Not much to say...

Thanks to reviewers.

Let's just call this chapter 10

The rest of that night was a blur.

Not because of the sake. Hinata hadn't had much.

It was the kiss she shared with Kiba that had her body vibrating.

Sure, it was a stupid spin-the-bottle lip-brush, and sure it didn't last very long. And how could we forget there were people in the room at the time, pressuring with their eyes for the two to stop …

Despite all signs pointing to a bad kiss, Hinata had replayed it in her mind again and again. It was so strange to her. From the way his eyes dreamily shut to the way his lips tightly pushed against hers to the way he scarcely squeezed her shoulder before they pulled apart… everything. Everything she expected from Naruto. But as she continued to think about it and relive it, she began to want it to happen another time.

Hinata gazed at the cottage-cheese ceiling of her bedroom. She was pretty tired. They had stayed up all night and left 7 minutes after sunrise when Sakura's parents rolled into the driveway. While contemplating whether she should sleep or not, her phone rang.

She lazily turned over in her bed and answered it with a groggy voice.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Hinata."

"K-Kiba?" she cleared her throat, embarrassed. Memories of the kiss rushed through her mind.

"One and only. You remember how you promised you would help me more on my homework?"

"Y-yes," Even though she remembered she hadn't "promised", she did say that she would.

"Wanna, well, meet somewhere?"

"Okay."

"Any preferences?"

"W-we can go to the park…"

"Sounds good. See you in 10."

"Bye."

"Later."

Sleep could wait. Besides, Hinata didn't think she would be able to sleep very peacefully with Kiba on her mind.

So she changed into something more comfortable – loose jeans and a loose t-shirt – and, assuming Kiba would have his math supplies, was on her way out when a high voice stopped her.

"Where are you going?"

Hinata turned. Hanabi was standing down the opposite hallway.

"I-I have to g-go to the park and help Kiba w-with his homework," said Hinata. She was a yard or two past her sister when Hanabi spoke up for a second time.

"Do you… like him? I'm just wondering." Hanabi added.

Why did Hanabi always have to ask such difficult questions?

"Wh-what makes y-you wonder?"

"You two are always hanging out and stuff." she shrugged innocently.

"I… I don't know," Hinata softly replied, doubting her sister had heard, and left before Hanabi could say anything else.

The way to the park wasn't far. It was right next to the school, and Hinata could walk there in no time.

The sky was clouding up, Hinata took note of. Too many for finding elephants and fish, and not enough for finding rain. The midday sun cast a glow through the thick layer of clouds. There was light, though it didn't look like it came from anywhere in particular.

Kiba sat at one of the picnic tables on the grassy lawn, his dog Akamaru sniffing the base of a nearby tree. Akamaru was trained well enough to go without a leash. He had been with Kiba for practically all of both their lives.

Kiba waved at Hinata when he saw her approaching, and Akamaru let out a high-pitched bark.

"You brought Akamaru!" she ran to the little dog and stroked the short white fur on his back. In return, his tail wiggled and he licked her hands.

"Yep. I had to take him out anyway." Kiba found himself smirking Hinata's interaction with Akamaru.

She was always like that around any type of animal, especially the ones that were small, cute, and fluffy. Akamaru most definitely fell under the category of small, cute, and fluffy.

She gave him a quick kiss on the forehead, then sat at the table.

"Wh-what do you… need help w-with?" Hinata was unable to hold back a loud yawn.

"Can you look at this?" he pushed his notebook in front of her, over a faded stain of bird feces, "I did it when I was waiting."

There was a lot of writing on that one page. How long had he been waiting?

Hinata dismissed the matter and started inspecting his work

"These ones are ok…" she turned the next page, which was also covered in numbers and letters. Kiba wore a wide smile, evidently pleased with himself.

"Oh, Kiba," his smile faded and was switched with an expression of confusion as Hinata pointed to the supposed error. "I-It's x squared, not 2x." she giggled.

"Ahh," Kiba nodded like he totally understood what the difference was.

" (yaaaawn) X-x squared means x t-times itself, and 2x m-means x times 2." Hinata explained patiently.

"Got it." Kiba rewrote the problem, solved it, and showed it to Hinata once more.

"Better?" he asked.

"Much."

Hinata continued to check Kiba's homework in silence. Kiba searched the park (surprisingly empty, by the way) for some type of distraction. He already forgot how x squared did not equal 2x. Truthfully, math meant next to nothing to him. He couldn't identify why he had Hinata "tutor" him. Perhaps he enjoyed her company more than he admitted to himself…

"Kiba."

"Yeah?" he looked back to Hinata.

"Y-you got something wrong."

"'Kay," Kiba slid an inch closer to her, "Lay it on me."

Hinata smiled and set her finger on a long string of numbers.

"Y-You were missing a decimal point. See? R-right…" she suddenly stopped talking when she felt Kiba's hand fall on hers.

Their eyes met.

Their mouths moved closer.

They were like magnets, he was north and she was south.

Oh my God.

Hinata's initial impulse when Kiba touched her hand ever-so-gently was to stand up, maybe trip on something in the process, invent a rational excuse, and run. But she didn't. Somewhere inside, she resented the very idea. Somehow she could see… they were no longer "just friends". Maybe she didn't want them to be. She didn't even know why she tried to deny it anymore.

"…here…"

Hence, she let their lips meet in a soft kiss.

His hands were slow as they made their way from her hips to circle the small of her back. Hinata wanted more. Astonishing both of them, she parted her lips and tasted his tongue for the first time.

Kiba didn't know exactly what had lead up to their (second) kiss… he and Hinata were talking over math homework, yet she was so close, when she spoke he could scarcely feel her breath, he so loved the sound of her voice. And as his hand feathered over Hinata's – by accident, of course – something happened. He was about to apologize to her, when his dark eyes locked on Hinata's beautiful creamy ones. This feeling, "KISS HER. KISS HER. KISS HER. You know you want to." came over him, and he went with it. He was glad he did. So glad…

He knew she liked Naruto. He knew Naruto didn't return the feelings. He knew she knew Naruto didn't return the feelings. Ironically, thanks to the exuberant blonde boy, she was "morally against" giving up. Now and then, the pessimist in Kiba just wanted to tell her that it was ok to give up when you're never going to get there. When all you need is right in front of you all along, and there's no use wasting your time with something that's never going to come true.

More than anything, he knew he couldn't. It would probably shatter her.

Hinata toyed with the tips of Kiba's dark brown hair. It was stunningly soft. Then, out of nowhere, she to feel funny.

A yawn was rising in her throat.

How could it be that an action signifying tiredness woke Hinata up more than ever?

Her eyes snapped open and she ripped away from their kiss so hard it almost hurt.

Not needing to yawn anymore, she started to talk about math as if the kiss had never taken place, "S-So, th-the thing is, y-you misplaced the decimal point," she muttered, steering clear of eye contact, "Y-you'd do great i-if you'd pay more attention t-to the details."

"Hinata," Kiba whispered with something like caution in his tone.

"I-I b-better leave," she stuttered quietly. Shyly, she glanced into his eye, her expression saying "sorry". Then she stood and started walking away, giving Akamaru one last pat.

"Bye. Thanks," Kiba came to the conclusion that nothing hurt more than watching somebody leave.

"Um, Hinata?" Kiba called after her.

She stopped for a moment.

"Y-yes Kiba?" But she didn't turn around.

"Just to tell you… I'll always be here if you ever need anything."

"O-ok. Bye."

Hinata couldn't stand being around him a second more. Once she turned the next corner, she broke into a steady jog.

Well that's done now. Sorry if it seemed kind of rushed.

Review?

- jiao