Balance

[verdant_lotus]

Characters: Rock Lee (verdant_lotus ), Tenten (heavenlykunai ), Hyuuga Neji (heavenly_earth )
When: The morning of April 14th
Where: Hyuuga 1
Rating: Pg-13 for possible topics of discussion?
Summary: It's not easy keeping a team balanced, and after Kakashi's comments about Tenten feeling left out, it's time for the three to talk.

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[heavenly_earth]

The morning was an occurrence Neji hadn't been looking forward to since the two of them established that they'd talk to Tenten the previous evening. He shifted in Lee's hold, discontent, his own arms tightening around him in subtle protest.

White eyes peeked open as he stirred, glancing out the window for confirmation. The sky was lightening, and the horizon tinged a deep purple to signal the approach of dawn, the Jounin's chest heaved in a tired sigh.

"I suppose." He admitted eventually, propping himself up and slowly pulling out of Lee's hold with apparent reluctance.

[verdant_lotus]

Lee watched him for a moment, taking in the subtle clues of tension in the set of his shoulders. A strong, steady hand, bare for once of both bandages and gloves, settled on Neji's shoulder. "Everything will be fine. One step at a time. We will talk to her, and if she does feel that way, then we will work out something to make certain that she does not. Okay?"

[heavenly_earth]

Neji looked to Lee, pale eyes staring down into earnest black, and inclined his head. His feet touched the floor and Neji picked his shirt up, shrugging it back over his head. Aside from that, he hadn't undressed at all the previous evening, and ran an idle hand through his hair.

"We'll make breakfast then. Tenten's unlikely to have woken up this early..." Not that he'd be awake if he had to be either. Neji stood, tying his hair back once again, and paused before the door, voicing a reassurance he wasn't certain was for himself or Lee or both of them. "I'm sure things will be fine by this afternoon."

[verdant_lotus]

"They will be," Lee agreed. It took longer for him to get dressed, and he glanced toward the door as he carefully wound bandages around his forearms. The gloves by this point were worn-in and comfortable, and he pulled them on without much thought, thinking about the day ahead. After the talk with Tenten would be training, and after that errands, and after that... sometimes it seemed like life in Adstringendum was far busier than life in Konoha had been.

Finally dressed, he joined Neji in the kitchen and started making tea. Despite his attempts over the past few months to learn how to cook, his skills were still basic at best, and it was generally agreed that he was better off doing simple things like heating water or cutting vegetables. Things that wouldn't result in food being inedible.

[heavenlykunai]

Tenten heard the noises of kitchen work and was tempted to just pull the pillow over her head and ignore it. This early, it had to be Lee. Especially after they'd done so much yesterday. But she was awake, and she didn't want to wind up sore, so she pushed herself up out of bed. Quickly she checked herself over, making sure she hadn't missed anything the night before.

Once that was done she dressed and wandered out into the kitchen. She rubbed her eyes, looking at the two. "Sane people are still in bed right now. But I guess that makes me insane too. Do you need another hand?"

[heavenly_earth]

Of course he was over-thinking the issue. As Lee had mentioned, Tenten was reasonable, her expectations of them- if any- shouldn't be drastic. But Kakashi's words rang uselessly, hinting at a deeper issue there that he had missed, and unaccustomed to oversights, it bothered him.

He glanced up to see Tenten blearily making her way into the kitchen, and nodded. "I apologize if we woke you earlier than you intended, Tenten." He said smoothly, glancing behind him and directing Lee to set things on the table. "We're nearly finished however, so there's no need- though the offer is appreciated."

[verdant_lotus]

Lee grinned at Tenten's statement. "It is not insane to wake up early! It gives you more time to start the day right, and it is always best to start training with the sun." He knew his opinion was in the minority when it came to his team, but the tease was an old, familiar one. After the table was set he poured tea for the three of them, and waited until Neji and Tenten sat down.

He knew that Neji would bandy about it forever and talk in circles and never actually say anything if Lee waited for him to start the conversation, if he decided to bring it up at all and not approach it from five steps to the left with some comment about the weather that was supposed to lead back to what he wanted to talk about after the people listening had wandered appropriately through the maze of words. So, direct it was.

"Tenten, Kakashi-sensei mentioned that you have been feeling left out."

[heavenlykunai]

"It's okay. I'm half-used to it anyway." She shrugged when her offer was turned down. It had been what she'd expected; Tenten hadn't rushed out here, after all.

"Yeah, yeah." She smiled at the normal line from Lee. "It's insane to wake up and get up this early. If we were meant to be up this early, it would be fully sunny."

Tenten grabbed a seat and a cup of tea. "Thank you." Taking a sip, she froze at Lee's statement. She hadn't expected that. Especially since she'd only actually said something to Kakashi yesterday. "Um." What did you say to that? "...A bit. Yeah. Um."

[heavenly_earth]

Neji stared at Lee- semi-disbelieving in his blunt behavior and the speed at which he'd interrupt what may have otherwise been a semi-pleasant affair over breakfast. Closing his eyes, he reminded himself that this was Lee and that tact was a distant concept when it came to handling verbal situations.

But Tenten's demure answer redirected his attention to her and he frowned. "...You should let us know if there's an issue, Tenten." He said gently, hiding the annoyance behind them. "We can't fix something we're unaware of."

[verdant_lotus]

He could feel Neji's disapproving look and see Tenten's surprise, but, in Lee's mind, it was better to have it out there. Leaving this kind of thing underneath the surface to fester and grow worse wasn't going to help anything, and it wasn't going to become easier to talk about just because they approached it slowly.

"I do not want for you to feel that way," Lee said, looking at Tenten earnestly. "Neither of us do. You mean a lot to me. It is more than just being a teammate. You are one of my best friends. I do not want to make you feel like you are not important, because you are."

[heavenlykunai]

It was pretty obvious Neji wasn't happy, based on the eye-closing and the frown. The question was whether he wasn't happy with her, or Lee, or with both of them. She glanced at Neji, wondering if he realized things weren't always as easy as that made it sound. "I didn't want..." Her gaze flickered down, to the cup. "I didn't want to cause a problem." What the two of them had was still new. The last thing she wanted was to damage it.

Feeling Lee's gaze, Tenten looked up at him. "You mean a lot to me too, Lee. But..." She glanced between them. At least Sensei wasn't here too. That would make this more uncomfortable. "I know I'm not a priority for you guys. That's fine. I'm used to it." She shrugged, trying for a small smile. This topic hadn't come up before, and she hadn't been ready for it to come up. "I know I'm important. You're important to me too. It's all right."

[heavenly_earth]

"You're not causing an issue, Tenten." Neji said eventually, "But it's difficult and uncertain if we hear there is a personal one we weren't aware of. It certainly can't wait until the wound scars before it's addressed."

But the 'I'm used to it' comment held a faint trace of bitter resignation, the shrug and smile dismissive, though the tension that lingered there wasn't convincing. She was earnest at least, in her conviction that she didn't want to raise any issues. Neji chewed over a bite of cooling food thoughtfully.

"Out of everyone in this world, Tenten, we'll always be more concerned with those we know the most more than anyone else. This means of course, that this team will concern themselves with each other before anyone else."

[verdant_lotus]

At Tenten's statement of being used to it, stunned surprise showed on Lee's face. He stared at her for a long minute, trying to put together the pieces of Tenten having felt this way. Not just now, not because of his relationship with Neji, but, from the way she'd phrased it, for a long time.

It was sobering. When Neji spoke, Lee's gaze flicked over to him. It took a moment to put the words together and how they applied, but he thought he got it. It could sound dismissive, maybe, but it was Neji's way of saying their team was the most important thing to him. To all of them.

Impulsively, Lee reached across the table and grabbed Tenten's hand, squeezing it gently. Physical contact as an anchor was natural for him, and the small contact was intended to be calming. "You are a priority. And I am sorry that we have every made you feel that you are not."

[heavenlykunai]

Difficult and uncertain. She should have kept her mouth shut, but Kakashi's dismissal of the invitation had been bewildering. It was life, though. The girl on the team was supposed to be the medic-nin. She wasn't even that. Part of the reason was because she hated the expected roles, but the other reason was simply no time. She had to spend her time training physically to keep up with the guys, to try to seem like one of them. But maybe no one really realized it except the girls

[heavenly_earth]

He understood, on some level- though it didn't help with the current situation. There was that nagging obligation to push the issue so she couldn't retreat into a form of self-pity and hurt feelings that were withdrawn too quickly to be dealt with; a complex emotional situation Neji felt ill-equipped to handle properly

[verdant_lotus]

Tenten could say that it was okay, but it wasn't. Lee squeezed her hand lightly again, looking at her seriously. "I am sorry that we have not done enough to show you that you are important to us." He glanced over at Neji, judging the careful way he held his teacup, as if occupying his hands would make the conversation less uncomfortable. He half-smiled at the Jounin, reassuring, and nodded in agreement to the suggestions.

"It would be fun to explore the Wastelands, and a good opportunity for us to work as a team! And the picnic sounded like fun. Some time to relax would be nice." Lee looked back at Tenten. "Or is there something else that you would rather do?"