A/N: Since I was asked so nicely, I decided to continue. Probably won't get updates out this often in the future, but I'll update as soon as I can.
Disclaimer: I do not own the Naruto franchise.. sadly..nor am I making any type of money off of this. Not even cookies!
Warnings: Mmm.. some cursing.
Lee buckled a set of heavy weights around each of his legs and stood. He propped his left leg on the wooden park bench and leaned forward, stretching out his muscles to cut down on the possibility of cramping during his morning run.
The music pounded in his ear, drilling a heavy bass line into his head. He leaned against the leather covered bar and swirled the ginger ale around in his glass. He looked around for his well-meaning friends; the same friends who had dragged him out that night, claiming he needed to have fun and stop being so uptight, then ditched him.
He dropped his left leg to the ground, and lifted his right, repeating the exercise. He pressed his forehead to his knee, relishing the slight pain. Pain was good. Pain meant he was alive to fight another day.
"Still avoiding alcohol, I see. I guess it's hard to drink knowing that you trashed your favorite teacher's house the last time you got drunk, hn?" a hauntingly familiar voice yelled into his ear.
"Neji, my long-lost friend!" Lee cried, ready to weep tears of joy. "Oh, how I have missed your sword-like words!"
"Lee," Neji smirked and nodded. "It's been a while."
"Six years, five months, and thirteen days," Lee supplied cheerfully. His grin slipped off his face. "That's how long it's been since you left. I've been following the news of you, however. I have a long way to go to catch up to you, rival of my youth."
They watched the club's patrons twist and gyrate against one another for a while in silence, Lee sipping his flat beverage, Neji gulping something amber-colored in a wide mouthed glass. Lee peeked through his bushy hair and noted the disheveled appearance of his companion.
"Neji," he probed. "Are you..okay?"
"Why wouldn't I be?" Neji shot back, draining his glass and signaling for another. "Keep them coming," he told the pierced bartender. He slipped a hand in his pants pocket and extracted a white leather wallet. Thumbing through bills, he grabbed a few and shoved them in the general direction of the bar. "And make that next one a double."
"Because..because we swore together we would no longer drink due to our natures, my friend. I get destructive and you lose all control."
"Perhaps I want to lose control," Neji murmured, almost to himself.
Bouncing in place, Lee readied himself to move. He squinted into the distance, calculating how many times he would need to go around the park to break his previous record. With a satisfied nod, he mimicked the sound of a starter pistol and took off, legs pumping furiously.
After all that time away, why did Neji have to come back now?
"Dance with me, Lee," Neji demanded. "Show me those moves you used to have."
"Um, Neji," Lee hesitated. "This isn't..that kind of place."
"Who cares? We're friends, right? What's so weird about that?"
"Are we still friends?"
"Why would you ask me that?"
"You left without a word right after graduation!"
Neji frowned. "Can we just dance? Here. I'll even put my hair down, so maybe people will mistake me for a woman. Does that make you feel better?"
Lee bit out a sigh. "Neji.."
"Come on!" Lee allowed himself to pulled onto the dance floor. True to his word, Neji had removed his hair tie; thick, chocolate-colored fell around him in soft waves, covering his shoulders and upper arms. Clad in tight jeans and a wine-colored, long sleeved t-shirt, in the right light, under the right circumstances, Neji could pass for a female, Lee thought. Maybe.
Neji danced sensuously, seductively, attracting the attention of half the club. He wiggled and dipped, taking time to grind his hips against Lee in a parody of something much more intimate.
Lee stumbled over a large tree branch on the path, narrowly avoiding an embarrassing fall. He blushed, and tried to push the memory down.
"Lemme borrow yer girl here, for a minute or two," a gravelly voice cut in. "She's real cute."
"Maybe she'll run away with me once she sees your ugly mug!" a second voice declared with laughter. Lee felt Neji's grip tighten on him, and he peeked around the veil of hair to assess the situation.
Two burly, bear-like men were reaching for Neji. No doubt they had dishonorable intentions in mind. Without a second thought, Lee whipped Neji around, and pushed the intoxicated man behind him. He stared up at the jeering men and spoke.
"Gentlemen, I must inform you that you are making a very grievous error."
"What'd you say, punk?"
Lee ran faster, as if trying to leave his thoughts behind.
The four of them ended up in a tangle of limbs on the floor, with Neji on the bottom, groaning. Angered, Lee lifted his leg, and sent a kick to one of their faces. As the sound of his shoe connecting with flesh tore through the air, the music stopped.
"Hey! What are you guys doing? Break it up!" The bouncers were heading their way. Lee extracted himself and Neji from the pile. Leaping to his feet, he grabbed the warm hand of his friend and hightailed it out of the club.
They ran for several blocks, their breath puffing out in white clouds in the cool night air. While Neji swayed and gasped for air, Lee checked the street behind them for signs of pursuers.
"We seem to be safe," Lee volunteered. The sound of retching sent him spinning around to check on his friend, who was on his knees with his face in the bushes.
"Neji!"
"Take me home, Lee. Please."
Lee stopped dead in his tracks, his eagerness at completing his run fading for the first time in his life. Swallowing hard around the lump that had formed in his throat, he wiped the sweat from his forehead, and flung it away.
"Lovers," he whispered. "Pretend lovers. Neji, why are you doing this to me?" He stared forlornly at the sky, as if demanding the birds and clouds for an answer.
"Hey, Sakura, what's up? You never call me," Naruto accused his old college housemate after hugging her and seating himself at the table. He glanced around the mostly empty diner in search of their waitress. "You must want something."
The female jerked backward in shock. "Naruto! How can you say something like that?"
"Because it's usually true," the chipper blonde man stated with a smile. "So, what's up?"
"Fine." She sighed. And then sighed again. On her third sigh, Naruto's eyebrow rose.
"Spill."
"Okay, okay. Explain how Lee, of all people, knows Neji Hyuuga."
"Neji?" Naruto's other eyebrow joined the first one near his hairline. "The Hyuuga prick is back?"
"Excuse me?" Sakura squeaked. "'Hyuuga prick'? Isn't that a tad bit strong? He's one of the heirs to Byakugan Enterprises, isn't he?"
"And that's exactly why he's a prick. He was, like, an ice king. He was worse than Sasuke, at first." Spotting a person wearing the company uniform, he waved his arm, only to be pointedly ignored. Growling, he muttered, "Service still stinks here, I see."
Sakura was shaking her head in disbelief. "Wait, wait, wait! You're telling me you know this guy?"
"Of course. We all went to high school together. Hyuuga and the Uchiha bastard were sort of friends, which made me the Hyuuga's friend, which made me Lee's friend. The other guys were around there somewhere, too. You didn't know that?"
"I never thought a prestigious family like the Hyuugas would send their children to public school."
"It was an experiment or something," Naruto said, tapping his foot impatiently. "Seriously, Sakura, why'd you have to go and pick this restaurant? You know these people don't like me." He leg ceased jumping as he mentally backtracked to the strawberry blonde woman's first question. "How do you know Lee knows Neji? And why'd you say it like that?"
"I met him," Sakura replied, ignoring Naruto's second question. "I went to Lee's apartment to find out why he ditched us at the club last night. Ino and Tenten saw him leaving with some chick, and that chick turned out to be Hyuuga."
"Really, now? Did Lee tell you that?"
"No, the Hyuuga told me himself. He waltzed into the room in a towel! A towel, for crying out loud!" She sniffed at the memory. "He said that Lee was his lover."
Naruto tried to hide his alarm. "Really?" he squeaked. Sakura looked at him curiously, and he cleared his throat. "Neji Hyuuga said those exact words. Out loud. To you?" At Sakura's slow nod, the man muttered, half to himself, "Well, that's interesting."
"What does that mean?"
"Why?" Naruto narrowed his eyes. "Why are you concerned with who Lee sleeps with?"
"Why does everybody keep saying that to me?" Sakura demanded as she threw her hands into the air. Naruto reflexively ducked and covered his head. "I'm not gonna hit you," she assured him, lowering her arms. "But even Lee said that to me. Ino laughed in my face, and that lazy ass boyfriend of hers told me to mind my own business." Bitter, she sat back in her chair and turned to stare out of the window.
Naruto stood. "Since I'm not being served," he announced loudly, catching the attention of several workers, "I'm leaving. Besides, I promised the Uchiha bastard I'd stop by and see him this morning. I can't wait to get home, though." He cracked his neck and yawned. "I've been up since Thursday. You called just as I was leaving work."
"Today's Saturday, Naruto."
"That's my point, Sakura." He yawned again, driving his point home. "Look, it might be in your best interest to stay out of it. Did Lee seem happy? If so, what's the harm?"
"There's something wrong with this! There's something wrong with all of you! Haven't any of you heard about his reputation?"
"It's not your business, Sakura." All traces of humor and cheer were gone from Naruto's voice. "Don't get involved." He turned on his heel and stomped past the rude hostess who was suddenly on duty, stationed behind her podium.
Once outside, he glanced back to see Sakura staring at her hands, which were laced together on the table in front of her. He jogged to his car, a 1969 classic Camero, painted orange with blue flames, unlocked the door, and slipped inside. Before he had the door completely shut, he was starting the engine and dialing a number on his phone.
"Hey," he said when the call was answered. "We have a problem, and her name is Sakura."