Intestinal Fortitude

Izumo wiped the sweat off his brow. He leaned heavily on the wall behind him, staring at Raidou who looked barely phased. He really hated that. Everything aways came so easy to Raidou. Izumo's eyes shifted to the right and his eyes locked. There was a woman there, a woman with long hair carefully braided in one long braid that rested over her shoulder. Her bright blue eyes sparkled in the sunlight as she demolished the post before her.

"Is that…?" Izumo asked trailing off. Izumo glanced to Kotetsu to see he was watching the girl as well. She was stunning in action. She was covered in dirt and sweat and her knuckles were smeared with blood. It was like looking at a whole different shinobi.

"No way, that girl was all pink-stamp, hardly a shinobi at all," Kotetsu murmured. "She is…"

"The same girl and she has a name. Suzume," Raidou told them. She stilled suddenly, glancing their way. She eyed Raidou for a long moment before stepping back to her "opponent" with two jabs, a right hook and then a left kick that set the post shaking without the need for any chakra. Her body was strong, lined with muscle in contrast to the soft and feminine form she had maintained before.

"What? You know her?"

"No, but I know of her. The infiltration she pulled off throughout a good majority of the war saved a lot of lives," he said. "Also, I know that Gai is head over heels in love with her so not only is it hands off, but eyes off as well boys." With that Raidou stepped firmly in their line of sight and they blinked at him.

"You still don't believe all that, about this girl marrying Gai?"

"If you knew anything about Gai, you'd realize that he's capable of a great many things. Making a woman like Suzume fall in love with him is one of his lesser challenges," Raidou said. He glanced back to see she was gone. He looked around with a frown.

"She's fast like him," Izumo muttered.

"Ah, apparently she is," Raidou nodded.

Suzume threw off her training weights, breathing heavily and scowling heavily. A challenge? Her falling in love with him? Didn't anyone in this village know him at all? Was that all they saw when they looked at him: a man seeking out the next challenge? She got so angry sometimes. How could no one in this entire village know who he was, who she knew him to be? Her hands shook heavily, so much that she had trouble undoing her braid, but she got it done, looking at herself in the mirror near the dresser.

Everywhere she went in the village, she felt as if whispers were following her. Obviously not everyone in the village knew her, but it seemed there were few who didn't know Maito Gai. She had expected that from the time she found out who he truly was, but for her connection to him to cause such a commotion was surprising for her. It didn't help that Jounin like Raidou kept passing her off as some sort of legend. All this talk of "Gai having to live up to her", and "Gai being so lucky", and what did "that weirdo do to get a girl like that", it drove her mad. She wasn't sure how to handle it. She'd pushed him away a bit, but she hadn't meant to. No matter how hard she worked, she couldn't match him: in speed, in stealth, in strength. It was as if she would never make it.

Gai was… he was too strong. She'd never be strong enough for him. He was too fast. She'd never be able to keep up. He was too smart. She'd never be able to think quickly enough to get a step ahead. He was certainly the most sincere person she'd ever met and that frightened her. It was terrifying because all she'd ever done in her life was learn how to lie, how to hide, how to manipulate, how to paint faces on herself, style her hair, and use her feminine wiles to her advantage.

The basic pattern to all of her self-loathing internal thoughts was that she was the fake, shell of a person, while he was full of youth and light and hope, but apparently she was the only one who could see it. Every time they said those things or even looked at her with those pitying eyes showing her without words that they thought those things, she felt even more inadequate. Her ANBU guard was everything she wanted to be and she was everything she hated. She could only hope that one day she would have the strength to tell them all what she thought of them and their nonsensical opinions.

She walked across the room, kneeling beside the table and picking up a large shirt. She wrapped her arms around it, lowering her face to it and letting out a soft sigh, her eyes drifting closed. He could usually calm her, but not when it came to this. Her anxiety still ran through her and it didn't abate because she willed it to do so. Suzume was used to being in control of herself, but since returning from her op, she was less and less sure who she was and more sure that she'd never find herself if she didn't… distance herself, but it was impossible.

There was a knock on the door and she glanced over her shoulder, quickly dropping the shirt and taking a small step back from it. Apparently she'd left it slightly ajar. It wasn't like her, but she recognized the knock. "I appreciate the courtesy but you need not ask my permission to enter," she said. She turned from the door, lifting the training weights she'd thrown down and walking them across the room to place them in their proper position as the door closed behind her, accompanied by a few soft steps.

"Please excuse me for the intrusion. I was just leaving," she said, setting the weights down and turning. She kept her eyes down and slightly to the side. She still couldn't find it in her to trust anyone with the Sharingan. She'd learned that lesson the hard way as had many before her.

"You don't have to leave Suzume-san," Kakashi said softly.

"I have no reason to remain," she whispered.

"I know how it feels," he said, stepping between her and the door. She kept her eyes trained on his vest.

"I may look like a pushover Hatake, but I am not as meek as my appearance may lead you to believe," she said.

"I never underestimate shinobi like you Suzume-san," he spoke in the same tone. "You need to hear this." Finally, Suzume looked up to meet Kakashi's coal-black eye. The man stared down at her not impassively as usual, but with feeling.

"Gai is underestimated by so many because he chooses to remain so," Kakashi said. "It is a choice he has made and no matter how many people think he is a fool or inept in some way, it won't change the fact that he is one of this village's top assets."

"Why are you telling me this? Do you think I don't know that?" she asked, defensively.

"What I think you don't know is how much of a hold you have on him," he said, lifting her hand to grab her shoulder, but she slapped his hand aside He would not touch her without her permission. No one would do so again. Kakashi had to focus hard to control his instinct to retaliate.

"Only Gai can touch me so familiarly," she whispered.

"He may seem invincible to you, but you are the key to everything. If you leave him, he will not survive it," he said.

"What!?" she exclaimed. "Leave him? Why would I even consider-"

"You're young. You don't know what you want and he needs someone who-"

"Shut up!" she snapped. Kakashi went quiet, only the sound of her heavy breaths filling the silence between them. "Don't you know that I don't deserve him? Don't you know that I am the luckiest person in the entire-" she stopped, scoffing. "For all that you think you know me, you don't know the first thing about me."

"What is that?"

"I feel more for Gai than I have ever felt for anyone and I will spend every day of my life working to be worthy of him. The very idea that I would betray him is laughable at best. I would die first," she told him freely. She then turned away from him, heading for the door. She hadn't told a single lie or withheld any truths since returning to the village and she wasn't about to start now.

"And yet you're afraid he will eclipse you," Kakashi said. She stiffened, going silent and letting her eyes slide closed. Her hand which had been reaching out for the door handle fell slowly back to her side. "I'm not often wrong. I will warn him of this."

"No!" she shouted immediately. She whirled around, her hair flying over her shoulder as she stopped sharply to face the copy ninja.

"You hate lies and yet you would lie to him, someone you say is the person most important to you, someone you care about," he said. She narrowed her eyes at him.

"How many times do I need to remind you? You don't know anything about me Hatake, and I don't appreciate your particular attention. If you could mind your business, I would be much obliged," she told him bowing slightly then stepping out. She stopped though, turning back. "If you attempt to sabotage my relationship with Taka, I will destroy you."

"His name is Gai," Kakashi said.

"A name is what we make it, isn't it? Languages are formed around an agreement that a certain combination of sounds means one thing. It is the same with a name just a combination of sounds, but I think you can I can both agree that the combination of sounds in a name never changes the person behind those syllables," she replied softly. "I love him, whether he is as hidden as a shadow or as bright as the sun."

She closed the door behind herself, leaving Kakashi standing alone in the middle of the apartment. He sighed, rubbing his eye and looking around carefully. "Have you satisfied your curiosity?" a voice said behind him. It took years of practiced calm and passivity to keep from jumping out of his skin. Instead he turned slowly, facing the green-clad jounin who was supposed to still be on mission with the infamous Anko.

"I like her," Kakashi said.

"Yes and I am in love with her," Gai smiled, shaking his head as his long-time friend. "Whether you like her or not."

"Hn," Kakashi scoffed. "I thought you weren't coming back until the end of the week." Gai crossed the room, picking up the weights Suzume had set down. He was surprised at what she was currently working with, but he didn't let Gai see that.

"She's gotten a lot stronger since returning. I cannot wait to see the type of shinobi she becomes," Gai said excitedly. He walked to Kakashi's side and smirked at the weights he had. So she had moved up in his absence? He didn't bother to hide how proud he was. She was growing at a rate that rivaled his own. She worked harder than any chuunin in the village, spent more hours training than even Gai.

"How are you so sure she's the one," Kakashi asked, watching his friend closely, but Gai only looked up and smiled secretively. "I know it's not her looks so what is it?"

"It's her will of fire," Gai said simply. Kakashi stared at him for a long moment then sighed. To Gai this made sense and it was all he ever needed to say.

Suzume lay on her side, cradling her arm close to her body, fighting back a cry of pain. She drew deep, calming breaths trying to assess the damage. She was bleeding badly, but it wasn't arterial. She swallowed hard, trying to focus, but her vision blurred and it was difficult.

"In and out my little kunoichi. It's as simple as breathing in and out," her father whispered softly.

"It hurts papa," she whimpered, clutching her twisted ankle painfully.

"Pain is only in your mind my little one. Your heart is capable of so much more," he murmured soothingly.

Suzume snapped back to focus, forcing herself to sit up. She groaned, looking up at the high cliff. Her arm was broken badly. It had been crushed beneath her in the fall. Her leg was broken as well and it felt as if she had some broken ribs. She lifted her uninjured hand, reaching around to the opposite side and touching her cheek. Blood, a lot of blood. She had no healing ability of course, yet another inadequacy that haunted her. Her father had taught her to never give up though and she didn't. She looked around carefully, and pulling herself towards a large fallen branch. She shouted in pain as her arm twisted strangely beneath her, closing her lips and swallowing it stubbornly. There was no one out here that would hear her anyway.

"In your mind Suzume," she whispered and she took hold of the branch. She drew a kunai slamming it down in the wood and wriggling it in further, before splitting it. She removed her shirt, ripping it at the seam rather than moving her arm. She set both pieces of the wood on either side of her broken leg and used her teeth and uninjured hand to tie them tightly in place with the cloth of her shirt.

Suzume scooted backwards towards the cliff wall once more and took a few human moments to catch her breath, looking at her arm. She wasn't sure what to do with it. She couldn't exactly make an effective splint for it and she knew the break to her leg was more dangerous than her arm. She needed to go, because she'd already lost a lot of blood.

Shaking her head, she shifted her weight to the uninjured side, wheezing as she felt a tightness start pressing on her chest. It was unpleasant and created a feeling of foreboding for the Infiltrations Kunoichi. It wasn't as if she had been frequently injured in her time as a shinobi. She'd been delicately treated, training for proficiency in an area that required few traces of being a shinobi and the fewer the scars the better.

She noticed a flash of chakra above and let out a groan. She knew who it was. "I don't need help," she said, bitterly. He stopped concealing himself immediately, knowing when he'd been caught. He dropped down in front of her and she flinched not expecting him to appear like that. He looked very worried, large eyebrows knit together with concern, dark eyes sparkling with pride. He was proud of her, but it wasn't enough.

"Everyone needs help every once in a while," Gai responded, reaching forward and touching her cheek tenderly.

"Please, I have to do this," she pleaded, unable to stop herself from turning into his touch.

"You have nothing to prove to me, Suzume-san. I am not sure I understand why you continue to try," he said, but there was a lie in his words. She smiled then grimaced from the pain.

"You of all people know exactly why I try Gai," she breathed, shoving him away with her usable arm, then grabbing the rock with a chakra-grip behind her and turning with it, hefting herself off the ground with a shout of pain. She didn't stop though, pulling herself up the cliff face with one arm and one leg, held only by the strength of her hand, her foot, and her chakra. It wasn't quite the same now, knowing that Gai wouldn't let her fall, that he wouldn't let her die, but she wasn't angry. He was letting her fight for herself. He was letting her learn what it was to be strong on her own, an act that took much more strength on his part than she could ever imagine.

Raidou rushed forward as she saw the bleeding, hobbling woman stumble towards the gate. He caught her just as she fell forward. He looked back at the trail of blood leading off down the main path. "Suzume-san, what happened?"

"Just a little training accident," she told him, though she was grinning crazily at him. She wheezed a few times, her smile fading but as soon as she was able, she was smiling again.

"I'll take you to the hospital," he said.

"I would appreciate your kindness jounin-san," she said, lightly.

"Would you like me to tell Gai?" he asked.

"He'll be along shortly," she told him. He would be removing all traces of her blood. They couldn't have such a trail leading to the front gates of Konoha could they? She gritted her teeth as Raidou lifted her up, but didn't let out a sound of complaint. She liked being strong and today… today she felt it, despite her failure. She'd made it up the cliff in the end, had conquered the mountain.

"I knew Infiltrations shinobi were crazed, running off into foreign villages and living their lives constantly looking over their shoulders for the enemy, but I'm not sure I ever expected to meet someone like you," Raidou told her.

"You still haven't met me yet," she told him, sleepily.

"Namiashi Raidou," he said.

"Yukama Suzu-" she replied, losing consciousness mid-name. He smiled, thinking that Gai had certainly met his match. Seeing how insane she was, it was clear they were both just crazy enough that they would work.

He made it to the hospital only a few moments after she passed out, checking her in quickly. They rushed her in, clearly worried about the strange wheezing and what one doctor called "unilateral chest movement". Raidou wasn't a doctor, but he was pretty sure that sounded bad. He owed Gai a great deal and as such felt it was his duty to remain behind until his comrade arrived. It was only about ten minutes before he did.

"You brought her in?" Gai asked, walking to Raidou calmly. Raidou stood and Gai grasped his shoulder warmly. Raidou nodded and Gai grinned broadly. "Is not my Suzume magnificent?" he asked, his loud voice startling not only Raidou, but the hospital workers at the desk nearby.

"She's pretty badly beaten, Gai. Did you do that? I mean I know you're really hard core about your training but-"

Gai laughed loudly. "Suzume may be beaten up, but she shall never be beaten! Though I wish my love would allow me to take part in her training, I was not her worthy and deadly opponent."

"Who was?" Raidou asked.

"Hell's Cliff, without one hand," he said.

"She tried to climb it without a hand?" Raidou asked in a deathly-quiet tone. The nurses quieted as well, looking their direction in shock and horror.

"Without chakra as well!" Gai laughed. "She made quite a valiant attempt, but alas, her foot slipped only a moment and gravity became her true enemy, dragging my dear Suzume down. She did not give up however, taking the cliff on with all her injuries, an unsteady chakra her only ally as she scaled the cliff's face, conquering it with youthful determination and unwavering courage!"

There was a silence so heavy that Raidou could hardly stand it. He was not the only shocked person in the room. The nurses were staring at him in horror and awe as well. Then Raidou asked the question that the nurses had been too horrified to even think to ask. "Why didn't you catch her?"

"Because she would have hated me," Gai replied as if it were the simplest thing in the world.

"Carry her?" a nurse whispered.

"She refused," Gai said promptly.

"Heal her?" Raidou asked, getting frustrated.

"If you knew Suzume, you would know that these are not the questions you should be asking," Gai smiled, walking past them calmly. They stared after him. Raidou wondered how he even knew where he was going. Suzume could still be in surgery, but as he disappeared into one of the rooms, he knew Gai could probably sense her chakra signature.

Some badassery for you… meh. It's a sequel to a one-shot. I hope no one expected it to be my best work. :-/. I did try to show some more complexity to the character, but I don't know how interesting this was. At least I had some protective Kakashi in there. 3 him.