It was dawn and Mira was the only other person awake, as usual. Father had been given a mission a few days before; our trips would be overlapping and I wouldn't see him until my return, forecast on the issued mission scroll as three days from now. I had my overnight bag – Kami-sama, how I hated long missions, one was only allowed one change of clothes – over my shoulder as I easily slipped my sandals on and stood just outside the door.

Mira was somehow fresh and dressed, wearing a warm blue sweater and a purple, loose skirt to her ankles. She had even put on her make-up. All of this to see me off? It was very illogical to me.

"I apologize for leaving you without a host," I said after some time. She was always smiling, eagerly waiting for me to say something profound. It was awkward; I didn't speak unless it was of import. She was always anticipating something that was not going to come to her.

She shook her head, and her thin hands disappeared into her overlong sleeves. "I will use the time to talk more with Hinata-chan, and try to become more comfortable in this village. I will not," she emphasized this, looking irritated, "sit in the complex and have cake, like my mother and father."

I nodded. She would keep herself busy, then. "I have asked Hinata to introduce you to anyone you two come across. You will gain friends more quickly in her company."

She smiled brightly, hands fiddling with her skirt and lifting the hem a few inches absently. After another few seconds, she stammered, "Um, may you find glory and peace on your journey."

I bowed and closed the door before she opened her mouth to say more.

The other members of the five-man team were waiting at the West Gate out of the village. Kiba and I were back-up, as chuunins with excellent records, while the three jounin-level Neji, Lee, and Naruto were the true muscle. Still, the mission was again a low A; the danger stemmed from the enemy's ability to purchase the services of rogue ninja, not any true difficulty.

As far as I had gathered from the perfunctory mission scroll, there was a rebellion threatening in a village called Bujitaihei on the outskirts of the country, bordering Suna. We were ordered to kill any that attacked us, but the main target would be the leader of the organization.

As I approached them, I saw that Kiba had dragged Naruto to a food stall and was on his knees, begging desperately for some of the rice balls being sold. Naruto knew the rules, but he wasn't as good at denying Kiba as I was. Walking past, I caught the fringe around Kiba's hood and lifted him up.

When his feet touched the ground properly, he grinned and started walking with me, leaving Naruto behind. "So, Shino, you're leaving poor Mira-chan all alone?"

"Only for a day or so, until Father returns. She tells me that she will be with Hinata. She will be out of trouble." I shrugged, and watched as Naruto skipped past us to rejoin Neji and Lee.

"And, therefore, she's taken care of?" Kiba laughed, guessing the rest of my thoughts.

Neji, the agreed-upon leader of the team - he didn't leave room for arguments - called, "Hurry up. We're going to leave without you."

Saved from a response, I hefted my bag into a more comfortable position and ran to catch the jounins up.

We were in the middle of a forest, toward dark. The village was just over a mile away; we would wake at dawn and get there before the shops opened. Tonight we would be sleeping wherever we managed to find an acceptably pillow-like rock.

Lee went out to collect wood - or, the Fuel of the Warmth for our Hearts - and Naruto was using twenty shadow clones to catch fish in a nearby river. Kiba was setting up the tents, and, as 'leader' of the sub-team of chuunins, I was being briefed in full on the mission.

"Obviously, Lee, Naruto, and I can't be used for getting information, because we have specific traits that stand out," Neji was saying. Lee was simply a social anomaly; Naruto was loud, rambunctious, and had three scars on either cheek that didn't go away even with a disguise; Neji's Byakugan eyes were flat-out creepy. They would be remembered.

"You and Kiba will have to ask around for the resistance's headquarters. We need to verify the given information, as well. Numbers, names, weapons. A floor plan may be a bit too much to hope for. That is all for tomorrow; we will attack tomorrow night. If you run into trouble..."

"I will leave a kikai with you, and it will react if I use my chakra," I finished for him. "You will know."

"Good." He paused, and looked at Kiba, twenty yards away. Akamaru was helping him pull a rope taut. He dropped his voice and continued, "The others and I have voted you to be the one to explain why Akamaru cannot accompany you tomorrow."

I sighed. "One would assume that he is used to it, by now."

"Good luck. We'll be cooking dinner when he stops yelling." He lifted a hand and retreated to a safe distance.

Kami-sama, this was always my job. "Oi, Kiba."

He turned around, tugging the last knot tight with his teeth. "Nneah?"

"Drop it and come here," I commanded, feeling stupid. When he was closer, I started with the easy part. "Tomorrow, we'll be gathering information for the others to use in an attack at night. You will need to disguise these," I rubbed a thumb across one of the red clan marks.

"Not everyone is as bad as Naruto with disguises, Shino," he snickered.

"It would be better if you were a girl," I commented after a moment of thought. "You would be less threatening, and we could be 'on a date'."

He grinned and pitched his voice higher. "'Hello, random stranger. Know where any rebellious guys are? I like a man with a chip on his shoulder!' Like that?"

"Not at all. Nice try though, imbecile." I rubbed the bridge of my nose, closing my eyes and lifting the sunglasses. Before I could stop myself, I said, "And Akamaru isn't coming."

"What?" Kiba yelped, wounded. "But I fight with him! He's part of our team!"

"He is a giant beast that is ready to tear out the throat of anyone to threaten you."

He gave me a blank stare. "...I know that...?"

"He isn't coming. It would be like leaving your tattoos visible through the illusion."

He took his hands to his cheeks and whimpered, "Not my markings, too! I get to keep those, if you get Akamaru!"

I waved my hand vaguely, discarding this. "Now you're just trying to play the pity card. Don't be thick."

He sniffled, and then the almost-tears were gone as he switched tactics. He pointed to my face and yelled, "You can't stick out, either! No glasses, no giant jacket thing!"

My eyes narrowed, and, in a scolding tone, and I said, "The glasses are not conspicuous on a first meeting. And, unlike you, I thought ahead. I knew that I would have to blend in with normal people. I am prepared. You are not. Akamaru stays and your cheeks will be clean tomorrow morning."

He pouted and grumbled to himself, whistling between his teeth to call Akamaru to him. I left them to their conversation - and probable hatred of me, at least until dinner was ready - and went to sit with the other men. They had retrieved water from Naruto's fishing hole, I gathered, because there was a pot over the fire to boil it clean before anyone used the pot for food preparation.

It was always my job to put Kiba in his place, because he only really listened to me. But, sometimes, it was difficult, the way he would be cowed once I lost patience and lectured him over something. Somehow, he always forgave me. Was it possible for him to forgive me for correcting him? Whatever it was, things were back to normal between us within hours of anything major.

Apparently, I was stewing, because Naruto was the one that ventured to disturb me. "Um, Shino, we're sorry about having you tell Kiba off...datte bayo..."

Neji spoke up where Naruto trailed off. "We can't afford to have him hate any of us for the rest of our lives. He always gets over it, if it's you."

"I agree with that statement," I said, distantly.

"It is through the Bond of Youthful Respect, Friendship and Love!" Lee declared. When he jumped into his customary 'good guy' pose, teeth shining in a smile, Naruto arbitrarily got up and did it, as well. "Also, Naruto-kun has Valiantly Suggested that our Method of Team Recognition be the Trademark of my beloved Gai-sensei!"

Use the good guy pose as a password? Well, no one would copy it, out of respect for their egos... "Naruto, your reasoning," Neji prompted, irritated.

Naruto broke the stance to put his hand behind his head, laughing nervously. "I can never remember long things, and after seeing that for four years, I know how the pose is done, for sure..."

Neji closed his pale eyes. "When Lee suggested it for our genin team, after he was being personally trained by Gai-sensei, both Tenten and I were firmly against such a ridiculous thing. And for what, if it is to be employed here? It will only set precedence, and Lee will be impossible in the future." He opened them again and looked at me. "Shino-kun?"

"I refuse." I took the water out of the pot and set it down to cool, stoking the fire to a point that it could cook the can of high-protein soup that was issued as rations.

"We will not use it," Neji nodded. The other jounins deflated and sat back down.

"Hey," Kiba greeted us quietly. He sat down next to me, burrowing into his coat. I passed a piece of jerked meat to him wordlessly, and it disappeared into his hood. Between small gnawing sounds, he said, "Akamaru's hunting for himself. He'll have to get used to it, if I have to leave him behind so much..."

I leaned closer until our shoulders touched. Trying not to be overheard, I murmured near where I assumed his ear was, "I apologize. He still trusts you to come back. It's nothing that he doesn't understand and forgive."

"Yeah, it's just..." he resurfaced, and sighed. "Both of us have had to forgive and understand a lot lately."

"Forgive what?" I asked, a little before my mind caught up with me. Of course it was about whatever Kiba was doing that had been worrying Hinata on the date with Mira more than two weeks ago. Something was going on, and I shouldn't talk about it. Not here, at least.

"Nothing. It'll get easier, I'm sure." He grinned up at me, and then called, "You're making our dinner, right, Naruto? Get to work, chibi!"

"Dammit, Kiba, stop calling me names or I'm gonna kick your ass!" Naruto yelled back immediately, dropping the spoon he was holding straight into the soup with an innocent slopping sound. "Whaaa! Look what you made me do, dog-boy!"

"How is your clumsiness my fault?" Kiba sneered, and took the last bite of the jerky. "You should get that back out quickly. Too much of that steel stuff will stunt your growth even more."

"Ahh!" Naruto dove for the pot, now over the open flame – idiot – but was stopped by Neji's hand on his shoulder. Neji's eyes strained, using the Byakugan to identify where the spoon was exactly, and then he did a few hand signals.

All of us tensed at the palpable chakra in the air, and a bug clawed its way out of my hand accompanied by a twinge of pain. I closed my eyes and flew closer for a better view. Neji's chakra focused, and I saw the electric blue energy wrap around the metal spoon and draw it out. It hung in the air, beside him, before whipping around to smack Naruto in the forehead.

I released the jutsu over my kikai as everyone immediately started laughing. Neji just shook his head, lectured the blond about being more careful, and passed the pot around for each of us to get a bite in turn. The fish were speared and set over the fire next.

"What are you three doing tomorrow?" Kiba asked after the food was gone and Lee was off getting more wood (so as to Stave Off the Villainies of the Night). The three tents he had set up with Akamaru each had room for two sleeping rolls, so we had paired off: Neji and Lee; Kiba and I; and Naruto would have room to splay out, as he always did.

Neji was brushing his hair, to be bound in its loose tie before he slept. No one dared comment on it. He answered, "We will train. I, at least, will be thinking of the strategies required tomorrow night. I have a scroll to deliver to a jounin, Koburon Gyo, within the operation. Konoha hasn't been able to contact him recently, part of the reason for the decision to take it out."

Naruto, half-asleep already, said, "I'm going to be fishing some more. That was fun. You and Lee can do what you like, but I'll take care of food."

Lee returned, claiming to have been attacked by a bear or large animal of some kind. The night was active for a few minutes more. Once everything had settled down again, I offered to take first watch.

"No, Shino-kun. You and Kiba are going to be well-rested for tomorrow. Naruto, Lee and I will take care of it."

Kiba shook his head and pointed to where Akamaru lay happily at his feet. "Akamaru can do it. He'll be useful, at least."

Neji thought for a moment, and conceded the point. We withdrew to the tents, and I took off my heavy jacket to use as a pillow. Kiba was doing the same. After, we simply lay there in the dark.

I knew that he was still angry with me for Akamaru. I decided that he would be over it by morning. I lay for a long time without moving, listening to the whispers coming from the tent next to us. They sounded as though I didn't really need to know the words to know what each phrase meant.

I must have seemed unconscious. I heard Kiba slowly slide his hand across the six-inch gap and rest the tips of his fingers against my lower arm. He left them there, and I heard his breathing even out as he fell asleep.

I didn't get very much sleep again.

I opened my eyes to complete darkness. My kikaichu were lethargic; by experience, it was about half an hour before dawn. I took off my glasses, rubbed the bridge of my nose and behind my ears, and replaced them, before reaching over to flick Kiba on the nose.

He made a face and was about to say something before he froze. His fingers pushed a little bit harder against my arm experimentally before he surreptitiously drew his hand back. "Shino…um, what do you need?"

I sat up and half-crawled out of the tent opening. There was Akamaru, sniffing listlessly at a Cicindela sexguttata, the six-spotted tiger beetle common to forest paths and clearings such as ours. I left him to terrorize the insect as I crossed to my bag and removed my change of clothing from it.

Common sense dictated that any ninja carry a set of clothes that would help him blend in with local fauna. I took off the mesh shirt and pants that I wore, carefully folding them and replacing them in the bag. I then pulled a sleeveless white top on and buttoned a dark brown long-sleeved shirt over it, and finished with jeans that had only been worn three times.

Kiba came out – finally – and stopped. He stared at me for a moment before he said, "Where did you get those clothes? I didn't think you owned any besides your battle costume. I mean, you would wear that really weird pantsuit thing and try to gel your hair down but you just looked incredibly dweebish."

"You mentioned, many times," I reminded him bitterly. "I believe that you nearly suffocated while laughing in each instance."

He snickered. "Yeah, you just looked that funny." He pulled out his own change of clothes and started changing.

"I grew out of those clothes." I dragged a hand through my wild hair. "It will not be good for the mission if I look…'weird'," I said uncomfortably.

He tugged a green polo shirt on, and stopped to look at me. "Um, I'm gonna do the illusion now, okay?" When I nodded, I felt his chakra focus and he formed five consecutive hand signs. With a small sound, he disappeared in a cloud of smoke, and when it cleared…

My brows furrowed. "What the hell?"

Kiba was standing in front of me; there was no doubt about that. But his messy brown hair was now long and his green shirt was green and down to his knees as a dress. And he had breasts. Right, those.

"What the hell?" I said again. I couldn't think of anything else.

Cheeks, clean of the red clan marks, turned pink and he looked away. "You said it would be easier if I was a chick. And you look kinda dressed up to just walk around the city. It'll be more natural this way."

I opened my mouth, but shook my head and gathered what I would need; a few blades stashed here and there, at least one roll of gauze for Kiba, and money. When I turned back, he was inspecting the tall heels that were part of his illusion. He took a few wobbling steps, grinned, said, "This is easier than women claim," and fell onto his face.

He sat up and looked at them again. With a sigh, he released the jutsu and stayed there in the dirt. "Okay, the shoes aren't going to work for the walk to the village, but I'll get the hang of them there. I have pretty good balance."

"Yes, you do," I agreed. I motioned for us to go, and he scratched Akamaru behind the ears, as though they had already said enough about the thing from the night before. He took off down the path, humming to himself, and I watched as he walked. He was always light on his feet. It wasn't that he had balance; it was more a form of instinctive grace. It was a part of him, nothing more.

After a mile of constant chatter from him, he changed back into his girl-alias and tottered out onto the paved street. He faltered, and I offered my arm to him. As the minutes passed, I would feel him leaning on me less and less, and finally we were just strolling down the street, in time for breakfast.

We were sitting on a wooden bench in a green park, eating a sweet pastry that was a favorite here. He seemed to think of something and swallowed hastily. "Oi, Shino…" he coughed. When he began again, his was more airy and he used the female speaking style. "Um, you aren't good at people, right? Just let me talk, and go along with anything I say. It'll be better, anyway."

I just nodded absently, thinking. Eventually, I said, "We will not advertise ourselves as a couple on a date, I assume."

"It's just, I'll be able to talk with some of the people more easily if I can flirt with them," he shrugged.

"I'm going to go ahead and ask," I finally said. "Why do you think that you will be good at flirting with men?" I looked at him a moment. He did look pretty, for a girl; if it was Sakura, she would be able to get the information easily. He didn't have the instincts of a woman and had no experience, though. Actually, "Have you ever tried to do something like that?"

He reached up to his shoulder, and began to finger the new hair resting there. "Um, I haven't, per say," he admitted, looking away. "I know the mechanics of it. Basically, the guy has to believe that, in the near future, the girl is willing to sleep with him, right? Then, he'll say a lot of things to get her there."

I shrugged in vague agreement. "I have never been flirted with. I don't understand."

"You're excluding Mira," he said, giggling. "She was all over you."

"I didn't get the impression that she wanted to have sex with me."

He put his face into his hands and took a deep breath. "She was leaning into you for half an hour. You didn't feel anything rubbing against you?"

"Oh," I said at length. "That was flirting?"

"Yes, Shino, that was flirting. That's why it's better if you're my brother or something, and you disappear quickly if I get into a good conversation." He looked at me for a minute longer and pressed, "Alright?"

I nodded, now thinking of the date. "I apologize for calling you," I said offhandedly.

He blinked, and answered, "Why wouldn't you? Did you have any idea of what to do?"

"No…but it was a date. And you were more quiet than usual." I stopped, and decided that I would have to ask at some point. "You were distressed about something. Wasn't it my fault?"

"Not your fault," he smiled, shaking his head. "Don't mind me. I won't worry you again."

"You will tell me about it if it gets any worse," I commanded.

He looked at me, smiling that sad smile of his. "I'll tell you at some point. Okay?"

He really can't lie to me. I let it go.

The food was gone. He stretched his arms into the air, and rearranged…himself. It amazed me that he was so comfortable looking like a woman. He finally said, "Okay, I need practice acting like a chick. You're going to help me."

"I told you, I don't know anything about flirting."

"Little things that I can fix, I mean. I'm trying to remember to use girl words, and I can manage with the heels. What else?" As he spoke, he turned a circle in front of me, arms to the side.

"The way you stand," I said.

Kiba's shoulders were slumped over, and I had seen him trying to put his hands in pockets that weren't on any dress. He shifted until his back was straighter, but something about it wasn't right. I stood up next to him and put a hand at the base of his neck, pulling back on his shoulder. It forced his…his bust out more. Better. He walked around a bit, easily.

"I need to practice flirting. You are going to respond normally," he pointed at me. "Right. Hi, I'm Ki…damn. I need a name. Kiba's not a chick name. Kiyu's better. I'm Kiyu, but you can call me Ki-chan." He winked, and smiled.

I hesitated. What was I supposed to say? "I'm…"

"…Some random person…" he supplied.

"…and you're…pretty?" He rolled his eyes at me, and I became defensive. "What am I supposed to say?"

"You could invite me over to your friends, or something."

"Do you want to come talk with us?" I said in a monotone, trying to bear with it.

"Of course," he squealed, and mimed a little skip to where my 'friends' were. "Then I start talking about politics, or something. What do you guys think of the new laws that the government is passing?"

"They are…not good," I guessed, at a loss now.

He flashed a thumbs-up at me and continued, "Then I get one of them alone, and I say something like, 'So, what do you do for fun around here?'"

I was silent for too long. When he scuffed at the ground with his heel, I said, "Is this when he tells you what we need?"

"No, then he'll say something stupid, like all the fun things involve me and him and alcohol." I could see him writing out the script, in his mind. "So I say that I think a guy that fights for what he believes in is hot, and then he tells me."

"Are you sure that will work?" I asked, morbidly fascinated with this new science of flirting.

Kiba shrugged. "Not really. I can try. There's no guarantee that I'll be able to spot a rebellious kid arbitrarily." He glanced around, at the small park and the major road. "Oh, look at that."

I looked where he pointed. There was a group of five men around our age, giving off the aura of a patrol of the area. There was no doubt that they were carrying hidden weapons. "And you're going to try?"

He was already walking toward them. I sent a kikai to keep watch over him. When it landed on his shoulder, he turned and smiled.

He talked to them for a little while. One of them, apparently the leader, separated Kiba from the group and was being suggestive. When Kiba mentioned fighting for one's ideals, the target got suspicious and I walked up to them. I introduced myself as 'Kiyu-chan's' brother and firmly steered my 'sister' away.

"Right, that went well," he grinned.

"I thought he was about to attack you."

"Well, besides that. This is doable." He held his first two fingers up happily.

A woman, whom I had seen walking near the group of men, called out to us. "Excuse me! Did you say your name is Kiyu? I want to speak with you!"

We stopped, and I kept my peace. I had been told not to talk, after all. Kiba stepped forward and said, "I'm Kiyu. What do you need?"

The woman approached more slowly. She was about thirty, and had a four-year-old boy holding her hand. Her blonde hair was in a quick knot at the back of her hair, and she was dressed with rich fabrics. When she got very close, she said in a whisper, "Were you asking about the rebellion that my father is planning?"

And the day only went uphill from there.

Hah. Okay, so my favorite part was when Shino picked Kiba up and Kiba just started walking with him. It was a random thing. Would you do something like that? I don't know what it means. I thought of it and wrote it down, that's all. Cute.

Oh, and Kiba as a girl. I'm not so good at the flirting thing either. I was mostly guessing, but so was Kiba. He was just...generalizing a bit. Yeah. No idea what he was doing whatsoever.