Always Up Front
Early Revelations
xmlns:w="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:word"
xmlns:m="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/2004/12/omml"
xmlns="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40">
Chapter 2: Early Revelations
to keep the frown from visibly showing on his face as he watched
slapped him on the back. A piece of beef flew out off his mouth and into his
half eaten bowl.
to chuckle as he pushed the bowl away. “That was truly disgusting
answered him as he tried to catch his breath. He turned in his seat to stare at
the nervous looking Hinata.
away from the counter and with a distracted move, turned into the morning sun.
Her eyes never left Kiba’s, as he continued to sit
there gazing at her with mixed emotions.
Shock, disbelief and anger
passed from his face before his mouth fell open.
from his seat and waved his hand in front of Kiba’s
face. “Kiba? Hey buddy, are
you –”
“Can you repeat that again
time.”
For a split second
eyes at the blonde when he recognized it. /Fury./
“Kiba,
I know you heard me. I’m hoping that-”
from his seat and clamped a hand over Hinata’s mouth.
“SHHH! Not here. Do you want to cause a scene?”
stiffened before she wrenched herself from his grasp and glared hotly at him.
filled the air.
“How dare you!” She hissed at
him as he stood there, massaging his scarlet cheek.
“I told you that I wanted to
speak with you in private, so don’t tell me that this is my fault. So what if
the whole village hears about this? I don’t care. This is none of their
business!”
thoroughly impressed at the self-confidence that Hinata
demonstrated when dealing with the loud shinobi.
/Keeping secrets,
back and observed as Hinata continued to fume and
the least when Naruto jumped to intervene. One can
always count on the dobe to come
patch up any argument, especially one concerning Hinata.
“Why don’t you follow
This is a conversation that should be discussed indoors. Not in front of the
whole village, as you can see.”
And true to his word, from
stopped in their daily morning routines to watch the spectacle.
as she nodded in agreement. She glanced at Kiba and
she felt herself melt at the remorse that was displayed upon his face. No
matter how much Kiba seemed to test her patience, she
could never stay mad at him for long.
She softly walked up to him and
entwined her hand with his. She smiled when he squeezed her hand before he
turned to escort her back to his apartment. They both stopped in
Neji staring hard at them.
His pale eyes took in their
linked hands before glaring at Kiba. He stepped
forward and almost smirked when Kiba took a step
back. Hinata smiled at her cousin as he advanced upon
them with slow but persistent steps.
“Good morning
“Well. Kiba
and I have something things to talk about….so..bye?”
Her voice was so meek under his sudden scrutiny that she glanced behind her to
try and catch Naruto’s eye.
thought you were supposed to be working today. Taking a break?”
Everyone flinched at the sudden
screeching this early in the morning. Sasuke shook
his head in silent amusement as they all watched Naruto
drape an arm over Neji’s shoulder. But his amusement
was short lived when he watched in confusion as Neji
stiffened before shrugging the arm off. Neji sneered
as blood rushed angrily to his cheeks.
his hands up in mock surrender. “Relax Neji, I
forgot. You’re not a morning person.”
Neji glare at the blonde before turning his back on
him without replying. Sasuke’s confusion seemed to
grow when Naruto shrugged, but he could clearly see
the panic that crossed the blonde’s face. Sasuke knew
of Neji’s respect and mannerism as something
ingrained as an aristocrat persona. He had rarely seen the Hyuga
that troubled, or that rude. He was usually very good at hiding his
displeasure, but for some reason today, he was unable to be lenient of
for everyone to see that Hinata and
handholding were of any guess.
“Hinata,
why are you leaving with him?”
And it didn’t seem that
as he observed the scene developing in front of him.
Everyone knew of whom
“We-…that is
“I know about
conversation? We all know what has happened.”
eyes widened in shock at Neji’s revelation; she
turned disbelieving eyes to Naruto, silently asking
him if he told Neji. But Naruto
was not looking at her, but kept his eyes on Neji. At
the way he set his jaw, she knew he was holding back on his irritation at this
situation.
She tried to calm her erratic
heartbeat when she realized that she had no choice but to explain their
situation here. There was no way her cousin was letting her out of his sight
until Kiba did the honorable thing.
/This was not how I planned to
tell Kiba about this./
Before she could speak,
ground, the silence between them was broken when as Akamaru
growled at Neji.
Not feeling intimidated by the
ferocious looking K-9, Neji raised a questioning
eyebrow at Kiba. “You don’t seriously believe that
threatening me with that mute is going to change anything, Inuzuka?”
intensified as Kiba bared his own sharp teeth at
“Watch it! This is between me
and Hinata, Neji. This is
none of your business.”
his head; “It became my business when my cousin’s honor is at stake. Do not
make me force your hand Kiba.” His voice was quiet
and terribly calm.
Both men knew of each of the
other’s hesitation on an impending battle, for they knew that
knew that he had hurt Hinata by his reaction to her
news. But he was afraid. He was twenty years old; was he ready to be a father?
He knew he loved Hinata, but was he ready to marry
her?
his gaze for only a moment before his shoulder sagged in defeat. He turned to
and as if struck by lightning he realized that he was asking the wrong
questions.
/Would I be able to live
without her? Would the mere idea of her turning away from me be bearable/
/She’s carrying my baby
“Marry me.” It wasn’t a
question. But Hinata did not hesitate in answering
him. She smiled as she cupped his cheeks in her hands to bring him closer. She
kissed his forehead.
“Come ask for my father’s
blessing.”
swallowed down his panic, as he held took both her hands in his and kissed her
palms. He only nodded.
to her cousin to see him studying her intently. She could see the frowned that
occupied his countenance. She stepped away from Kiba
and without warning threw her arms around her cousin. She held on even when she
felt him stiffen in surprise at her boldness.
“Do I have it?” Her voice was
soft as she whispered into his ear.
/Do I have your blessing dear
cousin/
When silence greeted her, she
began to worry; but before she could ask forgiveness, Neji
gently disentangled her arms from him.
Holding her at
matter?”
at him, her heart reaching for Neji and his confused
valor. “It matters to me. Your good opinion is rarely bestowed, so it is highly
sought. Neji
soften as he presented her with one of his rare smiles. “If you are happy-” He
left it hanging. But she knew what he meant and she beamed happily up at him.
If you are happy, then I will
honor your decision and bless it.
“Thank you Neji.”
Kiba’s hand and pulled him along the street leading
to the Hyuga compound. Absently she waved back to the
three men that were left standing there at the ramen stand.
to watch as Hinata pulled Kiba
along the crowded street. His confusion mounted. /What the hell just happened/
dispersed and now all was quiet. Well…as quiet can be on a busy morning.
Shaking his head, he tried to
recall the events prior to confrontation. He remembered trying to find
with Hinata walking towards the ramen stand.
He tried to intercept before
already sitting at the counter. When he finally reached his destination,
to leave with her. Engrossed in his meal, Kiba
refused and just demanded that Hinata just tell him
there.
The whole ordeal was
all-puzzling, but it seemed that he was the only one who didn’t have a clue.
Shrugging his shoulders,
and Neji both turn to glance first at each other
before acknowledging Sasuke.
“Naruto,
we have training this morning, or have you forgotten?”
as the blonde ninja winced. “Can we skip the training for today, or maybe later
in the day? I would really like to get some ramen.” The whining grew in volume
as Sasuke continued to glare at the pleading
“Unlike you dobe,
I have a mission later on today. I don’t dance to your tunes
scratched his head mournfully, “Alright, I give. I’ll meet you there in a
second.”
“Don’t you eat
With the warning posed, Sasuke inclined his head
jerkily at Neji before disappearing.
his hands together before moving towards his unfinished ramen. His grinning
face lost its merit when a vice like grip latched on to his wrist. He turned
around to confront Neji.
“Want to join me
Receiving no answer he began to pout. He glanced at the silver eyes and frowned
at the rare display of anger he saw there. He tried to detach himself from the
pale-eyed ninja and the more he struggled the more the grip tightened.
“Hey! What’s the big idea
Just as abruptly,
stumbled a step back.
as Naruto scowled at him. “What the hell was that for
Hyuga?”
Instead of answering him, he
posed his own question. “Why are you leaving the Anbu?”
instantly straightened his stance and glanced around. Confirming that no one
was paying attention to their conversation, Naruto
glared back at Neji.
to keep the alarm from rising in him. Naruto’s usual
laughing eyes were hard as steel. His mouth was pulled into a scowl as he spoke
quietly to Neji.
“If you were listening this
morning, you should know the answer to that question.”
to contain his surprise, but he knew he failed when Naruto
smirked at him. He shook his head at the Hyuga as he
chuckled at him. His laughter was not mirthful, but it contained no malice as
well. It was just…. empty.
“Really Neji,
if you wanted to remain hidden, you should have moved down wind.”
his very skin begin to prickle with a sudden chill. He slowly straightened his
appearance. He never yielded so easily, and he wasn’t going to start now.
“It was not my intent to spy.”
his stomach clench when Naruto’s blue eyes seemed to
peer straight through him. Using his three-inch advantage over
his head to the side and smiled up into his pale eyes. As if by magic,
presence.
“But good thing you didn’t say
anything Neji, Hinata was
sensitive as it was, no need to create more problems. Right?”
at him, before reaching back and pulling on Neji
hair.
away from him, his face again empty of any emotion. His body
language clearly telling Naruto that if he did that
again, he’ll regret it.
chuckled at the sight. He was never offended by those little prude actions. The
grin was back making Naruto’s eyes glow slightly with
suppressed mirth.
“You have to learn how to have
fun once in a while Neji. Loosen up.”
He flicked Neji’s
nose before disappearing in a cloud of smoke and laughter.
It took a while for
he could concentrate on was the loud beating of his heart thundering in his
ear. He knew that his cheeks were bright red due to blood that rushed
embarrassingly fast to his face. Because of Naruto,
He always felt a certain anxiety
when dealing with Naruto. He could not explain it,
and it drove him mad when he was reduce to this state
of confusion.
He felt comfortable and yet his
nerves were shot whenever he was around the blonde ninja. He trusted
Pushing those thoughts to the
back of his mind, Neji turned away and started
walking back towards the Hyuga compound. Since he
rarely got a day to rest, he was going to take advantage of it. With
some guard duties until further notice.
/Naruto
never really answered my question./
silently to himself. Naruto again! Trying to relax
was hard when he kept thinking about the blonde. He tried to remain calm as he
evaluated his current fascination with everything evolving around
He realized with horror that
his face was once again hot and he was quite sure that if anyone were looking
at him, they would see how red his face was. He groaned softly as a girl around
his age giggled and winked at him. He didn’t acknowledge her advance but
remained stoic.
He kept his pace slow and
precise in a show of indifference, but he could still feel the girl stop to stare
at his retreating back.
/Damn that Naruto/
Even when he wasn’t here, he
always management to confuse Neji; what was with all
the blushing? It was highly unlike him. He must be getting sick. For a second,
it reminded him of Hinata when they were younger. She
blushed bright red every time Naruto
spoke to her and even stuttered when thinking about him. She even fainted once.
in his tracks. His face remained blank, but his whole body was warm, and then
turned cold as he realized it.
His fascination with
/Dear Kami-sama./
He had a crush on
/Crush/
/On Naruto/
“…”
Resuming his walk, he hastened
his pace, not wanting anyone to see how disturbed he looked.
He began to mentally calculate
how long he felt this way. He refused to call it a crush, it was childish
and…whatever.
He could not call it an
infatuation, because to his dismay he realized that he has felt this way since
they were young teens. It gradually grew, until now: an infatuation did not
last this long, right?
TBC