Hinata sat in the kitchen with the odd spiced tea mixture. She couldn't say she disliked it, but it didn't feel comforting like a simple cup of green tea. She should have thought about packing some. She should have thought about asking for recipes. Most of the food in the cupboards she didn't know what to do with.

Suna probably had amazing food when someone who knew how to make it was cooking. Maybe that's what her host was used to, and that's why he wouldn't touch the tray she put outside his room. She wasn't sure if he ever came out to eat, she didn't see much food go missing from the cabinets, but then again, she wasn't monitoring.

Hinata couldn't even use her Byakugan to see if he was still in there. She discovered that when she tried to check to see if Kankuro and Temari were out of her range yet. The very fiber of the structure was infused with chakra. She couldn't see through it. It was like being in a blinding box.

Was this what her life was going to be? Spending endless days alone in this house with nothing more than the sound of the wind and the occasional scuff or thunk coming from his room to keep her company.

It could be worse. Hinata needed to remember that. Her father could have sent her to worse men than one that would simply ignore her, but as the days drew on, she wondered what the purpose of asking for a permanent companion was if he was only to ignore them?

Hinata poured the rest of the cup down the sink and washed the cup. Maybe she would be bolder and explore today. She would have to at some point.

Hinata filled the cup and took it with her back to her room to give to her poor plant. It was suffering in the heat, and there wasn't much she could do other than keep moving it and hoping that it would survive another day.

She walked back to her room, up to the window, set something down on the sill, and then folded her arms on the sill again. It was a routine she did every day, sometimes multiple times a day. From the amount of water she took to it, it was clear it was a plant, but he wondered what kind would take that much water and not die.

'You could find out.' A rumble encouraged him.

Gaara tightened into his ball with his arms around his knees, looking at the door between him and her world. He knew so much and so little about her.

Her footsteps were light. She could spend hours sitting in one spot. She set a tray out for every meal. He kept thinking she would stop, but she didn't. She just took the uneaten tray and put down a new one.

She even tried to catch him peaking out of the door, waiting at the end of the hall. They must not have told her that he could feel the whole house. Would she feel uncomfortable if she knew? People were usually uncomfortable when they found out. Not that many came to visit.

'Are you going to keep her as an aquarium pet?' Shukaku wondered.

"This was your idea." Gaara's eyes shifted away from the door as she moved to sit on her bed, and her feet disappeared from his range of feeling.

Shukaku didn't respond to his jab. 'You will have to talk to her at some point.'

Gaara buried the lower half of his face into his knees as he looked at the door again. She suddenly got back up and opened her door, padding back down the hall quicker than she usually would. Gaara flinched back as she passed his door and breathed out a shaking breath as he realized how terrified he was that she was going to come to confront him. "Where is she going?"

'Courtyard.' Shukaku guessed.

Her footsteps slowed as she passed the kitchen and door to the courtyard, toward a hall that she hadn't been down before. Her hand grazed the wall as she explored, finding nothing but empty rooms with no doors. She paused in the first few before realizing she wouldn't find anything in them. Eventually, she wrapped around until she came back to the kitchen again, bypassing the only door on the way to the back.

She took the full circle again, pausing at the back door this time but not going through. She padded back to her room and her bed, ending her sporadic exploration for the night.

It was the first time she decided to try to explore since she got here.

Did this mean she was getting more comfortable?

'Or uncomfortable.' Shukaku countered. 'Humans don't like being caged animals. You should know what that feels like.'

Hinata sighed another full tray. She thought about stopping, but if he was going to be stubborn about not eating it, she was going to be stubborn about leaving it for him, but that wasn't the problem of today. She had a request, and she didn't know how else to ask. She was warned not to open the door, and she was not having a conversation through it. She wasn't even sure he would answer if she called.

She wrote a simple note, folded it once, slid it under the door, and left his dinner, returning to hers in the kitchen.

When she came by again, the tray was still full, but the slip of paper was back under the door. Hinata picked it up, expecting to be disappointed, but found a simple sloppy kanji reply. 'By your door.'

Hinata blinked, looking back in the direction of the kitchen. There was no way he came out, fulfilled her request, and got back in without her hearing him. Maybe he meant that's where he would put it, or that's what she thought until she found a bigger plant pot sitting in front of her door. She picked it up, expecting clay, but it felt rough, like the walls and everything else.

More sand, Suna really knew how to use their environment. How did this even hold together? Hinata brought it into her room and realized her mistake. She was going to need more potting soil. Well, maybe she could make that request tomorrow. She wasn't going to push her luck today.

Hinata held the pot up beside the potted plant, and only at that moment did she realize she hadn't told him what size pot she needed, just 'bigger.' He made a good guess of size.

Gaara waited against the wall next to the door for his next note. She had asked for more potting soil, then a trowel, then a pole to keep the plant upright, then string to tie the plant. At this point, he determined that she was keeping this back and forth going on purpose, or she was terribly forgetful of what she might need.

Soon the game would be over, and he wouldn't know what to do next. Gaara curled around himself as she padded toward the door with her latest request, she slid it under the door, and he rolled forward to reach for it but reeled back as a clatter on the other side of the door startled him. He curled back around himself as she huffed an annoyed sigh and cleaned up the tray she tripped over on her knees.

She paused in the middle of collecting dishes and just sat there for a moment.

Gaara waited for her to make a sudden move or curse like his sister did, but instead, he heard soft whimpers and a sharp sniff before she finished cleaning up and took the tray back to the kitchen.

She was crying.

'Should have eaten. The tray wouldn't have been there.' Shukaku chastised him.

Hinata took another nap after breakfast. It was becoming a habit that she was sure wasn't healthy, but she had read through the small collection of books in the house, and if she was going to be here for a while, she didn't want to make herself sick of them. She would have to ask for more books from Temari and Kankuro, but that would still mean she would have to wait until they got back again with them.

Maybe this was a form of hell.

It was too hot during the morning to train, so she had to wait for the evening. She wasn't even sure what she was training for anymore. Did it matter?

That's what she asked herself anytime she was moving through her day. Did it matter?

Hinata wondered what day would be too much for her. It hadn't been a month yet, but it felt like it had been. She should get up and make lunch. It was time. Just do it.

Hinata got up off her bed, taking a moment to splash water on her face before slipping down the hall to pick up the abandoned tray in the hall and take it with her to the kitchen. She set it down a little too hard and blinked, opening the lid to realize the food was gone.

Did he actually eat?