Stretching his tense shoulders after spending hours hunched over his desk, Neji leaned back and ran a hand over his face in exasperation. There were at least thirteen different scrolls on the table, all of which he had read and re-read over the last few hours, and still he was missing something. He had taken Shikamaru's advice and left Tenten's half dozen reports until last, having just finished reading the last one for a second time. If he were in the mood to be honest with himself, he might have admitted that the foul, restless mood he was currently in was partially due to the thorough details of Tenten's reports.

As he reached over to take a sip of his now cold tea, he conceded that he had thought finding out the missing details of Tenten's work would help him understand why she was so determined not to discuss those missions with him. Now he knew, he almost wished he had left it alone because he realised just how much of an ass he had been in the way he had pursued their relationship. Her psychological evaluations indicated that she was surprisingly capable in dealing with the unusual stress and pressures of that type of mission. This emotional robustness, alongside her very particular weapons skills and natural good looks, was no doubt the reason she was chosen for many of these missions. Tenten was, in many ways, the perfect assassin. She was disarmingly innocent in her looks and manner, extremely capable and unattached, unlike so many of the other kunoichi who might have been available.

That last point had hit a very sensitive nerve somewhere inside Neji. Frowning into his empty cup he considered the thought rolling around in the back of his mind, that he was responsible. By initiating a relationship with Tenten that couldn't be made public, he had essentially locked them into a situation where by she was the perfect candidate for jobs that he didn't want her to have to take. She had no legitimate reason to say no to the missions, as he knew she was first and foremost a professional and would do what was required of her as a Konoha kunoichi. And she had no reason to change her mind so long as they had to keep their relationship a secret from the Elders. He could fix all of this if he just told the truth and suffered the consequences. The only problem was that the Clan might do something unforgivable to protect their bloodline and he couldn't guarantee Tenten her safety if they did.

He halted abruptly in the middle of the room and suddenly realised that at some point in his very circular and repetitive self-argument he had started pacing. The need to protect Tenten was an often subconscious and always overpowering one. Neji was well aware that she could take care of herself but in a selfish kind of a way he couldn't help but do it anyway. Why, he couldn't say, but the thought immediately struck him then that maybe this was what he had been missing all along. His glaringly bright relationship issues had allowed him to overlook the finer detail; her reports were not an unnecessary distraction from the focus of his investigation, they were central to it.

It took two long strides for him to reach the desk again, and a few seconds to sort through the scrolls until he located the one he wanted. Tearing off the tie around it, Neji flattened it out on the desk top and scanned quickly down to the section describing a kunoichi mission Tenten had undertaken about twelve months ago, ending in the assassination of a black market arms dealer who had recently developed a dangerous taste for abduction and trafficking of ninja, among other things. Scanning the section twice, Neji paused to soak in the information before deciding that he needed to find Shikamaru immediately. The Nara strategist would be leaving after Hinata and Naruto's engagement party tonight, but it was imperative that Neji find him before he left.

Neji gathered all the reports together and headed to the Academy's archival repository, knowing that Shikamaru liked to have all the information at his fingertips and would be down there going through the archives until he left for the party. He did hate unnecessary effort, after all. The area tended to be deserted for the most part so he met no one else in the halls, moving quietly and quickly until he got to the very back of the repository, where Shikamaru was leaning back on a chair, scroll in hand and feet propped up on a desk opposite him. Having arrived back from Suna early that morning, he hadn't expected to see Neji again until the engagement party tonight. He glanced up, his expression darkening slightly at the look on Neji's face and his rushed entrance.

"Wasn't expecting to see you here today," he started before noticing the scrolls in the bag Neji carried, "ah right, finished your research then?"

Neji didn't answer, he simply rummaged through the bag to pull out one scroll, then set it on the desk in front of his friend.

"I missed it the first time, but I think your suspicions were right and I may have found the perpetrator," he stated while watching Shikamaru peruse the text quickly. Shikamaru's expression morphed from his usual, mild disinterest to something between confusion and agreement. He glanced at Neji, then back at the scroll, then back to Neji before responding,

"He does fit the profile, but how about I play devil's advocate for a moment? How can this be our guy, when it says here that he is dead?"

Neji crossed his arms across his chest and leaned back against the shelving behind him while considering his reply.

"It wouldn't be the first time someone we thought had been killed turned out to be alive."

Shikamaru scoffed and raised an eyebrow at him,

"Neji, be serious. It was Tenten who killed him! Do you really believe she would make that kind of mistake? She's no rookie anymore."

"Of course not, and I am not suggesting that he is still alive but the profile fits. It is the closest we have come to a lead so far and I think it warrants some investigation – someone must have taken over the business. The whole thing went underground after that mission and has been difficult to track, but there have been rumours that the operation continued through a brother who assumed control…"

Shikamaru tilted his head in a conciliatory fashion, "True, but I leave in the morning and am demonstrating to an Academy class this afternoon. Are you going to be able to chase this down without back up?"

Neji knew his friend was only saying this to be supportive and because as unlikely as it appeared, there really was something about the profile of this particular target that felt like a fit for their investigation. Shikamaru knew that if Neji looked into this lead and found it to be solid he may have to act quickly, and without the Nara for back up he was entirely on his own.

"There isn't really an option, so I will do what I have to while you are gone. If I find anything, we can address the situation when you return."

"Okay."

Shikamaru nodded his agreement and the two men grasped hands before parting, Shikamaru to his home and then the Academy, and Neji to the compound. Once safely inside his quarters, Neji slipped out of his regular clothes and into his ANBU uniform minus his mask, before a knocked sounded at the door.

Hinata took all of three seconds to appraise his appearance before sighing loudly and fixing him with an exasperated stare,

"Oh Neji, please not today…can't you possibly take a day off to relax, and socialise, and just maybe be on time for one party?"

Few people ever heard Hinata speak to Neji in such a manner but as a result of their ever-closer relationship, and for a reason completely unfathomable to Neji, a closer connection to Hinata seemed to bring out her mothering instincts. He supposed that Tenten or Sakura would tell him it should not be such a surprise, as Hinata had a very nuturing, gentle nature to begin with. It would make sense that she wanted to look after those she loved most. But Neji was still Neji, and being mothered by anyone was a mostly foreign concept that left him feeling frustrated and claustrophobic. Only Hinata seemed to get away with it because somehow, his response to her had slowly turned from frustration to a non-committal grunt and a general acceptance of whatever it was she wanted to badger him about. Today however, was very important to Hinata and so he could understand why she might be a little more stressed than usual. The Elders, Lord Hiashi, as well as a dozen other family members would all be attending Hinata and Naruto's engagement party later today, and Hinata wanted absolutely nothing to go wrong or threaten her Father's tentative agreement to allow them to marry.

"Relax Hinata. I will be at the party tonight, I just…have some work I need to do before then."

"That's fine. I love that you love your job so much you can't bear the mere thought of a day off. But everything needs to run smoothly tonight so can you please, please just make sure you don't get yourself injured, maimed or abducted between now and seven o'clock?" she gave him a pleading look, "I don't think I could handle you bleeding all over the floor at my engagement party."

Neji rolled his eyes slightly at his cousin's dramatic scenario, a response he was sure he had somehow picked up from her fiancé.

"For the record, I am never late and I only showed up bleeding once. Which was Sasuke's birthday, where even he did not show up on time, so it hardly counts."

"Really? Well in case you haven't noticed, your record is a little out of date. Since you and Shikamaru started working together in ANBU you have both shown up to a total of eleven birthdays or team get-togethers either covered in blood from some kind of injury, or in a foul mood because of work. And while you are always on time for official events, you are notoriously late to social ones."

Hinata tried one last time to communicate how important her cousin's visible support to their clan was without being overly fluffy, something Neji never understood or responded to well.

"Please Neji…I know it probably seems silly to you but it really means a lot to me to have you showing support in front of the Elders."

Neji said nothing for a moment, knowing the truth of her statement but not convinced he could endure socialising with the Elders for that long. He sighed quietly,

"Alright, I give you my word – I will be both punctual and charming."

"And not bleeding…"

"And not bleeding."

"And you will relax and try to enjoy yourself just a tiny, tiny bit?"

"That might be pushing your luck."

"Okay….deal."