Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.
Author's Notes: So what we have here is a relatively short wait and a longer chapter than the last one! Will this trend continue? We can only hope...
Thanks to everyone who has reviewed! I appreciate them all so much!
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"You know you should get some sleep when the sheep you're counting start to hit the fence." - Duo Maxwell
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Hinata shivered as she came into her apartment building, stomping to get the snow off her boots. She smiled at Richard as he opened the door, and his old face broke into an answering smile that showed off his crooked teeth.
"Good evening, Hinata," he said. "Did you have a good day?"
"Very. And you, Richard?"
"Oh, just fine. The dog is back."
Hinata frowned, wriggling her toes in her boots to keep them warm. "The yappy one, or the one that pees?"
"The one that pees," Richard said, sighing mournfully and indicating his shoe. "I'll never get the smell out."
"Baking soda might help," Hinata confided as they walked to the elevator. He waited with her until it opened.
"Have a good night, Miss."
"You too, Richard."
The elevator only stopped once, on the second floor, to admit tall man with an affinity for the mafia look. A black trench coat over black leather pants, a similarly colored hat on his head, pulled down low. Hinata could see why almost immediately, the poor man's face was covered in deep, puckered scars.
He must have been in an accident, she thought, sadly. Poor man. She kept her eyes forward, trying not to stare, but unable to resist peeking at him every now and again. He looked frightening, and she had half a mind to be terrified, but there was also something comforting about him. He reminded her, for some strange reason, of Sakura's grandfather. He had been a rough man, but had a heart-of-gold underneath the gruff exterior that had won over every person he had ever met.
Hinata got the same feeling from this man, but she couldn't pinpoint exactly why.
He stepped off with her at the fifth floor, moving with perfectly measured strides. "I just moved in," he announced. "Down that way."
Hinata nodded. That apartment had been vacant for years, a rumor of ghosts had scared many potential buyers off. "It's nice to meet you. I'm Hinata Hyuuga."
"Ibiki," he said, shaking her hand. His hand had scars too, a rough patchwork half-hidden by his long cuffs. "Nice to meet you too."
"What do you do?" Hinata asked, as they walked down the hall. She could hear Jimmy wailing in 506 and winced in sympathy for Mrs. Jerry. Jimmy always seemed to be crying after his father left.
"I'm a plumber," Ibiki said.
Hinata may not have had to language of eyebrows down as well as Sakura and Sasuke, but she knew enough that Ibiki ducked his head. "Sometimes," he added. "Usually, I work as a Private Eye with the local NYPD."
"So the next time someone had stolen my plumbing?"
"You come see me," Ibiki affirmed. He didn't quite smile, Hinata wondered if he even could, but there was a fatherly affection there. "Nice meeting you."
"You too," Hinata said, nodding her head as she slipped into her warm apartment.
Humming, Hinata kicked off her shoes and dumped her purse on the hall table. "It's been one week since you looked at me," she sang, debating whether to have hot chocolate before bed. "Cocked your head to the side and said I'm angry."
"There you are!"
Hinata shrieked as she was lifted off the floor and spun around, terror battling with dizziness. There is someone in my house! Where's the baseball bat? I've got to get to the baseball bat.
As soon as she was back on her feet Hinata spun, barely checking her well-aimed slap before it left a bruise on Kiba's grinning face. She only hit him lightly, and almost immediately wished she had hit him harder. He deserved to be hit harder.
"You nearly gave me a heart attack!" She yelled, slapping his shoulder. "Geez, Kiba!"
"Sorry, sorry," Kiba placated, holding up his hands in surrender. "I didn't know you didn't know I was here."
"How could I possibly know that you've taken up a new occupation of Home Invader?"
Kiba looked affronted, and pouted. "I left my boots in the hall."
He left his boots in the hall. Well of course that gave me plenty of warning. "Kiba," Hinata said clearly, sinking into a kitchen chair to calm her pounding heart. "If you ever do that again I will rip you apart and feed you to Akamaru. I assume Akamaru is here, too?"
"Yep," Kiba stole a chair and made himself comfortable, leaning back as far as he could. Akamaru slunk in from around the corner, and collapsed on top of Hinata's feet. He drooled and panted at her, and Hinata grudgingly scratched his ears. It wasn't like Akamaru had been the one to plot her early demise. "Can I stay the night here? My girlfriend kicked me out of my apartment for the night."
"Why? Did you try and scare her to death too?"
"No, Honey, you know you're the special one," Kiba said. When Hinata didn't laugh, and actually managed a semi-impressive glower, he changed tactics. "I'm sorry I scared you. I thought you knew I was here. Please let me stay?"
"You can take the couch," Hinata sighed. "But I'm going to bed early. I've had a long day."
"Well, it's not too early. It's already eleven."
"Is it?" Hinata asked, yawning. "I was over checking on Sasuke."
"Huh," Kiba said, and yawned himself. "I'll see you in the morning then?"
"Sure."
"Cool."
"But Kiba? If you ever, and I mean ever, scare me like that again, I will throw you out the window and let you squish on the pavement."
Kiba just laughed, and kissed her head. "And live without my boyish charm? I don't think so."
Hinata muttered something uncomplimentary about his parentage and made a show of stomping to the bathroom. She shut the door behind her, and was soothed by her bedtime routine, trying to ignore the foreign sounds of football announcers from the living room. Football. What was it with men and the modern day excuse for gladiators anyway?
"Hinata! I gotta go!" Kiba yelled from the other side of the door, accompanied by the loud bark of his dog. Hinata wished viciously that her apartment had a rule against dogs above a hundred pounds, and very nearly told Kiba to just go outside with Akamaru. She restrained herself only barely, and took a few moments to lean her head against the smooth surface of the mirror and willed herself to calm.
Anger. An emotion brought on by the denial of my fight response when Kiba picked me up. A release of endorphins and adrenalin that encourages me to lose control. There is no need to be angry. I just need to relax, let it go…
"I really gotta go!"
Drop him from the eighth floor with extreme prejudice and record the splunch noise he makes for posterity!
"Alright, alright," Hinata grumped. "Let me out so you can… go."
"Have you not had the lights on the entire time?" Kiba asked, laughing flicking on the switch behind her. Hinata blinked at the sudden brightness. Surely she had used the lights. There were no windows in there, it would be pitch black without them.
"Habit to turn them off and on I guess," Hinata said, sucking on a tooth. It wasn't bright but… I could see. Surely I had them on. …Ugh. Now this is going to bug me all night.
"Well maybe it would explain the toothpaste," Kiba said, flicking a spot from the corner of her mouth. He leaned a little closer, just slightly, just enough that she caught a whiff of aftershave.
"Thank you," Hinata said, ducking under his arm. I'm not going to feel guilty, I'm not going to turn around when he uses the Kicked Puppy Dog voice to see the Kicked Puppy Dog face. I'm not doing this again. I've given up one too many relationships in favor of not making Kiba sad to do it again. "I'll see you in the morning then."
"Right," said Kicked Puppy Dog. "See you then."
"Chocolate give me strength," Hinata muttered, leaning against her closed bedroom door. Wildly she thought of locking it, and then cursed herself for being silly. Kiba could be—well usually—alright, sometimes he was gentlemanly… but he was always honorable.
Usually.
"Ooh!" Hinata stamped her foot, muttered under her breath. "I could just—just—ooh! I'm going to bed! To sleep. And I'm not—I'm just not going to-"
Her sleep-deprived brain tried to find where she had been taking that statement, failed, and promptly switched off.
Groaning, Hinata fell into bed, kicking off her shoes as she curled up under the covers, closed her eyes, and tried to count the sheep that were running into the fence.
oOo
Naruto moved stealthily down the hall, the Mission Impossible theme song playing in his head. It was nine AM on Saturday morning, and he was going to take his Hinata out to a marvelous, surprise breakfast at Good Morning. Then they could spend the day together, and Naruto would have a safe excuse to be far away when Sasuke woke up to the mound of paperwork Naruto had left by his bed.
Ibiki was suddenly there, in that scary-stalker way of moving that he had, just walking next to Naruto as they walked down the poorly carpeted hall, and the theme song in Naruto's head hit a crescendo.. "Contact was made," Ibiki said. "A friend visited her apartment last night and has not left. Nothing more to report."
"You know," Naruto said, sticking his hands in his pockets. "You could just text me this stuff instead of going all The Informant on me."
Ibiki only sneered.
"Nice talking to you!" Naruto called as the scarred man swept into his apartment and his door shut without so much a click.
I have got to get him to try out for a part in a horror movie one of these days, Naruto thought, knocking on 510.
"Naruto?" Hinata asked, opening the door. She smiled at him, and invited him in with a kiss. "What are you doing here?"
"I was wondering if you wanted to go out with me today," Naruto said, trying not to wrinkle his nose. It smelled strange in the apartment. Almost like… wet dog…
"Hey, Hina!" yelled a male—male—voice from the bathroom. "Do you want me to make breakfast?"
"That's okay!" Hinata yelled back. "I already made it! Pancakes on the counter."
She's already had breakfast and there's a guy in her shower. So far, this morning is not going my way. Naruto desperately tried to distract himself with nonsensical thoughts, random, silly things, like how many feathers a duck had on its butt or starving children or how ripping apart the man in the shower would feel…
Naruto was glad his hands were in his pockets, because he knew that each one was now tipped in a sharp claw, the bubbling in his gut a sure sign he was close to losing his temper. There was a man in Hinata's house, one that had apparently spent the night, and she was acting like it was nothing. He wondered how the guy had convinced Hinata to do such a thing. It must have been coercion. Must have.
"Hinata! You didn't tell me anyone was here!" Naruto looked at the man, he seemed familiar, standing at the end of the hall in nothing but a towel, picking at his ear. "Hi," he was saying. "My name's Kiba, I think we've met before…"
"Maybe," Naruto said, focusing on anything but Kiba. I can't kill him, I can't kill him, I can't kill him—he touched her! He should—
"Kiba!" Hinata shrieked. "Go and put some clothes on this instant! No wonder your girlfriend kicked you out if you behave like this."
"I think she actually enjoys it."
"Kiba."
"Girlfriend?" Naruto interrupted.
"Yes," Hinata said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Kiba was kicked out of his apartment and crashed on my couch last night. Tomorrow, he will remind his girlfriend that he is the one with the lease, not her."
Kiba shrugged, not looking convinced, and headed into the living room to grab his clothes. Naruto focused on remaining calm, and slowly the sharp points on his hands receded.
"Are you alright?" Hinata asked, laying a hand against his head. "You look upset."
"Well, it was kind of a surprise to see a half-naked guy walking around your apartment after he apparently spent the night," Naruto said, regretting saying anything as soon as the words were out. Hinata looked crushed.
Her face crumpling like a pop can, Hinata stuttered: "I—I'm so sorry. He's been a good friend for so long that I d-d-didn't think about what it must l-l-l-l-look like. I'm sorry."
"Forgiven," Naruto said quickly, before she could start crying. "I believe you, I trust you—"
"I shouldn't have given you reason to doubt—"
"Not like you even realized—"
"It won't happen again—"
"You should be able to help a friend when you need to—"
"But you're very important to me too—"
"Would this be solved if I punched him?"
"No!" Hinata gasped. "You can't hit him!"
Naruto was devastated, but hid it behind a brave front. "You're sure?"
"Naruto!"
"I was just checking," he pouted. His nose caught a hot, fluffy scent, and he inhaled deeply. "Is that…?"
"Pancakes," Hinata said, taking him by the hand and leading him into her tiny kitchenette. He could reach between the cabinets without stretching his arms out all the way. "Would you like one? Or two?"
"Or three!" Naruto said gleefully, breathing deep. "Those smell amazing! So, would you mind if I dragged you away from work to spend the day with me?"
"Not at all!" Hinata said quickly. Too quickly. The I'm-horribly-guilty quickly.
"Really?" he said doubtfully.
"I was only going to clean and do laundry," she said. "Honestly. And maybe go see my father, but…"
"You should let him rot!" Kiba announced, sweeping into the room and peering over Hinata's shoulder. "Food?"
"Yes, food."
"I love you!" Kiba announced, and planted a loud kiss on her cheek.
Naruto kept the smile on his face through sheer force of will, and plotted Kiba's untimely demise. From the smug look, Kiba knew it, and was only too happy. He took the seat across from Naruto, smiling, and Naruto smiled back, hoping he wasn't showing off any fang. Die, dog, die slowly.
Two plates slammed down in front of their faces, jerking them out of their staring match. Hinata frowned down at them, a scary thundercloud of Greek goddess wrath saturated in a mother's disapproval. Both men cowered.
"The amount of stupid testosterone I allow in my home is limited. Kiba, you will stop antagonizing Naruto, and Naruto you will stop trying to make him pee himself. Now eat."
They ate.
Kiba almost ran out the door to get to work, and Naruto meekly helped with the dishes without being asked. It made Hinata much less frightening.
"So what would you like to do?" Naruto said, smiling tentatively. "We could go out, or just stay around here."
"What would you prefer?" Hinata asked carefully.
"Whatever you like? You've got housework, right? We could just hang out around here, maybe watch some movies, fold your underwear…"
"Naruto!"
"Sorry! I'm sorry!" Kind of, Naruto added in his head, not resisting the urge to drag the backs of his fingers across her red cheeks. She was cute when she blushed, it made her more human and less of some perfectly unattainable statue. "But, all jokes aside, I really would kind of like to hang out here with you today. See what it's like."
And remove any trace of that dog stench from your home. The couch is saturated. I wonder how she would feel about me buying her a new couch? It's gotta be old to sag in the middle like that…
"…uto? Naruto? Hello?"
"Yes!" Naruto yelped, jumping at the fingers snapped in front of his face. "Yes, um, I was spacing out. Right. Do you want a new couch?"
Wow, Naruto thought as Hinata stared at him in utter confusion, now that was the way to ask. Worst possible way to ask ever! I have to remember this when I'm proposing.
"A new… couch?" Hinata asked. She looked at her old one, as though trying to decipher its not-so-hidden discrepancies, that cute little frown line puckering between her eyebrows. "Why would I get a new couch?"
Backpedal, backpedal!
"'Cause yours is old."
Wrong way! U-turn! U-turn!
"Not to say there's anything wrong with old!" Naruto blurted out, his brain and tongue finally connecting. "I was just—it was just—can we just forget this conversation?"
"Did you have a couch in mind?" Hinata asked instead, surveying the couch critically. "I'm going to paint soon, so it needs to match the walls." She smiled at him, an angel smile, and Naruto stared dumbly.
She gets me, he thought in surprise. Which is kind of cliché and mostly dumb but… Hinata has got to be the most amazing woman on the planet. That's the only explanation.
"I figured we could just go to a furniture store. It would be my treat."
Hinata laughed like he had said something ridiculous. "This isn't like ice-cream. I can't just let you buy me a couch!"
"Sure you can!" Naruto said, loving the idea more with every second. He would get rid of the smell, and she would have something that was theirs in her apartment. He liked that idea. He really liked that idea. "Come on, let's go!"
"I'm not sure that—"
Naruto kissed her to cut off that over ambitious train of thought, and handed her her purse. "Do you prefer leather, or cloth? And how do you feel about cup-holders?"
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Author's Notes: If you find any glaring typos, let me know. I re-did before I posted it, and I proof read, but my proofreading doesn't count for much. Also, there will be PLOT next chapter. And Naruto being Naruto, if you didn't get enough in this chapter.
Any comments or questions will be answered via REVIEW!