THE GATES OF KONOHA

It had, by all accounts, become a bizarre tradition. Gai, striding proudly like a mother hen through the gates of Konoha, legs stepping too widely in front of him even for a man of his stature, and leading his team behind him. And while he would boast of his team's unparalleled strength to any who would listen (but who honestly hadn't heard it all before?), he would nevertheless inexplicably abandon them as soon as they were through the gates.

It baffled his students completely. Oh sure, he often had a perfectly good reason for suddenly up and leaving them – often it was because he only now remembered that he left his kitchen tap running (while his mission had lasted three days), or that he only nowremembered that his great aunt was visiting (who arrived four days prior), or that, damn him, Kakashi just happened to be walking by in front of him with his nose stuck in some perverted and poorly written book and Master Gai was owed a go-round in their latest and positively ridiculous competition du jour.

More often than not, it was the latter scenario that took their fearless leader away from them.

The first time it happened, when they were eager and naïve genin, Tenten could have sworn that Rock Lee was about to cry. He stood with his mouth agape, eyes wide, chin trembling, as he was completely and utterly abandoned by his idol without explanation. He instantly began babbling to Tenten and Neji that he must have disappointed Master Gai and that Master Gai was now surely complaining to the hokage and now Lee would never be a proper shinobi and his destiny was completely crushed and-

"Shutup Lee," Neji growled.

Lee was pacing in circles and practically tearing out his hair in fistfuls when Neji stopped his despairing tirade.

"Honestly, you worry too much," Tenten admonished with her hands on her hips. "How did you ever make it this far worrying that much? I feel sorry for your mother."

At the mere mention of his mother, Lee gasped dramatically. "My MOTHER! Oh, the shame she will feel when she learns her only son is a complete failure on his very first mission!"

Tenten and Neji exchanged confused glances. "But Lee," Tenten said slowly. "We succeeded in our mission, remember?"

Lee turned around and blinked at them.

Neji held up the incredibly overweight and fluffy orange tabby by the scruff of its neck while it glared daggers at him from the corner if its green eyes.

Lee's eyes began to water. "Yes, Tenten. You are forever the voice of reason. What can I ever do to repay your kindness?"

"Here." Neji tossed him the growling and hissing cat, which extended its claws and arched its back as it grasped for some sort of landing and found it on Lee's face. "Take that back to admin. I'm late for my patrol."

Lee's screams of pain were muffled from under the cat's layers of fur. As he pushed the cat off his face, Tenten also waived to him.

"Umm, good luck Lee! See you tomorrow!" She, at least, had the decency to look somewhat concerned by her teammate's plight.

"Yes!" Lee cried as he still struggled to unhitch the cat's nails from his cheek. "You have a pleasant evening Tenten!"

That's how it began. And although the first time they all went their separate ways, after several more missions the three comrades found themselves awkwardly lingering by the gates after Master Gai had taken his leave, sighing in disgust (Tenten), nervously kicking at the ground (Lee) and simply staring off into space with no expression whatsoever (Neji). And then Tenten turned to them.

"Dessert?" She asked.

Lee's eyes lit up and his mouth broke into the widest grin that threatened to split his face in two. "YES!"

She turned her head to Neji.

He shrugged and tried to look as nonchalant as possible.

The tradition of informal Team-Gai-Team-Bonding had begun. Without Gai.

They could never explain how, after particularly gruelling missions when the three of them came back exhausted and dragging their heels, Master Gai still found the energy to stomp through the gates, track down his nemesis, and challenge him to some unfathomable physical competition. However, if they were injured he always took it upon himself to see them to the hospital, ensure that their guardians were made aware, that they were settled in comfortably, but then he always left the hospital before anyone else due to some excuse or another.

When Tenten was hit with a poisoned kunai, it was Gai who found her the antidote in record time. Neji and Lee were not sure how that was obtained, just that when Gai returned there was blood on his arms, hands, and under his nails that wasn't there before. None of it was his. And even as he gently murmured words of comfort while administering the antidote to Tenten, Lee felt an unconscious shiver go down his back when Gai wiped some stray blood off his cheek with his already bloody sleeve. Neji, for his part, studied his sensei with a new appreciation of sorts.

Tenten would live, but the poison left her drained and feverish. Gai was entirely prepared to carry Tenten all the way back to the village on his own, but Lee insisted that he and Neji be allowed to do their parts. After all, Gai had heroically found the antidote; it was the least he and Neji could do. Neji said nothing, but half way back to the village he silently took a slumbering Tenten off Lee's back and onto his own.

The heat from Tenten's fever made the back of his neck sweat and stray strands of hair stick to his skin.

They walked slowly through the gate this time, and before he took his leave of them, Gai turned to Neji and Lee. "Make sure she gets home safely," he said sombrely. Then he gave them a thumbs up and a glorious smile and disappeared.

Neji shook his head. "Unbelievable," he whispered.

"Come Neji," Lee urged. "Tenten's house is this way. I can take her, if you want."

"No," Neji replied. "I've got her."

Still, his lower back was beginning to twitch. He shifted her as gently as he could, but Tenten awoke nonetheless.

"Sorry," she murmured into his neck.

"For what?" He asked.

Tenten's foggy mind was having difficulty in answering that. Then she remembered. "…heavy."

"You have gotten bigger this year," Neji conceded.

Tenten's eyebrows furrowed. She was pretty sure she should have been insulted but couldn't quite form an adequate verbal assault back at him or even muster a violent smack to his arm. Anyway, she did manage a muffled "….so charming."

She didn't have the power of the byakugan and thus missed his very uncharacteristic smirk.

Neji had never been to Tenten's house and so he was mildly surprised that Lee knew the way and even more surprised to find that Tenten's grandmother already knew Lee.

Lee greeted her amicably and politely introduced her to Neji who bowed stiffly. The action caused Tenten's grandmother to gasp, for it was then that she saw her granddaughter. She ushered them into the two-storied house quickly and bade them up the stairs to Tenten's room. Neji's body protested going up the stairs with his teammate still on his back, but he bit back the actual groan that was threatening to escape his lips.

He turned his back to the bed, and without asking Lee placed his arms carefully under Tenten's shoulders to guide her onto the bed. Relieved of his burden, Neji straightened and backed out of the way so Tenten's grandmother could fuss over her. Lee also left the bedside and moved beside Neji. The two boys stood shoulder to shoulder and watched the scene of familial doting silently.

Neji hated feeling useless. He would have left, but some odd part of him felt obligated to stay. He began looking around her room and could feel Lee do the same. Tenten's room was a bizarre array of mounted swords, instructional posters, pictures of her family, and bunnies.

"What's with the rabbits?" Neji whispered to Lee.

Lee shrugged, clearly as overwhelmed by the contradiction of it all as Neji was. "I had no idea Tenten was such a friend to our furry companions."

Even more disturbing to Neji's eyes were the bunnies that had tiny mimics of swords and various weapons stitched to their otherwise innocent looking arms. "She has armed her stuffed toys," Neji bluntly stated.

"Perhaps she worries for their safety when she is on missions," Lee reasoned.

Neji stared at him to see if he was serious. But then, Lee was always serious. "That's ridiculous," Neji said to him.

Deflated, Lee's shoulders slumped and he stared glumly at the floor.

"I think she is comfortable now," Tenten's grandmother stated. Indeed, Tenten looked very comfortable, nestled into her bed with the covers drawn up around her shoulders. "I am going to get her some water. It was so nice of you boys to bring her here," she said to them, glowing at them in gratitude.

"It was our pleasure to be of service to our treasured teammate," Lee stated happily. Neji simply nodded in agreement.

Tenten's grandmother smiled kindly at them. "It's so nice to know she has you two."

One of the most disturbing moments in Team Gai history had nothing to do with stuffed toys or Gai's antics, and everything to do with an animal burrow. They had all been made chunin and were considered one of the most competent and able teams in all of Konoha. Their missions were made increasingly more difficult, and despite the fear this action may have placed in the hearts of other teams, in Team Gai's masochistic mindset it equated to: the more life-threatening, the more fun.

Their teamwork was impeccable, which was surprising to some around Konoha as it had been assumed that Tenten would be the weakest and Lee would inevitably screw up and Neji would undoubtedly go his own way and leave the rest of them to fend for themselves. It couldn't have been further from the truth.

Tenten was a master at long-range attacks, which compensated for Neji's close-combat style. Lee and Gai were the quickest and while Tenten and Neji would divert the attention onto themselves, Lee and Gai would dart in and out of the fray, picking off enemies one by one.

But on this particular day, their targets were all elusive long-range specialists who preferred to scatter amongst the treetops. Tenten found herself growing frustrated at having to continually change position in order to chase after the enemy, while Neji stayed on the ground and made a wonderful stationary target. While the enemy launched weaponry attacks at him from the sky, Neji used his position to spy their locations based on projectile angles and relay the messages back to Lee and Gai, who performed their assassin-style attacks in complete silence. Neji, for his part, had to resort to kaiten when his enemies finally decided that he had been enough of a nuisance and directed all their attacks at him.

He had already used his kaiten three times when the fourth one resulted in something that had never happened before. One slight misstep with his heel, and his ankle found itself lodged in a small hole. He managed to stop the rotation before it could inflict severe damage, but the reverberating shock of it left him sprawled on the ground gasping. Thus, he very nearly had an ear sawed off when a kunai was thrown dangerously close to his head. As it was, a lock of his hair was shortened by several inches. Tenten used this moment to track the thrower of the knife and imbed one of her own into his trachea. He fell unsettlingly close to Neji with a dull thud.

"Neji, are you alright?" Tenten asked frantically as she landed gracefully to the ground beside him.

He heard the dying sounds of battle above him and seconds later, Gai and Lee were also beside him.

"NEJI!" Lee screamed.

"I'm fine," he growled as he pushed himself up.

"Are you sure about that?" Gai asked seriously, but still with that crazy grin. He extended his hand to help Neji up. Neji grudgingly accepted and managed to avoid putting any weight on his left leg.

"Don't die Neji! You are vital to this team and to Konoha! The sun will not shine with the same vigour if you are not-"

"Shut up, Lee," Neji breathed.

"Let me see your leg," Gai said as he knelt on one knee in front of Neji.

"It's fine," Neji insisted.

"Good!" Gai exclaimed. "Then put your weight on it."

A dangerous wind blew between them, stirring up random leaves and tussling Neji's hair. Tenten and Lee made cursive glances at each other, feeling the impending battle of wills that always made a mission uncomfortable. Besides, it was futile. Gai-sensei always won.

But Neji never gave up willingly. Gritting his teeth and steeling himself for the onslaught of pain that he knew was about to occur because he knew that what he was about to do was monumentally stupid, Neji stepped on his left leg.

He immediately collapsed beside his sensei in a heap of silent pain, digging his nails into the earth and squeezing his eyes shut.

Gai clapped his hands together. "Glad that part is over with!" He gently rolled Neji onto his back and lifted his pant leg up to his thigh. His touches made Neji inwardly groan and outwardly clench his hands into fists.

Lee looked on with concern as Gai's face turned cloudy and serious. "What is it Gai-sensei?" Lee asked breathlessly.

"The knee appears to be dislocated," Gai announced. "I'm going to re-set it."

Neji's eyes popped open. Tenten looked worried. Neji sat up and grabbed hold of Gai's wrists, which were clasped around either side of his knee. "No," he stated. "I can wait until we get back to Konoha."

Gai gave him a throaty laugh. "Don't be ridiculous Neji! We have to pop the knee back in immediately. Then we can get you a proper brace and crutches back in Konoha."

"Gai-sensei, there could be more enemies. We need to move," Neji reasoned desperately.

"Neji, calm yourself!" Gai flung at him. Neji visibly flinched at being told to "calm" himself. "Now, Lee, you hold Neji down. Tenten, ensure that he doesn't make any noise."

Tenten immediately looked uncomfortable at the thought of restraining her own teammate, then briefly wondered just how she was supposed to do that. Lee sat down beside Neji and placed forceful hands on his chest. Tenten crouched behind Neji and wound her arms around his neck.

Neji felt panic rising in the back of his throat. He felt vulnerable enough with a damn knee injury, but to have his own team restrain him was more than he could handle. He was about to protest again when Gai put one hand on his thigh and the other around his calf. "Ready?" Gai asked Tenten and Lee. The two nodded.

"Wait!"

But he didn't get another word out as Gai pulled his calf, Lee placed all his weight down on his torso and Tenten covered his mouth with both hands. Neji's eyes snapped shut as his back arched and a muffled cry hit Tenten's gloved hands. Gai began twisting the leg and Neji was as close as he had ever come to hyperventilating. Then the knee abruptly popped back in and Neji cried out again, this time grabbing Tenten's arms with both of his. Then he sagged back against her as the electrical currents shooting up his leg ebbed to a constant throb.

Through his closed eyes, Neji could hear Gai murmuring instructions to Lee to gather sticks to make a splint. Tenten still had her arms around his chest. "It's over Neji," she said quietly. He nodded. She slid out from under him, lowering his back to the ground as slowly as she could so she didn't jar his leg.

He finally opened his eyes and kept them open while his team worked on splinting his leg, stoically hiding his discomfort and accepting Gai and Lee's outstretched arms when they offered to help him up.

They entered Konoha exceedingly slow by Team Gai standards. Neji had one arm over Lee's shoulder, while Lee clutched Neji's arm with one hand and wound his other about Neji's waist. Tenten carried both their packs and Gai led them in with his usual boasting stance.

"Well, another successful mission," Gai announced. Then he turned back to them. "Neji, I expect you stay off that leg for a week. You two," he motioned to Tenten and Lee, "make sure he follows through with that order."

Then he spotted Kakashi and ran full tilt towards him in an attempt at an ill-timed bodycheck. The three watched the ensuing chaos with mild interest and then turned down the road to head to the Hyuuga compound.

As they approached the stiff elegance that was the Hyuuga household, Lee rapped his knuckles on the wood and turned to face Neji with a serious countenance. "Neji, I sincerely hope that this incident does not create in you a prejudice against our woodland friends. It was simply an unfortunate accident."

Neji blinked at him. Tenten started snickering behind them. Then she completely lost it and started howling, bent over at the waist and slapping her hands on her knees. Just when Neji thought the situation couldn't get anymore embarrassing, one of his second cousins opened the door and glared at them severely. This didn't stop Tenten from laughing until tears welled up in her eyes, nor did it stop Lee from giving the man an exuberant "Hello sir!"

His relation quirked an eyebrow at him. "Don't ask," Neji muttered. Then the man graciously took the arm that Lee had been holding and led him into the house, leaving a bright-eyed, hopeful Lee and a hyperventilating Tenten outside.

"I can't believe they have the nerve to call that a fighting technique," Neji spat out.

Tenten glanced at him. "Well it worked didn't it?"

They were of course referring to the art of drunken fist, which is why Lee both won his match against an insanely larger and more talented enemy, and why he was currently sandwiched between Neji and Tenten's supporting shoulders.

Gai was humming happily to himself as he led his team through the gates, with even more bounce in his step than Neji or Tenten thought was humanly possible. Abruptly, he swung around and Neji was only somewhat surprised to see him crying. After all, Gai bawled on a daily basis.

"You take him…you take that amazing…that wonderful…that ingenious…" he paused to wipe a tear off his cheek. "You take Lee home, okay?"

Neji and Tenten nodded soberly. Gai grasped their shoulders and shook them with more force than necessary. "I am just so….I am so…"

"Oh!" Tenten exclaimed. She pointed past Gai's ear. "There goes Kakashi! You know, someone said that he beat Jiraiya the other night in poker."

Gai straightened up and frowned. "But Kakashi doesn't play poker."

Tenten shrugged. "That's why I thought it was so astounding. Imagine, beating the great Jiraiya on your first try!"

Gai pivoted on the ball of his foot and galloped towards Kakashi. "And just why wasn't I invited to your little poker-soiree Kakashi?!?!"

Kakashi stopped mid-step and looked quizzically at Gai.

"I didn't hear him say that," Neji whispered at her.

Tenten gave him a flustered look. "Well, no, none of us could have heard him say that when we've been away on a mission for the past week. Come on, let's get him home."

Lee sang all the way to his apartment building, but it was impossible to tell exactly which song he was singing. Neji came to the conclusion that it was in fact several different songs stitched haphazardly together and he also came to the conclusion that he was infinitely glad Lee decided to become a shinobi rather than a popstar.

At his apartment door, Tenten fumbled with Lee's keys that she had dug out of his pocket. Lee was leaning against the door and only staying upright by the aid of Neji's strong hand on his upper arm. By this time, Lee was lecturing Neji about taijutsu and Neji was completely ignoring him.

"It is the most virtuous, Neji my friend, even you can admit that!" He was slurring his words and hiccupping between sentences. "You needn't be a genius, but you need heart!" And for added emphasis he pounded his fist against his own chest that unintentionally made him start hiccupping again.

"Find the key," Neji grumbled.

Tenten dropped the entire set of keys on the floor. "I could, if you would stop bugging me," she growled back.

"Here Tenten, allow me," Lee announced as he made a dive for the floor to retrieve the keys and nearly hauled Neji down with him in the process. An unhappy Neji yanked Lee back up rather violently. Lee looked at him with wide, questioning eyes before he got a funny look on his face.

Neji cocked his head to the side in confusion. Tenten backed up. "Uh, Neji, you might want to-"

She never got to finish before Lee hurled all of his stomach's contents onto Neji's shirt. Then he passed out.

"Lee!" Tenten exclaimed as she rushed to his side. She lightly slapped his cheeks as she attempted to rouse him. "Neji, why aren't you helping?"

Neji stood frozen to the spot with his arms extended to the sides and a look of utmost disgust on his face. "I think we've done our duty. We can leave now."

Tenten considered that for a moment before she motioned him to help her. "Come on. Lets get him inside. You can use his bathroom to wash up."

Neji took a shaky breath in (he was trying to avoid smelling the stench of Lee's lunch on his shirt) and then reached down to take hold of Lee's legs.

Tenten took over care for Lee after Neji dumped him unceremoniously onto the bed. Tenten yanked off his shoes, weight belts (she couldn't believe he still wore those) and his vest. Then she turned him to the side and drew the covers up around his neck. Lee mumbled something that sounded like "..so nice.." and within seconds was peacefully snoring while clutching his pillow. She paused for a moment by his closet and after careful consideration, picked the most unoffending shirt she could find for Neji – a plain white t-shirt. Then she walked out of the bedroom and knocked on the bathroom door where she could hear the sound of running water.

The tap turned off and the door opened a fraction. "What?" Neji asked impatiently.

"I found you a shirt," Tenten said as she held up the item.

Neji opened the door an inch more and inspected the shirt before taking it from her hands.

"If you give me your shirt I'll throw it in the washing machine right now," she offered.

He opened the door all the way and turned his back to her while he stripped off his stained shirt and put on the new one. For a brief moment, Tenten caught sight of an old scar, brutally large and round and she remembered an old emotion of panic and despair, when she witnessed not one, but both her teammates incapacitated in a hospital bed mere weeks apart from each other. When she had to briefly contemplate what it would be like to be alone, or worse, join a different team.

She never told any of them about this and she never would. That just simply wasn't how Team Gai functioned.

She was staring at some insignificant point on the bathroom floor when Neji turned around.

"Are you okay?" Neji asked.

She was jolted from her reverie and overcompensated with a completely fake smile. "Of course." Then she hurried off to the laundry room.

Later, when she and Neji were sitting on the couch and working out a schedule on who would check on Lee at what time to make sure he hadn't choked and died on his own vomit, Tenten sunk back into the couch and sighed contentedly. Then she rested her head on Neji's shoulder.

"We're a good team, aren't we?" Tenten asked.

Neji silently agreed.

THE END