Ok, this is my FIRST fanfic. I'm a huge Shino fan and also a huge NaruHina fan, so that's part of the reason I'm writing this. NaruHina will be a pairing, but I will need input as to who else to pair up. This chapter is pretty short, but I'll have another one out soon if I get some good reviews! Please R&R!

The Most Dangerous Game

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters, and I know the title is a blatant rip-off of the movie, The Most Dangerous Game. I don't own that either.

The Board is Set

Yuuhi Kurenai wondered how such a trio could exist. She was teaching a loudmouth dog-lover, a shy, unconfident white-eyed kunoichi, and a strong, silent type who happened to spend his time with insects. Yes, this was a strange assortment of shinobi that she had to train, and today, none of them seemed to be concentrating on their training regimen.

"Let's go! Come on, Hinata, you're not paying attention to Kiba's attacks! Kiba! You aren't even bothering to attack her! Shino!..."

"Shino?" The bug-user was not where he was supposed to be. He was supposed to be helping Hinata learn the fundamentals of the Hakkeshou Kaiten by attacking her from behind while Kiba attacked from the front. Of course, Kiba and Hinata seemed to be staring at something, and Shino... He was the subject of all the staring. No one had seen him like this. He had always been dutiful and disciplined, but now, he was asleep.

"Oy, Shino!"

"Hm?"

"Wake up!"

"I was never asleep."

Kurenai was now very confused. If Shino wasn't asleep, what was he doing? Was he meditating on something? Perhaps he was talking to his bugs. In any case, now was not an appropriate time to be distracted from one's duty, and Shino, contrary to character, did not seem to realize that.

"Please accept my apologies, Kurenai-Sensei, but I am meditating on a problem that has been troubling me for quite some time."

Hinata knew the problem of which he spoke. About a month ago, she decided to put her confidence in the quiet boy regarding the object of her affections, Uzumaki Naruto. Shino, always up for a challenge and having Hinata's best interests in mind, made up his mind to bring the dunce to the realization that someone was after his heart. Hinata was chagrined when she saw Shino putting her problems before his training, and was puzzled as to why the issue troubled him now when it hadn't before.

Kurenai was not too pleased about the entire matter, so she simply said, "All right, it seems that none of you can concentrate today, so I guess I'll let you go early. But tomorrow, I want all three of you to be at peak performance. Dismissed."

Hinata approached Shino.

"Um, Shino-kun? I really d-don't need you to do this f-for me..."

"..."

"What I mean to say is... um.. Why is the problem bothering you now?"

"..." Shino did not want to answer. Even though this was Hinata's problem, he determined that it would be best if he did not keep her posted, so as to better concentrate upon the task at hand. Besides, if he were to tell her about the love-tetrahedron that made itself manifest in the hearts of Konoha's genin, Hinata would sink further into the maw of depression.

"I was not meditating upon your problem earlier today, Hinata," Shino half-lied. "My bugs have been acting strange lately, and I am trying to figure out the cause." It was true that the bugs have not been behaving normally; they were buzzing about erratically and were crawling restlessly beneath his skin. He was worried about this on top of Hinata's problem, and he was thinking about both during his meditation.

"Oh..." Hinata was both relieved and disappointed. "I see..." Hinata left Shino to go home and put up with another lambasting from her father. Shino reviewed the situation.

"Hinata loves Naruto, that is for certain. My ultimate goal is to get those two together, but there are a few obstacles that must be overcome. Firstly, Naruto has that irritating crush on Sakura, who carries a torch for our beloved missing-nin, Sasuke." Shino never liked the Uchiha very much, and the fact that he was willing to betray the village cemented his distaste. The term "beloved" was used with a large helping of sarcasm.

"Then, of course, there are the others. Lee has a deep affection for Sakura, which can take care of the crush problem, but that man, as strong as he is, does not have a chance of winning the girl's heart. Maybe if one of his teammates got attached to someone, Lee would be spurred to change his situation..."

Why was he doing this? Why was he so bent on creating couples? It was simply a distraction, wasn't it? Shino walked to the Aburame manor and opened the front door. From there, he walked through the maze-like hallways until he found his room. He sat down on his bed and looked at all of his memorable photographs on his desk. There was, of course, the picture of team 8: Inuzuka Kiba, Hyuuga Hinata, Yuuhi Kurenai, and himself. He looked left, and suddenly, a rare wave of emotion washed over him. There was a picture of him and the Third Hokage having dango together. The hokage had treated all the children of Konohagakure like his own grandchildren, and Shino was no exception. But Shino was stunned because he remembered something Sandaime-sama had said during that moment.

FLASHBACK

Shino sat on the stool with his dad and the Hokage, not sure why the greatest ninja in the village had decided to treat the two of them to dango and tea. Nevertheless, he ate his sweet peacefully, drinking in his surroundings. He saw a pink-haired girl chasing after the Uchiha prodigy, and it stirred a question in his mind, which he asked the Hokage:

"Sandaime-sama? Why are we allowed to show our love so strongly? Is love not a distraction from studying, training, and missions? From what is truly important?"

The wizened Hokage began to smile.

"There are some who say that love is an unnecessary distraction that only weakens a shinobi. It is said that bonds are only made to be severed, and the stronger the bonds, the more pain there is when the bonds are broken."

Shino stared at the sage with furrowed eyebrows before he continued.

"Those people who despise love... are fools."

Shino raised an eyebrow, but the Hokage kept speaking.

"Shinobi fight at their hardest when they have important people to protect. Bonds make people strong; bonds give people a purpose. If we are motivated to help our precious people, we can become stronger than any hateful adversary. That is why love is important, Shino. Love makes a shinobi, and his village, strong."

END FLASHBACK

That was it! Love was the essential ingredient to Konohagakure's survival! Shino now had a self-imposed mission: He would become the cupid on insect wings, and would make love blossom in Konoha!

Tsunade was not having a good day. Sure, it started out pretty well; She woke up from a good night's sleep, drank some hot tea, and went to her office to do her daily paperwork. She didn't like paperwork, but there weren't many papers for her to review or sign. Then, as she finished her tea, she got to the bottom of the pile, where she found a mission request straight from the Mizukage of Kirigakure village.

"Shit."

"I want all jounin ninja squads here immediately!" she called.

"Tsunade-sama, I am afraid that all the jounin squads are on missions lately. The only teams available are the Jounin-led rookie genin."

"Shit. We'll have to settle with them. Bring teams Kakashi, Kurenai, Asuma, and Gai here immediately."

"Hai, Tsunade-sama."

"Those teams work extremely well together, but I wonder if they'll hold up under this mission. Especially when it involves 5 A-rank criminals..."

A/N: Pretty boring, eh? I know it is, but it will definitely pick up soon. Action and romance coming, I just have to set the stage. This fic WILL be NaruHina, but there will be other pairings, and I would like to know exactly what you want me to put in there. And no, SasuSaku will NOT be an option, except if you have a really good reason for it. Also sorry that Naruto has not yet made an appearance.