Rock Lee; 1 Year Later

Age 14

-Run to Reflect-

I couldn't sleep!! I couldn't sleep!! I was so excited to get my chuunin vest.

I don't think I did sleep last night.

We had the Chuunin Exam Tournament a few days ago! I made it to the tournament and won one round. Then Neji beat me in the semi-finals, but I think I did well in both rounds I participated in! I'm pretty confident that I'll get my chuunin vest.

Then again, I did lose a lot of time last year when I was injured after the first Chuunin exam. I have to admit I was a little paranoid this year, but that Gaara of the Sand kid wasn't there so I had no reason to be afraid.

If they did, in fact, select me to become a chuunin, they would be sending one of the Hokage's right hand men to my door any minute now to tell me that the Hokage wished to speak with me.

I stared at the door.

Time was slowly ticking by.

And still, no ninja appeared at my door.

I figured that maybe they were collecting up everyone else first.

All of a sudden, I looked at the clock to see that it was one o'clock. I gasped and realized that Gai had requested we meet him at this exact time. How could I have been so careless as to forget about training?!

Well, I hadn't forgotten about training, I was just a little preoccupied with the Chuunin Exam. But what if the ninja came to my door while I wasn't here?! He would think I was unreliable and then never give me my chuunin vest and then I'd be a genin forever!! But I have to prove to the world that I can become a good ninja even if I can only use taijutsu!!

"FIVE MORE MINUTES!!!" I yelled.

I waited five more minutes.

"If he doesn't come in five MORE minutes then I'll run ten laps around Konoha after meeting with Gai!!" I declared. I started punching the air. What if he was looking in the window and just making sure I was a good ninja?

AHHHHH!!! IT'S ONE THIRTY!!! I'M SO LATE!!!

I flung the door open, hoping to see a ninja there but there was none to be found. I sprinted as fast as I could to where Gai requested to have us meet.

"LEE!!!" Gai yelled. "YOU'RE LATE!!!"

Gai's so fast that he was able to wind up and punch me before I even realized I had arrived.

Although, I DID deserve it.

"Gai!" I said. "I'm sorry I'm late!! I was just making sure that a jounin wasn't coming to my door to tell me I had passed the chuunin exam!"

The tears in Gai's eyes suggested that I hadn't passed. I couldn't help but accept my fate of shedding tears as well. "Oh Lee!" said Gai.

"Gai!!" I yelled.

He outstretched his loving arms to console me. I leapt into them for comfort.

"Gai, are you going to tell him?" Tenten said suddenly.

I looked up from Gai's tear stained shoulder.

"Tell me what?" I asked as Gai finally let go of me. We both stood up and straightened out our extremely youthful attire.

"Lee, I don't know how to break it to you…" Gai started.

"What is it, Gai?" I asked.

"There's no EASY way to say this…"

"What?"

"This isn't something to take lightly!"

"What?"

"RRG!" Tenten yelled. "Lee, NEJI'S a chuunin now!"

I gasped. Part of me wanted to be happy for him, but part of me was insanely jealous. Though, I wasn't about to show that.

"That's why he's not here today, Lee!" said Gai. "For he is not required to train with us now that he is a chuunin!"

"Oh Gai!!" I cried. I could feel the tears flowing freely from my eyes again. Maybe hard work COULDN'T surpass genius ability after all! "Gai, I must run ten laps around Konoha!"

"Why?" said Tenten.

"Because I promised myself that if I didn't pass the chuunin exam then I would do so." I answered.

"Good idea!" said Gai. "I think we ALL shall do it!"

"What?" said Tenten, looking appalled.

"TEN LAPS!!" yelled Gai.

"If I can't do ten laps, I'll do five hundred push-ups!!" I announced as I took off running.

Running was a good way to reflect. I thought about Sakura, the chuunin exam, Sakura, the fact that Neji wouldn't be training with us anymore, Sakura, Gai's inspirational speeches and, last but not least, Sakura.

Tenten looked grouchy the entire time we were running. It was strange though! I thought she LIKED to run! After all, she did it every morning!

The laps really go by quickly if you let your mind wander. And, by the time lunch rolled around, we were all done.

"Team!" said Gai. "Today has been an emotional day for all of you!"

His eyes were watering! Oh Gai!!

"Therefore," he went on. "I will allow you to take the rest of the day off to do anything you wish! Please have a good day!"

With that, Gai was gone.

Tenten and I looked at each other for a moment.

Suddenly, I let my mind wander again.

I thought about Neji and how he was a chuunin and how he wasn't training with us anymore.

Tenten was sighing a little bit and looking around in attempt to keep herself occupied. She was waiting for me to say something, but I was still thinking about stuff.

Like Neji.

He probably missed us.

Then it occurred to me! Neji is most likely sitting at home with a brand new chuunin vest and no one to show it to. I bet he wanted us to come over and see it so he could show it off to us! And, as painful as it would be for me to face him and his chuunin vest, it's about time I got a grip on reality and realized the truth!

"Hey!" I said to Tenten just as she turned to leave. "Let's go visit Neji and congratulate him!"

"I already saw him this morning." Tenten said.

"Neat!!" I commented. "Now you can see him TWICE! Let's go!"

"Lee, I don't really want to visit Neji." Tenten sighed. "He was kind of jerk this morning so I'd rather do something else."

"Like what?" I asked.

I began to brainstorm to myself. I really did want to see Neji to make sure everything I had heard was true. I knew people weren't trying to fool me or anything, but I still wanted to SEE the chuunin vest.

I waited for Tenten to say something, but she looked like she was waiting for me to say something.

"What do YOU want to do?" I said to Tenten.

"I don't know…" she said vaguely.

"Well, I'M going to go over to congratulate Neji." I said in a finalized tone. "I would like it if you came, but you don't HAVE to!" I started my journey towards Neji's house, and Tenten, unsurprisingly enough, followed me.

I went up to the front door.

And then we both looked at each other.

"So ring the doorbell." Tenten said.

"You're closer." I said.

The Hyuugas didn't really like us all that much. I don't know if it's because they don't like our personalities or if it's just because we're not Hyuugas, but whatever it was, they always seemed so uptight and irritated whenever we were around.

Maybe the Hyuugas are ALWAYS like that.

After all, Neji's always like that…but I thought he was a special case because of all the messed up things that happened to him.

So, I realized that it was my duty as a man to accept the responsibility of angering the entire household for ringing the door as a non-Hyuuga.

We both waited awkwardly on the front steps until, suddenly, the door opened. The man I recognized as Neji's uncle was there.

"Um…hi…" Tenten said. "Is…Neji home?"

He didn't really answer. He only shut the door on our faces.

Tenten and I looked at each other.

"That was rude." Tenten said.

"Maybe he's not home…" I tried to reason.

Tenten shrugged and the two of us turned to leave. Suddenly, the door opened again and Neji was standing there, wearing his chuunin vest. He also looked kind of annoyed, but I guess that's how he always looks.

"Neji!" I exclaimed. "I came over to congratulate you!! And Tenten came too!"

"I figured so much." Neji said.

"NOW we're going to take you out to eat!!" I said, the idea popping into my head just then and there. We would be seeing less of Neji now that he was a chuunin so we should get in some quality time.

"What?" said Tenten.

"Fine." Said Neji, shutting the door behind him.

I think both Tenten and I were surprised to hear him agree so quickly. That was so unlike him! Perhaps he had the same trail of thought as we did. Or… as I did.

"I'm glad at least ONE of us became a chuunin!" I said, trying to create small talk.

It didn't really work because neither of them responded.

"NEXT year Tenten and I will be chuunins!" I tried again.

Once again, no response.

I figured I had to direct a question towards someone. "Will you come and watch us in the chuunin exam next time, Neji?" I said.

Yet…still, I got no response.

I gave a heavy sigh as we entered the restaurant.

But my spirits were lifted when I saw Sakura over at a table. "Sakura!!" I said excitedly, running over to her. "It is so nice to see you! How are you? Are you well? It's been a long time since we last met! Days, I think!"

"Lee…please…" Sakura said.

"Will you do me the honor of dining with my team and I?" I requested.

"Lee!" said Tenten. "It's a TEAM thing! And THEY'RE obviously doing a team thing too!"

I looked around the table to see that Naruto and Sasuke were there too. But Sasuke looked like he'd rather be anywhere but there because he was crumpling his menu up with a murderous look in his eyes.

"Sasuke, are you all right?" Sakura asked, completely ignoring me.

"Lee, come on." Tenten pleaded, pulling me away from the table.

We sat down at another table.

"What should we order?" I said, trying to sound happy as the three of us each picked up our menus. "Wow, the food smells good today! I can't wait to eat something since I'm quite hungry!"

"One thing I will certainly not miss is your mouth constantly flapping." Neji said.

Yeah, it hurt. When he says stuff like that, it always hurts. It hurts when ANYONE says stuff like that.

I wasn't too motivated to say anything else.

The only other words that were uttered the table was when we were ordering our food, but we never spoke again until it was time to leave. Even though Neji wasn't really going anywhere and there was still the chance of me seeing him any time I liked, it felt like he was going away on a long trip and I felt very sad even though he was mean to me.

"Good bye, Neji!" I said. "Feel free to stop by any time we're training!!"

Neji only looked at me, so I figured I had to initiate the farewell hug!! I did, and he didn't move at all the entire time.

When I finally let go of him, Neji looked as though I hadn't even gone near him.

"Lee." He said.

"Yes, Neji?" I said.

"Don't ever do that again." He replied.