Neji leaned forward to wet the back of his hair, unsurprised as he heard the bathroom door creeping open. He stood on his toes to peer over the top of the shower door at the girl flopping down on a bench outside. She grinned when she saw.
"No better?" She asked and he shrugged, turning his attention back to washing. Hanabi crossed her legs, watching him.
"You're getting better. But the door hinges make noise." He said. "Are you out of school so soon?" He3 asked, wondering what time it was. It couldn't be afternoon already. hanabi shook her head.
"I was sent away early. Its so dumb!" She sulked a little. Neji raised an eyebrow, looking at her. "One of the boys in my class left his bag on the training ground, so i went into the showers to return it." Neji blinked, then started laughing. Hanabi glared. "Its NOT funny! I could be in trouble, the senseis got mad!" Neji controlled his amusement finally, shampooing his hair.
"Not everyone is as comfortable with co-ed showering, Hanabi. The boys might be modest." He said paitently. Hanabi just looked more confused. Neji felt a little sympathy. It wasn't easy for her to understand people from outside their clan, she had been the birth that killed her mother, and as such was very precious to his uncle and grandfather. She hadn't been exposed to other children until she began acadamy. Inside the compound modesty was foreign. Their shared genetic ability did not develop with good control, therefore no Hyuuga child grew without having seen everything their opposite sex kin had.
"They didn't have to get so upset though..." Hanabi said sullenly. Neji just shook his head.
"You'll gte used to it, just don't go into the boys shower room anymore." He said softly. If he would be honest with himself, Hanabi wasn't just the favorite of his uncle... it was hard not to adore her. He rinsed his hair carefully while Hanabi watched boredly. His forehead hurt a little, and he wondered if his uncle had already heard about Hanabi's "peeping"
"Are you coming out soon?" She asked. "I want to you to come play with me." She said, raising the pitch of her voice a little to play on her youth. Neji laughed at it.
"Soon enough." He promised and ran conditioner down his hair.
"Why don't you bend over to wash your hair? You and Daddy both do that standing up thing." She said, uncrossing her legs and swinging them back and forth.
"You want to look at my butt?" Neji teased and she laughed.
"No. but its weird. I wash mine bending over."
"If you bend over it puts more stress on your hair. It'll break easy." He explained and came out, taking the towel she held out. She thought about it and nodded while he started drying off and dressing. She seemed to be deep in thought and Neji turned to watch her while he wound the bandages back onto his head.
"Neji-niisan, I love you. you know that right?" She said suddenly. He nodded, mentally reminding himself that this weird insecurity was supposed to be normal for her age. It didn't help the amusement he felt. She DID ask this everytime she saw him.
"Yes Hanabi. And I love you too." He answered, feeling uncharacteristicly gentle.
"And Hinata loves you too." She told him. He nodded, wiping traces of facial cleaner off his cheek.
"And Daddy too. You know we all love you, right?" She asked. neji hesitated for a moment and sighed.
"Yeah. I know."
