Sasuke groaned, squinting at the door as the knocking got louder. He pushed himself up, yawning as he opened it. It took him a moment to focus on the person and a moment more to realize the person looked very upset because this was not his door. This was Hinata's front door.
That would teach him not to do that.
Sasuke held a finger up to Neji before he could start to yell. "Let me wake her up."
Neji pushed past him into her apartment. "I will do that, thank you." He demanded pointedly.
Sasuke put his hand up in defense. He couldn't do anything more until Hinata got up, and she was in for a rude awakening. He heard muffled mumbling from the two for a few moments that turned into low yelling and then finally. "I can do it myself! Go wait in the living room!" Sasuke head whipped for the hall as Neji came out of it. "And leave Sasuke-san alone until I get out there!" Was shouted before Neji could close the door.
Neji at least had the decency to look ashamed as he came back to the hall and sat down.
Sasuke started to make her a coffee. Hinata was going to need it.
"How long have you been here?" Neji deliberately disobeyed.
Sasuke gave him a look. "I'll tell on you." Yeah, he was going to be a child about it. Neji woke him up. He spent all day yesterday ripping things out of the dojo. He wanted to sleep in.
Hinata rolled down the hall just in time for Sasuke to set her down a finished coffee. She took a sip and sat the cup down, giving Neji her attention. "Now you can throw a tantrum."
Neji's face twitched, debating if he would do just that. "How long has this been happening?"
"I was going to tell you when you got back," Hinata assured him. "You haven't visited since you blew up about my hospitalization, and I didn't want to tell you then because you were already upset."
"He was living here then!?" Neji jabbed his finger at him.
"He took care of me, so I didn't have to stay at the hospital." Hinata waved her hand. Sasuke was going to assume this was normal behavior for Neji, or else Hinata wouldn't be so calmly sipping her coffee. "Honestly, I'm surprised you didn't figure that out. I don't have anyone else."
"Then why is he here now?" Neji demanded, turning his glare to Sasuke.
Sasuke raised his eyebrows. Should they tell him? Was this the moment? Hinata answered his silent questions by turning her eyes down into her cup and waiting for the screaming. "I'm staying here until we finish construction on our house."
Neji's face filtered from anger at his smart-ass tone to confusion as he processed the sentence, then his mouth hung open. "'Our' house?"
Hinata sighed. "We bought a house together. It's not that serious."
"How is that not serious?" Neji demanded.
Hinata pointed at the couch. "Notice that he is sleeping on the couch. We aren't sleeping together. Why is living in the same house an issue for you?" Woah, she was going to address that directly?
Neji's chest puffed up with frustration. "I looked over you being associating with Sasuke Uchiha because he protected you, but…"
"Don't you dare finish that sentence." Hinata snapped at him. "Do not pretend that if it were any other man, you would be completely fine with it." Sasuke pressed his lips together to keep down his smile. Watching Hinata blow up on her cousin was far more entertaining than watching her snap at the entitled old man.
Neji backtracked quickly. "I told you I could move in with you."
"Sasuke-san and I are moving in together because it benefits both of us." Hinata gestured at Sasuke. "We've been having a lot of fun renovating."
"When you don't hit me with boards," Sasuke commented.
"I told you it was coming down. You didn't listen." That argument already came and gone, all while Hinata laughed at him for not dodging it. Sasuke had a bruised shoulder and ego to show for it.
Neji chewed on his thoughts. "Do you need help?"
Hinata's eyebrows shot up. Neji didn't like that he suggested it instead of continuing to argue, but realistically they already bought the house. They were already living together. What would he do about it now other than make sure he could monitor it?
"Someone with two working hands and legs would be useful," Sasuke commented, getting a dirty look for his mild disabled joke. Oh, just wait. Hinata got really giggly after a few hours of hard labor, and her jokes could get worse than his.
Hinata's lips pierced. "I don't want everything to turn into a fight."
Neji lowered his head. "I promise."
Hinata huffed. "Fine. If you two can behave yourselves."
"What did I do?" Sasuke asked.
"You instigate," Hinata told him pointedly. "Don't start anything."
"But he'll make it so easy." Sasuke's smirk grew with Neji's glare.
"Be the bigger person," Hinata suggested, knowing better. She rolled her eyes. "What am I saying? Just don't kill each other." She finished her coffee. "Why did you come?" She asked her cousin.
Hinata giggled. "It's still not straight."
"You want to come up here and do it?" Sasuke snapped, holding the panel over his head.
Neji glared at him, debating on dropping the panel on his head.
Once they got the panel up, they both came down and accepted an offering from the cooler. Hinata opened Sasuke's and then waved her hands down toward herself. "Your clip's falling out."
Sasuke lowered his head to her to let her pull out the clip holding back his bangs and ran her fingers back through his hair, and repositioned the clip. Sasuke caught Neji's glower and gave him a smug grin when she turned back to her cooler.
Sasuke plopped down by her chair and looked up at the wall. "It looks straight."
"Yeah, now." Hinata giggled. "I'm grateful that Neji-san is here. Everything would be crooked."
Neji rolled his neck and reluctantly followed Sasuke to the floor.
"Yeah, but it would be done faster," Sasuke grumbled.
"How many more panels?" Hinata rested back in her chair.
"Three." "Four." Neji and Sasuke gave each other a look. Sasuke grinned. Competition.
Hinata sighed.
"He hasn't killed you yet?" Naruto asked, pouring Sasuke a shot of sake.
Sasuke shrugged. "Not from lack of trying." He knocked back the shot. "But Hinata nearly gave him a heart attack when she started building cabinets. His heart rate shot up every time he heard the saw."
"Saw?" Naruto made a face.
"It's on a table. She just has to measure and pull it down." Sasuke mimed. "She gets covered in sawdust, and it gets all through her hair." It was really adorable how proud of her setup she was. Saw horses were the perfect height for her to reach over. At the angle, she could back up with a full board in her lap and not run into anything to get to the saw.
Naruto raised an eyebrow kicking back his own shot and wincing at it. "Are you going to tell her?"
"Tell her what?" Sasuke sat back in his chair.
Naruto waved his hand at him. Sasuke gave him the face he usually did when Naruto didn't make sense. "That you like her."
Sasuke rolled his eyes. "I think you and I addressed that already."
"You're going to live together…" Naruto reasoned.
"We are already living together." Sasuke corrected.
Naruto sighed. "The point is, moving in together is only going to make the situation more complicated if you don't figure this out now. What if she doesn't feel the same? You think she is going to feel comfortable if you live with her for six months and then tell her?"
Sasuke hummed. Naruto couldn't just drop it, could he? Why did he come out with him if it was just going to be a lecture?
"I just don't want you two to lose this thing you've got going on. And I don't want her to feel weird about if she interprets it as nefarious planning on your part." Naruto further pours another shot.
"Do you only use vocabulary words when you're drinking, or is it because you are trying to give me unsolicited advice?" Sasuke deflected downing his own.
"Stop avoiding the topic. This is important." Naruto pressured. "She deserves to know."
"Why are you so interested in this?" Sasuke snapped at him.
"Because she waited too long before." Naruto looked down at his filled shot tilting it thoughtfully. "I… I want her to be happy."
"This has nothing to do with what happened to do with you two." Sasuke rested his arm across his abdomen, not outpacing Naruto's drinking.
"Maybe," Naruto said skeptically. "But, I know you."
"Not enough to shut up." Sasuke rocked his head to the side.
Naruto's eyes narrowed, and he took his shot. "You used to fight for what you want. What changed?" He poured them both another.
"Some things you lose when you hold too tight," Sasuke admitted.
"Hinata's not like that." Naruto pushed him his shot.
Sasuke raised his eyebrow. He was pushing them to drink more? Sasuke eyed him, skeptically clicking his shot glass to Naruto's. What was he up to?