Lee knocked on the door to their joined rooms timidly. He wasn't sure if she would even want to talk to him right now, but something wasn't right and he needed to get to the bottom of it.

Hinata opened the door with a surprised "oh" on her face, and looked up at Lee, who was smiled down at her warily. "Lee, is everything alright? Did Naruto-kun need anything," she said peering passed him worriedly. She had agreed to Ino's request to watch over him and take care of anything he needed that evening.

"No, he is fine. He is on the balcony and seems to be following Ino's orders to take it easy. But, um, I was hoping to speak with TenTen," he said, peering passed her into the dark room.

"I see. She's laying down, but she's not asleep yet," whispered Hinata.

"Oh! I don't want to disturb her," said Lee nervously, raising his hands up defensively. "I'll just speak to her—"

"Tell him to come in, Hinata," said the voice of TenTen within the dark room. She sounded irritated.

Hinata and Lee looked at one another warily, then Hinata said quietly, "I'll…I'll go check on Naruto-kun." She slowly slipped passed Lee, who stood by the doorway uncomfortably.

Hinata stopped by the glass doors of the balcony and turned to look at Lee, who was looking into the room hesitantly.

"Lee, she…she wants to see you. Go to her," said Hinata encouragingly. She knew it wasn't her place to meddle too much into her friend's relationship. But she was beginning to notice that either side needed a push in order to make certain leaps.

"She's angry," he said quietly and lowly. "Hinata," he said, turning to look at her pleadingly, "do you know what's wrong? What did I do?"

Hinata bit her bottom lip apprehensively, then looked off to the side and said, "she…she would have to tell you that, Lee. Go, talk to her." She was fairly certainly that she knew what was wrong, but it wasn't her place to tell him.

Lee sighed warily, then nodded, smiling at her weakly. He turned and took a deep breath before walking into the dark room.

Hinata frowned slightly, but turned to open the doors to the balcony. Suddenly, she gasped in shock.

"TenTen, where are you," whispered Lee.

He heard a loud grunt and a shuffling of fabric before suddenly a light flickered on. TenTen had gotten out of bed to turn on the bedside lamp, and now she was moving back to her bed, getting under the covers.

Lee frowned slightly and walked over toward her.

He moved to sit on the edge of her bed but as soon as he sat down a comforter covered foot lifted up and kicked him hard off the bed.

"Oww, what was that for," he said from the floor, looking up at the bed with a deeper frown.

"Sit on the floor," she said firmly. She was looking up at the ceiling, mouth moving angrily.

He had hoped to be closer to her. He wanted to hold her hand, or hug her, and tell her he was sorry for whatever he did.

But he moved to sit on the floor cross legged beside her bed, looking up at her. "TenTen, I—"

"The light is too bright," she said irritably, throwing an arm over her eyes.

Lee sighed lowly and reached to turn it off. "Is that better," he asked.

"Yes, much," she said with a sigh.

TenTen didn't want to see him. She didn't want to talk to him. She could feel the anger bubbling in the pit of her stomach, mixed with some other feeling she didn't recognize. She laid down in bed and got under the covers, staring hard at the ceiling.

Why did she let her feelings grow for him? She should have been smarter — should have assumed he still loved Sakura. He had loved her for so long — made oaths in her name and swore on his life that he would protect her. She couldn't bring herself to think about it anymore. It was making her sick to her stomach.

When he came to the door of their rooms, she gritted her teeth angrily. Why can't he just go away, she thought.

When he spoke in that shaky, nervous voice to Hinata, she could feel her heart softening for him ever so slightly, but she hissed in annoyance at this weakness.

But when he seemed to be persistent, and Hinata told him that she wasn't asleep yet — a betrayal that only escalated her anger — she gave in, allowing him to come in.

She knew she was acting childish. She knew she needed to get over whatever feelings she had and get back to their friendship — which she valued above almost anything, though she hated to admit that to herself right now.

Beyond all of that, they were on the same team. They worked together regularly. She knew she just couldn't avoid him or stop talking to him all together. They would have to communicate and still be teammates.

So, she sighed to herself and agreed to let Lee say his peace and she would say whatever she needed to to restore their friendship, then she would close her heart away and forget all about this.

When he called out to her, she grunted in annoyance and moved to turn on the light, looking at him briefly before moving back to bed. He was approaching her so cautiously that she felt a twinge of guilt and compassion for him.

When he moved to sit on her bed, she suddenly felt the urge to get up and move closer toward him. But she soon felt the heat of anger again, and kicked him off her bed, not wanting to let her feeling an emotions get the better of her.

She was annoyed. Annoyed with him, herself, and the fact that she had to go through with this.

She could feel his eyes on her, and she felt exposed — like he could see everything she was trying desperately to hide from him in that moment. So when he started talking, she interrupted him and asked him to turn the lights out, sighing contently as the room became dark again and she felt safely hidden.

"TenTen, I am…very, very sorry for what I did. I don't know what it was, but…I don't want to lose you as a friend over it," he said pleadingly.

She remained quiet.

"Please, tell me what I have done to anger you? I want to fix it," he said, moving closer to her bed.

Still, she remained quiet.

"TenTen, I care about you deeply. Whatever I have done…if I hurt you or offended you in some way…I want to fix it. Please, talk to me," he said, moving to his knees and leaning onto her bed. He was looking down at her, but couldn't make out her facial expressions.

Lee had been wracking his brain all evening trying to figure out what had angered her. He thought about the last conversation they had and the events of the evening — including the attack on the village, walking back to the hotel, entering their rooms, then leaving to shower…He remembered the casual conversation that was had between his male teammates as they waited for the females to finish showering — did he say something offensive about her to the others? But how could she have known what they discussed? And what did he say? He didn't remember talking about her at all. The only female he spoke about was Sakura. Did he say something about her that wasn't appropriate?

But he couldn't figure out where he angered her…he wracked his brain trying to remember every scrap of detail, but nothing made sense.

He shifted uncomfortably back onto to floor and looked up at her, waiting for her to respond.

Finally, she sighed deeply, then said, "You…you did nothing wrong, Lee. I just…"

She paused. He could see the outline of her face as she continued to stare up at the ceiling.

She lifted to sit up on her bed, pulling the heavy covers down to her lap. She sat cross legged and looked pointedly away from him. When she sat up, moonlight from between the curtains of the balcony hit her face, and he saw the pain she seemed to be wrecking herself with. She soon closed her eyes tightly and said softly, "come up here. I'm sorry I kicked you off."

His eyes widened at this, and he looked up at her in surprise. "Um, are you sure you want me to," he said quietly.

"Yes. Come up here," she repeated.

He rose slowly from the floor and moved to sit at the far end of her bed, leaving his legs hanging off the side. He looked at her warily with questions at the tip of his tongue, but waited for her to speak.

"Your friendship is very important to me, Lee," she said quietly, still looking down. "And so is your happiness. I…I want to see you live a long and happy life."

His brow furrowed at her words. Her words confused him, but he responded lowly, "and I want to see you happy as well, TenTen. Nothing would make me happier, if I am honest."

TenTen looked up at him in that moment and he could see the sadness she seemed to be trying desperately to hide from him.

He reached over to touch her, but she moved away quickly. Yet again, he furrowed his brow, but let his hand drop down onto the bed defeatedly.

"I think…we both want things for ourselves that will never happen," she continued, looking away from him. "But I am glad that we have each other and our friendship with one another to keep ourselves from feeling the loss too much."

He frowned at this, and slowly moved his hand away from her. Was she confirming what he already suspected to be true? That she did in fact love Neji, and feel his loss on a deep level. Lee felt that familiar heat bubble in the pit of his stomach as he just stared at her with a pained look on his face. He tried desperately to hide the well of emotions that were fighting to come out of his body. Never in his life had he felt this pain before. He felt like she had outright rejected him and his feelings for her — and as much as he has tried to swallow his affections for her deep down, he knew he had slipped up too many times to count. She must have known how he felt about her. She must be telling him that they will never happen. He could feel tears welling in the corners of his eyes, but he blinked them away. He was foolish to let his emotions get the better of him — he should have been better about stifling his feelings for her and he should have spent more time caring for her and helping her get through the loss.

Some of Neji's words rang softly in the back of his mind: "Promise me you will always be there for her, Lee…"

He had not fulfilled that promise, and his heart ached at the pain he might have been putting her through because of his selfishness.

And now, she was outright asking for him to comfort her. To help her take solace in their friendship. He couldn't refuse her, and he knew he wouldn't have wanted to try knowing that doing so would make her even unhappier.

So he swallowed all of the pain, sighed deeply and said, "I am always here for you, TenTen. That will never change. You are my friend, and friends take care of one another. As I said before, I just want you to be happy."

She let out a shaky sigh, then turned to look at him with a weak smile on her face that didn't quite reach her eyes. "As long as I have our friendship, I will be happy," she said quietly.

Lee half smiled at her, then moved to rise from her bed. As much as he wanted to stay and comfort her more, he couldn't bring himself to look at her any longer. It was too painful.

"Well, I am glad we figured things out," he said, perhaps a little too happily, not looking at her. "It is getting late — and you were just about to go to sleep. Let me leave so you can rest," he said, moving to walk toward the door, which was still open.

"Goodnight, TenTen," he said lowly, before walking through the door frame. He didn't wait for a response as he stepped into the adjoining room.

She had felt safely hidden while he apologized profusely. She could feel the heat of anger making her feel hot under the blanket. She felt guilty for letting him apologize — he didn't know what he was apologizing for.

At one point, she noticed that he stopped talking all together. She peered up at him and saw him looking off to the side with his brow furrowed, lost in thought. She knew he was trying to think about what to do, or maybe he was still trying to figure out what he had done. After a while, he seemed to give up, and moved to sit back on the floor.

She sighed in frustration, but rose to sit up. The heat that was collecting under her blanket was becoming to great, and she couldn't take it anymore.

She knew it was time to move on — to say whatever she had to in order to solidify their friendship. And, as much as she did and did not want to be near him in that moment, she knew it would be best to ask him to come sit with her. She was still feeling guilty about kicking him earlier.

When he hesitated to come up and sit with her, her heart ached — she felt the sting of regret for hurting him earlier. She didn't want him to to afraid of her — she was just angry.

When he finally moved to sit on the bed, images of Sakura leaning close to Sasuke, and smiles on their faces came to her mind, and images of Lee watching them sadly. And soon after, the image of Neji, dead in Lee's arms, popped into her mind. Her friend…her best friend…has suffered so much loss.

When she finally spoke, she said words that came to mind first. When she spoke about how much she wanted to see him happy, the image of Neji popped into her mind again, and she knew — the lives they had were precious, and best spent in happiness. She wanted Lee to live happily, and to not suffer through his loss.

When he responded, his words pained her. As much as she wanted to hear them, she couldn't bring herself to think of them as more than just continuous declarations of their permanent friendship.

She looked up at him to see his face in that moment, and when he scanned her face and she saw concern in his eyes, she couldn't bare it. And when he reached out to touch her, she couldn't stand to feel him in that moment. She glanced and saw his hand fall to the bed, but continued to look away from him.

She knew he was just trying to make her feel better. But the sting of knowing that it meant nothing more than a friend helping another friend prevented her from allowing it to happen.

He will never love me, she thought sadly. He will always love her.

But she knew he was wasting his time. Sakura loved Sasuke and he probably loved her back. And it seems like Lee hadn't realized that yet — like he still held out hope that they might end up together. But when he realized that she will never choose him, TenTen knew that he would be crushed. And all she wanted was to be there for him when it happens.

So she swallowed all of her feelings as deep down as she could, and told him that she would be there for him, as his friend, because she believed that's all he wanted. All she hoped for in return was that maybe she would be there for her, too.

Lee was silent for a long time. She saw his hand move away slowly, and could hear his breathing catch. But he didn't say much — she was convinced that he was processing what she said, and maybe realized just what she was trying to communicate to him; and maybe he realized that she was telling him that she would give up on him for the sake of their friendship.

When he finally spoke, he sighed deeply, as if he were very tired — maybe even relieved.

In that moment, all she wanted to do was cry. But she willed herself to look at him and respond. She couldn't hide the shakiness in her voice, even though she tried.

And when he gave her that small smile, and she saw the flicker of pain in his eyes before he quickly looked away from her, she couldn't decipher what it all meant.

And when he rose to leave and spoke, exuding an unnatural happiness behind his words, she looked at him with concern.

And before she could speak, he had left her. She stared after him, and couldn't help but picture that pained look in his eyes, and the small tears that were forming in the corners of his eyes.

When Hinata opened the balcony doors she found herself face to face with Naruto, who was standing by the door. He looked just as surprised as she was to see her.

They looked at each other with wide eyes, and soon their faces reddened as they realized how close their bodies were together. Hinata backed away quickly, sensing his mutual discomfort.

"Um…what are you doing here, Hinata," asked Naruto hoarsely, looking pointedly away from her.

"G-giving TenTen and Lee some space while they talk through whatever is upsetting TenTen," she said, biting her bottom lip. "I…um…well, I thought I'd come check on you. Lee said you were out here relaxing."

"Yes I…well, I was. Did you…did you want to join me," asked Naruto, looking back at her.

"S-sure," she said, smiling at him meekly.

He moved away in order to allow her space to walk out onto the balcony, and moved to close the door behind her. She walked over to the rail and leaned onto it, looking out into the city.

He turned at looked at her for a moment, and felt a warm flutter in the pit of his stomach that he didn't recognize. Breathing in and out deeply, he shrugged it off and walked toward her, planting a smile on his face.

He walked up beside her, and she looked up at him and smiled warmly before turned back to look out into the city.

He felt that strange, warm flutter again when she smiled at him, and he found that he couldn't quite take his eyes off of her — even though he tried. He fixed his face to looked pointedly out into the city, but found himself peering over at her from the corner of his eye.

The moonlight made her face and eyes glow brightly, and the lights of the city flashed merrily in her eyes, making her eyes look as if they were twinkling. She looked like something out of a storybook — so soft and pristine - even her hair, which blew gently behind her in the wind, would settle back in place perfectly. He couldn't help but be in awe of her.

It was strange seeing her this way — he had never allowed himself the chance to really look at her before. And now that he had, he was…

"Naruto-kun, I haven't gotten a chance to ask you this," she said, turning to look at him. He quickly looked away, and she furrowed her brow in surprise, but continued. "At Shikamaru's house, Ino said some things about us…I'm just curious about where they came from."

"What exactly did she say," he asked, brow raising.

"She said Sakura told her that you and I held hands," said Hinata quickly, looking up at him nervously. "How…how did Sakura find out about that?"

Naruto blushed slightly, but responded with, "well, I told Sakura during lunch about our visit to Neji's grave."

"And you shared that detail with her," asked Hinata, brow raising slightly.

"I…well, yes," said Naruto, looking of to the side, then looking back at her again.

"Why," asked Hinata, tilting her head as her eyes narrowed slightly. She had a hint of a smile planted on her lips.

She looks cute like that, thought Naruto, face reddening more. He let out an exasperated chuckle and turned to look back toward the city. "Because we share things with one another that's important. I asked her advice about the way I was feeling about it and—"

"Wait, the way you were feeling," asked Hinata, leaning back slightly in surprise. "How were you feeling, exactly?"

"Aw, come on, Hinata…" he said lowly, chuckling lightly and ducking his head. "I don't know if I feel comfortable sharing—"

"But you can share it with Sakura," said Hinata, brow raising. Kiba's words started to replay in her head, but she squashed them quickly.

"Yes," he said, turning back toward her, "because Sakura is my friend."

"And what am I, exactly," said Hinata, though she spoke softly, he could hear a slight twinge of anger in her voice.

"You're…you're my friend, too. But it's different with you…" he said, chewing on his bottom lip.

"Howso," she asked. She willed him to say it. She was looking at him hard, waiting for the words to come out of his mouth.

"I don't know, Hinata. I'm…I'm still trying to figure it out, okay," he said, exasperated and irritated.

They stared at one another for a moment, then she turned to look back out into the city.

"I understand, Naruto-kun," she said lowly. "I shouldn't have pressed like that. I'm sorry."

He frowned slightly at that. It's not that he didn't want to tell her how he felt, he just…didn't know how he felt, and didn't know exactly what to tell her.

"Hinata, I—" he started, but was interrupted by the balcony doors opening. They both turned to look at Lee, who looked at both of them. His eyes fell to Hinata, and he looked at her sadly.

"Lee…did she…" started Hinata, but he only shook his head.

"We have made up. We are friends again," he said hoarsely, giving Hinata a small smile.

"Oh, Lee…What happened," asked Hinata, moving over toward him and reaching to hug him. He grabbed onto her and said quietly, between large gasps of air, "I am going to help her deal with the loss of Neji with our friendship. That is all she wants."

Hinata could feel his tears dampen her shoulder as he spoke. She rubbed his back gently.

"Oh, Lee…I…I don't believe that's true. I think there is something still wrong with her. She…she never had feelings for Neji, Lee. I know that for a fact. Please, don't think that."

"She will never want me," he whispered lowly, breath hitching. "She wanted him."

"No, Lee. She didn't," said Hinata. "Even Naruto knows that she…" Hinata glanced at Naruto, and bit her bottom lip. "He knows that she—"

"She didn't love Neji, Lee. She never did," said Naruto, softly. He walked over slowly to the pair and placed a hand on Lee's shoulder. "Come on, Bushy-Brow. This isn't like you. You don't give up this easily — not on anything you truly care about."

"Naruto," said Lee, lifting his head up and looking at him. Tears were streaming down his face. "Even if I could believe you, she just wanted to be my friend. She said so herself."

"What exactly did she say, Lee," said Hinata, quietly. She continued to rub his back softly.

"She said…she said 'I think we both want things for ourselves that will never happen. But I am glad that we have each other and our friendship with one another to keep ourselves from feeling the loss too much,'" said Lee, who ducked his head back down onto Hinata's shoulder.

She looked at Naruto with a furrowed brow, and he looked at her confused. Both shook their head, and Hinata said, "Lee, she wasn't talking about Neji when she talked about loss. I think…I think she was talking about you."

Lee froze, then lifted his head from her shoulder. "Wh…What," he asked.

"Jeez, Bushy-Brow. You're such an idiot," said Naruto with a smirk. Hinata glared at him, and Naruto immediately stopped smirking, mouth clenching up tightly. "What I mean is…come on, man, she likes you. And—"

"Lee, she wouldn't want me to tell you this, so please keep this between us," said Hinata nervously, "but I think she heard your conversation with Naruto and the other guys. She might have heard you say that you still loved Sakura."

Lee's eyes widened at this. "But I…" He looked off to the side, then looked back at Hinata and said, "I do not. I still care for her, and I would do anything for her. But I don't love her."

Suddenly, he glared at Naruto, "Nar-ru-to…why couldn't you stop interrupting me and let me finish talking? I was trying to tell everyone that I did not love her anymore."

Naruto reached to scratch his neck sheepishly as he said, "I'm sorry, Bushy-Brow. I didn't mean to…But look, man, she likes you. Don't give up on being with her."

Lee closed his eyes and sighed deeply. So much of their conversation, that way she acted before and during their conversation made more sense to him now.

"Hinata, thank you for telling me," he said, looking down at her with a warm, small smile. "I…I will not give up," he said, looking at Naruto with determination. Naruto smiled at him.

"But…but how do I fix this? I feel as if I have messed things up very badly…" he said, frowning slightly. "I do not think I can tell her how I feel right now…I do not think she will believe me."

"I don't know, Lee," said Hinata, smiling sadly. "But you have to at least show her that you still like her. I'm sure a way to tell her will come to you naturally." Naruto glanced at her when she said that, but quickly looked away before she could notice.

"Alright, I will do my best," said Lee, renewed determination in his voice. He wiped his face with the back of his hands and smiled at both of them warmly. "Thank you both for helping me."

"Of course, Lee," said Hinata, returning the smile.

"Any time, Bushy-Brow," said Naruto with a smile and a wink.

Lee turned to walk back inside and closed the door behind himself.

Hinata turned to look at Naruto and smiled slight before looking away and saying, "well, I should head to bed."

He watched her as she started to walk toward the door and he felt a flood of regret wash over him. "W—wait, Hinata," he said, reaching out and grabbing her hand.

She looked down at their hands, then turned to look up at him with surprise on her face.

He wasn't sure why he stopped her, or why he grabbed her hand. His cheeks reddened and he cleared his throat nervously as he looked off to the side, but continued to hold her hand.

"I…I just wanted to say that…I'm sorry for talking about you to Sakura. Just know that…you are very important to me," he said, looking at her with pleading, sincere eyes. He willed her to know how he was feeling in that moment. He couldn't find the words to communicate it, but he couldn't bring himself to let her leave without having tried to tell her. "I care about you deeply. More than anyone. Please understand."

Her eyes widened slightly at this and her mouth gaped open slightly. Her mind raced as she thought, Was he…saying…

But soon, she realized that he hadn't really said anything that she didn't already know. They have always cared for one another deeply. And if he was having a hard time defining his feelings, maybe he didn't share the same ones that she did.

So she just smiled up at him warmly and said, "It's okay, Naruto-kun. I understand." She pulled her hand out of his and turned toward the door as she said, "well, goodnight."

She opened it, walked through it, and closed it without waiting for a reply. He stared after her and frown slightly, feeling a strange ache in his heart as she walked away.

—