Title Kiba's Strength, Hinata's Weakness...
Author lonely whisperz
Genre Romance/General
Rating K+ (For nows anyways...)
Disclaimer Kiba and Hinata are both characters of Naruto belonging to Masashi Kishimoto! (Duh!) I am not profiting at all by publishing this piece of fiction. I have written and 'published' this work of fan fiction for my pleasure and the pleasure of other Naruto fans! Besides… It isn't worth suing me because I don't own anything but some old smelly socks and some unidentified gooey stuff under my bed. So… Yeah.
Summary Kiba's thoughts and musings as he watches and loves Hinata from a distance...
Chapter One Kiba's Thoughts...

There is love of course. And then there's life, its enemy...
Jean Anouilh

Kiba watched hidden from view in the bushes as Hinata punched and kicked the training log as hard as she could over and over.

Kiba was proud as he watched her. Her stamina and strength has improved and increased by leaps and bounds in the past 3 years. All of the genin had but Hinata was different. As all the genin did all they could to prove their worth and be noticed by the their jounin sensei's, Hinata sat quietly on the sidelines refusing to draw attention to herself.

Kiba stifled a gasp when he saw her punch the log at the wrong angle and caused her knuckles to bleed. It took a lot of his willpower not to leap out from the bushes to see to her wound. But he didn't want her to know after all this time that he had been watching her every chance he got.

Even before he realized what caused the queasy sensations he felt in his stomach whenever she cried or was hurt in anyway, before he understood why he always tried to shield her from the painful realities of what being a shinobi meant, even before he completely grasped why he instinctively felt the urge to have her close to him… He had always watched her.

As a child he had thought her the most fascinating female shinobi-in-training and had made a game of following her around and seeing what she did and how she did it. Later after he had gotten Akamaru, he discreetly had him follow Hinata when he couldn't himself. He didn't know why then. He reasoned with himself at the time that she was one of the most promising female shinobi's ever (And the only one who didn't swoon when the arrogant assed Sasuke walked into the same room) but that she hadn't bloomed and he wanted to see how and when she would.

Too bad he missed the moment she did bloom (Read authors note at the end). Then again, maybe it was better he wasn't there. It hurt to know it was Naruto that had had the power to help her find herself and bloom when in the past Kiba himself had tried and failed to do so.

But now it was different. Naruto was not around. Kiba was. It was him that had helped train Hinata. He was the one by her side on missions. It was with him that they had managed to pass and become Chounin. It was to him that she had turned to when she was at her lowest point and needed comfort.

It was Kiba that loved Hinata more than any person.

But, she didn't know.

In her thoughts were Naruto. 'Out of sight, out of mind' was a term that did not apply to Hinata. Thoughts of him drove her to work and train harder. He was the unknowing force that made her push herself beyond her own limitations.

Kiba was not. God, that hurt. He didn't blame her though. While Naruto was just plain stupid and couldn't see the plain and obvious adoration shining through Hinata's eyes every time she looked at him, Hinata didn't know how Kiba felt because he never showed it. He refused to. Anyone who looked at him would think he felt nothing but brotherly affection towards the female shinobi. The only one who knew better was Akamaru.

Despite all of Kiba's self-confidence and optimism in life, he could not bring himself to tilt the fine balance of friendship, affection and love (Though not the type he preferred) that Hinata had for him. The one thing he could not bear was the look of dismay in her eyes to know her closest companion felt an emotion she could not reciprocate.

It was better this way.

It was almost dark when she finally went back to the village. Kiba waited till he was sure she was no longer nearby. He stepped out from behind the bushes and approached the training logs. His own log would have to be replaced soon. He frowned. Tomorrow he and Akamaru would have to go and search for one. Shino had just replaced his own. His were replaced as often as Kiba's.

Hinata's lasted longer but that's simply because she trained other aspects of her ninjutsu and genjutsu as hard as her taijutsu. Again he felt proud of her. He had been blown away when she had displayed her ninjutsu abilities to him a few months ago. She had chosen to specialize earth and plant ninjutsu's. While her fire, water, and wind ninjutsu were no less impressive she had confided to him she felt her chakra was most in tuned with her earth/plant ninjutsu abilities.

Only then had he realized how hard she had trained herself. It was absolutely amazing how many abilities she had mastered perfectly but still felt inadequate and clumsy around other lesser shinobi's. But as proud as he was of her the lingering feelings of resentment and jealousy for the unseen golden shinobi filled his heart. It wasn't Kiba that Hinata thought of when she became stronger or trained harder. It was Naruto.

Nothing changed that fact and the knowledge of that caused immeasurable pain for Kiba. Grinding his teeth he pushed out the image of the smiling golden hard shinobi from his mind.

Kiba noticed the dried blood on the ground. Hinata's blood. He hated the sight. He never wanted her to feel pain. He wanted to carry her burden for her so she could soar. But it was not possible. His fear, his weakness, his disability to admit his love held him back.

When will the day come that he could look at her and tell her that she owned his heart. That she was his pain and pleasure. That her smile and laughter was his own and her tears and sadness was his too?

He sighed at the answering silence the night offered.

Too many thoughts... Too many conflicting emotions… He should just go home. Akamaru would be worried. Or maybe not. Kiba couldn't help smirking. Who would have thought that Akamaru could get himself a girlfriend? Not that the Akamaru's canine companion ever had a chance. It was literally love at first sight for Akamaru and he had pursued her till she caved in to the attentions of the handsome, proud canine. Akamaru had become quite handsome after he hit puberty. His half-wolf genes finally becoming obvious as he grew physically larger and his features matured.

His free time was spent with his own girlfriend when he wasn't training with Kiba. Kiba was happy for the dog he loved so well but sometimes it simply amplified his own lonely existence.

Kiba stared up into the star-filled sky. Each twinkling like gems in the sunlight. He breathed in the lingering scent of Hinata. In the end he just sat by her training log. Pondering about himself. Listening to the sounds of the woods. Breathing in her scent. Imagining things about her he should not imagine.

He looked at the stars again and felt the infinity of his feelings as he watched the infinity of the stars existence.

"Love me Hinata… Please love me…" And the whispered words fell unheard into the ocean of silence of the woods where it continues to linger.

To be Continued...

Author's Notes

Read:"Too bad he missed the moment she did bloom"-Line 1, Paragraph 6 (Read Naruto manga Volume 9-Chapter 79 to get the clear picture)

Reposted! (Finally...) Hope it is a little more pleasant to read now than before! ;-) Do leave a review with your thoughts and opinions! Thank You!