NejiTen

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NejiTen
GENERAL
Naruto
Character	Neji Hyūga
Character	Tenten Mitsashi
Canonical?	Fanon
Status of Relationship	Teammates/Close friends; Neji is deceased
IN FANDOM
Type (?)	Het
Also Known As	TenNeji

1

NejiTen is the het ship between Neji Hyuga and Tenten Mitsashi from the Naruto fandom.

Canon

Neji and Tenten were shinobi of Might Guy's team 9, the first time they appeared was in classic Naruto in the Chūnin Exam arc. In the manga it shows that both were really close and did several missions together, other than those of the team. It was quite clear throughout the anime that Tenten is in love with Neji, so we can see a chemistry between them. About them:

Neji was the prodigy of the Hyuga clan, he was very cold and gave an impression of superiority at the beginning. After fighting Naruto Uzumaki, and losing, he changes a lot and we managed to find out about his past. He was very protective of the one he loved, at that point he even died to protect Naruto and Hinata. Tenten was (is) a very lively, energetic and very determined girl, she had a great inspiration for Tsunade Senju. They are thus a very good pair.

In the chunin exams arc, when Tenten and Temari were fighting, even though they saw Tenten had no chance of winning to Temari, Neji admitted Tenten's technique was quite good. Chapters later Neji is having an intense training, and Tenten went near him and tried to make him take a rest, since he was taking it to harsh.

In the episode where Team Guy fights Kisame, after being released from the Water Prison, Neji immediately tries to help Tenten, showing affection for her. In the fourth ninja war Tenten is deeply shaken to discover that Neji had died and says to herself "Neji ... I will never forgive you". In the movie "Road to Ninja", everyone changes their personalities, so Neji becomes a pevert and uses his Byakugan to see Tenten's intimate pieces. In the dream world, Tenten wonders if he should wake up or stay with Neji and his other friends forever.

In the last episode of Naruto Shippuden, everyone started making a congratulations video for Naruto and Hinata since they were marrying. Tenten alongside Rock Lee and Guy, made a Neji's face with something like flour in the wind, at the same time congratulating them.

During the Naruto Retsuden novel, when Naruto was suffering from an unknown illness, he read a journal that Neji wrote that contained his experience training with the Byakugan. In the journal he had also wrote about Tenten.

Post-Credits

Neji and Tenten were making a commercial about the Hyuga's abilities. Neji was mentioning Hinata's family importance, but he forgot Hanabi's name and called her "Hinata's little sister". Tenten told him her name is Hanabi, making fun of him since Hanabi is his cousin and he doesn't know her name, making Neji get flustered.

Quotes

“Neji...I'm never going to forgive you.”

— Tenten's thoughts while walking away and wiping a tear, after his death.

“It's okay. The fact that I'm alive and the world is safe...is all thanks to you.”

— Neji speaking to Tenten in the Infinite Tsukuyomi.

“My present goal was to get rid of Tenten's depression. The two of them were annoyed by the rain that day. As soon as I looked away, the springtime of youth theatrics began. Tenten summoned her folded iron fan it cut through my cheek as I was unable to avoid its path.”

— Neji's diary in Naruto Retsuden: Naruto Uzumaki and the the spiral destiny.

Fanon

NejiTen is a very popular ship in the Naruto fandom. Many believed Neji and Tenten would get married in the end. However, Neji was killed off in the final arc of the series, and fans were saddened by this. Tenten did not show much of a reaction to Neji's death at first which irritated NejiTen shippers even further but she lamented on him leaving her behind later and dreamed of him still being alive in the Infinite Tsukuyomi which led fans to believe that she was saddened over Neji's death and was just trying to be stoic. NejiTen shippers believe that Neji would have ended up with Tenten if he had survived.

Many fans speculate that Tenten is still single in Boruto due to her love for Neji, meaning that she doesn't want to marry anyone to be loyal to her love to Neji, just as in the last episodes when Tenten was imagining a wedding with herself and someone else, she replied she doesn't have boyfriend yet. And even when Rock Lee appeared, she did not think in marrying him.

Fandom

FAN FICTION

Neji/Tenten tag on AO3

TUMBLR

NejiTen posts on Tumblr

ネジテン posts on Tumblr

TWITTER

NejiTen posts on Twitter

ネジテン posts on Twitter

WIKI

NejiTen on Naruto Couple Wiki

Trivia

• Neji and Tenten have the same theme song in Part I of the anime, but Neji's theme song is more upbeat, whereas Tenten's theme song has a slower beat.
• In the new chuunin exams arc, Neji is shown to be holding two heaven scrolls which has 天天 (Ten Ten/Tian Tian).
• Among the Konoha 11, Neji and Tenten were the only ones who were 18 years old during the Shinobi war, whereas Naruto and Hinata were 16 years old and the rest were 17. Thus, Neji and Tenten were the only majors from the Konoha 11 during the war arc.
• Neji and Tenten can be compared with Hashirama Senju and his wife Mito Uzumaki in terms of their hairstyles.