Forgotten

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from Naruto (Shippuden). This is a story inspired by the original made up for entertainment purposes only. - Krystal

Chapter 6: Team Gai

"Did you hear, senpai? Gai is going to start leading his own team of genins." said a man with a rather squared face and big dark eyes.

Kakashi nodded. He sighed. He, himself, has tried to guide some genins, but before he could teach them anything, they failed his test. Knowing Gai, he wouldn't do that. He believed that only hard work matters. If the genins showed that they were willing to work hard, he would pass them without any questions.

It was a nice afternoon in the village. Yuki, Kakashi and that other man was sitting by the river sipping on their tea.

"Do you know who is in his team?" asked Kakashi casually.

"Not really, but I heard the number one rookie this year is in his team." replied the man with an admiration undertone.

"Would that rookie be more talented than you, Tenzo?" asked Kakashi with a smirk on his face.

Yuki couldn't help but giggle at that comment. It has been a while she last heard Kakashi call that man Tenzo, and knowing the story behind it sure was funny.

"Senpai!" he said, taken aback. "I don't know how talented that kid is, but he is from the Hyuga clan. He was the kid who lost his dad in the Hyuga affair..."

Yuki's smile suddenly disappeared. After Itachi's actions against the Uchiha, Yuki has tried really hard to forget the event and the images associated with it. Although the Hyugas are not the same clan, the story of Hizashi Hyuga was just as painful to Yuki as Itachi's sacrifice. Yuki stood up and threw away her empty cup of tea. She waved a silent goodbye to Kakashi and the so-called Tenzo and headed to the Hokage's office.

She made it to the door of the Third's office. She knocked gently and waited for his signal to come in. As she walked in, he was bent over a huge pile of papers, reading each word carefully. She remained silent to let him finish whatever he was reading. She looked at him with a smile. He had grown old. His back was more hunched over than before, his wrinkles dug deep into his skin and his eyes weren't as clear as before. This man really looked like a grandfather now.

"I was expecting your visit today. It is the first of the month, after all."

Yuki nodded and handed him an envelope.

"Until when are you going to support Sasuke? Almost all your salary goes to him every month. He doesn't even know of your kindness."

"He... He asked me to take care of his little brother. I can't exactly do anything else at the moment. At the very least, I can ensure he has somewhat of a comfortable life."

The Hokage reluctantly took the envelope and sighed. Yuki did not say more and turned around and began walking towards the door. Before she could open the door, someone knocked on it. The Hokage allowed the person in. It was none other than Gai. He looked down at her as she couldn't help but stare at his thick eyebrows and ridiculous green get-up. He also seemed to think she was weird looking, after all, what little girl has such white hair.

"This is Yuki, my adopted grandchild."

She was about to leave until she heard a loud deep voice yell out:

"Nice to meet you Yuki!"

She was taken aback by his enthusiasm of meeting her. She gave him a small nod of acknowledgement and left. She didn't listen into the conversation that was about to happen. Her thoughts, however, started to wonder how his team would be lead by this man. It was her day off and she decided to go have a look at this team that many were talking about because of the presence of the Hyuga's prodigy.

Tracking down people was one of Yuki's specialty, not that everything else isn't as well. With only the remains of chakra that was on Gai, she could track down the three chakra that belonged to the three genins he was in charge. It lead to the forest behind the hills where she used to spend her days. Upon her arrival, she witnessed a boy with long dark hair send another that resembled Gai with his thick eyebrows flying across the area and hitting a tree without difficulty. Training. She thought. There was a girl at the scene as well who gasped at the fight that was happening. It's obviously over. That Gai doppelganger probably won't be able to move for a bit. She shook her head. That boy that sent him flying was gifted, there's no doubt about that. To her surprise, however, the boy that had fallen stood up and wiped off the dirt on his clothes and face:

"Not yet, Neji."

"Lee. Can't you see that you are destined to always lose? A ninja that cannot even use his chakra properly is bound to fail."

The boy, Lee, clenched his fists and charged towards the other boy with a loud scream. He was quickly avoided and tripped and landed face first into the ground. Without a drop of compassion or sympathy, the boy named Neji kicked him to turn him around onto his back and stepped on him. Lee was now bleeding from the fall.

"Neji, stop. Lee, stop picking a fight with him." yelled the girl in desperation.

"Not yet!" yelled Lee. He grabbed onto Neji's foot and tried to make his fall. It failed, unfortunately. Lee was, instead, thrown into the air and was about to land very badly onto a rock.

Yuki couldn't watch any longer. She jumped into the scene and softened the rocky ground with her earth jutsu. Lee landed on the ground without a sound. The other girl quickly rushed to his side to see if he was doing alright. Neji undid what seemed to be his byakugan. He closed his eyes and sighed.

"This is a waste of my time."

He turned away and began heading back in direction of the village.

"Not yet. I'm not done yet." murmured Lee.

"I think that's enough for today." said Yuki firmly as she made her way next to Lee as well. She began healing him. "I can only give you the very most basic first aid. You will have to go to the hospital later today for make sure there isn't any wounds left untreated."

He calmed down at her words. He thanked her under his breathe.

"You shouldn't meddle in others' business." said Neji from far away.

"You shouldn't be hurting someone from your village this badly." Yuki replied coldly.

"He asked for it." he said as he turned to look at her now.

"You obviously overdid it."

He smirked and turned his back to her.

"Don't blame Neji. I asked him to train with me. It's me who wasn't strong enough." said Lee as he was starting to feel a little better as a the pain lessened.

Yuki smiled at that comment. She had never met someone so positive before.

"I'm Lee, by the way."

"I'm Tenten." said the girl with a big smile. "You seem to be even younger than us, but I can tell you are quite skilled. Can I ask..."

"I'm Yuki. I'm not as good as you give me credit for."

Tenten giggled: "You talk like you are much much older."

Yuki scratched the back of her head and smiled in embarrassment. Now that she thought about it, it was probably because she was mostly around people much older than her. She had become an old soul. She looked around and noticed that Neji was now completely gone.

"He was..."

"Hyuga Neji, my eternal rival. One day, I will defeat him for sure. Sensei told me that with hard work anything would be possible." said Lee as he gave Yuki the biggest smile and a thumb up.

Eternal rival. I've heard that somewhere before. It was Gai who declared that Kakashi would be his eternal rival right? I guess that's one way of becoming stronger. She thought to herself. Without the shadow of a doubt, this team has definitely caught her attention.

End of Chapter 6

I hope you enjoyed this short chapter.

xoxox

Krystal