Chapter 2

She sighed, worrying about her friend and not knowing in what kind of state he was.

Wether he was going to be healthy again or not, she honestly didn't know but after having seen Gai-sensei's expression she wasn't sure if Lee was okay or not.

"Atleast he got away alive" She muttered to herself, thinking back of the moment the Sand ninja had tried to finish Lee.

But she would never forget the expression on his face when his bones were crushed, his scream out of pain piercing right trough her heart.

She couldn't stand to see those she held dear being hurt, it hurt her as much as it hurt them.

Kakashi had gone down to hold Naruto back, the fox-boy had been screaming and trying to run after 'bushy brows'

"It seems Naruto is just as upset and worried about him as I am" she thought, watching the scene below.

She then thought for a moment, and after checking those around her she quietly jumped down aswell.

But she wasn't planning on running towards her sensei and team-mate.

On the contrary, Sakura had managed to slip by everyone's guard, seeing as they were all focussed on Naruto's screams and attempts to get out of his sensei's grip.

Following the medical ninja's from a distance, closeby to see where they were going, though far enough from them to avoid being seen.

The ninja's entered an empty treatment room, but they didn't start treatment yet.

"That's odd.." Sakura thought, glancing around the door's corner to see what they were doing to her friend.

"They're not starting to clean him up or anything" her eyes narrowed slightly as she stared at the medics, trying to hear their conversation.

"I'm actually amazed that he was able to stand up, even after he lost conciousness" One of the ninja exclaimed, staring oddly at Lee as if he were some strange creature.

"Yeah I know, not to mention having his left arm and leg broken" The other one said, starting to unwrap the blood soaked bandages on the boy's left arm.

"Poor kid.. He's gone trough alot back there..."

Lee groaned out of pain, it obviously hurt him having his bandages removed and the medic wasn't really doing a great job at it either.

He was a bit too rough and Sakura clenched her fists together, glaring at the medical ninja as he continued to strip the bandages off of Lee's body.

Suddenly she heard footsteps in a side hall, and Sakura managed to hide herself just in time in the room across the one Lee was in.

She heard faint mumbles and then footsteps, moving away from her.

Emerald eyes peeked out of the room, into Lee's treatment room. "Where'd they go..?" She muttered silently, glancing into the hall occasionally in case someone would come back.

She smirked, thinking of how easy it was for her to be with her friend right now, without having her sensei preaching to her or being sent back to the room where the battles were held by the medical ninja's.

"Cha, probably scared, the cowards!" Inner Sakura screamed, flailing her fists around frantically but Sakura ignored her again as she slowly moved towards the treatment room.

It was as if her heart was being stabbed with several kunai knives, seeing Lee laying there so helpless and alone.

Tears started to well up in the kunoichi's eyes again but she wiped them away with the back of her hand "No, I won't cry, I have to be strong" she thought, but nevertheless it was hard for her to see a friend of hers being beaten up so bad.

To her it seemed that the person who did this had no heart at all, "Someone who's able to do this to people must be very selfish..." She sighed softly and lifted her right hand, caressing the right side of Lee's face softly, trying not to wake him up.

"I feel so sorry for you Lee-san..." she muttered as she began unwrapping the bandages the medic had attempted to get off so harshly.

He didn't seem to mind now, in fact he seemed more calm since she had entered the room.

She gently took his hand in hers and lifted his arm, allowing her better access so she could get the now red cloths off his arm.

Her eyes widened in horror as she saw his bare arm, it was covered in blood and was heavily bruised and disformed by the force the Sand Jutsu had put on it.

She bit her lip again, cursing the red-haired boy who was the cause of this all.

The many scars on Lee's hands caught her attention, he had probably gotten them during training with his precious Gai-sensei.

A smile appeared on Sakura's face "He worked very hard to get here" she thought, rubbing the boy's cheek for a moment because he had let out a groan again.

"I'm proud of you, Lee, proud that you've come this far even though you have no talent in Ninjutsu or Genjutsu for that matter" She stopped again, Lee had shifted his body momentarily and she thought he was going to wake up but he remained in his unconcious state.

"And I'm proud to have you as my protector.. My friend..." She muttered, staring at the boy for a while untill she heard a poof behind her.

"Sakura" A voice called.

She turned around, her eye twitching slightly as she faced her sensei.

"Y-yes.. Ka-kakashi-sensei...?" she stuttered, her heartbeat had increased considerably because she knew her sensei had forbidden her to go after Lee.

She stood before her sensei now, glancing up at him momentarily before turning her gaze to the ground.

"What are you doing here, I thought I had said not to go after Lee" He said, a trickle of anger and disbelief was heard in his voice.

Afterall, Sakura wasn't one to disobey rules, but he knew that had changed ever since his test to see if her and her teammates were suitable to become Genin.

Naruto had been tied to a pole and wasn't allowed to eat, while Sakura and Sasuke were allowed to have their lunches.

The blonde had tried to hide his hunger from his teammates, but the other two knew better and they offered Naruto some of their lunch even though Kakashi had clearly forbidden them to feed their tied up comrade.

Sakura continued staring at the ground but she began speaking "I know, Kakashi-sensei, But I wanted to help Lee." Kakashi blinked, thinking for a moment "Why?" He asked, his eyes never leaving his student. "If I remember correctly, then you were the one who had told this particular boy that he 'was too unique for your tastes'" He questioned her.

"I.. I know... But he protected me during the second exam.." She said, sniffling softly and looking her sensei right in the eyes now, "I just thought it was my duty, to.. you know.. Return the favor.." She said, gazing up at her sensei.

"I understand" The silver-haired Jounin said, putting a hand on her shoulder and pushing her gently towards the door.

"But we should let him rest now, let the medics take care of him"

She nodded, though with distaste and moved towards the door with her sensei right behind her.

As they moved trough the hallway she noticed the medics had only left Lee so they could get their best doctor for him.

She smiled, but she still wasn't happy with leaving him there...

A/N:

I'm quite happy with how this chapter turned out, I just had this idea and I thought it'd be a nice chapter for this story..

Sakura really cares about Lee :3 Tehee

But she doesn't realize her true feelings yet.. But that'll change soon enough.. :P

Sambers