Finally, I do one in honor of a birthday on that birthday… Because of course I couldn't let my darling Shino's birthday pass without doing anything. Enjoy!

I do not own Naruto.

Tapestry

---Sixteen: Party---

"I swear if you don't come out of that tree I'm gonna go up there and kick your ass!"

Shino dismissed Kiba's threat. The Inuzuka couldn't beat him; they'd established that in training plenty of times. And after two years of being teammates, Kiba's threats toward Shino were nothing but bravado and displays of pride anyway.

Kiba bristled more at Shino's lack of reply. "I know you heard me, Shino."

"Of course I heard you. Everyone in Konoha probably heard you." An exaggeration, really, but Shino had always known exactly which buttons to push when it came to Kiba's temper. The angrier the Inuzuka got, the sooner he would leave.

"Why are you out here, anyway? There's a perfectly good birthday party going on."

"I don't like parties."

"It's your party."

"It was a 'surprise party', planned without my permission or request. I'm under no obligation to attend." Shino didn't react when Kiba joined him in the tree, standing on a branch a few feet away and leaning against the trunk with his arms crossed.

"Common courtesy would be to go anyway, Shino. I went to a lot of trouble getting everyone to come to your party."

"They aren't there for me. They're there for cake."

"Me, Hinata, and Kurenai are there for you." Kiba sighed when Shino didn't respond. "Look, man, I'll say I'm sorry for throwing you a party if that's what you want, though I think you're crazy if you do. But you can't really blame me. I mean, you've never done anything for your birthday. Even when we were kids at the Academy, back in the days when everyone brought in treats for the whole class on their birthdays, no one knew when yours was because you never brought anything. I figured it was about damn time you actually had some sort of celebration."

Shino was silent for a while after Kiba finished. "Thank you," he said finally.

Kiba smirked. "You're welcome."

Another long pause followed.

"I'm still not going."

"Yeah, I know."

---Owari---

Kiba has bad grammar because… it's Kiba. He's allowed to have bad grammar. I love writing these two. I intend to do more romantic drabbles eventually, but this is the first drabble I've written at all in ages. So the going will be slow. Thanks for reading, and please review!