Everything
The next day was generally uneventful, as Kurenai made them play another skill-challenging game, and Asuma tricked them all into doing this and that, somehow. One wondered if it was really Asuma that was that clever, and not Shikamaru just giving him boring ideas and making them sound good, so he could simply sleep through them.
Kakashi played his trump card, that his game lasted all week, and then Gai's turn came around again.
They played another boring game of Gai's, which taught them nothing they hadn't known, or nothing they needed to know, and then returned to bed.
The main purpose of this day for the children was that they could gather information. The various pairings made it possible for new 'friendships' to occur, and in that case you had to learn NOT to speak freely about yourself, or even give out false information.
Once Kiba told Sasuke that they ate Kibbles n' Bits for breakfast in his household... But made it SOUND like a lie... It was the TRUTH! Sneaky Kiba...
Shino never spoke often, so his entire life was a mystery, except that he used bugs as a weapon, knew EVERYTHING about bugs, and hated talking about himself. This left the job of learning about Shino VERY hard indeed...
Even for Kakashi, who had gathered very little information from Kurenai as he never spoke during lessons, and how could Kakashi get Shino to open up to him any way? Learning answers to his questions about Shino would be almost as hard for him as for the other students.
Kakashi sighed... What had he gotten himself in to?
Lee gazed around him casually, people were beginning to notice a change in his usually happy, peppy self. He was far less inclined to volunteer for everything, far less inclined to answer every question Gai asked in a loud yell. He was far less inclined. Period.
Of course, one tends to slow down, to feel a little less like themselves when their heart has been shattered into a thousand, tiny little pieces and then mashed into a fine powder. It was rather depressing, to say the least.
It also struck Lee very hard as compared to any normal person. Lee was the type to have extreme emotions, like a person on a caffeine or sugar high. If he was happy, he was H-A-P-P-Y! If He was sad, well... That was rather person for Lee to go diving into. Let us leave it at the fact that Lee was the type of person with extreme emotions, and he was beginning to feel the full effects of depression.
He sat by his tent for the most part of the day, trying to avoid the games and exercises that the teachers were forcing upon them. He didn't want to socialize, or even eat when meal times came around. He simply remained alone, half sulking and half hating the world around him.
"Lee-kun?"
It was Hinata. Of all people he had become good friends with, it was the most shy girl in all of Konoha, but at least he felt all right with speaking to her.
"Konbanwa, Hinata-chan."
"Why are you all alone over here? Everyone's eating dinner now.."
Lee simply shrugged and shifted his position slightly.
"I don't really want to eat."
"You haven't eaten all day."
Lee shrugged once more.
"Do you mind if I sit down here with you, then?"
"Do as you will."
Hinata took a seat next to Lee, and looked at him through her white eyes, afraid of what was happening in poor Lee's thoughts. The way his eyes moved seemed to tell Hinata and her byakuugans that her new friend was feeling extremely depressed, which was definitely not good.
"Lee-kun , you're better than this. What happened to the happy, smiling face from yesterday?"
Hinata was not very good at cheering people up. She was always shy, and therefore usually off to the corner herself.
Lee shrugged once more.
"Lee, you don't need Sakura to be happy. What happened to the years before you knew her? You were happy then, were you not? Besides, you have a lot of friends who love you and hate to see you like this, Lee-kun..."
Lee looked up at Hinata through distant eyes, their shimmering obsidian glazed over, "Name three."
"I can name even more than that, Lee-kun. Tenten has asked about you, Naruto is wondering why poor Fuzzy-eyebrows is- -" She giggled slightly before adding, "Don't worry, he's just kidding. I'm here, too, and Kiba thinks you're a funny guy. Even Ino is worried about why you're alone over here. Gai looks shocked that you're not in the middle of things. He thinks that his favorite pupil might be sick and had already told Kakashi that he KNEW they should have brought a first aid kit..."
Lee looked away, but couldn't help but let a small smile cross his face. So, people did care..
He slowly stood up, walking away from the side of the tent while looking back at Hinata.
"You sure can see a lot, with or without your eyes, Hinata-chan. Thank you."
Hinata smiled brightly before following Lee away from his hiding spot. She even watched him sit down for dinner, right beside Naruto and Kiba.
"What's wrong, Fuzzy-eyebrows? You looked sad all alone over there..."
"Don't worry about it, Naruto-kun."
Some random barking was heard, and Kiba laughed.
"Akamaru says that he's happy you're social again, Lee."
Lee nodded and let another smile creep across his face.
"Arigato Akamaru.. And you, Kiba."
Kiba nodded before he and Akamaru shared bites of the random food that they were eating, this time it had been made by Kurenai and tasted like a bit of heaven.
Sakura looked across the pile of students, her eyes landing on Lee who had just returned to the main group finally. It had taken a bit of talking by Hinata, but it was nice to see Lee smiling again.. He was even laughing over along side Naruto and Kiba.
"Hinata.. I want to thank you for making Lee smile again."
Hinata stopped and looked over at Sakura. She looked down at her feet. She liked Sakura, but she also thought Lee was a great guy, and to hurt him like that was just mean.
"I made him smile for his own sake. I don't like seeing a friend upset, Sakura-chan..."
Sakura nodded, knowing that Hinata was trying not to tell her that she was slightly upset with Sakura as well. Hinata obviously found it mean the way she had hurt Lee like that.
"I didn't meant o hurt him, Hinata-chan..."
"I know, Sakura-chan.. But he still feels horrible."
Sakura ran a hand through her soft pink hair and looked back over at Lee, then to Hinata.
"It's hard to say 'no' when you know it will break someone's heart, Hinata... But I couldn't just let him believe that I loved him too.."
Hinata nodded, and then began to walk past once more. She planned on going to tell Tenten that her team mate was feeling better now.
Sakura sighed. Poor Lee-kun.. He was so fragile for a person who spent his spare time pushing himself to his physical limits and beyond.
The next day was generally uneventful, as Kurenai made them play another skill-challenging game, and Asuma tricked them all into doing this and that, somehow. One wondered if it was really Asuma that was that clever, and not Shikamaru just giving him boring ideas and making them sound good, so he could simply sleep through them.
Kakashi played his trump card, that his game lasted all week, and then Gai's turn came around again.
They played another boring game of Gai's, which taught them nothing they hadn't known, or nothing they needed to know, and then returned to bed.
The main purpose of this day for the children was that they could gather information. The various pairings made it possible for new 'friendships' to occur, and in that case you had to learn NOT to speak freely about yourself, or even give out false information.
Once Kiba told Sasuke that they ate Kibbles n' Bits for breakfast in his household... But made it SOUND like a lie... It was the TRUTH! Sneaky Kiba...
Shino never spoke often, so his entire life was a mystery, except that he used bugs as a weapon, knew EVERYTHING about bugs, and hated talking about himself. This left the job of learning about Shino VERY hard indeed...
Even for Kakashi, who had gathered very little information from Kurenai as he never spoke during lessons, and how could Kakashi get Shino to open up to him any way? Learning answers to his questions about Shino would be almost as hard for him as for the other students.
Kakashi sighed... What had he gotten himself in to?
Lee gazed around him casually, people were beginning to notice a change in his usually happy, peppy self. He was far less inclined to volunteer for everything, far less inclined to answer every question Gai asked in a loud yell. He was far less inclined. Period.
Of course, one tends to slow down, to feel a little less like themselves when their heart has been shattered into a thousand, tiny little pieces and then mashed into a fine powder. It was rather depressing, to say the least.
It also struck Lee very hard as compared to any normal person. Lee was the type to have extreme emotions, like a person on a caffeine or sugar high. If he was happy, he was H-A-P-P-Y! If He was sad, well... That was rather person for Lee to go diving into. Let us leave it at the fact that Lee was the type of person with extreme emotions, and he was beginning to feel the full effects of depression.
He sat by his tent for the most part of the day, trying to avoid the games and exercises that the teachers were forcing upon them. He didn't want to socialize, or even eat when meal times came around. He simply remained alone, half sulking and half hating the world around him.
"Lee-kun?"
It was Hinata. Of all people he had become good friends with, it was the most shy girl in all of Konoha, but at least he felt all right with speaking to her.
"Konbanwa, Hinata-chan."
"Why are you all alone over here? Everyone's eating dinner now.."
Lee simply shrugged and shifted his position slightly.
"I don't really want to eat."
"You haven't eaten all day."
Lee shrugged once more.
"Do you mind if I sit down here with you, then?"
"Do as you will."
Hinata took a seat next to Lee, and looked at him through her white eyes, afraid of what was happening in poor Lee's thoughts. The way his eyes moved seemed to tell Hinata and her byakuugans that her new friend was feeling extremely depressed, which was definitely not good.
"Lee-kun , you're better than this. What happened to the happy, smiling face from yesterday?"
Hinata was not very good at cheering people up. She was always shy, and therefore usually off to the corner herself.
Lee shrugged once more.
"Lee, you don't need Sakura to be happy. What happened to the years before you knew her? You were happy then, were you not? Besides, you have a lot of friends who love you and hate to see you like this, Lee-kun..."
Lee looked up at Hinata through distant eyes, their shimmering obsidian glazed over, "Name three."
"I can name even more than that, Lee-kun. Tenten has asked about you, Naruto is wondering why poor Fuzzy-eyebrows is- -" She giggled slightly before adding, "Don't worry, he's just kidding. I'm here, too, and Kiba thinks you're a funny guy. Even Ino is worried about why you're alone over here. Gai looks shocked that you're not in the middle of things. He thinks that his favorite pupil might be sick and had already told Kakashi that he KNEW they should have brought a first aid kit..."
Lee looked away, but couldn't help but let a small smile cross his face. So, people did care..
He slowly stood up, walking away from the side of the tent while looking back at Hinata.
"You sure can see a lot, with or without your eyes, Hinata-chan. Thank you."
Hinata smiled brightly before following Lee away from his hiding spot. She even watched him sit down for dinner, right beside Naruto and Kiba.
"What's wrong, Fuzzy-eyebrows? You looked sad all alone over there..."
"Don't worry about it, Naruto-kun."
Some random barking was heard, and Kiba laughed.
"Akamaru says that he's happy you're social again, Lee."
Lee nodded and let another smile creep across his face.
"Arigato Akamaru.. And you, Kiba."
Kiba nodded before he and Akamaru shared bites of the random food that they were eating, this time it had been made by Kurenai and tasted like a bit of heaven.
Sakura looked across the pile of students, her eyes landing on Lee who had just returned to the main group finally. It had taken a bit of talking by Hinata, but it was nice to see Lee smiling again.. He was even laughing over along side Naruto and Kiba.
"Hinata.. I want to thank you for making Lee smile again."
Hinata stopped and looked over at Sakura. She looked down at her feet. She liked Sakura, but she also thought Lee was a great guy, and to hurt him like that was just mean.
"I made him smile for his own sake. I don't like seeing a friend upset, Sakura-chan..."
Sakura nodded, knowing that Hinata was trying not to tell her that she was slightly upset with Sakura as well. Hinata obviously found it mean the way she had hurt Lee like that.
"I didn't meant o hurt him, Hinata-chan..."
"I know, Sakura-chan.. But he still feels horrible."
Sakura ran a hand through her soft pink hair and looked back over at Lee, then to Hinata.
"It's hard to say 'no' when you know it will break someone's heart, Hinata... But I couldn't just let him believe that I loved him too.."
Hinata nodded, and then began to walk past once more. She planned on going to tell Tenten that her team mate was feeling better now.
Sakura sighed. Poor Lee-kun.. He was so fragile for a person who spent his spare time pushing himself to his physical limits and beyond.