Now this chapter is my favourite so far, yes i seem to put my characters through a lot of crap. I hope i did well with this chapter but without more talking, here's the next chapter.
Disclaimer - I don't own Naruto
Lee sighed knowing there was no way out of it and he slowly and carefully lifted his top half-way up his body to reveal a huge black bruise about the size of a fist.
Sakura couldn't help but let out a sob as she looked at it. How could this happen to him? He had better reflexes than anyone she knew, so why would he let this happen to him?
'L-lee-kun? Who did this to you?' She asked worried about his safety.
He quickly pulled down his top and quickly stood up and said flustered 'I-i can not tell you that. It would do no good.'
'How won't it do any good. It will let me be able to help you and we could get this sorted and you won't be hurt anymore.' Sakura said jumped up pleading with him to reconsider.
He looked at her pleading face and quickly looked away in pain. He knew he couldn't tell her and keeping her in the dark about this was killing him from inside. He couldn't describe how much he wanted to tell her everything but he knew he couldn't. He couldn't betray him, not that he couldn't, he just didn't want to. It would cause more problems than solve them.
He smiled at her and said cheerily 'Sakura-chan, there's no need to worry. I'm used to this. This is tame, compared to usual.'
Sakura didn't want to make him angry again, but she needed to know. She felt very protective of him, like a brother she never had, almost as much as she did about Gaara.
'But.. Lee-kun?' She questioned.
'Look. Sakura. I'm fine okay.' He said a bit agitated, he wanted to end the conversation there but she obviously didn't, he could tell that just from the look he was given, but the words which came out of her mouth shocked him.
'If you say so Lee-kun.' She sighed sadly. She felt sad because he didn't feel like he could trust her, and she knew it, but for some reason she couldn't explain the sudden pain in her heart. She didn't even register the fact that he had just called her by her name. She wanted to know more, but she knew if she pushed him too far then he would snap at her again and she didn't want that. The topic must be fairly close to him if he got this worked up over it.
Lee just stared blankly at her. He didn't think she would stop there, he thought that she would keep pushing. He couldn't say he wasn't glad that she did what she did, but deep down he felt like he needed her to push until he told her the truth. He hid this way deep down because he wasn't going to betray him no matter how much he knew needed to. He was fighting an internal battle between his heart and his head and at this present moment in time his heart was winning.
He sighed deeply before speaking, 'I wish I could tell you. You have no idea how happy I am because you are worrying about me, I'm so happy. I thank you for your concern.' He said with a bow. As he did, Sakura saw tears tracks on his face. This made her feel worse, she had made him cry and she felt like joining him at the time.
'You have to make things more difficult on yourself to help others and I admire that, I just wish you would open up a bit more. Stop being so secretive about everything.' Sakura said keeping her voice steady.
Lee lifted up and smiled at her through his tears, which were shown to be happy tears. 'I shall be more truthful, but this is the exception I hope you realise.'
Sakura lightened up a little when she saw the wasn't sad but pouted when he still wouldn't tell her.
They stood fairly close and when Lee saw this irresistible pout he couldn't help but reach over and ruffle her pink hair. 'Don't be in a mood with me. I'm just doing you a favour here.'
She stopped pouting and looked at him confused as she pushed his hand off and started smoothing out her hair again, 'What do you mean Lee-kun? Doing me a favour, how?'
He smiled sweetly and said, 'You're better off not knowing, how this happened.'
At that moment Gai-sensei came around the corner and saw the two of them. Both of them unexplainably blushed and looked away, as if being caught doing something they shouldn't, but they knew it was perfectly normal to just talk. Gai-sensei was none the wiser of the atmosphere surrounding them and was concerned about Lee.
'Why aren't you training Lee?' He asked directly, 'You never normally stop until it gets very late and you aren't even in your uniform.'
Lee's eyes dangerously flashed at Sakura with one meaning, just keep quiet and don't say a word, and then quickly looked back at his father.
'After dinner I felt a little bit sick, but it didn't get any better. I figured I'd skip training today and then do double tomorrow to make up for it.' Lee said as honestly as he could. He knew he couldn't slip up here, he didn't like lying to his father but that's all he could do in this situation.
'Are you okay?' Gai-sensei asked, totally ignoring Sakura's presence briefly.
'I'm better now but I could do with a rest first.' He replied honestly, because he really could do with a lie down.
'I'll walk with you there then, make sure you're okay.' He said leading Lee away.
Sakura stood there gob-smacked. She couldn't believe that Lee could lie with a straight face at all let alone to his own father.
'I'll see you later Sakura-chan, I'll be okay.' He said as he started walking away, he then looked over his shoulder and with a cheeky grin and his trademark thumbs-up he added, 'and maybe you should take a shower, trust me, you'll feel better.'
Before she could think of a retort he was gone and she was left standing in the glade staring at the spot where he had disappeared.
She shook her head and started off in the other direction heading to the showers in her dorm.
The shower was very much needed after that training session, if you call it that, all she done was run for about an hour but muscles she never she had were burning. The hot water of the shower released these tensed muscles and she felt much more relaxed. Okay, maybe Lee does know what he's going on about some of the time, she thought absent-mindedly. She started getting changed into a pair of clothes
I wonder what's happened to make Lee not talk about it, she thought, could Lee maybe be afraid of this person. She couldn't help but think that it would be better if she told someone but every time she thought about it she was overcome with guilt. Lee had specifically asked her not to mention it at all, but she couldn't let her friend get hurt. She was going around in circles and it wasn't good for her. She tried to leave it and sleep on it instead. Maybe she would come up with an answer through the night, it was getting late after all, but instead it was all she could think about. She needed someone to talk to but she knew that she couldn't talk to anybody here, she daren't.
She almost kicked herself when she realised there was at least one person she could talk to without any problems, Gaara. It wasn't even anything to do with her but she felt so strongly about it, she didn't want her friend to be hurt anymore. If there were any time she needed Gaara, then it would be now, so she grabbed her phone and scrolled through her contacts and dialled his number. She only hoped that he wouldn't have his phone on silent right now.
Almost immediately he answered, 'Hello?'
'Gaara, I'm so glad you answered.' Sakura rushed, he was lucky he had heard what she had said.
'Sakura? What's wrong?' He asked slowly, hopefully to calm her down and to stop her from panicking.
'One of my friends may be in danger, and I don't know what to do.' She sobbed, this was obviously tearing herself apart on the inside, more than she had originally realised.
'Okay.' He whispered softly barely able for her to hear but since she was around him too long she knew what to look for, 'Take a deep breath and start from the beginning.'
She took a deep breath and was about to start telling him the story but she realised, she couldn't exactly tell him everything. She couldn't tell him her secret, as much as she may want to.
'Well. I was going to meet with Lee-kun earlier to do some one-to-one tutoring for school because I really need it. I got there early and made a start but when he did show up, he was limping as if he'd been attacked. Strange thing is that he's quite strong and really good at martial arts, yet he didn't defend himself or stop it from happening. He got really angry at me and was really quiet while I done my work, yet once I'd finished he had cheered up. I was a bit mean to him but it forced him to show me this huge bruise and well he clammed up again. I didn't push for more but now I'm really worried about him. He kept saying that this regularly happened and that what he had endured was tame.' She said emitting anything to do with ninjas, yes she was still technically being tutored, so she wasn't exactly lying.
'Hmmmm.' He replied. He genuinely wanted to help Sakura and her friend, Lee, but he didn't know anyway to do so. He had trouble calming Sakura down when she got worked up over things like this, so could he really help with a big problem like this? 'Shouldn't you go to a teacher or a family member or something and tell them this?' He asked.
'That's what I say but Lee-kun won't let me, he made me promise to keep quiet. He isn't going to tell anyone. I just found out by chance. Is it really that serious that I should say something even if I promised not to?' She said sadly, wiping her eyes from the dried tears.
'I think this is something that you need to work out for yourself. All I know is that he needs somebody right now and considering you know his problem, then it should obviously be you at his side right now, not mine.' Gaara said sadly
Sakura was about to ask what he meant when he cut across her, 'Well what are you waiting for, get going?' He said in a joking commanding tone.
This made her smile and she said 'Yes sir!'
'That's a good girl. Talk to you soon?' He asked anxiously.
'Of course, speak to you soon.' She replied and ended the call.
'He was right, as always. Lee-kun needs me and I'm just worrying about what would happen to him, not how he's feeling right now. That was selfish of me.' She said out loud to herself and put her head in her hands, she felt rotten. She flinched when she felt something wet on her hand but then she realised that she hadn't dried her hair. She had no time to get it dry properly so she put a white towel on her head to dry her hair as she went. Once she closed her door, she saw Ino turn the corner to get to her dorm.
'You going somewhere?' She asked as she opened her door.
'Yeah I have something to do before I go to bed.' She replied walking past her.
'Okay, well everyone's asleep so try not to be too loud, and don't be too late coming back, we have school in the morning.' Ino said smiling.
Sakura giggled a little, 'What are you, my mum?' She asked, 'Don't worry I won't be long. Night.'
Sakura left without another word and she bounced down the stairs. She opened the door quietly, only to hear a commotion just down the hall. She was surprised that it didn't wake anybody up but then she remembered that the walls were soundproofed, for obvious reasons. She felt bad for eavesdropping but she didn't want to disturb the argument occurring outside, so she stayed with the door opening until there came a time when it had calmed down.
So because there was nothing else to do, she waited and listened.
She could tell there was two people, mainly because the one who spoke was obviously directing his anger onto someone and she knew there had to be someone to take it.
'Why? Why are you doing this to me?' One voice questioned, she didn't recognise the voice but it was full of anger and hate even though he was speaking fairly quietly for now. The other never spoke, she could see the other looking down at their feet trying to avoid confrontation even though it was on their doorstep.
'Well. Say something!' He shouted the last bit, he didn't care if there were anybody around to hear him.
'Ohhh. I see now.' He said with a sadistic tone, 'You think that nothing's going to happen if you stay quiet, eh? Well you're wrong there.'
There was a small silence as if letting the words sink in.
Out of the blue the man shouted something and it made Sakura jump but she managed to stop herself from gasping, 'Who are you and why do you look like me?' He man shouted with malice.
Next came a loud crack which rung out through the corridor and then a bang as something fell to the floor.
Sakura had enough. She wasn't going to let this carry on, it was bordering on assault, actually it was.
She quickly wrenched the door open and ran down the hall to where they were and saw that there was a tall looming figure standing above another with a look on his face to kill and the other on the floor holding his arm out to try and stop his attacker while using the other to lean up.
It wasn't until she had got between them that she noticed who the attacker was. It was Gai-sensei, though as she had never seen him before. His face contorted into one of rage, directed not at her but at the person behind her. She was scared to look behind her in case of the person she saw was who she dreaded it being.
'S-sakura...chan.' She heard from behind.
'Stop it! Stop hurting him. Why are doing this to your own son?' She asked him urgently. She just couldn't believe that Gai-sensei would do this. So this is why he won't say a word to anyone about it.
'And who are you? Why do you say he's my son? I don't have any children.' He asked both curiously and angrily.
It was Sakura's turn to start looking odd. Has he forgotten me? Why does he say he doesn't have a son? He's almost always bragging about it.
'I'm Sakura. One of your students.'
'But I'm no teacher.' He said
His eyes narrowed and she could see the hate in those eyes. Its scared her.
'I don't know who you are or what you're trying to do to me but it isn't going to work.' He shouted at her spraying her with spit as he did. All she saw was his arm going backwards and then she suddenly felt the warmness of something green in front of her and the sound of a muffled sound of two arms colliding. She had to steady herself against the back because of the speed everything occurred at.
'Not her.' He pleaded, 'This has nothing to do with her, so leave her out of it. You can hit me all you want but lay a finger on her and you've had it.' He growled at the end.
She would never had recognised that her saviour was Lee if she hadn't saw his face. He was in immense pain through his father's beatings, yet he put it all aside for her. She strangely touched by this. She didn't want him to fall out with his dad for her but it seemed like this was what he wanted to do.
His arm gave a shove and pushed away his father's arm. The collision must have been because Lee blocked the slap. She was amazed at the fact of how he managed to get up and protect her so quickly. He threw his arms outwards making sure Sakura was safely behind him and so he could protect her if he tried something again. She took a step back to give Lee some space when she hit an object on the floor. All she knew was it was heavy because her foot couldn't move it, but she didn't dare look and kept all her attention on Gai-sensei.
In all the confusion she never noticed that the towel which was neatly perched on her head had came loose and was now on the floor, allowing the flaming pink hair to flop down.
'Heh! Saving your girlfriend?' Gai-sensei laughed nastily and looked at her once again. When he did, the laughter died on his lips and his face blanched. He'd looked like he'd seen a ghost. Sakura could see sweat dripping from his brow which wasn't there before onto a puddle on the floor. He was really panicking about something but Sakura didn't know what.
'A-are you alright? Gai-sensei?' Sakura said taking a step forward and around Lee's arm, to his protest.
'S-stay back. Don't come any closer.' He stuttered as he fell backwards and landed in a heap on the floor. He quickly scrambled to his feet away from her and ran around the corner out of sight.
Sakura stood there with a hand reached out to where he was while she stared confused at what had just happened.
Behind her Lee suddenly spoke which made Sakura jump and turn around, 'He won't be back for a while.' He said sadly looking ahead of him and then turning to Sakura and smiling. 'Are you okay?' He asked concerned.
Sakura just stared at his expression and was instantly attracted to the red mark on his face and cut from his father's slap. Her eyes narrowed and she simply replied, 'I think, you have some explaining to do.' She folded her arms in front of her as if to convey that she was not going to move until she found out the truth.
Lee sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose between his eyes and said, 'Yeah you're right. But not here, how about my dorm? And I'll explain everything.'
Sakura blushed slightly and nodded. It would be slightly embarrassing to be in his dorm but even worse if she were caught by his room-mates there, she knew they would make fun at her expense, if she knew who they were. She only hoped he didn't live with Neji because he always made of fun of Lee and her.
Lee winced slightly as he picked up the objects she had almost tripped over before and Sakura picked the towel up. They seemed like small blocks of metal and wood attached to a strip of material, she was curious as to what it was.
'What are they?' She asked touching it.
'They're weights, for training.' He said matter-of-factly.
'How heavy are they?'
'Do you want to see for yourself?' He asked with the hint of a joke in his voice.
'Go on then.' He chose one and placed it on her hand without letting go, even though he never let go but still let her hold it, it caused her hand to fly down.
'Ow!' She said, 'That's heavy. How do you do it?' She asked.
He placed one in each of his leg-warmers which he always wore under his normal clothes and uniform. She thought it was weird that he always wore them, but now she realised that it had it's purpose. She smiled and said, 'Now I see how you were so fast before. Taking all that weight off must be a blessing.'
'You get used to it after a while.'
Sakura quickly finished drying her hair and wrapped the towel up under the arm.
'Would I be able to do that?'
'Eh?' Lee asked confused he didn't exactly know what she meant by that.
'Weights. Would I be able to have weights myself?' She asked
'We'll get you sorted after I've explained myself. Okay?' Lee said leading the way to his dorm.
They soon reached it when he opened the door to the dorm next door to hers. He popped his head in listening for any sounds of people up and about. He heard none and pushed the door open fully and led Sakura in before silently closing it behind him. He stalked up the stairs and before turning the corner to go to the bedrooms, he stuck his head round the corner once again and saw no light from under the occupied rooms, he waved Sakura up the stairs and he opened the door at the far end.
After Sakura entered he closed the door and picked up a pair of pyjamas off his bed and told her to wait while he got himself changed.
His room was a forest green colour while he had burgundy bed-sheets. There were hardly any personal belongings, in his room, just his desk with school work neatly piled on there and his dresser and drawers containing his clothes. She didn't venture towards these since it would have been rude to look. She noticed two metal bars hanging from the ceiling about a body length apart and a fairly large open-top wooden box along one wall. She was curious as to what these were for but she had other things to worry about.
That moment Lee came out of the bathroom wearing a dark green t-shirt and a pair of black jogging pants and sat down on the chair from the desk.
'May I be excused for a moment?' She asked, she soon realised that this could be a long conversation and she didn't want to have to excuse herself in the middle of it.
He nodded and she got up and went into the bathroom. Before she came back out she saw there was a small first aid kit behind the door. She didn't know much but she knew he was a martyr and he wouldn't have done anything to tend to his wounds at all, so it was left to her. She picked it up and left the room.
Lee looked at her holding the first aid kit and was confused. What does she want that for? He thought.
Sakura noticed the confused look and sighed, 'It's for you. You need to tend to your wounds. I mean you've got a cut on your face and it could become infected.'
Lee was about to protest but she cut across him, 'Just shut up and deal with it. Let me handle it. Then we can talk'
She put the case on the bed and opened it up, she found a bottle which said antiseptic and she had also picked up some cotton wool before she came out. She opened the bottle and put the cotton wool at the end and upturned the bottle, so the liquid was soaking into the material. She turned it back round and placed in on the desk. Lee sat quietly on the chair and turned his head so the hurt cheek was closest to her.
'This may sting a bit, but it needs to be done.' She said before she gently dabbed at the cut. She heard the small gasps which came from Lee when she did, but to make sure it was completely clean she had to keep going, no matter how guilty she may feel. As she reached the end, the frequency of stifled gasps from Lee decreased.
She put the cotton wool down and Lee started to get out the chair, but a firm hand stopped him. He could have fought against it but he just didn't have the strength anymore.
'What makes you think we're finished there?' Sakura said smiling at him.
Lee smiled even though it stung slightly. He saw Sakura turn back to the case and saw her picking up a plaster. She ripped the packet open and applied it to his face.
'How about now?' He asked.
'Not yet. Lean forward.' Sakura commanded. All he think in his mind was 'yes ma'am' but he didn't voice it, he just did as he was told.
She picked up a long roll of a bandage and said, 'I'm sure you know what this is. I'm going to bandage up your side to give it a bit of support, okay?' Lee nodded.
She knelt beside the chair with a faint blush, she lifted up his top to reveal not only his bruise but to show his well-toned muscular chest.
'This may hurt but please bear with it okay?'
She started wrapping the bandage around the area above the wound to create a starting point for her. She kept wrapping and wrapping his stomach up firmly but not too tight as to stop circulation. Once she had covered the wound she reached for a safety pin and clipped the bandage into place. She slowly tugged on his top until it was smooth again.
'Is that okay? Or is it too tight?' She asked him.
'It's as good as new. Thank you.' He said, eyes tearing up.
'What's wrong?' She asked as she wiped away a tear which had fell.
'Nobody's ever done something like this for me. Thank you Sakura-chan.' He repeater, wiping his eyes.
'You don't have to thank me. It's the least I could do. You saved me from your father, I should be saying thanks here.' She said.
'That man wasn't my dad.' He said slightly bluntly. She could tell that this bothered him even if he didn't show it.
'I-i don't know what you mean.' She said confused, 'That was Gai-sensei and he is your dad. You told me that yourself.'
'Yes Gai-sensei is my dad. But that man may look like him, well it is him, but that wasn't my father.' He said sadly.
'Maybe you should start explaining.' She said and sat on the bed, getting herself comfy for a long conversation.
'Well I guess the beginning is the best place to start. It all started two years ago when I first came to this school.' Lee said reminiscent.
'I was so pleased to have finally came here, my family was proud of me, well as proud as they could be, and I was finally settling in when...'
~Start of Flashback~
Lee was spending some quality time with his dad, starting out on the first steps of his ninja training. He couldn't wait. Even though they had found out early that he couldn't use his Chakra, his father still persisted and was going to teach him all he knew of taijutsu.
At first he was a clumsy student and didn't get things right all the time but he was very enthusiastic all the same, and at times he was admired for that, even if he was shunned by his fellow students for his 'disability'.
Today was just a normal day, sun was shining and the air was fresh as it had rained recently and was heavily laden with the scent of pine trees around them. It was warm and dry so Lee and his father were taking a break to have a drink before carrying on with their intense training.
'Lee?' Gai-sensei called his son's name
'Yes father?' He replied innocently. Lee was dressed very similarly to his father, in the same green jumpsuit, red headband around his waist and orange leg-warmers. The only difference being that Lee wore bandages around his forearms and hands. Their jet black hair were both cut into the same shiny bowl-cut and both blew in the gentle wind which carried the pine smell.
'I've been meaning to give you something, a present to help in your training.' Gai-sensei said slightly embarrassed.
Lee's face lit up. 'What is it?' He asked happily.
'Well. Taijutsu is the main branch of ninja abilities passed down through each of the male generation of this family. We have a unique technique to help us become stronger and faster than our opponents. We use weights to make us faster and stronger.' Gai-sensei reached into his pocket and took out a pair of light weights which were attached to a tattered piece of material, holding them all together.
'They were my father's and his father's before him, and now they're yours. Cherish them and pass them down to your kids when they become ready. When they become too light get new one's and keep these for memories.' He said as he handed them over.
Lee felt they were really heavy but he managed to keep a hold of them. 'Thank you.' He said overjoyed with tears welling up in the corner of his eyes, threatening to leak out if he didn't control himself, which he didn't. He reached over and pulled his father into a hug so he could let his tears out without his father knowing, but of course he knew when he could feel small wet patches form around his chest area.
Lee pulled away in his own time and tied the weights around his leg which he covered up with his leg-warmers. 'How do I look?' he asked.
'It's like looking through a mirror of me when I were your age.' Gai-sensei said smiling widely.
He stood there for a second and he then he felt a sudden headache. It was excruciatingly painful, but as he tried to push through the pain, his face fell on one side. He could no longer smile at the son, who he loved and wanted to show his pride for. He tried to put his hands on his sons shoulders but he could no longer lift his arms higher than an inch.
He started getting scared, he had no idea what was happening. His legs gave way and he was suddenly on the floor. His eyes rapidly switching sides as he saw himself fall, it was a strange experience, as much as he panicked he was in a state of euphoria, as if separated from his body but he knew he was still inside it.
'Father.' Lee said rushing to his side.
'Le-reeee...hel..eeeee.' He managed to wheeze out. He tried to say 'Lee, help me' but to Lee's ears it came out as a slur, to his own, he didn't even understand the words he spoke.
The last thing he could see was his sons rapidly moving mouth as he tried to speak to him before darkness overcame him and he fell unconscious.
~End of Flashback~
'That day was both the happiest and saddest of my life.' He had his face in his hands at this point. Not to cry but because he was worn out from the day and his wound wouldn't help.
Sakura contemplated this before questioning something, 'What happened to you father? You know when he collapsed and passed out.' She didn't exactly want to appear insensitive but it did seem a bit of a stupid point to end the story.
Lee smiled at her, 'Later on, I checked the symptoms and I found he had a stroke that day.'
'A stroke?' She repeated.
'Yes, it's when there is a blockage or a haemorrhage in the brain.' Lee informed her.
She fought the urge to facepalm, 'I know what a stroke is, but it's more the fact of how quickly it happened.' She said leaning forward to put her elbows on and lean on her knees while supporting her head on her hands.
'Yes. It was very fast. I didn't know what to do and I panicked.'
'So how does your dad beating you senseless come into this story?' She asked slightly angry by just the thought of it.
'Well that's the next bit, I need to tell you.' He said, and then launched into the next part of his story.
~Start of Flashback~
Lee sat there holding his father's head on his lap. He didn't know what to do, he was starting to be come hysterical. All he saw was his father fall to the floor and black out. He stood up and was about to go get help when he felt a firm grip around his leg. He screamed out in shock and fell on the floor. When he looked up he saw his father already in a sitting position, rubbing his temples to try and soothe his raging headache.
'Fa-father.' he stuttered, 'You're okay? I'm so pleased.' He crawled over and gave his father a tight hug.
The man in his embrace tensed up immediately, it was almost like he didn't know that Lee was there until the started crying uncontrollably.
'Father?' He repeated vacantly. He struggled to remember anything, before he passed out. All he could remember was him standing with a young boy who looked exactly like him. His eyes narrowed, this must be the boy. 'He must have stole my appearance. How dare he!' He thought infuriated.
He pushed the boy away to get a good look at him. 'He does look exactly like,' He thought, 'Even the eyes and the eyebrows are the same.'
'Who are you?' He asked trying to keep his sudden anger under control.
'Father? It's me, Lee, your son.' He said dazed by his question, and also his tone of voice. He had never heard a growl like he did when he said the word 'son' from his father ever and it terrified him.
'I have no son.' He said adamantly.
Tears welled up in the young boys eyes again, and yet again it angered him, he felt a sudden sadistic streak run through his body, he wanted to hurt him, badly.
When looking at the boy it was like looking in a mirror going through time to when he was a boy, or at least to how he imagined himself to be as a boy.
Suddenly a wild idea came into his head and he lunged at child in front of him and caught him in the chest area winding him and sending him flying off in the short distance.
He smirked ferociously and stalked off, crying with laughter as he went, leaving the boy behind in tatters.
~End of Flashback~
'So..Your father has a stroke...and then forgets he has a son and beats you? Is that right?' She asked lost.
'Essentially...yes.' He said finally, he was exhausted and needed to sleep soon otherwise he knew he was going to collapse himself. He yawned loudly.
'But how? Do you know what it's all caused by? Does Tenten know about this?' She asked frantically.
'One question at a time. No Tenten doesn't know, and I'd rather she didn't. Yes I know what it's caused by and what the problem is, and if you let me finish I'll tell you.'
Sakura quickly stopped asking questions and became slightly flustered as she started to fiddle with her uniform in shame.
'Well I'll get straight to the point because it's late. My dad has a multiple personality disorder.' He said dramatically, yet Sakura stayed silent and let him finish before asking questions.
'After I was first hit, I thought my dad had lost his memory and didn't know who I was. I thought it was amnesia or something but the next day he was perfectly normal with me, and the same the day after and the day after. He was normal until I got to the point where I thought I'd imagined it. And it happened again. Except more violent this time.
'After that time I decided to do some looking up of things and I found that he had a multiple personality disorder. The symptoms all fit. He always seems to have a headache when he's different, he had major memory loss and he gets angry really quickly. Not to mention the paranoia about me being him.' He ended.
Sakura waited a minute before finally asking something, 'So the Gai-sensei who beats you isn't the normal one?'
'No, he isn't. I've come to despise him, the other him. But when it comes down to when he has changed I can't bring myself to hurt him or defend myself at all. It seems I'm the 'trigger', randomly when he's alone with me, he changes, probably because I look a lot like him. I think he sees a lot of himself in me, the last thing he seems to remember is when we were in the forest back then and when he said that it was like looking in the mirror. Through logically thinking and the beatings, it seems like he thinks he can smash the mirror by beating me.'
'I can understand that.' Sakura said with a soothing smile, 'I can see the resemblance easily, you're more like him than just in looks. How does the stroke tie into it all, do you think that caused it?'
'That's exactly what I think.'
'Oh.' She simply put. 'Why did run away before and why did you say he won't be back for a while?'
Lee smiled at her and took a small piece of her hair between his fingers, she blushed to the same colour as it. 'He seen your hair.'
'What does my hair have anything to do with it?' She asked nervously, wondering if there was something wrong with her.
'The other him has developed a an unnatural fear of the colour pink, a phobia, if you want to call it that.'
Sakura smiled warmly towards him and the words to come out of her mouth caused Lee also to blush greatly and for him to become speechless, 'So as long as I'm with you, you're safe?'
Lee could only nod, 'So I'm your own personal shield?'
Yet again he nodded as he grew redder and redder by the second.
He looked at the clock and saw the time, it was really late, past midnight, and they should be in bed, asleep.
'S-sakura-chan? Have you seen the time?' Lee stuttered because he was flustered.
'Is it that late? Oh no, I won't be able to sneak back into my dorm by now, great.' She said as she huffed loudly.
Lee sighed and said, 'I'm sure Naruto and Sasuke won't mind if you stayed here, as long as you leave before they get up, that is.'
Sakura nodded and red bloomed on her cheeks, not only for the fact that Sasuke could be next door, but because she was sleeping in a room with another boy, other than Gaara. She was pleased she had got changed into comfy clothes rather than tight jeans or a fancy top, otherwise she would have had to borrow some clothes to sleep in and it was embarrassing enough staying the night without that added on top.
He got out his chair and pulled out a sleeping bag from what seemed to be nowhere and laid it on the floor. He started to get into the sleeping bag when Sakura piped up.
'Lee-kun? What are you doing?'
'I'm going to bed, goodnight.'
'No. What are you doing on the floor?'
'Well, you're a guest you get the bed.' He said as if it were the most simple thing in the world.
'And you're hurt. You get the bed, I'll take the floor. You need it more than me.'
He saw her hands go on her hips and he instantly knew that if he argued back he was never going to win, she was a woman after all, women always win as was proved many a time with Lee.
'Okay. You win. Here.' He said as he pulled back the opening for the sleeping bag to allow her to get inside.
As she did, he headed over to the light-switch and turned it off. Then he crawled into bed himself.
As he was getting settled, 'Goodnight, Sakura-chan.' He called.
He wondered if she heard him then with a soft sigh she called back, 'Goodnight, Lee-kuuuu...' The sentence left unfinished as her body took over and she fell asleep.
About an hour had passed but as much as he tried Lee could not fall asleep. Despite the exhaustion his body was dealing with, his mind could not shut down. He couldn't help but think of the words Sakura spoke to him. 'So as long as I'm with you, you're safe? So I'm your own personal shield?' He felt insanely happy, so much so that he was more than just happy. He felt content for almost the first time in his life.
She accepted him for who he is, like nobody else had done for him. His father wanted a son who could use Chakra, his other father beat him for who he is and he classmates excluded him because in their eyes he wasn't a true ninja like them.
She was the only one who didn't see that he was the lowest of the low. Even he didn't see much good in himself but Sakura could, so it must be true if she sees it.
He sighed once again, as he had been doing since Sakura fell asleep, and thought over her words. He also felt the firmness around his stomach and remembered the way she gently caressed him as she tended his wounds and how she took care of him. He was glad it was dark and she was breathing deeply so she didn't see the flush which burned his face.
He knew in that moment, the moment that he found he could not stop thinking about her, the moment that he felt happy knowing she was there in the same room as him, he knew that he loved her. In every form, when she was happy, when she was sad, when she was angry. All the way from her crystal green eyes and her fiery pink hair to her cute small sized feet, he loved the way it was.
He sniffed loudly. He knew it had only been a week since he met her but he knew deep down that she was the one for him. It hurt him knowing that Sakura wanted Sasuke and not him but if it made her happy he was urging her on from the sidelines.
A quiet rustle spread through the room and he looked up to see Sakura tossing in her sleep. He smiled and decided to get the last laugh. He climbed out of bed and carefully picked her up out of the sleeping bag and laid in the bed. She looked like a sweet angel while she was sleeping, but he dare not say that to her out loud. She would most likely shout at him for saying something so embarrassing. He chuckled to himself as he lay next to her on top of the covers. She tossed around once again and ended up cuddling into Lee.
He glowed brightly when she did and he responded by wrapping his big muscular arms around her small petite body and placing his head next to hers as he breathed in the sweet strawberry scent of her hair. Finally as fatigue finally took over he drifted off into a deep sleep, but before he did, he heard the girl next to him softly moan as she snuggled closer to Lee, if that was even possible, and she muttered, 'Mmm, that's nice Lee-kun, but this time it's my turn to protect you.', he didn't know whether it was said consciously or not but it said it all to him and he knew that his violent past with his father was finally over.
So yeah. Lee needed to be have been abused for this to work, and the only one i could think doing that would be Gai-sensei since nobody else would really be able to match his speed. Then i had the major dilemma of how this would happen. So yeah I'm sorry if this is a bit too controversial, i used wikipedia to learn more about it. Please don't hate me for it.
Thank you to my reviewers and I hope for more reviews, please let me know how i did with this chapter, i am slightly nervous about uploading it
Also Happy Birthday Sasuke, I forgot to mention earlier.