Heh...uh, yeah. A "mini" chapter for me, only 5,900 words ^^'. But anyway, I hope you like it --

--Jonohex

Haku

Gazing skyward while the ground passed slowly beneath the stretcher on which he lay on his way to the hospital, the black-haired teenager finally began to relax.

Remembering back to when his commander, the Lady Magistrate Orimi Hirai, ordered him to go on this mission to the Hidden Leaf Village, Haku had fully expected that there might be difficulties. But never had he imagined being the target of a bizarre assassination attempt which, in the end, seemed to be nothing more than a case of mistaken identity – wrong place/wrong time as the sound-ninja infiltrators assumed that he was here in some sort of official capacity, sent by the Mizukage.

Haku chuckled at the idea as the measured strides of the leaf medical-ninjas who carried him jostled him gently.

One thing he could say about his job – it was never boring.

Haku thought about his reluctant, wolf-like bodyguard, Kiba and his team, an interesting group to be sure, then the shock he'd felt at waking up and finding his wounded arm covered in Shino's 'medical' insects. He really would have shrieked and thrashed like a child if Kiba, Sakura and the others hadn't been right there watching him.

The ninja's self-deprecating smirk faded from his girlish face as he thought again about Naruto and how he wished he was here, then pink-haired Sakura and her new sensei, Lady Tsunade.

Remembering their surprising conversation in the Hokage's Tower took Haku back to the woman's admission that not everyone in charge here was on the same page or played by the same rules, as Eueki too had alluded. It took him back to the original mission that had brought him to Konohagakure no Sato in the first place…and those two canisters, one black and one white, filled with --.

The hospital, the patient began to consider. Everyone, even the Uchihas, visits the hospital sometime, when you're sick, injured…for periodic examinations. Haku's brow furrowed and he hummed thoughtfully as he deduced: That would be the perfect place to take someone's 'genetic material' – a few tests, an overnight stay with the subject sedated…

Suddenly the teenager's eyes popped wide. He undid the waist strap that fastened him to the stretcher and hopped off like it was on fire, much to everyone's alarm. Haku wobbled unsteadily when he hit the ground, an effect of the various drugs and chemicals flowing through his system which messed with his reactions, dazedly regained his balance then stood and steadied himself.

"What are you doing?!" scolded Sakura who marched up to him crossly while Kiba and the Hyuuga kunoichi looked on in surprise, and Shino just looked on.

"I mean no offense, Sakura," stated Haku as he tried to focus, blinking rapidly, "but I can't go to your hospital."

The girl's emerald eyes flashed with disbelief then narrowed angrily. "Have you lost your mind?! All we did for you just now was field medicine. Who knows what that sound-ninja's poisons might be doing to you – like slowly killing you or, I don't know, inducing PARANOIA?!"

"I'll take my chances," muttered the constable flatly. His head snapped then toward the medical ninjas. Having recovered from their initial surprise at their patient's escape, they'd set down the empty stretcher and now seemed to be positioning themselves discreetly to subdue him. "Don't try it," warned Haku with a flash of anger. It was more than enough to remind them that he still carried a jutte and wore an arsenal of senbon which trumped their hypodermics.

The three other leaf-genin rushed up to join Sakura, with Kiba taking the lead.

"Hey, Okame, what gives?" prevailed the boy, clearly peeved. "What, are you scared of the hospital or something?"

Haku fought for calm then crossed his long, slender arms defiantly. "I am not scared to go to the hospital," he asserted. "I have my reasons why I should not go to the hospital. And though I would rather not appear to disappoint you, Kiba, and certainly not you either, Sakura, I'm afraid they are non-negotiable."

Arguments volleyed back and forth, with Kiba and Sakura's repeated urgings crashing against Haku's steadfast refusals.

Kiba, surprisingly, came up with the most reasonable alternative – that Haku should just come over to his house where the genin's sister, Hana, could check him over. Although that was perfectly acceptable to Haku, it ignited a second, surprisingly-intense debate between Kiba and Sakura on the difference in qualifications between doctors and veterinarians!

While the two continued this new argument without him, Haku looked around forlornly at the crowds that had only gotten bigger since his final showdown with Eueki. All the civilians had been corralled to the other side of the street, leaving the green lawns bordering the forest around Senju Park to roaming teams of vigilant leaf-ninjas. Peering at all the faces, the teenager saw shinobi of practically every shape, size, description and age: a fat one dressed in green and cream, crunching away on potato chips; another one who was lean and wore his hair in a tall ponytail that looked like a black pineapple top; a kunoichi in a pink vest carrying a pair of wicked looking tiger-hook swords; a regal young man with a luxurious drapery of long, brown hair whose aspect reminded the former Demon's Apprentice of Kiba's Hyuuga teammate; lots of chunin, and lots and lots and lots of ANBU.

The sight of so many white, zodiac masks gave Haku an uneasy feeling and brought back vestiges of bad memories from his many months as a fugitive.

Frowning plaintively, Haku caught a glimpse of Rock Lee again and Ino, and that serious-looking man, Asuma amongst the crowd. But nowhere was there even a trace of the vivid orange outfit or flash of bright yellow hair he hoped to see.

What he did see was a masked man no less familiar – a tall, silver-haired jonin in grey and blue fatigues strolling leisurely across the lawn towards them with his hands in his pockets.

"Kakashi-sensei," cried Sakura, who slumped with relief at his arrival, "thank goodness! Maybe you can talk some sense into Ha…um, ah --."

"Do you mean our guest from Wave Country, Constable Okame?" the masked ninja offered sanguinely.

"Um, yes," said Sakura as all the computations of who knew what when and who-was-who resolved in her mind. "Yes I do, and he refuses to go the hospital despite the fact that he's been poisoned! Is this some kind of 'guy' thing or what?"

Kakashi shrugged then gave Haku a languid, one-eyed glance. "Sakura's right, Hiroo," offered the jonin. "If you've been exposed to ninja poison then you should certainly go. Many recipes have a deadly enough effect by themselves which can be compounded when combined with others within the victim's body," he concluded sagely.

Haku returned an exasperated look that said plainly enough that the leaf-ninja had told him nothing more than what he already knew.

"There, you see," snapped Sakura with a wave of her arm. "He's just being stubborn."

"Hmm," Kakashi continued in a thoughtful air and seemed to realize even from the short history of their acquaintance that there was more to the normally reserved teenager's objections than pure obstinacy. "You know," the tall shinobi ventured and raised an inquiring eyebrow, "even though you're not a leaf-ninja you'll still get the best possible care. You won't be treated any differently."

"Master Kakashi," sighed Haku, "I don't mean to be difficult, but…" He trailed off, spared Kiba and his team and Sakura a worried look, not wanting to have to fill them in on the unsavory details, then took Kakashi aside.

Motioning for him to lean over, Haku whispered the nature of his reservations into the leaf-ninja's ear, hoping (and assuming, especially given the man's taste in manga) that he wouldn't need to expound too much to get Kakashi to understand.

"Oh," the jonin conceded, "ok, I can see how that might make you think twice."

Sakura sputtered, beside herself, her cheeks flushing pink. "What!? Kakashi-sensei, are you really taking HIS side now?"

Kakashi motioned to her that he was still working on it, put a reassuring hand on the young visitor's curved, sloped shoulder and leaned close. "You know you need to be examined, Haku," he offered quietly, "have your blood analyzed, filtered possibly, and given a series of specific antidotes and neutralizers. The poisons you were exposed to might have been designed to combine in your blood stream or accumulate in your organs. They could kill you days from now or stay in your system for years waiting for another agent to activate them."

The teenager shook his head, not at all happy with his alternatives.

"Listen," said Kakashi in confidence, "I promise you; I give you my word as a ninja that you'll…or, rather, I mean, that you WON'T be…" He broke off, slightly embarrassed as he tried to think of the least vulgar way to put it. "Well, you know, that no one will…"

Haku looked up at him. "That I'll leave Konoha with everything I came with?" he clarified tolerantly while Sakura gave the two of them a puzzled look that bordered exasperation.

Beneath the tight blue fabric of his mask, Kakashi grinned. "Exactly."


Kiba

Kiba, still a little hot from his spirited argument with Sakura, was more than happy to let Kakashi-sensei take over the situation and backed off a few steps though he still kept a close, vigilant eye on what was going on.

"What do you think that was all about, Kiba?" an equally-puzzled Hinata asked curiously in a voice that was, as usual, painfully polite.

"Ya got me," the tattered genin replied grumpily while Akamaru trotted lazy circles around them. "Maybe it's some kind of mist-ninja code -- never let the enemy treat you; something like that."

"But after everything that happened," the girl ventured, "he can't think of US as enemies, can he?"

"Who knows?"

Hinata's gaze fell away the way it often had in her earlier days then returned. "Don't you think, Kiba, that you ought to go the hospital too?"

The boy looked up first at her, then at his arm then the back of his shoulder which was covered in cuts from Kaori's raptors along with some deeper and more serious ones left by Kaori herself. With all the excitement, he'd completely forgotten about them.

"Eh," he huffed indifferently, "this ain't so bad. My sister'll stitch me up when I get home." Kiba dropped his gaze toward his little ninja puppy who, though his white fur was still stained pink from Eueki's blinding powder, was in good spirits and seemed none the worse for wear. "I need to get her to check out Akamaru anyway."

The kunoichi nodded. "It sounds like guarding that mist-ninja turned out to be a really dangerous mission. I'm surprised the Hokage didn't send all of us."

"You said it," Kiba remarked emphatically then, noticing the lack of their third teammate's silent but inimitable presence, inquired: "Hey, where'd Shino go off to?"

The girl's chin fell slightly as she brought her hands together in front of her chest and absently twiddled her fingers. "Oh, one of the ANBU asked if he could help out searching the woods for any more infiltrators."

"Oh, ok," Kiba allowed, thinking how that made sense with his abilities. "How come they didn't ask you, Hinata? With your byakugan, you'd be perfect for the job."

The girl hesitated a little in her reply and seemed to shrink deeper into her roomy, light grey, hooded jacket. "I think my cousin is already helping."

"Oh," said Kiba, but the expression on Hinata's face and her disappointed tone was giving him the idea that he'd said something wrong again. Though he never meant to, he seemed to do that a lot. This time, like most times, he couldn't really put together what it was even when he replayed their conversation in his head.

The boy's wolfish eyes slid toward his constant companion, Akamaru, who only sat by, looking around at all the people and activity, panting happily with pink tongue lolling carelessly over dark grey lips and pointed ivory canines. This was a subject where even his loyal ninja-hound was no help.

"Maybe I should take a look at your wounds?" offered Hinata who saved him from further frustrating speculation by mercifully changing the subject. "I thought Sakura would, but she's going with Hiroo and Kakashi-sensei."

"Oh, well, sure. Ok."

Kiba flopped down on the lawn, peeled off his grey, mesh tee-shirt, held it at arm's length then gave out an unintelligible bark as he saw all the nasty tears, cuts, grass and blood stains.

"Awwwgh!" he grumbled disgustedly as Hinata knelt behind him, opened her first-aid kit then began to treat him, "would you look at that?" The genin wadded up what was left of his ruined shirt, tossed it aside in contempt then muttered: "What a crap-tacular way to spend the day. I don't even know WHERE my coat is…ow!"

Kiba flinched slightly, having forgotten just how bad standard-issue antiseptic stung…and stank! Yet, despite that, being close to his Hyuuga teammate even under these conditions was not entirely unpleasant. Just her presence in itself was soothing. She smelled nice, really nice actually, her touch was gentle and the medicine she used refreshingly cold against his skin.

It suddenly struck him as how ODD it was to find himself alone with her. Although they were teammates and were together a lot, it was always in a group with Shino or Kurenai-sensei, Naruto or whoever else.

When not training or on missions, Hinata usually went right back to her clan's compound which always seemed to Kiba like a world away: a castle on a distant and lonely planet, surrounded by high walls, armed guards and crocodile-filled moats; and certainly not the kind of place you could just show up without a stated reason.

"Um," Hinata began, "so…what happened, Kiba? On your mission, I mean."

Kiba's eyes rose; he felt remiss at having forgotten to tell her the rest of it.

After he'd found Okame laid flat-out unconscious on the grass outside the woods surrounding Senju Park, the young leaf-ninja had kind of freaked-out and started shouting at the top of his lungs until his teammates and Sakura, drawn by the explosion, came to his aid. Once there, Kiba only had time to blurt a couple of quick, necessary sentences at them that explained just how very important it was that the mist-ninja NOT DIE.

"Wow," the girl piped when he'd finished, "a real ninja of the Hidden Mist. Hiroo doesn't seem at all like what I've heard about them."

"Mmm-hmm, THAT'S for sure," the young ninja agreed, then goggled at how much of an understatement the kunoichi's comment really was. "That guy's…just…different. You should have seen him chuck those senbon around; it was like a circus trick or something. And get this – he can do jutsu one-handed. And there's something else too, Hinata. I think that sh-t, uh, stuff he was doing with the wind was a kekkei-genkai."

His teammate startled. "Could that really be true?"

"That's what that poison-ninja, Eueki, said," Kiba pondered aloud. "I don't know. I thought the Land of Water had --," the boy stopped himself. 'Killed everyone who had a bloodline,' that was what he was going to say but caught it in time this time not wanting to upset Hinata even though he really didn't think it would only that it might because of HER bloodline.

"Anyway," he began anew, though slightly off-rhythm, "Okame must be somebody special for the Hokage to assign him protection. Plus, she gave him one of her jade rings, the kind she only lends out to visiting big-shots while they're in town."

Hinata gasped, gripped Kiba's shoulder hard then ventured excitedly: "Do you think Lady Tsunade's working on an alliance between our villages? Kiba! That would be…incredible! I know you didn't have much time to talk with each other, but did he say anything?" The black-haired kunoichi's expression came alive as her delicate brow knitted in furious thought, riveting Kiba's attention. "Lady Tsunade told you that he's a constable from the Mist's Wave Country garrison but, I mean, there's never been a mist-ninja in Konoha before. Do you think it's possible that Hiroo Okame is really an ambassador, a diplomat?"

Kiba's face went blank with amazement. Though the genin rarely thought about things at that scale, the idea of a strategic alliance between Leaf, Sand and Mist was enough to make his head spin. Even HE realized it would be the kind of major geo-political shift that would make Konoha's enemies crap their pants.

"That would explain why Sound wanted him dead so bad," said Kiba. The boy mulled the notion over for a long moment but in the end was forced to dismiss it. "No, Hinata," he moped certainly then frowned; his face falling toward his chest. "That's not it. It can't be."

"But why not? You said yourself that --."

"It's just not, ok?!" Kiba blurted, cutting her off which he always made an effort not to do…when he was thinking about it. "I…," the genin stuttered regretfully, feeling quite ashamed when he saw the effect of his harsh tone in the girl's milky eyes.

His mother and sister were without exception, Kiba had only recently come to realize, completely unlike any normal sort of female (if there was such a thing) he'd ever met. Their feelings were like steel and so were their fists. They were as quick to trade punches or insults as any guy, and if a thought occurred to them, BANG, out it came. Any consequence for anything you did or said that rubbed them the wrong way was made known in no uncertain terms THAT INSTANT and, if the offence was minor, forgotten the next and never made mention of again.

It dawned on Kiba that not all women operated by those principles and that, in plain fact, most were completely the opposite!

So no, he understood, if he cared about her he couldn't just BARK at Hinata like he did Shino (who couldn't care less) or Naruto (who would bark back). SHE was sensitive in many ways and so it mattered not only what he said, but how he said it.

"I know the guy's not that big a deal," Kiba continued softly, reluctantly in a voice laden with unspoken apologies, "because Tsunade sent ME to guard him. If he really was an ambassador or something, somebody that important, I'd be the last ninja she'd send."

"Kiba!" gasped Hinata, who moved around in front of him, "that's not true. You're a fine shinobi. I'm…I'm surprised you'd ever say something like that; it's so unlike you. You're always so, so confident."

The boy shook his head. "I always had reason to be….or thought I had reason to be."

"But you are!"

Kiba forced a chuckle but shook his head. "Thanks, Hinata. I know you mean it. But my stats say just the opposite. As part of Team Eight I do ok, but that's just 'cause I got you and Shino to pick up my slack."

The girl's pale eyes melted with sympathy. "Not all missions can be successful," she said and gestured into the forest. "Just like with this one you never know what you'll be up against or what difficulties will come up. Kiba, you're a big part of our team's success. I can't count the number of times where the only reason Shino and I survived was because we followed your lead."

Kiba gave her a questioning, aggravated look which he couldn't help. The very, very last thing on this earth he wanted right now, especially from her, was a pep talk or for her to feel sorry for him.

"You must be thinking about Shino," he snorted quietly. "HE'S always the one with the plan; the one who stops to think, the one who figures things out."

"No, Kiba, I am thinking about you. Shino is incredibly smart and usually knows just what to do when he has time to think, but you have better instincts. You always know when to run," (Kiba grimaced at that), "and when to stand and fight and you do it without hesitating!"

Kiba's brow furrowed uncertainly as he considered this. "I -- I don't remember..."

"No," Hinata confirmed with surprising passion, took him by the arms and (he swore) almost shook him, "you don't because it's so natural for you. It's like breathing to you so you don't ever think about it and you don't remember it as anything special…but I do. Kiba, you've saved our lives dozens of times! And any success we've achieved is in so many ways because of you!"

The leaf-ninja stared in bewilderment into the girl's fair-featured face then glanced away.

Is it possible? Kiba tried to think back to their missions but they always seemed to hinge on either Shino's bugs or Hinata's eyes, with his own contributions seeming so…so minor.

Without his teammates, he knew, his track record was even worse. The Sound Four's Sakon and Ukon had beaten him. Orochimaru's spy, Kabuto had beaten him with ridiculous ease. During the chunin exams, even NARUTO had beaten him!

"Kiba," said Hinata who rested her hand tenderly, reassuringly along the side of his face and stilled his troubled thoughts. "If I was sent on a mission and asked to pick just one partner; if I knew great strength would be required, I would pick Chouji."

The boy's lips twisted into a sardonic scowl as he looked away, eyes rolling, but Hinata persisted: "If I knew that strategy would be required, I'd pick Shikamaru. For stealth -- Shino. For creativity and perseverance, I'd pick, um, I'd pick Naruto."

The genin grit his teeth a little at the halting way she said that name. Kiba was starting to think Hinata had a thing for the wacky blond, but his Hyuuga teammate took his chin with a butterfly's touch and pulled it back gently so that he faced her.

"But Kiba," she concluded, "if I didn't have any idea at all of what to expect, I'd pick you."

Kiba looked back at Hinata as she smiled at him then reaffirmed unabashedly in her cheerful, songbird's voice: "I'd pick you without a doubt!"

The genin blinked then bit his lip, overwhelmed by the feelings her words had conjured – grateful, restored, uplifted but at the same time, somehow, infinitely humble. Despite everything that could be held against him, and there was kind of a lot, if he could still be held so highly in his teammate's eyes, those eyes, then –.

"Hinata," said Kiba in an awed whisper then fell quiet, not knowing what to say.

Ever since the powers that be put them on the same team, he'd accepted their night-and-day differences without much thought. He was the assertive, abrasive one, and she the opposite: shy, gentle and timid. He had his little place in Konoha's social structure while she was the Hyuuga heir and future matriarch of a great and ancient clan the inner-workings of which were nearly incomprehensible.

The Hyuuga in general were a stiff bunch, stuck-up, stand-offish and full of themselves – like Neji used to be before he finally pooped out whatever had been clogging up his pipes all those years.

But Hinata wasn't like her clan though she had all their strengths, their skills and fortitude. She was so much more than that: sweet, kind, nice to be around, amazing in so many ways and --.

Beautiful, it struck Kiba suddenly as if for the very first time.

Kiba turned toward her; his lupine eyes shimmering with emotion, heart racing with urgent anxiety as he felt compelled in a way he never had before. He had to say something, do something. It had to be something meaningful but capricious, impulsive but appropriate, powerful but affectionate, memorable and utterly…and completely…perfect.

"Hinata," he began tentatively and swallowed, fighting hard to muster the will to see this through…then stopped short as a shadow fell across them.

Supremely vexed, Kiba glared up at the unwelcome interruption and his eyes settled like an archer's aim on the towering ninja's impassive, white-masked face. Before the genin could even open his mouth to speak, the ANBU cocked his thumb and informed him, "Hokage's waiting for you."

Kiba's face drained of expression as those five simple words tore him back through time and space to Lady Tsunade's office just a few hours ago, to the exact moment when she'd said: 'If anything, ANY-THING, happens to him, Mr. Inuzuka, then you'll be pushing a broom.'

The boy's eyes glazed as he thought about what it would mean to be stripped of his already low but hard-earned rank of genin; for the Hokage to reach out with the ultimate expression of righteous contempt and tear the hitai-ate from his forehead – the beginning of a life burdened with such shame that not even time would ever erase it, a lowly existence that Hinata, this girl who meant so much to him, would surely pity him for…but never, ever love.

"What's wrong, Kiba?" asked Hinata worriedly at the drastic, palpable change that had come over her teammate so suddenly.

"Huh?" Kiba mumbled weakly then announced with a shaky, obviously affected carelessness: "nothing, nope, everything's just…everything's just great. I, uh, just gotta talk to Tsunade a minute, ok? I'll see you later, Hinata!"

The young ninja rose, waved a hasty, awkward goodbye then rushed off with Akamaru racing to catch up and leaving the kunoichi to stare after Kiba with a wondering look upon her face.


The Hokage's Tower was a madhouse a-swarm with leaf-shinobi rushing in then rushing out; whole teams coming and going.

With a lump of anguish settling unpleasantly in the pit of his stomach as he contemplated a future consisting of more janitorial types of duty, Kiba Inuzuka pushed his way as gently but firmly as he could past any number of people who outranked him.

No sooner had he'd squeezed his way into her office then the Fifth Hokage, who picked him out easily through the crushing crowd, shot him a frustrated look, leonine in its intensity, leaned forward in her chair and pinched the bridge of her nose.

"There you are, Kiba, finally," she blurted tersely, ignoring twelve other peoples' urgent demands for her attention then, with two words, had the entire room cleared.

The young ninja watched in mounting uneasiness as the crowd of jonin, ANBU, clan leaders and civilian authorities filed out in cowed submission until even Shizune and her little piglet, Tonton, had gone, leaving just him with Akamaru hiding behind his calf, Lady Tsunade sitting there at her desk, and silence.

Thick.

Oppressive.

Silence.

A silence that let you hear your own nervous heart beat.

A silence, a single moment of which lingered like eternity.

A silence in which one might realize that appearing before one's ninja lord with no shirt on, cut, scraped and scratched, with hair in a tangled mess like some feral, one-eyed alley-cat, stinking of sweat, dried blood and antiseptic, and skin a collage of stains, scars, bruises and fresh bandages pushed even the most broadly-inclusive definition of the word 'propriety' well past its limits.

Kiba stood frozen and straight as a statue, his jaw tense, hands moist and shaking, and wondered what it said about him that he hadn't even thought to beg, borrow or steal a clean shirt to wear, or brush his hair into a semblance of order.

Most people would have thought about that, right?

The Hokage stared straight at him with a face like stone, cold as a mortician's, learned back then crossed her arms. Kiba had never seen her more intimidating or felt emanations more menacing.

"Ok," Tsunade began in a tone, the utterance of which stopped the world from spinning on its axis; her amber eyes bored mineshaft tunnels into his soul. "I'm sure the ANBU will have a nice, thick report on my desk sometime tomorrow about everything that happened in the last few hours, but I can't wait that long and I won't. Not when I got a pile of bodies, a visiting mist-ninja YOU were supposed to look after who-knows-where, and a giant explosion going off over the village. So, give me the short and sweet and make it quick."

Breath seeped from the young ninja -- a deflating balloon's final gasp then, like a doomed man giving his confession, Kiba related all that had happened.

"Okame got Eueki. I don't know what happened to Kaori," the genin summed-up desolately at the end. "But Okame's ok, I just saw him with Sakura and Kakashi-sensei. They took him to the hospital."

Having listened with barely-suppressed impatience the entire time without so much as a sound, the imposing, sandy-haired woman nodded then expressed a calm, tired sigh of acceptance.

"Very good, Kiba," she said at last. "Go get yourself and Akamaru checked out. Kakashi Hatake will debrief you more thoroughly within the hour."

With that Tsunade rose, paced slowly to her office's broad window that overlooked the Hidden Leaf Village, rested her hand against the glass and stared out, becoming almost a silhouette against the bright sky, high walls and tree-blanketed hilltops beyond lit by the late-afternoon sun.

It took a few moments for Kiba to work up the nerve to speak. "That's…that's it?"

"Unless you got something else," said the jade-robed figure without turning.

"I kind of thought," the boy began in tentative earnest, then looked up shyly, "I kind of thought you'd be mad or something."

Tsunade's head lifted. "Just because I'm not throwing furniture around doesn't mean I'm not mad," she informed him. "I have to wonder how, not just a cell, but damn near an entire regiment of sound-ninja infiltrators can just pop up in this village out of the clear blue. The preliminary reports say they've been here ever since the invasion, all these months, yet nobody knew about them." The woman cocked her head and Kiba noticed her hands ball tensely into fists. "I take that back," she continued, "SOMEbody knew about them…just not me."

The Hokage brooded awhile before she straightened then turned back to him. "Oh," she said as it dawned on her, "you meant mad at YOU. No," Lady Tsunade illuminated, "I think you probably handled things as well as anyone could have. You and Okame are alive; a whole bunch of sound-ninjas are dead. And if Kaori's still alive, and hopefully captured by now, then it's a hat-trick.

"Personally," Tsunade added with a carefree gesture, "I could have done without the earth-shattering explosion but, all-in-all, I think it's a good sign that you thought to call for help when you needed it rather than try to manage a deteriorating situation by yourself."

"Huh," Kiba rumbled hollowly. "'Calling for help,'" he then reiterated in lugubrious introspection, dwelling on the phrase, "not exactly the stuff ninja legends are made of."

The woman leaned casually against the top of her desk then rewarded him with a smile. "No," she agreed with laughter in her voice but raised her forefinger insightfully, "but you DO have to live long enough to become one. Frankly, there are all sorts of marvelous attributes a decently-capable ninja should have. Good sense is one of them, even if no one would ever make a movie about it."

Kiba's brow lifted hopefully. "But I'm…I'm still a ninja, right?"

Lady Tsunade looked back at the woefully unkempt boy blankly, having not the slightest idea what he was talking about. "Of course," she offered, but already the ninja lord was thinking about the next ninety-nine matters she had to attend to. "Why wouldn't you be?"