Chapter Summary: It really was an A-rank patrol mission; can Shino and Kiba handle it?

Chapter Pairing(s): none

Chapter Rating: M for fighting and language (just to be safe)

Author's Notes: After the story got to be more than 5,000 words I decided it did need to be more than one chapter. Here you go; this has got to be the longest fight scene ever written...

By the way, if anyone knows any techniques that Shino has, other than his bugs, that would be great, because it was really difficult to put some variety into Shino's attacks (I think I failed at that anyways, though).

Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto... well, let's not go there, okay?

Always Knock First

Before you enter my life -- before you enter my heart

2: Assault

Kiba growled and muttered to himself as he hurried home. He should have been more cautious, should have closed the window... Damnit, he should have remembered it was almost time for his mission to start! He chided himself as he leapt from roof to roof carelessly, causing more than one household to light up. Screw stealth; he was pissy and still safely inside the village. Stealth would have to wait for his mission.

"Fuck," he yelped, stumbling the last few yards into his room. He miraculously turned the stumble-hop into a twirl. Akamaru raised his head, expectantly, ready for their mission. If the state of Kiba's room was any indication, the ninken had not gotten any sleep while he was away. Kiba gave a strangled cry of frustration and set to work sifting through the mess scattered on the floor. Akamaru watched him innocently.

"Don't give me that," Kiba spat, uncovering his hitai-ate, "I know you did it." Akamaru whined and put his head down. Kiba unearthed his weaponry and shoved it all, in a jumbled mess, into his thigh container.

"Come on, Akamaru, we're going," he said tersely. Akamaru's ears perked up and he eagerly followed Kiba into the night.

"You're late," Shino greeted him stoically, not even looking at the approaching pair. Kiba rolled his eyes.

"Ch, only by ten seconds," he muttered. Shino gave a small shrug of acquiesce.

"Hello, Akamaru," he intoned as the large pup wound around his legs, begging for attention. Kiba made a small sound of annoyance that his dog should get a proper greeting and not himself. If Shino noticed, he did not say anything. Exactly a minute and fifty seconds passed and the first pair of patrol nin returned. They exchanged curt nods with their replacement cell.

Kiba watched Shino for the cue to go. It came and they sprang into the forest, immediately taking to the trees.

"So... what exactly are we looking for?" Kiba asked.

"Anything suspicious," Shino answered. Kiba snorted.

"That's real specific." Shino shrugged. They traveled in silence.

"Anou... Shino, why would this be an A-rank mission?" Kiba asked after a long while. "I mean, Fire Country's not at war or anything. Look, we've almost gone all the way around Konoha and we haven't met one single person! This is such a freakin' waste of-

"Shino?" The Bug boy frowned, an arm extended in front of Kiba, halting the dog-lover.

"There are shinobi ahead," he informed his teammate. Kiba squinted, trying to see.

"How did you-?"

"Kikaichu," he explained, "I sent them out before we left. While we made our round a group of unfamiliar ninja approached the gate."

"Then let's get them!" Kiba exclaimed, eager to fight. Shino restricted him.

"I have not yet determined if they are enemy ninja," he told him. Kiba hesitated, then nodded. He turned and watched the dark woods as he waited for Shino. Shino seemed tense.

"... It seems there are three of them," Shino relayed to Kiba. Kiba glanced at his partner and could vaguely define the lines of a frown in the older boy's face. "They are strong--! Kiba. They are enemy ninja, fighting for Orochimaru."

"What!?" Kiba hissed back, bristling. Shino put a hand on his shoulder, concentrating.

"It seems they are going to wait for tomorrow night to launch their assault... they are coming this way. Prepare yourself."

They flitted away in opposite directions, assuming hidden positions in the foliage. As Shino said, the enemy nin strolled into the clearing moments later, unguarded and bickering amongst themselves. Kiba quickly sized them up and attempted to guess their attacks, as Shino had taught him to do. Through trial and error he had learned to just trust what Shino said when it came to tactics and fighting.

The first ninja seemed rather young, her hair a deep black, reaching almost to her thighs. Surely that would get in the way of fighting- then she turned around. She scanned the clearing and both boys felt a chill pass over them when she passed over their positions with cool calculation. Her eyes were pitch black, even where they should have been white. Half of her face was marked up with black ink and her entire left arm was black. The second was a man of great stature- taller than Kakashi, surely. He wore his hair in a tight samurai's knot on his head. There were deep lines in his skin, signaling not great age but great struggle and sorrow in his life. The third and final member of the group was a rather androgynous looking character- somewhere near the average of their teammates' heights, with a rather moody air.

The group practically spelled trouble.

"I don't see why we should have to wait 'till tomorrow night!" the androgynous character grumbled, folding his arms behind his head. Kiba raised his brows at the awkward angles it bent them- the thing was limber, to say the least. "We're already here and the security sucks. Let's just get it over with now."

"No," the tallest said, crossing his arms over his chest. The androgynous figure sulked, but didn't complain. So the tall man was the leader, Shino assumed. He flicked his eyes over to Kiba, but the boy seemed intensely focused on the group's conversation.

Good, Kiba was developing constructive combat habits.

"We have to wait for the other cells to arrive," the man continued, as though he had given this lecture a thousand times already. The blonde, gender-confused member pouted cutely, but maintained his silence. The girl fidgeted uncomfortably. Her teammates watched her silently as she seemed to itch herself in an awkward manner. It wasn't until her team members made quick retreats that Shino realized it was a dance; his Kikaichu hummed loudly in response.

"Kiba!" he growled, leaping into the clearing, already throwing his arms out, ready to release his bugs. He frowned when Kiba did not immediately appear at his side, but continued with his assault anyways. The kikaichu swarmed the girl and Shino began to search for the other shinobi.

He couldn't suppress a small shout of surprise mingled with pain when a heavy object collided painfully with his temple. He stumbled back a few steps, pressing a hand to his bleeding temple, and realized his kikaichu were unable to approach the girl. They would come within a certain distance then go berserk and throttle each other. Shino quickly called them back, cursing lightly under his breath- where was Kiba?

A senbon whizzed by his ear, clipping the lobe painfully. Shino whirled around, preparing his kikaichu for another assault. They buzzed inanely, pushing and stretching his skin to its limits painfullyn; they were confused. Cursing again- slightly more audibly this time- Shino slapped exploding tags on two kunai and chucked them in the direction of two unfamiliar chakra traces. He caught sight of two shadows flicking out of the way before a burst of white pain issued from the back of his head, gleaning his attention. He spun to face the girl, still dancing in a somewhat dizzy step.

After staring for a minute, Shino realized the air around her was shimmering oddly. He barely dodged the flying circle that had already thwarted him twice (the wounds were still throbbing); a pendant, he realized, hanging from the tie in her hair. Whenever she spun- there, it was coming again- it swung in a wide arc, fast and deadly. Shino began to wonder what the hell Kiba was doing when a spray of senbon interrupted the thought. He just dodged them when the pendant (a lovely shade of green) collided with his arm.

Shino could have sworn he heard a crack- and it definitely wasn't the pendant.

He tried to summon his bugs again, but they thrummed dazedly and refused to respond. Shino withheld a strangled cry of frustration as he dodged a barrage of senbon and the pendant. Then he noticed how drunk and warm he felt inside, oddly giddy considering he was being ass-beaten at the moment. The shimmers in the air set off warning bells in his head and he leapt out of them, landing rather ungracefully on a branch in time to see the ground he had just been standing on explode. The tall man shot out, realized Shino wasn't there anymore, and halted his seal-forming, landing gracefully beside the blonde, who had suddenly appeared from within the bushes.

"Great, you old geezer, you missed him," the blonde said tersely. The man whacked him over the side of the head irately. Shino grimaced, breathing heavily. He was already ragged and tired and severely disabled without his insects, but there they were complacently arguing with each other. His eyes drifted over to the still drunkenly dancing girl.

Something shimmered just within the periphery of Shino's sight.

"Kiba!" he hissed, realizing what had been preoccupying his teammate for far too long. He was quickly at Kiba's side, shaking the nin. Kiba's eyes drooped lazily and a small amount of saliva dripped from the corner of his open mouth. He looked rather (comically) stoned. Shino shook Kiba a little harder.

The drunken, warm, nostalgic feeling began to fill him again. Suddenly, two-and-two fell into place; Shino gathered Kiba in his arms and sprung away, leaving the shimmering lights prey-less.

Once safely out of range, Shino shook Kiba. No response. Shino shook him harder. Still no response. Shino scowled and slapped Kiba across the face. Kiba grunted, closing his mouth. Shino slapped him harder. Somewhere in the distance somebody laughed at the sound of it. Nevertheless, it worked its magic: Kiba snapped out of his stupor in a rage, actually punching Shino out of reflex. He blinked a few times, stupidly staring at the bloody mess of Shino's face (Shino quickly hid the wreckage behind a hand).

"Sh-Shino!" Kiba exclaimed, "Oh my god, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to- I was just sitting there and suddenly I felt really good inside and, and, and... oh my god, I'm so sorry. I let you down! I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry-"

"Kiba," Shino warned, shaking his head, realizing only too late that it was a bad idea to move his head at all, "They are still here. Where is Akamaru?"

"I sent Akamaru for help as soon as I started noticing I felt funny and couldn't move."

"That was good," Shino acknowledged, "Now all we have to do is hold them off until back-up arrives." Kiba frowned and examined Shino- a bloody mess.

"They're really friggin' strong," he observed. Shino wanted to roll his eyes, but nodded.

He decided to give Kiba a quick briefing of their opponents while they still had time.

"The girl uses some kind of dance to confuse things, but it's only effective if you stand in the shimmering air-" he waited for Kiba's snickering at the idea of shimmering air to subside, "- and there is a pendant in her hair that she uses to attack with from a distance while dancing." He indicated the mass of drying blood on his brow. Kiba frowned and nodded, becoming more serious.

Shino took this as a good sign. "The blonde uses senbon and the man attacks from underground while you're dodging. Currently, I am unable to use my kikaichu." Kiba frowned.

"That could be a problem," he mused. Shino would have smacked himself in the forehead had he not known it would hurt like hell to. Suddenly, he bristled.

"Kiba," he murmured, glancing around, "It's awfully quiet..."

"Behind you!" Kiba exclaimed, leaping out of the way. Shino glanced over his shoulder in time to flatten himself against the branch. The spray of senbon neatly clipped a few of his hairs. Instantly, he retaliated with a handful of shuriken, which were succeeded by a crossfire of kunai from Kiba.

Yes, they formed an affective team. Maybe they had a chance now.

Despite his throbbing head, Shino forced himself to get up and perform a few seals to replace himself with a log. When he assumed his hidden position among the foliage, Kiba was soon there. They glanced at each other to confirm, then wearily watched their replacements dodge senbon. Shino began to think something was off about this.

"Kiba!" he hissed, reacting just in time to catch the whirling pendant before it collided with Kiba's inattentive head. Shino's hand stung severely, but he held on. The kunoichi jerked, trying to get out of his hold. Kiba and Shino watched confusedly as she spasmed, the small glimmers in the air sparking before fizzing out one-by-one. Suddenly, she became completely motionless.

It was then that Shino and Kiba realized their replacements had been destroyed.

Kiba spun just quick enough to witness the blur of a gray yukata tied with a lumpy purple obi barrel into Shino, but slowly enough that all he could grab was a sandaled foot.

Still, it was enough to yank the man off his partner before Shino was killed. Kiba proceeded to wrestle with man over his katana while Shino got to his feet, wobbling a little and pressing a hand over the wound near the left of his hip- no vital organs were damaged: he could still fight.

Sensing that he had control over his kikaichu again, he released them, allowing them to swarm the girl whose pendant he still clutched in his left hand. He raised a brow when he realized there was a massive amount of chakra channeling through it.

"Kiba," he warned, pulling out a kunai.

Kiba grunted, unable to spare Shino any more attention than that from his wrestling match.

"Get out of the way," was all the instruction Shino gave his teammate before stabbing the jade circle with the kunai.

He himself retreated from the explosion of chakra just barely in time; even so, the sleeves of his jacket were singed. Kiba would be happy; the dog-lover despised the bulky article.

Shino frowned and mentally berated himself for allowing his thoughts to become so unfocused. He looked around for Kiba. The dog-boy landed in the tree next to him, hair singed and fuming.

"Goddamnit, Shino, you gotta warn me before you pull shit like that!" he shouted. Shino shrugged.

"I did," he pointed out. Kiba growled ferociously.

"That doesn't count!" he ranted. Shino sighed and nodded in the direction of their attackers.

"Shiiiit!" Kiba howled, ducking just in time to dodge another round of senbon, "See Shino, this is exactly- fuck!!- what I'm talking about!"

"Kiba, we don't have time for this at the moment," Shino stated calmly, sending a wave of kikaichu at his own opponent. Kiba was about to retaliate but was suddenly being followed by a pack of senbon that weaved around trees as he dodged.

"Chakra wire!" Shino called out to his friend as he dodged an attack.

"Right!" Kiba exclaimed, letting out another howl as a senbon needle shot through his hand and wound around. In a matter of seconds he was wrapped in wire.

"Kiba!" Shino shouted as his partner tumbled to the forest floor. He ground his teeth as the katana sliced a deep gash in his arm- a reward for his inattention. As soon as he had the opportunity to, Shino abandoned the trees and landed beside Kiba, who was struggling fruitlessly with the wires. Shino frowned and began to cut them with a kunai.

"Behind you!" Kiba warned, rolling away. Shino stood, kunai clanging against the metal of a katana barely in time. The taller man grinned widely, enjoying the sound of screeching metal as he slid the blade of his sword down Shino's kunai. Shino's kikaichu squirmed within him as the man's maniacal face got steadily closer and closer.

"Shino; senbon!"

Shino ducked and a large number of senbon whizzed over his head. The silver-haired man howled in anger, ripping a senbon out of his arm. He waved it at the blonde.

"Watch it!" he seethed.

Shino took the opportunity to swipe the man, knocking him on his feet. The man was two steps ahead of him, however, and much more skilled in taijutsu: he thrust up with both feet, catching Shino in the stomach. Shino flew back, slamming into a tree. He slid to the ground, gasping for breath. The man approached, still grinning.

"Nice try," he gloated, raising the katana to attack.

"Thankyou," Shino replied calmly. The man's whole body began to tremble and he gave Shino an incredulous look. Shino explained; "When you were on the ground a spider bit you. It was just a small spider, so you would not feel the bite of it, but it is notable for having the most affective venom for paralyzing its prey."

From his position on the ground, Kiba gasped. "Shino! I didn't know you could use spiders, too!" he exclaimed. Shino shrugged, supporting himself with the tree as he stood shakily, already preparing for another senbon attack.

"Technically I can't, they're arachnids, not insects," Shino said, "But I have done a few favors, here and there." Kiba scoffed.

"Whatever."

Shino strode over and began to work with the wires binding Kiba once more. He frowned.

"Kiba, have these gotten tighter?" he asked. Kiba mewled and wriggled a little, testing. The shock registered on his face.

"Shit, Shino," he whispered, "I can barely breathe-"

Shino's frustration showed as he sawed away at the strings. Kiba began to grow pale, gasping like a fish out-of-water. Shino suddenly recognized the two syllables his friend was forming: sen and bon.

He whirled around just in time to deflect the senbon aimed for his vital organs with the kunai. Still, he grunted as a few made their marks in his calves. For whatever reason luck was with him that night and they were not poisoned with anything his destruction bugs couldn't handle on the go.

"You two make a pretty good team," the blonde commented.

Shino assumed a defensive stance, deciding to play it safe and assume the blonde had more than senbon in his arsenal. The blonde chuckled and produced a scroll, balancing it idly on one finger. Shino watched carefully, trying to decipher the few characters he could see.

"In case you were wondering, I'm a guy."

Then there was a loud bang accompanied by a plume of smoke. It cleared to reveal the blonde in an offensive stance, eight senbon in his hands, ready to fly. Shino gulped dryly, seeing the noxious poison oozing from them.

He was quite confident that was not something his destruction bugs could handle.

The blonde took aim and unleashed the first of the deadly senbon at Shino. Shino dodged it easily, only to realize that had been a decoy: another senbon was flying at him, fast. Unable to alter his direction midair, he ordered a wall of kikaichu. He could feel the hum of disapproval within him at sacrificing such a large number.

They would just have to understand.

The blonde laughed at this while Shino's shoulder slammed into the ground painfully and he skid a few feet. He rolled to his feet, throwing out his arms to retaliate, realizing only too late he was making a perfect target of himself.

Dodging would have been a breeze if a strangled cry hadn't distracted him.

He gritted his teeth and ripped the needle out of his ankle, stealing a glance at Kiba. The dog-lover was in some serious trouble; he had managed to gnaw his way out of the wires, but was now caught in a swirling mass of black.

Shino quickly performed a replacement technique, leaving a kikaichu double in his place as he dashed over to Kiba, already sending out kikaichu.

He didn't have many kikaichu left, he realized despairingly. Where were the back-up units?

The kikaichu bashed into the swirling liquid, only to become ensnared in the sticky mass, useless to Shino's plight. He immediately called off whatever Kikaichu hadn't gotten trapped in the orb and searched for the source of the bubble. He spotted the black-haired girl staggering over. Her left arm was held out, a thin string of black ink connecting her to the sphere. She seethed, glaring darkly at Shino, causing a shiver to run down his spine.

This was their leader, not the tall one.

Another senbon lodged itself in the crook of his knee: the kikaichu double was dispersed.

Shino ripped it out and returned it in the direction of its sender. A faint laugh reached his ears, but he wasn't paying attention to that. Right now he needed to get Kiba out of the ink sphere. It reminded him vaguely of a water technique he had heard of, so he tried to alter details to fit this specific

Essentially, he concluded that the best method was to break the connection between sphere and girl.

He already had an exploding tag wrapped around the handle of a kunai before he realized that setting the ink on fire did minimal damage to the girl while it would most definitely burn Kiba; probably to the death. Cursing, he flung it over his shoulder in the general direction of the blonde, knowing he missed by the sound of laughter.

The girl staggered severely and Shino sent a small onslaught of kikaichu in the girl's direction with the order to break her connection with the ink ball.

Now he could turn his attention to the blonde, who still had four senbon. Shino steadied his kunai hand and prepared to dodge and deflect. The blonde grinned and twirled two senbon idly before throwing them at Shino with such speed the bug-nin could hardly register it. Still, Shino managed to deflect one and sidestep the other.

Precision wasn't worth much if you were aiming for the periphery of a body.

The poison must have been very strong.

Shino's mind didn't dwell on this long- couldn't dwell on it long. His kikaichu fulfilled their mission, returning up his sleeves and into the skin just before the swirling mass of ink exploded, knocking both Shino and the blonde over with its force.

Not forgetting Kiba, Shino forced himself to stand as soon as the final wave of ink washed over him. He stumbled to his partner and checked for a pulse. Hardly. He held two fingers under the boy's nose, No breath. Frowning, Shino shook Kiba a few times. No response. He pumped the dog-lover's chest in an attempt to stimulate heartbeat and breath. Ineffective.

Nothing.

With no other choice left to him, Shino leaned over and gave Kiba CPR.

Kiba gasped, gurgled, then rolled over and hacked up large amounts of ink.

Shino felt his eyelids becoming droopy and only then realized there was no feeling in either leg, part of his waist, and that his arm was beginning to hurt tremendously, as was his lower left waist. The numbness spread and he realized that there were not enough destruction bugs in his system to deal with such copious amounts of lethal poison.

He would have to collect more, he thought just as his world became fuzzy and he passed out on Kiba, who gave a yelp of pain and went still as well.

Owaa, so how was that?!