Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto, Gaara would have eyebrows like every normal person. I have no clue why he has none, but my point is that I do not own Naruto.
Kiba was listlessly walking Akamaru when he saw Sakura walking down the street. Wasn't she on the mission with Nira? "Hey! How'd the mission go?"
"Nira had a rough time with the mission. The thief was her abusive father…." Sakura explained the mission, not wanting Kiba to be unprepared for Nira's state of mind at the moment.
At the end of the story, Kiba's hands were balled into fists, and Akamaru's lip was raised in a silent snarl. "No wonder she was afraid of the tunnel shortcut to the Hokage tower."
Meanwhile in the Hokage tower: Kakashi was giving his report to Tsunade while Nira waited her turn in the hallway.
"I never meant the mission to be like this. I just wanted you to get a feel for her strengths and weaknesses, and your summons could provide backup if she lost the trail." Sigh. "You are dismissed. You can send her in."
Nira walked in, heart in her throat. I lost control. I tried to kill him. My mission was to bring him back alive. Gulp. "Kakashi says you did very well, considering the circumstances.' Wait! WHAT? "You will have a few days off before your next mission. Dismissed." Nira stared in shock at the hokage. "Is there something else?" Tsunade asked, seeing that the newest ninja was not moving.
"Uh. No." Nira said, startled out of her thoughts by Tsunade's words. She fled.
Nira sat on the bench in the dog park, staring at her hands. She shook with unshed tears. It was all too much.
Kiba walked by the park on his way to Nira's apartment to see if she was there, but caught her scent on the breeze. It was almost covered up by the smell of fear, blood, dirt, and tears, but he could still tell it was her.
"Hey, are you okay?" He asked quietly, immediately regretting his words. You idiot! Of course she's not okay!
The only response was a muted sob interrupted by a hiccup. He sat on the bench, and slowly inched closer. When she still made no response, he gingerly reached out and put his hand on her shoulder. "Nira?"
She turned to him and buried her head in his chest. "I don't want to cry anymore. My father was right about me: I'm just weak. I couldn't even kill him. I don't deserve friends. I deserve to live in a tunnel."
"Shh. Don't think like that. Crying is not weakness. You are strong. You have an amazing nose and a strong jutsu. You passed my impossible test. You deserve to have friends. Nobody deserves to live in a tunnel, especially not you." He murmured comfortingly, holding her close, not caring that the blood on her clothes was getting on his own. He just sat there and held her, trying to comfort her, until the sobbing slowed down and turned to hiccups. She was covered in dirt and grime and blood, her tears creating clear tracks through it, but she was still beautiful to Kiba. He wanted to protect her, but he felt so helpless against her memories.
"I bet you'll feel better once you've had a shower and some food." Nira nodded mutely, and they set off for her apartment, still clinging to Kiba, so held her close, one arm around her waist. As they neared the apartment complex, they ran into Temari who was also coming back to her apartment. She took in Nira's appearance with wide eyes, but Kiba was thankful that she didn't ask questions, just helped him guide the limp girl to her apartment. While Nira was in the shower, Temari demanded to know what had happened. Temari shook with anger at the story. She suddenly realized that Kiba's clothes were crusted with blood as well.
"You can't stay in those bloody clothes. I think Shika left some clothes in my room, they should fit well enough." Any other time Kiba would have teased her about her relationship with "Shika" as she called him, but tonight, he was just grateful to her. She returned, holding a shirt and pants and handed them to him. "You can change in the bathroom in my room; I'll wait for Nira to get out."
Temari heard the water shut off as Kiba left the room. Nira came out, and Temari patted the bed next to her. Temari put her arm about the younger girl.
"Where's Kiba?"
"Don't worry, I just gave him some of Shikamaru's clothes to change into, since his had blood on them."
Kiba came back, dressed in Shikamaru's clothes, and Nira giggled. It was a weak laugh, but it was progress. Since Kiba was taller and broader in the shoulder than Shikamaru, the clothes didn't fit right, but they were free of blood. Nira looked at her hands and Temari looked at Kiba, inclining her head towards the other girl. Kiba sat on the bed next to her, while Temari got up and headed for the kitchen. She came back soon, asking Nira "Don't you have anything but dog food?" That got another weak laugh out of Nira, and Temari headed for her apartment across the hall, promising to return with "real food."
The smell of food coming from the kitchen made Nira's mouth water. She tried to remember the last time she ate anything. She vaguely remembered Team Kakashi trying to make her eat something on the way back to Konoha, but she didn't remember if they had succeeded. Considering how loudly her stomach was complaining, probably not.
Once she finished eating, she couldn't keep her eyes open any longer. It had all just been too much. She slumped to the table, fast asleep.
Nira spent most of the day after her first mission sleeping, and Temari checked on her every few hours. That evening, she was woken by a knock at her door. Temari stood there. "Hey. We're treating team Asuma to BBQ tonight for completing their mission."
"Who's Team Asuma?"
"Ino, Shikamaru, and Choji."
"How long do I have?"
"I'll come get you in a half hour."
"Ready to go?"
"Yeah."
"You clean up pretty nice. Hoping Kiba will notice?" Temari commented slyly. Nira blushed "I knew it!" Temari crowed. "You like him!"
"He doesn't have a girlfriend, does he?" Nira asked nervous.
Temari snorted. "He's single; and trust me, he likes you."
"You think so?"
"Why else would he mope around when you left for a mission and didn't tell anyone?"
"Oops. I'm not used to having friends besides Kea."
"We'll forgive you." Nira smiled at the thought of seeing Kiba and Akamaru again.
Temari nudged Nira as they entered the BBQ. "There's a seat open next to Kiba."
Naruto was already at the table, and when he saw Nira he yelled happily "YOU SHOULD SEE HER SPECIAL NINJUTSU! SHE DOES THESE AWESOME TINY CHAKRA SHURIKEN THAT CAN CUT THROUGH ANYTHING! YOU SHOULD SHOW THEM!"
"But the owner of the BBQ might not be happy if I wrecked his restaurant."
"CAN'T YOU SHOW THEM JUST ONE AND NOT DESTROY THE PLACE?"
Nira shrugged and pulled out a kunai from her ninja pouch. She formed one miniature chakra shuriken and sliced through the kunai with it. Jaws dropped. Kunai were pretty hard to slice. The shuriken floated up above their heads to be joined by an entire flock of miniature shuriken.
"THAT WAS AWESOME!" Naruto yelled as Nira dissolved them.
She shrugged. "It makes up for the fact that I can't use Genjutsu and the rest of my Ninjutsu are weak."
Sakura was intrigued to see Nira's jutsu up close. I wonder if I have enough control to make those. Medical Ninjutsu requires a lot of control, but this is different.
The conversation was a little awkward at first, everyone trying to avoid the topic of family or Team Kakashi's last mission, but Nira didn't burst into tears, and seemed composed, so the ninja relaxed a little more. The rest of the evening passed in a pleasant blur until Nira's head dropped to Kiba's shoulder. He was surprised, then realized she had fallen asleep. The other ninja looked guilty when they realized how late it was.
They gently shook the sleeping girl awake, and she and Temari headed for their apartment complex.
"SO WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO AKS HER OUT?" yelled Naruto.
"What if she doesn't like me, though?"
Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "Yeah, she just blushes when she sits next you and every time you pay her a compliment because she hates you."
"You should just ask the youthful flower out" added Lee.
"What do the rest of you think?" Kiba asked
"Hn." (Neji)
"She's really good with weapons, so yeah." (Tenten)
"Hmm." (Shino)
"I think she likes you, Kiba-kun." (Hinata)
"She's pretty' (Ino)
"Yeah" said Choji as he grabbed the last piece of meat.
"You should ask her out" (Sakura)
"My book said to always present flowers when asking a woman out." (Sai)
Kiba scratched the back of his head. Talking about asking someone out was awkward. He left his smirking friends at the BBQ thinking She's pretty, an awesome tracker, created her own incredible jutsu, why would she like me?