Oh My God!!! This chapter was freaking hard to write!!! For the longest time things WOULD NOT FLOW!!! But then suddenly I got inspired and it ended up being one of the best most important chapters in the fic! READ MY AUTHOR'S NOTE AT THE END!!!! IT'S KIND OF IMPORTANT!!!! Now anyways…
Chapter 5
From: Violeteyes49
To : Noodlefox24
Dear You,
Um…thank you? Maybe? I…I really don't know what to say in this type of situation. I don't think I ever expected to be in this type of situation. I'm not exactly the school heartthrob. Um…he asked me out. I said yes, I think…I was kind of, stunned…Um…
Thank you for saying that though. Not the thing about Kiba, what you said about me and my friends. How I should believe them… You're right, I should. I mean I knew I should but…It's different, hearing it from someone else, so, thank you.
I like you. I know this seems like a weird thing to say now when I've been talking to you for days already and rest assured that I'm blushing a lot and typing very fast, I do that when I'm nervous or embarrassed…
But the point is, you seem really nice. Smart. Friendly. Honest. Trustworthy. I have to admit, it really makes me wonder who you are. It makes me wonder how I've missed you all these years…
Oh, and yes, I do remember the fourth grade talent show. Gai really shouldn't have lied to Lee like that…
Best Wishes,
Hinata
Frowning down at the computer screen, Naruto bit his lip. Well, as much as one could with a toothbrush protruding from one's mouth.
He'd woken up late, and had been desperately scrambling to get ready for school when he'd noticed he had mail.
School VS E-mail…
Because the choice was so difficult.
Now, however, he was starting to wish he'd chosen to just go finish brushing his teeth. Or go put on jeans, or something. But no. Never one to resist temptation he'd opened the e-mail and was now dealing with the consequences.
He was happy. Hearing her describe him like that, all those positive adjectives made him smile, made his chest glow warm and fuzzy. He was glad that he could help her, and truly glad that she felt this way about him. He'd never had an abundance of admirers, no one had ever said anything this complementary to him in his life.
That was it. Really. It had nothing to do with who was giving the compliments, no, nothing at all.
That was the lie he told to ward off the intense stab of guilt that immediately followed the warmth. The guilt born from the knowledge that this was the girl his friend was dating tonight. The guilt that escalated the warm feeling into something hot and greasy, bubbling in his stomach and making him sick. It was strong, volatile, unpleasant, and unfortunately, recognizable at last.
It was also the last thing he'd ever thought he'd feel towards Kiba.
Jealousy.
He was undeniably, unreasonably jealous.
And he hated it. He didn't want to feel it, wondered it he could shove it under a dose of self loathing. He certainly had enough at the moment.
Shaking his head, he ran a tired hand through his hair. Refusing to delve further into his feelings this morning, he quickly typed up a quick response and hurried off to school. For once, a day of mindless bookwork and monotone lectures sounded unusually good.
And maybe he could ask Shikamaru for advice on this matter. Perhaps he'd know what to do.
~*~*~*~
To: Violeteyes24
From: Noodlefox24
Hey Hinata,
You really shouldn't talk about yourself like that. You're plenty pretty, even though you do your best to hide it. Seriously, why do you do that?
I'm glad you like me…I guess… Don't worry, it's not so weird. You didn't have to like me when we first started and you really don't have to like me now. You don't even know who I am/ But I'm glad you do. Probably more glad than I should be.
Um…thanks for saying all those nice things about me. It made me happy.
I've got to get to school. Oh, and did anyone see what Lee was yesterday?
Later,
Me
Hinata tilted her head slightly, staring down at the screen. The e-mail was short, typed quickly, and didn't include a clue about him. But it really didn't need to. It told her enough as is.
Pretty?
She blushed as she reread it, trying to imprint the words into her brain.
She'd never thought of herself as pretty before, or really even attractive. She knew she wasn't ugly, but…
Pretty was Sakura, and Ino. She'd never even considered putting herself on their level. No one had ever told her to. That she could.
He's lying…he has to be…
Why?
Why what?
Does he have to be lying?
He said I was pretty! That's a lie! It has to be!
Why?
What do you mean?
God, we're going in circles here, could you be any slower? Let me spell it out for you. Why does he have to be lying? Why can't he really think you're pretty?
Because I'm not.
Says who?
Says who? No one had to say it, she could see it clearly enough for herself.
I do have mirrors you know.
Exactly.
So I can see myself. I know what I look like.
Do you really?
What are you talking about?
You're always you're harshest critic is all.
Look, little voice in my head derived from insanity, I get what you're saying, I think, but I'm not pretty.
Because no one's ever told you so?
Yes- I mean…
He just did.
Huh?
Noodlefox. He just did. And besides, he doesn't lie. He told you so.
Her mental response was cut off buy the opening of her door, Hanabi poking her head in.
" What are you doing? It's time for school."
" Oh!", Hinata squeaked, looking down at her pajamas, her un-brushed hair swinging in the process. " Oh, just a second."
" Hurry up." her sister replied, rolling her eyes before shutting the door once more, " Dad doesn't like waiting." The last sentence was called through the door.
" Ok", Hinata replied back, ashamed of herself for having lost track of time. And over what? An E-mail, from a guy she didn't even know.
A guy who thinks I'm pretty…
" Wait, dad?"
Her father was usually at work by this time, he never brought them to school… What was going on?
~*~*~*~
" Hey."
Shikamaru lifted his head from where it had been laying lazily on his desk to look at his friend.
" Hi?" he replied, lifting an eyebrow.
Naruto was standing in front of Shikamaru's desk, not perched on top of it, or in his own chair.
And he was quiet.
This was odd.
He watched the blonde look around nervously, as if expecting someone. Dreading their arrival.
He had a deep suspicion that he knew where this was going…
Great.
" Is something wrong?"
" Huh?"
" You look like you're expecting an attack."
" Oh, no… no, it's nothing like that…it's just…um….maybe you could help me with something."
Sighing, Shikamaru leaned back in his chair. He'd been hoping to get some sleep, but he couldn't very well just tell Naruto to scram. No, the guy was his friend and friends just didn't do that. Especially when things were so obviously bothering them.
Though he had to admit, the quiet was nice…
" What is it?"
" I got an e-mail from Hinata this morning."
Yep. He was right.
" Well you're writing to her aren't you? Typically people respond to that sort of thing."
" Well yeah, but it was what was in the e-mail, and afterwards and…"
Shikamaru suppressed a groan as Naruto's voice rose, his eyes widening as he spoke, his hands moving rapidly as if trying to materialize an image or something to get his point across.
He really couldn't wait until this was all over. Then Naruto and Kiba could go back to taking their problems to each other. He liked them both, he did, but Naruto was entirely too animated and Kiba called at bad times.
He liked them much better when they weren't always coming to him.
But what could he do?
" What was in it?" he asked, breaking through Naruto's attention drawing antics.
" Nothing major, not really… Just that Kiba asked her out, and she said yes", - Shikamaru's eyebrows rose at this, surprised by both the news and the tone of voice with which Naruto uttered it - " And that", his voice grew softer, " that she likes me. That she thinks I'm smart and trustworthy and a bunch of other good stuff and it made me happy but…"
Ah. This was interesting…
Naruto started discreetly chewing on the inside of his lip.
" But then I was…"
"Was?"
Naruto was staring at the ground looking uncharacteristically shy, nervous, his eyes shining with what could easily be detected as guilt.
" Jealous", he finished, whispering the word quickly, like something dirty he needed to rid his mouth of. " I was jealous. Of Kiba. Of… Of I don't know what!"
Shikamaru gave an exasperated sigh, The kind people give small children who ask obvious questions. The only problem was that Naruto couldn't find anything obvious about this at all. It was the exact opposite of obvious!
Wasn't it?
He cast a wary glance at the clock, wishing he had more time. He'd probably set a new record this morning running to school, eager to get a few minutes without Kiba, but his time was almost up. He'd be there any minute probably bursting with excitement over his date tonight.
And if he was going to be any kind of friend, be properly happy for him, he'd need to get this straightened out. Tamp down the bitter feelings that arose in him and plaster a big smile on his face.
And to do that, he needed to understand what the hell this was.
He sent another glance towards the clock where the second hand was twitching rapidly to the beat of his heart. He really wished Shikamaru would respond. The silence was killing him.
After what had come to about seven long, excruciating, seconds, Shikamaru spoke.
" You really don't know?"
" No! I don't! I mean I've never been jealous of Kiba before and now -"
He was back to talking quickly, his words blended together, his arms attempting to create a snow angel in the air, and was only cut off by Shikamaru's hand clamped firmly over his mouth.
It had been an impulsive action on his part, not something he'd usually do, but he couldn't help it. It was entirely too early for a whirlwind of movement and words of this caliber.
" Just think about it" he told him calmly as he saw Kiba enter the room. "Consider the factors." He pulled his hand back.
" The wha-"
He was cut off once more, this time as Kiba all but jumped on him, wrapping one arm around his shoulders.
" You are officially the man!"
Shikamaru raised one eyebrow. " I thought we already determined that. You know, on Monday."
Blank stares.
" The whole I Love Lucy thing."
Wait for it….
" Oh yeah! When Kiba thought he was too good for me!"
" What? Dude I never- never mind. I couldn't date you even if I was thrown into some backwards mirror universe where I'm gay and attracted to you." His smile stretched across his face larger than Naruto had thought possible, and went a long way in easing the sting of the news he knew would come.
" I've got a girlfriend!"
" Seriously?" Naruto questioned, trying to sound both enthusiastic and surprised "She said yes?"
If Kiba noticed that his smile was strained, that his voice was just a bit high, and that his eyes didn't reflect his enthusiasm, he didn't let on.
" Seriously! I asked her and she stuttered and I could just imagine her blushing. It was adorable, and then I asked and she said yes and I'm picking her up at 7!"
" Where are you going?" Naruto asked, leaning back against Shikamaru's desk in an attempt at normal. Shikamaru raised one eyebrow, but said nothing.
" You know", Kiba replied thoughtfully, " I don't really know…"
" How do you not know?"
" Huh?" Kiba asked, somewhat startled by his friends outburst. It wasn't particularly loud, no louder than Naruto usually was, but the tone was unusual. Accusing.
" How do you ask a girl, a girl you've been obsessing over forever nonetheless, out without knowing where you're going?!"
" I don't know" he replied, defensive, " I was nervous, sue me. Besides you know I never plan anything." He frowned " What's wrong with you? Aren't you happy for me?"
No. That was the simple honest truth. He wasn't. He hated it, hated that he felt that way, but that was just how he was. No matter how much he tried to muster up excitement for his friend it just wouldn't come.
" Of course I am" Naruto replied with what he hoped was an easygoing laugh. "You just never fail to amaze me. Seriously, only you could get the girl, minimum planning required."
Kiba grinned, sliding easily back into good humor. " I know. I'm just cool like that."
Shikamaru snorted.
" Hey, I don't see you with a date to homecoming."
Naruto turned sharply. " You asked her to homecoming?!"
" What? No, not yet. But I plan to, if everything goes alright. Man are you sure you're okay?"
Naruto scratched the back of his head nervously. " Yeah. Totally. I just didn't get much sleep last night. I'm fine." Or at least he would be, with a change of topic. " Speaking of homecoming, did anybody see Lee yesterday?"
" Oh! I forgot", Kiba exclaimed, looking around before leaning in close, " You didn't hear this from me, but when I was passing by the teachers lounge I overheard them talking about Lee. Apparently yesterday's theme was poisonous sea creatures-"
" God, who picks these things?"
" Gai?."
" Anyways, Lee came as a sea urchin, but got his paper-machete got stuck in a bush on the way to school. You know how he lives behind the school? Always cuts through the bushes? The ones way at the back of the campus? Yeah, those were the ones. Apparently it took them 'till lunch to find him."
"God", Naruto laughed, his mood considerably lighter. " What did they do?"
" Principal Tsunade took pity on him, let him go home early."
" Aw, the poor little sea creature."
" I know. It's tragic."
" Out of water for that long…he could have died."
" You could have scraped his spikes off then." Shikamaru remarked, his voice deadpan.
" And what?" Naruto wondered, " freed him from the bush?"
" No." At their blank stares he explained. " When sea urchins die you can scrape their spines off and you're left with a pretty colored shell. The color varies though."
Kiba and Naruto exchanged a look.
" That's…kind of morbid dude. Are you alright?"
" It's early." With that he let his head return to the desk, promptly falling asleep.
They were quiet a minute more before…
" What color do you think he'd be?"
Silence…
" Green", they decided in unison.
~*~*~*~
She'd printed it out. After a few long second of consideration, all she could afford at the time, she'd decided to print it while she scrambled for clothes. It had taken a few extra minutes for which her father had frowned at her, but it was worth it. She needed to show this to her friends, discuss it. Understand it better and maybe alive some of her confusion.
Wait! Was that guy looking at her?! Blushing she sunk down into her chair a little more, feeling silly. How paranoid was she? Really, hiding from one guy who was looking in her general direction. He probably wasn't even looking at her, behind her maybe.
But still, it was weird…
All morning she'd felt eyes on her, felt like she was being watched. Everyone seemed to be looking at her. Why? Why wouldn't they look away?
Well it might have something to do with….
Her inner voice, however, was cut off by the arrival of her two friends, seemingly locked in battle and looking ready to kill.
" At least my forehead's not the size of a freaking mountain! Seriously, you could carve Mt. Rushmore on that thing!"
" Dammit Ino, for the last time-!"
Ino never got to hear the threat however, Sakura's voice trailing off, her eyes growing wide.
" Wha-?" She turned to look, her mouth falling open as well.
" Um…w-what is it?"
Great, now Sakura was staring at her too. She dipped her head down, self conscious, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.
" Is that… lip gloss?"
"Huh? Wha-?"
" It is!" Ino exclaimed, leaning over Hinata's desk. Sakura was doing the same, their faces all extremely close at this point… The two girls were just staring, there eyes wide in amazement.
" Um…is it that…I mean…" she raised a sleeve to wipe at her lips. Damn it, she knew this was a bad idea. She'd just been so…impulsive…
" No don't!" Sakura cried, snatching up her wrist and holding it far away from her lips " It looks good! It all does!"
It did too. In fact, Sakura didn't think she'd ever seen her friend look so good. I mean, sure, she knew she could, you can't hide true beauty, but Hinata just tried so hard to. That giant jacket, always hiding behind her hair, never playing up the pretty features she was gifted with. It was a shame really…
She didn't know what on Earth had gotten into her today though. It was more than just the light coat of lip gloss. Her hair was tied back with a thin, violet, ribbon, and she was wearing the jacket Sakura had given her.
Raising one eyebrow, Sakura sent a glance towards Ino. What the hell had caused this? She - both of them actually- had been trying to shove Hinata into that jacket since the day she'd bought it, with all but no luck.
Somehow she couldn't believe this was nothing more than an impulse.
Ino seemed to share her sentiments.
Hinata shrank back a little into her seat, watching her friends non-verbal conversation. She was sure it was about her…positive even. But…why? So she'd tied her hair back…was it really that big of a deal? She had said it looked good…
Yeah, kinda…
Instead of replying to the voice in her head she stared at her captured wrist and then up at Sakura. " Y-you really think so?"
" No," Ino replied dryly, " We're lying to you." She scooted up to sit sideways on Hinata's desk. " Of course we think so."
" And apparently", Sakura replied, leaning in and speaking in hushed tones, " So does Koji."
" Who?"
Sakura discreetly pointed over at the boy who'd been staring at her in the back of the room. It took her a minute to understand, but when it did a sort of startled realization crossed her face.
Ah, suddenly everything's making sense…
You're sounding awfully…smug…
I can't help it. You're so oblivious…it's a little sad really…
So he's staring at me because-
He too thinks you're pretty
She couldn't even string two thoughts together, the shock numbing her mind. He wasn't even sure why she was reacting this way. Hadn't Noodlefox told her the very same thing this morning in the e-mail?
Wait!
The e-mail!
She ignored the confused looks of her friends as she dove into her backpack, pulling out a sheet of paper before smacking it down on the desk. Curiously her friends leaned in. It was the e-mail from Noodlefox. The one form this morning that had confused her so.
Maybe they could help her with it.
" When'd you get this?" Sakura asked, cocking an eyebrow.
" This morning, before school."
" Really?" Ino leaned in closer.
" Um…yeah…"
She watched her friend's expressions as they read, their curious mouths turning up into full blown smiles.
" W-what is it?"
" He called you pretty."
" Um…Um …yeah, b-but he's probably mistaken and-"
" Mistaken?" Ino sent her a disbelieving stare, " Girl did you look in the mirror this morning?"
" Um…no, actually, I was in a hurry. My dad-" She reached back self consciously, patting at her hair and hoping it wasn't falling. Damn it, she'd never been very good at this sort of thing. She never did it! Hell if she knew why she had today…
No. She did know. Even if she didn't want to accept it.
Because he made me feel pretty…
And he had, in a way no one else had ever done. Her father never told her, she rarely spoke to her sister and Sakura and Ino always said it. She was never been sure she could believe them, though Noodlefox had told her she should.
When did this happen? This absolute trust in a complete stranger? When did his opinion start to matter, she wondered? She thought about it a million times, tried to talk herself out of it, to rationalize it, to make herself see reason, and yet… She couldn't. She liked him, liked talking to him. He'd promised not to lie and she found herself believing him, anticipating his e-mails, valuing his advice and opinions. Maybe it was a bad idea, but she had long since accepted the fact that there was nothing she could do about it.
" Relax", Sakura replied, grabbing Hinata's wrist again, returning it to her side, " You look great. Plus", she sent Ino a sly glance, " now we understand."
Ino just nodded.
" U-understand what, precisely?"
" This" Ino gestured towards Hinata, waving her hand up and down. " The hair and make-up. All of it."
" It's for him."
" Because he called you pretty."
" N-no! Really!" She denied it heavily, her voice raising in octave and her hands flailing as the tended to, but the blush on her face betrayed her words. As it should have. She was lying anyways. She didn't like lying to her friends, but this wasn't something she wanted them to know. After all, how do you explain to your two best friends that you put effort towards your looks for some random guy you don't know, because he made you feel pretty, when you had your first date with a completely different guy later this evening.
She couldn't even explain it to herself. It had been quick and impulsive, and regretted the second she'd sat in the car, watched her family's faces minutely change in shock.
Which, by the way, was something else to think about. Why on Earth had her father driven them to school? Frankly, she was a little surprised that he even knew where the school was.
And he was picking her up this afternoon. He'd told her so right before she exited, a second before she'd shut the door.
It was all very puzzling. However, at the moment, she had a slightly…louder…problem.
" Sure" Sakura grinned," Whatever you say."
" I do say!"
Ino crinkled her nose. " That was horrible grammar, not that I care. And anyways, I've got to ask. What about Kiba?"
" W-what about him?"
" That's right!" Sakura replied.
" Wha-"
" If this" Ino did the up-and-down-full-body-gesture thing again, " Was for Noodlefox, then where does Kiba fit?"
" I-it wasn't!" She denied vehemently, her ponytail whipping around wildly in the air, " It wasn't really! I just felt like it! Honestly, I-"
" Alright! Alright!" Sakura cried, holding up her hands defensively, " Alright, I believe you." She sighed, as Hinata calmed down, her face bright red once more. " Alright."
" Jeeze", Ino muttered, only to be elbowed none too gently in the stomach. " Hey!-"
Sakura promptly ignore her, scooting up onto Hinata's desk in full gossip mode. " Anyways, since we're on the topic of Kiba anyways, are you excited?"
" Of course she's excited", Ino grinned, hopping up onto Haku's desk, slinging an arm around Hinata's shoulders. " I mean, it is her first date."
Haku, entering from the back of the room, just kind of sighed and leaned against the wall, waiting for the bell to ring and Ino to return to her seat. It just wasn't in him to fight with her today, especially since he already knew he'd lose. There was no real way to fight against crazy.
" And it is Kiba", Sakura's grin widened, oblivious to Haku's plight. "You could do a lot worse."
" I- I thought you didn't like Kiba."
" He's not so bad", Sakura explained.
" Unless you're stuck doing a project with him." Ino grimaced.
" Oh don't even", Sakura frowned, " You're not fearing for your life, You have absolutely no right to talk!"
" Well… yeah, I am kind of surprised you're not dead. I was sure you'd be dead already."
" Well gee, thanks. That just makes me feel all warm and fuzzy."
Ino just shrugged. " Either way, he's not so bad."
" He's funny", Sakura added, " And friendly and popular."
" And athletic. Don't forget athletic!"
" And athletic" Sakura nodded. " All very good qualities. His only real problem is his taste in friends…"
" And that can be overlooked."
" Exactly."
" After all, it isn't like Naruto" - her nose crinkled as if the word tasted bad- " is going to follow you on your dates or anything."
There it was again, that blatant hatred of Naruto that she just couldn't wrap her mind around. What about him was so awful? Seriously? She tried to picture him, draw him from her memories in hopes of glimpsing something negative. Instead her mind filled with images of him smiling and joking with Shikamaru and Choji, of him shooting baskets in gym class in the school's awful, purple, shorts. Of him looking at her with those happy, gorgeous, blue eyes. Of him standing up in class and ordering Gaara of all people, to sit down.
She gave up as the bell rang, completely unable to think of a single, awful, thing.
~*~*~*~
" What the hell?"
" Don't say I didn't warn you."
" You mean that's…"
" Yes."
" Seriously?"
"Yep."
" Sweet."
Shikamaru gave Kiba an arch stare.
" What, it's not like you weren't thinking it."
" Thinking what?" Naruto asked, approaching. From what he could tell his two friends were just staring down an overly crowded hallway. Then again…that crowd was awfully congested…packed even…and not really moving... Almost like a… " And what's with the mob?"
Shikamaru sighed. " I told you guys before. It's homecoming week."
" Yeah and?"
" My God, don't you two remember anything?"
Naruto just stared blankly.
" Forgive him", Kiba grinned, " he was dropped one too many times as a baby."
" Like you're one to talk."
" I was not dropped", he replied, " I was thrown. There's a big difference."
Naruto and Shikamaru just kind of looked at each other before looking back at him, each with one eyebrow raised.
"What?"
Shikamaru just sighed, defeated. " I'm not even going to answer that."
" You have to admit though", Naruto grinned, "It does explain a lot."
" Moving on", Shikamaru continued, cutting off Kiba's retort.
" Yeah, you never told me about the mob."
" It's homecoming week" Shikamaru stated simply, receiving more blank stares.
" So?"
" So it's practically official ambush Sasuke week. Apparently it took the girls some time to work up the courage, but once one did the rest felt the need to move in." He frowned, obviously less that thrilled.
Naruto paused a moment before allowing a huge grin to slide up his face.
" Sweet!"
" That's what I said!"
" I really need to get some new friends…"
~*~*~*~
" I'm going to do it."
" Do what?" Hinata wondered, looking expectantly at her friend. Sakura just bit her lip, fiddling uncharacteristically with her hair.
" I'm going to ask Sasuke to homecoming."
" Really?"
" Yep!" She smiled briefly, leaning back against a row of lockers, her eyes growing distant, as if imagining herself twirling around the dance floor in Sasuke's arms.
Hinata smiled faintly, watching her friend daydream. Was that what love was supposed to be like? She wasn't entirely sure, a fact that bothered her. She had a date tonight with a smart, cute, funny guy that her friend approved of. Everything should be great. She should be leaning against lockers, daydreaming about dances and wondering if he'd kiss her.
Wait!
Kiss her?!
She could feel a blush rising with her panic. What if he tried to? What would she do? Was she ready for her first kiss? How would she know when she was.
Damn it, chick-flicks just didn't prepare you for these kinds of things!!!
It was so strange, she mused to herself as Sakura continued walking, though still half-dreaming. She'd always imagined that when she met Mr. Right everything would just fall into place. He'd be perfect and she'd be deliriously happy, just like in all the books and movies.
Are you sure that's not just what you want?
What do you mean?
See, that's one of those annoying things I can't tell you. I can vaguely hint around the subject, nudge you in the right direction and throw overly obvious clues in your face, but I can't tell you the answer. It's one of those things you have to figure out on your own.
You're really not good for much are you?
Well fine then. I'll keep my overly obvious clues to myself.
You just do that.
I will.
~*~*~*~
What.
The.
Fuck.
Naruto stared blankly down at the piece of paper on his table, occasionally nudging Kiba and pointing at sections. The whole class was completely silent as the stared at the assignment. Possible the most random thing they'd done all year. They weren't even laughing at Lee, who'd come to school in a badly made finger costume that bore a striking resemblance to another part of the anatomy. Coincidentally one that was mentioned quite a few times on their worksheet.
In the front of the class, Kakashi watched their expressions, trying his hardest not to burst out laughing.
This was always one of his favorite assignments of the year.
"Well class, in case it's not startlingly obvious, I'd like for you all to read this story and fill in the blanks."
Oh yeah. They could practically hear the concealed laughter.
" Are you reading this?" Kiba whispered, biting his lip until he feared he'd draw blood.
Naruto nodded, not trusting his mouth. If he so much as opened it…
It just had so many issues.
Across the room he caught sight of Ino, staring in horror, and Hinata blushing like crazy, the hand griping her pencil shaking. Sakura's eyes were really wide. Sasuke was giving the paper perhaps the funniest WTF glare he could manage, as was Neji and Shikamaru, perhaps the only time those three would ever all agree on anything. Gaara had taken one look at it and thrown it in the recycling bin, refusing to participate.
Naruto really didn't blame him.
He cast a glance upwards at Lee who was studiously filling in the blanks in the story.
You have got to be kidding me…
He returned his gaze to his own paper and began to read.
The Story of Fertilization
Once upon a time, in a far away country called Loveland, there lived a small charming fellow named Seymour J. Sperm.
Loveland? Seriously? And did they really have to name it? And if so why Seymour? That drew up images of men in business suits trying to sell outdated vacuum cleaners to old ladies. He'd never wanted to imaging his sperm in a suit at all, much less selling machinery to old women.
He'd never even thought about his sperm being anywhere near old women. It never had been and frankly he'd like to keep it that way!!!
He began his life in an almond shaped gland called the , which are found in a sac called the , which hang under a long organ called the , where urine and semen passed.
Seymour, although young, immature and underdeveloped, was quite a dreamer. He was always yearning for far away places.
Great. Now his sperm had ambitions?!
As Seymour grew older, he spent a great deal of time (about 72 days) hanging out in the local , which are attached to each testicle.
When Seymour was old enough to move out on his own, he took a long trip through the , which are about 18 inches long, to the seminal vesicles. Seymour and his millions of buddies have trouble getting around until they get a "shot" of seminal fluid and other fluids that help them move along.
It was at this point that that All American Rejects song, Move Along, began to play in his mind. A soundtrack to his sperm's life story…
Joy…
At this time, Seymour found himself being forced through the , which was now hard and filled with blood.
Oh. Dear. God… Biting down hard on his lip he snuck a peek over towards Hinata.
Yeah, she was slowly dying of embarrassment. Her face was as red as he'd ever seen it and she kept pulling at her pony tail, willing her hair to cover her face.
He'd noticed she'd worn her hair up today. It was unusual. Pretty. She wasn't hiding - well, she hadn't been - from the world behind poofy jackets and long curtains of hair. And she was wearing make-up. You could see her face, her huge, violet-colored eyes, her adorable nose, her shy pink lips that begged to be teased into a smile, all set onto the backdrop of her creamy, smooth, skin. She truly was beautiful, and today, embracing that beauty, even a little, made her glow in a way she never had before. He couldn't help wondering what had caused the change.
It couldn't possibly have been what he said…could it?
No, no it couldn't be. One compliment from an anonymous source could never be enough to cause this drastic a change. He couldn't possibly mean enough.
And for some reason that made his chest ache…
Refusing to deal with this now, with Kiba so close, scared that these unfamiliar feeling might stir up the jealousy and anger he'd felt before, he quickly turned his eyes back to his hilarious, highly embarrassing, assignment.
In the meantime, Olivia Ovum, a sweet young egg cell, had left her home in an almond shaped organ in the female called the , of which there are two. She had been drawn in a nearby , tube by which the waving motion of finger-like structures called fimbria.
Well that had been a mistake…
Finger-like structures? That was what was in there? He'd never had any real, personal experience with that part of the female anatomy, and somehow this wasn't making it seem more enticing…
She was carried along by the slight contractions of this tube, and came to rest about one-third of the way from where she had entered, excited by the possibility of meeting the man of her dreams. She knew she'd only be around for 24 hours, so she hoped he'd hurry.
Meanwhile, Seymour found himself at the back of a long canal called the . He raced for the target ahead with his buddies in close pursuit. Full of energy and determination, he swam swiftly, passing into the uterus whose walls were covered with a thick, spongy lining of blood vessels. He whipped his tail as hard as he could into the organ until he saw a "T" in the road. Which way should he turn? Looking back over his shoulder, he saw his buddies closing in on him. Now he was really nervous. Turn left or right down Fallopian Lane? Taking a deep breath and realizing his chances of success was only 50%; he headed into the left to the long narrow tube.
Wow…dramatic much? Tapping Kiba on the shoulder he drew his attention to the paragraph he'd just read, slight laughter escaping as the two communicated silently through their eyes as only best friends can.
It didn't make it any easier not to laugh, especially when Kiba started quietly humming the Mission Impossible theme song and making discreet sperm-swimming-motions with his hands.
Even Shikamaru had to fight back a chuckle.
Hands clamped over his mouth, Naruto let his head fall to the table, shoulders shaking with suppressed laughter. Cracking one slightly wet eye open he tried his best to read the last paragraph.
Feeling tired and somewhat confused, he continued to swim through the tube as fast as he could. There, near the other end, he saw HER! She was quietly waiting for him. She was the female cell, the one and only Oliva
. His heart skipped a beat. Quickly he swam toward her, broke the membrane that surrounded her and the two, the male cell and the female
cell, became one. O, what a beautiful day.
As revenge against Kiba he began to softly sing the E-Harmony song.
Oh yes. Revenge accomplished.
The clock was slowly ticking away, class almost over…
" So", Kakashi announced suddenly, " Let's go over this." Standing, he grabbed a piece of chalk and wrote the first 2 answers on the board. " Alright, now who knows the answer to number 3?"
No one but Lee, in his unintentionally ironic costume, raised their hand.
" Alright", Kakashi replied, grinning to himself, one eyebrow raised, " Lee."
" PENIS!" Lee answered, with extreme enthusiasm. " The long organ where urine and semen are passed is the penis!"
And that was just the final straw, the class's laughter drowning out the bell.
~*~*~*~
"The school board hates sex!"
"Excuse me?"
"You heard me", Naruto replied, plopping down across from Gaara, ignoring the strange looks he was receiving from the rest of his science class, Professor Orochimaru included.
" Unfortunately."
" Remember, health class?"
" Actually I'm trying to forget."
Naruto laughed, " I don't think you can. Not with Lee dressed up like…"
" He's supposed to be a finger…I think."
" That's not what it looks like."
" He has a fingernail."
"He just looks uncircumcised."
"Aren't you failing math?"
"Way to change the subject."
"Doesn't change the answer."
"Than yes, yes I am."
Silently, he held his hand out for the day's assignment. Digging it out of his backpack he handed it over, only to be glared at disapprovingly.
" This was your assignment?"
" Yes."
" There's no work on this."
" I don't know what I'm supposed to do."
" There's a picture of a hand."
" Pretty good huh? I'm getting bett-"
" The middle finger had enormous eyebrows."
Naruto couldn't resist the grin. " That's supposed to be Lee."
Gaara just frowned up at him. " This is why you're failing math."
" I'm not actually failing."
" You should be."
" If I didn't have an awesomely amazing, wonderful, intelligent, friend to help me out I would be."
Gaara just raised one non-existent eyebrow.
" Alright, give it back."
" At least write the problems down."
" Fine", he grumbled, digging out his math book, hastily scribbling various number and letters across the page while Gaara continued on to the second part of their lab write-up. Occasionally the red head would glance up at his friend, somewhat amused by his horribly frustrated expressions as he furiously drenched the page in chicken scratch.
Naruto Uzumaki had many talents, but penmanship was not one of them.
The look on the blonde's face, however, was quite different, his pencil still, as he appeared to be studying the purple eraser. It was strange…thoughtful and somewhat sad. Mostly confused, and it wasn't an expression he could ever remember seeing Naruto wear.
He sighed.
"What is it?"
"Huh?" Naruto's head snapped up, startled, " Oh, sorry, what was that?"
" What's wrong?"
" What do you mean?"
" No eraser is that interesting."
" Well, you know, this one is purple." He grinned, though it didn't reach his eyes, at his half-hearted attempt at humor. When Gaara said nothing, Naruto just sighed heavily. " I'm just…confused."
Gaara remained silent, but it was that somewhat expectant silence that Naruto had come to associate with Gaara's curiosity.
" Well…do you remember how I told you about that e-mail I got last Friday? From Hinata? And how I've been talking to her?"
He nodded.
" Well… we've been e-mailing back and forth and well…" He took a deep breath, blurting the rest out quickly and with limited breathing, " Well we've been talking and I mean yeah she doesn't know me but she says she likes me anyways and I've been feeling really weird and she's going out with Kiba tonight and I'm jealous and I don't know why and I told her she was pretty because she is pretty and then she put her hair up. There's lip gloss involved and then she's my baby's mother and, well, I guess you know that but yeah." He took a deep, gasping breath. " Yeah…that's pretty much it…"
Gaara just kind of blinked, trying to follow the story. He was stuck somewhere around " going out with Kiba" and was waiting for the rest to catch up. When at last he did, he shook his head as if to clear it away.
It just had to be about a girl didn't it? No one would deny that Gaara's experience in these matters was…limited. By choice of course. A few girls had tried pursuing the " moody bad boy" when he'd first transferred in, only to be bluntly and rudely shot down.
" So, you've been talking online and she doesn't know who you are?"
" Right."
" And she said she likes you?"
" Yes, well, Noodlefox, but yeah."
" Kiba actually got a date?"
At the incredulity marring his constantly monotone voice, Naruto arched an eyebrow. " Yeah, and?"
" Nothing. So you told her she was pretty?"
" Yeah, and she is."
" So you think she's pretty, and you're jealous of Kiba."
" Yes" Naruto replied, frustrated, " I heard myself quite clearly."
Gaara just ignored him.
" And you have no clue why?"
" No! And it's annoying as hell!"
Gaara waited a moment before giving this long-suffering sigh, eyeing Naruto the way Shikamaru often did. The way parents often eyed their idiotic children when they failed to grasp clearly obvious concepts.
" You like her."
" Excuse me?"
" Hinata", Gaara repeated. " You like her."
" What? No, what are you talking about? I can't like her, she's dating my best friend!"
" The best friend you're jealous of. Because he's going out with her, and you like her, because you think she's nice and smart and pretty."
Gaara returned to the lab book while Naruto let this sink in. There was a few moments of thoughtful silence before…
" I never said I though she was nice and smart."
Gaara looked back up. " So you think she's mean and dumb?"
" What! No! I just…" his voice, that had started off loud, was slowly tapering down to a near whisper. " I just never said it."
Gaara sighed once more. "You continued talking to her because you were interested, and you didn't complain about being partnered with her. That tells me that she's not a pink haired shrew with an obnoxious voice."
Naruto considered this.
" I was wondering how things were going with you and Sakura."
" Do you mind if I strangle her?"
" Nope. Strangle away."
" Good. Anyways, the point is that you like Hinata. I'm fairly sure that's the strange feeling you were talking about and it explains why you're jealous of Kiba after all this time."
Naruto stared at his chicken scratch paper, absently darkening the outline of his hand drawing. But he wasn't really seeing it. He was thinking about what Gaara had just said.
Was that it? Was he really in love with her?
~*~*~*~
" Alright", Sakura took a deep breath, bouncing on her feet, pepping herself up, " I can do this. I'm going to do this."
Hinata smiled at her friend across the lunch table. " I'm sure you can."
" Sarcasm?"
" What? No."
Sakura sighed. " Sorry, sorry. I've been hanging around Ino too much." She looked around, " Do you see her anywhere?"
" No, actually."
Which was odd. Usually Ino always ate with them. Hinata was sure she'd want to squeal over everything in health class - From Lee's costume to the day's assignments - but she'd made herself surprisingly absent.
" Weird." Sakura shook her head, thought concerning Ino a waste of good space at the moment. She'd needed to concentrate fully at the goal at hand : asking Sasuke to homecoming.
She'd been prepping herself all week, mentally preparing herself. She probably would have waited another day, her nerves sending swarms of butterflies to tap dance in her stomach , but she didn't want to miss her chance. She'd seen the way the girls had swarmed him in the hallway this morning, she might already be too late.
No! She wasn't. She couldn't possibly be!
Ignoring the sinking feeling caused by her previous thought, she took a deep breathe, watching the lunch line. Any minute Sasuke would appear, get in line to buy his lunch, and then she could ask him. She could practically imagine his arrival. He'd enter from the left, like always, talking to someone, usually Neji.
That was something Sakura had always accepted, and Hinata never understood. From Sakura's point of view, they were both from prominent families and should just naturally associate with each other. The way Hinata saw it, their personalities just didn't match up right.
Hinata followed Sakura's line of sight, contemplating about this. Just when had Sasuke and Neji become friends? It was just so strange…although she supposed they did have some things in common…They both got good grades, had girls flocking them…but still. She couldn't remember them playing as children. Neji had been at her house a lot when she was little, before his father - her uncle - died, and often his friends had come with him. As far as she could remember Sasuke had never been among them…
In fact, hadn't Sasuke spent most of his time with Naruto and Kiba? Yeah, she could remember that. The three of them had been all but inseparable until middle school…
Which was actually around the time he'd started hanging out with Neji… She hadn't seen so much of Neji since his father's death, when he was about 9 so it hadn't been startlingly obvious, in fact she'd never really thought about it.
She, unlike her friends, didn't spend a lot of time pondering Sasuke, so it only made sense that it'd never really come up in her thoughts…
Why was it again, that he'd switched so suddenly? Did he get in a fight or something with Naruto? Somehow she found it hard to imagine, fighting so bad with Naruto that you'd end a friendship. She couldn't ever remember Naruto getting mad enough…although she didn't really know him all that well…but still. He just seemed so…
She blushed at her train of thought, though why she wasn't entirely sure.
So easy to be friends with…
And she found that thought to be incredibly appealing. So much so that she completely ignored her inner voice's added commentary :
Or more.
~*~*~*~
Sakura's heart gave a little skip as she watched Sasuke's familiar form come into view. He'd just come from gym and his hair was still wet. She happened to know, from some…discreet observation…that's a good name for it…that he was exceptionally good at basketball and would get really into the game, running his head under the faucet in the locker room to cool off afterwards.
She had to admit, the result was extremely sexy. All that black hair falling in his eyes, dripping wet, trailing little rivulets of water down his face. She could get lost following a little drop down the curve of his cheek, settling into that little indention at the corner of his lips.
His lips…
No! Bad Sakura! Concentrate! Taking a deep breath she plastered her most adorable smile on her face, turning back to Hinata.
" How do I look?"
" Great." Sakura always looked great. Hinata had seen her roll out of bed in the morning, having slept in her clothes with her make-up still on, and look fabulous.
" Great." She grinned, before returning her smile to it's most adorable, beginning to approach. Apparently she did look just as great as Hinata had assured her, because if she hadn't been solely focused on Sasuke she'd have noticed the eyes of almost every other guy in the near vicinity plastered to her adorningly.
She didn't however. She had complete and total tunnel vision, and that tunnel let out at the object of her affection. She had to force herself not to run, taking deep breaths in through her nose, determined to keep her smile at its best at all times. She could not afford to mess this up.
She'd made it about half way across the lunch area, walking at her slow, seductive pace and drawing the attention of the entire male population, when the unexpected happened. Finally, Ino appeared.
Much closer to Sasuke that Sakura currently was.
Doing her best to look just as seductive.
Ino stopped by Sasuke, looking up at him through long, pretty, lashes, biting her lip in a flirtatious attempt at nervousness. Her hands were clasped behind her back while she delicately toed at the ground with one foot, drawing small circles in the dirt.
" Hello Sasuke" she started, her voice all light and simpering, " I, there's something I need to talk to you about. It's important."
He raised one eyebrow, his expression indiscernible.
" Well, I was just wondering, I mean…" She bit her lip harder. " I love you Sasuke! I always have, for a really long time. Please go to homecoming with me!"
Sakura was stunned speechless, stopping in mid-stride. Her vision grew fuzzy around the ends, the sound of her blood roaring in her ears. She had to leave. Had to get out of here.
How could this happen? Ino was her friend…her best friend. She'd told her about her plan, that she was going to ask him today at lunch. She knew how much Sakura loved him, how hard this was for her. How could she do something like this?
She didn't, couldn't, stick around to hear his answer, because she knew she couldn't bear for him to say yes. It was one thing to lose him to another girl, but to her best friend? That made it thousands of times worse.
Turning, she ran like hell. It wasn't dignified, and it sure as hell wasn't sexy, but it was the only thing she could think of to do. Vaguely, through the haze, she could hear Hinata calling to her, but she didn't reply. To reply would be to stop, turn around and go back, and she just couldn't do that. Hinata would forgive her, would probably never even be mad, so it was alright.
She wouldn't lose another friend, so it would be alright.
~*~*~*~
Hinata frowned, waiting by the curb for her father. She wasn't sure exactly what was going on with him, and it seemed that now was the time to think about it. She'd been pushing those thoughts to the recesses of her mind, pulling forth thoughts of Kiba and Naruto and the elusive Noodlefox. Now however, waiting for him to show up, seemed like a pretty good time to consider it.
Except for the fact that Sakura kept coming up.
She was worried, hadn't seen since lunch. She'd followed her, searched for her until the bell rang, but came up with nothing. Wherever Sakura had found to hide, it was a damn good place.
She had to admit, she was startled by Ino's behavior. She'd known what Sakura was planning to do, and while it was true she'd been snarky about the subject, she hadn't guessed she'd try to sabotage it.
Unless she's actually, really, in love with Sasuke too.
Huh?
She didn't get to hear the response, however, her father's car pulling up to the curb.
She wasn't a car fanatic or anything, she knew next to nothing about anything having to do with mechanics, but she had to admit that her father's car was nice. A Porsche, all sleek and silver and shiny from it's weekly wash. Putting her backpack in the backseat, she slid into the passenger seat beside her father, closing the door carefully behind her.
And then it was just the two of them, sitting awkwardly besides each other in the car.
" Um…where's Hanabi?"
" She's at a friend's" he replied, his voice betraying no emotion as he pulled out of the student parking lot and onto the road. They lapsed into silence, Hinata shuffling her feet, fidgeting against the tension.
It was always like this whenever they were alone- which wasn't often. Typically it was because her father had something he needed to tell her, whether it be a regular announcement or reprimanding her for something.
The last time was when she'd gotten a C in Geometry. She'd had to listen to his spiel about getting good grades and upholding the family name and such.
Her hands lay in her lap, her fingers fidgeting, watching Hiashi from the corner of her eye. He was staring, straight-faced at the road, and it was several minutes until he spoke. When he did, his voice was as detached and formal as ever.
" As I'm sure you've noticed, there's something I need to discuss with you."
" Um…a-right. W-what is it?"
He cast her a disapproving look, " You still have that stuttering problem?"
" No sir," she lied, with great effort to keep her stuttering under control. Her father had spent obscene amounts of money in elementary school, sending her to several doctors and a private speech therapist in an effort to find the source of the problem and correct it. He had refused to believe it could possibly be something as simple as shyness, oh no. Not in the Hyuuga clan.
" Good. I'm glad", he replied with no affliction in his tone to support his claim. " Anyways, what I wanted to discuss. I've been noticing some, abnormality in your behavior recently. You've been distracted and according to your sister you've been talking to yourself. This doesn't bode well for you or your reputation as a member of the Hyuuga clan and I feel that this should be corrected. Therefore" he continued, cutting off her shocked reply, " I've seen to it that you go to regular therapy sessions for the next few weeks until I'm sure there's no sufficient problem with your mental state."
" But-"
" It's been decided" Hiashi's tone was definite. " They start on Monday, directly after school. I suggest you rearrange any prior engagements to accommodate your new schedule."
Hinata couldn't even respond, knowing that he wouldn't give her the chance to anyways. Leaning back in her seat, she bit her lip against tears.
~*~*~*~
Ino sighed, leaning back against the wall. This was no, I repeat NOT, how that was supposed to go. She was supposed to saunter up to him, adorably, and confess her undying love for him. He was supposed to be slightly taken aback, surprised, possibly even blush, before admitting that she was all he ever thought about and that he'd love to go to homecoming with her. That she was so much prettier than any of those other girls and he'd been desperately wanting for years.
He was not supposed to raise one eyebrow, and tell her that she was crazy. That was NOT a reaction worth potentially ruining a lifelong friendship over.
Looking back on it she didn't even know what she'd been thinking. She definitely hadn't gone to school that day planning that move. It was just that seeing all those girls hassle him that morning had pissed her off. And then hearing Sakura talk about it, Hinata cheering her on, telling her she was perfect for him and that he'd be stupid to choose anyone else… Had they forgotten about her? She loved him too, just as much as anybody!
So she'd snapped. She'd been hurt and jealous and wanted to make a scene. Wanted to prove that Sakura wasn't the only girl for Sasuke. She knew she was plenty pretty enough, and for some stupid reason thought that'd be enough. She'd been sure that all she'd have to do was saunter up and bat her eyelashes, sure that he'd fall for it. Fall for her.
It's always worked on guys before. All guys.
Except maybe Kiba. She could remember trying once, in seventh grade. She'd batted her lashes at him, bit her lip shyly, and he'd turned her down flat. At the time she'd been completely stumped. Looking back on it, he was probably crushing over Hinata at the time…but still. She'd stolen guys from their girlfriends before. She was actually kind of proud of it, and he wasn't even dating her at the time. But still…
He'd been impervious, and that had pissed her off.
This didn't. This just hurt, though she was surprised to find that she mourned the loss of her friend more than the loss of the guy. She'd been stupid and angry and impulsive over a guy she was sure she was in love with. Now, however, in the aftermath, she wasn't so sure…
Was it Sasuke she loved, or simply the idea of him?
~*~*~*~
Kiba scowled against the cold. Where the hell was she? Didn't she know he had a date tonight?
He'd been waiting outside of Target for Ino and that damn egg to show up for 30 minutes now, and wasn't willing to wait much longer. He had to get home and shower and stuff if he was going to take Hinata out. He'd waited for this for so long and there was no way in hell he was going to let some blonde with a bad attitude ruin it for him.
Even if she did get totally owned by Sasuke today in front of the entire quad…
He found some sympathy for her seeping in through his resolve against his will. Damn faulty resolve. He was so bringing it back to Wal-mart!
Sympathy or not, he was about to throw in the towel when he saw her approaching, her dark purple jacket clutched tightly around her thin frame, guarding her against the cold.
Approaching him, all bundled up like that, he couldn't help but find her small.
" You're late." He frowned.
She scowled at him. " Don't take that tone or I won't allow you date Hinata tonight."
" Excuse me?" he replied, all sympathy blown away on the wind. " You won't allow me?"
She huffed up in an attempt to make herself seem bigger, " You heard me."
" Yeah, and who the hell are you to tell me what I can and can't do?"
" I'm her friend!" Ino snapped, already at the end of the rope. " I'm not doing so great with friends right now and I'm not going to let you hurt the one I'm pretty sure I still have left!"
He tried to think of a response, something malicious and stinging, but he came up empty. She was standing there, terribly thin, yelling at him and shaking at the same time. She was trying so hard to be strong, a force to be reckoned with , and yet there were the beginning of tears in her eyes. He wasn't sure if even she'd noticed them yet, but he could see them. They stirred up those old feeling of sympathy from before and he found himself unable to retort.
He gave a tired sigh, raking a hand through his hair. " Do you have the egg?" he asked, his voice soft.
If he was trying to throw her off he'd succeeded. She didn't reply for a second, the tears starting to tremble, just an inch from falling, before she nodded, blinking them back. Carefully, she pulled the egg from her pocket. " Do you have the camera?"
He nodded, holding it up. She nodded back, smoothing back her hair a little.
" Okay, I guess, just take a picture of us."
She sat up on the childish carousel pony, not bothering to deposit a quarter, and placed the egg gently in her lap, holding it there with cupped hands.
Removing the lens cap, Kiba focused on the scene. He had his finger on the button, but didn't press it. He just stared, watched her through the camera. She wasn't crying, but she wasn't happy either. Her eyes were still terribly, horribly, sad, and he found that bothered him.
He never had been good with upset women. Generally when his mother or sister was upset he'd fled to his room or to a friend's house. It was unsettling and he never knew what to do with his hands…
Flashing the picture, he handed the camera to her. She didn't say anything, just handed him their egg-child in exchange and waiting to see what he'd do.
He wanted to make her smile, he decided. If she was happy, things would be a lot less uncomfortable. He held the egg up in the air, making funny faces at it and earning the concerned stares of many passer-bys, but it didn't seem to have any effect on Ino. She just snapped a picture and walked over to where he stood.
" We need one of the two of us with her?"
" Her?"
" The egg" Ino replied, her voice sounding tired and exasperated.
" Oh…" taking the camera he held it out in front of him before casually throwing an arm around Ino's shoulders. At least, he'd meant it to be casual. Once it was there, however, he found himself hesitant to push the button once again. While she wasn't short, she was definitely slim, small-boned, delicate. It completely contradicted his opinion of her. The way she held herself and spoke and laughed like she owned the world was in complete contrast to the way she was not and it was disarming.
He found himself tightening his hold on her, Pulling her just a little closer, rubbing her arm with his hand soothingly. He could feel her stiffen, her surprise.
She was surprised. She wasn't surprised he'd touched her, he was a naturally touchy-feely person. What did surprise her, however, was how warm he was. It was in direct contrast to the cold autumn air swirling around them and she found herself leaning into it. Between it and the gentle circles his hand was rubbing on her arm it was… comforting…
And it was over all too soon. As soon as the camera flashed he'd pulled his arm back, checking the photo.
" Did you get it?"
" Yeah", he replied, his voice a little strange.
" Good…then I guess we're done here."
" Yeah. I guess we are."
" You should hurry back…you've got a date in half an hour."
" So, you approve?" His tone was light, one eyebrow raised somewhat playfully and she faintly smiled.
For some reason, that one, coaxed, smile made him feel like the king of the world.
" Yeah. I do."
And she really did. He really was as cool as everyone said, even if he did have poor taste in friends. He was smart and funny and very, very, warm.
And he'd make a great date.
For her best friend…
~*~*~*~
Therapy.
He'd actually signed her up for therapy. No talking to her, double checking his sources, nothing. Just blatant disregard for her feelings.
She wasn't sure why she'd expected anything different, he'd done it before. After all, he was her father, and it was his responsibility to prevent anything from soiling the family name.
Especially his flawed, problematic, oldest daughter.
She wasn't sure whether to feel sad, angry, or to laugh out of sheer madness.
Go with the last one. I mean, you're going to therapy anyways.
Shut up! You're the reason I'm in this mess in the first place!
It was unusual for her to snap at anyone, though her inner voice was considerably easier and had been taking the brunt of her verbal abuse for most of this week, but she couldn't help it. Everything from the horribly embarrassing health assignment to her friend's whole issue at lunch - She still hadn't heard from Sakura - and that bomb her father dropped.
And she had a date tonight.
In about 20 minutes.
Great…
Staring in the mirror she wondered what she was supposed to do. Sakura would know, or Ino, but they weren't here.
She tried, like this morning, to fix herself up, but she couldn't. She was completely unmotivated, her heart not in it. That brief spurt of self-confidence from earlier was crushed under the weight of the day.
Under the weight of her father's words.
Why, why, was there always something to fix about her?
Always something wrong?
Brushing her hair out, she left it alone, hanging loose like always, pulling on a light blue T-shirt, hidden by her poofy jacket. Tugging on dark jeans, she looked at herself in the mirror. She looked completely and totally ordinary.
Just like always.
She was heading out to wait for Kiba when she heard the phone ring. A few minutes later, Hanabi poked her head in.
" That Naruto guy's on the phone again", she gave her a strange stare before covering the mouthpiece with her hand. " Where are you going?"
" I-I've got a date."
She tried to ignore Hanabi's look of extreme shock, though it stung just a little more than usual tonight. Her sister's gaze dropped to the phone.
" With him?"
" Um….no…"
Hanabi blinked, surprised. Since when did her sister even say anything to a guy, much less two?
" Well, he wants to know if you can meet him tonight", she said the words slowly as if trying to understand them herself. " At 8. Something about taking pictures…of an… egg…"
Naruto. An image of him smiling, sunny yellow hair, crystal blue eyes, invaded her mind, and somehow, imagining him made her feel all the more plain in comparison. He was light and confidence, while she was dark and insecure.
" Oh…tell him.." She heard a car horn outside. Kiba. " T-tell him yes!" She called back over her shoulder, running for the door.
Hanabi relayed her message and then hung up the phone.
" He's not going to come in?"
Hinata paused with her hand on the knob, looking back at her sister.
" I-is he supposed to?"
Seriously, how could her sister be this dense? Was she honestly supposed to believe that this girl was meeting with two guys in one night?
The horn honked again, and Hinata's look turned to one of panic.
" Just…just go" Hanabi replied, waving her off and returning to the kitchen.
Panicked, Hinata dashed out the door and down the steps towards the car.
~*~*~*~
Kiba frowned at the steering wheel. Was he supposed to get out of the car? He wasn't sure… I mean for starters he was out here in a jeep, in front of a gigantic three story house with a balcony coming off what he assumed was the master bedroom. He'd bet anything there was a huge, in-ground pool in the backyard, and if he did he'd be right. He'd known Hinata was rich, but damn… He couldn't help but feel…inferior… He didn't want to get out of this jeep, his comfort zone.
In his defense however, he had at least washed the jeep. He was sure that counted for something.
He honked one more time before she bounded out of the house and down the steps. He watched her approach, trying not to be disappointed. It wasn't that he expected her to be in some long flowing ball gown, all that shiny black hair piled up in her head, but…
He'd been looking forward to this night for a while, was wearing slacks for God's sake, while she…
He'd seen her make a bigger effort for school that morning. He'd been psyched when he'd seen her earlier, her face visible, her lips shiny and alluring. Now she was back to normal. Not that he didn't like her normal look but…
Maybe this wasn't as special for her as it was for him. That was probably it. He'd been building this night up in his mind for years, she'd just stuttered out a yes yesterday.
He refused to let it bother him as he leaned over the seat, pulling the lock up and pushing open her door. He shot her a grin.
" H-hello" she greeted, forcing a smile on her face. If it looked fake, he didn't notice.
" Hey, hop in and lets get out of here."
"Um…" she sent a glance back towards her house, Hanabi's words running through her mind, " Do you, that is, um…." her voice was tapering off to a whisper that he had to strain to hear. But the blush crossing her face was adorable. "Would you like to…to come….um...inside…f-for a drink….a drink, or something."
He frowned. " What was that? I couldn't hear you?"
" Um…d-do you want a drink?"
"Nope. I'm underage."
" N-no! No!" her blush deepened, her hands waving wildly in front of her as she denied his claim, " Not like that! L-like water or…or something! Um…"
" Hey, hey" he grabbed her wrists, much like Sakura. Unlike Sakura, however, his hands were hot on her skin and she had to fight the impulse to pull her hands back. " It was just a joke." He looked a little disheartened, his eyes apologetic, and so she forced her smile back.
" Oh…oh, um okay…b-but do you?"
No. That would require leaving his jeep.
" No thanks. Besides we're going to a restaurant, they'll be drinks there."
She nodded, ashamed of the relief she felt when he returned his hands to the wheel.
Kiba tried to smile a little as they rode in a somewhat uncomfortable silence, casting her nervous glances. Was she already sorry? No, no she couldn't possibly be. But what had she though of the jeep? He was sure it had looked out of place among the riches, but surely that didn't matter to her.
Did it?
Hinata bit her lip, her hands fidgeting nervously in her lap. What was she supposed to do now? Flirt? Talk? Enjoy the silence?
No. that last one was out. The silence was oppressive, slightly suffocating. She was glad when Kiba rolled down his window, pulling a little at the collar of his dress shirt.
Silently, he wondered what the hell he was doing in these clothes, and they were going to get to the damn restaurant.
~*~*~*~
True to his word, Kiba had indeed taken her to a restaurant. It was nice, with tablecloths and dim lighting and everything. There was even the faint sound of violins audible in the background, and people were eating things from other countries that they couldn't pronounce.
It was romantic and nerve-wrecking.
On both sides.
Kiba had tried. This was taking a good three week's salary to pay for, a sudden impulse and an advance from his boss, but would be worth it if she fell for him. He was sure she liked him, at lest a little. She did say yes. Now he just had to impress her into love. Show her that he was more than just the middle-class, mildly scruffy, guy from school, with the slightly rusty ( if not clean ) jeep. He wouldn't have her worry if they belonged together.
That wasn't, however, what she was worrying about. She was wondering what to do with which utensil, and if she should have dressed up more. Or at all. This seemed like the kind of place you dressed up for and she'd caught the look the maitre-d had sent them when they came in.
And she couldn't help wondering if she would get in trouble for this? A lot of her father's associates ate at places like these and the last thing she needed was for her father to hear about this. She hadn't told him she had a date tonight, hadn't had the chance to, hadn't asked permission, and she just knew that would upset him.
Yeah. He'd probably go off on some tangent about how you should have told him and how he had to hear from some random person about how his young daughter is running around with boys. Cute boys, admittedly, but those are the worst kind!
What? I'm not running around, and it's just Kiba!
And Naruto. Don't forget Naruto.
How could she? Somehow, she doubted she ever could.
Naruto Uzumaki would be a very hard person to forget.
Say yes.
What?
God, you always do this. Do it now . Ask questions later.
But-
Yes.
" Um, yes." She said aloud, wondering to what she had just agreed.
Kiba was looking at her strangely, before letting his lips tip upwards slightly.
" That's good. I'm glad." He gestured towards the plate of pasta that had apparently been delivered during her little mental conversation. " Is it good?"
" Um, yes." she said on impulse, and was rewarded with a smile.
" Good." He grabbed his knife and cut into his steak, chewing the tender meat. At least the food was good. He was paying enough for it.
They elapsed into silence once more.
Say something funny.
Like what?
A joke, an amusing anecdote, it's your date. Say something.
" Um…"
Kiba looked up. " Yeah?"
" Um…I….did you see…um" See what damn it!
Kiba grinned. " Lee? Yeah, that was great. I mean there are tons of other guys who would make naturally better dicks that him but-"
" I-I-I- t-think h-he was a- a finger…." She stammered, blushing madly and staring at her plate, trying not to notice the offended stares form the other diners. Did Kiba really have to talk so loud? How could he even talk about those things at all?
He seemed to notice his mistake, and if Hinata had looked up she'd have seen the faint blush over is own cheeks. Not because he was embarrassed about the subject, he did that all the time, but merely because he was botching this so badly.
~*~*~*~
Unfortunately for Kiba things got no better. They had great periods of time when no one said anything, Hinata seemed off in her own little world, and he kept getting rude stares from the wait staff and diners. He'd managed to show off his finesse by knocking his glass of Pepsi over, so that it spilled into her half-eaten pasta, the glass shattering against the porcelain plate, the soda running onto both the carpet and her lap. He jumped up to help and farted, quite loudly, against his will.
He didn't think he'd ever seen anyone so red. Not even Hinata. By the time the waiter kicked them out, charging him and extra thirty-five dollars for the over-priced glass, she was completely humiliated. She hadn't met his eyes and had shivered on the ride home, wet and undoubtedly miserable.
Kiba wasn't feeling so great either, watching her shiver and wishing his heater worked. Stupid piece of junk. Guilty, he shrugged out of his jacket, offering it to her with a small smile.
Biting her lip and wishing to whichever deity could hear that her blush would go away, she suddenly had something soft and brown extended towards her. Her eyes widened a little in surprise and she turned to look at him. He sent her a small, repentant smile and shook the jacket a little. With a shy smile she took it from him, wrapping it around her shoulders, her legs pulled up on the seat. " Thank you." Her voice was little more that a whisper, but he heard it and it warmed him.
He wished he could say something cool, or witty. Something to make her smile. Something to salvage this horrible excuse for a first date. He loved her damn it, didn't that count for anything?
He snuck a look as he pulled onto her street, his heart constricting in his chest. She was sitting there, curled up in his seat, snuggled into his jacket, looking absolutely adorable. Biting his lip, he tried to think of ways to fix this in the five minutes he had left.
Putting the car in park, he got out, ignoring her confused look, and opened her door for her. She hesitated only a stunned second before smiling and letting him walk her to her door. He less-than-discreetly put an arm around her shoulders that she resisted the urge to duck away from.
He was trying. She knew that. It was just that it had been so…
It was her first date and it had gone like this. She didn't blame Kiba, it wasn't his fault. If anything it was hers'. She was the one who'd never been on a date before. She must have done something wrong. She always did something wrong. It just figures that she'd mess this up too…
Admittedly she'd built castles in the sky, dreamed about her first date. She'd foolishly imagined that it was one of those things that worked out, no matter what. It was always wonderful and a perfect memory. Not, faced with the reality of it all, she found herself disillusioned and disappointed.
Kiba looked over at her, stopping as they reached the door. He would do it. After all, he'd only wanted to do it for years. Now was his chance.
" So", he began, pulling his arm back, not seeing the look of relief that followed. " I'd say I had a great time, but…" he chuckled nervously and she managed a weak, passionless, giggle. He didn't notice the lack of feeling, too focused on his task, just as he'd missed the look of misery behind her fake smile all night.
" Um…."
" Yeah…"
The silence that followed was as suffocating as that in the jeep, the air riddled with awkwardness. Finally Hinata managed to speak.
" Um...g-goodnight."
" Oh, yeah, yeah…" As she turned to open the door, he caught her shoulder. "Hinata."
She turned, unsure about his tone of voice. The way he'd said her name, his voice all deep and raspy. His eyes were dark, but not in a bad way. He didn't look mad, he looked…
She didn't know what he looked like, but it sent nervous skitters up her spine.
It's lust. Passion.
Excuse me?
I said-
Her voice was cut off by the sudden press of lips against her own. They were rough, and hot, taking her completely by surprise. He was holding her by the shoulders, his fingers tightening their grip just a little bit, as he kissed her. She felt something wet trail along her lower lip, realizing with a jolt, that it was his tongue.
He was licking her lip.
What the hell was she supposed to do now?! Did he want to French kiss her? Was that what this was? Was she supposed to open her mouth or something.
Why wouldn't he stop?!
Probably because she wasn't resisting, but she wasn't kissing back either. She was just standing there, her eyes wide, wondering what in the hell she was supposed to do now.
When at last it ended he stared down at her, and murmured her name, before bidding her a soft goodnight and returning to his jeep. Unable to move, she watched him stroll away, until he was at last out of sight, before slipping quietly into the house, her nerves a jumbled mess.
READ THIS!!!! I HAVE COMMENTS!!!!
Okay, 1:
I expected this chapter to be longer. I planned to go into what happened when she met Naruto and everything, but when I got to this point it just screamed end of chapter. What happens with Naruto is extremely important and will be covered, don't worry, but just not now.
2 : THE HEALTH CLASS STORY IS NOT MINE. I DID NOT WRITE IT. I did however get it as an assignment a while ago and thought it would be perfect. And I was right! I'm very happy with how this turned out.
3 : Please tell me I'm not the only one who found it ironic that Gaara pointed out to Naruto that he loved her? I mean, Gaara has that little symbol for love on his forehead and just because I left it out of the fic doesn't mean it's not ironic. And I like Gaara and wanted him to be in the fic again. : )
Reviews make Redfairy happy!!!
___ Redfairy