By the time they finished their third round sparring together, Neji and Lee were both worn and mildly sweaty. The air was not just hot, with the sun overhead, but had grown heavy and still as the day wore on.
It was easily dismissed, but Neji still felt a fleeting impulse to stop right there in the middle of the training field and let himself sprawl on the ground. It had been a very long time since Neji had been foolish enough to stop that way, though. He kept moving, heading off the field, and paused when he realised Lee was not doing the same.
He turned to glance back at Lee, who met his gaze and waved him on. "I am ready!" Lee shouted, bouncing in place and sliding into a ready stance facing Tenten. She had been busying herself for a good chunk of the morning, beginning while Neji and Lee were warming up, with checking the condition of the seals on some of her lesser-used scrolls.
"Ready for what, to fall down?" Tenten scolded lightly, shaking her head. "You've been at it training hard all morning. Take a break, we aren't in battle. Besides . . . my turn." she added with a smile, flicking her fingers against the scroll she had open over her lap before rolling it up neatly.
Lee began to protest, probably that he had meant he would spar with Tenten, and Neji shook his head. "Resting is an important part of training, too." Neji interrupted dryly, more than aware of Lee's general philosophy towards tackling life insistently head-on and always pushing harder. "If you push yourself to the limit without pause, you'll work yourself to collapse, not extend your limits further."
"Ah, Neji!" Lee grinned brightly, not quite scoffing. "But I have not yet-"
"Neji is correct, Lee." Gai clapped a hand on Lee's shoulder and squeezed firmly, giving him a little shake by the grip. "Both of you, cool down and then rest for a time before attacking your training with new vigour!"
Neji snorted and continued as planned, beginning to fold himself down into a stretch as Lee cheerfully shouted an obedient agreement.
Though he didn't show it as he moved, the first blow Lee had landed on him in their last bout throbbed achily - an ache that extended through his shoulder and down into his upper arm. He forced himself not to hold back from full extensions as he went through his cooling down stretches all the same, loosening the tight, bruised muscle. It wasn't serious, just a dull pain that would fade soon enough.
Nearby, Lee moved fluidly through his own stretches, although every so often there was a brief hitch to his movements as he struggled with what must be the tweaking of a sore muscle or a new bruise of his own.
With them out of the way, Tenten bounced up from where she had been lounging in the shade to work. Bending nearly flat to the ground and extending one leg, Neji wondered idly if it was actually any cooler there, at least since the earlier breeze had deserted the field and the air had grown still and almost sticky with heat.
Gai gestured Tenten to his side to discuss the next exercise set for her practise and Neji paid idle attention as he finished his routine. Shaking out the remaining tension, he moved to the low fence along one side of the training field, climbing to sit on top of it and taking a deep drink from the canteen he'd left hanging there.
Five minutes later Lee hopped over the fence with his usual casual spill of energy - any time when he wasn't fighting, then he was all control and precision - before shifting to lean on the rail beside Neji, forearms braced against the weathered wood. "Truly our teammate is a Shining Specimen of the Feminine Fighting Spirit, is she not, Neji?" Lee asked, watching with admiration as Tenten rained a collection of polearms down on their sensei. Neji snorted softly at Lee's choice of praise, one corner of his mouth twitching.
"Tenten is quite an impressive kunoichi, yes." Neji did agree, after all, if in his own more . . . measured fashion. He couldn't imagine himself ever using quite the compliments that Lee might, for anyone. Lee grinned at him nevertheless.
Neji shifted in his perch on the fence and resisted the urge to fan himself, though he missed the breeze that had been blowing through earlier in the morning. He did reach up to lift his hair off the back of his neck, sighing and pulling the sweat-damp strands away under the guise of smoothing them back into place. One of his recovery tumbles across the ground during their second bout had loosened the tie in his hair and he had yet to neaten it properly.
"You look flushed; are you quite all right, Neji?" Lee asked, leaning more onto one elbow and twisting to look at him.
"It's warm today." Neji said, not really an answer or an evasion, but he frowned slightly. He gave up pretence, not caring particularly much, and twisted his hair in one hand, coiling it up to keep it off his neck for the moment. Maybe the sweat dampening his neck would dry, at least, with the freer air - maybe the breeze would even return and cool him a little more.
"Let me?" Lee asked, and Neji hummed inquisitively, glancing at him. Lee had straightened and he now held out a hand, gesturing over Neji's shoulder. "I know you do not wear your hair bound up usually, but if it is bothering you today - because of the heat," he added quickly, with a small smile, "may I help?"
Neji eyed Lee, surprised, but surrendered his grip on his hair and shook it out with a casual flick of his head. The tight coil he'd wound fell free with a quiet snap. "If you want to." he said, still faintly dubious. Not about allowing Lee to mess with his hair - Neji wasn't nearly so finicky about it as he was vaguely aware most of their agemates thought he was, and Lee was hardly going to try and prank him by doing anything to it - but that he would want to help with it.
He supposed he shouldn't be; as a teammate, as in the rest of his life, Lee was an assiduous and generally caring-to-a-frustrating-fault.
Lee moved back from the fence a little more, stepping behind Neji and pulling his hair up off his neck again, fanning him lightly. Neji smiled slightly at the sensation.
Lee made a thoughtful sound and then began to comb his fingers through Neji's hair to straighten it, the backs of his knuckles brushing ever-so-lightly over the nape of Neji's neck. Some tousled knots caught on his fingers, not pulling loose immediately, and he slowed to free the strands gently.
Lee murmured an apology and Neji shrugged one shoulder, amused. A little tugging at his hair was hardly going to bother him.
Lee worked his fingers through, slow and careful, until his hands could slide smoothly through the whole mass of Neji's hair without catching - in the meantime Tenten had switched to long-handled axes intermixed with a peppering of kunai and ribbons of razor-edged chakra-wire, just for any enemies who might dodge unwarily from the larger threats; it would be a rather alarming whirlwind for anyone not used to her methods. Lee straightened Neji's hair once more, fingers running easily through the heavy length, and divided it neatly before beginning to wind it into a firm plait.
Neji tipped his head slightly, an automatic reaction to the sensation, testing. Lee paused in his task to brush two fingertips against Neji's shoulder, just shy of his neck, a gentle touch that settled him again before he'd even thought about it. As Lee continued down beyond his shoulders with deft, confident movements, Neji realised he was braiding overhand, putting a bit more of a gap between Neji's neck and the thick weight of his hair.
Neji's fingers tightened absently on the fence on either side of his hips as he balanced against the mild tug of Lee's hands in his hair, making him sway. It was a strange feeling, to have someone there, but it was also one of his teammates; Lee being at his back wasn't particularly concerning, intimately - dangerously - close or not, even if Lee was more usually right out in front as much as possible.
Tenten was the only one who really hung back for long-range attacks, on their team.
"Done!" Lee announced, quietly enough, for Lee. "Is that comfortable?" he asked, smoothing his fingers over the newly-formed braid in Neji's hair. It was heavy where it lay along his spine, and felt strange - though Neji knew how to braid his hair, he never wore it this way - but it was off his neck a little more and it wasn't pulling or uncomfortable.
"It's fine." Neji confirmed with a small smile for his teammate. "Thank you, Lee."
"It was my pleasure to assist you!" Lee said brightly, and from anyone else it would be strange, but . . . well, Lee was strange. Neji inclined his head and Lee grinned at him, moving to lean against the fence again, this time just close enough for Neji, a better than average sensor, to feel the energy thrumming within him across the space separating them.
Neji shifted his weight, hooking one foot around the back of a crossbar on the fence for stability, and didn't put any more distance between himself and Lee.
Neji pulled his thick braid over his shoulder, examining the length. It was still neat and sleek, bound off at the bottom as tidily - or more - than he ever tied it himself.
He hesitated, toying with the tight fringe at the tail of his braid.
Neji glanced up at himself in the mirror, then dropped the braid without removing the tie and shrugged out of his shirt. A hairstick pinned the braid up and out of the way easily enough so Neji could bathe without wetting it, and he let it down again once he had donned his nightclothes. It was a warm night, even with the window above his bed cracked to allow the night breeze to pass through, and the braid kept Neji's hair from clinging to him.
He ran his fingers over the contours of it as he settled onto his futon, idly recalling the feeling of Lee's quick, careful fingers working through his hair and smiling. He yawned as he turned onto his side, tucking his chin down as his braid slid forward across his shoulder, and settled for sleep with that memory still uppermost in his mind.
Neji hummed softly as he shifted. He lazily reached up, pushing aside the loose coil of his hair that had fallen across his face before turning onto his back. He felt a phantom memory of strong fingers deftly plucking knots loose from his hair and a steady presence at his back, nearly swaying into it.
His lips curled and he stretched, absently leaning into that welcome presence.
He suddenly jerked more fully into wakefulness as, rather than feeling steadying hands on his shoulders, he only shifted in his own bed, the futon firm against his back. Neji frowned, a little muddled, and opened his eyes.
The pattern of shadows and dim, reflected starlight on the ceiling met his gaze impassively.
Neji's eyes narrowed as he remembered the warmth dreamed up by his half-slumbering mind. Neji was not prone to such. . . Fondness. Though he was fond of a few people, it was not something he thought on often and certainly not something that ever slipped up on him unawares, in his sleep.
And the way-
Neji sat bolt upright, staring at the decorative scroll hanging on the wall opposite and not seeing the delicate patterns of the birds painted on it at all. Lee.
He was one of the - very few - people Neji trusted above all others, as was only natural - he was one of Neji's teammates, they had trained and fought together for years . . . and beyond that, he was Lee.
But Neji had never-
There was no reason for him to-
Lee's bright voice in his ear and steady, calm hands in his hair, and Neji had been content and peaceful, soothed by the presence and the touch. Soothed by and leaning into it, wanting more of the touch and wanting to be closer, enjoying it.
Wanting Lee.
Neji buried his face in his palms, his hair falling forwards, the loose locks still kinked from the braid Lee had put into it the day before, which he had slept in and left in place through his day off while cleaning and tending to those maintenance tasks his small apartment required. He rubbed his face, pushed his hair back, and rolled up to his feet. He wasn't going to be able to go back to sleep now.
Neji dragged his fingers through his hair, straightening it roughly and knotting it into a bun. The kinked remnants of the braid were bothering him, now, though they hadn't been earlier, but he currently hadn't the patience to wash and dry his hair to get rid of them. He dressed quickly without bothering to light any lamps and made his way outside to go through a practise routine.
It was at least a few hours before even the early start that Gai - and Lee - took to for their training, much less when Gai would expect Neji and Tenten to show up at the training grounds themselves - still earlier than most teams started work. Neji had gone on less sleep before, though.
He would be fine. And he needed to be moving, at least, if he couldn't stop thinking.
Moving, Neji had discovered over the dark hours until dawn - and more, over the following week - not only didn't stop him thinking, it hardly helped at all. And Lee was . . . there, for so much of Neji's day, every day; even if he could have cleared his mind of Lee at times, Lee was always around somewhere nearby with his loud, unignorable nature and his friendly touches to put himself back.
Neji looked at Lee's cheerful grin and thought he should never have allowed Lee to braid his hair.
That was so- Ridiculous, though.
Neji hadn't been . . . swayed by the affectionate gesture of having his hair braided, Neji didn't . . . care, particularly. It had been an odd gesture, but not too odd for Lee, who was a ball of strangeness and sincerity, only a friendly demonstration of concern that Neji had accepted but could just as easily have left.
No, it wasn't the braiding or the touches or the . . . solicitousness, even.
It was Lee, and Neji had just. . .
Not been looking. Not been thinking.
Probably because it was faintly-
Not horrifying. But- How.
Neji looked down and resettled the tail end of the fabric he held at the base of the blade before beginning to wrap the kunai's handle neatly. It didn't require very much focus - he had been wrapping his kunai in the same way since he was a child, and he had done it in all manner of conditions and with any number of distractions.
Neji's thoughts could wander while he worked on the task of maintaining his kunai, which was usually convenient but was currently proving somewhat discomfiting. He would rather have had a task that took more attention and left him unable to think about. . .
Neji glanced up. Lee was restocking and organising his kit not far away - his kit and Tenten's and Neji's as well; he'd volunteered and then taken all three, claiming Neji and Tenten both had more to do to prepare for missions than he anyway, and he wanted to be useful. Neji had allowed it, though normally the only other person he allowed near his kit was Hinata, who was . . . very difficult to refuse outright, and did make the best balms Neji had ever had in his kit.
He trusted Lee, though, and Lee knew how Neji kept his equipment.
Neji tied off the wrapping on another kunai and slotted it neatly beside the others he had finished before picking up the next, inspecting its handle - the wrapping was frayed - and the blade - one mild nick, otherwise honed and sharp. He removed the fabric and picked up a new strip. Blade after. Routine.
Neji looked up again as his fingers found the rhythm of the wrapping without trouble.
Lee was laughing at something Naruto had said, efficiently slotting tight, clean rolls of bandages into Tenten's kit. Naruto was dividing his attention between swatting away Sakura's correcting hands as he stocked his own kit and talking with Lee, who grinned brightly at both of them as they all worked. Neji took a deep breath and bowed his head, focusing far more than necessary on the task of maintaining his kunai.
He ignored the conversation he could make out fairly easily from where he sat, if he tried.
Just as Neji finished with the last of his shuriken, Gai clapped a hand on his shoulder and praised Neji for his dedication to the task. Neji bowed his head in acknowledgement and let the half-familiar words about focus, determination, mundane tasks, and hard work wash over and through him as easily as he'd learned to years ago.
Being one of Gai's students had taught some interesting skills that Neji suspected most genin didn't learn.
Gai left to help Tenten acquire enough additional weaponry to fill several more scrolls - there was a reason Neji never went to Tenten's apartment; he didn't want to know how many weapons and how many scrolls packed with even more filled the small space - Team Seven trailed off like very loud and complaining ducklings after Kakashi, who was paying no attention to their strident complaints, and Ino led the rest of Team Ten off a few moments later.
Which left Neji and Lee alone, both of them finished with their own tasks.
Neji could just leave; he had a few more things to do, although none imminently pressing. Lee wouldn't even be bothered if he did, much less think it was something out of the ordinary for Neji - more so than he had once been, but Neji was never a terribly sociable person, even with his teammates and his friends.
Neji settled his weapons pouch into place and made his way to where Lee was finishing up the last of his own work. He looked up with a grin. "Neji!" He finished tying his kit closed and bounded to his feet, tucking it under his arm.
Neji gave him a more restrained smile in return. "Lee." he replied, dipping his head slightly. It was more of a smile than most people Neji knew, even ones he liked, would have prompted so easily. Hyuuga did not . . . go around grinning at people. Not that Lee was ever daunted by that kind of thing. "Thank you." Neji tapped his kit.
Lee nodded. "You are welcome, my friend." he said cheerfully. "I am happy to be able to help, of course I am."
Neji was aware. It was one of Lee's most defining traits, in the collection of truly . . . unique qualities that made up Rock Lee. Admirable as many of them were. Which Neji had been sure of for . . . not quite as long as he had known Lee - it had taken a while for his madness to grow on Neji, and Neji had needed to grow up from the bitter, sharp, boy he had become - but for years now. If not in the same way that he had realised he regarded Lee with admiration now.
Lee wouldn't say anything about that, Neji knew. Lee wouldn't even notice, no matter the manner in which Neji regarded him. Neji's mouth twisted.
Lee wouldn't believe anyone would regard him in that way, would admire him so. He was cheerful about it but he was also. . . Certain of his own lack of appeal.
Neji frowned, and Lee made a concerned moue. "Is something wrong, Neji?" he asked, moving a little closer. "You seem as though something is troubling you."
Neji shook his head slightly, surprised. "No, not really." He shouldn't have been surprised that Lee had noticed something was off with him, even if Lee wouldn't guess what. "I've had a lot on my mind. Something particular, rather." he amended.
"Is there anything I can aid you in?" Lee offered immediately, which Neji had not expected, but should have.
He opened his mouth to demur, then paused, eyes narrowing slightly. "Yes." Neji said, and Lee looked surprised. He smiled all the same, though. "I don't know if you would truly wish to, however." Neji said honestly.
"Is there really something I can do to help?" Lee asked. "Of course I would like to help you if I can, Neji! You are," he paused, ducking his head, "you are my teammate, my dear friend, and my eternal rival!" Neji's lips twitched. "I would do anything to aid you, if I am capable of it."
"It's not really that kind of . . . help." Neji said, and Lee made a confused sound.
"What is it that you need?" Lee asked stubbornly, reaching for Neji.
Neji paused to assure himself that he should truly speak. "It isn't really something I need, but," he clasped Lee's hand, turning it over in his own and bringing it up, "something I want. If," he qualified, "it is not just my desire." He didn't define it further, but brushed a kiss to Lee's bare, battered fingertips.
Lee was still, save for the faintest tremble of his fingers. His wide, shocked eyes were locked with Neji's.
Neji raised his head, squeezing Lee's hand - confirmation, assurance - and waited, suppressing nerves with the confidence of a lifetime of practise and necessary composure. Lee smiled at him tentatively, and Neji's heart lightened.
"It's hot today." Lee observed as he pulled off his bandages, dirtied and sloppily loose after his last rounds against the now-splintered practise posts, carefully unwinding the fabric from between his fingers. Neji took another long drink from his thankfully still cool canteen, then lowered it and wiped his mouth. He raised an eyebrow. "Don't you think, Neji?" Lee asked, his voice sounding almost hopeful for some reason.
Lee only inched closer when Neji didn't respond, apparently actually waiting for an answer. "I suppose. . ." Neji said slowly.
"Would you like to have your hair braided today, then?" Lee asked immediately, and Neji blinked.
It was on the tip of his tongue to say 'no' - whatever the weather, he rarely wore a braid, and it wasn't even as hot today as it had been some of the days over the past weeks. Neji eyed Lee and his hopeful, tentative expression again.
Ah. He thought. Neji was not the best at interpersonal things, he was aware. And Lee was so very. . .
Neji reached back to pull the tie from his hair, letting the ends fall free around his hips. With Tenten now taking her turn sparring with Gai, the two of them were alone at the edge of the training field for the moment. "That might be more pleasant." he said evenly, holding out the tie. "Would you mind helping me, Lee?" he asked, and Lee grinned brightly, putting his bandages down and accepting the tie from Neji.
"I would love to!" Lee said, tucking the tie away to free his hands.
Neji turned his back and hopped lightly up onto the fence, pushing his hair back over his shoulder. "Thank you." he said, lifting his chin a little to let his hair fall more smoothly down his back as Lee approached, reaching out for it and trailing a light caress inwards over his shoulders along the way.
Lee's hands were rough with his almost ever-present bandages removed - constantly bruised, lined with scars upon scars, often scraped up despite the protection the bandages provided, and thick with calluses, they were blazoned vividly with reminders of the use to which he put them - but they were always gentle when Lee wasn't fighting. Lee was always gentle, so careful of the strength his insane training regimen had granted him.
Neji tipped his head, just a little, and Lee ducked forwards just enough to brush a fleeting kiss to Neji's shoulder, surprising him, before digging his fingers into the depths of Neji's hair where it rested against his neck. He hid a smile, watching their other teammate bound higher in a graceful arc, vaulting with one hand off one of the weapons she had just summoned in an energetic swirl around her, using its momentum to add power to her own movement.
Lee ran his fingers through Neji's thick hair, which was silky enough to slide easily past even the rough catch offered by the calluses on his fingers, pulling it back. He reached forwards again and carefully drew the shorter locks framing Neji's face back with the rest. Lee's hands were deft as he began plaiting the heavy mass, and his knuckles brushed Neji's head and neck from time to time - companionably affectionate more than incidental to his task, Neji thought, not without fondness.
Neji hummed softly with pleasure, and Lee paused to stroke the nape of his neck with a light, not quite tentative touch. Neji hummed again, louder, approving, and felt Lee ease a little at his back, the touch of his hands growing more confident.
He should be confident in it; he was good at this, and as his fingertips brushed Neji's temples and trailed down his neck Neji had to suppress the urge to purr. He wasn't used to this kind of attention, but over the past couple of weeks he had been slowly getting used to it, and . . . he was enjoying it. As much, perhaps, as Lee seemed to be enjoying the opportunity to offer it.
Lee gently kneaded the nape of his neck, right where his single blind spot would be, when byakugan was activated. Lee's fingertips brushed there with a minor scrape of calluses, perhaps catching a few more strands of hair that had escaped the rest. Neji didn't really care, humming softly again as he leaned into the touch.
"One of you lovebirds ready to take your turn again?" Tenten asked, startling Neji. He'd tuned out enough he hadn't heard or sensed her approaching, eyes mostly closed as he focused on Lee's hands, stroking through his hair and occasionally petting over his neck and shoulders. He frowned a little at himself.
"Ah! Tenten!" Lee said, sounding startled himself, his fingers curling around the tail end of Neji's nearly-completed braid near the small of his back, shifting with a soft scrape of sandals on dirt. Lee had been delaying, taking his time with the task - it should have been done by now. Neji had been basking in the contact and hardly minded.
Well, he'd enjoyed it, really.
Neji scoffed at Tenten, giving her a lazy glare, and rolled one shoulder, leaning pointedly closer to Lee's hands. "When Lee's finished." he said as he gathered his wits again, and Lee laughed a little behind Neji, his sudden tension easing. He smoothed the flat of one hand over Neji's back before returning his attention to the braid to finish it.
"Well all right then." Tenten said, frowning slightly and raising her eyebrows.
It was only a few moments before Lee tied off Neji's long braid and ran his thumb over the tail of it, then let go, finished. He smoothed his hand over Neji's shoulder and giving him a smile, jumping back over the fence eagerly. "I am ready!" he called out, even as Gai approached the three of them.
Neji snagged him by the wrist before he could get any further, going to meet Gai out in the field. "Not until your hands are wrapped again." he said immediately, half scolding, and Lee's bounding steps hitched. He looked surprised, like he'd actually forgotten he'd unwound his bandages and laid them aside, even as Gai added his support to what Neji had said, mild reproof in his tone for Lee forgetting the bandages at all. Neji hesitated briefly, then- "I'll do it." he offered, not quite uncertain. "If you like."
Lee looked back at him, hesitating, then nodded, and when Neji released him he moved to pick two clean rolls of bandages from his things, but only to bring them back and offer them to Neji. Neji took them and held out his hands for Lee's.
Lee paused again, more hesitant than Neji was pleased to see - he hid a frown - then offered up one of his battered, scarred hands. Neji brushed a caress over the backs of his knuckles, then pulled one end of the bandages free and began winding the strip around Lee's forearm, smoothing out his spandex sleeve over the hard muscle there first.
Lee flexed his fingers, and Neji glanced up at his face. He was smiling a little, watching Neji's hands rather than looking at him directly. Neji squeezed a little tighter, rotating Lee's wrist and taking more care as he wrapped the joint and then the breadth of his hand, beginning the more complex pattern required to keep Lee's fingers wrapped securely, but still free to move easily. It wasn't the same way that Neji had once wrapped his own, but the method Lee used was familiar enough all the same.
Lee flexed his fingers when prompted, and Neji made a last adjustment, then tucked the bandages into place to secure them before beckoning for the other hand. Lee hummed happily and swapped hands, offering his left to Neji in turn, with no hesitation this time.
Neji suppressed an unexpected impulse to press a kiss to the crossed mess of scars in the cup of Lee's palm, brushing his thumb there instead. If they had been truly alone, he would have done it, he thought, and was still faintly surprised at himself for that, not used to being so . . . overtly affectionate.
Lee would have been pleased with the gesture, though, probably, Neji thought. If they had been alone and Neji had. Perhaps. Lee held back little of himself, in any sense, and while he was hesitant at times, so far every tentative overture Neji had made had been received with happiness.
Neji finished his task, securing the bandages firmly, then gently squeezed Lee's hand again, their fingers laced, before releasing it. "Finished." he said unnecessarily, meeting Lee's eyes with a small smile.
"Thank you, Neji." Lee said without moving away, giving a shallow bow. Then he was gone, trotting off to join Gai for his turn sparring. Neji watched him go, settling to get more comfortable on top of the fence again.
"What was that between you two?" Tenten prodded, lounging back against the fence nearby. "You've never helped Lee with his bandages unless he's actually hurt. And not acting like that." She gave him a pointed look.
"You already called us lovebirds." Neji pointed out, arching a brow and eyeing her sideways.
Tenten's mouth dropped open for a moment, and then she glared at him. "I was joking!" she snapped, and Neji's lips quirked as he smothered a laugh. He had been slightly surprised to hear it, but then, they had been rather absorbed in each other and Lee had been wrist-deep in his hair. He hadn't been that surprised Tenten had drawn such a conclusion. "Are you- You're serious?" she asked, more quietly, moving closer.
Neji shrugged, but he was smiling as he looked back at the green blurs now circling each other out in the centre of the field.
"Since when?" Tenten asked, shoving her shoulder companionably against Neji's arm.
Neji considered that. "A few weeks." he said softly, thinking of the first time Lee had found his way into Neji's thoughts in this new way, and then of approaching him only some days later. A few weeks, and probably also much longer, though Neji had not consciously indulged such thoughts.
"I was teasing, to start, but you're not, are you?" Tenten asked, and Neji looked at her, frowning. She should know he would not make such a jest. She met his gaze squarely. Tenten knew Neji and Lee both better than most; she did know the answer to her question. Neji wouldn't display anything like such emotion if it weren't honest - it was strange enough when it was real - and Lee would never dissemble in such a way at all.
Neji tipped his head to her in acknowledgement before turning his attention back to the spar roaming at speed from one end of the training field to the other. Gai and Lee were both yelling challenges and compliments at each other as they fought, and it was almost easier to track progress by their words than try and keep up with the speed of their blows.
"I wouldn't have expected it." Tenten said lightly. "But are you happy?"
"Hn." Neji suppressed a smile, and Tenten laughed.
"Good enough, for Neji." she teased knowingly, and Neji's smile broke through.
"And Lee?" Neji questioned, though, and Tenten just gave him a look. He snorted. No, there was little question of Lee's feelings; he was a happy-natured person anyway, and he wouldn't be with Neji if he didn't return Neji's feelings.
"I'm only surprised I didn't find out with an Impassioned Youthful Speech." Tenten said playfully, and Neji shook his head slightly.
Around a month ago I decided to write out a random flash of a mental image. Figured on less than 1k words - Lee braiding Neji's hair, some casual but sweet fluff, either with an established relationship or some close friends leading into pre-relationship feels.
Then I couldn't decide between those two options, and had inadvertently written part of the scene as one, then a gap, then another part of the scene as the other.
Wound up keeping both, and I couldn't just leave it with the actual braiding scene (now two, both before and after their relationship began) so this turned into a getting together story. And here we are, with over 5k words and far more plot and feelings than I really intended even in the slightest. (And at that, I cut a couple of things. They'll probably be a different story, later.)