Kiba heard Hinata start to wake up but opted to keep reading his book; he still had half a page to finish, and Shino could handle himself.
Still, hearing the way Hinata's breathing picked up once she realised that she wasn't alone stung; not that long ago, Hinata would come to his house when she needed a safe space. Now, waking up in his bedroom was cause for panic.
"Genma-san brought you here." Shino murmured, either trying to pre-empt a full panic attack or answering whatever he could read on Hinata's face. "He said you'd asked him to."
"I-I don't remember that." Hinata stammered, and Kiba was grateful to Genma for warning him about that eventuality, because he wasn't sure if he would've been able tonottake the clear doubt in Hinata's voice personally if he hadn't been prepared for it.
"He said you might say that." Shino acknowledged calmly, if a touch dryly, and Kiba was glad he'd decided to let Shino handle the explanations. "Here."
Kiba didn't look up, but he had a suspicion that Shino was offering Hinata the note Genma had hastily scribbled the night before when he'd dropped her off, clearly having expected something like this to happen.
I found you in an alley and invited you to sit with me and my friends. You slept most of the 're at Kiba's becausethat's where you asked to be brought whenwe were leaving.
You gave Kagane a chance; give your teammates one, too.
Love, Genma.
"I'm sorry for imposing." Hinata murmured, but Shino spoke up before Kiba could reply.
"Don't be an idiot."
Kiba's head snapped up, the aghast 'Shino'slipping out without conscious input, but Shino just waved him off.
"You're still feeling guilty, and that's fine, but I'm not." he shot back at Kiba, then turned towards Hinata with a frown. "You can be upset that we lied to you, but I don't think you stopped for a second to think what it was like forus."
Hinata blinked, and Kiba could understand the confusion since he wasn't faring much better.
"Why?" Shino continued, and Kiba winced at the return of the old quirk. "Because if you'd had, you would have realised that you would have done the same in our situation."
"I don't-!" Hinata began, but Shino held up a hand.
"I'm not finished." he cut her off flatly, and Kibasawthe way Hinata's jaw clicked shut at the interruption. "They told us that you'ddied, Hinata."
Shino paused, eyes boring into Hinata's, not allowing her to look away as he repeated; "Died. Our teammate- ourfriend, dead, within Village walls."
Kiba couldn't stop himself from staring at Shino, not sure where the Aburame was going, but not wanting to interrupt because itwasabout time for them to have this conversation.
"I-werespected your wishes to be left alone in the immediate aftermath." Shino carried on, and though Kiba didn't like how Hinata had shrunk in on herself, these were words they needed to finally say and she needed to hear. "But I will not apologise until you can look me in the eyes and tell me that you wouldn't have done . Same. Thing. If it had been me or Kiba in your position."
It was silent between them for a few seconds until Hinata finally sighed, and when she spoke, she sounded heartbroken and resigned. "I can't do that."
Shino considered her for a moment, then nodded sharply. "Then we understand one another."
Kiba released a breath he hadn't even realised he'd been holding, drawing Hinata's gaze for the first time since she'd woken up, and the question he'd been wanting to ask forweeksfinally slipped out.
"Why did you avoid us?"
Hinata flinched, and even Shino glanced towards him at the blunt question, but once the words were out, Kiba realised that just as Shino had clearly needed to say his piece, he alsoneededto know Hinata's answer.
Hinata, it seemed, realised the same, because she sighed.
"At first, I felt betrayed." She admitted quietly, looking anywhere but at him and Shino. "And afterwards, I was so busy that it just...slipped my mind."
Kiba wasn't sure how he felt at the news that his and Shino's existence was something so easily forgotten about, but all he did was grin wryly, pushing the brief sting to the back of his mind."Jounin and Clan Head will do that to ya."
"So I am learning." Hinata agreed dryly, then forced herself to meet his gaze before looking to Shino. "How have you been?"
Kiba glanced at Shino, a whole conversation in one look.
"Izumo-san and Kotetsu-san say that they are running out of things to teach me." Shino began, and Kiba blinked, not having heard that before.
"You should ask Sakura to introduce you to her ANBU grandmas." He advised before he could think twice about the words, momentarily forgetting that Shino had been answering Hinata's question. "I think one of them was a bukijutsu specialist."
"I'll bear that in mind." Shino acknowledged with a half-smile, then turned to Hinata once more. "And it's been interesting to watch Torune-nii refamiliarise himself with the Village."
"'Interesting'." Kiba muttered with a snort, having had a few experiences of his own with the ex-ROOT agents. "That's one way to put it."
Shino smirked but didn't take the bait, and Hinata turned to Kiba, clearly curious but willing to put it aside for the moment. "And you, Kiba-kun?"
"Do you remember when I told you that the first time I met Tsunade-sama, she basically offered me to apprentice with her?" Kiba asked idly, giving voice to the decision he'd been debating with Shino for the better part of a month. "I'm thinking of taking her up on it."
Hinata stilled, eyes growing wide, but she seemed genuinely surprised rather than disbelieving, which Kiba was grateful for.
"Sakura an' I have been working on those chakra scalpels you pointed her towards." He elaborated, grin turning sharp. "Turns out that my chakra control's gettin' good enough to manage the more advanced med-ninjutsu, but there's only so much Hana can teach me."
He added a shrug at the end, but the realisation that he was slowly not just catching up to, butovertakinghis sister had been a bitter pill to swallow. " Plus, it feels good to be better at something thanSasuke."
Shino snorted at that, but Hinata looked intrigued. "And your nose?"
"I asked sensei for that trick she used on me in Kumo. Should be fine now." Kiba relayed, and Hinata smiled, small but genuine.
"I'm proud of you." She said simply, and Kiba felt his ears grow hot, so he waved her off.
"I haven't asked Tsunade-sama for anythin' yet. She could still say no." He pointed out, but both Hinata and Shino sent him alookat that.
"You know she won't." Shino muttered, and Kiba's smile softened at the easy faith.
"I suppose they'd feel better having one of us within easy reach." He agreed wryly. "They might get off sensei's back that way."
To his surprise, Hinata did a double-take at the admittedly bitter comment, frowning at him. "What do you mean?"
"The powers that be don't trust our team very much." Kiba said slowly, frowning right back at Hinata once he realised she was genuinely confused. "How have you not noticed?"
"She's close to the Nara." Shino pointed out, prompting Kiba to suck in a breath through his teeth and snap his fingers in realisation.
"Good point." He acknowledged wryly, then turned to Hinata with a sharp grin that lacked any actual humour. "Turns out sensei was a bit of a rebel when she was younger. Ma says that giving her a genin team was a test, and everything that's come out of the woodwork since Kumo hasn't exactlyhelped."
Hinata looked between him and Shino, clearly lost, and Kiba glanced at Shino helplessly, earning himself an exasperated huff.
"So when you started talking about a Hyuuga revolution and Kiba publicly befriended Kumo's jinchuriki and one of the Kazekage's children, those who feared that sensei would try to 'influence our loyalty' were proven correct." Shino picked up the explanation seamlessly, and Kiba watched as Hinata's eyes grew wider with every word.
"But she never tried anything like that." She denied, and both Kiba and Shino snorted.
"That doesn't matter." Shino dismissed, "Think, Hinata. When was our last mission as a team?"
"...Before the Chunin Exams." Hinata realised, the look of dawning horror on her face.
"That's over a year ago." Kiba pointed out, aiming for helpful and landing somewhere to the left of sardonic.
"I hadn't realised." Hinata breathed, and Kiba shared another commiserating look with Shino, not sure if he was guilty for the swift reality-check they'd just delivered, or grateful.
"Yeah. Neither did we." He muttered instead, eyes trained on the kaleidoscope of expressions flickering over Hinata's face almost too fast to track.
"What can we do?" Hinata asked after almost a full minute of silence, her expression settling on something half-way between apprehension and determination.
"Ebisu-san said that there is a form we can fill out to apply to be a permanent specialist unit." Shino replied, and Kiba fought a wince, well-aware of what was coming, "A unit of two chunin, two jounin, and a nindog is much more beneficial to the Village than a genin team in terms of the missions we could take."
"But?" Hinata pressed, catching what Shino had left out despite the time that had passed since the last time they'd been able to speak openly like this.
"But sensei was never a proper tracker, and you lost your Byakugan." Shino revealed, a pleased curl to his lip that told Kiba the pause had been completely intentional. "Two out of four members is not enough to qualify us as a tracking squad."
"But- Akamaru-?"
"-does not count as a shinobi." Shino cut in, and Kiba's chest warmed at the genuine indignation in his voice.
"Sensei said- she said that we had a secondary combat designation." Hinata recalled, and Kiba didnotlike the desperation in her eyes.
"We did." He confirmed gently, knowing that, no matter the leaps and bounds Shino had made in his interpersonal relationships, he still wasn't the type tosoothe."But the missions we'd get as a combat-specialisingsquad would be...much rougher."
Hinata stared at him for a few seconds, and though Kiba could practicallyseethe cogs of her mind turning, he still wasn't prepared for her to ask: "Is that why you decided to take up the apprenticeship?"
"Not entirely, but I'm not gonna pretend that it didn't factor into the decision process." He replied with a shrug, pretending not to see Hinata's flinch. "You're a Clan Head and Shino is his Clan's heir, but sensei an' I are expendable. The extra medical knowledge and status I'd get from being the Senju Princess' apprentice might help offset that a little."
"I don't like that you have to think about that." Hinata whispered, sounding shattered, and Kiba snorted.
"At least I'm not from a civilian family." He shot back, still able to picture Ino's shocked expression when Sakura had told them of all the limitations her civilian status caused rations,for one.
He shook his head in an attempt to physically dislodge the memory and focused back on the present, tuning back right at the moment Hinata seemed to have come to some sort of decision.
"I'm sorry for avoiding you." She told them simply, and though her voice was quiet, the words were genuine and dripping with regret. "I was hurt, and betrayed. But I also missed you."
"We missed ya too." Kiba replied, throwing her a smile when she glanced at him in shock, though he wasn't done. "I'm sorry we betrayed your trust, but I agree with what Shino said at the beginning. So the question now is, can you accept that?"
Hinata stared at him for a few seconds, then nodded decisively.
"Yes." She confirmed, and Kiba felt more than heard Shino's relieved sigh. "I think I can."
"Great!" He chirped, the enthusiasm only half-faked as he bared his teeth. "Next question: why thehelldid you not tell us what you were planning? We could've helped!"
Though Hinata jumped at the sudden tone change, her confusion quickly won out, and Kiba hatedthateven more.
"You did help." She replied, clearly baffled, blinking rapidly as she glanced between him and Shino. "You helped me every time you let me stay at your house, or agreed to train together or arranged to go to a restaurant."
"That's not what he meant and you know it." Shino shot back, and Hinata frowned, though she capitulated easily enough.
"I didn't tell you because it was too dangerous." She revealed, and Kiba couldn't have held back his instinctive: "You told theNara." even if he'd tried.
"The Nara were just a means to an end." Hinata replied bluntly, her eyes boring into his, her expression flat even as Kiba sucked in a breath at the words. "I needed access to their library, so I helped Shikamaru prepare for the Exams. That was it. I didn't tell themwhyI needed the library for months, and even then, it was never the full truth."
It was Kiba's turn to stare for a few seconds, not for the first time struggling to reconcileHinata, his friend,withHyuuga Hinata, jounin and Hyuuga Clan Head.
"But you were my friends." Hinata continued, her eyes softening, as if unaware of how much her earlier admission had unsettled Kiba. "I wouldn't have been able to forgive myself if something had happened to you because of me."
"You suspected something might happen?" Shino asked, and it was a valid point, even if Kiba was still a little bit too out of it to think of it himself.
"My Clan is not known for embracing change, Shino-kun." Hinata smiled sadly, her gift for understatement making an appearance, though there was an edge to the words that made Kiba's hackles rise; it almost sounded like there should've been a 'voluntarily'tacked on at the end. "The Elders hold-held,a lot of power."
"And yet you put yourself in their sights regardless." Shino pointed out, and he sounded like he was trying to push Hinata into revealing-something.
"Ithadto be me." Hinata replied simply, and Shino sat back from where he'd leant forward and nodded, apparently satisfied.
Kiba frowned, glancing between the two confusedly, aware he'd missed something but having no cluewhat."What do you mean?"
"Her position of Clan heir was both her greatest hurdle and greatest edge." Shino explained patiently, surprisingly forthcoming now that he'd had his hunch proven. "Then there's the fact that she went against her blood family to get the seal removed. Between that, her lineage, and the fact that she literallydiedfor what she believed in, no Hyuuga, whether Main or Branch, will be able to contest her Headship."
He glanced at Hinata briefly, but turned back to Kiba with a 'what can you do?' shrug, concluding with a final; "Others could have opposed the sealing, could have even challenged her father or grandfather, but few would have had the position to unite the Clan afterwards quite so completely."
For a moment, Kiba simply stared.
Then, he turned his head to look at Hinata, and though the Hyuuga was frowning, she also wasn't moving to contest any of Shino's claims.
But Hinatacouldn'thave known all that from the beginning.
...Could she?
From the look on Hinata's face, the expression in her eyes grimly satisfied and lacking even a hint of regret, Kiba had the sinking suspicion that Hinatahadknown all that-
-andmore.