Chapter five; Apparent-Lee Strange
I was training by myself when I was suddenly summoned to the Hokages office. I accepted happily and ran ready to accept anything Tsunade-sama would give me.
When I walked into Tsunade-samas office, I saw something I didn't expect. Or rather, someone I didn't expect.
His hair was light red with dark green eyes that seemed to peruse into my own with anger. Yet behind this anger curiosity seemed to shine. His stance was odd, as if just recovering from being punched in the stomach or someplace lower. His hands were bleeding slightly, and there was a bloody bruise next to a tattoo on his forehead. Either Tsunade was extremely cross with the boy, or he had done these things to himself.
He must have noticed me starring at him because he growled and pointed at me. "What is that?"
"That is Rock Lee, your guide while you are here. You promised to be good while here, remember?" Tsunade gave the boy the look of a worried mother.
The boy narrowed his eyes and flinched. His eyes then became a lighter green. He turned his head and nodded to Tsunade. "Yes. I remember." He then turned back to me and gave a small smile. "My apologies."
I would have been thankful for the thanks, but then his smile melted into a cruel scowl and dipped his head very close to the ground, as if making a bow… That made his head bash into the floor.
I stared at the apparently spineless boy in wonder. My eyes glanced up to Tsunade-sama to see her staring at the boy as well. I walked around him to talk to her.
On my way I herd the boy hiss, "That was not allowed! Never allowed! What have I told you?!" Only to mutter back, "I am fighting this time. You can't stop me." He continued on, but I was too far away to hear.
"You said something about me being his guide. Is this true?" I asked.
Tsunade-sama didn't look up from the boy, but she nodded to me. "He destroyed the grocery store a few blocks away from here. I thought he was a terrorist, but he seems unable to have a straight conversation without arguing with himself. Those injuries on his hands… He did them to himself just a few minuets ago." She looked to the side of her desk and I followed her glance. There was a small pool of blood leaking onto the floor. "At first glance, I would think he would be rude and heartless. But when he starts speaking, his voice changes. It was at first what I intended it to be, but then it became sweet; Desperate almost. It's really strange. Like two people in the same body."
The boy wobbled up from the floor, struggling to get up as if he had been asleep for hours. His head was tilted over, his chin almost touching his chest. His arms dangled to his side and swayed when he turned around slowly. As he turned, he swung his head over to his right shoulder, his neck muscles refusing to lift his head up openly. His eyes were fogged and he just stood there, pelvis rocked forward to support his somewhat limp upper body.
We could do nothing but stare at him.
"I don't know why he does this, but I only just met him. Perhaps you could figure out what is wrong with him. He can't control his sands very well, yet he seems to have the body of a ninja. Watch over him, will you?" Tsunade-sama said hopefully.
I nodded my head slowly, unsure if I was up to the challenge. I had taken notes to leaders thousands of miles away, I have helped villages recover from massive storms, and I have escorted princesses to the other side of the country, but I have never looked after someone by myself. I was supposed to help him? How?
I shook the negative out of my head, struggling to focus on the positive. It would be a new challenge! I could become stronger mentally with this boy! I nodded again back to Tsunade-sama more confidently. She smiled slightly, only to look back to the boy.
His position had changed. His stance was firm, almost looking like a statue. His arms were crossed and his head was held up strongly. His eyes were locked with something past the windows, and twitched randomly.
I took a step towards him, a smile creeping up on my face. "What is your name?" I ask kindly, hopping to catch is attention.
His gaze didn't change. He kept staring past the window. However, his lip twitched outwardly, trying to form words. Deep crackling rumbled from inside of him and growls escaping from his lips produced an intimidating laugh.
"So the boy wants to know our name. How interesting…" He whispered. His eyes moved suddenly and lock with my own. They shone mischievously, losing their fog instantly.
"My name is Su-"
"Kazan!" suddenly blurts out instead, interrupting the first voice almost immediately. I wondered what the first voice was planning on saying but decided to go with the second voice.
"Kazan?" I respond, making sure I got the name right.
His eyes shine happily, but then gloss over with anger. He starts twitching all over, as if something was dragging something terrible over his skin. His eyes twinkle in pain, but then stop, as suddenly as they had started.
Kazan turns around quickly and starts to walk to the door. He pauses for a moment, only to glare menacingly at me once again.
I turned to Tsunade-sama, and she nodded, allowing me to leave with the strange boy.
I decided to take Kazan to my training grounds to see exactly what ninja moves he could do.
When we entered the forest, Kazan seemed to purr ecstatically. He brushed every tree that crossed our path, and his steps became lighter, refusing to be close together. He broke through the forest before I did, and started pacing up and down the sand trap that was to the side of the fighting dummies.
"You must really like sand!" I said happily, observing him prowl into and out of the sand.
His head turned to me, as if enraged that I spoke. His glare disappears as he treaded into the grains, and his eyes twinkled with pleasure. "You could never understand…" He growled darkly as he slumped on to his rear.
Sand started to lift out of the pit and dance around him in a calm and soothing manner . The sand weaved in and out of itself and formed what looked like a twinned ladder. The ladder twitched and morphed into what look like a hand. The hand levitated through the air sluggishly and dragged its fingers until it reached a large mound of rocks. The hand widened and snatched up the largest rock, playing with it like it was only a feather.
Kazans laugh reached my ears, crackling with mischief. The next think I knew the rock landed a foot in front of me.
I leaped back; surprised it had reached me so fast. I heared another crash in the ground and realize that another rock was thrown behind me.
'What is he doing?' I asked myself as I saw another rock land a few feet to my right, touching the first two rocks evenly. Then realization hit me.
I charged out of the three-rock formation before another rock fell from the sky, dripping with coarse sand. I leaped up and see what Kazan had made. He had made a cage of rock with which he was planned to trap me…
"What's wrong Lee? Afraid of some falling rocks?" He growled.
I chuckled. "Nope! I was just worried that you were going to crush me!"
I saw Kazan reposition himself in the sand, turning over to get more comfortable and to see me. He smiled smugly and lifted his hand above his head into a claw shape.
"Wish to fight me?" He growled. He didn't wait for an answer because he was suddenly climbing out of the sand. He stood up once he was out and crossed his arms, just like he had done at Tsunade-samas office.
I smile and got into position myself.
"Ready when-" I start to say, but then a wave of sand shot itself at me, knocking me over.
I shook off my surprise and caught my footing in the grass, rearing myself up correctly. The sand took hold of me again, and slams me into the ground. It hurt immensely, but I shifted my weight to my right, and speed around the sand, trying to avoid it. Just as the sand was out of my view, more erupts from every direction, blocking everything else. It plummeted down onto me, rasping against my skin roughly, making my skin feel raw. The sensation became coarser, and started to cut roughly into my flesh. The pain was everywhere...
As fast as I could, I leaped up from the ground and sprinted away from the sand. I smiled when I saw the wave slump back to the ground in defeat.
'I got past it!' I cheer happily.
I slammed into something hard. Whatever it was disappeared suddenly and allowed me to slam face first into the ground. The wind flew from my lungs, making me feel like puking. I turned my head to try to figure out what I hit, but all I could see is the fuzzy outline of incoming sand. The sand slid around my legs slowly, compacting itself around my lower body painfully. The sand climbed higher as I tried to stand, but I realized that the sand from previous attacks were also compressing me into the ground. I tried to lift my right arm, but it didn't respond. I try to do the same with my other arms. Same result.
"This can not be happening!' I scream to my self. Tsunade-sama said Kazan was unskilled with sand! I had never seen anyone move so expertly! Moving sand was practically second nature to him!
Kazans sand slid past my torso, compressing the air from my lungs. I had been under tighter situations, but this one was currently freaking me out. The sand slithered over my head and I could feel the grains conceal the last bit of my head underneath it.
I could not see anything. I could not feel anything except raw sand moving roughly against me. Yet somehow I could breathe.
Okay… All I had to do was move fast enough to escape from the sand… Easy right? Just punch at this shell for as long as it takes, and escape! I can then take off my weights and move much faster than the sands could move! Perfect plan! I just-
'Hello Lee.'
My breath caught in my throat.
Who…?
'You were sent to control us, weren't you? No one is allowed to control us. We control, not the other way around.'
The sand shifted and I started to rise. Sand suddenly started to clear away from my eyes and I could see. What I saw was terrifying. I saw people everywhere incased in thick layers of sand. The people screamed continuously, but the sand continued to move freely, acting human and looking like a darker version of the person trapped inside. In my view, I saw a woman from the inside try to take command of her sands. She tried to speak by herself, but then her sands ripped at her skin, torturing her slowly. Then, somehow, she escaped the sand fully out of her own free will. However, the sand returned. And this time, when it finially encased her figure, it constricted her.
"No!" I cried.
The woman was crushed inside of the sands, now only becoming a bloody bulge of goo in waves of sand. The sand seemed to eat away at the remains of the woman until there was only sand. When the sand was finished, it went to another person to claim that unlucky individual as its prisoner.
'Those who need to be punished are concealed. Those who fight are killed. You have been bad. You shall be concealed from now on.' The voice growled.
Suddenly, all of the sand-covered people began to form into one large sandy mass. The sand grew to an immense size and grew arms and legs. It shaped into what looked like a giant dog, but then its face formed. The face was large and had small, evil looking eyes masked by darker shades of sand. A tail swished angrily behind the sand creature as it growled hungrily. The sand had formed into a demon raccoon. The creature took a step forward and stared into my eyes. They were angry and controlling. The raccoon then opened its mouth and roared horribly, blowing off all of my previously concealing sands. I then felt rough fangs pierce into my body.
Light exploded from nowhere as I felt the pain burn my whole body, only for it to disappear completely a moment later.
I sat up quickly, feeling cold sweat all over my raw skin. I turned my head around franticly trying to figure out where the raccoon had gone.
"Are you all right?" A voice asked.
I yelped and leaped up from the ground. I saw Kazan with a worried look in his eyes leaning over the spot where I had been laying. In front of him was a shape that looked like my body, lying in the grass, and around the shape was a mound of dug up sand.
Kazan looked down at his knees.
"I am sorry about that… I can't control my sand sometimes… It got out of control and swallowed you… I had to dig you out…" He stared down at the outline as if he was ashamed.
I then noticed something that I hadn't before. His face was much paler than what it was then we first met.
His hair was also darker. When I saw his eyes, they were lighter. I started at him in confusion.
Then I saw why.
An empty shell of Kazan was lying helplessly by the sandpit.