I decided to correct a few mistakes that I made in this fic, so here's an 'upgraded' version of it.
Oh! Student and teach affection.
"Are you sure that you want to go through this? You may never see the light again."
Tsunade looked at the young boy before her that sit on the operation table with his legs swinging in the emptiness, in search of a sign that would show that his decision faltered, but nothing troubled his confidence. Obviously, Rock Lee was sure of what he was agreeing to.
He had taken off his whole suit, wearing for the occasion the traditional hospital clothing. The pale blue gown didn't suit him at all, making him look sicker than he truly was. Lee shook his head and he opened his eyes, smiling at the new Hokage and his sensei standing at the end of the room. Gai gave him a nod.
"If there's a fifty percent of chance that I come out of here alive, then do it. It's my dream to become a great ninja. I trust your abilities to heal my body, Hokage-sama."
He's too sure of himself… but I won't let him die. I've read everything I could to put the odds on my side, now all there's left to do is the actual surgery. "Alright then, nurses, come here."
Four nurses stopped in their tracks and ran in line in front of Tsunade. She had made sure that they had a lot of experience for this kind of surgery. She couldn't afford a mistake from a rookie, or any mistakes at all for that matter. "Listen up, because I won't repeat myself! This is a crucial surgery that we will perform on this boy and I will ask you to do your best. Get the stuff ready and wait for my instructions. Tara, apply the cream of the designated places."
The youngest nurse advanced towards Lee, pushing a trail and stopped next to him. The fabric of the nurse's gloves reminded Lee of where he was and he tried to push the negative thoughts away. No point in worrying now.
"Lee!" He looked up to see Gai-sensei smiling with all his white, shining teeth. Each traits of his teacher's face were graved in his mind ever since he had met him when he was little. He remembered the weird man that spoke to him in the school's yard. Ever since that day, Gai-sensei encouraged him to do better all the time, even more than Tenten or Neji. Not that the man didn't like his two others students, but Lee thought that maybe he was the man's favourite. This operation was his last chance of pursuing his dream. If it all failed, dying would give him a sweeter end than living without a goal.
"Gai-sensei, I-"
"Don't say a word. There's no need to worry about this, your youth will vanquish every obstacles in your way!" The Jounin raised its fist in the air, staring at nothingness with starry eyes. Lee chuckled, Gai-sensei would never change. He should never change at all because his personality is what gave him courage to keep up for his dream.
Warm tears ran down his face and its neck until the mat absorbed them all. Gai took his left hand in his and squeezed it. "Lee, we are in this together. My purpose is to make you a great ninja. If you die, I will die with you." With his other hand, he wiped the tears off Lee's face. "Now, as soon as you're out and well enough to move, I want you to run 500 laps around Konoha, understood? You need to get to training right away if you want to catch up with the others."
Lee smiled with assurance. ''Yes, Gai-sensei.''
Tsunade came to them and pointed the exit to Gai. ''Please leave for the moment. If there's anything, we'll keep you informed. I guess that you'll be waiting outside?''
''Yeah, no matter how long it'll take. Well then…'' He let go of Lee and walked towards the door.
Tsunade put her mask on her face and picked a file, going through the information. ''Lee?'' He was surprised that she would call him by his name, she never did that before. ''Yes, Hokage-sama?''
Still looking at her papers, she went ahead with her question anyway. "Have you talked about this to your friends?"
"Um, no…" He had the whole week to tell Sakura, Tenten or anybody about it but he never did. "They don't need to know. I don't want to tell them about my state. I'll be as good as new pretty soon so why should they know?" He gave her again his confident smile. Tsunade just kept silence until she put the file on the counter. "As you wish. Let's begin." A nurse took off Lee's clothing and another one prepared the mask that would make him go to sleep.
Gai stayed at the door, watching everything. He didn't want to tear his eyes off Lee but a nurse pushed him to leave. So he showed up his thumb to his student. "See you later!"
Lee just responded to Gai with the same thumb, grinning.
And that was the last time that Gai saw him alive.
Naruto yawned loudly and took off his sleeping hat. Despite his body's protestations, he got out of the bed, stretching his muscles. Then he turned around and placed the sheets into a nice well done pile and went to the kitchen, searching in the food-safe for the cereal box.
He sat down at the table with the milk and poured himself some cereals in the black bowl in front of him. Today, he wasn't particularly hungry, which was extremely rare, but he figured that he needed some food in his stomach to go through the day. Today, he didn't know if he'd go training. He wasn't really in a good mood to do that either.
He ate monotonously in complete silence until he couldn't drink the remaining milk in the bowl with the spoon. He washed off the milk in the sink. The whitish liquid was drained away.
Naruto came back in his bedroom to get some stuff. In the bathroom, he washed off his face and brushed his hair, though they wouldn't really stay still in the form that he tried to give them. Finally, he looked at his reflection in the mirror. What he saw was a blond ninja that used to look happy. But today, he was dressed in black. Man that was sad. But it was for bushy eyebrows' funeral and as much as he laughed at the taijutsu shinobi, he still respected him enough to assist his burial.
"Hey." Sasuke greeted his blond team mate that just arrived on the roof of the Hokage's office. It was unusual for him to even acknowledge Naruto's presence but then again, the circumstances were unusual too.
Naruto being the last person to come, a Chunin placed the last piece of the arrangement missing; a picture of Lee. Unlike at the Third Hokage's funeral, there were only pictures of Lee and his friends instead of those who died when Orochimaru attacked the village. Sakura and Ino had brought an enormous amount of flowers, mostly the white ones that Sakura had given Lee the day before the fifth Hokage's inauguration. Neji had also placed Lee's suit on the coffin. The celebration could now begin.
An aged man dragged a younger woman in tears before the coffin and leaning towards her, he whispered something in her ear that seemed effective enough. She straightened and using a white handkerchief, she cleaned her face. Her black hair falling on her shoulders and her leaned form couldn't lie about her identity; she was Lee's mother. The older man also had the same thick eyebrows as the dead boy, only his's were white now. People immediately stopped talking to let her speak.
"I always have been proud of my son Lee, and although I didn't agree with his decision that led to his death, I still understood his feelings. He always worked hard, ever since he was little, to become a ninja. Unfortunately, I gave birth to him without the main ingredient to make him a great shinobi. That alone should've stopped him in his dream but it never happened. Lee went through the training with taijutsu alone and became a genin. He died as a ninja of the Konoha village, just as he wished for. I know now that his soul will rest in peace."
The last words stopped the woman who jerked her head away. She started sobbing again and the old man took her to the place, patting her shoulder.
Tsunade took over the speech. Remorsefully, she glanced at a picture of the young shinobi and shut her eyes closed but after a few seconds, the emotion disappeared from her face. She had to do this. "Though it has been a short time since my arrival, I was lucky to meet the young Rock Lee. I remember him as a vibrant man who never gave up in front of adversity. I respected his wish and operated him. However, this caused him to lose his life. I am truly saddened of the turn of the events. He will be remembered by those who had the chance to meet him, me included."
Sakura had buried her face in her hands all along, Ino holding her, but what Tsunade said made her leave her lethargy. "What happened? What operation are you talking about?! I don't understand!" Ino tightened her grip around Sakura's arms and looked at Tsunade-sama for an answer.
Neji showed no expression whatsoever until Sakura's outburst. His face changed, becoming distorted by the anger that animated his heart. "Yes, I demand that you tell us everything, Hokage-sama! He was still recovering from his wounds last week. What changed his health to drastically go to the worst? What happened to Lee?!"
All the children looked at her with questioning eyes. The adults kept the emotions to themselves but she could feel that they were as much scandalized at the young ninjas. She couldn't get away from it. "He wasn't truly recovering, not at all. His bones had been fragmented into many pieces that would have killed him if he went on another mission. He had the choice to either give up to be a ninja and find another way to live or to go through heavy surgery. The operation itself was dangerous; there was only a fifty percent of chance that it would succeed. That meant that there was also fifty percent of chance that he would die on the table. Sadly for him, the worst case scenario happened."
Seeing all the faces shocked, she felt the need to add something. "For this man that I only met a few weeks ago, the way of the shinobi was very important for him. I didn't know him, but I sensed that he couldn't resign to anything else."
"I see." Naruto said, shaking slightly. "He grabbed onto the only chance he had to save his dream! Well, I would've done the same thing if it were me!"
"Naruto!" Sakura put her hands on her mouth, too shocked. "Yes, I would. My dream is to become Hokage but I couldn't live anymore if someone told me that I had to give it up because I would die if I didn't. He did the same!"
Sakura broke away from Ino's embrace, tears streaming down her face. "Jerk! Lee could have chosen to live!" She ran away in front of the crowd and jumped from roof to roof. Ino gasped and followed the girl, hoping she could catch up to her.
The blond boy tore his eyes from the pink point in the village. "Urgh…" He didn't mean to hurt her but he just told her the truth. Bushy eyebrow had accepted the surgery despite of the risk, because if he didn't, it would kill him anyway.
One by one, starting with the Rock family, the Hokage and then the others, they left a white flower on the coffin, remembering the taijutsu ninja. Tenten was next after the Hokage and she refused to put the down the flower at first. "He can't be dead, he just can't!" she whispered, broking into tears. While Hinata hugged her, she thought of all the times she hit him, annoyed by his idiotic behaviour. Last time was inside the Forest of the Death, when he had tried to save Sakura alone. Damn he was such an idiot! Why did you leave us Lee! I want to see your smile again!
When Hinata finally convinced Tenten to let of the flower, Neji advanced towards Lee's final resting place. He did not cry, he was beyond crying now. Lee… I always thought you were zealous to the edge of annoying, but deep down I respected you. You were a great man that always trained harder to reach your goal. Being unable to become a full fledged ninja could have diminished you but it didn't. But now, you are free of the constraint. Free as a bird.
Gai let a flower fall on the coffin and gave up his turn immediately. Weird, Kakashi thought. He followed the man with his eyes, but except looking serious, which was normal under the circumstances, but he still couldn't shake the feeling that something was definitely wrong with Gai.
Kiba and Shino let their flowers, followed by Hinata. She took more time than her team mates to ponder about the boy she had grow to like. Lee always had something to say to wear off the effects of her cousin's mean insults hidden in sharp comments. Mostly, they used to train together once in a while, since he knew well what kind of combat style Neji and her were good at. Lee, thank you for have been there for me. I'm sad that you're gone but… maybe you're happier, in this place that you are now.
After a few persons, Sasuke showed up with a flower. Stupid Lee, dying right now. He clenched his teeth together, out of anger. Although I'm stronger than you, you were a worthy opponent. So if you were, why did you go die on me? Urgh, you're worse than Naruto. Sasuke turned his head away and walked back to the line of people, head down. Naruto took his place, tears falling down in face. Bushy eyebrow, I'm always going to remember you. Always.
He was the last one to go. Now, the coffin was covered by white flowers. After the prayer, people began to go their own way back home or to the party but Sakura stopped them in their tracks. "Wait, please wait!" She and Ino ran towards the coffin and Sakura kneeled down. "Lee, you protected me with your life! Now I have to do it on my own. Give me your strength, so I can go on!" Ino surrounded the broken girl in her arms and waited until Sakura calmed down. Together, they left the roof, letting the flowers fly by the wind.
Kakashi watched his rival leave alone. He would have thought that the man would have stick with his two remaining students. The loss of his cherished pupil was terrible indeed but it wasn't like him at all to isolate himself. What was going on in his head?
Gai disappeared as soon as he was out of Kakashi's sight, leaving behind a cloud of smoke. He went to the place he joined up with his new team for the first time and the one where Lee chose to do the surgery.
"Until you are able to keep up with me with me, I will train you until I die. If you train until death, you will definitely become a great ninja. It's a promise.''
"You, who put in so much effort… the operation will definitely succeed. For sure, the way to success will open. Just in case… No, suppose the worst happened. We will die together."
"Since I met you, my purpose has been to make sure that you become a great ninja. That's a promise."
Gai sat down in the same place as Lee that night, along with the tears falling on the ground. There was no turning back now. "I don't regret anything that I told him that night. He wouldn't have been truly happy if he just tossed aside his dream in order to live. Without a purpose, there would be no point in living." That applied to him too.
He took out a kunai and placed it around the heart area. ''Lee, I promised you that I'd die with you if the worst happened. I'll see you in a minute.''
He raised the kunai above his heart. His hand gripped to the weapon tightly and stroke. However, when Gai opened his eyes, his hand was trapped into another. Stunned, he heard the all too familiar voice of Kakashi's muttering insults.
"What do you think that you're doing Gai? Idiot."
Gai freed his hand and threw the kunai away. He'd kill himself another way then. "Hey, if it isn't Kakashi?" he said, trying to get his coolness back. But the last tears running down his cheeks pointed out to him that he must have looked like a mess. Quickly, he wiped them away and looked down.
Kakashi kneeled down before him. He just arrived in time to stop Gai in his foolish act. Was he so distressed to give up on life? ''Come on, answer me. Right now."
"Ha now, calm down. Can't you see it or did that right eye of yours gone blind? Then you should look right through my actions with the Sharigan." Feh, this Kakashi sure was different when he wasn't ignoring him. He never really took seriously their rivalry, up until now it seems.
Kakashi growled at his comrade. What Gai said threw him over the edge. The guy just tried to kill himself and he was still telling jokes, trying to lighten the situation. He definitely hit his head too hard when they were young. Or did he want to get Kakashi off his back? Well he has another surprise waiting for him.
Gai gasped at Kakashi, completely taking off guard by what he saw. Kakashi has taken off his headband off his left eye, revealing the Sharigan for the first time to him. The red eye of the Uchiha clan that ninjas feared greatly, leading them to defeat as soon as the Sharigan was activated. The eye that saw through any movement before the opponent even thought about it.
"I see that you wish to suicide as soon as I will turn my back but I won't let that happen, Gai. You've gone mad because of the pain."
"Oh Kakashi, the pain is not the true reason behind it." Gai got comfortable in the seat, stretching his arms. "I promised him that I would die with him. I'm just keeping my word."
Kakashi continued to stare at him with his eye of his. He felt like Kakashi looked deep into his soul, trying to seek out the reason of his attempt of suicide. "What promise?"
"You know…" The sudden urge to share his thoughts with someone overcame him with great force. Kakashi, his rival… the one he considered as a friend. If he could just tell him his feelings, then he could leave this world without any regret. "Lee never has been able to use ninjutsu, genjutsu or anything in that area at all in his life. He was one special kid.''
The other man nodded. "Yes, this type of persons is very rare."
Gai followed. "Ever since he became my student, I trained him very hard with the only thing he could grip on to be a great ninja; taijutsu. He was so good at it that I was amazed myself but it was all thanks to his efforts and not at any natural talent." He smiled at nobody, thinking of the little Lee practicing after school hours alone. He tried many jutsus but nothing happened. Then he came along and encouraged him, ignoring that this little boy could never do these moves.
"You remember the day you beat me at rock, paper, scissor, Kakashi?"
Kakashi brought his hand to chin, resting his head. "You challenged me a lot of times but I do remember this one. What about it?"
"That day, I said that I would do walk upside down around Konoha 500 times. After I lost, I immediately went through my promise. In the night, Lee came to me and asked me why I kept going when nobody was watching me. Then I told him about my rule."
"Which is?"
"Haha, I know you Kakashi. You are so impatient. My rule is to always impose on me something to pressure the situation so that the next time I find myself in the same scenario, I can actually win this time. Lee noted down everything. I kept walking and surprisingly, he got upside down too and kept me company. At that moment, I knew that he had potential. I swore that I would train him until my death."
Kakashi stood up, staring at the village still under construction. Although the village could be in danger any time, lives kept going with all the drama that it held. It didn't mean that they were insignificant, on the contrary. Sometimes, they were as important as the whole village. "Did you have so much faith in him, Gai, or did you just want to impress him?"
Gai got up on his feet as well and faced his long time rival. "I was the one that convinced him to get the surgery. Being a ninja was his dream ever since his childhood and without that, he was just miserable. Without a purpose-"
"-there would be no point in living. I heard you say that earlier."
Gai grinned in embarrassment. "Well yes. Most importantly, I promised him that we would die together if the surgery was to fail. I don't have a purpose anymore too, that purpose being to make sure that Lee would realise his dream. Nothing keeps me on this earth now. So please let me die with honour. I wouldn't be able to live, knowing that my best student was no longer walking and breathing."
"You're wrong, Gai. You do have a purpose."
"What?" What was he going talking about again? Lee died a few days ago, Tsunade-sama told him first, when he was waiting in the hallway. "Then tell me, my eternal rival. Do you want to beat me one and for all? You know that you can't but for old times, I will accept your challenge anytime!"
The copy-cat looked at the taijutsu teacher, bored. Even in a moment like this, he's still thinking about that! "No, would you shut up about that for once? You have to stay alive for your two other students."
"Oh…" he seemed in a lost for words. Neji, Tenten… Kakashi was right again, they were still very alive and waiting for him. However, they didn't need him at all. "Neji doesn't need any of my training, you saw him at the Chunin exam, he became an expert. As for Tenten, I am sure that under your wing, she will grow into a fine kunoichi!"
"Gai, who could ever replace you? You're the only sensei that teaches Taijutsu and it's exactly what they need. Plus, they like you, just like Lee did and they trust you."
"Just like he did…" Yes, he loved all of his three students, each of them in a different way. He knew of Neji's hate towards the brand on his forehead marking him as a branch member of his family and tried to change that hate into love, although it wasn't easy at all. Tenten was his female ninja and he still thought until today that she fit in their team, full of youth that gave energy to the team. But he couldn't just forget about Lee, couldn't bring him to.
As if he was reading his thoughts, Kakashi answered him. "Do you think that Lee would have wanted you to die for him? He must have been so sure that he would leave this hospital on his two feet that he never believed that you would really kill yourself."
"B-but I made him a promise!" Kakashi noticed at the man wasn't his old self anymore. The mask had fallen and showed a beaten man that regretted leading his student to death. "Just because you swore that you two would die together doesn't mean it has to be right now… Now, come with me. There's full of 'youth' down at the Hyuga house waiting for us."
Kakashi parted first, not waiting to see if Gai would follow him. There was no need to. "Lee… will you hate me if I wait a little bit longer before I meet up with you? What am I saying, of course not. You were always nice. You'll understand."
He stared at the mountains, a content smile on his lips. "I have yet another purpose, Lee. It is my duty to check on Neji and Tenten so that they become adults full of strength. And if you couldn't fulfill your dream, then I will make sure that it will through them. Now, I have to go on that Tenten will bite my head off! Ay, she's really capable of doing that…"
He walked back but before going down the stairs, he noticed his kunai stuck in a wall. For a moment, he did nothing but then picked it and left for good. It will be used someday. Just not right now.
"Gai-sensei! Gai-senseiii!" Tenten ran into his arms and buried her head into his chest. While she cried her soul out, Gai hugged her tightly, laughing. "Hey now, those tears really mess up your face, you know!"
Just as he foresaw, the kunoichi immediately reacted to his comment and he blocked the two fists coming his way. "Ah, I see that you still have some strength left in you!"
Tenten removed her hands and frowned at her sensei. "Where were you anyway?" Naruto grinned madly at them and pointed Kakashi with his finger. "Kakashi, you rubbed off some of your bad habit on Gai-sensei! Ouch!"
"Give more respect to your elders, Naruto. For your information, I only happened to find Gai while I got lost on the road of life." Naruto jumped on him for lying so boldly.
Gai patted Tenten's head, smiling at her. "I just needed some time to meditate but now, I'm there for you so come on, my arms are wide open. Let us remember the true Lee, when he was still so much alive!" Her eyes watered again and Gai's arms closed on her.
I also have a student to take care of, Kakashi thought, looking in Sakura's direction. She was at the end of a couch between Naruto and Sasuke, sniffing. She had tried to drown in tears her sorrow but she didn't find any comfort, except with her two team mates that hugged her once in a while.
The daylight blinding her since earlier disappeared and she looked up to see her sensei. Her lips trembled dangerously, he noticed. What a sad sight. He knew how it felt to lose someone dear.
"Hey, Sakura. Naruto, Sasuke. What about a group hug?" The three of them blinked in unison but quickly, tears fell down Sakura's cheeks again and again. She threw herself in his arms, crying loudly, asking him why Lee had to die. Naruto joined her, though he didn't show his tears to the rest of the people there. Sasuke watched them for a while until his eyes met Kakashi's. he got up and made a place inside the Jounin's arms, searching for comfort.
The small party thrown for Lee ended late in the evening. Gai walked his two students to their home and went back to his own place. The apart hasn't been cleaned since he learned about Lee's death so he began piling up all his clothes in a basket inside the bathroom. While he threw away the wasted food, he looked through the window to the moon. He could still see his student everywhere, like inside the moon right now, showing up his thumb on the operation table at the hospital.
"Lee, if I ever find another kid like you, I swear I'll train him hard just like you so that his dream and yours will come true. I always love you with all my heart and I know that you understand why I chose to stay a while longer. Until then… see you later."