Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Finding Hyuuga ❯ Part Two ( Chapter 2 )

Finding Hyuuga Part Two

01/02/04

Part Two

"Do you love her?" Please say you don't . . . please say you don't.

Kiba and Naruto were leaning forward against the fence surrounding the training field, watching as their two teams sparred. They looked on, amused, as Sakura ran screaming from Shino's chakra-hungry bugs.

Naruto flicked his gaze at his friend next to him, and then returned to watching Hinata dodge most of Sasuke's attacks. She was getting better. He knew who Kiba referred to, the dark-haired ninja had never been more transparent and he had to suppress a grin.

 "Love who?"

Her name on the tip of his tongue, Kiba's courage flickered and died and he heaved a despairing sigh.

"Sakura." Not Sakura, you idiot, Naruto! If you touch Hinata . . .

Naruto rubbed at the back of his head thoughtfully, knowing with glee that Kiba was practically shredding his nails waiting for his answer.

He shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly, "Nah, don't think so."

Kiba tensed, ready to tackle him if he so much as mentioned Hinata as a love-interest. Knowing he was being more than slightly irrational made little difference to Kiba. Illogical or not, not long after Hinata had cried in his arms that awful day at the Hyuuga main house, Kiba had found himself falling for her, and falling hard. Admitting it to himself was surprisingly easy, but how to confess to her was beyond difficult.

Quickly tiring of his game, because Naruto hadn't realized how deep Kiba's feelings for Hinata ran, he propped his chin on his hand resting against the fence post. He sighed softly and said, "Kiba, if you want to know what my feelings for Hinata are, you're gonna have to come straight out. I'm no good at hidden, in-depth conversations like that. The only reason I even have a clue you're interested in her is because you've hardly taken your eyes off of her for the past four months. But I'm not handing this to you on a silver platter. You want her, you're gonna have to work for her."

Knowing he was right, knowing Hinata deserved someone who would fight for her, Kiba bolstered up his confidence.

"Are you in love with Hinata, Naruto?"

"I'm not sure."

Kiba's jaw fought to hit the floor. Hadn't Naruto just implied he didn't have feelings for her? "What the hell does that mean? How can you not know? What kind of answer is that! If this is just some new game to mess with my head, dammit, I'll take you out and drill you into next Sunday!"

Naruto grimaced at the threat and shook his head, "It's the only answer I have! I don't come from a family, Kiba, so I have no idea what love really feels like. I know I want her to be happy. I know I want her to become the person she wants to be. I know I want to make her smile because all I ever see her do is cry or frown or look so utterly sad that it breaks your heart! I like to be around her and I think she's sweet. She's smart and has a sense of humor that can knock your socks off when you least expect it and is struggling to find her place in the world."

He looked at Kiba and held out his hands beseechingly. "Is that love, Kiba? Is it?"

Kiba sat down heavily on the grass and looked from Naruto's earnest face to Hinata's moving body as she dodged one of Sasuke's fire attacks.

Naruto crouched in front of him. "Is that love, Kiba?" he asked again.

Gnawing on his lip, Kiba wanted to pull his hair out. Who knew life at seventeen could be so difficult?

"There are different kinds of love, Naruto. I mean, I feel everything you've said for Hinata. But I feel other stuff, too." Seeing his friend's confused face, he forged on. "Like, when I see Hinata after a mission, even if it was a short one, all I want to do is sweep her up in my arms and never let go. When she smiles, I get this funny feeling in the pit of my stomach and when she laughs, it's like the breath gets knocked out of me and I can't breathe because she's so beautiful." Caught up in his thoughts, he didn't notice when Naruto's attention flickered to a slender, dark-haired girl approaching them.

Kiba continued, oblivious to Hinata's approach, struggling to find a voice for his feelings. "When she says my name, Naruto, it's like the world narrows to just me and her and she's waiting for me, just for me, and she only wants to see me, just like I only want to see her."

Hinata stopped just on the other side of the fence, sweaty from her rough battles against the village's prodigy and dirty from rolling across the ground. Her heart in her eyes, she watched Kiba as he spoke the most beautiful things she had ever heard.

"Hinata is like water and air for me, Naruto. She's necessary for me to live. When she's not around, everything takes on a tinge of gray and all I can think is how I want to be with her. And when she cries," Kiba's hand rose to press against his heart, as if it pained him even now. "When she cries, it's like my heart shatters and I want to take on the world to bring her smile back and I feel like I can do it, because she clings to me and presses her face to my chest and I know she trusts me and . . .and . . . I think that's the difference between your love and my love, Naruto." Thoughtfully, he stood and gave Naruto a hand up.

Warily eyeing the grin on his friend's face, he heard a soft sniffle and whirled around to face the girl behind him.

"Hinata! H-how long have you been there?"

Hinata, tears trickling down her face, rubbed futilely at them and let out a watery chuckle. She had always had the worst timing ever. To be blubbering and sweaty and dirty during the greatest love confession of all time was something only she could do.

She climbed over the fence and came to stand in front of Kiba. Making one last pass at the tears staining her cheeks, she smiled at him. "Long enough. Oh Kiba, that was the most incredible thing I've ever heard. You . . .you truly feel that way?"

A blush tinging his cheeks, he couldn't look away from her glowing face. He jerked a shoulder distractedly, "Every damn day."

And then she was in his arms, in his arms, and the world tilted, then stilled, then righted itself and he pressed his cheek against her sun-warmed hair.

"Me, too, Kiba, me too." She whispered against his neck and he felt it more than heard her say it. Wanting to be closer, he pulled away from her slightly and covered her sweet mouth with his. Lifting her up to sit on the top rung of the fence, Kiba wrapped his arms around her and groaned when he felt one of her legs move between his. Good, so good. Hinata . . . my love.

 Distracted and rightly so, neither one heard the two men walk away from their little corner of heaven.

"Oi, Naruto, what did you say back there?" Sasuke glanced back at the two ninjas entwined around each other, baffled. How the hell had he missed all of that?

Shrugging, Naruto threw a grin at his long-time friend. "Hell if I know, I was so nervous he was going to jump me and castrate me that I wasn't even listening to what I was saying half the time. Wish I had, though. Whatever it was must have been really good and I can't believe I can't remember it!" Comical despair etched his features and he buried his hands in his hair. Throwing his head back, he wailed, "Sakura-chan! Why couldn't you have come over there like Hinata did! Damn it all to hell!"

Laughing, Sasuke whacked Naruto on the back of the head and kept walking back to his home.

Unbeknownst to all of them, a man with an unwavering glare watched Hinata and Kiba from behind dark shadows.

This must end, immediately.

Angrily, the man whirled around and stalked back to his home. His long dark hair swished behind him and his white eyes swirled with ire.