All you need is love (Love Triangle)

Chapter 11

"Never give up! That's our motto isn't it, Lee?" Gai replied when Lee told him the heart breaking news during lunch. They were sitting together in the cafeteria with an abundance of food on the table.

"Yes, but what will you do now?" asked Gai's number one fan.

"I will continue to pursue her until there is 100 percent certainty there is no hope. Even if there were one chance in one hundred billion trillion, I will persist. That's what it means to be a man, Lee, to fight to the end with your last dying breath! Whether in battle or love it doesn't matter."

"Yes! Never give up!" Lee rooted, throwing his hands up in the air.

"You see, she's just not sure of her feelings right now. I have a tendency to overwhelm women with my brilliance. It just takes time for their eyes to adjust. So don't worry, it will all work out in the end," Gai said with his usual misplaced confidence. "In fact, I'm going over to visit her right after lunch with another gift..."

-...-...-...-

'I wonder if Lee had a talk with his sensei yet,' Kaori thought as she washed her hands after lunch. 'I wonder how he took it. I do feel sorry for him. I wonder how many other women rejected his advances. But really, I can't be seen with someone like that. I'd be the laughingstock of Konoha. I hope he finds someone else who'll appreciate him. Maybe someone who's partially blind.'

Kaori felt guilty about not dealing with Gai directly, and for not returning his affection after he had so generously filled up her refrigerator, but she had no regrets. The odd man in green would be out of her life and she no longer had to worry about him suddenly showing up...

Gai was waiting by her desk with another gift box. "Good afternoon, my dear! I couldn't wait till tonight to give you this," he said with a bow, presenting it with a flourish.

"Er, no thank you. I absolutely cannot accept any more gifts from you. Did you get a chance to talk to Lee today?"

"Yes, but this gift is not what you think. It's for your training. No matter what happens between us, you must continue your training to be the best you can be."

"No, no more training. I can't accept..." Kaori protested.

"Ta-da!" Gai ripped open the gift box himself to show his love how serious he was about her training. Inside was a set of weights. The collective metal bars weighed 200 pounds (the minimum beginner's set). It was a good thing Kaori did not accept the box - the sudden weight would likely have broken her puny arms.

All color left Kaori's face. She became mute with horror. The mere thought of more training, with additional weight, terrified her so much she was paralyzed with fright.

"I'll take these with me now, but I'll see you after work for some training before dinner. I'll have a special nutritionally fortified energy drink ready for you. It contains raw eggs, protein powder, herbals extracts and..." Gai continued to horrify her.

-...-...-...-

The poor nurse was on pins and needles the rest of the afternoon. She had to hide from Gai. Hide somewhere he couldn't find her. She could not return home. She looked over at Otoha and sighed, wondering if it were at all possible to hide out at her place.

"More love life problems?" Otoha asked, noticing her coworker's strange mood.

"He came by again after lunch. I thought after I spoke with Lee and Lee had spoken with him, I'd be free, but..."

"Guys like that don't give up. What you should do is date him, take him for everything he has, and then be a total bitch so he'll dump you," the buxom brunette advised while looking into her hand mirror and applying more lipstick.