Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ The Curative Career of Kaori the Ninja Nurse ❯ Lee's Decision ( Chapter 15 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

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Lee's Decision

Kaori spent the night thinking about recent events and the men in her life: Kakashi, whose behavior confused her; Lee whose condition depressed her; and Gai whose behavior always aggravated her. She knew she had to make it 100 percent clear to Gai that she had no romantic interest in him. The past attempts had failed but now that Kakashi was awake, she could not have him thinking that she was interested in Gai. It would be nice to have Kakashi fight over her, but he seemed more like the type to walk away from too much effort.

But with Lee's condition as it was, the soft hearted nurse could not bring herself to break Gai's heart twice. What if Lee decided to undergo the operation and didn't make it? She might be stuck with Gai forever! Kaori selfishly resolved that Lee not undergo the operation. Then after a couple of weeks later, when Lee and Gai had accepted his fate, she could break it off with Gai with no guilt. So that was Kaori's plan when she reported to work in the morning.

Lee was not in his room during her morning rounds. And thanks to Tsunade-sama, there were many more empty rooms, including Sasuke's and Kakashi's, but out of lingering habit, she checked those rooms anyway. 'How empty and quiet,' she sighed when she entered Kakashi's room. The monitors were no longer beeping; there was no longer the low sound of his slow shallow rhythmic breathing. The bedding had already been changed for a future patient. But now with Tsunade and Shizune back in town, chances were any future patient would have a short stay. Not wanting to return to her desk, where another stack of files waited for her, she sat down in the chair where she had sat reading to Kakashi for the past couple of months. Her hand strayed to stroke the pillow where his head had lain while she reminisced about how her sleeping prince adorably reacted to his favorite books and how satisfying it was to see the peaks on the monitor.

When she returned to her desk, one of the other nurses informed her that Lee had not gone to rehab and that Sakura was looking for him. Kaori was worried despite the brave face Lee put on for her yesterday, but she also cursed missing the chance to ask Sakura to convince Lee not to go through with the operation. Since Lee was missing from the hospital, her first concern was to get him to return for rehab, so she sent a message to Gai via one of the hospital's messenger birds. "Lee is missing. Please bring him back for rehab. Let him know that there are other things he can do besides being a shinobi - Kaori," she wrote.

While waiting for Lee to return, Kaori thought about other possible careers for Lee. The boy would always walk with a limp and though his left hand would function normally, it'd be weak. Still he would be stronger with just one right arm than the average civilian. He was polite and enthusiastic. There should be plenty of other things he could do.

'Hmm,' Kaori mused, 'He's not that bright so anything involving math like accounting is out. If he wants to continue physical work, maybe a carpenter, or a bouncer at my brother's gambling den...well...he'll have to be a bit older. A motivational speaker - that's a good one. He can talk about how to continue to live life to its fullest despite a tragic injury. He seems like he'd be good with kids, maybe a teacher or host of a kiddie show. The green jumpsuit might be appropriate for ballet…but he won't be able to dance with a bad leg…'

Less than a half hour later, the two shinobi returned to the hospital. They were met at the main door by Kaori who scolded gently, "Sakura-san was looking for you. You were supposed to be in rehab."

Lee ignored her scolding and smiled at her instead. "I have come to a decision about the operation."

"That's good," Kaori began to say, "Your life is more important than anything. There's plenty of other..."

"I have decided to take the risk."

Kaori frowned and looked at Gai. "You...didn't you talk to him?"

"Of course I did. That's why Lee realizes what it means to be a man, to be a shinobi. Life is nothing if not risk!"

"I can't believe you approve..."

"What do you mean? Of course Lee has to pursue his dream. What else is there to live for?" Gai was shocked that the woman of his destiny disagreed with him.

“There's lots of things to live for! Being a shinobi is not the be all and end all to everything! This village needs all kinds of people…”

"Gai-sensei said if the operation failed, he promised he would die with me," Lee announced proudly.

"What?! Are you crazy?" She turned to Gai. "What kind of promise is that?" she asked, but a small part of her thought how that would definitely solve her problem.

"It's the promise of a lifetime - no one should die alone. Our souls will enter the great beyond simultaneously."

"No one should die alone, that's true, but that doesn't mean you should die with him. It means there should always be someone with you when you die," Kaori explained in exasperation. Gai had a strange outlook on life. "And you're not going to die," Kaori quickly added for Lee's sake.

"No, I am not. A positive outlook will improve my chances," Lee said optimistically. "Thank you for taking care of me these many weeks, but I have made my final decision," he said to Kaori.

Just then Shizune entered the room. She interrupted quietly. “Did you come to a decision?” she asked the boy, though she had overheard the discussion.

“Yes, I have. I have decided to take the risk.”

“I came to tell you that Tsunade-sama has been working very hard since yesterday on your case. She's increased the probability to 60 percent (Shizune rounded up). Tomorrow's the inauguration so we'll have to schedule the operation for the day after that. I'm sure by then the chances will increase even more,” Shizune smiled reassuringly.

Lee and Gai now ignored Kaori and focused their attention on their new angel. “What has Tsunade-sama discovered?” asked Lee.

“Well, she said the key is chakra. Since cells can be many different things, we must activate them all at once. It's difficult, but it can be done.”

“Thank you! Thank you! Thank you so much for saving my precious one!” Gai said while unabashedly hugging Shizune.

“The operation's not till later. You can thank Tsuande-sama afterwards,” Shizune said in embarrassment as she tried to push him off.

Kaori did not like being left out, nor did she think Shizune should encourage such a decision even if the chances were improved. But then she had another thought. Gai no longer seemed to be as interested in her now that his attention was focused on Lee's operation. This would be a perfect opportunity to end it all, and she could shift Gai's affection to Shizune. Sure Shizune was an old friend of hers, but her sanity was more important than friendship. And though she disapproved of the risk, for her it was a win-win situation. Should Lee die, Gai would be gone too. Should Lee live, Kaori could credit Shizune and pass Gai's affection onto her. 'BAD! BAD! BAD Kaori!' she scolded herself for such terrible selfish thoughts. 'You're a professional and you must treat this as a professional case!'

“Let's leave Lee to his rehabilitation session. His therapist is here now,” Kaori ordered, while giving Shizune a look that meant "We need to talk."

The two women waited until Lee and Gai disappeared from view, then Kaori turned to Shizune to say, "How could you encourage him to take such a risk?"

Shizune sighed. "Lee already made his decision. I was just trying to make him feel better about it."

"But you could have tried to convince him to change his mind."

"It's not up to us, is it? We can give him the facts, but we don't know him well enough to make a decision for him. What if being a shinobi really does mean everything to that boy? What if he's miserable for the rest of his life, wondering what if he had gone through with the operation? These genin, they're no longer children, Kaori-san. You can't control them."

The last part struck a nerve. Control, that was one of Kaori's problems. Her siblings always complained how she had control issues. She was the oldest so she was used to bossing them around. As a nurse, she was used to telling the patients what to do. And as a senior nurse and now head nurse, she was used to telling the other nurses what to do. She always tried to maintain control of her life, and her feelings. But she had no control over life and death.

Kaori frowned but nodded in agreement. "Of course you're right. It's just... Lee's been here so long. He's like a little brother to me. I'd really miss him if..." Kaori sniffled a bit at the thought of attending another funeral.

"Have faith in Tsunade-sama," Shizune smiled. "She's really more trustworthy that she acts."

The rest of the day followed uneventfully (Otoha was off), though Kaori looked up every time someone entered the hospital, hoping Kakashi would drop by for a visit. But he never came. She couldn't help thinking of him despite other pressing issues and wondered if she should drop by his place again. It was tempting, very tempting, but how would it look for her to so desperately chase after a man? It really should be the other way around, shouldn't it? So with that thought she stubbornly decided not to go out of her way to see him. But then again, his place was sort of on the way home, and so what if she happened to drop by, as a medical profession, to see how he was. And if she were to do that, then she would have to bring something. You couldn't visit someone without bringing something.

So with that reasoning, Kaori decided to buy two orders of fish congee and went to visit Kakashi after work. Not that she thought he would eat both orders, but she hoped he would invite her in to share.

Kakashi's first thought when he saw Kaori with more takeout was:`Hmm…the way this is working out, I may never have to buy dinner again!'

`You cheap bastard!' said the Obito voice.

“Hi…I…uh…I'm just checking to see that you're eating properly. I brought you some fish congee. That should be easy on your stomach. No fried foods for a while until your system adjusts,” Kaori advised in her professional tone.

“Hmm, the medics didn't tell me these things.”

“They don't really think too much about post-op care once you leave the hospital. But I always try to educate my patients.”

“That's very considerate of you, but I'm fine. You don't need to bring me food.” But he took the bag from her anyway. `I wonder why she brings me two orders. I don't eat that much for dinner. Well, I can always save one for lunch like last time. Hmm, I may never have to buy lunch or dinner again!'

`You super cheap bastard!' said the Obito voice.

“Of course not… I don't plan to do this again. I mean… I'm just doing this seeing that you don't have someone to tend to you… not that you really need someone to do that…but it's better to have someone watch over you when you've just left the hospital in case of any unforeseen problems…” Kaori rambled.

“Hmm, that's true, but I'm fine, really. Thank you but you don't need to do this.”

`Invite her in you idiot! She wants you bad!' said the Obito voice.

“Right, you can take care of yourself now…um… so are you going to attend the inauguration tomorrow?”

“I suppose everyone in Konoha will be there,” he shrugged.

“Well, the hospital has to retain a skeleton crew in case of emergencies, but it's my day off, “ Kaori hinted.

“That's good. Maybe I'll see you there,” Kakashi said noncommittally.

“Yes, well, then I'll see you…”

“Goodnight and thanks again,” Kakashi said as he closed the door, before Kaori had a chance to finish her thought.

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“You should have asked her in. It's not like you get many visitors,” complained the Obito voice when Kakashi was alone.

“Shut up.”

“What's the problem? Her boobs not big enough for you?”

“I didn't notice.”

“Yeah, right. She's a nice piece of eye candy. A bit lacking in front, but no big deal.”

“Sigh, give me a break, I'm still recuperating. Maybe later, all right?”

“Recuperating? You mean resting your lazy ass! Get off your butt and get some action!”

“That's it, I'm turning you off!”

“As if you could! As long as you have my eye, you're stuck with me…”

The odd couple continued to argue late into the night.

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