Title: Disability
Pairings: GaaLee
Rating: T
Description: He had faced problems in the past before, so when a new one faced him, he wasn't all too worried about dealing with it. And anyway, Gaara was there to help them.
Blood gently slid down his cheek. His body shivered and shook as the shock started to settle in. The pain, apparently, hadn't settle in yet. He was both happy and frightened.
Pain was a good thing to feel while in battle, but when you can no longer feel it, you could no longer truly understand the damage done to your body.
The vision in his left eye was dark, and the vision in his right was blurry and was rounded with the sticky redness of blood. He didn't know it were his own, or the others. He wanted to touch his face, to see what damage had been done, but his body denied him of that and forced him to stand stiff as a board. His fingers twitched and the blood flow increased. He wanted to fall and wither in pain, but the pain never came. His vision became so hazed at that point that he was unable to make outlines of shapes; it was just a mess of color smeared together.
"Lee-san!" Someone screeched.
He cringed, the volume of said person's voice too much for him. He shifted his fatigued body and searched for the person who called his name. This was hard, considering the fact that he could no longer see solid shapes. He gasped sharply as pain stabbed through his stomach. At first, he had suspected that someone had stabbed his gut with a kunai, but he was incorrect. A small splatter of blood rose through his throat and rested on his tongue. He spat it out, the pain at an almost crippling high.
"Lee!" Someone else yelled.
He wondered. Where had that other person run off to? Surely they would have come to him, asking him questions about his health, correct?
He felt disowned.
He felt the ground hit him roughly, and he finally felt relieved. Now he was reacting like a normal person who was bleeding such as he should. And than, he fell unconscious.
---
There was a ringing in his ears, and his lids were too heavy to open. The cloth that was on top of him was scratchy, and it made his wounds itch. And so, he scratched, breaking them open and helping them bleed anew.
"You shouldn't do that so much." Someone warned him.
He obeyed without thought, and settled his arms down near his sides and relaxed them against the thin fluff of the bed he was on.
The area was quiet.
The dry air was making his lungs hurt, and his lips were starting to crack. He opened his mouth gently, ready to speak.
"You shouldn't talk." The person informed him.
A hand touched his. It was hard and grainy and didn't feel nice, but he enjoyed the small contact, it made him feel like he was going to become better.
"I…" He spoke softly, his throat raw, "Cannot open my eyes…"
The contact disappeared, making his nerves flutter unhappily. The person didn't reply, making him fear for the worst. He sucked in a sharp breath, truly afraid of what the future may hold for him now.
"You will be able to later… With some rest." They sounded unsure.
He gulped, but made not a word as he forced himself back into sleep. He didn't want to be awake right now.
---
Being in limbo was enjoyable. It did not scare him, being in a land of nothingness and boredom. It was calm and peaceful and it helped him collect his thoughts.
The people who talked to him before were becoming clearer. Sakura and Gai-sensei was there, but the person he had heard last was unknown to him… The voice was velvety, and it made his heart flutter around his chest cavity happily. But said person's skin was rough like sandpaper.
He shuddered happily and sighed dreamily.
But those sandpaper rough hands were the ones who shook him out of his pleasant limbo and back into the harshness of the real world.
"The Medic-nin says you will be able to open your eyes." The smooth voice said.
He shuddered again, feeling his heartbeat quicken.
"Really?" He held his breath.
"Yes."
He sighed and opened his dry eyes. But his breath hitched as his depth perception seemed off. His hands wavered in front of his face, testing his eyes, and that was when he figured out that his left eye was not working.
His right eye located the person sitting by his side; the pupil of his eye was small and desperate.
The red-haired Kazekage sighed, his eyes fluttering closed; leaving two large smears of black as a replacement.
"Yes, we were unable to heal your left eye. We're sorry." He spoke, velvety smooth voice keeping him out of hysterics.
He chewed on the inside of his cheek as he continued to watch Gaara, "T-That's ok…"
Gaara's eyes snapped open, and the small teal eyes of his glared down at him. "No," The Kazekage growled, "It's not ok, it's far from ok!"
He gulped and closed his eyes, or rather, eye. He still didn't want to be awake at the moment, so he yet again forced himself back into sleep.
---
Several Weeks Later:
He stood atop a large hill, the snow sprinkling down around him lazily. He tightened his dark green scarf around his neck a bit and shuddered in the cold. His dark brown eye looked down on Konoha while the other was hidden behind a square shaped eye patch.
"Lee," Someone called to him.
He looked over his shoulder and saw a disgruntled Gaara several yards away. The young Kazekage shivered and pulled the thin black coat he wore around his lean figure, trying to force the heat back into him.
"Ok, Gaara-kun!" He said happily and jogged over towards the red haired teen. He gently rested a hand on his shoulder, a sign of affection that he used, and gave him a wide grin.
Gaara's eyes lingered on his eye patch and than centered back to the elder's lips.
"What now, Gaara-kun?" He asked gently, knowing full well that people stared at him like Gaara sometimes did.
The red haired one turned around and started to walk down the hill, his lips sealed for the moment. As they made it to the bottom, he could see Gaara gently opening his mouth to speak.
"I suppose, you should keep on living. Whether that be as a shinobi still, or not."
There were plenty of shinobi who had missing eyes, and they continued to serve their village either way. He could easily work around his 'disability', just as he had in the past, and he wasn't worried that he wouldn't be able to either.
So he sighed and smiled at the other happily. "I shall do that." He muttered gently and pressed a little closer to the shivering Kazekage.
The next time the Kazekage came to Konoha during the winter, he'd have to give him one of his winter coats…
Author's Note: There is really no meaning behind this, I just felt like writing Lee with an eye patch. You see, I used to draw Lee all the time with an eye patch over his left eye (I have no idea why, either) and I recently found one of my old pictures of him with an eye patch. I must admit, Lee does look very interesting with an eye patch.
I wasn't intending on making this any longer, mostly because I am horrible at writing multi-chapter stories. But I dunno...
That's all I have to say.