Hinata had to be honest. Her father had more say in what her room looked like than she did. She knew nothing about interior decorating beyond the required kuinichi class basics, like how to arrange flowers to suit a room. But still, Hinata couldn't help thinking Neji's apartment looked a little... naked without any curtains. They'd grown up where anyone could look in on you, almost couldn't help it, but it made them all spies in their homes without meaning it. Then you had here, away from the Hyuuga Compound where not everyone could see in, so why make it easier for them to look at you?

So the first time Neji invites her to see his new home, Hinata isn't blind and she isn't dumb either, even if, she's embarrassed to admit, she remains too often mute when she should speak. She knows Neji's invited to her to his new apartment because Team Eight asked him to, that they are hoping it spurs her into a moment of bravery where she might tell her father she was moving out. Kiba hates her father, has called him, at last count, 27 separate bad names, and even Shino, the most silent man she's ever known, has said she needs to speak up more, especially to family. So she tries. But practicing assertion with Neji is maybe cheating a little bit, because he's told her many times he really does want to know what she thinks. Still, when Neji asks how she likes it, she tells him how little "home"-feeling his first apartment really is.

"Oh," Neji says eyes flicking over and away from the window. "If you think so, Hinata-sama, why don't you pick out some curtains for me? I'm bad at that you know."

Such an easy admission, it makes her worry. Neji doesn't think much about the little things, the things that make a difference in whether you are a friend to someone or just friendly, in whether it is a house or a home. She tells herself, it makes sense for her to choose some curtains. Still, like a scab you won't stop picking, this worry wouldn't go away.

Why her?

This feeling only intensifies when she meets up with Team Gai for lunch a few weeks later, the curtains finally purchased and in a bag. It's been weeks since she's seen Neji, though she has seen his place again. "Apartment-sitting," he'd called it. More Team Eight butting into her personal life, she's sure. The only thing she can't figure out is how they convinced Neji to join their side of the argument.

"Ah! Hinata-san! Your Radiant Youth is as beautiful as ever! Every Hyuuga must be so proud these days!"

Hinata smiles over at Lee and Tenten, who have just walked in the door. Once it might have been embarrassing to have such compliments screamed across an eatery at her, but these days its like a self-confidence boost. Tenten's greetings are much more subdued than her teammate who she whacks cheerful on the back of the head when the compliments get too flowery.

"If you say that sort of stuff all the time it's gonna mean less, Lee. I've told you before."

"But, Tenten-san. Every time I say you are a perfect specimen of the Womanly Fighting Spirit I DO mean it! You are as much the emblem of the Fighting Spirit as my dear Sakura-san!"

"She's not yours, yet lover-boy, so don't let her catch you saying things like that about her either," Tenten points out before turning back to Hinata. "Sorry Hinata-chan! Neji-san and Gai-sensei... well, let's just say the mission was a bit messier than expected. They went to change after giving the report. Just us for now!"

Her heart sinks a little at that, and she blushes, realizing she's so disappointed.

"What's in the bag, Hinata-chan?" Tenten asks, sliding in beside her, smiling. "I never get to sit next to you!"

"J-just curtains," she answers blushing even more. What's wrong with her? She'd gotten better with blushing since Naruto, she'd thought!

"Oh!" Lee flashes her a thumbs up. "You decided to make a bold move away from the Stern-But-Surely-Still-Loving Guidance of your father into an abode of your own, a place of Youthful Freedom?"

Hinata repressed a sigh. Now Neji's team was in on the act.

"N-no... these are for Neji-nisan's apartment. H-he said I could pick out some things, you know."

"Red check?" Tenten asks peeking in the bag. It wasn't exactly Neji's style, Hinata knew, but-

"It seemed cheerful, somehow. I always thought a kitchen with red checked curtains would be nice to cook in everyday."

Tenten smiles, "Are you suuure this wasn't for you? At least a little?"

"N-no, I-"

But just as she thinking Oh, Kami, please stop it with the blushing! Neji's voice interrupts.

"Well, I like it, so that's all that needs be said. Right, Tenten-san?"

Tenten, for whatever reason, blushes. It is only then that Hinata realizes it sounded, just a bit, just a little, like she had been picturing herself in Neji's home, a part of Neji's home even. With Neji listening in. She ducks her head down, so maybe no one else will notice the excessive blush that thought just created.

Neji, and Gai-senei beside him, exchange greetings with the group and it is only the scrapping of chairs that brings her head back up. Neji has changed spots with Tenten in order to get a better look at her purchases for his home. Turning her head, they are almost cheek to cheek.

"Neji?" she asks, and it is a long moment before he looks up from the curtains in the bag. A sudden flash of fear has her hoping she remembered to keep the receipt, but he's smiling at her.

"I know you don't think as heir you can get a place of your own, but... I hope... you will consider my apartment as a home too... I mean, Hinata-"

But she can feel the others' turning their heads towards them at that moment, in the same way a person could feel a lull in the conversation right before it happens. She reaches out to squeeze his hand where it held the bag, silencing him without saying a word.

She thinks she knows what he's saying, even still, and later, when making plans to hang the curtains together, she finds she can't wait.