Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto and not me.

A/N:

Kita: Dogs! I hate dogs!

Sora: No big surprise there really, cat-girl...



Chapter 5: Dogs are People too...

Hinata knocked over her cup of tea as her mobile rang. She pulled it out of her pocket and answered it.

"Woof!"

The Hyuuga heiress blinked. The person on the other end of the line was... barking? Suddenly it dawned on her.

"Akamaru-kun!" exclaimed Hinata. "Uh... how are you using the phone?"

Akamaru gave several more barks followed by a growl.

"Is this like charades or something?" asked Hinata.

The dog on the other end gave a yip and said his message again.

"Uh... okay... oh, um... don't tell me! Kiba's fallen down the well again?"

There was silence followed by a low groan of a growl. The phone hung up.

"I was wrong...?" Hinata asked the silent phone. Suddenly it beeped as it received a message. Hinata read it. "'Emergency team meeting at the front gates- find Shino and bring him along.'... Uh... I didn't know dogs know how to text..."

She shrugged, too confused to question any further. Quickly, she picked up her bag and ran towards Shino's house. Fortunately, it wasn't too hard to find (there aren't too many houses out there that are shaped like a bee's hive and crawling in bugs thick enough to scare away most exterminators).

Hinata knocked on the door, trying her hardest not to squish any bugs in the way.

"...yes?" asked a voice behind her.

Hinata screamed and jumped around- Shino was standing a few inches away from her face. He pushed his sunglasses up his nose.

"It is impolite to scream in a friend's face," he commented. "It shows you have no trust in them... also you scream loud enough to wake the dead."

Hinata was on the ground having a small heart attack. She recovered and stood up. "Uh, Shino-kun... did you... get a strange message on your mobile?"

"Mobile?" asked Shino, pulling his out. "I did... I must have missed it ringing with all the buzzing in my ears." He tipped his head to the side and shook out a stream of bugs from his ear.

Hinata shuddered. "Uh... Shino-kun... should we go see what the meeting is about?"

The Aburame member nodded and the two walked out to the main street.


Near the front gates...

Akamaru barked ecstatically as Hinata and Shino approached.

"Where's Kiba-kun, Akamaru-kun?" asked Hinata worryingly.

The dog tugged on Hinata's pants for them to follow him. The trio ran over to a nearby café where Kiba was stuffing his face. Akamaru barked at him to get his attention.

Kiba looked up, the remains of a meaty bone hanging out of his mouth. He pulled it out and waved when he saw his team-mates. "Hey guys! What brings you here?"

Hinata looked down at the pile of bones laying on the table. "Uh, Akamaru-kun phoned us... he also sent us a text message..."

Kiba spat the bone out as he howled with laughter. "Haha, good one, Hinata! Akamaru's a dog, he can't ring, let alone text!"

Akamaru sighed and nibbled poshly on a bone. Somehow he'd gotten a napkin wrapped around his neck.

Hinata and Shino stared.

Kiba threw his bone onto the pile and scratched behind his ear. "So, why are you guys here again?"

"We were informed of an emergency team meeting. We are supposed to go to the gates." Shino replied coolly.

"Eh... team meeting? So we finally get a mission at last, everyone seems to forget about us." Kiba stood up. "Alright, you guys go ahead, I'll meet you in a second."

Hinata and Shino nodded and continued on towards the gates. Behind them, Kiba was stuffing the leftover bones down his jacket.

When he left to run after them, there was a neatly folded napkin and some cash left on the spot where Akamaru had just been.


At the gates...

Hinata fainted suddenly as they approached the gates. Shino and Kiba exchanged glances.

"Naruto..." they both mumbled, rounding the corner and dragging Hinata behind them.

Naruto sneezed and looked around. "Oh, hey guys!" He waved.

Sakura turned around as well, ending her session of staring daggers at Sai as he drew calmly. Sai snickered as he drew a chibi-fied version of Naruto being crushed under his foot and screaming for mercy.

"Eh, what's that you guys are dragging?" Naruto went around behind Shino and Kiba. "Funny looking ba-, oh hello Hinata!"

"Eep!" Hinata fainted again just as she blinked her eyes open.

"She's not going to be like this for the entire mission, is she?" asked Sakura worryingly.

"I hope not," Sai commented. "That'd be quite a burden."

"Nobody asked you, punk!" retorted Sakura. She recomposed herself and settled her hands on her hips. "This is going to be a horrible mission. Not even a senior shinobi to supervise us... we're going to die."

"Die from what?" asked Kiba.

"Orochimaru!" Naruto yelled, throwing his hands up. "We're going to go collect tax from him."

Shino, Kiba and Hinata fell silent (well, Hinata was out of it so she didn't really fall silent in the first place and Shino was always quiet... ah, never mind...).

"If we as a group can not organise ourselves into a manner that fits, then we will not find peace in our valued journey," said Shino, ever the voice of reason and confusion.

The others went 'eh?' at his words.

"We need a captain," he said simply.

The others went 'oh...' at his words.

"I'll be captain!" Naruto jumped up volunteering. "You can just call me Naruto-taicho!"

"Idiot!" Sakura whacked the blonde over the head. "You're still a genin, we outrank you!"

Naruto whimpered. "Not fair..."

"Alright," Sakura pointed a hand forward out of the gates. "I volunteer to be captain."

There was a soft sound of protest through the group (or maybe it was just Hinata waking up and fainting again...).

"Does anybody have a problem with that?" asked Sakura in a sickly sweet voice, turning around. Darkness seemed to flare around her.

"No..." The boys shook their heads.

"Wonderful!" Sakura smiled and clapped her hands together. "So, let's go then!" She walked out the front gate cheerfully.

Sai looked down at his sketchbook and quickly added a chibi Sakura under the crushing foot with Naruto.

"So," asked Naruto, poking at Hinata with a stick. "Um... what are we going to do with her?"

"I guess just leave her here," shrugged Kiba, propping her up against the gate.

Together the boys walked out the gate after Sakura.

"Woof!"

They turned around and all eyebrows were raised. Akamaru wagged his tail and trotted forward with a rickshaw connected in a harness to his body. Hinata lay peacefully in the main part of the cab behind him.

The boys stared as the dog came over.

"Whoa!" exclaimed Kiba. "Good dog! Are you going to tow us there?" He went to get up into the main part with Hinata.

Akamaru growled threateningly and barked, hackles raised. He jerked the vehicle forward, making Kiba tumble out and fall onto his backside.

"I think he means to use your own feet, slacker," Naruto did his squinty stare.

Akamaru barked and wagged his tail again. He quickly trotted forward to catch up to Sakura. He stopped beside her and barked.

"Oh, you want to give me a ride?" asked Sakura.

Akamaru wagged.

"Oh, you're so sweet!" Sakura bent down and hugged the dog tightly, kissing him on the forehead and ruffling his fur. She climbed into the chair and settled down.

The dog cocked his head towards the gaggle of boys and gave what looked like a smug grin. He continued on down the road, leaving the boys confused and jealous.


Outside the vet's...

"This is so embarrassing..." grumbled Itachi.

Zetsu jerked the leash behind him, dragging Tobi along. His subordinate had a large white funnel wrapped around his head.

"Is this all the screen-time we get?" asked Kisame, effortlessly breaking the forth wall. "Sweet, nobody threw something at me this time!"

A whale came flying out of the air and landed on the man, squashing him.

"Sasori no Danna!" exclaimed Deidara. "I didn't know you could summon whales! Where did you get the blood for that anyway if you're a puppet, hmm?"

"I didn't summon it," replied Sasori.

"Woof!" A small white poodle sat in the path and wagged its tail. Quickly it scampered away, leaving a few drips of blood on the ground.

The Akatsuki members all shot confused glances at each other.



A/N:

RJ: Hehe, whales are fun!

Until next time!