Rock Lee

"Stay behind me, guys."

Sato whispered to Ino Shika Cho. He was watching Fu with rapt attention. Sato's hair was flashing with tiny electric arcs, showing his cautious mood.

"What do you want to say about Orochimaru?"

Sato asked while slowly taking his stance. Fu just tilted her head in confusion.

"Huh? Why does it look like you want to attack me, Sato?"

"Wait, are you jealous?! How cute! But Sato, I heard about Orochimaru by accident; I don't know him."

"Hehehe."

Fu giggled happily. Sato almost fell down when he heard this, but at least he felt relieved. 

"Stop talking nonsense, Fu! You almost gave me a heart attack."

"I thought you were possessed by Orochimaru."

Sato patted his chest in relief; he wouldn't know what to do if Fu was possessed by Orochimaru.

"Possessed? Is Orochimaru your enemy? Then I have some news about him, Sato; maybe it will help."

Fu said before jumping and gliding up to Sato's spot.

*tap*

"I overheard two sound ninja talking; a girl was asking if Orochimaru had captured Sato Nii."

"The boy said that Orochimaru went back to sound village; he will not return to Konoha anymore."

"In his place Kabuto will attack Konoha. Sound ninja are supposed to listen to Kabuto."

Fu told Sato what she knew, and Sato narrowed his eyes. This was useful information.

"I killed Orochimaru once; his new body probably has a problem."

Sato concluded pretty quickly, if Orochimaru wasn't forced to switch bodies, he would definitely participate in the Konoha crush.

"That's a relief; he probably didn't expect me to kill him. He wasn't prepared for death; I caught him off guard."

Sato rubbed his chin; there was no need to worry then. He can afford to have some fun.

"Thanks Fu. You have helped me a lot."

Sato smiled and thanked Fu. She just chuckled and hugged him tightly. 

"Anything for you, Sato! I know we just got together, but sorry, I have to go."

"I snuck out of the village because I wanted to meet you. That's why I was using transformation jutsu to hide myself."

"I should go back now, or Shibuki Sama will be worried."

Fu stepped back with a smile. She decided to quit the chunin exams now that she had met Sato. 

Anyway, her purpose was to meet Sato and she found him. Actually, this time she wanted to tell Sato that she loved him, but when she saw him again, she chickened out.

"Ahaha, bye."

But her emotions were too intense, so she quickly bent down and gave Sato a kiss on the cheek before flying away as if she was running.

*Bzzzz*

"Hey! Get back here! How dare you take advantage of Sato kun?"

Before Sato could say anything, Ino started yelling. She was so upset, she was getting ready to use the mind-body switch on Fu.

"I wouldn't do that, Ino. Fu has a tailed beast inside her. Your soul can't control her body."

Sato caught Ino's hand; she will hurt her soul if she tries controlling a jinchuriki's body.

Ino stopped, she gritted her teeth as she watched the green-haired girl fly away, like the bug she was.

"Grrr. I hate it; why didn't I think of this?"

Ino muttered under her breath, thankfully Sato's had cat ears; he heard everything loud and clear.

He immediately stepped back. He was surprise attacked once, and he wouldn't let that happen a second time.

Shikamaru noticed the situation wasn't quite right; he sighed and decided to step in.

"I think we should tell our parents about Kabuto. Sound village wants to attack Konoha."

Shikamaru rubbed his hair; although he found this to be a drag, he decided to tell his parents. 

"We will say we overheard a sound ninja team. We won't say anything about Sato, or it might cause problems for him."

Shikamaru thought of a way to help his family and to keep Sato's name a secret. He figured this was top-secret information.

Sato let them know just because they were friends; he can't hurt his friends.

"You guys can go; I am not going."

Ino waved her hand; she had no interest in going home so soon.

She wanted to spend more time with Sato, and if Shikamaru and Choji leave, it will be like a date!

"What a drag."

Shikamaru rubbed his hair and gave up. He said goodbye to Sato and took Choji with him. 

Leaving Ino and Sato alone in the forest. 

"Sato kun, do you want to see Konoha? I can be your guide."

Ino smiled with her hands behind her back, and Sato rubbed his chin. He could take this opportunity to look for Konoha's weak points.

"Okay, show me Konoha; I haven't been here since forever."

Sato agreed with a smile. But before leaving, Sato called a messenger hawk and wrote a letter to his team.

He ordered Hinata and Haku to leave Konoha right away. There will be a war; they didn't need to put themselves in danger.

*Flap*

Sato calmly watched the messenger hawk fly away with his letter.

'Only me, Samui, and Darui will stay as hidden cloud representatives.'

Sato thought before he left the forest, he was currently walking through Konoha's streets. Ino was introducing things to him.

"That is a famous dango shop."

"And that is our flower shop. Oh no, my mother is in the shop right now."

Ino was showing Sato everything, but when she saw her mother, she decided to sneak away.

Her mother would definitely scold her for not coming home.

"Sato kun, let's go this way."

*Bang*

Ino was pulling Sato's hand in a hurry, but they bumped into someone by mistake.

"Aaa"

Sato stood still but Ino fell down. The first thing she checked were her clothes; they were full of dust and dirt. Her image was ruined on her first date.

"Can't you see where you are going?!"

Ino angrily accused the guy who bumped into them. But the guy defended with a straight face.

"You guys bumped into me, miss; it's you who didn't see where you were going."

The guy said this seriously, and Ino widened her eyes. He didn't even apologize; he called her blind instead. 

"What did you say, you thick-eyebrowed creep? Who even are you?"

Ino got up angrily, but the guy was like a piece of wood; he didn't seem to mind.

"These eyebrows are a symbol of youth, miss! And I am Rock Lee."

Rock Lee gave Ino and Sato a thumbs up; his teeth were brightly shining somehow.

"Rock Lee? I don't care; you still have to apologize for bumping into me."

Ino clenched her fist, but Rock Lee didn't back away at all. He smiled happily and raised his hand instead. 

"Do you want to fight me? Yosh! This is youth."

Rock Lee seemed excited at the idea of having a challenge; his sheer aura made Ino recoil in shock. 

Sato found this a good opportunity to step in, or Rock Lee might actually start throwing hands with Ino.

"Rock Lee, was it? You should at least apologize to my friend. We will do the same."

"Both of us weren't being careful, let bygones be bygones."

Sato wanted to make peace, but Rock Lee tilted his head in confusion.

"It wasn't my fault; why should I apologize?"

Sato looked speechless; this is just basic courtesy. Rock Lee was not very good at social interactions, was he?

"You guy, Sato kun, don't stop me; I will knock some sense into him."

Ino slipped past Sato and swiftly elbowed Rock Lee. But to her absolute shock, Lee casually caught her elbow. 

"Please take this seriously."

Rock Lee said before tightly grabbing Ino's elbow and throwing her to the sky.

"Aaaa!"

Ino screamed in fear; she was just thrown into the sky with pure muscular force. Who the hell was this Rock Lee?

*Bzzzt*

Before Ino could hit the ground, Sato vanished from his place and caught her, breaking the fall.

Now Sato was staring at Rock Lee; he understood where Lee was coming from, but Ino was his friend.

He might need to show some Raikage-style taijutsu about now.

"Wait!"

But before Sato could attack, a woman showed up and grabbed Sato's hand from behind.

Sato turned back and raised his eyebrows. Who was this, and why was she stopping him?

Advanced chapters ahead on patréon

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