Day 25: I trust you

Hinata thought about what she could do in order to gain Sasuke's trust back.

It was a difficult thing to do, as she never really even knew why he accepted what he considered to be a confession on her part so easily. The only thing she knew was that she had hurt him, and part of her hoped, despite how scummy it was, that the reason for such was that he had grown not to be so indifferent towards her after all.

It was a double-edged sword because, on one hand, having his affections meant not everything was lost, but it also meant his hurt would run deeper, and thus be more difficult to heal.

Quite a predicament she had found herself in. If only there was someone she could ask… of course there was Sakura and Ino, but somehow Hinata felt their advice wouldn't exactly be what she needed. Not with Sasuke, at least.

"Hinata-sama."

The girl looked up, finding her cousin walking towards her under the soft orange glow of the setting sun. He looked a bit winded, although still somehow graceful in both appearance and movements. By the small red tint glowing on his cheeks, Hinata assumed he had come from training.

"Neji-niisan… good work" she told him with a small bow, to which he replied with a nod.

"It's rare seeing you wandering around the house at this time… I'm done with my training for today, would you care for a cup of tea?"

Hinata had to physically stop herself from gaping. It wasn't like these invitations from Neji were unheard of, but after years of a strained relationship, it was just too… strange to hear him take the initiative, even after years of them building their relationship from the ground back up.

"I would… like that, Neji-niisan."

She could use the occasion to freshen up her mind as well. With so much worrying, surely no good idea on how to get back on Sasuke's good side would occur to her.

The two of them walked towards the kitchen in complete silence. When they reached it, Neji grabbed the kettle first and filled it with water, while Hinata searched for tea and cups. They sat down, one on either side of the kitchen counter as they waited for the water to boil. Naturally, no conversation started.

What could they even talk about?

"Are things going fine with your training, Hinata-sama?" the sudden question caught her off guard. When she looked up, Neji was gazing at her with a neutral expression. Regardless, she could see his genuine attempt at making things a little less awkward between them, and so she responded in kind.

"Ah, yes, I suppose they are…"

"I haven't had a lot of time to ask before, but from what I understand, you're teammates with the second child of the Inuzuka clan head and the heir to the Aburame clan, no?" Hinata nodded. "How do you find them? Are they good training partners? The Aburame clan in particular possesses impressive capabilities with their kikauchu, both in fighting prowess as well as…"

He kept talking, Hinata allowing it without daring to interrupt, happy to simply hear his voice. Her cousin was always most comfortable when talking about training and bettering oneself as a ninja. In that way, he reminded her so much of Sasuke, who also loved talking about training. The enthusiasm they showed despite their normally stoic and serious exteriors when it came to this was simply heartwarming.

Without realizing it, she chuckled.

"Did I say something funny, Hinata-sama?" Neji asked, truly curious and a bit confused, not at all annoyed at having her cut him off in the middle of his talk. Hinata blushed, raising her hands and waving them frantically in front of her face.

"N-Not at all, nii-san! I'm sorry that I interrupted you. Please continue" she asked, bowing her head. Neji tilted his own, watching her with a bemused expression.

"I don't mind. You don't need to be so formal about it" he said gently. Hinata shook her head, causing him to sigh. "I can see your mind is elsewhere. What were you thinking of, instead of listening?"

Being caught, Hinata raised her head and gasped. "I was listening! It's just… just…" she murmured, glancing away. She could feel her cousin's eyes on her, waiting patiently, and so she finally decided to simply admit; "the way you talked about training… it reminded me of someone."

"A good someone, I assume" it was meant to be a statement, but it sounded more like a question. Hinata nodded, glancing up at him.

"It's funny because he's just like you, nii-san. Serious but when it comes to training his eyes shine and he can talk about it for hours, except he prefers to actually train. I don't know if I ever saw anything else catch his attention like that…" she mused, eyes glancing behind her cousin's shoulder.

The kettle sounded at that moment, and Neji stood up to grab it. He poured hot water on both their cups, despite Hinata trying to fill her own, and once that was done, he sat back down, grabbing his tea and blowing softly on it.

After a gulp, he asked; "he?"

Luckily, Hinata had still not touched her tea, or she might have choked on it or spill it and burn herself. She sputtered. "I-I…!"

"That reaction tells me it's not one of your teammates you're speaking of" he said calmly, putting down his cup and closing his eyes. "Or maybe it is but the relationship is a bit different?"

"It's not one of my teammates!"

"There's no reason to become so flustered, Hinata-sama" he opened one eye, a small smirk playing on the corner of his mouth. "I have not said anything to warrant this reaction, I believe."

Hinata pouted, because even though he was right, and she was basically just putting her foot in her mouth by behaving like this, it was still…

"It's not really any of my business" Neji kept on talking, catching her attention again. "I won't deny I'm curious, but I also don't want to trouble you further. I know I don't have the right."

The last sentence was said with a saddened but resigned smile that tugged at Hinata's heartstrings. Her cousin was really trying, while she…

"Please don't say that, nii-san. You could never…" she bit her lip, her hands reaching for the cup but not lifting it, just allowing the warmth to seep into her hands. "I'm sorry for being difficult. I understand you didn't mean anything of what you said back then, and yet…"

"Ah, but I did mean it" he clarified, voice strained. Her surprised eyes found his, and he let out a sigh. "I don't think like that anymore, but at the moment, I truly meant everything I said" he admitted, face getting red out of shame.

Hinata swallowed.

'I guess a spoiled princess like you, who had never faced hardship in her life, would be unable to understand it…'

'Why are you different? What is it about you that makes you so special?'

'You are a nuisance! If you truly wanted to offer me peace, then you would leave me alone!'

'A princess that wants to play at being a servant… at least I know my place.'

"I was angry. At you, at uncle, at life" he continued, glancing down, hands surrounding the cup just as she was. "I did not like Hanabi-sama better, but at the very least she was strong, an embodiment of what the Hyuuga truly were. But you?" he shook his head slowly. "I just couldn't understand it. I couldn't accept it."

"That's fine. I could barely understand it myself" she whispered, her hands clenching around the ceramic. "It hurts, especially given the looks of pity or censure the rest of the family keep giving me, but I'm glad that Hanabi took over my position as heiress in that fight. She deserves it more than I ever did."

"You let her win" Neji frowned. Hinata smiled weakly.

"I wasn't going to hurt my little sister."

"Everyone noticed except Hanabi-sama herself. It wasn't that you weren't strong. You lacked the determination, and that's what sealed your fate" Neji recounted.

Hinata shrugged. "It was liberating. The role of a princess… it was never one I desired."

A small silence formed between them. It wasn't the first time they spoke of this, of Neji's anger and resentment, along with his regret. Of Hinata's fight with Hanabi, the one that robbed her of her title as heiress. That day when her father had pitted her against her cousin so Hanabi could observe and learn, where she had provoked him unintentionally and all the ugly feelings inside him had broken free, seemed so far away now. So far away, but still affecting them so intricately.

She wanted for them to move past that, to recover their relationship and treat each other normally. Hinata knew she was the main culprit behind the tension pervading every single one of their interactions, and that she needed to be better, to speak up her true feelings and learn how to trust Neji again…

…the same way she wanted Sasuke to trust in her.

"Hinata-sama?" Neji's voice brought her back from the epiphany she just had, the one that caused her eyes to widen enough that it must have caught his attention. She looked at him, finding him observing her with a concerned face. "Is everything alright? What I said… did I hurt you again with my words?"

"You did" she answered, surprising them both. But she had decided that she was going to be honest, because otherwise, how could she ever trust him again, unless she made sure he could trust her and her words too? "I had thought… no, I actually wanted to think that you hadn't meant any of what you said, back then…" she confessed nervously.

Neji nodded. "I see. I apologize if I ever gave you the wrong idea, Hinata-sama. But please be reassured, as I stated previously, that I don't think that way anymore. Hiashi-sama told me the whole truth, and since then and through observation, this time without the veil of resentment that always clouded my judgment, I could see the wrong of my own thinking. Hinata-sama, you…" he closed his eyes, inhaling deeply through the mouth, "you are not any of what I accused you to be. You, like I, are trapped by the constraints of this family, even if in a different form. I'm sorry for everything."

"That's part of what I don't really like about you" she said in response to his words, causing him to open his eyes and look at her with confusion. "This talk of fate and constraints… it's so depressing."

"It is our reality" he said, softly. She shook her head.

"It shouldn't have to be. And I don't accept it. I shall not accept it" her voice becoming even more determined with every sentence, she looked at Neji without blinking. "Neji-niisan, I… I understand your pain, and the reason you took over this way of thinking. I couldn't bring myself to forget about what you said that day because, for a long time, I thought the same. That I was trapped in a role I couldn't do anything about because it was my fate, my reality. But I see now that we don't need to be restrained by these rules that have nothing to do with us. You've seen it as well, no? Otherwise, you wouldn't have rose as high as you did"

She smiled, thinking of all the times she watched her cousin training, even before either of them knew the truth behind her uncle's passing. Growing stronger every day, intuitively learning techniques that were forbidden to him because of his status as a branch family member…

No one shone as bright as her cousin, not even Namikaze Naruto.

That was a fact.

"I… I don't know" he whispered, clearly completely at odds on how to react to her statement. "Regardless of what you said, it doesn't…"

"Why not?" she interrupted. "I think… it is possible. We are both already outside those rules, somehow, no? And we still have time… our whole lives, to change it however we want. Isn't that enough?"

Neji didn't speak, instead glancing down towards his cup with a pensive expression. Hinata also didn't say anything, knowing her words would need time to settle in her cousin's mind. In reality, although she had probably unconsciously thought them as well, never had they taken a solid form as they did now. But she was glad for them, and because, for the first time in a long while, she could see the light at the end of the tunnel that was her broken relationship with Neji.

And maybe an opportunity to make things right with Sasuke, as well.