Ahh, I'm sure you guys are sick of me flooding your inboxes with stuff. XD
I wrote this for a buddy who has been craving ShinoHina (I've been craving it too, actually), using the keyword "nectar." Hope y'all enjoy.
Nectarine
Hinata wore nectarine-flavored lip-gloss.
It was a little-known fact, of course, because she rarely talked about her beauty regimen to anyone, let alone her teammates—the topic seemed to be a source of embarrassment to her, and she always blushed whenever Kiba asked her what scent she happened to be wearing or if she'd done something different to her eyes.
Considering he grew up in a family full of females, Shino figured that Kiba would be slightly knowledgeable on the matter, or at the very least show some tact, though in retrospect, he had no idea why this behavior surprised him.
Kiba wouldn't recognize tact if it smacked him in the face.
As for Shino…
Since his mother died when he was very young, he'd been left with only his father and his brother as references, so the entire concept of primping baffled him as much as it roused his curiosity.
Of course, prior to his involvement with Team 8, he didn't appreciate the reason why girls wore makeup—the whole thing struck him as quite silly—and, consequentially, he didn't care to study the effect it had on their appearances—other than making them look like circus clowns, that is.
His perspective changed drastically thanks to Hinata. And a sudden surge of hormones. In that order.
He noticed her smile first.
"Here, Shino-kun. I…brought this for you." She offered him a tiny parcel wrapped in blue-and-white-checkered cloth. "Special tea leaves. To help get rid of your cold."
They had agreed to assemble near Konoha's main gate at daybreak, because that particular mission required them to travel to a neighboring village that would take three or four hours to reach on foot.
Shino, ever the punctual one, had arrived first, pockets bulging with tissues, nose red and swollen. He was glad the collar of his jacket concealed the worst of it, and was trying to think of a way to use the tissues discreetly in the presence of his comrades—he'd rather not be fussed over, and he wanted to avoid any taunts about becoming a liability from Kiba—when Hinata showed up, carrying her tiny parcel and looking at him in a way that suggested she saw through his secret.
Which, it turned out, she did.
"We can prepare it later, at the village," she said lightly, shifting her eyes from his sunglasses to the ground. She didn't draw attention to his nose, or the fact that he shouldn't be traveling at all, probably to spare his pride.
His mind was reeling.
Tea leaves.
No, not just tea leaves. Special tea leaves. For colds.
She realized he was coming down with something before anyone else did, and she brought him tea leaves.
And then he remembered that he hadn't accepted them yet.
"Thank you," he said in a low, hoarse voice—his cold was a bit worse than he gave it credit for—and took the parcel, the fabric soft beneath the pads of his fingers.
Hinata peered through her eyelashes at him. "You're welcome, Shino-kun." And she smiled, the corners of her mouth curling up just enough to make her cheeks dimple.
Previously, Shino's indifference toward the opposite sex had included Hinata. Her status as his teammate didn't help, either—it made him even more inclined to ignore her overall aesthetic appeal, because, in their chosen field, there was no place for fraternization, especially not among teammates.
He wasn't sure what it was—maybe his cold clouded his judgment—but there was something about that day, and that smile, and those tea leaves, that forced him to take a closer look at her.
"Oy, Hinata!"
"Kiba-kun! There you are." Hinata turned her face away, but Shino could still see the curve of her lips, their gentle sheen in the newly risen sun, and he began to wonder what she put on them, and how soft they'd be if he were to—
"Hey, bug breath." Kiba clapped Shino on the shoulder, smirking. "Let's get a move on." He happened to glance at the parcel, and his expression became mischievous. "Is that a bento box? You have a girlfriend now or something?" He tried to grab for it, but Shino switched it to his other hand, mentally kicking himself.
The girlfriend comment unsettled him, since he'd just been thinking weird thoughts about Hinata and her lips and kissing them, and he was paranoid that Kiba somehow figured him out.
"It's none of your business," he said coolly, and started walking through the gate, his gaze fixed resolutely ahead. He couldn't afford another slip-up. And those thoughts needed to stop, immediately. No distractions.
Absently, his fingers tightened around the parcel of tea leaves.
Behind him, Kiba whispered loudly to Hinata. "What's his problem? Jerk. He's grouchy today. All I did was ask a simple question. I wasn't being rude or anything..."
Except he was. But Kiba's idea of rude existed on an entirely different plane of reality from the norm because he said whatever popped into his head at any given moment, regardless of the people he ran the risk of offending.
However, Shino was too preoccupied to take offense.
And if he entertained the hope that this preoccupation would disappear on its own, he'd be grievously disappointed.
The next incident involved an orange.
In normal circumstances, oranges were fairly innocent fruits, and while eating them could be messy, Shino quite enjoyed the sensation of biting into a ripe orange on a hot day and feeling the juice slide down his throat.
But this circumstance wasn't normal. Not normal at all.
They were sitting under a willow tree by a peaceful stream about ten minutes from the Hyuuga compound, just the two of them. Kiba would've come, but he begged off earlier—his mother was training a fresh pack of hunting dogs, and she told Kiba to stick around and lend a hand.
The warning bells screeched in Shino's head when he discovered he wasn't remotely saddened by the news.
Not that he and Kiba were the best of friends. They tolerated each other, yes, and their conversation took on a semi-civil air occasionally, though they weren't in any danger of becoming inseparable.
Still, his exultation at knowing Kiba wouldn't randomly pop up to ruin his alone time with Hinata seemed highly uncharacteristic…
Probably because it was highly uncharacteristic.
Shino blamed a lot of it on puberty, a very convenient scapegoat at fifteen, especially for a male. Boys matured slower than girls, and so did their raging libidos—though Shino's didn't rage. It simmered.
And the simmering had reached a peak today.
"Would you like a piece, Shino-kun?"
Because of the heat, Hinata had exchanged her customary jacket for a black, sleeveless cotton shirt that clung to her curves in this blasted humidity, and made Shino all the more aware of her budding womanhood.
He tried to avoid looking anywhere but her face. His success was limited, though the sunglasses helped make his transgressions less obvious.
"Shino-kun?"
Apparently, he'd been trying too hard.
Hinata held out a slice of orange, her expression unassuming. A strand of her shoulder-length hair fell from her loose ponytail and into her eyes, but she didn't move to brush it aside.
Shino swallowed.
From a young age, Hinata kept her hair cropped short despite the Hyuuga custom to wear long hair, and it had projected a somewhat childish image that her severe shyness only served to perpetuate.
That Hinata had been replaced with the girl sitting next to him, the girl who was preparing to honor her inheritance and grew her hair to suit the tradition of her family, the girl in tight black cotton, holding out an orange slice.
Their fingers brushed when she gave him the orange, and she smiled, taking a dainty bite of her own slice. She tucked the wayward strand of hair behind her ear as she chewed.
Another bite. And another.
He watched her mouth, transfixed. Her lips were shiny with juice, and her tongue would poke out frequently to lick it off while she fanned her face with her hand. After she finished, she lifted her ponytail away from her neck and leaned her head back against the willow, eyes closed.
Shino's unsavory thoughts had returned.
Now would be the perfect opportunity to lean in and kiss her. He had also left his jacket at home in favor of a zip-up collared shirt, though, unlike the collar on his jacket, this one didn't cover the lower half of his face, so he wouldn't have to worry about it getting in the way.
He could find out if her lips really were as soft as he imagined, what they tasted like…
"I'm glad you could come, Shino-kun," Hinata said, eyes still closed. "It's nice to just be with a friend once in a while."
Shino froze, closer to her than he had been a second ago. His hand, lingering over her cheek, dropped.
Shaken—where had his willpower gone?—he composed himself and asked, "Is something bothering you?" His heart pounded.
"No." Her brows drew together. "Well…maybe. But it's silly."
"Tell me."
"I…" She hesitated. "I'm improving every day. I know that I am. My father doesn't turn away in shame anymore, and yet…I have such a long way to go…what if I'm not doing enough?"
Frowning, Shino toyed with his uneaten orange slice. A long way…she'd already come a long way. Why didn't she see that? Why didn't she see that he noticed her now when he hadn't before, all because of what she'd done herself?
"When the time comes, you'll be ready," he said firmly. "You've taken the initiative, and that's what matters."
Hinata opened her eyes. They were clear.
"Thank you, Shino-kun," she whispered, her expression deeply gratified as she met his gaze.
He cleared his throat, cheeks burning.
"Hn."
She laughed.
"Eat your orange."
A month later, Shino discovered that Hinata's lips shimmered because she wore lip-gloss.
"Shino-kun…can you hear me?"
He was swimming in and out of consciousness, the result of a blow to the temple that his destruction bugs couldn't shield him from. Part of that was his fault—he'd grown complacent during the fight, convinced that he had the advantage, but his opponent had speed on his side and attacked before Shino could plant any bugs on him.
But he heard her.
"I'm here. I'm right here, Shino-kun."
He wanted to give her an indication that he understood, but his mouth refused to move. His entire body was immobile, embarrassingly enough. Kiba would have a lot to say about that when he found out.
"The others have gone to get help, so hang in there."
His vision was blurry. Her distorted face hovered above his, and looked so strange he felt the urge to laugh, though laughing was as impossible as moving.
"You were very brave," she murmured. "But very stupid. Be careful next time, Shino-kun."
And then there was a light pressure on his parted lips as she touched her mouth to his, and he tasted something sweet.
The world faded.
"Nectarine."
Hinata raised her eyebrows.
"Pardon?"
They were taking Kiba's dogs out for exercise as a team. Kurenai-sensei had explained that it would strengthen their bond, but Shino suspected she had other motives for shooing them off, namely a certain chain-smoking Jounin she spent a good deal of her free time visiting with.
Shino glanced at Hinata sidelong.
"It's nectarine," he said.
After a moment, her face registered his meaning. Chewing her lip, she blushed and gave an imperceptible little nod.
"Hey…hey! What's going on? Why is Hinata blushing? Hey!"
Kiba continued yapping, but Shino, grinning behind his collar, paid him no heed.
He wanted to taste her lip-gloss again.