Gently, Gently
Author: Sasha (attain_webmiss@yahoo.ca)
Rating: PG
Pairing(s): KibaHina
Warning(s): none
Summary: Naruto's got another thing weighing his shoulders down when the group finds out about Hinata falling sick after a mission involving Shikamaru, Hinata and himself. Kiba is out of his mind with worry and is at his wit's end on the day Neji has promised Kiba he could visit Hinata.
Kiba bit his lip and nervously twisted a piece of paper in his hands. Hinata had fallen sick again and he wasn't allowed in the Hyuga house to see her. Neji said that he didn't want Hinata to strain herself, and being head-over-heels for the little Hyuga heiress, Kiba grudgingly stepped aside. Today was the supposed day he was allowed to come over to see her. He was going out of his mind.
Naruto rolled his eyes and let out an exaggerated sigh.
"Stop fussing over the situation and sit down. You'll make me lose my lunch," the blonde said, irritated by Kiba's pacing of the Ichiraku. The brunette narrowed his eyes at the annoying blonde.
"Oh, I'm sorry. Wouldn't want you to lose you precious lunch of that god-awful ramen," Kiba said sarcastically as he purposely strode in more circles. Sakura, Ino, Shikamaru and even Sasuke rolled their eyes at the irritating duo.
"Grow up," Ino exclaimed. Shikamaru yawned and leaned against his girlfriend. Sakura frowned and smacked Naruto's arm.
"Be quiet. He's obviously worried about Hinata. Shouldn't you be worried as well?" she asked the blonde. He shrugged a little.
Everyone exchanged exasperated glances and kept quiet, waiting for Kiba to come to them to ask questions or for help, rather than bombarding the poor guy with their concern.
Kiba stuffed his hands in his pockets and turned to leave. He didn't want to be in a place where everyone could see how Hinata's condition was unraveling him. Akamaru followed, casting a worried look towards the well-meaning group of friends and followed Kiba out of the restaurant.
"Y'know, I want to see her so badly, but it'll tear me up inside to see her feeling so terrible. What should I say? I can't be myself because she probably won't have the energy to put up with me. I don't want to make her tired, AHH… this is so stupid!" he said loudly. Akamaru gently nudged the brunette's shin.
"What is it, Akamaru?" he said, looking down at the dog. Akamaru turned to the field full of flowers, indicating that picking Hinata a bunch of pretty flowers would be a nice gesture. Kiba smiled and crouched down to rub the dog's head.
"That's a good idea. Come on!" he said, running down the slope.
"You're awfully grumpy today," Sakura said to Naruto, her brow furrowing. Sasuke nodded. Ino was about to say something rude until Shikamaru clamped a hand over her mouth. He shook his head. She was PMSing.
"Eh," Naruto said, upper lip curling. Sakura pulled his head off the table and turned it to face hers.
"I don't understand this slump of yours, but you better tell us quick. I don't like not knowing what's wrong with someone I care about," she said. Naruto's blue eyes locked with hers for a moment and then slid over to Sasuke.
"I do feel bad about Hinata. It's my fault she's sick," he mumbled, looking anywhere but at his girlfriend.
"What makes you think that?" she asked, green eyes trying to get his wandering ones to stop moving about.
"That mission that Shikamaru asked us to come on. It was raining and Hinata got cornered by these guys. I was supposed to watch over her but I went off to follow the leader's right-hand man and she got a little beat up. I guess she passed out and she caught a really bad cold. I don't think Kiba knows about that part. Shikamaru and I were thinking of telling him, but he's so hot-headed sometimes," the blonde explained. Sakura nodded slowly.
"Right, speak for yourself, oh most-hot-headed-one," she said, giggling. Naruto scowled.
Ino looked at Shikamaru. "How come you didn't tell me?" she asked. He shrugged and she fumed a little, crossing her arms over her chest.
'Does anyone have chocolate?' he found himself wondering. He hated when she was pre-menstrual.
"If you really feel that bad about it, you better tell Kiba. He might get mad, he might even hit you, but you can take it. Besides, if you own up to it, you'll probably feel a lot better," Sakura suggested. Naruto whined.
"Don't worry," Ino interjected. "Shikamaru will help you tell Kiba!" she exclaimed. The pony-tailed boy's eyes widened, but he conceded. He didn't want to irritate Ino anymore.
"Fine," he said, sighing rather loudly. Naruto looked up, a little mischievous glint in his eyes.
"Alright. We'll tell Kiba," he said, eyes gleaming. Sakura and Sasuke looked at each other and shook their heads.
"No funny business," the pink-haired girl and her other boyfriend said in unison. Naruto hated when they did that, especially when he planned on pinning the job of confessing onto Shikamaru.
"FINE," the blonde said, crossing his arms over his chest. Sakura laughed.
"You're so cute when you pout," she remarked. He turned on her, a sly grin splitting his face in two. Sasuke stepped in front of Sakura.
"Do your job first," the dark-haired teen said. Shikamaru stuck his hands in his pockets and sighed again.
"Let's just go," the pony-tailed boy said, waving a curt goodbye to the band of friends and dragging a softly protesting blonde with him.
Kiba looked across the field and wondered where to start. He knew Hinata's favourite color happened to be purple and he spied a whole bunch of vividly coloured irises by a tree. He motioned for Akamaru to follow and the two picked the whole lot. Kiba sat back on his heels, a big handful of irises in one hand and a rather large patch missing from the base of a tree. He chuckled a little nervously, partly sorry that he took so many of the flowers, but partly overjoyed because he knew they would make Hinata happy. He looked around some more and found a few pale yellow daffodils and thought that they would make the bouquet look a little more cheerful. He picked a few and Akamaru yipped towards long stalks of thick grass, hinting that Kiba should use the grass to tie around the flower stems.
"What would I do without you, Akamaru?" Kiba asked, bending to pet the happy dog. He picked the longest stalk and wrapped it around the bunch of flowers and smiled at his handiwork. Off to see Hinata…
Naruto pouted and stomped behind Shikamaru.
"Where would Kiba go?" Shikamaru asked softly. He looked left, right, and finally spotted the brunette and Akamaru down in the field. He stopped and Naruto, not really watching where he was walking, slammed into the taller teen.
"Hey, watch it!" the blonde yelled, rubbing his nose. Shikamaru shrugged.
"You watch it. It's your damn fault that I have to come with you. So do we tell him now, or later?" the dark-haired boy asked. Naruto chewed on his lower lip, casting a glance down towards the brunette and dog making their way up the slope on the opposite side of the field.
"Can we do it later? I was thinking that maybe I should bring something to cheer Hinata up. I feel bad about it and I think maybe I should talk to her first, you know, apologize," Naruto suggested. Shikamaru's eyes widened a little.
"I think that might be the first logical thing you have said in a long time," the pony-tailed boy said, slightly amazed at his suddenly lucid friend.
"Che," Naruto said, snarling softly. "Let's just go into town. I'll get her some kind of stuffed animal or something. Girls like that kind of stuff, right?" the blonde asked. Shikamaru shrugged.
"Eh? Wouldn't you know?" Naruto asked, cocking his head to the side.
"Nah. Surprisingly, Ino's not that materialistic. I think the only thing I've ever gave her was a bracelet for our anniversary and glass wind chimes for her birthday," the teen confessed.
Naruto stood there for a moment, trying to soak that bit of information.
"Wow, I would have thought Ino would be the type to be lavished with unnecessary gifts," he said softly. Shikamaru chuckled.
"Yeah, it doesn't fit her personality," Shikamaru admitted. Naruto nodded, smiling.
"Come on, let's go get something for Hinata and we'll convince Neji to let us see her first," Naruto said, dragging Shikamaru towards town.
"And how are we going to convince Neji to let us see his cousin before Kiba?" Shikamaru asked.
Naruto shrugged. "I don't know. I'll figure it out," he said, determinedly marching back to the hustle and bustle of the town.
"Okay, I think I'm ready to see her," Kiba said, smiling as he walked towards the Hyuga house. The nervousness dissipated and all he could feel at that moment was an eagerness to see his girlfriend. Neji, ever the watchful cousin, spotted the brunette from far away and called out to him.
"Good afternoon," Neji said politely. Kiba nodded and Akamaru yipped. Neji bent to pet the dog.
"Is it okay for me to go see her?" Kiba asked. Neji shook his head.
"Not yet. She's napping. I don't really want to wake her, but you can hang around here for a while until she wakes. She won't be that much longer; she's been asleep since lunch," Neji said. Kiba nodded.
"Play you a game of shogi?" the Hyuga boy offered. Kiba smiled.
"Sure, why not?" he said, taking a seat across Neji.
"Is Hinata picky?" Shikamaru asked. Naruto shrugged.
"I don't know!" he exclaimed, frustrated. They spent a good half an hour in the same store, looking at the same things- for the third time.
"Just pick something and pay for it. I have other stuff to do," Shikamaru complained. Naruto smirked.
"Like Ino?" he suggested with a leer. That comment earned him a rather hard punch from the pony-tailed boy.
"What Sakura and Sasuke see in you is beyond me," Shikamaru muttered.
Naruto's eyes narrowed but he remembered the task at hand and paced the small aisles of the store. Finally, his eyes settled on something he thought Hinata would really love. It was a delicate porcelain box decorated with curlicues of deep violet. The contrast of dark against the immaculate white of the porcelain gave it a beautiful effect and Naruto thought that the violet of the paint would go well with her naturally striking light violet eyes.
"I got it," the blonde announced, snatching up the box and taking it to the elderly man who owned the store. He paid and received the box covered in layers of tissue paper.
"Let's go," Shikamaru said, heading for the Hyuga house not too far from the centre of town.
"Dammit, Neji. Can't you let me win at least once?" Kiba asked, stressed about losing the third round of shoji to the Hyuga boy. Neji smirked a little.
"You keep leaving yourself these wide open spaces for me to win. Watch the board carefully and then you'll see where all your mistakes are. It just takes practice to get this good," Neji explained. Normally, Hyuga Neji wasn't this conversational, but ever since Kiba and Hinata started going out, the considerably uptight Branch member eased up a little.
Kiba looked carefully and then he realized that he kept leaving weak spaces with each move he made.
"I see now!" he exclaimed. Clapping a hand to his forehead, he sighed. "Jeez, no wonder you kept beating me. Hey, you think Hinata is awake yet?" he asked. Neji looked up at Hinata's window from where they were sitting outside.
"I'm not sure. I'll check. I'll be a moment," Neji said, getting up and going inside.
"Hey, there's Kiba!" Naruto exclaimed as the blonde and Shikamaru approached the rather large Hyuga household. Kiba waved.
'Crap,' thought Naruto. There went his plan of asking Neji to see Hinata first.
"What are you guys doing here?" Kiba asked. Naruto looked around, trying not to make direct eye contact with Hinata's boyfriend.
"We're just here to see how she's doing and Naruto wanted to give her a get-well present," Shikamaru supplied. Naruto could have kissed Shikamaru at that moment, but then Sasuke would cause some sort of bodily injury to him.
"Yeah, so anyway, how come you aren't inside with her?" Naruto asked.
Kiba looked up towards Hinata's window and saw Neji there, waving them in.
"Well, Neji said I had to wait out here until she woke up from her nap. The medicine must be making her pretty drowsy. But she's awake now, you guys want to come with me?" he offered. Naruto and Shikamaru nodded and followed the boy and Akamaru into the house.
Neji met them at the stairs.
"You guys can only see her for about ten minutes. She's still pretty tired and since there's two of you and Naruto, she'll probably get tired really easily," Neji said, leading them up the stairs. Naruto tapped Shikamaru on the shoulder.
"Hey, what did he mean by 'the two of you and Naruto'?" he whispered. Shikamaru laughed, then shook his head indicating that it wasn't important.
Neji led them up the long staircase and down the wood-panelled hallway to a set of double door at the end of the corridor. He pushed one door open and Hinata lifted a fragile hand to wave at the boys.
"Hi," Kiba said, coming to her side and placing the bouquet of flowers before her. Akamaru, as per usual, was picked up and placed in Kiba's jacket, yipped a greeting to the bed-ridden girl.
"Here," Naruto said, placing the box in one of her small hands. "Hope you get better," he said quickly, taking his place next to Shikamaru.
"How are you feeling?" Kiba asked, lifting a hand to place it gently on her forehead. She smiled weakly.
"Better. My fever broke a few days ago. I've just been really tired and I guess the medicine is making me feel sluggish. I didn't expect this many of you to come and see me," she said, smiling.
Naruto frowned a little. "Sorry if too many of us came," he apologized. Hinata's eyes widened.
"Oh no, I didn't mean it like that. It was very nice of you and Shikamaru-kun to come and visit me as well. I expected Kiba to be the only one allowed. Brother Neji must have been extra generous today," she said, giggling. The three boys laughed softly.
Naruto shifted from foot to foot. He figured that he'd been through much worse and even if he did confess in front of Kiba, he knew they boy would forgive him… eventually.
"Is there something wrong?" Hinata asked. Naruto's head snapped up and his gaze met hers for what seemed like a long minute.
"I'm sorry I left you like that," he apologized. "It's my fault she got sick," he said, turning to Kiba, steeling himself for the physical pain that would follow.
Kiba looked at his girlfriend and then at the blonde whose eyes were shut tight.
"You, you bastard! You endangered Hinata! She could have died," Kiba shouted. Naruto opened one eye and saw that Kiba stood still, but fuming.
"If you're that angry, hit me," Naruto said flatly. Shikamaru watched the tension and just backed up in case fists were about to fly.
"Damn right I will!" Kiba yelled as he advanced on the blonde.
"STOP IT!" Hinata yelled. Her eyes glistened a little and her breath came faster than normal. She was angry, and nobody had seen that kind of emotion from her in a very long time.
"But, he's the reason you had to go through all this," Kiba sputtered.
Hinata pushed the covers off and stood slowly. Kiba came to help her but she shot him what looked like a warning look. He stood still and she placed one hand on the nightstand to steady herself.
"He's sorry, Kiba. I know Naruto would never intentionally leave a single one of us behind. I have forgiven him, as should you," Hinata said, looking at the blonde who appeared as though he was about to cry.
"You could have died," Kiba protested. She cast a look at him and his frown softened. Something about her eyes seemed to calm him down, despite how mad he was at Naruto.
"But I didn't. I may not look very powerful or intimidating, but my heart and soul are strong. You have not lost me, nor will you ever lose me," she said softly. That made Naruto bawl.
"I'm so sorry Hinata!" he exclaimed as he leapt forward to embrace her lightly. Shikamaru rolled his eyes and Kiba stood, sputtering and still a little angry at Konoha's number one trouble-maker. She smiled and patted his back softly.
"It's okay. I forgive you, however, I think that it is wise for you to let me go before Kiba really does hit you," she said. Naruto wiped his tears away and his cheeks turned a wonderful shade of pink when he realized that he had just cried like a baby in front of two guys who would probably tell everyone about the incident later. He let her go and Kiba rushed to her side.
"Boys, leave us please," Kiba said, glaring at Naruto and Shikamaru. The two boys nodded and left.
Minutes passed before either of them said anything. Kiba had his arms around Hinata and she leaned into his embrace, the beat of his heart the only thing she could hear very clearly. A hand stroked her hair and finally, Kiba stepped back a little, his arms still around her, but loose enough so that he could move apart to look her in the eye as he spoke.
"I'm sorry," he whispered, "I'm sorry that my anger gets the best of me. But I really care about you. If it wasn't for you stepping in, I'm pretty sure that I would have broken the floorboards with Naruto's head," he apologized. Hinata frowned a little and he used one hand to smooth the skin on her forehead.
"Of course, that look you gave me stopped me in my tracks. I'm glad that you're okay now," he whispered, his hand sliding from her forehead to cup her cheek.
"Kiba, I said it before and I won't say it again: my heart and soul are my strengths. You're part of my heart, aren't you?" she asked. He nodded.
"Then as long as you are part of my heart, I won't ever be in real danger," she said softly before closing the distance between them once more. Kiba's head dropped lower and he nuzzled her ear.
"I love you," he whispered. It was the first time Kiba said it to her, or anyone else for that matter, but he felt as though he should have said it a long time ago. It took a potentially dangerous, life-threatening situation for him to muster up the courage to tell Hinata how he really felt. He owed her that.
Hinata's eyes fluttered open and she melted into his embrace.
"I love you too," she whispered back before his head descended and he placed the most chaste of kisses upon her lips.
Hinata's cheeks flushed and she felt a little light-headed. She wasn't sure if it was Kiba's kiss or the medicine, but the feeling didn't pass and she softly collapsed in his arms.
"I'm sorry!" he exclaimed, helping Hinata right herself and then he just picked her up and lay her back in bed. Her eyes grew heavy with exhaust, but she still managed to smile.
"I guess that makes you part of my soul as well," she whispered before succumbing to the darkness of sleep.
Kiba smiled.
"Yeah, but you were part of mine long before today," he said softly as he kneeled to gently take one of her hands into his.
A.N. DUNDUNDUN… I think I liked writing this one WAY more that FW. Now, do you like GG?
Random person: I loved it!
Me: THANKS!
Random person #2: It was…ehh…
Me: … I'll give you two seconds to run… TWO!
News anchor: tonight, Random person#2 has been reported missing. Any leads to their whereabouts will be IGNORED. GOOD NIGHT!
Me: yeah… that's right.
ANYWAY… aside from that bout of silliness (which is rare of me since I never add script-like junk in my A.N.'s), please review. For all those who have visited the site and emailed me complaints about the entire arc being posted, it's because I put the links there long before I even finished writing IAA. It was just for convenience sake so that all I needed to do when I finished writing, is to upload them and *POOF* the links work themselves out. The epilogue will be out soon, I just figured I should make it a little longer. Thanks for reading, reviewing, and complimenting! OH YEAH… I'll get around to re-writing FW because I despise it…