And another story! I know I was going to be working on Uchiha of the Month, but for those of you who haven't checked my profile, it's on a temporary hiatus. I'm not exactly sure how long this story's gonna be, so make sure you check it out every now and then.
I really appreciate feedback, good and bad! Oh, and as for pairings, the only ones I'll probably be able to confirm are Kiba/Hina and Lee/Ten. There WILL be an OC in later chapters, but this a GOOD OC. In fact, I believe MY OC is mentioned in this chapter. In case you didn't believe me, I CAN'T STAND MARY SUES AND WOULD NEVER WRITE ONE IN A STORY. NEVER.
And, not only I can't think of another innovative way to announce that I DON'T OWN NARUTO, but I also DON'T OWN NARUTO.
Oh, this is going to be SO good...!
"C'mon, Hinata, we have to be at the Aburame's residence before Shino wakes up! Who knows when that'll be?" Inuzuka Kiba hollered at his lagging teammate.
"S-sorry…" Hinata muttered, trying to keep up with Kiba and Akamaru's lightning speed. "I…. I'm just not as f-fast as y-you and Akamaru... or maybe I'm j-just not a m-morning person," she stuttered, nearly tripping over a tree trunk.
"Whoa, watch your step! And don't worry about it, we're almost there!" Kiba consoled, flashing a wicked smile in her direction.
"Th-thanks… So, how w-will this -" Hinata started as she failed to hide her intense blush, until Kiba suddenly stopped directly in front of a towering building with the Aburame insignia (1) and the name of said family inscripted on the door.
"Aha!" Kiba shouted. "The Aburame house!" Kiba observed the structure's exterior, nodding in approval. He turned to Hinata.
"Well, its sure no Hyuuga Mansion, that's for sure, but it'll be perfect for the best birthday party of the year!" Kiba grinned from ear to ear. "Whaddaya think?"
Hinata giggled despite herself, recalling her father's harsh response concerning Shino's birthday party being held at the Hyuuga Mansion. "Yes… perfect… Sh-should we go inside n-now? I-I've never m-met Shino's father before…"
Scratching his chin intelligently, Kiba wore a reflective expression. (2) "Yeah, I've never met him either. I guess we'll find out what he's like!" and he knocked on the door as loud as possible. Several seconds later, the door swung open, and Shino - the one person Kiba and Hinata didn't want to see - stood in the doorway and crossed his arms.
"Don't laugh," he commanded. "The neighbor girl bought this for me…"
Nevertheless, Kiba screamed with laughter at Shino's attire: knee-length, black boxers with miniature beetle prints scattered across them, and a muscle shirt that read "Love Bug" on its front.
"Ooh, you got yourself a girlfriend, Shino?" Kiba drawled out, wiggling his eyebrows.
"No!" Shino retorted with a mortified expression as he took a step backwards. "That neighbor girl is obsessed, I tell you. Absolute nutcase. She's a constant annoyance, and if she catches me not wearing this on a regular basis, her psychotic alter ego kicks in. Her wrath even exceeds Tsunade-sama's," He continued gravely.
"Mmhmm. Sure."
As part of his daily routine, Shino ignored Kiba. "Anyway, care to come in?" Shino gestured to the inside of his home.
"O-okay," Hinata answered, waving to Shino as she entered. How are we going to speak with Shino's father about his surprise party while Shino is still here? I hope Kiba knows what he's doing…
"Nice place ya got here, Shino! Makes my home look like a doghouse!" Kiba laughed heartily after his comment. "Get it? Doghouse! Ha ha!"
Hinata coughed. Shino shook his head in pity.
"So, might I ask you guys what you're doing here today? And no, Kiba, I won't go to the dog show with you." Shino shivered, recalling his past experience at last week's dog show. "Not again, ever since Akamaru -"
"Hey! Thanks for reminding me! Akamaru and I made it to the finals!"
"Actually, Shino, Kiba and I… c-can we speak with y-your father?" Hinata asked timidly, glancing around the room in search of an elder clone of Shino.
Shino raised an eyebrow. "Yes, but why? Can't you just ask me?"
"Of course not, silly!" Kiba responded merrily. "Actually, I've been told that a certain someone would like to speak with you outside… come with me," and he practically shoved Shino outside and trailed him, but not before making eye contact with Hinata and winking.
Hinata sighed. Why does he make things so difficult? Oh well, now I need to find Shino's father…
"Who, exactly, wants to speak with me?" Shino asked wearily. "For if it is a loud girl about your height with blonde hair, then please tell her that -"
"Oh, no no no no no! You see that girl over there? Next to the tree?" Kiba asked, pointing to some random area.
"… No. I don't even see a tree."
"You don't?" Kiba inquired, shocked. "Look harder."
"I don't see this person or this tree, Kiba. Why are you trying to distract me?"
Kiba's eyes widened, and he suddenly felt very anxious. However, for the sake of Shino's birthday and 'well-being', as he put it, he dispelled his doubts and continued. "No! I'm not trying to distract you! Seriously, there is a girl right over there -" Kiba pointed to the same area again, "who wanted to talk to you! She's a babe, man, I'm telling you!"
"Don't call me 'man', or Akamaru will suffer with fleas until those stains on my clothes come out," Shino replied harshly.
Kiba's eyes widened while appearing quite appalled. "You're gonna play the 'fleas' card again, huh? Well, I've told you a thousand times, it wasn't part of the act! And hey, we won last week's dog show's semi-finals!" Kiba retaliated and crossed his arms indignantly.
Shino glared as he mimicked Kiba's posture.
After several minutes of waiting for Kiba to finish introducing Shino to "a certain someone" and searching for Shino's father, Hinata finally gave up and plopped down on one of the chairs in the living room.
What on earth is Kiba doing? ... Actually, maybe I don't want to know... Poor Shino, I pity him right now.
"Ah, good morning!" a deep voice rang out. "I see my son has a visitor?"Hinata glanced at the man she assumed was Shino's dad. As she predicted, he was practically an elder clone of Shino, although his skin wasn't as pale. Hinata immediately stood up and bowed.
"Oh, um…" Hinata twiddled her fingers but tried to regain eye contact with the man. "G-good morning, uh… Shino's dad - no! I m-mean… Aburame-sama, or…" Hinata stammered, not quite sure how to greet the Aburame clan leader.
"Shibi will do just fine… Hyuuga Hinata, right? You're one of my son's teammates. Pleasure to meet you," and he shook her hand.
"Yes, pleasure to m-meet you too… Shibi…?" Hinata never grew accustomed to addressing adults by their first names, as it was practice at the Hyuuga household to designate others by their surname.
"Alright then. So, what business do you have here?" Shibi asked as he took a seat opposite of Hinata.
"A-actually, I'd like t-to speak with you about s-something," Hinata sighed, not sure whether Shibi would approve. She prayed that she wouldn't have to convince him. Hinata tried her best to gather her confidence. "W-well, Kiba and I are planning a surprise birthday party for Shino, and we wanted to know… if you approve it… being here?" she eyed Shino's father hopefully.
"Of course. I'm sure Shino would love having his friends to throw a surprise party for him, as much as he wouldn't admit it."
"G-great! So, you don't mind if say… nine other friends of Shino's are invited, too?"
"Hmm. Why not?" Hinata could detect a bit of amusement in Shibi's voice. "Just promise me you won't trash the house too badly. The elders won't appreciate it much." He smiled and was about to continue until Kiba and Shino burst through the door.
"See, Kiba? She wasn't there. Or the tree. Now, how much yen do you owe me?" Shino held his hand out expectantly.
Kiba snickered. "Oh, Shino! You can be so ridiculous sometimes. Anyways, you two settle things out yet?" Kiba stressed, trying and failing to be as subtle as possible. Hinata slapped her forehead.
"Settle things out?" Shino repeated. "Like what?"
"Oh, nothing!" Hinata answered, realizing that lying is a lot harder than it seems. Shino decided it was best not to pry if Hinata was reduced to fibbing.
"So, Kiba, is that the only reason why you woke me up at six o' clock in the morning? To inform me of a nonexistent pretty girl standing near a nonexistent tree who wanted to hold a conversation with me?"
"A nonexistent conversation!" Kiba replied as he grabbed Hinata's arm and headed out the door.
Shibi shook his head. Is that the best plan Kiba could come up with? I'm disappointed.
Shino shrugged his shoulders and headed upstairs as he mumbled something remotely similar to, "He's almost as mental as the neighbor girl."
"S-so, Kiba?" Hinata asked. "What's n-next? We only have a week to prepare."
"Don't worry, it'll be simple! First of all, we'll hold a meeting with everyone else and decide their jobs! I've already told them about it, and I think they're all going to make it."
"Y-yes, but what about Shino? I s-suspect he'll be suspicious of his f-friends hanging decorations in h-his house…"
"Well," Kiba started, not quite sure how to reply. "We… find out at tomorrow's meeting!"
That's all, folks!
1) Let's just pretend the Aburame's have an insignia. Why shouldn't they?
2) How out of character did THAT sound? In case you were wondering or didn't catch on, he was just trying to impress Hinata.
