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31_days2006-03-09 03:22 pm
schuldich-sunde.livejournal.com) wrote in 31_days2006-03-09 03:22 pm
[ March 9 ] [ Naruto ] [ The Price ]
Title: The Price
Theme: March 9: nothing quite so least as truth
Series: Naruto
Characters: Team Gai some Neji x Tenten and Lee x Tenten
Rating: PG-13
Summary: A ninja is not measured solely by his strength.
“I’m stronger than you,” Neji declared one day to Lee, after Gai dismissed the team from training and both he and Tenten were long gone. The three had only been a team for less than a month, but Neji quickly jumped to the conclusion.
“I’m stronger than you,” he repeated. “No matter how hard you train, you will never surpass innate talent. There’s no point for you to work. You will never beat me.” He gave Lee a pointed stare, picturing his words sinking into the person before him, slowly registering, and penetrating the core of truth. But it did no such thing.
“That’s okay, Neji-san,” Lee replied with a thumbs-up sign and a strained grin. “I will keep trying anyway. A ninja is not just strong but knows courage and sacrifice. I’ll train harder, and maybe someday, even if I’m not as good as you, I’ll become a great ninja.”
Neji looked at Lee with something like contempt and incredulity. Didn’t he understand that there was no chance that the weak could win against strong? And yet, here was an idiot who not only believed in his own words but lived by them. An earnest fool, no doubt.
---
Team Gai persevered through the years, weathering time considerably well. Lee sustained a leg injury that put him out for a month. Tenten got hit in the arm with a kunai but fortunately it wasn’t the arm she favored for throwing. Neji was the only one who remained unscathed.
All three of them advanced to the chuunin level to the ecstatic triumph of Gai-sensei. It was the first time his entire team became chuunins at once. A party that very night was without question. Lee brought snacks, Tenten brought drinks, and Neji brought himself.
“Oh, my gifted pupils! You are entering that fragile stage of maturity that brings tears to my eyes! Neji, go hug Tenten! Come, let us embrace, Lee!” cried Gai, blubbering profusely as he wrapped his arms around Lee. Neji looked at Tenten and they mutually decided to stay where they were.
The night continued in revelry. Neji had to admit that even he was swept up in the happiness. Maybe it was Lee’s overpowering enthusiasm or maybe it was the shy glances that Tenten directed toward him. Perhaps, it wasn’t all about proving who was stronger. Tipping his chair back, he got up and started toward Tenten, whose eyes were growing bigger than saucers with each step of his advancement. Life was as good as it got for Hyuuga Neji.
---
A week later, they got assigned their first, official chuunin mission. There were border disputes near the Sand Country, and Team Gai was being sent along with two other chuunin teams to sort them out peacefully. Neji was appointed leader of the group.
Things, however, were a little tense for the team. That night at the party, just as Neji was about to ask Tenten out, Gai burst onto the scene and began raving about the passionate love of youths. Tenten was thoroughly embarrassed and Neji could tell that there was no hope of salvaging the situation.
At first, he couldn’t understand why Lee was feeling so uncomfortable too, until he realized that Lee had always had a crush on Tenten.
---
Apparently no one foresaw these border disputes to be this violent. Lee could hear Neji yelling “Retreat!” from off to his right. Lee agreed; there was no way three chuunin teams could stave off this horde, not at the pace they were going.
Turning to leave, he saw out of his eye Tenten shot down by a stray arrow.
“Wait!” he shouted, but it was drowned out by the screams of the people and Neji’s continual yell for a retreat.
Lee sprinted to Tenten’s side, checking to see if she was still breathing. He didn’t have long to check before several kunai came his way. Blocking them with his own weapon, he fought off the oncoming attackers. He couldn’t let them take her.
After the war between the Leaf and Sand countries, there were so many funerals. He remembered how even a month after, the memorials and burials had not ended. Fortunately, Team Gai survived unscathed. Lee was determined it would stay that way.
Yelling wildly, Lee flung a handful of throwing stars. Here was his chance to prove he was a great ninja.
---
“What are you doing? Fall back, Lee,” Neji barked out, as he came upon the small fortress of rocks that Lee managed to drag Tenten to. For the time being, they were concealed from the enemy.
“Neji, help me, we have to get Tenten back,” said a desperate Lee. Neji paused to glance at Tenten’s prostrate form. There was a waver of hesitation. But then it was gone.
“The mission takes priority. You will only put more people, including yourself, in danger. Leave now.”
“Neji! What are you talking about? This is Tenten. She’s still alive. We have to get her help.”
“As the leader of this group I order you to abandon her for the sake of the mission,” said Neji coldly. “There is no time for useless heroics.”
With that, Neji left his two teammates.
---
It turned out that reinforcements arrived just after and the retreat wasn’t necessary. Team 7 was among the groups that showed up to aid the exhausted chuunin teams. Naruto was the first to find the still forms of Tenten and Lee. It was hard to tell if either was alive. He brought the two over to Neji, thinking he’d be missing his teammates. But all Neji did was motion for the medics to come and carry them away on stretchers.
---
In a twist of irony, Tenten recovered faster than Lee did. She got to walking pretty soon, and on good days, she’d go and visit Lee’s room.
“Hospital food sucks, huh?” she said.
“Yeah, but it’s alright, I’ll be out of here soon,” Lee replied cheerfully. Tenten looked at him with sad eyes.
“I’m not so sure…”
---
The doctors came and told Lee that he was paralyzed from the waist down. He couldn’t take the news calmly and thrashed in the sheets, banging his arms on the metal bars of the bed. They had to sedate him to quiet him down.
Tenten came by that afternoon with those same sad eyes, and Lee realized she already knew.
“I’m so sorry,” she said, sobbing lightly into his covers. “You should’ve just left me.”
“It’s okay, Tenten. It’s not your fault. I overreacted earlier. Don’t worry about me, I’ll train harder and regain movement of my legs. I won’t give up my dream of being a ninja.”
“Why did you stay behind?” she asked.
“Because that is my way of the ninja,” he said. There was a pause. And then, “Tenten?”
“Yes?”
“Don’t blame yourself.”
---
Neji stood outside the hospital door and listened to his teammates talk. “What an earnest fool,” he thought again. Tenten was starting to leave so he hid around the corner to avoid her. When she was gone he looked into the door again and saw Lee silently crying. He realized that all those words of comfort to Tenten were false. Lee never did believe he would recover again.
---
When Neji left the hospital, Tenten was there waiting for him. He started a little when he saw her standing near the door.
“What do you wa-” he began. She slapped him across the face.
“A ninja is not just strong but knows courage and sacrifice. You aren’t even half the man Lee is.”
She walked away, head in the air.
Rubbing the side of his face, Neji looked at her retreating figure. He never figured it out until now, but she was right. And it was nothing quite so least as truth.
Theme: March 9: nothing quite so least as truth
Series: Naruto
Characters: Team Gai some Neji x Tenten and Lee x Tenten
Rating: PG-13
Summary: A ninja is not measured solely by his strength.
“I’m stronger than you,” Neji declared one day to Lee, after Gai dismissed the team from training and both he and Tenten were long gone. The three had only been a team for less than a month, but Neji quickly jumped to the conclusion.
“I’m stronger than you,” he repeated. “No matter how hard you train, you will never surpass innate talent. There’s no point for you to work. You will never beat me.” He gave Lee a pointed stare, picturing his words sinking into the person before him, slowly registering, and penetrating the core of truth. But it did no such thing.
“That’s okay, Neji-san,” Lee replied with a thumbs-up sign and a strained grin. “I will keep trying anyway. A ninja is not just strong but knows courage and sacrifice. I’ll train harder, and maybe someday, even if I’m not as good as you, I’ll become a great ninja.”
Neji looked at Lee with something like contempt and incredulity. Didn’t he understand that there was no chance that the weak could win against strong? And yet, here was an idiot who not only believed in his own words but lived by them. An earnest fool, no doubt.
---
Team Gai persevered through the years, weathering time considerably well. Lee sustained a leg injury that put him out for a month. Tenten got hit in the arm with a kunai but fortunately it wasn’t the arm she favored for throwing. Neji was the only one who remained unscathed.
All three of them advanced to the chuunin level to the ecstatic triumph of Gai-sensei. It was the first time his entire team became chuunins at once. A party that very night was without question. Lee brought snacks, Tenten brought drinks, and Neji brought himself.
“Oh, my gifted pupils! You are entering that fragile stage of maturity that brings tears to my eyes! Neji, go hug Tenten! Come, let us embrace, Lee!” cried Gai, blubbering profusely as he wrapped his arms around Lee. Neji looked at Tenten and they mutually decided to stay where they were.
The night continued in revelry. Neji had to admit that even he was swept up in the happiness. Maybe it was Lee’s overpowering enthusiasm or maybe it was the shy glances that Tenten directed toward him. Perhaps, it wasn’t all about proving who was stronger. Tipping his chair back, he got up and started toward Tenten, whose eyes were growing bigger than saucers with each step of his advancement. Life was as good as it got for Hyuuga Neji.
---
A week later, they got assigned their first, official chuunin mission. There were border disputes near the Sand Country, and Team Gai was being sent along with two other chuunin teams to sort them out peacefully. Neji was appointed leader of the group.
Things, however, were a little tense for the team. That night at the party, just as Neji was about to ask Tenten out, Gai burst onto the scene and began raving about the passionate love of youths. Tenten was thoroughly embarrassed and Neji could tell that there was no hope of salvaging the situation.
At first, he couldn’t understand why Lee was feeling so uncomfortable too, until he realized that Lee had always had a crush on Tenten.
---
Apparently no one foresaw these border disputes to be this violent. Lee could hear Neji yelling “Retreat!” from off to his right. Lee agreed; there was no way three chuunin teams could stave off this horde, not at the pace they were going.
Turning to leave, he saw out of his eye Tenten shot down by a stray arrow.
“Wait!” he shouted, but it was drowned out by the screams of the people and Neji’s continual yell for a retreat.
Lee sprinted to Tenten’s side, checking to see if she was still breathing. He didn’t have long to check before several kunai came his way. Blocking them with his own weapon, he fought off the oncoming attackers. He couldn’t let them take her.
After the war between the Leaf and Sand countries, there were so many funerals. He remembered how even a month after, the memorials and burials had not ended. Fortunately, Team Gai survived unscathed. Lee was determined it would stay that way.
Yelling wildly, Lee flung a handful of throwing stars. Here was his chance to prove he was a great ninja.
---
“What are you doing? Fall back, Lee,” Neji barked out, as he came upon the small fortress of rocks that Lee managed to drag Tenten to. For the time being, they were concealed from the enemy.
“Neji, help me, we have to get Tenten back,” said a desperate Lee. Neji paused to glance at Tenten’s prostrate form. There was a waver of hesitation. But then it was gone.
“The mission takes priority. You will only put more people, including yourself, in danger. Leave now.”
“Neji! What are you talking about? This is Tenten. She’s still alive. We have to get her help.”
“As the leader of this group I order you to abandon her for the sake of the mission,” said Neji coldly. “There is no time for useless heroics.”
With that, Neji left his two teammates.
---
It turned out that reinforcements arrived just after and the retreat wasn’t necessary. Team 7 was among the groups that showed up to aid the exhausted chuunin teams. Naruto was the first to find the still forms of Tenten and Lee. It was hard to tell if either was alive. He brought the two over to Neji, thinking he’d be missing his teammates. But all Neji did was motion for the medics to come and carry them away on stretchers.
---
In a twist of irony, Tenten recovered faster than Lee did. She got to walking pretty soon, and on good days, she’d go and visit Lee’s room.
“Hospital food sucks, huh?” she said.
“Yeah, but it’s alright, I’ll be out of here soon,” Lee replied cheerfully. Tenten looked at him with sad eyes.
“I’m not so sure…”
---
The doctors came and told Lee that he was paralyzed from the waist down. He couldn’t take the news calmly and thrashed in the sheets, banging his arms on the metal bars of the bed. They had to sedate him to quiet him down.
Tenten came by that afternoon with those same sad eyes, and Lee realized she already knew.
“I’m so sorry,” she said, sobbing lightly into his covers. “You should’ve just left me.”
“It’s okay, Tenten. It’s not your fault. I overreacted earlier. Don’t worry about me, I’ll train harder and regain movement of my legs. I won’t give up my dream of being a ninja.”
“Why did you stay behind?” she asked.
“Because that is my way of the ninja,” he said. There was a pause. And then, “Tenten?”
“Yes?”
“Don’t blame yourself.”
---
Neji stood outside the hospital door and listened to his teammates talk. “What an earnest fool,” he thought again. Tenten was starting to leave so he hid around the corner to avoid her. When she was gone he looked into the door again and saw Lee silently crying. He realized that all those words of comfort to Tenten were false. Lee never did believe he would recover again.
---
When Neji left the hospital, Tenten was there waiting for him. He started a little when he saw her standing near the door.
“What do you wa-” he began. She slapped him across the face.
“A ninja is not just strong but knows courage and sacrifice. You aren’t even half the man Lee is.”
She walked away, head in the air.
Rubbing the side of his face, Neji looked at her retreating figure. He never figured it out until now, but she was right. And it was nothing quite so least as truth.