Lee is awoken by the sounds of his alarm clock and Genma. Of course he forgets to turn it off, and why didn't Shira turn it off. Lee looks down and he's still curled up on his chest. Lee's eyes widen as he looks from Shira to his father, who stands looking at them.
"It isn't what it seems." Lee says. Lee gently moves Shira's head to the pillow.
"Oh it isn't?" Genma asks with a knowing smirk. "Can I talk to you in the living room, maybe?"
Lee sighs, but he follows. Genma leads him into the living room and he looks at Lee for a long time. Lee wants to say something, but Genma puts his hand up. Genma looks around the room, and Lee wonders what he's thinking about. He and Shira weren't doing anything. They were just laying on each other, like friends do.
"So..." Genma starts. "Are you and Shira dating?"
"No." Lee answers.
"Do you like Shira?" Genma asks toothpick wiggling in his mouth.
"What do you mean by that?" Lee asks clueless. He and Shira are just friends, nothing more.
"I mean do you want to marry Shira. Do you want to be more than friends with Shira?" Genma tries to think of what to say. "Do you like guys or…"
"I don't know what I like?" Lee asks. "And I like Shira as a friend. We're just friends, dad. I promise."
"Are you sure?" Genma asks. "Because if you're more than friends, I am perfectly fine with that. If you didn't know I like men as well." How could Lee not know with all the trail of broken hearts Genma leaves behind. He has had boyfriends that knock on the door and call at all hours of the morning.
"I know you like guys, so why not date Guy sensei?" Lee asks. It's no secret that Guy has the biggest crush on Genma, but Genma doesn't spare him the time of the day. Lee would love for his dojo teacher and dad to date. Genma and Guy can be happy. That's all he wants for two of his favorite people in the world to be happy.
"Well that's complicated." Genma says.
"Okay." Lee says. "Anyways me and Shira are friends. There's nothing for you to worry about."
"Does Shira like you?" Genma asks. Genma can sense these sort of things. He's seen the way the act when they're around each other.
"I don't think he does. He's just a friend. I mean we're close, but…." Lee thinks about it. There's no way Shira can like him. It's not possible. They're just friends, right? "We just train together? And we sleep in the same bed. We were watching movies and he fell asleep?"
"Okay, whatever you say." Genma says. "So what do you and your boyfriend, I mean friend, want for breakfast." Genma walks over to the stove.
"Hey!" Lee crosses his arms like a child who doesn't get it's way. "That's not funny?"
"Can you just tell me what you want for breakfast? I can make pancakes." Genma says.
"Oh yeah that sounds nice." Lee says.
"Wait no way!" Genma closes the fridge. "I forgot it's five in morning, and it's a Saturday. I'm going back to sleep." Genma looks out the window and see's that the sun has not come out yet. "I'll be up at nine or ten and I'll make them." Genma goes back into his room.
Lee sighs. Well at least there's training. Lee loves to train and work out, so that's a bonus. He decides to make him and Shira some fruit smoothies before they work out.
On cue, Shira comes walking out of the room with a smile on his face. He's happy this morning. Lee and him shared a nice night. And more importantly he slept on Lee's chest. He knows Lee's not the smartest person in the world, but something about him makes Shira happy. Shira likes being around him and he loves him. He loves Lee, but he doesn't even know it.
"Morning Shira." Lee says. "Wanna help me cut up some fruits and vegetables for the smoothies."
"Sure." Shira walks over and Lee passes him some strawberries, berries, and bananas. "I don't think we need to cut up the berries."
"Right." Lee chuckles. "Anyways about last night. Well you…"
"Don't mention it." Shira turns to the cutting board.
"You know I think of us as friends…" Lee says. "I think that we're really good friends and I hope one day we can…" Shira hangs on to those words. He hopes we can what. "Meet in battle."
"Huh?" Shira looks at him crazy.
"I mean we can fight in battle one day. You know, we've never gone up against each other, and I think it would be fun if we did." Lee says. "We only spar."
"Well during our competition in two weeks, watch out." Shira smiles a fake smiles. He can't stand his heart right now. Is it breaking? What's the matter with him? Lee will never understand. He doesn't understand how Shira feels. He can't understand, does he even know how much he cares about him?
Does he notice the small things he does for him or the words of encouragement he gives him? Does he know that he loves him? He love him, and he doesn't care about the hair cut, weirdness, and the green jumpsuit.
He likes Lee for Lee. Lee is perfect.
"So you chopping up those strawberries?" Lee asks humming.
"Oh right." Shira says as he chops the berries.
"We're going to be friends forever. I hope I'm the best man at your wedding. See how the power of youth is an amazing thing." Lee talks on and on. "Guy told me I need to work on my speed, so I think I might do forty minutes on the treadmill at top speed."
"Oh you'll die." Shira chuckles. "Don't be reckless Lee. We still have practice today."
"Of course. And whatever we do today will be perfect. I will defeat Neji in battle." Lee says.
"You did already." Shira says.
"No that was only sparing. It wasn't a real competition." Lee says.
"You'll get 'em." Shira says. "I'm sure of it."
"Right." Lee chops into the mango. "Then Sasuke, Itachi, and anyone else. I want to become the best fighter in the world." He isn't going to back down. Lee is determined and he doesn't care anymore.
"I'll root for you." Shira smiles. Lee if only you knew how I felt…
(BREAK)
The dojo is erupting with spirits and the power of youth. People are trying as hard as they can because later on Guy sensei has decided to have matches in the evening. So he has dismissed them all to go train. Today they would do weapon battle. Of course the weapons were fake, so they wouldn't kill each other. At the competitions though, they can care less about that stora thing.
"If you get stabbed, it's your fault." Lee remembers the cold shrug the ref had given them before the match.
Lee cringes at this. He's not good with weapons at all. He is better with hand to hand combat. That's what he's been training the hardest in. TenTen is the best. Lee had convinced her to teach him how to use weapons, which she helped him somewhat. The nunchuck especially, he hit himself in the face twice, but he can use it moderately now. He had to ice his face for days, Shira of course helped him out.
Lee is sparing against Shira with the swords. TenTen is yelling telling them to work on their form. "Lee you need to be lighter on your feet. Think of the weapons as an extension of yourself. Everyone won't be so easy to beat this round." TenTen explains. "They will go for your weakness because you don't know how to guard yourself properly. And your stance is lacking." Lee wonders why sword fighting can be so hard. He needs to think.
Lee doges Shira as the wooden swords come flying at his side. He sees the attack but then he realizes it's a fake out. Shira switches his movement and goes right for his stomach, and Lee is unable to dodge. He loss. Lee curses himself at the moment. Why is he so weak? Why can't he be stronger like all the other people in the class?
He had trained all summer. There was not stop blood, sweat, and tears. He worked his ass off getting better and better. He can't fall behind in one area. He needs to excel.
The lotus of the leaf blooms twice. He becomes determined. "C'mon let's do this again." Lee says.
"Alright." Shira holds up his weapon in a stance, ready to go on the defense. Lee begins his assault, moving quickly. Shira is just as fast as he dodges the wooden stick with ease. Lee goes for a low blow, but Shira jumps in the air. The wooden stick misses his feet. Lee tries to hit him while he tries to catch his balance, but Shira knocks his stick against Lee's.
Lee backs up trying to create distance. He has no plan, but he needs to hit his opponent. So what can he do? Lee realizes he has to go on the offense as Shira runs up to him swinging his sword in a cross motion. Lee backs up almost tripping over his own feet and then came a low attack.
Lee has figured it out. He's trying to get him off balance then strike. So Lee needs to take it to him as well. Then he'll throw him off guard and win.
Lee regains his balance and began to dodge Shira's swings with ease. Lee and Shira are both evenly matched in speed. Lee moves quickly and then see's his opening. He goes in for a swing, which Shira is quick to dodge. In a quick motion Lee ducks as Shira waves the sword in the air trying to catch Lee in the side. It only catches air, and Lee can hear the wind that it cut through. Lee smiles as he brings his sword upward and he knows Shira can't dodge it. Lee catches his leg.
"Ha." Lee cheers.
Shira smiles. "You got me, Lee."
"I think I'm getting the hang of this." Lee says as he waves the sword in the air.
Shira makes distance not wanting to catch the wooden sword in the head. He smiles watching Lee jumping up and down.
TenTen smiles as well as she congratulates Lee on a victory.
But the celebration stops as the door opens revealing three kids Lee is sure he hasn't seen before. Walking in are three teenagers, and a woman Lee assumed to be their mother. They walk over to Guy and he greets them with a smile. He can see everyone around the dojo with their eyes on those three.
"So they're here." TenTen says.
"What?" Lee asks. "Who's here? Who's here?" No one would answer him.
"That's them." Shira says. "I thought they were coming a week from now."
"I did too." TenTen states as she watches them. There's a girl with blonde hair, a boy with red hair, and a boy who had purple marks on his face, but his hair was hidden on his cat like hoodie.
"Who are they?" Lee asked.
"Those are the sand siblings." TenTen spats as if she's mad. "They were the strongest people at their dojo. They went to nationals every year…since they started. They're the best and no one can compete with them. The one with the red hair, Gaara, is awesome. They consider him the best weapon master; they claim he's ten times better than Sasuke and Itachi. Then there's Temari, the blonde one, she uses a fan in the weapon competition, and then there's Kankuro, cat ears, who uses puppets. They're the best and if they compete with us today, we might lose. But the good thing is that they are not that good with hand to hand combat."
"Oh yeah." Lee says.
"What do you mean they placed at nationals." Shira argues.
"Oh well they got third and fourth." TenTen says. "In weapons they got first."
"Even Sasuke hasn't placed within the top five at their local meet, and Itachi only got fifth and that was in hand to hand. They're better than them?" Lee gulps, He is a little hesitant, but he will not bag down to an opponent. He will stand his ground. He will beat all of them. They are his new foes, although he can't help but look at the red head. He's supposed to be the best. "The red haired one's name is Gaara, right?"
"Yeah." TenTen says.
"Oh." Lee studies the redhead one. So he's the strongest and he doesn't really look like it. He isn't muscular and he's skin is very white, much like Sasuke's. He also doesn't have eyebrows, but he wears eyeliner around both of his eyes. It gives him a very goth look.
(BREAK)
So then comes the matches and just like TenTen predicted the sand siblings are participating. TenTen curses their existence, while Lee is still staring at them. They haven't gone yet and Lee see's Neji beat Kiba in just a few moments, he had to win because of his lost yesterday. Neji is a prideful human being, who doesn't lose to someone like Lee. Kiba, on the other hand, is one of the kids who go to private school. He goes with Shira. He has a weird thing about dogs. He can't get enough of them. His dog Akamaru is his weapon in the weapon matches, which according to the overseers it's alright.
"Alright next we will have Naruto and Kankuro." Kakashi said.
Naruto smiled as he got up. "Go Naruto!" Lee shouted and so did everyone else in their group, save for Shikamaru, who could care less.
"I'm going to win believe it." Naruto points to Sasuke. "You better watch and learn Sasuke. I'm going to take you out sooner rather than later." Sasuke had already went against Shira, which Sasuke (of course) won. Shira didn't seem sad, as losing to Sasuke was pretty much a part of their job. Sasuke is too good. Lee had noticed Gaara watching Sasuke with a slight grin. Gaara is the most intriguing out of the three siblings. He has a mystery to him.
The match begins between Naruto and Kankuro. Kankuro uses strings to control his puppet against Naruto's two small wooden shuriken. Naruto isn't good with big swords and prefers the small ones. Naruto blocks one of the puppets arms, but Lee can see he's struggling. To defeat Kankuro, Naruto needs to get passed the puppet because Kankuro would be wide open.
Kankuro's puppet control is amazing and he moves the strings like nobodies business. Naruto is stuck when the puppet arms come out and grab him. The pull him inside the puppet and Lee can hear Naruto's muffled yelling.
"God...that was amazing." Lee says.
"I know. He just threw him in the puppet like he was nothing." TenTen says. "I don't know what the hell I would do if I had to go against someone like him."
Shira's mouth drops. "Poor Naruto."
"Yep." Choji whimpered.
"What a drag." Shikamaru says.
The puppet opens it's mid section and Naruto rolls out. "What the hell was that. He cheated. He cheated." Naruto accuses Kankuro. "A puppet!"
"Hey." Kankuro says. "Don't be mad. I won fair and square."
"Next time you're going down." Naruto points his wooden Kunai at Kankuro. Naruto can't believe he lost, as he complains about it to Lee and the others. Lee sits listening until Kakashi states the next match.
"TenTen and Temari." Kakashi says.
"Wish me luck." TenTen sighs. She has to face Temari of all people.
"I will." Lee says. Everyone in their group cheers for her.
TenTen grabs her staff and heads up to face Temari. When the match starts TenTen tries to poke Temari with her staff, but receives a metal fan in place of Temari. TenTen can tell the material of the fan, it's steel. TenTen knows she better stay back. If she doesn't this could get messy. She back flips away from her opponent counting her steps.
"Go TenTen!" Lee cheers from the crowd.
She pulls twirls her staff. She knows the attack she's going for.
"Give up." Temari says. "You may be a distance, but that doesn't mean a thing. I'll get you."
TenTen runs towards her with her staff out. He places it on the ground, and Lee's eyes widen. She's going for that move she's been working on. TenTen dives and does a front flips her staffs holds her as she's suspended in the air. She flips and brings the staff over hoping to land a tap on Temari.
Temari smirks as she blocks the attack. She moves her fan quickly, and TenTen stumbles as she falls back. Damn...TenTen mumbled as she see's Temari move her fan. She comes down to hit TenTen and TenTen dodges at the last minutes yet she falls. A energy hits her and she flies across the floor. TenTen loses.
"TENTEN!" Lee stands.
Kakashi helps her up, and she seems like she's okay.
"Next time, you won't get up." Temari smiles and goes to take her seat.
TenTen sighs and walks back over to Lee and the group. "I told you...those people are good. Her fan is able to utilize wind when she opens and closes it." TenTen has figured her out. "When she swung it, it was closed, but when it was about to hit me, it opened and that's what got me."
"They can use weapons like that?" Lee asks.
"Yes. Nationals is a whole new game." TenTen says.
"Alright, finally...we'll have Gaara and Lee." Kakashi says. Lee hasn't been paying attention, and it turns out he and Gaara are the only ones left.
They go up for battle and lee takes out his sword. He stands no chance against Gaara. He should quit, like Shikamaru did against his opponent. Lee stood there and he was ready. He was going to take on Gaara, who according to TenTen and Shira is the best one out of the three sand siblings.
"Alright. I'm ready." Lee says as he gets into combat mode.
"Hmm...your green suit is hideous." Gaara says. "It doesn't look good on you."
"That's not nice." Lee says.
"I'm ready." Gaara twirls two wooden axes. Lee goes for him, and Gaara is on the defense. Lee tries to attack but Gaara easily dodges, and hits Lee in the back.
How did he? What fast. Lee falls.
"Too slow, idiot." Gaara frowned and walked off the battle floor leaving Lee on the ground. After he has just won against Neji on Friday, he is beaten in less than two seconds.
I have to get stronger. Lee tell himself. Lee picks himself. He will not give up.
(BREAL)
Genma is driving home and Lee and Shira are in the back talking about the dojo. He listens in and Lee is going on and on about how some guy beat him, which makes Genma a little upset. Lee doesn't like to loose, at all. That means since tomorrow was the weekend and dojo is closed on Sunday, but Lee still is going to practice. Sometimes he has private sessions on those days, but not tomorrow. So Genma can expect to be up at five in morning once again. He can never get any sleep.
"I'm going to get that guy, Gaara." Lee promises. "He is so tough, but I'll fight him and I'll win. This time the power of youth will prevail."
"Do you like this Gaara?" Genma teases.
"No…" Lee says. "He's nice looking...though…"
"Nice looking?" Shira repeats.
"I mean he looks nice, nothing the matter with that right. That doesn't mean I love him." Lee says. "I just think he's nice looking, but that doesn't mean I'm going to hold back when we fight again. He insulted my clothes after all."
"I'm sure...you two would be cute together." Shira turns towards the window, and he feels like he's acting childish. He is jealous. Lee likes someone and it's not him. He sighed.
"I'm not even friends with the guy." Lee says.
"He'll be going to your school." Shira says not turning to face Lee.
Genma can hear in Shira voice. Was he jealous? And his own son is so clueless. Genma sighs. Poor Lee...someone loves you and you don't even know it.
(BREAK)
Monay, school went back to the way it usually is. The kids make fun of his attire and they pick at him. Lee doesn't know why but today it gets to him really bad. It gets to him so bad he doesn't go to lunch. He needs to be alone. This weekend has been tough. After the loss with Gaara, Shira was kind of stand offish and then Gaara and his siblings came to the school, and Gaara made fun of his outfit. During Lunch Lee decides to sit by his locker.
He pulls out his homework and focus. This weekend started with him beating Neji, and now in less than two days it's turned into a shit fest. Lee wants to go home and lock himself in his room. He doesn't even want to go to the dojo.
"Hey loser." Someone walks pass and throws water from a water bottle onto Lee. "I like your outfit they say running off."
Lee clenches his fist. Why are people so mean?
"LEE!" Lee turns to a person calling his name and there at their lockers are Sakura and Ino. Ino speaks. "Are you alright?"
"Fine." Lee says. "Do you guys like my green jumpsuit?"
"Um…" Sakura mumbles.
"It's nice." Ino says. "I think that you can do better though. Maybe less green."
"Oh." Lee turns and is about to go to the restroom. He's done with life. He can't stand another minute of school.
In the distance Sakura and Ino mumble about something, that Lee can't understand.
"WAIT" Sakura calls. "How about we give you a makeover."
"Huh?" Lee turn around.
"C'mon Saku." Ino grabs Lee and Sakura does too. "Time to go shopping."
"What are we going shopping for?" Lee asks. "And we're just going to ditch class."
"Yes we are." Ino and Sakura chuckle as they walk out of the school.
(BREAK)
Long ASS Chapter LOL! I didn't plan this anyways. ;) Tell me what you thought.
Thanks to aprilford988 for the review!