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The aroma of fresh baked goods pierced Lee's sense of smell as he passed by the familiar shop--Hyuuga something? the boy did not remember all too well-- during his training, and despite never going in, it filled Lee with a warm feeling, a pleasant home-y one like when you get a gift from a friend.
Today he thought, today perhaps shall be the day I finally pay this amazing shop a visit! After my training, of course.
And that he did; once done with his laps, Lee circled back towards the sweet shop situated in the familiar part of town. As he opened the door, the aroma strengthened as he was met with the calm, warm atmosphere of the inside, and the not-too-bustling but not deserted people who were, for the most part, doing their own thing. Parallel to the door on the back wall of the cozy shop was the actual line up of pastries: numerous donuts, muffins, bagels, Lee felt they would have whatever you could name. Glancing finally over at the counter, the only thing Lee had yet to see was the-
the cashier.
oh.
Lee's chest tightened and his heart beat in loops and tied into knots he had never felt before; it was almost too much. If the cashier were any less apathetic, in fact, he might have spared the time to apprehend Lee for gawking at him so much. He stood at the register like he had a level of honor and dignity to uphold, but still gave the air of not very much caring for anyone or anything and really just wanting to be anywhere else. He wore the white and brown uniform cleanly and his hair straight and dark; however his eyes wore dark circles and his eyebrows crinkled and his lips folded into something disgruntled.
Lee thought he was beautiful.
In fact, as he tried walking closer, his legs turned into something stiff and robotic, something unwieldy under the emotional pull. Nonetheless Lee made it, and his speech spewed out awkwardly at the other boy.
"Hello! I am Rock Lee and I- well i mean," Lee stumbled, pausing then for a moment, "a uh, donut please."
That was the correct move to make, yes? Introducing myself? he thought.
The annoyed reaction he received however flooded his mind with suppositions, those apprehensive, that feared the possibility of the other boy not enjoying his presence terribly well. Why was he scared? Since when did he care so much?? Before Lee even knew it, the cashier unenthusiastically came back with his donut and placed it in a small bag on the counter. He gave Lee the price, Lee uttered a quick, uncharacteristically awkward "thankyou," and turned on his heel to bolt out the door.
Left alone to his thoughts, Lee let out a sigh of relief. Wait... Lee forgot to ask his name back! Would that be weird to ask a second time around- would it be weird to come back a second time around?? AAH Lee felt so jumbled up, he had never felt like this! He felt as though he could almost always hold confidence and power through a conversation, especially one as simple as the one he just had, but what had happened to him in there??
Lee let the cashier run through his fuddled mind again; he put a gripped hand to his chest and his knees went weak and his face warm. Gosh, the boy was so... cool? Maybe Lee just looked up to him. Well, no, he thought again-- it was nowhere near the same as how he felt with Guy sensei.
It was all horribly confusing.
Continuing along his path back towards his home, Lee remained smothered in thoughts of the evening and of his decisions. Not paying very much attention to the passage of time, his feet had already carried him most of the way home and the sun already had began to fall from the sky when he ran into a warm figure, quite a bit taller than he, that contrasted with the chilling air. Lee backed up, apologizing without even considering looking at the figure, who spoke back in a familiar voice.
"Lee! You're late. What was holding you back?"
Lee bowed, "My apologies! I just made a quick stop after my training and," he held out the bag still carried in his hand, "See? I am very sorry for my actions and will not-"
"Now wait a minute lee, it's really no big deal. You got your training done right?"
"y-yes sir!"
"Well I trust you enough then," Guy paused and gave a reassuring look to Lee, "Now here, walk with me."
They began the rest of the walk back to Lee's home, Guy partaking in their usual friendly conversations. As Guy spoke, Lee was truly interested but progressively struggled to listen as he felt his brain pull him more and more back into his cloud of thoughts, muffling the voice of his sensei for a while. Long enough, in fact, that he had not even realized their walk was already at an end. Guy noticed, of course, Lee's lack of attention towards his speech; however, this time around instead of reprimanding him, the man decided his student most likely just had a long day with a lot on his mind, as one does sometimes, and that if Lee needed to talk about anything he was sure the boy would come to him for it.
Guy stopped walking, placing a hand on his student's shoulder. "Well, I see its time for our time together to end Lee," he gave a thumbs up as Lee finally snapped out of his thoughts, "sleep well, and be ready for more tomorrow!"
"Y- yes sir, Guy sensei! Thank you for spending this time with me, and I am sorry if i was not very much attentive!"
"Don't sweat it Lee!"
At the end of their conversation, Guy turned to leave as Lee calmly entered his house, going straight for his bedroom. He gripped the bag more tightly in his hand as he plopped down onto the side of his bed, almost as if he forgot he had been carrying it in the first place. Yeah, that guy... Lee's mind raced with thoughts, pleasant ones that he did not quite understand that made his heart go weak, and ones that kept him up through his attempts to get adequate sleep. Lee was so absolutely confused at how he had never felt like this before; of course he had felt closeness with his comrades in the past, and he thought Sakura was really neat, but what was this strong feeling permeating his being? What could cause someone to so urgently want to just... be around someone all the time and just appreciate them and melt at the sight of them and, and--