Chapter 3: A Rock Among Roots

Lee suffered for about 2 weeks before he had finally recovered from his extensive injuries. He could scarcely believe that was all the time it took, but the doctors who looked after him, besides the weird animal masks, were incredibly talented. They were able to not only use some of the more basic medicine, like bandages, splints, etc, but also seemed to have specific jutsu for healing his body.

That's not to say the whole ordeal wasn't painful. It was exceptionally so, and the additional physical recuperation he went through didn't help that any. For two weeks Lee was healed, worked to to exhaustion, and force fed proper nutrients and vitamins, all to speed along his full recovery.

He didn't know why they had taken such an interest in him, but he was simultaneously grateful and horrified by their special attention. He might not have minded it so much, if he had been able to recognize any of them, hold a conversation, or see the pretty Ninja girl again, but such was not his fate it seemed.

As the days went on Lee was also told about his new duties. He would be joining an elite group of Ninja, and it was at that point that Lee pretty much stopped listening. He was going to be a NINJA! He could scarcely believe it. He had never finished kicking or punching that rock apart, and yet here he was, getting exactly what he wanted.

He also heard a couple things about never telling anyone, high chance of death, extreme training, but what was that to him, a ninja? Ninjas had to deal with those types of things all the time, and he would gladly trade those concerns for the attention and responsibility and respect that went along with it.

As to the pain, well, he had kinda ended up taking the words of the Pretty Ninja Lady to heart. This was just another instance of pain, and he was just going to use it to make himself stronger. More pain, more strength, it seemed to follow. He always had heard vague stories of heroes, and they always seemed to go through the most horrendous of things.

So Lee really just saw the pain he was going through as another way to get stronger, and he desperately wanted to be at full strength again. They had told him that once he was up on his feet that he would be able to start taking part in training. Apparently they had found him to be the perfect age, and his talk with that man in the chair had been his interview.

He hadn't even known that was what that was, but he sure was glad he had passed. He barely remembered what he had said, but obviously he had impressed the man, which made sense, Lee could kick a rock pretty far, and he had even kicked that one man to sleep. He considered that quite impressive himself.

The room he was staying in had slowly been revealed to him. At first he had spent the first day of consciousness in the dark, but at some point, he couldnt tell whether it had been day or night, a doctor had come in and checked up on him. The lights had been turned on, and Lee had gotten to see him room for the first time clearly.

The room wasn't much, unfortunately. He had been hoping for mystic scrolls, and paintings of battles, with weapons hanging everywhere, but instead he had been confronted with bare walls of grey, a single hanging light with a cord attached to a box with a handle, and his bed. Nothing else but some complicated machines that seemed to be hooked up to him through weird bandages and some wires and other weird stuff. Lee, for the most part, ignored all that.

While the room wasn't much to look at, his doctors were. They were of different gender, statue, and size. But they all seemed to move the same way, and they didn't really speak except to ask him very quick questions about how he was feeling or whether or not his motor or brain functions were progressing. Not very fun, but then again, it was better than nothing.

The most fascinating thing though, was the masks. Each doctor had a different mask, and he never saw the same doctor twice. They also didn't really feel like doctors; they felt like the Pretty Ninja Lady (PNL for short in Lee's mind). He could have sworn that the few times he had blood taken that the syringe could have been used for a whole lot more than to just help him out. But they never hurt him, well, not outside of the medicinal practices at least, so he just figured that they were special doctors and left it at that.

The doctors never spoke either, even when he cried out during the physical rehabilitation. He worked hard, and he tried not to stop or anything, but they pushed him hard, and sometimes he was just too tired or it hurt too much. They would push him, gesture, and even grunt a couple of times, but they never spoke. It was a bit eerie, really. And Lee had been trying to get them to say something, anything, for a while now.

The little game he played was mostly a way to distract himself from the pain, and it did help. He found that his leg and arm and chest and neck and head had all been severely injured, with the worst being his leg and arm, of course. The pain was near constant, and when he first asked about some kind of painkiller, he got a very stern shake of the head, clear signal for "No".

He wasn't very happy with that for the first couple of days, but he pushed through it, just like he had pushed through the pain while PNL had carried him. He still remembered her words, and they seemed to give him some strength, so he did his best to convert the pain of rehabilitation and day to day activities to power and drive.

It was about two weeks later that things started to change. Lee had some sort of idea of how much time had passed, but he wasn't sure. The meals seemed regular, but he could have sworn that sometimes they were way too close together or far apart, and sometimes he would simply awaken without remembering that he had gone to sleep. It was all very strange.

The day that things changed, Lee was woken up by a man in a mask, but this man didn't have any doctor equipment nor the white lab coat the doctors had all been wearing. Instead he was dressed in black and grey functional clothing. Much like some of the Ninjas that Lee had seen. While most Ninjas had some sort of color though, this guy's outfit had none, just the swirling black and greys.

Lee was shaken awake, given clothes (all black and grey like the man's) that had come from a sturdy dresser that had just appeared somehow in his room, and then shown a door that, apparently, had always been there. Within the mystery door was a bathroom with all the toiletries he would need. He quickly washed up, with some prompting by the man in the mask, but was startled when a bell suddenly rang.

With the bell being rung, the man in the mask immediately grabbed Lee, who was in the middle of brushing his teeth, and carried him out. Lee hadn't even had time to put on his shoes! As Lee was carried through the hallway the man in the mask closed and shut his door giving Lee a small key, and then they were off. They sped through hallway after hallway and Lee quickly became confused about where they were and where they were going.

After a fair amount of time, maybe ten minutes if Lee had to guess, they were suddenly in a large room, brightly lit, with tons of stuff inside. There was an obstacle course, dummies, weapons, mats, bags, gloves, racks, pits, balance beams, ropes, ropes hanging from the ceiling, spikes, traps, and a row of similar aged kids to Lee all standing in a straight row, shoulder to shoulder.

It was then that Lee realized that the man who had carried him had disappeared somewhere, and that there was another man (or was it the same man?) standing in front of the children, staring at him. Lee quickly got into the line, but when he looked up the other man (must have been different for he had a different mask) was shaking his head "No" at Lee, then pointed at his wrist, made a couple of handsigns, and then pointed at Lee.

Lee had no idea what to do or what the man wanted. He figured he might be late? Or maybe he didn't have the proper equipment? Something to do with his wrist, maybe? Looking down the line, he wasn't getting any help from the kids; they all stared straight ahead, hardly blinking.

Suddenly the man was right in front of Lee, grabbing his arm and pulling him along. When Lee resisted a little, he was smacked in the butt, hard. That got Lee going and suddenly he was running around the large room, going slowly at first, but a couple of kicks from the man got him up to a pretty blistering pace for the young boy.

Lee completed a single loop and then started to stop, only to notice the man who seemed to be the leader making a circular motion with his pointer finger. "Guess I have to do more laps" Lee thought, beginning to jog around again, only to have the man suddenly appear and kick him, much harder this time, in the butt. Lee promptly picked up the pace.

Lee was barely jogging at this point, luckily the man leading the exercises was either ignoring him or realized that Lee had nothing more to give. He had long ago lost count of what lap he was on, and before, when he had still felt like not dying, he had watched what the others were doing, but now all of Lee's focus was on his next step, his feet painstakingly going forward.

There was a particularly hot burning in his right leg where the wound had been. It didn't feel like the burning in his chest or the pain that radiated from his other leg, it was a bit deeper, and it was beginning to worry Lee a bit. He had pushed himself before, of course, but this was starting to get a little crazy.

Lifting his head with considerable effort, Lee was able to make out the other children in the room taking a small break. They were all walking in small circles, arms raised above their heads, and if one of the stopped, the trainer would suddenly appear, shoving them forward, and getting progressively more violent if his "suggestion" wasn't followed.

He saw one child drop, a girl, maybe a year older than him. She was laid out on the ground, breathing heavily, and the man was nearly instantly by her side, picking her up and setting her on her feet. Her hair was green, nearly the same green as the PNL, and, again, he thought of the words that she had uttered to him at the most painful time of his life.

This burning in his leg, the tightness and weight on his chest, these were paltry bits of pain to that, and he had gotten through that, and he wasn't about to drop down and give up. He hadn't spent months just kicking rocks to not become a Ninja now, and these didn't seem like the type of people who would try real hard to keep him on this track.

In fact, he wouldn't be surprised if this was another test, just like that interview was. Heck, that wily man who interviewed him might be around here somewhere, Lee tried to look around, but decided against it, just taking his own word for it (god his head was heavy).

Lee focused, once more, on his legs, trying to get them to move and move and move, despite his muscles screaming at him. He was going to use this pain dammit; it was his and his alone, and it wasn't going to make any of his decisions. So if he decided to keep running the stupid legs and the stupid muscles would just have to deal with it.

Some amount of time later Lee was still going and unbeknownst to him the trainer had been keeping a very close eye on him. Lee had been running for nearly two hours now, and it was the longest the trainer had ever seen one of the new recruits go before. He wasn't about to stop, that was up to the boy to do, but he did need to make sure that the recruit didn't die. Root did not waste.

Lee could barely breathe, but he was still doing his best to swallow the pain, and swallowing it was exactly what it felt like he was doing. Every breath that he forced out and in seemed like it was ignited, and the fire that consumed his lungs had the eerie effect of making him colder rather than warming him up. Lee missed the heat of the pain that he had experienced earlier, but he knew that this was probably just another test, and he wanted the PNL to smile at him again like she did when he had dragged his mind through the pain of his leg and arm injury and out the other side.

He was pretty much just walking at this point, but it felt like he was sprinting. He didn't have the ability nor the will to look around, but was utterly focused on picking up his legs and dropping them down again in something that kind of resembled movement. He was still swallowing the pain, and it seemed to almost fill him up, making his limbs move on their own accord.

The pain wasn't something that was separate from him, it seemed to live in him and outside of him, like he was drawing it in and using it to make himself move. He was lightheaded and confused and moving, and that was the important part, the fact that he was moving. He had stopped sweating, he didn't know when, but he had just noticed that. It seemed weird.

The trainer watched the new recruit finish another lap, only for his leg to twitch, move up, and then come crashing down as the boy fell to the ground, legs twitching, arms still making the slight motion of running. He was there instantly, his well trained eyes taking in the seemingly automatic motion of the boy's muscles underneath the skin; muscles that didn't seem to realize that they should be stopping. As quick as he could the man picked up the boy and rushed him to the hospital. This wasn't something he saw very often.

Lee woke up the next day, somehow back in his bed. He had remembered running, maybe falling? But now he was back in his bed. That was strange. He didn't think he had made it back, but who knew?

Looking around, Lee could barely make out his room, or, at least, he assumed this was his room. He couldn't really tell, it didn't have many distinguishing marks. Either way, he figured he needed to get his clothes on, not only because the experience of having a man shove clothes into his face was less than idea, but also because Lee was starving. And back at the orphanage you didn't get food unless you were dressed.

Lee pushed back his covers and swung his legs out of bed, only to find a small tube sticking in his arm. Looking down at it, he saw that it was connected to a small machine that had a single screen. The screen simply said, "0", so Lee just shrugged and pulled it out, more than a little creeped out by the sensation. But he remembered having similar things in him the week after he had been carried somewhere by the nice PNL.

Jumping out of bed Lee was ready to get some clothes and food, only to fall flat on his face, his legs protesting in pain. Lee rubbed his cheek with his hand, well, that was weird. He pushed himself up onto his hands and knees, only now noticing that his legs were shaking.

Groaning, Lee pushed himself to his feet, standing unsteadily, and then his legs started to cramp. The muscles screamed in protest at him as they locked themselves down with an iron finality. Lee collapsed again.

'Okay, this hurts, but I really want some breakfast.' Lee whined in his own head, more annoyed than anything else. 'Stupid legs need to move, so my stupid legs are going to move.' He pushed himself up to a standing position once again, leaving a hand on his bed to give him further support. He tried taking some steps, which he could do, with some shakiness and a whole lot of pain.

'Guess I'm just getting stronger,' Lee thought through gritted teeth. Slowly Lee made his way past his bed, taking some extra time once he had to remove his hand from the cushion to go any further. He wasn't too thrilled by the situation but he settled for grumbling and occasionally thinking about the PNL.

She was pretty much the closest thing he had to a mother, and while he didn't really think, consciously, of her that way, it was true nonetheless. She was the first woman who had ever cradled him, and it had felt good, even with the pain. In fact, he suddenly wondered if he got hurt badly enough again if she would hold him again. He looked down at his legs, groaning with every movement. This probably wasn't hurt enough. Well, he could figure something out probably. Ninjas got hurt all the time.

Speaking of Ninjas, there seemed to be Ninjas all around him. Which was weird, and it seemed like there was some training going on. WAS HE A NINJA! Lee looked down at his hands; were these Ninja hands? He looked at his quaking legs, 'Ninjas' legs don't quake though'. Lee frowned at that, head drooping slightly.

But... what if he was a Ninja trainee. Lee gasped out loud with that thought; there had been training going on earlier, with the other children. And that stern man was wearing one of those cool masks, and he had noticed that the man who had carried him and deposited him had moved very quickly. Oh man oh man oh man! What if I am now working to become a Ninja? That would be so great. So so so so so great! I have got to get thank you present for that Ninja Lady when I see her.

Which left Lee with the very puzzling question of what you get a Ninja.

Shaking his head and deciding he would deal with that later, Lee continued slowly to the dresser at the back wall, moving a single step at a time. Eventually he got there, rubbed his legs a bit and then began the painful process of dressing himself. He choked on a scream when he had to fully bend his legs, sitting on the floor, to get his pants on. It was the same exact thing he had been wearing the previous(?) day when he had been deposited in the large room. They smelled a lot better than what Lee used to wear so he didn't mind at all.

Lee had just struggled himself into his shoes when the same loud alarm sounded that had heralded the arrive of the man in the mask. Lee jumped a little only to cry out a bit himself due to the added strain on his legs. He hoped they would get better soon. They were being super stupid.

Last time this had happened that man had just shown up and whisked him away, but after watching the door for about a minute Lee figured he wouldn't be showing up. Lee was worried about this, he wanted to go back and do more training. If he trained more, he could become a Ninja faster, and then he would be awesome. Lee very much wanted to be awesome.

Lee slowly shuffled his way to the doorway and looked out. There was no one around him, no one coming or going, and it was looking more and more like he was on his own. 'Am I not supposed to go?' Lee questioned, looking back and forth down the hallway. 'Well, that's stupid. I am going to go whether they want me to or not. A little foot pain isn't going to keep me from doing sweet Ninja stuff.'

Lee stepped out into the hallway and tried to make heads or tails of where he needed to go. The walls were just as featureless and grey as he remembered, so that wasn't much of a help. He vaguely remembered the man turning right out of his room when he had carried him to the gym. So Lee went right.

Very quickly Lee figured out that he had a shoddy memory, and that he wasn't very good at figuring his way through anything that wasn't the orphanage or the surrounding area. He seemed to be well and truly lost, but his legs were starting to hurt a little less as they got stretched so he continued on. Plus, sweet Ninja stuff beckoned, who was he to refuse?

Moving on, Lee came to another grey and featureless hallway and sighed at his predicament. He didn't seem to be making any progress, and he couldn't even tell whether or not he had been here before. In his frustration, Lee kicked a wall, leaving a small smear of dirt and soot on it from the bottom of his feet. After he had finished yelping about the murderous strain that had placed on his bones and muscles, Lee moved on again, barely jogging through the halls. Some unknown amount of time later, Lee was searching the walls for clues, hoping for a sign or something, really anything that could help him determine his location. A few halls over, he finally found something, his own foot print on the hallway wall. 'Well, nuts' Lee thought, 'Guess I'm back to where I used to be.' Lee looked at his footprint and sighed again, only to have his head jerk up and a slow smile to form on his face. 'I can use the footprints to mark where I've been! Then I'll be able to find the right place!'

So Lee started running down hallways, marking everywhere he went with a sharp kick, followed by a grunt of pain, and more running (he didn't seem to realize that he could smear some dirt using his hands, but it wouldn't be till later that Lee would realize such an obvious mistake). Lee continued on his way, making slow but sure progress.

It must have been hours later that Lee finally found where he needed to be. The large gymnasium was filled with kids, with only one visible adult. It was hard to tell if this was the same man that had been there yesterday, but Lee was only given a moment to take in the situation before another man appeared at his side.

Taking his hand, the man in a bear mask firmly led Lee to a table set up in the corner, facing the walls. There was a huge book and a large stack of paper with writing materials. The man made some handsigns, pointed, and then seemingly disappeared. Lee looked at the book and the paper in confusion; he understood that he was supposed to do something involving writing, maybe drawing?

And much like most four year olds given ambiguous directions, Lee started doing whatever he wanted, namely trying to draw a Ninja. However, once he started to put brush to paper a hand, that suddenly appeared, grabbed his brush, opened the huge book on the table, and mimed writing with the bush.

Lee looked to the book, then back to the brush, then to the hand that was attached to the bear mask man. The bear mask man simply stared impassively back, mimed writing, and then made a series of handsigns. Lee took the brush and attempted to draw in the book, but was once again stopped. After this blunder, the masked man simply put a finger on the text of the book, and then with his other hand (moving both hands perfectly and without any trouble) began to write out exactly what his finger was pointing at in the book. He stopped after the first line, then pointed at Lee, and made the same handsigns he had made earlier.

Lee took the brush back from the man and started to copy the text, only understanding about half of the words. It seemed to be a list of chapters, chapters that detailed something about "fights"? "Wars"? And a bunch of other words that Lee couldn't puzzle out. But as Lee started to diligently copy down the page, the masked man disappeared once again, so he figured that he was doing what he was supposed to do.

A fair amount of time had passed before Lee could copy down the first page. He had not had a lot of experience writing, and his fingers weren't quite used to holding a brush, nor writing very legibly, but when he had smeared a word or written something especially poorly a hand had appeared, made his piece of paper vanish, then selected a new piece of paper from the stack and set it before him. So he had gotten better.

However, once he was done with the first page and set down his brush, having written it out neatly and nicely, he was shocked when the hand once again appeared and turned the page before making the same handsigns from before (Lee now recognized that they must stand for something like: "Copy this"). Lee's frown turned upside down though when he was able to make out the words, "A good ninja...". Apparently this book had to do with Ninjas! And while Lee couldn't understand most of the words he started copying down the page with a frenzy, only to have the paper vanished by the masked man as his writing was out of control. Lee looked up at the man, smiled, and started to concentrate on writing neatly and nicely.

After several hours Lee had only managed to copy about 10 pages, between his excitement, poor brushwork, and lack of patience (4 years old!) he had more pages "vanished" from his Bear Mask Ninja friend then he could even count to. However, once Lee had started to begin his slow progress on the 11th page, which was finally starting to get into some of the rules that all Ninjas should follow, the Bear Man showed up, took the brush, signed something with his hands, and then bid Lee to stand up.

Turning around Lee saw that the other kids in the training room were all barely standing. Some seemed happy, a couple angry, and more than a few were looking at him with a mixture of jealously and pity. However, all of those emotions quickly disappeared once the Bear Man made some sort of signal, most of the kids immediately snapping to attention and trying to look... bored? Puzzled? Lee wasn't sure, but he did witness the Bear Man suddenly disappear and reappear near the kids who weren't standing at attention and smack them. Then with their attention fully focused, he made another series of hand signs, smacked them again, and then made the hand signs one more time before staring straight at Lee.

Immediately Lee snapped at attention, trying to copy the kids in front of him. Out of the corner of his eye though, he saw the Bear Man make a single hand signal, then stare at him. Lee didn't know what it was supposed to mean, so he simply shrugged and looked at the Ninja questioningly. The man waved Lee over, then remade the previous hand signs and then signaled for Lee to stop. Lee stopped, and the man made the previous hand signals, and Lee, hesistant at first, came forward. The man indicated his pleasure with the barest of nods, and sheparded Lee to his proper place in line with the other kids with hand signals.

Once in line, Lee was smacked around a bit, on his arms, legs, head, everywhere, and once Lee stopped resisting he realized that he was being prodded into the right "attention stance" or whatever it was. Once that was done, the Bear Man started walking out of the gym, made that hand signal that meant come, and all the kids followed him out to, what Lee learned, was lunch.

Lunch was a bland affair in company, conversation, and edibles. The kids who did try to speak were pretty quickly silenced, at first with a hand over the mouth plus a signal, and then after that with a quick smack followed by more signs. A couple of the more enterprising kids were trying to communicate through a combination of their own signs and signs they had learned, but they weren't making much headway, even if it seemed that this was an acceptable way to communicate.

Quickly enough, after probably consuming just enough nutrients for their bodies (certainly none of it was wasted on taste or spice), they were herded back into the gymnasium. They spent the next several hours, Lee had no idea how long it actually was, doing exercises, stretching, running, and completing obstacle courses.

None of it was too difficult, but it certainly kept them busy, and always there was Bear Mask Ninja with his hand signals. He repeated them often, and by the end of the day Lee could at least recognize some of the more basic commands, like: "Come here", "Stop", and "Go".

Lee was finally brought to a stop by the Bear Mask Ninja suddenly appearing in front of him, the hand signal for stop upheld in front of Lee's face. Lee hadn't realized it, but all the other kids had all stopped and were lined up. Most of them barely able to stand, but Lee still felt pretty good, or at least he did until he stopped, and then he felt a wave of exhaustion and soreness descend upon him, shaking his body from head to toe. He was barely able to stagger to his own place in line after some prompting from the Bear Mask Ninja. After standing there for a minute, all the kids in a line, they were signaled to go, and so they went, back to their rooms. Lee finding it a lot easier to get back with the marks from his feet still visible on the walls.

Elsewhere the Bear Mask Ninja gave a report on the newest batch of recruits. In a room futures were discussed. In silence Lee was examined. And in darkness decisions were made.

Lee would later learn that his daily schedule of waking, finding the gymnasium, exercise and reading, followed by lunch, finished with more exercise went on for a month, exactly. But this wouldn't be information he would have until he made it through a year of torture.

Lee had been getting stronger. He had been feeling it keenly for a while now, and although he still had no idea how long he had been training to be a Ninja, a prospect that still brought a smile to his face, he knew it had been quite a while.

For a while Lee thought he would be able to figure out how long he had been working on stuff based on his sleep schedule or food schedule (Lee had quickly realized that if he kept track of his working out he could tell just how much he was improving, and he loved that), however, his schedule was so wacky that he constantly lost track of all sembleance of time. He was woken up in the middle of sleeping, forced to not eat or eat too much, not allowed to rest, or forced into small enclosed spaces for hours and hours of time, possibly even days. And despite Lee's best efforts he had no idea for how long he had been getting significantly stronger or when it started.

This also had the side effect of when making him disconcertingly calm when he was woken up in the middle of night, presumably, by a Ninja in a mask and then blindfolded and carried away. Lee had gotten pretty good at navigating the halls of the facility he was training in, but sometimes, him and the other children would be blindfolded and taken somewhere. It was kinda fun, the Ninja moved fast and the sensation of being carried always reminded Lee of the PNL (who he still hadn't seen since she rescued him), so he never minded the forced relocations.

This time was different though. The Ninja had plopped Lee down in a bare room, pretty normal, except for the single chair in it. It had been a while since Lee had seen a chair, even when he had been made to copy the Ninja Rule Book (besides the first time) there hadn't been a chair. One of the other children, who was quite good at the hand signals, had tried to ask about the lack of chairs. The Bear Mask Ninja's response (he was the Ninja they saw the most of during training) had simply flashed the sign for strength, and then had made the kid start doing laps when he tried to ask again.

Lee was still pretty tired from being woken up in the middle of his sleep cycle so he decided to collapse into the chair, trying to wake himself up despite the fact that the Ninja teachers had been trying, for quite a while, to break him of his habit of having to *wake up* rather than just leaping to attention immediately.

As Lee collapsed into the chair he never saw the Ninja who had carried him there blur through the seals for ninjutsu or melt into the shadows as the chair suddenly sprouted living tendrils of metal, steel appendages of the steel chair, that wrapped themselves around the boy and held him down, flesh flush against the cold roughness of the chair.

Lee tried to call out, his eyes widely searching for what was happening, pupils straining to figure out the darkness that lay before him, struggling against his bonds. But it all for naught, as a band of similiar metal clamped tight around his mouth, smothering his cry prematurely in his own face, his breathe barely warming the icy chill of his gag.

Lee was well and truly scared now, and he started to cry a bit. His tears something he could feel going down his cheeks. He hadn't cried like this since the PNL had carried him away, and so he hoped that she would do the same here and now. He shouted with his mind, hoping and somehow knowing she would be able to hear him. Convinced that his Ninja Lady would let no harm come to him; that she was his samurai in shining armor. He rallied against his own doubts, his tears creating small rivulets and rivers upon his own face, as he battled against everything: the darkness, the bounds, and his own flesh, working his way, inch by inch against it all. He raged and attacked and pleaded, offering everything up to her. He offered it all, and he bargained and pleaded and cursed and felt it all. And he waited. In the darkness of some underground monstrosity, bound to a chair that chaffed and stung, alone with no one, Rock Lee shed his name and feelings into the cold air, and he waited. He waited.

A/N: Well that is chapter 3. I'm so sorry it took so long, but I am so goddamn lazy I can barely stand it myself. I would love to thank a couple of people who took their time out to review and let me know what they thought of this. If you are starting to grow attached to any of the characters or want to know what will happen, you should annoy the fuck out of me with PM's and the like. Guilt drives me better than any artistic need to express myself, so I urge you all to take advantage of that. And to repeat:

For anyone who cares:

1. This is AU (it might be AU in the sense of "what if Lee was in Root" or it might go so far as "What if Akatsuki was just a small piece in the reformation and transformation of the world at large"
2. People are going to be smart in this, as much as possible, people will not be very DBZ (shouting out attacks, powering up for really long periods, not using all-powerful wishes in stupid ways). If you managed to claw your way to the head of a SECRET NINJA SOCIETY you are not going to put obvious seals on people. Really, if you ever want to know if someone is in Root all you would have to do is ask them anything about Root, if they can't answer then they are in Root (and to make sure all you have to do is give them the piece of information first. Doesn't stop them from revealing it if you ask them about it immediately after. The seal prevents Root members from ever talking about Danzo or Root, regardless if your interrogators already have that information). 3. It is not easy to become Kage or even Jounin. By the end of Naruto it seems like everyone in Naruto's class could wipe the floor with ANBU (who are jounin), and they are all very young. There has to be more to being a ninja than just having some talent, special eyes, or containing a bijuu. So, expect jounin to fuck up chuunin and everyone else. These are serious people who you don't ever see kill you, or if you do, it is because they are about to release some serious fucking power.
4. Summons are really cool. That's going to be part of my world way more. Fuck yeah, giant frogs? Snakes? Goddamn punk rocker dogs? Yes please.
5. Faster updates hopefully, fuck. *BlueGrass54 - totally fucked that up. Yes it is supposed to be Ri (not Rin) my bad. Thank you for pointing that out! Keep reading please *NappyboyRep - Thank you! I'll try to keep it that way *Foxxy1st - ^^ Thank you for the review *LeexSakuRocks - I agree. The lack of Lee is a fucking atrocity, him and Tenten I think deserve way more, simply because they don't have any stupid genetic shit making them inherently awesome. They got good just by working, like normal people do.