Trouble Remembering
"Glad you're my friend…"
…..
The two sprawled on the moist grass, watching the sun as it sank deeper behind the endless sea of black trees.
Kiba, with his hands crossed under his head and chewing on a straw, took a deep breath, enjoying the smell of the forthcoming night. Cold and humid.
Beside him, the long-haired beauty picked relentlessly on the grass, tearing the roots and then apologizing mentally to the plant.
She sighed.
They had promised to talk, but as far as that went, Kiba seemed reluctant on his own way, using sarcasm and jokes to find a way around her questions.
That annoyed her, because she liked when people were straight forward, especially after they promised to be straight forward.
Kiba just wasn't doing that.
"Gee Hinata; are you going to stay silent?"
"No…" she trailed off.
"I thought you wanted to talk."
"I do."
He sniggered. "What about? I'm all ears."
Hinata sighed again. "You know… I… I wanted to talk about you."
Kiba wrinkled his nose. "But you I don—"
"You promised!" she alleged.
The dog boy rolled his eyes. "Amazing how Naruto isn't even around but still manages to rub off on you. What's with the pushy attitude?"
Hinata blushed. "No! I-I… n-not—I mean it's not about that!"
Kiba sat upright, his face uncomfortably serious. "I hardly remember him anymore, so it doesn't matter."
Naruto was forgotten momentarily as Hinata's determination rose. "Just because we think it is, doesn't mean something is not important."
She paused, staring at the indigo sky. "It seemed to bother you last time."
Her teammate narrowed his eyes. "Then you must've gotten the wrong idea."
"But your face changed…" She said, personally seeing this fact as enough reason for her friend's well-concealed discomfort.
He glanced at her, lips pressed in a thin line and eyes dropped to the ground. She really did want to talk about something that Kiba had honestly didn't think about for years now.
"I don't care about a man who abandoned his clan." He told her matter-of-factly.
"Not the clan, Kiba. You. How do you feel about it?"
"I don't care."
"I don't believe you."
"I didn't ask you to."
"Why are you acting like that?"
"Because I don't feel like talking about this kind of bullshit." His brow wrinkled in indignation. "I thought we came here to hang out."
"But that means you care… When you don't want to talk about something,"
Kiba stood up, walking to his dog who was occupied with a long queue of ants, leaving Hinata flustered behind him on the ground.
"Listen Hinata," he said. "I have more people worth caring about in my life right now. That man isn't worth mentioning."
His voice had an uncharacteristic finality, lacking in his usual adopted teasing tone.
She stood up as well, falling on step beside him. "I didn't mean to bother you." she murmured.
"You didn't."
Kiba then grinned, draping an arm casually around her neck, surprising her. He gave her a suggestive look, raising his eyebrow. "On the other hand, you seem to still have a crush on that idiot."
"Kiba!" she abruptly freed herself from his arm, looking at him disapprovingly.
He laughed, brushing her off so easily, just like he did everything else. "Sorry, sorry. But no really, let's talk about that."
"I-I don't want to." Hinata stammered, cheeks flushed evidently.
Kiba placed his hands behind his head. "See, we all have our reasons."
Hinata cradled her arms. "It's different." she murmured.
He shrugged. "I don't see the difference."
She pierced her lips together. "Just… let's not talk about that."
He gave her a sideways glance. "I'll do it only if you don't press me about other subjects."
It wasn't fair, but she agreed anyway. "Fine,"
Kiba stepped closer to her, and smiled. "Hinata, I'm really glad you're my friend."
The Hyuuga heiress returned his smile with a warm one of her own.
Too bad Kiba didn't keep that promise.
A/N: Can I say: I love Hinata and Kiba's friendship. Even more so than with Shino?
Kiba is the perfect friend for cheering you up while Shino is the one you seek for advice and the like.
