Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Does it Hurt? ❯ A Place to Sleep ( Chapter 2 )

Chapter #1

A Place to Sleep

 

 

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and Co.

 

Since I only had the prologue up I thought I might at well at least give you guys an official first chapter, so here you go! Chapters may not be as long as my last story so I am able to update more regularly.

 

“Speech”

`Thought'

“Dormant personality speech” (Kira or Eve)

Dreams

 

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“They've been dead for at least twelve hours, maybe more, with all the rain we've had lately it's really hard to tell,” the young pinkette medic-nin cringed as she examined the bodies.

 

The rain wasn't the only reason it was so hard to find out anything about the bodies. The main reason was because each body was in several different pieces and they were scattered across the dirt road like confetti. The excessive amount of rain washed almost everything away, making several liters of blood soak into the earth, no doubt that the soil in the area would smell like copper for months.

 

When a traveling merchant reported bodies outside Konoha, Tsunade wasted no time putting together a team to check it out. The leader was Haruno Sakura since she was technically the specialist, and the two Jounin accompanying her were Uzumaki Naruto and Rock Lee, the first two qualified Jounin Tsunade noticed in the hallways.

 

“I found the missing torso!” hollered Naruto from somewhere in the bush nearby.

 

“Great, but we're still one set of legs, three hands, and someone's head,” sighed Sakura, “any luck Lee?”

 

“Not much, there is … a lot of damage around here…” it was unusual for Lee's tone to be so grave, but the scene matched his tone perfectly.

 

This was one assignment Lee was going to be glad to finish, even though they had the easiest jobs. They were only supposed to track down all the body parts until one of the medical teams was able to make it out.

 

“They look like they could be that group of bandits that have been giving us so much trouble,” stated Sakura as she dug through the contents of the victim's pockets. In them was a variety of souvenirs that belonged to women. “Look at all of this. Hair ribbons, gold rings, necklaces … I'll bet you anything all these things belonged to the girls missing from the village. This is the group that preys on women that wonder outside town.”

 

“Even so, who would butcher four men like it was nothing?” mumbled Lee.

 

“I'm wondering what on earth they used as a weapon. I've never seen a weapon that could cut so cleanly, and the guy that is missing his head had it twisted right off,” Sakura pointed out. “For a blade to do this they'd have to have impressive strength, and I'm not even going to mention the head thing…”

 

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After the medic team arrived to collect the bodies Sakura volunteered to fill out the mission report so Lee and Naruto could head home early. They were all tired from searching the forest for body parts, and more than a little anxious to put it at the backs of their minds.

 

Instead of going home Lee went to the training grounds to try and clear his mind. He always found he was much calmer after a good rigorous training session.

 

“If I cannot do eight hundred push ups, it is one thousand kicks!”

 

Naturally Lee always forced himself to the limits with his training, and it carried him well into the evening as the sun began to set. Not that the time mattered much to Lee, he would train night or day, rain or shine. As a ninja he had to be prepared for anything, so he would always work on building his endurance to the next level. He had too, being at such a disadvantage to the other Jounin he needed something to completely commit himself too, a goal. He held onto the same dream he had as a young boy in his academy days, back when no one ever expected he would ever become a ninja.

 

`I have come very far, but there is always more to learn,' thought Lee as he moved through his regular training routine, `people are always changing and becoming stronger.'

 

Eventually Lee lost track of time. Evening passed into night without Lee even noticing.

 

He was so busy trying to take his mind off of his previous mission that he stayed out training for hours without even realizing it.

 

With the late hours the bowl cut Jounin finally started to feel the strain he was putting on his body. Sweat clung to his oversized eyebrows and glued his bangs to his forehead. His muscles were sore and simply didn't have the strength to keep up with the abuse of harsh training.

 

Lee yawned and let himself fall onto the grass, “A short rest, and then I will continue my training…”

 

The grass was still mildly damp from the resent rainfall of spring, and it made the air smell fresher. The rain had taken the humidity out of the air and left a crisp cool breeze to float through the trees surrounding the training grounds.

 

Of course, Lee loved spring. All the rain made the village green again after a long winter, and what a winter it had been. He'd traveled to Sunagakure to assist the Kazekage - Gaara - with an urgent mission, during which Lee's arm had been injured. What should have just been a shallow cut that probably wouldn't have even required stitches put his right arm out of commission for two weeks, plus the physical therapy Sakura put him through so he's regain full use of the arm.

 

Lee's hand absently grazed over the scar on his shoulder hidden beneath his spandex outfit. It still tingled sometimes. He wondered if it would ever really stop.

 

Yawning, Lee's thoughts started becoming fuzzy, and he slowly fell asleep…

 

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Giirrrr…

 

`I wish I hadn't broken my fishing pole…' thought Eve glumly as she sat curled up on a high tree branch overlooking the training grounds.

 

Originally, Eve had not planned on spending the night in a tree, or any length of time for that matter. She had planned on making a small camp for herself next to the training grounds where she wouldn't be disturbed until morning at least, or so she thought. She never anticipated that someone would come to the training ground so late and stay for so long.

 

By the time the bowl cut shinobi started his `break' Eve's butt had gone numb, and by the time he finally fell asleep Eve was also falling asleep and very nearly feel out of her tree.

 

When she was positive he was asleep - when he started snoring - Eve jumped down from her hiding spot and let out a long sigh.

 

Being around people was never good for Eve. If she let herself get too close to someone or got caught with her guard down then bad things would start happening, and she'd already caused enough trouble as is…

 

That was why the pinkette chose to sleep at the training grounds. It was a good distance from the nearest residence, it was quiet, it was usually deserted at night, and it was very peaceful. The training grounds were a place safe from prying eyes where Eve could fall asleep under the stars.

 

Eve adjusted the ribbon in her hair that kept a pair of unusual horns hidden and her long pink bangs out of her amber eyes.

 

She wondered over to the sleeping shinobi in the strange green jumpsuit. She'd never seen anyone quite as strange as him … everything from his outfit, to his haircut, to his insane eyebrows was completely bizarre, but somehow in an interesting way.

 

`He must be determined to do something if he would stay out here this long just to train, it has to be past midnight by now,' thought Eve as she knelt beside the bowl cut shinobi to get a better look at him in the inadequate lighting. `But it's kind of cold out here. He's going to get sick if he sleeps on the ground like that with nothing to keep him warm…'

 

With another sigh Eve picked up a small pebble and climbed back into her tree.

 

“Gomenasai,” she murmured as she took aim and flung the rock at the sleeping teen.

 

The small rock bounced off his chest, making him snort and sit up quickly. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes and mumbled something along the lines of `Sakura' incoherently as he got to his feet.

 

He left.

 

The unusual man in the jump suit and leg warmers was finally gone.

 

Eve didn't expect she'd see him again, and she didn't think much of it as she pulled a blanket from her backpack and curled up to sleep…

 

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Hope you enjoyed! Reviews are loved!

 

Lil_Pix