"Great," Neji muttered sarcastically under his breath. He handed the scroll back to TenTen who exchanged puzzled looks with Ino. They both had seen it and didn't see a problem with the mission. Of course, neither of them knew anything about their destination, Whirlpool Country. It may sound like a dangerous place, but Neji knew better. He'd been there before and while it did have a lot of dangerous areas, there was one beautiful city. It was a city known for its parties and extravagance. The daimyo also lives there. That wasn't the bad part. The bad part was they were headed for the city to stand guard during the biggest party of the year, the daimyo's birthday. Their job would be to guard him during the two day celebration, which was not an easy task. There would be people everywhere and no way to tell who was an enemy.
Neji sighed began walking down the path toward Whirlpool Country. TenTen and Ino followed after a shrug and Kankuro ignored the situation. He didn't really care if Neji was bothered by the mission. It was something to do. They spent about three hours traveling in silence. Even Ino had the sense not to bother Neji with the obvious discontent that flowed from every pore in his body. Eventually Ino got so infuriated with the silence that she elbowed TenTen and pointed to Neji. TenTen sighed and spend up to walk next to him. "How long do you think it will take to get there?" she asked. Neji glanced at her and then returned to looking forward. "We should arrive tomorrow night. The celebration begins the following day." TenTen nodded and began to fall back but was immediately met with a glare at her back courtesy of Ino. She sped back up to Neji but not without him noticing first. He sighed because it seemed that she didn't want to talk to him. He didn't bother to take into account that she might be nervous because of his reaction to the mission.
"What's the plan for when we get there?" TenTen asked, trying to start a conversation. Neji frowned. She only ever talked to him about missions and training. He'd heard her tell Lee all her personal problems before. Why couldn't she do the same with him? "Ino and Kankuro will scan the area for suspicious people, while TenTen and I will keep our eyes on the daimyo," Neji said loud enough for the whole group to hear.
"Eh? Why do I have to scan the crowd? I don't want to," Ino interjected. Neji turned and gave Ino a curious look. Scanning the crowd was far less boring than staring at the daimyo all day. At least she would be able to see the celebration. So why would she object to that? Neji sighed. He would never be able to understand women. "Because if TenTen or I had to take care of a problem, there would be a huge disturbance. Your bloodline would allow you to take care of someone quietly," he said coldly. Ino sighed and accepted defeat, luckily for Neji.
The group traveled the rest of the day in silence. Ino seemed to be too angry about her role in the mission to try to start a conversation. Neji stopped them once he found a suitable place to camp and the group began to set up camp. They were still in Fire Country so they didn't have to post a watch. If Neji had been paying close enough attention while he fixed dinner he would have noticed Ino and Kankuro whisper to each other for a few seconds. But he was too busy paying attention to TenTen. She was preparing their sleeping area. That normally wouldn't have caught his attention, but she had bent over to search through her bag. Neji couldn't help but appreciate the view to her backside. He may have been a Hyuuga, but he was still human, a human who could appreciate a nice ass when he saw one.
He sighed. It was incredibly embarrassing to admit, but he was incredibly confused about how to tell TenTen how he felt still. He finally glanced over at Kankuro and Ino and noticed that they were both looking at him. "What?" Neji said, sounding slightly annoyed. Ino gave Neji a smile that annoyed him to no end. It was like she was mocking him with a simple smile. "Nothing," Ino said sweetly. Neji wasn't dumb; he knew that something was going on. Before he could figure out what, his thoughts were interrupted by TenTen. "I saw a fruit tree nearby. I'm going to go check it out. I'll be back soon," she said as she walked away. As soon as TenTen was out of sight Neji was surrounded by Ino and Kankuro. Well, maybe not surrounded since there were only two of them, but he felt surrounded.
"Hey Neji?" Ino said. Neji ignored her. She took that to mean she could continue. "Can the Byakugan see through anything?" she asked. Both Ino and Kankuro looked very interested in the answer. Neji felt relieved. It was a question about the mission or training. He could answer that no problem. He had been worried it would be a question about TenTen, or anything personal really. "Yes, of course. The Byakugan can see through anything," Neji said as he glanced at Kankuro who was trying not to laugh. Kankuro suddenly appeared serious when he saw Neji staring at him. "Even clothes and walls?" Ino asked. Neji nodded, still not understanding what she was getting at. "Even TenTen's clothes?" Ino asked, a slight giggle escaping from her lips. Neji slowly began to blush. "Yes, even TenTen's clothes," he said softly. Ino let out a squeal, causing Kankuro to step in. "Are you sure?" he asked mischievously. Neji nodded once again, his face becoming even more pink. "So you've looked? I mean, you can't be sure unless you looked," Kankuro said, a smile evident on his face. Neji nearly fell over. "No, I would never look at TenTen without clothes!" His face reddened when he realized that he just yelled that. He heard an unfamiliar giggled behind him and turned around. His entire body froze when he saw TenTen standing there, her mouth agape.