Winter had come and gone in the blink of an eye. The ground was no longer covered in snow but it glistened as sunshine reflected in the tiny droplets clinging to the blades of grass and the morning welcomed a cool breeze the dying season had left behind. Neji had been training long before the morning sun made an appearance; he had always enjoyed training in days such as this one because they dispersed a sense of serenity and stillness in the atmosphere. He slowly stopped his motion opposite to how his body had rapidly been spinning around just a few moments ago, his face was dripping in sweat but his body welcomed the chilled air he was inhaling during the short break he took. Then, he continued to practice the Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heaven once again, his father attentively studying every single movement Neji made and advising him to follow the steps he had given him. They spared together practicing the art of the gentle fist and after their training session they sat in by a pond in the Hyuga garden to complete their routine with some meditation. Neji stared at his father as he spoke of the Hyuga destiny and commended him for being so talented in combat, he closed his eyes while continuing to listen to his Hizashi's voice until it faded into the darkness of his mind. He opened his eyes once again but only to see the white ceiling of his bedroom and realizing it had all been a dream and life had played him a cruel joke. A mix of emotions came pouring down on him, he felt content for the opportunity to reminisce about his father and grateful for the chance to see what life would have been like had his father survived The Hyuga Affair, and yet he felt his body growing numb and the bitter taste of resentment overwhelmed him.

It had been years since he had lost his father and nevertheless he could still remember Hizashi's voice and his passive yet imposing personality; He was most impressed about his father paying him a visit in his dream and looking exactly the same as the last time he had seen him him. Since his passing, Neji had swore to honor his father in every decision he'd take, in every action he'd make, to live life the best way he could and to keep him in mind always, but for some odd reason he never truly understood, he would rarely dream about Hizashi only being able to count with his fingers how many times he had done so in the long years after his father's death. The young prodigy never liked to dwell in the "what could have been" because what was done was done and he knew that sulking about the past would only make him grow more bitter about his destiny. He had grown resentful towards the main family, especially his uncle Hiashi whom she blamed for his father's demise.

He didn't allow his mind to linger in sadness for he had mastered to stay cool and numb out the pain in his heart. It was only past five in the morning after all, so he decided to visit the Hyuga garden he had previously dreamt about to clear his thoughts and meditate being glad that his home in the Hyuga compound was on the opposite side from that of the main family's; the thought of encountering any of them today irked him to no end. Maybe he'd go to the training grounds to meet with his team after meditating before everybody in the clan woke up and if he was lucky maybe the Hokage would assign them to a mission taking them out of town for the next couple of days.

The young Hyuga had arrived early to the training grounds as usual, so he decided to meditate some more while waiting on his comrades knowing how rigorous their training session would be with Guy Sensei and Rock Lee taking it over the top. He smirked and shook his head thinking of those two. who would have known they'd start to grow on me, He thought to himself at the realization that he'd rather have their company instead of Hiashi and Hinata. Although his comrades could make him lose his temper in record time, they made him feel less lonely and made him forget who he was being able to see himself as a Ninja only. It had been hard to admit to himself, but the Hyuga prodigy secretly enjoyed spending time with them (antics and all) though they would never hear this come out of his mouth.

Soon, one by one each member of Team Guy arrived to the training grounds. They did their usual warm ups as they waited for their sensei to arrive and once he was there they started sparring. Tenten was observing the spar between her two teammates after being easily beaten by Neji on their first friendly battle of the day. She had come a long way as a Kunoichi mastering the arts of weaponry after struggling to find her calling. She did not want to be the weakling in the team and had trained just as hard as Lee had to become stronger, but today something felt odd to her; She felt as if their training had been rougher than usual and now while watching Neji and Lee spar against each other, she distinguished an underlying sense of hostility radiating from the fight and as perceptive as she was she knew this negative sensation was coming from none other than Neji. Naturally, Lee was only reacting to Neji's determination during the fight seeing it as a challenge to push himself harder in hopes of finally beating his youthful rival to no avail, Neji had caught lee on his Eight Trigrams Sixty-four Palms and realization of his loss washed over Lee as he found himself on the ground a minute after.

After sparring, The three young ninjas and their master prepared to jog around Konoha's perimeter to finalize training. Tenten ran next to Neji and grabbed him by the shoulder to get his attention, she felt his body stiffened under her hand and immediately regretted her previous action. Neji never liked any form of contact with other people, much less having his personal space invaded in such a way especially by strangers but Tenten was not a stranger and he knew she didn't mean any harm, so he suppressed his annoyance and locked eyes with her. He realized she was hesitating to speak and just to show her he had no problem with her he decided to ask if she needed any help with a softest tone he managed.

"Tenten, is there something wrong?", He cooly stared into her eyes.

"Well..I was wondering if there was something bothering you today, Neji. You seemed more stern than usual and I wanted to ask if everything's okay with you.." Tenten trailed off as she realized she kept rambling on. His gaze made her anxious although he didn't seem to be disapproving of her, it was a usual feeling she'd get every time she talked to him.

"My apologies if it seems to be that way" He simply replied as he picked up the pace while they were still running leaving her behind.

Tenten stared at his back as his figure became smaller in the distance and couldn't help but wonder what had gotten onto him. They had been teammates for quite some time now and although she had gotten used to his stern personality she had noticed he had been able to loosen up a tiny bit when he was around them. So, when she saw his slight change in demeanor back to his old self she couldn't help but wonder if anything had happened with his family. She started wondering what it was like for him to be a part of the Hyuga and the thought of the prodigy carrying so much pressure on his shoulders while knowing his destiny saddened her; She wanted to help him in any way she could and make him feel like he had the support of his team, but maybe he just needed to take some time for himself for now. She concluded that she would keep her distance and eventually he would open up to her and Lee on his own time.

The young ninjas made their way through Konoha in the direction to the Hokage's building followed by their Sensei. They had finished their marathon around the village and to everyone's surprise Neji had insisted to volunteer for any mission available being backed up by an extremely eager Rock Lee so Guy Sensei and Tenten couldn't refuse. Once in the Hokage's office they stood quietly in front of the Hiruzen Sarutobi's desk. Neji stared expectantly in the direction of Guy Sensei requesting a mission for his team and making a valid case for themselves. After giving it some thought, Hiruzen decided to assign Team Guy to a rescue mission considering it would not be too high risk for the talented shinobi.

"We had sent out a team on an independent mission and only one out of the three ninjas was able to make it back to Konoha. Her team members had been hurt while attempting to return and it's most likely they're hiding, waiting to be rescued. There shouldn't be much risk encountering enemies as their last known location was near Kisaragi village". He elaborated as he looked at each one of the young teammates.

The mission had some risk to it and usually would not assign it to a such a young team, but Neji, Tenten and Lee had proved to be more than capable. He had been a bit disappointed when the year prior the team had declined to take part in the Chunin Exams, had they completed the exam that year he was sure they would have been Jonin by now, but he also applauded their patience and team ethics and new their decision had been for the best of the team.

Tenten, Lee and Neji gathered around half an hour later at the Konoha gate and waited for Guy to show up. It was as if Guy sensei had picked up on Kakashi's tendencies when it came to arriving in a timely matter, but they had long grown accustomed to their Sensei's odd habits, this one being one of the most normal out of them all. Once the team was complete, they headed out to Kisaragi. There was no point in rushing to get there, the sky was a gradient of orange and pink announcing the fast approaching nightfall. They walked silently side by side until Neji caught Lee glancing at him now and then until Neji finally broke the silence.

"Lee, what are you staring at?" He finally barked out as Tenten watched with a frown appearing across her face.

"Neji, I have a serious question to ask you as my youthful rival" Neji and Tenten looked at Lee somewhat intrigued and concerned. Guy Sensei had fallen behind while daydreaming about Kakashi.

Lee paused for a couple of minutes thinking carefully about what he was about to say and building up the suspense floating in the air around them.

"GO ON LEE!" Tenten snapped.

"Neji… Now the we have grown more fond of each other as teammates, would you… Would you tell me your secret, please?" Lee had never looked so serious in his entire life.

"What secret?"

"Your secret… What's your secret for being to having the prettiest hair in Konoha?"

"WHAT?!" Neji's Byakugan activated in queue as he was gritting his teeth and looked at Lee and Tenten back and forth.

"Well, you see, I overheard the girls" Tenten started cautiously backing up towards Guy Sensei the moment she knew where Lee was going with this. "And you were named the Ninja with the prettiest hair in Konoha, I have to say it had been a difficult decision between you and Kakashi Sensei.. But, I have to agree with their decision" Lee explained as he looked into the distance and held his chin.

"TENTEN?! Would you care to explain yourself?!" Demanded Neji squinting his eyes and looking right at Tenten, who now hid behind Guy Sensei. To her misfortune, Guy had been oblivious to the exchange of words, he ordered the team to stop for the night and make camp and Tenten didn't have another choice but to explain herself to Neji.

"Well, There isn't much to say, but the girls and the rest of the Konoha 11 rewarded you with the title of the Ninja with the prettiest hair in the village.." She said giggling embarrassed, a sheepish grin painted across her face.

Neji's eyes flashed red and scoffed as he decided to walk away and sit down by the fire, he had decided he would stay up and keep watch of the camp while everyone slept. Tenten decided to stay on the opposite side of camp slightly embarrassed and annoyed at Lee for throwing her to the wolves. He didn't quite understand why his teammates were suddenly upset, not too concerned about it he quickly forgot about the situation and shifted his focus to his master.

The following day they found themselves near the village where the missing shinobi were. The sun shone right above them while they looked through the forest surrounding Kisaragi, they split into pairs and went on opposite ways. Neji easily spotted one of the victims with his Byakugan and made sure there weren't any enemies who would ambush them while Tenten helped the hurt shinobi and tended to his wounds. She excused herself and explained she was no medical Ninja but bandaging his wounds would be just enough to get him safely back home. Shortly after, they met with the rest of the team who had been able to find the remaining missing shinobi and made their way back to Konoha, the journey would take a day and a half considering their pace had slowed down due to the pair of ninjas they were escorting back. The rescue had gone smoothly with no incidents but that didn't mean they would not encounter any hostilities on the way back.

Neji kept his Byakugan activated in case they were followed back. The sun was about to set when Neji felt a presence quickly approaching them on the side, he alerted Lee whom seemed to be the target of the attack and hurried to shield him from it failing to get there in time. To his surprise, Tenten jumped in front of Lee and activated one of her weapons scrolls spitting out a bunch of chains that blocked the chakra infused knives. Neji sprinted in the direction of the enemy and landed a punch in their shoulder. He glanced at his forehead protector and deduced it was a rogue jonin from the Hidden Rain who had managed to crossover to the Land of Fire. The rogue ninja took this moment to wound Neji with a kunai knife laced with poison and quickly jumped back. The voices of team Guy were becoming louder as they were approaching; Neji was holding his injured arm when the ninja rushed him again but he was able to dodge the blow by jumping to the side. He quickly turned and tried to use his gentle fist, but the attacker countered with a water release jutsu that sent Neji backwards and hitting a tree, he then tried to stand when he saw the offender approaching but collapsed to the ground. The hidden rain ninja was coming closer to him and started forming more hand seals and just as he was about to finish, Neji closed his eyes to brace himself for impact and try to counter the attack when out of nowhere he sees a green flash appeared before him and with a kick sent the attacker flying backwards. Tenten rushed towards Neji and helped him get up while Lee unhinged the eight gates a new technique he had acquired on the water style user.

Neji and Tenten rejoined the group and waited for Lee to get back, Tenten approached Neji who had a look of defeat splattered across his face. She knew too well how proud he was and he probably felt slightly humiliated at being beaten so easily.

"Neji, don't be too hard on yourself my youthful student! Although you don't realize it, the poison slowed down your body and made you vulnerable to the incoming attacks. Otherwise, I know you would have handled the situation in record time" Guy Sensei tried to comfort him.

"Vulnerable...A Hyuga is never VULNERABLE" Neji muttered in disgust low enough that only Tenten was able to hear.

Lee sprinted back to check up on Neji and hugged him glad to see that he was fine and back at being his regular grumpy self. The Hyuga frowned at the unwanted form of contact but softened his gaze allowing himself to revel in the odd sensation of being cared for by his colleagues. They had decided to make camp and Guy sensei had chosen to be the one on guard duty for the night so that everyone else would get some rest; Neji and Tenten were sitting by the fire while Lee tended to the other two comrades.

"You know, you could ease up when you are with us. I think of Team Guy as family since I don't have one of my own" She warmly smiled at Neji and he shot her a puzzled look in return. "I can only imagine what is like to live under so much pressure coming from the Hyuga Clan, but think of us as your family please, we will never look down on you even if things like today happen.. You know we consider you the strongest of us, so don't be so hard on yourself and don't patronize us by thinking we can't protect you just the way you protect us. I hope you don't still think of us as weaklings" She elaborated as she placed a hand on his shoulder and a sweet grin on her face.

"Tenten, I have acknowledged you and Lee long ago". Confessed Neji while closing his eyes.

Back in Konoha Team Guy proceeded to the hospital to drop off the ninjas and get Neji's wounds tended to. Fortunately, the wound in Neji's arm had been superficial and the poison hadn't been life threatening, it had only served to numb out his body and slow him down. He was quickly discharged and Guy sensei had dismissed them for the day since he had to report back to the Hokage. The three young ninjas decided to go training and were heading to their usual spot when Neji stopped all at once. He looked back at them thoughtful and told them they'd train in a different spot this time around. He then headed to the Hyuga compound followed by the puzzled pair following him behind.

It was the first time both Tenten and Neji set foot inside the Hyuga compound and never in a million years had they thought they'd see this day. Several pairs of white eyes stopped and stared at their direction but quickly dismissed them after seeing they were being accompanied by the Hyuga prodigy. Nobody would there to approach them and question Neji for bringing his comrades to the compound except for one of the guards who was already walking towards them. Neji glared and before the guard could say a word he crossed his arms and stood in front of his friends and between them and the guard.

"These individuals are my teammates. Therefore, I do not require permission of the head of the clan to bring them inside the compound".

"Very well Neji-Sama, please disregard the inconvenience" The guard excused himself and turn in the direction of the main house, Tenten and Lee looked perplexed and Neji kept walking the opposite way.

Hiashi watches the exchange from his house and observes the young ninjas walking towards Neji's house when his thoughts were interrupted by the guard who had initially approached the group but he quickly dismissed him and kept looking in the direction of his nephew's dwellings. Neji deserves some type of freedom after everything he's gone through, besides this freedom also serves as a reward for being held so highly by the Hokage he thought. He acknowledged Neji's strength and his prodigy status due to his advanced skills. He felt himself conflicted and wasn't sure whether to see his rising power as a threat or an opportunity to mend old wounds.

He remembered the day he informed young Neji about his Hizashi's death. He watched as the spark in Neji's eyes died just like his own father had and couldn't help but feel guilty at the thought of letting Hizashi sacrifice his life for him, so he took Neji under his wing and let him live in the main house. The young boy would watch his uncle train by himself and train his daughter Hinata, but Hiashi would have an apprentice of his train Neji because he wasn't allowed to learn some of the Hyuga's techniques exclusive to members of the main family. So, he was taken by surprise when Neji had managed to learn some of those techniques on his own just by simply observing him. "He's a natural" Hiashi spoke under his breath as he started reminiscing about his younger brother; Hisazhi had always been the strongest out of the two and Hiashi allowed himself to wonder how things would have turned out had Hiashi and Neji been the main family instead, as it was clear to him that Neji was meant to be the lead the Hyuga. He thought of his daughter, Hinata and resented her for not being more assertive and focused like his cousin. Hiashi was not one to believe in fate as much as Neji did, but he believed in the old customs long ingrained by the Hyuga as he grew older. He resented his daughter for making him look like a fool in front of the clan and decided to become more strict with her to no avail. Neji's accomplishments started to have an effect on the way the older Hyuga thought and ideas of making amends with his nephew started to manifest in his mind.

On the opposite side of the compound, Team Guy arrived to their destination. Tenten and Lee stared astonished at the beautiful training ground behind Neji's home as he told them this secret area could be their second official training spot; his teammates looked at each other in understanding and trapped Neji in an embrace he couldn't escape from. This action truly reflected that Neji approved of them and acknowledge their strength as equals.