Of Spandex and Shuriken

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Drabble 3: Pepsi

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It was a lovely day in Konoha. Not too humid, not too dry, not too cloudy. For team Gai, it was the perfect day for training, except...

"Gai-sensei's late!!" wailed a certain bushy-browed boy.

Neji sighed and folded his arms across his chest.

Tenten sweatdropped. "Lee... it's only 5:55."

"I know!"

"...Training doesn't start until 6:00..."

"Something HORRIBLE must have happened to him!" cried Lee, tears streaming down his face. "Gai-sensei is ALWAYS here by 5:50!"

Tenten was about to console her teammate, but was saved the trouble by the sudden arrival of her sensei.

"Good morning, youthful students!" Gai bellowed. "Sorry I'm late. I forgot it was my day to bring drinks!" And sure enough, Gai was carrying a six pack--of pepsi, that is!

Lee's eyes widened. "But, Gai-sensei! You said that the consumption of cafinated beverages was unyouthful!!"

"The over-consumption of cafinated beverages, Lee!" Gai corrected. "There's nothing wrong with a can of pop every now and then!"

Tenten raised an eyebrow. "Pop, sensei? Geez, what planet are you from?"

"All right, enough idling!" said Gai. "I've got to step to step out for a bit to turn in a mission report. In the meantime, I want five-hundred laps around the training field!"

Tenten sighed. Perhaps she should have kept her opinion to herself.

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It should come as no surprise that Lee finished his laps well before the other two. He glanced at his watch. It was pretty close to break time, but not quite.

So what did Lee do? Five-hundred pushups, of course! Even when he finished those, however, Neji and Tenten were STILL running!

'Man, they're slow!' thought Lee, relishing the fact that his number-one rival was now eating HIS dust.

Ha, take that, Neji!

Lee was about to start on five-hundred kicks when an idea occurred to him. A wonderfully evil idea.

Now, Rock Lee didn't have a malicious bone in his body, but an idea like this was just too good to pass up. Lee grabbed two cans of pepsi, opening one for himself and... he looked over at his rival. Neji wouldn't suspect a thing. Lee grinned and gave the other can a good, hard shake.

All in all, the plan was perfect. Neji would be thirsty when he finished his laps, and Lee, being the good friend he was, would be at hand with a soda.

Perfect.

What Lee didn't anticipate, however, was Tenten finishing first. She looked sweaty, exhausted, and (Lee gulped) very, very thirsty.

Tenten smiled at him and jogged over.

"Man, you're fast, Lee!" she said, wiping her brow. "I can't even keep up with you anymore! Oh! Is that for me?" she added, taking the soda before the dumbfounded Lee could advise her otherwise.

"Wait, Tenten! You might not want to--"

Too late.

Tenten snapped the top, the soda gushed out, and Tenten was covered, from head to toe, in pepsi.

Oh, shit.

For a solid minute, no one said anything. Tenten just stood there, soda dripping from her hair and clothes. Lee turned bright red and looked like he was about to suffocate himself from suppressing his laughter.

Tenten turned red, too, but for a different reason.

"Lee," she said calmly, withdrawing a dozen throwing needles. "I suggest you run. Very, very fast."

Lee obviously didn't need to be told twice.

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Two hours later:

"Sorry I'm late, I had to sort out a few problems at--" but Gai paused, seeing, not three young genin, but one.

Neji Hyuuga sat under a large oak tree at his ease, daintily sipping... what else? A can of pepsi. He, of course, knew about Lee's evil plan well in advance and had deliberably run extra laps to ensure that Tenten finished first. All in all, Neji looked (and felt) quite pleased with himself.

Gai, on the other hand, looked confused. "Neji, what happened to Lee and Tenten?"

The Hyuuga smirked. "I don't think they'll be back anytime soon."

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A/N: I hope I didn't insult anyone who uses 'pop'! I have a few friends from the midwest and I tease them relentlessly about that!

-Andrea