Soft as Petals
Author: S.A. Nestor (Moony92)
Anime: Naruto
Genre: romance, humor
Pairing: LeeHina

Disclaimer: I don't own the hit anime series Naruto, nor the characters depicted in this story. But I can tell you now with certainty that fanfiction tend to be even greater than the copyrighted thing itself—and that, my friend, is sweet, sweet karma. ¦)

Why do people give each other flowers? To celebrate various important occasions, they're killing living creatures? Why restrict it to plants? "Sweetheart, let's make up. Have this deceased squirrel." —The Washington Post

-

It was hot.

The sun dangled over the training grounds, the dirt parched and dusty, the clusters of grass yellowing and nearly lifeless. They crunched noticeably against his feet and, in spite of the swift vigorous pounding of his fists against simmering hard wood, he could still hear the weeds buckle against his weight.

The humidity that pervaded the training ground had been almost unbearable, but the crisp sting of it was refreshing and Rock Lee was not about to waste away his profound youth wallowing within the comforts of shaded indoors.

Hinata shuffled a little on where she stood, a little ways away from him, appearing out of place and uncertain. She had followed him there to train, but didn't seem to be making any progress. The entire time, she had simply stood there and watched him pound his fist against a pole for what felt like hours.

"Hinata-sama, why aren't you training, too?" Lee offered her a broad smile, the very epitome of cheerful patience. He had stopped attacking the pole, sparing his time for the sake of her.

Hinata's cheeks blossomed with color. Lee wasn't a young man that gave his time to just anyone, especially during his training. Training was particularly important to him, so for him to be patient with her under the circumstances was more than she felt she disserved.

Lee inclined his head a little, a gesture of curiosity. "Are you tired?"

"N…n-no." Hinata replied meekly, quickly becoming more and more embarrassed.

Hinata couldn't recall when and how she'd finally shed her hopeless crush for Naruto, and instead developed yet another love interest in the form of one taijutsu master, Rock Lee, but it was likely the reason why she felt so increasingly uncomfortable.

Lee had been assigned by Neji himself to keep her company while he was away on an A-rank mission with Tenten and Naruto. It had been a solid eight months since their leave. Hinata wasn't aware of the steps it took to fall in love, but because of their absence and Lee's constant presence she had come to care for the taijutsu specialist deeper than she herself would knowingly admit. She had felt a change of pace one day, while with him. Perhaps he had noticed it, too. When they'd innocently touch, purely accidental or otherwise, it seemed glaringly more invigorating and savored than before.

Today had started out hot and slow. Hinata had been aimlessly wandering the garden of the Hyuuga estate, randomly smoothing her fingertips over flower petals, slipping in and out of training sessions she'd taught herself but could never quite concentrate enough to complete. And then a branch member had informed her of a visitor, Lee, and she had all but run to her doorstep to greet him.

He'd saved her from a long day of boredom right then and there, insisted she join him in his hourly exercise.

But being with him now, in the middle of a secluded training area amidst a dense forest, an all too familiar bout of insecurity and shyness prevented her from focusing on anything but the young man before her. The place was secretive, and he had told her only Team Gai knew of it.

For a moment, she'd played with the idea that Lee considered her special, to share with her a place he'd only share with his closest friends.

Lee was more than accommodating, with patience that rivaled a saint. Hinata wasn't quite familiar with Lee's methods of training, and usually when she trained with Neji they never trained separately. She was too much of an introvert to inform Lee of the routine, too flustered at the idea of touching him at all, fearing she may appear bossy or unappreciative of his efforts. He could've easily been doing something else rather than watch over a defenseless little heiress, after all.

"I can tell you are uncomfortable," Lee admitted, grinning sheepishly, a bandaged hand rubbing the nape of his neck. "Forgive me, I am not entirely use to company under such circumstances."

Hinata felt a little ashamed at the idea of being a nuisance to him. "I'm s-sorry," she mumbled, sounding dejected, her shoulders literally slumping.

Lee stared, suddenly wide-eyed as it occurred to him that Hinata was unhappy for some reason. "Hinata-sama, are you well?" He asked worriedly, "Was it perhaps something I had said? I am truly sorry!"

"N-no, I'm sorry—um..." Flustered, Hinata took a step backwards. She bowed low, hoping to hide the miserable blush behind her bangs.

"I do not understand you, Hinata-sama," Lee admitted, frowning a little in his perplexity. "You're diffidence is endearing, but at times I believe that you should branch out and enjoy your youth!" For a moment, he looked as if he were reaching out to her, wishfully, as if hoping to step closer. "And yet, I cannot help but feel humbled by you."

She, on the other hand, couldn't bring herself to shy away from his proximity. She imagined his hand brushing her flushed cheek, and with the expression on his face, it seemed as if he were kissing her with his eyes.

Her heart fluttered wildly. "U-um…!" she mumbled, desperately.

Lee quickly beamed at her. And just like that the moment, whatever it was, vanished. "I know! We shall spar together! It would surely take our minds off these odd thoughts!"

Hinata blinked, and her heart slumped in despair. "Um…"

"You are more familiar with sparing, yes?" Lee deduced happily, taking her hand. And in that instant, her body moved of its own accord, as if on autopilot, in spite of her overwhelming introversion. Lee dazzled her with a wide smile, "I myself would love to see how you've progressed! Neji tells me you're doing well."

Blushing, Hinata conceded, no other option in her mind's eye than to please him. She might've felt a hint of pride at Lee's obvious praise, but she couldn't bring herself to imagine Neji openly sharing his personal life with anyone no matter how trivial, not even a longtime teammate.

"U-um...is it a-alright if I fight without the Gentle Fist?" Hinata bit her bottom lip unconsciously.

"I would want nothing more!" Lee happily assured. "Let us strip down to the barest essentials of our fighting techniques. A street fight, if you will." He chuckled. "How youthful!"

Hinata's lips trembled as she smiled. She had the decency to stifle her laughter, a sense of secrecy in the curve of her mouth.

The first exchange of blows was awkward and unfamiliar, their fighting styles clashing oddly, but Lee was resilient and seemed to be enjoying himself. In turn, his confidence encouraged Hinata to relax. Lee was much quicker to react to an assault, but Hinata discovered that she was far more nimble. Their exercise continued like a cycle, she dodged and evaded whereas he attacked and remained in the offensive.

Hinata was glowing with sweat and heaving vaguely, and the sunlight was affecting her eyesight slightly. She didn't dare use the Byakugan; it was only a friendly spar, after all, and the lighting had proved to render her Kekkei Genkai as a possible liability. But so far, their fight was nothing more than a harmless game of cat and mouse.

For some time now Lee was easily cornering her, pushing her farther away from the open area and almost touching the surrounding forest.

"Oh!" Hinata yelped, noticing the lone cluster of dandelions too late. In a rare instant of surprise, she twisted awkwardly and flailed her arms in a vain attempt to stop herself from crushing the flora undeserving of an early death.

"Hinata-sama!"

All at once there was a loud shuffle behind her, a startling rush of displaced air that made her hair fluttered around her, and suddenly Hinata found herself lying on her back with a particularly heavy feeling against her heaving chest.

Hinata whimpered a little and gingerly opened her eyes, blinking against the odd circles flickering around her line of vision. "Lee-san?" She mumbled, truly worried now.

"Mmmph!"

Hinata paled.

Lee had fallen face-first directly between her boobs, which clearly looked to be enveloping him. He picked his head up, his entire face a startling scarlet and his eyes wider than she'd ever seen them.

"I-I'm okay!" He blurted dumbly, trembling a little. "I mean, are you okay?" He voice seemed unusually high-pitched.

Hinata looked up at him, wide-eyed and purely mortified now. All the blood in the world could not bring color to her ashen face. Why was he still on top of her!?

"Hinata-sama!"

"Lee!"

Hinata and Lee simultaneously glanced towards the newcomers and, miraculously, Hinata had paled even more. Tenten and Neji were staring at them, one flushing while the other looked at a cross between murderous and positively horrified.

"We are alright!" Lee insisted manically, blushing to the point where he looked as if he were glowing beet red. "Hinata's voluptuous figure broke my fall!"

There was a solid thump as Hinata's head hit the grass.

-

End.

-

Author's Blurb: Wrote this for DateMe's May contest on DeviantART. The pairing featured was LeeHina, and the theme was flowers or something pertaining to it. I don't dislike this couple, myself. In fact, if written properly, it would be very cute and spontaneous. :D

This is probably the first official Naruto fanfic I've written and posted. My heart belongs to the Sailor Moon X-over section. XD It's nothing spectacular, but that's what you get on such short notice. ;P I didn't put a lot of thought into this, which disappoints me a little. But there were not enough entries on the fanfiction section of the contest, so I wanted to help out on that part.

Hinata reacts to Lee somewhat the same way she had when she was "in love" with Naruto, but she's grown out of her shell a little at the same time. I was trying to get that across, but I'm not sure. I never wrote these characters before. / And Lee...well sometimes I don't know what goes on in his head. Let's leave it at that.

...

Peace out,

- Moony