Beautiful People

Chapter 21: Fighting on Friday.

Beta: strawberries and napkins

...

I maneuver my way into my room through the window with the full intent of hopping into bed fully clothed, but the sound of light snoring stops me dead in my tracks. At first, I think it's some type of intruder, but then the moonlight angles itself just right so that I could see the cascade of free hair spilling over my pillow. I smile, and tip-toe through the darkness for a closer look.

The way he looks when he sleeps is completely different from the way he is awake. it looks as though he's always thinking. and his brow is permanently creased in thought, but now as he sleeps…there isn't a wrinkle on his face. He leaves his hair untied, and this is the only time the hitai-ate comes off. I gently trace the burdened symbol on his forehead, and his nose twitches in response. I giggle as quietly as I can, and then begin to move forwards to find the spare cot I keep in the closet just in case.

He grabs my arm too tightly for a previously sleeping person. Well, I think dryly, No wonder he's such a great ninja.

He shifts in bed, and then sits up, still gripping my wrist. His hair cascades over his shoulders and down his back. I suck in air quickly, temporary stunned by it and then immediately remember the day I chopped off all my hair. I wonder if it was as pretty as his.

"Sorry. I was…mm…" he half-slurs to me, but his eyes are threatening to roll to the back of his head in exhaustion. I'm surprised he even had the energy to change into nightwear and slip into my bed. I make a special note to trade eventful stories with him about today later, but I need a nap, desperately. I shrugged and peeled of my shoes, moving around to the other side of the bed and slipped in.

He murmurs something incoherent, but I'm not paying attention. I don't have the heart to kick him out of my room, and I'm too lazy to find the cot now. I snuggle in his arms and let out a small shriek.

He snorts and makes himself comfortable, and then I listen for his heartbeat until he falls asleep again. The change in breathing patterns is amazing when you actually get a chance to listen to it adjusting. I remember…the last time I slept in Neji's bed was so long ago. Back when his father was still alive, and I was still his 'dear cousin.'

I still am, I think. No wait, I know. I smile.

I love my cousin.

The next morning I wake up when Neji nearly jumps out of bed, heaving like he just ran a mile. I flinch, afraid. A bad nightmare, I assume. So I place a gentle hand on his shoulder, and he jumps again, but lightly. He places his hand over mine, sending a silent message.

"Are you…okay?" I ask, and then cough. My voice is extremely hoarse. He shrugs, and we sit in silence until his breathing finally dies down. He's face is flushed and just when I try to peak over to see just what kind of dream it was, he laughs.

"Remember when you used to sneak into my bed when you had nightmares?" He laughs dryly, and I giggle. How times have changed, I know...

Then I sit upright in the bed and stretch, yawning. He angles his head away from my morning breath. I shrug it off and grin. "So what were you dreaming about?"

Neji's face turns this deep red, something I've never seen on him before. He looks just like a girl this way. I pinch his cheek, but he slaps my hand away. When I repeat the question, he avoids my gaze and shrugs. My interest is incredibly peaked right now, but I know not to push it. I'll find out, someday.

He tosses the bed sheets aside, and flips himself over the side of the bed, stretching his back and the bones creak in protest. I watch him run his fingers through the knots in his hair. I sigh.

"You have really pretty hair, you know."

He looks back over my shoulder with a soft smile. I feel a small tad of deja-vu by his next words. Oh, now I remember. All those times I used to sleep in his bed and then when he awoke in the morning I'd be jealous of his hair that tickled my nose, and he was a boy. I was so envious of it that I grew my own.

Now I remember, and so I quickly say it before he can with a wide grin. "And so will I."

He grins back.

Today I forget to dress up. In fact, after Neji hurried to make his exit claiming he had something "important" to do, I forget that I was supposed to find Kiba and apologize for being such a jerk to him. Instead, I fall asleep again. And when I wake up, it's already dusk. I slept in extremely late, and this time there was no Neji or Naruto to wake me up.

I took the quickest shower I could and threw on my training clothing, greeting my father quickly before I rushed out into the streets of Konoha. All the shops' lights were on, making things extremely pretty, but I didn't have any time to actually sit and admire them.

First I try the training ground, but he's not there. Then I try our team eight's meeting spot, but he's not there either. I try his favorite restaurant, and it's completely empty. The Pet Store, The Weapons Shop, and even his own home! But yet, he's still not in any of those places. I was about to give up, when a familiar voice catches my ear, and more importantly, my attention.

Of course, it's Naruto. How can I not keep running into him even when I'm not looking for him? He's settled cozily inside of Ichiraku Ramen, but that's not the reason I approached him in greeting.

It was because of who was sitting next to him. Kiba.

"Hi," I say shyly, trying to gauge his reaction. His eyes flicker up once over my face, and then he grunts me a hello. Naruto completely misses it, and invites me to sit down. My initial response was to reject it, but how could I? This is what I've been looking for. So I nod my head and take a seat next to Naruto, the farthest from Kiba. He avoids my gaze.

"We were just talking about the mission!" Naruto says excitedly and orders me a bowl of miso ramen. While he goes on recapping the thing the mission and that distorted parts that Sasuke filtered out for my protection, I devour the bowl.

It's not until Kiba suddenly says, "So did you and Sasuke make up?"

I flinch and stumble over my words, wiping the miso broth away from my lips. "Yes…well, we weren't fighting but…" Naruto and Kiba stare at me with expectant eyes. I swallow thickly. "We're pretty close now."

Naruto smiles at me; it was a sufficient enough answer. Then he turns to Kiba. "You see, I'm telling you, I just may be endanger of losing my boyfriend to my ex-girlfriend! All Sasuke does is talk and talk and talk about—" Then something strikes me.

"Hey." I interrupt, locking eyes with Kiba, daring him to look away. He doesn't. "Let's go spar."

Naruto's eyes flash back and forth between Kiba and I, so I think he catches on when he swallows the last gulp of broth in his bowl, slams down some money, and then we all take off for the fields.

Now, I know when I said it, it sounded like a good idea. Sasuke and I were never gonna be able to understand each other through words the way Sakura and I can. We did it with fists. My thought was that maybe it would have to be the same when it came to Kiba and I.

But with the game now turning into two against one, I'm wondering if I'll survive enough to even get that connection with him.

This is the third time Naruto has managed to knock me down.

Although my speed isn't surpassing Kiba's, my stamina is much better so he hasn't been an up-to-par fighter with me just yet. Naruto however, is making light work of my attacks and my body.

When he body throws me to the ground, I'm thinking he's all but lost it until he purposely tackles me and holds me down with his body weight. I squirm under him uncomfortably.

"N-Naruto, please! We're sparring!"

He shakes his head. "Nuh-uh, I'm not getting up until Kiba tells us where he's been hiding." We both look around, but there's no sign of him. Naruto starts to tickle me with his fingers and when I finally manage to throw him off of me, Kiba reappears, a whirlwind of chakra.

I barely manage to avoid it; it was a good attack. Naruto isn't as fortunate and takes the blunt force of it. When Kiba finally stops and I race over to see if Naruto's been seriously injured or not, Kiba bursts out into laughter. Confused, I look down to see what he's laughing about. And there Naruto was, all twisted up with his tongue hanging out his mouth and his eyes rolled to the back of his head. At first, I panic until I Naruto begins to cough violently. He looked so silly right then.

And then I laugh too. I get so caught up in my laughter that I don't notice that Kiba has grabbed my hand until his laughter ceases.

He grins at me. "Hey, Hinata…"

"Kiba." I try hard to keep my face neutral.

"I don't want you to be my girlfriend." His eyes speak sincerely, translating that into: I'm not mad at you.

I smile. "I don't want to be your girlfriend, Kiba." I let my eyes translate the rest for him too. I'm glad we can be friends.

He squeezes my hand.

"Honey, I'm home!" I shout mockingly when I enter my room late that night and find Neji sprawled across the top blanket, in a deep sleep. He jumps awake.

"I was…I was…"

I wave my hand. "Forget it, just move over." He grins at me.

"Had a good time?" he murmurs into my wind-blown hair, as we crawl under the covers and I snuggle into the crook of his arm.

"Of course." I smile. "Now sleep, we have a big day tomorrow, right?"

He grumbles softly. "You have no idea."

Very close to being finished, thank you to all the viewers who have been reading and reviewing so faithfully, I swear, seeing how other people can enjoy this story AND relate to it is really something special. Thank you! :]