Action Potential

Rating: T

Warnings: Mild Sexuality

Tenten called these few weeks magical. Neji welcomed her into a relationship and his delicately affectionate way made her more then happy. They spent all of their free time together. After training, they parted with quiet good-byes to Lee and Gai and took hands and went running (well, Tenten ran, Neji let himself be dragged along) down the street to some nearby restaurant. It was a simple relationship, little more then chaste kisses and soft blushes. Neji had to keep up his polite Hyuuga traditions, while Tenten respected that and never went too far.

Of course, the cute carefulness of it all very quickly started to get on her nerves. She was seventeen for the love of god! She didn't want to pretend she was in middle school until they got married! That thought made her blush. Like Neji would ever marry her.

She came out of her thoughts, turning to Neji to speak her mind to him and stopped. Pearl eyes were trained intensely on Lee. The lotus slid through a kata with easy fluid movement. She glanced between the two. He never looked at her like that. She felt oddly jealous at the possessive expression. "Neji-san?"

He blinked and turned his head just enough to see her. She wrapped her arms around him, kissing him lightly on the cheek. He kissed her back, quickly, before turning his gaze back to Lee.

"Um..." She sat back and wrung her hands. "Neji-san, why are you going out with me?"

That brought his full attention. "Because I..." He choked on the words of affection. "I like you." She met his eyes briefly. He looked so uncomfortable.

"Don't you like Lee better," she muttered, a little startled at the sharp edge to her voice.

"N-No." An awkward pause stretched between them. "Lee is an idiot." Tenten glared into his eyes, trying to see the truth. He looked back, trying to keep her out. They were drawn into the struggle, losing track of the world.

"You look so youthful!"

Tenten screeched in surprise. Lee stood over them, grinning impossibly wide. He looked deliciously tired, sweat rolling down his temples in little drops. Tenten averted her eyes, stopping any kind of fantasy from invading her mind, and saw Neji do the same.

Gai, quite suddenly, appeared out of whatever shojo land he went to when he wasn't at practice and dismissed them. He vanished again with a bright laugh. Even Lee looked a little disturbed by the display.

A long awkward moment passed, with Lee standing over them and continuing to grin. They usually said good-bye to the lotus right about now and headed off together, but neither Tenten nor Neji was really feeling in the mood for a date. Lee was obviously expecting it though, so they murmured quiet salutations and walked off in opposite directions.

00000

It didn't take Neji long to find her. She hadn't exactly been hiding, but still... She realized she had been hoping Lee would find her first when she looked up from her coffee and found the Hyuuga standing in the doorway. He sat down across from her and waited for a reaction. When she didn't dignify him with one, he decided it was time to get on with his business. "Do you think we can work it out?" He sounded genuine at least.

She shrugged. "I'm not even sure what's wrong. It just feels like this is a relationship of convenience for you."

He blinked those gorgeously white eyes and sighed. "It's not. I-I promise..."

"Were you telling me the truth? About Lee?"

He watched her, little stress lines appearing between his eyebrows. Finally he sighed again, his head drooping in something like defeat. "No."

She pursed her lips slightly. Now that she thought about it, the only time she'd ever been near Neji for any length of time, Lee had been there, facilitating the conversation.

"Do you like him?"

The question surprised her a little. "I... well..." She took a deep breath. "Yes. I think I do."

"He's always been the glue you know. To us." She nodded. "I don't think I would have given you a second glance if he hadn't been there." She watched him. He shrugged. "I'm not going to lie to you Tenten. Hyuuga don't lie to potential partners."

She blushed, the comment coming a little to close to her thoughts on marrying him. After a long moment when they listened to the soft clatter of the other restaurant-goers, Tenten met his eyes, fierce determination darkening her features. "What do the Hyuuga say about multiple partners?"

He blinked again, obviously startled by the sudden suggestion hidden in the question. "Tenten... I... Lee wouldn't approve." Tenten could see him berating himself for not coming up with a better excuse. It was rare, these days when Neji let his emotions play on his face like this.

She smiled. "You never know."

"He's too polite," Neji insisted. "He won't agree."

She immediately reached over and smacked him across the head. "Look. I think this has been on its way ever since we kissed the first time. You're right. Lee is the glue. The two of us are just too dysfunctional to make us work. We can either drop the idea of an us now, or we can ask him and maybe he'll be fine with it."

"They'll call you a slut for having two men."

"They'll call you a disgrace and a fairy for taking a man at all."

They watched each other. Tenten knew Neji wasn't going to let it drop. He would accept. It would just take him a couple minutes.

And finally, he nodded. "What do we do?"

00000

Lee's schedule could be called random. It could be called incredibly random actually and it was at times like these that Tenten wished he would sit still for more then a few seconds at a time. The timing though happened to work out quite perfectly. The sun had just gone down, the sky still tinted with faint blue, when they found him at the park. He was sitting quietly on a bench, inspecting the world and twiddling his thumbs because he never stopped moving.

Neji glanced at her nervously before taking her hand. They walked passed him as if they hadn't even noticed him. He watched them go by, not saying a word until Neji glanced over his shoulder and met his eyes. "Lee," he stated in his calmly apathetic voice.

"Neji-san." Lee nodded, standing and catching Tenten's eyes when she pretended to suddenly notice him.

"Lee-kun!" She threw her arms around his neck, and pulled him in close. It was theatrical. It was supposed to be. He looked to Neji, who waved him along, before wrapping her into a loose hug.

"Tenten. What are you doing here?" He was unreasonably tense under her hands. She snuggled him, willing him to relax a little. Not that she could really blame him for his tension. Neji could be a little extreme in the defense of his relationship.

"Relax Lee-kun. You act like you've never been hugged before," she purred into his ear.

She could hear Neji almost laughing at her, before he pressed in close and kissed Lee lightly on the forehead. "You should relax when she says, idiot."

"B-but Neji-san… I…" Tenten let him go. He blinked innocently round eyes, looking between the two of them. "I don't…" He frowned, quietly absorbing what he knew, setting each piece in its place. "Did you plan…?"

Tenten laughed out loud and kissed him on the mouth. He glanced between her and Neji, something like fear apparent in his eyes. He made an odd squeak sound when she dragged him in deeper. She stepped back just as he started to respond, giving Neji room to come in.

The Hyuuga grabbed him around the waist, pulling him close. He pressed their foreheads together and smiled. "Will you be with us?"

As if Neji's sudden smile wasn't disarming enough, Tenten took his hand gently and squeezed it. "Please?"

He watched Neji's face for any sign of a joke. There wasn't one. A little tentatively at first, he kissed Neji. Tenten smiled as it quickly became something like a battle. They parted, out of breath, Lee smiling, Neji smirking. Tenten snatched a light kiss of her own as he nodded and accepted their proposal.

I have to say, this story refused to be written without a violent struggle on several occasions. It didn't come out perfect, but it's fluffy enough. Heh.

The title is connected to the story I swear! See, when a neuron is resting, it isn't polarized which just means there are some positive elements on the outside and some negative ones on the inside. When the neuron fires all the positives rush inside and it then becomes polarized. This is called the action potential. And this story was all about Lee (positive) being welcomed inside Neji and Tenten's (negative) relationship. It's obscure I know.

Reviews are appreciated muchly.