A/N: Back again! I know it's not what a lot of you have been wanting, but it's the only thing I have at the moment. I've been trying to think of where to go next in "Finding" and "Dreams", but that's as far as I've gotten. Like I keep saying, I haven't given up or forgotten them. I just seem to have a gigantic writer's block. As for this, Naruto has been my current obsession and Gai and Lee are two of my favorite characters. They don't have enough love so I'm writing this for them. Not enough people see the special bond these two share. Yes, they're crazy, but I just happen to see something loveable in them that goes beyond their wacky looks and odd personalities. Or maybe that's why I love them so much. Who knows? Anyway, please enjoy!
Disclaimer: Don't own squat.
Summary: Neji and Tenten came back from the mission, but they're one short. How is Gai going to deal with the possibility of his precious Lee not coming home? And is Lee as dead as everyone thinks he is?
Warnings: Very, very slight spoilers, I suppose, if you don't know anything about Lee's surgery. It's only mentioned, so I guess even that's easily overlooked.
Pairings: Kakashi/Iruka mentioned at the end. This is not a Gai/Lee yaoi fic. I repeat: NOT Gai/ Lee yaoi. All I see in them is a very deep friendship. Teacher-student, father-son type of thing. They love and mean the world to each other, but not in a romantic way. I don't know how many other ways I can describe it.
Way of the Ninja
Tsunade looked grimly at the sight in front of her before turning to the ninja to her left. "Go get Gai."
The ninja bowed his head, muttered, "Hai," and was gone on a puff of smoke.
- - -
Sweat dripped slowly down his face as Maito Gai finished his two thousandth kick. He had lost to his rival yet again not more than an hour ago and was finally finishing his punishment. Placing his foot on the ground along side its partner, he reached a hand up to wipe the perspiration off his face. It was a workout, but nothing he couldn't handle. After all, he was still young! He could do anything!
Before he could continue with his workout, he was distracted by a "popping" sound and some smoke. Turning his head, he broke out in a smile when he saw who had arrived.
"My eternal rival, Hatake Kakashi! Are you here to challenge me yet again even though you just beat me? How modern! How hip you are!" Gai's eyes shown with admiration.
Kakashi sighed. He knew this wasn't going to be easy. However, he knew it was going to be even harder to watch the happiness slowly drain out of the ninja. As tired as he grew of constantly being challenged by him, Gai was one of his closer friends and it hurt him to have to tell him something he knew would cause the other pain.
"Gai, listen to me—"
"What is the challenge this time?" Gai asked excitedly. "A race? Origami? Who can hold their breath the longest—"
"Maito!" Kakashi interrupted loudly before he could continue.
Gai blinked at him for a moment, not used to the use of his other name. Carefully he looked at his rival, finally sensing that something wasn't quite right. "Kakashi? What is it?"
The silver-haired ninja took a deep breath. "Neji and Tenten just came back from their mission."
To Kakashi's dismay, Gai's face lit up again. "My three lovely students have returned!" he exclaimed happily. "We must go see them at once! Where are they? At Hokage Tower? How is the kawaii Lee?"
Kakashi sighed again and ran a hand over his face. "Gai," he said quietly. "I said Neji and Tenten came back from their mission."
Gai looked at him for a moment, all joy fading from his eyes as a cold fear settled on his heart. "Kakashi, what are you trying to say? Where is Lee?"
"Tsunade-sama wants you to meet her at the hospital." The copy-ninja avoided the question.
Without another word Gai took off for the hospital, Kakashi right behind him.
- - -
Gai burst through the hospital doors only to stop short. Before he could ask Kakashi which direction to go, the other ninja grabbed his hand and led him down the right path. For once, Gai was silent.
He was silent until his rival opened the door and he saw two of his students lying on the hospital beds, clothing torn, bodies bloodied.
"Neji, Tenten," Gai gasped. Immediately he turned to Tsunade. "Tsunade-sama, what happened to them? Where is my precious Lee?"
Tsunade answered without taking her eyes off the Genin. "I don't know, Gai. All I know right now is that these two barely made it to the gate before collapsing. As it was, Tenten was almost carrying Neji, or so the ninja who found them told me."
Gai felt something akin to panic rising in his throat and fought to push it down. "Where is Lee?" he asked again.
"He chased after the thief," a weakened voice told them.
All heads whipped around to see Neji trying to sit up. Gai was instantly at his side, gently pushing him down. "Neji, take it easy."
"Can you tell us what happened?" Tsunade asked.
Neji frowned as he tried to recall. "The mission was…to track down and apprehend a thief that was causing trouble…for a nearby village. The three of us tracked him down easily enough…but it was because he had set a trap for us. He…he had help—two others. They were very skilled ninja…Tenten and I fought them while Lee went after the thief." He paused a moment to catch his breath. "We got separated since the thief took off…Lee followed him. After we finished off our opponents, Tenten and I…searched the surrounding area for about three hours. We didn't find any signs of Lee or the thief except for this." Neji winced as he reached underneath his body and pulled out something from where he had tucked it in the back of his pants. Silently, he passed it to Gai.
Gai took it from Neji as if it were made of glass. Tears came to his eyes as he realized what it was. "Lee's forehead protector," he whispered. He ran his fingers over it, trying to wipe off the blood that had obscured the leaf symbol in the middle. Somehow he knew it wasn't Neji's blood that covered it. "He would never abandon this. It's a symbol of his pride as a ninja." He stroked it gently for a moment before his face became hard in determination and he stood up. "Tsunade-sama, I wish to go look for Lee. Maybe I can find something they missed."
The Hokage shook her head. "Gai, I called you here so you could be with your students. What could you find that Neji's Byakugan couldn't?"
Gai opened his mouth to protest, but Kakashi put his hand on his should to silence him. "I'll go look for Lee. With my Sharingan and my dogs we should be able to find something."
Tsunade thought for a moment before nodding her consent. "If you don't find anything within five hours, I want you to come back."
Kakashi nodded, then turned to Gai. "I'll find him," he said softly.
Gai's eyes watered once more as he looked at his rival. "Thank you, Kakashi." A moment later the silver-haired ninja was gone in another puff of smoke.
Tsunade placed her hand on Gai's arm in a sign of support. "Call me if anything changes, all right?"
"Hai, Hokage-sama," Gai whispered, forcing the tears back.
The legendary Sannin watched him a moment longer before exiting the room, leaving the Jounin alone with his students.
As he walked back to the chair in the corner of the room, Gai was startled by Neji's soft voice once again.
"I'm sorry we failed the mission, Gai-sensei."
Gai's eyes widened slightly before going back to normal. Immediately, he made his way toward the bed and embraced the boy on it, much to Neji's surprise. "As long as you're safe, that's all I care about."
Neji allowed himself a small smile and hugged his sensei back before he was told to rest. The Hyuuga nodded and settled himself in the bed, falling asleep in a matter of minutes.
The black-haired ninja sighed and all but collapsed in the chair. Looking out the window, he prayed to every deity he knew that Kakashi would come back with his precious Lee in tow. With that thought, he settled himself in for the longest five hours of his life.
- - -
It was with a heavy heart that Kakashi returned to the hospital later that night. After reporting in with Tsunade, he went directly to where he knew Gai was anxiously waiting for news of his beloved student.
Coming up to the doors of the hospital, the copy-ninja had to pause. Death was not a new event for him. On the contrary, he was quite familiar with death. However, having to tell one of your close friends that his most precious person may be dead was no easy task, even for someone like Kakashi who often hid how he was feeling. In a matter of minutes he knew he was going to break his friend's heart. He grinned wryly. Now he knew how Naruto felt when he came back without Sasuke and had to face Sakura.
After composing his thoughts, Kakashi once again made his way to Neji and Tenten's room. He hoped they hadn't gotten any worse. He wasn't sure how much Gai could take all at once.
Once he reached the door, he paused, took a deep breath, and pushed open the door. Gai was immediately on his feet, looking at him with questioning eyes. Slowly, the light died in his eyes as Kakashi handed him Lee's leg weights.
"Pakkun found them about an hour and a half away from the village," Kakashi explained quietly as Gai sank into the chair behind him. "He followed Lee's scent to those. He must have been fighting seriously." Gai nodded absently and Kakashi continued. "After we found those we followed his scent to this." He handed Gai Lee's pack. "It was in the river, so we went back upstream to try and find his scent, but by that time it was raining and the scent was gone." He paused a moment for the information to sink in. "I'm so sorry, Maito."
With utmost care, Gai placed Lee's weights inside his pack. Then, without a word, he placed the pack on the chair and silently left the room. As Kakashi went to follow him, he was dimly aware of Neji moving over to Tenten's bed and enfolding her in his arms. Soft sounds of sobbing followed him out.
The silver-haired ninja followed his friend to a secluded hall, not wanting him to be alone. For a long while neither man said anything, just standing in silence, each lost in his own thoughts.
Then Gai spoke. "Before Lee had his surgery he was scared and didn't know what to do. The surgery only had a fifty percent chance of succeeding. If it didn't succeed it would cost him his life. I found him on the rooftop, crying, and he asked me what to do. I told him to have the surgery. I told him if he died, I'd die, too."
Kakashi listened as Gai spoke, his heart aching for the man in front of him. As he fell silent, Kakashi's eye widened and, without thinking, he drew Gai into his arms. At the act of comfort, Gai's resolve crumbled and the tears he had been holding back finally found release. He made no sound, but wrapped his arms around his rival and held him tightly as the tears continued to fall.
- - -
"N-Neji?"
Said Genin looked down at the girl wrapped in his embrace. "Yes?"
"Do you think Lee-kun is really…?"
He sighed and activated his bloodline limit. Immediately he found his sensei and Kakashi. He watched them only for a moment before he released the Byakugan. "Gai-sensei is crying," was all he said.
That was all Tenten needed to hear. Once again she buried her face in her teammate's chest as she became overcome with tears. Neji just sighed again and held her.
- - -
Harsh breathing was the only sound heard in the forest surrounding Konoha. The birds were all silent, having gone to sleep hours ago. Even the crickets were not out on this night. Only one determined young man and his prize.
- - -
Gai did not sleep at all that night and refused all sleeping medications offered to him by the nurses. He was not ready to forget just yet. Lee was his most precious person. He would not belittle his memory by trying to escape from him right away. He wanted to remember everything he could about his beloved student.
Lee had always looked up to him, even he could see that. He was the first to defend his Gai-sensei's honor when he felt it was threatened. Lee was the only one to accept him fully for who he was. Everyone else found him to be annoying, loud and too eccentric for their tastes. But not Lee. Lee was everything he could have hoped for in a student. In a way, Lee was also his best friend.
Lee had the brightest soul Gai had ever seen. He could bring a smile to anybody's face. He was determined to live life his way and that's what he did. Gai would honor Lee's memory for the rest of his life. He would always remember the little boy who was laughed at and made fun of for his lack of ninjutsu skills and the strong young man he turned out to be. He would always love his most precious Lee.
- - -
Tsunade rubbed her eyes, telling herself for the forty-third time that she was not crying. Ninja were supposed to be emotionless in the face of duty and she was still in her office. This was not the time for her to be dropping her guard. There would always be time to mourn later. Right now there was work that needed to be done.
Just as she convinced herself to go back to work, her door slammed open. She looked up angrily, ready to reem out the person who interrupted her, when she froze in shock. She had barely turned to her ANBU guard before the guard disappeared in a puff of smoke, much like Kakashi. She allowed herself a moment to smirk at her well-trained ninja before turning to her newest arrivals.
- - -
Gai barely stirred at the sudden arrival of one of the Hokage's ANBU. Blearily, he turned to look at the ninja with a blank expression.
"Hokage-sama needs you to meet her in her office," the ninja reported, wincing slightly at the broken taijutsu ninja before him.
Gai just nodded and slowly got to his feet. Without even thinking about it, he picked up Lee's pack, clutched it to his chest, and followed the ANBU out of the hospital toward Hokage Tower.
Once they reached Tsunade's office, the ANBU ninja opened the door and let Gai inside, then disappeared. "You wanted to see me, Hokage-sama?" Gai asked quietly.
"Yes, I did," Tsunade answered, smiling slightly. "There's someone I wanted to show you."
Movement to his left drew Gai's attention to a slumped figure leaning against the wall. "Should I know who that is, Hokage-sama?"
"Not necessarily. It's the thief that your team was sent out to apprehend."
Gai frowned in confusion. "But Neji and Tenten…"
A soft voice to his right answered him. "Mission completed, Gai-sensei."
The Jounin's eyes widened as he slowly turned toward the voice. His breath caught in his throat as he took in the figure propped up on Tsunade's couch. At first he didn't believe what he was seeing. However, when the figure slowly lifted up a hand, gave him and thumbs up and grinned, he knew who it was.
"Lee!" he cried, dropping the pack and running over to his student's side. Immediately he took him in his arms and held him tightly. "Thank Kami-sama!"
Lee just smiled and embraced his sensei back with his remaining strength, which wasn't much. Gai must have noticed as he pulled away a moment later. "Are you all right? Are you hurt badly?"
Before he could reply, Tsunade answered for him. "He'll be fine, Gai. He's got a few nasty gashes that'll take some stitching up, but other than that he's just drained."
Gai looked at Lee for confirmation, who nodded. A moment later Lee found himself once again in his sensei's arms. "I'm so glad you're alive," Gai whispered shakily.
The tone of Gai's voice brought tears to Lee's eyes, as well. "I'm sorry I worried you, Gai-sensei. I just wanted to complete the mission."
"Tell him on the way to the hospital, Lee," Tsunade interrupted. "You're bleeding all over my couch."
Lee looked at himself and gasped. "I'm sorry, Tsunade-sama!" Out of reflex, he tried to jump to his feet, but only ended up crying out and falling into Gai's arms.
"Lee!" Gai caught him gently, immediately picking him up. "Hold on, we'll be at the hospital in no time. Thank you, Hokage-sama." And with that he was gone.
Tsunade smiled after them, thanking every deity she knew that Lee came back alive. She knew Gai never would have recovered if Lee had died.
Quiet groaning reminded her that she still had a thief to deal with. Without having to say anything, she gestured to the thief and he was instantly taken away by ANBU. She smirked. Sometimes she really loved her job.
- - -
Less than a minute after they left Hokage Tower, Gai was once again entering the hospital. As soon as the doctors saw what was going on, the green beasts of Konoha were led into a private room. No one tried to take Lee from Gai.
Gently, Gai placed Lee down on the hospital bed as they waited for the proper equipment to arrive. A few minutes later a nurse arrived rolling a cart in front of her. The doctor immediately set to work, preparing to stitch Lee up.
"Gai-sensei, I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to leave," the doctor said apologetically.
Gai looked disappointed, but nodded and started to back away. However, he was stopped as Lee grabbed his hand. "Lee?" he questioned. "What is it?"
Lee froze as everyone's attention fixed on him. "I…I'm…I'm afraid of needles!" he blurted out, blushing madly.
Gai looked at him for a moment, then smiled and took Lee's hand in both of his own. "Oh, my kawaii Lee is afraid of needles! You really are so young!"
Lee smiled and relaxed, the blood flowing away from his face as Gai started acting like his normal self. "Can he stay?" he asked the doctor.
The doctor sighed and smiled, shaking his head. "How can I say otherwise?"
Lee beamed. "Thank you, doctor!"
The doctor nodded and started to cut off Lee's shirt to reveal a gash along his left side. Lee winced as the fabric stuck to the dried blood on his skin.
"Lee, what happened?" Gai asked, trying to distract Lee from the pain. "Neji and Tenten told us that it was a trap and you all got separated."
He nodded. "That's right. Are Neji and Tenten all right? That was the last time I saw them."
"They're fine. They're sharing a room down the hall."
Lee closed his eyes for a moment in relief. "He was very strong and very fast. He was able to keep up with my movements for a long time."
Gai's eyes widened. "He wasn't supposed to be that strong, just cunning."
"I know." Lee winced again as the doctor injected him with a local anesthetic. "But he was. I was forced to take off the weights and even that was only a slight advantage. He had been holding back just as I had. It was a very close fight, but I won in the end due to stamina. Thanks to all the training I did with Gai-sensei I was able to outlast him."
"Thank goodness." Gai was silent for a few moments. "We all thought you were dead, Lee," he admitted softly.
"I'm sorry I made you all think that. But for a while I thought I was dead, as well." Gai's head snapped up to look at him. "There were times when he had me cornered and I thought he was going to kill me. But then I remembered that I couldn't die. Not yet. I still haven't proven my way of the ninja. I still haven't beaten Neji and proven that hard work can overcome genius. I still have lots more training to do with Gai-sensei. I have to prove my way of the ninja. And…I was afraid that if I died Gai-sensei would die, as well. You promised that if I died you would die, too. I don't want Gai-sensei to die."
Gai looked at Lee for a moment before leaning forward and kissing his forehead. "Thank you, Lee."
- - -
"Lee, are you really afraid of needles?" Gai asked as he and Lee made their way to Neji and Tenten's room.
Lee blushed at the reminder. "I'm sorry, Gai-sensei! That was not true. I shall run five hundred laps around Konoha as punishment when I am able."
Gai smiled at his student's enthusiasm. "Why did you say it, then?"
"Gai-sensei looked sad when the doctor asked you to leave. If I said I was afraid of needles I thought he'd let you stay."
For what seemed like the thousandth time since the night before, Gai found his eyes filled with tears. "I will let it slide this time since I'm glad I was able to stay with you. But when you are able, we will both run laps around Konoha to get back in shape!" Gai exclaimed in his loud, boisterous voice that Lee had come to love so much.
"Hai, Gai-sensei!" Gai-sensei really was the one he admired more than anyone else. Lee's eyes glittered with awe at his sensei.
Lee stood behind his sensei as Gai threw open the door to his teammates' room. He watched as Gai stepped inside and posed in a manly fashion. Gai-sensei was so cool!
"Fear not, my lovely students!" He paused a moment as he noticed someone else in the room with them. "And my one true rival, Kakashi. Everything is well again! The kawaii Lee has returned to us!" With that, he stepped aside and Lee limped into the room, leaning on his single crutch.
Lee watched as Tenten's face lit up with joy and she jumped (as well as she could, being injured and all) out of bed to throw her arms around his neck. "Oh, Lee! You're alive! I can't believe it!" she cried. "We all thought you were dead!"
The taijutsu specialist couldn't hide a wince as he wrapped the arm that wasn't supporting himself against the crutch around his teammate's waist. "I'm sorry to have worried you all. The thief has been brought to justice so all is well."
"Welcome back, Lee," Neji said, a small smile on his face.
At the small smile, Lee positively beamed. "Thank you, Neji!"
Gai watched his students interact with a smile of his own. He knew he'd spend the rest of his life thanking his lucky stars that Lee made it back home. Feeling someone come up beside him, he turned to Kakashi.
"I'm glad he's all right," Kakashi said quietly, as not to disturb the group of Genin.
Gai nodded his agreement. "I wanted to thank you, Kakashi."
"Oh? For what?"
"For being there for me yesterday when no one else was. I appreciate it. I'm glad that we're more than rivals."
"So am I." Kakashi's eye curved as he smiled underneath his mask.
"Iruka's lucky to have you."
Kakashi chuckled. "And here I thought I was lucky to have him."
"You're lucky to have each other. I'm lucky to have Lee."
The copy-ninja turned to look at the reunited Team Gai. "Yes, you are. He looks up to you more than anyone else. I think you're the reason he fought to come home. You're his way of the ninja."
- - -