Hyuga Neji

The Hyuga Clan was extremely conservative!

Not only did they avoid participating in any of Konoha's high-level decisions, they also kept an especially low profile in the village.

Aside from interacting with their own clan members, they rarely let outsiders into the clan compound.

After agreeing to let Uchiha Itachi handle recruiting the Hyuga Clan, Yun Xi had originally wanted to make contact with them.

But...

He never got the chance.

And Hyuga Neji, standing right in front of him, was the perfect opportunity!

But Yun Xi still couldn't figure out why Neji had come to his house with Tenten...

And why they were here to play.

From what Yun Xi knew of Neji, he would never go out under normal circumstances...

Though, in the original Naruto story, Tenten, Hyuga Neji, and Rock Lee were all in Might Guy's Taijutsu class.

But that was much later!

The Uchiha hadn't even been wiped out yet.

The Konoha 12 hadn't even enrolled.

Yun Xi absolutely refused to believe that Tenten and Neji knew each other at this point!

With that thought, Yun Xi turned to Tenten and asked, "Who's this little boy? Why did he come with you?"

"Huh?"

When Yun Xi asked her, Tenten stopped arranging the food and pointed at Neji. "I don't know his name, but he kept following me earlier. Then I asked if he wanted to come on a picnic, and he nodded, so I brought him along."

Damn, Tenten doesn't even know Hyuga Neji!

Hearing her answer, Yun Xi looked surprised, then shook his head helplessly.

He had considered all sorts of possibilities before Tenten answered, but he hadn't expected...

That she would bring Neji along without even knowing him...

Once he understood what had happened, Yun Xi went over to Neji. As he looked him over, he noticed something interesting.

From the moment Neji had entered, he'd been staring at Tenten!

Well, would you look at that. Is Neji into Tenten?

At first, Yun Xi hadn't thought so, but the longer he watched Neji, the more it seemed that way!

This brat wants to steal the little cabbage I raised!

Realizing Neji's intentions, Yun Xi felt as though someone was about to steal the little girl he'd watched grow up.

Though Tenten and Neji were on the same team in the original story and shared a deep bond of comradeship...

Still!

Tenten was Yun Xi's!

With that thought, Yun Xi went straight over to Tenten and warned her, "Next time a little boy follows you, be careful. He might be a bad guy!"

"Oh..."

Tenten glanced at Neji, then at Yun Xi, and said in a soft voice, "But..."

"But he doesn't look like a bad guy..."

No way. I can't let these kids start dating this early!

When Tenten tried to explain, Yun Xi went straight over to Neji and asked, pretending to be puzzled, "What's your name, little guy? Why were you following Tenten?"

"I wasn't trying to follow her."

Neji slowly raised his head. He glanced at Tenten behind Yun Xi, then continued, "She just brought me here."

What the hell is going on here?!

Yun Xi's face filled with helplessness when he heard Neji's answer. He hadn't expected him to say that.

Wanting to understand what was going on, Yun Xi asked, "So what exactly happened?"

"It went like this..."

Seeing the doubt on Yun Xi's face, Neji slowly began to explain.

He'd only meant to take a walk around Konoha, then go home and train by himself.

But as he passed a ninja tool shop, he happened to run into a little girl.

Normally, Neji wouldn't have paid any attention to something like that...

But...

Just as he was about to leave, the little girl came up and asked if he wanted to go somewhere fun.

Neji had been completely baffled.

He'd just been about to turn her down when the little girl suddenly walked away...

Wanting to figure out what was going on,

Neji had followed her...

"So that's what happened..."

After hearing Neji's explanation, Yun Xi looked even more helpless and conflicted. He went straight over to Tenten, ready to question her.

Tenten noticed the strange look on Yun Xi's face and quickly explained, "He kept following me, so I thought he wanted to come on the picnic too."

"Don't go striking up conversations with strangers again!"

Yun Xi had always thought little Tenten was a harmless little girl, but judging from this...

Apparently, that wasn't the case...

And...

Yun Xi really hadn't expected Neji to be so easy to fool...

Looking at the two little ones beside him, Yun Xi shook his head helplessly. Then he went over to Neji and said, "Since it was all a misunderstanding, you can go home now..."

"Okay."

Neji didn't say anything else. He turned and started walking, but after only a few steps, he froze in place...

"What's wrong?"

Yun Xi immediately asked. Seeing a flicker of hesitation on Neji's face, he asked, "Is something else the matter?"

"I'm lost..."

After hesitating for a moment, Neji finally explained why he'd stopped.

"Lost?!"

"You're lost?!"

Yun Xi was stunned when he heard the reason!

Thinking he must have misheard, he asked again.

As Yun Xi remembered it, the Byakugan could see through things, and early in the original story, Neji had been one of the most well-rounded members of the Konoha 12.

Not only was he exceptionally capable.

His sense of responsibility, abilities, and emotional intelligence were all above the Konoha 12's average.

And yet...

Now he was telling Yun Xi that he was lost...

Yun Xi didn't know what to make of it.

If not for the Byakugan in Neji's eyes proving who he was,

Yun Xi would have suspected the boy in front of him was an impostor...

"I've never been here before, and it's a long way from the village center, so..."

After giving his reason, a trace of embarrassment crossed Neji's usually cool face...

If he hadn't truly been unable to find his way home,

He would never have admitted it.

"Fine. Looks like I've got one more thing to deal with today..."

Once Yun Xi realized Neji wasn't lying, he sighed helplessly. Then he called to Tenten inside the house, "Tenten, come out here! Help me take this kid home!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Tenten hurried over to Yun Xi and said obediently, "Okay..."