"Tenten...are you sure you want to do this?" Sakura's mouth twitched.
Tenten clenched her fist, flames burning in her eyes: "That Neji blockhead, if I don't take initiative, he'll be alone forever, so I can't miss this chance."
The matter is quite simple.
Guy's team took a mission about bandits around the Land of Bathing
This task actually didn't need Guy's team to do. After all, Neji was already a Jonin, and Tenten and Lee had officially been recommended by Guy to apply for the Jonin exam. It would be a waste of their time to deal with bandits.
Unfortunately, the Chunin Exams are about to start, and all the Genin from these two terms are participating. During this time, the Genin are training to improve their strength. After all, it's the first Chunin Exam jointly organized by the Five Great Nations, and Konoha takes it very seriously, so Tsunade thought about it and sent out the relatively idle team.
Then Guy's team was officially selected.
Being selected is fine, but Guy happened to be dragging Lee to train some strange secret technique, which caused Lee to get injured and unable to do missions. Guy also felt guilty and wanted to stay with Lee, so only Neji and Tenten were left to do the mission.
Originally, Tsunade was thinking of replacing Guy's team with Kurenai's team since Guy's team wasn't complete, but Kurenai... is pregnant. She and Asuma have also started preparing for the wedding, and the Ino-Shika-Cho trio are all helping.
It's not that they couldn't send someone else, but Tenten ran to the Hokage's office after hearing the news and didn't know what she said to Tsunade. In short, Tsunade finally decided that Neji and Tenten would continue to carry out the mission.
Then, Tenten ran to Sakura, saying she wanted to make some medicines that could be used in the wild.
Yes, love medicine.
Sakura was dumbfounded on the spot.
Finally, under Tenten's sobbing, Sakura thought of herself, and then confusedly... gave the medicine to Tenten.
In short, she very much regretted it.
Sakura watched Tenten holding the medicine and giggling like an idiot, and the thought of snatching the medicine back gradually faded: "Forget it, this matter has nothing to do with me."
"Of course it has nothing to do with you. Whether it succeeds or fails, I won't snitch on you!". Tenten's face was firm.
Sakura sighed: "It's settled, if Neji comes looking for me later... no, no matter who comes looking for me later, I won't admit it, and you are not allowed to tell anyone else, especially Temari!"
Since Temari went to Shikamaru's house some time ago... forget it. Anyway, Shikamaru's mother, Yoshino Nara, has already recognized Temari as her daughter-in-law. Shikamaru's opinion doesn't matter at all, and everyone can see that Shikamaru is actually interested in Temari. It's only a matter of time before they make it official.
Tenten solemnly put the medicine back into her ninja pouch and said to Sakura with a serious face: "Sakura, from today onwards, you are my best sister! You can tell me anything in the future, and I will go through fire and water without hesitation."
Sakura held her forehead.
After saying that, Tenten jumped and skipped away. Looking out the window, you could still see Tenten's leaping figure.
"Forget it, anyway... none of my business.". Sakura put away her things, picked up the mission file and walked towards the Hokage's office.
A few minutes later, she knocked on the door of the Hokage's office and walked in. Tsunade was sitting at the top, drinking... drinking?
Sakura blinked at the bottle: "Tsunade-sensei... I remember, drinking is not allowed in the Hokage's office, right?"
"Oh." Tsunade replied and continued drinking.
Sakura's eyes twitched, and she felt like everyone had become strange since she came back from the moon.
...
"Neji~ we can go on a mission~". Tenten stood expectantly at the door looking at Neji.
Neji, who was inside the room, had just finished packing his ninja tool bag. He nodded after seeing Tenten, got up and walked out the door: "Are things packed?".
"Packed!". Tenten was very serious, "The Land of Bathing has disposable yukatas, towels, and other things. I brought everything else."
Neji stopped and looked at Tenten with a puzzled expression: "Ninja tools?"
"I brought those too." Tenten nodded. "Medicine... cough, poison, kunai, senbon, these, I brought them all, and some weapons and explosive tags, enough to take down the Land of Bathing."
Hearing this, Neji breathed a sigh of relief.
He raised his foot again and walked outside. Tenten followed, putting her hands behind her back and smiling as she looked at Neji's back: "This mission is to clear out bandits. After the mission is completed, let's rest in the Land of Bathing."
The reason why the Land of Bathing is called the Land of Bathing is because the level of bathing in that country is quite high. Not only are there hot springs, but also various strange bathhouses, such as milk bathhouses, flower bathhouses, and so on. Although it is a small country, it pays great attention to bathing culture.
In order to promote proper bathing culture, the Land of Bathing vigorously cracks down on those irregular bathing places. All the bathhouses there compete based on strength. Anyway, Jiraiya definitely wouldn't like that place.
"We're going on a mission, not to play." Neji said calmly.
"But, it's tiring to be tense all the time. Even if you're training, you need to combine work and rest." Tenten pouted. "You've been training too hard lately. Think about Lee. Isn't he in the hospital now because he kept training and strained his body?"
Neji frowned. He felt that what Tenten said made some sense.
Thinking about it, he looked at Tenten: "We can go back to Konoha to rest."
"No!". Tenten crossed her arms. "If you're in Konoha, you definitely won't rest properly. We're going to the Land of Bathing this time, so listen to me, and rest well... for five days, just five days."
Neji subconsciously wanted to refuse, but...
He pondered for a while, then nodded: "What you said makes sense. If I'm in Konoha, I really can't rest at ease. But five days is too long, three days at most."
"Three days is fine too." A trace of slyness appeared on Tenten's face.
She originally thought of two days and one night, but Neji increased it to three days and two nights... isn't that even better?
Tenten couldn't help but laugh.
Only then did Neji realize that he had been tricked. He sighed helplessly on the spot: "Tenten... next time you want to do something, just say it."
"That won't work. If I directly say that I only want to play for two days, how would you set the time at three days?" Tenten proudly puffed out her chest. "Anyway, you promised, you can't go back on it; otherwise, I'll complain to Hinata."
After so many years of growth, Neji's feelings for Hinata had long changed from hatred to pity, love, and affection, just like for his own sister.
Same with Hanabi.
Even if Hiashi Hyuga stood in front of Neji, he could have a normal conversation, but if the object was changed to Hinata, Neji couldn't refuse Hinata, that is the power of sister control.
"Okay~". Neji said helplessly.
Looking at Tenten cheering happily, Neji couldn't help but raise the corners of his mouth.
The arc was very small, but he was still smiling.