Chapter 9: Advice

Neji was meditating in his room Sunday afternoon when he heard a commotion outside of his window. He opened one eye and listened, only to cringe when he heard a voice call, "NEJI!"

Rock Lee was standing outside of the Hyuuga compound.

"NEJI! I MUST SPEAK WITH YOU!" Lee hollered. Neji closed his eyes and counted to ten.

"NEJI! I HAVE NEED OF YOUR ADVICE!"

There were sounds of a scuffle as the compound guards tried to get rid of him.

"NEJIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!"

He counted to fifty, and when he opened his eyes, it was surprisingly quiet. His relief was short lived when the door to his bedroom opened, admitting Hanabi and…Rock Lee. He glared at his cousin, who grinned at him.

"Hey, Neji, Lee-san says he needs to speak with you about something important," she said. Rock Lee pushed passed her and grabbed Neji by the shoulders. His eyes were full of…tears. Neji almost groaned out loud.

"Neji, my heart is most confused and in great pain, Tenten has been avoiding me, I fear our relationship has been ruined," he wailed. Hanabi raised one eyebrow at this speech. Neji glared at her and mouthed at her to leave. She did, laughing at the look on her cousin's face. It was contorted into some really weird expression, like he was going to hurl and kill someone at the same time.

Neji pushed Lee off of him and returned to his meditative pose. Lee sat on the floor across from him. He just stared pleadingly at Neji, until finally the Hyuuga genius gave in. He really hadn't wanted to get in the middle of this, but it looked like he was going to have to.

"What happened, Lee?" he asked.

"It's Tenten. She's been avoiding me, and she seems angry at me. I don't understand why," he said. Neji sighed.

"It probably has something to do with your 'encounter' in the forest," he said reasonably.

"But we swore that it wouldn't affect our relationship, that we'd put it behind us, that it would never happen again…except it did," he muttered. Neji stared at him.

"What?" he said. Lee blushed.

"Well, it happened again, that day you saw us. I ran into Tenten training, and I didn't mean for anything to happen, but she seemed upset, and I wanted to make her feel better, so I hugged her and then-"

"Enough, Lee, I don't need details," Neji cut him off, "So it's happened twice now, has it?" he asked.

"Three times."

"Three?"

"Yes, once more yesterday, while you were at Hinata-sama's party."

Neji stared at his team mate. So much for it never happening again. He sighed.

"Do you have any idea why you two keep doing this? You're supposed to be in love with Sakura, and as far as I can tell, Tenten has never shown any feelings for you beside friendship," he said.

"Tenten said that it was a release, that we were just caught up in the moment," Lee said.

"I didn't ask what Tenten thought, Lee, I asked you," Neji said. Lee shifted uncomfortably, avoiding his gaze.

"I…do not know anymore. I should be stronger than this, it should not keep happening, but it does. I don't know how to stop it, and I don't know if I even want to," he finished quietly.

"You can't kiss Tenten and still be in love with Sakura, Lee, it isn't fair to Tenten. It's either one or the other, not both," Neji said bluntly. Lee blushed.

"I know! I just don't know who I should choose, and what does it matter? Neither one wants me," he finished dejectedly. Neji stared at him in surprise. It was true that both girls though Lee rather ridiculous, in fact, most girls thought he was ridiculous. Lee had always seemed oblivious to the subtle barbs of the Konoha females, but as Neji looked at his drooping shoulders and downcast face, he wondered if Lee really was oblivious. Against his will, he felt sorry for his team mate.

"You need to stay away from Tenten for awhile until you figure out who it is you're in love with. Once you do, you then need to talk to her. As for neither girl wanting you, you've made out with Tenten three times now, I hardly think she loathes you," he said. Lee looked up, his face shining with hope.

"Thank you, Neji; your words have been most helpful. Truly you are wise as you are talented, and I shall attend to your advice most faithfully," Lee declared, his eyes flaring up with the 'flame of youth'. He gave Neji a pinging smile along with a thumbs up, and then bounded out of the room. Neji just sighed heavily and went back to meditating.

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Haruno Sakura had come to a decision. Ever since Hyuuga Neji had asked her about Naruto, she had been conflicted. She had always thought that she was in love with Sasuke, that she always would be, and she had clung to that belief with a single mindedness that left little room for anything else. Now, however, she was having second thoughts. She had always hoped that the Uchiha would return her affections (she and every other girl in Konoha), but after his behaviour the past few days, she knew it wasn't going to happen.

Uchiha Sasuke had done the unthinkable: he had fallen in love. Actually, Sakura wasn't sure if it was love, it wasn't like she could just up and ask him, and Sasuke would never admit to feeling anything of the sort anyways. However, she was fairly certain that he felt something for Hyuuga Hinata, and that it was a pretty strong something. She had her suspicions when he had agreed to go to her party, and after observing him closely over the next few days, she noticed other things as well. Like the way his eyes always seemed to be searching for someone when they were walking in a crowd, and how annoyed he got whenever Naruto got near Hinata, or referred to her as Hinata-chan. Granted, it was all subtly done, but Sakura had become something of an expert at reading Sasuke, and now that her eyes were open, she could see all the signs.

The biggest tip-off had been at the party. The gift Sasuke had gotten Hinata was amazing, and Sasuke had handed it to Hinata himself. To Sakura, it was like he was publicly declaring his intentions for the Hyuuga heir. She had expected to feel upset by this, and she was, a little bit. She couldn't trick herself into love without feeling a bit of pain when the illusion was gone. She had sulked for awhile after the party, but didn't feel as bad the next day. Upon reflection, she realized that it was because she had met Naruto earlier in the morning for breakfast, and he had lightened her mood considerably.

It was after realizing this that Sakura made her decision. She decided to give Naruto a chance. He always made her feel good, even though he also tended to annoy the crap out of her. She was attracted to him, he had grown up to be very handsome, and he was her best friend. There was only one problem: Naruto had declared months ago that he was going to stop asking her out.

Sakura wasn't sure about the best way to let Naruto know that she had a change of heart, so she decided to try and be a little nicer to him, even flirt with him a bit. However, she had forgotten to take into account how extremely dense her best friend could be. Whenever she did something nice for him, Naruto would stare at her as she had lost her mind, and any subtle flirting she did went right over his head. It was becoming frustrating. Now that she had decided on Naruto, she found that her feelings were growing rather quickly, but he insisted on treating her just as his friend.

One day, as they were passing a weapons shop, Naruto had mentioned that he needed some new kunai. Sakura had offered to buy him some, calling it a gift, but he had refused. She pushed the issue, but he remained adamant, and Sakura had ended howling in frustration and then smacking him on the head before stalking away. Upon reflection, she realized that this was a bit extreme, after all, Naruto didn't know why she had been so upset, but old habits died hard.

Another time she had run into him at the grocery store, accidentally-on-purpose (a trick she used to use on Sasuke) and offered to help him carry his groceries home. Once again, he refused.

"That's okay, Sakura-chan, I've got it. Thanks though!"

"Really, Naruto, I wouldn't mind, it would be no trouble," she had insisted, reaching for one of the bags, but Naruto maintained his grip on it.

"It's all right, you don't have too," he declared, not letting go of the bag. A tug of war began between the two of them.

"Naruto, let me help," Sakura had demanded through gritted teeth, desperately trying to maintain her temper. Naruto still refused, and gave one final tug. The bag split open, and everything tumbled out. Eggs cracked, jars broke, and Sakura ended up standing in the middle of the store covered in what appeared to be tomato sauce.

Naruto gaped at her, and watched as her green eyes lit up in the unmistakeable signs of anger. He closed his eyes and braced himself for the coming blow, but it never came. He hesitantly opened one eye and watched his best friend. Sakura was taking long, slow, deep breaths, and after breathing about ten of them, she opened her eyes and smiled. This scared Naruto even more than the anger, and he took a step back.

"Sakura-chan? I'm really sorry…" he started to say. She cut him off with a wave of her hand, the smile still in place, though it looked a little forced.

"No problem, Naruto, it was my fault. I'm the one who should be sorry. I guess I owe you for a bag of groceries now, huh? Can I pay you back later, I kind of want to change my clothes," she said. Naruto's mouth fell open as he nodded dumbly. He watched her leave the store, and then reached up and scratched the back of his head. Something was definitely wrong here. He decided that he needed some advice, and after depositing his remaining groceries in his home, set out in search of Sasuke.

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Naruto walked around the streets of Konoha, looking for his team mate. He didn't find Sasuke, but he did see Hyuuga Neji in Ichiraku's. Naruto paused for a moment, and then went in. After all, one stoic genius was as good as another when it came to advice, and Neji's would probably be better, after all, he had two girl cousins and would probably know a little more about the workings of the female mind than Sasuke would. Plus, Naruto was hungry.

Naruto plopped down next to Neji, who looked at him.

"Something's wrong with Sakura-chan," the Kyubi vessel declared as a bowl of ramen was automatically set in front of him.

"What's wrong?" Neji asked him, turning his eyes forward once more.

"She's being nice to me," Naruto said. Neji raised his eyebrow.

"And this is bad?" he asked.

"Well yeah. Sakura-chan's never nice to me, she just nags me all the time," Naruto said.

"Yet you're still in love with her?" Neji asked, confused.

"I'd rather be nagged at by Sakura-chan than any other woman," Naruto said matter-of-factly.

"I see," the Hyuuga genius said slowly.

"Yeah, and now she's not nagging me. She smiles at me all the time, and doesn't yell at me when I do something stupid, and she even offered to buy me ramen one day for lunch. She hates ramen," Naruto declared between mouthfuls of his food. Neji turned and stared at him. Uzumaki really was dense, wasn't he? Neji had noticed Sakura's change of attitude towards Naruto, and knew what it meant. He also knew that Uzumaki was completely confused, and had positioned himself at Ichiraku's, knowing that Naruto would wind up here eventually. He had planned this, and now it was time to finally hook up Naruto and Sakura and complete one phase of his mission.

"Perhaps she has realized that her feelings for you are not entirely platonic, and doesn't know how to tell you," he said bluntly. When dealing with Naruto, the best course of action was to be as simple and direct as possible. Naruto stared at him blankly.

"Huh?" he asked eloquently. Neji sighed.

"She likes you Naruto," he said. Naruto rolled his eyes.

"I know that," he said exasperated, "She's told me before that I was her best friend."

Neji resisted the urge to bang his head off of the counter.

"No, you idiot, she's in love with you," Neji said.

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, wait, what?" Naruto asked, staring at him.

"You heard me the first time," was all Neji said. Naruto just continued to stare at him, bits of ramen stuck to his chin.

"Are you going to do something about it?" Neji asked, hoping to snap him out of it. Naruto blinked, and then scoffed.

"You're nuts, Neji. Sakura-chan loves Sasuke, she always has," Naruto said, a bit bitterly.

"No she doesn't. When is the last time she approached the Uchiha?"

"Well, come to think of it, she hasn't done anything for awhile. In fact, she's been treating me better than…she…has…him…" his voice trailed off as he finally caught on as to exactly why Sakura was being nice to him.

"Holy crap, she does love me!" he shouted. Neji glared at his complete lack of decorum, but Naruto ignored it. Neji winced as the Kyubi vessel threw his arms around him in a hug.

He's as bad as Lee, Neji thought before throwing Naruto off of him.

"Never. Do. That. Again." he ordered, clenching his fists, but Naruto was too ecstatic to recognize the threat.

"Aw, Neji, you know you loved it," he said cheekily before running out of the ramen stand.

"Where are you going?" Neji called.

"To find Sakura-chan, where else?" Naruto shouted back at him. Neji glared at the retreating bright orange back, and then turned back to the stand.

"That's the first time I've ever seen him leave without finishing a bowl of ramen," the owner commented. Neji just grunted, and then sighed when he realized that he would have to pay for Uzumaki's uneaten food.

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