Safe in the Dark
-Green Beast of Oita
AN/ Haha, I'm back. Hold, the applause. JKJK. Anyway, I promise that this piece won't be stupid. It may be poorly written, and have a horrible plot, due to my writing skills, or lack thereof. Anyway, as normal, it's GaaLee. Don't like? Don't read. It's that simple. Rated T for... mental... violence. No lemon, though there is some romance. Suggestions and reviews always welcome. Heck, at this point, I'd even settle for flames. I'm very review-deprived.
–x
We sat in the dark, and he asked, "Why aren't you smiling?"
It was in that moment that I knew, I knew that the darkness does not conceal my thoughts, emotions, my inner turmoil, anymore.
I turned away without a word.
"You are safe in the dark, but can you see me?"
With that, he left me alone in the dark, without my smile.
I'm no longer safe in the dark. The dark is safe in me.
If he were to be described in a word, it would be strong. He was strong, having come this far with nothing but his self-created strength. That Rock Lee. He was hardworking, excited, strong, and optimistic. In the moments that he was caught without a smile, you knew it was life or death. For him. For anyone. For everyone.
No one would ever think that there was a darker side to him. No, that word would never apply to him. Dark. You would never look at him and think that he was anything like that word. All you would see was his strong side. You would be wrong. He had merely hidden that darker side away, under the mask that was his soul.
But it was there, that darker side of Lee. All he could do was suppress it, hope it never showed itself... but it was there.
Lee was in a below-average mood today. By below-average, I mean only slightly below happy. He was walking towards that every familiar training spot in the forest. The place where he had used to spend all day training, and where he received a life-altering talk from Gai-sensei. He headed to that place, almost subconsciously, holding only a blade of grass in his fingertips. He had picked it up an hour ago, admiring it's beautiful simplicity.
He rolled the grass between his fingers, sagging his shoulders a bit. He picked up his pace, not wanting to come across anyone in his current state of mind, that of vulnerability. He walked down dirt path after path, dragging his feet across the bits of stone and occasionally, metal.
When he reached the desired place, he slunk to the ground and leaned up against the cool wood of the tree stump that had remained planted there through all of the punches and kicks of years past.
"Waiting for the right time at the right place... when our worlds shattered. As the tips of our shoulders touched, and we became one in mental combat." Lee whispered, moving the grass again through the tips of his fingertips.
"You pushed me to the edge. I feel you changed me in so many ways. And where I am its hard to breathe." He said, softly, but louder than moments ago.
"Isn't it strange how the little things about you change the way I used to be... Everything changes... Eventually." Lee said forcefully, with an almost angry air about the words. He rolled the grass through his hand, and clenched it into a fist. When he opened his hand, he felt the tears that he had long withheld come to his eyes. The grass lay crushed, the green chemicals leaking out.
"I've got his blood on my hands."
Lee made no attempt to block the tears that now flowed down his face.
"How could you do this, then walk away?" He said under his breath before dragging a bandaged hand across his face, a sad attempt at wiping away the steady stream of water that now poured from his eyes.
Lee knew that there was something wrong with him. Gai had noticed, Neji had noticed, even TenTen had noticed. He hadn't been himself lately. The first thing he saw in his mind this morning was the face of the redhead that had almost taken his life. Gaara. And that was all he had thought about since.
He had thought about their fight, when he had been the first person to injure the other ninja, when the blood from the wound on his cheek had flowed onto Lee's bandaged arms. Then later, when Lee had his own injuries, and their blood had combined along with their minds as they battled each other. Both physically and mentally.
As darkness approached, Lee knew, somehow, he knew, that after today... His life would never be the same. That dark side of him had been awakened after his fight with Gaara, and it had been gathering strength ever since, now greatly intensified for reasons unknown.
"Do we live?"
As we wander aimlessly, life is what we strive for, but never fulfill completely.
"Shall we die?"
Though it seems so harsh, a place like this would not want us.
Though we try, we have more to live for, so live we do.
--x
AN/ That came out a bit more poetic that I would have liked, but I am not confident enough in my skills(or lack thereof) to change it. Anyway, what did you people think? I know you are out there, just review, please? Oh, it is not over yet, by the way. It is a multiple chapter piece.