Physicals had started up leaving Aceso no time to do any training of any sort. She's been stuck checking up on all the ninjas in the village. At the moment she was in Naruto's hospital room, she had just finished his physical and was looking at Lee's file, he was overdue. Two weeks overdue to be exact.

"How's everything going in here?" Tsunade as she opened the door, stepping in. Naruto was whimpering.

" Little sister, don't worry you can tell me," Naruto began to tremble."You know I have been feeling, kind of out of it lately. I've been messing up a lot in my training. I knew something was wrong when I couldn't get down more than five bowls of Ichiraku ramen." He hung his head in sadness. " I have some kind of awful incurable disease don't I?" He got real close to her. " Go on! Let me know the worst...How much time have I got?"

"Oh shut up, you're fine," Tsunade said as she looked over at Naruto's physical. 

"Hey!" Naruto exclaimed as he looked at Lee's file. "That's Bushy Brow's medical chart!"

"He's overdue for a full examination," Aceso informed. "He's been avoiding it. And he always changes the subject when I bring it up."

"But--what about, uh--"Naruto pointed at himself. Tsunade took the stethoscope off Aceso and put it on Naruto's head.

"You're still an idiot, that's all," Tsunade confirmed. "Go on, get out of here!" She started to punch him. "Doctor Matsuba has other patients to see! Stop wasting her time!" Naruto ran out of the room to cause further injuries with his jacket.

"Naruto, get your clothes on!" Sakura ordered.

"Sorry!" Naruto apologized to Sakura.

"Good grief," Sakura huffed.

"Can you get Lee for me?" Aceso asked as she stuck her head out the door.

"If I can find Bushy Brow, I'll send him your way!" Naruto yelled as he ran out of the building. An hour later Lee finally showed up for his full examination. Aceso stared at the chart as Tsunade sat next to her looking at it. Sakura watched Lee put the top part of his suit back on.

"Red Rose, your face doesn't look so revealing of good news," Lee informed nervously.

"You need more rest, Lee," Aceso said as she glanced at him.

"That means no more training," Tsunade added. He gasped. 

"But-" Lee began.

"There's cumulative damage to your chakra network," Aceso explained. "You're forgetting you were injured so badly that your days as a ninja might have been over."

" I live by my own rules!" Lee argued. "You know that Red Rose!"

"Your own rules?" Tsunade asked as Sakura gasped.

"Yes," Lee stood his ground. "And rule number one is to never forget your goal." He formed a fist. " I must work to be the best ninja I can be."

"Hmph," Sakura smiled.

"Oh, I give up," Tsunade groaned as Aceso looked back at Lee. She knew Lee wasn't going to listen to her about resting. "What are thinking Lady Aceso?'

 Aceso looked at the medical chart and then back at Lee, he was staring at her intensely. "I'll take you off active duty, but you can keep training." Lee didn't seem too happy, but at least he could still train.  "Just don't overdo it."

"Right!" Lee agreed as he stood up.

"Above all," Tsunade began as she put her finger on his nose. "No hidden lotus. Understood?"

"Right," Lee responded nervously. He walked out of the hospital room with a grave look.

"Do you think you can heal his chakra network?" Sakura asked as she looked at Aceso. 

"The Star Village took the last of the medicine I had for it," Aceso explained. "I'll need a bit to whip up a new batch." Not too long after that Aceso was in a hospital room, wrapping up Lee's leg, Sakura stood at the door with crutches. "Well, fortunately, the bone's all right."

"Thank you," Lee smiled at her.

"Here," Sakura said as she handed Lee the crushes.

"Thank you," Lee said as he used them to get back onto the ground. "So, how soon can I start training?" He looked back at Aceso, he had puppy dog eyes.

 "Training? Are you out of your mind?" Sakura asked. "You're going to rest, and that's all."

" You're lucky there wasn't any permanent damage to your Achilles tendon," Aceso informed.

"But," Lee began.

"Please, Lee," Aceso requested. " I am almost done, making the medicine, it won't be much longer, honestly."

"Oh, alright," Lee gave in before leaving the hospital. A few hours later, Aceso had to rush into the ICU for a ninja named Yagura, he was badly injured. After healing the man, Aceso left the room to look for Sakura.

"Shizune!" Aceso exclaimed when she saw her. Shizune slowly looked back at her as if she was trying to hide something. 

"Doctor Matsuba?" Shizune asked. "How's Yagura?"

"He's resting," Aceso answered. "He should make a full recovery....have you seen Sakura...I need her to get Lee, I finally finished that medicine for him."

"Oh, she went to go keep an eye on Lee, as a matter of fact," Shizune answered, " A phony Yagura is currently with Gai-sensei, and if Lee finds out, we are afraid he'll do something rash and forget about his injuries."

"Oh, then I guess I'll go, Lee," Aceso grunted. " I am done with my shift." She quickly left the hospital.

"Doctor Matsuba!" Shizune protested. " Don't do anything rash!" Gai-sensei means a lot to Aceso, and if anyone could help Gai out of a sticky situation it would be Kakashi. But he was away on a mission, so the next person would be Lee.

"Lee!" Aceso exclaimed as she arrived at the dojo. She saw that Sakura was about to be questioned to the max.

"Red Rose?" Lee asked as he looked over at her. " Are you here to keep an eye on me too?"

"No," Aceso answered. "I need you to tell me everything about this Yagura person."

"So, you're interested too?" Lee asked as looked down sadly.

"Yes," Aceso answered as she went further inside into the dojo.

"Don't say anything Aceso," Sakura warned her.

"If anyone knows what to do in this situation it's Lee," Aceso answered as she took out the medicine. "Lee I need you to strip from the waist up."

"Why are you so interested in Yagura?" Lee asked Sakura could hear a hint of jealously in his voice.

"Cause I just got out of the ICU with Yagura," Aceso answered. Lee tried to find Aceso's eyes but she was too busy giving him the medicine. 

"That's impossible," Lee said as he sat against the wall. He stripped off the top part of his suit.

"No, he was attacked before he arrived at the village," Aceso explained as she applied the medicine to his chest. Lee's cheeks turned a little red. "He was badly injured...I need you to tell me all about this other Yagura."

"You say this other is a phony?" Lee asked in alarm.

"ACESO!" Sakura growled. "We are supposed to be keeping it a secret from Lee! He's going to forget about his injuries!"

"He'll be fine, his chakra network should be completely restored by the time he arrives at the site," Aceso answered as she looked back at Sakura. "They took a trail through the mountains." Lee started to get up. "Tell me about this Yagura."

"He had me coach him taijutsu, he told me he was a rookie," Lee answered. "He's the reason my ankle was injured. He told me Gai choose him for the mission over me because Gai doesn't think I'm a good ninja." 

"That's a lie," Aceso shook her head. "Gai always speaks so highly of you...he didn't pick you because I took you off active duty and your injuries. Remember?." Lee nodded as Aceso looked back at Sakura. "Sakura, you go get a medical team and dispatch with them over to the mountains. I'll head out with Lee over to Gai-sensei, if Lady Tsunade asks, tell her I put Lee back on active duty myself and I'll be with him."

"Uh," Sakura breathed.

"The mountains?" Lee asked.

Aceso looked back at Lee. "Yes, that's the way Gai and Yagura took to go to the land of mountain streams."

"Aceso..." Sakura began. " Naruto, Tenten, and Neji should be there as well." 

"Right," Aceso nodded. Lee slipped back on the rest of his suit, then they all took off. "How's your leg, Lee?"

"Don't worry about that," Lee said. "Our main concern is Gai-sensei." By the time they arrived at the site, a giant wooden dojo sat in the middle, while Tenten, Naruto, and Neji were all surrounded by wooden, dummies. "I'll take the right, you take the left." She nodded, Lee easily defeated puppets on the right, Aceso used her rope slicing Jutsu, and she chopped up a bunch. They looked over at their friends, Lee gave a side sparkling smile.

" Lee? Aceso?" Tenten gasped.

"Bushy brow? Little sister?" Naruto gasped.

" Leaf Hurricane!" Lee shouted as he kicked a dummy out of the way, he landed by the others, and Aceso took one out before landing by them as well.

"Lee!" Tenten exclaimed. "Aceso!"

"How the heck did you two know we were way up here?" Naruto asked.

"When Aceso told me that Gai Sensei was headed to the land of mountain streams, I guessed at once he would take this route through the mountains." He looked back at the other three. "But where is Gai Sensei now?"

"Over there, inside that thing," Naruto answered as he pointed at the dojo. Upon the roof were the fake Yagura and two others. They all did the same hand sign. The broken parts of the dummy rolled towards the building.

"What now?" Tenten asked.

"Are they running away?" Naruto asked. The rolling pieces stopped at the building, then rose up into the air. Parts of the building opened up, to fit those floating pieces in. "What the? What the heck's going on?"

"It seems that they are making the building bigger," Aceso answered. A door was revealed, and a set of stairs led up to them.

"Looks like some kind of fortress," Naruto observed,

"Let me handle this," Lee ordered. They looked back at him. " Gai Sensei is my mentor and teacher. I would gladly give my life to save him."

"Bushy Brow, what about that leg of yours?" Naruto asked. "It hasn't healed yet."

"I am going in," Lee stated as he jumped up.

 "Wait, you can't just--"Naruto protested. Lee took down a dummy, and the other dummies circled towards him.

"You think you can stop me?" Lee asked as he stood up. "I warn you, I feel very powerful today." The other four all jumped forward and kicked down more dummies.

"Least we can do is help," Naruto smiled back at him.

"We'll take care of things out here, while you go inside," Aceso instructed as they all looked back at him.

" I sense a weak spot in the chakra at the center of that structure," Neji informed. "Head for that."

"But be careful," Tenten advised. "It could be a trap."

"Maybe so," Lee agreed. "Very well then. Let us fall into it willingly. They took care of the dummies as Lee headed for the entrance. "There!" He jumped. " Dynamic Entry!" The doors opened, allowing Lee to just fall in, then they closed. Soon all the dummies were defeated, all of them were panting, then they felt the ground rumbling. It was coming from the big building that Gai-sensei is trapped in. It started to break, the pieces rumbled off the building.

"The fortress--"Naruto began.

" Falling apart," Tenten finished. Right after she said that the whole building came crashing down. They got Gai and Lee out safely, then the other three came out as well.

"If it was revenge you sought, you should have fought me like a warrior, man to man," Gai said. "Your father, though out-numbered and the only one of his squad still standing, refused to surrender. All he had left to fight with was his kung fu his honor."  Gensho grunted as Gai walked over. "Out of respect for your father's courage, I accepted his challenge and met him in single combat. and when the battle was finally over, he was content with the outcome and said only that he would like to fight again." They all stared at the ground in sadness and shame. "Whether you believe what Is ay or not, that's how it was."

"Perhaps we misunderstood," Gensho admitted. "Perhaps he told us should fight Gai, not in the hopes of defeating him but to learn from him."

 "So then we--we've been wrong all this time?" Jako asked.

"Your father taught me something very important during our glorious battle," Gai said. The three brothers all looked at Gai. "He taught me that being born with natural talent is not the greatest gift. The truly lucky ones are those with an unwavering belief in themselves and the passion to keep striving to the very end." Gai looked back at Lee. He gave a thumbs up and a sparkling smile, and Lee did the same in return.

"Now that's a student/teacher relationship," Naruto nodded. 

"Naruto!" Sakura's voice rang.

"Oh good, they are here," Aceso smiled as she looked over at Sakura, she had other medical ninjas with her.

"Hey, Sakura, good to see ya!" Naruto cheered as he waved his hand. "You can help us carry Bushy Brow back to the village!"

"You bet," Sakura agreed. "That's why we brought the stretcher."

"No, no, forget about me," Lee requested. "Take care of Yagura first. I mean, what is his real name, anyway? Who is he?"

"Lee, Lee!" Gai exclaimed. "There'll be plenty of time to explain everything later. Now hush, and let them take you to the hospital."

"Yes, Gai-Sensei," Lee agreed.

"That's a good student/teacher relationship all right," Naruto repeated himself. "Why can't I have a teacher like that?"