#opengates

the conversation is hushed, spoken at the small dinner table gai had insisted on having, with no intention of waking the boy down the hall. but much like uncontrolled emotions, gai doesn't always have a say in what is heard. he says, "i am not my father," to genma and his voice is hard. angry. not at her, and she knows that, but it comes out so aggressively that he startles himself with it. clearly startles lee as well, who'd been just behind the corner, and gai hears the accidental knock of his elbow against the wall.

sharing a look with genma, gai sighs softly, standing from the table to approach the hallway lee still hasn't come out from. "i thought you were sleeping. i'm sorry if i woke you," he says, lifting a hand to rest atop lee's head. there's an unreadable look on his face, lips pursed like there's something he wants to say. gai isn't sure if he wants to unpack his own frustrations at the moment, but he won't send lee back to bed with something pressing at his mind. "why don't we go to your room? we can... talk a bit. about what's on both our minds."

he sleeps easier with his parents at home, knowing they were just down the hall; that his root duties exhaust him greatly, mentally more than phyiscally, helps too. but that doesn't mean the young jônin's sleep is calm. shinobi trained instincts quiet his footfalls down the hall, all he wants to do was to get a glass of water and return to his warm nest of blankets. ( forget about the world for a few more hours if possible ) gai and genma were most likely asleep already.

the hushed voices drag him from the murky waters of half doze, a few words picked up here and there as he inches closer, curiosity killed the cat, as they say. he'd just briefly listen in, to check if everything was alright -- he'd be back in bed long before his parents even noticed he was awake. gai sounded. . . angry. thick brows furrow. matatabi said something, but lee hardly heard her voice over single minded concentration. leaning against the cool wall, eyes focused on the broad shadow he knew was his father's, subtly move over the warm blanket of light cast onto the floorboards.

i am not my father, gai bites, and the rage in his voice caused lee to flinch as if he'd been slapped. though the jinchūriki could stop himself from backing into a nearby table, his elbow did hit the wall. the young maito was definitely not supposed to hear that, what now? use matatabi's chakra cloak, his unrivalled speed to run back into his room before gai found him, no stupid, a flash of pale blue light would reveal his presence regardless. he could -- before waging all options gai was already around the corner. and lee just stared.

maito lee hasn't stared at gai like this in many, many years, and the way he failed to surpress another startled twitch when is father's coarse hand reached torwards him fills him with shame. a bandaged hand nigh mindlessly reaches up to brush against the honey yellow scarf losely wrapped around his neck, he wears it all the time, to feel connected to his beloved grandfather. for a first time since he got it wearing it felt.... inapropriate. ❝ [ . . . ] papa? ❞ the look on gai's face was unreadable, and as if it had become second nature to copy him, lee stared back with another unreadable look in these dark eyes.

❝ okay. ❞ he swallows hard. turns to walk torwards his room, unaware if he was allowed to -- or expected, to look back at his father. a bandaged hand reached up, as subtly and nonchalant as he could muster, to take off the scarf. lee always felt connected to dai when wearing it, but something in him told the jônin that his grandfather wasn't welcome at the conversation they were going to have.

quietly lee opens the door. silly as it may sound, though the countless plush toys gai had bought him in his early years were no longer played with, they remained in lee's room. neatly put aside in a cabinet. lee still treassured them. now, though, all they represented were countless eyes piercing him as he sat on the bed, waiting for his father to join him. he waits for gai to speak first, make sense of the fraction of the conversation lee had been an unfortunate witness to. talking to his father always cleared things up. this was a missunderstanding, it had to be. ❝ matatabi said she is giving us privacy. ❞ the great nekomata descended far back into his subconscious, and lee finally mustered the courage to look back up at gai.