Gai

Gai wakes up and pulls himself over to the mirror. He stares at the lines around his eyes, the tiredness of his mouth. Gai stares at the mirror, and carefully picks out the grey hairs that have appeared overnight. He rubs his eyes viciously to make them look less tired, and plasters on a smile so the wrinkles are disguised.

As is his age.

He walks to the door and feels his bones creak, his muscles ache. Gai stops at the front door and feels a wave of self-pity overcome him. He looks at his green jumpsuit, his smile, he thinks of this cries of 'YOUTH!'

He is fake.

Gai is old, and Gai knows it.

The picture of his students body appears before him, and he clutches his lip in his teeth, 'If I had been younger…'

The picture of Lee's body clutched in sand sweeps before his eyes, and Gai flinches. The picture of TenTen on the fan, broken in half, flashes before him and he falters. The picture of Neji on the floor, bloodied and lost, causes him to take a step back.

Gai was old. Gai could no longer protect them. They were too young, they could not protect themselves.

And with that knowledge, he falls.

'Get back up, you coward,' he tells himself, 'They need you, they need you, get back up, get back up,' and he does.

He straightens his back and wipes his eyes. There is no time for pity.

Gai was getting old. Time was running out. He could no longer protect them, so he would have to force them to learn how to protect themselves. There was no other option. He either helped them and gre old, or did not and allowed them to be slaughtered.

Either way, he ended up dead.

Gai was old, but no one could know it yet. He has a mission to complete before he admitted it to the world. Gai had to save his students, Gai had to teach them how to harness the power of youth.

He clenches his arthritic fists and prays he still has time.