The Plant Kunoichi (Rock Lee x OC)

The Proposal

Waking up with a headache, Kaia wondered if it was from the whiskey or the embarrassment.

Since she slept in she was hoping Lee had already left for his mission. Not in the mood to confront last night's awkward interaction, she dragged her feet getting ready and eating before leaving the house.

Running to the edge of the forest by the training field she threw herself into her work, trying to stay distracted. It worked because she didn't notice Tenten approaching her.

"Hey Kaia!" She shouted while waving.

Kaia jumped down from the tree branch she was doing pull ups on and waved at TenTen.

"I've been working with some new weapons, want to check them out?"

Kaia smiled and nodded, knowing that meant a little dodging practice was in it for her. They never spent much time together but they spent the better part of that afternoon training.

They decided to take a break after a few hours and Kaia figured she might as well make conversation. She had to ask, unable to wonder any longer.

"So have Lee and Neji left for their mission?"

Tenten seemed a little confused, knowing Kaia usually was aware when Lee was busy with a mission, but she answered anyway.

"Yeah, they left with Guy Sensei pretty early this morning. I think they're escorting a Princess or something like that."

Kaia couldn't deny that it sounded pretty cool. Swallowing her bitterness and pride she tried to sound sincere,

"Well, that Princess is in good hands!"

Kaia spent the next week training intensely every day, just feeling like she needed to. She also put in extra time on her meditation, in hopes of straightening out her chakra flow.

Neji had suggested using meditation to guide it so that it may begin to flow properly on its own. He had seen the chaotic mess of her chakra with his byakugan, and even though she thought he disliked her, he offered her the help. She hadn't seen any results yet but she could feel it was helping at least a little.

"I'll have to thank him when he gets back." Kaia thought to herself.

She had also been spending some time helping Sakura with what she could at the hospital. She was very impressed with Sakura's ability as a medical ninja trainee. Kaia couldn't help with much, but she could help find medicinal herbs, and give tips for growing them.

It was also nice to spend time with Sakura, she was so kind most of the time, but watching her fiery temper was always entertaining. Especially when Naruto was on the receiving end.

Kaia had also been pushing herself hard enough that she had to be treated by Sakura quite a bit this past week.

"You've spent too much time with Lee, you're pushing yourself too far. This is the fifth injury this week!" Sakura scolded her. "Take a few days off, do it as a favor for me okay? Focus on your meditation. I don't want to see you really hurt yourself."

After letting out a heavy sigh Kaia thanked her for caring so much and agreed. She knew Sakura was right. Taking a few days to rest her body, Kaia found other methods to keep herself busy. Enlisting the help of her friends, she had Kiba help her work on her tracking skills. They spent more time than she thought they would because she was not very good at it. Thankfully she had started to get the hang of it eventually.

Shino even offered to broaden her knowledge of insects, in case of any poison related issues.

Tenten also suggested a weapon throwing competition between the two, of which Kaia lost every time. But it was a good way to improve.