Watch out, my OC has a potty-mouth XD

After their hazardous first meeting and introductions, the group–consisting of Kiba, Shino, Hinata, Neji, Mekko, and now Sakura–decided to head back to the Village. By the time they reached the very heart of the Village Hidden in the Leaves, Mekko had associated herself with the rest of Konoha 11.

She had met Ino and Tenten at the Yamanakas' flower shop, where the two were carefully pruning and tending to the delicate plants; Choji had been spotted eating with Shikamaru at his favorite BBQ place; and she met The-Green-Spandex-Jumpsuit-Wearing-Crusader-of-Righteousness himself when he crashed into Naruto while running the 500 laps around the village his former sensei (with some stupid name she hadn't bothered to remember) had dared him to–backwards.

This, of course, had ensued a yelling match during which had involved a lot of creative name-calling (which got almost everyone–Shino and Neji excluded–sniggering behind their hands at the obscene, yet true, insults) and had ended with Lee striking his 'good guy' pose and beginning a rant about the "Unconquerable Power of Youth and All That is Good!"

In the end; once they had succeeded in dragging a laughing Naruto away from Lee, who was still spouting nonsense at a ridiculously fast pace; the group began to split. Hinata and Neji left to meditate at Hinata's house, Sakura went to do some errands for Lady Tsunade, and Shino disappeared after quietly saying something about having to attend to his insects. That left just Naruto, Kiba, and Mekko–with their animal companions too of course.

"So…you guys wanna chill in the forest or something?" Kiba asked with a shrug. There were always fun things to do on the outskirts of the village.

"Sure," said Naruto cheerily, leading the way.

Mekko followed, having no objections.

Once in the forest, however, as something caught Naruto's eye, causinig him to say,"Hey, what's that?" Without a second thought, the blond ninja went running through the trees in pursuit of whatever had caused him momentary ADHD.

"Wait–Naruto!" Kiba yelled in vain. But it was too late, the idiot of a ninja was already gone. The dog-nin sighed, shaking his head and closed his eyes. He'd be able to track Naruto easy, but the hyperactive moron just ran so damn fast…

Besides, it's not like I can just abandon our guest here anyways, Kiba thought, making a face at the word "guest."

Letting out another sigh, the all black-clad chunin leaned nonchalantly against the trunk of a tree, crossing his arms over his chest as Akamaru settled devotedly at this side.

"Good riddance if you ask me."

"Huh?" Kiba's eyes snapped open and up, to the 16 year-old sitting on the branch of a tree directly in front of Kiba. With one leg swinging idly in front of her, Mekko stroked the soft black fur of Kaene who was lazing beside her.

That was pretty fast, and silent to top it off, Kiba thought, impressed. I didn't even hear hear her…

"Hm, whatever you say," he replied, refusing to agree with someone who had scared and threaten to hurt his teammate. She had made even Shino react to her aggression. Kiba suddenly felt a slight shiver run down his spine when he recalled how Shino's shoulder had brushed against his own and–

"So how long have you liked him?" Mekko's question froze Kiba on the spot.

"W-what?"

"How. Long. Have. You. Liked. Him?" Mekko repeated, staring Kiba straight in the eye with an evil grin forming on her face as she spoke to him as if she was talking to a 5 year-old.

His cheeks beginning to tinge pink, Kiba broke the eye contact and mumbled, "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh please," Mekko responded, rolling her eyes. "Don't play dumb with me, dog-boy. Or, if you do, at least try to make it convincing." Her grin widened considerably. "C'mon, just tell me. How long have you liked that Shino guy, the one with the bugs? Half a year? 3 months? 2 weeks?"

"3 years," was the nearly inaudible response.

The 16 year-old interragator whistled. "Wow, no wonder you reeked of disappointment when he just up and left."

This jibe immediately put Kiba on the defensive. "I did not!"

"Oh yes you did," Mekko smirked. "I'm surprised even the others didn't smell it."

"Shut up."

She snorted. "But what if I said I could get you Shino? You know, get him to like you back."

Kiba sneered, trying to be his old confident self–and doing a damn good job by the looks of it. "Yeah, right." As he sarcastically dragged out the last word, the eyes and voice of the youngest member of the Inuzuka clan held complete skepticism and incompetence, but his scent said otherwise to the ever-observant foreigner.

Taking a deep breath, Mekko could detect traces of Kiba's sudden interest despite how far away she was. She could smell his excitement, eagerness, and…hope. The cat handler smiled.

"I'm serious, Kiba. If you'd just let me help you, I bet I could get him to come around. It just takes some persuading, you'll see."

Kiba snorted. "And supposisng I let you help me out, what's the catch?"

"Nothing really," Mekko answered truthfully. "You get the guy you want, and I get to play matchmaker for a while. It'll keep me from getting bored while my clan stays here."

The 16 year-old partner of Akamaru sniffed doubtfully. "Fine, but only if you can first prove that you can get to be a close friend of his. Otherwise, there's no point in you even trying."

"Deal." Mekko flashed a toothy grin. "Piece of cake." With that, Mekko got up and raced through the trees in search of her new friend to-be, leaving Kiba to snicker to himself.

It had taken Kiba over half a year of being on the same team with Shino when they were genin for him to stop hating and ignoring Kiba, and it had taken a whole year for them to become friends and eventually best friends. Not to mention Mekko had already made a bad first impression by intimidating Hinata. After all, Shino was quite protective of his teammates even if he didn't display it for the whole world to see. No, that was Naruto's job.

That idiot of a girl had no chance.

Besides, Kiba didn't need anyone to meddle in his love life…

Shit, Mekko thought, leaping from tree to tree. Fuck, shit, fucking shit, damn. Now I actually gotta find some way to get him to trust me, and he didn't exactly look like a social butterfly. Plus he's probably pissed I scared the crap out of his friend.

Kaene, easily keeping pace, growled softly.

"I know, I know. I did kinda ask for it, but what else could I have done?" Mekko grumbled. "Whatever, now all I have to do is find…what was his name again? Oh yeah, Shino." She came to halt on the outskirts of the village and lifted her nose to scent the wind. Opening her mouth to taste the air, Mekko flashed her fangs triumphantly. "Found him. Now the fun can begin…"

Sooo? How's it so far? Reviews are appreciated ^_^