The Girl In The Glade
Lee was running through the forest on the outskirts of Konoha. He was thirteen, but he was still a Genin. That was about to change though. Gai-sensei had agreed to enter their team into the Chuunin exam this year. Lee was sure he would pass. He almost felt ready to challenge Neji again, and he was hoping the exam would give him that opportunity. He knew from discussing it with Gai-sensei that most of the exam would be conducted in their three-man team, but that the main part, the last part, would be conducted individually.
Lee was looking forward to making it to the end, and getting to fight all the strong contenders. It was getting dark, so he was about to make his way back to the village for supper before his post-dinner training session which lasted until midnight, when he stumbled upon something completely unexpected.
In the middle of a clearing, there was the most beautiful girl Lee had ever seen. She looked like a blonde angel. She was wearing a forehead-protector, and on the trees surrounding her were numerous Shuriken practice-boards. He could tell by looking at them that, while this girl had nothing on Ten-Ten, she was still an excellent shot. Considering the fact that Shurikens were Ten-Ten's forte, there was no shame in being deemed inferior to her in that category. Just then, the girl started to stir.
Her eyes opened, and she sat up. Lee was intrigued. He knew she must be one of that year's rookie Genins, because she was definitely a ninja, but he'd never seen her before. When the girl sat up and looked around, she spotted him. She looked surprised, then worried. Her hand shot to her hair, and ran down from the top to the end of one of two ponytails. A dark look flashed across her face before she stood up.
She walked over to the nearest practice-board and started pulling out the kunai and shuriken, and packing them into her bag. Lee took a deep breath and walked over to her. "My name is Rock Lee. I don't believe we've met. Let's go out together! I will protect you until I die!" He flashed her one of his best 'cool-guy' smiles, and his teeth twinkled in the moonlight.
The girl glowered at him. "Are you an idiot or something? I'm a ninja, I don't need anyone's protection. I'm perfectly capable of protecting myself. Besides, I don't have time for boys, I only have time for training. Get lost." Lee looked dejected for a bit, but then he had an idea. "How about we train together then? I'm an expert at taijutsu. Perhaps I could help you with that."
The girl hesitated, as if she wanted to say yes. "Maybe some other time. I was just heading back for dinner." Lee grinned. "Me too! How about I treat you?" This time the girl smiled. "You just spoke my favourite words. How about this? If you can bring me Ichiraku ramen before it gets cold, I'll train with you tomorrow. I need to work on my taijutsu for the Chuunin exam anyway." Lee was impressed, it wasn't often rookie Genins were entered into the exam. "Alright. If the ramen is cold by the time I get back with it, I'll do five hundred push-ups." With that, he sped off, leaving nothing but a dust-trail in his wake.