"I'm tellin' ya Hinata! It's prolly better things worked out the way they did."

"If you say so…"

"Aw c'mon! That spaz wouldda driven ya nuts anyways. Trust me it's better this way."

"Alright.."

Kiba arched an eyebrow at the heir to the Hyuuga clan from atop Akamaru's back. Honestly he thought that the other ninja was taking the semi-rejection. After all, it i was /i just Naruto. The Inuzuka would have rolled his eyes but he knew exactly what would happen if that display of distaste was seen by Hinata. It would make her feel worse. Which was never Kiba's intention. Far from it, actually. He normally tried to find ways of keeping the girl looking on the bright side. After all, that's how he did it. No matter how bad things got, it could be worse. But saying, 'Hey Hinata, at least Naruto didn't punch you in the face' might come off as a tad insensitive. So naturally, he grinned and bared comforting her. It was after all, what he was good at.

Kiba looked as if he were about to speak ill of Hinata's long time crush but restrained himself at a slight growl from Akamaru. He sighed as he tried to think of something else to say. "Y'know… there's always more fish in the sea, puppies in the litter, clouds in the sky… y'know… all that other cliché sorta stuff."

Hinata looked at Kiba almost as if he'd said something somewhat embarrassing. "I-I don't think it's like that…" Her white eyes looked away from the other ninja. "I don't know… I just…"

With a swift movement, Kiba scooped up his former teammate with a smirk and sat her in front of him on the large dog. "Look… I know this seems like the end all be all since Naruto is just his magnificent self," That was obviously sarcasm, but sometimes Hinata would be fortunate enough not to catch it, "But you know what? You've managed to go-what- fifteen years without him? Who needs 'im? Right?"

"Well…"

"Aw, c'mon Hinata! You don't need him to be happy," Kiba said with a sigh. He was still trying to find something better to say. After all, he could i tell /i this wasn't helping. He put an arm around the other ninja in order to keep her steady on Akamaru's back. "Maybe he'll come around…"

"Do you really think so?"

Kiba winced at the hint of hope in the girl's voice. God dammit! She was supposed to be like "well I don't care if he comes around" or "well maybe I don't need to wait for that"… but nooo. Hinata just had to seriously be an optimist. "Sure. I mean… give 'im time, he might come crawlin' back or something. I dunno. Heck, by then, you might even realize you don't need his ass. You might just have to teach him a thing or two and turn 'im down."

Hinata looked over her shoulder at the other ninja. "Um… has that ever happened to you?" she asked shyly. It was a good question considering she'd never seen the Inuzuka with any other girl aside from her. Usually he would be one of the only ones to comfort her after her failed attempts at telling the blonde Fox Container how she felt. "I mean… h-have you had someone come back to you like that?"

Kiba tapped his chin for a second thoughtfully. "Nah. Don't think I've ever actually talked to the person I liked about it before," he stated honestly. He flashed a slight smile. "At least you try. More than I've ever done. So you're way bolder than me for it."

Hinata looked surprised at the ninja's confession. "You really never told her, Kiba? Why not?"

"She likes someone else."

"H-how do you know?"

Kiba looked away for a moment, his grasp on her loosening. "Because she tells me about it every day."

"What? Why would someone do that?"

Kiba smirked and tilted his head to the side in thought. "Well, she can't help it. She likes a guy that doesn't even notice her." His voice seemed somewhat unfazed by the conversation. If she made the connection, he'd just refute it anyways. "Kinda sad she doesn't see what she is 'cause of it. So y'know… I don't think she means to do it… she just does."

"That's horrible," Hinata stated, being shockingly blunt for a change. She looked over at Kiba with a sympathetic expression. "I'm sorry she does that to you."

"What've ya got to be sorry about? I mean, c'mon! S'not like I've told 'er or anything," he said with a shrug and he rested his chin on Hinata's shoulder gently. "Like I said… I'm bein' a fuckin' pussy for not sayin' anything anyways. S'not 'er fault if I'm not sayin' anything right?"

"Well… I guess. I mean, why haven't you said anything to her?" she asked as she looked over at the brown-haired ninja. She seemed somewhat shocked that that other ninja was actually afraid of telling someone what they thought. Especially considering Kiba had no real filter between his head and his mouth at times.

"I dunno… just don't wanna hafta tell 'er an have 'er say somethin' about the other guy." Kiba noticed that they were nearing the Hyuuga quarter of the village. Akamaru started to slow down a bit in his trot, as if he were hinting for his master to say something.

"Why do you think she'll do that?"

"Well… everytime I think I'm gonna tell 'er… she does. Last thing I want is to actually say it and then havin' to here 'bout Naruto again."

Oh Crap.

There it was. Kiba's own jaw dropped open at the slip. If fate loved him at all, Hinata wouldn't catch it. Unfortunately, Kiba wasn't so lucky. At first Hinata let herself stay quiet, clinging to the silence in hopes that there was some sort of way that Kiba had made some sort of mistake. But when she noticed that Kiba's cheeks turned a bit red, her own followed suit.

"Kiba… do you um… do you-"

"We're here!" Kiba proclaimed with a grin as he released his hold on Hinata and hopped off Akamaru. He extended a hand to help her off. "Don't want your father throwin' a fit do ya?" he asked with a slight smile, his cheeks still possessed a bit of red to them. Hinata took the hand carefully, allowing her former teammate to help her down.

"Well, wait a second. Do you-"

"Gotta get goin' Hinata. We don't want your father to get mad."

"But…"

"Go on," Kiba said pointedly, nodding towards the residence of the girl's clan. To illustrate the command, Akamaru nudged Hinata in the back to move her in the right direction. "I'll see ya tomorrow Hinata," he said before hopping onto Akamaru's back. The dog responded by dashing away.

"But…" Hinata sighed, looking once more in the direction that Kiba had gone off to. She still seemed a tad confused from their previous conversation. Quietly, per usual, Hinata turned around and started to slowly head for her home.

After a little bit, Kiba slowed Akamaru down. He brought a palm to his forehead. "I really messed things up, didn't I boy?"

Akamaru provided no real conversation and gave a slight huff from his nose. The dog detected Kiba's frustration and let out a slight whimper in order to sympathize with his master. The dog continued the long way around the village, not wanting to take Kiba there yet in order to let the Inuzuka think. After a good hour or so, Kiba sniffed the air for a moment, detecting the brief scent of the girl he'd just been talking to, but chalked it up to the fact that she was riding with him for a decent amount of time. The two continued on their way, stopping by a creek that was out of the way. Kiba dismounted and sat along the creek bed, tossing rocks into the smoother ones that the rocks moved over. "Damn it," he said softly to himself after a while. "Why am I so stupid?"

Hinata had been following them for quite some time now, taking a post behind some bushes. Her white eyes fixated on Kiba for the most part. Upon hearing Kiba's rhetorical question, she blushed. "I don't think you're stupid…"

Kiba's ears perked up as he thought he heard something he sprang up from where he sat and looked around. He finally looked over at the brush where Hinata was hiding. He slowly approached, extending an arm to clear some of the branches. He sighed as he saw no one there. He walked over to where Akamaru lay and pat his ears. "Now I'm hearing things too, boy? What's wrong with me?"

Hinata looked over from the area she'd switched to and started back towards home, leaving Kiba and Akamaru truly alone this time. Akamaru gave a slight whimper and got up. He walked over to Kiba and nudged his hand. "I know boy, let's go home," he said with a defeated sigh, looking one last time in the direction that he thought he'd heard the familiar voice from. He hopped onto the dog's back and they started their long journey home.