Finally posted my first hopefully epic Naruto multchapter fic. Light Genma/Raidou, Kakairu, Asuma/Kurenai, though romance is not the focus of the fic. Takes place when Kakashi and Tenzo were training Naruto for Fuuton: Rasen-Shuriken. The whole Hidan and Kakuzu thing hasn't happened yet. Also, please note that Sasori is alive. Sakura and Chiyo still fought him during the Recovery of the Kazekage arc, but he didn't die, and Konoha knows this. Becomes important oh, I don't know, about 70,000 words from now. (Yes, I have written this out that far).
Enough of that. Enjoy!
"Naruto, get up."
Naruto blinked tiredly at his pillow and opted to stay right where he was. He felt a rather large hand come to rest on his shoulder and didn't bother to push it off; either the visitor would get the hint and leave him alone or he wouldn't. There was nothing, Naruto reasoned, that he could do about it.
"You've been in bed long enough."
Three days in bed was probably an obscenely long time to stay in bed- Naruto agreed. But he just lacked the energy to do anything more than stare at the wall and remember. What was the point of getting up, anyway?
"The funeral was yesterday. Take that black off, sit up, and come out. I brought two things of ramen over, and I don't want to eat them alone."
Yes, the sham of the funeral it had been. A ceremony at the memorial stone where their esteemed Hokage had carved six names into the stone; that was it. There hadn't even been any bodies to bury. What kind of funeral was that? Even Sandaime had left behind a body to bury. There was no place to go and visit; just a rock covered in scores of names of ninja who had died as heroes to Konoha. Being in front of such a sight was frightening and depressing, and now, something he would have to face every time he wanted to visit with one of his precious people.
"Naruto, you need to get up. You're upset, but that doesn't mean it's right for you to just lie around and forget what's important."
Just one more day, one more day of thinking and remembering and he would get up…
Naruto blinked and found himself staring at Team Seven's photograph. It was a team that had brought him just as much heartbreak as joy, and still a team he would do anything for.
For so long, the face he'd focused on in that frame had been Sasuke's. Lost in the dark as his friend was, this was all he had left that was tangible and proved to all the world that Sasuke was someone worth saving. But now, Naruto found his eyes traveling from that pale face to the hand resting firmly against dark hair, up the arm, and then finally coming to the smiling face that it now hurt to look at.
Team Seven had been broken for a long time. One third of what Naruto had loved so much, of what given him everything he had ever wanted, was missing. Away in a dangerous place getting lost further in his own pain and hate. But as long as Sasuke was alive, there had hope that Naruto could get him back again, get him to come home and Team Seven would be together again.
But now stupid, stupid Kakashi had gone and shattered it. He was dead and their team had broken into something irreparable. Even if Sasuke came back, Team Seven could never be together again.
Naruto frowned, glancing momentarily at the mask that turned the smile into nothing but a painfully familiar eye crinkle. It struck him that he had never even seen Kakashi smile when he could watch his whole face do it, not just his eye. And then Naruto had to wonder... he had known and looked up to Kakashi for over three years, and he didn't even know that the man looked like. Gods. How could he claim to know him at all?
"It's not fair," he whispered, glaring at the cloth and the man who wore it.
"Huh? Since when did I teach you that being a ninja was fair?"
Naruto shook his head slightly, reaching out to finger the photograph. "…We knew nothing about him. Nothing at all. Not where he got his Sharingan from, not what's under his mask… not even why he wears it. He knew everything about us and we don't know the first thing about him. We didn't even know him."
The hand on his shoulder shifted a bit, and then Jiraiya sighed heavily. It was quiet for a moment before he cleared his throat and spoke. "Tell me, Naruto. What was Kakashi's least favorite food?"
"...Tempura. But why-"
"What was his favorite?"
Naruto frowned in confusion. "Eggplant. Ero-se-"
"When he's tired, what does he do?"
"Hide it. He'll pretend he's fine until he passes out from exhaustion. Ero-sennin, what does this have to do with-"
Jiraiya pressed on, ignoring Naruto's questions. "What does he like for birthday presents?"
"We could never figure it out. I think the only present we ever gave him that he genuinely liked was Mr. Ukki. Sakura-chan baked him some cookies once, but he gave them all to Iruka-sensei... said he didn't like sweet things." Naruto seemed to have given up on finding out his purpose and was just answering him now, tired gaze never once leaving the precious photograph.
"What did Kakashi do when he was upset on a mission?"
"He wouldn't show it till later," Naruto answered without hesitation, but his voice still sounded a bit dead. "Then he would want to be alone. He would be gruff and ignore us."
"What about when he was in Konoha?"
"Go to the memorial stone."
Jiraiya nodded. "Uhuh. What about when something was troubling him?"
Naruto shrugged. "He'd put his hand over his Sharingan. Like this."
"What makes him smile?"
"Us." Naruto's voice trembled a little bit but he forged on, regardless. "Whenever we learned a jutsu or beat an enemy by ourselves, or even with him, he'd smile and seem proud of us. Or whenever we worked together as a team; he really like that. Or when Sasuke-teme and I would argue, or we'd do something silly or stupid- things I guess teams do together. He always smiled when we did that."
"And what did he think was the most important thing in the world?"
Naruto never once paused in his answers, voice steady, if pained. "His friends. His friends and his team. He'd do anything for them… us."
Jiraiya patted his shoulder lightly. "Aah. Seems like you knew him pretty well."
Naruto fell silent. His lower lip trembled and he bit down on it, hard.
"You see, Naruto, you could know where Kakashi got his Sharingan from, you could know why he wore the mask, but that wouldn't mean you actually knew him. All those things you just told me about him; that means you knew him."
Naruto swallowed the lump in his throat and closed his eyes tightly.
"For a long time, Kakashi didn't have anyone who knew him like you and Sakura do. If it weren't for you guys, he probably never would've grown from what happened to him when he was younger. You guys really helped him. And I know he'd be happy to see how well you understood him, even without knowing anything about his past."
Naruto opened his eyes again to stare at the picture. He hoped Jiraiya was right; he hoped Kakashi would've been happy. But, somehow, that didn't come close to easing the pain in his chest.
"Now, how about you stand up and come eat this ramen with me?"
Naruto paused, and then, oh so slowly, he sat up. His muscles were sore after lying in bed so long and when he stood up, he got a head rush. Jiraiya simply steadied him with one broad hand and led him forward. The Toad Sage didn't say a thing as they walked towards his microwave, stepping over spare glaringly orange jackets and food wrappers as they went. Jiraiya set about heating the instant ramen he had brought over, and they were silent while they waited. Naruto didn't want to talk, and Jiraiya followed his lead.
Finally, when Naruto was grudgingly raising a few noodles to his mouth, Jiraiya looked at his student and spoke. "Naruto, I miss Kakashi, too. But he wouldn't have been happy with me if I just lay around my house and gave up. Just like he wouldn't be happy with you for doing the same. He really did love you, and he wanted you to be happy."
Naruto faltered in his eating, staring down at his ramen with stinging eyes. He heard Jiraiya start up again on his ramen and had to swallow the lump in his throat before he looked up at his master with a watery smile.
"Thanks, Ero-sennin."
Iruka had never expected it to actually happen.
Never believed it could.
Sure, the man accepted many missions that were nothing short of suicide, but he always dragged himself back, well and truly alive. Always alive. Always, always promising to come back alive.
Perhaps, on some level, when he had refused to make any such promise this time, Iruka had known that he wasn't coming back.
Still, he had never believed that he would get the Hokage's messenger at his door, wearing a somber expression and the holding a muddy chain of dog tags and a plain scroll. Never believed that he would have to hear those words.
Hatake Kakashi has been killed in action.
Kakashi had told him it was a suicide mission. A team suicide mission. And Iruka hadn't really believed that Kakashi would die, not with a team there by his side; his lover would go to the ends of the earth for his team. He would move mountains them, and Iruka knew Kakashi would never die while he still had a team to keep safe.
But Kakashi and his team had died.
All he had was a muddy set of dog tags and one short letter.
The letter that all elite shinobi wrote, in case they went on a mission and never came back. A final goodbye.
Iruka had never wanted to read Kakashi's.
Iruka-
If you're reading this, then that means I've been killed in action. It feels strange to write this, but I suppose it'll happen one day, probably after this mission- and now, I finally have someone who I want to say goodbye to. So, I suppose that this it- goodbye.
Don't do what I did. Don't mope about and take years to find anyone else to care about. You have too much to offer and besides, I don't like seeing you sad. Be happy without me. Okay? I know you can be really stubborn when you want to be, but do it for me. I'm dead, or will be when you read this, anyway. I'm happy and with all the people that died before me. So, I want you to be happy, too.
I know you'll be disappointed this is so short, but I don't have anything else to write. You already know all my secrets. Oh, I remembered- you can show Naruto and Sakura that picture of us last winter. The one without my mask. I did intend to show them some day, but I suppose I waited too long to do that. They always did want to know.
I should probably write something to them, too. But I don't know what to tell them. You were always good at that sort of emotional thing, not me. Hmm… can you tell them that, despite all appearances, I did trust them and really cared about them. I don't really have anything to say to them but I hope they realize at least that. They have new masters who can teach them all the things that Gai and the others are writing to their students. ..Naruto, Sakura, I would've told you two anything you wanted to know about me someday; I know you were curious. I did trust you and cared about you. I guess I just waited too long.
You'll always be my Ruru, Iruka. I'm waiting for you on the other side, but I don't want to see you for a long, long time. Until then, Ruru.
Love, Kakashi
P.S.- don't forget to feed my dogs. They like to say they can take care of themselves, but they really can't.
It was a wonder the thing wasn't illegible, given how many tears Iruka had already cried over it. He slept with it every night, clutched tightly in one hand with Kakashi's dog tags around his own neck. He'd tried to leave it alone, perfectly untouched; it was all he had left of Kakashi, after all, and he didn't like tainting it with his tears and wrinkling it in his fist.
But he couldn't sleep without holding Kakashi, or Kakashi holding him, and Kakashi wasn't there anymore.
Iruka shifted, and the cool chain around his neck clinked. He reached up to hold the tiny tag in his fist, tracing the worn kanji characters with his thumb. He shifted onto his side, on Kakashi's side of the bed, and felt the familiar wetness of a tear sliding over the bridge of his nose, following the scar to fall onto the blanket.
Kakashi's body hadn't even come back. Tsunade hadn't been specific; burned beyond recognition, crushed too deep in a cave in to ever be recovered, hacked up into tiny little pieces and scattered all over the country- every possibility was worse than the last, and all turned his stomach. He was somewhat glad that the Hokage refused to tell him, but he hated it that there was nothing to bury at Kakashi's funeral. He'd done enough for the village. Didn't he at least deserve to be buried there?
More than anyone, Iruka thought.
"I'll always be your Ruru. You said that. And I told you you'd always be my Kashi. Kashi and Ruru. I don't want to be just Ruru. I want to go back to being KakashiandIruka again. Now, I'm just Iruka." He squeezed the dog tag so tightly it hurt, and another tear dropped onto the bedspread.
Four days. Four long days since his nervous, near terrified constant demeanor had all been shattered by one visit from that messenger. Iruka hadn't left his house since then, not except for the funeral. It took him hours just to get out of bed, and, yesterday, he hadn't. No one had come for him yet, and he hoped it remained that way. Iruka would be perfectly content to remain in this bed forever, with Kakashi's letter in one hand and dog tags in the other. He never wanted move or see anyone who wasn't his Kashi again.
Someday, he would summon Pakkun and the other dogs and feed them, just like Kakashi had asked. But Iruka couldn't just yet. If he did, it meant Kakashi really wasn't coming home. And Iruka just couldn't believe that yet. Surely, he was just late- really, really late. Surely, he would jump up and appear in the window, with a tired smile and an eye crinkle. And then Iruka would get to run over to him and chastise him for being so late and getting himself Chakra exhausted, again, then take him and tuck him into bed and lie with his arms around him, around his Kashi, never letting him go again-
Iruka's hopeful image was shattered by the sound of a sob. It took him a moment to realize it was his own.
Kakashi had given twenty-four years of his twenty-nine year long life to Konoha. Most shinobi didn't give more than fifteen years of service before being worn out, either retiring as a broken shell of a man or coming back in a pine box. Most didn't do over ten S-ranks before bodies, or their minds, or both, gave out on them, most didn't renter the field after they'd been tortured for their third time, most didn't sign up for their three hundred and first A-rank after completing their three hundredth.
Kakashi had exceeded all those expectations and then some. But Iruka didn't love the elite Copy Ninja. He loved his Kakashi. He didn't find his solid bravery and infallible courage attractive; it worried him. He didn't swoon at his all too real vow to lay his life down his teammates if necessary; it scared the hell out of him. He just wanted his Kakashi home, by his side, and not in danger or pain. And Iruka had been going to speak to Kakashi; honestly, he had, he had been going to ask Kakashi to retire. Or maybe just stay in the village and teach, like he did- something that wasn't scary, something that didn't leave Iruka curled up in their bed alone far too often with nothing but the memory of an eye crinkle and a solemn, I'll come back home, I promise to comfort him.
If only he had spoken up before this mission.
"Iruka-sensei."
Iruka frowned at the intrusive voice. He wanted to be left alone. Was that too much to ask? He clutched the metal tag tighter and buried himself in the blankets. A hand came to rest on his shoulder; he shrugged it off.
"Iruka-sensei, come on… you have to get out of bed."
Iruka closed his eyes.
…
"iruka-sensei, I brought ramen."
Iruka stroked Kakashi's name. Ramen? Why ramen? What was that supposed to accomplish? He wasn't hungry. He wasn't hungry and even the smell of food would surely nauseate him.
"Come on, you have to eat. You look thin. When was the last time you ate?"
Before the Hokage's messenger had come for him. Before he was given this cold set of dog tags and a letter, like that was supposed to mean anything. Before he'd threatened to kill Tsunade and thrown himself across her desk, kunai at the ready, screaming at her for sending Kakashi to die.
It was a suicide mission! How could you send him out there when you knew he would die?! You fucking old hag, you killed him!
"Iruka-sensei!"
Kakashi…
"Iruka-sensei, come on. I'm sad, too, but I'm not moping and lying around and letting it consume me!"
Iruka cleared his throat, his eyes still closed, finally muttered a response into the pillow, his voice low and hoarse with disuse. "Leave me alone, Naruto. Talk to Jiraiya if you need to talk to someone, but not me. Not today."
"I don't need someone to talk to, you're the one who needs to talk to someone!"
"Leave me alone."
"Iruka-sensei, look at me!" Clearly not trusting him to do it himself, the hand returned to his shoulder and pulled him roughly onto his back, and Iruka had no will to do anything but admit defeat. He opened his eyes and did as Naruto had asked.
The blond looked just as exhausted and sad as Iruka was sure he himself did. His blond hair was a complete mess, the spiky mop tangled and disheveled. Usually bright and happy blue eyes were rimmed in red and wet, and tears were still trickling slowly down his cheeks. He stared down at Iruka in a mixture of desperation and sorrow.
"…Come on. The ramen's in the microwave."
Iruka cleared his throat again and shifted, slipping further under the blankets. "Naruto, I'm not-"
"Yeah, yeah, you're not hungry. Still, do it. For me." He smiled hopefully, and seeing that expression overlaid on top of complete sadness and devastation was painful. "Please, Sensei?"
Iruka hesitated. His blankets were soft and warm and suspiciously comfortable, and he did not have the energy to move. He simply didn't.
"Please?"
But Naruto's voice was so sad, and seeing the usually sunny blond depressed was just making him want to cry. Well, considering he'd been crying for the past hour, it was making it harder for him to stop. So he allowed Naruto to pull him upright and lead him out of his bedroom, arm firmly around his waist. The blond took him to his tiny kitchen, where, true to his word, the ramen was already heating up in the microwave. There was a cup on the table that had already been heated up, and Naruto pushed Iruka down into a chair and pointed at it in a silent order to eat.
Iruka just looked at it instead. Together, they waited in an awkward silence for Naruto's ramen to be finished, and Iruka listened as his microwave beeped, and Naruto took his meal out, going through the short motions of preparing it.
He heard Naruto sit across from him and break his chopsticks, then pause. "…Iruka-sensei, I know you're not that hungry, but still try and eat. At least some. Please?"
Iruka made the slightest motion of his shoulders for a shrug.
"…Yesterday, I didn't want to eat, either. Ero-sennin came by. He made me some ramen and we ate it together. Then he told me that he missed Kaka-sensei, too. But he said he didn't think Kaka-sensei would like it to see me so sad; that he… that Sensei had really liked me and would've wanted to see me happy."
Next moment, Iruka felt a hand come to rest on his wrist and squeeze.
"And, Kaka-sensei didn't tell us much about his private life, but if I know anything about him, I know that he really loved you."
Iruka's vision blurred. Another tear slipped down his cheek.
"So… I know it sucks right now, but, we're here for you, all right? But you can't just lay in bed and give up. Sensei would never forgive me if I let you do that. Heck, I could never forgive myself if I let you do that. So, the first step is eating some ramen with me. Please? If not for yourself, then for me."
Iruka remained still for one long moment.
Then he broke his chopsticks, and in a tiny, shaking voice whispered, "Itadakimasu."
Naruto released his wrist and went back to his own meal. "Itadakimasu."
They ate in silence for a minute, Iruka lifting noodles with his chopsticks and swallowing them, not really tasting them. Iruka eventually paused, one tan chopstick dangling limply into the broth. "…Naruto?"
"Yeah, Sensei?"
"…"
"It's okay, Iruka-sensei. I really miss him, too."
My dearest student-
I am writing this letter against my will, Lee. Writing this letter means I believe I am going to die, and that means I've given up- which I have not! But the others on the mission all have told me I should, for my cute students' sakes- even my eternal rival disagrees! So, while I sincerely believe that you will never have to read this letter, for I will not die, this is a precautionary measure.
My dear Lee, you know me so well, surely you already know what I have to say. Reiterating it now, on paper, would be shameful! It would speak of a weak bond between us, that such things even have to be said. Nevertheless, I will write them, because you and the others deserve it. Tell Neji and Tenten the parts that pertain to them, because they are my students just as much as you.
First, I want to say that, no matter how I died, I do not want you to seek revenge. You, or Neji, or Tenten. That is not necessary! I do not want you to waste your life on a foolhardy quest fueled by hate. I died for Konoha, and that is not shameful! That is all that is important.
Second, never give up on your dream. You already are a fine shinobi without the usage of ninjutsu! Your taijutsu will only improve with time and you have the ability to one day, become a jounin, and then ANBU! Never give up on your ninja way, even though I am not here to teach you.
Third, though this is related to my second point, never give up to Neji! He is your eternal rival, just as Kakashi is mine! The day will come when the two of you are an equal match, and then, you are victorious over him. An equal match to a true genius such as Neji is the ultimate proof that you have become an excellent ninja. However, do not allow a victory over Neji to give you the excuse to fall into habits of being lazy and lax. That is the way of the those without youth! Instead, continue to train, to grow stronger, for there is always room for improvement!
Fourth, for the training you have not yet been able to complete- the training to open the sixth, seventh, and eighth gates. Return to the abandoned shack we stayed the night at in our mission in the Grass Country. There, you will find a safe. The combination is the date that you first opened the fifth gate on. Inside the safe is everything you need to know.
Fifth, to Tenten. You have long surpassed many of your kind, both as a kunoichi and as a weapon's specialist. Train, Tenten- train, train, train, train! Train, and someday, you will become a jounin just like Neji- perhaps even Tenten-sensei, like me! Even though I was able to help Neji and Lee so much more than I could help you, I have still watched you blossom from a little girl into a fine young woman, and you have made me proud! Though, I do have a request- look after Lee and Neji for me! You always had the coolest mind, least swayed by emotion- please continue to ensure their safety in the future.
Sixth, to Neji. I have little to say to you. You have come so far, just as Tenten and Lee, and I am just as proud of you as I am of them. You grew past your grudge against the Head branch and have helped little Hinata, you have grown to see my cute Lee as a rival and an equal, and are the first student I have ever taught to become jounin. You are a student worth being proud of! In my absence, leadership of Team Gai often seemed to gravitate to you, and I am sure this will continue now that I am not coming back. So, lead them well, Neji! Remember, if you rely on the power of youth, everything will be possible!
I suppose that is it, then. Lee, Tenten, Neji- remember, we are Team Gai! We are the team of youth! No matter what happens, remember that youth shall never fail you and that we were and are a team!
Ah, I'm getting emotional already! This is making me cry! I love all three of you. My death will make you stronger.
Love, Gai
Lee was reasonably sure that punching the training log this much was not healthy. The fact that his knuckles were raw and bloody, and had been for an hour, seemed to support this fact.
"Lee… please. You have to stop this."
Lee ignored Tenten's soft pleading and continued his merciless assault on the log. "I must keep training!" he huffed in between blows, shaking her off when her hand came to rest hesitantly on his shoulder. "Gai-sensei told me too! Gai-sensei must see that we never stopped training in his absence!"
"Lee…"
"We've been through this, Lee. This is not merely an absence. Gai-sensei is not coming back."
Lee shot a venomous glare in Neji's direction and increased his speed. "He is! Gai-sensei would never die on a mission like this! He's too strong to be killed!"
Tenten's lower lip quivered, and she looked away quickly before her eyes could grow wet. She couldn't convince Lee when she could barely believe it herself. When she would give anything for Gai to walk back into Konoha and lecture them about youth and flash a too bright smile and a thumbs up.
Lee's next punch nearly splintered all the way through the log, and then Neji was there, catching him by the wrist and refusing to let him move forward again. "Lee."
"Let go of me, Neji!"
"Gai-sensei would be ashamed by your behavior."
Tenten froze. Neji's horrible words rang in her ears, and she almost couldn't believe it. Neji was cold, but he wasn't heartless.
Lee's muscles tensed. His black eyes went wide the moment the words left Neji's mouth, and he didn't move an inch, fist still buried in the beaten and splintered log. The Hyuuga's hand remained clasped around Lee's wrist, seeming ignorant of any impending danger.
Tenten wasn't necessarily surprised when Lee's fist swung around to connect with Neji's cheek and sent him sprawling into the dirt, but she still flinched at the sharp smack. Neji didn't move from his prone position in the dust, simply lifting a hand to wipe the small line of blood that had trailed out of his mouth, then raised his pale gaze to meet Lee's.
"What did Gai-sensei always warn us against? Underestimating the enemy. He always told us that, no matter how strong we get, there was always someone who was stronger, and we had to train to be ready. Gai-sensei simply fought someone who was stronger than he was."
Small tears shone in Lee's eyes. Not the over dramatic weeping that had always made Tenten's cheeks glow red with embarrassment, no; real tears of pain and a crippling grief so strong it made it impossible for him to speak. Neji continued on even as Lee's shoulders trembled, and he started to actually cry, but he didn't seem far from striking back, from kicking Neji to just get him to shut up.
"And now, you make matters worse by refusing to admit that there could be a stronger ninja than Gai-sensei. You are acting like a child. You are making it seem like Gai-sensei did not teach us and prepare us to be true shinobi; to accept the inevitability of death. By acting in this manner, you have shamed his memory."
"Hey, Neji, stop it. You're going too far…"
Neji did not even look at Tenten. He did not turn away from Lee, his piercing gaze boring into his teary black eyes in a solid expression of determination and Hyuuga stood, not flinching when Lee's hands clenched into fists and he started to tremble in fury.
"Gai-sensei is coming back, Neji! He… has to! I know he will!"
"Why? Why does he 'have to'?" Neji questioned coolly. "Is Gai-sensei invincible? Is he immortal? Is there a fight that he can lose?"
"No!" Lee's scream emerged from his throat in a wave of fury and he stomped his foot in frustration, so hard that the earth cracked. "No! Gai-sensei would never lose!"
"Stop this now. You are putting shame to his memory, Lee. He prepared us for the day when we would be faced with death, with an enemy stronger than ourselves. He trained us to overcome it, but the way you are acting, no one can tell. You are making it seem as if he was nothing more than a man who taught us taijutsu."
Lee stiffened in a feral expression of absolute fury. Tenten actually flinched as his Chakra sharpened into a violent killing intent, and, suddenly, she was worried she would have to stop Lee from seriously injuring Neji… or worse.
"Gai-sensei was incredible. He taught us everything, Neji; so much more than just how to fight! How dare you say that?!"
Neji's shoulders lifted and fell in the smallest of shrugs. "I didn't. You are the one giving off that impression by your behavior."
Lee's entire body trembled with rage. It was still for one terrible moment before he threw himself forward on top of his teammate, forcing him onto his back and slamming his hands into his shoulders, pinning him down. His chest was heaving and his hands were glowing with a thin blue light, his face beet red. Tenten stared, then realized that his pupils were growing smaller and his eyes were nothing but white- he had opened the first gate.
This was going too far. "Lee, stop!" she cried, reaching out, but it was too late.
"Hakke Rokujuuyon Sho!"
Tenten was thrown back by the whirlwind that was Neji, his palms flying out in a blur and slamming into his teammate. Neji spoke in the midst of his terrible assault, and his calm voice was almost frightening to hear on top of that display of energy and the violent attack.
"You can not win. Your skills have not developed enough, but as you are now, you can never win. Not because you can not fight well enough; because you are fighting with your emotion. That makes you weaker and you know it. You are letting your anger rule you- another thing Gai-sensei warned us against."
"Shut up! You don't have any right to call him Sensei; you betrayed him the moment you said he was dead! Kyuumon: Kaihou!"
"Lee!"
"Hakke Kuusho!"
Tenten watched in horror as Lee was blown back into a tree so hard the trunk splintered, and then the Hyuuga was upon him, open palm slamming into his form in a blur of motion, shutting down his Chakra flow. Opening the gates was worthless if his Chakra flow was halted, and Tenten could only hope Neji would incapacitate Lee without seriously hurting him. She knew she was no match for Lee and his eight gates- if Neji couldn't stop him, then Lee could badly hurt him.
Lee fought on without the aid of his ace in the hole, fists hammering uselessly against Neji's shoulders. Neji weathered the assault without complaint or even a single word. His long hair escaped it's leather binding and hung limply around his dirty cheeks, but his bland facade didn't once fade. Not even when the tears began to fall relentlessly down Lee's cheeks.
"Gai-sensei is dead, Lee."
Tenten's own vision was beginning to get blurry, so she wasn't sure when Lee's violent assault against Neji changed to him clinging to his teammate's neck, nor when the Hyuuga's calm endurance and stoic indifference faded and one single tear slipped down his pale cheek, his limp arms slowly returning Lee's embrace.
Jutsu:
Hakke Rokujuuyon Sho: Eight Trigrams 64 Palms
Kyuumon: Kaihou: Second Gate of Healing, Open
Hakke Kuusho: Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm
