Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto. Cries
More and more often Team 8 would meet up with Team 10. During these occassions Ino did her best to ignore and exclude Hinata. Ino was subtle about it, she never acted overly hostile towards Hinata, but antime Hinata would start a conversation, Ino would take control of it. Shino, ignored Ino's attempts to exclude hsi teammate while Kiba didn't notice at all that this was happening to his shy teammate, mostly because Hinata herself didn't seem to notice.
Kiba was wrong in the regard. Hinata noticed, and she thought she knew the reason. Ino probably thinks I'm stealing Chouji-kun!
This thought amazed her. Over the years, sense the chuunin exams, Hinata's self esteem had grown a lot. She now knew that yes, she was pretty, but Ino was beyond pretty. Ino was vibrant and strong. How could Ino consider me competition? The only thing that Hinata could think of is the friendship she and Chouji had begun. Whenever the two teams met after training, Chouji always volunteered to walk Hinata home and several times on their days off, Hinata would sometimes join Chouji and Shikamaru in their cloud gazing expidition.
But we're just firends. I don't really like Chouji that way, every time she thought this, she remembered the kiss he had given her. He didn't do anything like sense, but sometimes she could still feel the imprint of his lips on her cheek. Everytime she recalled the kiss, her cheeks warmed up and she felt all tingly in a good way.
The two teams had finished their okinomiyaki and were getting ready to go their seperate ways, when Ino did something that she hadn't done before. As the six ninja's made their way to the exit, Ino grabbed Chouji's arm and hugged it to her chest.
"Chouji-kun, walk me home," she said in a sweet voice. Hinata felt her eye twitch involuntarily at that tone of voice. Chouji had turned an interesting shade of red at this. He seemed to be considering his options very carefully. Finally he gently exstracted his arm from Ino's death grip.
"I'm sorry Ino-san, but I'm walking Hinata-chan home," he said firmly. Hinata's heart lifted at this declaration. So maybe I'm a liar, she thought to herself. If Hinata had an Inner Hinata, like Inner Sakura, she would be pumping her fist in the air and shouting for joy that Chouji picked her over Ino. As it is, there is no Inner Hinata, so the only reponse of joy Hinata gave was a shy smile at Chouji and delicately flushed cheeks.
The two ninjas walked in silence. Niether seemed to want to talk about what happened earlier. Slowly Hinata edged closer to Chouji, watching him from the corner of her eye. Half-way to the Hyuuga compound, Hinata "accidently" bumped her hand into Chouji's. When he glanced over at her she was blushing, but smiling shyly at him. Then, she boldly but gently wrapped her fingers around the hand she had just bumped.
Chouji's cheeks were a brighter red then Hinata's, but he too was smiling shyly. The rest of the way to the Hyuuga compound they walked hand in had with matching red cheeks. When they arrived, they stood outside the gates of the compound, facing each other awkwardly.
"Ano... Chouji-kun," Hinata began, breaking the silence," Do you remember that day at the Hero Stone?" Chouji nodded, looking directly into her eyes.
"Well, that day I promised myself something. I promised that if I ever felt like I liked anyone that I would tell them," she blushed at these last words, hoping that Chouji would get the hint. When it looked like he was just staring blankly, she took a fortifying breath.
She stood up on tippy toe and leaned forward. She then pressed her lips to his cheek. When she pulled away, she was surprisingly not blushing. "I like you Chouji-kun."