Naruto - Undeserved Series: Naruto Characters: Lee, Sakura, Team Gai cameo Pairing: Lee+Sakura, overtones of Sakura+Sasuke[+Naruto] Type: breakup fic, angst Warnings: aaaaaaaangst, attempts at imagery Spoilers: timeskip Word Count: 465 Etc: I used to like LeeSaku, but I fell out of love. I wrote a breakup fic to try to get into why I think it wouldn't work out. As I'm posting this in a rush right before work, it may get some tidying up later for things like blatant misuse of tenses. And a title. It's rough and could probably use some rearranging of sentences. Ah well, no time now. Slapped on a title.
They break up to the tune of a leaky faucet and a sink full of dirty dishes.
He’d tried so hard, as he always did. Gave her flowers, took her out to dinner, held her when she cried, asked her how she felt, opened doors for her.
He swore to protect her until she dies but she doesn’t have to heart to say she’s sick of being cosseted, being helpless, being the girl. He never even kisses her because it’d be too forward and she wants to scream with frustration.
Sometimes she wants to punch sense into him, but has to remember he’s not Naruto, similar as they may be. He’s not who she’s missing.
She’d hated it, because he treated her as if she was something delicate and blameless, when the memory of being willing to betray the village for Sasuke was still clear in her mind. She’s no angel, nothing to put onto a pedestal. She’s a traitor.
Her teammates were gone, and there was a gaping hole in her chest where they should be. Naruto would be back, but now there was only missing them, what they’d had. The good times, when the insults were friendly and there was a strong tie linking them all.
Lee is a replacement, and it isn’t fair to him. It isn’t right to use him like this.
He asks what he did wrong and she says, “It isn’t you, it’s me.” She knows he won’t believe it but it’s true, so horribly true. It’s not his fault she was willing to give everything up to be with a boy who didn’t care about anything but revenge. Both of them will be wracked by guilt but she doesn’t have the heart to tell him the truth.
If anything, she doesn’t deserve him. He’s too kind, too forgiving, too innocent and bright, too willing to overlook her faults. The thought of giving him more than a peck on the cheek feels dirty and out-of-place. Lee is romantic sonnets and loud speeches and stubbornness and over protectiveness and so many things she knows she must let go if she wants to reach Naruto and Sasuke’s level. Indulging in girlish fantasies is a thing of the past, the past where all she could do was watch her teammate leave.
A kiss on the cheek, a tearful hug, another apology. The faucet’s still dripping after she leaves. He doesn’t move to fix it.
Team Gai’s training ground is covered in splintered tree trunks the next morning, bits of bloody bandages and green fabric caught in the wood. Tenten’s face loses the harsh edge she usually has around her green-clad team member. Neji wordlessly carries the unconscious teen to the hospital. They see Sakura’s red-rimmed eyes and don’t need to ask why.