And... Welcome to more AU (and otherwise) little vignettes and punctuation mark abuse! Do you have a favorite universe out of all these? ;)

Naruto and its characters do not belong to me.

#41 - Completion

There is no real end to their friendship, their relationship, their whatever-was-between-them, when Neji takes that too-large stake to his chest for Hinata's sake and collapses to the ground; Tenten finds herself numb with shock, then understanding (because Neji has chosen his destiny and she will be damned before she would rather see him unwillingly follow others' expectations of him), and she doesn't allow grief to overcome her (yet) - but there is a resounding finality that he has shut the book of him and her, leaving the last chapters unwritten.

#42 - Clouds

In the clouds that make up Heaven, there is a pond that allows one to look down into mortal Earth; Neji searches for this as soon as he gets wind of it (how is everyone he's left behind?) and finds it, rimmed with mist; he peers into the smooth surface, his mind whirling around Hinata, Naruto, and Tenten, and breathes a huge sigh of relief when he finds them alive, fighting still (Tenten's expression is impassive as she fights, and he wonders if she knows he's dead, if she's furious that he's left her behind).

#43 - Sky

When night has fallen and both sides of the war have retreated until dawn breaks again, Tenten allows herself to take a breather; she's been feeling eyes on her all day and there is no one she can spy watching her every move (it creeps her out, knowing there is someone she's unaware of); but when the temporary shelters are teeming with quiet activity and she doesn't have to be on her guard as much, her gaze meanders to the starless sky, and she wonders if it is Neji watching over her instead.

#44 - Heaven

It gets boring in Heaven, Neji discovers (there's no one he's interested in sparring with and the weather never quite changes); he stumbles upon his father quite by accident one day, playing shogi with Asuma; father and son are equally excited at meeting the other; Hizashi brings him home to meet his mother, and Neji finds himself telling them about Naruto, Hinata and his uncle, Hiashi; he saves Team Gai for last (everyone's got time when you're in Heaven) - exclamations of springtime and blinding smiles and Tenten- she is the world to him and he doesn't have quite enough words to describe her; his parents share a look and know.

#45 - Hell

Neji takes his parents to the looking-glass pond and shows them Team Gai, but they are in the midst of a war right now, and Gai is burning himself to a crisp; it makes Neji falter to see him on the verge of death, not because he is Gai's student, but because he knows two deaths on their team would be Hell for Tenten (and Gai has been her father figure for so long); he closes his eyes and prays for her strength.

#46 - Sun

The noon sun bears down high upon them; the air around wavers, taking the outlines of the Suna sand dunes along with it in a lethargic ripple - Tenten swallows for the hundredth time and glances at Neji, finally calling out to him as they race over the harsh terrain, "Do you think there's a source of water nearby - my canteen is almost empty," she adds with a sheepish smile, only to stare in delighted surprise when he hands his over wordlessly (Lee spots the gesture and crows, "Neji, will you share your precious water with me too-" with a pucker of his lips, and Neji pointedly ignores him in disgust).

#47 - Moon

It is on a full moon night that Tenten finally loses the precarious grasp she has on her life (as an ANBU special-ops member, one's mortality is the gamble she takes on every mission); but with Neji and Gai gone for years now, and Lee having passed on recently, she sees no reason to keep on living, so Tenten's spirit leaves her body and ascends to the pearly clouds of Heaven; she does not know what to expect, until she wakes up in a familiar room and Team Gai is all around her, youthful as the way they looked in her memories (and Neji- she stares at him and forgets to breathe, doesn't believe that he's finally within reach again).

#48 - Waves

Their first conversation is one with all the turbulence of waves crashing on the beach; Neji is arrogant and thinks little of the scrawny girl he needs to suffer being on the team with, while Tenten huffs with indignation at the way he treats Lee so condescendingly and swears that one day, she and Lee are going to make Neji eat his words.

#49 - Hair

Three weeks into the formation of Team Gai, Tenten inadvertently blurts, "What shampoo do you use, Neji?", much to the chagrin of the Hyuuga prodigy, who then finds himself noticing the scent of her hair (even when he's supposed to be busy training and improving his skills and allowing nothing to distract him) - Tenten smells of wildflowers, a curious association to someone who is fast developing a taste for accumulating copious amounts of weaponry and wielding them like extensions of her limbs; he surprises himself by yielding his answer to her a week later, and she steps over to him and sniffs at his hair, remarking, "It smells good on you," to which he dismisses, for sheer lack of a response (but he does always look forward to her compliments from then onwards).

#50 - Supernova

"Neji," Lee regards his teammate sagely, as he watches the latter glare daggers into the backs of Tenten's would-be suitors, "You'll never capture the heart of our lotus this way-" -and Neji turns and glares at him instead, as if to quell his suggestion- "-but you must know that there is only one way to do it-" -at this point Neji's stare turns skeptical- "-you have to show her that your love is as brilliant as a supernova, and shower her with it with the grace of the shooting stars, and make sure she knows that she is the Sun to your Earth, and- Neji, my eternal rival, don't you want to hear my heavenly advice?!"

#51 - Walking

It feels strange to be grappling for her life one moment, and walking in Heaven with Neji the next; Tenten finds herself remembering less of the later years in her life, and focuses instead on the man beside her (they excused themselves the moment she could move her limbs, and Lee and Gai were all too willing to oblige); they spend a long time catching up, Neji brings her to the looking-glass pond and tells her how he's been watching her all along (and she realizes then the reason why she feels his presence sometimes); eventually, he brings her to his own space in Heaven, a simple hut on the grassy edge of his parents' compound, and they reopen the dusty book of him and her, and begin writing their chapters once again.

#52 - Waltz

There are many suitors at the ball, and Princess Tenten thanks each of them for his attendance with a dance, though it is only when she returns into the warm arms of Sir Hyuuga Neji that she feels truly comfortable again, and they converse in low tones as they sweep across the ballroom floor (one, two, three- one, two, three); he is nigh filled with respect for her, and she almost resents that he will not test the boundaries of their comradeship - so she steps a little closer to him than is appropriate, reads surprise in his lilac gaze (yet he stares unflinchingly back) and smiles, "Meet me tonight, in my personal library."

#53 - Wishes

The past is way behind her, Tenten tells herself as she wakes up, and any wishes she's had in the past are expired and it's too late to grant them; thus, it is with great shock that she turns over in bed and finds one Hyuuga Neji watching her, naked from the chest down; her first instinct is to punch him, her second, to snap, "What are you doing here?"; she goes with the latter, upon which he raises himself up on his elbows and presses his mouth to hers- Tenten's heart stutters, and she swings her fist into his face.

#54 - Wonder

"I had no idea that you still sleep in the nude," Neji mumbles, massaging the sore spot on his cheekbone that's going to turn into an ugly bruise he doesn't want to explain; Tenten has grown stronger than he remembers (back when he was in college and she visited him every so often, and they spent night after night exploring pleasures of the flesh); when Tenten deigns to raise her brows in question, he explains, gesturing towards her svelte figure, "Your first instinct when you wake isn't to wonder why you're naked," (he lets his gaze linger on the elegant curve of her breasts, on the swell of her hip, and wonders at her sheer beauty).

#55 - Worry

Cobblestone floors are a little too loud for Sir Neji's liking, though he manages to slip into Princess Tenten's personal library with hardly a sound; she is waiting by the fireplace and smiles when he makes his appearance, bidding him turn the lock when he shuts the door behind him (Neji blinks in surprise; his pulse races at the implications of her suggestion, but he does as he is told); he narrows the distance between them with quick strides and kneels before her, as always, and she rests a hand on his shoulder, murmuring, "There is no one but us here, Sir Neji - you need not worry."

#56 - Whimsy

"Dance with me," Tenten mutters suddenly, on a whim; Sir Neji glances up at her in surprise, but he does not refuse - he rises to his feet and takes her warm hand in his, just as they did in the ballroom; firelight shines in her hazel eyes, and he doesn't want to admit that he's ensnared by her beauty and wit, so he concentrates on steering them away from the high-backed armchairs and towards the shadowy, book-laden shelves (one, two, three- one, two three), when the Princess stills her feet suddenly and leans up towards him, brushing a soft kiss across his lips.

#57 - Waste

Neji is not drunk, and neither is she, which is all the more reason she should push him away, end the deluge of kisses he's flooding her senses with, but it's been so long since she's had this pleasure (all the more heady when she isn't wasted), so she promises herself that she'll give in just this once, savoring the heat of his palm as he cups her bottom and squeezes; they somehow fit into a cab and his mouth is on hers, sharing a breath; then his hand slips between her legs and Tenten stops thinking; all she can do is moan.

#58 - Whiskey and rum

Raindrops pelt at them the moment the cab door opens; Tenten follows Neji out and points at the door leading up to her apartment; wet droplets patter over her skin and steal past the low collar of her bartender's uniform (Neji's pale gaze sharpens as he watches the path they take between her breasts, lit by orange streetlamps); she watches hunger write itself all over his face, and feels the ache in her loins deepen with his; Neji pins her to a lamppost and captures her lips again, licking at her teeth and tongue; he tastes like whiskey and rum and she is drunk with need for him.

#59 - War

Lord Neji urges his steed over to the fruit stall where the apple girl remains watchful, wariness springing to her eyes when he dismounts and stands before her; he greets her with a slight nod, noting how she is a little shorter than he is, and how she has high cheekbones and fine features for a commoner- Neji kicks himself mentally when he realizes he has been staring too long, and begins, "I am indebted to you for deflecting the dagger, Miss..." "-Tenten-" "-Tenten," he acknowledges with an incline of his head, thinking about the rumors of war spreading along the country borders, and how she would be a great asset alongside him- "Your sharp aim has earned my admiration; will you consider joining me as both my mentor and my guard?"

#60 - Weddings

There is a sudden increase in marriages within the shinobi circles after the war has ended and some semblance of normalcy has settled over the lands, when the realization hits that no one is getting any younger, and a next generation is needed to carry the legacy of the dead; Lee accompanies Tenten to several of these weddings, though he tends to refrain from mentioning the gaping hole that Neji has left in Team Gai; the expression on his teammate's countenance is wistful on such occasions, and he knows enough that the Hyuuga's passing has left a far greater impact on the flower of their team; so Lee swears to himself that he will keep on protecting her no matter what, because Neji would have done the same in his stead.