Not Sick Chapter 20

To Fight A God

Rock Lee was one of the fastest ninja in Konoha.

It was a simple fact. The shinobi of the village who could defeat him in a flat sprint could be counted on less than three hands. His sensei could do it, easily: even after five years under Might Gai's tutelage, the most youthful jōnin in the Leaf Village could still put Lee's speed and strength to shame. Both of the remaining Sannin could keep pace with him easily. Copy Ninja Kakashi could move quickly enough that Lee still sometimes felt glacial in comparison, but he didn't have nearly the same amount of stamina.

Though Lee didn't know it, Naruto was now faster than him as well, provided he was in Sage Mode.

And more importantly, so was Pain, though only marginally.

But that changed when Lee opened the Gates.

The Gates made him faster. The Gates made him stronger. The Gates lit an all-consuming fire in him that burned his very cells.

Lee only opened the Gates in times of crisis. When he had no other choice, when he knew that unless he defeated his opponent right this very instant, he himself would fall. Gai-sensei had hammered this into him: you could not take the Hachimon for granted, and you could not use them casually, ever. The damage they did to your body could be both permanent and fatal if it weren't handled carefully, even before you opened the Eighth Gate itself.

Now, the Third Gate was open.

If his current situation wasn't a crisis, nothing was.

The retrieval team was down. All of them. Disabled, knocked unconscious, and in many cases bleeding internally. Naruto was pinned to the ground, cruel rods stabbed through his hands and legs, keeping him prone.

Lee would have liked to free him, but he had no illusions about his chances.

He was faced with the most dangerous enemy he'd ever met: the six Paths of Pain.

In the milliseconds before the battle began, Lee reviewed everything he knew about his opponent. His eyes shifted between the stoic expressions of the pale corpses, taking them in.

Six bodies, and six abilities.

The body with a buzz cut and a hitai-ate around his upper arm, able to absorb chakra at a touch. Not a huge concern: Lee did not fight with ninjutsu anyway. But if the man were able to get a solid grip on him, then he'd be able to drain Lee of his chakra, as had happened to Hinata. That couldn't be allowed to happen.

The body without an inch of hair on it: Pain's taijutsu specialist. Lee did not know its power, but it wasn't a ranged jutsu, a transformation, or a specific technique. The body had used none of those. Thus, it probably also had a touch-based technique, which it had been unable to use. Lee resolved to stay out of its grasp as well.

The short woman with a topknot: able to summon monstrous animals, according to Naruto. She hadn't done so here, and rightfully so: summons were useless against people like Lee. They would only serve as a distraction to both Lee and Pain. She would be defaulting to taijutsu as well.

The squat man with a mad grin. Able to transform his body into weapons; Lee had already tangled with him. His ability was startling, but in practice, Lee found it similar to fighting a fatter, meaner version of Tenten. He was probably the least concerning.

The other woman, with long flowing orange hair: the medic, who had made what was supposed to be a rapid infiltration so frustrating with her ability to resurrect any fallen Paths. She was Lee's first priority: unless she died, he would be doomed to lose a battle of attrition.

And finally, Pain himself, with his control over gravity. The man who had impaled Naruto; he stared at Lee, utterly expressionless.

All as fast as he was now. All as strong as he was now.

That could change.

This was a fight he had to win.

'Tenten! I will not give up! Do not say such things!'

'Even when you don't have a choice?'

Rock Lee's extended hand tightened into a fist.

The rain was petering out. The thunder had apparently ceased. A single drop struck Pain's brow, and the man blinked.

"Wha-,"

Lee moved, and so did Pain.

Neji watched his best friend fight the last fight of his life.

Because Neji knew, without a doubt, that this was Lee's last fight.

Defeating Pain by himself? It was ludicrous. Impossible. Even Jiraiya of the Sannin had been laid low by Pain: his arm torn away, forced into retreat, only surviving thanks to the possibility of Naruto's capture distracting the Akatsuki's leader. Lee couldn't win here. He could only buy time.

Even with the Third Gate open…

The first clash began, and Neji's Byakugan went wide. The agony in his shoulder and right hand, pinned together by one of Pain's unnaturally sharp metal rods, dripped into the background of his consciousness.

Lee fought like Neji had never seen before. His very movements created shockwaves: what little rain that still fell exploded away from him with every punch, every kick and parry.

Six Pains, each leaping and diving and stabbing and grasping…

And Lee kept up with them all. He blocked and dodged with an almost beautiful grace. He hammered a blow into the side of the body that had drained Hinata, and the man sailed away, buying Lee just enough time to fall back a step.

Neji's friend concentrated for just a moment, and then, even as Pain fell upon him, shouted so loudly the Hyuuga was sure it could have woken the dead.

"Fourth Gate: The Gate of Pain!"

The Animal Path landed a punch on Lee's shoulder, and the boy hissed at the contact.

"Open."

Neji barely saw the kick that broke the summoners arm. It was nothing more than a green blur: one moment, the woman was standing, and the next her arm flopped like a dead fish, and she hit the ground with less decorum than a sack of bricks.

Lee didn't stop, turning and sweeping another Pain from its feet.

Which was when the Deva Path raised a hand. Neji heard his pronunciation, even from the distance they were from each other.

"Shinra Tensei."

Lee was torn off his feet, slamming into a free-standing concrete wall: all that was left of the building the Rookies had taken shelter in.

Pain lowered his arm.

Then froze.

"Fifth Gate!"

Lee rocketed from the wall even before the dust of its destruction had settled, taking the Asura Path in the face with a roundhouse kick. The Path moved from his feet to his back, with seemingly no transition in between. He spat oil, before Lee stomped down on his neck, crushing it beneath his foot.

"Gate of Limit!" Lee breathed out, almost hyperventilating.

"Open."

The blast of energy made Neji blink. Lee was pushing the Path's back. Lee was holding his own.

Lee was… winning.

He was pushing himself too hard. Lee could feel it at his core. His bones ached, and his muscles screamed at him to stop. He could no longer feel his extremities: his hands and feet felt like enormous weights, weights that he slung into Pain with deadly effect.

But if he kept this up, victory was a real possibility.

The only question was whether he or Pain would break first.

With the Fifth Gate open, the Paths seemed to be moving more sluggishly. The Human Path swung at his face, and Lee dodged it almost contemptuously, his neck muscles yelping at the movement. His foot shot back and took the charging chakra-draining Pain in the face, almost snapping the man's neck.

Almost. This wasn't enough. Not nearly enough. And he only had three seconds before Pain's Shinra Tensei came again. He couldn't take another hit like that and keep fighting effectively.

He went after the bald Pain, pushing the man backwards with a series of kicks. His legs burned in agony, but Lee refused to let up his pace. He threw twenty kicks in the first second. Three of them landed, sending the body reeling. But before Lee could move forward to capitalize on the advantage, the Asura Path came for him again, its neck miraculously healed.

It had six arms and two heads. On any other day, this would have been greatly disconcerting to Lee. Now, all he saw was vectors of attack.

For two seconds, they brawled, the Path's hands lancing out with black spears and spiked chains and all manner of deadly weapons. Lee dodged and parried and struck, giving as many blows as Pain threw out.

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The abomination overreached, and Lee punched it in the face.

It was less of a punch, and more of a sonic boom. Lee's arm extended, the Fifth Gate driving it with every ounce of force his body could muster. From wind-up to extension, the blow took less than 5 milliseconds.

Than Lee pulled back, and punched the Path's other face as well. Two sonic booms echoed through Amegakure's streets. If it weren't for their chakra enhancement, Lee's eardrums would have burst. Both of the Asura Path's necks broke, visible seams cracking, and grisly fluid poured from them.

"Shinra-"

The pronunciation came. The air rippled. Lee threw himself to the side, kicking the Asura Path's broken body away at the same time.

"-Tensei!"

Gravity rushed towards him, ready to crush Lee in its merciless embrace. It took him by the feet and flung him backwards, dizzily spinning. He managed to catch himself before he smashed into anything, landing on his feet and turning the spinning momentum into a long-legged sprint that circled him around the Paths, kicking up dust and blurring the world into a speed-streaked smudge.

A partial dodge. Not good enough. He needed to go faster. And, he reflected as he watched the long-haired woman move towards the body whose necks he'd just broken, he needed to take out the medic immediately.

Lee continued circling the Paths, drawing up a small tornado of dust. Rainwater, lying cold on the ground, began to rise around him, drawn into a cyclone around Pain by the speed.

It was time to pull his last card.

"Sixth Gate: The Gate of Joy!" The whirlpool rose for a moment. "Open!"

It hurt. It hurt it hurt it hurt. Lee was on fire. He could feel himself sweating intensely. It was like the rain had never left, but the rain had turned to acid, and it was melting his muscles, coursing through his body like solidifying granite, spiking his veins and making his every extremity tremble.

He didn't let that distract him. This was his chance. He planted himself. The whirlpool began to collapse, the speed that had raised it vanishing.

Then he kicked off. The vanishing whirlpool exploded backwards.

Lee flew, so fast that the world narrowed before his eyes. All that existed was he and the Naraka Path. He vaguely registered the Paths guarding her reaching out, trying to stop him, trying to stab him. One of the black rods brushed his left arm, ripping the sleeve of his jumpsuit off and tearing a long, shallow gash. He felt the blood falling behind him.

He reached his target. The medic tried to defend herself. She was slow. Laughably slow, impossibly slow. Lee watched her hand come up with just a tinge of disbelief.

Then he kicked out, the movement utter agony, and the Pain's chest disintegrated, blown away by the speed of the kick. Lee pushed, and her ribs shattered, her lungs and heart blown into chunks by the force of the blow. Blood covered the green boy's ankle-warmers, already beginning to evaporate from the heat of his leg, even through the clothes.

The blood drawn from Lee's arm during his charge splattered across the ground.

Lee laughed. Medic down. Now, he could-

"Shinra Ten-"

What? No, too soon. Much too soon. Had it already been five seconds?

Lee spun. Now he was the one moving impossibly slowly. He could see Pain, his hand raised, his expression a dour grimace. Lee took a step forward. Could he dodge? At this range? Maybe. He had to try.

"-sei!"

Lee felt the blow coming. He strained, pushing every inch of himself up, up, up…

Too slow.

The jutsu took him and smashed him to the floor. He felt his left arm break on impact. He bounced. His blood had turned to magma.

Rock Lee screamed.

Neji watched Lee hit the ground like a discarded doll with a crash and a loud snap. His teammate rolled several feet, leaving behind a trail of steam as his overheating body evaporated puddles of rainwater. Lee's arm rolled unnaturally, bending back past the elbow at an unmistakably wrong angle.

The Green Beast's student came to a stop and lay on the ground unmoving, barely breathing. Neji could do nothing but stare, stunned.

He'd been so close. One of Pain's bodies was down for good: the same one that had been resurrecting the other ones. Lee could end this fight, if he would only get up. But he was already too far gone. The Gates had pushed him to his limits, and then Pain had dealt him that devastating blow.

Lee's right hand twitched. Neji sucked in a breath.

He wasn't unconscious. Not yet. One of the bodies began stalking forward, a metal rod sliding into its hand. It strode past Naruto, writhing and screaming in anger and in pain, still pinned to the ground.

Pain was moving in to finish Lee off. Neji snarled, his lips curling back. Slowly, every tiny motion sending another spike of freezing agony down his arm, he rolled over, coming to one of his knees. His hand quested back, finding the rod driven through his hand and into his shoulder.

His hand settled around the chill black metal. Pain was getting closer and closer to Lee. He'd have to act fast.

Neji grimaced. This wasn't going to be fun.

He pulled.

Everything hurt.

Lee scrabbled at the ground with his right hand. He could feel the bones in his left arm grinding together, the forearm swinging like a hinge: his elbow was shattered. The Gates were still open: everything was magnified one-hundred fold, the pain in his arm included. It felt like someone rasping two jagged pieces of sheet metal over his muscle and bone, trying to tear him apart.

Everything hurt.

He rolled over, gasping. He could see his death coming in his peripheral vision; one of Pain's Paths, approaching with one of his distinctive black rods in hand. He was coming to finish him off.

He had to get up. Had to ignore the pain and get to his feet. He wasn't finished yet.

Lee tensed, all of his muscles spasming at the same time. He had to-

There was a distant tearing sound, and a hellish scream. The Path approaching him turned, just in time to meet the white blur that ripped into it, shredding the front of its cloak.

Lee's eyes widened.

Neji.

Neji with his right arm hanging limp, blood running down it, soaking his already soaked once-white shirt a new, deeper shade of sickening red, Neji with a hole in his hand, Neji who was pressing in on Pain with only one arm, striking so fast that Lee's eyes could barely follow him, visible waves of jūken chakra rolling off of every blow.

Neji, who turned to Lee, his teeth bared in a pained, distorted grimace, and shouted at him so loudly that there seemed to be nothing else in the world but the two of them-

"Lee, get up!"

Lee's muscles stopped twitching.

It was really that simple. What did it matter that he was in pain, that his muscles were tearing themselves apart? His team needed his help.

He could rest later; feel pain later. Now was not the time for that.

Now was the time to get up.

Lee rocketed to his feet, and Neji grinned.

The body Pain had sent to finish Lee found itself with a broken leg a moment later, shortly before Neji's functioning hand buried itself in its throat, shattering three of its vertebrae with a directed blast of chakra. The woman with a topknot flopped to the ground, her head rolling grotesquely, and both Lee and Neji turned to the remaining four Paths of Pain.

"Neji," Lee bit out. He was trembling, barely able to stand, and his left arm hung limp, but his voice was almost tranquil. "Get Naruto free. I'll deal with Pain." The man in question was watching the both of them, a disinterested expression on his face.

Neji didn't have to glance to his teammate. He just nodded, and then the two of them moved. The Hyuuga sprinted for Naruto, and Lee went directly for the Paths.

Six Gates open. He was at his physical limit. He had to decide this in the next minute: there was no way Neji, injured as he was, would be able to hold his own.

Lee almost forgot about his own useless arm, flopping at his side.

He charged right in. He had to get close. For now, he had the edge in speed and strength; he needed to capitalize on that while he could. And, more importantly, keep the Deva Path from deploying his jutsu. He couldn't just out-speed it.

No. Could he?

He met the first Pain in his path with a high kick. Another tried to slip past him, heading for Neji and Naruto. Lee caught him across the chest with a follow up kick, knocking him back.

Lee was thinking too much. His body went through the motions of the fight, but the world was closing in around him, blackening the edge of his vision. He was closer to the edge than he'd thought. Eventually, Pain would break him, and then Neji. Naruto was too injured to resist, even if Neji freed him.

If he fell here, everyone else would die.

And right now…

Lee met the Preta Path's kick with one of his own, shattering the man's knee.

He just…

He spun, flooring the man with an impromptu axe kick. His arm bounced, sending him a friendly reminder that a fourth of his combat options were removed.

He just wasn't good enough.

Lee couldn't win this fight. Lee as he was never could have. He was fast, and he was strong, but Pain was something else. Pain's gravity jutsu made him nigh invincible: the only way Lee could possibly counter it was by raw, unreal speed. Speed he just didn't have.

Speed he didn't have right now.

'That could change.'

Lee paused at the thought, and almost ate a rib-snapping kick to the chest for his trouble. He slid around it, curling his body over the Path's leg and landing a cheek-shattering backhand at the same time.

The other Paths were moving forward. He couldn't-

Not enough. Not nearly enough. He was at the end of his rope. The last of his energy was about to burn up. He couldn't feel his limbs anymore. Everything was grey and black.

'That could change.'

But that would be impossible. Irresponsible. It would go against everything Gai-sensei had taught him. It would be spitting in his teacher's face, misusing the power he'd gifted him, just to…

'Only use this power, Lee, if you have no other choice. If your comrades are in danger, if you are fighting to protect someone truly precious to you… than I expect you to unleash the full power of your burning youth!'

Protect his friends. No. Gai-sensei would approve.

He could feel it, deep inside him. There was one last wellspring he could tap: one last reserve of energy he could take from, one that could win him this fight.

But drawing from that spring would be dangerous. It was a fierce and fickle power: it wasn't something Lee knew how to use safely. He wasn't trained enough.

But faced with the possibility of his death, or the death of both himself and everyone there, what choice was there?

Deep inside Rock Lee, something clicked. He sprung into a backflip, away from the body he'd been taking apart. Pain tracked him, bringing up his hand.

"Hakke Kuushō!"

An air palm blazed past Lee, and Pain twitched in annoyance. He flicked his wrist, and the vacuum blast dispelled, blown apart by a twist of Pain's will.

Five seconds. More than enough time.

"Neji!" Lee called. The Hyuuga, once more preoccupied with freeing Naruto, barely gave him notice.

"Please accept my apology!"

"What?!" Neji shot back, understandably distracted.

Lee ignored the question. It was now, or never.

'To be a splendid ninja.'

He reached deep inside himself, and he found what he was looking for rather easily. It was so simple. Right there, just below his stomach. It was the simplest thing in the world.

The wellspring.

Lee unlatched it.

'To do the impossible.'

Something snapped: power, atrocious, horrific power, shot through Lee's entire body. His hair stood on end. His heart sped up to nearly two hundred beats a minute. All of his muscles became hyper-tense.

His jaw locked. His could barely pry it open as he spoke the words he could feel welling up in his chest. Pain was watching him with something like astonishment; Lee wondered what he looked like, what could draw that look from the stoic man.

"Lee!" Neji, behind him. He sounded horrified.

"Seventh Gate: The Gate of Wonder," Lee breathed out. His breath didn't come out as fog, as it had for the rest of the night.

Now, it came as a cloud of blood.

'To defeat a god.'

There was a distant, final, and utterly deafening crack of thunder, like a dozen lightning bolts all striking at the same time. Rock Lee closed his eyes.

Open.

One second.

The Human Path's neck snapped with a muted crack. It twisted, beginning to fall.

Neji blinked, Lee's name still on his lips.

Two seconds.

The Preta Path broke, dribbling his internal organs across Amegakure's cold ground.

Pain jumped back, eyes wide.

"What?"

Two and a half seconds.

The Asura Path shattered like a cheap clock, sending spare arms and legs flying in every direction. One of his heads, a manic smile still affixed on it, flew off into the night. The Human Path hit the ground.

Three seconds.

Lee turned towards the Deva Path. He steamed, a white aura building around him, comprised of both excess chakra venting from his system, and the boiling sweat he gave off with increasing frequency.

The Deva Path's hands came up, both of them. It looked startled.

Pain had not expected this. Lee had been on his last leg. And now, seemingly from nowhere, he had become a terrifying figure, wreathed in boiling chakra, his face fixed in a rictus glare, his every breath expelling another cloud of aspirated blood.

Lee moved, spinning into a kick faster than even the Rinnegan could track.

Four seconds.

Gravity swelled in Pain's hand, ready to crush Lee like an insect. The man's mouth moved, forming a divine proclamation of judgment.

"Shin-"

Lee kicked him in half. The man's spine shattered like poorly made china, sending bone fragments ricocheting throughout his body. His back blew out in a welter of blood, and his cry of rage and denial choked off halfway through, replaced by a crimson flood.

Lee finished his Leaf Hurricane, sliding to a stop behind Pain. For a moment, it seemed like the man would stay on his feet, and then he collapsed in two, his torso falling forward and his legs back. Blood, thick and black, mingled with the puddles of rain.

Lee stood still, not turning around. Slowly, he straightened up, and released the Gates. All of his muscles relaxed: he stopped trembling. The aura of vaporizing sweat and raw chakra around him tapered away, and he was left a very damp, very injured teenager.

Glacially, he turned back to Neji, huffing up one last breath of aspirated blood. The front of his jumpsuit was stained black with the stuff. Neji stared at him in horror, still kneeling at Naruto's side. The blond was staring as well, but he just looked confused and elated: he didn't know what the Hyuuga did.

"Lee…" Neji whispered. Naruto cocked his head towards him, not understanding the tone.

Lee's right hand gradually rose. It twitched, subtly and only once, before the teen leveled it at his teammate, giving him an enthusiastic thumbs up.

Rock Lee smiled, his teeth shining even through the blood that caked them. A trickle of blood, a deep, potent red, rolled from his lips and down his chin.

"Good luck, my rival," he said sincerely, and then his eyes rolled back into his head and he collapsed.

Neji moved forward like a dead man walking. His Byakugan shrunk away: all that mattered to him was what was right in front of him.

It couldn't be.

It was impossible.

Neji sunk to his knees. Naruto was making a noise somewhere behind him. He didn't bother listening to it.

Lee was supposed to fight. Lee was supposed to be the anomaly. Lee was supposed to be the talentless nobody who would-

Neji chuckled. He could feel Naruto staring at him, but he couldn't bring himself to care.

Lee was supposed to be the genius of hard work that would fell gods.

Neji looked around, taking in the ruin that had once been Pain.

His chuckle turned into something darker. He took a deep gasp of air, the pain in his arm the least thing in his mind. His eyes felt warm: he must have been bleeding from his forehead, somewhere.

He wasn't crying. Not for an idiot who'd killed himself when he hadn't needed to.

Neji looked down. Lee looked back up at him. The teen's wide, earnest eyes were empty. The youthful fire, that hidden intensity that was almost uncomfortable to look at for too long, had burnt out. Without it, Lee looked like a shell, a forgery of the real thing.

He was unmistakably dead.

"Neji, what… is he-?"

Now he could hear Naruto. The blond sounded scared.

What a fool. What a selfish, idiotic fool.

Neji shook his head, trying to dismiss the poisonous thoughts. He looked up: the sky was completely without clouds now, a flat grey void speckled with innumerable stars. Lee would have liked it.

It wasn't Naruto's fault.

It was Pain's. And while Pain was dead, Nagato wasn't. The directing consciousness, the real Pain, was still alive, even as Lee's superheated body cooled.

Even while…

Neji started to stand up, jerkily pulling one of his feet under him.

"A suicide technique, then?"

Neji froze, his not-tears stopping in an instant, along with his heart.

Impossible.

Even more impossible than Lee being dead.

He didn't activate his Byakugan. He was far too tired for even that. Instead, Neji just slowly turned his head towards the voice.

"I had wondered where that energy came from. Though it seems he burned himself out."

There was a man, standing in the middle of the street. He'd come from nowhere. He was tall, a foot or two over Neji himself, and heavily set, with muscular arms. He wore a black cloak, stenciled with red clouds.

His hair was a bright orange, pulled up in a messy topknot. Black metal studded his face, circling his eyes and mouth. And his eyes, the deep purple of the Rinnegan, glared out with mild interest.

Neji could see Naruto's mouth fall open in the corner of his vision. The Jinchūriki was trembling. In rage or fear, Neji could not tell.

"How…?" Naruto's voice was hoarse, heavy with pain and rage. The holes in his hands still bled freely, and he was barely standing on his impaled legs.

"Foolish children," Pain said, spreading his arms. Four dark shapes sprung from the shadows around him, resolving themselves into similar figures: men and woman in Akatsuki cloaks, with bright orange hair, heavily pierced faces and looming, dreadful purple eyes. The Rinnegan shined in the darkness, and in that moment the very lines of Pain's face seemed cruel.

"Did you really believe I had not prepared spares?"

AN: This is where the ride gets bumpy.

Not Sick has been going for over 20 chapters and 200,000 words now. The product of just over a year of writing. To everyone who has been with me for most of that time, or who's reviewed the story at all, encouraged me to keep going, pointed out where I'd made mistakes... you all have my sincere thanks. It's been a wonderful time.

And with that said, I hope you all trust me. Because if I pull this off, I'll be able to show you something you've never seen before.

Thanks for reading, and have a wonderful 2015.