The Lotus Rock Lee

by AshleyKazekage

The tale of Setsuki begins here. Her life didn't begin quite so well, but upon making friendships her life was well on it's way to becoming great! She meets her best friend, and bonds with him easily. She is glad to have so many friends, and she even starts to fall in love, but refuses to show it at first. However Setsuki's life isn't as great as she thinks it really is..

11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Once I get there I run to the counter.
"Hi, can I please have Lee-kun's room?" I ask.
"Lee? Hm, well.. He's not in any condition to move, so you can only visit him for a little while." The nurse says. I nod.
"Yeah that's okay." I say.

She escorts me to a room and opens the door. "Lee-kun you have a guest, a cute girl." The nurse says, walking in, making me blush the slightest bit.
I saw him laying in the bed, his eyes closed like he was sleeping. His left arm was bandaged in a heavy wrapping, and I presume his leg is too. I walk up to his bed, looking down at his sleeping face. The nurse walks over to the window and opens it slightly.
"Lee, I'll win my match in the finals, and if I get to verse Gaara at any stage.. I'll beat him. Just for you." I proclaim. I notice his face screw up slightly, but he didn't wake up.

About 10 minutes later the nurse 'kicked' me out so I went to rejoin my squad on the training field, but they were gone.
"Lazy bums." I grumble. Then I realize I'm by myself again, I shiver, anything could be lurking around. "Water Clone Jutsu." I create 2 clones.
"Yes! Freedom!" One of them cheers. I sweatdrop.
"Are you always this weird?" I ask.
"Haha you called yourself weird." The other one laughs. Then I remember why I don't let my clones keep me company. I sigh.
"You know what I can't handle this anymore, I'm sending you back." I say, preparing the hand sign.
"Noooo we'll be good!" They both cry in unison.
".. Fine." I groan. "Lets go." I say.
"Where're we going?"
"Somewhere." I answer.
"Like where?"
"Somewhere to train." I reply.
"By yourself?"
"No..."
"You don't seem so certain."
"Well I can train with you guys." I mention.
"Boring."
".. I'm not boring.." I whine.
"Hey I got an idea, lets make her angry!"
"Yeah!" The other clone agrees.
"Why do you guys always gang up against me?" I ask.
"That's easy, it's 'cause we hate you." One of them says. I get anime tears.
"Wrong reaction." The other groans. As they continue insulting me, making me very sad, I found myself at the other end of the training ground, near the river. But I wasn't the only one there. Gai-sensei, Neji-kun and Tenten are there as well. I smile.
"Oh no, she's gonna get rid of us for them weirdos." One of my clones says.
"Yep, you're smart." I say, not realizing I just complimented one of the meanest people I know. I perform the hand sign. "Release." They both fall to puddles of water. I run over to them. "Hi guys."
"Hm? Setsuki?" Gai asks, turning around to face me. "What brings you out here?"
"Training." I say.
".. That's good spirit.." Gai says. He sounds a little depressed, but I decide not to pry.
"Setsuki! You can train with us!.. er, right Gai-sensei?" Tenten says. Gai looks at me.
"Where's your squad?" He asks.
"Eh, my teammates are too lazy to train and I don't know where Komaru-sensei is." I say. "And besides, I gotta get strong for the finals so I can beat that Gaara."
"What? You're versing Gaara? Setsuki!" Gai panics, then puts both hands on my shoulders, looking me dead in the eyes. "You can't fight him. Don't fight him. He's far too dangerous."
"But I.. I wanna win for Lee." I say. He shakes his head, knowing he can't throw orders at me because I'm not his student. He backs off slowly and tents to get a ore depressed expression.
"Alright.. we'll begin training.. Neji I want you to work on your stamina. Tenten, Setsuki I'm sure you can help with that." Gai says, facing us all.
"Yes Gai-sensei." Tenten says, pulling out a few scrolls.

Tenten summons all her weapons at once at Neji who was just standing there. I tilt my head.
"Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heaven!" Neji says, then suddenly spins around really fast, deflecting all the weapons. I thought it was cool.

It went on forever, the ground came to the point where it could literally not be seen because the weapons were piled up that thick. I was sitting on a tree branch watching, if I had've stayed on the ground I'd be buried in the weapons.. yes, they were that deep. Tenten was worn out from throwing them and spinning the scrolls around, and Neji was exhausted performing that move.
"Neji, I'm done." Tenten pants. "I can't go on anymore." Neji stood there panting.
"I can.. keep going." He says. Tenten pulls out a scroll, clearing away all her weapons then sits down.
"Fine, I'm out." She says. I jump down.
"I'm ready!" I exclaim. Neji faces me, panting.
"Bring it on." He says. I nod then run at him. I jump up into the air, then go to drop kick him, but he raises his arm and blocks my leg, he turns his hand around, grabbing my ankle then throws me. I do a flip and land on my feet, sliding a little. Then Neji runs at me and starts hitting me repeatedly with his palms, he was too fast for me to be able to block, so I got pounded.
I end up being pushed to the ground. His attack style is completely different to Lee's, the style I was used to fighting.
I quickly return to my feet, but he was already onto me, he pounds my back, then swings his leg around, kicking me over.
"You are slow." Neji pants. He looks like he could pass out at any second.
"Neji, take a break, you've done enough." Gai says. Neji stares at Gai for a moment then decides to obey and sit down. He sits beside Tenten. I get to my feet. "Setsuki."
"Yes?" I ask, turning to face him. He walks up to me.
"Your taijutsu seems a little off." He says. Well I thought I was pretty good. "Allow me to teach you some better moves."
"Alright." I say. Hey, no way would I turn down an opportunity to learn new techniques. Gai beckons me to come at him, so I run at him, going for a punch this time. He effortlessly catches my fist, I swear he didn't even move.
"You need to combine your strength with your speed." He says. I had never thought of that.

For the rest of the evening I was tutored by Gai-sensei who had seemed to somehow get his spirit back.
However, his training was very intense. I found myself having a hard time breathing, whereas he looks like he could go on forever.
"Setsuki! Allow the flames of youth to give you energy! Come at me with that move again!" He calls. I raise a hand as if to say 'hold on' while I try to catch my breath. When I did I ran towards him, jump in the air and swing my legs around.
"Leaf Hurricane!" I say, going to kick him, however, he raises his arm again, blocking my leg.. again.
"That was fantastic! You are improving each time!" He exclaims, giving me a thumbs up. "And I've only just started teaching this move to you about 5 hours ago and already you seem to have almost mastered it!"
"Thanks Gai-sen- wait.. did you just say 5 hours?" I ask. He nods.
"That's right! Not even Neji could practise for that long! Already you have surpassed him in one area, that is indeed great work!" He exclaims. I look around, noticing the sun was gone, but there is still enough light to see around, mostly because it's the moon's light. "Nonetheless, it is getting late and I wouldn't want to get your uncle worrying about you." I nod. "Come on, lets get you home."

I follow him back to my house, say good night then go inside, meeting my uncle at the dining table.
"Hello." I say. He looks at me, then shows an expression full of hope.
"Well..?"
"What?" I ask. He sighs and shakes his head.
"The job, how did it go?" He grumbles.
"Job? … Ohhhh the job!"
He frowns and facepalms himself.
"Yeah, I got it back." I say, smiling proudly. He smiles and stands up.
"That's great news," He says, spreading his arms. "give me a hug you." I smile and hug him, he hugs back. "Well..?"
"Um, tomorrow night." I reply.
"Oh that's great! Now go get some sleep." He says, pointing to the stairs. I pout.
"But I'm hungry! Gai-sensei had me going non-stop!" I exclaim.
"Gai? You mean that weirdo that looks identical to that friend of yours?" He asks.
"Weirdo? No, Gai-sensei isn't weird." I say. He rolls his eyes.
"Setsuki, you couldn't tell weird from normal could you?"
"No I only know cool people and boring people." I answer. He sighs.
"That's exactly my point.. Anyway~ what do you want for dinner?" He asks.
"Anything." I answer. He sighs again.
"You never make anything easy." He grumbles then walks into the kitchen. I sit at the table waiting, but end up falling asleep.

For the next week, Gai-sensei trained me and taught me many new techniques. Ones such as Leaf Hurricane, Strong Fist and he's begun to teach me a forbidden technique – opening the Eight Gates. I can almost open the First Gate, I just need to concentrate a bit more, and I am fully aware of the conditions of using these gates too.

It was early in the morning, possibly about 5am, and I was up, wide awake, full of energy, but unable to get out of bed because my body is too sore to move. All that intense training tends to have its downside.
I roll over onto my right side, moaning in pain as I do so. I was now looking out the window, seeing the faint orange glow in the distance. I don't think I could possibly do any training today at all. I wish for either my body to stop hurting, or to be able to fall asleep. But no, it was one of those situations where time felt like it was in an infinite loop. Every time I look at my alarm clock, at about hour intervals (which is what it felt like) it would have only changed by about a minute or two and it was getting to me.
Then I start to daydream, visualizing all the effort I put into training, Gai-sensei's shining smile after everything I do right.. Back to the preliminaries beforehand, my match.. Lee's match.. I close my eyes, not wanting to rewatch that painful scene, nor those unforgivable words about him not being able to continue on as a ninja.. Then I began to wonder, did Lee train as hard as I do with Gai-sensei? Did he perhaps train harder?

Before I knew it, my alarm clock was beeping. I sigh, then roll over onto my left side, moaning again in pain, and painfully extending my arm to turn it off.
I close my eyes again, wanting to go back to sleep, but no, 10 minutes later uncle Takashi comes in and shakes my arm, making me flinch.
"Oww..." I drawl.
"Setsuki? You alright?" He asks. I don't bother opening my eyes.
"No." I grumble.
"What's wrong? Are you feeling sick?" He asks, sitting on the side of my bed, then putting his hand on my forehead.
"No.. sore.." I say, letting out a sigh.
"Oh, well then you may as well stay in bed all day then." He says then stands up. My eyes snap open.
"Noo!" I cry, sitting up, then regretting it. I wince in pain. He chuckles.
"That's you, always pushing yourself. Take some time to relax for once, it'll do you some good." He says. I pout.
"I wanna go and do stuff though." I complain.
"Setsuki, lie down for a while alright? I'll bring you something to drink." He says then walks out, then down the stairs. I lie back down disappointed, how on Earth am I supposed to get rid of this energy?

Uncle Takashi comes back up the stairs with what looked like a glass of water, and he hands it to me. I drink it all in one go, ignoring the slight weird taste in it. Suddenly I felt drowsy.
"That should help with your sleep. I could tell you're full of energy and there's nothing worse about being stuck in bed when you're full of energy." He says.
"Night." I reply, rolling over and quickly falling asleep. He just laughs.

I slept all day until early the next day. It was 4am and I was ready to do something. My energy had skyrocketed, and my body was in pain no more. Whatever that was that Takashi gave me, it worked. I jump out of bed, then realize perhaps it's best not to go wondering around alone.. especially at this hour, no one will be awake. Then I got the best idea. Maybe if I make a clone, then transform it into someone, maybe they will portray that person so then it would be like having someone else there! I smile at my genius intellect.
"Water Clone Jutsu!" I create just one for now.
"Hey, it's early." She says, peeping at my alarm clock.
"Yep, we're going training, now stand still." I say.
"Still..? What're you up to?" She asks.
"Nothing~" I chirp.
"No, leave me alone! I didn't ask for anything you big fat pig!" She gushes.
"I'm not a big fat pig." I say, pouting slightly, why are they always so mean to me? "You are." I say, then smirk at her expressionless face.
"You're the fattest person in the world!"
"No, I'll show you who's fat." I say. "Transformation Jutsu!" I transform her into a really fat person. "Now who's the fat one?" I snigger.
"Ahaha very funny." She grumbles.
"Now seriously, hm.. Oh I know! Transformation Jutsu!" I say, then she transforms into Tenten.
"Gah! What the hell?" She panics.
"No! Act more like Tenten-chan." I complain.
".. Okay, imitation is fun! Um what would Tenten normally do..?" She ponders. I blink. "Oh! I know, I know!" She clears her throat. "My weapons are the best and yours are all blunt!"
"... Geez." I sigh then facepalm. "Well there goes that idea." I grumble.
"What idea?" She asks.
"Goodbye, release!" I say, making her collapse into a puddle of water. I kneel down and use my chakra to absorb the water. "Who else would be up at this hour?"

After deciding no one else would be up, I just drew a picture on a piece of paper, it's not very good, then again, my artistic side isn't very big. I drew stick-figure versions of me, Lee, Neji and Tenten all holding hands. Though I admit Neji looks funny because of his hair. He kinda looks like a girl.. okay he does look like a girl.
"I must put this on the fridge!" I exclaim then run downstairs, finding a magnet and sticking it to the fridge. "Perfect!" I exclaim.
"Oh no you don't." Takashi says, walking up behind me. I turn around, looking completely innocent.
"What?" I ask.
"You're not getting my toast today." He says.
"Okay." I simply reply. He rolls his eyes then goes to make a cup of coffee, then I walk past the table, grabbing his toast and walk out the door.

I look around for either one of my teammates, they're bound to walk past anytime soon. Then I saw Daisuke and frown slightly. You see, Daisuke and I go way back.
Back in the academy years, I was a lot more serious than I am today, I was never really one to muck around, after all I was still traumatised by everything that happened before I arrived in Konoha, and so training was a top priority for me. Nonetheless, I still had my friends and such, but Daisuke was what you may call, a fanboy. He was obsessed with me, mostly because I was one of the best in my class. He would always try and sit beside me, he'd ask me out everyday, and it was so annoying. The worst part was being told we're on the same Genin squad, now that was hell, but now I'm glad he's laid back, and it's all thanks to Susumu's grouchy attitude. He's always trying to secretly impress me by pretending to hate me, and bagging me out.

I run over to him despite the fact he usually tries to hug me when I'm not looking, and hug him from behind.
"MORNING!" I shout.
"AHH!" He jumps. I let go smiling innocently while he's breathing really fast, having a heart attack. "Don't do that!"
"You know I like scaring people." I laugh. He huffs and looks the other way. "And your expression was priceless!" I laugh more.
"Yeah.. I'll just you know, stand here and have a heart attack, don't mind me." He grumbles.
"Oh.. alright then, I'll meet you at the meeting spot." I say then walk on ahead of him. He facepalms himself.
"You're so slow! Stop being slow! I don't like it!" He complains, running to catch up to me.
"I'm not slow! Stop saying I am.." I complain. He shakes his head.
"No I meant, with the whole sarcasm thing, you never get it! You always take it seriously." He says. I sweatdrop.
"I understand it..." I imply.
"Yeah sure." He says, getting that smug grin he gets when he knows he's right about something. I roll my eyes, I'm not going there right now.
"SETSUKI!" Takashi shouts from the house.
"Come on~" I chirp, running ahead. He sweatdrops then follows.

We get to our meeting spot and I was surprised. Gai-sensei was talking to Komaru-sensei. Me and Daisuke look at each other and shrug before walking over to them. I wonder what's going on.