Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Edit: 8/10/2013

The morning had started off as one of those days he loved the most, bright, sunny, clear and full of life. There was no way he was going to miss out on such a great invitation—courtesy of mother nature—to go outside and enjoy the placid day with its cool, breezy air and warm embrace.

Just as he was about to step out of the threshold of his door for his daily run, the phone broke the silence of his home.

"Hello this is Lee speaking. How may I help you?" Never once did he fail to answer the phone with such civility. He'd been taught by Gai right and no matter how much he was ridiculed by his friends, he would not stoop down and disappoint his father.

"Hey, Fuzzy Brows, did I wake ya?"

"Good morning, Naruto. No, you did not wake me. I have been up since the crack of dawn. There is no way I can just let hours go by being unproductive. That would be very unbecoming of me!"

A small chuckle flowed through the line. "As energetic as ever, I see. Well, anyways I wanted to ask a favor of you."

Lee, happy to lend a hand whenever it was needed, blithely acquiesced, "Sure my dear friend. As to what do I owe the pleasure of helping you with?"

"Well, you see, remember the trip Sasuke had won for Italy?"

"Yes. He did not want to go, though."

"Well, I convinced him otherwise so now we'll be spending the rest of the summer enjoying the city of Rome and many others."

Lee, knowing far too well how his friend worked, emitted a stern voice not usually accustomed to him. "Naruto."

"…yes?" The response was hesitant.

"What did you do?"

An insulted blond glared at the phone in his hand, hoping his friend could feel the betrayal he had caused him. How could he not trust his judgment? Better yet, how could he understand him so easily? Oh right. Best friends, stupid. "What makes you think I did anything? Can't I just have a very convincing talk with the bastard without people thinking I did something to blackmail him?"

Lee, not falling for his innocent façade only grinned. "I never said anything about blackmail, but when it comes to you and a convincing talk, an ultimatum never seems to fail and make an appearance," he chuckled lightly.

Of course, he knew very well how Naruto worked. He had to. Friendships entitled you with a certain degree of knowledge. He himself has fallen captive to his pranks and puppy dog eyes only to end up succumbing to his every request, within reason, of course. They'd been very good friends since grade school, ever since all the kids kept shooting insults his way. The blond ball of energy had stood up behind him against all bullies and defended him when no one else would. From then on, their friendship just flourished. Even now he could feel a mildly annoyed Naruto on the other end of the line. He knew him that well.

"Dammit, Lee! It's creepy how you seem to know me so well! Even you seem like a complete mystery to me, despite all these years. Sometimes, I have a sick feeling you're going to go all postal on me and pussyfoot your way into my room so you can silently kill me in my sleep!"

There was one thing he had to give his whiskered friend credit for, his unpredictable and overly exaggerated imagination. "I am no mystery, Naruto. What you see is what you get. You know everything there is to know about me as I know about you." Even as he said this, there was a bad churn to his stomach.

"If I do not dare to even harm a fly, why would you, my dear friend, be any different?" He asked, his lips curving upwards slightly despite the empty feeling crawling its way up.

"So back to my previous question, what did you do?"

A moment of uncertainty and incoherent mumbles filled the line before Naruto conceded.

"Fine! God! I told him there would be absolutely no more sex for the rest of the year. No nothing, not even a simple kiss or a single touch. When he came on to me, I would move away as quickly as Speedy Gonzales. I would even tease him, you know. Jerk off to his name in a locked room close in his near vicinity so he could just hear what he was going to miss out on and every time I cried his name I could just feel his aura trying to break the door to mere splinters. Oooh, hoo, hoo, that so got him!

"After a week, he actually started to believe I was being serious and finally gave in. Of course, he never actually admitted it using that foul mouth of his. Instead, he used his own subtle way. One day there was just a table. The next there was a table with two flight tickets to Rome on top of it! That same night we went at it like bunnies from the added frustration to make up for lost time." A triumphant smile could be felt through the line. Lee didn't even have to know him in order to feel the pride he took for this accomplishment.

"Naruto!" Lee shouted, his face turning a good shade of crimson. He had no problem with his friend's sexuality and even found it endearing how, despite the Uchiha's apathetic demeanor, he could be so patient, sensible and compassionate towards Naruto, who could be quite a handful. Sometimes though, he wished his friend would keep the explicit details to himself, saving Lee the trouble of composing his heated face.

"What? You wanted to know, so I told you. You brought this upon yourself, man. I feel no shame right now."

Like you ever do. Lee smiled, nonetheless. He was truly happy for Naruto's new found life. Kami knows he deserved it. Like Lee, he had not lived a very joyous childhood, which is why their bond has remained strong. They took care of each other.

"What else, Blondie?" Lee got himself comfortable on his couch. Knowing Naruto, this could take a while.

"What do you mean what else? That's it he-"

"Naruto…" Again, the firm voice.

"Okay! Enough with the third degree! I told him I would rent the extra room to Sakura, maybe even Ino, shit even Kiba if he didn't say yeah and," a change in intonation worried Lee just a bit, "I told him I would move back in with you since you told me I could come back any time I wanted."

The raven resisted the urge to face palm. "You did not." Somewhere along the way, the Uchiha had fallen to a completely, absurd conclusion that Lee had acquired more than just friendly intentions towards Naruto.

Of course that was certainly not true. Naruto was more like a brother and contrary to popular belief, he was not so much inclined towards his own gender. Sure, he's never had a girlfriend and hung around Naruto as if they were stuck to the hip and lived with him for a while with Iruka's permission, but that did not mean he was attracted to men. Or Naruto. That was just…no. It would feel like incest.

"I did and I'm sorry! So if he goes and burns my room there, I will so totally take it out of his account to fix it. The bastard's got enough to spare. Maybe even buy you a new apartment, God knows you need something worth living in, or better yet a house and-"

A bit exasperated at the subject that never ceased to go away, Lee abruptly stopped him. "Naruto you are not doing that. I'm happy with this place. It has been my home for the best and worst times of my life and I would feel devastated if I had to give it up now." Nothing else could compare to his humble abode. It was his first real home after all.

The blond, seemingly determined to get his friend a new place, continued to take a relentless shot at convincing him. "But Lee, one of these days that roof is just going to collapse on your head! It's too small and the neighborhood is fucking dangerous! I can't have you living on a hazard zone! But seriously, if he demolishes my room I will move you in somewhere better! Believe it!"

"Surely, I will be able to fix it. Do not worry about me, my friend. I will be fine."

"Alright Fuzzy Brows, but I'm serious. Since he knows I have a place to go off to when we have an argument, he would probably make it disappear just to keep me here. I swear he can be such an overprotective as- Sasuke!" Naruto's voice startled. "Hey, what are you doing here?"

Faintly, Lee could hear the passive voice of the Uchiha saying I live here, Dobe and tried hard to stifle his laughter, but to no avail as he just erupted into pure giddiness.

"Lee! What-stop laughing! What's so funny?" Naruto confusedly demanded.

"Nothing. Nothing, my friend. So what is this favor you needed from me?"

A spark of remembrance made its way through the blond's noggin. "Oh, yeah! Thanks for reminding me, Fuzzy Brows. Well, see. Since we'll be gone, I need someone to cover for me at the landscaping job. Iruka would flip if I just left without having a replacement, so I wanted to ask if you could fill-in for me once I leave. I know you've been looking for an extra job to do over the summer, so think of this as an opportunity.

"The pay is pretty good and the tips, well that depends on how generous the people are, are amazing nonetheless. You know Gaara from school, right? Well he's one of those generous people, or actually, his dad, but still you get my drift. So do you think you can do it?"

Lee contemplated his answer. Sure this was a great opportunity, but the last time he helped out it hadn't ended so well. One, they were kicked out of the house and two, a valuable customer had been lost. Iruka was upset, but he conceded to the fact that those people were jerks, stingy of their money and very impolite, so the loss didn't really faze him.

Lee, on the other hand, had felt absolutely terrible. Landscaping just wasn't his thing no matter how hard he tried to improve his skills. He was in no way a pessimistic sort of guy, but this was just something he had completely lost hope on. No amount of force would be enough to help him.

Naruto sensed his friend's hesitation and sighed sympathetically. "Look Lee, I know you're worried about what happened last time, but don't sweat it, buddy. That's in the past. I have two weeks before I leave and during those fourteen days I will teach you everything you need to know on how to beautify a lawn. That cool?"

Reluctantly, Lee agreed. For one, he did need the money. He was getting a bit behind on the rent. Two, he needed to start saving up for college. He had neglected his poor piggy bank long enough and it was time he became serious about his future.

"Okay! Awesome! Thanks, Bushy Brows. I owe you big time. I will see you today so we can begin practicing. You will get it, Lee. You don't need to be an artist in order to find ways to embellish something."

"Ohh. Big word there, Blondie. Sasuke is finally rubbing off on you?" Lee teased.

"Lee, shut—Ah! Sasuke, stop it! I'm talking on the phone!" Every word was less distinct on the line as Naruto tried to mute his conversation with his hand.

To Lee's embarrassment, a small moan escaped the confinement of Naruto's palm and reached his side. Once again, he felt his entire blood supply flow to his face in a matter of seconds.

Really, Sasuke could be a bit too much sometimes. This had to be the fifth time he became aroused when he—specifically—and Naruto were on the phone and after the first time, he knew to hang up if he didn't want to feel like a voyeur.

The first time had been unexpected. He didn't think Naruto would forget about the conversation they were having. Sadly, to his luck, this had not been true. He had completely forgotten about him, leaving a very much troubled and flustered Lee to figure out his friend would not be answering the phone any time soon.

He had an imagination. It was quite vivid, actually, and he did not need a clear mental picture of what they did behind closed doors. Or open phone lines. Lee felt like he was invading their privacy, despite their obliviousness to his presence. So with a soft spoken goodbye, unheard of by the receiving end, he hung up. Now all he had to do was wait for Naruto to finish his business to call him back and get started on his training.