Chapter 2
Gathering the Troops
The sun rose high into the morning air, shining down on the Inuzuka compound. Kiba yawned, rolling over in his bed. He turned to find another lover in his bed. His head was killing him, a sure sign of a post-binge drinking. On top of that, he didn't even recognize the beauty lying beside him in the morning light. 'Great, another one-night stand. Well, guess I better get up and let Akamaru take care of her.' Putting his ninja skills to use, Kiba silently slipped out of bed. Akamaru raised his head from his bed in the corner, eyeing Kiba with a slightly annoyed expression.
"I know I said that I wasn't going to bring home any more women, but I was drunk okay" Kiba whispered to Akamaru. "Now come over here. You know the drill by now." The last bit was said with an air of sadness to it. Akamaru reluctantly came over to his master, letting the transformation into his appearance take place. "Thanks buddy, I owe you one" Kiba managed, before silently slipping away. "Yeah, that's what you always say" Akamaru said to himself, snuggling into bed with Kiba's late-night lover.
The sliding door to the Inuzuka compound opened a short while later to reveal Kiba, dressed in his ANBU uniform, two fighting claws already secured on his hands. His outfit was very similar to that of his days fighting the Akatsuki. A black jacket and black pants made up the entirety of his uniform, with only a triple claw mark etched in dark red across his back. The symbol of the three claws was his personal symbol, and it represented his special attack, the triple slash.
Jumping onto the rooftops, Kiba ran from his compound to Team Eight's Training ground. The sounds of combat already filled the air. 'Guess Hinata and Shino are already at it for the morning.' From afar, Kiba could hear the resounding poofs of Shino's clones being destroyed by Hinata's attacks. 'Guess Shino got the bug clone transformation to work. That's going to make him a lot more powerful for our team, if he can learn some basic taijutsu'. Kiba watched from afar as Hinata danced through an army of Shino's, the clones transforming back into a single bug after each hit. Hinata was definitely making progress through the horde, but she seemed to be slowing down as Kiba watched.
Finally, it happened. One of Hinata's strikes went astray from her target, and the Shino clone effortlessly stepped in, a kunai appearing at her throat. "I'm sorry, but our training practice is over" Shino said, his normal monotone showing no emotion whatsoever. "As you destroyed each of my clones, the single bug that formed it would land on your skin. Then it began absorbing your chakra. Many bugs are easy to avoid, but a single bug is hard" Even now, the monotone of Shino's voice betrayed nothing, except maybe a hint of pride in himself.
"I see. Very well then. You are correct our training practice is over" Hinata closed her eyes, her voice betraying none of her emotions. A moment later, a powerful vortex of chakra exploded from her body, scythe like blades emanating outwards. Stunned expressions formed on the faces of all of Shino's clones. With eyebrows raised, there was a large chorus of poofs as all of the clones were disrupted as one. A sly smile creeping onto the Hyuuga's face, she turned and helped her comrade to his feet.
"What was that jutsu, Hinata?" Shino inquired, a subtle note of awe creeping into his monotone.
"That was my Chakra Blade Vortex Jutsu. I created it not long ago. It channels my chakra out of all the points of my body. Then I use my personal jutsu, the Protection of the Eight Trigrams, to turn the chakra emitted into hard edges. Finally, I spin the chakra as it leaves my body, so that I hit all points of attack in local vicinity." A slight smile lingered on Hinata's face. It had been a long time since she had pulled one over on her teammate.
"That is a very devastating Jutsu. I must say, I am glad that today we are teammates. It would unpleasant to be on the receiving end of that move." Hinata blushed slightly at the compliment, then turned to Shino and raised her left eyebrow. Shino got the hint, turning and throwing an exploding kunai behind him. The move was gratified with an uttered "Holy Shit! That's an exploding note!" and a slightly charred Kiba landing to the ground next to him.
"You BASTARD!! You could have killed me with that thing, are you insane Shino?" Kiba coughed a couple of times, getting the remaining smoke out of his lungs. Shino stared down at him, his uniform unchanged since his fifteenth birthday. No emotion would have been betrayed to anyone not intimately close to Shino, but his comrades knew he was smiling behind his high collar.
"No, that charge would not have killed you, or even wounded you severely. You are just complaining for the fact that you're hung-over and that you probably had another one-night stand last night."
"How do you figure that?" Kiba asked, a dangerous growl edging his voice.
"You are not the only one with sensitive sense Kiba. My bugs can smell the lingering booze on you. Also, Akamaru is not with you, and that only happens when you have him cover for you after an all nighter. That is how I can make my statements" A glare passed between the two of them, one strong enough to make the surrounding area uncomfortable.
Hinata sighed to herself. 'It's been like this ever since Kurenai sensei quit working with us. Kiba started drinking and caring less about training. Shino on the other hand, started working harder, and not getting along with Kiba.' Her musings brought her to the only conclusion she could think of to make the two get along. 'A night out. With Ino, and maybe….Naruto' Hinata blushed at the last thought. Those two were the biggest party people in the village, and were hilarious when they got together.
"Hey you guys, seeing as we don't have a mission for the day, I think we should go out and celebrate our recent success in all becoming ANBU members." Hinata's voice rang out loud and clear, pulling both of the young men out of their tiff. A fake, but warm, smile spread over her face. 'I hope that this works' she prayed.
Kiba grumbled a bit, but Shino seemed amenable to the idea. "We should also invite Naruto and Ino, I believe they also recently joined the Corps." Shino stated.
"Yeah, Naruto and Ino are a blast to have when celebrating anyways. The two are like perfect party partners!" Kiba had gained enthusiasm at the mention of the other two shinobi.
'Well, now that that little disaster is avoided, I guess I'll have to get in touch with the others.' Hinata sighed again inwardly. It always was more trouble to actually make suggestions come true. On top of that, the kunoichi was a little short on cash, and even though she had gotten better around Naruto, she would still be blushing for a lot of the evening. "I'll get in touch with Ino" Hinata said.
"I can go round up Naruto" Kiba offered. "Guess that leaves you to find the place Shino. No sushi bars though, okay. I now you and Hinata like it, but Naruto, Ino and I are of a different taste than you two."
"If you say so. I believe a barbeque restaurant would be best in this case." Shino started heading towards the city, already considering what restaurant he would chose.