The Morning After
Chapter 7: Personal Contact
3 Days Later
The four members of team Gai were seated at the local, crowded Japanese restaurant well-known for their superb ramen noodles.
Lee and Gai-sensei were seated across one another at one of the booths while Neji and Tenten were sitting in the same proximity at the highchairs of the bar, making them close enough to whisper inconspicuously to one another while simultaneously keeping a low profile.
"My beautiful pupil and I have discovered that Kai-san has recently left for a high-ranked mission; we are unsure when he will return. However…" Gai-sensei paused for a moment to thank the waiter for bringing his miso ramen with extra seaweed to him and continued when the man left, "This gives us time to think of a successful strategy. Do you guys have any suggestions?" His big, round eyes flickered to Tenten for a moment when he emphasized his last phrase, causing Neji to immediately speak up before anybody else could have the chance to.
"I believe I can infiltrate his group of acquaintances him and gain his trust, lure him to a more secluded area where you three will conceal yourselves, and capture him from there."
The three listeners were quiet for a moment, thinking over Neji's proposal.
Normally if this idea came from Naruto or Kiba, they would immediately brush it off as impossible because of its riskiness and high rate of failure.
However, this was Hyuga Neji with this proposition; the prodigy's plans always likely brought forth success.
"I have no objection to that…" Tenten spoke in a poised manner as she delightfully fingered the dumplings that had just been brought out to her by her waiter.
Although she had been arranged her own personal mission, she believed she should give her assertive teammate's idea a chance before proposing Tsunade-sama's idea to them.
"I have no complaint to that as well…" Lee murmured out of faith in his comrade while he finished the ramen noodles in front of him.
"Yosh…" Gai-sensei began, considering the same exact thing that Tenten had as he continued. "So we've decided. Neji, I leave that up to you then."
Strategy
Neji, excluding the fact that he had been attempting to spy on Kai for the past week against Gai-sensei's commands, had informed the three of how Kai was notorious as an addict to alcohol and frequented the local bar.
Without further questioning their competent teammate, the three planned to regulate themselves nearby the bar without actually entering the pub and wait for any forthcoming commands from Neji.
Once Neji gave the okay, the three would accommodate to wherever he was leading his target.
5 Days Later
The okay hadn't been signaled in five days.
Neji, sipping on his gin and tonic at the bar that he had already familiarized himself with, glanced around his surroundings once more to see his perpetrator nowhere to be seen; it had already been four hours since his arrival, the second time he's had to repeat this routine, and the fifth day Team Gai has actually been included in this plan.
Displeased, he reached out for his wallet to pay for his drink when a familiar voice instantaneously caused him to halt his movements.
"Geez, that mission sure took a lot more out of me than I expected." The handsome russet haired man wearily stepped into the bar and plopped onto the seat of their usual table and groaned. "I need a drink."
"You always do." An easygoing-sounding man jokingly replied, causing the man next to him to laugh as well.
"Fuck you guys." Kai groaned half-heartedly.
Neji glanced over to where the pinpointed carefree voices were; there were three of them: Kai and the two personified men with average build. The three worn out ninjas were sporting traditional jonin uniforms as well as minor cuts on bruises on their bodies.
Obviously they had just returned from their mission and were aiming to unwind themselves after their seemingly strenuous mission.
The now watchful Hyuga took note of the current, progressive situation: the intimidatingly, colossal man was absent, probably due to severe injuries from the mission, the three seemed less guarded than usual and were focused on relaxing, and the three jonins were also evidently fatigued from their assignment.
Even the expressionless Hyuga Neji couldn't help but discreetly smirk at the advantageous circumstances he was facing.
In a single fluent movement, Neji stood from his seat and coolly made his way towards their table.
"Can I buy you a drink?" The pale eyed man eyed the members of the table casually. The two men accompanying Kai glanced up at this abrupt stranger in cautious curiosity, while Kai seemed more amused at the intrusion.
"I'm sorry but I'm not into men." Kai stated in a joking manner. Neji, being the great disguiser he is, forcefully smirked at Kai's insulting statement before continuing.
"Of course you aren't. I was just hoping I could offer you a drink for all your hard work and dedication to this village."
The three men studied the attractive, harmless seeming stranger in front of them who had just complimented them and offered to buy them drinks. The three exchanged glances and wordlessly came to a unanimous conclusion.
"Well by all means, go right ahead." Kai shifted down a seat to make room for one more as the two opposite Kai smiled widely at the long, black haired man; Neji obliged to their welcoming acceptance and coolly introduced himself before joining their table.
"I'm Gin."
Outside the bar
"Wow Gai-sensei, Neji is quite amazing… he's infiltrated their group within minutes of their arrival." Lee, flickered his eyes over at Neji's efficient progress through the glass windows, praised him as he sipped his iced water.
"Our Neji-kun certainly is a beautiful flower." Gai-sensei generously swallowed his cold beer and continued with an arm on Lee's lean back when he noticed his precious son's envy. "You are a beautiful lotus flower as well, Lee."
Lee's face quickly turned to face his sensei, tears rushing down his cartoon-like face.
"Gai-sensei!"
"No Lee…" Prominent tears began streaming from Gai-sensei's structured face. "You can call me dad."
"Father!"
"Son!"
"Father!"
"Son!"
They united in a lovingly disturbing embrace with animated sunsets and dramatic waterfalls rushing in the background.
Lee, facing the outside bar opposite of where they were sitting, gently pushed away from the embrace because he had taken notice of something.
"Father… Where is Tenten? She was just here sitting outside of the pub on the other side."
"…"
30 minutes later
"Gin," Kai half-drunkenly slung an arm around Neji's neck before continuing, "so you mean to tell me that you traveled all the way from the Land of Water to here?!"
Neji, already skillfully adjusting to the mindset of a young adventurous traveler, first beckoned the bartender to fetch them more drinks before coolly answering his question in character.
"That place wasn't for me. I needed my space."
The three men flung their heads back and hooted in laughter at something that wasn't meant to be that humorous. However judging by their reddened faces and slurred words, they weren't completely rational at the moment.
"You got that right!" The man seated in front of Kai shouted.
"Good thing we left that fucking Konoha!" The man in front of Neji obnoxiously replied.
Neji's attention prominently grew at the mention of his home village, though he neglected to let it physically show. He decided not to press him for an explanation at the risk of seeming too eager to know about it and let them continue their mindless hollering.
"Yeah, that place was terrible! Full of selfishness and greed!"
"That pathetic excuse of a Hokage of theirs is no good either!"
Neji quietly listened to the two men's obvious contempt for Konoha and took mental note that Kai was being surprisingly silent throughout their hollering.
As the two opposite them rambled on, Kai mumbled over to Neji.
"You ever been there, Gin?"
Neji quickly contemplated the best answer before replying.
"No, I haven't. I was actually planning to travel there after my stay at Sugi Village."
Kai snorted before gulping down the new rounds of alcohol the bartender provided them.
"Forget it. It'll be the biggest mistake of your life."
"Oh?" Neji followed suit of his new "friend" and casually drank another shot. "How so?"
"Just is." He replied curtly, seeming as if he didn't want to continue clarifying the matter anymore than he already had.
"Well," Kai stood from the table and his two comrades rose from their seats with him,
"It's been quite a night. We should get going; it was nice meeting you, Gin." Kai held out an arm and graciously shook hands with Neji.
Neji, incapable of preventing his target from escaping him, powerlessly nodded in agreement at the beaming man speaking his farewells.
Just as the target was preparing to depart with his two comrades, a loud crashing noise abruptly caught their attention from the other side of the room. Suddenly, a larger than average man had been harshly flung across the room; he had crashed on the wooden ground where the four stunned men were.
Like everyone else in the room, the four men gazed up from the wounded fellow to see who had dealt the damage; their eyes widened further when they viewed who the culprit was.
Long, russet wavy locks cascaded down her lean body as she donned a tightfitting black tank top along with loose black pants and heeled sandals. She unashamedly stood in the middle of the room with her hands positioned on her hips, being the star of everyone's attention.
"Don't underestimate women." She assertively stated to the man she had just thrown across the room before shooting a glance towards the tense bartenders. "Don't worry, I'll see myself out."
Neji, as startled as everyone else in the room was, nervously glanced over to view Kai's reaction and hoped that he disregarded it and considered it a mere disruption.
To his dismay, the handsome man had an apparent smirk on his face as well as an intrigued gaze in his eyes.
"You wanna know something, Gin?"
"What?" Neji asked nonchalantly, though he was actually anticipating the man's response.
"That's my future wife right there."
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