Hinata was seeing less of Kiba.

And not in the figurative sense, as in he was there and she just ignored him. Or she was doing something else while he was doing something.

No; she literally could not see Kiba sometimes. She would strain her eyes, even turn on her Byakugan sometimes (Not that that would help to see a ghost...). But nothing was working.

She didn't notice that the times Kiba seemed to completely disappear was when she was around Naruto. She didn't realize that she could see him faintly when Naruto talked about Sakura, or when he did something that Hinata didn't really like.

Hinata definitely didn't notice that the times when she wasn't with Naruto were the times that she could see Kiba, hear Kiba, and be with Kiba.

She just thought he had other, ghosty things to do.

"So where have you been lately, Kiba?" Hinata asked the silvery appirition in her sugar sweet voice.

He quirked an eyebrow. "Um, what do you mean?"

Kiba, on the other hand, was always around Hinata. Even when Naruto disgusted him, or he would have rather been doing other, ghosty things.

He noticed that she tended to completely ignore him when she was with Naruto, hanging on his every stupid word. He noticed that she would squint at him, as if she could barely see his silvery form, when Naruto was doing something especially stupid, or when Naruto decided that Sakura was a good topic of conversation.

And he knew that when the blond idiot wasn't around, Hinata could see him perfectly, hear him perfectly, speak to him perfectly.

"W-Well, I haven't seen you around lately."

He figured that this was a good thing, in it's own twisted way.

"I've been there," He replied as they sat in her room. Hinata was supposedly studying some ancient Hyuuga scrolls. They both decided that she could study and talk to Kiba at the same time.

The studying wasn't working out so well. But, it gaurenteed peace, so Hinata wouldn't look like a complete nut. It was some ancient rule that if one is 'deep in learning the Hyuuga ways' that everyone else should respect that person and knock if they really had to speak to them.

So she pretended to look at the scroll while she spoke to the only teammate that A.) was dead and B.) would talk to her.

As it turned out, Shino was more upset with Hinata lying to him and disappointed in the fact that she really didn't like him than previously thought. So he was more on a 'Hn' basis with his female teammate now.

"You've just been hanging out with Naruto a lot more recently..." Kiba said, hovering above her bed. "His idiocy seems to be affecting my ghosty-ness."

"He-He's not an idiot!" Hinata said defensively. "B-But could N-Naruto really be affecting anything?" she asked, looking up at Kiba with curious white eyes.

Kiba chuckled. "Psh, like I know."

"B-But... don't they h-have like a s-school for these types of things?"

His grin widened. "A school to learn about being a ghost. Yeah, real practical."

"W-Well, it seems to be pretty practical! If everyone who died-"

"Not everyone who dies comes back as a ghost. In fact, most don't. According to someone I met after I died, only those who go prematurely--"

"Prematurely?"

"Those who go before their time," Kiba responded, as if he didn't have to ask the ghost explaining it to him.

"Ooh," Hinata exclaimed.

"Anyway, like I was saying: Only those who go prematurely or those who die protecting someone who would have gone prematurely come back as ghosts. Sooner or later, once they've done what they need to, they will soon leave."

Hinata looked thoughtful for a moment as she took in everything the dead dog ninja was saying. "So if I had died, I would have come back as a ghost?"

"Yeah' somethin' like that."

"And then I would have never been able to tell Naruto how much I like him," Hinata said, still looking thoughtful about something or another.

"Yeah." Kiba was quickly losing interest in the conversation. If it was going to be another Naruto fest, then he didn't want to listen.

A small knock came from the door.

"Hinata-sama," a gruff, cold voice said from behind the door.

"Yes, Neji?" Hinata responded, closing the scroll. The doorknob slowly turned, and the door opened, making a small creaking sound. Hyuuga Neji stood in the doorway, looking more unpleasant than ever. He probably hated being Hinata's messenger more than anything.

"You idiot is here to see you," he said, all emotion deviod from his voice. His arms crossed aross his chest and semi-glared at the main branch member. She seem to cower beneath his gaze.

"W-W-W-W-Who?" she stuttered out.

"Naruto," Kiba and Neji said at the same time, as though they were stating the obvious.

A look of realization passed through Hinata's eyes. She nodded, and slowly stood.

Neji left to go do other things that didn't have to do with Naruto or Hinata. Preferably with Tenten alone, but Lee was most likely going to come anyway.

Kiba felt like he had to say something as Hinata stood up, and looked directly at him.

"Hey, have fun with the number one hyperactive ninja, okay?" Kiba said. His idea of fun with that orange clad idiot had to do with strangling him, but to each his own.

"R-Right, I will," she responded with a smile.

"And don't ever forget about your favorite teammate." Kiba grinned cockily.

Hinata felt that this was a little strange. But she smiled anyway. "How could I ever forget you, Kiba?"

As she walked out the door, Kiba muttered something that sounded suspiciusly like 'Yeah right', and he waved.

She turned, and waved back.

Little did she know, this was the last time she would ever see Kiba again.