“#Challenge” (Sakura and Rock Lee brotp gen) - Shinobi Summerfest 2019
@keepyourpantsongohan! You are my giftee for @shinobisummerfest and you requested (among other possibilities) fluff/humour, any member of team 7, and the keyword “green”! And that of course made me think of the beautiful Eternal Rivalry 2.0 between Sakura and Rock Lee. I hope you enjoy this fic, which is also available on AO3 in my Sakura & Lee Eternal Rivals one-shot collection!
Only Lee could speak at a regular volume and yet she could still hear the multiple exclamation points in his tone. Still, Sakura smiled. She was just about done harvesting the sanshou husks anyway. “Hi, Lee! Nice weather, isn’t it?”
“Alas, I have hardly been able to enjoy it! I have been outside for my daily thousand laps around Konoha only.” He took a deep breath of the cool, crisp autumn air, and brightened a little. “Indeed, you are right Sakura-san! This pleasant chill calls out for hot-blooded exertion! We can bring summer to life no matter what the weather!”
“Maybe I’ll join you for another hundred laps, then, when I’m done here,” said Sakura, picking another berry off the plant. “What’s been keeping you inside, mission reports?”
Lee suddenly looked stricken again. “No! Konohamaru-kun has been most kindly teaching Guy-sensei and I how to use the computer! It is most kind of him, because now Guy-sensei will be easily able to record down all his wisdom for students of taijutsu across the world, and even generations yet to come to be able to benefit from it!”
“Oh? That really is great!” said Sakura. “Shizune’s been digitizing her poisons compendium and it really does make searching it easier. Is Guy-sensei enjoying it?”
“Well, he is, but so far he has not been able to get the ‘hits’. I am not quite sure about what the ‘hits’ are, but apparently you get them when people read and watch your content. So I have been trying to come up with ways to help his wonderful work attract attention! But alas! Nothing I have done is sufficient! We cannot get the hits, Sakura-san!” His large eyebrows knit together as his lip trembled.
Sakura hurriedly grabbed a few more berries and then called it a day. “That really does sound like a challenge, Lee. Is there anything I can do to help?”
“A challenge!” Lee’s melancholy was swept off of him in an instant. “You are so right as always, Sakura-san! Of course! It’s a challenge! A good challenge is never easy, is it? I will not give up! I will get the hits for Guy-sensei! That means I need to train more!”
Sakura tied her hair up. “First to a hundred laps, then? Loser buys me dango.”
Lee chortled. “Ohohoho! Your youthful confidence inspires me, my eternal rival! I will buy you dango even when I win!”
A red-pink streak and green-black blur shot forward and were almost instantly out of sight.
(this art was previously made for this series by @corgi-ears and is used with permission)