Tenten sat alone on the park bench. The day was ending in Konoha. The last orange rays of the sun dappled on her tan skin. Her training that day had been quite exhausting.
She looked up to see her sensei giving her a thumbs-up. "Good job training today my youthful flower!" He said rather loudly.
"How did I do Gai-Sensei?" Rock Lee shouted.
"LEE! You did fantastic today! I hope tomorrow that you do just as well!" Gai shouted. He looked at Neji Hyuuga silently. He said nothing to the prodigy and decided to go see Kakashi, his eternal rival.
That left Neji, Tenten, and Lee alone. Tenten looked at the Hyuuga prodigy silently. Neji paid her no mind as he said, "Lee. Sakura asked me to tell you, please leave us alone on our dates. She chose me, not you." He looked at Tenten for a moment, not saying anything. Then he turned to leave.
Tenten watched him go. She never thought her antisocial teammate would get a girlfriend, much less, Sakura Haruno. None of it made any sense to her. Sakura had seemed to like Naruto, and he had seemed to return her feelings. Then, next thing she knew, Neji and Sakura were dating.
Tenten was hoping on spending some moments alone. She did not want to return to her empty house just yet. She was surprised when Rock Lee sat down next to her on the bench. He seemed content to look up into the sky, and hold his hands behind his head in such a relaxed pose.
"You know Tenten, when one has lost much they are usually cautious about being content." He said, not looking at her.
"What?" Tenten asked, not used to seeing her spandex clad teammate so philosophical. "What are you talking about Lee?"
"You are jealous of the youthful cherry blossom, and the cold un-youthful rock. It is only natural, since in my mind, the rock and the heavens make the best couple." Lee said winking.
Tenten only stared at her friend. "Are you hurt? Did you hit your head while you were training? I will take you to a doctor." She offered.
"Neji. He is the one you love of course. And do not tell him I told you this, but he cares for you as well. I heard that from him because I had to know how he felt for my youthful cherry blossom. " Lee said still not looking at her.
"Lee, are you insane? Neji's dating her! Of course he likes her! I'm just his teammate! I mean nothing to him!" Tenten said sadly. "She's so much prettier than me."
"Our cold teammate has many secrets. But I promise you this Tenten, he and my youthful charry blossom will not end up together. He will come back to you. He has just lost too much in his life. I think he just fears becoming too connected with you Tenten. After all, he loved his father, and Hizashi Hyuuga died, leaving Neji all alone. You mean a lot to him, I'm surprised you do not agree with me. And in my mind, Sakura is the most beautiful woman in the world, but I know in his, you are." Lee said with a big grin. "Now, my lovely youthful heaven, I will walk you to your youthful home."
Tenten and Lee walked together through the streets of Konoha. They said nothing to each other, but walked very close together. He was thinking of new training techniques, and she hoping that one day the man walking home beside her would be Neji.
They were wholly unprepared to see their Hyuuga walking with Sakura. Tenten looked at the two of them in a mixture of shock and jealousy. Lee saw the opportunity he held and slid his arm around Tenten's shoulders.
"Greetings Neji and Sakura!" Lee said brightly.
Lee noticed the subtle way that Neji's eyes became slits and the slight envy in his face when he saw Lee's arm around Tenten. He basked in the feeling of Neji Hyuuga being jealous.
"I didn't know you two were together!" Sakura said. "All four of us should go on a date together sometime!"
"We shall arrange it, my youthful cherry blossom!" Lee said. "Yosh!"
"But not tonight. Tonight I'm making a special dinner for Lee." Tenten said while smiling at Lee. She said a quick goodbye and pulled Lee away.
"Did he get jealous?" Tenten asked when they were a safe distance away.
"Oh yes! He was very envious of me. I enjoyed that Tenten!" Lee said.
They arrived at Tenten's apartment. "Thank you Lee. For telling me those things. I needed to hear all of that." Tenten said quietly.
"I will always talk to you when you need to hear it. You should know that!" He said happily. "If you ever need me to tell you things again we will speak on that park bench. I will go run 500 laps around Konoha! Yosh!" And with a final good guy pose and smile, Lee left.
Tenten watched Lee go. She couldn't help but smile at the cloud of dust he left. She also couldn't help but think, as she prepared her own dinner alone at her kitchen table, that she had the best friend in the world. She also felt like she had someone in the world who genuinely cared about her. She wasn't just another lonely orphan. She had a best friend.
Neji might love her. But he wasn't ready to express those feelings for her just yet. She could wait though. Someday, he would be sitting with her at her kitchen table. Someday, he would be able to love her without fear of being abandoned. She would never leave him.
Someday, Tenten would not be entirely alone. She knew that, because she had the greatest teammate.