Over pizza, at Pizza Hut, Ino told her life story, to Hinata, who listened in almost completely silence. Ino told her about everything, from her first girl crush, to her very first fight, when she learned she could fight. She told her about the exhilaration of the fight, the power, the control. The way it felt to feel your fist connect into something solid, that sometimes, would give way and there would be a resounding thump, smack, or crunch.
Ino shivered as she spoke of the fights, Hinata watched her coolly, examining her reactions to her own words.
After they ate, they sat there for a while, Ino thinking, Hinata probably thinking as well, it was impossible to tell with her bangs covering her eyes. For all Ino knew, the other girl was staring at her.
"Hinata...," Ino began softly, looking up at the pale girl, her hands clasped upon the table in front of her.
Said pale girl looked up at her, her hair falling to the side of her face.
"I...," Ino began, swallowing the lump that seemed to have risen to her throat, "I care about you. I mean, I know we've only gone on one and a half dates..., but I feel like this is going to go far. I would like to go on many more dates, maybe even, eventually we could be officially, exclusive girlfriends. If you wanted that. I know I do, I'm willing to do anything to be with you. I want to be whatever you need me to be. I..., I want to be the one that you go to if you need to talk, to cry, to scream at because the one you want to scream at is impossible to. I... I want to be your... everything...," Ino said the last word as a mere whisper.
Hinata stared at her for a long few moments.
At last, when Hinata did react, with was with a cold laugh. No mirth, just a cold, hauntingly hollow laugh.
"You're joking. You've got to be. You can't mean such outlandish things! No one could. No one who knows virtually nothing about another person would ever proclaim such preposterous notions!"
Ino, undeterred, spoke once more, "It's something that many people call caring for another person. Really caring about them, maybe even loving them."
Hinata stared at her again, for once, her eyes and face gave a very clear indication of her thoughts. The emotions displayed ranged from shock, to rage, to hurt, and lastly to hope.
Slowly, Ino reached forward, to clasp Hinata's hands in her own. Hinata's hands were shaking, Ino peered up into the other girl's eyes.
"If you're willing, I meant exactly what I said," Ino said softly.
Hinata didn't move her hands, didn't say anything. She simply sat, not looking at Ino, her gaze was on the table, her hair back in her eyes again.
Ino looked down at the table too, eventually, chancing a glance up, to see Hinata's shoulders shaking slightly, Ino noticed wet spots on Hinata's shirt, she released her hands and slid out of her side of the booth to slide in next to the purple haired girl. She slid her arms around her shoulders, Hinata didn't move much, but Ino felt her relax some in her arms, her shoulders still shook, Ino knew she was still crying.
Maybe, someday, Hinata would open up to her completely, it would take a long time, years probably before she knew everything. Ino was willing to wait.