A/N: I think the big challenge here is avoiding using contractions when writing Lee's dialog...I'm sure I'll screw it up at some future point. If I do please forgive me, politely point it out and I'll fix it.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. It is on my Christmas wish list but I don't think I've been good enough for Santa to put the rights in my stocking.

Chapter 2: Is It Over Yet?

Their next day of searching started off as more of the same: Leap through the trees, look for the evidence of a trail, and up in the trees again. It ran through this cycle over and over – Sometimes it seems like a ninja's work is never done.

"It appears that our quarry is not too much further ahead." Neji was actually smiling. The smile was from the thought that 'Oh good, soon I can get on to something truly worthy of my talents.'

Soon, they were looking down from the trees at a group of six that certainly matched the descriptions of the men they were looking for. Neji jumped down in front of them: "We have come to reclaim some stolen goods; I would recommend you surrender to us now."

"Do you think you can take us?" the largest of the group challenged.

"Two each, I think those odds work for us." Lee leapt down behind the men.

Sakura made her entrance completing a triangle around the group. They launched their attacks with ease. Neji took on the leader, and rapidly stopped him. Apparently, these men relied solely on brute strength to accomplish their goals. The second man went down even faster.

Sakura's opponents totally underestimated her. She took them out with one devastating blow each.

The only injury to the team was when one of Lee's opponents managed to slash him deeply to his left hand by pure dumb luck. Unlike the other's opponents, his acted in tandem.

Neji shook his head. "This was too easy. Sakura, take care of Lee's hand. I'm going to check their packs for our missing item. This is not even worth using the Byakugan on. "

Sakura reached out for Lee's hand. "Here, let me try it this way." She wrapped her hands around either side of his injured one. She focused her healing energies and gently pulled his hand toward her chest. The motion drew Lee forward and in the natural flow of things he put his free arm around her. She smiled up at him as she released his hand.

"All done." She took her hands and reached up to his face. They leaned together to kiss. His other arm slid to her waist and drew her in tighter. In a frantic movement, they began to explore each other's mouths. Then suddenly they remembered where they were. They released each other and looked over to where Neji was. Thankfully, he was still rummaging through the packs and hadn't noticed. They contemplated each other again, Sakura blushed, then grabbed for her med pack and water bottle. She pulled out a strip of cloth, wet it down and wiped at Lee's cheeks and chin. She then cleaned her own hands.

"Sorry, that was from your wound." She said as she snatched his left hand and began to wipe at it. She whispered, "Did you get any blood on my clothes?" She turned her hip to try to see, while Lee bent to get a better look for himself.

He met her eyes again. "There is nothing obvious that I can see."

"Good."

"Found it!" called Neji as he started to turn back toward them.

Sakura quickly dabbed at Lee's hand." I'm finished over here too." She bowed her head slightly and added softly, "That was close." Since she was still holding on to his hand he squeezed hers.

"Thank you, my treasure," he whispered back.

They had resumed their travels for about two hours: "Evening's coming in." Neji started, "The place we're off to is less than 3 days away, but we might as well take some time and catalog the other items we found."

They worked compiling a list of the other items until dark: there were potential rewards for these, so there may be extra profit for the Konoha coffers if anyone had put in a reward request. Sakura once again made tea for everyone since the night was cooling rapidly under clear skies. Lee and Sakura tried to signal each other to set up so they could sleep back to back when not on watch. At least, the extra warmth would feel good in the cool evening: they knew there was no obvious way for them to share body heat with Neji around.

The watch cycle ran the same as the last one: Sakura, Neji, & Lee. Sakura would do like she had done on the rainy night: flop around 'in her sleep' until she got to be where she wanted to be. Just knowing that Lee was right there made her smile. When this mission was over, they should arrange for a real date. 'Goodnight, my love.' she thought, feeling the additional warmth of the blush that crossed her face.

Again the next day was proving to be uneventful as they headed off to the return the stolen object. When they camped for the night, Sakura decided to look at the thing they had recovered. 'What is so special about this?' she contemplated it, almost disgusted. 'This is probably the trashiest looking piece of art I've ever seen. There's nothing special about it, as far as I can tell: It's not a precious metal, neither is it porcelain or fine china. What could possibly be the value of this?' She looked at its structure then at its base 'Is that a hidden panel?' She debated checking out the possibility. If she looked she'd know why the item was so valuable. However, in the back of her mind, she remembered Naruto's struggle during the Chuunin exams not to open the scroll when they had only one. 'No,' she thought, 'I can't do this.' Her inner voice screamed 'Eewww! But it's soooo tacky. Don't you really want to know what makes it special?'

Lee came up behind her and whispered, "What are you thinking, my treasure?" A shudder of pleasure ran down Sakura's spine.

"You really don't want to know." she turned to smile at him as him as she the put the piece of artwork down and took his hand.

They decided to switch the watch set up that night: Neji first, Lee second, and Sakura last watch tonight. It made them a little bolder: They figured that they would have about half an hour to talk quietly before they would have to get to sleep. She turned to re-pack the sculpture, then went to get some personal items out.

"Neji is patrolling, we can cuddle up while leaning against this tree." Lee put his arm around her shoulder.

Sakura leaned against him. "Where do we go from here?" She tilted her mouth to meet his. Once again they kissed, and found themselves caught up in the moment. Sakura could feel Lee's heart racing as their chests pressed together. It just added to the excitement knowing she had this effect on him. They pulled apart, almost breathless, and regarded each other.

"It's like I can't think straight. I want so much..." Sakura blushed as she spoke, "but I know Neji could come back at any moment."

"I feel the same way." Lee leaned back against the tree, guiding her to lean back against his arm. "We just have to get through this mission. After that we can try to find time to be together in a more normal way." They sighed almost as one and he kissed her lightly on the side of her head.

The next day they decided to make a game out of their need for contact. While Neji was in the lead, they would follow and hold hands, whether it was normal walking or treetop leaping. When they took a brief break around midday Neji turned to them:

"It seemed strange to me that, as I listened to your movements behind me, it almost seemed like I was being followed by one person instead of two." He looked from one of them to the other like he expected an explanation. Lee stared at his feet.

"Just a little prank we came up with before turning in last night." Sakura replied after what was almost too long a silence. "In a way it was a mental test to keep all of our skills sharp. It was hard trying to keep our synchronization up without weakening our alertness to our surroundings. We hoped you'd pick up on the subtleness of it all."

When they made camp that evening Lee could hardly contain himself, as soon as Neji had left to do a brief patrol, he said: "Can you believe that?" He took both of Sakura's hands in his. "Are we really that much in synch? I was not even trying to match your pacing."

"I wasn't trying either." She met his eyes, smiling. "Maybe it's just another sign that we are destined for each other." They entwined their fingers and pulled closer to one another. Sakura suddenly stopped and looked down to their hands. "We keep getting caught up in each other, what if we get too distracted, we're on a mission. That should be our priority."

Lee bowed his head. "You are right, the mission should come first. Tomorrow, we will be able to return the item to its owner. Then we shall be on our way back to Konoha; four more days does not seem a long time to avoid temptation."

A/N: Okay, I picked on Neji just a little bit again in this. However I do think he's a practical sort who would conserve his chakra for when he really needs it.