Neji sighed slowly and deeply, settling on the grass as he watched Tenten spar with Guy-sensei. Lee scrutinized his youthful teammate out of the corner of his eye. Normally, he would have given his full attention to the mesmerizing way that Tenten swooped about in the air, her huge, lengthy scrolls coiling around like a deadly tornado, before unleashing a Heavenly Chain Destruction of sharp, pointy objects and explosives upon her unsuspecting opponent. He would have also been rapt with wonder as Guy-sensei would duck and weave and dodge around these projectile weapons, whooping and hollering about Tenten's youthful assault. And then Lee would be on his feet, stomping his feet and vigorously cheering his youthful teammate and sensei onwards and upwards.

But this was the third sigh that had made its way past Neji's lips and Lee had to admit, he was curious. The first time had been early that morning, six thirty in fact. Guy-sensei had called them all for the tri-weekly early morning three hundred laps around Konoha. Tenten was yawning, as was usual. Despite years of this routine, she was not and never would be a morning person. She could do the exercise, of course. They all could. But she always looked like a tanuki, with those dark, dark circles around her eyes. Lee had kindly pointed out that she and Gaara could start a tanuki club together because they both wore the look very well. For some reason, this got him a senbon to the arm. He had no idea why. He was just praising Tenten's youthful look, pushing past her weakness of insomnia to perform Team Guy's exercises.

Neji had sympathetically offered her a cup of calming green tea from his flask and she had curtly refused, causing Neji's face to wither and die like a cherry blossom in the last stages of its life. Okay, Lee conceded, maybe he had only quirked his eyebrows and then sighed, but Lee could read the air. That had been strike one. Or rather, sigh one.

Sigh two had followed soon after their routine three hundred laps. Tenten had, in her morning rush to get ready for their training, forgotten to eat breakfast. Now, this was kind of strange, because after so many years of this routine, they all knew that they needed to eat breakfast at four thirty in the morning. Most other teams would have blanched at this unworldly hour, but Lee had happily taken to it like a fish to water. He preferred sleeping very, very early in the evening preceding these days, so that he wouldn't be tired. Evidently, Tenten had not decided to do the same, hence the dark circles under her eyes and the grumbling of her stomach. He offered to give her sleeping pills and an alarm clock so she wouldn't look like a tanuki anymore (though, he assured her, she looked GREAT as a tanuki). Lee was once again rewarded with a senbon to the leg.

What was it with Tenten and senbons today?

Neji had, once again, kindly offered to buy her some dumplings at the dumpling shop nearby, and she had curtly refused just like last time. Neji's face was a heartbreaking sight indeed. The calmness in his visage had melted away like ice in a hot spring and he cast his eyes towards the ground.

Then came sigh three. They'd all taken turns sparring with each other, and Neji, with all his understated air, still seemed to Lee like an excited puppy as he had requested Tenten to spar with him. She had once again refused, preferring Guy-sensei to inflict with Heavenly Chain Destruction, and Neji had a look of subtle devastation on his face. To the untrained eye, he only twitched his lower lip infinitesimally, but Lee had been observing his youthful teammate for years! Tenten had delivered a crushing blow to his heart!

Lee felt his heart ACHE, ACHE, as he watched Neji watching Tenten who was presently trying to trap Guy-sensei in a wooden cage. Neji was his friend, a precious friend who always looked out for him, his ETERNAL RIVAL.

And Neji was pining away for Tenten, destroyed by her refusals to accept food and training with him. It was plain for Lee to see.

"Neji!" he yelled, slapping his teammate loudly on the back. "What's wrong?"

"Tenten's upset," Neji said quietly, eyes still fixed on the battling duo. "Why is she like that? Just because she didn't get sleep or breakfast? It's odd."

Lee's eyes welled up with tears. Neji was suffering. Suffering. "Are you really that distraught at being rejected, Neji?"

Neji furrowed his brow. "Rejected? What do you mean?"

"Don't say another word! Tenten did not accept your youthful declaration of fidelity and long-lasting deep feelings, and your heart is suffering from the pangs of agony, right?" A miniature tsunami of tears escaped from Lee's eyes, and he seized Neji's shoulders in his best approximation of a Guy-sensei hug.

"...Are we having the same conversation?"

Neji, by this point, knew better than to struggle out of Lee's grip. He had no choice but to stay still and wait for these temporary bouts of nonsense to stop. This bout, as it turned out, came to an end in a few moments.

"Say no more!" Lee yelled into Neji's ear. "I, the Youthful Wild Green Beast of Konoha, will fix this problem, Neji! I will make certain that your feelings will connect with Tenten's!"

"I...wait...what? Lee, I don't under – "

Lee then shot him a thumbs-up in his "nice guy" pose and ran off, only to be impaled by a third senbon as he accidentally got caught in the crossfire of Guy-sensei and Tenten's match.

Neji frowned as he stared at Lee's back.

...This day was incredibly strange. First Tenten, then Lee. If he didn't know any better, Orochimaru had stolen their bodies and was impersonating them.

A/N: Written for Day 17: Yearning...or rather, Lee just thinks it's yearning. :)

This is a two-parter! The next one-shot in this series will be posted on Day 19! Hope you'll all enjoy oblivious Lee, oblivious Neji, and oblivious Tenten, all together at once. :)