By the time I am out of my reverie, I realize Lee-kun and I are in the forest.

"Uh, Lee-kun?"

He looks at me with amused eyes.

"Hai, Sakura-san?"

The way he pronounces my name makes my heart stutter irregularly.

I smile. "Where are we going?"

His face breaks into a characteristic grin.

"A small lake I found here once when training with Gai-sensei. It's sort of pretty. I think you might like it. No one else knows about it, not even Gai-sensei. It's my secret." He pauses and blushes. "I want to share it with you."

Wow. I'm speechless, so I smile in encouragement.

With new, more appreciative, eyes, I notice how careful he is to pull branches out of my way as we walk.

I do not hesitate. I take his hand in mine, lacing our fingers together with ease, enjoying the rough warmth of his bandages.

He freezes.

He looks at me, his other hand still on the branch in front of us.

He slowly smiles.

I smile, and look down.

He takes the hint and doesn't comment.

We keep walking, and his hand is very gentle, very loose, on mine, as if he expects me to laugh and let go at any moment.

Not this time, I want to say. Not today.

I grip his hand so hard that it probably hurts him.

He squeezes my hand back, though much gentler.

Inhale. Exhale. Sigh happily.

After eight minutes and forty-three seconds, the trees begin to thin out. After thirty-seven seconds—if you cannot tell, my sense of time has increased tenfold in my days of solitude—the trees are gone.

Gasp.

It is sort of pretty. More than sort of. It is beautiful. The lake is perfect and round, almost like a pool, but something about it tells me that it is completely natural. The trees give the lake a wide berth, as if they don't want to be compared to the serene perfection that is Lee-kun's lake. The clear blue water invites me in, and I take a step forward, letting go of Lee-kun's hand.

"Sakura-san?!" Lee-kun's voice breaks through my trance, and I look back at his aberrantly frightened face.

"Nani?" I ask, shocked by the uncharacteristic horror in his wider-than-usual eyes.

"Stay away from the water."

"Why?"

He points and I turn around.

Little, almost-shapeless creatures are looking at me. Their red eyes glow in distaste. What the hell are those?

Inhale. They move towards me. Breathing cuts off. Cannot exhale.

I back up until I am standing next to Lee-kun.

The red eyes turn to a pale blue, and then the nearly-shapeless creatures sink back into the water.

Exhale.

"What were those?" I ask, trying to keep calm.

"I am not sure, but I do know they do not like it when you get too close to their lake." He smiles and breathes evenly. Obviously I had been in no real danger. No matter what, Lee-kun would be there for me. Even if it meant taking on things he could barely see. "They prefer you just look."

Inhale. Exhale.

I look into Lee-kun's eyes for the length of seven too-fast heartbeats, and then I look back at the Creatures' Lake.

"Fine then. I'll just look."

I sink to the ground, pulling my knees up to my chest, wrapping my arms around my calves, and resting my chin on my knees. He stands for twenty-nine seconds, and then sits by me, criss-crossing his legs.

"This place is lovely," I say quietly, and I think I hear the Creatures' murmurs of agreement. "Simply beautiful."

I can feel Lee-kun's eyes on me, so I look back at him. He looks away before I can meet his gaze. He lays back and puts his hands behind his head. I somehow know this is just to make it harder for me to see his eyes.

Sigh.

"It is beautiful," he finally says. "Thank you for coming…and for spending so much time with me."

So that's what he's embarrassed about.

I laugh, and he picks his head up off the ground to raise one thick, incredulous eyebrow at me.

"Really, Lee-kun, I should be thanking you!" I sigh. "I've been so lonely lately. Saturdays are the only days I really feel alive anymore. I owe you a lot. My sanity. Possibly my life."

His eyes are wide as he processes my confession. He sits up abruptly.

"Wha-what do yo-you me-me-mean?" His eyes are horrified, and I do not want to have to confirm his fear.

"There were points…before our Saturdays…when I didn't…want to be…alive. Sometimes…I wanted to…just…die."

Inhale. Exhale.

He is instantly furious. "Sakura-san!" he shouts. "You must never, ever think like that! EVER! No matter what happens, you must never take your own life! That is not the shinobi way! We keep going! We fight!"

His voice is full of conviction, but it is different than his usual enthusiastic shouting. The enthusiasm is replaced by horror and dread. I realize with a shock that he is close to tears.

Sigh.

I touch his face, and his features immediately soften. His cheek grows warm under my palm, and his next sentence is choked off.

"Sa…ku…ra," he murmurs, looking away.

"Lee-kun…that's the point. I don't want to die anymore. I want to live…because of you. For you. You've saved me."

He meets my gaze and grins, giving me a cheerful thumbs-up. "Well, at least I've kept my word." He laughs.

"Thank you for that," I say. I drop my hand.

We are both quiet for awhile, and eventually we turn our attention to the Creatures' Lake. The water is impossibly clear.

Inhale. Exhale. Do it for Lee-kun. Keep him alive by staying alive.

"Sakura-san?" he whispers almost inaudibly, not looking at me.

"Hai?"

"Promise me you won't ever hurt yourself…on purpose."

"I told you—"

"I know, but I mean unconditionally. If anything ever happens…just promise."

I do not hesitate. "I promise." Why not? Nothing could possibly happen to Lee-kun, my Lee-kun. Ever. Surely the Gods do not hate me enough to break my heart twice. And as long as that is true, why would I need to hurt myself?

His face is instantly light. "Arigato."

Quiet again.

Where is the pain? It is impossible how…good I feel when I'm with him.

"We should to this more often," I announce.

"Come to the lake?"

"No, just in general. I mean, even if we're training or on missions, just as long as we're together."

I do not meet his gaze, but out of the corner of my eye, I can see him grinning in disbelief. I hear a small, euphoric laugh escape his throat, and then I notice the light blush on his face.

"I agree!" he exclaims, and for half a heartbeat, I picture the two of us battling side-by-side, the lotus and the cherry-blossom. "Gai-sensei would love to have another trainee, even if only temporary." He pauses, and I look at him with expectant eyes. "And of course," he adds slowly, "it would be wonderful to train with you."

I smile at him.

My first love is gone. He had never loved me.

The boy who has always loved me is right here.

I know Lee-kun's wish.

His and mine are the same.

I know it.

"Lee-kun?" I whisper.

He looks at me with inquiring eyes, smiling a little.

"Do you still love me?"

His smile fades and he looks down, his face cherry-red. I continue to gaze at him with unrelenting eyes.

He is silent for fifty-four seconds before he finally says, "I will never stop loving you, Sakura-san."

Inhale. Exhale.

"That is a very good thing," I reply.

He looks up at me, mouth agape. He tries to speak, but no sound comes out of his throat. After thirty-eight seconds, he finally manages a strangled, "Why is that?"

"Because, Lee-kun," I say, my voice very formal, "I've fallen in love with you." I pause, feeling silly, giddy almost. "I love you, Lee-kun."

I smile.

He gapes.

I scoot closer to him until our shoulders touch.

I can tell that he's not breathing.

"I do not believe it," he says with forced conviction.

I lean my head on his shoulder and laugh gently. "Why not?"

"You love Uchiha."

"Yes, I suppose, but I am not in love with him. Not anymore. People fall out of love, right?"

"I still cannot believe it."

"That's your decision, I guess. You've had to wait for me—it's only fair that I have to wait for you." I close my eyes and sigh contently.

Despite his disbelief, he rests his head on top of mine.

"I want to believe," he says. "But if I do, I will wake up. And I don't want to. I want to sit here forever and never move. But how can I risk it?"

"Don't you trust me?" I ask in a teasing voice, playing with him a little. I know he'll come around—why not enjoy that funny totally-sure-of-himself look on his face while I can?

"Of course I do!" he says, shocked. Then his face is shrouded by a mask of sadness. "It is myself I do not trust."

"What do you mean?"

"How can I, after all, trust myself to be good enough for you? You must have certain standards, what with how in love with Uchiha you are, and in reality I could never measure up to those standards—ergo, I am dreaming."

"I have no stan—well, that's a lie. I have standards. Like, a man has to be kind, thoughtful, intelligent, strong, loving—"

"What about handsome?"

"And handsome. Well, if you ask me, you meet up with all my standards, and maybe some that I've never thought about."

His jaw sets. "I am dreaming."

I sigh. "If I promise this isn't a dream, would you please believe me?"

Silence.

He still doesn't breathe. I wonder how long he can go without taking a breath. If I think back on his sensei's eccentric training methods, it is probably a very long time.

Finally, he inhales.

"Perhaps," he says cautiously, "if you meant it."

"I love you. I promise I do."

He says nothing.

"I want to be with you. I want you to belong to me and no one else, and I want to belong to you and no one else. I want to be able to see you everyday you're not on a mission. I even want to go on missions with you. I don't want to be alone anymore. Not even alone—I don't want to be without you. I love you, Lee-kun!"

I pick up my head to look at him, and I am a little surprised to see he is crying. Not loudly—the tears fall without a sound.

"Lee-kun? Are you okay?"

He nods once, and rubs his eyes. "Just happy. I thought I would never hear those words from you. I've waited so long…oh, Sakura-san!"

His arms are around me in a fraction of a second. I can hardly breathe. If holding Lee-kun's hand made me feel whole, this makes me feel like there are two of me. Lee-kun, my second self.

My arms are around him, and before I register what is happening, his lips are on mine. His lips are gentle and hesitant, and very, very sweet. I pull him closer to me, and I cannot imagine a better feeling. Is this what I've been missing for so long? What a fool I was on the first day we met. I was so foolishly in love with Sasuke-kun—I feel no pain when I think of him; after all, how could I feel pain while kissing Lee-kun?—that I could not appreciate the fact that someone wonderful was willing to be mine. I must have hurt him so badly with my heartless sneers.

That is in the past, Lee-kun told me once when I apologized for my callousness. We were different people then.

I was different—that is true. I was blind and stupid. But Lee-kun, he's always been loving and kind and strong and perfect. Nothing to be improved upon.

How could I have been so baka?

After what seems like a very long time, Lee-kun pulls away from me and smiles. I hear nothing but the blood pounding behind my ears, feel nothing but heat. See nothing but Lee-kun.

Inhale. Exhale.

Life is good.

I suddenly remember the white heather. The flower of protection and wishes.

I know Lee-kun's wish. I know my wish. They're the same.

Wishes do come true.

Inhale. Exhale.

For the first time in what seems like an eternity, I am not afraid of Sunday.

A2 again. Well, that's my first fic. Nothing but fluff, but i love it anyways. Go LeeSaku!

There is a sequel, and it's nothing special. just more of the same, except i give hints of InoChou, ShikaTema, and NejiTen. They go on a mission to Suna to pick up Temari for the Chunin Exams, and it's really just Sakura's subconscious dealing with going from Sasuke to Lee through dreams. I won't upload it for a while. Not until i really feel like it. ;-)