• I rolled over in my unconsciousness and blinked my eyes open, letting my eyes see real light for the first time in a while. North, south, east, west. I slowly pushed myself off the ground and I lay in a bed of grass.

    "How on earth?," My thoughts are stopped short as a throbbing pain thumps hard inside my head, reminding me that I'm surprisingly alive. I reach up to press my temple and see that my arm is bandaged, a long bloody gash lies beneath the wrappings.
    "What the he-"
    "I see, you're finally awake."
    I look up to see a boy with almost porcelain-like pale skin, long glossy hair, faint purple eyes and a harsh look of disdain. His arms were folded and he eyed me as if I'd killed his cat or something. confused
    "Er, yeah, I guess.." i ignored his icy stare and sat up, propping myself against a tree.
    "Yeah, well, we've been out here for a good 2 days. I thought of carrying you home on my back, but it'd be better to let you dry out first. No sense drenching a good outfit." he sniffed.

    *Oh, lucky me* I thought. *The first time I breath fresh air in months and I'm stuck with this blowhard(no pun intended sweatdrop ). I might as well be in the river again.*

    "Last time I checked, it wasn't your job to save my life." I replied sharply.

    "Hmph."

    "Neji!"

    I looked up and a girl came running from the trees and into the clearing, panting and puffing all the while. She threw herself at Neji into a bear hug, only a supporting characteristic to her bear ear-like hairstyle, which was actually kinda cute. whee

    "Neji, we were all so worried about you, we were looking everywhere!," her voice nearly scolded.

    "I'm fine." he said coldly, gently releasing the death grip bear girl had upon him. Once her hug was abruptly rejected, the girl looked past Neji and onto me.
    "Oh, hello!" she said warmly, much to my relief of being treated coldly so far. "What's your name?"

    My lips parted and my mouth formed an "o" to address my full name, when a young boy's voice called from the trees, doing the job for me.

    "Chikari?" the boy called, his eyebrows raised.

    I peeked out from behind bear girl who had averted her gaze to my target: a boy in a green jumpsuit, thick black eyebrows, and a shiny black mop top. His wide eyes were fixed on me, and the small but noticeable eyelashes that jutted out beneath them hit me with a pang of nostalgia. In a blink the boy I saw flashed back to the little boy I saw nearly 7 years ago. Trying so hard to be a successful ninja besides his lack of talent for ninjutsu.

    "Lee?"

    I stumbled upwards despite the pain in my arm, and wobbled to a stand, where Lee ran to me at a surprising speed. I gazed into his eyes and he into mine and I saw it. The 7-year-old little boy who never gave up on anything, including being my friend.

    "Chikari-san," he smiled weakly, tears brimming in his eyes, squeezing me to his chest. "I-I never thought I'd see you again, it's been so long!" I couldn't help but return his embrace, smiling to hold back the tears.

    "Hee, it has been a while." a tear streamed down my cheek as I buried my cheek into Lee's shoulder. He was taller than me now, I was amazed at the man he'd seemingly become. Neji and bear girl stared at us confused and dazed, completely out of the loop.

    "Lee where did you run off to? I was wondering," a fatherly voice boomed from the trees and I peeped my eye open just a bit to see a man who looked just like Lee, (who was still holding me btw) but was much taller. He looked at us with surprised eyes. "why you ran off the way you did." The man was just as dazed as Neji and the girl beside him.

    "Ah, where are my manners?" Lee looked up, rubbing the tears from his eyes, and loosening his grip. He walked over in a space between Neji and bear girl and the adult who'd arrived and smiled as I wiped my tears away.

    "Chikari-san, allow me to introduce Team Gai!"