Safety Dance

He knew going into this mission it was going to be dangerous. They were pursuing Akatsuki after all. He never imagined though that Gai sensei would be pushed back the way he was. He never much cared for the behavior and antics of the older jounin, but he never questioned his strength. It was because of the man fighting before him that the weakest of their teammates was now a powerhouse to be reckoned with.

Normally, it was difficult to surprise him, but the sheer strength and the vast amount of chakra their opponent had surprised him almost as much as Naruto's surprised him. He thought nothing outside of a Jinchuuriki would have that amount of chakra. Today, he'd been proven wrong.

The sound of a gurgled cough to his right caught his attention. His eyes narrowed in irritation. This water prison he and his fellow classmates were stuck in was by far annoying. Having to hold his breath for long periods of times didn't bother him, but Tenten couldn't say the same. He could tell by the way her hand clasped around her throat loosely and the pained expression in her eyes she was at her limit. His pale eyes flickered to his other teammate. He seemed ok and that eased his mind a bit.

The cough came again and he knew he had to do something. If they stayed in this water prison, they would be short a member. Not only would that hurt their chances of mission success, he had to admit, the thought of her being in danger upset him a great deal more than he cared to admit.

With a slight fluctuation in his chakra, the veins surrounding his pale eyes bulged, activating his clans long sought after bloodline. He looked below the surface of the water to see his sensei gathering a large amount of chakra and releasing it all in one large burst.

This was his chance. He set his gaze on the clone standing before him and allowed his mind to slip in the calm, dark place in the back of his psyche. It was where he sought refuge when performing his tasks as a shinobi. The silence was what he needed in order to take the life of a fellow man. It allowed him a false sense of peace and allowed him to sleep at night.

He shifted his weight around despite the thickness of the water and how it logged down his limbs. With his right hand facing the man imprisoning him, palm out, and his left stretched out behind him, he used his Byakugan to determine where each attack would need to land and how far he needed to move to accomplish said goal. In a flash of speed, he palmed through the prison, forcing it to separate by focusing a small burst of chakra from his fingers. It didn't take long for him to notice a large difference in the weight of his body. He suddenly felt lighter and took the opportunity to suck in a much needed breath of air.

Before his captor could so much as blink or react in anyway, he landed a solid hit on the clone before him and the two holding his teammates. In another burst of speed, fueled by a nagging fear that he would deny later, he all but teleported himself next to his female companion and caught her around the waist to keep her from collapsing face first into the water. He lowered her gently so she had enough time to channel her chakra to her legs to support her weight. She knelt on the water's surface, gulping air greedily.

"You saved us…" His green clad friend huffed.

Between breaths he heard the girl in his grasp whisper, "Neji. Thank you."

All he could do was nod his head and look over to where the real fight was taking place. Their sensei leapt from the depths of the water in a position that Neji had only had the privilege of seeing a handful of times. His posture was straight, his left leg bent at the knee with both arms stretched out on either side with his palms face outwards.

In a flash of movement, the fight was over. The broken, mangled body of their opponent fell to the ground. The water beneath their feet disappeared and Neji knew then that they came out victorious.

It wasn't until Lee made a move towards their sensei, that Neji finally relinquished his hold on Tenten. Her breathing was back to normal and there was no longer a need to help her keep balance. She flashed him a grateful smile before motioning him to join Lee and Gai.

oOoOo

They flashed through the trees at a much slower pace than they had been before the fight with the blue-skinned man. They never once learned his name and that irritated her to no end. Not to mention her show of weakness in front her teammates. She'd strived very hard for the past four or five years to become the best kunoichi in the village. She wanted to prove that a female was capable of doing the same thing a man could, if not better. She blew all that out of the water -no pun intended- when she failed to hold her breath long enough.

She turned her head to look over at Neji. If he hadn't been there, she'd have been done for. She owed him a great deal, but she knew any way she could show it, he would take wither offensively or dismiss it all together. He wasn't heartless by any means, but he had the Hyuuga name to uphold which meant showing little to no emotion and always being prim and proper.

Her stomach twisted a little as she watched him push off the tree branch and push off with a small amount of chakra infused into the bottom of his foot. She pushed off the same branch only seconds later and wished she could gather the courage to speak with him. Not necessarily to thank him for helping her, but to have a comfortable conversation that didn't involve a mission or anything work related.

She shook her head, mindful that she didn't close her eyes, lest she face plant into the nearest tree. Tenten flinched as she watched her sensei do just that. Only, instead of face planting, he did a full body slam causing even Neji to flinch ever so lightly.

Neji, Tenten, and Lee stopped on a dime and rushed to try to keep their sensei from crashing head first into the forest floor only to get there a second too late. Gai rolled over so he was lying on his back, both legs twitching in the air, and groaning in apparent pain.

None of this surprised Tenten in the slightest. He always got like this after opening any number of the eight gates, but as always, he tried to play it off that he was fine. Opening six of the eight gates to finish off their Akatsuki opponent took its toll of his body and they should have rested immediately after the fight, not waiting until he collapsed from the pain. But such is the way with working with Gai and Lee.

She looked across Gai's now unconscious body to connect gazes with Neji. They shared a similar look that told her he thought the same as her. She smiled and rolled her shoulders. They weren't going anywhere until Gai woke up, so she might as well take a brief respite. Trying to keep up with Lee and Gai was taxing.

She pulled out a small summoning scroll and unraveled it. With a quick set of hand seals, her sleeping bag appeared and she laid it out next to the nearest tree. She crawled inside, being careful to remain in a sitting position lest she fall asleep. She rested her head against the rough bark of the tree and took in a deep, relaxing breath.

Her body was almost completely at ease when she felt movement to her right. Neji settled himself down beside her with one leg stretched out and the other drawn up to his chest with his arm draped over it. He didn't look at her; He looked straight ahead into the depth of the forest, probably watching something her eyes couldn't see. Even without the Byakugan active, he had eyes of an eagle.

They went several minutes without speaking or even looking at each other before Tenten grew restless. She finally sat up a little straighter and turned her head to get a full view of his profile. She could help but notice how attractive he was. His hair was longer than any female she knew, not to mention it was as shiny and as soft as it looked. His pale eyes should have done something to tarnish his looks, but they only added an exotic appeal. If it wasn't for cold exterior, she was certain he'd have a horde of fan girls trailing him around Konoha, much as the young Uchiha had during his academy days.

She must have been staring harder than she thought because the young Hyuuga turned to meet her warm brown eyes. He blinked once before speaking. "Did you need something?"

Tenten flashed him a companionable smile. "Actually, there was something…" She trailed off as his right eye brow climbed a little higher than his left. It wasn't like her to ask him for anything unless it involved training. "I was wondering…if maybe…" She swallowed hard, surprised at how nervous she actually was. She'd known Neji since they were kids. "Do you want to maybe grab a bite to eat after this mission?"

At the mention of food, Lee's ears perked. He turned his attention to his two friends and wished he knew what they were talking about. He swore he heard the word food. He glanced back and forth between them and decided the topic of food wouldn't put that much of a blush on Tenten's cheeks. In fact, he couldn't think of a single thing that would make her blush that bad.

Neji's brow peaked further at her request. The three of them never did anything together outside of missions and the occasional team dinner at the behest of Gai Sensei. He could tell she was nervous about making her request. Her face was the shade of red as her pants.

Normally he wasn't one to associate with anybody outside of his job requirement, he found it surprisingly difficult to say no to this particular request. He must have taken too long to voice his response because she gave him a faint smile and a dismissal wave of her hand.

"Never mind…forget I said anything." She said with a faint laugh that told Neji that her feelings were hurt.

He reigned in the urge to sigh and shake his head. Instead he gave her a slight nod and the barest of smiles. "I would."

She blinked n confusion. "You would…what?" She blinked a few more times before her eyes went wide and she made a small gasping sound that was barely discernible by Neji even though he was sitting in relatively close proximity. "You mean…?"

Neji just nodded his head once more. "Yes."

Tenten all but squealed in delight. She forced her hands into the sleeping bag to keep herself from punching the air in her excitement. He actually said yes! She wasn't sure if he was doing it because he thought it would hurt her feelings not to or because he truly wanted to. Either way it didn't bother her in the slightest. She smiled ear to ear.

"How about the Korean Barbeque?" She asked.

"Sounds good."