Temari felt the history was repeating itself. She was sitting in the dark waiting room again, anxiously watching the big window showing the operation room, where one of the Suna's best medi-nins, Sekka, fought for a life of someone close, his apprentice Ryoukan adding his efforts. And just like when Kankuro was poisoned by Sasori, they were waiting for help from Konoha.

What was new though was the Team Ten from Konoha, following their friends, the three of them sitting at the back and talking in low whispers with each other.

And the Kazekage who was pacing around the room restlessly, glancing through the window from time to time and clenching his fists.

The wind mistress understood how her brother felt. She remembered the feeling of helplessness and despair, when she watched her other brother dying slowly unable to do anything to aid him, all too well. She had sent three messenger hawks to Konoha immediately from the battle field and now she hoped that the medi-nin would be able to hold Lee alive until Sakura arrived.

She and the Grass nin escorted the dignitaries into the hotel, leaving Kankuro and the rest of Team Ten to deal with the prisoner.

After Gaara's rage there was only one left, the guy Kankuro knocked out at the very beginning. Hidden behind the boulders he did not get crushed by the sand and now he was going to be interrogated by Satetsu.

Temari smirked in satisfaction, twisting her features in a cruel and ugly smile.

Satetsu did not like traitors, even if they were from another village. He was completely berserk when he found out that the Yondaime Kazekage was killed by Orochimaru, and now he would not go easy on somebody who defected from their duties to try and assassinate his leader. And he also liked Lee, the loud Konoha shinobi's personal code of duty and honor was very close to his own.

She looked at her youngest brother again and sighed, her mood turning to sympathy in an instant.

The Kazekage looked like a caged tiger. He did not leave the waiting room since he brought his friend to the hospital, not even to wash or change his bloodied clothes. His aura radiated such a strong killing intent that nobody really wanted to talk to him.

Temari was not surprised, knowing that he was blaming himself again. She felt guilty too, because she was glad that both of her brothers were alright and weren't down there, fighting their silent battle for life. She felt like a hypocrite, knowing that Gaara would be completely devastated in the taijutsu master died, yet being glad that their friend took the blade instead of her little brother.

Ino explained to all of them, as soon as they all gathered in the waiting room (except for Kankuro who volunteered to run Gaara's office temporarily), that this was going to be much harder than an ordinary blade-in-the-back case. The point of Ura Renge, the Reversed Lotus, was in opening more and more chakra gates in human body, giving it the access to an extra energy and power, even to somebody like Lee, who could not manipulate the chakra itself to save his life.

However, everything came with a price.

In its ultimate version, the Reverse Lotus was basically a suicide technique. No matter how well-trained the body was, human bones, joints and muscles were evolved with some strain and effectiveness in mind and the supernatural speed and power also caused supernatural strain on them. The power came at the price of the body itself, starting to wear down and tear the muscles, also adding enormous exhaustion to the process, after the third chakra gate was open. After opening the fifth gate, the technique could be used only once leaving the ninja unable to stand afterwards.

And if all the chakra gates were opened, the user would become unstoppable, but die in the process due to the muscle damage and disintegration.

Ino estimated that Lee opened at least six chakra gates this time.

There was a commotion in the operation room, the door flying open and a familiar pink-haired kunoichi walking briskly to the operation table.

Behind her was a petite woman with dark hair, her face grim.

Temari recognized her as Tsunade's assistant, Shizune. It was obvious that the Hokage either cared about her shinobi a lot or at least suspected what was going on between Lee and Gaara, because she has sent not only her best medic-nin, but two of them.

The brunette relieved Sekka, keeping Lee's body stabilized. She frowned.

Yeah right, thought the wind mistress. We totally needed a reminder how grave the situation is, thank you very much.

Sakura stopped asking the Suna medic-nins and sent them away with a confident gesture, then raised her eyes to the big window in the wall, found her best friend and beckoned her to come into the room.

Ino jumped to her feet and ran down the stairs to the operation room. She talked with Sakura for a while, then took Shizune's place at Lee's side.

Both Konohan medics left the room again, Sakura coming up to the waiting space. Her face was tired, her clothes dusty and it was clear that she and Shizune ran at the top of their speed to get here as soon as possible. "I've sent Ryoukan and Sekka to rest. Shizune and I will rest as well and the operation will begin in five hours. I will need your medics in there again, the damage is too excessive and I need a strong team. Ino can keep him stabilized for now, until we begin, then she can rest too." She paused for a moment, looking first at Temari, then at Gaara. "And no observers."

There was a silence for a moment, until Shikamaru asked in his lazy drawl, "Estimation?"

The Suna kunoichi shuddered. This word was so impersonal, so cold… It could mean both hope and despair. He was asking Sakura if she thinks Lee will live or die.

The pink-haired woman scowled, obviously thinking something along the same line as Temari, then shrugged. "I don't know. Lee does have a knack for surviving despite all the odds, but he really did a number on himself this time. You have to consider that surviving isn't the only thing at stake here."

Chouji stopped munching on his chips. "What do you mean?"

Sakura rubbed her face tiredly, "He might not be able to walk. He might not be able to move at all. Maybe he will get away with a slight limp or no damage at all, I can't tell at this moment and it will be clear only after the operation is complete." She sighed. "Do you remember how down he was when he was told he might never walk again?"

Most of the people in the room nodded.

"Well, I don't want to predict anything at this moment. It is impossible. But if he ends up paralyzed, I would not be so surprised if he would choose death instead." She turned to leave.

Temari shook off the numbness that hit her after Sakura's words and caught the medic by the elbow, "Wait a minute, are you telling me that Lee would commit a suicide? Are you crazy? He has the strongest will power I've ever seen in a person! And how can you say something like that? I thought you guys were friends…"

The pink-haired kunoichi looked at her. "He IS my friend, Temari. But I'm a medic-nin and this IS a possibility. I really hope that I am wrong, but I cannot give you any false hopes. And no, I don't think that Lee would commit a suicide."

"Then why did you…"

Sakura interrupted her forcefully. "Because sometimes a person can lose the will to live. Especially, if their life-long dream is lost. Especially, if they feel like a burden to others. Haven't you seen this amongst your shinobi during all these years? Sometimes they just lose all hope themselves and wither away slowly, no matter what their close ones do." She turned to face the whole group again. "I don't want to scare you or send you into despair. But I really can not and will not promise you that everything is going to be fine. You know that would be an empty promise."

The medic nin walked back to the door again, leaving her stunned friends behind. "Gaara, would you please come with me? I need to talk to you about something." She waited for the Kazekage, then closed the door behind them, leaving the silent group behind.

Eventually Shikamaru stirred. "Blimey, I have to admit that I did think something along the line of Sakura patching Lee up and everything being fine since. This is really troublesome…" His voice trailed off and he left the room.

Chouji followed him out, closing the door behind them silently.

Temari stayed by the window in the wall for a long while, looking on the tan man fighting for every next breath and the slender blonde keeping him alive with her glowing hands. "Please don't die," she whispered. "Please, don't leave Gaara."

***

The Kazekage followed Sakura in silence, until he realized where they were going. "What do you need in my house?"

She did not bother to turn around. "I need to talk to you."

He frowned at her back, "Yes, you said that." He could not help but feel the blinding rage at that moment. He felt hot all over and his sight was clouded in pinkish veil, which had nothing to do with the hair of his companion. His muscles tensed and suddenly he was ready to fight once again, before he realized what was going on. He hated her because she said aloud what he was even afraid to think. He hated her for saying that Lee might die.

The pink-haired kunoichi did not show any discomfort, even though she must have felt the surges in his chakra. She stopped a chuunin on the street and ordered a light meal for two to be brought to the Kazekage's place, not even asking Gaara for permission to command his people around.

Eventually they arrived to his home.

Not even hesitating for a while, Sakura opened the door and walked through first, shedding her sandals in the corridor. She beckoned the former Jinchuuriki to follow her.

He did. The whole situation was somehow surreal. Lee was struggling to survive at the hospital and now a kunoichi from another village was ordering him around at his own house. Should she attempt to do so before the Shukkaku extraction, he would have killed her on the spot, friend or not, ally or not. Now it just felt as some kind of a bad dream.

He really hoped he would wake up soon.

Sakura led him to the main bathroom and shoved him through the door. "Bathe. You stink." She slammed the door closed.

Gaara stood in the tiled room, blinking at the closed door owlishly.

That woman was really overstepping the boundaries. This was insulting and demeaning.

Her voice came from behind the closed door, "I will not let you out until you wash the blood of yourself – Ino told me it's been two days since that fight and that you haven't eaten anything too. This is unbecoming of a Kage, Gaara. And you would not help Lee by collapsing from exhaustion or starving yourself to death."

The red-head looked at himself in the mirror and cringed. As much as he hated to admit it at the moment, Sakura was right.

His reflection showed him a person covered in brownish stains and dust, unkempt hair clogged together, feverish look in his eyes and dark rims the most pronounced ever since the one-tail Bijuu extraction. His cheeks had sunken slightly and his skin had an unhealthy flush.

Gaara sniffed his robes and scowled in disgust. Sweat and rotten blood. Eugh. How comes he hadn't noticed this earlier?

Oh right. Because his friend was dying.

The Kazekage suppressed the urge to run back to the hospital, deciding to trust Sakura.

She was one of the best medics of this era, after all, her abilities surpassed only by those of the Godaime Hokage. And she saved his brother. If she trusted Ino to keep Lee alive, so would he.

The sand user shook off the clothes and turned the shower on. He stepped under the stream of warm water, letting it wash all the grime in his hair and on his body away.

When he came out, dressed in the bathrobe, he found Sakura sitting on the floor at the opposite wall, leaning on it.

She smiled at him. "Much better. Now come, it's time to eat something."

Gaara frowned, "I'm not hungry."

She stood up and shrugged. "Of course you aren't, with all this going on. That doesn't change the fact that your body does need some food. C'mon."

Later Gaara could not recall what he ate then. His thoughts were straying back to the taijutsu master again and again. He could not understand how Sakura could stay so calm and seemingly uncaring.

She ate calmly and silently, ignoring Gaara's staring.

When they finished the meal, she escorted him to his bedroom and told him to get in the bed.

He looked at her, then dropped the bathrobe and climbed under the sheets. Even though it was irritating, having to comply with her demands, he was somehow grateful for her telling him what to do. He didn't have to think at the moment and that was good.

The kunoichi leaned above him and placed her fingers on his forehead. "I'm going to put a mild sleep jutsu on you. It will help you to relax and it will also keep the nightmares away. You need to rest too."

The red-haired man caught her wrist. "I can't rest. It's my fault…"

She smiled at him. "No, it's not. Lee would only use the Lotus to protect his precious person. It was his choice, not yours." She formed several seals and touched his forehead again. "Now sleep."

***

After closing Gaara's doors behind her, Sakura walked to her room, showered and laid down to sleep for a few hours too.

Eventually the alarm clock rang. She got up, combed her hair and got dressed. She left her arm guards and shin guards aside, but she still put the mesh undershirt and leggins on and strapped her kunai pouch to her leg. Medic or not, she was still shinobi and she was used to think in the terms of defense and attack possibilities automatically.

She retrieved several of her scrolls from her backpack and left her room.

Shizune was already waiting for her in the hall.

When they arrived to the hospital, they joined Sekka and his assistant in the preparation room.

Sakura instructed the two Suna medic-nins about their role in the operation, while putting on her scrubs and hiding her hair under the cap. She walked into the operation room first, relieving exhausted and ashen-looking Ino.

The Konohan kunoichi uncorked a vial with ink and dipped her brush in it, starting to draw the first sign on Lee's body.

The battle for her friend's life has begun.