This is just a little something for Shino's birthday (even though it's more than a week late and doesn't really have anything to do with birthdays), based on a poem I wrote for a class. It takes place shortly before Shippuden starts, and for once it's not something with a pairing! That's right, a Shino and Kiba friendship piece. Because while I do like them as a pairing, I appreciate that they don't have to be one. Enjoy!

I do not own Naruto.

Tapestry

---Twelve: Together---

"You know, your whole thing with bugs is just disturbing."

Shino Aburame glanced at his teammate out of the corner of his eye- at one of the few angles not covered by his sunglasses- in mild surprise. Kiba Inuzuka was sitting in the dirt, leaning back against the trunk of the only tree in the meadow, with his faithful dog and companion Akamaru curled up beside him. Shino also sat against the tree, though about four feet away (it was a rather large tree) and on the grass that grew near the trunk in most places. Kiba's face was screwed up in what Shino assumed to be a thoughtful frown, though even after three years of being teammates he wasn't always sure. Not that he and Kiba had had a conversation like this since they were twelve, back in the early days of Team Eight. So he responded as he would have (and had) back then.

"Your obsession with dogs in general and your tendency to imitate them is annoying."

Kiba shot a glare at the other teenager. "Yeah, well, you're too quiet and stoic."

"You're too loud and exuberant," was the response. It came easily, since that was something Shino had always thought.

"You use too many big words," Kiba complained.

"You ought to improve your vocabulary," Shino responded. He wanted to know where Kiba was going with this, but he wasn't going to just ask.

Kiba sighed and looked up at the sky. "How did we become best friends?"

And there was what Shino had been waiting for. Kiba wasn't really asking how they became friends; he knew. He was really asking "How did 'you' and 'me' become 'us'?" Because for the past three years, Kiba had been perfectly willing to call Shino his friend. This was the first time he'd said they were best friends.

"It was a matter of necessity," Shino replied. What he meant was "It happened without our noticing." Because it had.

Kiba smirked. "Well, is it too late to change that?"

Shino hid his smile, as he always did. "Even if it weren't, would you want to?"

---Owari---

I'm vaguely considering doing a drabble for most of the characters' birthdays as they come, but don't hold me to that. Hope you guys liked this one, and please review!