Disclaimer: NaruYaoi does not own the characters or plotline of Naruto. NaruYaoi owns only their collective insane minds and ideas as well as the occasional original character. The Writers of NaruYaoi do not claim ownership over any copywrited material and simply write for fun. NaruYaoi is not making a profit off this story nor any like it.

Writers: Tenchi and Mika

Warnings: Heterosexual relationships (m/f) and possible hints of shonen ai/Yaoi

Pairings: Shino/Hinata, One sided Sasuke/Hinata

Shino watched the kunoichi leave, his expression made unreadable by his oversized collar and dark glasses. His gaze stayed on her until she was out of sight. He then turned and went into the forest to train on his own.

Naruto was in his favorite ramen stand with three empty bowls next to him and a full one in front of him. "Itadakemasu!" he cried before snapping a new pair of chopsticks and digging in.

Hinata thought about how she would tell Naruto as she ran. Naruto was so easy to find. If he wasn't at one place, he was at another. Hinata had watched Naruto so many times. She admired his self-confidence, how he could stand up to others, even if they still looked down upon him. He was everything she wanted to be. ' No backing down... I ... I have to speak out to him... No stuttering.' Hinata was deep in thought to notice that she was there. ' I'll give him the medicine, and.. and..' she tried to think of what to do next once she did hand over the medicine.

Naruto didn't give Hinata much time to figure it out. He noticed her shortly after she walked in. "Ohayo, Hinata-chan!" He had bits of ramen on his whiskered cheeks as he grinned at her.

Hinata blushed when she herd her name being greeted. " Ah... erm.. Naruto-k-kun... " She looked down and fiddled with her fingers. Saying she would tell Naruto was much harder than done. Taking a large gulp she reached into her bag and pulled out a bottle. " H-here Naruto-ku...kun." Hinata had been giving him medicine lately, she always got worried when Naruto was out or in a fight. The shy Hyuuga held walked to the Kyuubi boy and held out the bottle, she bit her lip as she hid her face. ' I have to tell him.. I have to... Don't run away...'. Poor, wishful kunoichi.

"More medicine, thanks Hinata-chan, I needed more." He grinned again at the shy girl. "You want some ramen? My treat."

Hinata shook her head. " N-no thank you, N-Naruto-kun." She moved her feet nervously as she pressed her two index fingers together. She stayed silent for a while, she could feel tears swelling up in her eyes. She Her face was bright red as she tried to speak. ' Talk! I need to say something...'. Was Hinata really going to confess?

"Alright, if that's what you want. Thanks again for the medicine, Hinata-chan." He turned back to his bowl of ramen.

Hinata looked up quickly. Why couldn't she say it? She bit her bottom lip in annoyance of herself. ' I'll just come out with it... He... might like me...'. The Hyuuga winced at the word might. "N-naruto-kun... Erm... I.. I.. want to t-talk with y-you... "The gentle Kunoichi was red with embarrassment, white eyes hidden by the tightly shut eyelids. ' This is it... I can't believe it.. I'm doing it!'. It was easy to please Hinata. She never asked for much.

"Mmm? About what, Hinata-chan?" The Kyuubi boy turned to look at her, his bright blue eyes meeting her pale lavender ones.

Hinata turned even redder. It was probably a new shade of red that others would never see again. " Um... N-...Naru..Narut-to-k-kun... um... " Her fingers fiddled some more. ' Tell him.. tell him! I can do this...'. She took a deep breath as the words were beginning to spill from her mind to her mouth. "Naruto-kun.. I... I... L-l-love.. y-y-yo- ou!" The Pearl white eyes were locked onto the Kyuubi's. She was waiting for an answer. It was good to feel all that emotion being put in it's place by telling it to the one that she cared about. Fear and happiness filled her.

Naruto looked at her for a moment, the silence seeming to stretch into eternity. "Hinata-chan..." Just the sympathy in his voice already said what he didn't want to. He didn't care for her, not that way. "Hinata-chan, I'm sorry. I just don't...I just can't..." His sky-blue eyes were filled with sympathy and friendship, but nothing more. "I don't love you, I'm sorry Hinata-chan."

Silence... That's all that hit the shot down Kunoichi. So long.. she had been waiting to long to build up the courage to tell him. After a few minuets of standing, she nodded and turned around. Hinata had held back tears, but this was too much. " It's okay... I'm sorry..." Her hands were to her face, she wanted to hide the tears so badly, she wanted to yell at some one, she wanted to cry on some one. But no one was there. She ran away from the spot. Hinata didn't look out to where she ran. It was hard enough to concentrate on keeping the hurtful echoing words away.

"Hinata-chan!" Naruto stood up and started running after the Hyuuga girl. Oh man, he was so stupid. He could have agreed to go on a date with her and then let her see that they weren't right for each other. Damnit, of all the stupid things to say...
" No. No. No. No. No." Hinata was still running. She didn't notice that she had ran back to where Shino, Kiba, and her had trained earlier that day. Poor Hinata, struck down by some one she had admired for so long, what's worse is that he didn't even think about what he was going to say. ' I should've kept quiet! I'm no good when speaking!'

Naruto lost sight of her long before they reached the training grounds. He stopped, panting with his hands on his knees. He looked in the direction she had been going in and sighed before heading for his apartment. He'd have to make it up to her later.

Shino had just finished training and had walked out of the forest when he spotted a very upset Hinata. For a fraction of a second he considered just leaving and letting her sort out her problems. He started walking towards her. When he got closer, he softly called out her name.

Hinata had crouched down behind a tree and was crying to her self helplessly. Her hands balled up into fists and covering her eyes. She was glad she had lost Naruto, she didn't want to talk to him at the moment. " Whaa-'hic'-aa. 'hic hic' ungh. ehh 'hic' whaa" she looked up as she wiped her nose with her wet sleeve. Why was Shino still here? " S-shi'hic'no-k-kun? " this time, her stuttering weren't from insecurity.

Shino knelt down next to his teammate and offered her a handkerchief from one of his pockets. He didn't ask her what was wrong, she'd tell him if he waited, and it would be better if he didn't prompt her. He settled on the balls of his feet to watch her through his dark shades.

Hinata took the handkerchief and cleaned her face from tears. Crying seemed to do her well. Once she had cried her self out, she looked up at Shino, her cheeks marked with tear stains. " Thank y-you Shino-kun..." She looked down at the grass below her, thoughts running in her mind. " N-naruto-kun s-s-aid no.." She fought back new tears, she had cried enough.

Shino had to fight back a brief flare of hatred for the blond ninja. His lips pressed into a thin line behind the collar of his coat. Naruto was either brain dead or blind to have turned down Hinata, and he suspected the former as more likely. She may be shy, but she was powerful and kind. "He's brain-damaged then."

" Don't s-say that S-shino-kun!" Hinata looked up quickly, she looked a bit confused, but sure of herself. Her look softened as she sighed quietly. " Naruto-kun i-is wond-derful... he j-just didn't know w-what he was doing." unknown to Hinata, in the back of her mind she was just making up excuses to disagree with Shino. She knew that he was rather... stupid... but what was worse is that she also knew she never really loved Naruto, but loved his actions. But like any other girl like Hinata, she denied it and kept it hidden away.

"I don't doubt that," Shino's tone was dry and about as sarcastic as he ever gets. He still rested on the balls of his feet, his forearms resting on his knees. "But he is brain-damaged to refuse you."

"B-but..." Hinata thought, but nothing came to mind. Shino was right, but she didn't want to admit it. It was sad how Hinata didn't realize that she was in love with the idea of Naruto, not Naruto himself. The heart broken Hyuuga looked down and rested her head on her knees that she had hugged. She kept quiet like always, but this was more of a silence that was meant to be left alone.

Shino looked at her a moment longer before removing his coat and wrapping it around her shoulders. he then lifted her and stood up. "Let's get you home, Hinata-chan." He didn't say anything else, just started to walk quickly towards the Hyuuga manor.

Hinata simply nodded. It was all the Hyuuga girl could do. As they walked, a thought came to mind. 'Why is Shino-kun being so nice?'
Shino kept walking. Hinata was right to wonder, Shino never did anything without a reason. His reasoning in this was simple, he had feelings for the Hyuuga girl, feelings he tried to keep suppressed. He knew how she felt for Naruto, and he wasn't about to get in her way if it would make her happy. After tonight, however, he was sorely tempted to kill the blond ninja and blame it on the Akatsuki.

Hinata gave a small sigh as she walked with Shino. She held the jacket close since it was rather warm and made her feel safe. " I-I'm sorry f-f-or crying, S-shino-kun." She had finally spoke after 10 minuets of silence. Naruto was still on her mind, but so was her recent question. The pale pearl eyes looked up towards the direction of the tree like (a/n/M: Had to say it, just HAD to. I mean he looks like one...) ninja. The flush of the normal, shy Hinata came back.

"Don't be, if it helped." That was all Shino said. He glanced at her out of the corner of his eyes, the motion hidden by the dark glasses he always wore. For a long moment it seemed like he was not going to say anything else. But, as the gate to the Hyuuga household neared, he spoke again, softly, and almost inaudibly. "Find me if you ever need to talk." With that last, brief, sentence, Shino left. He would let Hinata keep that jacket, he had others, and he'd noticed how secure she seemed to feel wrapped up in it.

"Thank you." Hinata smiled a bit, she tugged the jacket tightly as she opened the Manor entrance and walked in. It was still rather early, but crying had made her head hurt and tired. ' "Find me if you ever need to talk" ...'. Each time she repeated those words in her head, it seemed as if what Naruto had said... never happened.

"Where have you been, Hinata?" her fathers harsh voice entered the room before he did. Hyuuga Hiashi was a stern and angry looking man. "And why do you have that Aburame's jacket? Just what were you doing when you were supposed to be home helping your sister train?"
Hanabi, Hinata's little sister, stood beside her father, her face smug. Hanabi had always dislike her elder sister, getting her into trouble whenever possible. She knew that only one of them could be the heir of the Hyuuga family, and she intended for it to be her.

Hinata looked at the floor. "S-sorry... I.. was out t-training. I l-lost track of t-time..." The Shy Hyuuga pulled the jacket off and folded it so that is was hanging on her arms. " S-shino-kun gave m-me his jacket s-since h-he won while t-training..." She barely had her voice up from whisper as she spoke, she didn't want it to. "Sorry a-again..."

"At least you were doing something constructive. Next time you decide to do extra training, alert me first." Hiashi frowned before turning and walking off, Hanabi following at his heels.

Hinata took a deep breath as she headed to her room. Hanabi was usually like this to her, so it wasn't anything new. It was in Hinata's nature to be shy and timid, she couldn't help it. Looking down at the jacket she smiled a little. Shino was nice today, and she was glad about that. She placed the jacket neatly on her bed and went off to shower; she didn't want to feel dirty for the rest for the afternoon.