Spent a whole lot of time finding a name for this one. And how exactly did I end up with Kismet? Well, for one, it sounds cool. And two...well, blame the Thesaurus. I put 'Cards' in and it gave me 'Kismet'. Yeah. I believe it is Turkish or Persian for 'Fate', if I recall correctly...

And yes. They are playing Bullshit. Pity you who do not know the rules. Kidding.

- - - - - -

Title: Kismet

Summary: Team Eight cheats.

- - -Start - - -

The rain came swift and hard, lightning and thunder accompanying it as always. The overhang above Team Eight that was serving as a temporary shelter groaned and creaked under the constant barrage of raindrops.

The streets were empty and stores were dark. It was unlikely anyone was even out training.

Which was why Team Eight was stuck out there in the first place.

Kurenai-sensei had failed to mention that training was off today, and as a result, her team braved the storm and came to the regular meeting spot- but no sensei. This, of course, was when the thunder and lightning came, and no one wanted to brave that just yet.

In order to stave off boredom, they had began a word game, of which no one really knew the rules to, so Kiba got pissed, Shino stayed stoic, and Hinata tried to keep the dog-boy from tackling her other teammate to the ground.

Fortunately for the peace-maker, she had discovered a deck of playing cards in her pack.

Which started a whole new batch of problems.

"BS, Kiba. You lied."

"Dammit, Shino! How do you do that?"

Shino merely smirked in response as he watched Kiba pick up the pile of cards and put them in his hand. He turns to his female teammate. "Your turn, Hinata."

"Right. Um...W-what're we on?"

"Two's," Says Kiba, surveying his cards.

"Okay, two two's..." Hinata pulls two cards from her hand and places them on the floor- for lack of a better surface.

"Bull Shit, Hinata." Kiba smirks playfully, never taking his eyes off the cards in his hand.

The Hyuuga heiress flashes a meek smile. "Guess I'm not a very g-good liar, huh?" She bends down to withdraw her cards.

"No. Not really. My turn?" Shino asks.

Kiba nods distractedly, preoccupied with arranging his jumble of cards into a somewhat comprehensible order.

Hinata hides her face with a fan of poker cards, presumably choosing her next move.

"One three..."

"You're bluffing, Shino-kun..."

"Meh. Caught me, Hinata."

"Your turn, Kiba-kun."

"Right- four's, now..."

He began moving his hand towards a pair of nines (He didn't have any fours, which, considering his large hand, seemed very strange) when he heard a faint buzzing somewhere in the vicinity of his right ear.

He absentmindedly swatted it. What bug in its right mind would be out in this storm?

Realization struck.

"Shino, you lying cheat!" Kiba snarled, slamming his cards down and lunging forward to glare at the accused.

Shino, however, was unfazed. Calmly placing his cards down, the bug-boy gave his friend a look through his shades. "What crap are you spewing now, Kiba?"

"Don't you 'what-crap-are-you-spewing-now' me, you cheater!"

"K-kiba-kun..." Hinata stutters, afraid that her peaceful card game wasn't going to be so peaceful anymore, gently placing her hand onto the floor.

"Hinata- Shino's using his bugs to spy on our hands!"

"...So?"

"So? 'So?' " The dog-boy yelled to the bug-boy.

"A Shinobi must utilize his talents to his advantage. Even in something as trivial as a game of cards." The Aburame replies, as emotionless as always.

"Gah! You're hopeless!" Kiba yelled, hands on head in exasperation.

"Don't be stupid. I saw Akamaru sneaking around behind us. Besides, Hinata was using her Byakuugan."

Hinata simply looked guilty and a little embarrassed that she was caught, but Kiba wasn't going to give up with out a fight.

"I- well...That doesn't count!"

"How so?"

The two went on bickering- well, more like Kiba yelling until his face grew red and Shino deflecting his insults with (cleverer) ones of his own. While Hinata merely sighed to herself and began to play fifty-two card pick-up with herself.

"...We're not very good at this game, are we?"

Kiba stopped in mid-yell, hand clutching Shino's overcoat, looking over at his teammate. Hinata crouched in the midst of their ruined game, fingers curled around a card.

To her teammates' surprise, the small girl began to laugh.

Kiba's grip on Shino's coat loosened, and he began to chuckle as well. Even the resident blank slate cracked a smirk.

"We...we just can't seem to do anything right, c-can we?" Hinata beams.

"Yeah...we even screw up a dumb card game." Kiba grins, stooping down to help Hinata pick up the abandoned cards.

"...But at least we try," Adds Shino, joining his friends in picking up the cards.

"Yeah...You're right," Hinata says as she looks up to the grey sky. "We try hard, don't we?"

Finally, with all fifty-two cards in hand, Team Eight stands up.

"Hey- the storm's still goin' on...we're certainly not going anywhere...Why don't why try another game?" Kiba offers, shuffling the deck in his hands.

"Slapjack?" The Hyuuga suggests, head tilting slightly.

"Can't see how we can screw that up..." Shino trails off, dropping to the floor again.

"Then Slapjack it is."

Kiba grins wolfishly and takes a seat next to Shino, while Hinata completes the circle and started dealing the cards out.

Smack!

"Oh no, Shino, my hand was there first and you know it!"

- -O w a r i- -