everyone will go 'Oh look, there goes that failure of a fight promoter! Let's not watch any of his fights!' And then you'll be ruined forever!" Rock Lee exclaimed. Hozaku was not used to being toyed around by his own fighter.
"NO!" he screamed in agony, feeling all the imaginary glares of his adoring audience members. His body twitched uncontrollably and he plopped down on his knees.
"Okay, we'll go help," he finally gave in. Lee pumped his fist in the air triumphantly.
"YAAH!" he shouted as he marched back towards the dark forest.
Chapter 8: Delayed!
The two tried to pint point the location of the noise. Lee ran up the side of a large pine tree and looked across the huge forest. He squinted his eyes and located a woman being surrounded by a large number of bears.
"Hozaku, there's a woman being threatened by a school of bears!" Lee shouted. Hozaku looked up quizzically.
"Lee, you don't say 'school of bears'!" he shouted back from the ground.
"A herd of bears then?" Lee asked, projecting his voice as much as he can.
"No, Lee just...Look that's not important! Let's go and save her already!" Hozaku yelled. Lee jumped back down the tree and led the older man to the location of the woman in need of their help. When they finally arrived at the clearing where the woman in her twenties was attempting to climb up a tree, they noticed how big the bears seemed to be up close.
"These bears...They don't seem like ordinary bears," Lee commented, furrowing his eyebrows.
"Of course not! Bears usually don't carry axes and swords!" Hozaku reminded him. The bears finally seemed to take notice of them. They wore black jackets with white crescent moons on the back, white head bands on their heads, and carried man made weapons in their hands. Lee ignored all these strange matters to consider and jumped in between the woman and the...
"Flock of bears! Leave her alone!" he shouted.
"You don't say that either!" Hozaku yelled. The bears growled angrily, clearly irritated by the sudden interference. They swung their weapons around and tried to hack away at the young ninja. Lee quickly took out his metal nunchaku, the gift he received from Old man Shinichi, and parried their attacks. He swung it over one of the bear's neck, gripped it tightly and hurtled the bear across the clearing. He kicked one of them in the stomach and smashed his weapon on to its large skull, rendering it unconscious. The rest cornered him to a tree, with the woman right behind him, who was staring wide eyed at the scenery before her. He pocketed his weapon and turned around swiftly, extending his right leg. The woman gasped and crouched down, but his feet stretched out above her head and tore the tree from its roots. He held up his hands and caught the falling tree and began to swing it around at the bears. They were taken back by his surprise attack, but one of them was brave enough to catch the tree and swing it back up, carrying Rock Lee with it.
"Ah!" exclaimed Lee as he felt himself being lifted into the air. The lead bear then smashed the tree onto the forest floor, but Lee withstood the attack by tightening his leg muscles, standing his ground in the face of his animal adversary. But what he failed to realize by then was that he was no longer shielding the woman.
"Ah!" Lee exclaimed again. Two bears approached her with their weapons. Hozaku ran up and tried to save her, but a third bear appeared in his path and hugged him tightly, constricting him and immobilizing the man temporarily.
"Damn!" Lee muttered, throwing the tree to his side and running past the lead bear. But he couldn't possibly make it in time. The bears swung their weapons and the woman closed her eyes, waiting for her impending doom.
Silence.
When she opened her eyes again, there was another individual standing before her, blocking the bears' weapons with a single dark bladed katana. He had a flowing blond hair that was tied up into a pony tail by his village head protector. He was wearing a gray vest over his white t-shirt, suggesting that he was at least a chuunin, a pair of pale green shorts, and a sheath for his katana dangling on his back. His deep blue eyes gazed into the eyes of the bears and he allowed his lips to curl into a grin. He brought back his sword and held it before him, changing his stance slightly to suggest another attack.
"Dance of the Angry Hyenas!" he screamed. He began to slice the air in random patterns, catching the bears off guard.
Lee became skeptical of the new comer.
The girl stared at him, doubtful of his skills as well.
Hozaku was being choked to death by an angry bear.
Lee ran off to his companion and kicked the bear's head with enough intensity to knock it clean off its neck, but it just caused him to fly off deep into the woods. Hozaku got on his knees and tried to feel his lungs to see if it was still there.
When Lee looked over at the strange ninja again, he caught him twirling around with his sword.
"Dance of the Mighty Whirl Wind of DEATH!" the sword swinging lunatic exclaimed. The bears became suspicious of the authenticity of the boy's attacks, dodging his sword with ease. Not being able to watch it any longer, Lee jumped over the boy and pummeled the bears with his KonohaWhirlwind technique. The lead bear approached the two young ninjas with its paws extended menacingly, trying to lay its revenge on them for his fallen comrades.
"Let me handle this," the new comer said, charging at the bear with his sword held at his side. Lee ran past him and performed a sliding tackle, knocking the bear off its legs and leaving it behind them. Then Lee took out a kunai from his pack and approached the shaken bear.
"You know, if I skinned you and made you into a carpet, I could probably get a hefty amount for it," the boy in green whispered, adding a devilish chuckle. The bear did a sweat drop and ran into the forest for its dear life. For a moment, there was silence all around the forest. Then Lee abruptly turned around and faced his promoter with his index finger pointed high in the air.
"A pack of bears!" he shouted.
"No, you don't say..." he paused. "You know what? I just don't know what it is anymore and I have you to blame for it," said Hozaku.
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They got a fire starting in the middle of the clearing , using a freshly chopped tree as the base. The four newly acquainted people sat around it for warmth and looked at one another.
"Thank you for saving me," said the woman, bowing before them. Hozaku looked away, still displeased about being delayed in their journey. Lee kept a modest face as he tried really hard not to become embarrassed.
"It was no big deal,"the sword boy calmly answered.
Both Lee and Hozaku glared at him for daring to take their glory.
"So who are you?" Lee asked.
"The name's Tenchi, the Heavenly Sword. Of course, that's not the name given to me at birth, but it does have its charm, doesn't it?" Tenchi happily replied.
"I was asking the woman..." said the boy in green. Tenchi ignored him and cleaned his sword with a cotton cloth while humming a cheery tune to himself.
"My name is Monoko. This forest is famous for its tasty berries so I was picking them, but I didn't realize how late it's become. When I tried to return to my village, I got lost in the dark and ended up being cornered by the Bears," she explained.
"Do you know anything about these bears?" Hozaku questioned, sitting rather uncomfortably on a tree stump. Monoko abruptly looked up at the man, and cast her glance downwards again.
"Yes...These bears used to live in harmony with our villagers. But one day, our villagers have begun to forget the contributions made by the Bears and treated them like indentured slaves. In the end, they weren't able to take the abuse anymore and took residence in the forest, back from where they came from. From then on, they formed a huge gang and begun to dress like humans and use our weapons to represent their equality to men," said Monoko. The rest remained silent.
"So lady, do you know how to get to Maple village?" Tenchi asked as he sheathed his sword.
"Well, I do but..." she began.
"Wait, you're going to Maple village, too? What business do you have over there?" Hozaku inquired. The blond ninja blew on his nails and got up on his feet.
"What else? The Maple Village Tournament," he replied. Both Lee and Hozaku's jaws dropped to the floor. Then they both tried to calm down simultaneously.
"Without a fight promoter?" Lee asked this time. Tenchi looked at him lazily.
"No, mines waiting for me already at the location," he answered. "I just got lost on my way down the mountain trail."
Lee scooted closer to his traveling companion.
"Who would willingly be his fighting promoter?" Lee whispered to Hozaku. The older man nodded in agreement.
"Besides, you owe us for saving your life..."mentioned the blond ninja. Hozaku and Lee made horrid expressions at the notion of him being any of help to them during the whole encounter. Monoko blushed slightly and nodded to herself.
"I will guide you," she said reluctantly.
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Rock Lee felt a bit sorry for Monoko. He felt as if they were using her gratitude to their full advantage to get to their destination. But he couldn't possibly bring himself to say so, seeing as he was desperate for her help as well. He bit his lips and continued to tread behind them, trying hard to concentrate on something else to ease his conscience. Hozaku turned his head slightly and caught a glimpse of Rock Lee sulking behind him. He sighed and allowed himself to slow down to match Lee's pace. The Genin looked up and noticed the older man walking next to him.
"Don't worry about it, Lee," he whispered. The boy wasn't so sure about his advice.
Soon, they came to an opening in the forest, which led down a hill to a large village in the distance. Lee sulked to the end of their journey and this made Hozaku a bit uncomfortable.
"This trail will lead you to Maple village," Monoko explained. She stood beside them as they passed her one by one. When it was Hozaku's turn to follow the trail, he stopped and turned around to face Monoko.
"Who are you really?" he asked. This startled both Rock Lee and Monoko.
"What are you doing, Hozaku-san?" Lee inquired. The older man waved him away and glared at the woman before him.
"What are you talking about?" she asked.
"Don't play dumb with me. Lee and I have been traveling through this forest and I haven't seen any berries around here. Not only that but you don't smell like you've been picking berries all day. Either I'm going crazy or you have been lying to us," Hozaku elaborated. Monoko sighed and looked around.
"You couldn't have possibly been around the entire forest," she said. The promoter snickered.
"Wanna bet? We've been in here for nearly three days now. Not that I'm proud of it or anything..." he told her, "plus, that story about bears and the villagers. That's an old folklore originating from the Coal Country. Granted, not too many people know about it."
Hozaku watched her close her fist tightly and bite her lower lip, trembling as she did so.
"Looks like I've been found out," she whispered. Rock Lee approached the two slowly and quietly.
"What's going on...?" he asked. Then all of a sudden, Monoko crouched on all fours and began to grow bigger in size. Her clothes became tight around her body, which seemed to be growing brown fur all over. Her hands grew stubbier, her fingernails growing larger and sharper by the second. Her nose grew into a snout that poked out from her skull, her ears standing over her head.
"A gigantic...bear?" Lee muttered. What used to be Monoko stood drooling on its hind legs, her lips curling as it drew breath and growling at her preys standing dumbfounded before her. She roared, pounded her chest and swiped at the young ninja. Lee jumped up and held on to her arm as she brought it back behind her. Meanwhile, Hozaku looked around and found that the young blond ninja was already long gone.
"Damn useless bastard," Hozaku cursed.
Lee twirled in the air and kicked the bear on the back of its head. Then he ran down her spine as she tried to reach around her back with her sharp claws. Lee jumped back down on the ground and ran through between her legs. He brought out a kunai and stabbed at one of her toe, expecting the bear to cringe from the pain. Instead, it made her angrier, causing her to try and squash him like a bug with her gigantic feet. He performed five consecutive back tumbles to escape from her reach.
"What do we do now, Hozaku-san?" Lee asked desperately. Hozaku took off his straw hat and scratched his scar-ridden scalp.
"Run," he advised.
"What?" Lee asked again. When he turned around to face Hozaku, he saw that his promoter was already running ahead of him. The boy became alarmed and ran after him, leaving the bear to roar and bring destruction to the forest.
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They escaped through the trail and stood panting at the entrance of the Maple village.
"I still don't understand something, Hozaku-san," Lee said in between his breath. "If she was really trying to deceive us, then how come she showed us the right way to our destination?"
Hozaku thought about this.
"I have no idea. But I was going to let it pass if it weren't for you," the older man said. Lee stopped panting.
"What do you mean by that?" he asked. Hozaku looked at him.
"You felt bad about us using her so I had to do something to cheer you up," he explained. The young Genin frowned.
"If I knew that she was a bear, then I wouldn't have felt bad about it? I'd rather have not known that I think," he countered. The promoter snorted.
"I think traveling with you for mere three days has taught me better than that," he said. "You wouldn't have stopped nagging me about it until the end of the tournament."
Lee kept quiet, knowing fully first hand that this was true.
"How about those other bears? Were they not real?" Lee asked.
"I suppose they're what you shinobis call 'Bunshin'," he answered. Lee knew better than that, but he refused to correct him.
"Well, all that aside, we're finally here," Hozaku announced proudly. Lee looked at the wooden panel hanging over their head which read 'Maple Village,' in the bright moon light.
He allowed himself to smile in anticipation of his upcoming battles.
To be continued...
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Author's Notes: Thanks for waiting. I hope this chapter pleased what readers I have left still waiting for me to unfold my story.