A soft breeze tickling his cheeks...the hum of electricity...the warmth of the evening sun warming him...was he alive?


Felt like it.


Rock Lee opened his eyes. He blinked once...twice. He shut his eyes for a moment, then reopened them. When the blur faded from his eyes, he scanned his surroundings. He seemed to be in hospital room. A few monitors and wires were around him and attached to his arms, keeping him stable. But he was alive. Alive, and back.

Lee carefully sat up. He his spun, but he felt fine otherwise. He glanced to the left side of the room, near the door. His old wooden crutch was there, leaning against the wall. Lee's eyes narrowed as he swung his feet over the edge. He pulled off the wires that were attached to his arms and gripped the edge of the bed. Time to test it.

'If I cannot make it to my crutch without any help, it will be 200 push-ups for me!'

Lee stood up with all support on his right leg. Sucking in air, he started forward.

He clenched his teeth and barely avoided a cry as pain flashed up his lower leg, making him stumble back to the bed. He groaned in annoyance. Nope, not ready yet.

Lee sighed. He was getting sick of everyone doing all the Shinobi work, while he just got to stand and watch. And all the training he's missed! Lee had tried to make up as much training as he could, but it wasn't easy battering a practice dummy with just one hand while the other one was gripping a crutch. Kicks couldn't help either. He needed as much balance as he could get, and putting weight on his bad leg was obviously a bad idea.

But he didn't have to worry about that anymore. Tsunade did it...he obviously survived the surgery. In a few minutes or so, she would check up on him to see how he was doing. He'd tell her he was fine and, of course, ask when he could continue his training and start with missions. She would tell tell him in a few days...but he didn't want to wait that long. The first mission that would be open...he would take it.


Lee looked at the door as he heard footsteps. They grew louder, as did a voice. He scrambled back into bed, ignoring the wires that were preciously attached to his arms. With one last look at the opening door, Lee laid his her voice instantly softened.

"Be quiet. He's still asleep, from the looks of it." She warned her guest.

Lee listened as the pair of footsteps approached his bedside.

"Hmm, still asleep. Maybe I knocked him out for too long...And how the hell did these get out?fall of his arms?"

Tsunade looked at the wires that were now currently taking up space on the floor. She picked them up and looked at the ends. "Maybe he was dreaming..."

Lee felt her pick up his wrist and pressed something against it. She dropped it and returned it to his side a minute later.

"His pulse seems normal...He seems to be in a stable enough condition where he doesn't need them anymore." He couldn't tell, but it sounded like she was smiling.

"Good!" His other visitor whispered...was it Genma? Lee could barely recognize it. But the slightly slurred voice always equaled a senbon needle in the mouth.

"He's recovering fast. I'm not going to let him push himself, though. Lee's not to start any mission for a few more weeks though. Training fits in there too somewhere. He could do some damage to his muscles. And if he's really unlucky, his spinal cord. It would be a bother doing this procedure over again." She sighed. Lee felt his heart drop. WEEKS?

"You're starting to sound like Shikamaru." Genma said, standing beside her.

She chuckled. "Do I?"

"...I don't mean to push you Lady Hokage, but what about that mission? We can't keep delaying it like this."

A mission? Lee was listening...

Tsunade sighed. She seemed impatient. "Alright, tell me about this mission again..."

"It's simple. Just send a team of Genin over with a scroll to the Land of Water. They just have to be sure not to let anyone snatch it on their way there. I dunno, maybe Shikamaru could go with them." She sighed. She started to walk somewhere, her footsteps becoming less audible. She was walking away.

"What does the scroll say?" Genma asked. Was there a hint of suspicion in his voice?

"I don't know. I'd rather not snoop in their business."

"But Lady Hokage, the Village of Mist have some damn tough ninjas there. Kakashi and his squad went there for one of their missions. A simple mission almost killed them all. I think it's pretty risky sending a mere Genin and Shikamaru. I'm not doubting him, but..."

She nodded. "Then send Kakashi's squad again. The dealt with the Land of Water once, they can deal with it again."

Genma raised an eyebrow and chewed at the end of his senbon needle. "With Naruto and the rest of them?"

Tsunade turned around, annoyance plastered all over her face. "Who else?"

Genma stared at her, then nodded. "As you wish, Lady Tsunade." He watched as Tsunade exited Lee's room. With one last look at Lee, Genma followed her out.

When he thought the coast was clear, Lee sat up with an angry grunt. Weeks? He refused to wait that long. It was bad enough that he had to wait for months without going to any missions, and he wasn't going to waste his time here just because his body needed recovery time. He was patient, but not THAT patient.

'I do not think I would need to recover just to go to the Village Hidden in the Mist...It is just a simple, few-day journey, right?'

Lee looked at a map hanging from one of the walls. Yeah, it would take a while, but it would be worth it! What a way to prove himself to Gai-sensei! That and it would be a great kick-start to his Shinobi career again.

'Alright, it is settled! I will sneak into the Academy tonight, mark the mission, and set off! It would be foolish indeed to go by myself though...Maybe Naruto would like to come as well...'

Lee moved to the edge of the bed again. He stood again, bracing himself for what laid a step ahead of him. He took a step forward and ignored the pain that seared up his leg. After a minute, he finally reached his crutch. With that he walked the rest of the way twords his wardrobe where his green jumpsuit rested on the hanger, waiting for him. He changed out of his ugly hospital pajamas and laid them on the bed. He put his medicine into the pouch that was attached to his hitai-ate. After tying the red cloth snugly around his waist, Lee smiled as he stared at the reflection in the mirror.

With a happy smile, he gave the youthful reflection a thumbs-up. His teeth gave off a little 'PING!

"Konoha's Green Beast is back in the loop!"

Escaping was too easy. With Tsunade checking up on other patients, Lee was able to sneak out without a second suspicion. One nurse asked him where he was going off to, but Lee just put an innocent face on and said Tsunade had released him. She gave him a smile and helped him out the door. He highly doubted the nurse would run back into Tsunade. A squad of ninja's had just come back from a mission, and some were banged up pretty bad. The hospital was terribly busy because of it.

Lee smirked at the hospital in front of him. A few Konoha residents ran into the hospital, a little bouquet of flowers in their hands.


Well, the "hard" part was over. Time to find Naruto.

He saw Shikamaru walk by him, his hands in his pockets. Shikamaru stopped before Lee could open his mouth.

"Hey, Lee! See you survived the surgery. Congrats."

He glanced at the wooden crutch that took its normal place by his side. "Still have to run around with that crutch, huh? What a drag..."

Lee nodded. "Tsunade said I can be off it in a few hours if I am feeling alright."

Shikamaru smiled slightly. "Good to know."

Lee returned the smile. "Have you seen Naruto-kun around anywhere?" Shikamaru raised an eyebrow.

He shrugged. "Just wondering."

"Hmm, he's up at the training grounds. What a drag. I wouldn't be caught dead training in this weather." He sighed, then stuffed his hands back in his pockets and waved Lee a good-bye.

Lee knew Naruto pretty well. He wasn't surprised that hew as down at the training grounds. He had heard after the Chunin Exam preliminaries were over, he had trained as hard as he could, knocking himself out from lack of chakra, even. Lee was impressed. He wasn't entirely sure what the special new move was, (he had heard Sakura ranting to Hinata about it once before) but it was powerful, if he had heard right. He hoped to find out for himself one day. When his leg healed, he was sure to give Naruto a heads-up someday.

*****

As Lee walked down the streets to the training grounds, he tried randomly to walk crutchless. He tried once or twice before, with not much success. He knew he had to get his act together before meeting Naruto. As hard headed as he was, Naruto wouldn't let him go with him no matter how much he begged. But lucky for Lee, he was easy to fool. Despite this, Lee grimaced. He would just have to deal with the pain until either his body recovered or he just got used to it. Lee could take pain, of course. He shrugged to himself and continued, not too worried about it in the least.

When he finally approached the training grounds, Lee set his crutch by a tree, making sure it was out of the way. He looked at it for a moment, then sucked in some air and started for the logs.

Naruto was there, giving the one training post a whack then dashing up a tree the moment afterwards.

'I see. He is trying to improve his chakra. With that demon sealed inside of him from what I have heard, does he really need to?' Lee thought, wincing a bit as he stepped forward.

As Naruto slid down the tree he had fully climbed, he smiled as Lee came into view. "Hey, Bushy Brows! You made it!"

Lee smiled as Naruto dashed over to him. Naruto's grin grew even bigger as he noticed that Lee was crutchless. "And finally rid of that damn crutch for good! Welcome back to the Shinobi world, Lee!" He gave Lee a good smack on the back.

"Actually, I heard Tsunade was planning of sending someone over to the Village Hidden in the Mist with a very important scroll. I was thinking maybe you and I could take it!" Lee said, clenching his hands into fists enthusiastically.

Naruto's smile faded. "Did she really say you could go Lee? How long ago did you wake up?"

Lee shrugged, trying to keep a steady face. But how much did Naruto about all things wonderful and medical? Very little, if none. "She said I would be alright, as long as I do not push it too far."

Naruto nodded, his smile returning to his face again. "Alright, that's what I'm talking about! I'll go to the Academy now and--"

Lee quickly snapped a hand to Naruto's shoulder before he could finish. "No no no! Although Lady Tsunade said I would be okay, I do not want her to know I am going. She might suddenly change her mind and hold me back."

Naruto turned around, confused. "I can just tell them I'M going....But then everyone would be looking for you and that wouldn't be any better, would it?"

Lee shook his head. "No. Tell them I will be coming with you tonight. Maybe it will be easier then." Naruto nodded.

"Alright, I'll pack some stuff up. See you tonight, Bushy Brows! Believe it!" With that, Naruto was off. Lee sighed.

'I will have to be careful. Word will go around easy. I do not see why she would every throw such a fit. I feel perfectly fine now. Nothing to worry about.'

With that, Lee started off twords Konoha again. He paused once more, to stare at the wooden crutch that waited for him by the tree. He blinked once, and left it behind.

*****

Lee winced. His leg hurt.

'Maybe I should bring some medicine...other than the one Lady Tsunade made for me...It will not be easy walking around for so long, but I can take it. If I cannot complete this mission with no problems from my leg, then it is 400 push-ups!'

He added the medicine to his backpack. He went through the list again...:

Extra jumpsuit/leg warmers?
Check.

Food?
Check.

Medicine?
Check.

Water?
Check.

What else did he need? Lee couldn't help the fact that he needed something else, but he didn't really know what. He sat down and thought for a moment, wracking his brain. A light load was absolutely necessary; it was bad enough that his leg was slowing him down enough.

'Oh, my lucky kunai!'

Lee ran to his room to retrieve the kunai that lied on his desk. He picked it up and smiled.

The kunai that he held had helped him beat Neji...almost. A weak throw from him had got Neji in the arm...enough that Lee was able to get quite a few blows in. He almost landed the last blow when Neji struck Lee in the chest with his two fingers, sending him down for the count. Neji did have some troubles with his arm for a while though. But it was a serious injury. Just a bandage and he was back in the loop. Lee felt bad from his loss, but he was close

Lee gripped the end of the kunai, and slipped it into the pouch on his waist. He heard it clink as it tapped against the glass bottle that held his medicine. Lee had to remember to take it. He smiled; that finally completed his list.

With a last look around the small house, Lee shut the door and took off twords the Academy where Naruto waited.

*****

"About time, Bushy Brows!" Naruto said and waved as Lee approached him. Lee had started for the Academy and found Naruto at the gate instead. "I already told the guys inside the Academy that you and I were taking the mission. Believe it!"

Lee raised a black eyebrow. "And?..."

"They were perfectly fine with it. They're glad to have you back in the book." He said, giving Lee the thumbs-up. That always warmed his heart to the core.

"Alright! Let us go!" Lee said, pointing twords the Konoha gate.

"Right! I've already been there once...it was a major drag. Heheh, I'm starting to sound like Shikamaru!" Naruto chuckled and placed his hands around the back of his head. Lee laughed too, but where had he heard that before?

*****

Sakura watched as Naruto and Lee started exiting the gate. She was confused. Wasn't Lee supposed to stay at the hospital? All the talk of Tsunade letting him out early seemed fishy. He just had surgery! She wouldn't let him take any risks like that for at least a week. She thought she heard Tsunade talking to a nurse about him an hour or so ago. That wasn't what she said.

Something wasn't right. But she didn't know what.