"No peeking now! Keep them closed!" Kiba walked behind Hinata, one hand covering her eyes, the other resting on her waist to guide her through the woods. He had showed up at her room in the compound thirty minutes ago, promising a surprise, and had guided her to their training grounds where he had insisted on her closing her eyes. His nervousness was beginning to build up. He had had this planned for months.
"Kiba, where on earth are you taking me?" Hinata took a tentative step forward, not trusting her feet to keep her from tripping when she couldn't see.
"We're almost there, just be patient!" He smiled as he led her through a break in the trees emerging onto an old and little used path few in the village knew about. He had found it a year ago while training with Akamaru and he had worked tirelessly to remove the debris and re-blaze it. All in preparation for this day.
"Take one more step forward…there, stop. Open your eyes!"
A beautiful red and gold sleight was sitting in front of them, faux fur blankets laid out for cushioning and warmth, and harnessed to the sleigh was none other than Akamaru who gave a cheerful bark to greet them and stood wagging his tail.
"Kiba, it's wonderful!" she said, running forward to Akamaru and patting him on the head to say hello. Kiba walked over to the side of the sleigh and cleared his throat.
"After you, madam," he said, holding his hand out to help Hinata up into it, before climbing in himself and wrapping the two of them up in a blanket. Akamaru started forward at a jog, pulling the couple down the trail.
The forest was silent as the sleigh passed through it, bells on the harness jingling quietly as it was pulled along the trail. Snow was beginning to fall softly, settling on Kiba and Hinata, but they were far from cold as they snuggled up closer to each other. Kiba however was far from calm.
"This is perfect, thank you Kiba," Hinata said, resting her head on his shoulder. He wrapped one arm around her, nervously fingering the small box in his pocket as he did so. He took a deep breath. It was now or never.
He removed the box, placing it in her hand as she looked up curiously at him. "An early Christmas gift," he told, swallowing a lump in his throat. His heart pounded as she removed the ribbon holding the box shut. She slowly dumped out a second velvety box and looked up at him with wide eyes. He nodded.
She opened the box and gasped.
"Merry Christmas, Hinata…"