Chapter 77

Takashi saw the bruise on my lower cheek, and my stomach, and wasn't happy at all. He tried telling me to stay home and rest for the day, but I refused, because I wanted to see Lee.
I managed to get out of the house, and I ran to Lee's apartment. I knocked on the door. Moments later, the door opened, Lee was up, his white shirt was unbuttoned and exposed his bare chest and one shoulder. His belt buckle was undone, and he was missing one sock. He had heavy bags under his eyes as he looked at me. He blinked.
"S-Setsuki-chan!?" He immediately straightened up.
"How are you feeling?" I asked, concerned. He scratched his cheek.
"Er.. I have a little headache.. b-but other than that, I am completely fine!" He said, flashing a smile. I tried not to look at his chest. It was just so tempting.
"Well, that's good?" I said, inviting myself in. He stepped aside and shut the door behind me.
"Wait.. is Gai-sensei unhappy with me? What time is it? I am late for training!" He whined, he went to run for his room, but tripped over his own feet and fell.
"Nooo!" I said, helping him up. The way his abs stood out as he tensed, was so.. amazing..
"Eeeep! I am not even dressed properly!" He said. He ripped his white shirt off completely and ran to his bedroom. I caught a glimpse of his back. I stood there, dumbfounded.
Moments later, Lee came running out in his usual green suit. But it was ripped across one shoulder.
"Lee.."
He didn't hear me, he was rushing around trying to get ready. He searched for his flak jacket.
"Lee..."
"Where is it!" He shrieked.
"Lee!" He finally looked at me. "Calm down! You're not late!" I said. He seemed to relax a bit. "Gai-sensei isn't even there." I lied.
"What?! Gai-sensei must be sick!" Lee continued to rush around. I sighed.
"Lee! We have a few days off, you know, to rest!" I mentioned.
"But I must train to keep my body fit and healthy!"
"You said you had a headache!"
"Yes, and I have a mysterious lump on my head!"
"I.."
"You what?"
"I have nothing to do with that!"
He tilted his head. "What did happen last night? I do not remember a thing!"
"Er.."
"Wait a moment.." Lee walked over to me, and stared at my jaw with great concern. "What happened to you? You're hurt!"
"... I was punched."
"By who? I must make them apologise to you, Setsuki-chan!"
"But Lee!"
"No! I must help you!"
"It was you!" I said. Lee stopped for a moment and stared at me.
"W.. what?"
"I.. uh.. you were intoxicated, so.. you didn't know what you were doing." I explained.
"I-I did this?" He asked, his eyes were full of sadness.
"But its okay, it doesn't hurt anymore." I said, grabbing his hand.
"Hurt? How much did it hurt?"
"Not much at all." I lied. "Your punches are weak anyway!"
Lee made an offended noise. "What do you mean, weak?"
"They don't hurt!" I poked my tongue out and giggled. Lee sighed of relief. "Now smile!" I said, tilting his chin up again. Lee gave a small smile.
"I am very sorry.." He said.
I shook my head and smiled. "It's okay! But you know, you defeated Neji!"
"I did?"
"Yeah huh! You were so fast, I couldn't even keep my eyes on you!" I said, sounding amazed. Lee grinned. "I always knew I was better than Neji!" He exclaimed.
"I always believed that anyway!" I said. He stared at me. I nodded. "Ever since the Chuunin Exams! … No, even before that! Like, when I first met you! I knew you were better than him!"
"Really? But back then.. I.. was a failure.." He said.
"But remember your fight with Gaara?" I mentioned. Lee's eyes narrowed, the memory seemed painful to him. "You pulled through, even when they said there was no chance! And look at you now! You're like, the strongest guy I know!" I said. "I don't think Neji could have recovered like that!" Lee seemed to acknowledge where I was coming from. "And just last night, you defeated him without even trying!"
His grin grew larger. "You are right! I have gotten stronger, haven't I? I finally defeated Neji!"
"That's right! Now you don't need to train today!"
"But-"
"Nope! Instead, we're gonna go and get some ice cream!"
Lee sighed. "Alright."

It took a few months before Sai was fully accepted into Team 7, and not everyone was really fond of him. Personally, I never really got the chance to speak to him directly, so I had no other choice than to believe what the others said about him.

It was December again now, the village was as beautiful as every other year, blanketed in pure white snow, it was almost like a fairy tale. Christmas had just passed, and four days later, it was my birthday. It had completely slipped my mind because I was so busy, running errands for people, chasing after lost dogs, and spending time with Lee.

I woke up early that morning, I didn't understand why my heart was racing, perhaps I was just gonna be full of energy today. I dressed in record time and found Takashi in the kitchen, as usual. Although, he looked really tired, and he was sitting at the table, with his head resting on his arm, his other hand was loosely holding the handle of a mug, which contained a cooled down coffee. Perhaps he'd fallen asleep and hadn't woken up for a while. I walked over and debated whether or not I should wake him up. I wondered why he was always up so early, when clearly he wasn't built for it.
I went into his bedroom, curiously searching for any clues. His bed was made perfectly, as if it hadn't been touched for a while. There was a layer of dust on his desk, and chair, clearly he hadn't been working here for quite a while. I ran my finger along his bed, which also had a small layer of dust. It got up my nose, and I sneezed.
It did feel pretty stuffy in here, and I wondered if Takashi ever came in here at all. I opened the blinds and opened his window, allowing a cold breeze to come in. The breeze knocked a small pile of paper off the desk, which I quickly ran over and caught before they went out of order. That's when I noticed an encyclopaedia of some sort, laying open on there. I glanced at the heading: "Biological Substances" I looked over the papers which had some sort of rough handwriting on them. "Implanting certain biological substances into corpses.. would it work?" I tilted my head, confused. On another page, "Creating a certain substance that affects the memory of the brain..." and beneath it, there was a list of some sort of chemicals which I couldn't read. I looked towards the door, wondering why Takashi would be researching such things.
I shrugged it off and put the pages back down where they were. I also closed the window, because it was getting cold.
When I returned to the kitchen, Takashi was still asleep. I decided to leave him alone, and leave the house. I was immediately greeted by Lee, who was curled up on the door step, shivering. He looked like he was trying to sleep. I tilted my head.
"Lee?"
He immediately lifted his head. "S-Setsuki-chan!" He stood up, shivering. "G-good m-m-morning!" His teeth were chattering.
"What.. are you doing?" I asked.
"I was w-waiting f-for y-you to c-c-come outs-s-side."
"But aren't you cold?"
"N-not at all!" He lied. I stared at him for a moment, then shook my head.
"Nope." I took hold of his hand and pulled him back inside. I grabbed a heavy blanket, and sat beside him on the couch, pulling the blanket over both of us. I told myself that I would warm him up with both my body heat, and this blanket. He was confused at first, but allowed me to lean against him, wrapping my arms around him. He wrapped his arm around me, and played with my hair.

We stayed like this for a while, until he warmed up and stopped shivering. "So.. what were you sleeping out there for?" I asked. A huge grin found its way onto his face.
"I wanted to be the first to say, happy birthday, Setsuki-chan!" He chimed. I blinked.
"R-right! Its my birthday!" I exclaimed. He chuckled.
"Did you forget?"
"... No.." I averted my eyes from him, then he put his hand on my cheek and made me look at him again. He looked so happy, and I smiled.
"I must make this the best day for you!" He exclaimed. "Birthdays are supposed to be the best day of the year!"
"My my." Takashi was standing by the door way, gazing at us. "Don't we look comfortable.." We both faced him in surprise.
Lee's face immediately dropped in fear. "Ta-Ta-Takashi-san!"
I tried to sit up so I wasn't leaning on him, but then Lee suddenly shoved me off the couch. "Wah!" I hit my head on the ground.
"We weren't doing anything!" Lee exclaimed, straightening himself up.
"I see that.." Takashi scratched his chin, staring at Lee. His eyes were dark and heavy, and his glasses didn't hide it. His eyes narrowed at Lee. Lee whined as I stood up and rubbed my head.
"I was only warming him up! Lee was sleeping outside so-"
"Outside? Outside our house?" Takashi's eyes narrowed even more.
"Uh.. no no just outside. So.. uh.. y-you know how you always say that body heat is good for warming people up?"
Takashi just stared at me.
"I.. uh.."
"Please forgive me Takashi-san!" Lee fell onto his hands and knees, bowing to him. His face was probably touching the ground. "I did not mean to touch Setsuki-chan's butt!"
"WHAT?!"
I looked at Lee curiously. Since when did he..

Lee took me out to lunch. He had a huge black eye. I never knew that Takashi packed quite a punch. We had hot chips, and sat inside the window of this small store, picking them from a huge bowl in the middle of the table.
"... I'm sorry about Tak-"
"No! It is completely fine! I have learned not to doubt old people!"
"But your eye.."
"It does not hurt!" His eye was almost purple, and it was closed. It looked painful. But I had to just take his word for it, because it was impossible for Lee to admit to pain.
Suddenly, Daisuke ran past the window at top speed. I shrugged it off, and continued eating. Lee sat up straight and adjusted his Chuunin jacket until it was comfortable, then flicked his hair to the side, but it fell back into place straight away.
"Lee."
"Yes?"
"There's one chip left."
Lee looked at the bowl. The last chip. "Well, you have it, Setsuki-chan! It is your birthday, after all!"
"But I want you to have it."
"No! It is yours. After you eat it, we must go and train, and burn these calories!"
"But I want you to have it." I repeated, staring straight at him. Lee stared back.
"Set-"
"Lee."
Suddenly a hand reached over and took the last chip. We both looked up to see who it was. Choji stuffed the chip into his mouth. "Yahaha! The last chip is always the best!" He laughed.
"Choji-kun! That chip was mine!" Lee exclaimed. I grinned.
"So you did want it after all!" I exclaimed. Lee pouted, then shook his head.
"No!"
"Ahh! Setsuki. Uhh.. I was supposed to pass on a message.." Choji scratched the back of his ear, groaning thoughtfully.
"What is it, Choji-kun?" Lee sat up straight, staring at Choji.
"Mmmm... it'll come to me eventually."
"You forgot?"
"Nooo.. … … yeah."
"Choji-kun has lost his memory! We must help him get it back!"
"Yosh! But how?"
"What is good for recovering memories?"
I remembered reading Takashi's files this morning, and had an idea. "I know! We'll ask Takashi!" Lee seemed to become a little shy.
Choji started to laugh. "I just noticed that bruise on your eye, Setsuki must've got you pretty good." He said, while munching on potato chips which he pilled from his pocket.
"Er.. about that.."
"Lets go!" I grabbed Lee's wrist and ran out the door, beckoning Choji. Choji ran, but was behind, unable to keep up with us.

We finally arrived home, and Takashi was cooking something in the kitchen, and so Choji was the first inside.
"Hello, Setsuki's uncle!" Choji grinned, eying the steak cooking in the fry pan. Takashi narrowed his eyes and shuffled away from him.
"Who are you..?"
"Oh my pardon, I'm Akimichi Choji! And that steak looks amazing!"
"... You can't have any."
"What?! Why not! PLEASE! I'LL DO ANYTHING!"
"Why are you in my house!" Takashi started to raise his voice. Lee stood between them, facing Takashi, giving an apologetic look.
"I am very sorry for Choji-kun's behaviour! I will run 2,000 laps as punishment!"
"But.. Lee you didn't do anything." I said, walking over finally.
Takashi gave me a questioning look.
"Uh.. Choji-kun has a problem! He has lost his memory, and I thought you could help him!"
"Lost memory?" Takashi turned to Choji. "He seems perfectly normal to me.. well, normal enough.."
"No no! Uncle, you don't understand! Choji-kun doesn't remember what he was going to tell me, and I saw your documents in your room about memories and-"
"You were looking through my documents, IN MY ROOM!?"
I flinched. "U-uh.. well.. um.. I went in there.. because.. I saw you asleep this morning! So, I wanted to see if there was anything in your room, because I never see you in there and uh.. I opened the window, and the paper flew around so I grabbed them and.. maybe.. glanced at them.."
"Glanced at them? How much did you read?" He pushed his glasses up and his face was becoming red with anger.
"Not much, just the headings." I bluntly lied.
"... Fine.."
Choji and Lee gave each other awkward looks, not knowing what to say or how to act. I scratched my cheek, and my eyes wandered.
"Is.. uh.. there a way for Choji to regain his memory?" Lee boldly asked.
"... I can't help bad memories." Takashi finally replied.
"I don't have a bad memory."
"Well, then there's no problem, is there." Takashi narrowed his eyes in Choji's direction, then returned his attention to the steak.
"But Choji-kun cannot remember what he was-"
"I heard you the first time, lad." Takashi cut him off.
Lee flinched.
"I-is there anything you can do..?" I asked.
"No."

We left, deciding that Takashi was no help after all.
"He seemed a little angrier than usual, don't you think, Setsuki-chan?" Lee mentioned.
"Yeah.. its my fault. I shouldn't have been looking through his room anyway." I replied.
Choji scratched his stomach. "Maybe if I had something to eat.."
The three of us looked at each other. "I do not have any food on me, Choji-kun." Lee stated. I shook my head.
"And I don't have money on me, to buy anything."
We were in a pinch. "Hey, what was your teammate's name?" Choji suddenly asked.
"Which one?"
"The blonde one."
"... Which one?"
"Uh.. he has short spiky hair."
"Daisuke?"
"Yes! That's the one."
"What about him?"
"He was the one who told me to pass on a message to you."
"I saw Daisuke-kun run past that restaurant earlier, he sure seemed like he was in a rush." I mentioned.
"Where was he headed?" Lee asked.
"I dunno, he went in that general direction." I said, pointing. Turns out I was pointing at the Hokage building. We all nodded and ran there.

"Tsunade-sama!" Choji shouted as the three of us burst in through the door. She angrily raised her head up to us.
"What is it? Can't you see I'm busy!"
"Did Daisuke-kun come by here?" Lee asked, stepping forward apologetically.
"Daisuke?"
"Yamanaka." I said.
"Hm.. oh! Yes, I have seen him, just recently actually."
"You did!? Where is he?!"
"He had an important mission, or so he told me. He said he could handle it."
"Mission! That's right!" Choji yelled. We all faced him immediately. "I remember what he told me!"
"What!?"
"Listen." Choji's carefree face changed to a solemn one. I gulped, knowing this was a bad sign. "He told me, to tell you, Setsuki, that he was going out to find someone, and murder them."
"M-Murder? But Choji, Daisuke-kun would never murder anybody!" I said.
"But that's what he said! And also, something about vengeance."
"Vengeance?" We all faced Tsunade who had a pale face.
"Oh no.. Daisuke's father was murdered eleven years ago. I fear that he may have found traces of the murderers.. dammit, why didn't this come across my mind when he told me that he was leaving to take care of some people." Tsunade explained.
There was a moment of silence, but it was quickly broken by the sound of a chip being crunched. We all faced Choji. Hew had a packet of chips in his hand, and was munching away on them. How dare, at a crucial moment like this. Where did he even get those chips from..
"If he is going after these murderers, he may be in a lot of trouble." Tsunade mentioned. "My ANBU have researched this case years ago, and the details of it remain documented. I'll find those documents. I may need you three to go out and bring him back." She said, arising from her chair. Shizune picked up Tonton and stood to the side as if awaiting orders.
Tsunade pulled a key out from between her breasts, and unlocked a cabinet, and flicked through many folders inside.
Pulling out one particular file, from eleven years ago, she sat back down at her desk, the four of us, including Shizune, leaned in to see everything.
Tsunade spread the contents out on the desk, there were several black and white photographs, of an old wooden building, blood patches, and a chair covered in blood. There was one very disturbing photo of a man strapped to the chair with three long blades stabbed through his chest and stomach. It made my stomach churn. There were also several pages of a written report, which Tsunade read over.
"Daisuke's description of the kidnappers slash murderers, was that they wore full length black cloaks with dark purple trimmings. And something about a tattoo on their faces. This is what he told authorities back then."
"How many were there?" I asked.
"Two, or so it says. The location of this building is written here, I'll give this to you. I've heard this gang are dangerous, there's no way Daisuke could defeat these guys on his own. So I'm assigning you the mission of bringing Daisuke back."
"How do you know? I mean, how strong are these guys?"
"Daisuke's father was.. part of the ANBU many years ago. And he was a strong one at that."
I reluctantly brought my attention back to that violent photograph. That man. That man was Daisuke's father. I tried to ignore the blood everywhere, and paid attention to his details. The black and white made it hard to depict specific colours, but his skin looked very pale and his hair was a light colour. I thought that that's what Daisuke would look like when he is older, quite attractive too. I shook my head, snapping that thought out of my mind, quickly.

So there it was. A new mission, just the three of us. I don't remember ever going on a mission with Choji before, so this will be a whole new experience.
"Someone's gotta take the leader role out of us three." Choji mentioned.
Lee raised his hand. "I volunteer!"
We both faced Lee and his eager, passionate expression. Neither of us objected to it, so, Lee was made official leader of this mission.

We looked at the coordinates once we were a fair distance away from the village. That's when we hit our first drawback: none of us could read a map properly.
"Okay, I do have a resolution for this!" Lee stated, then pointed at the circled destination. "There is a river right here."
"But that's not near the building." Choji mentioned.
"I know, but if we followed this river. We will get closer! It only looks about an inch away."
"An inch on there could be like 10 kilometres, though. I don't wanna walk that much!" Choji whined.
"Walking provides lots of basic exercise, Choji-kun!" Lee exclaimed.
"Urgh, don't even say that word!" Choji grumbled.
"But, Choji-kun, exercise is good for you!" I exclaimed.
We proceeded to argue about this for a long time, until eventually we had to bribe Choji with the only food we had in order to get him to follow us along the river.
We ran across the frozen river's surface, being careful not to slip.

Sometime later, while I was ahead of them, I noticed movement in the trees above us. When I looked up, I saw someone jumping through them. I couldn't see clearly though, and this person was fast. Running on the water enabled me to keep up, however they were heading away in a different direction, which meant leaving the water.
"Daisuke-kun!" I shouted, but either the person didn't hear me, or just wasn't Daisuke.

I decided to follow.

While running and jumping through frozen shrubs, boulders and small icy puddles, I followed this person for quite a while, before finally seeing a really ancient-looking building in the middle of a few over-grown trees. The timber was falling apart and half of one wall looked like it was going to collapse at any moment.
I crept a little closer, I had an eerie feeling which was causing me to hesitate. Then that person I was following jumped down from the trees, and kicked the door down. The whole building rattled from the impact and the weak timber cracked. The person was wearing a very torn up Konoha jacket, had long-ish dark brown spiky hair, and a very muscular build. He reminded me of someone, but I can't think of who.
I was curious, so I walked up to the door and peeked inside. The guy was looking around the place. It was just one big room, with a very old, broken wooden chair, and torn violet curtains covering the windows, flowing in the light breeze.
"This must be the wrong place." He spoke to himself.
"U-uh.. e-excuse me?" I said, nervously stepping inside. The guy immediately turned to me, drawing a kunai.
"Who goes there?!" He growled.
"S-Sorry! I didn't mean to scare you, I jus-"
"Setsuki..?"
I blinked. The guy tilted his head to the side, squinting his eyes. I don't know this man, I haven't seen him before. I don't know anyone that has this sort of appearance.
"Is that really you?"
"Uh... yes? I think so?"
"Hm." He put the kunai away. "You've grown."
"Uh.. yeah.. I have..?"
He stepped over to me, light shined on his face, dry blood and small bruises everywhere. My eyes widened as soon as I realised who it was.
"K-K-Komaru-sensei?!"