Diver, a naruto fanfic

Diver
by pretzel monster

—

~He throws himself comfortably on the grassy earth down beside his lovely ball of soft white fur,
giving it a pat on its broad and slender back before he dives into his musings and stares at the shimmering ants
on the dark ocean-tinted blanket miles and miles above him.~

"Ants, huh? How plain…"

A whine.

"They're called stars, Akamaru."

~He doesn't close his eyes
because he fears that
he might not be able to see again.~

"Kiba-kun?"

Meek footsteps. Wind kisses grass.

A hesitant weight.

"Hey."

"You're still awake…"

"No joke!"

A sigh. The weight relaxes on the side.

"Why?"

"O…kay…?"

"Why are you still awake?"

"Well, why are you still awake?

"I can't sleep."

"Obviously."

Another sigh. Exasperated.

There is enjoyment.

"My mind won't let me sleep."

"Your mind has control over you?"

"Obviously."

A human growl. Annoyed.

But there is amusement.

"I mean, you can't control your, uh, mind?"

"I can't…not think."

"Why do we have brains again, Hinata?"

There is a gentle but annoyed face and bitten lips.

"I can't stop thinking. My mind doesn't want to rest."

"Huh."

There is a comfortable silence. Thinking. Reflecting.

"How about you?"

She senses a subtle hesitance. It is always palpable, especially if it is in the heart of a free man.

"I—"

"You don't have to answer if you don't want to, Kiba-kun. I'm not forceful."

"Oh, you aren't."

She raises an eyebrow.

"You and Shino forced me to shut up once."

"Oh…"

"You gagged me!"

"Oh."

A quite frankly pulled off realization.

"Shino did that."

"It was your freaking nice idea!"

"Now that I think about it…it really was a nice idea…"

"Sadist."

"We'd be in trouble if we didn't do that."

"You don't know how annoying it feels when there's cotton and cloth stuck between your fangs."

"I don't have them."

"What if you did?"

"…I think…"

The diver is surprised, because she takes the bait.

"Nah."

She doesn't.

"You can't imagine it?"

"…No. It feels…weird…and I know I wouldn't be able to talk much if I had them."

"Even without them you still don't."

"I am now."

"Only because it's nighttime, and the only ones here are me, Shino, you and Akamaru. No other people."

There is that sigh again, but it is content.

"Your point, Kiba-kun?"

Kiba looks up and almost shuts his eye, much to his dismay.

"Get over your shyness."

~He listens to the crickets around them like clockwork, like Akamaru's breathing, and keeps imagining a clock,
because he doesn't want to see her grim face
after he's done it.~

"Like I can…"

Nervous.

"Of course you can."

"…I don't think so…"

"You just don't want to."

Hurt.

"I do want to. I just…"

"No, you don't. You don't want to because you're afraid that one day, when you meet that jackass again, you'll get all red and go back in your shell and be that cute shy girl again. You're scared. That's why you don't want to, and that's why you 'can't' change."

The cute word makes him wince, because he knows she doesn't notice it.

"Kiba-kun."

Even if she does, it isn't important to her.

"What? You're gonna scold me 'cause I called him a jackass?"

"Shut up."

The diver is injured.

~He can't believe that she said it, like she's a completely different person;
he wishes that what she just said
was a complete figment.~

He chooses to fight.

"Hmph. Should I?"

"Please."

He turns to the side so he can only see Akamaru's big paw.

"Just…" She stutters, and he doesn't like it.

"Stop stammering."

"I'm—I'm not…"

"There. See? Stop stammering!"

It makes him nervous. She only stutters when she is upset.

"Just…please, don't ever bring that subject up again. Please."

Of course she's upset.

He acted like a jerk.

"I'm…"

He's not going to say sorry.

"I'm just saying what's real. Stop hiding, Hina."

He winces at the nickname.

He wonders if she notices.

"I'm not hiding."

"Denial."

"I'm not. He's…Naruto, he's just too far away…"

His fang madly bites his lip.

It's his fang, right?

"No. You're just too high above him."

"Kiba-kun…"

"I mean, come on, you're a Hyuuga! And he's just Naruto Uzumaki, the kid who used to babble on and on about being a Hokage."

He doesn't want to bring out his good points.

He wants them too much.

"He brought the Fifth…He tried to save Sasuke. He has his good times too, you know…"

"I was on the same fucking mission with him!"

She's silent. He's guilty.

Both are hurt.

~He can't bear it.~

His fang aches more than his bitten lip, and he wants Akamaru to send him flying to a nearby tree.

Anything to erase the irritation.

"I know."

His heart stops beating.

"Say what?"

"I know. Everybody knows. And I appreciate you both…"

His face turns blank.

The diver almost drowns.

"Right. Both."

"Are you really that jealous?"

He can't swim well.

"Oh, right, I can't be really that jealous when my cute, vulnerable teammate likes a person who she thinks is better than her own best friend! I can't possibly carry a grudge on that dude, right?"

"You don't hate him…"

"So what?"

"You're just…afraid of being compared to him…because it makes you look—"

"Weak, I know!"

It's silent.

"…But you don't hate him…"

"I…I don't…"

Suddenly the diver faces upwards.

His whole body is under the radiating sun.

"Why?"

He shields his eyes, but finds it inevitable to avoid the light.

"Well…"

He stares at the sun, lets his body float on the water, waiting for his eyes to burn.

"You love him, don't you?"

~It didn't hurt saying that, he realizes, so he ignores the foreign settlement in his heart
and listens to the sun.~

"…Yeah…"

Why doesn't it hurt?

"Ever since, right? I know that."

"So you can't hate him?"

"I can't. I don't want to."

"…Just because I love him?"

"Well, yeah. I can't possibly bear a grudge to anyone you love. I mean, they—he hasn't done anything, hasn't even noticed you."

They both stay silent.

"You know you have to confess."

"I don't think…I don't think I sho—"

"He's not gonna notice you until you do that, come on!"

She isn't going to notice him either.

"I'm not even sure anymore."

"Sure? About what? About your feelings? It's been years and you're doubting now?"

"…Do you think…once I confess, it'll be okay?"

He doesn't know what to say.

"Personally, Hina, I don't know."

"Thanks, then."

He isn't confused, because he knows she just wants to leave it like that.

He knows her too much.

"Huh."

~Together they watch the ants above them smile and dance.~

"Then when are you going to confess?"

"What the—?"

Kiba abruptly sits up on the grass, eyes wide and mouth agape at his Hyuuga teammate. He forces himself to swallow before speaking again.

"Con…confess, um…what?"

"Sorry! I…I j-just, um, kind of blurted…well…accident…perception, think it was the same…I just—sorry!"

He licks his fang and his eyes look down, but his body doesn't move.

"You've noticed. Huh."

"I'm really sorry…"

"It's…it kind of saved me the time and effort. And the chances. The courage. It kinda destroyed my ego, though…I didn't even try to tell you…"

"Forget about it. Just…pretend that I didn't say anything…"

"But, I mean, you know about it now, right Hina? There's no point in bothering to hide it now. I'm open. I can't do anything about it anymore."

"Yeah, well…"

"I guess I'm just this low-life man who can't even proclaim his love to the world…and waited until his love found out about it. I'm not the best guy out there, huh? Guess you were right. Comparing me to that airhead Naruto, he's lucky to be so oblivious. I have to face reality. It's really painful, huh Hinata?"

He faces her with a bored look, but she returns a weird face.

…forcing back happiness, hiding beneath bitten lips…

"Is this…your way of…of confessing?"

"Um, re-confessing, yes."

"…Wow, Kiba."

"I'm allowed to say this now, aren't I? I love you."

"Um, okay, is it really necess—"

"I love you, I love you, Hyuuga Hinata! Tell me you love me too!"

~There are musings, secret feelings, and lovely juvenile appreciation of words.~

"What were you thinking about?"

"That was random…"

"We went off topic."

"Oh. Well…I don't know, I was thinking about Neji-niisan, then I thought about Kurenai-sensei…and it drifted somewhere else…You?"

"Eh…about the stuff that happened just now."

"Seriously…?"

"Haha, I am Kiba Inuzuka.

~It wasn't that nice of a talk, but he managed to still let it out properly.~

"Oh, look Akamaru. There's a cockroach in the sky."

There's no answer, so he sleeps.

—

NOOO FAIL NOOO