'The toad sage!' she thought with paralyzing fear as the man took slow and heavy steps towards them. Clearly, There were mixed feeling in his eyes. It was like he was trying to keep strong but the sight before him was sinking the man's spirits.

"Please-"

"Stop." He cut her short with his hand raised. "I'm not going to kill you. Naruto asked me to deliver you safely to Danzo."

"What?" she whispered.

"He knew what was going to happen, Karin. He told me that he had seen everything in a dream." He explained as he checked Naruto's pulse. She could see the man's hand shake slightly.

'A dream? Could it be…'

"Narutooooooooooooooooo!"
His loss of concentration sent a ripple on the lake he was currently sitting on. He opened his right eye with annoyance and tried sending a smile Lee's way.
"Hello Lee. What can I do for you?"
"I was looking for a partner to train with but no one would volunteer. Then I found you. Who better than my leader to train me?" he said with a certain fire in his eyes.
'I guess now's a good time as any.' He thought to himself as he got up. 'if I dial him down a little, I'll be doing the world a favor.'
"What do you believe in, Lee?" he asked as he started walking towards the boy who slipped into his Taijutsu stance.
"I believe that Youth Will Prevail Over Any Adversity!" he almost shouted with excitement.
"Is that so?" he asked with a certain smile that didn't quite stretch his lips. He knew Lee's background. Lee had no talent whatsoever as a ninja but he had phenomenal Taijutsu prowess. Such that Naruto had to push himself to the limit since the initiation day. He didn't know if he was ready yet since he had different plans on how to deal with the fighting machine but in his meditation, he could hear a certain whisper. Not in his head or heart but somewhere else. He felt like he was part of something bigger. Something was telling Naruto that he was ready for what was coming. As the distance between them shrank, the excitement in both teens rose.
"You have a lot of heart, Lee, But do you have the means to control it?" he asked as his pace grew faster, almost jog-like.
"I follow my heart, Naruto-san. My heart will never fail me." He replied with determination in his eyes.
Without another word to say, Naruto steadied himself for a long long fight. He only hoped that what he learned about himself when he was being tortured would help him out. That his quick healing wasn't a figment of his imagination.
To change Lee's ideas, he would have to go out of his way and into Lee's territory. To beat him at what he thought he was best at. With Neji, it was much easier as he was a man of ideas. With Lee, it was different. Naruto knew that Lee would be a man of fervent feelings so he needed to prove him otherwise with actions rather than words.
As he had hoped, the regeneration was working. After his first exchange of fists, he clearly felt his knuckles break. he could feel them grow back into place as he watched Lee's bleeding knuckle. The pain was borderline unbearable.
"That was well-struck, Naruto-kun, but I think you should see-"
Before Lee could finish, Naruto sent the same fist flying for his jaw. To Lee's shock, the knuckles were as firm as before and the strike sent him into a daze.
"What?" he asked himself as he tried to regain his composure.
Naruto knew that his knuckles were only the beginning. He would have to endure many more broken bones in his long fight with Lee but he could only hope that it would be worth it and his actions would put Lee in the right state, The right mood to accept Naruto's words and change himself.
After several more minutes of fighting and bashing, Lee was feeling strange. He felt like something was off. Naruto hadn't spoken a single word and hadn't shown a single sign of suffering from injuries.
"Am I in a Genjutsu, Naruto-kun?" he asked as he let his guard down. The kick he received for his oversight felt nothing like an illusion. As he went flying for the tree next to him, he could think of only one thing.
'why?'
after getting up, he got into a defensive stance which got Naruto's attention. He smiled once more. This time, the smile sent a shiver down Lee's spine.
"Why are you doing this, Naruto-kun? I know you are in pain. I have felt your knuckles break. Why are you going through this?"
"To teach you, Lee." He spoke in a low tone as he approached him. "That your heart isn't enough."
Lee smirked at that.
"I'm sorry to say your efforts have been in vain, Naruto-kun. I will stay true to my path."
"I'm counting on it." Naruto replied before he slid under lee's defense and delivered a knee to his gut.
"Your heart is not enough, Lee." He said as he grabbed the back of Lee's neck with his hands and began sending multiple knee strikes to his rib cage.
"You have to learn to use your mind to direct all that energy."
Feeling overwhelmed by the knee strikes, Lee made the mistake of trying to block Naruto's attacks, leaving his head exposed. More than obliged to act, Naruto stroke Lee's forehead with his own and followed it with an elbow to the jaw. Lee was not feeling right at this point. He felt something new. Something that demanded. Something that drove him to stare daggers into Naruto.
"There's no way I can beat you in Taijutsu…by facts anyway. So why are you backing away from me now?" he asked the boy who was once more dizzied by Naruto's strikes.
"I Can't Lose!" Lee shouted before taking his weights off.
'Shit.' Naruto thought as he braced himself for a world of pain. For him, now came the hard part. Withstanding Lee's strikes.
It wasn't easy nor was it short-lived. In fact, it was worse than the time he had spent in prison. By the time Lee started to run out of breath, he was beaten blue all over. His regeneration was as much a curse as it was a blessing. Through all of it, only one thing gave him the willpower to stand strong.
"All done?" he asked with a grin as he fell on his knees. he felt the searing pain of his bones reconnecting and fusing. It made him want to throw up and pass out.
"Why? Why are you doing this to yourself?" Lee asked as he panted for air, In a tone mixed with rage and concern.
"What are you saying, Lee? You did this to me." He said with that same terrifying smile.
"Imagine if I was Sasuke…or TenTen. Would you have lost control after a few hits to the head and killed them too?" he asked with a questioning stare. His endurance was paying off. Lee's eyes were flying down and left, showing his panic.
"That's right. You didn't think it through. You let your heart do the thing it wanted and Now I'm Half-Dead!" He spat through great pain. He thought he could take it but mentality wasn't enough. His body was failing him and he had to put in the last touch before his vision grew any darker. He had to deliver the idea that was keeping him awake through the pounding he had just withstood.
"You lost control when I hit you in the jaw and you got mad. You got mad and followed your raging heart. You didn't control yourself and now-"
He fell on his face with a low thud and lost conscience.
Naruto spent the next two days in the hospital as ordered by the doctor. The only explanations he was willing to give about his injuries were strange sentences.
"I did drugs." He would keep saying with a regretful smile, or "I was possessed by a bisexual ghost.", "I fell all the way down the stairs of the Hokage monument.", "I left the fridge open and Karma hit me.", "I didn't cheer in my niece's first talent show" And so on.
Danzo knew he was mocking everyone. What concerned him was Naruto's extraordinary regeneration. Guy had reported everything to him and after what Lee did to him, he should have died three times over.
Aside from Naruto's strange injuries, something else was the talking topic for everyone. Lee was calmer now. Eventually, he stopped applying hair gel to make his hairstyle a perfect bowl shape and to everyone's surprise, he started growing his hair. Years later, when it was shoulder-length, he would braid the back and cut the bangs short, keeping whatever remained out of his sight with his forehead protector. But that would be a different story.
It took Guy some time to get used to the new attitude. Even so, if it meant improving his student's career as a Ninja, he was grateful.
Something did however change in Naruto. Something small yet significant. When he fainted, he saw a pair of glowing crimson eyes stare into him. Eyes that scared him to no end.

Next Week - Training Field 20-7

"Alright then." He spoke as he looked at each of his pupils with his single eye.
"For teamwork, I'll have to give most of you a full grade."
"Does that mean we get a mission other than tactful gardening and sanitary service now?" Naruto asked with a frustrated sigh.
"Yes." The Hokage replied as he walked away from the group.
"Really?" he asked with a certain glee in his tone. He knew it and so did the Hokage. The team was itching for a decent mission.
"Wait What Did You Mean Most Of Us?" he asked aloud but Danzo did not reply.

Hokage Office

"Can I ask what you meant when you said most of us get a full grade?" he asked with an expecting tone. The team had disbanded for the day but he was burning with curiosity about the mission.
"You do almost nothing, Naruto. Being a leader is more than just giving orders. It's about nurturing your comrades and protecting them."
"Well then give me a good mission so I can nurture something other than gardening skills and protect them against something other than bug bites!" he protested. One look from Danzo and he knew he had crossed a line.
"We're alone now, Naruto. I expect you to act accordingly." Danzo spoke in a low voice filled with authority. Getting the message and reading between the lines, Naruto straightened himself and looked down in respect.
"I apologize, Hokage-sama. I believe team twenty-seven's talents are being wasted as they are now."
He spoke true but he didn't know what he was saying. Every year, Danzo would send the star students on a mission out of Konoha and every year, he'd sustain great losses. He feared that he was making the same mistake he had once made with Root so it was a fairly tough decision to make for him. He looked at a few of the scrolls on his desk and finally picked a blue scroll with one thought in mind.
No guts. No glory.
"Here's an escort mission. To the land of waves. It's currently a war-ridden country so I hope you'll take care this time and bring everyone back." He said with more than just a touch of cruelty and threw the scroll at Naruto.
Trying to ignore the stab in the heart, Naruto opened the scroll and read the content. It was, indeed, an escort mission. He would be escorting a bridge builder named Tazuna to the land of waves. He would remain there until the bridge's completion and return with a full report.
"Thank you for giving us this opportunity, Hokage-sama."
He bowed gratefully and turned around to leave the room.
"Naruto…" a low voice growled and Naruto turned around with his blade drawn, his heart racing like never before and his eyes wide open.
Danzo, expecting Naruto to do something beneath his rank, was still looking at the files on his desk and did not look at Naruto.
"Stop making faces, Uzumaki. You're eleven for god's sake."

Next day – Village gates

"Hello, Tazuna-san. We are team twenty-seven and we'll be in charge of your safety." Naruto stated with a polite nod. What the old man, who was apparently drunk too, said next made Naruto regret playing so nice.
"Hah. I asked for an escort and what do I get? A bunch of kids?" Tazuna spat with a derogatory tone.
If the man had insulted Naruto alone, he'd be fine but unfortunately for him, he had insulted his teammates. Naruto, being the killer/ex-root ninja that he was, had no problem being insulted as he had learned to reply in professional ways. In such situations, he had to act differently. He put on the smile that would put people like Neji and Lee in their places and took a step towards the bridge builder. He felt sick at the stench of the alcohol.
"Is it really wise of you to insult this village's best and brightest when you're at our gates and more importantly, at our feet?" he asked with a low, intimidating voice that promised misfortune.
Regaining some of his composure, Tazuna took a step back and coughed into his fist.
"Whatever. Just get me home safe." He said before taking more steps away from the whiskered blonde.
"Alright gang." Naruto said after turning to his team with a friendly smile, very much the opposite of his thin, ostensible smile. "This will be our first real mission. Neji, Lee and TenTen are up front with Neji in the middle. He'll be watching for any incomers. I'll be to Tazuna's right and Sasuke will be to his left. Sakura, Shino and Hinata will be behind. Hinata, I don't want any surprise attacks. If any of you see or feel anything suspicious, talk about what we'll do when we get back to the village. Any questions?"
Pleased with the confidence in everyone's eyes, he orders them to move out.

Words would fail to describe what Karin felt at the sight. They were in an old training field with a faded number on the fence. Naruto was in a body bag and currently surrounded by his teammates.

'Why?' she asked herself as she watched Hinata fall to her knees. The scene scratched the inner walls of her heart. She had never seen a person cry like that and she had witnessed many tortures. The tears seemed to be flowing out of her eyes as she screamed silently, the veins on her neck popping out. she pressed her hand on where her heart would be as if to soothe the pain.

"Listen to me. You have a horrible crying voice, okay? It's small and weak and…just…gah! It breaks my heart to see anyone cry like that. If you ever cry, you're not allowed to make a single noise, got it?" he said with frustration to the soaking Hyuuga.

The memories were what kept her from crying loudly. She wanted to scream. Maybe Naruto would hear her. Maybe he'd feel pity and move. But no. he had made her promise not to make a single noise when she cried.

"even if you see me dead one day, I want you to keep that voice to yourself. Since you've promised not to-"

"but I didn't!" she suddenly exclaimed with surprise.

"Silence! Since you've promised not to make a noise when you cry, I'll help you out this time."

And indeed, she kept the promise that she never made.