Without Lee, Part 3

Slight Confessions

"Here you go. Thanks for waiting. Enjoy your meal," Riku forced a smile to her costumers as she sat down their food. They thanked her and she walked away. She was doing her best to keep the worry off her face, but it was no use or point in doing so. Everyone knew she was worried about Lee. He and the rest of his teammates were two days over due.

"Are you sure you're up to working?" Sakura asked. "You don't have to."

"We can cover for you," Hinata added. The girls pitched in to help around the restaurant during their stay while the boys took off at various times to do training or other what nots that came up. Pakkun also stay close by to Riku. He was always with her and sniffing out for trouble.

"Lee can handle himself. I'm sure it's nothing more than just simple delay," Pakkun added.

"It's fine. I'm trying to keep busy and not think about them being late," Riku replied honestly.

"Good evening, Riku," The girls turned to greet Takashi.

"Good evening, Takashi. How are you?" Riku asked.

"I'm doing fine. How are you doing? I heard you had another little scare the other day out in the field," Takashi said.

"I'm fine. It was nothing really. Kakashi had everything under control," Riku said.

"I'm glad to hear that," Takashi nodded his head then went and sat down at a table. Riku followed him and took his order. After she gave his order to her cousin Riku went to clear off a table. As she was doing this words from a group of three guys, in their twenties, caught her attention.

"Did you hear what happened to that ninja who can only use taijutsu?" One of them asked.

"What?" The other two eagerly asked.

"I heard he's dying!"

Riku dropped her wet rag. She felt like the wind got kicked out of her and that someone stabbed her heart with a knife.

"No way!"

"Yeah! They apparently hit some serious trouble on their recent mission and he bit off more than he could chew. He's got a huge hole in his stomach and is going to die!"

"Can't say I'm surprised. With only taijutsu I'm surprised he even got this far." The second guy shook his head.

"I actually think he's pretty cool. He never let anyone stop him," The third guy protested.

"Until now," The first one said and laughed.

"Stop…Stop laughing!" Riku screamed, causing everyone to look at her. She wiped around with tears in her eyes and glared at the boys. "It's not true! He's not…He's not…"

"Riku, what is it? What's wrong?" Sakura asked as she, Hinata and Pakkun ran over to her.

"Lee's not dying!" Riku screamed before running out of the restaurant.

"Of course he's not. Riku! Come back!" Sakura called out for her and they followed.

"Uh Riku?" Niwa asked as he stepped out of the kitchen to see what all the commotion was about.

"What happened?" Sakura asked.

"Sorry. We didn't know they were friends," The third boy quickly explain what happened.

The girls and Pakkun raced after her. Riku was surprising fast. But with the motivation of Lee possibly dying would get anyone moving. Hinata called out for her but it did no good. "Riku! Wait up!"

"Where in the world would those boys get the idea that Lee is dying?" Sakura asked as they ran.

"If he was, then Lady Tsunade would have immediately contacted Riku. Something's not right about this," Pakkun said.

When Riku reached the hospital she didn't even bother to check in with the nurse at the front desk. Her feet just knew where to take her. She ran down the hall and snatched the handle of the door that Lee was behind. She flung it open. Everyone in the room looked at her. Fresh tears streamed down her face when she saw Lee sitting on a chair with his jumpsuit halfway off and hanging around his hips. He was covered in several cuts, had a decent side gash on his left side and a cast on his left wrist, but no life threatening hole in the gut. He stood up. "Riku."

"L-Lee…," More tears spilled down her cheeks as she passed out once again. Lee leaped over to her and caught her before she hit the ground.

"Aw, Riku," Lee whispered as he held her close. "I'm sorry."

Just then Sakura, Hinata and Pakkun ran in. Tsunade turned to them. "What's going on?"

"Sorry, milady. She just took off after…well a rumor was going around that Lee was dying from a hole in the stomach," Sakura explained.

"That's ridiculous," Tenten said.

"Anyone could clearly see that none of us are that beat up," Neji added. "Why would someone start such a rumor?"

"Indeed," Tsunade nodded in thought. "Sakura, who did you hear this from?"

"Riku hear it at the restaurant. A couple boys were talking about it," Sakura replied.

"Shizune, you and Sakura go back to the restaurant and find out who they hear this rumor from. Let's try and find out who started it," Tsunade ordered and they took off.

"It's that a long shot?" Hinata asked.

"It is," Tsunade nodded then cast a glance at Guy. Guy twitched under her gaze and looked down at the floor. "But it's all we have. Hinata you can return home now."

"Hai, Lady Tsunade," Hinata bowed to everyone then left. The remaining people and dog, turned there attention to Lee and Riku.

…..

Riku slowly opened her eyes. Her mind was cloudy and her body was a bit achy. She closed her eyes and tried to remember what happened. When she remembered Lee she snapped her eyes opened and sat up. She looked around the room, barely noticing she was at home. In her own bedroom still wearing her clothes she had on. She then felt someone laying beside her. She looked to her left and found Lee sleeping. His hand was on her right hip so she assumed she must have been laying against him.

She recalled passing out at the hospital after seen Lee and assumed that he must have brought her home. And judging from the pajamas he was wearing he had permission to stay over and stay close. She smiled. Niwa must have come to complete trust Lee if he was allowing Lee to stay the night with her, in her bedroom. Of course it probably helped that Pakkun was still there. He was laying at the foot of the bed. Though she wasn't sure if he was asleep or faking being asleep.

Rikue reached over and touched the white cast on Lee's left wrist then remembered the hole in his stomach. She pulled up his night shirt and sighed when she saw no large hole, just a bandage on his left side. She traced her figures on his stomach, just to make sure she was clearly seeing Lee in tact. He was. She sighed again and continued to trace her fingers over his very toned abdomen. "That tickles."

"Sorry…I just thought that…"

"It is I who is sorry. I wanted to come see you immediately, but the others would not allow it. We all were pretty banged up. The enemy was more than we expected," Lee explained. "I am sorry."

Riku smiled and shook her head. "It's ok. I'm just glad you are alright. I was just scared that I might have lost you. I-I care so much about you. I don't…ever wanna loose you."

"You will never loose me, Riku," Lee said as he took her hand and lifted it to his lips, which was a slight awkward with the cast on his wrist he really couldn't hold her hand. He held her fingers more than her hand. He placed a kiss on her fingers then smiled at her. Riku blushed as tears shimmered in her eyes. "Come. Lay back down."

Riku did as he said and retook her position, laying her head on his shoulder and placing her hand on his chest. Lee placed his hand on his chest too so he could lightly rub his finger tips on the back of Riku's hand. "Naruto filled me in on what happened while I was gone. I wish I could have been there to protect you. I am glad you were not hurt."

Riku just nodded and snuggled closer to Lee. She closed her eyes and listened and felt Lee's breathing as he drifted off to sleep.

…..

"You have to tell her," Kakashi stressed to his best friend and rival. "She needs to remember. There might be something she can tell us about what happened back then. We've been lucky so far. Next time we might not be."

Guy tightened his already clenched fists. The two sensei were standing on a near by roof to Riku's house. Kakashi had been taking several tips to Riku's house since Lee left on his mission. Part of this was to make sure Riku was safe, but part of it was to try and find out if her stalker was also making trips to her window. With the person's invisibility technique it was, of course, impossible for Kakashi to determine wether or not the stalker was there. But he felt better making his presence known to the stalker.

"Alright, Kakashi. I will tell her."