Tsunade’s sigh reverberated through the bleach-white space of the hospital room. Her distinct diamond tattoo buried firmly in the palm of her hand.
“We can’t keep doing this, Gai. You always push yourself too hard, and now it’s bit you in the ass. Your muscular structure is fine, but your ligaments can’t heal from the strain that fast. My techniques stress them further, using all of the available resources to accelerate the process. It’s just not sustainable.”
The distinctive face of Maito Gai was screwed up into a frown. His bushy eyebrows were almost touching, with how much his face was scrunched.
“What do you suggest, Hokage-Sama?” His tone was subdued, far more somber than anyone had known him to be in years.
“If you were anyone else, I’d say bed rest. You’d probably explode in that case. For a few days, just refrain from any training. Take a walk, have a moment to process it all. Give yourself some time to relax.”
The comical horror on Gai’s face was almost enough to make Tsunade burst into a very un-doctorlike fit of giggles.
“B-but Tsunade-sama- “
Gai was abruptly cut off.
“Look, I’ve been lenient in the past, but all of this is beyond your breaking point. Three days off. Doctor’s orders.”
Gai trudged out of the Konoha hospital looking like a kicked puppy. The downcast gaze of the normally hyperactive jonin left all those around him to give a wide berth. His apartment was only a few seconds jumping away, but Tsunade had made it clear. No chakra-enhanced anything. He was to spend a few days as a civilian.
The crossroads confounded him. He was lost, somehow. His being used to the bird’s eye view courtesy of the rooftops had utterly spoiled his ability to navigate as a normal person. After about fifteen minutes of walking, he found himself at the edge of a tributary of the river that Konoha was built on. At a loss for anything else to do, he simply sat on the low flagstone wall built to keep the unwary traveler from faking a dunk at the simplest misstep. His sandal-clad feet dangled listlessly a few inches above the rippling water, and he sighed, at a loss. He gazed down at the water, looking at the reeds waving in the current, and the minnows that darted to and fro under the burbling surface.
Gai was awoken from his trance by the evening chill of the setting sun, the painted reds and peaches over the sunset reflecting off of the clouds. The brisk air cut through his spandex like it wasn’t there now that he wasn’t heated from constant exertion. The sensation was odd. He had become used to nothing but the pain and soreness of constant training and combat, or the ecstatic relief of that selfsame pain after healing. It had been so long since any other feeling had gotten a word in edgewise. It took several minutes just staring at his calloused hands, rough and sharp from long days and nights pushing, straining, and constant impact.
It took shaking Gai’s shoulder before he was able to register the young woman standing behind him.
“I- I’m not sure, honestly. It’s been so long since I’ve felt really… anything… in full like this.”
An intrigued hum was all he got in response, before he heard the shuffle of bags and her sitting down a few feet beside him.
“Would you like to talk about it?”
Gai looked absolutely aimless, his usual vibrant grin absent in the face of introspection on a level that he’d not experienced in years, if not decades.
“I’d not want to burden you with my woes. It’s my issue, and my cross to bear.”
“I like listening. I sometimes help my friends with their issues, why not just take a minute to get it all out?”
It took a moment of silence, listening to the burbling brook before he responded.
“I think I’ve forgotten how to be a normal person. Being a Shinobi- I think it drives us all a little crazy after a while. The things we see, the things we do. Rationalizing that is hard. I’ve always been hardworking, but In recent years, training and missions has been all I do. My genin team is great, but that’s still shinobi stuff. I sleep, I eat, I train. At this point, I’m not sure how to do anything else.”
Minutes passed. Gai aired his grievances about maintaining his persona until there was no face under the mask, about the nights that he couldn’t sleep, thinking of all of the people he has killed, of their families. By the time he was out of steam, only the meagrest hints of the sun were peeking over the hokage monument. And all the while, she had just listened. Without judgement, occasionally humming or nodding to indicate her continued interest.
“Seems like you have a lot of catching up to do. I’m Aranna Yamanaka, walk with me. Maybe we can teach you a bit of how to be human over the next few days.”
A small smile cracked Gai’s face. It was only a portion of his gleaming grin, but it was also so many more times more genuine. Maybe these next three days wouldn’t be so bad after all.
