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Halfway through their morning training, Tenten taps Rock Lee on the shoulder.
“Yes!” Up! Down. And up! “Hello— what is it?”
Tenten jerks her head towards the edge of their training spot. “Your number one fan is back.”
“Ah?”
He blinks—once, twice—and looks over.
Ino wiggles her fingers at them—or, more specifically, him. Rock Lee feels himself flush with embarrassment.
“Is that so!” he loudly exclaims, feigning confidence. “In that case, I shall greet her.”
“Just make her go,” Tenten dryly says. “I have to concentrate to get this deal working.”
Lee grins so bright it sparkles. “You got it!”
He cleans his hands on a rag and bounces over to the treeline, where Ino sits simply, in her usual purple getup, with white daisy crowns in her lap. His heart stutters as she offers him a small, hidden smile.
“Took you long enough.”
“A-ah ha. Well!” he laughs nervously. “Tenten would like you to leave, now.”
Ino bursts out laughing.
“Oh, Tenten said that, did she?” she primly returns to her flower crown, weaving another stem over, under, and through. “If she told you to jump off a bridge, would you do that, too?”
It isn’t even a question. “Yes.”
Ino gives him a sour look.
He tries again. “Yes?” And again. “Yes.”
“Dummy.” Ino snorts. She tucks some hair behind her ear, and adds, to herself, “at least you’re honest.”
“Isn’t everyone?” blurts Lee.
Ino rolls her eyes. “Right.”
She pats the grass next to her, and Lee obliges, kneeling on the ground in a formal seiza. He keeps his eyes firmly on the training ground—not looking at Ino. Not when she purses her lips. Not when she sighs. Not even when she grabs a daisy chain, and thrusts it into his face. “Here.”
Lee accepts it with all thumbs, holding it as she weaves on and on and on, manicured nails flitting between stems, leaves, and petals. He tries his best not to look, and instead busies himself with watching Neji and Tenten train, gripping his knees tight.
“You know,” starts Ino. “Most guys would jump at the chance to spend time with me.”
“Ah,” Lee blinks. “Would they jump off a bridge?”
“I wish!” Ino huffs. “All of my princes end up turning into frogs. So lame,” she mutters, plucking a stray leaf from her skirt, before setting her finished crown to the side. Lee stiffly passes along his daisy chain, and she continues weaving, humming something off-key.
She sits with him, completely unphased, as she always does on her strange visits, glancing at him with a look he can only describe as ‘knowing’. Knowing what, he has no clue— but whenever he opens his mouth to ask, another question dies on his tongue.
Why do you come see me?
Curiosity gnaws at him like a dog with a bone. Lee resists, staying perfectly still. Something equally strange swells up inside him, hissing and crackling against the cage of his ribs. He burns red and clenches his jaw.
Girls like quiet guys, Lee chides himself. He has to act— aloof. Cold? Cool. Cool. Don’t pressure her, don’t overwhelm her— give her space to breathe. In other words, not a word! Not a glance! Not a sniff!
This vow of solitude lasts for all of two minutes.
“Is there—,” his voice cracks, like a turtle wobbling out of its shell. Lee clears his throat. “THAT IS— ahem. Is there something wrong with frogs?”
“They’re slimy,” replies Ino. Her hands keep moving— over, under, through. “But no. Not really. Just… I keep kissing, and kissing, and kissing… and, like magic, they all turn out—“ Ino wrinkles her nose. “Rotten. So I thought— why not try the other way around? If I find a good frog, then I can make my own prince.”
Lee nods quickly. “I see!” (He does not.)
Concerned, perhaps, for the frogs, he takes a risk, and peeks at her with too-wide eyes—no discretion!—looking at her, looking at him, looking at her.
“Ah,” he croaks, frozen on the spot. She should really leave now. He should really get back to training. But! But…
Ino takes that chance to shove a daisy crown on him. “There!” she claps triumphantly. “Just as I thought. It looks good!”
Smoke bursts from his ears.
It looks good...
Good? Looking?
Him?! Good-looking?!?
She… what? He— what?!?
“I—,” Lee stutters. “But— you— that is—“
“Yeeeeeees?” She puts on her own crown, giving him a too-wide smirk.
“You’re teasing me,” he realizes. It hits him like a punch to the gut. “You’re laughing at me.”
“Huh?” Ino furrows her brows. “I mean, yeah. You’re funny. So…”
She doesn’t get it. She doesn’t get it at all.
Rather than dwell on it, Lee leaps to his feet.
“Okay!” he forces a thumbs up. “Thank you for the very… youthful gift! I shall return to my training now! Youthfully!”
“Uh, okay?”
“You should also leave!” Lee adds, loudly trampling over his discomfort. “Because—Tenten… asked. Yes, that’s why. And nothing else!”
It’s a poor excuse. Lee knows it, Ino knows it, and Neji, who has learned to read lips from a distance, likely knows it too.
“Another frog,” Ino sighs, ripping a dandelion from the grass. “Whatever. I’m fine here.” She adds it to her crown centerpiece. “You can drop dead, though.”
Already feeling bad, Lee concedes. “Maybe later.”
“Maybe…” Ino pauses, rolling her tongue over her teeth as she reconsiders. Her eyes catch his, laying his soul bare, and flipping through it like a magazine with the latest trends. “After dinner?”
“After di—? No. Training . Training!”
She goes smug. “And a movie.”
“Please! Just go.”
“Then make me!
“I… no, thank you!
With that, he turns tail and runs.
////
Youth: 1
Beauty: 17