"Hinata."

Hinata smiled in greeting, and Shino smiled back. This was his third time out with Hinata, on a proper date, and as the saying goes, third time lucky. His heart was in his throat as he sat down, reaching for the menu. His other hand was stroking the velvety case of the small, square box in his hand. Hinata seemed oblivious and was looking intently at her menu, wondering what to order. He knew what he was going to get, the same thing he gets all the time. Miso Rame-

"Hey Sh-Shino, would you like to try this?" Hinata asked shyly, pointing at a picture on the menu, a bowl of ramen topped with angry-looking red chilli. The name stated: Volcano Ramen.

Shino looked at the menu thoughtfully. Chilli wasn't a problem for him. It was venturing out, trying a new thing and betraying that sense of normalcy that he was so accustomed to. His Pork Miso ramen was a comfortable thing to fall back on, but was it worth it to try something new? He furrowed his eyebrows slightly, but then looked up and saw Hinata's hopeful eyes watching him intently. Yes, he would break out of his comfort zone and wander the earth for her.

"Sounds great." He replied, smiling as Hinata called the waiter over to place the order. Shino took a deep breath. There's no going back now.

"Hey Hinata, I wanna give you somthing."

Hinata's eyes almost popped out of her head as she spotted the small black velvet box lying in starking contrast on Shino's pale hands. "Shino-kun!"

He smiled warmly at her, and she reached out to receive the box, opening it and revealing a delicate silver ring studded with a large, silver crystal.

"It's crystal now, but I hope that one day I can give you a diamond." Shino said, making Hinata blush at the implication. He took out the ring and slipped in onto her second finger. He wanted to put in on her fourth, but he was sure that it would probably creep her out.

"Shino... I don't know what to say..."

"This is a promise ring, Hinata. To remind you that no matter what happens, you would always hold my heart, and I would always be there for you."

Hinata's smile grew even wider, and Shino was ecstatic that her eyes were filled with love, love for him. He knew that Naruto never did this kind of things for her, but he's been Hinata's teammate long enough to know that these little things are what made her feel special.

"Thank you Shino. That's so very sweet of you."

Shino smiled. Hinata smiled back, but her face quickly turned into one of horror.

"Shino! Hide! It's Naruto!"

"We're not doing anything wrong, why should I hide?" Shino asked, confused.

"Shino! He spotted me! He's coming over! Please Shino... Please hide?"

Shino sighed. Naruto had to ruin the moment. But he wouldn't do anything to make Hinata upset. With a poof, he disappeared to the toilet at the back of the restaurant, leaving one of his bugs behind to access the situation.

"Hey Hinata!"

"N-Naruto-kun! What are you doing here?"

"Haha! What are YOU doing here? I thought you had team bonding with your squad?" The reply was cheerful.

"Y-yes..."

"Couldn't take it huh? I don't blame you. They can be quite a handful, huh?"

"Umm... Hai..."

"So you here alone? Want to have lunch together?"

The pair was interrupted when the waiter brought the food to their table. "Two Volcano Ramen!"

He placed a bowl in front of Naruto and another one in front of Hinata. "Enjoy!"

Naruto looked at the bowl. "Oh, so who are you here with?" Naruto asked again, but his voice was different, slightly guarded.

Hinata didn't know what to say, and Shino could see her struggling to come up with a reply. This was his turn to step in.

"Hello Naruto." He said coolly.

"Shino! Oh so it's you!" Naruto looked largely relieved. "Hey, let's all have lunch together then! Where's Kiba?"

"Out with Akamaru." Shino replied. "Yes, let's have lunch together."

The rest of the lunch was spent painfully as Shino watched Hinata feed Naruto his noodles and their small signs of flirting. A wave of hurt crashed over him when he saw that Hinata had removed his promise ring. It was a promise ring! It was not supposed to be removed! He thought sulkily, losing his appetite.

"I'll be off. See you two soon."

"Bye Shino!" Came the chorused reply, and another clenching of his heart when he saw Hinata's attention immediately turning back to Naruto. Could it be that he would lose his girl even before he gets her?