Requested by IesKitty-Cat

For this one I had a little help from a friend of mine. So I still hope you will like it. 😊

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(Y/n)'s POV

It's been nearly three months. Three months had passed since Lee had forced me into the infirmary and sworn to protect me. Those three months had been anything at all but pleasant. Sickness, fevers, chills, fainting and blackouts were only a few of the things that happened to me as my comrades tried to find information from the rogue ninja that had done this to me. It took over a month to gather the needed information, and even longer to come up with a cure. It was only a few weeks ago that Lady Tsunade had finally given me my first dose of medicine. Since then, my strength had been returning a little bit with each passing day. As for my wound, nothing but a tiny scar remained where the large, black cut had once been on my stomach.

Although I was mostly healed and no longer in any real danger, Lee refused to leave my side. It was frustrating at times having him worry and fuss over me so much, but I knew he meant well. He even gone so far as to sleep on my couch, just in case anything happened, while I was at home recovering. Nothing ever did, but it was comforting to know that he was close by whenever I needed him. At this point, however, having him constantly beside me was becoming hard to handle. I never liked being worried over, so having Lee try to do everything for me, was more annoying than it was helpful.

And today , was no exception either.

-"Lee, I am perfectly capable of pouring myself a glass of juice. Would you give that back already? You're being ridiculous." I told him annoyed as he was holding a carton of my favorite juice over his head, where I couldn't reach it.

-"I am sorry, but I can not do that. To be safe, I believe it is best that I do it. This carton is still very full, and very heavy as well." he answered as he took a glass from the cabinet, poured the juice into it and then handed it to me.
-"You are still recovering and I have made a promise to take care of you."

-"I am never going to get my strength back if you keep doing everything for me! I'm going to end up all atrophied and then I won't be able to care for myself at all." I told him as I placed the glass he hand given me on the counter.
-"If that happens, you will have no choice but to take care of me. I don't think either of us want that."

-"That is fine with me. I will gladly do so, even if that means taking care of you for the rest of my life. It is my mission to see that you are healthy and taken care of." he said as he returned the juice to the fridge

-"No, it's not. It's not fine at all. What kind of ninja am I if I can't even pour a glass of juice for myself? It's pathetic and I can't stand being pathetic." I told him annoyed as I sat down on a chair.

Lee didn't quite understand why I were so upset. He just gently took my hand in his, pulling me from my seat and into his chest. Concerned for me, he tightly wrapped his arms around me, hugging me with as much strength as he dared.

-"You are not pathetic. You are one of the strongest ninja I know." he said as he carefully let go of me afraid that his tight hug might hurt me.
-"You should never talk poorly about yourself like that. If you do, you might start believing it."

-"Right. I know."

I knew that he was only trying to help me. So staying angry with Lee was impossible. Even so, I had to get my point across before it was too late. Hoping I could do so without sounding hurtful, I swallowed hard and did my best to explain how I felt.

-"Look, I really appreciate everything you've done for me. Actually, I don't know what I would have done if you weren't there. But you have got to start focusing on yourself again. You have barely even had time to train and you haven't been on a mission in months. "

-"There is no reason to worry about that, my friend. You are much more important to me than either of those things are." he told me as he smiled at me.

Hearing him say that caused my words to get stuck in my throat. I had never heard Lee refer to anything or anyone as more important than training. So it took me several long seconds to fully process what he'd said. Even after that I honestly had no idea at all how to respond to something like that. Saying that I was flattered would have been a huge understatement.

-"I appreciate that Lee. But I want you to do what makes you happy. Take a break from hanging out with me and have some fun for once. I'm not going to relapse at this point, I'm sure of it. You can stop worrying now. You've kept your promise."

-"But, being with you makes me the happiest. If I am not to spend my time with you anymore, how am I going to be happy?"

That's when realization hit me and felt my cheeks blush. Suddenly, everything he had said or done, especially over the last few weeks, made sense. At first he might have been taking care of me out of obligation, but somewhere along the way, something had changed. The two of us had always been pretty close friends, closer than most actually, but there was obviously an emotion stronger than friendship there now. I just wasn't sure when, or how it had gotten there without me noticing. Still, when I thought about it I knew that the feeling wasn't one sided. For a while I had lied to myself, saying that I only felt the way I did because of the medicine, or because I was weak. Despite what I had told myself, I knew the truth.

-"I had no idea you felt that way Lee. You should have said something to me sooner."

Lee was blushing far worse than I was. He had dropped his dark eyes to the ground and awkwardly shuffled his feet beneath him.

-"I am sorry. You are right. I should have been truthful with you from the beginning." he said as he slowly lift his eyes from the floor and looked at me.
-"You have been very special to me for a long time. I simply did not know how to tell you. Especially while you were ill."

-"That explains why you wouldn't leave me alone, doesn't it? And to think, I was getting really annoyed with you. If you had just told me how you felt, this could have all been avoided." I told him as I laughed a little.

The laughed had made both of us to feel better, but the blush on Lee's face showed no sign of going away. Luckily, I knew a way to pull him out of his embarrassment in no time flat.

-"You know Lee, you are not acting very youthful right now. What do you think Guy Sensei would say if he saw you blushing and mumbling like this?" I told him smirking.

-"You are right my dearest comrade." he answered as his already large eyes widened and his blush vanished.
-"This is not a time for being embarrassed or for mumbling at all. I should handle a joyous situation like this one in the most youthful way I know how."

-"I agree. That's exactly what you should do." I agreed as I was glad to see his cheerful personality shining again.

-"I shall, but first, I must know if this situation is truly joyous or not. So allow me to ask you one more question." he told me as he wrapped his fingers around my body and brought me close to him making me see clear the soft blush on his cheeks.
-"You feel the same way as I do, right?"

Unable to keep my cheeks from turning red, yet again, I closed my eyes and sighed. After thinking it over for a second, I nodded just enough for it to be visible.

-"Yes, Lee. I most certainly do."

-"I am very glad to hear that."

After that, with nothing to stop him from doing so, Lee held my body as close to his as possible and kissed me. It was a rather awkward, messy kiss, but it was adorable and heartwarming nonetheless. The only real problem was that it ended far too soon. Wanting to hide his embarrassment, he hid his face in my neck as his face got much more red.

-"That was the most youthful thing I could think to do." he murmured as he lifted his head and spoke once again.
-"But, perhaps it would be even more youthful if we were to do it again."

Giggling happily at his cute face I took his face in my hands bringing it close to me one again. A soft smile on my lips as a wide one was on his.

-"That's the Lee I know and love."

.....

The end.