~time skip~

Tsunade. That was the name of the woman Naruto had brought back to the village. A genius healer, apparently. One of the Sanin. She was looking at Lee now, seeing if she could fix him. Fix his broken body.

Choking back a sob, you continued to pace, rubbing your arms in an attempt to stave off the shivers that had nothing to do with cold. What if she couldn't do it? What if no one could help him? What if he never walked right again?

It would break him.

Sitting down to stop the pacing, you hugged your knees to your chest and buried your face in your arms.

You thought back to a few days ago, a smirk inevitably rising to your lips. Sakura had tried to visit. You'd punched her so hard she fell unconscious. You'd never felt so accomplished, it was awesome.

Shutting your eyes, you reached out with your senses, feeling for people. Tsunade was there, dread building in the pit of her stomach. Gai, as unreadable as he always seemed to be. And Lee. Sweet Lee. You could feel the agony in him, the pain that had nothing to do with wounds, that was borne from a body that could no longer move like it once could.

You couldn't take it anymore. You got up and barged through the door, ignoring the shock that came from Tsunade.

"(Y/N)." You heard Lee turn to look at you, and you reached out toward him. Your hands touched bare skin, and you ran a hand over his chest, blushing. You pulled away as Lee stood and pulled his suit back up, holding himself upright with crutches.

You stood next to Lee, one arm around him, your sightless eyes glaring at anyone that would dare to take him from you.

Gai placed a hand on your shoulder for a moment before moving it to the back of your head, leaning down to kiss your hair. "Lady Tsunade," he started. "Can I ask one more thing of you?"

The woman sighed. "What is it?"

Gai gently nudged you forward a bit. "Her eyes. Can you help her see?"

See? You'd only ever seen things in your dreams. Besides, you didn't need to see, not really.

But you didn't move as Tsunade looked you over. Finally, she spoke. "Now this is doable. Almost easy. There's a chance of it going wrong, of course, but that won't hurt her, seeing as she's blind. All that'll happen is that her eyes might have to be removed. But there's a slim chance of that."

You could feel a slow relief coming from Gai. Huh. Usually you couldn't catch anything from him.

"You could see?" Lee limped to your side, nudging you with his shoulder. "Maybe then you will have a chance at beating me."

"Please, I could beat you blindfolded."

"That would not change anything!"

Tsunade stood next to Gai and watched the two of you. "They're remarkably lighthearted, aren't they? All things considered?"

Gai shrugged. "It's how they are. And I wouldn't have them any other way."

"Is that so?"

"Yep."

Lee leaned forward and gave you an awkward kiss, making the both of you start laughing. Taking his face in your hands, you kissed him back, smiling the whole way through.

What had you been so worried about earlier? It seemed silly now. What could hold down this beautiful human being? Certainly not this. He'd be fine.

He had to be.