My Guardian Wolf, Chapter II.
Disclaimer: Celebrate, for I STILL do not own Naruto or any of its characters! If I did, the manga quality would be so incredibly low, that no one would want to read it anymore! I only own this fanfiction! Steal it, (though I don't know why you'd want to) and ill send my legion of undead penguins to peck out your eyeballs!
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"What do you mean you've got other business to take care of!"
Today certainly wasn't going to be like yesterday. Instead of a bright cloudless sky, team #8 was greeted with hazy, overcast weather. Also, everyone was on time today. In fact, when Kiba had shown up thinking he was early, everyone one else had already arrived. But perhaps the most significant difference was, today they weren't getting another lousy D-rank mission.
"I mean I have to be in another place, doing other things that do not involve taking you guys on a mission today." Kurenai replied, checking to make sure she had re-stocked her kunai pouch this morning. "I'm sorry, but I have to go on an A-rank mission today, and I certainly can't take you all with me. All you have to do today is train on your own. Don't worry, things will be back to normal tomorrow." she comforted, turning around to take her leave.
When Kiba's look of deep disappointment didn't dissapear, she tried another, more effective approach. "Okay, I could have always let you guys train with Gai sensei today! He would have been happy to let you on his team for the day! He always loves to get more youths to whip into shape!" She offered in a bright tone. Kurenai immediately got her desired reaction.
"NO! Oh god no, NO. Its okay, we can train by ourselves. Not a problem." Kiba laughed nervously, running a hand through his messy hair. His insides had done nothing less than turn into stone at the thought of training with Gai sensei. Even Shino who normally was able to keep his cool about these things seemed repulsed with the idea. Hinata was silent, weighing the choices together in her head.
"Good. Practice kunai throwing; maybe run some laps...and if you slack I'll know." Kurenai said with a large, cheery smile that didn't conceal the warning in her message. "See ya later then!" she waved, heading back to her house to make some last minute preparations. The team was silent for a moment, unsure of how to begin, what to do first, or even what to say. Shino was the first to break the awkward silence.
"Well, at least it beats washing bowls in a ramen shop, right?" he pointed out, watching one of his bugs crawl up his arm.
"Yes. And it definitely beats training with Gai." Kiba agreed, as the bug dissapeared under Shino's sleeve.
"Ano...what should we do first?" Hinata asked, looking first at Shino, then at Kiba. "I...I wouldn't mind throwing kunai first, I need some practice at tha-"
"Well, see you guys later." Shino cut her off, turning around and walking away. Kiba thought he was joking at first, but when he didn't stop walking he called out to his friend.
"Hey! W-wait! What are you talking about! You can't just go, we have to train!" Kiba protested, watching Shino leave with a baffled expression.
"K-Kurenai sensei would be furious. Please, Shino wait, come back...We don't want you to get in trouble...!" Hinata pleaded, fidgeting with the strings on her sweatshirt.
"...But I am going to train." he replied simply, continuing to walk away from Hinata and Kiba. Kiba's expression changed from bafflement to curiosity.
"But then why don't you just train with us!" Hinata asked, taking a step forward like she wanted to stop him. "We're supposed to be a team right?" Shino stopped, and turned around to face his friends.
"Yes. We are a team. And the reason I'm not training with you two is because my father wants to show me a new jutsu today." he elaborated, as if it was something obvious. "He told me that if I ever get the day off, to come back home so he can teach me. And that has happened today. So...I'll see you tomorrow." He finished, turning around to go home. Hinata and Kiba merely remained silent for a moment, trying to fathom what just happened.
"A...ano...you could have just...told us that in the beginning Shino kun..." Hinata whispered, even though she knew he couldn't possibly hear her anymore. Kiba shrugged and shook his head. "I will never understand that guy..." he thought to himself, scratching the back of his head.
"So...uh...Hinata...you said you wanted to practice throwing kunai right?" Kiba asked, watching his shy friend fidget still with her hoodie strings.
"Ah, y-yes…"
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Thunk!
A sharp, silvery kunai whizzed through the air and was united dead on with it's target.
"Yes! Perfect shot, first try!" Kiba cheered, walking over to the dummy to extract his weapon. It had hit the dummy in the center of his gut, just like he had hoped for. When Kiba backed away from the dummy, Hinata chucked a kunai of her own at the heart of the target. It veered slightly to the left, and landed square in the ribcage.
"Nice shot!" Kiba exclaimed, watching Hinata's face fall.
"N-no...it wasn't. I was aiming for his heart." she said sadly, looking crestfallen even though it was just her first try.
"Oh, well it was still a nice clean hit. Try again." Kiba encouraged, handing her another kunai. She threw this one too, and it landed just below its mark. Hinata bowed her head.
"Come on, don't give up yet, it was only your second try." Kiba said, giving her a quick pat on the back and handing her another kunai. With a determined look, she cocked her arm back and hurled it towards the dummy. It appeared as though it was going to hit its mark, but veered up at the last second and caught the dummy in the shoulder. Kiba wordlessly handed her another one of the blades as she frowned in disappointment. She grabbed this one too, and tossed it as hard as she could. Another miss. Kiba continued to supply Hinata with kunai as she continued to just barely miss her mark. After the 11th kunai hit the dummy in the nose, Hinata seemed close to tears. Kiba frowned; her expression grabbed at his heart and gave it a tight squeeze. Her sad face made him almost as depressed as she felt. She was just about to throw her 12th kunai before Kiba suddenly reached out and grabbed her wrist. Hinata jumped, startled, and froze.
"Hinata, you're holding it wrong." Kiba remarked, using his other hand to re-position her fingers. "Your pinky isn't supposed to curl around the bottom, move it up the shaft…" he explained, guiding it to the proper spot. Once her hand clutched its weapon correctly, Kiba gave Hinata's hand a quick squeeze of encouragement and released it. "Okay, now try again." He instructed, noticing Hinata's strange expression. She paused for a moment, before nodding and hurling it at the dummy.
Thunk!
The kunai hit its target perfectly with a long, residing thunk. It was the most beautiful sound Hinata had heard that day. Her frown quickly perked up into a shy smile, and she whirled around excitedly to face Kiba.
"K-Kiba kun! Look! I got it!" she squeaked, pulling another kunai out of her pouch. She threw this one too, and another one after that. In fact, she continued throwing kunai until both her and Kiba's pouches were completely empty. Everyone one hit its mark perfectly, and every success made her more delighted. Kiba couldn't help it, he grinned too. It exceedingly rare to see her get this excited; it was an amusing thing to see. In the end, she was smiling ear to ear; a grin that could have even rivaled that of Naruto's. Kiba wished he could see that smile everyday, or at least more often than once in a blue moon. Hinata looked so much prettier when she smiled…
"Kiba! T-thank you so much for your assistance!" she said breathlessly, bowing her head in gratitude. Throwing so many kunai had given her a good work out, and she obviously needed to catch her breathe. Kiba approached Hinata, and gave her several pats on the back.
"I hardly did anything Hinata. You had the skill; you just didn't hold your kunai correctly. You did well." He complimented, ceasing his patting and walking over to the dummy. If the poor thing could have talked, he probably wouldn't say a word since Hinata had killed him several times over. Not to mentioned severed his voice box, punctured his stomach, and broken all of his ribs. Kiba reached out, and began to extract the blades from the dummy. Hinata soon followed, and helped him with the task. After all the kunai had been retrieved, they threw them all into a pile and sat down.
"Err…which ones are yours?" Kiba asked, looking at the pile of kunai. They all seemed to be identical, so it probably didn't matter.
"Um…this one. And this one…Oh, and that one too…" Hinata trailed off, reaching into the mess and pulling some of them out. Kiba gave a look of mild surprise. He didn't actually expect her to know which ones we're hers.
"Hinata, how can you tell which ones are yours? They all look the same…" Kiba questioned, as Hinata continued to gather up her weapons.
"Oh! I um…I mark mine." She said, seeming slightly embarrassed for some reason. "I-is that strange…? I mean, like you said…they all look the same…so it probably doesn't matter…" she mumbled, tucking away a few more of her kunai. Kiba decided to say something before she started frowning again.
"No no! It's fine, I was just curious is all. I'm wrong, they actually aren't all the same. Yours could be newer than mine…" he said in a slightly rushed tone, as if he couldn't get the sentence out fast enough. He reached out and inspected one of the kunai in the pile. It didn't seem to have any special mark on it, so he assumed it was his and tucked it away. The two young genin silently claimed their respective kunai, and stood up to continue their training. Akamaru looked at his partner, then to Hinata, and gave out a bored bark. He seemed to say, "I want to train too you know!" Hinata mistook this bark as a plea for attention, and she walked over to scratch his ears for him. Granted, Akamaru didn't get what he wanted, but he wasn't going to refuse a good ear scratching. The two remained quiet for a moment, thinking of what they could do next. Kiba didn't really want to run any laps, and he didn't feel much up to sparring either. Hinata was just so fragile and delicate looking. He didn't want to risk hurting her, even a little. That left them both with very few options. "We could always practice our jutsus…." Kiba mused, watching Akamaru and Hinata. They seemed content for the time being. Hinata stopped scratching his ears, and was watching him sniff the ground. Akamaru seemed pretty focused, as if searching for something buried deep in the earth. Eventually, he stopped under a tree and began to furiously dig…
"OH! I know! Yeah!" Kiba exclaimed, breaking the silence that had fallen upon them. Akamaru stopped digging, and Hinata looked up to see what her friend had to say. "Hinata, c'mere." He beckoned, reaching into his pocket. When his hand emerged, it was clutching an old, slightly tattered piece of white cloth. Hinata gave him a timid, questioning look. Kiba merely smiled, and approached Hinata. Folding the cloth a little, he proceeded to blindfold the shy kunoichi. She immediately tensed up, obviously not used to the human contact, or the lack of sight.
"A-ano….K-Kiba kun…what are you…?" Hinata stuttered, reaching up to touch the blindfold. "I...I can't s-see…"
"That's the point Hinata. I'm going to train you to use your nose." He explained, grabbing her hand and leading her to the center of the training grounds. She could feel her face growing flushed; no one had ever held her hand before. Not since she was disowned so long ago and forced to live on her own. Akamaru gave Kiba a look that could have been that of disgust. He glared at Kiba as if to say, "Are you stupid or something? Why would she need to learn that?" Kiba chose to ignore his dog's look of protest for the time being.
"Granted, you're not of the Inuzuka clan, so I doubt you could get a nose like me or Akamaru, but still. It'll be fun." Kiba said, stopping once they had reached their destination. Hinata didn't seem to think so. She reached up to touch the blindfold again, as if to take it off this time.
"B-but Kiba-kun…I…I don't much use my nose…" Hinata argued, fumbling with the knot in the back. "I..I have my Byakugan, and t-then I can see anything…I-ah!" Hinata cut off, as Kiba grabbed her hands to stop her from untying the knot.
"While it's true your Byakugan can see anything, it uses a significant amount of chakra doesn't it?" Kiba asked, moving her hands away and re-tightening the knot. "If you were ever in a bad situation where you didn't have enough chakra to utilize the Byakugan, what would you do?" Kiba questioned, finishing up the knot. Hinata merely gave him a worried and anxious look. Her sharpest sense had been cut off, and she felt extremely exposed to danger. She fidgeted harder, obviously discomforted. "You don't use chakra to smell, so it's a very valuable skill to possess." Kiba added upon noticing the pained look on her face. When her anxious look didn't vanish, he put two comforting hands on her shoulders. She jumped a little bit, only feeling more flustered with the whole situation. "Look, it's going to be okay. There aren't any enemies in the training grounds, and I'm not going to let you get lost." Kiba said in what he hoped was a warm and comforting voice. Akamaru came up to Hinata and nuzzled his nose into her ankle. "And neither will Akamaru. Trust me Hinata, it'll be okay." He said firmly, and Akamaru barked in agreement. Hinata said nothing, pondering the situation. Kiba did have a valid point; the Byakugan can be quite tiring after awhile. And he did promise he wouldn't let her get lost didn't he? Not to mention she would have Akamaru too…
"O-okay Kiba kun…I trust you…" Hinata said softly, gradually relaxing her tense shoulders. Akamaru yipped happily, and began to wriggle in anticipation for the training exercise. Kiba gave Hinata's shoulders a little comforting squeeze, and released her.
"Okay, this is how it's going to work." Kiba began, bending down and scooping Akamaru up in his arms. "I'm going to let you smell Akamaru. You aren't allergic to dogs are you?" Kiba asked, even though he already knew the answer. Hinata shook her head. "Okay. Once you've done that, I'm going to let Akamaru go. He isn't going to go farther than a few yards of the training ground. It will then be your job to find him." Kiba said, patting Akamaru on the head. "Obviously, you won't be able to find him on scent alone, so you're going to have to listen for him too. Understand?" he asked, handing Akamaru to Hinata. She looked unsure for a moment, then slowly nodded her head. Tentatively, she put her nose to Akamaru and took a small sniff. Kiba grinned at her. "You're going to need to get a better whiff than that!" Kiba teased, pushing her head into his fur. She gave a startled squeak, but managed to get a much better idea of Akamaru's scent.
"Mmph! Okay, I got it." She murmured, setting Akamaru down on the ground. He emitted a loud, "yip!" before scrambling off in some unknown direction. Hinata was silent. She looked around a bit, even though she couldn't see anything. Another pause and she began to fidget. She knew what she had to do, she just felt very reluctant to do it. Hesitantly, she crouched on all fours and tentatively sniffed at the ground. A small blush sprang up on her face from embarrassment; she must have looked ridiculous. Kiba had to use every bit of self control he possessed to not laugh. To him, she looked like a shy puppy who had never touched the grass before.
"Uhm…K-Kiba kun?" Hinata stammered, still sniffing at the ground. "I…I can't smell anything but dirt…" she mumbled, her blush deepening with her embarrassment. Kiba nodded, it was basically what he expected.
"Put your ear to the ground, and see if you can't hear him trotting around somewhere." Kiba offered, watching her do just that. A few moments passed. "Anything?" he asked.
"N-no. I think Akamaru is standing very still…" she said, looking lost. "I-I don't know what to d-"
"AKAMARU! Come back!" Kiba yelled, looking around for his pup. A few minutes later, a confused looking Akamaru bounded out of the forest. He tilted his head to the right as if to ask, "What? What's wrong?" Kiba gestured to Hinata to stand up. When he realized she couldn't see him, he verbally stated his request. Picking up Akamaru, he approached Hinata who was now dusting herself off.
"I-I'm sorry K-Kiba kun…" Hinata faltered, bowing her head. "I couldn't smell him at all, I-"
"Naw, it's okay. It's my fault. I forgot that a regular human nose isn't as strong one born to the Inuzuka clan. Sorry if I made ya uncomfortable." Kiba apologized, fumbling for something inside his pouch.
"W-well, what are we going to do now..?" she asked, reaching up to take off the blindfold again.
"No no, wait! Don't take it off!" Kiba ordered. Hinata stopped, and tilted her head to the side like Akamaru did when he was curious. "Since you can't smell him, we're just gonna have to increase the scent!" Kiba said brightly, pulling out a water bottle. Before Hinata had the chance to ask how he was going to do that, she heard the sound of water hitting the ground, and Akamaru barking loudly in obvious protest. "Wet dogs smell stronger." Kiba grinned, handing a squirming Akamaru to Hinata. She looked stunned for a moment, and then gave out a small laugh. She would have liked to see Akamaru. He must have looked silly, with his shaggy hair all wet and floppy. She brought Akamaru up to her, and gave him a quick sniff. Wrinkling her nose a bit, she gave Akamaru a small kiss on the nose before setting him down. Akamaru stayed a moment to glare at Kiba before bounding off into the forest again. More sure of herself this time, Hinata got back on all fours and sniffed the ground.
"Well…? Do you smell him now? I can always call him back here and soak him a little more." Kiba offered, amusement in his voice.
"Ano…I can smell him a little…" Hinata replied, feeling the ground beneath her. "A-and I can feel that the ground is wet. So…I'm going to f-follow the water…" she decided, still touching the ground around her. Kiba grinned. He didn't expect her to think of that. Somewhat awkwardly, Hinata pawed at the ground while trying to follow the trail of water. Not used to walking on all fours like Kiba she stumbled, and then toppled over. Kiba had to stop himself from laughing again. Her clumsiness was cute. After a few more shaky steps, she began to follow the damp trail Akamaru had led into the forest. Kiba followed her a couple spaces behind to make sure she didn't get lost…or hit her head in another act of clumsiness. A few minutes passed, and Hinata suddenly stopped her awkward puppy crawl.
"Ah...there's no more water…" she whispered to herself. Catching the remark with his sharp hearing, Kiba shouted, "See if you can smell him then!" Hinata put her nose to the ground to try. Her eyes widened a little bit in shock. "O-oh! I-I can! Just a little, but I can!" she exclaimed, looking excited again at her simple success. She continued her shaky stumbles, following whatever trail it was she was smelling. A few paces later, she pounced upon a nearby bush. When her hands came out, she was holding up a very wet, very grumpy looking Akamaru. He grunted a little, then wriggled away from her grasp. He shook his entire body to rid himself of the water that Kiba had poured all over him, getting Hinata and Kiba wet. Kiba laughed at his grumpy little dog.
"Alright! See? You could do it. Good job!" he praised, offering a hand to help her get up. She accepted, then proceeded to dust herself off.
"Heh…that was…kinda fun…." Hinata smiled, reaching up yet again to take off her blindfold.
"Wait, let's try one more thing before we stop for the day." Kiba insisted, watching Akamaru continue his puppy glare of doom. Kiba snorted in response. "Akamaru, stop being such a baby" Kiba teased, as Akamaru gave out a defiant sort of bark.
"Uh…um well…w-what's next then?"
"You're going to try and find me."
"Ehh! B-but I don't know if I can…"
"I smell a lot stronger than a normal human does, so it's probably not as hard as you think." Kiba said simply, noticing that Hinata began to fidget yet again. "…I could always go jump in the river for ya, though I don't think it will have much of an effect." Kiba joked, trying to get Hinata to laugh. She offered a small smile instead.
"O-okay Kiba Kun…" Hinata murmured, though her fidgeting didn't cease. "Ill g-give it a try…"
"Good. Don't' worry, it'll be fine. Akamaru will be following you the whole time, so if your about to hit something he'll bark." Kiba assured. "He won't let you hurt yourself, will you Akamaru?" Kiba asked his loyal companion. Akamaru yipped in agreement, walking up to Hinata and laying down at her feet. Somewhat re-assured, she nodded her head. Kiba approached her towards the center of the training grounds, and stopped directly in front of her. Hinata froze as if unsure what to do, then bowed her head.
"K-Kiba kun…." She stuttered.
"What?"
"Where…where am I supposed to…?"
"OH! Right!" Kiba laughed, offering Hinata his arm. "There, you can smell my sleeve." He said, as she slowly reached out to take it. She hesitated, then buried her nose into his arm and inhaled. "What so I smell like?" Kiba asked as she lifted her head up.
"K-kinda like Akamaru…" she muttered, quickly releasing his arm. Kiba didn't stick around for the response though. When she let go of his sleeve, he immediately bolted away into the forest. He decided not to go as far as Akamaru did, and not to hide in a bush. Rather he stopped and leaned coolly against a nearby tree. He might be easier to smell out in the open, as opposed to being concealed in a bush. He also decided to drag his jacket at the last minute as he left, to leave some kind of a trail. It all seemed to have happened very fast for Hinata, who stood there in a daze after hearing his running steps vanish.
"K-Kiba kun…?" Hinata called out, feeling very alone and exposed. She received no response, other than a slight nudge from Akamaru. He whined as if to say, "Don't worry, I'm still here! Let's go find Kiba." Hinata patted him on the head, and awkwardly crouched down on all fours again. She took a quick sniff at the ground, eager for the exercise to be over. She inhaled too fast, and ended up getting dirt in her nose. Hinata wrinkled her nose, and let out a sneeze a few seconds later. Shaking her head, she leaned her head down to try again.
"Hey…I can smell him a little!" Hinata exclaimed, more to herself than Akamaru. Akamaru responded with a small woof of encouragement. Slowly, she tried to use her nose to follow the trail Kiba had left for her. It was extremely difficult at first; she didn't have any water to follow this time and she kept getting dirt up her nose from sniffing too hard. She wanted this training to be over with quickly. Eventually after puppy-crawling a few yards, she stopped for a minute to blow her nose on a little red cloth she kept in her pouch. She tried to continue, when she realized that she couldn't smell anything anymore. If her eyes we're open, she would have blinked in confusion. "Oh…Akamaru, I think I've l-lost Kiba kun…" she said sadly, sniffing a few more directions just to be sure. Nope, nothing. However, Hinata hadn't really lost Kiba; she just couldn't smell him anymore. This was for two reasons. The first one being, she had gotten too much dirt up her nose, it was feeling dull even after blowing it. A normal human nose can only take so much before it will refuse to work properly. The second reason being, she was directly below Kiba. Yes, she had crawled right up to his feet, and didn't even realize it. She had almost found her target right before her nose decided to give out. Kiba held his breathe, not moving and wondering if she would notice.
"T-this is no good Akamaru chan…I can't smell him at all. Ah…I give up. I'm going to call Kiba back." She stated, standing up very quickly. Naturally, she didn't realize Kiba was there, and she tried to get up entirely too fast. Halfway upon rising, she hit her toe against hard against a tree root. She stumbled, cried out in alarm, and began to fall over. He arms flailed out wildly, clumsily looking for something to grab onto for support. Kiba was fast to respond, and quickly opened his arms to catch her.
"Ah! K-Kiba kun! Is that you! When did you g-get there…!" Hinata faltered, feeling herself being drawn securely into Kiba's chest. It was lucky for Kiba that Hinata couldn't see anything, as he wasn't doing a very good job of masking his emotion. He looked rather flustered to be holding the young girl. She looked up, even though she obviously couldn't see anything. Kiba's face began to grow hot, their faces we're only a few inches apart. "Kiba you damned idiot. You caught her, now you can let her go." A tiny voice growled in Kiba's head. His arms refused to respond, intent on keeping Hinata there for just a little while. Her tiny frame seemed to fit so perfectly into his arms. To him, it was a very warm and comforting feeling. He wished it could have lasted a just a few more minutes, but…
"…Oh. I'm sorry. Was I…interrupting something…?" a voice asked from a behind a tree. Startled, Kiba released Hinata, and she whirled around to face the direction of the noise. Kiba reached up and removed the blindfold for her. A small pause, and Aburame Shino sauntered out from behind the tree where he was standing.
"S-Shino k-kun! W-why are you h-here? Weren't you t-training with your f-father!" Hinata stuttered more than usual after being caught in such an awkward position. Kiba fought to regain his composure, biting the inside of his cheek as Shino watched them both.
"…I was. But I finished. I decided to see if you two were done with training or not. And possibly join you." Shino said, shaking his head a little. "I…didn't mean to interrupt any-"
"Nothing was happening!" Kiba practically yelled, startling Hinata and Shino. "W-we we're training, and Hinata fell, so I caught her! That's all! Nothing happened!" he said quickly with a little stutter of his own. Not wanting to show how embarrassed he looked, he quickly faced the away from his team mates and stubbornly folded his arms across his chest. Shino merely blinked in response.
"Alright. That makes sense. No need to be so defensive Kiba." Shino said calmly, noticing that Hinata had glued her eyes to the ground and began her classic forefinger fidget.
"I'm not being defensive!" Kiba snapped, whirling around to face Shino again. Shino sighed and shook his head again. Why does his hot headed friend always act like this…?
"Okay. Whatever you say Kiba. Now if this little training exercise is over, would it be possible to start a new one? I'd like to join you guys if you don't mind. Have you already thrown kunai?" Shino questioned as Kiba approached his two friends.
"Yep! And we both did really well, didn't we Hinata?" Kiba asked brightly, giving an enthusiastic smile. "Hinata hit her mark dead on many times, didn't you?" Hinata furiously nodded her head with her eyes still on the ground.
"Y-yeah…but only because Kiba helped…" she mumbled, trying to fathom what had just happened.
"Hmm. I see. Alright, then lets go do something else." Shino offered, turning around and shuffling back into the forest. Hinata hesitated, then quickly scuffled after. Kiba stood there for a moment, trying to get his emotions into check. The idea of walking up to a nearby tree and smacking his head into it sounded very appealing at the moment. He stood in a daze, not realizing that his two companions had just left. Akamaru barked irritably, trying to bring his master back into reality. When he got not reaction, he promptly bit Kiba in the ankle. Not enough to break the skin, but enough to snap him out of the trance. Upon realizing what had just happened, he quickly dashed into the forest after his friends. "stupid…" he scolded himself, furiously shaking his head.
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A few hours later, Kiba completed his training with his friends and quickly returned home. He briefly considered escorting Hinata home again, but decided against it. After that awkward moment, he decided to give her a little space. Upon returning home, he quickly ate dinner, then took a fast shower. He was tired after training that day, and desperately wanted to rest up for the next day. Before turning off the lights, he absent-mindedly removed his kunai pouch and set it on the nightstand. He paused for a moment, the reached into it and pulled out a kunai. It was just a careless gesture caused from boredom, and it was also just a lucky grab. He inspected the kunai a little. He ran his fingers down the side, noting how sharp it was. When his finger reached the bottom of the blade, he noticed something about it. "Hey…its got a little mark on it…" Kiba observed, giving it a closer look. He stared for a moment, then realized it was a little heart that had been scratchedinto the hilt. He grinned a bit, then set the kunai down on the nightstand. It was Hinata's kunai. He had picked it up by mistake. "Ill return it to her tomorrow…" was the last thought that floated in Kiba's head before falling into a deep slumber.
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A/N: Yay! I get to write another author's note! squeak! (clears throat) Okay. Well. Not much to say for this chapter. Eh…I wanted to make if fluffy, but I guess I didn't really do a good job. Ill try harder next time I decided to have some fluff…And I'm also worried that Kiba is getting too OCC for my comfort. Yes, I shall change this too. Shino's also a hard character to type about. He's so quiet, it's kinda hard to picture him in situations like these….oh well….(coughs) Anyway, I'm going to get started on chapter III, whether I got lots of reviews or not. (even thought they would be nice…) I don't think its fair for authors to say, "REVIEW OR I WONT UPDATE!" Thanks for reading it, even if you didn't like it! Please have patience with me as I try to improve my writing skills. Ja ne!