Ahh, I'm on a roll tonight. Two chapters in such a short amount of time, I hope you guys enjoy!

Chapter 85

On the way Lee and I chatted about small things, commented on bits of scenery or animals nearby, and by the time we arrived just under three hours later, Lee was caught up in a huge tale about a mission he had recently been on, and was incredibly enthused about how much stronger he believed he had become – and I, for one, could highly agree with that. He was certainly much stronger, physically, and even though our Taijutsu was almost on an even level a while back, he had become much stronger than I. Though, in a fight using my Ninjutsu; that was definitely a different story.

But now, here we stood, the ruins of Kikyo Pass- well, more like just a cemetery now. Gazing around at the area, where grass and other plants had dominated the debris of buildings, and structures, Lee had his thinking expression on; which was either really good, or really bad.
"What's on your mind, Lee-san?" Of course, I was curious, either way.
"Setsuki-chan." He turned to me, a seriousness in his eyes. "I promise, that after this war, I will help rebuild this place to it's former glory!"
I blinked. Well, I most certainly was not expecting that. "Rebuild, huh?" I glanced around the area, also. But it was impossible. This town had perished along with it's inhabitants, and now nothing remained of it. Even if it were to somehow be rebuilt, would anyone live here knowing it was once the target of a massacre? The thought pained me, I merely lowered my head at his words. "That's very considerate of you, Lee-san.. however I can't see it becoming what it once was." I hoped he would understand, but his expression remained inquisitive, demanding to know the meaning behind my words. As I walked to the graves, I explained it to him, but dismissed it with a reassuring sentence; "As long as these people aren't forgotten, I don't see a reason why it needs to be rebuilt."
A nod from him had be believing this conversation was over, but as always, he proved me wrong.
"This place was your childhood home, Setsuki-chan! That is all the reason it needs!" By the sounds of it, he wasn't changing his mind. "And maybe after the war we.." A pause caught my immediate attention, I found myself facing him completely, our eyes locked. My hand was cupped between his two, as it was pulled up towards his chest. This was a gesture of true sincerity. "We could live together, right here. Along with Takashi-san. That way you can be much closer to the rest of your family, Setsuki-chan!" There he goes again, thinking about me as a top priority.
To say I disagreed with him would be an utter lie, it was an amazing idea that I would love to be carried out.. "Lee-san. That is such a marvellous idea," his eyes lit up with a happiness. "but there is no way I could drag you all the way out here away from everyone just for my sake. Lee, what about Gai-sensei? Neji? Tenten? The village? Three hours is a long time to travel to visit them each day, and there's no way I could put that kind of strain on y-" A single finger met my lips, before his face leaned in.
"I would be most willing to do that, for you Setsuki-chan." He placed a brief kiss upon my lips, as if to further silence me before I could respond, and to emphasise his love and commitment of which he was speaking of. "Even if I must arise three hours earlier than usual to travel home to meet Gai-sensei every morning, even if I had to arrive here three hours later of an evening after training, I would do it all just for you, Setsuki-chan!" Another kiss, only this time, it lasted longer, filled with tenderness, and passion.
I could feel tears building up in my eyes as his words and actions hit a soft spot in my heart. To have someone so willing to alter their own life just to fill my own happiness? It was like nothing I'd ever had before. Is this what they call.. true love?
Of course, I had to close my eyes before those tears dare escape, and before Lee could pull back and continue saying such sweet things, I returned the gesture; by removing my hand from his, I moved it to the back of his head and pulled his face closer. I would return my affections through actions, rather than words, for I was utterly speechless.

Through the touch of his lips, I could feel them curl into a smile as our kiss lasted quite a while, without the concerns of the general public around us, or my over protective uncle being around, we were free to express our affections as much as we wanted, without a care in the world. It was beautiful. It last such a long time, that we both felt the need to share a little more intimacy before returning home, and that was okay. Surely no one would mind just a single day without us around, right?

But first things were first; to lay out the Carnations by each headstone, and pray. With the two of us working together, praying together, and actually vocalising our thoughts, I couldn't help but feel our own bond becoming spiritually stronger, too.

It took little over two hours for the process to finish, as it took much longer with the two of us, and I found myself sharing fond memories to Lee, of which he seemed pleasant to hear about. But sadly, it was almost time to get going, after all, we'd never make it home in time for lunch now. It was nearly eleven o'clock and the lunch sales at Ichiraku's would end before we would be able to arrive back. The thought was discouraging, but something kept us wanting to stay.

It was hard to understand what exactly the feeling was, but it felt like a longing; a need to be alone and isolated with Lee a little longer. It was so pleasant with just the two of us with no one else around, and I almost felt like I wanted it to be like this more often. We had our privacy, the ability to do absolutely anything without being judged or watched by others, and most of all, each other.

Lee seemed like he was feeling the same thing, only, he had a little more of an understanding about the feeling. Instead of heading back we decided to sit. Sit on the grass side by side, close to each other. He seemed conflicted with a thought on his mind; he was a growing, maturing young man whose hormones were inevitable, and he knew that. The only problem was, with his urgencies to deal with those desires, would mean to experiment and play around in an inappropriate manner with this bluenette. He absolutely refused to allow himself to succumb to sexual desires, for there was no way he intended to ruin Setsuki's innocence to selfishly. After all, she was also a maturing young woman, who was bound to feel the same hormones sooner or later, but even so, he believed he would not do a single thing to her beautiful, pure body. He would need to find an alternative way to take care of his needs.

But even so, he would like to just hint at it for now, because he, too, felt absolutely comfortable around this kunoichi. She had been there for him for so long now, and he felt as though he could speak to her about absolutely anything, comfortably. He believed she, and Gai were the only ones who would ever see his sad side, and both were equally good at cheering him up and comforting; although comparing them, he knew Setsuki had a much softer, way of doing it, and it wouldn't take much to convince himself that he preferred that over Gai, after all, he seemed a little more to-the-point, whereas with the bluenette, he could speak as deeply as he wanted, without being told to simply -man up-.
A deep breath filled his lungs.

"Setsuki-chan.."