There Is
One again, the next day had been quite uneventful. Gai's silly little games changed drastically into team sparring sessions to which it was an all out Taijutsu match. The winner had been Sasuke barely, Lee in a VERY close second, and then Naruto, Neji, Shino, Kiba, Hinata, Ino, Sakura, Tenten, Chouji, and Shikamaru who had given up because everything was far too troublesome. Sasuke looked rather smug that he had beaten the greatest Taijutsu focused ninja in all of Konoha twice now.
Lee simply shrugged the loss off. He would beat Sasuke, it was his goal. He would simply have to train harder in order to win. He had so many rivalries in progress, but Sasuke's strength bothered him the most. He had stolen all of his moves and trained for only a month to accomplish what Lee had taken years to do...
Oh well. He would simply do 1000 punches followed by 900 kicks and 500 one- armed push-ups later to punish himself. It was no big deal.
Asuma used his newfound intelligence to get Hinata and Neji to have a civil conversation that did not end up in a rant about the Hyuuga house rivalry somehow. The other teachers were beginning to suspect these simple tasks that Asuma kept handing out had something to do with lazy Shikamaru.
The night enveloped the group quickly, leaving 8 quiet tents (excluding the loud snores emanating from Naruto's tent), and 4 wide-awake teachers alone in the wilderness. The inky blackness would be frightening for a normal person, but these beings were Shinobi, those who hide in the shadows... And one who used shadows as a weapon quite literally: Shikamaru's Kagemane-no- jutsu was quite handy when the day began to wane.
"Kakashi, do you think that we're getting anywhere with these children?" Kurenai asked thoughtfully as the full moon peaked overhead.
"Hinata and Lee seem to be developing a friendship. It is quite the unexpected relationship, if you ask me..." Asuma offered to the others, scratching his hairy chin and gazing over the tents as he took a long dragon his cigarette.
"Naruto and Kiba have become good friends as well.. That was more expected, however... They're quite similar on most levels." Kakashi added, his one ½ open eye inspecting Kurenai's face. The eyelid drooped again dully as he plopped his chin in his hand, the elbow propped up on the picnic-style table they were currently residing at.
Gai was looking around the tents, his eyes finally narrowing on Lee's. It was placed so far away from everyone else's... It was not like Lee to act so antisocial.
"Shino and Sasuke." Maito Gai said nonchalantly, "They're communicating with other people.. Namely each other..."
The other teachers saw his preoccupied stare, and decided to pick up on a conversation Gai might be interested in, even with its negative connotations... And the idea that they would purposely be getting Gai to speak to them.
"Rock Lee has not been acting the part of himself lately." Kakashi finally said after a long, awkward pause. The other teachers held their breaths.
"Something is wrong.. I have never seen him act so... WRONG."
Gai seemed to look frustrated, as though he couldn't quite tell for sure why Lee cared so much about Sakura, or why Sakura did not care for Lee.
He was smart, funny, kind, and he was an able-bodied young man that chose to wear clothes that showed off a physique that few could match. He was the only thirteen year old in all of Konoha with a six-pack. Should the ladies not find this attractive?
Gai sighed.
Kakashi had a similar train of thought, though his was offering the idea that perhaps if Lee did NOT wear a spandex body suit he may be able to win the hearts of a few more ladies...
Asuma was simply thinking about how few cigarettes he had left on this stupid trip. One pack... ONLY one pack... To last him 3 more days... Sigh.
Kurenai was far more intrigued into the nuances of young love. She was the woman, and was forced to offer up her almighty knowledge of a young girl's mind.
"Sakura has cared about Sasuke for a while now. If you paid attention to them even as youths, Sakura followed Sasuke around blushing constantly.. This crush had lasted for over six years now, and has probably developed even further into young love due to their natural closeness from being on the same team. Sakura probably cares more for Sasuke than she has ever cared for someone before, and when she learned Lee looked at he the way she looks at Sasuke, it probably shocked her. She is an intelligent girl, but is less capable with words when not describing a nin- or genjutsu... She likely unintentionally hurt Lee's feelings, and thus left Lee to nurse his wounded heart without really understanding that he cared about her as much as she cares about Sasuke. Besides that, one can even see Sasuke becoming more and more fond of Sakura when looking at his actions to little things. For instance, he had made Sakura the medical specialist for their game, he justified the reason well, but one could tell that Neji would have been far more desirable with his 360 degree vision. He also seems far more comfortable around Sakura than any other female, myself included..."
Kakashi nodded, absorbing the words and placing them into his memories for further reference.
Asuma nodded, letting her words go in one ear and out the other as he stared at her ruby red lips, moving... Moving... They looked so soft...
Gai coughed before looking as though the words had gone completely over his head.
"Oh! Right! So... Lee... Likes Sakura... Sakura... Likes Lee.... And is too shy to say it?"
Kakashi looked irritatedly at Gai while Kurenai leaned over and slapped him.
"Baka."
"Now.. Listen carefully Gai... Kurenai explained this once... Lee Likes Sakura, but Sakura likes SASUKE.. NOT LEE. Sakura like SASUKE, and therefore hurt Lee when she said NO to him.."
Gai nodded again, then looked sadly over at Lee's tent.
"But why does Sakura not like Lee?"
"Because she likes Sasuke." Kakashi said as though it should answer any questions he had.
Gai looked as though he might press further, but simply sighed and let his broad shoulder slump down in defeat.
The teachers looked at each other, realizing that Gai was crying slightly, a few little tears rolling down his cheeks and onto his strong chin, dripping down to the soft earth.
"It hurts."
Kakashi nodded, as did Kurenai.
Gai had felt the same way about Kurenai at one point, only to have his heart stomped on by the beautiful young woman. She had loved another as well, but had never told him who. He had presumed it was the great Kakashi... Kakashi, his eternal rival.
Asuma continued to stare blankly ahead, puffing on his cigarette absent- mindedly as he though about himself when he was young. He had liked a young Kurenai as well, but was too shy to say so. She had been on his team, and the two had never spoken much... All he knew was that she was absolutely beautiful, and she had, had beautiful, ruby red lips...
Yuuhi Kurenai felt most sorry for Sakura, she had been in that position as a youth as well. Gai had fallen in love with her, while she imagined her own wedding to a handsome toothpick-chewing young ebon-haired boy. He had constantly had a toothpick in his mouth, gnawing on the end, and when he was done with one he would spit it out and pop another one in. The slack- jawed look across his face was most attractive as the toothpick would appear to be falling out, but always just catch on his upper lip so it slanted downwards at an odd angle. Yes... Sarutobi Asuma had always been an attractive young boy...
Kakashi simply chuckled at them all. Each on of them seemed lost in memories. The only thing that he really remembered from his youth was the way that his teacher had an insanely sly grin he used whenever he planned on giving them a tough mission... Then that proud, broad smile for every time they completed it, slightly sharper canines giving the slight impression of fangs... How he saw his own teacher, Yondaime, in young Naruto. They were so very similar... Both with their shocking blonde hair, azure blue eyes, fox-like grin and even their laugh. Yes... Naruto acted exactly like his father.
The teacher snapped from their memories almost simultaneously, each looking at the next worriedly. Asuma had found himself daydreaming as he stared at the sky, Kurenai had been gazing at Asuma from the corner of her eye, and Gai had been looking at Kurenai as though she had broken his heart once more.
Kakashi simply chuckled at them all.
"Let's call it a night for now..." The silver-haired Jounin offered.
Morning came swiftly, the sun peaking over the horizon as though it was unsure as to if it reveal itself yet. When it was sure it was safe, it leaped up to greet the world in all its splendor.
Naruto groaned that the sun must be rising earlier, and Shikamaru lazily offered that it was impossible for it to be rising noticeably earlier until later this year...
Naruto began to argue, but was swatted swiftly by a tired Sakura. She plopped herself down and yawned widely, wiping sleep from her eyes and running a hand through her amazingly untangled hair.
Naruto looked at Sakura as though it should be impossible for her to look that good in the mornings. Her wrinkle-less pink, silk pajamas fit to her curves attractively, her hair was perfect this morning and even as she yawned her lips only parted slightly. Naruto remembered a mental image of Kiba yawning in a way that looked like his jaw had unhinged like a snake.
Naruto then turned his gaze away from Sakura towards the approaching Hinata. Her hair was slightly messy, tousled but nice-looking. In one hand she carried a small teddy bear with bright blue buttons for eyes and a little hitai-ate tied around its belly. Her teddy bear-covered blue pajamas were loose on her body in a comfortable manner, and she even wore fuzzy blue slippers.
"Ohayo, Naruto-kun." Hinata said softly as she sat down next to him.
"Ohayo, Hinata-chan.. How is your ankle?"
"It doesn't hurt to walk on it any more thanks to Kurenai-sensei.. Thank you again for carrying me to the teachers, Naruto-kun..."
Naruto blushed as he reached back and scratched the back of his head in an embarrassed manner.
"No problem, Hinata-chan!"
"Ano sa! Hinata!"
The shy girl turned and looked at Lee as he approached. He was wearing forest green pajamas that were much looser on him than his daily attire. The trim on them was silver as he took a seat across from both
Naruto and Hinata.
"Ohayo, Hinata, Naruto!"
Naruto nodded with a wide grin at Lee.
Lee's normally perfectly gelled ebony hair was in complete disarray, tousled in a wind-swept way somehow. His bangs were brushed to one side to reveal a bit of hairline, making his usual bowl-cut haircut looked almost normal.
Naruto laughed in his bright orange pajamas, he leaned over the table and messed up his own hair in an attempt to put it in its proper spiky, crumpled look.
"You're feeling better, I hope?" Lee asked as he turned to Hinata, and the Hyuuga girl nodded with a small smile.
The three continued on into a conversation about this and that, Kiba and Akamaru joining in at one point (Kiba translating Akamaru's points for them), and even Sasuke said a few words every now and then.
"Lee-kun.. Can I speak to you?"
The simple sentence froze the entire conversation.
Naruto looked at Sakura, Hinata as well, and Sasuke looked slightly shocked at the especially kind way that she was gazing at the back of Lee's head.
"I'm busy right now."
The one sentence answer hurt Sakura almost as much as Sakura had hurt Lee that night while watching the sun set.
"Please, Lee-kun? It's really important..."
Lee slowly stood up, turning to face Sakura with all emotion drained from his face, He followed her away from the rest of the children, away to the far side of camp and behind a couple of tents.
"Lee... Why are you- -"
She was cut off by Lee's silencing glare.
"How do you have the nerve to speak to me as if this is all my fault? I told you how I felt about you and all you can say is 'Sorry'? I loved you, Sakura. I loved you with all of my heart, and you took that heart and shattered it. Please, don't even bother trying to make me feel better. I'm happy with my new friends."
Lee tossed one more cold look at Sakura before turning and walking swiftly away, not even bothering to look back.
".. Lee.. You're nothing like you were just a few days ago... Where did my best friend go?"
".... He realized that he would always be second to Sasuke," A small voice in Sakura's head said quietly, "and that meant he couldn't have me.."
One again, the next day had been quite uneventful. Gai's silly little games changed drastically into team sparring sessions to which it was an all out Taijutsu match. The winner had been Sasuke barely, Lee in a VERY close second, and then Naruto, Neji, Shino, Kiba, Hinata, Ino, Sakura, Tenten, Chouji, and Shikamaru who had given up because everything was far too troublesome. Sasuke looked rather smug that he had beaten the greatest Taijutsu focused ninja in all of Konoha twice now.
Lee simply shrugged the loss off. He would beat Sasuke, it was his goal. He would simply have to train harder in order to win. He had so many rivalries in progress, but Sasuke's strength bothered him the most. He had stolen all of his moves and trained for only a month to accomplish what Lee had taken years to do...
Oh well. He would simply do 1000 punches followed by 900 kicks and 500 one- armed push-ups later to punish himself. It was no big deal.
Asuma used his newfound intelligence to get Hinata and Neji to have a civil conversation that did not end up in a rant about the Hyuuga house rivalry somehow. The other teachers were beginning to suspect these simple tasks that Asuma kept handing out had something to do with lazy Shikamaru.
The night enveloped the group quickly, leaving 8 quiet tents (excluding the loud snores emanating from Naruto's tent), and 4 wide-awake teachers alone in the wilderness. The inky blackness would be frightening for a normal person, but these beings were Shinobi, those who hide in the shadows... And one who used shadows as a weapon quite literally: Shikamaru's Kagemane-no- jutsu was quite handy when the day began to wane.
"Kakashi, do you think that we're getting anywhere with these children?" Kurenai asked thoughtfully as the full moon peaked overhead.
"Hinata and Lee seem to be developing a friendship. It is quite the unexpected relationship, if you ask me..." Asuma offered to the others, scratching his hairy chin and gazing over the tents as he took a long dragon his cigarette.
"Naruto and Kiba have become good friends as well.. That was more expected, however... They're quite similar on most levels." Kakashi added, his one ½ open eye inspecting Kurenai's face. The eyelid drooped again dully as he plopped his chin in his hand, the elbow propped up on the picnic-style table they were currently residing at.
Gai was looking around the tents, his eyes finally narrowing on Lee's. It was placed so far away from everyone else's... It was not like Lee to act so antisocial.
"Shino and Sasuke." Maito Gai said nonchalantly, "They're communicating with other people.. Namely each other..."
The other teachers saw his preoccupied stare, and decided to pick up on a conversation Gai might be interested in, even with its negative connotations... And the idea that they would purposely be getting Gai to speak to them.
"Rock Lee has not been acting the part of himself lately." Kakashi finally said after a long, awkward pause. The other teachers held their breaths.
"Something is wrong.. I have never seen him act so... WRONG."
Gai seemed to look frustrated, as though he couldn't quite tell for sure why Lee cared so much about Sakura, or why Sakura did not care for Lee.
He was smart, funny, kind, and he was an able-bodied young man that chose to wear clothes that showed off a physique that few could match. He was the only thirteen year old in all of Konoha with a six-pack. Should the ladies not find this attractive?
Gai sighed.
Kakashi had a similar train of thought, though his was offering the idea that perhaps if Lee did NOT wear a spandex body suit he may be able to win the hearts of a few more ladies...
Asuma was simply thinking about how few cigarettes he had left on this stupid trip. One pack... ONLY one pack... To last him 3 more days... Sigh.
Kurenai was far more intrigued into the nuances of young love. She was the woman, and was forced to offer up her almighty knowledge of a young girl's mind.
"Sakura has cared about Sasuke for a while now. If you paid attention to them even as youths, Sakura followed Sasuke around blushing constantly.. This crush had lasted for over six years now, and has probably developed even further into young love due to their natural closeness from being on the same team. Sakura probably cares more for Sasuke than she has ever cared for someone before, and when she learned Lee looked at he the way she looks at Sasuke, it probably shocked her. She is an intelligent girl, but is less capable with words when not describing a nin- or genjutsu... She likely unintentionally hurt Lee's feelings, and thus left Lee to nurse his wounded heart without really understanding that he cared about her as much as she cares about Sasuke. Besides that, one can even see Sasuke becoming more and more fond of Sakura when looking at his actions to little things. For instance, he had made Sakura the medical specialist for their game, he justified the reason well, but one could tell that Neji would have been far more desirable with his 360 degree vision. He also seems far more comfortable around Sakura than any other female, myself included..."
Kakashi nodded, absorbing the words and placing them into his memories for further reference.
Asuma nodded, letting her words go in one ear and out the other as he stared at her ruby red lips, moving... Moving... They looked so soft...
Gai coughed before looking as though the words had gone completely over his head.
"Oh! Right! So... Lee... Likes Sakura... Sakura... Likes Lee.... And is too shy to say it?"
Kakashi looked irritatedly at Gai while Kurenai leaned over and slapped him.
"Baka."
"Now.. Listen carefully Gai... Kurenai explained this once... Lee Likes Sakura, but Sakura likes SASUKE.. NOT LEE. Sakura like SASUKE, and therefore hurt Lee when she said NO to him.."
Gai nodded again, then looked sadly over at Lee's tent.
"But why does Sakura not like Lee?"
"Because she likes Sasuke." Kakashi said as though it should answer any questions he had.
Gai looked as though he might press further, but simply sighed and let his broad shoulder slump down in defeat.
The teachers looked at each other, realizing that Gai was crying slightly, a few little tears rolling down his cheeks and onto his strong chin, dripping down to the soft earth.
"It hurts."
Kakashi nodded, as did Kurenai.
Gai had felt the same way about Kurenai at one point, only to have his heart stomped on by the beautiful young woman. She had loved another as well, but had never told him who. He had presumed it was the great Kakashi... Kakashi, his eternal rival.
Asuma continued to stare blankly ahead, puffing on his cigarette absent- mindedly as he though about himself when he was young. He had liked a young Kurenai as well, but was too shy to say so. She had been on his team, and the two had never spoken much... All he knew was that she was absolutely beautiful, and she had, had beautiful, ruby red lips...
Yuuhi Kurenai felt most sorry for Sakura, she had been in that position as a youth as well. Gai had fallen in love with her, while she imagined her own wedding to a handsome toothpick-chewing young ebon-haired boy. He had constantly had a toothpick in his mouth, gnawing on the end, and when he was done with one he would spit it out and pop another one in. The slack- jawed look across his face was most attractive as the toothpick would appear to be falling out, but always just catch on his upper lip so it slanted downwards at an odd angle. Yes... Sarutobi Asuma had always been an attractive young boy...
Kakashi simply chuckled at them all. Each on of them seemed lost in memories. The only thing that he really remembered from his youth was the way that his teacher had an insanely sly grin he used whenever he planned on giving them a tough mission... Then that proud, broad smile for every time they completed it, slightly sharper canines giving the slight impression of fangs... How he saw his own teacher, Yondaime, in young Naruto. They were so very similar... Both with their shocking blonde hair, azure blue eyes, fox-like grin and even their laugh. Yes... Naruto acted exactly like his father.
The teacher snapped from their memories almost simultaneously, each looking at the next worriedly. Asuma had found himself daydreaming as he stared at the sky, Kurenai had been gazing at Asuma from the corner of her eye, and Gai had been looking at Kurenai as though she had broken his heart once more.
Kakashi simply chuckled at them all.
"Let's call it a night for now..." The silver-haired Jounin offered.
Morning came swiftly, the sun peaking over the horizon as though it was unsure as to if it reveal itself yet. When it was sure it was safe, it leaped up to greet the world in all its splendor.
Naruto groaned that the sun must be rising earlier, and Shikamaru lazily offered that it was impossible for it to be rising noticeably earlier until later this year...
Naruto began to argue, but was swatted swiftly by a tired Sakura. She plopped herself down and yawned widely, wiping sleep from her eyes and running a hand through her amazingly untangled hair.
Naruto looked at Sakura as though it should be impossible for her to look that good in the mornings. Her wrinkle-less pink, silk pajamas fit to her curves attractively, her hair was perfect this morning and even as she yawned her lips only parted slightly. Naruto remembered a mental image of Kiba yawning in a way that looked like his jaw had unhinged like a snake.
Naruto then turned his gaze away from Sakura towards the approaching Hinata. Her hair was slightly messy, tousled but nice-looking. In one hand she carried a small teddy bear with bright blue buttons for eyes and a little hitai-ate tied around its belly. Her teddy bear-covered blue pajamas were loose on her body in a comfortable manner, and she even wore fuzzy blue slippers.
"Ohayo, Naruto-kun." Hinata said softly as she sat down next to him.
"Ohayo, Hinata-chan.. How is your ankle?"
"It doesn't hurt to walk on it any more thanks to Kurenai-sensei.. Thank you again for carrying me to the teachers, Naruto-kun..."
Naruto blushed as he reached back and scratched the back of his head in an embarrassed manner.
"No problem, Hinata-chan!"
"Ano sa! Hinata!"
The shy girl turned and looked at Lee as he approached. He was wearing forest green pajamas that were much looser on him than his daily attire. The trim on them was silver as he took a seat across from both
Naruto and Hinata.
"Ohayo, Hinata, Naruto!"
Naruto nodded with a wide grin at Lee.
Lee's normally perfectly gelled ebony hair was in complete disarray, tousled in a wind-swept way somehow. His bangs were brushed to one side to reveal a bit of hairline, making his usual bowl-cut haircut looked almost normal.
Naruto laughed in his bright orange pajamas, he leaned over the table and messed up his own hair in an attempt to put it in its proper spiky, crumpled look.
"You're feeling better, I hope?" Lee asked as he turned to Hinata, and the Hyuuga girl nodded with a small smile.
The three continued on into a conversation about this and that, Kiba and Akamaru joining in at one point (Kiba translating Akamaru's points for them), and even Sasuke said a few words every now and then.
"Lee-kun.. Can I speak to you?"
The simple sentence froze the entire conversation.
Naruto looked at Sakura, Hinata as well, and Sasuke looked slightly shocked at the especially kind way that she was gazing at the back of Lee's head.
"I'm busy right now."
The one sentence answer hurt Sakura almost as much as Sakura had hurt Lee that night while watching the sun set.
"Please, Lee-kun? It's really important..."
Lee slowly stood up, turning to face Sakura with all emotion drained from his face, He followed her away from the rest of the children, away to the far side of camp and behind a couple of tents.
"Lee... Why are you- -"
She was cut off by Lee's silencing glare.
"How do you have the nerve to speak to me as if this is all my fault? I told you how I felt about you and all you can say is 'Sorry'? I loved you, Sakura. I loved you with all of my heart, and you took that heart and shattered it. Please, don't even bother trying to make me feel better. I'm happy with my new friends."
Lee tossed one more cold look at Sakura before turning and walking swiftly away, not even bothering to look back.
".. Lee.. You're nothing like you were just a few days ago... Where did my best friend go?"
".... He realized that he would always be second to Sasuke," A small voice in Sakura's head said quietly, "and that meant he couldn't have me.."