AFTER DARK | naruto

47 | a pill hard to swallow

"I care about animals, too!" Lee assured, a rounded blush on his cheeks. "They are truly adorable!"

"Yeah, sure..." You turned your head to the head slightly before turning it back to him. "But animals don't really like you, do they?"

You could recall a handful of times when Lee had gotten attacked when he was Genin. By a dog on your first mission, a cat on his birthday after he passed out, an entire herd of dogs after Lee decided to give one of them some scraps.... He wasn't a very lucky guy.

"You - are right..." he hung his head low, "I bet Guy Sensei is beloved by all animals... I cannot relate! How can I be a great ninja when disliked by all animals!?" He shook his head in defeat.

"Well, Pakkun likes you." You tried to reassure him, "Guy Sensei would probably tell you that learning to be disliked is the 'epitome of youth!' or something, anyway..." You gave him a nervous grin after your best attempt at comfort.

Lee let out a small gasp as he looked up at you. "You... Are right! Has anyone told you that you are a genius?!"

"Uh, you, probably." You chuckled lightly as he grabbed hold of your hands.

"Even as a Genin, I knew how to spot a genius beauty when I saw one!" He was teary eyed as he said it.

"Well -" you were at a loss for words for a second. "How about we do a little sparring? It's been a while since we last sparred against each other – and we're already here." You suggested – taking the opportunity to stand and help him up as he already held your hands.

"That sounds good to me!" He nodded, standing up with you. "In fact, I was almost hoping you would ask!"

'No surprise,' you thought, sweat dropping. "I need to improve my Taijūtsu - I've been slacking in that regard." No kidding, thanks to your lack of focus on Taijūtsu, you had not only lost a game of tug of war with an Akatsuki member, but you got yourself killed over it.

So, lesson of the day, you could improve on Taijūtsu.

"Sounds good to me!" Lee nodded, "However, may you use that fire fist technique of yours? It would help me greatly with evasion and speed!"

You wanted be surprised at his request, but you really weren't. His next sentence set your expectance in stone - "It will keep me on my toes!"

With that, the two of you spared well into the day, without holding back. Of course, Lee always was much faster than you were – even if he had his weights on and you didn't. He was also a lot more proficient in Taijūtsu. Both of your teammates were masters in it – and your sensei, too. Obviously, their mastery of it had rubbed off on you some-what, it was inevitable. In fact, it'd be rather embarrassing if you didn't pick up on some of their skills.

It wasn't like you hadn't taught them anything – Neji had even picked up on a fire Jūtsu because of you, and he learned a lot thanks to your Poltigan. And the others... Well, you weren't sure what you taught them, but you hoped it was something. Like Lee, he constantly said that you motivated him – in whatever way that was, you wouldn't question too much, if he said he was motivated, then who were you to deny it?

Going all out is good, of course. Respecting your sparring partner enough to not hold back is a great thing – but at the same time, that's what led to the two of you panting on the floor. Lee's jumpsuit was rather sturdy, you landed enough hits to burn away at the material, yet it was in... Okay condition.

And luckily enough, Lee's punches and kicks didn't have some supernatural strength with the ability to punch holes into your clothes – but if you were to look later, you'd have bruises for sure.