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“Momma, momma,” Kiba said, pulling at his mother’s jounin jacket. “Who is that?”

“Who?”

“That girl, on the slide, with the purply eyes! I think she’s pretty!”

Kiba’s mother smiled. “You like girls now, do you? No more cooties?”

“Yeah right, mom!” Kiba barked, “I’ll bet she has crazy cooties! I just… prolly wouldn’t mind ‘em so much…” His cheeks turned a soft shade of pink which complemented his new, red fang marks.

Kiba’s mother laughed and bopped him on the head. “You little tramp, you,” she said, fuzzing his brown hair.

“Mom!” Kiba growled angrily, rolling away, “You’re embarrassing me!” Suddenly, the wind blew, and the little girl with the purply eyes slid down the slide, smiling. Kiba closed his eyes and sniffed the air. “She smells good,” he whispered.

“Go play, then!” his mom yelled, smiling as she swatted him towards the playground. “Go play!”

Kiba growled and ran towards the slide, climbing it quickly and sliding down with a high pitched howl of joy. The purply eyed girl sat at the bottom in the sand, building a sand mound.

“Puppy!” she said to him as he flopped onto the sand beside the slide. “You look like a puppy!”

Kiba looked around, and pointed to himself. “Me?”

“Puppy!” She smiled and tossed some sand at him.

“Hey!” Kiba snarled, rubbing the sand out of his hair. “Why’dja do that!”

Suddenly, the girl was quiet, and rolled onto her stomach, hiding behind her small mound of sand. Kiba instantly forgot about the sand she had thrown and hid behind her pile of sand as well, keeping low to the ground.

“What’re we hiding from?” he whispered.

The girl only pointed a small finger to the road above. A small, blond-haired boy, very young, walked along the road, his fists in his short’s pockets and a scowl on his face.

“Who… who is that, puppy-san?” she asked quietly, blushing slightly.

“Eh? That guy is… I dunno, I saw him around once.” Kiba laughed. “He pulled a funny prank and…” his face fell, “nobody backed him up in the fight he caused…”

The girl seemed to sink a little lower into the sand, blushing deeply. “I…I like his hair,” she said softly.

They watched him walk away, and Kiba noticed the boy’s eyes never looked at the other kids his age playing on the playground. “I’m Kiba,” Kiba said, as soon as the boy was out of view, “and I’m gonna be a ninja!” He stood and offered her his hand, which she accepted, smiling.

“Nice to meet you, Kiba-wanwan,” she said. Her smile and her teasing caused his face to redden.

“I’m not a dog!” Kiba yelled, growling, “I’m a ninja!”

“Kiba-wanwan!” barked Kiba’s mother with a grin, “Time to go home!”

Kiba groaned. “Mom,” he whined, “you’re no help at all…” He brushed himself off and gave a big grin to the small girl. “I’m a ninja, don’t forget it!”

“Kiba-wanwan is a ninja,” the girl repeated. She smiled and asked, “Kiba-wanwan is my friend?”

Kiba nodded. “Friends!”

---

Always friends, Kiba thought, wiping an angry tear away as he dashed through the forest, Akamaru close behind. He smudged some blood from his knuckles onto his cheek as he dodged branches.

“Kiba!” came a call from behind. It sounded like Hinata, but there was something in her voice… Something unmistakably wrong…

---

“Kiba!” Hinata called again. Her voice was dangerous, full of fury and anger and demanding an explanation. “KIBA!”

Her blood boiled and she gave herself up to the pent-up rage and barely contained feelings of frenzy that she had been silently battling with all day. The wind and stray leaves whipped at her face, and a few leaves became entangled in her long hair as it flowed out behind her. Fueled by the image of Naruto’s beautiful yet confused eyes, his well-toned and bleeding chest, the bite mark on his arm, and the drop of blood on his precious, cute sleeping-cap, she tore through the trees after the boy and his dog.

Unforgivable! I’m going to kill him! she thought.

I’m not going to kill him, she thought, I’m only going to… maim him.

No, talk to him. Just figure out his freaking problem…

…Then maim him.

She flipped into the trees, cursing softly as her anger began to cloud the Byakugan’s range. But she couldn’t control herself, it was as if someone had taken the reins and was driving her forward with the whip of wrath. She felt like she was looking through a thin red haze, felt like her heart was burning, felt like a mere observer in her chase.

He had stopped, and stood alone at the base of a large tree. Hinata jumped lightly and landed softly on one knee, cracking the ground with the force of the chakra leaking from her body. She stood, glaring at him with her lavender eyes, no longer soft and shy, but hard.

“You owe me an explanation,” she said quietly. Kiba took a step back, and suddenly whined, sitting down like… like a dog.

“Akamaru! Kai!” she mumbled, and the illusion was forced to end. The large dog sat before her, looking as if it were trying to decide whether to growl in aggression or move forward for an ear-scratching. Hinata answered the question swiftly, bopping him hard on the nose. Akamaru let out a yelp, and tried to move back. Hinata crouched and grabbed his head, forcing him to look into her eyes.

They glared for a second, and Akamaru struggled to pull away. His nose twitched as it sensed the anger Hinata felt toward herself for allowing her anger to cloud her mind, and for not recognizing Akamaru earlier. On top of that, he could plainly smell Kiba’s fear and shame and anger half a mile away. The two most important humans in his life were the center of unfamiliar and downright chilling scents. Akamaru was confused.

“Take me to him,” she commanded, and let him go. Akamaru wasted no time, and dashed off at full speed. Hinata made sure to stay right next to him, in arms reach, should she need to grab his tail and “convince” to lead her down the right path.

Hinata soon saw there was no need to doubt the huge dog. The trees began to thin as they came to the edge of the forest. Illuminated in the glow of the half-moon was a large rock, jutting out over the edge of a cliff and hanging above more trees. Atop the stone sat Kiba, his back to the forest, eyes turned upwards toward the moon. Hinata landed at the base of the rock, and watched as Akamaru passed her and bounded up the rock to his master. Akamaru sat at Kiba’s side, nuzzling against him as if begging for forgiveness. Kiba patted his head and growled softly, his deep, gentle voice caught on the wind and carried to Hinata’s ears.

“Akamaru is too trusting of those he cares about,” Kiba called back, finally standing and turning to face her. That goes for both of us, he thought, smelling his loyal dog’s confusion.

All calming effects of his soft voice had dissolved, and her anger burned again. “You owe me an explanation,” she said, attempting the line again, staring up at her friend. “What is your problem!”

Kiba was silent, and turned to face the moonlight.

Hinata glared for a second, screamed in fury, and tore up the face of the rock. Kiba turned at the last second, his eyes wet with tears, a small, sad smile on his face as her fist connected with his painted cheeks. No chakra, no control, it had simply been an all-out strike without thought or strategy. Kiba offered no resistance, and smacked into the ground with a soft thud. Akamaru was instantly at his side, his muscles tensing as he prepared to strike. Kiba’s hand softly bumped his paw, and a message seemed to pass between the two. Akamaru calmed, the scent of confusion rising in the air to all who were sensitive enough to smell it.

Hinata stared at Kiba’s crumpled body, then back to her fist, which throbbed slightly in the pain you feel when you use bare-knuckled taijutsu. He stirred slightly, and rolled onto his back, exposing himself as he gasped for air. She was tempted to attack again, to use all her might and smash her fist into his chest, to feel the sickening crunch of his ribs…

No, it’s Kiba, she thought. Calm down.

Kiba laughed sadly as he looked up at her, watching her fight with herself. “You ARE in there,” he said. “I’m glad.”

Hinata, pushing the fire back and away from her heart, knelt down next to him and grabbed his collar. “Why!” she yelled. “Why would you do such a thing?”

Kiba turned his head away, making that annoyed pout he made when he realized he was on the wrong side. “I didn’t like the way he was talking about you.”

Hinata slapped him and interlaced her fingers with a clump of his hair, forcing him to look into her eyes, “Don’t look away,” she said. “What’d he say!”

“I didn’t like the way he said your name,” Kiba said, emotionally holding his ground even as he had been physically defeated. He knew it was, of course, impossible to fight against her, even now. This wasn’t sparring, it wasn’t training, and it wasn’t teasing. It was serious fist, tooth, and claw business. And he would never be able to bring himself to do something like that.

“Kiba!” she yelled angrily, slapping him again with the back of her hand, releasing a bit of chakra as she struck. She heard the satisfyingly soft grunt of pain, and tightly grabbed his hair again. “That’s bullshit!”

“He called you Hinata! And he does NOT know you as…” As well as I do… “Know you enough to justify being so… so disgustingly comfortable speaking about you so casually! He has no right!”

“I told him to!”

Kiba growled and glared at her, ignoring the pain in his face as one of his chakra pores became swollen and closed off. His scalp screamed as she pulled his face closer to hers, her other hand tightly holding the scruff of his neck.

“What did you do with him?” Kiba asked quietly, gritting his teeth.

“I went and had lunch!” she yelled, “and then we fought and trained! He walked me home because I live ONE FLOOR DOWN from him! And then I shakily asked him to go on a real date sometime! Anything MORE you demand? I guess I could tell you our fight ended in a stalemate! I could tell you what kind of ramen we had, do you need that too!”

His eyes fell, his muscles untensed, and Hinata felt that she had won. Slowly, she let go of his hair and his neck, and moved a few feet away from him. Kiba simply laid back and stared at the sky, rubbing his neck and unzipping his hoodie. He lay there, panting, his ANBU chest armor open and exposed to the air. Hinata felt a twinge of guilt as her rage began to subside. This was her friend, her teammate, someone she had grown up with. She remembered the first time she met him, on a playground, so long ago.

And here he was now, his chest heaving up and down, his breathing heavy, his lip cut slightly, his knuckles tinged with dried blood droplets.

Look how far we’ve come, she thought bitterly, feeling ashamed.

“I just… feel like… I’m going to lose someone important to me,” he said angrily, though Hinata could feel that the anger was not directed towards her. “It’s… the pack,” he finally said. “Its us, the rookie nine and team Gai. And we’re so full of Alphas… and… Alpha males need Alpha females… Er, ”

Hinata was silent, watching as Akamaru padded over to his master and licked his cheek. “Hinata, you… you’re my alpha female,” Kiba said, “You’re not Naruto’s; he doesn’t care about you the way I do at all!”

“You had better not say Naruto was poaching on your territory,” Hinata said with a dangerous tone.

“But that’s the truth, isn’t it?” he said quietly.

Hinata bristled, and glared. “You don’t own me, Kiba!”

“No, you--”

The voice inside her seemed to growl and whisper, demanding that she attack, but she only yelled, “SHUT UP!”

“I don’t mean I own you!” he screamed, his eyes tightly shut, sincerely wishing he wasn’t on his back. “I mean… you’re mine… to take care of. I don’t own you, but you belong to me! You’re my responsibility! You’re my alpha! You’re part of my pack!”

“Kiba,” Hinata began, her voice a bit softer, simply annoyed, “I know how you feel about--”

“No you don’t!” he suddenly yelled. “Oh Hinata-koishi, you have no idea…”

“Stop it, Kiba.”

“No, I won’t stop! It’s my right! I love you!”

Silence.

It sounded weird the way he said it. It sounded… so very not tough-guy, and yet it was genuine. It sounded the same way Hinata imagined she would sound when she confessed to Naruto in her mind. It was the cliché, blatant, point-blank range shot to the heart. Kiba hated the way he sounded, the way his deep, growling voice seemed to lose its inherent confidence and sexiness. His voice became higher pitched, younger sounding, afraid even, and so he had searched for better ways to say it. But those three words could only be replaced with many more delicate words, something Kiba had no knowledge of. Perhaps a Shakespearean ninja would have more luck, turning twenty empty thees and thous and prithees into the same powerful and painful emotion Kiba felt when he said “I love you”, but Kiba wasn’t nearly that skilled with the manipulation of words. So he said it plain and simple, and hated himself for it.

Hinata would have been shocked, but she had heard it all before. She was suddenly a young sixteen-year-old, lonely because the one person she loved more than anything in the world refused to notice that every time he bumped into her, or got close to her, or said her name, or simply cursed at those who didn’t understand true determination or had no idea what loneliness was, she turned bright red, or passed out, or ran away. The few times he had noticed, he was too dense to understand what it meant when she was red all over, or radiating heat.

She had been sitting underneath one of the few beautiful trees in the training forest, trying to figure out her life, sifting through her thoughts. She had been telling herself that if she just got stronger, or conquered her shyness, or became louder, or did her hair right, he would notice and instantly share her love, when she burst into tears. She had no idea how to get him to notice, because nothing had worked! Hinata hugged her knees close to her chest, and buried her face in them, trying to stop her heart from pounding, trying to think about something other than the love of her life. She hated herself for crying, it was so weak, but she just couldn’t hold it in anymore.

It happened quickly, and yet, time seemed to slow to allow her to feel every sensation. She heard him softly sit down behind her, felt his arms reach forward and gently grab a hold of her body. She felt herself pulled back, slowly, gently, by strong arms, could feel the tension and the slight tremble of his arms against her body. She felt his chest upon her back, so warm and kind, and she was drawn to it, to try to dry the tears she couldn’t help but cry. She was hugged tightly, his head placed upon her shoulder and his cheek against hers. He smelt tough, like a fighter should.

I was scared and alone and tired, Hinata thought, the memory filling her. She watched herself give in to the warmth that her friend provided, saw her face change from a grimace of heartache to a soft, contented smile. It was her friend, Kiba, so it was okay, right? It had just felt… right, right?

He whispered something in her ear, probably asking if she was alright now, Hinata couldn’t remember. And everything from there was a blur. They had held hands, and hugged, and laughed, and talked, like normal couples, yet never once had they said they were “going out.” They were simply together. Hinata saw it as they were friends. That was the only way she could justify the amount of emotion she had pulled from Kiba when they were together, how she could still tell herself she loved Naruto with a straight face. But…

Deep in her mind, Hinata knew she was using Kiba as a source of comfort, as simply a friend to help her through a hard time. Kiba gradually worked up his courage and began to say the things he truly felt to her. He called her Hinata-koishi, his loved one. She had never ever reciprocated, and began feeling ill at ease…

It had gone on for nearly a year, and Kiba had been kind to her.

They had had a fun night out on the town, which involved some serious shenanigans at a festival, but it had been okay. Kiba laughed loudly as they walked to the entrance of the Hyuuga complex, dragging their feet slightly.

Hinata was hurt by his laugh, because, amidst the crowd, she had seen Naruto. No only that, but he had waved to her, smiling widely. Her feelings didn’t bubble up from the surface, because they had always been there, despite her appearance of affection towards Kiba. At that instant, Kiba had moved in front of her, and she suddenly realized that she felt nothing for Kiba in the way that she felt for the grinning yellow-haired weirdo and his gorgeous blue eyes. And it was wrong for her to lie to her best friend like this.

His contented laugh, the laugh that spoke of how happy he was with the one he truly loved, had stuck in her heart like a needle. She had led him on for far too long, justifying it as “we’re just friends,” but it had to stop.

She was three steps to safety, inside the complex, when he had hugged her from behind, and whispered, “Hey,” gently in her ear, a slight growl in his voice. “Hinata-koishi…” Hinata felt herself turn and gently, reluctantly, hug him back. He smiled, and softly laid a hand underneath her chin, bringing her eyes to meet his.

“I love you, Hinata…”

God, he had good eyes, she had thought, sadness filling her. Strong and tough, yet so gentle and caring. Eyes that are about to fill with pain…

“I always have, Hinata-koishi…”

Kiba didn’t notice her sadness, and slowly, slowly, his hand shaking, brought her chin closer to his face, brought her lips almost---

Hinata pulled away, and turned her back on him, taking the three steps into the compound. “I… I…” she stuttered. “I can’t give my first kiss to you!”

Kiba was silent.

“Kiba… this isn’t… working,” she heard herself say. Byakugan…

She was glad he couldn’t see her eyes, but had wished she had not looked at his. After thirty seconds, he simply laughed and nodded. “I see,” he said. “Well, call me, we’ll hang sometime… with Shino or someone, ya know?”

Hinata turned to face him, dropping the Byakugan. “Kiba, I had a lot of fun,” she began. Her voice suddenly caught in her throat, and she choked.

“Yeah,” he said, “So let’s hang later. After the next mission?” But he didn’t wait for a reply, just smiled that hollow smile and turned around. Hinata’s eyes were drawn to her feet, a tear falling slowly down her cheek. He disappeared into the night, but not without saying, “I love you.” His voice had been higher then as well. Hinata cried as she walked back to her room, and pulled out a letter she had not worked on for some time.

The memory faded. Hinata was brought to the here and now, where Kiba was looking at her with conflicted eyes.

“I don’t love you,” Hinata said. It was not an insult, it was simply a fact. “Not at all the way I feel towards Naruto.”

“I know,” Kiba spat bitterly, slowly standing with his back to her. Akamaru gazed up at his master, reading his face. “I get it. I’m not good enough.”

“Kiba!” Hinata shouted angrily, commanding his attention. “Shut up. Don’t do this.”

Kiba slowly turned. “I don’t even have a glimmer of a chance?” he asked, his voice so low it was almost a whisper, almost a whine. The way he asked sounded as if he knew the answer, but Kiba found he couldn’t help but hold on to the smallest beam of light, the smallest shine of hope.

Hinata’s heart panged with guilt for causing this pain for her friend as she said, in complete honesty, “No.”

Silence.

“Kiba, you’re going to need to find someone else t be your alpha,” she said softly. “I can’t belong to you the way you want me to.”

Kiba slowly nodded, and wiped away the few tears that managed to leak out. Akamaru whined, looking up at Kiba, who simply gave him a pat on the head that communicated everything. Akamaru licked his master’s hand and growled compassionately.

Kiba stepped towards Hinata, her body silhouetted against the moon. He softly put a hand on her shoulder and said, “If he does ANYthing to you, you let me know.”

Hinata smiled. “Of course.”

Very gently, he pulled her into a hug. Not a close, pressing hug, but the hug of someone who knows there is nothing left, and is gathering one final spark of warmth before venturing out into the cold.

“I will still love you,” he whispered.

“I hope not,” Hinata said. She was worried she would have to end the hug forcefully, but Kiba knew when enough was enough, and released her. She gave him a sad smile, which he returned.

There was nothing left to say, no words to scream, no blows to trade. They began walking back in silence. It was only then that Hinata realized that she had done everything in her cute pajamas, and her hair had become tangled slightly. She groaned, knowing that she would have to ask Sakura to help her brush it all out, she was much too tired to do it on her own.

Naruto was bandaged, a wrap around his chest and a bandage taped to his face, simply leaning against a tree as Hinata and Kiba approached from the darkness, Akamaru padding along behind. Shino was the first to notice them, but made no motion in greeting or rebuke.

Kiba walked up to Naruto, and laid a hand on his bare shoulder. Naruto slowly turned to face him, his eyes serious. For a moment, they seemed to stare into each other, saying everything with their eyes. Kiba bowed his head, and mumbled, “Gomen, Naruto-kun…”

Naruto softened. “Just Naruto, Kiba, you know that,” he replied with a smile.

Kiba leaned in close, and whispered something, something inaudible to Hinata and the other onlookers. And then, he moved past Naruto, leaving him confused, but not unhappy. Kiba and Akamaru slipped into the tent.

That… He didn’t even properly apologize! Hinata thought, something squeezing around her heart and driving anger to the surface for the umpteenth time tonight.

“Hinata.”

Hinata blushed. It had been Naruto’s voice beckoning her, and she turned to face him. He made a gesture with his head, nodding in the direction of the woods.

Hinata forgot her momentary spur of anger, and gathered her courage, repeating, “I will not faint, I will not faint,” under her breath as she approached him. Without a word, he turned and began walking into the forest, his hair blowing slightly in the cool night breeze. Hinata couldn’t help but continue to blush as she simply watched him.

What is wrong with me? she thought, It’s like my emotions are at the extremes of each spectrum.

When they were safely out of earshot of the camp, Naruto turned, his face confused, yet serious.

“Hinata,” he began, but was interrupted before he could get going.

Hinata was down on her knees, her head bent low, her eyes shut tightly.

“Please forgive Kiba,” she asked, formally apologizing, “I know he didn’t apologize properly, so I will apologize for him.”

Naruto laughed slightly. “Mah? No, Hinata, its… its cool, I’m not mad at him or anything…”

“Even so,” she began. Now it was her turn to be interrupted. Naruto reached down and took her hand, gently yet firmly pulling her to her feet. Hinata’s pale lavender eyes were wide with surprise as she slowly lost her balance and fell into him. Her arms instinctively flung themselves about his neck, and his hands landed on her waist to steady her.

Time seemed to stop for a second, as they looked into each other’s eyes, only for a second.

Those eyes, she whined in her head, quickly turning red.

She… she has very pretty eyes, Naruto thought, quickly turning red.

They jumped about three feet apart each, looking at the ground. Naruto gave a nervous laugh, trying to calm himself.

“I... guess I pulled too hard,” he said, laughing a little too loudly.

Hinata regained her composure first, surprisingly enough. “It’s… okay, ya know? Just an… accident, right?”

“Absolutely,” he said, laughing and waving his hands. “I’d… Well, anyway…” Naruto cleared his throat and regaining his composure, “…this episode with Kiba started when I said something about… well, about YOU.”

“I heard,” was all Hinata could say, looking away.

“I don’t really know what’s going on,” Naruto said gently, “And I probably wouldn’t get it even if you tried to explain it. I know Kiba is protective of a lot of people, so… I dunno, this is probably not my business.”

The wind rustled through the trees above them. Hinata slowly looked up, into his face.

“I just want to ask right now,” he finally said, setting his serious eyes on her, “is there something you need to say to me?”

This… this is it! she thought. All I have to do is—

NOW! No, I’m not ready…

Just be casual!

But I don’t feel casually towards him! I can’t say it casually. It’s not “like,” its LOVE!

Say it.

I haven’t proven myself strong enough at all yet! He’ll think—

Since when does Naruto think? Say it!

Shut up! He’s smarter than everyone thinks, and I know that, so there is NO way I would have thought that!

Either say it, or force him to the ground and show him.

I… I…

SAY IT, DAMMIT! Now is the best chance you are ever going to get!

“I…” love you…

Naruto waited expectantly.

“I…” LOVE YOU!

The wind blew her hair out behind her, tugged at her pajamas. Naruto’s full attention was on the young woman in front of him, his complete focus on her down-turned eyes.

“I…” ABSO-TOTA-LUTELY LOVE YOU AND WANT TO HAVE YOUR BABIES! I WANT TO BE WITH YOU FOREVER!

Slowly she looked up and smiled, her eyes closed as she finally spoke a complete sentence.

“I’ve got nothing,” she said with a laugh, “I don’t really know why Kiba would freak… Over me… like that… Over anything you might have said. I don’t really have any burning secret to reveal that would shed some light on this, either, so…”

Naruto laughed. “Oh, I’m sure you have some secrets, Hinata,” he said, winking conspiratorially. “But I wouldn’t expect you to tell me anything too deep, ya know? So, that’s fine, this whole situation is over anyway. We’ll just have to continue on the mission.”

Hinata nodded, smiling. With only the light of the moon, Naruto could not see the hollowness of her smile, or the redness in her face, the fingernails that dug at the back of her already bandaged hand, holding herself back from confessing.

“Let’s go back,” Naruto said, yawning. “It’s past my bedtime,” he joked.

“No, you usually fall asleep in about half an hour,” Hinata said, “If you’re not watching TV.”

Hinata’s face paled as soon as the words were out of her mouth. Why did I say that? she thought. Why did I say that!

Naruto looked at her intently. “You’re very mysterious,” he whispered with a smile, “Hyuuga Hinata.”

Hinata laughed nervously.

“Just a lucky guess,” she covered.

Naruto didn’t seem convinced, but everything in his body, from his smile, to his eyes, to his bandaged but otherwise naked chest, told her he was interested and intrigued.

“Good night!” she said quickly, dashing into camp and into the Girl’s tent, glowing with heat from her face and chest all the way.

Hinata was snuggled into her covers in no time flat, and tried to fall asleep to avoid Sakura’s strange looks. The Medical-nin was packing up the last of her supplies again and getting ready for tomorrow.

Byakugan, Hinata thought, bright red with a smile on her face, her back to the other girl.

Shino sat on a stump, staring at the ground as Naruto walked up, staring at the Girl’s tent.

“I never knew Hinata was so… weird,” Naruto said, with a laugh.

“Bright red, hot enough to set the forest on fire had she touched it,” Shino stated. “Naruto… What did you do?”

“Me? I didn’t do anything! You think she’s feeling okay?”

Hinata stifled a small giggle, trying to rein in the flood of emotions this tiring day had produced. Anger, rage, yet embarrassment, happiness, and… well, giggles. She had missed her golden window to confess. Yet, she had touched him, hugged him, even if it was an accident. It was a start, right? Better than this morning, right?

Me, Naruto? she thought. No, I feel fine… All things considered, I feel fine.

Description
“Momma, momma,” Kiba said, pulling at his mother’s jounin jacket. “Who is that?”

“Who?”

“That girl, on the slide, with the purply eyes! I think she’s pretty!”

Kiba’s mother smiled. “You like girls now, do you? No more cooties?”

“Yeah right, mom!” Kiba barked, “I’ll bet she has crazy cooties! I just… prolly wouldn’t mind ‘em so much…” His cheeks turned a soft shade of pink which complemented his new, red fang marks.

Kiba’s mother laughed and bopped him on the head. “You little tramp, you,” she said, fuzzing his brown hair.

“Mom!” Kiba growled angrily, rolling away, “You’re embarrassing me!” Suddenly, the wind blew, and the little girl with the purply eyes slid down the slide, smiling. Kiba closed his eyes and sniffed the air. “She smells good,” he whispered.

“Go play, then!” his mom yelled, smiling as she swatted him towards the playground. “Go play!”

Kiba growled and ran towards the slide, climbing it quickly and sliding down with a high pitched howl of joy. The purply eyed girl sat at the bottom in the sand, building a sand mound.

“Puppy!” she said to him as he flopped onto the sand beside the slide. “You look like a puppy!”

Kiba looked around, and pointed to himself. “Me?”

“Puppy!” She smiled and tossed some sand at him.

“Hey!” Kiba snarled, rubbing the sand out of his hair. “Why’dja do that!”

Suddenly, the girl was quiet, and rolled onto her stomach, hiding behind her small mound of sand. Kiba instantly forgot about the sand she had thrown and hid behind her pile of sand as well, keeping low to the ground.

“What’re we hiding from?” he whispered.

The girl only pointed a small finger to the road above. A small, blond-haired boy, very young, walked along the road, his fists in his short’s pockets and a scowl on his face.

“Who… who is that, puppy-san?” she asked quietly, blushing slightly.

“Eh? That guy is… I dunno, I saw him around once.” Kiba laughed. “He pulled a funny prank and…” his face fell, “nobody backed him up in the fight he caused…”

The girl seemed to sink a little lower into the sand, blushing deeply. “I…I like his hair,” she said softly.

They watched him walk away, and Kiba noticed the boy’s eyes never looked at the other kids his age playing on the playground. “I’m Kiba,” Kiba said, as soon as the boy was out of view, “and I’m gonna be a ninja!” He stood and offered her his hand, which she accepted, smiling.

“Nice to meet you, Kiba-wanwan,” she said. Her smile and her teasing caused his face to redden.

“I’m not a dog!” Kiba yelled, growling, “I’m a ninja!”

“Kiba-wanwan!” barked Kiba’s mother with a grin, “Time to go home!”

Kiba groaned. “Mom,” he whined, “you’re no help at all…” He brushed himself off and gave a big grin to the small girl. “I’m a ninja, don’t forget it!”

“Kiba-wanwan is a ninja,” the girl repeated. She smiled and asked, “Kiba-wanwan is my friend?”

Kiba nodded. “Friends!”

---

Always friends, Kiba thought, wiping an angry tear away as he dashed through the forest, Akamaru close behind. He smudged some blood from his knuckles onto his cheek as he dodged branches.

“Kiba!” came a call from behind. It sounded like Hinata, but there was something in her voice… Something unmistakably wrong…

---

“Kiba!” Hinata called again. Her voice was dangerous, full of fury and anger and demanding an explanation. “KIBA!”

Her blood boiled and she gave herself up to the pent-up rage and barely contained feelings of frenzy that she had been silently battling with all day. The wind and stray leaves whipped at her face, and a few leaves became entangled in her long hair as it flowed out behind her. Fueled by the image of Naruto’s beautiful yet confused eyes, his well-toned and bleeding chest, the bite mark on his arm, and the drop of blood on his precious, cute sleeping-cap, she tore through the trees after the boy and his dog.

Unforgivable! I’m going to kill him! she thought.

I’m not going to kill him, she thought, I’m only going to… maim him.

No, talk to him. Just figure out his freaking problem…

…Then maim him.

She flipped into the trees, cursing softly as her anger began to cloud the Byakugan’s range. But she couldn’t control herself, it was as if someone had taken the reins and was driving her forward with the whip of wrath. She felt like she was looking through a thin red haze, felt like her heart was burning, felt like a mere observer in her chase.

He had stopped, and stood alone at the base of a large tree. Hinata jumped lightly and landed softly on one knee, cracking the ground with the force of the chakra leaking from her body. She stood, glaring at him with her lavender eyes, no longer soft and shy, but hard.

“You owe me an explanation,” she said quietly. Kiba took a step back, and suddenly whined, sitting down like… like a dog.

“Akamaru! Kai!” she mumbled, and the illusion was forced to end. The large dog sat before her, looking as if it were trying to decide whether to growl in aggression or move forward for an ear-scratching. Hinata answered the question swiftly, bopping him hard on the nose. Akamaru let out a yelp, and tried to move back. Hinata crouched and grabbed his head, forcing him to look into her eyes.

They glared for a second, and Akamaru struggled to pull away. His nose twitched as it sensed the anger Hinata felt toward herself for allowing her anger to cloud her mind, and for not recognizing Akamaru earlier. On top of that, he could plainly smell Kiba’s fear and shame and anger half a mile away. The two most important humans in his life were the center of unfamiliar and downright chilling scents. Akamaru was confused.

“Take me to him,” she commanded, and let him go. Akamaru wasted no time, and dashed off at full speed. Hinata made sure to stay right next to him, in arms reach, should she need to grab his tail and “convince” to lead her down the right path.

Hinata soon saw there was no need to doubt the huge dog. The trees began to thin as they came to the edge of the forest. Illuminated in the glow of the half-moon was a large rock, jutting out over the edge of a cliff and hanging above more trees. Atop the stone sat Kiba, his back to the forest, eyes turned upwards toward the moon. Hinata landed at the base of the rock, and watched as Akamaru passed her and bounded up the rock to his master. Akamaru sat at Kiba’s side, nuzzling against him as if begging for forgiveness. Kiba patted his head and growled softly, his deep, gentle voice caught on the wind and carried to Hinata’s ears.

“Akamaru is too trusting of those he cares about,” Kiba called back, finally standing and turning to face her. That goes for both of us, he thought, smelling his loyal dog’s confusion.

All calming effects of his soft voice had dissolved, and her anger burned again. “You owe me an explanation,” she said, attempting the line again, staring up at her friend. “What is your problem!”

Kiba was silent, and turned to face the moonlight.

Hinata glared for a second, screamed in fury, and tore up the face of the rock. Kiba turned at the last second, his eyes wet with tears, a small, sad smile on his face as her fist connected with his painted cheeks. No chakra, no control, it had simply been an all-out strike without thought or strategy. Kiba offered no resistance, and smacked into the ground with a soft thud. Akamaru was instantly at his side, his muscles tensing as he prepared to strike. Kiba’s hand softly bumped his paw, and a message seemed to pass between the two. Akamaru calmed, the scent of confusion rising in the air to all who were sensitive enough to smell it.

Hinata stared at Kiba’s crumpled body, then back to her fist, which throbbed slightly in the pain you feel when you use bare-knuckled taijutsu. He stirred slightly, and rolled onto his back, exposing himself as he gasped for air. She was tempted to attack again, to use all her might and smash her fist into his chest, to feel the sickening crunch of his ribs…

No, it’s Kiba, she thought. Calm down.

Kiba laughed sadly as he looked up at her, watching her fight with herself. “You ARE in there,” he said. “I’m glad.”

Hinata, pushing the fire back and away from her heart, knelt down next to him and grabbed his collar. “Why!” she yelled. “Why would you do such a thing?”

Kiba turned his head away, making that annoyed pout he made when he realized he was on the wrong side. “I didn’t like the way he was talking about you.”

Hinata slapped him and interlaced her fingers with a clump of his hair, forcing him to look into her eyes, “Don’t look away,” she said. “What’d he say!”

“I didn’t like the way he said your name,” Kiba said, emotionally holding his ground even as he had been physically defeated. He knew it was, of course, impossible to fight against her, even now. This wasn’t sparring, it wasn’t training, and it wasn’t teasing. It was serious fist, tooth, and claw business. And he would never be able to bring himself to do something like that.

“Kiba!” she yelled angrily, slapping him again with the back of her hand, releasing a bit of chakra as she struck. She heard the satisfyingly soft grunt of pain, and tightly grabbed his hair again. “That’s bullshit!”

“He called you Hinata! And he does NOT know you as…” As well as I do… “Know you enough to justify being so… so disgustingly comfortable speaking about you so casually! He has no right!”

“I told him to!”

Kiba growled and glared at her, ignoring the pain in his face as one of his chakra pores became swollen and closed off. His scalp screamed as she pulled his face closer to hers, her other hand tightly holding the scruff of his neck.

“What did you do with him?” Kiba asked quietly, gritting his teeth.

“I went and had lunch!” she yelled, “and then we fought and trained! He walked me home because I live ONE FLOOR DOWN from him! And then I shakily asked him to go on a real date sometime! Anything MORE you demand? I guess I could tell you our fight ended in a stalemate! I could tell you what kind of ramen we had, do you need that too!”

His eyes fell, his muscles untensed, and Hinata felt that she had won. Slowly, she let go of his hair and his neck, and moved a few feet away from him. Kiba simply laid back and stared at the sky, rubbing his neck and unzipping his hoodie. He lay there, panting, his ANBU chest armor open and exposed to the air. Hinata felt a twinge of guilt as her rage began to subside. This was her friend, her teammate, someone she had grown up with. She remembered the first time she met him, on a playground, so long ago.

And here he was now, his chest heaving up and down, his breathing heavy, his lip cut slightly, his knuckles tinged with dried blood droplets.

Look how far we’ve come, she thought bitterly, feeling ashamed.

“I just… feel like… I’m going to lose someone important to me,” he said angrily, though Hinata could feel that the anger was not directed towards her. “It’s… the pack,” he finally said. “Its us, the rookie nine and team Gai. And we’re so full of Alphas… and… Alpha males need Alpha females… Er, ”

Hinata was silent, watching as Akamaru padded over to his master and licked his cheek. “Hinata, you… you’re my alpha female,” Kiba said, “You’re not Naruto’s; he doesn’t care about you the way I do at all!”

“You had better not say Naruto was poaching on your territory,” Hinata said with a dangerous tone.

“But that’s the truth, isn’t it?” he said quietly.

Hinata bristled, and glared. “You don’t own me, Kiba!”

“No, you--”

The voice inside her seemed to growl and whisper, demanding that she attack, but she only yelled, “SHUT UP!”

“I don’t mean I own you!” he screamed, his eyes tightly shut, sincerely wishing he wasn’t on his back. “I mean… you’re mine… to take care of. I don’t own you, but you belong to me! You’re my responsibility! You’re my alpha! You’re part of my pack!”

“Kiba,” Hinata began, her voice a bit softer, simply annoyed, “I know how you feel about--”

“No you don’t!” he suddenly yelled. “Oh Hinata-koishi, you have no idea…”

“Stop it, Kiba.”

“No, I won’t stop! It’s my right! I love you!”

Silence.

It sounded weird the way he said it. It sounded… so very not tough-guy, and yet it was genuine. It sounded the same way Hinata imagined she would sound when she confessed to Naruto in her mind. It was the cliché, blatant, point-blank range shot to the heart. Kiba hated the way he sounded, the way his deep, growling voice seemed to lose its inherent confidence and sexiness. His voice became higher pitched, younger sounding, afraid even, and so he had searched for better ways to say it. But those three words could only be replaced with many more delicate words, something Kiba had no knowledge of. Perhaps a Shakespearean ninja would have more luck, turning twenty empty thees and thous and prithees into the same powerful and painful emotion Kiba felt when he said “I love you”, but Kiba wasn’t nearly that skilled with the manipulation of words. So he said it plain and simple, and hated himself for it.

Hinata would have been shocked, but she had heard it all before. She was suddenly a young sixteen-year-old, lonely because the one person she loved more than anything in the world refused to notice that every time he bumped into her, or got close to her, or said her name, or simply cursed at those who didn’t understand true determination or had no idea what loneliness was, she turned bright red, or passed out, or ran away. The few times he had noticed, he was too dense to understand what it meant when she was red all over, or radiating heat.

She had been sitting underneath one of the few beautiful trees in the training forest, trying to figure out her life, sifting through her thoughts. She had been telling herself that if she just got stronger, or conquered her shyness, or became louder, or did her hair right, he would notice and instantly share her love, when she burst into tears. She had no idea how to get him to notice, because nothing had worked! Hinata hugged her knees close to her chest, and buried her face in them, trying to stop her heart from pounding, trying to think about something other than the love of her life. She hated herself for crying, it was so weak, but she just couldn’t hold it in anymore.

It happened quickly, and yet, time seemed to slow to allow her to feel every sensation. She heard him softly sit down behind her, felt his arms reach forward and gently grab a hold of her body. She felt herself pulled back, slowly, gently, by strong arms, could feel the tension and the slight tremble of his arms against her body. She felt his chest upon her back, so warm and kind, and she was drawn to it, to try to dry the tears she couldn’t help but cry. She was hugged tightly, his head placed upon her shoulder and his cheek against hers. He smelt tough, like a fighter should.

I was scared and alone and tired, Hinata thought, the memory filling her. She watched herself give in to the warmth that her friend provided, saw her face change from a grimace of heartache to a soft, contented smile. It was her friend, Kiba, so it was okay, right? It had just felt… right, right?

He whispered something in her ear, probably asking if she was alright now, Hinata couldn’t remember. And everything from there was a blur. They had held hands, and hugged, and laughed, and talked, like normal couples, yet never once had they said they were “going out.” They were simply together. Hinata saw it as they were friends. That was the only way she could justify the amount of emotion she had pulled from Kiba when they were together, how she could still tell herself she loved Naruto with a straight face. But…

Deep in her mind, Hinata knew she was using Kiba as a source of comfort, as simply a friend to help her through a hard time. Kiba gradually worked up his courage and began to say the things he truly felt to her. He called her Hinata-koishi, his loved one. She had never ever reciprocated, and began feeling ill at ease…

It had gone on for nearly a year, and Kiba had been kind to her.

They had had a fun night out on the town, which involved some serious shenanigans at a festival, but it had been okay. Kiba laughed loudly as they walked to the entrance of the Hyuuga complex, dragging their feet slightly.

Hinata was hurt by his laugh, because, amidst the crowd, she had seen Naruto. No only that, but he had waved to her, smiling widely. Her feelings didn’t bubble up from the surface, because they had always been there, despite her appearance of affection towards Kiba. At that instant, Kiba had moved in front of her, and she suddenly realized that she felt nothing for Kiba in the way that she felt for the grinning yellow-haired weirdo and his gorgeous blue eyes. And it was wrong for her to lie to her best friend like this.

His contented laugh, the laugh that spoke of how happy he was with the one he truly loved, had stuck in her heart like a needle. She had led him on for far too long, justifying it as “we’re just friends,” but it had to stop.

She was three steps to safety, inside the complex, when he had hugged her from behind, and whispered, “Hey,” gently in her ear, a slight growl in his voice. “Hinata-koishi…” Hinata felt herself turn and gently, reluctantly, hug him back. He smiled, and softly laid a hand underneath her chin, bringing her eyes to meet his.

“I love you, Hinata…”

God, he had good eyes, she had thought, sadness filling her. Strong and tough, yet so gentle and caring. Eyes that are about to fill with pain…

“I always have, Hinata-koishi…”

Kiba didn’t notice her sadness, and slowly, slowly, his hand shaking, brought her chin closer to his face, brought her lips almost---

Hinata pulled away, and turned her back on him, taking the three steps into the compound. “I… I…” she stuttered. “I can’t give my first kiss to you!”

Kiba was silent.

“Kiba… this isn’t… working,” she heard herself say. Byakugan…

She was glad he couldn’t see her eyes, but had wished she had not looked at his. After thirty seconds, he simply laughed and nodded. “I see,” he said. “Well, call me, we’ll hang sometime… with Shino or someone, ya know?”

Hinata turned to face him, dropping the Byakugan. “Kiba, I had a lot of fun,” she began. Her voice suddenly caught in her throat, and she choked.

“Yeah,” he said, “So let’s hang later. After the next mission?” But he didn’t wait for a reply, just smiled that hollow smile and turned around. Hinata’s eyes were drawn to her feet, a tear falling slowly down her cheek. He disappeared into the night, but not without saying, “I love you.” His voice had been higher then as well. Hinata cried as she walked back to her room, and pulled out a letter she had not worked on for some time.

The memory faded. Hinata was brought to the here and now, where Kiba was looking at her with conflicted eyes.

“I don’t love you,” Hinata said. It was not an insult, it was simply a fact. “Not at all the way I feel towards Naruto.”

“I know,” Kiba spat bitterly, slowly standing with his back to her. Akamaru gazed up at his master, reading his face. “I get it. I’m not good enough.”

“Kiba!” Hinata shouted angrily, commanding his attention. “Shut up. Don’t do this.”

Kiba slowly turned. “I don’t even have a glimmer of a chance?” he asked, his voice so low it was almost a whisper, almost a whine. The way he asked sounded as if he knew the answer, but Kiba found he couldn’t help but hold on to the smallest beam of light, the smallest shine of hope.

Hinata’s heart panged with guilt for causing this pain for her friend as she said, in complete honesty, “No.”

Silence.

“Kiba, you’re going to need to find someone else t be your alpha,” she said softly. “I can’t belong to you the way you want me to.”

Kiba slowly nodded, and wiped away the few tears that managed to leak out. Akamaru whined, looking up at Kiba, who simply gave him a pat on the head that communicated everything. Akamaru licked his master’s hand and growled compassionately.

Kiba stepped towards Hinata, her body silhouetted against the moon. He softly put a hand on her shoulder and said, “If he does ANYthing to you, you let me know.”

Hinata smiled. “Of course.”

Very gently, he pulled her into a hug. Not a close, pressing hug, but the hug of someone who knows there is nothing left, and is gathering one final spark of warmth before venturing out into the cold.

“I will still love you,” he whispered.

“I hope not,” Hinata said. She was worried she would have to end the hug forcefully, but Kiba knew when enough was enough, and released her. She gave him a sad smile, which he returned.

There was nothing left to say, no words to scream, no blows to trade. They began walking back in silence. It was only then that Hinata realized that she had done everything in her cute pajamas, and her hair had become tangled slightly. She groaned, knowing that she would have to ask Sakura to help her brush it all out, she was much too tired to do it on her own.

Naruto was bandaged, a wrap around his chest and a bandage taped to his face, simply leaning against a tree as Hinata and Kiba approached from the darkness, Akamaru padding along behind. Shino was the first to notice them, but made no motion in greeting or rebuke.

Kiba walked up to Naruto, and laid a hand on his bare shoulder. Naruto slowly turned to face him, his eyes serious. For a moment, they seemed to stare into each other, saying everything with their eyes. Kiba bowed his head, and mumbled, “Gomen, Naruto-kun…”

Naruto softened. “Just Naruto, Kiba, you know that,” he replied with a smile.

Kiba leaned in close, and whispered something, something inaudible to Hinata and the other onlookers. And then, he moved past Naruto, leaving him confused, but not unhappy. Kiba and Akamaru slipped into the tent.

That… He didn’t even properly apologize! Hinata thought, something squeezing around her heart and driving anger to the surface for the umpteenth time tonight.

“Hinata.”

Hinata blushed. It had been Naruto’s voice beckoning her, and she turned to face him. He made a gesture with his head, nodding in the direction of the woods.

Hinata forgot her momentary spur of anger, and gathered her courage, repeating, “I will not faint, I will not faint,” under her breath as she approached him. Without a word, he turned and began walking into the forest, his hair blowing slightly in the cool night breeze. Hinata couldn’t help but continue to blush as she simply watched him.

What is wrong with me? she thought, It’s like my emotions are at the extremes of each spectrum.

When they were safely out of earshot of the camp, Naruto turned, his face confused, yet serious.

“Hinata,” he began, but was interrupted before he could get going.

Hinata was down on her knees, her head bent low, her eyes shut tightly.

“Please forgive Kiba,” she asked, formally apologizing, “I know he didn’t apologize properly, so I will apologize for him.”

Naruto laughed slightly. “Mah? No, Hinata, its… its cool, I’m not mad at him or anything…”

“Even so,” she began. Now it was her turn to be interrupted. Naruto reached down and took her hand, gently yet firmly pulling her to her feet. Hinata’s pale lavender eyes were wide with surprise as she slowly lost her balance and fell into him. Her arms instinctively flung themselves about his neck, and his hands landed on her waist to steady her.

Time seemed to stop for a second, as they looked into each other’s eyes, only for a second.

Those eyes, she whined in her head, quickly turning red.

She… she has very pretty eyes, Naruto thought, quickly turning red.

They jumped about three feet apart each, looking at the ground. Naruto gave a nervous laugh, trying to calm himself.

“I... guess I pulled too hard,” he said, laughing a little too loudly.

Hinata regained her composure first, surprisingly enough. “It’s… okay, ya know? Just an… accident, right?”

“Absolutely,” he said, laughing and waving his hands. “I’d… Well, anyway…” Naruto cleared his throat and regaining his composure, “…this episode with Kiba started when I said something about… well, about YOU.”

“I heard,” was all Hinata could say, looking away.

“I don’t really know what’s going on,” Naruto said gently, “And I probably wouldn’t get it even if you tried to explain it. I know Kiba is protective of a lot of people, so… I dunno, this is probably not my business.”

The wind rustled through the trees above them. Hinata slowly looked up, into his face.

“I just want to ask right now,” he finally said, setting his serious eyes on her, “is there something you need to say to me?”

This… this is it! she thought. All I have to do is—

NOW! No, I’m not ready…

Just be casual!

But I don’t feel casually towards him! I can’t say it casually. It’s not “like,” its LOVE!

Say it.

I haven’t proven myself strong enough at all yet! He’ll think—

Since when does Naruto think? Say it!

Shut up! He’s smarter than everyone thinks, and I know that, so there is NO way I would have thought that!

Either say it, or force him to the ground and show him.

I… I…

SAY IT, DAMMIT! Now is the best chance you are ever going to get!

“I…” love you…

Naruto waited expectantly.

“I…” LOVE YOU!

The wind blew her hair out behind her, tugged at her pajamas. Naruto’s full attention was on the young woman in front of him, his complete focus on her down-turned eyes.

“I…” ABSO-TOTA-LUTELY LOVE YOU AND WANT TO HAVE YOUR BABIES! I WANT TO BE WITH YOU FOREVER!

Slowly she looked up and smiled, her eyes closed as she finally spoke a complete sentence.

“I’ve got nothing,” she said with a laugh, “I don’t really know why Kiba would freak… Over me… like that… Over anything you might have said. I don’t really have any burning secret to reveal that would shed some light on this, either, so…”

Naruto laughed. “Oh, I’m sure you have some secrets, Hinata,” he said, winking conspiratorially. “But I wouldn’t expect you to tell me anything too deep, ya know? So, that’s fine, this whole situation is over anyway. We’ll just have to continue on the mission.”

Hinata nodded, smiling. With only the light of the moon, Naruto could not see the hollowness of her smile, or the redness in her face, the fingernails that dug at the back of her already bandaged hand, holding herself back from confessing.

“Let’s go back,” Naruto said, yawning. “It’s past my bedtime,” he joked.

“No, you usually fall asleep in about half an hour,” Hinata said, “If you’re not watching TV.”

Hinata’s face paled as soon as the words were out of her mouth. Why did I say that? she thought. Why did I say that!

Naruto looked at her intently. “You’re very mysterious,” he whispered with a smile, “Hyuuga Hinata.”

Hinata laughed nervously.

“Just a lucky guess,” she covered.

Naruto didn’t seem convinced, but everything in his body, from his smile, to his eyes, to his bandaged but otherwise naked chest, told her he was interested and intrigued.

“Good night!” she said quickly, dashing into camp and into the Girl’s tent, glowing with heat from her face and chest all the way.

Hinata was snuggled into her covers in no time flat, and tried to fall asleep to avoid Sakura’s strange looks. The Medical-nin was packing up the last of her supplies again and getting ready for tomorrow.

Byakugan, Hinata thought, bright red with a smile on her face, her back to the other girl.

Shino sat on a stump, staring at the ground as Naruto walked up, staring at the Girl’s tent.

“I never knew Hinata was so… weird,” Naruto said, with a laugh.

“Bright red, hot enough to set the forest on fire had she touched it,” Shino stated. “Naruto… What did you do?”

“Me? I didn’t do anything! You think she’s feeling okay?”

Hinata stifled a small giggle, trying to rein in the flood of emotions this tiring day had produced. Anger, rage, yet embarrassment, happiness, and… well, giggles. She had missed her golden window to confess. Yet, she had touched him, hugged him, even if it was an accident. It was a start, right? Better than this morning, right?

Me, Naruto? she thought. No, I feel fine… All things considered, I feel fine.