Gravity
Part Five

The wisest course of action, as far as Neji could see, would be to find out what sort of man appealed to Hinata, and then go from there. Once he had a general idea for personality, he could begin to examine the narrowed down men for the more specific traits he had already determined, and hopefully there would be some that still remained for him to choose from. Ideally there would be one, which would make his task infinitely easier than it was looking at the moment, but Neji had little hope of that happening.

As it was, Hinata seemed to have no idea what she wanted. That, or she was just incredibly shy. He was assuming it was a combination of both.

He continued to watch her steadily as she twisted her hands in her lap, avoiding his gaze. It must have been embarrassing for her to discuss this sort of thing, and he felt the faintest stirring of pity. However, there was no avoiding it; with such limited time, he would need to be painfully direct if he were to find a decent husband for her.

At length she finally spoke, although her tone was very quiet and she didn't quite look at him. "I... I don't really know. I would like... my husband... to be kind, I suppose..."

As he had suspected, Hinata was indeed a simple woman. If the most she wanted from a man was a little kindness, Neji was almost irritated. He didn't quite understand why, exactly, but he knew it shouldn't be that a woman would be happy married to a man if he was nice to her. That seemed too simple, too undemanding. Was she really that starved for affection?

Pushing away the thoughts that were evoking more protective instincts than he cared to admit to, Neji replied, "Naturally he will be, Hinata-sama. I would not choose a husband who would be unkind to you."

His tone came off a bit more cold than he had intended, and he mentally berated himself when she bit her lip, an apologetic flush spreading across her cheeks as she mumbled, "O-of course not..."

He barely resisted the urge to reach and up and massage his temples with his hands. Hinata seemed determined to automatically assume the worst, a habit that was beginning to annoy him. No, that wasn't the right word to describe the feeling; frustration, perhaps. He was frustrated that she insisted on misinterpreting him.

His tone was softer and more patient as he addressed her this time. "I did not mean that how it sounded. Is there anything else you might be able to think of?"

If all he had to go on was 'kindness', the list of prospects would be thinned, certainly, but not by much. It was lucky for the both of them that he had already outlined his own requirements for this potential husband, otherwise it could take years to find the right man.

There was also another fact to consider... perhaps the right man didn't exist. Not in the Hyuuga family, anyhow. Neji knew that when they had been younger, Hinata had fancied Naruto, but that union was impossible. It stood to reason that, taking this into account, she might still be in love with him, therefore making this conversation pointless.

When you were in love with someone, he imagined, you wanted them to be your spouse. And talented as Neji was, even he could not magically transform the Kyuubi's host into a Hyuuga in a month. He couldn't at all, really, and he wasn't entirely certain that he would want to.

Spending a great deal of time with Naruto tended to give him a headache, as the boy was one constant stream of noise and energy in a compact form. It disrupted Neji's blissfully quiet existence, and if he were to be forced to interact with Naruto on a daily basis, he might begin to lead a bit of a stressed life.

Amused despite himself, he had to work to keep his lips flattened lest Hinata think he was mocking her.

Her next words surprised him, and very little managed to surprise Neji these days. "Also... if he was not very ambitious... I would like that, too..."

The question had been asked before he could stop himself. "Why?"

Her complexion, which had paled with thought, reddened at his question. He was about to backpedal when she began fingering the sleeves of her kimono and responded, "I would like to learn how to be a good head of family... without my husband doing it for me. I-I mean, it would be wonderful to be able to do that together... but if at all possible, I want to be worthy of my title on my own."

The last was spoken on a whisper, and for a moment, Neji honestly did not know what to do. This sort of admission was not something he had expected to hear from Hinata. He considered her silently for a few beats and then nodded, feeling more respect for his timid little cousin than he had at the day's beginning. She was still trying to change herself, even after all these years.

Hinata might not have realized it, but in subtle ways, she had changed. That fact that right now, she could not only admit that she wasn't on the level she needed to be, but wanted to grow in spite of her obstacles, was an admirable thing. Even a week ago, he would not have believed this sort of thing possible from her.

She had an abundance of inner strength, but that was useless unless she realized it was there and utilized it. It seemed she was taking that step.

"Very well," he finally replied, angling his head toward her slightly. "I will consider that very carefully, Hinata-sama."

A grateful smile blossomed on her face, and his eyes were unconsciously drawn to the slight dimple that appeared over the right side of her mouth. It was funny how he hadn't noticed that before. Perhaps because she had never truly smiled at him? That would make sense.

Shaking his head slightly, he cleared his mind and focused on her forehead. Now was not the time to be thinking about Hinata's appearance. He had already established in his mind that she was attractive, and that would make it much more difficult to find a sincere husband for her. If she had not been quite so fair, it would have at least thinned out one sort of shallow man that would be vying for her attention.

Of course, the power seekers still remained, as well. He wouldn't allow someone to marry her simply to gain her social standing, however. He would marry her himself before he allowed that to happen.

Which was really just a ridiculous thought in and of itself.

"Neji?"

Blinking, he turned his attention back to Hinata. "Yes, Hinata-sama?"

She bit her lip, appeared to consider something, and then asked, "May I tell you something?"

Arching a thin, dark eyebrow, he nodded.

There was silence for a few more seconds as she appeared to bolster herself again. Conversations with this woman could take hours, he thought, almost fondly. And the funny thing was... he didn't think he would mind, all that much.

Interacting with people was bad for him, he decided. He could get entirely too used to it, and then when they went away (or were married, as the case would be with Hinata), he would need to find someone else to converse with. The only person that readily came to mind was Naruto.

He had already taken a stance on that particular subject, however.

"Um, if you don't mind my saying so... thank you... for standing up for me. It made me happy."

He stared.

Around Hinata, this reaction seemed to be frequent as of late. What was it about her that allowed her to catch him off guard so often?

-----------------------------

Hinata got the impression when Neji did nothing more than stare silently at her that she'd overstepped her bounds. She felt something slippery coil in her stomach and she immediately clasped her hands at the waist, bowing over them.

"I apologize."

She didn't dare look up, because she could still feel his eyes on her. What had possessed her to say that, anyhow? He had likely only defended her out of a sense of duty. True, Neji did not strike her as the type of man to say something he didn't mean, but that didn't give her license to bring it up and call attention to the fact. He might have wanted to forget all about it, and now she was making that impossible.

Worse, he might even regret it now, and here she was, reminding him of it. Now, being as honest as he was, he would tell her that doing so had been a mistake, and it would be of her own doing, so she couldn't, in good conscience, be upset about what she heard. Why did she always get herself into these messes? She was putting Neji into an uncomfortable position as well.

"You're welcome."

Slowly she lifted her face, looking up into his with no attempt to veil the surprise on her own. That was the last thing she had expected him to say.

She watched as he crossed his arms and glanced to one side, concentrating on a display of flowers. What he said next, she couldn't have prepared for -- wouldn't have thought possible even if someone had warned her beforehand.

"I am glad, Hinata-sama, that you were happy."

Her fingers stopped their restless movements and she didn't know what to do, say, or even think.

He seemed uncomfortable by the pause and dropped his arms, turning to face her with his brows drawn together just slightly. The look wasn't fierce, but she could sense that he did not want to discuss this any longer. She could understand. The subject was making her own stomach flutter with what she was almost certain was unease. Unease... and something else that she couldn't quite define.

Willing her features into a smile, Hinata replied, "Thank you, Neji."

He did nothing more in response to that than nod, and then bowed. "If you will excuse me, Hinata-sama, I have several important matters to attend to."

"Of course," she replied, feeling slightly guilty. She had kept him away from his work too long, hadn't she? "I understand."

Pausing, he watched her a moment and then turned, striding silently from the garden. It was the second time he had walked away from her on that same path, and both times, she had felt better for his coming.

She wondered if Neji knew how uplifting a person he was.

Probably not.

-----------------------------

This chapter took twice as long to write as any of the others because I am an injured woman! ;.; My fingers on my right hand got bent back playing basketball today, and they still haven't recovered. I couldn't bring myself to stay away from this fic, though. Thank you, everyone, for reading and sticking with me even though this is taking a long time. :D They're making a little progress though! (sweatdrops) If only Neji would put three and six together, what with all the hints that are beating him upside the head...

Next chapter will probably be a time gap of a week, I'm thinking. Not in me writing it, but fic timewise. XD Please check back soon for part six!