Takes place near the beginning of the third Naruto movie ("The Animal Panic of Crescent Moon Island" aka "Guardians of the Crescent Moon Kingdom.")

Sakura didn't want to put a name to the feeling she got whenever Lee joined team seven. There was no question that he was there to replace Sasuke, and that would never sit well with her.

It wasn't that they didn't work well together when Lee was with them. In fact, Sakura found them anticipating each other's instincts and complimenting each other's strengths as if it was the most natural thing in the world. Yet no matter how well Lee worked with them, he just wasn't Sasuke. That was what it came down to. Lee was not Sasuke. To say he was a replacement wasn't fair to either of them, or to her.

Besides her own trepidation about thinking of Lee as a replacement, Sakura continued to remind herself that Lee was part of his own team. There was no reason for him to stay beside her and Naruto when his team needed him. This mission might be the last they did together. After that, even if there was a more permanent replacement for Sasuke, it wouldn't be Lee. In that case surely her agitated feelings would fade, and she would be glad she had never examined them closely enough to name them.

On the third night of their mission, Sakura took the second watch with Lee. The desert had become cold once the sun went down, so that Sakura stayed wrapped tightly in her blanket for warmth. She kept looking over at Lee, sitting opposite her with his back rigidly straight. He was still wearing his shorts, and had even laid aside the blanket he'd been sleeping in. Sakura was sure he was holding himself so stiff just so that he couldn't shiver in the cold night air.

"Lee-san," she called softly, making him start around and focus on her.

She knew at once that if she asked politely he would never, ever admit to being cold. Instead she simply scooted a little closer and tossed her own blanket over his shoulder, so that it draped half over him. Before he could catch her eye, she shifted so that they were back to back, and adjusted her half of the blanket around her.

"I don't want you to catch a cold," Sakura pointed out. She wanted to appear offhand and matter-of-fact about it, but the words came out softer than she meant them to, making her sound shy at best.

"Ah. . . Thank you."

Lee at least took the hint, pulling the blanket up over both shoulders and helping her arrange the edge to fall to one side, so that it would fall away from both of them equally if they had any need to move quickly.

There was an unmistakable heat along her spine where their backs touched, but that couldn't be helped. If they moved apart the blanket wouldn't cover them both. At least Lee wasn't making a big deal about the slight contact, though his posture was strictly rigid. And now it was somewhat warmer under the blanket, thanks to their combined body heat.

The longer they sat together, the more at ease Sakura felt with the slight contact. Her attention was on the dark expanses of sand and rock around her, waiting, alert for the slightest sound or movement. She hardly had the attention to spare for Lee, only for the fact that he was there, that he was warm, and maybe a touch of awareness that neither the proximity nor the warmth was unwelcome.

Then she felt Lee shift minutely behind her, his hand searching along her side, discovering her hand and clasping it. Sakura stiffened in surprise as Lee gave her hand a light squeeze. His grip relaxed at once, and she tried to yank her hand back, only to feel him squeeze again, then relax, and then a third time.

It wasn't until that third squeeze that she recognized what Lee was doing as morse code. That was just like him, she tried to remind herself, and she did trust him.

She allowed him to press his message into her hand. She was concentrating only on that, and not the feeling of his bandages against the back of her hand.

'. . . group. North. Moving northwest. See torches.'

Sakura gave her hand a little shake once she was sure Lee was done with his message. He let her go easily enough. She could have snatched her hand back into her lap, where he wouldn't be able to reach it again, but instead she turned her hand over and caught his again. Palm-to-palm now, she could squeeze his hand in return, allowing her to talk back.

'How far?'

'Far. Past cliffs passed yesterday.'

That was something of a relief. Sakura had been afraid that the reason she couldn't hear anyone approaching was because of the blood pounding in her ears.

Lee kept her hand captive for what felt like hours, spelling out the progress of the distant company for her until they were far enough to be out of his sight. Sakura wasn't sure if she should expect him to release her hand once there was nothing else to say that needed to be said silently, or if she should perhaps demand it.

After a long moment, he pressed another message into her hand, very lightly. 'Should I let go?'

It wasn't until then that Sakura realized she was still gripping Lee's hand. Lightly, of course, but apparently enough to discourage him from rudely pulling away from her. With a deep breath, she relaxed her fingers, her face going hot at the realization that she had been firmly holding his hand. Only once she had let go did Lee slowly remove his hand.

"Sakura-san, I did not mean to startle you." Lee's voice was low, but he had so much of his usual intensity she was afraid he would be shouting in a moment. "I am very sorry, because I was not thinking. Please accept my apology."

For an answer, Sakura caught his hand again, pressing the message into his palm, 'It was a good idea. Don't mind' She was sure that would silence him more effectively than merely accepting his apology.

She felt Lee start against her back, and realized a little too late that the sound of his breathing had changed. He was nervous now, and a bit excited. "Sa-Sakura-san, I-"

"Don't."

Sakura squeezed his hand hard, much harder than she had squeezed the prince's hand the other day, because she was sure she knew what he wanted to say. It was the last thing she wanted to hear right now. Not when she had gotten so used to him that she was comfortable with their close proximity. Not when she had already trusted him not to have any ulterior motives when he took her hand in his.

To her surprise Lee squeezed back, nearly as hard as she had, though she was sure he was making an effort not to reach the point of pain. Her heart pounded and for a moment she thought he was misunderstanding her message, taking it for encouragement when she absolutely hadn't meant it that way.

"I am sorry." Lee told her, as he dropped her hand at last.

She didn't need to look to know he would be sitting at attention now, his chin up and his face set with duty.

"Don't be."

Sakura's heart was in her throat. Not for the first time, she felt a painful ache behind her ribs. It might be guilt, for not even being willing to hear Lee's feelings. Or it might be misery, that she had not been allowed to tell herself that Lee was only her teammate and her friend. Or it might even be a sort of heartache.

Sitting in the dark, back-to-back with Lee and thinking of him as her teammate, she again brought Sasuke into her thoughts. Lee might be a temporary replacement for Sasuke on their team, but she wasn't making him a replacement in any other sense. The feelings he had once confessed to her didn't replace her past feelings for Sasuke. And her feelings for him. . . .

She wouldn't put a name to her feelings for Lee. She couldn't even consider finding a name for the emotion that made something inside her chest ache.

Sakura stared out into the night, keeping her focus on watching for a night attack. Feeling, but not thinking about, the solid warmth of Lee's back against hers.