Summoner Nin

Page 24: Unique

Summoner-nin

Part Three: Team Kage

Chapter Seven

"Oh. My. God. Is that him?"

"Yeah. Doesn't he look creepy?"

Hinata pretended not to hear as she and Shino strove down the Academy's hallway towards the schoolyard for recess. Even without her superior hearing, their voices weren't that hard to make out. It was as if they wanted to be heard, as if they had no idea what a ninjawas and that all their training up until then had been moot or unimportant. She didn't understand why they were looking at them, or even pointing at them. Didn't they know that it was rude?

"I heard they ate bugs!"

"I heard bugs live inside them!"

"What's with the sunglasses? I mean, he even wears them inside."

Hinata fought the urge to frown at the comment, or even to press her fingers together in uneasiness under all those eyes. Her peers, some older but most were younger, did not understand that the Aburames' eyes were very sensitive to light. All her peers were, as the Hyuga would put it, grossly ignorant of the ninja clans, but then Hinata would never lay such prompt judgement on others. It was very inappropriate to think lesser of other people. They, too, were capable of speech and thought. They were only expressing their opinions, after all.

"Why's the Hyuga with him?"

"Eyes plus bugs equals: creepy."

Now she pressed fingers together, certainly uncomfortable and she did not find their comment about her eyes very nice. Hyugas took much pride in their bloodline limit and if she were another Hyuga, say her cousin, they would not have gone unharmed from such a... such a... mean remark.

She peeked up from her bangs to look at Shino strolling at her side, walking down the hallway as if he hadn't heard those cruel observations made about him and her. Although Hinata may not have known it, he had faced such crass comments for years, but from what she had garnered from their short walk in just those five minutes...

She was not pleased and, if she were perhaps a little braver like... Naruto, she may have said something... maybe even pull a few pigtails to get her point across. She had noticed that it was wrong for a boy to hit a girl, but when girls fought... it was more than just hair-pulling and nail-scratching, but words were thrown that kunai. She has seen the girls swarming like insects around Sasuke, and no one blinked when they started screeching at each other.

Hinata supposed she could screech too... somewhat... a little... maybe a peep if it meant that they would stop saying uncomfortable things around Shino. They really should know better, after all.

"I think-"

But the rest went unheard when Kiba suddenly propelled himself down the hallway yelling, "WAIT UP, GUYS!" Akamaru's enthusiastic bark followed after, tongue lolling about and saliva dripping down the once immaculate Academy's floor.

As effective as a bowling ball knocking down all ten pins at once - A STRIKE! - Kiba knocked into both Hinata and Shino in a giddy laugh, stringing an arm around Hinata's shoulders and wrapping his other around Shino's.