# Chapter 13: The Team
*[Achievements: 1]*
*[Achievements Section Description]*
*[Achievements are hidden, optional missions tied to the user's life progress. Completing them rewards the user with one item of any kind, the quality and uniqueness of which depends entirely on luck — or the whims of whatever higher powers happen to be in the mood.]*
*[You have become a Genin — a fully-fledged shinobi capable of taking missions from Konoha, earning material rewards, gaining invaluable experience, and with a bit of good fortune, stepping beyond the walls of your cozy little nest! The System congratulates you, User Rock Lee!]*
*[Reward: Space-Time Piercing Kunai]*
*[New Reward Description]*
*[Space-Time Piercing Kunai — simply a knife in a ninja's hands, slightly sturdier and sharper than a standard kunai from a Leaf blacksmith. With this in hand, the user's chances of an enemy Chunin accidentally impaling themselves on it and dying are marginally improved.]*
"Wow, all that buildup for this…"
Lee clicked his tongue quietly, squinting at the long, attention-disrupting cascade of system messages, making his way up the stairs to the rooftop alongside Tenten and Neji Hyuga. That was where the commander of Team Three — Jonin Might Guy — had promised to be waiting.
"Um, Lee." Tenten's chestnut eyes gleamed with youthful energy and curiosity. "I heard you're personally acquainted with our future teacher — that he was even present with the Hokage when you did your private Genin exam. Could you tell me a little about him? What's he like?"
Unlike her, riding high on enthusiasm and good cheer, the representative of the Hyuga clan was a frowning block of ice — cold to the bone, and then some.
In general, Neji served as an excellent foil to the pleasant moods of both Tenten and Lee.
He was tense and displeased about finding himself in a unit with the thick-browed boy who constantly irritated him, and with a useless girl who had demonstrated nothing noteworthy over her years at the academy beyond throwing kunai and shuriken. The arrogant Hyuga had no desire whatsoever to think about how he was going to get used to their company — and on top of that, the Jonin they'd been given as a commander was too eccentric by half, known to most if not all of Konoha, and not for any great military achievement, but for his loud, boisterous…
Power of Youth.
"Our sensei's name is Might Guy. In my humble opinion, he's the strongest Jonin in all of Konoha, and the only one who could realistically challenge him in battle is the famously genius Kakashi Hatake with his Sharingan — and even that's not guaranteed, because our sensei has a certain powerful card up his sleeve. You absolutely should not doubt his Taijutsu abilities, Tenten, I promise you that — but as for everything else…" Lee trailed off into a laugh, increasingly flustered, scratching his cheek and laughing at an increasingly inappropriate moment as it slowly dawned on him that the thoroughly level-headed Tenten would probably find the first days — or possibly months — under a man who recognized no limits and had no concept of awkwardness to be something of a challenge.
"Basically, Might Guy is strange. Very strange. But I think you'll get used to him. Probably. Eventually. I hope," Rock said finally — and then went conspicuously silent, which caused the girl who considered herself brave to become extremely uneasy.
As it turned out, she was right to be.
"HEY!"
The moment Team Three stepped onto the rooftop — beautifully scattered with fallen green leaves in the corners, drenched in the blazing morning sun — a low, booming voice with notes of cheerful ceremony stopped them cold and rattled their eardrums. Stop. This is important.
Looking up, Rock, Tenten, and Neji were greeted by the sight of a man in a green jumpsuit with a bowl cut and eyebrows even thicker than Lee's, performing push-ups on his fingertips — while what was presumably a grinning shadow clone perched on his feet, and another clone balanced on the shoulders of the first.
On top of that, as Rock could clearly see, the man still had his legendary training weights strapped to him — the ones straight out of the anime, the ones that, when dropped, would produce if not an earthquake with cracks spreading in every direction, then certainly a massive, breathtaking crater.
"I AM MIGHT GUY — THE GLORIOUS GREEN BEAST OF KONOHA!"
The Jonin declared this in perfect unison with his shadow clones, the words carrying on the light breeze in a surreal echo that reached not only the already-awed heart of Lee, but Neji and Tenten as well.
"Magnificent, Guy-sensei!" Rock exclaimed, breaking into thunderous applause — and then, exhaling, dropped straight into a handstand himself, speaking in a burning, energetic voice:
"I have been waiting for this for a very long time, honestly! Finally! It's time! Time to train in the way of the Power of Youth! Come on, Guy-sensei — I'm ready!"
In this moment, Rock Lee had stopped resembling his usual self entirely — normally composed and restrained, now gone. Tenten and Neji had the distinct impression that the thick-browed boy from a month ago had returned — the one from before the sparring match with Inuzuka — the one who seemed to run on batteries rather than food like a normal person.
"The Power of Youth? You're an enlightened kid — well done, but—!"
In the same instant, like a mirage dissolving into nothing, the man in the green jumpsuit materialized beside the upside-down Lee, seized him firmly around the waist, and flipped him back onto his feet in a single lightning motion.
It happened so fast that neither Neji nor Tenten registered what had occurred — and Rock himself came very close to losing his lunch from the violent inversion.
"No training, no drills — not until we've gotten to know each other!" Guy finished, his brilliant grin unwavering as he released the now-settled Lee and gave him a companionable slap on the shoulder. He wasn't particularly surprised by the boy's enthusiasm. Honestly, if Guy was being sincere about it, he himself was as happy as he might ever have been.
The group of three twelve-year-olds settled in, finding the most comfortable positions available on the rooftop — which meant the wooden pavilion, where they leaned against the hard surface and exhaled slowly while Might Guy stood before them, arms crossed, taking each of them in with a serious expression on his rugged, slightly cartoonish face. He cleared his throat publicly and opened the conversation in a strangely weighted silence, going first:
"Alright. Introducing myself a second time certainly won't hurt my dignity, so listen up and remember this. I am Might Guy, official Jonin of the Hidden Leaf Village. I love to train, I love to fight, and I am always ready to protect the people close to me with my Power of Youth. That's it from me. Now it's your turn. Don't be shy. Tell me about yourselves — your goals, your dreams."
The only girl on Team Three decided to go first, as if to confirm her girlish courage in the face of two silent boys. The corners of her lovely lips curved upward — lightly self-assured, lightly proud — and she said what was expected of her, yes, but what also needed to be said, the way any kunoichi worth the title would say it:
"My name is Tenten — from the family of the local blacksmith! I want to become as great a ninja as Tsunade of the Senju, one of the Legendary Sannin — if not greater! That is my goal and my dream at once, so don't laugh at it or mock it!"
Guy and Lee both nodded, of course.
"Neji. From the Hyuga clan. As for the rest, I'd rather say nothing."
That was what Neji Hyuga said, eyes closed, in a tone of complete indifference — prompting Rock to snort involuntarily and smirk at the sheer childishness of it. The fact that Lee himself had, moments earlier, been bouncing around Might Guy like an actual child demanding Power of Youth training sessions — that didn't count. That was different. He was a karate fanatic. Fanatics couldn't be held responsible.
Besides, he simply hadn't been able to help himself. None of us are perfect.
And when the turn passed to Lee, last of the three, he brought out a gravity that had no business belonging to a twelve-year-old — out of place with the relaxed manner he'd worn until now. His dark coal-black eyes seemed to absorb the attention of the entire world, the entire universe, as his voice dropped in pitch and volume, carrying the full weight of something very serious indeed.
"My name is Rock Lee. I intend to reach the level of a Kage in the future — no, I'll aim higher than that. Not today, but tomorrow, or the day after. Through my Taijutsu, I am going to ensure that no war ever again disturbs the fertile lands of the Land of Fire — lands that others claim to respect while eyeing them with insatiable greed. A threat. Real and dangerous. I will become the figure on the chessboard of this shinobi world that keeps every short-sighted fool in existence in check — I will become a god, or the one who kills gods, and most importantly—"
He stopped.
"I was joking. Why is everyone so quiet?"
He broke off mid-declaration, his brows unclenching, his clasped hands releasing — and just like that, the tense atmosphere that had settled over the rooftop vanished as if someone had waved it away.
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