summary: Lee and Ten Ten struggle to admit their feelings for each other on Valentine's Day.

pairings: Lee/Ten, Neji/Hina, Gai/Mystery (whoever you want, no specific name or gender will be mentioned :) ) i seriously doubt there will be any other pairings mentioned, but please keep an eye on the pairings list anyways.

warnings: though this fic is not graphic, there will be some material that some people may be uncomfortable with. YES, there is Hyuugacest in here, so please leave if that isn't your cup o' tea. thank you. (please keep an eye on this too, please, should any more wanrnings pop up :) )

Be My Valentine!

Be My Valentine!part one: TenTen:

TenTen… didn't know how to start. She was trying to sort out her thoughts and feelings over her two boys in her team, but didn't know where to start, exactly.

She was sitting on an old tree stump in the park. Not the training grounds, or even a nin-playground (which, considering, should be dubbed the baby-nin training grounds), but an actual civilian park, one she was quite familiar with. It was her own little special place, her own little escape. She wasn't the only ninja that knew of it or even frequented it, by far, but no one she knew knows of this place, so no one bothered her.

Right now, she was sitting slouched on her most favourite spot to think, the old tree stump she calls Dotty. In her hands she held her recently bought items, a simple - and cliché, she told herself - red heart-shaped box of assorted chocolates, with "Be MY Valentine!" written across it in white. She bought it at the civilian drug store she rather liked (she had no idea why though. Perhaps it was the cute and friendly cashier who always greeted her with a startling grin and a wave?), along with two generic Valentine's Day cards. One was for her sensei, but the other… she was having trouble deciding what she wanted to give what to whom. Her debate: Neji vs. Lee.

'Neji's hot.'

'But Lee is so sweet.'

'But Neji's hot,'

'But Lee is funny,'

'But Neji's hot'

'…Lee is strong! Very strong!'

'Neji's strong too. Maybe even stronger, who knows with those two? And! Neji's hot.'

'Lee is cute, he is! I mean, he's not hot like Neji, of course, but he's cute. And those eyebrows don't even bother me anymore; in fact I think they're adorable.'

'Okay, then let's talk about their other features. You've seen Neji without a shirt on plenty of times. Neji's hot.'

'Oh come on, you can't even use that one. I've seen Lee in shorts and nothing else, and Lee is ten times more buffer, his muscles more pronounced since all he does is taijutsu. Physically, Lee is stronger and faster than Neji-'

'But Neji's not limited to just one ninja art. He's good at everything!'

'-growl- +tick+ will you let me finish!! I haven't interrupted you!'

'…yes, sorry, please go on.'

'Much better. Anyways, as I was saying… and you know Lee actually talks once in a while, and not just to tell me what to do or give me some important info. Lee's actually pretty nice to talk to, I can tell him anything and he'll never judge me, he's always so nice and caring about everything. Could I do that with this Neji??'

'…Well, you know, Neji may be really judgemental and have high standards and maybe thinks he's better than just about everyone… well that just means the boy has good taste, and wants to be with someone who's on his level, that's all. You've saved his life many a times, and you're on his team, so you could be on that same pedestal he puts himself on. You just gotta… prove it to him a little bit.'

'But I don't wanna have to prove myself to anyone, no less a potential date! That's the thing… and besides, Neji already likes someone. He's after his cousin, Hinata, you know.

'Which doesn't make any sense at all in the first place! First he tried to kill her, and now he wants to date her?? Damn, that boy needs to sort out his priorities!'

'Actually, I think he wants to marry her. He kind of told us, remember? We were all talking at a restaurant when training was over, and Sensei said, "So Neji, was that really you I saw walking your cousin home yesterday, laughing and holding hands with each other, no less?" Neji didn't even blush, or stammer, or try to deny it. In fact, he even smiled a bit and said, "Yes. Uncle had spoken to me about a month ago, telling me that it was about time for me to find a bride." He didn't say anything else concerning the matter, and you know what? I wasn't even hurt. I was happy for him, actually, and even teased him a bit about it. It didn't even occur to me that I should be plotting Hinata's death until yesterday, when Sensei reminded us about Valentine's Day and how he expects us to have at least a card or something for each other. He said that training is cancelled for today, and we don't have to show up, but we should try to find the group and exchange gifts.'

'Hmm, and now here we are, arguing about who should get the chocolates, and who should get the card. I still say you should give them to Neji. He's hot, and, after all, he was your first crush. They say you never forget your first crush. You really want to give up on him like that? I mean, yeah, he likes his cousin, but he didn't flat out say that he wants her, so maybe there's still a chance. He's changing, maybe you could help him change some more and get him to like you back. It's possible, if you really try hard enough Neji could like you like you like him. Who knows, maybe even love someday. Aren't you even gonna give it a try? Just to see what if? If you don't, you'll never know the possibility and then you'll beat yourself up come Neji and Hinata's wedding day!'

'And that's all true. Yes, I'll never forget Neji as my first crush, just as Hinata will never forget Naruto as her first crush. And we'll both hold them in special places in our hearts, even when we're married to other men, but that doesn't mean that we love them more than our spouses. It just means that, they were our first crushes and nothing more. Yeah, Neji's hot, but that doesn't really even matter to me. I don't love him, not like that. I want a boyfriend who's gonna respect me and like me for me, I don't want to have to compromise myself when in a relationship, and I don't want my boyfriend to have to do the same. I know there will be arguments; no relationship of ANY sort is without them. The best of friends to mere acquaintances have arguments. But I know we'll be able to bounce back from them, and be even stronger because of it. That's what I want. Not just some hot guy, and besides, Neji's not even my type. I like Lee. A lot. Not how I liked Lee at first, Lee wasn't physically attractive to me at first. In fact, I didn't like Lee that much at the beginning; I even ignored him like Neji. But as we grew closer as a team and as friends, my feelings for Lee gradually changed, now to the point where I think about him all the time and want to spend as much time as I can with him. I genuinely like Lee. I want to date him. I want all our peers in Konoha to know and say, "that's right, you're dating Lee now, aren't you? You're Lee's girlfriend, aren't you?" and I'll proudly say, "Yes I am," because I'm not ashamed of Lee at all. And why should I ever be ashamed of something I want?'

'…If you put it that way. So you absolutely don't want Neji? You're heart is set on Lee?'

TenTen sat up straight, calm eyes and a firm, sure, confident smile on her face as she uttered: "It is."

'What about Neji and Hinata, then? What do you think of that?'

'I think Hinata will be great for Neji, in all actuality. If anyone can melt that ice around his fragile, insecure heart, it's her. She can teach him compassion, sensitivity, forgiveness. And he can teach her to be stronger, more sure about herself, teach her to hold her head up high and not to doubt herself so much. They'll balance each other out; they're perfect for each other.'

With that final thought, TenTen stood up, stretched her muscles and revelled in the sounds and feel of her joints popping, and walked on. As she headed towards her Lee's house, she couldn't help but laugh at herself.

"Gee, it took Valentine's Day to finally sit down and sort out my feelings, but I did, and now my thoughts are clearer than ever. Still, maybe I should go see a shrink or something. Arguing with yourself, and now talking to yourself, can't be healthy."

.:end chapter:.

AN: hi!! thanks for reading this, if you did, and if you're going to, for taking the time out to review my piece!! i really hope you enjoyed, and if you didn't, sorry. can't please everybody. anyway, hopefully this story will finish (sometime soon) but right now i'm stuck. i prefer writing things out before posting them up so that i can update on a regular basis (once every two weeks), but i have (as usual) WRITER'S BLOCK!! EW! i'm hoping that someone will be kind enough to jumpstart my inspiration for this fic :) thank you!!