A.N.: Most of the drabbles I have planned out are, like, angsty. I wanted to focus more on humor! Ah, well, who cares when this one has some hot girl-on-girl action? XD And before someone asks, kushiage are Japanese-style kebabs- those deep-fried balls-on-a-stick you see periodically in anime.

31: The 'L' Word

Taking a breather from sparring, the two sat side-by-side against a tree; silently save for the sounds of Hokuto tearing through whatever meaty snack she had brought along. Having already finished her rice ball, Hinata was absorbed in her thoughts, and it wasn't long before she began press her forefingers together repeatedly in her characteristic sign of nervousness.

"Somethin' buggin' you, Sweetness?" Hokuto asked nonchalantly as she chewed on a piece of pork from the kushiage in her left hand.

"Ah…well…I was thinking," Hinata paused, choosing her words carefully and trying not to stutter to avoid a scolding from the boyish girl beside her. "You don't seem to have a problem telling people what you think about them, Hokuto-chan."

"Damn straight. What're you gettin' at?"

"Well… Do you think it's right to tell someone what you think of them, no matter what it is?"

"Che, of course!" Hokuto waved her snack around as she began to explain. "If someone's being as asshole, you have every right to tell 'em so. If you think someone's wrong about somethin', tell 'em! I've told ya before, you need to speak for yourself an' not let those kinds of people step all over you! 'Sides, if talkin' doesn't work, you could always beat 'em up."

"But…but what about if it's someone you…you like?"

"Eh?" Hokuto's kushiage dangled from her teeth as she now had her arms crossed behind her head.

"I mean… is it right to tell someone that? Even if they don't really know you or… or really notice you?" Hinata's pale eyes clouded, her gaze directed at her lap where her hands now rested. "Even if you're not really important, and there are lots of people more important to the one important to you? Even if-"

"Oi," Hokuto interjected. "What've I told ya about puttin' yourself down? Look here, Sweetness, telling someone how you feel has nothin' to do with what's right or wrong. If ya feel that way, that's how ya feel, and if you feel like tellin' that important someone, then tell 'im. If he's important enough that he matters that much to you, then that's what matters, to hell with what anyone else thinks. Y' don't know whether or not it would actually matter to him, but once you tell him, he'll know regardless. Really guys are childish pricks who only care about what they want an' feel… well, most of 'em anyway. And ya never know how the one important to you will respond.

"To ignore a true feeling like that is about the most assholish thing he could do, besides thinkin' you're joking. But if ya feel that strongly about him, you'll keep telling him, you'll keep feeling that way, 'cause that's how you feel, an' nothin' can change that. He may not realize it that day or the next, hell, it could be years, but with all the shit that happens in life one day he will know that there's one person out there who he meant more to than anything else, and if he does nothing about it, then he's a fucking moron.

"An' if the guy doesn't notice you or somethin', I break his limbs until he does." With that, Hokuto resumed consuming her snack.

Hinata smiled faintly as silence reigned again. A breeze blew over them under the shade of the tree, playing with her short deep violet bob and Hokuto's wild dark green ponytail.

"…Hokuto-chan?" Hinata said after a few minutes.

"Mm?" The older girl looked at the younger out of the corner of her golden-honey eye, her head tilted upwards as she was chugging water from a canteen.

"…How… How long have you been in love?"

Hinata jumped when Hokuto rather loudly spurted out water, then began coughing and pounding her chest.

"Hokuto-chan!" Hinata frantically began pounding her back. "I-I'm sorry! Are you alright?"

"Why…you…" Hokuto swiftly grabbed Hinata's head in a headlock and began grinding her knuckles into the girl's scalp. "I dunno what th' hell you're talkin' about!"

"But…but I thought you and Shino-kun-"

"Shut up already!"

"Itai…!"

Before long, Hokuto released Hinata and jumped to her feet, rotating her arms as she walked back out into the clearing. "Alright, Sweetness, time to get back work!"

"Aa…" Hinata got to her feet as well and brushed herself off, following Hokuto but stopping when she noticed the girl had her back to her, arms at her sides as she seemed to be watching a butterfly that was fluttering by her intently. "…Hokuto-chan?"

"…Right." Hokuto had her eyes closed as she turned around to Hinata, but opened them as she smirked, dropping into her stance for the Mouken. "Let's go. Gotta toughen you up for when you tell that important someone!"

Hinata nodded, a smile on her face as she dropped into the stance for the Juken, then went on the offensive.

It's not just you, Hinata. …I need to get stronger, too.