Fighting Lee

"Easel-kun!!!"

A furious shout came from outside the window. Hui was startled and sat bolt upright at her desk, dazed. After a moment of pondering life's deeper questions, she realized she'd actually fallen asleep over her book. She rubbed her aching head in dismay and stared at the book in front of her, its words seeming to swim before her eyes.

This was so hard to learn. She'd actually dozed off. Did she really have no talent for Medical Ninjutsu?

"Easel-kun!!!"

The familiar call came from outside again. Hui stood up and leaned over the windowsill to look down. Not far away, Rock Lee was waving at her. Hui Youling immediately spotted his dazzlingly white teeth, gleaming in the sunlight.

She mocked herself for getting lost in pointless thoughts when there was no need. It really had been a long time since she'd seen Rock Lee.

She closed her book, put away the scroll, and hurried downstairs. "Rock Lee, it's been so long!" Hui said excitedly.

"Hui, it's been so long! I heard you were back, so I came to see you. I didn't expect you to be home!" Rock Lee replied just as excitedly. There was none of the awkwardness one might expect after a year apart.

"Hui, let me see how much you've improved!" Rock Lee's eyes lit up as he looked at her. He'd heard from Naruto that Hui had gone to train with someone powerful and planned to spar with them after she returned. Ever since, he'd been determined not to lose, and for the past year and a half he hadn't dared slack off in his training.

Hui tugged helplessly at the corner of her mouth. This really was just like Rock Lee: challenging her to a fight the moment they met.

Seeing the excitement he couldn't hide, Hui didn't want to dampen his spirits. "Sure. Let's find somewhere else." She wanted to see the results of Rock Lee's training, too. The match might be a little unfair, since she'd taken a shortcut of sorts by joining Orochimaru and gaining a different kind of power.

Fourth Training Ground

The two faced each other, ready for battle, their eyes filled with fighting spirit. A murderous aura unconsciously radiated from Hui, though her gaze remained calm.

"Hui, please don't hold back. Fight me seriously. I know you've had a teacher guiding you, so your strength must have changed, but I won't give up!" Rock Lee said confidently, entirely unaffected by Hui's different air.

"Sure," Hui said with a light laugh. She watched Rock Lee take his stance, genuinely happy to be sparring with him again after so long.

Rock Lee nodded and made the first move. He flashed to Hui's left and immediately followed with a spinning back kick aimed at her head. Hui leaped sideways to dodge, but Rock Lee's fist came right after her.

Hui retreated, deflecting Rock Lee's punches as she went, and counterattacked whenever she found an opening. They kept striking at each other, but neither landed a truly damaging blow, though they used every part of the body they could attack.

Rock Lee looked a little surprised. He knew how much effort it had taken him to reach this level, and he hadn't expected Hui to improve so quickly too. But without hesitation, he spun in midair and brought his leg down at her from above. "Ha!"

Hui crossed her arms to block Rock Lee's strike. He hit hard, but the force was still within what she could handle. She quickly kicked at his back and caught his descending leg with both hands.

Rock Lee didn't panic at all. He used the leg Hui had grabbed to propel himself into a spin, twisting away from her and forcing her to let go. Then he grabbed Hui's lower leg in turn and threw her with all his strength. He spun in midair and landed.

But when he looked up, he couldn't see Hui coming down. She had used a tree trunk to break her fall and was already rushing at him again. Out of habit, he raised an arm to block, bracing himself for her next strike. But when he looked again, Hui had vanished. A moment later, his neck stung from behind. Startled, Lee turned his head and saw Hui standing beside him. She'd hit him with a hand chop.

Hui smiled at him. Rock Lee looked a little dejected, but quickly cheered up again. "As expected of you, Hui!"

Hui smiled with her eyes narrowed. "Well, you were great too, Rock Lee!" They looked at each other and burst into laughter. It had been so long since they'd had a spar like this.

Afterward, Hui taught Rock Lee a few new ways to fight, techniques she'd developed from her own training. Rock Lee picked them up quickly; talented people really were different. Before they knew it, the whole afternoon had passed and the sky was growing dark, so they had to stop training for the day.

"Thanks for helping me, Hui. I still can't use Ninjutsu, but I'll definitely become a ninja! And I'm great at Taijutsu compared to everyone in class! I have you to thank for the scroll you left me, too!"

Rock Lee seemed to radiate with every word he spoke. He was happy, proud, and full of hope for the future.

Hui came out of her daze and remembered that Rock Lee must have started attending the Ninja Academy. No wonder she hadn't seen him. There was another reason Naruto wasn't training with Rock Lee anymore: Lee simply didn't have as much time to spend with him.

But did Rock Lee already know that he couldn't use Ninjutsu at all...?

Hui grew flustered, unsure how to bring it up with him. Those setbacks had crushed Rock Lee, but they'd also changed him. He still had hopes of learning Ninjutsu, and she couldn't bear to shatter his dream outright. Rock Lee had eventually pulled himself together, but it must have hurt all the same...

"Hey, Rock Lee, don't rush into practicing Ninjutsu. You're so good at Taijutsu, so you should play to your strengths and make up for your weaknesses. Start with Taijutsu and become the best in your class!" Hui changed her expression and looked at Rock Lee as though she'd just discovered a great truth.

"Right! Why didn't I think of that? Hui, you've given me such important advice. I'll train even harder in Taijutsu and become the best in my class!" Rock Lee shouted up at the sky as if making a vow. Hui smiled as she watched him, her eyes glimmering.

Hopefully she could talk Rock Lee into it for now. She still hadn't figured out how to handle the situation, and it looked like she had one more thing to do. But she wasn't much good at Taijutsu herself. If only she could run into Teacher Guy. Sigh...

After saying goodbye to Rock Lee, Hui headed home alone, stopping on the way to buy dinner. She had money this time, so she really did buy a lot of tasty food. Her hands were full of shopping bags.

The shopkeepers never seemed very friendly, and they always let other people cut in line. But she'd gotten used to it, and that was all she could do to console herself.

Sasuke was buying something when he glanced back and caught sight of a familiar figure. That red hair in particular—only that person looked like that. He felt a faint excitement stir in him, and hurriedly left after saying, "Brother, I'm going to find someone!"

Itachi had barely finished paying and taken the things when Sasuke ran off. He watched his younger brother hurry away, a helpless yet fond smile on his face. "What a hurry..."

He didn't even say whether he'd be back, but it's rare to see him so happy. I'll let him do as he pleases, Itachi thought.

On her way home, Hui saw a group of people surrounding a girl and pointing at her. On a whim, she used the Transformation Technique to turn herself into a hideous ghost and charged at them, croaking, "Give me back my life!!"

The kids turned around, saw her, and screamed in terror. "Monster!!"

"Mommy!!"

They scattered, their screams still echoing behind them. Hui had easily scared off the brats. With a poof, she changed back to normal, clutching her stomach as she laughed. "Hahaha, that was fun! I'm so clever."

But when she looked again, the girl had left too. Maybe she'd been scared as well. Hui shrugged and didn't think much of it. She'd never realized the Transformation Technique could be used for something like that.

Hui picked up her food and left. Behind her, a pink-haired girl poked her head out from a corner. Tears still lingered in her round eyes as she watched Hui's carefree figure, her gaze a little downcast.

She hadn't even dared to thank him. Why was she always so timid? And he was so capable, too—he could use the Transformation Technique at that age. Somehow... he seemed to belong to a different world from her...