Chapter 4: Forbidden
Move, Chakra Cannon
Lei:*talking to one of the doctors* "Will he
be able to make a full recovery?"
Doc: "Yes, but not very
quickly. He'll need to stay away from training until his ribs have
fully healed."
Lei: "How long will that take?"
Doc:
"Maybe a couple of months. Depends on how much damage the X-rays
show."
Lei:*sighs*
Lady: "Sir, your needed."
Doc:
"I'll be right there."*follows her*
Sakura: "This is
awful. How are we supposed to keep up with our training if Kakashi
sensei's in the hospital?"
Sasuke: "I'm not sure. It won't
be easy though."
Naruto: "Yeah, but we'll pull
through."
(Sandaime walks up.)
Sandaime: "Ah, there you
are. I've been looking for you."
Lei:*turns to him* "What is
it?"
Sandaime: "It's not going to be as difficult as you
think to keep up with your training. You see, before the match,
Kakashi asked me that if anything happened to him during the match
that would put him out of commission for a time that Lei would take
over until he's able to again."
Lei: "What? But I can't be
a sensei yet, I haven't beaten Nokki."
Sandaime: "I'm the
Hokage, I can tell him to leave you alone. Besides, Kakashi would be
grateful if you kept his students until he was able to train with
them."
Naruto: "You can't be serious?"
Sandaime: "I'm
serious Naruto."
Lei:*looks toward Kakashi, and then looks at
her hands.* "I'll train them until Kakashi is well enough to go
back to it. I owe him the favor."
Sandaime: "I was hoping you
would agree."
Sakura: "Alright then, shouldn't we get
going?"
Lei: "Not just yet, not until the X-rays com
back."
Sandaime: "Well they better stop farting around in
there."
Lei: "Grampa, what exactly did they do with
Nokki?"
Sandaime: "Hmm? Oh, they put him into a rubber room
until the new moon."
Naruto:*laughs*
Lei: "Good, shoulda
put him in there in the first place."
Sandaime: "The mutated
Byakugan is full of surprises and difficult to predict. Even for the
user. You of all people should know that."
Lei: "I know, but I
found a way around his Byakugan."
Sakura: "I thought there
wasn't a way around it."
Lei: "You're not me Sakura. I've
lived around the Byakugan since I was a Cadet. Nokki was in the year
above me and looked up to by several people."
Sasuke: "He's
only a year older than you and he's your mentor?"
Lei: "Yes.
He wasn't my choice either. When my father died, it was in his will
that I be placed under a mentor with my brother."
Sandaime: "In
order to find a mentor, there was a tournament and during the course
of the tournament, Lei was to remain under a sensei, at the time the
Fourth Hokage."
Sakura: "The Fourth Hokage? You trained under
him?"
Lei: "Yes, for a time."
Doc:*walks up* "Miss
Lei."
Lei: "Yes?"
Doc: "His X-rays came back and well,
the damage is pretty serious. The two broken ribs are almost cracked
all the way through."
Lei Naruto Sakura Sasuke:*shock line*
Doc:
"It's going to require surgery to fix them."
Sandaime: "It
would require surgery anyway."
Lei: "You can't just stick a
needle in his chest and presto fix it like a regular broken
bone."
Doc:-_-;
Lei: "Well you can't."
Doc:
"Anyway, it may be some time before he comes out of his
coma."
Lei:*sighs* "Thank you. I need to be going, I have
training to start."
Doc: "Yes miss."
(Lei takes the three
of them to the lake.)
Lei: "Was Kakashi teaching you anything
before the match?"
Sasuke: "Not really."
Lei: "Okay,
this shouldn't be too difficult."
Naruto: "What shouldn't
be?"
Lei: "I'll start teaching you one of my own
moves."
(They look at each other, kind of confused.)
Lei:
"Why so confused? It's simple to learn, just a pain to
master."
Sakura: "What is it?"
Lei: "It's called the
Chakra Cannon."
Sakura: "You can use the Chakra Cannon? With
all the chakra is takes to use it?"
Lei: "Yes Sakura, and
since you've heard of it, why don't you explain to the boys it
can do."
Sakura: "Well, it's a forbidden move, mostly
because it's so powerful and requires the user to have full control
over their chakra."
Lei: "Yes, very good Sakura. Do you know
how it's used?"
Sakura: "No, I only know what it can do and
why it's forbidden."
Lei: "You know more than most people do
about the Chakra Cannon. Some people haven't even heard of it. I
however, am about to show you."
Sasuke: "Now?"
Lei:
"Yes."*she makes three very quick signs with her hands and points
two fingers like a gun toward a rock. Chakra engulfs her body and
then focuses to her fingers* "Chakra Cannon!"*she fires at the
nearby rock and it blows into a thousand pieces.*
Sasuke Sakura
Naruto: O_O
Sakura: "Remind me not to get her way when she's
using that."
Naruto: "Yeah."
Sasuke: "No
problem."
Lei:*blows the smoke from her fingers* "And that's
not even at full power." *turns to them* "Worth
learning?"
Naruto: "Yeah."
Lei: "Alright then, the
first thing to learn is the hand signs, obviously."
(For the
majority of the afternoon, she's showing them the hand signs and
chakra flow for the technique. After they head back, they find Gai
and his team and the Hokage in the dinning room.)
Gai: "There
you guys are. What kept you?"
Lei: "Training Gai."
Sei:
"Whoa, whoa wait a minute. You're training them?"
Lei: -_-;
"I'm going to ignore that question."
Sandaime: "Don't
expect him to be so fast on his feet outside of battle, he's not
the sharpest tool in the shed."
Sei: "That's not funny
Grampa."
(They all laugh.)(After dinner, they're all sitting
outside for some fresh air and talking.)
Gai: "Just what are you
teaching them?"
Lei: "Never you mind. And don't even think
about sending one of your students to spy, because I'll know."
Gai:
"Hmph."
Sei: "Why do you always have to be so mean? It was
only a question."
Lei: "You hush."*sits back in her seat*
"I've got good news and bad news, which do you want to hear
first?"
Gai: "Give us the good news."
Lei: "Alrighty
then, Kakashi will make a full recovery."
(There's a quick
sigh of relief.)
Lei: "However, he'll be out of commission for
at least two months."
Sei: "Oh. I thought it'd be worse than
that. Like he'd never be a ninja again or something."
Lei Gai
Hinata: "THAT'S NO FUNNY SEI!!!"
Sei: "I was being
serious."
(A little later, and after a few more arguments
between Lei and Gai, they all head to bed. Lei wakes up to Akamaru's
barking at dawn.)
Lei:*turns toward her door* "What are you
barking at Akamaru?"*she gets up and heads outside.*
(Akamaru is
apparently barking at nothing.)
Lei:*sighs* "Figures."*goes
over to him and picks him up* "What are you barking
at?"
Akamaru:*looks up at her then licks her face*
Lei:
"Alright you. Stop Akamaru."
Kiba:*from around the corner*
"Hey, Akamaru. Where are ya boy?"
Akamaru:*jumps from Lei's
arms and heads around the corner*
Lei:*smiles and heads back into
her room. She gets dressed, combs her hair and braids it, then heads
toward the kitchen.*
(After everyone has breakfast, Lei takes team
7 to see Kakashi.)
Sakura: "How long did the doctor say until he
woke up?"
Lei: "He doesn't know. He was hit pretty hard both
times."
Naruto: "It'd be nice if we could actually talk to
him."
Lei: "He can hear us; his brain just can't process
what's going on around him."
Naruto:*sigh* "Now I'm really
depressed."
Sasuke:*sits quietly at Kakashi's side. He notices
his hand lightly twitch* "Hmm?"
Lei: "Something wrong
Sasuke?"
Sasuke: "I thought I saw his hand move."
Lei:
"You may have. There's no certainty of it though."*takes
Kakashi's right hand and lightly squeezes. No response* "He's
still not responsive. It might've just been a reflex from a
dream."
Sasuke: "Maybe…"
(Around noon, she takes them
back to the lake.)
Lei: "Hope you're ready today. I'm going
to show you how to actually fire the cannon."
Sakura: "How do
we do that?"
Lei: "Well, first you need to focus the chakra to
the tips of your fingers. The more fingers you use, the less you need
to focus on. You also have to focus on the target at all times, even
in movement."*she turns around* "You see the bull's eye over
there that is your target. At least until I think you're ready to
go to the moving targets."*turns to them* "Got it?"
Sasuke
Sakura Naruto: "Yes ma'am."
Lei: "Good. When you build up
enough, you will be able to create a more powerful blast. The more
chakra you have for this move, the better. Soo, who wants to give it
a shot?"
(Silence)
Lei: "Geeze. Since you're all to
chicken to volunteer, Sasuke you're up."
Sasuke:*steps up. He
signs three, and takes aim* "Chakra Cannon!!!"*he fires and hits
the target, but far from the middle* "What the hell?"
Lei:
"You didn't let your chakra focus. It was too sudden a burst for
your body to handle, making it difficult to handle. Try it
again."
Sasuke:*tries again, this time allowing his chakra to
focus. He hits the target closer to the middle.*
Lei: "Much
better."
(Later on, they take a break. They're on the subject
of chakra control.)
Lei:*sighs as they go back and forth* "That's
enough you two. Neither of you can control chakra in any form as well
as Sei and I."
Sasuke Naruto:*stop and look at her*
Naruto:
"What?"
Lei: "The Mortagashi clan is known for its ability
to manipulate chakra. And on top of that, I can also manipulate
Phoenix chakra."
Sakura: "Phoenix chakra?"
Lei: "Oh, I
didn't tell you that I'm the Protector of the Sacred Phoenix of
the Shinobi?"
Sasuke Sakura Naruto: WHAT!?!? NO!!!"
Sakura:
"Who else knows about this?"
Lei: "My brother and
grandfather."
Sakura: "And?"
Lei:*sighs*
"Orochimaru."
(The three of them stare.)
Lei: "And he
wants me dead because of it."
(By the time the suns starts to
set, Lei brought them back to the house to rest after training. Over
the next few weeks, the three of them are hitting the bull's eye
with more and more precision. In the meanwhile, Kakashi still does
not wake up. The doctors soon remove the oxygen mask and he begin to
breathe on his own. The four continued to make regular visits, only
to find him still unconscious. One night after training, Lei was in
Kakashi's room.)
Lei:*sitting on his right side, gently stroking
his right hand.* "Kakashi please wake up."*she tightens her grip
on his hand and (for the first time in about a month) he weakly
squeezes back. Startled, she lightly squeezes and he squeezes back*
"Kakashi…?"
Kakashi:*his grip tightens and his eyes begin to
open*
Lei:*running her hand through his hair*
Kakashi:
"Lei?"
Lei:*pulls him into a gentle hug* "We've missed
you."
Kakashi:*wrapping his arm around her* "I know you did,
but how much?"
Lei: "More than words can say."*draws back
slightly, then leans to kiss him*
Kakashi:*stopping her with a
hand* "Have they kept up?"
Lei:*with a quiet laugh* "Yes, of
course."
Kakashi:*smiles* "I knew I could trust
you…"
Lei:*returns it* "You should smile a little more
often."
Kakashi: "Only for you."
Lei:*laughs. Gently
kisses him*
Kakashi:*deepens it and enjoys it*
(The next
morning, Lei gets up in a good mood. After breakfast, she takes Team
7 to see Kakashi [she already told them that he woke up last night].
When inside, Naruto glomps him. )
Lei: "Naruto! His
ribs!"
Kakashi: "No it's alright, he missed."
Lei:*
"You're lucky I love you Kakashi, or you'd have your head
punched in."*
(An hour or so later, Lei takes them out to the
lake. Right before they leave, Lei quickly kissed Kakashi. The three
Genin are confused. They leave with a good bye.)
Lei: "Well,
since you've mastered the still target, we can move on to the
moving targets."
Sasuke: "Good, just one question – who's
our target?"
Lei:*smirk* "You'll be shooting at me."
Sakura:
"What? But what if you get hurt?"
Lei: "I'll be fine. I
have an armor on that will protect me from that. So don't worry
about me."*folds her arms, knowing no one will volunteer* "And
since none of you are planning on volunteer, Naruto your up
first."
Naruto:*groans* "Fine."
Lei:*disappears in a
blur*
Naruto:! "What the?"
Lei: "C'mon Naruto. I'm
waiting."
Naruto:*ignores her. Signs and focuses his chakra. He
fires* "Chakra Cannon!"
(He hits his mark.)
Lei:*had
stopped* "Well, very good Naruto."*the mark was right at her
heart* "A vital point at about half my speed."
Sakura: "THAT
was only half?
Lei: "Yes. The only one who could even try to
match my speed is Lee with his weights off."
Sasuke: "And how
much weight is on your legs?"
Lei: "More than what Lee has,
let's just put it that way."
(Later on, Lei takes them back to
the house. Iruka is waiting for them on the back porch.)
Iruka:
"Was wondering when you would show up."*stands*
Lei: "Is
something wrong?"
Iruka: "Not really. I was visiting Kakashi
earlier and his doctor wanted me to tell you that his surgery is in a
few days."
Lei: "I see. You three go inside. I need to talk to
Iruka."
(They head inside.)
Iruka:*after they shut the door*
"He doesn't want you there that day, or the other three. He
doesn't want you getting into trouble."
Lei: "I understand
his concern, but if I did go I wouldn't get in trouble."
Iruka:
"What do you mean?"
Lei: "Nokki's in solitary confinement
until the new moon."
Iruka:*laughs* "Maybe they should keep
him there until he dies."
Lei: "Iruka! As much as I'd like
that, I still have to beat him to become a Jounin."
Iruka: "I
know."*Hugs* "I was only kidding."
Lei: "I hope so. This
is one of those rare times that I want him alive."*sighs* "Does
my grampa know?"
Iruka: "Yes, along with the rest of the house
because Lee can't keep his mouth shut."
Lei: "I'd rather
have them know then Orochimaru."
Iruka: "If it means that much
that people don't know, Gai won't say anything."
Lei: "I
told Kakashi's Genin, and they're not telling anyone unless they
wanna clean out Smicha's litter box."
Iruka: "Eew."
(Naruto
is listening to them through a crack in the door. His eyes widen as
he hears this. He goes to Sasuke and Sakura.)
Sasuke:
"Well?"
Naruto: "If we tell we gotta clean the box."
Sasuke
Sakura:*disgusted face*
Sakura: "Who even actually cleans that?
I've never seen anybody go down there to clean it."
(Sei walks
by the room with a scrub brush, a pair of rubber gloves, a mask and
some disinfectant soap.)
Sasuke: "That answer your
question?"
Sakura:*sweat drop* "Yeah."
(Lei and Iruka
walk in.)
Lei: "Ya heard me then eh?"
Naruto: "Yeah.
That's just gross."
Lei: "That's why I don't go near
it."
Iruka; "Speaking of Smicha, where is she?"
Lei: "I
don't know. I haven't seen her in a couple of days."
Sakura:
"You think she ran off?"
Lei: "No, she cares too much to
just get up and leave."
Iruka: "Cares? Not about Kiba."
Lei:
"She bit him because he stepped on her tail. She can deal with
Akamaru."
Sasuke: "Yeah, all she has to do is get big and
he'll shut up quick."
Lei: "Exactly. Now, I'm going to see
if I can find her. I'll see you all at dinner."*walks
out*
Naruto: "Can we ask now?"
Sakura: "Have at
it."
Iruka: "Alright, what are you three up to?"
Sakura:
"We had a question about Lei and Kakashi."
Iruka:*sighs and
sits* "Alright, I'll bite. What is it?"
Sasuke: "She
kissed him as we left this morning. What's that
about?"
Iruka:*sighs* "I don't think Lei and Kakashi want me
to tell you about their relationship."
Naruto: "And why not?
It's not like we're gonna tell anybody."
Sakura: "Unless
you want to scrub the box."
Iruka:-_-; "Don't remind
me."
Sasuke: "You gonna tell us Iruka sensei?"
Iruka:*takes
and breath* "They've known each other since they were Cadets,
their first year. It was after school hours. Kakashi wasn't the
person you see now. He wasn't as confident in himself. Well, he
went into the woods to do his homework and about seven Graduate years
ganged up on him. They threw him against a tree and stuck a kunai
through his shoulder blade."
(Flashback, sort of.)
Younger
Kakashi:*in pain* "Stop it, leave me alone."
Grad Year1: "And
why should we? You're only a first year and you're not even worth
keeping at the school."
Grad Year2: "You're more pathetic
than Iruka, and you parents are still around."
Kakashi:*still
against the tree, the kunai in his shoulder. He winces as he tries to
move it*
Grad Year3: "You can't even harness pain. That's
pathetic."
Younger Lei:*comes out of the brush* "Leave him
alone."
Grad Year4: "You're that freckled girl who was
hanging around Mortagashi sensei's room during her lunch."
Grad
Year 3: "What do you want?"
Lei: "I want you to leave him
alone. He's done nothing to you."
Grad Year5: "We're
puttin' him out of his misery of his harsh life. Whether you like
it or not freckles."
Lei: "My name is Lei thank you, and you
won't lay another hand on him, unless you want me to tell
Mortagashi sensei. She's my mother."
Grad Year4: "What?
You're the Hokage's granddaughter."
Lei: "Of course I am
you dope."
Grad Year6: "Let's get outta here."
(They
all run off.)
Kakashi:*finding it hard to move*
Lei:*turns to
him. She gently pulls out the kunai* "That should let you move a
little, but it still needs to be treated."
Kakashi: "I can
treat it myself."*wince.*
Lei: "It's pierced your shoulder
blade. I'll take you to my dad."*she helps him to feet*
Kakashi:
"I'm fine."*winces again*
Lei: "No you're not.
Smicha!"
(A large cat comes out of the bushes. Lei puts Kakashi
and goes to her house.)
(End flashback.)
Iruka: "Basically
that's how they met."
Sakura: "How come never told
us?"
Iruka: "For Lei's protection. If he said anything about
it, she'd probably be dead by now. He'd never let that happen.
Especially not to her. He cares too much for her to let anything like
that happen. And most of our friends knew it."
Naruto:* "There's
more to this story than Iruka's letting on."*
Iruka:
"Something wrong Naruto?"
Naruto: "Huh? Oh, no."
Iruka:
"I know that look. You're worried about something, aren't
you."
Naruto: "I'm not worried about anything,
honest."
Iruka:*gives him a look*
Naruto: "I'm dead
serious."
Iruka: "You better be."
