Lee
When Lee did wake up, it was to an empty hospital room. Last he remembered, he was in the Chunin exams, the sudden death matches, and he was about to face this alpha from the sand named Gaara…
“You’re finally awake.” he would hear from his side and there, on his right side, stood Gaara.
The alpha’s scent was indeed confusing—not many would believe lavender to be a traditionally alpha scent—but everything else about him just screamed alpha to Lee. The way he carried himself with authority and had constant yet steady pheromone fluctuations were all telltale signs of an alpha.
“I am—wait, the exams! What’s going on with the exams!” Lee instantly wondered in a bit of fear that he had messed things up for his teammates, for Naruto, for Shikamaru, for Gaara himself even—
“They were put on hiatus.” Hearing this did nothing to ease his mind. If of anything, all it did was upset him further when he realized this was all his fault and no one else’s, “Oh… I am so sorry, Gaara. I didn’t mean to mess up the exams for you and everyone else. Now everything is ruined and it’s all my fault.”
Gaara cannot help but to think of this omega as being very strange.
First, he tries to prevent him from dying a horrible death. Then he apologizes to him for the exams getting put on hiatus…what next will come out of this omega? What else could, really?
Maybe he shouldn’t think too much on that. For all he knows this one could be hell bent on surprising him at every single twist and turn.
“Why are you apologizing?”
Lee gave him a quick side glance before looking back at the ceiling, “I messed up the exams, didn’t I? If I had told Guy sensei earlier about the mark on my hand, then none of this would have happened…if I had been quick like I’m supposed to be, then Neji wouldn’t have ever had the chance to leave it on me in the first place.”
He doesn’t really move, which doesn’t really do anything to effect Gaara either way, but it does make him wonder what all Konoha omegas are raised to believe to be as blind as this guy is, “It was all my fault. I should’ve told you and everyone else before the battle between us ever had the chance to begin. I deprived you, Neji, Shikamaru, and—”
“I don’t get you.”
Being cut off by Gaara was something Lee didn’t see coming. He had been so stoic the entire time throughout the exams, so to hear him speaking up like this now was surprising to say the least.
He blinked as his head snapped over to his direction, “What do you mean?”
The way Gaara says it with such ease catches Lee completely off guard, “You’re telling me how you ruined the exams for all of these alphas who you have no reason to care about, and yet you never bring up yourself once in all of this. Aren’t you upset that the exams were ruined for you too? Why even bother caring about it being ruined for someone like me or any other alpha in the exams? Don’t you see how redundant it all is?”
“I mean…I guess…” Lee cannot help but to believe he’s letting Guy sensei down every time he does stuff like this, no matter how much it really can’t be helped, “not all the alphas there were bad people. There was a lot of good people there too who deserved their fair chance at proceeding to the third round and I ruined that for them.”
“You’re not upset at all by missing out on your chance to proceed in these exams?”
“I guess I am, but it’s hard to care about what I think or feel at times.”
Now Gaara is getting annoyed because none of this is making the least bit of sense to him, “There’s no way you mean that.”
He is quick to defend himself on this end, “I do mean it. I feel awful about being able to mean it, though…I always know I am letting my sensei down whenever I place an alpha’s well being and feelings above my own. I’m trying to not do it, but I still do all the time without meaning to.”
“Why do it then? Why not try to stop?”
“Because I was raised in my clan to be a good, proper omega and do all that I can to make the alphas in my life happy no matter what.” Gaara finds this concept to be outlandish, but he’s willing to listen, “I want to stop doing it, I want to be able to think of myself first, but I can’t no matter how hard I try. All I hear is the voice of my father berating me for being self centered and the scolding from my mother for being a bad, improper omega whenever I try to do it.”
Maybe it’s because he wasn’t raised the same way his siblings were, but Gaara cannot envision such madness no matter how hard he tries. He is really trying for that matter because it is so outlandish—he’s positive no such way of raising omegas even exists in Suna. Of course, he could be wrong on that end, but he’s pretty positive it doesn’t.
“Is that why you tried to save me from dying a horrible death? Because of your clan raising you to be a doormat to alphas and betas?” Gaara ponders out loud, not wanting to believe Shukaku for one moment that this omega would be perfect to mate and could make him happy someday.
Lee immediately denies this because this simply isn’t true at all on his end, “No, that’s not it at all! Gaara, I did it because I didn’t want you to die such a horrible death and I wanted to win on my skills and merit, not Neji’s mark. I know you may not believe it, but in my eyes, no deserves to die the way the mark kills them. I didn’t want you to die that horrible death; that’s the main reason why I warned you in the first place.”
Now this is such a strange experience for Gaara to be having.
He’s not used to people genuinely caring about his safety and not wanting him to die. He’s not used to people being nice to him, let alone being so considerate of him. He’s not used to being treated like a normal human being—but Lee…he’s treating him as such, and he doesn’t know what to fully make of it.
Does he want to kill him in secret?
Is he trying to kill him with the mark somehow in any way he can?
What is his game here? What is he trying to pull?
All of these questions have been bothering him deeply ever since the damned jinchuuriki within him left that mark on the omega’s unmarred hand. Now that he finally has the chance to speak to him, to try to figure him out, all he’s finding so far is a genuine omega who may have really done it for the reasons he said.
“Are you trying to kill me with the mark by trying to get me to fall for you then or do you want to kill me using your own jutsu instead?”
Now Lee is giving him an incredulous look and an answer full of sincerity he had never received from anyone in his life, “No, I don’t want to kill you! I don’t ever want to, the only way I would is if you were trying to kill others—like Guy sensei, Tenten, Neji, Naruto, Ino, my clan, the hokage, the people in the village, or myself.”
…It just hit Gaara that he really does put himself last in all things. Why this bothers him so he doesn’t know, but he’s willing to try to push it out of his mind for now.
Maybe it’s because he lives for and loves only himself. Maybe that’s why this doll like omega and his selflessness bothers him so.
He didn’t get to comment much on it in the bland, rather depressing looking hospital thanks to Lee’s own resignment on the matter at hand, “I highly doubt either of the above could ever happen at any point in my life now. Once my clan finds out about this, they will make me mate Neji and it will all be over—I won’t ever be allowed to become a shinobi and all I will ever get to be is a homemaker for Neji. I should enjoy my freedom while I still have it…I know Guy sensei is working hard to give me this freedom, so I better not waste it in order to show my gratitude to him one last time.”
Gaara isn’t sold on the idea of having a mate.
His jinchuuriki is demanding he have one to one day have pups of his own. Gaara isn’t too invested in doing much other than living for himself and proving his existence, so the idea of mating and pups is purely contradictory to his own motto of living life.
With this in mind, he knows it’s purely irrational to be upset at the very notion that this Neji person was always going to be the one to be his mate no matter what. It feels as though he is being underestimated in an unusual form—a newer form, he should say, than what he has been in the past.
In other words, Gaara isn’t used to being written off in this manner. He’s used to having people see him as the automatic victor in whichever task it is he takes on. To not be seen as the automatic victor in a different sort of battle (one that the damned jinchuuriki started without his consent, mind you) is a new sensation he hasn’t ever experienced before.
Hell, there’s a lot he’s experiencing with this omega: genuine care and concern for his safety, life, and wellbeing for one, as well as a genuine lack of ill intention for him…it’s all so bizarre that he can feel himself about to break apart from it all mentally if he thinks on it for too long. He might now if he thinks about how genuine the omega has been to him this entire time.
No, he won’t think about it now. He can’t afford to breakdown again—this time, they might think he is here to kill the omega when that was never his intention and hasn’t been ever since the exams got put on hiatus.
“Why do you believe this Neji person will be your mate?”
Lee doesn’t mean to come across as being dismissive of Gaara—if of anything, he doesn’t mind the alpha at all—but he knows his clan far too well. He knows them well enough to know they won’t change their minds or their ways, which is why he can be confident in his assumption, “Because Neji is wealthy and he’s a Hyuuga. My clan is conservative, but poor… I was already a failure for not being as ‘beautiful’ as the Yamanaka omegas and I couldn’t ever hold a candle to the others in the village anyway, but that’s how I was able to become a Genin without having to fight them over it. Had I been pretty or beautiful, you wouldn’t have ever met me because I wouldn’t have been allowed to become a Genin in the first place; my clan would have had me mated by now and I’d be expected to have a pup within in a year or two.”
Oh…so he’s not the only one being pressured into having pups immediately…interesting.
“Ever since I joined Guy sensei’s team, I have been getting pressured by my clan to do all that I can to get Neji to want to mate me. He comes from a wealthy clan with a lot of prestige in the village—that’s all a person really needs to have to impress my clan. As long as a potential mate of mine is wealthy and from a prestigious clan, nothing else matters to them. Knowing them, they’ll make up a dowry price on the spot to get as much money out of the Hyuuga clan as they possibly can when they do learn of the mark he left on me.”
He gives a sad smile to the ceiling above, “It’s okay, Gaara. Nothing bad will happen to you. I will be mated to Neji by my clan’s orders, and we won’t ever see each other again. The exams won’t be put on hiatus anymore and you’ll get to become a Chunin right alongside Neji. I’d rather be mated to Neji than have anyone else die by the mark he left on me…I mean, it can’t be that bad, can it? The Hyuuga clan is strict, but maybe Neji would be capable of changing for the sake of his homelife—”
A shot of sand hits the glass of water by his bedside, making Lee jump a bit out of shock as he realizes all too quickly that Gaara did this for some reason or another…possibly as a reaction to what he had just said, which is confusing because there’s no way someone like him from a different land with better looking omegas would ever actually be bothered by the idea of him being mated to Neji.
“Um, Gaara? Did I do something to upset you?”
Gaara had come here because he wanted to figure out if the omega was being sincere with his intentions or not when he stopped him from dying a horrible death back at the exams. All he could tell from these interactions was the omega is very sincere even now in his intent to protect him from the mark on his hand. His sincerity on the matter is so extreme to the point where he is willing to accept the fate of never becoming a ninja and instead being some miserable alpha’s mate if it means no one else gets hurt by the mark on his hand.
He doesn’t understand the sincerity, he doesn’t understand the sacrifice he’s making—he knows the why, but he simply cannot fathom throwing his life away for anyone like that.
“I don’t get it—what’s the point in giving up everything for anyone? What’s the point in actually believing you’re doing something good by denying yourself of your freedom and right to exist as you please?”
Lee doesn’t know how to answer him because it seems no matter how hard he tries, Gaara might not get it. However, he can at least try to understand, “Why not? I’m a failed omega…if of anything, I’d be succeeding at something, wouldn’t I? Besides, as long as those I care about most make it in this world, then I can be happy no matter what happens to me.”
“You can be happy…because people you care about are going to make it in the world?”
“Well, yeah. I care about them, that’s why I want to see them succeed and why I’d be happy for them no matter what, even when I’m stuck with Neji as a Hyuuga omega.”
Unbeknownst to Lee, this was starting to make Gaara near the edge of another mental breakdown with the weight of his sincerity, his genuine intentions, and pure selflessness all bearing such heavy burdens on his mind.
Had he not left the room in the silence he did in that moment, his jinchuuriki would have marked the omega in his stead.
Temari and Kankuro were outside of Lee’s door, keeping an eye on their brother in case if he decided to do something else that went completely against their mission.
This means they overheard the entire conversation between the two. It also meant they had their own opinions on the matter, “I really hope he didn’t mate him…our mission is already in shambles because of his decision to leave a mark on that omega’s free hand! Now it could go out the window altogether if he actually makes him his mate.”
“We don’t know that just yet. Remember when the exams were put on hiatus?” Kankuro had to bring up that recent memory in her mind, making Temari sigh as she realizes he could be right, but she’s not too certain on it given the odd way Gaara has been acting ever since then.
The Chunin exams were not put on hiatus immediately after Lee was marked on his hand by Gaara. The reason for this was simple: they had to focus on restraining Gaara first when he was in the middle of a breakdown before the hokage could formally announce the exams would be put on hiatus.
This of course took a few hours in order to properly restrain and calm Gaara down enough for the announcement to happen. When it was announced, the old man had all of the remaining Genin present in the building gathered up into rows of three arranged by teams on the battle area, his eyes full of grief as he announced, “As it stands, we have no choice but to put the Chunin exams on an undetermined hiatus.”
Naruto had immediately spoken out against it, his frown deep as a growl escaped him, “What? Does that mean all of our work—all of Lee’s sacrifice for the better of his team—was for nothing? Why is it being put on hiatus? If you ask me, Neji should be kicked outta here for getting us in this mess in the first place! If he hadn’t marked bushy brows on his hand, we wouldn’t be having this conversation now!”
Temari and Kankuro didn’t know much of this situation, but they were hoping for the sake of their mission that the old man would take Naruto’s points in consideration before going through with anything too serious.
“I’m sorry but as it stands, the exams will be put on hiatus. While I agree with you that Neji is the only one truly at fault here, it cannot be denied that this will stand to have disastrous consequences for our village if we do not handle this situation immediately before proceeding with anything related to the exams.”
His gaze then fell onto the siblings from Suna, making Kankuro and Temari both dread whatever it is he has to command of them. “You three…Gaara, Kankuro, and Temari…you’re all siblings, correct?”
“We are, sir.” Kankuro answers for Temari and Gaara before things can get tense between them.
“Then you three will have to come with me immediately.”
Kiba didn’t take that lying down either but for his own reason, “Hey, they did nothing wrong here! Naruto is right—only Neji should be punished today, not them. What’s going on? Why are they being treated like they’re the ones in the wrong instead of Neji?”
Kankuro and Temari could see his answer coming from a mile away, long before he ever said it: “Because they are the children of the kazekage of Suna. If we do not amend things now, then there could be a war breaking out between our nations.”
All went silent to this as he ordered the siblings, “Come with me immediately. We need to talk.”
They did just that…which meant they wound up going back to his office where the alpha man would ask Gaara with a sharp, critical eye on his person the entire time, “Tell me…why did you choose to leave a mark on the omega’s hand?”
“I didn’t choose to do it…it was the sand’s will, not my own.”
He had to have known Gaara wasn’t in the best state of mind to hold a conversation so serious as he had been wanted to. Temari thought he did anyway due to the way he shifted the topic so soon, “Listen, war is not something either one of our villages needs at the moment. What we need is to come to a peaceful conclusion before war can tear us apart. Tell me, is the Suna alpha willing to mate the omega in question?”
Temari and Kankuro were both on edge, hoping to the highest of heavens that Gaara would not be interested in mating the omega, thus running the chance of ruining their mission when they needed his strength most, “I’m not interested in mating anyone. I won’t mate the omega in question.”
“I see…but young alphas and betas can change their minds on such issues without any problem in the blink of an eye.” the elder siblings stilled in their place as he sighed deeply, “I am giving you two weeks to decide if you truly do want to mate Rock Lee or not. If you choose not to, then for his safety as well as for the sake of keeping the exams fair, I will have to have Neji Hyuuga mate him. If you choose to do so, then you may have to fight Neji for the right to be his mate. Are you fine with these conditions, Gaara?”
“I am, but only because I am positive I won’t change my mind.”
“Fine then; you three are dismissed though I will want to speak to the kazekage about this before moving forward.”
“We understand, sir.” Temari speaks up this time, allowing Kankuro to be the one to lead Gaara out of them room with her following behind him, wishing he wouldn’t change his mind. If their mission gets any further delays, then they may have to call it off entirely.
Now with the conversation that they just overheard, Temari and Kankuro are both terrified that the mission may have to be called off entirely. If Gaara truly is going rogue, then there’s nothing they can do to stop him. All they can do is let him do as he pleases in the hopes they won’t be a casualty in the same vein that Neji Hyuuga guy will be if he doesn’t back off soon.