#Neji Week 2024

[nejiweek]

Neji Week 2024 Prompts

🕊️🍃☯️

Thank you everyone who submitted suggestions! Apologies that we can’t have them all, but the amount of suggestions and love have been submitted has meant a lot ❤️ Thank you again, and please enjoy the event! If you have any questions, please feel free to submit an ask!!

🕊️July 1 (Day 1) - Family Time | Fashion

🍃July 2 (Day 2) - Wings | Sasuke Retrieval Arc

☯️July 3 (Day 3) - Celebration | Holiday

🕊️July 4 (Day 4) - Teamwork | Domestic

🍃July 5 (Day 5) - Marked | For the Mission

☯️July 6 (Day 6) - War | Fate

🕊️July 7 (Day 7) - Any AU | Food/Cooking

🕊️🍃☯️

Neji Week Rules

[chrimsonfoxdon]

They deserved so much better😭

I definitely cried while working on this lol

@nejiweek 2024 Day 1 - Family Time | Fashion

🕊️🍃☯️

[avbocetos]

A turn of fates

My participation on nejiten week

[x-emeraldsky-x]

Sakura Week: Day 2 - (Found) Family

[soulcialdent]

Day one: Saudade (portuguese)

The feeling of longing, melancholy, or nostalgia. A yearning for happiness that has passed, or perhaps never even existed.

Some bonds are broken and others naturally fade away. Neji wasn't quite sure what his situation was.  It's been a number of years since he and Tenten have really talked. Started off, with her moving away for college and him staying to study at Konohagakure Top University. 

Keeping in contact over video calls, and frequent texts messages.  Even a few weekend visits. To gaped out phone calls and not being able to remember when's the last time they spoke. 

After their freshmen year, the distance between became grew even bigger. Tenten stopped coming home all together. Neji he assumed her new boyfriend had a lot to do with it. But he couldn't be sure.  But the thing he knew for sure was that he missed her. 

His Tenten? The girl he used to spar with. Go to school with. Share hidden smiles and touches with. The same girl who he got into a school yard brawl with in middle school on the rainiest day of typhoon season. The girl that gave him his first kiss before he knew what it was to care about another person who wasn't a familiar bond.  

Not this girl or rather women who cried and yelled at the mere sight of him. Tenten has once said standing next to Neji made her feel like she could take on the world. And he felt the same! 

There friendship meant everything to him. He knew this was something that needed to be fixed. He should have fought for it. This was hurting him.  Time just kept passing and the time to address it just never came.   

So here the Hyuuga was years later filled with regret and broken promises that he could never fulfill. Because death made most things impossible.  On the anniversary of her passing, all his convoluted emotions just hit that much harder. This year in particular, he found himself wanting to talk to her more than ever.  So just for this one time. He would! 

Earlier in the week, Neji had a conversation with his niece Himawari that really stuck with him. Made him wonder, if he too could send a paper plane high enough to reach the heavens. 

At this moment, he was drunk enough to actually do it. 

He pulled out a blanked piece of paper. And scribble some words on too.  Neatly folded it into a plan. Before giving it too much thought, Neji walked over to his bedroom window and threw the plane out.  It caught wind and took off into the sky. 

For the first time in a long time. Neji felt light. 

[cr3sswellsgf]

matching jammies - nejiten week '24

day 2 - gezelligheid (dutch) A convivial, cozy, or warm atmosphere. The warmth of being with loved ones, or seeing a friend after a long absence.

The snowstorm outside didn’t seem to be willing to relent anytime soon, but that wasn’t all that unusual for late December in Konoha. Blankets of pure white snow coated the streets and slicked the windows, creating the idealistic picture of a winter wonderland. It was the perfect setting for creating snow angels or having a snowball fight, Tenten thought, but with them coming up on the coldest month of the year, she couldn’t imagine getting pelted in the face with snow in these particularly frigid temperatures would be very comfortable.

Which was particularly why she’d insisted on everyone staying inside that day, much to her twins’ absolute and utter dismay.

“It’s getting pretty late,” Tenten murmured, brows furrowed, and bit down on her bottom lip. Her eyes flicked up to the clock once again, almost instinctively, and she was again met with the fact that Neji was supposed to be here hours ago.

Despite the world being fairly peaceful, the Fourth Great War having ended five years ago (along with the whole ‘let’s blow up the moon!’ thing from three years ago), shinobi were still needed, and especially capable Jōnin like Hyūga Neji. This time, he was tasked to lead a team of two Chūnin on a mission in the Land of Silence. She didn’t know anything past that, though— he wasn’t allowed to share any specifics with her, but she imagined she had a basic idea of the objectives.

Tenten knew he could take care of himself and of those with him, she trusted him implicitly, honestly, but whenever he was late coming home from missions, she still couldn’t help but worry.

What if he was hurt? What if his subordinates were hurt? What if they encountered—

“Mamaaaaaaa,” a sulky voice came from behind her, little feet padding on the kitchen floor and cutting her train of dreary thoughts short. She could practically hear the pout that was surely on her two year old daughter’s lips. “When’s Papa coming home?”

Ah, yes. And then there was this little munchkin. Tenten had accidentally fallen pregnant with twins, a boy and a girl, two years ago, around this time. Thankfully, it was a fairly easy pregnancy.

Too easy, in fact, to the point where they didn’t find out until around seven months in. By chance, at that. Was quite the way to celebrate Neji’s twenty-first, that one.

(And then it was even more surprising when they went for their first checkup and found out they were having, not one, but two children. But that’s a story for another day.)

The brown-haired woman sighed, picking her adorably sleepy—though Hibari was vehemently insistent on denying this—daughter up. “Soon, baby.” She planted a kiss on Hibari’s cheek and fixed her sweater, absently wondering if she should turn the heat up a little more. “Are you cold?”

Hibari shook her head, tiredly nuzzling into Tenten’s neck. “Can we play in the snow, at least?” Unlike her twin brother, Hibari was very vocal. Sakura told her that they were both incredibly advanced for their age, speech-wise, but Hibari was a lot more outgoing than Hao, and therefore a lot more chatty.

If there was someone who did not let her terrible grammar and weird conjugational habits (like exclusively using the word ‘talk’ in the past tense, no matter what) stop her from speaking her mind, it was Hyūga Hibari.

“It’s too cold right now,” Tenten responded, repeating that same explanation for what seemed like the millionth time that night. And then, in a playfully chiding tone, she said, “And it’s too late now, anyway. It’s way past your bedtime.”

Hao was already asleep on the couch, wrapped up in Tenten’s knit throw blanket, having gotten too tired to stay up waiting for his dad. It was a valiant effort, and Tenten didn’t blame him— it was just past midnight by now, and she frankly wished Hibari would just let herself sleep, too. And, well, he was also two years old.

“You sure you’re not sleepy?”

“Yeah.”

“Sure?” Tenten walked back to the living room and folded herself on the couch next to Hao’s sleeping form. Hibari nodded again and nuzzled into her mom’s chest.

A tell-tale sign that she was about to surrender to sleep.

Smiling, Tenten reached over to grab the second throw blanket they had draped over the couch, and adjusted it over the two of them

“Wanna watch a movie?” she asked, voice quiet so as not to wake up Hao. Tenten’s master plan was to put on a Christmas movie, have Hibari utterly entranced and engaged for, like, thirty minutes, before she would inevitably fall asleep. Worked every time.

When Hibari replied in the affirmative and Tenten put the movie on, she was finally free to fret over her husband once more. 

And so they sat there; all three of them on the couch next to each other, Tenten and her two chunky two year olds, bundled up in cosy Christmas pyjamas and warm knit blankets. It was a sweet sight.

︶⊹︶︶୨୧︶︶⊹︶

When Neji quietly unlocked the front door of his house and walked in, absolutely and utterly exhausted from that week-long mission abroad, he was surprised to see that warm, yellow light coming from the living room.

Hm. It was probably one of two things: either Tenten was still awake, probably reading or watching a movie (she did that sometimes after the kids went to bed, taking advantage of any alone time she could get), or Tenten was reading or watching a movie, and ended up falling asleep on the couch. Also a likely possibility, and usually an inevitable consequence of the former.

With a small, amused huff, Neji took off his cloak and hung it up by the door, and stepped over the threshold. “I’m home,” he said lowly, if only out of habit rather than out of a real need to alert his wife. As expected, no response came. He made his way to the living room, where a large, prettily-decorated Christmas tree sat in the corner, dimly illuminating the room along with the fairy lights Tenten had strung around. The only other source of light was the television, which was playing one of Tenten and Hibari’s favourite holiday movies (Hao found it a little too scary), The Nightmare Before Christmas. The volume was very low, though, and the credits had started playing at some point before he walked in.

And again, as expected, Tenten was asleep on the couch.

Her long, brown hair was unbound, falling in waves over the back of the couch, and her lips were slightly parted, making way for quiet huffs of air. What surprised him upon walking closer, though, was the toddler laying on her chest, and the other one asleep next to her thigh. All in matching red and white pyjamas, by the way.

He sighed, exasperated but without any real annoyance. He should’ve known they’d wait up for him. Or, well, try to wait up for him.

It was touching.

One of Tenten’s hands was automatically patting Hibari’s back, as if by muscle memory—which meant she mustn’t have fallen asleep that long ago—while the other was holding the remote. Silently and with the easy grace of a seasoned shinobi, he grabbed the remote control from her lax grip (which, okay, wasn’t difficult whatsoever), and turned the television off, before walking to the corner of the room and turning both the decorative tree lights and the string lights off. He was starving and in desperate need of a relaxing bath, but he would carry all three of them to bed before making something to eat. They’d gone through the trouble of trying to stay up and welcome him home, but the mission had unexpectedly dragged on, and with the snowstorm outside, it had all delayed their travel plans. So the least he could do for them was to tuck them in.

“Neji?”

He turned around at the whispered proclamation of his name.

“I’m home,” he said simply, smiling tiredly at his wife. She blinked rapidly, as if trying to dispel the sleepiness, and gently set Hibari down. “I’ll come to you,” he said hurriedly, noticing how tired she was and not wanting her to get up. It was fine that she’d woken up, he supposed—he could still carry her to bed regardless. At the last second, he decided to keep the fairy lights that were strung behind the television on. Despite his words, Tenten still got up and quickly made her way to him, meeting him halfway.

“Welcome home,” she murmured into his chest once she was close enough, having all but thrown herself at him. Her hands grabbed onto the back of his shirt, as if of their own accord. She exhaled, “I missed you.” Immediately, a pair of strong arms wrapped around her, and he basically crushed her to him.

“I’ve missed you more than you can imagine, my love,” Neji breathed tiredly, inhaling her sweet smell, and both of them were content to stay in that embrace for a long moment. She could feel the tension leave his body—the way his toned muscles relaxed under her touch and his shoulders drooped. And Tenten honestly would’ve been content to stay like that for the rest of the night, practicality be damned, but much to her dismay, Neji’s arms loosened around her. She pouted at the loss of contact, and made a sound that was much more fit for her daughter to make than it was for a twenty-three year old woman. He rolled his eyes, amused, and planted a kiss on the top of her head. “I’m sorry. I probably smell. I’ll hug you all you want after I shower; I promise.”

Tenten braced her hands against his chest and stood on her tippy-toes, promptly kissing his scruffy cheek. “You really don’t,” she said honestly. “Smell, I mean.” And it was true—even after a week-long mission with no access to his nice soaps and fancy shower products, Neji still smelled nice. Because everything else wasn’t enough, he just had to add ‘always smells good’ to his résumé, apparently. With a yawn, she said, “I’ll go put the kids in their beds and then I’ll heat up your food while you shower and change into something comfortable.”

He covered her hands with his, rubbing gentle circles across her knuckles. “You don’t have to do that,” he argued softly. “You can just go to sleep, darling. Really, I can do the rest.”

She hummed. “I know I don’t,” she yawned again, “but I want to.” She had already turned around and started gently extricating the blanket out of Hao’s grip, and the look she gave him over her shoulder dared him to argue, and while the refutation was at the tip of his tongue, he let it die.

“Thank you,” he murmured, wrapping his arms around her from behind. He spoke so sincerely, brushing her ear with his lips, “You’re incredible.”

She grinned at him, and with an adorable little wink, teased, “I know.”

︶⊹︶︶୨୧︶︶⊹︶

Once she heard the water shut off, Tenten started heating up Neji’s share of their dinner that night—homemade herring soba. This would’ve been so much better fresh, she thought, a touch sadly. She’d gone through the trouble of making everything from scratch (save for the smoked fish, of course), and she would’ve loved if he had gotten to taste it right after it was done. Oh, well. It wasn’t like she regretted putting in the effort regardless— she didn’t have much to do today anyway.

Soon enough, Neji walked out of their room in a matching pyjama set in his size and a towel around his neck. Once his eyes found her and then fell on the bowl of noodles in front of her, it was like his whole body softened. His gaze softened, and his shoulders dropped. 

This girl, he thought, was sure to be the death of him.

“C’mere,”

She obliged, pushing herself off the table with a small smile. The moment she was close enough, he pulled her into a rough hug, lifting her off the ground. Over the past few years, Neji had, not unlike some of their other friends, grown considerably in height. When they were teenagers, he’d had some two inches over her, but now, at the age of twenty-three, that difference had increased to what must’ve been something like nine, if she had to guess. His body had filled out considerably, too. (The wonders of testosterone, am I right?) After the War and his fatal injury, he had had to spend upwards of a year recovering and recuperating, and then he had to spend the next year regaining his strength and training, little by little, but he managed. It was a miracle he’d survived in the first place, though.

The curse mark had disappeared, removing any doubts that he could’ve been alive, but somehow, medics found a very weak pulse, which was enough for them to work with. It was so on brand for him, though—denying the odds so intensely. 

Tenten squeaked gleefully, the noise dissolving into giggles when he pressed his lips to hers. “You,” he was saying between bruising kisses, “are not real.” She looped her arms around his neck and wrapped her legs around his middle, giggling into the kiss but unable to come up with a witty comeback of any kind. “God,” he groaned, “I love you so much.” 

Ah, there it was.

She grinned against his lips, and mustering up her most annoying, smart-alecky voice, she interjected, “Um, the name is Tenten, actually, but thanks—”

Neji rolled his pretty eyes spectacularly, without any real annoyance (when had he gotten so mushy?), and he scoffed a laugh. Of course she’d say that. “Oh, shut up.” 

When she giggled again and nuzzled her face into that spot in his neck, he allowed himself to fully enjoy this moment, letting go of that knee-jerk guilt he felt whenever he got something good, for once.

And when, after a moment or two, she murmured a very quiet, “I love you, too, Neji. I’m glad you’re home,” into his skin, he let himself think he deserved it.

--

thank you to my lovely oomfie @lubdubu for letting me borrow hibari & hao LOVE YOU DEARLY!!!

[vancocked]

I’ve always loved the headcanon that tenten was part arab. this is an early nejiten week entry (day 4)

[yuki-tobitake]

@kakashiweek Day 4:Blessing/curse, Hobbies

More headcanons :)

Curse:

•Anyone he admits he loves ended up dying so he tells himself he won’t say it to anyone anymore

•one time he accident said it to Asuma (as a friend) and cried for a week after he died

•he said he likes Gai as a friend and got really scared when Gai almost died

Blessing:

•He’s really good at hiding things so when he is trying to eat when his students are near he can easily hide from them (unless he has ramen)

•He’s happy Gai was his rival becasue without him he would have lost likly offed himself a while before

Hobbies:

•Reading Icha Icha books (obviously)

•Sparing with Gai

•making days where team 7 and 3 meet up just so he can have them train together while talking with Gai

•trying to embarrass Neji, Sasuke, and Tenten

[acnproject]

ShikaNeji Week 2024

ShikaNeji Week 2024

January 15th to 21st

Week made by the ShikaNeji project in partnership with ACNProject. A special week for this wonderful ship!

Day 1 - 15/01 - Triton / Pirates / Age Gape

Day 2 - 16/01 - Second love / Angels / Friends in infancy

Day 3 - 17/01 - Horror / Murder / [...] for lovers

Day 4 - 18/01 - Hidden desires / Pop Star / Sci-Fi

Day 5 - 19/05 - First time / meeting the parents / Reencounter

Day 6 - 20/01 - Prejudice / Deficiency / Honeypot

Day 7 - 21/01 - Apocalypse / Disappointment / Edo-Tensei

Rules and Guidelines:

All content must be newly created for this event – ​​old/recycled work will not be permitted. This is a ShikaNeji event, so all work must be ShikaNeji finals. Triggering, sensitive, and NSFW content should be marked appropriately. You don't have to create something for every day, but we certainly encourage it; and you can create multiple things for a single prompt! For each day, you can create just one prompt, do both, or even combine them! There are no minimum requirements for creations – every effort counts! Creations in any language will be accepted! We would prefer you post on the correct day, but late submissions will be accepted until January 31st!

Where to post:

On the Spirit / Wattpad / AO3 platform We have an AO3 collection you can post to; and we would like you to use the ShikaNeji Week 2024 tag.

Tag us here on Tumblr with your work. Please consider using the tags shikanejiweek2024 and projectshikaneji All marked works will be shared by us, and a post will be created at the end of the event!

If you have any questions about ShikaNeji Week please contact us!

Happy creating!

@narutoevents

by @bansheeangel

[nejiweek24]

Hi! I was wondering what the rules for putting our entries in are? Do we use a certain tag, @ this blog or both? There is another event placed around the same time that is using #nejiweek2024, and I was wondering if there was a different tag you are using so it doesn't get mixed up. Also, do we have to complete a certain amount of prompts on the bingo card, or as many as we want/can?

Yes! We originally wanted to be the ones hosting Neji Week, but another blog has been promoting the event, so it's been a little confusing for us. So yes, the biggest difference is that the other one is a more general audience event, tops PG-13 ratings for the works.

So, we have to we want to refocus the event on it being more mature since neither of us is interested in censoring or limiting what participant do. So far we are using the #Neji Bingo, #Neji Bingo 2024 tags or you can tag the blog.

I have also been considering creating an open collection for AO3, but I have yet to check how to handle that.

It would be cool if you got bingo (5 consecutives prompts) in either a row, a column or a diagonal. But you can do as many or as little as you want!

-ShiningStarDan

[nejiweek]

NEJI WEEK RULES

Hello!! Thank you very much for taking a look at this event! Here are a few basic rules for the event (These are subject to change at any time):

Please be respectful to your fellow Naruto fans! This is meant to be a fun and casual event for us to celebrate Neji!

Please create new work for this event!

Writing, art, gif sets, playlists, etc. are welcome to participate!

Using AI to create pieces for this event WILL NOT BE TOLERATED. If it is discovered that AI is used in any way for any piece, the creator will be BLOCKED AND BANNED from participating in any future events.

Please interpret the prompts however you'd like!

When posting your work for the event, please use the hashtag #NejiWeek2024 and/or tag the Tumblr page! @nejiweek

Content containing problematic content/ships (i*ncest, p*edo, etc.) WILL NOT BE TOLERATED. If it is discovered those themes are in any content made for this event, the creator will be BLOCKED AND BANNED from participating in any future events.

Please keep all works at nothing higher than a PG13/T for Teen rating. (The anime and manga are typically rated 13+, so consider using that as a baseline)

Late submissions WILL BE ACCEPTED!!! Simply use the same tag and/or tag the blog! If your work is not reblogged in a few days, please feel free to send a message (Sometimes Tumblr messes up and doesn't show tagged posts)!

You do not have to do every prompt or day. If you are able to create work for every prompt or day, wonderful! But please do not feel obligated to do every single one. This is meant to be fun and casual!

Please tag all works containing any sort of shipping with the respective ship. For example, if your work contains NejiLee, please be sure to place the ship name in the tags. For “x reader” and “x oc” content, please place those in the tags. This will make it easier for filtering and searching. I will also be sure to include ship names in the tags when I reblog here.

Please refrain from character bashing. This applies to Neji and any other characters. This is meant to be a fun and positive experience after all! (This does not mean there cannot be conflict between characters.)

HAVE FUN!!!

[chrimsonfoxdon]

🍚Sharing rice🍚

Happy Neji Hyuga Sunday~

@nejiweek 2024 Day 7 - Any AU | Food/Cooking

🕊️🍃☯️

[rikustarlight]

Welcome to Konoha Vogue;

Read the interviews here : Spring 2024 interviews with Team Three

This took me like two weeks to finish. LAWD. The reason for Neji not having his curse mark; if you read the interview it is mentioned that The cover photo was taken prior to the war. The rest of the pictures were taken after the war, which in my AU delulu, Neji is resurrected and was not caged again upon resurrection.

Drawing them makes me so happy~

[narutoevents]

2024 EVENTS!

Open Interest Checks

Neji Week 2024

Naruto Rare Pair Week 2024

List of Character Birthdays

Monthly Events

Multifandom - Year of the OTP

December 2023

NaruHina Month - All Dec

Naruto Vacation Week - Dec 26th - Jan 2nd

Akatsuki Gift Exchange - Gifts Post Dec 11th - Jan 22nd

Gai Birthday Bash - Dec 30th - Jan 7th

2024

January 2024

Naruto Vacation Week - Dec 26th - Jan 2nd

Akatsuki Gift Exchange - Gifts Post Dec 11th - Jan 22nd

Gai Birthday Bash - Dec 30th - Jan 7th

TobiIzu Week - Jan 1st - 7th

ButsuTaji Week - Jan 9th - 16th

Gaara Week - Jan 12th - 19th

ShikaNeji Week 2024 - Jan 15th - 21st

KakaSaku Dead Dove Week - Jan 22nd - 28th

Aburame Shino Week - Jan 22nd - 26th

February 2024

Izuna Week - Feb 4th - 10th

KakaIru Valentines - Feb 8th - 14th

KakaGai Valentines - Feb 12th - 18th

SasoSaku Valentines - Feb 13th - 15th

Ame Birthday Bash - Feb 14th - 20th

SasoDei Week - Feb 22nd - 28th

March 2024

TBA

April 2024

KakaIta Week - Apr 22nd - 28th

May 2024

TBA

June 2024

SasuKarin Month - all June

============================

Potential Events????

Aburame Week 2024

ABOUT | GUIDELINES | FAQS

2023

[soulcialdent]

Day 3: Yuan-fen (Chinese)

The destiny, the fate, or the luck that brings people or things together.

The front door to the gym slowly opens and a young brunette stumbles in looking exhausted. Her hair is messy, most likely from the helmet that she currently has slung across her arm. She takes a deep breath and walks further into the building before she finally spots who she came to see. 

“Hey Lee”  the green-clad man whipped his head around and rushed over to her just as quickly pulling her into a hug.  Tenten flinched, Lee let her go panicked

“Lotus, are you okay?” He took in her appearance. Her arms and legs were scrapped up

“It's just been a really rough day.  I got into a little bike accident but I'm fine. You don't need to freak out” 

One.

Two..

Three…

As if on cue, he started pacing back and forth. Asking her 21 questions and firing them off faster than she could answer.  The brunette walked over to a nearby set of bleachers to take a seat.  Lee followed right behind continue his string of questions and concerns. 

“Lee, calm down. Look I'm okay”  

“You have to tell me what happened? Right now! ” 

She rolled her eyes regretting telling him the truth.

“This idiot in a luxury vehicle opened up the passenger side door without looking and hit me with it right as I'm passing his vehicle. I go flying off and this random person catches me and we both end up tumbling to the ground”

Lee nodded so she'd would continue.

“My adrenaline was pumping so I'm a little foggy on the details. I'm not sure how to.. explain it…but the guy who caught me ended up being the owner of the vehicle that I crashed into.  Not how that works exactly because he was out on the street with me but yeah. I think he said his name was like Ninji or something…I got his contact information and I'm supposed to call him to make arrangements. 

Lee puts his hand out, asking for the card.  Tenten reached into her jacket pocket and pulled the thick business card made of vinyl. He read the name.

Hyuuga Neji

Assistant Director of Hyuuga Industries

“ I know him. This is that friend I’ve been wanting you to meet.  How youthful”  A bright smile began to form on his face. “ Funny enough, he should be stopping back shortly for our weekly workout,” Lee handed her back the card. 

Tenten didn't know what to say.  Her high is now gone and the ache in her muscles now begins to set in. 

“You should wait around and properly meet him. Wait here. I need to go grab some from the back”  Lee quickly ran off leaving her to her thoughts.

She didn't know whether this was destiny,  fate, or just random but she knew one thing for sure.  It was happening.

Yuan-fen

[cr3sswellsgf]

never both/pragmatic - nejiten week '24

day 1 - saudade (portuguese) The feeling of longing, melancholy, or nostalgia. A yearning for happiness that has passed, or perhaps never even existed.

Tenten was surprised when she got the dinner invitation in the mail. She supposed she shouldn’t have been, though. It was just about time for the Team Gai monthly dinners—the weekend of the 15th of every month. Every month, on the fifteenth (or the weekend that corresponded or was closest to it—for practicality purposes), Gai-han would meet up at a local diner and have a meal together. They’d catch up and discuss how their weeks were, complaining about mundanities such as an annoying grocery store run or the pipes being frozen again due to the harsh Konoha winters. They might even share the details of their last mission—with Neji being a newly appointed Jōnin, it delighted Gai to listen to his student, whom he’d nurtured from a cynical little twelve year old, constantly angry at the world and stuck in his ways, to a mature, level-headed young adult who had finally begun to have faith in life. Who had finally allowed himself to dream and hope and love and laugh and everything in between.

It delighted Gai even more so when he’d notice, through the little passing details in Neji’s stories, that the Hyūga had subconsciously adopted some of Gai’s ways when leading a team of his own. It got him thinking how it would be for Neji if he were to ever lead a squad of Genins, someday. How his own experiences as a Genin and how Gai’s tutelage might subconsciously pass on to that new squad. Out of the three of them—Lee, Neji and Tenten—Neji was the least likely to verbally express affection. He wasn’t particularly good with flowery words, and he often struggled to articulate such feelings, courtesy of his upbringing, so it was much easier for him to show affection through his actions. He was always willing to go out of his way to help, even in small, almost unnoticeable ways such as filling up an extra water bottle just in case someone forgot to fill up theirs (usually Gai, ironically enough). Buying candy for Tenten if he noticed (which he always did) that her mood was down. Making time to spar with Lee despite their packed schedules, if only to indulge in that nostalgia and spend time with his friend, in their own special way.

He was dependable. Kind.

Contrary to what some might think, Hyūga Neji was so very kind. He was undeniably good, and it showed in his actions. It bled through to his morals and how he conducted himself.

So for Gai to have his legacy passed on so tangibly, subconsciously no less, and to be able to see that with his own eyes… It was a feeling of accomplishment unlike any other. No amount of successful S-Rank missions or victories could trump the feeling of knowing you made a difference in someone’s life. Of knowing your influence on someone changed the course of their life for the better, even if only by a little bit.

This would be the first Team Gai dinner since Neji had died in the Fourth Great Ninja War.

This would be the first Team Gai dinner as a squad of three, not four.

Tenten looked at the invitation again. It was from Gai-sensei, inviting her to the local yakiniku place they’d been to so often in the past. Sometimes they’d go after missions, and Gai would treat them to reward their success, or even to uplift them after a failure; to remind them that there’s always a next time. Sometimes they’d go for celebrations—birthdays and rank promotions and such. And sometimes it was simply an excuse to see each other again, amidst all the responsibilities of being older, more dependable shinobi. Sometimes it was just an excuse to enjoy each other’s company and be together, if only for a night, like they’d grown so accustomed to in their earlier years.

It had been so long since Tenten had met up with Gai-sensei and Lee, outside of formal business of some sort. It was just too painful.

Over the past year or so after the war, Tenten and Lee alternated taking care of Gai. After the many months he spent bedridden in the hospital, during which they would alternate visiting him almost everyday, it was a given that one would see Gai strolling around the village in his wheelchair, accompanied by one of his former subordinates. It was like an unspoken agreement had been signed between Lee and Tenten: always one of them, and never both. It was easier that way.

When one of them was alone with Gai, it was easier to pretend that the two absent teammates were off doing their own thing. It was easier for Tenten to pretend, if only for a little bit, that Lee and Neji were off training at their usual spot, and it was easier for Lee to pretend that Tenten and Neji were taking a stroll around the village, or even hanging out at a tea shop, like they’d taken to doing at some point down the line. It was easier to ignore that gaping hole Neji’s death had left behind. That missing limb that overwhelmingly hindered the movement of the body as a whole. It was easier to ignore than to try and adjust to it—to the missteps and phantom pains and jerky movements.

Too soon after the war, shinobi were forced to take on new roles and responsibilities befitting the new needs of the village and the Allied Shinobi Forces as a whole, which put their grief on the back burner, and at some point, they eventually got too caught up with their own lives (which was, as much as Tenten hated admitting it, somewhat of a coping mechanism to deal with the loss of someone so significant) that they stopped seeing each other and meeting up. In the process of ‘dealing with’ (i.e. forgetting) and moving on from the loss of Neji, they ended up moving on from their bond as a team and all the memories they’d shared. It was easier to cut each other clean off and fully move on from team Gai as a whole than it was to try and pick the pieces back up and reconstruct it, this time wholly aware of the missing member.

That’s why, over the past year or so, Team Gai had let the distance get between them. They surrendered to it. Let it cause a chasm between them and then some. It was better for them to drift apart with love and goodness and grace and well-wishes in their hearts than to let the grief overwhelm them and drive a vicious wedge between them, like it had during those days immediately after the war. The way Tenten saw it—and she felt that Lee no doubt thought the same—it was better for Team Gai to dissolve naturally and amicably.

And for a while, that worked. Terrifyingly well.

The world had already begun to move on from the War, and the village was mostly rebuilt. People—shinobi and civilians alike— were rebuilding their lives and getting used to this era of peace. It was weird. It honestly still felt surreal most days. Tenten—any shinobi in general—was so used to being on edge all the time, and constantly preparing for the worst. Her fight or flight response was always either on edge or at the forefront, waiting like a dog poised to strike. But now, there was no war anymore, and though the effects of it could still be seen and felt everywhere, people were starting to acclimate. She didn’t need to conceal knives on her person anymore when going out. She didn’t need to sleep restlessly anymore.  She would be okay. She was okay.

︶⊹︶︶୨୧︶︶⊹︶

At the last second, Tenten reached for her mascara again, unscrewing it and giving her lashes one last coat. She knew it was probably unneeded, but she did it anyway, and she felt better. She was still getting used to that—doing things for the sake of doing them, knowing they served no real purpose.

Tenten was… pragmatic. Very much so. And don’t get me wrong, that is a wonderful quality for a shinobi to possess, but Tenten found she no longer needed that. Well, not as much anyway. Her pragmatism had helped her solve countless problems successfully in the past, and it was one of the reasons she and Neji worked so well together. They were both sensible, if not a little hard headed at times, and they understood each other. To their friends, it always seemed like those two were moving in a rhythm inaudible to everyone but themselves. They were best friends, in every sense of the term. They somehow always knew what the other was thinking, and what to do. And part of that was because they were similar in that way—stubborn, sure, but willing to compromise when the situation called for it.

Pragmatic.

Which is why Tenten says her pragmatism helped her in the past, but she would be the first to admit that it also held her back from many things.

‘It would be too difficult,’ or, ‘Our backgrounds are too different.’ Or perhaps even the worst one, ‘We’re probably better off as friends.’

All things Tenten had said to herself in the name of being realistic. Pragmatic.

All excuses Tenten used to hold herself back from doing what she wanted to do, just for the sake of it. Shinobi fell in love. It was nothing unheard of—I mean, they were human after all. It was expected, even. Everyone was harrowingly aware of the risks being a shinobi entailed, and for most, quitting was not an option, so it was up to them to decide whether or not they would pursue a romantic relationship. 

It was up to them to decide which they were going to sacrifice: a chance at love, or their career. Because, in their world, it unfortunately had to be one or the other.

The choice was obvious. The pragmatic choice was obvious.

And both Neji and Tenten were pragmatic.

So they chose their careers.

When faced with the choice of being best friends and continuing to toe that line like they’d been doing for so long, or being lovers, and discovering an entirely new part of themselves—tasting an entirely new flavour they hadn’t even known existed—they chose the former. Because it was always one, and never both. And that was fine, for a while.

In fact, if that had been the end of it, Tenten imagined, perhaps terribly and selfishly, then maybe the aftermath of his death wouldn’t have been as hard. And maybe that made her a terrible person. Maybe she was terrible for wishing he’d never confessed and they’d never kissed. Maybe she was terrible for wishing he hadn’t given her a taste of what she longed for for so long, only to cruelly take it away before either of them were ready. And she knew it wasn’t his fault, but part of her couldn’t help but blame him. And maybe that made her a terrible person; she didn’t know.

But for now, she was content with doing small, pointless, impractical things like putting on another coat of mascara, just for the sake of it. She’d swallow the lump in her throat and put on a brave face and walk out, and she’d do things just because she wanted to. Just because it made her feel better.

︶⊹︶︶୨୧︶︶⊹︶

They’d both shown up.

“Hey,” she greeted, once she’d spotted the two green-clad men waiting by the entrance of the restaurant. She’d gotten there a few minutes early, but here they were, arriving even earlier. 

“Tenten!” It was Lee.

While Lee had jumped at the opportunity of this dinner, craving the nostalgia like it were a physical thing, Tenten was a bit hesitant. Still, they had both shown up. She smiled. How very predictable of Team Gai.

Maybe things weren’t that different after all.

It was awkward at first. After exchanging pleasantries, they entered the restaurant and took their seats at the reserved booth. The thought of making small talk with people that were once so engraved in each other’s very being was unbearable. The view of the vacant seat at the table was also unbearable—it had been so long since they’d met up like this for dinner that, when Gai-sensei was making the reservation, he accidentally asked for a table for four instead of three. Force of habit.

But they managed.

“How have you been, Tenten?” Gai asked, voice mellow. Him and Lee had remained pretty close through it all, partly because of Lee’s self-imposed duty to care for Gai most of the time, and partly because those two had always had a special bond that not even Neji and Tenten could get between. Tenten shrugged noncommittally, replying with that customary reassurance that made it seem like she was very busy while simultaneously downplaying whatever it is she’d been busy with since she’d last seen them. He nodded kindly, and the three of them started chatting mindlessly about nothing in particular. It was obvious that they were ignoring the elephant in the room. Neji’s loss—his absence at this table—was so palpable it was almost taking up the space of the would-be conversation.

“I miss him,” Tenten sighed, almost bluntly. Flippantly. She didn’t know what reaction she was expecting, but the willing avoidance was getting suffocating. She knew everyone was thinking that, so why didn’t anyone say it?! Why couldn’t anyone give her that relief? Why was everyone—her included, she realised belatedly—so hell-bent on forgetting him, when he had been such a core part of who they were for so long? She missed him. She missed talking to him— about him. She didn’t like that no one brought him up anymore, as if he’d never even existed. He deserved to be celebrated and remembered, for God’s sake! That was the least they could do for him.

“Me, too,” Lee murmured, uncharacteristically resigned. “It’s unbearable, most days.”

Immediately, pressure built up behind Tenten’s eyes, and she vaguely regretted putting on more mascara. “Yeah,” she whispered, almost in wonder, “it is.”

And surprisingly, that was what broke the tension.

Or maybe it wasn’t surprising or weird or unexpected. Maybe that made perfect sense. Because Team Gai was never one for stuffy formalities or beating around the bush—they knew each other too well for that.

Gradually and ever so tentatively, the dinner took on an air of normalcy, and things were almost like the old times—almost. They were able to actually speak to each other again for the first time in what felt like a lifetime, without being snappy or short-tempered, or feeling like their words weren’t reaching through to the other person. They were finally able to acknowledge their loss together, and weirdly enough, it made them feel lighter than they had in ages.

︶⊹︶︶୨୧︶︶⊹︶

“It’s getting late,” Tenten yawned, stretching her arms over her head. “We should probably go before we get kicked out.”

With a frown, Lee responded, “Yeah. You’re probably right.”

They, reluctantly, said their goodbyes. She’d originally thought this would be awkward, but she realised with a pang as she was walking away that she didn’t want to go. 

“Tenten!” Lee called out from a distance away, and she turned around.

“What is it?” she called back.

“Don’t be a stranger.”

Her breath hitched, and the only thing she could do was nod vigorously and hope he saw it.

She would be okay. They would be okay.