Rock Lee; 3 Years Later

Age 16

-Dashed Dreams-

The day had started out like any other day.

I woke up early, trained my hardest throughout the entire day and then called it quits once I couldn't move anymore.

Oh, how I missed those long days training with Gai! I became a chuunin just last year and it was GREAT! But there was one thing that could make it better; a mission or two with Gai! I had yet to have one of those.

I've had a few missions with Neji, which was fun. I lost touch with him once he became a chuunin and I stayed a genin, but once I became a chuunin, I saw him a lot again. And he's gotten to be such a good ninja! He works so hard. But not as hard as me of course!

Because I have no natural talent, it is imperative that I train every day! ALL day! People like Neji can skip a day and make up for the lost time at his whim!

I grabbed a jump rope.

I wished Sakura were here.

It had been a while since I had last seen Sakura. That was one of the biggest downsides of being a chuunin. I saw less of the people I loved like Gai and Sakura! Also, Tenten was kind of drifting away, but she tried to stay in contact with me as much as possible! Or, maybe that was ME trying to stay in contact with HER…

But anyway, just when I was about to start jump roping, I heard the phone ring.

"Hello, Rock Residence, this is Lee speaking, how may I help you?" I greeted the person who had called us.

I listened. I let her do all the talking.

"YAMANAKA INO, YOU ARE A GREAT FRIEND!!" I shouted, slamming the phone down on the receiver.

Truly a gift from the gods!

Ino had set me up with an ANGEL; Sakura! I was to pick her up at seven o'clock sharp at her house and travel with her down to the club where I would meet up with Ino and her date! …Sasuke? Ino is going out with Sasuke? Oh, no wonder Sakura was to be MY date!!

I felt like I was going to blow up if I didn't tell someone!!

Neji lived the closest to me!!

I took my weights off, accidentally making two craters in my front yard, so I could get over there as fast as I could. But it's okay since we had about a million other craters in the front yard.

I knew Neji hated it when I went in his window, but his Hyuuga family members had started to turn me away at the door. I guess they just didn't like me.

If Neji didn't want me coming in his window, he should lock it!

I opened it up and jumped in. Neji had his back to me at first. He was closing his bedroom door and turned around just in time to see me.

"Hi Neji!" I greeted him.

Neji jumped three feet up into the air and nearly fell over. Funny, I would think with his incredible Hyuuga 360 degree vision, he would not be so surprised at my arrival.

He regained his composer.

"Lee, what have we talked about concerning coming in my window?" he said in a very condescending tone.

I didn't want to talk about windows! But I especially didn't want to talk about the PAST! I wanted to talk about the FUTURE!! My future date with the one and only SAKURA!!

I grabbed him on the shoulders and shook him to make sure he was giving me his undivided attention. "GUESS WHAT!!" I yelled as loud as I could.

He pushed me away. "I don't want to know." He said.

I gasped. How could he?! This was one of the most important things in my entire life and he was shrugging it off as if it was nothing!! I was sixteen years old and this was only my first date!! WITH SAKRUA NO LESS!!!

"Yes you do!!" I cried, getting down on my knees and BEGGING him to want to know just because I wanted to tell someone so badly!

"Fine." He said, crossing his arms. "What is it?"

"Ino called me earlier today and she said that she and a bunch of people are going down to a club and that she set me up with Sakura!" I explained, leaping to my feet and bouncing up and down.

"Wow, Lee. I'm so happy for you."

?!?!?!?!? No way!! Neji has NEVER reacted like that before!! He must have been REALLY happy for me!! "Really?!" I gasped. "Neji, you're such a friend!!" I felt like hugging him, but I knew he would hate it so I didn't.

"And you know me so well." He said.

He was right. I did know him so well. "I do!" I agreed.

Neji put his head in his hand, though I don't know why.

I felt so warm and fuzzy that Neji and I had finally connected!! This day was already so much better than I had expected when I had first awakened!!

"Well, you've told me your news." Neji said. "Now I wouldn't mind if you left. I have places to go. And close the window on your way out."

Places to go?? Maybe Neji was coming to the club too!!

"Where are you going?" I asked. If he WASN'T going, I was definitely going to ask him if he wanted to come.

"I have to go and speak at the academy because I was the number one rookie four years ago." He replied. "It's not like you know anything about that though."

Oh yeah! I had almost forgotten that Neji had been the number one rookie from his year. Hehe, and I had graduated at the bottom of the class too. Looking back at that, it makes me laugh sometimes!

Occasionally, I wish I was the number one rookie.

Maybe I should tell him that.

"Wow!" I said. "I wish I was the number one rookie so I could speak at the academy!! Instead, I have a date with Sakura!!"

Neji gave me his evil eye, but I decided to disregard it.

I had places to go too!!

"Well, I have to go and tell Tenten!!" I said, going to the window. "Then I'm going to get ready and then I'm going to go and pick up Sakura and then I'm going to go to the club!!"

"Good for you." Said Neji, going over to the window too.

"Have fun speaking to the little kids!"

"Go." he said. He was excited for me!!

"I'll tell you all about my date tomorrow!" I promised him.

"Just go." he said, still excited for me!!

I jumped out the window, but then I remembered I had to ask him if he wanted to come too! I can't believe I almost forgot! "You should come along after you're done!!" I said, sticking my head in.

"Please go."

Wow, I had never seen Neji so excited! I guess I should go!!

He shut the window on me, trying to make me leave faster.

A guy couldn't have a better friend!

I sprinted over to Tenten's house and I was just about to open HER window and barge in on her when I saw her inside getting ready. Was she going to the club too? Maybe now wasn't a good time to bother her. She had to get ready. I wonder who her date was?

Besides, I was running out of time. I had to run home!!

Oh, I'm home! I love being fast!

I got dressed in my best green tuxedo and looked at myself up and down in the mirror. Then I checked the clock. Almost 7:00! Time to pick up Sakura!!

I strode casually on my way over to Sakura's house because I didn't want to show up with my heart beating fast than the speed of light. I stood outside and practiced what I was going to say.

"Dearest Sakura," I tried. That sounded too… twelve-year-old. "Adoring Sakura…" That sounded more sixteen. "Surely you have heard of the…the…" What was a good word for 'get together'?

I was unable to practice anymore because the door suddenly swung open. I was in mid bow, so I sprung up to face the person who had opened it, hoping it was Sakura.

But no, it was Sakura's mother.

"Good evening, Mrs. Haruno!" I said.

"Oh, hi Lee!" she greeted me pleasantly.

"Is Sakura at home?" I inquired.

"Oh no…I'm sorry, she's not." Sakura's mother replied.

That was the one response I had not been expecting.

"What?" I said.

"I'm pretty sure she left to go to some kind of party thing at the local club…" her mother replied vaguely.

OH I SEE! Ino had told me one thing and Sakura another. I was to meet Sakura THERE, not pick her up! Oh, how silly I had been!

"Thank you!" I said with a final bow.

I didn't want to be late so I walked more quickly, tying to keep my loud, excited heartbeat under control.

It wasn't long before I was running. I think I may have actually plowed someone over on my way into the club and was greatly relieved when I finally saw Ino, Sasuke, Naruto and Hinata sitting at a table.

But wherever was my dearest—er—adoring Sakura?

"Hey guys!!" I yelled over the loud music of the club. I quickly made one last inspection to make sure Sakura was not there. "Is Sakura not here?"

"Weren't you picking her up?" Ino asked.

Uh oh. What did this mean? Was this just one big huge joke that everyone was playing on me? "She wasn't at her house so I figured she was already here." I answered.

I hoped maybe she had just gotten lost or something on the way. I sat down next to Sasuke who was, contrary to popular belief, there, looking longingly at the empty seat in between Naruto and I.

"She'll show up." Naruto said.

I didn't want to ruin anyone else's time so I tried not to sigh too much. Ino eventually pulled Sasuke up out of his chair and on to the dance floor. Why did Ino end up with the one she loved but I did not?

I kept glancing around the room. Maybe she didn't know where we were sitting.

"Hinata," Naruto said. "Do you see Sakura around ANYWHERE?"

"No…" Hinata replied.

I kept looking. But, if Sakura was here then she wasn't making herself known. Perhaps she had come in and was waiting for us at a different table thinking that we had abandoned her?

"Maybe she didn't see us when she came in!" I said. "What if she's sitting by herself?"

"Let's go look for her!" said Naruto.

Even though the last person I wanted to team up with was the rival for my love, it was the only option I had. "Okay!" I said, jumping out of my seat. Naruto appeared to be at the 'get together' with Hinata anyway. Maybe he had made the switch to Hinata and was only being nice by volunteering to help me find MY date!

"Do you see her?" I asked Naruto as he got up on a chair and scanned the crowd. I was a good half-foot taller than Naruto so it seemed ludicrous that he was standing up on the chair instead of me but I doubted it would make much of a difference.

"No…" he sighed, jumping down.

"I can't give up!" I said.

The two of us searched and searched but Sakura was nowhere to be found. I started to wish that Neji were there so he could just use his Byakugan to find her in nothing flat. Then again, Neji probably wouldn't do that just because the thought of using his Byakugan for something like that would offend him.

"How disappointing!" I said after we had circled the club two or three times.

"Let's try standing by the door just in case she comes." Naruto said.

"Okay!" I said.

The two of us went over to the door and stood there. It was pretty silent between the two of us. I just wanted Sakura to get there so I could dance with her.

Suddenly, I saw her. Sakura!

"Sakura!!" I exclaimed. "This is like a dream!!"

But she looked ever so upset. She pushed through the middle of both of us and ran away. I was going to chase her, but girls tended to like being alone for a bit so they can sort out what's in their heads.

Naruto made a start to run after her, but I grabbed his shirt collar and pulled him back.

"What's the big idea?!" Naruto demanded.

"She needs some time to think!" I said.

"She needs ME to comfort her!" Naruto said ignorantly.

"Trust me, Naruto." I said. "That's the way girls work. Let's head back to the table."

Naruto grumbled in protest but the two of us went back to the table anyway.

Hinata was still sitting there.

"I have NO reason to be here if Sakura isn't." Naruto said. "None whatsoever. It's pointless. All I'm doing is sitting here."

"Well, at least Ino and Sasuke are having a good time." I sighed, always trying to look on the bright side of things.

"That's not fair." Said Naruto. "I wish Sakura were here."

Almost as soon as I had commented about how Ino and Sasuke were having a good time, the two of them turned around and abruptly left the club without coming over to us and telling us where they were going. I guess I was happy for them, but also really really jealous.

Was I ever going to get a girlfriend? I was sixteen and no one had ever even looked at me in a romantic manner before.

"Um…Naruto." Hinata said suddenly. "Please excuse me. I have to use the bathroom. I'm not feeling well."

"Oh, I'm sorry Hinata." Said Naruto.

Hinata hung around for a moment or so, and then left. I called after her, "Feel better soon!" but it's not like I could follow her or anything since she was going to the GIRL'S bathroom after all.

"Hey Lee, do you think I'll ever get a date?" Naruto asked me.

I felt like asking him the same question.

"Oh, I don't doubt it, Naruto." I answered.

I never did ask him if he thought I would. I was far too embarrassed because I didn't want to seem desperate. Though, sometimes, I really was.