Prompt/response to Nairil's illustration 'Whisper.' You can find her as Rencova on Deviant Art or on Tumblr as Nairil Daeris.

Whisper

The Fourth Shinobi was over, the village was being rebuilt at a remarkable pace, and the Rookie Nine/Team Gai generation was quickly becoming the backbone of the new Konoha. How their entire company of comrades had survived the war, they'd never know, but they were grateful, and made a point to keep tabs on one another and to gather as friends when they were able.

The evening found them at the Yakiniku Q and enjoying a meal. Naruto and Hinata would be married in two weeks, so the the Konoha 12 (except for Sasuke who was still not back in Konoha, and Lee who was on a mission) were taking advantage of what was probably the last meal they would share before the wedding.

It was also the perfect excuse to play The Game.

The Game started in those years Naruto went to train, and continued as the 4th Shinobi war began brewing.

It persisted in the tents and trenches and the space between battles.

It was one thing that had carried over into their new lives that didn't have the same haunt of bittersweet.

The rules were simple and based on an even simpler premise: no one (other than Lee) had ever been able to significantly or even visibly embarrass Neji or Tenten.

It had been hard enough when they were Genin; being on a team with the Green Beasts of Konoha had given them plenty of practice in growing their patience and their threshold for embarrassment by proxy. Now, even their frustrations with Lee were a thing of the past - especially since Neji's far-too-close brush with death in the war.

If it had been difficult to get either of them to come close to cracking before, now it was virtually impossible.

Perhaps Naruto had rubbed off on them all, because they showed no signs of giving up.

Determined to triumph, the group adopted a divide and conquer strategy, and set up the playing field accordingly. All of the girls sat in one booth at the BBQ, and the boys at another – just out of sight of each other.

Neji and Tenten watched as they divided up the tables; Tenten's grin was impish, Neji's mildly amused.

"Do you care where you start?"

"Not really," he shrugged.

"Then I guess I'll start with the girls."

"Uuugh," Ino rolled her eyes. "This is no fun – you never crack,"

"Well neither does Neji," Sakura crossed her arms.

"Clock's ticking, girls," Tenten slid into the booth. "Fire away."

"Fine, fine," Ino shooed Neji away. "Go on."

"Lucky us," Kiba grinned wolfishly, not moving over for Neji to take a seat. "I was hoping I'd get a crack at you."

"So," he looked Neji up and down. "how long have you been wearing women's underwear?"

Neji frowned. "I haven't been,-"

"Holy shit, Neji!" Kiba pointed, eyes wide and voice loud. "Is that a thong?"

"Yeah," Naruto snorted. "Neji in a thong. Good one-OOF!" he rubbed his stomach where Kiba had elbowed him. "Yeeah….!" He caught on, and cranked up the volume. "Holy shit, Kiba, I think you're right – I can see the whale tail from here!"

"Then you must be using the Byakugan, considering I'm facing you," Neji deadpanned.

"You two are idiots," Shino sighed. "That is because-"

"Dickless, you are stupid," Sai smiled his creepy smile while Shikamaru sighed.

"You'll never win like that," Chōji plucked another piece of meat from the barbecue.

"We'll see," Kiba glowered.

About twenty minutes later, they were no closer to their goal.

"I heard Neji is abysmally bad at singing," Sai suggested. "Perhaps we should relocate to a place taht offers karaoke?"

"Don't bother," Shikamaru yawned. "They tried that a month or two ago. He managed to get out of going up there every time, and these idiots ended up shiftaced and singing something awful and written for 13-year-old girls. Besides," he slid Neji a glance. "I'd bet money that he can sing, and won't be embarrassed."

"You manage to shoot down every idea presented," Sai turned his false cheer toward Shikmaru. "Is there a word for continually ruining a group of friends plans for a good time." He paused and looked over to Kiba. "Does this fall under the category of 'cockblocking?'"

"No," Kiba frowned.

"But I thought –"

"We'll explain again later, Sai," Naruto interrupted. "Now. As for Neji-"

A cheer came up from the girl's side of things, and Kiba's eyes glittered.

"They got her!" he jumped up, followed by the others.

Neji let them hurry past him – all except Shikamaru who was shaking his head at their friends.

But while the genius of their group was unsurprised to find Tenten looking nowhere near embarrassed, he was surprised (and perhaps a bit amused) to find it was Ino who was bright red, and the other girls were laughing.

"If anyone other than Hinata had said that," she gritted her teeth, "I'd've killed them.

"Pound it," Tenten held out her fist to Hinata. "Give up?" she asked the other girls.

"Fine," Ino glared at her. "Switch!"

Tenten stood and Kiba hooked an arm around her shoulders. "Well, I don't know if this just got easier," his grin was wide with mischief, "but it just got a whole hell of a lot prettier."

"Good to hear," she laughed as Neji slipped into her vacated seat.

"Good enough to hear again?" Kiba waggled his eyebrows, "because I'm free tomorrow night."

"Nice. But you'd better work on that move if you are planning on asking Tamaki to be your date to the wedding. Which is next week, in case you forgot." She elbowed him lightly in the ribs. "So, you might want to get on that."

"Yeah, yeah," he held up his hands in surrender. "Hurry up and come back to our table and we'll see who's busting whose chops tonight."

The group of friends had barely rounded the corner back out of sight when Neji's interrogation started.

After a non-productive fifteen minutes or so, the girls tried a change of tack.

"So, Neji," Sakura leaned her chin in her hand. "I heard something interesting."

He raised his eyebrows

"There has been a recall issued for all privacy scrolls used for missions. Apparently, someone had a defective one, and it broke in the middle of the night."

"I heard about that," Ino leaned forward, drawn by her preternatural sense for good gossip. "Apparently someone was having an extremely good time. They woke up half of the camp, didn't they?"

"Right," Sakura's eyes gleamed. "The disturbance was…" - she deliberately chose her words – "enthusiastic, but short-lived. Whoever it was must've figured out their mistake and reset their privacy seals. Lucky for them the barrier scattered the sound, so they couldn't determine who was responsible. However," she turned back to Neji, green eyes alight with something suspiciously like mischief. "It turns out someone here was on that mission."

Ino caught on, and joined in.

"Oh, were they?"

"Not just someone," Sakura laced her fingers and leaned her elbows on the table. "Someone who is trained to activate the Byakugan whenever there is trouble. So," she pinned Neji with a look that would goad a lesser man, "What did you see?"

"Nothing."

"The it must've been you," she blinked, countering his stony denial with calculated innocence. "Because protocol would've dictated that you check. Or did you break protocol on the mission?"

"Not at all," Neji flicked an invisible piece of something from his sleeve. "We have strict codes about when to and not to use the Byakugan, and how to use it. If you will consider that I live in a clan of people that can all see through walls, one of the first things you learn is how to filter the layers you see beyond." He looked Ino and Sakura up and down pointedly "Otherwise we'd all essentially see everyone naked each time we used our technique."

The girls gasped, and Ino reflexively crossed her arms over her chest. "You wouldn't," she scoffed.

"Of course I wouldn't," he said calmly. "Just like I wouldn't invade the privacy of comrades while on a mission."

"He's right," Hinata piped up, the tops of her cheeks pink. "We learn early on how to check on the safety of our comrades without directly looking in on them."

"As I said," Neji shrugged. "I saw nothing. If you doubt me, you can ask Shino – we were in the same tent. The disturbance was short lived, and we were given the all clear rather quickly."

"You were with Shino?" Sakura looked over to Hinata. "Why wasn't he bunked with Kiba?"

"Akamaru needs more room now," Hinata explained.

"Well, it's still suspicious, if you ask me," Ino muttered.

His shrug was both elegant and dismissive.

"Sorry to disappoint," Neji said dryly. "I was neither involved in the disturbance, nor did I see anything. As you said, because of that incident they recalled all of our privacy scrolls. I hear that it will be more resistant to both the Byakugan and the Sharingan." He pinned Sakura with a look that told her he'd known exactly how she had been trying to embarrass him (For purposes of the game and with no malicious intent). "If I had been the kind to peep, I would have ruined my chances of doing so."

"I'm relieved," Hinata gave a small smile. "New people on missions always get nervous when we make camp."

"Even about you, Hinata?" Ino joked, "Then they clearly never saw the way you look at Naruto."

Hinata's face went bright red. "I-I wouldn't! Not even to Naruto – I!"

"We know, Sakura put a hand over hers. "That is what we mean. You would never look at anyone else, because you love Naruto. We also know you wouldn't' cross that line with him…." Her smile stretched to teasing "Would you ?"

"No!" Hinata turned even redder.

"Just checking, Sakura winked.

"Well this backfired," Ino huffed. "I thought having your cousin on our side would mean we could finally make you crack."

Hinata flicked a glance at Neji before looking away from them all.

"I could never embarrass Neji."

"How's it going over there?" Kiba called impatiently.

"No good," Ino called back. "Shikamaru? When does Temari get back?"

Shikamaru stepped into view, followed by Tenten.

"All of this yelling is troublesome," he shoved his hands in his pockets. "She'll be here for the wedding as part of Gaara's escort."

"And as your date?" Sakura asked playfully.

"When does Lee get back?" he asked Neji, patently ignoring Sakura's cat-like grin.

"The day after tomorrow."

"Looks like we can get another crack at you guys then," Ino's eyes glittered. "I vote we try again at the reception once everyone has had too much to drink and Temari can get in on this."

"If you give Lee alcohol," Tenten crossed her arms, a dangerous glint in her eye, "you're not going to have to worry about the two of us being embarrassed," she jerked her thumb between herself and Neji. "In addition to the chaos that would cause, we'll be royally pissed."

"I didn't mean Lee," Ino waved the concern away. "I'd never do that to Hinata."

No one blamed Hinata for looking relieved.

"Are we calling it quits?" Choji poked his head around the corner.

"For now," Ino narrowed her eyes at Neji and Tenten.

"Oh good," he sighed happily. "That means I can order thirds!"

Four days to the wedding, Neji got a note from Tenten asking him to come by the shop as soon as he could.

He had barely opened the door before she bounded over.

"They came! They finally came!"

"When did they arrive?" he stepped out of her way, giving her room to lock the door.

"About thirty seconds before I sent for you," she flipped the sign to closed. "I was getting nervous - I was afraid they wouldn't be here in time for the wedding."

Neji's eyebrows raised.

"That was several hours ago. How did you manage to wait this long to open them?"

"I might have taken just a small peek," she admitted, hurrying to the set of stairs at the back of the shop, leaving him to follow.

He didn't say anything more; he let her excited energy fill the air with happy anticipation as she led the way to her apartment above the shop and to the small workroom where she inspected different weapons. Her home might be filled with weaponry, but she was meticulous about caring for her tools and storing them properly. She selected a scroll from the hundreds on her shelves, and placed it on the worktable. Practically vibrating with excitement, she unsealed the scroll.

The moment the glint of metal was visible, a strange calm settled over her. Neji had seen it hundreds of times - as excited as she was by weaponry (and she could get very excited by weaponry) it also grounded and calmed her. He sometimes wondered if there was a part of her that resonated with whatever lifeforce could be countained in metal. Perhaps that was how she made steel dance.

Neji carefully picked up one of the kunai and turned it over in his hands.

"Aren't they beautiful?"

He hummed agreement.

"Perfectly balanced, too," she picked up another and balanced the point on her fingertip. "They are made from a rare alloy that occurs only in the Land of Iron. General Mifune let me test a prototype at his arsenal and then he adjusted them to my specifications."

She flicked the kunai up and let it spin in the air before she caught it and returned it with the others.

"That was surprisingly generous of him," Neji handed the first kunai back to her.

"Well, I did promise to help reorganize their arsenal and repair their weapons," she admitted. "But that should only take six months or so. No more than eight. I think." She shrugged. "Business has been slow anyway."

Neji stood very, very still, barely registering that she accepted the weapon back.

When he spoke, it was with a calm, surreal detachment.

"When was this decided?"

"Officially?" she caught up a rag and polished the two weapons they'd handled. "Only yesterday. But it has been in the works since Shikamaru pulled strings to let me go with him to the last summit meeting. These are incredibly rare weapons," Tenten replaced the kunai lovingly. "I had to trade something."

"Besides," she sealed them away and shelved the scroll, "it will give me a chance to work with some new weapons and fighting styles. They'll show me their kenjutsu, and I'll work with them on fūinjutsu. That isn't something they do at all, really, so I'll be the resident expert."

"I see."

"I'm almost all packed," she added, picking up another scroll and handing it to him. "Then again, I'm pretty much always packed."

Neji made some sound of assent.

"And what is this?"

"The most recent version of the privacy seals. I was on the development team. It was Kiba, by the way."

Neji blinked, confused.

"What was Kiba?"

Her grin was sly.

"The person you heard on your mission."

Realization slipped over Neji's features.

"Kiba? But," confusion followed, "there was no one else in Kiba's tent. At least no one other than Akamaru."

"I know," she grinned wider. "The best part is he doesn't even know it was him. Ever see Akamaru chase something when he is dreaming?"

He nodded slowly.

"Well, Kiba can be the same way. It's surprising how loud the two of them can be – and what it can sound like. It's always especially bad if they have spicy food before bed."

Neji grimaced. "Dinner was spicy that night – I avoided it."

"Well Kiba never misses a spicy meal. All Shino had to do was make his privacy seal lapse, and the rest was cake."

"Shino?"

"Well of course," she rolled her eyes. "Someone had to trigger the lapse, and I wasn't assigned to the mission. Shino handled it – used a bug clone, I think? - and it lead to them revamping the seals. How else could we get them Byakugan-proofed without raising suspicions? Do you know how much time that sort of thing can take?"

Neji was now visibly perplexed.

"Why on earth would you bother with such a thing?"

"It's part of my wedding gift to Hinata," she shrugged. "Well. Mine and Shino's. Unofficially, of course."

"So, let me get this straight," Neji crossed his arms. "You and Shino conspired to make Kiba's privacy seals fail in such a way that even Kiba doesn't know it was him making the ruckus that was mistaken for a person or persons engaging in sexual activity, just so that measures would be taken to reevaluate and revamp the privacy seals which somehow is a wedding present to Hinata?"

"She said it herself," Tenten shrugged. "Going on missions can be uncomfortable for her, since people think she can use the Byakugan to look in on them. Also, she and Naruto are not only about to go on their honeymoon, their house won't be ready for another month. They will be staying at the Hyūga compound during that time. As newlyweds."

She raised her eyebrows, waiting for him to connect the dots.

"Ah," the barest hint of a flush tinted his cheeks. "I see."

Her smile turned wicked.

"Are you blushing?"

"No."

"It's alright," she gave a throaty chuckle. "It doesn't count when the others can't see you. If it did, well," she wound her arms around his neck, leaving the unspoken half of the sentence to suspend between them.

He banded his arms around her back.

"You aren't really going to the Land of Iron for six to eight months, are you?"

"That depends," she traced the downy whorls of baby hairs on his neck.

"On?"

"On whether or not you accept the mission that Kakashi is assigning you tomorrow. In the Land of Iron. For six to eight months."

She trailed her fingers down to fiddle with his collar. "Technically you'll be a resident liaison from Konoha to the Shinobi council. Shikamaru will still travel back and forth, but Kakashi felt it would be beneficial to have a consistent presence there."

"So," for the first time her smile was unsure. "Will you take the mission?"

"That depends."

"Oh?" she watched his lips carefully. "On what?"

"On whether or not upon our return you accept a position in my clan. By my side. For the next seventy to eighty years."

Tenten blinked.

"Did...did you just ask me to marry you?"

"What do you think?" he pulled her hips closer to his before brushing his lips across her jaw in such a way that she knew exactly where this was going (at least until morning).

"I think that I need your Byakugan to check that seal," she traced her fingers down his arm and plucked the scroll from his hand.

"Later," he said gruffly. "I'll go outside and check to see if I can see in."

She expertly set the seal with a throaty chuckle.

"Who said anything about looking in, Neji?"

Naruto and Hinata's wedding was one of the most joyous events to ever happen in Konoha. The Konoha 11 (Sasuke couldn't come, but a rather attentive hawk watched over the festivities) were enjoying the festivities and each other.

"I can't believe you lost your voice doing karaoke," Sakura pressed a soothing hand to Tenten's throat. "Were you in a competition?"

"Just got caught up in the moment," Tenten replied hoarsely but with a sigh of relief. "Thanks," her voice was still gruff, but was no longer painful. "That's much better."

"I can't believe that so many of us have assignments outside of Konoha," Ino pouted. "It's bad enough that Shikamaru is always running off to the Land of Iron, but now you two? What will we do for entertainment?"

"You can always try to see under Kakashi's mask," Neji offered.

"Ugh," Sakura rolled her eyes. "Now that is impossible"

"Well, the party isn't over yet," Kiba lifted his drink. "We're all here, and before the end of tonight one of you," he pointed at Neji and Tenten, "is going to be blushing. We won't give up!" he declared, rallying their friends. "That's our ninja way!"

The gang laughed and cheered and echoed Naruto's nindo enthusiastically.

Neji hid his smile behind his glass as Tenten shook her head at their friends.

"I'm going to miss them," Tenten rasped out.

Neji couldn't help but chuckle at how she sounded.

"Shush," she muttered, too quietly for the others to hear. "It's your fault I sound like this."

He attempted to adopt a less amused and more sympathetic expression with moderate success.

"Sorry."

"Hm," Tenten stood to go get another drink, patting him on the shoulder and pausing just long enough to whisper, "I'm not."

Neji was grateful that the others were too busy laughing and cheering each other on to notice the deep blush that flooded over his face.

And as she threw him an impish wink, he willed his color to return to normal, and settled on a new goal: to make her scream his name until the rest of her voice was gone.

"Good thing she fixed those seals," he smirked into his drink. "It's going to be a long night."

In this AU Neji and Tenten have pretty much been "together" since the end of the war. After asking Tenten in his Neji-way to marry him, he did inform his Uncle. Hiashi in turn told Neji that he was slightly hard of hearing, and to try again after Hinata's wedding. He also mentioned that any engagements following Hinata's wedding would be protected by the new rules regarding the Branch family. Especially as regarding any children born and their being safe from the Caged Bird Seal. No ones to flaunt their life or their relationship only a few people know they are even dating.

Hinata figured it out, but had some unexpected confirmation when she accidentally witnessed Neji and Tenten in his room. Embarrassed, she mentioned to Shino that perhaps the privacy seals should be updated. He spoke to Tenten about it that same day.

Thanks for reading, friends!

- GL