PhantasyDreamer: Hey I'm back with the third chapter of this story. Once again thanks so much for the reviews, loved reading them. Kinda brighten my day. I won't keep you guys back from reading this long chapter, so enjoy. I don't own Naruto, just my plot. I don't own the proverb listed below either. I'm sorry if I wrote it wrong. Enjoy!
Date with Rock Lee
Chapter 3: Phase three The Festival
Last time: She was about to move when she noticed something familiar. It was one of her old friends staring her. It was Ino. She was passing by while giggling at her. Sakura got mad immediately and barely remembered that Lee would be swinging back at any minute. And before she knew it Lee knocked into her by accident sending her flying into the sand. Lee got off of the swing to see his friend lying in the sand as if she was dead.
"SAKURA!" he shrieked as he rushed to aid her.
"I'm gonna kill him!" a soft yell could be heard in the distance.
The story continues...
There is an old saying or proverb that states that sometimes a dog doesn't really wants his own bone until another dog decides to claim it. This is the same for Sasuke Uchiha. He didn't know how much he cared for Sakura until someone came along to take her away.
Lee knelt down to see his pink haired friend lying on the sand as if unconscious. She was face down in the sand, with her face turned slightly to the left. Her curly locks were spread vibrantly across the sand. He sighed a little at the look on her face. She looked so peaceful. He then instantly grabbed her in his arms, turning her around while shaking her lightly. Who would have guessed that slight blow could knock her so far away? He slowly tapped her face trying his best to wake her up. Soon she began to move a little in his arms.
"L-Lee." she stuttered as she opened her green eyes.
She slowly sat up dusting sand out of her pink hair. She brushed down her skirt realizing the position her legs were in.
She gasped. A slight blush tainted her face as she pushed down her pink skirt immediately. She hoped with all her might that Lee didn't see that.
'Humph, that's what I get for wearing such a short skirt.' she thought bitterly.
"Forgive me Sakura, I did not see you there." Lee replied sternly as he helped her onto her feet.
"It's okay, it's mostly my fault." she turned to gaze at the sky.
"What do you want to do now?" he asked as she turned to him with a smile.
"How about you push me on the swing this time?" she looked up at him with a genuine smile, "And then we can go to the festival."
He chuckled a bit while scratching his hair and then agreed, "Alright."
"Sasuke, did you see that?" the blond began giggling, still crouching down on the tree branch, "Sakura's skirt, it just…"
"I know." he stated sternly as he turned his head the other way.
The spiky blond turned to his teammate to see him blushing. He was so shock that he couldn't find the words to speak anymore. Instead he just kept his mouth shut.
'Does Sasuke like Sakura?' he thought sadly while looking at the couple below.
Silence grew immediately between the two boys as they stared at Sakura swinging high in the air on the swinger. Lee was pushing her real high and she seemed excited and contented with it.
"Have you figured out what we're going to do next?" Naruto asked suddenly.
A slight smile creased the dark teal haired boy's lips. He had been thinking hard on what the next plan should be and for some reason he had a hard time trying to figure out what to do. But immediately a plan began to form in his head.
"I have an idea." he started as the blond got up and came closer towards him, "Now we're going to…"
Sakura was getting a little tired of the swing, her legs ached and she felt it was about time they headed towards the festival. Besides, she didn't want to get there when it was too crowded. She wanted to be there on time, when it just opened. Sighing in an attempt to calm her nerves she decided to tell Lee to stop.
"Lee you can stop now." she replied calmly gripping the rope of the swing.
"What did you say Sakura? Higher?"
He began pushing her even higher as she clung to the rope desperately.
"LEE!" she yelled but apparently he didn't understand what she was saying.
"You want to go even higher? Okay, just hold on tight!"
He motioned as he pushed her even higher. Sakura was getting frustrated by the minute. Why couldn't Lee understand a word that was coming out of her mouth? She wanted to get off but he didn't seem to care or understand. She came up with one idea and that was to jump off of the swing. It was better than swinging to near death. Plus she was sure she could do it. Many kids had jumped off of swings when she was younger and she knew just by looking at them she could pull it off…hopefully.
'Here goes nothing.'
In a quick instant she pushed herself forward and leaped off of the swing while heading further away from the sand and close to some bushes and dirt up ahead. Lee saw this and got ready to take immediate action.
"Sakura, I'm coming!" the bowl haired shaped boy yelled.
He got ready to dash after her but soon realized that his legs were trapped with chakra strings. He struggled to move but he wasn't making process.
'Chakra strings!' he thought while looking at his legs, 'Whose responsible for this?'
Lee clenched his fist as he followed the chakra strings that led up towards a tree, up in the tree stood two figures that appeared to be arguing. He could tell one was a blond and the other had dark teal hair. And for a moment their chakra signatures felt quite familiar as if he'd known them. Other than that he couldn't figure out who they were. He grabbed his legs trying his best to pry the grip of the strings off of him. Immediately looking up he saw Sakura heading straight towards the ground.
"SAKURA!"
Naruto and Sasuke stared in awe as their teammate was heading head first towards the ground. Sasuke had already made his way towards his feet after creating his chakra strings that were still gripping violently around Lee's legs. Both boys' eyes were on Sakura.
'What? She's flying in the air.' the dark teal haired boy thought indignantly, 'Now's my chance to show Lee up and prove to them that she doesn't belong with that loser!'
Sasuke knelt getting ready to dash after Sakura to save her. Naruto realized it and stopped him in his tracks. They both stood still glaring at each other. Sasuke on his knees while Naruto was on his feet glaring down at him.
"What do you think you're doing Sasuke?" the blond asked a bit agitated.
"Hm."
The blond grunted in frustration at his teammate's reaction.
"SASUKE, GET OUT OF MY WAY!" he yelled, pushing Sasuke aside, "I'M GONNA SAVE SAKURA!"
"Over my dead body." the Uchiha muttered, blocking his pathway on the branch.
"Move Sasuke!" Naruto yelled, shaking his fist, "I don't know what you're planning to do but I'm gonna save Sakura!"
"Of course not, I'll do it!" Sasuke yelled, pushing past him while turning his back to his teammate, "Besides, I'll just use your body to save her."
Sasuke smirked evilly glaring over his shoulder at Naruto.
"OH HOOOOO! NO YOU DON'T! Don't you dare use my body to get to Sakura!"
Naruto rushed after Sasuke and gave him a punch in the back. Sasuke turned around immediately punching him back and they both ended up fighting below in the grass.
"Let go of me Naruto!"
"Shut up Sasuke! Now let me save Sakura!"
"Never!" Sasuke screamed punching him.
They struggled on the floor as fists and punches were thrown at each other.
"Jerk!"
"Wimp!"
"Dork!"
"Idiot!"
"Geek!"
"Fool!"
"Punk!"
"Loser!"
"Moron!"
BANG
A loud noise could be heard as both boys' head jerked up. They peered through the bushes to see Sakura lying on the grass with Lee beneath her.
"What? Is she kissing him?" Sasuke asked suddenly surprising Naruto.
'Sakura is kissing Bushy Brow?'
"NO WAY? SAKURA LOST HER FIRST KISS TO BUSHY BROW!" the blond yelled holding his head, "I WAS SUPPOSE TO BE HER FIRST KISS! NOOOOOOOOO!"
SMACK
Before Naruto knew what was going on a punch made its way into his mouth, he fell hard to the grass.
"Be quiet you idiot! They might hear us. Besides they're getting up…" he paused as he looked at the two with a frown on his face, "I may have misunderstood. She's mumbling something about landing on his chest."
Naruto eyed Sasuke cautiously.
"Really? Yes, I still have hope!"
Sasuke growled at Naruto and then turned back to the couple.
Sakura groaned as she felt her body heading straight towards the dirt ground. Immediately doing hand seals she tried her best to use her chakra to force her body to flip over. Unfortunately, it wasn't working. The force of the push was too strong and she had calculated the angle of the jump wrong. She closed her eyes with a slight whimper, waiting for impact. As soon as she hit the ground, she landed on something soft. Opening her green eyes in fear she realized that she landed on top of Lee, whom appeared to have rushed in front of her in an attempt to save her. She gasped noticing that her head was buried in his chest.
"I'm sorry that I landed on your chest, Lee." she muttered a bit embarrassed.
"No worries, my dear Sakura. I did not want you to get hurt."
He smirked slyly taking his arms from around her waist. She got up, helping him to his feet as well. He looked at her with a wide grin on his face while brushing dirt out of his bowl shaped hair. His clothes were a bit smudge with dirt and he immediately dusted himself off.
'I can't believe he did that.' the pink haired girl thought looking at her friend who was a few inches taller than her.
"Sakura…" Lee paused seriously, eyeing their surroundings, "Did you not sense those chakra signatures here? I think there's someone spying on us. Sakura, don't you-"
"No, no. What are you talking about?" she giggled mercilessly while eyeing the bushes as if to tell those spying on her to beware of her wrath, "You must be hallucinating! It's all in your mind Lee!"
He bowed his head a little.
"You're probably right." 'But I know what I saw.'
She coughed a bit trying to relieve the silence that immediately grew since Lee looked as if he was in deep thought. She went to retrieve the gift he had given her along with her purse from near the swing.
"I think we should get going to the festival now. It's almost four." she started looking at him, "We should get there early."
The pink haired kunoichi gazed at her fellow friend with a slight smile.
"Oh Sakura you are right! Let's get going!"
He yelled excitedly while throwing his fist in the air and then doing his usual Gai pose, his thumb in the air and hand on his hip while his teeth gave its incredible ping. Sakura chuckled nervously as they both walked away from the park not realizing that two pairs of eyes were staring them curiously.
It didn't take them long to reach the small gates of the festival, most likely they got there in about twenty five minutes since the festival was to the further east of the village. Along the way they had stopped by a small restaurant to freshen up and clean off any dirt or stain on their clothes. They both paid the man at the gate and grabbed their ticket. Lee had insisted on paying for Sakura but she politely refused, after all he had done so much already for her. Sakura got a medium sized bag from one of the booths to place her gift from Lee in it. Gradually, they walked further into the large plain field to see various booths along the line. Although it was quite early many activities were already taken place and Sakura was getting even more excited just by watching.
Lee and Sakura walked side by side drawing in all the various sights. Some of the civilians had already arrived even though it was still early. Most dressed in kimonos and other traditional attire. Sakura looked down at herself and felt a bit out of place. If she had known before hand that they were coming here she might have brought a change of clothes but unfortunately she didn't. Walking further in silence she stopped as she brushed up against a boy who was slightly older than her. He looked at her with cold uncaring eyes.
"Uh oh…hi Neji." she blurted out as he grunt in response.
"I see you're still as clumsy as ever."
She blushed a bit embarrassed, avoiding his glare. He wore his usual ninja clothing. His arms were folded as he stared at the couple with a look of disgust. Sakura wondered why but she slowly reached for Lee's bandaged left hand for some unknown reason. Lee smiled at her as he held her small hand.
'Pathetic love sick fools.' Neji thought bitterly, gazing at the two in front of him, 'All I've been hearing about is love, love, love since I've come to this festival. If they don't stop this they're gonna drive me crazy!'
Tenten made her way from behind Neji she was obviously too busy staring at a booth behind him to even notice her teammate and friend.
"Lee and Sakura, how's the date going?" the brown haired girl asked, pushing past Neji who blushed slightly by her touch. Besides the gnawing feeling in his chest and stomach he still felt like he was going crazy.
"It's great." Sakura stated shyly, making Tenten grin even wider.
"Yes Tenten because of your youthful advice, I was able to not make a fool of myself…" the bowl haired shaped boy spoke truthfully before bowing his head a little, "…well at least most of the times."
He paused remembering the choking incident.
"I don't see the point of the date, Lee's still an idiot."
"Neji, don't say such things in front of Sakura, plus it's not true. Lee's a sweet guy." she stated in a slight hush tone.
Although Sakura and Lee heard everything, Sakura could see Lee cringe at the harsh words thrown at him but she just squeezed his hand in assurance that it was okay.
"Then why don't you date him?" he asked curiously, taking Tenten by surprise.
She blushed and then glared at him.
"Well, I can't he's on a date with Sakura." she stated in a teasing manner.
Meanwhile Lee was blushing madly. 'Oh my goodness! Tenten likes me? Oh I am such a chick magnet! But I-I love Sakura. I'll have to let Tenten down gently.'
The two thirteen year olds began to argue about Tenten dating Lee. Neji kept telling her to go and date him if he was so sweet and caring while she just taunt him, telling him that Lee was already taken by Sakura. They continued to mumble at each other until Sakura decided to intervene. She let go of Lee's bandaged hand and walked over to Neji with a vibrant smile on her face. Tenten gazed at her stunned. She touched Neji's shoulder obviously making the young Hyuuga nervous as he backed away slowly.
'What does she think she's doing anyway?'
"I don't get it Neji. It's not like you like me anyway. So, why are you acting this way?" she gave him a flirtatious smile that no one knew Sakura could give, "Do you like me Neji?"
She began playing with his hair and before she knew it he pushed her gently away from him.
"OF COURSE NOT! I don't like you I like-" he growled at her while turning his head the other way, "I like…someone else. Sakura Haruno, don't you dare try that stunt with me, trying to pick my mouth! I'm not as foolish as Naruto."
"Sure you aren't."
'Drat! I missed it. Almost got him to admit that he likes Tenten.'
"I'm out of here." he muttered, walking away.
Tenten turned back to Sakura a bit stunned and angry.
"What were you doing Sakura?" she asked a hint of anger trailing in her voice.
"I was trying to get him to admit that he likes you."
The brown haired girl gasped, her brown eyes widen.
"N-Neji likes me?" she touched one of her brown buns on her head.
"Yeah, at least I think he does. I mean he was blushing a bit." the pink haired girl smirked touching her chin, "So, go get him Tenten!"
Sakura smacked Tenten on her back almost messing up her white kimono.
"I will and good luck with the rest of your date Lee!" she yelled, running as fast as she could to get to her crush.
Sakura turned towards her date to see him looking on with growing pink hearts glowing in his eyes.
"Oh Sakura you are the greatest at matchmaking!" he turned as he held her hands, "I did not agree with the flirting part but you are so full of love and youthful power, the greatest and I love you very much!"
Sakura cast her head down, letting her bangs hit her black shirt in an attempt to hide the huge blush on her face.
'Oh I wish he wouldn't say such nice things like that.' she thought.
"Let's just go enjoy some rides, shall we?" she motion to him, while looping her hand through his.
Sasuke and Naruto arrived at the festival about ten minutes after Lee and Sakura. They had tried their best to keep out of her way and make their presence unknown. The two boys stood a few feet away from the gate to contemplate on the next round of pranks they would pull in order to ruin the remainder of Sakura's date. It didn't take them long to find a small clearing near the gates so that they could make their preparations.
"Tell me the plan Sasuke, so we don't end up fighting again." Naruto stated rather harshly, rubbing his swollen cheek.
Evil black eyes glared at Naruto angrily while the owner of the eyes clenched his fists.
'Naruto is such a stupid fool! You'd think enough fists and punches would shut him up for now but unfortunately that didn't work. All I need to do now is focus on this mission and not the idiocy of my teammate, Naruto.'
"SASUKE!"
The dark teal haired boy let out a harsh exhale as he closed his eyes and opened them immediately. Even though Naruto got him mad, he still needed his help in order to distract and ruin the date.
"It's your fault we were fighting in the first place Naruto. If you had just let me save Sakura in the form of you none of this would have happened." he replied, taking out a map of the festival from his back pocket, "Besides that Sakura almost got hurt."
"Well if you had let me save her then there wouldn't have been a fight. And besides that I would have never allowed you to transform into me to save Sakura!" his crystal blue eyes stared his teammate with anger, "You know Sakura would beat the snot out of me if you did that! After all, I'm the black sheep of the group anyway."
He nodded his head while pouting and earning a slight smirk from Sasuke unaware to him.
"You idiot, she would still beat you up if you had saved her on your own. But I'm glad to see we agree on something. You are the black sheep."
The blond growled loudly at Sasuke before thinking over what he had just said.
'Hmm.' he squinted his eyes, 'He does have a point. Why didn't I think of that before? Man I'm hungry I don't have time for this anymore.'
"Naruto." the blond turned towards the map in his teammate's hand, "Now we'll scout the perimeter around this area. Whatever booths or rides they may visit or go on try your best to make Lee look like a fool. If and when he does this he will embarrass Sakura so badly that she'll have no choice but to leave."
"Are you sure this is gonna work?" Naruto asked, turning towards the gate.
"I have my doubts but I'm gonna go through with it anyway."
"Alright! Just one question." the blond ninja stated, receiving a nod from Sasuke, "Could we eat first? I'm running low on fuel!"
"Fine."
Sasuke put away the map and began walking to the entrance of the clearing. Both boys smirked at each other while crossing their hands in front of their faces.
"TRANSFORM!"
They both transformed into normal civilians. Naruto changed into an elderly man with white hair and a large mustache. He wore a brown hat and a brown suit along with a small wooden cane. Naruto cocked his eyebrow in shock as he looked at Sasuke. He had transformed into a twenty year old version of himself, except he had flaky brown hair and blue eyes. He wore an almost identical outfit to his regular clothes. The only difference was that his shirt was brown with its usual collar sticking upwards and his pants were black and trailed to his ankles.
"Way to make it obvious Sasuke. Anyone can see through that disguise." the elderly Naruto pointed at Sasuke, "For once use your imagination!"
"Is it my fault I have a limited amount of imagination?" he muttered as he walked away with his hands in his pocket.
Naruto just let out a grunt. He opened his eyes to see that Sasuke had already disappeared.
"Hey wait up you fool! You can't leave an old man hanging!" Naruto yelled, limping away, trying his best to act as an old man.
They both walk in silence as they paid the gate man and then entered the festival.
Sakura frowned as she walked out of the exit of a ride, soaking wet. This was just not her day. Here she thought at the festival she would have fun and enjoy herself. But just two things were wrong, Lee and his clumsy antics.
"I'm so sorry Sakura." Lee pleaded, using a towel to dry her off, "I do not understand how the boat could've broken like that."
She glared at him and walked away. Lee's black eyes lowered sadly. She saw by his shadow on the dirt ground that he was standing behind her with his head down perhaps sad how the events had turned out. By the looks of things one would say the date was ruin since every ride or activity they participated in practically resulted in some type of catastrophe. Turning around immediately she gazed at his solemn face.
"It's okay Lee, it wasn't your fault. You couldn't have prevented that from happening." she gave him a genuine smile as she touched his hand.
He smirked back at her as they continued walking through the festival grounds. A slight breeze blew around her making her shiver. Lee placed a large gray towel he had received from the instructor over her shoulder. She thanked him with a nod. Walking in silence she thought over the events that took place from the time she entered the festival. First they went to various booths and scooted around. Nothing happened there. They did apple bobbing which Sakura enjoyed, both participated and won themselves a small prize. They then came by the pie throwing contest. Lee began flinging pies at people whose head were sticking out. It was at incredible speed and many of the volunteers were crying out in pain. He was successful at hitting each one of them but when he came to an old man and a tall guy that reminded Sakura of Sasuke, he threw both pies so hard that the board, in which the two had their head sticking out of fell on top of them.
Sakura shrieked in fear, thinking that the old man was dead. She rushed to aid him but he politely refused. Little did she know it was Naruto. Sasuke, on the other hand could only growl at his misfortune. After that Sakura participated in a traditional Japanese dance contest. She was doing great, dancing against her rival Ino along with Tenten. She was putting her all in it, that even the crowd was cheering her on, even the old man from before. Actually he was the loudest. She continued to dance and came in second next to the winner which was Tenten. At least at that event nothing bad happened. When she looked to the audience however, Lee was no where to be seen. He then appeared out of nowhere and frightening her so badly that she fell off of the stage, small trophy in hand to the hard floor below.
After that embarrassing moment they went to the other booths that had simple activities, throughout the whole time there Lee would do something incredible weird and stupid that would make Sakura question why she agreed to the date in the first place. Once he tripped when he was going to hit a target, something wet on the table cause him to fall and hit his face hard. Another time he was walking and he got something in his eyes and hit into a pole in the middle of field. Then he spilled cold water on her arm, she was only happy it was water although it made her scream loudly. Soon after that they went to a kunai throwing contest. Lee entered gleefully telling her that he would win her a gift. He was doing great hitting each target with accuracy. But as usual things were just too good to be true. Before anybody knew what was going on Lee threw his kunai and tripped slightly on a rope that disappeared as soon as it came. The kunai escaped from his grasp and went slightly towards the board almost hitting the instructor who was passing by. The instructor's blond hair spread widely while the kunai stood stuck in the board above. Sakura gasped at the event that almost took place and then looked at Lee who was on the floor once again.
The only thought that came to her mind was, 'What a drag.'
They finally made it to a boat ride that Sakura reluctantly agreed to go on, the tunnel of Love. The ride was calm and peaceful, they sat down together talking of their dreams for the future, it wasn't too far when suddenly the boat began to shake violently. Pieces of it began to chip away and immediately it broke in half. Sakura being caught off guard barely had time to react and fell into the shallow water below luckily not wetting her hair in the process. Lee got out of his half boat and went to help her. They then journey out of the ride.
The pink haired kunoichi sighed. As much as she didn't want to admit it the events that took place at the festival was the worst but she had made a promise. For some reason she kind of felt like someone was doing something, something bad to cause Lee to act this way. Her thoughts went back to the image of Naruto yelling about her agreeing to the date with Lee.
'Oh my gosh!' she thought, gripping the towel tightly around her, 'That's it! How could I forget? It's Naruto! He and his partner is the one behind Lee's unusual weird behavior. Sure Lee's weird and stuff but today was just overbearing. I mean no one can be that clumsy! Right? And they almost succeeded too, because I was just about to end this date. Cha! No one's gonna make a fool of me!'
"We are here. Are you up for one last ride Sakura?"
She nodded as they proceeded to go on the semi-large Ferris wheel.
As soon as the two young teenagers were strapped into their seat, the Ferris wheel began to spin. It went round and round for quite some time until it stopped suddenly at the top. Sakura looked across at Lee who seemed calmed for once in his life. He was enjoying the view while she was a bit frightened. Once the ride had stopped Sakura couldn't help but get nervous.
"Sakura, are you uncomfortable?" the bowl haired shaped boy gazed at her nervous expression.
She gave him a nod in reassurance.
'What am I thinking? I'm not really afraid of heights. So, why do I feel so nervous? Oh right Lee.' she smirked at the calm expression he had on his face as he stared at the sight below, 'I mean Lee's not gonna do something clumsy up here right? I mean I don't think he'll do something stupid at all right?'
"Sakura…" he looked at her.
"I'm okay Lee! Stop worrying!" she yelled knocking her hand harshly against the strap that was around their waist. The strap swing forward from her push and fell to the ground below, leaving a loud clinging noise behind.
Lee turned to Sakura with a scary look on his face.
'How did that strap get so loose?' she thought as she leaned slightly over causing the chair to move forward.
Before she knew what was going on she fell right out of the chair leaving Lee sitting above, as the chair swung lightly.
"NARUTO!" came an angry yell as this was all that could be heard as she fell.
"SAKURA!"
While Sakura was falling from the Ferris wheel she caught a hold of the metal bar. Standing firmly on it she walked upside down pushing the force of her chakra towards her feet. She walked brilliant down the large wheel while spectators' watch in shock. Pushing down her skirt, she moved quickly to prevent all the perverted stares that were coming her way. She was almost at the bottom when she heard some snickers.
'Shut up! At least I rescued myself!'
"What kind of girl is she?"
"How does she do that?"
"Is she a ninja?"
She heard those whispers as she made her way close to the ground, still a few feet from it. Closing her eyes she couldn't get the whispers out of her head and unconsciously she lost her balance. She screamed as she fell into the arms of a young man.
"Funny meeting such a pretty girl here." the guy stated a little sarcastically with a slight blush on his face.
"Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry!" she blushed madly while looking at the guy who resembled her crush badly. She giggled a minute when he put her down, "Wait a minute. You know you remind me of someone I know, someone on my team."
The guy paused a bit and turned to leave.
"Sorry but I think you've got the wrong guy."
She sighed as a light breeze whip her short hair around. Her clothes mainly her skirt was practically dry now so she didn't need the towel anymore.
'Oh my the guy looks exactly like Sasuke, except for the flaky brown hair and blue eyes.'
"Sakura!" she turned to see Lee running towards her, "I am sorry I did not come to aid you right away but I was perplexed as to what happened. I barely had time to react, by the time I came down you were gone."
She nodded at him pulling at her pink curly locks.
"It's okay. Let's go I think it's getting late."
"Right!"
"Why isn't she giving up? Is she starting to like him?" Naruto asked his eyes widening in fear, "Sasuke suppose she falls for Lee? Then I won't have a chance with her! NOOOO!"
He turned to Sasuke who just stared blankly at him. They were standing in a tree watching the couple as they walked away from the festival. Sadly it was a few minutes to seven and the place was still slightly bright showing that it was indeed summer time.
"I want you to follow him Naruto, do something to stop Lee."
Naruto arched an eyebrow at him.
"Are you crazy? I'm not going to do anything Sasuke!" he yelled while folding his arms.
"Look we have to do something. Can't you see their getting closer, Loser."
The young Uchiha turned to Naruto in his original form. They had used up a lot of chakra during their transformation and now they were low on energy but that wasn't going to stop Sasuke, not at all.
"But I've used up most of my chakra making shadow replications of the ghosts of the Haruno Clan."
"Wait I used up a lot chakra too, Naruto." the dark teal haired boy glared at his teammate.
"Yeah, to do your chakra strings and handle those skeletons." Naruto pouted jumping out of the tree which Sasuke followed since their targets were out of sight, "If I didn't know better I would say that you're just letting me do all the dirty work. Plus I did most of pranks here at the festival!"
'Good thing he doesn't know better.' Sasuke smirked unconsciously.
"So, I'm not doing anything until you come up with a plan where you do most of the work."
"Fine I have an idea. I'll…"
Sakura and Lee passed slowly across a small bench where she had almost shared a kiss with Sasuke who was actually Naruto in the form of Sasuke. She had to admit that she wondered what would've happened if he had kissed her. Would he have liked her now or not? Sitting down on the bench, she placed her gift from Lee on it along with her purse and the prize and trophy she had won from the festival. Sighing she closed her eyes to intake the silence that developed immediately between them. Lee however, was standing in front of her with a sly smile. When she opened her emerald eyes she saw him playing with his bandage while staring at her.
"Are you alright Lee?" she asked a bit concerned.
"I am fine. I have something I want to say to you." he began, blushing constantly.
'Please grant me my wish oh fountain of love.' he thought pleadingly.
"Go ahead Lee." she ushered as he began chuckling.
"Sakura, I know I may be out of line here…" he paused while kneeling down and holding her hand, "but I have dreamt of this moment from the first time I lay eyes on you."
"Huh?" she cocked her pink eyebrow at him, "What are you talking about?"
"Could I kiss you?"
She looked at him blankly, mouth opened unable to close them.
"Kiss you?"
'WHAT IS HE CRAZY? I can't kiss him I like Sasuke. Very much if I might add! It will be like cheating on Sasuke and I don't want to do that. I mean he's a nice guy but that doesn't mean that I want to kiss him. I should have seen this coming.' she thought feeling the heat rise in her face.
"I know I am not the number one handsome guy in the village but I wish you could help me with this request." she looked at his pleading eyes.
"Lee, I'm sorry I can't. I don't feel the same way you do." she took her gaze away from him as she thought about her crush, her cold hearted crush, Sasuke, "I care too much for Sasuke. I don't think I can do that."
"Strange. I love you so much yet you care so deeply for Sasuke. Such unfortunate events were bound to happen in my life. The one beautiful girl I like does not return my feelings." he sighed still gripping her hand, while on his right knee, "I do not get it. Why do you care for him so much? Do you like the way he treats you? The way he says such harsh words to you? The way he verbally spits in your face when you try to do something nice for him? Do you really like all of that?"
She gazed at him with tears in her eyes. He was right. Sasuke did treat her badly and she felt guilty to even think of kissing Lee. But he did have a point. After all it was just a kiss anyway. What was the harm with that? At least that's what most people thought nowadays. She turned back to his eyes. They were dark and filled with love. She couldn't look away. They were so captivating as if drawing her into his deep gaze. He looked like a cute little puppy begging for a doggy treat.
"Um…" she paused touching her chin while he got up. She let out a deep frustrated sigh, "Let me think about it."
He jumped in the air.
"YEEPPEE! Okay, I will be right back."
"Where are you going?" she asked suddenly, standing to her feet.
"I have to get Chap Stick and air freshener…I mean mints." he smirked as he rushed off.
'Way to ruin a mood Lee. Air freshener?' Sakura thought as she sweat drop.
A few minutes passed by and Lee came walking towards Sakura with a stern look on his face.
"Lee, what took you so long?" she looked at him while he forced out a squeaky laugh.
"I…I um…" he turned his gaze from her trying to hide his blush but she saw it, "I was…I was just massaging my lips."
She raised an eyebrow in fear, 'Weird guy.'
"Um…Lee, I've been thinking and you're right." she gave him a genuine smile making him grin weirdly, "As much as I hate to admit it Sasuke will never like me more than an annoying teammate. Besides that it's just a kiss it doesn't mean anything, right? But I'll do it, not because I love you Lee but because I want to make you happy as your friend."
He smirked rubbing his hair nervously.
"Right." he muttered with a large blush on his face.
"Okay, are you ready?" she asked and he nodded in response.
Lee stood still a bit nervous as Sakura approach him.
'I can do this! Right? I mean it's just a kiss, it doesn't mean I like Lee right?' she thought unsure if she should go ahead with this or not, 'I can do this, it just his dream right? Besides it's not like Sasuke would care anyway or be even jealous if he sees me. I can do this. It's now or never.'
"Sakura…" he stated with his dark eyes glaring at her, "I…"
Before he could finish his statement Sakura pressed her lips gently to his, eyes closed and all. In shock he stood still not knowing what to do. Before long he kissed her back pulling her close towards his body as he placed his bandaged hand around her waist. Sakura tiptoed a bit while encircling her arms around his neck enjoying every moment of the kiss.
I bet you guys didn't see that coming! Okay tell me what you think. SAKURA IS KISSING LEE! I can hear my sister screaming at me. I hope you guys liked this chapter a lot. For some reason when I was writing this chapter I was beginning to hate Sakura and she's my favorite character. I guess it was the revenge plot that made me feel that way. I'm also sorry if Neji is out of character, haven't gotten his personality down pack yet, since I'm still watching the chuunin exam part of the anime. Please review and tell me what you think. Lata!
~**~PhantasyDreamer~**~
**Revised & Edited July 27, 2010**