In Universe/Alternate Universe
Rating: K/K+ for character death
Pairings: NejiTen, LeeSaku and a few pokes at NaruHina
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, nor do I own the themes (… who does? o_o")
Team Gai: 100 Sentences
1. Introduction
The only introduction needed when they formed a Genin team was their dreams, however scrambled they were at the time.
2. Love
Neji said he'd never love, but he ended up loving all three oddballs.
3. Light
The only lights they ever needed were ones to use to travel into their souls, unlit by dreams and hopes that had been swept away or hidden for a time.
4. Dark
It was a dark day when the first team promise was broken in the Chunin exams; Lee and TenTen lost in the first round of battles, and Neji decided to ignore his promise not to try to kill Hinata.
5. Seeking Solace
If one were to travel into one of Konoha's most remote training grounds and stumble upon a flowing river with a man-made pool, broken and fallen trees, target dummies, and abandoned fishing poles, they'd find the habitué where they sought solace.
6. Break Away
All of them, including Gai, were caged birds waiting to break away and fly free.
7. Heaven
Heaven cried for her namesake the day she though she'd lost her two boys forever.
8. Innocence
Poor Lee's innocence was lost when Gai told them about the birds and the bees; it was a very scarring incident for all but Gai since he though Lee and Neji were dating.
9. Drive
The lost drive from their unlit souls was renewed when new dreams were found or the old ones came back from their hiding place; never again did Konoha set eyes on such a determined team.
10. Breathe Again
Only when both of her boys regained consciousness was when TenTen could breathe once more.
11. Memory
On Sunday, for thirty minutes every week, the team visited the graves of the fallen to celebrate the memories of their lost parents, or, in Gai's case, comrades.
12. Insanity
They were called insane for their harsh, relentless training schedule, yet that same schedule made them rise faster and higher than the rest.
13. Misfortune
Gai knew of all the misfortunes placed on his student's shoulders, but he always kept a positive attitude just for them to never let them to follow the steps of Uchiha, Sasuke into revenge.
14. Smile
Gai's most prized possession was not a special weapon or jutsu, but a picture of his team, the one they got after all three had been named Chunin, and all (including Neji, who wore a half-hearted, faint, sad smile) were smiling.
15. Silence
Neji kept his silence when he realized TenTen, who probably didn't realize it herself, loved him just like he kept his silence when he saw how Sakura gave Lee loving looks when they saw her.
16. Questioning
Lee never realized Sakura loved him for quite a while, but he realized, like Neji, that TenTen loved said teammate before she did and questioned her on her denial.
17. Blood
TenTen knew she loved Neji in a different way than Lee when he went on his third solo mission and came back with his white robes stained with a rust color pooling about his left shoulder.
18. Rainbow
There was a rainbow present in the sky when Lee finally realized Sakura, who was in hysterics when he returned from his first solo mission bleeding heavily, loved him.
19. Gray
Neji, who seemed to lack colors, explained once to his team that he liked the color gray (or silver) since it portrayed all the colors in the world because every color combined, with out white, was black, but if you added white then, it became gray.
20. Fortitude
They found out Neji's fortitude was not as strong as they believed when he didn't let either of them near TenTen when she got gravely wounded and demanded that they go back to Konoha.
21. Vacation
Team Gai never asked for a vacation because, if they did, they'd have nothing to do since their lives revolved about getting stronger.
22. Mother Nature
They found out their natures were in tune with their favorite season; Gai loved spring, Lee loved summer, TenTen loved fall, and Neji loved winter.
23. Cat
No one said a word as they had to redo the first mission they ever did as punishment for not taking a vacation; the poor thing lost eight lives when it was scared by them catching it in a record 57 seconds after they had been assigned the mission.
24. No Time
There was no time for them to see Neji after he became an ANBU Black Op captain at age 17, even on their ritual Sunday 30-minute commute.
25. Trouble Lurking
Gai knew something was up when he started sneezing every day at exactly the same time; Team Gai, though not a solid team anymore, found out he was correct when Kakashi carried his bloody, battered body back to Konoha solemnly.
26. Tears
There weren't any tears shed by any of the three at his funeral, knowing their former sensei wouldn't allow them to if he were there.
27. Foreign
Love was a foreign feeling to Neji when he saw TenTen's melancholy face and felt the need to hug her.
28. Sorrow
Lee had never felt as much sorrow as he had before Gai's death than he did after, but he kept on his brave, flamboyant face in futile hope that no one would notice his settling depression.
29. Happiness
Even Neji, though thoroughly busy, tried to regain Lee's happiness; only Sakura was able to, however, by giving him a long, heartfelt hug.
30. Under the Rain
Both males on Team Gai got their first kisses under a blanket of rain, as if Gai was watching from above and dispelling tears of joy.
31. Flowers
It was a mystery to Neji who gave him flowers until he read the card that said they were for Hinata (he severely punished the carrier who was unfortunate enough to make the mistake in his presence.)
32. Night
It was night when Lee and TenTen got their letters that told them they'd been admitted into the ANBU Black Ops, put into Neji's squadron (they knew Tsunade had a few words in that queer occurrence).
33. Expectations
Their expectations for Neji's training schedule fell short of what he actually made them do, smirking evilly the whole first two days they were under his wing.
34. Stars
It was under a blanket of stars when Neji decided to stop training, send everyone but Lee and TenTen home, and reminisce with them lying in the grass.
35. Hold My Hand
At Lee's wedding, Neji had a strange request for TenTen, but she complied all the while smiling.
36. Precious Treasure
Lee and TenTen finally realized Neji loved them with all his being when he almost died for his "precious treasures."
37. Eyes
TenTen never looked him in the eyes after that.
38. Abandoned
Lee felt abandoned when they drifted apart once more when he and TenTen got moved to separate squadrons.
39. Dreams
After his dreams became "wet" ones did Neji realize, though he'd kissed her before, that he really did love TenTen.
40. Rated
The yearly ANBU rating passed with Neji as number one, Lee as number five, and TenTen as number six.
41. Teamwork
The solid proof behind Lee's fears of abandonment was their teamwork, once the best from all five great ninja nations, had faltered when they had a mission together after almost half a year of not seeing each other.
42. Standing Still
Though they were the best, they seemed to stand still as they watched each other get struck down, one by one.
43. Dying
All three of them knew they were dying, but the only thing they rued over was standing still.
44. Two Roads
For a dying warrior, there are two roads: fight to live, or just die; they chose the former.
45. Illusion
After the scarring mission was finished, Lee saw Gai as he walked out of the hospital, finally released, tears streaming from his face that clearly read his disappointment.
46. Family
After that illusion, Lee started a new family with Sakura at 19, thanking Gai's spirit for keeping them alive for that long.
47. Creation
Neji knew he was at fault for the failed mission, creating the rift between the three of them, and created a bridge to mend said rift by organizing a dinner every other week just for them.
48. Childhood
Lee knew when his first child was born that he'd make sure it's childhood would not be like his, TenTen's, or Neji's shoddy ones.
49. Stripes
TenTen presented to her ex-team in the fall with scarves striped with maroon, green, and gray.
50. Breaking the Rules
Neji knew he was breaking the Hyuuga rules when he and TenTen made love the same night.
51. Sport
Neji and Lee were good sports, or so they hoped, by wearing their "team scarves" as TenTen had dubbed them.
52. Deep in Thought
TenTen went deep into her own mind when Sakura informed her, after her physical, that she as pregnant.
53. Keeping a Secret
As she rarely saw Lee or Neji, TenTen didn't tell either and got Sakura to keep her mouth shut.
54. Tower
Lee seemed to tower over Sakura until she confessed TenTen's secret, giving him the shock of his life (so far).
55. Waiting
Neji waited for TenTen in her apartment for a whole day until she returned home form training after Lee confessed to him.
56. Danger Ahead
Lee was horrified when Sakura went into labor, knowing it was best to keep his distance from her bed.
57. Sacrifice
TenTen aborted the baby as soon as she could, knowing Neji could be killed for bedding unwed.
58. Kick in the Head
Lee (and Sakura) kicked her in the head when he found out, screaming to her how unyouthful it was.
59. No Way Out
Neji, finding no clear was out of his situation (unknowing of the abortion), proposed to TenTen.
60. Rejection
She said no.
61. Fairy Tale
Lee's new fairy tale, other than having his son become number one in the Academy when the time came, was to sort out the new problems in his former team (again).
62. Magic
As if by magic, it came true.
63. Do Not Disturb
He was scarred for life when he walked in on them.
64. Multitasking
Lee started having to multitask when Sakura's maternal leave was over with.
65. Horror
Neji, to say the least, was horrified at the first glance he got of Ichigo (Lee's two week old son) – it was the same reaction to Lee at Adam when they first met.
66. Traps
To TenTen's immense delight, Neji got caught in one of her traps when he broke into her apartment when she was out.
67. Playing the Melody
She was also delighted to watch over Ichigo when Lee and Sakura went out on a mission together, playing the lullaby her mother had once played for her when it was his bedtime.
68. Hero
Lee quickly became his son's hero in life – for reasons no one knew since he was almost always dropping Ichigo.
69. Annoyance
To Neji's annoyance, he was asked to babysit more often than not when neither parent could care for him.
70. 67%
When the told Team Gai got assigned a mission with 67% of fatality, they saw it as 67% of a challenge.
71. Obsession
TenTen became Neji's obsession during that mission, always making sure she was okay.
72. Mischief Managed
When they returned and Neji caught Naruto and a very red Hinata leaving him room saying, "Mischief managed," he was correct to be suspicious.
73. I Can't
He asked TenTen again to marry him when he found her cutting the bindings on her wrists, severely underdressed and on his bed; she said only two words, "… I can't."
74. Are You Challenging Me?
The next day Neji felt Naruto was challenging him to marry TenTen before he married Hinata.
75. Mirror
Lee was ecstatic when Sakura let him trim their son's thick, fast growing red hair into a mirror image of his own style.
76. Broken Pieces
He was the only one to show up for their usual team dinner that week, wondering if they could, once again, mend the frayed bonds his old Genin team had.
77. Test
Lee and TenTen tried to test his theory of mending the pieces, but Neji seemed to want to blatantly fail.
78. Drink
TenTen decided to try alcohol the next night, finding out she was the only one on her ex-team that could hold it well.
79. Starvation
That was what she thought; in a drunken stupor, she realized she was satisfying Neji's starvation of her in mere hours of consuming high quantities of alcohol.
80. Words
It terrified her when he said those choice three words and she found herself saying the same.
81. Pen and Paper
Lee handwrote invitations to his son's first birthday party, purposely infuriating his ex-teammates by addressing one to 'Hyuuga, TenTen'.
82. Can You Hear Me?
He then wondered if his son was deaf when the party happened the next week… Ichigo was.
83. Heal
Lee was thankful Sakura was able to heal his tearing heart from all his stress with one of her long, (rare) heartfelt hugs.
84. Out Cold
He promptly fainted when Sakura said she was pregnant again.
85. Spiral
Lee realized his life would soon spiral out of control when he woke.
86. Seeing Red
Neji saw red when TenTen finally agreed to marry him the night Lee informed them of his second child.
87. Food
Lee was sad to say he missed out on food since his second child soon took effect on Sakura's eating habits.
88. Pain
TenTen was petrified when she felt stomach pains and got morning sickness.
89. Through the Fire
Neji stayed with her through her fiery fear when she got examined for pregnancy.
90. Triangle
Lee arrived in the middle of the procedure, completing their triangle.
91. Drowning
TenTen thought she was drowning in relief when the medic said she wasn't pregnant and only had the stomach bug.
92. All That I Have
Neji told her that she was all that he had, but she disagreed by pointing out all of the few friends he had.
93. Give Up
Lee was told by a nurse to give up on his second child after Sakura went to one of her routinely check-ups.
94. Last Hope
Lee and Sakura's last hope was a C-section when the nine months were up; they agreed to do it.
95. Advertisement
Neji was forced to advertise a happy (one-sided) double marriage for he and TenTen and Naruto and Hinata.
96. In the Storm
The weddings ended up happening in a thunderstorm, but Lee took it as a sign Gai was crying furiously and yelling youthfully as his adoptive daughter was given to Neji.
97. Safety First
When the time came, Lee made the medic triple check the safety procedures for Sakura's C-section.
98. Puzzle
Neji and TenTen did a puzzle, watching the one and a half year old Ichigo, during the procedure, mutely hoping for the best.
99. Solitude
Lee was grateful for the solitude he received when his second child was miscarried.
100. Relaxation
At age 21, all three found relaxation from their three different, stress-filled lives by finally resuming their original Sunday commute to their lost ones… they knew Gai was with them, visiting not his lost ones but his live ones, grinning his pinging grin, just for them.
A/N: So, I'm starting this… jumble of one-shots/drabbles/vignettes with a Team Gai thing (quite fitting, I guess, since most will be related to them in some way, shape, or form). Not too sure what exactly it can be called… but, eh. These are the 100 themes from DeviantArt…
That last one might be a run-on, but what the hell. I hope it wasn't too centered about Neji, Lee, or TenTen... I did my best to divide up the themes between them all. Yeah. I'm far too lazy to attempt to draw 100 themed pics, so I settled for 100 themed sentences about my favorite team. :3 Hope you liked it.
~ Tobi