Rock Lee; 4 Years Later

Age 17

-Onna Garufurendo-

I was in the Hokage's office, waiting for her to arrive. I tried to look around the room to find someone I knew… but there wasn't much of that. I was a new chuunin after all, so I didn't recognize many faces.

Even though I was a new chuunin as I previously stated, I still entered my name in the nomination…thing. If I entered my name then the Hokage would look at my fighting skills and decide whether or not to nominate me for the jounin exam. I didn't expect much, but it would have been nice.

In addition to having the nominations for the jounins today, the chuunins were also receiving their vests! It didn't normally happen on the same days but the Hokage was a little behind on handing out the vests. Both Sakura and Tenten had entered the chuunin exam and I wished them the best for obtaining their promotions.

That's probably what was keeping the Hokage. She was probably handing out vests. Probably.

Just as I thought that, I heard the door open and everyone turned around to watch as the Hokage and Shikamaru came in.

The Hokage sat down and gestured for Shikamaru to read of the announcement. I feel kind of bad for him sometimes, but on the other hand, I'm also incredibly jealous of him that he gets to work so close to the Hokage.

He cleared his throat and the crowd instantly quieted down. I think everyone respected Shikamaru almost to the extent to which they respected the Hokage. He always filled in for her whenever she was away.

"The following jounins have been selected to have a try at joining the ranks of special jounin or ANBU." Shikamaru read as he began to ramble off a long string of names.

When he was finished, he paused for a moment and then looked further down the list.

"The following chuunins have been selected to have a try at joining the ranks of the jounin." He continued. This was the list I wanted to hear! I listened carefully for my name.

"—Hyuuga Neji—"

Wow! Neji was nominated! I'm so happy for him! I didn't see him, though.

I quickly glanced around the room but I couldn't find him anywhere. Then I looked back at Shikamaru only to realize that he had finished calling the names! What if he had called my name and I didn't hear it?!

"Thank you." He said. "If you have not been chosen to compete in the upcoming exams, then don't be discouraged because you have plenty of chances to succeed. And, just because you have been nominated, doesn't mean that you are a new rank."

"You are all dismissed!" said the Hokage with a wave of her hand.

As all the ninjas made their way to the doors, I pushed my way forward to where Shikamaru and the Hokage were currently conversing.

"Good morning Miss Hokage and Shikamaru!" I said, saluting them.

"At ease." Said the Hokage, but I think she might have been taunting me. Oh well.

"Um…I'm going to look stupid…but I missed the end of the list…" I said. "Am I nominated?"

Shikamaru held up the paper and looked it over once. Twice.

"No, sorry." He said. "If you have not been chosen to compete in the upcoming exams, then don't be discouraged because you have plenty of chances to succeed. And, just because you have been nominated, doesn't mean that you are a new rank."

"Oh." I said. Those words certainly just rolled off his tongue. Again.

He looked at me like he wanted me to leave.

"Okay…thanks though!" I said.

I admit, I was a little disappointed that I wasn't nominated for the exam. I don't think I was particularly ready for it, I must admit, but I still thought it would be fun to enter anyway.

I skipped steps as I hopped down the stairs. Why was I so happy?

I would simply have to find Neji and congratulate him!

And Tenten…to find out if she passed the Chuunin Exam.

How convenient that they were both standing outside the Hokage's office.

"HEY YOU TWO!!!" I yelled. They both spun around. Neji looked annoyed and Tenten looked hurt. Not LITERALLY, just emotionally.

"Oh, hi Lee!" said Tenten, putting on a smile. Neji didn't say anything or try to put on a smile. He just continued to look annoyed.

I was going to congratulate Neji and question as to whether or not Tenten passed just as I earlier planned when I was suddenly distracted by Tenten's chuunin vest.

"TENTEN!!" I exclaimed. "You have your vest! CONGRATULATIONS!!!"

"Yeah!" she said, looking actually happy as she clung onto the collar of her own vest and gave it a tug. "I'm the only one who passed this time around!"

That meant that Sakura hadn't passed. I was going to bring that up, but I figured they didn't want to talk about that.

"Now we're ALL chuunins!" I said. "YAY!!"

"I won't be a chuunin for long." Neji said.

"That's right!" I said. "Congratulations on being nominated!"

I was the only one who hadn't had something exciting happen to me.

"Hey Lee, don't you want to know how Sakura did?" Tenten asked.

I was so confused. There were about five conversations and things I wanted to say running by me faster than I could understand or interoperate. "Yeah!" I finally managed to spout out.

"Well, when she found out she wasn't promoted, she quit."

I must not have heard correctly.

"She what?" I said.

"Good." Said Neji. "One less to have to worry about. I have to leave now."

And with that, Neji walked away.

But I didn't care that Neji was unusually rude today because I was in shock.

"But…WHY?" I said. "She was an excellent ninja!"

"Lee…open your eyes." Tenten said, putting her hands on my shoulders. "She is not what she seems. She's only toying with you because she knows that she can. She never ever EVER has ANY intentions of EVER taking you seriously."

"I'll win her eventually!" I said, determined.

"Lee, you should give up now and find a girl who loves you back." She said. "You're seventeen now. I'm sorry if this seems harsh, but you have to grow up."

That was harsh. And not just a little harsh. That was REALLY harsh.

"What about you, Tenten?" I said. "How long are you going to chase Neji for?"

"THAT is different." Tenten said, dropping her hands from my shoulders.

"You're seventeen too, Tenten." I reminded her. "You can't chase your girlish dreams forever. But you shouldn't worry…I know you'll find someone who appreciates you."

She put a hand to her mouth to keep herself from letting out a betrayed gasp. I bet she was sorry for ever telling me that she liked Neji.

I think it was time for me to go.

There was nothing more for me to say so I quickly departed. What if I had lost Tenten's friendship because of what I had just said? I shouldn't have said it. I think I had to apologize.

"Tenten, I—" I began, as I spun around but I crashed into someone and knocked her to the ground.

"Oh!" she exclaimed, dropping a stack of paper everywhere.

Why do people always carry paper all over the place?

"I'm sorry!" I said, immediately getting down on my knees and collecting up the papers. I did it very quickly because of my instinctive ninja training and handed her the papers before she had even collected herself.

"Wow, you're pretty fast." She said, pushing some hair out of her eyes.

I was suddenly mesmerized by her eyes. "And you're pretty pretty." I found myself saying.

She blushed and looked down. "Thank you!" she said.

"So, where were you headed?" I asked, standing up. I took her hand and pulled her to her feet. Oh, she was the perfect height!

"Just home…" she answered, looking at the ground. "Hey, are you six foot three?"

"My height?" I said. I was a little surprised because I had just been thinking the exact same thing. Well, to an extent. "Why, yes, I am! Not a centimeter taller and not a centimeter shorter!"

She took her papers from me. "I always pictured my perfect guy to be six foot three…" she said shyly.

"…What's your name?" I asked.

"Garufurendo." She replied quickly, but then she quieted down. "Onna Garufurendo. But everyone calls me Garu."

"Oh…" I said.

She didn't have a beautiful name like Sakura…but her face was much more pure. Garu seemed like a real person while Sakura always appeared to be hiding behind a mask.

"I'm Lee." I said. "Rock Lee."

"I know…" she said.

Surprise, surprise. This Onna Garufurendo is just full of surprises.

"You do?" I asked.

"I watched you in the Chuunin Exam last year." She said. "You were amazing."

"Thank you!" I said. "Are you a fan of ninjas?"

"I am a ninja." She said with a grin. "I'm a jounin."

"Oh." I said. "You must be very strong."

"Not as strong as you, I bet." She said, twiddling her fingers.

This girl was beautiful, she liked me and she was a spectacular ninja.

Most importantly of all, she was real!

I wasn't dreaming!

Or was I?

"Garu…" I said.

"Yes?" she asked.

"Will you pinch me?" I requested.

"Why?"

"Because I have to make sure I'm not dreaming." I answered.

"Lee, you're not dreaming." She blushed.

Wow. This was incredible. Could Tenten tell the future? Did she know that I would meet Onna Garufurendo on this very day? At this very moment? I only hope that Tenten finds someone…

Tenten!

"Oh no!" I said.

"What?" Garu asked.

"I have to apologize to Tenten!" I told her.

"Who's Tenten?" Garu said.

"The girl on my team!" I replied. "I said some pretty mean things to her as an unjustified retort for something I believed was cruel and mean at the time but now I realize that it was incredible kind…!" I trailed off and looked at Garu who was waiting eagerly for me to continue. "…And also…incredibly accurate…"

"I could help you look for her." Garu said quietly.

"Really?" I said. "You're not too busy?"

"Oh no." she said. "I'm not doing much."

"Here, I'll carry those for you!" I said, holding out my arms for her to put the papers in. I had only just realized that it was so rude for me to have not offered much earlier.

"Lee…you're so kind." She said, handing the papers to me. "I bet someone has already stolen you."

Stolen me?

"What do you mean?"

"I just know there's a girl out there who's already calling you her own!"

I immediately thought of Sakura. The last thing Sakura considered me as was 'her own'.

"No, Garu, a lot of girls out there only care about looks." I said, facing the horrible truth that I am no stud like Uchiha Sasuke and therefore, no girls came to call.

"Lee, I'm not like a lot of girls." She said. "And I hope to see you again sometime. Like say…7:00? For dinner?"

I paused. "Is this a date?" I said.

"Oh yes." She said with a nod. "It's a date all right."