Authors Note:Hello readers! This was my very first one shot fic. Yeah, I know what you're thinking. "FIRST ONESHOT?!" I have a bit of a problem with shortening stories, and prefer to write lengthy chapters and such.
Anyway, this was a NaruHina one shot fic I did for my buddy on Deviant Art. She requested 'a humorous NaruHina, set before timeskip'. Due to Hinatas birthday falling a few days after Christmas, I decided to place it in the filler arcs as far as time.
Please note that Shino and Kiba are out of character for humor and 4th wall purposes in this fic, and that this fic assumes Hinata and Shino were friends during their academy days.
Please enjoy! Think of it as a late Christmas contribution.
Disclaimer: Just once, I want to try this; I OWN ALL CHARACTERS IN THIS FIC, BECAUSE MY NAME IS MASASHI KISHIMOTO-SAN! ...does anyone actually buy that story?
THE AVOIDED GIFT...
Christmas had come and gone for the people of Konoha. Never the biggest displayers of the holiday spirit, it wasn't even two days before every festive decoration had come and gone from the various establishments, and the usual activities of Konoha resumed in full. Today, on the 28th of December, the last of Christmas was seen being moved from the streets, causing a familiar Hyuuga Heiress' mood to change from quiet and shy, to plain gloomy.
Hinata, Kiba, and Shino strolled down the street, wary of the vanishing season before them as they made their way to the training field in which their sensei was apparently waiting for them. "I can't believe what a great Christmas that was." Kiba exclaimed wildly, scratching his puppy Akamaru on the head, who barked happily in return. "Mom got me a really awesome flak jacket to wear in place of my old ripped one. This one has almost five times the durability, and even came with a snack compartment for Akamaru. Heh. Akamaru even got some neat things."
Shino pushed his glasses further upon his nose. "Oh? What such things?"
"Heehee." The dog-like shinobi rubbed his nose. "Lets' just say Konoha has one less free cat."
This comment made Shino stop suddenly, and raise an eyebrow at his comrade. "You fed Akamaru a cat for Christmas?"
"Nah." Replied Kiba, not even turning around, although stopping all the same. "He could never eat a whole cat. He's too small. ...it was a kitten."
A large bead of sweat ran down Shinos' face. "Kiba...I had no idea that as a dog fanatic, you do do such a cruel thing to a helpless--" His soon-to-be rant, something that never happened before due to his usual content with his group, was suddenly interrupted by a squeaking noise. Kiba turned to his friend, Akamaru chewing on a rubber squeaky kitten on top of his hood. This was followed by a loud and powerful face-fault into the ground by Shino.
"Hahaha! You so completely bought that, Shino!" Kiba yelled in glee.
Rising to his feet, Shino dusted himself off from the encounter with an out of character face-fault. "That was unusual." Shino said, clearing his throat. He didn't tell his friends, but he had this ominous feeling that he was no longer in control of his character, almost as though someone had just written in the face-fault as part of a bad humor story.
"So Shino, what did you get?" Kiba asked, grabbing the squeaky toy from the puppy before it got too annoying.
"Nothing in particular." replied the insect charmer. "An ant farm, a butterfly net, the usual. Hinata, you haven't said a word since we left your house. Is everything okay?"
The sheepish girl looked up from her long session of staring at the ground. "Oh...um...it's nothing. Just..."
"...Wait!" Kiba spoke up. "Todays' your birthday! Now I remember! Ah, that's awesome Hinata!"
"Not really." Shino whispered to the dog boy, making sure his voice was low so Hinata couldn't hear. "She has this ongoing thought that her birthday is cursed."
"Explain."
"...very well, but you have to live with the fact that you just invoked another flashback."
December 28th, three years ago...
"So Hinata." asked a younger Shino. "What do you want for your birthday this year?"
Hinata blushed brightly at this question. "Um...Well..." Just as soon as she began to speak up, Naruto walked up to her, holding something horribly smelling in a lunch box of some sort.
"YO! Hinata! I heard its your birthday today, so I made you my special ramen cake!"
Both Shino and Hinata cringed at the smell emanating from the bento box. It smelled so horrible, that they were both almost certain they could see the waves of stench coming from it.
"N-Naruto-kun! You shouldn't have!" She had to force herself to smile while saying this, as she was on the verge of getting sick. Naruto handed her the bento and threw his hands behind his head.
"It's okay! I make one for everyone on their birthdays! Just because I don't know you that well doesn't mean I just up and forget ya! Go on and try it. I wanna see if ya like it!"
Shino muttered something about Hinata just having been condemned to death with that request, knowing that Hinata wouldn't deny anything to Naruto. The girl began to open the box, and the horrid stench increased tenfold.
Everything was a blur to her the moment after taking a bite of the questionable food. She only recalled an incredibly forced 'yum' to Naruto, and after his leave, blacking out.
End Flashback
"...and he figured since she was the 'only one who said yum rather than repulsing it in his face', he'd make it for her every year as a sort of thank you. THAT is why her birthday is a curse in her opinion."
"GAH!" yelped Kiba. "I REMEMBER that year when Naruto learned to make that ramen cake shit! We all told him never to do that to us again! Why didn't Hinata speak up abo--"" Kiba shut his mouth when Shino glared at his through his sunglasses, hinting at the girl behind him with a gloomy shadow hanging over her head. "Er--Wait, nevermind. I know."
"It's okay guys." Hinata said. "I mean, he got better at it in the past few years. Maybe this year he'll actually make it well."
"Or better yet, he'll forget your birthday altogether." Laughed Kiba, only to be elbowed in the gut by Shino.
"Hinata, don't let something like Naruto's bad cooking waver your happiness today. After all, we're planning a party for you." said Shino.
"Really?" Hinata asked. "You guys did that for me?"
It was Kiba's turn to elbow Shino this time. "It was SUPPOSED to be a secret, but yeah."
"In any case." Shino said, pushing up his glasses, and whipping Kiba upside the head with his hand, in classical Three Stooges Fashion. "All that's left is to actually go to the party, but it's not like that's the reason Kurenai-sensei called us. Certainly not." True to him being out of character at the moment, a large bead of sweat trickled down the bug charmers forehead.
Kiba scowled at his team mate. 'Oh, great. CERTAINLY you aren't fooling anyone, Shino. Geeze, what's wrong with you today? It's like you're no longer in control of his character, almost as though someone had just written in your earlier face-fault as part of a bad humor story!'
Chills ran down their spines the next moment, when a shrill voice called out to them from the far end of the street. "YO! HINATA-CHAN! I HAVE SOMETHING FOR YOU!"
"Oh snap, it's Naruto!" yelled Kiba, him and Akamaru alternating glances from left to right, frantically searching for a means of escape. He pointed down an alleyway to the next street over, and began to run in place nervously, not wanting to get caught up in the stench of Narutos cooking that would surely kill Akamaru this time. "Um...uh...Okay, Hinata, you and Shino go that way!" Before Hinata could reply, Kiba began to run off, kicking up a massive cloud of dust, and yelling "I'll go home!" as he ran.
"KIBA-KUN!"
"No time, Hinata!" Shino yelled, ushering her into the alleyway. "I'll hold Naruto off!"
Without another word, the sheepish Hyuuga ran down the alleyway as fast as she could. "Sorry, Naruto." she muttered. "I don't want to hurt your feelings is all."
It was right about the time she emerged from the other side that she heard a massive crash from the end she had just come from. Shino was down and out...wait, how? Did something horrible happen? Regardless, now she faced an even bigger problem. Kiba pointed down an alleyway that led straight into a closed in space surrounded by buildings. "Oh come on!"
She suddenly heard Naruto closing in on her. This was it. Not only would she have no other choice but to speak to the boy face to face, something that was always hard, but she'd likely have to hurt his feelings. She couldn't take the smell or taste of those horrible 'ramen cakes' any longer, even though it was from 'him'.
Her heartbeat hastened with the approach of Naruto's footsteps. She jumped and shrieked a bit when his excited voice rose again, directly behind her. "HEY, HINATA-CHAN!"
She felt like she had almost had a heart attack, and it was a miricle she hadn't fainted, what with her heart pulsating like a rabbits'. Slowly, she turned and met eye to eye with the blond, blue eyed ninja boy. "N-N-Naruto-kun! Um--How a-are you today? I d-didn't see you th-there," So far, so good. At least she wasn't stuttering like a moron, she thought.
"Haha! I've been looking for you all morning!" the boy yelled with joy. As he reached gleefully into the bag on his back, Hinata clamped her eyes shut, and tried to gather the courage to tell Naruto the truth.
'If I ever want to truly be strong...' she thought 'I cannot allow my feelings for Naruto to overpower my will. This must be a test. I will not lose.' Hinata took a deep breath, and began to speak. "Naruto-kun, I have something to tell you about your cooking. It's--"
"HERE it is!" Naruto pulled out a large bento box, and handed it to Hinata. "I tried something new this time. Hope you like it."
Something new? Meaning he didn't make that awful substance he did for the past few years? Then again, what if this was worse? Hinata feared what was to come when she opened the bento. But what if this time Naruto had made something good? ...anything was worth a try.
Slowly, she opened the bento, and inside, much to her surprise, was a small cake, no bigger than a bowl, with the words 'happy birthday, Hinata, 'tebayo!' written on it. And the cake didn't seem to be comprised of any other worldly substance this time! In fact, it was an ordinary cake!
"I decided to try my hand at actually BAKING a cake this time instead of throwing ingredients into a bowl. Smart, huh?" he asked gleefully.
"Naruto-kun...Thank you so much! This was so thoughtful!" She said, overjoyed that he tried something new...for her, no less!
"Heheh. Well, I figured I went a little cheap on your last few birthdays, so I spent a little time, since you're one of the people I really like in this village!"
A smile graced the Hyuuga girls lips. Naruto really did care. It was nice and all that he had made her something the past two years and even REMEMBERED her birthday, but this time, he had done all that, and taken time to make something he'd never made before, just for her. It filled her with so much warmth, that she even blushed moderately, her cheeks turning rose red. "You're...the best, Naruto-kun."
The blond threw his hands behind his head and laughed. "Hahaha. Yeah, I'm pretty good, aren't I? Anyway, what were you going to say earlier?"
"Oh...um...N-nothing."
"Well okay. I've gotta go then." Naruto turned around and began to walk off, until Hinata spoke up.
"Wait! Naruto...um..." She began her usual habit of twiddling her thumbs around, trying hard not to stutter this time. "A-apparently I'm having a 'surprise birthday party'...and I was wondering if y-you were going to attend?"
Naruto's jaw dropped. "Who told you about the surprise party?! I was helping out with the decorations earlier, so of course I'm going, 'tebayo!"
"Oh um..."
"Hahaha." Naruto rubbed his finger across his nose. "You're really sharp, Hinata-chan, to be able to figure that out so soon. Come on, the party's ready anyway, 'tebayo." Naruto reached his hand outward, something that almost made Hinata fall back in surprise. But after taking a moment to assess her situation, she reached out for his hand, and they ran off for the party, the bento firmly in her other arm. If the party hadn't been a surprise, surely this turn of events left Hinata speechless. It truly was her best birthday yet.
Meanwhile, at the site of the earlier crash, Shino achingly pulled himself out of the wooden wall Naruto had crashed him into. The boys' haste was enough to knock him through a wall even, and he still didn't apologize for it, and probably didn't even know he did it. Shino shrugged and adjusted his glasses. Surely, his actions were no longer in control of his character, almost as though someone had just written in the earlier face-fault, the obvious statement, and the half expected high speed crash through the wall as part of a bad humor story.
Still, he fell like he had hit something soft, and turned around when he got up. Sure enough, he had run smack into Kiba.
"Ugh...Shino, watch where you're going, man!" Kiba groaned.
"...baka."