After a long day of training, Tenten was ready to enjoy a nice replacing night. To rest her weary bones and recharge for the next day. Well, recharge as much as one could when their Sensei trained them to near exhaustion.
Usually, she would spend the night in her apartment enjoying some much-needed peace and quiet away from the unyielding energy of her Sensei and Lee, but tonight Sakura had spotted her on her journey home and invited her out to dinner. An opportunity she had gladly grabbed with both hands.
Only a fool would turn down a chance to hang out with Haruno Sakura, the prettiest girl in all of Konoha.
Ok, maybe not the unquestionably prettiest, but the one person in the entire village who had successfully managed to capture Tenten’s heart with little more than a charming smile and some sweet words.
Claiming their spot at the Dango shop, Tenten grinned. “So, did you get so bored of hanging around Naruto that you decided you needed someone new to entertain yourself with?”
Setting their order down between them, Sakura sighed. “Naruto won’t stop talking about his last date with Sasuke. If I stuck around with him any longer I was going to punch him through a wall.”
“Harsh,” Tenten cringed. “Well, If it’s any comfort I don’t have a partner to gush about.”
Sakura’s next words were mumbled, too soft for Tenten to catch. Before she had an opportunity to ask what it was her friend was saying, the Medic plastered a smile onto her face and pointed at the small pile of Dango sitting between them.
“Ten sticks, huh?” she giggled when Tenten averted her eyes. “Do you get everything in Tens?”
“Well, you’re at least an eleven, so…” realizing what she had just said, Tenten slapped both hands over her face and groaned. This was not how she had wanted to broach the subject of her crush at all. In fact, she would have been more than happy to never say anything about it. Romance was messy and she had little interest in trying it for herself, even if her heart skipped a beat every time Sakura smiled at her.
“Did you just-”
“No.”
Sakura giggled. “You did.”
Spreading her fingers open, she peaked at the other woman from between them. “Can we start over?”
“Mmm, if you’d like,” claiming one of the sticks of Dango sitting between them, Sakura waved it around a little. As if becoming Tenten towards her. “Come on, eat up. We have a lot of Dango to get through.”
An idea struck Tenten as she watched Sakura devour the pink ball at the top of her stick. “We could see who can eat the most,” she suggested, claiming her own stick while Sakura finished chewing and swallowed what was in her mouth. “It might help us get through the pile faster.”
It was a silly mistake to make, but she was always the one sent up to order whenever she came here with her team so their order was always at the front of her mind as soon as she walked into the little shop. Three sticks of Dango for Gai-sensei, three for Lee, and two each for her and Neji.
Contemplating her suggestion, Sakura tapped the bottom of her stick against the table.
“Tenten,” she dragged out her name, adding emphasis to each ‘T’. “Did you just challenge me?” That word hit her so hard that her head spun. Like being struck across the face by one of Lee’s kicks.
Challenge.
She shuddered at the thought, fresh memories of her Sensei declaring a challenge against his Eternal Rival, or Lee attempting to drag Neji into the same ridiculous rivalry, popping up into her mind.
“I’ve been spending too much time with Sensei,” she grumbled. The only consolation to her suffering was the sweet sound of Sakura’s laughter. “Can I try that again?”
It was the second time she asked for a redo in less than five minutes. Apparently what her Sensei had said to her a few weeks back really was true. Love makes people dumb.
“Please,” Sakura offered her a smile, but it wasn’t a very comforting gesture when Tenten could see her shoulders still vibrating from the laughter she was trying to hide. “I think tonight would be much more enjoyable for us both if we didn’t stuff ourselves full of Dango or make a spectacle for everyone here to gawk at.”
Just another reason for her to adore Sakura. She never had to worry about her being too embarrassing.
The last thing she needed in her life was another person who would make a fool out of themselves in public. She had two of those on her team already and that was more than enough. In fact, most days it was too much.
Neji and Lee
A challenge. That was all Lee wanted from him before they called it a day and went out to dinner at their favourite sushi place. Just one little challenge. Neji could handle that. Even if the last thing he wanted to do was participate in a ridiculous show of ‘rivalry’.
If only Lee could think up a challenge that didn’t kill a piece of his soul at the mere suggestion.
“How about a competition to see who can do the longest handstand?’ Lee suggested with too much excitement for such an idea. “We could use the poles over there.” He jabbed a finger towards the area behind Neji where four poles stood in the distance. Little platforms that most Shinobi used to test their balance, and not to partake in some juvenile show of competitiveness.
“No,” Just the thought had Neji’s arms aching, and that wasn’t even touching on the fact that the last time Lee did handstands on those posts he ended up crashing face first into the pole when his arms finally gave out. They didn’t need to be injuring themselves before dinner.
“Well, how about a race around the village?”
Everyone in the village watching them run around like fools. Shaking their heads and whispering cruel judgements among each other, just as they always did whenever Kakashi-sensei and Gai-sensei were spotted doing one of their many challenges.
Neji dealt with enough judgement having Hiashi as an Uncle.
“No, thank you,” he dismissed yet another idea, witting down Lee’s options bit by bit. “How about something less…extreme?”
Lee’s shoulders dropped. “Well, hmmm,” thinking it over he sighed. “I don’t know what we could do in that case.”
Usually, Neji would agree and continue on with his day, Thankful that he had avoided making a fool of himself in the name of Lee’s ‘Rivalry’ with him. Ever since the two of them had officially started dating, though, he found it harder to walk away when Lee was upset. He had never liked seeing his friend so deflated, but somehow seeing his boyfriend like that was infinitely worse.
With a heavy sigh, he decided to offer up a suggestion of his own. Nothing fancy, but hopefully enough to brighten Lee’s spirits.
“A spar,” Lee’s eyes widened. “No Ninjitsu or…Gentle fist,” it wasn’t his preferred way to fight, but Lee always appreciated some hand-to-hand combat. “How does that sound?”
“A spar,” that endless energy Lee was so well known for returned full force. With a smile on his face and fire in his heart, he punched his left hand up into the air. “It will be perfect! Just what we need before a nice meal together!”
With that decided, Neji watched as Lee began to stretch. Limbering himself up for their match. There was a small part of him that felt bad for resorting to a spare. The purpose of a challenge, according to their Sensei, was to provide variety. Give them something new and exciting to test themselves in.
Yet, even when Neji wanted to give in and try one of those types of challenges for Lee, he never could. His pride wouldn’t allow him to.
“Alright!” Lee glanced his way, a grin plastered on his face. “Are you ready?”
Never one to be brought down, Lee approached their spar with the exact same excitement he had for all of his other ideas. As if it didn’t matter to him what exactly they did, so long as they did something.
Neji couldn’t help but smile at the thought. Lee, his boyfriend, refused to approach whatever he did with anything less than his absolute best. Even if it wasn’t what he wanted to do.
“Yes,” he confirmed, turning to face Lee and setting himself into a ready position. “In five?” Lee nodded, one hand settling behind his back while the other came out in front of him. A fighting stance he had picked up from their Sensei.
“Five.” Neji dug his feet into the ground.
“Four.” Lowering himself into a slight crouch, Lee prepared to charge forward.
“Three.”
“Two.”
“One!” the two of them burst forward, clashing together in a blaze of glory that they were sure to remember for weeks.
Gai and Kakashi
Fifty-five to Fifty-five. A tie between two Rivals that had lasted for weeks thanks to the endless paperwork and boring meetings Kakashi was forced to attend as the sixth Hokage.
Finally, with some spare time to enjoy himself, Kakashi had an opportunity to claim a win and pull ahead. To break the tie that had been hanging over both their heads for far too long.
There were other things that he could be doing with his day, but nowhere he would rather be. Even if all eyes were on them at this moment, watching as their table was stacked with more food than any two people could logically eat.
“So,” he examined the array of food in front of them. Sashimi, Nigiri, Maki, Uramaki. All different kinds of sushi for them to devour. “What are the rules?”
“Rules?” Gai stared at him, deep creases forming on his forehead from the way he drew his eyebrows together in a show of confusion. “Why would we need rules? It’s an eating competition.”
He said that with such genuine confusion that Kakashi almost felt bad about the ideas springing into his mind.
Almost.
Stretching his arms over his head, he groaned when his muscles gave in to the pressure and release with a satisfying pop. “Well, in that case, it’s pretty straightforward,” he would never admit it out loud, but he was excited about this competition. Win or lose he was going to walk away with a full belly and some interesting new memories. “Are you ready, Rival?”
Gai perked up when he heard Kakashi refer to him with that Moniker. A treat that the Rokudaime saved for those rare, beautiful moments when it was just the two of them. Preparing to drive into another fiery challenge.
“I’m always ready to beat you in one of our passionate challenges, Rival,” Anticipation flowered through Gai’s veins, his hands balling into fists in what was no doubt an endeavour to stop himself from beginning their challenge before they were both ready. “On the count of three?”
“Mmm, sounds good,” Although he would much rather spend his time admiring Gai’s beauty, Kakashi forced himself to focus on the food laid out in front of them. “Three.”
“Two.” Gai vibrated with excitement, moving the bench slightly from the force of his right leg thumping against the floor.
“One.” the pair lunged forward, grabbing every piece of sushi they could get their hands on and shovelling it into their mouths. All eyes were on them. Watched and judged as they stuffed themselves full, but neither man cared.
All that mattered to them was the challenge, and if Kakashi paused just long enough to reach around Gai and tap him on the shoulder, causing him to divert his attention away from the food in search of the none existent person trying to get his attention, that was between him and the thirty people watching him act like a child with his best friend.
Ooooo! Yes, of course we can do that! This was strangely easy to do. The idea came to me immediately, and I could even throw a few personal thoughts on Lee into the mix!
Hope you like it! ✨
Freely Given - [Lee x Karin]
@team-gai-week - Day 7 Prompt: Free Day
@badthingshappenbingo - Tile 15: Severed Artery
@themerrywhumpofmay - Day 1 Prompt: Tears
Warnings: Alternative Timeline. Swearing. Major Character Injury.
Story Link: [Ao3🔗]
Ao3 ✨ |Story Request Bingo Cards 📖 | WIP Game Always Open ✒️| Hot Chocolate ☕
