RELIANCE

~insanity and co~

Author's Note: This is my first story on this new account, however I have many more stories on an old one. After a massive amount of writer's block, I've decided that my writing style has changed so much that it was frustrating to continue the older ones and force the ideas to come. My style has changed a bit, but I hope that people enjoy this new story as much as my older ones. For info on my previous account, read my profile.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. I do own the enemies I have fabricated, and the situation's I've put the character's in.

As a brief warning, I am not up to date with the anime or the books. I believe I stopped somewhere around the time the flashbacks began (did anyone elses interest just plummet? No? Just me, then?), so I don't know exactly what happened with the Akatsuki attack. If anything here contradicts what actually happened, I'm sorry and please let me know. Maybe there's a way I can fix it. If it would change my own story too much, then tough cookies, I'm writing it this way. :)

Beta: SkyRider, and a friend who doesn't have an account on here. Thanks you guys! :)

Onward, ho!


The Leaf shinobi made their way slowly down the path, Shino with his hands in his pockets and Kiba gripping the fur in front of him, legs on either side of Akamaru controlling the pace to keep with their teammate. The two enjoyed the slow pace, catching up on the latest word flying around Konoha and enjoying each others company, all the while scanning the treetops and bushes around them for any signs of disturbance. The area to the west of Konoha was a fairly untraveled path, making it easier to pick up on the subtle clues they were looking for.

The forest floor was speckled with shadows and the ground under their feet (and paws) was damn and cold; the sun was welcomed after an unusually cold and wet fall, leaving the air fresh from rain and filled with the leafy scents of the forest. Kiba took a deep breath, reveling in the sharp, tangy pine scents that attacked his nose, making it burn in the most pleasant way.

"Only Hinata would find it a bad thing," Kiba grinned, sharp canine teeth a contrast to the blood red fangs on his cheeks.

"She's always underestimated herself. She doesn't see her own skills as assets to a mission," Shino commented lazily, eyes scanning the trees overhead behind his sunglasses. Kiba could read enough of his friend's face to see the tiniest of smiles behind his tall collar, quite a reaction to the normally stoic Abruame.

Kiba tsked, a long finger itching the fang on his cheek.

"That she does. I think she was the only one surprised that they picked her." Kiba recalled watching Hinata biting her fingernails back down to their normal stubs and stuttering more than usual as she readied herself for the upcoming mission - to aid the Mist in rebuilding and reorganizing their hospital that had been recently ransacked. She was scared that she would mess up one of her first missions to the Land of Waves without her teammates backing her up.

Kiba and Shino, on the other hand, were excited for her. To be chosen by the Hokage with a handful of other ninja was an honor, and even though their sensei had tried explaining to the shy girl what it all said about her reputation and talents, Hinata was shaking and fidgeting all the way to the gates (and the Inuzuka was sure she would be until they reached the Mist).

Their attention was brought away from their missing teammate when one of Akamaru's ears flicked and Kiba felt his companion's sides rise and fall as he carefully smelled the air. The three immediately stopped and Kiba followed suit, breathing in the comforting scent of the forest fresh after a rainfall once more, searching for anything else there besides the flowers a few feet behind them and the stream to their side. There was something, but it could be anything. Still, not knowing what it was made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up and goose bumps appear on his arms.

Shino's head tilted to the side, watching Akamaru's mouth open and nose twitch and Kiba did the same, the two working in perfect sync, using each other to better further their own understanding of the area around them they couldn't see. A particularly sharp breath from Akamaru (followed by a slight baring of teeth on Kiba's part) set Shino on edge. He readied himself for a signal from one of them, his fingers itching as he flew through the hand-signs that came second nature to him.

A flurry of bugs flew silently and low to the ground, sticking to the shadows as Shino sent them ahead. He watched closely, eyes darting between Kiba and Akamaru and waiting for a sign that they had pinpointed what it was and where it was coming from. Akamaru's head turned ever-so-slightly to the right as he tasted the air, but the dog owner turned to the left, eying the heavy bushes at the base of some larger trees. The contradiction was puzzling; the two were normally in perfect harmony. Shino's hand gripped a kunai, still concealed in the pocket of his jacket. His bugs were coming back to him now, climbing up through his pant legs and tickling his skin.

Kiba and Akamaru were too caught up in their own tracking to notice Shino's subtle pointing straight ahead of them.

It was in the smell that clung to the tiny breeze that moved the leaves just enough to be noticeable, Kiba was one hundred percent sure of it as he took a long, deep breath, fingers gingerly gripping the fur at the base of Akamaru's neck to steady himself. He knew this forest (and all it's natural smells throughout the seasons), and underneath the fresh smell of warm fall rain and deep scent of bark and pine needles and dirt, there was something else. It was subtle, though, he thought with a growl as he bared his teeth in frustration. Whoever it was that was smelling...off, did a damn good job of covering it up.

The movement of Shino summoning a larger army of bugs next to him did little to distract Kiba; it had been hard to find this new, off-kilter smell, but he was onto the scent now and there was no way he was letting it go. Akamaru's sides heaved sharply as the dog took in short, sharp breaths, head raised and ears alert. Kiba let out a low, calming shush to Akamaru when the dog let out a long, high pitched whine, alerting his owner. He dug his fingers into the soft fur behind his ear to scratch the soft spot there, Akamaru's head tilting into his hand and his breaths becoming deeper as the dog relaxed.

Dark flecks had accumulated around Shino's entire jacket, the growing glossy bodies of the insects creating a wave of shimmering black and white around the shinobi's entire body. Kiba couldn't ditch the familiar twist in his gut, the sight of the bugs bringing an itch to his own skin where only the fabric of his uniform touched.

"You're getting that too." Kiba's voice was hushed, a slight tilt of Shino's head the only indication of a response. Akamaru's weight shifted under Kiba and in an instant a growl tore through Akamaru's throat, head jerking to the right where he had tracked the origin of the smell. His hackles raised and Kiba ran a hand over the back of Akamaru's neck and shifted his own weight, hand brushing the kunai pouch on his hip as he placed it behind him to steady himself, eyes searching the shadows of the undergrowth where Akamaru's focus was.

A low, familiar hum brought Kiba's attention back to his teammate, who now had a larger summoning of bugs swirling in the space around his hands. Shino's foot slid to the side, opening his stance as the bug's hum got louder.

The only warning that the three got was the snapping of a single branch somewhere behind them before they were no longer alone in the pathway. Akamaru took off, bounding in a flash to the undergrowth, both the ninja and his nin-dog baring their teeth as they barreled into the undergrowth, flushing out the shinobi that was hiding there.

A sharp sound of metal on metal reached Kiba's ears and in the moment that Akamaru spun around - almost throwing Kiba off in his chase of the shinobi - he saw a kunai drop from the shield of bugs that formed a flexible mass in front of Shino. The shinobi they were after was fast, but the Inuzuka hound kept on his heels, snarling and barking and snapping when they got close enough. Kiba watched carefully for the pattern the ninja took as he ran, circling back to where they had originally been ambushed and taking to the trees. Akamaru adjusted immediately and suddenly the two were jumping as one between branches, dodging the kunai thrown over the enemy's shoulder easily and snarling when a second one cut through the dog's fur.

Something slammed into their side and the two came crashing down from the treetops, unable to right themselves in time with the force of the blow that stole the wind from their lungs. Something sharp cut across Kiba's face as he fell, and in the moment that he landed on the ground he watched a kunai sink into the wet grass a fraction of an inch away from his nose. Warmth dripped down his cheek and he licked the blood away from his mouth. Kiba winced when Akamaru landed on his arm, the painful weight lifting immediately as Akamaru burst forward, his attacks relentless on the new shinobi who had joined the fight, allowing Kiba to take another deep breath and confirm something that had been nagging at his subconscious since the smell of dust had first reached his nose. There were more of them.

A sharp cry was barely audible over Akamaru's barking, and Kiba was relived to hear it was not Shino, but one of the enemy shinobi. Kiba jumped in with Akamaru, their moves in perfectly practiced unison as Kiba rushed forward, slashing viciously with a kunai at the enemy. A masked face looked back at him, wrapped hands blocking the blows and a heavy gray fabric protecting his leg only a bit when Akamaru finally got a grip. The large dog dragged the shinobi to the floor with sharp jerks, only pulling away when the enemy deflected one of Kiba's attacks and sank a kunai deep into Akamaru's shoulder.

The sharp yelp stole Kiba's breath more than if he were the one stabbed, and a growl tore through his bared teeth, a new fire lit behind him and urging him forward. He gripped knives in both hands hard enough to turn his knuckles white as he took wild and quick jabs at the shinobi. Satisfaction washed over Kiba with every scratch he made on the young shinobi before him, quelling the fire only a bit when one of his attacks connected hard with the side of the shinobi's head. Kiba's muscles relaxed a fraction when the sound of the enemy ninja's body slumping to the floor reached his ears, not allowing himself to calm down enough, though. He immediately crouched over Akamaru, a bright red splash across his white coat turning Kiba's stomach cold. He quickly pulled the knife out, aware that Shino was still battling the ninja no more than twenty feet away.

"Sorry, buddy," he whispered, pushing Akamaru's whining snout away when the dog tried to stretch and lick his side.

The warm blood that ran from the knife to Kiba's hand had his gut sinking, but he let out a long-held breath when Akamaru whined and leaped up, the pitch of his cry telling Kiba he was okay, but the stumble in his pace saying he could barely walk.

"Stay," Kiba gave the firm command with a hand briefly on Akamaru's head. His warm nose pressed into Kiba's palm.

Kiba turned, leaving Akamaru and rushing through the undergrowth, bursting into the pathway and barreling into the side of an enemy shinobi that had been aiming a sweeping kick at Shino's legs. Kiba's shoulder connected somewhere and they went rolling into the bushes, blows landing on his arms held in front of him the moment they came to a screeching halt.

Battling the new shinobi in front of him - a short girl with a similar, wild style as his own - Kiba was partially aware of the two forms on either side of himself, concealed only visibly as their dusty scents immediately assaulted him. Kiba, grinning through his uneasiness as the odds were slowly stacking against him, threw himself back through the only opening he saw to evade the three shinobi.

Three. There were three before him now, and who knew how many were attacking Shino, Kiba thought, grunting as his back hit a tree trunk. They had both only smelled one, and if that one had been just a tiny bit better at concealing his scent they would have been completely oblivious to the ambush. Kiba momentarily staggered against the tree, but regained his balance and widened his stance. He pressed his weight into it and used the tree to stabilize him, adding more power to his kick than normal and sending the wild girl flying through the undergrowth. A splash told Kiba she was twenty feet away, in the stream that ran just on the west side of the village.

A bitter laugh came from somewhere to Kiba's left - a little too close for his comfort - and a tall, older man stepped into Kiba's line of sight. He brushed the back of his hand against his cheek, moving the majority of the blood away from his mouth where it mingled with the scents of the forest and that lingering scent of dust. The shinobi's hands moved quickly, making hand seals and thrusting toward Kiba. He didn't wait to see what sort of ninjutsu the older shinobi was using; he rolled against the tree's thick trunk, using it as a shield and a crutch while he caught his breath.

A loud, feminine scream tore through the forest - more terrified than in pain - and Kiba briefly recalled the feeling of absolute revulsion when Shino had surrounded him with his army of flying insects. If the woman hadn't been attacking them at the moment, Kiba may have felt bad.

An unusually long sword sank into the tree beside Kiba, his quick feet saving his thigh from being sliced open. Kiba leaped into the familiar trees above him, leg muscles shaking with the adrenaline and fear pulsing through him, running to the source of the woman's frantic screaming. Two ninja stood near Shino, though the battle appeared far different than the one Kiba had just been fighting.

The short woman - soaking wet and covered in insects - was thrashing and screaming, and by the gargling sounds she made as she sank slowly to the floor, she was being suffocated by the army. The two men beside her - both clad in the same thick gray material that Kiba had never seen before - watched Shino with wary eyes, taking a quick glance at each other as their companion's body finally became visible. The bugs retreated back to Shino at the subtlest clicking of his tongue; Kiba's trained ears just barely picked up on it after years of fighting alongside the bug master. The mass crawled along the ground and flew in large groups back to his teammate before disappearing into his over-sized jacket, the familiar humming growing louder.

Kiba fell to the clearing beside Shino and he straightened, unable to continue out-running the long-sword-bearing shinobi much longer. One girl and one man was dead - the blood on Kiba's hand made the smooth metal of the kunai in his hand feel slippery and clumsy - but there were still four ninja standing before them, various weapons drawn. While they watched the two warily, Kiba didn't count on them staying on their side for long.

"About time some Leaf ninja showed us some fun, yes?" one of them spoke, the tip of his long sword digging into the soft ground by his feet. His thick accent registered in Kiba's mind briefly as somewhere north, but no more words were exchanged.

The humming grew louder in Kiba's ears and his skin began to itch and burn all over. Kiba refrained himself from acting like the wild girl had and panicked. His gut twisted with the feeling of bugs - flea's! - crawling over his skin and in his hair and between his fingers. Shino's bugs were maneuvering under his shirt and pants and everywhere they shouldn't be for a good reason, to protect him as the four ninja jumped forward.


Udon wiped his nose, sniffling again and smiling apologetically when Moegi grimaced at the sound.

The two recent graduates from the Academy sat in the training field, having been dragged from their beds to train at an ungodly hour that shouldn't even exist by a determined Konohamaru would wouldn't take 'no' for an answer (let alone Moegi's mother screeching about the boy needing to get out of her daughter's bedroom). She tugged at a pigtail to straighten it, still feeling the heat on her cheeks from having her mother...well...mother her so much. (Moegi was officially a ninja, clearly she could take care of herself.)

"Just take the whole pack." Moegi pushed the small pouch of tissues to her sick teammate, feeling only a little guilty about her reactions to his sickly noises. Udon blew his nose into a new tissue - and she was proud to say only her eye twitched at that! - before their third teammate approached them, sweating and panting, though smiling all the same.

"Come on, guys! We need to work. Now! Now!" Konohamaru whined, looking more exasperated than he had in the past few days. He had been getting increasingly more tense and nervous, wanting to push their team to their absolute best on what should be a week of rest while their sensei was away on a mission to the Land of Waves.

Moegi's head snapped to Konohamaru. "Give him a break, 'Hamaru!" Moegi emphasized the nickname that she knew would drive him insane. "He's sick, he shouldn't even be training at all right now. Ebisu-sensei would have a fit if he knew you were forcing him to train like this."

"Sick? Sick?" Konohamaru yelled, pointing an accusing finger in Udon's direction. Udon simply held another tissue to his nose, his eyes watering and stomach twisting too much to defend himself against his teammate's sheer volume. "He's fine! Just look at him!"

Moegi gave Konohamaru an unimpressed look, eye twitching at the noisy nose-blowing beside her. Regardless of her revulsion of all things flu-related, Moegi knew Udon wouldn't stand up for himself in this situation. So she took it upon herself to speak up on his behalf.

"Lay off," Moegi said through gritted teeth, irritated with both of her boys at the moment and wanting to just go and enjoy one of their days off. "We should be relaxing anyway, Konohamaru. Your body needs rest so it can repair itself."

"Rest. Rest won't get us fighting alongside every other ninja in the village when..." Konohamaru scoffed, turning away from his teammates and running back into the center of the training field. He had almost said 'when the war comes', but there was no 'official gossip' of war yet. But dammit, he had his ears open and was willing to grab hold of any bit of gossip that came his way.

Konohamaru's fists clenched and he threw furious punches at a post.

It felt like a war was coming. It felt like something was coming...Konohamaru just couldn't put his finger on it. Apprehension clung to the air around the older ninja as it had before. His breathing became labored with the effort he put into every punch and kick, pushing his body harder and harder because he had to. He just had to. In the passing war, he and all the other Genin had been pushed back and protected like children.

"Children," Konohamaru spat, his teammates too far away to hear him.

They were no longer children... they were shinobi and the thought that they could be pushed aside once more to watch every other shinobi fight for their village and the lives of their friends and family made Konohamaru feel sick. He had watched it all happen before, and he wouldn't watch it again.

This time, he would be ready.

This time he would fight.