This is my official goodbye to the world of Naruto. I wrote Nejiten stories in middle (and high) school. Now, I have a full-time job as a high school math teacher. I'm still mad at Kishimoto for killing of Neji as Nejiten was the first couple I really and truly loved (and the chemistry there is undeniable really), but Neji came back from the war and they got together in my head. My love for this couple may have faded a bit, but it will never die. Thanks for all the love! Neji and Tenten in the Divergent universe- told in 5 parts.


Abnegation

Neji adjusted the reading glasses as the words in the book begin to blur together- a telltale sign that it's time for bed, but despite his physical exhaustion, Neji knows he can't sleep. Not yet. Next to him, his wife is reading some sort of magazine with recipes, dog-earing the ones she wants to make. He knows she's just as nervous as he is. Tomorrow is their first-born son's aptitude test. She turned towards him with a raised eyebrow. "Neji. You're staring."

He smiled fondly at her. She knows he can't help it. They've been married for twenty years and have been together for almost twenty-two. He always stares at her when he has something on his mind.

"Well," she said, setting down the magazine and shifting to a more comfortable position to accommodate their unborn child and look at him, "let's hear it."

Neji removed his reading glasses and set the book down on the bedside table, shifting to look at her while he speaks. One hand found her hair, which was currently down instead of in the usual buns as they're about to go to bed. He curled his fingers in the long strands. "Tenten, Hizashi's aptitude test is tomorrow."

Tenten sighed lightly, "You're nervous too, are you?"

Neji nodded. "Yes. Although, my fears are different than yours."

Tenten sighed again and her voice came out in a quiet whisper. "Is it wrong for me to want my six children to stay in Abnegation with us forever? Is it too selfish for me to wish such a thing?"

He shook his head. "I do not think it's selfish. I think it's natural to wish your children to be close to you forever. I do not believe in the manifesto faction before blood. If I had to choose between doing what is right for the faction and what is right for our family, our family wins every time."

Tenten subconsciously rested her hand on the baby bump separating their two bodies, Neji's other hand joining hers.

The most important thing to Hyuuga Neji, leader of Abnegation, has always been family, and there's not a doubt in Tenten's mind that if Neji's father would have lived, he would have chosen to stay in Dauntless on his Choosing Day.

But Hyuuga Hizashi died when Neji was four, creating the opportunity for her husband to be lying next to her right here, right now.

"We're both faction transfers," Tenten whispered to her husband, "What if Hizashi is too?"

He leaned in and kissed her on the forehead, before meeting her brown eyes with his white ones. "We'll deal with it when and if it happens. Abnegation is the most loyal faction. Very few transfer out of Abnegation."

Tenten grimaced; unshed tears sparkling in her eyes.

"Tenten, have you ever kept a secret from me?" he asked, his voice a mere whisper.

Tenten nodded slowly.

"I have kept a secret from you for our entire marriage and before that even," Neji admitted, tightening the grip of his fingers in her hair, "You're not going to like it.

Tenten's eyebrows furrowed in confusion and an emotion that Neji suspected was anger.

"Do you remember when I told you that I transferred from Dauntless in order to get out from under Hiashi-sama and the Hyuuga clan?" Neji asked.

The Hyuuga family, with very few exceptions, are all Dauntless. With their all-seeing Byakugan, they make a formidable police force.

Neji was born into the branch family, which protects the main family. Neji was raised as a weapon whose sole purpose was to protect his cousin Hinata, and he had been very bitter about it for a long time. Even after Neji decided to transfer to Abnegation to be free from his family, he was still nervous about his family situation until his cousin Hinata's blood rested in the soil the following year after their Choosing Ceremony.

Hinata, as a representative and leader of Amity, often met with her cousin in the Council, and the once tense relationship they had faded over time.

"I remember that," Tenten stated.

"I partially lied," Neji asserted.

He took a deep breath to calm himself down before telling her the truth. "I'm divergent."

Tenten noticeably flinched. Neji knew that Tenten knew the definition of the word, whispered in hushed voices over the years.

"When I took the aptitude test, I tested positively for two factions instead of one," he elaborated, "I know we're not supposed to talk about the test ever with anyone, but divergence can run in families, Tenten."

Tenten still seemed to be in a state of shock, but the question she asked next shocked Neji to his core. "How did your father really die, Neji?"

Neji sighed. "Being a divergent in Dauntless is very dangerous. That's why I knew that I couldn't stay there anymore-" he rambled.

Tears fell down Tenten's face. "Neji, how did your father die?"

Neji ran his fingers through her hair. "Hiashi, my father's twin, found out about his divergence. He was handed over for testing to Erudite. He didn't survive."

Tenten flinched before leaning forward to press her lips to her husband's forehead, right over his curse mark. Her lips were everywhere, all over his face, her voice repeating his name over and over.

When she finished kissing him, she stared deeply into his eyes. "So, Dauntless and Abnegation, huh?" she inquired.

Neji shook his head. "I didn't test for Abnegation at all."

Beside him, Tenten stilled. Her husband was full of revelations tonight. Neji smirked, "Dauntless and Erudite. The divergent in Dauntless end up dead. The Erudite and the Dauntless were both complicit in the murder of my father. Obviously, I couldn't choose either of those factions, so I ended up..."

"Here," Tenten finished, "You just chose some random faction to join? One that you didn't even have an aptitude for?"

"I've always wanted to be selfless," Neji stated, "Besides, I'd heard rumors about Candor's initiation and I had absolutely no aptitude for Amity."

Tenten nodded, understanding his reasons. "Are you mad at me?" Neji inquired.

"Of course not," she shook her head, "I'm mad at Hiashi and all the Hyuugas in Dauntless."

Neji smiled at her, "Don't be. It was a long time ago. Do you see why I'm afraid about Hizashi's result on the aptitude test? Divergence can run in families, and I- I am divergent."

"So am I," she whispered, a long-kept secret broken, "I'm divergent too."

Neji furrowed his eyebrows at his wife in confusion. Tenten smiled at him. "I went in for my aptitude test, and I was aware right away that it wasn't real. I refused to choose between the knife and the cheese, and at the end, the Abnegation who administered the test told me that divergents are safest in Abnegation."

"You didn't have an aptitude for Abnegation either," Neji observed.

Tenten shook her head, "Candor and Amity."

"Amity?" Neji asked, unsure of how to feel about his feisty wife as an Amity.

"Amity," Tenten stated, "I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner. We're not allowed to talk about the test."

"Yes," Neji said, "There's no use worrying over tomorrow. Let's go to bed."

With that, Neji turned out the light before curling an arm around his wife.

How dauntless of him to admit his divergence in the first place and how candor of his wife to admit her divergence when she could have chosen not to tell him that long-buried secret.


Neji and Tenten's fears were realized the following evening when Hizashi entered their bedroom and informed him about his divergence: he tested positively for all five factions during the aptitude test.

Neji knew automatically where his son's blood would fall the following day at the Choosing Ceremony.


The following day, Hyuuga Tenten's water broke at the same moment her son's blood fell in the glass bowl.