Disclaimer: Do not own any of the characters (I wish I did but that one's not coming true anytime soon) or anything else that applies to the Naruto world.

Pairings: ...at the moment...Kiba x Hinata...

"Speech"

Thought

'Dream'

/Flashback-"memory"/


Only Us:

She had always known that something was wrong with the relationship she and her older brother shared. Her own attitude scared her sometimes and it was happening more often lately. Hinata realized that she was the only one of the Rookie Nine that remembered the past. At least, in her mind she was. It was almost too much to take as her cousin turned brother walked past her heading towards his first class of the day. Her old personality began to rise up but she quickly pushed it back down. She had changed and for the best. Right now was not the time to reminisce; she needed to find Shino and Kiba. If what she had seen yesterday was true than they too remembered. Maybe, but now it was only a matter of time to find everyone else and get them to remember as well.

It's only us than. I think Shino goes here but I haven't seen him. She sighed and turned around the corner only to bump into someone.

"Hey, watch it!"

Hinata looked up a bit to see who'd she had bumped into and nearly dropped her books. The young man in front of her did drop his books. She really hadn't expected to bump into Kiba so soon, and he looked just like she remembered when they were younger. His dark brown hair was long and wild and even though his jaw was trying to hit the floor she knew he still had that wolfish grin. She raised an eyebrow, smirking. He looks good in the uniform.

The school uniforms were a maroon vest over an egg white button-up dress shirt with a maroon and harvest gold striped tie. Though the dress code wasn't mandatory the girls and the guys (if they dared) had a choice of the usual girl uniforms which was the vest, shirt, and tie stated above with a maroon and harvest gold pleated flannel skirt. Or they could exchange the skirt to just wear the maroon pants with the harvest gold strips down the outside of the legs.

He must have lost a bet or something yesterday. Hinata was pretty sure she had seen her "husband" –as she still remembered him –wearing the girls' uniform the other day. She couldn't help but recall just how good his legs had looked or how his normally wild hair had somehow been tamed to give his face a more feminine look. At first she hadn't known it was actually him sense he had been far away with his back facing her. But he finally turned around as she had gotten closer so that she finally saw that it was him and not just some really pretty girl. Shino had been there as well.

And speak of Devil... Hinata looked past Kiba –who was still in shock –to see the Aburame come up from behind. Somewhere in the back of her mind she remembered that she had about a half hour to spare but the rest of her mental functions had suddenly decided to go on a holiday. In the past she had always wanted to see what Shino looked like without the glasses and the coat on. Now it seemed she had gotten her wish. Shino's eyes were deep reddish brown and she could finally see his soft pink lips that, at the moment, were twitching as he tried to keep from smiling.

"It's good to see you, Hinata," he said. His voice to her ears flowed like silk. It was hypnotizing, no longer muffled by the collar; it captured her mind and left her in a state of blissful emptiness. No thoughts, no nothing. But there was an underlying sadness there, a slip of emotion, a longing for something. Looking in his eyes she knew it was not something from her that he needed. And somewhere in her flowing memories was the sound of a sweet laughter that she used to love.

Kiba shook his head. "He –Hinata, what...do you...um..."

Looking away from the Aburame she looked back at her love and grinned, eyes glittering with amusement, "I remember. The past, if that's what you mean," she said her gaze shifting back and forth.

"Yeah, that," replied Kiba, still trying to decide if he should keep his mouth opened or closed.

She frowned, but her eyes still smiled. "Kiba, really, if you don't stop imitating a fish I'm going to start believing you are a fish and dump you into the nearest fish tank."

"There's a small pond a half mile from my house if you want to drop him in there, Hinata," replied Shino, no longer able to hide his eyes and smile.

"That'll work too," she said, grinning wider.

Kiba smiled sadly, looking at Hinata with a sense of respect and even more love. "You're still beautiful, you know that, Hinata?"

She smiled, "My memories of you telling me that keep reminding me."

Shino looked back and forth between the two who had suddenly formed their own little world where it was just the two of them. He sighed, "Well, I'm certainly not going to stop you two from staring at each other all day, but just to let you know, we have five minutes left before the bell rings." Neither of them moved. Shino shrugged and started walking to his own class. "Not my fault you two wouldn't pay attention."

Lunch to say the least was interesting. For Shino it was interesting, watching as Kiba and Hinata caught up on old times after so long, remembering the past they could now remember and the past of their present life. For Kiba, Christmas had come early. All he really wanted was to pick up Hinata, carry her bridal-style all the way back to his house (running to his house more like it), and make love to her like there was no tomorrow. Hinata was just happy she had found her old teammates so fast.

"So it's only us three?" asked Kiba, after he and Hinata had stopped talking up themselves, looking around to make sure no one was trying to ease drop on them.

"It seems so," Shino said giving the dog-boy a sideways glance. "No one's listening."

"How would you know?"

Shino pulled up the sleeve on his left arm to reveal three very small holes in his forearm. Kiba and Hinata knew them for what they really were but an outsider would have mistaken the bug holes for very dark birthmarks. "We are the only ones of the Rookie Nine that remember, that does not mean that others do not remember," he explained.

Hinata nodded. She knew this to be true as her younger sister Hanabi would often frown at the fact that Hinata had changed. Her father also remembered and seemed to be trying to make up for neglecting her in the past. But Neji did not remember and this confused her.

"We need to find our teachers, or better yet the Hokage," she said after five minutes of silence.

"I don't remember much of the end," said Kiba, still making sure no one was trying to listen in on them. Shino rolled his eyes. After a while Kiba continued, "But I do remember watching Naruto hold on to Orochimaru so that there was no way that snake could do anything to stop them."

Hinata's eyes widened. She exclaimed excitedly, "Shino!"

"What?"

"Do remember looking above them? Shinigami was there as were the First, Second, Third, and Fourth Hokage! Do you think it's possible that they are no longer trapped within him?"

"Hinata, it's really unlikely that they'd be able get out of Shinigami at all. Unless there was some special agreement than I very much doubt it," He said, frowning at this thought. He really did doubt it but... he shook his head. It was no use dwelling on the "what if".

"But they were outside of Shinigami," she said, not wanting to accept the other most likely answer. "Something must have happened to have them out of whatever hell they were in."

Shino thought it over. What Hinata was implying was clearly impossible. And as he had said before, unless there had been some sort of an agreement it shouldn't have happened. But he could remember it clearly as well. They had been there, but he hadn't really registered in his mind because it hadn't mattered then. He had been dead, why would it matter? But it matters now, which is what's confusing me. But if what Hinata is saying is true than the other Hokages could have also been reincarnated.

"This is going to take some time, Hinata."

After school had let out early –for what reasons no one knew, but who was complaining? – Hinata and Neji had boarded the city bus which would take them closer to their sister's school; and closer to home. And now, standing outside the brick building, she waited. She hated waiting. Not that it mattered right now but she really wanted to get home. She was feeling impatient and she needed to do some training and start creating some medicines. Even in death the very last words that she had heard over the roar of chakra were from Orochimaru.

/ "Sarutobi-sensei...this... isn't over. Not yet."/

The words kept replaying themselves in her head. She didn't get it; it had to be over. Orochimaru was dead he couldn't have left anything behind. She narrowed her eyes in thought, what did he do? Orochimaru did something to so confidently say such words. Maybe he was prepared to die? Scratch that, if it's not over it's not over. Just because he was a merciless bastard doesn't mean he would not come prepared. She didn't like where her thoughts were headed.

"What are you thinking about, Hinata?"

To deep into her thought she hadn't heard the bell for class to end. Hinata started and looked down at her younger sister. "I was just thinking about the end; just the end," she said softly. Hanabi nodded in understanding. "I often do the same thing sometimes," she said. She looked off to the side, sighing. "Papa called on my cell phone to tell you that we're going to be in the dojo today. I think he senses that something is wrong."

Hinata nodded not really listening and looked past Hanabi, scanning the crowed for their older brother. "Probably went on without us," she muttered.

"Who went on with out you?"

Hinata spun around to find Neji behind her. She frowned, "Were you there the entire time, Neji?"

"No,"

She shook her head, "Well, let's get home. It's going to rain soon."

Neji and Hanabi shared a look and the stared up at the graying sky. "How it is that she always knows what the weather's going to be like?" asked Hanabi. Neji only shrugged and started walking home.

School, due to some unexplainable event, had been let out early. He, Shino, and Hinata had agreed to find out as much as they could about why they were remembering the past as well as training to gain their old skill. This part was already in progress –at least on his part –and it also meant telling his immediate family about the others who remembered.

Kiba had been the only one so far in his family who could do it easily without it straining himself. He was regaining his old Anbu skills as he slowly started mastering his old abilities again. It was annoying as hell to do so but something inside him –call it instinct if you will –was telling him that it was important. He was needed for something; he just didn't know what just yet.

For curiosity's sake he wished he knew if any of the other Rookie Nine remembered, let alone where they lived at the moment. He knew where Neji was, the Hyuuga was Hinata's older brother now, though how that had been managed was beyond him. But the others were a mystery. Team Eight is back in action! He smirked, now the only one they needed to find was their teacher, Yuuhi Kurenai.

Kiba pulled out his umbrella just as the first rain drops began their decent. Hinata had warned them that it was going to rain. How does she do it? He shook his head smiling. He had good news to tell Akamaru.

Somewhere in another city on the west coast at the beach, a woman with black hair and red eyes wearing the red one-piece bathing suit of a lifeguard sneezed. She shook her head, "Must be my allergies."

"Tadaimasu,"

Not getting an answer, Shino closed the door behind him. He didn't bother with the lights as he headed towards his room. He didn't want anyone to see that someone was home. Damn salesmen were persistent bastards.

Shino's room was the only other master bedroom in the house, and as an only child it was all his. Placing his school bags on his bed, he began his usual routine of showering and changing into more comfortable clothes. He was happy that tomorrow was Saturday. It meant a weekend of training and writing down anything he thought important. It meant doing something about those feelings that kept springing up.

He rubbed his eyes, sitting at his desk that faced the windows. He could see the garden from here.

/ "Ohayo, Shino!"

He nodded to the blond. "Naruto,"

Naruto grinned and then went back to his gardening. He had thought he would find Naruto whining or muttering curses about having to do garden work but the blond seemed to be enjoying himself. As a little break from the C and B-rank missions, Naruto had taken on a simple D-rank mission of creating a garden in the Aburame clan's back yard. He recalled his mother saying it was for a change of scene...or something like that.

He continued to watch as Naruto planted the rest of the violet petunias. As far as he could see the flowers and other plant life hadn't been planted in any certain pattern. It seemed to be a chaotic scene of colors. He wasn't sure if his mother had given the blond any specific instructions or if she was allowing Naruto to give the garden his own twist. He was starting to fear for the other's life; the garden was his mother's "baby", if Naruto did anything wrong...well, he wasn't about to go there.

"What are you up to, Shino?"

"Nothing,"

"Oh, well, seeing as how you're not too busy could you grab the water pail?"

He looked around until he spotted the water pail near a box of white Hymenocallis. He raised an eyebrow, "Pink?" He could practically hear the gears in the whiskered shinobi's head turning. To bad they were a tad rusty.

"It's pink, because it's the only one the store had left. And they were having a sale on gardening supplies."

"You could have just asked to use some of ours,"

Naruto glared at him, frowning. "Aren't you getting hot wearing that damn coat of yours?"

"No," he said, handing the pail over to the boy.

"And I prefer to use my own stuff, that way it doesn't matter if something breaks," explained Naruto, watering the area he'd just finished. He finally noticed that at some point Naruto had taken off his shirt. The blonde's lightly tanned skin glistened with sweat and his hair seemed to shine even brighter with the light of the sun. He could see that years of pushing himself to become better than the last surviving Uchiha had done him some good. He was no longer skinny but was now lean with well-toned muscle.

He shook his head. "I came out here because okasan said you can take a break now. It's high noon."

Naruto pulled off his gloves and wiped the sweat from his face. "Ok, but there better be something to drink or I'm pulling out the water hoes."/

Shino pushed away the memory. That one again; almost every day now that memory would come back, and he never understood why. It didn't matter if he was just looking at some simple potted plant or an intricately done garden that some old woman had spent time on, it was that same damn memory.

He looked over at the clock on his desk. He frowned, "That can't be right." I only just got here. But this says that it's already been two – He never finished that thought as another memory suddenly attacked him. Shutting his eyes he could see it all again, but this one wasn't like the others.

/ "NARUTO!"

He could hear Sasuke yelling over the roar of enemy ninja. Fearing the worst, though he didn't show it, he took down the rest of his attackers and then headed in the direction of where he knew the other two to be.

All around him, piercing screams of pain rang like bells echoed by others from all around. Bodies of the dead fell left and right, the enemy going at a comrade, not caring if he or she hacked their body to pieces to do so. He could almost see the grass and the leaves of the trees turning the color of blood. Not because blood was being spilt everywhere but because they were soaking it up, taking it into themselves.

The world is a battle field, he thought stabbing a chuunin with a sound headband in the stomach. Up ahead the fighting had become wilder as the second most powerful shinobi of Konoha –compared to Naruto, though he won't admit it –had gone into a wild frenzy, trying to get to his blonde haired teammate.

He didn't know what he was to expect but it certainly was not this. As he entered the clearing, he was pushed aside suddenly as red chains whipped around trying to get a hold of the enemy. There at the center he could see Naruto, eyes having become a demonic red as the power of Kyuubi flowed through him. Her anger and hunger for blood drowning his senses.

The screams were louder here, and he could hear the roar of Kyuubi above the others.

MORE! GIVE ME YOUR BLOOD YOU PATHETIC EXCUSE FOR THE LIVING!

A head flew past him, part of it split down the middle with its eyes bulging. Looking left he saw that one of the chains had split itself to take hold of five sound-nin. He realized that the chains were made of chakra wrapping their bodies in pain as the chakra chains seared their flesh. The chains wrapped their entire bodies and crushed them slowly so that they could feel each bone break and hear every sickening crack and the wet split of skin as their broken bones pushed through to the outside only to be crushed and forced back in. He was almost glad that their screams were muffled and that he didn't have the Byakugan so that he couldn't see it happen.

"SHINO, LOOK OUT!"

He saw Sasuke run towards him, the Uchiha too tired to go faster, but he was surrounded quickly by the chains. And out of no where they came as about ten or fifteen of the chains sped towards him. A few actually split away from the rest wrapping themselves around unsuspecting ninja. For some reason he couldn't move, too entranced by the movement of the chains. Would he feel the same burning fire that the enemy felt? Would his bones be broken to irreplaceable splitters? Would he scream in agony? These were his thoughts as he stood rooted in his place.

Before he even got the chance to do anything the chains were already wrapping him in a cocoon of fire. The grass that it touched burst into flames and sizzled into ashes as a few of the chains dug themselves into the ground to wrap themselves under him. Not a second after did he notice the roar of an explosion as the world around him shook violently.

But as suddenly as it had happened the chains then began to unwrap itself. When they were gone he saw that the explosion had destroyed the area for miles; ten at best. Right in front him with their noses almost touching he looked into a pair of eyes, one ruby red and the other a sapphire blue.

Two voices spoke as one, "Are you hurt?"/

The chair he'd been sitting in toppled over as he stood gasping. Shino's grip on the edge of his desk tightened as the last echoes of agonizing screams moved back into the darkness. No longer able to hold himself up, his shaking legs collapsed beneath him. That one he had not expected. Up till now the memories had been serene, and happy.

Seeing that his dream/memory notebook had fallen to the floor he picked up and recounted the vision of blood he'd just had. Slowly calming himself he wrote down everything, his shaking hands forcing him to goslow. Finished he placed it back on his desk, and then stood up, steadying himself with the chair he'd picked back up.

Slowly, as not wanting to fall to the floor again, he walked to bed and laid himself down. Afraid of having the memory spring up on him, he let his mind wander. But as sleep finally came, he reluctantly closed his eyes. He would have no sweet dreams this night.


No teaser this time...mwahaha... well, anywho, R/R!