Title: A Demon's Tale
Author: swiftstar85
Genre: Drama/Friendship/Romance
Rating: T for some strong language, violence, suggestive material, and crude humor.
~Chapter Five~
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, though I wouldn't mind if I did.
Upon reaching Tazuna's house, of course, after Lee realized that he went the wrong way and returned to his team on the bridge, everyone was surprised how the old man's house was. It was sitting right above water in a bay with a dock and a walkway leading towards the house. It was on the walkway where the Leaf Ninja spotted a young boy working on fixing a few of the boards. He was actually hammering nails into the walkway, keeping the boards from coming up. But when he looked up to see Tazuna, he grinned and pushed himself to his feet. He didn't even seem to notice that none of the ninja were not the ninja he hoped to see. He just hurried over and threw his arms around Tazuna.
But then he noticed the ninja and frowned.
There was a long pause as all of the Leaf Ninja watched the boy stare at him. They could all tell that he wasn't particularly happy to see them instead of Team Kakashi. All of them knew that he wasn't. Tenten even leaned over to Neji and Lee, still watching the boy. "He doesn't look too happy, does he?" She whispered. Both young men glanced at her but shook their heads.
Tazuna heard but shook his head with smile before looking down at his grandson. He just stepped away from him for a second as he motioned to the Leaf Ninja. "Inari, these are the ninja that Konoha Village sent to us. Leaf Ninja, this is my grandson, Inari." he told all of them.
All of the ninja bowed their heads in respect to the boy. They even offered mild smiles to him. Inari, however, just frowned as he looked each one of the ninja over but crinkled his nose. The only one that he seemed impressed with was only Tenten. He even offered her a smile in return. But he frowned at the guys. Especially at Gai and Rock Lee. Then he turned his eyes onto Tazuna, pointing at them. "Grandpa, this isn't Naruto and Gaara and Sakura and Sasuke. Where are they? And what's with the weirdos with weird eyebrows? And the girls? Are the freaks' girlfriends?" He asked.
Everyone froze at the young boy's remarks. Even both Gai and Rock Lee. They both honestly didn't care that the kid just called them weirdos. They were used to people making fun of their bushy eyebrows. But....hearing "the girls," they knew very well that he wasn't just talking about Tenten. He was calling Neji a girl too. They winced and glanced over at Neji, who looked surprised for a second before his face twisted with anger and balled up his fists. "I am NOT a girl!!" He practically yelled, his face flushed with rage and embarrassment. Everyone drew back in alarm. It wasn't very often did Neji lose his temper just because of something someone said. But the insult of being called a girl hit him a little hard.
Even Inari drew back in alarm probably from being yelled at but then he smirked as if he thought of something else to say. "What are you then, a girl wanna be? A cross dresser? 'cause you sure look like a girl." He remarked.
It was actually a surprise to the other members of Team Gai but Neji actually blew up with rage. He was usually one who kept calm about most things. But that was the last straw. He balled up his fists, looking very angry before starting forward as if he was going to hit Inari, but Rock Lee and Gai quickly caught him, knowing very well that was what he was intended to do. Tazuna just sighed and shook his head as he gave his snickering grandson a look. "Inari." He breathed.
After calming Neji down, everyone went into the house to rest a little and get something to eat. They were greeted by Tazuna's daughter, Tsunami, who scolded her son when she found out that he insulted one of the Leaf Ninja. She even made him apologize to Neji, who accepted the apology with a grumpy look. It was rather funny though. When they met her, Gai's reaction towards her was just like Lee's to Alea. He grinned at her and offered to take her on a date. The very question made both Neji and Tenten slap their foreheads and groan, while Rock Lee rooted his sensei on. Tazuna and Inari both glared at the Leaf Jounin. Of course, Tsunami just laughed softly and didn't look too bothered by the request. She shook her head and declined politely. Gai wasn't bothered at all by the rejection. Instead, he just requested that they become friends. That, Tsunami agreed to.
Still, the fact that the girl, Alea wasn't at the house bothered Lee. He had glanced around, hoping that she was there. But he was disappointed when Tsunami announced that Alea hadn't come home just yet. She told them that Alea usually did this a lot. She never came home until around dusk.
"She goes train in the trees." Inari said as he helped his mother dish out dinner for the Leaf Ninja, half heartedly.
All four of the Leaf Ninja looked at him with surprise. They hadn't really expected that to come out of his mouth. But frowning, Neji tilted his head to the side, looking at Inari. He seemed to have thought of something to ask Inari about Alea. His mind was still somewhat on the first confrontation with that girl. "Inari," He spoke up, catching everyone's attention. "What do you know about Alea? Is she a ninja?"
Inari crinkled his nose as he looked right at the long haired ninja before turned his nose up away from him. "If she is, I'm not telling you. Especially if you think she's an enemy or somewhat. She's been nothing but nice to me since we met! So if she is a ninja, I'm not selling her to you!"
"Inari!" Tsunami scolded.
Tenten smiled as she thought of a way to get him to tell. So she smiled at the boy and leaned over towards him, batting her eyes a little. "Would you tell me, Inari?" She asked, ignoring the fact that Neji had been hissing threats towards the boy. She saw very well that Neji, Lee and Gai blinked in surprise at how she was talking somewhat flirtatious towards the young 12 year old.
Of course, it seemed to work because Inari started blushing as he looked away from Tenten. But he merely shrugged as if it was no big deal. "Ummm......I don't know if she's.....um, a ninja. She doesn't have one of those headbands." He motioned to the Leaf forehead protector that Tenten was wearing, which she glanced up at before turning her eyes back to Inari. "....but she can fight. I saw her take on some of the bad guys who's been threatening the city. She really kicked their ass, that's for sure. She moved really fast and was jumping around too much to avoid their attacks. She looked kind of like a cat or something while she was beating on them." He merely shrugged. "She has power over fire. Or that's what she said. Some guys tried to use fire against her and she turned it right back onto him."
All of the Leaf Ninja frowned as they listened to what Inari told them. Even Lee had to as he thought about Alea. He wondered what Inari meant by power over fire. Was it anything like what Gaara did with sand? That made his eyes lit up a little to think about it. He would definitely have to try and ask Alea, if he ever could get her to trust him. He would do anything to get her to learn that he was a nice guy and he would never hurt her.
"Tazuna-san," Tenten began with a frown. "Exactly how did you come across Alea again?"
The guys of Team Gai looked just as curious as she did. And Tazuna knew that it was better to just tell them. So with a sigh, he reached up and removed his glasses to rub the bridge of his nose as he tried to think of how to think of how to answer that. "It was almost two months ago, or a month in a half." He began to explain. "Me and a few of the guys were out on a fishing trip. Inari was with us, of course." He motioned to his grandson. "We were out in the bay, fishing for the monthly fish gathering. We had caught quite a lot of fish that day too. It was like luck had struck us gold. We hardly ever had that much fish. But then Inari shouted at me and pointed off to the beach. I looked and there she was. She was limping across the sand, looking like a drowned animal. Poor kid. She was hurt pretty bad. She had this nasty gash in her leg and looked rather beat up. I think she might've fallen of a cliff or something. But either way, I knew she needed our help." He sighed shaking his head. "Though, as soon as we approached her, she refused to let us near her. She acted as if we had came at her with weapons and were trying to hurt her. She was pretty scared of us. The poor kid."
"Yeah. But she wasn't scared of me." Inari interrupted, making all of the Leaf Ninja glance at him.
Tazuna smiled and nodded as he looked proudly at his grandson. "That's right. Inari was the only one she let get close to her. He went right up to her and took her hand, saying that we were there to help her. She still didn't trust us but she let us go to her and help her. She lashed out only a few times when we moved too fast for her. One of the guys got a pretty nasty scratch but he didn't mind. We all knew she was just scared of us." He shrugged. "Well, I brought her home and Tsunami got her right well cleaned up. She didn't trust her either but she never lashed at her. That first night here, she let Inari sleep with her, just as a calming solution. Like I said, she fully trusts him. It's probably because he's just a kid. She's really protective over him, as he is of her." He said grinning at his grandson and ruffling his wild black hair.
Rock Lee just smiled, along with Gai and Tenten. Neji still didn't like the sound of Alea. He knew very well that something was missing. "So, she's been claiming that she doesn't remember who she is?" He asked still a little suspicious.
Inari frowned at him, already catching the suspicion but Tazuna shook his head as he placed his glasses back on the end of his nose and gave Neji a pointed look. "I know why you're suspicious of Alea and I don't blame you. You ninja have to be suspicious of everyone you don't know. I learned that from Kakashi. But Alea is not like you or Kakashi. She's still scared of everyone and keeps her distance from everyone but Inari. But even she's told Inari that she doesn't remember. And she practically tells him everything. He's the only one who can hold a long conversation with her. She hasn't told him anything she hasn't told us. She does not remember who she is or where she is from. And if you go bugging her about her past, I suggest you don't. Like I said, she's willing to bite hard. And I don't mean the literately. She's just got a very harsh tongue when provoked."
"Okay, so instead of us getting into an argument about Alea, how about you tell us how you know Kakashi again." Gai announced, adverting the subject anymore.
So with a smile, Tazuna told Team Gai how he hired Kakashi and his students to protect him as he returned to the Land of the Waves, only to have lied to them about how much danger he had been in. He explained of why he had lied to Kakashi and his team and they still protect him from the threats against him. He even told them about how the Mist Demon, Zabuza Momochi was the one who was trying to kill, hired by the rich business tyrant, Gatou. Of course, Gai knew about Zabuza. He had read about him in Bingo books and he knew very well how dangerous that man had been. And then after the little tale about how much Team Kakashi had done for the Wave City, Gai explained to the family of what Kakashi and his kids were up to. Hearing Sasuke became a traitor to the Leaf Village didn't settle too well for the family. It made them all frown with sad looks and look away. But it made Tazuna, Inari and Tsunami all smile when they heard that Gaara was now the Kazekage of the Hidden Sand Village.
"Yeah! I knew that Red would something great! I just knew it! He was always such a serious kid but you knew very well that he cared about those he mingled with." Tazuna said grinning. He motioned to Inari. "He and Naruto really were great kids to Inari!"
Of course, hearing that Gaara had died for almost three minutes didn't settle too well on their part either. Inari actually started crying when he heard that Gaara had been in such danger. It surprised the family of three that Gaara had had a demon spirit sealed up inside of him, which Gai was surprised at himself for his honesty. But he felt as if he could trust this family by telling them that. Besides, it wouldn't take too long for everyone to find out about Naruto and Gaara being bijuu carriers. Most of everyone of the Fire and Wind Country knew about them. Soon enough, the stories were done and Tazuna even told the Leaf Ninja about Inari's father, Kaiza and what he had done to become the hero of the city. Just by hearing that story, it had the four members of Team Gai give Inari a look of pity but had faint smiles on their faces.
"Well, either way, it's gonna be nice to have some help around here. Gatou's men have been terrorizing some of our business partners long enough." Tsunami said as she went to do the dishes, seeing that dinner was done. She gave Tenten a warm smile when she offered to help out. But then she turned back and pointed at the low fire in the fire place. "Dad, the fire's going down. We need more fire wood." She told the old man.
Immediately, Lee stood up and threw a hand into the air, grinning at the whole family. "Please! Allow me to fetch the firewood! I wish to make myself useful around here!" He said, brightly.
Chuckling, Tazuna nodded as he waved his hand towards the door. He had to admit it, but Rock Lee was an interesting kid. A bit weird looking but he was interesting, no less. Plus he was making it easy for the old man to just sit around and do nothing. He knew that later on he'd get yelled at by his daughter, but why not enjoy it while it lasted. "All righty! That'd be super! Enjoy yourself!" He said just as brightly as Lee. Lee actually whooped before he turned and rushed towards the door, very well aware that everyone was either laughing, or Neji and Tenten were rolling their eyes.
However, before Lee could open the door, it opened itself and he didn't even have the chance to stop himself before he collided with the one who came in.
CRASH!!
Both Lee and the girl, Alea collided into one another and went sailing to the ground, startling everyone else. They all looked over at the door with alarmed wide eyes, only to see the worst scene. Lee was lying right on top of a startled Alea. He was directly on top of her, while she looked up at him with shock. Neji winced with a low groan. "Oh, that's not good." He muttered.
"Alea! Hello!" Lee said smiling brightly when he saw that it was her.
Tenten also groaned and slapped her forehead. She knew very well that was the wrong thing to do first. She knew this wasn't going to turn out too well.
WHAM!
There was a green blur as Rock Lee went sailing across the room after Alea had slammed her fist into his face to get him off of her. She was quickly on her feet in a crouch, looking ready for a fight and a hiss coming out from between her teeth. "What are YOU doing here?! And why did you take your precious time getting off of me, you pervert?!" She yelled at Lee as he crashed right against the wall.
Everyone winced but Tsunami gave Alea a stern look, her fists on her waist. "Alea! Stop shouting in the house and don't be hitting our guests! You know better than that." She said strictly.
Alea merely glanced over at her but then turned her glare back onto Lee, who held his cheek where a red mark appeared when he got punched by this girl. She slowly stood up straight, now looking around at the Leaf Ninja, not looking happy at all that they were there. "What are they doing here?" She asked darkly.
"They are here at my request, Alea." Tazuna said, though there was a hint of a smile on his face as he looked at the young girl from over his glasses. He knew very well how upset she was, and in truth, he was finding it amusing. "I've hired them to help us out with the renegades. I told you that I was going to. Or were you not listening to me. Again. You always find some way to daze off a little." He said chuckling.
Not amused, Alea balled up her fists and shook her head. She was not happy at all that these Leaf Ninja were sticking around just to help them. She seriously believed that they didn't need their help. "Tazuna, I didn't think you were actually being serious!" She folded her arms and shifted her weight to the side. "Why do we need Leaf Ninja?! I can handle them just fine!" She said, grimly.
"Apparently not. If there's ninja in with the renegades, then you need ninja to beat them." Neji said dryly, giving the complaining girl a very dark look for her remark. He narrowed his eyes right back at her when she did it to him. "And as I recall, you're not a ninja."
There was a very long silence as Alea glared right at the long haired Jounin and he glared back. The others just looked a little uneasy as they felt how hot the air was starting to get. They didn't actually know exactly how it was starting to get so warm but Gai frowned as he started to notice heat waves now starting to come off of Alea as she glared angrily at his former student. He could sense a strange Chakra energy starting trickle out from her and it was very hot. He wasn't too sure if Lee, Neji or Tenten could sense but it made him tilt his head to the side as he studied the girl.
"Please," Lee suddenly interrupted as he climbed to his feet rubbing his cheek but then he dropped his hand to his side and took a few steps towards Alea. He merely glanced at his teammate and shook his head before smiling at the girl again. "This is my fault. You are angry because I ran into you." He quickly dipped low into a bow at the waist. "It is my fault. I wasn't really looking where I was going and I do not blame you for hitting me. Please, forgive me. I hope I did not hurt you. Forgive me." He said in a gentle tone as he remained bowing to her.
There was a pause before Alea let out a sigh and the air around her cooled down again as she folded her arms and looked away. "I'm fine. I'll forgive you." She said grumpily.
Rock Lee smiled again as he straightened and held out his hand towards her. "Can we please start over? Hello. I am Rock Lee, Leaf Ninja from the Hidden Leaf Village. It is a pleasure to meet one such as you, Miss Alea." He said brightly, yet in a warm tone.
Alea glanced down at his hand but didn't take his hand as she turned slightly away from him, bending down and picking something up that she had dropped onto the ground after getting knocked down. To everyone's surprise, she had a very long line of big fish. So obviously, she had just gotten done fishing for them. "Charmed. I'm Alea." She said dryly to Lee before holding up the fish as she walked towards Tsunami. "I went and caught some more fish down in the bay, Tsunami. I hope these will do for dinner tomorrow night." She told her.
"Thank you, Alea." Tsunami said smiling as she took the fish from her and went over to the sink to clean them.
Then the girl turned and looked around at the other team members, still looking unimpressed with them. She met eyes with a glaring Tenten, who didn't seem to like the way that she was looking at them. She just shook her head before looking at Inari, who quickly stood up and went over to her, throwing his arms around her slender waist. And for the first time since she got there, she smiled as she hugged him right back. The Leaf Ninja realized that Tazuna wasn't kidding about how Inari was the only one that she fully trusted. "Hey, Inari. How was your practice today? Did you finally figure out that one move?"
That interested the Leaf Ninja, though Neji was more suspicious. They just watched her and Inari carefully as they interacted with one another. Inari just made a face and shook his head. "I got the first part. But I'm still having a little trouble with the stance that you showed me." The boy told her.
"You're teaching him how to fight?" Tenten asked raising her eyebrow.
Alea's face fell as she looked away from Inari and looked over at the Weapon Specialist. "Yeah. So what? Everyone has to know how to defend their selves in this type of world. Ninja won't always be there to protect kids like Inari. So you got a problem with me teaching him?" She asked grumpily.
Tenten shook her head but smirked at the other girl as she placed her hands onto her waist, watching her carefully. She knew very well that Neji was watching carefully too, while Rock Lee was frowning at them both. "No. I don't have a problem. I actually agree with you. I just find it funny how you said that you don't remember who you are, but you can remember that you know how to fight." She said smirking at her.
Not amused, Alea glared at her before shaking her head and looking down at Inari. "Inari, we'll start tomorrow. But right now," She shot Tenten a look, who didn't react to it. "I'm going to bed." She said darkly before ruffling the boy's hair and heading straight for the hall.
No one spoke for a long time before Rock Lee gave both Neji and Tenten a very serious look. He wasn't happy that they had both practically ganged up on Alea. He didn't understand why they acted like that but he didn't like it. "Neji! Tenten! What is wrong with you two? Why are you treating her like she's some kind of....." He was saying.
Neji turned his sharp white eyes onto his teammate and shook his head. He knew that it wasn't probably a good idea to start a little argument in front of Tazuna, Inari and Tsunami, seeing they were taking care of Alea. But he had to get Lee to see the reality about the girl he was crushing on right now. "Like an enemy, Lee? Face it! There's a very good chance that she is from an enemy village. I don't know if she's another ninja! But she's acting very suspicious and I know she's hiding things. She knows a lot more than she's letting everyone on about!" He glanced over at Tazuna, Inari and Tsunami, noting how they were frowning at him. "Please, forgive me. But we can't let our guard down, even if she's your friend. If she is an enemy ninja to our village, then....."
Inari now glared at him, shaking his head. He even stomped a foot like a child to shut him up. "And so what if she's a ninja?! She's a good person! She's treated everyone in this city with respect, even if she doesn't tell us who she is! And if she's hiding something, it's because she's trying to protect herself and everyone around her! The only thing that she told me that she remembers is that her best friend, her only friend, was killed protecting her from some weird ninja! So leave her alone! She's been hurt enough!" He shouted.
"Inari!" Tsunami scolded. "What did I tell you about shouting in the house and more or less, shouting at guests? Where are your manners, young man?"
The young boy sighed, still very angry but he was calming down at least a little. He lowered his head for a moment before looking at the Leaf Ninja rather coolly. "I wish Naruto and Gaara were here. At least they'd be nice to Alea and understand. So far, the only guy I like with you, Leaf Ninja, is the freak with the huge eyebrows." He said, pausing to notice that both Lee and Gai had huge eyebrows. "Uh.....him." He pointed at Lee before turning and fleeing the room as fast as he could.
"Geez." Chuckled Gai, seeming to more amused than insulted. "Your friend, Alea, isn't the only one with a harsh tongue. Seems to me that Inari has his own wicked tongue." He told Tazuna and Tsunami.
Both of them shook their heads with sighs and looked apologetic at the Leaf Ninja. "Please, Gai. Don't judge Alea too harshly. But I have to agree with Inari in this case. Alea's one troubled girl. I've woken up to her crying in the night. She's gone through something terrible. If she remembers or not of who she is, she's only keeping it to herself because she's trying to protect herself from being hurt again." The old man told them. "Both Tsunami and I are trying our best to heal her heart. We've spent hours of talking to her, trying to get her to open up. She won't do it but she does it with Inari, probably because of Kaiza. She might've not cried on the outside but I could see her sorrow swimming in her eyes when Inari told her about his father."
There was a long silence as all four of the Leaf Ninja took in his words, though Neji still didn't look convinced. He just didn't like all of the secrecy. There was a red light flashing within his head and he knew it had to be Alea who was setting it off. What exactly was she hiding that could be so terrible to tell them? Tenten, of course, was going to go with him. Lee, on the other hand, felt the pull towards Alea, and not just because he wanted to date her. He knew that he just had to do something to help her. If she was in that bad of pain, he needed to help her. So with a determined look, he pushed himself to his feet and looked directly at Tazuna. "I still would like to become her friend." He announced. "A lady should never be in pain like she is! And," he paused to glance over at Neji. "We should never inflict pain on ladies. Even if they are from another village."
Neji and Tenten both rolled their eyes while Gai looked proudly at his protégé. He even gave his nod of approval. However, both Tazuna and Tsunami smiled thankfully for Lee's proclamation. "Well then, if you're really sure you want to try and become her friend, I'll warn you now. Alea is feisty as hell. She's going to be very rude to you for the first few tries. But you just have patience with her, and continue to show her kindness, she'll open up to you." Tazuna told him.
Lee just nodded, looking somewhat excited to hear that.
"Also, if you want to start trying to win her friendship, she gets up very early. Before dawn, actually. She's mostly nocturnal, staying up late but that girl seems to need only a little sleep." Tazuna continued. "She always take Inari out with her in the mornings as soon as the sun is up. I don't know what they do out in the forest but whatever it is, they have fun. Inari always comes back smiling and happy."
While Lee nodded in agreement, Neji narrowed his eyes as he looked off towards the window, thinking carefully. He didn't like this. He really thought Lee was going way over his head in this decision. He knew he was going to need to keep a very close eye on this Alea, just to make sure his idiot of a team mate didn't get hurt by her. Knowing Lee, he was going to.
Early morning, Lee woke to hearing the door shut with a soft click. He, like the other three of his team, had been sleeping in the living room on their sleeping cots. Of course, he hadn't been the only one to wake. He saw Neji sit up too and look towards the door. The long haired Jounin glanced over at his teammate and slowly shook his head as he laid back down. Lee climbed out of his cot and hurried to pull on his clothes. He knew it must have been Alea who was up. So he needed to hurry.
Once he was ready to go, he quietly went out the door, pausing when a hand fell onto his shoulder. He turned to look at Neji, who was shaking his head. "Don't, Lee. She's trouble." he whispered so quietly.
Shaking his head, Lee pulled away, giving his teammate a disappointed look. He knew very well that Neji didn't trust Alea. And in a way, he knew why. But he couldn't just stand there and let Alea be alone when she needed a friend. So he just reached over and gave his teammate's shoulder a light squeeze. "It's all right, Neji. I will be okay. Don't worry about me. And trust me. I know what I am doing. Alea needs a friend and I want to be that friend." He told him just as quietly before he turned and hurried away. Neji watched him go but he could only sigh and shake his head. He sure hoped Lee knew what he was getting himself into.
Lee rushed through the trees, trying to see if he could find Alea. He was cursing himself for not being able to detect Chakra like the others. It was times like this he needed it. He frowned as he kept on going, looking around carefully as he ran through the trees. But after a while, he slowed down to listen hard for any sounds. He must have stood there for a long moment before he heard something to the right. Smiling, he turned and hurried that way.
It wasn't long before he finally found something. Something he probably shouldn't have.
As soon as he broke through the clearing, Lee came to a sudden halt, looking around with surprise. He had just came right into a small camping area by a river. And it was clear that these were not the people of this Land. There were at least twenty men climbing out of their tents but they all stopped when they realized they had an intruder. They were deeply tanned people, yet they didn't look very nice. They actually were now giving the Ninja a dark look for his intrusion. Each one of them had nasty looking weapons. Lee knew instantly that these men must have been some of the renegades. Frowning, he straightened and folded one arm behind his back and held up the other, in his usual stance as if challenging them.
"What the hell is this?" One man growled as he stood up and looked threateningly at Lee.
The other men began to circle around Lee, who just kept his head up and facing forward. The Leaf Ninja, of course, showed no fear at all of them. Why should he? He was a Ninja, they were not. "I take it you are the renegades who have been threatening the Wave City." He announced, in his way.
Some of the men snorted as they began fingering their weapons and sneering at the Leaf Ninja. They seemed to figure out that this kid was a weird one. "Yeah." Said one before he snorted deeply and then spat a loogie on the ground. The very action made Lee's face twist a little in disgust as he stepped back away from that one. "Yeah. That'd be us. So what of it, you little runt? You came to join us? If so, you'll have to wait till Zori and Waraji gets back. They're the ones who approve of new comers." He told Lee.
The Leaf Ninja returned his head up straight and gave that one a very dry stare as he held his hand towards him, palm up, almost challenging. "Zori and Waraji? I suppose they are the ones who are in charge, then." he shook his head as he dipped his head down only a little. "I am not here to join you. I am here to stop you from destroying Wave City. I must ask you all to leave and return to where you came from before I have to hurt you." He warned them.
Of course, the whole lot of men burst into cruel laughter as if they thought that was the funniest thing they had ever heard. They all just threw their heads back and laughed at Lee, loud and obnoxious. Lee didn't pay them no mind. He just kept looking serious as ever as he watched them. The men laughed for a long time before the one man wiped tears from his eyes and waved a hand towards the ninja. "As funny as the ugly kid is, kill him. He's such a nuisance." He told the other men. The man just nodded before they began rushing forward with hands raised.
"Very well. You leave me no choice." Lee said with a low sigh before he suddenly began dodging the weapons flying at him. His movement only became a blur to the renegades, which made them hesitate with surprise. And that was when the young Ninja began to strike. A few of the renegades went flying when Lee struck each of them with his fist and feet, some landing hard on the ground or landing in the water. Others just looked on with shock as they watched this kid move too fast before stopping and giving them a look of warning. "Do you wish to stop now?"
"You're a ninja, aren't you?" The one man asked with a growl.
Lee stood up in his fighting stance, his arm folding behind his back again but the other pointed like a sword towards him. "I am. I am Rock Lee, The Hidden Leaf Village's Handsome devil! And I will stop you from hurting innocent people. Now, please leave or I will continue to have to hurt all of you. And I would not like to do that." He warned them once again.
But the man's head dipped down lower before he reached into his vest and pulled out a whistle. He didn't say anything as he just stuck the whistle into his mouth and gave a loud shrill blow, which echoed all around Lee. The shrill sound just made him wince a little but he watched carefully of what was about to happen. Movement caught his attention and he turned his head to see three large men now making their way into the clearing, looking right at the Leaf Ninja. They then glanced over at the man, who pointed at Lee again. "Kill him. He's a Leaf Ninja. And make it quick." He ordered them.
The three men nodded before rushing at Lee, who immediately snapped into his fighting stance and readied himself. When they began swinging their meaty fists at him, he began dodging them before he launched his own attacks at them. However, something happened that he had not expected. As soon as he hit one of the men, Lee grimaced with a little pain. He felt as if he had just punched something very soft but it also felt as if something had just flowed right through his arm and right out. Not to mention, he felt as if his arm had just died right at that second, as if it had been punched really hard. He winced before kicking away from the large man, back flipping when the other two tried to punch him, only leaving deep holes in the ground in their wake as they tried to hit the Leaf Ninja. Lee landed in a crouch, yet grabbed a hold of his arm, holding it in pain. It felt numb. "What....." He murmured in bewilderment.
The man who had ordered his death just laughed as he placed his fists onto his waist. "Do you honestly think that you're the only ninja around these parts? These are the Chakra Brothers. Of course, I don't expect you to have heard of them. They don't do enough to build up a reputation. Their youngest brother has though. He was working with one of the Legendary Sanin of History, Orochimaru. That is until he went and got himself killed." He explained before lifting his chin higher and smirking. "What they do is eat Chakra by touch. Your Taijutsu doesn't do very much against them. Every time you hit Jirati, he'll immediately absorb your Chakra and life force. And every time you hit him, your body will go numb for several minutes. Call 'em an electric fence, if you want. You touch an electric line, you can zap all feeling and usage in your arm."
"This one doesn't have very much Chakra though." The large man, Jirati that Lee had punched first spoke, his voice incredibly deep. "It feels like can't use Chakra."
Lee gritted his teeth, yet he knew that this was going to present a big problem. It was true he couldn't use Chakra. He had a little, yes. But that was enough to use his Taijutsu. But.....if what the man said was true, his Taijutsu was going to do no good for him. Every hit he did this one, he was going to just kill his arms and legs, rendering him defenseless. His eyes flickered over to the other two. But what about the other two? Did they do that too?
As if they read his mind, the three large men all grinned as they glanced at one another before one stepped forward. While all three looked almost alike, big and tall, not to mention a little fat, they all had different colors of hair. One had deep red hair. The second had dark brown. And the third had golden yellow hair. It had been the blonde that sucked up Lee's power in his arm and the brunette who moved forward. Each of them wore the same dark brown outfits; brown trousers and brown muscle shirts, showing off their large muscles and fat. It was strange though to Lee. He felt as if he had seen these men before. At least someone who looked like them. They looked strangely like one of the Sound Four's member. The one who had once been called Jirobo, who had caused Choji Akimichi to nearly die once trying to defeat him.
The brunette brother grinned as he thundered closer before snapped his hands together, forming a hand sign. The sign of tiger. That wasn't a good sign at all, Lee realized. Especially when the air began to feel thick all around him. The Leaf Ninja felt his air started to feel heavy and he began to feel drained. It was as if gravity was starting to push him right down the ground. And that was clearly the idea because not only did he feel as if he was been pressed to the ground, he felt it harder to breath.
"Our brother, Jirai is an air element user, Leaf Ninja." The golden haired brother said sneering at him. "He can make the air around you so thick and dense that it'll be harder for you to breath. He can suffocate you with pulling the air away from you." He informed him. "He can also absorb your Chakra right out of the air. So not only will you lose your oxygen, you will lose your life force."
Lee felt his breathing becoming harder to catch. He felt as if he was now locked in an airtight area and there was no oxygen. This wasn't good at all. He couldn't breath. Taking the deepest breath he could catch, he held it before fighting his body to standing up and trying to stand to his full height. He had to stop the brunette before it grew too late. If he ran out of breath now, he was good as dead. 'I can't.....go.....down like.....this.' He thought as he fought to hold his breath and not cause his lungs to explode.
"If you like that one, you'll love mine. My name is Jiro, the second Eldest brother under Jirati." The red head brother now said as he grinned, moving forward. He snapped his hands together into another sign, different from his brothers. This one was the sign of an dragon. His eyes flickered over to the water, which began to bubble and rise right out of the river.
At first, it seemed to be difficult to rise the water but then the red head thrust his hand towards Lee, seeming to control the water to quickly move towards him. The water then began to swirl around the Leaf Ninja and trap him within. This was something similar to the Akatsuki member, Kisame's attack, the Water Prison. But it was harsher. He felt as if the water was now stabbing into every pore he had on his skin, not drilling for Chakra. 'Urg!' Lee gasped within his head. It didn't feel nice at all.
Suddenly, a hot wave shot right over the entire clearing, making the water starting to steam and evaporate a little before fire came speeding right through the trees, not even burning the vegetation at all. It only left trails of smoke as the flames struck the water bubble surrounding Lee, causing the connection to break. The three brothers spun around with alarm, as well as the other renegades. So obviously they didn't know who this was. But at least Lee was freed. And as soon as he was down on one knee and free from the Chakra attacks, the flames only swirled around him, not close enough to burn him. Lee looked around with surprise only to see Alea step right out from behind the trees, glaring towards the Chakra Brothers. Flames were swirling from behind her almost like tails, yet they spread out like wings. She looked more like a fiery angel stepping out to avenge the pain that these men were causing Lee.
"YOU!" The man with the whistle yelped as he pointed at her.
Alea gave them all a cold look before glancing side wards at Lee, giving him a look of annoyance. She didn't look impressed with him at all. "Geez," She hissed between her teeth. "And here I thought that all of you Leaf Ninja were mighty." She shrugged before letting the flames lick at Lee, who flinched away from them afraid to be burned. But he was surprised when it didn't burn him at all. Instead he felt warmth now entering him. He was surprise to feel that some of his strength was starting to be returned to him. "All well. I guess it's the cat to rescue the so called beast." Alea added before she turned her eyes back onto the men. "Stay close to the flames. They'll push back these idiot's little Chakra feasting." She told him before she smirked coldly at the renegades. Without any warning at all, she launched forward with flames now shooting forward like arms and she seemed to merge with them.
Lee hesitated only for a moment before he was quickly on his feet and running with the flames surrounding him. He rushed towards the Chakra brothers with Alea before launching a fist forward at the air using brother. He figured it was best to start with that one, seeing that air could kill flames, as did water. He knew he'd have to act quickly to defeating the two before they could use their elements against Alea, seeing she was a fire user.
It was funny how Alea was using her power though. As Lee launched his fist right into the brother, Jirai's face. To his satisfaction, it was effective. He then kicked out hard, nailing him the chest and sending him flying backwards into the oldest brother, Jirati, the one who absorbed Chakra by touch. It also seemed to Lee that Jirati's Chakra absorption also worked against his brothers, because Jirai yelped before dropping to the ground, unable to move for a few minutes. Growling, Jirati glared at Lee, who landed a hard hit right into Jiro's face, sending him back only to get kicked hard from behind by the girl, sending him sailing into the air. "Damn you both!" He yelled before rushing forward and grabbing Lee's arm and her leg.
Feeling the numbing effect, Lee grimaced as he tried to pull away but Jirati had a tight grip on his arm and he felt his entire left side was starting to go numb, seeing that it was that arm that the Chakra brother was grabbing. Alea, only the other hand, hissed like an angry cat, baring rather sharp canines at him before she curled up into a ball until she sank those sharp teeth into Jirati's thick arm.
"Ow!" Jirati yelled before dropping her, which she twisted herself to land on her hands and knees. He also had no choice but to let Lee go, who held his numb arm but lashed out with a sharp kick up into his neck.
There was a loud snap as Jirati's head turned sharply and he fell to the ground with a loud thud. It was just became clear to Lee that he had just snapped the Chakra brother's neck. He blinked surprise of his own doing as he tried to straighten himself only to wince as his left leg gave out from under him. He fell down onto his numb side, wincing in a little pain and embarrassment. He glanced up at Alea as she hopped up into a crouch, looking right back at him before spinning around as the other renegades began to rush forward. Narrowing her eyes, she stood up quickly just as flames seemed to shoot right out from under her feet and began rising higher and waving at the renegades. Even to Lee, she looked almost demonic. Especially when her black hair began to shift to a violet color and her eyes' pupils turned into slits. "Leave now or I will see to it that you burn!" Alea hissed angrily.
Terrified, the renegades to scamper back with shouts of shock. Even the remaining two Chakra brothers looked stunned. They quickly turned and ran away as fast as they could into the trees and out of sight. They looked back but didn't stop. Not even the two Chakra brothers, Jiro and Jirai, whose brother lied dead next to Rock Lee.
After a long moment of letting flames nearly consume her, Alea finally closed her eyes and let out a long sigh. With her sigh, it seemed to blow the flames right out like a candle. It surprised Lee to see that nothing was burnt. No trees were charred. There was still grass under their feet. And even there was no scorch marks on his clothes or Alea's. He just stared up at Alea with wonder and awe. He couldn't believe the power she possessed. It was almost un-natural. But he still was amazed by her. Alea reopened her eyes and then looked down at him, her nose crinkling and she folded her arms, shifting her weight. "What are you doing out here, anyway? Were you following me?" She growled lowly.
Lee blinked a few times before he smiled sheepishly as he tried to sit up, only to wince at how dead his left side felt. "Ow." He groaned.
For the first time, Alea smiled and shook her head, though it wasn't an entire friendly smile. She just moved forward and bent down beside Lee, reaching out and rubbing his shoulder. "Jirati's power is like a jelly fish's touch. You touch the tentacles of one, it numbs you and renders you motionless. I've seen him use that attack several times now." She told him as she began rubbing his arm, bringing feeling back. It actually made Lee's body tingle at her touch, making his cheeks heat up. She saw it though and gave him a dry stare. "Don't get any ideas, weirdo. I am not going to drag your sorry butt back to Tazuna's. You'll walk on your own." She told him darkly.
"It's amazing." Lee found himself say, making her blink at him. "That power you possess."
Alea looked away, her eyes looking rather forlorn. She didn't look too happy that he had actually been paying attention to her using her flames. She should have known that he would. "Don't tell your friend about it. He doesn't trust me as it is." She murmured to him.
"Oh, Neji? He's....." Lee paused to think of a better way to put his teammate. "Well......"
Alea shook her head as she continued to rub the feeling back into Lee's shoulder but then dropped her hands as she rest one arm on her knee and kept her eyes adverted away. "He's a Hyuuga. He knows what village I'm from. I saw him looking at my hip pouch. He's probably used the Bakyugan to see my forehead protector in it." She muttered.
Lee blinked and looked at her in surprise. "So...."
"Look." Alea interrupted sharply looking at him and standing up, folding her arms over her chest. "If I choose to keep my identity a secret from you, that's my right. Inari was telling you the truth. I'm protecting myself. I am a ninja, or at least I was. But I'm not anymore. I'm trying to escape from that world. If I keep running into ninja, then my enemies are going to find me. And I'd rather them not to. I lost my best friend because of Ninja. And my village was probably destroyed. So, just stay away from me from now on. I don't like the Leaf Village because our villages may be allies, but we do not like each other. As for Hyuuga, well, he's got a good reason for hating me." She told him before she turned and walked away. "You can walk now. Be lucky I'm in a good mood today. Other wise, I'd leave you here."
And then she was gone.
Lee just watched her go with surprise but slowly his face fell into a look of understanding. He was starting to realize something about her. She knew who she really was. She was a ninja from another Village, which proved why she was so hostile against them. And she knew about Neji's clan. The pieces of the puzzle were starting to fall into place. Frowning, he pushed himself to his feet and looked around the clearing, pausing to glance at Jirati's body. He let out a sigh before bowing to the corpse. "Forgive me. It was not my intention for killing you. I had only wanted to stun you or make you change your mind about harming the Wave City. You were a mighty opponent. Strong and powerful. I show you great respect. Please, rest well in the next life. And if you can, whisper to your brothers and make them leave now before they end up dead too." He spoke out loud, even though his words couldn't reach Jirati. Then he too turned and hurried back towards Tazuna's.
Without even realizing that Alea was still hiding behind the tree, listening to his words. She waited for a moment till Lee was completely gone before she appeared right out from behind the tree, looking after him with surprise. In truth, she felt herself fall into a little state of awe. 'Well, he's got more honor than I realized. He even respects his enemies after they died.' She thought before her face softened a little. 'Maybe all Leaf Ninja aren't that bad.'