[Log] [Girl Talk] [Ino and Hinata] [Closed]
Hinata had been the one to ask about getting advice...but she was still nervous as she made her way to Ino's apartment. She wasn't quite sure what she wanted to ask the other woman, and she wasn't even sure if Ino would be able to help. But Ino knew a lot about people, she was good at understanding how they felt. Hinata just observed clinically, Ino put herself into things.
So Hinata didn't let herself hesitate too much as she knocked at her friend's door, trying hard not to fidget.
"It's open!" Ino called from the kitchen, standing in front of the counter which was full of boxes of cakes and cookies, most opened as she inspected them. Their kitchen looked more like a bakery than anything else with all of these desserts but Ino was on a mission. The cookies had sprinkles-Chouji didn't particularly like baking with sprinkles because sprinkles to him had a waxy taste. The cakes were heavy and dark in color because it had too much rum in it-Chouji didn't particularly like rum in his cakes.
Very, very suspicious.
It meant that they were gifts and since they weren't particularly well wrapped it could only mean that people in his class were giving them to him. Girl people. This did not sit well with Ino who could be as possessive as a mother animal in the wild. If she could plainly mark Chouji as Her Territory to ward off other girls she would. Happily. Now that they were older, girls who had thought Chouji wasn't as cool as the skinnier guys were realized the nice trumped good looking any day.
Hinata peeked in, smiling a little shyly. "Thank you. Sorry for coming over so suddenly..." She ducked into the room, frowning a little at what Ino was doing. "...What's going on?"
Truthfully, she didn't know much about anything that went on with Ino. She didn't like to pry into other people's lives. But seeing all the cakes there, and Ino inspecting them, Hinata didn't know what was going on at all. Had she come at a bad time?
"...Is everything alright?"
"Oh yeah, fine, fine. Everything is fine," Ino turned away from the boxes and gave Hinata a huge grin. She pushed back the sleeves of her sweater and picked up a large metal thermos. "I'll get you something to drink. Have a seat at the table. Is hot chocolate okay? Chouji makes it from scratch and I have some in a thermos-it's still mostly hot." Without so much as waiting for an answer, she went to pour the drink into two mugs, still eyeing the cakes and cookies every so often. It just didn't sit right with her. Was she being unreasonable?
Putting the mug in front of Hinata and setting out some of the cookies that she had been inspecting, Ino sat across from her and crossed her legs comfortably. "So? What's up? It's rare that you come here."
"Ah, hot chocolate is fine..." Not that it mattered, since Ino gave her some anyway. Hinata just smiled and held the mug between her hands, trying hard not to move it back and forth between her hands nervously. "And um...I wanted to ask you something...if that's alright."
Well, more like she just wanted to figure things out. It wasn't like it was just a single question deal.
She sipped at the drink, hesitating before continuing. Ino could be a little intimidating at times. She also needed to think of just how to start. It hadn't occured to her to plan that part out before arriving.
"U-um... Do you...um. About Valentine's Day..."
Ino folded her hands, resting her chin on them. Hinata really did look scared. What could she want to ask concerning that particular holiday? "Are you asking to be my Valentine?" she asked mischievously. "I never knew you felt that way about me!" At her shocked look, the blonde just laughed. "You're too serious, Hinata. Whatever it is, ask me. If I can help you I'll try my best to do so. Okay? So just out with it!"
Ino said that, but it was a lot harder to say things than she made it seem.
"I just... I'm confused." Now she did start playing with the mug, pushing it between her palms, listening to the sound it made as it moved across the tabletop. "I don't...know this person all that well. He's really nice, though, and he's invited me to do things with him. A-and I'm confused." She shrugged and took a long sip of cocoa before going back to playing with the mug.
"I know I'm just imaging things, but... I don't know."
Trying not to get too excited, she looked right at Hinata. "It sounds like this person is very nice," she pretended she had no idea this person was a certain loud blond who had a penchant for cartoons and silly things. "I'm sure if you like him then he is a good person, Hinata. If you don't know him very well then you should fix that and try to hang around him more. The only way you'll really get to know someone is by talking, right?"
It would be so cute if Hinata and Naruto got together, in her opinion. Hinata deserved to have someone nice treat her well. She was so painfully shy and withdrawn-little by little Naruto could probably bring her out of her shell. "You're wondering if he likes you, right? Boys can be tricky but I think that it would be hard for someone not to like you. You're the complete package! Smart, kind, and pretty. Pretty rare these days, I think."
"Ah, i-it's not like that!" Hinata nearly spilled her drink in her effort to deny what Ino was saying. "I was just wondering, is all. N-not because I..."
She trailed off, embarrassed and bright red. Ino always jumped to conclusions. And for a while now she'd been hinting for Hinata to find someone else, but... Kiba had said he'd come back.
"I'm sorry, I just... It's not like that..."
"I see," she said carefully, tapping a finger to her cheek thoughtfully. "Then what is it like? You're confused over something. If you're wondering if this person likes you, what does it matter if you don't like him? You can just ignore it. And if he confesses to you then you can say you're not interested. It's very simple."
"But that..." Hinata fidgeted nervously. "That would be rude, wouldn't it? To deny someone's feelings like that..."
Ino gave her an incredulous look. Poor Hinata. She was so shy and naïve she would probably let a burglar in, give him tea, and listen to his life story. "It would be ruder to let them think they have a chance when you're not interested. Your problem is that you don't make yourself clear. How will people know what you're thinking if you don't say it?"
Hinata looked down at the table, ashamed. "I'm sorry. I didn't...think of it that way." Ino was right, though. That was even worse, to lead someone on. To make them hope and wait and wish for something that wouldn't ever happen.
"...I don't know what I want. I really enjoy that he's asked me to do things. It's been fun! But I know it's not because of anything romantic." Or well, that's what she told herself. There were a lot better people around than her, regardless of what Ino said.
"You don't have to be sorry," Ino reached out and patted Hinata's hand comfortingly. "There's nothing to be sorry about. Do you think you're holding back a little bit? Maybe having something romantic wouldn't be so bad. Is it impossible to think of Na-err-this person in a romantic way?" she quickly covered up. "You like hanging out with this person, right? The best couples are always friends first. If you get to know someone as a friend you already know his likes and dislikes when you're a couple."
Why was she even giving relationship advice? Here she was blowing as gasket over baked goods, which was completely ridiculous. Hinata really should have asked someone a bit saner to explain things to her.
Hinata glanced up at Ino, trying very hard to sort through things. Be rational. That's all Ino was asking her to do, right? Rationally think this over.
"I do like hanging out. He's very nice. But I don't think I want it to be more than that." She hesitated, then hurried on. "B-because Kiba said he would come back, so..." Naruto was very nice, and he made her very happy. But she couldn't just give up, could she?
"So there is your answer. If your feelings change then you'll face them head on with no fear, right? The worst thing is to regret not doing something. You should go with your gut and try not to over think things."
Ino traced the rim of her mug with her forefinger. She couldn't believe Hinata was still holding out for Kiba. Girls in love really did do stupid things, didn't they? "Only you know yourself and what you're feeling."
...Hinata didn't feel like she knew herself now, though. And definitely didn't know how she was feeling.
"...But I don't even know if he cares like that," she said softly, reaching for a cookie. They were really good, actually. Ino sure was lucky to have such a good cook to love. "It's silly of me to worry about something like this when nothing will come of it."
Excuses. She felt like she was scrambling for excuses, and that left a bit of a bitter taste in her mouth.
"Even if you don't know how he feels, it's not hard to figure out how you feel. Forget Kiba for a moment. Think about your own feelings and what it's like to be with him. Even if the tiniest part of you wants it to become something more, it's probably true. You don't have to be ashamed or afraid; no one will judge in. In fact, I would think Kiba would want you to be happy," she sipped the hot chocolate, humming in satisfaction. "When you care about someone, you really only want them to be happy. I don't think he would be satisfied with you being held down while he is off somewhere else."
It was easy to give this advice, but what if she were in Hinata's place? If Chouji had told her to wait for him she probably would have waited. He was selfless though-he would probably never ask her to give up her life for him.
"I..." That was too hard, though, to forget about Kiba. He was a large part of her life, and he'd been the first person she'd ever cared for. She couldn't just betray him. And she didn't know Naruto, didn't know if he even cared--he was nice to everyone, wasn't he?
"I'm sorry, I still don't know what to do. I just.. Because Valentine's is coming up, I think I started thinking about things too much. Thank you, though, for trying to help."
Ino waved her hand at her. "Don't worry about it. I think you just need to think things over some more, Hinata. If you ever need to talk again don’t hesitate to come over right away. I don't mind helping you."
"I-I know, thank you." She smiled, although she still felt guilty. Ino did so much for her, and Hinata couldn't even follow her advice without complaining.
She felt like a bad friend.
She finished her cocoa quickly after that, and took another cookie. "...These are very good. Chouji went all out, didn't he?"
Her fingers twitched on the cup, nearly cracking it in half with the amount of pressure her fingertips were putting on it. "Oh, he didn't make these. He gave them to me because he knows I like sweets a lot but I think some girls in his class gave them to him." Ino's eyebrow twitched slightly. "Most guys I know don't bake with sprinkles."
Guh. Even talking about it irked her. Who did those girls think they were? It was practically common knowledge that you don't bake for someone elses boyfriend. You just didn't do that. And everyone in the world knew they were dating, it wasn't like they made a secret of it.
"Oh?" Had she said something wrong? Ino looked a bit flustered. "Maybe it was a big class project? To cook for classmates? I think we did that once in elementary school..." Not that college and grade school were in any way similar, but it was all Hinata could think of.
And the cookies really were very good.
"If you really like them, then you can just take them with you. I already have so much stuff! I'm going to weigh six hundred pounds if I keep it all around," she chirped way too cheerfully. "Share them with your friends. Just take them." Having to look at them any longer was going to make her crack under pressure.
Not that Ino didn't have faith in their relationship. How could Chouji ever find a better girl than Ino? She was beautiful with a stellar body, talented, smart, and charismatic. Of course, her own mother was all of those things and more and she saw how well her parents' marriage turned out. Still… there was that old saying that men were never satisfied. Chouji wasn't like that though. He could care less about looks.
She wasn't worried. Nope. Not at all.
Ino didn't sound too happy, actually. She sounded a bit forced. "You're sure? I don't want to cause a problem... A-and I don't eat many sweets, and Neji-niisan doesn't really either, I don't think..." Well, that wasn't entirely true. Hinata loved cinnamon rolls, but those were entirely different from cookies.
...Maybe she shouldn't have brought this up at all? Ino looked a little scary.
"I insist," her voice had taken on a slightly dark edge as she pondered her plan of action to scope out these girls who were trying to steal her boyfriend. "Share them with Naruto, if you want. He loves sweet things."
"A-alright..." She didn't think she should disagree with Ino. The other girl really was a bit frightening. "I'll give them to him. You really think he'll like them?"
Taking a calming breath, Ino picked up one of the cookies and eyed it critically before taking a bite. Damn it. "Yeah," she said, shaking her head in almost disbelief, laughing at her own patheticness. Getting so upset over a cookie. Ridiculous. She was losing her cool, all right. "It really is pretty good. Better than I could ever make."
"That's alright," Hinata said, smiling softly. "Not everyone makes good cookies." She didn't think her own were all that great, either. Definitely not this good, and not half as good as Chouji's, if what Ino said meant anything.
"I think when you really care about someone, it makes you childish and unrealistic sometimes. You get mad over stupid things. Like if someone else can do something better for him you get very self conscious and scared," Ino rubbed the back of her neck, closing her eyes for a moment. "I think in the long run it doesn't matter but you still can't help but feel that way."
Fear. That was probably it. Ino didn't like to show fear but it tended to manifest itself in weird ways. Like flipping out over baked goods. "Haha, I really am very childish a lot!"
"Because you love him, right?" Hinata set down her cookie and looked at Ino, really studying her face. "I can't say I understand how you feel," although maybe she could, a little. Kiba had been a bit of a flirt. "But I think it's ok?"
Well...maybe freaking out over customary gifts from classmates was a bit strange, but then Ino wasn't exactly the most normal person Hinata knew. No one at Lysgar was. It was what made it a fun place to live.
Ino's cheeks turned bright red, a rare feat in and of itself. For a few seconds she couldn't even splutter back a reply to Hinata but instead concentrated on her empty mug. "Anyway, we're here to talk about you and not about me. I've already got myself a boyfriend. I'm happy. You deserve to be happy too."
Hinata turned red in response to Ino's blush, and was glad when her friend broke eye contact. She'd just embarrassed her, hadn't she?
"I-I am happy. I have Snuggles and I've made friends and school is alright and, um..." She just didn't have someone to cuddle with. And she really did miss cuddling. "And um... Thank you for your advice..."
"Snuggles can't give you flowers or gifts on Valentine's day. As cute as your cat is, she can't wait for you outside for an hour to talk you home from work when it's dark or put her arm around you when a scary movie comes on," Ino said wryly. "There's nothing wrong with wanting to be loved, you know? We all want it."
Hinata nodded, looking down at the table. "I know that, I do. But I..."
She didn't want to be hurt anymore. If she was honest with herself, that's what it boiled down to. Kiba had left suddenly, and that had hurt. More than she could say. But she clung to the hope he'd come back because it was a way to fight the pain down. But now, if she let that go and opened herself up to someone else...
What if he just left, too?
"You know, contrary to what a lot of people believe, I never really had many serious boyfriends. Maybe… two in my whole life. I dated guys for days or weeks but I was so scared it would turn out like my parents that I just ran. It's not a great way to live." She really hoped Hinata was understanding this-it was so transparent how afraid she was. Her body practically trembled. "People hurt and get hurt. That’s life. But it can't stop you from living. I hope you'll think about that."
Ino's words were sobering, and Hinata nodded numbly. She'd been being selfish, hadn't she? Or more like she was just letting her fear control her. Even though Ino had reasons to be afraid she put herself into everything, every little bit of her.
"...Thank you, Ino. I will, I promise. A-and...I'll give these to him." She pointed to the cookies and smiled shyly. "I'll try not to be so afraid anymore."