Resistance.

The instance of opposing the will to act.

He knew what it meant and knew he had a tendency to do this. Still, that didn't substitute for knowing how to defeat it and act regardless of anything else. Despite all his attempts, he could never conquer this thing inside of him. There was nothing he could do besides sit back and resist.

But he didn't want this. He wanted something more.

The question was if he would ever get it.

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It had started out just as everyday had; Team Kurenai was training together as always. Shino was collecting bugs, Kiba was helping Akamaru perfect his 'Dynamic Air Marking' technique, and Hinata was wondering throughout the forest, staring in awe at all three of them. She wasn't really training like she said she would. After all, she had never trained with them before, so why should she start now?

At the moment, a conversation was taking place between her and Shino, and it had suddenly resulted in question on her part. She had asked Shino for his and Kiba's help with her training. It was a reasonable request, considering she was on their team and she had never asked them of anything before. So, of course, Shino did one of his silent nods, and continued on with his bugs.

It wasn't until later that Kiba was clued in. Almost instantaneously, he had known what a bad idea this was, but decided to keep that to himself. It was agreed that Hinata's training would start in the morning, and they then parted their ways.

On his way home, thousands of thoughts seemed to rush through Kiba's head at the same time, each one producing more and more thoughts. He didn't want to go through with this, but it wasn't like he could share this with his teammates. They, of course, would ask why, and this would only lead to the confession of his feelings for the Hyuuga. So, deciding to not say anything, he trudged down the street, dreading the next morning.

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Day one of training was completely different than what Kiba had anticipated. As he walked along side of Shino, he could feel it in the crispness of the air.

When they arrived at the Hyuuga residence, Hinata ran at them. She looked them both in the eyes, and at that moment, Kiba had noticed something about his teammate. The look in she had in her eyes had changed drastically. He had only seen this once before, and that was when she was battling Neji in the Chuunin Preliminaries for the Third Exam.

They came to their normal training spot, and Shino quickly took his place. He waited patiently for the other two to join him.

Kiba shot Hinata one last glance as if to say, 'You don't have to do this,' but, of course, she returned the look with one of fire and determination. She then took her place, opposite of Shino. The bug master was joined by the reluctant Kiba, and the training began.

Shino was up first, and he skillfully deployed a swarm of bugs, that sped towards Hinata. She was instantly surrounded by a cloud of insects, and reacted with a scream. She fell to the ground as they attacked her, as if trying to get them as far away from her as possible, and Shino hastily withdrew the army of bugs.

With a small amount of effort, she was back on her feet once more. She signaled for another attack to come her way. Shino pulled out what seemed like thousands of kunai knives.

Resistance. The thing Kiba hated the most, but at this moment it seemed to be working out for the better. He didn't want to hurt Hinata. It wasn't in his nature to harm someone he was close too.

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Shino glaring at him, impatiently waiting for him to copy his gesture. Kiba's hand was stiffened, and it seemed as if it wouldn't move. Sweat trickled down the back of his neck, as he slowing did the same.

Simultaneously, they both hurled the kunai in Hinata's direction.

Most of the projectiles hit their target, and both could see the blood seeping from her body. Her jacket was now spotted with blood, and she dropped to her knees. Kiba hesitated once again, feeling guilty about what he had just done and what he was about to do. While Hinata slowly got up, he mentally prepared for the attack he was about to unleash on her.

"Gatsuuga!"

He signaled Akamaru, and they formed two began spinning ferociously at Hinata. She didn't even try to move, she just stood there blankly. She was seemingly waiting for the physical pain that she knew would be upon her any moment.

She screamed as a rain of beastlike attacks hit their mark perfectly. She could feel the skin on her arm tearing and the blood flowing from it. She flew back a few feet, and lay still in the swaying grass. Kiba stopped immediately and, with Shino on his heels, ran to help her.

"If you really care about me, the please come at me seriously!" she cried in between gasps for air.

They both stopped in their tracks. She was right.

They knew how determined she was, they could see it in every movement she made. She wanted to get stronger. Neither said a word, and finally Kiba reluctantly nodded his head.

"Got it," he mumbled, even though he had no real intention to come at her seriously. Of course he cared for her; that was a given. But weren't you supposed to protect the people you care about, not hurt them?

The small smirk she gave off reassured him and he hurriedly cleared the negative thoughts from his mind, and took his place, preparing for another attack.

The day seemed to drag on, and with each attack that they made, Kiba felt worse and worse. His heart went out to her as she continued to get up. Although she had begun to attempt an attack back, it was never enough to beat out what was coming to her. At that precise moment, it didn't seem like Hinata was accomplishing anything besides getting hurt.

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Finally, to Kiba's relief, the sun began to set, and they departed from each other. Shino was the first to leave, quietly trudging back towards the Aburame household. Hinata caught her breath and started walking in the opposite direction, with Kiba silently on her heels.

About five steps into their walk, Hinata collapsed, unable to get up. Frantically, Kiba knelt down beside his comrade and gently shook her. Her eyes gradually met his, heavy from the pain that had been irritating her.

He looked around for any sign of help, but there was none. Everyone was inside their houses, warm and cozy. They wouldn't be out at this hour.

How Kiba wished that Shino had come with them. He should've known this was going to happen. Why did he suspect that Hinata could walk home by herself? She couldn't even stand up straight.

He collected her in his arms, and marveled at how incredibly light she was. As he took his first few steps, he was alarmingly cautious so as to not trip or fall. That would only make things all the more worse.

Kiba began to take faster steps, feeling the weight of his friend begin to tire his arms. His pace hastened and they were soon at Hinata's residence.

Neji was in the courtyard throwing kicks and punches at the air. Hearing the sound of Kiba's footsteps, he stopped and glanced at the two.

"What'd you do?" he asked sarcastically, without much worry in his voice.

That made Kiba feel real good. Yet another person was making him feel guilty.

"Nothing. She just fainted on the way over here."

The Hyuuga prodigy nodded. "Follow me."

He led Kiba into what he suspected was Hinata's room. It was a dully lit room that contained only a bed and a small dresser where her clothes were stored.

Neji left him alone with Hinata still in his arms. He gently set her down on the bed, careful not to wake her. He flipped the light switch off, and silently turned to leave.

"Kiba-kun?"

Once again, her voice had stopped him in his tracks. Her eyes were still closed, but they seemed to be drilling through the ceiling above her. He swallowed the lump that was harboring in his throat.

"Yeah?" he managed.

"Thanks."

Here was the classic moment: boy saves girl and returns her to her home, girl thanks boy, and then boy kisses girl or sometimes the other way around. Kiba knew about this, he had heard about it so many times from his peers that claimed to be in this particular predicament.

Of course, Kiba was not like most of his peers. He had frozen up. He didn't know what to do, or how to do it.

Walk out the door, Kiba, he told himself. Just walk.

His feet wouldn't move. It felt like they were nailed to the floor. Moving wasn't an option. He had to do something, and fast.

The demon within him had escaped and it was thrusting its wrath upon him. He was resisting, and he knew it. Everything was in his head; he was just chickening out. Or in other words resisting.

He took a step towards her. He could see her face now. The look on it appeared as if she knew his pain and was mocking him because of it.

One more step.

His legs felt like they were melting, if he didn't do something quick, he'd be a puddle on her floor.

The inner war raged on. Every step he took became harder and harder, but soon he was standing at the edge of her bed.

For a moment, Kiba just stared at her face, her beautiful, innocent face. It seemed peaceful, as if she was feeling no pain whatsoever. He bent over till he was almost an inch away from her face. He could feel the warmth of her breath.

This was it. The moment he had been constantly thinking about. He had pictured it about a million times, but none of those times seemed as terrifying as the real thing.

He swallowed every bit of fear he had and moved in closer.

He resisted no more…………….

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