Made this NejiTen story in advance for Neji's birthday in 2 days! It's also my first story on this account so I apologize if you think this isn't the best, but you know we all have different opinions and I respect them. I hope you enjoy, because I put a lot of effort into this ^^

CHAPTER 1: To Revive A Lost Friend

Turing the sign to "OPEN," Tenten sat in her usual spot at her weaponry shop. The weaponist sighed in depression and boredom. The days were going by slower each minute, especially since the Fourth Shinobi World War was but a distant memory. Some shinobi have recovered wholeheartedly while other shinobi were still trying to get over the traumatic experience. The loss of loved ones was hard enough to overcome...she knew that already. But she couldn't let her sorrow get to her now; she had weapons to sell!

Glancing back at the unbought weapons, Tenten's enthusiasm dropped again. No one buys anything these days, especially since there's no threat to the nations at the moment. Maybe every once in a while a few academy students come by and she shows them how each of the unique ninja tools work, but other than that, nothing else. And Gai-sensei was the one who encouraged her to open the shop! Maybe he advertised lavishly to everyone that they think of the shop as some kind of comedy act. Tenten sighed doubtedly at the thought of her sensei's stupidity.

With the sun's rays bouncing off of an object, she took a look at the picture to the right of her. It was the snapshot of when Team Gai first became a squad. Usually, this sight would make her smile nostalgically, but now it seemed to bring a stabbing pain to her heart. There was the team leader Gai of course, the hard worker of taijutsu Lee, herself of course, and...one more. She thought about that genius...the one who was KIA. His grave was near, so maybe she should stop by. She wasn't busy...like she hardly ever was these days.

Stopping by Ino's flower shop, she picked up a few zinnias and set off towards the gravestone which was a few miles away from her weaponry antique. A few feet away from the stone, she glanced upon someone else: Hinata. Taking the last few steps to the grave, Tenten set her flowers next to the Hyuga. The Byakugan Princess brought her gaze up to the newcomer.

"Greetings Tenten-san. Are you delivering zinnias to Neji-niisan again?"

She stared steadily at the words craved into the piece of rock. "

"Yup. You too?"

"Yes," Hinata answered, with a hint of grief in her voice. "I'm brung him violets. They symbolize loyalty, devotion, & faithfulness. He really showed this during the war when he sacrificed his life for me. Not just as a shinobi, but as my cousin."

"Wow, I heard he did fight his hardest," Tenten barely delivered a smile. "Ino told me zinnias represent the thoughts of an absent friend. Of course I'll never forget how much we've been through together on the team. We had such a blast, especially with Neji there to train with..."

She wiped her eyes of any tears that possibly came to her eyes but never fell. She knew he would never want them to cry, especially if it was of his own will to die protecting his dear cousin. Tenten looked over at Hinata, who finally finished praying.

"Well, at least he didn't have to go through Edo Tensei like the other shinobi during the war. It was quite the adversity to fight our own friends and family. If another war had started, they wouldn't have hesitated to revive him..."

Tenten sighed. "You're right. I couldn't even begin to imagine fighting Neji. Even me and Lee combined are no match for him."

Hinata mimicked Tenten and also took a deep breath. "If only there was a way to use Edo Tensei without harming the victim, then that way we can still have our lost loved ones and it wouldn't be a problem."

Tenten's head lifted with fleeting agility as soon as she heard her friend's idea. The Hyuga was reticent for a moment before she dropped her head in profuse shame.

"How selfish of me to think that way...Neji-niisan and the others should be resting in peace, not be in pain on this world forever. I'm sorry!"

"No, it's fine," Tenten reassured, with a slight idea in her head. I'm sure everyone wishes our lost comrades were still alive. Anyways..."

She got off of her knees, scraping any grass or twigs that may have stuck to her. "I'm heading off. Good day to you, Hinata-san."

"Good day to you too," she kindly waved.

The weaponist rushed to the Konoha Library with that idea planted in her mind.

But of course! How come I couldn't have thought of this sooner! Edo Tensei brought ninjas back together with their friends, family, and lovers. The only defect to this was having to fight them out of force. But if I can create a jutsu similar to Edo Tensei where shinobi don't have to brawl with their cherished ones, then it shouldn't be any harm right?

When Tenten arrived at the library, she dashed immediately to the shelves and vacuumed what seemed liked trillions of books. Three whole shelves were spotless by the time she was finished gathering! The other people around her stared in astonishment at her load. The only person who usually got this many books was Sai, and not even he had as many as her at the moment. Sitting at a free table, Tenten dropped her mountain of books, causing a loud ruckus throughout the whole library. She sweat in embarrassment, knowing that she disturbed the steady silence.

Despite doing this research, she had to keep it a secret from everyone because Edo Tensei was a kinjutsu, so it was forbidden to be tested again. She was thinking on telling her closest friend Lee, but he was TERRIBLE at keeping secrets. He probably wouldn't make it to even five minutes, to be honest. Still, she dove right into the books. Most of these books read about the founder, the elements essential to making it work, what kind of jutsu it is, and even about its history. One thing though...they all showed bad signs. Firstly, a sacrifice was needed to make this work, and she knew no one would ever be up for that task. Secondly, for the person summoned, their ninjutsu isn't as powerful as it was when they were originally alive. That means Neji is probably not as strong as he was before...in other words, Lee might just be stronger than him, especially because Neji hasn't improved at all being dead while her and Lee have trained. The last rule however...was of course the worst one...any handicaps a summon may have had before death may affect them when under this jutsu. That would mean Neji's curse mark would be into effect...but that shouldn't mean it would hurt him right? He was free from the curse mark a long time ago...

Tenten took a deep breath and stretched. Okay! I'll figure out some way to bring Neji back without any handicaps or problems holding him back!

With the help of Shino's insects, she tried out some of her ideas to making this work. Of course this wasn't just an all-day thing, so she had trials for weeks. No luck had come to her at all. She would get one insect alive for a short second, but it would shrivel up again and die. She knew using a sacrifice would make this easier for a stable body, but she was going to try without. More days had passed, and some nights she even pulled all-nighters. For food, she took snacks from a nearby market to tide her over. Her shop probably needed to be dusted by now, because she had been working herself to sleep in the library for all of these weeks. Edo Tensei was way more backbreaking than she expected...with another failed attempt, she shot her fists in the air impatiently.

"Gosh! Figuring this out is so hard! How did the Second Hokage come up with a jutsu like this!"

Not being heedful of her surroundings, she accidentally punched someone in the face. When she felt the impact, Tenten looked back to see Shikamaru rubbing the side of his face in irritation. At lightning speed, Tenten shut her books and put the bugs in her pocket. She didn't like the thought of them being there, but at least it was someplace to hide them temporarily. Turning around, Tenten put her hands together in guilt.

"I'm so sorry Shikamaru! I didn't see you there!"

After a little while, he took his hand away from his cheek. "It's fine. Anyways, what have you been doing? Chouji and I have been seeing you in the library for almost a month now. At this time of peace, no one should be studying up on anything, and by the looks of it, you've been studying up on one of Tobirama's original jutsus. Wait a minute...are you testing Edo Tensei?! But that's a kinjut-"

"Shhh!" Tenten shushed him obstinately. She didn't know what to do now. Why did he just have to guess right? Shikamaru's guesses have never been wrong, now that she thought about it. She had to let him in the secret now...she exhaled heavily and stood out of the chair, her legs sore from continuously sitting at this table.

"Come with me."

And with that she walked out of the library. The Shadow Possession user stared in the distance with a dazed expression and followed her out shortly.

"What?! You're planning on resurrecting Neji with a different form of Edo Tensei?"

Tenten pressed her index fingers together nervously. "Well...yes. If I make it differently, Neji shouldn't be in any pain right? He wouldn't have to fight against us either, so shouldn't it be okay?"

Shikamaru sat on the blowing grass right outside of Tenten's weapon shop. "It's not like that. When shinobi die, they should die in peace without anyone to interrupt their slumber. They'll be feeling the pains of living once again. If you're asking to awaken Neji, then you're bringing harm to him rather than peace."

Tenten faced the ground with uncertainty. He's right. I would. But you know...

She raised her head up to the clouds. "But you know, some shinobi deserve to live longer than others. Some deserve to have a future, while others are ready to give their life. I know Neji was ready to give his life but...he deserves to live longer with Lee and I!"

There was a long silence between them, until Shikamaru stood up and focused his gaze in the direction of the graveyard.

"You know, Asuma should've had a future too. Asuma was about to have a family. How do you think Kurenai felt after he left?"

She never thought about that. Kurenai must have been in way more pain than herself. She lost her husband and her child was fatherless. Tenten stayed quiet. Great. I guess Shikamaru won't help me now...

"But even though Asuma died, we did see him again when he was under Edo Tensei," he started. "At that time, we were actually ready to leave him. I also don't believe you and Lee were ready to leave Neji, so..."

He turned back to face her with his hand in his head. "I'll help you fix the jutsu."

Tenten's eyes grew wide in incredulity and relief. "Really?! Thank you Shikamaru! I promise this will be worth it!"

"Yeah, yeah. It's be such a drag, but let's go back to the library and figure this out."

"Okay!"

The next week for Tenten was much easier than her previous weeks, now that Shikamaru was helping her out. The bugs were staying alive longer than when she first attempted it. Shikamaru really was a brilliant genius, especially if they were improving this fast...that word genius. It made her think of the ninja they were near to summoning. It wouldn't be long when Team Gai becomes one again.

It was on the second week when the other ninja started to get suspicious. The rest of the Konoha 11 were on the far end of the library, watching in espionage at the two researchers. Naruto came close to jumping out and asking about what they were up to, but Sakura had stopped him of course. Rock Lee, Chouji, and Ino seemed to be the most suspicious, especially because their teammates have been missing for over a week now. Naruto pouted in confusion.

"What are they doing? I've never seen Shikamaru and Tenten together before..."

"By the looks of it, they're probably researching about a topic together," Sakura guessed. "But on what?"

"Youth!" Rock Lee shouted. "That had to be it-"

"Shhhh! Keep it down, Bushy Brows!"

"Naruto! You being even louder than Lee!" Sakura argued, pushing Naruto to the side. Hinata blushed as she felt him touch her.

"Maybe they're researching love," whispered Sai, who ended up startling everyone. "That's what I've read in books. When one male and one female..."

"All right, we get it!" Kiba interrupted. "But when did you get here? You were just over there at that table a second ago!"

"Wait...love?!" Naruto questioned out loud. "You mean Shikamaru and Tenten are..."

Sakura punched him in the head. "No Naruto! Shikamaru doesn't care for women remember? And I don't believe Tenten has any love interests..."

"Oh yeah?" The blonde head whispered loudly. "There's someone that likes Shikamaru! Oooh...and is she gonna get j-e-a-l-o-u-s!"

"What are you talking about Naruto?" Ino asked angrily. "There's no one I know of that likes Shikamaru! Who would like that lazy bum anyways?"

"I know of no such person either," Rock Lee joined.

~ Sunagakure ~

"Achoo!"

Matsuri and Yukata glanced at her friend. Was she sick?

"Someone must be talking about me somewhere. The gossipers these days..."

~ Konohagakure ~

"Are you sure?" Naruto hinted suspiciously.

"YES!" The angry girls chorused in bitterness.

~Nighttime in Konohagakure~

"Alright. You can try this now, but just hope not to wake anyone up," Shikamaru warned the weaponist. "Remember that this is a kinjutsu, and if any of the Jounin catch you doing this, consequences could happen not just for you, but also for Neji. It would be even worse if Tsunade found out."

"Right!" Tenten obeyed. "I actually believe I'm ready to try this alone."

They waved each other goodbye and she was on her way to the grave. Forgetting to say something, she paused in her walking and looked back.

"Thank you Shikamaru. I don't think I could've done this without you."

He turned back when he heard her. "Oh, no problem. Good luck with the jutsu."

Finally, the two had parted ways. Tenten strode for her friend's gravestone in excitement. Finally, the day has come! We get to meet Neji again! I wonder how surprised he'll be when I bring him back.

And here she was: in front of his grave for probably the 100th time. But this time, it wasn't for flowers: it was all to see her friend again. Scanning the area, she didn't see or sense anyone in sight. Thank goodness. Now to try the jutsu. Setting all of the equipment in place, Tenten sat on the ground, ready to perform the hand signs. This was it. She knew she was ready for the summoning. Closing her eyes, she formed the four signs of the tiger, snake, dog, and dragon. With great certainty, she opened her eyes. Now!

Tenten, at last, whispered the words to herself.

"Kuchiyose! Edo Tensei!" (Summoning! Reanimation Jutsu!)