Now things are starting to happen…

Sakura and the Prince of Flowers
By Miss Angel Maxwell

Chapter 4: "The Last Thing I Expected to Happen"

Lub-dub lub-dub

Sakura awoke to a heartbeat, warm and gentle against her cheek. The morning sun had already crawled into her bedroom and as it implored her eyes to open, she found herself resting on a warm expanse of pale smooth skin. Propping herself up with one hand, the drowsy young woman gazed down, half-shocked, at the naked young man whose chest had been such a comfortable pillow, and who was still blissfully asleep next to her in her bed. The golden glow streaming in through the window danced on the boy's shiny black hair, giving the impression of a halo around his sleeping head.

"Lee," Sakura whispered, as if saying his name would make the situation seem more real.

She remembered every detail about what happened the night before, crystal clear. She remembered Lee walking her home from Tenten's party and she remembered inviting him up to her room. She remembered the way his mouth tasted when she kissed him, remembered the smell of his soft ebony hair as it brushed against her face. She remembered how it felt having his strong body pressed against hers, skin to naked skin.

Yet it all seemed so dreamlike in the light of day. Waking up next to Rock Lee was, after all, a scenario that Sakura never would have imagined. He had been a considerate and loyal friend to her for many years and she did care about him. But her feelings for him had always been platonic, never sexual, or even romantic. So it was hard to believe that he had become her lover. Now, watching his chest rhythmically rise and fall as he continued to sleep, all Sakura could see was her friend Lee. Her naked friend Lee. All of the sudden she was very aware that neither herself nor Lee was wearing any clothes and she pulled her pink bed sheets up around her protectively.

It really did happen, she thought to herself. I slept with Lee. Then her mind began to race with a flood of other thoughts.

Man, I was so upset last night… But why? Oh right, Naruto and Sasuke… I can't believe I forgot about that... And I… I don't think I feel mad anymore… I actually slept really well last night… No nightmares… Wow! Being with Lee really… Whatever he did…Wow!

Having finally wrapped her mind around what happened the night before, Sakura brushed a dark strand of hair off of the young man's face and smiled at him gratefully. He was the friend who, for one night, had become a lover, because last night that is what she had needed. She had needed him like shelter from a raging storm, warmth and closeness at a time when her heart was broken.

Then the boy at her side emitted a soft sigh and his lips curled up in a dozy smile. "Mmm… Sakura…"

Sakura's stomach did an unexpected back flip and she felt her heart pulsing in her throat.

Oh my god, Lee! Last night… It probably meant something totally different to him! He… he's always had a crush on me… He must know that last night was just a one time, spur-of-the-moment thing… But what if he doesn't? What if he thinks I'm in love with him or something? And how can I tell him that I'm not without breaking his heart? I don't want to hurt Lee after he did so much for me. I just want us to go back to being friends like before… And what will happen when Sasuke and Naruto find out? I really don't want to have this conversation!

But there could be no delaying the inevitable. Sakura now realized that she had traded all of her angst and anger at her teammates for a whole new, even more complex set of problems with Lee. And just as she was meditating on how much she didn't want to have to the morning after talk with him, he woke up.

"Guh morning Sak'ra," he yawned, with a smile so serene it bordered on idiotic. "You sleep alright?"

"Uh… yeah," she said softly. Her nervous blush had unpredictably returned as she looked in his round innocent eyes and she felt more anxious than ever. "Um… Lee… last night… it was…"

" Unexpected?" Lee ventured a shy guess.

"Yes, it was definitely unexpected," she replied awkwardly. "I mean, that was the last thing I expected to happen after Tenten's party… You and me having se…" She couldn't finish her sentence as her throat tensed up and her face grew even redder.

"Was I… was I no good?" he asked with a hint of embarrassment.

"Oh no! You were good, Lee… Incredible actually," she blurted out accidentally, then clapped a hand over her mouth as soon as the words left her lips. "I mean," she added. "It was an incredible thing you did for me. Last night what I needed more than anything was to not be alone, and to feel like I was desired and wanted by someone… by a man… You gave that to me and I'll never forget about it."

"I'm… I'm glad that I could make you feel better," he stuttered, though he was still pink-faced from the startling compliment she had paid him. "You know, Sakura, that if you ever need anything I will do whatever I can to give it to you. I love you."

That four-letter word was exactly what Sakura was most afraid of, but she carried on. "I love you too, Lee. You're a very good friend." She put a strong emphasis on the last word. Now came the difficult part. "And I would never want what happened between us last night to change our friendship. It was just a one-time thing, and it was special… but it's never going to happen again… So I think you and I should just continue being friends like we always were, as if last night never happened. I… I would hate to lose a friend like you, just because of a one-night stand."

"A one-night stand," Lee echoed quietly, though Sakura wasn't sure if it was a statement or a question. Then Lee gave a soft chuckle. "Yeah, it would be a shame to throw away our friendship over a thing like that."

Sakura swallowed nervously. He was taking this surprisingly well, but there was still one more thing she wanted to say. "I don't think we should tell anyone about this," she told him. "Not even our teammates. They… they'd just ask questions that I really don't think I feel like answering. So, would you mind if we just keep this between you and me?"

"Alright," the boy answered. "Whatever you want."

The pink-haired nin felt a strange pang of guilt as she watched Lee's blank face. She couldn't even tell if she had hurt his feelings or not. "Can you do one more thing for me?" she whispered. "Once you leave, you and I will never be close like this again. But right now, could you hold me… just a little while longer?"

With a kind and genuine smile spreading on his lips, Lee reached a strong arm around Sakura and pulled her close against his body. As she nestled into his intimate embrace, it was impossible for the young woman not to remember the extraordinary physical sensations he had made her feel the night before and a shiver of pleasure coursed down her spine.

"You cold?" Lee asked.

"No, I'm fine," she replied with a chortle. "But hey, if you ever want to do something else for me you could go find Naruto and Sasuke and drag their asses back to Konoha." It was meant as a joke and Lee laughed at it, which eased Sakura's mind a bit.

Everything will be fine, she consoled herself in her head. We'll be friends just like we always were. Sasuke and Naruto will never find out. Nothing's going to change. Then she closed her eyes and cuddled against Lee's chest. Whatever magic had allowed her to slumber so soundly last night soon took effect again and within minutes she had fallen fast asleep.

When Sakura woke up for good an hour later, she was alone. For a moment, she actually believed that everything that happened last night and earlier that morning had been a bizarre dream, brought about by stress and fatigue. Clumsily, she dragged the side of her hand across her forehead and something small that had been stuck to her dewy skin plopped onto her pillow.

"A button?" she puzzled as she picked up the tiny white object and scrutinized it. An almost inaudible gasp escaped her throat when she realized what it was. "Lee's button. It wasn't a dream." The button must have ripped off of his green shirt during her energetic effort to get the garment off of him. As embarrassing as this thought was, it was much easier for Sakura to deal with then the next image that invaded her nervous mind. It was the image of Lee's face as he had uttered the words "one night stand," and she couldn't get it out of her head. It just kept repeating like a broken down record machine. "I've got to make sure he's really okay," she concluded, and eagerly leapt out of bed.

Lee wasn't at his home. He wasn't at the ramen restaurant. He wasn't at two dozen other Konoha locales that Sakura searched. By noon she was becoming very anxious and she moved more and more erratically from one place to another, checking stores and restaurants she had already visited for any sign of Lee. It wasn't until she ran into Tenten and Neji in the street, however, that Sakura became truly panicked.

"Hey, Sakura, have you seen Lee at all today?" Tenten asked nervously. "We were supposed to go out on a team mission today, but he never showed up."

"It's very unlike him," the white-eyed Neji added stoically. "Lee would never bail out of a mission or do anything else that might disappoint Master Gai. This is cause for great concern."

"I… I haven't seen him!" Sakura yelped. "I'm sorry!" Then she pushed her way past the two remaining members of Team Gai to continue her search. But she knew it was in vain.

He's gone! Lee's run away and it's all my fault! Damn it! I'm so selfish! All I was thinking about last night was myself and what I needed and… and I never stopped to think about Lee's feelings. Now he's gone! Just like Sasuke and Naruto. No wonder they left me… all three of them… I don't deserve any of them! God, I'm a selfish witch!

As she ran back to her home, Sakura felt white-hot shame burning inside her heart, and she could think of only one thing that could alleviate it. She stopped at her home only long enough to gather her weapons and supplies then, fully equipped, she headed out on her own. She was leaving Konoha to go find Rock Lee, and she wasn't coming home without him.

Like a gazelle, Sakura propelled through the city streets, heading for the southernmost outskirts of Konoha, where it opened up into a large grassy hill just before the forest began. It was afternoon now so she would have to move fast in order to cover as much ground as possible before dark. Her trek only lasted a few meters outside of the city limits, however, before she stopped dead in her tracks. At the top of the hill, heading straight towards her was a sillouette. No, it was two silhouettes. And as the pair of travelers came closer, their identities became obvious.

"S-Sasuke… Naruto…" she gasped, then took off running once again to meet them.

Something was terribly wrong. She could feel it. Both young men wore dour expressions and their clothes were stained liberally with what appeared to be blood. Slung across Sasuke's back was something rather large, and probably heavy based on his sagging posture. Sakura's heart took on a galloping beat.

"Sakura!" Naruto exclaimed. "Sakura, thank god you're here!"

"Why? What's going on?" she asked, the desperation in Naruto's voice making her even more frightened.

Then she saw it, the very thing she had been looking for.

"Lee," she breathed as the twisted green mass that Sasuke carried came into focus. "What… what happened to him?"

The Uchiha didn't answer or even make eye contact with the terrified girl as he carefully lowered Lee's limp body onto the ground. When he did speak, it was to Naruto. "Go get Tsunade! And hurry!" Then he turned to a trembling Sakura. "You know medical ninjutsu. Is there anything you can do for him? Be careful, his bones are broken."

"I'll see what I can do," she croaked, her whole body shaking as she sank down to her knees to evaluate Lee's injuries. "But you have to tell me what happened, Sasuke."

"We… we shouldn't have gone without you," he uttered, shaking his head pathetically.

"I don't care about that!" Sakura snapped at him, surprising even herself. "Just tell me what happened to Lee!"

"Naruto and I were trailing an enemy in the forest… Lee just showed up out of nowhere. He was behaving erratically… yelling…" Sasuke paused and shot an oddly suspicious glance at Sakura, who was now cradling Lee's head in her lap. "I… I couldn't tell what he was saying… Then he just erupted and attacked this guy we were following. We would have jumped in to help him, but he told us to stay back. I'd never seen Lee fight like that before. He killed his opponent… but he got pretty badly hurt doing it…"

By now Sakura was thoroughly occupied tending to Lee, but she still heard every word that Sasuke said and something about his story didn't add up. "All of Lee's injuries appear to be internal," she marveled. "What kind of enemy could do this kind of damage without leaving any external signs?" She stared at Sasuke waiting for an answer.

"Sakura…" a weak voice whimpered, drawing her attention back downward. Lee had awakened, but he was in terrible shape. He could only open his eyes halfway and they were dull and clouded over.

"Don't try to talk," Sakura whispered, cupping his cheek with the palm of her hand. "And try not to move. Your back is broken. Tsunade is on her way so just hold on."

It took all of her energy to keep her voice from quavering, but she couldn't stop the salty tears that dripped from her eyes down her nose and onto Lee's face. She knew enough medical ninjutsu to know that his injuries were beyond her abilities to repair. All she could do now is hold him and comfort him, and wait for the Hokage to arrive.

It's all my fault, she agonized in her head. It's all my fault that Lee got hurt.

She would have continued blaming herself, but her misery was suddenly and terrifyingly interrupted when Lee's head wrenched to the side and he coughed deeply, bringing up a huge quantity of blood from his stomach and spilling it on the grass. She gasped in horror then broke into sobs.

"Don't die, Lee! Please, don't die!" she cried. But he was already slipping back into unconsciousness.

At that very moment the busty, queen-like figure of Tsunade Hokage came into view, striding towards the scene with Naruto at her side trying his best to keep up. As the powerful medical nin examined the beaten young man, Sasuke recounted the same story he had told Sakura, almost word for word. Naruto just stood there, waiting with bated breath, a stretcher held at his side. And Sakura watched the older woman's face anxiously, searching for any signs of optimism. But her expression remained grim.

"I'm sorry," she said desolately. "Even if we get him back into town, there isn't much I can do for him."

"What are you saying?" Sakura squeaked, her face wet and swollen from crying. "Is Lee going to die?"

"He'll be lucky if he lives another twelve hours," Tsunade replied sadly. "But let's still get him to the hospital as quickly as possible."

With the care and caution of two people disarming a bomb, Sakura and Tsunade moved Lee's broken body onto the stretcher. His eyes were closed now, his skin pallid and sickly, and his lips glistened with bright red arterial blood. The two healthy young men lifted the stretcher aloft and carried it back over the hill towards Konoha, Naruto in front and Sasuke in back, while Tsunade walked beside them austerely.

"Sasuke, Naruto… You boys and I are going to have to talk about what happened to Lee," she informed sternly. "And this time you're going to tell me the truth. Got it?"

The two boys swallowed in unison. "Yes ma'am."

They were both too traumatized to notice that they had left Sakura behind, sitting on the grass in a pool of Lee's blood. She just sat there, unable to move, unable to think, unable to even cry anymore. She just sat there, staring blankly at her hands, which were now stained permanently red.

To be continued…