"Inuzuka Kiba! Uzumaki Naruto! Hyuuga Hinata!" The Godaime addressed the three shinobi in her office. "I have a mission for the three of you!" She smirked at them. "Can I trust that you can complete it without threatening to send you back to the Academy?"

Naruto raised an angry fist at her.

"I'm going to be the Hokage someday! The last thing I need to do is go back to the Academy!"

Kiba rolled his eyes.

"Shut up, baka. The first thing you should probably do is go back to the Academy. Then maybe you won't mess up all of our missions!"

The angry fist turned towards Kiba. "At least I don't have to depend on a dog to win my battles!"

"No, you have to depend on a demon fox to win yours!" Kiba retorted smugly.

Tsunade shook her head.

"Hinata, I think I'm going to have you be in charge of the team this time."

"WHAT!?" Naruto and Kiba stopped their verbal assault on each other at that comment.

"Granny Tsunade!" Naruto wailed. "How come I never get to be the leader?"

"Simple." Tsunade grinned. "You are completely irresponsible, ignorant, AND… you get on my nerves."

"AAAHHHHH!!!!!" That comment sent Naruto into another verbal frenzy.

Hinata, on the other hand, was terrified.

"Hinata! Congratulations!" Kiba had gone over to the young shinobi and gave her a warm hug. "You know what this means, don't you? The Godaime recognizes that you've grown! I'm so excited for you!"

"Kiba," Hinata whispered. "I can't be the leader! I don't know how!"

Kiba grinned. "Don't worry about it! If Tsunade thinks you're ready, you are. And, if you need help, I'll be right there for you."

Hinata smiled back, fidgeting with her zipper. "Thank you, Kiba."

"No problem." He gave her a small hug before he turned to the fighting duo. "So, what exactly is our mission?"

---

Their mission was simple. They were to travel to Sunagakure, pick up an A-rank scroll, and bring it back to Konoha with all haste. Although there was always the chance for enemy ninja to attack just any group from Konoha, Tsunade assured them that no one should know that the scroll was moving, and as such, there would be no one after it. Slightly more reassured, Hinata and her team set out on the long journey across the desert.

They stopped for rest just after the sun went down. Kiba made a fire while Naruto set up the tents and Hinata prepared their rations. After making a perfect cooking fire, Kiba went and took a seat next to Hinata.

"You did really well today," Kiba announced, putting his arm around her shoulder. "It's not easy putting up with Naruto."

Hinata blushed at the compliment. "Thank you, Kiba. That means a lot to me."

Kiba grinned. "Hey, no problem! Besides, I've got more where that came from! For instance, you always smell wonderful. Much better than Naruto. He always smells like ramen and feet."

Hinata laughed from behind her rosy cheeks. "I think that was a compliment, but I'm not sure!"

"No, it was definitely a compliment."

"Thank you." She leaned back into the comfort of Kiba's arm. "Ah, this reminds me of our days in Team 8. Now all we're missing is Shino!"

"Did you say 'missing' Shino?" Kiba asked, skeptically. Hinata laughed and gently punched his arm.

"Shino is a good person."

"I never said he wasn't! It's just, I never quite got used to being on a team with a walking ant farm."

"I seem to remember you being very grateful for his bugs on many different occasions!"

Kiba waved that aside.

"Doesn't matter now. What matters now is that our food is getting cold! Naruto! Are you done yet?"

"Almost, almost." Naruto tied off the last rope and came to sit by the fire. Greedy as always, he headed straight for the food. After dishing himself slightly more than his fair share of Hinata's cooking, he set back and regarded the two on the log.

"So…" Naruto said, grinning through his food, and holding up his little finger. "You and you, huh?"

Kiba and Hinata realized their close proximity, and true to her nature, Hinata's face flooded with color. Kiba, on the other hand, merely snorted at the suggestion.

"Hinata-hime and the dog-nin?" Kiba shook his head sarcastically. "That'd make a fine pair, I'm sure."

Naruto shrugged and went back to gobbling down his food, oblivious to the tension coming from across the fire. The blush in Hinata's face had faded a little, but the Hyuuga heiress was no longer as comfortable sitting with Kiba. How many times had she sat this way? Kiba's strong arms surrounding her in a protective cocoon while she snuggled up to his warmth... Sometimes Akamaru joined in, finding a comfortable place in her lap. Shino had never said anything about it, and as far as she could remember, no one else had either. How had she never noticed how… intimate the position actually was? But Kiba had been so nonchalant about it. Maybe it really wasn't such a big deal. She shook her head to dispel the frustration building in her head. If Kiba didn't mind, then she decided she didn't either. She wasn't about to give up the small comfort she got during missions just because of an off-handed remark.

---

Kiba wanted to kill that blasted fox. If Naruto was going to be the Hokage of anything, it was going to be in the Hidden Village of Inappropriate Remarks. He had felt Hinata tense in his arms after Naruto's untimely comment and he was also pretty sure that, even from where he was sitting, he could feel the heat radiating from off of her rosy cheeks. If Naruto ruined his favorite part of missions with Hinata, he wasn't sure he could stop himself from introducing Naruto firsthand to Gatsuga.

Truth be told though, he knew it was not really proper for the heiress of the esteemed Hyuuga clan to be wrapped in his arms or, when the occasion presented itself, inside his coat. Shino had always made that perfectly clear, although away from Hinata. But, of course, Kiba had always met Shino with the same strategy: Deny, deny, deny.

No, he didn't feel anything for the Hyuuga.

No, he didn't have any hidden motives for holding her close every chance he got.

Yes, he knew the responsibilities she had and of course he would never do anything to jeopardize that.

And Shino would always look at him, knowing that he was a big fat liar. But, as long as he never crossed any lines, Shino had left them alone. Now that baka Naruto might have ruined the one thing he dared to share with Hinata.

He knew he was a fool to have fallen for the heiress. He told himself that at least ten times a day. She was going to marry someone rich and pompous someday, and have lots of little Hyuuga babies. She was going to take over her clan, and Hinata-hime would soon forget all about the little dog-nin who used to hold her in the dying light of a campfire. It was because of this that he had never followed through with his feelings. He would never tell her. He would never tell her how her presence was like sunlight, warming him to his toes. He would never tell her how he would forget to breathe around her. He would never take her in his arms and finally kiss every inch of her devastatingly beautiful blush. He would never be able to…

He frowned hard, stopping that line of thought. Even though he did think about it all the time, mixing his fantasies while having their star performer in his arms was a lethal combination. He had made the mistake once, and even though he had managed to get out in time, he knew Shino didn't really believe that he "heard something in the woods and had to go check it out."

Now…

He held his breath, desperately hoping that she would forget what the stupid fox had said and relax back into the arms that were aching for her touch. If he was deprived of even that small connection to his soul mate, he would lose what was left of his mind.

When she did, it was all Kiba could do to not cry out in relief. Subconsciously, he tucked her in a little tighter.

Yeah…

He was so screwed.