A/N Thank you for waiting for... a month! I'm really sorry about that! I'll get to details at the bottom.

Thank you to Misery's-Toll, frostbird, TheFeyRa, and Cindy Medeiros for reviewing!

Disclaimer: Naruto is not mine.

Trails of ash

Are all that remain

From the things in our lives

On fire

(...Not that you'd care.)

Hinata

"See you Hinata!"

"Y-Yeah!"

Hinata sees the brunette meeting up with her cousin as soon as she turns the corner. Everything's fine.

Sakura walks up and tilts her head, smiling. "Hinata! Are you going to the dance?" Her friend is positively beaming at her when she says these things.

"N-No, I've got other things..."

Sakura smiles mischievously. "That's too bad. I think Naruto was planning on asking..."

Her heart practically leaps out of her chest. "He wouldn't, he's too popular," she responds.

"I bet he would. I mean, he's been staring at you..."

Hinata shakes her head. "You just want me to go. And besides, why do you want to know? You're already going with Sasuke..." There's a tiny tinge of jealousy in her voice, but Sakura catches it anyway.

"Oh, come on! He's basically the one who asked me first, I just-"

"Put it into words, yes." There's an awkward silence as they walk down the road together. "So, where are you going?"

"Work."

There's something off about Sakura today, but Hinata can't put her finger on it. Especially when the pink-haired girl tries to change the topic. Sakura never tries to change the topic.

"D-Did you see Kiba today during Art? He was cracking these stupid jokes. Naruto threatened to spill paint over his head if he didn't stop." Sakura lets out a forced laugh. "Stupid, huh?"

"Sakura, are you-"

"Oh, look, I'm running late! See you, Hinata!"

She dashes off the to the other direction, leaving a confused Hinata standing on the sidewalk. There's nobody at home today.

'Eleven tomorrow?'

'Yes.'

The murky sky doesn't improve the mood much, even less so as it starts to drizzle. The rain falls on her like beads. She sighs, for she didn't bring an umbrella or anything else to protect herself from the water. Hopefully, it'll only be passing through.

'You seem like you do this often.'

'I guess.'

Someone rushes by, a briefcase on their head. They didn't expect the rain either. The man's footsteps splash a puddle, causing the water drops to jump out and attack the hem of her skirt.

She pauses to inspect the damage, which isn't much. If she gets home dry enough, she won't catch a cold. The stain of water is quickly inching up, and the rain starts to fall harder. The droplets are practically bullets now, Slapping the pavement and exploding every which way.

'It should be snowing,' she thinks numbly. Hugging her backpack to protect it from the rain, she starts to run. With the slippery pavement and her heels, it proves to be quite a challenge.

The heavy drops are starting to obscure her vision, causing her to stumble this way and that. Cars zoom by, not even caring to glance at the high school girl.

'Is this the Hyuga heiress? Really?'

'What a shame.'

She loses her footing. For a moment, she seems to stop in time, hanging in midair. Hinata's thoughts go back to the stars Sakura draws, and then hides from others.

A hand grabs the heiress' wrist, catching her just before the impact. Her skirt is barely skimming the wet cement.

"You should really be more careful. Lucky I was passing by."

"Kiba," she whispers. Without a word, the boy hauls her up with powerful arms, and gives her an umbrella.

"You're lucky I brought a spare. Luck seems to chase you around, doesn't it?" He gives a dog-like laugh. A more of an unsettling laugh that a reassuring one. Nonetheless, Hinata gives a little dip of her head.

"Thank you."

"No prob. Where's Naruto? That jerk should've been walking with you today."

Hinata goes a little red at the insult, but answers his question. "Work. It's not his fault that the weather decided to rebel on us..."

That gets another laugh out of the Inuzuka, but more friendly this time. "I'll walk you home. Like the good ol' days, right?"

Hinata takes that moment to search Kiba's face. Tattooed triangles, sharp fangs, 'I'm-gonna-get-you' grin.

"Hinata?"

She snaps back into reality. "S-Sorry, zoned out there."

"You seem determined to catch a cold. Are you sure you're alright?"

"Mm hm."

The rain seems to lighten a little, but it might be her imagination. Kiba bows in a exaggerated sort of way and says, "Shall I escort you home, m' lady?" in a accented voice.

Hinata lets out a tinkling laugh that no one can hear but herself. "Why, I'd be honored," she teases. Just like the old days.

There's still something wrong. And like before, she can't quite put her finger on it.

There are no mentions of Akamaru.

"Thanks, Kiba. For bringing me home."

The said boy waves it off with a flourish. "I said it wasn't a problem, didn't I? But since you're home safe, I think I'll be going-"

A surge of red comes up to Hinata's face as she blurts out her next words. "K-Kiba, are you going to the dance?"

Silence. Then a laugh. "What?"

"A-Are you going t-to the dance of F-Friday?"

"No, why?" Kiba asks with a questioning look.

"Since y-you aren't," she stutters out, her voice getting smaller each word, "d-do you want to go to the movies with me?"

Kiba blinks a couple of times, before smirking. "I'm sorry, I didn't catch that. What?"

"I said," Hinata says, a little louder, "do you want to come to the movies with me?"

"That'd be good. Meet up at seven?"

"S-Sure."

Did Kiba just accept her invitation? She doesn't know. The world is spinning. She barely notices when she waves to him as he goes home, barely notices when she collapses on the couch, barely notices when her face starts to burn.

'But wasn't I planning to ask Naruto?'

A pale hand goes up to her forehead. The cold of her wet, clammy skin helps.

'A secret. I'll keep it a secret. Kiba will too, I hope.'

'Oh, so you're not coming to the dance?'

Naruto's voice is cheerful, but Hinata can still see him wince in her mind. Barely, but it's there. Hinata regrets asking Kiba out now. She wants to blurt it out, confess, but there aren't words. Instead she asks, "A-Are you?"

"I mean, I was planning to, but if you aren't going..."

There's an awkward pause, and it still lingers when Naruto speaks again. "I mean, it's not fun without the whole gang, you know? Sasuke and Sakura are going, so I thought that you were too. I guess I could go with Gaara-" a shudder runs through-" but then again, he's not that social. He's a good kid, but, I mean, I thought that maybe you-"

A faint shout interrupts him, in which Naruto responds with an 'I'm coming!' and a quick 'see ya!' to her. Though she has the strangest feeling that she hangs up before him.

For the hundredth time within the hour she's been waiting, Hinata glances up at the clock and sighs dejectedly when it shows six twenty-three in flashing pink letters. For a moment, she wonders what to wear and stares at her reflection in the mirror. A simple long-sleeved pale shirt matched with light brown pants. She decides against changing, since it'll seem more like a date then.

Isn't it?

Long, sleek hair flies as she twirls, just to show off. She's teleported for a moment into a world that's not hers, but hers at the same time. Sunshine covers the ground and she's laughing, twirling, scent of flowers filling her nose.

'Hinata-sama!'

Hinata falls with a nice little thump on the ground. For the first time, her father (who's watching from the porch) doesn't care that her new dress has gotten dirty. Because his laugh, which has been absent for some time, is back on his face, bright and clear. A faceless figure bends down and offers his hand, laughing.

'Hinata-sama!'

Her words come out smooth, like a river that has no obstacles to block it. For the first time, she doesn't stutter as she babbles away in happiness.

"Hinata-sama!"

The brunette opens her eyes to find herself surrounded by the warm blankets of her bed. Her head whips toward the clock that now flashes urgently, seven-zero-eight. The world seems to spin when her hand grabs the nearest brush and rips through her hair. She says goodbye to her cousin, who is rolling his eyes, muttering under his breath.

The brush drops to the floor with a clatter, forgotten. Skidding to a hurried stop right by the doorway, Hinata breathes out and puts on her widest smile. The door opens.

"Ready?"

Thankfully, Kiba isn't dressed that formally either. Ripped jeans, gray sweater with a fur hood that outlines his casual smirk. He looks more like Kiba than he's had in days. Hinata smiles.

"Are you ready to go, m' lady?"

He's still playing that childish game from before. Neji smirks from the stairwell, but calls to her, "Be back before eleven!"

Maybe he still does care. These thoughts fail to escape her when Kiba leads her out, teasing her the whole way.

The movie of their choice is "Battlefield". It's about a boy who loses his way in a battlefield, and finds a young girl, wounded, fallen, beneath a bush. He helps her, only to learn that she is a wanted killer. But he falls in love with her and takes her back to his home in London, where she escapes. When he corners her in an alley and confesses, she kills him. Coming to her senses, she shoots herself to be with him.

So unreal. No one would do that, ever. But at least there isn't a happy ending. Hinata loathes happy endings. (Surprising.) Kiba agrees to the movie, since there's a bit of violence in it. But still, he falls asleep, about halfway through. When the violent parts flash, Hinata squeals and grabs his sweater and buries her face into it, without him waking up.

When the movie ends, Kiba looks at the dark stains on his sweater, then at Hinata, then at his sweater, and shrugs with a smirk. A secretive smirk as if he knows something. She quickly improvises, and drags him to the concession stands, blushing furiously.

Is this weird?

They get a little too close. Before she can react, his lips are pressing against hers. Something's wrong. There's no spark. No love. No real love.

Hinata's the one to pull apart first, her face vivid red. Kiba winces a tiny bit, and stares into her eyes.

"W-We should go..."

"Right..."

No words are exchanged all the way to her home, except a 'see you later' from each of them. She dashes upstairs, ignoring the worried call from Neji and her uncle. The thought doesn't go away from her mind, no matter how annoying it is. Too many... possibilities...

Would it have been different with Naruto?

Gaara

"Turn the TV down!"

"I like it!"

The ponytailed boy snorts, sinking deeper into the couch. "Troublesome... I'm trying to study!"

Temari sticks her tongue out at him. "Too bad, should've done that before you came here!"

Gaara has his eyes scrunched up in concentration, trying to block out all sounds, alternating between Shukaku's wild screeches and the useless babble from the television. "Shut up," he breathes, knowing only him and Shukaku would be able to hear it.

"You act like a child," Shikamaru complains, tossing his books aside. "I'm younger than you, and I seem more responsible. Even your brother's annoyed at you."

To prove the boy's point, Gaara gives Temari the 'shut the hell up' glare. She falters, but springs back up. "Aw, Gaara wouldn't be mad at me!" It only makes the redhead's scowl deepen. Not that it matters, anyways.

He climbs the stairs and heads to his room before Shikamaru and Temari start flirting again. His sister was-is- so unpredictable. One moment she'd be all afraid and the next she'd be happy and cheerful and calling him Gaara-bear.

The darkness of his room comforts Gaara. It isn't complete because of the slivers of light beaming through the window on the ceiling, but it's close enough. He doesn't mind the light; he just doesn't like overused light.

People and their rumors.

In fact, he thinks over Shukaku's screaming, the stars are really bright tonight.

Soft. You're becoming soft. Shukaku 'kindly' informs him. And he is. Ever since Kankuro, ever since Dad, ever since Naruto.

Ever since Sakura.

And that's why he's determined not to let the Uchiha win.

The moon's getting higher by the minute, which means more light comes down, pouring into the room. He can't say 'small' because it's bigger than Kankuro's room, which has to count for something. His bright red cell phone (which he doesn't need anyways, but would that stop Temari?) vibrates, shattering the silence. It also makes Gaara very annoyed for not turning off that damn thing earlier.

The caller ID flashes 'Naruto'. The redhead looks at the pale clock tacked up to the opposite wall. Eleven thirty-ish.

He ignores it. He decides to ignore it. The phone doesn't give up, however. It's practically begging to be picked up. After the third vibrate, he snatches it up and growls, "What?"

"Thank kami!" Naruto cheers from the other end. Was the Japanese really necessary? "I was hoping you'd pick up! Still as snappy as ever."

"Eleven-thirty," Gaara points out. There's no real use for words, in his world. "Make it quick."

"It's not like you sleep anyways."

"You should be."

"Picky, picky," his caller scolds jokingly. "Anywho, I just called to ask if you're going to the dance tomorrow."

"Why should I? It's not like people will appreciate me more if I do."

"They might," Naruto pleads. "Come on, I don't have anyone to go to the dance to! Sasuke's going with-"

A growl from Gaara makes Naruto trail of at the end of his sentence. Then the voice shouts in realization. "You like Sakura?"

Shukaku starts crackling madly at his statement, which makes it even harder to come up with a reply. It makes it much harder to control the slight blush coming at his face.

You're growing soft! the demon laughs. Told you! Told you!

"No!" he shouts to both of them. Everything goes silent, including the chatter downstairs. Noticing this, Gaara takes a few moments to calm down. "No," he repeats, at a normal level of voice. "I just don't like Sasuke."

"Come on, Gaara!" Naruto says, steering clear away from the topic of Sakura. It's almost impossible to miss the nervous tone in his voice, though. "I mean, he's a stupid, deceiving, emo bastard, but he's our stupid, deceiving, emo bastard!"

"Your," the redhead corrects him. "I can't even believe I'm talking on the damn cell phone this long, with you. Just get to the point."

There's a silence.

"I don't have anyone to go the dance with," Naruto (finally) deadpans.

"You don't?"

"I mean... Plenty of girls have asked me, but I'd rather go with someone who's close to me, you know?"

"Hinata?" Gaara inquires. He doesn't know much about the shy girl, but he does know that Naruto likes her.

"She's not coming."

Gaara can actually hear Naruto's energy bubble deflating.

"My answer is-"

"YES!"

Temari busts in through the door, which, did I mention, was goddamned locked? Shikamaru is protesting behind her, his string of words combining with Naruto's frantic, "What the noodles was that?"

His sister forces the phone out of his grip, which is actually a very brave act, considering the look of murder on Gaara's face. Or, she didn't notice.

"He's coming!" Temari trills and hangs up. Then she spots the look on his face.

Even she knows to back off.

"I-It's good for you, Gaara!" she stutters. "Y-You haven't been out lately, and I-I just wanted you to..."

She runs. Shikamaru stays, not bothering to react. He leans against the doorway in a relaxed manner, staring straight into his jade-green orbs.

"I'll talk to her." The brunette turns away before looking at Gaara again. "But she's right you know. She's deadly afraid of you at times, even though she doesn't try to show it."

"As is everyone."

"That's where you're wrong. What about Naruto? What about Sakura? What about every other person who's been trying to get through to you?"

That's the weird thing.

He doesn't know.

A/N This chapterwas really hard to write. I'm kind of mad at myself that it wasn't at least 15 pages (which is what you'd be expecting), but I kept on writing scenes and erasing, writing, erasing, on and on. Darn that writers' block.

Thank you to all who are still reading after the 1 month hiatus! I would be really happy if you reviewed! Please?