For the next couple of days, everything was calm. Hinata fully moved out of Tenten's house and into Neji's loft. Kiba and Shino moved into Konoha Apartments— on the first floor thankfully. Lee was a friendly person by nature, but he even he could say it would have been too much to have them on the same floor as himself and Sakura. After helping them move in, Lee could tell that they were very strange individuals and that was saying something coming from him.

Kiba and Akamaru were more like brothers than pet and pet owner. Kiba allowed Akamaru to sleep on his bed and eat off of his plate. The first time Lee saw Kiba take a bite out of something Akamaru took a bite of, he decided that he wouldn't be sharing food with the Inuzuka. Aside from that, Kiba warmed up nicely to Lee and they became fast friends.

Kiba's nose was healing quite nicely as well, Sakura has noted when she was with them one time. Though, his nose would forever be crooked unless he went under some reconstructive surgery. But Kiba was proud of it. He said that as long as he could breathe and smell, he would be fine. Besides, it gave him a rugged look that he liked. If it wasn't for his doggish behaviors, maybe the women would be flocking all over him.

What women he could be possibly talking about, Lee didn't know.

Shino on the other hand had large collections of bugs. Sakura admantly refused to help with that, leaving Lee, Kiba, and Shino himself to deal with it.

Shino had anything from ant farms to beetles and he was very particular about where to place them in the small apartment. Everywhere you went, you'd see some kind of bug in a terrarium. It was like the insect enclosure at the zoo.

Lee didn't want to know what might happen if those bugs were to escape. The apartment building would have more than a roach problem so to speak. Alas, that was Shino's hobby and Lee could respect it. After he was made to take his glasses off for Tenten as she took a picture, he was quite friendly to them. At least from what they could gleam from his standoffish personality.

It was Hinata that held them all together. She knew Kiba and Shino the best and through her kinship with Neji, she connected with Neji's own friends. In a way, they were one big happy family.

On the third morning since the doubles match, Lee received a phone call from Tenten. He had continued to have sleep overs with Sakura. They flip-flopped between staying at Lee's or Sakura's and this morning they were at Lee's.

He had developed the habit of leaving his phone at his apartment so it was fortunate that they were sleeping there.

While Sakura slept soundly on her day off, Lee was making breakfast smoothies. When Tenten called him, he heard his phone buzzing on the couch where he had left it previously. Setting aside the ingredients, Lee hurried over and picked up.

As soon as he did so, Tenten started speaking immediately. "Lee, you have to help me," she said.

Her words worried him. "What happened Tenten?" He asked her as his heart thumped in his chest.

"Neji wants to go on a date."

Lee deflated with relief. "Is that all? Tenten you nearly gave me a heart attack!" Even though she couldn't see it, he softly shook his head. "I am sure you will be fine. You helped me with my date, after all. You also have been alone with Neji before."

"Yeah but, now that we're actually dating it's different now. Please Lee, you gotta help me."

"Then what do you propose I do?" Lee asked her. He still didn't think that Tenten needed anything from him. If anything, she was more well off than he was.

"Neji and I are going to the roller rink. I need you to bring Sakura along and pretend that it's a coincidence that we ran into each other," Tenten explained. She was the one that enjoyed roller skating. Neji was just indulging her in her interests. He used to hate it before. Lee wasn't very good at it either.

"So you want me and Sakura to go on a double date with you and Neji?" Lee deduced.

"Exactly, I knew you would understand."

"But—" Tenten had hung up before could Lee get another word in. He didn't think it was a very good idea as lying wasn't something he was good at. Then again, having Sakura there with him would probably save him the trouble. If he thought about blabbing, she could just pinch him or something.

Speaking of Sakura, she slunk out of his room and out of the hall, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. "Who were you talking to?"

Even now, hair tousled and unkempt with her tank top riding up her hips, Sakura was the most beautiful girl in the world. Lee had to hold himself from staring at her, remembering that she asked him a question.

"It was Tenten," he answered, "she wanted us to go on a double date."

That seemed to wake her up. "Oh." Sakura blinked. "Oh! I'm guessing it's because she feels awkward?"

Lee nodded. "Yes."

"Hm." Sakura now had her arms crossed. "It's been a while since we went on a date."

Then again, the last time they went on a date it ended horribly.

It didn't stop Lee from feeling bad. "Oh Sakura, I am so sorry!" He fell to his knees and crawled on the floor towards her. He threw his arms around her legs. The sheer force of his forearms hitting the back of her knees made her stumble. Sakura had to steady herself by holding onto the top of his head. "I have failed you as a boyfriend, I should have been taking you on more dates!"

He was sobbing, but Sakura was laughing. He looked up at her with watery eyes.

"It's okay," Sakura managed to say through a fit of giggles. She stroked his hair. It kept getting longer. "I'm not going to hold it against you. I'm your first relationship, I'm assuming."

"Yes!" Lee was nodding more than he needed to, as if Sakura wouldn't believe him.

"And you're mine." Sakura smiled. Now that Lee found hard to believe. A beautiful woman like her? No way. Lee could only grasp that she has something with Sasuke that didn't go anywhere.

She would never talk about it anyway.

He hugged her legs closer to him. "Then allow me to take you on this date. Even if Tenten and Neji would be there as well. Just one request."

Sakura tilted her head at him. "What is it?"

Lee raised his brows at her, smiling shyly. "Help me cut my hair?"

ˏˋ ˎˊ

While Lee sat cross legged on the floor, Sakura sat on the toilet as she held a bowl to his head along with a pair of scissors. He was as still as possible as she snipped away. Sakura wasn't much of a hairdresser, Ino was always more talented in that regard. But doing it this way was easy, even for Sakura.

Tufts of black hair fell away to the ground as Sakura cut away at Lee's hair. It was very soft to the touch, like duck downy.

"Hey Lee," Sakura murmured. "What made you decide to go with the bowl cut?"

"Guy Sensei, naturally," Lee answered promptly.

"I mean, yeah..." Sakura tapped at the bowl. "But you used to have really long hair, I've seen the pictures. What changed?"

Honestly, Lee used to cry as a child whenever Guy tried to get his hair cut. He couldn't really remember why. Maybe he was just afraid of the scissors. Maybe he was just afraid of changing himself.

"Well," Lee began. He allowed himself to shift a little bit. "My long hair wasn't the main thing I got bullied for..." No that was for his face and perceived slowness when it came to academics. At least back then it wasn't. "But my bullies used to pull my hair."

Sakura frowned. "Lee..."

"It is okay," he reassured her. "Since then, I cut my hair and stood up to them. However... My first bowl cut was when I was thirteen." Since then he was relentlessly teased for his hair. But he stopped caring. "It made me look closer to Guy Sensei. Like... We were actually related. I deeply wanted to be like him, I still do."

Clearly this haircut was symbolic of something greater to Lee, so Sakura was honored to partake in it.

Sakura moved to start trimming the back. "I for one, think you are very handsome." His looks grew on her over time and Sakura couldn't deny that they did something to her. How could someone be so cute and so sexy at the same time? Sakura was glad that Lee was turned away from her so he couldn't see her blushing face.

She felt him stiffen beneath her touch.

"You really think so?"

She dusted some hair off of his back. "I know so."

ˏˋ ˎˊ

Tenten informed Lee through text that he should show up a few minutes later than she arrived with Neji. Not too long to leave her alone with him but not too soon that it wouldn't seem like a mere coincidence.

It was only thanks to Sakura for keeping an eye on the whereabouts of Lee's phone were they able to get the memo in the first place. Seriously, Lee was notoriously bad at leaving it. He started to get better whenever he wasn't around Sakura, but when he was... His perception of other people was warped. He couldn't help it.

When they arrived to the roller rink, they deliberated over how soon is 'too soon.'

"She said three o'clock," Sakura noted, pointing to the digital clock on the carm "it's three fifteen."

"Do you think we should go in now?" Lee asked her. He recognized Neji's car parked on the other side of the lot. He was driving again? Should he? With his trembling hands, it didn't seem very logical for him to get behind the wheel. Unless of course, Tenten was the one that drove. But if that was the case they would have used her car.

Sakura tool a deep breath. "I think so." She turned to Lee with a neutral expression. "You can't mess this up. If you're too obvious he'd know that this was a set up."

"Right!"

"Got it?"

Lee gave her a mock salute. "Understood!"

Sakura smiled. "Let's go get 'em, tiger."

ˏˋ ˎˊ

Tenten had been waiting anxiously for them, sending Neji off to go get them some snacks as she sat at their table. She held her head in her hands, berating herself for feeling so off. She loved Neji for the greater portion of her life and now that she had him, she was so afraid of losing him by being herself.

She couldn't do this alone. She needed her brother to support her just as she had supported him when they were children.

Tenten kept her eyes fixated on the entrance. Finally! She spotted Lee and Sakura coming in, arm and arm. Lee and Tenten met eyes for a brief moment before the other couple had to go rent out their skates.

Good, good. All according to plan.

Once they were laced up, Sakura had to help Lee walk over. Right, Lee wasn't very good with wheels on his feet. If Tenten wasn't in a whole lot of distress, it would have been very funny to watch as he stumbled around.

Sakura managed to have him walk steadily as if he were wearing regular shoes. "Tenten!" He nearly shouted at her, a fire in his eyes. "I have come to save you!"

Tenten let out a sigh. "And here I was begining to get worried. It's good to see you, you too Sakura."

The two women shared a smile. "Likewise," Sakura responded.

Tenten suddenly looked alert. Her smile became more forced. "Here comes Neji."

Lee whipped around, nearly rolling off his feet. "Neji!" He waved down his best friend. "What a coincidence! Who would have thought that we would be here... At the same time!"

Neji slowly blinked as he held a tray of fries. "Right."

Sakura thankfully took over. "You like roller skating too?" She asked. "I told Lee how I used to skate all the time as a kid and he told me that he knew a place. I actually used to come here too!"

"Actually," Neji stole a glance at Tenen. "I'm not the one who likes skating." His tone was flatter than usual, clearly not amused by current events.

Sakura cupped her face with one hand, keeping one looped in Lee's arm— lest he'd somehow roll away like an unattended skateboard down a ramp. "Aww! How cute!" She turned to Lee. "We'll leave you to it then. I gotta go teach Lee how to skate."

Their presence would be far too imposing. They would be Tenten's guardians from a distance.

"Come on," Sakura tugged on Lee's arm as they walked towards the rink. She pulled him close enough so that she could whisper into his ear. Let's give them some time alone."

Lee nodded. That he could do.

Because that meant he could get alone time with Sakura.