As it turned out, even Neji had overestimated the amount of time he would need to follow up of his lead, so an hour until the party found him dressed and quietly rummaging through the Hyuuga compound library. While he wasn't exactly banned from being in there, he was not allowed to be there unaccompanied either, and anyone who found him would want an explanation. They weren't going to get one. Sitting in the darkened room, four different books and three scrolls open on the desk and a single candle burning to avoid drawing attention, Neji frowned at the paper in front of him as he jotted down notes. He didn't think he would have a chance to snoop around the clan histories again undetected so he wanted to write down anything he may need to refer to again later. His lead had ultimately panned out so far, but not in the way he thought it would.

In his ANBU uniform he had been able to leave through the Konoha gates without raising suspicion or question and do some reconnaissance in a small nearby village. Once out of view of the gates, he had removed his mask and disguised himself using a transformation jutsu, heading to the local tavern and situating himself at the bar, where he would be able to simply wait and wouldn't risk straining his chakra and releasing the jutsu. There he had waited patiently for his suspect to arrive. Less than half an hour had passed when two men had entered and seated themselves conveniently within earshot, unable to recognize Neji in his disguise. The man facing towards Neji was the one he had come looking for - the brother of the dead arms dealer Neji and Shikamaru had suspected of being connected to their investigation.

With a long scar running diagonally up his left hand from the top of his pinky finger and disappearing into his partially rolled-up sleeve, he was easily identifiable. The conversation had made it clear that this man was now running his brother's illegal operations and the malicious gleam in his eyes as they discussed their business arrangement was strong enough to make even Neji nervous. But it had been the content of the conservation and the identity of the man seated across from him that had shocked Neji so much that he almost dropped the jutsu. When he listened to the rest of their conversation and discovered what was really going on he was more than a little surprised, and while it drew the investigation closer to conclusion he was beginning to get a sinking feeling about the final outcome.

Flipping the book on his left back a few pages, Neji stopped abruptly on a page illustrating the more obscure uses of his bloodline trait. It caught his eye out of curiosity but as he read on he realised that while he was already aware of some of these applications, others he was not, and given the sudden turn in the investigation they might become relevant, so he copied the page into his own notes before putting all the books and scrolls away and snuffing the candle. He then slipped out of the library and down the hall as silently as a ghost. If Neji had thought he should keep Tenten at arms length before, he was certain of it now. The situation was much worse than he had expected and there was an increasingly real danger that Tenten and anyone else close to them might become collateral damage once it was revealed that he and Shikamaru were behind the investigation.

The local tavern turned out the be a nice venue for Hinata and Naruto's engagement party, Tenten decided as she moved from the entryway into the building proper, making a beeline for the bar. She wasn't sure how Hinata had managed to convince Hiashi to hold it there but the building was surprising clean and decorative for a tavern and the size of it allowed room for guests to sit, mingle at the bar and dance without being too crowded. Having made the customary effort at small talk with the various Hyuuga family members she was pretty sure she had met before but could not quite remember the names of, Tenten made her way across the room to give Hinata a warm hug before indicating she would be at the bar if anyone asked.

She had been leaning against the nearest barstool with a glass of local ale in her left hand as she observed the steadily growing party when she felt a familiar presence at her right elbow.

"Hey Shikamaru, how are you?" she smiled brightly as she turned to him, shooting him a dazzling smile as she sipped from her glass.

Shikamaru returned a gentle smile and raised a hand to the bartender, signaling he wanted one of whatever Tenten was drinking before turning back to her.

"Troublesome, to be honest. Ino has been raving on and on about something…I was not really listening…since I arrived but got suddenly quiet when she said something about Suna and I mentioned seeing Temari," he paused thoughtfully for a moment before adding, "I am beginning to think they do not get along particularly well."

Tenten couldn't help but smile. Whilst Shikamaru was considered by most of Konoha as one of, if the not the most prodigious strategist in the history of the Hidden Leaf, he was also the most ignorant when it came to the women in his life. He could pick up subtle hints about the personal lives of his friends that most would miss but when it came to Ino and Temari he was completely clueless.

"You know Shika," she replied with a grin, "I think you might be onto something there. When did Temari get here?"

She was surprised that Temari would be in town and not have gotten in touch with her. Temari and Tenten had clashed in their exams as young teenagers but had become quite close over the years. Shikamaru shook his head slightly as his eyes strayed to the dancers in front of them,

"No, she hasn't visited Konoha…I saw her when I delivered the monthly report to Suna, but with the tension between her and Ino you would think that they hated each other and that I forced them to spend time together against their wills."

Shrugging off the troublesome conflict between both women, he sipped at his drink while he appraised Tenten's outfit. Ino and Sakura had clearly had something to do with it, as Tenten tended to stray away from making a statement with her clothes, but seemed to have had some assistance from her girlfriends, since her outfit was the perfect combination of her relaxed attitude whilst also managing to show off her more feminine side.

"You look lovely tonight, Tenten" he murmured conspiratorially while leaning close to her ear. He felt her laugh quietly as she turned to him, hair hanging long and straight over her shoulders.

"Thank you, but you know the credit really goes to Ino for the hair. It feels amazing but if she hadn't looked so dangerous with that straightener I probably would not have bothered." She laughed again and took another sip of her drink. Shikamaru nodded in agreement and leaned back,

"She does have quite the skills when it comes to that sort of thing," he admitted, "but speaking of former teammates, I don't think I saw you with either of yours tonight…"

He left the comment hanging in the air between them as Tenten ducked her head a little. It was true she had not gone over to talk to either Neji or Lee as soon as she arrived, something she would generally do, but had instead gone straight for the bar. Shikamaru's raised eyebrows indicated that he thought there was a definite underlying meaning to this and Tenten could never seem to lie to the ANBU captain so she quietly told him.

"Yeah, well I am my own person without having to run to Neji and Lee for support but, to be honest," she teased and looked around carefully, spotting both men a safe distance away before continuing, "lately they have both been so busy with other things, and I haven't really had a lot of missions on my schedule so I have not really spent a lot of time with them. We had lunch the other day and it was nice but It's not quite the same as it was when we were younger…almost tense really," she looked at Shikamaru with a sad smile on her face and added, "I guess things are more complicated than they were then but maybe we have grown apart more than I realised…"

Shikamaru could understand where she was coming from, he was definitely not as close with his former team members since the splitting of the team and being in ANBU made it even more difficult, but he had a sense that maybe there was more to it than Tenten was readily admitting.

"So should I take the fact that you have been subtly eyeing Neji over in the corner since you walked in as indicating maybe this has more to do with him than it does Lee?"

He couldn't help but bite back a self-satisfied smirk when she turned a little pale and bit her lower lip. Shikamaru was close to both the former teammates and had noticed a recent slow change in Neji's behaviour in regards to Tenten, but she was by far the easier to read and her response confirmed that there was definitely some kind of reciprocated tension between the two. Tenten took another sip of her drink in an attempt to buy herself some time to formulate a believable and appropriate answer. Thankfully, Shikamaru continued talking,

"I know it isn't any of my business, but you guys have always seemed to share your work with each other so I am guessing it has something to do with the investigation he and I have been conducting," she turned to him with a facial expression of mixed guilt and shock.

"I…"

"It's ok. I know he won't give you details but I figured you would find out something eventually," he cut in, waving it off as though Neji had permission to tell her anything he wanted, "but you need to understand that despite it being a professional assignment, there is a personal element to the investigation for Neji. He has had to look into things he was probably not expecting to deal with and I imagine that could cause some tension between even the best of friends before we are through with it."

Shikamaru reached over to squeeze Tenten's hand gently, making her smile at how sweet he could be to his friends when he was concerned. She squeezed back and risked a quick glance over at Neji, who was facing away from her. If not for the almost invisible tension in his shoulders and the set of his jaw, Tenten would not have thought he had seen her, but she knew better than to think his eyes would miss anything.

"Just give it some time, Tennie." Shikamaru used his favoured shortening of her name, "he is still sorting it out."

She couldn't help but be confused and comforted by his words all at the same time, thinking for a brief moment that maybe he knew or understood more than he let on about their relationship. Tenten had no time to dwell on this as Shikamaru grinned at her before whisking her onto the dance floor to join the party.

"Come on, you are dressed for a party and I know how much you love to dance…."

Tenten grinned in response and spent the next two hours happily moving between drinks at the bar, chatting to Lee and dancing with Shikamaru and Kiba.