Escape [Sasuke Uchiha]

Chapter 17: Love At First Sight

Tenten crouched down before him and replied, "We came to help you."

Just like Naruto's first action the moment he woke up, Rock Lee scanned the whole place asking, "Huh? Where did the Sound ninjas go?"

"That Sasuke boy drove them away."

"I see," Lee moved his black, circle eyes to the Uchiha who now stood next to Kaito's form.

Tenten inquired; a hint of anger seeped into her voice, "Why did you take action on your own? On top of that, you're hurt badly!"

Lee brought his gaze downward like a child who just got scolded by the mother, "Sakura-san was in danger, so as a man, I had to..."

The girl with two buns was silent for a moment as if pondering about a certain thing, before she opened her mouth, "You really are an idiot!"

Lee hugged his knees close to his chest with his downcast gaze, "I can't argue with that..."

My lips formed a smooth curve upon listening to his response. My eyebrows frowned slightly with sympathy. He doesn't retort like most people, instead; he accepts the harsh statement about himself. I found that quite cute and attractive. I have to admit that Rock Lee is a very nice and humble man.

My view of him was instantly blocked when a ball of sunshine rushed to their sides. Naruto pointed his pointy finger at Lee with a smile that showed all of his teeth and babbled, "You're the fuzzy eyebrows guy!"

"Narutooo!" Sakura roared as she clenched her right fist tightly, "Don't talk like that to Lee-san!"

Her fist smashed into Naruto's left cheek, sending him flying across the field by the raw strength gathered in the fist. I sweatdropped. I turned my attention back to Sakura whose anger had vanished completely as she shifted her full attention to Lee.

"Lee-san," she waited as the said boy gave her his attention, "Arigato. Thanks to you and Kazuki-kun, my eyes are wide open now. I think I've become a lot stronger now."

The more she spoke, the wider her wholehearted smile became. Just as I expected, red leaked into Lee's cheeks as he looked up at the pink-haired girl who now stood before him, "Sakura-san. The lotus in Konoha blooms twice. The next time we meet, I promise that I will be a stronger man."

The pinkette flashed a big and gentle smile that reached her eyes, "Un!"

I heard Kaito's whisper next to my ear, "I bet that if Kazuki hears this, he will go berserk and throw pick up lines to Sakura."

I chuckled lowly as I proceeded to bandage the unconscious boy's wounds. I could hear Ino calling out for Sakura to come over to her side so she could fix her pink, messy hair. Sakura complied.

Twenty minutes later, Neji's team and Shikamaru's team left us to ourselves. I had no chance to speak with either one of them because I was too preoccupied with treating Kazuki's injuries. Naruto and his teammates agreed to let us stay with them until Kazuki is well enough to move around. Sakura also said that she had something to say to the boy.

It was around 6 p.m. when I sat on a thick branch all alone. My back rested against the bark of the tree as I viewed calmly at the sight before me. The sun was setting down so slowly but surely and the bright, orange light it gave had painted some colors around the dark forest and also my face. My right hand was placed on top of the skin below my waist and my other hand rested on the right hand. My legs were laid straight in front of me.

It was ten minutes ago when I just realized that it had been a few hours ever since this second exam started. That means that there were more than four days for this exam to finish. I had gone through a lot this whole day and it felt like it's been two days since the exam commenced, I thought. So I was pretty much shocked when Kaito told me the time.