Disclaimer: :( even if i asked God...

A/N: don't be fooled by the summary. it's a sad story... sort of.

Ever since I first saw her, I knew she was the one I always dreamed of loving. She was a shy girl, with mysterious white eyes. She was often afraid to fight, but I could see that she was a strong person. Just the sight of her standing alone with her short bluish-black hair waving with the wind was enough to make my day.

When we graduated from the academy and divided into teams, I was more than happy when Iruka-sensei announced my teammates.

"Team Kurenai… Aburame Shino… Inuzuka Kiba… and Hyuuga Hinata."

That meant I would be able to see her everyday. Of course no one knew what I felt for her, not even Kiba, my best friend, because it's really rare that I show emotion behind my high collar and shades. The only ones I confided my feelings to were my trustworthy insects, but we can't really talk about her much.

The only thing that made seeing her hurt so much was the knowing that she was out of my reach from the start.

Several years have now passed, but I still can't stop thinking about her. I wonder how she's holding up now. Of course, she must have confessed her feelings to that loudmouth. It always causes me pain when I would see her start to blush because I know he's somewhere nearby. I feel like I want to beat him to a pulp. But I can't. Questions will be asked, and answers I cannot give.

So I'm just walking around Konoha… thinking about her… And because of my drifting off, I bump into someone.

"Sorry," I mutter, helping her up.

She smiles. "No, it was my fault." She dusts off her clothes, then extends her hand. "I'm Kakei Fujita."

Absently, I shake her hand. "Shino Aburame."

Kakei's eyes widen. "Wow, an Aburame! Your clan is the one that fights with bugs, right?"

I nod. Something about her name makes me wonder where if I met her before.

Just then, a large black rat appears out of nowhere and jumps into her arms. Then it clinks into place. The Fujitas were just recently made a clan. If the Aburames had bugs and the Inuzukas had dogs, they had rats fighting by their side.

Kakei petted her rat. "I have to go. It was nice meeting you, Shino." Then all of a sudden she disappeared.

I continued walking before I realized it was already very late.

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Kakei lay on her bed, thinking about the afternoon's events.

Such mystery surrounds him… She blushed slightly. She knew she was going way too fast but she couldn't help it. She knew she loved him. She believed that their meeting was fated. It was no coincidence that they bumped into each other and he helped her up. She felt the warmth in his touch. She smiled. He was destined for her.

Unknown to her, it would take forever for him to realize they were meant to be.

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Weeks passed, and I seemed to run into Kakei everywhere I went. She would try to strike up a conversation, and to be friendly, I would talk with her until I had to leave.

But I was determined that no matter how many more girls came into my life, I would never stop loving Hinata-chan.

Yes, take me for a fool. I'd rather get hurt so many times than stop loving her for someone else. Anyway, I don't think I could ever love someone else anymore.

One day Kakei met me in the forest. Wait, scratch that. As I look back on it now, she cornered me in the forest.

"Shino-kun!" I should have known then that something big would happen, knowing that the suffix "-kun" was used on Sasuke's name by his fangirls. Then again, if I had known was going to happen… Anyway, back to the point.

"Shino-kun!" she said again, holding a tiny box in her hand.

"Nani?"

She smiled brightly. "I just want to say that the day I met you was the happiest day of my life. And…" She opened the box and showed the contents to me. It was… a ring.

"I want you to be my husband!"

Okay, I'll admit that freaked me out a bit, and nothing is supposed to freak me out. Who the hell does she think she is? I just met her two weeks ago!

But I tried hard not to show any emotion. "I'm sorry, but I love someone else."

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Tsunade wrapped up the lesson.

"Class dismissed," she said curtly, standing behind the desk. "Good work, you two," she added to the two kuinochi who were just leaving the room.

"Arigatou gosaimasu, Tsunade-sama," they said happily.

When they were out on the grounds, Sakura asked what Hinata wanted to do. The blue-haired kuinochi smiled and said, "I think I'll just walk around a bit, Sakura-chan. You can go home."

"All right, then. Sayonara!" she replied and went off.

And Hinata took the long way back to the Hyuuga compound.

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"I'm sorry but I love someone else."

Those words that came out from my mouth did a rapid change to her face. "What?" she said sharply.

"I can never love you." I knew I was being tactless, but I didn't care.

She threw the box away. "How dare you!" she shrieked. Suddenly I realized I couldn't move. I looked down and saw I was bound by chakra controlled strings. I was about to order my destruction bugs to eat both the string and Kakei when she said, "Oh no you don't!"

She took out a large spray can and sprayed me with it. Oh, hell it was so painful! The insecticide was causing the bugs to eat more of my chakra than usual at a crazy rate. The strings disappeared and I fell, landing on my hands and panting.

Kakei kicked me hard. "Serves you right for breaking a woman's heart!" then she disappeared.

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Hinata took the long way to the Hyuuga compound to admire nature around her. The long way also meant going through one of Konoha's forests. She was walking through when she heard a cry of pain.

That sounded like… she ran towards the sound. Suddenly the trees parted and she saw me, writhing in pain on the grass.

"Shino!" She hurriedly went to my side and put a hand on my shoulder. "Oh my gosh, Shino, what happened?"

"H-help m-me…" I was in too much pain to answer, but Hinata knew what had happened because a sharp smell reached her nose.

Insecticide.

Oh no… she thought frantically. The Kikai bugs must already be eating twice as much chakra than Shino could give. She hurriedly felt inside her pouch. Tsunade-sama couldn't have picked a better time to teach us how to make poison antidotes…

"Hold on, Shino-san, it's Hinata. I'm right here." She gently laid me on the ground and raised my head a bit. I was still in great pain and when she moved me it was agony. But somehow the pain was easier to bear because I knew she was there by my side.

She uncorked a small glass bottle and tipped half the contents into my mouth. I do hope this is as effective as it's supposed to be, she thought.

"Swallow this, Shino." I did so and felt a peculiar sensation in my body.

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I woke up, my body still sore. I was lying on something soft. Soft? And why is the room so bright? I turned my head and realized I was in the hospital. My shades were on the cabinet beside my bed.

Then it came back to me. I was in the forest, in great pain, and my angel Hinata rescued me.

Wait… where is Hinata?

Just then, a medic-nin with waist-length dark blue hair came in. "Shino-san, you're finally awake!" she said happily.

I raised my eyebrow. "Hinata?"

She laughed. "Yes, it's me. It's been a while, hasn't it, Shino-san?"

But how strange… it must have been ages since I last saw her. Her hair was now so long and beautiful, she was taller, and her voice… she finally got herself to stop stuttering. She was more beautiful than ever. I felt a slight blush arise when I realized she was looking into my eyes, but she didn't notice.

We had a nice chat, and then after some time she left. I still didn't tell her what I felt for her.

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A few weeks later Tsunade-sama let me go home.

I was walking around Konoha once more. I bumped into Hinata.

"Shino! It's good to see you better now," she said, smiling. I smiled back. We talked, and she walked with me.

Later on, I mustered the courage to ask her if she finally told Naruto. She laughed again.

"Oh, no. I realized he wasn't worth it." My heart flew into the sky. "So… you're not seeing anyone, are you?"

"Well… I can't really because I'm engaged."

That was when the world fell apart. I tried to act normally. "Oh really? To whom?"

She smiled that dazzling smile of hers again. "To Kiba-kun." She seemed so happy about the engagement so I tried to be happy for her. "Kiba and I want you to be his best man at the wedding, Shino-san. Can you make it next week?"

"Uh, yeah, sure, I'll go."

Oh my God, she's getting married to my best friend…

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Today is the wedding day. I sigh as I tighten my bowtie. The only reason I'm actually going is because I would get to see her…

One

Last

Time.

I sigh again as I reach the church. I grudgingly walk over to Kiba and congratulate him for choosing such a good woman. I once again resist the urge to punch his lights out, because I know it wasn't his fault. I never told him, and I never told her. Those were the things I regret most in my whole life.

The wedding finally starts and everyone turns to the doors to see Hinata walk in with her father. She walks to Kiba happily, oblivious to everyone, even me, though I'm standing right beside her husband-to-be.

Hiashi hands her over to Kiba. She is no longer mine, even though I know she never was.

The wedding finishes, and the reception starts. Somewhere in the middle, Hinata goes out to have a breath of fresh air, happily savoring her marriage to Kiba. She sees me, leaning on a tree, the wind playing with my hair.

"Shino-san!" I look up and see her in front of me. I try not to look sad, but she senses it. "What's wrong?" she asks worriedly.

"Nothing."

The leaves rustle above us as the sun starts to set.

"I just want to wish you and Kiba the best," I said slowly. "I'm glad you found someone you truly love and that he loves you back. But honestly… I wish I was the one standing at the groom's place today."

She looked at me, surprised. "W-what do you mean, Shino?"

"Kiba's a great guy… I'm glad you chose him… But I just want you to know that I love you, and I always will… even if it's too late." I wanted to kiss her, to embrace her, and hold her in my arms for the first and last time. But I couldn't, because she belonged to someone else. My best friend.

"Goodbye, my angel…" I walked away, leaving her forever.

She collapsed to her knees on the grass and started to cry, because she knew, deep inside her heart, that she felt the same.

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A/N: 'kay guys, you know what to do... :D