Megumi: Thank you Anagram RMX for your suggestions!!! .

Valentine's day was approaching, and Tenten began to act curiously. One day after training, Rock Lee confronted her.

"Tenten chan-what's wrong?"

She sulked against a tree, trying to act strong. "Nothing, Lee. Nothing,"

Rock Lee smirked in an unrockleeish way. "Its about Valentine's day, is it not?"

Tenten's eyes grew wide quickly. "What would make you-"

Rock lee smiled. "Youthful love is easy to see!"

Tenten blushed brightly. "Its not like that, really. I'm not that way..."

"So who is the lucky man?" Rock Lee grinned.

Tenten rubbed her arm, her eyes turnign to a tree. "It's no one-"

"Oh, Tenten chan! You can't deny that your flower has blossomed, and you have youthful affections for someone!"

She gave him a soft glare. "Maybe not, but I don't have to tell you who," she began to walk away.

"Please, Tenten chan!" Rock Lee melted to the ground. Now that was more RockLeeish.

"No,"

"Please!"

"No,"

"I'll have to start guessing then!"

Tenten froze, slowly turning to face Rock Lee. "DON'T YOU--"

"Is it Sasuke san?"

"Stop, Lee."

"Naruto kun?"

"STOP, LEE."

"Shino san?"

"STOP IT LEE!!" Tenten shouted at the top of her lungs.

Rock Lee frowned. "Youre no fun, Tenten chan,"

Her eye brows furrowed. "Who said I was?"

A light bulb lit up above Lee's head. "I know! It's Neji san, is it not?"

Her face grew bright red. BINGO. "W-what? N-neji san? No!"

"You can't deny it, Tenten chan!"

"Yes I can!"

"No you can't!'

"YES I CAN!"

"You're in denial, Tenten chan."

She fell to the ground defeated. "Ok, fine. Don't tell a soul," her eyes glared red. "OR I WILL DICE YOU AND THEN KILL YOU." Rock Lee gulped at Tenten's unyouthful threat.

He quickly regained composure as he did a yosh! thing. "You wanted Neji to give you a Valentine then?"

She frowned. "Maybe...but he never would. He's not like that." she laughed sadly. "I doubt he even knows that its Valentines' Day..."

"True, Neji is not very youthful..." Lee mused. He twitched. "Scratch that. He has no youth," he said, recalling countless fights with his stoic teammate. He did his YOSH! thing again. "But I shall remind him!"

Tenten's soft brown eyes looked up. "Wha-?"

"Anythign for the flower of the team!" Rock Lee winked. Inner Tenten gagged. "But-" he regained almost...normal composure. "What is it that you want, Tenten?"

"What do you mean?"

"What kind of Valentine did you want?"

She paused for a moemnt, never having really thought that far. She would be amazed if Neji got her anythign. She blushed, then replied. "I guess...a flower,"

Rock Lee's eye brows went up. "Just A--flower? That's it? Not even a bouquet? No chocolates or plushes or cards or-"

"Nope," Tenten smiled sweetly. "Just a flower!" she giggled. "If you can even get him to give me that, I will be-" she blushed, noticing that Rock Lee was beaming.

"HOW YOUTHFUL, TENTEN CHAN!!" she felt him hugging her.

Eww...Rock Lee germs...she thought to herself, but decided to shake it off. He was goign to try and help her, after all. "Thanks, Lee," she smiled.

II.

Later that week, Neji and Rock Lee were going to train. Well, this was uncommon, but Rock Lee finally convinced Neji that Tenten was sick and that they were not goign to help her recover, but rather, train. That was what she would want, after all. Neji reluctantly complied.

After a good sparring session, Rock Lee spontaneously began, "So Neji-are you prepared for the approaching Valentines Day?"

"?!" Neji was caught off guard with that question. To put it bluntly, he had been playing in his mind ideas of how to impress Tenten this V-day. a clip of Neji cooly handing Tenten an overflowing bouquet of flowers. She hugs him and kisses his cheek. Score.. Neji mutters. But it was just a dream...He wasn't good at...romance and whatever. So, it would probably be another lonely valentines day for him. vv

"Isn't there a youthful girl that you wish to be your valentine?" Rock Lee presssed on further.

"No," Neji lied smoothly. "Do I look like the romantic type?"

"NO, but I know that deep down, you have youthful passions for a certain girl..." Rock Lee invented.

Neji's eyes practically popped out of his head. HOw did Rock Lee know-"What are you talking about, Lee?"

"You can tell me,"

"Why would I?"

"HA!" Rock Lee pointed a finger at Neji's chest. "SO YOU DO HAVE YOUTHFUL AFFECTIONS!"

Neji froze and fell to the ground. "What does it matter to you?" he refuted once he regained his composure.

"Because I believe that Tenten does not have anyone else that she'd rather receive a Valentine from,"

Wow, Lee's good- Neji thought to himself. THis is kinda...creepy. "What makes you say its Tenten?"

"Would you like me to list out the evidence?" With a nod of concent from Neji, Lee began. "You don't spar with anyone else, she's the only girl you'll talk to, whenever anyone says anythign with the syllable 'Ten' in it, you instantly raise your head, you watch her for excessive periods of time-"

"Ok, I get the point," Neji glared. Note Bene: Learn to be less conspicuous... Neji mused.

"Anyway, what are you goign to get her?" Rock Lee continued.

Neji's eyes grew wide. "What?!"

"A Valentine-"

THe clip of him giving her flowers, and her kissing him on the cheek kept on reeling trhough his mind...Will you stop?! Neji shouted to himself. "What do you get girls?"

"A FLOWER!" Rock Lee replied quickly.

"..." Neji replied as he walked away.

III.

This was the first time in recorded history that Neji stepped foot into the Yamanaka flower shop.

Ino was suprirsed to see the meanie that denied her beauty walk into her shop. "Neji?!"

He froze. He didn't realize...Ino of all people ran this shop. "...blame Lee."

"?!"

"He told me to come and buy a flower,"

Ino' s mind replayed the similar scenes of Lee coming in to buy flowers for his "beloved Sakura chan". She rolled her eyes, "Sure,"

"WEll," Neji's face grew red. "He did,"

"You're getting flowers for a girl," Ino predicted stoically.

"?!?"

Ino sighed, flipping her white blonde hair. "I was going to let you admit it, but since you're so stubborn-"

"?!"

"You came here for Tenten"

HOw does everyone know?!? Neji wondered as he fell backwards. "How-"

Ino grinned and winked. "I'm a Yamanaka! I know these things!"

Neji quickly regained composure. "Well, now that you've said it-yes,"

Ino smiled. "So did you want a bouquet?" He nodded. "So tell me then-what do you think about Tenten?"

"?!"

SHe frowned. This was what guys always said. "I have to know what qualities you see in her if I'm gonna make a bouquet. Each flower signifies somethign," she played with a daffodil.

Neji glared. "You're not my therapist."

Ino restrained a giggle. "YOU have a therapist?!" she managed to blurt out.

Neji's mind reeled back to him and HInata in her room, him crying OOC about how Tenten would never like him since he was so serious. Hinata tried to reassure him that that wasn't true, though she had to wonder who could like Neji nii san...sweat drop . He nodded embarrased.

"That's good," Ino sighed, thinking of all her emotional problems. Shika said it was too torublesome to listen to her, and Chouji was constantly eating, not giving her attention...but anywya. "Come on, just tell me something,"

Neji glared, but gave in. "Well... I think she's really beautiful, and she's a reliable person. She's strong in her abilities and she's passionate about what she does.." he continued on, Ino nodding as she looked at the various flowers, trying to pick the best ones.

Meanwhile, Tenten was walking by, and couldn't help but stop at the sound of Neji's voice. Surprised, she drew closer to see him in Ino's shop.

"...and I guess she's just about perfect in every way," he concluded, though funnily, still in his stoic voice. Ino nodded with a smile.

Tenten's eyes opened wide. "What-he likes someone?" her heart froze. She had never thought this would be possible-for him to like anyone, really. Hearing what he had said, she instantly decided it couldn't be her. All neji had ever done was tell her to improve and that she was weak. But this girl-he praised her unlike any other. Her heart sank , being ripped to shreads. Nothing mattered anymore.

Trying to get away from this sudden emotion that gripped her, she ran as far and as fast as she possibly could. Tears stained her cheeks, but she didn't care. As long as Neji didn't see nad call her weak.

"There!" Ino said in victory, finding the perfect flower.
"A-rose?" Neji said anti-climactically. "It took you this long just to say taht I should get her a rose?"

Ino pouted. "You did say she just wanted ONE flower?"

He nodded. "That's what Rock Lee said."

"Strange..." Ino mused, fingering the thorny flower in her hand. "But the rose says just about everythign... as one poet put it, 'You are just as a rose; strong and independant are your thorns, yet beautiful and gentle are your petals,'" she sighed, musing of some handsome young shinobi saying such a thing to her.

Apparently, Neji did not care about any of that. As long as he found the right thing to give Tentent. "So-she'll liek it?"

"Of course!" Ino smiled warmly, handing him teh red rose. "Just-tell her how you feel!"

His eyes narrowed, annoyed. "Tell-her how I feel?!"

Ino nodded strongly. "Us girls like that."

"..."

"Well its true, lover boy!" Ino glared. "Chicks don't liek it when you say 'YOu're weak. Go train,"

Guilt trip for Hyuuga! His mind flashed back, with teh happy flashback music, of countless times he had said to Tenten , "You're weak. Go train." or "Get serious," or somethign along those lines. He didn't feel liek a prodigy now.

Realizing she hit a soft spot, she frowned sadly. "Gomen-Neji,"

Neji shook it off, pulling out some money for the rose. "Its fine--Thanks, Ino," he said as he walked out, wonderin gwhere Tnetne was.

Tneten eventually wandered to her typical training spot with Neji. Now, it was empty and she couldn't have been more glad. There, she let her heart burst and her sobs ring out. Why did it hurt so much-knowing Neji loved someone else? Was it because it wasn't her who melted his ice cold heart? She wasn't sure, but now, she would have rather been stabbed in teh heart by a kunai than the knowledge of her unrequited love.

Her fingers brushed over a log next to her. "Just a flower...is all I wish for..." she sighed, knowing she would get no Valentine's Day flower.

"That's it?" a voice came up from behind her. Startled, she jumped up, reaching for a shuriken. But when she saw the hyuuga eyes meeting hers, she quickly dropped it embarrased.

"G-gomen nasai, Neji san," she said, red reaching her cheeks. Did he just hear that- she wondered, unable to meet his pearly eyes. But ot her surpirse, he pulled out a single, perfect red rose. Her eyes grew wide. "N-neji?" she asked, hardly above a whisper.

"Here," he handed it to her, wondering whta the heck to do. He was far from being a romantisist. "Happy Valentines Day, Tenten chan,"

O//////O Her hand slowly reached out and grabbed teh stem, unable to speak. Her smile grew, pulling at the corners fo her mouth. "Wow-thank you, Neji," she held the flower close to her face, smelling its strong scent.

That smile...Neji couldn't help but watch her, taking in everything about her. She soon noticed, looking up at him surprised. He quickly turned red (OOCness!!!!!), tryign to figure out what to do. So, Impulse led him! YEA!!!!! O.o Before Tenten knew what was happening, she felt his lips press against hers. Suprirsed yet overjoyed, Tenten wrapped her arms around his neck, enjoying the moment. It wasn't every day that Neji opened up liek that .

"I love you, Tenten," he said, hardly above a whisper, as they broke apart.

Tenten looked up at him with her honey eyes, still amazed by all of this. "H-honto ni?" she asked. He nodded.

MegumI: Wow, that ending was so cheezy. Oh well.