Of all the extraordinary things Neji had witnessed and imagined he might witness, seeing Tenten and their sensei wed was not one of them. He had to admit though, that Tenten looked completely at ease, she was ready for this, and she was happy to be doing it. And of course Guy couldn't keep the ridiculous grin off his face. One thing Neji did trust in, was that Guy would be an unfailingly devoted husband and father. Or to put it another way, he better be.
It was a small ceremony at the shrine, only those closest to the couple were in attendance, which included himself and Naruto, Lee and Hinata, Tenten's parents and Kakashi and Ayame.
Tenten wore a burgundy kimono, white obviously not being appropriate. Although she wasn't as far along as Naruto, her belly was just as big because she was carrying twins. She truly was glowing and she looked beautiful. Thankfully, Guy had forgone his training suit for a black montsuki haori hakama outfit. No doubt Tenten had put her foot down on that account.
The guests were all wearing formalwear too. Naruto had to have some clothes specially made because maternity wear for men simply didn't exist, and Naruto didn't want to dress in women's clothes.
The ceremony was simple, and the couple were married without any fuss, apart from a tense moment where Lee thought he'd lost the rings. Neji was glad for Tenten that she could look towards the future with no doubts.
After the ceremony they gathered at a restaurant for the reception. A few of their other friends had joined them, Sakura was here, as well as Ino and Sai, Shikamaru, Choji, Kiba and Hanabi, and Shino. Apart from Sasuke, it was everyone who had participated in the chunin exams the first year.
Neji was glad to see Kiba had brought Hanabi with him. After they'd begun dating, Lord Hiashi had put up some resistance but that appeared to have been sorted now.
Neji and Naruto were chatting with Kakashi and Ayame when Guy approached looking very pleased with himself.
"Beat ya, Kakashi," Guy grinned. It was true that Guy had married first, but Kakashi and Ayame's wedding wasn't too far off. Neji knew they also had Shikamaru and Temari's wedding coming up, and he thought Ino and Sai would make things official soon enough.
Because of the laws in the Land of Fire, he and Naruto could never get married, but he didn't let it bother him. He'd already spent too much of his life resenting things he couldn't change, and he didn't need anything official to know how devoted they were to one another. He really didn't think he could possibly be happier than he was right now.
After the meal of sushi, fish and red rice, and when the formalities were finished, including non-alcoholic sake for Tenten, she approached him.
"Well that's done," she said, plonking herself down on a seat beside him. He couldn't help smiling a little. Practical as ever. She's taking this all in stride.
"I'm proud of you, Tenten," he told her. "It's wonderful to see you embracing life."
"Thanks, Neji," she smiled.
"What are your plans now? Are you going on a honeymoon?"
"If you count moving into a new place as a honeymoon. I hope it all goes okay, we haven't lived together before, though I guess we have spent a lot of time together on missions so we know most of each other's bad habits already," she laughed.
"I'm sure you'll manage to take the situation in hand," he encouraged.
"Yeah. It's a new start for both of us and obviously with two kids on the way we're going to need some extra room. I'm really looking forward to it. It kinda feels like this perfect life just fell into my lap, and that's all thanks to you and Naruto."
At that moment their attention was drawn by Lee and Naruto who were loudly encouraging a dance-off between Guy and Kakashi. Kakashi didn't look too eager, but Guy was already showing off some outdated moves. Tenten groaned.
Neji looked back at her and smiled.
"Don't blame me."
All Tenten could do was let it go and smile too, because she was stuck with Guy now.