blossoming lotus (Rock Lee x Reader)

early morning practice

When I got to the practice field, I saw Lee sitting on a log bench nursing his thumb absentmindedly.

"Crap. I'm early." I thought, "Just me and him for a bit."

Lee had his back to me, and I took a moment to contemplate my next move. Trying not to overthink it, I went in for the kill.

"Morning Lee! You alright?"

Lee shot up and span around, I'd clearly pulled him from a deep rabbit hole.
"Y/N! You're early! Well- not *early* early, but normally the rest of the team is a little late- uhm- really you're just on time!"

I could tell he was flustered, admittedly, his word vomit was endearing. I gestured toward his thumb, raising my eyebrows as if to remind him he was in pain.
"Oh! My thumb- It is nothing!"
He pulled his thumb as if to pop it's joints, and then put his hand on his hip, trying to play it cool.
"Well Y/N, since you are here, we may as well begin training!"

"Oh! Uh, yeah" I said, "I hope you don't mind if I warm up a little first, since I just got here and all."

"Not at all! I shall join you!" He said enthusiastically, practically beaming.

♡

It turns out stretching in jeans is a lot more uncomfortable than anticipated. While trying to get a good stretch in, I had to concentrate on not ripping a seam or giving myself the wedgie-of-the-century. But my green clad companion seemed oblivious to my plight. He stretched and twisted and cartwheeled, and even walked with his hands, all while smiling like a kid. His good mood was contagious, and soon, despite all the sourness the day had thrown at me, I began to smile, and giggle at his stories and remarks.

"And THAT is how we found out Neji is allergic to bee stings!" He finished, his smile was so wide it effected these last words.

I laughed, the story was hardly funny, I just liked how he told it. But I couldn't beat around the bush anymore. One can only stretch for so long before it becomes suspicious.

"Are you ready to begin practice, Lee?"

"Of course Y/N!" With this, he bounced up (he had been doing a sort of one-armed-full-body push-up while telling his story) and did a little bounce on his toes, while lifting his hand to me in a comical Bruce Lee manner. "Come at me!" He exclaimed with a gleam in his eyes.

In a flash I disappeared into a surroundings tree. I looked down at him from my hight vantage point.
For an instant, he stared blankly. He had clearly expected me to charge at him head on in a taijutsu based brawl. He quickly recovered, and before I had time to think, he was on the move.

After the incident, I'd intended to never use my genjutsu again. My sensei had tried to encourage me to branch out again, as genjutsu was my strong suit. But it was no use. I was effectively reduced to taijutsu, with only the most basic of ninjutsus.

Lee, on the other hand, was extremely strong in his Taijutsu. I had yet to see his ninjutsu or genjutsu, but I knew I couldn't handle him head on.

I sat in the branch of my tree, looking down into the field, expecting Lee to reappear. Before I knew it he was behind me. With one hand, he pinned my right arm behind my back. He placed his other hand firmly on my chest, and he used a leg to push me off my place on the tree.

I gasped.

I hadn't sensed him coming. But suddenly, he completely flooded my senses. I fell to the ground without time to react. His hand on my chest cushioned the fall, the other hand kept me stuck underneath him.
In a moment, I was back.
I fought to free my arm from behind my back. I fought harder to hide the red in my face. I writhed around, flipping onto my back. I needed my shuriken, but his legs were pressed down on either side of me, so that I couldn't reach the pouch on my leg. But I could reach his leg.
Quickly I reached down to the bag strapped to his thigh, I whipped out a single kunai from his bag and put it towards his throat.

He was off of me.

I bounced back onto my feet. Face to face with Lee. I ran towards him, but before we re-engaged in combat, I we were interrupted by Gai Sensei.

lol 2 b continued