Sand Beast

Ch. 1

"Who did you say you were?" the Sunagakure guard asked a bit weakly.

Lee straightened up, shifted his bag on his shoulder, and saluted again.

"Rock Lee, the Splendid Blue Beast of Konoha! Reporting to Hidden Sand as Leaf's official military liaison!"

The guard stared at him for a few seconds, the light of his torch chasing away the night around Lee to reveal him, tired and sweaty from his journey. Then the Chuunin guard's gaze dropped to Lee's legwarmers once more; they seemed to intrigue him in particular.

"Seriously?" he asked. Behind him, the other Chuunin guarding the Kazekage's HQ shuffled and muttered amongst themselves, hands on their weapons, though they didn't seem to really think Lee could be the spearhead of an invading force.

"Seriously what?" echoed Lee, puzzled.

"...Nothing, I guess. I need to go ask about this- oh, Captain? Good thing you're here. This... guy just showed up and-"

"Yes, I know all about it," the Sand Jounin said, heading towards them with a crisp businesslike stride.

"You do?" the guard asked, bemused, before standing straight to look serious and professional once more.

The captain gave all the men on duty a heavy 'watch your step' glare, then turned to Lee with a salute.

"Welcome to Sand. I apologize for not meeting you at the gates in person, sir, but we weren't expecting you until tomorrow evening."

Lee grinned proudly. He'd made it to the Sand in a little over two days instead of the usual three. Which was good; it meant he didn't have to find out how long it would take to run two hundred laps around Sunagakure on the very first day of his arrival.

"This is the administration building," the captain added, hooking a thumb at the doors behind his shoulder. "This is not where you'll be staying. I'll show you to your assigned residence, it's not far from here-"

"Oh, I've been there already, I had the address. But there was only the security guard there, and he said he couldn't let me in for some reason."

"That would be because it's three o'clock in the morning," the captain said with a touch of steely patience. "But that's okay, I'll go with you and talk to security- or maybe a hotel-"

"No need! Hokage-sama told me you would have an office for me here in the administration building, so I thought I'd get ready for tomorrow's morning."

The captain looked at Lee dubiously. "Don't you want some rest?"

Lee could probably do with a nap, but he was too keyed up at the thought of starting his new post in the morning.

"No need!" he exclaimed, fist in the air, "I am strong and determined. Two days running at full speed without sleep and with little food will not defeat someone who truly believes in himself. Please, show me to the office so I can begin right away!"

The guard was staring at him with eyes that were almost as round as Lee's, but the captain was made of sterner stuff. He merely bowed and motioned for Lee to follow.