He straightened his jacket out one last time, then bounded downstairs, thankful his parents were away for the evening. The last thing he wanted to do was explain where he was going and what he was going to do. It might make him late. He grabbed the bouquet of roses he'd bought after training, broke the thirteenth one off of the stem, and stuck it in his lapel. Then he was on his way.

It took all of his effort and concentration not to run to Sakura's house. It wouldn't do to be all sweaty when he met her! Still, he couldn't help skipping for a few steps. The night was lovely, the breeze cool, and a flower he picked along the way had an odd number of petals--"She loves me." His spirits were flying high.

When he saw Neji walking along the path in front of him, it was like a bird hitting a window. He absolutely did not want to see his rival right now. Neji would provoke him into some fight, he just knew it. He closed his eyes and considered what to do. Maybe he could knock him out with a swift blow to the back of the head before...

"Lee," Neji said, "You're not thinking about knocking me unconscious, are you?"

Lee swore under his breath. Of course Neji would notice him; damn that 360 degree vision! He rushed forward to walk alongside his rival. "Of course not," he said.

Neji rolled his eyes. "Sure," he said. "I don't even need to look at you to know you're planning something against me." He sighed. "After all this time, I've come to think of it as my destiny." He glanced over at Lee, blinked, then stared. Lee shifted under his scrutiny. Was the rose in his lapel wilted? Had his hair somehow become mussed?

"...Lee, you're not really going to wear that in public, are you?" Neji asked.

"What's wrong with it?" Lee replied, rapidly growing irritated with his rival. "It fits, it's in good shape--"

"It's green."

"I know it's green," Lee persisted, "but what's wrong with it?"

"Lee. It's green. It's bright green. You don't wear a green tuxedo out on a date, especially not if you're gonna screw the girl afterwards."

"Don't call it that!" Lee cried. He didn't want to fight in his nice suit, but oh, Neji was asking for it! "And Sakura-san is not 'the girl I'm going to screw.' She is a flower, an angel, the light of my life--"

"And she lives back there, doesn't she?" Neji interrupted with a smirk. Lee looked around, and sure enough he'd passed by Sakura's house without even noticing. Damn that Neji, making him miss the turn!

"Don't forget, Neji," he said as he turned around. "Tomorrow. Same place we met today. And," he turned to give Neji a confident grin, "I won't lose. Today, I received special training, training you can't match!"

"I won't forget," Neji called back. "And we'll see which fares better: your 'special training,'" he snorted derisively, "or my natural talent."

Lee waved at Neji dismissively and retraced the path back to Sakura's house. When he got to the door, though, he paused. What if Sakura had changed her mind? Or what if... Neji's words came back to him. What if she took one look at him, decided she didn't want to be seen in public with him, and dumped him right then and there? All his hard work today, for nothing!

But no! Sakura was kind as a nun--he scratched that thought. Gentle as a lamb, she would never abandon him over something so trivial as clothing.

But what if they got through the date and made love and Sakura didn't like it and dumped him then?

Well, then, he'd work harder! Surely Sakura wouldn't expect him to get it perfect on the first try!

But what if she did?

Lee's inner debate drowned out the outside world, and when he finally turned around to knock on the door, he found it already open. Sakura stood in the doorway, illuminated by the light from inside her house. Upon seeing her, Lee simply stopped thinking.

He'd always thought her a rare beauty, even when she was younger and less... developed, but tonight she was truly magnificent. She was wearing a sleeveless red dress which hugged her curves tightly; the neck dipped low, but not immodestly so. Her hair, though in its usual style, gleamed with newly-washed splendor. Her eyes sparkled. Her lips were turned up in a gentle smile, accented with just the slightest hint of lip gloss.

Lee found he'd lost his voice.

"Lee?" Sakura asked after a few minutes. Lee wordlessly thrust the bouquet at her. She took them gently. "Oh Lee..." she said softly, "they're lovely."

Lee swallowed. He knew he should say something romantic like, "Not nearly as lovely as you, Sakura-san," but the words wouldn't come out.

"Come in," she said, disappearing into the house. Lee hesitated. What if she wanted to... to do it right then? Then he took a deep breath and held it, forcibly calming his fears. Sakura wouldn't launch a surprise attack, not on him, and she wouldn't go to all the trouble of getting dressed up if they weren't going to go out. He let his breath out in a determined whoosh and followed her.

He didn't see her right away, but after some searching he found her in her family's dining room, carefully placing the flowers into a vase. She looked up as she heard him approach. Their eyes locked. Lee started to sweat. Now? Was now the time to employ the techniques he'd learned just that afternoon from the Chakra Sutra? Sakura's lips quirked nervously. Lee fiddled with his tie.

"I..." Sakura said, looking back at the flowers. "I learned some flower arranging from Ino. I'm still not as good as her, but..."

Lee let out a breath. "If you keep working at it," he said, "I'm sure you can do anything, Sakura-san. But I didn't know you and Ino had become friends again."

Sakura smiled gently. "Yeah. I guess after Sasuke decided he was gay, there wasn't really anything for us to compete over anymore, so we went back to being friends." Her grin widened and she stuck out her tongue. "Doesn't mean I can't outclass her in every way possible, though!"

She finished with the flowers and turned to face Lee. "Shall we go?" she said. Lee offered her his arm. She took it, and together they went to face the unknown.

= = =

The restaurant Lee had made reservations at was a classy, expensive place. Not too expensive, he hoped. He'd taken out quite a bit from his bank account that afternoon, but then there were the flowers and the new dress shirt, and the groceries his parents insisted they'd pay him back for later... Sakura's menu didn't had prices on it. That was a bad sign.

"Lee? Are you all right?" Sakura asked. Lee smiled at her. No sense in worrying over the bill; their food was already ordered and eaten, and if he couldn't pay for it he'd wash a hundred dishes! No, a thousand! Any number of dishes, for his failure as a customer and as a date! Sakura giggled, knocking Lee out of his thoughts.

"Sakura-san?" he asked. "What are you laughing about?"

"You have that look in your eye again," she answered.

"Look?"

"Yes, like you've just given yourself a self-imposed challenge." Lee blushed slightly. Sakura knew him so well.

A silence fell over the table. Lee couldn't tell in the flickering candlelight, but Sakura might have been blushing too. Lee's own blush intensified. He knew what she was thinking about. He mentally reviewed all the techniques he'd learned that afternoon--well, the ones he could do, at least, since a number of them required the skillful manipulation of chakra--he wondered whether he could perform them satisfactorily without having practiced them first--maybe he should have asked TenTen to practice with him? No, that would've been a bad idea. He was with Sakura, after all, and she was with Neji, and he wondered whether he'd remembered the condom Neji had given him--he had.

And suddenly, Lee ran out of things to worry about.

Unwilling to send his mind back down the track it had just been through, and not knowing how to break the awkward silence, he forced himself to concentrate on the other conversations going on in their little corner of the restaurant.

"So then I slammed my kunai into his chest, and blood gushed everywhere--" Lee shifted his focus. He didn't mind shop talk, but it was unpleasant to hear during a meal.

"And he totally digs her, right? But she won't give him the time of day--" He shifted his focus again. Too superficial, too boring.

"Listen. I'm... I'm seeing someone else." He closed his eyes and shifted focus once again. Too personal; it was wrong to listen to such things.

"Excuse me, sir?" Lee opened his eyes. Their waiter was hovering at Sakura's side, pen and pad at the ready. "I was wondering if I could perhaps interest yourself and your lovely friend in some desert?" Lee met Sakura's eyes. At her nod, he in turn nodded at the waiter, who handed Sakura a menu. "Now," he said, "what would you like, Ma'am?"

Sakura took the menu and considered it carefully. "Hmm... Lee, how does Cherries Jubilee sound?"

"Whatever you want, Sakura-san," Lee replied.

"OK, then," she said, shutting the menu decisively. "Cherries Jubilee for two, please."

"Of course, Ma'am," the waiter said. "You are aware that this is one of our special flambé dishes?"

"I'm aware of that," Sakura said.

"Very well, then," the waiter said. "May I bring the bill to you now, so that you can enjoy your desert without worry?"

"Yes, please," Lee said. The waiter bowed once, then disappeared. As soon as he was gone, Lee leaned across the table. "Sakura-san," he whispered, "what is flambé?"

"It's where they set the desert on fire," Sakura said.

"Wouldn't it be hard to eat, then?"

Sakura laughed. "Lee, you're such a dork!" She smiled and patted his cheek. "They do it to carmelize the sauce. Now get back over there before you set your tie on fire, too."

Still confused, Lee leaned back. The silence returned, not as awkwardly this time.

"Sakura-san--"

"Lee--"

They paused.

"You first," Lee said.

"All right." Sakura took a breath. Lee nervously gripped his pants leg. "If you--"

"Here's the bill," the waiter said, appearing out of nowhere. "Oh, I'm sorry. Was I interrupting anything?"

"Yes, but don't worry about it," Sakura said. The waiter nodded, then left. Sakura reached for the bill, but Lee snatched it out of her hand.

"Lee, I just got paid!" Sakura said. "I should pay."

"No, Sakura-san," Lee insisted. "You promised you'd let me pay. A real ninja doesn't go back on her word." He fished his wallet out of his pocket, opened it, and gulped. He only had enough for about half the bill. But he had to pay! How else could he fulfill his promise to Sakura?

"You don't have enough, do you?" Sakura asked. Lee sheepishly shook his head. "Well, here's an idea: you pay what you can, I'll cover the rest, and you can pay me back later. Sound fair?"

Lee smiled brightly. He was so lucky to have a girlfriend with brains to match her beauty! He emptied his wallet onto the small tray that held the bill and returned it to his pocket.

"Now, Lee, what were you saying before we were interrupted?" Sakura asked, placing her purse on the table and rummaging through it.

"I was just thinking..." he started, then paused. "If you don't want to, um, do this tonight, we don't have to. I mean, it's not like I'm nervous or anything," he paused for a laugh that wasn't as hearty as he'd meant it to be, "but if you are... well, you know. We don't--"

"Lee," Sakura interrupted, reaching for the bill. As she did so, she knocked over her purse, spilling its contents all over the table. "Oh!"

"Here, let me help you, Sakura-san." Lee quickly gathered up all the items that had fallen on his side of the table and handed them to Sakura, then leaned down to get the one that had fallen to the floor. Once he had it in his grasp, though, he paused. It was a foil packet with the words "strawberry-flavored" on it. Lee stared at it, puzzled.

"Sakura-san," he asked, "what brand of gum is this? I've never seen it in this kind of package before."

"That's not gum, Lee," Sakura answered, hiding her face in her hands.

"It's not?" Lee looked closer. "Then what--oh. Oh." Lee blushed as he realized that the thing in his hands was not gum, but a condom. Dimly, he noted that it was also Hyuuga-brand. "But Sakura-san, why would you want a strawberry-flavored, um, condom?"

"You'll find out later," Sakura said, taking the condom from him and depositing it back into her purse. She took a deep breath. "As I was saying, I'm nervous too, Lee."

Lee blinked. "I'm not nervous, Sakura-san."

Sakura laughed softly. "Come on, Lee. You can't lie to me. I know you too well."

"Well, I guess I am. But just a little."

"Just a little," Sakura agreed. "But I've been thinking about this for a while, Lee. You don't need to worry about me. I want this. I have for quite a while."

Lee blinked. "How long?"

"A few months."

Lee froze. A few months? He'd only been thinking about it for a day! With only one day to train, how could he possibly live up to Sakura's expectations? She'd dump him for sure!

"Lee?"

Lee gulped. "S-Sakura-san, I think I'm more than a little nervous."

Sakura smiled at him and held out her hand. After a moment's hesitation, he took it. "It'll be all right, Lee," she said. "Don't worry about getting it right the first time. I've heard it takes some practice, so calm down, OK? We'll figure it out together."

Lee breathed deeply, then again, and smiled. "Sakura-san," he said, "I am the luckiest man in the world."

Sakura giggled. "You're cute, Lee."

They held hands in silence for a moment. Lee felt more peaceful than he had all day. Everything was going to be all right. No matter what happened later, he and Sakura would get through it together.

"Is now a good time?" The moment broke when the waiter spoke, but Lee didn't mind. He was settled, calm; anything was fine, anything at all. He and Sakura let go of each others' hands.

"Yes," Sakura said, "now is a very good time."

The waiter smiled. "Well, then, I am pleased to present--" he whipped the cover off from the tray he was carrying to reveal two bowls of ice cream, a bottle and a saucepan, "--Cherries Jubilee!"

He set the tray down on the table and placed the bowls in front of Sakura and Lee. Then he took the bottle of cognac and poured some into the saucepan. He lit a match and carefully set the alcohol on fire, then sloshed it around a bit.

As he watched the flames dance, Lee felt the fire in his own heart burn brighter. Tonight was a night of pleasure! Tonight was a night of destiny!

Tonight, he would become a man!

He met Sakura's gaze, feeling his very skin burn with excitement. Sakura's eyes widened. Lee smiled. She could feel it too!

"Oh my God, Lee!" she cried. "Your eyebrows!"

The moment was ruined when Sakura threw her water in his face to put out his eyebrows, which had been set on fire, not by his own passion, but by several stray drops of flaming cognac.

= = =

"My brows!" Lee mourned as they reached Sakura's front door, fingering the charred remnants of his most noticeable features. "Now all I have are memories!"

"You're lucky, though, Lee," Sakura said, fiddling with the lock. "It could have been your entire face."

"That's true," Lee mused. "Thank you for saving me, Sakura-san."

"No problem," Sakura said as she finally got the old door open. "If I didn't, who would I sleep with tonight?"

The reminder of why they were here sent Lee's heartbeat into overdrive. He closed the door behind them, then turned around to find Sakura staring motionless at the hallway that led to the bedrooms. He came up behind her and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Sakura-san..." he started, but before he could say anything more Sakura turned and kissed him fiercely. He kissed her back with equal fervor, and together they stumbled down the hall. Sakura wound her arms about his neck and pulled him against her. He leaned her against the door and fumbled with the handle, hand shaking. She moved her lips to his neck, drawing out a strangled "Sakura-san!" just as the door opened and they tumbled into the room.

"Oof!" Sakura said as they landed, him on top of her. Lee barely managed to catch himself so that he wouldn't squish her. They looked at each other for a second, panting, then kissed again. Sakura giggled suddenly.

"What is it, Sakura-san?" Lee said, breaking the kiss. Sakura gestured to their surroundings.

"This--This is my parents' room, Lee," she chortled, pushing Lee off of her and getting to her feet. Lee got up too. Sakura kissed him on the cheek, then took his hand and led him to the correct door. Once they were in her room, she flicked on the lights and let go of his hand. She blushed slightly as she sat down on her bed. Lee leaned against the door, suddenly nervous again. They were going to do it. They were really going to do it.

He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, remembering the words of wisdom Gai had spoken to him after their afternoon training.

"Lee," he said, placing his hands on Lee's shoulders, "today you have worked harder than I have seen any other man work to please a woman. Don't be afraid tonight, Lee. Don't run away from the moment of truth. Because..."

"Why, Gai-sensei?" Lee said, gazing in adoration at his favorite teacher.

"You are already a great boyfriend!"

Lee's eyes teared up. "Gai-sensei!"

"Lee!"

"Gai-sensei!"

"Lee!" Lee shook his head as he realized that it was no longer Gai talking to him, but Sakura. He opened his eyes to find her lying on the bed, propped up by her elbows. His mouth went dry.

"What is it, Sakura-san?"

Sakura gulped nervously and looked away. "Are you... are you having second thoughts again?"

Lee closed his eyes and thought for a moment, breathing deeply. Then he grinned. "Not at all, Sakura-san!" He shrugged his jacket off and hung it over the back of Sakura's desk chair, then backed up and took a flying leap onto the bed.

= = =

In a bar not too far away, Gai and Kakashi shared a pitcher of beer.

"You do realize," Kakashi said after a long pause, "that if he's doing who I think he's doing, I'm going to kill him tomorrow."

Gai contemplated his glass for a moment before refilling it. "I can't let you, Kakashi. You know that."

"You'd do the same if it were TenTen."

"I already have." Gai stared off into the distance, remembering the little "talk" he'd had with Neji a few weeks ago.

"...oh."

"They grow up so fast, don't they, Kakashi?"

Kakashi didn't respond. Gai refilled his companion's glass, then raised his own. "To our eternal rivalry," he said.

"Cheers."

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