Author's Note: This chapter's subtitle is "In Which Kiba and Lee Should Probably Start a Club." This originally was going to be the summer portion of my "Season's Greetings" project, but I finally got a summer request and summer didn't have much of a play in this story anyway, so I'm posting this as something different. I'm not really a Kiba/Hinata 'shipper (I don't find Hinata very interesting), but I am experimenting with writing different characters.
She's going to wait for him.
I don't know why I'm surprised. She's been pining for that runt for years, and it isn't likely this little setback is going to change her mind. Three years gone to train with that old guy, and it's nothing to her. She's willing to wait, even though he hasn't said more than ten sentences to her, even though he has no idea of her feelings, even though he is barely aware that she even exists. But that's just the kind of person she is. Patient. And a lot more confident than she used to be. Three years, over which time he'll probably hit puberty at some point, and she knows, on some level so instinctual that even the dog in me can't understand it, that he'll come back, and see her, really see her, and all that waiting she's been doing and will do will finally pay off.
She has to be the most naïve person I know. Despite her Byakuugan, she's even more oblivious to the people around her than Naruto is, always seeing the good side of people, whether it's really there or not. She needs someone to protect her, and since her family's all but disowned her and the shrimp's gone for who knows how long (yeah, he said three years, but geezus, the idiot was almost late to the chuunin finals, so it isn't likely he'll be on time for this), all that leaves is me.
I know Shino looks out for her occasionally, but he's kind of unreliable about this sort of thing. Don't get me wrong, he's a decent guy and all, but his priorities are a little messed up. As for me, well. . . there are things that matter, and things that don't. And while I couldn't care less about the trivial little details, when something big comes up, I'm your man. And she definitely ranks high on my list.
If she asked, if it mattered to her, I might even put her at the top (whatever you do, don't tell Akamaru). But I'll never be important enough to her. If she's ever going to ask anyone to put her at the top, it'll be Naruto, not me.
"Kiba-kun, are you okay?" She's looking across the table at me now, all concerned. I could interpret that as a sign of hope, I guess, but as I said before, that's just the way she is. I could be that bastard Neji (who I still haven't forgiven, even though he was decent and tried as hard as the rest of us on that Sasuke mission) sitting across from her and her brow would still be furrowed in worry. While it is nice to see her thinking about me instead of the shrimp for once, I don't like to see her troubled on my account. She has enough problems as it is, and though I can't always help her with all the issues she has, I avoid adding to them as much as possible. So I just grin at her. Either the Byakuugan isn't as impressive as its clan makes it out to be, or she just likes to be in the dark about some stuff, because not once has she seen through that grin.
"Eh, Hinata, you worry too much. I was just looking at the clouds." I shot her another smile, this one a little mischievous. "There has to be something good about them, seeing as Shikamaru stares at them all the time." She smiles back at me, looking relieved. Score. One hundred percent success rate, and counting.
She goes back to her conversation with Kurenai-sensei, and I try to go back to gazing aimlessly at the sky (clouds really are a bore. I have no idea what that lazy ass Shikamaru sees in them. They move so damn slowly, looking at them is like reliving the day I watched Akamaru chase a turtle around for hours), but now Shino is staring at me, and it's hard to concentrate on nothing in particular when someone is concentrating on you. Especially someone like Shino. I don't know about you, but something really creeps me out about a guy who never shows his eyes. He doesn't smell like anything either, except for maybe insects, so I can never tell what he's thinking, despite us knowing each other for years.
Unfortunately, it doesn't work both ways. Despite us being in the same genin group, Shino and I aren't exactly what I'd call best friends. He's a bug collector, and bugs kind of piss me off, getting in Akamaru's fur all the time and it's no joke to get flea powder on a dog, even as tight as I am with Akamaru. Shino doesn't like dogs much either, though he tolerates Akamaru. Either way, you don't have to be friends with someone to understand them, and Shino understands me a little more closely than I'd like. The grin works on Hinata. It's never worked on Shino.
But he won't say anything here, in front of Hinata and Kurenai-sensei, which is probably why I get pissed off less than normally with Shino than anyone else who can tell what I was thinking with a glance. Shino is almost everything I'm not, meaning he actually knows how to be subtle, so he'll wait to give me the usual 'waiting gets you nowhere' speech until after lunch. Not that I ever listen to him. See, waiting does nothing for Hinata, because at any time, some girl could pop up and actually grab the runt's attention. Hinata would already be out of luck if that crybaby, Sakura, actually gave a shit about Naruto. But now, since the shrimp's gone training, she's got three years to build up her confidence a bit. I never had a chance.
I'm not someone who avoids confrontation. Every so often, I even seek it out. But some fights are futile even before they begin. I've lost the fight for Hinata before I even started it. So somehow, I ended up in the role of Hinata's protector while her crush leaves her behind to train. If I loved her less, I would probably resent it, but there's always a chance that she'll notice that I'm here, and Naruto's not.
If I seek Hinata out openly, she'll shy away and avoid me, believing in her love for the runt, and that will never work. But if she's got three years, then so do I. And I'm not just going to wait.
FIN