I'm actually fine with the way the series ended. Seems to me that Tenten stayed unmarried because of Neji - and that is a far better fate than having her pop random kids lol.
Anyway, this is what came before "Obon" - special thanks to white noise and brine for inspiring some ideas in here. ;)
Naruto and its characters do not belong to me.
Obon: The Beginning
She sees him the first time Obon comes around after the war.
There are no tears left to shed; Tenten is nervous when she wakes up on the day of the Obon festival, because everyone says that spirits return today, and she doesn't know if she'll be able to handle it if it isn't true, if she anticipates Neji's appearance and he doesn't show up.
So Tenten stays around in bed and doesn't drag herself out until her head begins to ache; she keeps her eyes shut and feels her way towards the bathroom, bumping into chairs and tables and the wall in between. Breakfast is a little more difficult - she squeezes her eyelids together and boils eggs, listening for the low rumble of water in the pot.
It's not easy to pass time when one's eyes are closed.
Tenten pours a little too much soy sauce on her eggs, and adds salt to her coffee instead of sugar. She winces, throws the coffee out. At least there isn't a mission today, she thinks, as she prepares another dose of caffeine.
"I'm not expecting you here," she tells the empty apartment. "I am perfectly fine minding my own business and this is an experiment to see how long I can keep my eyes closed for."
The hard-boiled egg is warm and savory on her tongue. She chews, and imagines Neji sitting across the table from her, watching her eat. It helps to imagine that he's always beside her, even if that's not actually the case.
"I don't miss you," she continues, and the yolk tastes like cardboard on her tongue. Tenten gives a dry laugh. "Who am I kidding?"
"You could've fooled me," says a voice from across the table, familiar and deep and mellow, like the crash of waves on a beach.
Her eyes fly open. The egg slips from her hand and bounces off the floor, and Tenten pushes herself backwards in her seat too quickly, so the chair tips and she lands noisily in a crumpled heap, bumping her shoulder and arm. "Ow. Neji?"
And he is beside her all at once, crouched over her, a frown on his silvery face.
Tenten doesn't quite believe her eyes. It is as if Neji has returned in the flesh, except that she can see the walls and ceiling through him. "Are-" Her voice doesn't quite come out right. "Are you real?"
A slender eyebrow lifts. "Does it look like I'm not?"
"Well, I can see through you," Tenten replies, blinking quickly. He doesn't disappear. It feels a little numb in her chest, after trying so hard not to think about him for so long. "How did you get here?"
Of course, he doesn't know what she feels for him, so Tenten doesn't hug him - she lifts a hand to his arm, gingerly prodding at his shirt. It feels as if she's dipping her fingertips into cool water, and his form does not offer any physical resistance to her touch.
"I descended from heaven," is his simple reply. His pale eyes have not left her; his forehead is smooth and unmarked.
"I- I see." Tenten gets to her feet slowly, brushing herself off. The realization that Neji is actually here hits her slowly, like taking a Dynamic Entry kick to her chest, except over a much longer period of time. "Have you visited your family?"
"Not yet," Neji answers, and Tenten blinks stupidly at him.
"Why not?"
Neji shrugs, looks away. "I thought I'd come see you first."
"Oh." Tenten fiddles with the hem of her shirt, and realizes that she hasn't got pants on. Heat prickles on her cheeks. She wasn't expecting Neji to show up this early, after all. "Um, let me get some clothes on," she stutters, hurrying towards her bedroom.
Neji is watching her amusedly when she returns. Before she can ask why, he explains, "I've been spending time around you even before today - your previous state of undress is a common occurrence to me."
"What?" Tenten gapes at him, and flushes harder. It's one thing to imagine Neji around her, but having him see her undressed, as well? "Why didn't you tell- I mean, weren't you always going on about honor?"
"I always look away," he tells her, offended.
The heat doesn't subside from her cheeks. "I'll trust you on that," she mutters. Despite that, there is so much to tell him, and Tenten wonders if he'll stay long enough for them to really talk. "When are you leaving?"
"Midnight. Are you going anywhere today?" Neji looks towards her door, and Tenten shakes her head. "I'll visit Hiashi-sama and Hinata-sama first, and return here right after."
Tenten smiles, and doesn't stop smiling even after he leaves. It is a relief to be able to see Neji again, even if she can't hold his hand, or do any of the things she's secretly dreamed of sharing with him.
Neji returns an hour later, and Tenten is content to sit cross-legged on the couch with him, shoulder-to-shoulder, talking about the restoration of the village, and their friends, and what they've been doing since the war ended.
It only occurs to her to ask, close to midnight, "Why do you spend so much time around me?"
Neji blinks, and looks steadily at her. "Should I not?"
She tenses and waves her arms at him, awkwardly. "No! No, that's not what I meant!"
"What did you mean, then?" Neji's gaze falls to her lips, and she wets them with her tongue, self-conscious.
"Well, um, I meant, don't you have others to spend time with? Like Hinata and your uncle?" Tenten explains lamely.
Neji shrugs, glances away. "I feel most comfortable around you."
A blush rises to her cheeks then, and Tenten looks in the other direction. "I- I see."
"I should be going," Neji says eventually, breaking the silence. There are a couple of minutes left to midnight. "Take care of yourself. I won't be able to watch your back."
"I'll miss seeing you around," Tenten responds, giving him a wan smile. The thought of him leaving makes her chest ache. Neji stands, and she follows suit, wrapping her arms gingerly around his shoulder. It feels a little strange seeing her arms through his body.
Neji brushes his cheek against hers, sending tingles across her skin, and then he's pulling away, putting distance between them. "I'll see you next year, Tenten."
Her smile is shaky this time. It isn't as if he's leaving her forever, though - she'll just be unable to see him for a year. "See you around, Neji."
He fades away then, and Tenten sinks back into the couch, wrapping her arms around her knees. There aren't any words to explain what she feels for him, so she doesn't try, doesn't bring it up at all, lest he gets put off by her emotions.
But it has been a good day, just being able to talk to Neji again, and Tenten smiles, inhaling deeply.
He's back in front of her a few minutes later, wearing a frown.
"What's wrong?" Tenten asks, looking up at him in surprise. "Shouldn't you be back in heaven by now?"
"I couldn't find the entrance back in," Neji tells her, his forehead furrowed. "I tried looking everywhere - it appears as if I'm locked out."
"Are they going to punish you for it?" Tenten winces. Surely heaven has rules about things like Obon.
"Possibly." Neji folds his arms and sits back on the couch. "I'll try again in the morning."
And that is how Neji comes to spend the week after their first Obon in Tenten's apartment.
On any other day before his death, Tenten would've been over the moon to have Neji stay over at her apartment for seven days straight.
Today, however, he's starting to get on her nerves a little, because she can only stand to have Neji sleeping in her home and accidentally walking into the bathroom while she's showering (she forgets to close the door sometimes, and he turns on his heel and glides right out) so many times before she snaps.
It hurts to see him so close and not be able to let him know how she feels; she's regretted not telling him before the war, but now, after all the wishes and regrets, Tenten finds herself hesitating all over again - will Neji stop visiting if he knows what he means to her?
She wishes he wasn't around so much, so she can return to silently brooding upon her feelings for him, and she tells him just that, when she rounds the doorway into the kitchen and runs headfirst into his chest - and straight through him.
It's like stepping through a bucket of ice. Tenten whirls around and snarls, "Why can't you just return to heaven like all the other ghosts have?"
The apartment is painfully silent for a long time.
Neji turns slowly, to look at her, and the look on his face is unreadable. She regrets her words almost immediately, wants to claw them back, but her throat has sealed itself shut, and she can't breathe.
"I'll leave if that's what you wish," Neji says quietly, and Tenten screams for her lips to form words; her body has turned to stone.
I'm sorry, she wants to shout, but the words are stuck somewhere between her mind and her mouth, and Neji's lips thin. He lowers his gaze, turns, walking out of her apartment.
She refrains from running after him; it is long minutes later before Tenten can even move, and her list of regrets is now ten times as long as it was before.
If he manages to find his way back to heaven tonight, she won't see him again for another year, and it hurts to think that Neji might not return to visit the next time Obon rolls around.
Fear is an icy grip around her throat. Tenten dashes out of her apartment, looks frantically around for any sign of a pale shimmer, but there is none. She calls his name, twice - there is no response. There isn't any time to waste; she tears down the street, shouting his name, even if she looks like a complete idiot searching for someone long dead.
There isn't a ghost to be seen in their usual haunts, not the training grounds, or the forest, or the restaurants or the village square. Running out of options, now, Tenten makes her way reluctantly to the Hyuuga compounds, and Neji isn't there, either.
"Neji!" she calls, futilely. "I'm sorry, Neji, don't go away!"
The main gates swing open, and Hinata stands on their threshold, looking worriedly at her. "Tenten-san, you- you know that Neji-nii is... dead, right?"
She feels her face crumple. "I- He- he's gone," she says brokenly, and the concern in Hinata's expression grows.
"Obon was a week ago," Hinata informs her hesitantly. "Would you like to come in for some tea?"
"I-" The words die in Tenten's throat, and she shakes her head, turning away before Hinata sees the moisture in her eyes.
She stumbles back to her apartment somehow, through the haze of tears, and it is only after Tenten closes the door behind her and sinks against it that she lets herself sob, uglily, shoulders shaking.
Tenten cries until all her energy is gone, before she tilts her head back, wiping at her eyes and surveying her living room.
Neji is seated on her couch, watching her solemnly.
She snuffles in surprise, her body going instantly still. Had he seen all of that? Tenten gulps, flattens herself against the door when Neji gets to his feet, walking over to stop right before her. Damn it.
"I, um," she mumbles, not daring to look at him.
He raises a hand to her face, touching her chin with a cool fingertip, and the sensation is such a shock to her system that she looks up at him. His pale gaze ensnares her, renders her body motionless.
"Why were you crying?" he asks.
"I- Well, you left," she tells him hoarsely, swallowing.
"Is that enough to trigger such a reaction?" Neji lifts his eyebrows.
Tenten tears her eyes away then. "I didn't know if you were going to come back. I'm sorry - I spoke without thinking."
"I'll always return," Neji whispers. "You're the only one I want to return to."
Her gaze snaps back to him in astonishment - she thinks her heart might have stopped - and Neji leans in, brushing cool lips against hers.
Like a train collision, her thoughts crash and twist together into a grinding, squealing mess, and Tenten can't think, not when Neji tilts his face, and his lips cover her mouth. He pulls away after a while, with a slight crease on his forehead; she grabs the chance to move her lips.
"What does that mean?" she croaks.
Neji quirks an eyebrow. "What does that look like it means?"
"I-" Her mind begins to function then, and her cheeks are engulfed with heat when she realizes that Neji may actually feel the same way towards her. "You feel- you know how I feel."
He raises a palm, rests it right over her heart, and a chilly tingle washes over her skin. "Perhaps we should stop avoiding the truth."
Tenten blinks in surprise. "You've been doing the same?"
Neji gives a wry smile then.
"We should stop creating more regrets," he tells her, and falls silent, awaiting her response.
Tenten returns his grin then, finally, and covers his hand with hers. "Yeah, we should."
He leans in to kiss her again, and this time, Tenten opens herself to him.
Yay for sappiness! Is the Neji-puppet rumor true? 'cause then Tenten can totally meet him in the movie and they can share more sappy moments lol
