A/N: This is because I have this idea swimming around in my head, since I have writers block on my other stories! It has a theme from the Hunger Games where Peeta has been watching Katniss and she has also been watching him without knowing it. Though with a Naruto twist! Set when everyone is about 18! There is honestly not enough love for this pairing!
I do not own Naruto or any of the characters. Sadly I wish I did own Rock Lee
Watching Him
Sakura hadn't planned to be out this early in the morning training. It had been a stressful night at the hospital and after she had gotten off work, she couldn't sleep. Her mind kept replaying the events of the night over and over causing her to eventually walk to the training grounds where she could release her emotions with a bit of taijutsu training.
'I could have saved them.' She continued to repeat this phrase in her mind as she punched the log. With each punch she could feel the sting of the blow on her hands. She had lost track of when they had lost their feeling, though that did not stop her. Tears pricked her eyes as she saw the faces flash in her mind.
Tsunade had told her it was not her fault that they could not save the team; by the time they had reached the hospital not even the legendary sannin could do anything about it. Sakura still tried with all of her might to save the genin.
It was supposed to have been a simple D ranked mission with Neji leading the squad. They had escorted a market trader from the Hidden Leaf village to a small town only 10 kilometers from the village. The mission went off perfectly; it was on the way back when they had been ambushed, that things had fallen apart. Some rouge ninja had spotted the team taking a break and attacked the team. The team managed to escape but with major injuries.
There was a crunch behind Sakura that made her train of thought stop. She pulled out a kunai and pinned person who was behind her to the ground. Sakura gasped when she saw who the attacker was, if you could call him that. She pulled the kunai away from his neck and sat back on her haunches. Lee sat up on his elbows and looked at her.
"How long have you been watching me?" She questioned the young jonin.
Lee directed his attention to the ground. They both knew the answer to that question. He was on his way to his morning warm-up when he had spotted the pink haired kunoichi. His original intention was to continue on his way, when he noticed the way she was training. It was not the regular training he had seen her do before, it was the type of training he had done when he was younger. She was using taijutsu to release her emotions. Sakura leaned over and touched his shoulder, pulling him out of the trance.
Lee cleared his throat," Long enough to understand what you were doing."
Sakura knew what he had meant. He had been there long enough to watch her nearly break down. She stood up and dusted her skirt off. Lee didn't know anything about her. He didn't know what had happened at the hospital nor did he know what she was feeling at that very moment.
"Go home Lee," Sakura stated as she started to walk away.
Lee was getting tired of the way she was treating him. Since the day they had met, and he had asked her out, she had treated him like a spec of dirt. Though he had to admit they had slowly become friends, starting with when she had brought him flowers on the bridge. Lee knew nothing would change unless he did something about it, and it was about time. He clenched his fists together and shot up to grab Sakura's wrist as she was walking. She turned around and looked down at her wrist, which was in Lee's grasp.
"I will not go home Sakura." His voice was steady. Not once in his life had he ever spoken to her in this manner, and it had shocked her. Usually Lee was gentle, never raising his voice or grabbing her in this way. "Not until you tell me why you are doing this."
Sakura narrowed her eyes, "I'm fine."
She tried to yank her wrist away from his grasp but it tightened even further. Lee stared into her face as she tried again to free herself.
"You are not fine Sakura. I saw you out there, I know something is wrong."
Sakura scoffed, Lee could not decide for himself if she was fine or not, if she said she was fine, then she was. It was that simple.
"And what do you know about me Lee? Tell me how you know if I am fine or not." Sakura knew that what she was doing was dangerous. Angering Lee was the last thing she had wanted to do today, but now it was too late to turn back. She watched him close his eyes, sigh and then reopen them.
"Do you really want to know?" He asked as he reached to grab her other wrist. She tried to keep it back, but somehow he had managed to grasp it and bring it in front of her.
"Enlighten me." Sakura said as she stared down at her bound wrists. Part of her was scared to know what he was going to say, though it couldn't possibly compare to anything she had heard before from Sasuke, she thought.
"I know that you are not fine Sakura. I know that your favorite color is yellow, drinking is something you dispise, you do not like frosting on cake, you enjoy reading, you love chicken flavored ramen more than beef flavored, and you hate to leave a squad member behind." Lee paused to catch his breath.
Sakura laughed," If that is all you know Lee then-"
He cut her off, "I am not done. Sakura you're the best medic in the village next to Tsunade, you visit the memorial on the 15th of every month to talk to your parents, you do not hate Naruto as much as you say you do, and I know that you do not love Sasuke anymore."
Sakura sucked in her breath; she hadn't told anyone about visiting her parents or about Sasuke. "How did you know about that?"
Lee sighed," I was going to visit the memorial to see my parents when I saw you there; it was the same the month after as well. As for Sasuke, when he returned to the village, you were happy but not like someone who loves another is. You were not like Ino was; you did not run up to him and throw your arms around his neck."
It was true, she hadn't reacted as happy as Ino had. She would have been surprised if someone had said she even cracked a smile when he walked through the gates of Konoha. Sakura thought about this for a moment, in all honesty she hadn't felt anything for Sasuke in nearly 2 years. She had to admit though; it was easy to keep her mind off of relationships entirely since she had started training under Tsunade. Sakura hadn't noticed Lee had let go of her wrists.
"I also know why you were letting your emotions out Sakura." Lee said quietly," I was there at the hospital last night, shortly after they had brought Neji's team in. It is not your fault Sakura; even Tsunade could not save them."
Tears had escaped her eyes as he spoke, her fists balled at her sides. She knew it wasn't her fault, but yet the screams of the mothers and the down cast glances of the fathers wouldn't leave. Lee had been there too, she thought, though she didn't see him. No, wait, he was there at some point in the chaos. He had come with Guy-Sensei and TenTen to take Neji home. Sakura wiped her eyes, she had stayed strong for so long and now here she was crying in the training field.
Lee took a step forward to consul her but ended up balling his fists as well. The woman he loved was in so much pain and there was not a single thing he could tell her that would help the situation. In the years since his declaration of love before the chunin exams, Lee had watched Sakura blossom into a young woman, capable of anything she set her mind to, he had begun to know the true Sakura behind the powerful punches, but what did she know about him? Had she even tried in the 4 years since then did she even try to understand him? To try to get to know the real Lee? Lee knew he had done all he could for the current situation.
"Sakura, I know that you do not know me very well, but I want you to know that I will always be here for you." Lee smiled sadly," I will leave you alone now." He planted a swift kiss atop her head before leaping off into the forest.
Sakura sighed; Lee had helped her more than he knew. He had always put his life on the line to save her or to comfort her in some way, yet she knew nothing about him. Her head snapped up, that was a lie, she knew who Lee was all along.
'I have to find Lee,' She thought as she leapt into the trees, and she knew the exact spot to find him.
Lee had held his hopes high that she would understand where he was coming from. He kept punching the tree. Though the tree had done nothing wrong, like Sakura, Lee needed to release his emotions through his training.
'I did not leave her for two years to go train,' He threw another punch,' Nor did I become a rouge ninja to get revenge. I stayed by her side during all that time. And this is what I get? Not even a thank you.' More punches were thrown.' I love her with all my heart and this is how she treats me.'
Lee did not know that Sakura was watching him from the trees. She knew that he would be at his training grounds; he always was here whenever he had the free time, and right now was no exception. Lee continued to punch the tree, becoming more aggressive each time, soon his thoughts became words.
"I have been called a loser; I have been told that I could never be a shinobi; I have been rejected and beaten. But this," Lee grimaced," hurts much more than any of that."
Sakura watched as his punches began to fade in ferocity. She had never truly acted unkind to Lee in any way minus a few rare occasions. She looked down; it pained her to know that her actions had hurt him this deeply. Suddenly Lee stopped, leaning his head down to the now beaten trunk of the tree, he gasped for air. Sakura strained to hear if he was saying anything; it surprised her more than it should have when he said her name quietly.
"Sakura,' Lee softly chimed again, raising his fist again to strike," I love you dammit!" He slammed his fist into the tree, making Sakura gasp slightly. She watched as he slumped down at the base of the tree, his hands trembling faintly as he ran them through his hair.
Sakura couldn't take this anymore; she jumped down to the ground and walked towards the tree where Lee was sitting. He looked up and slowly shook his head, he knew that she was going to pound him for saying that he loved her, but at that moment he didn't care.
"You were wrong Lee," She started quietly; "I do know you as a matter of fact." Lee raised his eyebrows, he was curious as to what she "knew" about him. Taking his silence as a go ahead, she began to recall the things she had slowly begun to know about him.
" Lee you spend every single free moment you have training here, you live by yourself, on the weekends you like to go to the park and play with the children, you treat everyone, even animals, with extreme kindness, you love to eat miso soup but yet you hate dashi stock any other time." She paused to look at him, his face contorted in a thinking position.
Sakura moved forward till she was standing next to him. She inhaled deeply as she placed her hand on his shoulder. Lee cautiously stood up so he could stand face to face with her. They stood there for a few minutes, neither one of them sure about what to do. Lee tensed as Sakura took his bandaged hand.
"Lee I know two more things about you." She noticed him tense at these words, but she continued on." I know that you love me, that is obvious, but why? Why do you love me?" He sighed; never had he imagined that he would have to tell her why he loved her.
"Sakura, when I first met you, I thought you were the most beautiful girl I had seen. When I saved you in the death forest, I saw how brave you were. In your fight with Ino, I saw the passion in your eyes when you fought for something you believed in." He stopped to bring in a jagged breath," Finally last night, when you were trying to save the genin, I saw your determination. But this morning, when you cried, showed me how strong you were."
Sakura blushed; she did not know he thought of her that way. Of course she had always known he had loved her but never why he had. But this, this was more than she had ever expected. For years she had thought that Lee had only loved her because she was pretty. Sakura couldn't have been more wrong after hearing this.
Lee look at Sakura curiously as her mind worked around what was said. He had thought that once he confessed she would have hit him into next week, but there she was, blushing and awestruck. Lee rubbed his hands together, the subject needed to change.
"What is the second thing?" He asked quietly. Sakura snapped her head up, how could she have forgotten the last thing? It was the most important of all.
"I know that you wouldn't know what to do if I did this." Sakura grabbed the front of his jumpsuit and pulled herself up to his height. Carefully she leaned in until their lips touched.
Sakura had been right about one thing; Lee did not know how to react. Instinctively he wrapped his arms around her waist and melted into the kiss. The kiss slowly ended, leaving them flushed and dazed. Sakura was surprised how great of a kisser Lee was; he was not forceful and definitely did not push the boundary. Looking up she saw Lee's face, full of surprise and happiness.
"W-When did you-?" Lee managed to get out after a moment's pause. Sakura laughed as she watched him say this. He could almost be called adorable when he spoke like that.
"I thought about it as I watched you train." She blushed at her words," I finally decided when you said you loved me."
No longer being able to contain his joy, he picked her up and spun her around. This small moment had managed to top his favorite memories, next to when he first met her. Sakura let out a happy laugh as he set her down gently.
"Lee, I may not love you as much as you do me but I am willing to get to know you better." She had to admit, he was a good match for her, and the worst that could happen would be if they did not work out. Lee grinned as he took her hand in his.
"Then Sakura Haruno, will you be my girlfriend?" Instead of Lee getting an answer, Sakura leaned up and kissed him on his cheek. Lee beamed with delight as Sakura laid her head on his shoulder.
Suddenly Lee pushed Sakura away and looked into her eyes. "I will be back soon Cherry Blossom, I must go tell Guy-Sensei!"
Sakura barely had the chance to tell him no before he bounded off towards Konoha in search of his sensei. Shaking her head she followed him into the trees, a smile gracefully placed on her face. Maybe all this time she had been watching him, just like he had been watching her for the past four years. And just maybe, watching him had led to the best thing in her life.
Finish
A/N: I adore this couple and after I think 2 weeks it is finished finally! Now please review and favorite it! Please NO FLAMES I do not care what you say about this couple I love them and if you want a different pairing then write a story yourself ;)