Bits and Pieces of Abandoned Fanfics

Passion of the Dumbass (leenaru)

Summary: Lee takes on his first apprentice a bit under a year working with Gai.

It was a cold late summer. The famous leaves of Konoha blew freely, hints of warmer colours clueing in to the changing seasons. The breeze blew past the newly cut locks of coal black hair as a boy with big eyes and a huge smile ran through the village.

"Fifty-six more laps around the village and I'll be ready for training with Gai-sensei!" He cheered happily, speeding up a little. The boy was tall, but lanky in stature, he wore a forest green jumpsuit and brick orange leg warmers, and had rugged worn bandages on his hands. 

He ran as the sun rose, eventually seeing a very familiar sight. An old playground attached to the academy for young nin, he remembers all his struggles there, seeing as he couldn't use ninjutsu or genjutsu at all.

"--why would we play with you?! You can't even make a clone right!" Harsh words made the tall boys stop in an instant. He whipped around, trying to see who was yelling at him, only to see something that caught him off-guard.

A blonde boy, a tiny one, with his back against the dirt and three other children twice his size huddled around him. "You're short too, you look like a seven-year-old!" The boy at the front mocked, kicking the small blonde while he was down.

Many things didn't sit right with the green-atired genin, before anyone could see him move, he was standing in front of the small blonde boy. He was only a few centimeters taller than the boys so he assumed they were 12, which was completely unfair for the tiny boy who was assumed to be around 10.

"It's rather un-youthful to bully someone, if you want a fight, I would be happy to be your opponent." The boy said in a completely calm tone, but the boys seemed to pale at the shinobi headband he wore on his waist.

"S-S-Sorry!" The 'leader' sputtered before the group ran. The black haired boy turned to the little boy, who was looking at him like he was kami.

"Are you okay? It's rather rude for people to gang up on a child." The genin said honestly, making the blonde's face turn into a tiny scowl. "I'm not a child, I'll be 12 this October." 

The genin's eyes went wide. "I'm sorry to assume! For this, I'll do another 20 laps around Konoha!" The blue eyes turned back to amazement.

He jumped up, hopping a little on the spot in front of his savior. "You can really run that many? You must be really strong! I wanna be really strong too, that way I can be hokage! Will you train me??!!" The boy rambled, wide blue meeting wide black.

The taller boy was frozen for a second, processing the information. The blonde wilted a little at the silence but then his smile was back like a switch. "My name's Naruto Uzumaki! What's your name?"

The genin shook the confusion from his head. "I am Rock Lee, and my philosophy is that any normal person can beat a genius with effort." He said proudly, making Naruto's eyes sparkle.

"Yeah! I can put in all the effort, ya know!" Lee gave a classic 'nice guy pose' with a huge smile. "That's one of the most youthful things I've heard! But I won't train you!" He chirped happily, making Naruto wilt completely.

The coal haired boy leaned down a little, his smile not wavering. "I'll bring you to my sensei." The boy was back to excited. "He's the most youthful and passionate person in Konoha, I bet he'll love your passion, Naruto-kun." The blonde blushed at the honorific but nodded vigorously. 

"Would you like to join me on the rest of my jog?" The boy glanced back to the academy before turning to the chunin and nodding.

The two ran the last of Lee's laps, Lee spending a good portion carrying Naruto, who passed out 20 laps in, which was impressive for someone with his age, size and diet.