I do not own Naruto. I do, however, own Chiyuki, any original characters, and this story's plot.
TW: mentions of suicide, but nothing actually happens.
gardener in a war
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Maito Gai is eight years old when the Third Shinobi War breaks out.
He's in his third year of the academy, and much like his classmates, has seen a much more condensed version of the curriculum, thanks to the threat of the looming war. He graduates, because no one above the age of seven escapes being cannon fodder, and is put on a team with his rival's friend and a ten year old boy he doesn't really know.
The boy shrugs and figures his team could've been much worse, and is thankful he'll be on a team with someone he knows, at the very least. No one quite knows Genma - has never even heard of him - and it strikes Gai that, just like him, he must also have been in the middle of his class. Perfectly average, the both of them.
Their third team member, however, is Sarutobi Chiyuki, who is very hip and cool - but in a different way than his rival, Kakashi.
A seven year old genius and the Hokage's youngest child, she's everything Gai isn't, and he tries his hardest to not let himself be affected. Kakashi had shown him time and time again that the world was much less kind to prodigies than to normal people, and that no one wished to be born with such a heavy weight on their shoulders.
The eight year old figures out quickly enough that the label of a genius they put on her isn't necessarily because of her physical strength.
Chiyuki thinks all the time, so much so that both he and Genma can nearly see the gears working overtime inside that bright mind. She talks about economics and politics and confronts the adults about topics he'd never even thought about before - like how the hospital never seems to have enough staff, how long ago the sewers have undergone any sort of maintenance, and why kunoichi classes are only available to girls when they teach incredibly useful subjects like poisonous plants and the importance that your appearance has on certain missions.
The taijutsu user watches, mistifiedly, as she catches the eyes of powerful shinobi - because, really, how could she not? - and easily wins them over with her admittedly cute charisma and interest in Konoha's welfare.
They're thrown in the middle of a war and are forced to become stronger and better each day, at the risk of losing their very lives should they fail. She becomes their team leader, and as expected, the world is not kind to prodigies - the blonde child shoulders heavy decisions and comes up with a major part of the strategies that gets them to live another day, and sometimes her gaze looks so haunted and so tired that Gai doesn't know what to do with himself.
Orochimaru nearly kills them, and he sees a new side to someone he'd thought he knew like his own self.
Their team leader would rather end her own life than to face torture for years on end, and that absolutely terrifies him, drenching him in a cold sweat that chills him to the bones. It's not about taking the 'easy way out' or abandoning them, no; it's about knowing what's exactly in store for her, understanding just what it is that makes the Snake Sannin such a fearsome opponent.
It's about knowing that people will target you even as a genin, because you're a threat to them.
He lies awake that first night, the reality crashing down on him suddenly. They really could've died at the hands of a man - who fought in the Second Shinobi War, one of the famed Konoha Sannin, considered to be a prodigy himself - who thought a ten year old genin was a threat to him.
Gai is instantly relieved that there's no way such a person can become Hokage, because he most definitely would hate to work for someone as narcissistic and petty as that man, his love for his village aside.
Perhaps this is when the boy really starts to wonder just what the position entails, and how selfless one must be to wear the hat. He thinks it's not an easy job, by all means, and that no one can simply become a Kage, no matter how much they may wish for it, if they don't have the mental fortitude for it.
It's as if he sees Chiyuki for the first time on that dreary, dark night, and he thinks life definitely isn't fair for people who perform above average.
So he trains. And trains, and trains, and trains some more. He trains until he falls to the ground, exhausted and unable to move a single finger. On the next day, he does it all over again - because it's what he does best, and it's the only way he can protect his teammates.
He finally understands Kakashi's obsession with becoming stronger.
-until his team leader gets kidnapped, and he falls into another rabbit hole, full of panic and helplessness, because in the end, he'd been able to do nothing, all his training had meant nothing against jounin-level shinobi, and now he was in danger of losing her again, and what if she decides it's better to end her life-
The blonde child comes back, thin and dehydrated, but very much alive, and Konoha allies with Ame.
It is then that Gai realizes she might not need them, after all. She'd managed to get herself out of that particular situation - and like a 'buy one get one free' deal, had acted as an intermediary in the negotiations between the two villages.
Once again, it's like he's seeing his teammate for the first time.
Though she might not need them, she appreciates them. They are precious to her, and she is precious to them - both him and Genma, he knows -, and that makes something warm and good flutter around in his chest, makes a smile curl in his lips, makes him run around Konoha whooping like a madman.
Chiyuki might not need them, but she also needs them. She tends to close in on herself during crisis, and only after she'd dealt with them on her own, she lets them come to her. She lets them lick her wounds, lets them fuss over her, lets them stand next to her - never behind - whilst she deals with her emotions. She might be strong enough on her own, but the fact that she still seeks them out for validation and support makes him realize they stand next to her, shoulder to shoulder, and he very much likes the idea of standing next to his Hokage.
She lets them carry some of her burdens, and Gai hopes it'll continue to be this way even when she wears the hat.
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