Chapter Twenty Five
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Pale eyes gleamed with pride and somewhat dissapointment. Well you couldn't expect her to be fully proud of her teammate's lost, but you couldn't expect her not to be fully proud of a certain blue-eyed blondie who had won his first match.
Fighting back a smile, she reached into her pocket and pulled out a small cup of ointment. It was for Kiba. She'd have to atleast go see him and make sure he wasn't hurt too bad.
Their team had been together for the longest time now. To Hinata and also to Kiba it seemed they had been together much longer.
Making her way down towards Kiba she couldn't help but smile when she heard the excited victory screams of Naruto and also his other teammate with the pink hair, Sakura.
"Kiba-kun." She muttered as she neared the stretcher.
"Hinata-chan." Kiba said with a hint of excitement as he tried to full sit up.
"Kiba-kun ... don't if it hurts."
"I'm fine." He said while locking gazes with her.
"I made some ointment for you. I put a lot of work into it so it should work well."
Kiba smiled but it soon faded as he looked up at the matchboard. Hinata wasn't clueless to the worried expression he was clearly trying to hide from her.
The crew which was carrying Kiba soon grew impatient with their short talk after a few moments so Kiba decided now was the best time to tell her what he had planned for her.
"You're not going to get hurt."
Hinata, who was in mid-setence, stopped and looked at Kiba confused.
"I said you're not going to get hurt." Kiba repeated when he saw the confusion in her eyes.
"What do you mean Kiba-kun ?"
Kiba clenched his fists and his voice rose to that barely lower than a yell.
"If you enter a match with someone that you know you're gonna lose to I'll ... I'll ..."
Kiba laid back down on the stretcher and was carried away. Before he was out of sight he said one more thing.
"If you get paired up with that dude from the sand or Neji ... forfeit."
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Hinata cleared her mind as she fearfully made her way to the fighting arena.
... forfeit ... forfeit.
The word repeated and printed itself in her mind. Sure forfeiting would probably be the best thing to do right now but she couldn't give up so easily.
For some reason forfeiting seemed like a greater defeat than actually trying and losing.
She would lose either way. She already knew that.
"Forfeit."
Hinata jumped. That time the voice wasn't in her head.
Her eyes sadened as she looked to her cousin only to find a cold stare. His face made her die a little on the inside, but it was the only face she had ever see since ... since they were younger.
"You're going to lose." He stated.
Hinata smiled as she lost eye contact.
"So ? You're not the only one who knows that by now."
Hinata's gaze met that of the floor and she didn't see Neji's eyes widen and quicky return to normal.
"Why are you going to fight me if you know you're going to lose ?"
"Why are you going to fight me if you know you're going to win ?"
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Hinata lowered her head in defeat.
The match hadn't even started yet and she felt weaker than ever. Insult after insult were hurled at her but she kept her mouth quiet.
What could she say anyway ? She could deny everything he was saying but ... everything he was saying was true. She wasn't going to win ... she was weak ... people don't change ...
"HINATA !!!"
Hinata jerked her head up, the whole time she had been keeping her head down a certain someone had been watching her and that certain someone's thin patience had just been stretched to it's limits.
"Hinata !!! You not doing anything is making the people watching very angry !!!"
Neji looked over his shoulder at the annoying noise maker who had intterupted him in mid-setence. The two of them locked glares but Naruto broke his hell bent stare to make a much more needed stare at Hinata.
"Kick his ass."
Hinata's shocked face was easily seen by all who were watching, or in this case waiting for, the match. Maybe she could win. It wasn't impossible ... or was it ?
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Pale eyes opened only to tightly shut with dissatisfaction with herself and her surroundings. The curtains shined a dark color as the sun was continuing to make it's long descent to the edge of the horizon.
The last memories she obtained before the closing of her eyes on the arena floor piled on each other like a colorful collage.
Everything up to Naruto staring down at her she remembered vividly but the order seemed like a movie a young child had rewound then played then rewound again then finished with a fowarding of the entire master piece.
It was no use.
Unlike all the other times, she couldn't close her eyes to forget. In fact when her eyes were shut she could see herself coughing blood in front of her smiling cousin.
Reluctantly she opened her eyes. The person that stood in front of her with a puzzled look about him wasn't the person she wanted or probably needed to see at the moment.
An explanation of why he was there didn't seem needed or wanted by Hinata. Sinking deeper under the hospital sheets she wished she was as invisible as the white material engulfing her.
"Hinata-chan."
Hinata daringly looked up and when her white eyes met the brown eyes looking down at her she quickly looked at something else.
"I'm talking to you." He said coldly.
Hinata stopped looking at the door and turned her head back to Kiba. He silently wondered why she had looked away so timidly for it had been a thing she hadn't done in months now.
"Yes Kiba-kun ?"
"WHY THE HELL DID YOU EVEN TRY TO FIGHT !?!?"
Hinata jumped as his words echoed across the room. Now she began to wonder ... why did she even try ?
Naruto !!!
A gasp escaped both Hinata and Kiba's mouths as Naruto ran into the room and grabbed Kiba by his jacket collar. Kiba frowned but his temper was too strong to throw the first punch.
"I'LL TELL YOU WHY THE HELL SHE TRIED !!!"
Kiba angrily smacked Naruto's hand away which only made Naruto all the madder. Fists were clenched and ready to punch as Kiba began to speak again.
"All she accomplished was getting herself hurt ... and mind you own damn business !!! I wasn't talking to you."
Naruto made what closely sounded like a growling noise in the back of his throat as Kiba casually shrugged his shoulders then turned to face Hinata again.
He quickly grabbed Kiba by the collar again.
"Well I'm talking to you ..." He retorted back.
"She had as good a chance as any of us in winning against Neji !!!"
"Naruto-kun ... it's okay ..."
"No it's not !!!" Naruto snapped back a little more sharply than intended.
"Why don't you just leave already ?" Kiba said trying to calm himself down while taking the empty seat beside Hinata's bed.
"Why don't you ?!?!"
"Naruto-kun ... Kiba-kun ... please ... stop." An eerie faintness in her soft voice caused both to stop their quarrels and look at Hinata who lay with eyes now shut.
"Hinata-chan are you okay ?"
Naruto ran to her side as moaning coughs filled the room. They were persistant with little hesitation and Naruto and Kiba feared she wasn't having enough time to breathe.
"Stop ... fighting ..." She managed to say in between coughs.
"We'll stop. We'll stop." Naruto said reassuringly.
Naruto grabbed her hand that was gripping the hospital blanket as Kiba ran outside the room. The "bastard better have went for help" was the only thing running through his mind as he looked down at Hinata.
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Another chapter complete. I'm sorry if it seems shorter but I think this chapter will probably take longer to read than others. Hope you liked it. Sorry the few updates lately. Reviews are loved.