Note: Masashi Kishimoto owns Naruto and all of the characters in this fic except my O/C's.

Chapter 6

When Hinata walked to Akane's room, she had not expected to see her teammates standing outside the room door, eavesdropping in on a heated shouting match. "What are you two doing?" She whispered and blushed to realise how useless whispering was. It was not as if the occupants in the room would hear her. "We just got here, and we didn't want to disturb them," Kiba answered with his usual cocky smile, which turned into a tight line as soon as he heard the door swing open.

One of Akane's siblings, Shiemi, with her back facing the rest of Team Eight, stood tall; her long arms hanging on her waist in a show of authority. Hinata could only imagine the mean look Shiemi always had in her eye at that moment. Did it exacerbate into an evil glare in moments of great stress or harden her features when she was angry?

"If you are serious about staying where you are, then fine. Next time when you turn up in a body bag, I hope you know I won't cry for you." Her voice was like a north wind blowing over Konoha in January, and Hinata felt chills run down her back.

"It's fine; besides, I wouldn't want anyone to be shedding a tear at my funeral." The rest of Team Eight had to peep through the space between Shiemi's arm on her waist to see where the reply had come from: it seemed Akane was hidden in a cocoon of pillows tucked away from prying eyes. Shiemi spun, and her cat-like dark brown eyes scrutinised the teens in front of her.

"Hey!" Kiba declared, acting as if they had not heard anything (which was unsuccessful). A beat passed in awkward silence, with the participants looking at everything but not each other (except Shino, who knew what he was observing at a moment's notice). Embarrassed, Shiemi turned her head away and ran her index finger over her small oval-shaped eyebrows.

"Were you working a late night shift, Shiemi?" Shino asked, diverting the attention from wandering thoughts to her work uniform.

"No, I'm still on my shift, but I came to see that asshole in there. I have to go now, and I'll see you later. Bye," Shiemi said as she half-sprinted down the corridor. A small friendly face popped up from behind the door and a dazzling smile greeted them.

"Hello, everyone! Come inside and take a seat next to me. Excuse those two; they show that they care about each other through arguments. How are you today, and how's your family? Those are pretty flowers, Hinata, what is their name? Did you plant them in your garden like those gardenias of yours? I tried to read up on the language of flowers; however, there was limited information in the library." The preadolescent girl paused and stared in awe at the pink tulips whilst her left hand scratched Akamaru's head.

"Kiba, you know dogs are not allowed here, but he is too cute to say no to. Shino-sensei, how are you today? When are you taking me for training? I found a Kidaichu beetle in one of the surrounding forests, and I was hoping you could come with me and catch it. For my collection, that is." The girl, Chinami enthusiastically said, popped her lollipop back into her mouth and patiently waited for Shino's reply.

Hinata stared at her in awe. The girl operated in a different world: one in which she was in a breakneck race with time. Out of all the times she interacted with Chinami, her curiosity and hyper-activeness stood out.

Hinata then turned her attention to the more visibly angry member in the room, "Um, Akane, hello. I brought…"

Akane chimed in with a loud curse, and she winced. She was still adjusting to loud and brash people.

"That's not for you. I am still pissed off. How dare she call me an asshole when she's the one in this situation. Can you believe her?"

"You two are always at each other's throats these days; I don't even know who's right or wrong," Kiba stated as he slid down the seat next to Hinata, unphased by his teammate's sulking. Finding herself agreeing with Kiba's assessment, Hinata nodded her head.

"It's not like that. You know how older sisters are, so pushy and nosy. And the arguments always seem to start from …"

"Nowhere." Kiba and Akane said the word together, and Hinata bit her bottom lip. Her relationship with Hanabi had soured since the duel between them; it would be a miracle to have a conversation outside of clan topics these days.

"I… I might not know what you were arguing about, b… but Shiemi seemed shaken up when she walked out of your room with misty eyes. Maybe you need to listen to her." Akane scrunched her face in distaste and waved her hand, casually dismissing the issue.

"How are you feeling now?" Kiba asked as he wolfed down a chocolate bar he pulled from his pocket.

"Great, the doctor said if I rest for a few days then I won't feel any pain in my shoulder. How about you Hina?"

"I'm fine, thanks for asking. My injuries were not as serious as compared to yours. Before I forget, I brought you tulips, and they mean I have good wishes for you." Hinata gave her a friendly smile, and she carefully balanced the bright bulbs into the bedridden girl's arms and had her study them. An appreciative smile wound its way to Akane's lips, and she inched them closer to her body.

"You guys got so lucky; you showed those jokers what you're made off. Next time I'll be taking care of the bad guys as you sleep on it."

"Yeah, sure, Kiba." Akane sarcastically replied, and the two began to have their friendly banter. In the back, she caught the hushed conversation of bug hunting near the Nara clan fields. A ghost of a smile touched Hinata's lips. She was happy to be in the background to witness the easy-going nature of her comrades.

"To tell ya the truth, this is the first time I've seen Hinata talk to someone other than us calmly."

"W…what?" Hinata spoke up when she heard her name.

"Oh, I was just telling Akane about your little flirting with the good doctor…"

"Kiba!" Hinata's usual smooth voice rose to a higher octave at Kiba's teasing, and she could feel her face heat up in anger. "I wasn't flirting with him. He." She paused to carefully think over her words because Kiba and Akane were merciless at their banter. One wrong word and they would be on her for a whole week. "He is an old acquaintance."

"Kiba, now you have to show him to me. "

"Kiba, I'll stop talking to you if you do."

"Not fair, Hina! Blackmailing is evil even for you." He said, bitting down a laugh which threatened to come out at the sight of Hinata's scowling face.

"W…well you should have thought of that before you said what you said." Hinata accused Kiba whilst she tried to fight off the telltale shade of pink appearing on her face. Her face blossomed into a red shade when Kabuto walked into the room with a clipboard in his hands.