A/N: Enjoy!
Disclaimer: Don't own.

Chapter 4: Team Gai

Neji wandered to his training site, his eyes downcast and his heart heavy. He had to see them, his team. They had spent the majority of their time training, practicing in the forest and the area marked as Training Grounds 13. He remembered the cries of youth by Gai-sensei, and the echoes by Lee. He remembered their training grounds were littered with weapons of all kinds, half-destroyed logs, and Kaiten-made craters.

His legs strode faster, and soon he was running.

He stopped.

Two figures stood at the training area, the smaller hitting a training log roughly, dents already made.

Lee.

Neji walked closer, and he realized both were not wearing the usual green-as-grass green. They wore black, mourning his death. The rhythm was kept even as each strike resounded in a steady beat.

"Lee... stop..." Gai murmured half-heartedly.

The younger one shook his head angrily, continuing to hit against the tree. Gai sighed, dark bags under his eyes. His movements were slower, wearier, weaker. The once energetic "Konoha Green Beast" moved like an old man, with slow and steady steps as he watched his student. His fame as the Green Beast had slowly faded away and his crown handed over to Lee, who was wasting every second by straining his body even more.

Neji watched as Lee continued to attack the tree, his fists bloodied.

"I... I... promised him... that one day... one day I would... beat a genius... with hard work... but," Lee stopped, wiping at his tears angrily. "I... broke my promise..."

"Lee..."

"Gai-sensei..." Lee looked up, and Neji had to look away. The baby round face had been chiseled throughout the years, and he looked different, a way Neji never noticed. Neji remembered those days, when Lee would declare everyday, trying to prove he could beat him with hard work, before eating the dirt at Neji's feet.

"Why did he have to die? He... he was a genius..."

"In the world of the shinobi," Gai said solemnly, the exact opposite of his usual personality. "The good must die first. He did not deserve his fate; he did not deserve to lose a precious person so young and innocent. Neji will always be in our hearts as a genius, a master."

Lee nodded, wiping his eyes. Neji took a step closer, before breaking in a fit of violent coughing.

The two turned their heads, not seeing, but feeling.

Lee murmured softly to his teacher, "Gai-sensei, I want to be alone."

The old teacher nodded before leaving his student. Lee pounded the tree fiercely, unaware of his old partners approach. Rock Lee had grown up, considerably. Hard earned muscles rippled through the boy's body, as they contracted with each punch.

"Rock Lee..." Neji murmured, his fists clenched. The spontaneous and overly annoying boy had grown on him like green moss over his heart, there were times when Neji enjoyed those times he and Lee battled, especially when Lee could attack him faster than even Tenten's blows, heightening both their skills. Finally, after his death, after his final fall, he could acknowledge the green-clad boy's dream, to be as strong as him.

Lee stopped, turning, his eyes softening before his fists loosened against his sides.

"Tenten-chan."

Neji's heart skipped a beat at the sound of his lover's name, and he turned to meet eyes with Tenten.

Chocolate brown strands were pulled tightly, crisply in two buns, a black shirt and capris around her thinner body. Lips were curled down in a tight frown, face sealed of any emotion, as she looked almost haughtily at her teammate. But Neji could see, Byakagun or not, that inside, Tenten was dying. Behind the veil of impassiveness, she had shed tears he could not heal, no matter how strong or insistent he was.

Lee walked through him – the feeling of nothing was still foreign – to meet Tenten. Strong arms wrapped around her, as she stood still in his arms. Waves of jealousy passed through Neji, that Lee was allowed to heal his Tenten, that Lee was to fix her.

But Tenten did not look at the taijutsu expert, she looked at him, or at least where he stood. Unlike Hanabi, she did not stare at him as a whole.

She stared into his eyes.

"Neji's here," she whispered, and Neji could see the tightening of Lee's fingers.

"Tenten-chan... Neji's..."

"Dead. I know," Tenten replied smoothly. Why wasn't she crying? Why wasn't she breaking down like everyone else?

Neji smiled softly, sadly. Tenten knew him well, Tenten knew him better than he knew himself. She knew he would hate to see her cry, he would hate to see her break down because of him.

"He's not here."

"Lee, Neji's here."

Tenten moved from Lee's arms, walking towards Neji.

His heart stopped, and a small smile curved on his lips.

Arms wrapped around him, as he dropped his around her slender waist. Then he felt tears. She sobbed quietly in his arms, begging, wishing she could hold him forever.

The world melted around them, and his eyes closed as the feeling of her body pressed against his kept him up, kept him alive. His world felt light, and her touch seemed to lessen.

"Tenten," he whispered her name once more, before the touch of her fingers against his skin disappeared and he was thrown back into darkness.

A/N: I really don't know how I'll end this. Last one is the next one. I know I mushed Lee and Tenten, but I really want to finish this.