Chapter 42
"Lee! Setsuki!" Tenten calls.
"WAH!" I was barely able to dodge Lee's punch as Tenten's sudden shout from nowhere distracted me. I fell on my back, Lee looks over to Tenten then at me.
"Ah! Setsuki-san, forgive me!" He says, extending his hand out. I take it and he helps me to my feet. I brush the dirt off.
"It's okay. What's up Tenten?" I ask.
"Tsunade-sama called out for us Lee, we have an S-rank mission!" Tenten exclaims.
"S-rank! That is excellent news!" Lee exclaims.
"I want to come!" I complain.
"Oh, sorry Setsuki, it's just our squad." Tenten says, then sighs. "And Naruto."
"Naruto-kun? Er, well alright, lets go then!" Lee says.
"... I'm still coming!" I say. Lee smiles whereas Tenten frowns.
We head to Tsunade-sama's office, Neji, Naruto and Gai-sensei were already there. "Ah now you're all here. I trust you know this mission I am assigning to you is an S-rank?" Tsunade-sama inquires.
"Yosh! We are fully prepared, Tsunade-sama!" Lee exclaims, fire in his eyes.
"Hm, good. I want to start off by sayin- Setsuki? What are you doing here?" Tsunade asks.
"I want to come on this mission.." I reply. Tsunade shakes her head.
"No, this is only for Team Gai, and Naruto." Tsunade says. I reach into my shopping bag (I did a little quick shopping on the way to her office) and pull out some hot fresh dango and place it on her desk, smiling. Tsunade stares at it for a while, Shizune sighs. "And you." Tsunade finally says, extending her arm out to grab one of the sticks.
I nudge Lee with my elbow. "I told you that would work." I mutter.
"You obviously know more about Tsunade-sama than me, Setsuki-san." Lee mutters back. I giggle quietly.
"Tsunade-sama." Neji says. "I saw Naruto carrying three men on his back, what was that about? Has it anything to do with our mission?"
"As a matter of fact, yes, yes it does." Tsunade says. "You see, the three that Naruto brought back are three he rescued. They have a mission request from Katabame Kinzan. Katabame Kinzan was a prominent small river village, but about six months ago, some strangers who call themselves the Kurosuke Family snuck in. They took over the town, and it seems that the people in the village are being killed without any reasons." She explains.
"How awful!" Lee says.
"Your mission is to escort those three back to their village after they've recovered, return to Katabame Kinzan, and get rid of the Kurosuke Family. It's a simple mission, since it's just a bunch of hoodlums who want money." Tsunade explains.
"Why'd you call me for such an easy mission?" Naruto grumbles. Tsunade's eye twitches.
"Who the hell do you think you are?" Tsunade gushes.
"I'm busy with searching for Sasuke and training!" Naruto exclaims. Tsunade grabs the collar of Naruto's shirt and pulls them face to face over the desk.
"A low-standing genin, who butts into missions he wasn't called for, doesn't get to pick his missions!" Tsunade gushes. "Do you want to be sent back to the academy? Huh?"
I blink, she sure is one scary woman. "Hyuuga Neji!"
Neji flinches and stands up straight. "Yes!"
"You are the team leader." Tsunade says, throwing Naruto at him. "Watching over that idiot will be good training for you!"
"I'd rather not, but understood." Neji replies. Tsunade-sama got a visible anime vein. Naruto pushes off Neji and walks towards the door.
"I'm going to train more." Naruto grumbles. I bite my lip.
"N-Naruto-kun..!" I call, chasing after him, Lee follows close behind. The other two follow shortly after.
"Wait!" Lee exclaims. I look at him. "I forgot something from Gai-sensei!" He exclaims, then runs back.
I blink, but continue walking alongside Naruto. "What's up Naruto? You look irritated." I mention.
"Ugh, Ero-sennin's not back, and my missions are lame." He groans. "It just sucks, dattebayo!" He stops walking to stamp the floor, but then he gasped and let out a contentious laugh. He runs out an arch leading outside to the balcony, I follow. Sakura-chan was standing there. "Sakura-chan!" Naruto calls. "What's wrong?" Naruto asks. I walk over curiously. She was holding a small bird, unwrapping a bandage from it's left wing.
"A bird? What happened?" I ask.
"I found it yesterday and tried to treat it." Sakura answers, putting the bandage in her pocket. The bird spread and flaps it's wings. Sakura put her other hand over it, and this strange green aura glows around her hand. The bird then flew off.
"Ooohh... Sakura-chan! You gotta teach me!" I exclaim.
"I feel sorry for it though, it got separated from its friends." Sakura sighs. We watch the bird fly away, but then it joined and flew around with two other birds. We all smile at each other.
"Naruto-kun! Setsuki-san! There you are!" Lee's voice calls behind us. We all turn around.
"I'm sorry. Did I interrupt?" Lee asks, looking between Naruto and Sakura.
"Big time." Naruto groans. Lee blinks then shakes his head really fast.
"No, no, I can't turn the other way!" Lee says, getting a fist. "That is forbidden in the Springtime of Youth! …. Sakura-san, good afternoon." He says, suddenly becoming normal again. I really had no idea what just happened, so I just stood there smiling. Sakura laughs slightly as Lee walks over.
"Haha, good afternoon." Sakura replies.
"So what did you come here for?" Naruto grumbles.
"I need to talk to you about something." Lee says, walking over, he grabs Naruto's sleeve, and my wrist, then suddenly bolts down the stairway.
"WAH!" I cry, almost tripping over a step.
"Sakura-san, goodbye!" Lee calls, running faster, Naruto's arm swung around and hit me, making me fall over. Lee dragged us both down to the bottom like rag dolls.
"W-wait a minute! What the hell are you doing?" Naruto questions, trying to stay on his feet.
"I said, I need to speak to you both!" Lee says, dragging us along the dirt path.
Lee finally stops at Ichirakus, and of course, we all order a bowl. He began telling us about a conversation between Tsunade and Gai-sensei.
"What? The Kurosuke boss is one of the Seven Shinobi Lords?" Naruto questions.
"Yes. It is Gai-sensei's big scoop, and we respect him deeply!" Lee exclaims, stuffing down some noodles like a vacuum cleaner.
"What's the Seven Shinobi Lords?" Naruto asks. Lee looked like he was just hit by a mallet.
"Naruto-kun! You said you fought the ninja in the Wave Country, didn't you?" Lee says. "That time.."
"Ah! Zabuza! So?" Naruto replies. Lee turns around on his seat facing Naruto.
"And the guy Gai-sensei and Kakashi-sensei fought, Hoshigaki Kisame, I've heard the you've met him." Lee says.
"Yeah. I know him!" Naruto exclaims. I felt a shiver down my spine.
"Hoshigaki Kisame.. that freaky shark guy?" I ask.
"You know him as well?" Lee asks. I nod.
"Then that means less explaining for me! Now, it seems that the two of them belonged to Kirigakure's group called the Seven Shinobi Lords. At that time, the man who was with Hoshigaki Kisame was.."
".. Oh! That Itachi guy! And?" Naruto replies.
"You still do not understand?" Lee inquires. "If Raiga is one of the Seven Shinobi Lords, then there might be some relation to Uchiha Itachi and Kisame who was with him."
"Ohhh! … And?"
"... And who was chasing after Itachi?" Lee inquires, staring bored-like at Naruto.
"I know! Sasuke!" Naruto exclaims. Lee gives him a thumbs up and big grin.
"That is right!" Lee exclaims. "We might get a clue to Sasuke's whereabout in Katabame Kinzan!"
"But, since Gai-sensei said that..." Naruto says, his voice trailed off and he began slurping down his ramen. Lee punches the table.
"Please do not say such rude things!" Lee huffs. "Those are facts you can believe in one hundred percent!"
"Mmhmm.." Naruto groans.
"... So when do we leave?" I ask. Lee head butts the table. I blink. "What?"
An hour later we all met up at the village gates, ready to go, as well as those three people we had to escort back.
"We are now going to escort Rokusuke-san and the others to Katabame Kinzan and attack the Kurosuke Family." Neji explains.
"My friend's shop is near Kinzan." Lee mentions. "Lets make that our staging area."
Neji nods.
"A friend's place?" Tenten asks.
"You will see when we get there!" Lee says, smiling.
"To change the subject, Naruto is late." Neji groans.
"What are you talking about? He's right he-" I stop and blink. "Er... never mind.."
Tenten sighs. "He might not trust what Gai-sensei said." She says.
"That shouldn't be the case!" Lee says. "Naruto-kun will definitely come! That is because Gai-sensei's information is correct."
Neji frowns at Lee. "Either way, it's fine." Neji says. We look at him for a moment.
"Tada!" Naruto shouts, jumping down from out of no where. "Now everyone's gathered. Lets go!"
"You think you can say that?" Neji huffs.
"Come on!" Naruto calls, marching off. He then stops and walks over to us. "So.. which way is it?"
Neji groans loudly.
It took about 5 hours of walking, but I believed we were close. Lee, Naruto and I were walking behind everyone else.
"I remember..." Lee says in a dazed tone. ".. this sleepiness... it's close.."
"Sleepy? Are you sleep-walking?" Naruto asks.
"Shh! If he's sleep-walking, you mustn't wake him!" I exclaim.
"No no, I am okay." Lee says, his eyes seemed to be struggling to stay open and his head kept moving up and down, like he was fighting sleep. "During training, I ran a marathon on this road for three days while sleep-walking."
"Yeah, yeah.." Naruto groans, not believing him.
"It's true. It was a Springtime of Youth miracle with Gai-sensei. My body still remembers it. I have become sleepy."
"Hey, Fuzzy-brows, are you really okay?" Naruto asks.
"Yes. There is a fragrant curry smell around here..." Lee says, closing his eyes finally.
"Curry?" I inquire, sniffing around.
"Now that you mention it.." Naruto says, sniffing around.
"YES! IT'S OVER THERE! IT'S THE CURRY SHOP OF LIFE!" Lee suddenly shouts, pointing ahead, full of life. I squint my eyes, about a kilometer away was a building. "SANSHOU-BAASAN!" Lee screams, bolting off ahead. We all run after him.
"Oh my. It's you!" An old lady exclaims, standing outside of the building.
"It's been a long time!" Lee exclaims, picking her up and swinging her around. It made me giggle.
"Huh? That's lee's friend's place?" Tenten inquires.
"Over there. That mountain is Katabame Kinzan." Rokusuke says, pointing to a mountain in the distance.
We all head inside for some curry, Sanshou gave us all a glass of water while she cooked. Lee continued telling us about that time. "Thanks to Sanshou-baasan's curry, my life was saved."
"Huh? The curry's that good?" Naruto inquires.
"Yes. It really is a life-saving curry." Lee says. "Around the time I became a genin, Gai-sensei was teaching me offensive and defensive moves."
"Yes. That's right, isn't it? I remember." Sanshou says, stirring the pot. I was wondering around the kitchen observing all the ingredients, but I could still hear every single word. "You both ran past while sleeping! Haha! Oh my! The curry is ready everyone!" I bolt out to the table and sit down grinning. Sanshou serves us all a plate with rice and black oozing and bubbling curry. My eye twitches.
"Yes! This is the Curry of Life!" Lee exclaims. "Now! Since Sanshou-baasan put all her effort into making this, lets eat! Itadakumasu!" Lee began eating like some sort of starving animal. Everyone else was reluctant to try it. I shrug and scoop a bit up and stick it in my mouth, "It's so good!"
I blink, the spices.. the flavor.. the.. heat.. "WAAAHHH IT'S TOO HOT BUT IT'S SO GOOD!" I exclaim, and begin eating it all quickly. It felt like my tongue was on fire and it burned.
Everyone else took a bite, their faces turn bright red and they scream. I blink in confusion. They fell over and Neji looked like he was going to pass out.
"A-Aahhh n-need drink.." Tenten stutters.
"This is brilliant! The spices all blend together perfectly!" I exclaim.
"May I have some more Sanshou-baasan?" Lee inquires, holding his clean empty plate out to her. I look at Lee competitively. Was he challenging me to an eating competition? Lee looks at me, then my empty plate, then gets the same look. We both take in a deep breath and hold our plates out.
"Give us all the curry you've got!" We both say in unison. Sanshou laughs and takes our plates. Lee and I stare at each other, the same competitive expressions. Sanshou serves us two more plates, each. Immediately, we grab one plate and begin eating as fast as we possibly could. No one I know can eat as much spicy curry as me!
41 Bowls later, Lee and I were tied. We both felt full and my mouth felt numb, I couldn't even feel my tongue, it's like it had been on fire for so long and burned my entire mouth. I was wondering if Lee felt the same. Tenten, Neji and Naruto-kun were all staring at us two, disbelief in their expressions.
"Oh.. I'm afraid I've only got enough left for one more plate." Sanshou says, looking in the big pot over the stove. I hold my stomach, I was so full. Lee raises his hand, also holding his stomach, his face was pale, mine probably was too.
"I-I will take it." Lee says.
"No.. me!" I manage to exclaim. Sanshou looks between us both.
"Hmm.. well I suppose you could both share the plate, and whoever eats the most of it, wins!" Sanshou says. Lee and I met eyes, sparks were created by our competitive stares.
"This is a joke. There is absolutely no way they could possibly fit any more in!" Neji complains.
Sanshou put the plate down between us. We both grab our spoons.
"Steady~... Go!" Sanshou exclaims. We both dig our spoons into the curry and eat.
Until there was one spoonful left. I felt like I was going to be sick, I had eaten way too much. Lee fell, putting his head against the table groaning in pain. 'Just... one... more..'
I slowly move my spoon to the plate, leaning on my elbow on the table for support.
"Noo.. I cannot losee.." Lee groans, watching. My spoon touches the curry. Lee put his hand on my arm, I stare at it curiously. Then suddenly he pushes me over, I landed on the floor.
"Ow.. Leeee that's cheating!" I complain. I quickly sat back up on my knees. Lee was holding the plate in an embrace, extending his tongue out to reach the remaining bite. I frown and try to lift my leg to kick his side just hard enough to push him over, however, I now remembered I still had the leg weights on. I couldn't find the strength to lift my leg. Instead I stretch my toes out and poke his thigh. That did absolutely nothing. I could lift my arms though... I smirk and put my hand on the bottom of the table and lift it up the slightest bit. I could hear the plate slide.
"No!" Lee exclaims. I put the table back down.
"It's mine!" I exclaim, commando crawling under the table. I was surprised that I could actually fit under this small table. I reach up and grab the plate and bring it down to the floor in front of me.
"No it is mine!" Lee calls, I then felt something grab my foot, the next thing I know, I was being dragged back under the table to the other side rather quickly. I didn't get to grab the plate.. Lee suddenly let go of my ankle and fell on top of me.
"Omph!" I grunt.
"Where is the plate!" He questions.
"Well isn't that a suggestive position.." Tenten says with a laugh. We both ignore her, however.
"It's over there!" I exclaim, pointing under the table to the plate on the ground. Lee then tried to crawl over me, then under the table, but I hug both his legs. "No!"
"Yes! I must!"
"No!"
"YES!"
"NO!" I pin him to the ground and crawl over the top of him. Lee then flips around so he's pinning me down instead.
"YES!" He screams, reaching his arm out for the plate.
"NO!" I scream back, randomly tickling his side.
"Y.. a... ahaha... ahahha Setsuki-san! S- ahaahahah stop it! Ahahhaa!"
Who would have thought he'd be so ticklish. "You will not get that last bite!" I exclaim.
"Yes- hahahahaha I will!" He laughs. As he was laughing I quickly crawl to the plate and eat the last bite.
"Hah! I beat you!" I exclaim. Lee pouts.
"I.. I cannot believe it! How did you win! You must have some sort of secret strategy!" Lee exclaims.
"No! I am just talented!" I exclaim. Lee gets anime tears.
"What will Gai-sensei think.." He whines, then shivers at the thoughts. He stands up and slams his hand on the table. "I demand a rematch!"
"Rematch? You look like you could pass out at any moment!" Tenten exclaims.
"Yeah Bushy Brows, you look really pale." Naruto mentions.
"There is no way possible you could fit any more in your stomach." Neji says. I climb out from under the table and sit beside Lee again.
"They're right." I say, resting my head on the table, feeling over-full. Lee turns to me, a stern expression on his face.
"You are only satisfied because you won!" Lee exclaims.
"Lee! I have an idea!" Tenten says. "For the both of you."
I lift my head and we both look at her, the same curious expressions.
"You two could be like Gai-sensei and Kakashi-sensei. Having those challenges to prove who's better!" She suggests.
"Oh lord.." Neji grumbles under his breath, shaking his head. "More chaos.."
"Tenten! That is a brilliant idea!" Lee exclaims.
"Starting from now.. it's 1-0, in Setsuki's favor.." Tenten says. Lee stands up and points at me, while holding his stomach.
"I disagree!" He says. I turn my head to look at him.
"We should start it from a while back. When we first met! That spar we had, you won Setsuki-san. That is 1 point. Then those games of Shogi in the hospital. I won all three games. That is 3 points to me. Then just now, you won. That is another point." He says. "Therefore the score is, 3-2, in my favor!"
"Lee that's chea-"
"I agree!" I exclaim, sitting up straight, gripping my stomach tightly.
"Great now they're going to be more of a nuisance with thinking up challenges for each other every day." Neji grumbles, folding his arms with irritation. Lee and I exchange competitive stares.