Ch.21.: Nothing Like YakiniQ

It was fair to say that the bustling streets were comforting in a way. Walking side by side with her cousin brought a sense of tranquility which she had been constantly avoiding since the war had ended. Ever since Danzo's death she had been almost working herself to death, having immersed herself on war preparations and, once it was over she had almost immediately been offered a spot into Kakashi's new ANBU program.

Her mind had been unable to return from the war, thus,au contraireto a lot of shinobi who had chosen to settle down or maybe even slow down on their shinobi lifestyle, she had looked for a way to keep occupied.

Maybe the root of her unsteadiness had its origin in a sense of shame after the war. Team seven was almost at an unreachable standard, hell even Sasuke and Naruto had turned out to be reincarnations of almost godlike shinobi. She had felt powerless and unable to properly take care of her cousin and loved ones during the war, even trying to surpass her limits hadn't been enough. She would've been dead if it weren't for Sasuke, who had been able to save her and her cousin without breaking a sweat whereas she'd barely been able to stand up straight after the adrenaline rush.

She was aware of how talented she was and that having strained her Byakugan that much had resulted on her body almost giving up like that, after all only Sasuke and Naruto had that massive size of chakra reserves. If only her heart listened to her rational side because she still couldn't shake feeling shame for not being powerful enough to protect Hinata.

"You're awfully quiet, cousin." Hinata mused aloud, bringing her back from her thoughts. "I know you're not chatty, but you haven't said a word since we went out. Is something the matter?"

Neji rubbed her cousin's shoulder affectionately as they walked down the street towards YakiniQ.

"Sorry, it's just that there's been a lot on my mind lately." She finally admitted.

"Does it have something to do with why you were on the hospital?" Hinata inquired, her brows furrowing slightly.

"Yes and no." Neji had a hard time lying to her cousin, yet half-truths were a compromise. "The mission got…complicated I guess." She sighed. "I'm being sent to another one related to the last one and it's a bit tricky, that's all. Nothing to worry about, I promise."

Hinata didn't seem to believe that last part yet was content that her cousin had shared something with her.

"Don't worry Nee-san, you're a very capable shinobi, the pride of the Hyuga so I'm sure whatever is keeping your mind busy will go well in the end." The girl said. "And even if it doesn't, I'm here. You're not alone, you can rely on me,trust me."

Neji's heart warmed when hearing her cousin utter such words. There was no way she was going to put Hinata in harm's way or share her burden, not because she didn't trust her, it was because as the older cousin it was her duty to protect her, not the other way around. She had chosen to protect Hinata not out of a clan obligation as a side branch member, but out of the sisterly love they felt for each other. Hinata, even with all the privileges the Souke had to offer, had grown up neglected, suffering in silence just as her, yet her heart had remained kind and sensible throughout everything.

"Don't worry little cousin, everything's fine." Neji wrapped her arm around Hinata, covering from the chilly air. "Thank you."

Hinata was a bit taken aback by the physical affection she was being shown but took it as her cousin lowering her shields and leaned on the embrace as they strolled together down the street.

Once they arrived, she took notice that Ino, Chouji, Shikamaru as well as Lee were already there, seated at the table. Their plates were empty so it was obvious that they had been waiting for more members of their party to arrive, much to Chouji's dismay who was already fidgeting and nagging Ino over how much longer they would have to wait.

"Over here!" Ino waved happily. "There's still a couple people left to arrive, but I guess we can now start ordering some food, or Chouji here is gonna pass out." She joked.

Chouji only nodded in agreement as Ino signed the waiter to come over.

"Hi, guys, how have you been?" Choji asked while waiting for the waiter, then he turned towards Neji. "Now that I think about it, we haven't seen each other ever since the war ended."

Neji and Hinata took their seats by Lee's side, their backs facing the entrance. If all went according to plan, then when Sakura got there, she would sit by Ino's side who was in front of Lee and Naruto, as always, would sit next to Sakura, thus it ending up on Naruto and Hinata being seated face to face. Whoever said she couldn't be scheming sometimes outside of work.

"Oh, everything's been calm, it's nice to slow down after such hectic times." Hinata said, side eyeing her cousin. Okay, she got what Hinata wanted to say. "We just finished the reparations for the Hyuuga compound last week, they took so long but we took the opportunity to make some innovations." Hinata finished. The innovations had been Hinata's and Hanabi's idea and had consisted of conceding a portion of land from the Souke's part of the compound to build housing accommodations for Bouke members, much to the elder's horror. Yet, as part of the girls' preparation for one of them to assume the leadership of the clan, Hiashi had been supporting almost all of their decisions even if he himself was against some of them.

"And you Neji. How's life been treating you?" Ino asked.

She was about to answer with a generic response when Sakura entered the place, followed swiftly by Naruto and, to everyone's surprise, Sasuke.
She had honestly thought he wouldn't show up, she'd been firsthand witness to how, even if he'd started mingling more, he was still adamant to go out in large groups or even be seen at such a busy place as YakiniQ.

Everyone, even the other people at the restaurant averted their eyes towards him. Shikamaru, sensing the ever-growing tense atmosphere decided to break the ice.

"Good, you finally got here. And here I thought Naruto would be the last one to arrive as always." He joked. The three newcomers started approaching the table, finally
"What I'm surprised about is that you're here early, wouldn't have thought you and your lazy ass would be on time." Naruto retorted with a grin while walking over to take his seat. Ino patted the seat beside her, obviously meant for Sakura to take it just as predicted. However, before the girl could make a beeline for the seat, Sasuke beat her to it. Ino looked positively shocked that he had sat by her side, staring expectantly at Naruto for an explanation of sorts. He, however only shrugged his shoulders and sat beside him, right in front of Hinata who was averting her gaze, trying to look everywhere but the blond seated across of her.

Neji on the other side was uncomfortable having Sasuke right in front of her. Luckily the waiter finally arrived. He took their orders and left, leaving the table in silence.

"Umm, Lee, Neji, how's Gai-sensei?" Naruto asked finally.

"He's been getting better with each passing day; the Flame of Youth shall never dwindle in him!" he exclaimed. It was true, even though he was confined to a wheelchair his spirit was as strong as ever.

"Gai-sensei is a very strong man. It has been hard the post-war recovery but what matters is that he's with us and as Lee said, getting better." Neji added, sparing her teammate a glance. Naruto had a mournful expression on his face before he wiped it off.

"I'm so glad to hear that! Gai-sensei is as strong as they come." Then he pouted. "I haven't even been able to visit him. Ask Shikamaru, I barely…"

"…have time to breath, I know." Shikamaru sighed finishing Naruto's sentence, everyone laughing at this. "So troublesome, it's me who's had to deal with him all this time and his whining. I haven't even been on any missions lately cause I'm on nanny duty."

Naruto only laughed.

"You've got the easiest job, Shikamaru. You get to nap; it is I who has to spend my time reading when I could be anywhere else kicking some ass." He whined.

"Naruto, how many times do I have to tell you that you aren't cleared yet to go on missions yet!" Sakura smacked his head.

"Hey, not fair, why am I not cleared but Neji is! Only today she was bedridden at the hospital, and I bet Kakashi's already ready to let her take on a mission."

"Well, for starters she's not missing an arm and waiting for another one!" Sakura responded irritated at her best friend's stubbornness, all ready to smack him again hoping to knock some sense into him. Hinata only snickered shyly at their antics.

"You got out of the hospital today?"

When Sasuke arrived at the restaurant he hadn't expected to see Neji. He had been under the impression that she was avoiding him, even more so since he had seen her face underneath the mask. He was shocked to say the least and couldn't take his eyes off her, trying to look for any sign of injury. When he saw the seat in front of her empty, he wasted no time sitting there.

He knew it was an impulsive decision, yet ever since they'd last talked, he couldn't shake her words off his head- nor her wellbeing. It was weird, feeling that anxious about someone who didn't even consider him a friend, yet that was the way things were.

Sasuke could feel everyone's stares until his team decided to keep the conversation going and it was as if nothing had happened. As his teammates engaged with everyone else, he still couldn't help but steal glances at Neji's frame. He had been almost sure she was a goner, the impotence of not being able to save her, watching her slowly succumb to the poison being almost unbearable. Sasuke had been able to breathe again once one of his ANBU guards had informed him that she was going to make it, yet a small part of him couldn't believe it until he saw her with his own eyes.

The girl was avoiding looking at him, and even if he wished for her eyes to look at his, he was fine with that whole avoiding each other arrangement if that was what she wished for. In fact, he wasn't even planning on engaging that much in their conversation, that was until he heard Naruto mention she'd just gotten out of the hospital. Had she been injured that badly for her not being able to leave the hospital for that long? He wasn't able to hold it in and asked.

"You got out of the hospital today?"

Sakura and Naruto stopped their bickering, staring at him with an unreadable expression on their faces. So did everyone else.

It took Neji a moment to realize that he'd asked her a question, being unable to hide the surprise on her face before answering.

"Yes, it was nothing, just a minor injury."

"Really? What happened?" Sasuke pressed. "Were you already cleared?" He couldn't believe she was walking around already if she'd been bedridden just a few hours ago, it was incredibly foolish. Her eyes narrowed at his inquiring.

"It was just exhaustion, no need to worry yourself Uchiha." She answered calmly so as not to disrupt the outing and make everyone else uncomfortable. By the looks of it everyone else had suddenly found their exchange to be the most interesting thing in the world much to her dismay.

"Is it really wise for you to be walking around? Shouldn't you be recovering?" Sasuke asked sincerely, not caring for all the stares. He watched as Lee and Hinata looked at Neji worriedly, wary of her reaction.

"Thanks for your concern but worry not, the Hokage himself cleared me." Thankfully Ino decided to change the subject before Sasuke could keep drilling her as she sensed Neji wouldn't keep being cordial if Sasuke kept going.

It was true that she had been annoyed and taken aback by his line of questioning, especially since it was being done in front of everyone, only causing Lee and Hinata to worry about her. Still, she couldn't help but feel something warm in her chest by having a glance at the old Sasuke.

A few minutes later Tenten arrived, followed by Kiba, Shino and Sai. Just in time for the food to get there. Chouji and Naruto began devouring the food the moment it arrived, acting as if they'd been starving for months.

Neji was able to catch up with her team members and her cousin and she watched as Sasuke mostly kept by himself, his teammates and Ino never giving up on their efforts to include him in the conversation.

It was nice to be with everyone before going away for some time, she spared Sai a glance knowingly, after all she'd be on his squad for the next month or so. Neji could feel Sasuke's eyes on her throughout the night but decided to pay them no mind.

Finally, when their bellies were full and the check had been paid, everyone started bidding their goodbyes.

"It was nice, wasn't it?" Hinata told her cousin contently as the exited the door. She was about to respond when she felt someone behind them.

Naruto and Sasuke were there.

"Neji"

She turned around, staring at Sasuke who had called for her expectantly. Naruto apparently had no idea as to what his former teammate was doing as he looked at Sasuke weirded out.

"Yes?"

"I was wondering if I could borrow you for a couple minutes, please." Neji turned to look at her cousin, who seemed wary, then at Naruto who was looking at her expectantly.

"I need to get Hinata home…" she started, in an attempt to decline politely before the blond intervened.

"That's no problem! I can take Hinata-chan to her home safe and sound-ttebayo." He offered before locking his arm with a red faced Hinata who was too stunned to complain, and started walking away, not before turning around and winking at Sasuke. She followed them with her eyes until they got out of sight.

Neji could only sigh, not wanting to get between her cousin and Naruto's time alone but realizing that she would have to stay with Sasuke in exchange.

She turned around facing him completely, waiting for him to start talking.