A/N: There is a common belief that TenTen, and possibly Lee, are Chinese. While that isn't my personal canon, I'm borrowing it for the purpose of this story. My apologies if the Chinese is wrong, it is not a language with which I am familiar, so I had to depend on online translations.

I'm also well aware that there are now hummingbirds in Asia. I, however, don't believe that the Naruto-verse takes place in any real culture/place so I can put what I want there.

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Confession

Hummingbird

It was a habit of TenTen's that Neji couldn't figure out. When they spent the night cuddled together-either on a mission where Guy-sensei would ensure that nothing more than cuddling happened ever, or when she'd sneak in through his bedroom window despite the many times he'd told her it was too dangerous-TenTen would wait, cuddled up to his chest, until he was almost asleep, and then she would whisper words he could not understand. It was sort of a sing song language, beautiful, but unintelligible to him.

This time, however, he had a plan. Their conversation and stolen kisses had tapered off to nothing minutes ago, and knowing his TenTen was safe beside him this was usually when Neji felt the most relaxed and would drift to sleep. This time, though he let his body relax and his breath even out, he did not sleep. He waited.

"Wǒ ài nǐ," she whispered, now like she had many times before, "fēng niǎo."

The first time he'd heard it, Neji had tried to puzzle out what it could mean. He'd spent hours after that lying awake, working through every code he could think of. He'd come up with many answers, none of which had made sense. When she continued to say it during those times when she thought he couldn't hear, he'd finally decided on this course of action. "What does that mean?"

The girl in his arms jerked instantly awake, brown eyes peering at him through the half dark as her hands clenched in his night shirt. "What does what mean?"

"What you just said." He'd tried several times to repeat it to others, to ask if they knew what it meant, but he never could make it sound like she could.

Even with only a little light to go by Neji could see TenTen's face light up to a spectacular crimson before she turned it away. "It's just…just a saying. In my mother's native language."

"It's beautiful." He nuzzled her hair in an attempt to get her to look up at him again. Neji hated it when she looked away. It felt too much like everyone else. "What does it mean?"

The silence stretched for several long moments before TenTen whispered so low he nearly couldn't hear. "Wǒ ài nǐ means I love you."

"Really?" It wasn't like they hadn't said this to each other before, but usually only after missions. Only after they nearly lost each other, and there weren't different words. Because, as TenTen said, I love you just didn't seem to cover it. That she would say that to him, so often, without him knowing, Neji wasn't quite sure what to feel. "And the other?"

TenTen groaned softly, burying her face further in his chest. "It's…my nickname. For you."

"Nickname?" His voice was half-a-laugh with a little bit of confusion thrown in for good measure. They didn't do silly sappy things like nicknames, or at least he'd always thought so. "You don't want me to start calling you my cuppy cake, do you?"

"No," and she hit him hard on the chest with the flat of her hand, which Neji had to admit he probably deserved. "I just wanted to have something only I called you, and only to myself."

He rubbed the new bruise with one hand, holding TenTen closer to him as he did so. "Well, if you're talking about me, I probably should know. What is it?"

"Fēng niǎo," and she laughed a little against his neck. "It means hummingbird."

Neji blinked, but the action didn't help him understand at all. "Hummingbird? In what way, exactly, do I remind you of a hummingbird?"

"It's partly because the sound your heart makes when I do this." She tilted her head, kissing a line along his neck and jaw to his ear, and Neji shuddered as he felt her smirk against his skin. "It starts going so fast it nearly hums."

"You shouldn't make fun." The breathless whisper his protest came out in was not threatening. At all. "Why else?"

"Because Guy-sensei calls me his flower," she laughed again, blowing cool air across his skin, making it prickle. "And a flower…a flower helps the hummingbird, by using its blood to help the hummingbird to fly. It depends on the hummingbird too, and can't grow without it. They need each other."

Neji was silent for a while, thinking about this. Leave it to TenTen to turn nectar into blood like that, and to drag out the metaphor. Still it was nice, somehow, to have her admit she needed him, even if it was a rather round about way of doing so. TenTen never openly admitted to needing anyone. "You could have used a bee just as well, you know."

"Had to be a bird, Neji."

"Of course it did."