Chapter 1

"Is it Love?"

Well. What can I say? It was a dark and cold evening that winter, when I was sitting at the Ichiraku ramen bar. I was sitting alone, twiddling the ramen around my chopsticks, not even bringing it up to my mouth to taste the sweet, ramen-y flavour. I sighed, and pushed my bowl away when I felt a tap on my shoulder.

"Jessica-chan!" I heard from behind me. The voice was sort of familiar.

I turned around, only to almost jump up on the bar.

"Rock Lee!" I cried out, jumping in my seat. I looked at him, up and down. Sheeze. Nearly winter and he's still wearing that damn green jump suit.. Ugh. And he still has the creepy lower eyelashes. I forced a smile. "Lee.. What a pleasant surprise to see you here...Alone. And.. carrying.. flowers and chocolates." I muttered. "Are you going to visit Sakura?"

Lee nodded. "Yes indeed I am! You want to come with me?" He asked me, blinking. ...Man, I really wish he would stop.

I shrugged, and pulled out some money from my pocket. I put it beside my still-full bowl, and got up, walking along side Lee. Oh yeah. I know. Walking down the road, at night, with a guy with creepy eyelashes and very thick eyebrows isn't exactly the best thing to do, but oh well. That's life, I guess.

"So.. Jessica-chan. Why were you all alone there?" Lee asked me. He was normally good at starting conversations.

"..Eating supper." I replied, staring down at the ground, my hands in my pocket.

"Nobody asked you to go?" He asked me, almost shocked.

I shook my head. "Nope. Naruto and Sasuke hate me, remember?" I told Lee, sighing, trying to forget the incident.

He nodded. "Yes, I remember. Erm. Yea."

It was quiet for a bit before he cleared his throat again. "How is training going?" He asked.

I shrugged. "It's good. Kakashi-sensei isn't the most.. social of people. But he's still alright." I shrugged. "It's just bad that both Naruto and Sasuke are on my team."

He nodded. "Yeah. Training's going alright with me. Gai-sensei taught me some new poses." He smirked, getting a, what would like; face. "Well.. Here's Sakura-chan's place. Thanks for walking with me." He said, waving as he walked up to her door.

I waved back, and stood there as I heard Sakura scream and shut the door on him. "Poor guy.." I said, walking home, shivering. "..Did I just say that?!"