Looking up as Sai approaches, drawing her eyes away from a book that is, by the title, a book about water gods and their rituals. Grinning a little she asks jovially. "Hi there. Where'd you go anyway?"
"I went to get you this." He offers simply, offering her a medic cross charm, dangling on a leather bracelet chain.
Blinking in surprise, her brows lifting, she takes it, though somewhat reluctantly. Because of the apple? "It's… nice, but you know you didn't have to…"
At this point, one of the last things Kakashi said comes back to Sai, "Hey! One more thing. If she says something like 'you shouldn't have', or 'you didn't have to' that really just means she likes it, but she's being modest."
"I'm just glad you like it." He responds, offering her a slight grin before bending down and picking up his drawing pad.
Feeling her cheeks heat up slightly, the brunette looks down, and chews her lip softly. "Th-thanks…" Now falling silent for a moment she suddenly gasps and claps a hand to her head. "Oh no! I got distracted, no one's at home with Daisuke!"
"Is that bad?" Sai asks innocently before noticing Hinata and Neji walking out into the clearing ahead with Hanabi between them.
"Well, he was restrained to keep his neck straight… You might, or might not've heard, but he hit his head on a tree really hard." Showing him the book she points out. "He thought maybe he had angered a water god because of where and when he went swimming, so I've been trying to find some information. Originally I just stepped out to get this book, but…."
"…Neji, I…don't really know what to do lately…" Hinata admits as the two Hyuuga over look Hanabi's training, a young boy about her age walking up to her and waving familiarly to the two elder clan members.
Acknowledging the boy, Neji then looks to his cousin, furrowing his brows in thought. "In regards to what, Hinata?"
"…everything in my life is falling apart…" She utters lowly, bowing her head and closing her eyes. "…I…don't know what to do, Neji-kun…"
"Does this have to do with Naruto?" He asks reluctantly with a blunt tone.
"…in part…" She admits after a long moment before covering her face with her hands. "…Naruto-kun…rejected me… He doesn't…care about me like that….at all… …Daisuke seemed kind of…uncomfortable when I went to see him…even though he did seem happy…but…I feel so guilty…"
Looking confused, Neji then asks quickly. "Why would you have need to feel guilty?"
"…I was…practicing my dance again…on the lake, and…he saw me… I was so embarrassed, I….kicked him…and I think that's how he got hurt…" She admits, cringing in on herself slightly. "…and it isn't even my biggest worry right now..!"
"I… see…" Then that has to mean… well I know why she was embarrassed. Clearing his throat at the thought of Daisuke actually seeing his cousin in the buff he looks off a moment before uttering. "Daisuke… is, I think, a very complicated person underneath his simplistic exterior. There is something about his chakra that seems… dark, and confusing. You're probably better to keep him as a friend, instead of an… interest."
Bowing her head deeper, she then only nods before uttering softly. "…I…don't know if I'll…be able to keep my promise to you…"
Blinking, a soft frown crosses his face as he looks to her hurtly. "What? Why?"
"Because my father wants Hanabi to take control from him instead… I can't do anything..!" She cries into her hands, shaking her head. "I want to do it… I really do! But he's trying to work around me…because he hates me so much… I don't know what to do..! …I'm so sorry, Neji..!"
His frown softening only slightly, the long haired male grits his teeth but then sighs and sags before looking off. "…If there's nothing you can do, then I can't really blame you. I can just hope someday, someone will understand the way you have."
"But I want to…I hate this..! I hate all of this! …There's so much more…I want to tell you…but I can't.." She sobs hurtfully, shaking her head as she does.
Watching her for a moment at a loss, Neji then just reaches up to put a hand on her shoulder comfortingly but remains silent.
Turning to him quickly, she looks up at him with tearful eyes before lunging forward and pressing her lips against his.
Caught by surprise, Neji freezes a moment upon the realization of it being her first kiss. His face starts to burn and he carefully turns away, keeping her loosely at arms' reach. "H-Hinata, we shouldn't…."
"Neji-kun, I love you..!" She cries out pitifully, holding his elbows tightly as her eyes continue to flow tears.
"Wh-what? But…" Looking around them quickly, he spies Hanabi now squared off with the others on her team and absolved in themselves before turning back to his older cousin. "…We're… a little close for that sort of thing and I…"
"Hyuuga cousins marry and date all the time..! ..I know they usually aren't as close as we are, but…" Casting down her eyes, she explains forcibly, making herself relinquish the information she had held for so long. "…I've been in love with you…ever since soon after Uncle died…but I was afraid you'd reject me, and how close we are, so…I started to fall for Sasuke…but then, he had so many girls over him all the time, I didn't think I was good enough…so, I…thought to be with Naruto…because no one seemed to want him… With everything going on lately, I…have to finally come to grips with the fact that…I'm…deeply in love with you, Neji-kun..! I always have been…. ….I'm just…so afraid of getting rejected again…by you of all people, I…don't know what I'd do… I feel so lost right now…!" She cries again, shaking her head as she moves into his arms again.
Patting her back gently, and still feeling a little at a loss, Neji just sighs worriedly. What do I do about this? I can't leave Haruka for her, but I also don't want to be the reason why Hinata might close off completely or worse; she can be so fragile.
"You've got to be careful. You're an Uchiha. I need you to help with the things we've been discussing." Sasuke concludes his scolding at Daisuke, furrowing his brows slightly before he offers a sigh and turns his eyes off slightly. "..Besides, I'd hate to loose you…a piece of my family, as soon as I had gotten you…"
"I'm pretty sure I was being careful. I don't really have any idea how it happened." The brunette explains, his swelling having receded further until it's no more than a bruise. He sits on the couch, free from his bonds now that Tsunade was able to make quick work of repairing his neck.
"Either way…" The black haired nin adds before he sighs and stands slowly. "I should get going. Choji told me on my way here Ino is planning to come here after work, so she should be here soon."
"Once I'm a hundred percent again we should make plans to do that thing with Senka, too." Daisuke points out seriously before he shrugs gently. "The sooner the better, after all." And I just have to keep telling myself this is the right thing to do. He might treat his own kids differently, but I shouldn't put my hope on a 'might'. I worry about Nobuko all the time. I just hope I'm ready to be their actual provider…
Nodding slightly before starting for the door, Sasuke offers then. "You handle the when and where to meet. And tell me if you think our three man group is large enough. I have other people I can trust, if need be; like Shikamaru. ..People like Naruto and Neji wouldn't be good choices. Their overly lawful nature might work against us."
Lawful… "Then my sister wouldn't be good either. She'll accept it after the fact, with some effort, but she harbors a lot of fear for that man. He actually treated her the worst." He explains vaguely.
Nodding once more, Sasuke lifts a hand to say good-bye before closing the door at his back.
A while later, there's a knock at the door and Daisuke moves to answer it. That's probably Ino…
"Hi, Dai-kun.." The blonde murmurs softly, blushing a bit as she looks off and asks politely. "Can I come in..?"
"Of course…" He nods with a small smile before backing up to allow her in. She looks so nice again today… and always smells like a million flowers. A light tone of red comes to his own face as well. I've got to be cursed… maybe this mark on my leg is destined to give me bad luck with women, too…
"…I have to talk to you, Daisuke.." The blonde warns, seating herself upon the couch before she offers a sad smile. "…you look a lot better today…"
"…To me?" He asks curiously before moving over to sit across from her on a chair. "Is.. Everything okay?" It probably has to do with the other day, something about it being a mistake or…
"Do you…actually like me..?" Her question intrudes his thoughts as she looks over to him sadly.
Raising his brows, and gaining a bit of a captured look in his eyes, he looks off slightly. "I… well…" Scratching his neck nervously he sighs gently before uttering shyly. "..Y-yeah…" Steadily growing more nervous, he bites the inside of his lip. Now I'm completely lost… where's she going with this…?
Letting out a sigh of relief, she then furrows her brows gently. "…you don't…think I'm a slut, do you..?"
"What?" He blinks at her incredulously before shaking his head. "Of course not. …Did someone tell you that?" He asks, seeming genuinely concerned.
"..No, I just…feel like it…because of all this… And Shikamaru said you probably didn't even like me, so I…started feeling even worse, and…" She murmurs before sighing and sagging a bit.
Watching her a moment, still chewing his lip, Daisuke stands and moves to her side on the couch with a soft sigh. "Well… you shouldn't. I know it's… difficult because of you, y'know, being my sister's girlfriend uh…"
"..I really…feel connected to you…" She admits quickly, her face suddenly taking on a gentle, pink tone before she offers a small smile, looking up at him with only her eyes. "I…never really wanted to date her…I just…"
As she explains her situation to him, as she did to Shikamaru, the brunette shinobi listens carefully. Once she finishes, he nods slowly, rubbing the back of his neck. "Hmm…well, all I can say is we could… try talking to her about it together… She's pretty understanding, y'know?"
"..She wasn't very understanding last time we talked about our relationship…" Ino blushes deeply, her mind thinking back on when she told the kunoichi 'no', and it ended in the blonde lying on her back, whimpering in pleasure.
Chewing his lip a moment, he then offers a small smile as he reaches up to put a hand against her back. "Well, I'll be there to support you this time." Either she'll come to see our terms, or she'll feel cornered, give up, and end up pissed at both of us… the latter won't be good because then Senka will start seriously looking down on the fact that I'd take up dating Ino…
"..okay… I guess…" She responds with a slight shrug and a sigh before rubbing the back of her neck, suddenly feeling coy, grinning at him. "…So…we're…gonna do this, huh?"
Nodding again he smiles back and then looks up as his sister rushes into the house and skids to a stop.
"Oh! Good, you're okay…" She observes with a sigh before furrowing her brows and asking quizzically. "How'd you get out of the chains?"
"I pulled 'em out." Daisuke informs, sitting up alittle straighter before adding. "Then, since no one was here, I went to the hospital by myself. Tsunade-hime said 'good work' to the both of you, then she fixed up my neck."
"Tsunade-hime is a great medic nin. …I really hope that one day, I can be that great." Ino compliments the Hokage as she places her hands onto her lap and clears her throat.
Nodding in agreement, Kiyoko smiles alittle before she continues. "Well, since that's covered, I've got one more question, but for Ino this time; is Sai… flirtatious, would you say?"
Looking at her in surprise, as if Kiyoko were insane, Ino replies promptly. "No..! Not even a little! His personality is usually a little…watered down, honestly. Why?"
"Hmm…" Seeming thoughtful, she shrugs. "Well, I went to get a book for Dai, and on the way back I saw him so I decided to ask a few questions. I ended up giving him the apple I had brought with me for lunch, and he ran out and bought me a bracelet…"
As Ino still seems in shock, though now even more so, Daisuke just blinks as well. Guys like Kiyoko, even if she doesn't.
Looking back and forth between them, the brunette kunoichi then shrugs a little. "Well I guess it's not really a big deal. So um, Ino, when did you get here?"
"Just about ten minutes before you." She offers back with a slightly uncomfortable smile before casting her eyes down and pursing her lips. "uh… Daisuke-kun said there was something he reeee~ally wanted to talk to you about, though..!" She starts with a nervous chuckle before becoming a bit more serious with a more pitifully sorry smile on her face. "…m-me, too…"
For a minute I thought she was gonna leave me on my own… Daisuke nods a bit but remains silent, seeming thoughtful.
"What is it?" Kiyoko asks a moment later, a curious tone to her voice.
Glancing at Ino and noticing her urgent expression he turns away, back to his sister's gaze. Just the same, I guess I gotta start it. "Well… I'm a little worried. We were just talking about a few things before you got here and one of the subjects that came up worried me."
Walking over to sit on the floor and cross her legs, the hazel eyed female rests her elbows against her knees and her chin in her hands as she looks up at the two on the couch. "What's wrong?"
"Well, it's kind of a hard subject, but one we should definitely talk about…it has to do with me, you, and Ino." Daisuke says carefully, folding his hands and leaning against them in, ironically, a Sasuke-like fashion as he rests his elbows on his knees.
"What about…?" Kiyoko starts before trailing off. Her eyes widen and then seem hurt before she asks, her voice cracking a little as she straightens and drops her arms. "W-wait.. A-are you guys… ch-cheating on me…?"
"No!" Daisuke says quickly, putting up his hands defensively and shaking his head before putting them out. "But she told me, that the relationship you guys have… has been making her uncomfortable."
Flinching discreetly, Kiyoko quickly bites her lip as she frowns sadly, looking to the blonde. "…Really?"
"..Well…yeah.." Ino admits, chewing her lip before adding. "I really liked…the, umm…stuff we did, and I really like you, just…not in that way…"
Biting her lip tighter, Kiyoko just sighs as she lowers her eyes. She must really be serious, to go as far as to get my brother involved… I guess… maybe Senka was right… Tsunade-hime and Shizune are just lucky, I'll probably never have someone like that. Clearing her throat the brunette medic just nods once. "I'm… sorry, Ino… if you feel like I… pushed too much…"
"…I'm sorry I wasn't more vocal in saying 'no'… It wasn't fair to you, and I just…really didn't want to pull you along or anything…you know..?" She shifts her blue-grey eyes to her with a slight smile. "..Friends?"
Looking up, her own hazel eyes start to glisten; though now slightly blue toned as well before she nods slowly, sniffling softly.
Biting her bottom lip harshly, Ino only turns helplessly to Daisuke, as if crying for help.
Watching his sister for a moment, Daisuke then puts out an arm beckoningly. "C'mon, Kiyoko… you'll be alright…" and when she moves up next to him, the shinobi shifts closer to Ino, pushing up against her some as he sits between the two, and he rubs his sister's back comfortingly.
But Ino continues to look uncomfortable, looking down into her lap as if waiting for the conversation to continue with a soft sigh.
Glancing to her a moment, Daisuke sighs gently to steel himself before adding. "There's… one more thing, too."
Clearing her throat, Kiyoko closes her eyes a moment and wipes them with her fingers before nodding and looking up to her brother. "Okay… I'm ready…"
Hesitating a moment as he orders his thoughts, the bruised shinobi speaks. "…I've been thinking about Ino on and off ever since I met her, right before the party…"
"You have?" Kiyoko blinks a bit before the thought crosses her mind. I thought he was interested in Hinata! …Great, now I feel like I've been dangling her in front of him, too… Looking off she sighs again before asking. "What… are you asking me?"
…Ever since he met me..? …Wow… I feel kinda special now… But I thought he liked Hinata so much… Ino thinks to herself, furrowing her brows thoughtfully, but biting her normally sharp tongue
"I know the four of us usually have… rules about getting involved with exes or one-another's close friends, but… I was hoping you could make an exception… just this once." He explains carefully.
Chewing her lip and looking down, Kiyoko swallows and shifts, pushing a bit of hair behind her ear as she looks to Ino, and notices her guilty expression. Frowning gently in worry, she then asks out loud, though in a hushed tone. "…Is… that what you want, too…?"
Looking up at Kiyoko, Ino licks her lips thoughtfully before she sighs and nods, but offers instead. "..Only if you're okay with it… We…won't if it really bothers you…"
Becoming thoughtful once more and looking away from the two of them, Kiyoko sighs deeply after a few moments and then states meticulously. "I think… I can be… if you're both really sure… but Daisuke? …You've got a bad track record when it comes to ex girlfriends… and I really like hanging out with Ino. I don't want you to close off like you did with Haruka, okay?"
Rubbing the back of his head, Daisuke raises his brows. Haruka… I still need to talk to her… I'll go tonight… "Well, unless she kills Senka, I don't think I'll have the problem…" A hint of cynicism hiding in his tone.
"Alright…" Moving to stand, Kiyoko reaches into a bag at her side and pulls out a book with several markers in it and hands it to Daisuke. "That's the book on gods that you wanted. I flipped through the section on water ones and found some you could look at… is there anything else?"
"..Are…you leaving?" Ino asks, furrowing her brows worriedly as she leans forward slightly.
"I was just gonna go upstairs… and lay down for a while… I'm really tired all of a sudden…" She explains, which shows earnestly in her eyes and body language. As Ino just sighs guiltily and licks her lips, Kiyoko offers a small smile and assures her. "Don't look like that… this happens to me when my emotions run high. It's almost like ninja training for me was a must, so I could control them better…"
"..okay…" The blonde answers and watches her disappear up the stairs before leaning back with a huff. "…Maybe we should take a day or so to really think about this.."
Watching her a moment, Daisuke turns thoughtful before he nods in agreement. "Alright."