As Long As There Is a Chance
Rating: Everyone approved!
Pairing: Hint-age at Sakura and Lee…more from Lee's side…
Disclaimer: Me no own Naruto. If I did…more guy on guy action would be suggested…and I would be sued…by every nation…
Timeline: During the time skip. (Yes…I did something within a time line! How brave of me!)
AN: Yes…my second Naruto fic. Best described by just reading it. I'm terrible at summaries…I hope this one gets more reviews than my other one…but I really like this fic…it's a step up from the normally non-romantic stuff I spew out…
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As Long As There Is a Chance
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Lee wasn't the sort of person to hold grudges in any way, and he certainly respected Sakura's feelings on this particular mater, but…
Why did she have to keep pining for him?
It certainly wasn't that Lee was a bitter person in any way either; he was often courteous to Sakura despite countless numbers of rejections over the space of the past 2 years, but…
Is he all she'll ever think about?
Also, Lee was training harder in a misguided attempt to prove to her how strong he could be, and that he was stronger than him, and now he could open the first four gates without tiring, and he was getting faster, but…
Every time I try to show her she's always busy pining over him…
Rock Lee, the self proclaimed 'beautiful green beast' of the village of Konoha had been pining after the same woman now for the past two years. Ever since he had laid eyes on her, impressed by her sharp wits and her hidden potential, that had been it. His heart had closed to all others aside from his 'precious little cherry blossom'.
Hirono Sakura was slightly less pleased at this, for she had already turned him down flat several times, and sometimes seemed too embarrassed to even admit to anyone she had even exchanged words with him!
By now, with that amount of rejection, anyone would have thought Lee would have given up by now (and Lee sometimes thought about doing so – after all, how much rejection can one man take?) but then Sakura would look at him in that way, or say things that made him melt away at the knees, or give that smile to him; the one that was so natural and so comforting…
As far as obsessions went…Rock lee had it bad…
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"Give it up, Lee."
"Nani?"
He and Neji had exchanged words on the subject before, and Neji's attitude – much to Lee's dismay – was the one that spoke of what Lee feared doing the most…letting her go…
"She's not interested. Are those eyebrows putting a strain on your brain?" Neji's tone was bitter and distasteful; as if what he was saying was the utter obvious and that it hurt him to even spit these words out to his 'delusional' comrade.
Lee was not to be persuaded otherwise.
"But…but…she gave me all those flowers daily in the hospital! She visited me everyday, Neji!" His case was a strong one in all fairness, but Neji could find fault in even Tsunade's decisions…not that it was hard…but you get the point.
"She was doing that to try and distract her mind from the 'absent without leave' Sasuke. She soon went back to him during the Chuunin finals, didn't she?" Neji closed his soft ice white eyes and shook his head, as if he were giving a lecture to a child…unfortunately, Lee was no child, and hated being patronised.
"She offered me all of those kind words during my operation!" Slightly weak compared to the last argument, but still valid.
"Moral support for a friend. She does that with everyone she considers to be her friend…even Naruto…and she hated him more than you to start off with!" Neji scoffed. Winning this argument was all too easy…Lee hardly put up a fight against Neji's cool headed logic…perhaps because Lee's own style was to let his fists to the talking for him…
"But…but…maybe there is a chance…she spoke to me after Sasuke left for the Sound…" And there it was…hook, line, and sinker…another victory for Hyuuga Neji.
"She spoke to me after Sasuke left. As a matter of fact, Lee, she spoke to a lot of people. It's called socialising, Lee. People who don't spend all their time training away in vain efforts to overcome their peers do it all the time! Get over yourself. She isn't interested! After all, do the words 'freak' and 'fuzzy brows' mean anything to you?"
And that was the end of that chapter.
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Truth to be told, those words did mean a lot to Lee. They meant heartache and hurt and rejection all in one, but…she never called him that anymore! She called him by his correct title! She called him 'Rock Lee' or even just 'Lee' depending on her mood!
As Shikimaru would have put it, love could be so…troublesome…
At this point…Lee was inclined to agree…
And still he continued to pine after her, until one day he decided to stop…completely…just not care anymore…Gai-Sensei wanted him to train more, and so he would! With brutality and harshness and…and…
And then he noticed Sakura…
Stood there on her own, the wind rushing through her hair, her soft pale face looking out over the bridge, taking in the view of the Cherry Blossom trees as they cast a veil of their soft pink petals around her; making her beauty seem more radiant than ever!
Lee froze…and his jaw was trying so hard to close…but it just wouldn't…
His perfect, beautiful, shining angel was stood there, looking all doe forlorn, probably mourning over Sasuke…and Lee couldn't tear his bugging out eyes away from her. Inside him, there was a form of inner Lee shouting at him Hello? Remember our 'forget all about her' plan? Where did that go?
He was inclined to agree with his inner self, but then she turned, and noticed him, and smiled…
"Hey, Lee…" Her voice rang out so softly, so delicate, and yet Lee never failed to catch any emotion within it. Pain, with a little hint of sadness, with a soft relief of someone to talk to. It was like her voice was entrapping him; urging him to some closer, to speak to her…if the Taijutsu user could find his tongue right at that moment…
"Sa-Saku-ra…?" He realised he was stammering and cleared his throat, trying to keep to his new promise or getting over her.
Just as a friend, just as a friend. His inner voice was repeating over and over in his head, and his chest ached as he sidled up to her, nearly two heads taller than her now, placing his hands on the wooden supports of the bridge.
Like we did when I had my operation…or was it before? And she gave me the flowers…a beautiful bouquet…and I had to pick each petal off some of the flowers to make my decision…
Lee blinked from the sudden memory and breathed in deeply, as if composing himself once more, before turning to her and flashing one of his greatest – yet fake – smiles.
"Sakura-chan!" His smile dazzled, his manner was…awkward, "How nice it is to see you after all these weeks! I have not seen you in such a long time! I trust you are doing well?"
She looked up at him, slightly taken aback by his loud and formal manner, but then cast her eyes back to the rippling water beneath them.
"As far as things go…I'm okay I guess…thanks, Lee…" Again, there was a hint of raw emotion and Lee felt his inner walls slowly crumbling.
Forget a promise to myself! Sakura-chan is worth every last breath that comes out of me!
"Are…are you sure, Sakura-chan?" Here it was…either it would come out as a ramble of nothingness, or as support to the woman he adored, "Your voice…seems…sad. I've noticed it…lately. You haven't spoken to anyone since…Naruto went away training…you've tried to…keep busy at the hospital…which is fine by the way! Nothing wrong with that! But I guess…what I'm trying to say is…"
Time slowed, and the words were echoing in his mind long before they passed his trembling dry lips.
I'll always be there for you…Sakura-chan…
"I…I'll always be there for you…Sakura-chan."
That was it…no 'nice guy' poses…no false smiles…and defiantly no need for a rigorous training session…just Rock Lee's own emotion trembling past his lips…barely audible…but still heard by the woman he wanted to hear them.
She smiled, and her eyes closed, her mind calculating his words, before she turned to face him unexpectedly, and one hand was placed over his rock hard abs, her fingers gently touching them through the spandex suit he always wore.
He could feel it too! The suit was like a second skin, and he could feel her soft delicate fingertips grazing over his developing muscles, and it made him want to die right there right now; knowing he had died in pure bliss.
Just where was she going to head from there?
His mind swam with all the possibilities as her hand lingered there and her other arm sidled up the side of his face to run her fingers through his soft silky black hair (which she herself was surprised to find was completely smooth and silky, despite her earlier fears about it being sweat logged) bringing his height down to her own level with a gentle pull on his head.
They were face to face now and she leaned into his face, his heart nearly skipping a beat, her lips nearly against his own…and the she continued past that and towards his ear…
Rock Lee was in so much shock and confusion that he nearly missed her reply to his previous words, but it somehow got through his love clogged head.
"I know that…Rock Lee…"
He stood there in mute shock as she broke contact and left him standing there frozen in place, watching her back getting smaller and smaller as she strode away from him, his heart nearly threatening to wrench itself out of his chest.
In spite of himself he found his own promise shattered.
She
could refuse me a thousand times, and I could try to forget all about
my precious Sakura Flower…but then she will do things, say things,
that sound remotely like a chance of being with her…and I will be
left like a fool…wondering what to do with the pieces of my
heart… The worst part is…
As long as there is even one chance…
Love still finds me running back to her…my beautiful…precious…person I wish to protect…
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Ashford2ashford: Yeah…most of my updates have been pretty much Lee-centric right now. I thought I'd balance out my Yaoi-centered fic, with a nice little Sakura and Lee (sittin' in a tree………sorry) one shot. I usually suck at doing one shots; always finding myself tempted to create a bloody chapter riddled novel, but I'm pretty proud of this one…
Anyway, reviews are much appreciated. No flames please, as is the usual policy. I hope you enjoyed my take on perhaps the most romantic green beast in all of Konoha. I'll probably be writing a few more on Lee…