A/n: I kinda write this as it pops up, that's the reason for the irregular posting times, sry.
Oh by the way, in case you didn't notice, every time I start a new paragraph it's because I change the PoV, or because of a change of time. I hate all those "later – well not that much later but still later"-things that disturb my reading.
Disclaimer: aargh, I forget to do these things. Still, I do not own Naruto. But I do own a homemade duct tape samurai sword (I hate getting beaten by duct tape weapons, but I don't mind if I'm the one doing the beating)
Kiba yelled with overdone excitement, and Shino couldn't help but to feel just a bit amused when watching his team mate jumping around while shouting stuff like, "ha-ha, take that suckers!" or "Better luck next time" while Akamaru joyfully added the occasional barks. Shino had to admit that he too was relieved that they had escaped their, not dangerous but somewhat persistent, stalkers. Hinata was still sound asleep, lying on the ground at his feet, and Shino had yet to wake her up, there was no time for snoozing in this perilous forest.
"Sh… Shino-kun?" she asked confused, looking at the buguser crouching besides her. She got herself up sitting, looking briskly from Shino to Kiba, not understanding what was going on. "We had to escape and there was no time to wake you" Shino clarified, she furrowed her brows, wondering what had required such a drastic escape, the last she remembered was peace. "Are you ready to continue?" he asked her rhetorically, an indirect order she knew. Kiba had finally settled, ceasing his dance of victory and he now came looking over Shino's shoulder. Hinata apologized and rose. Her body was still kinda wobbly from sleeping, her limbs weak and her sight unclear. She shuddered and shook slightly, trying to banish the sleepiness.
"Let's move on", Shino suggested, drawing annoyed looks from Kiba who considered himself "pack-leader". He chose to ignore this however and jumped of the ground and into the canopy above. His posture, stoic as always, seemed rather ridiculous as you saw him jump ahead, hands in pockets, he simply looked like somebody who was merely taking a hike. Hinata giggle lightly at this thought before she jumped off in order to catch up with him, Kiba followed, rather grumpylooking.
"Kiba we should get to the tower", Shino told his overeager team mate. It's not that he wasn't able to see the logic in the fact that if they, as Kiba had suggested, took additional scrolls there would be less in circuit, meaning that they would have less contestants in the final test. It was just the way he said it, with his arms wide into the air he looked pretty much like an evil scientist doing his insane monolog. Before he was able to stop him though, his teammate had jumped up leaving him a Hinata on the branch. He peeked at the meek girl. She looked rather frightened by the fact that they had to stay in the forest for longer than needed. "let's go find that hothead" he told her softly "…and drag him to the tower if we must" His voice turned more stern at the end of the last sentence and Hinata giggled faintly even though she knew that her friend was serious as always. In all the time she had known Shino, he had always been serious. Some things, things he liked doing, made him less serious but she never knew when he was "happy", if he ever was. He always seemed so calm, she admired that. Had she only been able to be just as calm around Naruto-kun, things might've gone better, but there was an important difference; Shino wasn't in love.
Oh if she only knew…
"What's up?" Shino asked as he landed on the ground beside Kiba and a whimpering Akamaru. "I don't know, he suddenly stopped" Kiba said in a low whisper, his voice less wild from being concerned. Hinata stepped up on the other side of Shino and asked "wh-what's wrong Akamaru?" The puppy whimpered something very, very faintly and snug closer to Kiba. "He can feel an opponent's chakra" Kiba clarified and placed Akamaru under his shirt before continuing, "but I've never seen him this scared, whoever is in that clearing, has an enormous chakra" The team turned there attention to the clearing where they saw… a boy. He wasn't extremely tall, not compared to his team mates that obviously were older than him. He had reddish brown hair and a huge gourd on his back. He stood there with a defiant stature but a somewhat bored look on his face. Opposite from him stood a group of three men. They seemed quite furious with this boy and the tension in the air was so dense that everyone was certain they were going to start fighting too.
A big man stepped forward with a haughty look on his, well hideous, face. Akamaru whimper again and pressy his frail body against Kiba. "What did he say?" Hinata asked concerned. All of them knew they had better been out of there in a hurry but the tension in the air had left them mesmerized, they had to see what was going to happen. It was like in a movie where you want to know the ending. Kiba swallowed, "He said; the big man's in trouble"
"I could just cover your mouth" The icecold youth said, "But that wouldn't be fun" Hinata shiverede as Gaara, for that was his name, held out his hand. They could hear bone splinter and suddenly all of them found them covered in a semithick substance which origin was undeniable. Shino gazed to Hinata and just as expected he found her shivering, badly. "No wonder" he thought to himself, knowing Hinata this was probably the first time she saw someone die, even though death was an integrated part of a Shinobi's job. While looking at the terrified girl, Shino suddenly felt a huge desire to comfort her, beyond that of a teammate. It confused him and at the same time annoyed him. He could not explain this irregular behavialpattern by any other means that the chemistry he also found between his parents, what people called love. These thoughts lead him away from his normal way of thinking, very analytic and distant, he liked thinking that way, it made him feel more than a man and he thought it went well with the Aburame-mystique, yet now he was nothing but a confused boy who's initial though pretty much was: "WHAT?!!"
His train of thoughts was interrupted though, by the dying screams of two people. As he brutally was forced back into reality he noticed that Hinata was on the verge of breaking down. Before he could stop himself he had reach down and gently engulfed her hand with his, trying to keep his face stoic and the blush at bay. Her skin was soft and a bit dry, her hand seemed tense at first but slowly it relaxed in his making it more comfortable for both of them. It actually did have a stunning effect on her, even though still scared, she stopped shivering and Shino couldn't do anything but calling this a success.
She wanted it to stop! They had already abandoned all resistance and yet the boy with the scary eyes, strangely alike her own, wouldn't let them go. He had already killed their teammate, the one with the umbrellas, and now the two remaining ninja suddenly got covered in sand. Her body shook as tears swelled up into her eyes. She tried to tune out their dying screams, in vain when suddenly she felt something, touching her hand. The touch was gentle and she looked down, semicuriosly, to find Shino's hand, holder hers everso carefully. She blushed and smiled her shy smile while looking up at the Aburame whose face was as passive as always, yet she could've sworn that she saw a faint blush on his cheeks. She shifted her hand so it fitted better into his. It actually did help, she stopped shaking as if his hand send little signals of peace up through her arm.
The boy, Gaara, continued pointing his arm in their direction and they knew they had been spotted. Every word said in the clearing meant nothing to the genin any longer. They already considered themselves more or less, dead. Kiba and Hinata really wore their fear right out front, but Shino was unable to show his. As Hinata clutched his hand tighter, Shino realized that maybe Hinata might never know of his developing feelings for her.
The Aburame didn't show their feelings. Their bugs had tunnels throughout their entire body, including the face, which made most facial expression, very painful. Young Aburame who had just received their first hive would learn this the bitter way. The Aburame didn't connect their facial expression to their feelings since the amount of expressions was so small. Anything short of annoyance or maybe a dropped jaw every once and a while didn't do the least impression on their face. They knew what facial expressions meant to other people but had themselves learned to rely on other things such as, but not restricted to, smell and bodypositure.
Then before he ever got to say to her that he cared for her, more than he should, the threat had vanished. Whatever the two sunagenin had said to the creepy sandkid, it had worked. As suddenly as he had entered their lives, he was gone again, leaving the three genin, sitting, out of breath. Hinata was still shivering a bit but most of it had taken off. "What a monster" Kiba said, expressing what all of them felt. Shino panted with his mouth slightly open. Had Kiba or Hinata bothered to wonder, they would've noted that this entire situation had left Shino more startled that they had ever seen him. Kiba did notice something though which he, being Kiba, soon expressed.
"Oi bugboy, what are you doing with Hinata's hand?"
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A/n: well, that is my idea of the Aburame. that's why i like that clan, you know absolutely nothing about it. Btw, in the animé Kiba's in the middle (when spying on Gaara) with Hinata on one side and Shino on the other. But that would make it awfully difficult for them to hold hands so I changed it. Hope you like it
Please review or i might get a Shikamaru-ish attitude. Reviews motivates me