Cr3sswellsgf - Nana💌

THIS IS TOO SWEET 😭💗😭💗😭💗

Hello, any chance I could get headcaons of Neji and the reader in a arranged marriage since they were kids? While Neji was only doing it for the clan and didn't get along with her at first he begins to warm up to her as they get older until the feelings he had to fake when their clan were around start to become real? Please and thank you, dear.

ARRANGED MARRIAGE

Pairing: neji x fem!reader

Content: sfw, enemies to lovers, arranged marriage, mentions of bearing children

A/N: thanks for the request! I absolutely love writing for Neji!

Neji was simply a genin when he was told that you would become his future wife for the rest of his life.

He wasn’t surprised. After all, it was the same for everyone in his clan. It was just one of the many things he couldn’t change in terms of his destiny.

Even so, that doesn’t mean he was happy about it. Those within a lesser branch had less freedom when it came to picking a spouse. While the clan leaders allowed those in a higher branch to at least have some say and who they wanted to marry, the only choice that someone like Neji had was whether or not he wanted to get married in the summer or the spring.

Although Neji received the official news that you would become his wife about two weeks before the chunin exams, he had known you since the age of three. When he was around four years old, his father tried his best to explain to him what would happen, as spouses where picked out practically at birth.

“You can think of it as having someone who will be your best friend for the rest of your life,” his father told him one night at the dinner table, his fork scraping against his plate. “Doesn’t that sound fun?”

To the little boy, it did sound fun. He didn’t question why his father couldn’t even look him in the eyes while explaining, only able to pick at his salad.

Neji smiled happily, wondering to himself if you liked snow or birds as much as he did.

Soon enough, he realized that it was nothing more than a business transaction. By forcing members of the Hyuga clan and your clan into marriage, it would breed children who would have the blood of both clans running through their veins.

That was the “peace treaty” formed as a last stitch effort to avoid a war between the two clans. And, of course, another form of enslavement for those who wore the curse mark.

Even though you and Neji were both well aware of being practically engaged, you had hardly ever spoken a word to each other. At most, he would glare at you during the chunin exams with his arms folded across his chest.

You both knew nothing about each other; not that it mattered. Even so, you wanted to at least get to know the person you’d spend the rest of your life with. You were told that Neji was a bitter, cold hearted, excellent shinobi. Based on how he glared at you from across the room during the preliminary rounds of the chunin exam, you could definitely confirm that he was bitter.

And when you witnessed his battle with Hinata, you saw that he was definitely cold hearted as well.

About a month later, during the fight between Naruto and Neji, one of the many things that he mentioned to the Jinchuriki (and everyone else in the stadium) was how he couldn’t pick his own spouse as example of the freedom he lacked.

“…and somewhere up there, watching us right now,” Neji paused to catch his breath, gesturing to where he assumed you would be, “is someone I’ll be forced to marry once I become of age. Someone I don’t care for. Someone I never will care for.”

Perhaps, if you even knew anything about Neji aside from his name, that would have hurt your feelings, but no. He was angry, and he had every right to be.

You were angry too. The last thing you wanted to do was marry that asshole and start a family with him one day.

Ever since then, your only interactions with Neji amounted to nothing more than glares at the sight of one another.

The first time Neji held a real conversation with you took place a few years later. You were both teenagers now, as well as the selected few who were already Jonin amongst your class and friend group.

You were on a mission together, taking a short break. The others were off gathering water and branches to start a fire, and it was apparently just you and Neji around.

You were both quiet for a moment. You were seated on the ground, tying up your shoes, and Neji was attempting to bandage a minor injury of his. However, he couldn’t properly reach it, being that it was on his back.

You saw that he was struggling, and after a moment of watching him, you offered to help.

“I can bandage that up for you if-”

“No. I’m fine.” He said sternly, cutting you off.

“You can’t even reach it,” you pressed, continuing to watch him strain. “You’re going to injure yourself even more by trying to-”

“I’m fine, Y/N.” Neji turned back suddenly, his eyebrows pinched as he glared at you.

For a moment, you gave up. The way he spoke just now was nothing short of venom spewing from his mouth, but you simply wouldn’t have that.

“What’s your problem, Neji?” You started, “I’m just trying to help you out. I mean, we’re stuck with each other for as long as we live, right? We might as well try to get along. Being an asshole won’t change the system.”

You could see it on his face that he was a bit taken back by you calling him an asshole, but even so, he seemed to give in.

“Fine.”

With that, you bandaged up his wound in complete silence. You had to pull down his shirt and move his hair to access the part of his back to reach the injury, and when he flinched, it was quite obvious that no one had ever touched him like this before.

“If anyone should do this, it should be your future wife, right?” You finished up by pressing down on the bandages to make sure they were nice and tight. “And, for the record, I don’t wanna marry you either.”

—

Your wedding day came around a few years later.

Nothing had changed.

Aside from a couple of missions with Neji, or forced dinners or festivals where you both had to show up together but still didn’t interact, you were complete strangers.

Your wedding day was simply another mission to the both of you. Your task? Carrying on fake smiles for the entire day, and avoiding one another for as long as possible.

That night, you both arrived home at different times. You came home first, itching to get out of your wedding clothes and to forget all about this day. It was a day that was supposed to be special for so many lucky people in the world. As ninja, love was perhaps one of the very few forms of joy your lifestyle allowed for, and you couldn’t even have that.

The thought of it made you sit on the edge of your bed and cry. You’d spend the rest of your life with a total stranger. Have children with a total stranger. Share and do everything with a total stranger.

You figured that you were alone, able to sob into your hands in the darkness of your bedroom, but Neji could hear you loud and clear.

He was naturally a quiet man. That, along with your sobs, it was no wonder you didn’t hear him come in, not expecting him to come home so soon.

He was standing in your doorway for a moment, watching you cry over being married to him.

When you finally saw him, you tried your hardest to wipe your tears away. His face held no expression.

“N-Neji,” you mumbled, “sorry, I just…”

“I know.” Neji, much to your surprise, walked over and sat down next to you. He was on the other side of the bed, a good distance away. “I understand.”

You both sat in thickening silence. It felt as if it lasted forever, but when you looked over at him, you could see that something was bothering him. All day long, he held the same blank expression, so to see him look this way now was quite puzzling.

“What’s wrong?” You asked softly.

He was silent. You figured he wouldn’t respond, and dropped your gaze to the floor.

“I don’t know how comfort you,” he said. “I don’t know how to comfort my own wife.”

You looked at him with pure shock.

“It’s the first thing a husband should learn,” he mumbled.

He dropped his head, frowning at the ground.

“Hey, it-it’s okay,” you said, “we have a lot to learn.”

Neji looked up at you, and gave you a small nod.

“Where do we start?” He asked.

“Well…” you turned around, and gestured towards the door. “I like to sleep on the side of the bed closest to the door.”

“That’s interesting. I prefer the window.”

You gave a small laugh, “that’s good then, we should have no problem sharing.”

Neji gave you a soft smile.

“Hey,” you smiled softly at him, “a smile looks good on you.”

With that, Neji’s cheeks became a light dust of pink, and you giggled a bit.

“Look at that, I made you blush! Now we’re getting somewhere!”

“No,” his blush deepened, “I’m not blushing. It’s just…hot in here.”

You rolled your eyes playfully, giving another soft laugh.

—

As time passed, you and Neji grew closer, which was something neither one of you could have ever predicted. You both developed a routine and trust for one another, as well as an appreciation for each other’s marriage duties.

However, it eventually became something more than that. Neji found that he loved the way you sometimes mumbled random words in your sleep, or unintentionally grab ahold of his arm at night. How you’d get shy around strangers and excited around your friends. How you were one of the strongest ninja he had ever seen. How you’d hum a little toon when you both washed dishes together, or make a little game out of doing the laundry, or any other mundane chore. He had noticed all of the little things you happened to do, and in short, he loved it.

He loved you.

You were both having dinner one night, and since you cooked, he would clean.

You were telling him about the wild encounter you had at the grocery store when buying the needed items to make dinner, and he took in every single word. His eyes were locked on yours, his heart started to beat lovingly at the sight of you, and he found that his palms wouldn’t stop sweating no matter how many times he wiped them off.

“…and after I told the lady in line that the chicken didn’t look anything like chicken-”

“I love you.”

You blinked. In short, his confession caught you off guard. It took a moment, but those three heavy words finally registered in your mind, and you smiled. It was a big, beautiful smile, one that made his skip a beat.

“I love you too, Neji.” You said, taking ahold of his hand across the table.

You both simply stared into each other’s eyes for what could have been for all eternity; not that it mattered.

“Hey, don’t try to butter me up, Neji. You’re still doing the dishes tonight!”

Thanks for reading! Don’t forget to like, reblog, and comment as it encourages writers!

This was the first thing I thought of...

U can tell Gai-sensei runs that team like it's the navy cuz why are they not even tired😭😭😭

BOOST

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Being on the nostalgia train this week really helped stretching my artistic legs again. So here, have some old things and some new! For now I'm done with this.