WARNING: Character death! THIS IS THE SADDEST FIC I HAVE EVER WRITTEN!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto! I wish I did... the only thing I own is Hotamae Shizen.

'Hong Kong' - Gorillaz

OneShot

'Hong Kong'

'Lord hear me now… Junk boats and English boys…'

Shizen tossed and turned in her bed, a cold sweat running down her neck. She finally awoke, her breath coming in labored pants.

'It wasn't a dream,' she thought. She then started to cry, 'Lee-chan! Come back, kudasai!'

Lee was dead. And he was never coming back.

Shizen was shocked to find out the news from Tsunade when he didn't survive the operation. How could someone as strong as him die like… that?

First, she had blamed Tsunade for 'killing' him in the operation. Then she blamed Gai for encouraging him to go through with the operation. But now… now… she blamed someone with the hate of a thousand suns.

Gaara. Gaara gave him those wounds. If Gaara hadn't have done so, Lee would still be alive. She would still be with Lee. She would be friends with Lee. Lee would still be friends with her. They would still spar together. They would still laugh together. But he ruined it. He ruined everything. It felt as if Gaara had ripped her heart right out of her chest and stepped on it until all of the pieces were microscopic specks.

Shizen wasn't taking it so well. She was locked up in her room, crying, sulking. She had sealed herself away from the world so that she could suffer in her own misery – alone.

Shizen hugged her knees to her chest, sobbing on her bed.

"What do you expect me to do now, Lee?" She shouted at no one in particular. "NE? NE? NE!!!!!!!" Shizen dug her nails into her legs, digging until they bled.

Miko and Keiko had tried to cheer her up with, "Don't act like that, what would Lee-chan say?"; "Lee-chan never wanted you to be unhappy, Shizen-chan. Cheer up!"; and "A little bit of Lee-chan lives in all of us, Shizen-chan. He'll be with you in spirit."

'Lies,' she thought bitterly. 'They're all lies. Pathetic little lies to make me feel happy about myself and start going outside again.'

Shizen raised her head, staring at her reflection in her mirror across from her bed.

She almost didn't recognize herself. Her purple hair was unruly and stringy. Her face was as pale as the bandages wrapped around her legs. Her eyes were dull and lifeless, just like her voice if she spoke – which was rare.

'I hate you, Gaara. I hate you and your baka no suna. Your baka no suna caused Lee to die. You caused him to die. You are a monster. You deserve to die. I will kill you.'

She swallowed slowly. Her throat was as dry as sandpaper. She gave a deranged grin, 'Maybe I can kill myself if I dehydrate myself.'

Shizen slowly got up. She fell right smack down on her bed. The room felt like it was swirling around her. She felt suddenly nauseous and lightheaded.

"Ugh," she groaned. "I feel like shit."

She painfully moved her head so that she could see her clock. It read 10:06. Shizen was supposed to have trained with her team at 9:00, but now she wasn't taking part in any ninja activities, especially Taijutsu.

She shuddered at the thought. Lee had loved Taijutsu. He wasn't good at anything else. He lived for Taijutsu. He bled, cried, and breathed Taijutsu. Taijutsu was his life. When they were still little kids in the academy, she remembered fondly of all the days that they had spared with each other. They weren't necessarily the best Taijutsu users in their class, but they helped one another until they became who they are today.

Shizen struggled to get up. Her strength was suddenly gone. She took a ragged breath, reaching for a sip of water.

'Much better,' she thought, putting the glass in its rightful place back on the dresser. She felt her strength slowly returning to her body.

She now had the energy to walk over to the window, looking at the world outside her small room.

She frowned, it was overcast and raining. It was as if the weather was matching her mood. It had been raining ever since she had gotten the news about Lee's death. It had rained as soon as she got the news. It had rained at his funeral. It had rained all of the ten days afterwards and it still continued to rain. Shizen wondered if it would ever stop raining.

'The world cries with me,' Shizen thought sadly, 'it's as if the sky knows my pain.' She dragged her hand down the window pane, watching the smudges appear on its surface.

Shizen looked back at her reflection in the window pane. She decided to freshen herself up, just in case some stupid villager came inside to check on how she was doing. They would beg her to go outside to run an errand, train with them, or just talk about Lee.

Shizen brushed her hair and changed into her normal shinobi attire. She looked at her hitai-ate and took it in her hands. A tear streamed down her face and landed on the leaf insignia.

'Lee-chan,' she brought the hitai-ate to her chest, more tears streaming down her face. 'Doshite, Lee-chan? Why couldn't you have stayed here… with me? Who am I supposed to talk to now? You were my tomodachi, and you've let me down.'

Before Shizen was going to be even more encased in her doom, she heard the door knock. She looked up in surprise, 'Who could that be?'

Shizen trudged over to the door and slowly opened it.

It was…

"Gai-sensei?" Shizen asked in disbelief. "Nan desho?"

Gai held out to her Lee's hitai-ate, "I'm going to see… him. Do you want to come with me?"

Shizen nodded, "Ee. I would, Gai-sensei."

Shizen and Gai stopped at Lee's tombstone. Shizen sucked in her breath. She was reliving that horrible moment all over again. She bit her lip, drawing blood as the memories of the days before played before her on the tombstone.

(Flashback)

Shizen was running into the hospital at full speed. She couldn't wait to see Lee. She had brought him some rice balls that she had made herself and a 'Get Well' card.

Shizen rounded the corner and came to his room. Shizen was about to knock, but found that the room was already open.

Gai was in there.

Shizen greeted him warmly, "Ohayo gozaimasu, Gai-sensei! Is Lee-chan daijobu?"

Gai shook his head. He tried to open his mouth, but he failed to form words.

She looked at Lee on his hospital bed. There was a sheet over her body.

Shizen's heart stopped. She turned and faced Gai in shock, "You don't mean…" She let her voice trail off.

Tsunade came in. She looked at them both with great sadness, "Sumimasen, Gai, Shizen, I'm afraid that Lee didn't survive through the surgery."

Shizen gripped her fist tight, staring at her in disbelief, "So he's…"

Tsunade nodded, "Gomen nasai."

Shizen shook her head, "Iie, it can't be! IT CAN'T BE!" She fell into a crying heap on the floor. "Lee-chan! You can't go now! You can't! I HAVE NO ONE NOW! NO ONE! You were my oniisan, Lee-chan!" She sobbed and sobbed.

Gai bit his lip, "And you were my son, Lee." He hung his head, staring at the floor.

"LEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!" Shizen shrieked.

(End Flashback)

Gai put his hand on her shoulder, forcing her to snap out of her trance.

Shizen looked up at him, tears streaming down her cheeks.

Gai knelt down at Lee's tombstone and placed his hitai-ate on it gracefully, "We can't linger on things of the past, Shizen."

Shizen bit her lip, "I know."

Gai stood up, "I know it's easier said than done, but this won't help either of us get stronger. You can't avenge your family when you're stuck up in your room like that."

Shizen hung her head, ashamed, "I know."

Gai turned to her, holding her shoulders and staring at her in the eyes, "Shizen."

She looked up at him, "Nani, Gai-sensei?"

He gripped her tightly, "You have to get over his death."

Her eyes widened wide. She shut them, tears escaping out of her eyes, "I know, Gai-sensei. Demo, demo… it's so hard!"

Gai nodded, understanding her pain, "I know, Shizen." He let go of her shoulders and looked up at the sky. It had stopped raining.

Shizen felt the first rays of sunlight kiss her on the cheek, "It's not raining anymore… do you think that Lee-chan is happy?"

Gai smiled, "Probably."

Shizen knelt down beside his tombstone. She put her right hand in a prayer position, 'I am sorry that I was angry at you, tomodachi. It is not your fault that you died.'

Shizen stood up. She wiped her eyes with one swipe of her arm. Her hair fluttered in the wind.

She gripped her fist tightly, raising it to the sky, "Yosh! I will protect Lee-chan's nindo even if it costs me my life!"

Gai looked up at her in surprise. His mouth then turned upward into a smile.

And somewhere up in heaven, Lee was smiling down at both of them, crying tears of joy.

'…Is the rise of an Eastern sun… Gonna be good for everyone?'

I'm sorry if that made any of you cry... Don't you just love the ending? It's so cute...

Gomen nasai, gomen nasai, gomen nasasi that I made Lee-chan die! DON'T KILL ME!