Neji loved the night. He didn't love that he had to wear grease on his face and weapons to dull their paleness or stray reflection. But he did love the quiet. The days were always so freaking loud. There was a constant background rush that just wasn't the same at night. At night the only rush were non-human sounds: when the cicadas started coming out, then the mice, owls, foxes and other prey and predators. He liked that background noise. It was the humans with their excessive shouting about mundane things such as the price of an orange that drove him up the wall. He took a deep breath and enjoyed the silence a little longer from where he was standing.
Tenten and Sakura stood next to him behind the large oak just a few feet away from the path that led directly to his former home. He noticed Tenten traced the leathery hilt of her kunai; her fingers followed the stacked leather cross lines up and down the hilt. He couldn't tell whether it was a nervous gesture or a habit to pass the time. Sakura was staring down the path, looking for Naruto who would be returning from his reconnaissance trip soon. Of course she was looking in the wrong direction, but only Neji with his eyes could know that. Naruto was not travelling along the path but was travelling along the shrubbery and would approach them from behind in 3,2,-
"On the outside it looks just like it did when we last broke in," Naruto reported, where he popped up next to Tenten from some low shrubbery. Sakura turned around but Tenten just kept staring towards the foreboding mansion. The leather on her weapon creaked, suggesting she was gripping the hilt hard.
"Let's move," she said. She held up middle and forefinger, then gestured to either side of the path. It meant they should split up in two pairs on either side of the path. Then she pointed at Neji and herself and then at Saura and Naruto, dividing up the pairs. The movement of her fingers were so fast and automatic that Neji couldn't help but admire it. It was probably a very normal thing that Tenten used quite often at whatever she did in the future, but it was unusual for Neji to see. The Tenten in his timeline generally had problems with finger movements - jutsus weren't her thing, so finger mobility was not something that she focused on in their trainings. Just another reminder why this Tenten was different from his.
They approached the main building quickly. Tenten had Neji locate the other two across the path, so they could rejoin them. The first obstacle occurred when they had made it beyond the outer palisade of the extended grounds. Climbing the obstacle wasn't a problem, even the spikes on top were avoided and their landings were soft. They even made it across the lawn undetected - Naruto and Neji ahead, Tenten in the middle and Sakura slightly towards the end - but when they approached the building, Neji's hand shot up, signaling them to halt. He fell back to Tenten, whispering "There is someone behind that door."
Since it was summer, the sudare, bamboo blinds, were up and Tenten had no way of viewing whether someone was behind them. Tenten gestured to each of them to stay where they were and within a heartbeat Tenten had vanished from their midst. Neji got the impression both Naruto and Sakura were a little bit taken aback by this unexpected move, but Neji was able to follow Tenten's quick moves across the rest of the lawn; then her chakra points seemed to slither through one of the sliding doors.
He hardly even heard the sound of the sliding wood. The guard - or whoever was inside the house - clearly also did not hear or see anything coming. Neji could perceive Tenten approaching the unknown figure quickly and then, to Neji's great surprise, some of the guard's chakra points were blocked and he fell to the ground. Then he could see how Tenten's figure was pushing something to the side, most likely the door of the main entrance, and he could tell her arm must be waving at them. So, he signalled to the others that it was safe to head in.
Reunited, they fell back into their previous formation. Neji could hardly hear Tenten's footsteps behind him, which was disconcerting because he usually always heard her on missions. Remembering how she had taken out the guard, it was also a scary thought that the future Tenten possessed a technique that the present Tenten was nowhere near even beginning to master. It was also intriguing because Neji could not imagine who had taught her. Would he himself teach her in the future? These were questions that were unhelpful at the time, so Neji relegated them to the back of his brain, to ponder after this mission. Right now the quiet mansion needed his full attention.
Slipping into the house was no trouble. Sakura stayed outside, hidden by shrubbery and kept an eye on the figure sunken to the ground. Neji recognized him as, indeed, one of the guards. He remembered him well - nice fellow, very helpful, and had always been partial to his cousin Hinata. It was unfathomable what he would be doing here because his post was usually somewhere else and there were no guards this close to the house. HIashi found it unseemly usually.
While it was disconcerting, it was obviously not enough for them to abort the mission. Neji was leading them towards his uncle's bedroom. He didn't foresee any trouble. Apart from the guard, his special eyes could tell everyone was where he expected them to be: in the guards' case, at their usual post, and, regarding his family, in bed. When their infiltration party arrived at the appropriate place, Neji slid the shoji open to reveal his uncle's office space to Tenten.
Tenten had been right behind Neji and produced one of the chemi-lumi-thingies Tsunade had given her for light. She broke it and within seconds it emanated a cool light that gave Tenten an impression of Hiashi's office. She couldn't remember ever being in this space. The first thing Tenten thought was that the shoji for this room were probably not often rearranged because there was so much furniture in here that seemed of a permanent character.
The middle of the space was dominated by a large chabudai, probably for business dinners. Tenten stepped into the room. The tatami mats had not been put up for the night in here, so Tenten could tell they were of excellent quality. They welcomed her steps as she ventured further into the space. There was a desk that was traditionally low but it was ornamented in a foreign way that definitely was not in line with traditional minimalist ways. Tenten's guess was that it was custom-made by a local carpenter who had travelled far West. There was also a low chair that looked like an S. Definitely also custom-made to entwine two completely different styles. To her right, her stick illuminated three panels with exquisite paintings of cranes in muted greys and blues. They were not quite as delicate as Tenten would have expected them to be but Tenten realized this might have been by design. Hiashi clearly liked to play with his traditions.
She felt Neji right behind her. He steered her away from the crane panels - they probably only veiled more tatami mats. Instead, Neji began lifting tatami mats close to the low desk and showed her several floor panels. The first one only contained a tea-making kit but the second one contained scrolls.
While Naruto guarded their entrance, Neji and Tenten huddled together. He took the stick when she gave it to him and held it in a convenient position as Tenten's eyes flew across the scrolls they held open together. Whenever she pointed at a character or phrase that she couldn't decipher, he would whisper their meaning into her ear. The sound caressed her skin so lightly, Tenten was sure not even Naruto was able to hear it.
The hairs on Tenten's arm started to rise, little goosebumps flowing up her arm in a steady stream. At first Tenten thought it was a reaction to Neji's soft voice in her ear and his breath travelling down her neck but when Neji abruptly turned his head, she knew something was up. His reflexes were so quick, Tenten hardly had time to drop the scroll, before his arm pulled her to the floor and his body kept her pinned there. She couldn't see what was happening but she felt Neji shift meaningfully and Tenten thought he had kicked at something in their vicinity.
The pressure of his body retreated and it allowed Tenten to finally look up and try and identify their assailant. The chemi-stick had fallen to the floor and illuminated enough for Tenten to see. From the corner of her eye, Tenten saw that Naruto lay slumped where he was supposed to be watching. Then she could make out two veiled figures; one was clearly Neji. In the ensuing fight with the veiled figure, he obviously had the upper hand right now but his opponent was very skilled and, ultimately, it could go either way because… - Tenten recognized the assailant. Even though they were dressed in dark clothing that hid their features, Tenten could tell who their assailant was. It was strange but Tenten suddenly also knew exactly what to do.
Neji knew it was Hinata attacking them. Of course there were only a limited number of people who could attack chakra points and up until earlier this night Neji had firmly believed all of them were Hyūgas. And of course he recognized the unique stylings of his own cousin, so the fact that her face was hidden with a cloth mask did absolutely nothing to conceal her identity from him. Their exchange was as silent as one might hope for a fight as their feet slid over the tatami mats and their limbs sliced through the air.
So far no one had landed a hit but Neji had already gained a few steps of space on her. When he had failed for the third time to block one of Hinata's chakra points, Tenten showed up next to him and took over the fight seamlessly. For a heartbeat Neji found himself in a most unusual situation: he was a useless bystander as Tenten quickly drove Hinata into a corner. Disabling Hinata's left arm gave Tenten the time to gesture to Neji to pack up the rest of the scrolls over her shoulder. Shaking off the surreal feeling of someone having cut into his fight, Neji produced a small satchel from the depths of his clothing, and unfolded it. Then he started shoveling scrolls into it. From the back of his head, he saw Tenten land the final hit and catch Hinata soundlessly when she slumped forward. After placing her gently onto the floor, Tenten came over and helped Neji empty the rest of the scrolls into the satchel. Then Tenten shouldered it while Neji went to pick up Naruto.
Side by side they made their way out through the maze of hallways. When they reached the point where they had penetrated the building, they found Sakura in a similar state as Naruto. Without missing a beat, Tenten sped up her steps, strapped the satchel to her chest, and hauled Sakura over her shoulder. Then they were out, stepping off the engawa and were speeding across the lawn in no time. Sacrificing stealth for speed, they did not zigzag but just headed straight for the palisades. Tenten got there first. She untied the cloth strips that kept her pant legs from falling open and instead used the cloth to strap Sakura, including her arms, tightly to her back. Efficiently Tenten used the second strip of cloth to tie Sakura's legs together and to Tenten's hip, so that her body would sway around less. This way, it was as though Tenten was carrying a baby monkey on her back. An unconscious, bound baby monkey but still.
Neji's eyes learned fast and followed suit, securing Naruto to himself in a similar way. Then they climbed the palisade fence a lot less elegantly and slower than before. Their landings on the other side were also much heavier. Because they could not know whether Hinata had informed any one or whether they were being followed, Tenten made a quick executive decision. She led Neji to the nearest cover. Then she crouched down and started unstrapping Sakura from her body, indicating that Neji would have to be responsible for the safety of both their colleagues while she kept the satchel. That way Tenten was more likely to get the documents to safety before anyone caught them. Neji nodded his agreement. The decision was absolutely in line with their mission.
As soon as he had indicated he understood, Tenten drew her hood and disappeared into the night. Neji only followed her with his eyes long enough to know which direction she was taking. Then he didn't waste any more time. Keeping his gaze wide to detect any followers, he went to work on Naruto. He knew the ninja had impressive abilities and would probably be able to regain consciousness quickly once his chakra was unblocked. As predicted, Naruto was ready to walk himself in an impressively short time. Neji had still not detected any followers, so he gave Naruto the instruction to follow him long enough until his full strength had returned at which point it was safe for him to split off and return home using his own judgment. Neji secured Sakura better and then they made their way away. Neji tried not to worry about the fall-out of their actions. Originally, their infiltration was supposed to go unnoticed. There was no chance of that now.