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Neji was not normally given to reminiscing. But a special day like today demanded some sentimentality.
He stared at himself in the bathroom mirror, examining the marks on his body.
There were many.
The most recent was a hickey on his neck which his beloved Tenten had given him just last night. His lips curved into a brief smile at the memory before he moved on.
He ran his fingers over the long scar that drew across his abdomen, from his floating ribs all the way to the opposite hip. He had obtained that scar on his first S-rank mission. Tenten and Neji had fulfilled the mission parameters and were headed home, but they were ambushed. And the attackers were targeting him.
He remembered collapsing to the ground, trying to hold his stomach together and keep his guts from slipping out. He remembered watching how furious she had become, not only against the enemy nin which she had subsequently slaughtered for daring to touch him, but also at herself. Because she couldn’t heal him. Because all she could do was rush him home and beg someone else to stitch him up.
He pursed his lips and turned slightly to trace the ANBU tattoo on his upper arm. This one was a mark of pride, one of few on his body. Earning a place among ANBU meant escaping the eyes he felt were always following him. It was all the better when Tenten joined, too. The ANBU commander had quickly discovered how well they worked together and they had ended up paired on missions more often than not. Like their Genin days.
Speaking of genin. His eyes narrowed at the ugly pockmarks on his left shoulder. He had earned that scar against one of Orochimaru’s cronies, defeating the spider-nin though he was a mere genin. But he had paid for that victory with a hole through the chest, just a few inches from his heart. The medics had managed to close it up, but the fistula still remained.
But none of these marks had caused as much trauma as the first mark to ever mar his skin - the Mark of the Caged Bird. He leaned forward, examining the green ink scrawled on the center of his forehead. He remembered the pain of its application. He thought about how hard he had struggled against the caging of his will.
“Neji?” Tenten slipped into the bathroom and embraced him from behind. "How long have you been up?“ She leaned over his shoulder to meet his gaze in the glass.
"Not long,” he lied, though he was sure she knew the truth.
“Are you nervous?” she murmured, nuzzling his shoulder.
To anyone else, the answer would have been an immediate and firm no. But if he was being honest… “This Curse has been upon me my whole life,” he whispered. "Can I really believe that it will be over by the end of the day?“
"Yes, you can,” she smiled encouragingly. "This is what we’ve been working toward these long years.“ She reached up to gently caress the Mark. "You’ll be free.”
He captured her hands in his and turned to face her. "I still can’t believe that you did this for me,“ he murmured, bringing her fingers to his lips.
She grinned impishly. "It wasn’t just for you; it was for all Hyuuga.” She pressed her palm to his cheek, but he turned his face into it and kissed her palm also. “But it was mostly for you.”
“You and Hinata-sama and Naruto,” he marveled. "You really did it.“
She leaned up to kiss the center of his forehead, the Mark that they would soon remove. "Yes, we did. Now let’s go get rid of this."