All he could remember were the snowflakes falling around him as he collapsed into white. He was crushed by the overwhelming feeling of loss, regret, and failure. What would his village think of him now? Would they judge him with the same doubt as before? Gai Sensei made him believe he had succeeded at becoming a splendid ninja, but maybe hard work just wasn't enough…Will they miss him when he's gone?
"I know for certain a few will, my teammates and Sensei at least. What have I gained in this life? A few good friendships, a vest, and a body riddled with scars. Can my life be summed up so easily? Why must it end now! I have so much to accomplish! I swear that if I do not die here today, I will change my life completely! If I fail, then I have no reason to keep moving forward in this lifetime."
"It's so cold here…am I on the edge of death? Or has death already caught me in it's eternal grasp? I can still feel, so maybe it's not too late? But all I can feel is cold, maybe it's too late for me…." he mumbles as he clutches his red leaf belt in his hand. Were all the colors supposed to fade away if you were dead? He could swear everything he saw was either black, white, or red. The only flaw on the perfect snow were the pools of blood around him, and the imprint his body had made. He had failed. His comrades were either dead or missing, and now his meaningless life was about to crawl away from him, dragging him into a snowy abyss.
"Wha-" It's warm, but where am I now? Is this heaven? Or hell? Have I been captured my the enemy and brought to their camp?
"Shhhh. Don't speak. It's too dangerous here." he whispered. I caught a glimpse of maroon in the moonlight, before the darkness overtook me again.
"Bro, we can't afford to be hauling this Leaf around! Who knows what shinobi they were battling with before we came along!" Kankuro whispered and he glanced at Lee. Gaara remained silent, set on whatever decision he had made previously. They moved quickly through the darkness, only the moon lighting their way. Gaara had entrusted his precious gourd to his big brother, a remarkable surprise to the counterpart, so he could carry the Leaf on his own back. They continued moving until they came upon a small cave, just beyond the borders of the Land of Iron.
"We'll rest here." Gaara stated, glancing around for anyone who would have followed the wounded leaf. Gaara leaned Lee up against the wall of the cave to examine him as Kankuro set up a small fire. Gaara frowned as he examined the nin.
"He's cold." Gaara said as he took off his own cloak to throw over the badly wounded Leaf. Kankuro placed a hand on his brother's shoulder cautiously, not sure of his emotional state.
"Why are you doing this Gaara? It's just about pointless, he's not even from our village."
Gaara remained silent as he emptied the contents of his small pack. He removed the cloak to assess the damage done to the young nin's body. He'd only had a crash course on first aid, considering no one ever thought he would need to use it on himself.
"Kankuro…please just help me. You have more medical knowledge than I do…" Gaara said as he looked into his brother's eyes. Kankuro froze. This was just strange. Please and help in the same sentence? Kankuro sighed.
"Fine twerp, lay him completely back, I'll do what I can." Gaara nodded and positioned Lee accordingly. Kankuro attended to his injuries the best way he knew how. Only time would tell if he would make it. Kankuro sat beside his younger brother and stared at the almost lifeless nin. "Gaara, I did everything I can. We'll just have to hope for the best now, but don't be too-"
Gaara glared at him knowing what he was going to say. Upset. Don't be upset if he doesn't pull through. Gaara folded up a spare shirt and placed it under Lee's head, making sure he was covered and comfortable at least. Why was he doing this? Was it because it was the shinobi of an allied nation? Or because he was a friend of Naruto's? If he would ask, politically he would say the first. Realistically, it'd be the latter.
Of course he knew this ninja. He had almost taken his life during the chunin exams, but he knew he was Naruto's friend, so he had to be worth saving. Uzumaki had changed Gaara's life. He made him realize he wasn't completely alone in this world, and so Gaara finally opened up to people….as much as Gaara of the Desert could of course.
And this was by far his biggest reach out. He had even gone so far as to put this Leaf shinobi on his back and carry him, hopefully saving him from his ice-filled demise. Gaara would sit here all night and guard the camp if he had too, so the Leaf nin could rest, and maybe so his big brother could catch a nap as well. He looked out into the bright full moon that had led their way to the cave and wondered what hope really was, and what kind of bond Naruto had with this boy.
At the breaking of sunrise, Lee cracked an eye open. He was startled to find that his company was none other than Gaara of the Desert, the same Gaara that had tried to brutally murder him all those years ago and take away his dreams of becoming a splendid ninja.
"Where-Where am I?" he asked weakly, realizing he was in worse shape than he initially thought. Gaara fixed his aqua green eyes on him and Lee noticed a difference. Was this the same Gaara?
"You are safe for now. We're past the borders of the Land of Iron. Our next plan of action depended of if you made it through the night or not." Gaara said as he nudged Kankuro awake.
Kankuro stretched and a smile crept on his painted lips and he realized Lee had made it, and his attempts hadn't been in vain.
"Glad You're awake Lee-san. That is your name right?" Lee managed a nod before a wave of pain overtook him. It felt like he had just opened his fourth gate, but there were no massive amounts of chakra to take his mind off of the pain. Gaara stared at him blankly.
"As of now you have two choices. You can either take this pill and knock yourself out during the rest of our journey, which is a reasonable option, because we are both aware of the damage you have acquired, or you can suffer through the pain. Your choice. We are both aware of your self-challenges and we discussed this last night. You aren't being weak by taking this drug, you are merely retreating from an excruciating amount of pain that is to follow. Choose." Gaara said as he watched the snow fall outside of the cave. Another wave of pain ripped through him and he could tell now he wouldn't be walking back to Konoha any time soon. His leg was broken for sure, as well as quite a few other bones.
"I-I will feel like a coward if I do not chose the second option…" he started. Within the blink of an eye Gaara's hand was to his mouth and the pill was sliding down his throat. Could Gaara feel his pain? Or was he just putting an end to his meaningless words? All this meant nothing as the sunrise began fading into dark…
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