Some people were morning larks. Other people were night owls. Yet more individuals were afternoon eagles.

Guy-sensei and Lee were, as anyone could guess, the first. Constantly yelling about the springtime of youth, the beauty of the morning sun, and the fresh cool air ad nauseam, they had decided (well, Guy-sensei had decided) that the best way for Team Guy to "flower" was to do three hundred laps around Konoha at six in the morning for three days every week. Thus they had inflicted torment on Tenten and Neji for six years and counting. Tenten had the distinction of still not being able to calibrate her circadian rhythms to these tri-weekly disruptions, and had missed breakfast in her rush to get ready.

Then Lee had to go and tell her that she looked like a tanuki and she impaled him with a senbon in response (twice). She was not a morning person and was in no mood for Lee's "I thought it was a compliment because I am not a normal human being" compliments. Seriously, which sane guy would tell someone that they should start a tanuki club with Gaara? Neji had offered her some tea, but she wasn't in the mood. Lee also seemed to think that her grumbling stomach signified a matter of world-ending importance and started sobbing loudly when she had refused Neji's offer to buy her something at the dumpling shop (she had honestly preferred sleep to food at that point of the day).

She didn't get Lee. Of course, that was a given. She and Neji had a tough time understanding Lee even on normal days, let alone days like...this.

"Tenten!" Lee yelled as she was packing her weapons back into her scrolls, her sparring match with Guy-sensei complete (she was pleased that she had in fact trapped him in a wooden cage – the lone highlight of this crummy morning).

"Indoor voices, Lee, we've talked about this," she muttered, not looking up at all.

"Do you understand that you have inflicted great wounds upon Neji today?" he yelled again, totally ignoring her.

"Huh? What do you mean? We didn't spar today." She raised an eyebrow at him quizzically and somehow, she wasn't surprised at all that he seemed completely uncaring that three senbons were still embedded in his arm, leg, and shoulder. She sighed and plucked them out. "You, on the other hand, need to pay more attention, Lee."

"I have!" said Lee. He flashed her a smile that he'd definitely copied from Guy-sensei, or else it wouldn't have reflected the sunlight and made her almost go blind. "And I can clearly perceive that Neji is hurting. Hurting, and you're clearly the cause of it, Tenten!"

"...Huh?"

She really didn't get Lee. The hell was he talking about? She'd barely spoken to Neji today, much less somehow harmed him.

"So to rekindle your youthful PASSION – "

"Lee, I have no idea what you're talking about – "

" – I have made certain that you and Neji will spend – "

"I wonder, does he even know that you're planning this – "

" – A WONDERFUL YOUTHFUL SUNSET TOGETHER!"

"..."

She didn't get Lee.

"Anyway," Lee said, grabbing her arm and dragging her off, "come with me. I'll help you get ready!"

Lee helping her get ready for a "youthful sunset"(?) with Neji was one of the most scarring experiences of Tenten's life. Ten senbons, five shurikens, and three exploding notes later, she had finally shaken him off, and it was with grim satisfaction that she gazed at the scorched remnants of the green jumpsuit that he had suggested she wear.

She didn't get Lee, and perhaps she never would.

And as for Lee's nonsense ramblings about her somehow hurting Neji...she had wracked her mind over the events of the day and was still clueless. Evidently Lee inhabited an alternate universe in which she and Neji had sparred that morning and she had injured him...somehow. That was the only explanation that made a remote amount of sense to her (extremely, extremely remote).

And as luck would have it, she turned the corner into the main street only to bump into him.

Neji, just like her, wore a look of deep, deep puzzlement along with a side dash of irritation. He was exhaling deeply, and from his windswept appearance, Tenten guessed that he too had a baffling encounter with the team's resident green beast. She did not know how Lee had somehow bothered both her and Neji at the same time and decided that she never wanted to. If Guy-sensei had taught him a jutsu that enabled him to be in two places at once, she would take that as a sign that the end of the world was coming.

"Tenten," he began. "Did Lee...act weird today? Or is that just my imagination?"

"He acts weird every day." Tenten scowled as she remembered him trying to make her wear the jumpsuit. "But it's not your imagination. He was acting super extra weird today."

"You know, Tenten," Neji said after a long, thoughtful pause, the reds, purples, and golds of the sunset wreathing his outline in a halo. "I really don't get Lee sometimes. Just now, he started yelling to me about how he would make us watch the sunset together or something. And that he would make us rekindle our youthful passion."

"You too, huh? Let's just ignore this and move on, Neji. If we think too much about it, our brains will explode."

"I guess you're right." He smiled a little, his white eyes crinkling as Tenten's stomach whined in distemper. "Ah. I see that you're hungry."

"Yeah. Wanna go to that dumpling shop? We can drink some tea and get a window seat to watch the sunset."

In the bushes nearby, Lee laughed jubilantly.

A/N: Written for Day 19: Sunset and a sequel to Chapter 17. Thanks for the review on the previous chapter, latte, and hope to hear more from you! :)