Chapter 7: Bang

She woke up early, hours before the sun had peaked over the horizon. For her, this wasn't a big deal, because she always had trouble sleeping. Groggy and tired, she laid back down on her pillow. Almost immediately, her eyes snapped open when she realized she had been snuggled down with her head on his chest. She scooted back over to her actual pillow nervously. She sat there, watching him sleep. He looked so sweet and content.

'Lucky he's not a light sleeper', she thought, smiling. She felt overwhelmed with happiness. He looked so adorable. She leaned forward slowly, getting ready to give him a kiss without even thinking. She touched noses with him gently enough not to wake him up.

'What am I doing?' she thought. Suddenly it felt like she was tearing out of her skin. Her bones shifted to accommodate the changes. She choked on a scream, and clawed at her heart. Such burning, horrible, aching pain!

"Gotta—Gotta get out," she groaned pathetically. Feeling her flesh splitting apart, she struggled to get to her feet, and nearly collapsed on her way out the door. She sunk to her knees and screamed until her throat was raw. Tears streamed down her cheeks and she covered her face in her bear-like heavy paws, tipped with razor-sharp claws.

"Tori? Where are you?" the boy groaned sleepily, missing his little, sweet, beautiful... "Gah! What am I thinking? I need to get her back!"

In her new form, she moved faster than she ever could have before. She bolted instinctively on all fours, her long thick tail thumping the ground as she ran to the nearest training area.

"I can't let him see me like this," Tori growled to herself. She hid in the shadows, breathing heavily from the long distance she had run. As she tried to catch her breath, she heard the sound of footsteps moving at an impossible speed. She scrambled wildly up the nearest tree. The figure stopped and sat down dejectedly.

"Where are you Tori?" the voice asked, sounding sad and confused. She knew that voice. She loved that voice.

'Lee?' she thought, feeling humiliated and trapped. 'Well, it's not like he's going to recognize me like this,' she thought as she climbed down from the tree. Lee turned sharply as he heard a heavy dull thump coming from behind him. He turned quickly towards the sound and bumped heads with a huge beast. Even on all fours, it towered ten, twenty feet over his head. Lee's eyes grew as he took in the creature's size. The animal's ears drooped sadly, and made a loud huffing noise, not unlike a sigh. Lee backed away from the creature slowly.

"Uh, hello there," he said nervously. He studied the beast. It didn't look as dangerous as he thought at first. It looked friendly enough, although it probably could swallow two shinobi whole… It didn't look hungry though, which may or may not be a good thing. No wonder there had been reports of so much livestock disappearing. He shuddered, never feeling more afraid of anything in his life. The huge creature shrunk back, and ducked back behind the tree.

"Oh no, no, it is okay, I won't hurt you, do not be afraid," he said soothingly.

'As if whatever this thing is should be afraid of me,' he shook his head at the humorous thought. The shadowy beast peeked out from behind the tree, not taking his kindness seriously.

"Come here, yeah, that is it. Good girl, good girl…" He wasn't quite sure of its gender, it looked feminine enough, and it didn't look offended, like it might have if it had its gender confused. Lee put his hand out to show he meant no harm. Peeping out from behind the tree, she watched his every move. It blinked, looking surprised, and cocked its enormous head. It graciously put its chin on the forest floor, so he would be able to reach. Lee cautiously scratched the animal behind its ears. It rolled its eyes back in its head and made a loud, content purring noise. Its leg twitched, thumping on the ground in a state of uncontrolled primal satisfaction.

"You like that?" he asked laughing quietly as it nuzzled him, almost knocking him over with its muzzle. Lee suddenly felt a sense of familiarity. He knew this creature from before. It blinked at him curiously, its icy cold eyes shone in the darkness sadly.

"What are you, and where did you come from?" He asked it, not getting an answer, but not expecting to either. It held him gently, licking the side of his face.

"What are you doing—" he started as the tip of its tongue found its way into his mouth. He bit down in surprise, feeling sort of sick and dizzy. At first, he was sure it was because she had scared him, but then he knew it was something other than fear. She had somehow poisoned him. He could hear his heart beating in his ears.

"What is this? What did you do to me?" A warm and pleasurable, albeit painful, feeling came over him.

'This creature is going to kill me… I wonder… Will it tear me apart, or just swallow me whole,' he thought. The last time he felt this weak and helpless was… his fight with Gaara. Why was he remembering this? Foggy, blurred images danced, jumped, twisted and flashed across his fevered memory. Images… images of Gaara, lying on his back, breathing weakly, glaring at him, wielding his sand with the intent to kill. Pain… Pain in his arm, pain in his leg. He felt himself being lifted onto a stretcher… He heard voices… the voices of his teacher and the Hokage. The door shut softly, the lights went out. He was left to himself. Minutes later, the door opened again. Whoever had come into his room was as silent as a shadow. A warm hand pressed its palm to his forehead.

'Just a nurse,' he thought, hoping against hope that it was Sakura, even though he highly doubted it. He knew it from the beginning, a girl that pretty would never waste her time with him, of all people.

"Idiot boy," he heard the intruder mumble like it was fretting over a small child. Definitely not Sakura. He never heard her express this kind of compassion to him.

"Going up against Gaara? You must be crazy. You're lucky to be alive," the voice continued.

"I know you're awake. I'm not stupid. If you were asleep, your breathing would be slower," it said sounding annoyed, running its fingers through his hair. Definitely not Sakura. He repulsed her in just about every way. Why did he love her when she could care less? He could hear the visitor tearing at a strip of fabric and felt her hands making a bandage to cover his eyes, so she would remain an anonymous visitor. He figured that the cloth was a part of the girl's clothing. It smelled sweet and clean. He tried to remove the bandage with his uninjured hand, but he felt her grab it before he could.

"No, leave it," she growled. He felt nimble fingers tracing the scars on his arms, which left exposed since Tsunade had removed his arm coverings them so she could inspect the damage in entirety. He hated the cuts and stitches and bruises… And who was this girl who was touching them so tenderly? He felt her sit down on the side of the hospital bed.

"How are you feeling?"

"Tell me who you are."

"How are you feeling?" she repeated as if she never heard him.

"Do I know you?" He asked again, trying to place that voice.

"No. I just wanted to see how bad Gaara had whooped yer butt," she said with a laugh, but there was actual concern in her voice.

"Well then, I appreciate the visit," Lee said with a sarcasm he rarely used, but he felt it was necessary to keep up with her. She moved herself so she was sitting cross-legged with his head in her lap.

"Be more careful next time." He was sure she could hear his heartbeat.

'Someone… Someone who cares about me! Someone who honestly cares,' he thought smiling with tears running down his face.

"No one cares about me, but whoever this is really must!"

The sun was just starting to peek over the tops of the tall pine trees. Much to her utter disdain, Tori had accidentally fallen asleep right in a break of the foliage, allowing the sun to shine directly on her face. She groaned sleepily, rubbing her head.

"Ten more minutes, I beg of you," Tori ruffled her red shoulder-length mess of hair and pulled a dead leaf from her shaggy mane. She rolled over and slung her sleeping friend over her broad shoulder like a dead deer. Despite the constant jostling around, Lee slept soundly. Being poisoned would do that to you. It was an accident though. She would never have done that to him on purpose. Tori snickered as she passed by the villagers, getting comical looks from them as they noticed the comatose ninja that was draped over her shoulder.

"Marnin'," she said, waving with her free hand and smiling brightly to the strangers she passed, paying no mind to the extra weight she heaved over her shoulder. A small group of children passed by, being led by a friendly, but strict-looking man with a scar on the bridge of his nose. She caught a glimpse of the kids staring and pointing at the strange spectacle.

"Stay in school, kiddies," she hollered as she walked by them, managing to get a good rise out of the rag-tag group of little soon-to-be shinobi. Finally making it to the apartment, she kicked the door open and put Lee on the bed roughly, giving him a little bit more of a shove than necessary, out of spite. She was surprised to see he continued sleeping, but even more surprised to see him moan and reach out to her, pulling her close. She wanted to chalk it up to the heavy aphrodisiacs in her poison, but still… Her whole body was tense. Her heart was beating out of her chest.

"Get off of me, get off of me now!" she screamed, pushing him off of her. Lee's eyes snapped open.

"Oh dear God, I am so, so, so, sorry! Please forgive me! I did not mean to, I mean—" he stuttered, not quite sure what to say.
"Just stay away from me, I don't know what you think you're doing, no, I do! I never should have come here! I want to make it clear to you that I don't like you at all, and if you think you can pull that crap again…" she spat angrily, getting right up in his face, her expression a strange mix of hunger, resistance and blood-lust, and mostly, fear.

"I… will… kill… you. I'll tear you apart. I'll skin you alive. I'll kill you," she whispered madly, like a caged animal in his ear. Lee cringed.

"What did you expect, 'Prince Charming'? Idiot! You scared the poor thing!" Tori saw how upset that made him. It was plain to see he loved her.

'I can't tell him how I really feel. I can't let him get close to me. That would only hurt him…' she thought, feeling the slightest pang of regret. Lee looked as if he was about to cry, biting his lower lip.

"Oh jeez, you ain't gonna—" Tori started, but before she could say anything, the proverbial levy burst. He grabbed her and started sobbing over her like a baby.

"I-I am s-so so s-sorry! I r-really d-did not mean a-anything by it, I will do anything, even be used as a dummy for kunai p-practice, just please forgive me!" he sputtered, keeping her in a tight embrace.

She tried to pry herself away from his vice-like grip, but it was like he was stuck in that position. "Okay, okay! Jeez, I'm always stuck with the weird guys… I'll forgive you, as long as you never touch me again," she said as his fingers trailed down the side of her face. His eyes were wide and a dazed, hypnotized look tugged on his usually attentive features.

"Did you hear—" she started. He pressed his mouth to hers. At first it seemed like he was holding back, exploring foreign territory, as it were. He backpedaled at the mistake. She gave him a venomous glare that would send most men running. Just as the awkward young man was about to apologize for his behavior, there was a knock on the door. Lee dashed to the door as fast as he could, attempting to escape the scorching fury of his roommate.

"Oh! Naruto-san! Emi-san! Hello!" Naruto looked at his friend for a second, noting the dark blush that had spread across his face, and the slight bit of sweat on his forehead.

"Uh, what's goin' on, Bushy Brows?"

Emi elbowed her beau hard, but discreetly.

"Ow," he moaned pitifully. "We were just wondering if you guys wanted to hang out. Tori still hasn't had a chance to scope the place out." Emi looked at her friend with apprehension, wondering what could have caused the strange expression on Lee's face. Naruto took the opportunity to instigate a little trouble, nudging his friend.

"We could go to the hot springs," he pressed, making Lee look uncomfortable. The green clad ninja looked at his roommate, who was staring daggers,

"I'll only go if Tori-san goes." She raised an eyebrow angrily.

"You know, that doesn't sound like that bad of an idea," her fair-haired friend pondered. Naruto gave her a sly, fox-like grin. She looked back at him with a hint of shame.

"Please don't stare at me like that," she said her voice barely above a whisper. Lee felt a wave of jealously wash over him.

'Why is it so easy for him to act like that around her? Why can I not act like that with Tori-san…? What is it that makes me so different from him?'

Naruto wondered what made his lover so upset, but he knew pressing the matter further wouldn't help things.
"Fine, we can go to the hot springs… just don't expect me to enjoy it," Tori grumbled. The group then proceeded to walk the mile and a half to the hot springs. Lee somehow felt that something very unnerving was about to happen.