An: This is for Achillea who requested Hinata/Kiba. I'm not so good at those two, but I hope you like it nonetheless.
P.s. This it not proof-read, so please ignore possible mistakes. Thank you.
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Good Enough
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Hinata could never be cruel, that much is clear to him.
Neji is cruel, always was, is, will be. And that much is clear to her, nobody needs to tell her that.
She spends days, weeks, months and then years hearing him say - "You're not good enough." Always, it makes her cry and stumble and fall and find herself at total loss. She's sometimes too tired to even try to pick up all the pieces he has broken her into, scattered on the forest floor, or the Hyuuga garden or simply all over town.
Neji is cruel, and she thinks he shouldn't be like that, because he's the part of the Branch family (she accepts that information although she hates it with passion) and he should be loyal to her, or at least show some kind of dignity while looking at her.
Ironically , he never does. But another takes his place. It takes her a while to recognize the looks she has been given in the cold, crisp morning, just before the training starts, or in the grins he shares when he knows that she needs his help.
Kiba is very hard to win, in any aspect of that word, and Hinata doesn't even try very hard. He comes to trust her on his own, with soft, albeit gruff, 'good-mornings', or very sweet and seductive 'good-nights'. He teaches her some things she has forgotten they even belong in the lessons of life. How to stand up for herself, bite and bark back.
And then, one bright, sunny day she stands tall in the forest, her eyes are clear, so very clear that Neji doesn't even manage to finish his taunting judgment. She's not using the Byakugan and yet shivers are passing all over him and for the first time in forever Neji can feel something akin to dread.
Kiba is right there, behind her, arms at his hips, one fang barred and satisfaction on his face. Hinata leans back into him with a liberation and fluid moments she never possessed before, narrowing her eyes at her cousin. Neji frowns, but holds his mouth shut. He knows when not to speak and still, his mind is too preoccupied with Kiba's closeness to Hinata - it doesn't disgust him as much as he thought it would - instead he finds himself almost mourning.
A bitter laugh rings out, sharp and crystal in the shy of the afternoon. "No, Neji." She says, one hand grasping Kiba's over her stomach. "I can see it, you know?"
Neji's frown deepens itself and he clenches his fists. "What?" He forces out, because holding his mouth shut is hurting him more then just watching the couple before him. Briefly, waiting for her answer, he wonders how did Kiba manage to give her all that strength, and thinks he will never find it out.
Hinata, in an act from long ago, slowly lowers her eyes to the ground, and Kiba, sensing her reluctance, gently nips her on the throat. Neji slowly finds himself falling and losing. She raises her eyes, white tinted with a flecks of lavender and smirks. "I can see all of you and you know what, Neji-nii-san? You're not good enough."
Neji learns that Hinata can be cruel - after all she had him as a teacher.
