AN:I sliced off part of my finger so updating hasn't been easy.

()()()()()()()()

Typically, in our pre-dawn rushes Lee and I would sometimes forget to grab our lunch for the day. Now because we were raised to value all food, even if our Tou-san was cooking, that meant there was no wasting permitted. So at some point we'd have to hop back over or one of our parents, cousins, or the like would be showing up with it.

Mind, for some reason everyone around me thought I should be horribly embarrassed. I thought they were stupid because my family loved me enough to make sure I had food. Even if it was bad overcooked food, I was always grateful. Then again, they really did think I was crazy for how I took to the D-ranks and coming from my Aburame and Inuzuka teammates that's saying something.

So when we had a rest day and Lee didn't, I thought absolutely nothing of seeing his bright purple and silver wrapped bento box on the counter except that he needed his food. Grabbing one for myself and calling out to my family that may or may not be within hearing range. "Off to feed Lee~"

"Yosh! Say hello to Ten-ten!" Was the only response from my father currently patching up a part of the wall that had um, sort of...eh. Met one of my cute little cousins' feet when they were running away during a game of tag that had been indoors called 'naptime get back here rascals!' and in typical fashion never stayed to just one home. We knew at any time we could barge in to a cousin's house to visit or play and that meant we as tiny things had zero shame about using that to escape dreaded moments. I vaguely recalled the great bath escape that involved Lee, myself, and twelve other cousins deciding to streak through four houses before we flopped into Auntie Mei's reflecting pool. You have to love our family members that they decided the water was clean enough and just brought soap and towels. Considering that, bath and naptime escapes were regular enough and one had happened earlier with a toddler kicking in a screen to try and find a place to hide. Paper screens didn't last long and while most the exterior of our house was more solid, there were interior nods to the more traditional. They just needed replacing. A lot. It's what happened when hordes of happy Lee clan brats ran about and no one complained. A happy child was a blessing, especially because if they were old enough to fix the damage they would. My tou-san wouldn't be going in to work until later so he was probably just keeping himself busy. The boundless energy and all.

"Will do! Bye! Love you!"

"Love you more!" Came the response bellowed to follow me out the door.

"DO NOT!"

"I sired you!" And yes, yes my father did just stick his head out the window to yell that. Why did you think we mostly bought up part of Konoha for our clan? No one wanted to live near us. Their loss.

"I chose to be your child!" Was my retort and several laughs coming from nearby doors and windows preceded the gossipy forms of my extended clan now deciding to join in. If you said it in public, it was fair game. With my father so occupied by the raucous nature of our family now debating if one could choose ones parents or not and what that said about all of us following me until I was in Konoha proper heading towards the training grounds.

Halfway there I saw Kou with his team, not that I really had met them before, nor did I have eyes for any of them. Despite the bland colors all Hyuuga wore I knew the exact cut of Kou's hair to that of his cousins and his stance. That his back was to me was even more perfect. I grinned wickedly and with a burst of chakra to my legs slammed into his back in true Lee clan style and wrapped my arms around his tightly, as in chakra enhanced so you can't escape tight.

"KOU-Kuuuun~" I mimicked one of his fangirls just to hear him squeak. Okay it was a Hyuuga squeak so more like an aborted exhale of breath but the other two boys with him looked worried before he sighed. Likely had activated his eyes to see it was me, or at least my hair.

"Ziwei-chan."

"Aww..not happy to see me? Don't even start, you close your mouth. I know perfectly well you've got the all seeing eyeballs thing going on." I smirked feeling the ever so slight shift of his chest under my arms where I was still hugging him, as he hid his laughter. Not that his teammates were doing so, they were loud. I peeked over his shoulder to get a look at them. Huh. Nope. Didn't know them.

"All seeing eyes. Have to remember that one.." One of the two muttered, his bright blue hair almost a match for mine in craziness. The other had tan skin and brown hair and was rather pretty, probably had his own fan girls and hence why he'd been worried for poor Kou-kun. Gotta love scaring the boys.

"If you would let me go?" Kou stated calmly, always so calmly and so I did as asked, not even hiding my grin as I bounced on my toes. "It is good to see you." The Byukugan faded as he inclined his head. "I regret I was gone so long recently, we ended up with a mission that took us rather far and had to travel at a cart's pace both directions. I have not been back long. You have quite the..reputation..I hear."

"Me, my team, or my sensei?"

"All." And bless him but despite his own team being there Kou was frankly snubbing them by not introducing us. Or he was Hyuuga-ing. Or hoarding me. Or all the above. I arched a brow and caught the tiniest smirk to Kou's lips. Hyuuga-ing it was.

"Yeaaa my team alternates between liking me, hating my guts, and staring at me like I'm utterly crazy. Which by the way, my sensei completely is." I nodded and heard Kou sigh.

"So my Otou-san has informed me."

A clearing of throats and once again that not quite there smirk was on Kou's face. Man his team had really bugged him lately if he was playing such a jerk. Still, far be it from me to ruin my favorite Hyuuga's fun. Especially because no one told me that when the whole ninja thing happens you see people a heck of a lot less! It was stupid, the timing of missions, even D ranks, meant once out of the academy it was pretty normal to go months without doing more than passing with a wave.

"Well I am on my way to bring Lee his lunch, he forgot it again. Are you doing anything?" The throat clearing was getting louder now. Can I just mention that I love seeing Kou actually trolling someone?

With a tone that implied nothing other than utter politeness he answered. "Would you mind the company? I had no plans."

"We were supposed to go train." Blue haired guy commented but Kou sighed.

"You were going to train, you ran across me and were trying to convince me to join you. Frankly, after nearly two months together on a mission I would prefer exposure to other's fighting styles so I do not stagnate..however perhaps we meet for tea tomorrow?" Kou clearly knew his teammates as the other boys made faces at the idea of tea and begged off, forgetting to ask my name and running off before Kou somehow made them agree to tea.

After they left I looked up at my friend and grinned. "You made them visit and have tea with your dad?"

"Once." And this time he properly smirked making me laugh fully. Grabbing his arm, and at least the time away had not made Kou forget to just go along with a determined Lee clan member, as we resumed my direction towards where my brother would be training I filled him in on my own now regular tea sessions with Hinata-sama and if not Kou's father, than one of several other elders in the clan. They made them mandatory in an attempt to counter Anko's influence on me I think. At least Hinata and sometimes Hanabi were there for them.

Several times the pranks I pulled after, or during, because perfect chakra control could be used for the most pathetic immature things like making the tea stay inside the kettle and confusing the one watching me pouring it and if busted -which was always- I just claimed practice and they couldn't refute it. That made Kou laugh and the longer we walked, the more I noticed he slowly started to relax, his shoulders loosening and he just listened.

I wasn't going to ask, but from how upset he'd been? My guess was he'd had to kill on this last mission. He could tell me in time, and I really to be honest did not wish to hear about it yet because it would be my reality too, no doubt of that. Only of when. But for now I told stupid stories and let it chase away the nightmares that must be haunting my friend even during the day.

Only when his laughter became soft again did I realize we were in hearing range now of Team Gai. My brother was doing pushups with his mentor on his back, doing his own pushups but on his hands which was pretty impressive, I wonder if I could do that? Ten-ten was practicing throwing various sharp lethal items at Neiji who was batting them away with that rotation he'd used to my immense annoyance the last time we'd sparred. Seriously. I did not like that thing. At all. From Kou's surprised sound I am guessing he wasn't supposed to know it yet. Or ever. The main branch did tend to keep things for themselves.

The tingle started. Base of the skull. An itch that began to spread along the spinal column, sending electric pulses to the fingers, the toes as I watched my brother. There was no fighting this, the Lee clan Stupid.

Eh. Sucks for them.

"LEE!" I bellowed out and grinned as the entire group whirled, feeling Kou wince where I still had his arm I dropped it and the bento when I heard Lee gasp, tossing his sensei off as he stood up with a matching massive grin.

"ZI~"

With a whoop that I heard echoed, and oddly I wondered why Neiji was hiding his face in his hand even as Ten-ten seemed to be waving her arms frantically in my direction looking panicked, I ran towards Lee. He was still faster and caught me before the mid point, whirling me about in a hug as I laughed.

"My beautiful sister! Have you come to join me in my training? Did you see? I've done four hundred pushups!"

"That's great!" And it was, seriously, he did so many! "They looked hard! You forgot your bento so I brought it. Oh right." Because of my training I had no problem twisting from Lee's hold and perching on his shoulders, where he helpfully placed his hands on my ankles as I stood there to wave to Ten-ten.

For some reason she was looking very pale and still shaking her head frantically. "Tou-san said hi, Ten-ten! Message delivered. Hi Neiji."

Neiji peaked out from his hand and just glared at me with one eye. Huh. He hasn't done that in a …

"That is so beautiful! Such YOUTH!"

"YOSH! Sensei! Meet my twin, Ziwei-chan, this is the amazing Gai-sensei!" And despite his enthusiasm Lee very gently twisted so I'd flop off his shoulders, like our grandparents hadn't drilled such acrobatics into us from the earliest of days, so I rolled and landed on my feet, coming up in a little bow. The blinding grin facing me was almost as bright as his uniform but it just made me laugh.

"Hello Gai-sensei."

"Hello precious little leaf-ling! I am the beautiful Green Beast of Konoha, Maito Gai!"

Now that was something I had to correct. "Sorry Gai-sensei but see? Purple?" I pointed out my buns, peripherally aware that Kou had moved over to stand by Neiji and Ten-ten who seemed to be whispering about something. Normally I'd enhance my hearing but I knew Gai would be loud and I would regret it. "Lee-clan."

"Oh...OH! My apologies young one! A precious little plum blossom!"

"Yosh sensei!"

I blinked as I looked from one to the other, both posing identically and with their thumbs up. Seriously I couldn't help it and started to giggle. At least Gai understood I was entertained because he just upped the wattage on his grin and then he and Lee started a whole routine complimenting each other while they sparred and I shamelessly was laughing as I flopped to the ground to watch. Remembering the others behind me I twisted to look back, and blinked seeing they all looked rather pale and ill.

"What? You guys okay?"

For some reason the two Hyuuga's looked at Ten-ten and she just groaned. "I know! I know, I'm related to them."

Odd.

()()()()()()

"Hey Ten-ten?" Ziwei spoke up after a while, despite the trio watching in horror as having an audience that seemed amused only was spurring Gai and Lee on to far more..terrifying..displays.

"Y..yes?" Ten-ten could feel the burn of two sets of white eyes on her. They discussion had been basically various levels of 'You were supposed to ensure they never met up!' with the three hissing over who had dropped the ball that the flames of the 'youth' crazy sensei was fanned.

"We should have our teams meet up at the family gathering." Zi said with a grin and Ten-ten felt her stomach drop. The barely audible snort of amusement from Kou told Ten-ten he was aware of what that would entail. Neiji. Neiji had no idea.

"I don't know.." Ten-ten started but then remembered something. She was only distantly a relation, and more through the Yue side than the Lee side, thankfully. But if a Yue woman was stubborn, adding on the Lee blood? She needed to find out when the next gathering was and make certain she was too ill to go. It was the only solution Ten-ten could think of to save herself.

()()()()()()()()

I had no idea why Ten-ten seemed wary over the idea as I turned away from where Gai and Lee were now running laps on their hands, I'd never learned that skill for all I could certainly hand stand and twist but running that way? Was there any benefit? I'd ask Lee about it later. Kou had his resting bitchy amused but no one shall ever know face on while Neiji just looked sick.

"I'll check with my parents and the elders but I think it'd be great. They haven't had so many of us on a team in years. Tou-san's teammates still visit some times. Kou-kun you know you'll be invited."

Kou cleared his throat, and he looked entertained as he glanced at Neiji then met my gaze and nodded. "Do let me know if they shall be attending?"

"My team will." I promised and I grinned, probably shouldn't have used the one I learned from Anko but it's kind of contagious. "Seriously, I think if I just tell Anko-sensei there's going to be sake and plum wine she'd tie up Sei and Dai for me to make sure they go."

"As you have delivered Lee-san's lunch, perhaps we should go and catch up?" Kou asked calmly.

shrugging, and wondering why Neiji and Ten-ten were still looking at me so strangely I agreed and waved good bye to Lee and Gai who bellowed something back I couldn't make out. It was only as Kou and I wandered by a stream I finally realized something.

Gai had annoyed me Before, for some reason as a Lee he just made sense. Huh. Well now I had to make sure we had the groups at the gathering.

"You just figured it out." Kou smirked at me and I shrugged as he chuckled. Although he clearly meant how everyone else saw Gai and not my other circumstances. I was fully aware, thanks mostly to Kou over the years, of when the Lee-Clan side effects took over. "Indeed, Neiji-san has no idea what he is in for. It will be..enjoyable.."

"I remember a certain Hyuuga boy who sat with me and never complained at the subsequent parties."

"Hm. You tend to be entertaining. Life around you Ziwei-chan, whilst often headache inducing, is never dull." He paused then and spoke again, more softly. "I was not certain I would be returning at one point of our mission, I promised if so I would make certain you were aware of how..valued..your friendship has been to me, and continues to be."

It had to have been bad then, for my quiet friend to admit to such and so I took his hand briefly and squeezed it for all I knew touching was kind of a no-no for most, I never followed those rules anyways. And for some reason, right then, a bit of my Before knowledge gave me the perfect answer for my stuffy Hyuuga who like the rest of his clan avoided talking about anything emotional if they could. Because if I started telling him how special he was to me right then it would not help him feel more comfortable, not when he was feeling vulnerable.

"I know."

Thank you Han Solo, that worked. The topic turned then to a new jutsu he had learned and I continued to amuse Kou as I complained about the various jutsu's that Anko had finally started to teach us.

Mind you my asking for a genjutsu lesson was a very, very, very, very, very bad idea.

How badly?

I can't tell Kou or he'd freak out and tell the Hyuuga and we've seen how that goes. But yeah, where does Anko work?

She decided the best way for me to learn genjutsu was by whisking me off to T&I and dropping me in to learn by being the guinea pig of interrogation jutsu's. The only plus was I had learned them but man..some of the things they've come up with. Hell Viewing was just the beginning, the really creative newbies started with little things, sensory ones. Thank Tobirama I'd experimented with my weird chakra and not hearing because feeling blind, or like spiders were crawling over me, or like I was running out of air? That's scary.

One of our 'boss' folks the next day told me she'd gotten a slap on the wrist and told off for doing that to a young thing which told me I was probably being watched for any negative reactions. Hence playing up my innate Lee dorkiness these days. I couldn't exactly say 'Hey yeah, I lived once before but I can't really remember stuff right and I'm like way older than I was because your years are all messed up and..' At least the whole Massacre and non dying of Neiji's father had told me I knew nothing of the world. I was taking the 'cannon' I had known as more, guidelines. Okay I was flat out tossing those too but the thing was those sensory genjutsu had given me so many ideas to use if I could just adapt them for battle.

Fortunately I could safely tell Kou that when we had been exposed to chakra paper I had no reaction. Nope. Nada. Zip. "It didn't do anything!" We'd done several laps around the park now, perhaps as yet another thumb to the nose at the Uchiha it was where that incident had occurred. I don't think the Hyuuga are ever going to let that one go. Grumpy little pale eyed emo's the lot of them but their my socially inept crazies so it works. That I call them socially inept and do not think the same of my family may just be showing that the Crazy is fully integrated now.

"Did you want it to?" Kou replied with as much serenity to him now as if to make one think he was entirely at ease. He was laughing at me inside. Those eyes of his gave him away.

"Well no. If I cheated by.." I trailed off as I heard him hum. "I blocked it from reacting?"

"Plausibly you have no affiliation simply by the...peculiarity of your nature. This is an advantage, not a disadvantage. I shall request a few sheets and we can try them out at the compound."

"Okay. But it'll have to wait. I've had today off because Anko-sensei said we have a survival training planned for the next week."

"A..but why would you need that?"

"Probably just so she has an excuse to camp with us doing all the work. It's not the first time."

"...that I could believe."