SO WHOSE FAULT WAS IT?

by Mad Fleas

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A/N: I am a huge fan of Team 8 in Naruto -- they have been the most solid group since the beginning, and they support each other so well, both in their ninja activities and as friends as well, no matter that -- or perhaps because -- they are all so different from each other. This fiction is rated M for lemons in later chapters, though, so be warned. This is also my first attempt at writing lemons, and I hope you enjoy this one, all you other Team 8 fans out there. Reviews and constructive criticism will be greatly appreciated.

I do not own Naruto.

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HINATA

It was all Kiba's fault, thought Hinata.

He had run off again in the middle of a mission to meet up with another of his "lady friends". They had barely set up camp in the middle of the forest when he made his excuses, saying he hadn't seen this particular "friend" for quite some time. This route they were taking was one they often took whenever they needed to go north of Konoha, and was now very familiar, and very convenient to them.

It isn't just the meandering path through the woods that was familiar and convenient, thought Hinata, with an inward rolling of eyes. Particularly for Kiba, who, because of his outgoing nature, had friends practically everywhere they went. Yes, friends, right. At nineteen, the young shinobi had developed into quite a fantastic specimen of the male species, with his body toned by the strenuous physical activities a ninja normally went through, and that devilish smile with a matching come-hither sparkle in his eyes. The females in the village (and outside it) were crazy about him, from the young academy students who they sometimes gave tracking demonstrations to, to the non-shinobi members of the village, who didn't need to really know him to feel the effects of his devastating charm. The brashness of his youth has now mellowed into the kind of roughness that caused girls to think of wild and passionate… things.

Thank heavens Hinata had known him since their ninja academy days, and this somehow lessened his effect on her. She had always thought, or at least insisted to herself, that they were just very good friends, the two of them and Shino, and that their affections for each other were more of the brother-sister type. Plus there was always the thought of Naruto in the back of her mind.

Naruto. It felt like she had loved him forever, and it was a bittersweet feeling to know that he did care for her, but only as a friend. At least that was how it was three years ago when they last saw each other. After learning of Sasuke's and Jiraiya's deaths, he went a little crazy, though the typical villager wouldn't have noticed it. The way Hinata knew was this: the Naruto she knew, who made the improvement of other people's situations the point of his life, had become disillusioned with life itself. He had failed to "save his friend" and in so doing failed not only himself, but in his eyes Konoha as well, and both Sasuke and Sakura. No longer did he flash his smile and stick up his thumb like Lee, but whenever he did smile, it was the tired sort of smile that seemed to say, "Well, that's just how it is, I suppose."

For half a year after that tragic time he stayed in Konoha, but after the threat of the Akatsuki passed, he went away, probably at the urging of the Godaime herself, so he could regroup and find himself. Hinata knew that Tsunade favored Naruto above all else to be Konoha's future leader, and was therefore devastated to find that Naruto had lost his spirit, for how could the will of Konoha be perpetuated by a leader who was dead inside?

And so the sixteen-year-old Naruto went away, and it felt, at the time, that something inside Hinata died as well. She never thought he would stay away this long – perhaps a year, but then the first year passed, and then the second, and now the third…

But life went on for Hinata and the rest of the old gang. Romances were formed, and broken – for a time Ino and Kiba became a couple, but then they couldn't handle each others tempers and broke up eventually. Temari has been Suna's ambassador to Konoha for quite a while, and whenever she was in the village, she and Shikamaru couldn't be separated. Lee and Tenten and Neji… well, that was an uncomfortable triangle that until now was still an uncomfortable triangle, for Lee finally realized that Sakura would never see him as more than a friend (especially since Sakura and Sai were now often seen together, though the nature of their relationship was something Hinata could never quite understand) and that there had always been someone close to him who silently admired him, in his bumbling earnestness, though nobody would ever have known of this admiration if the girls hadn't got drunk on Ino's birthday the previous year and had Tenten stupidly confess the fact. Of course, after that night, when Tenten realized her mistake, she begged them to --

"… Please, guys, don't tell anybody!" Tenten's hands were clasped pitifully under her chin as she looked at her friends. Ino smirked, and said, "Whyever not? He's been pining after Forehead forever, and I swear it's high time he looked at someone else."

Sakura snorted at this. "Shut up, Pig, this isn't about me. But I do agree that if you think so highly of Lee-san, Tenten, you should let him know. He's a good guy."

Temari looked from one face to another, her brows furrowed. "But I thought… you and Neji -- "

Tenten exclaimed hotly, "Neji?! He's a prick! Yes, he's cool and all, but he's just… cold. Sorry, Hinata, no offense to you."

Hinata just shrugged and smiled. She knew her cousin had mellowed a bit, but it was hard to change completely. It was almost unbelievable that Tenten, one of the coolest kunoichi around, would come to have feelings for the ungainly Lee.

They made plans that day to have Tenten and Lee hook up, to Tenten's embarrassment. It would have been a complete success, if it weren't for –

"Neji…" sobbed Tenten to her friends. "He said Lee talked to him about us, that Lee's happy and all and that's why he told Neji, who was 'his closest friend' – those were Lee's words -- and then Neji told Lee first, and then me, that he always had feelings for me, and that he thought I always knew!"

"Gah! Boys can be such idiots!" exclaimed Ino.

Hinata continued patting the crying girl's shoulder. "What will we do now?" she sighed mournfully.

"And he said that Lee told him they had always been rivals, but now they had something really worth fighting over!" Tenten wailed. "I don't want them fighting over me!"

But fight they did, and at one time they even came to blows. Tenten was so miserable, especially when the thought crossed her mind that perhaps Lee didn't really like her as she liked him, that maybe it was the idea of romantic rivalry that made him stay with her. And Neji… the proud shinobi could never give up to someone whom he always thought was never as good as he was, someone who was... inferior. Ino was right. Boys can be such idiots. And so it was that the months following that were tense for Team Gai, and until now, their romantic problems still complicated things. It didn't help matters at all that Gai-sensei thought it was healthy to have his male students fight for the favors of "Konoha's flower", and encouraged the rivalry, probably even envying the romantic factor which was absent in his and Kakashi's own rivalry.

Being a ninja made for a horrible lovelife. There is always the threat of death, that while the prospect of it caused some people to rush into things – and relationships – other people held themselves so aloof to save themselves the trouble of emotions that would bear no fruit, especially since it was also a terrible distraction for the serious ninja. There is also the trouble with proximity with teammates, and the effects of adrenaline on a person's mind and libido. And then there is also the trouble with the structure of the three-man cell, that while it was strategic for missions, it was hell for relationships, as evidenced by Team Gai's present interpersonal dynamics. Many a team had been ruined by love triangles, and for shinobi, it could even cost lives.

And so it was with not a small amount of relief that Hinata was grateful that the members of Team Eight had always maintained their peaceful and platonic friendship.

That was, until now.

If Kiba hadn't gone to meet his "friend" in the forest… if he hadn't… and that girl hadn't…

It was all Kiba's fault.

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KIBA

It was all Shino's fault, thought Kiba.

Though Shino was his best friend, Kiba couldn't help but resent the fact that the guy wasn't the most fun person to hang around with most of the time. It was rather curious how the two could be best friends, with one being as loud and outgoing as he was, and the other being the exact opposite, so silent, so mysterious, so dry, that in all the years he and Hinata had been Shino's best friends, never had been a hug exchanged between them. Sure, he would slap the silent shinobi's shoulder companionably once in a while, but everytime he did it, Shino would stare at him uncomfortably, creepily from behind his glasses. It didn't require genius to know that Shino was not a touchy-feely guy, but as to the reasons, Kiba would never truly know. He thought that it was always because of Shino's kikaichu, but then Shino didn't exactly say that that was the reason, and Kiba never exactly asked… so he never was exactly sure.

Though Hinata was definitely more sociable than Shino, the girl wasn't exactly Kiba's idea of companionship for a good time. He respected Hinata, he liked Hinata, sweet, sweet Hinata, but he feared he was too rough for her, that he would tarnish her innocence with his brashness. He also knew her father, the fearsome Hyuuga Hiashi, never completely approved of him as a companion for Hinata, for the same reasons as he himself had.

And so it was that outside of Team Eight Kiba had a lot of friends, in and out of Konoha.

One such friend was Ino. Yes, until now they were good friends. Ino was fun, Ino could keep up with his bordering-on-downright-raunchy jokes and pranks – and even made really good ones herself – and this was her first attraction. But more than all of this, outside of people's superficial knowledge, Ino was truly a sweet and thoughtful person. She would be the first one to defend her friends whenever they were slighted, she would be the first one to come to a friend's bedside with flowers if he or she were injured. Even Kiba, who was self-admittedly not the most sensitive of people, managed to see this side of her, and fell in love with it.

It would surprise people to know that he was truly hurt when they broke up.

Ino said that they were too alike in many ways, and too different in others. Kiba never quite understood, but deep inside him, he felt that he lacked that something that would hold Ino's attention, her affection. It was the first time in his life that he completely lost his confidence, for how could he find in himself that elusive thing which Ino wanted if he didn't know just what it was? And so they broke up, but even now, many months after they were through, he would look inside himself, trying desperately to see just what she didn't see.

Perhaps someday he would try again with her.

For now he hid his heartbreak with his many flirtations. Sure, he liked women, and he had great fun with them – in many, many delicious ways – but at the end of the day, he would always return to the emptiness inside himself, and he never stayed too long with any one girl, who would never quite be the right shade of blonde, whose waist would never quite be the right circumference, whose voice, when it moaned against his ear, would never have quite the right timbre.

Like this girl in his arms right now. Taka was a lone gypsy who wandered through the forests looking for herbs to trade or sell, living off the land. She was a genius with medicinal plants, concocting her own potions, and would have been a treasure in any ninja hospital if only she didn't choose her nomadic lifestyle.

She was a beautiful girl, small and slender, with waist-length honey-colored hair through which Kiba loved to tangle his fingers. He did so right now as they lay on a grassy bed under the moonlight, the scent of love and sweat still permeating the air around them as they caught their breath.

A rumble of laughter welled from deep inside Kiba.

"What's so funny?" asked Taka, lifting her head off his chest as she searched his eyes languidly.

"Those two back at camp. They could have a contest as to who would keep their virginity longer."

Taka giggled, and flicked a finger against Kiba's nose playfully. "Don't be mean. They're just… shy, I suppose. Unlike some I know." She slid her knee between Kiba's, letting her smooth skin touch his now-flaccid member.

Kiba smiled. "Hm. Shy's not the right word. Well, for Hinata, maybe, but I know for a fact she's still pining for Naruto. I don't know who's the bigger idiot, Naruto for never seeing what was always right in front of his eyes or Hinata for never looking elsewhere."

"Love makes people stupid. That's why the wise don't fall in love." Taka said softly.

A lance of pain pierced through his heart, but before he could dwell on it, Taka spoke again. "What about your other friend?"

"You mean Shino? I don't know what his problem is. He's just… not a people-person. He's a bugboy," he added, chuckling to himself. "He understands bugs more than he does people, and he definitely gets along better with them."

"Maybe it's that, and maybe… people just never tried to understand him. He's different, right, but he's still a person."

Kiba silently agreed. People stayed away from Shino because they thought he was a freak. He didn't know which was worse, the disgust or the fear. For the millionth time since their acquaintance, Kiba felt pity for his friend.

"But then he really is hard to know," he explained to Taka. "People keep away from him, and so he keeps himself away from people as well. Hinata and I are his only two friends, if you can believe it. And even so we don't know him very well."

"Sounds like someone should put the two of them out of their misery."

"There's an idea," said Kiba noncommitally. "Drag Naruto back home and find a girl who isn't afraid of Shino. Easy-peasy."

"Don't be silly, Kiba. I meant bring them together."

"Eh?" Kiba looked at Taka quizzically. "Shino and Hinata? No way. They don't suit!" He laughed at the image. But then… Hinata was, indeed, the only girl who wasn't afraid of Shino, and who even had affections for him, while Shino, for sure, held Hinata in the highest regard, as she was one of his best friends… "There's an idea," he said again, but in a different tone now. "But how?"

"You forget who you're talking to, dog-boy. Come," the gypsy said as she rose and started walking towards her wagon.

Kiba joked, "I already did, three times, sweetheart, or did you forget already?"

Taka laughed. "Idiot! I meant come here!" She opened the door of her wagon and clambered inside, and began rummaging through her bottles and boxes.

"Again?" Kiba teased, as he got in behind her, touching her bare buttock suggestively. "You're insatiable, woman!"

Taka swatted his hand away, and took something from her collection. She waved it beneath his nose, and he sniffed at it curiously, asking, "What is it?"

"Careful! This, my friend, is the solution you're looking for. It's a leaf from a rare plant. It makes people fall in love."

"In lo—hah!" Kiba guffawed. "Makes people fall in love? Are you serious?"

"Well… okay, not actually in love, more like in lust. You roll it like a smoke and let him take a puff, and he'd be at her like a dog. Oh… I mean… you know," she finished with a weak laugh.

"I don't know… a lust cigarette for those two? What about afterwards?"

"Hm…" she looked at Kiba thoughtfully, "if you think there's ever a chance that they could like each other like that, why, lust is a powerful catalyst that could bring them together! And then afterwards they can work things out on their own. It could work. At least you can stop bitching about your prudish teammates," she teased.

Kiba grinned. "We-eell, since you put it that way, why not? At least they'd have a good time, right, and with a person they can trust! Great! You're an amazing woman, Taka…" He grabbed her by the waist and spun her around, and her giggles echoed through the night. "But Kiba, now's the perfect time! You have to give it to him now, and then just come back here later. Let it work its magic." She wiggled her eyebrows suggestively.

Kiba felt good as he ran back to their camp, his "gift" to Shino carefully stashed in one of his pockets. It was seldom he could do something nice for his friends, and though he had a few misgivings, he still hoped they'd be less miserable.

Everything would have worked out perfectly, if only Shino hadn't… then Hinata wouldn't have…

It was all Shino's fault.

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SHINO

It was all Hinata's fault, thought Shino.

They had been friends for a long time, and teammates for even longer. In fact, she was the only female friend Shino had, the only female person outside of his own family that he could say he was comfortable with. She was one of the very few people who wasn't afraid of him, who could manage to touch him without cringing in fear.

It was primarily for this reason that Shino became so attracted to her.

Throughout his life, people shied away from him for the obvious reasons. He was of the Aburame clan, those freakish bug-people. Creepy. Asocial. He became used to it, though sometimes he would feel the odd pang of loneliness. Even within his family, they were not physically affectionate, though not for the reasons that people outside believed. Touching never hurt the kikaichu, and it never hurt him; in fact, contact with another person, through his own tactile perception and with the addition of his kikaichu's mysterious connection with him, felt unbelievably good, though unfamiliar. Nobody dared touch him outside the family.

That was, until he became part of Team Eight.

He had apprehensions at first, upon knowing that he would be teamed with the Inuzuka boy. Kiba had been his classmate since their early academy days, but they never became friends then. Well, Shino never had friends then. Kiba hung out mostly with Naruto and Chouji and Shikamaru, -- they ran around and played their games and their pranks, and Shino often wondered how Shikamaru put up with their rowdiness.

And then there was Hinata. Shino had already noticed her in class -- as in the way of many introverted people, he noticed those who were like him. But then there was a major difference between the two of them, and it was that Hinata sincerely cared what other people thought of her, and that was why she was so god-awful shy, and probably also the reason why she stuttered. Shino was never like that. Sure, he was socially awkward, and he said the weirdest things when people talked to him, but he never had a problem speaking. He just preferred not to. But Hinata… she was different.

He knew she liked Naruto – for that was how he was; he saw things that weren't so obvious to other people. Or maybe he saw, because he was always looking. In truth, he was somewhat fascinated with her. Perhaps it was those pale eyes. They were unique, no doubt, and definitely eye-catching. But it wasn't just the physical aspect of those eyes that Shino, as a young boy, became so fascinated with. It was the look in them, an innocence, a sincerity, a light that was so obvious to him, even behind his dark glasses. Or perhaps because of them? And he saw how the light became brighter when her gaze was directed towards Naruto. And he saw how often that gaze was directed toward Naruto.

And there was nothing for him to do but stare at those eyes behind his glasses, those beautiful white eyes while they stared at Naruto.

What a surprise it was to find himself teamed with her!

He was glad that now he would have a greater opportunity to stare at those eyes, but at the same time, he was also aware that even then those eyes would be directed towards Naruto. As a boy, he was spared from that ugly feeling, jealousy, as his fascination was merely that of a child's. He just accepted things for how they were, and was comfortable with it.

What a team they were. Since he took time to listen, she never had trouble talking with him, and through the years, he had unconsciously helped her lose her stutter. He was aware that it was because of his neutralizing presence that Hinata became more at ease with Kiba, and that it was because of Hinata that Kiba mellowed his brashness a bit, and that it was because of Kiba that he himself learned to get along with people outside of his family. Though Shino was socially retarded, he had suspicions that he had come to love his teammates for the persons that they were.

For the life of him, he couldn't understand why Kiba would spend time with him, even outside of missions, just to "hang out". Kiba's words, not his. And so the three of them would stroll around Konoha, and the people of the village would look at them, and shake their heads in amusement at the strange friendship that bound the three.

Hinata.

What a joy it was to spend time with her, to have her smile at him, to have her joke with him.

To have her touch him.

The first time it happened, he was sure she wasn't even aware of the effect she had on him, but oh, was he.

It was a few weeks after they became a team, and the three of them had been taking their usual stroll through one of the quieter neighborhoods. They already passed by the Inuzuka compound, and after waving goodbye to Kiba, the two went on their way. Upon reaching the Hyuuga estate, the two paused in front of the gate, and Hinata asked, "D-do you like candies, Shino-kun?"

He was surprised by the question, and shrugged, digging his fingers deeper into his jacket pockets. "I guess I haven't tried enough to form an opinion of it."

Hinata gave him one of her rare grins. "Wait here, okay?" She opened the gate and left Shino outside, and dashed into one of the buildings. After a while she ran back outside, her face flushed from her sprint. She pulled one of Shino's hands from his pocket, and placed a small bag on it. "Chocolate mints," she said. "I love them. I guess I forgot earlier. I'd bring Kiba-kun some tomorrow. I-I'll see you then, okay?" And with another wave and a smile, she was gone.

Shino remained motionless outside their gate, his hand still open in front of him as he stared at the bag of candy. He was in shock, that he wasn't able to say or do anything after Hinata handed him the candy. Something in him went zing as her flesh touched his, and the aftershocks made him freeze where he was.

That was then, and now, in the middle of the forest in the middle of the night, his thoughts turned, once again, as how it always happened for the past few years, towards the person sitting a few feet from him. He was no stranger to the feeling of hot longing that people his age were so familiar with, and who did something about it, but he was one who always tried to master his self control, and he never attempted to give in to the feelings, never attempted to do something about that sharp heat inside.

Everything would have been okay, if only Hinata didn't… if only Kiba was…

It was all Hinata's fault.

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