Hey people! A couple reviewers wanted me to continue this, so here's the second chapter! Hope you enjoy, remember to review!
Hinata's entire body tensed as she stared unbelievingly into Kiba's face. He stared back at her, his eyes burning like he had a fever- but some instinct told her that he felt just fine. The heat caught in her throat, and suddenly his bare skin below her fingertips was scorching to the touch. She pulled her hands back and took a deep, shuddering breath. She could feel her face heating up, and slid her pale hands over the blush. She heard her friend and comrade chuckle.
"I made you blush. Sorry about that, I guess I shouldn't have expected anything different." Kiba stood up from his crouched position and ran a hand through his thick, shaggy brown hair. He looked to the side, and she watched as he turned around, exposing his muscular back and the silvery scars that ran across it. He'd seemed so intense earlier, trying to make her realize what he felt, but she'd ignored that. Stupid girl, she chided herself. Say something! But her mind was blank, in shock, she reasoned.
Kiba had been her friend for years. He'd supported her on so many occasions, and protected her with his life. But he knew how she felt about Naruto- he feigned ignorance, but she could tell he'd known for forever. It was a shock to think that she'd been just like the boy she cared so much about- completely ignorant about how those closest to her felt about her.
"Kiba-kun, I… well, I don't know what to say. I love you too, but in a different way. You're my friend." She cursed herself mentally for sounding so uncertain, but it couldn't be helped; she hated disappointing people. Another thought struck her with all the force of a stampeding animal, and she stood up, grabbing Kiba's arm and willing him to turn around and look at her. "Wait, this doesn't mean we can't be friends, does it? Kiba, I'm so sorry, I don't know what to do." His skin blazed under her hand, and she was abruptly extremely aware of the fact that she was wearing only the mesh under shirt she put on under her jacket, and that Kiba was very close, very warm and very half-naked. Her hands retreated, but her mind reeled- she'd touched his bare skin multiple times before, she's seen him far more undressed than this on missions or in the hospital wing- why was it just now bothering her?
"You know, Hinata, I knew that you'd apologize." His words surprised her, she glanced up and saw kindness in his eyes as he stared down at her- Kami, when had he gotten so tall? - And smiled softly. "I knew that you'd freak out just a little bit, that your mind would automatically wonder what would happen next." His kindness suddenly morphed into something harder, but his eyes flickered like a candle and became nervous. He gave a short bark of laughter. "I'm sorry for pushing that on you Hinata, but the fact is, I do love you, and I think you should always be able to know that you're never alone- that you have a home with me, if no one else. I'm not expecting anything from you," he continued, but his eyes took on a mischievous glint, "but I think you should know that I'm not giving up." His arms wrapped around her like steel, and she emitted a little squeak as he pulled her close against his chest and hugged her, hard. His fingers rubbed soothing circles between her shoulder blades, but she could tell by the way his muscles clenched and twitched that he was deeply upset. She pushed at him gently, enough to make him immediately fall back and wait for her to begin speaking.
"You know I love Naruto." She stated this quietly, hoping to do as little damage as possible. When he didn't reply, her eyes filled with bitter tears and she whimpered in the back of her throat- it hurt, being the one who ripped him apart like this. His pain filled the silence. "Kiba, being with Naruto is my destiny- when he realizes that, we'll be together. But I still… I still want you in my life," she muttered plaintively. "I want to stay with you, be your friend- I want to be at your wedding when you find another girl and get married to her. I don't know if you would even bear to look at me after this, but-"
"Hinata. Stop talking," he ordered, and she took a deep breath through her tight throat, sighing wearily as a tear escaped her grasp and slid down her cheek. Kiba wiped it away before it was even half way down her skin, and she closed her eyes tightly, feeling the rough pad of his finger skim over her face as he rid her of her tears. "I'm not an idiot, I know you love Naruto. But I also know that as long as you're content with waiting in the wings for a guy who's never going to feel that way about you, I'll be waiting for you in turn, to help you when you need it, and to see what he won't. But I don't want to lose you just because we have different feelings for one another. We'll stay the same as we've always been- I'll do stupid crap to keep you from getting hurt, and you'll patch me up later and worry the entire time you're doing it." That made her giggle; it was true. She couldn't remember the last time she stayed in the hospital overnight with some obscure injury, but she could remember just a month ago forcing Kiba into the emergency room with a severe head wound instead of letting him stay with a wounded Akamaru. He was always pushing himself past the pain to protect everyone, to make sure that they all came home safe. And even around the village he was protective; warning her away from Sasuke as he descended into madness, keeping her grounded when girls like Ino and Sakura went completely boy-crazy, helping her move out of the Hyuuga mansion when her life there got too hard. All he'd ever done for her was to try and make her happy.
She hadn't realized that she'd said her last thoughts out loud until Kiba looked at her speculatively. "Oh. I was just thinking of… of all those times you have helped me, Kiba-kun. I just am glad to have you as a friend." She smiled up at him and put her hand on his chest, above his heart. It sped up under her touch, and she bit her lip at his understanding nod- she really should be punished for making him feel so bad.
He stepped back first, rubbed the nape of his neck wistfully. "I'd better be going home, Hinata. Do you want me to walk you home?"
"No," she answered, "It's not far and I'll be fine. I might stop by Kurenai-sensei's house to check on her- it's coming up on Asuma-san's birthday, she's bound to be lonely now that he's- well, dead." He nodded and went to the window, stepping up on the window sill with athletic grace and finding the same rod he'd swung in on. He pulled himself up and disappeared from her view, and she let out a deep breath. Her whole entire body seemed made of lead. The blood of Kiba's wounds and the memories of the day were too much to deal with. She rolled her shoulders back and got a running start before leaping gracefully out of the window and somersaulting in mid-air to land on her feet in the middle of the alley. She stumbled a bit when she stood up, her head whirling from exhaustion. But nothing would get better if she just stood there, she reasoned, so she began to walk home. The city was hot tonight, and the air moved slowly around her- it had been cooler in the old warehouse, but outside the heat was annoying. She went to unzip her jacket, not remembering that it was still shredded up on the floor in the room they'd been in, and huffed out an angry breath when her fingertips met the thin mesh of her shirt. Her hitai-ate was moist against the back of her neck, and in the time it took her to get home, the warm night air had sapped the energy out of her. She walked slowly up the dimly lit stairs and retrieved the key to her apartment, opening the door and shutting it silently before passing out leaning right up against it. The last thing she thought of was Kiba's newest wound. It will become a scar someday- a permanent reminder of this night. Please let him not regret being my friend.
A loud pounding woke her up, and she scrambled to her feet, trying to compose herself as she looked around. The events of the night before slowly leeched back into her memory, and she swept her hair out of her eyes and groaned from the discomfort of sleeping propped up against her front door. She swung the barrier open and was surprised to see Shizune leaning wearily against the wall, huffing slightly. Her eyes widened. "Um…" The older woman looked up and jumped upright, blushing slightly.
"Sorry. Tsunade's making me run all over and find specific ninja- she wants you to report to her office in an hour. There's a long term mission she's assigning, one that could prevent a war in the Land of Grass. It's some special case though- she won't give it to someone who isn't willing. I don't know why." Hinata nodded and murmured her assent, then closed the door and headed to the bathroom in her small apartment, stripping off her clothes tentatively as she went. Her headband hit the floor as she untied the ribbon and stepped into the shower, and she almost groaned when the hot water hit her aching body. She washed herself quickly, thinking about the summons the entire time- it must be extremely dangerous, this mission. Why else would the Hokage be taking volunteers? But if it was so dangerous, why weren't the ANBU taking care of it? The kunoichi shrugged and turned the water off, then grabbed a towel to wrap around her strong body as she walked into the kitchen for breakfast. There was nothing in her refrigerator, and her shelves were devoid of anything nutritional- she'd been gone for almost four days, and hadn't bothered to go shopping before she left. Hinata sighed and turned around, letting out a shriek when she noticed Shino sitting at her kitchen table. He watched her panic, seemingly unaffected by the stricken look on her face.
"Shino! What are you- I'm… I'm improper!" she gasped, and clutched frantically at the towel. Shino nodded silently and turned his head, looking out the window from behind those familiar mirrored glasses.
"I'll wait. Go get dressed; I believe Kiba and Akamaru are also on their way." Hinata stopped for a moment, then blushed deep red and stalked into her room, mortified by being seen without her usual layers on. She discarded the towel and pulled her bindings from the drawer by her bed, wrapping them quickly around her body and pulling on her knee length shorts and slipping a tank top over her well toned body. She frowned at the loss of her jacket, and grabbed a lighter one from her closet, slipping it over her thin bare arms as she walked out to meet Shino once more. It wasn't long before she heard a knock on her door, and Kiba strode in, grinning and loud as always. Akamaru squeezed through the door frame as his master went straight to Hinata and hugged her softly.
"Morning, Hinata. Hey, Shino!" She raised her eyebrows at him, but he just smiled back, making her feel even guiltier than she already was- why wouldn't he hug her, as he always did? They were friends. It was alright. Shino nodded his greeting as Kiba checked the cupboards, wrinkling his nose a bit. "Wow, where's all your food?"
"I haven't had time to go shopping yet, I was going to do it last night but-" She halted, not quite sure how to finish the sentence. Kiba grinned again and patted her shoulder.
"Okay then. Shino, do you want to go grab some breakfast?" The young man nodded and she started to panic- surely he wouldn't see it as a date, not with Shino and Akamaru coming along?
"Oh, I think I'll just eat on my way to the Hokage's office, now really…" Kiba shushed her and motioned the dog and their other comrade out the door, telling them that he needed a moment. Then he turned and looked at her, and she felt her face heating up. The seventeen year old girl turned around and picked up her headband, once more tying it around her neck as she'd forgotten to do when she'd gotten dressed. Anything to keep her from looking at him was a blessing.
"You know, we went out to team dinners before," he murmured unexpectedly, and she lost her grip on the ribbon. He snatched it as it began to fall from around her neck and stepped closer to tie it properly, and as he did so she could feel his hot breath on the nape of her neck. "This is no different. I won't force you to do anything you don't want to do, but I am going to try and help you see how much I care about you. Just tell me if you ever need me to back off." He stepped back, admiring his handiwork for a second, and she held her breath when she felt his eyes on her.
"Let's go?" he asked her, and she turned around, nodding, before following him out of the apartment and locking the door behind her. She watched him speculatively as he ran to catch up with the others, and found herself wondering what it would be like to have more of those close, one on one moments with him. She rolled her eyes at the thought and giggled quietly to herself. It sounded false to her ears. But then again, she mused, there was hardly anything funny about not knowing how to feel when your best friend falls in love with you.
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