An ever impatient Kiba had now been waiting almost an hour for Ino to show. He'd even arrived a bit early, deciding to get geared up for this mission no matter who it was with, but mostly happy to discover that Akamaru appeared to be feeling better. 'Unbelievable,' he thought, pacing, 'and she wants to be taken seriously as a team leader.' Well that would be one strike against her, one point for him- not that he'd be keeping score.
Several times he thought to go and look for her but he wasn't sure where she lived and knew that the minute he left to find out would be the second she would show up and then he'd look like the late one.
Finally he could make out Ino's profile against the rising sun, a fine feminine form strolling in his direction. When the silhouette grew close enough, he let her have it: "What the hell? Do you know what time it is? I've been waiting here for…"
"Yeah, it's ten 'til six. What of it?" she cut him off.
"No, it's six fifty and I've been wait-…"
"Aw, did somebody forget to set his alarm clock back for daylight savings time?" she teased.
Kiba stopped, jaw open wide. Ok, admittedly, she'd gotten him there. Usually his mom or sister would remind him of those kinds of things but he wouldn't admit that to Ino.
"Well just remember for next time," she boasted, "spring forward and fall back." With that she gave him a smirk of self-satisfaction as she walked past him to exit the large wooden gate of Konoha.
As she passed he got a whiff of a rather potent perfume. There, he'd found his rebuttal: "Is that perfume you're wearing?"
"Obviously, and your point?"
"What day back at the Academy did you miss when we were learning about stealth? Anyone could smell you from a kilometer away."
"Stop exaggerating! And don't think I haven't thought about that. I make my own perfume from only natural ingredients like fresh Autumn flowers you'd smell this time of year in Fire Country. Give me some credit. Anyway, it's not like we're going to run into the enemy today. It'll have worn off by the time we reach them."
"In that case, I'm flattered; but, really, you didn't have to go out of your way this morning just so I'd notice you," he replied. It took a mere hot second to know he'd finally found the right remark to get under her collar.
Ino turned red and before stomping off barked back at him: "Just get over yourself, Kiba!"
So what if he'd missed his mark twice, it had been worth it for the final reaction. He could have patted himself on the back for that last quip as he picked up his pace to catch up with the kunoichi.
Akamaru sneezed.
XXXXX
They had been walking for hours and Akamaru's sneezing was growing worse and worse. Even his eyes were beginning to glaze over. With a full-blown cold Kiba knew that he'd be no help on the mission- if you could call it much of a mission. The poor dog had made them change direction at least eight times today. Kiba knew they were probably wandering around in circles but his nose was nowhere near as keen as that of his canine companion. It would be impossible for him to pick up the scent of the enemy from this far away even given the clothing scrap Tsunade had purposefully supplied in his mission file. Fortunately Ino had complained little. Apparently she had no sense of direction, much to Kiba's relief. Relief brought to an end when they obviously returned to the same field of flowers for the third time.
"Wait! I know we've been by here before," she proclaimed.
"What? It's just a flower patch. They all look alike." he replied, trying to cover for Akamaru.
"No, they don't look all alike. I noticed this one earlier. You can see how the buds haven't opened as much as in the other fields. Here they don't get as much sunlight because of the cliff over there," she pointed. "And you can't forget that cliff because of that weird ass boulder on top that looks like some old man's face."
"Uh, yeah, I guess," he answered, nervously scratching the back of his neck. Actually he had remarked the boulder and therefore the cliff; but the late-blooming flowers- probably not. So Ino might not have a good sense of direction but she had a good sense of orientation and placement perception. Kiba even decided to bury the battle hatchet for a moment and compliment her as such.
Ino blushed, pleased with the unexpected compliment. She nearly gushed as she went on to explain how Shikamaru had instilled in her and Chouji the importance of studying the landscape as it was an important element that could make or break a win in combat.
Kiba remembered the shadow ninja pulling off a skill something like that in the preliminary rounds of the chuunin exams. He was glad to see the pleasure she took in talking about her teammates. Maybe they'd have something to discuss over the next few days that wouldn't be a cause for argument, but some little part of him was slightly annoyed by her happiness when he found himself wondering what her teammates meant to her and exactly on what level. This wasn't the sort of thing he should even care to know about. It wasn't really any of his business but he had caught a sparkle in her eyes. He doubted that Hinata's eyes did that when she mentioned him or Shino, for Naruto, yeah, but never them. A larger part of him was more jealous of the apparent teamwork those three had, perhaps slightly more so than any 'inclinations.' He was beginning to feel that Team 8 had never had that kind of bond and he wondered why there had never been any cohesion. A really good team leader would know how to bring his/her group together no matter how different they were and Team 10 was definitely made of a strange mix-up. He knew that Ino had started out as their leader. She was always up front in the line-ups, sometimes placed next to him, when the teams had to stand at attention during important briefings. He wasn't quite sure where she stood now that Team 10 had all but disbanded after Asuma's death but apparently she did have pretty powerful leadership abilities to have kept her motley crew together for the time she had. What of Team 8; the team he was 'maybe' captain of? At times even he couldn't be sure anymore. At least everyone on his team was a tracker. They had that much in common but the real ties stopped there. Sure they cared about each other's well-being and they would get together over a meal from time to time but there was no penetrating Shino's hard outer carapace and Hinata was a Hyuuga- enough said.
Ino broke Kiba from his reflections: "Hello. For the last time, where are we going?"
"I'm not really sure. Akamaru's not feeling too good. I don't think he's picking up the scent."
"And you're just now telling me that?" she squealed.
"Look, he was fine this morning. You can't blame him for catching a cold!"
"Alright, alright. Then let's just make camp and we'll worry about a plan of action tomorrow," she suggested. I'm beat anyway after turning in circles all day. Hopefully Akamaru will feel better tomorrow, right boy?" she rubbed his head.
Kiba had to admit he was surprised. She didn't seem to be blaming the dog like he thought she would, given her rather explosive personality, until she snipped: "But you had better start thinking of a way for us to find our target!" No, Akamaru was safe from her wrath- just not him.
XXXXX
Kiba awoke to the sound of continuous sneezing. Apparently Akamaru was not any better. He sighed as he sat up, wiping the sleep from his eyes.
To his surprise he found Ino already awake, sitting next to the large dog who she was rubbing tenderly while examining what was apparently a map in her other hand, as she kept turning the paper in all directions with a puzzled frown plastered to her face. He wouldn't have taken her for an early riser. Girls always talked about needing their 'beauty sleep' and they had both crashed as soon as their regulation blankets had been thrown out of their respective bags. They hadn't even bothered to make a fire or eat dinner. Then maybe he was waking up late. Who knew what the hell time it was now with all this daylight savings crap. It was enough to throw off a man's natural sleeping and waking instincts. Yes, that was surely the reason he'd overslept.
Another quick yawn and he was on his feet. Ino looked up and quickly diverted her eyes, her reddened cheeks apparent even from his distance. A rather pleased smirk crossed over his lips, hidden only by the shirt he quickly grabbed up and pulled over his head and muscular torso before going over to sit beside her and Akamaru. He was pleased to learn that he didn't leave her completely indifferent.
"So watcha reading?"
"A map, idiot. I'm looking for a way to figure out where we might be heading," she replied, still trying to set the map in the proper direction. "I hope you've been coming up with a game plan."
"Well yeah." Ok, not really but he answered with what made the most sense: "We know these guys just entered into Fire Country from River Country so we should make our way to the border.
"Isn't that what we've been doing?"
"Well not really. I was just following Akamaru," he smiled hoping to appease her enough to avoid her from giving him a sharp blow to the arm.
It was a cute smile with the little exposed fang but Ino was not about to succumb. "So now we have no idea where we are. Just great!"
"Well if you'd let me take a look at the map…"
"Get your own", she cut him off.
"I didn't bring one," he admitted.
"You mean you left on a mission without a map?"
"Never need one. Not with Akamaru. I've never seen him sick like this out on a mission." He looked over worriedly at his canine companion. "Of course," he retorted, grabbing the map from her hands with a quick flash, "it doesn't serve for much if you don't know how to read it!"
Ino reached to grab the paper back, but quickly changed her mind and chose to fold her arms with a heavy pout instead, knowing that it would probably be better in Kiba's hands. She had paid attention in stealth class, but cartography lessons? Bo-ring!
"Well which do you want first- the good news or the bad news?" Kiba asked, looking up from the map.
"Agh," Ino replied with disgust. "Good news first, I guess."
"We have been traveling in the general direction towards River Country so we're not necessarily off course, just a bit delayed."
"And the bad?"
"Take a look at the sky," he encouraged, raising his eyes to the odd colored clouds.
"Shit," thought Ino. Red skys in the morning meant they'd have rain by late afternoon. "We'd better get moving."
Breakfast was a ration bar as they sped to pack up their blankets and any loose articles. Within minutes, they were on their way, in the 'general' right direction.
