Koishii (Beloved)
By: Rylolynn
This is the sequel to Shadow of Hinata continuing after Shino and Hinata's first kiss. Hinata and Shino share an empathic bond that is tied to their feelings for each other. (If the premise sounds familiar it is loosely based on Imzadi.) Warning: lovey dovey fluff, prolly a little angsty too.
A/N: Imzadi belongs to Peter David, Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.
Koishii (Beloved/yearned for)
Shitawashii (beloved/dear)
Aiko girls name (little love/beloved)
Hahaoya (mother)
He doesn't know…well, Akamaru knows.
A small corner of Hinata's mouth formed a hidden smile.
"I'm HUNGRY! That was great training. Hinata you're really improving. You should be proud of yourself." Kiba reached for the rice ball in Hinata's hands.
"Umm…Kiba, you should eat slowly, you re-remember what happened last time." Hinata smiled sweetly at her dog like teammate.
Shino arched a brow at Hinata. "What did happen last time?" Shino thought to himself.
"Y-you complained about your stomach hurting for the rest of the d-day." Hinata flashed a concerned look at Kiba. Then she felt a gentle warm tingling on her checks. Her thin eyebrows knit into a small furrow. "It's not a faint feeling…no…"
The sudden realization caused Hinata's eyes to widen. "Shino is…is…jealous?" Her mind formed a question in her disbelief.
Kiba wolfed down his food barely being able to breathe between bites while Shino had his dark sunglasses trained on his feet.
Shino had admitted to himself that he was jealous of a certain orange clad loud and obnoxious ninja. Naruto didn't deserve Hinata, not that he felt that he did. But now they were… connected.
Shino was hesitant to use this term for what they shared. He knew Hinata could read his moods, even his thoughts to some extent, and he was able to understand her as well. It was almost like communicating with his kikai, but with Hinata he could also sense what she was feeling.
And he wasn't ready to share his insecure jealousy for his dog like teammate with the girl who could read him like a book.
"She must know now." Shino knew if he could blush he would have turned a bright shade of crimson at his embarrassing possessiveness regarding her, his body temperature spiked and his kikai buzzed in contentment.
"Aaahhhrg, my stomach." Kiba moaned as he clutched his stomach, food still stuffed in his cheeks. Akamaru looked up at his doubled over partner and lightly pressed his nose on his shoulder, then turned quickly and gobbled up Kiba's unattended rice balls. "Oi, Akamaru, I was…still…going to eat those." Kiba groaned in pain.
Hinata placed a concerned hand on Kiba's back then noticed that Shino was at his side helping him up.
"I will take him home Hinata." Shino spoke softly.
"You don't have to keep me company Akamaru…you can go with Kiba." Hinata said as she petted the nin-dog on the head. Akamaru looked from Hinata to Kiba and Shino, pausing a moment at Shino's form. Then trotted along after his gluttonous friend.
Akamaru definitely knew there was something different in his teammates. Shino had the light scent of Hinata about him. Akamaru had always silently hoped that Kiba would choose Hinata to be his mate, even though Kiba preferred the company of many different girls instead of the company of one. But still the nin-dog hoped that he would eventually choose Hinata to be a part of their pack. He had already regarded her as so.
"She seems happier." Akamaru's caught a growl in his throat. "Kiba is not even attentive enough to even know what is going on." At that moment Akamaru decided to leave Kiba in his ignorance.
Hinata sighed a breath of relief at her furry teammate's decision. Neither Shino or Hinata had admitted their significance to each other out loud. And the complications of being in a relationship with a teammate were…complicated. Hinata tapped her fingers together lightly. The fact that she was a Hyuuga and he was an Aburame made cautioned Kiba one last time about eating too fast after difficult training before leaving him to his own devices.
"Arf!" Akamaru seemed to agree.
Hinata was in a field of flowers not far from the training grounds.
"Hinata."
"It was nice of you to bring Kiba home." She replied without looking at Shino.
The shy kunoichi truly enjoyed being able to understand Shino without words. His joys and sorrows were her own. He filled the empty neglect she felt all her life. She was able to see herself through his eyes.
Shino thought she was beautiful and strong. A faint blush would tint her cheeks at the thought.
"Train hard and try not to get in anyone's way." Hiashi Hyuuga would say. No one believed in her, not her father and not herself. Thinking of herself as anything other then worthless was new. It was not something she was used to. Blushing repeatedly all day long was.
Suddenly her chest felt like she was being stabbed and yet her heart felt a dull ache that echoed in each heart beat.
He is conflicted about something…and he doesn't want me to know. Tears threatened to fall. He doesn't want me to see him.
"Shino…please tell me…please tell me what is wrong…"
I do not deserve you. His reason broke the surface of his thoughts before he could speak. I cannot be carefree, and declare my every emotion and thought…dattebayo. Kiba was loud and obnoxious like Naruto. Is that what you want? Hinata how can you ever love a freak like me. A creepy bug infested freak… the first time you met me you nearly jumped out of you skin.
Hinata rushed towards Shino.
"Shitawashii." Her arms wraped around him. "I'm not afraid."
"…"
"You… should not be afraid ..." Her face was flush with his.
Shino placed a chaste kiss on her forehead.
"Yes, you are very brave. And I am a coward." These days that have passed and I still cannot tell you out loud what I feel. I still fear you will reject me, love someone else.
"I am a afraid. I'm afraid of losing you." Shino's deep voice echoed in Hinata's ears.
Hinata reached up and pressed her lips into his answering his doubts with a kiss.
Shino's warm hand found Hinata's as he broke from their kiss and led her in the direction of his home.
"I have something to give you."
The Aburame household was large and had a simple elegance about it. It was not overly decorated and had sparse furniture. Hinata had not noticed anything different about Shino's home until she examined the living room. The walls accommodated numerous specimens of insects that seem to live in glass window boxes that were built into the walls themselves.
Hinata found herself looking in the glasses. They were mini environments mirroring dessert and forest landscapes. All very beautiful being little homes for the insects that inhabited them, not like the cages she would see at zoos or imagined science labs to be like. Shino's house was simple, but the insect enclosures were very elaborate with exquisite flowers and plants inside them.
The feeling of awe that radiated off Hinata caused Shino to smile in spite of himself. He found himself alone (well without human company) often as his father was usually away on missions. He never allowed anyone else into his home before, but having Hinata there felt natural.
Shino walked silently up the tiled staircase and Hinata followed. It is no longer in father's closet. I had moved it to the safety of my closet the night hahaoya died.
Hinata took in the sight of Shino's room. It had a bed and a dresser. There was an easel in the corner of his room with a water painting on it. The dark blues and grays of a storm reflecting off the still water of a lake was painted on it's canvas. It was yet to be completed. One wall of his room had several window boxes that housed a variety of insects Hinata had never seen before.
"Close your eyes and put your hands out." Shino led her to the middle of the room and placed her palms upward. Hinata's eyelids fluttered shut. The small desire to know what Shino's surprise was did not overcome her respect for him. She did nothing to try to figure out what he was up to.
A soft fuzzy fabric touched her hands it's shape was round.
"Can I open my eyes now?"
"Yes."
A faded black and very cute stuffed kikai rested in her palms. A large smile spread across Hinata's face. Raising her gaze she saw that Shino had removed his trademark dark round glasses and exposed his almond shaped hazel eyes.
"This is Akio." Shino's memories crashed into his mind and flooded into Hinata. (The night his mother died, being rejected by the other children, feeling alone…and how he felt about her.) Tears that Shino could not shed fell down Hinata's face.
Hinata held Akio in a tight embrace. Her chin down a cheek pressed against the fluffy beetle.
"Hinata, koishii, I love you." Shino had wanted to look into her eyes. The round opalescent orbs that bared her every emotion. But all he was able to do was examine a ladybug that had landed on his shoe lace.
"I love you." Hinata's hand cupped Shino's chin exposing his face from it's collared shield. Shino felt the words, saw them in her eyes as she looked into his. He wasn't sure if he actually heard them but he knew it was true. Between them both the stuffed kikai was crushed in their embrace.
"Your squishing my Akio." Shino teased.
"You mean my Akio." Hinata corrected.
"My Shino." Hinata murmured into his chest inhaling his calming scent.
"My mate." The thought shocked Shino the moment he had thought it. He had never been in a relationship before, but he had wanted to be with her. She was his home and he wanted her to be his family. The image of his father wagging his eyebrows at him the day he had hid Akio from him flashed in his mind. He had teased me about saving the act of imprinting my kikai for "my mate."
"Mate?" Hinata questioned the shinobi in her arms.
Shino's eyes widened. He knew she loved him but wasn't sure how she would react to his sudden thought. He brushed a lock of stray hairs from her face.
"I am as you will have me." Shino's temperature was drastically increasing.
Hinata smiled at her quiet seemingly stoic teammate. His eyes gave away too much of his soul she thought. She didn't need the Hyuuga ability to know his thoughts at that moment.
She imagined the two of them older looking for flowers and insects together.
"Always." Hinata whispered in Shino's ear.
Ok so I've been having a horrible month and wanted some gushy Shino/Hinata fluff to cheer me up. I've been in a bit of a sappy mood watching all 26 episodes of Fruits Basket and it made me think, people shouldn't bottle up their emotions, and they shouldn't forget their past or where they came from no mater how painful it was. "Complicated" can be fun in the very least interesting.
This might have more chapters. Review and get an invisible kikai plushie. (And maybe another chapter)