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Life without you was gonna do me in...

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Shino squatted on the worn grass at the foot of Kiba's grave, unmoving. A gentle wind wound around him, carrying leaves and the sounds of Konoha, far behind him. His expression was impassive, no tears shone in his eyes or trickled down his face.

He'd finished with that long ago.

The dirt was cool and he watched it slip through his fingers, forming a small mound on Kiba's grave. When it was all gone, he scooped up the pile and watched it slip away again.

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But for some reason, it didn't.

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There was a festival in Konoha, but Hinata could not stay and watch the fireworks from the Hyuuga complex or even from the streets with her friends at her side. She found herself trekking up the grassy hill to the foot of Kiba's grave, seating herself in the patch of worn grass to watch the fireworks.

Even with her Byakugan, she couldn't really see the colors if Kiba wasn't nearby.

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Is that what you wanted?

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Hinata didn't turn when she felt a presence behind her, half hoping it was Kiba come back to life, but half knowing it wasn't. Unable to bear the disappointment in seeing Shino motionless behind her, she plucked at a piece of dried grass.

Shino came to stand at her right, eyes fixed on the stars behind the fireworks, which shone in all their brilliant colors against his dark spectacles. Hinata stared at her feet in the grass.

Nothing was said for a long time, but neither was watching the fireworks.

Simultaneously, they turned to each other, saying "I loved him."

A huge fireball of color went off in the skies over Konoha, signaling the finale of the festival. Families would be shooing their children back home and shops would close up. The homeless would creep out of their alleys to salvage whatever dropped items they could before the street sweepers came and cleared it all away, but Hinata and Shino had finally said it.

Hinata smiled weakly, twisting a piece of grass around her fingers until it snapped.

She knew her grave would be to Kiba's left, not beside her father's and Neji's in the Hyuuga compound. Shino knew his would be to Kiba's right, not between his mother and father's grave against the Aburame wall.

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I hope it was, because the way things worked out...

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Years later, Aburame Shimi and her childhood friends Hyuuga Hiromi and Heiji stood at the foot of Kiba's grave, flowers in hand. Shimi placed her single flower on her father's grave to the right of Kiba's while Hiromi laid her delicate bouquet on her mother's to Kiba's left. Hiromi's twin, Heiji tossed his on Kiba's grave.

Because Hinata had insisted they brought flowers for Kiba, too, though none of the children had ever been fortunate enough to meet their parent's friend.

Before Hiromi could even wipe away her tears, Heiji turned and left, stalking back home to their father at the Hyuuga complex. Shimi hesitated, glancing at Hiromi one last time before, likewise, leaving the girl alone.

Hiromi choked one last time before chasing after Heiji with a shout.

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... we're right here with you.