So when I said i'd try to update more I apparently meant i'd update at my own pace...

Sorry about that, but I hope this chapter can (maybe) make up for my horrible time management

As always, nothing belongs to me but my own horrendous writing. Enjoy!

Tenten came back to herself when she felt Hinata's hand gently squeeze her upper arm. The brunette turned to face her female friend and gave her a brief smile, hoping to quell the questions she could see brewing behind lavender eyes. That particular memory was never fun to look back on, and she definitely didn't like talking about it if she could avoid it, but it had been an important step in her life none the less. And while she still hadn't managed to kick her crush on Neji, her jealousy issues had improved greatly from that moment on. She had quickly reverted back to dressing like herself, the first step in a long line of corrective measures. She diligently sorted through her whole wardrobe one even, pulling out all the dresses she had bought for the sole purpose of trying to impress the male Hyūga. The massive pile of dresses and skirts had been promptly donated so Tenten would never have to see them again; She didn't need any more reminders of her shameful behaviour. After that, everything seemed easier. And now, as much as Neji still didn't acknowledge her in a romantic way, they were at the very least friends. And that really did seem to be enough for Tenten. The male Hyūga, as much as he liked to protest, was a kind and caring person and genuinely wanted the best for all of his friends. What she had ultimately learned was that she'd much rather have Neji as a friend then not have him in her life at all. Without the jealousy clouding all of their interactions, Neji had even begun to open up more to her. And yeah, the kiss during truth or dare had made Tenten worry about things going back to the way they had been, but surprisingly nothing had changed. Once upon a time said lack of change would have greatly upset her, but now it only made her relieved to know their friendship could withstand her stupid crush. Tenten took comfort in that knowledge. The brunette stretched out her body, trying to shake off the lingering melancholy her memories had created. It never did one good to dwell on the past. Just as she straightened back out, Naruto's loud voice cut through the peaceful silence.

"It sure took you guys long enough to get here!"

The small group of friends turned to watch as the two aforementioned teens sprinted over to join them. Tenten's easy smile faltered as she really focused on the pair. She knew, before they even reached them, that something was different. Lee's long hair had been pulled into a messy bun, something he tended not to wear at school because he was worried people might find him too "feminine" and therefore make him a prime target for bullying. Tenten didn't blame him for his paranoia, knowing Lee had been bullied rather severely for his appearance growing up, but at the same time their school was nothing like the orphanage. Everyone else had tried numerous times to quell this fear, but the raven haired male had insisted on sticking to either a braid or a low ponytail; Something Lee deemed "manly" and "normal". Today, however, his hair was piled atop his head, hints of a pink scrunchy visible beneath the silky strands. He had left his bangs and some loose hair down, which framed his face delicately. This was the Lee Tenten was used to seeing outside of school. Unguarded. She glanced over at her blonde friend and their eyes locked. Naruto shrugged slightly, his shoulders tense, telling the brunette without words that he had no idea what was going on either but it was weirding him out.

Tenten took an involuntary step back as Lee and Gaara finally caught up, startled at their sudden arrival. She had been so caught up in this slightly different Lee, that she hadn't seen or heard them. Tenten couldn't explain it, but she felt nervous. Her eyes kept darting over to Naruto who looked just as agitated as she did. Something had happened, she could feel it in her bones. Lee was bent over slightly, panting as he rested his hands on his knees. Judging from how out of breath he was he must have been running for quite some time. What was more shocking was even Gaara was breathing heavily. The stoic teen rarely made an effort to sprint or even keep up when the group decided they needed to hurry. He tended to continue on at his own pace, choosing to catch up to them on his own time or not at all. That was something they had all learned early on. It only took the one time to realize the redhead would not try to catch up. They had decided to race to the corner store, something they all unanimously agreed to after Naruto's shout of "Last one there has to buy!". Naruto, unsurprisingly, had lost his head start quickly, but was quite proud when he wasn't the last one to reach the small family run convenience store. However, after an hour of waiting for the redhead to catch up, Sasuke of all people had received a message from Gaara informing them that he had gone home. Naruto was furious since that meant he had to pay for their snacks by default, but they understood their friend's lack of enthusiasm when it came to what he deemed "useless" things. From then on, there had been a strict no race rule when the pale teen was around. So the fact that he had bothered to keep up with Lee was strange. Different. Tenten couldn't tell if it was a good or bad thing. A nervous energy begin to grow as the newly arrived pair remained silent. Or maybe Tenten and Naruto were the only one who could feel it, she wasn't sure. All she knew was that no one else seemed to be as agitated as they were.

"Sorry we are late, I must have forgotten to set my alarm so I ended up sleeping in much later than I had planned. Please forgive me," Lee apologized once more as he stood back up to his full height. He ran one of his hands across his forehead, wiping the moisture off his brow. His full bangs parted at the motion, leaving bits of tanned skin revealed.

Tenten went to accept Lee's apology, going so far as to extend her hand to fix his bangs, but Gaara spoke up before she could.

"I turned it off," The pale teen said flatly. His breath had finally evened out, and the strange flush that had stained his face was gone, returning him to his usual expressionless self.

Lee turned surprised eyes on the redhead. "Gaara, why ever did you do that?"

"You needed more sleep," he replied matter-of-factly. Something in his expression softened while he looked at Lee, and before Tenten knew what was happening the redhead reached across the small space between himself and Lee and delicately brushed out the tanned teens bangs with long, pale fingers.

Tenten shuffled from foot to foot as the simple moment dragged two teens were locked in some sort of silent conversation, their eyes conveying meaning beyond the brunette's grasp. For some reason this made her uncomfortable.

Lee raised his hand, as if he was going to reach out and touch the other male, but quickly dropped it. Tenten made a note of his aborted movement, but didn't know what it could mean. She felt like she was almost seeing Lee for the first time, like something so fundamental in him had changed and she hadn't been made aware of it.

Lee smiled gently and said: "That was very kind of you Gaara, thank you for being concerned for me." The tall teen all but beamed at the shorter as a pleased blush appeared on his cheeks.

"S-so you stayed at G-gaara's last n-night?" Hinata asked innocently, genuine curiously lacing her words.

Tenten silently thanked the lavender haired girl for having the courage to voice the very question that had been racing through her mind.

"Oh! Um, yes, Gaara was kind enough to have me over!" Lee answered a bit too quickly.

Tenten's eyes narrowed. Lee was hiding something, but what? What was she missing?

"If you had planned a sleep over you should have invited all of us!" Naruto complained in his usual whiny manner. The normalcy of the action served to calm Tenten down slightly. If the blonde was relaxed enough to act normal, then maybe she had just been overacting. At least that's what she hoped.

"Well, it was not exactly planned," The tanned teen said sheepishly.

This was not what Naruto wanted to hear apparently. Tenten watched as the blonde male's loose grin faded, and his features soured.

"D-did you r-run into each other?" Hinata piped up once more, clearly trying to defuse the situation.

Lee hesitated a moment, weighing the words he was about to speak. He nervously patted down his uniform jacket before responding, "I…I suppose…in a way."

"Did he pick you up from work?" Sasuke asked, opting to speak for the first time that morning. His usually clipped voice was the sharpest Tenten had ever heard. This didn't bode well.

Lee visibly became uncomfortable at the pointed question. His large eyes couldn't seem to focus on anyone in the group, and he opted to keep his gaze firmly planted on the ground. "Ah, well—"

"Yes," Gaara interjected, his voice firm. His icy blue eyes were narrowed dangerously as he fixed Sasuke with a fierce glare.

Tenten was shocked at the blunt admission. Shocked and betrayed. Lee had been unbelievably secretive about his job since day one. Tenten didn't fault him for his secrecy, and she would never force her friend to cough up information he was unwilling to part with. However, Tenten was used to Lee telling her everything in his own time. So she had just figured that she would be the first to learn the truth. What she hadn't assumed was that Gaara of all people would be the first to not only figure out Lee's secret, but to also visit said workplace. And that, above all else, stung Tenten the most.

"How nice," Neji's snide tone had Tenten's shoulders stiffening, "that he gets to visit you at work but not us."

Lee flinched back as Neji spoke, as if he had been slapped.

What happened next was surreal. It seemed like between the span of a blink Gaara went from being beside Lee to crowding Neji against the flimsy chain link fence that surround the school. It would have been almost comical, the shorter redhead pinning the taller brunette, if it wasn't so unbelievably terrifying. Now, Gaara wasn't a violent person…or at least he wasn't anymore. Did he have a temper? Sure, but he had grown out of his infantile rages and tantrums and now the most he would do in anger was walk away. However, as Tenten watched the redhead crowd Neji's personal space, bringing his face uncomfortably close to the brunette's, she saw a glimpse of what Gaara must have been like as an unhinged child.

"I did not visit Lee, nor was I invited. I simply walked him back to my house where I insisted he stay for the night," the pale teen all but hissed through clenched teeth.

Neji scoffed and turned his head away from Gaara in apparent disgust, but made no attempt to move the other male from his position. Tenten was grateful for Neji's instincts, because at that moment Gaara was all but vibrating with his rage. Everyone in the group stood frozen. They didn't know how to disarm the hostile atmosphere, having never dealt with this kind of anger from the redhead. Any sudden moves could spell disaster.

Lee didn't seem to have the same apprehensions, because he easily stepped forward and pulled Gaara back by his arm. The redhead didn't even flinch as Lee's tanned hand guided him backwards, he was too concerned with pinning Neji with his eyes in lieu of his body.

"Gaara, it is okay, Neji is our friend and he was just concerned," Lee soothed as he effectively coaxed Gaara back to his earlier spot.

No longer trapped by the redhead, Neji drew himself to his full height and sneered down at the other male.

"What is your problem!" Neji all but yelled as he began to stalk towards Gaara.

Tenten had never seen the brunette so enraged. Usually Neji chose to express his anger silently. That's not to say that he didn't express annoyance or irritation; in fact those were common for the teen. True anger, however, was different. Tenten had only ever seen Neji truly angry once after he had found out why his family had branched out from Hinata's. She had watched as the male systematically shut down until he was nothing more than a shell, locking all of his emotions inside himself. This was unbelievably different from then. Tenten didn't know how to deal with this version of Neji. His thin eyebrows were drawn, creasing his pale skin with sharp lines. Pale eyes were narrowed in rage, returning Gaara's own furious look with an equally cutting stare. Tenten moved to calm Neji down, going so far as to put her hands on his shoulders, but Neji would not be stopped so easily. He pushed past the petite brunette, leaving her shocked, her hands held up uselessly. Even Hinata made an attempt to slow Neji's pursuit, gripping the sleeve of his uniform in one of her small hands. But that too was dislodged with a quick jerk of Neji's arm.

"What right do you have to jump on me for daring to voice the question we've all been dying to ask!" Neji furious spat. He jutted his chin further, staring down the silent redhead, before darting his eyes over to the near cowering Lee.

Tenten turned to Naruto and Sasuke, desperately hoping that maybe one of them would step in and get Neji to back down. What she saw wasn't promising. Sasuke was standing with his arms crossed tightly and seemed to be following the events with keen interest. And while he seemed ready to jump in if anything got too out of hand, he seemed far too invested in hearing Lee's response to do anything but stand by. Naruto, on the other hand, was visibly conflicted. His arms were tense at his sides and he kept clenching and unclenching his fists. Tenten locked eyes with the blonde and turned her head away in shame at what she saw. He wanted answers and, as horrible as it was, so did she. As much as Neji was pushing everything too far, the question he had asked…was valid. Why did Gaara get to know about Lee's work? What about them? Tenten hated herself for being weak.

"And you! What is with all this secrecy? Ever since you left the damn orphanage it's been one secret after another! Have we all become so untrustworthy that you can't tell us anything? Oh wait, excuse me, everyone but Gaara apparently. We're just not good enough to be spoken to anymore," Neji spat.

"It was never Lee's intention to keep this from you," Gaara spoke slowly in an obvious attempt to curb his own anger into something manageable.

"I don't recall directing that at you," the brunette hissed derisively, his eyes still firmly planted on Lee.

Gaara looked about ready to jump the other male, but Lee quickly stepped forward before anything could get out of hand. Or at least before things got more out of hand.

"I do trust you, all of you, so very much," Lee insisted as he looked everyone in the eye for the first time since the fight had begun. Although his voice started confident it soon lost its purposeful tone as he continued. "You are my best friends, but….but there are….there are so many things I have not wanted…to burden you with."

Tenten knew this to be true. Lee hated the thought of burdening others with his problems but he longed to be open and honest with his friends. This conflict often resulted in Lee telling partial accounts of events, leaving out anything he deemed "too burdensome". However, he had been opening up to them gradually, and he had even taken the time to go in depth about all the conflicting feelings he had been dealing with since Kage's. So what Tenten couldn't understand was why this one huge secret still remained. Everyone else seemed to feel the same way, because no one stepped in to diffuse the situation. Neji didn't seem to be satisfied with Lee's answer, and sneered down at the other male. Lee snapped his gaze back to the ground when he saw that his friend would not be quelled by his words and quickly began speaking once more.

"I know that is not a valid answer…it is a poor excuse for why I have been so secretive. I have been…incredibly selfish," Lee seemed exceedingly ashamed at his confession, like being selfish was the worst thing he could ever do. "I am…afraid that…if this secret is told, you will…." The tanned teen trailed off as he bit his trembling lip.

"Don't insult me with your insecurities!" Neji's anger came back full force, his words displaying just how much Lee's uncertainty hurt him. "Do you think us so judgmental that we would drop you the moment you revealed this last truth to us? Have we not proven to you over and over again that we will remain firmly at your side regardless of what new pieces of information you share!?"

If Lee was ashamed before it was nothing to how he looked now. Tenten watched as the tanned teen hunched in on himself, his hands gripping each other tightly. Seeing Lee's prone form, she wanted to go back in time and stop everything that had happened to lead up to this moment. But at the same time… she felt that Lee needed to hear this. To know that his own insecurities hurt them just as much as they hurt Lee himself.

"Enough," Gaara voice was deathly still, there was no faltering in his deep voice as it rang out loudly.

"Why is it that I can not seem to talk to Lee without you interjecting?" Neji's voice had gone from hot anger to solid ice. "How annoying, you're acting like an over protective lover."

"That is because I am."

It was Neji's turn to stagger back as if slapped. Tenten watched as Hinata and Naruto openly gaped at the unexpected confession. Even Sasuke seemed thrown as his lazy gaze widened into shock. Tenten snapped her attention back to the now silent trio. Lee was pale, his small mouth crumpled in obvious distress and his watery eyes wouldn't leave the ground. Gaara was standing rigid, closer to Lee now but still not quite touching.

"W…w-what?" Neji's voice faltered as the meek question passed through his lips. All the fight seemed to have been sucker punched out of him, leaving him oddly broken.

Lee lifted his head, ready to respond, when Kiba came barreling out of nowhere and grabbed the tanned male's arm.

"Sorry for whatever i'm interrupting, but I gotta steal Lee for a sec. Don't worry he'll be back all shiny and cute n' shit when i'm done," Kiba promised as he unceremoniously hauled the other teen off.

I'd like to give a special thanks to all of you that left kind words in regards to my graduation. I just attended the official graduation ceremony and even managed to leave with the top marks in my program! It's a nice feeling to finally be done.

Sorry for another cliff hanger, but I feel this story is slowing winding down to a close. And when I say slowly, I mean it. There are still a few things i'd like to include (*cough* y'know Lee and Gaara's big moment *cough*), but i'm kind of worrying about the pacing. I'm struggling a bit to keep this story relevant to the plot I intended while not dragging it out too long. A times skip may be necessary just to push things along, but we'll see.

As always, I greatly appreciate all the lovely comments you guys leave for me, and I hope to see more in the future! Thanks for sticking this out with me, and hopefully you guys will be able to see an ending sometime soon!