NejiNaru

"Because... I was called a Genius..."

- Neji telling Naruto the reason he save him, and his final words

NejiNaru is the slash ship between Naruto Uzumaki and Neji Hyūga from the Naruto fandom.

Canon
Naruto and Neji had a strong rivalry at first due to the fact that Neji believed in destiny and birthrights while Naruto was angered by the way that Neji was treating Hinata. They ended up fighting during the third round of the Chunin Exams. It was a long and intense battle but Naruto ended up winning. This made a huge impact on Neji and changed his outlook on life.

When Sasuke left the village, Neji joined Naruto's group in an attempt to retrieve him. He stayed behind to fight Kidomaru so that Naruto could go on ahead and reach Sasuke. He was losing at one point but thought about Naruto and ended up winning. Naruto left the village in order to train for over two years. Neji was impressed when he finally go to see Naruto again while Naruto was impressed that Neji became a Jonin.

Naruto and Neji eventually met on the battlefield during the Fourth Shinobi World War. The ten-tails was about to attack Naruto and Hinata was about to protect him but Neji jumped in front of the both of them and took the fatal blow. As Naruto held a dying Neji, he explained that he save him because he called him a genius before dying. Naruto was upset over Neji's death and Hinata had to encourage him to now allow his death to be in vain. After the war, Naruto attended Neji's funeral.

Fanon
NejiNaru has a decent amount of popularity in the Naruto fandom. It is not as popular as other slash ships or ships involving Naruto or Neji but it still has its fans. A lot of fans like the fact that Naruto made a huge impact on Neji and saved him from a dark and depressing life. This ship slightly became more popular after Neji sacrificed his life for Naruto. NejiNaru most commonly rivals NaruHina, SasuNaru, NejiHina as well as other pairings involving Naruto or Neji.

Fandom
FAN FICTION
 * Naruto/Neiji on FanFiction.Net