Disclaimer: Disclaim! Disclaim! I disclaim it all! Sadly they ain't mine.
Author note: I got the idea for this one when I woke up around 03:45 and couldn't get back to sleep, so I decided to rewatch parts of the Chuunin exam. I soon found myself very annoyed because there simply was not enough information on how my favourite leaf-nin's team made it through the second round (other than the poor boy getting pounded into the ground by the sound-nin). Yeah, so this is a too-early-in-the-morning idea (I love reading week).
Rock Lee gently pressed the fingertips of one hand against the base of his left ear. The movement didn't slow his progress through the treetops any, but caught his teammate's attention nonetheless.
"Is it still bothering you?" Tenten asked. Their third teammate, Hyuuga Neji, didn't look back at the other two, but listened for the answer. He had seen the other boy touch the same place over a dozen times since his defeat at the hands of the sound-nin the day before. It was now dawn of the second day of the survival portion of the Chuunin exam, and the team was still hunting the Earth scroll they needed to complete this test.
"It rings a lot, but it stopped affecting my balance hours ago," Lee replied, giving Tenten a toothy grin, "I can't wait to find more strong enemies to fight."
"You may get your chance," Neji cut in, "There's a team ahead of us."
The trio stopped on a thick branch about fifteen metres above the ground as Neji focused on an indefinable point ahead.
"How far ahead are they?" Lee asked him.
"About eighty metres. They appear to be stopping."
"Do they have the scroll we need?" Tenten asked. Neji did not respond immediately, as he was still scanning the enemy shinobi for the aformentioned scroll. Neither of the men had it, and it was not in the kunoichi's bag or pockets. Perhaps they had already lost their scroll. Wait a minute…
The slightest bit of a blush crept over Neji's face.
"Well?" Tenten pushed, noticing the slight red tinge to her teammate's normally pale cheeks.
"They have an Earth scroll," he responded at last, "And they're strong. We will take fewer injuries if we surprise them and take their scroll rather than have an all-out battle."
Ignoring the vaguely disappointed look on Lee's face, Neji continued, "I have a plan."
When he was finished speaking, Tenten was looking thoroughly amused and Lee thoroughly embarrassed.
"Any questions?"
"Why do I have to be the one to do it?" Lee asked. Tenten responded in a teasing lilt.
"Because you're the one with the busy hands."
The older teens resting at the base of the tree ahead didn't notice the team's approach until it was too late. Tenten threw a kunai with an explosive note attached to it which landed precisely where she wanted it to, between the Hidden Village of Rain kunoichi and her teammates on the ground. The Rain team scrambled away from it before it blew, predictably, but also predictably the kunoichi had jumped in a different direction than her teammates.
Perfect, Tenten thought, readying half a dozen shuriken from her perch in a nearby tree as the explosive note blew.
Lee and Neji charged through the dust kicked up by the explosion at the two shinobi who had stayed together, while Tenten kept the kunoichi reeling and dodging to avoid her deadly aim.
Lee dove under his opponent's daito, planted his hands against the ground for leverage and sent his opponent flying with a single kick to the jaw. He did not pursue him as he normally would; if all went according to plan they would be gone before the swordsman had time to pick himself up off the ground.
Neji, for his part, sidestepped his opponent's attack and promptly sealed off two tenketsu in his opponent's right arm and another three in his shoulder. He could already sense Lee airborn again, rolling head over heels towards the real target. Game over, he thought, not bothering to hide his smirk.
I can't believe they talked me into this, Lee thought. The Rain kunoichi moved directly into his line of travel, thanks to another one of Tenten's perfectly aimed weapons. Fortunately for him the kunoichi was wearing a wide-necked top.
Okay, don't think about it. Just do it. Oh, if Gai-sensei finds out about this he'll kill me!
As he sailed over the kunoichi's head, he reached out and neatly plucked the scroll out of its hiding placing, namely, the girl's bra. Tenten had the smoke bombs in the air before Lee touched ground. He landed on one knee, his back to the kunoichi, just as the battle area filled with smoke. The smoke effectively cloaked Neji's and Tenten's retreat, but the Rain kunoichi caught a glimpse of Lee as he fled the battle area.
"This way! He's got the scroll!"
A second later all three rain-nins were in hot pursuit of Lee. None of Gai's students were worried though. This too was according to plan.
Lee put on his top weighted-down speed the second he was back in the trees. He purposely did nothing to obscure his trail. Once he could no longer hear his pursuers, he hazarded a glance over his shoulder. The enemy nins had fallen back beyond visual range.
This is the place.
He leapt down to the forest floor and rolled into a nearby bush, careful not to leave any marks that would be visible from above. The rain-nin passed by a few moments later, in their haste not noticing the Noble Green Beast of Konoha concealed in the equally green bushes.
Five minutes later, someone reached into the bush and tapped Lee in the centre of the back.
"They're still following the trail we left beforehand. Come on."
It was Neji. Lee extricated himself from the bush and followed him back into the trees where Tenten was still concealed.
"Where's the scroll?" she asked.
"Right here." he replied proudly, pulling it out of the pouch on his hip, where he'd jammed it in with his kunais. He put it away quickly as they started moving again, not after the rain-nin or back the way they came, but in a new direction entirely. Once they had gone a few paces Tenten said, "You did a good job back there, Lee-kun. You must have a lot of experience reaching down girl's shirts."
Lee abruptly turned red, looking totally mortified.
"No—"
"So you didn't do a good job?"
"Yes, but—"
"Ah, so you do have a lot of experience reaching down girl's shirts?"
"No-I-do-not!"
"Well...which is it?" Tenten asked teasingly. Lee flushed such a deep shade of red that he was almost maroon. As usual, Neji didn't look back at the other two, but his expression threatened to become a perma-smirk.
Handy-dandy word guide (for our newer ninja fans):
Kunoichi: female ninja
Daito: a type of ninja-to, a longer straight sword with a square handle. Note: "ninja-to" is actually a generic phrase applied to a number of straight swords used by ninja, the three main ones being the daito, measuring 70-76 cm in length (28-30 inches) from tip to tang, the shoto, measuring between 45-70 cm in length (17.5-28 inches) from tip to tang, and the tanto, measuring under 45 cm in length from tip to tang
R&R much appreciated, and I already have the wood waiting for a bonfire to be made of any potential flames. Go ahead, flame me!