I do not own Naruto or any of the characters

Shino stood on top of the Hokage monument, looking out onto the village. Suddenly a shiver shot down his spine and there was the slightest rustling of leaves behind him, he swung round, there was no one there. Odd... he could of sworn...

Suddenly a messenger bird circled over his head then flew towards the Hokage building.

*

In a matter of moments he was stood outside the Hokage's office, he knocked on the door.

"Yes?" called Tsunade

He opened the door "You wanted to see me Lady Hokage?"

"Ah, yes Shino. I know you are training for the upcoming Jonin exams and this is an inconvenient time for you but I'd like you to escort..." There was a knock at the door "Yes?" she yelled, clearly annoyed

The door opened, a girl with long dark hair stood in the door way. The headband round her neck had the Konoha symbol on it, Shino didn't recognize her. "um..." she was quiet, she reminded Shino of Hinata

"Ah yes, come in. Shino, meet Kaida Himura, Kaida, Meet Shino Aburame."

They nodded in silent greeting to each other. Her fringe covered most of her face so her eyes were hardly even visible. She wore a black vest top which came down over her hips, a purple jacket with three-quarter sleeves, black knee-high boots and a white skirt with black shorts underneath,there was a belt with a small pouch at the back round her wast, and a leather strap crossed over her body, holding a slim samurai-style sword to her back. She was clearly what some boys might call 'hot'.

"Kaida, Shino will be your guide for the duration of your stay here."

"Hai," she replied in barely more that a whisper,

*

Shino led the girl swiftly through the village to the inn she'd be staying at, he wasn't much of a talkative person and, fortunately for him, neither was she. When they reached the inn Shino displayed the note that the Hokage had given him to the woman at the front desk. She just nodded without speaking, she seemed terrified by Shino's towering presence. Silently she led Kaida to her room and Shino followed, it was common courtesy to escort a woman right to her front door, even if this was only an assignment. The woman left after she'd opened the door and given Kaida the key.

It was only the middle of the day, and some part of Shino felt bad about leaving her here on her own all day, but he had training with Kurenai-sensei and the rest of team 8 in a few minuets, Kiba would never let him live it down if he was late.

"I have training with my team in a few minuets, you're welcome to join me." he said professionally, she just nodded.

*

Kaida kept pace next to him, never falling behind or moving slightly ahead of him. As they got nearer the clearing Kaida raised her head slightly, up until now she'd never taken her eyes off the floor, as if she was afraid of tripping over something. They were close enough to the clearing now to hear Kiba and Hinata talking, well he could, he didn't know how good her hearing was.

A small 'oh!' came form Kaida as she caught her foot on something and tripped forward, it was a reaction to catch her before she hit the ground. His arms didn't seem to want to let go of her, they kept holding her against his chest.

"Um..." she stuttered "Y-you can let g-go now..."

Instantly his arms relaxed and she stepped away from him. He noticed, despite the fact that her hair was hanging over her face, that her cheeks were burning crimson. When they reached the clearing Kiba, Hinata and Kurenai were already there, waiting for him.

"Shino," said Kurenai, stepping forward "The Hokage told me she'd made you a guide for one of this years Jonin exam entrants. Is this her?"

"Hai," he replied "This is Kaida Himura" Kaida didn't make any move to greet them, she merely continued to stare at the ground.

"It's nice to meet you Kaida, I am Kurenai Yuhi, will you be training with us today?"

"Unless it's inconvenient." she said, in a tone so different from her previous stuttering state.

"Oh, not at all, you can spar with Kiba first." said Kurenai, smiling

"Could you define 'spar'?" she asked "Is the use of jutsu permitted in your sparring sessions?" Shino wondered if this was still the same girl he'd been assigned to as a guide.

"Um..." Kurenai seemed to be thrown off slightly "Yes"

Kurenai, Hinata and Shino moved to the edge of the clearing, Kiba and Kaida stood about ten ft apart, facing each other, even though Kaida was still staring at the ground. As soon as Kurenai gave the signal to start, Kiba used his 'man-beast clone' jutsu and headed straight for Kaida at his usual in-human speed. Kaida seemed to flinch slightly as he began to run for her, running in an anything but straight line, she didn't move. Just as Kiba went 'in for the kill' as he put it Kaida swung, hitting him square in the jaw with his fist and knocking him five meters away from her. When he didn't get up for a moment or two Kaida muttered 'maybe I over-estimated him...' but with all his effort Kiba managed to push himself off the ground and growled "You'll pay for that." Kaida merely raised an eyebrow. Kiba tried another head-on attack, this time (again when Kiba was only a few inches from her) Kaida flicked her had upwards and a solid stone wall shot up around her, with no time to stop, Kiba ran face-first into the wall, knocking himself out. When Kiba's limp body flopped on the ground, the wall around Kaida shot back into the ground.

The look on Kaida's face gave away what she was thinking, she'd been hoping for more of a challenge.

"How did she manage that?" wondered Kurenai, a look of wonder on her face and too stunned to move.

Hinata, who had been using her Byakugan to watch the fight after Kaida's first sudden speedy hit "She's put a net of her chakra over the ground about two meters around her, she must of relied on Kiba having to step on the net instead of trying to follow him with her eyes. It's very clever."

Shino didn't say anything, talk about not judging a book by its cover, he hadn't imagined such a creative jutsu from someone who looked so small and timid.