Title: When to Step In
Fandom: Naruto
Character(s): Team Gai
Disclaimer: The usual stuff I say about not owning Naruto.

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"Be careful, Lee," I warned from where I stood beside him.

The said shinobi was lifting himself out of the parked wheelchair as I held on to the crutches we had stolen from the hospital storage closet. Seeing how much trouble he was having as he tried to stand up, I held out my hand to the taijutsu user which he took gratefully. Wordlessly, Lee placed his other hand on my shoulder and used me as a support as he pulled himself up out of the confining chair. Keeping one hand on the pilfered hospital equipment, I moved the other around to rest on his back as my teammate continued to lean against me.

"Tsunade is going to assign me to a month's worth of D-class missions when she finds out about this," I whispered.

"She won't find out about this, Tenten," Lee assured me, "Now give me the crutches."

The two of us were standing outside in the small garden area located within the hospital. Lee being the enthusiastic and energetic person he was, had grown weary of being restricted to his bed and practically begged me to help him escape for a little while. The joy I saw in Lee's eyes when he was reunited with the beauty of nature that the young boy cherished was worth disobeying the Hokage's orders. It was only he insisted on getting rid of his wheelchair and trading it in for a set of crutches that I started to second guess my decision.

"Don't worry, Tenten," the green-clad boy said enthusiastically as if hearing my concerned thoughts, "The flames of my youthful spirit are burning brighter than ever."

"It's not your youthful spirit I'm worried about," I commented, pulling my forhead protector down to rest on my neck so that I could rub my head in mild frustration.

Prone to pushing beyond his limits, I was worried that Lee would end up injuring himself even more through his extensive training. So I was careful to keep a close eye on him as my teammate slowly eased off of me and distributed all his weight on the metal crutches. A smile graced my face as he balanced himself on his shaky legs, pride filling my heart as Lee flashed me a reassuring thumbs up.

Just then, Lee's knees began to buckle under the weight of his body, the crutches being in the wrong position to support him. Quick to react, I had only managed to take a step forward before the taijutsu user righted himself and made the proper adjustments. With a relieved sigh I stepped back next to the abandoned wheelchair, poised to react should my teammate need me.

"Lee, you just had an operation a few days ago," I lightly scolded, crossing my arms over my chest in discord, "Don't you think you're moving a little too fast on the road to recovery?"

"Nonsense, my budding teammate," the taijutsu user said cheerfully, "How can I expect to be out of here within the week if I don't start now?"

With that said, Lee hobbled across the length of the garden. In his eagerness to get better, he had failed to notice the rock in his way and stumbled in his steps. I moved to go help him again but was held back by a firm hand on my shoulder. At the sudden contact, I snapped my head back and found myself face to face with the last member of Team Gai.

"Neji?" I said questioningly.

"Let him handle it on his own," he ordered gently.

Turning back to Lee as he was sprawled out on the ground, I resisted the urge to run to his aid. Finding the meaning behind Neji's words, I simply stood there like a boulder watching Lee struggle to right himself.

"I can do this," I heard him mumble to himself.

Turning for a brief moment to glare at the offending stone he had tripped over, the taijutsu user lifted his face to flash me his usually bright smile, noticeably lacking its 'ping'. I merely smiled back at him, unable to find any other way to react.

"Neji, my formidable opponent!" Lee exclaimed at seeing the white-eyed shinobi, "So good to see your youthful spirit is burning brightly today."

"Sure, whatever," Neji responded coolly.

Having grown accustomed to our teammate's brush offs, Lee continued his exercises without a second thought. Seeing that he would be at it for a while, I decided to sit down on a nearby bench. I didn't' bother to ask Neji if he wanted to take a seat because I knew that he would do so eventually. In stead, I kept my eyes on Lee in case he decided to do something else foolish.

In my quiet observation, I noticed the hidden winces and secret twitches of his face as he continued the exercises, the only indications of how much pain the taijutsu master in training was actually in. Knowing how stubborn he could be when it came to asking for help, I made a mental note to ask Hinata for some more tasteless pain medicine. If crushing the pills into dust and slipping them into the meal or drink worked for Neji after his harder training sessions, there was no reason it couldn't work for Lee as well.

Suddenly, Lee stopped in mid-swing to glance at the wheelchair parked next to me before continuing to work with the metal crutches under his thin arms. for a moment, he paused to debate whether to tray walking with only one crutch or not, seeming a bit unsure of himself.

"Don't even think about it," I stated sternly, making the decision for him.

At the sound of my voice, the young boy snapped his head up to see the glare I was sending his way. Flashing a nervous smile back towards me, he quickly reconsidered his options and continued to lap around the garden on the stolen hospital equipment until it appeared that he had completely forgot that I was even there. Smiling to myself at how well Lee seemed to be doing on the crutches, I leaned back against the bench to enjoy the serene atmosphere.

A soft thud to my left reminded me of Neji's presence in the garden. Small bruises and cuts still marred his limbs from his battle with Naruto, breaking the perfection of his porcelain skin. Relaxing in a way that he would only show in front of us, the Hyuuga prodigy let out a quiet sigh. Gazing out the corner of my eye, I spotted my more quiet teammate sitting at the other end of the wooden seat. Upon closer inspection, he appeared to be watching Lee attentively, the only show of concern towards the younger boy that he was willing to display.

"He'll be alright," I stated with the intent of calming his nerves, "After all, you paid good money for him to have that operation."

"Is that what you told him?" Neji asked casually.

"No, he thinks the Hokage is taking it out of what he got on his last mission," I replied, "He doesn't need to know that the only reason she told him about the operation was because you offered to pay for it."

"Good," he commented flatly, "The last thing I need is him trying to pay me back."

"Like you would let him," I scoffed, "Admit it, you paid for his surgery because you were concerned."

"…Perhaps," the Hyuuga responded with a smirk, "But you have no proof."

I couldn't help but chuckle at his semi-playful behavior, at least as playful as the prodigy could be. Only in these private moments would he show this side of him, a secret knowledge both Lee and I agreed to keep to ourselves. It wasn't likely that anyone would believe us if we told them anyways.

"I wasn't aware that the Hokage had issued a set of crutches to Lee yet," my white-eyed teammate stated knowingly as he observed the younger boy in his laps around the garden.

"She didn't," I responded evenly, "And if you report this I'll make sure to sharpen my weapons and aim a little lower for our next spar."

"…Point taken," was his simple response.

"So what are you doing here?" I asked a little more seriously, "You hate the hospital."

There was a pause as Neji simply stared straight ahead. It concerned me greatly because he had never been hesitant about anything in all the time that I had known him. So I waited eagerly for him to answer me as the anticipation started eating away at me.

"I've been called for a mission," he finally stated calmly.

"How serious is it?" I asked, knowing that there was more to it.

"It seems the Uchiha has left Konoha to follow Orochimaru," my teammate explained, "Me and a few others have been charged to go bring him back."

"Are you sure he left?" I inquired curiously.

"Sakura reported seeing him leave with the Sound Four," he replied flatly.

To say that I was shocked would have been an understatement. The thought of any shinobi abandoning his own village disgusted me to no end. But despite that, I couldn't ignore the small part of myself that knew he would eventually do something like that. Sasuke was never the same after the massacre of his family and it was only a matter of time before the young Uchiha would lash out from the incident.

"Don't tell lee," Neji said sternly, breaking through my thoughts, "The last thing he needs is to get into another battle so soon after his operation and become severely injured again."

"Don't worry," I promised, unfazed by his open show of concern for our green-clad teammate, "I won't tell him."

"Good," was Neij's simple response.

"Um, guys?" said shinobi called from across the garden, "A little help here?"

Breaking from our serious conversation, we turned towards the sound of his voice to find Lee sprawled out on the ground in a tangled mess of limbs and crutches. How he had managed that none of us would ever know, but it was an amusing sight to see all the same. Sheepishly, the taijutsu user smiled at our bewildered expressions and attempted to scratch the back of his head. He failed to do so of course for obvious reasons, which onl resulted in making the whole scene even more laughable than it already was. I couldn't help but chuckle a little at his comical situation. Neji on the other hand merely smirked and shook his head at the whole thing as he stood to go help our fallen teammate.

"Neji," I called softly as I followed after him, stopping the white-eyed prodigy in his tracks.

"Tenten?" he called back questioningly.

"Just…be careful," came my simple request.

There was a slight pause as Neji took my words into consideration before nodding his reply. With that out of the way, the two of us went to help untangle our companion from his unlikely prison.

"Oh Lee," I mumbled softly with a sigh, "What are we going to do with you?"

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-squeals- I'm a sucker for Team Gai moments.