Disclaimer: Tobi does not own Naruto or the song Everything You Want by … Vertical Horizon.
Warning: Character death happens and is mentioned, so if you don't like that, don't read. Not too much cursing, only about three "damn"s and "hell"s.
IU
K+

Everything You Want - Lee

"Somewhere there's speaking
It's already coming in
Oh and it's rising at the back of your mind"

Yes, she heard him. She was just ignoring him. Guilt gnawed slightly at her innards, but it wasn't very strong because he always ignored her. She almost laughed, remembering a time when he'd been sleeping as she rambled and she thought he was just meditating. No, bad TenTen, Lee. Lee-kun.

"You never could get it
Unless you were fed it
Now you're here and you don't know why"

Sakura stared down at Lee in his hospital bed, smiling sadly. He'd over exerted himself, yet again, on a mission attempting to outshine the stories told about Neji. He reminded her of Naruto always trying to outshine Sasuke, but the only problem was that Naruto did outshine Sasuke. She never got the rivalries between boys (and TenTen and Temari) that forced them to over exert themselves to try and outshine the prodigies or the "cool" ones. Sakura also didn't know why she was here, staring at Lee, instead of doing her rounds and checking up on Shino.

"But under skinned knees and the skid marks
Past the places where you used to learn
You howl and listen"

Sakura looked over on the other side of Lee's bed at TenTen, curled up in a chair and staring at her old teammate. She remembered seeing her once in the Academy, yelling at someone and brandishing kunais and shurikens at whomever she was yelling at. Only being six and barely in the Academy for a week, Sakura had been scared and ran far away from such a scary person. She remembered when TenTen didn't cry when Lee had been harshly beaten by Gaara and was told he'd never become a ninja again. All the girl had done was listen and nod. Sakura hadn't known Lee for very long, and she'd wanted to cry for Lee (she actually did, too). Actually, thinking back, she'd never seen TenTen cry… not that they were close, but…

"Listen and wait for the
Echoes of angels who won't return"

TenTen just sat there, chin resting on her knees, staring aimlessly at Lee. Oh how she wished to cry, but she couldn't. She promised herself not to, not for anything, after her dad died, leaving her alone in the world. Crying was pointless as it did nothing to help, and it also made you look weak. Emotions were not a part of the shinobi code, but it couldn't be helped, damn it. Screw that 25th rule of conduct or whatever. Shinobi and kunoichi were humans, too, not emotionless droids to be used. Hell, even the so-called emotionless boys like Shino and Neji had emotions raging inside of them. Now, if only Tsunade or Shizune would come in and say Lee was going to be all right… take back what they had said…

"He's everything you want
He's everything you need
He's everything inside of you
That you wish you could be"

Lee was the perfect person… the person TenTen wished she could be. Loud, loved, not ashamed of himself, exuberant, always positive, always showing his true colors inside and out… He also comforted someone on the spot, male or female. Everything she had wanted in a guy when she was little, like three, and joking with her mom before she went MIA in her mission in Suna. TenTen wished everyone could be a bit more like Lee, shinobi rules of conduct be damned. Lee was a lucid person, not complicated like Neji. If everyone was like that, maybe people would be happier. Oh well, then everyone would seem the same…

"He says all the right things
At exactly the right time
But he means nothing to you
And you don't know why"

Sakura thought back to the time Lee had comforted her when Konoha got the news of Sasuke's death. He had said every word she needed to hear not to go into a deep, dark depression that would probably eventually lead to suicide. He seemed to pop up anywhere she went when she needed comforting. A fried. A good friend. A best friend. A good man. Sakura giggled slightly, adding 'A youthful man' to her list. She leaned down and pecked Lee on the cheek, just as a random thing of thanks. A thanks for everything he had done for her.

"You're waiting for someone
To put you together"

Lee… he always put her in a better mood when she was feeling sad. She was waiting for that to happen again when TenTen knew it might not ever happen. Lee… she needed him. While Neji tore her apart, Lee put her back together. She needed that equilibrium, that push-pull relationship between her old teammates.

"You're waiting for someone to push you away"

TenTen was waiting for Neji to tear her up so that maybe Lee would wake up to make her feel better. She was half convinced Lee would just wake up if Neji did that because he was always there, popping up out of no where, to be the pull in the relationship as Neji pushed her away.

"Neji-kun, do something. Say something mean to me. Lee will wake up then to argue with you… please…" TenTen said, voice hoarse from not using it.

"There's always another wound to discover"

Sakura looked up from Lee's smiling face when TenTen spoke. The stress was getting to her, but her words almost seemed like the truth. Lee would never let Neji bad talk about TenTen or anyone else. He'd always pop up when Neji was bad talking and say the opposite.

"There's always something more you wish he'd say"

"You… TenTen-san, Lee-san won't wake up…" Neji spoke up softly, face apathetic. Sakura knew he wasn't going to say much else even though she knew that he knew both kunoichis wanted him to badmouth someone in crazy hope Lee would wake up. Hell, that was laughable… to think even she, a medical ninja, had been convinced for a second that Lee would wake up from his coma just because Neji was being an ass. She just wished he didn't have a higher chance of dying, so she could hear his excited voice once more, bragging about beating Naruto at something or something just totally random and stupid.

"He's everything you want
He's everything you need
He's everything inside of you
That you wish you could be"

"Lee, wake up… please… Gai-sensei said you'd be unyouthful if you don't…" TenTen said, laughing sadly at the end. The words had just fallen from her mouth like she had though Lee would wake up at being unyouthful. He was everything to her… her closest friend, her old teammate, her brotherly figure, her Lee. She wanted that Lee to wake up and hear her babble, to hug her in his bone-crushing hug, to be youthful… to be himself. To be the Lee all of Konoha knew and loved, not this man laying in a hospital bed unconscious.

"He says all the right things
At exactly the right time
But he means nothing to you
And you don't know why"

TenTen remembered the time in the Academy when they had just been announced Team 4 and the boy had turned around and winked at her. She hadn't known Neji specifically then, just as the boy every girl was crushing on and he was the rookie of the year. Unknowingly she had met Neji once before then, and she had been… curious, really. Lee she had met a few times before, and he had always been talking about somehow doing ninjutsu and genjutus and getting good at taijutsu. He wanted his dead parents to be proud of him. Hah, Team 4… Team Gai… the team of orphans. TenTen stood up, knees screaming in protest, and stood over Lee. Her hands went to his shoulders in a tight grip, sad smile on her lips. She could just shake him like she had in their genin days to wake him up…

"But you'll just sit tight
And watch it unwind"

Sakura stared at TenTen, eyes stalking her every move. She couldn't shake Lee like in the Forest of Death… Both girls jumped when Neji placed his hands on hers and gently guided them away from Lee's shoulders.

"TenTen-chan…" That would have been to much for Sakura. She knew she would have cried if she was in TenTen's place, with her loud-mouthed teammate lying practically dead and then her stoic teammate who never called her '-chan' suddenly did. But all TenTen did was turn around to grip Neji's loose robes and rest her forehead on his chest. His eye twitched at the intimate contact, but he didn't stop her. Sakura smiled softly at the wordless, untouching comfort Neji was providing her TenTen. She wished Sasuke had never run off to Oto to be with Orochimaru…

"It's only what you're asking for
And you'll be just fine
With all of your time
It's only what you're waiting for"

"All I'm asking for is for Lee-kun to wake up… that's not much, is it? I'll be happy if he does…" Sakura stayed silent, still watching TenTen, as she spoke. She wanted to voice her agreement so much that it hurt, but she felt like she was already intruding on something she shouldn't be. Talking would make it worse.

"Out of the island
Into the highway
Past the places where you might have turned"

"Lee-kun needs to wake up. If he doesn't… if he doesn't I don't know what I'll do. He was the pull to equal out the push… with out the pull, it's only the push…" TenTen said, staring into the creamy depths of the soft fabric in her hands. She had never told anyone, not even Lee, about the way she though of her old team… of that push-pull relationship. After all, Neji would just ignore her, and Lee wouldn't get it unless she explained it fully. Then she'd seem like some needy, whiney girl… and TenTen didn't want that.

"You never did notice
But you still hide away
The anger of angels who won't return"

TenTen sighed, feeling the need to press her face into Neji's shirt. It was a rare sight to see him clad in such soft robes anymore. She had never noticed how angry Tsunade or Shizune or any of the other medical people seemed when the boys left too early for their own good. Now she wanted that anger to be directed at Lee as he ran away, shouting about the training he was missing and how he needed to surpass Neji. Or to be outside, pushing himself to the limits on the hospital's front lawn, doing push ups on one arm because the other was incapable of taking his weight. But that anger wouldn't come back if he never did that… well, that anger directed at him wouldn't, anyways.

"He's everything you want
He's everything you need
He's everything inside of you
That you wish you could be"

Sakura took her eyes of the two standing ex-Team Gai members to look at the unconscious one. He was everything a girl could wish for… except for small eyebrows. But he was just too cute not to have them, and he'd be un-Lee if he shaved them off slash waxed them. Sakura knew she needed Lee in her life to be the little ray of youthful green sunshine she could never be. To be that 'Nice Guy' posing man to laugh with. She needed all of Lee, large eyebrows to his youthfulness about training.

"He says all the right things
At exactly the right time
But he means nothing to you
And you don't know why"

He had confessed his love to her too many times to count, but Sakura had never returned it. Lee meant nothing to her in the romantic department even after everything he had done for her. She felt guilty at that, like she was taking advantage of him and his kindness.

"I am everything you want
I am everything you need
I am everything inside of you
That you wish you could be"

Lee stared down at his friends, smiling sadly. He wasn't going back to them; he knew it. Lee wasn't scared of the death coming to him. No, in fact, he was curious. Why could he watch them, like a floating ball above their heads even the mighty all-seeing Byakugan couldn't see, and hear them talk and think? He could hear TenTen and Sakura both thinking about him, how he was everything they wanted and needed… how they wished to be a bit more like him… and how neither of them could return his love. TenTen thought of him as a brother while Sakura thought of him as a best friend.

"I say all the right things
At exactly the right time
But I mean nothing to you and I don't know why
And I don't know why"

He knew he said all the things they needed to hear when the felt bad. He knew he meant nothing to them in the romantic department. But why he didn't know. Lee could understand how TenTen thought of him as the brother she never had because they were on the same team and that type of thing usually happened, but Sakura… Sasuke was dead and Naruto was dating Hinata. Sai was dating Ino. Shino and Kiba seemed to have an on-off thing going on. Shikamaru was dating Temari. Choji was still hoping Ino would give up on Sai and move onto him. Kankuro has passed away recently. Neji, though he denied it when Lee asked, was probably never going to move off of TenTen. Lee knew he was a patient man and would never give up, much like himself. That left Sakura no one from their age group… except for Gaara. But Gaara seemed to be heading for that student of his, Matsuri, and, besides, he was the Kazekage. He couldn't have a relationship with a girl in Konoha.

"Why"

Lee looked down at his teammates and saw Neji's fingers twitching. Most would take that as a sign of him not wanting to be touched, but Lee took it as a sign of self-control. Neji looked up, eyes boring into where Lee was watching them. Lee knew he couldn't see him no matter how much of the prickly 'I'm-being-watched' feeling he got. He floated down to them, taking both of them into a hug. Lee wished he could have stayed alive long enough to win Sakura over, if he ever could, to see Neji grow some balls, to actually be able to hug Neji one day, to beat him, too… for Neji to finally admit he never really hated Lee, to see if TenTen passed the ANBU exams she had just taken two months ago, to see his teammates in one of Gai's youthful green spandex suits… to kiss Sakura… to have kids with Sakura… to grow old with Sakura… to marry her, to date her…

"I don't know"

Lee moved over to Sakura, staring at her lips. Oh how he wanted to kiss her… but he wanted to kiss her alive and with out thinking he was taking advantage of her. He wanted to know why she never felt attracted to him like she had been to Sasuke, like she still was. Lee leaned down and kissed her cheek tenderly, wishing she could feel it. He floated back up to the ceiling, watching Sakura intently as her eyebrows came together and her left hand came up to her cheek where he had kissed her. Lee did a nice guy pose, shining grin and all, as he said, "Good bye, my youthful friends. I hope we meet again in a long time so your lives will be long lived, okay? Be youthful and visit my grave for me at least once a month… tell Gai-sensei he was the father I never had. Neji-kun, TenTen-chan, Gai-sensei, Sakura-chan, Naruto-kun… everyone, I'll miss you. Please, don't cry for me…"

Beeeep. The awful screech made Sakura bawl, TenTen clutch Neji in a more needing way, Neji to stare at Lee's now lifeless body, and for a nurse to run in, her papers flying.

A/N: So… I was looking for one video I'd seen and found this song instead. I immediately thought of Team Gai… prolly 'cause it was a NejiTen video that came with the song. XD But whatevs. Then I started to think about it and came up with that when my first thought was pure NejiTen-ness. You can interpret this how you want, LeeSaku, LeeTen, NejiTen (even though it was only Lee's opinion that this would happen), SasuSaku, NaruSaku… and all the other pairs actually said. They were probably about 18-19-ish in this fic, making Sakura 17-18-ish. I feel bad for making Lee die… I'm such a bad, unyouthful person. D: But at least I made Lee a pimp. Yes, okay, someone slap me with a fish for that. I know I said I'd do InoSai or ShikaTema next (forgot which), but this came up and I still have yet to get inspiration for those even though I know what songs I want to use. I blame it on my new addiction and craving to Naru/HP crossovers. And my summer homework I have to do in just about a month.