Wow...I wrote chapter 14...thinking it was twelve...because I forgot about this chapter. Good thing I noticed, or you would be missing some vital information...Lucky you, double update!

Sorry for the late updates, as usual, I have been watching much illegal anime (haha, poor me doesn't have a job because the Borders website is gay so I can't afford to buy my own. Actually, maybe I'll sign up at for narutofan plus? You can get anime there, too...)

Disclaimer: Mada mada dane. (That translates to no, not yet, right? Or something along those lines.)

Chapter 13: Winter Fever

"Yosh, Lee-kun!" A voice thundered through the halls. "Are you fired up for gym class? Youth and passion!"

Lee slumped. "G-gai-sensei..." He whimpered pathetically.

Naruto looked over his shoulder. "Why is he behind us? Shouldn't he be in the gym waiting for class to begin?" But then again, it is Gai-sensei.

"YOOOOOOSH! FIRE! PASSION! YOOOOUUUUTH!"

"He normally doesn't, Naruto. You wear earplugs right before heading to gym, don't you?" Sasuke grumbled irritably. He couldn't believe that the Amazing Eyebrow(s) was hanging out with them.

"Oh, yeah," Naruto crossed his eyes, like he was trying to see if his ears were empty from the inside, and stuck his pointer fingers in, just in case.

"BUUUUURRRNING!"

"Pssh. Troublesome." Shikamaru still hadn't figured out what was going on. None of his 'friends' had bothered to tell him.

"LEEEEEE!"

Lee slumped further. "Gomen nasai, Umino-kun."

Gai-sensei stampeded down the hall. "LEE! I WILL SEE YOU IN CLASS! FIGHT WITH PASSION!" He winked an atrociously lashed eye at the quartet and he stormed past.

"What was that?" "He's yelling to Lee again?" "Saa, they're both so weird." The Naruto-tachi couldn't quite make out what the girls and boys in the halls were saying, but Lee was sure that it was something along those lines.

It was at times like these that Lee felt he was bringing everyone else down.

"Eww, Sasuke-sama is hanging out with that teacher's pet!"

Yes, far, far down.

"Oi, oi, Lee-kun, you can't associate with him so much." Naruto whispered. "It's gonna be bad for your image." He squinted at the bowl-cut. "On second thought, maybe it is your image."

"Anyway, the makeover will be pointless if you keep on hanging around him." Naruto added.

Lee clenched his fists. Wasn't it obvious...! Was it true that a person couldn't be both pretty and intelligent?

Naruto smiled to himself. Funny. It was undoubtedly amusing, that Lee had such clear ideas yet refused to voice them because he didn't have the confidence. He decided to play dumb for awhile.

Aah, koi-kun's mean too.

Such a bastard, what' s your problem?

Anata, you're soooo cruuuueel.

"Gai-sensei's so weird. Of all the teachers to latch onto, you had to choose him. Geez, he's like a leech, impossible to shake off," Naruto scratched his chin and jibed off-handedly.

'Hell, do you think I chose him because I like him? He's the only teacher that would pay any attention to me, because I'm untalented and annoying-looking! Eyebrows, eyebrows, owl-eyes and eyelashes, that's all they see when they look at me, a freaking weirdo!' Lee fumed.

Etou, Naruto, that's not a good thing to do, Sasuke thought worriedly. Not that he was worried about Lee attacking Naruto, but it wasn't a good idea for someone as small and frail as Naruto to piss someone as athletic as Rock Lee off.

By now, the four were turning to the steps down into the changing rooms. Naruto kept prodding the entire time.

"Eh, eh? I mean, he's loud and his eyebrows–were yours like that before you met him, or did they grow in after? Stuff like that happens, you know–"

"Naruto-kun, it's not good to-" Shikamaru decided to cut in, but before he could force out the rest of the scolding, Lee decided to explode. Right in the staircase. In the way of the other students who were trying to go change their clothes for gym class.

"That's enough! Umino, would I have come to you if I had another option! Only a moron would embarrass themself like that, and I'm stupid, but not that stupid! I didn't get in here just because my family's rich!" Lee steamed. "I hate Gai-sensei! I HATE GAI-SENSEI!" He threw a well-aimed punch at the wall behind Naruto's head.

Naa, anata, I bet you didn't expect him to get violent. Naruto felt Kyuubi purr.

Naruto looked at Lee's red and heaving face. "That's good, Lee-kun. I was waiting for you!" he smiled brightly.

One of the boys waiting to get past wolf-whistled. He was promptly punched in the back of the head by Kiba, who growled, "That's great, just wonderful, can you move your fat asses now! We still have to change, and I'm not running fifty laps around the court on my arms 'cause of you."

This triggered the stampede-reaction, sending Naruto, Lee, and Sasuke (Shikamaru had slipped out of the way awhile ago, he was a genius after all), into the locker room via the face-to-the-moldy-floor method.

"Itai!" Naruto struggled to his feet. "That hurt!"

Sasuke leaned against a nearby locker with his expression poised irritably. "It wouldn't have happened if it weren't for you, Naruto-baka." he grumbled angrily, nursing a bruise.

"Keh, troublesome. You should have known to move out of the way," Shikamaru moved to help Naruto up.

His advances were rejected by the wall of flesh that suddenly sprung up between him and the blond gaki. Neji stood, tall and imposing, glaring down at Shikamaru with those unsettling white eyes. Wordlessly, he turned, stooped and, putting his hands under Naruto's arms, lifted him to his feet.

"Ehh, sankyuu, er...Neji..." It's that weird guy again...that was at the café with me and Konohamaru...

"Un." Neji nodded stoically. Naruto thought he saw a hint of a blush. He must have gotten flushed in the stampede, although he looked to have more stamina than that...

"YOOOOOOSHU! LET'S GET SHAKIN' MY YOUTHFUL STUDENTS! CHANGE BY THE END OF THE BELL OR RUN ONE HUNDRED LAPS IN FIFTEEN MINUTES! AND IF YOU CAN'T DO THAT, 200 PUSHUPS!" Gai-sensei shrieked and blew his whistle.

"Crap," Shikamaru muttered. He quickly changed, the others following suit sullenly.

-

"Eh? All of my passionate students made it out on time! It's a blessed thing to see the power of youth!" Gai clutched his fist to his chest. "LEE!"

"H-hai, sensei." Lee stood up from the bleachers.

"Lead the class in the warmups. Then separate into teams, we're playing dodgeball."

The class groaned collectively; there were those who appreciated justification for throwing balls at their classmates, but most did not enjoy being on the receiving end. People just threw too hard out of desperation. And it hurt. A lot.

Gai-style dodgeball, frankly put, was hell.

Lee marched to the front of the class stiffly, shouted quietly 'one, two, one, two' and began to stretch his sides. The rest of the class complied bleakly, wanting to limber up a little so it would be easier to dodge.

"One, two, one, two," Lee counted.

Gai-sensei strode around the squads, taking attendance and noting his students' form.

"Yuki, you're not stretching far enough. Inuzuka, you're not holding it long enough. Pull, and before you switch, pull harder," Gai-sensei instructed.

The class murmured half-heartedly as the stretches ended, looking longingly over at the girls' class that was playing volleyball.

Lee picked a random student and they began sorting into two teams. He continued to pick randomly; either way, Lee's team would win, because he was the most fit and would outlast anyone on a sports team.

Out of pity for Naruto's low endurance, or gratefulness for Naruto's favor, Lee's finger landed on the blonde and Naruto came to Lee's side. Soon after, Sasuke and Neji followed. Lee decided that if he could, he would guard Naruto from the harder throws.

-

Kiba may have slacked off a lot, but he was still one of the best players on the basketball team. That was the only reason he hadn't been kicked off even though he missed most of the practices.

A couple of his teammates were on his side for gym; their team was winning, but not by much. It wouldn't be long before they were overtaken by Lee.

Kiba threw a well-aimed kickball and it hit Sasuke square in the eyes.

"Argh!" the pretty boy fell backwards and his glasses fell off.

"Haha! Four-eyes!" Kiba's team chortled.

A dodgeball rolled conveniently up to Kiba. There weren't too many weaklings left on the other side now; it had been lucky that Sasuke couldn't see like he normally could in the first place.

Kiba searched for a place to hit, and his eyes fell on...Naruto. The new kid.

Kiba didn't really want to hit Naruto. Naruto was fragile, like a girl, and he was actually kinda nice, from Kiba's perspective. Not that he had spoken to the boy much.

"Kiba, throw the goddamn ball! He's wide open!"

It was true. Lee had occasionally caught some of the balls thrown at Naruto, but was now occupied on the other side.

"Kiba, fucking throw or pass to someone else!"

Naruto stood, a little worried about being hit. He couldn't dodge very well, not on the court. There was too much going on for him to dodge and pay attention to the others.

"Gawdammit, Kiba!"

Kiba stood, looking at Naruto, until he felt the ball being pulled out of his hands by Takamaru. Takamaru promptly threw the ball at Shino, who was kneeling in a corner, looking at some ants.

Shino jerked slightly when he was hit harshly on the back, then picked up the ants and moved off the court to the end of the line where everyone else who was out waited to see if a ball would be caught so they could go back in.

"...oh." Kiba muttered. So they hadn't been talking about Naruto. Ha, ha.

"Jesus, Kiba, you're a fricken idiot." Takamaru mouthed.

Lee sprung into action, now that the court was freed up and he could move more.

Kiba's team lost in the next five minutes.

-

Naruto invited Lee over for his makeover next Saturday. He would have to arrive early, because they had a lot to do. Appointments and such.

And they had to discourage Gai-sensei, too.

TBC!

Ok, it occurred to me, that gai-sensei and kawamura have a similarity in the yelling thing. But kawamura's hott, and sensei's not. So there.

Review, review, review

Hey, does anyone see a similarity in the leads for Kyou Kara Maou and Sukisyo? Because Hashiba is exactly like Yuuri to me and Sunao is exactly like Wolfram. Freaky, they're both bitchy.