AN: Haha the plot thickens! I know this one is a little shorter than the others, but I really had fun with this chapter. I like Lee a lot. He' s a fun character and he always seems to fit where no one else would! Yay Lee!
Shikamaru sighed heavily; he was leaning on a tree in the training grounds; the sky was still ominously dark, and though he could smell the impending rainfall, nature seemed to be holding back.
He turned his bored gaze to the reason he was standing out in the cold in the first place.
In the middle of the clearing Naruto and Lee were currently doing their best to kick the crap out of each other.
This is so troublesome. he sighed and lit a cigarette, Why the heck am I here anyway? I didn't even get to finish my tea...
The training session had started out innocently enough; Lee had come looking for Naruto, wanting his help finishing a move that he had been working on. Everything had been going just fine; Lee had executed the maneuver on the training stumps several times while Naruto nodded seriously to himself and made constructive comments.
After a good fifteen minutes Lee had paused in his demonstration and asked Naruto what his overall opinion was. Naruto had looked at him seriously and, without so much as a twinkle of humor in his eye; told the other ninja that he looked like; "A retarded penguin trying to do ballet."
The situation had just gone downhill from there.
After the Green Beast had recovered from the initial shock of the comment; a rather heated debate had ensued. He had eventually thrown his hands up in annoyance and challenged Naruto to a sparring match, so he could, "Prove to you the power and ingenuity of my Flaming Youth!"
Naruto had, of course, accepted the challenge without a second thought. So now, more than an hour after this had all started, Konoha's two 'geniuses of hard work' were continuing to clash in an incredible display of their unparalleled stamina.
Both ninja were sweating profusely, but it was clear that neither of them was ready to back down just yet.
Chouji leaned on the tree by his friend's side; he had been training nearby when the two loudest ninja in Konoha had begun their match; and he, like Kiba, who was currently on Shikamaru's other side; had been drawn to the noise of battle.
"Those two are insane." Chouji shook his head in disbelief, "How is it possible for anyone to have that much energy?"
Kiba snorted as he continued to watch the lightning fast movements of his comrades, "These guys are unreal. This is just freaky."
Shikamaru yawned and sank to the ground, his back still against the tree, "It's exhausting just watching them."
Kiba sat down next to his friend, "For once I agree with you. What the hell?"
Chouji sat and turned to Shikamaru, "How did all of this get started anyway?"
As Shikamaru summed up the situation for them they watched in awe as their friends continued battling with only Taijutsu.
Kiba's eyes widened, "How can Naruto's taijutsu keep up with Lee's? Looks like he wasn't just playing around while he was gone."
At that moment the two fighting nin broke away from each other sliding back in the dirt; both crouching low to the ground to catch themselves.
Lee grinned at his opponent, "Incredible! I haven't had this much fun in a spar since the last time I fought Guy-sensei!" he reached down and began to remove the weights from his legs, "You've gotten so much stronger Naruto-kun. I want to see how well I can do against you going all out!"
Naruto grinned right back at the older ninja, their disagreement forgotten in their excitement, "You too Fuzzy-eyebrows! If you want to go all-out don't expect me to hold back on the ninjutsu!"
Lee laughed as he tossed aside his weights, they landed several feet away with a loud thud; "I wouldn't want you to Naruto-kun!"
Naruto removed his jacket and threw it aside as both of them slid into their fighting stances, "Lets do this!"
Shikamaru scrambled to his feet, "Oh damn. We better get to safer ground guys."
Chouji stood without a word, but Kiba looked questioningly at the other ninja, "What are you talking about?"
Shikamaru grabbed Kiba's arm and dragged him to his feet, "Think about it. When it comes to fighting, how often have you seen these guys hold back?"
Kiba jumped into the branches of the tree behind them followed by Akamaru and his voice drifted back down to his companions, "Point taken Shikamaru."
Shikamaru and Chouji joined the Inuzuka in the tree and they peered out through the branches as the fight resumed.
Half an hour later the two combatants were laying flat on their backs in the middle of the demolished training ground panting heavily.
Naruto reached over and punched Lee's shoulder playfully; "That was awesome; you almost got me with that last move."
Lee grinned and returned the gesture, "I had a hard time with those ninjutsu. Your skills have certainly improved while you were away."
Naruto laughed, "Of course, I didn't spend almost three years training for nothing."
The blond grunted as he pushed himself to his feet, then he turned and offered his hand to his friend; "Here."
Lee took Naruto's hand and let the other ninja haul him to his feet. "I gotta get going Fuzzy-eyebrows, I should take a shower and change before I go see Sakura-ch---"
Naruto's eyes widened in horror, "Oh shit."
Lee looked questioningly at his friend, "What's the matter?"
Naruto looked around frantically, his eyes finally falling on Shikamaru, who had just dropped out of the safety of his tree. He ran to the chunnin, "Shikamaru! Please tell me you grabbed Sakura-chan's presents!"
Shikamaru raised one eyebrow at the distressed blond, "Why would I have it?"
Naruto groaned, "Crap! I must have left it behind at the tea shop!"
Shikamaru rolled his eyes, "You idiot. Why didn't you grab it before Lee hauled you away?"
Naruto grabbed at his hair, "Ahhhh! Dammit! I was so busy trying to leave money on the table that I forgot!"
Shikamaru sighed, "I have to admit, it was stupid, but at least you have a valid excuse this time."
Kiba shrugged, "Why don't you go back to the shop? The might have held onto it for you."
Naruto smiled hopefully at the Inuzuka, "You think so Kiba?"
Chouji put a reassuring hand on Naruto's shoulder, "It's worth a try isn't it?"
Naruto grabbed his jacket and ran to the edge of the clearing, "Yeah! Thanks guys!"
They watched as he sprang into the trees and took off at an incredible pace.
Shikamaru shook his head, "How can he still have so much energy? That guy is a freaking chakra factory!"
Naruto frowned as he walked out of the tea shop, Crap they didn't have them..... what am I supposed to do now?
He took to the roofs and walked slowly along them, following the path of the street, I can probably replace the flowers, but I really wanted to give her those antlers....I would feel bad asking Shikamaru for more. Those things are expensive.....
Naruto ran a hand through his sweaty hair, "Ahhhhh! Dammit!"
Suddenly he stopped as a moment of inspiration overtook him.
"Neji! Maybe Neji can help me find them! Or maybe Hinata! I bet they could find it with Byakuugan!"
With this new thought he changed direction and sped off in the direction of the Hyuuga compound. "I hope you're home Neji! Hinata!"
