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Understanding Unspoken Words by Moriko

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Chapter notes: After his training is interrupted, Lee learns of a new girl moving into the village all alone. Her only friend is Tenten and she does not speak. After meeting her, Lee believes her spirit has been broken and sets the challenge to mend it. Being the kindhearted person he is, Lee decides to befriend the distant and lonely girl.
Lee's POV

"Lee!" A high girl's voice called across the training ground. I recognized it immediately as belonging to Tenten-san. I stopped myself in mid punch before I could strike the training post, leaving a slightly unsatisfied feeling at not completing my 500 training stump punches. It is only courteous to postpone training if someone wishes to speak, I decided I would make it up later... with 1,000 laps around the village!

It was a cold gray early afternoon and Tenten-san's cheeks were red with cold as she ran toward me, wind wiping her face and her standard sandals made sucking noises when she pulled her foot from the muddy earth. I smiled at my team mate and offered her a slight wave with one of my bandaged hands.

"Good afternoon, Tenten-san! Have you come to train with me?" I asked hopefully. Training alone was not as appealing as training with a partner. Neji-kun was not as active in training as he should have been, relying on his born genius abilities . A shot of irritation flashed through me at the thought. Gai-sensei had told me he would be busy, but I had not thought to ask Tenten-san. She stopped in front of me and shook her head as she gathered her breath. I figured she must have run a great distance to be out of breath.

"Not now, Lee... I have something important to tell you." She said which caused my face to fall from my normally enthusiastic smile and happy face to a worried frown. I instantly thought something bad had happened. I could not imagine what would have excited her so much to run, what appeared to be, clear across the village just to tell me something. Surely, Gai-sensei would not be wounded... If he were going on a dangerous mission, he would have told me, and he is too great to be affected by a normal mission. Could one of my other friends be in danger?

I did not like the turn of my thoughts to negativity so quickly, but ever since the Chuunin exams, I had been too quick to jump to the worst case scenario. I cleared those thoughts quickly and tried to think clearly about what was so important, while Tenten-san took another deep breath. The thoughts came back far too quickly, though.

"It is not Sakura-san, is it?" I blurted as she opened her mouth to tell me. With a roll of her eyes and a hand on her hip, my team mate shook her head. I sighed in relief. I knew things had been hard for Sakura-san since Sasuke-kun left the village, I did not want things to get harder for her.

"Anyway, there's a girl who has just moved into the village, a very good friend of mine." She explained. I listened and waited patiently for her to continue. "If you see her, please be nice." She said with a look on her face that resembled pleading. I was very surprised. I may not have been a model of kindness, but I would hate to think of myself as unkind. I fixed Tenten-san with a puzzled look and slightly cocked my head to the side. She sighed in what appeared to be an effort to calm herself.

"She isn't a Kunoichi, she's a normal girl and her name is Aikibo, Moriko. I persuaded Mori-chan to move into the village with permission granted by Hokage-sama, but Mori-chan doesn't speak... At all... I just don't want you to treat her differently than anyone else because she's mute." Tenten-san explained. I nodded in interested understanding.

"Of course, Tenten-san! I would not dream of offending your friend!" I told her enthusiastically. "In fact..." I glanced up at the sky in an attempt to see the position of the sun, through the thick cold clouds. It was about lunch time, anyway. I wiped the sweat off my forehead with my left arm and suppressed a flinch. I might have overdone the training again for my still recovering limbs. "Would you like to introduce me to your friend to ensure I do not upset her?" I asked. My dark haired friend shook her head.

"No, I have to go and help her unpack, she should be done with the meeting Hokage-sama summoned her to. Shouldn't you be getting lunch now, anyway, Lee?" She asked in a slightly bored tone. I smiled and was prepared to give her a thumbs-up as I agreed, but she turned away without waiting for my answer and began to walk back the way she came.

------------------

I finished the last of my punches before heading back in search of lunch. I did not feel like going home to my empty apartment to make an instant meal, so I carried my money in the pouch on my hip partially hidden under the red cloth of my forehead protector. I was walking around aimlessly trying to figure out which shop I wanted to buy my lunch from when I spotted something pink moving away from me. Focusing on the object, I realized it was the hair of my Sakura-san. She was walking next to her team mate, Naruto-kun with an angry expression on her face when she turned her head toward him. They appeared to be arguing. Without thinking, I set off toward them.

"Sakura-san! Naruto-kun!" I called as I got closer. They both turned toward the sound of my voice and I received small smiles when I joined them. "Good afternoon." I greeted politely. Sakura-san and Naruto-kun began walking again beside me.

"Good afternoon, Lee-san." Sakura-san greeted me back, cutting off whatever Naruto-kun was about to say. I smiled wider. "We were having a hard time deciding what we should get to eat before we meet Kakashi-sansei." She explained.

"Yeah! Don't you think Ichiraku Raman sounds great?" Naruto-kun asked me. I could not help but to glance over at Sakura-san's face and seeing her annoyed expression I figured this matter is what they had been arguing about. It was obvious she did not want Raman, but to point out that Naruto-kun should have let Sakura-san choose, would have been rude in front of her. I hesitated a moment trying to find the best way to respond.

"Ichiraku is very crowded around this time... It wouldn't be the best place to eat if you are not alone, Naruto-kun. What other places did you have in mind? " I asked diplomatically as we walked down a side road. We were all suddenly distracted from our lunch situation. Just in front of us stood a large cart filled with damaged over packed cardboard boxes. Though, the boxes were not as interesting as the unfamiliar girl struggling to carefully bring down a particularly heavy box off the top of the pile.

This girl had very long sky blue hair, pulled into a ponytail with her bangs swept to the right side of her face. Her expression seemed completely blank as if her body was moving on its own and the life had been drained out of her. Though, her bright emerald eyes sparkled in a certain expressive way to make up for the life the rest of her face lacked. It was only faint but I think I saw a glimmer of determination in them as she struggled with the box.

"Mori-chan!" Tenten-san called running from the building's open door, next to the cart. She reached up and easily took control of the large box, bringing it down from the large pile into her arms. I saw that flicker of determination diminish as it was replaced with irritation. Whether that irritation was for herself or Tenten-san, I did not know. "I know you say you can handle it, but I'm here to help you, right? I'll take care of the heavier boxes... You aren't particularly graceful, anyway. You might hurt yourself." My teammate continued. At that, all expression in the blue haired girl's face and eyes died in defeat. She lifted a small box half heartedly and disappeared inside the apartment after Tenten-san.

Naruto-kun and Sakana-san suddenly looked at me with curious faces. I was unsure what to tell them. Tenten-san had never told me if she wanted to keep her friend's move into Konoha quiet or not. Should I tell them what she told me? In my hesitation I glanced back toward the cart and the open apartment door as Tenten-san walked out and spotted me. She gave a little wave and a half smile.

"Hello, everyone." She called while Moriko-san poked her head out of the dark doorway to see who her friend was talking to. With one glance in our direction I saw some emotion, like fear, flash across her pale face. Tenten-san turned and gestured for Moriko-san to join us. Extracting herself from the doorway, the teen girl made her way to Tenten-san's side with her eyes fixed on the ground before her feet. "Mori-chan, these are a couple other friends." She said with a reassuring hand on Moriko-san's shoulder. The green eyed female looked up only long enough to see who Tenten-san indicated while she introduced us.

"This is Uzumaki, Naruto-kun from Team 7." She said with a hand toward the blond at my side. Naruto-kun gave her a big toothy smile that the girl did not return. Next, my team member indicated Sakura-san. "Haruno, Sakura-san is also on Naruto-kun's team." I could tell Sakura-san faked the smile she gave the new girl and tried to make up for the forced gesture with a small wave. Moriko-san did not return it. Tenten-san now held her hand out toward me. "And this is Rock, Lee. I've told you a little about him, he's on my team." She said.

I could not help but to feel slightly self conscious at the thought of what Tenten-san had said about me, because Moriko-san did not even look up from the ground at me as she had for Naruto-kun and Sakura-san. I would not feel disheartened, though! I would try to make the new girl feel a little more welcomed, so she would not have to feel like an outsider.

"It is nice to meet you, Moriko-san." I said in my normally happy voice and I bowed low in greeting. Instantly the girl's face reflected the feeling of being flustered. She returned a quick bow, then glanced from me back to Tenten-san as if she wanted to say something. I may not have understood, but Tenten-san did.

"It's okay, Mori-chan. He knows you're mute." She said with a smile. Moriko-san nodded in understanding and went back to staring at the ground. At the confused expressions on Sakura-san's and Naruto-kun's faces, Tenten-san explained. "This is my friend, Aikibo, Moriko. She doesn't speak and did not want you to think she was purposely being rude." Oh, that made sense. Tenten-san must have known Moriko-san for a long time to be able to be her voice with just a look.

"Oh, that's okay. You can't help that." Sakura-san said in an attempt to be reassuring. It only caused Tenten-san and Moriko-san to look uncomfortable, though I could not imagine why. Sakura-san tried again. "Maybe we can be friends." She said with another forced smile, clearly taken aback by the way Moriko-san showed almost nothing. Tenten-san sighed.

"Well, we have to get back to work. Mori-chan is moving in here but I wanted to help her with the boxes and unpacking." Tenten-san said as Moriko-san glanced back at the boxes with an expression filled with pain. I felt awful for her. I could not imagine never being able to speak and relying on someone else to say everything because she was unable to. She must have felt so helpless all her life, but maybe... If more people around Konoha began to accept her the way good hearted Tenten-san had, she would not need to feel as different. Maybe she would allow me to be her friend and help her overcome this disability, after all, we already have a friend in common.

"Alright. Let me know if you would like some help, Tenten-san, Moriko-san." I said with a dazzling smile and my usual thumbs up. My team mate rolled her eyes at me for a second time today and Moriko-san simply stared at me for a moment before returning to the boxes. With our goodbyes and waves, we left the two girls and continued walking down the dirt road.

"I'm surprised you were so quiet back there, Naruto." Sakura-san said curiously. Naruto-kun glanced over at her with his blue eyes strangely wide.

"That mute girl gave me the creeps... I mean... Do either of you get the 'Puppy that's been beaten too many times' vibe from her?" Naruto-kun asked. I knew he did not mean to sound as bad as he did, but Sakura-san was appalled.

"Naruto! That's rude, you idiot!" She growled and punched him in the head. Naruto-kun crouched for a moment holding his hands against the back of his blond head as if trying to keep the incoming bump from growing any bigger. "She was kinda weird, though." Sakura-san agreed thoughtfully. I could think of nothing to say. Weird was not the word I would choose... But I did get a sense that she was a person with a broken spirit. Maybe it was not too late to try to carefully mend.
Chapter end notes: First time posting a story here, I'm new to this site, but no need to go easy on me, I can take it! Give me your best shot, come on! XD I know the honorifics might get a little annoying sometimes, but I won't change them, you'll have to deal.
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