Title: The Fox and the Hound

(thought of the title on the bus, disappointed to find I wasn't the first)

Summary: 1000 words of Hinata waffling back and forth between two boys. Oh, how fun. Beware that there is a lot of retelling of the pre-Shippuden events, just from a different perspective. I call it a stylized drabble.

FOR FIC'S SAKE, I changed the ages of the Chunin promotion to make things work out better. Also, some of the little details I mention may be off from canon, but since everyone's mind is on the ninja war these days, I don't think it will matter.

Anyway, try to enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. If I did, Neji would be my sex slave. *cracks whip*

The Fox and the Hound

One.

It was on the first day at the Academy that Hinata saw Kiba and Naruto. In her few years of life, she'd already been taught to pick out patterns. So she immediately noticed how similar they were. Loud. Easy to provoke. Eager to please. Even the marks on their cheeks left her comparing them all the time. She wondered about those markings endlessly, fabricating scenarios and explanations as to their appearance, but never asked.

Kiba has since told her that his family paints the red fang shapes into the children at the age of five. It is a sign of strength and ferocity, as well as loyalty to the clan.

Naruto's scars, however, remain a mystery.

Two.

Hinata settled on cheering for both sides of the preliminary battle.

Kiba was her teammate. Team 8. She felt it was her job to root for him, especially when Shino and her sensei stood beside her. It would be disrespectful to all of them had she expressed her wish for Kiba to lose.

But on the inside, she cheered for each and every one of those shadow clones.

And then Kurenai-sensei suggested she share her ointment with Naruto. Naruto, who had literally shoved defeat up Kiba's nose, and bleeding only slightly from his forehead and mouth. Naruto, whose body could heal itself faster than any cream could ever do.

Perhaps, she should have offered it to Kiba first.

Three.

The third part of the Chunin Exams was the hardest for her.

The unofficial third part, of course. The real one would take place before the Hokage later, but Hinata would be still critically damaged by the Gentle Fist at that time.

No, the third event of the exams, the preliminary round, is what hurt her the most.

Kiba had been the one to warn her. Gaara and Neji would beat her badly. It's safest to forfeit the match. There was always next year. But that wasn't what Naruto would do.

Naruto had been the one to shout to her. Neji's view of the world was warped and wrong. Everyone can change. Never run away, never back down. That was his nindo. She adopted it as her own.

It was only as she was staring into those Byakugan eyes that mirrored her own, surrounded by four elite jounin, when she realized such a mindset, such a ninja way, had the potential to get its holder killed.

Kiba wasn't there to see her failure, for which she was somewhat grateful.

Four.

She was sixteen, four years after she graduated the academy, when she reached chunin.

She was late. The Rookie 9 (save Shikamaru, Naruto and the AWOL Sasuke) as well as Neji's team had all advanced ranks the year before, except for her and Kiba, who had just passed now.

The two had a private celebration, since everyone else seemed to be away on a mission those days.

Halfway through the home cooked dinner, Hinata wondered whether Naruto would be proud of her when he returned. She wondered if he was learning things that would make her even more proud of him.

She was sixteen and had just been declared chunin when she had her first alcoholic drink with her teammate, Kiba.

Five.

It's hard to hide her embarrassed blush behind just five fingers on each hand. Kiba always sees through the cracks and teases her.

Since Naruto's homecoming, she felt as if her face was constantly hot, almost has if the flush was a permanent stain, like Naruto's fox whiskers and Kiba's canine fangs.

It was even harder to hide the fainting spells.

Six.

It was when the Six Paths of Pain attacked Konoha that she finally told Naruto she loved him.

Of course, the whole village loved him too, after he defeated Nagato.

Seven.

Hinata sees Kiba seven days a week. There is morning training, afternoon tea, and Kurenai-sensei insists that all three of her students stay close and comfortable with each other for the years to come. She doesn't say it, but they all know they are trying to avoid Team 7's runaway Uchiha predicament.

She tries to spot Naruto in the crowds of the streets, but is lucky to see him once or twice on the weekends when both of them are free.

Eight.

Kiba and Shino were her teammates, her Team 8. They were family. She loved them, just as she loved her sister, her father, and Neji. She never voiced it though, that she considered Kiba and Shino her brothers and Kurenai-sensei a stronger version of her mother.

She didn't usually tell people she loved them. Naruto had been an exception.

Kiba tells her now that she never had to say it. Her body language communicates enough.

Nine.

It was hard to forget that Naruto had the nine-tailed fox inside of him.

The Kyuubi was mentioned in every other meeting. It was the reason Naruto had been assigned to this mission. It was the reason he'd been taken off of that one. It was what brought the Akatsuki to the village. It was why the man called Yamato's presence was required when Naruto trained.

Hinata thought it must have been a burden to be a jinchuuriki. To be labeled as the Fox Demon for life.

The only title Kiba had to endure was Dog Breath.

Ten.

Hinata's hair is short again, by the time she's celebrating the Godaime's tenth anniversary as leader of the village. She finds it easier to maintain than the previous waist length, as a newly-dubbed jounin and not-as-new mother.

Neji used to say that people can't change. It relieves her to finally confirm this is false.

Many things about her are the same. She is soft-spoken and kind, like her mother. She trains with her team every morning, and has tea with them every afternoon. She sees more in other people than she will ever see in herself. She wears Konoha's symbol proudly around her neck. Her ninja way forever remains the same as Naruto's.

But many things have changed. She is strong now. Maybe not as strong as Neji or Naruto. Maybe not as strong as her teammates, her Team 8. But she is better and can only get better. She no longer blushes or faints when in the spotlight. A failure at birth, she has blossomed into a strong-willed ninja like all the people she's ever admired. Her daughter will turn five next month.

With the age of five, the red fangs of the Inuzuka clan will be forever painted on her child's face.

Hinata smiles up at the fireworks, and squeezes Kiba's hand. He nuzzles her hair. He tells her he likes it short because she looks like how she did when they first met.

It had been Naruto who had told her she could change.

It was Kiba who let her know she didn't have to.

END

So, that's been sitting in my documents folder for a while. Good to get it out here. Finally figured out FF's 4 characters capacity.

PLEASE review. It would mean so much to me. You don't even have to favourite it, or anything. I just want to know what you think. Do people even like this pairing anymore? I think they're too cute!

Thank you very much for taking the time to read this. Especially with the 'sort by favourites' option, some of the newer fics aren't getting as much traffic, it seems.

Have a good day!