Chapter Two

Raine stormed through the door as angry tears blurred her vision. She ran as fast as she could to the one place she thought she could hide and keep away from people for the time being. She had never felt so ashamed of herself, not only for the fact that she had lost her team, but also because she had just yelled at her father and the Hokage. How was she going to face them now?

She stopped running as she reached a clearing just outside of the village. She pushed through the brush and came out to a cliff side starring out at the open plains. She sat down and watched as the animals out on the plains ran and frolicked around each other.

~Why can't I be one of those animals out there? They seem to be so happy and I'm sure they don't have to worry about protecting their herd, do they?~ As she was thinking this a rustling sound came from the bushes. She jumped to her feet and raised a kunai ready to defend herself if she had to.

She lowered her weapon as Akamaru came out first, followed by Kiba. Then Hinata stumbled out followed by a, as usual, silent Shino. She always liked that about him. She watched them as they approached her and Hinata was the first to realize she had been crying.

"What's wrong?" Hinata asked worriedly.

Raine shook her head and turned away, "Nothings wrong…"

"Sure there isn't. Come on, Raine, we saw you storm out of Lady Tsunade's office." Kiba sat on the ground and leaned against the already napping Akamaru.

"I said there was nothing wrong, now could you guys leave me alone. I need some time to think."

"Think about what? Revenge? Not a chance. Lady Tsunade told us to keep an eye on you and to tell you, that you are now a part of Team 8." Shino shook his head and walked up to her. Although Raine could not see his eyes, she could tell he was staring straight at her.

She turned to Sounds better as: towards them them and looked at each and every one of them, "She really expects me to forget my team, doesn't she?"

"No that's not it. S-she just thinks that it may be… healthier… if you moved on and made more friends, that's all." Hinata watched as Raine attempted a small smile.

"Is that what you think, Hinata? Do you think I should move on that easily? My team was murdered right in front of my eyes and everyone thinks I can get over that easily. It's just like when Sasuke lost his family. My team was my family!"

Akamaru lifted his head up and whined, "Akamaru's right. What about Kakashi-sensei? Isn't he your Dad?"

"Kiba and Akamaru are both right. You didn't lose all of your family, like Sasuke did." Shino shook his head just a little.

She looked away from them with a frown and turned away once more.

"Come on, Raine. Why don't all three of us go out for lunch today and chat a bit." Kiba beamed with a huge smile.

"It'll ease your mind." Hinata smiled politely.

Raine looked at all of them for a moment before reluctantly nodding her head, "Alright if you say so…."

"Great we can go eat at Ichiraku Ramen!" Kiba shouted. He jumped and raced back to the village with everyone in tow.

Ichiraku Ramen

The four ninja sat heartily at a table in Ichiraku Ramen with their bellies full. Kiba sighed with a huge grin.

"See that wasn't so bad? Was it, Raine?"

She shook her head with a smile, "I guess not…"

"Ichiraku Ramen has the best Ramen in all of Konoha and all you can say is I guess not…?" Kiba sat up and leaned over the table to stare her straight in the eyes. "You still don't trust us do you?"

"K-Kiba-kun!" Hinata exclaimed pulling him to sit back down.

"Kiba is right, it seems as though you do not trust us." Shino stated plainly.

Raine couldn't help but blush, "I-it's not that I don't trust you guys. It's just that…" She couldn't think of why she was acting so cold with them. It's not like they were her teammates who got killed. They were her new teammates trying to be her friends. She looked at all of them. "I'm sorry I'm being so cold towards you guys. Just give me some time to adjust."

"Well you could have said that in the first place!" Kiba sighed. "We'll leave you alone on one condition."

"Kiba, we can't do that to her," Shino shook his head.

She looked at Kiba and smiled a little, "and what condition would that be?"

"You have to at least talk to one of us. You can't keep all that happened to yourself."

Raine sighed, "Anything, but that, please." She let her head hit the table with a low thump.

"Kiba is right, for once." Shino watched her through his glasses, "all of this depression and anxiety will go away if you just talk about this."

She looked up at him, "fine, whatever, but I can't talk to Kiba."

"Aww, why not?"

She ignored him and looked between Hinata and Shino. ~Hinata is too shy and it kind of makes me uncomfortable for me to talk to her, but Shino has that silent stare. I can never tell what is on his mind. ~ She sighed again and closed her eyes. "I'll talk to…." She couldn't believe she was willing to talk to a guy. At least it gave her a chance to be alone with him, without the others, "Shino."

"SHINO! Of all the people you pick Shino!" Kiba stood up. "Ok, then." He sighed and headed for the door.

"Come on Hinata. Let's go play with Akamaru or something. We can let Raine talk to Shino." He laughed as he ran out he door before he said what had actually come to mind.

Raine watched as the two left then glanced at Shino. He just sat there watching her. It kind of started making her uncomfortable.

"Um… Can we go somewhere a little less populated?" She glanced around at the people as they looked at them every once and a while.

"… Yes…" He was unsure of what she was doing, but she was his new teammate after all so he had to trust her, right? He stood and placed some money on the table; once again he had to pay for everyone's meals. Raine followed after him in a rush.

"Where do you want to talk?" He asked plainly.

"At the place you guys followed me to. It calms me to sit out there."

"Lead the way…" He followed her with his hands in his pockets.

The Cliff Side

Raine sat down and dangled her legs over the edge as she spoke. "We were on our way to a commotion on the other side of the border town when we were ambushed. The next thing I know we were surrounded by the followers of the Akatsuki."

"The Akatsuki?" Shino had leaned against a tree behind her and had been watching her the whole entire time.

"Yeah, they wanted to get some information on Konoha. They tortured my team right then and there, but none of them would talk. " She brought her knees to her chest as tears started down her cheeks. "They held me there and made me watch…" A choked sob came from her lips. Shino pushed off the tree and came closer. He wasn't sure what he was doing, but he felt the need to comfort her.

"You don't have to tell me all right now." He hesitantly wrapped an arm around her and jumped when she collapsed into his arms. He gazed down at her as she cried, cloaking his jacket in tears. She cried because it was so relieving to finally start telling someone about that. "Raine… "

She continued to sob as he gently ran a hand through her long hair. She slowly came to a stop and looked up at him. She pushed away gently and looked up at him.

Shino stared into her eyes and knew she wanted to see his.

"You don't have to finish telling me. You can tell me tomorrow." He went to stand but she stopped him.

"I… um… Shino…" She closed her eyes gripping the sleeve of his shirt tightly.

End of Chapter Two