Title: Embarrassment, Table for One?

Author: hungrytiger11

Rating: G

Characters: Team Gai

Summary: Forget flying kunai, surprising blood limits, or enemy nin. Neji was going to die from embarrassment first. Hyuuga-centric.

He was going to die of thirst. Forget kunai flying around his head or open lotus gates or even his own seal that occasionally crackled along his skull when he pushed his bloodlimit to its furthest potential. He had been beaten all to hell by his madman sensei and if he didn't get water this second-

"Here," Tenten thrust something into his hands. Without bothering with thanks, he started gulping down water from the bottle. Down by the river, he could make out two green blurs as Maito Gai worked to- Neji thought at least- show Rock Lee how to evade someone splashing water at you. Why anyone would need to know that was beyond him. He'd seen some water-based jitsu, but water splashes were hardly deadly.

"Ah, Neji-kun," Maito Gai called out to him, walking away from the now soaked banks of the creek. Neji glanced over at his sensei, nodding as he continued chugging down water. The workouts may be beating them all into "Magnificent Specimens of Springtime" but, as Tenten always put, they were lucky to survive each one. Just when they thought they'd gotten use to the pace; he'd up it again, and, despite the triple failures all three had presented at the latest chuunin exam, Gai-sensei had noticeably upped that pacing yet again. "Before you go, I have something I've been meaning to discuss with you. I think it is time we met Hinata-san."

Neji choked on his water. "Wh-what?"

Gai looked at him seriously. "I always make it a point to meet the family and friends important to my precious students!"

"Hinata-sama's not important to me!"

"Hence with the sama-ing," Tenten muttered rolling her eyes. Gai ignored the comment, focusing all his attention onto Neji.

"You are mending the tragically broken bridges of familial love, are you not Neji-kun? I was informed by Hyuuga-san he was training you every afternoon, so not to make team activities then. Is this not true? Should we be spending that time to hone our powers of youthful cooperation?"

"My tragically broken wha-oh," his mind flashed back to a girl's collapsed body in the examination ring and then to the first face-hers- he saw on waking after his own surgery just a month ago. "Um, yes. I mean, no, we are- that is to say, my family and I are on better terms."

Perfect. Hinata's speech patterns were catching.

"Then there can be no objection to Hinata-san coming to team lunch with us tomorrow."

"Wait-"

"Oh yes, Neji! After all," Tenten broke in. "I want to meet her, you know, properly. And like Sensei said, she's important to you."

"She's not important," he said, narrowing his eyes at her.

"Sure she's important; how many times have we put up with rants about her, Lee-kun?" she turned to their drenched teammate coming up behind Maito Gai.

"Several, Tenten-chan. Remember, we thought she was his sister at first; many people complain about their siblings, but he kept calling her Hinata-sama-"

"Yeah, but she always called him Neji-niisan so it wasn't completely unreasonable to assume-"

"Regardless, we must meet this shyly sprouting flower Neji is so anxious to see bloom!"

"I'm not anxious to see her-"

Lee swiveled to look at him straight on, his wide-eyed stare cutting Neji off. "But you make critics upon her all the time. What other reason could there be but to encourage her youth to bloom more completely into the delicate blossom all Konoha kuionchi are?"

Neji decided to ignore the slight edge that question had. Somehow, admitting that it had given him a thrill to know he could hurt her with what he said was not something Neji really wanted to examine and it definitely wasn't something any of the others wanted to hear. And if the girl's stubbornness was also kind of, maybe, just a little… awe-inspiring to him now that didn't mean anything either.

"I don't care how she's blooming."

"Not even for clan pride, Neji-kun?" Gai smiled, light glistening off his teeth. Behind him, Tenten and Lee snickered. Neji resisted the urge to sigh after his sensei's expression failed to slip away. Team Gai had long since learned the battle was lost at that moment their sensei smiled at them. His "Power of Charming Youth and Persuasion" was too powerful to overcome then, according to Lee. Neji thought it might be more accurate to say at that point you knew that Sensei was just not going to let the matter drop until you agreed with him. Sheer tenacity would wear you down. Minutes, hours, days even, Neji had seen it. Gai would just keep the hell at it, unable to admit defeat.

"Fine. But I'm laying some ground rules."

"Ground rules?" Tenten looked a little affronted. "I think we can be trusted to know how to behave ourselves in public, pigtail-boy."

"Oh, do you? Do you really, Tenten?" Neji questioned, throwing meaningful looks at the other half of their team. Her shoulder's collapsed inward, under the force of a sigh.

"Well, when you put it like that…"

"Now," Neji began and then paused. He really did want his team to make a good impression Hinata. Not that she would dislike them even if they swinging from the light fixtures and throwing food around. Hinata liked everybody; really, if anything she needed work on being more discriminating in whom she associated with. But if she carried tales to her father and he disapproved- The green spandex was a bit much to get use to, as were the strange bets and flowery speeches. But Team Gai was a team, and probably, if he wanted to be honest, his best friends. His only friends. Hiashi's disapproval was a very real possiblity. Punishments ranging from sudden team-changes, restriction on his movements when not on missions, even the possibility of seal activation flitted through his mind. Sure, his uncle had always acted reasonably in these past few months, when Neji had started taking lessons from him and the two had started really talking for the first time that Neji could recall. But on the other hand, it was still hard to banish the thought of his father's body on the floor, punished for a thought. Besides, the green spandex, strange bets, and flowery speeches? He couldn't have Hinata fainting before they even made it to the restaurant, either. He took a breath, collected his thoughts, and began again.

"Now, Hinata-sama is very… very reserved. A little shy you know-" and here he scowled as he caught Tenten murmuring something about fainting and Uzumaki, - "So you can't bombard her with questions or compliments-"

"But Neji-kun," Lee protested, "Gai-sensei has always said that a woman appreciates her Natural Beauty and Elegance admired-"

"Well, Hinata-sama won't, so no words about her 'silky strands' or 'luminous eyes' or 'delicate but deadly hands' or any of that!"

"Why, Neji-kun, you do have the Soul of Poetical Love buried deep within. I had no idea, you thought so highly of your cousin!"

Neji felt his cheeks heat up at his sensei's words. Why did he get the feeling he was being laughed at?

"Mai, mai," Tenten waved her hands. "No poetry at the dinner table. Got it. We've talked about that before anyway, right Lee-kun?"

Lee's own complexion turned ruddy and Neji smirked. At least he wasn't the only one suffering now.

"So," Gai said, taking back control of the conversation. "Tomorrow night, then! Find out where she likes to eat, Neji-kun. We'll go there."

And, problem apparently solved to his satisfaction, Gai turned around and took off in a jog, calling out an invitation to Lee to join him for some extra one-on-one training. Tenten snorted when Lee tripped over himself in excitement. Neji caught her eye and snort into his drink too. It was rather funny, especially since Lee was now all arms and legs due to a recent growth spurt. One of several, Maito Gai had stated, despite the fact there was no way he could possibly know for sure. Neji could only hope he wouldn't be so awkward when his growth spurt came.

He smiled and took another drink. Yeah, Hinata'd like his team. It was hard not too, despite it all. Dinner, he was already predicting would be the most mortifying episode of his life, right after throwing up all over Tenten's shoes their second mission out, but at least it would be fun too. Maybe he'd make it a game; see how often Hinata would blush. Mean, perhaps, but she looked strangely cute when redder than a tomato, in that same awkward way baby ducks were cute.

"Hey, Neji," Tenten ribbed in the chest. "You still with me?"

He jerked up and looked over at her. "What?"

"I said, wanna bet Lee doesn't make it past getting the menus before he tries out some of his 'poetry' with her. Weren't you listening?"

He shrugged unwilling to admit that he'd been imagining a girl- never mind what girl- smiling and blushing. "I wouldn't take that bet."

Tenten sighed and stared back at the shrinking figures of their teammates. "I wonder about him sometimes. He just doesn't get it. It would be so much more…. sincere, if his stupid flattery crap wasn't every other word out of his mouth. It would mean something, then."

Except, Neji thought, Lee always did think it was true. And anything he had to say about Hinata would be true too. His teammate had always been much better than he about picking out the good things of each person. But like Tenten, he found himself wishing Lee wouldn't say those sort of things he always did. There were things that he, Neji, was just beginning to see in Hinata, and, for some reason he wasn't quite sure he wanted to examine or explain just yet, he want to the be the first to tell her about all he was now beginning to see in her.

"Afraid he doesn't think you're really pretty?" he joked, but the look on her face didn't seem very joking when he turned to her. Tenten might think those sorts of…thoughts about someone like Lee? Another think he really didn't want to talk about.

"Boys," Tenten said disgustedly, and he wasn't sure if she meant all boys or just the one that had disappeared around the corner. "You'd never know if something special came along, not even if it came up and attacked you with a kunai."

As this was, more or less, exactly what it had taken for Neji to see something special, he wisely didn't comment on that and, aiming vaguely for comfort, said instead, "Come on. I bet since the dunce's been forbidden from freaking Hinata-sama out, he'll turn all his poetry on you. What do I get if I win?"

Tenten grinned. "The satisfaction that we didn't make your cousin faint."

Neji let out a laugh and followed his teammates off the field.