"Hai?" Itachi's eyebrow arched in question.
Hinata gulped. She wished that he would just stop staring.
"I-I... um, well..."
Why is she getting so nervous? Itachi narrowed his eyes. He had a bad feeling about this.
"Hinata." He called out demanding. Expecting her to vomit out whatever that was bothering her.
Instead she was doing that damned lip biting thing.
She had to stop doing that... for various reasons.
"I just... it's embarrassing!" Hinata shook her head, face flushed.
Okay, this was starting to sound really bad.
He didn't want to push the matter but, screw that. He really wanted – needed to know.
The brunette sighed, turning his body to an angle, making his back accessible to the girl.
Hinata's eyes widened and for some reason her blush deepened.
She didn't want to think about touching him right now.
"N-No! I want to ask you this... myself..."
So it's not herself asking if she doesn't do it verbally? Weird creature.
Itachi took a deep breath. He could wait. He was patient.
But seriously, he wanted an answer right now.
"Well, Itachi-kun..." She licked her lips.
Damn! Is she taunting him or something?
His eyes shifted, trying his best not to get distracted by her alluring lips.
"I was wondering, how did you and Sasuke become so c-close?"
Itachi's eyebrow twitched.
That... that was it?
He breathed out a sigh of relief.
Well, he should have known he got worked up for nothing! But wait...
"What?" he blurted out.
Why would she want to know about something like that?
Itachi furrowed his eyebrows.
She flinched. His gaze was extremely intimidating.
For her it was utterly embarrassing. Why?
Because she felt like she was that pathetic; so much so that she couldn't even earn her little sister's who is eleven now by the way, trust and love; so much for being a capable kunoichi (although she wasn't sure what that had to do with her being a capable kunoichi).
She steeled herself. If she could handle speaking in front of almost the entire Konoha, she could handle Uchiha Itachi!
...
Was what she had to convince herself.
"I-I mean, you know... you used to say that the two of you weren't close... but now –"
She gulped.
She started playing with the hem of her sleeves so fast that it seemed like she was going to rip it off.
Did he feel uncomfortable?
Did he not want to answer?
"I am sorry... I didn't mean to pry I just – "
"Why?" He cut in and she flinched yet again.
"W-Well... I was – am having some problems with my younger sister and I was wondering whether you know y-you could ... I mean you don't have t-to but I just... A-Ano, I – " She stopped as Itachi sighed. Hinata's face turned solemn and she slumped her shoulders
She felt like running away and hiding underneath some boulder.
She was such a dork! Stuttering in front of Itachi like some dumbstruck person!
He is definitely irritated with me right now...
"Younger siblings are hard to understand, Hinata."
Hinata shot up. He is responding! And he isn't hissing!
She quickly turned her body to face him, smiling slightly and making sure she listened attentively.
Itachi's lips twitched. Did she have to be so cute?
"As a child and even a little now, Sasuke was always competitive. Sibling rivalry cannot be avoided, you just have to figure your way around it. I gave Sasuke time. He realized that I wasn't trying to overshadow him, I was just heeding my parent's wishes."
"I-I see."
Is that what Hanabi needed? Time?
"But of course, Sasuke is Sasuke. Your sister might be different."
Hinata sighed heavily.
"Being the eldest is hard, ne?" Hinata bit the inside of her cheek.
"Hn." Itachi smiled slightly, taking note of how her blush had deepened as he did.
"But I know that you will find a way just like I did, Hinata."
"Mm. I hope so."
Itachi was nice, sweet and just... he was the embodiment of perfection to her.
She realized she really did like him. A lot.
Is he really just a friend? This relationship... seemed so nameless to her right now.
What exactly were they?
Friends, just friends.
She sighed inwardly at the thought.
She shouldn't even be thinking of such nonsense.
"Thank you, Itachi-kun."
"Hn."
"I am glad you're still here."
Without even noticing the two had gone back to where they had started; sitting side by side, shoulders almost brushing against each other.
"I won't be here tomorrow though, Hinata. I am leaving on a mission."
Hinata turned her head so sharply, Itachi was sure he heard a crack.
"W-What?" Her eyes were wide, glistening slightly.
Itachi's eyebrow raised but quickly shot back down; surprised.
He smirked as realization dawned on him.
"I'll be back in about three days time."
His smirk grew wider as she sighed, shoulders relaxing.
"O-Oh..." She put a hand to her chest.
"Hm. But I'll be quite busy from now on. We may not be able to see each other so often."
"Mm..." She mumbled and pouted.
"Don't worry, Hinata. I won't leave." He whispered.
She turned her to face her lap, hiding her face so that Itachi won't be able to see her turn red.
Neither was aware of the effects they had on the other.
Hinata's sighed once more.
A part of her just wished to keep him here, seal him, lock him and make sure he doesn't leave.
If Itachi was the one who left instead of Shisui, what would she have done?
Hinata slowly leaned towards Itachi, resting her head on his shoulder; the tension from before totally forgotten.
Itachi hesitated, but allowed contact. Who was he kidding? He would take any opportunity he had to have her close as long as it didn't bring up weird urges.
Right now, he felt at peace with her by his side.
Their contact this time felt more innocent, just like Hinata. He turned his head to an angle to sneak a peek at her adorable face.
She was so delicate, so pure and he didn't want that to change.
His fingers ran through the ends of her hair draping over his arm. He entwined his fingers in them, playing with the strands; they were just so soft.
It was infuriating sometimes; how this girl managed to make him act so uncharacteristically.
His fingers froze and his head jerked slightly as the girl giggled.
"I-Itachi-kun," she giggled.
Itachi looked away, slightly embarrassed.
"You remind me of a cat, Itachi-kun."
Itachi furrowed his eyebrows.
Cat?
He felt her fingers curl on his sleeve, grasping it tightly as she pressed her forehead on to his shoulder.
"It's not fair." She whispered.
"Hm?"
"It's not fair."
"What is?" He asked, quizzical.
"That you're so much like him."
Shikamaru sighed. This man; was worse than Naruto.
"Gai-sensei! You are so full of youth!" Ino swayed her body from side to side, with her hands clasped in front of her.
Shikamaru swore he saw little hearts floating above her head.
This had been going on since ever and the fool still doesn't realize that the ex-blonde had a major crush on him.
So much for Jounins having impeccable sense and intuition.
"Ah, Ino! Looks like you have come to join us in for a passionate training session! It brings tears to my eyes to see youths like you blossoming! You have even convinced the other two from your team to join I see!"
"Wh-What?!" The Nara backed away.
Chouji blinked. He was too busy munching on his chips that he didn't even notice
"Yes! Our team of youthfuls would be complete once Lee gets here! Until then, we shall do ten thousand one hand push-ups!" The man said with burning spirit, followed by an earth shaking laugh.
"Hai, Gai-sensei!" Ino chirped.
Chouji eyed Shikamaru and gestured with his head to Ino.
Shikamaru nodded and cleared his throat.
"Uh, Ino we – "
The blue eyed beauty turned to her two team mates; her eyes glowing ferociously.
"I'll kill you."
Chouji grasped on to his bag of chips, and gulped while the shadow manipulator sighed.
He expected something like this to happen.
"Curses!" Lee dashed from the forest path, leaving a gust of wind each time he took a turn.
Gai-sensei will not forgive me for my lack of passion! I will have to run 200 laps around the field on my hands to –
Lee's thoughts were interrupted by a 'stray' kunai flying his way.
Without much effort the boy flipped and dodged.
He watched the kunai get embedded into the tree behind him.
"Hmm..." His round eyes narrowed disturbingly.
The kunai was thrown with enough force to get embedded so deep in to the trunk.
He had to see the youthful individual who had almost pierced him!
Though he couldn't waste any time...
His ears perked as he caught the sound of footsteps coming his way.
"Ahh." He punched his fist into his palm.
He could sense the girl; short, aged about 11-12 and quite skilled for her age.
He nodded to himself as his eyes caught pearl-like orbs.
"As expected! Only someone from my rival's family would have such potential at such a young – "
"If you would hand me my kunai." The girl interrupted, eyes filled with disinterest.
She had seen this fleabag before; he had come over to the compound to meet with Neji.
If she remembered correctly, he was his team mate.
She could only sympathize with her older cousin for having such an abomination on his team.
"I would like to resume training."
Lee blinked for a few moments, before flashing the girl another blinding smile.
Hanabi folded her arms, eyeing the man with disdain.
"Ah! Such hot blooded-ness! Gai sensei would be proud to see such resolve and determination in the youth of today!"
Ugh, all she wanted was her kunai. It definitely wasn't worth all of this.
"Here," Lee inserted his finger into the kunai, and tugged it swiftly instantly removing it from the tree.
Hanabi's eyes went wide for a moment before quickly narrowing them again.
Maybe he wasn't such a fleabag; he did dodge her chakra infused kunai.
But then again if he couldn't dodge a kunai move from a soon to be genin then he would just be a pathetic excuse for a chunin.
Lee approached the girl, smiling brightly as he handed her the kunai.
She grimaced as she grabbed the kunai from his bandaged hands.
"Thank you." She said half heartedly.
She almost stumbled as her hair was attacked by his right hand as he ruffled her long brown hair.
She stepped back, running her fingers through her hair as she glared at the boy.
She should have hit him with the Juuken when she had the chance.
"I look forward to seeing more of your blossoming, little Hyuuga! Till next we meet!"
With that and a thumbs up, he was off leaving a gust of wind behind.
Thanks to that, Hanabi's hair got messed up again.
She scowled as she tried untangle her dark brown hair.
An unexpected blush rose to her cheeks.
Stupid green idiot.
Hinata let out a sigh; pouting as she reminisced the times when they used to spend all the evenings together.
Shisui was gone, and Itachi is busier than ever.
In the five weeks that had passed since Shisui left, Hinata had only met Itachi about four times.
That is depressing.
Usually when he busier than ever Hinata wouldn't mind as much.
She would tell herself that it was his duty and wanting him here for herself was selfish.
But something had changed.
She wasn't sure if it was Shisui's absence or the awkward moment they shared five weeks ago...
Either way, this wasn't normal. Itachi would probably never want to see her again if he knew the thoughts that ran through her mind that day.
Hinata didn't know it, but she had sort of a neck 'thing'.
Whenever she looked at someone, usually the first thing that catches her eye is their neck.
For Naruto, Ken and Itachi; the three biggest influences in her life she never really caught that trait.
Naruto's eyes had caught her attention so had Itachi's. For Ken it was his hair and his l-l-lips.
During the festival she had realized that Itachi had a really... nice neck; but of course was too shy to say anything (though she felt compelled to when he had asked her what she liked about him).
She felt it was unfair that her height never allowed her to bury her head into the crook of his neck.
But that day... her head was so close to his neck and all she wanted to do was nuzzle it like it was her pillow.
She shut her eyes tight as she bit on her lip; biting back a squeal.
She felt like such a pervert.
If only she knew what he was thinking.
"S-S-S-Sorry!" She gasped, as she felt herself walk into a lamp-post like figure.
Although for someone with her height, almost everyone seemed tall...
But that orange outfit gave away the lamp post's identity.
"Hinata?" The blonde turned and raised a brow at the timid girl who seemed to be blushing like crazy at the moment before grinning at her from ear to ear.
"Hinataaaa!"
"Naruto-kun." She smiled shyly and squeaked as he grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her closer.
"Hey! Long time no see! How have you been?!"
"J-Just fine," she giggled.
"And you?"
"Never been better!" He poked his thumb at his chest and winked.
He grinned wider as the girl before him giggled. He had always found her cute.
"Oi, Naruto."
"Heh?" Naruto lazily turned, curling his lips.
Hinata went wide eyed. She had been so preoccupied by Naruto that she didn't even realize the white haired sage before them.
She blushed a deep red and quickly pushed Naruto with so much force that he tumbled on to the ground.
"Ack!" Naruto grunted.
Hinata unintentionally ignored the boy as she bowed.
The toad sage raised a brow and grinned.
Very nice, very nice! I love the developed young gals!
His observant eyes darted all around; quite disappointed that the girl wore baggy clothes.
Naruto parted his lips, about to question Hinata about her weird behaviour. But before he could, the toad sage beat him to it.
"Naruto, is she your girlfriend?"
The pale eyed girl gasped, feeling a little dizzy suddenly. Her arms rose to cover the bottom half of her face, revealing only her wide white eyes.
Naruto was clueless as always; looking from Jiraiya back to Hinata then back to Jiraiya again.
What was Hinata so flustered about?
"N-No!" She squealed, a little too loudly.
"W-We're just friends." She stated as she stared down at her feet.
"Aw I should have known my noob of a student would have never bagged a fine lady such as yourself!"
Hinata's breath hitched. Would it seem rude of her to run away and hide in the book shop over there?
"Ero-senin! Oi, oi, oi! What does that supposed to mean huh?! I have bagged many fine ladies in my life ya know!" Naruto turned away and folded his arms.
Jiraiya snorted.
"Shut your pie hole! How many times have I told you not to call me that?!"
"But you are a perverted sage!"
"I said shut it!"
Jiraiya clenched his teeth and closed his eyes as a throbbing vein appeared on his forehead showing his growing frustration. He quickly diverted his attention to the girl in front of them.
A sly smile slowly appeared.
He had been low on 'information' lately...
"Young lady,"
"Ah, um, please c-call me Hinata, Jiraiya-sama." She bowed her head.
Ohhh she is so adorable! So innocent!
He smiled wryly.
"So, Hinata," he began.
"How did you come to know this blonde idiot?"
"Oi!"
Hinata giggled.
"Oh, Naruto-kun and I were friends since the Chunin exams though we were in the same class in the academy.
Hinata glanced at her friend's sullen expression and smiled. He doesn't like to be called an idiot, poor thing.
" I beg your pardon Jiraiya-sama, but I have disagree with your opinion of Naruto-kun being a blonde idiot. After all, he is under your tutelage."
The man blinked for a moment while the Kyuubi vessel lit up, with tears of gratefulness brimming.
"H-Hinata..." The boy sniffed.
Hinata smiled, but quickly flinched and widened her eyes at the laughing toad sage.
"Haha! You have got a point there! You know, you should meet up with me sometimes. I am an author and you seem to be quite fascinating."
Naruto's mouth gaped open and his eyes went as wide as saucers.
The sage narrowed his eyes, observing the girl. Hinata had assumed that by 'fascinating' he meant her background as a Hyuuga.
"I would love to," he paused looking for the right word.
"Ah, discuss information with you regarding my next book. You would be an interesting subject to write on." His nostrils flared and his smile widened, a bad sign.
She smiled shyly at the sanin, and nodded.
"I-I'd be honoured, Jiraiya-sama."
Naruto was even more shocked at her reply. Did she even know what he meant?!
"Hinata don't –" The rest of the boy's words were muffled by a hand the sage had pressed on to his mouth as he dragged the struggling blonde with him.
"I look forward to seeing you soon, Hinata."
Hinata smiled and waved, trying her best to hide how disturbing the situation was for her.
The man seemed a little creepy.
But he was nothing compared to an annoyed Uchiha.
"Hinata." The girl jumped with an 'eep!'.
She was too afraid to turn. Too afraid of what she might see.
"I-I was finding for you and..."
"Hmph." Her breath hitched as she heard his stomps. He was never a patient person. But she was finding for him first!
Even so it was never a good idea to pick a fight with him.
"S-Sasuke! Wait!" She turned and jogged to catch up to the Uchiha.
"Why do you always do that?" She asked, slightly saddened.
"Why do you always hang around weird people? Oh wait don't answer that, they're your kind."
Hinata sighed. Sasuke always got a little mean when he was angry.
"I-I hang around you a lot too, Sasuke." She said whisperingly, not expecting the Uchiha to hear her.
"What?" His head turned slightly, she shivered slightly at the sight of his dark eyes.
"N-Nothing!" She shook her head.
The boy scowled before picking up his pace.
"S-Sasuke!" Hinata whined as she grabbed on to his fore arm and jogged to walk to his side.
The raven haired boy breathed out, regretfully.
He slowed down his pace a little, allowing the girl to keep up.
He glanced at her red face from the corner of his eyes.
Idiot.
He scowled. He didn't like seeing her with Naruto or Kiba or Shino... basically the entire male population of Konoha; especially not that senile old pervert! Just what were they talking about?
It wasn't like he was jealous or anything, it just made him sick.
Why he wasn't sure, but he didn't think about it for too long.
He found himself getting angry at the smallest things when it comes to her.
It was like some kind of competition with the other males.
Hinata had told him about her times with Shino and Kiba.
She told him about the ice cream Shino and her had eaten together at the park.
He hated ice cream, but dragged Hinata to buy it anyways because she went with Shino.
She told him about the time Kiba had caught her a butterfly with beautiful yellow and black wings.
Sasuke grimaced. He hated butterflies too.
But he went around finding for a butterfly anyway; he didn't want to lose to Kiba of all people.
Instead he had caught a moth, but assumed it was a butterfly.
Hinata was too afraid to harm his ego, so she had smiled and accepted the 'butterfly' from the Uchiha.
She was very disturbed by his behaviour when he did those things, but was extremely happy because it felt like they were starting to get closer; because it seemed like he started to care for her.
He even stopped forcing her to buy meals!
Although the story of how that happened is quite embarrassing for her.
Her wallet wasn't even half full. It was thin, unhealthy and sad.
She sighed, at least it would be enough to get him through his meal; hopefully he would bring her to the sushi place he was fond of... she could only afford a hearty meal from a place like that with her current budget. But it wouldn't get her through any shopping afterwards.
He brought her to the fanciest restaurant in the village, pointing lazily at it.
Hinata had sworn, from the day she started working with Itachi on her speech that she'd be a strong individual and seem as such when in front of others.
But when her mind wandered to the bill... She couldn't help it.
She cried, and wailed and even stomped a little.
Sasuke's eyes widened, he looked around and hissed at all the people who were staring at their direction.
Ever since then, her wallet was spared.
Both of them were surprised that they had grown so accustomed to each other. They had started going out more often, not only on Wednesdays.
Also getting in to fights all the time; mainly because Hinata had somewhere else she had to be... mostly with Itachi.
There were also rumours going around about the two, earning the Hyuuga girl a few enemies.
But most of the sharp minded villagers knew that they were nothing more than friends.
They could never see someone like Uchiha Sasuke with Hyuuga Hinata. Plus there were their trusty team mates who had confirmed that all the rumours were false.
If they could read minds, they'd probably beg to differ.
The harsh reality that Sasuke refused to accept was that he really liked Hinata. Not as a friend, but as someone much more than that.
He got jealous easily, he got angry when he sees or hears anything bad concerning Hinata.
He wanted to look at her, be with her, talk about absolute nonsense with her.
He wanted to touch her, which was probably the biggest indicator that this girl was special to the Uchiha; he hated to be touched and rarely touched others. Exceptions were his idiotic team mates, family and Hinata of course.
Nobody could blame the Uchiha; he had never felt like this before.
So it would be natural that he was confused with his emotions.
He was stubborn to boot; the type of person who would be in denial until he lost what he had wanted.
The male let out a low growl as she slipped her hand off his forearm.
He wanted to do nothing more then grabbed her hand and force it back in to place.
Of course, it was just because his muscles were feeling strained and her hand seemed to ease them.
Yeah, right.
Hinata, unlike Sasuke (who was quite irritated,) was quite nervous about today.
He had agreed to meet her friends today; but she knew it wouldn't be all smiles and laughs.
Kiba hated Sasuke. Sasuke hated KIba. Shino was wary of Sasuke. Sasuke found Shino disgusting.
Worst part? They were all connected through Hinata.
Kiba growled along with his pet as his nose caught the scent of the Uchiha.
Shino adjusted his glasses, hoping things wouldn't get out of hand for Hinata's sake.
He didn't particularly have a problem with the Uchiha, but it would get nasty if Sasuke attempts to harm Hinata.
That's why he had agreed to meet Sasuke. He assumed it was the same for Kiba, and also the fact that Kiba didn't like the idea of Hinata getting too close with a guy with the Uchiha's reputation.
Hinata was getting dangerously close with the Uchihas.
"Sasuke." Kiba spat through clenched teeth.
Sasuke merely raised a brow; Kiba's blood started to boil and they've just now faced each other!
Hinata and Shino both sighed inwardly as they watched them.
Sasuke knew how close Kiba was with Hinata, he himself honestly thought that there was something going on between them.
"K-Kiba-kun,"
"Heh, so I heard you and Hinata are pretty close now huh?" Kiba narrowed his eyes.
Sasuke shrugged, once again not giving the Inuzuka a proper reply.
He was amused by the boy's irritation.
The dog boy forced a smirk.
"You probably just wanted to get to know her fighting style and her Byaakugan."
Sasuke wanted to roll his eyes. Kiba was definitely a terrible psychologist.
"Who knows?"
"I know! Someone like you would never befriend a girl like Hinata unless you had something to benefit from!" Hinata didn't know whether she should be offended by Kiba's words or flattered that her friend was so concerned for her.
Either way, this has to stop.
"Kiba-kun please, calm down – "
"Hinata, I don't like him."
"Ouch. I am wounded." Sasuke said impassively and glared at Hinata as he felt her pinch his finger.
"Sasuke..." Kiba clenched his fists.
Akamaru could feel his master's rage and growled at the Sharingan user before him.
This is going to be a long day...Hinata sighed.
Somehow the other two had managed to keep the Inuzuka and Uchiha from going at each other's throats; Hinata mostly by cutting in and spluttering nonsense.
She couldn't control the scowls they would give each other as they walked.
They were walking in to the forests of Konoha, usually where the three would train together.
Kiba would purposely tell stories of how Hinata and he used to train here together, alone and had a lot of fun.
Sasuke would nod impassively, afterwards glaring at Hinata.
Why did she always get herself in to these kinds of situations?!
She sighed, as she looked for something to distract the two who were about to start an argument.
Shino took notice of this and decided to help her.
Poor girl.
Shino shook his head as he glanced at the two, totally inconsiderate of Hinata's feelings.
He tapped Hinata's shoulder and pointed at the bush that caught his eye.
A berry bush. Hmm.
"K-Kiba-kun, Sasuke." She spoke up and flinched as the two sharply turned to her, scowling.
She gulped.
"W-Would you sit for awhile? There are some berries of there that we can snack on..."
Kiba raised a brow.
"Do you want to, Hinata?" the Inuzuka questioned.
"Mm." The girl nodded.
The boy shrugged and the Uchiha grunted, their way of agreeing.
The four sat down near the bush, picking out a few berries; mostly Hinata and Shino were up to it.
Hinata flushed slightly as she realized that she was the only girl among three other boys.
Yes, she always got herself in to weird situations like these.
"W-Would you like some?" She gestured towards Sasuke with a few berries in hand.
"Knock yourself out." Sasuke waved off the offer.
"I'll have some Hinata!" Kiba exclaimed.
The girl smiled as she gave a portion of the berries she collected to her team mate.
Shino was quietly biting in to a few berries, watching with scrutiny.
Personally, Sasuke found this 'meeting' to be highly irritating.
He didn't even spend that much time with Hinata thanks to the two team mates.
He hated being patient; all he wanted to do was chidori that dog boy in the chest but of course Hinata wouldn't want that.
He broke out of his reverie as Kiba held out a berry stem and smirked at Hinata.
Hinata furrowed her eyebrows, confused.
"Here, Hinata."
Now even the Uchiha was intrigued. What the hell is this?
"E-Eh? Kiba-kun?"
"They say if you can knot stems like these with your tongue and teeth you're a really good kisser." He winked.
Hinata immediately went scarlet and hid her face in her palms and shook her head.
Sasuke narrowed his eyes and clenched his fist.
Hold back the chidori, Sasuke...
"K-Kiba-kun!"
She squealed.
"Come on! Try it!"
The girl shook her head and bit on her lip.
"Aww," the boy pouted.
"Kiba-kun you're always teasing me!" The girl looked away from the Inuzuka.
Shino sighed inwardly. He had a bad feeling about this; and these feelings of his were usually right.
"Hehe, I am sorry Hinata it's just that I can't help it sometimes. I am not even trying, you're just that easy to tease. You haven't kissed anyone before, have you?" He raised a brow and smirked as he heard a squeak.
Sasuke's eyebrow twitched.
He needed to hurt somebody. Right now.
"K-K-Kiba-kun!"
"I should have known, you're too innocent Hinata! Looks like I can be the first one to find out if you're a good kisser or not." Kiba laughed.
"K-Ki – "
She paused as an arm snaked its way around her waist, pulling her close.
Hinata's squeak was muffled by sudden forceful warmth on her lips.
The other two went wide eyed.
Hinata was in total shock. She didn't even know what was happening.
Before long, the warmth was gone and Hinata sat still, blinking a few times.
"Correction." Sasuke sighed lazily as he crossed his arms and went back to his original position.
"You can be the second."
"Sa..." Kiba's mouth gaped open, but slowly shut.
His eyes turned red, his teeth and fists were clenched and he was more than ready to kill the Uchiha before him.
Shino seemed to have recovered from the shock and was paying more attention to Hinata this time.
She seemed calm enough, sitting still and what not.
He realized he had spoken to soon as her face morphed into a tomato; her chest was moving quickly and her eyes rolled to the back of her head before she fell on to the ground.
She had fainted.
Shino's bad feelings always proved to be true.