Good morning, sunhii~iiiines! Oh ho ho, what's this, I'm actually not being lazy and updating something?! I'm actually making an attempt to finish what I started?! AMAII~ZIING! ...But seriously, don't thank me, thank Verboten Byacolate, who convinced my lazy ass to continue with my spinoff of her fanfic. Harr harr harr. So here she is, the next installment of Another Ingenious Novice! ...That's what I called this fanfic, right? Crap, I don't remember. Uwaaah! But regardless, here's part twooo!
And as an even happier note, this chapter has Shino-papa in it! Yaaaaay Shibi! I almost lerve him more than I lerve Shino, hurrhurrhurr. The Aburame Clan is just so damn amazing 3
Naruto, oh, Naruto, why dos't thou evade my greedy clutches? If only I were t'own the likes of thineself, thine beautiful self... but alas, I do not, oh woe, woe!
Although Hinata would have proudly claimed this was the worst (or at least, hardest) day of her life, she knew it would be a lie. Essentially, she had been through worse. But for the time being, this was possibly the most emotionally scaring thing that could have possibly happened. This mission was not going to be easy, she would have to tread carefully here. She needed to keep an eye on Shino, but she had to do so carefully. So many things could go so terribly wrong, and that was what scared her most.
She stopped her disdainful thoughts about the same time she had stopped walking. She found herself facing the side of the Aburame compound. A wall ran around the property making it impossible to see anything but the roof from the ground. She sucked in a slow, deep breath. She could still feel her face burning. She had half a mind to run and never face Shino again (even though he didn't even know about the mix-up, let alone her mission), but the other half of her mind kept giving her mental slaps. These mental slaps pained her so, reminding her that if she just ran who knew what would happen to Shino. That, and her father would look down upon her even more for running away from a mission that was, fundamentally, easy.
She found that her hands were fidgeting. Her pale eyes scanned the street in resignation. Well, standing here and getting herself in more a panic would do no good.
'You can do this. Just take it one step at a time. Right now your mission is to walk around to the front.' She managed to calm herself down with that thought. Over the years, the Hyuuga had found that if she broke down big, terrifying situations into smaller portions and took them one at a time, she could manage to find her way through them, and it didn't seem so daunting.
This mission still scared the crap out of her, though. But at least her baby-steps method let her focus on smaller tasks, and not the fact that Shino was...
She squeaked and flinched, throwing her hands over her beet-red face. 'Don't think those thoughts Hinata! One step at a time, one step at a time...' She tried to push Shino from her mind (which was hard, considering she was pretty much on his door step).
She soon found her feet were moving mysteriously on their own accord, but hey, she wasn't going to complain. They were bringing her down the short stretch of this street left. When they got to the intersection, the hung a right and a few meters later they stopped right by the front gate. She made a note to thank her feet later, for doing what she considered impossible.
The gate was open, as it usually was. She took a deep breath before progressing down the gravel chip path that lead to the front door. Gardens lined the inside of the wall and trailed around the house. The informal but well planned landscaping brought a certain serenity to the area that calmed her. Though colourful, the various annuals and perennials and flowering shrubs and trees did not over power the senses; it wasn't brilliant to look at, nor was it dull. It had a nice, natural look and feel to it.
Hinata's thoughts came to a halt about the same time she stubbed her toe on the front step. She flinched, jumping back a half a step. "Itai!" she gasped softly, even though it didn't hurt. This did, however, cause her mind to snap back to reality. She was at the Aburame compound, about to knock on the door, and ask for a testosterone-driven teenaged boy so she could babysit him for whoknowshowlong until he didn't feel attracted to everything that moved anymore. ...Alas, her nervousness returned.
'Knock. Just knock. A few taps on the door. That's your mission right now.'
For what felt like the millionth time this trip, Hinata sucked in a slow, deep breath, hoping it would stop her knees from shaking and her face from flushing. She didn't bother dwelling on if it worked or not – she was much more focused on the task at hand. Her purple-sleeved arm slowly raised.
Tap, tap, tap.
A silence that dragged on far too long ensued. So she tried again, but this time she knocked harder (and by that it is meant that she actually knocked).
Knock, knock, knock.
The silence this time was much, much shorter, but somehow it still felt like an eternity. The door swung inwards steadily and the long-haired kunoichi found herself facing a rather tall man with dark, dark sunglasses and a nest of wild brown hair.
"Hinata-san," the deep baritone voice greeted. It was Aburame Shibi that had come to the door; Shino's father. He stood stalk-still, his usually scruffy face hidden well behind a high collared jacket. It was in moments like these that Hinata remembered a saying she had once heard – the apple didn't fall too far from the tree. It was easy to see who raised her team mate.
"O-ohayo. A-ano..." her voice cracked.
"What is it, Hinata-san? Are you here to train with Shino?"
On impulse she nodded. ...Oops. Ah well, she was far too nervous to correct herself, so she said and did nothing else.
"I'm sorry, Hinata-san. Shino isn't in right now. Shall I send him out to find you when he returns?"
Part of her was terribly relived, but, like always, the other part was feeling the complete opposite; fear. Shino was gone, which meant she wouldn't have to face him just yet. The fear came from another part of her mission that she was meant to complete. She had to explain the situation to Shibi – that was her current mission. She felt a new wave of heat wash over her face. Either her last blushing fit had receded prior to this or it was somehow getting worse.
She tried to tell Shibi she needed to speak with him, but alas, her sentence was quiet, cracking, and generally garbled. The patient man continued to stand there like a tree (A/N: Reference to the amazingness of which is Link and Luigi), and his calm demeanour must have permeated into herself somewhat, because after a quick pause to shut up and try again, her attempt at conversation seemed much more effective. She said to him, "I... I need to talk to you regarding Shino-kun."
She saw one of his eyebrows raise slowly. It was rare to get this much of a reaction out of an Aburame – he was obviously intrigued by this interesting twist of events. He stepped back and ushered the young woman silently inside.
This was going to be awkward, Hinata knew, but it was her current mission, and it had to be done. It was essential to the rest of the mission, it was a crucial step in her survival. Yes, yes, she honestly believed she would die if anything went wrong on this dire mission. And who knew? It was quite plausible, in a way. So she had to do this right. She would finish this step of explaining her mission to Shibi. She found some comfort in his personality. He wouldn't over react, he wouldn't tease, he wouldn't even scorn. She was suddenly very thankful for this stoic streak that seemed to be hereditary. It would be like talking to a wall, only slightly more mentally stable-feeling, because he was actually something that had the potential to speak back. Maybe... this part wouldn't be as hard she was fretting. And hopefully, really, really hopefully, neither would the rest of this cruel endeavour.
Thankyooou for reading! And at least think about reviewing, plzkthnx? Flames welcome, no seriously, I love flames :D so pretty and warm~
Also, don't forget to scootch on over to Bya-chan's profile and check out the original Ingenious Novice because it's way cooler than this.
And Bya-chan, I added a chapter onto mine, so you should add one onto yours! -winkwink, nudgenudge-