A/N: Not much to say about this, but I'm hoping to finish it soon enough. I've been doing it for quite awhile! Please enjoy!
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Tracks left in the dirt by two particularly young Ninjas on a B mission were seen through the light gaze of the setting sun, soon followed by the two ninjas themselves. Both had a scroll perched in one hand and both looked somewhat tired of walking. Lee himself was slightly slumped over next to the impassive face of Neji Hyugga.
Not much had happened as they walked; in fact, the whole trip had been pretty quiet as far as Lee could tell. He had been unable to sense any one else's chakra around other than their own. By what the scroll had encrypted on it Lee was sure they would have been ambushed at least once on the trip; not that he was wishing for it, no.
Lee looked up from his scroll and faced Neji. "Neji, how far are we from the next village?" Lee asked. He himself wasn't as good a 'navigator'.
It took a moment for Neji to register Lee's voice after having been in silence for so long, but when he did he quickly looked at the shadows of the trees and where the sun was positioned. "It doesn't seem too far," he offered, confident that it would only be another hour before they would arrive. Bending an arm out over his scroll he gave Lee a skeptical look before having a fiddle of the string of his own. He already knew the contents, he was allowed to read it but so far he hadn't allowed himself too. Other Ninja could easily pry out the information from your mind and Neji naturally took that in to account.
Lee obviously hadn't as he blinked a few times, trying to decipher the words written over the scroll. "Alright, how long are we going to rest there?" Lee said absentmindedly, smile not moving from his lips.
Rolling his eyes Neji fingered the top of his scroll. "If there's information we can gather from there then a long time." He pointed out, thought expected Lee already knew this. "If not, we need at least one of two days rest after walking for three days straight."
The bowl cut bobbed in a positive yes and Lee rolled the scroll back up, moments later reuniting it with the holder on his forehead protector around his waist. "Well in that case its good I bought some extra money" Lee said, a slight tone of excitement in his voice. "Just incase the amount Tsunade-sama lent us isn't enough to get us a hotel." He added, just incase.
"Lee we probably aren't going to be staying there that long," Neji said, raising a perfectly curved eyebrow at the other. "Is there a reason behind your excitement?"
Lee nodded his head quickly in response, looking down at the ground as a blush spread of his face. "I heard…" He started, looking a little dreamy as he walked. "There was a special type of flower there that you couldn't get anywhere else…and Sakura-san would…"
As Lee trailed off Neji rolled his eyes at the love sick ninja and sighing placed a hand on the bridge of his nose to rub lightly "Lee, this is a mission, not a holiday" Neji stated a 'matter of factly'.
Giving a small sigh Lee nodded. "Hai, but I'm sure one stop along the way won't affect us all that terribly" He said, blissfully forgetting the dangers Tsunade had told them about.
Giving Lee a little sympathy for his love of the girl, something he didn't do often, Neji nodded ruefully in response. "Fine, but you better not attract any attention," He mumbled, a pinch of annoyance clear in his voice. "Knowing you, you will over do you 'enthusiasm'"
"No I won't!" Lee said quickly to defend himself, only realizing moments later he had yelled. "I mean I won't! I promise! Gai-sensei always said it was unhealthy for a ninja to let himself-"
"I don't want to hear what Gai-sensei has said" Neji cut in.
As much as Lee wanted to, he didn't let himself say anything back about Gai-sensei. He and Neji had this fight at least three times a week, there was no point fighting over Gai-sensei's words when they had already done so many times this week already. Instead he continued walking in silence next to his partner.
Neji looked at Lee expectantly. "You have nothing to say back?" he asked, eyeing the other for a second or so before looking forward again. "Alright, in that case we are arriving at the village."
Lee let himself grin happily "Yosh! Let's do this!" Lee yelled, perhaps a little louder than a ninja should and started running faster towards the slowly approaching village, leaving a slightly annoyed Neji behind in dust clouds.
As they started to approach the village they soon became aware of how truly popular it was. Tsunade statement of 'it's a nice place for a holiday' didn't give its justice at the least. It was a beautiful village, flowers, springs, hotels and many other homely places filled the little village; cramping it up for the visitors already inside. The voices in the air hung low as Neji and Lee entered the fray, it would indeed be hard to find any information while in this particular village.
Looking around for a hotel Neji turned his head every so often to check on the prices on each board whilst still keeping Lee within view. Lee himself looked for a flower shop (and anyone who looked suspicious, he reminded himself) from where he could buy his favorite female ninja the so called famous flower.
"Lee, come over here" Neji nudged the other ninja in his direction and pulled him in to a hotel door once at arm's distance. "We have enough to stay here. Come."
Giving an obedient nod Lee followed Neji in to the hotel, taking in all the pictures and ornaments on the walls incase he would later need the information if moving through the dark. So far he had yet to see an accessible vent incase of a surrounded attack. Neji waved a hand in front of Lees face to capture his attention, then faced him towards the reception desk.
"Oh!" Lee quickly ruffled around in the backpack he had bought and pulled out a wad of money Tsunade had given them. Perhaps a little too much to bring for such a small village.
A few people gave Lee curious glances, but other than that none approached. He gave the lady at the reception desk a few notes then placed the money back in to his backpack, soon meeting face with an aggravated Neji.
"Lee, next time don't go waving that much money around." Neji growled, huffing a little before turning and stalking towards their room with the key perched between a few fingers. Lee blinked a few times and gave the lady at the desk a small smile and a bow before setting off after his partner.
"Wait! I don't know our room number" He called after Neji, trying hard not to run at a faster speed due to the people around him who would find it somewhat odd.
Neji rolled his eyes, finally slowing down as he approached the room. "Don't worry, its just here" Neji mumbled as he started to unlock the hotel room. He gave the key a turn and the door popped open. Both Ninja walked inside, quickly dropping off their bags before looking for the bathroom.
"Seeming we are in a village without ninja, we need to get rid of some of our…accessories" Neji said as he walked in to the bathroom with Lee following close behind. "Out headband for one, we should have taken them off before we entered. It's to late now so never mind. Strip Lee."
"W-what?" Lee jumped, a little startled at the direct order.
"We need to change in to some normal clothes," Neji ignored Lee's reaction and started to remove his own clothes. "If anyone asks, Lee, this marking on my head is simply a tattoo."
"Alright" Lee answered and starting to undress himself. "Where are the normal clothes we have to wear?"
Neji motioned a hand towards the bedroom before placing his clothes on the nearest table top, which happened to be the sink. Instead of waiting for Lee Neji spared the other ninja a small glance of interest, scanning the others naturally thin frame, and started towards the bedroom.
It was only minutes later when Rock Lee, now only in green and white colored boxers made his way in to the bedroom with Neji. There was an embarrassing silence which Lee eventually broke.
"Ohm, are those mine?" Lee asked, voice soft as he pointed to a sweat shirt and a pair of dark blue jeans hanging over the bed.
"I don't see anyone else naked in the room" Neji said as he pulled his shirt over his head. He grabbed the clothes with his free hand and threw them over to Lee who caught them skillfully. By the time they were both dressed Lee had managed to accidentally smash a lamp and Neji had scowled at him and told him to clean it up.
When those two were together, it was always an interesting day. Pieces of glass and painted clay were chucked in to the bin the bedroom had provided by the door. Neji rolled his eyes once more at Lee, mumbling something about his clumsiness and peeked out the front window.
"We have some time, lets go to the spa" Neji suggested whilst stepping back from the window.
Lee grinned and nodded in return. He had only seen the spas while looking through the street, it would be wonderful to go and take one. Thought, sometimes he did get dizzy in them, but that was probably because he liked to train in them.
A second passed and Lee had Grabbed Neji by the hand, smile still on his face, and started off towards the spa. Just as he had thought, it was a beautiful place to see. Just about everyone who was in the hotel was taking a spa bath.
"Hey Neji, look at this" Lee yelled loudly, catching the attention of a few people in the water.
"What is it?" Neji asked with a little frustration sounding in his voice. He had told Lee at least three times to be quite while in the village, yet the black haired boy didn't seem to know what 'quiet' meant.
"The fountain! isn't it beautiful" Lee jumped from his spot on the ground and grabbed a few notes out of his pocket. "Maybe I can buy it for Sakura-san! We have enough here don't we?"
For the second time that evening Neji saw Lee waving around money and quickly grabbed his hand, emphasize softly, and pulled it towards the ground. Lee gave him a skeptical look, then finally realizing what he was doing formed his lips in to a 'o'.
"Alright Lee, we could but we are not" A few people around them were beginning to stare at Lee, some even whispering to the people beside them. "That money is for our trip come in to the spa." Neji noticed the people were looking at him, staring even.
Lee didn't seem to mind the attention, in fact he smiled at the people and said hello. In return a few of them jumped in surprise, but the elder nodded at him and greeted him back. Neji grabbed him by the arm and forced him in to the baths, he was creating a scene as always.
"Just sit here and relax" Neji commanded softly as he lay back in the water. Lee nodded in response, trying hard not to start chatting to a few people that were staring.
"Neji…" Lee paused, putting a hand to his chin. "Do you want to go and sit by the fountain?"
It was then and there Neji swore to himself he would kill himself by the end of the week. Not only was he lying naked in water, save for a towel, but now he couldn't get Lee to let him relax. It was unusual for him to be lazy, but Lee tended to bring the worst out in him.
"No Lee, you can go over there yourself" Neji muttered, moments later watching the water ripple as Lee set off towards the fountain. Neji was so absorbed in the heat and relaxation he failed to notice a few bulky men trailing after Lee.