Tears of Hope Chapter 21 The Will of Fire, a naruto fanfic

Tears of Hope

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, nor am I affiliated in any way with Naruto. I just like the show and mangas so I wrote this fanfic.

With only a few days left until Naruto's birthday, what plans are being made? And what evil schemes are being conducted in the shadows.

Chapter Twenty One - The Will of Fire

As the bright golden sun moved slowly past the sky of Konha, inching closer to the horizon, a young boy races swiftly into the village gates with his sensei trailing not to far behind. "I won again, I won again!" A stalwart Lee called out, looking back to his teammates as they followed in behind him. "Whew! I'm getting too old for this!" a tired Gai blurted out as he finally came to a stop next to his energetic counterpart. Neji and Tenten slopped slowly up to them, both wearing an exhausted look on their faces. "How... how do you two... keep it up?" Neji panted while Tenten collapsed onto the floor next to him. "The fire of youth burns brightly in our souls! We will never stop working hard until death takes it's toll on us!" Lee explained while shooting into his 'nice guy' pose. "Well said young man!" Gai quickly shot back the same pose back at him. Neji and Tenten just looked on in exhaustion as the two stood their facing each-other, with wide toothy grins present on their faces. "Why did we have two get stuck with these two!"

The four of them slowly made there way into the village, exhausted from a long days work. They all wanted desperately to visit Naruto, to see the boy whom they had sworn to protect. As they made there way onto the hospital grounds, Gai noticed Lee's body suddenly tense up. The thought of going into the hospital again bothered the young boy immensely. The memories of his ordeal where still fresh in his mind and he had developed a slight fear of the place ever since the day of his operation. "Don't worry, we are all here with you" Tenten murmured, placing a reassuring hand on Lee's quivering shoulder. "You're right!" He replied, lifting his gaze from the floor. "I have to be strong for Naruto-kun! We have to be there for him at all costs!" A warm smile formed on Gai's face as he heard the words coming from his student mouth. It was good to see that the boy still had the will of fire burning strongly in his soul.

Back in the hospital, a tired Naruto had finally arrived in his room with Gaara and Shikamaru supporting him all the way. They both helped him up to his bed and watched him let out an exhausted sigh of relief as he finally lay down. "Asuma, Ino and Chouji followed in shortly afterwords. They all took a seat and allowed themselves to relax. It had been a long day and they were all by now finished. Gaara looked upon the boy laying in front of him as he slowly inched himself into a comfortable position. Every shuffle he made, he let out a small wince of pain, struggling to move his body due to the injuries that covered him. "I'm sorry about all of this" Gaara murmured, gaining Naruto's attention. "If I had known that it would have been this difficult for you, I wouldn't have taken you out of the hospital." Naruto turned his head to face Gaara as he finished speaking. "His eyes were filled with a soft glimmer of light as they reflected the warm rays of the sun shining through the window. "No... don't be sorry. I... I needed that more than you could know." He then looked at everyone in the room around him. They had all tried to help him in any way they could and he appreciated every effort.

"Hey Naruto!" Naruto looked up to see a flash of green enter through the doorway. Lee, Gai Tenten and Neji walked inside the room, waving their greetings as they came through the door. "We came to visit you, we all heard about the attack and..." Lee's paused in his speech as he caught a glimpse of the boy whom he had fought in the chunin exams. "Gaara! W..what are you doing here?!" Gaara turned his head to face the genin now gazing intently at him. An awkward silence enveloped the room as the two continued to stare each other down. Gai noticed Lee's anxiety and quickly put an arm in his shoulder, trying desperately to calm him. "Now Lee, you must understand..." "He's here to look after me while Kakashi-sensei is away" Naruto interrupted Gai. Lee looked over to Nauto as his body began to relax. "It... it's good to know that there is someone watching over you at all times" he eventually murmured. Asuma looked uneasily at the people standing in the room. It seemed as though they had worn out there welcome and it was time to head home. "Well, we must be taking our leave now, we have a long day tomorrow and we all need our rest" he sighed, standing to his feet. "Ino, Chouji, Shikamaru, Lets get going!" "Hai!"

As the exhausted team left the room, they all waved their good-byes to Naruto, Ino all the while taking one last glimpse at Gaara who was still oblivious to her charms. Gai followed them down the hallway to see them on their way. As the remaining genin stood around the room, Lee's eyes fixated on the battered boy in front of him. Memories flashed through his mind as the thoughts of his own ordeal began to surface. He had felt so lost when Tsunade told him that he would never be able to fully recover from the wounds he had received during the chunin exams. It was like his purpose in life had been taken away from him. No-one believed that he would be able to become a great ninja with hard work alone and they were almost proven right. The image of Naruto's broken form lying in front of him reminded him of his own trials. He could understand what Naruto must have felt when his soul was taken away from him, when his dreams were trampled into the mud.

Neji noticed the anguished look forming on his teammates face. He knew all about Lee's struggle to recovery and how he had almost lost hope. "Naruto" Lee began, gaining the boys attention. "I think I know what you are going through. You must feel like your purpose in life has been taken away from you, like your dreams are being snatched from your hands and there's nothing you can do about it." Lee's body began to quiver as he continued to speak. "But... but we must continue work hard to achieve our goals. We cannot allow others to keep us from doing everything we strive to accomplish. We cannot allow them to take away the hopes and dreams we've laboured so hard for!" Tears began to form on Lee's face. He poured his entire heart out to them all, secretly trying to reassure himself as much as he was trying to help Naruto. Neji walked up to the now sobbing boy, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. Lee wiped away the tears running down his cheeks and then lifted his head in confidence. "I have to set a good example for Naruto-kun to follow! I can't let him see me like this!" he thought to quietly to himself.

He quickly shot into his nice guy pose, flashing his white shining teeth while a intense fire burned brightly in his eyes. "Well both work hard and recover together!" he chirped, putting a small smile on Naruto's face. Naruto felt a warm ember of hope ignite inside of his heart. He knew the road in front of him would be a difficult one, but he now had friends to see it through with him until the end. As his eyes slowly began to waver, the reassuring words of his friend etched themselves into his mind. "Thanks fuzzy brows" he murmured as he slowly began to fall asleep. Gaara turned to gaze upon the boy that he had caused so much harm. His words cut painfully into his guilty heart, causing it to knot as the thoughts of what he had done flowed through his mind. "I think Naruto needs some rest now" Neji murmured, watching the exhausted boys eyes slowly inching closed. Lee turned to the Hyuuga and gave a nod of agreement. They all turned to leave, looking back at the now sleeping Naruto while they exited through the door.

Gaara followed to see them off, watching as they made there way down the hallway. "Lee?" Lee stopped and turned around to face the boy who called out his name. The two stared at one another for what seemed like an eternity before Gaara finally continued. "I.. I'm sorry for the pain I have put you through. I have caused allot of trouble for you and I know you may hate me forever for what I did. I only wish I could take back what happened that day." Lee looked into the eyes of the red head boy in front of him, they were filled with both guilt and sincerity. "I don't!" Gaara's eyes widened at what he had just heard. "I learned a very important lesson from that experience." Lee continued. "I learned that no mater how hard things get, no matter how hopeless life becomes, there is always a way out of the darkness. You just need friends that care for you to help you along the way." With that, Lee gave an accepting bow before turning to leave. "Oh and Gaara" he called back as they made there way out the door. "Thanks for helping Naruto!" Gaara let a small smile inch onto his face as Lee's words echoed throughout the hallway. He then headed back inside to watch over the boy who had helped changed his heart for the better.

Another day, another friend to see you through the darkness!
Well, I hope you enjoyed that chapter. Please review!