One, Naruto actually ended, like wow. Two, I'm a piece of shit, I know. I've rewritten this chapter so many times. Three, sorry if you don't like feet because there are feet in this.

Why don't you come over here into my world? I've got a place for you. - Why Don't You (the blow)

Ino's eyes shot open at the sound of a few rapid taps on her front door. Her alarm clock read 4:30 am. With a grimace, she rolled out of her bed and stomped to the entrance of her apartment. She ran a hand through her hair, willing her bangs to settle out of her face as she opened the door.

"Ino-chan!"

Oh no. It was dark outside, but the dim light from a nearby street lamp shining off the teeth of her guest was enough to set off little alert signals in her brain telling her that she should not have opened the door without checking first.

"What are you doing here, Lee?" Her voice was gravelly from sleep, but she was too tired to care even as Lee's grin faded a bit while his eyes began to take in her appearance. Then he was staring at her instead of answering her question. She cleared her throat impatiently and prodded him in the chest with an index finger. "Are you here to show me the sunrise?"

Lee blinked once before grinning again. "I want to talk with you."

Ino leaned on the door frame, crossing her arms. "Can't this wait? It's four thirty in the morning."

Lee shook his head. "I wanted to talk to you about Tenten before I begin my morning exercises. It is important that -"

Ino threw up a hand. "Just give me five minutes, and we'll go for a walk, alright?" Without waiting for him to answer, she shut the door in his face.

"You accepted her confession?" Ino quirked an eyebrow, giving Lee a sideways glance as they walked aimlessly through the village. It was still dark out, though the black sky was beginning to brighten into blue, yellow, then orange on the eastern horizon.

"It was not exactly a confession. She kissed me." Lee purposefully looked at their surroundings while the blonde took it all in.

A kiss was a confession. A kiss was like the number one rule in the love confession handbook, if there was one. Well, besides just saying "I like you", but actions speak so much louder than words. Really, if you're such a romantic, why don't you just recognize that kiss at face value? Ino thought, giving Lee a scrutinizing look. "You kissed."

Lee nodded, not sharing anything more as they walked on. Sunlight was beginning to peek through the trees and buildings. Ino hadn't been awake this early in months and watched the first few rays of light appear with a sleepy grin. She grabbed Lee's bicep, wrapping an arm around it and squeezing. It was an old habit she'd refrained from doing to Shikamaru since he'd gotten married to Temari. Lee must have been growing on her to bring it out again, twice now. "This is great! You're pretty much Tenten's boyfriend now," she laughed.

When he didn't jerk from her grasp, she looked up at his face, expecting to see him blushing either at her comment or how close she was to him. Or both. Instead he began to laugh with her and gently placed a hand on her arm that was wrapped around his bicep. Then he jumped. Ino sucked in a sharp breath as they flew upward at a speed she wasn't used to before they landed on a rooftop nearby. She pulled away from him, unsure if she should yell at him for not warning her or laugh at herself for letting him pull her along so easily. There were traces of laughter still on his face, his dynamic grin making Ino pause because is this him being playful?

Sooner than she could make the decision, he pointed at the eastern horizon. "This is a good place to watch the sunrise. It is truly a youthful sight."

Rather than berate him for not only jerking her onto a random rooftop but also changing the topic of conversation in the least subtle of ways, she watched the sunrise with him. Because he was right; the sun was creating day, and it was beautiful.

There was a lot Lee wasn't telling her, she could tell, but she didn't feel like asking about it that morning because all she could think about is the fact that Tenten wasn't hooking up with Sai after all. If anything that occurred between Sai and Tenten at the group date came to be anything more than joking, Ino would have a meltdown.

She was making quick work of cleaning her apartment, wearing a frilly apron around her waist that she'd bought more just for the look and feel of being productive rather than actually having any practical use. Sai was coming over today. He hadn't explicitly told her that, but she knew Sai well enough and had a feeling that her sending him away after the group date was going to be just enough shove to draw him right back in.

A knock on her door for the second time that day sent a smile to her face. This time, she opened the door with a "Why, hello" only to see that it was Tenten.

The brunette hesitated in responding to the way she'd been greeted. It was obvious that Ino had been expecting someone else, a man to be exact by the way Ino's expression dropped from flirty to confused. Tenten lifted a hand up anyway. "Hey, I wanted to talk."

Getting the feeling of déjà vu. Ino forced a smile and opened the door wide, motioning with her hand for her friend to go inside. "Sure, come in."

"I'll be quick," Tenten spoke as she sat on Ino's small couch. She took note of the blonde woman's apron and wanted to hurry in case she was interrupting some weird role play situation that Ino may have with the guy she was waiting for.

"It's whatever." Ino waved a hand dismissively. "Do you want some tea?"

Tenten sighed. "Let's skip the pleasantries, Ino. We're friends."

Knowing that formalities were a waste of time in situations like this, Ino couldn't help but offer tea. It'd become a habit since Sai had begun coming over. She plopped down next to her on the couch, giving her visitor a smile that was decidedly less forced. "I know you kissed Lee. He told me this morning."

"You kn- He told you?" Tenten's surprised expression made Ino's smile become smug.

"Yeah, he was happy. Honestly, I felt like he was bragging." It was kind of a lie, but she wanted to paint a more romantic picture of how Lee spoke of Tenten. In reality he seemed distant even after telling Ino all of what happened.

Tenten didn't say anything for a few moments. "You're not mad?"

Mad? This was my plan all along! If Ino were the villain of this story, she'd be laughing maniacally at this. She shook her head and shrugged. "What's to be mad about? You're both happy, right?"

"I just… want you to know there are boundaries now."

Ino pretended to sigh dramatically before giving Tenten a shove. "There's nothing to worry about. Lee and I are done fake dating. He's not bothering Sakura anymore so the dare has been fulfilled, and he's all yours."

The brunette was unconvinced. "Just like that?"

"Pretty much."

Tenten seemed to process it a little more. This was easier than she'd been prepared for. "I guess… This wasn't as big a deal for you as it was for him?"

That was a weird thing for her to say, Ino thought. "What do you mean?"

"Lee has been talking about you a lot recently. You're in the running to be the next youthful one junior," Tenten smiled. "He even talked of getting you onto his training regimen at some point."

True to her namesake, Ino snorted indignantly. "In his dreams maybe."

As they laughed together for the first time in a long time, there was a knock at Ino's door for the third time that day. They both watched Sai enter the apartment once Ino called out for him to come in. He removed his sandals and smiled in greeting them.

"I wasn't expecting to see both of the women I admire here," he said matter-of-factly.

The two women looked at each other briefly before staring at him. The feeling of Ino's stomach dropping into a pit returned at his choice of wording. Sai sat in the only seat available in between the women, but because it was a small couch, it was a tight fit and he was pressed flush against each of their sides. Tenten got up at this, giving Ino an uncomfortable look. "I'm gonna go. I'm glad we talked."

Ino nodded, not even forcing a smile this time. She watched as Sai grabbed Tenten's hand before the weapons mistress could leave. "The painting is done," was all he said, letting go of her hand almost as quickly as he had grabbed it.

The blonde stared between them, watched as Tenten shifted from foot to foot, standing there with a confused expression across her face before it transformed into a look of realization. "Okay."

Sai's smile widened, actually reaching his eyes this time. "I'll give it to you next time we meet."

Ino felt the small pit in her stomach grow, deepening with every moment she watched. Tenten threw her an apologetic look and gave Sai a curt nod, and then she was out of there. Sai drank the tea Ino offered and stayed for most of the afternoon, talking about anything but the one thing Ino wanted to hear about. What painting? She wanted to belt out that Sai shouldn't be flirting with Tenten because she's Lee's girlfriend now. He shouldn't be giving Tenten paintings because she is not the one who likes him. Ino let the emotions boil within her without bringing it up. She wasn't Sai's girlfriend. Not yet anyway.

Tenten's attacks kept missing him. It was frustrating her more today than it ever had before that her teammate was so fast. It didn't help that she had more on her mind than usual. The first time, she had been thinking about what Ino had said that afternoon. That Lee had told her already. They only kissed the night before. Why did he feel the need to tell the Yamanaka so quickly? Ino was so full of it, saying how he was bragging. Lee was confident and obnoxious, but he hadn't outright bragged about something since they were teenagers. Tenten knew Lee well enough that he wouldn't be the kind of person to literally kiss and tell without a reason.

The second time one of her weapons missed Lee by a wide mark, she was wondering what was up with Sai. She'd completely forgotten about the painting. The way Ino had looked between her and Sai back in the blonde's apartment had been enough to let Tenten know that there was something going on between Ino and Sai, and she wanted nothing to do with it.

The third time it happened, she was pretty fed up with these thoughts, and being the bluntly honest person she is, decided that she'd get to the bottom of this. Sighing, she called out, "I give up."

Lee was before her in a flash, concern on his face. "Are you alright? You are not fighting with all of the spirit you usually do."

"What's going on between you and Ino?"

His expression went from concern to surprise, a hand reaching up to wipe the sweat from the back of his neck. "We are friends. She gives me love advice."

"So that's why you told her about our kiss," she elaborated as she watched him massage the back of his neck a little. "You wanted love advice."

He nodded, adding, "I wanted to know if what I am doing is right."

"Being with me?" She asked, suddenly incredulous.

He nodded again.

"Lee, Ino isn't going to know the answer to that," she replied as she began to dust herself off. "Do you think this feels right?"

"Honestly…" He began. "I feel good about it."

You're answering without actually answering, Tenten thought. This wasn't like Lee, but this was new for them, and she had to have expected some mixed feelings from him. She knew she had plenty of her own.

"How about this," she supplied, hoping to not only quell his doubts but her own as well. "We go really slowly." She knew that "slow" didn't coincide with Lee's state of being, but she liked him and he had to like her to have accepted her, so really all they needed was time, and that was plentiful in the peaceful state Konoha had been in recent years. "No promises. So if the sex is bad, we can break up guilt free." The blush growing on her face belied the joking nature of her last comment. She avoided eye contact with him, already wishing she'd thought before she'd spoken.

A firm hand squeezing her shoulder and a reiterated "No promises" from Lee made her look up at his pink, grinning face. Nothing could make Lee break a promise, and over the years he's learned to not give promises freely. Tenten just wasn't sure if she could keep her promise of no promises.

She had to do it. There was nothing else to be done. She'd checked her fridge four times that day, and pudding was not going to somehow magically appear. Which was unfortunate because she really needed it on that day of all days. She'd been up since four thirty in the freaking morning, she'd dealt with a semi-jealous Tenten warning her off of her newly secured man, and she'd witnessed Sai make subtle hints at having an interest in said brunette. So of course, Ino had to do it. She went out and bought an armload of pudding.

"So much for my diet," she mumbled as she slid the key to her front door into the keyhole. Just as the clicks confirmed the door was unlocked, she felt a presence behind her.

"No, go away," she said, not even turning around. Her door was opened in a flash, but before she could shut it behind her, a hand blocked the way. She gave the door a good stamp of her foot, hoping she'd get the wannabe visitor to leave via sharp pain.

Lee was having none of it, and didn't even flinch at the pressure on his hand. "Please, Ino-chan, I need help." He sounded pitiful and they both knew it, which is why she turned around and surveyed his wide eyes and serious expression.

She pursed her lips in annoyance. "Unless you are here to rub my feet, I don't have time to help you right now, Lee."

He nodded so quickly in reply that she was surprised he didn't hurt himself. "I am the best at massages!"

She hesitated for a second before letting him in. He closed the door behind him, quickly turning around to lock it at Ino's insistence.

"It's getting late. Just give me a moment," Ino all but ordered him for the second time that day, dropping the bag full of pudding on the coffee table in her sitting area and heading to the kitchen for a spoon. She may or may not have planned to eat all of it in one sitting, and Lee's presence had done nothing to change that. Except when he joined her on the small couch, she found herself offering one to him.

They sat in silence, eating quietly and making eye contact so dead on that it was a miracle attributed to Lee's unwavering determination and Ino's inability to become uncomfortable with people she found less attractive than herself. After he finished eating his, he set the container down and pointed at Ino's feet without saying anything, only giving her a questioning look. She shrugged, stretching her legs out toward him, turning her body to face him. If he was going to take her condition seriously, then she was going to take advantage of it.

His hands weren't steady, and he suddenly couldn't look her in the eyes so she guessed he wasn't the "best at massages" like he'd claimed. The gentle way his rough hands rubbed her soft feet mingled with the feeling of satisfied delight from the pudding made Ino feel like she really was the heroine, and this was her moment. She glanced up from her comfort food to catch him looking at her. She smiled lightly, not wanting to outright say thank you for giving her this chance to relax. They'd been spending enough time together in the past few weeks that she hoped he could just understand from her expression that she was grateful, sparing her from embarrassing admittances. The silence was nice, and maybe his problem wasn't so urgent that they needed to speak for a bit longer.

Only that was too good to be true.

"It does not feel right," Lee said quietly, smoothing his thumbs along the slope of her foot, applying pressure in the right places.

Ino leaned toward him a little, looking at the foot he held. "What, where?"

"No, I mean," he let out a long sigh, continuing his ministrations. "It does not feel right to be with Tenten."

Where is this coming from? It was like a shot in the dark, and Ino wasn't sure where he was coming from with this, but she knew where it was going. "Is this what you need help with?"

He nodded, keeping his attention on her toes.

She leaned back into her relaxed position. "I thought you were happy about that? You seemed off this morning, but I thought it was nerves or something. It's kind of a big deal, Lee." It's one thing to go from being friends to lovers, but something totally different when you go from being teammates to lovers. Ino knew this; Chouji had gotten so nervous being around her the few weeks they'd dated that she couldn't train with him, and that only succeeded in driving Shikamaru to spend more and more time with Temari. And look where he is now, Ino thought. Married and miserable. Okay, not miserable, per se. Actually maybe not miserable at all, but still -

Ino's inner digression was interrupted by Lee's answer.

"Yes, I feel good about it, but that does not mean it feels right."

She pulled her feet from his grasp, sitting up more to make it easier to talk. "What feels wrong about it?"

His hands opened and closed in his lap as if they weren't sure what to do without her feet there. "I still care about Sakura."

He says he cares about her, but he doesn't say he loves her, Ino notices. She doesn't understand why he's being so stubborn about this thing with Tenten. "Why don't you just let Sakura go?"

"I am trying," he defended mildly.

She needed to come up with something and quickly. Never had her plans felt like they may erode right in front of her eyes like they did right then. If Lee wasn't into Tenten then that meant Sai would definitely feel like he had a chance with the weapons mistress. Which spelled bad news for Ino and her heart, which had gotten more full with hopes of being with Sai as the days went on.

"Have you talked about this with Tenten?" Ino offered, hoping to work through this mostly for her own sake.

"Yes," he replied, playing with the binding on his hands.

Ino gave him a once over; his shoulders were slumped, and he was nearly in a state of perpetual pout when she reached over the smack him on the arm. "This isn't like you, Lee."

"We made an agreement to go slowly in the relationship," he supplied, looking at her as if searching desperately for a key that opened a chest of untold riches.

Ino propped an elbow on the back of the couch, a palm holding up her head as she thought. She was fighting an emotional crisis within herself at the thought of all the work these past weeks becoming pointless just because the most energetic man in the village couldn't gather the energy to date someone new. This must have been the first time she'd ever seen Lee act genuinely nervous about something. He wanted love advice, so she was going to try her best. Okay, well she was tired and overwhelmed by all the emotions of the day, so she was going to try her less than best in the most uninspired way.

"Why don't you pretend Tenten is Sakura until it becomes natural?"

His only response was to give her a slightly scandalized look.

"Or maybe you could treat it like a challenge?" She knew he couldn't turn down a challenge, and smirked to herself at this despite how lazy it was in terms of critical thinking.

"Ino, this is not like you," he said, suddenly leaning toward her to get a closer look at her face as if she could've been a different person. "You are saying hurtful things."

She quirked an eyebrow at this, his meaning lost on her as her inner strife fought to get her attention again. "What are you talking about, loverboy?"

He pulled away, sitting back in his spot. "Tenten is a person with feelings and hopes just like me and you. I cannot pretend she is someone else or treat her like a challenge." He rubbed the back of his neck like he was suddenly very tired. "Maybe I should not have bothered you with this."

Lee made a move to get up, but she blocked him by jutting a foot out in front of him. "Hey, wait a minute! What are you saying?"

He didn't hesitate to stare her right in the eyes as he spoke, a solemn look on his face. "Thank you for helping me. It has been a good friendship."

Ino couldn't help but feel with that stare and those words, he was attempting to put an end to their friendship right then and there. It wasn't as if she didn't have plenty of friends because she had so many friends. She hated that he felt he could end it as easily as if he were closing a book before finishing it because he didn't like where the story was going.

He grabbed her ankles and lifted them away from him as he stood. Ino retracted her feet from him, moving to stand up herself. She made no move to stop him from leaving, but it didn't seem like he was in a hurry because he just stood there, locking eyes with her. She didn't want him to leave thinking their sort of, kind of friendship was over. The dare was over, but they knew each other a little better and appreciated each other more, didn't they? Maybe it had all been on her end.

"Lee, look, I'm sorry. I'm not asking you to hurt Tenten. Forget I said that." She wanted to cross her arms and glare at him because she knew he deserved it for wanting to cut ties with her so easily, but the bitterness she expected to be within her had been replaced with apathy and grief. "I have a lot on my mind, and you coming here has just overwhelmed me."

In an instant he became the Lee she was familiar with, his expression becoming apprehensive, that recognizable concerned frown coming to his face. "Do you want to talk about it?"

She waved him off with her hand. "Absolutely not." I just don't want you ditching me. Nobody ditched Ino. Except for Sakura when they were kids. And then Shikamaru when they were teenagers. And now, slowly, Sai was ditching her as well, she thought. She was brought out of that line of thought by the feel of something warm and smooth touching the palm of her hand. Looking down, she realized Lee was giving her a small notebook. The same one she'd seen him scribble into tens of times.

"When I have more to think over than I can handle at once, I write it down here." He walked toward her door and put his shoes on while she processed it. He was giving her advice? He was the problem here, she was the heroine. This wasn't right. "It will help you with your thoughts, I am sure of it. Goodnight!"

With him gone, she tossed the notebook on the coffee table in favor of more pudding. Stretching out as best as she could on the small sofa, she dug into her favorite dessert and allowed all of her repressed feelings of the day to wash over her slowly, wiping away the occasional tear with a quick swipe of her hand. She had so many plans she wanted to ruminate on to ensure Lee's romantic success, but right then it was just Ino and her beloved snack.

I promise feet aren't a big deal in this. It just happened that way with that one scene when I wrote it. Sorry to any foot fetishists, I suppose.