A New Beginning – Chapter 1

She gathered the last of her items and placed them neatly in the brown cardboard box. Her room was so empty... A knock on the door echoed, breaking the silence. "C-come in", she said with her tiny voice.

Her father, Hisashi, entered and walked up to his daughter. "All done I see. We'll be leaving by the crack of dawn so leave this to me and do what you need to do", he said with a stern voice, taking the box from her hands. Hinata smiled greatly. Her father was totally considerate at times like these. He was even allowing his daughter, who he was very over-protective of, to spend the whole day out. She said her thanks and walked down the staircase at a fast pace, almost slamming the door as she exited, but she stopped it just in time.

She knew exactly where she was going to. She looked around the neighborhood admiring the sakura trees, took a deep breath of the crisp clean air and sighed. Hinata loved nature especially Konoha's, where she lived. It was a peaceful neighborhood where everyone knew one another and most importantly Kiba lived just around the corner. They've known each other since childhood and simply felt lost without him.

Hinata opened the gate and was knocked off her feet by a very large Akamaru, receiving a slimy wet lick in the face. "Aww euww Akamaru, that's gross!" She said trying to contain her laughter, while struggling to get Akamaru off her small body. She got up dusting off the dirt on her jeans and excess goo from Akamaru and walked to the porch ringing the doorbell. The door opened almost instantly.

"Hinata! We've been expecting you!" Kiba said, giving her a warm tight hug. We? She thought. "Well don't just stand there, come in!" dragging a blushing Hinata by the arm.

"K-Kiba w-wait … where are we g-going?"

He snickered "You'll see."

He took her to the backyard and tears filled up her eyes when she saw everyone gathered around a big dark brown oak table, which had all sorts of treats and drinks on them and small gifts that were at the end of the table."Oh look she's here!"

"SURPRISE!" a very loud Naruto said, who also received a big bang against the head by Sakura.

"Naruto no-baka! We were supposed to say it together!"

"… S-Sakura-Chan" he frowned rubbing his sore head.

Hinata giggled "Its okay Sakura. This IS a big surprise. Thank you, all of you."

Soon enough everyone started grabbing snacks and downing drinks. Ino had to wrestle Choji to stop taking all the good stuff, Shikamaru nodded to the music, Sakura, Lee and Naruto were dancing while Kiba and Hinata sat on a bench nearby the table. Neji and Ten-Ten were nowhere to be found.

"Soo I hope you're enjoying yourself."

Hinata blushed "Of course I am! This was really nice of you."

"Well I can't take all the credit. Ino set up the whole thing, but we all wanted to have our last moments together." Last … Suddenly silence broke out and Hinata looked down, tears escaping furiously.

"Oi what's wrong?" he asked bringing her to his chest.

"Oh Kiba … I was having such a great time that I actually forgot that I was moving. This is really my last time with everyone, my last time with you. I-I … I-I j-just …" She struggled to formulate her words through her tears. Kiba frowned and placed his hands on her shoulders, bringing her away from his chest.

"Now listen to me. Just because you're moving doesn't make us less of friends. We'll always stay in contact whether it's through phone calls or mail. I'll even visit whenever I can." A grin appeared on her face as she wiped her eyes, blushing because she cried in front of Kiba.

"Thank you Kiba."

He crackled a laugh. "Just imagine what the place would be like, your new school, the new friends you'll make and even the cute guys!" he playfully bumped her with his shoulder.

"Ha-ha I'll try to contain my excitement" she said sarcastically. They got off the bench to join the others.

"Say, where are Neji and Ten-Ten?" Ino asked Sakura curiously.

"Now that you mention it, they've been gone for over an hour. You don't think they are …"

"Urg gross! How could you even think that?" Ino shouted at Sakura with flushed cheeks. Sakura laughed devilishly.

"Oh come on Ino, don't be like that! They're probably making-out or something."

"We better look for them. We've got to take pictures soon."

"Hahaha! Are you sure that's the only reason why you want to look for them?" Sakura said with a wink. Ino had a smirk on her face which she hid. "Let's go." The two of them left the yard and entered the house.

"Well well well … What have we got here?" Ino was practicing what she would say when she caught Neji and Ten-Ten doing who knows what. Sakura laughed at Ino's silliness but had to admit that she was just as curious as her was to find out what those two were up to.

The two girls slowly climbed the staircase, tip-toeing on every step. They finally made their way up to the top step. "Let's check in Kiba's bedroom. I doubt they'll be that disrespectful to enter Tsume or Hana's." Sakura whispered to Ino. Ino answered with a nod and lead in front of Sakura to Kiba's room.

"Shit Neji! Don't force it in! I swear to god-…"

"Holy crap! What the heck are they doing in there?" Ino exclaimed, who was listening through the door.

"Shhhh! They'll know we're here if you speak so loud!" Sakura said as she placed her hand over Ino's mouth.

"…"

"Easy on the shaking Ten-Ten. It might just explode in your face again like the last three times." Neji said with a chuckle.

"Ooh that's it! We're going in on the count of three! One … Two … Thr-"

"Ino wai-!"

Before Sakura could even finish her sentence, Ino stormed into the room and was shocked with what she saw. Her jaw hung like saggy-things-which-I-will-not-mention when she saw Ten-Ten on the floor. Her hair was all over the place and she was covered in white thick dripping … icing. Icing? She looked over to Neji who was kneeling on the floor topless alongside Ten-Ten.

"Okay the only thing wrong in this picture is the cake. Why- What- ..." Sakura didn't know where to begin.

"This is not what it looks like I swear," Neji started nervously, looking towards Ino as he was talking. "We w-were preparing the cake for Hinata."

"In a bedroom? Uhm guys that's what kitchens are there for. And that still doesn't explain why you are topless and Ten-Ten looking as if she's been ravished!" Ino said rather loudly

"Ino please be quiet! And I don't look rav- urg never mind! Look, we were supposed to put this little device in the center of the cake. When you press the button a sign that says "We Love You" pops out, but we haven't been having much luck. As you can see, it ruined much of the room as well as our clothing … And we were having a bit of fun at that." Ten-Ten smirked while Neji turned a bright pink.

Both Ino and Sakura burst from laughter. "See I told you!" Sakura said as she nudged Ino with her elbow.

"Well you two get yourself cleaned up. We're going to take pictures real soon. The whole cake idea was thoughtful but clearly ended up bad." Ino said still snickering in between.

They left Neji and Ten-Ten in the room, still laughing as they made their way down the staircase.

"Neji turned to Ten-Ten and sighed. "You do know the trouble you caused by adding that last bit." He got up and helped her off the ground.

"Hahaha! What's the worse she can do?"

"You clearly don't know Ino like I do. Anyway, let's get you cleaned up."

The twosome left Kiba's messy room to meet the others outside after they had freshened up … And sucked each other's faces for two-three minutes. ^^,

"It's picture tiiiime!" Ino shrieked almost annoyingly. She was probably just excited because she'll be in some photos. She was conceited like that, but one had to admit that she was really beautiful.

"So how's this going to work?" Choji asked.

"Hmmm maybe we should have the boy's line up then the girls and then all of us together?"

"Sounds good."

Hinata wasn't keen on taking photos. She wasn't as photogenic as Ino or had a gorgeous smile like Ten-Ten and Sakura. She always compared herself with others which sometimes stopped her from doing anything because she thought she lacked something. This often lowered her self-esteem. Ino's loud voice snapped Hinata from thought. She was lining up the boys on the grass under one of the tallest cherry blossom trees sounding like a professional photographer. Kiba, Choji, Shikamaru and Neji stood next to each other. Lee stood on the side of Neji and Naruto on the side of Kiba. Lee gave his famous nice-guy pose, Kiba gave a big smile exposing his canines, Naruto smiled broadly with his eyes closed, Neji looked pissed off and Choji had his arm around Shikamaru's shoulder who looked rather high.

"1-2-3 say Cheese!"

"Wait!" shouted a very angry Naruto.

"What is it now?" Ino asked annoyed.

"Well, why does it have to be cheese of all delicious and ultra-tasty things known to man? Why not something like Ramen or Curry or star-shaped Angel Cake? Surely you can be more imaginative that that Ino!"

A vein exposed itself on Ino's temple. Suddenly a brick flew past Ino's face and landed on the crown of Naruto's head, who fell onto the ground and mumbled things like "Stars … Moon"

"Shall we continue?" smiled Sakura. Scary, thought Hinata.

Click click

The girls laughed at how silly the boys were being. About ten or eleven photos were taken. One was instantly drawn to Lee and Naruto, who did the most hilarious poses. The girls lined up next. Ino stood next to Sakura and Ten-Ten stood next to Hinata. The setting was beautiful. The cherry blossoms had fallen to the ground and there were plenty of shade which really made the girls stand out. Ino thought it was common to be lined up next to each other and said it would look better if they sat down on the grass.

Hinata noticed that she was the only one wearing tee's and jeans. Sakura wore a frilly mid-length white dress with a rose pink hairclip that accentuated her curled shoulder-length hair; Ten-Ten wore a black speckled racerback vest and cute plain shorts. She grew her hair really long since it was rumored that Neji had a thing for girls with long hair. Ino wore a strapless dress that had lace detail at the bottom and black pumps, her long golden locks curled at the ends. Compared to them I look like a hippie!

Ino noticed that Hinata seemed a bit down. Well looking the way she did it's no wonder, Ino thought to herself. The girl had back length beautiful bluish-black hair which she always hid behind, not showing her pretty pale face and gorgeous grey eyes. She was petite and was blessed with boobs, something the other three did not have. She had no reason to be insecure!

Kiba was about to take the photo when Ino stopped him. "Wait!" she said.

"What's up? I was just about to take the photo."

Ino got up and kneeled in front of Hinata, who had a confused look on her face.

"U-Uhm Ino?"

"Just hang on," she said as she untied the black ribbon of her dress, which was around her waist, and fastened it on Hinata's hair. Her hair was now out of her face and looked as if she was wearing a pretty shimmering Alice band. Ino went to the table and grabbed some goodies that were in her handbag. She applied a nude gloss to Hinata's lips, dusted her lids with a soft pink eye shadow and finally adding some mascara to Hinata's already-long eyelashes.

"There, all done!" Ino said smiling at her masterpiece.

"Wow Hina! You look so pretty!" said Sakura and Ten-Ten in unison.

Hinata's cheeks went red. "T-Thank you I-Ino."

Kiba stood with the camera in his hands simply stunned at how beautiful Hinata was. He always thought that she didn't need much make-up or any at all. He loved her just the way she was and he'd always tell her that whenever she'd feel insecure.

"Any time now Kiba." Ten-Ten said with a giggle, snapping Kiba from daydreaming.

"U-Uh r-right …" he held up the camera, trying to hide his blush. Neji glared at Kiba painfully which he did not take note of.

"Make sure you get all of them in and not just one" Neji said with a smirk, his eyes closed and arms crossed.

"Unlike you, I know how to get a job done." Kiba said with a smirk. Lee braced himself just in case. Neji grunted and walked away. Kiba swore he saw him blush.

A few minutes later they all gathered around the table to have a look at the photos. "Eeeek! They look perfect! This one's definitely going into the album!" Ino shrieked, holding up a few photos.

"But my eyes are closed on that one!" Ten-Ten yelled.

"Yeah well I look magnificent if I do say so myself." She said flicking her hair.

"Don't bother, Ten-Ten" Neji said placing his hand on her shoulder which comforted her. "We've still to take a group photo in any case."

Ah, the group photo. I'm actually looking forward to this one, I thought to myself.

Naruto went in the house to fetch the camera stand seeing as they didn't have someone to take their photo. Hana, Kiba's sister went out grocery shopping with her boyfriend Itachi Uchiha, so they were in no luck. Kiba liked the guy. He could tell that he really loved his sister, unlike the other arseholes she dated in the past who were probably just interested in her looks. They got along famously which was an added bonus.

"Don't take too long now Naruto!" Sakura said.

"I think I shall help Naruto! You know what they say, two heads are better than one!" Lee said enthusiastically as he sprinted off. They all laughed hysterically. About three minutes later they came back. Lee had the stand in his hand.

"I beat you to it Naruto!"

"Gee Lee. I was not competing with you." Lee clenched his fists and mumbled something under his breath.

Kiba adjusted the auto-timer and ran to where everyone was standing. He stood in front next to Hinata. Everyone stood close to one another. Ten-Ten pulled Neji who stood one-sided towards her while he had his arm around her waist. Ino sat on the ground allowing her hair to flow on her left shoulder. Sakura did the exact same pose but on the opposite side. Shikamaru, Choji, Naruto and Lee stood at the back. Lee complaining because he was afraid he won't be seen in the photo. Shikamaru yawned. They stood there … waiting, and waiting …

"U-Uhm …" Hinata barely whispered.

Naruto became fidgety. "Just how many seconds did you put the timer on, Kiba?"

"Shut up!" he replied clearly embarrassed.

"Everyone just keep calm. It'll go off soon."

Beep …Beep …

"Ah it's going to go off! Everyone smile!" Kiba said quickly.

Beeeep!

Click click

As soon as the photo was taken, Hana peeped through the half-opened door to see what was going on.

"Hmpf I see you're having a party without me!" she said with her hand on her hips pretending to be angry.

"Nee-Chan, you're back!" Kiba said as he ran to his sister giving her a kiss on the cheek. "Haha! Nah. Its Hina's last day in Konoha so we're just giving her a 'lil farewell party.

"She's moving today! I completely forgot!" She skipped towards Hinata and was greeted by everyone. She's so pretty, thought Hinata.

"Are we too boring for your taste that you're leaving?" Hana asked with a smile.

Hinata giggled "No. If I had the choice I would never leave. My father got a big job offer in Haizuren and we have to move closer to his work." She said with a faint smile. The thought of it made her sad yet again. Tears welled up in her eyes but she forced herself not to cry in front of everyone.

"Hana, I'm all done unpacking the- am I interrupting something?" asked a male voice.

Hinata looked up and felt her face get warm when she saw this gorgeous man. He was handsome indeed. Long sleek black hair which was tied in a low ponytail (LOL), wearing a red and blue striped golf shirt, which really showed off his masculine body, and black jeans which was hung a bit exposing his black skull-printed briefs.

Hana walked up to him to fetch him, holding him by the hand.

So this must be Hana's boyfriend.

"Itachi, these are Kiba's friends, and this is my boyfriend Itachi. She said as she smiled widely.

"Yosh! I'm Lee"

"Hi, I'm Ten-Ten"

"I'm Ino"

"Neji"

"Sakura", she said with a blush.

"You are in the presence of Naruto Uzumaki!"

"I'm Choji and this guy over here is Shikamaru." He said as he punched Shikamaru on the arm. He awoke from his sleep in a shocked state when he heard his name. They all laughed at his reaction.

"And what's your name?" he asked politely, facing Hinata. She went crimson red for two reasons:
1) An incredibly hot guy was talking to her and
2) She realized that she was the only one who hadn't introduce herself because she was admiring how good looking he was!

"I-I'm Hh-Hinatt-ta" she stuttered terribly, mentally slapping herself.

Itachi gave her a quirky look. "Excuse me?"

"H-Hinata … my name's Hinata" She said thanking the lord that it came out correctly.

"A beautiful name for a beautiful girl", he said flashing a smile. Hinata felt as if she was about to explode! Hana hicked as she laughed and told Itachi to stop teasing her. "I was just being honest!" He walked off with Hana, and in the distance shouted that it was nice to meet all of them.

Ino, Sakura and Ten-Ten gathered around Hinata. She knew what was coming!

"Hahaha Hina! You totally have a crush on him!" said Ino.

"But daaaamn he is f-fiiiine!" came a weird accent from Ten-Ten. Hysterical bursts of laughter flew between them. Hinata just blushed.

Girls, thought Shikamaru shaking his head.

They all helped clear up the table as it was getting pretty dark. The boys carried the heavier stuff such as the chairs and posts etc. Choji, Lee and Neji helped move the oak table back inside the garage. Hinata, Sakura, Ino and Ten-Ten picked up the Styrofoam cups and plates from the ground and any wrappings from the treats. They took the tray of beautifully decorated cupcakes inside the kitchen. Choji nabbed a neon-yellow icing covered cupcake, shoving it cupcake-case and all.

"I think that's about it." Having one last look at the yard, Kiba closed and locked the back door.

They were all assembled in the lounge now, sitting on the couches. Pink lemonade was passed around courtesy of Ino

"I can't believe I'm going to drink 'pink drinks'." Said Neji, inspecting the glass which he held up in front of his face.

"Hmpf you don't have to drink it but you'll be missing out!" Ino huffed. Hinata took a small relaxed sip of the lemonade. (Just in case!) Wow it was really good.

Everyone was in their own conversation while Hinata just sat there smiling at her friends. They were all uniquely awesome. As said before, Kiba and Hinata knew each other since childhood. Kiba's mom went to school AS her dad. They were best friends so she kind of grew up with Kiba around. That's probably why they were so close.

Ino and Sakura were like sisters from another mo – okay … they were like sisters. They bonded really well and would often bicker here and there but that's what strengthened their bond. Quite like Kiba and Hinata.

Choji's father owned a fast food restaurant called Ichiraku. (They catered noodle dishes only) It was there where he met Naruto who was Chouza, Choji's fathers', best customer. I swear he lived on Ramen.

Lee and Ten-Ten were gym partners at Sweat of Youthfulness Gym. The name alone set Lee's heart ablaze. Ten-Tens' father was a blacksmith and supplied Shikamaru's with weapons. That's how they met Shika. And of course everyone could tell that Ten-Ten was into Hinata's cousin, Neji. He wouldn't admit that he felt something for her. Well he made it pretty clear when they were caught d-d … A blush made its way to Hinata's cheeks at the thought of it.

We all attended Konoha High – For Gifted Children. (No we were not mentally retarded! Although the last bit really did sound as if it was a school for retarded kids.) I laughed at the thought. We situated in the same classroom, except Naruto who was still in grade 10. He was the class clown and didn't put effort into his work that's why we were all a grade ahead of him. I always motivated him to work hard so that he can catch up with the rest of us and it seemed to be helping as his marks went up greatly.

A hand appeared on my shoulder breaking me from thought. It was Neji, who asked if I was okay.

"You've been quiet for a while now."

I smiled shyly "Oh no I was just thinking." Neji and I barely spoke which was weird seeing as we were family and was in each other's face every day. He used to live with us because his mom, Hanabi and her husband, (This was Neji's stepfather) were having marital problems. He couldn't cope with all their issues so he stayed with us for a while until things settled down at home. He moved back about a month ago but still slept over during the weekends and so forth, especially now that we were moving.

I began fiddling with my fingers. He saw through this.

"Well?"

I looked at him with a smirk. "So you and Ten-Ten huh?"

His cheeks turned rose pink. "Hn" was all he said. I playfully nudged against his shoulder with mine and laughed. "Well in my opinion I think you two make a great couple." I could've sworn I saw his cheeks turn a darker shade. Hehe he was so cute. I changed the topic immediately before things would get awkward. As I began …

Knock Knock Knock

And silence fell within the room. I had a weird feeling in the core of my stomach. I didn't like this at all.

Ten-Ten answered the door seeing as she was closest. Black shoes appeared on the frame of the door.

"Who're you?" She rudely asked. Kiba panicked and ran to the door pushing Ten-Ten out of the way. He noticed a Hyuuga insignia on the front of the strangers white blouse. It was one of Hinata's maids.

"Good Evening Mr. Inuzaka is Miss Hinata here?" she asked emotionlessly.

"Yeah she is." He said with a frown. Was she to leave already? He went into the middle of the lounge where everyone was.

"Who is it?" Naruto asked.

"It's one of the Hyuuga Servants. She's here for Hinata" he answered back painfully.

Hinata looked stoic. She got up from the couch and straightened the imaginary wrinkles from her jeans. Everyone got up in unison. "Well" she started "I guess this is it." She said with a faint smile.

"Oh Hina … Ino said as she wrapped her arms around her and hugged her tightly.

"Hinata! We're really going to miss you!" Lee said with alligator tears streaming down his stiff face. She nearly got the life sucked out of her as Lee hugged her.

"U-Uhm L-Lee …" She said gasping for air.

"S-Sorry!"

Shikamaru had his hands in his pockets and looked at her with a ruddy complexion. "You take care of yourself now." He said almost robotically. She simply smiled but then hesitantly gave him a hug. This amused the others.

"If any bitches are on your case just Holler at me 'Kay!" Ten-Ten ranted. Hinata was simply amused at the new slang Ten-Ten was using not once, but twice tonight. She then hugged her and whispered in her ear that she should look after Neji. Hinata felt the side of Ten-Ten's face getting warmer.

Naruto and Sakura walked up to Hinata and gave a bear hug. They nearly fell over but Naruto released and joined Lee in turning the lounge into a swimming pool.

"I'm really going to miss you Hina. The group is going to be totally incomplete without you." Sakura said as she tightened the hug. She was getting pretty hot with everyone hugging her.

Neji came up to her and they exchange stares. He then locked her head on the inside of his arm and gave her a noogie. How childish! She began laughing as she struggled to break free from his grip. Once he released, she straightened up and could tell how muffled her hair was by the look on everyone's face. "Neji!"

Choji was passed out on the couch cringing. He ate too many cupcakes. I didn't want to wake him up but Shikamaru woke him up in any case.

Kiba led me to the porch while everyone followed behind.

There was a tense vibe between the two of them and nothing was said. They just stared. He pulled out something from his back pocket. Hinata followed his hand curiously.

"I got this for you," He said as he took a hold of her arm and put a silver bracelet around her wrist. "It's nothing big but I thought I'd give you something so that you'd know that I'm nearby."He said with a warm smile. This time she let the tears flow freely and gave him tight hug. She pulled him really close to her body that it made Kiba blush a little.

"T-Thank you s-so m-much K-Kiba." She said in between sobs.

"Don't cry."

I wanted to punch Kiba for telling me not to cry. How could I not! I was finally leaving Konoha and all my friends behind and he had just given me the most amazing gift ever. I released the hug and wiped the tears with my hands. I gave a big smile and we leaned in for a group hug. Yes it was dorky but we didn't really care.

Kiba walked the maid and me to gate where I waved frantically to the others that stood on the porch, who waved back and shouted goodbyes and take cares. I gave him my final hug and walked with Koharu, the maid, who seemed rather impatient. We started walking and I turned around to see Kiba still staring. "I'll miss you!" I shouted and continued walking. He went back into the house and closed the door.

I'll miss you too …

AN: OMG I finally completed the first chapter of my first Fan fiction! :D I don't think it was that great and I know that some things does not pair up like in the anime (Hanabi being Hinata's aunt instead of her younger sister, a few characters missing* and so forth) but this is a FAN fiction after all lol.

Constructive criticism is most welcome, if you do not like something, please indicate what it is what you do not like and not tell me that I suck full-stop =| Hehe.

Please Review! 3 J

*Part of the plot