@c0pyn1n sent a letter. if you die on me after everything i’ve done for you… i'll never forgive you . ( for gai ) | prompt.
❝ IT'S BEEN THREE MONTHS NOW - ❞ and still the nijuu hasn't so much as stirred within it's flimsy seal. it went against everything gai had been taught about the tailed beasts, also against what the village elders forced into his son's head. hope, now, begins to slowly flourish once more; hearts weren't killed so easily, let alone ones as strong as a maito's. yet still - were the nibi to break free, gai would join his son, and if he was to do so, he might as well open the gate of death to attempt to take that unearthly creature with him. kakashi ought to know his nature by now, such vows were not done lightly, and not if gai was fully convinced lee would make it through it. first gaara of the sand, then a jinchuriki - now the operation. somehow still the young, brave, so very brave, lad went on marching forward. ❝ if the nijuu doesn't kill him, some operation won't either. ❞ and if gai's nindo remained intact, he too, would go on.
iron features soften, he's been stuck in his own head lately, entirely unaware how his lack of vigor affected his comrades. ( he's so used to being the one chasing other's around with his care; he'd forgotten how to be taken care of ) kakashi's shoulder is given a light jab. ❝ WORRY DOESN'T SUIT YOU, MY RIVAL. ❞ gai needs to be strong now, can't let other people know he was aching. he foretold lee a heavenly future, and this he must keep in sight. he has already failed, as a father and master, twice now. no third time, no more. ❝ everything will be fine, i promise. ❞ another promise he did not make lightly. and though the words would never leave his throat, another promise was made in silence - for the dead as much as the living - rin's tragedy would not repeat itself.
