Legend of the Iron Monkey

Naruto Fanfiction

Disclaimer: I don't own a single shred of Naruto.

Chapter 5: Destiny's Aid (Part 1)

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"Really? But it's so soon," said Kakashi, looking into the eyes of the old Hokage. All available chunin and jonin were gathered to the hall of the Hokage, where the old man does most of his thinking. At first, they thought that their village leader had finally gone senile, but no longer saw it that way. The chunin exams were coming, and a lot sooner than they had anticipated. "I thought we'd have a little bit more time."

"I thought so as well, but it was a majority vote with the other kages of the surrounding villages," he replied. "I'm sorry to you Kakashi, as well as the rest of you. I disagreed on this event when the other kages held the vote, but it was unanimous. They all wanted this, so I have no say in it. In just a week from today, the genin from this village and the genin from the other neighboring villages will test their mettle in the chunin exams."

The chunin exams, a very important exam that every genin takes and must pass in order to become a full fledged chunin. It's held twice per year, giving applicants another chance to try and pass it, should they fail on their first time. Gai thought about the exam and his squad. Through the missions and experience that he's put Neji and Tenten through, they should come out alright. It was Lee that he was worried about. He was gone for quite some time and had only returned recently. The taijutsu specialist felt Lee's power when they were reunited, but would that be enough to let him at least escape the chunin exam with his life? He looked to the other jonin who had already made their decisions in allowing their students to participate in the chunin exams. He wished that he was as sure as they were in their students, or as sure as he was last year. He promised himself that he would allow his students to take the exam after one year of extra training. The opportunity was there, last year, but he held them back. But now that it had finally come, would his squad be ready for such a challenge?

Kakashi looked to his colleague, who was thinking deeply about his students and the exam no doubt. The sharingan user had complete faith in his students that they would impress everyone with their skills. He wasn't exactly counting on them to become chunin so soon, as none of them really has what it takes to lead a mission without returning to the village while dragging the corpses of their dead comrades. His students were too hot-blooded, and he knew that, especially Naruto and Sasuke. They have potential, but aren't quite ready to shine just yet. Sakura is another case. As great as she is at chakra control, it's only because she doesn't have much of it at all. Naruto is terrible at it for reasons obvious to only those who lived through the skirmish of 13 years ago. Sasuke isn't too bad, but not that great either. It's like Sakura is rolling a ball, going down hill. Sasuke is rolling a ball on a flat road. Naruto is not only pushing a ball up a hill, but a ball that weighed 10 times more than his own weight. Kakashi wondered if Gai would allow his own students to take the test. He couldn't just allow one or two of them to go, there are rules to these things after all.

As Gai thought of his answer, the Hokage called forward the jonin teachers of the rookie nine, the batch of genin who had just graduated from the academy, a couple of months ago. Kakashi was up first, who immediately recommended his team for the chunin exams. Everyone, especially Gai and Iruka were very surprised. Both men were actually thinking the same thing. Perhaps Kakashi's abilities were clouding his judgment. They knew that Kakashi really isn't the greatest teacher in the world, so why would he be allowing a few fresh genin to take the exam? Gai wondered as to what his rival was trying to prove. After Kakashi made his decision, Kurenai was up next and Asuma right after, both of which said the same exact words that Kakashi stated. They gave their squad permission to take part in the chunin exam, despite their experience. It was then that Iruka made a rather loud out burst. Everyone, even the Hokage looked to the academy teacher.

"You can't be serious!" he exclaimed. "I know those students, I trained them myself. They all show great promise but they aren't ready for this exam. Why not do what Gai did and hold them back a year to hone their skills? The chunin exams can crack even the toughest genin and you all know this. So why would you send your students to their doom?"

"Iruka, I appreciate your concern. It's touching really," said Kakashi. Iruka narrowed his eyes at him. "I concede to the fact that you trained the aforementioned genin but you have to understand that they've been out of your academy for quite some time. I'm not Shikamaru's or Hinata's sensei but I trust in Asuma's and Kurenai's ability to teach their students. They are ready for this, trust me."

"That's just it, Kakashi," replied Iruka, trying to tone down his anger. "I'm aware of your rank as a jonin, possessing far superior skills to mine, but I just don't trust you on this one. Please listen to me and hold your students back. They aren't ready for the chunin exams!"

"Iruka, please," said Sarutobi.

"But..."

"As Kakashi said, we appreciate your concern, but he's right. They are no longer your students. And plus, it's their decision to allow their students to enter the exam, not yours. If they believe in the abilities of their students, you don't really have a say in the matter," said the Hokage. Iruka was about to interject but found it to be rather pointless of an effort. The old man did have a point. Iruka nodded and stepped back to his original spot. After Asuma was finished recommending his students, there was one last jonin who hadn't given his answer yet, and for a pretty good reason. The Hokage looked to his last jonin, Mito Gai.

"Gai, have you made your decision yet?" he asked. "Will you allow your students to participate in this year's chunin exams or will you wait until next time?"

"I don't know. I want them to participate, but I'm not sure about Lee. He's been absent for a while, and you all know this. He hasn't been able to come with the rest of the squad for missions that he desperately needs experience in," he said.

"I understand your concern, Gai, but surely you have felt his power," replied the Hokage. "He hasn't really been wasting time at all. He's grown much stronger in two and a half months than anyone in this village with the given amount of time. And according to his records, he's completed a substantial amount of D and C rank missions to be able to enter the chunin exam this year. But the decision still goes down to you."

"I want to but..."

"Choose carefully, Gai. If you disapprove of Lee's ability to enter in the chunin exam, your other two students will not be able to participate," said Kurenai. "Those have always been the rules to the chunin exams and I'm sure that you're well aware of that. And regarding his capability, I felt his aura when he entered the building while you were filing your report for the mission that we had just returned from. His aura is different from what it was before his disappearance, and Asuma felt it too. Your student has improved in his absence, far beyond what any of us have ever expected in our students."

Gai looked to her and the other jonin and chunin. Kurenai proved a very important point. If he disapproved of Lee's ability to enter the exam, then Neji and Tenten wouldn't be allowed to participate either. On a side note, he had also felt Lee's power when he last laid eyes on the boy. Kurenai was right in saying that Lee had really improved. If he wouldn't allow Lee to enter, it wouldn't be fair for his other students who have been training hard for the chunin exams. He possessed no right to ban two of his students from the exam just because he had negative thoughts about allowing his third student to participate. In Lee's two months of absence, Gai taught his two remaining students a set of techniques that Lee never learned about. And at one point or another in the exam, Lee may end up facing against Neji or Tenten. He would surely be at a disadvantage... but then again, if Lee really has improved, this would be a great opportunity to see what he's learned while he was away from the village. After making his decision, Gai looked to the Hokage, who was patiently waiting for his answer.

"I, Mito Gai, recommend all three of my students; Neji Hyuuga, Tenten (A/N: Jeez, it really bothers me that Tenten has no last name...), and Rock Lee, to participate in this year's chunin exam," he said with full confidence. He would have to talk to his students about this, especially Lee. Sarutobi nodded and motioned for all of the jonin teachers to come to his desk, where he gave them all three sheets of paper. The papers served as application forms to allow their students to take the exam. The teachers wrote the names of each of their students' names on the paper and signed their signature on the bottom, right above the space where their students would sign their signature in order to enter the chunin exams. When all of that had been taken cared of, the Hokage cleared his throat.

"Alright, those of you who have received applications, go ahead and locate your students and hand these to them. Although you have recommended them to participate in the exam, it is still their choice as to whether they will take part in it or not. You will all await your students at the entrance of the first phase of the exam, seven days from today. If even one of them refuses to enter, you are not to allow the other two from entering. Those are the rules of this exam, and have always been," said the Hokage as the jonin teachers nodded. "If there are no further questions, you are all dismissed."

The chunin and jonin shinobi nodded and vanished.

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As Lee walked into the hospital, he noticed many shinobi inside, getting ready for something big. And by the look of their forehead protectors, they all belong from other villages. On his way to the receptionist, he wondered what all of these shinobi were doing here. And what's with the huge line on the other side of the building? If the line is so big, filled with shinobi from other villages, there must be something important going on. Lee shrugged his shoulders and told himself to attend to it later. Right now, his two comrades were his priority. When he was close enough to the receptionist, he asked for Neji and Tenten, and surprisingly got a positive answer. The nurse in charge of the desk told him that they would be located on the second floor, the fourth room to his right. Lee nodded and proceeded to that direction. On his way there, he bumped into Hinata, Kiba, Shikamaru, Shino, Ino, and Choji.

"Hey guys," he greeted casually. "Any idea what's with the big line over there in the lobby?"

"Haven't you heard? Oh hold on, you've been out for a while," said Shikamaru. "Basically, those are all shinobi from other neighboring villages. They came here because this is where their passports will be accepted for permission to participate in the chunin exam. I'm not sure why it's here, if you ask me this place should be reserved for those who actually need to be here. But I don't call the shots, so I have no idea."

"Chunin exams? Already?" asked Lee. Shikamaru nodded. The taijutsu master thought about it for a while. Maybe this is that event that his father was talking about. And if this many genin from neighboring countries were gathering in one place, chances are that the snake man would be here somewhere as well. Another problem is, he didn't know if the snake man is a genin or a rank of higher status. If he had to do battle with him, he would have to be very careful, even with the training that he had gone through in the cave of the Iron Monkey with his father. As strong as he is now, the receiving of the Iron Monkey's spirit still didn't allow him to perform jutsus, but that has never been an issue in the past when it came to taking down other enemy shinobi in past missions. But perhaps that was only because Gai-sensei was around. According to his understanding, in the chunin exams, jonin teachers aren't allowed to help their students. The only help that the students will get are from their own squads. But somewhere along the line, he knew he would have to fight them again, which wasn't his main problem. Everywhere he turned, his problem would be this snake man, mainly because he didn't know the name or any better pieces of identification.

"Uh... you alright there, Lee?" asked Kiba, waving his hand in front of Lee's face. Said shinobi snapped back to reality and faced his comrade. He smiled widely and scratched the back of his head.

"I'm sorry, did I just space out back there? Please forgive me, I was thinking of a few other things," he said. Kiba nodded.

"Well, we should get going. Kurenai-sensei hasn't told us anything about this chunin exam thing, we just heard it from some people here. I suppose our jonin teachers would want us in our usual training grounds. I expect they would meet us there to tell us about this," he said. Lee nodded once more, allowing that phrase to linger in his mind. After his visit of his comrades, he would have to make his way to their training ground as well, to meet up with Gai-sensei. There he would ask his share of questions about the chunin exams. The other genin nodded, grouped with their respective squads, and walked out of the building. Lee continued to make his way to the room where his own comrades are probably resting in. When he arrived, he opened the door slowly, expecting them to be asleep. When he took a peek, both Tenten and Neji were up on their feet. Lee opened the door all the way and walked up to his friends.

"Shouldn't you guys be resting?" he asked. Tenten turned to face him.

"No way. Kiba and Ino informed us of the chunin exams that are going to be held this year. There's no time to take breaks because according to them, there's only a week left until this exam starts. Remember what Gai-sensei promised us last year? He would allow us to participate in the chunin exams if we trained hard for one year, and we did," she replied. "But I'm going to keep training until it starts."

"She's right," Neji added. "You defeated me earlier and I admit that you've gotten stronger but you just surprised me with your sudden return and caught me at one of my weakest spots. There's still a few tricks that I know that I haven't shown either you or Tenten, but those techniques need perfection. I'm not just going to lay down and rest my precious time in bed. I'm using this amount of time to train and get stronger."

"Heh, you're actually going to train now? That's something new," said Lee, crossing his arms over his chest. "I can understand Tenten training, but not once have I ever seen you train for your life. Do you even know how to train?"

"Laugh while you can, Lee. If we do meet in battle again, the results won't be the same," he said. The three shinobi were about to leave the building when a figure appeared in a puff of smoke, right in front of them. It was their teacher, Mito Gai, and he was holding three sheets of papers in his hands, no doubt having something to do with the chunin exams. Gai raised one of his eyebrows and glanced to his students, wondering what they were doing in the hospital. Lee didn't have a scratch on him, but Neji and Tenten actually have a few bandages on their arms and faces. Bandages were something that Neji didn't appeal to, but if it would help in treating his injuries, he allowed them to stay on his face. The jonin wondered why Lee didn't have a single scratch on his body. Did Neji and Tenten do some heavy training without Lee? But none of Tenten's attacks should be able to hit Neji, so why did he have bandages? And why did some of his injuries have bruises on them? Tenten is a good kunoichi, but not the most skilled in hand-to-hand combat. Lee couldn't possibly have caused those to Neji, could he?

"Uhh... did I miss something?" asked Gai, looking to Neji and Tenten. "What are you three doing here in the hospital? Did you guys do some kind of sparring match that left Lee unscathed and left you two with more bruises than I can count?"

"These bruises will heal but I need to train," said Neji, stepping forward to Gai. "We know about the chunin exams and that they will be held in a week from today. I don't have time to sit around, lollygagging. I need to get stronger so I can wipe the floor with the nobodies downstairs."

"Hmm... so the reception is happening in the hospital this time, huh? Anyway, I came here to give you three these permission slips," he said, handing each one of them a sheet of brown paper. "They already have your names on them and my signature on the bottom. Signing those permission slips will allow you to participate in this year's chunin exams. But those are also death waivers. Signing them means that the village isn't responsible of your deaths, should you die in the chunin exams. But don't worry, nothing like that ever happens here, save for a few unfortunate accidents that happened years before but that isn't an issue this time."

"And that's because?" asked Tenten.

"Well, there are more rules this year than there are from the years prior. When the chunin exam is hosted in the leaf village, we take extreme caution with the death toll of our genin. Besides, you guys are our future shinobi. Can't have any of you dying before you achieve your destiny, right?" asked Gai. Lee nodded as he looked over the permission slip. "Well then, I have instructions to leave the three of you until an entire week has passed. The next time I'm allowed to see you is when I meet you by the entrance of the first phase of the exam, which is located in room 301 in the third floor of the academy. Are there any questions?"

The three of them shook their heads.

"Then if that's the case, see you all next week!" he said as he vanished in his trademark, a swirl of leaves. Lee looked to his comrades.

"I'm going to do a bit of my own training. I'll see you guys later," he said. Neji scoffed and jumped out of the window. Lee was about to leave as well when Tenten tugged on his cloak. He turned to her with questioning eyes. "Is something wrong, Tenten?"

"Um, well... I have a favor to ask of you," she said. "You've gotten so much stronger than the rest of us since your absence. You're probably the most prepared out of the most of us for this exam so... I was wondering if you could help me out in my training."

"Huh? Why would you need help? You're a great kunoichi," said Lee.

"Maybe but you and Neji are so much better than I can ever be and I'm a bit jealous of you two. Neji has his exceptional training from his clan and his bloodline limit. You've had personal training from Gai-sensei since he probably likes you more. But I've never had either of those and I thought that was okay for a while. But when I noticed Neji's power sky-rocket, and yours as well, I started to feel really left out," she replied. "I want to become as great as one of the legendary sannin, Tsunade, but I have one other goal. I want to prove to the world that female ninja can be just as effective as male ninja."

Lee nodded.

"Those are good goals, but unfortunately, I'm not talented in genjutsu or ninjutsu and therefore will not be able to train you in those aspects," he said. Tenten formed a smile.

"That's not a problem at all. As a weapons expert, I have a wide array of knowledge in the art of weaponry, and that also means close-quarters-combat. I think weapons mastery goes hand in hand with taijutsu, and I'm not very strong at that especially considering that our sensei is a taijutsu master. I guess what I'm saying is, I want you to teach me a few taijutsu moves that you know," she said. Lee placed his hand on his chin, thinking about the situation. He so desperately wanted to help Tenten, but he didn't know what one week of extra training would do for her. Then again, there is that... no, he can't go back there. But he wanted to help his comrade so badly. She has pure intentions and he didn't want her to fail in her goal of proving to the world that female ninja can be just as good as male ninja. That would actually blow a considerable hole in Neji's ego and that's something that Lee was very interested in. He had no ill will towards the Hyuuga, he just wanted Neji to stop treating others as if they are lowly beings as compared to him.

"I don't know what you can teach me in one week, but anything that comes from you will be helpful in some way," said Tenten. Lee sighed to himself. One week definitely isn't enough... but maybe one year will do the trick. That's where the cave of the Iron Monkey comes in. And maybe if Tenten trains there hard enough, perhaps she too can achieve the rapid cellular regeneration that Lee possesses. But that would be a long shot since she doesn't come from his family line. But who ever said that only those of his family line can achieve that very useful ability? Maybe she can do it but it won't be as potent as Lee's. Sure he unlocked his in only eight months, but when it came to him, it wasn't as potent as it was now. But it's at least something that he could offer to his teammate. Lee looked to Tenten and smiled.

"If you can keep a secret, I can definitely make you a lot stronger in one week," he said. Tenten's face brightened as Lee approached her.

"What secret is it? You can trust me with any secret," she said to him. Lee looked around him, making sure that no one was there. She would be the second person that he would reveal his new powers to, but he knew that he could trust Tenten. Lee pulled a shuriken from his holster and held it over his arm. Tenten looked at him, wondering what has happening. "What in the world are you doing?"

"Just watch and try not to scream," he said as he made a rather large gash at his own arm with the shuriken that was on his other hand. Tenten gasped and placed her hands over her mouth to prevent further screaming. What was Lee trying to prove? After a few seconds, she finally recovered from her sudden shock and was about to turn around to grab a towel in hopes of stopping Lee's blood from escaping, when she saw something that she didn't think was possible. His wound was actually healing, right before her eyes. As his wound closed, his blood returned to his body like some kind of magic. Tenten looked to her comrade with a mixture of fear and amazement in her eyes.

"Lee... how did you do that?" she asked.

"That, is only a little bit of what I've been up to, these past few... months," he said, leaving out the fact that he was actually training for 10 years, instead of 10 months. "I'm not sure what taijutsu techniques I can offer to you right now, but if you can achieve this rapid cellular regeneration that I possess, a wider variety of jutsus will be opened up to you."

"That's really amazing but... you said it took you months to do that. We only have a week until the exam starts," she said in disappointment. She was really looking forward to having that healing ability in her arsenal. It would help so much in her battles in the future.

"True as that may be, there's a way we can bend time. But in order for that to happen, I have to take you where I trained for the time that I was absent from the village. But to even do that, we have to get permission to leave the village," he said, wondering if there was a way for them to be excused from the village without any prying eyes going into their business. Tenten pondered about it for a while. At first, nothing entered her mind, but after another minute or so, an idea appeared into her brain.

"I think I know of one. My family is in the business of making shinobi weapons for this village and other neighboring villages. We often go out of the village to sell our merchandise to the other countries and we already have permission to do this. And it just so happens, my mom is supposed to do that today. If I can convince her to allow us to do it instead, that should do the trick. Also, I know about the whole issue with genin being out of the village without a jonin, but I can get around that as well," she said. Lee nodded slowly, trying to comprehend it all. "Meet me in front of the village gates in two hours. I'll have everything set up by then. Pack some rations too, because I plan to train for one whole week."

"Um... you should pack enough rations to train for one whole year," said Lee. Tenten was now lost. "The way I'm going to train you, you'll learn a year's worth of knowledge."

Tenten grinned slightly and nodded.

"Alright, I'll see you then. And don't worry, your secret is safe with me. At least now I understand how you defeated Neji and I without so much as a scratch. That healing ability will come in handy in my future battles. If I can have that too, I'd be eternally grateful," she said as she hopped out through the window with a smile on her face. Lee sighed again and sat on one of the beds. He hoped that he wasn't just making empty promises to Tenten. What if she can't possess the rapid cellular regeneration? So far, the only other person he knew that has that ability is his father. Lee hoped that by training in the cave of the Iron Monkey would be enough to earn Tenten that ability. If the chunin exam will include that snake man, he didn't want to endanger any of his friends. He knew that Neji would be alright but Tenten had a point in what she said earlier. She isn't as skilled in the shinobi arts as Neji or Lee and would most likely be fatally injured if the snake man were to make an appearance. One year in the cave won't be enough to make the healing ability as potent as Lee's, but at least she will possess it to a certain degree. It should be enough to heal minor to medium injuries, such as scratches from shinobi weapons or medium damage from some jutsus.

Lee nodded to himself and leaped out of the hospital as well, returning to his apartment to gather some supplies.

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The Iron Monkey crossed his arms over his chest, wondering if this little idea of theirs would work. Two hours had passed and Lee had already gotten his supplies from his apartment, and Tenten was already right in front of him with the shinobi weaponry that they were supposedly in charge of delivering to the land of the wind. Apparently, their plan was to deliver the shinobi weaponry, with Tenten disguised as her mother, using a transformation jutsu. It was a surefire plan, especially since Tenten's mother is a jonin. Her mother actually agreed to it when Tenten told her that someone from her team was going to train her for the chunin exams. Her father wasn't so accepting of it, knowing that his daughter would be alone in the woods for a week with a boy. But when Tenten informed her that it was going to be Lee, he accepted right away, knowing that Lee wasn't Tenten's type anyway. He hadn't seen him for a very long time and hasn't yet seen his new appearance, and Tenten knew that she should keep it that way. Lee looked to his comrade, who was carrying a rather large sack of shinobi weaponry. There was another sack next to her, probably for him to carry.

"Um... are you sure you want to carry that rather huge sack of ninja tools? It looks pretty heavy," he said. Tenten glared at him. Was he insinuating that a sack filled with weaponry would be too much for a girl? Lee was a bit surprised at the look that she was giving him, wondering what it was that he said to make her look at him that way. Tenten dropped the sack and used her transformation jutsu to transform into the perfect appearance of her mother. She picked up her own sack of rations from the floor and looked to him.

"Why don't you carry it then? Apparently, those shinobi tools are too heavy for a girl like me," she said. Lee shrugged his shoulders and carried both sacks of weaponry on only one of his shoulders. Tenten was pretty shocked at how easily her partner carried those sacks. They weigh at least 80 pounds each, so that would mean that Lee was carrying 160 pounds worth of metal on his shoulder. "Wow... you proved me wrong..."

"It's really nothing. And if you can live through my training, you'll be able to do more than just this," he said. That comment brightened the kunoichi's face. The thought that she would possess incredible skill, strength, and a useful healing ability, was just too much excitement for her to contain. Tenten nodded to him and led the way. Two chunin guards blocked the way. Lee was hoping to his lucky stars that this plan would be enough to fool a couple of chunin rank shinobi. When one of the chunin saw them, he nodded to his partner and allowed them to pass. Lee's mouth fell to the floor.

"Another batch then, madaam?" he asked. Tenten, in disguise, nodded. The chunin looked up and gave the signal, telling those in charge of opening and closing the gates, to have them opened for the two who wished to pass. The chunin thought that the weapons blacksmith was going alone, like usual, but when she saw another with her, a question popped inside his mind. Although a kunochi with sacks of heavy weaponry to carry, the mistress of the blacksmithing family was very capable of taking care of herself. "Um, someone else will be going with you today?"

"Yes. I'm just teaching him the routes that I take. I would take my daughter but she's very busy with some preparations for the upcoming chunin exam. This young man volunteered to come with me in place of my daughter," she said. The chunin guard nodded slowly.

"I see. I apologize for questioning you, ma'am. When will you return?" he asked.

"One week from today, just enough time for me to see my daughter take part in the exam," she said. Instead of letting them pass, another question entered the guard's mind. He noticed the mistress holding her set of rations. If conserved properly, it would be enough to feed someone for a year. Why would she need that much food for a trip that would only take a week? Tenten wondered why the guard wasn't talking and caught his eye on her rather large sack of rations. On the fly, Tenten managed to think of a really stupid excuse that she hoped this guard would buy into.

"Oh, you're looking at these rations, right?" she asked. The guard nodded and looked back to her with a bit of suspicion. "Some of it is for me, but the rest are for the villagers there as a token from the leaf village. You know that the village hidden in the sand is a bit low on resources due to economic problems, and I just want to do my part and help them out a bit."

The chunin nodded once more and stepped further aside, convincing himself that what the mistress said would be enough of a reason, and allowed her and her companion to pass. When they were successfully out of the village, the gates closed from behind them. Lee let out a breath of air that he didn't know he was holding back. He couldn't believe that it actually worked, and what Tenten said earlier about the village hidden in the sand. Was that a lie too or is there really something going on with that village? He shook the thought from the surface of his mind and told himself that he would take care of it later, on top of other things that he still had to do. If security is this bad in the village, then his father was right in fearing the future events. Lee made a mental note to himself to tell the Hokage to strengthen the security when they returned to the village after their year of training. When they were far enough from the eyes of the shinobi of the leaf village, Tenten dropped her transformation jutsu.

"Whew, finally," she said, taking deep breaths. It didn't occur to her that holding a jutsu for that long would take so much chakra from her system, but was glad that it was over. She looked to Lee. "Hey, where are we going anyway? My part is done and I think I deserve to know what's going on in your head."

"Well, since no one is around and you're the only one here, I think it's safe to divulge my plan to you," he said as they continued walking. Tenten paid close attention. "Alright, when I fell down the cliff, two months ago, my body landed in a river with strong currents. The last thing I saw before getting knocked out was the currents shoving me to a boulder. When I woke up, I found myself inside a cave and a man inside who apparently saved my life."

"A man? Who?" she asked.

"Um, that's not important right now. Besides, that's something I'd rather keep to myself. I want to tell you but I don't think it would be safe for you to know yet, at least until I'm finished with training you," he replied. Tenten nodded, knowing that it was a fair answer. "Anyway, the cave that I was in is a special one. One year spent in there causes a week to pass by in the outside world. My plan is to train you there for a year and teach you whatever I can. When I trained there, my body was granted the ability of rapid cellular regeneration after eight months of training, but that could be because I unlocked something about me that I never knew existed."

"What is it?" asked Tenten, curiosity reaching new levels.

"I learned that I'm the last son of an extinct clan, and that I too have kekkei genkai. My ability allows me to get stronger every time a heal from a fatal wound. The more energy my opponent uses into harming me, the stronger I become if I heal from it," he said. "And when I was granted the ability of quick healing, it only aided my kekkei genkai."

"So... you get stronger every time you heal from a wound?" asked Tenten. Lee nodded. "Wow, that's really an incredible ability. But I have one more question. When you fought Neji earlier today, I was very exhausted and was probably knocked out. But I forced myself awake long enough to see Neji perform a Hyuuga clan technique on you. It isn't perfected he was successful with hitting you with everything he had, yet you came out unscathed. I can understand that you weren't injured at all, probably because of your healing ability, but what I don't get is how you were able to mirror what Neji just did."

"Oh that... that's a secret," Lee replied with a smirk. "I keep all the best secrets to myself, Tenten, I hope you understand."

"Yeah, I get it. But I wonder... are you serious about this cave that we're going to and its special powers of bending time? How is that even possible? And where is it located?" she asked. Lee nodded. Tenten remained silent for a while, allowing Lee to lead her to wherever it was that they were going. She made a mental note to herself to memorize where it was that they were going, as she knew that she would need to know it on their way back. Lee looked ahead, still wondering if Tenten would be granted the quick healing ability that he too possessed. It was something that he promised that she would attain, but now he wasn't so sure. His father told him something about the cave, while he trained there. People who don't share their same bloodline are affected by the protective charms that the cave is enchanted with. The charms enter the target's mind and causes them to turn back, forgetting the very reason as to why they were even there in the first place.

In addition to that, what if even by training in there, she isn't able to attain the healing ability? Could it be something that only people of his clan were capable of unlocking? If that's true, then the experience and training of one year, will have to be enough. Honestly, he was hoping that Tenten would also be able to attain that power, as it could really help in her training. Long ago, when Lee first attained said power, he noticed that it wasn't just injuries that it would mend. The healing ability would also restore his stamina, allowing him to fight or train longer. When he first gained his healing ability, it would only restore wounds and slowly re-energize him, if give the proper amount of time. The same would probably happen for Tenten as well. After training even longer inside the cave, his healing powers evolved. He could still feel some pain from the attacks done to him, but the pain was drastically reduced. Adding to that, his healing ability was much more powerful, allowing him to heal larger wounds that were done on his body. Too bad they didn't have that kind of time, so a lower level of self healing would have to suffice for the chunin exam.

Another thing that Lee remembered was that the cave was hours upon hours of running in distance. If they continued the pace that they were on, then they would arrive in the cave in about a day. Lee knew that they didn't have the luxury to spare that much time. Tenten would need as much time as possible to even hope to attain that ability. He remembered that he trained everyday until he dropped from exhaustion. Lee was hoping that Tenten is willing to train that hard and for that long. Suddenly, it had just dawned onto him that he was hoping for a lot of things today. Was it because of fear of a few things that would be taking place in the future? He knew that the source of his concern was because of the snake man that the prisoners were talking about. Above that, the only thing he knew about his snake man was facial appearance that he had never seen in his life. To top it all off, he didn't even know this man's name. He sighed to himself for the umpteenth time today. Tenten looked to her companion, wonder what else was in his mind.

Before asking him what else he was thinking of, the kunoichi decided to ponder on the training method that Lee would be using. She was up for anything, if it would increase her skill as a kunoichi. Besides the training, she was also thinking about the healing ability that Lee had, and that she would hopefully attain. Can training in some cave really grant her that kind of power? Maybe Lee is wrong. What if that ability is reserved only for people of his clan? It really does go well with his ability to become stronger after healing from a wound. Tenten told herself to not be so surprised if she wasn't granted such a useful ability. Maybe it's really only for people of Lee's clan and he made a mistake in one of his deductions. Still... a passive healing ability would be incredibly useful in her future battles with other shinobi from other villages. Who knows what kind of heat some of the genin in the chunin exam will be packing? If she isn't careful, she could be caught in the crossfire. Such a time will be where that healing ability would come in handy. Lee noticed her uneasiness.

"Hey, is something wrong?" he asked. Tenten snapped back to reality and looked to her friend.

"Oh no, nothing at all. I was just thinking of a few things. But besides that, how far is this place anyway?" she asked. Lee inwardly smacked himself for forgetting about what he was going to do and what he should have done a while ago, when they were far enough from the eyes of the leaf shinobi who guarded the entrance to the village.

"It's very far and would take at least a day to get there if we keep at this pace," he said.

"Then what are we waiting for, let's get moving!" she said. She was about to take to the trees when Lee's arm to her shoulder, held her back. "What's up? Shouldn't we get a move on? I don't really want to waste time that I could be using to train."

"Yeah, I don't either," he said as he vanished along with her and the two sacks of shinobi weaponry that he was carrying, in a flash of white light. When Tenten blinked from the blinding light, they were in a different location. The leaf kunoichi looked around her surroundings. The place that they were in was no longer a the forest that they were in prior to that white light. Did Lee use some kind of jutsu to take them to this place? But Lee can't use jutsus, no matter how hard he trains. So how did they get to this place? There was a huge waterfall in front of them, but the water smelled very clean as opposed to lake or ocean water. Fishes were abundant and everything seemed so magical. She turned to Lee.

"Where are we? How did we get here? Did you take us here?" she asked all at the same time.

"Well, to answer all of that in order; we are near the cave where you and I will train, you got here because I pulled you and ran very fast, and yes I took you here. And if you're going to ask anything about me using a jutsu, I can't use jutsus and you know that. I simply ran very fast," he replied.

Tenten stared at him in astonishment.

"When do I get to be as fast as that?" she asked.

"Not in the session of training, I'll say that much," he said. Tenten sighed. "It took me years of training to attain speed like this and if you can do it in one year, I'd be very ashamed of myself. My only goal for now is that you train long enough for the cave to grant you the rapid cellular regeneration ability."

"I see," she replied, nodding to his answer. Just as she was about to comment on another thing, she noticed some sort of shadow behind the waterfall. If that was the cave that Lee was talking about, it would be very fitting. There was indeed something about that cave which shed some light into what Lee was saying about it when he told her. There was some kind of magical presence in the cave. It was as if a voice inside it was calling out to her. It was telling her to turn back and it was succeeding. Little by little, she was starting to forget why she was there in the first place. She tried to dig inside her mind, trying to find out what reason it was that she had for being in the cave. When she could find none, she took a few steps back. Lee glanced to her, knowing exactly what was happening. It was just as his father told him. Those who didn't share their same bloodline would be affected by the protective spells that the cave was enchanted with by the original Iron Monkey. He rolled his eyes and chopped on the back of Tenten's neck with his hand, knocking her out cold.

"Well, at least we're finally here," he said as he caught her by the waist with his free arm. He carried her on his arm and made his way to the cave. Hopefully one year in this place will allow her to attain that very precious ability. Even as weak as it would be, it would still help tremendously in the chunin exam. When Lee entered the cave, he felt its magical presence surround him and Tenten as well. He placed her down next to a wall and placed the sack of shinobi weaponry on another side. He would have to bring those to the village of the sand on his own while Tenten is training, but that would have to wait for a few days. Lee watched as his friend slept. She would surely need as much rest as possible for what was to come.

"Sleep well Tenten. You'll need it," he said as he started doing a bit of his own training.

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Ahh... chapter five finished. I guess he's going into the cave again. The next chapter, or was it the one after, will explain more and more things about the cave that hasn't been mentioned yet. There's more about it than I've said and those will appear in following chapters. The chunin exams are also coming, but expect a couple of twists. I'm currently writing chapter 14 right now, and I'd have to say that it's turning out rather nicely. So many ideas are just barging into my head and it's hard to contain them all. Anyway, does anyone here listen to FLOW or UVERworld? I can't seem to decide which band is better because I like all of their songs. That's all for this chapter and the next one will be posted in a few days, after I make a bit of editing here and there. Tell me what you guys think!

Ja ne!