THWACK!
"Don't you plan on taking a break any time soon?"
Lee stopped punching the training post for a moment. "Why would I do that ?"
"I just wondered, that's all. Your stamina is amazing." Allia's gaze returned to the worksheet in front of her, as Lee continued his strikes. "Your determination is…inspiring too."
Lee paused again. "…Inspiring?" he asked. 'People have called me idiotic, stubborn and even hot-headed. But never inspiring…'
"Yeah. Most people would've given up by now, but you, you keep on going. Even when Sensei suggested giving up, you're sticking to it." Allia began filling in her answer to the first question. "It's certainly renewed my determination. But what are we going to do about the Graduation exam? They test all the Academy level techniques. My brothers said so." She added matter-of-factly, as though her older siblings were the world authority on such matters.
"I'll just have to make up for them with my Taijutsu instead." Lee announced, his brow furrowed in concentration, before resuming his chain of punches on the training post.
They were spending the late afternoon in a small field near the Academy that was open to the public for basic training. Allia was sat on the grass with her back against a large tree, resting the homework sheet on her lunchbox and filling the answers in, whilst Lee relentlessly struck a large wooden column in front of him.
Neither of them spoke much, both of them were focused and engrossed in their respective tasks. While Allia was pondering the answer to the second question, her mind began to wander, and she found herself reflecting on the words of her teacher at the end of class. A small sick feeling of dread crept up on her when she remembered with a jolt that there was only a week left before the Graduation exam, and she still had had no success in any of the techniques she knew would be tested.
"What does it feel like when you try to perform a jutsu?" She asked a little while later.
Lee didn't answer immediately. He paused for a moment to think, and turned round to answer. "It feels like…I'm holding my breath, and trying to push something really heavy. My body burns with the effort, and nothing comes of it." Intense frustration flashed briefly across his features, before he took a new stance and started launching kicks at the post instead.
"For me," mused Allia, finishing the eighth question, "I can feel my own chakra, but it's like…no matter how hard I try, I cannot focus it enough to perform a jutsu, and so to even pull one off poorly, I have to build up so much of the chakra I have that I feel really ill afterwards. My chakra feels…too spread out. If that makes sense."
"I think I understand." Lee replied between kicks.
Allia filled in the last blank space on the worksheet, folded it in half neatly and placed it back in her bag. She stood up and walked over to the neighbouring training post, took a square-on stance, feet shoulder-width apart, and began striking it with basic head-on punches.
"I think I'll have to join you, you know," She said between punches, "My Ninjutsu isn't good enough either, so I'll have to improve my Taijutsu to balance things out."
Allia stopped to readjust her stance. "You know something, I have an idea. Let's have a race. First to two hundred strikes wins."
Lee's face lit up; the fires of competition blazing in his eyes. "Only two hundred? I say two thousand!"
"Aren't you tired from all the strikes you've done already though?" she replied incredulously.
"I will be fine! Punches or kicks?"
"In that case, to make it fairer, I need to aim for at least an extra five hundred strikes. Otherwise, I would have an unfair advantage. Let's start off with punches first."
The two of them stood facing their respective posts square on. They braced themselves in the appropriate stances, taking deep breaths to calm and focus themselves.
"Three…Two…One…GO!"
"One-thousand-nine-hundred-and-ninety-seven, "One-thousand-nine-hundred-and-ninety-eight, "One-thousand-nine-hundred-and-ninety-nine…"
"Two-thousand-four-hundred-and-ninety-eight, Two-thousand-four-hundred-and-ninety-nine, TWO-THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED!"
It had only been a split second ahead, but Allia had won.
Breathing heavily, they both slumped to the floor, exhausted after their match. Lee grinned widely, despite being short of breath.
"That was a good fight! Even if I lost, let us battle again another time."
"Only reason I won," Allia gasped in reply, "Was because you'd already been training for twenty minutes before we started. I had an unfair advantage. Next time, we should make it fairer somehow." She staggered up to feet and walked over to her bag.
"Forgot to mention it earlier, but Sensei asked me to pass this on to you. It's the homework sheet." Allia explained, retrieving the blank worksheet from her bag. As she handed it to him, she added, "It's getting late now. We should probably go home soon."
Lee took the sheet and thanked her, putting it safely into his own bag. "I suppose you're right, but I want to continue training for a little longer."
"Hey, would you like to come over and have dinner at our house?" asked Allia. "We're having a curry tonight, I think. And, more importantly, we can ask my brothers for tips for the Graduation exam next week. I'm sure they wouldn't mind helping you with your Taijutsu training."
"If my Mum is fine with it, then I would be most grateful." Lee replied, bowing.
"Let's ask my parents first, we don't live very far from here." said Allia cheerfully, walking out of the training field, Lee following behind.
"I'm home-"
Allia didn't have time to finish her greeting, as a flurry of paper shuriken came whizzing towards her. She ducked, with the majority of them hitting the door, crumpling slightly, and falling to the floor in a small heap, the others veering off in many directions.
"You're getting better at dodging, aren't you? I didn't hit you with a single one this time."
Lee peered round the doorway, and saw a dark-haired boy of about fourteen years of age grinning from his seat at a table, numerous sheets of paper in front of him.
"Maybe your shot was just shabby today, Takeshi. Did you fold all of these just to throw at me?" She reached down and picked the paper shuriken up off of the floor, placing them on the table in front of him. "Is Mum back yet?"
"Not yet. I think they'll be closing the shop soon though. Why?" Takeshi looked over, and spotted Lee, who was still lingering in the doorway. "Ahhh…I see you've made a new friend." He remarked, smirking.
"Takeshi, this is Lee. Lee, this is my third eldest brother, Takeshi." said Allia, removing her sandals, indicating for Lee to follow. "Do you think Mum'll mind having him over tonight at such short notice?" she whispered to Takeshi while Lee took off his own sandals.
"Mind? She'll be delighted. Only person you've ever brought round is Tenten. She'll be pleased to find you're making more friends and fitting in." Takeshi grinned again, ruffling her hair.
"Please don't do that. You'll mess it up."
"Won't make any difference then, will it?" Takeshi dodged the playful swipe aimed at his face. He gathered up the paper shuriken and put them in a box that he'd been keeping under the chair. As he stacked the remaining sheets into a neat pile, he asked; "Are you both feeling ready for the upcoming Graduation exam? It's next week, isn't it?"
"Yeah. As a matter of fact, I was wondering if you could give us some advice for it." Allia replied, pulling a chair out from under the table and gestured for Lee to sit at it. She then sat on the neighbouring chair opposite Takeshi.
"That's why you brought your friend over, right? You're both having troubles?" asked Takeshi pensively. He removed his glasses and began polishing them with the bottom of his t-shirt. "What are you having difficulties with then?"
"Most of the Ninjutsu stuff really." Allia stated bluntly.
"So you can't perform any Ninjutsu either then, Lee?" asked Takeshi in surprise.
Lee shook his head. "I can't do any Genjutsu either."
Takeshi ran a hand through his blue-black hair. "You've really got your work cut out for you, haven't you?"
They were interrupted by the sound of the door opening. In walked an utterly exhausted looking young man, dressed in standard Konoha shinobi uniform. He unzipped his flak vest and hung it on the back of a chair, which he promptly slumped in, face flat on the table.
"Welcome back, Hikaru. How was the mission?" greeted Takeshi, stifling a laugh at his older brother's behaviour.
"Delivering supplies to a neighbouring village isn't ordinarily the most taxing of assignments," Hikaru groaned in muffled reply, "But when the supplies turn out to be building blocks, and when the villagers in question ask for help unloading them from the wagon, it makes for back breaking labour."
"Manual work was never your strong point was it?" Takeshi laughed.
"And studying was never yours, Takeshi." Hikaru retorted, raising his head a few inches from the table to grin at his younger sibling's embarrassment. He stopped laughing when he spotted Lee, and heaved himself upright.
"My apologies for my rudeness, I didn't realize we had a guest this evening."
"This is my friend Lee, Hikaru." Allia explained.
"Well, I'm pleased to make your acquaintance, Lee." Hikaru replied, inclining his head respectfully. Lee returned the gesture, and sat quietly while the two brothers engaged in avid discussion about their latest missions. Having no brothers or sisters of his own, he was fascinated by the warm and lively atmosphere projected by the pair. He felt relaxed and at ease, no longer worrying as much about the Graduation exam. It was, after all, the first time anyone had asked him over for an evening.