Please see first chapter for disclaimer, etc.

Prompt: Silver

Special Thanks: goes out to rao hyuga 18, imjuzakyd, naash, DarkAnonymous324, SnowCharms, Kyaro-Chan, Franoncrack, and Ariasujm-chan for the reviews!

Author's Note: Well, I had hoped to post the very final chapter on July 3, Neji's birthday. (Fitting, especially since there is a birthday prompt!) ...But, obviously, that's not going to happen. I am still planning to post the birthday prompt on Neji's birthday, however. Anyway, this is a strange piece, I admit, but I'm rather satisfied with how it turned out. I hope you all are, too! Thank you again so much for reading, reviewing, alerting, and favoriting my story!

*~Silver~*

They were twelve when she first mentioned his hair.

Neji was used to the girls from the Academy hanging around him at all hours, making comments about his talent, his looks, his everything. He'd long ago learned to tune them out, ignoring their attention and (somewhat childishly, perhaps) hoping they'd get the hint and go away. Miraculously, they did - but only after he'd been assigned to a team, which opened the door for a whole new set of problems for him to overcome.

Maito Gai and Rock Lee were instantly rejected as possible sparring partners. The former was too focused on training the latter; the latter, thus, was too focused on every word coming out of the blue beast's mouth, not to mention his chakra network was too much of a mess to be of any use in response to the Hyuuga techniques. Plus, he kept challenging Neji at every turn, determined to beat the young prodigy, and it impossible to spar with him without Lee turning it into some sort of ridiculous competition.

That left the female of his team, a kunoichi named Tenten. She remained quiet most of the time, except when she was answering a question or had something useful to say. Neji was a little jumpy around females (understandably), but he decided this one, maybe, wasn't so bad. Especially since she hadn't been one of the many girls who had formed a somewhat creepy and surely illicit self-proclaimed "Neji Fan Club."

It didn't take Neji long to realize that Tenten was talented with weapons. She had some sort of preternatural gift, as if she'd been born with a kunai in her hand. Every time she took to the skies with her scrolls, she challenged him to get better: or pay for it. She even willingly helped him with the eight-trigrams-sixty-four palms, which he knew had to be painful, not to mention debilitating since she used chakra strings to control her weapons.

A week before the chuunin exams, as Neji sat trying to meditate while Tenten repacked all of her weapons, she spoke. "I like your hair."

His eyes flew open in surprise, wondering if he'd been imagining her words. One look at her face, however, assured him that he had not misheard her. "Excuse me?"

Bright red suffused her face as she quickly turned back to her scrolls. "I just said that I like your hair." Brown eyes stared askance at him, as if afraid of what his reaction would be.

Neji's first impulse was to give up and place Tenten in with the ranks of the fan-girls, though he'd been so sure she was different. Firmly smothering the urge, he realized that they'd been on the same team for almost two years, and she'd said absolutely nothing about his looks before. So ... that made her different. "Uh ... thank you?" It came out more as a question than an expression of true gratitude. "Most of the males in my family wear their hair this way, so it was natural for me to do so as well," he blurted, too surprised to think to find something about her to compliment.

Tenten nodded once, easily furling her scroll and tucking it back into the pouch at her waist. "I think it looks nice." The corner of her mouth twitched, dark eyes dancing with mirth as she looked at him squarely again. "Even once it goes silver, I think it will look nice."

He blinked, surprised yet again. The thought of growing old was a new concept for him, and he found he rather liked it. It was nice that a fellow ninja, who understood the dangers involved in their profession, was confident that he would live that long.

It took another year for Neji to become curious about Tenten's hair. She always wore those twin buns, even when the team settled around the campfire to sleep at night during their longer missions. Though he thought the hairstyle suited her, he wondered what her chocolate locks would like free of their bindings.

So, one day, he decided to find out.

"Tenten?"

"Hmm?" She didn't look up from her organizing, slender fingers expertly jumping from kunai hilt to kunai hilt as she silently counted to make sure she'd found them all.

"What ... does your hair look like down?" Neji found himself leaning forward now, almost into her personal space. He was so close, he could smell the mix of weapons polish and floral shampoo that was uniquely Tenten.

That caught her attention. Her head snapped up and around, wide-eyed gaze jolting to a stop when they were even with his. She blinked, obviously surprised to find him so close. "Why do you want to know?" she asked.

He fought back the uncharacteristic urge to blush. Good question. Honestly, he wasn't sure why he wanted to know, he just ... did. "Ah ... you've seen me with my hair down." Even to his own ears the excuse sounded weak.

One of her finely shaped eyebrows tilted upwards, almost teasingly. "You wear your hair down every day," she said. Her voice was rich with amusement, though thankfully she wasn't outright laughing at him.

That was a really poor excuse, he silently accused himself. "Hn."

This time Tenten did laugh at him, the merry sound echoing off the trees. "Maybe someday," she said teasingly.

...Which, ulitimately, implied never, Neji mused in frustration.

Unluckily for Tenten, he wasn't willing to give up that easily.

It took him five days and innumerable attempts, but he finally succeeded. Luck was on his side when Tenten asked him to help her practice taijutsu, since it was her weakest point. Being on a team of experts on the subject, she pointed out, made her feel like she should try to strengthen it. That gave Neji just the opportunity he needed to get in close to her, driving her backwards until she was cornered. Then all he had to do was reach out and snatch off her hair bands with two fast flicks of his fingers.

Neji backed out of reach rapidly as Tenten's hair fell freely over her shoulders to frame her heart-shaped face. He smirked in triumph as his teammate stared at him, incredulous. Her hands flew up to her hair, trying to quickly gather it back again, but the damage was done.

Reaching out with the hand not still holding her hair ties, he caught her wrist. "You have beautiful hair," he said. Remembering the words she had said to him that day a year ago, he smiled slightly. "It will still be beautiful when it's silver."

She blushed and refused to meet his steady gaze, but he saw the soft smile on her lips. Letting go of her wrist, he contritely held out her hair ties. Still not looking at him, she accepted them and pulled her hair up again.

Even after Neji brought her a brand-new kunai the next day in apology for the trick he'd pulled, he wasn't sure she'd ever forgive him. But the consequences were worth it, for he'd finally seen Tenten's hair, and it was prettier than he'd imagined it would be.

Neji had to wait five long years to see Tenten's hair down again. The occasion was for dinner with the Hyuuga family - Hiashi, Hinata, Hanabi, him, and the Elders. He'd finally come clean about his and his teammate's two-year relationship, and Hiashi and the Elders decided they wanted to have a meal with the kunoichi in a formal environment to "test" her.

"It is not just important that she is a strong kunoichi with skill to make up for her lack of a kekkei genkai," one of the Elders had remarked. "It is important that she prove she knows how to behave as a lady, as well."

He hoped none of them would make such remarks to Tenten's face.

It was all he could do to smother his proud smile when Tenten showed up punctually. Neji's pride, however, quickly turned into shock when he saw how she looked.

Her sky-blue kimono was embroidered with hundreds of tiny white birds, wings spread in flight. The slightest hint of makeup enhanced her natural beauty, instead of hiding it, and her rich dark hair hung in gentle waves over her shoulders and around her face. It was even prettier than Neji had remembered it, and she was more beautiful than he had ever realized.

Oh, Neji had always known she was a beautiful woman. He'd just never stopped to think how much that beauty would be enhanced with a kimono and some makeup in addition to her loose hair.

Again, great effort was required to keep himself from staring at Tenten all through the meal. She performed her part perfectly, meeting every subtle test the Elders threw at her with a gracious smile and impeccable manners. Within a few minutes she had Hanabi laughing, and even Hiashi's usually stern features eased slightly with a smile at her unmistakable charm. The Elders, as always, seemed unmoved, but Neji could only hope that they, too, saw how perfect Tenten was for him, how great an addition she would make to the clan.

After Tenten left later that evening, Hinata smiled and nodded. "I-I think they l-liked her," she remarked. "P-Perhaps I-I didn't even n-need to put in a g-good word for her, i-in the end."

While unsurprised that Hinata had stood up for his and Tenten's relationship, since she was good friends with the other kunoichi herself, he was immensely grateful. He was quick to tell her so.

She simply smiled and bowed before vanishing out the doors, undoubtedly going for her evening stroll in the gardens.

Neji was so distracted that he didn't even realize his uncle was behind him until Hiashi spoke. "I see why you fight so hard for Tenten, Neji."

The younger Hyuuga turned quickly, performing a bow before he addressed the other man. "Thank you, Uncle."

Again, Hiashi smiled slightly. "The Elders were slightly put off by the fact that she has no clan nor kekkei genkai to recommend her," he said. "I mentioned to them that the presence of such a thing might overpower your own Byakugan, and Tenten managed to convince them the rest of the way herself."

His breath caught in his throat. "Does that mean...?" Neji's hands curled into fists beneath the sleeves of his ceremonial kimono.

Turning, Hiashi calmly strolled toward the door. "I believe that August is a good month for a wedding," he mused aloud. And, if there was a hint of amusement in his voice, neither man chose to acknowledge it.

Neji's breath rushed out in one long, relieved sigh. "Thank you, Uncle," he whispered.

He and Tenten were married the first day of August that very same year.

Children were utter chaos wrapped in adorable, innocent-looking packages, Neji decided. They were loud, messy, impossible, hard-headed ... and absolutely loveable. It was no wonder Natsuko and Hizashi had everyone wrapped around their five-year-old and three-year-old fingers, respectively.

Neji finally started getting up before the sun to have time to meditate, using the pre-dawn stillness to attain the quiet he needed. He would wake up, gently kiss his still-sleeping wife, then creep out to the gardens to sit among the flowers and enjoy the much-needed silence.

Sometimes a fellow early-riser would stumble upon him. Most of the time, nothing came of it, since whichever relative it was had business of his or her own to which they had to attend. However, the few times Tenten woke up earlier than usual and came to find him were always interesting.

"Is that a silver hair, Neji?"

He snapped out of his meditation, body instantly stiffening at Tenten's words. He'd known she was there - he always knew when she was near - but he hadn't expected her to get so close to him, or breathe her words into his ear. "What?" He craned his neck around, ineffectually trying to get a glimpse of his hair - most particularly the silver strand of which his wife spoke. "Where?"

Warm lips pressed firmly against his, and he melted into Tenten's kiss. "Got you," she breathed when she finally pulled away. "I just wanted you to turn around so I could kiss you good morning."

Neji, unable to hold a grudge against the woman he loved more than life itself, reluctantly chuckled. Then, in a quick move meant to surprise Tenten, he twisted, grasped his wife's waist, and pulled her down into his lap so he could wrap his arms around her and kiss her again.

Hizashi and Natsuko did not understand why, when their father came in from his usual morning meditation, he took one look at their mother and laughed. The only thing they saw that was different about Tenten was the silver ribbons tying her hair up into its usual twin buns...

Gentle arms wrapped around him from behind as a head tilted to rest against his. "I told you," Tenten whispered into his ear.

Neji gazed at their reflections in the mirror before them, using the opportunity to rememorize his wife's face. "What did you tell me?" he asked, smiling ever-so-slightly. His Tenten had never been one to say "I told you so," but when she did, she did so with great relish.

For a long time she was quiet, her brown eyes studying their reflections in the mirror. Having long ago learned not to push Tenten when she was in this mood, Neji stayed quiet. The only thing he did was reach up to grasp his wife's hands in his, where they clasped loosely in front of his chest.

At last she tilted her head, pressing a gentle kiss to his cheek. "I told you that your hair would still look good when it turned silver," she breathed.

Laughing lightly, he reached up to where strands of his hair and hers mingled on his shoulder. "Just as I told you, if you remember, that yours would still be beautiful when it turned silver." Craning his head slightly, he kissed the corner of her mouth. "As it is now, and shall forever be."

*~The End~*

Author's Ending Notes: I was so, so excited when I first saw this prompt list and noticed that the word silver was on it! For some reason, I have this thing where I like to compare all my favorite characters (and, by extension, couples) with a color. And - you guessed it - to me, Neji and Tenten have always been silver. I'm not sure what exactly inspired this particular idea for the prompt, but I'm rather satisfied with how it turned out, and I hope you all enjoy it! Thank you for reading!