AN: I am very sorry for the long awaited update, I have no justifiable excuse to give.

I would like to clear something up though.

This fiction is not a LeeXSaku story. It is more so a prequel/side story to my other story, which is a NaruXSaku. I can see why I caused such confusion, I again apologize for that and have made corrections to ensure that doesn't happen again.

However, I will be passing along subtle hints for Lee and someone else (and no...I don't think Lee is gay thank you.).

Eagleman ~ Fixed my little plot hole, cheers. If you are asking about the nun chuck reference to Gai, we have seen him use them in the anime version of Kisame's fight. If you are talking about the style itself...well I made all that up.

Finally, a promise is a promise


Chapter 5 Lawful...Leeful Part 1


Hachidori mura or humming bird village was your typical country town. The streets only had a few people walking around, mostly doing tasks if anything else, it was very unlike the usual swamped streets of Konoha. Just like any country town as well though, most of the people were able to recognise those that were outsiders from the community. The nin dog, a pink haired kunoichi, and a spandex wearer with unnaturally thick eyebrows were an example that earned people to turn their heads and study the strangers.

Ignoring the puzzling glances though, Lee turned to Sakura, "I feel we should speak to our employer first before beginning our search Sakura-san."

"Lee-san, relax, you don't need to check everything with me."

"My apologies." Turning back, the miniature Gai then approached a stranger and started asking them for directions.

"Mayor? O-h, you mean Teijo. Heh, he dreams he was mayor of this small town...He works at the bar in town, just shout out his name, and you will find him there."

Taking the villagers advice, they ventured into the central parts of the town, and sure enough, they found a very old fashioned building that looked more like a lodge than a bar from the outside. The only indication that it was the right place was the wooden sign that read 'Teijo's bar' overhanging on the one man guarded entrance.

Making to enter, the man that they guessed was a bouncer placed up his hand, "I am sorry, but that dog will have to wait outside."

Pakkun huffed in annoyance at the man, causing him to look in surprise at the small dog, "How cold, I am toilet trained you know."

"I-It-It!-"

Walking past the stunned man and entering, they at first thought maybe they entered the wrong place. The 'bar' looked more like a general dining hall if any, with only a long counter up the back with freshly cleaned drinks stacked for usage.

Walking past a few tables, they were addressed by a mid forties man, who was wearing rather casual clothes for being on the job. He had a stubble black beard, with his hair tied back with a red bandana.

Placing down a glass he was cleaning, his brown eyes welcomed his new company, "Welcome to Teijo's bar. What can I get you kids? name your drink, as long as it is not sake I hope."

"I regret to inform you we are here on official business, we are looking for Teijo-san."

The elderly man first held surprise, but quickly shook it off and extended out his hand, "Then look no further. Your forehead protectors...ah, you must be the Konoha ninja I requested."

Firmly shaking his hand, Lee nodded, "Hai, we are here to apprehend the bandits causing you misfortunes."

"Misfortunes indeed, the little thieves struck again last night."

"What items have been stolen Teijo-san?"

"Let me show you."

Disappearing into a door way, Teijo soon returned after he got someone else to man the bar, "Please follow me." Leading them back out of the building, passing the still dazed guard, Teijo lead them to the far side of town. Soon they arrived in an open patch field, that was full of growing fruits and vegetables. Both shinobi noticed off the bat at the numerous poorly dug up holes that were all over the place, "Honestly, it takes so freaking long to grow these things." Teijo muttered.

"Does this place usually have items stolen?"

The man nodded to Sakura's question, while Pakkun was sniffing around, "Mostly every few days or so. We come out here and notice the same thing happen each time."

Lee was paying more attention to the nin dog, who soon turned his head and gave a nod. Before the dog could speak though, Teijo spoke up, "That is not all they hit last night though."

Ducking back into town again, he brought them to a cream coloured house, with a sign that read 'Hachidori clinic' stuck on the fine timbered door. Leading them in, he pointed to a shattered window in the corner of the waiting room.

"They broke in here as well, and stole some stuff."

Walking up to the shattered glass for closer inspection, Sakura noticed something on a shard of glass, "They must have entered bare foot, or smashed the window open with their hands...there is blood on these pieces of glass."

Stepping up, Pakkun sniffed what Sakura had pointed out, "You are right. I have a pretty solid scent that we can use to follow now. It is a different scent though to the one that was in the open field, probably this one's accomplice."

"...Have I been drinking again?"

"Do not be alarmed Teijo-san, Pakkun-kun can indeed speak, despite how bizarre that is." Lee pointed out, while Sakura and Pakkun both had a line of sweat run down their heads.

'Yes, he/I can talk...get over it already!' Both mused.

Trying to move on, Sakura asked, "What other items have been stolen?"

"All sorts, mostly clothing, sheets, and other kinds of food."

"I still don't understand why they would rob here of all places." All heads turned to see what they guessed was the doctor of the clinic, since he was wearing the traditional attire most doctors wore back at the Konoha hospital.

The doctor continued his explanation while scratching his short blond hair, "This clinic treats its patients for free, and it's not as if I discriminate who I treat. What purpose they have to steal from here is completely beyond me."

Sakura being the medic nin she was, voiced her curiosity, "What sorts of supplies did they take?"

"Mostly random stuff, like cough medicine, painkillers, bandages...just stuff that anybody could buy over a counter."

"No addictive drugs or medications?"

"That was what I thought they may have been after, but no, none of that was even touched."

Lee was about to call it there, but Sakura continued with the questions, "Have there been any robberies of expensive items?"

Teijo looked up at the ceiling as if trying to recall something, and then shook his head, "Not really, maybe an odd piece of jewellery every now and then, but nothing drastic...not like we have anything worth that much out here, you know?"

Nibbling her lower lip, she nodded to Lee to show she was done, and was now waiting on his instructions. Lee got back to what he was going to say before, "Please leave the rest to us Teijo-san, we will report back to you once we have settled this matter."


Now outside of town, and following Pakkun's lead at walking speed through the forest, Lee now could ask, "What were you trying to find out before Sakura-san?"

"I am just curious, shouldn't bandits be more interested in things like jewellery, or other items of expensive value. Taking things like food, things to keep warm, and basic medical supplies, those aren't things you take for profit or even creational use...they are things you need to survive."

Lee took in the new information and looked down to watch his feet walk systematically through the grass, 'She has a point...'

"Hey, look at this."

Pakkun made an audible sniff on an object that looked like a cabbage, "It's the same scent from before, looks like they were travelling in a group of a dozen or so. This was where they met up it would seem." Looking around the area, the clear signs of somebody being here before showed Pakkun's idea as true.

"So we must be closing in then?" Pakkun nodded, while continuing on their trail.

"That is another thing that is bothering me Lee-san. I mean sure, typical bandits are reckless, but even they aren't this bad." Their guide stopping suddenly made both look down, to see another dropped item, this one being a loaf of bread.

"To leave behind the items they have stolen...they either were in a hurry, or were hauling too much stuff for them to carry properly."

Lee shared his thoughts aloud, looking around again to see another dropped item, "I think I am starting to agree with you, Sakura-san."

Following the trail further into the forest, Pakkun again paused for a moment, "We are very close now, and I am picking up many different scents now." As if it was an order, the trio jumped up into the trees, and proceeded in a more discrete manner.

Even if their targets were not shinobi, it did not mean it would be wise to underestimate their abilities. After a short burst through the tree's, they came to a rocky hill. Still in the trees, they were able to depict the concaved entrance to a sort of cave. The sight of a campfire in front of the entrance was more than enough for the two shinobi, "So this is where they are."

"I am sensing at least two dozen, maybe more inside the cavern."

"That's a fair few." Sakura stated the obvious, while Lee was trying to think.

"Shall we just venture inside then?"

"That may not be a good idea lee-san, they might have trapped the place."

"I see...Perhaps we should wait for them to come to us then, since they will surely exit the cave later during the day."

"Hai, I think that would be the best idea Lee-san."


Night fall eventually set in, but to their surprise, there had been no motion coming out of the cavern. Pakkun yawned widely, revealing his pointed teeth for a good several seconds as if in deliberate exaggeration, "Still nothing."

"Thank you for the ever helpful report." Sakura replied with a groan, while Lee still had his eyes fixed on the dark entrance.

Pakkun scratched his ear with his hind leg, "Well, since we are just going to sit here and wait...did you hear about the new flavour of shampoo our brand is releasing soon?" Sakura's head literally hung, as she almost lost balance while sitting on the tree branch.

Finally recovered, she glared, "Not this crap now!"

"Floral flavour from what I hear, it is said to smell as fresh as cherry blossoms themselves."

Sakura had to restrain herself from showing genuine surprise, but shook her head, "I said not now!"

Lee finally pulled his gaze off the cave to hold pure confusion, "Sakura-san uses the same shampoo as Pakkun-kun....how peculiar."

Sakura violently twitched, while her skin turned a paling white, "Same shampoo...as a dog."

Ignoring her mumbles, Lee focused back on the cavern, "I see someone coming." Pakkun and Sakura dropped their one sided discussion, and focused to see a flickering orange glow coming from within the cave moving closer.

"I sense two people coming." Pakkun whispered, as the teens continued to watch silently, as they could now hear the cracking sound of a fire torch reach their ears.

They could just see the flames of the torch whip up, being held high by a person they could not see well. Suddenly the flame disappeared, and soon erupted in a roaring fire that they guessed was the camp fire being lit. Soon they heard the bandits start to speak, and both went agape in question as to why their thieves sounded unlike a typical thug, but sounded more innocent and concerned. Listening to the conversation from the start, it was noted the tense atmosphere between the two people.

"Alright, let's get that meat o-"

"Hachiro-niichan...what are we going to do about Ume?"

"...I don't know."

"We need to get her to a doctor! the cough medicine isn't worki-"

"Baka! We can't! They will just lock us up for stealing all the stuff we have!"

"Maybe we can tell them about Hisashi, maybe they can help-"

"He will kill us all if he finds out!"

"My sister is dying damn it, what else can I do?!"

Both shinobi looked at each other in shock, not only by the heated conversation between the two, but by just how high pitched their voices were. It was then that both realised their 'thugs or bandits', were by far no such thing...they were just children.

"Sakura-san...I don't know what to do in this situation."

"...Me neither." They still had a mission to do, but with this sudden discovery, they were literally stuck. Criminals or not, they were only children, and from what they were hearing they weren't stealing for ill intent, but just trying to survive...what would they do?

"I'm sorry Jun, I don't know what to do...Maybe we can ask Hisashi to help when he comes around agai-"

"He doesn't care about us. Niichan please...just let me leave with her, I don't care what happens as long as she is safe."

"Jun...what am I going to do to look out for the others with you gone too?"

"It appears that this Hachiro-kun is in charge of them."

"Ah. Lee-san...I want to help them."

"Hai, I understand what you are trying to ask, I would punish myself if we did not aid these poor kids somehow. "

"You should speak to the boy when you can, find out who this 'Hisashi' guy is...sounds like there is more reason to why these kids are living like this."

Lee nodded to Pakkun, and jumped down from the tree, "Let's go then, Sakura-san."

Not even bothering with using stealth, they approached the fire, but due to the slope of the hill, they were not completely visible. Now being able to see the entire scene, there were two boys that looked to be pre-teen of age. Both were wearing clothes that looked like they didn't fit them perfectly, giving the assumption they weren't their own clothing's. The boys both were covered in bruising and dirt, showing just how poor of a life style they were living.

They were near equal in height, being just up to Lee's midsection. One of the boys they guessed was Hachiro, had a sheathed dagger that looked very rusted clipped to his side. Hachiro had hair so dirty, one would have mistook him for a brunet than a blond at first sight. Hachiro's golden coloured eyes were fixed at Jun.

Jun was in a similar state to Hachiro, only he had jet black rough hair, and had his hand poorly bandaged, that was stained with dried blood. Neither of the boys spotted the shinobi now clearly visible on the other side of the fire, since they were too distracted in their conversation.

"There are heaps of others here that can help you out Niichan, everyone here owes you anyway."

"Maybe we can be of assistance."

Sakura's calm announcement still made both boys jump and snap their heads to over the fire to see their new guests.

Sakura took a step forward raising her hands to the fear already forming in the children's eyes, but as if her gesture had made something snap, Hachiro pulled out his dagger, "Jun! go get everybody out of here through the escape route! I will hold them here!"

"B-B-But-"

"GO NOW!" Reluctantly listening, Jun turned and started to run. The boy connected with a green object though, which soon revealed to be Lee, causing Jun to fall on his back after losing balance. Hachiro turned wide eyed, but before he could raise his rusted dagger, a firm but non threatening hand took hold of his wrist.

Looking back again in fear, another hand rested on his shoulder, as Sakura now was knelt at his level in front of him, "Easy, it's ok. We are not here to harm you, or anybody."

Her warming and welcoming smile was enough to make him drop his dagger, letting a 'clank' be heard as it crashed on the rocky surface.

"W-W-Who are you?"

"I am Haruno Sakura, and this is Rock Lee. We were both sent here to investigate robberies in a country town not far from here, but relax, we aren't here to take you away."

Sensing his tension, she released his now limp hand, "We would like to help you, but first let me see this young girl that is sick."

Jun finally was pulled out of his shock by Sakura's words, and pushed himself off the ground and ran up to her, "Y-you're a doctor?!"

"More or less, hai."

The moment Sakura had finished, Jin furiously pulled on her hand, while breaking down into tears of relief, "P-please, come and help my little sister!"

"Of course, please take me to her."

"W-Wa-...-it..." Hachiro's died off request went unheard, as Sakura got to her feet.

"I will come along too." Pakkun stated, following Sakura's tail, neither boy seeming to notice the dog speaking due to the situation. Passing Lee, Sakura gave him a nod, as he and Hachiro were now the only people standing outside.

Giving in to the rush in his head, Hachiro fell to his knees while placing both his hands on his adrenaline rushing head, "What's going on?"

Feeling a supportive hand on his shoulder, he looked up to be greeted by a nice guy pose, "I know this all seems quite sudden, but we are in the same state of confusion too. If we are not intruding, would you please explain to us your situation."


Sakura wasn't given the opportunity to survey her surroundings as she was towed deeper into the darkness of the cave by the still desperately pulling child, so she just kept up with him. She finally saw the dim hue of a torch light, and when she came around the corner, she froze in shock at what she saw. Kids between the ages of seven to possibly twelve were everywhere, each in a similarly poor state like Jun and Hachiro were. The area was surprisingly quite large, with the ceiling hidden by darkness, as several set up torches were all that lit up the area. She could make it in the cavern numerous items that were reported stolen, including the farm crops Teijo had shown them earlier. The good couple of dozen children all looked wide eyed in partial fear of her presence, which she returned with her shocked gaze. She broke the stare off when Jun pulled on her hand.

"Please!" He begged, earning her to run with him to the other side.

Coming to the end of the room, she saw a lone child squeezing out water that she at first mistook as mud from a rag, and placed it on a forehead of a young girl that could not have been more than seven years old. Coming now to in front of the child, she took in the horrid details more. The girl had long black hair that was hung lose that reached down to her shoulders, and her eyes were jammed shut tight as if in deep pain.

She was covered by several blankets, with her head resting on a pillow. The girls blue lips were partially opened, revealing her furiously chattering teeth with each very laboured and mucus muffled breaths. Removing the rag to feel her sweating forehead, she almost jumped back by the high fever.

Sniffles to her side made her break eye contact from the barely conscious girl, "P-Please tell me you can help..."

Putting on a smile, she placed a hand on the boy's shoulder, "Calm down, how long has she been like this for?"

"S-Several days now...she was fine one minute, then next second..."

"Ok, let me just look at her for a bit longer. Just relax, ok."

Brushing over his bandaged hand, she brought it to her eyes, "While I am doing that, please remove those bandages so I can check that injury too." Quickly glancing around again, she saw many of the other kids had injuries that were also poorly treated...she had a lot of work to do at this rate.

Focusing back on her other patient, she again touched her warm forehead, "Her name was Ume-chan right?" Jun nodded in response, while rubbing his sore eyes. Seeing Ume weakly squint open her blue eyes, Sakura greeted her with a soft smile, "Hey Ume-chan. I am Sakura, I am just going to take a look at you so I can help you ok?" The silent girl never replied, but weakly nodded as she closed her eyes again, after letting out a heavy puss filled cough.

"She doesn't look the greatest." Issuing a glare at Pakkun to 'shut up', she got to work.

Gently leaning forward, Sakura rested her head on the side of her chest, feeling bone underneath the sheets...Ume was like the others, literally skin and bone from starvation. Using chakra to amplify her hearing, she listened to Ume's laboured breaths, hearing just how clogged up her airways were, and the fluid moving around in her lungs. Ume emitted a violent cough, and Sakura could hear just how sore the muscles were from doing such action relentlessly.

Sitting up again, she felt her pulse, only to discover it was beating so fast, it may as well have been classified as a constant vibration. Taking out her trembling hand from under the sheet, she then inspected her fingernails, to see little colour in them, since they were black. Returning her hand under the sheet, she looked down in sympathy for the girl.

"Not that I am of the medical area of expertise, this looks a lot like..."

"Ah Pakkun, it is..."

Sakura didn't even need to do a blood test to know what she was looking at, it all made sense with the terrible living conditions alone. The lack of food and proper nourishment also would explain why it is so severe, because her immune system is so weak from not eating a healthy balance or load. She had seen some cases of this type of illness before in Konoha, but never were they of this level. She was looking at the worst case of full blown Pneumonia she had ever seen as of her training in being a medic nin yet.

'She is badly dehydrated, and if that water they have here is what they are really drinking, it will only do more harm than good. First though, I need to clear the fluid out of her lungs, so at least it will give her some desperately needed relief.'

Placing both her hands over Ume's chest, she began her task with medical jutsu, earning many surprised gasped behind her. It appeared her presence had attracted a young audience, but she didn't look away from her duty.

"A-Are you a ninja?"

Sakura lightly chuckled at the question she heard come from a child behind her, and paused to tap her headband of a forehead protector, "That is right, I am a Konoha ninja."

Ignoring the surprised gasps, Sakura soon finished clearing the air ways, her efforts being shown by Ume's breath's relaxing partially.

Bringing Ume to sitting up, Sakura reached into her weapon pouch for her canteen bottle and pressed it to Ume's lips, "Please drink as much as you can Ume-chan." After several mouth full's, Sakura pulled the bottle away so she could then reach into her pouch again for a small red pill.

"This is a strong pain reliever, it should help you relax and get some good well needed sleep." She explained, placing it in Ume's trembling mouth, then bringing up the bottle again to continue serving her.

Once the bottle was empty, she tucked Ume back in, and rested her hand on Ume's forehead, "You will be fine, just rest for now." She said softly, as the girl fell asleep.

Jun was shocked at seeing his little sister resting so peacefully, as if he was not expecting to see it ever again.

"T-Thank you..."

Sakura turned in time to have the boy hug her tightly, "Thank you-Thank you!"

Chuckling lightly at his endless praises, Sakura patted the boy on the head and returned the gesture, "You are welcome, but she still is not well."

Feeling him tense, she softly added, "She is suffering from an illness that needs special medicine and constant care, I have simply relieved her of the effects for a little while so she can rest. She needs to go to a hospital, which I will take her to soon."

Pulling him away, she brought up his hand and hissed at the sight of some pieces of glass still remaining in his cut open and turning purple hand, "While she is sleeping, it looks like I am going to have my hands full for a while."


Crouched by the fire, Lee ushered the still stunned Hachiro to sit by him. "Just start from the beginning, I will not judge you in any way."

Finally sitting, Hachiro let out a long sigh, "We really are in trouble now, aren't we?"

"I will admit you have stolen items, but Sakura-san and myself believe it was not for ill purposes. At least, not after we very rudely listened in on you and your companions conversation. However your exchange of words were very moving-"

Hachiro shot a confused look when Lee emitted a sniffle, "-I Rock Lee, was deeply touched by your emotion filled conversation. To hear that you have taken such extreme measures to protect and care for so many. You are a true example of a natural born leader!"

Hachiro was completely caught off guard by the sudden strange behaviour, "Ermm...Thank you?"

Somehow, Hachiro was beginning to feel the roles were reversed, as he watched the older boy rub away his emotionless tears, 'He is...weird.' Oddly enough, the spandex wearer seemed to somehow brighten the mood, which made Hachiro surprisingly comfortable.

"...We are orphans. At the start it was just me, Jun, and his sister Ume, we were simply staying together to try and live. We stuck together as we went around from place to place, most of the time running since many of the grownups recognised us as thieves. On the way, we sort of met other kids that were the same as us...so we joined up."

"Did you take it upon yourself to lead the youths?"

Lee perked a puzzled eyebrow to see the boy suddenly tense in his curled up form, "...No. There was an older kid that lead us...but..."

Hachiro's voice trailed off, while Lee looked at him for a good minute before prodding, "Did something happen?"

The spandex wearer watched the boy start to tremble, "...H-He said if we said anything, he w-would know...I-I can't-"

"Who?"

'That Jun-kun mentioned something about a Hisashi...'

"-Does this have to do with this, Hisashi?"

Hachiro almost jumped at the mention of the person, which lead Lee to believe he had hit the mark, "If you are concerned that whoever this person is will bring harm to you or your friends, then do not fear...Sakura-san and myself are more than fit to handle any threa-"

"N-No! You don't understand! H-He told us he will know if we try to break his rules! H-He used Yuichi-niichan as an example for when he tried to stand up to Hisashi for us!" Widening his eyes in realisation he said something he should not have, he snapped both his hands to his mouth, and then slid them up to cover his pained eyes.

"Please...just leave us alone...before he comes for both of you too." The spandex wearer was completely confused by the child's fear, as well as why Hachiro was now crying as if he had lost all hope...who on earth was this Hisashi, and what did he do to make a child so afraid to speak about him to an outsider?

'What has this person done to put so much fear in a child?'


Tsunade once told her that medic nin's must always be prepared to treat more than just your own team members when on a mission, so packing extra supplies was a must...but somehow, Sakura imagined not even her master would have expected to be treating so many patients at once. After removing the small pieces glass from Jun's hand, and cleaning the infected wound before reapplying the bandaging, Sakura now was moving from child to child, each with their own injuries or illnesses.

She came up to a young boy, probably no older than ten, noticing that he was not standing upright, and not due to laziness.

Sakura was used to the afraid gaze on her approach, but she never removed her warming smile, "May I please see your back injury?"

The child gasped in surprise that she noticed, and reluctantly nodded. Sakura did not miss the boy wince as he tried to sit down as she came around behind him. Raising his partly torn red shirt, she went agape. Long black bruising marks were travelling across the boys back, and not the sort that would happen from a 'bad fall' that the boy mumbled.

'This child...has been beaten!'

"Who did this to you?" Sakura asked in a whisper, but the boy gasped in fear at her question.

"I-I fell down some stairs!" Sakura gave a soft sigh to the clear lie from the child, but began healing his injuries.

Once she was done, she came around in front of the child and placed a comforting hand on his shoulders, "Please tell me the truth...who did this to you?"

"N-Nobod-"

"Your injuries were inflicted by a foot...somebody stomped on your back over and over again, with little care of wether you would be able to walk again...now tell me, please." The panicking child looked around at the others as if begging for help.

"H-He is telling the truth, he just fell down some stairs!" Another child replied in a rush, and Sakura looked around in confusion, seeing just how afraid the children were by her persistence. Something was very wrong.

Deciding to play along, she nodded her head in acceptance, "Alright...who is next then?"

Continuing her task, she came across quite a few other children that were suffering from inflicted injuries as well, and some were not just beatings. When she came across a scaring on a young girls hand that would have come from a edged weapon , she could no longer feign ignorance. Once done with the girl, she walked back over to Pakkun, who was sitting by the still sleeping Ume. Jun was silently sitting next to his sister.

Looking around again, she saw the fearful eyes directed at her by some of the children, while others were carrying on with their own things.

'What on earth is going on here?'

"Please don't ask."

Sakura turned to Jun, who was nervously twiddling his thumbs, "I want to know, somebody has obviously done this to you...tell me, please."

"H-He said he would kill us all if we told somebody again." Sakura went wide eyed at Jun's trembled words, but Jun shook his head.

"Please...just don't ask." Sakura could not help but literally feel the warning was directed to her own safety as well. Jun looked hopelessly to his resting sister, then stood up and walked away. Deeply sighing in annoyance, Sakura sat and inspected Ume's condition, while Pakkun walked up to her.

"I have a feeling Lee is having the same luck as we are...You should try and speak to one of these kids, alone."

"Let's just see how Lee-san goes..."

Listening to Ume's chest again, Sakura lifted her head, "Her lungs are filling up with liquid again, she needs to be taken to a hospital. If not, there is little I can do for her here."

Rubbing the sweat off her own forehead from her work, she turned to the dog, "Please stay here with her Pakkun, I am going to speak to Lee-san."

"Sure thing Sakura."


The silent Hachiro had went back inside with cooked meat for the others, leaving Sakura and Lee to talk freely about what was happening by the put out fire.

"What in the hell is going on Lee-san?!"

"I wish I knew Sakura-san, but Hachiro-kun did not relent to telling me anything about their situation."

Maybe it was from the sight of what she saw inside, but Sakura did not seem to notice just how loud, or angry she sounded, "I will tell you what Lee-san, it's hell! These poor kids not only are struggling to survive from lack of food or water, but also have some bastard beating them up...and they won't tell me who!"

"Could it be people that have caught them trying to steal, and the victims decided to deal their own punishment?"

"No way Lee-san...unless there really are lot more terrible people out there than I once thought."

The spandex wearer stared at the dead camp fire, watching the smoke raise from the black wood, "It may have something to do with this Hisashi...Hachiro-kun became very frightened when I mentioned his name."

Calming by running her hand through her hair, Sakura let out an agitated sigh, "Whatever be the case Lee-san, it looks like they won't tell us anything...I am going to find out from one of the kids who did this to them, I don't care how. I will make the scum that did this pay."

"Perhaps we can prove to them we can handle ourselves?"

Calming down, Sakura shot lee a questioning gaze, which prompted him to explain, "On one of my mission's, our client did not believe we were fit to protect his person on an escort mission. So Gai-sensei gave our client a personal demonstration of our talents, and we convinced him otherwise."

Rubbing his chin, Lee nodded to his thoughts, "We should demonstrate to Hachiro-kun our abilities, perhaps we may prove him otherwise."

"...It's worth a try I guess Lee-san."

Hearing scampering coming from within the cave, both shinobi turned to see Pakkun running out, "Sakura, Ume is starting to cough violently again."

"But first things first Lee-san, I am taking that child to the clinic in Hachidori mura."


Despite Jun wanting to accompany them, Sakura and Lee returned to the town alone with Ume. Once she was in the safe care of the doctor, they began to make their way back. "Have you thought of any other ideas to get the kids to tell us anything Lee-san?"

"Well-"

"I already know most of what's happening."

Both teens shot their gaze down in disbelief at the little dog, "Y-You do?!"

Pakkun nodded, "B-B-But how?!"

Pakkun held a pride filled smirk across his otherwise dull face, "Why isn't it obvious, I am a cute and loveable dog."

Sakura's eye twitched, "Ehh?"

"Kids love dogs like me, so of course they couldn't resist cuddling me and patting me."

"But you're not a nor-...mal....dog..."

Pakkun showed one of his tiny teeth, which emitted a bright yet, cheeky spark, "But the kids don't know that."

Sakura felt her sweat drop heavy, "They...talked while you were around..."

"Precisely."

"Amazing! such a plan of pure genius and deception Pakkun-kun, you possess unbelievable amounts of talent."

Sakura slowly tilted her head to the beaming Lee, bearing a look that said, 'You aren't serious I hope', while the dog took the praise with open paws, "Finally, somebody that acknowledges me...and my very soft paws."

'I am doing this for Lee-san's sake, I am doing this for Lee-san's sake...they are both idiots.'

Shaking her head clear, Sakura waved her hand, "Well, tell us already!"

"From what I was able to understand, the kids once tried to get help from someone about this 'Hisashi' guy. This boy who tried to do it was called Yuichi.-"

'Hachiro-kun mentioned that person before...'

"- They didn't talk about him much, but to my understanding, this Hisashi guy killed Yuichi as an example. Hisashi warned them that if they tried to get help again he would know, and 'punish' them, for it."

"But who is this Hisashi?"

"They were not exactly specific in their talking, but from what I heard, this Hisashi visits them often. Something about 'collecting'."

"Collecting?"

"Hai, however one of the children stressed out that they didn't have anything of value for 'this time round', and after that, I heard Ume's coughing and left."

Silence was held, as both shinobi processed what Pakkun told them. Lee was the first to talk, "Hisashi is using these children."

"What?"

"This Hisashi must be a thug or something. He is using these children to do his crime work."

Sakura began to make the link, and hung her mouth open in disbelief, "Using children to steal?!"

Gritting her teeth, she clenched her fist, "You can't get caught if somebody else does the work for you...and is too scared to tell the truth."

"So the kids are essentially are both scapegoats, and doing his deeds for him."

"And if they refuse to do what he says, he beats them, or worse...That is-" Sakura couldn't finish her sentence, as she was too busy biting her lower lip in deep anger.

After a moment of the tense silence, Pakkun broke the ice, "This Hisashi must be stopped."

The at attention Lee nodded, "Yosh!"

Sakura finally calmed down her temper, "Do we know when exactly he is coming?"

"Guessing from how tense it was in there at the end...I would say soon."

"Good, I am very keen to meet this guy."