I thank my friend lexkixass for the use of her twins. As always, Naruto belongs to Kishimoto.

Five years ago Neji, Tenten, and Lee left the academy to the waiting horror that was Gai's tutelage, yet it felt like a lifetime as they stood together—shinobi preparing for war. More than shinobi, they were a team. Neji trusted them to have his back more than anyone else. But they would not fight this war together.

"I'm assigned to the First Unit, Mid-Range Battle Division," Tenten said.

Lee looked forlornly at the slip of paper in his hand. "I'm Third Unit, Short-to-Mid-Range Battle Division."

Neji nodded. What had made their team strong was the diversity in skills. The assignments made sense and played to each of their strengths. "I haven't received my placement yet. The Hyuuga clan is getting spread across all units for reconnaissance, but I'd be surprised if I don't end up in the Second Unit, Close Combat Division. That's where I'd do the most damage."

"None of us will fight together." Lee was on the verge of manly hysterics, which Neji learned from years of experience was worse than mere hysterics.

"Gai-sensei will probably be in your unit, Lee," Tenten said, sensing the same danger in Lee's voice that Neji did. "And we'll be fighting with the entire village on our side."

Lee's sour mood flipped in an instant and he pumped his fist with near Gai-level hallucinations of ocean waves behind him. How did Gai teach him that?

"Of course! Gai-sensei and I will not fail to represent the true spirit of Konoha!"

"Just make me a promise," Neji said, knowing he needed to say it. There may not be another chance. "Don't die. The only person who's allowed to see you to an early grave is me. If you die to anyone else, I'm going to disown you as my rival forever."

Neji braced himself as tears bubbled up in Lee's unnervingly large eyes. Tenten took a step away.

Three.

Two.

One.

Lee launched himself at Neji, engulfing him in a bone-crushing hug as manly tears of youth or whatever nonsense Lee was blabbering about drenched Neji's shoulder. "Neji, you are my truest rival! Our friendship is a bond that will never end! Even in death we shall find our bond eternal! I swear a manly oath that we will continue in our youthful rivalry for many years to come!"

Neji sighed and pat Lee's shoulder as he continued to gabber on in more elaborate and flowery imagery. Offering Lee any amount of sincere affection could only result in a typhoon of emotion, but even if he'd never lived through a war, Neji understood what they were about to go into. If something happened to Lee and he'd been too stoic to let Lee know how much he respected him, Neji would regret it the rest of his life. They were friends, and he wanted Lee to know their friendship wasn't one-sided.

Just as fast as he'd invaded Neji's personal space, Lee burst away. "I must prepare myself so I can keep my oath to my rival! We must all train, and fight with all our hearts, and come back after the war to be a team together again!" Lee threw his arms around Tenten in a rotating hug that left her spinning after Lee released her and ran off screaming about doing an excessive number of laps.

Neji caught Tenten before she tumbled to the ground like a spinning top that lost momentum. He waited until she no longer looked ready to vomit before turning his hold on her arms into a whole body embrace. "You aren't allowed to die either."

Tenten gripped Neji's shirt with as much possession as he felt. "Neither are you."

"I love you, Tenten."

Tenten edged back enough to see his face. Her own was closely guarded from his sight, one brow quirked in a skeptical fashion. "You're not saying that just cause we about to go to war and we both could die, are you?"

"Of course I am. That doesn't mean it's not true. In another life I'd have waited until we were ready before saying it, but this is the life we have and I want you to know what you have to come home to." Neji leaned in to kiss her, pulling her in until he supported most of her weight in his arms. Her body was lean and strong and warm under his touch. With the threat of the unknown looming above them, and knowing he wouldn't be nearby to help if she needed him, he wanted to never let go.

Tenten pressed against him, her fingers twirling in his hair to hold him in return. Her grip wasn't painful, merely a tug at the base of his skull to remind him she wasn't letting him go either.

"I love you, too. So don't go all self-sacrificing on me. You're prone to that, especially if Hinata's in your unit." Her hands fisted against his back. It was a joke—and a fear. "Don't you dare leave me by myself with Lee and Gai-sensei. If you do I'll use that reanimation technique on you just so I can turn your well-formed ass into a porcupine."

Neji chuckled and rested his forehead against hers, an act of love in itself. "As incentive for us both to come back alive, when we return we can find a better use for my well-formed ass."

Tenten ran her hands up his back. "Part of me doesn't want to wait."

Her body said desire, but her eyes said fear. Neji understood. It was the same expression he'd seen on couples throughout the village. He felt it, too, but that wasn't enough for him.

"I don't want the first time to be like this, with war and fear at the edge." Neji cradled her neck in his hand, thumbs running along the gentle curve of her jaw. "When we're together, I want there to be nothing but you and me."

Tenten grinned and rose onto her toes so their lips almost touched. "Do you think sweet-talking me like that makes me want you any less?"

Neji took the invitation to kiss her, but not her bait. He'd already gone through it a dozen times before arriving, wondering if the risk of never being with her outweighed the taint of war that would always stain their first time together. It had been a difficult choice to make—Tenten's hand slipped beneath the hem of his shirt and her calloused fingers teased their way up his spine—it was still difficult. But to indulge was to accept the possibility that one of them wouldn't return, and Neji refused to believe that. Imagining something happening to Lee hurt, but Neji could bear that pain. Imagining a life without Tenten—Neji rejected that with all his heart.

Not that his traitorous hands weren't pulling at the hem of her shirt. He separated from the kiss and her searching embrace before his willpower shattered. "If you're here waiting for me, then I'm definitely coming home. That's a promise."

Tenten fixed him with a gaze fiercer than any he's witnessed on her in battle. "Don't you break that promise."

Neji took her hand, so thick and strong from battle, a weapons master's hand. "Only if you promise it back."

Neji itched to release some of the tension from his meeting with Tenten, and no doubt there'd be something he could do to help with preparations once he returned to the compound. Preferably something physical or that required a good dunking in cold water.

Osamu and Isamu waited near the gate. It should have felt nostalgic to see those two standing like sentries to the compound, instead a dread washed over him at the seriousness on their faces.

"Finally," Isamu said, his shoulders relaxing a fraction as Neji approached.

Osamu mirrored his brother. "We didn't want to interrupt you and Tenten, but I'm glad your back."

"What happened?"

"Postings came," Osamu said.

Isamu continued. "Hinata-sama's been assigned to the Sealing Corps. Kakashi came himself with someone to teach her the specific sealing technique she needs to know."

"Which she's now practicing on helpless chairs in the front yard."

"Because there's really nowhere else good to practice."

"All the kids think it's awesome to watch."

"The clan, not so much."

"It's one thing for her to know the seal."

"It's another for her to be skilled enough for Kakashi to pick her for the Sealing Corps."

"After all that's happened—"

"—this could really back track her progress with the clan."

Neji shook off the unease of their rapid back and forth, which someone who couldn't see them would mistake for a single person speaking. They'd always been in sync, but their time in Torture and Interrogation under Ibiki had turned a childish affectation into an unsettling condition, even when it wasn't intentional.

"Otouto, we're doing it again." Osamu said, sighing in time with his brother. The two took a step away from each other, and the distance helped create a sense of separation.

Isamu stretched out his shoulders as if shrugging off a second skin. "Sorry, we need to watch that or we'll lose all our friends."

"I'm sure it's very effective in your work."

They grinned, but this time it wasn't in unison. Osamu tilted his head toward the main house. "Anyway, we a have plan to smooth things over with the clan, but we need your help."

"Of course." He would do whatever they thought was best. No one knew how the clan would react better than Osamu and Isamu.

Neji had hoped Hinata would be in the same unit as him, since their fighting styles matched well, but he never imagined she'd be placed in the Sealing Corps. Yet, like Tenten's and Lee's placement, it played to her strengths. He should have considered that. She could still be placed in his unit, but sealing and byakugan made her valuable to any unit.

Neji followed Osamu and Isamu to the main house. The compound felt strange with so many non-Hyuugas staying there, but it helped to ease the growing discomfort among the clan. Those who didn't know about the seal didn't view Hinata sealing a chair over and over the same way that the clan did. Those people went about their day with only a passing glance. The clan . . . watched.

They watched Hinata pour her chakra into the person-sized roll of cloth. They watched the cloth respond like new limb to her will, unsure of how to move but knowing where to go. They watched it bind the chair as secure as the seal felt across their foreheads. What they couldn't see, not without knowing her well, was how much Hinata hated her own abilities, useful as they would soon be.

Neji knew how capable Hinata was with sealing techniques, but it never occurred to him the lengths Hinata went to ensure no one else in the clan found out. Even when she revealed the chakra suppression seals, she emphasized the medical aspects when discussing it, as if the paper seal merely acted as a conduit for a medical technique.

Now those quiet talents were shoved front and center and would be a part of who she was in the clan. And she hated it. Neji saw her loathing in the jerkiness of her movements and in the calm that showed neither passion nor disdain. Hinata hated what sealing meant to the clan, but Neji always noticed the joy of working the problem balancing her disdain. That joy remained absent while white eyes scrutinized her, as did her disgust—she emptied herself for fear the clan would see only one and not the other.

"Hinata-sama!" Isamu called cheerfully.

"Isamu-kun, Osamu-kun, Neji-niisan, good to see you all." Hinata released the seal on the chair and smiled. The expression didn't reach her eyes.

Isamu leaned on the back of her victim chair, a sly grin on his face. "Hinata-sama, surely a chair isn't good practice. The bad guys aren't going to sit still."

"It's the best I have on short notice, and I need to become proficient with this technique fast." Hinata glanced up at Neji. "I suppose they told you I'm in the Sealing Corps."

Neji nodded. "They didn't tell me where I am, though."

"Second Unit, Close Combat, same as us," Osamu said.

"I got an idea." Isamu balanced himself over the back of the chair to get closer to Hinata. "Why don't we help you out? Neji, Aniki, and I can get some training in, and you can practice your sealing on the loser."

"You want me to seal you?" Shock broke through her calm, and Hinata took a step away. "No, I couldn't do that."

"Come on, Hinata-sama. I want to see Neji all wrapped up."

Neji balked at that, though not so much as to dissuade Hinata. He understood their plan now—let the clan see their worst fear so they can stop fearing it—but his ego prickled at the insinuation. "Who says I'll be the one sealed?"

Isamu grinned. "I'll have Aniki helping me."

"Will you now?" Osamu raised one eyebrow at his brother. "Maybe it should be a free for all."

Isamu scowled. "You know that would mean we both end up sealed."

"True, guess I'll just have to sacrifice you to beat Neji. Then at least one of us will see Hinata-sama seal Neji."

"I'm not sealing anyone." Hinata finished rolling the sealing cloth back into its spool. "This is meant for the enemy."

"All the more reason you should practice on people in a real fight," Neji countered in his you should listen to me tone of voice, the one that told her she was making the wrong decision without the clan noticing his dissent. "You need to get the feel of sealing when anything could happen. Figure out what conditions you need so you can be prepared."

Hinata's lips thinned. She'd heard his meaning and didn't like it. That usually meant she agreed with him. Her gaze passed over the people in the yard, Hyuuga and non-Hyuuga alike. Shou watched them from a group of attentive children. Hinata's jaw tightened. "Fine."

"All right!" Isamu popped off the chair back and tossed it out of the clearing to make room.

Osamu hopped back to stand at his brother's side. "Ground rules, so no one gets too hurt right before the war. No chakra, forms only. No crazy Gai taijustu—there's no way we can match you on that. And land on your back and you get sealed."

"Sounds fair." Neji stretched out the muscles in his shoulders. He'd hoped for some physical activity to burn off his tension. Beating up Osamu and Isamu was as good as anything. "Hinata, if you would."

Hinata sighed and grabbed the cloth to stay out of the way while they fought. "Begin."

Neji wasn't a vindictive person, but arrogance was a character flaw of his. And, if he was honest, he liked being the best. In two lightning fast strides, Neji landed a palm strike to Isamu's chest, knocking him off his feet to land in a cloud of dust.

Neji turned to his sister expectantly. "He's on his back."

Hinata fumbled with the cloth, unprepared at the abrupt turn of the fight. Neji saw her chakra fill the cloth, but hesitation held her back.

Isamu flopped his arms against the ground. "Hinata-sama, if you wait too long, the enemy will have time to get away."

"I know," she grumbled, and the cloth swept across the yard.

This attempt was smoother than her last sealing with the chair. The cloth moved with more purpose, wrapping Isamu's feet, and moved around his body with swift intent. To his credit, Isamu didn't flinch even as his head disappeared beneath the cloth. Black seals ran from a bright red tag that finished the binding.

Osamu and Isamu knew the clan. More than that, they knew Hinata. That's why Neji trusted their plan to work. And there it was. Hinata could hide herself behind the calm when all she sealed was a chair, but put someone she cared about—a Hyuuga who already bore the seal—and her calm shattered.

Hinata crossed her arms across her stomach, to comfort and to distance herself at the same time. She gripped her elbows with shaking hands and her face twisted in disgust. Hinata knew what the seal meant to the clan, she knew what the clan would think to know she could do more, and that was the point. The clan needed to see that skill did not equal intent. Hinata would never use it on one of them just because she could or to make a point. She could barely stand to do it when there was a good reason.

"I don't like this." With far more confidence than she had sealing him, Hinata broke the seal on Isamu and drew the cloth back into the roll.

Isamu sat up and stretched out his back. "That was an interesting experience."

Osamu smirked down at his brother before offering him a helping hand. "That's what you get for teasing Neji."

"Yeah, well, he can go after you next time."

Hinata shook her head. "That's enough. We don't have to do this. It doesn't feel right."

Osamu pulled Isamu to his feet and they flashed her matching smiles. "Hinata-sama, it's okay. We trust you."

With those three words, the clan around them seemed to breathe a collective sigh. So much of the Hyuugas history made the branch family wary of the main, but Hinata had earned their respect and they wanted to trust her. They just needed to know for certain. Neji was the most skilled in jyuuken in the clan, but no one could compete with the twins when it came to insight. It made Neji a little jealous, not that he'd tell them. They probably already knew.

Neji allowed the moment to stand in silence for several heartbeats, then said, "You never know what can happen in battle. If it's true that the enemy is using a reanimation technique, the people they resurrect will be powerful. The better you are at this in a real fight, the more people you'll save."

I hate it when you're right, Hinata glared, then aloud, "Fine. I'm ready."

Neji held back this time. It wouldn't do to consistently overpower Osamu and Isamu, as fun as that was. Hinata needed to feel the flow of battle, when to enter, when to strike. This time, when Osamu's back hit the ground, Hinata hesitated only a second. The cloth moved swifter as her reticence faded. By the third fall—Osamu again—Hinata didn't hesitate.

"Otouto," Osamu said after being freed from the sealing for a second time, "we need to get Neji on his back."

Isamu rolled his eyes. "Oh, is that what we're trying to do? I thought we were trying to get our butts kicked. I'll be sure to stop letting him win."

Baiting the twins was too easy, but Neji enjoyed it anyway. He cocked his head to the side. "Are you going to make me finally break a sweat?"

Osamu and Isamu charged. They were skilled, but Neji was better, and even after three spars, he remained in control of the fight despite their best attempts. Off to the side, Neji saw something in Hinata's expression that he'd been waiting for: fun. She was working the problem. When was the best time to move? Where should she be standing? When would one of them fall? Her gaze studied them as they fought, her weight shifting, ready to move on any strike.

Isamu feinted left. Neji was faster. He stepped in to throw his poor cousin into his second sealing, and a burst of chakra at his feet knocked Neji's footing askew. They weren't supposed to be using chakra, but then the chakra hadn't come from one of the fighters. It came from Hinata. Osamu took the momentary advantage and kicked Neji's stumbling leg out while pulling him back by the shoulders. If he cheated and used chakra he could have righted himself before hitting the ground, but that would ruin the point of the game.

Neji landed in a graceless heap on the ground—on his back—and the cloth latched onto his right foot before the dust settled. Isamu had been correct; it was an interesting sensation being sealed. The cloth surrounded him in seconds. His outstretched arms were caught and yanked to his sides. Hinata's chakra pulsed all round him. He tried to expel chakra from his hands to cut the bindings—that could be something an enemy would do—but he found his chakra being absorbed into the cloth, strengthening its grip until all went dark. He could breathe and remained aware, but nothing responded to his demand to move. Effective and terrifying.

The cloth slackened and drifted away from him seconds later. Hinata returned the cloth to the roll, a sheepish expression on his sister's face.

"In battle there's nothing to say I can't help the people fighting," Hinata said. She avoided eye contact with Neji while Osamu and Isamu sat on the ground nearby, laughing like a couple of ill-bred hyenas.

"Hinata-sama likes us better," Isamu choked out when he managed to breathe enough to speak again.

Neji flexed his fingers, surprised by how good it felt to move after so short a confinement. "No, she just knows you need the help more."

"Hey, cheap shots work." Osamu rolled to his feet—still chuckling to himself—and held a hand out for his brother. "Come on, Otouto. We've taunted Neji enough, time to get our asses kicked for it."

"Aniki, don't say that. Now he knows we're expecting it."

An expression as dark as it was gleeful spread like spilled ink to paint Neji's face. "It's more fun when you're prepared."

Hinata rolled her eyes and hopped back out of the line of fire. Ten minutes before she wouldn't have been able to show such a casual expression. Hard as it was for her to seal family, the practice calmed her. And—Neji let his gaze linger on the people milling about around them—the clan was no longer watching as if their lives depended on knowing what Hinata could do. The fight was nothing special to see anymore. Hinata sealing was no longer worrisome.

For that, he wouldn't entirely kick the twins' asses. Just a little bit.