Author's Note:

Thanks for being patient everyone. I'm currently on a family vacation, so it may take a while for the next few installments. Thanks for reading!


"Ah! There you are, Seiko!"

Lee grinned brilliantly at the small girl when he saw her coming, waving enthusiastically and drawing the attention of the other people out and about in Konoha.

Seiko looked determinedly at the spot just above Lee's head, trying to ignore the way the others stared. For some reason or another, Seiko just could not bring herself to look Lee straight in the eye – not since that day.

Every time she did, she turned a horrid shade of red.

"You're such a dork," Seiko muttered under her breath, hiding her face behind her hand.

But honestly, she was just trying to keep the smile off of her face.

Dork.

Seiko frowned once the word had left her mouth, feeling an immediate twinge of guilt.

Lee never took offense to her name-calling, but lately, Seiko felt bad for doing it.

Did it hurt him as much as it hurt her when Sasuke put her down?

Seiko didn't want to hurt Lee like that. It was just out of habit that she mocked him now – almost like a reflex.

But Lee just smiled at her, running towards her instead of waiting for her to get to him.

Peering over his shoulder, Seiko looked down the crowded street.

"Where's Tenten?" she asked, puzzled.

She, Lee, and Tenten were supposed to meet so they could go out to eat together as a team. After practice that morning, Tenten had suggested it. Of course, Neji had declined the offer (which, if Seiko was right in her suspicions, defeated the whole purpose for Tenten), but the rest had agreed to go.

Normally, Seiko would say no to it as well, but lately, she had found herself wanting to spend more time with Lee.

If she were honest, he was beginning to fill the hole that Sasuke had left – no, more than filling it. She had never felt so alive with another person.

To her, Lee was her best friend, and sometimes she caught herself wondering if she could possibly be as important to Lee as he was to her.

"Oh!" Lee replied to Seiko's question, snapping to attention, "Tenten got called in for a special mission. They put her on another team who requires her skill for today. It's going to be just the two of us."

Seiko squeezed her eyes shut and tried hard to keep those words from fully registering inside her head or her face would turn pink at the very thought. She hadn't been alone with Lee since the incident with Sasuke.

"Oh," she said, perhaps a little too quickly, shrugging, turning her head away from him so he wouldn't see the reddish tinge in her cheeks.

It was uncomfortably quiet (or Seiko sure thought so) for a while, but Lee just smiled contentedly as Seiko stared silently at the ground.

Then:

"...Are we going or what?" Seiko asked irritably, annoyed by the look of positive radiance on his face.

It was making her nervous.

"Okay!" Lee grinned. He grabbed her hand suddenly, smiling at her, and turned down the street in the direction of Icharuka's Ramen Bar.

Seiko gasped lightly, staring down at their now-clasped hands. Lee had never done that before.

Seiko flushed again, biting her lip.

His hand felt warm in hers and, surprisingly enough, completely natural.

But she was supposed to be the tough girl. What if someone saw?

Seiko contemplated yanking her hand away for a moment, but she couldn't bear to hurt Lee's feelings. It was exhausting now, trying to do everything in her power not to make fun of him. Seiko wasn't used to worrying so much about making someone else happy.

So Seiko just sighed instead, letting Lee hold her hand. She decided it wasn't that big of a deal, and truth be told, she was enjoying herself.

And besides, she would make any who made a remark about it regret opening their mouth.

Eventually, they made it to Icharuka's Ramen and sat next to each other at the stools. No other customer was there – again it was just the two of them.

After they had both ordered, Lee set to eating his food with gusto. He was extremely hungry after training all morning because, of course, he had trained a lot longer than the others.

Seiko just picked up her chopsticks and poked at her ramen dully for a while, her mind drifting elsewhere. In truth, there was something she wanted to say to Lee, but she wasn't sure how to bring it up...or if she could bring it up, for that matter.

Lee happened to glance over at her, swallowing abruptly at the look on her face. She looked kind of down on herself.

Food forgotten, Lee instantly pushed his ramen to the side and set his chopsticks down.

"Seiko?" he asked, turning to her with a confused expression, "Is something wrong?"

Seiko jumped out of her thoughts abruptly, suddenly aware of Lee watching her with that damned concerned look again. It made her feel worse than she did already. She knew she didn't deserve it from him.

She was just starting to realize how very mean she had been to him all these years. Why had he ever put up with her?

Seiko even felt as though she were worse than Sasuke. Though, of course, Lee would instantly deny it, she thought surely he must think it so, too, deep down.

"No," Seiko replied quietly, "I'm fine…Please, don't worry about me, Lee."

Lee frowned now, looking incredibly serious all of a sudden.

If something was troubling Seiko, he would go to the ends of the earth to fix it, but it was frustrating because he knew in his heart of hearts, she would never let him know if that were the case.

He opened his mouth to say something, hoping to drag the truth from out of her, but Seiko continued before he could say a word.

"Lee..." she started hesitantly, looking away from him. She stared at her fingers determinedly, refusing to glance his way.

Lee had never heard her say his name like that before. She had said his name in a lot of ways over the course of the past year. Sometimes, she sounded irritated. Sometimes, she chided him. She taunted him. She mocked, teased, and scolded him. But for once, she didn't sound as if she were picking on him.

She sounded as if she were about to pick on herself.

"...I'm sorry," she whispered finally, blushing furiously.

Seiko had rehearsed this moment for a long time, practicing exactly what she would say when the time arrived, and this wasn't at all how she had meant it to be.

She had told herself that she would be strong and say it with confidence – that she would look Lee right in the eyes, and let him know that she truly meant it.

But...she felt so vulnerable – so stupid. Her voice was barely even a whisper. She wondered if Lee could even hear it.

She just felt so ashamed of herself.

"Seiko..." Lee began in a soft voice, frowning, but Seiko cut him off.

"I'm sorry for talking to you the way I do – for the things I've said," she continued, getting more and more agitated as she twiddled her fingers, "I-I'm not making excuses for anything, but...I…I promise I don't really mean them. I mean, at least, not completely. I don't mean them in...in a mean way...I just-"

She broke off abruptly, slipping off the stool as if she were about to leave. Her face was bright red, and she felt as if she might cry suddenly.

It exasperated her, because she had no idea why.

But that's when she felt Lee's warm hand close around hers firmly. He squeezed her fingers gently, trying to get her to turn around and look at him.

When she didn't respond, he lifted his other hand up and placed it on her cheek, guiding her face to his.

Seiko's breath caught in her throat, and her stomach erupted with butterflies. Her skin burned where his hand rested.

Seiko didn't know what to call this. Lately, she had caught herself feeling a sort of longing when she was around him. She didn't know what she wanted exactly, but...she wanted it so bad.

And at that moment, with Lee's hand on her cheek, she wished that the rest of the world – Sasuke, the Hyuuga clan, even the whole of Konoha – could just disappear, and that it could just be her and Lee.

Suddenly, Seiko pulled her hand away from Lee's, and his other hand slid off of her cheek.

Lee just smiled gently, no trace of hurt on his face. This kind of reaction was only to be expected from Seiko.

He knew she didn't become close with people so easily. He couldn't possibly expect anything more from her.

"Seiko, I know you don't mean it," he said easily, shrugging as if there was nothing to apologize for, "You don't have to worry about it…In fact, I don't want you to worry about it."

Seiko stared at Lee for long time, knowing she should react to this somehow, but completely at a loss as to how to do so.

But she smiled before she could stop herself – a genuine, happy smile.

Lee had never seen a smile like that from her, and certainly not one that came so easily. It made him feel warm, like Seiko was his own personal sun, shining down upon him.

Fondly, he wondered how red she would turn if he told her so.

But Seiko turned back to her ramen abruptly, sitting once again as she escaped the odd look on Lee's face.

She wondered, almost longingly, about what he was thinking. She caught herself doing that a lot lately. Maybe…he was thinking about her.

She liked the idea.

Lee, too, turned back to his ramen and finished long before Seiko did, but he waited for her patiently, chattering away with her about anything that came to his mind – anything to distract her from the guilt she was feeling.

If he only she had said something sooner so that he could have made her feel better. He hated the idea of her suffering, all alone, when he could have been doing something about it. If only she were more open with him…

When Seiko finished, Lee leapt up, offering to walk her home.

"I can make it to my house by myself, Lee, "she muttered, embarrassed, trying to cover up for being so open with him earlier.

Lee just shrugged, smiling cheerfully.

"My house is in the same direction."

Normally, if anyone was headed in the same direction as him, he would challenge them in a race. That was how Gai-sensei would do it after all: better yourself in every way possible, and never refuse a challenge.

A certain epic rock-paper-scissors match between Gai and Sasuke's instructor, Kakashi, came to mind.

But this was one of the things that made Lee and Seiko's relationship so different. Even though Seiko often patronized him, Lee never felt as if he had to prove himself to her.

When finally they got to Seiko's house, Lee walked her right up to the door, ever the polite one.

Seiko found it embarrassing, funny, but also a little flattering.

She reached out to open the door, but someone from the inside beat her to it, sliding the door open and revealing a startled Neji.

"Oh. Seiko," he began shortly, blinking. Then he spotted Lee and raised an eyebrow in his direction.

"Lee?" he asked, the tell-tale smirk, reserved only for his teammate, curling the corners of his mouth, "What are you doing here?"

"Oh! Um...I just thought I'd walk Seiko home," Lee explained quickly, rubbing the back of his head, "You know...since it's on the way."

The truth was, Lee was a bit nervous about how Neji would react if he found out that he was in love with his little sister.

Neji narrowed his eyes at Lee suddenly, a frown on his face. Crossing his bandaged arms in front of him, he stared hard at Lee with his piercing lavender eyes.

"But your house is on the other side of town," he stated suspiciously, eyes fixed shrewdly on the slightly flustered Genin.

Seiko looked from Lee to Neji curiously.

"What?" she demanded, glancing back and forth between the two of them.

"Ah! I almost forgot! I have to go meet Guy for more training!" Lee exclaimed, clumsily evading the question before shouting out a few hurried goodbyes, "Bye, Seiko! Neji! See you at practice tomorrow!"

Turning around, Lee headed down the path as quickly as he could without looking suspicious, while Neji gazed after him with narrowed eyes. He turned back into the house, shaking his head. He had forgotten completely why he had wanted to go outside in the first place.

But Seiko turned back to look at Lee before following after him, a smile on her face.

"Lee!" she called suddenly, stopping the boy in his tracks. He slid to a stop, turning back in an instant.

He would never leave as long as Seiko called him back.

Lee glanced at her questioningly, and she hesitated, opening and closing her mouth as if she were trying to find the right words. Eventually, she settled on one.

"Thanks."

The sound of the door shutting followed shortly afterwards with a loud and abrupt slam, hiding a furiously blushing Hyuuga girl.


Disclaimer:

I do not own the Naruto characters like Sasuke, Neji, or Lee.

Thanks for reading! Please review!