"Shino-kun? You …you don't really …have to walk me home." Hinata peeked over at him with a flirty smile.
Shino started to sweat. Hinata was acting so …so …very …un-Hinata-like. "Just how much sake did Kankuro give you?"
Hinata jumped out in front of him, making him stop suddenly or risk knocking her over. "I'm not drunk!" Hiccup. "I'm not!"
Shino fought the urge to put his hands on her shoulders. He wasn't even sure what he wanted to do if he did, shake her or hold her?
"Did Kankuro …er, well …did he hurt you?" Shino finally managed to ask the question he really didn't want to bring up.
Hinata laughed. The sweetness of the sound tickled Shino's nerves and made him feel on-edge somehow. "Didn't you see him? He was the one who was bleeding and bruised, not I". At this, the purple haired girl's pale eyes sparkled and she twirled in a circle before him while flinging one delicate hand high over her head.
Shino coughed, having to fight harder not to grab her and make her stand still. "But why was he bruised?" He asked solemnly.
Hinata stopped spinning and looked at him sadly. Was she pouting? Hinata didn't pout. He watched as she pushed out her delectable bottom lip. Shino nearly moaned aloud. "You forgot bleeding, I saw blood too!"
Shino nodded. "Yes, Hinata, he was both bloodied and bruised. You defeated him quite handily. But WHY?"
Hinata smiled secretively and motioned for Shino to come closer. He frowned and stepped nearer to her. It wasn't close enough, obviously, because the next thing he knew she'd put her hands on his shoulders and pulled him even closer. Kissing distance, he swallowed hard.
Shino watched in growing shock and excitement as her lips came toward his. His knees nearly buckled with disappointment when she veered to the side. "I took back my decision." She whispered softly into his ear.
The destruction bugs within Shino nearly vibrated visibly beneath his skin. He had to take a deep breath and step back. Unfortunately, she followed, clinging to his shoulders. Shino breathed in her delicate scent and put his hands on her shoulders to push her back, just a step. Just so he could breathe. Instead, he froze as he touched her.
Hinata laid her head down against his shoulder and let him go. It should have put distance between them, but instead of stepping back, she sort of melted into him. He shifted to catch her slight weight.
"H..Hin…Hina…Hinata??" Great, he thought, now he was the one stammering! "What are you doing?" There, that was better.
"Hmmm?" She answered, moving her head closer, almost nuzzling into the cleft of his neck. Shino felt like the temperature had just risen dramatically. Sweat trickled down his back, beneath the elaborate formal tunic. "Don't you want to ask what decision?"
Shino managed to nod. Once. Then he swallowed hard as he realized that his arms had moved of their own accord and were now wrapped around Hinata. For the life of him, he didn't want to let her go. Her warmth snuggled up against his felt like a furnace.
He was so lost in the sensations bombarding him that it took him more than ten minutes to realize she had not responded. "Er, Hinata? What decision did you rescind?"
She nuzzled his neck again and Shino's eyes crossed as he drew in a deep breath. Then it slowly dawned upon him that he was not only holding her, he was holding her upright!
Groaning, he pulled his head back to look and saw that her eyes were closed even though she was smiling. GREAT. Just great. Dark thoughts of taking advantage never crossed his mind. The Aburame heir gathered the object of his desires into his arms and began to carry her home.
o.O.o.O.o.O
Hana sighed deeply as she leaned over the railing on the west verandah, looking out at the stars. She'd managed to diffuse the situation, but barely. Baki had taken Kankuro off to clean him up. The ANBU had gone with him. Tsume had not.
What had followed had been a deeply bitter conversation. Sure they'd fought before, they were both Inuzuka women were they not? But Hana had said some deeply hurtful things to her mother tonight. Things that she wished heartedly that she could take back.
"Beautiful night sky." The husky male voice sent a shiver down her back. Hana turned stiffly, but then relaxed as she realized who had joined her.
"The guest of honor shouldn't be out here, he should be inside." She told him with gentle humor. "With his guests."
"You are a guest, and I am here. Yah?" Gaara told her as he joined her at the rail. "It seems both my former sensei and my brother have …disappeared. You wouldn't know anything about that, would you?"
Hana snickered quietly. "It seems that Kankuro …fell, and needed to get cleaned up."
Gaara looked away from the stars to stare at her. It wasn't his scariest stare, but still, this look usually gave heart palpitations to his Sand Villagers. Hana only smiled in response.
"You might get an angry father visiting you sometime tomorrow. You might not. It depends." She shrugged as she studied him, trying to gauge his reaction.
"Depends on what?"
"What, if anything, he finds out."
Gaara groaned, gripping the railing of the verandah as he rolled his eyes. "How bad was it?"
"Bruises, sore ego, and some light bloodshed." She said deadpan until he looked at her, then she flashed him another smile. "All on his end."
"She was unharmed?" Gaara sighed, resigned. He relaxed slightly as Hana nodded. "I might let him live then. Do I want to know who?"
"Not really. If you do find out, then I didn't do a good enough job to diffuse the situation. And Baki took him off to get him cleaned up, and if I'm not mistaken, to read him the riot act."
Gaara noticed the slight inflection on his aide's name, but let it pass. Baki wasn't well liked here and it never ceased to amaze him. Gaara himself was the one with the sand demon, Shukaku, within him. It was he, and not Baki, who had been the bigger threat in their ill-conceived attack on the Leaf Village. Yet, Gaara knew he had more friends here in this village than he did at home. It was a somber thought.
"Do you like it?" She broke the peaceful silence that had fallen between them. Gaara just looked over toward her, pretty sure she wasn't talking about her kimono, pretty as it may be.
"What?"
"Being Kazekage?" She wasn't even looking at him, she'd turn to stare inside one of the windows at the people inside.
"It's a terrible responsibility. Everyone's safety and future rests upon you and every decision you make. People are always toadying or screaming or some such nonsense. You can never find time to be alone unless you're doing any of the mounds of paperwork they bring you. It's awful."
"You love it then." It wasn't a question.
"Yah. I do." He nodded. Gaara wasn't sure he could put into words what he meant. He'd gone from being a hated threat to being the one everyone counted on to keep them safe. It was heady stuff. It was also humbling.
She nodded quietly, as if she understood. Then again, perhaps she did. "You're heir to your clan, yah?"
"It's not the same." She told him quietly, her smile fading.
"It is the same. Only the scale is different." Gaara spoke just as quietly. He was sorry to see her earlier humor fade so quickly. He tried to tease her back into a smile. "At least I have my brother to foist off on the eligible girls. Why aren't you inside looking for a husband?"
It had been meant as a joke, clumsy as it was. But Gaara was actually distressed to see a look of pain pass quickly over her face. Maybe he should just give up and go back inside.
"Why are you hiding out here?" She changed the subject, her emotions hidden.
Gaara slumped down, allowing the awkward moment to pass. "Because the girls in there won't give up. Even though I've told them that I won't be marrying, they all seem to think they will 'change my mind'. Nch."
Hana chuckled, but without real humor. "Don't you like any of them?"
Gaara shrugged off the question. "They're all too young."
Now Hana did smile, and for real this time. His mood lifted correspondingly. "But Gaara-kun, most of them are older than you are. Some are older than I am."
He mock snarled at her. "You couldn't tell by all the damn giggling and cooing. The inane stories. Every word I said was met with laughter and flattery."
"Everything you say treated as if it were a pearl of wisdom down from the mountain top? Every statement met with laughter as if it were the funniest thing ever said. The flattery that is so over the top you could drown?"
"You know?" He moaned, relieved that someone realized the hell he was in.
"I am the heir of the Inuzukas after all." She paused, then continued without meeting his eye. "I can't look in there for a husband. By our clan standards, they don't suit. But that doesn't stop some of them from trying."
Gaara remained silent, this time knowing better than to interrupt.
"Its clan secret, but it boils down to the fact that …there have been no strong candidates … 'acceptable' …for me. I have to wait until he is found." Her voice was dark and hinted at deep hurt.
"You want to get married and can't. I don't want to get married and can't seem to get away. We're a pair." Gaara mused on a sigh.
"You have a stronger chance at avoiding your fate, than I do at finding mine." She said without self-pity, as if merely stating a fact.
"And there are no 'candidates' available. Not anywhere?"
Hana paused, as if reluctant. "There is one. It's not exact, and he's not fully compatible, not yet. But besides that, there is also one more complication."
Gaara looked at her. She'd tell him or she wouldn't. But this was the most interesting conversation he'd had tonight.
"I can't stand him."
The both stood still in the silence, then both started to smile, then chuckle, and finally laugh.
"That is hard." He admitted, still smiling. "Although I can't imagine you not liking someone. Unless they were cruel to animals?"
She shook her head 'no'. "Not that I am aware of, although now that you mention it, I'll have to look into that."
"Ah. Still, the only one I've ever seen you take a dislike to was Baki. It's a good thing that he's not …." Gaara stopped at her stricken expression.
"Baki?" He goggled. Oh, this was so not a good thing.
o.O.o.O.o.O
Koto managed to escape Lee by running into a bathroom set aside for the ladies. She could still hear his awful loud talk through the door. How could Shino do this to her? Was this retaliation for gluing his sandals to the floor that one time? Surely not, that had been years ago.
But what other explanation was there?
"No! No others are permitted inside now that the blossom of youth I was assigned to protect has entered." Lee's voice carried remarkably well as he stood guard outside the restroom door.
Koto nearly cried. She couldn't stay in here forever? How was she supposed to catch the eye of the Kazekage's brother if she was stuck with Rock Lee all night? Although, she admitted to herself at least, she was glad that it was Kankuro and not Gaara she was here to meet. Gaara scared her to pieces! That awful stare! He hadn't laughed once at any of her stories. He was horrid.
"Back, back I say! You may not cross this line until the beautiful lotus within is finished with this 'freshening' she so desires."
Koto snarled as she looked around, desperate to escape.
Her snarl faded and a mulish look appeared as she found a small window. Good thing I dieted this week! She managed to squeeze through somehow, more worried about her kimono than the toe she'd stubbed on her landing outside.
She'd done it! She'd escaped that horrible, green, person! Koto took a deep breath and then stopped as the shadows around her shifted.
Sudden alarm raced through her as a large man with horrid scars stepped forward. His teeth looked jagged as he smiled at her. She drew a breath to scream, but never made it past a small squeak as he pushed his hand roughly over her mouth.
Luckily, a small squeak was all she needed.
She was being pulled away from the building as the window she'd just escaped though shattered. Glass and wood flew as Rock Lee came bursting through. His eyes were blazing and his mouth was set.
Koto had never seen anything more beautiful in her life.
o.O.o.O.o.O
Shino wasn't a ninja for nothing. Getting Hinata into her family estate had been difficult, but not impossible. With Hiashi and Neji both out, the two of the three best defenses weren't even there. The third was currently cradled in his arms.
She wasn't fully asleep, she'd been nuzzling his neck and petting his back for a while now. His body was so hot right now, he was finding it terribly difficult to move. Not to mention that certain parts of his anatomy were not helping matters much!
He put her down on the matt in her room. Moonlight from the open window washed over her face, making him catch his breath. He stood to leave, but her hands wouldn't unlock from around his neck.
"Hinata." He called softly. "You have to let me go now."
"No." She told him boldly. Obviously she was still under the influence of the sake. His fondest dream would be her telling him that she didn't want him to leave, but doing so completely sober.
"Hinata." He chided, flinching as his body protested as he pulled her hands from him.
She sat up and caught his hand as he tried to move away. "Shino-kun? You never asked what my decision was, the one I gave up on."
With a pounding heart, he sat down beside her. In his mind he had a vision of her telling him that she'd decided to give up on her crush for Naruto.
"What was it, Hinata?" He wanted to tell her he needed to leave. He wanted to tell her that this wasn't proper. He wanted to tell her he loved her. He did none of those things.
"I decided to marry Kankuro."
Shino's heart stopped.
"It was a good decision. It got me out of this awful house and away from my family. It got me a good place, even though I'm no longer my father's heir. He's not bad looking, and it wouldn't be so hard."
Shino drew in a ragged breath, unable to blink or look away as his dreams shattered.
"He was being so sweet as he kept coming closer and closer."
Kankuro had to die. Shino didn't care how, as long as it was painful.
"I decided that tonight." She sighed and closed her eyes.
"Goodnight, Lady Hinata." He thought poets had been ridiculous as they'd described 'breaking' hearts. He'd been wrong. Not only was his heart broken, it was shattered beyond repair.
"I didn't like it though, when he tried to kiss me."
Painful death for the Sand ninja. Check. Red mist floated in front of his eyes.
"Then I thought that if I imagined it was Naruto, then I could kiss him back."
This just got worse and worse.
"It didn't work."
Shino was trying to find a way out without hurting her feelings, when she said the last. "What?"
"It didn't work." She said, turning to stare at him with her pearlescent gaze. "I had no problems picturing Naruto's face over Kankuro's. But when 'Naruto' leaned in to kiss me. It was all wrong."
"It wasn't the real thing." Shino sighed. It wasn't that he'd lost her to the blonde shinobi, Naruto had always held her affection even if he had never realized it at all. You couldn't lose what you never had.
"No. I told you, I had no problems imagining Naruto there. But the kiss did not work. It may have been the drink, but I wanted that kiss to work. So I put another face there. Yours."
Shino swallowed hard. "And that didn't work either." It was a statement, not a question.
"No. It worked, it worked too well!" Hinata giggled up at him as he stared at her, unbelieving. "It was awful!"
"Awful?" Well damn. He tried to pull away, but she grabbed his hands.
"Shino. It was wonderful imagining you kissing me. The awful part was when I realized it wasn't really you. But then Kankuro got all the wrong ideas and well, his hands were rather persistent. So I had to stop him."
Shino didn't know what to say.
"But now I'm wanting to know if the real thing lives up to my imagination."
Shino started trembling. It was a fantasy come to life. It was the best moment of his life. Except. Except she was drunk.
"You're inebriated, Hinata."
She hit him. Shino blinked, his bugs quieting down at his shock. "I had large gulp from his cup. I am slightly relaxed enough to tell you this without falling over my own tongue. But I am hardly drunk."
"You fell asleep in my arms and I had to carry you home."
She smiled wickedly. "Fell for that, did you?"
"Hinata!" Shocked, he leaned back and stared at her. She was blushing beet red, but she also looked determined. "You faked that?"
"I get the hiccups sometimes, when I'm nervous. But I was never drunk." She told him. "Tipsy, relaxed, bolder than I'd normally be, but hardly drunk."
Shino's mind was reeling. He didn't know what to do or say. She was flirting with him? Blushing over him?
"So. Are you going to kiss me before my bravery runs out?" She asked, leaning forward into him.
o.O.o.O.o.O
"Baki is the one you are considering to be your husband?" Gaara felt confused. Surely he'd misinterpreted.
Hana just looked embarrassed. "Well, he wasn't my choice. But he is the strongest 'candidate' to come along in …well, ever. Actually the only one."
"But you're not his usual …" He trailed off, uncertain. "He doesn't like kunoichis. Temari had the hardest time training under him. Baki doesn't like strong women."
Hana chuckled without mirth. "I kind of figured that one out already. Maybe I can change his mind though."
Gaara shook his head, hating being in this position. "Uhm. I forbid it."
"What?"
"As his Kazekage, I forbid it."
Hana's gaze narrowed dangerously on him. "You what?"
That's when they both heard the crash of a window breaking and lots of shouting. Alarmed, they both leapt to follow the sounds of fighting.
o.O.o.O.o.O
This chapter was difficult to get out. Not story wise, but I was interrupted twice by thunder and lightening and had to get off the computer. Just glad to get it posted, really!
Thanks to those who've reviewed. MORE please! Yes, I'm a sucker for reviews ...
