Bonzai! Bonzai! Bonzai! I got reviews :D Thank you so very much! Please keep them comming as always. I am open to any ideas or help you would like to give a noob like me.

Now to some house keeping...I don't own Naruto but I would love to own Neji ...that aside I am sorry that his chapter is so short but will strive to write longer in the future. Also be aware that this is not supposed to be a short fanfiction so there will be many more chapters. For thiose of you waiting for the blow out between Sakura,Kakashi and Naruto that is in my plans for next chapter.

To chocohalicsanonymus yeah it is sad but unfortunatly there is a little mor angst before it lightens up, hang in there.

To Suifox I needed a person that would have great emotional impact on Naruto to get him to stop the Sasuke hunt and I always thought him and Lee had a special friendship. I promise I am working on the explosion o0

To Dante thank you for the review!!!

To WannabeFireFox Wow I didn't think this was a first or rare story line...just Wow.

Long Goodbye

The Memorial Stone always the same yet ever different, from a distance the view was unchanging till you stepped into proxicimity of the black monolith then the difference was

horrifyingly clear. That was the truth this time as well, he thought but wondered if the villiagagers were aware of the sacrifice that was demanded of the young Chunin whose name

was recently placed on the stone? Unfortunately he was in great doubt that other than the Shinobe community anyone was aware that one Rock Lee was no longer among the

citizens of Konoha.

In the grand scheme of things he was strangely grateful today that there were people in Konoha who as a rule would do almost anything to rush him out of their presence as it

made getting the necessary offerings ready much simpler and today that was most defiantly what he needed. So the casual passer by would notice that the most recent addition

on the Memorial Stone was wet and as there had been no rain they might wonder why…..that is until they noticed the Sake bottle and cup placed by the new name.

"Well my friend I hope you aren't destroying the afterlife. I have enough trouble here on Earth to not want to anger the Gods, but no man should go on to the unknown

without some Sake and a friend to share it with." Naruto said.

" I hope you can hear me Lee but I want to thank you for all your help and your friendship, you gave me both without a doubt in your mind that I was worthy of both and that

to me was more precious than any amount of recognition." Naruto said while softly wiping away tears from his eyes.

The sound of footsteps was not lost on him as he sat there but he hoped that whoever it was would decide to come back when they became aware that he was there to say

farewell to an important friend. He should have know that he wasn't going to have that kind of luck today after all if his luck was good the sky would have reflected what his

heart felt and there would have been a flood of rain and clouds to mourn under. So it was not surprising to feel the person coming closer to him with what felt like purpose in

their steps.

"Hmmm… I imagine with that much Sake that our Drunken Tiajutsu Master is causing quite a bit of damage, don't you think Naruto?" Genma said as he took a seat

beside the tearful blond.

Naruto felt his shoulders relax and exhaled the breath that he had unknowingly been holding as Genma sat down. He knew that Genma would understand what none of the

Rookie Nine or Team Gai would about his relationship with Lee. Genma was one of the few people who knew that when Naruto needed to improve his Tiajutsu it was to Lee

that he went. It was Lee that helped him improve so much and he did it with a generosity of spirit that Naruto could not help but admire. Lee, who was so full of life and the

"Burning Flames of Youth" and didn't care if people thought him bizarre in his emulation of his beloved Sensei, was also one of the very few people who recognized that there

was more to Naruto that orange clothes and a loud mouth.

It was during his training with Lee that they became much closer friends even to the point that when Lee returned from the first mission that he was designated Team Leader he

sought out Naruto to celebrate. Naruto was going to miss Lee and his enthusiasm more than most of the people in their age group would realize. Genma however had a much

better understanding of the Naruto who was sitting here at the Memorial Stone missing his friend.

"It wasn't your fault you know" said Genma.

"I know I wasn't the reason he went along he did that for Sakura, but I can't help thinking that I should have paid more attention or….something" answered Naruto.

"In the scheme of things Lee was a grown man and Shinobe. He was also very aware that he was facing possible death in this attempt to infiltrate a Sound hideout. We all

know that when we leave this village on a mission as Shinobe for Konoha that there is a good chance that we too will be the next names on that stone. Lee knew this too

Naruto and I suspect that he would be very insulted to learn that you felt that you had to watch out for him like a child. Not to mention exactly when were you supposed to

watch out for Lee? Was it before, when you fighting Sasuke or after he plunged a chidori into your chest nearly taking out your heart?" Genma asked?

Naruto sat pulling blades of grass up and staring at the sky for a few minutes when he finally seemed to have his thoughts together enough to answer.

"I know your right up here" Naruto said pointing to his head. "However I can't seem to make myself believe it here" he said as he pointed to his heart.

" Naruto it's going to take a while for those two places to reach an understanding because loosing a friend is not something we get over in a night but in the meantime for

God's sake and that of the village please do not turn into another Kakashi. This village should only be expected to tolerate so much." Genma stated wit hand obvious

twinkle in his eye.

This earned a small laugh from the still tearful Naruto as he said "Well I will say this we do indeed have enough perverts in this village to make someone think twice about

things."

"Not to mention we don't need anymore perpetually late Jounins wandering around missing meetings." stated Genma

Naruto looked at his senbon chewing former sensei and nodded his gratitude. He knew it wouldn't do Lee any good for him to fall a morass of guilt and sadness but he just

needed someone else to point it out to him. He looked up to see that Genma had yet to leave which meant that there was something else that needed to be said. Naruto had a

good idea of what it was but waited for Genma to approach the subject after all this was the man he had learned patience from so he knew it wasn't something he could rush.

It was several minutes later that Genma decided that enough time had passed to see that Naruto had not forgot any of his lessons and he felt he could approach the last thing he wanted to talk to Naruto about.

"I have it on good authority that you don't plan on pursuing Sasuke anymore. If that is in fact the truth then I am relieved to hear it and know that the Hokage will be

too. However, don't you think she should hear it from you and not the village gossip network?" Genma asked?

Naruto looked at Genma with wide eyes and said "Damn I was in such a hurry to get here that I forgot that I told Neji about my plans. Do you think Baa-Chan has heard

already?"

"Well I believe that it hasn't reached that far into the gossip network yet but I wouldn't delay telling her too much longer" Genma said.

Naruto stood and looked at Genma with a small smile of thank you that he knew Genma would understand and bowed, he then said "I need to go now and tell Baa-Chan my

plans before she finds out from someone else. I hope we will see each other in a few days to continue my practice in stealth?" Naruto asked?

Genma stood up and said "Of course just let me know when and as long as missions permit we will try some infiltration stealth." Genma watched as Naruto ran off in the

direction of the Hokage tower and thought 'thank God we didn't loose you too Naruto'.