Team Gai is Feathered
Keep on living
Blurb: Final story
Genre: Humor/Tragedy
Friday, 4/14/23
Gai sat in silence, in his home.
He took deep, measured breaths.
The pain in his right foot continued to radiate all the way up the rest of his body, despite his rational mind repeating that the medics had said there were no longer any active nerve endings there to feel anything, and where the healthy tissue at his knee began, the wounds were already completely healed.
He understood that what he was feeling was called phantom pain, which people who had lost a limb sometimes experienced.
After opening all Eight Gates during the Fourth Shinobi War, Gai should have died. He had gone into battle accepting this consequence as the price for protecting those who were important to him. He was lucky that Naruto had saved his life.
He was alive.
Gai gritted his teeth, as he sat in his wheelchair, and willed his gratitude to overpower the suffering.
Kakashi wanted to visit his friend, who had looked a little pale earlier. Kakashi had ordered Gai to rest, and promised to drop by at the end of the day, but Gai had firmly given him a thumbs up, and told Kakashi to concentrate on his Hokage duties.
There was no need to worry or visit, Gai said, as he wheeled himself away, grinning that thousand-wattage smile that fooled the Sixth Hokage not a bit.
It was nightfall by the time Kakashi got home. His ANBU security detail had alerted him he had a visitor waiting at his doorstep.
"What brings you here, Tenten?"
"Good evening, Rokudaime Hokage-sama," Tenten gave a short bow.
"It's just Kakashi, please," he was getting tired of saying it, but people wouldn't listen! They certainly obeyed everything else he asked of them.
"Never mind that," Tenten did not quite roll her eyes. If she were Hokage, she would make everyone call her Lady Hokage, Mother of Twin Rising Dragons, Wielder of the Bashosen, A Thousand and Tenth of Her Name. She didn't know why Kakashi didn't have more fun with his title, "I brought you dinner."
"Oh?"
Had she noticed he was always too busy nowadays to cook for himself and had been taking out ramen for his meals? He didn't know she cared so much for his well-being.
"I'm touched," he thanked her warmly. He invited her inside.
She unfurled one of her scrolls and produced a feast.
"Tenten, this is too much!"
"Yes, it is," she agreed. "Gai will be joining you shortly. Please don't tell him this came from me. As far as you know, I can't cook. Just say it was sent by some of your grateful constituents."
She disappeared. It had been a shadow clone.
Kakashi sat, befuddled, in front of a table groaning with the weight of the food on it. He sampled a morsel.
Tenten could cook very well.
"GAI-SENSEI!"
Gai nearly jumped out of his chair.
"Tenten?!" He was aware she could yell, and loudly, but it was usually Lee shouting his name. And executing a Dynamic Entry. Did she just-?
"Gai-sensei! I've just realized why I can't get a date!" Tenten was advancing upon him like the personification of his Daytime Tiger Attack, and Gai was hard-pressed not to wheel himself backwards from the onslaught.
"What do you mean, Tenten? You have many admirers!" he protested as she purposely grasped the handlebars of his chair and steered him towards the dining table.
"They never stay that way for long. They just suddenly give up! I think I know why."
Gai hoped to the high heavens that she had not discovered how rigorously he and Lee had been screening her would-be suitors. Both he and his precious student wanted only the best for the flower of their team. "What- what do you know?"
"A proper wife knows how to cook!"
Gai relaxed his chair, a little relieved, a little nonplussed. "I taught all three of you to cook, Tenten."
"Basics, Gai-sensei! Meals to survive on missions. What I mean is elaborate dishes - for celebrations, birthdays, formal events, traditional holidays. I need to learn to cook to satisfy my husband!"
While Gai was digesting this uncharacteristic declaration from the normally gender-equal kunoichi, she opened a scroll. With a hand sign, she unsealed the contents and a multi-layered container of food appeared on the table.
"I'm practicing now how to prepare an osechi-ryori for New Year's. That's your birthday too! Please taste this, Gai-sensei, and tell me what you think!"
Tenten had never yelled at him so much. Gai stared at the colorful array of food items and wondered at the suspicious gradations of hues some of them had.
"Ah. Ha. Well, I shall try this… boiled fish cake, shall I?" he affected heartiness and cautiously picked what looked like kamaboko from the lacquered box. It was not quite pink, not quite white. It was actually unlike any color he had ever seen on a fish cake.
He popped it into his mouth. His face turned a different shade entirely, but he chewed, and he swallowed.
Phantom pain was forgotten as real, honest-to-goodness agony erupted in his stomach.
"How is it?"
Gai had watched Tenten grow up and now she looked at him with stars in her eyes, seeking his approval as she often had as his student.
"It's…" tears began to stream down his face, "Indescribable. Thank you, Tenten."
Tenten crowed in triumph. "Yes! Ha! Well? Try some more. I'm sure it's better than the food I saw someone give the Sixth earlier for his dinner."
"Somebody gave Kakashi… dinner?" Gai mumbled, trying to muster the courage to bring his chopsticks back to the container. He willed his hand to stop from visibly shaking. Tenten watched with shining eyes.
"Yes, I dropped by the Hokage Tower to check where you were, and he said you'd left. Then, some villager came and wanted to give him so much food! Our leader's going to get fat if he eats that all in one sitting. I warned him, but he said he was still going to try."
"That is no good." Gai firmly set down the chopsticks and turned to face Tenten, "I cannot allow my eternal rival to fall out of shape. He would be a poor opponent to this Beautiful Green Beast and a terrible reflection on me!" He clenched his fist and thumped his chest.
Tenten blinked, "Well, I guess you could go over there and stop him. The stuff here can wait, it's mostly pickled things that can stay for a few days at room temperature…"
"Yes, I noticed that," Gai said hurriedly, quickly packing up the food and stacking the containers to arrange them on the middle of the table.
"I thank you again for your thoughtfulness in preparing the meal for me, Tenten, I am sure any man would be lucky to be worthy of your affection, regardless of your cooking skill!"
Tenten called after him as he skittered out of his home, "Wait, Gai-sensei, was that a compliment or not?!"
Gai did not answer. Perhaps he was already out of earshot.
Yes, that was probably the reason.
"Kakashi!"
The Sixth was used to the Green Beast of Konoha bursting into his house unannounced. Even crippled, Gai often moved too fast for ANBU to have the time to give their Hokage forewarning.
"Huh, that was quick," he murmured around the lobster cooked in sake and soy sauce that he was enjoying.
Gai pointed at him belligerently, "Tenten said you were getting fat! And now I am here and can confirm it with my own eyes!"
Why that little…
Kakashi didn't blink an eye, and gestured for Gai to join him, "Plenty for the both of us. Come eat with me."
Gai nodded ferociously. "I certainly shall. But first, I have to use your toilet."
It wasn't the kind of statement one wanted to hear while eating, but the food was so good, Kakashi let it pass. He was unfazed by the sounds of retching he could hear from the washroom.
When Gai came out, he looked much relieved.
"Ah, a proper meal," he eyed the food with enthusiasm, rolling right up to the table and helping himself. "I shall assist you in doing justice to this banquet, Kakashi!"
"Please do," the former Copy Nin's voice was monotone. "Try the teriyaki. It's delicious."
They ate in silence for a while, enjoying the meal.
Then, Gai coughed, a preamble to discussion.
"Tenten brought me something to eat earlier," he confessed to Kakashi, "She is a wonderful ninja, but if she ever marries, she may one day poison her husband with her cooking."
He wondered why his best friend began laughing.
Three ninja dressed in ANBU attire were sitting in a tree outside the Hatake household, guarding the Hokage.
Only one of them was a real ANBU.
"Look at them, stuffing their faces," Tenten muttered. A closer look at her bird mask would reveal it was a festival souvenir.
"You went to so much trouble to cook all that," for once, Lee kept his voice low, after repeated hushes from his companions. His squirrel mask was also a knickknack sold at festival stalls.
"I don't really know if I should arrest you both for impersonating ANBU or applaud you for caring so much for your sensei," Sai sounded undecided. He flinched as both students of Gai suddenly reached over to engulf him in hugs.
"Thank you so much, ANBU Captain. We loooove you," Tenten chirped.
"This is a huge favor we owe you," Lee forgot his strength and began to slowly crush Ino's boyfriend to death.
"You two…" Sai choked out. "Are you normal?"
"Captain," Lee said earnestly, as Sai frantically tapped at his forearm to loosen the stranglehold, "We all just survived a war. We should take every opportunity as it comes to let the ones we care about know that we love them."
Tenten expertly twined her arms around Lee's and applied some pressure to get him to marginally ease up on the force of his hug and let Sai breathe, while still keeping the former ROOT member firmly locked in their embrace, "We can do this to you directly since you're our junior in terms of age, but expressing to Gai how much we love him is trickier since he always puts up a brave front for us."
"Yes, and your help is invaluable!" Lee enthused, only to be hushed again by Tenten. "Why does he struggle so much, Tenten?"
"I don't know, Squirrel-san. You're not supposed to say our names, you know," Tenten whispered irritably, unconsciously gripping the hapless ANBU harder. She had not bothered to alter her hairstyle and was still very recognizable, even if she was not in her usual outfit.
"Right. Dove-san." Lee angled his head towards Sai, who was turning blue behind the mask, "Is there something you want to say to us, Captain?"
"I... I love you both as well?" Sai was desperate and would do anything to get out of this predicament.
"Great," they simultaneously let him go and he gasped for air.
"I heard from Ino that he's not used to showing emotions," Tenten remarked to Lee, "We probably should give him more personal space." They both gave Sai companionable pats on the shoulder before vanishing from sight.
Sai felt closer to death just now than he ever had since the war.
The life of an ANBU was still a dangerous business even during peace time.
"His pain attacks are happening less frequently," Tenten laid her mask on the scroll. Lee gave her his mask as well. She sealed them away and wrapped the tassel-sized parchment around her wrist.
"I will sleep over at his place tonight, but have to leave for a mission early morning," Lee crouched down in front of Neji's grave, laying a bouquet of white flowers on the ground in front of the marker.
"I'll visit him with bad food regularly so he'll be forced to eat more often with Kakashi, then. It'll be good for them both, the Sixth's been missing meals with his heavy workload too."
Lee beamed up at his team mate, "Two birds with one stone, eh?"
"Hush, not in front of Neji," Tenten joked. "He was very into caged bird symbolisms, don't start hitting them now with stones."
Lee's smile faded.
A silence passed between them.
They used to tease Neji during awkward silences, saying that these only happened when it was his turn to speak, and he often chose not to.
It wasn't awkward now. Only quiet.
"Are you okay, Tenten?" Lee asked.
Tenten sat down beside him, hugging her knees. "So-so, Lee. Some days are better than others." She glanced at him, "How about you?"
He was looking at the flowers, which matched the color of Neji's eyes. "I miss him."
Tenten leaned against his shoulder. Lee let his weight press against hers. A mutual counterbalance.
"He would have wanted us to take care of Gai-sensei and each other," Tenten echoed what many others had told them.
She was good with platitudes nowadays. She always had something inspiring and comforting to tell others when asked how she was feeling about the death of their team mate.
Hinata and Naruto had cried buckets during the funeral. So did Lee and Gai.
Tenten was more restrained in her grief.
Lee understood.
Sometimes, he would see her stop in the middle of doing something they used to do together with Neji. Eating at a favorite shop. Walking the route that led the same way as the Hyuuga compound. Tenten would pause and get a far-away look in her eye. Lee cried often, and unreservedly, but Tenten wasn't the type.
The decimation of the village by Nagato had actually helped erase many of the landmarks that would have brought them painful memories.
And seeing so many others lose loved ones as well put things in perspective. They were shinobi. This was their life.
Lee sighed.
"What do you think his dream would have been under the Infinite Tsukuyomi?" he asked.
They had told each other their respective dreams. Both had promised not to tell anyone else.
"Well," Tenten said, "I think the present world we are in now would have been it. After all, he did give his life so Naruto could make his dream a reality. And unlike the illusion under a genjutsu, Naruto has brought about real change to our world."
In the light of day, she might have said this with a gentle, compassionate smile. Especially if she was talking to someone like Hinata, who needed the consolation.
But it was night. The moon that had helped cast the Infinite Tsukuyomi shone above. No one was in the graveyard except her and Lee. There was no need to be anything for anyone else.
Besides, at this juncture, she was used to Lee taking up the slack. Her irrepressible team mate always bounced back, and would now give his enthusiastic agreement. They would reassure themselves that things had worked out for the best, Neji's sacrifice had been heroic and honorable, and they were privileged to have been his friend.
Sometimes, things piled up inside, though. Hugging Sai earlier reminded them both of how self-consciously Neji used to react to hugs as well.
"Did he really have to die?" Lee asked.
Tenten's shoulders hunched. She didn't answer.
"And does Gai-sensei always have to be in pain?" His breath hitched, "And will we always be sad, Tenten?"
He began to sob, as Tenten hugged him.
"I miss him, Tenten. I miss him so, so much."
There was nothing to say.
If there was one thing Gai had taught them, it was that it was okay to cry.
Tomorrow, Neji's three surviving team mates would smile at the world. They would be strong. They would be brave. They would press on with their lives, and hold his memory close to their hearts.
They were, and always would be, Team Gai.
-End-
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Author's Note:
Posting this on a Friday after the death anniversary of someone I loved.
Sometimes, I deal with grief like Tenten. Sometimes, I'm like Lee.
If anyone reading this has lost someone dear to them, you have my deepest sympathies. Let's just trust that it will get better and take it one day at a time.
That's it for this series. Live well. Be good.
Hope is the thing with feathers
that perches in the soul –
and sings the tunes without the words –
and never stops at all.
– Emily Dickinson