Without Tenten's weight, Neji made it to Tsunade's in no time. He sped through the woods and the dark allies of Konoha, made his way to the nicer city district and slipped into Tsunade's house.
Again, his Hokage was sitting at her chabudai and enjoying a late-night cup of tea. He usually reported back to her when she was in her office, so seeing her in her nemaki at home after returning from a mission was still a sight Neji needed to get used to.
Tsunade knew something hadn't gone according to plan as soon as she saw him.
"You're first? Where's Tenten?"
Without answering at first, Neji unloaded his bounty on her pretty little table and then began his mission report. After he had ended, Tsunade kept looking between him and the assortment of stuff he had dumped on her dining chabudai.
"This is a … weapon?" Tsunade wondered, picking up the pipe and pretending to swing it at a foe.
"Yes. Apparently."
"And Tenten didn't make it."
"She showed signs of fatigue as soon as we entered the tea house and she deteriorated quickly after that. When I left her she could hardly open her mouth."
"Hm," Tsunade made. "I do hope she made it back home safely. I still haven't been able to find a jutsu that allows time travel. I was hoping seeing her return would give me more information but I guess I'll just have to work with what I know so far."
Neji hoped she got home ok as well.
"And she said I would figure out what this weapon did?"
"Yes."
"Well, I guess Tenten had more faith in me than I currently have."
Tsunade stared at the pieces a moment longer and then said:
"Neji, I think Tenten is correct in that we shouldn't let anyone else know about this. Not even your teammates. Tell them you brought Tenten to me and you don't know anything else. I want them to think you're just as clueless as they are."
"Yes."
"And Hanabi didn't seem like she knew anything?"
"Tenten seemed to think not."
Tsunade was still pensive. But then she seemed to decide to pack up the pieces of what was supposed to be the deadliest weapon ever but what looked like a bunch of crap. It seemed Tsunade might dismiss Neji soon. He was looking forward to going home and starting to process everything that had happened the last couple of days, - but then a voice broke into the silence of their company.
"I'm pretty certain she didn't know anything," Tenten's voice sounded from Tsunade's gardens. Then Tenten, limber as ever, dropped from the roof onto the engawa. Neji was surprised he hadn't heard her up there but then reminded himself, once again, that this Tenten was very skillful. And alive and well. And still in the past.
"Hanabi's eyelines were not significantly related to the object's placement. I'm pretty sure if we interrogate her, it'll be obvious her uncle put her on duty without telling her what she was guarding. I'm worried Hiashi knows one of his own is involved. He had a bunch of guards stationed right outside and Hanabi inside."
"Uhm," Tsunade said, baffled. "That's good to know. Uh. I was told you weren't… here anymore."
Tenten shrugged.
"But I am. However, we shouldn't put me on any mission details anymore because I could have a fatigue attack at any point. I think they're a side effect from being in the wrong timeline for so long. I don't see them coming and they weaken me to the point where I can't move or give orders."
"Ok, that's good to know… but… do we know how long you're still going to be with us?"
Tenten shook her head.
"No. But we should remove the weapon from eyesight. Hinata and Naruto are bringing Hanabi here."
Tsunade looked a little perplexed - it seemed as though Tenten might be giving Tsunade orders. This was something the Hokage just wasn't used to. Belatedly, Tsunade moved the pieces of the weapon to a secure location out of sight.
"Are you sure you're not Hokage in the future?" Tsunade wanted to know.
Tenten nodded.
"I am sure. Because I am head of a secret division for unusual weaponry."
"Beg your pardon?" Tsunade wondered.
"I remember now what my job is. I am an assassin of deadly weapons."
Tsunade and Neji both frowned. Then the Hokage asked:
"How do you assassinate a weapon?"
"You make sure no one builds it or knows how to build it."
"A weapon assassin," Tsunade mumbled, stunned.
"That is all you need to know for this mission. I will explain the significance of what we brought home in a little bit but I know Hinata and Naruto are about to arrive."
Tsunade was again looking strange at how it - almost - seemed as though Tenten were commanding her.
"I guess your position in the future is pretty important."
"I prevent genocides," Tenten volunteered as a way of explaining her importance.
Then they could hear another party approach and it was time to stop talking about the weapon.
Neji had an increasing suspicion that Tunade's house had never gotten as much traffic as in the last couple of days because, like Tenten predicted, Hinata and Naruto showed up with her younger sister. So, now, Tsunade's elegant room housed five sweaty ninjas, one of them gagged and bound.
"So, I see we kidnapped one of the Hyūga offspring," Tsunade approached the topic of the unanticipated visitor.
"There was no other way. She might have seen too much," Tenten explained.
"And what am I supposed to do with her now?" Tsunade wanted to know.
Tenten didn't even flinch as she said: "Make her keep quiet."
Tsunade seemed to be mindful of the fact that this Tenten was still basically a stranger to her, as she asked: "And how do you propose we do this?"
Tenten's fingers strummed over the leather heft of her favorite kunai as she took a moment to think about the situation. Then she turned to Neji and asked:
"What made you turn your back on your family?"
"Beg your pardon?"
"You heard me."
Tenten and Neji were shortly involved in a staring match that seemed to be about more than just the issue at hand. Then Tsunade chimed in:
'Yes, please, Neji. Let us be part of your wisdom. Tell me why you chose your village over your uncle."
Hanabi rolled her eyes. When her sister saw this, Hinata tended to agree:
"Neji is a bad example. He and my uncle had a bunch of trouble when he was a kid. My father was not the most… approachable of men."
Naruto gave Hinata a look full of compassion. Neji appeared downright uncomfortable as the center of attention.
Tenten walked over and ungagged Hanabi.
"I've said it before and I'll say it again. My father is a good man and I can't believe you would all betray him so deeply," Hanabi exclaimed, giving both her cousin and Hinata a glare.
"But you knew someone was going to betray him, didn't you?" Tenten prompted, crouching down next to their captive and whispering in her ear. Hanabi shivered uncomfortably.
"That's why you were in that tea house, weren't you?" Tenten went on in her dark, knowing voice.
"You were hurt when his suspicions were true," Tenten continued, staying close to Hanabi, observing her every move.
"But you were hoping it wouldn't be true… because you cared about the person whom your father accused. Am I right?" Tenten's face was right next to Hanabi's, keeping close watch on her eyeballs. It could be quite difficult seeing in which direction a Hyūga was looking if they hadn't moved their head but Tenten seemed to have a strategy. She kept her gaze glued to Hanabi's eyeballs.
"Your father isn't suspecting Neji, is he?" Tenten smiled when she saw Hanabi's gaze bounce.
"No. He suspected your sister. Hinata," Tenten finally surmised and everyone, including Hinata, looked surprised.
"Me? But I'm not the one sneaking around the house at night and-"
"Except you were," Tenten interrupted. "Imagine you didn't know we had infiltrated Hiashi's office. Imagine all you knew was that someone had asked a guard to secretly perform a duty. Right after seeing you talking to Neji, whom he had just tasked with a secret mission."
"Neji talked to me! And I only asked that guard to stand there to keep someone from breaking in!" Hinata was trying to defend herself, but it was no use. Everyone knew her father had put the pieces together all wrong and suspected her of being behind the strange occurrences at the Hyūga house.
"Calm down," Tenten advised the heiress. "This is a good thing. It means Hiashi really does trust Neji."
Hinata rolled her eyes. Obviously being mistrusted by her own father was not exactly what she'd call good news.
"But, you're right, it was quite unjust. You were trying to keep us out at first," Tenten admitted, but it didn't really seem as though she were talking to Hinata. She was still staying close to Hanabi.
"Because that's the kind of man your father is. He isn't a bad person. But he is strict. And he often thinks he is doing the right thing when actually he's hurting everyone around you," Tenten continued as though she were talking to Hinata when really she was obviously addressing Hanabi.
"So, Neji," Tenten went on. "Tell us again why you left the house even after your uncle admitted you would have made a fine heir."
Neji's teeth were clenched so hard his whole jaw hurt.
"Tell us," Tenten continued.
"He's relentless," Neji mumbled finally. "He hardly ever listens to you and as a leader he is short-sighted. He is terrified something might happen to the clan but he doesn't see the big picture. He doesn't understand that clan members finding their own path within the ranks of Konoha might be good for the clan and the village. He never sees beyond anything but the clan. And that is not the kind of man - or ninja - I want to be."
"Do you want to be that kind of a ninja?" Tenten wondered right next to Hanabi, but the young woman wouldn't answer.
"Hinata, why don't you tell us why you joined us today."
Hinata looked a little reluctant to heed Tenten's command but she relented.
"He already has our whole life planned for us. He's arranged marriages for all of us. Neji, me, - you too, Hanabi, - and pretty much any other young eligible Hyūga. They're all very advantageous for the clan but he never told us a word."
"Or me," Tsunade threw in. "He doesn't care whether it might disrupt peace negotiations I have going on."
"So, are you still sure that what your father does is ok just because he means well?" Tenten wondered. Hanabi looked unsure.
"But what were you doing breaking into his property? I mean, surely the village isn't more important than the rights of the individual," Hanabi attempted to argue.
"No, but your father had a weapon shipped into the country disguised as a piece of heritage just because it's old and from the mainland. Do you really think he meant to give it to a museum or preserve it for archeological reasons?" Tenten wondered, ironically. The corners of Hanabi's mouth sagged.
"No. I can't really see that happening," their captive admitted.
"What do you think he was planning to do with what he was hiding there?" Tenten wanted to know.
"You guys obviously already have your ideas," Hanabi replied, still a little stubborn.
"I didn't ask anyone but you," Tenten responded, now crouching right in front of Hanabi.
"Power," Hanabi finally admitted. "He was probably going to use it to gain more power. For the clan alone."
Tenten nodded.
"Smart girl," she whispered. "I think you're probably right. Do you think that's a good idea?"
Hanabi shrugged, then admitted:
"Maybe not." Hanabi's voice was small and meek now. Everyone else in Tsunade's home was so quiet it felt as though they were collectively holding their breath.
"How about you tell your father the truth then and you say you don't really know what happened tonight?"
Hanabi looked up into Tenten's eyes, who had stood up and was looming over the Hyūga woman now.
"Because there isn't really much you could tell him, is there? You could tell him he was hiding a weapon. But he already knows that. You could tell him that Hinata isn't trustworthy. But he already knows that too. Or you could tell him that Neji will do anything to protect his people. But I suspect he also knows this too." Tenten purposefully left out who Neji considered 'his people', deliberately giving Hanabi the words that she would later use with her father without ever really having to lie.
Hanabi nodded.
"Yeah, I think that sounds exactly like what I might tell my father."
Now every Hyūga of power apart from Hiashi was on their side.