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“You certainly are one splendid ninja, Rock Lee.”
Lee can’t help but beam as Neji, his eternal rival, shakes his hand.
“No kidding! He beat us like a champ!” Naruto said, rubbing his swollen jaw.
Sakura who had been hanging over him, kissed his cheek. “Of course! Lee-san worked super hard!”
Lee blushed. “Heh…thank you all for recognizing me.”
“Don’t get too cocky,” Neji said. “I’ll train harder for our rematch.”
“Me too!” Naruto yelled while raising his fist. “Just you wait, Bushybrows!”
“Bring it on! My Lee-san will just beat you both again!”
It was overwhelming, this feeling of happiness. Too good to be true. It was all he ever wanted…was this okay? Wait- why wouldn’t it be? This was-
“You okay?” Sakura’s concerned eyes halt his thoughts.
“Y-yes! Everything is okay!”
“Good.” She was back to smiling as she leaned in close.
As the dream fades and he’s awake again. He’s on his knees, reflexes moving to catch his fall.
Fall…from? He glances around him, still quite disoriented. One minute he had been on a date with Sakura-san and the next…well, he was smelling burnt flesh and was definitely not at a nice restaurant, but very much in the middle of a battlefield.
Right, war. They had been fighting…and now?
Ah- Gai-Sensei!
He moves to touch his teacher, check his vitals. He did not look good at all, all covered in…some kind of wrapping? Skin charred. He had survived opening all eight inner gates.
Oh, Gaara was here.
Too much going on in the span of such a short time.
Vitals checked. Gai-Sensei’s pulse was slow. He was alive.
Good. Thank every higher power out there.
He eventually finds strength to stand. He needed help. Help with Gai-sensei. He had to make sure they stayed alive.
“Lee-san!”
His eyes snap as a body slams into his, arms wrap around his frame. “A-ah! S-Sakura-san?” Pink hair. Who else could it be? His arms wrap around her frame in return and he feels… relief . She was okay. Ha. Tears spring from his eyes, unbidden.
She pulls away from him, arms freeing themselves to grasp his arms.
Green eyes stare into his own.
They’re beautiful.
Always have been.
Always-
Soft lips press against his, knocking away any semblance of a thought from his head.
His mind swirls as she pulls away, studying his expression.
He can’t quite catch his breath as he frees his hands to form the hand sign to release. Release from this genjutsu. It has to be one, right? This wasn’t real. It couldn’t be.
Kai!
Kai!
Kai!
Ka-
“Lee-San.” Sakura’s hands are on his. Hurt mingles into her expression and Lee’s stomach turns. No…he never wanted to hurt someone so precious.
“Sorry…I thought, I was still dreaming,” he says, voice choked up.
She smiles at him so beautifully, yet so sad. “It’s ok.” She kisses him again. “You’re not dreaming.”
The noise that escapes him was hard to describe. Disbelief? Relief? Every feeling one could feel?
He doesn’t contemplate further as Sakura tends to Gai-Sensei. Right. More important things.
It’s much later that he’s able to be alone with Sakura again.
“I’m sorry about before,” she tells him. “I just- I was just so happy to see you alive.”
Lee can’t help but smile at her. “Believe me…it was very nice.” Not even the Sakura in his dream kissed him on the lips. “I just…” he trails off, his smile slipping.
What? He wanted nothing more than to make his dream a reality but…
“Did I scare you?” She asks, voice quiet.
He shook his head. “I…have a lot to process.”
“I understand,” she says after a beat.
“I cannot ask you to wait for me and-“
Sakura holds his hands and his words die in his throat.”You’re worth waiting for, Lee-San.”
Lee swallows, his eyes burn but he’s smiling. “Thank you.”
He feels like maybe this would have been the perfect time to lean in for a kiss.
He doesn’t and they part ways.
Time moves along and Lee eventually finds some peace with Neji’s death, Gai-Sensei’s condition and everything else.
He decides that he wants to train. Learn new techniques. Be worthy of being Neji’s eternal rival.
He goes through the proper channels to do so. Now it’s all about packing. At a pharmacy he sees a familiar face.
Sakura-san.
The two catch up and he explains what he’s up to.
“Can I come with you?”
Lee is surprised that Sakura asks. He thought maybe she was plenty busy training future medical nin.
“You want to come with me?”
She nods, expression determined.
He’s reminded of a young girl, fighting for her life in the Forest of Death.
He finds himself smiling, resigned that there was no way in hell he could tell her no.
Not that he wanted to.
“Meet me in the south entrance of the village?”
The grin that breaks out of her face gives him butterflies.
It’s a month into their travels when he finally kisses Sakura.
There had been no meditation on his part, he just found himself leaning in to press his lips against hers. There had been a split moment where he worried. What if…he hated it? What if she hated it? What if they-
She kisses back and his doubts fade.
Sakura-san was kissing him back.
When they part she looks at him with an expression of adoration. “I knew you were worth the wait.”
The tears come before he can control it.
“You okay?” Sakura touches his cheek.
Lee chokes on emotion. “Y-yes! Everything is okay!”
Sakura smiles. “Good.” She pulls out a handkerchief, then dabs his face of tears. “There we go.” With that she leans in, kissing him again.
And Lee stays awake this time as he kisses her back.
Again and again.
The only thing fading are clouds in the sky.