Setting: the Konoha hospital, after the mission to retrieve Sasuke. I referred to the manga before writing, so expect some spoilers.

Author's note: If all goes according to plan the next chapter will be from Sakura's point of view. This one follows Lee around because his whereabouts were not accounted in the same way Sakura's were in this particular section of the manga.


The Konoha hospital was bustling with activity when Rock Lee and Gaara of the Sand arrived there after their fight with Kimimaro. Neither really needed to be at the hospital, though Lee was sporting numerous cuts from his bout with the bone-wielding ninja, but given the level of their opponent the hospital seemed the most logical place to find out how the rest of the team had fared.

Lee was about to approach the busy front desk to ask after the other genin when Gaara said, "This way," and stode down the hall past the desk. At the far end of the hall, Lee noticed the older boy from the sand team—Kankurou, was it?—dozing off in a chair.

"Took you long enough," Kankurou said as the pair neared to a few feet, not bothering to open his eyes.

"Is Temari here as well?" Gaara asked.

"Yeah, she got here right before I did with their team leader. I would have beat her here except I had to carry Kiba most of the way."

Before Lee could ask, Kankurou opened one eye and glanced over at the leafnin.

"Relax, he'll be fine. He just lost too much blood to walk."

"What about the others? Is everyone back?"

"You guys are the last two." He opened the other eye and sat up slightly as he continued, "I saw that Naruto kid carried through here not too long ago by a white-haired jounin—he was beaten up pretty badly, but he should be fine—and your leader was in better shape then you are. The other two are in critical condition—especially the white-eyed guy. They don't know if he'll live."

"Neji's in critical condition?"

Lee was nearly in shock. They don't know if he'll live? he thought. Despite their differences Neji was still his teammate, his friend even, when the genius wasn't acting like a fatalistic bastard.

"That's what I overheard. His room's down that way if you're inter—"

Lee started running down the corridor Kankurou was pointing to before the latter finished speaking. "Arigato," he called over his shoulder before rounding a corner. Around the corner he saw Hyuuga Hinata standing halfway down the hall, concentrating on one particular door. As he got closer he noticed the veins around the girl's eyes bulging. She was using her byakugan to look through the door.

"Is this Neji-san's room?" he asked. The girl responded with a nod.

"Has anyone said if he'll be okay?"

"The H-hokage's said he's s-stable now… he's sleeping."

"Good, because I just talked to a sandnin that said he was in critical condition and I was worried that he might, well…"

Lee trailed off. Hinata didn't seem to be listening.

"Why are you in the hall instead of visiting him?"

"The doctors s-said that Neji-niisan can't have visitors yet." Hinata replied with a sigh. His own concern ebbing somewhat now that he knew Neji was not in danger of dying, Lee noticed just how depressed the girl seemed. He was actually surprised that she was keeping watch over her cousin now, considering how brutal Neji had been to her during the Chuunin Exam, but then remembered how Neji had been slowly, but surely changing since his bout with Naruto. Perhaps his behaviour towards Hinata had changed also. I hope so. She seems like a gentle person. He studied the girl, staring at the closed door like a kunoichi statue and thought, She'll drive herself crazy staring through that wall for too long. I've got to get her to move around for a bit. If he couldn't visit his teammate, then the least he could do was take care of his teammate's cousin until he could.

"How about you come back here later to check on him, Hinata-san? Come on a walk with me to visit some of the others. I'm sure Neji-san will be able to have visitors by the time we get back. Is there anyone else you want to see?"

"Um… Kiba-kun and N-Naruto-kun," the girl said, blushing slightly as she said the second name, "But… I don't know where their rooms are…"

"I'll help you find them then. It won't be that hard. There isn't a hospital in existence that can defy the combined skills of a Hyuuga genius and the Green beast of Konoha!" Lee replied, striking a pose he'd learned from Gai. Hinata didn't respond verbally, but with a nod and a very small smile she started walking down the hallway with the green-clad boy. The smile didn't last long though.

"I-I'm no genius…"

"What are you talking about? Of course you are. I watched your bout with Neji during the exam, and you fought well, even though Neji won in the end."

Lee gave Hinata a sidelong glance and continued, "With enough work you could beat him next time."

When the girl didn't look convinced, he said, "And I'm not the only one who thinks so. Naruto said you were incredible during that fight."

Hinata looked up quickly at Lee in shock and then away, cheeks reddening.

"H-he ch-cheered for me…"

Although he didn't know the shy girl well, Lee began to wonder if her sudden change in complexion had less to do with being complimented and more to do with a certain blond. With that in mind, he replied, "He sure did! He also came down and tried to attack Neji for the way he treated you during the match. I had to stop Naruto or there would have been another fight right there. Did anyone tell you what he did after that?"

"…no."

"He swore to beat Neji for what he did to you. I'm sure that during his round against Neji he was fighting at least partly for you."

"And he won…" Hinata murmured, a smile coming to her lips. She definitely likes Naruto, Lee thought, but I doubt she's said anything yet. Her smile, oddly enough, also reminded Lee a bit of the smile Sakura had given him as he entered the hospital that morning for his operation. He found himself suppressing the urge to wonder if Sakura had come to the hospital earlier to check on him.

"Um… can I ask you a question, Lee-san?"

Hinata's voice interrupted his thoughts.

"Of course! Whatever it is I'll try my best to answer."

"H-how do you know if you love someone?"

Lee blinked rapidly in surprise. Why would she ask such an important question of a near-stranger? Before he could come up with an answer Hinata blurted out, "I'm sorry, I was n-near the h-hospital this morning and overheard you talking to Sakura-san and—"

She broke off nervously until Lee prompted her, "And?"

"W-where did you get the courage to s-say something like that? I want to tell someone but I don't know how he feels…"

"Would you still want him to be happy even if he hated you, or the only way to make him happy was to let him spend his life with someone else?"

Lee stopped walking and looked straight at Hinata as he continued, "Is that person's happiness more important to you then your life?"

Hinata studied the ground for a while, brow furrowed in concentration, before she found the answer to Lee's questions. The nervousness seemed to leave her as she met Lee's gaze and said, "Yes."

"Then you truly love him. It doesn't matter what he thinks of you after you tell him. I know it hurts, to love someone and not have them love you in return, but love is too great and beautiful a thing to be denied because of pain. And even if the one you love doesn't love you the pain eases as you focus on trying to make them smile. You then become happy when they are happy, and in time the one you love will notice you."

Lee gave Hinata a small, almost embarrassed smile as he continued, "Sakura-chan wouldn't even talk to me when I noticed her for the first time—except to yell at me for being too 'unique'. But over time she has begun to acknowledge me as someone who cares about her."

The smile turned wistful.

"I don't know if she loves me—I don't know if she'll ever love me, but every moment I see her smile is precious to me. Every time I'm able to make life a little easier for her it makes me happy."

The wistful smile transformed into a confident grin as he finished, "And with enough hard work, anything is possible."

The pair started walking again as Lee asked, "Did that help at all, Hinata-san?"

The white eyed girl nodded, then asked, "What should I d-do n-next time I see him?"

"Tell him you love him. Don't worry about what to say after that; the rest of the words will come naturally to you after you say 'I love you.' And afterwards even if he says that he hates you work hard to make him happy. Don't ever give up—not ever. Even if it takes years he will eventually think of you as someone who cares about him, and will come to care about you."

"Hey, have either of you seen Shikamaru?" a voice said as they rounded a corner. It was Ino. "They just told us that we can visit Chouji and he—what happened to you, Lee-san? You're bleeding!"

"Just a few scratches. I went to help with the mission as soon as I got out of surgery."

Before Ino could cut him off he continued, "We'll tell Shikamaru-san about Chouji if we see him. Do you know where Kiba's and Naruto's rooms are?"

"I don't know about Kiba's, but Naruto's room is at the end of the hall over there," the blond kunoichi said, pointing to a corridor branching off into another wing of the hospital. She fixed Lee with a decidedly wolfish grin as she said, "Last I heard Sakura-chan was going to visit him too. Maybe you'll run into her."

Lee's whole face lit up at the prospect of seeing Sakura.

"Arigato, Ino-san! Come on, Hinata-san, let's go!"

He set a brisk pace down the hall, which Hinata matched without complaint since she was also excited to see Naruto. The pair arrived at the right door moments later and Lee knocked.

"Come in!" the voice of Konoha's loudest ninja came from inside the room. Lee opened the door and allowed Hinata to enter first, then walked in expectantly—

And deflated almost immediately. Instead of a pink-haired angel, Naruto's visitor was a dark-haired chuunin.

"Naruto said that you followed us," Shikamaru started, before the kyuubi boy cut him off.

"Hey Fuzzy Eyebrows, shouldn't you see the medics before you go strolling around the hospital."

"I wanted to make sure Hinata-san found your room first." Lee said before Hinata stepped closer to the bed.

"I-I didn't know where your room was a-and Lee-san offered to help me. I w-was w-worried about you."

"You don't need to worry about me, Hinata-chan," the blond replied with a foxy grin, "I can't become Hokage if I die first. But it was nice of you to come see me."

Hinata's blush at Naruto's words confirmed what Lee had already deduced while talking to the girl earlier—that Naruto was the person Hinata was in love with. I've got to clear out and take Shikamaru with me to give Hinata her chance, Lee thought, then remembered what Ino had told him.

"Ino-san was looking for you, Shikamaru-san. Apparently Chouji can have visitors now."

The normally lethargic boy all but jumped out of his chair, "Arigato. Naruto-kun, if you don't mind—"

"Get going. Tell Chouji-kun I said hi." Naruto replied with a smile. Shikamaru was out the door in an instant.

"I should go too." Lee said.

"Yeah, go see a medic. Old lady Tsunade will yell at you if she catches you walking around like that. Hinata-chan's still here to keep me company for awhile, right?"

As Lee opened the door he looked back at the now very nervous-looking Hinata and flashed her the 'nice guy' smile. You can do it, Hinata-san. Good luck. Hinata responded with a nod and the barest trace of a smile.

He slipped out into the hall and quietly shut the door as Hinata sat down on the end of Naruto's bed. Okay, now to find Sakura-chan and try to cheer her up. She's got to be upset, one teammate in the hospital and the other one who knows where—

"Rock Lee! I should have known it was you!"

A middle-aged nurse whom Lee had become familiar with during his rehabilitation stormed down the hall.

"I find a blood trail criss-crossing all over the hospital and follow it expecting to find some poor disorientated person with a head injury and instead I find a silly shinobi without the common sense to get his wounds treated before traipsing all over the hospital—and who should still be in bed to begin with, might I add—you better come with me and get those cuts fixed before I tell the Hokage on you. Goodness knows she was mad enough as it was when she found you missing—"

The nurse continued her tirade as she grabbed Lee by the collar and started towing him to the nearest treatment room.


R&R if you please, and I'm always open to suggestions for future chapters. And if things really go well for me I might be writing a companion fic to this one that centres around Gai (still background researching at present).