My Friends Over You
They had been paired off with someone who wasn't in their group previously, each group hiding somewhere in the darkness. It was a game of manhunt, testing their shinobi skills, but they also had to compensate for being with another now, as well.
Also, they could not use Ninjutsu, Genjutsu, or weapons in this game, so Lee was obviously at a great advantage. The only thing that could have dragged him down was if he was paired with Sakura... And the only way he would be stuck with Sakura now would be if she and her partner had caught his partner and himself.
They were hidden in the foliage, A fox-made hole burrowed beneath a giant boulder behind them. Hinata was half hidden in this hole, and they had already checked its security. The boulder would not move, and when completely in this hole, it was almost impossible to see even Hinata with he piercing white eyes and light-coloured jacket. Lee was invisible dressed in all dark colours with ebony hair and eyes to match.
"Hinata-chan do you see anyone coming?"
"No, Lee-kun... Wait..."
Her byakuugans activated, she noticed movement off to Lee's left.
"Duck!" Hinata whispered quickly to him. Lee did as he was told, and saw Naruto and Kiba go sailing over his head, obviously running from someone, but they hadn't noticed their little group.
Hinata was hidden now, and Lee was beside her, holding his hand in front of her to keep her even farther back in their hiding place.
"Someone else must be coming.."
Hinata gulped, then pushed Lee down farther as well.
"It's Neji Nii-san and Sakura-chan. They're headed this way... They were 'it', weren't they?"
Lee nodded and motioned for Hinata to fall silent.
Sakura went sailing overhead, chasing after Naruto, but Neji seemed to be moving slower, as if trying to spot those hiding in the foxholes in the earth.
Lee and Hinata fell down farther in their hole.
Neji walked on past, it was as if he had known someone was there, but did not want to bother checking it yet.
Or perhaps it was because Sakura had gotten too far away, and this game involved staying in partners.
Hinata sensed that Neji and Sakura had safely passed, and the two slipped from their hole, dusting themselves off slightly. It was dank and dirty down in their hiding place, but by far the best they had found.
"Hinata-chan. Do you see anyone else?"
Hinata shook her head. This was a LARGE area to be playing this game in, and those that were chasing them were now fairly far gone.. Things would be uneventful for now.
Several hours had passed by now, when Lee looked around. Hinata was nursing her headache, she hardly ever used her byakuugans and it hurt somewhat to use them for long periods of time at this point. It was up to his own keen eyes to spot danger for now, but as he focused too greatly on one area, he failed to notice the brush moving in another.
"Lee! Behind you!"
He spun quickly and spotted Sakura standing there, fully emerged from the bushes and leaves sticking in her hair. One hand was raised with her index finger pointed at him, a smile across her face.
"Neji's reporting to the teachers who we've caught so far, so I'm on scouting. I saw you here earlier, Lee-kun.."
Lee took a step back, Hinata moving behind him just as slowly.
"Lee, do you know where Naruto and Kiba are? It's just you two and Naruto's group we have to catch yet."
Hinata gulped. They boys had passed earlier and told them to be quiet about which direction they had headed... In fact, Hinata knew exactly where they were hiding.
Sakura noticed this movement, and sensed that Hinata was hiding something. Hiding something rather poorly.
"No, Sakura-chan...."
"Look, Hinata does.. If you guys tell me then I won't catch you two first and then you guys will be the winners."
Lee gazed down at Hinata, though kept the angle so he could see Sakrua clearly too. Hinata was obviously on the look-out for Neji as her byakuugans had been fully reactivated once more.
"No, Sakura-chan." Lee said even more firmly this time, seeing that Hinata didn't want to divulge this information.
"Lee-kun, Please? It's me, remember."
"No! Naruto-kun and Kiba-kun are my friends, and I choose to protect my friends over you!"
"All right, Lee-kun!" Sakura said as she advanced forwards, she looked even more hurt now.
At one point, Sakura and Lee had been friends, best friends, but now he was implying she was nothing to him.
Nothing... It hurt so much to hear him say that. She loved Sasuke, but she loved Lee as a friend, and to see that icy glare in his eyes...
A tear streaked her face as she darted forwards to tag them.
Lee ducked to the side, grabbing Hinata and pulling her up in a piggy-back position.
After all, even if Lee could get away, if Hinata was tagged then they were both caught.
Lee ran as fast as his feet could carry him, which was faster than anyone else in their group, excluding Sasuke. He counted each step as he ran, for every step he took, that was how many tears he would cry for Sakura later, he knew.
"Arigato, Lee-kun. You saved us both."
"It's all right, Hinata-chan."
"If it wasn't for me, Sakura never would have known we knew where Naruto and Kiba were... She would have just tagged us and left to find them.."
"It's all right, Hinata-chan! You wanted to protect you friend and.. Well... Naruto! You're my friend, and I want to protect you, so here we are!"
He ducked saw the clearing in front of him... And he saw Neji approaching from that direction.
Skidding to a halt, he looked in one direction to spot Sakura following in the distance, and the other to see Neji.
"Uh oh." Was all Lee offered. His choices involved running into a clearing, where they would be caught surely as Hinata (even if she WAS light) was slowing him down, she wasn't very aerodynamic, after all.
"Naruto-kun!" Hinata said, seeing the Kyuubi boy appear from the side.
"Kiba!" Lee said, as the dog boy approached from the other.
"Kiba heard what you guys did with his awesome dog hearing.. Now it's our turn to protect you guys! Kiba, you go to Sakura, I'll face off against Neji."
Naruto smiled widely, revealing overgrown incisors that resembled kitsune fangs and gave them both the thumbs up.
"A- - Arigato Naruto-kun." Hinata stammered.
"Arigato, Kiba!" Lee said happily as they watched their two friends run off...
Naruto gazed back over his shoulder only once, just to see Hinata's shy smile as she watched him go. He could see the blush across her face, and it made him happy to know that she was watching him pull his heroics.
"Neji!" Naruto cried as he reached the open field that Neji was approaching from.
"Naruto..." The Hyuuga boy said slowly, glaring darkly through blank white eyes.
Naruto could barely react at the speed Neji had come running at him, he ducked away from the tag, just to give Lee and Hinata a little more time to run.
Then he stopped, letting Neji catch him.
"Where's your partner?" Naruto heard Neji ask after a silent moment.
"He should be getting tagged by Sakura right about now."
"Then the game is over."
"It has been for a while now. And the winners are Lee and Hinata."
Neji seemed to glare even darker at these names. Naruto looked triumphant.
The game was over, and everyone had gathered into the field once more, including Lee who was still carrying Hinata on his back.
"YOSH!" The Taijutsu master cried as he set Hinata down.
He gave a thumbs up to his teacher, who was looking at him proudly. It was almost as though his own son had become Hokage or something.
"Arigato Naruto-kun! Kiba-kun!" Lee offered once more, and Hinata agreed with another rosy blush. She looked down at her penting fingers, then back up through her eyelashes at Naruto, who grinned broadly in response.
"Winners, Rock Lee and Hyuuga Hinata!" Kurenai said, looking at Gai smugly as every student seemed far more amused with HER idea than HIS.
So, now it was almost midnight, and everyone was yawning widely from the exertion of a full day.
"Time to set up the TENTS!" Kakashi said, tossing tents to random students, the things seeming to have materialized from thin air.
"Pick a partner, set up your tent, and enjoy a good night's rest. And remember, you can't share a tent with a team-mate" Asuma added as he started setting up his own tent (one of those ones where you pull it from the bag and it sets itself up, of course).
The girls naturally paired off. Tenten and Hinata took one tent, Ino and Sakura the other, both setting their tents up next to each other, windows facing so they could do 'girl talk' until the wee hours of the morning. Whenever a group of girls gathered at night, they usually did not sleep until at LEAST 3:00 in the morning.
Neji and Shino shared one tent, their silent and introverted natures making them the perfect match. Their tent was up the fastest, as Shino was quite good at setting up tents for some inexplicable reason.
Naruto and Kiba shared a tent, as they had become good friends thanks to their game of manhunt earlier. Their tent was up last as they were both inexplicably horrible at setting up tents. Shino ended up doing it for them in the end.
Sasuke and Shikamaru also shared a tent, planting theirs farthest away from the girls' tent compared to everyone else. Shikamaru did not really care where it was set up, so Sasuke said if they set it up where HE wanted it, he would not force Shikamaru to work. His scheme worked, and even the TEACHERS' tents were closer to the girls.
Chouji ended up sharing a tend with Lee, and theirs was set up second fastest, as Chouji enjoyed camping, and Lee enjoyed learning. Their tent was second farthest from the girls, so Chouji and Shikamaru could talk between tents (if Shikamaru was not already asleep)...
Or at least, that's what Lee TOLD Chouji.
He simply did not want his tent anywhere near Sakura, just as Sasuke desired to be nowhere near Tenten and Ino.
Kurenai kept the tent close to the girls', knowing they may well sneak out in the night to snap pictures of a bedridden Sasuke, and though she found the idea interesting, she had been told to NOT let the girls do that.. On pain of... Severe pain.
Asuma and Kakashi ended up sharing a tent, as Gai had forgotten a tent, and was forced to use Kakashi's... No WAY was Kakashi sharing a tent with Maito Gai, he snored, drooled, he was LOUD, and hairy, and he scratched himself in inappropriate places in his sleep... And though he hated to admit it, Kakashi found him too disgustingly manly.
He understood snoring, drooling, hairy-ness, loudness, itchy-ness, all on their own... To place it all on ONE being was just disgusting, so instead Kakashi shared a tend with Asuma.
They both feel asleep within five minutes anyway, so it didn't really make a difference.
They had been paired off with someone who wasn't in their group previously, each group hiding somewhere in the darkness. It was a game of manhunt, testing their shinobi skills, but they also had to compensate for being with another now, as well.
Also, they could not use Ninjutsu, Genjutsu, or weapons in this game, so Lee was obviously at a great advantage. The only thing that could have dragged him down was if he was paired with Sakura... And the only way he would be stuck with Sakura now would be if she and her partner had caught his partner and himself.
They were hidden in the foliage, A fox-made hole burrowed beneath a giant boulder behind them. Hinata was half hidden in this hole, and they had already checked its security. The boulder would not move, and when completely in this hole, it was almost impossible to see even Hinata with he piercing white eyes and light-coloured jacket. Lee was invisible dressed in all dark colours with ebony hair and eyes to match.
"Hinata-chan do you see anyone coming?"
"No, Lee-kun... Wait..."
Her byakuugans activated, she noticed movement off to Lee's left.
"Duck!" Hinata whispered quickly to him. Lee did as he was told, and saw Naruto and Kiba go sailing over his head, obviously running from someone, but they hadn't noticed their little group.
Hinata was hidden now, and Lee was beside her, holding his hand in front of her to keep her even farther back in their hiding place.
"Someone else must be coming.."
Hinata gulped, then pushed Lee down farther as well.
"It's Neji Nii-san and Sakura-chan. They're headed this way... They were 'it', weren't they?"
Lee nodded and motioned for Hinata to fall silent.
Sakura went sailing overhead, chasing after Naruto, but Neji seemed to be moving slower, as if trying to spot those hiding in the foxholes in the earth.
Lee and Hinata fell down farther in their hole.
Neji walked on past, it was as if he had known someone was there, but did not want to bother checking it yet.
Or perhaps it was because Sakura had gotten too far away, and this game involved staying in partners.
Hinata sensed that Neji and Sakura had safely passed, and the two slipped from their hole, dusting themselves off slightly. It was dank and dirty down in their hiding place, but by far the best they had found.
"Hinata-chan. Do you see anyone else?"
Hinata shook her head. This was a LARGE area to be playing this game in, and those that were chasing them were now fairly far gone.. Things would be uneventful for now.
Several hours had passed by now, when Lee looked around. Hinata was nursing her headache, she hardly ever used her byakuugans and it hurt somewhat to use them for long periods of time at this point. It was up to his own keen eyes to spot danger for now, but as he focused too greatly on one area, he failed to notice the brush moving in another.
"Lee! Behind you!"
He spun quickly and spotted Sakura standing there, fully emerged from the bushes and leaves sticking in her hair. One hand was raised with her index finger pointed at him, a smile across her face.
"Neji's reporting to the teachers who we've caught so far, so I'm on scouting. I saw you here earlier, Lee-kun.."
Lee took a step back, Hinata moving behind him just as slowly.
"Lee, do you know where Naruto and Kiba are? It's just you two and Naruto's group we have to catch yet."
Hinata gulped. They boys had passed earlier and told them to be quiet about which direction they had headed... In fact, Hinata knew exactly where they were hiding.
Sakura noticed this movement, and sensed that Hinata was hiding something. Hiding something rather poorly.
"No, Sakura-chan...."
"Look, Hinata does.. If you guys tell me then I won't catch you two first and then you guys will be the winners."
Lee gazed down at Hinata, though kept the angle so he could see Sakrua clearly too. Hinata was obviously on the look-out for Neji as her byakuugans had been fully reactivated once more.
"No, Sakura-chan." Lee said even more firmly this time, seeing that Hinata didn't want to divulge this information.
"Lee-kun, Please? It's me, remember."
"No! Naruto-kun and Kiba-kun are my friends, and I choose to protect my friends over you!"
"All right, Lee-kun!" Sakura said as she advanced forwards, she looked even more hurt now.
At one point, Sakura and Lee had been friends, best friends, but now he was implying she was nothing to him.
Nothing... It hurt so much to hear him say that. She loved Sasuke, but she loved Lee as a friend, and to see that icy glare in his eyes...
A tear streaked her face as she darted forwards to tag them.
Lee ducked to the side, grabbing Hinata and pulling her up in a piggy-back position.
After all, even if Lee could get away, if Hinata was tagged then they were both caught.
Lee ran as fast as his feet could carry him, which was faster than anyone else in their group, excluding Sasuke. He counted each step as he ran, for every step he took, that was how many tears he would cry for Sakura later, he knew.
"Arigato, Lee-kun. You saved us both."
"It's all right, Hinata-chan."
"If it wasn't for me, Sakura never would have known we knew where Naruto and Kiba were... She would have just tagged us and left to find them.."
"It's all right, Hinata-chan! You wanted to protect you friend and.. Well... Naruto! You're my friend, and I want to protect you, so here we are!"
He ducked saw the clearing in front of him... And he saw Neji approaching from that direction.
Skidding to a halt, he looked in one direction to spot Sakura following in the distance, and the other to see Neji.
"Uh oh." Was all Lee offered. His choices involved running into a clearing, where they would be caught surely as Hinata (even if she WAS light) was slowing him down, she wasn't very aerodynamic, after all.
"Naruto-kun!" Hinata said, seeing the Kyuubi boy appear from the side.
"Kiba!" Lee said, as the dog boy approached from the other.
"Kiba heard what you guys did with his awesome dog hearing.. Now it's our turn to protect you guys! Kiba, you go to Sakura, I'll face off against Neji."
Naruto smiled widely, revealing overgrown incisors that resembled kitsune fangs and gave them both the thumbs up.
"A- - Arigato Naruto-kun." Hinata stammered.
"Arigato, Kiba!" Lee said happily as they watched their two friends run off...
Naruto gazed back over his shoulder only once, just to see Hinata's shy smile as she watched him go. He could see the blush across her face, and it made him happy to know that she was watching him pull his heroics.
"Neji!" Naruto cried as he reached the open field that Neji was approaching from.
"Naruto..." The Hyuuga boy said slowly, glaring darkly through blank white eyes.
Naruto could barely react at the speed Neji had come running at him, he ducked away from the tag, just to give Lee and Hinata a little more time to run.
Then he stopped, letting Neji catch him.
"Where's your partner?" Naruto heard Neji ask after a silent moment.
"He should be getting tagged by Sakura right about now."
"Then the game is over."
"It has been for a while now. And the winners are Lee and Hinata."
Neji seemed to glare even darker at these names. Naruto looked triumphant.
The game was over, and everyone had gathered into the field once more, including Lee who was still carrying Hinata on his back.
"YOSH!" The Taijutsu master cried as he set Hinata down.
He gave a thumbs up to his teacher, who was looking at him proudly. It was almost as though his own son had become Hokage or something.
"Arigato Naruto-kun! Kiba-kun!" Lee offered once more, and Hinata agreed with another rosy blush. She looked down at her penting fingers, then back up through her eyelashes at Naruto, who grinned broadly in response.
"Winners, Rock Lee and Hyuuga Hinata!" Kurenai said, looking at Gai smugly as every student seemed far more amused with HER idea than HIS.
So, now it was almost midnight, and everyone was yawning widely from the exertion of a full day.
"Time to set up the TENTS!" Kakashi said, tossing tents to random students, the things seeming to have materialized from thin air.
"Pick a partner, set up your tent, and enjoy a good night's rest. And remember, you can't share a tent with a team-mate" Asuma added as he started setting up his own tent (one of those ones where you pull it from the bag and it sets itself up, of course).
The girls naturally paired off. Tenten and Hinata took one tent, Ino and Sakura the other, both setting their tents up next to each other, windows facing so they could do 'girl talk' until the wee hours of the morning. Whenever a group of girls gathered at night, they usually did not sleep until at LEAST 3:00 in the morning.
Neji and Shino shared one tent, their silent and introverted natures making them the perfect match. Their tent was up the fastest, as Shino was quite good at setting up tents for some inexplicable reason.
Naruto and Kiba shared a tent, as they had become good friends thanks to their game of manhunt earlier. Their tent was up last as they were both inexplicably horrible at setting up tents. Shino ended up doing it for them in the end.
Sasuke and Shikamaru also shared a tent, planting theirs farthest away from the girls' tent compared to everyone else. Shikamaru did not really care where it was set up, so Sasuke said if they set it up where HE wanted it, he would not force Shikamaru to work. His scheme worked, and even the TEACHERS' tents were closer to the girls.
Chouji ended up sharing a tend with Lee, and theirs was set up second fastest, as Chouji enjoyed camping, and Lee enjoyed learning. Their tent was second farthest from the girls, so Chouji and Shikamaru could talk between tents (if Shikamaru was not already asleep)...
Or at least, that's what Lee TOLD Chouji.
He simply did not want his tent anywhere near Sakura, just as Sasuke desired to be nowhere near Tenten and Ino.
Kurenai kept the tent close to the girls', knowing they may well sneak out in the night to snap pictures of a bedridden Sasuke, and though she found the idea interesting, she had been told to NOT let the girls do that.. On pain of... Severe pain.
Asuma and Kakashi ended up sharing a tent, as Gai had forgotten a tent, and was forced to use Kakashi's... No WAY was Kakashi sharing a tent with Maito Gai, he snored, drooled, he was LOUD, and hairy, and he scratched himself in inappropriate places in his sleep... And though he hated to admit it, Kakashi found him too disgustingly manly.
He understood snoring, drooling, hairy-ness, loudness, itchy-ness, all on their own... To place it all on ONE being was just disgusting, so instead Kakashi shared a tend with Asuma.
They both feel asleep within five minutes anyway, so it didn't really make a difference.