_._
The Story of Us
'For those who never gave up'
Naruto x OC
Friendship, Adventure, Romance
Chapter 27: To Blossom
"If we could see the miracle of a single flower clearly our whole life would change."
– Buddha
Rise- Katie Perry
"Lee, there's someone I want you to meet." Guy-sensei had told him as they strolled up to a different training ground than the one he was used to training in. It was just Lee and his sensei today, and surprisingly Guy-sensei had interrupted his training to bring him here.
The first thing he saw was a tall man with grey hair lounging against a post. The next thing he saw, was a tiny girl cleaning her ninja gear next to him. They both looked up on their arrival, and Lee wondered why exactly they were here. The man's face was mostly covered, except for one eye, while the girl wore a body suit underneath a kimono. She smiled, giving a light wave to them both.
"Hello Guy! Good to see you again." The tiny girl spoke. The man nodded next to her, but he was looking at Lee.
"Is this the student you wanted us to meet?" He asked. Guy-sensei grinned.
"Kakashi, Hikari, meet my student, Rock Lee." Guy-sensei said, before looking down at Lee. "And Lee, meet my eternal rival, Kakashi Hatake, and his student, Hikari Koissui."
Hikari smiled, bowing her head as she stood up.
"Pleased to meet you." She said, sounding as small as she looked. She was absolutely tiny, barely coming up to his shoulder. He stammered for a bit, distracted by this knowledge.
"Uh- right! Pleased to meet you both!" Lee bowed aggressively, making Hikari chuckle lightly.
"Well, we might as well get started, shall we?" Kakashi voiced, looking up at the sky. "We need to complete training soon, so this can be our warmup."
"Right! Let's go Lee!" Guy-sensei pumped a fist and grinned. Lee nodded excitedly, but then paused.
"But- Guy-sensei... what will we be doing?" Lee asked, getting an even more aggressive fist pump from his sensei.
"Today, we will be sparring!" Guy-sensei shouted as Kakashi held out two bells. He dangled them in front of him, making them jingle a few times.
"To make this easier, we'll use these. Your opponent is Hikari. All you have to do is get a bell from your opponent to win the round. And to even the field even more, Hikari will only be using Taijutsu." Kakashi explained, making Lee nervous. He looked to the small girl, sizing her up. She looked like a stiff wind could knock her over. If he kicked her hard enough, he could definitely break ribs.
Kakashi chuckled, noticing his gaze.
"I wouldn't worry about Hikari, she can hold her own." He tossed Lee a bell, which he nervously caught. Hikari caught her smoothly, looking almost excited.
"Lee," she called as he tied the bell to his waist. Lee looked up to see her grinning at him. "Let's do our best, okay?"
Oddly enough, he was scared to try and win. Still, they took up their stances, Hikari comfortably sliding into a lower stance than his. Guy-sensei stood between the two while Kakashi made himself comfortable off to the side.
"Alright, try your best, both of you. I want a good clean fight. Ready... BEGIN!"
Lee had changed considerably since then. For one, he'd gained almost twenty pounds. Most was muscle, but he'd also grown a lot taller. His training had been so intense at one point he thought he was in purgatory, but it had resulted in rapid growth.
Lee leapt down into the arena, feeling almost giddy that his time had finally come. He looked up to his opponent, his eternal rival. It almost seemed poetic to him, and he was eager to start the match.
Hikari was looking somewhere between stunned and excited. He could already see the cogs turning in her head as she stared at him for a moment. She then smirked when her eyes made contact with his. She moved forward, and jumped over the rail.
She landed softly, making almost no sounds, which always had unnerved Lee. In the year since he had officially met her, Lee had run into Hikari twice. Both times she had been utterly silent when she came and went. Undoubtably her size gave her leeway in that. She had barely grown since the year before in size, but he was extremely eager to fight against her regardless.
"It is almost like destiny that we should face off here and now." Lee said, jitters moving all over his body. Hikari grinned.
"Something like that." She sounded nervous, but Lee could see her calming herself silently. She took a lot after her sensei, looking calm and collected under fire.
Up in the balconies, a few people were wagering bets. Kankuro had woken up from his knockout with Shikamaru, and while he wasn't exactly feeling great with his ego bruised, he didn't care enough about progressing to Chuunin to get upset about it. His mission was only to remain in the village, and since Temari had passed, they automatically had a reason to be here.
So, he did what anyone who was bored would do. Kankuro wandered over to the other balcony. His team commented on it, but Kankuro couldn't help being a bit cheeky to Mitsuki.
"Gunna go learn about your little twin, wanna come?" He drawled. Mitsuki glanced his way, but otherwise didn't move. He knew she wanted to from the way she was acting, but also didn't want to leave Gaara's side where she was always glued.
"I'll go recon some info then. I wanna know why the brat is so fast." He waved at them before heading over to the other balcony.
Meanwhile, the other balcony had Tenten and Neji defending Lee while Akira and Naruto were staunch Hikari supporters.
"No way that kid is gunna beat Lee! One punch and she'll break in half!" Tenten argued.
Neji was on her side, however silently. He nodded, but then looked to the entrance where Reiji was returning from their match. Neji felt something akin to shame that he had lost, though he refused to believe he lost to... that guy. Other words danced in his head, but he wouldn't speak them out loud. Reiji glanced in his direction, as if to challenge him. Neji, with his split lip and bruised ribs, opted to hold his tongue.
"Reiji, tell these twerps that Hikari is the better one. I'm tired of the broken record arguments." Akira called, scratching his ear. Reiji looked a bit out of it, almost startled he'd been spoken to. However, he jumped at the chance to deal with anything but his problems.
"Hard to say, depends on what Hikari decides to do." Reiji said honestly. Akira gave him the stank eye.
"Well aren't you just fun at parties." He muttered. It was the other Nara that spoke up in agreement though.
"He's not wrong," Shikamaru said, sighing. "Hikari's biggest weakness is glaringly obvious in one-on-one battles."
"What do you mean Shikamaru?" Ino asked. Sakura was listening to all corners of the convo, but Naruto was absolutely fixated on Hikari's back.
"There's a reason Hikari works better in a team. Just think of how she battles." Shikamaru explained. Sakura thought of it for a moment, but then seemed to come to the realization.
Kakashi and Guy, on the other hand, were chattering away on their own.
"Isn't this a beautiful sight? The next generation, our pupils, eternal rivals themselves. It is a shame that Hikari will not be advancing past this point though." Guy sounded smug as he spoke, calling the battle before it had begun. Kakashi chuckled, absolutely humored by this confidence.
"I wouldn't count Hikari out yet. She has a few of her own tricks up her sleeve." Kakashi sounded calm, but Guy could see the nerves in his tense shoulders.
Down below, the proctor began the match.
"Begin!"
In a flurry of movement, Lee raced at Hikari. The Koissui evaded every strike flawlessly, even getting behind Lee a few times to land a hit. The battle continued, Hikari matching pace with Lee. Lee went on the offensive, attempting to strike several times, but Hikari constantly evaded his blows or redirected them.
'It is just like last time.' Lee thought as she dodged another kick.
"Wow, she's sure fast." Kankuro drawled as he walked up to the group. Akira instantly squared up to him, but the sand ninja held up his hands in surrender.
"Woah now, I just wanted to know a bit more about this Hikari. If you haven't noticed, her twin kinda lives across the pond? So tell me, how'd she get so fast?" Kankuro asked calmly. Naruto was gripping the railing next to Akira, so when Kankuro spoke he easily heard him.
"That's easy," Naruto said confidently. A toothy smirk was on his face as he watched his Kari fight.
"She trained so hard that nobody can catch her now."
As if reading his lips, Hikari avoided another strike by Lee and kicked him in the chest to knock him off his feet. Ino was surprised, considering the size of her. Even if he didn't go flying like Lee might've sent her, it was still amazing to see.
"Go Kari!" Naruto shouted.
Lee was immediately on his feet, and the match resumed. Shikamaru was watching carefully, and while they were fast, he could see the limitations to Hikari already. Choji, although he had just woken up before the start of the match, was also frowning.
"So she's not going to do it." He sounded disappointed. Ino and Sakura looked over at him. Akira had quieted down.
"Nah, she probably won't." he said calmly, trying to hide his own disappointment. Kankuro found this exchange interesting and tried to nose in.
"Uhhhh, anyone wanna explain what that means?" He asked, and while Akira glared at him, Reiji did answer.
"In the forest of death, when Hikari challenged all of you, what did she do?" Reiji asked him, looking in his general direction. Although he couldn't see his eyes, Kankuro was a bit unnerved by the ninja.
He thought back to the forest, replayed the events over again. All he could come up with was that she was fast, and she even managed to attack Gaara, an extremely rare occurrence.
"She ran around a lot, out foxed her twin, that's about it." Kankuro surmised, looking to the fight.
"Exactly. She never attacked any of you other than Gaara, but it was provoked to protect Akira. Besides that, she didn't touch any of you at all." Reiji explained.
"Uh, Reiji, you shouldn't be saying all that." Akira commented, but Reiji snorted.
"Anyone with half a brain could see it." Reiji stated, making Kankuro, Ino, and Tenten feel a little insulted about their intelligence. "But it doesn't matter. Because that's not her style."
Shikamaru glanced at the Hyuuga, curious.
"What're you going on about?" He asked. Reiji smirked.
"You'll see."
Meanwhile, Lee was getting knocked left and right. He was trying to keep up, but unless he could catch Hikari in a Lotus, there was no way to win. She was too fast, too fluid, and was slowly beating him down. Her punches were nothing compared to Guy-sensei's, or Neji's, but that didn't mean they were nothing.
Hikari barely looked like she had warmed up.
"Tell me, Guy, when are you going to take the kid gloves off?" Kakashi taunted. Guy chuckled.
"If Lee were to fight at full capacity, your student would be blown away. I'm doing this for her as well. No need to use our ace card just yet." Guy said casually. However, Hikari was faster than Guy had thought, and was currently outclassing Lee in speed and counterstrikes.
"Hikari is not the type to go for the attack, so this could end up being a long match." Kakashi explained. "Care to make a wager?"
This got Guy's attention.
"This can count as 2 points." Kakashi said evenly. Guy was surprised, but then grinned.
"Alright, but I hope you know what your student is in for." Guy said, then turned to the field. "Lee! Scrap the plan! 100% power!"
Lee and Hikari had paused, before Lee made space and looked up to Guy.
"But-But I thought-" Guy cut him off.
"Let's show Hikari some respect and fight at full capacity! Take them off!" He gave a thumbs up and Lee started to grin as he removed his weights. Kakashi glanced to see Hikari doing the same to her weighted anklets. While hers were only a few pounds, it would give her yet another speed boost.
'She's going to need it.' Kakashi thought.
With both ninja removing their weights, Hikari dropped hers first. They clanged to the floor, but she never took her eyes off of Lee. Lee, on the other hand, had a joyous look on his face.
"Ah! I feel lighter than a feather. Yes, let us fight at full power Hikari!" He dropped his weights.
BANG!
The sheer weight of them created a smokescreen that helped hide Lee. Hikari didn't move, looking left and right at first.
Lee appeared behind her, striking at her shoulder. Hikari evaded at the last second, scooping herself around the blow. By the time she turned to fight back, Lee was attacking from a different angle. Hikari did her best to avoid the strikes.
"Well, he's certainly faster than I expected," Akira commented, scratching his neck. "Maybe now she might take this more seriously."
"Looks like she can barely keep up with him!" Tenten said, shocked at the speed Lee was moving. He made Hikari look like she was standing still.
Guy stood proud with his hands on his waist.
"Kakashi, I told you that your student didn't stand a chance of fighting Lee," he watched Hikari pull out a Kunai and aim it at Lee. He knocked her hand, making it fly out of her hand and up into the balcony, hitting the wall between Gaara and Mitsuki before clanging to the floor. The duo barely glanced at it, other than to see the kunai. Mitsuki frowned, but returned to the match at hand.
Hikari made the sign of the tiger as she dodged an attack.
"Water style: Water clone jutsu!" Two clones appeared around her. Lee paused in his strikes, staring down the real Hikari.
"Hiding among clones will not save you." He declared, rushing forwards to strike at the one he believed to be Hikari. He hadn't taken his eyes off of her the entire time, and so when he lunged forwards, he was stunned to learn it was just a water clone. It burst, the clear water spraying his eyes as he swiped away at them.
He heard the footsteps behind him and swung to strike again. This Hikari dodged to attack before attempting to strike back. A single Leaf Hurricane took this Hikari out. She exploded into a burst of water.
The last one came at him, and Lee fought for several seconds before flipping up into the air and coming full tilt back down.
'This must be the real Hikari!'
He slammed his heel into the back of her head, but to his shock she burst into a spider network of electricity. What's more, the water splashed all over his body was a perfect conductor. He convulsed, stun locked for a minute, as Hikari came flying from the now settling dust and struck at him with a similar blow he had just done. She raced forwards, flipping slightly to bring her heel in a downward motion over his head. He toppled over, face slamming into the ground.
"When did she make a Lightning Clone?!" Sakura asked, stunned.
"Lee made a mistake." Reiji began. "Dropping his weights like he did. It made the perfect smokescreen for Hikari. He lost sight of her when he attacked, and Hikari knew it."
"Well well," Guy chuckled. "Looks like you're right Kakashi, Hikari has a few more tricks up her sleeve."
"Just a few." Kakashi said modestly. However, he would be lying if he didn't say he was nervous watching her fight.
"You've trained her well," Guy complimented. "But it won't be enough to win."
Lee leapt up, giving Hikari no room. He never took his eyes off her as he struck. Hikari looked focused, dodging and avoiding strikes better than she had before.
"Is it just me, or did she get faster?" Kankuro asked. Akira huffed.
"Yeah, she's matching him now. Probably has a feel." He said, then glanced at Kankuro. "This is Hikari's way of fighting. Truth is, we don't really know how fast she can move. When she fights, she never tries to outmatch her opponent. She matches her opponent instead, until she's comfortable with them, then she'll start to gear up. But I doubt Lee can move fast enough to edge her out."
"Don't count him out just yet." Guy said confidently. Just then, Lee moved even faster than he had a second ago, catching Hikari off guard as he maneuvered himself below her. He kicked her square in the chest, sending her flying high into the air. Hikari had guarded, making the kick hit her left arm instead. She grimaced, but kept her eyes on Lee. He winced, his muscles weary from the counterattack from earlier, but he leapt into the air after her.
The bandages from his arms came undone as he appeared behind her, wrapping her in them as he grabbed on.
"Forgive me, but we must give 100%!" He shouted, flipping them over and spiraling them to the ground. Hikari gasped, looking at the nearing floor.
"Primary Lotus!"
The ground caved in, shattering on impact as Lee left Hikari to crash head first into the ground. Dust blew everywhere, those in the balconies shielded their eyes before watching in shock.
"This match is over." Guy said, though Kakashi watched carefully through the smoke.
"Not quite."
Lee landed off to the side of the crash zone, but as he looked into the small crater, he was shocked to see it was completely empty.
"What?!" Le exclaimed in shock. But how? Why was there a crater but no body? When did she avoid the attack?
"When did she escape?" Sakura asked, shocked yet relieved.
"When Lee closed his eyes in pain." Kakashi explained, looking over to Guy. "Hikari's specialty is the Substitution Jutsu. What she substituted with I cannot say, but she has become so smooth even some jonin likely wouldn't catch that."
Guy was impressed, if a little put off.
"Alright Kakashi, I see it now. Your student has far more promise than I initially thought." Guy conceded. Tenten watched the two jonin talking, then glanced into the arena.
'You'd think the way they're talking it was some huge championship.' She thought.
Lee searched for Hikari, but just as he went to move, he felt something wrapped around his leg. Looking down, Lee was shocked to see a hand reaching out from the ground.
"Earth Style: Head Hunter Jutsu!"
He was pulled into the ground up to his neck, stunned as he stood there looking around.
Hikari emerged from a crack in the foundation created by his attack.
"I gotta admit, I'm happy you broke up the ground. Otherwise, I probably would've had a harder time with that one." She admitted, wiping her brow.
"What?! Wait! Argh!" Lee struggled against the earth around him. He could barely move without the constraint, never mind with the ground swallowing him so tightly he could barely breathe.
Up on the balcony was an uproar of Naruto screaming.
"YEEEAAAHHHH! GO KARI!" He yelled at the top of his lungs, irritating anyone standing too close to him. Akira scratched his ear closest to Naruto.
"Sorry, wanna say that a little louder? Didn't hear it over the ringing." He taunted. Naruto glared at him, but the Nara just rolled his eyes.
Meanwhile, Tenten looked shocked as Sakura, Ino, and Choji cheered.
"She... she beat Lee?" Tenten wondered outloud. Neji crossed his arms, ignoring the commotion. Shikamaru huffed.
"Such a drag, why are we making a big racket?" He muttered. Choji and Ino glanced at him.
"Hey Hikari was up here cheering just as much for you!" Ino exclaimed. Choji smirked.
"Oh he knows."
Shikamaru just huffed.
Hayate stood at the edge of the concave, looking between the two combatants. He coughed once, twice, then cleared his throat.
"Alright, since Rock Lee is unable to-"
"NO!" Lee shouted, thrashing against the floor. "Do not end the match!"
"Lee..." Hikari trailed off.
Lee crashed into the ground for the fifth time, sitting there stunned while he watched Hikari hold his bell where she stood just out of reach. He was absolutely stunned that she managed to easily outfox him not just once, but five times.
"Alright Lee, I think we've made our point," Guy-sensei said. He gave a thumbs up to Kakashi and Hikari. "Thanks you two, this helped a lot."
Hikari bowed while Kakashi waved. Both vanished shortly after. Lee scooped himself up from the ground, feeling humbled even further than he had been before.
"So, what did you think of that sparring session?" Guy-sensei asked. Lee felt embarrassed, surely the point was to prove to him how pathetic he really was?
"She is so small, yet I could not, even once, get her bell. The first time she took it before I had a chance to move..." He felt tears well up in his eyes. Guy-sensei hummed in agreement.
"Yes, Hikari is fast, faster than even most genin to be honest. But what else did you notice about her?" Guy-sensei urged him on, but Lee couldn't help but cry.
"She is a splendid ninja! And she will be far greater than I ever could be!" He cried through tears. To his shock, Guy-sensei was laughing at him.
"No Lee, tell me what you noticed about her." He urged again. Lee wiped his tears, trying to understand what Guy-sensei was after. Lee thought long and hard, thinking about the tiny girl.
"She is so small. I almost thought she was much younger than a year my junior." He said tentatively. Guy-sensei nodded.
"Good, and what else?" He urged.
"She does not have effective attacks. It takes three blows at least to knock even someone like me off balance." Lee acknowledged. Guy-sensei nodded even more firmly.
"Precisely. You see, Hikari may be Kakashi's student, but there is something she deeply lacks. And that is raw strength. She is tiny, and quite weak despite how much she trains. No matter how much effort she puts in, she is so far behind everyone else in that skillset. Sound familiar?"
It did. It run a bell in his head as his sensei continued to explain.
"But as you can see, that didn't hinder her one bit today. Hikari acknowledged her weakness, and built up her strengths enough to make up for it. And as you say, against regular foes she is truly a splendid opponent."
Guy-sensei grinned, the light glinting off of it.
"But you're going to be better, Lee."
Hikari tensed, feeling something shift in Lee. He glared at Hikari, not in anger, but with sheer determination burning in his eyes.
"I am not done yet!"
Hikari felt it before she saw, a heatwave of chakra billowing through him. She backed off several yards, eyes fixated on Lee as his body began to steam from the heat.
"ALRIGHT LEE! LET THE POWER OF YOUTH EXPLODE!" Guy shouted from the balcony, excited to see Lee ready for another round. Kakashi didn't share his excitement.
"Guy," Kakashi began, knowing exactly what was happening. "You didn't..."
Guy hesitated, then glanced at Kakashi.
"I did. I taught him the eight gates." Guy clarified. Kakashi's lax attitude vanished then, replaced with both worry and anger.
"Of all the things to do, you taught him-"
"Careful what you say, Kakashi." Guy cut him off, looking just as displeased. Kakashi was offended by that comment.
"I'm not the one teaching forbidden jutsu to my students." Kakashi said firmly. Guy gave a mock laugh.
"Oh really? Then why is Tenzo helping your student?" Guy challenged. It piqued the attention of a few closer genin, but one look at the silent rage on Kakashi's eye was enough for anybody to get the sense that they shouldn't ask.
"Guy," Kakashi began stiffly. "How many gates can he open?"
Guy hesitated.
"Five."
"Five? As a genin?!" Kakashi looked back down to the fight, revealing his Sharingan to see the truth for himself.
"Wait, what gates? What's he talking about Sensei?" Sakura asked. She noted the tense stance of Kakashi and realized that it wasn't a good thing.
"The eight inner gates work as valves to regulate chakra flow. However, you can open them and gain unimaginable power... at the cost of your own life." Kakashi narrowed his eyes, seeing Lee's chakra spiking.
"He won't get to that point, but, Kakashi. For your student's sake, I hope she is the prodigy you seem to think she is. That, or she should give in now." Guy said honestly, making those around him nervous. Kakashi didn't answer, his gaze fixed on the fight below.
'Hang in there, Hikari.'
Lee's chakra spiked again, startling Hikari.
'Have to make a plan, have to move! Now!' She shouted internally, focusing her chakra again.
Reiji hummed up on the balcony, gaining the attention of Akira.
"What is it?" The Nara asked. Reiji shrugged.
"I just noticed how much darker her chakra looks." He said quietly. Akira tilted his head, curious what that meant.
"Care to elaborate?" Akira asked. Reiji thought for a moment, remembering when Hikari walked out and back in with Sasuke. Her chakra had changed then, it felt similar now.
"It feels a lot like Sasuke's." Reiji explained. Sakura heard this and gasped, eyes snapping to Hikari. She checked her neck, seeing nothing like the curse mark at all. Come to think of it, Hikari definitely didn't get bitten. Orochimaru actively went around Hikari to attack Sasuke.
She too remembered them stepping into the hall together.
'Hikari... what did you do?'
Lee exploded from the ground, leapt into the air, and down at Hikari in one swift movement. Hikari just moved in time to evade a deadly strike.
Kakashi looked to his student then, and realized the chakra swirling inside of her was indeed chakra similar to what Sasuke's curse mark exuded. It pulsed, coming forth as Hikari inhaled and exhaled. Her own natural chakra pushing it to the surface to make room for itself, making her wince. Her skin burned, but she directed the chakra to her feet.
In the next strike Lee gave, Hikari evaded it. However, the sonic wave that accompanied it hit her, causing her arm to pulse in agony.
"She's gotta get out of there, this isn't exactly going to be a fair match now." Reiji said, looking to Lee who opened yet another gate. "Evasion won't work in this state, even the air in passing will hit her now."
Reiji was right, but Naruto gripped the bars harder.
'C'mon Kari, you can do this.'
The sheer speed Lee moved at destroyed the floor, sending dust flying everywhere. Hikari and him vanished, but the balconies could see the new impacts wherever Lee ran.
Kakashi noticed it right then, but kept quiet as the fight went on. Meanwhile, Mitsuki on the other balcony, was glowering. Temari was shocked to hear a grunt from the normally silent girl.
"What's wrong?" She asked, but received no reply.
Hikari was sent flying out of the smoke cloud, but before she could hit a wall Lee appeared behind her and sent her flying into the air. Then the ground, and then back up into the air.
"He's tossing her like a rag doll." Sakura said, one part in awe and one part terrified.
"Not quite." Kakashi said, keeping his eyes on them. "Look closer."
Sakura tried to, but it was hard for her to see anything with this speed.
Lee, however, was ready to end this. He knocked her into the sky, appearing overtop of her. Hikari's eyes widened as she tried to defend. Her arms were wounded from trying to block his attacks, both her arms were likely fractured at the very least.
'My eternal rival, I must finish this off! Please survive this, Hikari! Fifth gate, open!'
Lee punched down on Hikari with his right leg and arm at the same time, breaking both her arms at once.
"HIDDEN LOTUS!"
The explosion destroyed what little bits of the ground were held together. The viewers all shielded their eyes from the blast. Finally after a few seconds, the dust cleared. Shock was written on everyone's faces.
Hayate decided it was safe to call the match.
"The winner is..."
I knew the moment I saw my name up on the screen that I needed to play it safe. Kakashi-sensei's hand on my shoulder tightened slightly.
"Make good choices, Hikari." He encouraged. I looked up at him, then gave a firm nod. He smiled and let me go.
Down the line, Lee was cheering with Guy, before he leapt off the balcony. I paused, then saw the look he was giving me. A smirk split my lips as I leapt over the top as well.
"Begin!"
Despite knowing Lee, I hadn't seen him fight very much. However, considering he was practically a carbon copy of Guy, I had a pretty good guess where his skillset would be.
I was right.
In the first part of the match, I decided to test the waters and see what I could do to get him more motivated to end this.
Kakashi-sensei told me once, about the Leaf Village Lotus. He explained that the Lotus was a dangerous Taijutsu move, and because there were no tricks, it was a difficult Jutsu to avoid.
But not impossible.
I wanted to goad him into using the lotus, and while he was a lot faster without his weights, I still didn't trust that he wouldn't suddenly speed up and outrun me.
It was exactly what he tried to do. However, I had the perfect opportunity to use the Wood Release without anyone knowing. I substituted myself for the clone right before he struck at me. The dust created a smokescreen effect, which easily hid my actions from Lee as he flew around at such high speeds. It was a mistake on his part as I waited from him to finish his strike, then gladly finished him off with the head hunter jutsu.
I honestly expected that to be the end.
Lee? Well... he had other plans.
I didn't know what this was that he was doing, but I could see the massive amount of chakra swarming him just as easily as I could sense it.
'He's going to kill me with a move like that.' I thought numbly, trying to will my body to move. 'Have to make a plan, have to move! Now!'
I felt the sinister chakra from before thrum beneath my skin. It burned me, making me wince, but I needed anything I could get. Why was it still there? I thought I had dispelled it all? Didn't matter now.
I was out of time to make plans as Lee ripped himself from the ground before flying at me. I gasped, barely making it out of the way in time as he went flying past me. However, the sonic boom of wind that followed nearly knocked me straight over. I fumbled in an attempt to stay standing, evading another strike just to suffer another aftershock.
It was then that I remembered the kunai I had tossed earlier. It wasn't just any kunai. Attached to the hilt was two transmission wood seeds to try and track Lee. They never broke off like they were supposed to, and I could still sense them up on the balcony.
'I need to get out of there. What if- What if I used my own seeds?'
Could I use the substitution jutsu at this range? How could I accomplish that?
It didn't matter if I could. I either was going to, or Lee was going to get me.
I remembered the sensation of Mitsuki using her jutsu. The tingling feeling of her chakra. My gaze caught hers, then the kunai laying on the floor. I reached for the wood clone, feeling the other side of it, I grabbed on, as if reaching out my arm to grab a branch. It was a stretch, but I could feel it.
From fifty feet away, I performed the substitution jutsu.
I'm not sure how, but the clone and I managed to swap spaces. She was now fighting my battle for me, and I was standing silently behind Gaara and Mitsuki. My focus was on controlling the clone. The thing about wood clones was, although they could take a beating, I had to be focused on her in order for her to be effective. She fought for me, slowly getting the stuffing beat out of her. I concentrated though, not letting the jutsu drop just yet.
It was only after Lee performed the Hidden Lotus that I let the jutsu drop. The wood clone was absolutely shattered again by the impact.
The dust settled, Lee had fallen and crash into the previous crater.
"Wait- where is she?" Temari asked, looking around the floor. I felt a smug satisfaction when I saw Mitsuki's shoulders stiffen up. She sensed me now.
"Well, that would've killed me." I half-joked, not taking my eyes off of her back. Temari whipped around, looking stunned. Gaara glanced at me his eyes narrowing dangerously. Mitsuki ignored me, making me frown. I hoisted myself up onto the balcony, wavering slightly from light headedness.
Hayate looked around, trying to find me. I looked to Lee, saw the absolute wreck of his body, and the lack of chakra he possessed, and decided it was over. I leapt down, landing in a crouch just in case it was a trap. My legs pulsed in pain from overuse. Never had I had to run that fast in my life, and it showed. My knees were shaking as I stood up.
Lee looked at me, his right arm and leg laying limp while he hoisted himself up with his left side.
"No... but... how are you...?" Lee asked, sounding stunned. I gave a sad smile, feeling awful all of a sudden.
"Sorry Lee, but... you were going to kill me with that. I had to evade it." It seemed to dawn on him then, as he attempted to get up. His whole body shook, he fell over once. I felt a bit startled.
"Lee... No you-"
He cut me off.
"I will not be... the one... that loses... here..." He took a while, but eventually made it to his feet. I watched him for a moment, sensing no chakra left in him but emergency reserves. His whole body shook, but he refused to back down. He stood, shaking like a leaf, and it hurt me to see him so determined.
I felt guilty somehow, for the way it went. While I wasn't unscathed, but I was in way better condition than he was. My arm was beaten pretty bad, my chakra reserves were running on fumes, and I'm pretty sure at some point I hurt my ankle, but I was still standing.
I almost wanted to quit, give the victory to him, because I could see between the two of us who had struggled more.
"I-" I stopped myself, realizing that there was no point to quitting.
Despite standing, despite his words, Lee was out cold.
Hayate coughed once, then twice.
"The winner is... Hikari."
I needed a breather.
I was all feeling a bit... overwhelmed. After watching the way Guy cried over Lee as they carted him away, I felt guilty. I just needed some air, just process all this information. Not to mention the... other problems I was dealing with.
So, I sat on the ground in the hallway and curled my knees up to my chest and took deep, shuddering breaths to try and calm my senses. My left arm throbbed, but I had refused medical attention for the time being. I just needed five minutes to de-stress.
"Well, this wasn't how I expected to say congratulations to you."
My head snapped up when Kakashi-sensei's voice filtered into the hall. I had been so lost in my thoughts I never heard his approach. His one eye looked at me gently, and to my surprise, he came up next to me before taking a seat on the ground. One of his legs was outstretched, the other up to his chest in a looser fashion than my own. He didn't say anything, just sat there, and his presents did wonders for my nerves. I immediately felt better with him there.
"Sensei... this week has been..." I didn't know what word to use to finish that sentence.
"Yeah..." He knew what I meant anyway and agreed. We sat in more silence.
"I don't know what to do. I- I don't know what the hell I'm even doing." I started to ramble. I wanted to explain my panic about Naruto, and Orochimaru, and Sasuke, but then it turned into word vomit.
"I wish Lee had won the match. Not because I wanted to waste your time but- but he was standing even after passed out. I don't think any of us wanted this as much as he did. I-I don't deserve it I- Oh and then there's all the- the other stuff. Like... I have a twin, but she doesn't give a crap about me. There's a guy who can do exactly what I can do and just gives me the creeps with his stares. Naruto still hasn't told me about the fox, but I think that Gaara kid might be just like him. But I can't tell him that because I'm not supposed to know... And-and Orochimaru is after Sasuke and Sasuke is acting weird and- and I feel like as soon as one problem is fixed three more show up. I feel like it's all slipping through my fingers and there's nothing I can do."
I felt my tears, heard my own voice trembling. I was exhausted from the time in the forest, drained from my battle, hungry, and all I wanted right now was to cuddle up with Naruto after a bowl of ramen and just sleep for ten days straight.
Kakashi-sensei looked down at me as I tried to wipe my tears.
"Anything else bothering you?" He asked. I sniffled.
"Naruto said he got eaten by a snake." I almost wailed. Sensei chuckled, then put his hand on my head. He looked sad.
"I'm sorry." He said it so softly, guiltily. "I think a lot of your problems are my doing."
I wiped my face forcibly as his hand retreated.
"What does that mean?" I asked, so confused by all this information swirling in my head. He took a deep breath.
"Perhaps, if I had never intervened, your life would've been simpler." Kakashi-sensei began. "Perhaps you would've had a normal life?"
"Wh-Wait you- you're not leaving or anything, right?" I asked suddenly, looking up at him with fresh tears. He looked down at me, still sad, and I panicked.
"Please don't leave." I begged, feeling yet another stone pile on top of my chest at the thought. Sensei faltered for a second, before he calmed.
"I'm not going anywhere, I promise." He assured me. I bit my bottom lip, suspicious of his words.
Sensei had been there for me for almost as long as Naruto. He'd been like a guardian angel in some senses, and in others an absolute demon with his training methods. More importantly, he had become family. A male figure for me to look up to and respect.
If Sensei abandoned me, I wouldn't know what to do anymore.
"But Hikari, you cannot feel guilty for winning the match." Kakashi-sensei said firmly. I opened my mouth to argue, but he didn't let me. "Whether Lee wanted to win more or not, you won fairly. You never asked him to tear himself apart, he did that to himself."
I looked down at my lap and huffed.
"Okay," I looked back up at him. "But what did you mean about not intervening?"
He looked at me for a while, that same sad look in his eyes. Then he smiled at me, and while it didn't seem completely real, I let it slide as he patted my head.
"Hikari, there are... things that are not my place to tell you. But you have to be patient." He sighed, then stood up. "There is someone out there who can explain everything to you. You just have to be patient."
He helped me up, despite my frowning.
What was all that supposed to mean?
And yet...
I couldn't help but feel like there was so much going unsaid by Sensei. From the start, things had seemed weird. The more I got to know sensei, the more I noticed that- other than team 7, he had never taken on other students.
Except me.
"Sensei?" I looked up at him. He tilted his head and hummed in question. Hesitantly, I took a breath before asking.
"It wasn't coincidence that we met, was it?"
I had been feeling it for a long time. From the fact that he taught me the wood release, like he expected me to know it. The way he trained me, like he was expecting certain things to happen.
Sensei knew more about me than he was letting on, that was for sure.
Kakashi-sensei was quiet.
"No," he said shortly.
I knew he wasn't going to answer more from the way he physically pulled back. But I smiled nonetheless. Before I could say more, he reached forwards and wiped one of my eyes the same way a parent scrubs their toddler's cheeks. I scowled, pulling away as he chuckled.
"You should head back soon, your teammate will be starting in a little while." Kakashi-sensei said. I shuddered, remembering that Akira had to face that Gaara guy. I then noticed Sensei looked like he was heading off.
"You're not coming?" I asked, watching as he turned to go down another corridor.
"There is something else I need to take care of. We'll meet tomorrow morning to talk." With that, he dismissed himself and started down the opposite hallway. I took a deep breath, calming myself again, before making my way in the opposite direction.
Y'all I was so gassed up wanting to write this chapter. I have to say, writing fight scenes is so hard. Blocking alone is impossible if you just do it in your head. Not to mention I have the attention span of a moose.
Anyway, I wanted to pump this bad boy out because we have ONE MORE chapter before Hikari can go home and have a nap. We have one final fight! And thats Akira vs Gaara! Hold onto your butts, it's going to be a tough chapter to read!
There is a chance I go back and clean up these chapters a bit, depends how lazy I'm feeling... I should really get a beta...
Thanks for reading, there were no reviews in this chapter so no replies.
Iland Girl