A/N: And so the plot thickens. :3 I don't own Naruto.

Hinata fidgeted for a while, but Kiba waited patiently for her to finally open her mouth.

"Well, umm… I'm sure you've heard me being called the 'disgrace of the Hyuga clan'?" Hinata inquired and actually wanted to know whether he had heard it or not. She was betting on a yes, but…

"Actually, no. My mom has been a lot gentler with her words and has only called you 'bad influence.'" Kiba stroked Hinata's hand with his thumb and urged her to go on. She chuckled and nodded.

"Anyway, I haven't been popular within my clan, ever. When my mother was still alive I could expect visibly friendly treatment, but when I was six, she passed away, and all of the clan turned against me. Why was I not as calm and collected as any other Hyuga – why was I not as graceful as my mother and so on. I think most of it all was, and is, caused by my resemblance of her, but it was still too much for a six-year-old. When I understood that there was nothing I could do to make them acknowledge me, I sort of gave up."

Kiba felt sad seeing the painful expression on Hinata's face, but at the same time he sensed that telling these things made her feel a bit easier. He could smell the nervousness slowly fade away as she poured her heart out, the earlier hesitation washing away with each word.

"But then, when I befriended Ino and Sakura and got more reserved, I saw a small change in the atmosphere at home. My father would occasionally greet me with a small smile, and even Neji-nii-san sometimes spoke to me, once he even agreed to spar with me. But it didn't feel right, you know. I didn't feel like myself – it was as you said around that time, that wasn't me. And now that I've returned to my more natural self, the treatment I get is as cold as ever. It… it hurts not to be accepted the way you are in your own freaking home."

Tears were starting to form in her eyes as she gritted her teeth.

"I hate being a Hyuga – there's nothing but expectation after expectation to be le met, and you have to be so damn calm and cold all the time and I can't handle it! It's just not fair."

Kiba took the girl into his arms and rocked her gently, holding her close as she let a couple of angry tears fall down her cheeks. As terrible as it felt to see her so hurt, Kiba was glad that she had opened up to him. For once he understood the sadness she had been hiding so often, and he could barely imagine how it felt to feel unwanted in your own home, especially as Hinata spent a remarkable amount of time there. He was sure that she'd snuck out at times, but he was also well aware of the fact that she had a strict curfew.

Suddenly he recalled the nightly moment from over ten years back – the way she had longingly peeked into the family restaurant and then more or less played it off as a joke. He couldn't even comprehend how hurt she must have felt then, being left out of family events on top of constant ignoring.

"It's okay, Hinata, it's okay," Kiba whispered with a choky voice and rested his chin on Hinata's slightly shaking head. She held the brunette as close as she could from the position as she tried to steady her breath. He swallowed the uneasy feeling in his throat and breathed out.

"I'm… I don't feel like going home. Do you think I could sleep over at your place?" Hinata asked quietly, fidgeting so that she could look up at Kiba's face. He smiled more gently than he usually did and touched her nose with his.

"It should be alright." Hinata smiled back at him and leaned up to kiss his upper lip, then the corner of his mouth, and finally fully on the lips. Hinata placed her hands on Kiba's chest and melted into the kiss, her cheeks wet from her tears. The kiss was gentle and soft, and Hinata could've stayed just there for many more moments than she actually did.

In silence the two stood up and began walking to Kiba's place hand in hand. A few words were exchanged during the trip, but since the route they took was quiet, they didn't want to ruin it. And after all, it wasn't like their silences were awkward, quite the opposite – they had the most comfortable silences they could imagine. Besides, it was a lot more romantic to just listen to the grasshoppers and birds – why ruin it?

Kiba opened the door to his house and let the indigo-haired girl in. Secretly he was nervous about his mother's reaction, as he knew well that she didn't think of Hinata all that fondly, but to his luck she wasn't home. Hana, however, poked her head out from her study and greeted the two with a smile.

"Did you two have fun?" she smiled gently and stroked Akamaru, who walked to the door as well. Hana would've wanted to go to the festival, but since she had a lot to do, she couldn't. She had cursed it when she had looked at the brightly lit center of Konoha, but had been forced to accept her uneventful evening.

"We did, and uh, Hinata's staying over for the night. Could you keep it from mom?" Kiba begged his sister, his hand still locked with Hinata's. Hana raised her eyebrows a couple of times before agreeing, as she knew how their mother could be. As much as she thought about the best of her children, Hana had long ago noticed that she could, often, be wrong. And in this case, Hana took her brother's side without a second thought.

"It's a secret, then," the brunette said with a wink, her forefinger in front of her lips as a sign. Hinata and Kiba grinned and thanked her before moving upstairs with Akamaru. The dog greeted the two happily, barking cheerfully and wagging his tail.

Kiba shut the door behind them, while Hinata walked slowly around his room.

"So this is where you live," she said fascinatedly as she let her eyes wander around the TV and game console, a couple of posters on the wall, the unmade bed and every other little detail in the room. Kiba's eyes, however, were very much locked on the girl instead.

"I'm sorry that it's not as neat as it could be, I wasn't expecting you to pop over," Kiba said, but they both knew that he didn't mean what he said. Kiba wasn't one to care much about how he appeared to others, and Hinata wasn't one to judge someone, much less so if it was about a good friend of hers. Besides, it wasn't like Kiba's room was a complete mess – it just looked like a normal room. Akamaru found his place on Kiba's bed and exhaled loudly before closing his eyes.

Hinata turned to face Kiba with a smile on her lips. "Do you have some clothes I could borrow? I don't really fancy sleeping in this yukata."

Kiba nodded, and it didn't take long for Hinata to have a t-shirt and sweatpants in her arms.

"Thanks. And if you don't mind, I'd like a bit of… privacy," she said with a hint of shyness by the end of her sentence, which made Kiba let out a small laugh.

"Of course, or course," he hummed and sat on his bed next to Akamaru, gazing out of the window instead, only to notice that since it was dark outside and somewhat lit inside, the window worked pretty much as a mirror. He saw Hinata slip her yukata off her shoulders and let it fall to the floor, exposing her underwear-clad body in all its gorgeousness.

Kiba held his breath and quickly darted his eyes elsewhere, which this time was Akamaru. He stroked the dog's fur nearly frantically, trying to erase the image of Hinata's curves from his mind. Although what he had seen was a back-view – or exclusively due to that – he was getting somewhat excited, and that was the last thing he wanted to do. He was attracted to Hinata, painfully much so, but he didn't want to move that fast. He wanted to get to know her better in the romance field before giving in to the feelings of lust, and he also wanted to know that she felt similarly about him.

Hinata pulled the sweatpants up and sighed contently, feeling a lot more comfortable. She folded her yukata neatly and put it on the floor, glancing at herself from the mirror a few times before turning to Kiba.

"You can turn around now, Kiba-kun."

Kiba swallowed and turned around, stunned by the sight. Never had he ever thought that one day he'd see a girl wear his clothes, and that she would look that damn good in them. Both of the pieces of clothing were noticeably too big for Hinata, but the pants were adjustable and the t-shirt looked quite comfortable on the girl, even though it mostly looked like a bag that only showed that she had breasts – it fell down from them, not revealing any other kind of curves he now knew she had.

"What?" Hinata asked timidly when Kiba had stared at her for at least a full minute. The boy merely shook his head and broke into a smile.

"Those look a lot better on you than they do on me," he grinned and gave Hinata a thumbs-up. The dark-haired blushed lightly and ignored the boy, beginning to take the pins off her hair instead. Kiba observed as her hair slowly began to fall down until it was completely free. Hinata put the pile of pins on top of her folded yukata and eyed Kiba playfully.

"How about a match of Tekken?" she suggested and pointed at the lonely game console. Kiba shrugged and stood up, setting the game and equipment up. Before he sat down next to Hinata on the floor, though, he changed his yukata into a mesh shirt he used as a nightshirt and another pair of sweatpants. Hinata hadn't even tried to keep her eyes off his muscular back, and instead appreciated it with every fiber of her body. The way his muscles moved under his tanned skin when he pulled the shirt on… Hinata could've sighed dreamily, which she nearly did.

Now with a controller in his hands, sitting next to Hinata against his bed, Kiba started the game. "You're going down."

"Not if it's up to me," Hinata retorted and began feverishly attacking the character she'd chosen for Kiba while he had dressed up. The brunet responded with just as feverish attacks on her character, occasionally groaning as Hinata managed to bring him down and keep him there.

The two agreed on a game of five – whoever won five matches would be the winner, and would therefore be the one sleeping on the bed. The loser would have a bed made on the floor, which didn't quite appeal to either one.

Four-four and both of them were pumped up for the last match, which would decide where they'd sleep. They did their best, occasionally trying to distract the other one with a joke or something else, including a squeeze on their thigh, but it didn't work. But finally…

"Yes! I won!"

Hinata had a hard time holding the game controller in her hands as she stared at the TV.

"Hinata 4 – 5 Kiba"

She let her head hang down, accepting her defeat. Kiba had already put his controller on the floor and was now standing and jumping in excitement. Hinata pouted and stared at the boy.

"So you're making a lady sleep on the cold, hard floor?" she asked with the best puppy-look she could do, but Kiba only snickered with a nod.

"Hell yeah I am!" he exclaimed and walked to his closet in order to get a futon out. Hinata followed him with her eyes and stood up as well, helping him to make her a bed. Akamaru observed the two, mentally rolling his eyes – Kiba seriously had no eye for what to do with a girl. Even he was aware that women loved being pampered and cared for, yet there his companion was, taking the soft bed to himself and making a girl sleep on the floor.

The bed was made rather quickly and so Hinata sat down on the futon with her legs crossed, whereas Kiba sat on the edge of his bed and looked down at the girl with a smile playing on his lips. "How does it feel to be the loser for once?"

Hinata chuckled and hit his leg with her fist gently enough for it not to hurt. "Very good, thank you." Kiba smirked back and lay down on his bed after he had managed to get Akamaru to move enough. While he got under his quilt, Hinata walked to the door and shut the lights, then returned to her futon and got in it, her eyes locked on the roof.

Silence took over Kiba's room for several minutes, but both of them knew that neither was asleep. Hinata moved her eyes from the roof to Kiba's profile and bit her lip as she contemplated on whether or not she should open her mouth. Being Hinata, however, she decided to do it.

"Um, Kiba-kun?" she asked, as if to make sure that the brunet was awake. He let out a mumble and she smiled. "Can I come there? It really is a bit cold here."

Kiba didn't say a word – he merely raised his quilt so that Hinata could sneak underneath it, which was exactly what the indigo-haired girl did; she stood up, sat on the bed and swiftly got under the quilt, resting on her left side, and rested her head against Kiba's chest with her right hand sprawled over his stomach. She shivered a little, and Kiba could feel that she indeed was a bit cold. Therefore he pulled the quilt a bit higher and wrapped his left arm around the girl, stroking her a bit in an attempt to warm her up.

"Any better?" he asked quietly as he put his left hand on top of Hinata's right one, which was lying on his stomach. The girl nodded, although she hadn't paid attention to her coldness ever since she got on the bed, as all of her attention was on his heartbeat and warmth instead. Even through his shirt, Kiba's skin was practically burning against hers. Being so close to him made her warm up from the inside, anyway, and it would probably reach all of her body eventually, too. So, was she better? She was a lot better.

She planted a kiss on Kiba's collarbone and laid her head back against his chest, exhaling deeply. "Goodnight, Kiba-kun."

Kiba stroked her arm a bit and whispered similar words. Akamaru was fast asleep on the other end of the bed, and was soon joined by the other two.

The brunette woke up slowly to the sensation of something tickling his neck. His initial reaction was to swipe the bug away, but his eyes spread wide open as his hand was met with Hinata's soft cheek instead. The indigo-haired stared into his eyes with a mock hurt expression, pouting.

"That's not very nice," she said and playfully poked Kiba's neck with her index finger. The boy shook his head in amusement and turned to his right side before kissing her, now slightly on top of her. Hinata wrapped her arms around his neck and replied to the kiss, nibbling at his lower lip and deepening the kiss as Kiba allowed her tongue in.

His left hand grazed Hinata's side, slipped under her shirt and slowly moved up her abdomen. She breathed sharply and grabbed his wrist, bringing it back down when it had gone too high on her torso for her liking. Kiba chuckled and broke the kiss, staring at Hinata's tired, slightly glazed eyes. "Sorry about that."

Hinata merely shook her head and bit her lower lip, slightly uncomfortable by how much she was craving for his touch even though she didn't have the courage to let him touch her too intimately. She kissed him once more before pulling away and standing up.

"How about some breakfast?" she asked while stretching, which released a few cracks from her spine and neck. Akamaru was startled and turned to stare at her with his head tilted, but soon realized that nothing was wrong.

Kiba agreed to the suggestion and the two left downstairs as soon as Hinata had managed to make herself look more presentable, mostly by simply running her fingers through her hair and trying to make the clothes look less wrinkly.

The two walked downstairs with Akamaru behind them, and were met with a surprised Tsume in the kitchen. The Hyuga smiled at the woman, wishing her a good morning and standing awkwardly as she waited for Kiba to help her get some breakfast supplies out.

"Hinata stayed over the night," Kiba stated the obvious and got no reaction from Tsume. She had put the pieces together – were there really that many possibilities when her son came downstairs with a girl clad in his own clothes, at ten in the morning? If there were, Tsume was not aware. She swallowed her immediate distaste towards the girl, but as she felt like she had been getting too much on Kiba's bad side lately, she plastered the sweetest possible smile on her face.

"Did you enjoy the festival?" she asked, mostly aiming the question to the girl. Kiba proceeded to make himself and Hinata some toast, which left the girl socializing with his mother on her own. She stepped hesitantly closer to the older Inuzuka and continued her nervous smile.

"Yes, it was enjoyable. Both the food and the atmosphere were very great," Hinata said politely, hardly able to stop herself from bowing. Tsume relaxed a bit from her tenseness, proceeding to ask the girl about what they had done and so forth. During her explanation, the Hyuga was able to relax, too, which made Kiba feel more at ease. He was sure that if she just acted naturally, his mother would eventually soften.

And, well, Kiba knew his mother. The more she spoke with Hinata, the more she began re-thinking her own views on her. All this time she had lived with what she had heard of her, mostly from the Hyuga clan's perspective, but the truth was that as a person she was very amiable. She understood just how biased the view she had been fed by Hyuga Hiashi was, but she did understand that as likable as the young girl was, she still didn't quite fit her clan.

Tsume had never had such a pleasant, humorous conversation with a Hyuga before. She liked it a great deal, and Kiba was relieved to not see a trace of the previous detest in his mother's eyes. He wasn't sure if she had even looked at him so gently in a long time! Kiba was incredibly glad to realize that finally, after all those years, his mother had seen the girl in a new light. The three ate together, although Tsume only consumed the rest of her coffee whereas the youngsters enjoyed a couple of toasts and tea.

An hour or so later Kiba saw Hinata off mid-way to the Hyuga compound, now dressed in her yukata again.

"Thanks for letting me stay over," the Hyuga said and tucked some of her hair behind her ear, although it was rather futile as the wind was quick to fly it back to freedom. Kiba shook his head to say that it was nothing, really; he had enjoyed it.

"Maybe we could do it again," he suggested and took Hinata's hand into his. The girl smiled and tip-toed ever-so-slightly to kiss him on the lips.

"Maybe," she said brightly, encasing herself in Kiba's arms for a moment. During the night she spent sleeping next to him, she had figured out that she really enjoyed physical contact with him – any kind. Hugs, holding hands, lying next to him, even just sitting next to each other, she enjoyed it all. It certainly helped that Kiba was warm for most of, if not all the time, whereas she tended to be more on the cold side.

"I'll see you tomorrow," Kiba said and squeezed Hinata against himself. The two had agreed to only see the next day, as the girl was sure she'd have more than a few things to clear with her father, and Kiba had training scheduled with his sister. The hug was mutually broken, and Hinata began her journey home with a goodbye wave, and also got a wave back from Kiba. She wasn't sure if he had ever replied to her waves before, but at least he had now.

Kiba watched her walk into the distance and soon turned on his heels as well.

He arrived back home within a few minutes and met his mother outside of the house. She stood by Kuromaru and gave her son a serious look, which prompted him to ask about it.

"Do you know what you're getting yourself into by getting… intimate with her?" she asked, eyes locked with her son's. Kiba nodded determinedly.

"I really like her, mom," he said, an odd feeling of satisfactory filling his body as he said the words out loud. Tsume hummed as a sign that she had understood.

"She's really amiable, Kiba. I wish you two all the best, but… Are you – is she – aware of what Hiashi has been planning?"

Kiba felt his heart sink.

As Hinata reached her home, she was, just as she had expected, met with a very dissatisfied Hiashi. He sat on the porch, but stood up as soon as she entered the yard.

"Hinata!" His voice was forceful as he called his daughter, who winced and hurried her steps closer to the man. "Just where have you been all night and morning?"

"I-I was at a friend's," she stuttered slightly, frowning as her father came closer. Usually he'd only raise his voice, but it was rare for him to actually approach her. Neji's chuckle was audible from behind the nearby tree.

"Do you possibly mean boyfriend, Hinata-sama?" the brunet suggested with a sharp tone, stepping away from the tree's shadow. Hiashi frowned and turned his eyes from his nephew to his daughter, who was slowly starting to blush from both embarrassment and nervousness.

"Boyfriend?" the man repeated the word that felt like toxic in his mouth. Hinata was still startled by her cousin's words, and was only able to nod. "Are you telling me that you, a member of the Main House, have spent the night at a boy's house?"

To this Hinata wouldn't even reply; instead she began running to her room and shut the door behind her, placing some heavier furniture to keep it shut, as difficult as it was. She cursed the sliding doors under her breath as she sat down on her bed, trying to swallow the anxiety growing inside of her.

She was perfectly aware of how she was expected to behave as a member of the Main House – as a member first in line for being the heir. By breaking the code and getting busted like she had, there was no guarantee of what her father would do. The countless times she had heard him say "Think of the light you're putting the clan in" were echoing in her mind.

A knock came on her door. Three knocks and a silence later she heard Hanabi's voice.

"Nee-chan, is everything okay?" the girl asked with a worried tone in her voice. Hinata sighed and walked to the door, opening it after moving the furniture a bit. She let her younger sister in and shut the door again. Hanabi, clad in her usual dark gear, took a seat on the bed.

"Why are you here?" Hinata asked. She and Hanabi didn't spend too much time together, and there was always a specific reason for her appearance, usually a rather negative one. Hanabi stared at her feet as she kicked them in the air.

"Dad, he's… thinking about branding you."

Hinata felt her body go numb and her ears go deaf. Hanabi raised her pale eyes slowly, giving her sister a sad look.

Hinata couldn't say anything. She wanted to; wanted to ask why, but the words wouldn't come out. Hanabi sensed this and stood up, walked to her sister and hugged her tightly.

No words were exchanged, but for the first time in ages, the two felt like sisters.

A/N: I had not been planning that, but .. there it is. Reviews would be very appreciated!