Butterflies or Beetles: Chapter 2

Hinata found herself sitting in front of three black folders, and inside each of them were a possible marriage proposal. She had received many more, but her father had cast them aside. She looked at all three of them again. She's lost count over how many times she had done that, but this time, she wasn't alone. Sakura and Ino were there too, mostly for emotional support.

One file belonged to Shino Aburame. Future leader to the Aburame clan, he was a bug user that Hinata knew very well. She had fought alongside of him during missions, slept under trees by his side, and even knew what lay beneath the baggy coat he always had on. She had long before mapped out the pinhole scars on his body with her fingertips. Shino was probably the easiest choice, and his Kikaichu were fond of Hinata.

She was sure that if she picked Shino, her Byakugan would be a strong addition to his bloodline and their sensory training.

"He didn't write a very long letter, did he?" Ino laughed a little, seeing the single sentence that had been penned across Shino's proposal letter.

"Hey, let me see." Sakura leaned over, reading it aloud. "Marry me if you want too, signed Shino. Wow, talk about simple."

"He was more talkative about it in person." Hinata said quietly as she carefully folded the letter back up.

"He isn't exactly a poet, is he?" Sakura said sympathetically. "It's strange, because he's a total stiff when we go out. Although, that's kind of cute too."

"How many dates have you two gone on, Sakura?" Ino asked, the gossip freely flowing, and she was in her element.

"Our third one was yesterday."

"And?"

"He's alright I guess, he's just high strung."

"Ino, stop fishing. I know for a fact that they haven't kissed yet." When her friends gave her a searching look, Hinata did her best to avoid the attention. "Shino….moves slow."

With an upraised eyebrow, Sakura leaned forward, mirth twinkling in her green eyes. "Have you kissed him, Hinata?"

The Hyuga rolled her eyes, but it didn't keep her from feeling just a little flustered. She weighed her options before deciding on honesty, for Sakura's sake. "Only because you're starting to date him too, I'll tell you that I've done a little more than kiss him."

"How much more?" It wasn't jealousy that fuel the question, but genuine interest.

"Not much more, but…" She wasn't exactly as innocent as she used to be either. "Ino, what I'm about to say doesn't leave this room."

"Don't trust me, do you? Well, you don't have to worry, my lips are sealed." Ino assured.

"It's personal, and I don't normally talk about it, but…" Hinata coughed, as she grabbed at her tea. Taking a slow sip, she hid her expression. "Shino and I were arranged ever since my sixteenth birthday. We were against it back then, though. Our father's wanted us to try and get along, so we agreed. There was one date night that I went home with Shino, and things got a little heated. We were going through the motions, but it just didn't feel right. It was right about the time that my back hit Shino's mattress that we both realized our hearts just weren't in it."

"We both decided that it just wasn't the right time, and left it at that." Hinata tapped her fingers in the table, following the rings in the wood. "Neji, bless his heart helped to make such a big sink about the whole arranged marriage. The entire Hyuga clan heard his outrage. My father agreed not to push the marriage so hard, and Shino's dad backed off a bit too." Hinata gave Sakura a pleading look. "Shino doesn't have the luxury to wait around anymore, and neither do a lot of other young leaders."

"I'm sorry Hinata, I didn't realize."

"It's not your fault, Sakura. Just give Shino a little bit of time. He's just being cautious."

Ino tentatively reached forward, looking at another black folder, the middle one. "Who does this one belong to?"

"The Sarutobi clan." Hinata said as she reached back for it. "I'm not even considering that one, so I'd rather that you don't go looking into it."

The file belonged to the distinguished Konohamaru Sarutobi. Hinata had thought this particular proposal to be a bit of a wildcard. His clan was trying to secure a powerful wife for his future. The Sarutobi clan was one of the oldest in Konoha. Highly respectable, and in some ways prestigious. Even though Konohamaru was younger than her, four years younger to be exact, her father hadn't turned him away. Eventually the age difference would be minuscule, and he would grow into his duties as time went on.

Hinata ultimately decided against a husband that still had so much to do in his life. He was just too young, and too wild.

"Here." She said, sliding Choji's folder forward towards Ino. "This is one that the Akimichi clan sent."

"Oh, I know what's in that one." Ino accepted it anyway, opening it and going over the contents inside. "I help Choji put it together. He was so nervous, you should have seen him. He agonized over every little thing."

Frankly the most surprising proposal had come from the Akimichi clan. In that file Choji's name, photo, and a proposal letter had made Hinata take pause. Of all of the clans to want her attention, she had never suspected that Choji's would want her. The Akimichi were already allied deeply with both the Nara and Yamanaka clans. As such, Hinata had always assumed that they kept marriages amongst themselves. Choji's letter was heartbreaking. He poured his soul out on his sleeve, telling her all of the reasons that she shouldn't marry him.

After talking with him at the lake, Hinata realized that every time he put himself down, he honestly thought it was true.

"That's what I'm worried about, Ino."

Sakura leaned back on her hands. "Wait, why are you worried? Choji's a nice guy, isn't he?"

"He is, and that's what scares me." Hinata told Sakura honestly. "He has the most to lose. I don't want to hurt him in all of this."

"Choji's a fragile guy, but if you're gentle with him, Hinata, he'll be fine." Truth be told, Ino was the one who helped push him into it. "If anything, this will be a good experience, and he needs that." The guy was just too shy to make a move on anyone, and he needed to start thinking about his future. "Actually, I'm starting to think it'll be good for you too, Hinata. You two could learn a lot from each other."

"Speaking of that, I need a little bit of help." This was why she called her friends over after all. "Choji and I have our first date tonight, and I've only had dates with Shino. I'm not sure what I should expect...it's...it's a dinner date."

When Ino and Sakura shared a knowing grin, Hinata blushed deeply as she refilled their cups of tea. Somehow she just knew that she was going to be in for a long afternoon.

"So, he's taking you to dinner tonight…" Ino knew there was only a handful of places Choji would even think to go. "Do you know where he's taking you?"

"Someplace simple, I hope." Hinata said as she showed Ino the kimono that she'd picked. "He's so worried about making a good impression. It's sweet, but, I am starting to worry."

Sakura and Ino gave each other knowing glances, but it was Sakura who spoke. "If you ask me, you and Choji are thinking way too hard about this, Hinata. I try not to think about my dates with Shino. I just take them as they come. Maybe you should do the same with Choji."

"You're not thinking about the future?" Hinata asked as her cheeks tinged pink. "But I thought that you didn't mind being with him."

"I don't." Sakura smiled a bit wistfully, as she rested her chin in her palm. "Hinata, tell me something. Have you ever seen Shino without his glasses?"

Hinata blushed even more deeply than before. "Haven't you?"

"No…not yet." Sakura sighed as she thought about it. "I feel like he's afraid to show me what's hiding under there."

Hinata knew, but she wasn't sure that Shino wanted her blabbing his personal matters. She kept the matter vague. "Shino's body is riddled with pinhole scars because of the hive inside of his body. It doesn't exactly bother me, but it can be really weird to see the Kikaichu skitter out from the holes if you aren't used to it. They're sensitive to chakra, so if you give them some, they might start behaving."

Ino shivered as a rather worrying thought hit her. "They don't uh, crawl out of his eyes or anything, do they?"

Hinata made a soft noise, indicating that no, they didn't. "Since the Kikaichu live inside of his body, they roam around in there. Sometimes you can see the shadows of them running around if you look at his eyes in the right kind of light. That makes Shino nervous, so he wears sunglasses. His eyes are also sensitive to sunlight."

Sakura, now honestly curious, asked a question of her own. "That doesn't freak you out? Shino never lets me see them, he always acts like I'll be mortified or something. I was starting to think he really did have something to hide."

"They eat chakra, so I see them all the time. Thanks to my Byakugan, it's pretty much unavoidable." Hinata smiled softly then. "If you're curious about them, look inside of his ears, or one of their burrowing points. They'll come out if you invite them to. I always put some healing chakra on the tip of my finger and run it along his arm. The Kikaichu love that. It calms them down, which in turn calms Shino down."

"Dating tips from the wallflower." Ino laughed in earnest. "Who would have thought?"

"It's not like that." Hinata refuted, her blush coming back full force. "Even as friends we...I mean...it's just that to me, his bugs are no different than Akamaru. They're just part of the team."