Lee
The day of Naruto’s battle against Neji, Lee woke up feeling a bit groggy but otherwise fine…until he saw the letter from his mother on his kitchen table and was brought back to reality.
He hasn’t seen Gaara ever since their talk at the Yamanaka’s flower shop which was disappointing, but he didn’t mind. Instead, he’s been spending the last month training because he knows it will be his last. He could have seen Ino or possibly Guy sensei during this time…he didn’t, that’s mainly because training was meant to keep his mind off of the inevitable decision that would rack his brain at nights, keeping him up the entire time: to choose between being sold off at auction or mating Neji.
Naturally, being sold at auction scared him more than anything else. The idea that his parents would want to sell him off to someone who would more likely than not be from another village, take him away from everything and everyone he knows, and more likely than not abuse him and do who knows what else to him is horrific to think on despite having grown up knowing this was always a possibility that could happen to him.
Being mated to Neji, while not seeming to be all that terrifying at first thought, didn’t sit well with him either.
He knows how Neji views omegas and since his views haven’t changed once during this entire catastrophe of an exam, he feels far safer in his assumption that he wasn’t all that off from his idea of what a mating with Neji would look like when he was home alone in his room the day he left the mark on his hand.
The idea, of course, being that it would be miserable like his parents’ mating is: with Lee himself playing the role of the silent, submissive, yet enabling partner like his father and Neji being the domineering, cold, and cruel partner like his mother. Though he could never see Neji being physically abusive to any pup they had together, he could see him being verbally abusive towards them in the same way many of his aunts and uncles were to his cousins.
Call him crazy, but he had always believed that in for a mating to be real, it had to be miserable like his parents’ mating to each other is. Despite going on missions as a Genin and seeing this is not the case, he cannot help the fact this is the standard he has been given all of his life until his time as a Genin on mating relationships.
So much has happened during this exam as well that, when given the time to properly process it over the month he had to make his decision, left him with a bad taste in his mouth.
He’s not one to hold grudges in general towards anyone, which is why he isn’t holding any of what happened between Neji and himself against the alpha as much as he isn’t with Gaara. This being said, he doesn’t know if he wants to be mated to someone he doesn’t have any nonplatonic feelings for. He doesn’t know if he wants to be mated to be Neji when he has Gaara who can make him smile just by thinking of him.
Gaara—Gaara is the only reason why he doesn’t feel comfortable mating with Neji outside of the fears he’d be verbally abusive towards their pups and give him a relationship no different from that of his parents.
Why would he want to mate Neji when he’s not positive he could ever find him as fascinating as Gaara or as attractive as him? Why would he want to be with Neji when he’s not sure if he could ever feel fully comfortable speaking to him again whereas with Gaara, he feels safe to tell him everything on his mind? Why go for Neji when he has Gaara?
Except, he doesn’t have Gaara, does he?
Gaara was never going to be an option. He knows the attractive young alpha can do better for himself. He knows it will only be a matter of time before he heads on home and finds someone to be his mate. Thinking of this has always left him feeling more dead inside than it should. Besides, who was he to ever think someone that handsome would ever want someone who looks like him when they can get any Deidara omega they want?
No matter thinking about it. All he can do is go to the arena today to see Naruto fighting Neji and hope he wins…all with the knowledge of this being his last day of freedom before he’s mated off to someone of his choosing.
When he headed outside of his home and went down a street to head to the stadium, Ino had caught sight of him, calling out his name immediately, “Lee! Do you want to come with me to walk Naruto over to the stadium for his match? You know if we don’t do it, he’ll just get lost.”
He doesn’t want to be alone with his thoughts and the idea of spending some more time with his friends before he loses the freedom to do so is far too appealing of an offer to turn down, “Sure, I’d love to!”
On the walk over, Ino tells him all about her improving relationship with Sakura. He didn’t want to say it, but he thinks the young omega is starting to see the alpha in a light not too different from how he sees Gaara. He won’t ever say such a thing to her, though this is what he genuinely believes the more she tells him about how much time they’ve been spending together over the last month.
He gives the other omega a few one worded answers here and there, mainly letting her speak so she doesn’t catch onto the burden weighing him down enough to the point where he doesn’t wish to speak any longer.
During Naruto’s battle with Neji, he’s beside himself as he sits beside Ino, Sakura, and Chouji, all of whom are too busy cheering for Naruto to notice just how tragic Neji’s story is.
Learning of the mark on his forehead and why he came to believe fate is something as unchangeable as it is predestined, he realized why it is he said a lot of the things he did after he left the mark on his hand and why he didn’t see anything wrong with marking him in the first place. While he holds no grudge against Neji, it did help him see the alpha in a new light he never had before—a light that was a bit more human than the natural born genius he had strived to beat for so long. Neji before was so perfect in every way imaginable to the point where he felt as though he was lesser than him at times, but hearing what he did on the battlefield helped him to see the other in a more humanizing light than he had in the past.
He could never really be mad at him over what happened after learning of his past…in the end, he supposes being raised in a conservative clan is just as destructive for alphas as much as it is for omegas like himself.
Despite being able to better relate to Neji now than he has in the past, he still wanted to see Naruto win and make history as the second ever omega Chunin in their village.
It’s with this desire in his heart he can give a genuine, “Go, Naruto! You can win this, I know you can! If anyone can defeat Neji—it’s you!”
Naruto—who had seemed so shaken by the very prospect of fighting Neji earlier—turned around then, his eyes wide for a brief moment before he grinned and gave a thumbs up to Lee before growling at Neji, “You can talk all you want about fate being something that can’t be changed, but you’ve been fighting it all along! If you really believed any of what you said, you wouldn’t be here today trying to become a ninja, you wouldn’t be so hellbent on hurting Hinata, and you sure as hell wouldn’t have tried to alter Lee’s fate by leaving that mark on his hand in the first place! If you ask me, you’re all talk, no action, alpha!”
Neji had frowned, not snarling or making any other show of his anger at the omega, “What I did to Lee was not altering his fate! He’s an omega, he was always fated to be mated to an alpha—all I did was make my move before anyone else could.”
“How do you know it was his fate to be your mate, you jerk? You have no right to speak for him and his fate, he’s not your property!”
“No, he’s not, but it doesn’t change the fact that I was always the only logical option for him to mate. Lee, with his poor clan and appearance that doesn’t appeal to a Deidara loving crowd…he had no other options but myself, or some random rapist. All I did was act on what is natural.”
Naruto seethed, not relenting in his strikes as he stood for Lee in a way he hadn’t ever really had anyone do for him before, “Shut up about him, just because he comes from a poor clan doesn’t mean he needs to mate you to make him happy! He also may not look like Deidara, but that doesn’t mean nobody else would ever find him attractive! Lee is a good person; that alone makes him way too good for someone as hypocritical as you! In my eyes, he’d be seriously downgrading if he mated you; he can do better than you and I know one day he will.”
Neji rolled his eyes, “Like you would know any better. How about you do yourself a favor and stay out of my and Lee’s love life?”
“Heh, yeah right, like I ever would. Lee is my friend and I won’t ever let you hurt him again like you’ve done so far.”
It brightened up his spirit on the spot to hear Naruto defend him so vigorously. Thanks to Naruto’s defense of him, he felt a certain burst of optimistic energy more in tune with how he normally is as he smiled and got more into the battle happening in front of him.
His excitement peaked the longer he watched the match with bated breath, wanting nothing more than for his friend to win. In pure anxiety he watches as Neji seems to get stronger and stronger while Naruto appears to be struggling against him.
He had been gripping the edge of his seat so tightly, his knuckles turned white the longer he kept his eyes glued to the battlefield.
At one point, all hope seemed to be lost and Neji appeared to be the victor, making Lee almost cry out in defeat for his friend—only to be stunned when the moment the victor of this fight was decided.
Out of the earth came a tanned, dirtied fist rising out into the air right underneath Neji’s face. It somehow felt both instantaneous and as though the world stopped turning as Naruto—the one everyone had thought had lost the match, the one no one believed would beat Neji—delivered a hard, searing blow to his face, one that knocked over the usually smug Hyuuga as though he were nothing more than a leaf being blown away by a gust of wind.
The moment it collided with Neji’s face, Lee was awestruck, standing out of his seat in pure amazement at the sight of the Hyuuga alpha who he had once viewed as indestructible being taken out with something so simple, so inherently Naruto that it left him breathless the entire time it happened.
Naruto was declared the winner and at that moment, Ino hugged him tightly, cheering loudly, “You did it, Naruto! I knew you could, you just proved all of these alphas and betas wrong about omegas everywhere!”
He hugged her back, smiling widely as he enjoyed this moment with his friend, having made up his mind then on what he will do now that he is here and seen this moment of history in person, “That was amazing, Ino! Did you see it? He hit him—he actually landed a hit on him and won! I never knew it could be possible with someone as strong as Neji, but…he did it!”
His excitement, his joy he felt at his friend’s victory had him realizing that staying here with his friends, his sensei meant more to him than his own lack of nonplatonic feelings for Neji.
Matings are supposed to be miserable, he supposes. Why not mate Neji so he can at least stay in the village with his friends?
It will be his last decision as a free omega, but it’s one he can say he won’t regret in the end as long as he doesn't ever have to give up everyone he loves.
After the match was over, Naruto was curious as to where Lee went, as was Ino who ran over to him in the hallway where he was walking, “You were so awesome out there, Naruto! If they don’t make you a Chunin for that alone, then they’re crazy!”
He grinned, though it was only a momentary sensation, “They would be, wouldn’t they? …I know it sounds weird, but I don’t feel right celebrating without knowing where Lee is. He hasn’t been acting like himself all day and I’m worried it has something to do with Neji.”
She cannot help but to agree with him, “I do too…he was way too excited when watching you fight him. It was like he was in another world—when he left, he said he was going to get himself something to eat, but I don’t think that’s what he did. I think he only said that to avoid upsetting me.”
Naruto didn’t care for this the longer he thought on it, wanting nothing more than to find him so they could listen in on his conversation with Neji, “This sucks! If I knew where Neji was at, we could find Lee and—”
“You two want to know where Rock Lee is?”
They both turn around to find Hiashi having made a turn and coming down the hall. Ino is the one who answers before Naruto says something that gives away their plan to him, “Yeah, we’re looking for him. We haven’t been able to find him for a while and we want to be sure he’s safe. You know alphas and betas can get around nice omegas like Lee when they’re alone.”
Hiashi nods, appearing far kinder yet sage in appearance than what Naruto was expecting of the head of the Hyuuga clan, “I see…if you are looking for him, he came with me to see Neji in the medic area. If you go there, you should be able to find him before he gets into any trouble.”
“Great! So…do you know where it is by any chance?” Naruto is slightly sheepish when asking the man, who doesn’t hesitate to give them the directions, “If you do not wish to get lost, then perhaps you should write this down.”
Naruto leaves Ino to it as the Hyuuga explains where to find the omega, not knowing the entire time how deeply worried they are over him for reasons other than what they had said.
After the match was over, Lee had managed to get away from Ino by telling her, “Ino, I’m going to get something to eat, I’ll be right back.”
She nodded before turning to talk to Sakura and Chouji about Naruto’s victory over Neji, mainly the punch at the end. Lee couldn’t blame her—none of them spoke to each other once when the fight went on, all of them being too absorbed by the events playing out in front of their eyes. Though the most memorable clearly had to be the punch at the end…at least for Lee it is.
In truth, he isn’t getting anything to eat. He is making his way to Hiashi Hyuuga so he can finally get this over with, “Wait, alpha, please—I need to speak to Neji about something very important!”
The head of the Hyuuga clan turned round to face him, finding this to be a bit odd as he looked him over, “What could be so important you need to speak to him right away?”
“It’s something very urgent, something he needs to know today.”
“You’re not going to tell me, are you?”
Lee shook his head, “I’m sorry, but this is something meant for Neji’s ears only. Can you take me to him? I promise it won’t take long at all and I will leave him be when it’s all over.”
The elegant man shrugs, not bothering to ask him any other questions though Lee wonders if he knew what he was wanting to talk to him about, “You may come with me to see him, but know that I will speak to him alone first before you. What I have to tell him is of far greater importance for the time being… It’s something I should have told him earlier instead of waiting as long as I have.”
He nods and follows the man, hoping Neji will be willing to accept what it is he has to offer him. He doesn’t know if this fight will have a big impact on him or not, but it will be interesting to see if Naruto managed to make any breakthroughs with an alpha he knows to be set in his ways.
“Thanks, sir. I promise it won’t take long and I won’t bother Neji.”
Unbeknownst to Lee, Hiashi has a guess he feels is very accurate to what it is Lee wishes to speak to his nephew about.
He believes Lee wishes to speak to Neji alone to ask him to be his mate because his clan wants him to mate him.
Knowing Neji, he won’t reject it and he won’t stop him from mating this omega boy. He genuinely seems like a kind hearted, sweet person who would be a good match for him. In his mind, out of all of Neji’s options, this one may be the best for him and who is he to stop Neji from doing what is right by himself?
“I know you won’t. Just be sure to give him time to think things over when you are done talking to him. Being injured and humiliated by an omega, I’m sure he wouldn’t want to be alone with one for too long even if it is you.”
Lee doesn’t say much to this, already feeling his heart hit the bottom of his stomach as he realizes while this mating is the only way to not lose everyone he loves, it will be the death of his freedom, his dream, and the chance he could have to see Gaara again…
Then again, so would be being sold at auction, though with that option he would also have the added con of never seeing anyone he loves again which he doesn’t ever want to go through.
He uses this thought to keep himself optimistic about mating Neji, though it doesn’t make his situation any easier on him as every step feels like a death knell to everything he ever strived for in his life.