Neji stared at the brown eyes of the girl in front of him. He had just approached her as she was doing some grocery shopping in the Konoha market. She reached up and placed her hand on his arm gently. “Is there something wrong Neji?” she asked. He shook his head in reply. “No TenTen, I just wanted to ask you something.” She tilted her head a little and gave him a quizzical look. She looked so cute when she did that. Neji shook the thoughts out of his head and took a breath. “I just wanted to know it you wanted to…” He froze as he came to the hard part. “train with me tonight.” That wasn’t what he’d meant to say, but he just couldn’t ask her. He’d really wanted to ask her out on a date. He almost did it too that time. It was definitely closer than last week. Chickening was harder to do today than yesterday. Yep, he tried the same thing every day.

Neji was brought out of his misery by the sound of her voice. “If you really think we need to practice again, sure. But, you’re too serious. You shouldn’t work so hard. Go out and have some fun. Hell, go on a date. Because if you keep this up, you’ll work both of us to death.” Neji froze on the word date. Trying to regain his composure he grunted and walked away, leaving TenTen confused behind him. “What a weirdo,” she mumbled. Neji hurried in the direction of the Hyuuga compound. He needed a new strategy. This asking her directly thing just wasn’t working for him. ‘Maybe I should ask someone for help,’ he thought to himself. He stopped in his tracks and thought. “Well, I can’t ask Hinata-sama. She can’t even talk to the idiot. Lee would just spout out some shit about youth. I need someone who asks someone out a lot. But who does that?’

At that very convenient moment a loud voice came from the shop behind him. Neji turned out to see the Ichiraku ramen shop. That could only mean one thing, Naruto. Neji sighed. The things he would resort to in order to get a date with TenTen. He walked in and sat on a stool next to Naruto. “Beef ramen please,” he said to the store owner. Neji glanced at Naruto. He was alone, which meant he was just talking to the store owner earlier. “Hey Neji!” Naruto exclaimed. He had only noticed Neji when he spoke because he had been practically inhaling his ramen at the time. Neji stared at the ground, “Hi.” Naruto ate the last few bites of ramen still in the bowl and stared at Neji. “Oi, something wrong? You’re being antisocial, even for you.” Neji sighed. He had to get help from someone with experience asking girls on dates and Naruto had been rejected by Sakura more times than he could count. “I have a problem.” Naruto laughed at him, “What, did you mess up your hair or something?” Neji gave Naruto his best death glare. Naruto immediately shut up. Neji thought it was because of him, but then he saw the store owner bringing out some ramen. He set a bowl of beef ramen in front of Neji and a bowl of miso ramen in front of Naruto.

Neji ignored the ramen and continued when he was sure Naruto wouldn’t make any jokes. “I don’t know how to let TenTen know how I feel about her.” Naruto covered his mouth in an attempt to stop from laughing again. “Well, why don’t you just say ‘you’re my best friend and I’m glad we’re teammates.’?” Neji put his head down on the table. This guy really was the biggest idiot in the world. No wonder he had no idea how Hinata felt about him. “I want to be more than friends with her, you idiot!” Neji blushed when he realized he had just yelled that last sentence. Naruto smiled as big as possible, with some ramen hanging out of his mouth. “Why didn’t you say so? That’s easy.” Neji lifted his head up to listen to Naruto. Naruto continued, “You just ask someone else out and make sure she knows. But make sure it’s someone who will say no. You don’t want to be stuck on a date with someone you don’t like.” Neji thought about what Naruto just said. It actually made some sense to him. It might make TenTen jealous enough to like him. ‘Wait; ask someone out who you know will say no?’ That sounded a lot like what Naruto was doing to him. Could it be that Naruto liked someone other than Sakura? Neji placed this thought in the back of his mind. He would pry the information out of Naruto later for the sake of his cousin. But right now, this was more important. Neji let one word slip from his lips, “Who?”

Now it was Naruto’s turn to think. Only he thought out loud. “It has to be someone close enough to TenTen that she would find out, and someone that we know would say no. Who is she friends with?” Neji answered without needing to think, “Hinata-sama, Ino-chan, Sakura-chan, and that girl from Suna.” Naruto looked over each in his mind, and of course, thought out loud again. “Hmm… Hinata-chan is a no for obvious reasons, Ino-chan is just desperate enough to say yes, and Temari-san is way scary. Besides, I think she’s dating Shikamaru. He’s be pissed if you asked out his girl. I guess that just leaves Sakura-chan. She would definitely say no. She’s way too hung up on Sasuke-teme. Yosh! Sakura-chan it is!” Neji frowned at the mention of Sakura. She wasn’t exactly his type. But, she would say no. Naruto looked at Neji for an answer. “Alright.” Neji mumbled. Naruto grabbed Neji’s hand and pulled him out of the shop, giving Neji barely enough time to drop some money for the ramen that he didn’t even get to eat. It was probably for the best anyways. He wasn’t a big fan of ramen.

Naruto drug Neji all the way to Sakura’s house and knocked on the door. “Okay, when she answers the door just ask her out right, look slightly sad when she says no and walk away. Got it?” Before Neji could answer, the door began to open and Naruto disappeared into the bushes. Sakura’s face appeared before him. “Oh Neji-kun, is there a mission or something?” Neji froze again. He just wasn’t good at this. “No,” was the only word he could get to come out of his mouth. Sakura paused and waited for him to explain about some meeting or something. When he didn’t she began to get impatient. “Then what?” she asked, slightly irritated. “Do you want to go on a date with me?” Neji finally managed to ask, talking way too fast. He tried to keep his cool while getting rid of the blush on his face. “Okay,” Sakura replied. Neji looked up immediately. She just said okay. She wasn’t supposed to say okay. “What?” he asked. “I said okay. I’ve given up on Sasuke-kun. And you are the second most sought after guy in Konoha. It’s not a bad deal. So yeah, I’ll go on a date with you. Pick me up at eight, okay? See you then.” Sakura closed the door without giving him a chance to say okay to eight. Not that he would have. Neji turned around and let out another one word sentence, “Shit.”

Suddenly Naruto popped out of nowhere. “He, I guess I underestimated you. You’re apparently in the same league as Sasuke after all. It’s an honest mistake. She wouldn’t even say yes to me. Oh well, you’ll just have to go on a date with Sakura-chan. That’ll definitely make TenTen-chan jealous.” Neji shook his head. “No way. I will not go on a date with that girl. Her nonstop talking is annoying.” Naruto grabbed Neji and pushed him down the street. “She’s not that bad. Sakura-chan is really cute and sometimes can be nice.” Neji stopped Naruto from pushing him. He was, after all, a Hyuuga and Hyuuga’s are incredibly strong. “Sometimes? … Wait, where are you trying to take me?” Naruto grinned mischievously, “To get you ready for your date. Come on. We have three hours to get you all prettied up.” Naruto tried pushing Neji again, but Neji refused to move. “Prettied? I’m not going to get ‘prettied,’ idiot.” Naruto shrugged, “Whatever, lets just get you ready.” This time Neji let himself be led down the street by the blond boy. Neji glanced at all the people on the street as the stared at them. He didn’t exactly hang out with Naruto often. He heard some of the older men whisper something about a shame and the Hyuuga clan. Neji guessed they were saying he was disgracing his clan by hanging out with Naruto. Like it mattered to him. He was just a branch house member anyways. Hiashi-sama could fuck himself for all he cared. Not that he would ever say that. Neji glanced at a group of young women who were giggling at him and his undignified rushing down the street. He could have sworn he heard the word cute between the giggles. He could not hate Naruto more at that moment.

Neji and Naruto entered Neji’s room and Naruto immediately began going through Neji’s closet. Neji cringed as he watched Naruto make a huge mess, throwing his clothes all over the room. “Oi, don’t you have anything besides traditional clan wear?” Naruto asked. Neji shook his head. Naruto pulled out a blue male kimono next, “Oh yeah, what’s this?” Neji took the kimono from him, “That’s only used for special occasions.” Naruto walked out of the closet and began untying the kimono. “I’ll call Sakura-chan and tell her you’re taking her out for a traditional meal then. She loves getting all dressed up. She says it’s like being rich for a night.” Neji rolled his eyes. So that’s why she was going out with him. He was very rich, even if he wasn’t in the main branch family. Neji sighed and began changing. Naruto went to the phone and called Sakura. Neji heard her squeal all the way on the other side of the room. ‘She must really like getting dressed up.’ Neji reached under his bed and got his best pair of sandals. He might as well look good. When he had his sandals on Naruto looked him over. “Perfect, Sakura-chan won’t be able to resist you.” Neji resisted the urge to hit the idiot. “I want her to resist me. I don’t really like her, remember.” Naruto smiled sheepishly, “Relax, she won’t fall for you in one night. Sakura-chan isn’t that kind of girl.” Neji hoped that for once Naruto was right.

Three hours later Neji was standing in front on Sakura’s house. His blue dress clothes hung loosely from his muscular frame. He hadn’t changed his hair other than to tie it with a tie that matched his outfit. The way he rationalized this date thing in his mind was it would be good practice for when he finally asked TenTen. He took a deep breath and knocked on the door. It opened quickly, as if Sakura had been waiting for him. Neji looked at the girl in front of him. She was wearing an elaborate pink kimono with sakura petals lining the bottom. He glanced at her hair, which lay delicately pinned on her head. He had to admit, Sakura was really pretty. He still thought TenTen was prettier. He just liked the way TenTen could be beautiful without trying. Neji held out the chocolates Naruto had made him get her. Sakura giggled and took the chocolates. “Thanks Neji-kun. These look really great.” Sakura set them on a table by the door and walked outside. She closed the door behind her and clung to Neji’s arm. “So where are we going, Neji-kun?” Neji stopped himself from cringing at her touch and answered her. “The place across from Hokage Tower.” The sound of that made Sakura smile. “Ooo… That place is so nice.” Neji knew she meant expensive, but he didn’t care.

When they arrived at the restaurant, Neji avoided the stares from the other patrons. It was a high class place, so of course he knew most of them. He knew there would be plenty of “concern friends” telling Hiashi that he was on a date with the Haruno girl. Neji said the name Hyuuga to the host and the host led them to their table in a nice quiet spot where no one could stare. They sat at the table and ordered their meals. After that there was an awkward moment. Neji desperately tried to think of something to talk about. Finally, he couldn’t take it anymore. “Sakura-chan, I have to tell you why I asked you out.” Sakura smiled at his squirming. “I know exactly why. You wanted to make TenTen jealous. It’s so obvious. I am the smartest kunoichi of my class. Don’t worry, I won’t tell her why.” Neji let out a sigh of relief. “If you knew then why did you say yes?” Sakura took a sip of her drink. “It sounded like fun. It’s not every day the great Neji asks someone on a date. Beside, I thought it would teach Naruto a lesson about using others to get what he wants.” At that point the waiter brought out their food. When the waiter had left, Neji resumed their conversation. “So you know who he really likes.” Sakura nodded. “You guys really are clueless. It’s right in front of your nose. But, that’s for him to tell you.”

For the rest of the night Neji and Sakura talked about everything from training to Neji’s relationship with TenTen. Sakura said he should just confess, but Neji didn’t like that idea. He was too afraid of rejection. Then they talked about the one thing they shared, Lee. Neji tried to help his friend out and convince Sakura to give him a chance. Sakura said Lee was just too loud for her taste. Neji decided he would help Lee with that problem. Lee needed to get some dignity anyways. At the end of the meal Neji walked Sakura home. He had to admit, Sakura wasn’t as bad as he thought she was. They might actually be able to be friends. As they neared Sakura’s house, Neji heard someone call his name. He turned around to find TenTen run up to them. “Neji, where were you? We were supposed to train together, remember?” Neji cursed in his head. He had completely forgotten. “Sorry, I forgot. You see I was….” Sakura clung to his arm at that moment. She really meant it when she said she wouldn’t tell TenTen about his feelings. “Neji-kun was on a date with me.” TenTen’s eyes got really big. “Oh.”

TenTen turned around and started to walk the other way. “I guess I’ll just see you later then.” Neji was just about to chase her when she disappeared from sight. She really didn’t want to be found. He shook Sakura off his arm. “I think you can get home by yourself.” Sakura just nodded. She hadn’t meant for TenTen to get so upset. Neji left Sakura standing there and headed back to the Hyuuga compound. When he got to his room he stripped off his clothes down to his boxers and hung them up. Even when he was upset, he still had to take care of his things. ‘She must be really mad that I didn’t tell her about the date. Because that didn’t look like jealousy to me. After all, girls yell when they get jealous. That is what Sakura-chan and Ino-chan did when they liked Sasuke-kun,’ he thought. He lay down in his bed and decided to never listen to Naruto ever again. He would ask someone else in the morning. If only he had an idea about who to ask. Gai-sensei and Lee were definitely not at the top of the list. If fact, he put them at the very bottom, right above Jiraiya-sama. As he was falling asleep, an idea hit him. He needed someone with the wisdom to know what to do. He knew exactly who he would ask.

Neji walked up the stairs of the Hokage Tower the next morning, knowing exactly where he was going. He came to the door he was seeking and knocked. After a few minutes the door opened and Iruka walked out. “Good morning Neji-kun, Hokage-sama’s all finished in there. You can go in.” Neji nodded and entered the room. Tsunade was seated at her desk while looking over some papers, or pretending to. Neji couldn’t tell which it was. Tsunade looked up at him. “Is something wrong? Your mission isn’t until tomorrow,” she asked him. Neji shook his head. “No, nothing is wrong. I’m actually not here on shinobi business.” Tsunade stood up from her chair and walked over to him. Neji froze when she placed her hand on his cheek. ‘What’s up with this? She’s way too close to me.’ Neji thought. Tsunade removed her hand, “Well, you don’t have a fever. Is your stomach the problem? Or is the problem farther south?” Neji finally realized what she was doing. She interpreted his saying “not here on shinobi business” to mean that he was there on medical business. “I’m not sick. And I resent that remark. All of me is fine.” He made sure to stress the word ‘all.’ He didn’t want anyone thinking that there was a problem “farther south” as she put it. “I just wanted some advice.” Tsunade sat back down at her desk and gestured for him to sit in a chair in front of her desk. “Oh, I see. What’s the problem?” Neji sat in the chair. “I want to know about women.” A look of horror crossed Tsunade’s face. “Don’t tell me you’ve never gotten ‘The Talk’?” Neji was starting to get angry. That was not what he meant. “I know all about that. I’m not an idiot! I just want to know how to get a certain someone to like me. I think I made her mad and want to apologize without…” Neji couldn’t think of anyway to describe what he wanted. Tsunade smiled at him. “Is that all? You want to apologize without actually apologizing right? That’s an easy solution. All you have to do is take her out for a few drinks and your feelings will find a way of making themselves known.” Neji almost fell out of his chair at that suggestion. “Hokage-sama, I’m a minor. I can’t legally drink.” Tsunade shrugged it off without second thought. Neji decided to just excuse himself without any more advice from her. It figured she’d suggest alcohol. Her drinking problem wasn’t exactly a secret.

Before he knew it, Neji found himself at his favorite sushi restaurant. He hadn’t had breakfast yet and was starving. He ordered some food and thought about what Tsunade had said. Did alcohol really help people reveal their true feelings? Tsunade was always truthful. At least, he’d never heard her lie. Maybe there was something to this alcohol thing after all. Lee sure seemed open that time he accidentally had some sake. Before he could shake some sense into himself, a blonde kunoichi appeared in the chair in front of him. “What do you want, Temari-san?” He asked her bluntly. She dropped a piece of paper in front of him. “An invitation to Gaara’s birthday party. He’s really depressed so we’re all trying to cheer him up.” Neji pushed the invitation back at her. “No.” She pushed it back. “You would refuse an invitation from the Kazekage himself?” He narrowed his eyes at her. “It’s not from the Kazekage, so n… wait… Will there be alcohol there?” Temari nodded. “And will TenTen be there?” Neji asked her. Temari nodded again. Neji decided that there couldn’t be any harm in going to a stupid party. “Fine, I’ll be there.” Temari stood up, smiling. “Great. But to think, you’re the alcoholic type.” Neji was about to tell her to mind her own business, but she was gone in a poof of smoke. Neji knew that by the end of the week his reputation would be completely ruined. Because of Naruto everyone would think he was a womanizer and now they’d think he was an alcoholic. He didn’t think things could get any worse. He sat I silence for the rest of his breakfast and pondered his fate. Would he be doomed to be alone forever because of his damned pride? He decided to let it go and opened the invitation and was shocked to see that the party was that night. It really was a last minute; let’s cheer Gaara up, type of thing. Even more shock at that was what was printed on the “type of party” section of the card. Neji almost let himself look shocked. “It’s a costume party?”

That evening Neji stood in his room adjusting the kimono for his costume. Hinata entered the room, looking embarrassed about her costume. “Neji-niisan, I was wondering if you needed help getting your hair fixed.” Neji nodded. He had been hoping she would ask him, because he had no idea how to get his hair to do what he wanted it to. Neji sat on the bed and let Hinata arrange his hair. “What about you? Don’t you need a wig since your hair is shorter than who you’re pretending to be?” Neji asked her. Hinata nodded. “Sakura-chan is bringing me a wig. She should be here soon.” He looked up at her suddenly, causing her to drop part of his costume. “Sakura-chan? Why her?” Hinata gently tilted his head back and picked up the piece. “It was her that suggested I go as this. She also suggested your costume.” He let her finish his hair as he tried to think of what Sakura was up to.

Before he could think of anything the door opened and Sakura burst in the room. “Kuchiki Byakuya and Kuchiki Rukia, how cute!” Sakura exclaimed when she saw their costumes. Neji did have to admit that they did fit the roles. Although, he wasn’t too happy about the ridiculous hair pieces he had to wear. He looked Sakura up and down, trying to figure out who she was. “And you’re dressed as?” Sakura giggled, “Isn’t is obvious?” Neji looked at her again. She was wearing a black cape, black boots, and what looked to Neji to be black armor with a bat on the chest. “No, it’s not obvious,” Neji replied. Sakura sighed, “You really are hopeless Neji-kun. I’m Batgirl. You really need to read more comics.” “Batgirl has pink hair?” Hinata stuttered out. Sakura shrugged, “Well no, but it’s red and that’s close enough.” Sakura handed Hinata the wig she brought and helped her put it on, making sure none of Hinata’s hair poked out. While they were doing that, Neji reached under his bed and pulled out two swords. He handed one to Hinata when they were done with her wig and attached the other to his belt.

The three of them set out to the building where the party was being held. It was normally an indoor training area used on rainy days, but had been converted for the event. “Sakura-chan, why is it costume party?” Hinata asked timidly. “Well, after Gaara-sama couldn’t go to the Halloween party last fall because of some official business, he mentioned to Kankuro-san that he wished he could have gone. So naturally, we all decided to make up for it with this, especially since he had to deal with the ‘official’ party. I heard it was the most boring this ever. Even Gaara-sama yawned and…” Sakura was cut off by a blond idiot running towards them. “Oi Sakura-chan, if I’d known you were going to be Batgirl, I would have been Robin,” Naruto announced, causing Hinata to stare at the ground. Neji let out a small smile, realized she obviously missed what he was dressed as. “Kurosaki Ichigo, I presume,” Neji said coldly. Neji figured it was a coincidence, but still an interesting one.

Naruto finally turned his attention to Neji and Hinata, who had finally seen Naruto costume and began blushing wildly. “Hey Hinata-chan, look I didn’t even need a wig to be Ichigo. Isn’t that cool? You know what? We should go to the party together. I mean since you’re Rukia and I’m Ichigo. So what so you say?” Naruto looked straight in the eyes innocently, and of course caused Hinata to feint. Neji would have caught her, but someone was already back there to do it for him. “Inuzuka-san, or should I say Inuyasha-san,” Neji said to Kiba, who’d been the one to catch Hinata. Kiba smiled at the group. “Yep, that’s me.” Kiba was wearing dog ears, a white wig and an extremely well made Inuyasha costume, which of course meant his mom made it for him. Akumaru barked behind him. The only difference Neji could see with Akumaru was that his fur had been dyed gray. Sakura noticed too, “Hey Kiba-kun, what is Akumaru dressed as?” Kiba laughed, “A wolf of course.” Hinata opened her eyes and blushed when she realized that she was being supported by Kiba. “Aritgato, Kiba-kun.” Shino, who Neji had somehow not noticed before, appeared form behind Kiba and helped Hinata up. “Shino-kun, that’s cheating!” Sakura exclaimed when he saw Shino’s “costume.” He was in his normal clothes except for a sticker that said “Hello, my name is kami.” Shino just shrugged. “Come on guys, let’s get to the party.” Naruto said, breaking the silence. For a second Neji thought he almost saw a sad look on Naruto’s face, but just figured he’d been worried about Hinata.

They all followed Naruto down the street and into the training building. Neji glanced at the ANBU guards as they entered. He was well aware that the ANBU were checking to make sure no enemy ninja were at the party. That’s why everyone wore costumes instead of just transforming. It would have been impossible to tell friend from foe then. Neji was knocked out of his thought by an exclamation from his newly arrived teammate, Rock Lee, “Ah Neji, how youthful you look in your Byakuya costume.” Neji couldn’t resist making a comment about Lee’s costume as well, only his wasn’t as nice, “And how ridiculous you look in your Gohan costume.” Lee was dressed as Gohan from Dragonball Z during the Namek Saga. That meant blue spandex instead of green since Gohan wore saiyan armor at that point. But Neji did admit that the part fit. Their hair was almost the same; and mentality. Lee looked at the ground sadly and left to attempt to win Sakura’s heart.

Finally alone, Neji looked around for the one person he wanted to see more than anyone. ‘Hmm… She’s not by the bar with Kankuro dressed as a kabuki actor. Not by the karaoke stage with Shikamaru dressed as John Travolta when he was in Grease and Temari and Ino, both dressed as Sandy. Ino was her at the beginning, Temari at the end. Neji sensed a cat fight coming. TenTen wasn’t at the buffet with Choji who was dressed like a tank or with the Hokage… wait? Hokage? Neji stopped in his tracks. Tsunade wasn’t supposed to be there. He walked to where he could see the person’s face. “Kazekage-sama,” Neji said, acknowledging Gaara in his Hokage costume. Neji figured Gaara picked that because it was just like his usual Kazekage robes. Gaara nodded to him in acknowledgement. Neji heard a commotion behind him and turned around to hear Lee, “My eternally youthful rival, look who I found hiding in a corner!” Lee was dragging TenTen by the hand behind him. TenTen was blushing, embarrassed about how short her skirt on her Sailor Mars costume was. Neji turned away to keep anyone from seeing his blush. Unfortunately Lee wouldn’t leave him alone, “Neji, you must tell this beautiful blossom how lovely she looks.” Neji didn’t risk turning back around, “I thought you had curly hair TenTen.” He said the only nonperverted thing he was thinking at the moment. “Oh, that time it was just curly because I had put my hair into buns while it was wet and when it came down during training the curls stayed that way. I really have straight hair,” TenTen answered, then hurried away, avoiding Neji. She approached Gaara and wished him a happy birthday. Neji couldn’t help but look at her. She really did look amazing. Neji sighed and decided to join Kankuro and Shino at the bar. He picked got a drink and nodded to the two others. Shino simply nodded back but Kankuro, obviously already hammered, put his arm around Neji’s shoulders. “Hey Neji, you know what will be fun? Lets sing karaoke,” Kankuro laughed.

“There’s no way in hell I’m singing karaoke with you,” he replied. Neji brushed the drunken man’s arm from his shoulder, causing Kankuro to hit the ground face first. Neji didn’t understand how that man could have gotten drunk so fast. He must have a very low tolerance for alcohol. He should go drinking with Lee sometime. That would be an interesting sight, Lee breaking everything in sight and Kankuro just singing away. Neji smirked at that thought. Shino looked over at him, “What’s so funny?” Neji shrugged, not wanting to let the bug man know that he was thinking something so ridiculous.

Kankuro pushed himself off the ground and told them she was going to look for some “hot babes.” What a lecher. Neji didn’t think any woman in her right mind would go for a guy in makeup, although he’d been wrong before. He watched for a couple hours as the kabuki wanna be flirted with every female in sight and eventually talked with some girl he couldn’t quite see for a while. Neji didn’t know how, but the woman actually laughed at some joke he made. Neji’s eyes widened when the woman finally moved so Neji could see her. It was none other than TenTen herself. Oh fuck no! Neji was not letting this happen. He downed his entire drink and started to go over there and give that damned freak a piece of his mind when a hand on his shoulder stopped him. “Don’t get into a fight and ruin the party, or worse ruin the alliance with Suna,” Shino said.

Neji nodded, but still wanted to go over to separate the two, but not before downing Shino’s drink as well. Shino tried to protest, saying something about everclear and bugs absorbing alcohol, but Neji didn’t listen. He walked over to them and formed a plan along the way. “Hey, I changed my mind. Let’s sing karaoke together,” Neji said, wishing he had another way to separate the two. Kankuro pulled him to the karaoke machine and held up the mike. The song was just about to start when he something that made his blood boil. “What the fuck are you doing with my cousin?!” he yelled. The alcohol was definitely kicking in. He was yelling at Naruto who was going outside with Hinata and passed by the window. Neji ran through the crowd after the two. Naruto was going to die right then and there.

“Oi Neji, the floor’s spinning,” Naruto yelled. Neji stopped; the boy was obviously drunk. Neji gave Hinata a questioning look, “Hinata-sama, just what is going on here?” Hinata blushed slightly, “Naruto-kun is drunk, so he asked me to help him home.” Neji relaxed a bit. He could forgive Naruto for a simple walk home, or so he thought. At that moment Naruto leaned on Hinata’s shoulder and whispered to her, “Hinata-chan, you should wear more form fitting clothes. They would look good on you.” That’s it. Hinata was NOT walking Naruto home. “Wait here,” Neji said authoritatively.

He turned around to tell the rest of the group that he was taking Hinata and Naruto home and succeeded in getting through the door before he fell. He was more drunk than he originally thought. Sure he’d had quite a bit to drink, but he had a high tolerance. Unfortunately, Kiba saw him fall and felt it necessary to broadcast that fact to the whole party. He tried to tell them that he, Hinata, and Naruto were leaving, but his words began to slur together. TenTen left the spot where she had been talking to Temari and helped Neji up. “Hey guys, I’m going to walk Neji home. I think Naruto and Hinata are with him too,” she announced as the party went back to normal. As soon as they got out the door, she began to scold Neji. “Shino told me you drank some of his drink. Neji, Shino drinks everclear because his bugs absorb alcohol and it’s almost impossible for him to get drunk. I don’t know what you were thinking taking his drink. You can be so irresponsible sometimes. And what’s more…” Neji decided to ignore her. He didn’t really care what she had to say at the moment.

He glanced at the overly drunk Naruto. His apartment was really far away and Neji was feeling lazy for once in his life. It must be the alcohol. “Hey idiot, the Hyuuga complound is close to here. You’ll stay there tonight so you don’t kill yourself walking all the way to your apartment.” Neji grimaced at his slurred speech. Naruto got a really happy look on his face, “Alright Hinata-chan, I’m sleeping with you tonight.” In a flash Neji was holding the blond’s collar. “That’s not what I meant. I just meant I’m sleeping at her house.” Neji released the boy and noticed Hinata turning a bright shade of red. He sighed and held out his arms as she feinted. He picked his cousin up and carried her on his back, not an easy feat for the drunk boy.

He stumbled to the Hyuuga compound, followed by a completely sober TenTen helping Naruto. Neji put the girl in her bed and led Naruto to an empty guest room, locking the door so the idiot couldn’t escape in the middle of the night. He did not trust that boy. Once those two were safely tucked in, TenTen turned to leave. “I trust you can get yourself into bed,” she said. “Wait,” Neji stopped her, “Stay here.” She turned back around with a quizzical look on her face. Neji blushed when he realized how that sentence sounded. “I mean, sleep here with me tonight.” Shit, he’d said it wrong again. Before he could explain more, he felt a slap across his face. “Hentai! The only reason I’m letting you live after saying something like that is because you’re drunk.” TenTen yelled. Neji rubbed his cheek. Okay, maybe he deserved that a little bit. “I meant, I have a couch that you could sleep on since your place is really far away and it’s pretty late.” TenTen blushed, feeling embarrassed about hitting Neji now. She simply nodded in agreement.

Neji led her into the living room of his house that was separate from the main house. Normally, his whole family would live there, but after his father’s death there was no one else, so he got the whole place to himself. He went to the closet and pulled out a blanket and pillow and set the on the couch in the living room. TenTen began to make it sleepable and he went into his room. He returned with one of his shirts and some sweat pants. “Here wear these. You can’t sleep in that.” TenTen took them from him, “Thanks Neji, and sorry about slapping you.” Neji nodded, “It’s okay. I know how I sounded. Guess I should stay away from the everclear from now on. Now change and go to sleep.” He started to leave the room, but turned around at the door, remembering something he wanted to say. “One last thing, you should wear your hair down more often. It looks nice.”

Neji awoke the next morning in his bed. It was already past sunrise and plenty warm outside and he knew he had a mission, but he didn't want to wake up. His head was killing him. He hadn't had that much to drink the night before, and by that much he meant he didn't spend the night praying to the porcelain god like some people. That reminded him, he had to let Naruto out of the room he locked him in. The idiot probably couldn't get out like a normal ninja and pick the lock or climb out the window. That would be too smart. If he wanted out, he would probably blow up half the compound, which was not good. Hiashi would be furious. Neji grunted and rolled out of bed. He knew his teammates probably thought that he always gets up hours before sunrise with no problems, does some freaky yoga, and eats nothing but green tea and rice for breakfast. In reality, he had to force himself out of be, wouldn't be caught dead doing yoga, and ate whatever Hinata cooked him for breakfast. This morning was no exception.

Neji pulled a fresh mission outfit from his closet and set it on his bed. He pulled his shirt that he slept in over his head and through it in the laundry. Next off came his pajama pants. He spent the next few minutes putting on his mission clothes. They were complicated and he didn't want to make a mistake and look like an idiot, so he took his time. Now he turned to replacing the bandage he kept wrapped over his forehead. The old bandages fell to the ground as he grabbed some new ones from the drawer he kept them in. We walked over to his mirror and began to rebandage his forehead. TenTen and Lee mistook the giant mirror to mean that he was incredibly vain the first time they saw it. They should try getting all those bandages right ever morning without a mirror. He needed that mirror. Neji sighed as the bandages slowly covered the mark on his forehead. He felt relieved as he covered the bandages with his forehead protector. A sign of honor to cover a sign of shame; it made some of the pain go away. It wasn't physical pain, but emotional pain. He pushed the painful memories from his mind as he tied his hair like he did ever day. Now he was ready to let the world see him. He opened the door to his room to wake TenTen from the couch.

Neji looked around for TenTen and found a note from her sitting on the couch on top of the clothes that he had given her to sleep in. He picked it up and read it.

Neji,
I went home to prepare for the mission. Meet you at the gate at nine. Don't bother to get the scroll from the Hokage. I'll get it this time.

P.S. I let Naruto out. He'll probably head for the kitchen.
TenTen

He put the note in his pocket and headed for the room he had locked Naruto in. He was surprised to see that the bed was made already and it was as clean as it was before. He had been expecting a disaster area. Satisfied that he wouldn't have to force Naruto to pay for any damages, Neji walked to the kitchen. He found Naruto sitting at the table eating a bowl of ramen, wearing some of Neji's old clothes. Neji grunted a greeting and reached into the fridge for whatever food Hinata had left for him. She was always up way before him for her training. He thought it was because she knew no one would offer to train with her that early, but didn't know why she would want to train alone. Hyuuga's always train in pairs. Neji grabbed his breakfast. It was still warm which meant Hinata hadn't been gone long so she must have left late because they were out so late the night before. Neji quickly ate then noticed that Naruto was finished with his food. "Go home and get changed. You have a mission today as well," Neji said, walking with Naruto to the front door of the Hyuuga compound. "Bye Neji!" Naruto yelled, walking the opposite way of Neji to go to his house. Neji seriously hoped Naruto wouldn't be on his mission team today. He had admitted his respect for Naruto as a ninja and even admitted that he could change destiny, but he could only handle the blond in small amounts without going crazy.

As he walked to the gate, Neji thought about his attempts to ask people for help telling TenTen how he feels. Asking Naruto was a mistake. He may have had plenty of practice asking out Sakura, but had plenty more getting shot down. The only good thing that he discovered from that mess what that Sakura wasn't all that bad. They could probably be friends. Tsunade had been another story. Getting drunk was a terrible idea. Neji simply ended up making a fool of himself. He thought that was what Tsunade secretly wanted to happen, but wasn't going to tell her that himself. She was scary and he didn't want to end up hurt. Neji decided he would ask one more person. 'But who?' he thought as he approached the village gate. Before he got to think about it he saw TenTen up ahead standing next to Ino and Kankuro. 'What the hell?' Neji walked over to TenTen and sent her a quizzical look. "Lee got called away to another mission with Gai-sensei so we needed a replacement. Ino's perfect for this mission and Kankuro's coming so that he doesn't have to hang around here while Gaara is in meetings and Temari flirts with Shikamaru," TenTen said, understanding exactly what Neji had meant with that one simple look. Neji heard Ino scream "What?!" from a few feet away. Apparently neither Temari nor Ino intended to back off from Shikamaru. Neji had no idea how girls could be friends with someone they seemed to hate so much. After convincing Ino that it was okay to leave Shikamaru alone with Temari in Konoha, the group set out for their destination. Neji sent TenTen a look that said he wanted to see the mission scroll, so she promptly handed it to him. He opened it up and looked at the mission. "Great," he muttered sarcastically under his breath.

"Great," Neji muttered sarcastically under his breath. He handed the scroll back to TenTen who exchanged puzzled looks with Ino. They both had seen it and didn't see a problem with the mission. Of course, neither of them knew anything about their destination, Whirlpool Country. It may sound like a dangerous place, but Neji knew better. He'd been there before and while it did have a lot of dangerous areas, there was one beautiful city. It was a city known for its parties and extravagance. The daimyo also lives there. That wasn't the bad part. The bad part was they were headed for the city to stand guard during the biggest party of the year, the daimyo's birthday. Their job would be to guard him during the two day celebration, which was not an easy task. There would be people everywhere and no way to tell who was an enemy.

Neji sighed began walking down the path toward Whirlpool Country. TenTen and Ino followed after a shrug and Kankuro ignored the situation. He didn't really care if Neji was bothered by the mission. It was something to do. They spent about three hours traveling in silence. Even Ino had the sense not to bother Neji with the obvious discontent that flowed from every pore in his body. Eventually Ino got so infuriated with the silence that she elbowed TenTen and pointed to Neji. TenTen sighed and spend up to walk next to him. "How long do you think it will take to get there?" she asked. Neji glanced at her and then returned to looking forward. "We should arrive tomorrow night. The celebration begins the following day." TenTen nodded and began to fall back but was immediately met with a glare at her back courtesy of Ino. She sped back up to Neji but not without him noticing first. He sighed because it seemed that she didn't want to talk to him. He didn't bother to take into account that she might be nervous because of his reaction to the mission.

"What's the plan for when we get there?" TenTen asked, trying to start a conversation. Neji frowned. She only ever talked to him about missions and training. He'd heard her tell Lee all her personal problems before. Why couldn't she do the same with him? "Ino and Kankuro will scan the area for suspicious people, while TenTen and I will keep our eyes on the daimyo," Neji said loud enough for the whole group to hear.

"Eh? Why do I have to scan the crowd? I don't want to," Ino interjected. Neji turned and gave Ino a curious look. Scanning the crowd was far less boring than staring at the daimyo all day. At least she would be able to see the celebration. So why would she object to that? Neji sighed. He would never be able to understand women. "Because if TenTen or I had to take care of a problem, there would be a huge disturbance. Your bloodline would allow you to take care of someone quietly," he said coldly. Ino sighed and accepted defeat, luckily for Neji.

The group traveled the rest of the day in silence. Ino seemed to be too angry about her role in the mission to try to start a conversation. Neji stopped them once he found a suitable place to camp and the group began to set up camp. They were still in Fire Country so they didn't have to post a watch. If Neji had been paying close enough attention while he fixed dinner he would have noticed Ino and Kankuro whisper to each other for a few seconds. But he was too busy paying attention to TenTen. She was preparing their sleeping area. That normally wouldn't have caught his attention, but she had bent over to search through her bag. Neji couldn't help but appreciate the view to her backside. He may have been a Hyuuga, but he was still human, a human who could appreciate a nice ass when he saw one.

He sighed. It was incredibly embarrassing to admit, but he was incredibly confused about how to tell TenTen how he felt still. He finally glanced over at Kankuro and Ino and noticed that they were both looking at him. "What?" Neji said, sounding slightly annoyed. Ino gave Neji a smile that annoyed him to no end. It was like she was mocking him with a simple smile. "Nothing," Ino said sweetly. Neji wasn't dumb; he knew that something was going on. Before he could figure out what, his thoughts were interrupted by TenTen. "I saw a fruit tree nearby. I'm going to go check it out. I'll be back soon," she said as she walked away. As soon as TenTen was out of sight Neji was surrounded by Ino and Kankuro. Well, maybe not surrounded since there were only two of them, but he felt surrounded.

"Hey Neji?" Ino said. Neji ignored her. She took that to mean she could continue. "Can the Byakugan see through anything?" she asked. Both Ino and Kankuro looked very interested in the answer. Neji felt relieved. It was a question about the mission or training. He could answer that no problem. He had been worried it would be a question about TenTen, or anything personal really. "Yes, of course. The Byakugan can see through anything," Neji said as he glanced at Kankuro who was trying not to laugh. Kankuro suddenly appeared serious when he saw Neji staring at him. "Even clothes and walls?" Ino asked. Neji nodded, still not understanding what she was getting at. "Even TenTen's clothes?" Ino asked, a slight giggle escaping from her lips. Neji slowly began to blush. "Yes, even TenTen's clothes," he said softly. Ino let out a squeal, causing Kankuro to step in. "Are you sure?" he asked mischievously. Neji nodded once again, his face becoming even more pink. "So you've looked? I mean, you can't be sure unless you looked," Kankuro said, a smile evident on his face. Neji nearly fell over. "No, I would never look at TenTen without clothes!" His face reddened when he realized that he just yelled that. He heard an unfamiliar giggled behind him and turned around. His entire body froze when he saw TenTen standing there, her mouth agape.