Being Prepared

Vyctori

A/N: This fic is too long for a drabble, but far too short for a one-shot. I'm not exactly what I'd call this . . . and normally I wouldn't publish a snippet like this, but I got a positive reaction when I posted it on my LiveJournal, so I decided to bite the bullet and post it. I promise my next work for this section will be of a decent length. Really.

Disclaimer: All I own is the weirdness that is my brain. Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.

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"Gai-sensei," Lee said one day at the end of training. "You're always saying that a good shinobi should know everything he can, right?"

"Yes, that's exactly right, Lee." Gai nodded, looking sage. "You never know what skills or knowledge may be needed in a situation."

"Then could you teach me something?" Lee looked up at his sensei with hope.

"Of course, Lee!" Gai agreed instantly. "And, in the remote chance I'm unfamiliar with the skill you want to learn, we can learn it together and both improve ourselves!" A thumbs-up accompanied the last sentence.

"Gai-sensei . . . will you teach me how to dance?" Lee asked.

Gai was momentarily taken aback by his student's request, but he recovered rapidly. "Of course, Lee! We can start with fast dancing and then move onto slow dances. Now, watch how I move."

Gai started humming a lively popular tune and started to move his body in the same rhythm. Lee observed for a few moments, then he, too, started to dance with enthusiasm.

After about half an hour of fast dancing, Gai-sensei stopped singing at the top of his lungs—as time went by, the accompaniment went from humming to singing to bellowing the song as loud as possible—and said, "Lee, now it's time to move onto slow dancing. So you get a greater grasp of this, I will teach you both the male and female parts of the dance."

"Yes, Gai-sensei!"

"Now, put your arms around my neck," Gai instructed. "This is what the beautiful, charming, youthful woman you would be dancing with would do. I'll put my arms around your waist, like you with your burning passion and perfect dance skills would. Now, follow my lead!"

Gai once again started humming, this time choosing a slow ballad, and teacher and student began to gently sway with one another in the clearing.

Lee closed his eyes and imagined that he was dancing with Sakura. Someday, he would have a chance to show her what a brilliant dancer he was! She couldn't help but fall madly in love with him, and it would be all thanks to his sensei! He smiled in bliss at the thought.

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Sakura headed towards where Tenten had told her Lee and Gai were still training. She wanted to ask Lee out for dinner as a thank you for loaning her money to buy a new shirt—she had spent her allowance on sweets that week. The shirt had been the last one and at the price it had been, if she waited another week, it definitely would've been gone. And it was all thanks to Lee that she managed to snap it up.

As she approached the training area, she called out, "Hey, Lee, do you want to. . . ."

Then she stopped dead in her tracks and stared. Lee and his sensei were waltzing about the clearing, both seemingly focused only on each other. Lee had his eyes shut in what seemed like ecstasy and Gai was singing a particularly soppy love song.

Without another word, Sakura turned on her heel and walked away very quickly. Maybe she'd just give Lee the money back instead . . . but later, when he and his sensei were done doing . . . whatever. She shuddered and walked faster, trying desperately to banish the mental images her brain delightfully tormented her with. . . .