I figured that since I'm creating so many new stories on here already, this one may as well go up. ;)

Naruto and its characters do not belong to me.

All Things Metal: Lee, Neji, Tenten

Part 1: Naming Metal Lee

It began with Lee.

His day had unfurled wonderfully with all the springtime that one could possibly hope for—pink-blue skies, balmy weather, birds chirping, and the faint hammering of construction that was still going on at the edges of Konoha. He, himself, was on the way to the training grounds on the other side of the village, and his first challenge of the day was to run through the most twisted, darkest alleys to get there.

It was good training, as Gai-sensei would say; by doing this, he was increasing his reaction times to unforeseen obstacles in very little space at all, and judging by how the Fire Country cities were expanding ever closer to the village, they were increasingly being sent on missions involving concrete-and-glass skyscrapers with dark alleys similar to this.

It was also good training to keep his eyes peeled and his ears opened for any sound of danger in cramped places, which was how Lee caught on to the little wailing sound.

At first, he'd thought it was a cat. Cats made yowling noises much like infants when they mated, so he'd dismissed it.

But it didn't stop. Instead, it grew steadily louder as he rounded sharp corners and tore through grimy alleyways. He thought he should probably investigate, in case a child got lost.

What he found, however, was no toddler.

Lee gave an exclamation of surprise when he spotted the little bundle tucked by a trash can, quivering just the slightest bit.

The wailing turned deafening as he approached, and he stared, aghast, when he saw the round, barely-fuzzed head with its mouth wide open in a cry, red-faced and slit-eyed and no teeth on its gums.

"How could anyone do this to you?" he shouted in horror, picking the bundle up.

The baby cried harder.

He'd never carried infants before, except on missions long past—D-ranked tasks that he'd done with Neji and Tenten an age ago—and even then, he had no idea what to do with tiny humans this small. Was it even a day old? Could he coax it to stop crying?

It didn't seem to want to no matter how much he rocked it, so he hurried out of the alleys into the nearest street.

"Excuse me," he asked the nearest woman, "I found this infant in the alley! Do you know how he got to be there?"

Women stared at him in bewilderment. He implored them for information on the child so he could return it to its parents... but no one would claim parenthood of it. A further trip to the Hokage's office proved unfruitful. Kakashi had Kotetsu take down details about the infant's whereabouts when Lee found it, then promptly dispatched Lee to the orphanage.

"That'll be the best place for it now," Kakashi had said.

He brought it to the training grounds instead.

Neji and Tenten were on the far side of the clearing, heads bent together in some discussion. On any other day, Lee would've slunk away to train by himself (they really needed to tell each other about their youthful feelings already), but today was an exception.

"Neji!" he hollered, "Tenten!"

The baby, which had been starting to quieten, began caterwauling in his arms again.

His teammates glanced at him, at each other, and then seemed to realize how much space there wasn't between their faces. Both scrambled backwards. Lee would have shouted about their youthfulness if he wasn't so intent on showing them what he'd found.

Tenten was the first to get to her feet. She brushed her pants off, looking suspiciously between him and the bundle in his arms. Before either her or Neji could get a word in, he piped, "I have a child!"

They stared at him; Neji a little incredulously, and Tenten with her jaw hanging open.

"You... have a child," she repeated a moment later.

He could see the thoughts forming in her mind and raised a hand to dispel the accusations she was going to yell. "Not like that, Tenten," Lee protested, a hot flush rising to his cheeks. "I found him on the streets!"

"Oh." Tenten's shock subsided, to be taken over by curiosity. Meanwhile, Neji had come up to stand a short distance behind her, pale eyes calmly studying the bundle. "Why did you bring it here, then?"

He heaved a sigh. "Kakashi-sensei said to take it to the orphanage."

Tenten exchanged a look with him. They had grown up in the same orphanage together, she with the girls and he with the boys, and Lee couldn't honestly say that he would want to put a child in there, if he could help it. It was lonely.

"You're not?" Neji asked flatly.

"No," Lee had decided. "If no one claims this child, I'm bringing him home. He will grow up with all the love in the world!"

Tenten's features twisted into one of consternation. "But you don't know how to care for an infant, Lee, do you?"

"I'll learn," he answered in earnest. On the way here, he'd thought about the different things he could do to help. It had to be fate for him to find a child like that. Not only that, but the one time it had fallen silent enough to look at him, Lee realized that it had ink-black eyes, just like his own.

"You know it's a boy?" Neji questioned suddenly. "What if it's a girl?"

He realized that he had no idea what the child's gender was, and grimaced. "Uh, well... I don't know."

Tenten sighed in exasperation. "Come on, if you're going to keep it, we may as well find out now."

He hung back with Neji while Tenten set the bundle on the ground and undid the blankets. Then he figured that, since he was going to care for the child, he might as well find out for himself.

"It's a boy," Tenten pronounced (Lee confirmed it with his own eyes), wrapping the bundle back up. The infant had begun to cry again; she winced, handed it quickly back to Lee. "Are you sure you'll be fine? It'll take up a lot of time, you know."

That thought hadn't occurred to him before. What did infants do between eating and sleeping? He could leave it at home for some hours while he trained, right?

"The other girls have been talking about it," Tenten recalled, wincing again. "Ino took two months off active duty after she gave birth to Inojin."

Lee gaped at her, horrified. "Will I have to give up my training for two entire months?"

"You can always send it to the orphanage," Neji pointed out. He glanced around the training grounds. "We should begin sparring, it's late enough."

"No!" he yelped. He'd made a promise to the boy, that he would care for him. "I won't let him go there if his parents aren't found!"

Tenten had her own misgivings. "Surely other women are more capable of caring for him."

That's right—Tenten was female, so— "What about you, Tenten? Will you help me raise him?"

To the side, Neji choked.

Lee pressed on before they could descend into awkward silence. (Because it was clear that Neji wasn't going to be happy if Lee took up all of Tenten's time with a child that wasn't theirs.) "We should care for him, all three of us!"

Neji's shocked stare turned into one of uneasiness, and Tenten frowned at him. "No!" she protested, "I didn't sign up for this!"

"I have duties to the clan," Neji reminded them.

Lee felt his spirits fall. "But I can't just watch him grow up all by himself."

"There are other kids at the orphanage," the Hyuuga prodigy pointed out.

This time, both Lee and Tenten looked at him. "It isn't that pleasant there," Tenten eventually said. "You wouldn't know, Neji."

"What, then?" he returned, smooth brow furrowed. The infant had started to wail again, and it was obvious that Neji was the least comfortable with the sound. Lee attempted to rock the bundle gently; the boy calmed down somehow.

"I'll raise him, with Gai-sensei's help too," Lee suggested. "And both of yours. We'll care for him as a team."

The workload, split among four of them, didn't sound like such a bad idea.

"Gai-sensei doesn't have much to do these days," Tenten mused, her jaw working. She gazed into the trees, deep in thought. "It'll really help if he has something new to concentrate on."

The war had damaged Gai's body more than he let on—there were issues with his lower back and legs especially, though his arms and torso had escaped the brunt of it. Tsunade had taken him permanently off the active roster.

"I don't think he knows how to care for an infant, either," Neji retorted. "None of us do."

"Then we'll learn," Lee chirped. The prospect of all four of them caring for this child was starting to grow on him, a lot. "Besides, Gai-sensei is close to Kurenai-sensei, she'll know some tips for sure."

Tenten pursed her lips in consideration; Neji took one look at her, and glowered at Lee. He smiled innocently back.

"Gai-sensei doesn't really watch you train all day," Tenten said quietly, thinking. "And he'd be thrilled by the idea of nurturing another boy. Especially if he can make it wear green spandex all its life."

Disgust flashed through both her face and Neji's, and Lee lit up. "Yes!" he enthused, "I'm sure we'll be able to find some spandex for it! It'll be the perfect material for a baby, it wicks sweat away and—"

"No green spandex," Tenten snapped. "At least, not on my watch."

"You're agreeing then?" Lee asked hopefully.

"I should... learn," she said haltingly, glancing in Neji's direction. Both flushed.

"I guess I'll help," Neji agreed reluctantly. There was a mix of expressions on his face, part-resentful, part-resigned.

He fought the sudden urge to crow in triumph. "Yosh! We should think of a name for him!"

"Haru?" Tenten volunteered. "It's spring now."

"Katsuo?" Neji said. "A boy raised by Team Gai would be victorious, and a future hero."

Lee chewed on his lip for a longest time. "We should combine our characteristics," he said. Both his teammates frowned and stared at him, thinking hard.

Before any of them could answer, Lee shouted, "Metal Lee!"

"What kind of name is that?" Tenten sputtered. Neji winced, like he'd stepped on something nasty.

"Metal Lee," he said again, looking down at the infant, who had somehow begun to smile.

"We're not giving him a name like that," Neji muttered in consternation.

"But it's the true reflection of Team Gai, don't you see?" he implored. The other two stared at him as if he'd grown a ear on his forehead. "Gai-sensei's name is Maito Gai. I'm Rock Lee. Metal Lee would fit right in with the pronunciation, and besides, Neji's name means screw, which is made of metal, and Tenten, you're the one who uses all the metal weapons!"

Neji and Tenten were struck silent for a while. "It's still not a meaningful name," Neji said uncertainly.

"It's different," Lee protested. "Why don't we ask Gai-sensei what he thinks?"

At that, Tenten groaned, because (Lee knew for a fact that) Gai-sensei would absolutely love the name Metal Lee. "He's staying permanently at your place or Gai-sensei's, Lee," she muttered. "I'm only volunteering to help. For short periods at a time."

"Same here," Neji agreed.

Lee beamed anyway. Metal Lee was going to have a great family!

A/N: I did receive your prompts, and will be slowly working my way through them. ;)