Title: Run Lee, Run
Author: Venny9o6
Rating: PG ( K+ )
Challenge: Greener Pastures
Pairing: LeeHina

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Timeline: Set pre-rookie nine. Naruto's class is still in the academy, but the class above them (Lee, Neji, Tenten) is already graduated.

Hinata had always known that the ninja life wasn't for her; she was as weak as a deflated pool toy, as durable as a trampled flower, and she couldn't throw a metal star to save her life. Yet she found, quite accidentally with a sense of pleasant shock, that she truly did have a calling on her grandmother's farm. She was still too slow to tend or harvest the crop, but she was a miracle worker when it came to animals.

So for thirty days of each summer when she and her sister Hanabi and her cousin Neji were sent to their grandmother's for the month, Hinata was called to milk the cows as needed, feed and water the horses, cows, pigs, goats, chickens, and dogs daily, and gather eggs from the field that the chickens roamed freely throughout the day. Whenever an animal was injured and required first aid, Hinata was the one who held it still. If a female was giving birth, Hinata was there to deliver the young.

It wasn't as if she disliked any of these chores – just being able to do them properly was a blessing all its own – but before each day was over she was ready to drop from exhaustion. In fact, as soon as she was done with her chores for the next few hours, she did just that, plopping down in a nice shady spot next to the barn and closing her eyes for a light nap. The sun had been high overhead all afternoon, clearing away all clouds and filling the land with a sweltering heat. Birds chirped from perches in treetops, crickets sung from the creek down hill, horses neighed, cows mooed, pigs grunted... and a goat nibbled on the sleeve of her white button up.

Her eyes opened a crack to see that it was Blackberry, the only black kid born that year who happened to be the most gentle and affectionate as well. But what surprised Hinata was the second face staring down at her from above with a determined set to his bushy brow and concern in his round eyes. He was wearing a green jumpsuit, she noted with amused curiosity. "Lee-san?" she addressed her cousin's teammate.

"Are you alright, Hinata-san? I was just on my way to visit my rival when I saw you leaning against the barn, and I thought you may be unconscious!" he explained, making unnecessary gestures as he spoke.

A reassuring smile lifted her lips as she slowly shook her head. "No. Just resting. But Neji..." she began before trailing off, not knowing how to say 'He hates your guts' in a kind way.

"Is he gone right now?" Lee crossed his arms and turned away in thought. "If it is not too much trouble I would like to wait for him here until he returns."

"No, that's not it. He's inside but... um... he doesn't want to be disturbed."

"Hm. I see."

A few moments passed, but Lee continued to stand there, staring in the direction of the house with a thoughtful hand on his chin. When it looked like he wouldn't be leaving anytime soon, Hinata decided it was best to indulge the older boy with polite conversation. "Ano, that's an interesting suit..." The eloquence could have made her smack herself.

"You think so too?" he beamed, turning back to face her with his hands on his hips to flourish the outfit. "Gai-sensei just gave it to me! I decided to deliver an offering of one just like it for Neji as well, since my rival's favorite color is green. It was all Gai-sensei's idea!"

Hinata stared at him blankly and wiped the sweat from her brow, deciding not to give her input. Truth be told, she knew well how her cousin would react to an offer to wear that thing. Not that it was ugly, per say. Actually, it was very befitting of the zealous boy. But Neji? Never. "Tha-that's very... thoughtful of him."

"Onee-san! Ogen-obaasama says to clean out Bracken and Elijah's stalls!" Hanabi called across the yard from the porch of the house.

Brows creasing, Hinata called back, "Hanabi-chan, don't you always cleans the stalls?"

"I can't! Sparky bit my hand and now I have to keep it bandaged so it won't get infected!"

Sighing, the Hyuuga heiress stood up slowly and brushed her shorts off, pushing on Blackerry's head when he nudged her leg. "I have to go," she said to Lee, walking around to the entrance of the barn resignedly, but he followed her.

"I'll help you," he offered. "You seem very tired, and it would not be noble for a man to ignore a woman in need when he has the power to do something. Yosh!"

Hinata blinked. Considering that he referred to them as "man" and "woman" she deduced that he must have picked up that particular moral from Gai. "Okay... Thank you."

Once inside, she handed him a shovel and showed him to Elijah's stall (which was already empty, since the horse was grazing in the field), instructing him to scoop all the piles of dung into a wheelbarrow. Meanwhile, Hinata took Bracken out of her stall and walked her outside before returning with a second shovel. She wouldn't make him clean up after Bracken, who was probably the messiest horse her grandmother owned. However, she was beyond shocked to see that Lee was working faster than lightening and was already almost done with his assignment.

"L-Lee-san, you don't have to go so-so fast. Slow down a little," she said, though she was really just a little peeved because she hadn't even started yet. Somehow she had taken pride in her barn chores when she had no pride in anything else she'd ever done, and this was killing it.

"I'm afraid I must decline!" he replied obstinately. "When I am given a task I do not think of my own comfort, but of doing the best job imaginable as swiftly as possible!"

Well... she couldn't say no to that. "Okay, I guess. When you're done let me know and I'll get the broom out of the shed for you." With that she turned to her own task.

As Hinata was shoveling a large pile of horse poop in one corner that had been building up, Hanabi popped up from inside the stall next to it, draping herself over the side and staring down at her older sister. "Onee-san, why is that guy here?" she asked, eying him skeptically.

"He's here for Neji-nissan," Hinata answered, hearing her sister scoff instantly.

"What would nii-san want with that clown? He's got 'rainbow' written all over him."

"Hanabi-chan! That isn't nice. He isn't a clown just because he actually helps out instead of only thinking of himself," she defended in a low voice, so Lee wouldn't overhear.

The younger girl raised her brows, then lowered her chin to the bar she was holding onto and grinned. "You like him, don't you," she bated. Hinata stumbled and looked up incredulously, making Hanabi grin wider. "Oh, I knew it! You do! What will Neji say!"

"Hanabi-chan, stop! I don't like him – n-not in the way that you mean! I mean he's nice and he's a good friend, and..." she trailed off, realizing that her face had reddened in her embarrassment and quickly turned away, pointedly ignoring her teasing sister in favor of continuing her work.

"Don't worry, onee-san. You know I'd never tell Neji," Hanabi sighed, rolling her eyes. "Just grandma."

"Hanabi-chan!"

Unbeknowest to the older girl, Lee had set down his shovel and was making his way across the barn to Bracken's stall. But just as he opened his mouth to speak, Hanabi beat him to the punch. "Hello mister muscle-head!" Hinata jumped. "Need a broom? Hinata's your gal! Need a bride? Hina – "

"Hanabi-chan!" the flustered girl exclaimed, whirling around and smiling apologetically at Lee before giving her sister a stern look. "Nee-chan, since you aren't doing anything else right now, why don't you unlock the shed for him."

The younger girl pouted, hopped over the stall to land soundly on her feet, and dragged the poor green clad boy away by his shirt. Hinata sighed, glad for the peace, and got back to work. Unfortunately, that peace was short lived, for as soon as Lee was set up with a broom in Elijah's stall, Hanabi returned to her perch with a carefully blank face.

"Onee-san, I think that guy has rats in his skull."

"Now what makes you say that?"

"Because they're practically bursting from his eyebrows, and I could swear he only has half a brain; the rats must be eating it."

Hinata paused and took a deep, schooling breath, before looking up at her sister with weary conviction. "If you don't have anything nice to say, Hanabi-chan, you might as well not speak at all because I'm not listening," she scolded lightly. The girl fell silent, lips pursing slightly, so Hinata went back to what she was doing. When Lee finished sweeping Elijah's stall, he took up his shovel and came over to Bracken's to help her.

In the stall behind Hanabi, the cream and gray colored stallion that had been napping in a corner rose up and approached the small girl. She glanced over her shoulder and glared coldly. "Sparky, if you bite me again, I'll stop your heart," she warned in a low, menacing tone. The stallion flipped it's tail, neighed quietly, and walked back to the other end of the stall. Satisfied, Hanabi hopped to the ground and strutted out of the barn.

"Your sister is really scary sometimes," Lee laughed nervously.

Hinata smiled. "She can be," she lamented. "But... she's actually very sweet, when she wants to be."

"Ah! Just like Neji!" Lee exclaimed with fiery eyes. Hinata sweat-dropped, wondering when her cousin ever showed a sweet side, no less to someone as loud and overbearing as Lee. But it was a nice revelation, regardless, because it was a side she liked to believe that everyone possessed, whether or not they showed it to the world.

As her 'helper' was going for the last pile of dung in Bracken's stall, Hinata set her shovel aside and grabbed the broom from the center aisle, where Lee had left it when he came over, before he had a chance. There was only one broom, and she would never live it down if she let him have the last of her chore. Well... technically it was Hanabi's chore. But who was counting anyway?

The green clad genin opened his mouth to speak when she began sweeping, but closed it reluctantly when she gave him a determined look, smiling. Positive energy seemed to radiate off of him, as it always did, and Hinata found her own lips curling up in turn at spotting that contagious grin. "Lee-san," she began, slowing her pace a little in thought.

"Yes?"

"Are you and Neji-nissan... good friends?" she asked slowly, inwardly wondering if this was a safe subject to touch. It was nosy of her.

Seemingly oblivious to her musings, Lee nodded and crossed his arms. "Out of all the people I know, I believe Neji is my best friend. Although he doesn't always show it, I can tell that he genuinely cares for the people around him, even the ones he ridicules like myself," he explained, nodding his head periodically as he spoke.

Her ears piqued at this, hope welling up inside her at the prospect of him caring about her as well, though it wasn't likely. "What does he act like? W-when he seems to c-care." She felt awkward, which was only natural considering she was virtually invading her cousin's privacy behind his back. But she wanted to know. It was hard living with someone who utterly hated her guts.

Lee was silent, watching her for a moment. "You two don't get along very well, do you?"

She shook her head and looked down, focusing on her task.

"Has he ever smiled at you?"

Taken aback, Hinata shrugged. "Not really. Not since we were little anyway," she mumbled. Now she regretted opening her fat mouth. Talking about herself was low on her list of comforts, especially when the topic pertained to deep rooted family issues. Lee seemed to take the hint by her changed mannerisms and quieted, to her relief.

When both stalls were fairly clean, the feces were disposed of, tools put away, and Bracken returned to her stall, the two young teens walked out of the barn together and walked toward the house. Lee mindlessly prattled on about some recent exciting mission while Hinata just listened, secretly entertained by his outrageous body language more than what he had to say. They paused in front of the porch while he demonstrated a series of difficult looking kicks and twirls, her giggling into her hand.

Until they heard the front door creak open.

"Lee..."

Both turned, spirits falling harshly back to earth as Neji came into view, clad in a pair of faded jean overalls and a straw hat on his head to block the sun, not to mention the most venomous scowl Hinata had ever seen in her life. She shivered with fright. Lee smiled and waved enthusiastically.

"Lee, what the hell are you doing with my cousin?" the Hyuuga boy drawled icily, and very gradually realization dawned on the bushy browed teen, face falling. His smile disappeared completely, however, when Neji pulled out a twelve caliber automatic rifle from behind the wall and aiming it as he stepped fully out of the house, the door swinging shut behind him.

Hinata's eyes widened to unimaginable size as she saw this. "N-nii-san, wait!" she pleaded, taking a ginger step foreword. But just as she was doing this Lee released a loud "YOSH!" and turned tail, taking up an impossibly fast sprint in the opposite direction.

"Lee! Get your trespassing ass back here!" Neji hollered as he slung the rifle over his shoulder and followed after, brushing right past his distressed cousin as if he didn't see her.

Hinata wanted to scream with frustration as she glanced between the house and their retreating forms. Someone could seriously get hurt. Was this normal for them? Just as she was ready to give up and go back inside, Hanabi appeared, grinning deviously in the doorway and offered her sister a wave. "Hi, onee-san."

Her brows shot up in realization and her heart began pounding rapidly in the cage of her chest. Had she...? Unable to take it anymore, Hinata spun on her heel and raced for the barn to grab sparky out of his stall, as it was her only chance of catching up in time to intervene. So what if riding bareback hurt her thighs and rump a bit. Okay, a lot. The near future of Lee might have been depending on her, and she wasn't about to let him down now!

Two loud shots rang through the air and Hinata jumped. Deciding it imminent to forgo reins as well, she used the bars of the stall to climb on top of her favorite horse, grabbing a good handful of his thick silver mane and urging him foreword into a brisk trot out of the barn. As they passed the house Hanabi grinned and shouted, "Good luck, onee-san!" in an overly delighted voice.

So much for being sweet.

The End