Disclaimer: Naruto and assorted characters in it - are not mine. Nor ever will be. Ever.

Author's Note: Sorry for taking so long to update... I've been working on some other stuff while pondering on which direction this story should go. I've finally decided, but things will start getting more serious now, focusing on the romantic side, rather than the comical aspect of the series. :-) Thank you for all the lovely reviews so far!

Dog Gone Day

Ibiki flung a kunai at the rustling in the bushes behind him without even looking back. He was gratified when the sound of a poof reached his ears. Another summoned animal had disappeared. Muttering to himself, he trudged on down the road. Kakashi was going to pay for this, one day.

Ever since his disastrous first meetings with the ladies on the Admin nin list, he decided he was better off avoiding the whole situation altogether and taking a break from the ridiculous matchmaking efforts of Gai, Jiraiya and company. He had submitted a request (via letter, not in person) to Hokage-sama for permission to leave the village and visit the Tea Country to see his brother – ostensibly to "discuss my courtship with my family". In reality, he just wanted to get away from the titters and glances being shot at him from the entire female population of Konoha as word of his misadventures began to spread.

Surprisingly, Tsunade-sama had granted his request – allowing him to stay as long as he wanted. He had packed immediately and set off, but what he hadn't realised was that Kakashi had been assigned to tail him. Well, not until the first nin-dog accidentally wandered across his path, that is. Ibiki did not appreciate being followed.

An interesting fact about summoned animals, he mused. Whenever they were exposed to serious danger – such as kunais being flung at them from an irate ANBU Torture and Interrogation Squad Captain – they would disappear in a puff of smoke.

The last few hours on the road had contributed greatly to the pollution of the air.

Growling with irritation, Ibiki retrieved the kunai he had thrown at the hapless dog and set off again. Kakashi was definitely going to pay for this, even though he may have been doing it under the Godaime's orders.

"Do we still have to do this, Kakashi?" Pakkun whined. He had had fifteen narrow escapes in the last two hours. The others had lost count. Kakashi bent down and bandaged the foot of Sumire, who hadn't managed to get away in time.

"All right, all right," he said. "We'll stop and leave Ibiki alone for now. I've had enough fun irritating him, anyway." His eyes crinkled in a smile. He watched the scarred shinobi twitch and send kunai flying at every rustle in the leaves. The six hours of continuous dog-harassment, at the end of nearly a week of terrible mishaps, seemed to have the man in a nervous wreck. That should be enough punishment for setting up the marriage that has plagued my life, he thought vindictively.

"Kakashi!" a muted boom came from behind him. Kakashi spun and drew his kunai out of reflex, but he had already recognised the voice. Speak of the devil… Gai was trying to be inconspicuous in his green spandex outfit. The man's bushy eyebrows were drawn together in a frown of suspicion, though. "What exactly was that matter you wanted to discuss with my lovely wife? She has been doing some very odd things lately."

Oops. He should have told Anko to keep it a secret from Gai. Then again, knowing her personality, keeping anything a secret was going to be a tough job, anyway. With a puff, all his summoned nin-dogs disappeared, leaving Kakashi alone with the green-clad man. Traitors.

"Err… heh heh, let's talk about it back in Konoha, Gai," Kakashi immediately took off without bothering to wait for the other to answer. Maybe he could still lose him…

"Aha! So you were up to something, my eternal rival Kakashi! How could you get my adorable lovely wife to distract my concentration from our next contest?" Gai immediately jumped to the wrong conclusion. "If I don't hunt you down, I will stand on my head for 2 whole days in Konoha's central square!"

With that, the two ninja streaked back towards the village, leaving the solitary figure of Morino Ibiki still flinging kunai at every bush that moved.

A distant bark came from behind the clump of trees to the west. Immediately, Ibiki threw a kunai at it, and waited for the puff of smoke to confirm a hit.

He waited.

And waited.

At last, he strode towards the trees, wondering how he could have missed the dog. As he drew nearer, he could hear the faint, highly-pitched whine of the dog. So he hadn't missed after all. But still, all the nin-dog had to do was to just vanish and reappear at Kakashi to recover from its wounds. Unless…

Ibiki paused and looked down at the bleeding body of the German shepherd. Its' tongue was lolling out, and blood was spurting out from the wound from its chest, where his kunai was buried.

Unless it was a real dog, of course.

"Kaganu!" a soft, feminine voice could be heard calling out among the trees. "Where did you go, Kaganu? Come back here right now, you disobedient dog!"

This was bad.

Ibiki sighed and picked up the dying dog. He didn't like it, but he had no choice. She deserved an explanation, at least. As he walked towards the sound of the voice, the dog gave a final heaving gasp, and died in his arms.

The day was going splendidly.

"Kaganu! Come back here! Please?" the woman's voice was trembling between a need to project authority, and a hidden fear underneath it all. Ibiki's ear automatically detected people's emotions, from the mere sound of their voices. He brushed through the last of the undergrowth and entered the clearing where the voice came from.

A petite brunette was standing uncertainly in the clearing, her back turned towards him. From his vantage point, he could see that she had a slim, but shapely figure, which was covered by a peach-coloured yukata. Apparently, she liked traditional wear a lot. Her hair fell in smooth waves down to the middle of her back. A strange metallic contraption was held in her left hand, with what appeared to be a broken dog's collar attached to the end of it.

"Kaganu!" she called out once again. Ibiki cleared his throat as he approached her, and she spun around, emitting a soft "Eek!" She had delicate features to match her petite appearance, and large, honey-brown eyes that seemed to wander all over the area.

"Excuse me, miss," he rumbled. "I'm afraid there has been an accident." He looked down at the blood-covered mutt in his arms.

Her eyes closed, and she took a few hesitant steps forward. "Ano… What kind of accident?" she asked.

Ibiki looked at her uncertainly… "Isn't it obvious?" he asked, as he finally reached her. It came out slightly harsher than he intended.

She reddened at the sound of his voice and stopped. Her wide brown eyes opened again and stared in his general direction, but started to wander around. "Um… I'm sorry to have caused you any trouble. Kaganu was my Seeing-Eye Dog. You see, I'm blind."

The full realisation of what he had done hit Ibiki.