Hinata One-shots(Requests welcome)

Unraveled(KibaHina)

I do not own Naruto.

Unraveled.

She had always followed the strands, the little red strings that tied her to him. She had done this for years, too many to count. Her gentle fingertips brushed over the frayed red string in her grasp. It wasn't quite split, but it was frayed to the point of disrepair, not yet having snapped. She grabbed both sides of the fray and wound them together, tying them in a knot to stop the fray from disconnecting. She looked down at the length of string and sighed. She had lost count of all the knots she had tied to attempt to repair the damage to her red string.

She brushed her finger down the line and her fingers bumped over each one. She was holding on so desperately and she didn't understand why. He had been gone for so long, but she refused to give up hope that he would come back to her. He had been on a mission for a month now and was supposed to be back any day, but he had yet to return. She brushed her fingers over the wounded string once more and a hand grabbed hers and pulled it away from the string.

"You have to stop doing that." he sighed, and she looked over to him. His dark eyes were filled with sadness upon seeing her struggle with her thread once more. "I know, Kiba... I know..." She sighed and he ruffled her hair gently. "If the thread frays, let it snap. Fate will find someone else for you. You can't just keep hurting yourself over some idiot who doesn't pay attention to his thread." he rumbled, and she nodded as she looked back at her thread once more.

It had already begun to fray once more.

"Now come on, Shino is waiting for us for food. You know how he gets." the feral man sighed, and she giggled behind her hand as she nodded. "Yes... I am aware." she said softly, and he offered her a small smile back to her. He would never understand how much he meant to her. He was her best friend and had done nothing but protect her and help her become stronger over the years. She was indebted to him, and he didn't even know it.

She followed him to the ramen shop, and they slipped inside to see Shino waiting for them. "Finally..." the softspoken man huffed beneath the hood of his jacket. He turned to face her the slightest bit and she could see the smallest hint of a smile ghosting over his lips. She knew he wasn't upset with her, neither of them were. They were just hungry it seemed. She smiled at them and slipped to sit between them.

She didn't have to say anything, and her favorite ramen was placed before her, they knew her so well. She leaned down to take a bite and her attention was captured by the tension forming on her thread. She looked down to grab it quickly, but before she could, it pulled taut and snapped beneath her grasp. She bit her lip and her shoulders slumped as she felt the threads unravel in the palm of her hand. She looked over to where her thread had snapped, and the remnants of the other side were burning away.

The soul tie had been severed, and not by her. "Oh... Hinata..." His voice called out to her, and she looked over to see him standing there, unfazed by the pain the severing of the soul tie was causing her. Her eyes drifted down to his hand, where it was linked with someone else's. She knew who that hand belonged to from the gloves alone. She pulled her gaze away from them and tried to focus on her food once more.

She didn't want them to see her cry, because she knew she was going to. She bit her lip a little harder and forced herself to take a bite. "How are you guys doing?" Naruto asked and she couldn't bear the sound of his voice, much less the sight of him right now. Everything about his presence brought her pain. "We were doing just fine." Kiba bit out and Naruto grinned at him. She watched him from the corner of her eyes. He didn't seem to be concerned with the irritated tone coming from the feral man.

It didn't sound any different than the normal tone of his voice either way, but she knew the difference. She could always tell when he was irritated even if no one else could. She reached over and gently patted the hand that was gripping the side of the bar. He seemed to calm down at this and she looked over to Naruto and forced a smile. "I'm doing well today, how are you?" she asked, and he grinned at her.