This one's for SHINO FANS! Especially those who like Shino/Hina... I dunno, I think Shino liking Hinata is very cute but Naruto is the only one for Hina-chan! Later on may be some more Sasu/Saku, as well.. Depends on how I feel when I get down that far.

Forever Watching

Shino watched from the campsite, having begun the fire and was now watching his insect counterparts flitter in and around the dancing flames. The fire could not hurt them easily, and they were drawn to it so. Long ago he had taught them that fire meant pain, and they appeared to be heading his warnings accordingly, but their curious natures continued to draw them to the blaze.

With the small blaze reflecting from his dark sunglasses, one could not see what he was looking at, but his eyes were trained upon the horizon. He could see his two team mates, Uzumaki Naruto and Rock Lee laughing, throwing grass in each other's faces, and other such childish nonsense.

Being sure that nobody could see his twitching mouth over the collar to his long jacket, he let a small smile play across his lips.

Hinata was laughing.

Ever since he was a young child, Aburame Shino watched Hyuuga Hinata, watched her from the shadows.

Forever watching.

He was drawn to her eyes, to her beautiful smile, to her rosy cheeks and infectious laughter. She was shy, but behind that wall she placed between herself and the world was the most attractive person Aburame Shino had ever met. So he watched her, being sure that none tore down that protective wall and dared to harm that perfect girl.

He could never bear to see that perfect smile fade, and those pink cheeks turn pale..

And her eyes, they could not lose their wintery twinkle, like freshly fallen snow on Christmas morning...

Shino liked Christmas.

And Christmas was in Hinata's eyes.

Shino dared to narrow his eyes at the Uzumaki boy who seemed to be the source of Hinata's mirth. He would have to watch him now, as well.

He couldn't very well let him break her poor, fragile heart now, could he?

No. For Aburame Shino was forever watching, always protecting his Hinata.

Forever Watching.. Forever Protecting..

He stood slowly then left the fire, his insect comrades flitting away from the embers behind him.

Now would be as good a time as any to introduce himself properly to Uzumaki Naruto, would it not?

Haruna Sakura gazed just as warily over to the horizon, watching the same mirth-filled scene as the insect master.

Her turquoise eyes twinkled slightly as she watched Rock Lee spit out a few blades of grass, care of Kiba in their small grass war. Poor Lee was losing terribly, not wanting to throw the grass at anyone... Ironically for fear of getting it in their mouths.

She sighed, remembering when they playfully tossed grass in each other's faces, laughing as they watched the sun's journey over the horizon. They were good times, times that no other moments could possibly have compared to... Except that glorious day when she had been placed in a three man cell with Uchiha Sasuke...

Sasuke...

Lee...

Their faces shone two different lights.

Sasuke was the dark one, with angst-filled ebony eyes that twinkled red when in the heat of a hard battle. That sexy smirk that left every girl in utter desire, none could ever, EVER match that smirk. Every word he said was in the most attractive, low voice that Sakura could only imagine being whispered into her ear at night... Perhaps being passed on to their eldest son...

Lee... Rock Lee... He was anything BUT angsty, with his cheery smile that could- quite literally- light up a room. His ebony hair cut into a perfect bowl shape, leaving the onlooker with that slight giggle.. His obsidian eyes with their joyful twinkle wherever he went.

That twinkle... It was always there until Sakura had wiped it away.

It hurt her, left her heart turning flip-flops in her chest as she gazed at the glazed-over look that could come across Lee's face now...

Oh how she wanted that old Rock Lee back!

.... But she wanted Sasuke more.

Dark eyes gazed intently at the shadows on the hill, the sun setting gracefully behind them. He could see and name each person on that hill, starting from Uzumaki Naruto.

Their joy at spending time with each other was something Sasuke only felt in the heat of battle, something sparking within him and making him feel at home again.

Until Uzumaki Naruto came into his life.

Naruto's smile, mischievous eyes, and all around persona changed Sasuke from what he once was, and now he couldn't help but feel a little jealous of the boy.

He was making new friends so easily, but Sasuke was afraid to move beyond that circle of friends he had spent a long time with. They had spent an entire year warming up to him, breaking down his great wall of instability one piece at a time.

Yes, he finally had made friends.

So when he looked at Naruto with his friends, and what appeared to be someone even closer to him.. Perhaps a girlfriend.. Sasuke would feel jealous, he wished he could walk up to someone and just proclaim that they were his friend... But he could not. Nope. Sasuke was forced to wait for others to come to him.

He supposed that's why he liked Sakura so much. Her persistent efforts, always trying to find a way into his frozen heart, it made him see her as someone different after a while. She was not just a love-sick brat, but someone that wanted to be his FRIEND.

HIS friend.

He slowly opened up the door, letting Sakura through, but he was afraid of letting in more.. What if they got hurt?

Right, another reason to block out everyone else.

The last time he had cared about people, they had died, been murdered at Uchiha Itaachi's hands. Yes, even his brother... For the Uchiha Itaachi of now was not Sasuke's nii-san... No, he was the man who killed everything dear to the young boy..

There were many reasons as to why Sasuke let so few past the barriers of his heart, but now he could see a few things differently. Friends made him stronger... Naruto became stronger for each friend he fought for. Hyuuga Neji fell to Naruto's hands because he was fighting in the honor of Hyuuga Hinata. Gaara of the Desert had fallen to Naruto's hands because Naruto was fighting to protect both Sakura-chan and himself- Sasuke.

The shook his ebon-haired head and noticed the light was almost gone, only a few rays of red-orange light clung to the earth in a pitiful attempt to escape nap-time.

"Sakura-chan!"

And Sakura turned.

Naruto yawned, oblivious to the fact that the grass war was still continuing. He had a mouthful of natural green goodness care of Rock Lee before he was able to belt out what he planned on saying.

"Time for bed!" He choked, spitting out the grass as he said it. The spittle-covered blades landed squarely on Inuzuka Kiba's face.

"Gross, man... That's just gross."

Kiba wiped the grass from his face and then faked a gag as he glared daggers at the fox-demon incarnate.

"Gomen!"

It was a half-hearted response, but all that Kiba needed. They stood up slowly, Naruto helping his new OFFICIAL girlfriend from her seat.

With grass in their hair and in between teeth, they scurried off towards the tents, Naruto and Hinata walking behind the others.

Lee unzipped his tent and clamored in, waving goodbye to his friends, and dropping onto his sleeping bag with a loud 'Oomph!'

Kiba jogged off to find his tent as well, leaving Naruto and Hinata alone.

Strolling casually through the crowd of filling tents, they eventually reached the sleeping quarters of Hinata and Tenten, the latter of which was staring out the screen door of the tent at the other Hyuuga.

"Sayonara, Naruto-kun..." Hinata said with another small blush, leaning in and planting a kiss on his own crimson cheek.

"Sayonara Hinata-chan... Sleep tight.."

The girl slipped into her tent, where Tenten grinned and went into a launch about this and that... and Neji.

Naruto, however, was in the middle of his trot back to his own tent when..

"Uzumaki Naruto."

He turned to face the darkness, the only hint that someone was there being the shine of light off of two, round sunglass lenses.