(Sorta) Pairing :: Shino Aburame + Hinata Hyuuga

Rating :: K+

Summary :: Everyone has their weaknesses… His just seem to overcome him more easily. And he couldn't bear to see her hurt one more time.

Enjoy!!!

~Chapter I~

He did his thinking at night now.

Fewer distractions, no hungry birds pecking at his windows. The moonlight shone, less brightly than the sun, but still beautiful. Almost beautiful enough.

He missed her.

Swarming in his mind, in his heart, in every part of him, the insects churned with the loss of peace. He felt their vibrations speaking the unmistakable words to him, words he knew by heart. The words telling him how much he needed her.

But he would always deny it, never willing that she should have anything other than the best. And the morning always came earlier than he would expect, the moon leaving him to his own thoughts, and the sunrise would come brightly to awaken another day. There would be too much to do, too much to think about for him to waste his time thinking of her.

Team 8. Good times.

It was on nights like this, nights of a full moon, when he would reminisce. He would remember those times and wonder where they went. And tonight, he lay on his bed and remembered the day when he realized that he didn't have a chance.

"Hinata… I love you."

No, it wasn't he who had spoken those words. He hadn't been the one to kiss her lips that day… It had been his best friend. The one who would secretly cry when Naruto hurt her and drink till he puked when he couldn't get it out of his head. The friend who loved his teammate almost as much as Shino did.

Shino, however, was vile. Disgusting. The crawling creatures that resided inside him, though he loved them so, were the cause of so much aversion… Even so, he couldn't bring himself to believe that she would desert him merely for the pact between the Aburame clan and the insects. She saw deeper than that. And yet it wasn't his arms she rested in tonight.

Little was Shino aware that very soon it would be… Or did he know after all?

Hinata would always be his weakness. She would always be the one he would come back to, and of course on that cold night, he would never refuse her entrance when she came, tear-stained skin and bloodshot eyes reflecting in the moonlight. He could never answer to the voices inside telling him he couldn't stand one more night of this, when Hinata would cry on his shoulder and he would tell her everything would be alright, keeping that steely gaze behind his shades and pretending he didn't feel an ounce of anything but friendship for her. And of course it would be alright; the one she loved would come to his door in the morning, only because he knew that was where she would be. Kiba would cry and beg her to come back, and through her pain she would go.

Because she had a weakness as well, and he was afraid that she would never be able to let go… Ignoring the fact that he knew exactly how she felt.

"N-never again, Shino… Never again." She cried as he let her inside, locking the door behind her. She stuttered not from nervousness, but from the tearfulness and pain that wracked her, and he knew every bit of it.

"He will come back in the morning…" He led her to the living room, handing her a blanket. He sat by her.

"I don't want to go back, Shino… I never want to go back." She trembled. He was used to her tears, but they never stopped piercing him as if they were shards of ice.

Kiba never could contain his feelings. And when he went into a rage… That was no time for a lady to be around. Especially not Hinata, the most timid lady he had ever met. And yet it was so obvious how much Kiba really cared for her. It was a sad thing to see.

"He loves you, Hinata. You know that." He spoke the words, yet he winced when she pulled up the sleeves of her sweater to reveal her newly acquired bruises. No, he couldn't stand to see her go back one more time. But he would have to. She was, after all, his weakness, and if she wanted to go, you could bet she would go. She would go one more time, and it would break his heart again. He was always the silent one, the man of few words. And he would watch in silence as Kiba would hurt her again.

He couldn't stand it.

"I won't go back again, Shino. I've… I've made up my mind."

And so the story ends… Or does it begin? No one ever knows, except for the doors that are never again opened, and which of the best friends could capture the fleeting affections of Hinata Hyuuga.