Dedications go out to Sara, foremost, for helping me make hard decisions
and for always being there.
Secondly, goes Sonya, for supporting me.
And thirdly, to her.

hello fascination
— vanity.x

This wasn't home.

The lack of skyscrapers, lack of everything that was Konoha told her that much.

This wasn't home.

Hinata parked her old truck — the engine roaring to a stop and the vibration stilling — in front of her new house and just sat there, curled into herself, silver eyes staring at the necklace around her rear-view mirror.

She figured she sat there for a whole decade before she finally sighed, again, and grabbed her bag, ignoring everything else on the trunk of the truck, and walking up the walkway to the small, pale-blue house.

The porch was plain — a porch-swing and a mat — and Hinata really wanted to fix it. A big, pretty, bright sunflower would look pretty right at the edge of the steps, she figured.

She rang the bell, wringing her hands together and looking around at the other houses that sheltered her new neighbors.

The door was opened just as Hinata turned to face it. On the other side stood her older (by one year, she swore) cousin in a pair of jeans and nothing more, hair disheveled.

Hinata sort of went beet-red.

"I— I... Am I early," she asked, voice low and soft.

Neji blinked his eyes and moved to the side, staring at the trunk of the ever familiar truck. "No, you're fine."

"Thank you for letting me stay here," Hinata whispered, stepping inside.

Her cousin grunted and made to go for the rest of her luggage.

Hinata bit at her lip and stood there, awkwardly, in the center of what could only be the combination of the living room, the foyer, and the front hall.

Seconds later, Neji walked in, carrying her bags and dumping them on the ground before closing the door.

He pointed to the left of the little hall that she knew led to the rooms and bathroom. "That's going to be your room." He paused for a second. "It has a floor window. If I open the door and there is a boy..."

Hinata grew red, again.

She changed her mind.

This was kind of like home.