Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, Kishimoto does.

It was a picturesque day in Konoha. Sunny, a nice breeze, everyone seemed cheerful. The reconstruction of the village was taking place and it was still a mess from the attack by Pain, but the village people were optimistic for the future. After all, their hero Naruto Uzumaki was home to protect them.

There was one shinobi who wasnt as pleased with Naruto's efforts as the rest. Riding on his loyal companion Akamaru's back, Kiba Inuzuka navigated the streets of Konoha. Yes, he had contributed a little to the village's defense, fighting off one of Pain's paths with the help of his sister Hanna, but he was still displeased with his efforts. He had done a lot of thinking lately. Coming out of the academy, he and Akamaru had been of the stronger graduates. However now, they had fallen behind in strength and development. Not to mention, he was incredibly jealous of Naruto, even though he would never say it out loud.

"I still don't get how that idiot became so strong. We had him beat at the chunin exams until he accidentally farted! We should be way stronger than him!" the Inuzuka boy muttered to his dog.

Akamaru whined in agreement. "Yes, I know. It's ok, the village is safe. We can train even harder now, though!"

"I agree, Akamaru. Let's get to it soon," replied the now determined Kiba, "but first we have to take care of whatever Lady Tsunade wants. She probably called us in for some minor mission."

Shizune had came to Kiba's house that morning, letting him know that he was wanted by the Hokage. "No rush though," she assured, "I think it is just a simple delivery mission or something similar."

He arrived at the Hokage's office, knocked on the door, and entered.

"You called for me, Lady Tsunade?" Kiba said, "I hope it's nothing too taxing or difficult."

"Oh hello there Kiba," the Hokage replied, looking up from her paperwork, "I have just a simple task for you. Seeing as you aren't hurt from the invasion, you were a good choice."

"Yeah, I wasn't hurt, since I totally overpowered my opponent." Kiba smirked cockily, under his breath. He was half kidding and half serious, being that he was still as arrogant as ever.

"No, Kiba," Tsunade said, defiantly, "it's because you were lazy and didn't help out like you could have. You are a strong shinobi, but you are really lazy sometimes. I wish you would step up your training or performance on the battlefield..."

"WHAT!" exclaimed Kiba. He was surprised that the Hokage would attack him like that, "what do you know about my training?! Akamaru and I could have easily taken down Pain by ourselves if we got the chance!"

Tsunade sighed at the dog-boy's foolishness. "Trust me Kiba, I know what it takes to be a great ninja and you certainly have the potential, just no the work ethic or hard work at the moment. Someday you will be the leader of the Inuzuka clan and someday a leader for this village. Pain would have squashed you two if it came down to it, we both know that."

"Ugh. I'm not even going to argue with you right now. I am so sick and tired of this," refuted Kiba. He just wanted to take the mission and get out of that office.

"Ok then. Well think about what I've said," replied Tsunade, "The mission is simply to deliver this message to the Village Hidden in the Sand. It simply tells them about the attack that we just underwent. Considering our close alliance, I just wanted to keep them up to date." She handed Kiba the scroll, "Oh, also... I think I will assign another ninja to this mission," she looked down at her desk for a moment, "Ino will be fine. It is a long trip out there so I will send two just for precautionary reasons. And it's pretty hot and dry out there. She does know some medical ninjutsu so she will be of help if you get really dehydrated or sick."

"Ok, whatever. I'll grab her now and we'll head out this afternoon," Kiba sheepishly replied, "Let's go, Akamaru."

Kiba and Akamaru went straight to the Yamanaka flower shop after their meeting with the Hokage.

"I can't fucking believe she would insult us like that. She should have more confidence in her own shinobi."

"I know. Maybe she just wants to push us to work harder."

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever. At least we can get away for a little bit, on this mission. We'll see how this goes with Ino." Kiba had never really thought much of Ino. They barely ever talked, even at the academy. Kiba thought to himself that this was the first mission he had been assigned to with Ino that he could remember. Maybe he could talk her up a little, he thought. After all, she had always been the most attractive girl of their class.

"Hmm... Ino is supposedly really bossy and kind of annoying. People have said that we're kind of alike... Pshhh, whatever that means. I never talk to her, but she IS pretty hot. She's got a nice face... Not to mention that ass!" Kiba thought to himself, daydreaming.

They had arrived at the flower shop. Kiba and Akamaru loved walking by the shop because of the aromas that the flowers gave off.

"Hey, Ino! We've been assigned to a mission together," Kiba exclaimed, entering the shop.

Ino was behind the counter, and had just helped a customer. "Oh hey Kiba. What's the mission. Kind of odd for Tsunade to be sending us out just after the attack..."

"Just delivering a message to the Sand Village. But it's a long travel, so she wanted two people to go," Kiba explained," I guess she thought that us two would be good choices."

"Oh, I see. Let me run upstairs and grab my backpack and we might as well go now. The sooner the better, right?" Ino ran upstairs, and immediately Kiba got down and started sniffing the flowers. He didn't want Ino to see, after all it was a bit embarrassing for a grown man to be on the ground of a flower shop sniffing at the aromas.

"Oh my god, these smell so fucking good," Kiba exclaimed, laying on the ground,"get a whiff, Akamaru!"

Ino just came down the stairs to see Kiba on the ground. "You like the flowers, huh?" Ino giggled, knowing Kiba would be embarrassed.

Kiba turned around and sat up, as if he was doing nothing at all, blushing just a bit. "Uhh, yeah, haha they smell pretty good."

"Alright, well let's get out of here. I don't want this mission to take long."

"It shouldn't, not with me leading it," Kiba remarked, grinning. He got up and chased Ino out of the shop, as she had already gotten on her way toward the gate, "Hey, wait up."

"How about you hurry up," replied the blonde, not turning around.

This is a great time to get a little flirty, Kiba thought to himself naughtily, wonder how she'll react to this. He ran up behind her, grabbing her by the waist and pulling her into him. "What? You trying to run away from me or something?" Kiba asked, in the most flirty and playful way imaginable. Ino might as well have just melted right there. She always saw him as hot, but what was this all of a sudden?

"Haha, noooo," she replied, cheeks turning red, "I just want to get going!"

"Alright then, let's go."

Woah, what the hell was that? Ino was shocked at her reaction to such a subtle gesture by Kiba. That was weird. So random. Why did I react like that? She tried to brush it off. Whatever...

Wow. She sure was into that. Kiba's confidence with Ino had just gotten a hearty boost. This might just be easier than I thought it would be!

To be continued...