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Of Broken Bones and Shattered Dreams	By : Saitochan Category: Naruto > Het - Male/Female Views: 1509 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
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Hey everyone! New chapter in my story. I hope you've liked it so far. Don't worry; the lemons will come up soon, maybe in the next chapter. Boy, it's tough writing about Ten-Ten. I really don't have a clue if the way I'm doing it is OOC or not. Anyway, please review so I can know what I'm doing wrong, OK?
Thanks, enjoy!

*****

Of Broken bones and shattered dreams

Chapter 2 - Flowers

It was a bright and warm afternoon. The sun shone down over Konoha, warming all of its citizens, while a cool breeze swept by the village, both cooling the air and bringing all sorts of scents from the forest around. It was a perfect day.

But, not for Rock Lee. He was with his face close to the ground, holding all of his body weight on his right limbs, trying hard to stretch his arm to its full length. He was too focused on his work-out to pay attention to the pleasant weather. "Two-hundred one-arm push-ups! If I can't do it… then I'll do 100 one-leg sit-ups! 182…" he mumbled while thick drops of sweat trickled down his face.

As soon as some of his broken bones and pulled muscles healed and allowed him some movement, the taijutsu user had sneaked out of his hospital room to begin training. There was a lot on his mind, and on troubled times like these, training could get his mind off just about any problem. But, today was different.

His body still felt weak. Painfully weak. While Lee pushed himself up again, he noticed his body slowly starting to ache all over. The effect of the painkillers was wearing off. He ignored the feeling and lowered himself, only to push up again. "184…"

Without allowing his body a much needed rest, Lee kept doing push-ups while recalling the events that took place some days before. He remembered the doctor's voice telling him: *You better forget about training for a month, at the very least*, but managed to ignore it quite easily. Neji's voice popped in his head *Yeah. The Final matches are almost a month from now. But, it's really no challenge.*

"Ne-Neji... everything is... always... so easy for you..." said Lee as he thought about his teammate. "186..." Lee felt his body already reaching its limit. Usually, he was able to do 300 push-ups while barely breaking a sweat. Not anymore. The once proud and strong green beast felt as if he had been transferred to another body, a mere shell that just resembled his old self.

Yet, he couldn't, he wouldn't give up. "G-Gai...sensei..." The mere thought of his sensei was enough to keep him going. *I believe in you, Lee.* As Rock Lee remembered his teacher's words when he gave him the news, his body continued to move up and down. *I believe in you, Lee. I know you will get better. But... the doctors say that…*

His thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a distant voice. "Lee-kun! Please stop!" Out of the corner of his eye, Lee could see a nurse approaching him. But he was too focused on his training to see the two young kunoichi standing behind the nurse. "Please! Don't touch me! Please, don't interrupt my training!" he shouted while straining his already exhausted body.

"Just a few more to go... 197..." The pain he had tried to ignore earlier came back with a vengeance, and kept getting even more intense. It almost made Lee scream, but he focused back on his sensei's words that day.*Lee... the doctors say that... you might never be able to live as a ninja again.*

Even Lee's strong willpower or his great determination could not hold him anymore. As his arm gave in under his weight, and the pain engulfing his body finally made him faint, Lee was dimly aware that he let out a painful yell as he hit the floor, but he didn't feel the tender hands moving him to a more comfortable position nor he saw Ino and Sakura kneeling over him and looking at him with sad eyes.

*****

Taking advantage of her unexpected training break, Ten-Ten decided to go to the hospital and pay Lee a visit. It was quite lucky that Neji had used up too much chakra developing his Kaiten technique and had to go home for an early rest. When she walked to the lobby and asked for permission to visit her friend, the nurses told her he was unconscious due to his little training escapade that morning. Ten-Ten frowned as she thought *That really sounds like Lee.* "Don't worry; I'll wait for him to wake up. And I'll talk some sense into him as well," she said to the nurses, which were relieved by her words. It wasn't easy looking after a patient like him.

After being lead to Lee's room, Ten-Ten was left alone with her sleeping teammate. She watched Lee as he slept peacefully in his hospital bed. He had to be immobilized again to stop him from escaping again. As she sat on a chair and started flipping through a magazine, the kunoichi said out loud: "Sigh... Lee, why do you have to be so self-destructive?" Since Gai-sensei was busy over something else, Neji was halfway to dreamland, and Lee used to heed her advices, she waited for him to wake up to start lecturing him about how he should follow the doctor's orders.

Although Ten-Ten didn't notice, all the tiredness of her training session with Neji started catching up with her, and, lulled by the sounds of birds outside and the warmth of the summer afternoon, she quickly fell asleep.

Some time later, Lee shifted and turned slightly, and finally woke up when he found himself once again unable to move. As he slowly opened his eyes, Lee saw the last rays of the setting sun out his window. While he stared at the sunset and imagined how he and his teacher always ran towards it, something on a small table next to the window caught his eye. It was a small flower in a vase, a Daffodil. "Huh? Who brought that?" Turning his head to the other side of the room, he spotted Ten-Ten sleeping on a chair close to his bed. "Did Ten-Ten bring this flower?"

As his head became clearer and sleep crept away, Rock Lee discovered himself tied to the hospital bed. His first thought was that Ten-Ten had tied him up to lecture him about something, as she had done some times before. Well, at least he got some of it right.

Lee looked around him until he finally found a controller with a small red button to call a nurse within arms reach. He pressed the button hoping a nice nurse would come and free him from Ten-Ten's lecture while she was asleep. After a minute or so, a nurse came quietly into the room, and after watching the sleeping girl on the chair, she whispered: "Lee-kun, are you feeling better? What do you need?"

"Please," said Lee in barely more than a whisper. "Could you untie me? I want to go for a walk." While he spoke, Lee didn't stop glancing sideways at Ten-Ten in case she woke up suddenly. The nurse gave him a look between puzzlement and anger. "Go for a walk?" she said in a harsher tone and a louder voice. Ten-Ten stirred in her sleep. "No, I'm not going to untie you. You were really lucky you could move this morning, but since you decided to escape and begin training without regard for your health," by this moment, Ten-Ten was opening her eyes and looking around drowsily "the doctors decided to immobilize you until you heal."

Upon seeing that his teammate was awake, Lee felt a huge drop of sweat trickle down his head. He started mumbling something in order to stop Ten-Ten from joining the conversation, but the nurse wasn't finished talking yet. "You should really think more about yourself and the people that care for you. Think about all the pretty girls that came by to visit you."

That left both Lee and Ten-Ten at a loss of words. Pretty girls? Visiting Lee? It was rather hard to believe. Ten-Ten couldn't help feeling a little jealous, but they didn't suspect that 'all' those girls were only three, one of them sat beside Lee right now, the second just left a flower without staying as much as five minutes, or that the third one didn't even come to visit HIM in the first place.

Deciding to move the conversation away from his training escapade, Lee asked the nurse nervously, "So... ehh, who was it exactly that brought this flower?" He thought that if she could thank Ten-Ten properly for her kindness, she wouldn't be so angry when she started nagging him.

"Hmm... it was a pretty girl with pink hair. She and her friend came while you were out there training. Even after you collapsed, she stood by you and helped me bring you here," said the nurse while recalling the morning events.

"Sakura-san…" Lee stared at the single flower with a small smile on his face, but it was soon replaced by a sad look. "I promised her I'd be stronger..." he said in a barely audible voice. As she looked at her teammate's sad eyes, Ten-Ten felt sadness creep upon her as well. She hated watching Lee depressed, since he always seemed so full of energy and enthusiasm.

Both of their thoughts were interrupted by the words the nurse directed to team Gai's kunoichi. "Excuse me, but visitation hours are almost over. You'll have to leave soon."

"Huh? Oh! Yeah, thanks". Ten-Ten was about to get up and leave the room, when she suddenly remembered she had to talk some sense into her friend. "Oh, wait; just give me 5 more minutes. I'll make sure he doesn't go out training without permission again."

The nurse looked at her watch and nodded. "Okay. I'll leave you two alone," she said before heading out quietly. Lee thanked the gods for giving her friend only five minutes to lecture him. Any more than that would be just too much to bear. He summoned all of his courage, readied himself to endure the following minutes and nervously watched the kunoichi as her face turned deadly serious.

*****

A few moments later, Ten-Ten was walking towards the exit of Konoha's hospital. After making Lee understand he would probably never heal if he kept ignoring the doctor's orders and promising a severe punishment if he ever did something like his morning escape again, she talked to the nurses attending him to assure them it was safe to untie the young Taijutsu master.

On her way home, she began to think about the way Lee had reacted when he found out Sakura had brought him a flower. A soft sigh escaped her lips as she remembered how Lee's eyes had been so full with joy, and how he was overcome with grief and sorrow due to his unfulfilled promise. "Sakura..." she said out loud. "What's so special about her, anyway?"

The sun had set and it was night in Konoha. The sky was clear and filled with stars, and a cold wind blew past Ten-Ten, making her shiver. She embraced herself to keep warm and started walking a bit faster towards her home. "I can't believe Sakura just left a flower for Lee and didn't even pay him a proper visit. And she has no ninja talent whatsoever!" She continued to speak her mind as she drew closer to her house. "I always knew Lee had a strange taste, but... why her?"

*****

The next morning, Ten-Ten left her home earlier than usual. She had kept thinking about the single daffodil which had such a deep impact over her friend. Now, she wanted to show her teammate that Sakura was not the only girl concerned about him, and if that pink haired, short-tempered kunoichi thought she could steal Lee's heart with nothing but a flower, Ten-Ten would be more than glad to prove her wrong.

Even if she would never admit it to herself, or anybody else for that matter, her feelings for Rock Lee were much deeper than friendship or companionship. His happiness was her happiness, but sometimes it just hurt too much to see him longing for somebody else; especially if that somebody didn't return his love.

Ten-Ten jogged through the streets of Konoha, which were starting to swell with people, and finally came to a stop in front of the Yamanaka Flower store. Since it was still quite early, she walked into the store while Ino and her mother were arranging everything to open up.

"Hey, Ten-Ten!" Ino greeted her kindly while she arranged some roses. "It's unusual to see you here. I thought you were busy training with Neji. Did he give you the day off?" she asked while walking towards her.

"I wish he did, but he won't skip a single day. Training with him is almost as tough as training with Gai-sensei," said Ten-Ten laughing softly. "I just came by to buy some flowers for Lee. I'll take them to the hospital and then meet up with Neji on the training grounds."

Upon hearing about Lee, Ino couldn't help but remember how he had collapsed in front of her and Sakura the day before. Her usual smile was briefly replaced by a sad face, but somehow she managed to smile again. The last thing Lee needed was sympathy, and she didn't want to depress Ten-Ten with her grim thoughts about him.

"Sure, you've come to the right place! I'll help you make a nice bouquet for him." After a few minutes, both kunoichi had made a beautiful flower arrangement. While Ino's mother wrapped the bottom of the bouquet, Ino and Ten-Ten were working on a "get well soon" card.

"How about... 'take it easy?' It's a good advice for him" said Ino. While she scratched the back of her head, Ten-Ten answered: "Well, it sure is, but... I don't know... I was thinking of something a bit more..." Her eyes widened with surprise as she glanced at a clock on the wall. "Oh shit! It's getting late already! If I don't go now, I'll be late for training!"

As she hurriedly grabbed the bouquet and paid for the flowers, Ino asked her: "Hey! What about the card?."

"I'll write it when I get to the hospital!" she answered while she ran down the street. "Thanks for the flowers!"

When Ten-Ten arrived at the hospital, a few drops of sweat were already running down her face. *Well, at least I won't have to do warm-up exercises...* she thought as she walked to the hospital's lobby. "Good morning. Can I help you?" asked a nurse.

"Yeah, I'm here to visit someone..." said the kunoichi as she regained her breath. The nurse gave her a warm look and said: "I'm sorry dear, but it's a bit early for visits. Why don't you come back later?"

"Ehh... sure, I'll come back in the afternoon, but could you please deliver these for me?" said Ten-Ten while handing the nurse the bouquet in her hands. "It's for Lee, in room 304... give me a sec." She scribbled some words and her name on a card and gave it to the nurse as well. "Thanks, good bye!" she said as she ran off again.

*****

Her body ached all over. Despite all of her efforts, she arrived quite late at the training grounds, and Neji decided to train more than usual to make up for the lost time. It was already dark when Ten-Ten walked towards the hospital. Even though every muscle in her body begged her to go home and take a hot shower, she ached for Lee as well. She had to see him, see his reaction to the flowers she had brought and hear him say thanks from the bottom of his heart.

Unfortunately, when she asked the nurse in the lobby if she could visit Lee, Ten-Ten was told that visitation hours were over already. Feeling really disappointed, she mumbled 'thanks' to the nurse and exited the hospital.

She was about to go home when a sudden thought struck her. "Well, duh!... I'm a ninja. I could easily sneak into his room for a little while, just to see him." Cracking a smile, she started jumping on trees and rooftops until she got to the window that lead to Lee's room.

The lights were out, but the full moon poured a cool blue light through the glass. Looking around the room, Ten-Ten saw the flowers she had brought neatly placed in a vase on the nightstand. Then she turned towards the bed, where she saw her teammate sleeping peacefully while bathed in moonlight. The ninja in the window thought it was kind of sad that sleep had become the only solace his friend had to escape from his pain, yet he seemed so tranquil and carefree that she smiled tenderly while she watched him sleep.

Ten-Ten stood in the window for a few minutes watching his friend, and finally decided to open the window to give him a good-night kiss. As she opened the window and entered the room, the smell of the flowers greeted her, making her forget about her fatigue.

She walked to the bed and stood next to Lee, and started caressing his hair and his left cheek. Upon feeling her warm touch, Lee stirred and let out a pleased sigh. Ten-Ten sighed as well, and leaned over Lee to kiss him. As she gave him a small kiss on the cheek, she felt him stir again, and felt a soft whisper escape his lips "Sa-Sakura-san..." Upon hearing this, she pulled back and stared at Lee with a look between sad and annoyed. "Man, even in his dreams..." she said softly.

Since Lee moved a little bit, and because she stood so close to him, Ten-Ten was able to see he held something against his chest. Still annoyed but filled with curiosity, the kunoichi lifted the bed's covers to reveal the mysterious object. As soon as she realized what it was, sadness crept back over her, and her fatigue made her feel as if she had the whole world upon her shoulders.

Lee's right hand tightly clutched a slightly withered daffodil against his chest.

A cold wind entered through the window, making the curtains waver and Ten-Ten shiver. She headed out of the room quickly, because she felt tears filling her eyes. She wanted to run, to cry her eyes out, to forget what she just saw, for she knew what it meant. Lee would always prefer Sakura over her, no matter how much she cared for him or how long she stood by his side.

While she climbed out the window, the crying girl gave one painful sigh as she glanced towards her sleeping friend. As she climbed down and jumped from tree to tree and rooftop to rooftop, she let her tears run freely, and her true feelings come to surface.
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Of Broken Bones and Shattered Dreams