The Power of Youth
By SapphireWhiteTigress
Chapter X – My Relief
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Lee stared blankly at the closed door. The door that led to the room his Sakura flower was currently in. He has no idea on what was going on and he prayed to the heaven's above that everything was going to be alright. It has already been ten minutes, but to him, it felt like a lifetime. He tried to keep the fear from entering his heart and the thoughts at bay, but nevertheless, they tortured him. He tried to keep positive but considering the situation, that was proving ever so difficult. He wanted to know if she was okay. He wanted to know now.
He stood up and stared at the door before heaving a deep and depressed sigh. He slowly walked to the door and placed a bandaged hand on it while leaning his head against the cold wood. He hated hospitals, especially when the love of his life was in one.
He pushed himself off the door and started pacing the floor, his youthful glow was long gone since meeting up with that...traitor. At the thought of the youngest Uchiha, and uncharacteristic growl left his throat and his fist clenched at his side. He'll be damned if he allowed Sasuke to get away with hurting his precious flower and if...and if anything happens to her...Sasuke would regret living.
Lee's eyes begun to water but he blinked the tears away. He had to be strong, he had to have faith. Sakura was going to pull through, she was going to make it. Her and their child. He would believe in them, he had to.
He plopped himself back down in the chair and just...waited. That was all he could do for now. And it was killing him.
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"Damn it!" Naruto cursed as he lost the person he was pursuing. He couldn't believe that that bastard had gotten away from him. He angrily searched the area outside of the village, not daring to venture any further. His eyes flashed a dangerous red as he scanned his surroundings for anything that would tell him where Sasuke ran off to. "You coward! Come out and fight me!" He hollowed, hoping to coaxed the boy out of hiding.
"Oi, Naruto!" A voice shouted behind him, causing the blond to spin around and fling a kunai at the intruder. The person yelled out in surprise and Naruto blinked as he got a better look at the person who called out his name and sheepishly smiled when he realized it was only Kiba and a few of the others.
"Oh, hey guys..." He said, waving to them.
Kiba growled in annoyance and picked himself up of the ground from when he had dodged the kunai that the other boy had thrown at him. "What was that for! Were you trying to kill me!" Kiba glared at him.
Naruto glared back and crossed his arms over his chest. "Don't you know that you shouldn't sneak up on people?"
"I wasn't expecting you to throw a kunai at me, dumbass." Kiba countered.
Shino, who was among the group frowned, not that any of them could tell, before turning around. "We should get going." He said calmly as he walked away.
Naruto nodded and also made his way back through the village gates. "Yeah, I have to make sure Sakura-chan's okay."
Kiba blinked as he followed Naruto, Akamaru trailing beside him. Behind Kiba was the ever lazy chuunin, Shikamaru, as he followed behind them with a yawn. "What happened to Sakura?" Kiba asked curiously. He didn't know much about Sakura, but he knew that she was apart of the Rookie 9, and therefore, apart of their team.
Naruto's eyes narrowed as the scene from earlier played in his mind again. The return of Sasuke after so many years, how much he changed, how he wasn't going to hesitate to kill them, and how he threw those two Chidori, ultimately hurting Sakura-chan. Naruto wanted to go after the traitor but knew he couldn't and right now, he needed to make sure Sakura was okay.
"She's in the hospital." Naruto replied.
Shikamaru raised an eyebrow. "The hospital?"
Naruto nodded. "Yeah...We, um..." He didn't want to tell them about Sasuke returning. It was because of Sasuke that half of them almost lost their lives three years ago. "She was...hurt, badly." He said instead.
They didn't ask anymore questions as they made their way to the hospital, and on their way, they ran into Ino, Tenten, and Neji. Ino smiled widely as she saw the approaching males. "Shika-kun! You're back!" She shouted, practically flinging herself in his arms.
Shikamaru stumbled back and sighed, but wrapped his arms around her nonetheless. "You're such a troublesome woman." He said with a smirk.
Ino looked up into his eyes and smacked him playfully on the arm. "Shut up, Shika-kun." She stood back and looked at the others that were with him. "Where are you guys heading?"
Kiba decided to answer. "We were going to the hospital. Naruto says that Sakura's in there."
Ino eyes widen. "What! Why? How?" She asked, panic seeping into her heart. Sakura was her best friend now and she worried about her and her condition. Was Sakura and the baby okay? Before anyone could answer any of her questions, she made a mad dash to the hospital, worried sick about her pink haired friend.
Shikamaru, Naruto, Kiba (and Akamaru), Shino, and Tenten rushed after her. Neji sighed and followed at a slower pace until they all reached the looming hospital building.
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Lee's head shot up at the sound of footsteps and turned his head to the left to see a group of teenagers making their way to him. He quickly stood up as they came nearer. Before he could give them a greeting, however, Ino grabbed him by the collar of his jumpsuit and started shouting in his face.
"What happened to Sakura! Is she okay! How about the baby! ARE THEY OKAY!" She yelled in his face. Poor Lee's eyes were nothing but little swirls.
Shikamaru sighed and untangled Ino's hands from Lee's collar. "You're not going to get any answers like that."
Kiba, on the other hand, was in shock and his mouth hung opened. He lost everything after 'the baby'. He snapped out of it and shook his head. "Wait, wait, what baby!"
Shikamaru shrugged his shoulders. "Sakura's baby."
Ino blinked up at him. "How did you know Sakura was pregnant?"
The lazy chuunin only grinned. "It doesn't take a genius to figure that out."
Lee shuffled his feet on the floor. Naruto walked over to him. "How's Sakura-chan doing?" He asked, glancing at the close door that was obviously the room Sakura was in.
Lee sighed and glanced at the same door he had been staring at for half and hour. "I...do not know..."
Naruto frowned before smiling at Lee. Lee was so worried about her and so sad that he wasn't used to seeing Lee so depressed. "Don't worry, fuzzy-brows. Sakura-chan's gonna be okay!" He wasn't sure if he was consoling Lee or himself. Possibly both.
Before any further conversation, the door opened and seven pairs of eyes snapped to the opening door and out stepped a slightly worn out Tsunade. Lee and Naruto were immediately at her.
"Tsunade-sama! Is Sakura-chan okay?" Naruto all but shouted.
"And our child?" Lee asked.
Tsunade glared at them. "Give me some room," she said and they backed up off her. Tsunade looked around the room and noticed that Shikamaru, Ino, Neji, Tenten, Kiba and Shino were also there. She cleared her throat, the anticipation driving the teenagers crazy. "Sakura was pretty lucky that no permanent damage was done, but she had lost a lot of blood. We were able to clean her up and replenish the blood she lost. I'm glad you got her here when you did." She turned her head back into the room as the nurse from earlier left with some of the equipment. "She's resting right now, so I'll allow one person at a time to see her for five minutes each."
Lee nodded and was ready to go in when he realized something.
Tsunade didn't mention the baby.
Lee's hand started to shake as he looked at Tsunade, fear in his eyes. "Tsu-Tsunade-sama?"
Tsunade looked up from the clipboard she was holding. "Yes, Lee?"
Lee wasn't sure how to ask her about it, he was almost afraid of the answer he would receive. "How...what about...the...baby?"
At this, everyone's attention was on the Hokage as she sighed. Lee gulped as tears stung his eyes. "The babies...are fine, by some stroke of a miracle."
Lee's eyes widen as he stagged with relief. They were fine...everything was going to be okay...but, wait, babies? "...Babies, Tsunade-sama?"
"Twins, Lee, twins." Tsunade stated with a small smile.
Lee was shock, to say the least. Not only was Sakura-chan okay, and their baby was too...but he was going to be a father twice over! The others were equally as surprised.
"Wait, wait...fuzzy-brows and Sakura-chan are having twins?" Naruto asked skeptically. Everyone else who had just learned about Sakura's pregnancy couldn't get over the fact that Lee would...would actually do something like that. Wasn't Lee supposed to be the proper one of the group? At first, they couldn't believe what they were saying, but Tsunade-sama made it official.
Kiba continued to stare wide eyed at Lee, not really believing what he was hearing. Akamaru tilted his head to the side in confusion, sensing Kiba's astonishment.
"Hold on, hold on! Let me get this straight..." Kiba said, pointing an accusing finger at Lee. "YOU...and...Sakura..." He started, his eyes still wide. "...YOU and SAKURA...are...are...dude, how's that even possible?"
Lee sweatdropped. Was it so hard to believe that he loves his cherry blossom so much that they commenced in such a beautiful ritual such as creating another beautiful life?
Tsunade decided to cut in before any further conversation could take place. "Lee, tell me what happened." She demanded from the teenager.
Lee blinked up at Tsunade and frowned. Tsunade, being the Hokage, had the right to know. He glanced at Naruto, who cast his eyes to the floor as his blond bangs shadowed over his crystal blue eyes.
Taking a deep breath, Lee told Tsunade about Sasuke and their brief battle and how Sakura was somehow caught in between. And how Sasuke also claimed to have returned for Naruto. Tsunade eyes darkened as Lee told her everything. Naruto remained silent throughout the whole ordeal, as well as everyone else. After Lee was finished with his explanation, Tsunade nodded her head and turned away, before leaving, she called over her shoulder, "You may visit Sakura now, but don't stay too long. She needs her rest." And with that, Tsunade was gone.
Lee was immediately in the room that Sakura was resting in and Ino would have followed too, if Naruto didn't stop her. When he looked at her, she saw a seriousness that she has never seen on his face before.
"Lee needs some time alone with her." Naruto said, his voice so quiet it surprised her as oppose to his usual loudness and obnoxious behaviour.
She nodded and gave them some privacy. She turned around and took a seat next to her lazy boyfriend, who was staring at the ceiling. He was either daydreaming or tracing the patterns of the ceiling.
Kiba growled. "I can't believe that...ugh, when I find him, I'm gonna rip him apart." He threatened, tightening his fist. Akamaru barked beside him, agreeing with his friend.
Inside the room, Lee approached the small bed that Sakura was peacefully resting in. He silently reached a hand out to her slumbering figure, the tears once again welling up in his onyx eyes. It pained him so much to see her like this. He took a deep breath as he allowed his hand to gently trace the features on her beautiful face. Momentarily, his eyes shifted to her stomach and taking his other hand, he cautiously placed it on top of her stomach, knowing that there were two small life forces in there.
At his touch, Sakura stirred and he immediately withdrew his hands as if burned. Looking back at her face, her soft green eyes met his. "...Lee-kun?" She whispered.
Lee smiled down at her as he brought his hand up to pull back her pink hair from her eyes. "How are you feeling, Sakura-chan?"
Sakura frowned. "...Horrible." She tried to sit up, but a burst of pain shot up her spine causing her to wince.
Lee gently placed a hand on her shoulder. "Please, do not move too much..."
Sakura nodded and sunk into the cozy hospital pillows. "...My stomach hurts..." She said with a grimace. Her eyes shot open at the thought. "Lee-kun! ...How..."
"They are fine, Sakura-chan. Everything is going to be okay." He leaned down and kissed her forehead, calming her. She sighed in relief. Lee pulled up a chair and sat next to the bed, holding her smaller and softer hands in his own. "I love you." Lee told her. It felt like forever since he last said those three meaningful words to her, when in fact, it was only that morning.
Sakura smiled at hearing those precious words again. "I love you too."
Suddenly, there was some commotion coming from outside of the room and the door burst open to as Sakura's father stormed inside of the small room and trailing behind him were a nurse, Naruto and Kiba. The nurse tried to calm the angered man down, but he would have none of it.
Matsou stared at them with a murderous look upon his dark face. "YOU did this to her, didn't you!" He roared, pointing an angry finger at Lee. "You stupid brat! I'll make you pay for ever putting your hands on my daughter!" He lunged forward, in a blinding rage. For not being a ninja, he was pretty quick on his feet.
Lee stood from his seat and stared intently as Matsou's fist came flying at him. He wasn't going to run away and he wasn't going to fight back. It was his fault that Sakura was here. If he wasn't so foolish...he should have protected her. He deserved what was going to him, he knew that.
As his fist was inches from Lee's face, Sakura cried out. "Dad, no!" But he ignored her. However, his fist never connected to the young man's face as two set of strong arms stopped him in his tracks. His fist only a few centimeters from Lee's face. Lee didn't even flinch.
Restraining Sakura's father was none other than Gai and Kakashi who had just received the news about Sakura from Tsunade-sama. Kakashi had one lazy hand wrapped around the man's shoulder while Gai stood in front with a hand held perfectly on the man's chest, his face expressionless. It was much like that time at the chuunin exam three years ago when all the jounins (sans Asuma) stopped Neji from ultimately hurting Hinata.
Naruto and Kiba blinked in surprise, having not see nor sense their presence entering the room at all. Lee remained unmoving as he watched the scene unfold before him. Naruto raised an eyebrow and walked over to the green clad boy.
"Were you just going to let him hit you?" Naruto asked, his eyes filled with curiosity.
Lee gave a cult nod. "I deserve whatever he throws at me."
"No you don't, Lee-kun." Sakura said from her position on the bed as she took his hand in hers. "None of this is your fault."
Lee looked down sadly at her and delicately squeezed her hand. "Sakura-chan, I have failed you again and again. I am not worthy of you or the family we have created."
Sakura shook her head. She didn't understand why Lee was beating himself up so hard over it. It was the inevitable. It wasn't his fault.
As the teenagers converse between themselves, a conversation between the adults took place outside of the room where Gai and Kakashi had practically dragged the enraged parent. Also standing outside of the room was a distraught looking Hokage, as well as Shikamaru, Ino, Neji, Tenten and Shino, who hadn't entered the room with Naruto and Kiba.
Tsunade glared at Matsou as she crossed her arms over her chest. "What is the meaning of this, Matsou?"
Matsou glared at both Gai and Kakashi as they slowly let go of his arms. He turned his attention to the village's leader. "I refuse to have that...boy anywhere near my daughter." He growled out between clenched teeth.
Tsunade cocked an eyebrow. "Oh? Why is that?" She asked unconcerned.
Matsou instantly picked up the tone of her voice and it irritated him. Both Gai and Kakashi stood on the sidelines as they silently watched the exchanged. "He is worthless. He is nothing but a low-class ninja and an annoying brat that got my daughter pregnant. And if it weren't for him, she wouldn't be in this damn situation. He is a disabled freak and I want nothing to do with him."
At the end of his explanation, Gai was ready to tear the man apart, but a hand on his shoulder from his rival head him back. He had absolutely no right to say those things about his precious student. Lee would never do anything to hurt those that he loves.
Tsunade calmly observed him before speaking. "I believe you are wrong, Matsou. It's because of Lee that your daughter is still alive. Lee is not, as you so delicately put it, a 'low-class' ninja. He is one of the strongest and finest ninja that I have. He may not be from a powerful clan such as the Uchiha or Hyuuga, or a genius like Neji and Sasuke, but Lee has something that they lack." Neji frowned as he listened. "Lee has a big heart and a powerful soul. He works hard to prove to everyone that it doesn't take a genius or a member of a powerful clan to become an excellent ninja."
Matsou said nothing as Tsunade finished speaking. He wanted to hit something, to maybe hurt someone, but since that boy had a lot of people that cared for him and protected him, he couldn't lay a finger on him. If he did, there was no doubt in his mind that Tsunade would throw him in jail for abuse, and possibly throw away the key.
He grumbled and turned on his heels. He'll come back tomorrow to check up on his daughter, but right now, he needed to clear his head. He needed to get out of this hospital.
Tsunade watched him go and sighed as she massaged her temples. She stepped inside of Sakura's hospital room to call Naruto and Kiba out. There was a mission she wanted them to go on.
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AN: Yes! I finally got this chapter DONE. Maybe I went a bit crazy with Matsou? Well, personally, I kinda like his personality...kinda strict for someone who owns a clothing shop, no? Well, what did you think of chapter 10? I s'pose it was okay...I hope it didn't seem to rush, because I'm pretty sure that is why it took me so long to get it out...that, and Naruto kills me. Maybe I should just kill him off later on and be done with it? ...Nah, I'm kidding...or am I?
The day is finally drawing to a close (about time! I mean, it lasted what? Five+ chapters?)! Soon, everything will be back to normal! Sakura can have her morning sickness as we go further into the pregnancy, the wedding will be planned, baby arrangements will be made, training will be postponed, and missions may or may not happen for Lee, and baby names will be decided! And why is Lee beating himself up over what is happening? And will Matsou ever learn to accept Lee and Sakura's relationship and the fact that he's gonna be a granddaddy (and that his baby girl's gonna get married?)? And...what's going to happen between Naruto and Hinata? ...Where IS Hinata? Find out...
Thanks all who reviewed. Continue reviewing and I'll do my best to make each and every chapter exciting for you all.
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