"Why don't you see what you can do with him?" Neji Hyuga sighed.
Sakura Haruno involuntarily grimaced as Neji gestured toward Rock Lee with an abrupt wave of his hand. Lee leaned against his crutches and gazed at her with wide, hopeful eyes. While Lee recovered from his fight against the sand-nin, not even Might Gai elicited more than a fleeing smile from his depressed student. Finding Sakura had been Ten-ten's idea. They sought Lee's longtime crush out of desperation – believing her the only person capable of reaching him.
"Oh – I mean, I would be happy to help," Sakura answered. "Like I told you earlier."
The nurses and med-nin caring for Lee all knew Sakura by name because she visited him so often. They also knew to keep flower food on hand so her gifts lasted longer, brightening Lee's room and his dour face. But her previous visits didn't carry the heavy expectations of this one.
"Good. Because I truly don't know what more we can do for him."
In Neji's voice, Sakura heard exasperation and exhaustion, but also a hint of concern. Moisture beaded on Sakura's palms. The sweat loosened her grip on the daffodil she held behind her back to surprise Lee once they were alone.
Behind Neji, Ten-ten shook her head and shrugged.
"Hey, let's go, Neji. Give them some room to breathe."
"Very well. We'll return to check on you after training."
As Lee's teammates retreated from the hospital yard, Ten-ten mouthed good luck at Sakura. Sakura overheard Neji express skepticism that her presence would magically lift Lee's morale. Ten-ten countered that Neji's bright idea was bringing Lee to watch them train – which would only remind him what he was missing.
From the purse of Lee's lips and the twitch of his brows, Sakura supposed Lee overheard the petty bickering. He cast a resigned look at Sakura.
"Well, Lee. Uh, Neji and Ten-ten told me you weren't doing so good."
Yeah, you're doing great, Sakura rebuked herself sarcastically. She gave Lee a grin that belied how much she wanted to disappear into the earth, or somehow retract her offer to his teammates.
"They are correct, Sakura, but the sight of your smiling face brings me joy."
Sakura blushed, warm tingles radiating from her heart. His kind words motivated her to push through her doubts, to prove Neji's pessimism wrong.
"Well, Lee. I brought you a surprise."
Once his bandaged fingers plucked the daffodil from her hand, Lee held it to his heart. The corners of Lee's lips curved up as he twirled the flower stem to examine it from every angle.
"Oh! This is lovely. The flower in my room is starting to wilt so you have come at a perfect time. It is just as beautiful as you!"
"Thanks, Lee," she muttered. "I got it fresh from Yamanaka Flower Shop just for you."
Faced with his unadulterated adoration, shame swelled her heart. A slew of contradictory emotions threatened to overwhelm her. Sakura still burned for Sasuke Uchiha, especially after he saved her in the Forest of Death. But aloof, reserved Sasuke left her craving more affection. Lee offered perhaps a little too much of it. Maybe that was why Sakura focused so much on loving Sasuke. The unattainable last Uchiha could be admired from a safe distance. Lee positively screamed out for her to love him.
And his earnest, open displays of love made Sakura unbearably insecure about failing to live up to his expectations.
"I love it! Thank you from the bottom of my heart!"
Who was she to him? A plain kunoichi with a too-big forehead and no special talents or abilities in battle? She questioned what she did to deserve such devotion from someone so kind and loyal as Lee.
Down to the tiniest gesture – like buying him a flower, everything Sakura did and said sent Lee to great heights of happiness. She sat on the bench next to Lee's wheelchair and folded her empty hands in her lap. Without the flower to hold, Sakura occupied her hands by toying with her skirt, a nervous tic.
"Back to why your teammates called me here – what's wrong?"
Lee sighed. He balled a fist in his lap and sniffed. Tears formed at the lower edge of his big round eyes.
"I cannot help but feel great sadness. I might never be able to become a shinobi ever again! Then how will I protect you with my life? I am nothing but a useless fraud undeserving of love!"
No wonder Ten-ten so firmly believed in Sakura's power over Lee.
"Lee –" she said. "You aren't useless, and you're not a fraud."
The first tears trickled down his cheeks and into the high collar of his jumpsuit. Lee gestured at the wide courtyard. The depths of Lee's loss seared into Sakura's heart with every fresh pulse of tears.
"I have trained so hard to become a splendid shinobi to prove to the world that I can do it!" he cried. "Yet now all of my training is worthless. Neji was correct the entire time."
"Now...don't say that," she stammered, grasping for the words he needed to hear.
"And I would not blame you in the least if you decided I am not worthy of your love! Sasuke is truly the superior object for your devotion, Sakura."
At the mention of Sasuke, Sakura flinched and her heart jumped. She asked herself whether Sasuke had ever cried for her, or been so happy when she tried to make him smile. Even without his taijutsu, Lee could protect her from the whims of her own insecurities. Now she only had to convince him – no easy task. Not with Lee's stubborn belief that physical strength and skill were the sum of his worth.
"Nonsense, Lee. I don't want Sasuke. I want you."
The words escaped her partially out of a desperate need to comfort Lee – but they were true. Sakura tentatively ventured a hand to Lee's knee. His cheeks flushed bright red.
"I have a difficult time believing that, Sakura."
Makes sense, she thought. Needles of ice drove into her skin as she recalled every callous rejection, starting from their first meeting before the written exams. More weight piled on her thin, narrow shoulders – more wrongs she needed to right for Lee.
"Hey, Sasuke's a good teammate, and all the girls like him. But you're special, too."
"Even if I am unfit as a shinobi?"
He paused mid-sob and stared into Sakura's green eyes. So close to Lee, Sakura could see a ring of chocolate brown where his black eyes caught the afternoon sunlight. She slipped her hand beneath his in what she hoped would be a soothing gesture.
"Just as you are now, Lee," she insisted.
Sakura smiled, the tips of her teeth just peeking over her upper lip. A moment later, Lee flashed his entire mouth of straight, white teeth before his fleeting grin collapsed.
"Like this? I am useless."
"Yeah, I mean exactly like this." She nodded and hummed in reassurance. "In this wheelchair, talking to me and being yourself."
"You need somebody to protect you, Sakura! Like I did in the forest against those terrible sound ninja. Sasuke is well-positioned to be your protector because he is strong and a powerful Uchiha."
She drew a deep breath. The rush of panic upon her impending death spiraled back to her, then she recalled her relief when Lee jumped in to rescue her. Sakura owed Lee her very life, and she owed it to him to be strong now on his behalf.
"Lee. I'm so grateful you were there, and I –" she choked, digging her fingertips into her lip. "I wouldn't be here right now if you weren't around back there."
"Yes. That is why you need Sasuke."
"No, it's my time to be strong," Sakura whispered, now resolute. "I've realized my love for Sasuke has been holding me back. I have to be a strong shinobi in my own way so I can protect myself."
Here, she gestured to her newly shorn pink hair. Lee wrestled his quivering lips into a smile and gave Sakura his trademark thumbs up.
"That is wonderful to hear. I wish you best of luck in becoming a splendid kunoichi."
Sakura's declaration of purpose appeared to lift Lee's morale, if only because he wanted to watch the girl he loved reach her full potential. Yet he must have recognized a second later that his injuries would force him to the sidelines, watching her excel while his shinobi career lay forever dormant.
"Thanks, Lee. I...can't help thinking there's something wrong."
"I do not mean to drag you down, but I cannot help thinking that my purpose is gone now."
"Come on. You're great for all kinds of reasons."
Lee drew a deep breath and pointed a finger into his chest. Though Sakura still saw skepticism in his wide eyes, he at least seemed ready to hear her reasons.
"What would those be?"
"Let's see. I love your positive attitude...how you're so loyal to your friends and team...the way you're always smiling and trying to make other people happy."
With each reason she cited, the corners of Lee's lips tugged upward incrementally. He straightened his spine in the wheelchair and split his lips in a grin. This time, the grin stayed. Silent, they watched the hospital's other patients, visitors and staff cycle in and out of the courtyard. Guilt tugged at the base of Sakura's stomach. The longer she sat by Lee, the more her list of Lee's strengths seemed like a rebuke to her – the utterly undeserving object of his love.
"You know, part of me thinks I'm not worth your love," Sakura confessed, face downcast.
"Nonsense!"
Lee's bushy brows scrunched in indignation at Sakura's doubts.
"I'm not pretty. I can't fight. And I always need someone to rescue me. I have a lot of work to get where I need to be," she continued. "Why don't you love Ten-ten? She's a strong kunoichi and she's on your team."
"Ten-ten is a good teammate and I respect her skills greatly. However, I am not interested in loving Ten-ten for the simple reason that she is not you, Sakura!"
Sakura ran a hand over the back of her neck in embarrassment.
"Maybe you can love me someday. After I get stronger and catch up to Naruto and Sasuke."
"No!" Lee now clamped his hand around her wrist hard enough to make her yelp. "You are my one true love right now!"
"Just...as I am?" she stammered.
"Just as you are, Sakura. I love you! With my entire heart!"
Something – some strange gravity between them – drew Sakura toward Lee. She dipped her head so their faces sat inches apart. Her heart raced with every breath that mingled in the air between them. Lee gave her a tiny smile when she squeezed his hand back.
"Lee," she sighed. "I'm...so flattered."
"It is as you told me! If I am good enough as I am, so are you! I refuse to hear otherwise."
Warm, happy tears blurred her vision. With Team 7, Sakura was a liability and an incompetent, useless kunoichi. Kakashi and her teammates sometimes seemed to tolerate her only out of necessity. With her mother, she was a failure constantly falling short of some standard. But with Lee, she was loved and wholly adequate.
Sakura leaned in until their lips just brushed. Lee's lips puckered in response, his warm breath hitting the top of her lips. She pulled back with a gasp, hand cupping his cheek. His fingers laced with hers. He stared back with lips slightly parted, in awe at what just passed between them. This time, Lee initiated their kiss, angling his head so their lips collided at an angle. His lips caressed hers, gentle as a breeze.
Sakura wasn't sure how she expected a boy's lips to feel, but Lee's lips were soft, dry and warm.
"I love you Sakura," he breathed out. "Be mine, always."
The warm whisper enveloped her like a hug, holding her close. Her swollen lips tingled from their kiss.
"I love you, too. Lee. You're a good kisser, you know."
"I am happy you think so, Sakura! That was my first kiss ever and I am glad I could share it with you!"
Big surprise. Sakura couldn't imagine that Lee had opportunities to kiss anyone else, nor would he have taken them. She remembered her outrage when Naruto claimed Sasuke's first kiss. There was something undeniably special about sharing that vulnerable, intimate moment with another.
"That was actually my first kiss, too. Thanks for making it great. Honestly, I didn't really know what I was doing there."
Lee giggled into his fist. How fortunate that their first kiss was intentional and not a total accident both regretted afterward. Naruto and Sasuke weren't so lucky.
"How could it not be special with you? We can get better with practice!"
"Good point."
Lee and Sakura held hands until Neji and Ten-ten rounded the corner of the building. Ten-ten's shrill voice grated on Sakura's ears.
"...ha! You owe me 400 ryos, Neji! You can't deny it. You saw it with your own Byakugan!"
"Fine. I'll pay you back once we get our paychecks from that last D-rank mission."
Ten-ten clapped her hands and beamed at Lee. Sakura and Lee's eyes met, her eyes wide with shock. Lee looked thoroughly confused, his bushy brows raised in a pair of question marks.
"I told Neji over here that you two would kiss," Ten-ten explained. "He was saying you'd scare her off, or you'd be too scared to go through with it."
She glanced over at Neji with a smirk and a tip of her head. Glaring back at his teammate, Neji sniffed and cleared his throat.
"For the record, Lee, I'm happy that you proved me wrong and your depression is visibly better."
Lee seemed to take his teammates' spying in good humor. But Sakura balled her fists and bit the inside of her lip to avoid screaming. Embarrassment tinted her cheeks an even deeper shade of red.
"Hey, could you two give us some alone time?" Sakura interjected.
"Yeah, no problem. Come on, Neji. I know you want to watch them some more, but we should train."
"Lee, I have no interest in watching –"
"Stop lying, Neji," Ten-ten sneered. "Are you coming or not?"
He didn't answer, but trailed after her as she disappeared from Sakura's line of sight.
"How do you stand those two?" she muttered. "Seems like they're almost as bad as Naruto and Sasuke."
"They can be quite a handful," Lee concurred. Then he leaned closer, cupping his hand around Sakura's ear.
"I believe Neji has feelings for Ten-ten," he whispered. "He allows her to belittle him in all kinds of ways like you just saw. When he watches her, it is one of the few times I can catch him distracted."
Heads bent, Lee and Sakura shared another laugh.
Carefully, Sakura leaned over to place her head on Lee's shoulder and he kissed her cheek. Warm, soothing sunlight fell across her face and Lee's warmth seeped into her side. Sakura silently prayed that they could stay like that forever – just as they were.