What If ~ Chapter 6
Authors notes: I have always wanted to do one of these, but could never figure out how :3 so proud of myself. So anyway, this is NOT the prom chapter; wait one more. However, everyone was telling me that Gaara should kick Neji's ass and I was trying to do it (not only to please them, but because I would hate having a story that is 6 chapters; I have an unexplainable weariness of the number 6) and just completely failed. Finally, I had a girl from say: Lee should kick his ass. O.o Chapter 6 came right up to me and slapped me. It called me a few bad names for not seeing it earlier too, but that's another story. Please enjoy!
Laughter rang out throughout the park. Two teenage girls on the swing set were nearly bent over forward trying to keep from falling off of their mounts. Clearly, the raven-haired girl was trying not to laugh, but the brunette had had a point.
"That was not what it was like Tenten!" Lee stopped for a moment to try and stifle her next snort; she should not be laughing! Tenten looked at her with teasing brown eyes.
"Oh, so what was it like?" Tenten, now almost under control, began to swing the swing back and forth, gaining momentum. "I mean, only your dad would stand guard at the front of your house for three hours to make sure that your boyfriend isn't coming back." Lee blushed, knowing it was true, but not willing to admit it.
"He is very old-fashioned." She said with total conviction. Tenten rolled her eyes and snickered.
"Yeah, because every dad acts like the day of the prom is like the wedding day. I was at your house when he started screaming at Gaara!" Tenten drew her eyebrows together, assuming a seriously furious look, almost exactly how Lee's father had looked this morning when Gaara had came to take them to their sky spot until it was time for them to get dressed for the prom. "IT IS BAD, UNYOUTHFUL LUCK TO SEE YOUR DATE BEFORE THE PROM! I DO NOT CARE IF SHE IS NOT DRESSED FOR THE PROM YET! SHE SHALL FOLLOW TRADITION!! LEAVE YOU HOOLIGAN! RETURN WHEN IT IS TIME TO PICK HER UP!"
Lee was laughing so hard, she did fall off the back of the swing. When She landed, she gave an 'oof' of misplaced air before starting up all over again. That was exactly what her father had said. From where she had been locked up in her room (literally, locked up; it was like some princess story. Her father was not going to let her out till he was sure that Gaara would not steal her away…again) with Tenten keeping her company, they had heard everything. She pointed a finger at Tenten anyway, wanting to fight for her cause…of which she was not sure…but she would figure it out!
A roar echoed through the small park; parents who had been watching the children and the spectacle the two girls looked over to the small brick street leading through the small park. Lee and Tenten looked as well; Lee's eyes lit up; waving her hand wildly over her head, she called out to the rider coming closer.
"Gaara! Over here!" She laughed as the bike turned into a parking spot and she met green-blue eyes over the yards separating them. She looked at him daringly; her father had been right last night: Gaara was a very bad influence on her. But that didn't mean that she was going to be bad too, it just meant that she was going to be a handful to handle before long…not that Gaara would mind, she was sure. "Father is going to maim you if he learns that you hunted me down." She stood up and glomped the redhead as soon as he stepped foot on the lawn, almost sending them to the ground, but not quite. "And you should know that I keep no secrets from my father."
Tenten looked on with a sour expression; yes, she loved Lee like a sister. Yes, she had some respect for Gaara. No, she could not handle this mushy crap going on between them…even if it was amazingly cute. No! Vanquish thy girly thoughts! Tenten shook her head vigorously, trying to rid herself of the 'awww' feeling. Despite her past with Neji, she didn't think that Gaara and Lee's love would fail; Lee was just too unforgettable for someone to just walk all over her and then walk away. If Gaara did walk away, Tenten would finally be allowed to kick his ass. So, she just patiently waited on the swing set for the two love birds to get over the romance and realize that parents were looking at them with both joy (most likely remembering their own romances or wishing they had one) and disgust (they're the bastards that are muttering cruel things and covering their children's eyes as they led them away). She watched as Gaara smirked into her best friend's neck and went deadly tense; had that been his tongue she had just seen on Lee's skin? From where she was, she could see Lee shudder and then pull away, blushing the shade of Gaara's hair. Fisting her hand, she brought it to Gaara's shoulder.
"There are children watching, Gaara! Do not think I will let you get away with sullying their minds!" Gaara grimaced at Lee; Tenten snickered at his pained expression.
"You sound like your father." Regardless, he walked beside her back to where Tenten was waiting, obediently keeping his distance; which was unnerving Lee if that expression of paranoia on her face was anything to go by. Lee slowed down so that she was walking behind the redhead, not trusting him behind her. Because of this action, Gaara reached Lee's swing before she did. Because there were only three swings on this set, and the third one a baby seat, meant to harness infants in, Tenten knew before Lee did that she had made a drastic mistake.
Gaara, sitting on the swing, looked up at Lee with a stoic expression, Lee looking down at him in disbelief. "Sit." The look of disbelief turned to horror, throwing her hands in front of herself as if in defense, Lee took a step back in retreat. Tenten, despite not liking where this was going, burst out laughing. She had so seen that coming. Lee flung her head from side to side; meeting other horrified and amused gazes of mothers and grandparents, no help from the fathers because they were laughing hard. She turned back to her boyfriend.
"You are joking, right?" When Gaara didn't even blink, but just continued to stare up at her waiting, Lee's mouth opened in pure horror. "Gaara, there are children watching! This is a playground! I am not sitting on your lap, I know that your mind is not where it should be, and do not even DARE-!" The hand thrown in front of herself against the perverted redhead was used to trip her forward; falling, she had no idea how she ended right side up on his lap instead of with her knees meeting the sand covered floor and her head with…inappropriate places. But there, somehow, she sat safely on top of the pale man, her hands gripping the metal links of the chains holding the swing up. She turned and glared at her giggling friend, her face flushed red by embarrassment. "I do not like you Tenten. I do not like you at all."
More parents, who did not believe in teenage love were abandoning the play area with grumpy looks on their faces. Others watched wearily to make sure that nothing bad happened that could mentally scar their children for life, and others just laughed; pointing at the couple and telling their kids that that's what they would be doing someday. Predictably, they made 'ew' faces and steered clear of the swing set, not wanting to catch cooties from the lovey dovey people.
Watching on, Tenten could admit that she was a little jealous; not because Lee had Gaara, but because Lee had been able to bring out the good in him. What, they had only known each other…a week now? In the two years she had known Neji, giving him everything she had to give of herself, she had never been able to reach past the cold exterior or get him to actually care. Always, he had been mean to her friends and uncaring of her family. He always made lewd remarks and had beaten at Tenten's self-esteem because he was a 'prodigy'. Finally breaking up with him had been the best thing she had ever done; but she could admit that, Lee's success in the light of her own failure, hurt like hell. 'He better not hurt her, or Gai and I both are going to kick his ass straight to hell.'
In the shadow of the roar of Gaara's motorcycle, the purr of a well-priced car was way out of place in the domestic settings. Tenten watched the car pull up right beside said bike, a grimace on her face as she began swinging the swing softly. 'Speak of the devil and he will appear…' She looked over at Gaara and Lee; both of them eyeing the car. Lee had been with Tenten long enough to know who's car it was, and was watching it with a determination Tenten knew was going to be bad for the smug bastard. Apparently, Gaara knew who it belonged to too. His eyes became razor sharp and as cold as ice; twin, pale arms were securely wrapped around her friend's waist in a protective manner as he set his chin down on Lee's shoulder, watching with an air of uncaring but deadly patience.
"Neji, please don't! You have caused enough trouble! Neji!" A mousy looking girl with lilac eyes the same as the pale, long-haired boy who had stepped out of the driver's seat was pleading with said boy, her eyes filled with pain and hurt. Said boy looked at the small woman with a sneer.
"Hinata, just wait in the vehicle." He stepped onto the grass, walking straight towards the three teenagers. "I can handle this without your assistance, I am sure that you would not like to bloody your pretty little hands." He didn't turn around to look at the stricken girl.
From where Lee sat, everything in her became red hot. This bully was not going to keep getting away with this! She turned to the few mothers left, most of them having left because they felt indecent exposure was going on. She smiled reassuringly at them, not really feeling that reassuring, but wanting to be kind anyway.
"Could you please leave? I do not want the children to see this." She apologized to them as they willingly left the area. They should not have to leave because there was about to be a fight. She was amazed that none of them had stepped up and said 'no'. Clearly, these people had long since given up on their youth and were working on keeping their own pure. Not such a bad idea, actually.
Lee sat up from her perch, Gaara rising with her. Tenten took a stance as she got off of the swing. Tenten snarled at her ex, enraged with his presence. "Do you smell happiness and think to yourself 'must destroy!' or something? Because this is getting really annoying!"
Gaara stepped up, moving Lee behind himself and gaining a little distance on the infuriated brunette, eyes trained on lilac orbs. "You made my girl cry." When all the other did was humph, tilting his head down and away in disgust, Gaara moved forward; this shit was not going to keep happening. Like he had said, messing up someone's body was fine; physical wounds healed. Messing with someone's mind to get to others was a coward's way out. The cocky bastard made not one step in retreat, staying perfectly still.
"It does not matter to me whether she cried or bled; as long as I always remember your expression as you practically ran down the halls to go out and find her, I believe that I shall never be able to see you as an adequate rival again. I had never believed that the Gaara of the Sands, badass in all of Konoha High and who was abandoned by Suna High, one of the darkest schools in this state, could look so terrified…" Gaara moved to attack him, a hand formed into a fist as he took two steps, leaving only one more needed to give the throw the momentum he needed to shove this guy's head up his ass where it belonged, when a hand was placed on his chest.
His eyes snapped to his girl, his nostrils flaring with the rage he felt and the snarl on his face almost twisted into an unidentifiable lewd smirk that came with loss of control. "Lee, you can talk to me later about how much you would despise to see me kick someone else's ass. But I am not going to let him get away with any of this." He turned to the Hyuuga, very close to fulfilling that plan, but the hand remained. He glared at his girl, becoming pissed that she wasn't letting him fight this battle. If she didn't move her hand, he would just walk around the damn thing. That was saying something since, if it had been anyone else, he would have broken it and damned the consequences. Because he is Sabaku no Gaara; fucking badass that never lost a fight and didn't even know what a bruise felt like till this past week.
"Gaara, please." He took a deep breath, trying to beat down instinct. He couldn't handle this restraint. He had been raised defending himself. He looked into her eyes, trying to find a reason good enough to stop him; and found it. His fists went lax as he looked at the black fires burning in those obsidian orbs. Those fires were not even directed at him, but at the proud man standing in front of them. He stopped himself from stepping forward as she took the lead from them, standing so close to the prissy boy that if she took one more step, they would be able to see the design in the other's eyes. "How did you know where to find us?" Neji sneered, taking a step back and brushing at his chest as if wiping at something disgusting.
"Would I bring Hinata along with me for no apparent reason? I sent her to your house to ask where you went; chances were unbeatable that Gaara would be with you." He smiled, his eyes closing as he chuckled. "That foolish father of yours trusts her as if she were innocent, but the faith he has in that demon leaves much to be desired for."
Lee watched the humor he was getting out of it for a moment before she nodded. "That would be easy to believe. Hinata has the kindest, most soft heart that I have ever before seen."
Neji never saw it coming; one moment, he had been winning a battle without raising a finger, the next, his whole body touched nothing but air. It felt as if he floated there for a moment before landing unceremoniously on the ground; with the solid contact, also came the pain that cascaded over his chest. Opening his eyes to look at his attacker as he wheezed, he was startled to learn that Gaara had not moved forward, but only Lee, watching him with fire-born fury and trembling shoulders and fists as she worked to contain all of that rage inside her body. He stared at her with a wide open mouth and just as wide eyes.
"It hurts me so much that I never tried to stop Tenten from seeing you. It tears me apart to know that you used me against Gaara. It makes me angry that you would use your own cousin in such ways." Lee gritted her teeth, her face down turned towards the ground so that she did not have to look at the Hyuuga. "For you to have used my best friend for two years; hurt my most special person, be constantly beaten by him, and then saying he is not even adequate? Beating at your cousin's low self-esteem instead of boosting it such as family should do for those that they should love…Gaara is no demon." She looked back up, waiting until she met shocked lilac eyes. "You are, and it disgusts me that I once tried to become your friend."
Lee turned her back on him, her whole body shaking with rage not yet unleashed. Gaara watched his girl with pride glinting in his eyes. When the Hyuuga stood up, eyes focused on the her back with deadly intention, Gaara almost moved between them; to attack someone from the back was just petty. He was stopped when he met Lee's eyes out of the corner of his own. She knew the Pretty boy was going to attack her, and she knew what she was going to do once he tried. He moved forward anyway, whatever she planned to do, he knew he would be proud with her. But he never wanted to see her hurt. It was the snicker behind him that stopped him. Tenten met his eyes, her own alight with dangerous predictions of what was going to happen. She leaned forward slightly, so that she could whisper to him without disturbing the two fighters.
"Did Lee ever tell you about the time we went to the City and she took down a whole group of thugs holding pocket knives on her in an alley way? I want you to think about that before you start thinking that Lee's weak; because underestimating her is the worst mistake anyone can make in life."
Neji stood in one fluid motion, his hand flat-palmed as he moved to strike it to the middle of Lee's back; except he struck air. Lee, from her ducked position, slid one leg out from beneath herself and spun herself, effectively knocking his feet out from under him and putting him to the ground again. Kneeling quickly, she put her knee to his throat, applying minimal pressure, fingers pressuring into the ulnar nerve below his nerve, pressing them till she felt bone against her fingertips, separated by muscle and skin. He cursed, trying to move his legs to unsettle her, but ultimately failing; she was an unmovable weight on her chest.
Lee looked down at her captive; as hot as the rage had been when it came, it became just as cold just as quick. Honestly, she did not believe that fighting solved everything. It was handy when you wanted to defend yourself, but not for much else in her book. She sighed, waiting till the fighting abated from the body beneath her. She looked down at the boy with sadness dimming her eyes.
"Why can you not look around her and realize that you have people willing to love you? Instead, you are constantly shoving everyone away. I am sure that you are not as bad as you act; but I will not stand for it anymore." Lee stood up, moving quickly away so that any last attempts to harm her didn't reach her. "I am staying with Gaara! And I am going to watch out for Tenten more carefully from now on. Hinata can do as she wishes, I would not mind her company, she is very sweet and smart. But you should make amends with-"
"Would you just stop with the fucking super hero talk? This isn't a comic book where evil is either conquered or sees the error of it's way, this is real life." The whole time he was talking, Neji wasn't even looking up at her; his eyes staring at the grass as he kneeled forward and tried to get the ache in his arms to go away. Standing, he turned his back on them. He was tired of all of this shit. He went up to his car and got into the driver's seat, not looking at his cousin who watched him with concerned eyes. 'This isn't a fairy tale where the curse is broken and everyone becomes happy again, this is life and I have nothing I want to change.' That was what he told himself the whole way home, staring furiously at the road.
Back at the park, Lee had almost been about to blow up on the Hyuuga jerk again, when it occurred to her that she won both of the battles. She smiled as he drove away. He was definitely going to think about it. Laughter made her look behind herself, which reminded her that there were other people watching. Gaara was watching her with an unexplainable expression and Tenten was trying, unsuccessfully, to hide her smirk. Walking forward, Tenten ruffled Lee's hair affectionately.
"I don't know about you, but this was enough excitement for me to handle in one day." She stretched her arms above her head, turning away to begin the walk home. "I guess I'll have to leave you two alone now; your dad is going to be looking for you before long, seeing as how it's…" She looked at her watch. "just after 7." She looked at Lee over her shoulder. "Doesn't the dance start at 10? I could have swore I heard your father say to be home by now." She waved farewell to the frozen girl. "See you in a hour!" With that, she was gone, out of the picture.
Lee stared after her, horrified. If it was already 7, there was no way she was going to make her father understand if she was even more late trying to run home now. She looked to Gaara, hoping she could ask him for an itty, bitty favor- and found the leather jacket he usually wore being shoved into her arms. He gave her a lewd smile as she stared wordlessly down at the jacket.
"I think I deserve something; I am about to be mauled by your father."
Leaning forward, he captured her by the back of her neck and brought her the rest of the distance separating them, crashing their lips together. Lee began to fight him, her tongue and teeth working to forbade the redhead's wicked mouth from conquering her again; but, before she was aware of it, she had already given up the fight. Sometimes, it just felt better to surrender, because you knew just how sweet it was. Dropping the coat to the ground, she reached around him and wrapped both arms around his neck, pressing herself chest to knee against him. She whined into his mouth as he nipped at her bottom lip and opened her eyes only a squint, feeling eyes on her. She met half-mast green-blue eyes, watching her with incredible heat that could scorch the sun. They separated for air, a thin thread of saliva still connecting them, which Lee quickly wiped away, face flushed red again. It had never gotten that heated before. Gaara chuckled, amused by her innocence. He leaned forward till his mouth was level with her ear; one of the best ways to talk to her since it was one of her most sensitive places.
"I like hearing about how my girl can take care of herself; it was damn sexy, but I suggest you don't do much of it. I am very protective." He nipped at her ear, licking at the shell of it as she shivered.
"Funny, you did not mention possessive." He chuckled.
"That goes without saying." Lee smiled, leaning away so that she could get him to listen instead of molesting her.
"I think you need to take me home now. I would hate it if you did not get to see me in the dress because father changes his mi-"
"I KNEW I COULD NOT TRUST YOU TO NOT GO IN SEARCH OF MY BUDDING LOTUS!!"
Lee flinched, Gaara growled, and Lee knew she could hear Tenten laughing from over the hill.
"Gai," Gaara began, looking at the man pointing accusingly at him in a spandex jumpsuit. "Do you purposefully walk in on us when we are enjoying ourselves?" He was hit on the shoulder for the second time that night, but he could hardly care. Lee's blush was so cute.