Chapter 68

"Alright, you want a piece of me?" I yelled at the cloaked figure who stood between me and my teammates.

My instinctive response to unknown threats is to cast a merciless genjutsu, plunging the target into some Doom-like dream and then assess the situation after they are busy dealing with hordes of imaginary video game enemies. When I sent out my chakra, I immediately noticed something was wrong. My genjutsu wasn't 'taking hold' like it should have. Yet the figure in the black coat that matched my own was still standing there.

I immediately tried dissipating any genjutsu that might be affecting me but it accomplished nothing. There was no foreign chakra to expel. Before I realized I had let my guard down in a moment of confusion, my upper arm crumpled and cracked as I was brutally kicked in the shoulder and sent tumbling along the ground to land meters away.

"Was that a clone?" It was obvious that my arm was broken in several places but I didn't have time to check for sure as a barrage of shuriken kept me running from cover to cover, clutching my right arm. The projectiles came from random directions, making it impossible to find the attacker among the myriad tree limbs.

As soon as I had a moment to collect my senses behind a massive tree, I grit my teeth and shaped my fingers into the hand seals for a Kage Bunshin. "Make the seals, pump the chakra through...bingo." Two clones poofed into existence and dashed off, one to collect natural energy and another to check on my teammates. Then I returned to gripping my broken upper arm and trying to spot my assailant.

"Goddammit. Fucking crows take up so much chakra." After spending the entire test supporting a flock of summons throughout the forest and splitting my chakra, I had precious little juice with which to fight, at least compared to what I ordinarily had. "Come out, fucking bastard!" I yelled to the empty forest while mending the bones in my arm with medical chakra. The disturbing sensation of healing my own arm was subsumed by my focus on deflecting any incoming attacks.

"Alright. Fighting sneaky isn't really my style anyways."

I immediately threw a kunai in the direction of the voice. It sunk solidly into a tree trunk.

"But sometimes you have to fight fire with fire," came the voice from behind me again. I turned around to see the cloaked enemy drop down to the ground. He dodged my second kunai with minimal effort, turning his shoulder slightly. "I expected more from you, Haru."

"Sorry, I've had a rough day. Can't we do this some other time?" I asked. My arm was mostly fine by this point but I was definitely hurting for chakra.

"It pains me to have to do this, but Sakura must be shown the light. I will defeat you and stop you from tainting her any longer." The ninja in the matching cloak pulled his hood back, revealing a thick pair of eyebrows and focused eyes.

"Rock Lee. Nice to finally meet you," I said.

"So you know who I am? I will tell you now, your tricks won't work on me." Lee took up a fighting stance. But before doing anything else, he reached into his coat and pulled out a pair of sunglasses. He flicked the glasses open and put them on. Still in his ready stance, he turned his head toward me and bent his fingers, beckoning me to attack him. "Come, show me what you've got."

Internally, I groaned, "I have a bad feeling about this..." I put aside my curiosity regarding where Lee had gotten a pair of shades and took a fighting stance myself. I couldn't figure out why my genjutsu wasn't working against him but I wasn't going down without a fight. Simultaneously, the two of us dashed at each other.

Lee was tremendously strong. As he effortlessly blocked all of my punches and kicks, I struggled to keep up with his attacks. I was no slouch at taijutsu but Rock Lee was the budding master I expected him to be. And judging from my mounting bruises, he was more than capable of wearing me down.

I broke off the one-sided spar and tried to stall for time. With panting breath, I asked, "You realize that Sakura is in love with Sasuke, don't you?"

He spoke calmly, "Is that what you think? Don't tell me you're that oblivious."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

Lee grew angry. "As if you haven't noticed how she looks at you. She used to be so bright and vibrant. But now...I won't let you hurt her anymore!" Lee's black coat fluttered behind him as he ran toward me, fist ready to pound me into dust.

It was like he was moving in slow motion. I could sense the chakra bleeding off his person. No wonder I couldn't catch him with genjutsu. All that chakra he was releasing was like a constant dissipation technique. I caught his fist in my palm. My clone had finally ended, supplying me with a plentiful supply of senjutsu chakra. "Now it's my turn."

I used my grip on his fist and threw him over my head into the ground. Still grasping his hand, I swung him around and let go, throwing him bodily through at least three tree trunks. I dusted my hands.

I was not expecting Lee to come at me with his entire body glowing with chakra. I tried to block his fist with both of my arms but it meant nothing to the young ninja with his hair standing upright and his eyes shining through the tinted lenses of his sunglasses. I lost count of how many times I hit the ground as I tumbled backward, blown away with the force of his punch.

"Ugh...I forgot he could do that." I tried vainly to stand up but Lee was already there, my hair in his grip.

"You should give up now." He was still glowing with power, like a ninja possessed by a demon.

"Maybe after you pluck your eyebrows..." I said with a defiant smirk.

Lee launched me into the air. After taking time to beat me senseless in mid-air, he cried out "Shadow of the Dancing Leaf!" followed by "Front Lotus!" as he sent me into the ground.

I was pretty sure a lot of my body was broken at that point. If I wasn't in Sage Mode then there was a good chance I'd be out cold or dead. At this point, however, it didn't seem like an unpleasant alternative compared to how much pain I was in by being conscious.

"Why? Why doesn't she ever notice me? Why does she follow you?" Lee cried in despair. He was no longer glowing and the exhaustion was apparent in his voice.

"Because I can offer her something you can't," I answered. I couldn't move at all and I think my eye was starting to swell because everything was getting dark.

He raised his fist over my head. "What could you possibly offer her, you monster?"

I groaned helplessly, "Power...of the dark side of the Force..." I chuckled weakly as my eyes closed and all I could hear was an inhuman scream as something pulled Lee away.