1508!
1509!
1510!
1511!
And so on.
-
After years and years of living in the root base, Naruto was hardwired to wake up at 5 AM. Just because Danzō was nicer now, that didn't mean he wasn't strict at all anymore.
Sometime during the night, Hinata must have fallen back in her sleep, because when Naruto turned to his left to look at Hinata, his face was directly in between her legs. He flushed bright red and scrambled to sit up. He was wide awake now.
Naruto was familiar with all the... parts, because when Danzō started to see Naruto as the son he never had, his first fatherly action was to explain what happens when a man and woman love each other. Naruto was 3 at the time. He shivered upon the old memory.
~
"Okay that's it Naruto, I've told you EVERYTHING about men and women and their interactions. It's my duty as your surrogate father to- Naruto? Are you- you look pale are you- oh dear oh..."
~
Damn Kurama for giving him the ability to make memories at a young age. Maybe he should just focus on the day ahead.
Naruto left the Hyūga compound and noticed Shisui and Itachi fast asleep on the same tree as they were on last night.
He landed next to Shisui and had a devious idea.
He weaved one hand sign and, in a poof of smoke, a naked, rather busty woman walked out with clouds covering her breast and the rest (fool, ya fool).
Naruto tapped Shisui and whispered in a sultry tone, "Hey there cutie." The Uchiha only opened one eye, then he opened two as they both rolled back causing a single streak of blood to drip down from his nose. When he regained his vision and attempted to once again look at his new beloved, the only thing he saw was the ass of a particular blonde knucklehead.
"NARUTO YOU- woah woooah, ACK!" Out of shock, Shisui lost his balance and had fallen off the branch.
Naruto doubled over in laughter before shooting up out of pure fear, as a wave of KI (killing intent) from Shisui washed over him.
It was the most potent KI he had ever felt.
He heard Itachi suggest that he run. He agreed with Itachi's assessment of the situation, and bolted. Shisui was right behind him shouting his name and several profanities.
-
Naruto arrived at the Uchiha family home with a bump on another bump on his head, two black eyes, and two sore butt cheeks (no not like that, pervert!).
He heard Mikoto walking through the house. She stopped when she saw her former best friend's child in tremendous disarray, "Kami, Naruto-kun are you okay? What happened?"
Naruto pointed a shaky finger at Shisui, who put his hands up in a defensive position, "What are you looking at me for?" Shisui asked.
Pots and pans could be heard thrown around, glass was being broken, and Shisui was defending himself with things like, "Well he deserved it," and, "Why aren't you punishing him for tattling?"
Naruto eventually got up and, thanks to Kurama, all of his wounds were mostly healed. He went up to his room, changed into black pants, and an orange zip-up hoodie with a black Uzumaki logo on it.
The academy started at 9 and it was only 6:00. Naruto had plenty of time to kill, so he decided to head out to the training grounds. As he was beginning a new chapter in his life, Naruto decided to venture to a new training ground.
As he was walking up, he heard another person there. Said person was grunting and counting every couple of seconds, "Nine hundred eighty eight... Nine hundred eighty nine... If I cannot do 1000 push-ups, then I will sprint 500 laps around the training yard," Naruto decided to let the boy continue. After all, he didn't want to interfere and mess the kid up.
The boy got to 994 push-ups before he collapsed in a heap on the ground. Naruto was in shock. Not even any of Chinmoku, or anyone in Root, could do that many push-ups this early. "Hey," Naruto said as he walked out, "you're... awesome! My name's Naruto Uzumaki-ttebayo," he held out a thumbs up, waiting for a response.
"While it is nice to meet you, Naruto, I do not have much time to chat. My name is Rock Lee, and I will become the most splendid shinobi only using Taijutsu! That is why I must hurry and train," he exclaimed as he fist pumped.
He expected Naruto to gasp in shock or berate him for having an "impossible dream" but instead the blonde held his hand out.
"Well are we going to do 500 laps or no?"
-
The two had just reached their 478th lap. They had both been neck and neck the entire time. For someone Naruto's age, this kid was impressive. They had sprinted each and every lap.
Naruto could tell that Lee was slowly starting to deteriorate. "Come on, we have 22 laps to go! If either of us doesn't make 500 laps," Naruto gasped a couple breaths during the sprint and continued, "then we both have to do 2000 squats!"
Lee's head shot up at this. He didn't want to make Naruto do extra work because of his shortcomings. No. He had to push forward for Naruto. For his friend.
Lee sprinted faster than he ever had, pushing his limits far past the breaking point.
This is how he had to get stronger. This was the only way. The reason he could never complete his goals was not because they were too great, but because he was only doing it for himself. That day, Rock Lee learned a lesson that he would never forget, and he made his first friend.
Naruto Uzumaki really did deal out miracles.
•
The boys sat, panting, trying to regain their breath. Lee spoke in between ragged breaths, "Th-thank you Naruto," the boy was tearing up, "You are my first friend, and the reason I completed those sprints."
Naruto shook his head, "What are you talking about, Baka," Lee tilted his head, "I didn't move your legs. I'm not a vantuloguist or something."
'What in the hell is that? A vantuloguist?'
'You know, like puppets and stuff.'
'A ventriloquist?'
'That's what I said," the two mind entities facepalmed.
Naruto broke from his thought. Lee began to speak, before he was cut off by Naruto, "Besides, you shouldn't be thanking me yet," Lee looked at him and tilted his head, "we haven't done 3000 squats yet," Both boys smiled as they stood up and began the squats.
-
"2964!" They both shouted,
"Come on Lee don't lose it... now. I see you... slowing down. Don't let me... finish before you," Lee nodded at his friends encouragement and continued on with newfound fire in his eyes.
( )
'That sounded... a little raunchy.'
'Huh? No it didn't.'
'Here. Listen to this,' Kurama cleared his throat, 'Ungh- I'm gonna to finish,' he said in a high pitched voice, getting a full-out laugh from Nuibari.
'And...?'
'That's not dirty to you at all?" Nuibari entered another laughing fit, 'Finish? You know? Like-'
'You guys are weird.'
( )
The two friends continued their squats, despite the interesting argument occurring in Naruto's mind.
-
After 20 or so more squats, a group of 4 bigger kids stepped towards the two partners.
"Well well, looks like caterpillars found an even bigger freak to be friends with," Naruto heard what the new kid said and grimaced. Naruto knew that he could definitely beat the shit out of these kids, and their words meant nothing... But...
He couldn't lie, it hurt being called a demon. He felt that Lee was hurt too, but not just for himself. Lee squinted as he stared ahead. He clenched his fist and-
"Lee listen to me," Naruto stated, "ignore them- You need to learn to block people like them out," Lee nodded and the two continued to count.
"Oh so we're not good enough for the two village losers," the main bully announced as he marched forward.
"That's correct... 2993," Naruto replied without breaking his concentration. In his mind, he, Kurama, and Nuibari had created a fist bump triangle in celebration.
"Little shi-" the bully was cut off by a large man in green spandex wearing orange leg warmers.
He practically screamed, "Now I am not one to interfere in the battlefield known as the vicious battleground known as youth. I only ask that you allow these two humble warriors to continue in their exercise until they are finished before engaging in a friendly and productive duel."
The man appeared out of thin air, but now his presence was definitely felt. The boys stumbled back before scowling and crossing their arms.
'My word! What an unfashionable man.'
'You could do with not being so judgemental. You're literally a pinprick.'
'Well maybe I should just sew that mouth shut.'
'That would be fine with me. Would give me an excuse to not use these fire insults I come up with.'
'Oh yeah, well-'
'Can both of you shut up,' they both froze, 'I'm trying to focus.'
'I'll remember this, fishy cake.'
'Yeah... me... uh- me too.'
"2998!"
"2999!" Naruto could tell that Lee was about to collapse, "Lee! One more! Don't make me do 2000 punches!"
Lee heard this and was immediately reinvigorated, finishing off the squats before falling into a heap on the ground.
'Kurama, can you spare a little chakra for this guy?'
Kurama scoffed, 'Right. You trying to kill him? Some friend.'
'Yeah like you would know one thing about friendship,' Naruto yelled as he held out a fist in his mind, 'He'll be fine. The kid did 3000 push-ups.'
'No, he was aiming for 1000,' Nuibari held up a finger, 'And he was 24 short.'
'Oh can it, will ya?'
'I'll spare some chakra. But don't expect me to take responsibility for what happens.'
Naruto scoffed inwardly as he stood up in the real world, 'Like you would anyway.'
He moved in front of his exhausted friend and put his hand out. Lee clasped his hand and stood up.
"Alright Mr. GreenMan, we can take it from here," Naruto muttered between haggard breaths. The green man backed away, allowing the boys to face off in the:
'Gladiatorial arena of youthfulness and camaraderie' the man thought as he beamed, his magnificent teeth shining in the sunlight.
The two groups of boys faced each other, Lee's gi tattered and open revealing his undershirt, Naruto's hoodie unzipped and only half on. They definitely didn't look to have the advantage.
Several students began to drift to the area upon hearing the commotion. Some teachers came out, only to be stopped by the green man who convinced them to return inside.
Naruto cracked his knuckles and ran towards the four boys, Lee following at his side.
To say that Naruto and Lee pummeled the boys was an understatement. Hell, Naruto threw and landed only 8 'punches.' He was supposed to stay undercover, so he couldn't show his whole strength. He only put enough in each of his, as he called them, 'consecutive normal punches' to disable some immobilizing chakra points for around 20 minutes.
Lee turned into a rabid beast. Naruto couldn't keep track of him, withdrawing to hopefully avoid the boys blind wraith.
Maybe he gave him a little too much chakra.
'That boy is about as indelicate as they come,' Nuibari muttered, covering her mouth out of pure shock at the carnage.
'No responsibility for this. All you.'
Even when the green man attempted to jump in and stop the fight, he was launched comically into the tree 10 yards back. Only then did Lee realize what had happened.
He abruptly came to a stop before falling to his knees and shouting, "I am so sorry to everyone, and especially to you Naruto," Naruto let out a small laugh out of shock, luckily soft enough that Lee couldn't hear.
He began to walk towards Lee as he continued to spout apology after apology to everyone in the crowd. 'Well at least it's helping me memorize peoples names,' Naruto thought as he approached his hunched over friend, placing a hand on his shoulder.
"It's okay Lee," the boy stated, "We stood up for each other. Those guys were bullies anyway. Besides, Mr. GreenMan is fine, look," Lee looked up, tears streaming down his face. He saw the spandex-clad man shoot him a thumbs up.
The crying stopped for a moment. He looked up at Naruto, a genuine smile plastered on his face. Lee saw someone that, in the three hours he knew him, taught him more about life than any other had before. Lee quickly shot up before burying his head in Naruto's chest and squeezing every ounce of matter in Naruto's body.
Naruto, Kurama, and Nuibari let out a sharp, pained exhale as they felt their entire being squeezed into a crumpled ball of soul.
"THANK YOU NARUTO!" Was the gist of what Lee said over the next 5 minutes, shaking a now unconscious and limp Naruto. Lee finally let go as more and more students began to clear out.
One student remained in the yard watching the two.
"Ano... He's in my class, I can take him," a quiet, high voice practically whispered.
"Oh, you are Hinata-sama!" Lee Bowed to the girl, "My classmate Neji talks about you 'constantly to anyone and everyone', as my teacher put it last year," he remained bowing. Naruto crumpled to the floor as Lee released him from his grasp. Naruto snored on the ground, mumbling something about a sunny place.
"N-Neji-niisan? Has been saying nice things about me?" Hinata asked with a mixture of surprise and excitement in her voice.
Lee remained bowing, "Well I would not say that they are exactly nice things, Hinata-sama!" Hinata slumped forward with a whimper as Lee picked up the sleeping boy, who muttered, "he's bald???"
"Lead the way Hinata-sama!" Lee shouted in her face with a thumbs up, causing her hair to stick up.
Hinata and Lee began to walk towards the school building. Hinata discovered something that bothered her when she used her byakugan in order to see if Lee's two victims were still alive.
Disabled chakra points.
"Hm. Ano... do you know the gentle fist style?" Lee didn't respond, "Erm... I
hope you don't mind me asking, but, what was your name?"
"Oh, sorry, I am Rock Lee! It is my goal to become a splendid shinobi using Taijutsu alone."
Hinata smiled, "Well I suppose that is my goal as well," Lee tilted his head, "The H-Hyūga c-clan doesn't really allow elemental ninjutsu. So if I b-become a ninja- ano- I can really only use taijutsu."
"There are plenty of successful shinobi from the Hyūga clan, correct?" Hinata nodded, "Well then I know it is possible!"
"Did you not believe it was before?"
Lee hung his head, "Well... I was having doubts. I learned something special today, and I think it will make everything much easier from here on out."
"Well I'm glad to hear that," Hinata smiled again, "Ano- I am Sorry for asking again, but do y-you know the gentle fist style?"
Lee tilted his head, "Gentle fist? "
Hinata nodded, "It's my c-clan's fighting style."
"Your stutter," Lee remarked, "It only seems to manifest when you talk of your clan. Is there a reason?"
Hinata looked down to hide her panicked expression, "Ano... ano-"
"If I may be blunt, the gentle fist doesn't sound like the most effective style," he fist-pumped, causing Naruto to fall to the ground. The blonde mumbled something about an owl and a weasel, "Strikes and blows should be strong and fast. Gentleness and subtlety have no use in a fight," he punched the air in front of him, "You must be mad at your clan for choosing a failing taijutsu style. You are even unable to talk coherently about your clan because of it."
Lee picked Naruto back up, and Hinata held her head low and rubbed the back of her neck, "Right. Yes... ano, who was fighting with you?"
"It was just me and Naruto against those four bullies. Why?"
"Oh, ano... nothing," could Naruto have disabled their chakra points? It sure was an interesting conundrum.
On the other hand, it wasn't really her business. He probably just got lucky somehow.
Yeah, and disabled the major chakra points for the arms and legs?
Fat chance.
-
The door to Naruto's classroom burst off it's hinges to reveal a boy with rather intense eyebrows holding a passed out Naruto. The latter muttered something about "an old man with treasure in his chin (X marks the spot)". A small, dark haired girl, covering her mouth with her hand, blushing and looking away, standing beside the two.
The bell rang and Lee jumped, causing Hinata to jump as well.
"I AM LATE! ON THE FIRST DAY!?" Lee went pale as he disappeared, "I'M SORRY ABOUT THE DOOR!" Naruto fell directly to the ground and Hinata attempted to catch him. Lee could be heard down the hall crying and apologizing for being late.
"Sorry, he's my friend," Sasuke spoke up, pointing to the boy.
Sasuke dragged the boy painfully and slowly up the steps by his feet.
'There has to be a better way to do this,' Sasuke thought. He couldn't come up with anything, and continued to drag the boy up, causing him to hit his head on every step.
Hinata followed close behind, and picked the boy's head up.
Sasuke initially sent a poisonous look back, 'How dare someone try to help me!? I clearly have this under control!' He thought to himself. He glanced back to say something sly before he realized who it was, 'So this must be Naruto's girlfriend that Shisui was talking about,' he smiled as he allowed her to help him carry Naruto.
He also let her help him place the boy down in the middle seat in the back row.
"Uh," Iruka spoke as he turned to the blackboard, "Uh, okay... ahem- now that we're all settled in, let's introduce ourselves," Iruka turned to notice that the class was, in fact, not settled in.
The first day of the academy was off to a great start! Especially for all of the girls in the class...
They all looked back at the now seated boy, only to realize that he wasn't wearing an undershirt. His hoodie was completely unzipped and barely clinging to his glistening body.
Everybody either let out a loud squeal, gasp, or 'wooah' at the boys model-like body. Like is this kid on ninja steroids?! Is he really 7?!
Lots of the male students grew red from jealousy, and all the girls, besides Hinata (who just downright fainted), sprung shooting nosebleeds. They all followed Hinata's example shortly thereafter. Iruka was shouting, attempting to get the class' attention. He gave up after a while, realizing that 60% of the class was unconscious.
Sasuke realized what was going and quickly put Naruto's jacket back on before zipping it back up. This allowed the class to regain their composure.
"Now that everyone- er most people- have regained consciousness," the teacher looked to Naruto, who was still fast asleep, "why don't we introduce ourselves?" He was met with silence, and Naruto muttering about a big sewing needle and a fox, "Okay... I'll go first! My name is Iruka Umino, and I am your teacher here at the academy. My favorite food is ramen!"
At that moment Naruto shot up and shouted, "RAMEN!" The class looked at him half-scowling, half with hearts in their eyes.
Iruka tilted his head and asked him to introduce himself. Naruto nodded and began, "My name is Naruto Uzumaki. My favorite food is also ramen, but I like it the most," Iruka smirked.
'Psh. Yeah right,' he thought.
"My least favorite thing is waiting three minutes for the ramen to cool off. I will become the greatest Hokage- Dattebayo!" He was met with silent stares. He looked around and he saw Hinata sitting right next to him, "Oh! Hey Hinata-chan!" He said as he leaned his head in her shoulder and promptly fell asleep.
The entire class threw whispers back and forth amongst each other:
"Did he say Chan?"
( )
"Are those two... together?"
( )
"He's reaaally cute,"
( )
"Hey Shikamaru, do you want to see who can fart the loudest?"
"What?? Choji, what the hell are you talking about?"
( )
"I think Sasuke is definitely cuter."
( )
"Ah- Choji!!"
( )
Most of the whispers Hinata could hear were slowly turning her a bright red, causing her to feel woozy.
Iruka knew that this was going to be a long 4 years. And he needed a new door. He pulled o out the drawer on his desk. He sighed in relief when he saw the stash of miniature whiskey bottles lining the inside. He looked up, 'Thank you, Inari-sama, for alcohol.'
-
I am very proud of this chapter. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did! For any Rock Lee fans, your welcome for finally including him. I've noticed a very scarce amount of Lee in other fics, but then again maybe I'm just reading the wrong stuff? ʅ（‿）ʃ
Anyway~
I had a lot of fun writing this chapter and about Lee specifically. I also wanted to make a syntax description of all of the differing voices and inner voices.
"Regular person talking"
'Regular person thinking'
'Nuibari'
'Kurama'
"Loud character (basically Gai and maybe Lee) talking"
'Loud character thinking'
If there are voices I missed I will add them to the next one, which will be at the top of the next chapter. Have a good day/night (or else!)
Jerry out!