I can't believe the person I liked was going to hit Naruto like that! So unyouthful! I'm not going to make the same mistake again. However, I'm just glad that Naruto is alright... At least in the slightest sense. He looks so fragile now, so tortured. I wish I could find and stop whoever is doing this to him, but it's not that simple. It's like a virus that can't be cured, infesting his system and destroying it little by little, leaving nothing more than a husk. I wish I could help him... But it's so futile.

I wish, if anything, that people would feel a little empathy.

Taunts, jeers, leering faces. Words dripping with bitter tones and disappointment. They laugh, faces contorted in hideous expressions as their eyes watch with disgust.

I feel tears build up within my eyes, stinging like the pain in my heart. I want to scream. I want to yell at the top of my lungs. Want to tell them that I couldn't help it, that it wasn't my fault, that I had tried so hard to use the other forms of ninjutsu only to be met by failure. I want to shriek until my throat is raw. Yet I remain still, curling in on myself and hoping that the onlookers won't notice the tears leaking from my eyes.

Maybe that's why I stepped in to try and save the poor boy in the alleyway. The boy who was curled into an all so familiar stance. Maybe that's why, even after the boy was saved, I stuck around. Because when I looks at that broken boy, I see a mirror. I see a reflection. And I wish to let the boy experience friends, to experience family. I wish for Naruto to be happy.

Yet, despite all of my efforts, I could only stall the disease that clutched his life in its hands. We weren't the cure. I know that. But I sure as hell am going to stall it as long as possible, and I'm going to hope, with my entire being, that the cure acts before it's too late.

Author's Note: I finished a chapter! :D It's not really providing much action since I'm getting used to writing for this fanfic again, but it allows us to see this from Rock Lee's perspective. (Lee is one of my favourite characters from Naruto, I'm a bit worried he's OOC, but I really wanted to write him) Anyways, hope you enjoyed this chapter! :]