AN: Written as a challenge fic for Anon E. Mous. Please R&R.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.
Four rounds of sake were ordered in celebration. After three years of camaraderie the last member of the team eight trio had become a chuunin. "To Hinata!" Kurenai shouted.
"Hinata!" Kiba downed his saucer. Shino nodded in her direction before sipping his own drink. Hinata blushed.
"And I want all of my students to remember that working as a team doesn't end with a promotion." Kurenai wrapped her arms around Kiba and Shino, squishing Hinata in between the two large males. "You should all feel free to come and talk to me anytime." Pink stained the three chuunin's cheeks. "And maintain relationships with one another too." She chortled and after a few moments of uncomfortable silence, her students joined in with nervous laughter of their own.
Shino looked back on that night as a curse. Kiba was loud, blunt, easily angered, and not much in the way of a confidant. Hinata was not loud or blunt or even prone to gossip, but had no self-confidence. That paired with her lack of experience, made her a poor advisor. As a result both Kiba and Hinata came to Shino with their woes. At first simple advice was asked for and he obliged, happy in the knowledge that his former teammates held him in high regard. Life progressed. Problems became more complicated. Problems became romance oriented. Shino almost laughed when Kiba confessed his undying love for Hinata, whining that he just didn't know what to do. That memory was too soon topped with Hinata verbalizing her adoration of Uzumaki Naruto. She made him swear that he wouldn't tell anyone. If Hinata's crush on Naruto was confidential, then Shino had to wonder if there were any secrets left in Konoha.
Scouting, like guard duty, was a task every ninja had to do and usually disliked. As old teams returned new teams were chosen based on who had most recently gone and who was available. Shino knew that his time was due. It was a simple scouting mission on the edge of Leaf territory. He looked at his team assignment: Kiba, Hinata, and Naruto. He sighed.
A week later all four ninjas were swinging in the breeze, caught in a large net. "This is just a little uncomfortable." Kiba wheezed his face wedged in the rope.
"Well unless anyone else can move their hands to make seals, jitsus are out." Naruto grumbled.
"What about Akamaru?"
Kiba tried to face Shino but wound up with a scrape on his face and a twisted arm. "He's scouting but it's hard to say when he'll get back."
"Um, maybe Shino-kun could get his bugs to gnaw through?"
Shino looked at the rope. It was a sturdy fiber woven tightly in order to support heavy weights. The moss and minor tearing in the threads suggested that the net had been left in the elements for quite some time. "No, my insects feed off of chakra. This is just a regular net. I imagine it was used to capture large game. The hunter probably forgot it."
"Well Hinata I could bite through but my face is kinda stuck and it hurts to move." Kiba grunted as Naruto squirmed. "Actually it hurts more when you move."
"Sorry, I was trying to get to my kunai." Naruto continued to struggle. "Almost," He muttered.
"Ahh!" Kiba screamed as Naruto's elbow caused Shino's foot to slam into Kiba's ass. He jerked back causing Naruto to bump into Hinata. This caused her to blush and the kunai to drop to the forest floor.
"Kiba!" Three voices cried in unison.
After what felt like an eternity of captivity, Shino noticed a pattern developing among his teammates. Hinata would peek at the hyperactive blonde, Kiba would roll his eyes in a vain attempt to see the blushing blue haired girl, and, much to Shino's amazement, Naruto would blush and make giggling glances whenever Hinata rubbed against him. His current perspective offered a revelation. He knew that he had never given Hinata the encouragement that she needed, Kiba the kick in the ass that he needed, and, most of all, he realized that he hadn't given himself the time to have any romantic interests that could lead to this kind of scenario. For some reason, he regretted that.
"We could play a game?" Naruto's innocent suggestion added to the many tribulations plaguing Shino. After a short lived game of 'I Spy' and several verses of '99 Bottles of Sake' Naruto came up with an even more heinous idea. "We could get to know each other better." Debris from the forest canopy gently rained down on them. Shino pondered what was more painful: Naruto's stupid ideas or the tingling pain that shot through his legs whenever Hinata breathed.
Kiba laughed. "If you could have sex with any ninja, living or dead, who would you choose and why? I'll go first." Shino decided that the time for living with regrets had passed. "OUCH!" Kiba screamed as he delivered the long over due kick to the ass.
"Quiet!" Naruto scolded as he turned his ear. The captives all hushed as they trained their ears, listening intently.
"Yeah," Kiba murmured. "I hear a creaking."
A sudden jerk caused a shower of leaves and twigs to fall as a rapid snapping sounded through the forest. "I think we're going to be free soon." Shino muttered as he began moving his legs. "Everybody push down." A community cry sounded as the net crashed down.
"I'm not sure I'll ever walk right again." Hinata complained as she stretched her tired limbs.
"We should get back. I think we've spent enough time hanging out in the woods." Naruto turned and after a few ginger steps headed towards Konoha.
"Let me get Akamaru." Kiba jogged off.
Hinata started to follow, but Shino placed a gentle hand on her arm. She looked up at the quiet man. "Once we get back you should try your luck with Naruto."
Her eyes widened in surprise. "Do you really think he'd go out with me?"
He nodded encouragingly, and the girl dashed after the blonde boy. Kiba came a few moments later with Akamaru perched on his head. "I don't think that I'll ever get her." He sighed.
Shino shrugged. "Probably not."
A sad look crossed Kiba's face, but was quickly replaced with a carefree grin. "Ah well, plenty of fish in the sea. Right Akamaru?" The dog barked. "Maybe we could hit the pubs together." He laughed as he ran in the direction that Hinata and Naruto had taken.
"Maybe," Shino mused, a smile playing on his lips as he headed home.