A/N: This takes place when Neji, Tenten, and Lee are still genin and some time after Orochimaru's attack.
Haunted Manor
The sun was beginning to set behind the trees as Team Gai walked down one of the many streets of Konoha. Gai and Lee were in the lead, just as energetic as ever, even though they spent the entire day training. Neji and Tenten, however, were exhausted and lagged behind a bit.
"Where do they get all that energy from?" Tenten asked Neji, between breaths.
The Hyuga shook his head, finding it hard to breathe as well. "Your guess is as good as mine, Tenten."
Just then, Gai-sensei turned around, a big smile on his face. "Hurry up Neji, Tenten. I want to take you somewhere."
Lee's eyes grew wide. "Oh, Gai-sensei. Where?"
Gai's smile never left. "It's a surprise."
Lee jumped up and down with excitement. "I love surprises! Please, please, please tell me where we're going!"
Neji and Tenten rolled their eyes at Lee's antics.
Gai patted the boy's shoulder. "If I told you, it wouldn't be a surprise, now would it? You will find out soon enough."
"Why can't we just go home?" Neji asked with a scowl on his face.
"Yes, sensei," Tenten whined. "I'm tired."
"Nonsense!" Gai waved off their complaints. "My students deserve compensation for all the hard work they've done today." He raised his fist in the air. "Now, let's go!"
Gai and Lee laughed and skipped away. Neji and Tenten exchanged 'I'm miserable' looks before running to catch up to them.
Soon, they stopped in front of a creepy looking house that was converted into.. you guessed it.. a haunted house. The roof was sagging and most of the siding had fallen off. The structural soundness of it was questionable. It didn't help that it was leaning to one side.
Realizing what it was, Lee jumped for joy and cheered loudly, while Neji and Tenten sagged their shoulders and groaned.
Lee managed to contain himself enough to ask, "Are we going inside the haunted house, Gai-sensei?"
"No, Lee," Neji said sarcastically. "He just brought us here to look at this piece of crap house."
"Neji," Gai began, putting his hand on the stoic boy's shoulder and ignoring the cold stare he received in return. "You act like you don't want to do this."
Tenten raised her hand as if she were in class. "Gai-sensei, I don't want to do it either."
Gai looked offended. "Your loving sensei wants to reward you and you're giving him the cold shoulder?"
After he said that, Gai realized his hand was still on Neji's shoulder and removed it.
"But, sensei!" Lee yelled. "I want to do it!"
Gai smiled at his favorite pupil. "It's decided then. Majority vote wins and the majority wants to go inside the haunted house."
Neji looked confused. "Sensei, your math is off. Two of us want to go and two of us do not."
"Ah, Neji." Gai put up his index finger. "It is you who are wrong."
Neji grimaced, begrudgingly waiting for an explanation to his sensei's logic (if there was one).
Gai continued. "I am your sensei, so my vote should count as more than one. Therefore, majority wins."
Neji slapped his forehead and Tenten let out an exasperated sigh.
Gai and Lee headed toward the haunted house. Neji and Tenten exchanged the same looks as before, then followed them.
A man dressed up as Frankenstein was standing at the entrance. He smiled as they approached.
Tenten tried not to snicker. It was the worst costume she'd ever seen. The man's outfit looked three times bigger than it should (he was practically floating in it), and the bolts glued to his neck were dangling off.
"Welcome to Haunted Manor," he said. "The most haunted house in all of Konoha."
"Whatever," Neji mumbled.
The man cleared his throat. "There are four of you, so that will be 2000 ryo."
While Gai fished for the money in his pocket, Neji spoke again. "Actually, according to my sensei, he counts as more than one person."
Gai, who was always careful with his money, had a panicked look on his face. "What are your talking about, Neji?" How did the prodigy know he was frugal?
"But, sensei," Neji started. "Just a moment ago, you said.."
"Nevermind what I said." Gai slapped the money in 'Frankenstein's' hand and pushed his team forward.
Spooky sounds emitted from speakers as soon as they entered. It was dimly lit and fake cobwebs were strung out everywhere, causing Tenten to lightly shiver.
Walking along, they eventually came upon a sunny picture of Konoha hanging on the wall.
"Look, Gai-sensei." Lee pointed at the work of art. "It's the Leaf village!"
Gai put his hands on his hips proudly. "Why, yes it is, Lee."
As they were admiring it, the picture suddenly dropped and a lady dressed up as Orochimaru appeared. "Boo!" she yelled.
Lee yelped and jumped into his sensei's arms. Neji and Tenten closed their eyes and shook their heads.
The woman cackled as the painting moved back into position.
"That was scary," Lee whimpered as he got down from his sensei's arms.
"Yes, it was," Gai agreed, then raised his fist in the air. "Let's continue on."
Next, they came upon a long, narrow hallway with a shaky floor. Gai went pale.
Noticing his teacher's reaction, Lee asked, "What's wrong, sensei?"
Gai turned to him, faking a smile. "Oh, it's nothing."
The truth was, his stomach couldn't handle jerky movements. In fact, the last time he was on a boat, Gai instantly became seasick. Not wanting to show weakness in front of his students, he walked across the unstable floor, secretly holding his stomach and swallowing down the bile that rose up in his throat.
After they made it across, the team entered another room. This one was well lit and had several mirrors hanging on the walls. Some of them were normal, while others were funhouse mirrors.
All of a sudden, the males of the group heard a feminine scream. They turned around to see Tenten looking horrified into one of the mirrors.
"I do not look like that!" she shrieked, pointing at the mirror.
Her teacher and teammates walked over to look. Tenten appeared normal, until you got down to her thighs. They were humongous. The brunette's cheeks burned in embarrassment as Gai and Lee tried not to laugh.
"It's just an illusion, Tenten." Neji grabbed her hand, pulling her away from the mirror.
Feeling the contact, Tenten's face became even redder. Somehow, she forgot all about the unflattering mirror.
Up ahead, the team heard the familiar sounds of a forest. Fake trees lined both sides of them as they walked through a layer of mist. A strange noise came from a darkened area of the trees, and they instinctively went into alert mode.
Unexpectedly, a mechanical squirrel appeared, munching on a plastic nut and moving toward them.
Lee's eyes clouded over. "Look, sensei! A squirrel!"
As the others relaxed, Lee bent down and reached out his hand to pet it.
"I don't think you should get too close," Neji warned.
Lee looked back over his shoulder at him. "What could possibly go wrong?"
When Lee turned his attention back to the squirrel, its eyes had turned red. Its mouth opened, revealing long, sharp fangs. It hissed and Lee flinched back. Then, more red eyes appeared all around them.
Lee ran for his life. The others caught up with him when he stopped to catch his breath.
Gai put his hand on Lee's shoulder, causing the boy to jump slightly. "A lesson can be learned from this."
Forgetting his traumatic experience, Lee got out his notebook. "What is that, my wise sensei?"
"Not everything is as it appears," Gai stated.
"Great insight, sensei!" Lee scribbled into his pad.
"Can we go now?" Neji crossed his arms, looking rather bored.
The next room was turned into (of all things) a barber shop. It looked authentic enough, except it wasn't hair that was all over the floor, but fake blood and body parts.
A man with long scissors sneaked over to them. Noticing a kid with long, silky hair, the barber lightly stroked it. "Would you like a haircut, little girly?"
Neji, feeling someone touching his hair, turned around to glare at the person.
The barber jumped back in shock. Not only was the kid a boy, but a Hyuga at that.
"First of all, I am not a girl," Neji gritted out, activating his byakugan. "Second of all, no one touches the hair. No one! 64 Palms!"
Gai watched in horror as his student struck the man with several blows. "Neji!" He yelled, grabbing the boy's arms and trying to restrain him. "Sorry about that," he told the barber, who, by then, was lying on the floor, moaning in pain.
The Jonin dragged his student away. When he thought it was safe, Gai let go of him.
Neji turned around, his eyes back to normal again. "This is why I didn't want to come here!" he yelled angrily.
"Yes, sensei," said Tenten. "This place isn't even scary."
"But, Tenten," said Lee. "I heard you scream just a little while ago."
"Because I was offended," insisted Tenten. "Not scared."
Lightning flashed and the team realized they were in a different room. A large wooden box hung from the ceiling. The bottom of it fell open and something large dropped out.
Tenten screamed again and threw all of the kunai she had at the object. When she was finished, there were at least twenty kunai in the fake spider.
Everyone looked wide-eyed at the kunoichi, who was breathing heavily. "I'm afraid of spiders, okay? I couldn't help it."
Moving on, they walked through another hallway with a shaky floor. Gai tried his best not to spew again.
The last place they had to go through was a dark room with several bright strobe lights. Neji winced in pain, the flashes hurting his sensitive eyes. After finally figuring out where to go, Tenten led him and the others to the exit.
Outside, the team breathed a sigh of relief.
"I'm glad that's over with," said Tenten, even more exhausted now.
"You can say that again," said Neji, rubbing his temples.
"It was certainly.. interesting," said Gai, holding his stomach.
Lee clinched his fists in front of him, looking overly excited. "Can we do it again, sensei?"
Everyone stared at Lee. Then, Tenten bopped him upside the head.