As promised, here's a Lee chapter for those who wanted one! Mostly Lee-centric, but Temari gets a little characterization.

Sip, pause, sip, cast eyes around to search for a particular shock of black hair, sip, put cup down. Pick cup up, look around for slouching guide, fail to find guide, put cup down. Pick cup up, remembering to sip this time, wince at bitter taste, wonder how the hell Leaf-Nin managed to drink this crap, even with all the milk.

Guess time of day from angle of sun, around 10:30am at best estimate, grumble at the chill setting in from poor circulation, start thumping foot to improve aforementioned blood flow. Curse lazy genius for standing her up.

Look back at cup, beginning to slosh contained liquid over the sides at vibrations from leg-thumping, put cup down. Wish for some kind of sweeter drink, like watermelon nectar. Curse the existence of all coffee bars to hell, resolve to persuade Kazekage to ban such beverages sold therein, else baby-pictures of same brother will 'mysteriously' become public property, even the ones of him potty training.

Grin at the power her little-used evil side had over the world, sip from cup, ignore disgusting aftertaste, compare the milky depths of her Flat White to that of herself. Slightly bitter, filled with a mother's goodness (Die a little inside at that revelation), strangely refreshing, able to give a little boost of energy without smashing you through a wall…

Glare at young man in gross spandex who sits at her table, even though her mouth clearly stated not a millisecond before that it was taken.

"Shikamaru-kun could not make it. My name is Rock Lee, and I will be your guide today."

Resolve to discover if Gods exist, make plans to kill each and every one of them if they do for this.

--

"Would you shut up?!"

"But Temari-san…"

"I don't care! I don't care! If you so much as utter one more syllable, I swear to every Kami, major and minor, that I will harm you!"

"Bu-"

"Ah?!"

"Yo-"

"Ah!"

"Ple-"

"Ah!"

"Te-"

"No! No more!"

Temari sagged against the wall on one of the lesser streets on Konoha, exasperated at the constant chatter her new guide seemed to spout at any given thing, from the Monument to a beetle crawling along a roof. Even the Naruto brat didn't go off this much… At least, not on things to do with becoming Hokage, his teammates, food, new jutsu, 'epic wins', training, his old teacher, his friends… come to think of it, this Lee seemed just as talkative as the idiot boy.

"Just… don't talk. If I ask you a question, then you can answer." She conceded, noting that the young man with extremely questionable dress sense looked like he was about to burst from the strain of keeping quiet.

"Okay, fine! Sheesh, why'd you have to talk so much, anyway? I don't want to know all this stuff!" She sighed.

"Because you are like me." Was all he said, smiling and giving her a thumbs up.

She blinked, and then glared at him with all the mental force she could muster.

"We. Are. Nothing. Alike."

He didn't seem fazed. "So you say."

Giving up the conversation as a stupid waste of time, she pointed to a building on the side of the road that seemed to be falling to pieces in order to get the talking away from the pointless.

"Why's that in such bad shape?"

Lee looked at it, shrugged, and continued walking.

"Hokage-sama is saving its restoration for a punishment, supposedly in case a troublemaker feels the need to start a life of vandalism." He said easily, pointing out small metal brackets set in the framework that held it together, "She claimed that if Uzumaki Naruto decided to deface her head on the Monument, he would find himself fixing it up without the aid of Shadow-clones."

Temari gave a whistle, "Shrewd lady, this Tsunade. Not only does she save money on a useless piece of crap, but the entire village gets a little warning to toe the lin-… Wait, what did Naruto do to the monument?"

"You do not know?" Lee turned to face her midstep, easily avoiding a man who was about to cross his path.

"I've heard… bits and pieces, and Shikamaru thinks it doesn't matter enough to warrant telling me." She huffed, still peeved at the green-clad boy for showing up in place of the slouchy, somehow-hunky Chunin.

"Oh, I see. It was quite a feat; in one day, Naruto-kun managed to graffiti the entire mountainside with derogatory remarks like 'Ahokage' and the like." Lee continued talking, occasionally swerving left or right to avoid colliding with civilians, though his face wasn't in the right position to watch where he was going.

"Aho… Kage? Oh. I get it." Temari nodded her head to the head to the side a couple of times in the sign of reluctant appreciation. "Not a bad pun, when you think about it."

"Bad or not, one should not trifle with the dead. Naruto-kun was made to clean up the entire face of the cliff."

"By himself?" Temari looked at the giant shelf of rock, "Isn't that a little dangerous?"

"He was hauled around in a basket by Iruka-sensei, and the ropes were thick."

"Ah."

Temari and Lee kept walking around the town, not saying any more, letting the guest from Suna familiarize herself. The midday bell tolled, and Lee bid her depart, as Gai and Tenten were going to be training him in advanced Weaponcraft, and he needed to warm up.

"Oh? At lunch? That's quite… harsh." Temari commented, a creature of habit herself.

"You misunderstand, I am afraid. The training begins at three." Lee began, setting off, "And it will continue until ten, so I must warm up thoroughly. Until tomorrow, Temari-san!"

"Uh… thanks, Lee. Good luck with your… warm up?" She told him as he walked away, slightly puzzled. "You're young, you can do it? All that jazz?"

She really didn't know how to give compliments all that well. The best she could do was repeat the same words Baki had told her before the Chunin exams.

"YOSH!! Finally, somebody else understands the power of youth! We truly are carved from the same tree, Temari-san!" Lee spun around, giving her a smile that nearly blinded her before jumping onto the roof of the Cobbler shop behind him, speeding away.

"For the last time, we're nothing alike!" She yelled in the direction he had taken.

"So you say!" Was the distorted reply that came echoing from on high, and she groaned with annoyance.

--

The next day, they met at the same time, the same place, while Temari drank the same coffee as she had from the day before. Lee showed up with bruises on his face, and a long, jagged cut running down his right arm, the spandex only holding together on that limb through some amateur darning.

"What in Yami's six balls happened to you, Lee?!"

"This? Oh, Tenten-san became enraged when I mentioned that the small marks on her neck and collarbone looked too small to be from a series of doorknobs like she claimed, and then I asked Gai-sensei what his opinion was on the matter. He said that Neji and Tenten had finally consummated their fertile springtime of youth, and were transcending to the hallowed plains of summertime together."

Temari blinked, and put her head in her hands.

"I did not understand, I asked if that the Summertime was some kind of enhanced physical exertion program from the way that Tenten started trembling as if from some kind of new energy, and Gai only told me that, in a way, it was."

The Sand Ninja's shoulders started to shake, as if she were trying to conceal heavy laughter.

"And then I asked Tenten if she would not mind showing me how Neji and she managed to achieve this, and perhaps if I could bring along a camera to capture any points of interest for further study, when she suddenly attacked me with incredible vigour."

Lee's brow crinkled with thought, "I cannot understand why she took such offense at my line of questioning. She seemed especially vexed when I mentioned that if it took two people to move onward to the summertime, perhaps she could assist me in my own transcendence, hopefully with Neji watching, making comments, and even joining in if he felt I was faltering…"

Temari's head hit the little café table, her snorts of mirth finally coming out unhindered.

"… But the thing that seemed to infuriate Tenten the most was when I voiced my concern as to whether Neji was properly equipped for the task at hand, and whether or not she had set up a punishment system-… Temari-san, are you well?" Lee gave her a blank look as her frantic amusement began attracting attention.

"Y-…You… Ahahaha!! I swear, you can't… PffftHaha!! …You can't make shit up like this on purpose, no way!! Hahaha! Oh god, oh god…" She raised her head from the little table and gave his cheek a pinch.

"You're so clueless, Lee. They were bonking each other!"

"Bonking? They were beating each other? Some new kind of Physical Pain-endurance training?"

"No, idiot… they were… you know, playing hide the Kunai!"

"Stealth training?"

"Damn it, Lee! They were… riding each other into the sunset!"

"Oh, being youthful, you mean!" Lee's face dawned with comprehension at the mention of the word 'Sunset'.

"Yes!" Relief flowed over Temari's.

"But I and Gai do that all the time, and it hasn't really done anything like that for me." Lee looked disappointed, Temari looked extremely ill as the mental images did their evil duty and flashed before her eyes.

"Uh… Lee, what I mean is, when a man and a woman, who love each other very much… or are very, very drunk…" She began to explain.

"Ah, I see. They were fucking." Lee nodded, now it made sense.

"Exactl- What?!"

"I mean, I knew there had to be a reason why they both took to wearing white clothing, but I didn't think it was to hide the stains. I just hope they haven't been rash about this." He nodded again, crossing his arms and imitated his teacher's 'Me Gai, me big and wise' look.

"R-ra…rash?" Temari stuttered, thrown of guard by the fact that Rock Lee wasn't nearly as clueless as it seemed. "Lee, if you know what that word means Which-You-Really-Shouldn't-Say-In-Public-With-Kids-Around-By-The-Way (She waved an embarrassed apology at a set of scowling parents) then why didn't you put two and two together to start with?"

"I like to give people the benefit of the doubt." He gave her an unsettlingly piercing look. "After all, I've made my peace with Gaara, even though I have seen what your brother was capable of first hand, or unless you have forgotten…" He trailed off.

"You don't need to remind me, living with him back then, it was like looking into the face of death every single hour." She brooded, trying to damp down the memories.

"Another way in which we are alike, after all." He lit up, smiling.

"We aren't alike, Lee!"

"So you say. Come, there is more to show you."

Sighing, Temari let him lead, feeling a little put out.

On the other hand, this was perfect blackmail, for Lee and Tenten both…

--

"It's a rock."

"Excellent deduction, Temari-san. It is, as you have noticed, a rock." Lee gave his nice guy smile and held a pose. Temari honestly couldn't tell whether he really was this… different, or whether he was playing an immensely complicated prank on her.

"It's stony, hard, flat and browny-grey. Yup, that's a rock all right. I know my rocks. And that's one of them." She finished lamely, not quite sure what was expected of her in this situation.

"Notice anything special about this rock?" Lee hinted, causing Temari to look at it closely, scrutinizing every little detail.

"Not really. It's a rock, as far as I can tell. All I could do with this is probably biff it at somebody's head and give them brain damage. That or I could sit on it." She gave up, feeling ludicrous.

The two of them were sitting on a log beside a long, winding river roughly two hours from the village. The course of the raging waters changed every season, leaving a great expanse of large rocks that tumbled around on the grey expanse of the sloping hill. Lee had dragged her there 'To take a glimpse of Konoha's wild countryside', surrounded by trees and the occasion shrub.

"Ah, but you only looked at it, Temari-san."

"Well, what am I supposed to do? Taste it? It's a rock! It's not like it's hiding some incredible secret! What good would it do me to search everything out from some stupid rock?" She ranted, angry at having been tugged along to have some idiot lecture about things she could pick up and throw around back home.

"It is not? My apologies, Temari-san, I guess I was mistaken."

Temari glared at the boy.

"Fine, show me what's special about that piece of crap! And none of that Zen stuff about how a boulder shows me my place in the universe, or how the boulder represents the constipation of an elephant a hundred leagues from here. I want to see something genuinely special about it!" She grumbled, considering leaving him there and then.

"Very well. Please watch closely."

Lee went to pick up the rock, about the size and shape of a small melon, and carried it back with ease. Resting it on his lap, he began labourously carving a shallow ring around the circumference, giving a small lecture for his guest's uncaring ears.

"Fire country is, as you can imagine, filled with volcanoes that dot the countryside, most of them extinct, though some are still dormant and many are actually highly active. Within these volcanoes, compounds of silica and oxygenated alloys are fused together under extensive heat and pressure to become Volcanic glass, or obsidian. Depending on the impurities in the alloys, the colour of the obsidian can change from black to almost opaque, becoming similar to what we know as Quartz."

Temari yawned, clearly not interested as Lee began carving the line a little deeper, almost finishing the circle.

"Here, however, the impurities are quite unique, and as such has its own legend among the natives who live here and farm. The Obsidian here is called Pounamu, and has been fashioned into brutal clubs and spears and many other things for generations. There is a legend behind it, and a superstition that one cannot take Pounamu without cursing himself with the worst of luck, but one who gives Pounamu blesses both himself and his friend. This leads to one of its two names, that of 'The giving stone', the other, a reference to its colour…"

Lee stuck his kunai into the ring, and gave it a hard tap, splitting the rock in two and revealing that inside it lay not more rock, but of a green crystal that shifted in hue from leaf-green to vermillion to grass to kiwifruit and so many other shades, not sparkling but blooming in its luster. Temari looked on, shocked, as Lee handed one half to her.

"… Is 'Konoha Jade'."

Temari's face slowly regained control, and she looked over at the grinning man.

"Special enough for you now, Temari-san?"

"It's… green." She said, and ranted at herself for not having more to say. "I like green."

"Another thing we-"

"That's getting old, Lee!"

"So you say."

--

"So, Lee, no training this afternoon?" She asked as they walked back.

"Gai-sensei gave me the day off, to show proper courtesy to the Flower of the Desert."

"Don't call me that, it makes me sound like a drag queen." Temari blenched. "Anyway, thanks for coming to show me around. Shikamaru's due back tomorrow, so I won't be in you way for long, hmm?"

"Nonsense, Temari-san! It has truly been a pleasure to escort you!"

"You're just saying that."

"I mean what I say! If I tell a lie then I shall polish your Jade necklace a thousand times with each hand!" Lee's eyes began to tear up as he smiled.

"Hey, whoa! It's enough that you carved me that stuff to begin with, Lee. You don't have to polish it anymore." Temari thought that that much was true, she liked the way the slightly coarse texture would graze her neck a little, scratching an itch that might never arise.

As for the rest of the jewellery (She was amazed at how much Jade one could get out of the rocks), she decided that it was too impractical for Ninja activities. Rings and Earrings got caught in things, likely to tear off whatever appendage they were attached to. As for tight necklaces (The one on her neck was loose, and a little less dangerous), one might as well give her foe a free garrote and say 'Go ahead, choke me.'

"If you really want, though, you can tell me why you think we're alike." Temari nodded as they took their seats for an afternoon coffee.

"Very well. We both have very dramatic ways of dealing with the knowledge that we are constantly standing at the River of Death's side…"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Dramatic? Me?" Temari blinked.

"You always have to have the last words, the best words, the strongest words. I just have to have the most words." Lee shrugged, "Naruto-kun is similar in that regard, possibly because a life of loneliness is very close to dying while still living, I don't know."

"And… Death?" Temari continued, getting interested in the skewed logic.

"You had Gaara, and I risk my life every time I open the Gates." Lee looked away for a second, but began where he had left off. "It is less so for both of us, now; with Shukaku gone and my control improved, but it is still a part of what we are."

"So… that's it?" Temari thanked the waiter as he brought their drinks, "That's all you based it on? That fact that our lives were endangered and that we're both loud?"

"We share the same affinity for wind techniques, we both rely on Jutsu that requires a high level of concentration, we both represent our countries through our clothes…"

"Wind techniques and concentration I can get…" Temari thought aloud, remembering Lee's 'Konoha Hurricane' and noting that the Initial and Rest Gates required a strong force of will to open, "… But the clothes? I'm wearing black and hints of red and purple. You're wearing green, not crimson."

"Colour has nothing to do with it, Temari-san." Lee pointed out, "You wear clothes that are baggy enough to let the wind through when it is hot, but closed enough to keep you warm when cold, showing the harsh duality of the desert. I wear this manly green suit –I suggest you get something for that cough, it sounds nasty- for all purposes, for the Weather in Fire country is mostly stable."

"That proves nothing."

"As Asuma Sensei told Shikamaru, 'Five coincidences eliminates the likelihood of coincidence'. We are alike, Temari-san, whether you car to admit it or not." Lee gave her the thumbs up, "I am confident that a brilliant, beautiful woman like yourself will soon come to accept that!"

"Uh… thanks, Lee." Temari coughed again, feeling embarrassed and just a touch flattered.

"We're still not alike, though."

"So you say."

--

The next day, Shikamaru arrived, and Temari couldn't help but notice the looks he shot at the necklace.

"Where'd you get that?"

Temari paused mid-sip, and pondered a little.

"A friend made it for me."

"Lee?"

"Yes."

There was a silence, for a while. Then Shikamaru gave her a rare smile.

"You know, you two really are alike in some ways."

"Oh, for… Not you too!"

--

Lee pauses in his training as he sneezed. He looks back towards Konoha, smiling slightly as Neji looks onward impatiently.

"Lee, I don't have all day! It's not like I have anything better to do!"

And Lee looks into the blank eyes of his teammate, and guesses the real reason why the Hyuuga wants to go home, or more precisely, go to somebody's home. The home of a particular weapons mistress, to be exact.

Nothing better to do, Neji?

I think not.

"So you say."

As they return to sparing, Lee waits for the time when he too can begin his summertime. He waits patiently for the days when he can be impatient.

And who knows?

Perhaps the Jade will bless them both. Time will tell.

He can wait until summertime.

Righto, you know the drill!