"EEEEEEEK!" I wake up to Tenten shrieking at the top of her lungs and literally jump out of the bed, expecting there to be enemy ninjas trying to kill us all. Tenten looks at me and for some undiscernable reason, her shrieking gets a second wind.

"Tenten, why are you screaming?" I put my hand to my head because it's hurting in all sorts of ways, and when I pull it back away, the sight of a few dots of blood pooled on my fingers reminds me of where I am and what's going on.

"What the fuck happened to the bathroom? There's blood everywhere! And your forehead!" I'm not sure if that last sentence is a question , and I definitely don't want to explain what happened, question or not.

"Fuck." I can't seem to figure out what else to say, so contextless profanity seems like a good choice. At this, Lee, who has been sitting up in the bed since Tenten's screams woke him up, starts giggling uncontrollably and collapses back into a laying position.

"Neji, Lee, what is going on?" Tenten is becoming more distressed by the second and Lee takes it upon himself to stop this distress.

"Tenten," Lee begins "We are not in any danger"

Now that she knows that, she visibly relaxes, seeming to figure out coherent questions she wants to ask and begins with "Lee, what happened to the bathroom? Why is the door broken and the floor covered in blood?"

"I do not think I can tell you that, Tenten. I believe that there was an implicit secrecy in what happened between me and Neji last night." I crawl back into bed at that statement, and snuggle back into Lee, knowing full well that I'm dead and intending to enjoy my last moments on earth. Lee has absolutely no clue that he's made it totally obvious that we had sex.

"You two...?" Tenten looks like we've just told her she has to eat a bowl full of pickled plums. Now knowing that Lee is refusing to answer anything without my explicit permission, she turns to me and says "Neji, you and Lee did what?"

I close my eyes and nod at her. "exactly what you think."

"You, Hyuuga Neji, had sex with Rock Lee?" I nod again. "But- but... he's Lee! With the haircut and the eyebrows and the jumpsuit..." she stumbles into silence, an implicit "etc." in the way she does so. Suddenly I realize that from the outside, on as shallow a level as Tenten is processing it, it seems like I'm the one who is too good for Lee instead of the other way around. Insufferable guilt freezes my stomach, and in response, I commit to being 100% honest with Tenten.

"Yes, I had sex with Lee, and I am extremely lucky he was willing to do something so wonderful with me"

"You? Lucky?" She's looking like I suggested pickled plums again.

"Absolutely. Lee is the nicest person I've ever met and I've been nothing but cruel to him. I'm lucky enough that he forgives me; That he would share something so wonderful with me makes me the luckiest person in the world."

"But..." She can't seem to make sense of what I'm saying, still stuck on the fact that Lee is typically considered anything but beautiful, and, although nothing like Sasuke, there is a fair amount of girls who would jump at the chance to be in Lee's place last night... Well, for the latter part of last night anyway. "Okay..." Tenten manages to get out. "But what on earth happened to your forehead? And why is the bathroom half destroyed and covered in blood"

"I..." I smile a bit and phrase it creatively, so I don't actually have to say what I mean "Lost a fight with a really strong guy"

"But, Neji, that is not what happened" Lee begins, and I know he's planning on telling me to tell Tenten that I don't want to talk about it instead of lying to her. I hold up a hand to silence him and he obeys.

"I did lose a fight of sorts" I say "With a guy they say is most loved by the Hyuuga ability."

"Neji, that's you" she hasn't caught onto what I mean in the slightest.

I nod and say "He was trying to rid my forehead of the curse mark and express his hatred for me. I told him not to, but he was extremely persuasive."

"You cut yourself?" Tenten looks horrified, completely unsure of herself, and stutters "I..I'm... uh s-sorry you felt that way?"

"It's okay, Tenten, Lee made me feel better actually. I didn't want him to know, but he insisted upon caring so much he forced his way in to comfort me; That's actually the reason the bathroom door is broken. Come to think of it, how did you manage to sleep through that? Lee kicked the door entirely off of it's hinges."

"oh... Well, I slept through it because I've been having a lot of trouble sleeping, so I've been taking these." She pulls a bottle of pills out of her bag and shows them to me. "They make me pretty much dead to the world."

"Anyway, after Lee found me slicing open my forehead, he made me feel better by listening to me and then we had sex."

I'm getting the pickled plums look again as she says "Don't you at least wanna keep that quiet, Neji?" Assuming I'll be ashamed of what I've done. I can't blame her for making that assumption; If I'd slept with Lee in just about any other context, in the mindset I was in just before last night, I would've pretended it never happened. I would've been ashamed to have admitted I slept with any guy, but especially ashamed it was someone as unattractive as Lee. More guilt, a tiring sensation, so I make an effort to appease myself.

"Tenten, I understand were you're coming from, I really do, but I'm not ashamed. I'd scream it from the rooftops if I didn't know my uncle would kill me for it. I do want this kept quiet, but not for the reason you think; Not for the reason I would've wanted it before last night." Lee looks at me like I've given him the world again, and I can't seem to help but kiss him again, long and deep, in part because I want to demonstrate to Tenten just how proud I am to be this close with Lee, and in part because his face just looks so beautiful covered in shining streams of joyful tears.

"eeeeeeew!" This time Tenten verbalizes her disgust at the idea that Lee and I are together in this context. I break away to finish talking to her.

"I want this kept a secret, please. It can't get around to Hiashi, or I'm more than dead. I'm begging you not to tell anyone, Tenten, but I want to make it clear why; Nothing but bad things will come of my uncle finding this out. He's homophobic, and it wouldn't do for him to have someone sullying the Hyuuga clan's reputation by being an a same-sex relationship. He'd literally torture me to stop me from being around Lee, and frankly, I just don't want to deal with any more torture from Hiashi, or any of the head family for that matter. I love Lee, and I want everyone to know, but if I tell anyone who might tell Hiashi, my ability to be around Lee without being tortured comes into question."

Tenten has been silent through this explanation, no doubt still trying to work out why she woke up in a world so radically different from the one she went to sleep in, and she doesn't seem to realize I've stopped talking for several seconds. Eventually, though, she says "Okay, guys. My lips are sealed" She smiles at us, and continues. "We're a team, and I care about you both. I still don't understand how the two of you wound up together, and I still find it oh so disturbing, but I'd never get you hurt like that, Neji. You either, Lee" She preempts the question Lee's about to ask by adding "I know it'd hurt you maybe more than Neji to know that you had any hand in getting him hurt. You're a really nice guy, Lee."

"Thank you, Tenten" Lee and I say at the same time.

"Not a problem" And she sighs, readjusting this new world to be the one she knows again. "It'll just take a lot of getting used to."