Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. So if you recognize anyone or anything from the anime, I'm just borrowing.

Takes place sometime before Shippuuden. Technically, it takes place in the Naruto world, but without regard to Shippuuden. The Konoha 11 are now 16ish, but I wouldn't call this AU, so I'll call it OS (for Outside of Shippuuden).

Thank you for all of the lovely reviews!

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Chapter 16

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The loud smack reverberated off of every wall.

Shinomaru gulped nervously. That person…that person was going to hit me. He looked up at Hinata-neesan's stern face, one he'd never seen before.

"What do you think you're doing?" Hinata demanded coldly.

Shibiki gulped in unconscious mimicry of his tiny cousin. Those eyes. Those were the eyes of Hyuuga Hiashi's daughter.

Rika stared in shock at the pain in her arm. She'd been about to pound that brat for ruining her plan when the little bitch ran in and smacked her arm away. And it hurt. A lot.

Hinata stared coldly at the girl before her. She had planned to find her quickly and tell her firmly, but gently, that Shino was her important person. That had all flown out the window when she'd seen the intruder raise her hand against Shinomaru. She'd used the Byakugan to find the girl quickly, and it was a good thing, too, or she wouldn't have made it in time. Now she wished she'd put even more chakra behind that hit. To threaten such a good, sweet little boy, one that she cared for deeply…. She could never forgive that!

"That brat destroyed my present to Shino!"

Shinomaru hurriedly shook his head.

"Don't lie, you little brat!" Rika screamed. "I saw you!"

"My uncle offered me a cookie, but I threw it away. That cookie wasn't your gift because my uncle gave it to me," he explained quietly.

"Liar! What did you do to the rest of them?!"

"Uncle only gave me one," Shinomaru insisted from around Hinata's legs.

"Why you…!" Rika drew her fist back once more.

Shibiki started and quickly stepped forward.

"Raise that hand to him again and I'll cut it off." Hinata's voice was even and low. That's probably why it cut across Rika's anger and stopped her in her tracks. Rika turned the strength of her anger on Hinata, only to find cold, dangerous eyes glaring back at her.

Her eyes, Rika thought weakly. They're completely different than they were before.

"That's no way to talk to a guest," Rika sneered to cover up her discomfort.

"You are not a guest. You're an intruder. There's a difference."

"I made Shino a present. I'm his guest."

"Did he invite you?" Hinata asked coldly.

"Yes," Rika sneered.

"Liar. I can see right through you. He doesn't even know you're here because you aren't supposed to be here."

"I'm so sorry," Mika rushed in. "Please forgive our intrusion, Hinata-san. My little sister, Rika, is just upset because those cookies took her a long time to make."

Hinata softened just a little. Not toward Rika—she still hated that girl—but she could see that the older sister meant her polite words.

"Rika-san," Shibiki said in a colder tone than he'd meant to use earlier. "My brother is not interested in pursuing a relationship with you. It would be best if you just let it go and move on."

"I'm so sorry, Shibiki-san. We'll just be going now." Mika bowed once more and reached for her sister's arm. "Rika. Rika, come on."

Rika shook off her sister's grasp and stalked toward the doorway that led to the exit.

"Just so you know," Hinata's voice began in a soft but firm tone, "if Shino ever wants cookies, I'm going to be the one to make them."

Rika paused mid-step, clenched her fist, and strode angrily out the door.

Hinata waited a full three minutes as she watched with her Byakugan to make sure the girls actually left. Then she deactivated her bloodline limit.

"Shinomaru-kun, she didn't hurt you, right?" Hinata was back to her concerned, gentle self.

Shinomaru shook his head. "I'm fine. Thank you for protecting me, Hinata-neesan."

Hinata smiled sweetly down at him. "Of course. I'll always protect you, Shinomaru-kun, no matter what happens. That's a promise."

Shibi thoughtfully crossed his arms over his chest as he leaned against the wall in the courtyard just outside of the kitchen door. Well. That was interesting.

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Hinata gave a tiny smile as she watched her teammate playing a game with his brother and cousins. Honestly, it seemed more like the type of game that Kiba enjoyed playing. Two teams faced off against each other. Beyond that, the point of the game was a mystery. Basically, they seemed to be knocking each other down a lot. Each player had two pieces of cloth hanging from his waist. Hinata watched carefully for a few more minutes. Every so often, Karika, the referee, blew a whistle that was the cue for one team to attack the other. The boys seemed to be collecting the other team's strips of cloth. It wasn't necessary to knock the other person down, but sometimes that made it easier.

Tachoro clobbered Sora and did a funny victory dance beside his prone body. Sora smirked and kicked out, knocking Tachoro flat beside him.

Shibi stopped beside Hinata just as Tachoro and Sora were helping each other up. "Who does he remind you of?" Shibi asked quietly. At this point, he just wanted to know who his son was up against. They could take it from there. Shino was being incredibly tight-lipped about this mysterious person that Hinata had her heart set upon, but it didn't take a genius to see Hinata's blush last night and put the pieces together.

"Hm?" Hinata looked up at him curiously.

"My nephew, Tachoro," Shibi pointed out nonchalantly. "You said he reminded you of a friend."

"Oh, yes," Hinata nodded absentmindedly, her attention momentarily diverted as Shino roughly knocked one of his cousin's down. She'd never seen him play rough before. Fight rough, of course, but not play rough. He was normally so calm and controlled. "He reminds me of my friend Ino-cha…i!" Hinata turned to Shibi with a red face. Shimatta! Oh no! She'd said it without thinking!

"Inochaai?" Shibi repeated with a raised eyebrow.

"I-I-I meant Inoichi! Inoichi-san!"

Shibi turned to look at his nephew fully. He supposed the youth did resemble a young Yamanaka Inoichi, but Hinata had said…

He blinked as Tachoro's hair tie was accidentally yanked out during a tackle. His long blond hair tumbled down over his shoulders. With his porcelain, pretty-boy features…

A low chuckle rumbled from Shibi's chest, turned into a strong laugh, and spread through the courtyard.

"Sh-Sh-Shibi-san, p-please d-don't tell him I said that! I wasn't thinking when I said it the first time, and I didn't mean anything bad, but since they were talking about…well, you know, it might make him feel bad! P-Please."

"Don't worry, Hinata," Shibi reassured her. He lightly patted her on the shoulder and whispered. "You're secret is safe with me."

"Arigatoo!" Hinata grinned sheepishly.

Shibi gave her shoulder a fatherly squeeze and grinned out at his boy. Surely Shino was mistaken. All of the signs were there: Hinata was clearly fond of Shino, of the whole family. She'd just about laid her claim to his son during that altercation with the village girl this morning. Most importantly, although Shino claimed that her heart was taken, Hinata had never mentioned anyone that struck either him or his wife as the object of her affection. Shino just needed a little more encouragement.

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Shino tackled his brother hard and the two went sprawling onto the grass. He'd had dreams of Hinata before, but last night had been the worst. In his dreams, her soft lips lingered teasingly in front of him. He'd moved to kiss her, only to have her skip out of reach. At one point he'd lunged forward to capture a kiss, only to realize that he'd actually woken up and almost kissed the real Hinata sleeping beside him. She'd smiled sweetly in her sleep, and he'd nearly lost his mind. He'd managed to swallow a soft moan and flop back down on his sleeping mat, but it had not been a restful night.

"Releasing a little pent-up energy, little brother?" Shibiki asked wryly as he straightened his sunglasses and fingered the lump forming on the back of his head.

Shino shrugged without answering. When his father's laughter reached his ears, he looked around in surprise to see the cause. Hinata stood beside his father with a little embarrassed grin on her face. Shibi was not a man who laughed often. He was loving and affectionate, especially with his wife, but he did not tell or appreciate jokes as much as some others did. This was the second time Hinata had made his father laugh in less than three days. Again, Shino felt that painful stab of longing in his chest. He tore his eyes away from her and returned to the game with a new kind of ferocity.

Boy, he's got it bad, Shibiki sighed. If only he'd seen and heard her this morning, then he'd know. But every time I try to tell him about it, he shuts me out. You and me, little brother, what are we going to do? You've got the perfect girl, but you're convinced she could never love you. And I've got nothing to go on. We make a pair, don't we?

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Hinata fell into step with her teammate as he walked inside. "Did you enjoy your game, Shino-kun?" she asked shyly.

Shino nodded quietly without looking at her. "I'm going to take a quick shower. I'll see you at lunch." Without another word, he walked off.

The little smile slid off of Hinata's face as Shino walked away. Is Shino-kun angry with me? Her gaze fell to the ground. Nervously, her fingers tapped and twiddled as she replayed his words in her mind.

Maybe I should leave for a little while. Shino-kun is probably just tired of seeing me every day…

Hinata picked up a basket from the kitchen and lined it with cloth. Then she walked out of the compound and into the forest nearby.

"Hinata-chan!" a voice called before she'd made it very far. "Wait up!"

Hinata turned to wait for the figure running after her.

Author's Notes:

1) Sorry for the cruel cliffhanger of Chapter 15, but it really needed to be done for the sake of suspense. I think I made up for it by posting two chapters in a row, so you only had to be worried for as long as it took you to load the next chapter.

2) I can feel that there are typos in this chapter, but I really wanted to post it before I left. If I notice that it's really bad, I'll repost an edit.

3) I'm going to be out of town for a few days. Even though I'll be writing, I might not be able to post; however, I'll be back with another chapter soon! Happy Thanksgiving, Everyone!