Short chappy this time. Important one, though.

Lee-san beat the Amazonian. Beat her to a bloody pulp. If they'd both remained silent, Lee-san might have been a little gentler, but she wasn't the type to fight without speaking. And apparently, she liked to be offensive when she spoke. But she didn't insult Lee-san. No, she insulted me. She remembered how vehemently he had cheered for me during our battle, and she told him that he shouldn't have bothered, that he had wasted his time, and that he should find a better kunoichi to love. Lee-san has self-worth issues as it is—he didn't need to be told that the girl he loved was a weakling, too. He may not like to hold grudges, but he can't stand it when someone who did their best is insulted, especially someone he cares about. That's just how he is.

I cheered so loudly for him when his opponent fell unconscious. He had won a decisive, strategic win, managing to make the Amazonian look like an idiot. He was so going to be a chunin!

While we were cheering, Lee-san found me in the crowd. Even from so far away, I could see the adoration brightening his dark eyes. That was for you, his eyes told me. I did it just for you. Are you proud of me?

Very, very proud, my eyes and cheers replied.

He grinned.

It was around that time that I discovered that nearly everything Lee-san did, he did for me. He trained so he could protect me, he fought to protect the place where I lived, and he came around every Saturday morning at 8 A.M. just so I wouldn't be lonely. He did so much just so I would look his way. No one had ever done that before—even Naruto had a tendency to do things for the sake of doing them, not just because he hoped I'd fall in love with him.

I really owed Lee-san a lot. Ever since he first showed up and knocked the wind out of me with his sunshine, life seemed easier. Weekdays were still miserable and filled with nothing but fake smiles, but they were no longer so terrible that I felt like taking a blade to my wrists. No, that wouldn't help anything. If I slit my wrists, how would that get to see Lee-san?

That was my thought process. If you kill yourself, you'll miss out on a day with Lee-san. It was almost funny how my every thought revolved around our Saturdays. Around him.

I'm really not sure when it stopped being about Lee-san's inner sun and started being about Lee-san, himself. I guess I just got used to his sparkly teeth and exuberant cheerfulness—more so, I started to like them. I started to think that his ability to speak in Capital Letters was Simply Adorable. I started noticing how his jumpsuit showed off all of his muscles without interruption, and how his sweet little bowl-cut was really just a testament to his love for his father-figure, Gai-sensei. Once I figured that out, I thought it was really quite adorable. Everything about him was adorable.

It took me very little time to realize that he was my best friend. Even so, I still insisted on calling his Lee-san. For some inexplicable reason, I felt like if I gave him that affectionate suffix, called him Lee-kun, something would be lost forever. Our relationship would be forever changed into something much more intimate, a relationship that would constantly be on the edge of blurring lines.

The idea terrified me.

At the same time, though, I wanted to have more than just a superficial, polite relationship. For the very first time, I thought that Rock Lee deserved to blur at least one line with me.

"Your hair is growing out again," he said, not bothering to look up from his food.

My head, however, having been pulled out of yet another reverie, shot up and I immediately looked myself over. Lo-and-behold, my hair was just barely hovering over my shoulders already. "That's weird. I hadn't even noticed."

"Hair grows faster in the winter. It's an adaptation left over from our animal days," he commented, still enthralled in his food. "Are you going to leave it long?"

He's avoiding my gaze.

Wonder why.

I cocked my head to the side. "I really hadn't given it any thought. I don't see why I would." My voice had taken on a sour tone that I wasn't quite aware of at that moment. "I only grew it out for…" I didn't—couldn't—finish my sentence, and felt a bit guilty when Lee-san looked up at me with pain in his wide eyes. I shook my head. His pain hurt worse than my own did, and not even his inner sun could help it. I avoided his gaze, looking at his nose rather than his eyes. "I'll probably get it cut some time this week."

"I like it short," Lee-san agreed quickly. "Makes you look older. And when you look back on why you cut in the first place…it makes you look stronger. And besides, when it's short, everyone can see your pretty face."

We both blushed instantly, and were suddenly quite interested in our lunch.

He thinks I'm pretty, I thought with a chuckle.

He likes our hair short.

Sasuke-kun likes long hair, though…

We haven't seen Sasuke-kun in a long time. Why try to please someone who may or may not want to see our face ever again? Lee-san likes short hair.

I wanted quite desperately at that moment to give Lee-san what he wanted.

"Lee-san?!" my voice came out just a little too shrieky.

He looked up from his extra-spicy curry to give me a full-mouthed, "Ha, Sakoora-sam?"

I giggled a little at his sweet little slur. "I wanted to ask your permission for something."

He swallowed quickly. "What is it, Sakura-san?" he asked urgently.

I blushed at his intense gaze and looked down at my extra-mild curry. "You know you're my best friend, right?"

He made a gurgling sound in the back of his throat that I took as a disbelieving confirmation.

"Well," I continued, studying the bubbly red substance on my plate, "I wanted to know…would you mind it very much if I called you…Lee-kun?"

I looked up at him to discover that his eyes were much wider than usual. He dropped his spoon, and I blushed harder. I really didn't anticipate this sort of reaction. Was he upset somehow? I looked down, ashamed of putting that little question out on the table.

"YOOOOOOSSSSHH!"

I looked up and blinked. His seat was empty, and the door to the restaurant was swinging closed.

In the distance, I heard, "I must tell Gai-sensei!"

Ten bucks says they'll do that creepy sunset thing.

No point in betting. I'm sure they will.

That's not exactly a bad thing, though.

No, not at all. It's just Lee-sa…Lee-kun.

Love it, love it, love it! Sorry for the length, but this little piece of character development needed to stand alone.

Love you all.
Miyazaki A2