Reborn as Sakura and Hinata: Lost in the Wind

An Unlikely Friendship

I was beginning to feel bad for all of the times that I had made fun of Kiba for his anxiety, because not even the tranquility of the forest was stopping my constantly spinning thoughts. Maybe this was some type of karma for that, but feeling worse was not what I needed at the moment. But why? Why did I feel so bad?

Kicking at the dirt path in frustration, I accepted that I was just going to need to come to terms with the fact that I had messed up majorly, and perhaps I was never going to fully get over it. But why? What could I have done to handle the situation better? Perhaps a lot of things. But what if she had left anyway? Then we would have both been stuck pretending to be happy the whole time she was gone. But why didn't she love me? Was it a problem with me? Most likely, but I couldn't help but feel like there was more to the situation.

Part of the answer was obvious; I simply wasn't affectionate enough, but if she had a problem wouldn't she have talked to me? But, then again, communication was never her strong suit. That question, 'why?', it was forever going to haunt me, wasn't it.

The sound of wood cracking in the distance grabbed my attention. This wasn't the stereotypical soft crackling of a twig in the woods but rather the loud sound of a trunk straining before a tree topples.

Needless to say, I was quite curious as to what would be making that sound so close to the Aburame section of the forest, and any distraction from my current mood was welcome. I suppose Sasuke was right about my aversion to 'human emotions'.

Finding myself on the edge of a clearing, it became evident that I had stumbled upon a training ground that was seldom used, but was most interesting to me was the person currently in it. I only had to see that ridiculous green jumpsuit to know who it was, and the impassioned kicking only cemented that Rock Lee was training using some set up logs, which appeared to be the source of my disturbance.

More than any question as to why he was here, I was more curious as to why there were tears streaming down his face as he continued to kick the living hell out of the wooden post in front of him. Had it been any other day, I might have just left him to it, but I didn't. Why? I frankly didn't want to be alone with my thoughts anymore.

"What are you doing?" I called out as I walked into the clearing.

"Sad training." he answered, never pausing to even look at me. I wondered how his shins were able to handle such abuse as one glance around the clearing revealed various broken logs, but more than that I couldn't help but ask...

"What is 'sad training'?' the answer might have been obvious, but I was interested in hearing his definition.

Lee's brow set as he attempted to prevent himself from crying, "I'm sad, so I'm trying to train until I'm not sad anymore."

I quirked a brow at that; it appeared that Kiba wasn't the only idiot who thought training could make his problems go away, "Is it working?"

"N-No!" Lee's eyes welled with more tears as he frustratedly kicked at the log again.

"Trust me when I tell you that working your problems out physically won't make them go away." I offered, leaning up against one of the still standing posts, "You'll just end up hurting yourself in the process."

Lee paused mid kick, staying in place for a moment before lowering his leg and staring at the ground dejectedly. He sat down right where he was, folding his arms over his knees and resting his chin on them, "I guess you're right."

"You don't have to sound so hurt about it." I grumbled, "I was just trying to give you some advice."

Lee lifted his eyes to mine, "Do you have experience with this?"