Author's Note: I've been listening to Kitaro: Koi song all the time… Sends me into a melancholist storm in my mind! I wanna make angst, angst, ANGST! And it's too bad that Team Gai is my target now.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything, be it the song or the characters. And no, I don't hate Lee… Not at all, really! I'm fond of him and Team Gai. I'm sorry to all fans…

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Realization

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We're all rowing the boat of fate

The waves keep on coming and we can't escape

But if we ever get lost on our way

The waves would guide you through another day

-Bleach 1st Ending Song-

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"LEE!!!"

A crimson blot splattered on the ground. A silent scream escaped his throat as he smashed into the ground hard. The last thing he saw was the redness of fresh blood; the last thing he heard was Tenten's voice calling out to him…

"Hakke… Sanbyaku Rokujuuichi Shiki!"

Neji?

"Lee! Hang on! Lee!! LEE!!""

Tenten? I… I…

"Lee!"

"LEEE!!!!"

X

"I… I'm sorry."

The room turned silent. No one talked, not even Gai-Sensei. Tenten's eyes filled with tears. She struggled to restrain their flow and with a cracked voice she said, "What… What do you mean, Tsunade-sama? He… He's not…"

"I've tried…" The Gondaime Hokage tilted her head downwards. Her eyes were full of sorrow. "I've tried but… but I still can't save his future."

"What do you mean by future?!" Gai-Sensei jerked forward. His most cherished student… The one that he loved dearly… "He… He's alive, isn't he?"

"Lee-kun is alive," Sakura's usually firm tone trembled. "But… But he can no longer be a shinobi… In fact, he'll never… walk again."

Gai froze. Tenten's eyes widened as she slowly said, "That's… No way… He…"

"The injury to his backbone is beyond repair," Tsunade closed her eyes. "I managed to reduce the pain but… that's all that I could do for him. Now he can't feel his body, from his hip all the way down to his toes. I… I can do nothing about it, Gai. I'm sorry. I'm deeply sorry. I… I can't do more than that…"

"Do you mean…" Gai's tears slowly flowed down his face. "He… he can't be a shinobi anymore? Ever? Do you mean… he… he…"

There was no need for the Hokage to answer it. Gai burst into tears almost immediately. Tenten gritted her teeth as her sobs broke out.

"You can still try, right, Hokage-sama?" Tenten reached out towards her idol, trying to find the faith that always shone through those brown eyes of the Hokage. "Like the last time… You can cure anything! You can save Lee, right? Right, Hokage-sama? You just… You just don't know it yet, right? You can save him, can't you? You…"

"Tenten, I…" The hokage took the girl's hand warmly. Her painful look told the weapon mistress the truth. "I… wish I could…"

And then all remaining hope… just died away. Tears and sobs broke the silence of the room as everyone came to accept the reality… but still didn't understand why it had to be him.

Neji, who stood by the door the whole time, looked at Sakura and said slowly, "Does he know about this already?"

Sakura shook her head. Her emerald eyes showed a painful look.

"I… I don't have the courage to…" said the pink haired kunoichi with sadness. "To see… such a lively man like him face such a fate…it's… I… I just can't, Neji-san… I…"

"Then that explains it," The Hyuuga Prodigy closed his eyes. He tilted his head towards the door. "He just left… a while ago."

X

"I've tried…" The Gondaime Hokage titled her head downward. Her eyes were full of sorrow. "I've tried but… but I still can't save his future."

"What do you mean by future?!" Gai-Sensei jerked forward. His most cherished student… The one that he loved dearly… "He… He's alive, isn't he?"

"Lee-kun is alive," Sakura's usually firm tone trembled. "But… But he can no longer be a shinobi… In fact, he'll never… walk again."

The sound of his wheelchair filled the empty corridor. Empty… such irony…

"The injury to his backbone is beyond repair," Tsunade closed her eyes. "I managed to reduce the pain but… that's all that I could do for him. Now he can't feel his body, from his hip all the way down to his toes. I… I can do nothing about it, Gai. I'm sorry. I'm deeply sorry. I… I can't do more than that…"

That's why… I couldn't feel my feet this morning… That's why… I couldn't even lift myself from the bed…

The vase smashed the floor hard. He grimaced, wincing as he tried to lift himself from the floor. The door suddenly slid open and there stood Sakura.

"Lee-kun!" Sakura quickly came for his aid. She gently helped him to sit on his wheelchair. "You shouldn't move yet! You're still not strong enough!!"

"Sakura-san…" Lee looked at his feet. "Why… does my body feel so weird?"

The kunoichi's movement temporarily stopped. She then quickly tidied up the broken vase, averted her gaze elsewhere while saying, "The medicine! The medicine! You'll be alright soon! It's nothing!"

"Sakura-san…"

The wheelchair stopped. The only sound in the empty corridor had just halted. His hand fell limp to his side.

Will never… become a shinobi anymore…

What filled the hollow of the corridor now was a soft, painful sob. The tears of a boy whose dream had just been taken away from him…