Thank you so much to everyone for your comments and support! I felt a little bit like I was floundering with this chapter, but I kept going and I think it turned out alright in the end! Let me know what you think!

Chapter 6: The Visitor

By early afternoon, Lee's tears had all dried up. Her anguish ebbed like the passing of a storm, leaving her disoriented but strangely tranquil in its wake. Her senses came back to her. She was dizzy. Her throat and eyes burned. She tasted salt on her lips. But the breeze was pleasant, and it smelled sweet. The garden around her was full of flowers, and the waterfall rolling down the rocks and splattering into the pond soothed her ringing ears. The sky was blue. She had been so certain the world was falling apart, but what had changed, really?

Since when have I been so concerned about pleasing them? What would Brother do in my shoes? If he followed his heart, then he would be content, no matter what anyone said. What does it matter if I've failed them? What does it matter if I'm not the daughter they want? What does it matter if I'm not enough for them? What does any of it matter? So I'm a bad Lee. That doesn't mean a thing to Hatake-san, Haruno-san, or the other villagers. I don't think it means a thing to anyone off this tiny plot of land. It shouldn't matter, but...Lee leaned against the cool wood of the tree and looked up at the green light filtering down from above, but it feels like it does. And though her stomach cried for food, and her throat for water, Lee's exhaustion won out, and she drifted to sleep.

Kakashi let out a wide, rather unprofessional yawn without much care for discretion; it was twice-concealed behind Icha Icha and his mask. It was a balmy afternoon and he was shading himself under a tree. The team had practiced brute force chakra sparingly earlier in the day, and, after a light lunch, they were about to transition to physical conditioning:

"Alright. Gather 'round," Kakashi said, snapping his book closed and standing up. "Let's give your chakra a rest. We're going to do some physical conditioning in the form of a team exercise. You see all those trees and branches over there?" Kakashi pointed at an immense pile on one side of the training grounds. The three nodded. "Those were cut down yesterday to help curb a disease afflicting the trees around here,"—"Trees get sick, too?" whispered Naruto to Sakura. She rolled her eyes and nodded—"so we may as well make use of them. Naruto, since you seem so eager, we'll start with you. Find a small branch and run it back over"—Kakashi drew a line in the dirt with his shoe—"here."

Naruto ran the thirty or so feet to the pile, found a small branch, and ran back to deposit it on the other side of the line.

"What's this supposed to do exactly?" asked Naruto confused.

"You'll see. Go get a bigger one." Naruto complied.

"Bigger." Naruto glared but obeyed.

"Even bigger."

This continued until Naruto, panting and dragging his feet, dropped a short but thick tree trunk in the middle of the clearing.

"Good! Sasuke, go help him." Sasuke sighed, removed his hands from his pockets, and hustled over to Naruto. Together, the two boys grabbed either end of the trunk and carried it over past the line easily.

"Nice job. Now do it again. This time—"

"Bigger, right?" breathed Naruto, with a sweaty grin. Kakashi nodded, with a crescent-eyed smile.

After a few minutes, Naruto tripped and overcompensated by pushing up on the tree, knocking Sasuke over.

"Be careful, you moron! Are you trying to break my foot?"

"It's not my fault you can't keep up, Sasuke!"

"As if I—

"Break it up, you two! Sakura," Kakashi gestured, "you can go help them now."

The boys struggled to lift the tree back up from the ground while Sakura squatted under the middle, pushing up. The three genin continued until Naruto finally fell over when they tried to lift a thick, 12-foot-long tree.

Kakashi whistled to get their attention.

"Here's your mission: get that tree over here. You can only carry it. No rolling. Your body and your chakra are your only tools. Sakura, your comrades are hurt. Naruto can't walk. The enemies hot on your trail. You're in charge, so figure it out."

"Wh-what? Kakashi-sensei, we couldn't pick this up with all three of us. Now you're saying I can't walk?" exclaimed Naruto. "How're Sakura and Sasuke gonna carry that thing without me?"

"How 'bout it, Sakura? What are you going to do?" Kakashi said, smirking.

That jerk! Inner Sakura swore.

"Sakura, you and Sasuke try to carry that tree over, and I'll crawl behind you," Naruto urged her.

"There's enemies behind us, remember?" growled Sasuke.

"I don't see anyone!" snapped Naruto.

"It's part of the exercise, stupid!"

"Sakura, the enemy is catching up…" Kakashi warned.

Ugh. I can't think! There's too much going on. What do I do? What do I do?

"Take Naruto and run."

"What?" asked Sakura, startled.

"Take Naruto and run," Sasuke repeated. "I'll hold them off."

"I don't think so. If there's a fight, I want in! Leave me here, Sakura. You and Sasuke just try an' get that tree out of here. I can take these imaginary guys, easy."

"You idiot! Just ignore him."

What do I do? I can't focus! Tears started to pool in Sakura's eyes, blurring her vision. If I leave someone behind, they might die. But if I leave the tree, we'll fail the mission.

"Just go, Sakura!" shouted Sasuke. "Take Naruto and—Or even better, I'll carry him, on my back and we'll each grab a side of the—"

"Sakura, I wanna fight the—"

"They're coming up behind you, Sakura…"

"SHUT UP!" she shouted at the three of them, even Sasuke. They froze in shock.

Sakura looked at the condition of Naruto and Sasuke, at the tree, and at the distance, crunching numbers. If I know Kakashi-sensei at all, he'd never leave a comrade behind. In our first training session, the whole point was teamwork. There's only one way. Sakura nodded to herself.

"If this were real, either one of you could die," she whispered. "I'm in the best condition. So get Naruto out of here," she directed Sasuke. "I'll take care of the mission." Sakura tightened her headband.

"How on earth is someone like you going to—" Sasuke started.

"That's an order, Sasuke!" Sakura said, refusing to meet his eyes.

Sasuke gave her a weird look but nodded and took off, dragging Naruto (who was throwing a tantrum) behind him.

Sakura rooted herself firmly in the ground just before the tree. I have to brace myself or I'll probably just fall, she told herself. And then I need to use my chakra and muscles to lift it. This tree is probably over 500 pounds, and I need to carry it, plus my body, over thirty feet. It seems impossible, but somehow...That's it! This is...she glared intensely at the tree before her, the weight of my love for Sasuke. So no matter what, I'll lift it! Cha!

With a fierce grunt, Sakura channeled her chakra into her legs and the earth, forcing her energy ever downward, and then abruptly in the opposite direction as well. Using the earth as her counterweight, Sakura sunk low and hefted up the tree until it was directly above her. Her chakra was depleting at an alarming rate.

Are you looking, Sasuke? I'm not useless. Maybe I'm no match for Zabuza or Haku, but for something like this, you can rely on me!

Gritting her teeth, the young genin pushed forward, veins bulging, skin as pink as her hair, faster and faster until she was charging like some monstrous pink bull. As she crossed the line, the tree soared over the two boys' heads, and rolled behind them, half-rotted branches snapping with sharp cracks! Sakura fell to her knees and skid, then collapsed on her stomach.

"Sakura-chan…" Naruto whispered in awe. She's so cool.

If that doesn't give her some confidence, Kakashi thought, with a grim satisfaction, I don't know what will.

She slowly rolled over, moaning and clutching her bleeding knees.

"Sakura!" shouted Naruto. "Sensei, she's hurt!"

"I can see that, Naruto," Kakashi said calmly, already pulling a first aid kit out of his bag. He tended to her knees efficiently and fed her a generous helping of compliments to help solidify in her mind just how capable she was.

"That was stupid, Sakura," Sasuke said suddenly. Darkly. Sakura blinked up at him, her pink hair plastered to her face with sweat.

What? The glimmer of triumph flickered uncertainly in her green eyes.

"If you'd just had me carry Naruto while I helped you with the tree, you wouldn't be injured!" He scowled down at where she sat on the ground, her knees half-wrapped in bandages.

"Now Sasuke," Kakashi began warily, a wave of panic settling in his stomach. He needs to shut up now. This kid is going to ruin everything!

"Who are you, Naruto? Trying to play the hero now?"

"What? Sasuke, no! I was just—" Tears glittered in her eyes.

"Sasuke, what the hell is your problem!" bellowed Naruto, shoving the taller boy roughly and getting in his face. "Sakura-chan just carried that huge tree all by herself so you and I would be safe. That was amazing!"

"We could have done it faster and easier if I were the one calling the shots!"

"Yeah, right! You could never have carried that tree. You would have tried to fight the enemy, and then you would've died! And we would've failed the mission too! Sakura-chan did way better than you ever could!"

"I don't need your help, Naruto! So just back off!" Sakura cried, getting to her feet.

"You heard her!" Sasuke yelled, shoving Naruto back. "Back off!"

"Why you!" Naruto rounded up for a punch. Sakura threw herself in the way.

"Stop it! All of you!" Kakashi caught Naruto's punch and pinned him to the ground by his arm.

"Ow! OW! Ok, I get it!" yelped Naruto.

"You'd think after all you'd been through, you'd have some respect for each other!" scolded Kakashi. He released Naruto. The jonin put his hands on his hips and glared. The three genin slowly lined up, one by one, in a row. First he fixed his gaze on Sasuke:

"Sasuke, I'm especially disappointed in you. You're a great fighter and a smart kid, but Sakura can be strong too. As her teammate, you should celebrate her accomplishments, not tell her you can do better."

Kakashi directed his focus to a smug-faced Naruto.

"And Naruto, don't you look all pleased with yourself. If this were a real mission, yelling your head off like that would have alerted the enemy. And fighting when you couldn't even move would have gotten you killed or captured. Also, there's a way to call a squadmate out for having a bad attitude. That...was not...it," he said in a clipped tone.

"As for you, Sakura, while your decision-making was slow, you did complete the objective and secure your squad's safety. So good job.

"Unfortunately, while the mission was technically a success," Kakashi smiled coldly, "you all still fail." They hung their heads. "There will be no training tomorrow," he continued. "Practice your brute force chakra if you like, but I expect you three to reference your old notes and books and turn in at least ten pages answering these questions:

"Sakura, why did your squadmates feel like they needed to take the lead? What did you lack as a squad leader? Sasuke and Naruto, what is insubordination and how is it punished? This would have been at least a B-ranked mission, so keep that in mind. Also, what could you have done differently to support your squad leader? What is the appropriate way to offer advice?

"Finally, I expect twenty laps around the village at dawn. I will inform the guards at each gate, so don't think you can get out of this. I'm very disappointed in you three."

Kakashi stared down at the kids in front of him, and seeing their chastened faces, sighed out the last of his anger. "We're a team, ok? Don't forget it. I'm only disappointed because I expect great things from you. You need to lift each other up, not put each other down. Chakra control isn't everything. Quick-thinking isn't everything. Bravery isn't everything. That's why we're a squad. We all have something the other needs. So respect each other, alright? Dismissed!"

Kakashi shook his head as he watched the three genin retreat into the distance. Sakura turned to say something to Sasuke, but the boy kept walking. Naruto put a hand on her shoulder and pointed timidly in the direction of his favorite ramen stand, but the girl batted his hand away and strode off. What the hell am I going to do? Kakashi moaned inwardly.

Lee woke to find the world shrouded in darkness. How long have I been asleep? she thought groggily. Her eyes stung and itched. They hadn't felt normal since before the incident at Grandma Hatsu's. Lee hoped it was just from crying so much, and she hadn't somehow scratched them. Her stomach rumbled. She rested a hand on it and shook her head. Not today, stomach. When Father said I couldn't dine with him, that meant I couldn't dine at all. So you and I are going to have a lonely few days ahead of us.

All the lights are out. Lee looked around confused. She pushed herself off the ground and found her legs were, for the most part, normal again, which she had anticipated taking several days. As Lee walked around the tree, the light of dozens, perhaps hundreds, of fireflies came into view. They were flitting about the pond, scattering golden lights across its surface. As the little bugs fed on their nectar, flowers lit up like tiny lanterns and waved like bells in the warm supper breeze. Crickets were chirping sweetly from their own dark corners. Lee knelt down and peered into a glowing flower curiously.

"Every night must seem like a festival to you. Food, lights, music...and there must be lots of pretty girl bugs, right? And you know just what to do, don't you? It's all there in your little head. You must think my parents and I are rather silly. They don't know how to raise me, and I'm not quite sure how to grow up. Oh!" Lee breathed, as the lightning bug suddenly flew out and hovered inches from her eyes, before whirling around her. Lee turned to watch it, when she saw something dark move on her roof. Lee's hair pricked up and her breath caught in her throat. Then, all at once, her mounting horror was thrust aside by wonder.

"Yo," said Kakashi, with a two-fingered wave.

"H-Hatake-san?" Lee ran forward slightly and squinted up at the shadowy figure perched on the tiled roof, silhouetted by the moon.

He set something down and leapt lithely off the roof, landing as lightly as a cat. "Hello there. Isn't it a lovely night?" he asked, looking around the yard. "The fireflies are beautiful."

"I-I suppose they are…Hatake-san, forgive me for being frank, but what on earth are you doing here?"

"Me? Oh, I was just on a stroll through the neighborhood after I finished my watch. Thought I'd drop by." He smiled cheerily.

"Isn't it a little late for a visit?"

Kakashi looked up into the sky.

"Well it's past midnight."

Lee's eyes widened in shock. Did I really sleep for that long?

"Hmm," Kakashi said, narrowing his eye disapprovingly, "Aren't you a little young to be up this late?" Lee couldn't tell if he was joking.

"And aren't you a little old to be sneaking into someone's yard to talk to their daughter?" Lee teased back boldly. Kakashi let out a low chuckle, amused.

"Touché."

"Can ninja really tell the time," Lee asked eagerly, "just by looking at the stars?"

"Well, not all of us. Watches are becoming standard-issue, so most of the younger ninja don't even learn. Still, a good skill to have. Are you hungry?"

"Hungry? I'm not supposed to—" Lee's stomach rumbled loudly and let out a groan. She flushed. An arm wrapped around her waist and suddenly she was flying through the air, weightless. They landed on the roof lightly, with not so much as a clatter on the tiles. Kakashi set her down.

"You could warn me, you know?" Lee said somewhat sternly, still clinging to his sleeve for stability. "Before doing something like that," she added. He just smiled and sat down, leaning into his hands.

The tiles felt slightly warm under Lee's feet, still baked through with the heat of the day. The warmth calmed her. Lee turned when she heard a quiet rustle. Kakashi leaned over and set a bowl wrapped in cellophane at her feet. He plopped a pair of disposable chopsticks on top.

Lee sat down carefully, thankful that she was wearing pants instead of a kimono. She studied the bowl curiously. It was white with red markings.

With another rustle, Kakashi pulled a second bowl out of a fabric bag. He pierced the cellophane of his bowl with a sharp jab from his chopsticks, separated the two sticks with a clean crack!, and used them to bat away the wrapping.

"Itadakimasu," he chanted dully. Lee stared at her bowl, listening to the splashes, slurps, and the occasional tap of a chopstick. Her stomach rumbled again, thankfully inaudibly. Does he know I'm not being fed? Or is this just a coincidence? Why is he here?

"Did you already eat?" She looked up at him. She shook her head slowly in answer. Coincidence, then?

"It's not drugged, Lee-san. I'm not here to abduct you or anything."

"I didn't think you were! And I didn't think it was," Lee assured him quickly, horrified. "It's just a little weird, you know, Hatake-san...to show up on a girl's roof after midnight and offer her noodles. Maybe that's normal in your world, but it's enough to give me pause. I still don't even know why you're here."

Kakashi sighed.

"I was concerned, I suppose. What you said about your parents…"

Lee smiled sadly.

"Things aren't great, but they could be worse. You've saved me, and that's enough. This is my life. It does not rest on your shoulders, so be at ease."

"You say some things I wouldn't expect to hear from a child."

"I don't know a lot of children."

"Maybe that's a good thing."

"What do you mean?"

Kakashi laughed quietly. "Ah, my team's just giving me a hard time. You met them. They're a bit...livelier than your average group."

"Haruno-san," Lee said slowly, picking her wording carefully, "seemed a little unsure of herself."

"Yes, well, she did really great today."

"Really? Why do you sound unhappy about it?"

"One of the other kids got jealous and knocked her down a peg. The dark-haired one who's always serious. He wants to be the strongest ninja around, and a girl he's usually protecting did something he couldn't. His pride was hurt, so he lashed out. I'm not really sure what to do about it," Kakashi admitted. "Every time I manage to build up her confidence, he does or says one little thing and it all comes tumbling down."

"Hatake-san, I don't think you told me this seeking counsel, but I have some words if you will hear them."

Kakashi raised an eyebrow.

"Shoot."

"Haruno-san spoke to me quite freely, and while I do not know her as well as you do, I know at least that she received the highest grades in the Academy in several years. I can imagine that she received an abundance of praise during her attendance. If she is still insecure after years of praise, perhaps that is not the wisest route."

Kakashi considered this. "What would you suggest, then?"

"I've only ever really met one other kunoichi. Last year, my brother's teammate came looking for him. I spoke with her briefly while she waited. She told me that my brother and their new sensei never pulled their punches or fussed over her. And when I questioned her on why that was so important, she said to me: 'For a kunoichi, to be treated as special is fine, but to receive special treatment is like a slap in the face'.

"I thought a long time after she left about what she meant. She didn't want to be told 'don't waste room in your bag on shampoo' or 'cut your hair short; it's a waste of time'. But she also didn't want to be held back and kept safe, only to be ill-prepared when enemy shinobi did not afford her the same consideration.

"I'm not saying you've been going easy on her, but maybe her teammates have. Maybe, instead of trying to boost her confidence, you should set an example and show all of them, including her, that she isn't so different; that she's just as serious as they are, and not just looking for praise. I've only spoken with her briefly, but even I know Haruno-san didn't become a ninja looking for approval. Even if it's to someone she likes or admires, I don't think she wants to lose."

"I'm beginning to think," said a bemused Kakashi, "that I've been going about this entirely the wrong way."

"I don't suppose you've asked a woman for advice then."

"Ahh. I don't suppose I did," Kakashi laughed. "I should've known."

Lee smiled.

"Won't you eat? The noodles are probably getting soggy."

"Oh! Sorry. I was just chattering away, wasn't I? I owe you my life you know," Lee said, pulling the wrapping off the bowl and peering into it curiously. "If you start buying me food too, I don't think I'll ever repay you."

"The best reward for saving a life is seeing it well cared for. And, no offense, for I doubt it's your fault: you don't seem to be doing a brilliant job. This is the best ramen in all of Konoha, according to one of my students. He has more energy than anyone I've met, so maybe he's on to something."

"I shall give it a try, then." Lee said softly, a shy smile peeking through the corners of her mouth. She split her chopsticks and began to eat as delicately as the ramen and her hunger would allow. "If I must be in someone's debt, I am glad I am in yours, Kakashi Hatake."

Hope you enjoyed it!

Look forward to the next chapter, "The Second Encounter: Lee's Mad Dash!", next Sunday (7/26)!

Stay safe and stay cool!