15Disclaimer: This fic is a collaboration between YukiTenVianey Team and Crow's Gamble. Neither party owns the rights to Naruto, nor are we earning any sort of compensation for our efforts, so show us some love!
Beyond the Sunset
Crickets chirped gently, the sole disruption to an otherwise quiet night in the village of Konohagakure. Villagers were bustling around, eager to complete the day's chores and go out for a well-deserved dinner, but there was one ninja who had already beaten them all to the punch. Naruto Uzumaki nosily slurped on a freshly made bowl of miso ramen at Ichiraku, a grotesque sight for most, but not for Hinata Hyūga.
Naruto finally pushed his bowl back, chopsticks clattering as he threw them down and held his stomach contently. Paying his tab, Naruto prepared to leave, but glimpsed the shy kunoichi. He had only just noticed her, though she had been waiting outside for quite a while now, shaking from head to toe at the thought of her upcoming confession.
'It has to be today... it just has to.' She repeated to herself as while trying to swallow back her fear.
She'd been keeping quiet for too many years and… there he was right now, coming out of Ichiraku at last!
"N-Naruto... kun..." Her voice was little more than a choked whisper.
"Oh, hey there, Hinata!" Naruto waved with that smile that could even light up the night sky. "I almost didn't see you there!"
She froze up in place as his bright blue eyes landed on her. What was it about them that could make her lose her train of thought so easily?
"I... I..." She mumbled, trying to remember what she was doing there to begin with. "I... c-could I talk... to you?"
"Sure. What's up?" His eyes searched her curiously.
"I just... I want... I NEED you to... to know t-that..." Her voice dropped so low that not even she could hear herself anymore.
Naruto cocked his head exasperated as he watched her sputter. "Spit it out!"
"Eeep!" She squealed, lowering her head before looking up at him apologetically. "I... I..." She took a deep breath. Delaying this much longer would only cause him to walk away on her again. "Naruto-kun, I really, REALLY like you!" She rushed with her eyes tightly shut.
There… she'd said it! She'd finally done it!
"Well," Naruto scratched his head awkwardly. "I like you too, Hinata."
"Eh?" She gasped. Her eyes open wide in disbelief. "Y-You… do…?"
If she could have, she would have frozen that moment right there. Looking at her reflection in Naruto's eyes... knowing that he could see her... that she existed for him... Finding out after all that time of agonizing silence that he actually felt the same-
"Of course!" Naruto laughed. "I mean, you've helped me out of some pretty tight spots and I really appreciate everything you've done for me. Why wouldn't I like you?"
Naruto suddenly turned his head quickly as a flash of hot pink caught his attention a block away. "Hey! Sakuraaaa! Sorry, Hinata, I think I just saw Sakura. Gotta go!" And with that single-mindedness, Naruto dashed away.
Hinata stood right where Naruto had left her, staring blankly at his retreating back as he skipped excitedly towards the girl he'd chosen over her time and time again. The fleeting happiness she'd felt half a second ago now felt as though it had gotten stuck in her throat, depriving her of air.
Was it possible that... he had misunderstood her?
'Stop… STOP!' She mentally screeched at herself to stop the uncontrollable rattling. The last thing she needed was to break down out there. Yet her lips quivered as her chest heaved up and down, a premonition to the misty-eyed breakdown that was about to ensue.
"Hinata..." A familiar, pain-filled voice uttered her name behind her.
Recognizing his voice right away, she quickly tried to compose herself and glued on a fake, quivering smile before turning to face him. Trying to pretend nothing had happened, even though she could hardly speak without letting out a round of heart-broken sobs.
"Kiba-ku..." No use. A river of hot tears spilled out of her eyes the moment she looked at his concern-filled face.
'Why do you do this to yourself?' He knew perfectly well the source of Hinata's tears and hated himself for doing nothing to prevent it. 'Why do you ALWAYS do this to yourself?'
She felt a gnarled finger gently dab away the tears from her cheek as she looked into the sharp eyes of her teammate. Akamaru whined sadly at his side as Kiba removed his black leather jacket and wrapped it around Hinata, despite only having a fishnet undershirt left to provide him warmth.
"Let's get away from here, Hinata...you don't want to catch a cold this late."
"I..." More tears rushed out at his kind gesture. "I..." Closing her eyes, she stepped forward and buried her face against his chest, breathing in the oh-so-familiar smell of her friend. "I messed it up!" She sobbed, her shoulders shaking uncontrollably. She couldn't stop it anymore… she didn't want to stop it. Kiba's arms were the only place where she'd ever been able to be weak without being judged. "I said I liked him! I messed it up!"
He combed through her long hair gently with a small smile. "Relax, Hinata. A guy like that is too dense to see what a beautiful girl he could have had..." Akamaru barked in agreement.
"How was he supposed to know?" She sniffled, so hurt at Kiba's description of Naruto that she totally missed his flattering remarks. "It's all my fault. I should have told him that I loved him…THEN he would have understood what I meant! I'm so stupid!"
"Hinata, please..." Kiba begged. Why couldn't she, for once, see herself for what she was? Why was she constantly putting herself down that way?
'What am I doing?' Hinata thought, mistaking Kiba's hurt with annoyance. 'Why am I even bothering Kiba-kun with this?'
"Oh..." She stepped away from him, sorry that she now had nothing to cling to but the jacket on her shoulders. "Kiba-kun I... I'm sorry. I s-shouldn't be b-bothering you w-with this... I..."
Kiba gave Hinata a hard look. "You idiot… We're friends." He muttered, the last word burning his throat on the way out. "Of course I want you to bother me with this."
Kiba opened his arms for Hinata.
A sad smile played on Hinata's lips as she closed her eyes and ran back to the safest place she knew. "Thank you," she whispered thickly, her voice muffled through Kiba's shirt.
"Don't sweat it," Kiba comfortingly intertwined Hinata fingers with his own. She felt the callouses of his rough hands, but somehow, they were comforting. "Come with me. I've got something I want you to see."
Wiping away her tears, Hinata held on tightly to Kiba's hand for support and followed him without question, Akamaru barking happily behind them.
-X-
Kiba led Hinata away from Ichiraku, running quickly but still maintaining a slow enough pace that she could keep up while holding his hand. He charged into the forest, up a tree, and began bounding from one tree to the next, resisting the urge to let loose a man-beast whooping cry.
Akamaru had no such reservations as he soared behind them, barking delightedly. The pressure on Hinata's chest seemed to ease as she jumped past tree branches behind him, letting out a small giggle as Kiba turned his head to grin widely at her.
It was starting to get dark, but Kiba knew exactly where he was going and Hinata trusted his judgment until finally, they were perched together at the top of an exceptionally large willow. Only slightly out of breath, Kiba turned to Hinata. "We're here."
"H-here?" She panted, still clutching his hand.
"Here," he confirmed as he glanced at Akamaru who was happily drooling over a thick branch a few trees away. "This is the best spot in the entire village."
"I-Is it?" She scanned the area below them. Sure they were up rather high, but aside from that, she couldn't understand what made it special to Kiba. "Um..." She glanced at him, wondering if it would be too rude to ask what he was thinking.
"Just watch," Kiba directed Hinata's gaze towards the setting sun. There was a vast mosaic of colors, like watercolors being splashed against a dull canvas.
"It's beautiful," Hinata admitted as she watched the sunset mesmerized.
"Shh," Kiba put a finger to his lips cryptically. "Watch."
As Hinata watched the colors, they gradually faded into the infinite sky. Minutes passed, but Kiba and Akamaru adamantly watched the heavens and Hinata felt compelled to do the same.
The skies had transformed from artistic to purely dark, but still Kiba and Hinata stared up together. Suddenly, in the blink of the eyes it seemed, a light opened up as the first star popped out. In a matter of minutes, the entire night was littered with bright, sparkling lights. Hinata had never seen such a spectacle in the village thanks to all the light pollution, but the lights of a higher power now illuminated her world.
She stared upwards in shocked silence, finding herself at a loss of words before the infinite beauty of the sky. Kiba couldn't help but smile as he looked at her, preferring to watch the reflection of the scattered stars in her white eyes than to turn around and see the actual scene. There was no way the stars could have been more beautiful than her startled, blushing face as she stared mesmerized by the heavens.
"Well," Kiba smiled slightly as a shooting star flashed directly overhead. "What do you think?"
"I..." She blinked as though waking up. "I'd never seen anything this beautiful before," she sighed breathlessly, all sadness now gone from her face at the universe that had been laid down before her gleaming eyes.
"I have..." Kiba muttered undertone.
"Really?" She giggled, turning her eyes to him now and finding to her surprise that he was looking at her as well. "Where?"
"Ah, err..." Kiba stuttered awkwardly as he looked away from her and towards Akamaru. Hinata could have sworn Akamaru nodded supportively.
"Look, Hinata," Kiba seemed to have regained a little composure. "I wanted you to see this place for a reason..."
"I would have come if you'd asked me sooner." She smiled warmly at him, her white eyes twinkling brighter than any of the stars overhead. "Still, I'm glad we're here today."
"It had to be now," Kiba muttered.
"Why?" She tilted her head. "Does it only happen on a specific day?"
"No, this happens every night, but..." Kiba scratched his head, suddenly nervous once again. "Look, the sunset was beautiful. There's no getting around that. But right beyond the sunset...there was something so much better. Sure, things seemed dark waiting for it, but weren't the stars so much better? Wasn't the darkness worth the wait?"
She reflected upon Kiba's words, her eyes tearing up again as she understood them. Sure, it seemed like it was all over for her just some minutes ago... but...
"Yes..." She admitted. "I just..." She lifted her eyes to the heavens once again, taking in the brightness of all the stars around them. "I just hope I can find my stars after this darkness... though... I don't know how..."
"Funny thing about stars," Kiba stood up as he looked straight above them. "The sunset is a result of the sun going down, a temporary illusion, but the stars...well, they're always there. Even if we can't see them, they are eternal."
She stared at him questioningly, apparently not knowing how to answer. Was it possible that after all that, she still couldn't get it? Could she honestly not realize what he was trying to say? If he could only gather enough courage to say it directly, then maybe he wouldn't have to spend so much energy trying to get through to her. If he could only...
"HINATA!" Kiba exclaimed loudly, surprising even himself as he drowned out the numerous voices in his head.
Startled by his sudden and more than unexpected reaction, Hinata let out a choked gasp and stared fearfully at him.
"I, uh, Naruto's no good for you! He doesn't...he doesn't deserve a girl as beautiful, a girl as sweet, no, he doesn't deserve you!" Kiba panted. That sprinting through the woods had been nothing, but confessing was pure cardio.
"That's not..." Her eyes clouded up again at the mention of her unrequired love. "I'm not..." He watched in horror as she hid her face behind her hands and started sobbing again.
Kiba stared at her, full of self-loathing. Not knowing another course of action, unable to bare the fact that he had brought forth her tears, Kiba pulled her into his chest and pressed his lips against her, disregarding the hot liquids now dripping down his face from her fluttering eyelashes.
What had just happened? She couldn't exactly tell. She was aware of Kiba's arms around her, their familiar warmth enveloping her. But... what was…
Realization dawned on her when she could finally bring her sight into focus. Her face burned white hot as she saw Kiba's eyes, tightly shut and closer than she'd ever seen them, and yet she dared not step away. She was frozen in place, the warmth of Kiba's lips spreading throughout her body in a fashion that was totally unfamiliar for her.
Bracing himself for the imminent disaster that was sure to follow such an impulsive act, Kiba slowly pulled away from Hinata. His arms fell limply at his side as he stared regretfully into her face, not sure of what to say to justify himself.
Looking deeply into Hinata's eyes, Kiba heaved a deep breath.
"Hinata...I'm sorry if I disregarded your feelings...but these are mine. I...I've loved you...for a very long time now..." Hinata noticed that he was fidgeting nervously with his hands and knew that he wasn't lying. She recognized the signs well enough.
"Ki...I...What?!" She stammered, thoughts jumbling inside her head.
"I...I know I'm not Naruto," he continued, "but if you give me a chance, I...I'd do whatever it took to make you happy. To make sure you never cried again..."
"Kiba-kun..." Was this really happening? It couldn't be happening! Kiba couldn't... SHOULDN'T have said that! He was her best friend, always had been. And if he wasn't her friend anymore, then... what could he be?
'I'm not Naruto...' 'If you give me a chance...' Kiba's words echoed deafeningly inside her head.
Was he really... was there REALLY someone who cared for her? Who loved her? Of course, she'd always relied on Kiba to be there when needed, but to think that he could actually feel that way... She had never thought that he, or anyone for that matter, could feel something so beautiful for her.
"Hinata, please," Kiba grasped her hands to his chest as if his very life was at stake. "I've watched you staring at Naruto's back for years. I know how painful it's been for you because I've been doing the same thing! I was content just being your friend, but I couldn't stand watching what you were doing to yourself...and then I realized...I was doing the exact same thing. It was so painful...no one should have to go through that kind of hell. I'd come here often with Akamaru and think about you...if you were with me, I know that I could take away your pain, and you would take away mine. We could be each other's stars, so...Hinata...will…" He gathered his wits for the last sentence. "Will you be my girlfriend?"
Face burning, Hinata looked down at her feet, her mind reeling to find an answer for Kiba's unexpected confession. "Y-y-your g-g-g-girlfriend?!" She squealed, her knees threatening to give up. "B-b-but..."
That was wrong... just wrong... Kiba was the nicest boy she'd ever met. The one who cared the most about her, and even though she now cursed herself for disregarding his feelings and unknowingly making him suffer all that time, she knew that he shouldn't be for her. Why, Kiba deserved someone better. Someone smarter, prettier... someone who would see him first instead of chasing after the retreating sunset.
But she loved him…of course she loved him! She'd always loved him, just not in the same way that he was offering her now. And then, with a great pang of jealousness, she imagined Kiba finding someone else. Someone smarter... prettier... stronger. Someone who would make him so happy that he would never again have to chase after the sunset.
And he would never again be next to her...
"Does the idea of being my girlfriend bother you that much?" Kiba asked, his gaze dropping after Hinata's long silence.
"That's not... it's just..." She let out a nervous little laugh. "I've n-never been anyone's girlfriend b-before. W-what if... I mess up?"
Kiba laughed nervously as well, but the smile he now wore was very real. "You're such an idiot..."
"Huh?"
"You could never mess up...unless you tried being anyone other than Hinata Hyuga."
She smiled up at him, still unable to let out an answer. But Kiba had been brave enough to confess his feelings, something that she hadn't, and he deserved the answer he wanted, even though she was still unsure.
"Is that a yes?"
Unable to say anything, she quickly nodded her head back and forth. Kiba's face burst into a wide grin and he slumped back against the willow's trunk in relief, his stamina completely drained. His shoulder touched Hinata's as he cocked his head up towards the heavens, eyes closed, but grin remaining.
"The stars are going to be out all night...aren't they so amazing?"
"Yes." She wrapped his jacket tighter around her shoulders. "Yes, they are."
Akamaru grunted contently in the background, tail thumping against the bark as the night faded.
One week later…
Naruto hummed loudly as he made his way to Ichiraku, thumbing through the coins in his frog-shaped wallet as he walked. He dropped a few pieces as shoulder brushed against another's. Looking up, he realized he had bumped into Hinata and Kiba.
"Oh, Hinata, Kiba!" Naruto exclaimed as he struggled to retrieve his money. "What are you guys up to?"
Hinata and Kiba exchanged a smile as they shrugged. "Just going for a walk," Hinata replied.
Naruto raised an eyebrow as he observed her calm demeanor, her unflinching facial expression, her lack of a nervous stutter. "Are you okay? You seem...different somehow."
"Never better," Hinata promised. She gripped Kiba's hand as they walked past Naruto, leaving the poor blond confused and missing several coins. The sun had already set, but the stars would be out all night long.
Authors' Note:
Vianey.- We will now like to thank Crow's Gamble for his help with this first one-shot. We really appreciate your ideas...
Glacia.- And your contribution with detail and vocabulary we normally don't use.
Ten.- And practically editing the whole story...
Vianey.- Yeah, that too :p
Crow.- My pleasure ladies. Funny to think we hammered this out in one night. Will I have the honor of working with you on future collaborations?
Vianey.- Of course! I'd love that.
Ten.- Ahem, he was asking me.
Glacia.- Dream on, he asked me.
Vianey.- I think he asked all of-
Glacia/Ten.- Shut up!
*10 minutes of squabbling later*
Vianey.- *Fixing hair back in place* Anytime you'd like Our collab work has been our best story yet.
Crow.- I don't know about that. I am a big Game of Fear fan.
Ten.- :D Thank you! (shameless advertising.- Game of Fear can be found in our profile)
Glacia.- And we also encourage you to take a look at "The Shadow Sleuth Chronicles" on Crow's profile (Shameless advertising N2.- you can find that among our favorite stories)
Crow.- We should wrap it up so they can go check out our other *amazing* stories. Guys, be sure to review, favorite, and follow this and any of our stories that you find interesting. We aren't getting paid, ego boosts are all we've got!