The courtship of Naruto Uzumaki
IV. Rebound girl
From the moment she woke up that morning, Hinata felt an excitement she could barely contain. The last conscious thought she'd had before falling asleep and the first one she'd had on waking had been Naruto—which wasn't unusual. Since he'd first caught her attention in ninja school she'd spent a great deal of time thinking about Naruto waking or sleeping.
At first glance, she'd felt sorry for him. He'd been shunned, taunted or laughed at by almost everyone. She'd watched him doing everything alone—playing, sitting, eating. But he'd never cried that she could see. Mostly he'd worn a fierce, defiant expression, and instead of hiding or ducking his head as she might have done, he'd been loud, swaggering and in-your-face with everyone. He wouldn't let anyone ignore or overlook him.
He was a troublemaker, a clown, a loud, obnoxious lout, but she'd never minded that. Her sympathy and curiosity had only grown as she observed him deal brazenly with those around him until she'd found herself admiring, liking and even respecting him. Still she'd been too timid and cowardly to defend or even approach him. She'd remained on the outskirts of his life simply watching him from a safe and hidden distance so he wouldn't notice.
After awhile her liking, admiration and respect for him had deepened. Before she understood what happened she'd found herself in love. It had been so seamless she hadn't even realized it until she'd begun to blush whenever he chanced to glance at her or stammer whenever she had to speak to him—more so than with anyone else. It was a long time before she could say more than one word at a time to him or look beyond his feet because she always ducked her head in his presence. It was not surprising that he'd considered her timid and weird.
Over the years, she'd witnessed his ability to persevere in his goals despite his lack of family and friends. His never quit attitude had slowly gained him the friendship of teachers, classmates and team mates. Even the Third had had a special affection for the not-to-be-overlooked orphan boy. He drew attention in any way he could to claim acknowledgement. He wore the brightest clothes. He behaved in the most outrageous manner. He had the loudest voice. Everything about him said I won't be ignored.
She'd watched him mature from a boastful, over confident class clown to a fearless, skillful ninja. She'd cried for his failures and cheered for his triumphs—but quietly and secretly. Despite being the opposite of Naruto, and not wanting close attention paid to her, she couldn't hide her interest in Naruto Uzumaki from those closed to her—her team mates. Yet they never teased her about it. Kurenai was kind, Kiba was puzzled and Shino simply shrugged. They considered it a girlish crush to be taken no more seriously than that. None of them thought it would last or go anywhere.
And neither did she really especially when she'd observed other less happy things about Naruto.
Although it saddened her, she'd observed his faithful crush on Sakura. It was perfectly understandable. Sakura was the smartest, prettiest and most noticeable girl in their class. Yet Hinata had never even been jealous of Sakura—envious, admiring and awed—but never jealous. If Naruto wanted Sakura, she would never gainsay his desires. That Naruto would be attracted to the best was not surprising. She could imagine no other outcome then for Naruto to be with Sakura. The best belonged with the best. Hinata hadn't even attempted to image that she could ever have a place in Naruto's affections—not with so many more attractive, talented and confident kunoichi available besides Sakura.
But Naruto didn't want Sakura or any other kunoichi like her—not any more. By some extremely wonderful set of circumstances, he seemed to want her, Hinata Hyuga. It was still almost impossible to believe. All she'd ever sought was his acknowledgement and respect. She'd never dared to hope for more. Yet here she was anticipating her first date with Naruto and wondering if this was the beginning of a long and beautiful relationship.
She met up with Shikamaru and Choji at the ninja complex bright and early the morning after their return to the village. They'd all been tired when they'd returned to the village, but she'd definitely remembered Shikamaru telling them all to meet him in the morning to wrap up their mission with a completed report. She looked around for Naruto, but he wasn't anywhere about. Her search and disappointed expression was too obvious to be missed by her companions.
"Hey, Shikamaru, wanna bet Naruto doesn't show up?" Choji asked slyly.
"I don't make sucker bets," Shikamaru said dryly.
"What was that?" Tsunade demanded overhearing what was said as she approached the group from behind. The term sucker was a sore point for her since in the past she'd been known throughout the land as the Legendary Sucker due to her bad luck with any form of gambling. No one dared mentioning anything even related to that topic in her presence.
"We'll have to start without Naruto. I'm not going to wait around all morning," Shikamaru answered her without answering her question. He was no fool.
She stared at him challengingly. "I presume you've been discussing your report?"
"Of course," he said blandly, calmly meeting her eyes.
She smiled. "Well, then I'll walk inside with you. I've got something to tell you if you haven't already been told by your family, and I've got new assignments for all of you," Tsunade said seriously. She actually led the way rather than walking with them. She generally had the habit of taking the lead except with Naruto. He never did understand the deference due her position. He probably wouldn't appreciate it until he himself became Hokage. When that happened Tsunade wished on him a young ninja just as disrespectful, brash and challenging—every time he misbehaved. If life was just, her wish would come true with interest.
As it happened, Hinata was the only one who hadn't been greeted on her return by family, and told about the situation with the Country of Stone, a new hidden village, and a possible war. She was relieved that she didn't have to leave the village on another mission so soon, but was concerned about all the experienced jônin absent from Konoha. All of her team mates past and present had parents who were among the jônin on this mission except for Naruto and herself. How worried they must be! What would they all do if any of those jônin failed to return? How could the few remaining jônin, the chûnin and genin hope to defend Konoha without them? How could this village bear another devastating loss?
She had to tell herself not to expect the worst as was her habit. She had to believe that Kurenai, Iruka, Shizune and all the others would return hale, whole and with good news. She couldn't allow negative thoughts to paralyze her. And she wouldn't allow this news to spoil her date that night. She and Naruto might have very little time together if the worst should happen. She must make that time as enjoyable as possible for his sake. She must only think of now, and not what the future might or might not hold. Anticipating trouble was unconstructive. Intellectually she knew that, but emotionally it was a struggle. Because she had Naruto to consider besides herself, she would do it. She wouldn't waste one moment of their time together on worry, doubt or fear. She wanted to enjoy his company for as long as possible.
With that in mind she worked with Shikamaru and Choji to write a thorough report on their last mission. She wondered why Naruto had failed to show up, but she didn't worry. He'd do his part eventually no matter how much he disliked it. She worked her hardest so his part would be easier. She didn't mind reports, and the three of them working together made short work of it. She'd have plenty of time to make ready for her date later. That was one thing she didn't need to worry about.
She'd worn her only pretty dress once, on a mission over seven weeks ago with Naruto. It was red, silk and sleek. Naruto had really liked her in that dress. He'd liked her red shoes, too. She'd never thought of red as her color. She'd never before wanted to draw the sort of attention to herself that red would attract. She'd always worn dark, unobtrusive colors. But if Naruto liked her in red then she'd wear red more often to please him. Knowing that he liked it made her feel more attractive and confident. She almost believed that she was a pretty girl.
She spent the rest of her day readying herself for her date.
She bathed and washed her hair with specially scented soap. She painted her finger and toe nails. She dressed her hair in the same style she'd worn the last time she was dressed up for Naruto, pulled back with a red scarf. She wore a little mascara to enhance her eyes, a little blush to emphasize her cheek bones and a little red lipstick to draw attention to her mouth. She'd learned her lessons well when the Fifth had taken her to a spa before her mission with Naruto almost two months ago. She knew that feminine trappings were only superficial. If he really liked her they wouldn't matter, but she'd enjoyed Naruto's admiration before by appearing completely unlike the way she normally appeared. She wanted to enjoy his admiration again, and keep his attention focused exclusively on her. She didn't want him to have any regrets that he was with her and not Sakura.
When she heard the knock on the door, she wasn't quite ready. Naruto was early. She hadn't planned to put on her dress until the very last so it wouldn't wrinkle before Naruto saw it. However, the robe she wore was actually less revealing than the dress so she thought it would be safe to peak out the door, and ask him to wait.
But it wasn't Naruto standing on her doorstep.
"Kiba! What are you doing here?" She was really surprised to see him. He rarely came to visit between missions.
"I ran into Choji at lunch so I knew you were back. Can I come in?" He gave her a warm smile.
She hesitated a split second, but reassured herself that Kiba must have a good reason for his visit. He'd always been a good friend and a great team mate. "Wait here one minute. I need to finish dressing," she told him then shut the door. She didn't know why she felt odd having Kiba inside when she was still in her robe, but she did. She wouldn't have wanted Naruto showing up, and getting the wrong idea. As her team mate Kiba had seen her in many states of dress and undress in the course of a mission, but this was different. Before their practice date together, she wouldn't have thought anything of it, however remembering that Kiba was seeing her as a girl now made everything strangely less comfortable.
When she came back to the door, she was fully dressed and ready for her date with Naruto since she didn't know how long Kiba would stay to talk. She might not have time to get any more ready after he left.
She stood behind the door as she held it open.
Kiba didn't get a good look at her until she shut the door, and turned towards him. She blushed furiously as he stared at her with his mouth hanging open. He'd never seen her so dressed up. Even on their one date she'd worn casual clothes. She looked really really good. He needed to tell her that. Girls liked compliments. Especially girls you were interested in, and wanted to be interested in you.
"Wow! Hinata, you look great. That's a pretty dress. What's the occasion?"
"Thank you." Her hand went to her neck, and she touched the material there with a soft reassuring stroke. She felt very self-conscious with Kiba staring at her as if he'd never seen her before. Naruto's stares had made her feel attractive, but Kiba's made her feel awkward. Maybe she'd made a mistake to always try to be unobtrusive in the past. She'd be able to handle the attention better if she'd practiced more. "I'm going out later," she answered vaguely.
"Out? Where?" he asked sharply, and his eyes narrowed as he continued to study her. She couldn't be this nicely dressed for her family. She must be going on a date. Why hadn't she dressed like this for their date?
"I'm not sure," she said uneasily, and walked away to sit down. Kiba wasn't acting like his usual laid back self. He usually saved his intensity for a fight. She didn't like having his intensity directed towards her.
"Who with?" he demanded suspiciously. Who would ask her out besides him? No one else had ever shown an interest. That was the reason he'd taken his time with Hinata. He figured he had plenty of time to pursue her when he was ready.
She gestured for him to sit in the chair opposite her, but instead he continued to hover tensed and ready to spring. She wished she didn't feel like prey. "Kiba—" she began hesitantly.
He held up his hands to forestall her arguments, and plopped down in the chair she wanted him to sit in. He tried to shrug of his attitude. He wouldn't get any answers by being so damned insistent. "Hey, I know it's none of my business. I've just never seen you dressed so much like a girl before. I like it."
She blushed again. "I can't usually dress up like this on a mission, you know."
"Usually? Does that mean you've dressed like this for a mission in the past?" he pounced on her word choice.
She didn't know how to dissemble, but wished she did. "Actually, yes. I did purchase this dress for a mission." Vague had almost worked before.
"What mission?" His tone had sharpened again.
"Kiba, why are you asking me so many questions? What does it matter? It was awhile ago." She'd observed the effective technique of answering a question with a question, but had never tried it before.
He shrugged, but it didn't actually reflect how he really felt. He tried to shake the intensity again. He saw that he was worrying her with his sharp questions. "I don't know. There's just so much I don't know about you. I thought I knew everything. You really surprised me, Hinata."
"You know more about me than most people. We've been team mates for over six years."
"Yeah, that should count for something."
"What do you mean?" She didn't like this Kiba. He wasn't the friend she trusted so much. He was behaving in a much darker manner.
He stared at her a moment from under his furrowed black brows before answering. "Hinata—is it Naruto?"
"What!?" How could her face possibly turn redder than it already had? She put her hands up to her cheeks. It certainly felt hotter than ever before.
He waved his hands impatiently at her. "The dress, the nails, the jewelry, the hair—I've never seen you dress so femininely. What's going on? It's a date, isn't it?"
She looked away from his dark angry eyes. She hadn't given Kiba a serious thought since she'd begun that mission to bring home Naruto almost two months ago. She knew he'd misunderstood the date she'd asked him to go on, but she'd simply pushed those thoughts to the back of her mind. Kiba was her team mate and friend. Until the night she'd wanted to know what a date was like, and had asked him to show her that had been the only way she'd thought about him. She would still have only thought of him as a friend, but he'd revealed that he'd been thinking of her in a very different way. She'd mentally dismissed the thought, because she'd only had Naruto on her mind. In all the weeks she'd been recuperating from that mission, she still hadn't thought about it. She may even have convinced herself it had never happened or he'd forgotten all about it. Now here he was staring at her in a way that made her feel unhappy and uncomfortable. How was she to tell him that Naruto was the love of her life? How was she to convince him that Naruto came first for her without hurting him? She had to try or she'd continue to hurt him.
She looked at him with a sad expression in her eyes. "Kiba, you know—you knew—you've always known how I felt about Naruto," she said helplessly.
He jerked upright, and punched his right fist into his left palm. "So you're going out with him? That's what all this uncommon finery is all about? You have to look like Sakura for him to even notice you?"
She was shocked by his accusation. "No! That's not my intention."
"So why now? Why for him? This isn't you."
She looked down at her beautiful, red dress. It had made her feel so good to wear it. Why was that wrong? "You thought it was pretty, Kiba. Why can't I look pretty? Sometimes I want to look like a girl not a ninja."
He waved his hand dismissively crushing her pretensions. There was no good reason—except that it was for Naruto. "You're just kidding yourself, Hinata. You'll never be like Sakura. Don't even try." You're much prettier, he wanted to say, but that would defeat his purpose.
He continued to upset her. "That's not it!" she cried. "It has nothing to do with Sakura. This isn't even her color."
He slapped his hands down on his knees. "It has everything to do with her if we're talking about Naruto! Do you think he's really over her just because she's engaged? Come on, Hinata, he's liked her as long as I can remember. That's a pretty big leap for him to go from her to you."
Now her face paled. Kiba's scorn almost hurt. "I don't think he really has liked her all this time," she told him in a soft, pained voice. "Not like that. I think it was more a habit with him," she tried to explain the reasons she'd given herself for Naruto's sudden switch from Sakura to her. Like Kiba, she'd found it almost impossible to believe herself. Unlike Kiba, she wanted so much to believe it that she grasped at any and every reason for him to like her. Naruto wouldn't pretend. He wouldn't toy with her affections. He was too honorable for that. Kiba must be wrong.
"Get real, Hinata. You know what you are, don't you?"
She shook her head roughly. Her throat constricted too much for her to speak. The hateful things he was saying made her chest ache. Why was Kiba treating her this way? From his initial reaction she knew he'd thought she'd look nice. Why was he tearing down what little self-confidence she'd managed to gather around her lately?
"You're the rebound girl," he said simply.
"What!?" she managed to croak out.
"The rebound girl. You're the girl between Sakura and the girl he'll end up with next. Rebound relationships never last," he spoke confidently. It had never happened to him, but he'd heard about the phenomena enough in his dating experience to believe it to be true. He had to make Hinata see that she and Naruto would never be a couple. They just weren't meant to be.
"No." she said in a horrified whisper. Could this really be true? She didn't know anything about relationships. Kiba was much savvier than she was. Would he deliberately lie to her when he knew how much it would hurt her? Or was he simply trying to protect her from future unhappiness? Were she and Naruto really not meant to be together?
"Oh yeah. It always happens like that. Think about it, Hinata. You're the opposite of Sakura. For that matter, you're the opposite of Naruto. That's the only reason you've caught his attention. He was looking for someone as different from Sakura as night from day. You fit the bill perfectly. But it won't last. If it's really Sakura's type he likes, you won't be able to carry it off. That's just not the real you. He won't be satisfied with who you really are. He'll eventually drop you as soon as he finds another girl just like her."
Deep inside she'd always feared that was true, but she'd never brought that horrible thought into the light to examine. Now that Kiba had thrown a spotlight on it, she couldn't hide her head in the sand any longer. What if it were all just a dream with a rude awakening just around the corner? Maybe this very date she'd been anticipating so eagerly would be the one thing to open Naruto's eyes to her complete unsuitability to be with him. Maybe this date was the moment he'd begin to compare her unfavorably to Sakura, and realize he'd made a mistake. Maybe he'd go back to thinking her plain, timid and weird. How would she ever be able to recover from that?
"Kiba, you should go. Naruto will be here soon," she said dully. She couldn't allow Kiba to see how much he'd upset her. She didn't want to always be the object of everyone's pity. And she didn't want Kiba to bring this subject up with Naruto. She wasn't ready to even think about it yet.
He felt more than a little contrite now that all the light had left her face making her look almost plain. He'd been a little hard on her, but she needed to be prepared. He was doing this for her own good. She'd realize that her crush on Naruto was hopeless, and turn to him—the only one who could really appreciate her.
"I'm sorry, Hinata. You needed to realize this. I don't want to see you get hurt." He stood up.
Hinata stood after he did, and slowly walked him to the door. She couldn't look at him. She didn't want to see the sympathy in his eyes. For someone who didn't want to see her get hurt, he'd done an excellent job of it.
"Hinata, why don't I take you out tomorrow? You can wear that pretty dress for me," he coaxed. "I really do think you look pretty no matter what you wear."
She shook her head. "I have patrol duty tomorrow night."
He frowned. "That means we're not on the same schedule. I wonder if I'm stuck with Shino, Ino and Sakura forever. Maybe we can ask the Hokage to switch us to the same shift."
"I can't think about that now, Kiba. I'll let you know." She shut the door firmly on him.
He put his hands in his pockets as he sauntered away.
He couldn't believe how jealous he'd been of Naruto. That loser! How dare he just waltz in and take the girl Kiba was interested in. Who was he anyway? He was a joke. He'd just barely passed ninja school. His genin trainer called him a knuckle-head. He'd only beaten Kiba in their chûnin exam by a trick not from any superior ability. So how had Naruto managed to do so well up to now? How had he become the apprentice of one sanin, and the obvious favorite of another? He'd never treated any of the elders with respect. Yet even the Third had been fond of him. What was it about Naruto Uzumaki?
If it wasn't for this thing with Hinata, Kiba wouldn't have had any hard feelings towards Naruto. He'd goofed off with Naruto plenty of times in ninja school. He hadn't held a grudge after being beaten in the chûnin exam. He hadn't begrudged him his special attention from the sanin or the Hokages. He'd actually liked him—until now. But why should he of all people get Hinata Hyuga? He wasn't special enough for that.
She came from one of the first families of Konoha. She had a special kekkei genkai which was as unique as the Uchiha clan's sharingan. She should be courted by someone from another first family. She couldn't tie herself to a nobody.
Hey, that's right! No way would her father approve this relationship. He'd break it up as soon as he found out. He wouldn't want Hinata involved with Naruto Uzumaki.
That thought made Kiba relax. He didn't have to worry. This thing between Hinata and Naruto wouldn't last any longer than for her father to find out. He'd just have to arrange for Hiashi Hyuga to find out sooner rather than later. Then Hinata would be available, and ready to be consoled. And he'd be right there to provide the shoulder for her to cry on. Rebound wouldn't cover this situation. Hinata never had a chance with Naruto, so it wouldn't count. Right?