Author's Note: I've been mulling over the idea to this fanfiction and I finally decided to utilize the concept. Anyways, onto the fanfic!
Lee couldn't stand being injured. The feeling of uselessness was too much for him to bear. Gai had always taught him to fight and train with the "power of youth". It had always been Lee's motto to never give up no matter what and he wasn't about to start now. He couldn't allow himself to go without training because he felt that such inactivity and laziness would shame not only Gai but Neji and Tenten as well. He really couldn't care less for how bad he made Neji look but he couldn't allow himself to appear weak in his rival's eyes. Lee would overcome Neji's natural talents with sheer hard work and determination and wasn't going to get any closer to this goal sitting on his butt.
The main reason he couldn't allow himself any time to rest, regardless of how that monster Gaara had crushed his arm and leg, was Tenten. He loved her more than she would ever know and wouldn't allow himself to lose his willpower or else he would never be able to become strong enough to protect her. Lee knew full well that Tenten's heart already belonged to Neji, just as Sakura's heart belonged to Sasuke, but all the same he wouldn't allow any harm to come to either kunoichi. He would give his life to protect their own if the need should arise. He knew that recovery time was a luxury he just couldn't afford to take.
Everyday he would get up early and train himself as hard as he could until he succumbed to the urge of passing out. The doctors and other medical personnel highly disapproved of this but such disapproval meant nothing to Lee. They were nothing more than advisors, they had no right to decide what he could or could not do, especially when it came to training. Lee's physician constantly beseeched Gai to talk to the boy but was met with rejection every time. Gai was well aware that Lee's training was counterproductive right now but telling him that and ordering him to stop would wind up accomplishing nothing. Lee was the type of warrior who would always do everything he could to overcome his limitations with hard work and determination.
Even if Gai did manage to get through to Lee he would still refuse to try and stop him from training. Had he tried to stop Lee from training and succeeded he would have successfully broke the boy's spirit. Lee simply couldn't take something like that coming from the man who he looked up to as his role model. Seeing Lee hurt himself like this was hard for Gai but, as the Jonin believed himself to be responsible for the shape Lee was in for teaching him to unlock the inner gates he couldn't do anything about it. After what he believed he had done to the boy he had no place telling him what to do. Lee's training continued without notice from anyone other than the medical staff and Gai until the day Sakura had gone to pay him a visit.
"Lee you shouldn't be out of bed! Stop it! What do you think you're doing?" The nurse who had shown Sakura and Ino to Lee's room questioned the boy who was currently in the middle of doing 200 push-ups.
"191…" Lee muttered weakly apparently either not hearing the nurse's plea or simply deciding to ignore it. He still had a long way to go but he felt sure that he could reach the goal he'd set. There was no reason he couldn't achieve the same results from his daily training regiment that he had before his battle with Gaara. There was nothing holding him back other than, what he perceived as, a few minor injuries.
"Lee…" The nurse pleaded. She couldn't simply sit by and watch the boy do this to himself. She began to reach out to him in an effort to cease the boy's obsessive workout but such effort was not warmly received.
"Keep away from me!" Lee yelled rather frustrated with the troublesome nurse. He wasn't going to stop his training for his own weaknesses so why should he stop for her? Who did she think she was to try to interfere with his task? "Please…got to…finish my training…" The boy pleaded in an effort to get the woman to leave him alone as he didn't believe that yelling was going to work.
Sakura found herself drifting off inside her head thinking of her conversation with Ino earlier at the flower shop. Could it really be true? Could this Lee be the same one that Ino said would never be able to be a ninja again? Was he aware of how severe his injuries were? Sakura found herself hurtled back into the current situation as she overheard Lee counting off his 195th push-up.
"196…" Lee mumbled out haggardly. He was well aware that he was quickly losing strength but he had to hold on…he had to finish what he started….he would not allow himself to be defeated by his injuries. As Lee began to count off his 197th and 198th push-ups he found his mind shifting to thoughts of the ninjas who he had fought and still wanted to take on after he had recovered. Sasuke Uchiha…Neji Hyuga…Gaara…Naruto Uzumaki…they were waiting for him to recover and come back to the fray ready to fight. He wouldn't disappoint them. He would come back stronger than ever, ready to take each and every one of them on. With so much riding on his willpower he realized that he couldn't quit, not now or ever.
"Do not count me out. I am not through yet!" Lee vowed attempting to raise his own spirits by clearly setting forth his vow to see his training through to the end. He remembered that Gai had told him his effort was only validated by believing in himself. 'I believe in myself Gai-sensei' Lee thought with burning determination 'I will not let you down…no matter what the cost.'
"199…" Lee counted out barely able to keep going even with his determination. He could feel his body giving out from under him. He couldn't allow his body to give out, not yet! He was so close that he begged his body to go on promising that there was only one more to go. He just couldn't allow his body to give out now! He's fallen short so many times that he couldn't allow himself to fail to reach an objective yet again.
It was no use…Lee passed out as he was almost to the 200th push-up. Ino, Sakura, and the Nurse were all shocked and rushed to his aid. The nurse quickly ordered the girls to watch over Lee as she went to go get assistance. Ino promptly agreed to comply with the official's orders on behalf of both kunoichis. Ino and Sakura rushed to his side and kneeled down next to him as they looked on, quite depressed with Lee's collapse during his training. They conversed about why boys were like this, why they always pushed things too far. They couldn't come up with any answer as it seemed simply beyond logic.
After Lee had been helped into bed Sakura headed over to where Neji and Tenten were training. She felt that this was something they needed to know about. They would have a much better chance of talking sense into him than she would. Just as Sakura caught sight of the two she noticed that they were practicing Lee's defensive technique. Tenten, rather out of breath from what was most likely her attempt to break Neji's guard, commented on how impenetrable it was.
"We have a visitor." Neji replied seeing Sakura walking onto the battleground. "What can we do for you Sakura?" Neji inquired somewhat frustrated at having his training interrupted by the frantic looking girl.
"It's Lee…" Sakura answered unable to look either of them in the eye. "He's been overworking himself…I'm worried about him. I'm afraid that if something isn't done soon he may kill himself." Sakura continued knowing that what the issue was with Lee would be questioned before long. Much to the surprise of both girls Neji began laughing hysterically.
"That pathetic excuse for a ninja is at it again…" Neji said between burst of laughter. "I'm sure that his 'power of youth' will get him through this. When will Lee learn that he's a loser now and always will be? None of this would've happened if the failure would've practiced something more than taijutsu." Neji sneered taking in quite a good deal of pleasure from hearing about the shortcomings of Lee.
Tenten shot him a glare advising the Hyuga to shut up. Neji would've continued berating Lee for a while longer if he didn't need Tenten to help him with his training. "What's your problem Neji? Lee's doing his best to make himself stronger so he can fight you and you make fun of his injuries overwhelming him? Screw you Neji! You can finish training by yourself!" Tenten growled quite frustrated with the arrogant boy's sharp remarks about his teammate.
"Don't worry Sakura, I'll talk some sense into Lee." Tenten said trying to comfort the anxious girl. Sakura grudgingly accepted what Tenten had said only after ensuring that everything would be taken care of. Tenten quickly hurried over to the room where Lee was supposed to be resting and, as she had expected, found it empty. She ran outside to where Sakura had told her she'd found Lee training earlier that day and saw him trying to do 100 leg squats.
Tenten was rather disheartened to find Lee engaging in even more exercises when his body was still weak from the injuries he had received. "What the hell do you think you're doing Lee? You're supposed to be resting. You could be doing permanent damage to yourself!" Tenten yelled rather upset with the reckless Genin. "What's possessing you to push yourself like this Lee? What is your purpose?" Tenten questioned trying to use what she had learned about psychology to help Lee overcome his issue.
"You would not understand Tenten…" Lee responded but, upon seeing Tenten glaring at him, knew this wasn't going to be taken as an answer. "It is because…I want to become stronger. I have been a worthless excuse for a ninja. I disgraced Gai-sensei by failing to win my match with Gaara. I could not even protect Sakura against the sound ninjas she was being attacked by in the Forest of Death."
"Lee…" Tenten started finally beginning to understand what Lee was thinking and what sort of pain he was experiencing.
"I will become stronger Tenten, strong enough to protect those I care about, even at the risk of doing 'permanent damage' to myself. I will never forget how much of a disgrace I was lying on the forest ground severely injured from my attempt at trying to protect Sakura-chan." Lee groaned out as he continued his exercises. Lee was rather surprised to see that Tenten stomped over to where he was positioned and punched him in the face.
"Do you have any idea how unfair you're being to yourself you thickheaded idiot?!? You had no idea what Kin, Dosu, and Zaku were capable of! On top of that you were already going into the battle at a major disadvantage as you were fighting all three of them at the same time. I didn't see a disgrace lying on the ground in that forest Lee. I saw a brave and noble warrior who had given all he had to protect someone he cared for." Tenten said deeply saddened at how hard Lee was being on himself.
"If you think for a second that you're a disgrace to Neji, Gai, and I then you're dead wrong! In your battle with Gaara, before Gai-sensei stepped in and got you disqualified, you kept fighting no matter what. Even after he broke your arm and leg you got up ready to continue your battle. Not only that, Gaara wasn't like everyone else there, he was a monster, I doubt there were many people there who could've lasted even half as long as you did against that fiend. I understand how much you want to get back into combat but what you're doing right now is the wrong way to go about it. Your best bet would be to rest and regain your strength as training right now would be merely prolong the time it'll take to heal from your injuries. And besides Lee," Tenten muttered as she felt herself on the verge of crying and knew she couldn't restrain herself much longer "I can't stand to see you doing this to yourself…it hurts me deeper than you know…"
Lee couldn't help but feel a sinking feeling in his stomach when he saw a tear running down Tenten's cheek. It was then that he truly realized the person he had been working so hard to keep from harm he had been hurting himself. Lee reached out and wiped away the tear before it made any more progress down her face. "I am…sorry Tenten. I never meant to hurt you. I had no idea what grief I was causing you. I cannot stand to see you in any pain especially if that pain was cause by me. If it will make you feel better I will go back to my room now…" Lee said rather ashamed of himself for hurting Tenten.
Tenten couldn't help but smile upon hearing Lee's response to her lecture. "Thank you for understanding Lee. I'll always be there for you, whenever you need me. C'mon, let's head back to your room. I'll stay by your side for as long as you like. After all, it's about time that you let someone look out for you for a change." Tenten said pleased to have gotten through to her teammate. Lee was overjoyed to hear Tenten's response. He was glad to have her as a friend and couldn't care less whether or not she could ever be anything more.
Author's Note: Yeah, I know, not exactly my best work but I wanted to get the fanfic out there.