~Give Me Love~

~Chapter 7~

Hinata awoke in the same place she had the previous morning with a painful aching in her back and little to no memory of the events of the night before. Her skin felt oddly dry, yet refreshed...as if every pore in her skin had been thoroughly vacuumed out. She was neatly bundled under the new comforter she had spotted the day before. She looked over to her side and found Shino snoozing away while leaning up against the wall near the futon. He was fully dressed, and his arms were folded and his hood was pulled over his face. He was not wearing his goggles.

Hinata sat up slowly and reached around to her back to figure out what all the pain was about. Her finger stroked along a gauze-wrapped stick-like object that must have been her wing at some point. Then, the previous night all came back to her.

A powerful feeling swept over her then, which was similar to the feeling you'd get if you'd found out that an old friend of yours had passed away. Strangely enough, she didn't feel like crying. She'd done enough of that for the past two days, and she felt like she just didn't have it in her anymore. Instead, she wrapped her arms around herself and thought about what this could mean. Well, she did know what it meant, actually...but she never thought it would actually happen.

It was the kind of thing your parents tell you when you're little to get you to stop doing something that they don't like. For instance, if you're making a silly face and they tell you that it will get stuck that way if you keep it like that. The same kind of tale was told to Hinata when she was a young cupid.

"Always do what you're told, or your wings will fall off."

"Hinata, eat your dinner or you'll grow weak and your wings will fall off."

"Don't ever prick yourself with one of your arrows, or your wings will fall off."

So many reasons, it made her wonder which rule she broke to cause this to happen. She was a bit on the clumsy side perhaps, but she never pricked herself with her arrows. She always did as she was told, including eating vegetables that she didn't really care for. Hinata was a good girl...so why did she deserve this?

"You're awake."

Hinata looked at Shino, who was now staring at her with his ominous eyes. Hinata couldn't help but jump a bit.

"Shino-kun! You gave me a start."

"Sorry. Are you feeling alright?"

"I guess so."

They were silent for a moment.

"You know, I don't scare very easy, but when I saw you in that bath, I never though I'd be so terrified."

Hinata stared at her hands. "I'm really sorry..."

Suddenly, she felt herself being embraced.

"Don't be. I'm just glad you're alright," she heard him whisper.

Hinata remained silent, finding a certain peace from the whole thing in the embrace that was her shell of safety. It was hard to even think. The warmth was all she could focus on...in fact, it was the only thing she wanted to focus on. But of course, it pulled away before she could object.

Shino gazed into her eyes with a calm concern. Hinata bit her lip.

"So," Hinata began, "what should we do now?"

It was a simple question with a very complicated answer. She couldn't very well return home now that her wings were nothing more than twigs, but what else was there other than being a cupid?

"Well, I suppose we should find out what's happening to you, and perhaps find someway to reverse it. In the mean time, you're welcome to stay here. We'll just take it a day at a time, alright?"

Hinata gave him a sad-half smile, then looked down. "Alright."

"Up for a little reading? Maybe the Konoha library has some information on your species. We can also get something to eat on the way. Surely you could use a pick-me-up after your fiasco last night."

She looked up at him and was greeted with a tilted head and a friendly expression.

"Shino..." she quietly murmured.

"Mmm?"

"I...I know I've said it before...but...but thank you. Thank you so much."

His smirk spread a half-inch wider before reaching out and ruffling her hair.

"You're welcome. Now come on, let's figure out our next step."

~o~

Shino's wardrobe was fairly limited, but not as limited as her own. Thus, she seldom put up a fight when Shino presented her one of his long coats and a thick pair of boots to wear on their way to the library. The coat was said to hide her stubby little wings better, but Hinata found the cover to be rather superfluous considering that she was invisible to all but him. However, the next events would prove the coat to be more useful than expected.

Shino walked upright with a slow, steady pace, with Hinata clinging to his arm. Shino seemed to be getting more awkward glances than usual, and was even tossed the occasional long, confused stare. This encouraged Hinata to cling to him even more. Although she was certain that she had no reason to fear people seeing her beside him...she wasn't...that certain about it. In fact, it seemed like most of the stares were focusing on her rather than her companion. She tried to wave it off as imagining things, but then...

"SHINO ABURAME! AM I SEEING WHAT I THINK I'M SEEING?!"

Hinata looked to the rooftops where the shout had echoed from, and down bounded an enormous white beast that landed directly in front of them with a thump. From the beast's back slid a scruffy, dog-eyed punk with tribal stripes on his cheeks and a jacket that screamed 'Look at me, I'm such a badass.'

Hinata ducked behind Shino, who stood unwavering as always. When the wiley man approached him, he clapped a hand on his shoulder.

"I never thought I'd see the day..." the man exclaimed with a smarmy grin on his face.

"What are you talking about, Kiba?" Shino calmly, yet sternly replied. Hinata remained somewhat hidden behind Shino, staring meekly at the instrusive visitor.

"That Shino Aburame would go marching through town with a dame on his arm, that's what!"

Hinata's eyes widened when she realized that the man was now looking directly at her. He could see her, she knew...and it terrified her.

"And what a cutey she is, too! Hey, no need to be shy, I'm Kiba! I'm Shino's teammate!"

Kiba extended a friendly hand to her, but Hinata dared not take it. She crushed Shino's cloak in her frightened palms, and continued to hide like a terrified toddler behind their parent.

"Leave her alone, Kiba. She's not used to people she hasn't met." Shino stated, stepping back to create some space between himself and the dog rider.

Kiba retracted his hand and folded his arms. "Hmph, fine. Where'd she come from, anyway? I've never seen her before."

"I found her on my last solo mission. She was an escapee from a village northwest from here that had been pillaged and burned. She had no where to go, so I'm housing her until we find a place for her." Shino explained, cool as a cucumber.

"Huh...that's pretty chivalrous of you Shino. Does the Hokage know about her?"

"Of course," he replied, without skipping a beat.

"Well alright, then. So where are you two lovebirds headed?"

Shino grunted. "We're not a couple."

"Bullshit. She's wearing your clothes and you expect me to believe you two aren't getting it on?"

Hinata was just about ready to die of embarressment, when suddenly she was overcome with a sense of bravery. Shino was obviously protecting her, so why couldn't she do the same for him?

"My...my clothes were destroyed...all my p-possessions...A...Aburame-san was kind enough to l-lend me some c-clothes."

"She speaks!" Kiba exclaimed, while folding his arms.

"We...we aren't...sleeping together..." Hinata trailed off, cheeks flaring.

Kiba burst into a tremendous laughter, then gave Hinata a rough tossle of her hair. It was friendly, but greatly unwelcoming. She felt Shino's arm wrap around her and carry her forward, on past Kiba.

"Aw c'mooonnn," she heard Kiba call, "I was just messing around!"

But that was the last she heard of him.

~o~

Hinata barely had time to ponder what it meant that she was starting to be seen by other mortals before a familiar pair of girls approached her with enthusiam.

"Shino-kun! Who is your pretty friend?" Ino asked with bright-eyed eagerness.

"I've never seen her before...is she a civilian? Why is she wearing those unflattering clothes?" Sakura asked with insufferable judgement.

"I'm...from...a village...b-burned down...um..." Hinata began to stutter in a panic.

"She's under my care, yes the Hokage has approved of her, no she doesn't want to be bothered. We have some business to attend to." Shino said sharply, his face adorned with his usual scowl.

"Not in that get-up," Ino replied with crossed arms.

"Seriously Shino, you don't expect such a pretty thing to go out in public in your creeper outfit, do you? I hope your 'business' means buying her something to wear." Sakura added.

"Unh-uh," Ino said while grabbing Hinata by the arm, "I don't trust Shino's taste in clothing. It's only a matter of time before she's wasted under layers of Aburame monstrosity. Let's take her shopping ourselves, Sakura!"

Shino did his best to keep Hinata in his grip, but Sakura and Ino were relentless. Before he even had time to react, Hinata was hooked in the elbows of the two vibrant woman and was being hauled off to the shopping district. Shino's shouts of protest became a dull noise in a matter of moments.

Once they were out of earshot, Ino and Sakura turned to the startled Hinata.

"So what's your name, chicky?" Ino asked.

"Um...Hi...Hinata."

"Oh, what a pretty name!" Sakura chirped.

"Hinata, huh? Well my name's Ino, and this is Sakura. Don't let her giant forehead scare you off...as far as I'm aware, it hasn't eaten anyone yet."

Sakura gave Ino a sharp punch to the shoulder. "That's because you're too ugly to eat!"

Hinata stood with her arms wrapped around herself, not sure what to do. They seemed friendly enough, but she was in dangerous territory. Shino was nowhere to be found, and she wasn't very good at lying about herself. Eventually the girls stopped bickering, and turned to her once again.

"So Hinata-chan, have you ever been to the Konoha shopping district before? It's not as exciting as other places, but they've got some nice selections. Better then that ugly trenchcoat you've got on." Sakura asked while pointing a judgemental finger at Hinata.

Hinata tapped her fingertips together and looked to the side. "N..no...I haven't."

"We should try Sunny Days. They usually have some one-peices that are simple and inexpensive." Ino suggested.

"Oh, that's a great idea! Then maybe we can go to Ra-Ra's and get her some panties. Surely she needs some!"

"Then we can drop by the BBQ joint for lunch!"

"Alright, looks like we got a plan! Let's go, Hinata-chan!"

And with that, Hinata was unwillingly dragged off into the heart of Konoha's most populated area.

~End of Chapter 7~