Author's notes: This is my first Naruto story, and what I hope is a good Lee story. It's called Yakusoku for lack of a better name. Lee and Gai fans, I hope you like this little angst/HC morsel.

There are no pairings.

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Naruto, but if I did, Lee would be Hokage

In the western wing of Konoha hospital, a young boy of thirteen lie trembling in sheer, excruciating, mind-twisting agony. It hurt to move, breathe, and even thinking seemed to not only hurt his body, but drain his energy. And yet, still his body longed to get up, go outside, and resume training, just as he'd done a few days before.

He opened pain-filled eyes to look at the clock on the wall. Damn. He still had another half-hour before the nurse would show up with more pain meds. And even then, he needed a big enough dose to knock him completely out before he could get any relief. His eyes drooped closed again.

He thought back on a few days before in the preliminaries when his nerves had tingled with excitement at the prospect of fighting Sabaku no Gaara. Though now, in hindsight, he wished that he'd thought things through a little more. No. A LOT more. Right now, he wished he could have been more like Shikamaru and think several steps ahead when in the heat of battle. It had not occured to him at the time, but if he could go back in time and do it all over again, this time he would make sure to destroy that damnable sand gourd.

That would have ensured his victory.

Throbbing pain in his back, ribs, arms, and legs made him hyperventilate at the intensity of it. It was so excruciating, it nearly brought tears to his eyes. It reached down to the very core of his bones. How much longer? Opening his eyes, his blurry vision and pain hazed mind managad to make out ten more minutes on the clock. Chikusho... this was going to be the longest ten minutes of his young life.

Quiet footsteps could be heard stop directly outside the door to his room. His head turned painfully to the left as the door slid open to reveal his number one person in the entire universe.

"... Gai-Sensei...?" his voice weakly croaked out. Even as badly as he was feeling right now, Gai-Sensei would make him feel better. He always did.

"Shhh... Lee. It's ok, I'm here." Gai murmured in as calm and soothing a voice as he could muster as he pulled up a chair to Lee's bedside. "Don't talk, just try to rest." He forced a small smile to his lips. A smile that didn't reach his eyes. Gentle hands stroked Lee's hair as the latter closed his eyes then.

Outwardly, he may have appeared calm, but inside, Gai's soul was in turmoil. Was what the medic nin said true? That his body was so severely injured that he would no longer be able to continue on as a ninja? If so, he didn't know what he was going to do. And he certainly couldn't break the news to Lee.

Lee, who had worked hard for years to prove to everyone that even someone like him, who couldn't use ninjutsu and genjutsu and therefore had to rely solely on taijutsu, could still become an excellent ninja, would no longer be able to continue as a ninja? No. It would break his heart.

Worse, it would positively kill him.

"... Gai sensei?..."

Lee's voice broke him out of his thoughts. He looked down at the boy in the bed. Tears had streamed from Lee's eyes.

"... I'm sorry..." Lee said softly in his broken voice. He sniffed softly, trying hard to hold it all in.

Gai frowned a bit in concern. "Sorry about what, Lee?" he asked, while stroking the boy's gleaming black hair gently. "You have nothing to be sorry for."

Lee broke down in sobs. "I'm sorry... that I couldn't win this battle for you... and make you proud of me. And I'm sorry... that I... I've failed you. I'm so, so sorry, Gai-sensei!" It was everything he'd been wanting to say ever since he'd fallen unconscious after Gaara had crushed his arm and leg in the preliminaries.

Gai nearly broke down in tears himself. He'd had no idea that Lee had felt that way. What would have made Lee think that he had failed him? "Lee,..." Gai started, but was interrupted by the nurse who'd come in to administer Lee's pain meds. Noticing that she'd intruded on a private moment between the two, she hurriedly finished her business and left the room.

"Lee,..." Gai started again, having not even looked up from Lee the entire time the nurse was present. "What makes you think that you've failed me and haven't made me proud?." He stroked Lee's hair gently again, in an effort to comfort the boy. Smiling a small smile, he continued. "I'm proud just knowing that I have such a hard-working and dedicated student. And nothing made me more proud than seeing you out there fighting so hard to protect your way of the ninja. I am extremely proud to know you, and you will never ever fail me."

They both fell silent as Lee let Gai's words sink in. He had fought hard, very hard, to protect his way of the ninja. And if Gai-sensei was sitting here telling Lee of his pride in him,... if Gai-sensei was saying it, then every word had to be true. Tears once again streamed from Lee's eyes. The medication was starting to drag him under again, and so, before he surrendered to sleep, there was one last thing he needed to know.

"...Gai... sensei?." Lee nearly whispered. His vision was starting to tunnel and blur and he could barely keep his lids open now.

"Yes, Lee?" Gai asked, grasping the boy's least injured hand gently. He moved in closer to Lee.

"Will... I still be able to... become an excellent ninja,... Gai-sensei?" He struggled to hold onto the last shreads of his consciousness to hear the answer he sought.

To Gai, Lee's excellence as a ninja had already been proven during his fight with Gaara. Lee may have lost the fight with Gaara, but in Gai's heart Lee was always a winner,... And a MOST excellent ninja. "Lee... " he began, and then repeated what he'd felt in his heart during the preliminaries, when Lee had been standing up in his unconscious state. "You are an excellent ninja already."

Receiving the answer he sought, Lee allowed the tiniest of smiles to grace his lips just before his eyes slipped the rest of the way closed of their own accord and he surrendered himself to blessed, sweet oblivion where there was no pain and even dreams wouldn't dare disturb his slumber.

Gai sat at Lee's bedside for a long while after the boy had fallen asleep. The boy lying in bed in front of him, that boy meant the world to him. Lee was the center of Gai's universe as Gai knew that he himself was the center of Lee's.

Gai had watched Lee grow from a little boy with no talent, to the strong, young shinobi he was today.

No, it wasn't so much a lack of talent, as a talent could be improved with time and practice. In Lee's case, it was more a handicap, a disability than anything else. He would most likely never be able to properly mold his chakra enough to get any genjutsus and ninjutsus to work. But Lee had overcome this obstacle, using only taijutsu, and worked hard to become one of the physically strongest ninjas in Konoha today.

Lee had a dream, and Gai would do everything in his power to make it come true. No matter how serious his injuries were now, this was only a temporary setback. That medic-nin was wrong. Lee would be able to continue on as a ninja, Gai would make sure of it. Once he got home, he would search for that Kanpougan recipe that someone had given him some years ago. He hadn't seen it in years, but he'd tear the house apart if he had to. Then once Lee was able to be on his feet, he would make some for him. A LOT of it. It just had to work.

He didn't even try to think about it not working. He'd always told Lee to believe in himself. Now that Lee needed his help, Gai had to believe in himself in order to be able to help Lee. He wasn't about to let him down.

Gai looked up at the fading sunlight through the open window. It was nearly nightfall. When he'd come in, it had been late afternoon, now it was early evening. Had it been that long? So attentive he'd been to his favorite student, that he hadn't noticed the passage of time. Though visiting hours were nearly over, they would let Gai stay with Lee as long as he liked because he was the only thing close to a family that Lee had.

He made up his mind to stay tonight, because right now, Lee needed him. He left just for a bit to gather some items he'd need.

After returning to the hospital as soon as he could, Gai first set to work making sure Lee had everything he needed and was comfortable. First he covered Lee with an extra blanket he'd brought, then took a cloth, the softest he could find, and gently washed the tearstains from Lee's face. He made sure that a pitcher and cup of water were readily available in case he needed it, then he turned the lights down low so that Lee could sleep better.

With all that done, Gai settled himself in his chair beside Lee with another blanket, closed his eyes, and allowed dreams of Lee to take over. Dreams of a once again healthy, strong, and vibrant Lee. A happy Lee. And maybe, if he dreamed it hard enough, it would come true.

END

Please R & R, thank you.