Ok, before we start. I never considered this pairing, but I couldn't find another female character for this story that would fit Shino but Hinata because she's his team-mate and they both are quiet all the time.
Now for the Disclaimer which is the fact that I don't own Naruto or Shino or Hinata or anything that's related to any of them, excluding my story.
Summary: Aburame Clan is the most mysterious clan of Konoha. Not much is known about this clan, except one defining trait is that all of its (known) members wear dark sunglasses that hide their eyes. She's the only one who's willing to know the reason behind that fact. Shino x Hinata. Please R&R
ENJOY!
In my Life…
Eighteen years old Hyuuga Hinata sat down on one of the logs laid on the ground in the middle of the forest as she watched her teammate, Inuzuka Kiba, training his nin-dog Akamaru. She smiled as she looked at the fully grown Akamaru who stood almost as high as his master. She chuckled as she studied Kiba; his wildly ever-messed hair and his new leather outfit, making him look like one of those bikers from the 70s.
Hinata tossed her hair to the side, looking at her other teammate, Shino, who stood further away from the two, apparently looking at some bugs, probably trying to communicate with them in his own special way. She narrowed her eyes, noticing how silent he's always been. He's always hidden himself somewhere deep inside, never wanting to get closer to anyone. Hinata figured that Shino was trying to hide away, thinking his outfit could be a sign. Only part of his face was visible beneath that hooded and chin-collared jacket.
She never stopped wondering, like everyone else, about the reason behind Shino's silent personality. Even Kiba wondered about their teammate. The three spent almost all their time in each and everyday together for the past five years, but they never managed to break through Shino's exterior, because all they did was train, sometimes individually, or maybe as a team, but that was what they always did; practice.
"Oi, Hinata!" Kiba interrupted her thoughts, making her turn to face him. "I've been calling you for half an hour now" he exaggerated, grinning at her. Hinata blinked a couple of times and turned her vision at Shino who was looking at the two, specifically at her, before turning his face towards the tree he was standing next to. Hinata looked at the ground and then at Kiba who was slyly grinning this time.
"I knew it!" he said, jumping around. She tilted her head to the side, knotting her eyebrows.
"What are you talking about?" she asked, crossing her arms. Kiba stopped jumping once he was nudged in the back by Akamaru who was also wondering what Kiba was goofily acting about.
"After all those years..." Kiba started, taking a couple of steps closer, and leaned forward, whispering. "…You have the hots for Shino!" he quietly sang, before jumping around again. Hinata gaped at him and looked at the ground, blushing
"No, I-I d-don't. S-Stop being an idiot!" she said, waving her hand in the air. Kiba looked at her and smiled, "C'mon, you're even blushing" he said, grinning. Hinata blinked a couple of times and turned her head to the side, trying as hard as she can to hide her face with her long dark-blue hair.
"I-I'm not" she exclaimed, looking at the ground. 'Stupid Hinata, why are you blushing?' she mentally kicked herself, forcing herself to remove that blush off her face and get up.
Kiba looked at her quizzically. "Where are you going?" he asked, raising his arms in question. She looked at him and smiled.
"I-I have to do something. See ya" she said, waving at her friends. Kiba waved back and Akamaru barked twice while Shino moved his vision at her, not moving a muscle, watching her until she faded away in the distance. He then moved his vision back at the trees.
"Hinata!" Kiba yelled, standing in front of the Hyuuga mansion. He's been calling her for the past couple of minutes and she's yet to respond.
"HINATA!" he yelled again as loud as he can. The door to the mansion was opened to reveal Neji, dressed in his usual Hyuuga robes, glaring at Kiba.
"If no one answered your pleadings, then no one's available" He said, his stern facial feature never changing. Kiba smirked.
"Don't you have a mission to take care off? I thought Tsunade-sama contacted all of us" he said, crossing his arms. Neji blinked a couple of times.
"What mission?" a loud, high pitched voice said, coming from behind Neji. The latter took a step aside to let Tenten out of the mansion, fixing her shirt. Neji looked at the ground, trying to avoid Kiba's sly look.
"Aha…" he exclaimed, grinning evilly, "…so, you two were too busy to even get the message" he said, chuckling. Tenten looked at the ground, before smiling and looking up at Kiba, walking down the two-steps stairs.
"What's the mission?" she said, walking past Kiba who turned around and followed her, followed by Neji.
"Uh, some lame mission to go check the situations in the forest, you know, the usual" he resting his hands behind his head. "She asked me to bring and I quote, 'one of the Hyuugas'. So, since Hinata is not around, you're coming with me" he said, grinning goofily,
"…and since I was asked to find another member for the three-man team, I found you, Tenten, so you're coming as well…NO BUTS!" he yelled as Tenten was about to object. As they all walked out of the perimeter, they were welcomed by Akamaru, making Tenten gasp.
"Kiba..." she said, looking at him. "…why don't you put a bell on him or something?" She said before regaining her composure, walking past Akamaru and patting him on the head. No matter how big he was, he would always stay their little pet friend.
Kiba chuckled, "What, you're afraid of him?" he said, leaning closer to her and grinning slyly, forcing her to push him away.
"Baka…" she exclaimed, speeding her pace, "…C'mon, Let's see what kind of missions we have" she said, before running off, causing the guys to look at each other and shake their heads, following her as well.
Hinata was taking a stroll along the beach, holding her sandals in her hand as she felt the cool sea water splash on her feet and brush up her legs. She closed her eyes, moving her head down as she kicked the water, smiling unconsciously. She started to hum one of her favorite songs:
Well, I'm wanting to know you
I sure want to be in your arms
We'll fly away and I hope soon
That this side of me is willing to be
All of the things that I that I wanna see now
Well, I'm asking if you'll let me in
To your world where I've never been
It was still around 10am, the weather was nice and the sun wasn't burning hot. It was spring, the queen of all seasons, in Hinata's opinion. She opened her eyes and moved her vision towards the never-ending sea, smiling as the seagulls were flying in pairs above the water, diving into the water and catching their lunch in the process. She sighed and moved her vision back to the ground, only to notice someone's presence by her side.
She was startled once she turned her head to the side, "Shino!" she exclaimed, almost flinching. He was walking silently by her side. Hinata relaxed and sighed heavily
"How long have you been here?" she asked, moving one of her hands behind her back while the other ran through her hair, moving it to the back.
Shino kept his eyes at her, watching her every move, watching how she closed her eyes in relaxation once she ran her hand through her hair, how she silently sighed as she rubbed her scalp before opening her purple pupil-less eyes which always mesmerized him. She turned to face him and narrowed her eyes.
"Earth to Shino…" she said, waving her other hand in his face, causing him to blink a couple of times "…where did you go?" she joked, chuckling. Shino moved his eyes to the ground.
"Nowhere" he said, keeping his eyes to the ground. Hinata nodded and moved her hands behind her back, walking slowly, looking at the cool water running up her feet.
"I was here long enough to hear you sing…" she heard him say, turning to face him, "…to answer your question" he said, looking at her, before turning his face back to the front, looking as far as his eyes could see, as far as Hinata thought his eyes could see.
"Please, go on, don't mind me" he said, asking her to continue with her humming. Hinata blinked a couple of times before complying with her friend's request, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath in:
Cause in my life, I let it all hang down
I sure want to know you're awake
Cause in my life, I'll never touch the ground
I sure wanna know it's all alright
Cause it won't be long
Hinata stopped, looking at the water beneath her feet. She felt uneasy singing around one of her friends. She usually did that alone and now, it was none other than Shino who was asking her to sing for him, not totally for him, but to sing while he's around.
She could feel his gaze upon her, the reason she kept her eyes glued to her feet. Hinata realized that he didn't do or say a thing. He just understood her. They've been teammates for the past couple of years now.
Hinata figured he would've known her personality by now, have known that she was too shy for her own good, Even if they were teammates, even if she acted differently and more confident around him, she's just still Hyuuga Hinata, the shy, down-to-earth Hyuuga who lacked self-confidence, the exact opposite of her cousin.
Shino and Hinata both continued their stroll along the shore silently, enjoying each other's company without any exchanged words.
A couple of hours have passed since Shino excused himself to go meet up with his father, leaving Hinata on the shore line. She then decided to go home, relax a bit, check on the house. Being the older female in the family wasn't an easy task. With Neji being out training or on missions the whole time and her father, Hyuuga Hiashi, training her younger sister, Hanabi, all day long, she had a complete responsibility for the house, which was something that surprised everyone.
After cleaning up the last room in the house, her father's room, Hinata threw herself on the couch he had in there, sighing heavily.
"Finally, some time alone" she mumbled, moving her arm behind her head. Hinata turned her head to the side, looking at the grandfather's clock standing in the corner of the room. "It's already one o'clock?! That's weird" she said, looking back at the ceiling. She never realized that she spend almost three hours cleaning the house. Well, it's a mansion, to be exact, but still.
'I wonder what Shino's doing…' she thought, before widening her eyes. 'Why am I thinking about him?' he thought, closing her eyes. All she could see was him, hiding behind those heavy clothes and pair of glasses. 'What's behind them? I wonder' she thought, sitting up.
"It's boring!" she exclaimed, getting up. Hinata looked around, looking for anything to do.
"A walk should do…for now" she said, walking out of her father's office and out of the mansion.
"Shino, Lunch is ready!" his father called before silence took over. He was sitting on his bed, glasses on the nightstand. He was thinking about how his life took one twisted turn after his birth. He sighed, moving his vision towards the window, wondering what it felt like to look outside. His clan, what they did, it all came back to him, making him close his eyes.
"They had to...so you can carry on with the tradition" he mumbled, getting up. He moved in front of the mirror and narrowed his eyes, looking at his reflection, at a certain part of his reflection.
"You coped with it" he mumbled to himself, reaching for his glasses, putting them on. He reached for his coat and threw it on his shoulders before walking out of his bedroom.
It won't be long…
She strolled down the street, looking up at the chirping birds. She smiled, moving her eyes back to the ground; her legs led her to a specific Ramen bar where three of her best friends were hanging out. She changed her course and headed for the bar.
"Hey guys…" she said, looking at Sakura, Naruto and Sai. She chuckled, noticing that Naruto's mouth was full of ramen while Sai was filling his mouth with more. "…Oh my god, Naruto what happened to your arm?!" she said, looking at Naruto's broken arm.
He gulped, swallowing the food, "he-he, long story... Sai stop it!" he was shushed by another round of Let's-see-how-much-Ramen-can-we-stuff-in-Naruto contest which was, apparently, held by Sai.
Hinata giggled, taking a seat next to Sai. She ordered one diet ramen and enjoyed eating it while Sakura was trying to get Sai's hands off her beloved Naruto.
Hinata laughed, remembering how she had a terrible crush on Naruto a couple of years ago, or as Neji put it:
"It's just puppy love; it'll go away in time"
'I guess you were right, nii-chan' she thought, continuing her meal. A couple of minutes later, after having a couple of conversations with the trio, the decided it was time for them to depart.
"See you soon, Hinata!" Naruto yelled, waving at her as she walked away. She looked back and smiled, waving back.
Hinata decided to go on with her stroll around Konoha, checking different things, buying items that have caught her eyes or just look around for any of her friends, probably to keep her mind off of a specific person.
"Perhaps I should visit…no, he would be bothered" she told herself, looking at the ground.
"…still having that same old habit of talking to yourself, Hinata-chan?" Hinata gasped, turning around to come face to face with Yuhi Kurenai, her mentor.
"Kurenai-sensei!" she exclaimed, chuckling. "I'm sorry if I startled you." Kurenai said, walking next to her student. "It's been a while. How have you been?" she asked, looking at her long-haired, lavender-eyed student who always leaned on others for support.
'I don't think you need to do that now, Hinata, you've become such a strong Kunoichi' Kurenai thought as Hinata began to say something.
"Oh, everything's peachy" she replied, chuckling. "Peachy? I believe you've been spending quiet a while with Ino" Kurenai said, joking. Hinata laughed.
"How did you know that?" She asked, looking quizzically at her sensei.
"Asuma says that word from time to time" she said, before blushing madly. Hinata smiled at her sensei. Everyone knew that Asuma and Kurenai were secretly dating; all the evidence indicated to that fact. Hinata was one of the many to be happy for them.
"Well, I must go now. Tsunade-sama wants to see me…eh…See ya" Kurenai said, disappearing in a puff of smoke. Hinata laughed, knowing that she won't be going to Tsunade.
She chuckled and continued on her way. Somehow, her mind kept going to Shino. She wondered why
"You have the hots for Shino!"
She remembered Kiba's words and chuckled again, but then she remembered how Shino kept looking at her.
'Did he hear him say that? Did he see me blush? Why in the world did I blush?' she thought, sighing heavily. Her legs led her home where she thought it'd be better to spend the rest of the day there.
A couple of hours later, He lied in his bed, staring at the dark green ceiling of his bedroom, wondering how it looked. He closed his eyes, listening to the buzzing sound of his bugs inside of him which he learnt to cope with it.
'Can she see them?' he thought, turning to his right side and opening his eyes. He mentally smiled on a picture of the team with Kurenai-sensei. She sat down while Hinata, who was wearing that cute colored shirt she got on her birthday, leaned on her back, draping her arms around her sensei's neck. Akamaru was in Kurenai's arms while he and Kiba leaned closer to Hinata, smiling at the camera. Of course, he wasn't the one smiling. He liked to stay alone, knowing that if he got too close to anyone…
…they'd know the truth and feel sorry for him.
He remembered that day when Kiba flicked his glasses off. It was the first day that Shino showed his angry side, snatching the glasses out of Kiba's hands without giving them the chance to see his eyes. He always wondered if Hinata ever used Byakugan on him, to see his biggest secret.
"Shino?" a male voice which belonged to his father was heard outside his bedroom door, causing him to get up.
"Someone's here to see you"
Hinata fiddled with her hands as she stood in the Aburame living room. For some reason, she felt like visiting her friend, have a chat with him instead of going home to speak with four walls.
She looked around at a picture on the wall, a portrait of a young woman, smiling at the camera and holding a baby in her arms, standing next to her was Aburame Shibi, Shino's father. Hinata knew at once that the baby was Shino. She chuckled.
'I can't picture Shino as a baby without his weird outfit'
"Hinata?" she heard his voice, making her turn around. She smiled when she saw that he got rid of that hooded jacket. He wore a black T-shirt and green cargo pants instead. Hinata noticed that his glasses were still worn, even inside the house.
"Hey…" she started, pausing for a moment. She wondered why she was too nervous. What made her even nervous was that he didn't flinch or react in anyway possible. He just stood there; looking at her while she looked back at him.
"What are you doing here?" he asked in his usual monotone, the tension obvious in his voice. Hinata blinked a couple of times before smiling.
"I-I just…" she replied, fiddling with her hands. "…thought that I could, you know, visit you if you don't mind" she said, looking at Shino. Hinata secretly wished to see beyond his dark glasses, but she knew using her special ability wouldn't be appropriate.
She felt him relax and breathe deeply. Shino nodded, looking at the ground. "Not at all, how can I help you?" he calmly asked, sliding his hands in his pockets.
Hinata gulped, finding herself in an awkward situation. She didn't know why she was there, why she wanted to visit HIM in particular; she didn't know what to ask of him. She stared at him, looking at his dark glasses. They weren't sunglasses; they were solid glasses, pitch black and opaque, unlike normal sunglasses. One question kept running through her mind.
Can you take off your glasses?
She shook her head in attempt to clear her head of that thought, knowing that it would be inappropriate, looking at the ground. But it kept repeating on and on in her head.
…Ask him to take off his glasses…
"I want to see your eyes" she bluntly said, gasping after her words. Shino breathed in sharply, gulping. "Why? Why now?" he asked, the nervousness was very obvious in his voice, even Hinata could make it out. She narrowed her eyes and took a couple of steps closer to him.
"I want to know…" she said, stopping a couple of steps away from him. "…why you always wear them?"
"It runs in the family―"
"That's not a reason!" she firmly asked, "You wear them twenty-four hours a day; you never take them off, not even on missions. Why, Shino, I have to know, I need to know!" she asked, breathing heavily. He lowered his head and sighed.
"Out of all people…" he said, turning his head to the side. "…It's you that I don't want her to know"
Her breath was caught in her throat as he went on. "…I don't want anyone to know, not you, not anyone. No one dared to ask, and then you came…" he said, looking directly at her. Shino noticed that even in his vision, she looked lovely and innocent, making him go easy on her, not wanting to hurt her. He wished to see how others could see her. He heard everyone say that Hyuugas have the scariest eyes in the village, but to him, hers didn't.
"…With you, I always wanted to take them off, to show….to let you see how….why…" he stuttered on his words, not wanting to tell her the truth which was hidden behind those glasses.
"Hinata…" he said, causing her to flinch a bit. Hinata blinked a couple of times before he opened his mouth to speak the two words she never thought to hear from him…
Two shocking words…
…a fact that shook her…
…
…
…
…
"…I-I'm blind…"
It seemed as if the world stopped turning, everything froze in time. Hinata felt her heart skip a beat, hearing his words in her head over and over again.
"…When they inserted those bugs in my body when I was born, my body was too weak, my eyes couldn't handle the pressure…"
Hinata was frozen in her place, listening to his words, the pain that was in his voice as he explained,
"…so, my bugs guide me…"
She looked at the ground, tears forming in her eyes as he went on about his secret.
"…Other than helping me regularly in battles and on missions, they also lend me their vision in exchange for Chakura…"
Hinata choked on her tears, sitting on the couch that was on her right. Shino stopped talking and looked at the ground.
"…Hinata-chan, that is why I didn't want you to know…" he said, turning around. "…because you'll feel sorry for me, everyone will do if they knew, that's why I kept that secret from everyone else."
The room went quiet for a couple of seconds, the uncomfortable silence breaking both their nerves. Hinata covered her mouth with her hand, trying to prevent herself from breaking down. Shino narrowed his eyes, hearing her sobs and sniffs.
"Say something!" he exclaimed, balling his hands into fists. "…Hinata" he softly said, looking at the ground. He sharply lifted his head when he felt a pair of small arms wrap themselves around his body.
"I'm glad you told me…" she said, giving him a bear hug. Shino looked at the ground, narrowing his eyes as she continued.
"…I really am. It makes me know that…" she said, sniffing, "…that you trust me" she said, burying her face in his back. Shino sighed and took a step forward, forcing Hinata to unwrap her arms.
"S-Shino?" she asked, looking at his retreating back. "You don't have to hide the truth from―" she paused, noticing that Shino was taking his glasses off, turning around slowly.
Hinata gasped once she saw his eyes; they were small, black and mirror-like, the whiteness of his eyes was black as well, they consisted of small hexagonal units, resembling the compound eyes of a bug. She froze in her place, looking at Shino's biggest secret.
"Shino…" she mumbled, looking at his dark, empty eyes which, ironically, looked full of sadness and sorrow.
"Surprising, isn't it?" he said, chuckling sadly. "I can only see the outlines of a person, not their features as a whole" he explained, raising his eyes at Hinata who has a small smile on her face.
"It's still not something you should be ashamed of…" she said, taking a couple of steps to him. "…I don't know if this'll make you feel better but…." she said, "…I'm your teammate, all I care about is you…" she continued, looking up at him with teary eyes. "I'm proud of you, for everything" she said, smiling, before burying her face in his chest, hugging him.
"I'm here for you, Shino-kun, you're not alone in this" she said, hiding her tears. Shino smiled sincerely for the first time in his life, hugging her back.
"Thank you, Hinata-chan" he said, pulling her away. "Just, please, don't tell anyone about this, ok?" he asked, narrowing his eyes. Hinata smiled, nodding slowly.
"Ok" she said, sighing, before she was pulled into his embrace again, enjoying the silent moment between the two.
"Father, Neji-nii-chan, I'm going out!" she said, waving happily at her father and cousin who stopped training once they saw her run out of the perimeters of their compound.
"Was she…" Hiashi said, looking at Neji with a surprised look on his face.
"…skipping in her steps?!" Neji continued as they both looked surprisingly at Hinata's retreating back, both knowing that they've never seen Hinata so confident and happy before.
When you're wondering now if you're on the right track
Never know if you're gonna look back at all
And you'll see me there
And as you're fixing your life and what it can be
Remember now don't forget about me
She was very happy. She felt that she made a difference in his life. A couple of weeks later, she was hanging out with him double as much as she used to, now that she knew him even more. Hinata felt herself get closer and closer to him everyday, felt that she was gaining confidence by just being around him.
"Oi, Hinata!" she heard a familiar voice calling her, making her turn around and smile.
"Naruto-kun!" she said, standing politely, hands in front of her. He panted before grinning at her.
"Have you seen Gejimayu?" he asked, looking around. Hinata shook her head. "No, I haven't seen Lee anywhere, why don't you go look in team Gai's training grounds, he's probably there!" she said, nodding. Naruto grinned.
"Thank you, Hinata!" he said, running off past her. She smiled, watching Naruto ran off into the distance. She chuckled and continued on her way before halting. Her eyes moved to a couple of feet in front of her, where he stood, looking at her with a small smile on his face.
Hinata smiled and looked at the ground before she started walking towards him, looking up at him. He silently extended his hand, asking for hers. She complied with a blush across her face as her hand intertwined with his.
Shino started walking with her by his side, knowing that she probably would always be there for him. They both started walking, not putting in mind their destination, what only mattered that they were together, hand in hand, supporting each other.
In my life, I let it all hang down
I sure want to know you're awake
In my life, I'll never touch the ground
I sure wanna know it's all alright
Cause it won't be long
The End
-Sniff sniff- I'm crying for two reasons.
A) The ending was much better than I expected xP
B) I can't believe I wrote a story about a pairing that I don't support!
Sorry if that was too long, I just had to clear my mind onto this page.
Please review XD