Chapter Two:

"Alright! Everyone is here, so lets head out," shouted Kiba. Hinata smiled at this and they started walking out of the village. After they had gone down the road a few miles Kiba suddenly stopped, smacked both of his hands on the side of his face and yelled, "Oh shit! I forgot to go get the papers from Lady Hokage before we left."

"That's why I've got them," said Shino.

Kiba growled with a big sneer on his face.

Behind her hand Hinata let out a soft laugh.

The first day was humid and didn't start to cool down until the sun went to bed. They stopped at a clearing and looked around. Kiba sniffed the air and Shino sent his bugs out to scout the area. The bugs quickly returned to Shino and they seemed at ease. "I don't smell anyone, how about you Shino?" asked Kiba.

"No, there aren't any shinobi for a few miles and my bugs tell me that they're not headed this way," replied Shino.

"Let's set up camp here then," said Hinata.

"woof, woof," added Akamaru.

Hinata set up the tent while Kiba built a fire and Shino went to get some water from a nearby stream. They all gathered around the fire until they got tired. They all crawled in the huge tent and Hinata and Kiba were soon fast asleep. Kiba was snoring loudly curled around Akamaru and Hinata was sleeping soundly between Kiba and Shino. Shino took off his glasses and lay down, on his side, facing Hinata. He watching her breathing softly and noted that she looked so cute sleeping curled up in a little ball. He could smell her perfume of vanilla and strawberries. He wondered if Hinata's skin tasted as sweet. He watched as here hair fell into her face, in her sleep she tried to brush it away but it just fell back where it was. Shino pondered tucking her hair back behind her ear and kissing her on the forehead. "But what if she wakes up and catches me?" he thought. "Fuck it, then I won't have to get up the courage to tell her how I feel and hear all about Gaara of the fucking sand. I should've told her back when she broke up with Kiba and then I could've had her instead of dealing with all this pain without her. If only I wasn't such a wuss. I just can't stand to think about her not loving me back." He leaned over slowly and brushed the hair out of her eyes, then he planted a light kiss on her forehead. Hinata

stirred but didn't wake up. She mumbled in her sleep "oh Gaara… finally." "Finally? What does she mean?" thought Shino. "She said Gaara's name though… not that I expected to hear mine of course. Maybe he hasn't kissed her yet? I doubt that though, someone as beautiful as Hinata? I wouldn't be able to keep my hands off of her."

In Hinata's dream world, her and Gaara were all alone in the Suna Kazekage mansion, dancing to classical music. He was an excellent dancer in her dreams and Hinata loved to dance. They spun around for a fast song and dipped her down long at the end of the bridge. Then came a slow song and he held her very close. Slowly they rotated across the dance floor and very subtly, he bent down and kissed her on her forehead. She lifted her head to kiss him on the lips but he was gone, and she was dancing alone. She sat down on the floor and looked around the room. There she begun to cry, because even in Hinata's dreams she cries about Gaara's coldness to her body and fact that the closest they've ever been was holding hands. The only thing that made her happy was the fact that she wasn't alone in this world. As long as she had someone that knew how painful loneliness was she would be okay. She didn't want to give that up just because Gaara was a little shy.

Hinata woke up in the morning with both boys arms draped over her and she smiled. This happened every time they went on a mission. She took it as a sign that they cared for her. She slipped out from between them and left them sleeping. She built up the fire again and started breakfast. She knew the smell of breakfast would wake them and she was right. They had a quite breakfast, all of them having a good time watching Akamaru jump in the air to catch pieces of food until he told Kiba he was full. They packed up their gear, put out the fire and continued their journey to Suna.