Konoha City Apartments.
The first place Sakura Haruno was able to afford to live on her own. It wasn't so bad. It was close to the university where she was studying to become a doctor. More importantly, she'd be away from her parents. She loved them, sure, but Sakura just needed some breathing room.
Her parents cried when they helped her move in. It was touching. They were worried about their little girl and the great big world.
At the time, Sakura assumed them that the apartment had all the essentials; a kitchen, a bathroom, and a bedroom. She would have to the laundromat downstairs to wash clothes which was fine all in itself.
It was here that Sakura found herself talking to the man that lived in the apartment room across from her. She's seen him in the mornings when she had gotten up to go to school and heard him coming home in the dead of night like clockwork. But she never quite got the chance to talk to him.
He was an odd fellow with wide eyes that reminded her of a fish, the thickest eyebrows she's ever seen, and to top it all off— a bowl cut. She figured that he cut his own hair, because no one in their right mind would do that on purpose.
As Sakura washed her clothes, this man she had come to know as Rock Lee entered with his laundry basket. When he saw her, he was a little frazzled.
"Oh," he had said, "I did not realize that someone else would be here at this time."
"I usually wash clothes on Sunday, but I was running out of things to wear," Sakura explained. She turned herself fully to face him, leaning back on the washer. "Hey, you're that guy that lives across from me. Rock Lee, right?"
He dipped his head. "Yes, that is my name. How did you know?"
Sakura gave a shrug. "I hear some guy shouting your name at the butt crack of dawn. Something about going training."
Rock Lee looked flushed. "Ah yes. That guy. I apologize if he has woken you up."
"Oh no worries— at least as far as I'm concerned. I need to get up early for school anyway," Sakura explained.
His embarrassment receded as he smiled at her. A big goofy grin that nearly filled up the entirety of his face. "You go to school?" He asked, "What for?"
"Well I'm studying to become a surgeon. What about you?" She cocked her head at him. "What do you do? Any schooling... Work?"
He looked flush again. "Ah..." Lee hesitated.
Sakura looked away. The washed dinged to let her know that the load was done. "That's okay," she said as she took out the wet clothes. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."
"I-it is not that!" Lee held his basket tightly. He had bandages on his hands and they were being pulled taut against his skin. "It is just that..." He turned his gaze towards the floor. "I have not had many opportunities to speak to pretty girls. I am quite nervous."
Oh? Sakura's ears were piqued. She looked at Rock Lee from the corner of her eye. Was he hitting on her? She noticed that his bandaged fingers were curling nervously.
He continued, sensing that Sakura wasn't going to say anything. "You could say that I am a martial artist. One day I will be a teacher like my great sensei, Might Guy. He is the man that you hear in the morning," Lee explained to her.
Sakura nodded. "I see," then it struck her. "Oh! How rude of me. Do you need to use the washer? Of course you do, that's why you're here." She moved out of the way and placed her own clothes in the dryer. "My name's Sakura Haruno by the way."
"Sakura," Lee repeated. "A very fitting name on the account of..." He lifted a hand to point at her hair. "But I am sure you get that a lot."
"You'd be surprised."
Lee shuffled forward to then dump his clothes into the washer. Sakura thought she was imagining it, but she could have sworn that some of his clothes were bloody. The red stains had darkened with oxidation.
"You know..." Sakura clucked her tongue. "Peroxide helps get that out."
She felt him stiffen beside her. "Of course... Very astute from the medical student," he managed to say. He looked like he was about to melt on the spot.
"It's not too expensive but if you ever want to borrow some, I have peroxide in my apartment," Sakura offered.
"You are too kind," Lee grinned at her again, making his eyes crinkle on the corners. "But I will have to decline. I do not wish to be a bother."
Talk about humble. "Well if you ever need anything I'm just a few feet away from your apartment," she laughed a little to herself, "It's kinda crazy how we never really talked before. I've been living here for a month."
"I have been holed up here for a couple of years," Lee supplied. "When you have moved in I was out. If... If our schedules permit it, I would like to talk to you some more." He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.
Sakura leaned against the dryer, smiling. "Maybe I'll just move my wash day earlier from now on."
"Same time, next week?" He beamed.
"Yeah, same time next week."
ˏˋ ˎˊ
Sakura had returned from her classes for that day, trudging along the hallway to her apartment. As she felt around for her keys in her pocket, she glanced at the door across from hers. It was nighttime now but it wouldn't be another few hours until Rock Lee returned home.
She shook her head to herself. He hadn't left her mind since she spoke to him that morning. He was a strange one. From the way that he spoke and acted around her, Lee was an unforgettable individual.
Finally, Sakura let herself in and flicked on the lights. Like always, she kicked off her shoes and and unloaded her bag in her room. Heavy textbooks spilled out onto her bed where she would be studying after a quick dinner.
Her mother would never approve, but Sakura was much too tired and hungry to cook a full meal for herself. Cup ramen had been her hero.
And so, Sakura went about boiling some water for her ramen and settled in. A warm meal and a couple chapters of note taking later, the familiar fumbling of Lee being escorted home could be heard. The same man, his sensei, that came to visit him in the mornings also brought him home most nights.
The boom of Might Guy's voice was unmistakable.
"Are you sure you'll be alright, Lee?" She heard him ask.
"I am sure," she heard Lee reply, "I can look after myself."
If Sakura has to guess, it sounded like the two had been out drinking and Lee had drunk himself into a stupor. Of course, she didn't hear any slurring words from either of them but she could be wrong. She ought to mind her own business, she had nothing to do with the goings on of Rock Lee and his strange mentor.
Sakura tapped her pencil to her temple as she tried to focus on the words in her book. She heard the door close and the footsteps of Might Guy fade away. The walls were rather than if she could hear all that. It wasn't like she was listening out on purpose, at least that's what Sakura told herself.
About another twenty minutes had passed and Sakura found herself rereading the same passages over and over again. A loud thud sounded off from across the hall. Sakura tensed, nibbling on her eraser. Was that him? Should I go check? She debated on whether or not she should go and the horrid thoughts won her over.
If Lee has truly fallen in his apartment, the least she could do was make sure that he was okay.
Sakura left her apartment and stared at the door before her. She worked up the courage to knock, but there was no reply. "... Mister Lee?" She tried the knob. Locked. "I-I'm gonna try to come in, okay?" She dashed back into her apartment, scouring for something she could use. She dumped out the contents of her purse and found an old credit card. Perfect.
Sakura returned to Lee's door and used the card to jimmy the lock. The apartment complex was fairly old and it didn't make Sakura feel at ease with how simple it was to get the door open.
She carefully pushed the door a crack, enough to poke her head in. She didn't see Lee immediately. Time to press on.
The layout was fairly similar to her own. In fact, Lee's apartment hardly looked lived in for someone who was here for at least two years. It was clean if not a bit dusty. He had very few pieces of furniture. The only thing that cluttered the apartment was gym equipment. Even then, those were placed strategically out of the way.
Sakura tiptoed into the small hall, where she would expect to find the bathroom and the bedroom. The bathroom door was open a smidge, the light flooded out through the crack. She decided to open it.
It was hard not to yell out in shock. Lee was laying face down on the tiled floor. A first aid kit had its contents spilled out in front of him. Sakura swallowed her initial reaction to scream. "Mister Lee...?" She noticed that his bandages were loose and slightly bloody.
Was he trying to tend to himself? Sakura reached out to try and unwravel the rest of the bandages, only to have her wrist grabbed. The breath was stolen from her lungs in shock.
"Miss... Haruno." Lee peeled his face up from the floor. His features were bruised and swollen. "Do not do that."
"Clearly you need help," Sakura said. She had her arms out, offering to assist Lee to his feet. An offer he refused. "I'm going to take you to the hospital."
His eyes widened. "No!" He responded all too harshly. Lee realized his blunder and shook his head, trying to remain composed. "Anything but that, please."
Sakura furrowed her brows. Was he serious? "Why?"
Lee pursed his lips. They created a bow shape when closed. Of all times for Sakura to notice that, it was certainly not a good time.
"Fine, if you won't go to the hospital... Then at least let me help you." Sakura's teal eyes were full of concern. Lee relented and allowed her to sit him up. He held out one of his arms gingerly for Sakura to take a hold of.
Having a closer look, she could see shards of glass poking out of his flesh. "How did this happen?" She asked.
"... Bar fight," Lee responded.
She didn't smell any alcohol on him so her first theory was dashed. He was lying to her. But rather than push it, Sakura simply unwrapped his arm.
His scarred flesh was revealed to her. Haphazard stitches were littered across his skin as well as the new open wounds from the glass. "These stitches... They're so bad."
The corner of Lee's lip twitched. "Thanks... I had done them myself." It was about as sarcastic as he could muster.
Sakura's eyes widened. "What?" Stitching oneself up was difficult as it was but one handed? Even harder. "Why would you do something like that? What's with all these injuries?" Sakura picked up some tweezers and took it to the sink to disinfect. He did have peroxide after all.
She returned to him on the floor and went about removing the shards of glass and tossing them into the waste bin. Sakura flickered her gaze up to look Lee in the eyes. "Well?" She prompted him to explain.
Lee sighed. "I cannot lie to you. You have seen the nature of my injuries— my scars, they're from my line of work." He winced as Sakura removed a particularly stubborn piece of glass.
"These don't seem like normal martial arts injuries to me," Sakura stated.
"They're not. They're... Ow!" Lee grit his teeth together. Tears of pain stinged his eyes.
Sakura bristled. "Sorry, sorry! Keep talking, where do you get these injuries from?"
Lee exhaled. "I do illegal matches."
"Come again?" Another shard in the trash.
"I am a street fighter," Lee answered. "The only rule is that you cannot kill your opponent. Unfortunately for myself, my opponent this time used a broken bottle on me."
Sakura listened to his explanation as she moved into his other arm. He continued. "I managed to block all his attacks from hitting my organs."
She eyed his torso. His awful green tracksuit didn't seem as bloody as his arms were. Finally, a truth. "Is that why you won't go to a hospital? Because you're afraid of being caught?" She asked.
"If I get caught, I could be arrested. If I am arrested, the whole ring gets shut down." Lee looked down at his lap. "It is the source of income for I and many others."
"I see..." Sakura wasn't quite sure what to do with this information. It weighed heavy on her shoulders. That would explain his bloody clothes that morning.
Lee furrowed his brows. "And now I have put you at risk by relaying this information. Can you see why I have hidden it from you?" He looked angry, more so at himself that at her.
Sakura exhaled slowly. "This is a lot. I um, never expected this."
Lee searched her face, scanning his eyes over her to find deeper meaning in her expression.
"But I won't tell anyone," Sakura promised. "Now try to hold still," she grabbed the peroxide. "This is going to hurt real bad."