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Hinata and Neji were sitting in the tearoom, the door open to let in the smell of rain. They were supposed to train together, they decided to just sit and talk, even though there wasn’t much talking. Both of them sat in silence and both were okay with that.
With Neji being a jonin, he hadn’t been able to do this much, so Hinata had thanked him quietly by pouring his tea for him. Neji thanked Hinata with a nod of her head and began to sip away at the warmed tea. There never was much they could talk about, but Neji knew what she would want.
“Today is Naruto’s birthday,” Neji said quietly, looking over his teacup to see Hinata freeze for a moment as she began to pour her own drink. She took a deep breath and looked over to Neji, knowing her blush was present.
“Is it? I didn’t know that…” Hinata stated. Feeling a little awkward, she began to look at the door behind him.
Neji chuckled inwardly. He knew Hinata would know when his birthday was, but went along with the innocent act.
“I heard he is going to be coming back to the village soon. No one knows when though. It makes me wonder how he is doing.”
Hinata’s face turned an even deeper red. She kept her gaze behind Neji, but her hand began to shake a little. Neji wouldn’t be the guy he was if he didn’t notice the tremors. He sighed and placed the cup on the table in front of them.
“I am not going to judge you if you like him. It is kind of refreshing to hear that in this day and age.”
Hinata smiled softly, finally looking Neji in the eyes.
“He means a lot to me.” She finally said aloud, feeling much better after saying it. Neji nodded his head, picking the teacup back up to swirl the liquid in it.
“He is a good person overall. I sometimes regret the way I was cold towards him.” He stated simply. The younger Hyuuga nodded, happy to have heard that.
“You know, if you tell him that I am pretty sure he would put it all behind him.” Hinata commented, wondering what Neji was going to say. It took him a while to be this complacent, to be this relaxed. She was still fascinated about how much he had changed in the past few years. It was like after the fight with Naruto, he had started to slowly change from the angered, self centered boy to this teenager before her.
“Maybe one day I will. I am sure he does not hold anything against me. He seems like that type of guy.” Neji agreed before sipping at his tea. He began to shift the way he was sitting to get a little more comfortable.
“Well… I’m glad then.” Hinata spoke gently.
“As much as I respect you, Neji-san, I like the idea of anyone being nicer to Naruto-kun. He deserves it. I am glad for both of you.”
Neji was a little confused. He looked over to Hinata as if to ask what she had meant. She took a sip of her tea, understanding why Neji was taken aback by that.
“If you apologize to Naruto-kun, then it shows the steps you’ve made to better yourself. Do not think that I have not noticed, you are trying to better yourself as well.”
Neji didn’t know what to say. It was weird how he went from trying to kill her during their first Chuunin exams to having tea together. Neji nodded his head in thanks.
“Thank you. It is always good to know that someone notices.” Neji said, bringing the tea to his lips.
The rain had finally stopped.