Kiba's home was loud. There always seemed to be someone yelling or laughing and in between there were dogs barking and playing and running. It was a far cry from the quiet, reserved households that Hinata and Shino were used to. And when they stayed there, Kiba snored. But only when they stayed there and only when Kiba was allowed to sleep in his own bed.
His teammates asked him about this once, and he replied in a way that gave the impression that he believed they should already know the answer: "We're safe at home," he said, "but when we're out on missions, I can't call any extra attention to us." He laughed and laced his fingers behind his head, "Imagine if we were just running around the woods and heard somebody snoring! Not only would we know where they were, but we'd know they were asleep!"
It was surprisingly insightful, and still blindingly obvious. Shino gained a little more respect for him after that, knowing that he must be keeping himself from any amount of decant sleep as long as he was away from home, and never letting it show. Hinata was stuck on his use of the word "we".
But Kiba was the only one who slept well that night they spent in his room. The fact that they had to push aside piles of dirty clothes and dog toys and goodness knows what else – so much "what else", in fact that Kiba had offhandedly remarked: "I don't remember the floor being that color…" – to make room for their sleeping bags had made his teammates just the tiniest bit uneasy about sleeping on his mysteriously colored floor.
The constant noise of the house kept the kikaichu humming and irritated all night. They absolutely refused to let Shino get any real amount of rest. Listening to Kiba snore was not helping. Not only did it add to the noise, but it meant that Kiba was sleeping soundly and happily and in his fragile state it irritated Shino to no end, though he would never let it show.
And Hinata was hot. The house was stifling – much too warm for the conservative pajamas she had brought. She found herself longing to slip off her sweatpants and sleep in her t-shirt and panties on top of her covers, but she never would. She wouldn't do it at home, alone in her room and she certainly wasn't going to do it in someone else's house with two boys in the same room. So she woke in the morning from the little sleep she did get feeling sweaty and gross and in dire need of a cool shower.
Over breakfast when Kiba's mother asked how they had slept Shino and Hinata nodded in polite agreement to Kiba's enthusiastic "Great!". During training that day Kurenai noted how cranky they were and thought that maybe she had assigned them the wrong kind of activity for a bonding experience…
The Hyuuga compound was not a place suitable for a child's sleepover. The rules were harsh, their enforcers harsher. Everything about everywhere within the walls of the complex was unbearably clean and white. It reminded Shino too much of a hospital and Kiba of ice, he never did like the cold- that's why he wore the coat.
But more than any of this Hinata was not much of a hostess. It wasn't for lack of trying that she failed to make guests comfortable in her home, but more a result of her not being comfortable there herself. She spent most of her time there in an effort to draw as little attention as possible. While at home (and most other places she later realized) she colored inside the lines set forth by her family. They were lines she had spent her whole life finding and it was those lines she spent the night her teammates spent with her trying to silently convey. She had difficulty taking the role of leader, even for the night. Hinata, regardless that she was aware that this was her home and she should be gently guiding them, found herself defaulting to her teammates for activities and topics of conversation.
Hinata fell asleep sick to her stomach with guilt. She knew all too well that her guests had not enjoyed themselves. They were a new team and she blamed herself for turning what was supposed to be a bonding experience into a very awkward get together.
After that night, disaster as it was, Hinata continued to invite her teammates to spend the night - because it would have been impolite not to. Each time the boys found a reason to decline or find another place to go and each time Hinata was secretly grateful. She couldn't know that because they saw how uncomfortable she was trying to be a good hostess - without any conversation between the two of them - Kiba and Shino made excuses more for her sake rather than theirs. And because they didn't discuss this, for a very long time Hinata still felt guilt mixed with her relief.
Shino's home was somehow both extremely like and unlike Hinata's. It too was a complex, though smaller. It too had rules though their enforcers were invisible. Inside the Aburame compound there were few people about, the children saw far less than sense dictated they should have in a family that size. The various buildings had a kind of eerie silence that Kiba found deeply unsettling – it was simply too opposite what he was used to. Though its basic structure reminded Hinata of her own home its ornateness was foreign and she found herself trying not to touch anything – a part of her longed for the lines that confined her, forced her to keep her hands to herself.
Shino, forever calculated and rational, planned their evening as well as he could have. His teammates formally met his father before the three of them ate a dinner he had just finished preparing before they arrived. Afterward Shino took Kiba and Hinata on a brief tour of the area before retiring to his bedroom for the night. That was the first night they made a game of planning for ridiculous eventualities on missions.
"So let's say we're fighting this guy and 'BOOM' – he summons an anteater." Kiba says a bit too loudly, clapping his hands and quickly throwing them in the air to aid his onomatopoeia. "What would ya do then Shino?"
Shino's resolve faltered for the briefest of moments. "What can one do when their foremost strength has been rendered useless? That would be a time at which knowledge of an unrelated technique would be most useful. Or a time at which to rely on one's teammates."
"T-teammates?" Hinata squeaked in the small glow of the light stick illuminating their little triangle. By all rights they should have been asleep – Shino's home had been dark and silent for hours, the light turned off and them ready for bed longer, and they had training in the morning, but here in his room, time really didn't matter, not when they were twelve years old and having the most fun they'd ever had with the two people they would rely on for their very lives. She couldn't say she was quite used to the word yet, especially not used in reference to her.
"Of course. Every teammate is valuable, Hinata."
"I think what we would do is send me and Akamaru in to take care of the anteater. And while we do that Hinata would use her gentle fist, get in close to the guy, swipe the scroll so he couldn't do it again, land a few punches in the process, and then 'BAM'" again his voice was too loud; his gesture too big, "Shino brings back his bugs and totally catches the guy off guard."
Hinata chose not to mention that you didn't punch people with the gentle fist. "But wouldn't he, um, know, wouldn't he realize that Shino-kun was going to use the ki-kikaichu when you destroyed the anteater?"
"Not if we get rid of him quick enough!" Kiba's voice held more confidence than a new genin's deserved.
"It would be impossible. You could not destroy it quickly enough. Even with Hinata acting as a distraction."
"What if Shino-kun played dead? You know, maybe he could, uh, pretend he was in-um-incapacitated? He could act like, like without his kikaichu he would, um, well, pass out, or something."
"Perfect!" Kiba's smile was a mile wide. "Then I could yell something really cool, like 'You'll pay for what you've done to my teammate!' And then me and Akamaru and Hinata could act all mad and go in and then Shino could pop up once the anteater was gone and say something like 'As if I would be defeated so easily.' He'd be super surprised!"
"We would not want to call attention to the fact that I had been faking. Would it not be better if I were to leave a bushin to act incapacitated in the confusion of the fight, then attack just after the two of you?"
"But then you're missing the really cool reveal!"
"I would never say something so silly in a serious situation. As teammates you should know me better than that."
"You're always acting so cool, but you never want to show off or say anything cool. I don't get you, man."
"Exactly my point."
Hinata could not keep the smile off of her face. And she came dangerously close to letting free a giggle as she listened to the two boys bicker in hushed tones. Again there was a heavy, almost sick feeling in her gut as she fell asleep, but it wasn't guilt – she felt much too good for that. The peaceful, stupid grin still on her face made her think it might be happiness, but she wouldn't let herself believe it just yet. And she certainly wouldn't let herself even think it might be the kind of love that came from unconditional companionship and friendship growing towards the two boys on either side of her – though that is exactly what it was.