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As I walk along the road on my way home after my ninja missions, I see Neji and Tenten kissing by the waterfall in the village center. It's not like I care, I mean, I have lots of girls who like me... well, truth be told... I don't. And yes, I am somewhat jealous of my rival Neji Hyuga for having Tenten, but she isn't the girl I love. No... there is a beatiful kunoichi in the year below me. But I just can't seem to win her heart, whatever I do, however many times I rescue her. Her name - Sakura Haruno.
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~ Jealousy, Team-work and Love... A short Rock Lee X Sakura Story ~
Rock Lee sits on a bench, looking up at the setting sun one Sunday evening.
"18 tomorow," He says. "18...wow, that seems old." He tips his head over the back of the bench and closes his eyes for a moment, just taking in sounds around him. Children are laughing happily as they skip over to their friends house for a sleepover, birds are flying back to their nests for the night and feeding their young, then he hears the teachers and older ninja going back home to their wives and children. Then Lee opens his eyes and the whole world seems silent again, as if it is trying to tell him:
~ "You are the only one without people to go home to. You are the only one with no friends or people who care to be around you everyday. Your birthday will be no different." ~
He gets up abruptly. "Oh," he says to himself, looking at the sundial next to the bench. "It is way time for me to go...I should get going."
He takes his favourite route to his favourite place in the world. And no, it isn't home. That place just reminds him of how lonely and different he is. This route takes him through the trees, out the town.
"Here we are," he says, swinging over a last tree branch and landing on his feet. "My training grounds!"
He kicks at a tree stump over and over again, hoping to get that bit stronger with each try. He does this everyday until he feels physically hurt and bleeding, because he is working on beating his team mate Neji. Then there is Gaara too... and Naruto.
"Darn it!" He shouts, kicking the tree harder. "So many people are stronger than me!!!" But he has kicked it too hard, and his foot throbs with pain. "Ok, note to self: Always wear shoes when savataging tree bark!"
Of course, by now most of the bark has been kicked/punched off from years of doing this. From the age of 11 he has constantly come to this quiet and scenic training spot then doing un-needed training - (most of this training is done in class and missions).
After alot of hard work, and around 3,000 kicks at the tree stump, he lies down and looks up at the sky.
"Wow, the stars must be out late tonight, there is only one all on it is own in a giant world, a bit like me I guess. Hey, I wonder if stars have birthdays... Yes! They must do! Apart from this one must be like, 100,000 years old or something. But even if I lived that long I'd still be on my own all the time. I cannot have kids because I cannot even get a girlfriend. I cannot get a girlfriend because of the way I look even though I devote my life to Sakura. I cannot look good because I have no friends to tell me what is the fashion (only Gai sensei - and look what good that has done me...) And most importantly I do not have parents to talk to about all of this. Urgh... life sucks sometimes..."
He throws a pebble and it lands over in the river about half a mile away.
"YES! Excellent! That is a record!" He shouts, holding his fist in the air. Then he looks up at the sky, in hope to see some more stars. But he just sees the one star that he saw last time he looked.
"Ok then, I will make a wish," says Rock Lee. "A wish on the first star of the night."
...He makes his wish, then falls asleep under the night sky with not enough energy to get himself home.
The next morning, Lee is woken up by Tenten shaking him.
"I thought I'd find you out here. Come on, get up. We need to find Gai then start our training!"
"Hmmm... um, Tenten?"
"What?"
"I don't feel very well, will you carry me there?"
"o.o;;; Most certainly not! Come on, get your butt back to the village! I've got to meet up with Neji today before our missions. So I've got to go now. Remember stop by at home to get some clean clothes on!" Says Tenten, walking away.
"What are you then? My mother!?" Says Lee, offended that Tenten thought him so forgetful and irresponsable.
"No, but maybe if you had one, then you wouldn't be like this. I'm just helping you, what side of bed did you get out of this morning!?" She snaps back. "Or did you spend the night out here not bothering to even get to a bed that you could get out of-!?"
"Tenten, that is enough..." He sighs. "I'm sorry. It's just that today is my birthday and I just thought that maybe it would be different..."
She looks at him sympathetically.
"Oh, I'm sorry too... I forgot that it was- I mean, ummm... anyway, happy birthday! Byeeee!"
She jumps out of sight before he can say anything else. He sighs and pulls himself up.
"Ouch, my leg aches... Oh well! The posative side is that it proves that I have done a good lot of training!" he laughs.
He jumps through the trees again, skilfully avoiding crashing into anything. But then he hears a voice he reconises and bumps straight into the person it belongs to, causing them both to fall out of the trees and onto the ground below. Rock Lee immeadiatly gets under the girl so that she lands on top of him rather than the other way round (in fear that he might hurt her).
"Sa-Sakura?" Says Lee, Sakura's hair brushing his face.
"Haha, you are such a silly boy, Lee," she says, hugging him. "Or should I say man - you are 18 now aren't you?"
"Y-yeah," *Thinks: "Why is she being so nice to me?"*
She gets off him then puts her hands on his back, healing any pain that was caused by her landing on him. After all, she has become Tsunade's assistant, becoming one of the top medical ninja's in the village (Medic-nin).
"Th-thankyou, Sakura," he says, getting up and brushing his knees, but then falling on his bad leg. Sakura catches him, frowning.
"I watched you last night... and I..." She looks down at her feet. "I'm impressed with how hard you work, Lee, but as a nurse I'd advise you to stay of the training for a bit... I can see that it has put a strain on your leg...-"
"D-did you hear anything?" he says, blushing. She looks confused. "I'm sorry if you didn't...I-I said some weird things last night and I just wondered if you heard..."
"Nope. I left before long. Now, let's get this leg fixed shall we?"
Sakura heals his leg then Ino calls her.
"Sakuraaaa! Where did you go you idiot! We need your help!"
"Coming!" She shouts back. Then she turns to Rock Lee. "Take care of yourself, Lee," she says before jumping off.
After that, Rock Lee gets back to his missions. Gai is waiting at the bridge for him, arguing with Kakashi (as usual...) Kakashi turns to Rock Lee and frowns.
"You are still training him? But he is Jonin now, the same level as you, Gai."
"Well, a little training never hurt! And this mission is special!" Says Gai. He turns to Lee and puts his hands on his shoulders. "My boy is 18 now! He is a man!"
Rock Lee sighs. He feels as if he is growing apart from his youth-obsessed sensei... "Yes, I know, I know."
"Great! So are you ready for your mission?"
"As ready as I'll ever be, Gai."
"Your mission is to get a date by this evening!"
Lee's face drops. "Bu-but I haven't managed to get a date in my entire life! How am I supposed to find one in 12 hours?! Plus, that isn't even helping the village in any way-"
"Lee, it would help us all if you were a little more happy with your life. This week has been hard for you - I can tell, so don't try to deny it!"
"Yeah, it has," (*Thinks: "Not a single girlfriend in 18 whole years... sooo depressing. I wish he hadn't reminded me!"*)
"Well then, off you go! Oh and if you fail the mission..." Gai gives him a thumbs-up. "5,000 push-ups!"
"But Gai!-"
"Go on! You are wasting time my boy- um, man- urm...or whatever."
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Chapter notes: Ok, this is my first one. ***** means switching points of veiw.