Authors Notes 1) I don't own Naruto or its characters.

2) Please review this story, as it is the first one I have written, feedback would greatly help me improve.

3) Constructive criticism is perfectly fine, compliments are also nice.

4) Thank you to my friend Alex for his help.

Chapter 4

They broke the kiss, Sakura looking down at Lee with a smile. The thick-eyebrowed ninja was wearing the largest grin she had ever seen on him. Her own smile changed into a thoughtful gaze as she looked at Lee.

"Lee-kun, why do your parents look so different than you do?"

Lee merely smiled at the question. "By which you mean, why do they look normal when I look like this. I'm adopted, Sakura-chan. No one really knows who my parents were, but it's likely that they were killed in Kyubi's attack on the village. But when did you meet my parents?"

Sakura laughed at the question, shaking her head. "You've been in the hospital for several weeks, Lee-kun, you don't think they came to see you?"

"Ah yes, were they nice to you? Oh, Sakura-chan, did Gai-sensei come to visit me?"

"They seemed like very nice people, Lee. And everyone has stopped by at least once. Gai was here a few times."

"Oh." His face went slightly downcast. "He hasn't spent much time here then."

Sakura tried to think of a way to cheer him up. It was true that Gai had not been in all that often, but it had been obvious that he had been worried about his former student. She decided o just go with the truth. "You know that he cares about you, Lee-kun. Gai-sensei was very worried, but that doesn't mean that he can stop doing his job. He does have a new group of students to teach, remember?"

Lee's eyes began to water. "How foolish of me, Sakura-chan. How could I expect Gai-sensei to abandon his students after all he has taught me? A ninja must always fulfill his mission, no matter what his personal feelings." The young man's expression changed, his eyes clearing, excitement shining out of them. "Gai-sensei is an amazing teacher, and his students are lucky to have his example to benefit from so early on in the springtime of their youth!"

The smile remained on Sakura's face, although inwardly she shook her head. She admired Lee's enthusiasm, but suspected that such proclamations involving the 'springtime of youth' would become annoying fairly quickly. "Indeed Lee-kun."

"What about you, Sakura-chan?" Lee gave her a confused look.

"I don't know. Kakashi-sensei was very nice, and it's not that he did a poor job of training us. Still, we were the first group that he passed, and I'm not too sure that he would have done some things the same way if he had had a bit more experience." Sakura shrugged her shoulders, "I guess maybe Gai beats him in that respect."

"Um, I meant how have you been able to spend all your time here instead of carrying out your own missions, Sakura-chan?"

"Well," she replied, shifting her weight nervously from one foot to the other as she spoke, "I asked Hokage-sama for a leave of absence until you awoke; I suppose now that you are, I'll start getting missions again."

"That would be correct," spoke a new voice from the hall.

Sakura turned while Lee strained to sit up, both recognizing the voice at the door. Tsunade strode into the room, her face a mixture of happiness and care. "Well, it's about time you woke up, Lee. You've worried me, as well as a lot of other people, especially your friend here. You're pretty lucky to have someone who cares that deeply for you.

Lee looked down for a moment, shrugging his shoulders in an attempt to hide his embarrassment.

"Hokage-sama, when may I return to active duty?"

"Well, Lee, probably not for a while. I'm guessing you used your Primary Lotus technique. And of course you used all six gates that you are capable of." When he nodded confirmation, she shook her head. "I'd say you are going to be out for at least three more weeks. More likely it will be a little over a month. And depending on how fast you heal, I may have you assigned to a lighter schedule than you are used to after that." She raised her hand to silence any protest before it came. "Don't look at me like that, Lee. There's a reason that the Lotus techniques are forbidden jutsu, to say nothing of everything Sasuke inflicted on you. Speaking of which, now that you are awake, I need to see how much movement you are capable of." Tsunade turned to Sakura. "I'm going to have to ask you to leave. Come back in an about an hour or so if you wish."

Sakura nodded to the Hokage, turned and gave a quick smile to Lee and then quickly left the room.

Sakura took the time to get something to eat, and to visit Ino at work. She barely had time to tell her that Lee was awake before she was dashing back to the hospital to see how he was. She arrived just as Tsunade was exiting the room. Tsunade motioned for her to follow, and Sakura fell into step behind her.

"Well," the Hokage began, "it isn't quite as bad as I suspected. His bones are almost completely healed. There were quite a few broken ones, but it wasn't too bad. It looks like I pretty much fixed those up when I treated him. The real problem is going to be his nerves. Sasuke's torture jutsu did a hell of a number on those. His muscles and bones shouldn't take very long to finish healing at all. But even after they do, it's going to take a lot of work for him to be ready to return to active duty. And not only that but he's going to need another ninja to help him train.

"Why?"

"Mostly to supervise him. He'll push himself too far too fast otherwise. It will probably be a problem to find someone to work with him. I'll need someone he trusts. Someone who he will listen to if they tell him to stop."

"What about Gai?"

Tsunade rolled her eyes. "Right. Gai will definitely tell Lee that he needs to stop training after he hits his limit. Besides, he's got his own students to look after right now, and a mission like this will defiantly take up a lot of time. It will need to be someone who doesn't have any other duties at the moment." Tsunade gave Sakura a sly look. "Can you think of anyone Lee trusts that doesn't have any other missions coming up, Sakura?"

"Hokage-sama, are you actually serious about this?"

Tsunade smiled and Sakura broke out into a wide grin. "Just get him back into shape as soon as possible," ordered the Hokage. "But make sure he doesn't push himself too much."

"Hai! Thank you very much, Hokage-sama." Sakura stopped walking for a moment to bow to Tsunade, before matching stride with her once more.

Tsunade waved her hand dismissivly. "Don't mention it, it will probably help you to work on your skills at the same time. After all, he will need a sparring partner." Tsunade looked at Sakura and arched her eyebrows, hoping to draw a rise out of the younger ninja. Sakura however, merely blushed and turned her face away.

Oh well, thought Tsunade, they couldn't all be as much fun as Naruto. Still, there was more business to attend to. She snapped her fingers to regain Sakura's attention.

"It's your turn to talk. I still need my report on Uchiha Sasuke

Well, I finally got Lee out of the hospital. I hope this will allow for further character development in future chapters, as well as giving me a chance to try writing some fights. I've been running through a few in my head and think they will go better than the one from chapter 2.

Since people who reviewed seemed positive about it, I have wrote a side story about after Naruto lost control to Kyubi in chapter 2. It is called We Can Never Be. Hopefully you can find it since my friends report it is impossible to search for me or my works in any way.

As always, please review- Delais Starlight