The Green Phantom

A Lee Love Story

Part Three

Back on the field

I sat smiling sipping my tea in silence as Lee told me about his latest mission. I unconsciously lifted my hand and fingered the small star pendent he had gotten me a couple months ago. He had remembered when I had told him my mother had had one like it and when I couldn't afford it he got it for me. I have had it on everyday since then and I never took it off. It reminded me of my mother but it also reminded me of the day he had given it to me. The day I had kissed him and the day I also started to have a crush on him.

"It was really amazing Yua! I wish you would reconsider becoming a field worker again. It would be amazing to have a chance to work with you. I can only imagine how great you are in battle I mean just look at who your uncle is. The awesome and powerful Gai Sensai so you must be absolutely incredible! Not that you aren't already incredible." he said blushing slightly and poking at his food.

"Sweet as always Lee but I am afraid I just cant. I left the black ops for a reason and after what I saw I am not sure I could make myself get back out there. Besides I am not even sure if I still have what it takes." I said stirring in more sugar into my cup. Lee was always telling me that I should get back into the field and I always just blew him off but lately I had actually really been thinking about it.

Every time one of my friends went away on a mission I couldn't stop myself from worrying if they would ever come back and ever since I had started to like Lee it just got ten times worse. I found myself barely holding myself back from jumping into his arms whenever I saw he had made it back. Part of me found it comforting to think that maybe if I was there I could help protect him. Then on the other hand what if ,being the sweet person he was, he put himself in harms way trying to protect me? I wasn't sure if I even wanted to take the chance.

"Oh come on Yua you could see if you could join my team. Don't worry I would protect you." Lee said softly as he took my hand in his gently. He looked like he wasn't sure if what he was doing was OK so I smiled at him and squeezed his hand. He smiled back sweetly his eyes full of concern and his cheeks turning just a slight shade of pink.

"I know you would Lee and it means a lot that you say that but I cant. So many things could go wrong and who would take over my class? Lets just forget about it OK and lets go catch that movie." After we payed for the food we left. Well more like Lee and I fought till I finally got him in a head lock so I could pay for my food then we left. It was a nice walk to the theater but I still felt like Lee wanted to continue the discussion of me getting back out on the field. I just choose to ignore it and try my hardest to act like it had never happened.

The movie was a scary one and even though I wasn't really scared I took this perfect chance to get close to him even though it was more like him jumping into my lap when the killer broke through the door. I would have never known Lee was so easily scared during movies. It was pretty funny. I smiled at him teasingly as he opened one eye from behind his hands to see if the movie was over yet. I poked him playfully and said "its OK the big scary actor is gone now. Its safe to come out of hiding."

Lee smiled sheepishly as the lights came back on. "Oh um … I wasn't really scared I was just pretending for your sake. I didn't want you to feel silly if you were scared. You know I was just being nice." he said standing up. I laughed and just rolled my eyes as we made our way out of the theater.

I stretched letting out an almost purr like sigh as I let the sun warm my face. I turned to look at Lee and was met my a warm glowing smile from him. I looked away trying not to blush as I pleaded with my heart to beat slower. How was it that he did this to me. With just a smile he made my heart race and every time we touched I tingled all over. Even now as I looked at him while we walked down the street I couldn't help but smile at him as I thought about how much I lov… no wait no I did not feel that strongly about Lee! Did I?

I shook the thoughts out of my head forcefully as we reached the park and took a seat in our usual bench. I loved this spot because it had the perfect view of a koi pond surrounded by Sakura trees. I breathed in the soft sweet scent of the fresh Sakura blossoms and listened to the faint plopping of the fish as they came to the surface eagerly looking for food. I squealed with delight as I saw a duck followed by three little ducklings. "Oh Lee aren't they absolutely adorable! Oh I hope I get to be a mother one day." I said dreamily.

"You would make a wonderful mother Yua. Your so sweet and kind and gentle … no one could help but love you. Who ever you marry is a lucky man. And I just know your kids are going to be very happy. I just hope I get to be part of your life even then." Lee said as he looked at me and gently brushed back a strand of my hair out of my face.

I was speechless as I stared back at him and looked into those adoring eyes that seemed to not see me as I was on the outside but who I truly was in my heart. I stroked his face gently tracing my thumb along his cheek. "Thank you Lee and to be perfectly honest I don't think I can really picture my life without you any more. Your my closest friend and I don't want you to ever be out of my life. Why do you think I get so worried when you go on missions I don't want to lose you Lee." I said laying my head on his shoulder. I could feel him tense but then relax as he wrapped an arm around my shoulders.

"Don't worry Yua I am not going anywhere anytime soon. I promise that I will always try my hardest to make it back here to you no matter what." he said and I felt him rest his head gently on top of mine. I looked up at him and saw that his eyes were closed and he had a sweet smile on his face. I smiled to myself.

"Oh don't worry I will hold you to that promise. Now come on why don't you come over to my place ill make us some tea." I said and I pulled him up thinking that this day could not get much better.

I hummed to myself happily as I carried my basket full of groceries back to my house. It was so nice outside and I was determined to make today a good day. I was debating to myself weather I should head to the park for a picnic when suddenly I ran into somebody, hard, and fell on my butt spilling my food everywhere. I pouted as I moved so I was sitting on my knees so I could pick up my food. I glared up looking for who had run into me and my glare softened as I saw it was Shikamaru. He was always kind to me academy and he was still a good friend, so I just shrugged and smiled at him.

"Good afternoon Shikamaru. Sorry I wasn't watching where I was going. Would you like to join me for a picnic in the park to make up for it?" I said sweetly but my face dropped when I saw the worried look on his face. I dropped the food I had started to pick up and asked "Whats wrong?"

"Naruto needs to see you right now. He said it was urgent now come on ill go with you." he said and without another word grabbed my arm and pulled me running to the hokage's office.

We arrived panting heavily but I took no time to rest as I entered Naruto's office without even knocking. After so many years of working on his own personal team of Black Op members I was use to just entering on a whim. I entered only to find that I was not alone. Also in the room were Tenten, Shino, and Lee. I looked around the room not sure what was going on.

"Thank you Shikamaru for bringing her here so quickly. Please come in and close the door." Naruto said his face lined with more worry then usual. I walked in and stood next to Lee and gave him a questioning look. He just shrugged. Evidently he didn't know what was going on either. We all looked to Naruto expectantly.

"I called you all here because I have a very important mission for you all to go on for me. I choose you all for different reasons and because together you all are some of the best the village has to offer. The mission although in itself not dangerous can in one quick second turn deadly. I want you all to track down Itachi Uchiha. He has been spotted in a near by village and this may be the only chance we have to follow him and learn what he and the Akatsuki are up to. And it may be our last chance to bring back Sasuke … So I want you all to get prepared and be ready to leave in an hour. We can waste no time." he said as he got up and stared out the window.

Everyone nodded and left quickly to get ready but I stayed paralyzed by fear. How could he after all these years send me on a mission after what had happened on my last mission. He turned around and looked at me smiling gently. "Your worried about being back to work aren't you? You know Yua it really wasn't your fault about what happened last time. There was nothing you could have done. I wish you would have stayed even though you are an amazing teacher." Naruto said walking over to me and placing a kind hand on my shoulder.

"Naruto you keep saying that but I just cant stop thinking that it is my fault! I was the one who made us stop to rest my ankle after I tripped even though it wasn't that bad. If we had just kept going then we could have saved that village and all those poor kids wouldn't have had to watch there parents burn to death." I said my eyes filling with tears of rage and grief.

"Yua stop feeling sorry for yourself! You should know perfectly well by now that there was nothing you could have done to prevent this. The village was already under attack when I sent you and your team to help. There was only ever a slim chance you could help and I am just proud that you did save those children. You are the best tracker in the village and you are the key to the success of this mission. Now go and get ready I don't want to hear another word from you." Naruto growled and from the look on his face I knew that I had no choice.

I ran back to my house and walked gingerly into my back room. I turned on the light for the first time in more then a year and glanced around at everything I had left behind when I quit the Black Ops. Souvenirs from my missions hung on the wall along with my long ago abandoned weapons. I went over to a spot on my wall where, on a shelf, needles lay covered with dust. I ran my finger along them gently as if touching an infants face though I made sure I avoided the tips which I knew were coated in a deadly poison.

I picked up the needles and along with a few other stray weapons packed them in a pouch that would rest on my hip. I then walked over to the large wardrobe sitting in the middle of the back wall. I opened it slowly and felt the fabric of my old uniform. I changed into it slipping on the short black skirt with fishnet stalkings and matching tank top that showed off my navel along with my tattoo, forever a reminder of my past. I picked up my old head band and felt the smooth silver fabric that bore the marking of my elite group and tied it around my waist. I looked myself in the mirror remembering how glad I had been when I was first made leader of a special unit and had been able to get rid of the old ANBU uniform.

I breathed in deep as I opened a small hidden drawer in the wardrobe. I pulled out a dusty porcelain mask. I wiped my hand across it leaving streaks in the dust to reveal the startling white and red of the mask. I stared at it for what seemed an eternity then finally whispered "I choose to wear the mask of a wolf thinking it would make me able to handle being alone but now I realize that I was not meant to be a lone wolf. I was always meant to be in a pack. Thank you for helping me see that. Even if I no longer wear you I still remember all that I learned from you. But now I have to give up that past so I can move on in the future. Good bye my old friend."

Then I dropped it. I knew it smashed into a thousand tiny shards at my feet but yet I heard nothing as I closed my eyes blocking out all the bad memories from my past. I touched my tattoo as I looked down at all the broken pieces. Smashing the mask made it official that I was putting all the bad of my past behind me but my tattoo would always remind me of what I went through to get to this point in my life.

"OK Yua time to forget the past and stay focused on the present." I said remembering my own words I had told Neji the first day I had met my uncle's team. I smiled to myself thinking about how far I had come since then. Then without another hesitation left my apartment and headed to the gate of the village ready to start my mission.

When I arrived everyone was already waiting for me and they all looked impatient, except Lee of course you waved to me smiling. I shifted uneasily under there stares and moved closer to Lee for comfort. Then Shikamaru finally spoke "OK so I will lead followed by Tenten then Shino. Then Lee and Yua can take the back covering us from both sides. OK now lets go."

I shocked myself as I easily went into position my old instincts taking over for me. I looked around the forest and my body tingled as I breathed in the familiar scents and listened to the rhythmic tapping of our shoes against the trees. Had it really been so long since I had done this? My body acted as if I had just done this yesterday. It suddenly dawned on me that maybe I had missed being in the line of work.

I was deep in thought when I sensed Lee come up behind me and I gave him a small smile in greeting. "How are you feeling Yua? I know that you were not exactly to excited about coming ..." he said his voice full of concern. I smiled at him again touched by his concern for me.

"I'm fine Lee but thank you for caring so much. I'm even enjoying being back out working to tell you the truth." I said completely honest with him. He grinned at me happily and went back to take his place though he was never very far from my field of vision. I suspected that he wanted to stay close to me just to make sure nothing bad happened. Sometimes he worried to much.

I stared up at the moon sleepily, happy that after almost two whole days of trying to track Itachi, Shikamaru was finally letting us rest. I then gently stirred the soup I was making and seeing that it was done started to pour it into bowls. I handed one out to everybody and, after grabbing myself a bowl, went over to take a seat next to Lee who moved over so I could sit on his mat.

"Yua I didn't know you were such a great cook. Thank you for making us dinner. You should really get some rest though you look absolutely exhausted. Here you go to sleep and ill clean up after everybody. Its the least I can do." he said taking my bowl. Before I could even protest he was covering me with a blanket and helping me lay down gently. The last thing I remembered was the flicker of the fire and the sound of Lee humming softly.

I woke up suddenly the sound of a scream echoing in my ears. I looked around to see all my friends being attacked by an unknown enemy. Without even thinking I sprang to my feet and reached into my pouch to pull out my needles ready to attack. I was just about to shoot them at an enemy fighting with Tenten when I heard Lee yell at me. I turned to see what he wanted but before I could he tackled me and as we were falling I saw a large shurikin fly past right where I had been standing.

I hit the ground with a thud and felt Lee's warm body pressed against mine. I said nothing as he stood up taking my hand and running pulling me along with him. We ran and ran for I don't know how long till finally we ran out of breath and Lee pulled me behind a tree. We stood there in darkness panting and I didn't even notice that I was still holding firmly onto his hand my fingers entwined with his.

As I regained my senses I looked closer at Lee and saw he had tears in his eyes. I gasped "Lee whats wrong are you hurt!" my heart was pounding as I scanned him over with my eyes but could find no wounds. Then I was surprised when he let go of my hand and pulled me into a tight hug. We were so close I could feel his chest rising and falling unevenly as he cried silently. Not knowing what to do I let my instincts take over and wrapped my arms around his neck.

"Yua I am fine but … I almost lost you back there! When I saw that guy about to throw that thing at you my world stopped for a second. All I could think about was living without you. Not being able to see you, to hear your voice, to feel your touch ever again. That world was dark and empty Yua. I would feel so empty without you and I just wouldn't know what to do … and I would die inside I really would. Especially if I never told you how deeply I cared about you. Yua I love you with all my heart and I don't ever want to lose you." he said then before I could say anything he kissed me.

It was gentle at first with our lips barley touching but as I started to kiss back it grew deeper. I could feel his hands gently pull on my waist pulling me even closer to him and I wrapped my fingers in his hair not wanting him to move even an inch away from me. He licked my lip gently and without a second chance I happily let him in as I tasted his sweet warm breath in my mouth. Our tongues met and without any fighting he over took mine and with skill he explored my mouth. Finally we pulled away and he nuzzled his head into my neck saying in a whisper "I love you Yua."

I answered back in a sweet whisper "I love you to Lee. I love you too." Then we sat down his arms wrapped around me as our bodies fit perfectly with each other and we fell asleep the taste of our sweet kiss still lingering on my lips.