#nejiten is canon

[nyxielovespythons]

Why NejiTen should be canon

Before I say anything, I can recognise that NejiTen is not canon, although I want it to be lol. Everyone has a right to their own opinion, so I ask that you respect mine, and if you want to challenge it, you can *politely* do that in the comments.

The major countering ships to NejiTen are: NejiHina and LeeTen, so I will talk you through why these ships don't work out.

First with LeeTen (because I don't want you quitting after the drama of NejiHina). Lee and Tenten are seen as very close throughout the series, though Tenten makes it clear that she finds Lee annoying and hot-blooded. This is the opposite to Neji, who Tenten seems to admire a lot, since she liked to train with him, and even put on lipstick in the manga for his chūnin exam finals. They seem like the perfect best friend duo, in my opinion. Romance doesn't need to be involved in every since best friend duo, there are enough of them already. In the Boruto series, Lee is seen with his son, Metal Lee. Many think that Tenten is the mother, due to the eye shape, and I think she could easily be. I mean, she's the only kunoichi in Konoha in the same age group as Lee (I think, I haven't fact checked yet), and the girl in his team. Tenten is probably the easiest choice for Lee's wife that Kishimoto could've made. However, if they were to be married and have had a son together, they would now be divorced. This therefore means, that if they had got married, then the relationship would not have worked out, and LeeTen would've failed. If they had not got together, then Lee would've married a different woman, and even if Lee then divorced that mystery woman, they clearly do not have mutual feelings for each other any more. They might have had feelings for each other, at different stages of their lives, but they either both grew out of their crushes or it was only one-sided to begin with.

Second. The NejiHina incident. I'm sorry, but I will have to go on for even longer than LeeTen, because some people don't understand that this ship is incest, and I'll tell you why. Excluding the fact that Neji had strong resentment towards Hinata for quite a period of time, they still wouldn't work out. Their relationship only evolved into *family* love, as confirmed by Kishimoto, just as Boruto loves Himawari, or Temari loves Gaara. What's wrong with a "big brother-little sister love"? Why must everyone make everything romantic? Neji cares deeply for his cousin, as does Hinata. She calls him 'Big Brother Neji', showing that she only sees him as her older brother. Besides, Hinata was so deeply in love with Naruto, she would've never agreed to the marriage. Moving on, a lot of people, from a range of cultures, some of which invite cousin relationships, think that Neji and Hinata getting married and producing heirs is okay. Some of them (purposely?) forget that the reason you don't have kids with your sibling is because it increases the chance of genetic defects dramatically. Although having kids with your cousin is legal (at least where I am), it still has quite a high risk. These people try and back it up by saying that the Hyūga clan would've wanted a pure Hyūga-blooded heir. Hm... Uchiha clan, anyone? Sure, this was common, but there are plenty Uchihas that are so distantly related that it would be fine to have offspring (such as Itachi and Izumi). The same could be said about the Hyūgas. Maybe Neji would've been their best option for a pure blood husband, but there would've been other choices, more people that were much further distanced in relation. I've got this far, and I haven't even mentioned another key fact: you know that Hiashi and Hizashi are twin brothers, right? Identical twins, to be exact. Lemme show you something: "Identical (i.e., monozygotic, or MZ) twins share 100 percent of their genes". You see that? It means that Hiashi and Hizashi share the same DNA. And this means that Neji and Hinata are genetically closer than cousins. They're actually genetically half-siblings. Hm. The Hyūgas are smart enough to figure out that it probably isn't the best idea to inbreed them, right? Well. That doesn't matter, because even if they overlooked all this incestuous evidence, there's this. Hinata isn't even the current heiress. If Neji survived the war, he would not have married Hinata in Boruto. If the Hyūga clan forced him to marry the heiress, and have children to keep a pure bloodline, he would've married Hanabi. Hanabi is the current heiress, so she would be the one married to Neji. Got it yet? Neji and Hinata would never have happened.

The last reason NejiTen should be canon: their chemistry. Tenten is shown to greatly admire and respect Neji, constantly calling him a genius, and she has blushed because of him in the manga several times. He believed in her abilities enough to sit under the practice dummy she was hitting with kunai. Neji comments that her fight would be interesting, showing that he thinks she is a good fighter. He is also shocked at her defeat, further proving that. In the first databook, Kishimoto confirms that Neji and Tenten trained every day for a month in preparation for Neji's chūnin match against Naruto. During this training, Neji reverse engineered and perfected the moves only reserved for the main branch of the Hyūga clan, mainly the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms and the Eight Trigrams Palms: Revolving Heaven. You should also note that while all the other contestants trained with jōnin, Neji chose to train with Tenten. "During one of their training sessions, birds are shown flying in the sky and Tenten tells him that she is exhausted and can't keep going. Neji responds that he thinks he used too much of his chakra and faints. Tenten is seen running to him and asks him if he's alright." Tenten wore a different outfit to watch Neji's match, and as I said, in the manga she also wore lipstick. After his fight with Kidomaru, Neji remembers seeing Lady Tsunade with Tenten. In the Shippuden, during Team Gai's fight with Kisame, Neji rushes to Tenten's side when she seems to struggle in the Water Prison.

In the image above, it shows the two finishing each other's sentences. They can communicate with little dialogue and know what the other is thinking with only one word. Tenten winks at Neji and invites him to go to the bathhouse with her, both in the anime and the manga. Later, after Neji's death, in the manga, she expresses anger, thinks about Neji and asks why he left her. In her memory, Neji doing the "nice guy pose," which has been performed in the past by Gai, Naruto and Lee. The pose signifies that one will keep their promise until death, as Lee states to Sakura during the beginning of the Sasuke retrieval arc after Naruto does the pose and promises to her that he will get Sasuke back. Neji doing this pose before Tenten implies that he promised her something that he intended to fulfill until his death. In the anime, Tenten holds her hands in a prayer and asks why he left her as she remembers Neji doing this "nice guy pose" to her, then she walks away crying and says that she's never going to forgive him. The implied promise that Neji made to her is not known, but it was significant enough for Neji, who tends to be stoic and serious, to use the cheerful and significant pose his "hot-blooded" sensei and teammate have used in the past. When caught in the Infinite Tsukuyomi, Tenten dreams of more mature versions of Lee and Gai as well as Neji being alive and by her side. She's the only person whose Tsukuyomi dream involves not only Neji being alive, but being with him.

They are shown constantly beside one another throughout the entire story, similar to the couples Asuma and Kurenai, and Shikamaru and Temari. While Neji is very formal and strict, he is shown to be comfortable around Tenten. He isn't shown to mind when she teases him or winks at him. He is also rarely portrayed as a character who apologizes to anyone, but he is shown apologizing to Tenten. In both the manga and anime, birds are present during the scenes where Neji and Tenten are shown alone together. In the manga, the only male character Tenten is shown alone with is Neji.

Other Trivia include:

Tenten's name and Neji's themes compliment each other. "Tenten" literally translates to "heaven heaven" in Chinese, while "Hyūga" translates to "place in heaven." In the new Chūnin Exams arc, Neji is shown holding two heaven scrolls with the characters 天天

Tenten's weapons shop in Boruto is named 忍具転転転, which directly translates to "Ninja Tools Turn Turn Turn." Furthermore, the characters "具転転" in the name translate to "revolving." Thus, the name of Tenten's weapons shop can be a reference to one of Neji's primary moves, Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heaven.

During the blank period, Tenten wears a uniform that includes a dress with a flame pattern similar to the flame in the Hyūga clan's emblem.

Neji and Tenten are depicted as compatible: the Databooks reveal that Neji is a Cancer and Tenten is a Pisces. In Western astrology, Cancer and Pisces are considered a compatible and harmonious pairing. The Databooks list Neji's blood type as O and Tenten's blood type as B. The blood type personality theory popular in Japan considers O and B blood types romantically compatible.

Neji, during his death, is portrayed as a Phoenix on fire. In the anime, Tenten utilizes the moves "Twin Rising Dragons" and "Exploding Dragon Strike." In Chinese folklore, the Phoenix and Dragon pair symbolize perfect harmony and balance between yin (Phoenix) and yang (Dragon).

Among the Konoha 11, Neji and Tenten were the only ones who were 18 years old during the Shinobi war, whereas Naruto and Hinata were 16 years old and the rest were 17.

Neji and Tenten share the same hairstyles as Hashirama Senju and his wife Mito Uzumaki.

[suja-janee]

My annual obligatory Nejiten post ahaa

[kvohru]

he wants that cookie so effing bad / halloween 2024

[thesauce8]

I can’t believe Kishimoto killed off half of the only other tolerable couple besides Shikatema lmao. I would’ve loved to see Neji and Tenten together in Boruto, but instead we get ships that need to mischaracterize the characters involved to work and the worst matchups.

[iveneveze]

[martialartslover7]

This one, is for me. I always wanted to do this, and finally, I made it. See this story as a form of therapy session for myself, and many others, who love the hell out of Tenten, and feel so annoyed at her INSANE lack of screentime.

This meme isn't even a joke that is worth a laugh, the freaking swing that Naruto sat on, has more screentime than her entire character ever had in years.

May the games begin. This time, Temari won't be getting away. Sorry, Temari fam, just this once, there will be some payback. No bad blood, OK?

Basically, what I did here was turning Tenten into a techwiz and gadget inventor. Comparable to Tails and Coco Bandicoot. She is a weapon specialist, she gotta be working on her own toolsets and weapons in her spare time, no one can convince me otherwise. That shouldn't just be limited to weapons per se, gadgets, tools, anything to heave herself higher, considering that her chakra mass and nature are lacking.

There you go, I just gave her a true standalone purpose that doesn't involve her being too dependant on anyone. Becoming a full-on inventor of tools to assist those shinobi in need, that can have some serious mileage out of her inventions, should their chakra nature or their general chakra flow be too weak to sustain themselves. Have some additional AU fodder, Tenten fans. Thank me later.

Also, I was listening to this, while writing this entire story. It was the motivating kick for me. And once you read the lyrics, you will figure it out, eventually. I hereby refer to this as Team Gai's motivational anthem for Tenten.

Anyway, enjoy.

[artistaduchess]

Day 6: Promise 🥺👍✨

Neji le hizo una promesa a Tenten ~

No te déjate sola Tenten...

[drainthecity]

as much as i love nejiten settling down and having a family my personal favourite genre of them is when they're technically in a relationship but it's never really said outright, to everyone else it looks like an endless will they or won't they. it's just something that happened naturally, a gradual shift from friends to more. i love comfortable nejiten. comfortable is the wrong word but i can't put it into words well enough for everyone to understand

[rikustarlight]

A few scenes on how Neji got his nickname “Mush” from his girlfriend.

Leave my soft boy Hyuga alone.

Nejiten head canons

[sasukeless]

Fans that act like sns are downplaying platonic relationships because we ship naruto and sasuke are irritating

lol. most of ppl that say shipping narusasu is downplaying platonic relationships are 99% of the time homophobes or just sasusakus/naruhinas mad ppl don’t like their badly written ships. naruto itself has dozens and dozens of friendships examples and platonic relationships and ik there’s people that multiship but some don’t and view those friendships as they are.

it’s funny also only queer ships get this argument and never straight. why is nejiten such a popular ship despite barely having scenes together yet there’s no one nagging the shippers telling them all the time how wrong they are for turning their friendship into a romance? i wonder

you can not ship narusasu that’s whatever idc but acting like narusasu has not canon backup is just plain denial. they literally parallel canon couples, they have the symbolism, the subtext, the MUTUAL feelings and development from both sides (which certain ships lack), and even actual attraction as well. like ik every queer ships always use this argument but if narusasu was an het ship people wouldn’t deny the romance—OH WAIT that already happened, who else read kishimoto’s mario one shot 🤨 mario and saori never kissed or got together either and yet everyone knows they are a romance.

narusasu is not even a “fujoshis” ships only. general public, dudebros and just casual fans all agreed there’s something in there even if they don’t like it. meanwhile ss and nh fans need to make ten analysis why sasuke and naruto not liking or caring for sakura and hinata Actual doesn’t mean they don’t like or care for them and you have to watch a filler or read novels kishimoto didn’t even write and that contradict each other AND manga canon to understand their relationships. even though you don’t have to do that with other canon couples with less than 10 panels like minakushi, shikatema, dan and tsunade or narusasu

[bayetea]

hi! my name is baye (she/her), and I've been a percy jackson fan since 2008 (so, when I was 8 years old... I'm 24 now!), and with the fandom resurgence due to the live action show, I am reengaging the fandom and hoping to connect with other fans (particularly fellow young adults, but ideally no one younger than 16 pls)! here are some things to know about me:

I love literally every character in the series, my affection for the prophecy 7 and also everyone else (nico, will, thalia, reyna, clarisse, etc) knows no bounds

100% multishipper (I'm very open to most things, and I LOVE rarepairs), but I especially love the canon or canon-adjacent pairings (percabeth, solangelo, frazel, etc) ❀

I'm turbo ADHD and extremely bad at replying to things

I do PJO fanart! some examples (click for better quality):

I write PJO fanfiction! my ao3 is in my bio

I will also talk about naruto stuff sometimes! It is my secondary fandom, and I am a hardcore nejiten truther. it will always be tagged if you want to filter it out

I almost never share nsfw content (except for links to my writing/fanfiction, which does sometimes include smut), but my blog is not specifically intended to be appropriate for minors and it is up to you to be discerning and keep that in mind! In the nicest way possible - I cannot be responsible for protecting you on the internet!

I use the mdni tag, and all minors who follow me should block it out!

[kvohru]

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.

[patchofgrey]

Neji Hyuga and Hyuga Clan Head canons

NejiTen Head cannons | Tenten Head Cannons | Nejiten Family Head Cannons

Alright, let's talk about the Hyuga Clan. There are still a lot of plot holes in terms of how the clan actually functions in certain ways as well as the whole genetics situation. My head cannons are strictly based on what is already established in the anime/manga. Kishimoto seemed to have jumbled some details together especially during the war;

What is Cannon that we can all agree on: 1. The Hyuga clan is the most prestigious clan in the Land of fire. Somewhere down the line, the Uchiha clan is related to the Hyuga clan (as explained by Kakashi during the chunnin exams when trying to tell the children about the byakugan...this is the first plot hole tbh) 2. Pre-war, there are two branches to the Hyuga clan; main branch (where they are unsealed and are involved in politics, and branch (the sealed, and protectors/bodyguards/serve the main branch. Main branch members may not become clan leaders or be involved in politics). 3. Post War, it is unclear however, heavily implied and then addressed by Hiashi that Naruto had a great influence on changing the structure of the Hyuga clan; there may be no such thing as the main and side branches, which means that the curse seal may no longer be in practice. However, it is just assumed since Neji is dead (based on this, it is possible that Neji's children would not be branded with the seal). 4. Birth order holds heavy meaning; Hiashi was the first twin to pop out, so he was part of the main branch. Hizashi was the younger twin and was branded for the side branch. 5. For Hiashi Hyuga, leadership of the Hyuga clan is at the digression of the current clan head; Hiashi chose Hanabi over Hinata to become head of the clan. 6. Hyugas can marry outside of their clan. We see this with Naruto and Hinata. It also worth saying that we do not see Hinata and Neji's mother's eyes in both the manga and anime (here's the other plot hole for Hyuga lore). If the Uchihas are distantly related to the Hyuga's, the mutation had to occur due to a mix of genetics outside of the clan (again, it's as if Kishimoto fucking forgot he had Kakashi explain that the Uchihas and Hyuga's did share a line at some point and pulled a fast one during the war to try and explain everything, but it fumbled the lore even more.) 7. It is possible for a Hyuga to not have the byakugan. There was a filler character who only had one byakugan eye. Himuwari also does not have the standard Hyuga eyes. This can also be related to the Uchihas if we are following the genetic line; the Uchihas activate their sharingan, just as Himawari activates her byakugan Here are my Hyuga Head Cannons: 1. The byakugan is a dominate gene. Due to the fact that we see that characters can have the kekkei genkai without having the signature eyes, it is possible that the two Hyugas who possess the byakugan can have a a child who does not have it and vise verse; BB, Bb, and bb traits for the Byakugan. Based on the traits, the child could also not possess the byakugan at all due to the bb recessive trait. A child with a mixed Bb gene may not have the standard Hyuga eyes until the Byakugan is activated like Himuwari. 2. All marriages must go through the clan head for approval/blessing. To keep the prestige of the clan nice and clean, it wouldn't be surprising if there needed to be some screening process or request made in order for a Hyuga to be married. Even if the marriage is between clan members. 3. Arranged marriages are based upon request. If a Hyuga clan member has not been approved for any self-picked marriages, the head of the clan may be inclined to suggest an arranged marriage. It would be more for the main branch of the family instead of the side branch. 4. Hiashi Hyuga already started implementing some change to the Hyuga can after the death of his brother. The guy was traumatized when Hizashi took the L for him, Hiashi was probably fighting with the elders on traditions and policies that in order to prevent something like that happening again. He also saw how traumatized Neji was upon seeing his father's corpse. It is possible the Hyuga elders and Hiashi held tension after the death of Hizashi, which prompted the lord to go against the birth order rule (by making Hanabi the heir to the clan instead of Hinata due to competence and potential) Allowing Naruto and Hinata to get married was one of the biggest changes to the clan due to Naruto's connection with Neji.

Okay, onto my head cannons for our bestest boy <3

Neji's mother died soon after his birth. We see mostly Hizashi with his son in the manga and anime, and there is no mention of a mother, but I feel as though one of the main reasons why Neji had such a strong bond with his father was because his mother was not there. His mother could have also have been a distant cousin of Hiashi and Hizashi in order to maintain the dominate byakugan gene.

Hizashi remarried a civilian to take care of Neji. As much as I would love for Hizashi to be a single dad, it would make sense that he would remarry someone who was not a shinobi in order to look after Neji when he was on missions or handling clan duties with Hiashi. When Hizashi died, we see a woman sitting besides Neji, to whom we can assume was a mother like figure for him (that or a cousin...) Neji’s step mother is named Shizukana Hyuga.

Neji's stepmother is well taken care of by Hiashi. I would like to believe that Hiashi held a lot of guilt and pain over his brother and in order to rectify the situation in some capacity, he took it upon himself to become financially responsible for Neji and his step-mother. He sends money quietly, not wanting to make a big deal about his support, which can be why Neji is able to live comfortably...which goes into;

Neji and his stepmother do not live in the Hyuga compound. With the mess of the main and side branch conflicts, it would be an interesting notion that many side branch members moved out of the main Hyuga compound; only the main branch members as well as branch members who directly service the main branch (we have seen the Hyuga maids in the anime...it's wild to me that the branch members are employed in such a way, but hey. It is what Kishi wrote. It reminds me of how in a monarchy, you have the queen's attendants). Neji's house is probably located somewhere around the proximity of the Hyuga compound, however far enough that there is some separation.

Neji refers to his stepmother as "mother". Following the head cannon that his birthmother passed away, Shizukana was the only other figure Neji had maternally. He is aware that she is not his biological mother, however still holds her in some high regard.

Shizukana shows great favor in Neji spending time with Tenten, in fact, she was able to get Neji to acknowledge his feelings towards her. Neji probably didn’t have to say anything when he would bring Tenten around her. Neji made it obvious he had a crush, just as Shikamaru had observed. Where Shikamaru and the guys would tease him, Shizukana was rather straight forward in talking to her son about Tenten. Neji had a hard time explaining himself to his step mother.

Neji is obviously protective of Hinata, but when it comes to Tenten, Neji will try his best not to hover over her. His role as protector is hard to maintain when you don’t want your girlfriend to be mad at you for being over protective. In the words of Megara from Disney’s Hercules; “I’m a big tough girl, I can tie my own sandals and everything.” This scene can be paralleled with how I see Neji and Tenten interacting, minus the seduction part.

Neji is always completely honest with Tenten. He would never lie to her because there was no point to. They needed to have a trusting partnership in order to function properly but he was also grateful that Tenten did not judge him even in his darkest of times.

Neji will rarely say no to Tenten and Hinata. For Hinata, that is his sister (technically) and he may still feel a sting of guilt after all those years of treating her like absolute trash. Hinata had forgiven him, but he worked hard to repair his relationship with her; he was happy to have a younger sister to protect. For Tenten, in the anime and video games we see that Neji does not say no to her when she suggests to go places, or partake in whatever shenanigans she wants to set out on. He says yes to her automatically most times.

Neji is great at handling Tenten’s temper. She’s a bit hot-headed, especially when it comes to Gai and Lee. But Neji is able to keep her grounded and makes her feel validated in her feelings.

In Neji’s Ninja journal, it is cannon that he writes about Tenten. In the light novel, Hinata shows Naruto a few lines of Neji’s journal, one of the lines is a vow of Neji trying to make sure Tenten does not get depressed. It wasn’t expanded on, however I’ll assume that he does write about her from time to time; whether it be for sparring or just to record his thoughts about her.

Neji admire’s Tenten in many ways; mostly how she handles Gai and Lee. In one of the video games, Neji attempts to compliment Tenten (and fails because he’s awkward as fuck) on how she is able to manage both green beasts with suck ease. In a way, she is like the mom friend to the team in keeping them in check. Neji also has nothing negative to say about Tenten in cannon and even allows her to assist him in Hyuga matters (like when Hinata got snatched up during the first round of chunnin exams).

[riveluart]

What possesses people to interact with fan art of something they don't personally enjoy (whether it's a headcanon or a ship) to talk about how they don't like it or how it's "not canon"

Like

Okay then why the fuck are you interacting with my silly art I did for fun

Make your own post asshole and stay out of the tag

This post inspired by the fucker who reblogged multiple art posts of mine I did for nejiten month to comment about how they don't "have a problem" with the ship they just "don't get why people ship it" and that gives them the right to talk about why people shouldn't ship it because they don't like it on a fucking fan art post

Like

If you don't like it don't interact with it it's not that fucking hard

THEY DID THIS WITH MULTIPLE POSTS WHAT THE FUCK?!

[martialartslover7]

Weird Wednesday Headcanon: Neji could have given Tenten his DNA to work on Byakugan-Visors

In honor of #Nejitenmonth2024, I actually had this idea floating around in my head that, if we were to buff the hell out of Tenten, and turn her into a literal ninja gadget INVENTOR, with her own workshop and all, turning her into the Bulma of the Naruto world, or more like, a blend of her as an inventor, and a computer techwiz like Tails from the Sonic series and Coco Bandicoot from the Crash series, Neji WILL be involved in the process.

And it starts by her, with Tsunade's endorsement, starting her research, by studying ninja tools and weapons, and creating her own spin on them, to give her the necessary edge in battle. You know, making her omega-busted, because, if it all hinges on purely her imagination and technical knowledge, no ability or weapon may be off-limits to her. And her starting project HAS to involve a sleek-looking Byakugan-powered visor. In order to make this happen, she needs Neji's DNA, in the form of his blood.

Of course, this is all risky, due to... well, Neji being a Side branch member, and those Hyuga are seen as cannonfodder, and yet, there comes this rando "no-name" inventor girl, breaking the mold, set up by those corrupt Hyuga elders and Hiashi, by "stealing", but also, not really, because there is no malice in her research, unlike what Orochimaru had in mind. Her research is meant to benefit not just herself, and Rock Lee, but especially those other shinobi, who may be as unfortunate as her in their chakra-based genetics. But the big pay-off, if this works out, she can finally get the chance to gain a bit of advantage in battle, becoming able to predict her opponent's movements and see their chakra points.

Not just weapons, she may be able to set up full-on simplistic building structures with her scrolls, too, like Bulma's capsules. Maybe build impromptu hospital tents for Sakura or the other healers. She would be CRAZY versatile. And through her tools, she may even be able to boost Rock Lee's, or her own, chakra nature, just to give themselves a fair fighting chance against opponents, that are too powerful for the average shinobi.

And again, if we go to THIS length, even the greedy, and very hungry boi, the Samehada blade from Kisame, will become no problem in taming for her, if she can find different means to overwrite the sword's self-harming attributes. But dude, just picture Tenten wielding the Samehada, like it's NOTHING. No chakra is safe from her no more.

And Neji, throughout all of this, is fully supportive of her, because he is also a bit of a weapon's geek, since his clan has a bit of a relation to ancient weaponry. Win-win, to me.

Peace.

[shukakumoodboard]

*Pulls out my massive bag of money and jewels and blow* I’m your biggest fan so I must pick your brain now that you have a tumblr ask box. your finest gaalee romance hcs my good sir. Please

help.

I’m your biggest fan

did you know im crying ab this. kissing u on the face rn

ok gaalee romance headcanons. i've been thinking about this for days. grab ur mojito mix lets frockign gaur

ill be upfront in that i have very few i'll-die-on-this-hill opinions about the boys, but here's some i'm pretty stuck to <3

sfw headcanons

1. lee's better with words, gaara's better with actions, and they're both secretly envious of the other for it: my thoughts here are that gaara spent so much of his life not understanding love that he'd still struggle to articulate it in flowery ways that i think, as a born theatre kid, lee would be good at. but gaara would absolutely be that person who shows it in subtle ways -- like taking care of someone when sick, remembering food preferences, always ensuring lee takes care of himself when lee forgets or is busy having a self-flagellation moment. not that i think lee would be incompetent, but he strikes me as more of a scatterbrain, but would always be on top of verbal reassurances and affection (which i also think is what gaara would benefit from: clear straightforward declarations of feelings and intent)

2. they're both super cuddly in private look, you put together a touch-starved former monster vessel and a social outcast who mostly knows touch from violence (until gai) and you are going to get some clinginess imo. you can't convince me they're not the kind of people who would sit side by side at the dinner table so they can eat holding hands. bro (emotional)

3. they're probably actually really shit at "conventional" dating hear me out ok. they're like initially so far away and gaara is the whole president and lee kicked a meteor in half one time you think they can just wander around and go to restaurants? it's absolutely nonsense that shinobi don't suffer village celebrity paparazzi syndrome in nart tbh. not exactly the same but i have a whole wip in the bort-verse about them sneaking around. tldr i'd bet they sometimes get casual breakfast or dinner but i think more likely takeout and quiet time together as opposed to like fancy dates

4. language learning and hobbying as a form of devotion as a purveyor of my wares u may notice i have language headcanons. it is also my gaalee romance hc that they learn each others -- i've incorporated this into in the space between and a wip called multilingual, which is all about nejiten teasing lee about his crush on gaara in front of the man. i also think that lee would lean into gaara's gardening stuff with gusto because if it's something gaara loves, lee would want to love it too.

nsfw headcanons huehuehuhe

1. they're switches and i WILL die on this hill i think this is self explanatory but listen. listen i am SIQUE of the assigned top/bottom nonsense they both deserve to rail and also be railed. i may be the resident owner of the Rock Lee Fucks tag on AO3 but i also own the Gaara Fucks tag. ill kill a man over this

2. lee is absolutely a service anything this ties into the previous one. a big component of his canonical personality is that he's a disciple of gai -- he's a follower who bases a lot of himself around those he cares for. not the kind of person who is suddenly going to crop up with an intensely specific preference, imo? i think he would base his role on whatever his partner needs the most at the time.

3. rock lee's canonically huge dick ok lol listen. listen this one's canon jokes aside i think lee is hung as detailed in We Don't Talk About Fight Club and i will continue that joke. that being said i think normal hung. not arizona tea can hung which is a hilariously illustrated discord joke

4. tbh i think they're kinda vanilla in the bedroom i say this in a positive way i think they'd be far more into like, just being able to be with each other instead of getting into wild sexual mischief all over the villages although they definitely bone in weird places secretly. they Fuck, but like i don't see them as super kinksters or anything. however, i have seen many a kinkfic that im like nodding my head this is valid cakesitting bdsm what who said that

5. gaara's vaguely nebulous oral fixation i really have no justification for this one i just think some of those animal bijuu instincts might linger and turn into what that mouth do idk i keep going to write smut and whoops my whole body slipped and gaara's licking something. happened in fight club and fight club II, happened in hole time, happened in tgod, happens in at least two wips i have cookin' in the background... what is goin on actually

dkghkdf i hope you enjoyed this episode of kel's questionable headcanons. i really enjoyed answering, thank you so much for the ask <3