I Promise …

Sakura-san looks devastated, and I can’t think of a thing to say. That Uchiha Sasuke broke her heart so cruelly—I can’t understand it! A sweet angel like Haruno Sakura, how could you hurt her?

She sobs, stammers, and begs Naruto-kun to bring Sasuke-kun back to her. It breaks my heart to see her like this. Didn’t he see how valiantly she protected him in the forest of death? Staying awake past exhaustion? Cutting her own precious hair? It’s hard for me to believe that he wouldn’t listen to her—does he know how much she cares about him? She must have tried her very best to get him to stay—and it couldn’t change a thing.

She must feel as helpless as I did last night.

I couldn’t hold back my tears any longer, I couldn’t understand why my world had crumbled, and I couldn’t bear to face either of my bleak futures. Worst of all, I was alone.

And then Gai-sensei found me, and reminded me that I wasn’t alone, that somebody cared for me. He even promised me that I would make it through Tsunade-sama’s surgery. He bet is life on it—and Gai-sensei never bets on anything lightly.

I’m gaping like a fish as she breaks down in front of Naruto-kun. There has to be something that I could say, something that I could do—but Naruto is taking care of that. He says that he understands too well the pain Sasuke is putting her through, and promises that he’ll bring him back.

Why didn’t I notice Naruto-kun’s feelings about this before? He’s always been an obnoxious, hyper loser—a little like me, I guess—I didn’t realize that Naruto-kun got serious about anything other than fighting. He has to be serious about his promise to bring Sasuke-kun back, because he knows Gai-sensei’s “nice-guy” pose! Naruto—he’s a good guy.

Thank you, Naruto-kun, I know what to say now.

I watch them leave the village, leaning on my crutch. Naruto-kun’s voice fades into the distance, and I can hear Sakura sobbing beside me.

“He’ll keep his promise,” I say. I can almost hear Gai-sensei in my mind. Gai-sensei could do this! “Naruto-kun said it with the ‘nice-guy’ pose. This will all go well.”

She’s actually looking at me.

I smile, and show her a nice-guy pose of my own. My left arm hurts because I lifted it too quickly, but I grin through it.

“Lee-san…thank you,” she sniffles. My heart aches to see her like this—I miss her determined eyes that shone so brightly during the chuunin exam. These eyes still look so hopeless. These eyes look dead.

“Don’t cry, Sakura-san.”

Can I do this?

I step closer and reach out with my good arm, and tentatively wipe the tears from her cheek.

My heart feels like it’s going to fall out of my chest. I hope she doesn’t know that I’m nervous. I hope that she doesn’t hate me for touching her without permission—but I just couldn’t stand those tears!

“Le-Lee-san! Why…?”

She looks so confused. Isn’t it obvious? I love her.

“I told you,” I grin, trying my hardest not to fall on my knees and proclaim her every glory, “I’ll always be there when you are in a pinch.”

She starts crying again, and does the unexpected. She hugs me. It feels like I’ve dropped a ton in training weights from my body. I could hop around Hidden Leaf Village on my bad foot right now. I could do a million pushups! Finally, I do what I’ve wanted to do since I laid eyes on her, and hold her back. Her shoulders tremble as she cries on mine. It occurs to me that she has chosen my right side, not my left, to lean upon.

“You’re not alone, Sakura-san.” My self-imposed double-standard is clear in my mind: if I cannot convince Sakura-san to fall for me, I will do everything I can to ensure her safety and happiness regardless of her feelings for me.

She’s crying again. Sakura-san shouldn’t be like this.

I won’t stand for this. Even if Sasuke-kun returns, he won’t make Sakura happy. He would do something that would make her cry again. I don’t want to see her needlessly in pain—someone who abandons his companions for his ambitions isn’t worth it. I close my eyes and bite my lip. A cold guy like that couldn’t make her—or anyone—happy. But maybe if I work hard enough, I can become the sort of man who could protect her happiness all the time. Just wait around a while, Sakura-san. I’ll make you fall for me. I dare to hold her a little closer, and I can feel both of our hearts breaking.

“I promise. I promise you.”

A/N: Written while listening to When in Rome's "The Promise." I didn't want to make a songfic per se, but I wanted to capture the essense of the song as well as give a Lee perspective to manga chapter 183. I want to write a longer Sakura/Lee fic at some point--but I'll have to wait and see where the manga goes!