"Girl's night out!" Ino exclaimed, jumping up with a shot of beer in her hand.

Hinata, Tenten, and Sakura all joined in, joining their glasses together.

"It's been so long since the four of us got together," Sakura commented, leaning back in her seat.

The four heroines of Konoha had decided to meet up over barbecue, the first time since the war had ended. Before, they were each busy with their own roles in the rebuilding ties with the other great nations.

Sakura had been the hospital day in, day out, helping Tsunade to care for the wounded who had sacrificed arm, leg, and life for eternal peace in the shinobi world. When she wasn't in the hospital, she would find a way to visit Sasuke in prison. He barely spoke to her, but it didn't mean that she would give up on him so easily.

Ino had been going on missions between countries, surveying the status of each nation and making sure that there would be no tensions between the Leaf or any nation. After her father's death, she felt as if the best way to relieve her sadness was to go on as many missions as possible. Frequently, she would go on missions with Sai and Team Asuma. Not that she minded, of course, Sai always found ways to flatter her. She was his "Ms. Beautiful" after all. If only I was his Mrs. Beautiful… she swooned.

Hinata had also been on border control but was allowed to spend more time with the Hyuuga clan and with Neji, who had just recovered. She had also helped Sakura tend to the wounded. Her byakugan was a good tool in finding injuries that couldn't easily be seen. Her first and only love has always been Naruto. But the boy of her childhood was now the village's hero…and with fame comes fangirls who were always showering him gifts and sometimes their unwanted lingerie….While Hinata had grown closer to him during Pein's attack on the village as well as during the Fourth Great Shinobi War, she couldn't help but feel more distant from him afterward.

Tenten, on the other hand, had assisted with guarding prisoners such as Sasuke Uchiha, whose powers had been a threat and required Tenten's adept skill in fuinjutsu (sealing justu). Any spare time she had, she was at the hospital by Neji's side. Training wasn't the same with Guy-Sensei constantly in and out of the hospital as well and of course, without Neji. Fighting, of course, was something she couldn't bring herself to do anymore without her team. She wouldn't be looking out for Neji's blind spot. She would no longer be the range to Lee and Guy's melee attacks. While she was annoyed with her team at times, she always deeply cared for them. They were her family and losing any part of them was detrimental. In order to resolve the pain in her heart, she had chosen to work in the sealing corp instead.

"I'm so tired of all these missions….." Ino sighed, though she had taken most of them after the funeral to take her mind off her father's death. "You three don't know how lucky you have it to be able to stay in the village."

"I wouldn't say it's lucky per say…." Hinata sighed. "I barely have any time for myself here. It's quite exhausting having to use my byakugan all day." If Hinata wasn't searching for deep wounds in patients, she was to be standing at the gates of the village searching through cargo to make sure the contents were nothing suspicious.

"By the way, Tenten, we heard you and Neji were getting steamy in the hospital room," Ino smirked, winking at her friend.

"W-wait what?!" Tenten shouted, shocked. She spat out her beer.

"Oh come on, Tenten. I saw what happened! He fell on TOP of you! You honestly can't tell me you didn't like it!" Sakura added.

Tenten blushed. "T-that was just because there was no one else to catch him…" She downed her shot, her face getting red.

"Oh is that so?" Ino scooted closer to her, pouring a little more. "Then why is your face getting all red?!" She coaxed her embarrassed friend.

"C-Cuz I just had too much to drink!" Tenten exclaimed.

"You only had one shot!" Sakura said. "Not to mention that you spat half of it out."

"He's just a teammate!"

"Teammates don't spend all day and night together~~~" Ino teased.

"We were training!"

"Yeah right! I've seen you the way he looks at you when you two walk down the village!" Sakura added.

"Wasn't he the one who said he preferred walking dates cuz he doesn't have to look at the other person? I guess he was talking about you~~~" Ino poked her friend's cheek playfully.

"Since you're getting so close to Big Brother Neji, I might as well call you Big Sister Tenten now." Hinata giggled.

Tenten's face got even redder. Of course, she couldn't keep denying her feelings forever. Marrying Neji wasn't a farfetched dream of hers…but still. There was just so much that went into marrying Neji Hyuuga. He's a noble first of all, belonging to the most powerful family in the Leaf. He surpassed her in every skill. Just because she was by his side all the time…it wasn't enough to convince herself that she deserved him.

"OHOHOHO WE GOT HER TO SHUT UP! Let's all drink to the future Mrs. Hyuga everyone!" Ino exclaimed so loud that the whole restaurant could hear. In fact, all eyes were on them.

"INO!" Tenten put her hand over the blonde's large mouth. "I'm sorry! She's just had too much to drink! Don't mind us!"

"Yeah, shut up you bimbo! Can't you see she's uncomfortable?" Sakura jumped in, realizing how emotionally scarred Tenten was getting.

"What did you say billboard brow?! You were teasing her just as much as me!"

"So….how are you and Naruto doing?" Tenten sighed, thanking Sakura and the lord that she got Ino off her back.

"Oh yeah! He's like the village's icon now!" Ino jumped right back in the conversation.

"O-Oh…Naruto-kun…well…..he doesn't really have time for me…." Hinata looked away from the others, down at the reflection in her glass.

"What?! What do you mean by that?" Sakura asked.

"Ah! The boys are here!" Ino exclaimed as the boys had entered the same barbecue restaurant.

At the entrance entered Naruto, Shikamaru, Choji, Sai, Kiba, Shino, Lee, and Neji.

As soon as they had stepped in, Lee had caught the notice of Sakura, his longtime crush for quite some time now. Ever since the first set of Chunin exams, to be precise. "WHAT A COINCIDENCE TO SEE YOU HERE! THE BEAUTIFUL CHERRY BLOSSOM OF THE LEAF! SAKURA HARUNO! WHAT A COINCIDENCE THAT ALL THE HEROINES OF THE LEAF HAVE GATHERED HERE!" Rock Lee dramatically stated.

"Ah…would you like to sit with them?" The waitress asked nervously.

"Lee…you're making a scene again….." Neji commented, rather aggravated.

"YES WE WOULD!" Lee responded, passionately, with a whip of his fist.

"Gee…hello to you too Lee…." Tenten rolled her eyes.

"Hello, Tenten! I am sorry! I was too distracted by my one true destined love!" Lee responded, taking a seat right next to Sakura, facing Tenten.

Neji had sat down next to Tenten, much to her embarrassment. "Now the girls are definitely going to tease me…." She blushed.

Was she blushing because of Rock Lee? Dammit, why did I even have that stupid dream? Neji thought to himself, a bit panicked. "How are you, Tenten? Have you had anything to eat?"

"A-Ah…not yet. The meat hasn't even come out yet. We just got here so I just had a couple of drinks." Tenten replied. "How are your injuries, Neji? Are you hurting anywhere?"

"No, I am quite alright," Neji replied. "I'm assuming you have all ordered."

"The food should be coming soon! I'm starving!" Tenten exclaimed.

Down the other side of the table, Ino had moved from her place next to Sakura and squeezed herself between Shino and Sai. "Sai, darling~ Would you like something to drink?"

"Oh not yet." She immediately placed her glass in his hand, pouring some beer into the glass.

"You know~ When two people share a shot glass, it means they're really REALLY CLOSE friends~," Ino said to him.

Sai blushed, close friends she said? He didn't remember reading that in his book…it seemed as if Ino was really trying to help him become more socially active. Some books weren't updated with the times of course. He would make sure to share shot glasses with Naruto from now on. Perhaps one day when Naruto wasn't sitting so far from him. "Thank you, Ms. Beautiful. I'm glad you can consider me a close friend."

Naruto sat down at the very end, next to Hinata. Kiba and Shino, longtime friends of Hinata, had made sure that this arrangement was quite particular since they had known about Hinata's deep feelings for the jinchuriki.

"A-Ah Naruto!" Hinata said as he sat down beside her. "Was there nowhere else to sit?"

"Well I just wanted to sit down next to you, you know? I hope you don't mind, Hinata." Naruto replied. "I heard you guys ordered."

"I-I don't mind at all!" Hinata said. "The food looks like it's coming soon actually!"

The waitress came around, placing all the meat on the grill. "I'll be back when the meat is done cooking." She said. She then noticed that Naruto was right there. "Y-You're the hero of the hidden leaf! Naruto Uzumaki!" She recognized him.

"Y-yeah that's me!" Naruto chuckled nervously, scratching the back of his head. He was used to being recognized everywhere now.

"AH!" She squealed, grabbing Naruto's hand. "Can I please have your autograph?" She asked him. "HOLD ON LET ME GET SOMETHING!" She ran back into the kitchen.

Hinata looked a bit uncomfortable, much to Kiba and Shino's dismay.

"Scoot in," Kiba demanded Naruto.

"Huh?" Naruto seemed confused.

"I said scoot in for me and Akamaru!" Kiba demanded angrily, pushing into Naruto.

In turn, Naruto had toppled on Hinata, who had pushed Sakura into Rock Lee's arms, whose head was about to fall on Tenten's shoulder. Neji pulled Tenten out of harm's way, causing Lee's head to crash onto the ground. "Tenten, are you alright?"

"A-Ah I'm fine, thank you Neji." She blushed, leaning onto his chest. "B-But Lee-"

"I'm sure he'll be fine. Look, the meat has finished cooking. It looks like our waitress disappeared though." Neji commented. With his chopsticks, he picked out the juiciest and most well-done piece for Tenten. She had lost quite some weight in the time he was in the hospital. "Here." He then picked out a different piece for himself.

"Thank you Neji." Tenten smiled.

Neji suppressed his urge to express delight with Tenten's smile. Stunning as always..and it looks like she purposely dressed up for the occasion too…. He thought to himself, noticing her dress instead of her usual mission garb. He chewed on his own food instead of acting on his feelings.

"What a drag…." Shikamaru sighed, seeing the whole scene unfold before him.

"You wouldn't say that if Temari was around…anyways I'm starving!" Chouji exclaimed. "HEY! YOU JUST TOOK THE PIECE I WAS GOING TO GRAB!" He whined to Neji.

"I'm sorry. That piece belongs to Tenten now." Neji said, cooly.

Chouji sighed. He'd let it slide this one time. Asuma-sensei had once told him to share the best pieces with girls if he had any hopes of getting married. Even if Tenten was technically Neji's.

Now, Chouji was a good-kindhearted man as long as you kept away from two things: the word fat, and his food. ESPECIALLY, the pieces of meat that he had set his eyes on before.

Right now, his opponent seemed to be Neji as Tenten wasn't as fast.

"Ne ne, don't you think the barbecue here is extra good today?" Tenten asked Neji.

It's good because I picked out the best pieces for you…Neji thought to himself. Such thoughts he needn't said aloud. "Would you like to return sometime?" He asked her.

Choji glared at Neji and his lightning fast hands.

"Neji! Stop you're adding more on my plate than I can finish!" Tenten exclaimed, placing some pieces on Neji's dish.

"Take your time, Tenten," Neji added.

"No no! This is too much for me, Neji!" Tenten exclaimed. Her plate was filled with only the juiciest pieces, the ones that were marinated the longest, the ones that were given extra care and attention by the finest barbecue chefs in Konoha.

"Hey Tenten, I can take some off your plate for you!" Choji offered.

Before Choji's chopsticks could reach Tenten's plate, Neji had blocked him with his own set of chopsticks. "Do not touch other people's food with your chopsticks."

Choji felt the anger heading up to his face. HOW DARE THIS MERE HYUUGA SIDE STORY STEAL HIS FOOD?!

"Choji….just take some from Ino's grill…there's three here and the other pieces aren't even that bad." Shikamaru sighed. What a drag…are they actually going to fight over food? He thought to himself, taking the other pieces of meat and putting them on Choji's plate.

"If you can't finish it, I'll be more than happy to help," Neji said to Tenten.

Tenten transferred at least half of her plate to Neji's.

"How is work at the sealing corp?" He asked her.

"It's pretty good. It beats going on missions alone." Tenten replied.

"So you haven't gone on a mission since the war ended?"

Tenten shook her head. "Ino and Hinata have been out on missions. Sakura has been at the hospital and occasionally she leaves to offer help at another hospital….I just…couldn't find it in my heart to leave the village…."

"And why is that?" Neji asked.

"Because…because I didn't want to leave your side." Tenten replied. "I wanted to make sure you were ok. I couldn't just leave you, you know? We've been teammates since forever!"

Neji smiled at her answer. "Is that so?… Thank you, Tenten." He replied to her. "To be honest, I was relieved when I heard from Shikamaru that you were working in the sealing corp. That meant you were safe in the village. No one can protect you better than I can. You're my partner, Tenten. I'm glad you chose to stay in the village whatever the reason was."

P-Partner?! Did he just call me his partner?! Tenten blushed. No, Tenten. Get it together. You're the only one that knows where his blind spot is after all. THAT'S ALL HE MEANT.

"OH COME ON INO!" Choji exclaimed. Now it was INO'S TURN to give all the best pieces to Sai. For once he HAD to take sides with Sakura. She was totally being a bimbo with Sai.

Ino pretended not to notice Choji.

"Choji calm down…there's more meat coming anyways. You can always have my share. What a drag…." Shikamaru said to Choji.

"Sakura! Is there any piece you prefer?!" Rock Lee exclaimed, asking the pinkette.

"A-Ah…don't worry about me, Lee. I can pick out the pieces myself." She replied.

"Then! Would you prefer it if I refilled your glass?!" Rock Lee snatched the bottle right out of Ino's hands.

"A-Ah don't worry about it, Lee!" Sakura replied.

It seems she is more concerned with Sasuke….this is NOT good…Lee thought to himself. What would Neji do in this situation?! Lee turned his head to his long-haired comrade, who was more preoccupied with Tenten at the moment. Well…Tenten deserved some time with Neji. She had been waiting at his bedside for the entirety of Neji's stay.

Down the other side, there was Naruto and Hinata.

"A-Ah! Hinata! Do you want this piece over here?" Naruto asked the shy girl next to him. He seemed to be under some scrutiny by Kiba and Shino as well as some pressure by Neji. The last one of which he expected since Neji was always supposed to protect Hinata.

"T-thank you, Naruto," Hinata replied, though she kept her eyes averted, unable to look at her longtime crush straight in the eye. Her face began turning red once more.

Naruto smiled as he admired her, the only one that had believed in him for so long. He remembered when the kids in the classroom would make fun of Hinata for having pure, white eyes. While they had seemed freakish to others, to Naruto, it was one of many unique traits that made him fall in love with her throughout the years. ONLY ON HER OF COURSE. Not on Neji. There was also her courage of course and the fact that she never stopped believing in him. It just made him nervous whenever he would look away from him and those strange fainting spells…oh goodness…those really made him uneasy.

Suddenly, a swarm of fangirls had appeared around Naruto…led by the waitress who served them.

"Naruto-senpai! Naruto-senpai!" They all called. There were at least ten of them, all who entered the restaurant.

"Naruto! You should eat with us!" One of them began to tug on his arm.

"Naruto! Come join us, we ordered some gyoza!" Another added.

"Naruto! Naruto!" They cheered.

Naruto had no choice but to turn his attention towards them as they squealed uncontrollably.

"A-Ah… I'm already sitting here with some of my friends." Naruto said, attempting to resist the strong tug of these persistent girls. He was trying to talk to Hinata! (Emphasis on the try.)

"Wow…can't even fight off a couple of girls. Hinata are you sure you like-" Kiba began, although Hinata's hand quickly clamped over Kiba's mouth. The expression on her face had already been quite disappointed.

"I-It's ok Naruto-kun….you should go eat with them…." Hinata said.

"What? But we're here to celebrate Neji's recovery." Naruto said though he couldn't help but began to be dragged away.

"Neji…what's going on down there?" Tenten pointed down the table where Naruto was being dragged away.

Neji gritted his teeth as he saw what was unfolding before him. "Preposterous. How dare he disrespect Lady Hinata like that?"

Ah…of course. Hinata was pretty much the most important girl in his mind….of course, Tenten…No no, that's his cousin…Tenten there is STILL hope….Tenten thought to herself.

"That will be enough," Neji interjected, walking over to where Naruto is being dragged away. In his eyes, Naruto was a dense fool. Lady Hinata was right next to him and he was actually letting himself be dragged away? Nonsense. "We are trying to have our meal. If you don't leave our party alone, I will have no choice but to ask the manager to kick you out of this establishment."

"And who do you think you are?!" One of the girls asked, with their hands on their hips.

"I am Neji Hyuuga, a friend of Naruto's and your superior. From what I know, you all are genin. As a jounin, I will have to kindly ask that you leave us alone." Neji added.

"Ugh…what a killjoy…." The girl dragging Naruto away released him from her grasp.

"Yeah…total buzzkill…." The fangirls finally left them alone.

YES NEJI! YOU GO CHAAAAA! Sakura cheered him on. She, herself, as a longtime friend of Hinata's, was also annoyed by Naruto's dense behavior and lack of a spine.

"Thank you, Neji…" Naruto sighed, standing up to place a hand on Neji's shoulder.

"And you, Naruto. Come with me." Neji grabbed Naruto by his wrist, pulling him outside the shop for a bit. He had an intense glare on his face, like nothing Naruto had seen before.

"W-What?" Naruto asked as the cold evening wind hit him with surprise. They were no longer in the warm atmosphere of the barbecue restaurant.

"I wanted to ask you something." Neji folded his arms across his chest with annoyance.

"You're not running off on the bill are you?…" Naruto asked.

"No. Of course not. That's not what I was going to ask you-"

"Do you need a wingman or something? I didn't even get to eat anything…."

"No! Why would I need a wingman?" Neji exclaimed.

"Aren't you making moves on Tenten?"

"I'm the one asking the questions here!"

"Ok…ok. What's your question?…" Naruto sighed, putting his hands behind his head.

"Do you have feelings for lady Hinata or not?" Neji asked him.

"W-What?" Naruto felt the heat slowly approach his face, turning it a deep red. "Where did you get that idea from?"

"Just answer the question," Neji replied. "From the looks of it, it seems to me like you actually like being dragged away by those girls."

"NO, I DON'T LIKE THAT! It-It's just they were being pushy…." Naruto replied.

"Alright, then as someone who has attained the power of Six Paths, saying no to those girls shouldn't be a problem for you." Neji admonished. "You should be more wary of the feelings of your friends and everyone around you. Because of your negligence, you made Lady Hinata very uncomfortable today."

"W-wait what I did?!" Naruto asked, shocked. Suddenly, he wasn't so lax anymore. In fact, he had gotten a bit serious. The last person he'd want to upset was Hinata.

"Yes, you did. Be more careful around her. You can be such an idiot sometimes." Neji added.

Naruto clenched his fists. "Yeah…I should, shouldn't I?"

"Think about her feelings is all I'm saying. Let's go back inside. Everyone must be worried." And Choji has probably stolen all of Tenten's food by now.

I should apologize to Hinata then….Naruto thought.

"So you actually knocked some sense into him?!" Tenten exclaimed.

They had just finished their meal. Neji had offered to walk Tenten home. On the other hand, Sakura practically forced Naruto to walk Hinata home. Naruto was truly a dunce, whatever his feelings were.

"I wouldn't say knocking, but rather, I did tell him he should be more wary of Lady Hinata's feelings," Neji replied.

"That's a start…." Tenten sighed, turning towards him. "Does he even like Hinata, though?"

"I'm not sure. Whatever. Thinking about how dense he is just makes me tired." Neji rubbed his temples.

Tenten stopped in place. "Do you…...want to stop at my place for a bit?" She offered.

"No, I should get back to the Hyuuga household as soon as possible. Besides, I don't want to impose on your home, Tenten. You're an unmarried woman and I don't want your family to get the wrong idea." Neji refused the offer.

Is he rejecting me?….Tenten thought to herself.

"Why have you stopped walking? Are you feeling sick or something?" Neji walked back, wondering what was wrong with his partner.

Neji Hyuuga….sometimes you can be denser than Naruto….Tenten thought to herself. "Oh, nothing." She sighed.

"So tell me, Tenten. When did you get a makeover?"

"Since you recovered and I didn't have to worry about you dying anymore," Tenten replied to him.

"And what on earth does that have to do with what you wear?"

"Are you saying it's ugly or something?" Tenten scoffed. She thought wearing a dress would be a nice change now that the war is over.

"No, Tenten. I was not implying that at all. How can you even think that?!" Neji exclaimed, quite offended actually. "If you can make that gaudy chunin vest look wearable then, of course, a dress would look good on you! Tenten, get it together!"

Tenten blushed. "We're at my house now. T-thanks for walking me home and…for the compliment."

She said as they arrived at her house. She opened the door to her house. "Goodnight, Neji."

"Goodnight, Tenten." Neji waited until she walked into her house. He stayed an extra five minutes after she locked her door, just to make sure that nothing was awry, before walking home to the Hyuuga mansion.

Before going to sleep that night, just as he removed his headband, he heard a soft knock at his door.

"Yes?"

"Ah…big brother Neji, it's me."

"Yes, come in, Lady Hinata. What is it?"

The door slid open. "I just wanted to thank you…for defending me back there."

"I was just doing my job," Neji replied. "To protect the Hyuuga clan and its honor that is."

Hinata sat beside her elder cousin. His spacious room was dimly lit, with only a small candle next to his dressing table, where in the reflection was the only surviving member of one of the Hyuuga's most powerful side branch. "Do…you think Naruto….likes someone else?"

Neji removed his hair tie. "If he does, then he is beyond an idiot."

It didn't really answer her question, but Hinata accepted his answer.

"You should head to bed soon, Hinata. It's not good for your health to stay up so late." Neji said to her.

"Yes. Thank you, Big Brother Neji." Hinata stood up, turning towards the exit.

"Oh. And one thing I wanted to ask you."

"Yes?"

"When did…she start dressing like that?"

"You mean… Big sister Tenten?" Hinata clarified.

"Yes…Wait what did you just call her?!" Neji stood up.

Immediately, Hinata covered up her mouth. She was so busy thinking about how to tease Tenten, she forgot who she was speaking to. "A-Ah! Nothing! Nothing! I didn't call her anything! Ever since you recovered, she's been quite festive. Before that, she hadn't even showered for weeks. Why are you asking?"

"No. I was just wondering-"

"If it was for you?"

"You should sleep soon, Lady Hinata." Neji looked away.

"So you do have feelings for her. I was right."

"No. I just believe it's important as partners in the battle to know what is going on in her life." Neji clarified.

"Big Brother Neji, the war is over. There's no need to be so uptight. You should ask her out on a date sometime, and I don't mean a walking date." Hinata suggested.

"Don't be absurd the Hyuuga clan needs me. I can't waste any time."

Hinata sighed. "You know... Big Brother Neji? You've done more for the clan than most of us have. How about this…Tenten's thinking of opening a weapons shop soon. She's going to set it up tomorrow since she just got permission today from the Hokage. Why don't you go help her set up?"

"Does she not have anyone else?"

"No. Sakura is busy at the hospital and Ino and I have to leave on missions tomorrow. Lee is going with Guy-Sensei to the hospital."

"I see. Why hasn't she asked or told me?" Neji wondered.

"She didn't want you to lift so many things after you just recovered. She's only looking out for you. Besides, opening a shop is stressful work. She didn't even want to think about it during girl's night."

"I see. Well then. Of course, I would help her." If it wasn't obvious enough.

"Goodnight Neji." Hinata said, closing the door.

~To be continued~

(A/N: Hi guys! Thank you for reading to the third chapter! NEJITEN FANS LEMME HEAR YA! I hope you guys enjoyed and I hope the characters weren't too ooc….Anyways, Neji is best tsundere. If you liked this, PLEASE FAVORITE AND FOLLOW if you haven't already! And don't be shy, PLEASE LEAVE A REVIEW and tell me what you think of everything so far! See you guys in the next chapter! The cover of this story was created by unicornchen on DeviantART! Feel free to check them out at unicornchen)