"You are the man from warm lands?" The girl was wearing a ragged jacket over equally ragged nightclothes and barefoot. An unnatural sight in a part of the world where the temperature was close to freezing on a warm day. She closed the door behind her and stepped into the backroom of the border house, the shouts of exuberant, drunk old miners growing quickly muffled.
"Yes, and they would find you underdressed for the weather also."
The girl was small, undersized and underfed as was (alarmingly) common in the harsher parts of this vast, frigid country. Her hair was black and unruly, contrasting with steely grey eyes and an old soul behind them that made the old man shift uncomfortably.
"I can treat your frostbite."
She shook her head. "I'm fine. Cold don't bother me."
The man ran his hand over the scar that marred the left side of his face, the people of this country were so strange. He checked the blades of his kama scythes, trying to decide if they needed sharpening or just needed cleaning.
"I want to fight, and I want you to teach me."
These Iron Country people were of a blunt nature, even their children seemed to have no gift for gab or subtlety. It was to cold to properly develop that skill outside of the warrior caste, one that shinobi prized so highly for their survival in dangerous territory. Intense cold created directness in a person.
The man came to a decision and turned to the girl as he reached for a damp cloth to clean the blades after his latest duel. "War is not a game for children."
The girl snarled, she seemed more feral beast then girl as she shifted her feet and brought up her too big spear that made her arms shake with the effort of holding it aloft in a manner she hoped was threatening. The man ignored her and began to polish his blades of blood remnants he had missed after his duel. "I am not a child!"
The man turned one of the scythes in the lantern light. The girl was nine, maybe ten at best. "You're no soldier either, your stance is all wrong."
Her eyes grew harder. "Six months ago you crossed into the Land of Iron, across the ice fields that take a man for every five who seek to leave. Today, I saw you kill a samurai in single combat to protect Lady Kagura's mines!"
The man's jaw set as he set his weapon and cleaning cloth on the table with a thud. "Killing a man in self-defense does not make me a hero or the right person to teach you." His face contorted in disgust and regret. "I've buried enough children who had the same ambition to be shinobi that you do!"
"My father spoke of the shinobi from his homeland, he was not always kind about them, but that is not what I want."
The man was intrigued and his face softened as the girl placed the beautifully crafted, but heavy looking solid iron spear on the floor. She got to her knees and bowed low, a perfect traditional bow from student to teacher.
"Master Juro, as long as I carry a weapon in my country, I will be killed. I will be killed like a warrior, I would like to actually be one before they run me through."
A silence filled the room.
"I don't know how to use a spear, or how to be a teacher.
"I do not know how to use a weapon, or how to be a student." The girl only seemed to grow more resolute. "We will have to learn together."
It took real effort for Ren to swallow her pride and apologize to Shinju with excessive bows and an agreement to accept the job to Shinju's homeland. They then had a discussion about Ren's plans now that she had a student to look after, since this was the kind of money that could begin a real business somewhere in the world, the question being where and what kind. Ren admitted to being reluctant to settle down in one place, she liked to wander and take long trips. She had grown very used to life on the road and Kai would have to be the same way to thrive as her student.
Shinju proceeded to make a suggestion that Ren found very intriguing as she changed out of her hospital clothes behind the privacy curtain and into some clothes Kai had dug out of a donation bin. A sales cart for a transport service would allow her to have her own income in peacetime, travel to more remote locations for business and trade legally within the hidden villages if she was delivering shop goods. It seemed like a perfect solution. Ren eagerly agreed as she stepped out, now clothed like a person and not a patient. Cloth goods would be a big seller; exotic foods if they could be preserved and assorted useful crafts might be a good idea as well. It would be something to think about if she could find some business partners.
As quickly as she had arrived, Shinju agreed to meet them at the Konoha gate the next morning at dawn. The old woman was quick to say her goodbyes and leave the information about where she was staying if they needed her for anything. The three of them had a long walk ahead of them and Ren had to pick up some supplies, or at least send Kai to do so with a very strict budget.
Though she was going to have to get some practice in with the boy.
But before that happened, some things needed to be said.
When the door closed behind Shinju, Ren swept the privacy curtain back to find Kai curled up in Shinju's vacated chair.
"I owe you an apology." Ren's voice was low and rang clear as she faced her student. "I have not been the best teacher, I was reluctant and scared and… I didn't want to get attached. I was running from all the changes in my life, because I couldn't handle them. After Juro died, I… I didn't feel like I could handle anything, I was walking through fog for long time and I just felt all the hurt, and couldn't see the good, like the trust you and other people have shown me." Ren sighed, a weight feeling lifted off her shoulders. Then she decided to continue talking. "In my defense, you are a lot of responsibility, needing regular feedings and all."
Kai gave Ren a hard stare. "I am not a pet, and you said I was to skinny and should eat more."
Ren shrugged. "I'm not totally heartless. Anyway, I am sorry I let my fears stop me from being the person you needed me to be. You were right; I should have fought them weeks ago on a battleground I chose. If I had, they wouldn't have used you as bait."
Kai grinned, "We're alive, that's all that matters and I'm sorry too. I have this idea of you as a great warrior hero and… It is not right to do that when we have only just started to know each other. You're strong, kind, mostly fearless and I want to be like you when I grow up."
There was a moment where it was hard to breath through the sudden tightening of pride in her chest. "I promise that when the time comes, I will tell you everything. For now, I will make sure you live long enough to become the person you want to be."
Kai blushed.
"I'm thinking that when we are done with this job for Shinju, we'll come back here and do the paperwork to work through the Land of Fire and start making arrangements to find a place to live."
"Really?"
"Yeah, keep your expectations low, I live on a very tight budget and I'm a terrible roommate."
"Why?"
"Juro said my five in the morning jogs were unnatural." Ren shrugged. "It's quiet and nobody bothers me."
The boy snickered.
"Anyway, meet me in the yard in fifteen minutes." She motioned towards the bed and the assortment of items around it as she fixed her cloth belt at her waist, tying it looser then normal to not irritate her stomach wound. "Make that look a convincing version of me or you will have a very short lesson."
It took Kai a moment, but the spark of knowledge lit in his eyes. "Nap time. Got it!"
Ren gave him a wink and before opening the window, proceeding to climb down four stories to the yard below.
Kai managed to meet Ren in the hospital yard in the allotted time while she gathered materials for practice as he proudly informing her that he created a very convincing Ren shaped bump in the hospital bed with sheets, backpacks, clothes and a few packs of instant ramen. His prompt information made her chuckle before she winced at a loud cracking noise her shoulder made. She moved slowly as she started stretching, Kai following her lead with each movement.
Being an opportunist, Ren was sure most of the hospital staff were at lunch.
After several minutes of working out the many kinks in her stiff limbs, Ren faced her student and began to teach him how to throw a proper punch so he didn't break any part of his hand. She soon progressed before teaching him how to stay in an opponents blind spot through circular walking, getting him comfortable with the idea of staying out of reach of an opponent. Teaching him to root himself to the ground like a tree when needed and basic blocks to use to protect himself. If they were leaving tomorrow, she needed Kai to know enough to buy her a precious few seconds to get back to his side if they were separated for any reason.
In the afternoon, she picked up a couple of pipes left over from a hospital work project of some sort to continue teaching him about the spear work that made him want to become her student in the first place.
Kai remained a devoted, attentive student. He watched Ren's demonstration or careful swings and hard stabs. He was careful to replicate each of Ren's steps and swings in warm up as she offered corrections and advice. After several minutes of this, Ren made the offer to act as a sparring partner. Soon the clanging echo of metal on metal resounded through the open field, calling patients to look out their windows to watch through quickly opening windows.
The shinobi in the long term wards began to cheer from their windows, seemingly more entertained then they had been in weeks. A group of physical therapy patients quickly came out into the gardens to continue stretching or take a break to watch. They would yell encouraging things to Kai while praising Ren's immense skill.
It was loud. Ren swore she could feel each pair of eyes on her, stripping away at her skin.
That was the moment where Ren began to fumble. At one point dropping her practice weapon from crowd nerves and flipping Kai into the dirt to cover the error. As Kai picked himself up, Ren untied her belt and tied the cloth over her eyes.
The crowd went wild, screaming in excitement.
Ren flushed under the attention as she picked up her pipe and stepped into the ready position.
If she could not see the crowd, it was much easier to ignore them.
She could hear Kai yelling as he dashed forward. Ren shifted to move the pipe to a high blocking position, grinning as she heard Kai's pipe slam into it. Ren dropped quickly knocking Kai down with a sweep of her leg before lifting her blindfold to give him a teasing smile as he lay in the dirt to catch his breath.
"Sweetie, I get a pension! A big one! I'll take good care of you!" An older man shouted from where he sat against the wall. He had lost his legs during the war and his wooden prosthetics were sitting next to him along with a pair of crutches.
A woman a bit younger then him who was leaning against the wall giggled, "She's to pretty for you."
Pretty? Juro used to say she looked like an angry tanuki depending on his mood.
The man laughed while Ren's face turned a luminescent pink and she fixed her belt back around her waist. "I lost my legs, not my dreams."
The woman rolled her eyes, "Yeah, your dreams of being a dancer."
The man punched her playfully on the thigh, making the woman laugh heartily. "Too dark, Yoko."
Ren's face began to cool as she hid a grin behind her hand. She liked these people. They had lost their careers to horrible injuries in war but could still find a reason to have joy and humor in their lives. What marvelous spirit they had!
Yoko moved from the wall towards Ren on an unsteady gait and slung an arm over her shoulders as she staggered. "Sorry about that. My name is Yoko, you must be Ren, Kai told us all kinds of stories about you yesterday and I saw your fights at the festival tournament."
Stories? Well, they couldn't be too bad…
"Since you like martial arts, there's some people I need to introduce you too." She turned Ren to more fully face her friend with the fake legs. "Hiro, have you seen Gai and Lee today?"
Hiro shrugged as he began to adjust his fake legs, preparing to put them back on with a visible wince. "I saw them earlier, it was a bit of a blur but I heard something about a training run."
Yoko made a disagreeable noise, she left her arm over Ren's shoulder to help keep herself balanced, Ren could feel her leaning for support. Ren only came up to the older woman's shoulder. "Hm, they usually lap back to the hospital after a couple hours to get a drink of water…"
There was a mysterious looking dust cloud in the distance.
"Perfect timing."
What the hell?
It was getting closer.
This is not a part of the world prone to dust storms…
It was now in the yard and Ren had to close her eyes to avoid getting the dirt in her eyes. She could taste it on her mouth.
The wind stopped as Yoko shouted something, Ren was completely covered in dust and dirt at this point and was rubbing at her eyes to remove the dirt. A man was speaking loudly from somewhere down below. Ren opened her eyes with effort.
There was a man in a wheelchair with a brilliant, blinding smile and booming voice wearing a familiar green jumpsuit and very thick eyebrows. Ren's jaw clenched. Wrong man. Very close though. She leaned on her practice pipe.
"Gai, this is Ren, the girl who took second in the tournament festival!" Yoko gave Ren an affectionate shake. "She's a sojutsu master, she and her student have been very entertaining!"
Ren flushed and fumbled to bow properly in introduction, but it was difficult with Yoko leaning on her for support. The pipe dropped to the ground with a muffled noise as Ren got as close as she could manage to the well mannered greeting her shishou had instilled in her over the years while not dropping Yoko into the dirt.
Gai seemed amused by this judging by his booming laugh. "Ah, you're the spear fighter everyone's been talking about!"
Yoko was continuing to speak, her voice rising in excitement. "You should hear the story the kid tells about the Samurai-"
Oh kill me now! This is how Shinju tracked me down? Kai being a braggart! The brat!
"-A battle that raged for three days and nights!"
Thirty seconds. Half of it spent on me asking why he was naked.
Ren was about to offer a correction, her and Kai's clan had a familial love affair with epic stories of old heroes within a complex oral tradition, but Yoko was so enthralled with recounting Kai's version of events (there was now an army she had cut her way through to rescue helpless children on her way out of her three day duel), Ren really did not have the energy. Perhaps she was enjoying how crazy this story was getting, she was now considering asking Kai for his full version after they left town.
If a dragon showed up, she would have to tell him to rein it in.
Yoko and Gai's voices tended to carry and they had the attention of the whole yard. Ren risked a glance over at the physical therapy group who were acting out their favorite parts, including various dramatic deaths and imitations of swooning men. A red-faced Kai was spinning his pipe idly looking at anyplace other then Ren.
He knew what he did.
Practice was over. This was going to to much for Ren to deal with if the rest of the village showed up to see the heroine Kai had cooked up in his own mind.
Ren's attempt at telepathic communication with her student was cut short by another load voice cutting across the yard.
"GAI-SENSEI!"
There was blur of something or someone coming back to the group at top speed. Ren was having a hard time focusing on whoever it was from the resurgence of dust and the sudden gust of wind that blew in into her eyes.
This was beginning to feel spiteful.
She rubbed at her eyes and blinked several times to make sure everything was cleared away as the world began to come back into focus.
Now there were two green clad men.
The new one was far more familiar.
This one was also very loud, had a beaming smile and seemingly perpetually curious expression from a pair of very round eyes. Upon closer examination, he appeared to be about her own age, though it was hard to tell, his mannerisms reminded Ren a bit of a puppy.
A rush of rage surged to Ren's head with the act of recognition. She had half forgotten the reason she had come here. There had been a lot of strange and unfortunate events over the last couple of days but the memory of what initially brought her into this weird village suddenly came flooding back with the force of being knocked through a wall.
"Took you long enough," Ren's steady voice echoed into crowd of onlookers. Yoko removed her arm from Ren's shoulders and took a step back. Ren grinned broadly as she stared down the younger of the two men. "I've been looking for you!"
Ren was sure his eyes had widened in surprise, but it was hard to tell. "Who are you?"
Ren's posture sagged for a moment before she pulled herself back together as her rage returned. "You don't remember me?"
He shook his head appearing confused and a little bit concerned.
Ren was sure she could feel her left eye begin to twitch. "My name is Ren! You got me banned from my favorite teahouse! Ruined my dinner! And hit me with a table! I'm here for a rematch!"
Yoko had stepped forward, blocking the young man from Ren's view. Ren leaned over slightly to keep glaring at him as Yoko spoke.
"Ren, Lee is a perfectly nice young man. I'm sure this is all a misunderstanding."
"KAI! SPEAR!"
The boy jumped and stuttered a couple of times. "I-it's upstairs! Remember?"
"…I thought you brought it down?"
Kai shook his head with wide eyes. "It looked more convincing where it was-" Kai motioned with has hand trying to find the right words. "Since you sleep with it!"
Ren's face glowed red from embarrassment as the audience began to laugh heartily. Her cheeks felt luminescent and brighter then they had ever been in her life.
Spear master indeed…
"Never mind then…"
Ren stepped out from behind Yoko. The physical therapy group was getting rowdy and beginning to take bets, most of them cheering the local boy. The shouting from the windows began to crescendo as the occupants realized they were about to get a show. Ren turned her back to the crowd, her injured leg was a bit stiff so she was quick to cover herself by dropping to one knee and into a basic pre-training stretch while she tried to focus on the moment and block out the noise.
"Your call, do you want to use weapons or straight hand-to-hand? I'm fine either way." She stood back up to face Lee, who was flipping between looks of confusion and determination.
I did not get impaled for a no!
Ren flung her pipe into some nearby bushes, fixed her belt and stepped into a fighting stance, her palms were open and facing outward. She wanted to rough him up a little not put him in the hospital with her.
"I am very sorry about everything that I did!" He stepped into a fighting stance, seeming to implicitly understand that Ren would not back down.
"I worked too hard to get to this village for this rematch! So stop apologizing and come at me like you mean it!"
Alright, Ren, you want to spar not commit a murder. Do the first three spear katas, then flow into mantis dance. As many times as you need.
The crowd was cheering and hollering.
Block it out, Ren. You can do it. Happy place.
"C'mon Lee!" Someone shouted.
Yoko threw up her hands in resignation and limped away to go stand with Gai, ruffling Kai's hair as she grabbed the handles on the back of the wheelchair to steady herself.
The combatants circled each other tentatively, sizing each other up and looking for exploitable weaknesses in their stances and chosen style. Ren ground her teeth as she stepped awkwardly on her injured leg, it felt like a very large bruise from her thigh to the tips of her toes. Medical ninjutsu was great to speed up the healing process, but some things a body had to heal on its own. She took a deep breath and focused on centering her chakra to the pool in her body, imagining it being blocked off by rocks to stem the flow to the rest of her body.
Relax.
The pain in her leg dulled to a dim, steady pulse. There was enough chakra flow to allow her to function, but not enough to accidentally break her opponents limb. The wonders feeling safe could do to a person. All she had to do was what Juro had tried to teach her over the years, focus on the now, do not allow the mind to create terror where none should exist. Only expel the energy needed to protect yourself or finish the fight.
All is well. You are fine.
Ren lunged forward.
Kai sat down in the grass next to the man in the wheelchair for a better view of the sparring match that was becoming more intense with each blow of the combatants.
"Do students dress like their teachers in this country?"
"Only those who fully embrace their teachers ideals." Gai had a booming voice that made Kai shrink back for a moment, the older man noticed and gave him an apologetic grin. "Your own sensei is very skilled."
"Yeah, she is pretty great!" Kai adjusted the sleeves of Ren's jacket. Ren was not a particularly tall woman, a bit on the short side like most of their people, Kai was barely tall enough to wear something close to her size, though any reasonable adult would say it was still to big for him. "She's teaching me a lot of stuff, I am not sure I'll ever be as good with a spear as she is, but she makes me want to try!"
They turned their attention back to the grudge match. Ren blocking blows as she backed up, clearly under pressure from the barrage. She ducked down to dodge a stray punch that was heading for her ear, blocking a kick by catching his foot in a curled palm.
"She can't stay defensive if she wants to keep up with Lee."
Kai scoffed, "Can't move when you're face down in the dirt. Just watch."
Lee broke out of Ren's grip.
"I don't know kid, Ren's good, but Lee's his own weapon," Yoko chimed in, nudging Kai's shoulder playfully. "Martial arts is his whole life, your sensei is probably going to regret being so quick to issue a challenge."
"No one can beat Ren!"
I've made a mistake…
Ren ducked to avoid a kick to the head and blocked the knee coming at her face.
Why do I do these things to myself?
There was a sudden blur of a fist going for her ribs.
This was a bad idea.
Ren snatched Lee's wrist and turned herself inward, managing to lock his arm over her shoulder for a throw as she hooked her foot behind one of his and heaved. Normally, this would work in such a way where Ren could finish the fight, or run away. Unfortunately, Lee was far more skilled then Ren initially gave him credit for, as he had managed to take her down with him into the dirt. She decided to tell Kai her leg had given out to save face.
It took several moments of the pair tussling in the dirt before they managed to separate and resume their match with a much more heated intensity.
This was not the same person she had attempted to scrap with at the teahouse, this was a stiff, heavy hitter as opposed to the bendy, flexible style he had used in their initial fight. This was fierce, predictable style and anyone else would have mistaken it for two separate people. She might be able to win with good tactics.
Or fight him to a draw to regain some of her pride.
Ren braced her arm to block an incoming kick, instead of drilling down to fight against his momentum, Ren stayed loose and allowed the force of the blow to knock her sideways, tumbling down into the dirt, giving her the opportunity to put some distance between them as she got into a crouch.
She had two seconds.
Ren struck out with her leg, trying to sweep Lee's legs out from under him. He jumped back just in time, giving Ren an opportunity to get back on her feet and block the incoming retaliatory blows.
Kai was cheering loudly from somewhere behind her.
Lee backed off for a moment to reevaluate his plan of attack. Ren attention was consumed by the sudden onslaught of cheering coming from the upper windows of the hospital. There were people sliding open their windows to wave and cheer at the match. One had managed to make large poster that read triumph in very nice calligraphy. Ren was not sure who he was cheering for…
A blur of green and orange sent Ren back to the ground as Lee flew over her head with a swift kick. She could feel a breeze from the kick ruffle her hair.
"You are easily distracted!" He landed like cat as Ren jumped up, balancing on the balls of her feet, arms back up in a defensive stance as Lee returned to punching.
She bobbed and weaved under a punch, throwing her own at larger targets, like his chest and stomach only to be quickly blocked, his hands catching her fist like a sensei and young student. Ren bobbed back down to avoid a retaliatory blow and try to get into another position for another throw. There was no success in that maneuver, she ducked under another kick that was a feint for the other leg to try and land a blow. Ren took the momentary slow down from Lee to move back a couple of feet.
"Where did you learn that kick?" Ren asked as she adjusted her weight off her aching leg. "I might need to pick that up!"
"Gai-sensei is a great teacher, he has taught me everything I know!"
"Really?" Her gaze drifted to the man in the wheelchair, if that was the case he was definitely a war veteran. "I should thank him, you're fantastic! I haven't been this challenged in a long time."
Lee's serious expression cracked suddenly into a broad, shining smile.
"I cannot use genjutsu or ninjutsu, so I must rely only on taijutsu in battle."
All those freaks out there and he throws hands with them?
"I don't think you need either of them to be honest." She was going to have the bruises to prove it.
At her words Lee's expression changed, he was now looking at her like she hung the sun and stars. Like few, if any, people had offered him anything resembling praise for what would be viewed as a deficiency in a mercenary soldier, which was most definitely the case. Let alone a total stranger.
"Really?"
Ren shrugged, "Whatever works, right? I mean, most people are useless when they run out of chakra, that seems like a problem you've avoided."
"You use a spear right?" He blurted out suddenly, trying to keep the conversation going in a way that was endearingly awkward.
"Yeah, I want to be the greatest spear fighter the world has ever seen." The words spewed unbidden from Ren's lips. It had been a long time since she had said those words aloud, saying them once to Juro at the start of their journey together. It had been so long since she had declared her goal, she had chosen to hold it close like a secret for the mere pleasure of having one. Saying the words now, made Ren realize she truly meant them.
"That is an admirable goal!"
Admirable he says…
Ren flushed, then started to laugh. She couldn't help it. He was so earnest about it. Her hands fell to her sides before she ran her fingers through her hair and got it out of her face. Lee's posture began to relax as well, as he imitated her reserved, relaxed position.
"You're funny, and you're absolutely right." Ren stepped back into a fighting stance, her hands moving back up with open palms. "Let's finish this up."
There was a rustle of wind through the trees.
"I've never heard her laugh like that before." Kai mumbled, "She's usually so… reserved." He could get a dry chuckle from her on occasion, not the deep belly laugh he had just heard.
"You're both in the spring time of youth! Having fun is very important." Gai's voice boomed over the loud whoops and occasional smack talk from Ren as she and Lee continued fight a few yards away, the fight only seemed to be increasing in energy with each blow and taking a more playful edge then when the fight had begun.
"Ren's fun sometimes, not when she tries to drink herself stupid, but the rest of the time."
Ren had given up on defense and structured combat and had just resorted to tackling Lee into the ground.
Gai's expression took a sudden shift from jovial cohort to concerned adult. "How often does that happen?"
Kai had a feeling he said to much, being met with concern from two adults. "I found her face down in a water trough outside a bar about two weeks ago. She managed to get the owner to sell her some sake, whatever she did hasn't worked since." Kai paused, "I don't think she is very good at the bad girl thing."
"That offers me some comfort," Yoko muttered.
The pair scrambled apart and back to their feet. Both looking stubbornly at the other as they shifted their weight to prepare for another assault.
Ren could not even hear the crowd at this point. It offered her some comfort and clarity of thought as she adjusted her hands to the ready position as Lee rushed forward, his eyes focused on her.
She blocked the first punch. Ducked under the second. She missed the kick that slammed into her thigh, just unsteadying her as a rush of immense pain shot down her to her wounded foot, It felt like she had been shot again. Ren ground her teeth together at the suddenness of it. She moved her arm to block another punch. The wounded leg quickly felt weightless and cold, like all of the muscles had turned to jelly as she felt the force of the blow. Ren knew what would happen a mere second before it did. As her leg gave out beneath her, Ren dropped to the ground like a stone, Lee's fist stopped mid punch, an inch from where her upper body had been a few moments before.
"THAT'S THE MATCH!" Gai shouted.
The crowd was cheering. Ren's face was burning; hasty decision-making and her tendency to petty scorekeeping had brought her here. Just a few days ago she was fighting and winning money in a tournament where she carried one of her opponents out of the ring.
She must be in worse shape then she thought.
Or he was just that good!
"Let me help you," Lee's voice broke her out of her thoughts; it was steady like the hand that was reaching out to help Ren back to her feet.
She took the offered hand and was quickly surprised by the enthusiasm behind the pull to her feet. Ren was so taken aback and unsteady that she lost her balance and staggered forward, gripping Lee's shoulder to stay upright. One of his hands was on her arm, helping to support her as she found her balance again.
"Well, good fight."
She meant it.
Every bone in her body said he was holding back.
It was a different experience fighting with someone who knew what they were doing as opposed to one of the third rate hacks who were Ren's usual opponents. Her previous easy victories had made her arrogant, she had stopped looking for real challenges months ago. Had the fight on the mountain been more of the same?
Is my reputation built on a lie?
There was a hurried noise of feet beating fast and hard on the ground as Kai rushed over to put Ren's other arm over his shoulder to offer her more support. Ren put a bit more weight on the kid then was strictly necessary as Kai led her a few steps away from a visibly concerned Lee.
"That was dumb, Ren."
Ren shrugged, ruffling Kai's hair with an air of sisterly mischief. "I like to keep you on your toes."
"Uh-huh…" Kai nodded and looked at her with the unnerving, tired stare of a much older man as he helped her take a few more steps towards the physical therapy group, putting some space between them and Lee.
"Kai, please act your age."
The boy just stared harder and Ren found herself looking anywhere other then his very old eyes. "Fine, this was an… Impulsive idea."
"Did you eat today?"
"Er… No."
"You should."
"Not the time."
Kai helped Ren stabilize before she waved her hand slightly to get him to let her go and take a step back. Ren had walked into that fight, she was going to walk out of it.
She took a couple of steps forward, before stopping to give a beaming smile over her shoulder at Lee who was moving forward to seemingly try and catch her if she stumbled. He stopped. "You still owe me dinner, and I intend to collect."
It seemed to take him a moment to process what she had said. His mouth had fallen open and his face had turned a brilliant shade of pink. Lee looked over at his sensei, who shrugged and was trying to communicate something with his hands to his student. Yoko had covered her mouth to hide an amused smile, as she seemed to be doing her own series of encouraging gestures and nodding her head.
It took a moment for Ren to realize how that sounded; social panic set in. "It's not a date! I don't know you. You could be a serial killer or something!"
Maybe that was too much…
Poor Lee looked like she had just kicked him in the face.
Yoko had covered her mouth with both hands, presumably to stifle her laughter.
Ren really had to work on her people skills.
The slapping sound from somewhere next to her shoulder was probably Kai's hand slamming into his forehead.
A loud voice cut through Ren's thoughts on her horrible social skills.
"HOW ABOUT TOMORROW?"
Now there was another round of silence as the question echoed through the yard.
Play it cool, Ren. You are unfazed by the attention of strangers. Nope, that's a lie.
Ren took a deep breath and rested her arm on top of Kai's head as she let an easy smile tug at the corner of her mouth. She ignored Kai's grumblings about being made a table as she put her other hand on his shoulder to help her balance. She hoped appearing unbothered would get her through the piercing feeling of eyes stabbing into her from all sides.
"I'm sorry, I've got something to take care of."
"Oh," his posture sagged a bit. Ren's stomach flipped uncomfortably, dealing with people her own age was awkward, they tended to be harder to charm and quick to classify her as strange and intense. It was not her fault so few people shared her enjoyment of sojutsu, martial combat and the variety of spear blades used in battle over the centuries. She was not weird!
Kai looked up at her with an expression close to relief. Ren took a moment, she had to be a better example for the kid or he was going to end up flighty and socially terrible like she was. They were leaving tomorrow, but they would be back at some point in the near future.
"Next time I'm in town Lee, I'll look you up." She flashed a thumbs up from the top of Kai's head. "I promise."
Lee straightened, a broad smile returning to his face as Ren gave him a last look before moving her arm off Kai's head to rest protectively over his shoulders to begin ushering him back towards the hospital on an uneasy gait.
The rest of the crowd had been quick to go back to conversing amongst themselves, Hiro giving a rousing talk about his new idea for prosthetic legs that would let him go for a daily jog.
"C'mon Kai, let's get out of here before Sakura notices we're missing."
"You scared of her?"
"No!" She pointed at the window of her hospital room where the Hokage could be seen peering out at what was going on in the yard. "Her on the other hand."
"I'll take good care of your spear!"
"…You do that."
Once they got back to Ren's hospital room door, she sent Kai off to go find something to eat. Stating that she could hear his stomach growling and when he was done to see if he could find anything else that looked useful in the donation box. He nodded and scampered off as Ren stepped into the room to be met with the sight of a polite, but annoyed Hokage and a few members of her entourage.
Ren was surprised to find herself not murdered or shoved into an interrogation chamber during the first few seconds of their meeting. Instead, she was berated for not staying in bed and picking fights with one of the village's taijutsu masters. That particular lecture went on for fifteen minutes. Ren made the appropriate apologies as she limped to the bed to sit down, it would not happen again (debatable), she learned her lesson (was there a lesson?). Ren explained that she and her sweet student were just in town for the festival, those punks might have thought they found an easy target for a mugging.
The Hokage did not seem entirely convinced.
"Lady Hokage, I escort traders for a living, people who go from small village to small village to trade food and supplies. It keeps me fed, I get to fight bandits occasionally and travel the world at my leisure. I doubt I made any real noteworthy enemies."
This woman was not buying it.
Ren was starting to think that she might be on a bigger radar then just Shinju being a cheapskate. It might be time to re-embrace her nomadic lifestyle if the major villages had some kind of record of her.
"Your student says differently."
"Huh?"
The Hokage had a beautiful, but mischievous smile. "He talked a good game about not giving up secrets under torture, but I don't need to torture children to get information." She pulled out a variety bag of candy. "A few bags of these and he sang like a bird."
I like Kai, but he is very easy to bribe.
"The boy exaggerates. He tells good stories, really should consider becoming a writer."
"Ino."
One of the subordinates stepped forward and began to ask her questions; this one had hair that was far long for active fieldwork, probably a desk clerk of some sort. First thing Ren would do if fighting her would grab it as leverage. Instead, Ren heaved a tired sigh and made herself comfortable, letting her gaze focus on Ino's hands, just in case.
What had brought her to Konoha? A petty grudge match mostly. Did she know the people on the mountain? Vaguely, they had been following her for a couple of weeks. Why were they following her? Supposedly someone really wanted her dead. Who would that be? A number of people as she had done an alarmingly good job of making people angry.
Ino's fingers had threaded themselves together thoughtfully.
Ren wondered if it was handsign, if it was, it was not one she recognized.
"Can you explain why one was a ronin?"
Ren shrugged. "No, he was probably a wanderer. It's a big country, large parts of it are consumed by poverty, a samurai leaving service is unusual, but not uncommon. It's an expensive lifestyle to have armor made for you, maintain lands and commission swords to prepare for fights on the border. It's a hard place to live at the best of times. In shinobi lands, there is at least a chance to earn some coin and they don't have to endure becoming a common farmer when the money dries up."
The two women nodded for a moment and exchanged a look.
"And you?" Ino asked.
"I'm a blacksmith's daughter. I just happen to be better at fighting then making weapons and came here to pursue my fortune. Peasants who can use a weapon don't live long where I'm from."
The two women exchanged a look.
"Come to my office in the morning," The Hokage's tone would allow no arguments.
"It would be an honor."
We need to leave. As soon as possible.
Ren had memorized the nurses rotation through the ward, it was like clockwork for thirty minute intervals. She rested her hand over her stomach wound, checking the bandages for security. She glanced over at the chair Kai was sleeping in with the backpack of supplies and her spear in the corner behind him.
Everyone had been so nice. Helping her resupply her weapons, specifically her senbon, allowing her to keep her spear with her in her room. Ren stretched, wincing as her bones cracked loudly before reaching over to her bedside table for the pen and scroll she had asked for, telling the nurse it was for a writing lesson she wanted to have with Kai.
Ren quickly scribbled a thank you note to Sakura on the scroll, having a lot of time to think about what she wanted to say, drawing a lotus blossom out of boredom at the bottom before rolling it up and tying it off with a piece of string. The clock next to her bed flashed four o'clock. She climbed slowly out of the bed and began to get dressed in the pants, tank top and long vest that Sakura had brought for her. Once dressed she attached the pouch to her belt, making sure the vest hid it from prying eyes before reaching down to shake Kai's shoulder.
"C'mon, it's time to leave."
Kai mumbled as he reached up to rub his blurry eyes. "Do we have to?"
"Yeah, we're meeting Shinju, remember?" Ren was now putting on her shoes.
"Y-Yeah…" Kai's yawn interrupted his response.
"Good. You're packed and ready to go I see." Ren helped Kai to his feet and reached for her spear. The new blade looked marvelous and glowed beautifully in the moonlight before Ren put the sheath on it and passed it to Kai to hold.
She listened for noise from the hallway to indicate a nurse off her routine, hearing nothing she opened the window and slipped out, channeling her chakra to hold onto the side of the building like a spider as she stepped to the side and held her hand out for Kai to pass her spear to her through the window. Ren double-checked the flow of chakra through her feet before taking her other hand off the wall and reaching out for Kai, swinging him onto her back like a monkey. He wrapped his arms around her neck and hung on as she moved silently down the side of the building. When Ren's feet were firmly on the ground, Kai slid off her back and the pair took off into the night.
Shinju was waiting by the gates like she said she would be, speaking with one of the guards. Ren and Kai walked up towards them quietly, their shoes barely making a sound on the dirt road. Ren leaned heavily on her spear, focused on the guards and gave a low whistle to activate a small genjutsu to make the guards believe her spear was a oddly shaped walking stick.
"Ready to go?" Ren asked as she walked up to the old woman, taking her attention from the gate guard.
"Yes. We can pick up a cart at one of the border towns apparently." Shinju slipped the guard a few coins. "For your breakfast dearie."
"That's fine. We should get to some little riverside village by lunch." Ren walked towards the gate giving the guards a smile and a nod. "You two stay close to me, okay?"
"Yes, Shishou!" Kai chirped as he fell instep beside her, Shinju following suit.
"Good. Now let's get going."
Ren had every intention of being at the border by the time anyone noticed they were gone. She wanted to be out of range of the Hokage's ferocious temper.
She slowed her pace as Kai and Shinju began to talk of her life in the Land of Rivers and what her hometown was like. She said it was a port full of ships, merchants and a thriving business community. It was exciting and could offer a lot of opportunity if the criminals could be run out of town for good.
As they spoke, Ren stopped for a moment, letting the pair pass her as she pulled Juro's last letter out of a side pocket of her backpack and ran her thumb over the brass ends of the scroll as she slowed her pace, getting lost in thought for a moment as she looked back at the village gates. If she unfocused her gaze, sure she could see Juro's back strolling along the road in front of her. His scythes on his hips, short sword at his back and a full backpack of basic medical and survival supplies. A familiar sight from the last few years of her life. He still looked as strong and resolute as he had before the illness had begun to drain away his health and vigor.
I think I understand you better, it's hard to be alone, Kai stormed into my life and gave me a reason to begin finding my way in the world without you. I won't be the teacher you were, but I'll do my best. I'm still scared, and sad, but I think I'll be okay, just keep looking out for me Juro.
The figure faded away and Ren was sure that she heard his dry laugh from somewhere in the woods beyond her as the village gates disappeared from sight in the early morning fog.
"Ren, hurry up!"
Ren breathed in the cool morning air as she turned away from the village.
"Coming Kai!"
She would be fine. Her life would find new directions; new people and she would have to make the best of it. Juro was gone, her clan was far to diminished to truly survive but she was not alone anymore. Ren would bloom each day into a stronger, more resolute person who could reach out and make real connections with others again as she continued to put one foot in front of the other into a life she could begin to be proud of.
It was a start.
A/N: This was originally published on Ao3 under my HastyGoat psude in 2019 and was moved over here as well. It was supposed to be 5 chapters and I rewrote that supposed last chapter 3 times. Nothing flowed. So now we're here. I have stupid amount of scrapped material.
I (happily) blame Tumblr for this. People were wondering who Rock Lee ended up with post show and this is me throwing my idea into the ring years after the fact. The idea for this fic haunted me for months. So basically, I wanted just wanted to write a fight scene for my own entertainment but it ended up publishing it here as a potential origin story for Metal Lee's mom.
Was this a self-indulgent fic for me? Yeah. Most writing is generally self-indulgent by nature. I'd been in a bit of a writing slump, had not written anything other then school papers for a while and needed to write something fun that was not a business paper. I enjoy writing action/ adventure pieces, wanted to do a loose Heroine's Journey attempt and explore post war society. When you find a niche I guess.
I wanted it to feel like a moderately entertaining filler arc so I hope I accomplished that much. If you read this to the end, thank you very much for your time and I hope you have a fantastic day!