A/N: Oh, thank god: you're still reading. Don't love Little Lee yet? You will- just wait.
Two: Shinu (Death)
Lee's face is tucked against his caramel knees as he squats in the center of the cracked sidewalk. Laundy lines hang down the alleyways 'til kingdom come, flapping with wet sounds in the soft breeze. The boy suddenly pops up, screaming and holding his left middle finger aloft.
"LOOK, SENSEI- a ladybug!"
Smiling, Gai jogs down the concrete and kneels beside the little boy. Lee's bright, fresh eyes are like midnight suns, deepest charcoal but full of unspeakable light, and laced with baby-fine eyelashes; his young face is long and dimpled slightly, with smooth pebbles for cheekbones as he smiles with wonder. Lee is not going to be a very handsome teenager.
The insect orbits the boy's knuckle warily, seeming to test this strange landing place. It shines so brightly it could be varnished, the color of a ripe tomato with delicate white spots painted on it's miniscule head just-so by the gods. Spring is coming to the Hidden Leaf Village; pink zinnias nod their heads in the square of dirt that the landlady has salvaged, looking towards the bottle-blue sky. The air smells of white-washed sunlight, of new beginnings and the thawing of things long frozen.
… And then Lee sneezes.
Gai was so at peace that he almost forgot that children can create crisis anywhere. A long whimper suddenly comes from Lee, who climbs down onto his gravel-scabbed knees and regards the ground morosely. "I dropped my ledibaa…" he begins whining. "I dropped her…"
The boy's eyes catch something. Lee pokes something gently, once, twice; and then announces, "It's dead."
All the man can do is blink. Lee continues to crouch on the ground, staring at the sidewalk, with Gai staring at him. The old woman at the magazine stand regards them, gangly Jounin and squat, adorable child, with a twist of her lip. The wind whistles above the Shinobi tenement apartments, lying in configured squares and jutting rectangles until the white-brick path ends. Lee sniffles, quietly at first; then wipes his nose with the back of his hand.
"Why do things have to die?," he asks of his guardian.
Gai has no idea what to say; he gets the feeling that the fragile mental development of this child is resting in his hands, and that saying the wrong thing could turn him into some sort of whack mobile like Orochimaru when he grows up. Gai's not sure how to talk to kids, even if he's been a sight better than Kakashi or Asuma at it. The Sandaime said that Gai would get too attached to his Genin; he was a naturally fathering type, the old man could tell.
He stands the boy up without looking down; Lee's small, warm hand finds the bear paw grip of his own instinctively, and folds entirely within Gai's long, calloused fingers. They stare at the ladybug for a while, big man and little man, side by side in a world that isn't very understandable at times.
"… I guess so new things can be born." he finally answers.
Lee is quiet for a long while; he leans his head against Gai's thigh, a habit he's picked up when he's thinking. Gai can feel the boy's little brain whirring between their skins, trying to accept one of the many truths of this lifestyle that will soon become so natural to him that Lee won't even think to ask. For the mind of a child, untainted and unknowing of the cruelty of existence- what kind of world will be waiting for this sweet little flower of youth, Gai wonders. He wonders.
It's been forever since he wondered.
And suddenly, Gai feels Lee's little face jerk up into a smile. The night-haired child points, mouth open, before thundering down the sidewalk in his green flip-flops.
"Then we've got to hurry, Sensei!" he calls, full of mission. "Let's pick these flowers, so more new ones can come up!"
One side of Gai's face burns with humor; and then he takes off after his little roommate, hoping he can save the landlady's petunias in time.
A/N: I'm working on the concept of repeating themes; I like the connection, and it actually makes a dumb story sound remotely profound. Just what I need, huh?
More Lee to come! Stay tuned!
