She started carrying an umbrella all the time, said that there was a reason to have one for every season of the year. I've never in my life felt the need to have one, so every time we'd leave for a mission and she'd grab that little blue baton, I chuckle at her. I never say anything though, she's delicate that way. I'd rather not crush her like the behemoth she tells me I am when she gets mad.
---
We were coming back from a mission when it started to rain. Before a drop could hit her, she had that little umbrella over her head. And then it just poured. My hair collapsed under the weight of the water, and it stayed that way no matter how much Akamaru and I tried to shake it off. I looked ahead through my brown curtain to see Shino continuing unhindered, wrapped up in his tarp of a jacket. I wished I had my old coat with the hood back.
As I dragged my feet through the slowly muddying road, slouched over, brushing dripping curtains of hair out of my eyes, I heard soft giggling by my side. 'Only Hinata,' I thought, glancing at her. She smiled from under the powder blue plastic shield.
"Here, Kiba," She lifted the umbrella up in an attempt to get me under it.
"Oh no," I boasted, taking two great steps to the side and falling in a puddle, much to her amusement. "I don't need that umbrella." I stated, trying to maintain my composure. "You just keep on going."
"O-Okay then," She giggled, then ran ahead to catch up with Shino who had eventually realized that no one was walking with him.
---
I never really had a problem with the sun; it gave Akamaru and I an excuse to go swimming. Not that we ever needed an excuse in the first place. I remember Hinata used to get really terrible sunburns every year, before that parasol came into the picture. Now she spends every summer in a perpetual shade.
Inflow of missions generally slows around the summer months. I guess people just don't need shinobi when all they want to fight is the heat. So, we generally get to slack off for a while during the dog days of summer.
One of these days, Akamaru and I were lying by the riverside in the shade, I guess we fell asleep because when I woke up I was burning up in the direct sun. "Who turned on the lights?" I groaned, lifting my arms in an attempt to shield myself, but the light just kept coming at me. "Akamaru?" I called, noticing that he wasn't by my side. I received an encouraging bark from the shade behind me. My big white dog was lying fifteen feet away in the cool refreshing shade. I felt too heavy and sweaty to move. I groaned again, closing my eyes only to find that the sun still hit me behind my lids, until a shadow came over my face.
I opened my eyes to see her standing over me with a lavender parasol resting on her shoulder. "Hi, Kiba." She smiled down at me.
"Hey, Hinata." I replied, for once thankful that she kept that umbrella on her.
"A-Are you alright?" She asked as she sat down next to me. I stared up at her smiling face as the sunlight filtered through the thin purple material of her parasol, leaving a pale shadow around her glowing face.
"Yeah." I replied after a minute, "Just watching the clouds."
---
It started to get really windy. I was sure that she'd give up the whole umbrella thing by now, but of course I was wrong. Akamaru and I were on our way home; it was dusk and starting to get cold. I kicked at a pile of leaves and watched them get swept down the street by a gust of wind. Then I noticed she was down at the corner, her cornflower blue umbrella was inside out and she was struggling to keep hold of it against the wind.
"Hinata!" I called, running down to her with Akamaru barking by my side. She turned her face to me. Her long hair whipped around her pale face.
"Hi, Kiba." She shouted over the wind.
Before I could ask if she needed an help, these was an umbrella colliding with my face. I hear her squeal over the wind as I grunted and beat the umbrella to the ground; Akamaru picked it up in his teeth. I looked up to see Hinata much closer than she'd been before. There was a scarlet blush streaked across her face; it'd been a very long time since she'd blushed about something other than seeing Naruto. "T-Thank you." She murmured, taking her umbrella from Akamaru and closing it. Then she smiled, "I don't suppose now isn't the best time to carry one of these." She closed the umbrella and hooked it around her arm.
I rubbed my nose where the ferrule hit me and chuckled, "Yeah, you think so."
"Thank you for catching it," She giggled. We stood together for a while; gusts of wind came and went, blowing her hair in every direction. We didn't really look at each other; we didn't really have to. After a while, she said, "I should get home." I nodded while looking at the ground a few feet away, "I'll see you later."
---
The year was coming to a close; it got cold, and snow covered the ground. Shino left on a mission with his father, so she and I agreed to do a little training in his absence. I waited with Akamaru just outside the village gates for her. It was snowing a little bit. I leaned against a tree and tried to catch flakes on my tongue, then I spotted a dark violet dome out of the corner of my eye. I turned to look, and, sure enough, she was under it. That just about snapped it for me. Half the fun of snow was touching it, and she was hiding under that umbrella like always.
"Good morning, Kiba." She said with a smile. I didn't say anything back; I stared at that stupid purple umbrella. "I-Is something wrong?" She asked, looking up at her umbrella.
"Yes." I replied; the breath rose into the sky. "Something is very wrong."
"W-Well, what is it?" There was general worry and fear in her eyes. I gently pushed the umbrella to the side. She moved her arms with me and looked up at the white sky once the shade had passed over her. The umbrella rested on her leg, slowly filling with snow. "Umbrellas aren't meant for snow." I murmured. She looked back at me. There was a flake perched on her eyelashes, and her cheeks were pink from the cold. "You have to feel it," I lifted her chin to make eye contact with her, "To appreciate its real beauty." I wasn't sure where a lot of this was coming from, but I liked it. Then my lips met with hers and all the snow seemed to melt away.
---
Final Score:
Kiba ---------1
Umbrellas-- 0