Downfall (A Rock Lee fanfic)

Avengers

Chapter 5: Avengers

Rock Lee's knees buckled, the whole world spinning around him as his mind flooded with information. Tears burned down his cheeks uncontrollably. He stumbled, losing his sense of balance completely, and tipped forward. He crashed down the rest of the stairs, clutched his head the whole way as if in pain from within his skull, eyes squeezed shut. He smacked the back of his head hard against the floor and the world closed in on him, leaving him alone in the darkness.

Gai's journal softly followed him down the steps, landing open and face down right next to Lee's arm.

X

Darkness was slowly shooed away from Lee's sight hours later, and he blinked his eyes open, sitting up on an elbow and rubbing the back of his aching head with his other hand.

His large eyes traveled the area he was laying in, confused as to where he was. Then they rested on the journal splayed beside him. Those same coal black, circle encased eyes glistened with tears at the remembrance of his sensei's last words to him. He gritted his teeth as his chest tightened and put a hand against his face, hiding his tear-stained, red eyes.

His sobbing was strained with such a pain he never even imagined existed. He gasped in air and fumbled for the journal, tucking it safely against his chest.

So many things were running wild in that bowl cut head of his. Gai-sensei protected me all his life. He saved me. I am an Uchiha. He... He called me son. He thought of me as his son, just as I thought of him as my father. I am one of the very last Uchiha clan. Sensei protected me. He died...

The council killed him.

With that last thought Lee stopped shaking. He slowly rose his head until he was sitting up completely, no longer curled onto himself. His large eyebrows were arched in such fury, an emotion so powerful in him that he almost accidentally opened the first gate even. He stood slowly, tucking Gai's journal into his pouch, then he clutched his fists tight. The council...

He suddenly lifted his head and roared voice echoing through the entire house. "I SWEAR TO YOU GAI-SENSEI! I WILL AVENGE YOU! I WILL BRING THE COUNCIL DOWN!"

He was left panting lightly from that outburst, then he was gone in a flash, door slamming shut behind him.

Lee raced through the night with no plan other than that he was going to break things. His mind was clouded with fury, blood boiling in his veins. He was being rash and unthinking of course, he was always like that. He never thought or strategized, just charged in head first.

This quality obviously got him into trouble a lot.

He was stopped suddenly by lights off to his side where there usually weren't. He turned towards the lights, walking in that direction quietly. He rounded a tree to find so many people gathered all around a... Casket.

The lid was closed, but it didn't need to be open for Lee to know who it contained. He had forgotten about Gai's funeral. They were lowering the casket into a hole in the ground now. Rock Lee immediately deflated, anger turning to sorrow. He took a shuddering breath and watched as his sensei officially left them.

What am I doing? What was I about to do even? Go and bust down the council doors, then what? Kill them? I cannot just do that, not only are they some of the most important people to the village, but they were ninjas too! Very powerful ninjas... They may no longer be in their prime, but they can still fight. And then they would know I knew of my true roots, then they would kill me and Gai-sensei would have died for nothing! Gai-sensei... I am sorry. But what they did to you... it is unforgivable. I promise you, I will avenge you! I just need to think...