The first time he lost to Lee, they didn't quite know how to react.
Gai-sensei stood, unusually still, eyebrows quivering. Tenten kept her gaze on the trunk of a tree. Even Lee himself swallowed and took a small step back as if expecting his teammate to explode in a blast of Hyuuga pride and hair.
Neji blinked the shock out of his eyes and moved forward. Despite his best efforts, he couldn't siphon any measure of anger from that dark pit in his gut.
The smirk was a blend of haughtiness and grudging admiration.
"Best two out of three?"
It didn't matter how the rice had gotten there. (In fact, neither could even begin to imagine how the rice had gotten there.)
What mattered was that a grain of rice was lounging on the eyebrow of the Hyuuga clan patriarch.
Stomach taut with suppressed laughter, Neji averted his eyes, knuckles pressed to lips. Across the table, Hinata shaded hers behind a curtain of hair and bit down on her chopsticks.
For the first time in years, they shared a moment.