Second Chance

She had thrown herself into her training, memorising first by reading, then devision a regorious system that seemed to allow little time for actual sleep and meal times... it made her cousin worried. It didn't matter though; the high maintenance training left her head strangely clear every night when she finally got to bed, and in those few, elusive minutes before sleep overtook her, she thought through everything.

Like how to approach Shino.

The clothes she had out of the way this time around; a tightly netted shirt underneath a black tank-top, to go with the cut-off training pants she usually wore... and her regular, fur-lined jacket. And I'm not gonna change my mind... nope. Changed my mind what; five times now..? Who would have guessed I'd be so vain?

Neji had been more cheerful lately too. He'd been laughing and teasing her more as he practically shoved food down her throat during lunch... but she hadn't really asked why. She suspected it had something to do with those hours that Neji and Sakura had had their 'staring contest' unsupervised... but had no proof.

But that really didn't matter right now... right now, she really wanted to know how a week could pass by so quickly...

Finding the clothes she had spent almost all week picking out, she started pulling them on slowly; they felt lighter than her regular clothes. And more revealing. Damn it... maybe I should wear a different shirt... Nothing showed in the mirror. Not even the hint of anything showed in the mirror... and her bra straps (black this time) blended in with the closely netted shirt almost perfectly; it was, in all honestly, a very modest look for her... completely different, but also completely modest. And it has to be different... right. Cause if it's not different, he'll probably either look past me completely, or come up with an excuse, or something...

She bit her lip, still looking at her appearance in her mirror. Damn it... I should pick out a different shirt...

There was a knock on her door, before Neji slipped inside. The door closed again with a 'click' as he walked over and sat on her bed, meeting her gaze in the mirror. "You realize you haven't been stuttering as much this past week..?"

"W-what..?" she asked, attempting to pull the hems of her shirts lower without moving the necklines...

"You haven't been stuttering as much," he told her plainly, picking at a stray tread on her blankets. "You've been too determined to finish training as soon as possible... and too determined to impress the Aburame boy..."

"I'm n-not trying to i-impress him..." she muttered out... but she noticed he was right. Her stutter was disappearing. And not out of respect for her father.

"Right, sure..." she head him chuckle, and thought she heard him mutter 'k-i-s-s-i-n-g...', but chalked it up to her imagination. "You look fine by the way. You grew up pretty enough; not stunningly gorgeous, like one or two kunoichi I've seen, but really pretty. If it wasn't for people knowing that I get to look after you, several guys probably would have tried to 'pick you up'..."

"W-what?" she felt just like her blushing, stuttering, stumbling self again as she turned around, almost falling to the ground as she looked at Neji in shock.

"Don't act so niave," Neji rolled his eyes at her... then realized that she truly had no idea. "What..? You mean that you never noticed..? Ever?" He blinked. "You never even thought that those constant attempted kidnappings of you might be for some other reason than you are 'the Hyuuga Heir'..? I mean, if they just wanted the Hyuuga secrets, they could have gotten any one of us..."

"N-Neji-nii-kun!" Her blush deepened. "I d-don't... n-no!"

He laughed. "Sorry... sorry... it's true though! But you don't have time for that... you're going to be late for your stalking session."

"It's n-not a s-stalking session!"

------

Friday already...? He grumbled to himself, just restraining himself from slamming the door behind himself as he shut it. His kikaichuu were over-active with the ammount of chakra they had been constantly recieving... a sure sign that he could start training again soon. Today infact... just need to get something for lunch, first.

He started to head towards the market, quickly deciding where he wanted he wanted for the rest of the week, and where he wanted to train later... also, he gave his kikaichuu a silent command to spread out, keeping all senses alert for the little 'mirage' he had seen last week.

What will I even do if I do see her?

------

She was taking a new route this time around; instead of watching the crowd from above, she was part of it. It was over whelming at first. She held her jacket shut tightly, almost like a second skin, activating Byakuugan under her breathe to gain a wider range of vision.

All the Byakuugan achieved was to make her see more faces, and the farther she stretched her vision, the more confused it made her; it seemed that she needed to train with Neji-nii-kun more... she couldn't see everything at once, like he could. She deactivated her Byakuugan, and continued to wonder around.

She checked the watch that Neji had given her before she'd left, and sighed. Only a few more minutes left... I've learned that Naruto and Sasuke have taken leave to train in the mountains for a month or so, Ino has taken over the family's Flower Shop, and Hokage-sama has rejected several Rokudaime wannabes... but no Shino. Letting go of her tight hold on her jacket, she rubbed her arms; they felt almost numb.

Tears started pricking at her eyes, and she bit her lip tightly to stop herself from openly crying. This is no big deal... I mean, he could also be on a mission, and I haven't heard about it... or maybe he changed his schedual... or maybe he's training. Yeah, that makes sense... She checked the watch again, shoulder's slumping down in defeat. Gotta go... guess this means I shouldn't bother next week...?

Turning, she made her way to go back home; she would have to run... but something caught her attention...

------

He stood there, rooted to the place; his kikaichuu were returning to him, curious as to his stranger-than-usual behavior... but they still didn't really understand. Hell... I don't understand. He swallowed a painful lump in his throat. I've never acted quite like this before...

Hinata was standing there. Just waiting.

She looked at a watch that dwarfed her already delicate wrists, before looking around almost helplessly. She must have to go somewhere... right... makes sense. So wy exactly is she here? isn't she supposed to be training...?

He watched her turn around, and swore that the sun suddenly got hotter; he'd never remembered her ever wearing anything netted in his life... and even if she had, it had been burried under thick, long-sleaved shirts. It suits her. His keen eyes traced her jawline, following down her neck and drifted over the netted-shoulders... he found the black straps of her tank top and bra, and felt his cheeks heating up. For his own sake, he dragged his gaze back up to her face.

She was looking at him.

------

After all that, he was watching me? It made her feel giddy, and she couldn't stop the silly little grin on her face. But he looked almost... guilty. Like a kid being caught with his hand in the cookie jar. She could only giggle at the thought. Shino in a cookie jar... that's almost as absurd as Shino in an apron!

She was stepping towards him before she could really think about it, and before long they stood right in front of one another... looking up into his sun glasses, she immediately noticed the difference from his old ones. Mainly because his old ones sat on her bedside table, and were the first sight she saw each morning...

"H-hi..." she said nervously, almost glad because of her stutter... she could even feel her tell tale blush creeping across her cheeks. I'm still only Hinata... just Hinata. And that's all I need to be... I think...

"Hn..." she head him choke slightly on his words, and blushed more. "... Hi." Then she giggled. "... I fail to see what's funny..."

"N-nothing..." she continued giggling. All the imagined conversations... some beginning with half-insane confessions and others with simple begging, and one or two with just kissing him, and we end up saying 'hi'... ...dread washed over her. She checked her watch. "No! Damn! I've got to go!" She looked back up at him with sad eyes. "F-father will be m-mad if I'm late... Bye S-Shino-kun."

He looked at her intently for a few moments, then nodded. "I'll see you next week I assume..?"

With a smile she nodded, before hurrying off home.