Naruto Primer: Shino and Kiba

Shino's…Crush?

Shino could definitely be considered the loner type.  He's not one for friendly hellos or calling up a friend to sent up a play-date for the afternoon or go over for a sleepover.  It doesn't bother him like it has begun to bother Neji, though, because he always has his little bug friends to keep him company.

Kiba is rather outgoing and has sort of a brutish image.  Deep down inside, however, he has a soft spot for Hinata and is actually very caring and sensitive.  Most people may not see that aspect of him because of his loud and abrasive nature that rivals that of Naruto's.

Since Shino isn't very personable, he is very good at making observations.  He has come to know Kiba since they're on the same team and all.  So, of all the people Shino knows, we can assume that he considers Kiba the closest to a friend so that's why he feels the most comfortable (he's comfortable this time) talking with him about personal matters.

"Kiba, I have something to ask you." Said Shino one day to Kiba.  Hinata had gone home a little while ago because she had started hacking up blood again and they figured it would be best if she just took the rest of the day off.

"Sure, what is it?" asked Kiba.

"Well, saying this is pretty hard for me." Said Shino.

Kiba chose not to mention that saying ANYTHING was pretty hard for Shino.  Or at least he had assumed that considering Shino never really spoke.

"What?" Kiba said.

"There's this person I like." Shino replied.

"That's good." Said Kiba.  "You're showing signs of being at least SLIGHTLY normal."  It was silent for a minute.  "So…why did you randomly decide to tell me that?  Who is it that you're interested in?"

"I don't know if I should say." Shino confessed.

"Why is that?" asked Kiba.

"You probably wouldn't be too keen on the response." Shino replied.

Kiba stared at Shino long and hard.  Now Shino had piqued his curiosity to the point in which he HAD to know.

As Shino looked at the slightly perturbed expression on Kiba's face, he began to realize more and more that maybe it wasn't a great idea to just express himself like that.  After all, he had done so previously and made a fool of himself in front of a few people concerning his discomfort in his lower regions.

"Never mind." Said Shino.  "Forget I said anything."

"Come on, Shino, I won't tell anyone." Kiba promised.

"But…I don't really care if anyone else knows." Shino said.  "I just felt that you should know before I started to try to make my moves."

"Make your moves?" Kiba said with a raised eyebrow.

"You know, try to make it mutual." Shino explained.

That's when something occurred to Kiba.  "Oh geez…does this involve me in any sort of intimate way?" he asked uneasily.

Shino pondered for the correct response.  "You could say that." He said finally.  "It depends on YOUR opinion of my feelings."

"I don't think I like where this is heading."

"Yeah, I figured you'd probably be angry and probably resent me.  After all, I've been watching you and Hinata for a while."

"So you should know that I'm not… THAT WAY." Kiba said.

"Oh I know." Said Shino with a sigh.  "It would be better for me if you were.  Then this would be a lot easier."

"I wouldn't say that."

"You don't think so?  Then you wouldn't be very interested in Hinata."

"I guess I wouldn't be.  But I'm not like that."

"Well I don't expect you to be."

"Then what's the point of his conversation?"

"I guess what I'm trying to get at is this; are you really all THAT interested in Hinata?"

"These questions are a little personal!"

Kiba didn't really know how to answer these questions, honestly.  After all, he hadn't really come to that conclusion yet himself.  He wasn't sure!  He was only twelve so his mix of hormones and emotions were shooting off in all sorts of crazy directions.  But not as crazily as Shino's, apparently.

"Is that a yes or a no?"

"It's not either…"

"So technically, she's free."

"Technically."

"Okay, that's all I wanted to know."

Shino turned to go as Kiba stood there looking confused.  Finally, Kiba pursued Shino and jumped in front of him.  "Hey, so does that mean that YOU'RE interested in HINATA?" he asked.

"I thought I already established that." Shino replied.

"Well that's a relief." Said Kiba happily.  But then he stopped and realized what had just happened.  "Wait!  No!  It's not!  How can you just all of a sudden be interested in her?"

"I don't know." Shino shrugged.  "I've been hanging out with her a lot lately and I feel that we just have a lot in common.  I like her personality and maybe she likes me too."

"No!  Wait, no!  No!" said Kiba frantically.

"You said she was free." Shino said, looking slightly confused.

"I said she was TECHNICALLY free…that doesn't mean she actually is." Said Kiba.

"You realize, of course, that that doesn't make any sense whatsoever." Shino pointed out.

"Fine then, she's NOT free." Kiba said.

"We'll just have to ask Hinata who she'll prefer." Said Shino.

"I don't know if that will prove anything." Kiba said.  "I think Hinata likes Naruto."

Shino paused.  "Naruto?"

"I don't know why…"

"Then we should ask her who she likes better out of the two of us."

"Couldn't you just randomly start liking some other girl?" Kiba requested.

"I don't know any other girls." Shino said.

"You could get to know other girls." Kiba suggested.

"Face it, Kiba.  You're not even sure if you like Hinata or not.  I know I do."

Just then, Akamaru came frolicking back over to Kiba and jumped up into his jacket, poking his head out of the top.  "There you are, Akamaru!" said Kiba since the presence of his best friend always makes him so very happy.  "Where were you?"  Akamaru barked in response.  "Did you remember to put the seat down when you were done?"  Akamaru barked again.  "Good boy!"

Shino cleared his throat.  Kiba then looked up from his conversation with Akamaru and remembered that he was in a conversation with Shino.

"I guess there's only one way to settle this." Said Shino.

"You don't mean…" started Kiba.

"That's right." Shino answered.  "Rock, paper, scissors."

"Best two out of three!" said Kiba, getting in his ready position.

Eventually, it made its way up to three out of five, then four out of seven, then five out of nine and so on and so forth.  They were, apparently, completely evenly matched.  Hours went by and the tournament continued on and on until the sun finally set so they couldn't even see each other's hands anymore.

"It appears as though we are evenly matched." Said Kiba, out of breath.

"So it seems." Shino answered.

"We can continue this battle another day." Kiba announced.

"Naw, I don't really care." Said Shino.  "I'm over her."  With that, Shino turned to leave, leaving Kiba to only stand there, bewildered.