A Thousand Cranes

Gomen nasai, sorry for deleting all of my stories. Unfortunately, as I looked back over my stories after a long hiatus, I discovered that a lot of them either left loose ends, had holes in the storyline, or just weren't very well-written. So, I decided to do away with the old, and bring in some new blood.

I've had this in my documents section forever...I had accidentally deleted the original rewrite, and...I thought this was gone for good. I only noticed it today. So, sorry!

So, onward!

Lee was very hopeful.

Not really very specific, since Lee was always very hopeful, but today, he was more hopeful than usual.

Flashback

"Nine hundred ninety-eight! Nine hundred ninety-nine! One thousand!" Lee gasped, falling forward onto the rough ground of the clearing. One thousand one fingered push-ups with a tree on his back. He had done it.

"Well done Lee!" Gai laughed, his face alive with enthusiasm. "You have surpassed even me!"

"Thank you Gai-sensei!" Lee cried, suddenly full of energy again.

"LEE!" Gai cried, tears starting to flow from his eyes.

"GAI-SENSEI!"

"LEE!"

"GAI-SENSEI!"

"LE- Okay, we're just going to move on with the story.

"Lee, you have worked very hard. I'm going to give you a secret." Gai had said, anticipation visible in every pore.

"What is this great secret that shall allow the great spring-time of my youth to blossom more than it has so far?" Lee whispered, his body just as tense as Gai's.

"Have you ever heard of the legend of the one thousand paper cranes?" Gai asked, his face suddenly serious.

"No, Gai-sensei, I have not." Came the flat, slightly disappointed voice.

"Well, no matter. Lee, the legend states that if you fold one thousand paper cranes, and make a wish as you fold the last one, the wish will come true-" Gai began, but even as the words left his mouth, Lee had sped off.

"YESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYES!"

"SHADDUP, YOU DUMB DOG!"

End Flashback

And so Lee was now rushing off to buy as many packs of origami paper as he could, after a little mishap where he had discovered he didn't know how to fold a paper crane. Gai-sensei corrected that, however.

Bless Gai-sensei, the Great Azure Beast of Konoha, the epitome of youth, the burning flame that lit up the world!

And so Lee's mind went on as he sped toward the Ninja Office Supplies Shop, unaware of the little Beatle in a red leather suit trying to strangle the Beatle in a white toga.

O0-0O

The next day, the sun rose upon Lee asleep at his desk, with hundreds of paper cranes littering the ground. Unfortunately, most of them were failed attempts at paper cranes. Looking around, we see…

Three. Three legitimate paper cranes.

Lee has a long day ahead of him.

O0-0O

And so it went. Lee would come home from training, to stay up all night making paper cranes, most of which were kaput.

However, eventually, he managed to complete the nine hundred ninety-ninth one.

And then Sasuke came.

"Lee, what are you doing?"

"I am making one thousand paper cranes to win Sakura-chan's heart! YOSH! Thank you Gai-sensei!" Lee exclaimed, tears pouring down his face.

Far away, Orochimaru heard this conversation through the Curse Seal, and decided in a bout of petty evilness to command Sasuke to burn all of the cranes.

(back to Lee's house)

"Uma, Tora, Ryu, Hebi, Tori, Nezumi, Tora!"

"Sasuke-san, what are you doing!"

"Katon: Housenka no Jutsu!"

"NNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Sasuke suddenly blanked out, and came to. Looking around, he let out a nervous chuckle.

"Oops?"

O0-0O

After beating Sasuke senseless and burying him underneath a rock, Lee once again started on his collection. And after nearly a year, he finally finished the nine hundred ninety-ninth one again.

And then was promptly called to the Hokage's office. When he returned, the cranes were gone.

And so it went. Throughout the course of his lifetime, Lee kept on making paper cranes in his spare time. However, every time he nearly finished, all of them would disappear.

Until he was ninety-nine.

"Almost…done…Gai-sensei…" Lee wheezed, his shaking fingers struggling to finish the one thousandth one.

As the last flap was folded in place, Lee was so overcome by emotion, he jumped up and started running as he hadn't since he was a Jounin.

Then had a heart-attack from remembering Neji doing the Macarena.

And died.

His final wish was granted, though.

Haruno Sakura was buried beside him.

Unfortunately, so was Uchiha Sasuke.

Looking up from the Sandaime's crystal ball, Orochimaru let out an unpleasant laugh. "Metampsychosis is so much fun!"

Boy, that was…mean. I was meaner to him here than in the original. And I have no idea which seals go in the Housenka no Jutsu.

Soujiro: I baked some cookies, minna-san!

Itachi: Cookies? Where?

Kratos: On the table over there, Itachi.

Itachi: Table? Where?

Kratos: …Never mind.

Yeah, never mind indeed. Well, please review, minna-san!

Itachi: And flame!

Shut up, you blind Akatsuki reject.